But, hey... if you're gonna do a job, why not have fun with it?
Xelloss is probably the second most misunderstood character in Slayers. (first being Zel) The confusion starts with his name - Xelloss? Zeros? Xelos? Zelas? As with all names, there are a million different spellings.. I'm using the ones I like in these pages.
The confusion continues with his allegiance - does he really help Lina, or is he just bugging her? He's a mazoku, but is he necessarily evil? He's too... WEIRD to be evil. Does he really like Lina, or is it just a show? What IS his true objective?
The answer to all these things is simple.
It's a secret.
The beauty of Xelloss's character is that even once we know he's a Mazoku general, we STILL don't know much about him. The problem with 99% of the fanfics that mischaracterize Xelloss is that they try to pin him down, make him have a true objective. Now, while he MIGHT have a long-term objective, he isn't gonna actually do anything to get to it unless dire circumstances pop up. He's lived for 1000 years already, what's the big rush? He's concerned with himself mainly, and annoying others for his own amusement falls under that category.
The thing about Xelloss is that he's in CONTROL. ALWAYS. He knows exactly what WILL and WON'T upset people, and what will and won't work against certain people. A schemer to the last, he is. (and a control freak as well)
But he never lets away a BIT of himself. That is the CRUCIAL thing about Xelloss. His main driving force is to drop hints and cover them up, having people enticed, following his every movement, until....
..until what? That's not for you, me, or ANYBODY to decide. That's the beauty of Xelloss.
The typical Xelloss scene goes something like this :
- Xelloss appears!
- Xelloss pisses someone off!
- Xelloss EASILY stops them from harming him.
- Xelloss is still his wacky self! (usually he runs away)
Now, as to his relationship with everyone in the group :
To Zel, he's his usual annoying-type self, but just because it gets a rise outta Zel. Zel HATES him, and always will. Xelloss sees Zel as a pawn, only... he may have some long-range plans around Zel.. but if pissing him off accomplishes said plans, you have to wonder...
Gourry is indifferent to Xelloss.. he doesn't really like Xelloss, but doesn't really hate him either. Xelloss probably is nicest to Gourry, because he's so dumb it's hard to upset him.
Ameria, Shilfiel, Martina, and the rest, I have no idea.
Firia and he are always teasing each other... while she probably genuinely hates him, if he hadn't gone and killed a buncha dragons, they might even get together. They MIGHT have some attraction to each other.
And... Lina. Lina's the most complicated relationship. He may be doing this flirting with her to throw her off guard.. Lina could be one big temperamental roadblock to his plans. I think he DOES like Lina, through his weirdness. There IS a serious core in there, and I can see something about Lina drawing him to her. The problem is, for most purposes, Xelloss has a multiple personality disorder. There's trickster Xel, and sadist Xel. Trickster Xel likes Lina, probably more than just flirting. Sadist Xel... is scheming around Lina.. and probably not in a good way.
Lina, however, would NOT go for him. It's weird.. she's half-embarassed because somebody likes her, half-happy. But she KNOWS that Xelloss is just one big old weirdass, and she WOULDN'T get with him. Even if she was more emotionally advanced than a third grader. (course, Xel would have to do some maturing too)
But this is my opinion. This is my belief. Die-hard Lina-Xel fans will get pissed at me for saying all of it, but I think that Xel is evil. All that trickster nature is just another ploy to catch people off-guard until... sadist Xel gets a chance.
Exceptions to his behavior :
None. I haven't seen enough Xelloss to even completely pin down his character. (I have only seen one episode with him in it : P) I am only GUESSING at his fear of pain.. I might be completely wrong.