| “ | Everything is to be dissolved in my stomach. Yes, even the whole world! | „ |
| ~ Banica Conchita |
Banica Conchita, regarded as both Gourmet Noble Banica and Evil Food Eater Conchita, was one of the five Duke of the Beelzenian Empire. Obsessed with food since an early age, the curious Banica made a contract with the Demon of Gluttony to taste all the foods in the world, leading her to eat the most grotesque foods imaginable. In pursuit of her obsession, she eventually devoured herself and the demon with her, becoming the new Demon of Gluttony.
Personality and Traits
Conchita was an opsomaniac with an intense desire to consume the most delectable cuisines in existence. Her obsessive behavior was worsened by her mother's abuse and eating everything without any leftovers became a habit for the child. As a result, food became the center of Banica's existence and she dedicated a majority of her life to satiate her endless curiosity for the tastes of every food.
Becoming an insatiable food connoisseur, Banica's appetite began to evolve until she desired to travel abroad and taste foreign meals which recipes she would later take back home.[66]However, she was initially reasonable with her tastes, eating fine cuisine and other meals considered delicious by the majority, although she was not beyond eating foods religiously considered taboo such as the baemu pig. After developing Blood Grave, the wine became Banica's favorite. Coinciding with her appetite, Banica's table manners were crude and often disturbing to those around her, relentless in stuffing food in her mouth hastily and noisily.
Among her eating habits, Banica often held out her fingers to her mouth to lick them or sample any food or drink on them. Similarly, she often questioned what a new meal would taste like before eating it. Her love of food also became a coping mechanism for Banica, immersing herself deeper and deeper into her craft when confronted with a loved one's death or personal failure. During her journeys abroad, Banica came to the realization that she desired to taste all of the world's foods and it became the center of her existence, to the point that she considered her entire identity to be based on that fact.
But, after being introduced to the world of the "ultimate" food, Banica became enraptured in less favorable delicacies, such as insects, and even began to eat her plates.[74] Under the influence of the Demon of Gluttony, she became persistent in pleasing her endless appetite and lost any boundaries to what she considered food. As her tastes continued to descend, she eventually indulged herself in necrophagia and cannibalism out of curiosity for how humans would taste. Once she concepted the idea to devour herself, Banica believed she was the ultimate food she was desiring and took glee in eating her own being.
Towards the end of her life, Conchita became a recluse, isolating herself within her castle and no longer governing her territory; as part of her apostasy, Banica dined more and more often without concern for the Beelzenian Empire's reaction. When not indulging her appetite, Banica took up a hobby of gardening, although doing so to grow more food for her to eat. Evolving her true goal, Banica resolved to devour the entire world and all its foods for her pleasure. As the Demon of Gluttony, Banica's obsession with food continued unabated, even claiming she could devour the entire world and remain unsatisfied.
Although monstrous while eating, Banica was a calm individual, acting unbothered when first meeting the Demon of Gluttony and unflinchingly conversed with it despite the peculiar situation. Similarly, she loved both her parents dearly, slipping into a depression with each of their deaths, and became defensive when the Demon of Gluttony mentioned her father's involvement in her mother's demise.[83] She was also extremely affectionate towards Carlos, falling in love with him during their reunion and bearing his child. However, after her lover's attempted betrayal and murder-suicide, she was heartbroken and driven to tears.
After making her contract with the Demon of Gluttony, Banica also acted cruel and domineering, unflinching with sending her undead army on a rampage across Grabia. Similarly, she was ruthless towards her employees, expecting them to praise and worship her. Defiance was looked upon as a nuisance and, once considered useless to her, Banica had no qualms killing and eating the "traitors" for offending her.[84] She also took joy in "punishing" her offenders, often by eating them alive. While acting as the demon of the wine glass, Banica enjoyed possessing others and was disappointed when humans were beyond her influence.
