Solomon Goldsmith

Solomon Goldsmith was Diva's fourth chevalier. However, he later betrayed her in hope of securing his love for Saya.

Background
Solomon was a blood relative of Amshel and thus related to the Goldschmidt family of France. When he was of age, his family wanted him to enter the military during the First World War But wanting to help people in need, Solomon went into the medical field and though he didn't directly participate in the war, he became a military doctor. However, because of what he witnessed during this time, the constant bloodshed of war terrified him and he wanted a war-free life.

He was introduced to Diva by Amshel in 1917 during the Russian Revolution. At this point he agrees to become a chevalier as he wanted to free himself from seeing humans kill each other, and hoped that peace would prevail. But afterwards, he started seeing humans as insignificant and beneath him. Though as time passed, he realized the world of the chiropterans is just as full of war as the human one. Because he was wearing white at the time, it is the only color that Solomon wears as it is a symbol of his being Diva's chevalier.

Around 1918, Solomon later helped Amshel to bring in and forcibly turn Karl into Diva's next chevalier; feeling guilty for the pressure on Karl's mind that the forced conversion has created, Solomon decided to watch over Karl and forges a brotherly bond with him. During the Second World War, they both served as officers for the Allied Forces. In 1945, he is ordered by Amshel to execute Martin Bormann, Diva’’s third chevalier for unspecified reasons.

Many decades later, he eventually becomes head of Cinq Flèches Pharmaceuticals and leads the company as the most successful CEO for five years.

Human Form
Solomon is of French descent and one of the most charming characters in the series. Owning handsome attributes like a kind, gentle smile, he is shown to be the eye-catcher of every woman in any gathering. Retaining the appearance of a young man in his early to mid 20s, he has pale skin, light green eyes, and wavy pale blond hair. His ever smiling face displays his peaceful nature. However, his eyes turn glowing red whenever he gets serious and fights using his chiropteran abilities while in human form.

Chiropteran Form
Solomon has blond hair falling over his shoulders and glowing red eyes while in his chiropteran form. Unlike his brothers and most chiropterans, he has doesn't posses a maw of razor sharp fangs, instead owning very few small sharp teeth. He has dark beige skin, long pointy ears, and bat-like wings that are reminiscent of a wyvern. He uses his full transformation twice: rescuing Saya and Kai from James and fighting with Hagi in New York. Normally, he uses a partial transformation of his right hand, starting from the fingertips which transforms into a bluish blade to fight.

Personality
When first introduced, Solomon is depicted as a true gentleman; polite and always friendly. Seemingly cheerful and light-hearted in nature, he is always calm and unlike most of his brothers, rarely serious. As the series progresses, he is shown to be quite reluctant, especially where Amshel is concerned and has many regrets taking orders from him in the past. Possibly due to witnessing the horrors of war, he has an aversion for fighting, claiming it to be unnecessary. Because of this, he is typically a peace-loving person and wishes for a war-free life.

However, despite being polite he is rather secretive, dishonest even and will not avoid being disagreeable. He is also very dishonest and seemingly manipulative as evinced when he confronts Saya at the Zoo. In spite of his great distaste for violence, he will only fight when necessary. Though he often holds back at first, he is extremely ruthless and sadistic making certain that his opponent is truly dead. He appears to not like things being kept from him, especially where his older brother’s plans are concerned. Solomon also seems to possess a streak of indecisiveness as he is at conflict between preserving the interests of his family and protecting Saya from them.

Amshel
Because of Amshel being his biological relative, Solomon has great respect for his older brother. Though Solomon follows whatever orders he is given, he still has regrets for his actions. He later becomes suspicious of Amshel upon discovering the existence of the Schiff which he was never told about.

Karl
Solomon was very close to the Karl and was the only one out of his other brothers to even check up on him. However, their close bond is perhaps a result of Solomon's own guilt of forcing Karl to become a chevalier via Amshel's orders. After being forced to kill his own brother for the second time, Solomon was visibly saddened and confesses that he admired and envied Karl for following his pure heart, but realized that he misunderstood him despite constantly watching over him.

James
Solomon and James are first seen briefly interacting, but from their first few encounters, he is surprisingly good-natured around his serious younger brother. Following the incident at the Zoo, Solomon wonders to James if he also feels Amshel is hiding something from them, to which the latter defends their older brother and accuses Solomon of being a traitor himself. Later on in the series and after the battle on Christina Island, Solomon and James are at odds with each other as one wishes to kill Saya and the other is always protecting her. Because of this, Solomon doesn't hesitate in fighting James and at one point even tells him to go to Hell.

