Ya Know She's a Little Bit Dangerous
I may be speaking blasphemy when I say this, but out of all the characters in the Oh My Goddess! series, Urd is my favorite. And least you think I'm shallow for saying this, I should point out that her looks have absolutely nothing to do with it. Well, okay. Very little.
To be completely honest, I found her quite annoying back when I watched the OAV series. But as it turns out, five short video episodes just aren't enough to convey the full extent of Urd's surprisingly deep character. For the uninitiated, Urd is Belldandy's elder sister, and a Goddess Second Class. In the early manga (as well as the OAVs), she comes across as obsessed with sex - her main goal in life is trying to get Belldandy and Keiichi to get it on, at times even resorting to mixing strange potions or telling lies to fool Keiichi.
Of course, this is just the shallow, obvious part of her personality. Deep down, Urd is a sensitive and caring person, even if she doesn't show it all the time. On top of that, she's wiser than she lets on, and is very protective of her younger sisters, even if she doesn't always get along with them. Finally, it should be noted that often times, the reason she causes so much trouble is that she likes to have fun, and isn't afraid to be a bit naughty about it. In full force, her drive can be overbearing, but in lesser doses, her flirtatiousness is actually quite endearing.
Development as a Character
Urd has the unique distinction of being the most drastically changed character in the Oh My Goddess! series. When she first appears in the second issue of the American manga, she is shallow, manipulative, meddlesome, nymphomanic, and overbearing. In fact, the first thing she does is try to get Keiichi into bed with her, to supposedly "teach him about real women" so that he will be more inclined to put the moves on Belldandy. (My own personal thought on this is that she was just using that as an excuse for trying to get laid - but that is a matter of pure speculation on my part.)
As the story progresses, Urd gradually mellows out; she seems to learn from each major event in her life, and is consequently a fair bit wiser than she was when the series began. Her life, as discussed in more detail below, is a constant struggle against her dark side, and it seems that, each time she is forced to confront it directly, she learns a bit more about how to control it.
Now, in the current manga, Urd has evolved into a striking young woman with a penchant for suggestive remarks and a flair for the dramatic. Her irritating traits still surface from time to time, but usually in a much more subdued form - she likes to meddle, but does so in ways that (thankfully) have only a minor effect on Keiichi's life.
From an artistic standpoint, Urd's look has changed somewhat since the beginning of the manga, but not nearly so much as Belldandy or Keiichi. Perhaps the most drastic change in appearance is that of her hair, which is much more elaborate currently than it was when she first appeared. The actual change is slipped into the middle of the fifth American volume, "Queen of Vengeance", when a problem with the Yggdrasil system causes Urd to age in reverse - you don't really notice that her hair is wavy all of a sudden, because you're too busy noticing the much more obvious fact that she looks about ten years younger. Beyond this, though, the changes are understated and stylistic - she seems to pick up a certain sense of maturity and class, but her appearance remains largely unchanged from when she was first introduced.
Like Night and Day
Perhaps the single most interesting thing about Urd is her unique mixed ancestry. Although she is a goddess by trade, she is actually half demon by blood - and her demon and goddess sides are constantly at odds with each other. The expression "battling one's inner demons" refers to a character struggling to overcome their dark side, and in Urd's case, this expression takes on literal meaning: twice now, her dark side has come to the surface to wreak havoc on her life.
The first of these occurrences is in the appropriately-named fourth volume of the American manga, "Terrible Master Urd". To be brief (as this is the less interesting of the two), the demoness Mara uses a strange-looking urn to download something called the "ultimate destruction program" into Urd's mind. The first time through, it isn't technically Urd's demon half that surfaces - it is an entity called the Lord of Terror, who was able to take control of her body because of Urd's demonic ancestry. When the Lord of Terror is finally exorcised from her mind (and out roaming free), Urd's selfless side emerges in force for the first time.
The second and more noteworthy of these two incidents is when Mara (yes, she again) manages to separate Urd's goddess and demon halves. Urd's evil half isn't terribly interesting - she is fairly standard villain faire. What makes this part of the story such an excellent development for Urd is seeing her goddess side on its own. Goddess Urd is serious, wise, devoted, and just about as pure as Belldandy, if not more so. Her mode of dress is somewhat less blatant than that of Urd's whole self, but she still manages to show a fair bit of leg - old habits die hard, after all. In comparison to her usual, she is very interesting to watch: she is confident and direct even in the face of great danger, and she seems much more at peace with herself than usual (and understandably so). Unfortunately, Urd's demon side takes with it that subtle playfulness that so defines her character, so, while it is certainly interesting to see the two halves of Urd's personality taken separately, neither side by itself can hope to live up to the whole Urd.
