Novilit/Персонажи
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Копипаста, посвящённая персонажам.
Знатные семьи
Несмотря на то, что Искра может родиться в любой семье, наиболее сильные способности проявляются в семьях, передающих Искру по наследству. Особого внимания заслуживают:
- Семья Гетеродин — род злодеев и апокалиптических маньяков, регулярно пытающийся захватить мир или сделать ещё что-то столь же «весёлое» (по мнению их верных монстров — ягеров). Внезапно сделали поворот направо во время Братьев-Гетеродинов Билла и Барри, ставших общеевропейскими героями. В результате старожилы всерьёз опасаются, что ГГ пойдёт по стопам дедов, иногда пытаясь её превентивно устранить. Герб — золотой трилобит (вполне настоящее, но в реальном мире давно вымершее членистоногое, к насекомым, впрочем, отношения не имеющее и по внешнему виду сходное, скорее, с мечехвостом без хвоста). Родовое поместье — замок Гетеродин и окружающий его огромный и мощный город-крепость — Механиксбург. Происходят от дикого и неукротимого мадьярского воина — Чингиза Т-хо Дина. Фамилия происходит от искажённого имени основателя, а ещё по-английски это способ преобразования двух частот в третью, в частности, для подавления внешних шумов (это врождённая техника этой семейки, позволяющая лучше сконцентрироваться на задаче, проявляется в виде напевания мотива без слов). Скорее всего, в том мире он назван в честь этой семейки (у нас — наоборот).
- Род Вульфенбах — когда-то не слишком значительный род, прославившийся Клаусом Вульфенбахом. Оный товарищ присоединился к Гетеродинам, а после их исчезновения завоевал большую часть Европы, просто, чтобы они наконец перестали грызться. Герб — шахматная ладья с крыльями. Родовое поместье — замок Вульфенбах, сначала просто замок, потом — гигантский дирижабль. Фамилия переводится с немецкого как «Волчий ручей».
- Дом Валуа — основан Андроникусом Валуа, первым, и пока что единственным, Королём Бурь, весьма мощной Искрой и одним из немногих предшественников Барона в деле объединения Европы. Основатель отличался характерным гранатовым (как у минерала) цветом волос с переливом, проявляющимся у всех его потомков, и плодовитостью, достойной мифического Юпитера. После его исчезновения дом распался на кучу родов, активно грызущихся за вакантный титул, а также устраивающих заговоры и тайные общества, вроде Рыцарей Юпитера, чтобы вернуть вес оному титулу, в том числе:
- Род Штурмфораус — интриганы, специалисты по ядам и шпионажу, члены секретного ордена Рыцарей Юпитера, мечтающего о возрождении легендарного Королевства Бурь. Похищали девушек-Искр, чтобы возродить Иное в их теле. Герб — меч в шестерёнке. Родовое поместье — замок Штурмхальтен. Фамилия переводится не то как «Впереди буря», не то как «Опережающий шторм». Название замка — «Останавливающий бурю» (был выстроен в качестве барьера для экспансии Гетеродинов и их орд).
- Род Блитценгаард. Находятся в родстве со Штурмфораусами, сильно их напоминают, особенно цветом волос и злодейскими планами. Фамилия переводится примерно как «Страж молний».
- Род Монгфиш — интриганы, специалисты по генной инженерии, члены ордена Рыцарей Юпитера. Из этой семьи происходит мать ГГ. Фамилия — искажённое «Monkfish» — рыба, которую по-русски называют морским чёртом или удильщиком. Ухмылка Лукреции и впрямь её напоминает.
- Скифандрийский Матриархат. Амазонки,
отбитые нимфомакультистки богини плодородия. С искрами у них весьма так себе — зато весёлые и позитивные. Хлебом не корми, а дай лично убить каждую Фаффленарскую Тварь вместо того, чтобы послать подчинённых на зачистку местности от монстров. - Владыка Парижа Симон Вольтер и его дети, особенно Колетт. С такой продолжительностью жизни это даже не род — так, два поколения.
- Альбия. Одна. Вечна. Поэтому дальше идут…
Персонажи
- Агата Клэй/Гетеродин — протагонистка, 18-летняя студентка, оказавшаяся в клубке политических интриг. Воспитанница двух конструктов — Адама и Лилит Клэй (прямая отсылка к Библии). «Настоящие» их имена, под которыми они служили Гетеродинам — Панч и Джуди, что тоже отсылка (к персонажам-трикстерам английского фольклора). Агату оставил им на воспитание родной дядя Барри. До пробуждения Искры считала себя неуклюжей неудачницей. В критической ситуации проявляет силу характера, решать проблемы предпочитает не хитростью, а прямым напором (благо способности позволяют, одна из сильнейших Искр Европы же). Специализируется на механике, оптике/квантовой физике/электродинамике/на-чём-там-работает-её-луч-смерти и кибернетике (самовоспроизводящиеся клацы!), но ничего не понимает в медицине и биологии (в результате чего оказывается в затруднительном положении, когда, имея двух раненых на руках, вообще не может поставить их на ноги самостоятельно). После Штурмхальтена делит собственную голову с собственной матерью аж до визита в Англию, где наконец-то вышвыривает пассажирку вон. Обладатель фамильной способности Гетеродинов — особой мелодии, усиливающей концентрацию и повышающей и без того незаурядный интеллект Агаты просто до безобразия. Любит орехи. Дежурной шуткой являются её пышные формы вообще и бёдра в частности (как в сюжете, так и у фанов, ласково прозвавших её Агата Гипергрудин, а после отбытия с Акомикса на официальный сайт Фольо — ещё и Филейкалепная).
- Барон Клаус Вульфенбах — великолепный мерзавец, антизлодей и одновременно герой с плохой репутацией, искусный государь и крутой король. Короче, многогранная личность. Фактический правитель Центральной и Восточной Европы — но категорически отказывается менять свой баронский титул на более высокий, что иногда приводит к казусам: например, его титулуют «ваше баронское величество». Раньше был напарником Братьев Гетеродинов, таинственно исчез, усыплён своей любовницей Лукрецией Монгфиш накануне её свадьбы с Биллом Гетеродином и отправлен куда подальше, чтоб не мешал, предположительно в Скайфандер, потом вернулся с ребёнком на руках уже после исчезновения Гетеродинов и увидел родную землю погрязшей в анархии. Своей целью поставил сохранение мира и порядка в Европе, чего добивается порой очень жёсткими методами (не то что ему это нравится, просто местная знать по-другому не понимает, а мельчайшее проявление миролюбия в сеттинге принимают за слабость). Во времена приключений с братьями Гетеродинами был в их тени, но после того, как стал диктатором половины Европы, в качестве пассивного протеста против его режима во всех театральных, видео и прочих произведениях о приключениях братьев его стали выводить там полным придурком. «Пирог в лицо Клаусу Вульфенбаху спасает самую провальную постановку!» (при этом сам не Барон возражает и даже находит эти шутки забавными, иногда). Считает Агату угрозой стабильности (в общем-то так и есть — она не нарочно, но у неё всё время само получается) и Иным (почти правда, но не совсем), потому сначала стремился её запереть, а потом просто убить, причём любой ценой. Любит вафли.
- Гильгамеш Вульфенбах — сын Клауса Вульфенбаха, долгое время воспитываемый в секрете от всего мира (до определённого момента даже он сам не знал о своём происхождении). Сильная Искра. Со стороны своего отца регулярно подвергается испытаниям на готовность быть правителем. Молодость провёл в вольном городе Париже, где предавался разврату и увеселениям, которыми впоследствии пресытился. Испытывал одиночество на почве отсутствия девушек схожего с ним уровнем интеллекта, в результате чего влюбился в Агату. Специалист в механике и биологии, занимается также конструированием летательных аппаратов (особо примечателен тот факт, что в сеттинге, где все летают на дирижаблях, он один использует машины тяжелее воздуха, щедрой лопатой набрасывая дизельпанк в этот замшелый мирок). Долгое время делил голову с собственным отцом, который весьма презирал такие методы — но, по иронии судьбы, сам до них опустился.
- Принцесса Зита из Скайфандера — бой-баба, крутая принцесса. Амазонка, наследница престола затерянного города Скайфандера, где процветает матриархат. Отправилась в Европу как посол своего народа, но по дороге попала в плен к пиратам, откуда выбралась по трупам своих пленителей. В процессе забыла оставить в живых хоть кого-то, кто знает, как добраться до Скайфандера, и теперь странствует в поисках дороги домой. Встречает Агату в странствующем цирке, где становится её ментором по части боевых искусств и лучшей подругой. По косвенным данным является дочерью Клауса Вульфенбаха. Самая не своя до тортиков и красавчиков, но её не на шутку зацепило за авиатора Хиггса.
- Тарвек Штурмфораус — член Ордена Рыцарей Юпитера, интриган, великолепный мерзавец, профессиональный шпион, сильная Искра (в частности, используя записи ван Рейна, смог впервые за двести лет создать клаца с человеческим ИИ). Второй любовный интерес ГГ. Является наиболее вероятным наследником Короля Бурь, но эту должность у него нагло подрезали перед носом. Встречает Агату, когда та прибывает с цирком в Штурмхальтен. Помогает ей устроить побег (тем не менее, подстраивает все результаты в соответствии со своими собственными планами, в частности, соучастник пробуждения Иной и подселения её в Агату, о чём она даже сама старается не распространяться — его же зашибут за такое), потом отремонтировать замок Гетеродин и организовать оборону города. Не то чтобы исправился, но действует на её стороне.
- Мартеллий фон Блитценгаард — кузен Тарвека (у них одна бабушка), ещё один член Рыцарей Юпитера. После того, как Тарвек дискредитировал себя в глазах заговорщиков, был провозглашён новым Королём Бурь. Поначалу выглядит как типичное ничтожество на троне, но чуть позже раскрывается как великолепный мерзавец, сильная Искра, мастер скрытности и боя и редкостный отморозок. Положил глаз на Агату и даже сумел генетически запрограммировать её на зависимость от собственной близости, но девушка сумела заменить его на хорька. Словил побочку, теперь он тоже без перисутствия Агаты подыхает.
- Ксерксефония фон Блитценгаард — сестра Мартеллия. Эффектная девушка, способная благодаря удачно подобранному наряду предстать в облике как роковой красотки, так и милой няшки. Вроде бы не Искра, но очень умна, хитра и коварна. Плетёт интриги, поддерживая братца (как ни странно, эти двое друг друга искренне любят), но не забывая о главной цели: стать супругой Гила. В отличие от Мартеллия, Ксефа прекрасный психолог и умеет находить общий язык с окружающими — в частности, Агата считает её если не подругой, то по крайней мере не хочет прибить. А ещё Ксерксефония ввела в Англии новую моду на сладости в волосах: кутюр а-ля кондитерне!
- Виолетта Мондарев — ещё одна кузина Тарвека и Мартеллия, дымчатый рыцарь-недоучка. Для разнообразия искрой не является, да и оттенок волос у неё другой. Является обученным дымчатым рыцарем, но считается (да и сама считает себя) недотёпой и недоучкой. тем не менее частенько демонстрирует отличные навыки и мастерство. Была приставлена к Тарвеку как личный телохранитель, но не сумела его ничему обучить на самом деле парень ловко прикинулся веником, чтобы его недооценивали. За недотёпистость была сослана в Механиксбург, где и осознала, что на самом деле это не ссылка, а попытка Тарвека спасти её от убийц.
- Иное — таинственный суперзлодей, пытающийся завоевать Европу. На самом деле Лукреция Монгфиш, мать ГГ. Использует продвинутые (даже по меркам сеттинга) технологии, как, например, подчиняющие разум паразиты и перекачка сознания из органического тела в механическое и обратно (и, судя по всему, путешествия во времени). Установило копии своего сознания в неопределённое количество субъектов, известно три:
- Агата в Штурмхальтене (заблокировано медальоном). Но периодически вылезало или давило на мозги. Вроде как удалось полностью вытравить. Наконец-то!
- Андроид Аневка Штурмфораус, там же.
- Зола в замке Гетеродин (заблокировано технологиями Монгфишей).
- Бангладеш Дюпри — правая рука главгада Клауса Вульфенбаха, псих-наёмник, бывшая пиратка, поступившая на службу барону в обмен на обещание найти и покарать тех, кто в её отсутствие уничтожил её крепость и команду (заявила о своей отставке, узнав, что это была Зита). Испытывает отвращение от любых романтических чувств, Гила воспринимает примерно как брата.
- Авиатор третьей статьи Аксель Хиггс — член флота Вульфенбаха, спасший барона и Бангладеш ДюПри в битве при Штурмахальтене и доставивший их в госпиталь ценой переломов всех конечностей. Обладает большой физической силой, нечувствительностью к боли, великолепными боевыми навыками. Знаком с замком Гетеродин. Правдоподобная фанатская версия гласит, что он секретный седьмой ягер-генерал. возглавляющий разведку и контрразведку Гетеродинов; подтверждений куча, но все косвенные. Один из тех случаев, когда догадка фанатов оказалась абсолютно верной, а авторы не стали их обламывать просто из принципа.
- Рассказчик — воплощение Фила Фоглио, автора романа в виде персонажа. Неудачливый путешественник, бродящий по Европе и зарабатывающий рассказыванием историй. Сам того не понимая, использовался Клаусом для передачи Гилу зашифрованного сообщения. Через некоторое время в персонажи набивается и Кайя, домогающаяся от Агаты должности придворного биографа.
Protagonists
Ссылка: [1]
Agatha Clay/Heterodyne
The titular «Girl Genius», a Spark, raised by Parental Substitutes Adam and Lilith Clay. The story begins with her breaking through when the locket suppressing her abilities is stolen.
- Action Girl: (Бой-баба) She starts becoming one after the Slaver Wasps broke free on Castle Wulfenbach, and got formal training to be one under Zeetha’s tutelage. Though that training is far from complete, and she openly admits she’s not as dangerous a physical fighter as her various companions.
- Anti-Anti-Christ: (Анти-антихрист) She was meant to be the «holy child» of the Geisterdamen, the daughter of their goddess (who also is The Other). Except that she takes too much after her heroic father and was snatched away and raised from infancy to preteens by her equally heroic paternal uncle. That said, it’s also been hinted that she might have been originally created to serve as a vessel for her mother’s transfered mind.
- Badass Bookworm: (Книжный червь) Started as a bookworm, and became a badass.
- Bespectacled Cutie: Always wearing large, rimless glasses that enhance both her brains and cuteness.
- Beware the Nice Ones: (Добро с кулаками) Generally one of the nicest Sparks around (especially compared to her ancestors) and prefers taking the peaceful solution if at all possible. Try her patience one too many times, though, or threaten her friends, and count yourself lucky if getting beaten to an inch of your life is the worst thing that happens to you. For example, Bang gets a nice friendly reminder that Agatha is a Heterodyne and far worse things than Bang will ever be are latent in Agatha’s genes.
- Big Eater: (Обжора) When she remembers to eat at least. The novelization notes that her appetite started to increase, even while her waistline diminished, after her breakthrough, suggesting that the Spark accelerates one’s metabolism.
- Character Development: (Развитие персонажа) While she is still easily one of the most moral Sparks in the series, she has subtly become more jaded to heroics over time, going from the idealistic young girl who wanted to help the revenants of Passholdt to deciding that going around helping everyone like the Heterodyne Boys did sounds exhausting and preferring to mainly assist her friends and allies.
- Child Prodigy: (Вундеркинд) Subverted. She starts breaking through as a child (even younger than Gil), but gets a Power Limiter put on her, which prevents her from using her Spark (and also damps down her emotions, positive and negative.) When it is later removed, she ends up as a Teen Genius instead.
- Chronic Hero Syndrome: (Синдром хронического героизма) As shown on several occasions (lampshaded by Othar, no less!)
- Combat Pragmatist: (Прагматичный боец) Snooty noble bitch talking down to you during a fencing match? Provoke her into running straight at your foil. Not capable of scoring a hit on a fencing clank with an Adaptive Ability to defend against whatever it’s seen before? Throw an oil can at its off switch. Mad spark trying to steal your sentient Castle, fashioned an armband device to make the Castle unable to kill him in your defense, and coming at you with a knife? Smash his armband device with a wrench and let the now-unrestrained Castle drop a pillar on him. Agatha fights mean.
- Crush Blush: (Любовь заставляет вас краснеть) Sure, Tarvek, surprise a girl with a comment that she’s beautiful.
- Damsel in Distress: (Дева в беде) Played with. Lots of male heroic types want to slot her into this role, but most of the time she turns out to be perfectly capable of getting herself out of her latest bind, and she rather likes to be the hero doing the rescuing rather than the one being rescued.
- Dating Catwoman: (Возлюбленная — злодейка) Gil and Tarvek could both count here.
- Dude Magnet: As Zeetha lampshades, the universe keeps throwing hot, shirtless men at her. Even Martellus, who started out merely seeing her as a means to an end, grows attracted to her for her own sake.
- Happily Adopted: (Счастливо усыновлённый) Agatha has always known that Adam and Lilith Clay were constructs, and ostensibly «friends» of her uncle, but still calls them her parents, and obviously cares for them.
- Heroic Willpower: (Героическая сила воли) With enough motivation, Agatha can out-will Lucrezia herself.
- Hero with Bad Publicity: (Герой с плохой репутацией) World opinion on her is quite polarized. Many look up to her as the rightful heir of her father’s and uncle’s heroic legacy. But between her psychotic ancestors, and the Baron’s refusal to see her as anything but another Lucrezia, many people are concerned she might be the Other, or at least an old school Heterodyne.
- Idiot Hair: (Ахогэ) Agatha’s by no means an idiot (anymore at least), but the original meaning of the term applies. She has an eternal battle with the cowlick on the top of her head.
- Informed Flaw: (Заявленная слабость) It was originally stated that Agatha, despite being a powerful Spark, was limited by her lack of education, having been kicked out of college at 18. In Sturmhalten, she is unable to get her mother out of her head because she couldn’t understand the complexity of the Summoning Engine. However, this problem almost never comes up again after the Sturmhalten arc and Agatha is seemingly capable of building and repairing whatever she wants with no difficulty.
- While Agatha’s education before breaking through was incomplete, her adventures had her come into contact with and the chance to examine many other sparks' works, giving her experience and ideas she wouldn’t have gotten otherwise. Sparks in general can get inspiration by working on other Sparks' inventions, much less when they work together (which Agatha has done multiple times over the course of the story). The complexity of Lucrezia’s work, however, and the lack of chances to properly study it means that Agatha doesn’t have a lot to go on to actually fixing her current problem. It ultimately takes the combined efforts of Agatha, Tarvek, Gil, Trelawney, and Martellus to build a new machine to remove Lucrezia from Agatha’s mind.
- Kiss-Kiss-Slap: (Мазохистское танго) Agatha’s relationship with Gil and Tarvek is… complicated. On the one hand, she loves and trusts both and actively chose them over potentially ascending with infinite power. On the other hand, she’s very aware that Gil is the heir to a massive empire and Tarvek is a manipulator who seeks to inherit the crown of the Storm King, both factions that are not friendly with her status as the new Heterodyne. It doesn’t help that all three of them are potent Sparks with their own agendas, nor that Gil and Tarvek have a lot of history that cause them to clash as often as they collaborate, giving all three of them moments of irrationality and frustration.
- Magnetic Hero: (Обаяшка) Thanks to the legend of her father and uncle, Krosp states that a lot of people will want to follow her (or kill her or exploit her, but that’s beside the point). She’s already collected quite an entourage of followers, including an heir to the Lightning Throne, the Baron’s own son, a lost princess of a backwoods tribe, a talking cat, one of her cousins, a band of convicts who was repairing Castle Heterodyne…
- Morality Chain: (Моральный питомец) Serves as this for both Gil and Tarvek, who have on separate occasions made rather colorful threats of what they will do if anything happens to Agatha.
- Moses in the Bulrushes: (Моисей в тростниках) Before the comic’s start, after the Castle Heterodyne was destroyed, she was put under the care of Punch and Judy (under the pseudonyms Adam and Lilith) and her true parentage was covered up. She even had the Orphan’s Plot Trinket in the form of her locket! It wasn’t until her late teens that she learned she was a Heterodyne and a Spark.
- Most Common Superpower: Sure, lots of female characters are busty. But it’s interesting that, out of the Agatha-Zeetha-Violetta trio, the one with the biggest chest is also the only Spark (that is, the only superpowered one).
- Ms. Fanservice: (Мисс Фансервис) Less than Zeetha, but the Foglios do have a penchant for putting her in corsetry and lacy underthings. And then there’s this little gem…
- Omnidisciplinary Scientist: (Учёный-всезнайка) Agatha favors mechanical engineering as her specialty, but there isn’t a field of science that she can’t work with, from electrical medicine to mutant weasel-breeding to making coffee. (Except maybe medicine, since she was never allowed any hands-on training while at the University.) It helps that being a potent Spark allows her to bridge some of the gaps she’s missing, and that her travels give her an abundance of other Sparks' works to glean ideas and practical experience from.
- Omniglot: (Полиглот) According to the novels, she speaks Romanian (apparently her native tongue), Latin, Greek, German, English, French, Arabic and Russian. The only language spoken in the series thus far that she hasn’t been able to understand is Geisterese.
- Parody Sue: (Сын маминой подруги) Gets played with in the Cinderella parody.
- Pragmatic Hero: (Герой-прагматик) Once she gets over her Chronic Hero Syndrome, she matures into this. She’s willing to act the Terror Hero when it gets things done and she’s a Combat Pragmatist in a fight.
- Unkempt Beauty: (Неухоженная красотка) She cleans up nicely, too, but looks no less pretty when covered in dirt and engine grease (which is frequently). Tarvek even seems to prefer her that way.
- White Sheep: (Белая овца) Like her father and uncle before her, compared to the rest of their ancestors in the Heterodyne lineage and with Theo to the Mongfishes. That’s two breed of madness and she is okay, at least.
- Wrench Wench: (Гаечка) She looks good tinkering with machines. Plus, virtually all of the promotional artwork depicts her holding a wrench of some sort.
Ardsley Wooster
Wooster first met Gil in Paris and agreed to enter his service as a manservant. He claimed not to know Gil’s true identity at the time, and was apparently very surprised when he found out. However, Wooster turned out to be more than a Jeeves; in reality, he was a secret agent for British intelligence, and therefore likely DID know who Gil was, which is very impressive seeing as Gil’s childhood friends didn’t. Turns out Gil knew Wooster’s real identity, and was perfectly willing to go along with the pretense until events pushed him into making use of his knowledge, turning Wooster into his semi-minion and dispatching him to help Agatha. Wooster eventually convinces Agatha to come to England with him.
Classy and unflappable Wooster’s ultimate allegiance is of course to the immortal and sparky Queen Albia of England, but he thinks well of Agatha, has indeed assisted her on more than one occasion, and has given every indication of being as honorable a man in his profession can be, leading to his being listed here on the Protagonists page.
- Accidental Pervert: (Извращенец поневоле) Walked in on Agatha while she was executing her Full-Frontal Assault plan to scare away assassins.
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Agatha: Tch. What kind of master spy stands around in the hall screaming at the sight of a lady dishabille, anyway? What would your Queen say? Wooster: She’d say: «thank you Mister Wooster, for not doing anything- that would make Gilgamesh Wulfenbach melt England!» |
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- Badass Normal: (Крутой простой смертный) He commandeers a rifle from one of the Baron’s troops (after somehow ditching Agatha’s party), fires from the top of one of the caravans and is ready to snipe the Baron (see Shoot the Dog below), delivers an Offhand Backhand to Bangladesh Dupree, and later enters and exits the Jägergeneral’s airship from the window. He also survived being Gil’s valet for at least a year before the comic starts.
- Battle Butler: (Боевой слуга) While undercover working for Gil, although again, «valet» would be the more accurate term.
- Defiant to the End: (Непокорные, несгибаемые, несломленные) When threatened by an enraged and newly super-charged Lucrezia occupying Agatha’s body, he stoically maintains his loyalty to Albia, and pays the penalty.
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Wooster: Albia… is eternal… |
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- Expy: (Копиркин) Very much so for Mr. Bond. His only problem is that he lives in a world of high-powered Mad scientists. Meaning Mr. Wooster’s Super Weight isn’t nearly as great, relatively speaking, as Mr. Bond’s genius bruiser status in his own stories.
- Killed Off for Real: (Умер по-настоящему) Killed by the Lucrezia copy in Agatha’s body for refusing to submit to her.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: (Ай, молодца, герой!) Boris tries to invoke this when Wooster reveals the Baron’s plan to level Mechanicsburg to the Jäger Generals, claiming that he’s allowed The Other an opportunity to escape. Wooster doesn’t buy it, but admits that the Queen will take an interest in the matter if things do go south.
- Oh, Crap!: (Осознание катастрофы) Wooster has an impressive one here, when, in response to Violetta wondering Who Would Be Stupid Enough? to hijack one of Albia’s ships singlehandedly, he starts to reminisce about a time when Gil did something like that… then freezes in horror when he realizes the implication that Gilgamesh Wulfenbach, whose empire is on what could best be described as an uneasy detente with England, probably is involved somehow (and he’s right).
- Offhand Backhand: (Врезать не глядя) Delivered to Bangladesh DuPree, of all people.
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DuPree: You’re on my list, pal! Wooster: But you are most certainly not on mine. Good day. |
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- Reassigned to Antarctica: (Чрезвычайный и полномочный посол на фиг) After being outed as a spy, not to mention sending Europa into chaos, his superiors assign him to stay with the Jägers guarding Mechanicsburg as punishment. He does eventually get back to England, and is put in charge of a murder investigation at the Queen’s Society.
- The Stoic: (Стоик) He’s rather nonchalant about Gil revealing that he knew all along that Wooster was a British spy. And he’s again unflappable when throwing a monkey wrench into Boris’s attempt to deceive the Jäger generals. However, even he is not immune to being minionized by Gil’s force of will. As noted above, he dies maintaining this attitude.
- Wild Card: (Всегда на своей стороне) More heroic than most examples, but his first loyalty is always to Queen Albia and England. He’ll help out the heroes if it interests the Crown or he’s feeling especially sympathetic, but the particulars of his motives are always a little hazy.
Da Boyz
The three «wild» Jägermonsters. They were detached from the rest of their kin and sent out on a suicide mission to find an heir to the Heterodyne family so that the other Jägers could serve and be under the auspices of Baron Wulfenbach without having forsaken their oath to the Heterodynes. To their surprise, they discovered Agatha passing by in Zumzum, and followed her to protect her.
Da Boyz in general
- Amazing Technicolor Population: (Цветные люди/Разноцветная раса) Dimo is green, and Maxim is purple. Oggie is (relatively) normally coloured by human standards, which makes him the odd one out by Jäger standards.
- Badass Adorable: (Милый крутой) Oggie, and to a lesser extent Maxim.
- Beauty, Brains, and Brawn: (Прелестница, умница и силачка) At first glance, it looks like Maxim is the Beauty, Dimo is the Brains, and Oggie is the Brawn, and they tend to treat each other as such. However, they also have Hidden Depths that muddies this. Oggie turns out to be a Kavorka Man with quite the number of descendants and Dimo can look rather handsome when he cares to shave and dress up, Maxim and Oggie prove time and time again to be just as cunning as Dimo when the chips are down since they also Had to Be Sharp, and Maxim and Dimo may not be as big as Oggie but they’re still Jägers with all of the superhuman physical traits and centuries of combat experience that comes with that.
