Ban

Ban is carefree, lazy, pleasure-seeking, and resistant to being ordered around. The household summons a fantastically rare dragon and discovers that its new guardian has little interest in behaving like an idealized mythical protector. She spends substantial amounts of time sleeping and pursues gambling and other indulgences whenever possible.

Her laziness does not mean she lacks loyalty. Once Ban forms a bond, she takes that relationship seriously and will protect the people connected to her. She simply distinguishes sharply between genuine danger and chores she believes someone else can handle.

Ban also adapts easily to the household's less disciplined members. Her appetite for easy money and avoidance of work make Kanshi a natural partner in mischief, whereas Morihito's insistence on order produces regular friction. She becomes particularly close to Nico and occupies a role the predominantly male familiar group could not easily fill.

Ban is a dragon, an exceptionally rare class of familiar so uncommon that dragons are regarded almost as mythical beings. Summoning one requires an unusual witch, and Nico's status as the Witch of Thousands makes the successful summoning possible.

She can transform between her small familiar body and a human form. In human form, Ban retains visible draconic traits including horns and fangs. She can also assume a much larger dragon form, giving her the physical presence expected of her species.

Ban possesses breath manipulation, allowing her to drastically alter the temperature of her breath and produce extreme heat or cold. Dragons are also capable of flight, making her naturally mobile without relying on an external spell.

Ban later discovers that she possesses echolocation, sending sound waves outward and interpreting their return to locate objects. Characteristically, the ability exists before Ban herself fully realizes that she can use it.

Ban enters after the household recognizes a practical problem: Nico has accumulated several familiars, but they increasingly have independent responsibilities and cannot always remain beside her. A familiar-summoning ceremony is proposed to provide another guardian.

The ritual produces Ban, a dragon—an extraordinary result reflecting Nico's equally extraordinary nature as the Witch of Thousands. Her arrival expands the Otogi household once again and introduces a familiar whose relationship with Nico begins through summoning rather than the personal negotiation that brought several of the human-form familiars into her life.

Ban's introduction also comes at a different stage of Nico's life from the formation of the original household. She is summoned after the Day of the Disaster, during the period in which Nico has been reduced to a child and her established familiars are balancing her care with their own lives. Ban consequently becomes closely involved in the everyday work of accompanying her.

Rather than replacing Morihito or the other familiars, Ban fills gaps created by the household's growth. Her unusual powers give the group flight, draconic transformation, temperature-based breath attacks, and eventually echolocation, while her personality creates an entirely different kind of problem for Morihito to manage.

Nico Wakatsuki is the witch who summons Ban and the person Ban is primarily expected to accompany. The two become extremely close, with Nico trusting Ban enough to discuss subjects she does not always share with her other familiars.

Morihito Otogi frequently clashes with Ban's lifestyle. His insistence on discipline, cleanliness, and responsibility is almost perfectly opposed to her preference for lounging around and ignoring instructions, but the antagonism does not prevent them from protecting one another.

Kanshi Kazamatsuri has a sibling-like relationship with Ban. Both are susceptible to greed and bad ideas, and each is capable of encouraging the other into behavior that irritates Morihito.

Keigo Magami is another of Nico's familiars and maintains an amicable relationship with Ban as a fellow resident.

Miharu Kiryu lives alongside Ban in the Otogi household and shares responsibility for Nico with the other familiars.

Nemu Miyao initially misunderstands Ban's relationship with Keigo and reacts negatively, but repeated contact through Nico's circle allows the two to become friends.

Momo Kuramochi frequently spends time with Ban and Nico, giving Ban another companion outside the male-heavy familiar group.