Tanya von Degurechaff

Warning: This article contains spoilers and it follows the story of Light Novel!

Tanya von Degurechaff is the main protagonist of the light novel/anime Youjo Senki: Saga of Tanya the Evil. Originally a salaryman who died in an accident in 2013, he was reborn as a girl living in an alternate version of Europe during World War I.

At just nine years of age, Tanya enters the Empire's Mages Division and is promoted to Second Lieutenant. Her talents, strategies, efficiency, and ruthlessness make her a useful asset for the Empire and a threat on the battlefield.

Since she graduated from the War College as one of the twelve knights, she's granted the title of von.

Moreover, she leads her own newly-formed Wing Battalion named Imperial Army 203rd Air Mage Battalion known as V601.

Appearance
During her time as a salaryman, she was a Japanese man with black hair and green eyes. She wore a formal suit and a necktie.

Reincarnated as a girl, she now has blonde hair and blue eyes. She has a small figure and cute face with minimal height and weight of an eleven-year-old child. The light novels tend to refer to her as a "doll".

Moreover, as a soldier, she always wears her military uniform including her Silver Wing Badge in civilian areas and a battle suit in the battlefield anytime and anywhere she goes.

Personality
Tanya is a villain-protagonist. She is ruthless, insensitive, deranged, cruel, nihilistic, aggressive to the point of terrifying her own allies. However, she is always considerate of the situation she has to take. She is a decisive tactician. She thinks of the best solution first before she acts towards the enemies or any challenges.

Her main objectives are to further her military career for an easy life (something similar to what she had sought to do before being reincarnated), and defy the will of Being X, whom she deeply despises and hopes to kill someday.

Even though she thinks of humans and her battalion as mere resources and doesn't care about them at all, she would never let any one of them die under her command, fearing for her military record being blemished.

She is sometimes clumsy when being overconfident; e.g during her interview with General Hans von Zettour. Yet, she can easily answer questions correctly and make the right choices.

Past
In the year 2013 A.D, he was just an ordinary salaryman. He fired a co-worker, albeit for valid reasons, in order to get promoted and have a carefree life. After his ruthless actions, the fired co-worker found him at the train station, and pushed him down to the tracks in front of the high speed train, resulting in his death. Before he died, he met Being X for the first time. Being X failed to persuade him to believe in his existence, and so he reincarnates him in another universe as a blonde-haired and blue-eyed infant girl named Tanya Degurechaff, in order to spread his religion and force him to accept his existence.

Present
The salaryman is reborn as Tanya in 1913 in the alternate universe, in a nation known as the Empire. When she comes to her consciousness for the first time, she realized she was in an orphanage. She lived at the church for a long time without changes in her daily life however, it exhumes until a group of specialist went to check all the children. Through a magical test, she was listed as a powerful child with an incredible amount of mana. Furthermore, she was proven as an unexpectedly born with a skilled set of magic. Therefore, she was a promising candidate for conscription into Empire's Imperial Armed Forces. Realizing joining the military is inevitable and seeing opportunity to better establish herself in the world, Tanya volunteers in order to obtain better treatment and opportunities that would most likely be absent as a conscript.

Prologue/Deus lo vult; Chapter I: The Sky in Norden
Tanya successfully graduated from the Military Training Camp at the age of 9 after-which she was promptly promoted to Warrant Officer and put in command of the artillery firing squad before being deployed on her first Mission.

Her first missions directive was to provide recon for the ground troops but while carrying out her task, her unit was ambushed by the enemy. Tanya, upon realizing what was happening, immediately requested permission to retreat but her request was denied and her mission directives were changed from providing recon to holding the line while reinforcements were deployed which, she was told would take 10 minutes.

Not wanting to disobey the command from HQ, Tanya engaged the enemy and fought ferociously killing three and severely wounding two (one kill and two wounded in the LN). During the battle, Tanya injured herself because, as she saw it, if she were to be injured in battle she would no longer have to fight and would be taken care of, by the military, in return for her 'selfless' sacrifice.

Deus Vult/Deus lo vult; Chapter II: Aluminium Type 95 Operation Orb
Tanya was assigned to test out the unstable Elinium Type 95 Operation Orb which is majorly invented by Doctor Schugel. At the first flight while using the prototype orb, it exploded when she reached the maximum level (6,000 feet above sea level), Tanya was still unable to control it, taking slight injuries. Therefore, Tanya was notably peeved when she was brought back to retest the explosive orb countless times and had always failed to use it correctly and normally. After Being X blessed the Elinium Type 95 Operation Orb, it sprouted improvements. When she was pulled back the last time for the final check, she met Being X again while the orb is going to detonate during the flight, the only requirements to use the orb safely is to pray for the God which Being X solely stated before vanishing. Tanya has left no choice but to pray and grasp the control of the orb, successfully utilizing the orb. This made her think that the orb was cursed equipment and not a merely blessed thing.

