| “ | I'm not sure what I did to deserve this turn of events, but I just happened to meet a strange wolf. She wants to return to the north, and I made a contract to accompany her. I cannot break that contract. I gave my word. | „ |
| ~ Kraft Lawrence |
Kraft Lawrence, who chiefly goes by his surname, is the male protagonist of the light novel and anime series Spice and Wolf. He is a 25-year-old travelling merchant who goes from town to town buying and selling various things in order to make a living. When he was twelve, he became an apprentice to a merchant relative, and set out on his own at eighteen. His goal in life is to gather enough money to start his own shop, and he has already been travelling for seven years while gaining experience in the trade. He meets Holo one night after travelling through the town of Pasloe with some wheat in tow, which allowed her to finally escape, and eventually agrees to her travelling with him so she can return to Yoitsu, her original home in the north. In return, she helps him by providing her wisdom, which helps to increase his profits and get him out of jams.
He is voiced by Jun Fukuyama in the Japanese version of the anime, and by J. Michael Tatum in the English version.
Appearance[]
Lawrence is a fairly tall man (1.78m or 5' 10) of average build, with short silver hair and spiky bangs that part on either side of his face, he also has gray eyes. He has been described as handsome, although his constant travels and work prevent him from grooming any more than necessary to present a professional appearance to potential buyers and sellers, which results him having a beard. He wears a brown jacket, a white long sleeve shirt with a high collar and a green vest laced in the front, and black pants.
Personality[]
Lawrence is quite mature compared to the other men his age in the series. He excels in everything related to business and takes pride in that fact, he enjoys sharing his extensive knowledge with Holo who is a quick study and he sometimes doesn't give enough credit to her. There is evidence that Lawrence is a practical when it comes to material possession, one who doesn't purchase things he doesn't need (until Holo joined him). Lawrence takes his word seriously and keeps his promises as best as he can especially with Holo.
Much like Holo, Lawrence is quite socially inept, albeit in a very different way; while Holo is very savvy about human nature but knows little about the modern world, Lawrence is the exact opposite, knowing little about human nature, but being very knowledgeable about contemporary society and social institutions. He has travelled alone for most of his life, so he doesn't always pick up social cues, especially from Holo and other women, to the extent Holo sometimes has to spell things out for Lawrence until he gets it (though he's at least self-aware of this flaw since he admits to her at one point that outside of anything related to being a merchant, he's very inexperienced, and that she best think of him as a child in other respects). In turn, he frequently gives her lectures about how trading and business works.
Lawrence is a bit of an anti-hero; due to wanting to open his own shop, he frequently comes up with schemes in order to make massive profits. At one point early in the series, this resulted in him gaining a massive debt instead, which he had to take part in another scheme in order to pay off. Additionally, since he isn't very savvy about human nature, he often ends up trusting the wrong people, which sometimes lands him in even bigger trouble than he was before. However, it is also worth noting that at least most of the time, Lawrence strives to get things done in as scrupulous and moral of a way as possible, and on a personal level, he's almost always very polite and personable. In fact, the only times he will resort to methods like blackmail is if he catches someone trying to scam him first. Therefore, for much of the series, he tries to strike a balance between being a decent person and doing what he has to to make a profit.
As the series progresses, both Lawrence and Holo demonstrate a growing affection toward each other. Although Lawrence rarely shows different facial expressions, he truly cares for Holo. He shows his affection through his actions, such as when Holo gets captured by the Church and he completely panics.
Gallery[]
Light Novel[]
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2008 Anime[]
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2024 Anime[]
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