One of the most important and mysterious characters in The Promised Neverland was William Minerva. The children of Grace Field originally found out about him through his books, which he used to give them secret messages. This was just one of the many things that he did in order to help them out.
Throughout the manga, the main characters and readers learned a lot about William Minerva. Despite how important his character is in the story, there are a lot of things that some fans may not know about him.
10 His Real Name Is James Ratri
William Minerva may have been the name that the kids called him, but this was actually an alias that he used in order to hide what he was doing from those around him. His real name was James Ratri, which was revealed when Emma and Lucas arrived at the entrance to the Human World at Goldy Pond. His name was also inspired by Captain James Hook, the antagonist of Peter Pan, which heavily influenced The Promised Neverland.
9 He Was The 35th Leader Of The Ratri Clan
The Ratri Clan played an important role in the lore of the series. Originally, demons and humans were at war with each other. However, Julius Ratri was able to split the world into two and became the gatekeeper between them. His descendants took over for him after he died, with James being the 35th leader of the Ratri Clan. That was what allowed him to help the kids as much as he could.
8 Peter Loved Him More Than Anyone
Peter was James' little brother and would eventually become one of the main antagonists in the series. However, before he went down a dark path, his brother was his light. Peter cared about James more than he cared about anyone else, including other members of their family, and did everything that he could for him just so they could spend time together. Peter always thought he would have his brother's back and that it was his destiny, but then the unimaginable happened.
7 He Was Disgusted To Learn The Truth Of Julius Ratri
When James found a document that Julius wrote regarding how he was able to save the majority of humanity, he was disgusted. Julius was very close to his comrades he fought alongside while taking on the demons. However, he was desperate to end the war and was willing to do anything to make it happen, even if it meant sacrificing them.
He made a deal in which they would stay behind in the Demon World and become food for the demons while Julius allowed the rest of the humans to escape. James always thought that the people in the Demon World were guilty of making things worse for humanity, so knowing that they were innocent completely changed his perspective.
6 He Built Goldy Pond
Though he couldn't directly help the kids escape, James set things up so they could make the decision to leave the Demon World themselves. He planned to have them go to Goldy Pond, which had an entrance to the Human World. However, after it was discovered by the demons, it became a hunting ground for the Poachers, who hunted children down for entertainment. Some of the best battles in the entire series took place here, which James never would have wanted.
5 Smee Killed Him
Smee was an important character in the series, though little was known about him. He originally worked for the Ratri Clan but became one of the supporters, helping the children however he could, similar to James.
While he was the one who gave Krone the pen that the children would eventually receive and helped Norman break out of Lambda, he also did terrible things including killing James. At the time, he was following orders by Peter, who felt like he had to stop his brother in order to protect the Human World, but was also very upset that he shot him.
4 His Final Words Were "I'm Sorry"
Though Smee may not have been happy with what he did, James died with a smile on his face. He told Smee to let Peter know that he was sorry. When Peter heard this, he had a breakdown as he held onto James. He may have been responsible for his brother's death, but even after feeling betrayed by him, Peter still loved James.
3 Norman Became His Successor
One of the biggest plot twists in the series was when it was revealed that Norman was still alive, as both characters and fans thought he was eaten. However, it was even more shocking to learn that he began to use William Minerva's name in order to achieve his goals, fighting against the demons and helping as many children out as he could. He was worshipped as a god and accomplished more than James had in less than two years.
2 He Originally Didn't Exist
When Kaiu Shirai first came up with the idea of The Promised Neverland, the plot was very different from what it would become. Emma was going to leave Grace Field on her own, Ray was going to die, and William Minerva wasn't even a character. Seeing how he would become such an important character even after he passed away, it's interesting to think of what the manga would have been like without him and what that would've meant for the rest of the Ratri Clan.
1 He Had Multiple Rankings In The First Popularity Poll
At the end of the 11th volume, fans were able to see which characters were voted as the most popular. Something that was very interesting with this poll, however, was that William Minerva and James Ratri were both options that could be voted on. While William Minerva was in 12th place, having 543 votes, James Ratri was in 57th place, having only seven votes. It was also very interesting that he was tied with the Little Bunny version of Ray that was in Don's dream. Because William Minerva and James Ratri were both options, it's also only fair to include Norman as well, who was in 2nd place with 4,763 votes.
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