| Peorth | |
|---|---|
| Japanese Name | ペイオース |
| Romanized Name | Peiōsu |
| English Name | Peorth |
| Namesake | Peorð rune |
| Angel | Gorgeous Rose |
| Profile | |
| Birthday | January 8 |
| Gender | Female |
| Hair Color | Dark brown |
| Eye Color | Brown |
| Favorite Food | Pastries |
| Occupation | Goddess First-class, Second Category, Unlimited |
| Media | |
| Manga Debut | Chapter 66 Fourth Goddess... but Number One! |
| Final Appearance | Chapter 308 I Want to Stay By Your Side Forever |
| Anime Debut | S2 Episode 7 Ah! I Shall Grant Your Wish! |
| Japanese Voice Actor | Rei Sakuma |
| English Voice Actor | Juliet Cesario (TV Anime) Anne Sherman (Movie) |
"Ah?! Sacre bleu! Don't tell me... is the poor boy monogamous?!" — Peorth, chapter 68]
Peorth (ペイオース- Peiōsu ) is the fourth goddess introduced in the manga (the fifth in the TV anime adaptation), after she receives a phone call from Keiichi. Similar to Belldandy, Peorth is a First class, second-category, unlimited license goddess who works as a wish granter, albeit for the Earth Assistance Hotline, a rival agency to Belldandy's Goddess Relief Agency.
Given the almost-unheard of situation of two goddesses having the same mortal, things quickly turn into a personal conflict between Belldandy and Peorth, as Peorth assumes that her presence in the Tarikihongan temple has to do with Belldandy’s failure to grant Keiichi's deepest desires, and thus she was summoned there to do what her rival was unwilling to.
Appearance[]
Peorth is a dark-haired goddess (sometimes depicted as a brunette), with brown eyes and an asymmetric hairstyle that combines short to mid-length hair and a ponytail. More specifically, part of her hair in the back is pulled into a long ponytail, while the rest is cut much shorter, barely reaching the lower part of her neck. In earlier chapters, the front part of her hair was instead noticeably longer than the back (even past her shoulders), although that was later greatly downplayed in her introductory arc.
Her diamond-shaped markings are somewhat reminiscent of Belldandy’s forehead markings, although they’re nowhere as elongated as the latter’s, as well as they’re all the same shape, instead of the middle Norn who has triangular ones on her cheeks.
One of the more distinct elements of her design is her unique fashion sense, as she’s most commonly depicted wearing a form-fitting bikini, as well as an assortment of belts that serve as decorations around her form. It should be noted though that in her initial appearance in the manga she wore a far more concealing outfit, at least before she started to go through various others until she settled in for what eventually became her iconic garb.
Character History[]
Peorth's introductory arc starts with Keiichi's accidental call which was originally meant to reach his sister, Megumi, except that he inadvertently called the Earth Assistance Hotline. This prompts Peorth to make an appearance in his house and quickly discovers that not only has he been living with three goddesses, but the first of them to arrive there has already granted him a wish. On top of it, she seems to be familiar with the Norns, although in Belldandy’s case she seems to harbor an animosity towards her, which turns out to become the main motivation for antagonizing her throughout the rest of her initial visit at the Tarikihongan temple.
Given the fact that there are no protocols concerning a case of a double contract, Peorth expresses her desire to stay with them until she grants Keiichi's wish. Not only that, she assumes that her very presence there was due to Belldandy’s reluctance to fulfill her duties as a First class goddess. More specifically, Peorth believes that Keiichi's needs are sexual, and with Belldandy being unwilling to satisfy them, she takes it upon herself to do what her self-proclaimed rial wouldn’t do. This becomes the start of a series of failed attempts at seducing Keiichi, who manages to somehow avoid falling for her schemes, as well as other misunderstandings when she assumes that Tamiya of all people was interested in Keiichi (while in reality, he was trying to get information about her from Keiichi).
After a while, Urd and Skuld attempt to find out more about Peorth's dislike of Belldandy, which eventually prompts her to challenge Belldandy to the triple goddess challenge with the terms of telling her what she did to her in the past if Belldandy wins, or turn the other goddesses into her servants if she won. After Peorth's defeat, she helps Belldandy remember that they’ve worked together in the past to debug one of Yggdrasil’s subsystems. During this operation, Peorth became infected by the bug and only woke up after Belldandy had already purged the bug. Following this operation, Peorth found out that it was nevertheless listed as a joint effort, and thinking that Belldandy pitied her, she took it as Belldandy mocking her. However, Belldandy quickly explains to her that the whole thing was merely a misunderstanding since she was only able to delete the bug because she found its location when it invaded Peorth’s body, and thus listed the whole thing as a joint effort.