- The Big Guy: (Силач) Being the only Jägers loyal to Agatha before the Doom Bell rings they serve as the muscle of Agatha’s group, especially while she was with the circus where they were her go-to guys to solve problems.
- Chewing the Scenery: (Переигрывание)
- When they need to stop Jenka from rampaging through town. «SCHTOP! Hyu horr’ble monstery ting of EVIL!»
- Later, when they (briefly) entered Mechanicsburg before a Heterodyne was officially in residence, which is not allowed.
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Oggie: Hyu knife, brodder! Maxim: Right here, brodder! Dimo: [sighs] Ve didn’t gets caught, hyu eediots. Oggie and Maxim: Whew! Gil: (annoyed Aside Glance) |
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- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: (Крутой в дурацком колпаке) Da Boyz have funny accents, are generally not too bright and more than a little goofy. Then something happens, and suddenly all the goofiness is gone and you’re reminded that Da Boyz are in fact 200+ -years-old Super Soldiers…
- Cute Little Fangs: (Торчащие клыки) Until they open their mouths and reveal that the «little» fangs are huge.
- Hidden Depths: (Скрытые глубины) They’re smarter than the other Jägers. And it seemed to have only come up after they split from the main group.
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General Zog: Dimo! Hy am shocked at dis behavior! Boris: Still, it was rather clever of him… General Zog: Hy said Hy vas shocked. |
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- Kavorka Man: (Внезапный сердцеед) They claim to be "irresistible to vimmen, " which is at least true in Mechanicsburg and its suburbs, where Jägers are heroes. Maxim and Oggie both found interested girls during Maxim’s interaction with Old Man Death.
- As the backstory for Oggie and Higgs unfolds, it’s becoming clear that the Jägers' non-human features are considered attractive in the Mechanicsburg area, to the point that Oggie takes it for granted that Zeetha will be disappointed if Higgs never develops them.
- No Sense of Personal Space: (Нарушитель личного пространства) Da boyz have no qualms about being in everyone’s space like they’re old friends, sometimes to be friendly and sometimes to be not-so-friendly. Dimo in particular has learned to weaponize this by looming over people, perching near his target so as to surprise them with a well timed comment. When they turn, they’re faced with an Jäger crouched like he’s ready to pounce, all his very sharp teeth showing in a menacing grin.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: (Прикинуться шлангом) Like many of the other Jägers, the degree of obfuscation varies. In the comic, Da Boyz argue over who gets to be the leading man in the play because they want to kiss the actresses; their bickering leads to Payne and Abner deciding to make them clowns. The novelization reveals that this was, in fact, exactly what the Jägers wanted. Other times…
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Master Payne: «You cannot possibly be as stupid as you act.» Oggie: «Ken if hy vants to be!» |
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- Proud Warrior Race Guy: (Воинственная раса) Comes with being Jäger.
- Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: (Чувствительный парень и брутальный мужик) Dimo is the manly man, Maxim is the sensitive guy, and Oggie falls between them. Dimo always has to look like the toughest one and can deal with the harshest circumstances. Maxim apparently moped for fifty years because he he accidently killed his goldfish by overfeeding it. Meanwhile, Oggie has long been the patriarch of his entire family, but is still sensitive enough to cry over his deceased wife.
- The Smart Guy: (Умник) All three are pretty intelligent, especially compared to the average Jägerkin. Dimo is clearly the smartest of the trio. If you vote for Girl Genius at topwebcomics.com, the incentive even calls him «The Smart One.»
- Take a close look at the last part of this scene. The other two are shocked, but Dimo is just rolling his eyes like he saw this coming. Just like the Jägergeneral behind him.
Dimo
The leader by default, due to being the smartest of the trio. Often the Only Sane Man as well.
- Color-Coded Characters: (Расцвеченная команда) His skin and hat are both green.
- Four-Star Badass: (Крепкий середнячок) That’s General Dimo to you, after the Time Skip. He had to, as all the other (known) Generals are caught in the time-freeze bubble, and most rank-and-file Jägers aren’t known for smarts. As there’s a vacancy in the general staff due to hat-loss-caused-death of one General in the recent past, he may get to keep the post.
- Surrounded by Idiots: (Меня окружают идиоты) It was bad enough when it was just him stuck with Oggie and Maxim, but Dimo really HATES being a General.
- Your Costume Needs Work: (Это не косплей) Gets told this by an actor playing a Jäger, saying he got the voice right but he could use some more makeup.
Ognian, aka «Oggie»
One of the few Jägers known to have descendants, and a surprisingly competent sweet-talker.
- Color-Coded Characters: Tan hair and skin with brown clothes.
- Mayfly-December Romance: (Роман однодневки с вечностью) it turns out Oggie was married to a woman he met and got pregnant just before he took the Jagerdraught. They were together 64 years, which while a fair lifetime for her, was such a short time compared to the hundreds of years he’s lived since. He still keeps a picture of her in that necklace he always wears, and from the look of the fez she is wearing in the flashback, Oggie may also be wearing her hat.
- Noodle Incident: (Инцидент с кошкой) Oggie apparently did something that pissed off Klaus, which may be part of the reason he was sent on the mission in the first place.
- Someone to Remember Him By: (Ребёнок в память о нём) Played straight first, then Gender Flipped. As he reveals when Zeetha asks about his wife, the woman who would become his wife often shared his tent when she crossed paths with the Heterodyne’s troops, but left the day before he took the Jagerdraught. The implication being that she tried to become pregnant with his child before he took the highly-likely-to-be-lethal Super Serum and left so she wouldn’t have to see him die. She succeeded in the former, and was surprised when the latter didn’t happen. Oggie now views all of his descendants as a way to remember her.
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Ognian: Hy means, fifty years or so, a hunnert, at most — boom! Most pipple iz gone! But her — she iz not gone. Not as lonk as Hy gots descendants. Vit dem, Hy still see glimpses of Her. |
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- Super Serum: (Военный препарат) Martellus concocts some manner of potion that he has an injured Oggie drink during the bid to extract Lucrezia from Agatha in Londonium, and it makes him grow beastly large, bloodshot-eyed, and maniacally laughing as he rips the arm right off of a super-clank loaded with another copy of Lucrezia after she had put an end to Zeetha’s onslaught.
Maxim
The prettiest of the trio, and mostly human except for his purple skin.
- Color-Coded Characters: (Расцвеченная команда) Purple skin and clothes.
- Long-Haired Pretty Boy: (Длинноволосый симпатяга) Goes along with his Bishounen factor. In fact Maxim was originally designed as an in-joke for Kaja. Lampshaded in the Cinderella side-story, when he’s supposed to play an ugly stepsister… well, see for yourself.
The Dingbots
The Dingbots are a horde of small clanks (roughly the size of a large pocketwatch) created by Agatha that prove to be immensely useful in a variety of roles. The original Dingbots created by Agatha herself (such as the fan-named «Dingbot Prime», created in her sleep aboard Castle Wulfenbach) appear to have the Spark, as they are able to create more Dingbots (though with diminishing returns in quality).
- A.I. Is a Crapshoot: (ИИ — это рискованно) They’re not evil, but Tarvek has hypothesized that the Primes have the Spark. And they did go a bit off the rails during the Civil War between the Prime and Deuce factions before the Dingbot Queen intervened.
- Cute Machines: (Милый робот) All of them have at least one big round innocently curious looking eye.
- Simple, yet Awesome: (Неладно скроен, но крепко сшит) They’re lab assistants, designed when Agatha was a university student with no resources. That make more lab assistants, which in turn make more, and so on until the latest models aren’t sophisticated enough to do so. So Agatha only has to build one, and literally overnight she will have a small army of lab assistants that can carry out her instructions and build her designs. Who says logistics are hard?
- The Speechless: (Немота) They don’t say a single actual word, their vocalizations consist of Rebus Bubbles and heterodyning.
- Turned Against Their Masters: (Восстание машин) Even the typical Heterodyne creations Undying Loyalty cannot get the two Prime Dingbots to stop fighting. Then Agatha actually tries the old «you are my creations» line. They just whack her on the foot with a wrench and get right back to clobbering one another.
- What Measure Is a Non-Human?: (Ну, они же роботы) Despite being the size of a large pocketwatch there is every chance the Agatha-originated Dingbots are self aware, and possibly are Sparks themselves.
- Zerg Rush: (Сила толпы) Their biggest advantage in carrying out the tasks their mistress (or her associates) needs is their sheer numbers.
Gilgamesh Wulfenbach
Son of one of the major antagonists, Gilgamesh is one of the possible pairings for Agatha, and has much more obvious motivations.
- Badass Bookworm: (Книжный червь) He’d actually much prefer playing around in his lab, and doesn’t even have a death ray when Agatha first meets him.
- Beware the Nice Ones: (Добро с кулаками) He is a friendly, generous, honest man who believes strongly in giving second chances. He doesn’t even have any weapons by the time Agatha first meets him. But piss him off, and he can fight off Super Soldiers with his bare hands.
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Gil: I am Gilgamesh Wulfenbach, little man — and there is nothing I couldn’t do, had I cause! And now… now I have one! |
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- Blatant Lies: (Наглая ложь) «I’m a pirate.»
- Bullying a Dragon: (Моська лает на слона) Vole was talking down to this guy?
- Child Prodigy: (Вундеркинд) He was eight when his spark broke through and he made Zoing, his little insectoid helper construct. This is even more notable if we remember that most Sparks break through as teenagers or young adults. It’s suggested this happened because of him finding out that he’s Klaus’s son and losing Tarvek as a friend as a result was so stressful he broke through.
- Chronic Hero Syndrome: (Синдром хронического героизма) Turns out to be his driving trait; when Gil has passed out from exhaustion, Agatha makes a good guess on how to wake him up:
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Agatha: Hey, Gil! All of Paris is about to go up in flames, and Zola has her head caught in a bucket! Up and at ‘em, hero boy! Gil: A bucket? Again? Okay, I’m comin’. |
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- Creepy Shadowed Undereyes: (Тёмные круги под глазами) After the time skip. He remains awake for weeks and gets dark circles around his eyes as a result.
- Determinator: (Превозмогатель) Gil has his moments, especially when Agatha is in danger.
- Deuteragonist: (Девтерагонист) To Agatha, the Protagonist.
- Don’t Call Me «Sir»: (Не называй меня «сэр») A weird case; he refused to be called Baron at first, since that implied his father was dead even though they Never Found the Body. He’s even less happy when he learns the alternative is «Your Highness.»
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Gil: Oh, for … I can’t even imagine what that’s about. |
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- Dragon Rider: (Драконий всадник) After the time skip, he rides one of the «last great sky wyrms», having taken and tamed it after one of the Polar Ice Lords challenged him. Notably, it’s completely capable of directing itself in a fight: when fighting Martellus, he sets it on the mooks to concentrate on the serious opposition on foot.
- Dude, Where’s My Respect?: (Ты меня уважаешь?) He tries to be even-handed and fair, and people just dismiss him for it. And then he has to remind them that he is his father’s son. Like with Vole over these three pages.
- Fatal Flaw: (Фатальная слабость) Gil shares two with Tarvek: Pride and Wrath. His wrath being the more destabilizing trait. Gil is consistently nice to those around him to the point where when he does lose control, he reacts incredibly fiercely which contrasts all the more with his gentle nature. He almost kills Vole, which while completely understandable, turns out would have been an impulsive, and a long term blunder. Similarly, his hatred of Tarvek is not entirely rational. As for his pride, he tends to lose control and make mistakes when he is underestimated, though this also makes him exceptionally dangerous. He has a third fatal flaw in he can’t handle his longing for Agatha which causes him to act like an idiot.
- Geeky Turn-On: (Ум — это сексуально) Is the one most prominently shown to be highly attracted to Agatha’s sparky-ness. In his defense, she’s one of the few women he’s met that can keep up with him on an intellectual level.
- Half-Human Hybrid: (Полукровки) Gil’s father is an Artificial Human construct. Several scenes indicate that he’s inherited at least some of his father’s Super-Strength and durability; it’s also been hinted that Klaus made certain.. improvements to Gil when the latter was still a child.
- Hat of Authority: (Буржуйский цилиндр)
- Magnificently so, to impress the hat-obsessed Jaegers. — Also counts as a Brick Joke in this scene — Just when he thought he was rid of it for good, the Hat Came Back!
- The Hat is so potent that it serves as instant identification of Gilgamesh. Except for the one guy. He gets a promise of promotion when the urgency of asserting Gil’s identity has passed.
- Hidden Depths: (Скрытые глубины)
- It’s occasionally shown that Gil has major self esteem issues, feeling that he has no control over his life and never will.
- Inverted when the slaver wasps are loose on Castle Wulfenbach. Agatha tells him to reveal his hidden arsenal of death rays that, of course, the tyranical Baron’s son must built and just be hiding and it takes several attempts for ** Gil to tell her that he has not been secretly building killing machines and he really is as nonviolent a creator as it seems.
- Last-Name Basis: (Называть по фамилии) Tarvek always calls Gil by his surname «Wulfenbach» (or by «Holzfäller» before he learned his true identity), and Gil in turn always calls Tarvek by «Sturmvoraus.»
- Like Brother and Sister: (Как брат и сестра)
- With Bang, to the horror of Klaus. After the time skip, Gil finds nothing odd about waking up with Bang in bed with him. When the two get to serious bickering, it can get as nonsensical and impenetrably self-referential as you’d expect of the trope. With a very high chance of bruises or worse. But, you have to feel sorry for anybody else who tries harming her near him. And, vice versa.
- During their time together in Mechanicsburg he develops a more downplayed version of this with Zeetha. Their fight includes a lot lighthearted teasing which extends to later moments. Subverted as they’re actually twins.
- Made of Iron: (Распутинская живучесть?)
- He took several bullets and kept standing unfazed while facing down the army of war clanks attempting to invade Mechanicsburg. And then he kicks a former Jäger’s ass for underestimating him while being dragged off for medical care.
- After being kicked by Zeetha into a wall, the wall had a number of cracks— with him not even bleeding yet.
- The print-novels at least establish that this is more literal than some cases: Klaus made numerous physical improvements to Gil while the latter was still a child.
- Omnidisciplinary Scientist: (Учёный-всезнайка) When it comes to the Spark, Gil is something of a dilettante…which means he’s amazingly versatile. He works with heavier-than-air flight (which is bleeding-edge in Europa), built the most powerful and impressive Death Ray yet shown, and is better at building constructs than the young Heterodyne Boys, rebuilding the somewhat-flawed Punch and Judy as fully-functional Artificial Humans.
- Porn Stash: (Спрятанное порно) Apparently teenage boys really are the same everywhere. Even steampunk mad scientist ones. By the way, a «seraglio» is another word for a harem.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: (Диалектика Льда и Огня) Red to Tarvek’s Blue, oh-so-very much. Gil is passionate, dogged and relentless in everything he does, and prefers Crazy Preparation to Chess. This means he’s hopeless in situations that can’t be prepared for… like romance. He has to get by on honesty… and can be a bit brutal about it.
- Secret Test of Character: (Проверка на вшивость) His father gives him a lot of these. His introduction is a two-part one: To see if he’s intelligent enough to notice that his father’s theory is fundamentally flawed, and to see if he has the ability to confront his father when he is wrong.
- Shirtless Scene: (Рубашка не нужна) Enough that the wiki had a poll at one point about when editors thought he would next put a shirt on. One of the options was «Gil owns a shirt?»
- Super-Strength: (Физическая сверхсила) He can lift and throw an armored clank, though this does a number on his muscles. Again, this is probably due to his father’s physical improvments.
- Tragic Keepsake: (Печальный символ) After Agatha faked her death, he started wearing the ring he gave her on a necklace. He kept wearing it for a time even after meeting back up with her, as they had yet to become a couple, but took it off during the Si Vales and then forgot to put in back on again.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: (Заклятые друзья) In the brief periods when they’re distracted from the fact that they kind of hate each other, he and Tarvek actually get along exceedingly well together.
- Turns out they were best friends during their schoolboy years. Despite the immense political turmoil between as heirs between two different regimes, the rivalry to win Agatha’s heart and just the times they caused each other immense annoyance, the two still care about each other greatly and do not react well when the other is in danger.
- Gil has spent his every appearance since the Time Skip in the Madness Place, but getting to speak to Tarvek not only snaps him out of it, he stays out even after Tarvek passes out and he moves on to other matters. When Tarvek is then taken by the Incorruptible Library, Gil immediately forgoes diplomacy and resolves to chase them down and take him back by force.
- We Used to Be Friends: (Когда-то мы были друзьями) With Tarvek. They were best buddies back when they were kids. But they had a falling-out after getting caught sneaking into Castle Wulfenbach’s archives: Tarvek was accused of spying on the Baron and using Gil for his own ends, and Gil believed it. They still treated each other with respect and worked pretty well together. It took the ordeal of surviving Castle Heterodyne, the siege of Mechanicsburg, and a disease that nearly killed them both before they patched things up between them.
- Yank the Dog’s Chain: (Приманить собаку) He just wants to be with Agatha, but never gets to stay near her for long. A week after he meets her, she fakes her death; two months later he finds out she’s alive and reunites with her in Mechanicsburg for a couple of days, only to have her get frozen in time; when she comes out of the time stop two and a half years later he chases her to St. Szpac where his father’s mind control knocks him unconscious in a matter of seconds once he’s in the same room with her; after his father’s mind control is removed he gets to be with her for only a few days in England before he has to return to Europa to fight the Polar Lords while she goes to find Prende’s Lantern; a few days after she returns with the lantern, he gets kidnapped while they are preparing to lift the time stop.
Krosp I
Created by the Spark, Dr. Vapnoople, to control cats to act as a spy network, Krosp I is a failed experiment with delusions of lordship who has given Agatha much valuable political advice. Or possibly not so failed after all..
- Canon Immigrant: (Просочиться в канон) He originated in the Magic: The Gathering days of What’s New? with Phil and Dixie.
- Chekhov’s Gunman: (Стрелок Чехова) First seen as an apparently normal cat getting into Agatha’s food, and just one page later is shown drinking from the glass like a person instead of a cat.
- Color-Coded Characters: (Расцвеченная команда) The white of his fur and the red and gold of his coat.
- Cut His Heart Out with a Spoon: (Бафосная угроза) When his animal side takes over.
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Krosp: [to Gil on their first meeting] I’m serious! Mess with me and your shoes are mine! |
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- Gone Horribly Right: (Всё пошло слишком так) A humorous example; his creator wanted an intelligent cat capable of exercising control over his non-sapient brethren. He succeeded perfectly, but it turns out that cats don’t really make good spies…
- Turns out Vapnoople also figured this out at some point before the story and made Krosp a sentient bear army to command instead. Or the whole «cat king» thing was a cover story all along, and the bears already existed when Krosp was created; the whole timeline of events here is not yet clear.
- Cleared up in Albion arc: he made bears, got captured by the Baron, got lobotomized, THEN he made Krosp, in his child-like state not thinking the whole attention part through. Seems like he built his master command signature into Krosp to make ALL of his creations obey him, but so far only bears were encountered.
- Turns out Vapnoople also figured this out at some point before the story and made Krosp a sentient bear army to command instead. Or the whole «cat king» thing was a cover story all along, and the bears already existed when Krosp was created; the whole timeline of events here is not yet clear.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: (Козёл с золотым сердцем) For all that he is a snarky, unethical cat, he seems to care deeply about Agatha and her well-being.
- He also refers to his creator as «poppa» and seems genuinely touched, if a bit startled, that the man made him an army of bears.
- Meaningful Name: (Говорящее имя) It’s an anagram of «spork», a combined spoon/fork eating utensil, and while not as useful as a separate spoon and fork, still pretty handy to have around.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: (Царь-плотник) When Agatha sarcastically swears fealty to him, he takes her seriously and accepts her as his subject. He considers it his responsibility as her king to keep her safe.
- Turned Against Their Masters: (Восстание рабов) His creator, Dr. Dimitri Vapnoople, hardwired complete loyalty into his creations, including Krosp. Despite the fact Krosp never should have been able to even consider it, Krosp manages to defy him anyways and describes his creator as a nutcase.
- Your Costume Needs Work: (Это не косплей) A Running Gag during his time with the circus.
- He’s a real, live cat that can sing and dance — very, very badly. Not good at all given that all the Sparks and constructs with the circus are hiding there. He ends up shoveling manure.
- During a performance of the Circus, audience-member Prince Aaronev is shown laughing about the «midget in a hilariously bad cat costume». The reader assumes that he has been fooled by Krosp, but it turns out a page or two later that, no, it really was Circus-member Embi wearing a cat costume.
Tarvek Sturmvoraus
First encountered when Agatha travels through the city of his father, Tarvek is the Prince of Sturmhalten, and a descendant of the legendary Storm King. He’s seemed to be on everyone’s side, playing everyone against everyone else, though later he seems to be genuinely on Team Agatha. He is a powerful Spark and a keen intellect. The other possible pairing for Agatha.
- Anti-Hero: (Антигерой) A manipulative scoundrel who happens to be on Agatha’s side. Mostly. Even after he gets out of the Heel-Face Revolving Door, he’s still pretty ruthless.
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Villain: These continental science heroes are always wittering on about the sanctity of human life! Henchman: Ooh, that’s true! It’s in all the books! DIE, OUTSIDER! [FOOM!] Tarvek: [holding a death ray to the villain’s throat as what is left of the henchman burns in the background] I’ve never really considered myself the «hero» type. Are you the «take his secrets to the grave» type? Just asking. |
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- Badass Bookworm: (Книжный червь/Крутой ботан) Like most Sparks, although special mention goes to his reverse-engineering Tinka, a Van Rijn.
- Cain and Abel: (Каин и Авель) He’s the Abel to Anevka’s Cain, though it gets a bit more complicated upon the revelation that the «real» Anevka has been dead for years. He and Tweedle are cousins rather than siblings, but still have this dynamic.
- Character Development: (Развитие персонажа) Gradually becomes kinder, more honest and altruistic, and far less self-serving, in large part thanks to Agatha’s influence. He also shifts from being somewhat ambivalent towards her to openly risking his life for her cause.
- Cultured Badass: (Культурный крутой) Is well-dressed, and can be very polite when he means to be.
- Fatal Flaw: (Фатальная слабость) He shares two with Gil: Pride and Wrath. His pride is the more destabilizing factor for him. His pride forces him to try and prove that he’s the smartest in the room. When he found out Higgs was the hidden Jäger general, he HAD to openly confront him about it. He wanted to make sure Higgs knew that he knew his secret by forcing a discussion on it even after Higgs gives him a warning. This almost gets him killed. This is in contrast to Gil who knew the secret, but was way more subtle in revealing it and didn’t force Higgs to openly admit it directly or indirectly. As for wrath, he almost kills Zola despite her having a wealth of information that the heroes probably desparately need. His hatred for Gil is also a little bit unreasonable. He, like Gil, becomes a bit of an idiot around Agatha, though less so. He does get more freaked out than Gil by women when they openly flirt with him, however.
- Heel-Face Revolving Door: (Моральный вертихвост) Is in this for much of the Sturmhalten arc, swinging back and forth between aiding Agatha and aiding Lucrezia. In the Mechanicsburg arc he commits to the Face side and has been firmly on Team Agatha ever since.
- Jerkass Has a Point: (Козёл был прав) After Gil sees a copy of Agatha’s original message (from all the way back to Sturmhalten), he calls out Tarvek for all the bloodshed he caused by tampering with it. Tarvek has none of it and correctly points out that Klaus would’ve dismissed the original message as a trick of Lucrezia and that the end result would’ve been more or less the same. Gil is forced to concede that Tarvek is right about that.
- King Bob the Nth: (Одинаковые имена) Tarvek is the fifth (in the novels, seventh in the comic) Prince in the history of Sturmhalten to have the given name of Aaronev. Given that the Principality of Sturmhalten has only existed for about two hundred years, Aaronev is apparently a very popular name in the family.
- Last-Name Basis: (Называть по фамилии) Gil always calls Tarvek by his surname "Sturmvoraus, " and Tarvek in turn always calls Gil by «Wulfenbach» (or «Holzfäller»).
- Love Redeems: (Искупление любовью) Falling for Agatha proves to be the foundation for his path to redemption.
- Omnidisciplinary Scientist: (Учёный-всезнайка) Played with. Although capable of a wide variety of mechanical and scientific feats, his understanding of aeronautics is apparently quite poor, at least according to Gil.
- One-Steve Limit: (Одинаковые имена) Tarvek is actually his middle name, but he answers to it because his father was also Prince Aaronev Sturmvoraus of Sturmhalten (middle name Wilhelm).
- Pet the Dog: (Добрый поступок злодея) Had Violetta Reassigned to Antarctica, which she hated him even more for… then she discovered just how many of his bodyguards had been killed since.+жюльенна
- Rapid-Fire «No!»: (Нет-нет-нет-нет!) His response to being told that he’s being returned to his Big, Screwed-Up Family.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: (Диалектика Льда и Огня) Blue to Gil’s Red, oh-so-very much. He’s calm, cool, collected in everything he does, and prefers to dominate his surroundings through constant manipulation. This makes him as charming as the very devil… unless the girl realizes that he’s simply being polite about staying in control. It also means he’s rather dependent on others once outside of a support network… At least until he gets a new one.
- The Rival: (Соперник) To Gilgamesh Wulfenbach. In principle, he resents the Wulfenbachs in general (since they were a minor noble family who rose to power despite not playing by the rules of the game if you will) and Gil specifically for the swaths of his messed-up life that weren’t directly caused by his own family. Furthermore, they are also romantic rivals for Agatha’s heart. In practice, his relationship with Gil hovers somewhere in between Friendly Enemy and Vitriolic Best Buds. Justified since they were inseperable childhood best friends, even with their spats. When not on each other’s case, they get along quite nicely.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: (Царь-плотник) Being aware of major parts of the plans of Lucrezia, and the Storm King/Knights of Jove, he tries to derail them as much as he can, even through aiding Wulfenbach and using Wulfenbach troops and equipment to defend Mechanicsburg.
- Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: (Чувствительный парень и брутальный мужик) Sensitive Guy compared to Gil’s Manly Man. He’s calmer, more thoughtful, and less prone to fits of violence. On the other hand, he often attempts to sway Agatha to his will while Gil dotes on her, so he could be considered the Manly Man to Gil’s Sensitive Man.
- Sharp-Dressed Man: (Одет с иголочки) Well, he is when we meet him, anyway. He deteriorates sharply later. He eventually manages to get some proper clothes on, but doesn’t manage to get into something genuinely nice again until the England arc.
- Strong Family Resemblance: (Такие похожие родственники) According to Lucrezia he looks like a younger version of his father.
- Token Evil Teammate: (Какой ни есть, а он за нас) A self-confessed example. He’s really not evil, but is definitely the most amoral and untrustworthy member of Agatha’s inner circle, at least early on. Character Development gradually eases him out of this role, and by the Time Skip he’s grown out of it entirely.
