Oak Family

Oak Family オーク家 Ookuke
Biographical information
Nationality	Barsburg
Current Head of House	Possibly Shuri Oak
Political information
Position	Nobility One of the Seven Houses of God
Home	Oak House (District 2)
Appearances
Manga	Kapitel 1
Anime	Episode 1

The Oak Family is a prestigious and wealthy noble family presently living in District 2. As of manga chapter 75, there are 96 members in the family. They are the descendants of Relikt, one of the Seven Ghosts. This means that some of them will be chosen as a vessel for Relikt and act as the said Ghost after they die as humans. When the vessel dies, Relikt will reincarnate in another vessel, as shown in the case of Lance, who was reincarnated as Relikt after the Raggs War Relikt was killed.

Like many noble families in Europe, it has senior branch (lineage of the descendants of the firstborn sons) and cadet branch (that of the younger sons). However, it is unknown whether an Oak's assets are distributed to his/her children equally or they are passed only to the firstborn child (primogeniture is quite common in European noble families).

Appearance

Considering the Oaks who have appeared in the series so far, it is estimated that an Oak has fair skin (a recurring trait with the nobility in the series), fine, light-colored hair (light blond in the anime), which could be a play on qualities of the Aryan race. Their eye color is more commonly light. Darker colors seem less common (e.g. medium grey, Wakaba's brother) in the family.

Their faces can be considered seductive and look like a fox (especially when they smile). They also have long bottom eye-lashes. It appears that for some strange reason an Oak is recognizable by his physical features.

It appears that their movements can be quick and agile, as seen in Hakuren's performance (e.g. killing Kors that move quickly) during the Bishop's Apprentice Exam and Lance's battle with Katsuragi. All the Oaks who have appeared so far have slim limbs.

Personality

Most of the Oak family have personalities similar to the personalities of many Barsburg family members, in the sense that they are more interested in or concerned about personal gain than caring for others, as shown when many Oaks were not aggrieved at Wakaba's death, even having the audacity to ask for things like favourable treatment for their son and securing a promotion for their husband at his funeral, and gossiping about the cause of his death. When Hakuren met Granne Barsburg, he mentioned being familiar with people like her.

Oaks may have a strong sense of family pride, as Hakuren took offence at Teito calling the Oak family 'spineless'.

Family Members

• Wakaba Oak
• Shuri Oak
• Shuri's Mother (an Oak by marriage)
• Hakuren's Father
• Hakuren's Mother (an Oak by marriage)
• Hakuren Oak
• Lance
• Raggs War Relikt(first appeared in manga chapter 67) 
• Other unnamed members (around 90 people)

Family Tree

First Relikt†───┬─── Unknown       
                │              
        (Many generations)
                ┬  
                │               
   ┌────────────┴─────────────────────────────┐                           
   │                                          │                           
 Unknown─┬─Unknown                      Wakaba's Father─┬─Wakaba's Mother
         │                                              │
       Lance†                               ┌───────────┴────────┐
                                            │                    │  
                        Unknown─┬─Wakaba Oak†     Hakuren's Father─┬─Hakuren's Mother
                                      │                                  │                
                                │                                  │
                             Shuri Oak                         Hakuren Oak

Marriage

It appears that because the Oaks are powerful and wealthy, many people are interested in marrying them (e.g. Hakuren has said that since he was a child his father has been giving him albums full of photos of girls who want to marry him. His father also told him that in order to succeed the Oak family as an adult, a male member must marry a good wife). This suggests that many of their marriages are to a certain degree arranged (since they choose one from a list).

In light of manga chapter 12, since it will damage the Oak Family's reputation if an Oak get divorced, it is likely that in order to protect the reputation of the Oak Family, an Oak must stay in marriage with their wife/husband even if they are unhappy, and that they should not have concubines like other noble families, especially for the Oaks who have chosen politicians as their career, since divorce and extra-marital affairs are scandalous for politicians.

Intermarriage

Considering Hakuren's mother's appearance, she may have been a member of the Oak Family even before her marriage. Also, although Shuri's mother remained unseen throughout the series, considering that Shuri and Hakuren closely resemble each other, it is likely that their mothers also resemble each other. Thus, it is possible that Shuri's mother may also have been a member of the Oak family even before her marriage.

If it is true that Hakuren's and Shuri's mothers are from other branches of the Oak Family, this would indicate that the Oak Family accepts intermarrying within the family (possibly in the form of marriage between cousins), and would mean that the lineage of the Oak family is inbred to a certain extent. This could be because Oaks feel that there is a need to keep fortunes within the family. It could also be because they want to keep the bloodline pure or/and increase the chance of the offspring's being able to use Zaiphon (the ability to use Zaiphon is very important for the Oak Family, as many of them shall join the military, and it seems that Zaiphon can be inherited in some cases).

Similar to the Barsburg family, it is possible that the eccentricities found in many Oaks are caused by generations of inbreeding.

Wealth

They are wealthy, especially the senior branch. They live in big houses and are served by about 400 residence servants. The area of their land is 300,000 tsubo (1 tsubo is approximately 3.3 square meters).

In recent years, they have monopolized the sales of the Kokujyuseki, a precious jewel, which has been further increasing their wealth (manga chapter 75). It is revealed in manga chapter 77 that the first kokujyuseki are in fact Raggs royalty's jewels, and because Marshal Wakaba Oak could not destroy those jewels like Raggs' literature, he asked a Warsfeil, named Buran, to use black magic to conceal these jewels, which is evidence of the Raggs Kingdom's existence. After the Raggs Royalty's jewels were sold out, Wakaba allowed Buran to use slaves to create new kokujyuseki, which allows the Oak Family's wealth to continue growing.

It is highly likely that the dark side of the kokujyuseki, i.e. the fact that they are made from living slaves and animals, is confidential between Wakaba and Buran, and other Oaks do not know where they can get the kokujyuseki or that in fact it is not mined (Buran has said that Lance was the only Oak that suspected the kokujyuseki's origin). So, it seems that Wakaba was the sole supplier of the kokujyuseki. It is uncertain if he gave some kokujyuseki to other Oaks for them to sell it or kept all the kokujyuseki for himself.

Influence

As it is family tradition that an Oak must pursue a career in either the court or the military (anyone who does not is faced with disownment, e.g. anime episode 23), its members occupy significant positions in these areas and they have links to both the court and the military. Hakuren has said that the Oak family "sees no worth in a job that isn't politics or the military".

It appears that the Oak family is quite powerful, and it has been said that the Oaks "think they can own everything". This has been proven to be true as Marshal Wakaba Oak persuaded the examiners to allow his son, Shuri Oak, to graduate when Shuri would have failed the graduation exam otherwise, and Hakuren's father also used his connections to obtain the post of the empress-to-be's tutor for Hakuren.

Abilities and Attributes

It is likely that quite a number of them are gifted with zaiphon (more commonly the attacking type), as students at the Barsburg Military Academy are people who can use zaiphon, and Lance and Hakuren have been shown to use the attacking type of zaiphon.

Trivia

• The oak (tree) is a common symbol of strength and endurance. It is the national tree for many countries, including Germany. Traditionally, it is also an important part of Germany Army regalia.
• It seems that apart from the member who is acting as Ghost Relikt's vessel, the other Oaks do not know that Ayanami is the reincarnation of Verloren, since they let him infiltrate into their own God House easily as a guest of Marshal Wakaba's funeral. (manga chapter 75) 
• Considering that there seem to be very few females in the Barsburg military, it is possible that female Oaks tend to become politicians.