Abilities
Physical Capacity

Although she has an average record in planning and strategy, she has a special aptitude for analysis and critical thinking skills. Moreover, she can manipulate the plan according to her will. When Tanya gives orders to her subordinates, they can expect harsh punishments if they fail to comply.

Manipulator

Due to her extremely dangerous cuteness and small size, she can easily fool someone by using her skills e.g during her short conversation with previously ranked Captain Maximilian Johann von Ugar by persuading him to drop in the selection of being one of the Twelve Knights during War College Arc. Also, she has an ability to fool anyone by her voice, e.g in the light novel, manga, and anime version (Episode 5) where she used her child voice during the bombing of Dacian Capital.

Quotes
Catchphrase : "Curse you, Being X!"

(Tanya to Visha) : "If you have time for idle chatter, spend it doing all you can to survive---We are soldiers. If the brass tells us to do something, we do it."

(Tanya to herself) : "It's all... Being X's fault. Until I pound free-market principles into that piece of shit, I won't die, no matter what! I'm going to live... to live and... I'm going to end this!"

(Tanya's Magic Ignition) : "God save the Fatherland."

(Tanya's second Magic Ignition) : "Lord, if the day comes when I fly through the heavens. I shall approach thee!"

(Tanya's Speech to her Battalion) : "If there is a God who rules this world, it is a stern, solemn, and definitely a good being. A being that is far too great. God keeps forcing us to confront these cruel fates. As those were the rules of this world! Oh, God... I'll slice you into tiny pieces and feed you to the pigs! Our battlefield is no place for that piece of shit, God! I think it's time we took over God's work. We, soldiers, will take God's place. Put the arrogant ass, God, out of a job! All right troops... It's time for war!"

Trivia

 * Tanya Degurechaff was compared to the Fallen Hero of Germany named Manfred von Richthofen a.k.a Red Baron. Both of them are considered as "Ace of Aces" during their own World War.
 * Tanya Degurechaff's achievements were compared to Erich Hartmann known as "Black Devil" who is highly feared among the Allied forces and the Soviet Union. All of the pilots ranked as "Aces of Ace" are killed by him.
 * Tanya's traits and missions seem to be inspired by Erwin Rommel during WW1, as both shared the same destination and both are known for their talent with commando operations in small units.
 * Tanya was born on July 18 however her adoptive birthday is on September 24.
 * Her first name "Tanya" comes from the Russian and Greek word means " Fairy Princess".
 * According to the light novel and manga, she has a confirmed record of 62 kills and 32 assists after her departure in the Rhine.
 * In anime her eyes are in the vivid shade of azure blue, but in Light Novel and Manga, her eyes are in icy shade almost silver.
 * In the manga and light novel, she is seemed to be worried about her growth and even consult a doctor. She is told her growth is stunted due to being malnourished as an orphan and rigorous training as a soldier.
 * Anime highlight the orphanage Tanya used to live as a very poor one and in a difficult situation to feed their children, while in Light Novel it's mentioned by Erich that according to his intel her orphanage receives hefty donation and their children are well-fed.
 * Her hobbies include that of drawing maps, carrying a rifle in civilian places and making plans to kill Being X.
 * She is the only person in their world to be able to fly more than 12,000 feet above sea level compared to an average person like the Republicans who can only fly a maximum of 8,000 feet. The standard battle altitude for normal mages is 6,000 feet.
 * According to LN and manga, she wrote her first thesis at age nine (titled The logistics behind a highly mobile war theatre) that the different departments deeply recognized and being used during the war.
 * According to LN, manga and anime, although she doesn't restrict all her men to smoke, she sometimes get irritated to smokers who blow their smoke around the place without care for the second-hand smokers who will smell it, e.g in the anime version where she was called to the meeting where her superiors are smoking inside the room.
 * She doesn't like wearing feminine dresses due to the fact that she was a previously a forty-year-old salaryman.
 * Tanya doesn't know that she has a lot of men fall in love with her including Loliya.
 * Tanya likes chocolates, which Viktoriya Ivanovna Serebryakov also likes, hence she ended up hiding it inside her room.
 * Tanya is skilled in playing cards, however, the only person who can match her somehow is Viktoriya by sheer luck.
 * When fighting, Tanya uses her magic to activate anesthesia. Which can soothe her from the pain of her injuries and escape immediately.
 * According to the LN and manga, Tanya took quite numerous of shots on her limbs before self-destruction on her first mission. As in the anime, she was only hurt while self-destructing.

Reference
Таня фон Дегречофф