- Too Clever by Half: (Такой умный, что уже глупый) A problem he has. Gil claims to be better at sneaking around and manipulating people because unlike Tarvek, he doesn’t feel the need to demonstrate how sneaky and cunning he’s being. A good example being them both learning Airshipman Axel Higg’s big secret. Tarvek almost immediately starts dropping hints to the man in question that he has figured it out, while Gil gives no sign he knew until the secret is already out.
- Tritagonist: (Тритагонист) With Gil as the Deuteragonist and Agatha as the Protagonist.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: (Заклятые друзья) See Gil’s entry for more info, but despite their past events, the thing with Agatha and the clashing royal issues, the two truly care about one another. Hurting one is a good way to upset the other. Even their friendship goes beyond other matters that usually bother them, such as Tarvek having serious reservations about accepting his cousin’s plans to help him be with Agatha (namely so she can swoop in and take Gil during his heartbreak and retreat to logic).
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: (Благонамеренный экстремист) He was definitely willing to do, aid or condone all sorts of evil at first. He’s now on Agatha’s side, but he’s still helping her out of personal affection and a desire to «fix» Europa, not from any personal code of morals.
- We Used to Be Friends: (Когда-то мы были друзьями) With Gil. Continuing on from Gil’s entry in this, Tarvek would be sent home, away from Castle Wulfenbach (where, despite technically being a hostage there, was the place to be for aspiring young aristocratic sparks), and back to his cynical conniving family back in Sturmhalten. Tarvek would then encounter Gil again as a philanderer during college in Paris, where their animosity would be cemented. However, despite the political rivalry, their rivalry for Agatha’s heart and all the times they screwed each other over, they still very much care for one another. When Tarvek realizes that Gil was kidnapped by the Baron, he tries to rationalize the importance of keeping him before he just admits to himself and Agatha that they could’ve kept him safe with a look of utmost worry and concern. After the timeskip, he finds himself concerned about what the Baron did to Gil in terms of the brainwashing.
- What You Are in the Dark: (Никто не узнает) Tarvek, much as he normally projects the image of a cold, efficient, ruthless and pragmatic hero, carries a stabbed and unconscious Ruxala out of the burning remains of the Vespiary Squad’s crashed airship instead of abandoning her. And then, already struggling under Ruxala’s weight, he stumbles across the crippled Jäger Jorgi in the wreckage and throws him on his back as well, despite even the Jäger telling him to Go On Without Me (and refusing to shut up while Tarvek is carrying him). And then he stops to pick up a litter of orphaned baby wasp eaters! Even when nobody can see him, Tarvek really is a good person.
- White Sheep: (Белая овца) Of the royal members of the Sturmvoraous family, he’s by far the nicest, most heroic member. Which, considering his predilections for backstabbing and Machiavellian scheming, is really saying something.
- Would Hit a Girl: (Боевой феминист) Once he grasps the extent of Zola’s plans, he furiously attempts to throttle her to death.
Violetta Mondarev
Violetta is a Smoke Knight, although she herself says she’s not very good at her job. She’s also a member of a cadet branch of Tarvek’s family. Her job is to keep Tarvek alive, which is proving to be far more difficult than it should be considering he was confined to a hospital bed when she took that duty.
- Action Girl: (Бой-баба) Though at her best when sticking to stealth and trickery, she’s pretty handy with a knife (or several) when the situation demands it.
- Big, Screwed-Up Family: (Гнусное семейство) A cousin of Tarvek’s from a cadet branch of the Sturmvoraus family, which has been guarding the main house for generations. Surprisingly sane, considering the lineage, but then being not of the central bloodline could be what saved her.
- Blade Enthusiast: (Фанат ножей) She loves her daggers almost as much as Zeetha loves her swords. By the time Vole manages to shake her off during their scuffle in Castle Heterodyne, she’s impaled at least a dozen knives in his back.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: (Крутой в дурацком колпаке) Violetta apparently isn’t a star as a Smoke Knight, but she doesn’t seem half as bad at her job as she tells everyone she is. More «not really into this sort of career». An alternate interpretation is that she really was that bad, but that being around Agatha has forced her to up her game.
- Color-Coded Characters: (Расцвеченная команда) She has her family’s red hair and the Smoke Knights' purple gear.
- Establishing Character Moment: (Момент характеристики) She’s introduced trying desperately to save Tarvek all while complaining about him and her job, this is followed up by her beating him up.
- Hidden Depths: (Скрытые глубины) She knows a lot about fashion due to growing up with Tarvek
- Invisibility: (Невидимость) it’s not clear how she and other Smoke Knights do it, but she can apparently go practically invisible. Bang can detect it, but not exactly see through it.
- Like Brother and Sister: (Как брат и сестра) Her relationship with her cousin Tarvek has a strong dollop of this going on rather than anything else. She bullies and bickers at Tarvek mercilessly, but very obviously cares, regardless. It’s reciprocated in a slightly quieter (but no less underhanded) way on his side, and seems as intense. Both practically gag if anybody even remotely suggests they’re compatible in that other way.
- Noodle Incident: (Инцидент с кошкой) Tarvek responds to seemingly ridiculous talk from her as her «licking her knives again.» Suggesting that there was at least one incident where her knives were coated in poison or drugs, she licked them, and Hilarity Ensued. Based on her blase dismissal of his comment, perhaps more than one.
- Tomboy with a Girly Streak: (Пацанка с замашками леди) Her Smoke Knight training mostly requires her to be a tomboy, but Agatha earns her loyalty with the promise of a party and a pretty dress. If anything, she becomes even more badass once she has the promise of a pretty dress to fight for.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: (Заклятые друзья) She and Zeetha grow into this dynamic over the course of the Mechanicsburg arc. They tend to bicker and argue quite a bit, but it’s obvious that they also respect each other’s talents, and both are equally dedicated to keeping Agatha safe.
- White Sheep: (Белая овца) Every other major character in the Sturmvoraus/Blitzengaard clan is treacherous and manipulative (or, at best, given to Pragmatic Villainy). Whether this is because she’s not a Spark, because she’s not in the line of inheritance, or because even this family has to have somebody sane to do the actual work is not yet known.+большая часть дымчатых рыцарей стражаются за Иное
Zeetha
Warrior princess from the lost city of Skifander, she no longer knows how to get back and, until Agatha mentioned it, was uncertain as to whether her homeland even existed. She has trained Agatha to be a warrior and still fights for her interests.
- Action Girl: (Бой-баба) And how. It even scares Higgs… and attracts him too.
- Best Friend: (Лучшие друзья) With Agatha, bordering on sworn sisters due to their sworn teacher-pupil relationship. If it wasn’t for Agatha already pining for Gil and Tarvek and Zeetha for Higgs, one would think they were Heterosexual Life-Partners, that’s how deep their relationship is. They even sleep in the same bed and have explicitly expressed platonic love for each other.
- Big Eater: (Обжора) In the third novel, Zeetha frequently eats large amounts of food. From her phrasing, it’s quite normal for her.
- The Big Guy: (Силач) When the Jägers aren’t around she serves as the muscle of Agatha’s group.
- Big «NO!»: (Большое «НЕТ!») When Agatha reveals that her uncle is the one who actually knows about Skifander and he’s missing.
- Charles Atlas Superpower: (Каждое утро делает зарядку) Train in the Amazon way, and you too can kick heads right off of battle clanks!
- Color-Coded Characters: (Расцвеченная команда) She has bright green hair and her normal outfit is blue.
- Cute Little Fangs: (Торчащие клыки) As seen here. Conspicuously shown during Christopher Baldwin’s guest strip run (such as here). The print-novels confirm that it’s not just an artistic quirk, and that her canines are longer than normal.
- Defeat by Modesty: (Раздевание равносильно поражению) Tried and failed.
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Zeetha: What? You said you wanted to draw a crowd. Gil: Not that kind of crowd! |
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- Empowered Badass Normal: (Одарённый крутой смертный) After the above, though the extent isn’t known yet.
- Establishing Character Moment: (Момент характеристики) She’s introduced offering a bowl of food to Agatha, a complete stranger, then freaking out and destroying the pot she was cooking with after Agatha reveals that her missing uncle knows about Skifander.
- Good Bad Girl: (Хорошая «плохая девчонка») Her sex life isn’t exactly highlighted, but she has been referred to as «an expert» on the subject.
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Zeetha: «Hey, Skifander’s patron goddess is Ashtara. She who, among other things, controls fertility. Our holy days are fun! (Cha cha cha!)» |
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- Improvised Weapon: (Предмет с оружейным потенциалом) A chair is not a weapon.
- Leeroy Jenkins: (Лирой Дженкинс) Not to suicidal levels, but on more than one occasion she’s done or said things that were not strategically smart. As the woman herself admits, she’s «not good with the subtle».
- Like Brother and Sister: (Как брат и сестра) During their time together in Mechanicsburg, she develops a downplayed version of this with Gil. Their fight includes a lot lighthearted teasing which extends to later moments. Subverted as they’re actually twins.
- Luke, I Am Your Father: (Я твой отец)
- While it has yet to be revealed in the comic, the Foglios have released a picture of her father, «Chump, the great warrior». Resemble anyone we know?
- On a related note, she and Gil now have the same (or similar) eye colour — most notable during their conversation after he wakes up at Mamma Gkika’s. They used to be green in earlier volumes.
- Possibly even foreshadowed here, with Klaus’s extreme aversion to slashing her throat and presumably demanding in Skiff that she stop fighting, despite having her dead to rights and previously having given orders to kill everyone. At a minimum, he wants to question her about her presence in Europa, if he hasn’t explicitly figured out their relationship..
- Muggle Born of Mages: (Инвалидность по магии) Her (unbeknowest to her) father Klaus Wulfenbach is a Spark. It’s strongly alluded that her mother, Queen Zantabraxus, was one of the many «women with the Spark that tried to kill Klaus». Her (mutually unknowing) fraternal twin brother Gil is a Spark. She is decidedly not Sparky, or at least has not had a breakthrough yet.
- She also shipped Jiminez and Larana, encouraging Larana to talk to him and confess her true feelings (without letting her know that he was the prince she’d been arranged to marry).
- Sweet Tooth: (Сладкоежка)
- Zeetha shows some signs of a cake obsession while in Paris.
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Zeetha: Oh yeah. You guys didn’t wake me up for lunch! I’m starving! Violetta: You were asleep because you ate too much drugged cake! Zeetha: So it’s important to face my fears! Violetta: You have fears? Cake fears? Zeetha: Of course! Now I know that any cake — any cake at all — Could be stuffed full of duplicitous evil! I shall overcome this fear by eating every cake I see! Violetta: —And how is this different from before? Zeetha: Now eating cake counts as training! |
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- She warns an «actor boy» that he’d better learn fast not to get between a girl and her cake, before realizing she’s talking to Higgs. She promptly forgets about the cake.
- Tomboy Princess: (Крутая принцесса) As expected from a warrior-princess. But even minus that she’s more on the boisterous side compared to even some of the Sparks. An interesting thing to note is that when the ladies were all dressed up, Zeetha was wearing pants while the others were in dresses. Warrior Princess: A princess who is able to take on all manner of clanks and monsters because she believes that Rule #1 of being a princess is «every princess needs a battle axe».
- The Worf Effect: (Силач на расправу) Even if there are qualifiers for most of the instances of this, she has been injured or fought to a standstill in order to highlight the badassery of:
- The Monster Horse Beastie.
- Baron Wulfenbach.note
- Zola. See Worf Had the Flu below.
- A Geisterdame.note
- A Lucrezia-possessed Agatha.note
Antagonists
Ссылка: [2]
The Other
The mysterious force of mysteriousness that almost conquered Europa before vanishing mysteriously. May be Agatha’s mother.
- Berserk Button: (Кнопка берсерка)
- Calling it a fraud, as Zola discovers. When it happens, the Other threatens to turn her into an Empty Shell.
- Questioning her motivation makes her explode. When the Klaus overlay does it, she goes on a rant, and when Albia does it she rants at how the queen has no idea what she’s been through.
- Big Bad: (Главный Гад) The most dangerous entity in the entire series. Even Klaus didn’t beat it—it stopped fighting before he came back.
- Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: (Хронический предатель) Seems to be completely incapable of working with anyone without turning on them. Her response to a genuine offer of assistance is to plan to vivisect the girl who offers (though the girl in question manages to outwit her quite thoroughly).
- Cybernetics Eat Your Soul: (Трансгуманизм — это плохо) Apparently, the reason why she could never achieve the second breakthrough despite knowing how it worked: you need a fully organic mind and it didn’t have that until it possessed Agatha. Gil notes that the Other hasn’t rolled out any new technology in its war with him. Later revelations outright state that harnessing the spark requires an organic body. It is very likely that the Lucrezia copy stuck in Anevka’s clank body is the one at war with Gil, therefore limited in what it can do. In addition, the copy in Zola could be impacted by the fact that Zola isn’t a Spark herself.
- Demonic Possession: (Одержимость) Through the power of Brain Uploading, the Other is able to possess people with a copy of her personality.
- Dirty Old Woman: (Старик Похабыч) She flirted with Tarvek, Lars and Martellus in Agatha’s body despite being technically old enough to be their mother and potentially old enough to be their ancestor if one factors the time travel aspects she allegedly has. In the novels, which show off her P.O.V., she’s definitely planning on going a little further than just flirting.
- Enlightenment Superpowers: (Просветлённый со сверхспособностями)
- The copy of her possessing Agatha manages to grow her spark into a flame, achieving second breakthrough and more. Unlike the previous people to achieve it, she manages to do so without even requiring an external dimensional energy source.
- The copy of her in the Anevka clank also manages to achieve second breakthrough, despite using a non-sparky mechanical brain, somehow mentally controlling the surrounding dimensional energy.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: (Злу не постичь Добра) Even when she was trying to be «good», she showed a lack of comprehension, simply assuming there must be something to that strategy, because the heroic Heterodyne Brothers always won. The notion that parents must care for and look after their children is completely alien to Lucrezia. Lucrezia-In-Agatha proposes Klaus-In-Gil to sacrifice their children for the sake of getting back together, and is legitimately shocked by his explosion of fury. Much later, another Lucrezia’s copy mocks Albia for putting herself in danger to save her daughter Neena.
- Fatal Flaw: (Фатальная слабость) Ego. Lucrezia’s got an inflated sense of self even by spark standards that make it far easier to manipulate someone as intelligent as her than it really should be. She was willing to risk outing herself in her disguise as the princess when her improvements to the healing engine hooked up to Klaus were being attributed to Doctor Sun, and her ego wouldn’t let anyone else claim credit for her work even when it was a bad idea to do so.
- Fighting from the Inside: (Прочь из моей головы!/Битва в чертогах разума?) Even sealed away by Agatha’s locket, the Other still pushes away at her mind. Toward the end, she started getting so strong even the locket was no longer effectual.
- Freak Out: (Сорваться в истерику) A momentary response to realizing she forgot how much she loved chocolate as a human.
- Hey, You!: (Эй, ты!) Instances of her referring to Agatha by her name can be counted on one hand. Even when pleading for her to spare her, Lucrezia only calls her «daughter».
- Hoist by His Own Petard: (Сам себя перехитрил/Не рой яму другому) Offers to «ride along» in Zola’s head so she can leave Agatha to die, especially since Agatha’s brooch supresses her. Turns out, Zola can control and supress her even without external mechanisms which means that unless Zola is unconscious, Lucretia can’t do anything with that body while Zola gains all her knowledge.
- Mood Whiplash: (Эмоциональные качели) When the Other first makes an appearance she’s all smiles and motherly comfort for her faithful Geisterdamen, who are weeping with joy at her return — her mood changes swiftly once the Other realises things have gone to hell in her absence.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: (Наглая ложь) When it even bothers trying to be Agatha, the Other doesn’t really put a lot of effort into it. Her nadir in this department comes when trying to convince Tarvek to assist her during a three-way fight with Zola. Which is a bit odd, since the Lucrezia who Klaus knew was an excellent actress.
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The Other: I AM THE AGATHA GIRL! Tarvek: Yes, and I’M the Queen of Skral! |
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- Psychopathic Manchild: (Жестокий большой ребёнок) Lucrezia was a barely-restrained one. The Other has had hundreds, if not thousands of years and has not gone through a single moment of emotional growth, still acting like a spoiled teenager on a rampage.
- Satanic Archetype: (Сатанинский архетип) She’s pretty much a demon in all but name at this point (as Albia points out), much with all her manipulating people and possessing bodies. She’s even the force behind false idolatry (as Christians traditionally beleived demons were); Loremistress Milvistle too considered her «some kind of Devil». Besides, the role of the Other itself is more or less the role of an ultimate yet unseen enemy (much like the Devil).
- Smug Super: (Сноб со сверхспособностями/Крутой хвастун) The Other, or Lucrezia, is very confident in itself / herself and its abilities. Klaus manages to figure out who they are when they’re impersonating Agatha because only Lucrezia gloats like that.
- Taking You with Me: (Взять в ад компанию) Her clank body is designed with a self-destruct system. Albia figures this is just another expression of Lucrezia’s need to get the last word in. If she can’t win, then she’ll make damn sure whoever takes her down doesn’t get to either.
- Time Abyss: (Бездна времени) As of 2021 we finally get firsthand confirmation that the entity brain-downloaded by the summoning engines into various bodies is really Lucrezia who has gone through hundreds if not thousand years. She speaks of five hundred years as if it was nothing, but she hints at other entities who would further scoff at that.
- Villains Want Mercy: (Умолять не стыдно) When the version of her in Agatha’s head is finally being driven out, she begs Agatha to let her stay, saying there’s still stuff she can teach her, and even calling her 'daughter' in an extremely rare moment. Agatha, naturally, is having none of it.
- Wicked Wasps: (Пчёлы, осы и шмели) The Slaver Wasps are its most ubiquitous servants, make up the bulk of its armies, and are the main threat associated with it in-universe.
- Would Hurt a Child: (Не щадить детей)
- The Other is (apparently) responsible for the attack on Castle Heterodyne that killed Lucrezia’s first child.
- It’s very strongly implied that The Other deliberately conceived Agatha as an escape clause in case anything happened to Lucrezia, and that Agatha was only saved by some effort on the part of Barry.
Lucrezia Mongfish
Lucrezia Mongfish is from a long line of cheerily sociopathic Sparks, known specifically for their skill in biology, and is Agatha’s mother. She was a long-time antagonist of the Heterodyne Boys before giving up her father’s work and marrying Bill. She was apparently kidnapped when the Other attacked Castle Heterodyne and killed her infant son (signaling the start of the attacks), but returned twenty years later when her mind was downloaded into Agatha’s brain. She seems to be the Other (an interpretation Klaus agrees with), but the situation remains unclear.
- And I Must Scream: (Но я должен кричать) If she really was the Muse of Time like Albia claims, then she was captured and trapped alone in Van Rijn’s secret lab for over 200 years. This would explain her various rants about suffering alone for a long time without anyone rescuing her and the Other’s apparent hatred of Sparks.
- Bad Boss: (Злой начальник)
- She regularly treated the Geisterdamen, who viewed her as a goddess, poorly when they failed her. After Barry rescued Agatha from them, she went on a murder spree where she killed off a sizable portion of the Geisterdamen population and forced thousands of them into exile into Europa to carry out her plans. Similarly, when Lady Vrin, her most staunch supporter, became a potential hindrance to her schemes, she ordered her to die without hesitation, causing her to asphyxiate.
- While as during her marriage with Bill, she regularly abused the Jägers and treated them like they were pets. The Jägers were forced to put up with it for the sake of their love stricken master.
- Big, Screwed-Up Family: (Гнусное семейство) The Mongfishes really didn’t get along. So far Lucrezia (or the Other) has met her niece and her nephew, and tried to kill both of them simply for being the children of her sisters. Though, that was because one of them, Serpentia (Theo’s mother), left her for dead in an exploding lab… so Lucrezia says, several decades after the fact.
- Chronic Villainy: (Крокодилушка) Another theory about how/why she became the Other. She claimed to be pulling a Heel-Face Turn in marrying Bill, but just a few years later, well… the Castle was destroyed, she disappeared, and the Other started ravaging Europa.
- Damsel in Distress: (Дева в беде) Claims to have been this when «all went wrong» and that no one, not her husband or father or Klaus, came to save her, and indicates this has something to do with why she’s gone so far off the deep end. However, her words also imply that whatever happened to her was the result of her own actions and, depending on how you interpret them, started with her trying to Take Over the World.
- Dating Catwoman: (Возлюбленная — злодейка) Why someone as incorruptibly good as Bill Heterodyne would be compelled to marry someone as insidious as Lucrezia Mongfish can only be attributed to this trope. She also had a former attraction to Klaus that she tries to play on in the present day.
- Draco in Leather Pants: (Фанатское обеление персонажа) In-universe, with the Heterodyne Boys plays and their depiction of Lucrezia. She’s a vain, petty, melodramatic cowardly, maniacal villain… and utterly adored by the audiences. Right up until the third act when she invariably falls in love with Bill, at which point they lose interest in her. Funnily enough, her outfit in the notoriously saucy «Socket Wench of Prague» is noted to be leather…
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: (И у злодеев есть любимые) The novels imply that, as evil as she is, she still loves Bill. When she mentions Bill to Zola, she actually starts to cry.
- Even Bad Women Love Their Mamas: (И у злодеев есть любимые) Strangely, even after turning good, Lucrezia still seems to be fond of her father. Or least thinks more favourably about him than she does her sisters.
- Face-Heel Turn: (Переход на Тёмную сторону) Lucrezia eventually claims to 'Klaus' that hers was a Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal (or at least she perceives it as one). Note the wording of her ranting. There’s two distinct ways it can be interpreted — the first being the obvious one that her evil plan as the Other went horribly wrong, leaving her 'stranded' somehow, or her definition of «winning» was finally living a happy family life with Bill, only to get kidnapped, her son murdered, and forced into being the Other. Which is the case is left unclear.
- Hate Sink: (Концентратор ненависти) Lucrezia has yet to be presented with any kind of positive or endearing traits. So far, she’s just a cruel, abusive, manipulative monster.
- Heel-Face Turn: (Переход на Светлую сторону) Before the series started, she tried to turn good when she agreed to marry Bill Heterodyne, and even drugged Klaus and sent him away so he wouldn’t be a distraction. This is one of the most confusing parts of her character, since if she really never had any interest in redemption, she would have just killed Klaus.
- Historical Hero Upgrade: (Облагородить в адаптации) The Heterodyne stories portray her as the cranky but kind daughter of a comically evil villain. Even before becoming the Other, there’s no hint that Lucrezia was anything other than a nasty piece of work, even after marrying Bill and supposedly turning over a new leaf.
- Informed Ability: (Заявленная способность)
- In-universe. Klaus often described Lucrezia as incredibly strong and brilliant as a Spark, which confuses Gil since during his new war against her he’s seen her try nothing new of her own. All of the Other-tech is the same as what the Heterodynes fought or made by one of her followers. This turns out to be because he’s actually fighting Zola, who has access to all of Lucrezia’s old knowledge thanks to hijacking one of her copies but is not herself a Spark.
- Similarly, Klaus believes her to be devious, cunning, and an excellent faker. Based on what we’ve seen of her/the Other in the comic, the former two are not debatable, the latter most certainly is.
- Love Redeems: (Искупление любовью) She tried to invoke this by marrying Bill Heterodyne. It apparently didn’t work so well, since she (maybe) became the Other and started one of the most destructive wars in recent history.
- Mysterious Past: (Персонаж-загадка) Even without the mystery of what happened that night in the lab, she clearly knew about Skifander, since it’s where she dumped Klaus, and was interacting with the Geisterdamen for years before she married Bill, via the same sort of gate found in the Red Cathedral…
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: (Устрашающее имечко) Replace her last name with Borgia, and you very much have a real-world counterpart. Yikes.
- Never Found the Body: (Тело так и не нашли) Lucrezia went missing before the Other attacked the Heterodynes. While her mind might have come back, her body sure hasn’t.
- Offing the Offspring: (Я тебя породил, я тебя и убью)
- Her first child with Bill, Klaus Barry, was killed in the attack on Castle Heterodyne, and it’s possible that this was deliberate on her part. Even Agatha, having already seen how evil she can be, had some trouble with that idea. It is also of note that in all the time she’s been around, never once has Lucrezia or the Other even mentioned her son in any capacity.
- Later, when she discusses plans with Zola, she openly states that she considers Agatha, her own daughter, a liability, as her ability to control her own brain is gradually winning out over Lucrezia’s, to the point where Agatha is even pulling things out of Lucrezia’s mind. Lucrezia briefly planned to kill Agatha and ride along with Zola instead, but that turned out not to be practical.
- Psychopathic Womanchild: (Жестокий большой ребёнок) Even by the already low standards of most Sparks, a lot of Lucrezia’s actions suggest an amazingly childish personality, even though she’s a grown woman.
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EEEEEEE! We’re going to win! (Vol. 6 p. 80) |
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- Really Gets Around: (Потаскушка) If the way everyone talks about her (when not in the context of the Other) is anything to go by. We know she had a fling with Klaus before marrying William, and according to Violetta she was «hot stuff» with the Knights of Jove.
- Weak, but Skilled: (Слаб, но удал) Lucrezia is a master swordswoman, but the copies in Agatha and Anevka’s robot body are unable to use those skills to the fullest as Agatha is barely trained as a fighter and Anevka’s body is still subject to Tarvek’s commands.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: (Пропавший из сюжета персонаж) It hasn’t been revealed what happened to Lucrezia, the real Lucrezia, after she disappeared during the Other War. All three versions we have tabs on in the present, possessing Zola, Agatha, and Anevka’s robotic body, are copies of her.
Geisterdamen
Mysterious pale ladies from Places Unknown, who ride giant spiders and serve the Other.
- Accidental Murder: (Случайное убийство) On one hand, they didn’t intend for all those girls they plugged into the Summoning Engine to die. On the other hand, they didn’t seem all too sad about it.
- Amazon Brigade: (Бригада амазонок) So far, there’s no indication that male Geisters exist, and they are rightfully feared as Lucrezia’s elite troops, with a single Geister able to give Zeetha a run for her money.
- Ambiguously Human: (Се человек?) It’s unclear if they are humans, aliens, constructs, or whatever.
- Lady Land: (Народ амазонок) As the name might suggest, no Geistermen (Geisterherren?) have been sighted to date.
- Would Hurt a Child: (Не щадить детей) There’s a reason girl Sparks in Europa tend to go missing, and that reason is these gals, grabbing them to try and use the Summoning Engine to bring the Other back, not knowing it was broken (and only meant to work on Agatha).
Vrin
A Geisterdame working with Aaronev to find the Holy Child.
- The Dragon: (Правая рука главгада) To Lucrezia’s Big Bad during the Sturmhalten arc.
- False Friend: (Фальшивая дружба) To Agatha. She lets Agatha think that she is trustworthy, then tricks Agatha into coming with her to the Chapel, where she puts her in the Summoning Engine and installs Lucrezia in her mind.
- Ms. Exposition: (Мистер Экспозиция) She gives us a big lore dump shortly after we meet her, including most of what we know about the Geisterdamen.
- Villainous Valour: (Отважный злодей) Lady Vrin watched Anevka shut down her fellow Geisters with her voice, and her first response it to jump right at her.
