Tanya Degurechaff

Tanya Degurechaff is the main protagonist of the Youjo Senki: Saga of Tanya the Evil anime and light novels.

Tanya is originally a salaryman who was murdered in 2013, he was reborn as a girl living in an alternate version of Europe during World War I.

At just nine years of age, Tanya enters the Empire's Mages troops and is promoted to Second Lieutenant. Her talents, strategies, efficiency, and ruthlessness make her a useful asset for the Empire and a threat on the battlefield.

Since she graduated from the War College as one of the twelve knights, she's granted the title of von.

Moreover, she leads her own newly-formed Mage Battalion named Imperial Army 203rd Air Mage Battalion.

In Light Novel
Tanya defines the man who she reincarnated from as a Japanese man with good physique, tall enough to be an imposing figure in contrast to her current, younger body.

In her current incarnation, the Light Novel describes Tanya as a little girl with a very petite build for her age that could be mistaken to be even younger. She has blonde hair, and her eyes are a cold blue. She has a fairy-like face, which looks ill when coupled with her pale complexion.

Visha described her face as beautiful and doll-like, but giving off a vampire-like impression because of her sharp eyes. She dressed in an officer uniform and was noted for tying her hair messily and wearing a peaked cap that is a bit too big for her.

In Manga
The Manga character design of the salaryman followed this description, showing the salaryman as a broad-shouldered and tall man. He has black hair that is combed back neatly, rectangular glasses and sharp eyes. He is dressed in a typical salaryman set of suit and tie but with the addition of a long dark coat.

In the manga version drawn by Chika Tōjō, Tanya shares the petite build of her Light Novel design. Her hair in coloured pages is more of a vivid shade of blond and curlier on the tip, Tanya's blue eyes have a tint of purple, and her skin tone is also noticeably very pale in comparison to Visha.

Tanya wore her officer uniform most of the time, and notably since the Dacian War ended, her uniform had the addition of elaborate looking aiguillettes on her right shoulder. Her combat uniform consists of a duffle coat, helmet, goggles and boots in the Rhine, and she also wore additional fur collared coat during the Norden arc.

In Anime
In the anime, the salaryman's face is obscured in most scenes. Only in the artbook is his face fully revealed. He has dark hair with bangs that parts in the middle and a close up scene of his eyes shows dark eyes with a green tint. He wore a white shirt and a grey suit with a necktie.

In character designed by Yuuji Hosogoshi, Tanya noticeably has messier hair than her design in other media. This follows relatively closer to her description in the Light Novel, including her grayish blond hair and eyes in a vivid shade of blue. She also notably had an ahoge on the top of her front locks.

In the anime, as a soldier, she always wears her military uniform including her Silver Wings Assault Medal in civilian areas and a battle suit in the battlefield anytime and anywhere she goes.

Personality
Tanya is a very complex character. In her past life, Tanya described herself as someone with many complexes and that his person is twisted. She both has superiority and inferiority complexes, which is shown by how she compared herself to real geniuses she couldn't compete with, while also desired to be above others.

Sociopath
Tanya has a lot of sociopath traits; cold, calculating and often sees others as objects she can use to her advantage. It allowed her to rise rapidly through the ranks of her careers in both lives.

Tanya places her faith in numbers, following the Chicago School of Economy,which states that everything has a price. This could be seen from how effectively she picks and raises her subordinates to be a valuable human resource she could use. This also allows her to become a very efficient commander as she is both a decisive strategist and cunning tactician that is not hindered by her emotions.

Tanya also sees herself as a profitable human resource, doing everything to raise her value in the eyes of her superiors, which drives her to put up a front of the perfect soldier since her recruitment. This impressed and also unnerved her comrades, in particular, Erich von Rerugen, who considers her a psychopath for her ruthlessness.

Sometimes, this trait also becomes a disadvantage to her, in particular, her lack of empathy that disables her from putting herself in other people's shoes. In particular, her lack of insight of possibility that the people she offended by her callous dismissals would take revenge on her.

Libertarian
She is also a libertarian, as it could be seen from her monologue about freedom of will and goal for a comfortable life in the rear. Something she had sought in previous life, too. This trait of personality is also the source of her frustration on how Imperial Army treats their soldiers, in which mission is an absolute and she couldn't disobey even suicide missions. It's also why Tanya loathes Being-X for disrespecting her freedom and intending to convert her even against her will.

Paragon
Due to her faith in signaling theory, Tanya dons a mask of the perfect soldier. On the surface, Tanya is every bit what an Imperial soldier should strive to be. A harsh disciplinarian that still cares about the lives and safety of her troops. A stupendously powerful and brutal warrior that still adheres to international laws. A person with a sharp tactical mind, unflinching courage and unquestionable loyalty to her country. An officer that nevertheless remains humble and respectful to even non-commissioned officers. A devout believer in religion who often calls upon God to bless her country. All of these would make her an inspirational figure, the fact that she is a young girl only makes the adults around her vow to work harder.