Nathan
Solomon and Nathan seem to get along as they greet each other after years of being reunited. Later in the series, Nathan visits him after being rejected by Saya, and seemingly depressed over it, he is unusually silent but goes with his brother to meet Diva's children. After Nathan explains that Solomon should no longer bother with Saya because of the arrival of the next generation, Solomon doesn't believe in changing his mind, prompting the latter to tell him to grow up.

Diva
Solomon was Diva's favorite chevalier, thus they are seen getting along well when they first interact. Like all her other chevaliers, he is protective of her, often referring to her as his lover and mother. But when she decides to kill Saya at the Zoo, Solomon tries to persuade her from doing otherwise, only for her to refuse. That same day, Solomon was upset at Diva being brought to the Zoo by Amshel, possibly because he wanted to have Saya join their side without any conflict. During the second half of the series, Solomon isn't seen much around Diva until he finally arrives in New York to talk to her about the past. Even though he was disowned, he claimed to have still cared about Diva and was honored to have been her chevalier. But after promising Saya that he would kill Diva for her and later acting on it, this is possibly no longer the case.

Saya
When Solomon first met Saya, he initially asked her to dance because she was the only female who wasn't starting, but he later admits to Van that she was a wonderful girl. After their brief encounter at Karl's Mansion, Saya always seems to be on his mind and he hesitates to agreeing to Amshel's plans. It isn't until Solomon asks if there wasn't any chance that he might convince her, to which Amshel reassures him otherwise. When he finally meets Saya at the Zoo, he pleads that he only wishes to talk to her. However, during the conversation, he takes advantage of her amnesia and intentionally lies to her about her past, and accuses her of having a fake family. Even though this was a ploy to get her to join the opposing side and ultimately prevent anymore bloodshed as well as her own death, he still upsets her but feels bad about making her cry. After Diva drains Riku of his blood, Solomon still tries to persuade her, only for to reject him and he admits that he hoped that they would have become great friends and as such, is deeply saddened by her decision. Though she has rejected his request, Solomon still tries to help Saya when he relays information to David about Diva's planned attack on Red Shield headquarters. It isn't til a year later where he willingly interferes with his brothers many attempts at killing her as when he aided in ending Karl's life and almost killed James. At this point, he says that he has fallen in love with her and is disowned by Diva in light of his feelings. Despite getting rejected, he was still devoted to Saya and protected her to the bitter end in her last battle against James.

Hagi
Being Diva's chevalier, Solomon and Hagi have a mutual animosity towards each other. During their first battle, Solomon wanted to kill Hagi for not only interfering with Saya joining the opposing side, but because he felt that he as a chevalier was not respecting the wishes of his queen. When they fight for the second time, it is for Saya's love as Solomon didn't just want to remove his only competition, but believed that all of Saya's time with Hagi brought her nothing but sadness.

Van
Solomon is Van's superior and as such keeps in contact with him during most of the first half of the series. Even though Van is aware of the existence of chiropterans, Solomon often keeps him out of the loop on certain things, such as the origins of D67 and him and Karl being chevaliers. In Vietnam, Van always tries to get Solomon to review the results of the Delta Project, but he refuses for unspecified reasons. After Solomon learns of the Schiff, he never tells Van what happened to the bodies as he was the one who was responsible. When Van attempts to investigate their origins and speculates that the Goldsmiths were behind it, Solomon orders him to stop the investigation, possibly fearing for his family's reputation. This is rather odd as most people in Europe are already aware that Goldsmith Holdings also owns Cinq Flèches and are familiar with the CEO's full name. Solomon completely drops contact with Van after being replaced by him as CEO of the company.

Season 1
Solomon is first heard talking to Karl who says he will be moving the container to the farmhouse because someone has been snooping around. Solomon then says that they are both chevaliers and therefor want the same thing. Karl answers that he has nothing to hide, yet purposefully fails to mention Saya who has recently entered the school.

The day of the school gala is when Solomon makes his full appearance as nearly the entire female student body fawns over him. He then notices Saya, the only girl who wasn't staring at him and unknowingly introduces himself to her as a delightful young man, asking her to dance. After the dance he apologized, telling her that he had only asked her as she was the only girl who wasn't staring at him. Van then comes to retrieve him, scolding him for wasting time at the school but never having any to see the results of the Delta project. He then overhears Min call out to the girl as Saya and is not only surprised, buy wonders to himself what he'll do about Karl.