When Urd's two halves are finally rejoined (much to the chagrin of both), Urd comes out ever so slightly changed. Although as playful as she had always been, she retains some of her goddess half's sense of inner peace, and, as a result, becomes much less antagonistic towards those close to her. All in all, quite a pleasant change.
Later, Urd is confronted by her mother, Hild... the leader of Hell. It's apparent in that arc that Urd completely chooses to have nothing to do with Hell, and takes pride in her goddess heritage. It's also obvious that she has other qualms with her mother, but if you want another taste of Demon Urd, Hild is as scary as it can get... and we should be thankful that Urd's goddess side subdues most of that nature.
But What About Love?
I offer you the following as a matter of conjecture, because it is unclear to me whether Kosuke Fujishima (the author of Oh My Goddess!) meant for this to come across as it does. However, true or not, looking at Urd from this particular viewpoint really puts her in a new light:
What if Urd is in love with Keiichi?
I suppose it sounds ridiculous at first, but rest assured, I wouldn't suggest something like this without at least a little evidence. What gave me this idea in the first place was the scene you see to the left, in which Urd is suffering from the effects of a love potion. It isn't that particular frame, so much as what Belldandy says afterwards that caught my attention. Click on the picture to view a condensed version of the pages in question.
It certainly puts a new spin on why Urd might act the way she does. For instance, back in the first volume, when she is constantly trying to have sex with Keiichi, maybe, rather than just being horny and looking for a good time, she has feelings for Keiichi that she doesn't quite know how to express another way. After all, there was an awful lot of other guys around most of the time, and a woman like Urd could have the pick of the litter. Of course, perhaps she was telling the truth when she said she was trying to get Keiichi in bed to teach him to be a man for Belldandy - but doesn't that seem just a bit far-fetched?
More recently, in The Fourth Goddess story arc, Urd does quite a bit to protect Keiichi and Belldandy's relationship from Peorth's meddling ... but what is that in her eyes? One might wonder why she would go through such lengths to keep Keiichi and Belldandy together if she was in love with Keiichi herself. The answer to that is that love can take many forms. Urd and Belldandy, despite having vastly different personalities, are extremely close - and Urd knows full well (to the point of having pointed it out on at least one occasion) that Keiichi and Belldandy are perfect for each other. Because of this, it's only natural that she would keep her feelings to herself. Despite how she acts at times, deep down, Urd is not a selfish person - she knows what's best for those she loves, and in this case, Keiichi and Belldandy are both happier together than either would be if Keiichi was with Urd instead.
Now, as stated previously, this is all just a crazy theory - an unverifiable interpretation of events in the story. There's a strong possibility that I'm reading too much in to the plot ... but on the other hand, the idea of unrequited love for Keiichi makes Urd's character ever so slightly tragic - another one of those numerous ever-so-slightly's that make Urd so deep and fascinating as a story character.
The Adventures of Mini-Urd
It would be almost criminal of me to explore all these deep aspects of Urd's personality without giving any attention to her lighter side. Out of all the core characters, Urd is easily the most fun-loving of the group. Unfortunately, poor Urd has to spend most of the day with only Skuld to keep her company, since Keiichi and Belldandy are usually off taking classes. Leave it to someone of Urd's meager attention span to find creative ways to stay occupied.
In her abundant spare time, Urd's favorite activity is to shrink herself down to just a few inches high and explore the temple with Skuld and their friend Gan the rat. Her misadventures in her "handy petite size" range from bathing in miso soup, to participating in a miniature rock band, to setting her rat friend up with a teapot.
