British Isles

Name information
English	British Isles
Location information
Located in	Eastern & Northern Hemisphere, Earth
Real world information
Manga Debut	Chapter 6
Anime Debut	Episode 9

The British Isles, also known as Britain and Ireland and the Atlantic Archipelago, are a group of islands off the northwestern coast of continental Europe that consist of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, and more than six thousand smaller isles.

Two sovereign states are located on the islands: Ireland, a republic whose territory covers roughly five-sixths of the island with the same name; and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, which includes the constituent countries of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The British Isles also include three dependencies of the British Crown: the Isle of Man and, by tradition, the Bailiwick of Jersey and the Bailiwick of Guernsey in the Channel Islands, although the latter are not physically a part of the archipelago.

The British Isles are one of the various locations within Soul Eater that is directly based from its real world counterpart. In Soul Eater, it is the location for the Eternal Cave, home to Excalibur and fairies, and London, where Maka Albarn and Black☆Star first fought the Legendary Werewolf Free. Notable persons from the British Isles include Arthur Boyle, a former member of the World Heroes Force who wielded Excalibur and became his namesake King Arthur, and Sherlock Holmes.

The United Kingdom, a part of the British Isles, is a location about which Excalibur frequently sings.

Locations

The Eternal Cave

Main article: The Eternal Cave

The Eternal Cave

The Eternal Cave (悠久の洞窟 Yuukyuu no Doukutsu in Japanese), also known as the Fairy's Paradise (妖精の楽園 Yousei no Rakuen), Priten Island, and the Cave of Eternity, is a cave in the northern British Isles where the legendary Holy Sword Excalibur dwells. Previously, it was home of fairies who used their magic to make the flowers bloom. But when Excalibur made his home in the cave, he unintentionally drove out the fairies out with the exception of one.

The United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign state in Europe. Lying off the northwestern coast of the European mainland, the country includes the island of Great Britain—a term also applied loosely to refer to the whole country—the northeastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another state (the Republic of Ireland). Apart from this land border, the United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to its west and north, the North Sea to its east and the English Channel to its south. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland. The United Kingdom has an area of 93,800 square miles (243,000 square kilometers), making it the 80th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. Excalibur frequently sings about the United Kingdom.

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west. The Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south. The country covers much of the central and southern part of the island of Great Britain, which lies in the North Atlantic; and includes more than 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight.

• London
• London Bridge
• London Bridge

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• London: The capital city of both England and the United Kingdom, London is on the River Thames. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its founding by the Romans, who named it Londinium. In 2011, London had a resident population of 7,375. Although it is the smallest city in England, London is a leading global city in arts, commerce, education, tourism, and transport, as well as a world cultural capital. London is home to Sherlock Holmes and John Watson, with whom Excalibur claims to have worked on solving at least one murder. London may also have been the location where Maka and Soul Eater collected their one hundredth soul from serial killer Jack the Ripper during their first attempt to turn Soul into a Death Scythe.
  • London Bridge refers to several historical bridges that have spanned the River Thames between the City of London and Southwark. Its importance has been the subject of popular culture throughout the ages such as in the nursery rhyme "London Bridge Is Falling Down" and its inclusion within art and literature. London Bridge is where Maka and Black☆Star first faced Free.

History

Long Ago

• Excalibur's memory of offering his power to King Arthur
• Excalibur solves a mystery for Sherlock Holmes

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When Shinra Kusakabe recreated his world into the New World following the Second Great Cataclysm, Arthur ended up on England alongside a fully manifested Excalibur. Some time after the World Heroes Forces disbanded or Arthur passed away, Excalibur made his home in the Eternal Cave to the dismay of the residential fairies, with many leaving the cave out of disgust towards the weapon's egotism. During his time with Arthur, whom he fondly remembered as his namesake King Arthur, Excalibur claimed to have aided his meister in uniting Britain during the twelfth century. Excalibur is assumed to have left the Eternal Cave during his tenure in the Eight Reaper Legions.