At the farmhouse, Solomon and Van watch Karl as he wanders around the container that holds Diva. Van then tells Solomon that Karl shouldn't have any disregard for his strategics concerning the project since he is in charge. Solomon wonders if it bothers him to which Van says he's been wanting to take him to the research facility to show him the results rather than wasting time where they are now. Solomon retorts that he can be such a nag and reassures him that he believes the results are up to par and is simply leaving everything up to him. He then asks Van to tell him everything he knows about the samurai man. As Karl is looking over old photographs, Solomon approaches him, saying that it was two days after that he lost his arm and now understands why he is such a hurry to relocate Diva. He then tells him that he heard about the samurai man and how it's only natural to hold a personal grudge against Saya, but that he can't kill her. Karl interrupts him, asking if that is their wish or his personal wish. Solomon lightly threatens that he'll tell Amshel but Karl tells him not to. Solomon then leaves saying that it is up to Karl if he doesn't want that happen. Later when Van has trouble opening the container with his cardkey, Karl successfully opens it, shocking Van at the contents. Solomon then muses that it's raw materials for Delta 67 and how Diva is having a fun dream. The child test subjects suddenly escape their quarters as they hum along to Diva's singing, angering Van. Karl then takes them to greet Saya as Solomon says the samurai man is approaching and leaves his older brother brother in charge to watch over Diva. As Van is ready to keep Karl from going further, Solomon stops him and says if he can't see how helpless the former is.

Season 2
Solomon meets his chevalier brothers in his Paris mansion, where Diva resides after her awakening. The chevaliers discuss what to do with Saya, settling on the decision to kill her should she poise any danger for their queen, Diva. However, Solomon is uneased with this decision, wishing for Saya to live on intead, but reluctantly agrees after Amshel reassures him that he would try to convince her to join their side first. Later that day, Solomon can't seem to get Saya out of his mind and apologizes aloud to his older brother. But just as it seemed he was alone, Dismas and Gestas sneak up on him, announcing that they've come for his blood. They soon engage in battle, and while Solomon seems to hold the advantage, Dismas severs his arm to which the chevalier says if he will have to hold back any longer. Following the ordeal, Van and his team are seen retrieving the bodies which were said to be ripped to shreds. Solomon at that moment finally decides that he must go see Saya at the Zoo.

The following day, he is seen on the phone with Van who informs him of an abandoned research facility that was was sponsored by one of the Goldsmiths. Solomon, possibly fearing for his family's reputation and is aware that it was the Schiff who drained the corpses of their blood, orders Van to stop the investigation and hangs up. Unsettled at mind, Solomon drives to Saya's next destination: the Chateau to meet her. He is observed on the way by Mao but doesn't take notice of them. Confronting Saya, he tries to convince her to join the chiropteran side rather than destroying them. However, Diva's sudden appearance and assault on Riku diverts Saya's attention. Solomon retreats with Diva while Saya is left more firm in her decision to fight the chiropterans. Because of the trouble Diva caused when she drained Riku of his blood, Solomon meets with Amshel and asks why he brought her to the Zoo to which Amshel replies that it was Diva's wish.

He confronts Amshel a second time, who asks if it was concerning Solomon's trip to the Zoo and tells him that despite what he did he was sure it was for a good cause. This not being the case, Solomon visibly frustrated asks why Amshel created the Schiff without first consulting him, prompting Amshel to dismiss it by claiming that it was part of their plans and to leave everything to him.

Season 3
Solomon's love for Saya only continues to grow as the series progressed, bringing him into conflict with his chevalier brothers and with Diva. He even tips off David about the plan his brothers were making of launching an assault on the Red Shield, imploring David to take Saya away to safety.

After Riku's death, Saya forces to keep herself alienated from others. After learning of the ambush planned for her in Christina Island from Amshel, Solomon hurries to rescue Saya from the danger. He arrives in the nick of time to save both Saya and Kai from falling in the huge tunnel James had prepared. Afterwards, Solomon tells the Red Shield group that it was a trap set by Amshel to see if he would tip off Saya, and that Diva is on her way to New York. Before leaving, Solomon confesses his love for Saya and tells that he wishes to always stay by her side.

Season 4
Solomon eventually decides that he simply cannot kill Saya or continue to support Diva's efforts to do so, and wants to live with her as someone who loves her. While Amshel thinks Solomon's love for Saya is just part of his instinct as a chevalier, Solomon disagrees and knows he loves Saya as himself. Diva disowns him and tells him to do whatever he wants. As a sign of his no longer being a chevalier, Solomon stops wearing his signature white suits, instead switching to black ones.

