Orphanage Little Girl

The Orphanage Little Girl is an unnamed minor but pivotal character in the horror manga and anime Elfen Lied. Her actions, and the reasons for these actions, remain a deeply divisive matter of debate. She was either a victim of circumstance or a fake female friend whose betrayal served as the final push in creating a cold-blooded mass murderer. She was voiced by Noriko Shitaya in the Japanese version of the anime, and by Allison Sumrall in the English version.

Personality
The Orphanage Little Girl initially appeared as a friendly, polite, generous, courageous and sweet little girl. It is possible that this was just to disguise her true nature. She may have been just as cruel, wicked, malicious, sinister, evil, ruthless, sadistic as the others in the orphanage.

History
Little is specifically known about the little girl's origins, but she is first shown befriending Lucy by protecting and aiding her against the bullies. Lucy at first resisted her offer of friendship, her alienation already begun. Lucy had kept a secret from all at the orphanage. In the grounds just outside the building, she had been feeding a stray puppy, and it became the only thing she cared for.

She later realized she did not have enough food for the growing dog, and thus went to the little girl for help out of necessity. The little girl made a promise to Lucy not to tell anyone about the puppy, knowing full well that if she did, the puppy would most likely be tortured as well. For reasons that are not clear, the little girl told Tomoo (Christopher Patton) and the bullies about the puppy. Possible reasons range from her being tricked into revealing the secret to her being loose-lipped to her entire offer of friendship being a deception meant to gain and then betray Lucy's confidence.

As the little girl enters in the canteen, she is shocked to see Tomoo about to kill the puppy while forcing Lucy to watch in horror, and though she begs them to stop, the puppy is soon killed in cold blood. The little girl admits she was the one who told them, but her dialogue is ambiguous as to why she did this. The little girl then seemingly confirmed her betrayal by sporting an enigmatic grin. Again, the reason for this smile is unclear: It could have revealed her deliberate betrayal, been a nervous smile brought on by tension, or even been a hallucination on the part of a despondent Lucy.

Although her exact reasons remain a mystery it should be noted that her dialogue and the response from the bullies indicate that she acted alone. When Lucy revealed the existence of the puppy she responded that she knew Tomoo and the other bullies would torture the puppy just to torment Lucy. Also, as the orphan girl seemingly intervened to stop the bullies from harming the puppy further one of the bullies points out that she was the one to reveal the puppy’s existence. The bullies confusion as to why the girl would stop their “fun” when she came to them with the information likely means that she was not loose lipped or forced but told them willingly. This would also indicate that she wasn’t working with the bullies but had planned this manipulation herself and the bullies were just her pawns. Lucy, enraged and furious by this, unleashes her demonic powers for the first time, killing everybody in the canteen. The exact manner of the little girl's death is unclear from the scene. In later sequences, she is seen as a hallucination and ghost in Lucy's mind, tormenting her and showing a hole blown in her face. Unfortunately, after her death at the hands of Lucy (along with the others), the orphanage was ultimately closed down and never reopened.