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«I am not some first-rank priestess to be manipulated by voice alone. I know my Lady and I know my duty! DIE, MONSTER!» |
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Eotain
A Geisterdame encountered early on by Agatha in her misadventures, later an acolyte of Othar Tryggvassen (GENTLEMAN ADVENTURER!); much of her adventures with the latter fellow have only appeared on Twitter, and not in the main comic.
- Heel-Face Turn: (Переход на Светлую сторону) After the slaughter in Paris, Eotain concludes that Zola is a fake, abandons her service to the Other and hides in the sewers, where she is found by Othar. She joins up with him and decides to rally her fellow Geisters to oppose the false goddess, and has now joined up with the Wulfenbach forces to defend Europa.
The Muse of Time
The Muse of Time, also known as the Enigma, is a very mysterious clank that can time travel. Albia confirms, or at least believes with great certainty, that Lucrezia Mongfish is her true identity.
- Foreshadowing: (Предзнаменование)
- She first appeared in a time window pointing at Agatha and proclaiming «… Like that?!» to someone offscreen.
- In her first appearance, she has hands that look very similar to the dragon from Theo’s Heterodyne Boys story. They also look similar to the hands of the Geisterdamen’s mistress from Lady Vrin’s flashback.
- In Van Rijn’s notebook, we’re shown that one of the Muse of Time’s forms looks very similar to Agatha and wears what looks like a Heterodyne symbol on her eye. A later flashback of Albia’s confirms that this is a version of Lucrezia, albeit one that’s taken a severe beating.
- Robot Hair: (Нечеловеческие волосы) In her first appearance she has long wires coming from her head that have been styled into braids. In her second appearance, she has disheveled human-like hair.
- Small Role, Big Impact: (Небольшая роль с большим влиянием (в разработке)) In her first appearance she spooked Agatha, causing her to run into the alley where her locket was stolen, kicking off the plot.
- Time Master: (Магия времени) She has the ability to travel through time seemingly at will.
Mechanicsburg
Ссылка: [3]
General
- Berserk Button: (Кнопка берсерка) Pretending to be a Heterodyne or threatening an actual Heterodyne is a good way to get yourself lynched in Mechanicsburg, assuming the Castle doesn’t get you first.
- Chaotic Neutral: (Хаотичный нейтрал) Claimed In-Universe by one of the town signs that they’ve been «chaotically neutral» for some number of years.
- City of Adventure: (Город Приключенск) Being the home of generations of Heterodynes will do that. Roughly every square meter of the town is home to a Death Trap, secret passage, lost treasure, or highly dangerous creation of perverted mad science, if not several of these at once. The main story stays here for almost six years (although much of the action arises from the town being under siege), as well as several side stories.+приезжают
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: (И у злодеев есть любимые) Mechanicsburgers may be murderous brigands and eager minions to one of the most mad and destructive Spark families in Europa, but they’re a very close-knit community.
- Nightmare Fetishist: (Любитель всякой жути) The Jägers' monstrous features are considered attractive in Mechanicsburg. Serving girls dress up as Jägers to attract customers in Mama Gkika’s tavern, Mama Gkika herself is turned on by the thought of a man with big tusks, Oggie is a ladies' man, and Higgs is not only disappointed that he never developed any monstrous features, but fears that Zeetha will be too.
- Weird Trade Union: (Необычный профсоюз) There’s a Guild of Monsters in Mechanicsburg, accepting both Heterodyne creations and defecting constructs of other Sparks. The Heterodyne Boys disbanded the guild and tried to drive out the monsters, but the people stood by their inhuman neighbors and Agatha reinstated it.+гильдия контрабандистов, гробокопателей
Castle Heterodyne
Castle Heterodyne is the hereditary home of the Heterodynes and the central structure of Mechanicsburg, a masterpiece of Malevolent Architecture and Artificial Sentience created by Faustus Heterodyne and improved upon by almost every successor to the family line. It was badly damaged in the still-mysterious explosion that announced the arrival of The Other in Europa — adding multiple personalities to its many intentional quirks. Nevertheless, the last thing Judy (AKA Lilith) told Agatha was to get to the Castle. «It will help you.»
- A.I. Is a Crapshoot: (ИИ — это рискованно) When first encountered, the castle is badly damaged, but since it was originally imbued with intelligence by the gleefully diabolical Faustus Heterodyne, even the 'fixed' portions regard grisly deaths as entertainment.
- Berserk Button: (Кнопка берсерка) Threatening or otherwise questioning the Heterodynes is a good way to incur the Castle’s wrath. It notably drops the comedy when Herr Diamant foolishly claims that all the Heterodynes are dead, and threatens to vivisect him for his blasphemy.
- Card-Carrying Villain: (Злодей до мозга костей) The Castle proudly admits that its old Masters were villains. That Bill & Barry were heroes was always something that confused it. One scene has the Castle and the Beast worrying that Agatha might not be evil.
- Eldritch Location: (Аномальная зона/Чужеродное место) Not in a magical sense (as far as we know). But its sentience, ability to rearrange parts of itself (and the entire city that surrounds it) around to fight off attackers, and ability to retain full awareness and partial function despite the entire area it occupies being frozen in time definitely qualify it as such.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: (Злу не постичь Добра) In Agatha H. and the Voice of the Castle, it mentions that despite doing everything it could to please them, the Heterodyne Boys never liked it. Even decades on, it’s still confused as to why. It should be noted that the Castle was the one who killed their mother, the one who raised them to be good and saved them from their mad father. The fact that the Castle never considered this to be a reason why Bill and Barry never liked it speaks for itself.
- Evil Has a Bad Sense of Humor: (У злодеев проблемы с юмором) As Zola notes, the Castle’s worst trait is that it likes to think it has a sense of humor. But to a normal person, its sense of humor is crude at best and usually sadistic.
- Genius Loci: (гений места?) At first, a massively fragmented one. But as Agatha restores more and more of it, it gradually becomes less deranged and more capable of helping, ultimately culminating in the Castle reminding the attacking Wulfenbach forces just why Mechanicsburg is unassailable.
- Genre Savvy: (Жанровая смекалка) It assumes that any «real» hero can automatically survive any and all deathtraps without explanation. Hilariously, it’s right.
- Laughably Evil: (Смешной злой) The Castle loves its work, and those of us who are safe beyond the fourth wall get to be in on the joke.
- Mechanical Abomination: (Чужеродная машина) A sentient castle with more deathtraps than possible that can ignore fluctuations in time.
- Moral Myopia: (Готтентотская мораль) Played for Laughs. Since the Castle builds its worldview around its Heterodyne, it seems to believe in a sort of In-Universe Protagonist-Centered Morality (that isn’t self-centered).
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Agatha: I think I’ve been used. Castle: What?! Who dares?! Playing with people’s lives is your prerogative! |
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- Nightmare Fetishist: (Любитель всякой жути) As the HQ and The Igor to generations of demented maniacs, the Castle delights in human misery. Also, when the Baron declares that he is going to end the Battle of Mechanicsburg personally, the Castle has a fanboy moment.
- Pet the Dog: (Добрый поступок злодея) In its own twisted, warped way. The Castle did like Professor Tiktoffen, so it kills him quickly.
- Split Personality: (Раздвоение личности) The Castle is made up of hundreds of subsystems and subroutines. Upon the initial attack, the Other was smart enough to hit the Castle in four major subsections and fracture it into at least 12 personalities. The secondary kitchen part itself was driven by the need to tend to food preparation. The entire Castle could be shut down as long as one portion of its personality survived; it could take over and remember everything the whole system did. Fragments of its memory and personality are stored in various bits in the network and many of these bits were looted or lost since Faustus built the original version. Many of these components were gathered up and used to try and take over Paris; then this was concentrated in a mobile version which will probably be reconnected to main system later on. Epilogue stories even show that various subsystems and memories will be restored even after the war with the Other has ended.
- Those Two Guys: (Те два парня) The fragment of the Castle that was smuggled into Paris was found by Agatha and rendered unto a super-Dingbot that looks like a tiny set of fortress walls with organ pipes out the top. Joined with the similarly miniaturized Beast of The Rails, the two become this. Castle is the more compliant and anticipatorily helpful of the two. However, it’s more than clear that, should Agatha leave the pair alone for 24 hours, mayhem would swiftly ensue.
Doctor Sun
One of Klaus’s old friends. A Spark who runs the Great Hospital in Mechanicsburg. Prone to threatening to beat some sense into his friends and students who are being foolish — and then backing it up if need be.
- Combat Medic: (Смертоносный врач) Able to fight a clank with his bare hands and revive a person from their severed head.
- Deadpan Snarker: (Насмешник с мордой кирпичом/Язвительный насмешник) He’s well known for «Sun-ny bedside manners».
- Dr. Jerk: (Козлящий медик) People make jokes about his Sun-y bedside manner.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero/Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: (Ай, молодца, герой!/злодей!) It really all depends if you are taking Agatha’s POV or Klaus', but him taking down Klaus and forcing back to bed after the Castle is «killed» can be seen as this. Unbeknownst to Dr. Sun, Klaus was desperate to defeat Agatha because he had been wasped. He figured killing her as soon as possible would render that fact pointless and, thus, save his empire. However, according to Tarvek, he couldn’t just TELL anyone this because of the mind control. So to Klaus, Dr. Sun broke it, but to Agatha, him stopping Klaus fixed her problem. Given that there are multiple versions of the Other running around and Agatha is generally the one in control of her body and not Lucrezia, Dr. Sun probably would have stopped Klaus regardless (if he had all of the facts on hand) as Agatha dying would have increased the chances of the Other winning. Also, Dr. Sun putting Klaus in isolation in a high-pressured healing engine ensured that Klaus was no longer potentially vulnerable to being controlled by the Other for the time being and the Empire would be handled by competent subordinates, Boris especially. The villain part is subverted. While Dr. Sun technically serves Klaus, his first line of duty is to his patients. After he gets trapped in Mechanicsburg during the siege, he hesitates for a split second before reporting the medical situation of the town. He isn’t out to help Agatha, but to save lives.
Drozeki
The chief of the Mechanicsburg city watch created by Pluto Heterodyne. As Heterodynes have an expectedly odd outlook on how a city law enforcement group should operate Pluto made the members of the watch invisible and long lived, which drove many of them to desperation out of loneliness with Drozek as one of the very few original watch members still remaining. Jägers and other constructs can usually see members of the watch so they did have plenty of company in Mechanicsburg prior to the Baron banning Jägers from the city.
- Invisible to Normals: (Невидимые существа) Drozeki can only be reliably seen by the Jägerkin and is the sole remaining member of the watch created by Pluto that were designed to be invisible and quickly forgotten if interacted with without special equipment.
Eleven Deadly Sins
The Storm King’s Muses were so famous that one of the Heterodynes got jealous and decided he’d try to outdo Van Rjin. He did outdo him in one respect, in that he made more clanks, but that’s really it. The «Eleven Deadly Sins» are not remotely as sophisticated, just violent killing machines that were gifted to the families of the Blood Circle. And if you’re wondering why it’s Eleven sins and not the Seven Deadly Sins, apparently the Heterodynes were so evil that they invented four more.
- A.I. Is a Crapshoot: (ИИ — это рискованно) The Sins are not… terribly reliable. They’ve wiped out multiple of the families who they were supposed to serve. But they were made by the Heterodynes, so, comes with the territory.
- Deliberate Values Dissonance: (Изменившаяся мораль/Реконструкция) While the reader isn’t told which four sins were added to round out the roster to eleven (beyond that one was named Gomorrity, and that it isn’t related to sodomy), Vidonia is told one of them and finds it surprisingly mundane and not worthy of being considered a sin. Ivo points out that even the traditional seven aren’t so bad, depending on who’s writing or reading the list.
- No Name Given: (Безымянный герой) Played with. Only Gomorrity is directly named, though since Ivo alluded that the Seneschal’s assistant has gotten mad or eaten too much cake at some point already, clearly referencing Wrath and Gluttony, it’s almost certain that seven of them are named after the classic Seven Deadly Sins.
Hadrian
The nephew of Charlemagne Greenclaw, school friend of Vanamonde, and a member of the Blood Circle in Mechanicsburg. Is in fact the instigator of the events of «Ivo Sharktooth, PJ», being the supposed Big Bad of the arc, having had his uncle and the rest of the Blood Circle leadership assassinated, and to take control of the Eleven Deadly Sins. Only it turns out he had purely good intentions for all of this — the Blood Circle were planning to assassinate Agatha, thinking she would be as «bad for business» as her father and uncle, and Hadrian, who was absolutely loyal to Agatha, put an end to the plot as well as deactivated all but one of the Sins. Unfortunately, he assumed Vanamonde was in on the plot.
- Good All Along: (Злодей оказался героем) Was loyal to Agatha and instigated the theft of the trophy to deal with the Eleven Deadly Sins.
Mitko
A gunner captain in the Mechanicsburg Militia who has proudly been part of many successful campaigns. These days he uses a walking stick to get around and seems to be training his son to take up his position while commanding from Gunnery Post XI.
- Genre Savvy: (Жанровая смекалка) The Jägers approach town ominously but seem to be thinned out. Mitko knows instantly that the Jägers making a show of arriving in Mechanicsburg are only a handful and the rest are already positioning themselves throughout town even though his younger family members are surprised.
Oana Grosu
An experienced pilot and smuggler brought in to get aboard Castle Wulfenbach.
- Surrounded by Idiots: (Меня окружают идиоты) After discovering Castle Wulfenbach’s boilers are set to overheat, she has to deal with the Jägers breaking knobs and gauges while trying to vent and shut down the boilers, some of which was deliberate to be able to fight a monster instead.
- Venturous Smuggler: (Контрабандист) An experienced smuggler who frequently transports contraband onto Wulfenbach ships, and possibly the closest thing to the rumoured «Wulfenbach Dark Fleet» we’ve seen so far.
Vidonia Orkalina
First seen organizing the guilds of Mechanicsburg to assist Agatha’s work in the coffee shop, she quickly assigned herself to be Van’s assistant seeing as the town has a Heterodyne and he’s much busier than he used to be.
- Limited Wardrobe: (Скудный гардероб) While Vidonia does change her shirt a couple of times, she seems to always wear her trilobite earrings and a long white cape.
The von Mekkahns
Carson and Vanamonde von Mekkahn, Former and Current Seneschals of Mechanicsburg
The Von Mekkahn family is as synonymous with Mechanicsburg leadership as the Heterodyne family itself is, with many of them serving as seneschals to the Heterodynes. Carson von Mekkahn was the seneschal of Castle Heterodyne until he retired and passed the job on to his son, who died just days later when the Other attacked. When Baron Wulfenbach politely took over Mechanicsburg a few years later, Carson made it seem that the von Mekkahn family had gone extinct in the Other’s attack, going into hiding under the alias of «Carson Heliotrope» and running Mechanicsburg in secret. Carson has since retired again and his grandson, Vanamonde, now runs the town from a coffee shop. After Agatha Sparks out in Vanamonde’s coffee shop, Carson helps her enter Castle Heterodyne.
- Bald of Evil: (Лысый, как череп) Carson, sort of. He probably wasn’t both bald and evil simultaneously, but he’s bald now and apparently served the evil Heterodynes before Agatha’s heroic father and uncle — he rode with the Jägers in his youth and could describe Agatha’s grandfather’s usual reaction to invading war clanks. The print-novel version also has a nasty set of scars up there; see People Puppets below.
- Establishing Character Moment: (Момент характеристики) Vanamonde is introduced seemingly being a layabout in a coffeeshop, before smugly revealing he has highly detailed information on the fake Heterodyne heir who’s entered the Castle despite not even having left his table, only to be sandbagged when Agatha is introduced to him as another Heterodyne heir. He pretends to be harmless, truly is cunning and well-informed, but he’s not nearly as good as he thinks he is.
- Exact Words: (Буквально понятые слова/Не вся правда) When the Wulfenbach Empire moved in the townsfolk reported that the Heterodynes' seneschal and Carson’s son had died in the attack by the Other. They did not mention that Carson had retired to spend time with his grandson and passed the seneschalship to his son, meaning that he was presumed dead and able to secretly run a shadow government until Vanamonde came of age.
- Must Have Caffeine: (Кофеман) Vanamonde is addicted to coffee.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: (Прикинуться шлангом) To outsiders, Vanamonde looks like a young loafer who does nothing but laze around and drink coffee. In reality, he wrote a definitive book on coffee (under a pen name), is (according to Carson) «more competent than he appears», and, oh yeah, secretly runs Mechanicsburg.
- Outliving One’s Offspring: (Пережить своих детей) Carson had retired mere days before the Other’s attack on Castle Heterodyne, with his son dying in the attack instead. His only comfort was that his son had died trying to save the life of Klaus Barry Heterodyne, the infant son of William Heterodyne and Lucrezia Mongfish.
- Psychic Link: (Телепатия) Carson didn’t even notice he had this until he felt Castle Heterodyne die.
- Strong Family Resemblance: (Такие похожие родственники) Since there is a Vanamonde lookalike in the Heterodyne shows, there’s a good chance that Vanamonde looks just like Carson did in his youth.
- 10-Minute Retirement: Carson had mere days in retirement enjoying time with his grandson while his son took over the family tradition of being the Heterodynes' seneschal before the Other’s attack on the Castle became a harbinger of the dark times ahead. He immediately jumped back in and managed the crisis, with the city accustomed to following his leadership. After that happened, he arranged and led a shadow government for Mechanicsburg, essentially rendering the nominal Wulfenbach-appointed city administration impotent. He has since (semi) retired again, letting his grandson Vanamonde, now an adult, take over.
- Too Clever by Half: (Такой умный, что уже глупый) Hadrian Greenclaw’s plan to get rid of those conspiring to asassinate Agatha included killing Vanamonde, since the current seneschal likes to portray himself as knowing everything that goes on within the town, Greenclaw assumed that he had to know about the plot and be in on it.
Lumi von Mekkhan
Relative of Vanamonde, a Spark studying alchemistry at TPU. Joins Vipsania and Franz on their quest to loot a deceased dragon’s hoard in Franz Scortchmaw and the Story We Haven’t Named Yet.
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: (Любовь зла, полюбишь и козла) Seems to be infatuated with Hector the supposed ghost (despite her fear of ghosts) after he flirts with her and giving her a black rose before fleeing. When reminded that he’s a thief and various other bad boy titles, she merely acknowledges he is while dreamily staring into space. And when Vipsania asks if Lumi believes she can change him, she wonders why she would want to do that.
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Brother Marcus: Ah, yes. Mechanicsburg. |
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- Big «NO!»: (Большое «НЕТ!») When she finds out there are no coffee shops nearby.
- Little Miss Badass: (Бой-девка) At age seven, she became the youngest Mechanicsburger to steal treasure from Franz’s Dragon Hoard, as part of the initiation into the Lower Court Geartooth Goblins.
- Must Have Caffeine: (Кофеман) Like Van, she needs coffee to function.
- Oh, Crap!: (Осознание катастрофы) When it’s pointed out she left her flying machine on the Corbettite train.
Franz
Franz is the Great Dragon of Mechanicsburg. You may have seen him on the town arms.
- Berserk Button: (Кнопка берсерка) Franz is an extremely laidback dragon, but some few things will set him off: obviously, people threatening the Heterodyne; rival dragons encroaching on his territory; people taking undue interest in his books; and people making deals with him and then implying they may be unable to hold up their end of the bargain, or thinking he might cheat his way out of an agreement.
- Breath Weapon: (Дыхание в качестве оружия) As indicated by his name, he can breath fire.
- Character Catchphrase: (Коронная фраза) «Rejoice!» For context, he is demanding revelry while beating down a host of attackers because the Doom Bell has heralded the return of a Heterodyne scion in the middle of a multi-sided invasion battle.
- A Day in the Limelight: (Эпизод-фокус) Nominal protagonist of sidestory «Franz Scortchmaw Great Dragon of Mechanicsburg and the Story We Haven’t Named Yet!»
- Early-Bird Cameo: (Раннее появление (в планах)) First seen in an off-hand appearance during Da Boyz educating Gil that all the monsters in the city are loyal to the Heterodynes, he later has a major role in the Battle of Mechanicsburg.
- Friend-or-Idol Decision: (Друг или золото?) Has to make a decision between helping himself to Hydrargyros' gold hoard once he and the impromptu band of raiders have access to it, or helping Humongulous from under the pillar he threw at him earlier. Not only does he choose the latter, he surprises the resident Mechanicsburger that there was even a dilemma to be had to begin with.
- Hidden Depths: (Скрытые глубины)
- A 2022 side-story reveals that Franz’s most valuable treasures are rare books.
- Back in the day, Franz enjoyed creating his own made-up languages.
- Not Quite Flight: (Полёт) Franz apparently can’t fly by himself. So Barry Heterodyne made him what is essentially a giant penny-farthing that drives a pair of helicopter blade things.
- Odd Friendship: (Непохожие друзья) Franz has managed to strike up a somewhat cordial and respectful partnership with Humongulous, despite the latter being constantly mistaken for a knight.
- Spell My Name With An S: (Я пишусь через «Э») It’s «Scortchmaw», not «Scorchmaw». Yes, it’s misspelled, but that’s how it officially is. You gonna argue with him?
Wilhelm Diamant
A member of the Mechanicsburg Inner Council which greeted Agatha upon the castle proclaiming her the new Heterodyne. While Mechanicsburg was under Wulfenbach rule he was in charge of transporting prisoners and supplies to the Castle and helped Agatha get in without being noticed.
- Government Conspiracy: (Правительственный заговор) He is part of the shadow government that actually runs Mechanicsburg and does its best to avoid the Baron and ignore his apointed governors.
Moloch von Zinzer
A mechanic who served in army of a Spark beaten by Klaus and ended up «on the beach» after his Walking Tank ran into Bang’s team. First met right at the beginning when he and his brother steal Agatha’s locket. He is later mistaken for the Spark that created Agatha’s first clank. He turned up again in Castle Heterodyne and seems to have fallen into the role of Agatha’s minion by default.
- Badass Normal: (Крутой простой смертный) Not a Spark, not a Jäger, not specially trained, he just doesn’t want to die. Downplayed as he’s not that badass.
- Chekhov’s Gunman: (Стрелок Чехова) In the future windows we see, Moloch states that «they survived (the destruction of the gunboat that he and his brothers piloted)». Several pages before that in the present time of the comic, he states that he saw «Bruno and the kid» escape into the forest. Whoever these two characters are, they are important enough for Agatha to search through time to track them down.
- Color-Coded Characters: (Расцвеченная команда) His outfit is mostly grey and his hair is black. He wore bright red early on.
- Combat Pragmatist: (Прагматичный боец) His solution for dealing with an enemy riding a clank is to simply hit the driver with a brick rather than engage in the kind of drawn-out fight that the Jägers would prefer. Fits with his overall pragmatic approach to life.
- Crush Blush: (Любовь заставляет вас краснеть) When he learns that his crush was not as secret as he thought.
- Deadpan Snarker: (Насмешник с мордой кирпичом/Язвительный насмешник) At times. Pointing to one particular example, Agatha needs to recharge the castle if she wants to stop Mechanicsburg from getting overrun, and to do that she needs to get to the top of a tower. But there’s an army of hostile clanks between her and the tower. So she aims her BFG at them and fires, wiping them all out and knocking over the tower. His response? «How is it possible that this could surprise any of you people?»
- Fire-Forged Friends: (Дружба, закалённая в огне) Became this with Agatha as they quickly patched things up and saved each other’s lives multiple times while in Castle Heterodyne.
- Genre Blind: (Сюжетная близорукость) Although being Genre Savvy is more or less his defining characteristic, he has a huge blind spot when it comes to being Agatha’s Chief Minion. He never realizes that the things he’s saying are setting him up perfectly as the only person capable of doing the next assignment, or at least to be stuck right in the middle of it.
- Genre Savvy: (Жанровая смекалка)
- «I have been around way too many Sparks!»
- It’s becoming his defining personal characteristic.
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Von Zinzer: … How is it POSSIBLE that this could surprise ANY of you people? |
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- Heel-Face Turn: (Переход на Светлую сторону) See Characterization Marches On above. A generous soul might call him the first villain of the series. Even if not, he’s more morally grounded now than he used to be.
- Lethal Chef: (Невыносимо скверный повар) He’s fortunately never asked to handle cooking duty once he joins up with Agatha, but he was stuck on kitchen duty prior to her entry in Castle Heterodyne, and by all accounts he was bad at it — Sanaa said that his machines would probably taste better, and Mittelmind said that everyone knew that being served after Sanaa would get a boiled sponge as a meal. Possibly related to his Extreme Omnivore tendencies, as it’s clear that his sense of taste in general is just off.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: (Устрашающее имечко???????????) Averted, in that he’s a perfectly normal person with a demon’s name. Turns out his mother got his name out of The Bible…despite not having actually read it, at least not enough to understand the context.
- Oblivious to Love: (Любовная близорукость) Partly because, by his own admission, he has very little experience with women, and partly because he’s more or less been under constant threat (and thus had more important things to pay attention to), Moloch is completely oblivious to any affection directed his way, even though one of them is rather blatant about it and another is not particularly subtle either. He’s also distinctly oblivious to his own romantic feelings — he notes that he feels the same way about Snaug as he does about Sanaa, but he chalks it up to «not being used to being around beautiful women.» He naturally fails to notice that this tacit admission of attraction and the compliment to her appearance just gets Snaug to fall harder for him.
- Offscreen Moment of Awesome: (Закадровый момент крутости) During the Battle of Mechanicsburg he gets through explosions, the Empire’s massive clank army, and what’s described as all of the Baron’s most dangerous Sparks and monsters to get various repairs done across town for the Castle. Unfortunately for him, this later puts a damper in his attempts to convince Agatha that it would be impossible for them to pass through it all alive.
Fun-Sized Mobile Agony and Death Dispensers
Giant killer clanks that inhabit Castle Heterodyne. They’re mobile, and they dispense agony and death, but whether they’re «Fun-Sized» is subjective.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: (Устрашающее имечко) «Agony and Death Dispensers» is a fairly accurate description of their intended use.
Professor Tiktoffen
The man in charge of the prisoners inside Castle Heterodyne.
- Killed Off for Real: (Умер по-настоящему) Crushed by the Castle for trying to steal it from Agatha, the rightful heir.
- Too Dumb to Live: (Роковая глупость) See «Killed Off for Real», above.
Prisoners (in general)
A thoroughly mixed bag of Sparks, constructs, criminals and psychopaths sentenced to repair Castle Heterodyne, thus killing two birds with one stone from the Baron’s perspective. Provides a ready pool of minions (or mooks) for whomever is currently ascendant.
- Boxed Crook: (Миссия для заключённого) Though the remaining survivors are technically free once the castle is fully repaired, this happens in the middle of the siege of Mechanicsburg. With most of the Baron’s forces directly outside the town walls, and Agatha being able to provide a sanctuary, plenty of minions and freedom for their respective sciences, the survivors opt to work for her instead of fleeing.
- Dumb Muscle: (Сила без ума) R-79, an incredibly strong construct. However, even he’s smart enough to Know When to Fold 'Em, and could see taking Sanaa hostage going badly a mile off (see Too Dumb to Live below).
- Heel-Face Revolving Door: (Моральный вертихвост) Depending upon whom has the upper hand (or the gun, or the Castle’s obedience) at the moment. They seem to settle on helping Agatha when it becomes clear that staying loyal to her would give them a sanctuary, plenty of minions and a great deal of freedom for their experiments that the Baron had otherwise locked them away for.
- Killed Off for Real: (Умер по-настоящему) Diaz is brained with a marshmallow gun by Zola. Rather than trying to revive him, Mittlemind and Mezzasalma loot his corpse for body parts (though in fairness, some of those belonged to Mezzasalma first). Granted, given his brain was destroyed, reviving him is stated to be impossible anyways.
- Laughably Evil: (Смешной злой) Dr. Mittlemind is a complete raving loon of a social scientist, obsessed with turning towns into mazes, which got him and Snaug thrown in the castle, but his hamminess and actual threat level (which is low compared to folks like Zola) allow him to fall here.
- Mad Scientist: (Безумный учёный) Goes without saying. There’s even a mad Social scientist, Dr. Mittlemind, who has been known to grumble about funding going to the «flashier» sciences.
- Pet the Dog: (Добрый поступок злодея) Mittelmind has a very twisted idea of what qualifies for this.
- A more conventional one is when, during their repairs on the giant cat clank, Mittlemind allows Snaug to go with Moloch rather than making her work with him, recognizing that she had fallen for Moloch. All he commands of her is to not permanently harm Moloch.
- Recruiting the Criminal: (Видок) Those that survive are given a chance to join in repairing Mechanicsburg’s defenses after the castle is fixed.
- Those Two Guys: (Те два парня) Mezzasalma and Mittelmind, the two older sparks still alive in the group, have such a schtick going on.
- Too Dumb to Live: (Роковая глупость) Snapper, who tries to hold Sanaa hostage on Othar’s arrival, upon learning she is his sister, apparently forgetting that she was sent to Castle Heterodyne for a good reason. Cue death by Neck Snap.
Sanaa
One of the inhabitants of Castle Heterodyne. We first encounter her reporting on her repair efforts in Castle Heterodyne. She was the one who welcomed(?) Agatha to the Castle, but for the most part she mingles with Moloch von Zinzer and the rest of the Castle crew.
- Action Girl: (Бой-баба) Hardly surprising given she is a Long-Lost Relative of Othar Trygvassen (GENTLEMAN ADVENTURER).
- Hopeless Suitor: (Безответная любовь) She’s been the target of this from Moloch. She begins showing signs of reciprocating after he semi-officially becomes Agatha’s Chief Minion.
- Pirate Girl: (Пиратка) Pre-Castle, she spent some time as a pirate queen. May be the origin of her pink hair; we’ve met another gal of «proud European-pirate» ancestry who sports a similar look.
Jägerkin
Ссылка: [4]
Jägers (in general)
Feared footsoldiers of the Heterodyne family, who drank the Jägerdraught and were transformed into their present state. Their fondness for fighting is matched only by their fondness for hats, and they are recognizable by their mostly humanoid but just monstrous enough appearance, and a distinctively maintained Old Mechanicsburg accent.
- Aerith and Bob: (Разностилица имён) Jäger names range from real-world (Maxim, Andre, Dmitre), unusual but still real (Gkika, a surname; Minsk, the capital of Belarus), and fantastic (Goomblast, Grishnarf, Zog).
- Affectionate Nickname: (Ласковое прозвище) The Jägers have taken to frequently calling their Lady Agatha «Sveethot» (IE: Sweetheart).
- Amazing Technicolor Population: (Цветные люди/Разноцветная раса) Jäger skin tends to be all manner of colors.
- Battle Cry: (Боевой клич) «VE HUNT!» This is appropriate enough, given that the English translation of «Jägermonster» is «hunter-monster».
- The Dreaded: (Грозная репутация) Having served as the Heterodyne’s head monsters for several hundred years, the people of Europa are not terribly fond of them. In places where the Baron’s presence isn’t so strong, and the memory of the old Heterodynes linger, the typical response to a Jäger is to try and kill them. Even in Wulfenbach-dominant regions, the mere implication that the Baron may send the Jägercorps to deal with an unruly vassal is often enough to pacify them.
- I Gave My Word: (Человек слова) They swore to serve the Heterodynes forever, but when Bill and Barry disappeared, they signed up with the Baron, knowing it was the only way to keep them safe. A few of their kind, such as Da Boyz, volunteered to leave the group and go into into the world to keep up the search, despite knowing there was probably no chance of succeeding, just so the Jägers as a whole could say they had kept their word to serve their masters. And then Agatha shows up.
- Interservice Rivalry: (Соперничество служб) With the Lackya, the green-eyed footmen on board Castle Wulfenbach, during the Jägercorps' time under the auspices of Baron Wulfenbach. The Jagers think they’re uptight and effete («nancy-boy feetsman»), while the Lackya don’t care much for their unruly behavior. But when the Slaver Wasps come around, all nonsense is dispensed with.
- They also don’t get along with Boris, for very similar reasons.
- Made of Iron: (Распутинская живучесть?) Side-effect of not dying of the Jägerdraught is becoming near impossible to kill. Of course, this does have the leedle problem that Jägers can be overconfident in the face of a problem, or in some cases not outright notice something’s trying to kill them in the first place.
- Nightmare Fetishist: (Любитель всякой жути) The people of Mechanicsburg consider the Jägers' inhuman features to be attractive. One of Higgs’s regrets is that he didn’t at least get the teeth.
- Signature Headgear: (Крутая шляпа) A Jäger without a hat might as well not be a Jäger. And there are rules about how one goes about acquiring them (gotta be a battle trophy off a worthy opponent, can’t just pop into a little shop and buy one). Conversely, they’ll respect someone with a nice hat, or even give one as a sign of respect (or at least, what they think is a nice hat). A good way to make them angry is to knock it off their head. They also use it as a gauge to whether or not a battle plan is a good idea: Will they lose their hat? If yes, bad plan.
- Super-Strength: (Физическая суперсила) Jägers are capable of impressive feats of physical exertion; the Generals are in fact capable of wielding Clank autocannons. (Jäger footsoldiers also manage to fire a giant cannon, but it takes three of them, and they have a «leedle problem vit de recoil».)
The Jäger Generals
The leaders of the Jägermonsters. There were originally eight of them, however General Øsk was reported to have lost his hat and life battling the Polar Ice Lords' Doom Wyrm, leaving only seven:
1-3. «Dose three old ogres». When the story begins, they seem to act as military advisers for Klaus, and live aboard Castle Wulfenbach. General Zog, the most normal-looking one with the four-diamond-emblem fez, is implied to be the oldest. General Khrizhan, with the gold-capped tusks and (mysteriously) no hat at all, seems to be in overall command. General Goomblast is the freaking massive one with an impressively wide mouth and array of teeth.
4. «Mamma» Gkika is one of only two female Jägers seen so far, and the only female general. In the Jägerkin’s current holding pattern, she runs the Mechanicsburg bar/hospital where incapacitated Jägers wait for a Heterodyne to come along to heal them up.
5. General Koppelslav, a large red Jäger, first appears in Mechanicsburg in a council of the generals, after Agatha is proclaimed the new Heterodyne. Long known only as «Gargantua», as named by a hostile Wulfenbach soldier, his name was finally confirmed in the fourth GG print novel.
6. General Zadipok, whereabouts unknown…
7. A «tricky general», the Heterodyne’s spymaster, said to be «keeper of many secret things.» He apparently wishes to remain hidden until the Other is removed from Agatha’s mind. It’s finally revealed that he now goes by the name Axel Higgs and that unique among Jäger, he’s remained human-looking all these centuries.
- Almighty Janitor: (Всемогущий нищий/Бог-уборщик) The hidden general, Higgs, who has been serving in various inconspicuous positions throughout the militaries of Europa for hundreds of years.
- Amazing Technicolor Population: (Цветные люди/Разноцветная раса) Mamma Gkika takes it a step further by having a «fun color change-y hepidermoose [epidermis]!» She kept on the down low by staying Mechanicsburgher-colored, but now can «mek vit the pretty colors again».
- Amazonian Beauty: (Амазонка) Mama Gkika is the only publicly known general who is still conventionally attractive, and she towers over any normal human or non-general Jäger. The third novel states she’s almost nine feet tall.
- Arch-Enemy: (Заклятый враг) While the Heterodynes, and thus the Jägers, were enemies with pretty much anybody, the one enemy the generals hate is the Other’s insects. This is because the Jägers serve of their own will while the slaver wasps use Mind Control.
- Attack! Attack! Attack!: (Лирой Дженкинс) Defying this is part of what separates the Generals from regular Jägers. Although they still love a good fight, they also know when it’s better not to. Vole saying he doesn’t feel like fighting is considered «talking like a general».
- Bar Brawl: (Буйный кабак) Mamma Gkika organizes one every evening to let the incapacitated Jägers in her care blow off steam. Except for Thursdays; Thursdays are Poetry Slam night.
- Big Red Devil: (Чёрт с рогами) General Koppelslav has this look and wears Spikes of Villainy.
- Combat Pragmatist: (Прагматичный боец) The Generals make a game of who can score the most kills in a battle. General Khrizhan continuously pesters the others about what counts as cheating, to make sure they can’t call him out for doing everything the others are doing…at the same time, on a much bigger scale. Things that are not cheating: attacking them in the air, attacking them with their own weapons (the weapons don’t care), and attacking while they run away. Things that are cheating: all of those things at once.
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Zog: But in der goot vay! |
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- Cute Monster Girl: (Няшная монстродевочка) Downplayed, as Mamma’s definitely not a girl, but she is pretty good-looking and the most human looking of the Generals except for Higgs.
- Even Evil Has Standards: (Даже у зла есть стандарты) They would very much enjoy working for a «fun» Heterodyne again, but even they hate Mind Control enough to hear out the possibility of Agatha being the Other and would refuse to work for any Heterodyne willing to use it.
- Four-Star Badass: (Крепкий середнячок) All of the Generals are brutally competent warriors. Four of them working together can utterly crush an entire airship of elite Wulfenbach air-assault troops.
- Funetik Aksent: (Смищной аксэнт) Being Jägers, this is to be expected.
- Gentle Giant: (Добродушный гигант) All of the generals seem perfectly capable of being personable and making very polite conversation over a pot of tea (Zog’s a bit rusty). This is actually what makes them generals. Jägergenerals are in fact the mature form of common Jägers; this usually takes hundreds of years, and most Jägers die before reaching it. Though almost all Jägergenerals possess unique physical characteristics, the most important difference between a Jäger and a Jägergeneral is that a Jägergeneral is no longer driven to fight as a Jäger is, but only fights when they choose to, and can thus fight rationally enough to lead others in combat. They are, however, still Jägers.
- Genius Bruiser: (Гениальный силач) The generals seem far more on the button as far as politics are concerned than many people, never mind Jägers. Case in point: when it’s revealed that Klaus plans to destroy Castle Heterodyne because Agatha’s possessed by the Other, and Boris tries to deceive them into going along with it, they ask Boris to tell them what he knows rather than killing him out of hand. Turns out their intelligence and wisdom is the result of centuries of experience. And Higgs is a master of disguise and subterfuge, and has been hiding out posing as lowly crewmen and soldiers in half of Europa’s military.
- Hidden in Plain Sight: (Спрятано на виду)
- This is how Mamma Gkika’s remains hidden. It’s underneath a much gaudier tourist trap of the same name, filled with show girls dressed up as fake Jägers.
- The «sneaky» general manages to stay hidden in plain sight as well, disguising himself as lowly soldiers in the various armies of Europa.
- I Call Her «Vera»: (Поименованный предмет) Mamma Gkika’s axe, «Dollink».
- Improbable Weapon User: (Мастер необычного оружия) Koppelslav sports large organic-looking shoulder-spikes which he can tear off and throw with deadly accuracy. It’s not clear if they are part of his body or his outfit.
- Lightning Bruiser: (Реактивный громила) At least, General Goomblast. A Wulfenbach assault team seeing a huge Jäger General with a light fencing sword didn’t realize why they should be terrified. Oh, and he also seems to be ambidextrous.
- Master Swordsman: (Мастер меча) General Goomblast is capable of disarming his enemies such that their own (poisoned) swords impale them. While fighting six on one.
- More Teeth than the Osmond Family: (Чудовищная пасть) While standard for most Jägers, Goomblast takes it a bit further.
- Silly Rabbit, Cynicism Is for Losers!: (Цинизм для лузеров) While Wulfenbach and all his minions are all treating Agatha as if she were The Other regardless of explanation of her situation, the Jäger Generals are willing to risk it to help their beloved mistress expel The Other from her head and carry the day.
- Surrounded by Idiots: (Меня окружают идиоты) Khrizhan and Gkika both have moments where they display this attitude.
Jenka
One of only two female Jägers we have met so far (the other being Mamma Gkika) who seems to be Da Boyz immediate superior officer, but who spends quite a bit of time away from them (or maybe a liaison officer, which would fit well with her sporadic appearance). She was away when Da Boyz were caught by Othar and then left again to get orders about Agatha, and has since put in sporadic appearances. Her mysteriousness, femaleness, and general awesome has lead to a lot of speculation about her nature and origins.
- Action Girl / Dark Action Girl: (Бой-баба) Hard to call exactly but it has to be one of these two.
- Badass Adorable: (Милый крутой) Does not look like the super scary badass she is.
- Badass Cape: (Крутой в плаще) She wears one that also obscures her mouth. Because she actually has entirely normal teeth, thanks to Andronicus Valois ripping out her «luffly fangs.»
- Bilingual Bonus: (Билингвальный бонус) Füst is Hungarian for 'smoke', ie her pet is Smokey the Bear. Doubles as a Stealth Pun
- Cursed with Awesome: (Полезное проклятие) She’s one of only two Jägers without fangs because Andronicus Valois, the first Storm King, ripped them out. This enables her to go on diplomatic missions, as she looks like a grey-skinned human. She’s still pissed about losing her fangs, though.
- Cute Monster Girl: (Няшная монстродевочка) What we can see of her anyway. Later confirmed during the Paris arc when we see her with her mask off.
- Funetik Aksent: (Смищной аксэнт) Her accent is often noticeably less pronounced than the other Jägers. For example, while she says «is» as «iz» like any other Jäger, she often says «you» normally instead of «hyu». Given that Da Boyz are/were a roaming band of Jägers on special assignment, and are now sticking close to Agatha (in both cases, not part of a larger Jäger group), it’s entirely plausible that Jenka often has to travel through hostile territory to meet up with them. A less-pronounced accent may help in staying unnoticed if necessary. Confirmed when she shows up in Paris disguised as a (more or less) regular human. She serves in many ways and therefore must wear many faces, and has learned how to hide her accent when needed.
- More Deadly Than the Male: (Женщина сильнее мужчины) She is in charge of Da Boyz, and the Jägers are pretty big on Asskicking Leads to Leadership.
- Praetorian Guard: (Преторианцы/Преторианцы-женщины?) Apparently she used to be part of one for Euphrosynia Heterodyne.
- Women Are Wiser: (Женщины мудрее) One of the very few female Jägers, and the most sensible one by far.
Jorgi
The Jäger who commands the forces that take over the Wulfenbach Heliolux Air Fleet as the Wulfenbach Jägers return to Mechanicsburg to serve the new Heterodyne, bringing an end to their service to the Wulfenbach empire. He also helps Tarvek rescue the Vespiary Squad that is being slain by those under the Other’s control.
- Cute Little Fangs: (Торчащие клыки) When Jorgi’s mouth is closed two of his lower fangs stick out a little, helping mark him as a Jäger even though he has a very human face.
- Foreshadowing: (Предзнаменование) Part of the reason he’s around is to show what generals in waiting look like. There’s a reason the generals made him a Commander. He even mentions he likes fighting in an off-handed way, dismissing it despite it supposedly being the most important part of being a Jaeger. This reflects both Dimo’s and Vole’s paths to become generals. There’s a time to fight and then there’s a time to think or talk.
- Hidden Depths: (Скрытые глубины) He is quite a bit more intelligent than the average Jäger, even easily understanding a Spark’s messy notes on their experiments, but he doesn’t want his brothers to even know he’s literate. He’s also a great cook.
- Not Afraid to Die: (Антиимморталист) When he realizes the ship he’s in is about to blow up and he can’t even properly crawl to escape he’s entirely unfazed and urges Tarvek to hurry up, escape and be good to Agatha.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: (Прикинуться шлангом) He threatens to kill Tarvek if Tarvek reveals to the horde that Jorgi can not only read, but comprehend a Spark’s convoluted notes and had a very good education as a human at his father’s insistence.
- Secret-Keeper: (Хранитель тайны) Jorgi knew about Tarvek being the heir to the Storm King and Agatha having an anima of the Other in her head while those things were still meant to be private information, to Tarvek’s surprise.
- Talking Is a Free Action: (Всегда есть время поболтать) He treats it like it is, carrying on a conversation with Tarvek as Tarvek is trying to drag him and Ruxala out of a burning airship while they’re being chased and attacked which drives Tarvek a bit mad.
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Tarvek: You weigh less when you're not talking!"' |
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Ivo Sharktooth
Protagonist of a short story set after the end of the main comic, Ivo Sharktooth is a Private Jäger: a full-blown, hard-boiled gumshoe PI, who just so happens to be a Jägermonster. He only has one rule: you can hire him, but you can’t unhire him. Once he is on the case he won’t stop looking, no matter what dirty secrets he throws into the light or how much you beg.
- All of the Other Reindeer: (Пария/Изгой) Most people who know Ivo seem to find him deeply irritating. Even the other Jägers don’t like him, to the point where two of them trip him as he runs by, and are fully prepared to beat him up for their amusement. They apparently took offense at his vocal distaste for fighting, although if what Spanzel says are actual quotes from Ivo, he was pretty insulting about it. This is probably why he’s not a Jägergeneral, even though he has the temperament of one. There’s no indication it’s so bad that he’s been fully detached from the pack, like Vole, but the usual Jäger camaraderie is definitely missing.
- Amazing Technicolor Population: (Цветные люди/Разноцветная раса) Grey. He is a Jäger.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: (Бойся своих желаний) You can hire him, but you can’t «un-hire» him. Once you set him on the case, he will not stop until the truth is fully exposed.
- Insistent Terminology: (Настойчивая терминология) He’s not a Private Investigator, he’s a Private Jäger. As discussed above, the difference between the two is subtle but significant.
- Man Bites Man: (Кусака) The appelation «Sharktooth» is well-earned. Ivo ends up defeating the villain’s secret policeman henchman by biting his hand off.
- Pragmatic Hero: (Герой-прагматик) He doesn’t like to fight not because he can’t, but, according to him, «Mostly 'cauze it iz soch a beeg waste of time», and he ends up on the clock.
- The Smart Guy: (Умник) At least by the typical Jäger standard. Observant, methodical, and logical.
Vole
The only Jägermonster ever to be kicked out of the pack. He bears a strong grudge against the House of Heterodyne over this, and is eager to kill Agatha as soon as he discovers that she’s a real Heterodyne.
- And I Must Scream: (Но я должен кричать) Seems to have experienced this during his Rapid Aging. He describes it at feeling like he was stuck for hundreds of years fighting. Bad fighting, as in slowed down, where the blows came and he couldn’t stop them, nor stop trying to futilely swing back, as if fighting in a nightmare which he couldn’t wake up for centuries on end. After experiencing that, he himself states he doesn’t want to fight anymore, and his Blood Knight tendencies seem to have been obliterated entirely.
- Ax-Crazy: (Буйный неадекват) «Ve vill burn Europa to the ground and und gnaw her bonez!» — his words.
- Berserk Button: (Кнопка берсерка) Vole is no longer a Jäger, but still takes attempts to steal or damage his hat very, very seriously.
- Black Eyes of Evil: (Тьма в глазах) With white pupils. Maybe. It’s hard to tell if they’re pupils or reflections; there are panels that make good arguments for each.
- Combat Pragmatist: (Прагматичный боец) A particularly clever version. He takes advantage of people talking when they should fight and baits people to take advantage of their psychological weaknesses.
- Grievous Harm with a Body: (Бить врага вражиною)
- In the first two panels he appears in, he rips a man’s arm off to prevent his hand from releasing a dead man’s switch. It pretty much sets the tone for the character.
- He does this with Gil against Tarvek when subverting Talking Is a Free Action.
- Hidden Depths: (Скрытые глубины) Much like Da Boyz above, he’s much smarter than he looks and displays dangerous cunning. He’s also capable of stealing his gun back from the Impossible Thief in the party.
- Literal-Minded: (Буквально понятые слова) The result of Gil ordering him to bring an enemy commander to Dr. Sun for interrogation certainly portrays him this way.
- Sharp-Dressed Man: (Одет с иголочки) Vole’s immaculate uniform stands out against his Blood Knight nature. In his case, it’s a hobby he picked up to cope with the boredom of functional immortality. It’s also why he gets so furious when Agatha throws coffee on him.
- The Social Darwinist: (Социал-дарвинизм) Tried to kill Bill and Barry because they were soft. Wanted a new pack of crueler, meaner, more psychotic Jägers to burn down Europa with. After the ordeal with the time stasis? Not so much.
- Took a Level in Kindness: (Поднял уровень доброты) See One-Winged Angel above, subversion part.
- The Worf Effect: (Силач на расправу) Outside of ripping some poor nobody’s arm off, he tends to get beat up a lot. Even Othar gets to take a shot at him.
Old Man Death
An old man who runs a gourmet sandwich shop with his granddaughter. Used to run with the Jägers and put them to shame. His hat is therefore very significant to Jägers, as the more important and badass the hat’s owner, the more awesome and badass the hat. As such, he has to put up with the occasional attack on him for it, often enough at least for there to be a three tries only rule.
- Badass Normal: (Крутой простой смертный) He is a human who can put Jägers to shame.
- Chef of Iron: (Крутой повар) Again, he makes gourmet sandwiches and out-fights Jägers. Often at the same time.
- Dramatic Irony: (Драматическая ирония) Tells his granddaughter that he’d be more impressed if any of the Jägers he fights nowadays used cunning or stealth to steal his hat, but that it will never happen since Jägers don’t do subtle. Maxim’s third, and successful, attempt starts with stealth (hiding in a herring barrel) and ends with him (sort of) tricking Old Man Death into giving over the hat (by ordering a sandwich that is a hat-related historical reference) and escaping quickly (by ordering the sandwich to go).
- Hat of Authority: (Крутая шляпа) Played with, his hat is nothing special and it announces no official position, but the fact that it is his makes it irresistible to the Jägers. And once Maxim wins it off him, he immediately becomes the new target.
- Mysterious Past: (Персонаж-загадка) Exactly how, why, and when he stopped marauding, moved to Mechanicsburg and set up his shop isn’t clear, although he claims it was due to his meeting his princess wife-to-be: «..she sort of abducted me. Took me away from all of that, you know.»
- Noodle Incident: (Инцидент с кошкой) The story behind the names of all the other sandwiches he can make, except the bat-and-mushroom «Red Heterodyne» as noted above.
- Papa Wolf: (Родительский инстинкт) The fight with Maxim over his hat was going fine, and was fairly friendly, until Maxim tried to hit on the waitress, his granddaughter.
- Retired Badass: (Крутой в отставке) He just wants to run his sandwhich shop these days.
The Heterodynes
Ссылка: [5]
Bill and Barry, The Heterodyne Boys
The heroes of the previous generation, Bill and Barry Heterodyne were a pair of brothers, the first good apples in a looong line of villains. Their tenures as masters of House Heterodyne led to an age of peace and prosperity for much of Europa, lending their immensely powerful sparkiness not to conquer like their forefathers, but to lend a hand wherever they could. Their adventures were so fantastical that they have been immortalized in a series of theatrical productions. They were close friends with Klaus Wulfenbach, and built the constructs Punch and Judy. Bill eventually married their old rival Lucrezia Mongfish, and is Agatha’s father.
The Boys went on a crusade against the Other after it attacked Castle Heterodyne, killed Bill’s infant son, and kidnapped his wife. (Or at least that’s current semi-public description of that eventful day.) Eventually, they both disappeared, but Barry returned in disguise with a young Agatha in tow, and left her in the care of Punch and Judy before disappearing once again.
- Big Good: (Светлый властелин) They were, more than anything, a beacon of hope in a world that had been nothing but a playground for mad scientists for far too long. They always tried to negotiate before fighting, and helped install town councils and other long-lasting forms of government before moving on.
- Cool Uncle: (Любимый дядюшка?) Barry, a legendary hero, raised his niece Agatha until she was seven years old. It’s also implied that he saved his infant niece from Lucrezia, by breaking into the Citadel of Silver Light and taking her to safety.
- Dating Catwoman: (Возлюбленная — злодейка) Bill and Lucrezia Mongfish. It didn’t end well.
- The Dreaded: (Грозная репутация) Barry apparently has become this to the Geisterdamen and to The Other after his One-Man Army assault on the Geisters' citadel to liberate baby Agatha in an Offscreen Moment of Awesome.
- Fantastic Racism: (Фантастический шовинизм) They considered the loyal monsters of Mechanicsburg to be just more of their family’s old horrors that needed to be purged.
- Fat and Skinny: (Толстый и тонкий) Bill being the slim one, Barry being the more portly one.
- The Ghost: (Закадровый персонаж) Outside of a single photo, Bill has yet to properly appear in the comic, flashback or otherwise.
- Good Cannot Comprehend Evil: (Добру не постичь Зла) Specifically, they didn’t understand the Villainous Friendship between the human Mechanicsburgers and the monsters, and how the former would actually defy orders from their Heterodynes to protect and shelter the monsters when the Boys destroyed the Monster District.
- Heroic Sacrifice: (Героическое самопожертвование) Their mother Teodora killed their father Saturnus before he could kill them for forsaking the Heterodyne way, and was herself killed by the Castle for it. This allowed her sons to grow up to redeem the family name, and she is later made a saint — patron saint of those who run afoul of Sparks, according to the novels.
- History Repeats: (История повторяется) Much like Andronicus Valois, Bill fell in love a Mad Scientist’s Beautiful Daughter and believed he could sway her to the side of good, only for her to betray him (or at least somehow become The Other) and destroy the peace he had worked to build. The irony being that this time it was a Heterodyne being betrayed by someone allied with the Knights of Jove.
- Ideal Hero: (Идеальный герой) They were such a complete 180 from their ancestors that it’s almost suspicious. They were friendly, egalitarian, always saw the best in people, and always won. There’s a reason they became folk heroes overnight.
- I Did What I Had to Do: (Для твоего же блага) Uncle Barry created the locket that he mandated that Agatha needed to wear for much of her life, because her Spark was breaking through at a young age and he knew that preventing that was necessary for the sake of keeping her safe. The flashback where he gives it to her makes it clear that he certainly wasn’t happy with what he was doing, and knew that she’d suffer as a result, but he had to do it for her sake. Agatha herself, in the present, would probably reluctantly agree with his reasoning despite what she went through, and the locket did end up (mostly) shutting down The Other when she was downloaded into Agatha’s brain, with the additional side effect of helping Agatha be able to think better and eventually overcome her mother’s mental strength, so it can be argued that Barry made the right call.
