Overlord’s Great Tomb of Nazarick has plenty of inhabitants. If Nazarick was U.A. High School, the floor guardians would be class 1-A. The floor guardians serve as the core cast of Nazarick, although other sects get their moments to shine here and there. Each of the floor guardians has their strengths and weaknesses.
Albedo excels as the general overseer of the floor guardians with her high intelligence, combat ability, and ability to lead others. Demiurge is the strategist with plans so calculated even Ainz Ooal Gown is never on the same page. But what about Shalltear Bloodfallen? Of the different floor guardians, she’s had possibly the strongest transformation since she was first introduced to viewers. Let’s see how much she’s really changed.
True Blood, True Vampire
Shalltear Bloodfallen is considered by many to be a “true” vampire, and she is the floor guardian of the first to third floors of Nazarick. Shalltear is the second most powerful floor guardian, falling under only Albedo. In her fight with Ainz, she was so powerful it really looked like the only way he would win was with plot armor, which he did. Arguably, one of the main reasons he won was because of his knowledge about her as an NPC before he came to this world.
Her human appearance resembles that of a young girl, but her true form is a pretty horrid appearance resembling that of a lamprey monster. She is madly in love with Ainz and while she is one of the most powerful guardians, she is not the most intelligent or level-headed. She tends to value brute strength over intellect.
Shalltear is very different from most of the other floor guardians. She is one of the floor guardians with the most screen time and character development throughout the seasons. She also starts the series with clearer flaws to improve on. She starts out as an impulsive character with a thirst for carnage.
Appetite For Days
When viewers are first introduced to her in the series, she is quick to anger, especially when it comes to her affection for Ainz. Her bloodlust and willingness to be overwhelmed by it is hardly surprising since she is a vampire. Ainz sends her with Sebas and a few battle maids to find magic or martial arts users. While on the mission, Sebas and a few of the others leave her to finish the mission on her own. All on her own without supervision, so to speak, she kills most of the humans she comes across.
This only becomes problematic to Ainz’s plan when she begins to lose control of her bloodlust and begins slaughtering the humans with nothing but carnage on her mind. At this point, Shalltear is still incapable of rising above her base desires and proves to be a liability. The only saving grace is her holding back from killing one of the humans once she uncovers that the human was given a potion by Ainz out of kindness.
A Hint of Change
After her failure to assist Nazarick in the first season, Shalltear spends much of the second season either drinking to cope with the guilt or staying out of the spotlight. She isn’t very important to the story, and she has taken a backseat to supporting Nazarick in growing stronger. The latter portion of season 2 is when she begins to redeem herself, although she still has room for improvement.
She crosses paths with Brain Unglaus again after defeating him in the first season without even unleashing her true form.
This time, she is more mindful of the plan she’s taking part in and holds herself back. She still fights Brain for a few moments and allows that to distract her from watching Demiurge’s Operation Gehenna plan as it unfolds, but she has a moment of clarity. She sees that one of Brain’s allies is the person she was specifically singled out by Demiurge not to kill, so she lets them escape.
Almost Nowhere To Be Found
Shalltear does less in the third season than she did in the second. She remains loyal to Nazarick and, when commanded to, gleefully kills one of the adventurers who broke in during the “Workers Invasion”. At this point, she’s pretty neutral in her ability and competence as far as supporting Nazarick goes.
How Shalltear Got Her Groove Back
Season 4 sees Shalltear at her most capable and reliable. Ainz brings her as one of two guardians to accompany him to the land of the dwarves. He believes in her potential and desire to improve herself, so he encourages her. On their trip, Ainz gives Shalltear opportunities to analyze his actions and make her own judgments regarding them or her own. "First season" Shalltear would not be able to handle this level of contemplation and composure.
When tasked to reduce the Quagoa population to a very specific number, she keeps track of the number as she decimates thousands and only stops once she has reached the amount Ainz requested. She even offers them a chance to surrender without fighting, as Ainz commanded. Of course, she is still just as powerful as in the first season and this is surely only an ounce of her true power. Her arc this season is focused primarily on her regaining the trust of Ainz and her fellow floor guardians after falling from her position of respect in the first season.
Throughout Overlord, viewers have seen Shalltear come a long way. She has not become physically stronger or more capable in that regard, but she was already too powerful to even place an estimate on. Instead, she has become a much more rational and dependable asset to Nazarick. She still flirts overtly enough to make the other floor guardians cringe, but she’s a reliable team member now.