Ox Ford

Ox Ford is a character from the Soul Eater anime and manga.

Ox is an EAT Class Spear Meister and is academically known to be the top elite student in the DWMA. He is the Meister of Harvar D. Éclair and a member of Team Kilik. After the fall of Arachnophobia, he becomes a member of Spartoi and promoted to a Two-Star ranking.

In the Heroes Coalition fics, Ox is currently a member of the Heroes Coalition as a Solo Hero.

Appearance
Before the time skip, Ox Ford has most of his hair is shaved off, making him completely bald apart from the two bunches of black hair behind his ears which he gels everyday into sharp points. Resembling horns, they're dubbed "Pillars". Ox also wears a white dress shirt with sleeves rolled up, a black tie over a black sweater vest, a belt with black trousers, and black shoes.

After the time skip and much like all the other members of Spartoi, Ox's attire changes once he joined the elite student group. He still has his thick glasses and still wears a white, dress shirt and a tie. Though, instead of wearing his black vest, he now wears a light-blue blazer in lieu of the aforementioned vest. The blazer has the Spartoi logo on the left breast. He wears a black belt and blue pants. It's likely that he wears white shoes along with his attire. His latest appearances have him wearing a dress shirt with a tie, covered by a sweater. What has changed the most is his hair. He now has a full head of short spiky hair (although he still keeps his horns) which is now a light brown.

Ox's soul appears with his two, trademark "pillars" adorned by four, electric bolts around the soul. His soul also features electrical feedback.

Personality
As one of the students with the highest grades, Ox is a very studious and serious person, as both he and Harvar seemingly constantly study. He is also shown to be fairly good at chess. In past years, he had scored the highest in an important test that promises a Death Scythe to the one with the top score. This has caused some sort of rivalry between him and Maka, who aspires to score higher than Ox when the test is once again administered. Maka ultimately scores the highest, receiving a perfect 100 to Ox's 99. This defeat is not ignored by Ox, however.

Consistent with his love of studying, Ox is also very logical and cool-headed, preferring to think things through rationally without jumping into situations without thinking of the consequences. He seems to be slightly annoyed when people fail to see when they are being illogical, such as during the battle for Brew, he makes a jabbing remark towards Maka's impetuous approach to helping Stein and Marie, questioning why she is at the top of the class, and also calls Kilik Rung foolish when he tries to find Kim who had run away from the DWMA. He hardly loses his temper, even in the direst of situations. He is also very polite and formal, and his manner of speech is very articulate and polite, even when talking to his friends. He holds pride in his reputation as a top student and holds confidence in his judgment, not hesitating to tell people when they are being irrational. He also likes to refer to himself as 'the Lightning King' (translated as 'the Royal Thunder' in the English dub) or the 'Skilled General Lightning King' (translated as 'Royal Thunder Commander').

However, despite being logical, Ox does not take his logical thinking as far as his partner, Harvar, who is almost cold-hearted and robotic in his actions because of this. Ox cares for his friends and fellow classmates, and never hesitates to protect them. If his friends are in danger, he does not stall in helping them, even if it means going against the DWMA's orders and injuring his reputation as a top student, showing that he is willing to put aside pride for more important things. He also says that protecting his friends is what it means to be a the DWMA student, and he also trusts his friends and is not afraid of asking them for help. When Harvar stabs Kim in order to protect his Meister, Ox understands the reasoning, but does not agree with it, which shows he has a moral stance in his decisions. This also serves as the main difference between him and Harvar, who is more occupied with the end results, rather than the means. Ox is also shown to be very kindhearted and hard-working. In Soul Eater Not! when he hears Kim had taken Tsugumi Harudori's money, he works part-time in order to pay Tsugumi back, and when she displays reluctance in accepting the money, he says that if she wants to do anything in return, she cannot resent Kim for taking her money, saying that although she appears to put people off, he thinks that it looks as if she is purposely avoiding people.

