Rebirth (manhwa)

Rebirth (Korean: 리버스 Libus, Stylization: 리버스(REBIRTH)) is a manhwa series created and drawn by Lee Kang-woo, writing under the pen name of Woo. It has been published in serialized format in the Korean weekly comic magazine Comic Champ since 1998. The series was completed in 2010 with twenty-six volumes in Korea.

Rebirth is the story of a 17th-century vampire named Deshwitat L. Rudbich. It follows his adventures after he is cast into a 300-year limbo by his enemies.

Rebirth was published in English by Tokyopop, with adaptation by Bryce P. Coleman and Aaron Sparrow. As of February 2009, twenty-two volumes have been published in English. Rebirth was published in Swedish by Wahlströms. The Swedish release started in the summer of 2005, and a total of 16 volumes were published. Rebirth was published in Italy by Flashbook.

The story starts with Desh's death, 357 years before the main story starts. His ashes are interred within a wandering monster that, 350 years on, starts terrorising a town, quickly emptying it of people. A team of spiritual investigators (including an uninterested teenage daughter, Remi Do, and Millenear Shephild, their exorcist guide) turn up to investigate the disappearances and quickly discover that not all is as it seems – a point driven home when monsters rise up out of the ground.

Soon thereafter, everything goes wrong – not the least of which being their exorcist turning up late – and Deshwitat is resurrected By Remi's virgin blood. Deshwitat then drinks Remi's father's blood in trade for saving Remi's and Millenear's life.

A battle ensues and Deshwitat reveals his capability for magic, up to and including summoning a demon lord – something that takes a huge amount of skill and raw power. He then strongarms Millenear into teaching him to use the "Power of Light" since his powers are useless and impotent against a wielder of light such as the person who sealed him – Kalutika. And so is revealed the main conflict of the story, Deshwitat's desire for revenge upon Kalutika.

Deshwitat L. Rudbich

Deshwitat was born in the 17th century to a vampire father and a human mother. His family was killed by Kalutika's father, but Kalutika saved Deshwitat. He attempted to move the young vampire into hiding, but was followed by his father. Kalutika held off his father long enough for the young vampire to escape, only to be captured by a circus troop. Deshwitat remained there for several years until he met Lilith. Emboldened by her kindness, Deshwitat broke free of the circus and roamed the countryside for years, becoming a powerful dark magician. He was never particularly evil, but held his status with dignity. He is awoken in the modern day to find Kalutika's forces rising in power. Deshwitat now seeks the means to destroy Kalutika, and after completing his quest he plans to let himself die. Though Deshwitat appears cold and cruel, he is often capable of acts of compassion.

Kalutika Maybus

Kalutika was once one of Deshwitat's closest friends and his confidant until he failed to save Kalutika's sister, Danube, from death. He was killed by soldiers and was revived in a ceremony that turned him into a God. He now seeks to destroy humanity for its cruelty to him while he was alive. He is a God Seed.

Millenear Shephield

A 21-year-old exorcist, Millenear was orphaned at an early age and placed in the care of her uncle and aunt. They were abusive and one day, Millenear killed them with her spiritual rage. Priest Williams took her in and taught her how to focus her powers to help people. She became one of the best exorcists employed by the Vatican until she disobeyed the head Bishop of the Vatican to save a possessed girl using her dark magic abilities. She lost her standing as a priest and left the service. Though Deshwitat is often critical of her, she continues with him on his quest to defeat Kalutika. She was captured by Mr. Grey during an assassination attempt on Deshwitat and was mutated into a vampiress.

Remi Do

The 17-year-old daughter of Sang-Ho Do, a supernatural investigator. She is angry at Deshwitat for draining her father's blood, but the vampire assures her that Sang-Ho can be resurrected after he himself is slain. Despite her dislike for the vampire, Remi works with Deshwitat to eliminate Kalutika in order to revive her father. Remi has some natural combat abilities, as she is undergoing training to become a shaman of earth magic. She is seen to become quite powerful later on in the series as she is able to join the Order of St. Michael along with Renji in the Tower of Trials.

Rett Butler

Rett is Deshwitat's best friend and fighting partner, both in the past and in the present. Rett led a party of men to attempt to stop Kalutika's rebirth into a God, but arrived too late. Because of their past friendship, Kalutika forced immortality on him so that Rett would have to witness the end of the world. Rett is a good-natured and rowdy man who enjoys beer, women, and good living. He is often able to read Deshwitat's true feelings, no matter how much the vampire tries to conceal them. He is quite lecherous, particularly to Millenear, Remy and Beryun. He was also in love with Master Tae in her youth, but did not pursue the relationship because he would have to see her grow old and die. Some refer to him as 'Hellrasier'.

Beryun

A spiritual warrior created by Master Tae, fulfilling her promise of creating an immortal companion for Rett. Beryun is the only person capable of simultaneously wielding light and dark magic. Despite her appearance, she isn't human. Despite the fact that she literally has no personality and is cold to her teammates, she is devoted to them and is willing to put herself at risk to save them.

Lilith Servino

A young noblewoman, known for her kindness and charity. Lilith fell deeply in love with the vampire Deshwitat, helping him rediscover his humanity after years of cruelty from humans. Kalutika revived Lilith to serve as his consort. She is very powerful, gaining power from Kalutika. Though Lilith opposes Kalutika's plans for the world, she is powerless to stop him directly. Despite Deshwitat's long absence, she is still very much in love with him. It is revealed that she is the mother of Grey. She is called the "Holy Golden Mother of Light."

Master Tae

The head of a Buddhist temple for light magic, Master Tae has been watching the events leading to the possible end of the world unfold. She guides the Deshwitat party in their quest to stop Kalutika and also trains Remy and Millenear to improve their talents in order for them to be better able to assist Deshwitat, Rett, and Beryun. In her youth, Master Tae was in love with Rett Butler, but seeing his pain at having outlived his friends and family, she swore to him that she would create a partner for him who would also be immortal. She dedicated much of her life in creating a partner for Rett, ultimately culminating in the creation of Beryun. Shortly after announcing that she fulfilled her promise, Rett confessed to her that if he could have fallen in love with another woman, it would have been her. She still has a room that holds an old photograph of her and Rett in her youth, possibly dating from the 1930s.

Mr. Grey

The would-be lord of the vampire race. Currently the most powerful vampire alive, Grey's mission is to destroy Deshwitat. It is hinted that Grey is in fact the son of Deshwitat and Lilith, despite him saying that he is the son of Kalutika and Lilith. His greatest asset is his limitless stamina, no matter how often he regenerates or how much power he uses, he never weakens.

Eiji Inaba

Eiji is a ninja who was sent to lead Deshwitat, Rett, and Beryun to New York. Upon arriving there, his fellow kunoichi were found already killed (by Mr. Grey). Since then, he has stayed with Deshwitat's group. He is lecherous, especially towards Remi.

Draestail

Draestail was in the form of vampire ash in a box that was given to Deshwitat. Using Remi's blood he was brought back to life to help train Deshwitat for his battle against Kalutika and for the Lord of the Vampires tournament. He is a lecherous but crafty old man, to Eiji's awe and Deshwhitat's disgust.

Millenear Shephield's last name is derived from American baseball player, Gary Sheffield.^[1] Woo depicted Deshwitat to be a 28-year-old demon because he is "sick of the 13-17-year-old other pretty boys that seem to populate every other manhwa title out there right now."^[1] He also wanted a "manly man" for a lead character.^[1] Millenear was planned to be a "useless sidekick hanging around the main character".^[1] However, due to the fun in drawing her, Woo hinted that she might be the female heroine.^[1]

• Rebirth (manhwa) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia