Arthur Boyle

is a Third Generation Fire Officer of Tokyo's 8th Special Fire Brigade.

Appearance
Arthur is a young man of average height with shaggy blonde hair and blue eyes. He tends to style his hair upwards into a ponytail when in a fight, so that his field of vision would be clearer. When Arthur was first introduced, he wore a dark jacket, with a button on his collar, shaped like a cross-like insignia, light shirt, dark pants, a belt and dark shoes. He was later presented with a bunker gear, a protective outer jacket and trousers. Arthur carries a scabbard alongside him, in which he keeps his blade-less sword. Parts of his outfit, are coated with blue lines. Arthur wears a dark green jumper with a hoodie, which he puts on his head instead of a helmet. The buttons of his protective jacket are in the shape of cross-like symbols. Arthur's outfits contain patches with "8" on them, to signify his affiliation to the 8th Special Fire Brigade. He also dons a neck protector and protective gloves. When attiring the 8th bunker gear, Arthur chooses not to wear the helmet, as it doesn't fit the image of a knight.

Personality
Arthur is confident in himself as a Third Generation, though he can be somewhat arrogant, cocky and full of himself at times. He has a medieval-like complex, referring to the girls he meets as princesses and the 8th Special Fire Fighting Church as his castle. Arthur sees the world in a different light; he believes the pigeons to be griffons and that he was successful in slaying dragons. According to Shinra, he is inexplicably popular and seems to always have a silent and mysterious façade,though Shinra thinks he's just too stupid to articulate anything. Arthur often bickers with Shinra on who are superior: knights or heroes. He is shown to be somewhat stubborn and prefers to go his own way rather than what people think he should be doing. Arthur takes great pride in Excalibur. Due to his attitude and casual demeanor, Arthur tends to make bad impressions on people. He was shown not to be bothered by human antics. Despite his repetitive bickering with Shinra, Arthur is capable of putting the differences between the two aside and work as a team. Arthur is usually nonchalant even while struggling in fights, he manages not to worry himself. Despite this, Arthur has numerously been remarked as foolish and to lack common sense. Even when it comes to trivial things such as wielding Excalibur in the wrong hand, this can greatly affect Arthur's ability to fight, and while a regular person will realize such a mistake quickly, it will take Arthur a while to realize. Like the other brigadier, Arthur has a sense of justice, which he correlates to his persona of being a knight. He understands that not everybody has the will or strength to fight for themselves, so he chooses to fight for the weak in place, claiming himself to be the duty of a knight. Arthur has a habit of saying "Hmph" a lot in response to people, which may come across as somewhat up-tight.

Abilities
Arthur is a Third Generation, who has exceeded the abilities granted to him and is able to raise the temperature of the flames he creates, therefore allowing him to fabricate and control the fourth state of matter — plasma. Through this process, he uses the hilt of a sword to create an extremely hot, sharp and concentrated blade, which he uses in a type of swordplay that is equivalent to plasma cutting. The substance he creates cannot be easily extinguished by the Second Generation. With his Excalibur, Arthur is capable of easily cutting through metal and generating lightning. Arthur himself possesses incredible physical strength, being capable of sending an opponent bigger than him in size flying with a single backwards fist.

Background
Arthur attended the same training academy as Shinra, where the two were introduced to each other and often bickered over their beliefs.

Introduction arc
Arthur arrives at the 8th Special Fire Fighting Church, where he runs into Shinra and the two begin fighting. As their fight is taken to roof, he meets Iris and Maki, followed by Takehisa, who instructs him to spar with Maki in order to test his abilities. Unable to beat her combat skills and ability, Arthur gives up. After eating at Ippudo Ramen, Arthur is offered a battleaxe, but refuses to take it. When the brigade is notified of a Flame Human in the Iriya District, he departs to the scene. While on route, Akitaru instructs Arthur and Shinra to conceal their weapons in public, much to his confusion. After their arrival, Akitaru pulls the two aside for disobeying orders, where Arthur questions the instruction, leading Akitaru to justify his reasoning. After their conversation, a burst of flames emerges from the apartment, prompting the brigade to storm the building and find the Flame Human. Arthur volunteers to put the man out of his misery and impales his core. Immediately after that, the ceiling begins to collapse, but the brigade escapes unscathed.

Arthur participates in the Fire Officer Newcomer Tournament. When the simulation exam starts, he charges towards the building and uses his sword to slice his way in. After one of the entrants bombards the building with his ability, Tamaki falls onto him, which gets the two into an intimate situation. Following his beliefs, the boy allows Tamaki to take the lead when exploring their current location. When the two are attacked, Arthur jumps in to defend the girl. He then charges in, believing Joker to be part of the exam, despite Shinra's warnings, but doesn't land a single blow. When the man uses an unknown substance to put their lives in jeopardy, Arthur uses his sword to cut a hole in the ceiling, allowing Shinra to evacuate them all to safety, with Arthur being caught by his team-mates in a blanket.

The following day, Arthur accompanies Shinra on his mission to rescue a dog, who was reported to be stuck in a tree, and afterwards, helps Mamoru hand out balloons to children. The two then learn of an accident in the courthouse from Takehisa, who was moving to the scene with the rest of the brigade. Grabbing a lift from Shinra, the two Fire Officers face Setsuo, with Arthur hitting the opponent with a backwards fist and delivering a collaborative attack alongside Shinra.

VS. 5th Special Fire Brigade arc
When the brigade catches up to Shinra, Arthur and the rest find themselves in a confrontation with the 5th Special Fire Brigade. Tōru mocks Akitaru, which leads to Shinra and Arthur jumping in, but Maki and Takehisa detain the two. A stand-off between the brigades is then catalyzed, but the two depart without any signs of struggle. The following day, Takehisa begins training the Fire Officers, having Arthur spar against Maki. Later, after Iris has gone missing, the the 8th Special Fire Brigade infiltrates the 5th Special Fire Fighting Industrial Complex, where Arthur finds himself in a fight against Setsuo, who was modified by the 5th Special Fire Brigade. Mid-way into the fight, Arthur realises the whole time he had been fighting with Excalibur in the wrong hand, which is why he had been struggling so much. Before Setsuo could execute his final attack, Arthur finishes him off in a dash with Flash of Lightning, successfully killing him.

Trivia

 * Arthur shares his name with Arthur Pendragon, whose weapon of choice was also called Excalibur.
 * Both King Arthur and Excalibur are inspired after a British medieval leader and his legendary sword.
 * Arthur was first seen on the cover page of Chapter 0, despite not debuting until Chapter 2.