Solomon kidnaps Saya after saving her from Amshel. He takes her to his penthouse apartment. There he confesses his love for her and asks her to marry him. He promises to take her to a land where there's no war and even kill Diva for her. He soothes her feelings with his words and is about to kiss her but Hagi interrupts. Solomon tries to kill Hagi but Saya's fall triggers his opponent to partially transform, outmatching his speed. Saya remembers her promise to Hagi and gently rejects Solomon. Afterwards, Solomon briefly sinks into a depressed mood.

Nathan visits Solomon and takes him to visit Diva and the babies, but Solomon uses the opportunity to try to kill her. Diva easily defeats him and he is imprisoned at the mansion. James taunts him by promising to kill Saya and bring her head in front of him. Amshel tells Nathan to kill him, but Nathan frees him instead. Solomon rushes to save Saya from James, but during the battle he is accidentally cut by Saya's sword coated in her blood. He proclaims his allegiance to Saya as her chevalier once more, then leaves.

In an alley, he begins to crystallize. Yet he attempts to attack Amshel who is also present there but fails as he shatters while his brother Amshel watches. It is unknown as to whether Saya ever learned of his death as no one is shown telling her.

Manga Plot
In the manga version, Solomon's character and backstory are drastically different than that of his anime counterpart. Here and like his other brothers (sans Charles) he was turned into a chevalier at the behest of Amshel by Diva, with the latter never having any genuine interest in him. His previous life as a medical doctor seems to also be absent and his motivation for becoming a chevalier are shrouded in mystery (though it is presumed that he was convinced by Amshel).

In the story, Amshel orders Solomon to calm down Charles, to which he obliges. Upon meeting the boy, Solomon teases him for no longer being Diva's chevalier, prompting Charles to slice off his older brother's hand. Suddenly, Solomon's light-hearted attitude disappears as he attacks Charles, dismembering several of his limbs. After the squabble, Solomon cheerfully bids him farewell as Charles disdainfully retorts that he will always be alone. He then joins Van whom he calls evil for admitting to being falsely devoted to Charles. Van then invites Solomon to review the results of the Delta project, to which the chevalier says that he would love to. Later, he gives a Van a box to be taken to Charles as a 'present'.

He is eventually left in charge of the rest of the experiment as he plays Diva's song, turning the humans who ingested the D67 pills, Mui included, into chiropterans who all attack Saya. As she slaughters them in her newly awakened state, Solomon watches the scene in delight, commenting that it makes him want her. Following the spectacle, he watches Charles ensuring that he is given his 'gift' which later turns out to be an explosive prosthetic arm and said to be used for the final stage of the experiment. Once Charles and Riku are left for dead, Solomon and Van depart from the scene, leaving Saya to take care of the rest.

Knowing that Saya turned Riku into her chevalier, Solomon relays this information to Amshel who plans to attack the Red Shield's base of operations. Reluctant, Solomon believes the idea to be too risky but is convinced by his older brother after mentioning if he really wanted to test the theory of chiropteran reproduction. Once on board the Red Shield luxury ship, Solomon sets out to search for the bed-ridden Riku and in the process murders many humans and even attacks Julia. Horrified and learning of Solomon's plan, Riku refuses to join the other chevalier who beats him unconscious and kidnaps. En route to join his chevalier brothers, Solomon encounters the body of a Corpse Corp soldier. Curious, he removes the helmet and is shocked to see that they were clones of the late Charles. This moment has him question Amshel's true motives and becomes suspicious of his older brother.

Upon returning home, he immediately orders for Riku and Diva to proceed with the mating experiment. However, Diva, upset from learning of her older sister's wish to kill her refuses, though Amshel coaxes her into it. Watching through the cameras once more, Solomon grows impatient and takes it upon himself to confront Diva who is choking Riku. He breaks them apart and orders Diva to continue, but she protests she doesn't want to and scratches Solomon's face. Overcome with with anger, he violently shoves her, telling the queen that she and Amshel both disgust him and leaves. But before he could depart, Riku stops him and he says he will take him back to Saya. On the way out, they find a clone of Charles whom Riku believes is the original and Solomon agrees to take him with them.

Three months later, Solomon saves Saya from a chiropteran attack in the Red Shield's New York City apartment and is accompanied by Riku and the Charles clone who help fend off the creatures. Riku introduces everyone to Solomon as Diva's chevalier and says that he is a nice guy and also taught him how to tap into his chiropteran powers. Obviously distrusting of him, Saya doesn't believe any of it. However, she is surprised when Solomon kneels before her, professing that he wishes for her to be his bride and claims that it was love at first sight. Likewise, Saya doesn't buy the act and tells him that if he really means what he says that he'll help her fight Diva and maybe then she'll believe him.

