in: Human, Kaede, Female Characters,
Orphanage Girl
The Orphanage Girl
8-10 years old (deceased)
Noriko Shitaya (Japanese)
Allison Sumrall (English)
Anna Predleus (German)
" I won't tell anyone. You can trust me! "
–The Girl, promising Lucy she won't tell anyone about her dog
The Orphanage Girl is a minor but pivotal character subject to deeply held fan opinion about her actions. A young orphaned human girl of about 8 to 10 years old, befriended Lucy, another girl who was living in the same orphanage with her. Her reasons for doing so come into question.
This unnamed girl defended and aided Lucy when she saw her bullied for her horns by the group of orphanage children led by Tomoo. Lucy trusted the girl almost immediately after she helped her, prompting her to reveal her secret pet that she had been caring for in the woods after she realized half of her lunch wasn't enough to feed it, as Lucy believed this otherwise friendly girl would help her take care of the puppy. The girl promised not to tell anyone about the animal, knowing full well the puppy would surely be tortured as well for its value to the horned girl if she did.
Though the circumstances aren't made clear as to how the bullies got the information out of her, the girl, in her words, revealed the puppy's existence to them unintentionally. However, it is also possible she was in on the bullying all along and only befriended Lucy to learn about anything that could be used against her later. While Tomoo held the puppy, the other children held Lucy back and forced her to watch as he beat it to death (with a rock in the manga and a vase in the anime). The girl intervened to stop them killing the animal, further revealing that while she did tell them about the puppy, she didn't think they would murder it. At her supposed "friend's" betrayal, Lucy's emotions overwhelm her, and she lashes out at everyone else in the room with her newly developed vectors, ending with the other children torn to pieces and the room covered in blood and viscera.
The girl appears once again as one of the many horrifically mutilated illusions Lucy hallucinates when she thinks Kouta has betrayed her and again when she has doubts about a friendship with Aiko Takada. In the vision, she taunts Lucy by saying that hurting someone like Lucy is alright since it's not the same as hurting a 'real' human.
Although seen as a figure with a hole blown in her head in young Lucy's nightmarish vision, the image of the actual aftermath of the killings at the orphanage seems to indicate that this girl died by decapitation. It's most likely this hole in her head is just her empty eye socket rather than the representation of an injury, however.
Fans are somewhat divided on the intent of this girl, whether she was merely loose-lipped or a deliberate manipulator. The smile that young Lucy seems to see on the girl's face may be real or only exists in Lucy's mind. It could also have been a nervous reaction, as many people smile when something horrifying is happening as a way to diffuse the situation and keep it from harming their psyche.
Her barely-hidden smile in the manga
The Anime also showed her smiling.
The Elfen Lied Series Timeline
Elfen Lied Series Fictional History
History Before Lucy's Birth \\ Years Zero to Five After Lucy's Birth \\ Years Five to Ten After Lucy's Birth \\ Years Ten to Fifteen After Lucy's Birth \\ Year Sixteen After Lucy's Birth, Part 1 \\ Year Sixteen After Lucy's Birth, Part 2 \\ Year Seventeen After Lucy's Birth \\ Years Seventeen to Thirty After Lucy's Birth \\ The Diclonius War \\ Anime Variant