With the misunderstanding gone, Peorth’s attitude towards Belldandy greatly improved and even helped her and Keiichi confess their feelings for each other after the latter fell for Peorth’s trick and asked her to grant his deepest desire. After the confession between Keiichi and Belldandy took place, Peorth called back home to inform them that she was done with her duties on Earth, and promptly returned.
As it was revealed though, she also happened to take Skuld’s collection of shoujo manga, which she came to enjoy reading during her stay on Earth.
This concluded Peorth's initial appearance in the manga, although she also makes a reappearance during Welsper’s arc, and afterward, she became a resident of the Tarikihongan temple for a couple of volumes until her second departure to Heavens. Still, she reappeared once again in the late manga and was additionally present even during the series finale.
Personality Quirks[]
A thing to note about Peorth's personality is that in the original Japanese text, she seems to speak in a formal, almost old-fashioned style that sounds unusual for a woman of her apparent age. Of course, Peorth's actual age is never revealed in the series, or even how she compares to the Norns, but regardless she seems to carry herself in a very dignified, feminine manner. This however only lasts until she gets annoyed, at which point she abruptly changes into a far gruff manner of speech. It’s sometimes hard to put into context in English since it’s not like she’s foul-mouthed, but rather she gets particularly impolite and very direct when she switches speech patterns.
To better depict this abrupt change in English, the official translation from the Dark Horse manga gave her a distinct fondness for using French words or even brief sentences whenever she’s calm and collected. It should be noted though that this was never present in the original text, and over time, even the official translation dropped the use of French which makes her feel somewhat different when she reappears later on in the manga.
Another peculiarity is that despite how much she boasts about having the best “service” in Heaven, she is surprisingly naive when it comes to actual dating on Earth. Not only does she use uses shoujo manga as a reference for her “date” with Keiichi during her intro arc, but also seems to misread people’s romantic intentions to such a degree that it’s surprising for someone who thinks of herself as competent in that particular field. On top of that, despite being perfectly fine walking around in nothing more than a bikini, when she temporarily turns into a child during the Welsper arc, she suddenly became very shy about exposing too much of her body, a fact that Welsper even points out.
Finally, Peorth initially appears to be far more vain and proud, which proves to be the main motivational force behind her grudge against Belldandy, as she felt that she’s been looked down upon. Over time she mellows out and opens up to others around her, and during her reappearance in the series, it almost feels that she’s a much more mature goddess overall. She even seems to enjoy hanging around Urd and Skuld, as well as taking part in their usual games and shenanigans, despite getting dragged into all sorts of messes that typically accompany said shenanigans.
Powers and Angel[]
As a First class goddess, Peorth theoretically possesses powers similar to Belldandy’s, although it’s never shown just how exactly she compares to the middle Norn. Still, it is quite clear that she seems to base her abilities around roses as well as thorned vines, indicating that her element is earth, or at the very least plants. Despite their function, most of her spells are somehow related to roses, even when it comes to combat magic. In addition, she seems physically capable to hold her ground to a Valkyrie like Lind, given that at the very least she can match her flight speed, as well as able to take out opponents as fast as she does (as shown during the last arc of the manga). Her transport medium is through cameras.
Peorth's angel, Gorgeous Rose
Peorth's angel is Gorgeous Rose, who is the only example of an angel in the series that’s not “dressed” in some form of fabric like the others do. Instead, her body is wrapped in thorny vines that occasionally have a rosebud or flower along their surface. Other than that, she appears to be blonde with blue eyes and slightly curly, long hair. Gorgeous Rose is extremely protective of her goddess and even shields her at the cost of burning some of her wing’s feathers when she deflected an attack early in the Welsper arc.
Name and Mythological Background[]
Unlike the first three goddesses to be introduced in the series, who are named after the three Norns, Peorth is directly named after ᛈ, the rune denoting the sound p in the Elder Futhark runic alphabet. The original meaning of the Peorth (ᛈ ) rune isn’t completely known, as there’s not enough evidence from surviving poems to clarify its use. There is some speculation about it being associated with a “pear tree” but that’s still unclear. Because of that, in modern times it’s sometimes used to symbolize the unknown or mystery, possibly even secrets.
This rune can also symbolize the presence of a person that the questioner misplaces his trust in.
Gallery[]
