If you’re an anime and manga fan, you’ve probably heard of Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World, even if you don’t know the series by name. Namely, the twins Rem and Ram tend to pop up on anime-related sites all the time, and they’ve certainly become some of the most popular anime characters in recent times. But, we’re not going to talk about the twins in this article, rather, we are going to focus on two other characters – Emilia and Echidna – as we intend to explain what the latter hates the former in Re:Zero.
The exact reason was never pinpointed, but it has been implied that Echidna hates Emilia because she is nice to her, because she is jealous of her, and because she knows Emilia’s mother; she claims that Emilia is so similar to her mother, which seems to be one of the reasons why Echidna hates Emilia so much.
In this article, you’re going to find out everything you need to know about the relationship between Echidna and Emilia in Re:Zero and what the exact reasons for Echnidna’s hatred are. If you’re not fully up-to-date with all the happenings in Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World, we have to warn you that there might be some spoilers in this article, so be careful how you approach our text.
Who is Echidna in Re:Zero?
Before we actually answer the main question, let us quickly introduce the two protagonists of this article for those that are not completely knowledgeable about Re:Zero. Echidna was the Witch of Greed, Mentioned throughout the entire series, Mainly because of her connection to Roswaal and Beatrice, and Debuted in the main story during the Fourth Arc.
During this arc, her soul served as supervisor of the tests that would eliminate the barrier of the Sanctuary. Upon learning of the Return of the Dead, she tried to approach Subaru, but he separated her from her after discovering her motives. At the end of the arc, she managed to be fully reborn by transferring her soul to Ryuzu Shima, she named herself Omega and traveled the world with the souls of the other five witches in a pyroxene crystal necklace.
Echidna’s curiosity goes into the unknown and along with her thirst for knowledge, are the two things that define her behavior. Echidna is interested in Subaru’s ability to come back from death, so much so that she thought of becoming his advisor to record and collect information from various points in time created from her ability.
Echidna has a black heart, as she doesn’t understand the feelings of others, and she can be considered a psychopath by normal standards. If it comes to knowledge, she has no problems. She also knows how to use sophistry, lies, and deceit toward others.
Who is Emilia in Re:Zero?
Let us, now, continue with Emilia. Emilia is the deuteragonist of Re:Zero. She lived in Elior Forest until the Witch Cult attacked the field, Emilia froze, but a century later Pack freed her and made a contract with her. As she was discriminated against for her resemblance to Satella, she became a candidate for the throne of the Kingdom of Lugunica.
Later, Felt stole the insignia from her, however Subaru helped her, she then took him to live in the Roswaal mansion. After Subaru saved the Irlam village from the Wolgarms, the two began dating her, but after a conference in the capital, Emilia left him for embarrassing her. Despite this, Subaru returned to save the village from the Witch Cult, and they reconciled.
As Irlam was evacuated, they decided to bring the villagers back to the Sanctuary, where she completed the Echidna tests. She in the process undid her contract with Pack. Upon moving to the Miload mansion, her campaign was invited to a party at Priestella, where Regulus forced her to marry him, however, Subaru defeated him. After the duel, she went with a group to the Pleiades Watchtower to seek solutions to the consequences caused there.
Why does Echidna hate Emilia in Re:Zero?
Now, to be fully honest, the exact reasons why Echidna hates Emilia have never been pinpointed. It is quite obvious that Echidna hates Emilia a lot and while we have been provided with some hints about the nature of their relationship and the reasons for Echidna’s hatred, it has never been fully and properly explained what exactly lies behind that hatred. Here is what we know.
Echidna claims that she has been hating Emilia from the very moment she first saw her. During Emilia’s trial, in which the latter was forced to face her past, Echidna made several sarcastic remarks about the half-elves, taunting them for their addiction to Subaru.
Echidna also seems to know something about Emilia’s parents, claiming that she is just as stubborn as her mother, which wouldn’t make sense had she not known Emilia’s real mother. Echidna later added that she personally knows her real mother and that is one of the reasons for her hatred towards Emilia, although this has not been elaborated on further.
Another reason she hates Emilia is that the half-elf is kind to her despite Echidna constantly belittling her, which seems quite childish. For some unknown reason, Echidna broke down in tears during one of the trials saying “You disgust me…I hate you so much” before eventually disappearing. It is believed to have been done out of jealousy, but it was never confirmed. It is claimed that Echidna created Puck to watch over Emilia, making Echidna’s connection to Emilia even more mysterious.
As you can see, the reasons behind this hatred, as they have been presented so far, are quite ambiguous and even stupid from a certain perspective. There don’t seem to be any precise, fixed reasons for which Echidna would hate Emilia, which makes this hatred seem quite superficial. Still, we do think that there is something behind this hatred, but the true nature of it is probably going to be revealed later. Until then, we have to work with what we have.
