Now, most people (not all but most I've spoken with) agree with me that under most any circumstances, Xellos is most assuredly the one in control, even if he allows others to believe otherwise. He's a puppetmaster. He likes being in control, not just of himself but all those around him. He's definitely a true dominant, through and through.

...and yet...

...yet...

He's not. He's a hard one to define. I suppose he might technically be a Switch, but that's not exactly true. Being a Switch implies that someone might submit to someone they'd also Dom. That...I can't see. I don't see Xellos as viewing himself as having an equal. Everyone is either above or below him. Some may come close, but no one actually *IS* his equal. If he's above them, he's always the one in control.

But he's also a character who would be -- and is -- very submissive to anyone above him in the Mazoku chain of command. I suppose that's something of a 'duh' there, but it never actually occured to me before, not quite in that context. Xellos is utterly devoted to and obedient toward Zelas, and by default, those above Zelas. It hit me just how true this is when I saw a fanart [link] by ~bgeezus the other day. I've been mulling this over in my head for a while now. It struck me as very IC for Xellos, yet you can likely tell from my artwork that I veiw him very much as a true Dominant, not submissive in the slightest.

But in this instance, it's Shabby who he's actually submitting to. And Shabrangido is definitely above him, even above Zelas. Xellos could be the poster child for the Mazoku race for what a Mazoku is and ought to aspire to be, in terms of a servant. He was aggressive toward Gaav because as far as he was concerned, Gaav was a traitor, and therefore not one of them, and not the slightest bit worthy. Canonically, he does despise Phibrizzo, but he followed orders. However, his loyalty is first, last, and always to Zelas, so her own orders took precedence over Phibby's (the reason why he was also investigating everything on his own time, as he indicated to Gaav in NEXT.)

Xellos isn't a Switch. He perceives no one to be his exact equal, and there is no one he dominates who he would submit to, under regular conditions. (irregular conditions would be, for example, Lina. Normally, no. But when LoN herself was possessing Lina, ohhellyes.) But he is both a true Dom and a true sub at the same time. Juxtaposition and paradox.

Damn, I love this character. ^_^