For decades, butlers are the chief stewards of big households who were entrusted with the responsibility of serving wine and other bottled beverages. But with the passing years, butlers in modern time have become more than just about serving wine, butlers are now in charge of other male servants and are responsible for the livelihood and welfare of the entire household.
Often dressed in a formal suit, butlers are required to have a wide variety of skills and knowledge that are paramount for them to run the household. So here’s a Top 10 List of Anime Butlers based on their abilities and skills in the anime world!
10. Merry (One Piece)
- Episodes: 730 - Counting
- Aired: Oct 20, 1999 to Ongoing
Meet the original designer of the Going Merry Ship of the Straw Hats Pirates Crew. Merry, along with his distinctive physical traits of resembling a lamb, manages to incorporate those same traits into the ship itself. Since then, the ship became a part of the crew until it was no longer able to continue the journey. The funeral for Going Merry was one of the most emotional moments in the series.
As a fellow butler, Merry is very faithful and protective towards his mistress Kaya. He resents Usopp at first for his chronic lying, and is afraid that eventually his ‘stories’ would eventually corrupt Kaya. But after Kuro or Klahadore revealed his true nature, his perception for Usopp changed as he realized that Usopp was telling the truth.
9. Paul Moriyama (Keroro Gunsou)
- Episodes: 358
- Aired: Apr 3, 2004 to Apr 4, 2011
As the butler of the multi-billionaire Nishizawa family, he is responsible for the welfare of Momoka Nishizawa. Despite Momoka’s unpredictable split personality where she turns violent when angered, Paul Moriyama remains unconditionally faithful towards her. It was shown in the series that Paul even went through great lengths of disobeying and attacking Momoka’s father to help Momoka.
Paul Moriyama is not your typical run-of-the-mill butler. He might seem old and everything but he does possess both war and combat experience, and does not hesitate to use it to protect Momoka when she is in danger. Due to his combat prowess, he developed a rivalry against Giroro as both regard each other as fellow soldiers.
8. Ayumu Toujou (Gintama)
- Episodes: 201
- Aired: Apr 4, 2006 to Mar 25, 2010
As the leader of the 4 Devas, Ayumu Toujou along with his companions are the dojo guardians of the Yagyuu Family. He is extremely dedicated towards his young master Kyuubei Yagyuu to the point of obsession, as he records Kyuubei’s activities in a diary for years.
Toujou usually has a calm and well-mannered demeanor. This can be seen in the series as Toujou’s eyes are slinted closed and he often speaks in a very polite manner. Although the full strength of Toujou has not been revealed yet, it can be speculated that being the leader of the 4 Devas, the other members of the group is nothing compared to Toujou’s strength.
7. Gotoh (Hunter x Hunter)
- Episodes: 62
- Aired: Oct 16, 1999 to Mar 31, 2001
Despite having a mysterious past, Gotoh became the butler in service for the Zoldyck Family, in charge of handling all contacts from outsiders before reaching the household. He is also mainly in charge of Killua Zoldyck, a responsibility given by the Zoldyck family to him, expressing their trust towards Gotoh.
Being a butler, Gotoh has a mysterious aura around him but manages to put up a cool and collected front even though sometimes it’s easy to get him riled up. As for his powers, Gotoh is able to throw coins in deadly speed more powerful than a bullet. Not only that, he also has extremely good reflexes and accuracy that shows that this butler is not to be messed with.
6. Norman Burg (The Big O)
- Episodes: 26
- Aired: Oct 13, 1999 to Mar 27, 2003
After the mysterious memory wipe that occurred in Paradigm City, Norman Burg, along with his master, Roger Smith along with Big O and his other companions, sets out to protect the city from the epidemic threats that comes from people slowly regaining their memories. Just like everyone else, Norman Burg lost his memories that time, but still remained faithful to Roger.
As a butler for Roger Smith, he takes care of Big O as well as fulfilling his duties as a butler for Roger’s household. Even at his age, Norman is considered quite lethal as it is shown in the series that he is able to handle a wide variety of firearms, whether it's handguns or even high caliber guns, you name it, Norman can handle it.
5. Mosquito (Soul Eater)
- Episodes: 51
- Aired: Apr 7, 2008 to Mar 30, 2009
Even though Mosquito has a short and small appearance, don’t let that old and diminutive appearance fool you! Mosquito is a very powerful old-timer that serves under Arachne Gorgon as her loyal butler. He is known to hold high regards to the sense of respect, as he shows his calm and cool demeanor for those who respected him.
One of Mosquito’s distinctive physical trait is that he has a long pointy nose, similar of those of a mosquito’s which he uses to suck and siphon blood from his victims. He is also known to be able to transform his age, this would make him gain powers according to his age. In the series, he uses this ability to transform into a much more muscular form of himself, making him one butler to watch out for.
4. Hayate Ayasaki (Hayate no Gotoku!)
- Episodes: 52
- Aired: Apr 1, 2007 to Mar 30, 2008
Having good-for-nothing parents have made Hayate suffered through his childhood. Because his parents constantly wasting money over gambling (his mother), Hayate started working at a young age to support and help out his family. Despite Hayate’s efforts, the money problem grew and eventually he was sold to the Yakuza for his organs.
In a twist of events, Hayate became a butler for an extremely wealthy mistress, Nagi Sanzenin, who offered Hayate the job of being a butler in her mansion until he was able to pay his debts. Thanks to his past jobs, Hayate gained variety skills ranging from cooking to identifying fake artifacts. He also has superhuman abilities and is able to do things normal people can’t. This earned him the nickname of “The Combat Butler.”
3. Walter C. Dornez (Hellsing)
- Episodes: 13
- Aired: Oct 11, 2001 to Jan 17, 2002
Walter C. Dornez might appear to be a normal and polite type of guy but behind that gentle façade, Walter is nicknamed “The Angel of Death” due to his combat prowess and abilities. It was revealed that Walter has mellowed out tremendously from his much ‘wilder’ younger days of being an operative for the Hellsing Organization.
He serves as a butler for Sir Integra Hellsing, the leader of the Hellsing Organization and is in charge of designing and making special weapons for Alucard and Seras Victoria. In the series, it was shown that Walter wields a unique type of wire that he is able to use it to slice away the undead or even just to bind and restrain his targets.
2. Quillsh Wammy (Death Note)
- Episodes: 37
- Aired: Oct 4, 2006 to Jun 27, 2007
Meet the man behind L, the world’s greatest detective. Often referred to as Watari by L, he serves as L’s handler and as well as his butler. He is by far one of the few that L really trusts as it was revealed that Watari has become quite the fatherly figure for L.
Watari is also the founder of Wammy’s House, an orphanage for gifted children around the world. This is also the place where L, Near, and also Mello had grew up. The orphanage was managed by Roger Ruvie, who takes the role of Watari for Near after L died. It was revealed that Watari is well trained in espionage and marksmanship, as seen on episode 23, as Watari was able to disarm Higuchi using his sniper rifle on a moving helicopter.
1. Sebastian Michaelis (Kuroshitsuji)
- Episodes: 24
- Aired: Oct 3, 2008 to Mar 27, 2009
Ranking number one on the list is Sebastian Michaelis which had fans all over the world drool over him. Calm, resourceful and multi-talented, Sebastian is the perfect butler material anyone could ask for. Although the secret behind his amazing abilities is that he is a demon summoned by his master, Ciel Phantomhive to serve him until he gets his revenge in exchange for his soul.
Sebastian works in the Phantomhive Household alongside Baldroy, Finnian, Mey-Rin, and Tanaka and usually takes care of the mess that they made around the house. Sebastian is also known to be quite the cat-person, as seen in the series he keeps numerous cats in his wardrobe and hides them from Ciel. Being a demon butler also has its perks, as Sebastian is known to not able to die, and possess superhuman abilities that’s useful when it comes to protecting Ciel from any danger that might come.
“Watashi wa akuma de shitsuji desu kara” – “I am a demon and a butler” – “I’m one hell of a butler”
Conclusion
And that concludes this article’s list of Top 10 Anime Butlers! It would be really cool to have one of those butlers mentioned above to work for you, don’t you think? Let us know what you think about the list above by leaving your comments down below!
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