- Love Makes You Dumb: (Любовь делает тупицей) Implied to be the case with Bill, who married Lucrezia and gave her the run of his castle in spite of her clearly cruel and selfish nature.
- One-Man Army: (Армия из одного человека) Possibly, with Barry, who apparently went and recovered an infant Agatha from The Other’s Geisterdamen forces, who were expecting someone to try and rescue her.
- White Sheep: (Белая овца) After centuries of bloodthirsty Heterodynes dedicated to nothing but chaos, destruction, and mad science, Bill and Barry dedicated themselves to heroics, goodwill-building, and mad science. This had a slightly darker side; because they were the opposite of their family in every way, they hated everything to do with the Old Heterodynes—especially the Castle and the Jägers. The Castle couldn’t understand why they hated it so much, while the Jägers did understand, but tried to protect them anyway.
- This is also Agatha’s advantage over the Boys; she’s a good person, but she’s very fond of the Jägers and even the Castle and is willing to use them to help people.
- Bill and Barry did have a pretty good personal reason for not wanting to do much with the Castle: It killed their mother, the one who kept them safe from their father and raised them to be good-hearted men. The fact it never occurred to the Castle that killing the parent who saved them could be why Bill and Barry hated it says a lot about the castle.
- As for the Jägers, while they did not hate the Jägers, they were still symbols of the old ways of fear. As such, Bill and Barry ordered them to no longer follow when the two eventually found out. Even Dimo, one of Da Boyz, admits that on several levels, this was a good move, as the base reaction to seeing Jägers in the «modern» day is lynching. Of course, the first mission they went without them following was the one where they went to stop the Other. The Jägers are painfully aware of this.
Punch and Judy
A pair of constructs — the Heterodyne Boys' earliest creations — Punch and Judy are common characters in Heterodyne stories. As student work, they are both somewhat flawed; Punch lacks a voice and Judy has mis-matched eyes, although most people don’t know that. Punch is often portrayed as a foolish klutz, but Da Boyz report that he is a very intelligent and cunning planner as well as a funny and kind-hearted individual who spent his spare time making toys for children. They were loyal and were given the job of looking after Agatha under the pseudonyms of Adam and Lilith Clay.
- Artificial Human: (Искусственный человек) They’re both «Type 3/Frankenstein» Constructs according to the fandom classification system for Constructs.
- Action Girl: (Бой-баба) Judy has been seen taking on all comers as effectively as Punch. When Agatha learns Lilith is hiding somewhere safe (to protect others) her reaction is «Did you have to lock her up?»
- Babies Ever After: (Дети в финале) When Agatha reunites with them, they have a baby, Maxinia Agatha Gilliana Heterodyne Clay, despite being previously sterile before Gil’s repairs.
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Adam: Apparently, when young Wulfenbach sets out to repair something, he doesn’t do it halfway. |
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- The Big Guy: (Силач) The duo acted as this to the Heterodyne Boys back in their heyday. Due to Punch’s muteness, he (and by extension Judy) were portrated as dumb comic relief in Heterodyne plays, despite the fact that Punch was anything but Dumb Muscle. Naturally, the duo aren’t real fond of Heterodyne plays.
- Came Back Strong: (Вернулся не таким) When Gil reconstructs them, he fixes the flaws the Heterodyne boys inadvertantly left in due to their inexperience.
- Genius Bruiser: (Гениальный силач) They have Super-Strength, and were able to evade the Baron for quite some time. Once Punch gets a voice and is well again, he is quite verbose.
- Gentle Giant: (Добродушный гигант) Superstrong constructs would have to be this in order to raise a little normal girl to adulthood while in hiding and not result in disaster. Adam more than Lilith, the Jägers describing him as being kind and gentlemanly to everyone, the notoriously unpopular Jägers themselves included, and his fondness for making toys for children.
- Improbable Weapon User: (Мастер невероятного оружия) Punch throws rivets at bullet-like velocities and with the accuracy of a pistol marksman…. except against Von Pinn.
- Meaningful Name: (Говорящее имя)
- Punch is very capable of his namesake.
- Super-Strength: (Физическая сверхсила) Punch can hoist up a steam tractor single-handed (though not for long) and flick rivets at bullet velocities. Judy can rip bulkhead doors right off their frames and toss people quite high up into the air. Attributed to the fact that they’re both Constructs. And apparently it’s hereditary, because their baby Maxinia (see below in Surprise Pregnancy) clobbered Agatha good when expressing her dislike for baby talk.
The Old Heterodyne Family
An ancient lineage of mad scientists that even other mad scientists thought were mad. And science-y.
- Actually Pretty Funny: (На самом деле это довольно смешно) When Ognian talks about the minstrel who became his wife, he mentions that the Heterodyne at the time loved her jokes, including the ones about him.
- Aerith and Bob: (Разностилица имён) A bit of Freeze-Frame Bonus in the Heterodyne family crypts shows that amidst the typically unusual and / or malevolent names the Heterodynes had, one of them was simply called… «Bob».
- For that matter, Bill and Barry, just one more way that they contrast with their ancestors.
- For even greater contrast, Agatha herself. Her name has greek etymological origins, and has connotations of inherent goodness and nobility of character; a stark contrast to the Heterodynes of old. She probably wasn’t named by her mother, since she was meant to be just a backup vessel for Lucrezia, so Barry probably named her, with the intent of raising her as a good person (he, Punch and Judy fortunately succeeded, even if she does have a bit of a mischevious streak).
- Badass Family: (Семья крутых) They tamed the river Dyne (capable of turning anything into a rampaging monster) by first drinking it then using it to power their castle. And that’s where they started.
- Bad Boss: (Злой начальник) While the Old Heterodynes had their share of Evil Virtues and tended to respect their minions, they still could be rather callous when it comes to workplace safety. Older Mechanicsburgers rejoiced when Agatha merely cared about protecting the town.
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Vanamonde: You have fifty generations of lowered expectations working for you. |
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- Benevolent Boss: (Добрый начальник) In a very specific sense, mind. Moloch feels the convenient array of labs shows a decent amount of consideration for their minions. After all, they’re the ones who have to carry everything. This is actually why they lasted so long. They treated their minions and monsters with respect and garnered Undying Loyalty from pretty much all of them. Whenever their own people did go against them, it was usually for something more petty like «Valentine Day Riots» where one of the romantically minded Heterodynes got many of the local women in a frenzy. It was their enemies that they took much of their sadistic streak out on.
- In the fourth book, it’s stated that «family tradition» frowns on wholesale slaughter of Mechanicsburg citizens, even when the entire town (very briefly) rebelled. That’s extremely benevolent by the standards of both Spark and non-Spark nobility in Europa.
- Big, Screwed-Up Family: (Гнусное семейство) When you have Mad Scientists raising bad villains, things are bound to get a little… screwed up.
- Cutting the Knot: (Разрубить Гордиев узел) Faced with imminent Dreen coming through a vortex he’d made, Robur Heterodyne freaked out, smashed the machine, and then had pie. Crisis (mostly) over.
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Castle Heterodyne: In many ways, he was a refreshingly simple man. |
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- The Dreaded: (Грозная репутация) They were monsters who made monsters and adored monsters. They rampaged across Europa for centuries and no one could stop them. (Though the Storm King managed a pretty good defense..)
- Dysfunction Junction: (Они все больны) Their idea of a toy for the nursery is a giant, maniacal kill-bot.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: (И у злодеев есть любимые)
- They appeared to genuinely care about their family members and their minions. This has fostered a level of Undying Loyalty highly atypical in Sparks' minions among the local populace («Sure, they were monsters, but they were our monsters.») and especially among the Jägers.
- By all accounts Bill and Barry’s father, Saturnus, was genuinely in love with their mother Teodora Vodenicharova.
- For the Evulz: (Зло ради самого зла) One of the family’s other primary motivations.
- Gadgeteer Genius: Again, common to sparks, but thanks to their ability to Heterodyne, the Heterodynes take it up a notch.
- Generation Xerox: (Ксерокопированное поколение) Temporal shenanigans seen as an interesting day out. Appreciating and collecting the weird and dangerous tech around them. Circumventing other people’s schemes by cutting to the chase. Doing his/her own thing, regardless of expectation. Adapting with Sparky charisma. Heterodynes.
- Horrifying the Horror: (Уволен из гестапо за жестокость) There is one thing that the Heterodynes decided they really didn’t want to mess with — time manipulation. Especially the stopping of time. Why? Clock Roaches. When Robur Heterodyne tried to mess with time, they spooked him so badly that he had a genuine crisis of faith (for all of five minutes, before he had some pie), but the experience spooked him so badly that he established a binding agreement with the Corbettites to keep a bunch of artifacts that are far too dangerous to use locked away in exchange for the Heterodynes never attacking the Corbettites or any of their railway infrastructure, one that the family has never broken.
- I Gave My Word: (Человек слова) Robur Heterodyne rarely kept his word. That he did keep his agreement with the Corbettites speaks volumes of just how badly the Dreen spooked him.
- Meaningful Name: (Говорящее имя)
- Iscarriot Heterodyne, Everyman’s «Friend», obviously had a history of betraying people. Remind you of Judas Iscariot?
- The father of Bill and Barry was named Saturnus. Saturnus tried to kill his sons, but his wife Teodora turned against him to protect the kids, who would sit in his throne after he died. Pretty obvious analogue to the Roman Titan Saturn (Kronos/Cronus in Greek) from Classical Mythology.
- Nightmare Fetishist: (Любитель всякой жути) All the Heterodynes, being ridiculously sparky sparks, have a thing for the creations of other mad scientists. Saturnus even let the war machines of other sparks into the city (to make war) because he wanted to get a better look. The Black Heterodyne brought the Bloodbats to Mechanicsburg because he thought they were positively wonderful.
- Our Vampires Are Different: (Вампир) At least one of the Heterodynes was a vampire-style being. And they’re evidently still alive(-ish) beneath Mechanicsburg. A possibility is the Red or Black Heterodyne. The Black Heterodyne lived an average human life time, but his crypt is marked «do not open». The Red Heterodyne was supposedly his brother, but was still kicking in the early 18th century, three hundred years after his birth.
- Pet the Dog: (Добрый поступок злодея) A 2021 short story explains that the Old Heterodynes welcomed persecuted monsters to have sanctuary in Mechanicsburg. Whether or not every (or any) monster refugee did something that warranted persecution isn’t stated, but the ones we see in the story seem to be genuinely alright guys who just wanted a home.
- Red Baron: (Красный Барон) Vlad The Blasphemous. Given the average Spark, and the average Heterodyne, he likely got the name for ramping those traits up (he is the one that made the Jägerdraught, after all).
- Strong Family Resemblance: (Такие похожие родственники) According to Dimo, who would know, the typical Heterodyne is generously endowed in the buttock area. Makes mid-battle trouser shopping difficult.
- Unholy Matrimony: (Одна сатана) The Castle fondly recounts how the Skull-Queen of Skral sent a legion of homunculi to get Dagon Heterodyne’s «attention». It then notes that she’s Agatha’s ancestor, so that apparently worked out pretty well for the two of them.
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The Castle: Lovely woman. |
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- White Sheep: (Белая овца) The latest two generations of Heterodynes have turned/are turning out to be this. Bill, Barry, and Agatha are downright sterling in moral caliber and heroic reputation compared to their predecessors. It was due to the actions of Bill’s and Barry’s mother, who nurtured the two into better people than their ancestors.
Ht’rok-din
Ghengis Ht’rok-din is a historical figure known for engaging in campaigns of conquest and woe in the medieval era of Europa, and for founding the equally conquest-and-woe-inducing Heterodyne family. A guest strip omake series titled «Homecoming King» involves a not-too-distant future where a reckless sparky university student brings Him into the modern time using forbidden time travel science.
- Clarke’s Third Law: (Закон Кларка) Recognizes and name-drops the trope when faced with a stun-gun:
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VAT KIND UF SUFFICIENTLY ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY IZ DIS? |
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- The Dreaded: (Грозная репутация) The Heterodyne family’s legacy of conquest and woe? He started it.
- Expy: (Копиркин) Visually, he is clearly one for Conan the Barbarian. The fact that he is also a warrior and conqueror from 'the North' who uses a sword takes the resemblance even closer.
- Funetik Aksent: (Смищной аксэнт) He appears to have a very Jäger-like accent when talking in English (or whatever «modern language» is being spoken via Translation Convention).
- Genius Bruiser: (Гениальный силач) He’s a muscular, brutal Expy of Conan — already a Genius Bruiser — but unlike the original model he’s a Spark, and a powerful one at that. He immediately understands the causality problem his presence in that time poses: He’s told he has descendants… but does not recall having any (legitimate) descendants (yet). He also seems to know quite a few languages.
- Pet the Dog: (Добрый поступок злодея) He’s not entirely ungentle with the students, at least by his usual casually murderous standards. He was more violent before he learned that they were subjects of a sort to his descendant, so perhaps he considered them his own subjects by proxy, invoking the Heterodyne family’s Benevolent Boss tendencies discussed above. Or maybe he just thought it would be rude to break something that belonged to her.
- Walking Shirtless Scene: (Рубашка не нужна) Par for the course for his barbarian motif.
Euphrosynia Heterodyne
Daughter of Clemethious Heterodyne, sister of Bludtharst and object of romantic interest of Andronicus Valois, the original Storm King. Very little is known about her for sure, besides the fact that she probably played a significant role in destroying the Storm King’s regime.
- Arranged Marriage: (Брак по договорённости) Her marriage with Andronicus was arranged as a part of peace treaty with the Heterodynes.
- Damsel in Distress: (Дева в беде) In The Storm King opera, Andronicus first meets her when she is menaced by Ogglespoon. She also ends up kidnapped at the end of the second act. According to Voltaire, what apparently actually happened was that she tried to search Van Rijn’s workshop for secrets to steal, ran afoul of «something none of us understood», and disappeared as a result; there’s been no mention of Ogglespoon outside of the opera.
- Foil: (Оттеняющий характер) Much like Lucrezia, there is the driving question as to whether or not she planned the hero’s downfall all along or something else was afoot. She is also often paralleled to Agatha as a Heterodyne loved by the Storm King whose presence endangers Europe and shatters a great peace (Euphrosynia with the Storm King’s coalition and Agatha with the Empire).
- There is a bit of irony in comparing her to Lucrezia. Both Euphrosynia and Lucrezia married a hero and led to their downfall. However, the hero Euphrosynia married was the Storm King, while she was of the House of Heterodyne; meanwhile the hero Lucrezia married was the Heterodyne himself, and her family (the Mongfishes) were of the Knights of Jove, which was the Storm King’s old honour guard.
- The Ghost: (Закадровый персонаж) She is yet to appear in person, either in the comics or in the novels, unless you count a rather fanciful tale told by Klaus. We’ve heard a few tantalizing eyewitness comments from a Jäger and the Master of Paris, and Martellus mentions some correspondence of hers is still around.
- Historical Hero Upgrade / Historical Villain Upgrade: (Облагородить в адаптации/Злодейство в адаптации) Quite possibly both in-universe given the wildly-disparate versions of her as either a straight up damsel in distress or a villainess plotting the Storm King’s downfall all along.
- Honey Trap: (Далила) She is believed to have manipulated the Storm King and used his love for her to enact his downfall.
- Never Found the Body: (Тело так и не нашли) Andronicus claims he saw her disappear before his eyes in Van Rijn’s workshop, and assumes it was Rijn’s fault. Voltaire counter-claims that she was only there in the first place because she was trying to steal his secrets, only to run afoul of something horrible.
- Really Gets Around: (Потаскушка) When Martellus asks Rerich if she loved Andronicus, the Jäger mockingly replies that she «luffed lots ov pipple!»
- Star-Crossed Lovers: (Обречённая любовь) In the opera she and Andronicus are tragically separated when Euphrosynia is kidnapped by Ogglespoon. How things really looked is uncertain. Especially since more reliable sources suggest that she may have not been in love with Andronicus at all and only played along to fulfill some plan of the Heterodynes, or loved him but betrayed him anyway. The latter comes from a Jäger who had some limited contact with her, and invokes the trope by noting how her marriage to the Storm King would have meant putting Mechanicsburg under his power, which Euphrosynia could never allow even if she did love him.
- Strong Family Resemblance: (Такие похожие родственники) As noted above, we still have no idea what she looked like, apart from the «Evil Witch» from Klaus’s story. For whatever it’s worth, the actress who plays Euphrosynia in the latest staging of the Storm King opera looks a great deal like Agatha, and in his last moments, Andronicus Valois mistakes Agatha for her, at least in regards to her voice. That said, no one else has yet mentioned any undue similarities, even among people who knew Euphrosynia, such as the Master of Paris and her personal guard Jenka. Even Valois doesn’t show any recognition, when meeting Agatha earlier in a somewhat more rational state of mind.
Teodora Vodenicharova
Mother of Bill and Barry Heterodyne, she was forced to marry their father Saturnus Heterodyne to protect her kingdom. Despite this, she managed to keep her sons free of their father’s influence and protected them from his eventual decision to murder them.
- Doomed Moral Victor: (Обречённая моральная победа (в планах)) The Castle killed her, but she died knowing her children were safe and just over ten years later she’d been canonized as a saint.
- Heroic Sacrifice: (Героическое самопожертвование) Twice. The first time was non-fatal, she was forced to marry Saturnus to protect her kingdom. The second time she murdered Saturnus to stop from murdering their sons, which resulted in the Castle killing her. Less than twelve years later five of the seven popes declared her a martyr and the Patron Saint of Those Who Fall Afoul of Sparksnote .
- Heroic Willpower: (Превозмогатель) She married a Heterodyne and lived the rest of her life in Mechanicsburg back in the days when that meant being surrounded by villains, but is noted to have been extremely strong-willed and defied Saturnus on a regular basis, especially when it came to keeping Bill and Barry free of their father’s influence.
- Mama Bear: (Родительский инстинкт) She was willing to spend at least years married to a Heterodyne, but do not make the mistake of threatening her children. Her husband found this out the hard way.
- Small Role, Big Impact: (Небольшая роль с большим влиянием (в разработке)) She never makes an appearance or even appears in a flashback, is only briefly mentioned twice in the comics, and virtually all information on her comes from a footnote in Agatha H. and the Voice of the Castle. Her efforts to raise her sons to be heroes and protect them from their father made everything that happened afterwards possible.
Klaus Barry Heterodyne
The first child of Bill and Lucrezia, killed during the attack on Castle Heterodyne that began the Other’s war on Europa.
- Death of a Child: (Смерть ребёнка) He was crushed by falling debris in the attack on the Castle.
- Offing the Offspring: (Я тебя породил, я тебя и убью) While it doesn’t look like the Other deliberately killed him in the attack, and Agatha momentarily pauses because she doesn’t think even Lucrezia might’ve been capable of that, no version of her at any point has ever mentioned her son in any capacity.
Wulfenbach Empire
Ссылка: [6]
Klaus Wulfenbach
A former friend and traveling companion to the Heterodyne Boys, Klaus disappeared shortly before Agatha’s parents married and returned several years later to find Europa in utter chaos. He restored order to the continent, not by negotiating and being nice like his vanished friends, but by imposing his Iron Will on an ever increasing area of the globe.
- Actually Pretty Funny: (На самом деле это довольно смешно) His concealed reaction to Theo’s story about The Other being a robot dragon from Mars who turned Lucrezia Mongfish into Von Pinn, as well as to his own less-than-flattering portrayal in the current round of Heterodyne stage-plays. It’s implied in the comic and stated outright in the second novel that the reason Klaus lets the latter go on is because he likes the Heterodyne stories, and finds Story!Klaus hilarious. More importantly, he knows that the stories are being spread simply because his enemies can’t do anything to challenge him save mudslinging.
- Theo provokes another small smile upon announcing that he’s avoiding grease-trap cleaning duty to work on his automatic grease-trap cleaning device.
- When Trelawney Thorpe responds to his talk of what Agatha could do if she snapped by using the example of exactly what he did to found the Empire, he actually chuckles and it even makes him decide that she would be the perfect consort for Gil who isn’t Agatha.
- Anti-Villain: (Антизлодей) He may have used military might to bring Europa under his iron-fisted rule, but when you consider the alternative…
- It’s also «iron-fisted» only in the sense that he doesn’t let the nobility and assorted Sparks do whatever they want (and his treatment of other Sparks is pretty permissive; no re-arranging the landscape, no human experiments, no screwing with Other technology — as long as they follow those rules, he’ll keep them supplied in parts, tools, minions and cheese). Generally, he leaves people to live their lives, works to scour the worst threats in the wilderness, and permits popular entertainments to mock him as a coward, traitor and/or usurper. The general public doesn’t seem to notice not only the discrepancy, but the fact that he lets these defamations persist unedited.
- After the time-skip, his reign is described as «[seeming] like some lost golden age»… after just two and a half years.
- Artificial Human: (Искусственный человек) The three sons of the Wulfenbach family were involved in a lab accident, so Klaus was stitched together out of them all and reanimated. It’s not clear if this is supposed to be a secret; he doesn’t seem to care. The problem arises from the fact that this is against the nobility’s rules. He shouldn’t have been allowed to inherit the title of Baron as heirs don’t like their inheritance kept from them by ambitious ancestors who refuse to die. That, along with his low rank of Baron, adds to the illegitimacy of his reign in the eyes of the noble houses.
- Asskicking Leads to Leadership: (Власть — это сила) Provoking him is not recommended, not least because he’s a big believer in making an example of those who violate his rules by employing overwhelming force.
- Awesomeness by Analysis: (Крутой аналитик) How his Spark manifests itself. The most obvious use is the ability to dismantle and improve the designs of other Sparks. But it also lets him «find the right monster for the right job.» He can also figure out what secretive things his vassals are doing to try and undermine him or break the rules, such as figuring out Professor Beetle was fiddling with a Hive Engine just by the logistics involved, and how he «always finds out» when a noble dabbles in resurrection in violation of the bylaws of aristocracy against it (which Klaus cares nothing about anyway).
- Badass Longcoat: (Крутой в пальто) A staple of his wardrobe.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: (Бойся своих желаний) Klaus DESPISES ruling Europa, and is only doing it because all the alternative candidates are crazy and/or evil. He wistfully remembers the «good old days» when he was The Lancer of the Heterodyne Brothers as they traveled and explored — and especially the occasional fight. However, the current state of affairs — «No more negotiating. No more promises. No more second chances.» — is entirely his design.
- Butt-Monkey: (Мальчик для битья) This is his role in the popular stories about the Heterodyne Boys. He gets a fair amount of it outside of the plays as well: to date, not a single plot arc has gone by without Klaus or the copy of him in Gil suffering some kind of major injury, defeat or humiliation.
- The Chains of Commanding: (Бремя лидера) Ruling (large portions of) the world is not as fun as it sounds.
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Othar: What, tyrant? Does your empire give you no pleasure?! Klaus: No. It gives me no pleasure. |
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- Cool Old Guy: (Крутые старики) When he’s not trying to put you down to preserve order.
- The Dreaded: (Грозная репутация)
- Even Jägers are afraid when he takes the field personally.
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Gkika: Attack mit everything!! |
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- Upon seeing Gil cutting through an enemy army like a hot knife through butter, an onlooker had this to say:
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Councilor: Hmph. His father would have hit the wall and started another sweep by now. |
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- Very much an Invoked Trope. Klaus is extremely formidable but plays up his reputation even more, in order to reduce the amount of actual bloodletting he has to do. He’s so formidable that even Bang will not cross him.
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Klaus: Dupree, if you come in here, I will kill you—with the power of my mind. DuPree: I… I’m pretty sure he can’t really do that. |
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- Zog’s plan to deal with Klaus: dogpile him with the Jaegergenerals, who will rip his arms off. Agatha considers it, then decides it’s a reasonable precaution and they can apologize later.
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Dupree: [seriously] Well… you’d better be careful. He’ll still have his feet. |
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- The novels play this up as well. There are several epigraphs at the start of chapters that show folk tales about him after he built his empire; they mostly resemble traditional fairy tales like The Farmer and the Viper that go in a different direction than the original because Klaus is too badass to be beaten IE, he’ll give anyone a single chance to go straight, but he takes precautions — and if you abuse his trust, you’re research material. He’s gotten fewer and fewer chances to do research…
- Early on in the novels, it is noted how people gave it even odds on who would win if his empire and Albia’s went to war. Once we reach England, we learn just how terrifying she is, having had thousands of years to establish a reputation for invincibility. It only took him a few years in comparison to do the same.
- Emperor Scientist: (Государь и учёный) Klaus actually laments having to become a dictator, since it leaves him with so little time for his research.
- Exact Words: (Буквально понятые слова/Не вся правда?) When Klaus decides to go into Mechanicsburg alone, one of his advisors claims that if he gets killed, the Empire will fall without his leadership. Klaus then claims that he won’t be killed but fails to mention that he’s going in there to freeze time. Indeed, once he is removed from the political scene due to the time freeze, his Empire crumbles apart. Doubles as False Reassurance.
- The Extremist Was Right: (Экстремист был прав) The former Trope Namer, back when it was called «And It Worked», because he’s just that badass. Yes, Klaus conquered his empire by naked force. On the other hand, Europa was being torn apart by constant war, and his reign is second only to that of the Heterodyne Boys for general quality of life, especially for the common man. He builds up the infrastructure of his subject regions, and about the only things he actually bans are war and messing with Other technology. After the time-skip, his reign is described as «like some lost Golden Age out of antiquity» — after only two and a half years.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: (Был никем, стал кошмаром) The leader of a small noble house, which was destroyed in the Other War, and sidekick to the Heterodyne Boys to the conqueror and absolute ruler of all Europa.
- Genius Bruiser: (Гениальный силач) Klaus is both a highly intelligent man and very strong — he can, for example, punch out Jägers. This probably has to do with the fact that he is a construct.
- The Heavy: (Самый заметный злодей) For much of «Act 1» of the comic, especially the Siege of Mechanicsburg (Vols. XII—XIII), Klaus is the one standing in Agatha’s way. The Other is too trapped with Agatha’s locket to do much directly against the heroes in Act 1 — though if you asked Klaus, he’d say the Other is completely active and that her name is Agatha.
- Hero with Bad Publicity: (Герой с плохой репутацией) Played with. People love to mock him, because he lets them get away with it, and he gets a lot of crap flung at him by the current generation’s Heterodyne stories. However, Master Payne (one of the purveyors of such stories) respects the hell out of him for everything he’s done for Europa, and it’s likely that he’s not alone.
- Hero Antagonist: (Героический антагонист) He has some very good reasons not to want Agatha running around free, and is otherwise a Reasonable Authority Figure.
- Heroic Sacrifice: (Героическое самопожертвование) Traps Mechanicsburg in a temporal stasis field with himself inside it, attempting to neutralize Agatha as a threat while preventing the Other from using him as a slave. Sadly, it turns out it was a Nice Job Breaking It, Hero!ic Sacrifice; even the Heterodynes — well known for their Unfettered thirst for power — not only refused to meddle with time, but made a treaty with the Saintly Church to keep others from doing it. Reason? Clock Roaches.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: (Не рой яму другому)
- He left Silas Merlot in charge of Beetlesburg as a punishment for selling out Dr. Beetle, threatening to send him to Castle Heterodyne at his first mistake. He likely thought that Silas would muck up in some minor way or just spend the rest of his life keeping his head down, unaware of how truly unhinged and desperate he was. When Silas discovered Beetle’s journals about Agatha being the last Heterodyne, he immediately panicked, burning Beetle’s Hall of Records to the ground and murdering the Baron’s cryptography team to keep it under wraps. Had Klaus just killed or ignored him then he likely would have known about Agatha’s true origins long before it became an issue.
