Full Name: Belldandy Meaning of Name: "Belldandy" is a variation on "Verdandi," the name of the Norse Goddess of the present, one of the Three Norns who guard Urda's Well. Series: Aa! Megami-sama! / Oh My Goddess! Creator: Fujishima Kosuke Occupation: Goddess of the Present; part of the Yggdrasil system which takes care of Earth.

Background
Belldandy is probably one of the first characters to come to mind when making a list of the nicest, sweetest girls in anime. A full-fledged goddess with magical powers, Belldandy is one of many goddesses who run the Yggdrasil system - a giant computerized database in the heavens which controls what's going on down on the Earth. Belldandy and her two sisters, Urd and Skuld, are based on the Three Norns, goddesses out of Norse mythology who guard Urda's Well. They each represent part of time: Urd the past, Belldandy the present, and Skuld the future.

While Belldandy originally lived in the heavens and helped to maintain Yggdrasil, her assignment changed when Morisato Keiichi, an underachieving college student, tried to order pizza and got the Goddess Helpline instead. The Helpline connected him to the Goddess Relief Office, which was set up to deal with complaints and requests from the people of Earth. Before he could explain that he got the wrong number, a beautiful goddess (Belldandy) showed up in his apartment, traveling through a mirror!

Belldandy introduces herself and explains that she has come to grant Keiichi's greatest desire. Keiichi, being a typical college guy, thinks of all sorts of things he could want... but in the end he's too shy to ask. He makes a comment that he wishes he could have a goddess like Belldandy to stay with him always - and the Yggdrasil system interprets that as his wish. Belldandy is assigned to stay with Keiichi on Earth.

Personality Try and imagine the nicest, most compassionate person you know. The one person who couldn't possibly say anything mean or hurt anyone. Then double that and you've pretty much got Belldandy. ^_^ She's so completely good that sometimes she's almost hard to take. Now, the point must be made that her personality has changed a little since the series began. Of course she's always been kind and caring... but in the beginning, she had a little bit of a temper, which would occasionally show when someone was threatening her "Keiichi-san" or when one of her sisters (usually Urd) hatched a crazy scheme which pushed her too far. Bell-chan continues to be fiercely protective of Keiichi, of course, and uses all kinds of magical incantations to keep him safe. She has only grown to love Keiichi more and more. Her love for him is pure, and while getting in close proximity can make her blush, it is not based on physical attraction. They are simply meant to be together forever. ^_^

Relationships I've already discussed Belldandy's relationship with Keiichi, but what do the others think of her? Her sisters, Urd and Skuld, love her dearly, and show it in different ways. Urd (who's a bit of a perv) does everything she can to get Keiichi and Belldandy to uh.. consummate their physical relationship. Skuld, however, was quite jealous of Keiichi in the start, thinking that his love for Belldandy would take her away from her sisters. She basically has tried to sabotage the relationship anytime things got too serious. From what I can tell she's lightened up a bit about this, probably a product of becoming more mature. There are a few people who could be considered rivals of Belldandy's... I'd hesitate to really call them "enemies." Aoshima and Sayoko, two of Keiichi's fellow students, try underhanded schemes to get close to Belldandy and Keiichi. As for magical rivals, a demon named Mara occasionally tries evil schemes to destroy the happiness of Belldandy and her friends. Mara can't really be described as an enemy though, because Belldandy loves her and tries to be kind to her, and in the end, I think Mara likes Belldandy too. Keiichi's sister and his friends at the Nekomi Tech motor club all adore Belldandy and get along with her very well. This seems to be the general feeling about Bell-chan. ^_^

Final Thoughts A few more notes on Belldandy... I think she has that sort of aura around her that compels people to be near her. In one story, a girl named Sora gets some cooking tips from Bell-chan, and the goddess gives her a hug. Sora comments that it's a warm, comforting feeling... I think it's more a feeling of unconditional love. Belldandy just loves *everyone* no matter what they do. Some of the people around her (like Mara) don't quite know how to respond to this, and it throws them off. At times, (more in the later volumes of manga than the earlier ones) Belldandy can seem so incredibly trusting and compassionate that she appears slightly ditzy. The one example I can think of is when she and Keiichi find a broken computer that has been thrown in the trash. She insists that the computer was destined to find a home with them, and reacts to the computer in the same way as she reacts to people, loving it unconditionally. This was a bit over the top, even for me! Oh well, Bell-chan wouldn't care if we were ditzy, so I suppose we must love her for what she is. ^_^

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