Arthur Boyle
Arthur Boyle is one of the main characters in Atsushi Ohkubo's manga series Fire Force. He serves as a Second Class Fire Soldier in Special Fire Force Company 8 and is a Third Generation pyrokinetic who can generate and control plasma flames. Assigned to Company 8 on the same day as his training academy classmate Shinra Kusakabe, he is a self-proclaimed Knight King who operates according to a strict medieval knight aesthetic and theatrical delusion.
Overview
Arthur Boyle is one of the main characters in Atsushi Ohkubo's manga series Fire Force. He serves as a Second Class Fire Soldier in Special Fire Force Company 8 and is a Third Generation pyrokinetic who can generate and control plasma flames. Assigned to Company 8 on the same day as his training academy classmate Shinra Kusakabe, he is a self-proclaimed Knight King who operates according to a strict medieval knight aesthetic and theatrical delusion.
Appearance
Arthur is a handsome young man with blue sanpaku eyes and short blonde hair with parted bangs, which he ties into a topknot reminiscent of an onion head during missions. He is right-handed. His regular attire consists of the standard firefighter jumpsuit worn by Second Class Fire Soldiers, equipped with gloves and a hood. He refuses to wear a firefighter helmet on duty because he feels it ruins his knightly image. He consistently carries a cross-shaped sword hilt or a long scabbard at his waist.
Personality
Arthur adopts the persona of the Knight King and speaks using dramatic, medieval-inspired phrasing. He is remarkably foolish, to the point of being confused about his own dominant hand, and thoroughly despises desk work such as reading extensive documents. His good looks make him popular with women, though he frequently gets lost. Despite his dense nature, he possesses sharp intuition and artistic fighting bursts; the more strongly he deludes himself as a true knight, the more reliable he becomes in emergencies.
Abilities
As a Third Generation pyrokinetic, Arthur uses Excalibur, manifesting a blade of superheated blue-white plasma flame from a cross-shaped hilt. The plasma cuts through virtually anything not protected by equal or greater thermal density. He can spark plasma from any hilt-like object, including plastic sheets used to create single-use Mini-Excaliburs for lock-picking and welding. Trained by Company 7, he mastered single-edged swordsmanship and reading the breath of life, performing attacks such as Shiden Issen and Iai Caliber. His plasma naturally disrupts Haumea's abilities, and his overall combat power directly scales with the intensity of his knightly delusions.
Background
During his childhood, Arthur was abandoned by his parents, who departed after deceiving him with comforting stories. He later entered the Special Fire Force Training Academy, training alongside classmates like Shinra Kusakabe. Upon graduation, he joined Special Fire Force Company 8 on the same day as Shinra, stepping onto the frontline as a Second Class Fire Soldier to combat Spontaneous Human Combustion and the Evangelist's forces.
Relationships
Arthur shares a deep rivalry and close partnership with Shinra Kusakabe, his academy classmate and Company 8 teammate. Although they constantly bicker over their opposing ideals of Knight versus Hero, they trust each other implicitly, with Arthur famously snapping Shinra back to his senses when Shinra nearly gave in to darkness. He is also classmates with Ogun. Against Haumea of the White-Clad, Arthur serves as a natural counter by neutralizing her powers. Under Shinmon Benimaru and Sagamiya Konro of Company 7, he learned advanced swordsmanship and practical battle instincts.
Trivia
Arthur's weapon name Excalibur and its underlying concept reference the recurring character of the same name from author Atsushi Ohkubo's previous work, Soul Eater. His moniker and design theme are drawn from the legendary King Arthur.
