‘Black Clover’: Are Conrad and Asta Related? Why Are They so Similar?

Although Black Clover was never the major shonen title of its generation, this still-ongoing manga series has consistently been very popular and has a solid fandom. This resulted in the series finally receiving its first anime movie, Black Clover: Sword of the Wizard King, which was released in mid-2023. Now, while the movie was more or less a typical Shonen anime movie, it did raise some interesting questions, and while it is not considered to be a canon work, it expanded the lore in a significant way. In this article, we will focus on the two protagonists of the movie, Conrad Leto, the movie’s main villain, and Asta, the movie’s and the series’ main hero. At one point, Leto said that he and Asta want the same and are similar – but are they related? Keep reading to find out.

No, Conrad Leto and Asta are not related in Black Clover. Conrad tries to manipulate Asta into joining his cause by telling him that they want the same goal, but Asta vehemently rejects that, and he fights and eventually defeats Leto. Despite some similarities that exist between them, they are not related. Asta’s backstory is known, while Leto is a movie-exclusive non-canon character, so there is no way that Tabata would have made him the relative of the story’s most important character.

The rest of this article will focus on Conrad Leto, the former Wizard King, and Asta, the probable future Wizard King, as we will elaborate on how the two of them are connected and why they are so similar, as the Black Clover: Sword of the Wizard King implied. If you don’t know the whole story of the Black Clover: Sword of the Wizard King movie, we have to warn you that there will be spoilers in the following paragraphs.

No, Conrad Leto and Asta are not related

Now, with the Black Clover: Sword of the Wizard King being out, people have finally gotten a glimpse into the long-awaited story behind the character of Conrad Leto, who was announced as the film’s main villain. Conrad Leto expanded the lore of the Black Clover series, but he didn’t really bring much new to the villain trope, as he was mostly a typical villain that we see in a lot of shonen works, especially the movies which are usually non-canon.

But while his overall story might not be as interesting, his relationship with Asta is. Namely, after seeing the movie, a lot of fans have been asking themselves whether Asta and Conrad are actually related, mostly because there are many similarities between them and the fact that Conrad has, indeed, implied that he and Asta are identical. But are they actually related?

And although we don’t really know much about Conrad’s past, we can state some facts. We know that he was the 27th Wizard King and Julius’ predecessor. He was beloved in his nation until one day, he simply rebelled against them and wanted to destroy them completely and create a new world that he deemed to be more just and fairer.

He detested the unfairness of his own world and wanted to destroy it to create a new one. He also lost his family, but we don’t have too many details.

On the other hand, Asta’s story is known, and while there still are a lot of holes to fill there, we can exclude a blood relation with Conrad based on the little information we have about Asta’s background, birth, and family. Here is what happened.

Asta was initially introduced as an orphan under the care of a church in Hage after his mother abandoned him while he was still a child. Later, we discovered Asta’s mother was actually Richita, but his father was never revealed in the manga. Richita was forced to live on the outskirts of the village due to the strange condition that caused her to drain magic and life force from others. (This strange condition is present in Henry, a member of the Black Bulls).

Richita was a very friendly, cheerful, energetic woman who was not afraid to speak her mind. She did not hesitate to help others, even if it was a demon. She was also quite brave and protective, but she felt strong remorse for abandoning her child.

We know that Richita is not actually related to Conrad Leto, so we know that Asta and Leto are not related. Could Asta’s father be related to Leto? It is highly unlikely, given that Leto is a non-canon movie-exclusive character. And while the recent One Piece Film: Red showed us that even a non-canon story could expand the lore, this doesn’t seem to be the case in Leto’s case. It would be a big reveal, and such reveals are rarely made in movies. They are left for the manga.

So, why do people think that Leto and Asta are so similar and that they could be related? Well, you have to blame Leto for that. Namely, Conrad Leto actually suggested that he and Asta are similar. At one point in the movie, he tells Asta: “You are me; You can be me.” But this was a symbolic reply, as it meant that Leto and Asta both wanted the same thing – a new and improved world. But, while this was an obvious similarity between the two of them, it was also the biggest difference between the two.

Namely, Conrad Leto and Asta both witnessed unfairness and the corruption of their world, but while Leto thought that this world had to be destroyed for a new world to be created, which was his goal, Asta thought that this world could be changed, and made better. So yes, ultimately, they both wanted the same thing, but the means of achieving it were completely different, which is why their common goal was also their biggest difference.