He also displays a fair bit of eccentricity in that he always styles his hair in the shape of two 'horns,' shaving the rest of his hair off. Apparently, he styles his hair every morning, getting up early just for this. He seems to have great pride in his hairstyle, despite being mocked for it, and claims that the two horns (or 'pillars' as he calls them) give him the wisdom to save the ones he loves, and the strength to protect his friends, and is the very lightning that drives him forward. However, he still has the capacity to change, something which he shows to Kim when he snaps his hairstyle in front of her. He is also deeply in love with Kim, and is surprisingly emotional and open about his feelings for her, which is rather out-of-character for his usual serious personality. His love is shown to be a deep one, since he accepts Kim, even though she is a Witch, and is determined to make a place for her in the world.

Although usually appearing as a studious person, when out of doors in battle, he displays the fierce determination and ferocity of a warrior, and Kilik Rung realizes and even admires his burning heart and determination. He claims that like lightning, his battle prowess is much more stronger outdoors than indoors. Indeed, he seems a lot weaker when fighting inside than with fighting outside. This may imply that he thinks fighting indoors is inappropriate, which is consistent with his politeness.

Abilities
Spear Meister - Ox Ford is an extremely competent and capable Spear Meister despite his geeky appearance. He was capable of matching the likes of fellow EAT student Tom during his fight at the Death Festival as well as defend himself from another skill Meister and fellow teammate Kim Diehl and Jacqueline O'Lantern Dupré despite loss of blood and his injuries. Additionally, he easily was able to take down much of the Arachnophobia elite alongside the entirety of Team Kilik.

Soul Perception - while not on either Death the Kid or Maka Albarn's level of Soul Perception of his own admission, he's capable of sensing the souls of others.

Enhanced Reflexes - Ox was capable of reacting to a ninja shuriken thrown by a Arachnophobia Elite in which even Maka Albarn herself was unable to sense or react in time, saving the Scythe-Meister.

Enhanced Speed - With the usage of the Lighting Spear weapon, Kim Diehl noted that he's capable of performing "lightning-fast" attacks.

High-Level Intellect - Ox is known to be an intelligent individual. Being top of the class and beating even Maka Albarn in previous years, his intelligence has allowed him to even perform calculations alongside Eruka Frog and various other Witches' Magic Calculation spell casting.

Hand-To-Hand Combat - While neither in both Patty Thompson nor Black☆Star's league, Ox has received training at the DWMA and is a capable hand-to-hand fighter.

Lightning Spear - Partnered with Harvar D. Éclair, Ox can utilize the power of Lightning offensively or perform "Lightning-speed" attacks against an opponent. Such lightning attacks from the spear itself was capable of clearing out Traitors as well as damaging both Black☆Star and Maka Albarn, nearly incapacitating the latter.

Lightning King Drill - an attack in which after charging the Lightning Spear, Ox quickly jumps upward and strikes in a motion reminiscent of a lighting bolt. It is capable of severing an Enchanter Golem's arm. When used with Teamwise Soul Resonance and Kilik Rung's Lightning Flash, the combo is known as the "Thunder Combination".

Lightning King - a simple attack in which Ox stabs the enemy with the lightning bolt tip, promptly yelling "Lightning King", and deliver a shock capable of damaging both Black☆Star and incapacitating Maka Albarn.

Lightning King Quake - a technique in which Ox spins the Lightning Spear, bringing it down while also performing a stomp and sending a wave of lightning from the ground towards a target. It was capable of damaging the magically polluted Squid(?).

Trivia

 * Ox's name alludes to the famous University of Oxford, emphasizing his intelligence and status as one of the smartest students at the Academy. Similarly, his partner, Harvar D. Éclair, derives his name from another famous school, Harvard University.
 * Ox appears to be based on the Fear Factory's Vice President Rodigy, from Atsushi's earlier series B. Ichi. Rodigy and Ox share similar haircuts, shaved heads with twin pillars of hair shaped like lightning bolts. Whereas Rodigy's electrical powers are innate due to his Dokeshi condition, Ox's powers are through his lightning weapon, Harvar.
 * An early version of Ox has his two pillars of hair shaped more like lightning bolts. Surprisingly, he even appears to have had hair in a striped pattern instead of his normally shaved head.
 * In the Official popularity poll taken by the manga's readers, Ox ranked 23rd, along with Kim Diehl and Eruka Frog.