Along these same lines, one of the cutest books in the entire series is one appropriately named "Urd's Fantastic Adventure", in which Urd, suffering from an age-regression effect caused by a crash in Heaven's computer system, goes out one evening and meets a young boy named Shohei Yoshida. He is immediately smitten with her, and before she knows it, she finds that she rather enjoys being around him as well. Of course, their brief relationship is doomed from the beginning, as Keiichi, Belldandy, and Skuld are busy working to find a way to return her to her normal age. In the end, Urd, once cured of her not altogether unpleasant malady, meets Shohei after he followed her home. She kisses him on the forehead, and tells him that her "little sister" was gone, but that he'll be able to meet her once he grows up, so she tells him "grow up as quickly as possible"
Goddess Classification
In a recent story, Urd was presented the Goddess First Class Examination. She was about to take it before when she was younger, but the examiner told her that she thought it would be best if she didn't become a first class goddess. This is no surprise, for everybody was whispering about her and her mixed ancestry. In the end, she returned to her sister Belldandy with a smile, and said "looks like liars are no good after all".
However, it should be noted that the bar on lying doesn't apply until you obtain a first class license.
Even when Urd passed the exam with flying colors, she refused to be given a First Class Goddess License, much like she refused in the past. The reason? Simple. Urd can't be like Belldandy... someone who's able to protect everybody. Urd only wants to protect her sisters, and only her sisters and loved ones; she can't be responsible for everything, and take the burden of the world on her shoulders. In her own words, "I tell lies when I need to". This aspect of her personality shows that despite what others think (such as a mass mentality of wanting a first class license), she wants to hold what's important to her.
World of Elegance
A third time it's revealed that Urd struggled with her half-demon blood was when she was confronted with her angel for the very first time when she was young. An angel reflects a goddess's true nature, so it would be no surprise that Urd's angel would be black and white. Urd always clung to a dream of pure white wings, and when she could no longer deny it due to her angel, she shouted out "I never want to see you again!"
And angels are obedient to their goddess, absolutely and forever.
However, after Urd seems to have come to terms with her demon half, she wanted her angel back. But... she couldn't summon her. She even went as far as to order an Angel's Egg just so she could try again, and tried to teach Skuld not to make the same mistake. However, when Skuld gets into trouble, and the need for an angel arose, Urd was able to call upon World of Elegance, because more than verbal commands... an angel follows the heart of a goddess. Urd was finally able to face and accept her "other" self, without any regrets.
Perhaps it's Envy...
Urd displays jealous traits. Ever since she was a little girl, she desperately hung onto her dream of pure white wings; only later in life she has fully accepted what she was and what she wanted to be without denying herself. Also, the whole ordeal about Troubadour was about her wanting him to be completely devoted to her, which he was unable to.
She's also very traditional, in a sense. She feels that, being the eldest sister, certain honors are due to her. One example is when Belldandy and Peorth were doing the Triple Challenge of the Goddesses, where Urd stepped up to be the judge. She also feels that she has to have a word in everything, since with being the eldest she's supposed to be given a degree of authority.
Urd also has a great amount of pride and self-worth. Although she doesn't necessarily enjoy being the System Operator of Yggdrasil, she still clings to it since it is a high position and something she worked hard for. Her rating is also something she takes great pride in as well as her goddess heritage, although at one point she would have sooner been a first class goddess. She also takes great pride in her physical appearance, as it would take a great amount of effort to maintain it as well as picking and choosing her stylish clothes, not to mention that she was rather upset at the loss of her well-endowed bustline during the Trials of Morisato... not to mention that she was also annoyed that Keiichi had bigger breasts than her during the Miss Keiichi story.
"Thinking Gives You Wrinkles!"
One important part of Urd's character is how she often acts without thinking through her situation. There's a reason why she chooses to act instead of to think... she'll be stuck with either one or the other! She has two innate natures, which encompass Heaven and Hell; if she spent her time weighing a situation, she would always end up at a stalemate. She would be paralyzed by any situation; instead of doing that, however, Urd is willing to do whatever first comes to her mind (often with the right intention) because she'd rather act and do something wrong rather than to not act at all.
This is also important to Urd's character, especially since it comes later in the series (discussed in the First Class Examination arc); Urd has come to terms with both her goddess and demon sides, and she knows that both are her. She still never uses her demonic heritage as an excuse for her actions, though; it's simply Urd.
Sugar and Spice
Urd, Norn of the Past and self-proclaimed "Cupid of Love", is in my opinion, the most interesting character in the entire series. Her personality is several levels deep; she is the type of character who grows on people the more that they read about her. Even when she isn't stirring up trouble, her mere presence is enough to add a certain spice of life to the story. Things would certainly not be as interesting without her.