Jajuka

"'It's all right to change back to Celena! Back to that gentle Celena!'"Jajuka is a minor character in The Vision of Escaflowne and Escaflowne. He is a Zaibach soldier and subordinate of Dilandau Albatou.

Jajuka appears late in the series (episode 22) but plays a significant role in the conclusion of Dilandau's character arc. In the movie, he serves under Folken as a member of the Black Dragon Clan.

In the anime
Warning: This section contains plot or ending details.

Jajuka was assigned by the Zaibach Empire to look after Celena Schezar following her capture. Although he only saw it as his obligation to take care of her at first, he became very protective of her. He likewise served as a comfort to her, and perhaps a surrogate to her missing older brother, during her childhood in Zaibach. At some point, Celena was taken away, and Jajuka was helpless to stop their separation. Apparently, Dilandau does not know Jajuka, implying he is only given charge of Celena and not of Dilandau.

After Van's massacre of the Dragonslayers, the Fate Alteration magic placed on Dilandau begins to break down, and he briefly reverts to Celena. She is seen in a garden in Zaibach, where Jajuka stops her from eating a snail.

When Dilandau resurfaces, Jajuka introduces himself, and explains that all of his Dragonslayers are gone, leaving only Jajuka under his command. During a battle between Dilandau and Van and Allen, Hitomi is horrified by Van's bloodlust, and her wish for Van to stop fighting leads to a pillar of light that transports Dilandau and his Guymelef out of the conflict, just as Jajuka intervenes in his own Guymelef to protect Dilandau. The pillar of light transports Celena to the Asturian countryside, and she returns to her childhood home and is briefly reunited with Allen, but soon reverts into Dilandau and calls for Jajuka, who retrieves Dilandau and takes him back to Zaibach.

In the final battle, Dilandau and Van are fighting, and Jajuka, worried, seeks the battlefield for Dilandau. He thinks about his time as Celena's caretaker and is anxious about Dilandau's safety. Van is about to deliver a lethal blow when Jajuka steps in and takes the brunt of the hit. Just before he dies, he tells Dilandau to transform back into Celena, which triggers memories of her childhood with her caretaker, and he returns to Celena in what is presumably a permanent change.

In the movie
Jajuka is first seen holding the corpse of the Beast Clan member from Adom who was killed by Dilandau. He explains to Hitomi that Van is lonely and that it would be better to let him die, but she won't let him die, insisting that he needs to understand that he's not alone.

When Hitomi and Van are confronting Folken, Jajuka kills Folken, taking revenge on him for his exploitation of the Beast Clan member. His murder of Folken causes the floating castle to collapse, and Van and Hitomi escape.