- He made a deal with the damaged Castle Heterodyne for it to act as his prison, sending it a steady supply of dangerous Sparks and criminals to repair it. This gave the Baron his greatest threat to use against those who go out of line, being able to send them to be slave labor in an insane, death trap filled castle that will kill for fun. However, this ends up biting him in the backside when Agatha manages to fix the castle during his attempt to destroy Mechanicsburg. The repaired Castle cuts off all ties with him and frees its prisoners, leaving Agatha with an army of Sparks and minions to use against him. What’s more, it was Sparks who had been making repairs on the Castle for almost 15 years, making it even more dangerous when it’s finally fully restored.
- He transferred a copy of his mind into his son to «protect» him from Agatha due to believing his son to be making the same mistake he made with Agatha’s mother — falling in love with a manipulative monster. He set it up to override and take control of Gil when needed, and the copy claims he cannot stop himself from taking over when he is in Agatha’s presence even if he wants to. Since Tarvek and Agatha’s plan to free Gil of his control requires him to be in charge of Gil’s body when it happens, that means they are able to do so by maneuvering Gil where they need him while Agatha is out of the room, then Tarvek claims she has returned once he’s in position.
- I Did What I Had to Do: (Для твоего же блага) His basic justification for just about any of his actions. Sadly, he’s right; everyone knows he’s right, even Agatha herself has admitted he’s right a few times. He doesn’t have the charisma the Heterodyne Boys did and thus can’t use their methods, meaning he has to resort to threat of force to prevent Europa from sinking back into war. That doesn’t mean anyone — himself included — likes the situation or thinks it makes him any less a Jerkass. Over the course of the comic, he resorts to increasingly extreme measures due to increasingly worsening events.
- It’s Personal: (Это личное) Klaus was not happy when he learned of Agatha’s existence, and not just because she was a political time bomb. It’s heavily implied he was legitimately hurt and angry his friends did not tell him about her. Granted, later revelations show they had good reasons to hide her from him, mostly due to Agatha’s mother being his old flame Lucrezia. However, later revelations note that even without Lucrezia, he still views her as a threat. His reasoning seems to be that the malcious natures associated with both the Heterodyne and Mongfish lines to be in their blood along with how life can drive someone mad. This ironically means that he did not trust his own friends' goodness nor Agatha’s raising, so the Bros had a good point.
- Made of Iron: (Распутинская живучесть) Despite being bedridden and with severe injuries across his entire body after getting crushed, the man’s response to the injury report is «hmph. I’ve had worse.»
- Mr. Fanservice: (Мистер Фансервис) Between Clothing Damage in the first arc, his Naughty Flashback Scene with Lucrezia, flashbacks of him in a Skifandrian loincloth outfit, and the fact that he spends most of the Mechanicsburg arc as a hospital patient wearing only bandages and a bedsheet, he absolutely qualifies.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: (Устрашающее имечко) «Wulfenbach» has wolf in it, «Klaus» starts with K, and his title is «Baron.» He’s just as formidable as the name makes him sound.
- Noodle Incident: (Инцидент с кошкой)
- The details of how he went from being the long lost ruler of a ransacked stretch of land to conquering most, if not all, of Europa within seemingly a decade of his return hasn’t been revealed. Although we’ve now learned that he had two Dreen helping him right from the start.
- The four years that the Baron spent living in Skifander has yet to be shown.
- Papa Wolf: (Родительский инстинкт)
- For all of the morally ambiguous things he does in regards to Gil, he does it all because he truly loves and cares for his son. As such, threatening his well-being will bring a blatant reminder on why this man singlehandledy conquered Europa.
- Perhaps the crowning example of this is when the implanted personality he put in his son awoke and Lucrezia has temporary hijacked Agatha. When Lucrezia attempts to convince Klaus to sacrifice the lives of their children so they can establish an empire together, Klaus snaps at her before pinning her down. Granted, both are knocked out a moment later by the sedative-laced cake, but it was still awesome.
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Klaus: Sanctuary or no — I will burn this fortress and every soul in it — before I allow you or anyone else to harm my son. |
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- It is strongly implied that the reason Klaus fled Skifander and created the Empire was to protect his son. When he worries that Zeetha has come to Europa in order to kill Gil, and when Gil asks him in exasperation what Klaus did to warrant this reaction, his father grimly but proudly says that "I kept you alive, " and since This example contains a TRIVIA entry. It should be moved to the TRIVIA tab.Word of God is that A) Skifandrian culture doesn’t like twins and B) Gil and Zeetha are fraternal twins, someone likely tried to eliminate Gil and Klaus escaped back to Europa with his infant son. While it is said early in the story that Klaus would dismantle Gil and make a better son if he failed Klaus’s tests, it’s pretty clear that Klaus has done everything to make Gil as sharp as possible. Klaus has made many improvements to Gil, give him immunities to as many poisons and diseases that he could, taught Gil everything that he knows, gave him the best education besides, allowed him to experience hardships on his own without coddling him, and encouraged free thinking and innovation. The part where he fails is that he is so overbearing and controlling that Gil has developed a slight inferiority complex and all encompassing rage and obsession when he reaches his mental limit to the point that he was rebellious enough to want to elope with a Heterodyne at the drop of a hat (though, to be fair, Gil didn’t know she was a Heterodyne, but that didn’t change his mind much when he did learn about that).
- Pay Evil unto Evil: (Зло воздающее)
- According to the novels, when dealing with some of the more crazy Sparks, if he doesn’t send them to a lab he can get particularly… creative with their punishments.
- One of the sources of friction between him and the Heterodyne boys was that he had no objections to giving unrepentant maniacs a taste of their own medicine, while Bill and Barry hated killing anyone. See also Dr. Vapnoople. Which his brain-coring of the man is pretty monstrous, once the man’s intelligence is restored it becomes extremely clear why Klaus inflicted such a fate on him.
- Pet the Dog: (Добрый поступок злодея) Klaus may be a tyrant, but he’s not a bad person, and there are several moments where he shows this.
- What does he do after his minions kill someone for opposing him? Resurrect them!.
- Prisoners of war can join the Wulfenbach army, or go home with a month’s pay!
- Complete the project he assigned you and he will cover the cost of hiring laborers. Fail through stupidity or stubbornness, and he’ll put someone else in charge and make you one of the laborers.
- During the Jägers' time with the Baron, he actually threw them a massive party around the holiday season as a way to make up for the lost Jägerstomp tradition back in Mechanicsberg.
- Properly Paranoid: (Параноик был прав) Klaus withheld the truth of Gil’s origins from him for years to protect him. The novel reveal that shortly after he revealed Gil to the world as his son and heir, there were multiple assassination attempts on his life.
- Scars Are Forever: (Шрамы навсегда) Assuming that the stitches covering his torso are from his resurrection as a construct (which they almost certainly are, since the different 'pieces' of his body clearly have different skin tones) they’re several decades old and yet have never faded.
- Self-Deprecation: (Самоирония) Gil is certainly likable. Klaus fondly says he got it from his mother.
- Shirtless Scene: (Рубашка не нужна) That Naughty Flashback Scene, among others.
- Sickbed Slaying: (Убийство в больнице) When he was hospitalized at the Hospital of Mechanicsburg following the Battle of Sturmhalten, numerous assassins tried pulling this trope on him, starting with one posing as a nurse. By the time Bangladesh DuPree was assigned to his room to guard him, there was a sizable pile of would-be assassins on the floor.
- Super-Strength: (Физическая сверхсила) Apparently Klaus can effectively handle guns normally hoisted by his tall imposing Battle Clanks… Guns that even kick a trio of Jägers back with the recoil.
- Übermensch: (Ницшеанский сверхчеловек) He doesn’t care about the rules of aristocracy, the conventions of rulership or petty things like legitimacy. He does what he knows are right, regardless of the views of others.
- When He Smiles: (Когда она улыбнётся)
- It’s like the world bows. However it’s usually out of abject terror, in the comic’s run, he’s only smiled three times; a Psychotic Smirk when he realizes that his most competent underling (and he has a lot of damned good ones) underestimates his son, a boyish smile of childish glee and probably the most innocent we’ve seen him when he learns that same underling’s jaw has been wired shut, and a Cheshire Cat Grin when his son finally crawls out of his dorky shell and kicks some ass.
- The one time he smiles out of actual amusement is still indicative of his badassitude and love thereof — see Actually Pretty Funny.
- He smiles twice when discussing the matter of having his son and Trelawney Thorpe marry.
Wulfenbach Personnel As a whole
- Mauve Shirt: (Лиловые рубашки) Sergeant Scorp of the Baron’s Vespiary Squad survives a surprising number of appearances. Also an unquestionably Cool Old Guy, right down to the superb facial hair.
Bangladesh DuPree
A pirate queen in the pay of the Baron, though even he finds her taste for violence and random slaughter distasteful. Nevertheless he keeps her about as she is a very skilled warrior and hunter and sometimes, you need a butcher.
- Affably Evil: (Дружелюбный злодей) She’s made of fun. Always. Even while skewering someone.
- Badass Normal: (Простой крутой смертный) She doesn’t have a Spark and generally avoids using advanced technology, but she’s still capable of holding her own against fighters like Von Pinn and Gilgamesh.
- Blood Knight: (Рыцарь крови) Subverted. She gives off this impression, but her love of fighting is really just an extension of her desire to hurt people and destroy things. When against an opponent that actually has the advantage, she comments it is «no longer fun.»
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: (Профи с причудами) One might forget she is an airship captain, what with being such a ditzy-acting Blood Knight… until a probably wasped airship captain nearly leads our heroes into the enemy’s time trap where they could kill the heroes at their leisure. Bang thwarts the rogue captain, takes charge and averts catastrophe with deft and decisive orders (with the crew quickly and wisely complying when realizing her infamy), all while still catering to her nature as a pirate at heart.
- Color-Coded Characters: (Расцвеченная команда) She wears white and red.
- Comedic Sociopathy: (Комический социопат) Say what you want about The Baron’s pet psychopath… she is big fun.
- Comically Missing the Point: (Комическое непонимание сути) When Klaus is explaining to Bang that Agatha is still alive despite Bang having supposedly returned with her charred corpse (actually that of the late Madame Olga), Bang comments «Wow. She sure looked dead.»
- Enemy Mine: (От вражды к союзу) Her attempt to get close to Zeetha to enact revenge for her wiping out her fleet is torpedoed by Agatha, forcing her to help the team retrieve Prende’s Lantern.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: (И у злодея есть любимые)
- Et tu, DuPree? It just took some time to find the perfect match.
- She also genuinely cares for Klaus and Gil, breaking down in tears when she believes the Baron was killed (though threatening to kill Gil for making her cry later), and her relationship with Gil is very much Like Brother and Sister. In fact, she sets her hostility aside when meeting with Zeetha and Agatha after the timeskip, and expresses her hope they can fix whatever Klaus did to him.
- She also takes Tarvek aside and asks him as well. She’s really asking just about anyone she thinks she can trust.
- Evil Counterpart: (Оттенить героя мерзавцем) To Zeetha. Both are Action Girls who follow a Spark, extremely competent fighters, and each one is a Boisterous Bruiser, but Bang is a Psycho for Hire while Zeetha is a Spirited Competitor (who granted, does border on Blood Knight at times). And both are eagerly awaiting the time when a fight between them is justified.
- Evil Versus Oblivion: (Зло против небытия) She is a dyed-in-the-wool villain (albeit a fun one), but she sees an «oblivion» of sorts in the prospect of The Other winning and making no one’s mind their own anymore.
- Freaky Is Cool: (Безумная клёвость) Upon seeing Vole’s new body, she just lights up in delight. She even describes his monstrous new form as «gorgeous».
- The Friend Nobody Likes: (Друг, которого никто не любит) If her encounter with Grantz is any indication, Bang’s not particularly popular among the Baron’s forces.
- Genki Girl: (Гэнки) A big lighthearted kid, even if she is the Ax-Crazy sort that would torture a rat just to hear it squeal.
- Insult Backfire: (Принять оскорбление как комплимент) Agatha H. and the Clockwork Princess mentions that Gil said her captain’s quarters had a «Debauched Barbarian Princess» look. Once she learned what the word «debauched» meant, Bang took it as a compliment.
- Jerkass Has a Point: (Козёл был прав) Bang’s reasoning on why the Baron can’t be the Other is… unique: The Other would never leave a minion free to do anything against orders. However, Bang still has the free will to constantly ignore Klaus’s orders not to kill people, therefore she hasn’t been wasped and mind-controlled, therefore Klaus can’t be the Other. He finds this a less than comforting chain of reasoning, but can’t really counter it.
- Like Brother and Sister: (Как брат и сестра) With Gil, to the horror of Klaus. After the time skip, Gil finds nothing odd about waking up with Bang in bed with him. There’s also a case to be made that she sees Klaus as a sort of surrogate father-figure. Considering what her actual father is like, Klaus being a father figure to her is probably for the best.
- Moral Myopia: (Готтентотская мораль) Bang is one of the more vicious and bloodthirsty characters in the comic, happily engaging in murder and torture on a regular basis. Despite this, Klaus and Gil have a friendly, almost familial relationship with her and they give her a lot more leeway with her violent activities than they do other maniacs they encounter.
- More Despicable Minion: (Гадский подручный хуже хозяина) She can barely be contained by the Well-Intentioned Extremist Baron Wulfenbach or his son, and loves violence.
« |
DuPree: Isn’t that always the way? Management thinking it knows what works in the field? Why, if I were here alone — and you people were still standing around — half of you’d be dead! |
» |
- Mundane Solution: (Можно не изощряться) Upon hearing how the monstrous new Vole is at risk of killing himself if they don’t subdue him before he rips out all of his water and nutrient feeds, Bang asks why they don’t just let him pull out a few first to weaken him so that they can subdue him. Bang laughs at the fact that Sparks are so smart they fail to find simple solutions. Then she thinks she’s Spotted an Imposter and forcefully asks where the REAL Gil is.
- Not Me This Time: (На этот раз не я) She’s a default suspect for any cases of death and destruction around her, for an obvious reason. Bang doesn’t even see it as a problem.
- Pirate Girl: (Пиратка) Ex-pirate queen.
- Psycho for Hire: (Псих-наёмник) Herr Baron understands that sometimes you need butchers. In the novelization Agatha H. and the Clockwork Princess, he also mentally commends her as an «easly-refuted public voice of unreason.»
- Revenge: (Я отомщу) She agreed to work for the Baron in return for his assistance in identifying the person that destroyed her pirate fortress. Upon learning that it was Zeetha, she goes in for the hunt, despite fully expecting to be the one killed.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: (Царь-плотник) «Pirate Queen» isn’t just a title; she is a genuine blue-blooded member of the Fifty Families, forced to piracy due to failing fortunes. The rest of the families consider her an embarrassment… not because she’s a pirate, but because she does work (though given how much she enjoys her job, it’s hard to call it «work»).
- Token Evil Teammate: (Какой ни есть, а он за нас) While’s it arguable whether the Wulfenbach Empire is good or evil, Bang’s high ranking presence among them is probably the best argument one can make if they want to say they’re the latter. Although at the very least, Klaus is able to at least point her in the general direction of even worse people, thus keeping her on something of a leash.
- Torture Technician: (Мастер пыток) She shows her interest right during her introduction.
« |
Bangladesh: Do I come into your lab and tell you how to torture rats? Gil: Frequently. Bangladesh: Exactly! So I know what I’m doing! |
» |
- Wham Line: (Поворотная фраза)
« |
Bangladesh: Sure, sure. But this can’t wait, Herr Baron. My term of service to the empire is over. I quit. |
» |
Boris Dolokhov
The head of The Baron’s administrative staff, Boris is a microcosm of how the Baron operates, and why it may be preferable to the previous system. Originally a librarian with an eidetic memory serving a Spark (far from a calm profession in and of itself) his master decided to add an extra pair of arms, strength, speed, balance… and turn him into the ultimate juggler. When the Baron took down his former master, he was given a far less demeaning job. He is now the Baron’s right hand man and chief administrative secretary.
This is a job that he has excelled in. His brilliant and utterly humorless mind and enhanced physical abilities make him exactly the sort of person that a man like the Baron would need at his side, showing the Baron’s talent for getting the right monster for the right job.
He and the Jägers have a love/hate relationship, as in: They love to pick on him, he hates their attitude.
- Asskicking Leads to Leadership: (Власть — это сила) Boris is already a great leader, but the Jagers would never accept him as their commander if he couldn’t kick their asses. Dimo makes him their commander during a raid on Castle Wulfenbach after it is seemly taken over by the Queen of the Dawn.
- Badass Bookworm: (Крутой ботан) All the modifications intended to make him a juggler are extremely useful in combat. Boris is perfectly capable of beating the tar out of a Jäger, especially if he wants information. Fights alongside the Baron on the frontlines against Slaver Wasps, and comes out largely unscathed.
- Battle Butler: (Боевой слуга) To the Baron.
- Famous-Named Foreigner: (Известный иностранный иностранец) Shares last names with the main characters from The Idiot and War and Peace, respectively.
- What the Hell, Hero?: (Что за фигня, герой?) When Wooster clues the generals in on his plans to destroy Mechanicsburg. «DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU’VE DONE?!»
Dr. Dim Vapnoople
One of Baron Klaus’s experiments in «pacifying» particularly mad/stupid/dangerous/annoying Sparks, reduced to a janitorial role aboard Castle Wulfenbach. At some point he created Krosp.
- Chekhov’s Gunman: (Стрелок Чехова) In this case, one that took a decade of real-world time to fire: Vapnoople was introduced in an early chapter in December, 2003, where he’s shown to have a penchant for making bears, and is distraught due to all the others being «taken away.» In March 2004 it is revealed that having created Krosp, he was skilled in creating intelligent animal constructs. In hindsight, the appearance of an army of intelligent bears that were waiting for Krosp to show up and lead them as he had promised was probably inevitable.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: (Избиение младенцев) Once his intelligence is restored he and Agatha deliver one to Lord Snackleford despite the latter having achieved Second Breakthrough. He doesn’t even break a sweat. He just as effortlessly subdues Agatha afterwards, requiring Krosp, Kjarl, and Tarvek to intervene before he can drag her to another dimension.
- The Dreaded: (Грозная репутация) According to Wooster, he is the only modern Spark that Queen Albia actually feared.
- Fate Worse than Death: (Участь хуже смерти) Baron Klaus experimented on his brain, effectively lobotomizing him and leaving him an imbecile who can no longer use his Spark. The novelization makes it worse — he still has the mindset of a Spark, and therefore treats being complimented on menial tasks as the highest accomplishment possible.
- How the Mighty Have Fallen: (Тени былого величия) Albia is stunned to find the terrifying Spark who once managed to brainwash several of the Great Cetaceans (an ancient race of massive civilization-bearing whales who live in the depths of the ocean and who are even implied to be the cetacean counterparts to human Sparks who have achieved Second Breakthrough) into attacking England is now a friendly and innocent janitor whose brilliant mind has been, in her own words, «disassembled.»
- Pay Evil unto Evil: (Зло воздающее) He was paid unto by Baron Wulfenbach. Deliberately inflicting psychologically degrading brain damage in the pursuit of understanding the physiological nature of the Spark sounds pretty heinous, enough for even another enemy of Vapnoodle to take pity on him afterwards… but then the Londinium arc shows that Vapnoodle was not at all undeserving of such a fate after his malignant intellect and top-class Spark were restored, and further backstory on his misdeeds are revealed.
- Pet the Dog: (Добрый поступок злодея) Possibly with his relationship with his creation Krosp, but again the whole timeline of events has not been made clear. If Vapnoople created Krosp before the bears, then created the bears to serve his failed experiment, yes, it was a very nice thing to do. On the other hand, if the bears were made first, then Krosp was probably just a cog in Vapnoople’s master plan, with the «cat king» thing being some sort of cover story. Plus there’s the fact that his favorite apprentice was Martellus.
- Scars Are Forever: (Шрамы навсегда) His head is covered in a crosswork patching of scars from Baron Klaus' experiments.
Higgs
Higgs is first introduced as a lowlevel crewman who happened to be on the medical airship assigned to transport the wounded Baron to Mechanicsburg. Over time, it’s become clear that this was a cover identity. After much prolonged hinting and implications about his true nature and identity, he finally explicitly confirms the truth to Agatha in person. (See various spoilers below.)
- Affectionate Nickname: (Ласковое прозвище) Oggie has taken to calling him «The Kid».
- Almighty Janitor: (Бог-уборщик)
- Higgs has a very wide range of skills. In particular he seems very good at winning. After the time skip, he seems to hold a position more in line with his talents, both as Gil’s personal attendant and as Agatha’s spymaster and the missing Jäger general.
- Tarvek guesses that he actually plays this role for half the armies of Europa, taking innocuous and low-level roles that let him covertly infiltrate various militaries as needed.
- Amazon Chaser: (Любит сильных женщин) Chasing a literal Amazon, Zeetha, and she chases back.
- Beneath Notice: (Никто не замечает официанта) Higgs infiltrates the target’s armies by signing up as some sort of low-ranking private and acting as a inocuous, bored grunt.
- Berserk Button: (Кнопка берсерка)
- Messing with Zeetha is a really easy way to set him off, as Zola finds out the hard way.
- The Castle suggests that revealing anything about his Mysterious Past without his consent is another major button. Higgs later confirms it when Tarvek privately outs him as the seventh Jäger general. The only reason Higgs didn’t kill him on the spot is because Tarvek is still useful to Agatha.
- Death Glare: (Убийственный взгляд (в разработке))
- When Zola stabs Zeetha. «I vas starting to like her.»
- Later on, when Tarvek figures out he’s a Jäger General, he gives Tarvek one of these while nearly choking him to death, before deciding to let him live because of how useful he is.
- Extreme Mêlée Revenge: (Бить смертным боем) Once Zola pissed him off, things (including Zola) got ugly.
- Feel No Pain: (Нечувствительность к боли) He gets stabbed through the lungs and takes several seconds to remember that it should hurt him. In hindsight, this is yet another hint to his true nature.
- Freakiness Shame: (Не недостаток, а изюминка) Inverted. Despite how useful it is for his duties as Agatha’s Spymaster, it’s implied that Higgs has a slight complex about not having any of the usual cosmetic traits of a Jäger, particularly the teeth.
- Good Old Fisticuffs: (Старый добрый мордобой) In close quarters, he won’t bother using a weapon. He really doesn’t need one, either, seeing as how he can tear through anything up to and including Sparkhounds (which are tough enough to shrug off conventional blades and bullets like pebbles against a brick wall) without visible effort.
- He Knows Too Much: (Не оставлять свидетелей?) He doesn’t mind if you are suspicious and act with Selective Obliviousness, but if you actually know his secret or start stating it outright, there is a high chance he will kill you, even if you are his girlfriend. The castle almost told Zeetha his secret because it thought that would be funny. Higgs himself starts threatening Tarvek when Tarvek alludes to his secret in open.
- Let’s Get Dangerous!: (Ну-ка, от винта) For the most part, he stays in the background and doesn’t get actively involved. When he does get involved, he proves to be one of the most dangerous characters in the entire comic. You don’t become a Jäger General by inserting yourself into fights needlessly, but you also don’t by not being extraordinary deadly when you do.
- Lightning Bruiser: (Реактивный громила) His absurd durability is the very first thing readers learn about him. He’s also, properly motivated, capable of throwing around car-sized monsters like sacks of flour and moving so fast a trained Smoke Knight can’t react in time. It’s because he’s actually a Jägermonster who curiously and sadly missed out on the whole monster-ization effect of the Jägerdraught.
- Mayfly-December Romance: (Роман однодневки с вечностью) Post Time Skip him and Zeetha are official, and while we may not know much about him before the story, much less his age, what we do know is that he is definitely older than her 20-something. He outright tells Tarvek that he’s seen many generations of the Stormvoraus family line come and go, indicating he is much, much older than any human.
- With regard to the problem of their relative lifespans, they really don’t know. It’s possible that the efforts Mamma Gkika went through to save Zeetha’s life, including Jägerdraught, have rendered her similarly long lived. Or not, because it wasn’t the full Jäger process either. They’ll have to find out like anyone else.
- Meaningful Rename: (Сменить имя) When asked the question of whether «Axel Higgs» is his real name, he states that it wasn’t his original name, but he considers it his real name now.
- Not So Stoic: (Сломать стоика) He has facial expressions: he just doesn’t use them much, thanks to his Seen It All life.
- Older Than They Look: (Старше, чем выглядит) References old Heterodynes like he was there. «How time does fly». he also tells Tarvek that he’s seen many generations of the Stormvaus line pass. Being a Jäger, he may very well have. He later reveals that he received the Jägerdraught, from Vlad the Blasphemous, who originally brewed it; he’s among the oldest Jägers.
- Only a Flesh Wound: (Безобидная рана) Higgs seems to function normally even when the wounds he took should be debilitating or lethal, much like all of the other Jägers we’ve seen.
- Scars Are Forever: (Шрамы навсегда) Has such an epic map of scars on his chest that it can be mistaken for hair at first glance.
- She Is Not My Girlfriend: (Она не моя девушка!) He and Zeetha went through this stage.
« |
Higgs: Uh—she—she ain’t my Miss Zeetha, sir. Tarvek: Oh, heaven forbid. I’m sure you’d desert your post and hare off to save any green-haired amazon. |
» |
- Signature Headgear: (Крутая шляпа) Apparently he’s a crewman of the ship Rozen Maiden. Later, after the Time Skip, he has a similar hat, but with «Wulfenbach» labeled instead, signifying that he’s moved up to a post on Castle Wulfenbach. His tendencies toward such apparel is because he is a Jäger.
- Smoking Is Cool: (Крутой курильщик) That is one badass pipe.
- The Stoic: (Стоик) Which makes the few rare times he loses his temper all the more terrifying.
- Touché: (Туше́) When Agatha points out that, due to the long amount of time they’ve been in each other’s presence, Gil likely already has deduced that Higgs is the secret Seventh Jaegar general, Higgs dismisses the idea, only for Gil to show up and, upon reading the atmosphere between everybody, basically confirm Agatha’s hypothesis, to which Higgs can only begrudgingly commend him for his ability to downplay his insight.
« |
Agatha: Isn’t he wonderful? Higgs: Hmf. He’s good, I’ll give you that. |
» |
- Tranquil Fury: (Холодная ярость) The rare moments where Higgs gets angry are moments where he still remains absolutely calm… but also absolutely dedicated to destroying whatever has pissed him off.
- Unreliable Narrator: (Ненадёжный рассказчик) The story that initially earned him the fans' love and respect was related by him to the group of soldiers that found him. It hasn’t quite… meshed with what we’ve seen of him. It turns out he’s more badass, not less. Considering what we’ve seen him go through in order to reduce him to «walking wounded», what Higgs went through to get the injuries Dr. Sun mentioned has to have been far, far worse than what he reported.
