Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?, also known asDanMachi, has turned into quite a series after four seasons, and nowhere is this reflected more than in the main character, Bell Cranel. Light novel protagonists like Bell can catch a lot of flak because they begin as underdogs who quite quickly find themselves in possession of great power,labeling them as somewhat overpowered.
But plenty of great stories are predicated on a protagonist having some kind of quirk that sets them apart, even if they don’t know it, or being gifted an ability because they have the right quality of character. Bell’s strengths of personality are teamed with an abnormal capacity for gaining strength quicker than others.
RELATED:Is It Wrong to attempt to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon Season 4: The Story Up To Now
Zero To Hero
Season 1 might be the most thorough portrait of how different Bell is from the start of the series versus what he ultimately embodies within the world. In the beginning, Bell and Hestia are practically nothing, living in poverty andnot having the greatest successin adventuring on account of Bell’s limited skill set.
After almost dying and then getting saved by Aiz, Bell is hesitant to go adventuring again, feeling dejected and embarrassed by the mockery for him running away. But, spurred on by the encouragement of others, he begins to gain confidence and quickly starts leveling up faster than others.
Part of the mystery of Bell, even as of the newest season, is why Bell has an aptitude for fast growth. Whether one views it as a shortcut or an extension of his character, it can’t be denied that Bell started to get better as soon as he began to truly apply himself. Were it not for his willingness to try, the power lying dormant within him would have been useless.
By the end of season 1, with a larger party and a specialized knife that evolves with him, Bell has already started to push himself to rush into combat more than he might run away. He still found himself in positions where he needed to retreat, but rarely without good reason. By the time he killed the Minotaur in a solo battle in episode 9, his stats were at S-Rank. And as a reward, he became the fastest to reach level 2.
Little Rookie
Undoubtedly Bell’s most iconic nickname, Little Rookie became a name known throughout Orario and with that name came attention both good and bad. If season 1 was characterized by Bell’s ascension to that of a hero, then season 2 was characterized by the consequence of notoriety. Between Apollo’s hunger for Bell and the conflict with Ishtar Familia,Bell had to fight more people than monsters.
Even after Bell came out victorious against the floor boss at the end of season 1, he was hardly ready to take on other, higher-level adventures, much less did he have the expectation that he’d be in conflict with them. A central part of season 2 was the story of Haruhime and their imprisonment in the Pleasure Quarter.
RELATED:DanMachi IV Part 1 Review: The Beginning of Something Darker
By this point in the story, Bell was starting to become more confident and vocal about his views on justice and became more defiant as he faced multiple gods and their loyal adventurers. He became willing to take a stand to defend those he didn’t know simply because it was the right thing.
The visual display of Bell’s growthis equally impressive. In season 1, he wears all black in a rather minimalist attire, his standout article of clothing being his brown adventurer’s coat. As the series goes on, he adorns his black clothes with bright white armor that has accents of red matching his eyes. Season three’s key addition emphasized the red on his outfit by giving him a short-lived red cloak. By season 4, his outfit gets a major overhaul, favoring a navy blue outfit with the usual white and red armor adorning it. While the darkness of the outfit never reflected any inner darkness within his character, the shift to a blue signifies a more regal look as he and his Familia gain notoriety.
The Meeting With The Xenos
Season 3 was definitely the hardest on Bell yet, and one where the conflicts between adventurers were further complicated bythe introduction of the Xenos, an evolved breed of monsters capable of thought and speech. Their existence alone was a shock to the system with wild implications for the very nature of Bell’s work.
Through his relationship with Wiene, he started to adopt a more nuanced view of what differentiated monsters and people and endeavored to help the Xenos. However, when the Xenos were revealed and Wiene was manipulated into going berserk, Bell’s compassion put him in direct opposition to his fellow adventurers.
With his reputation on the line, Bell took a stand in defense of the Xenos, knowing that his peers would write them off as dangerous monsters. It is here in the story that Bell is at his most conflicted since the beginning of the series. The difference is that Bell’s jumbled and unsure mind loses out to the strength of his heart, andhe seldom compromises with regard to the Xenosand their right to live.
Thanks to the meddling of other characters, Bell finds his reputation saved, but through Bell and his friends' hard work, many innocents are saved across the board. He turned from a rookie who could hardly kill anything into the captain of one of the most popular Familia in Orario.
His most self-interested trait was his hunger for the status of being an adventurer, and to earn the fame he has more or less attained by the current point in the story. However, as the series has gone on, that has come up less and less. His dreams aren’t necessarily just for his own benefit, but for his friends as well.
MORE:The Devil is a Part-Timer: How Much Has Sadao Changed Since Season 1?
