Just like other isekai characters, Ainz Ooal Gown used to be a regular Japanese man. His name was Satoru Suzuki, and he is just a regular adult who uses games as a way to escape his regular, boring life. However, everything changed when he, along with the NPCs that he and his friends created within their guild’s HQ, the Great Tomb of Nazarick, suddenly transported into a strange fantasy world.
Since every creature who lives in the Great Tomb of Nazarick are ultra powerful non-humans, the overwhelming majority of them think of humans as a lesser being who is worth nothing more than mere bugs. However, since Ainz used to be human himself, he always tells his subordinates to try and forge a good relationship whenever they can. He even told them to protect a human village back in season one. That being said, as the story progresses, Ainz seems to have grown rather indifferent towards human lives. Has he fully embraced his new undead self? Has Ainz lost his humanity?
The Worst Thing That Ainz Has Done
If you’re wondering what Ainz has done that makes many people question his humanity, well, there are actually quite a few atrocities committed by Ainz and his subordinates. For the sake of clarity and brevity, here are three of the most brutal incidents that stood out among the rest.
When the news about the existence of the Great Tomb of Nazarick reaches the ear of the Baharut Empire, they secretly hire some high-level group of Workers to investigate the tomb, and loot the treasures if there’s any. What they don't realize, however, is the fact that it’s all part of Demiurge’s plan to indirectly announce the existence of Nazarick to the world, and to test out Nazarick’s defense system at the same time. And as expected, Ainz and his subordinate easily crush the invaders, and turn them into the subject of horrific human experiments.
During the annual show of force between the Baharut Empire and Re-Estize Kingdom at the Katze Plains, Ainz decided to lend his hand to the Empire. After all, he was also in the process of annexing E-Rantel from Re-Estize, so winning in this battle would put the Sorcerer Kingdom at an advantage over Re-Estize. Since Ainz felt quite amused that day, he decided to try out one of his Super-Tier Magic. He summoned five colossal creatures from Hell, and massacred more than 150,000 soldiers of the Re-Estize Kingdom that day.
Following a series of unfortunate events, the Sorcerer Kingdom declares war on the Re-Estize Kingdom. There are numerous big battles and small skirmishes along the way, but the main event happens in the capital city of Re-Estize. Tired and disgusted by the traitorous nobles of the Kingdom, Ainz ordered a total destruction of the capital city. In just a matter of hours, the capital is destroyed beyond recognition. During this whole campaign, it is estimated that the Re-Estize Kingdom lost about 90% of their citizens.
Has Ainz Lost His Humanity?
The answer is yes and no. On one hand, Ainz has always looked for a diplomatic way to settle any dispute. After all, his end goal is to rule a kingdom where all kinds of people, be it humans or non-humans, can live together harmoniously. Even before the whole debacle with the Re-Estize Kingdom, Ains was actively looking for a way to take over the kingdom in a much more peaceful way, just like with the Baharut Empire, even though his subordinate advised him to use force instead. So in a way, he does care about human beings, even if it is simply as a means to achieve his ideal society.
On the other hand, it’s true that Ainz himself has considered the possibility of him losing his sense of humanity all the way back since season one when he feels nothing as he kills humans that attacked the Carne Village. He thought that as he now lives as an undead, a creature that is so far removed from a human being, he slowly but surely begins to think like a non-human as well. Not only that, any kind of strong emotions that he feels will also be automatically suppressed, which further lead him far away from creatures like human beings who are often governed by their emotions. So in a way, he does seem to steadily lose his sense of humanity.
Ainz And His Subordinates
It’s true that Ainz can massacre 90% of the Re-Estize Kingdom’s population and does not feel a thing afterwards. But when it comes to his subordinates and the other NPCs that live in Nazarick, he will do everything in his power to protect them and to make sure they live a good life. He can even act like an overprotective father at times and always worried whether or not he has done a good job as their leader.
So while it’s true that he no longer seems to care about the fate of human beings, he is still filled with sympathy and compassion for the citizens of the Great Tomb of Nazarick. If we assume that those feelings stem from the human’s side of Ainz, then there might be a tiny spark of humanity left in his heart after all.