| Introduction |
| Are you prepared to handle the spoilers ahead? This whole character page contains major spoilers. Continue at your own risk. |
Lippmann (
Appearance
Lippmann was considered to be very handsome with a beautifully chiseled face and an unparalleled, captivating beauty regardless whether he dressed in men's or women's clothing. He had medium-length bob-cut hair with bangs that partly covered his right face and a distinct beauty mark under his left eye. He wore a dark shirt, a light waistcoat, matching colored pants, and a necktie, over which he donned a light, oversized crombie coat. He also wore a highly-obscured belt with a designed buckle and dark socks beneath slip-on dress shoes.
Personality
Lippmann was a mellow, eloquent, and charismatic individual. Befitting the Mafia's negotiator with the outside, he had a way with words as noted by Doc and could assumably handle issues under pressure capably, as his job entailed meeting and talking with political figures and even dealing with the press under dire circumstances. He was also quite gentle yet confident with his speech and at times even blunt.
Ability
- Main article: Killing Intent Reaction Ability
Lippmann possessed an ability that reacted to and countered an attacker's murderous intent. It was considered an extremely powerful ability that made Lippmann difficult to kill without leaving any trace of evidence behind.
Skills
- Negotiation Skills: Regarded as the Mafia's stage face, Lippmann had impeccable negotiating skills backed upon by his persuasiveness. He negotiated with front companies, political figures, and the press, and he solved most of them almost instantly.
- Acting Prowess: Lippmann was said to be a "born actor" with the gift of the gab and even had countless passionate fans outside Japan.
- Physical Prowess: Lippmann was relatively skilled with handling guns and had incredible speed. He also appeared to have concealed various weapons on his person, including a submachine gun and two machine pistols at the same time, which he used adeptly on separate occasions.
Background
Lippmann was a movie star who also operated as the Mafia's negotiator. Due to Lippmann's fame, he was even deemed harder to kill than the Mafia boss Ōgai Mori himself, since news of his murder would circulate internationally and spiral various parties into hunting down the killer.
Lippmann was also the one who gave the Flags their official name which he thought for three months when Piano Man founded the group. He would then tell the others about it on their first days of joining, but the rest of them did not remember this name until he reminded them during Chūya Nakahara's first-year Mafia anniversary celebration.
King of Assassins Incident
Lippmann and the Flags congratulate Chūya on his first-year Mafia anniversary.
Together with Piano Man, Albatross, Doc, and Iceman, Lippmann surprised Chūya and congratulated him for his first-year anniversary in joining the Mafia. For their gift, they gave Chūya a photograph of him in his childhood, and Lippmann also gave him a stack of documents after asking a favor from a lady to access government military files. Afterwards, the Flags played billiards in their usual place, where an unknown man suddenly joined them.
The Flags engaged with the man named Adam, suspecting that he was an ability user and may infiltrate the Mafia facility, more so after learning that he was a detective. Lippmann got on the offensive against Adam, but the misunderstanding was soon relieved once Adam revealed that his mission was to protect Chūya and arrest an assassin named Paul Verlaine. The seven soon continued playing billiards, until Adam eventually picked Chūya up away from the pool hall to prove that Verlaine was still alive.
During Chūya's absence, Lippmann and the other Flags were "summoned" by the boss, Mori, but they were actually ambushed by Verlaine. After the assassin massacred the five of them, Verlaine apparently took Lippmann's body and placed it into his vehicle's trunk. Moments later, when Chūya asked Verlaine about the Flags, Verlaine showed him Lippmann's corpse that fell off the vehicle, leading the latter to figure out that his friends had been killed.
Legacy
A funeral was held for Lippmann and the other Flags the following day after their deaths. He would later appear in a trance-like vision to Chūya alongside the other Flags, where he told Chūya that he and the others were ready to accept their fate anytime as part of the Mafia, assuring him that they did not hold any animosity towards him. Additionally, Lippmann and the Flags were buried in a well-kept graveyard near the mountains, which Chūya frequently visited after the King of Assassins Incident.[1]
Quotes
- (To Chūya Nakahara) "That first year after joining the Mafia is the harshest period. It's a dead man's curve, so to speak. Within the first year, most people either run away, get killed on the job, or get snuffed out by the organization for causing problems. That's why today is a day to celebrate your survival."[1]
- (To Chūya Nakahara about handing him the photograph) "It's nothing particularly serious. If we had to come up with a reason, though… It's because you're our friend."[1]
- (As a vision to Chūya Nakahara) "We were all members of the Mafia. We knew we could die at any moment."[1]
Etymology
The nickname Lippmann is written in kanji that means "public relations officer" (広報官, kōhō-kan?).