In contrast, she appeared to express gratitude toward Prince Alexiel for sharing his snack with her, sharing her knowledge of a legend to him in kind. She also seemed to have affection towards her own child, feeling happy when looking upon the babe. At the same time, Banica was also driven to eat the child to satiate her gluttonous hunger, though resisting when the demon demanded it of her.
Like Carlos, Banica held a close connection to her servants, Arte and Pollo. Having met them as a child, the twins helped the young noble come out of her depression after her mother's death and they quickly became friends. As her personal servants, Banica rarely traveled anywhere without them in tow and relied on them for nearly every task the Duke desired. She also trusted in them to manage her territory and protect the estate as she became negligent in her duties as Duke.
In spite of this, her growing hunger and curiosity for new tastes led to her devouring both faithful servants. But, after becoming the Demon of Gluttony, Banica began seeking to reclaim both servants, absorbing the souls of Hänsel and Gretel from their reincarnations in order to reclaim them. As part of this, the new demon wished to become the Master of the Graveyard, although unaware of it's real meaning, and planned to have both her servants with her when the time came.
Skills and Abilities
Banica was a practiced food enthusiast and a major contributor to Beelzenian culture. Practically since the day she was born, Banica had a remarkable appetite and became unmatched in her speed and volume of food intake to the point that she easily won competitions involving the talent. A food enthusiast, Conchita developed an excellent taste in food and was well versed in the tastes and flavors of many delicacies from both within and outside of the Beelzenian Empire, earning her title as "Gourmet Noble Banica". Because of this, she, with the help of Grabia's farmers, was able to concept and create Blood Grave, a fine wine that remained a popular product for nobles across Evillious well after her death. She also developed a keen sense of smell, able to detect even faints scents of a dish's individual components.
Due to her excessive eating, Banica's obesity reached over 100 kg, severely crippling her movements and becoming a major detriment to her health. After making her contract with the Demon of Gluttony, the feudal lord's overweight form downsized into a more slender and fit figure, with her health similarly improved to the point that she completely avoided certain death. As part of her deal with the Demon, Banica was capable of eating anything and everything, including indigestible material such as human hair or deadly toxins. When consuming the latter, she became numb but was able to survive. Similarly, the Demon's power allowed any normal injury dealt to Banica quickly heal and any fall from great heights became a slow and light descend.[100] Therefore, her body remained healthy and practically invincible regardless of what she ate, even able to envelope herself completely.
Banica was also able to reanimate the dead killed by the Gula disease through the power of the Glass and used this to great effect to guard her home. In spite of the low intelligence of the undead soldiers, Banica was able to command them effectively, through Arte, to create an unstoppable army. As a downside, Banica's powers and life were connected to the Demon, and its destruction would lead to her conventional death. But, because she devoured herself and the demon, Banica took on all the former demon's powers, able to manifest in a phantom form long after her death, take possession of individuals who came in contact with her glass, create and enhance the pathogen for the Gula disease, and reanimate the dead through her own power. Despite this, she was also subject to the limitations of the Glass, able to be utilized by Irina Clockworker for her own ends, although even the sorceress admitted her cooperation was unpredictable and could easily ignore its wielder's wishes should she choose.
Trivia
Conceptualization and Origin
- Banica's name is a torsion of the English word "cannibalism".
- Conchita is a Spanish diminunitive of the name Concepción, meaning "conception".
- Conchita, due to her occupation as a feudal lord who was believed to regularly drink blood and later be reimagined as a vampire centuries later, may be partially inspired by Vlad the Impaler.
- When crafting the story for Evil Food Eater Conchita, mothy desired to make Conchita more akin to a monster rather than a human.
Curiosities
- She shares the same birth month (November) with her Vocaloid.
- Banica's father, Muzuri, wished to name her "Muraramurajakotasupopopo"; when asked about the origin of the name, mothy stated: "Ask Mr. Muzuri."
- Due to their lineage to Duke Venomania, both Banica and her child had the potential to develop Hereditary Evil Raiser Syndrome and pass it onto future generations.