The final battle at the Lincoln Center comes and Solomon, Riku, and the Charles clone are stationed at one of the exits to prevent Diva's escape. But just as they are about to get started, Solomon excuses himself and searches for Amshel. The two finally confront each other and do battle for a brief period before talking. During the conversation, Solomon seems to ramble on about how his purpose in life is what keeps him alive and how the experiment is the only thing that keeps him going. Finding Solomon to have gone insane, Amshel silences him when he shoots him with a gun containing bullets coated with the very same substance from the Corpse Corp's claws.

After the ordeal, Van rescues Solomon from the exploding Lincoln Center and are later shown being in Japan spying on Saya. Initially, Riku had invited Solomon to their homecoming party but he refused, seemingly depressed that he will have to wait another thirty years to mate with Saya and finally conduct the experiment. Van then informs him that he is testing if humans can truly kill chevaliers, and Solomon, believing that he has lived long enough agrees to take part in it.

Manga vs Anime
As noted before, Solomon's personality is much different than that of the anime. In the manga, he is shown to be much more cruel and sadistic, scientist-like even, much like his brother Amshel. He will also lie and manipulate others to get his way and doesn't appear to show much concern for his family. He only appears to care about whether or not chiropterans can reproduce and is extremely driven to test this theory out. Unlike his anime counterpart, Solomon's immortality has perhaps caused him to lose whatever was left of his sanity as he states that a purpose in life is only a means for survival and that without it he would forget that he is even alive in the first place.

It is also worthy to note that he is seemingly vain as evidenced by the way he reacts after Diva scratches his face. More than that, he doesn't seem to harbor any real feelings for Saya, instead only being interested in mating with her so that he can finally test his theory. From his first encounter with Charles and later during the mating experiment, it can be assumed that Solomon is impatient and is quick to lose his temper.

While Solomon in the anime simply hated humans for their recklessness and foolishness, in the manga he has no regard for their lives as he willingly murders many in Red Shield HQ. He also doesn't appear to have any qualms about fighting and follows Amshel's orders without question. But despite these traits, Solomon does seem to posses some shred of kindness and friendliness when he teaches Riku how to use his abilities as a chevalier and lets him have the clone of Charles accompany them.

Interestingly enough, he still retains his cheerful and light-hearted disposition like his anime counterpart, but is still a bit more flippant in nature.

Skills
Medical Skills: He was a physician in his early life as a human. He did war service as a medical surgeon. He need not perform this skill after becoming a chiropteran. However, he uses his skills to aid Saya once she impales herself with her own katana to kill Karl. Solomon draws out her sword with medical precision so as to avoid inner organ damage.

Business: He proves himself to be the most successful businessman in decades with his achievements as CEO of Cinq Fleches.

Lady Charmer: Despite his reluctance, his appearance and charming manners never fail to catch every ladies' eye in any vicinity.

Special Abilities
Strength: Solomon's strength outmatches those of Karl, Martin, James, the Schiff and regular chiropteran. He is also driven by will-power when he fights James to save Saya in his human form even though he lost major amount of blood through the injury inflicted by Diva.

Speed: Solomon has certain extent of speed as chevalier surpassing that of schiff easily.

Telepathy: He is able to perform telepathic communication with other chevaliers as shown when he restrains Karl from continuing to fight with Saya in Vietnam.

Transformation: He fully transforms during rescuing Saya and the battle with Hagi. He mostly uses his partial transformation of his right arm.

Attire

 * He wears an all-white suit with a blue rose in the breast pocket while he serves as Diva's chevalier.


 * After he betrays Diva and is disowned, he changes his suits to black symbolizing his loyalty to the opposite queen, Saya.


 * During his time as a medical doctor he wore a white suit with a vest and long jacket.


 * When he and Karl served in the Allied Forces during the second World War, Solomon wore a French army officer's uniform.


 * In one of the photographs in Karl's Mansion, Solomon is seen wearing a black suit with a bowtie.


 * At the end of the manga, he wears a button-down polo shirt and pants.

Trivia

 * The name Solomon means 'peace' in Hebrew which suits the character's peace-loving nature.
 * He is named after Solomon Rothschild.
 * The paper about Solomon that Mao takes out from her purse, mentions Hagi and his devotion to Saya in a seemingly anecdotal fashion.
 * Solomon's affinity for romance may be a reference to the age-old book Song of Solomon which contains the brief chronicles of two lovers and their devotion to each other.
 * If Solomon is presumed to be 110 at the start of the series, that would make him 22 at the time of his conversion into a chevalier and the year 1895 as his year of birth.