Tanya has an iron-clad belief in her ideology and methodology, which is also why she is oblivious of the fact that what she did in her previous life didn't give the same result in her current career and timeline. More often than not, she has assumed other soldiers would share her mindset such as refusing to apply for a dangerous assignment, leading her to a series of failures in achieving her goal. While she did notice she didn't get the results she wanted, Tanya stubbornly believed her method wasn't the reason

Anime
Though the anime follows closely to the original source, it markedly highlights the brutal and cruel side of Tanya's character. This could be seen from a number of differences in her monologue and action. In the first episode, Tanya purposely arranged the death of two insubordinate soldiers under her, while in the original source they were simply taken off of her platoon to prevent discord. She also behaves colder and distant towards Visha; as opposed to being delighted by her help during the recruitment period of the new mage battalion, she wishes she could have left Visha in the Rhine instead.

Abilities
Physical Capacity

As a child, Tanya didn't possess much physical strength. However, she is able to enhance her basic physical abilities through magical enhancement spells. This allows her to engage in proper close quarter combat and wield a rifle like any other soldier.

Air Combat

Her movements are said to resemble a fairy dancing in the sky although most enemies only yell "Monster!" as she dodges all mana targeting spells. Her main tactics are focused on outmaneuvering her opponents, luring them into close quarters for her mage blade or mass elimination with single powerful spells.

Prayer/Blessing/Gospel Magic

By using the Elinium Type 95 and praying to Being X, her eyes turn gold and her physical and mental psyche increases beyond the extent of a normal human. Moreover, she has increased accuracy and prediction in a shooting and is able to cast a high tier powerful explosive spell that could destroy a whole company. This however, makes her suffer by having mental corruptions, and barely remembers what she did after. The rosary on her neck is the only equipment that prevents her from being corrupted permanently.

Strategy and Planning

Although she has an average record in planning and strategy, she has a special aptitude for analysis and critical thinking skills. Moreover, she can manipulate the plan according to her will. When Tanya gives orders to her subordinates, they can expect harsh punishments if they fail to comply.

Manipulator

Due to her extremely dangerous cuteness and small size, she can easily fool someone by using her skills e.g during her short conversation with previously ranked Captain Maximilian Johann von Ugar, by persuading him to drop in the selection of being one of the Twelve Knights during War College Arc. Also, she has an ability to fool anyone by her voice, e.g in the light novel, manga, and anime version (Episode 5) where she used her child voice during the bombing of Dacian Capital.

Trivia

 * Tanya Degurechaff was compared to the Fallen Hero of Germany named Manfred von Richthofen a.k.a Red Baron. Both of them are considered as "Ace of Aces" during their own World War.
 * Tanya Degurechaff's achievements were compared to Erich Hartmann known as "Black Devil" who is highly feared by the Allied forces and the Soviet Union. All of the pilots ranked as "Aces of Ace" are killed by him.
 * Tanya's traits and missions seem to be inspired by Erwin Rommel during WW1, as both shared the same destination and both are known for their talent with commando operations in small units.
 * Tanya was born on July 18 however her adoptive birthday is on September 24.
 * The name Tanya has its origin as a Russian diminutive of TATIANA. It began to be used in the English-speaking world during the 1930s.
 * In anime, her eyes are in the vivid shade of azure blue, but in Light Novel and Manga, her eyes are in icy shade almost silver.
 * In the manga and light novel, she is seemed to be worried about her growth and even consult a doctor. She is told her growth is stunted due to being malnourished as an orphan and rigorous training as a soldier.
 * Anime highlights the orphanage Tanya used to live as a very poor one and in a difficult situation to feed their children, while in Light Novel it's mentioned by Erich that according to his intel her orphanage receives a hefty donation and their children are well-fed.
 * Tanya currently holds the world record for max height reached by mages in combat standing at 12'000 feet, the average height is 6'000 with Republicans chasing her at 8'000 feet above sea level.
 * According to LN and manga, she wrote her first thesis at age nine (titled The logistics behind a highly mobile war theatre) that the railroad department deeply recognized and desired to recruit her.
 * Tanya hates cigarettes and the smell of smokers.
 * She loves coffee, especially one made by Visha.
 * She likes sweets, mostly chocolates.
 * Tanya once fought while being doped in magic which can simulate a feeling of intoxication due to the magic canals being unrestricted.
 * Tanya has a total confirmed 62 kills and 32 assist since her recruitment, when being considered for War College.