Dae

Dae is a human male who worked as the head of the Organization's Retrieval Squad prior to its demise.

Etymology
"Dae" is a transliteration of "ダーェ" (pronounced "daae").

Appearance
Dae is missing skin from half his face, leaving one eyeball and half his teeth exposed to the open. He used a cane to walk, and, like all Organization members, dressed in black.

Personality
Dae is smart, quick-witted, and inquisitive, and is often in good humor when he's able to pursue his work, but has a strong dark side. He is very proud of his creations, even keeping choice specimens of past successes in his room, and is always interested in new research opportunities, but barely cares for the lives of others, or even the Organization itself, focusing instead purely on his work. Like Rimuto he cares more about the ends than the costs in getting there, though his ends aren't always exactly in line with his comrades'.

The Ashes of Lautrec
Dae manages the Organization's Retrieval Squad. In Scene 96, he is first seen marveling at The Destroyer. He decides he must have a specimen, despite the doubts of a staff member, who regrets that Alicia and Beth were not available to help as they were on the hunt for Riful of the West.

He curses that the Organization sent out Alicia and Beth, but another staff member announces the discovery of a human (Raki) in the destroyed town of Ticheri. Raki is infected with Parasitic Rods, yet he is still alive. At Ticheri, Dae is shown Raki, and he then orders Raki sent to the Organization's headquarters. When one of his men warns about the physical dangers of transporting Raki, Dae bluntly states that the Organization's goals are all-important - taking precedence over anyone's life - but that he would take an alternative route away from the route taking Raki.

The Aftermath of the Phantom's Ambush
Dae arrives shortly after Miria's attack on the Organization's headquarters, commenting on the destruction. He claims that he had taken a detour on the way back. The other members of the retrieval squad show the unconscious Raki, who is chained up in a cell, to Dae. Raki's back is shown to have Priscilla's arm stabbed into it to prevent infection from the Destroyer's Parasitic Rods. Dae has the arm removed and suggests to Rimuto and the other Organization leaders that it be used to resurrect three of the No. 1's. Later, he shows Rubel the results of his experiment, having chosen Cassandra the Dust Eater, Roxanne of Love and Hate, and the Elegant Hysteria to be resurrected in the order of strength and wholeness of body. However, he gives a dire warning to everyone that the process of reviving them might unleash three new Abyssal Ones in the middle of the Organization.

The Warriors' Rebellion and the Battle of Staff
Dae later releases Cassandra, Roxanne, and Hysteria before giving his report to Rimuto and the others. He reports that because he was worried about their levels of strength, he forgot to take into account their original personalities. Thus, the three warriors may be somewhat difficult to control. However, he assures the Organization that, given the level of their current opponents, it isn't likely that any one of them will Awaken soon. He then concludes his report that the three should do a far better job than the newly-born Abyss Eaters.

Later, Dae witnesses Cassandra's Awakening, remarking that one of the resurrected warriors finally lost control. While watching on, he is found by Rubel, who says he worried the others with his sudden disappearance and deduces the former's knowledge of the No. 1's Awakenings. Dae claims he isn't running away and that he merely wants to watch the spectacle up close.

Dae then says it was foolish for any of the others to believe that resurrected warriors wouldn't Awaken. The three No. 1's are completely separate beings from what they were before their deaths, only borrowing their previous forms in order to exist again. Dae brushes off the existence of the new Abyssal Ones, claiming that the Organization was done for when their current warriors rebelled. Before the end, however, he wants to see "the form of the greatest masterpiece [the Organization]" ever created. He is impressed by the power of Priscilla's detached arm and hopes that the Yoki auras of the Awakened No. 1's, which contain the flesh and aura of the arm, will reach her and draw her forth. He later departs for Rabona along with Rubel.

The Hateful Enemy
When Cassandra arrives at Rabona and the Ghosts proceed to combat her, Dae remarks that they are no match for the Abyssal One's strength. However, after Priscilla expells the Destroyer from her body and begins to combat the Riful-like Awakened Being, he becomes interested in the battle between the two creatures which surpass the Abyssal Ones.

As the fight between Priscilla and the Riful-Being progresses, Dae begins to muse on what fuels the strength of those warriors who grow into great power, and he concludes that a warrior's total capacity to hate Yoma ultimately determines their rank. At some point, he conducted experiments where he implanted the flesh of blood relatives into the bodies of several Claymores to see if that would make cause any changes or improvements to them, but he did not see any results at the time, and discarded them as failures. (In chapter 137 however, Rubel tells him that those experiments were a success as they have turned into what some of the warriors called 'half-Awakened', those being Clare, Deneve, Miria, Helen and presumably Jean.) Of course, Dae goes on to say that Priscilla's incredible hatred of Yoma (due to her realization that the "Yoma" she killed was, in reality, her father) and her ability to contain and focus this hate are the sources of her power.

Dae continues to watch Priscilla's battle, and he makes the claim that while the power between the "Two Who Surpass the Abyssal Ones" is comparable, their foundations are quite different during the course of a drawn-out fight. While the Riful-Like Being's power is great, she lacks Priscilla's infinite energy reserves and will eventually lose. He momentarily turns away from the battle to discuss the state of the warriors who are "half-Awakened" (Miria, Clare, Deneve, and Helen) with Rubel, and he voices his belief that it is the memories of their loved ones that allow them to pull themselves back from beyond the limit. Dae also expresses regret that he was not able to dissect the four and thoroughly research them, for they could have been the key to successfully creating warriors who could Awaken and return to human form at will.

As the Riful-Like Being begins to gain the upper hand over Priscilla, Dae comes to the same conclusion as Rubel: that the strange creature has absorbed the remains of the Destroyer and taken its power for herself. He adds that Priscilla's regenerative ability and low-evasion fighting style are now weaknesses - with the absorbing powers of the Destroyer, the Riful-Like Being may now extract energy from the former No. 2 with every hit. Naturally, he is (pleasantly) shocked when Priscilla reveals the presence of her claymore within her body and then uses it to almost effortlessly annihilate the Riful-Being.

When Priscilla approaches Dae and Rubel, Dae expresses his joy at being able to witness "the form of [his] greatest masterpiece." Additionally, he also reveals that he knows about the part of Priscilla's past that she has forgotten and, when prompted, tells the story. However, shortly after implying that the former warrior devoured the flesh of the Yoma in order to survive while trapped in her home, Dae is quickly and brutally ripped in half by Priscilla.