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The Demon Sword Arc

Excalibur appears before Black☆Star and Death the Kid in all his glory

Black☆Star and Death the Kid come across the same book at the Death Weapon Meister Academy library, titled Excalibur and telling of the legendary Holy Sword, said to make its meister into the most powerful fighter. Black☆Star skips his extracurricular lesson of cleaning the library to join Kid to go to the Eternal Cave to retrieve the Holy Sword. Upon their arrival in the Cave, however, Black☆Star and Kid realize how annoying Excalibur is, refusing to be his meister and leaving in disgust.

Somehow, Excalibur had flowers sent to Class Crescent Moon, announcing he would wait for Black☆Star and Kid's return, much to their embarrassment.

The Experiment Arc

After Soul Eater's injury at the hands of Crona, which infected him with the Black Blood, the DWMA required all students complete their extracurricular lessons in two-meister teams, requiring that meister Black☆Star and his weapon Tsubaki Nakatsukasa accompany Maka and Soul. As Dr. Medusa was working as a physician at the Death Weapon Meister Academy, she learned of Maka's mission. Having recently released the werewolf Free from the Witch Prison, Medusa assigned him to battle Maka and Soul so she may research how the Black Blood affects Maka and Soul's resonance.

Free found Maka's team at London Bridge. As Black☆Star injured himself failing to handle Tsubaki's new Uncanny Sword Mode, Maka attempted to wield Soul, only for her hands to be burned by his weapon form due to their recently diverging soul wavelengths. Eventually, Maka and Soul were able to get past their prior arguments and resonate, resisting the madness of the Black Blood to disable Free. Maka tackled Free off London Bridge; while Soul, Black☆Star, and Tsubaki prevented Maka from falling over, Free's rusty magic led him to fall into the Thames, allowing the DWMA students to survive a bloody battle.

Legend of the Holy Sword 2 (Anime-Only)

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Legend of the Holy Sword

Fairies flee upon Excalibur's return

Upon reading the same library book as Black☆Star and Kid, the put-upon DWMA student Hero travels to the Eternal Cave and fulfills all of Excalibur's provisions to be his meister. During Excalibur's absence, the Fairy is joined by her peers, which allows them rest and for flowers to bloom again in the cave. But it was short-lived when Hero returns the Excalibur after finding himself annoyed by the Holy Sword's sneezes, forcing the fairies to flee and the flowers in the Eternal Cave to wilt away.

Salvage Arc

At some point after Hero wielded Excalibur, Noah came to the Eternal Cave and used the Book of Eibon to capture Excalibur. Inside the book, Excalibur came across members of the DWMA's elite youth group Spartoi, who were on a mission to rescue Kid, who Noah had also captured in the Book. Despite his usual self-centeredness, Excalibur offered his teleportation powers to the team to travel through the chapters to Kid's location. Liz Thompson volunteered to wield Excalibur, slicing a hole through the book and opening a transpatial portal. But once in the Pride Chapter, Liz could not take another minute with Excalibur and flings himself through a portal back to the Eternal Cave.

Dark Side of the Moon Arc

Excalibur left the Eternal Cave to travel to the Death Room, to observe the viewing of the DWMA's battle against Asura on the Moon and witness Kid's ascension into a true Grim Reaper. Although Tezca Tlipoca and Enrique had been in the Death Room earlier, Excalibur may have been the only other person with Death when he died, at which point Excalibur promised Death that he would watch over Kid. Excalibur informs Kid of his father's passing, motivating the new Grim Reaper by reminding him of Death's expectations before likely returning to the Eternal Cave.

Arachnophobia vs DWMA Arc (Anime-Only)

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Trivia

• The first fight shown in the manga Soul Eater is between Maka and Jack the Ripper. The setting of this fight closely resembles London as it appears in popular culture, and Jack the Ripper shares a name with the notorious London serial killer, suggesting this battle may have taken place in London and hence within the British Isles.
• Excalibur's hat was made in England.

External links

• Wikipedia article on the British Isles