Oglavia Spudna
Gil’s spymaster after the Time Skip. She is unnervingly good at her job.
- The Dreaded: (Грозная репутация) She’s able to get a spy to spill the beans just by being alive and in the same room.
- Evil Counterpart: (Оттенить героя мерзавцем) She has a similar hairstyle and build to Violetta, is Gil’s spymaster
- Oh, Crap! : (Осознание катастрофы) When a captured librarian realized who she was, the librarian was freaked out and eager to talk.
- Psycho Psychologist: (Злой психиатр) It’d appear that she specializes in human psychology, and happens to be impressed by the Other’s use of Mind Control.
« |
Spüdna: If she has indeed achieved the mass mental takeover of an entire population… Such a feat… So impressive… Gil: Wrong lesson, Spüdna. |
» |
- Token Evil Teammate: (Какой ни есть, а он за нас) She takes this role among Gil’s forces from Bang, suggesting that she has her people steal Agatha’s Wasp Eater (the same Wasp Eater she needs to live without Martellus’s «Touch of the King») to accelerate production of their own and brushes off Gil’s refusal by saying she could just frame Martellus for it.
- Torture Technician: (Мастер пыток) And even wrote a book about Cold-Blooded Torture in her youth.
Ruxala
One of the Wulfenbach Vepiary Squad members who survived being hunted down after the Baron was wasped.
- Badass Normal: (Крутой простой смертный) Her job (aside of rounding up revenants) is fighting slaver wasp warriors, which is a challenge even for superhumanly strong constructs. Observe a Ruxala outnumbered by these things and «distraught». Very efficient, too.
- Berserker Tears: (Плакать от злости) Ruxala sat in tears until Slaver Wasp Warriors claw-stab her captain and walk in… carnage ensues.
« |
Tarvek: Ah—I’m… I’m sorry, you just seemed rather… distraught— Ruxala: Of course I’m distraught! (still weeping, brains her third bug in a row, not even looking at it) They hurt my weasels! |
» |
- Determinator: (Превозмогатель) Despite being badly wounded Ruxala continues to carry out her job, even if that means using a walking stick and making her way around a notoriously dangerous city while heavily bandaged.
- Offhand Backhand: (Врезать не глядя) Ruxala offhand-headshots a warrior wasp behind her back while crying.
- Sole Survivor: (Последний выживший) Very nearly so. Upon escaping the time stop, she was shot by Wulfenbach troops, but managed to survive to be rescued by the Jaegers. Turns out that they knew that the Bughunters were trying to sneak away. Only one group was saved by Maxim while every other detachment was killed. Other than that, a few more Bughunters could be trapped in the time stop.
Von Pinn
When first encountered Von Pinn seemed to just be another of the many monsters given jobs by the Baron. It eventually emerged, however, that she was the nursemaid at Castle Heterodyne when Agatha was born and this has made things rather interesting. Pursued by many Jägers as the height of womanhood and absolutely terrifying, Von Pinn seems to hate Agatha, fear what she is to become (whatever that is) and want to protect her.
- Action Girl: (Бой-баба) Punches in the same weight class as Jägers, or a little above.
- Combat Sadomasochist: (Боевой садомазохист)
- Oh, yes.
- Her attitude improved a lot the moment she was transferred into a body without pain sensitivity.
- Dark Action Girl: (Зло с женским лицом) If the way she looks isn’t enough her response to getting stabbed in the hand is to run her hand down the blade to grab the hilt.
- Dark Is Not Evil: (Тьма не есть зло) Dark, vicious, aggressive, but not evil.
- High-Class Glass: (Монокль высокомерия) Not your average monocle.
- Horrifying the Horror: (Уволен из гестапо за жестокость) The Other, or perhaps Lucrezia, is terrified of her, even after having shoved her mind into a body she could control. With good reason. It only intensifies after Von Pinn reveals she’s found ways to circumvent Lucrezia’s hold on her.
- It’s Personal: (Это личное)
- Things between Agatha and Von Pinn didn’t get off to a great start, but then she killed Punch and Judy. The next time they met, Agatha was not in a forgiving mood.
- On the other end, she is quite furious with Lucrezia, what with Lucrezia robbing her of her original body and all.
- Mama Bear: (Родительский инстинкт)
- DO NOT endanger the children under her protection. Even if you’re one of them.
- She’s apparently the most protective of Gil. Had Agatha not been able to force Von Pinn to let her go, things would probably have gotten much worse before they got better, thanks to Agatha making a remark about really not liking Gil after first meeting him.
- And it turns out the kids return her loyalty.
- No-Sell: (Никакого эффекта) By the time she fights Lucrezia in the latter’s old lab in Castle Heterodyne, she has managed to nullify the effect of Lucrezia’s Compelling Voice on her.
« |
Von Pinn: Sssss- That will no longer work, you filthy thief of souls. It was not easy, but I have found ways to break your hold. |
» |
- Noodle Incident: (Инцидент с кошкой) A few details about her are as yet unclear. Lucrezia found her Muse body chained up behind a wall, but it’s anyone’s guess how that happened.
- Not Quite Dead: (Скорее жив, чем мёртв) Seriously, someone like Von Pinn is a threat as long as they can move a finger.
- Really 700 Years Old: (Фэнтезийный бессмертный) Von Pinn was originally the Van Rijn muse Otilia, built centuries ago for the Storm King.
- What the Hell, Hero?: (Что за фигня, герой?) When Agatha drops her down a bottomless pit. «TRULY YOU ARE YOUR MOTHER’S CHILD!»
The Lackya
Formerly the construct servants of the Duke D’Omas, aka the Gilded Duke, a year prior to the events of the comic, they entered the Baron’s service after he toppled the Duke. Only one of them, Katz, has been named so far.
- Clone Army: (Клоны и клонирование) Thus far all the Lackya we’ve seen but one have all been male, with silver hair, green eyes and little facial variation, and even the one with different hair may have been a coloring error. Considering they’re a race of constructs, this may not be too surprising.
- Fate Worse than Death: (Участь хуже смерти) The Baron punishes one of the Lackya by making him a Jӓger orderly. When the Lakya protests, horrified, Klaus says the alternative is to be sent to Castle Heterodyne.
- Interservice Rivalry: (Соперничество служб) The Lackya and Jӓgerkin do not get along, with the Jӓgerkin seeing the former as «useless ponces» and «nancy boys».
- Lightning Bruiser: (Реактивный громила) Described as moving like lightning with elegant precision in the novel. In the comic, we can see one punching straight through a warrior wasp’s head.
- One-Gender Race: (Нет женщин и детей) As yet, all the ones we’ve seen are apparently male.
- Servant Race: (Раса слуг) Like the Jagers, the Lackya have a need to serve someone, so the Baron uses them as footmen once he takes out their master. After the Jagers leave the Baron’s service, the Lackya are mentioned (in the novels) to have taken over many of their duties.
Bohrlaikha
A Wulfenbach clank assigned to guard Gil after the Time Skip.
- BFS: (Офигенно большой меч) Her sword is almost as long as a grown adult is tall.
- Combat Parkour: (Паркур?) Bohrlaikha is able to fight an opponent several times her size even as she’s somersaulting in mid-air.
- The Juggernaut: (Джаггернаут) Few things can stop her for a meaningful amount of time. Gil eventually resorted to trapping her in the Mechanicsburg time bubble, and even that begins to fail after her time is restored for a split second.
- Master Swordsman: (Мастер меча) Bohrlaikha’s sword is not just a decoration — she can slice up a Humongous Mecha with it as easily as cutting a cake.
Grantz
One of Baron Wulfenbach’s best monster hunters.—-
- BFS: (Офигенно большой меч) Carries a sword almost as long as she is, and she is tall.
- Offscreen Momentof Awesome: (Закадровый момент крутости) Grantz is able to take down and capture Othar Tryggvassen, Gentleman Adventurer, who is able to win hand-to-hand combat with a Jäger. Twice.
Castle Wulfenbach Students as a whole
A mixed bag of Sparks, nobles, and young people with connections to both, kept on Castle Wulfenbach to be schooled… and to discourage stupid behavior in their families. Many of them remain as of yet un-named but two, Sleipnir O’Hara and Theopholous DuMedd, re-entered the story in Mecanicsburg. Three in particular have more characterization than the rest: Zulenna Luzhakna, Theopholous DuMedd, and Sleipnir O’Hara.
- Arranged Marriage: (Брак по договорённости) Sleipnir had a political marriage waiting for her back home before she ran off with Theo. There are hints other students may be in a similar situation.
- Blue Blood/Science-Related Memetic Disorder: (Аристократ) Anyone without at least one of the two is at the bottom of the social heap. Sleipnir notes that Sparks matter more than lineage, although Theo Dumed is head boy with no title and only «a touch of the spark» — possibly because he’s related to the Heterodyne Boys by marriage.
- Gilded Cage: (Принцесса в клетке) They’re happy, healthy, and well treated, but it’s also true that they are hostages. At least one of them regretted having to leave, though he may have had other reasons. As Tarvek put it, Castle Wulfenbach is the place to be — especially for an ascending Spark.
- The Mole: (Внедрённый агент (в разработке)) Tarvek got kicked from Castle Wulfenbach because of this reason and he countered with basically «Who isn’t?». The students are not only hostages, they are also spying on Wulfenbach from inside his base of operation (or at least, sending the information the Baron wants them to have to their families).
Zulenna
A royal without the Spark, but with a strong sense of noble pride, as well as unshakable faith in the Baron. She starts out strongly antagonistic towards Agatha for a large number of reasons. However, she changes her tune when Agatha’s heritage is revealed. The Heterodyne Boys personally designed her family’s defenses, and thus she stays behind to buy Agatha and the others time to escape. She is killed by DuPree, but Klaus orders her put in the cold room to be revived later.
- Alpha Bitch: (Альфа-сука) Zulenna is the main enforcer of the pecking order amongst the students.
- Freudian Excuse: (Тяжёлое детство) Sparks matter more than lineage. So, as non-Sparky Princess, her standing was not the highest and she became an Alpha Bitch to compensate for what she lacks.
- Lovable Alpha Bitch: (Милая стервочка) Revealed with her Heroic Sacrifice; she may look down on anyone of lower station, but she gives her life to repay a family debt. Also in Tarvek’s own words, she was always very nice to him, which is why he arranged things behind the scenes for her to even be on Castle Wulfenbach.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: (Пропавший из сюжета персонаж) She is killed by Bang after Von Pinn is unable to overcome her programming when Zulenna pulls a You Shall Not Pass!, but the Baron intends to revivify her against the social by-laws about resurrecting aristocratic family members. And then… nothing (so far).
- No mention is made of Zulenna, though there has been talk of her homeland, Holfung-Borzoi, which has forged a new alliance with a former enemy, being overseen by Zola/the Queen of the Dawn. But as discussed in Othar’s Twitter account, it’s very likely Zulenna is leading a covert revolt in the area under the name «Steel Strike».
- She’s later revealed to be a cousin to Tarvek and the only reason she was on Castle Wulfenbach was because he pulled strings in order to keep her safe. He thinks she’s dead dead, though, and beats himself up for it.
- White Sheep: (Белая овца) She’s a cousin of Tarvek’s (exact connection beyond that unclear), but unlike the rest of Tarvek’s family, who are pretty much all lying, murderous, duplicitous, evil, insane and any combination thereof, she’s honest and honorable, if incredibly smug and somewhat unpleasant.
Theo
A friendly Sparky boy, mostly in charge of wrangling the younger students. His mother was one of the Mongfish sisters, making him Agatha’s cousin — a fact he is quite pleased to discover, considering she’s the first family member he’s had who’s not dead, missing, or a head in a jar.
- Actually Pretty Funny: (На самом деле это довольно смешно) The Baron actually smirks on hearing Theo’s story about The Other being a robot dragon. And flashes another small smile hearing that Theo is avoiding grease-trap cleaning duty to work on building an automatic grease-trap cleaning device.
- Big Man on Campus: (Самый крутой парень в школе) As the Head Boy of the group. He’s got both Blue Blood and the Spark.
- White Sheep: (Белая овца) Not For Wulfenbach students, but for Mongfish family, along with Agatha. His grandfather Lucifer Mongfish was a long-time enemy of the Heterodyne boys, his aunt Lucrezia was the Other, and his other cousin is Zola. We can only imagine how bad the rest of the Mongfishes were. (It’s implied that his late mother was also one of these.)
Sleipnir
A highly intelligent mechanic (not a Spark) who quickly befriends Agatha onboard the Castle.
- Deadpan Snarker: (Язвительный насмешник) When questioned about whether Von Pin will have psychological problems adapting to having her mind transferred from the body she’s used for decades into «a giant tiger clank with steel claws», Sleipnir responds that «given the similarities, I think it quite likely that she won’t notice any difference at all.»
- Redhead In Green: (Рыжий в зелёном) Sleipnir spends much of the comic during her stay on Castle Wulfenbach in a green jumpsuit. Once in Mechanicsburg, she trades it for a haltertop — still green.
- Wrench Wench: (Гаечка) She’s introduced wearing a jumpsuit after a duty shift doing mechanical work, and is handy as a Spark’s minion.
Itto
One of the younger students on Castle Wulfenbach who likes Theo’s Heterodyne Boys stories and is eager to have some adventure himself and to hang out with the older kids.
- The Load: (Балласт) No one gets mad at him since they did pass up an opportunity to take him back to the dorms, but once they get into the Baron’s lab he gets startled and freaks out, yelling and running away, alerting the Baron to the presence of the students and he is the only one that gets caught since he goes the wrong way. He does refuse to give up the older students, though the Baron is able to figure out Theo’s involvement from things Itto says and just knowing Theo.
The Knights of Jove
Ссылка: [7]
Loyal Order of the Knights of Jove
Various characters involved in the highly factional Storm King conspiracy.
The Fifty Families
The former ruling elite of Europa consisting of fifty noble houses all vying to have one of their own declared Storm King. Many of them were decimated by during the Other War while the rest were conquered by Baron Wulfenbach. Chafing under the Baron’s rule, the Families united and secretly began conspiring to overthrow the Wulfenbach Empire.
- Artistic License — Politics: (Не в ладах с политикой) Often the term «royal» is used for all among the Fifty Families, despite many of them being nobility (dukes, counts, (reigning) princes, etc.) instead of royalty (kings, queens, (heir) princes, princesses, etc.). Granted «royal» is sometimes used for reigning nobles IRL, but mostly in common parlance and not anything formal. It would be weird, as an example, for Duke Strinbeck to say «my royal personage» IRL (unless he was a king’s relative who also happened to be a duke).
- Big, Screwed-Up Family: (Гнусное семейство) The majority of the members shown so far are directly or indirectly related to one another, and most of them have tried to murder each other at some point either for personal benefit or mere enmity. Tarvek is shown to have been to related at least five other families and most of them, including his own, have tried to kill him at one point or another with it being made clear that this behavior isn’t abnormal.
- Evil Reactionary: (Злодей-консерватор) By and large, the Fifty Families want to take over the Baron’s empire because they want a «proper» monarch like in the «good old days» of the Storm King. Unfortunately, some factions are willing to collaborate with the Other to do so.
- Gone Horribly Right: (Всё пошло слишком так) When several of the families decided to go ahead with their plan to overthrow Klaus ahead of schedule, they manipulated a large number of small rebellions into erupting simultaneously to act as distractions. Said rebellions quickly grew out of control and caused numerous other rebellions to pop up all over Europa, which completely derailed almost all of the Families’ plans.
- Leeroy Jenkins: (Лирой Дженкинс) The Storm King conspiracy’s original, long-term plan to overthrow Klaus was fairly well-hidden and had a legitimate chance of succeeding. However, the appearance of Agatha and her injuring the Baron caused many members of the conspiracy to panic or try to take advantage of the situation, with some speeding up their plans to take Castle Heterodyne while others decided to go off-script entirely and try to kill Klaus or conquer parts of the Empire for themselves. This early playing of their hand not only caused them to reveal themselves to the Empire before they were ready to confront it but it also caused a lot their existing plan to fall apart.
- The Remnant: (Злодей-недобиток) They’re a shell of their former selves after the timeskip caused by Klaus' Take-Five Bomb. After the Other was done, there were only seventeen of the prior great houses left, and that’s assuming the strife between then and the modern day hasn’t whittled them down further.
- Secret-Keeper: (Хранитель тайны) An evil version. The Families knew that Lucrezia was the Other, with some being fanatically loyal to her, and they managed to hide it from Klaus for almost two decades.
Andronicus Valois
A legendary ruler who commanded the Knights of Jove and ruled a large chunk of Europe roughly 200 years ago. Super-Spark Van Rijn constructed the Muses for him. He beat back the forces of Bludtharst Heterodyne as head of the "Coalition of the West, " for which he was hailed as the «Storm King» and received the blessing of the «Five Good Emperors.» According to an opera written about his life, he fell in love with Euphrosynia Heterodyne when he saw her menaced by her fiancé, Ogglespoon (who was her fiancé by arrangement with her father, not by her choice, supposedly). He tried to rescue her, only to be thwarted by a bonsai hedge maze. He then vowed to search for her forever, leading to the downfall of the Knights of Jove and his empire.
- Enemy Mine: (От вражды к союзу) Part of the reason he was able to build his empire was the need for everyone to unite against the Heterodynes. Bludtharst Heterodyne even had «He Couldn’t Have Done It Without Me» engraved on his tomb to rub this fact in.
- Foil: (Оттеняющий характер) To Klaus. Both have large and impressive empires which try to focus Sparks toward productive goals, while building and maintaining infrastructure along the way. Andronicus conquered Europa with diplomacy and saw war as just a means to get his opponent to agree to peace talks. Klaus ended the Long War by conquering Europa with brute force and shows disdain towards negotiation. Also, both their declines in power can be attributed to Heterodyne women, with Andronicus' coalition collapsing because he put his faith in Euphrosynia and the Wulfenbach Empire lost control of Europa because Klaus refused to trust Agatha.
- Shrouded in Myth: (Человек-миф) As noted, a lot of what the audience «knows» about him comes from an opera of dubious historical accuracy. Violetta also doesn’t know the abilities of his signature weapons because legend describes them in obtuse, fanciful language.
- Walking Spoiler: (Персонаж-спойлер) It’s incredibly obvious that there’s some sort of major twist involving him. Considering everything we knew about him was told through the opera and third-hand comments, some kind of major reveal was practically inevitable.
- Ax-Crazy: (Буйный неадекват) When he is reawakened in the present, he’s an enraged, psychotic husk of his former self that proceeds to go on a rampage through the streets.
- Amazing Technicolor Population: (Разноцветная раса) Used to not be this, but he’s now a practically radioactive green, complete with the ability to melt someone’s skin to mere bone on touch. Or subject it to rapid aging. Or something.
- Berserk Button: (Кнопка берсерка) Jägers. He really hates them. Da Boyz and Jenka eagerly tap-dance all over this button to distract him and get him so riled up that he can’t fight properly.
- Humanoid Abomination: (Чужеродный человек) Was apparently transformed into a maddened undead monstrosity by his enemies, which his allies were forced to put down. When he appears in the current era, he looks increasingly monstrous the longer he fights — he starts off looking human except with green, glowing skin, but by the time Voltaire destroys his weapons, he’s degraded into some kind of walking skeleton, and after that he’s practically falling apart.
- Killed Off for Real: (Умер по-настоящему) Eventually gets worn down completely by Master Voltaire, Da Boyz, Jenka, Martellus and Agatha, before finally being finished off by Martellus. His final end is no less tragic than he was first defeated — a maddened undead monstrosity put down by his last remaining old friend, the Jägers who were his old foes back in his glory days, his descendant and the descendant of the woman he loved, mistaking her for Euphrosynia and spending his last moments utterly thrilled that he had «found her», only for Martellus to crush his skull moments after. Of course, being the glory hog that he is, Martellus doesn’t even take a moment to mourn his ancestor and contemplate his tragic end, he goes straight to literally claiming his crown for himself. Then again, said ancestor did corrupt his close friends/followers into undead monsters, thus forcing Martellus to Mercy Kill them, so it’s understandable he would spare little thought to him.
- Rasputinian Death: (Распутинская живучесть) Putting him down the second time requires, in order, getting blasted multiple times by the Gendarmy, repeatedly electrocuted and buried in rubble by Voltaire, stabbed in the gut with his own sword by Martellus, having an entire building collapse on top of him, getting smacked around by the Jägers, Voltaire melting the weapons that grant him Immortality, Agatha blasting him with a Wave-Motion Gun, and, finally, having his head crushed by Martellus' final blow. To say it took everything the heroes had to put him down is not an exaggeration in the least.
- To hear Voltaire describe it, killing him the first time was almost as difficult, and that was back when he was just a normal human with a couple of Spark-made weapons, rather than the One-Man Army Humanoid Abomination the readers see in the present.
- Walking Spoiler: (Персонаж-спойлер) The very fact that he still exists in some form is a spoiler.
- Was Once a Man: (Был когда-то человеком) Andronicus was… corrupted somehow according to Simon Voltaire. His closest confidantes ultimately had to sacrifice much to end his deranged rampage. For all intents and purposes, everyone considers him to be undead.
Grandma
The grandmother of Tarvek, Anevka, Violetta, Martellus and Xerxsephina, Terebithia is the leader apparent of the Knights of Jove and the Smoke Knights not loyal to Lucrezia. Absolutely hates Lucrezia, at least according to Violetta, and would rather refocus on the original objective of the Knights of Jove.
- Bluff the Impostor: (Ловушка для самозванца) Upon meeting Mister Obsidian she immediately attempts to stab him in the face even though he had the correct code phrase, only for the dagger to snap in two. He mostly takes it in stride, but Grandma retorts to his snark that disguises are easy and that anyone can learn a code phrase.
- Cool Old Lady: (Крутые старики)
- A subdued version as far as the setting goes — she apparently throws some wild parties. And she has some rather impressive dresses.
- It is worth noting that she’s the head of a family so unruly Tarvek once commented the only way to keep them in line would be to kill them, a family that’s produced folks like Martellus, so she has to be doing something right.
- Deadly Decadent Court: (Гнусные придворные) She runs it and apparently has no problems with her kids and grandchildren killing each other and the in-laws. She once threw a party while Paris was under attack and half the city was flooded in the chaos. She even uses such events to make her parties more spectacular and gain power. She has spies everywhere. All this indicates that she is well aware of what is going on, well more than the grand majority of the general population, but is so high and almighty that she neither fears nor cares about the problems the lower classes face. If you aren’t good enough to survive in her court, then relative or not, you deserve what comes to you. From what we heard of him, her husband wasn’t any better.
- Dirty Old Woman: (Старик Похабыч)
- When Tarvek, disguised as a servant, makes a joke about her whipping him, she cheerfully states that he sounds «just like his grandfather», which immediately makes Tarvek wish for Brain Bleach.
- During The Reveal that she is close to Simon Voltaire, he calls her a «scheming flirt» as an Insult of Endearment, implying she’s always been like this.
- Everyone Calls Him «Barkeep»: (Его зовут Бармен) She was usually referred to mainly as «grandmother» though this is because most of the time, she was with her family. She’s revealed to be named Terebithia when Simon Voltaire, Master of Paris, refers to her as such. Given their First-Name Basis with one another, they’ve had a history and still soft spots for one another.
- Hidden Depths: (Скрытые глубины)
- When she learns that Archimedes' Lever has started spewing lightning, she knows exactly what it means (Andronicus Valois is still alive) and immediately begins making plans to take advantage of this fact. How much of this is fore-knowledge as opposed to shrewd guess-work is currently unknown.
- She’s also well-acquainted with Simon Voltaire, the Master of Paris. She has invited him to several of her parties (though he never showed up despite promising to). Their quieted dialogue indicates they care a good deal about one another and even may have been intimate in the past. Furthermore, they’re on first-name basis with one another and refer to one another in affectionate insults all while she supports him and gently clasps his hand.
- Honey Trap: (Далила) Back when she was young, she wasn’t above sleeping with powerful men to pry their secrets out of them. It turns out she once did so with the Master of Paris, who later admitted that he might have told her too much. She uses this knowledge to steal control of Paris from the Master’s daughter and effective heir.
- I Was Quite a Looker: (В юности была красавицей) As shown in a flashback, Terebithia was hot in her youth, and even seduced the Master of Paris into revealing too many of his secrets.
Sturmvoraus family
Aaronev VI
The ruler of Sturmhalten, and the father of Tarvek and Anevka Sturmvoraus. He’s pledged loyalty to Lucrezia Mongfish and does her work in the Knights of Jove. He’s also a complete nutcase.
- The Caligula: (Безумный король) He’s an insane prince obsessed with un-sealing a Sealed Evil in a Can, even at the cost of his own family. This isn’t even getting into how he treats visitors to the principality.
- Dirty Old Man: (Старик Похабыч)
- Requests the circus to stage «The Socket Wench of Prague» — the play obscene enough to chase the performers out of a town in a usual case, and orders them to «tart it up» as well.
- He’s also obsessed with Lucrezia, and tries to resurrect her in the body of his own daughter, with the implication of fully intending to go all the way.
- I Was Quite the Looker: (В юности была красавицей) Overweight, balding and his hair’s turned grey, but apparently in his youth he was the spitting image of Tarvek.
- Karmic Death: (Кармическая смерть) He’s killed by Anevka, one of the girls forced into the «Holy Machine», right as he’s forcing yet another girl in.
- King Bob the Nth: (Одинаковые имена) The fourth or sixth Prince Aaronev Sturmvoraus of Sturmhalten, depending on if you use the novel’s counting or the comic’s.
- My God, What Have I Done?: (Что я наделал!) If Tarvek’s flashback (SPOILERS!!) is trustworthy, then Wilhelm was genuinely distressed when his daughter Anevka almost died after he hooked her up to the «Holy Machine».
- Small Role, Big Impact: (Небольшая роль с большим влиянием (в разработке)) He only shows up in Volume 5 (and dies that volume), but he’s the one who housed the Geisterdamen and their «Holy Machine» in Sturmhalten, making him more or less the one responsible for the Other’s comeback.
- Town with a Dark Secret: (Деревня со зловещим секретом) Is the prince of one, where the «dark secret» in question is that almost everyone there is a Revenant infected by Slaver Wasps.
- Would Hurt a Child: (Не щадить детей) Would hurt several children, in fact — mostly girls. So many girls that (as Tarvek later explained) it led to a gender imbalance among Sparks.
Anevka
Tarvek’s debatably-living sister. After an ill-conceived Mad Science experiment of her father’s left her at death’s door, her brother constructed a new robotic body that she could operate from within her life-support tank.
- Clothing Damage: (Урон по одежде) When she kills her father, it burns her dress.
- Dead All Along: (Всё это время он был мёртв) The real princess died ages ago. What we see is her personality imprinted into the robot she originally used to interact with the world. She didn’t even realize she died!
- Faux Affably Evil: (Притворно дружелюбный злодей) Her initial appearance has her being polite and considerate towards Agatha, which almost immediately vanishes, showing that Anevka (or rather the clank that thinks she’s Anevka) is a dangerous and violent psychopath.
- Kinslaying Is a Special Kind of Evil: (Цареубийца?) That she killed her father — even if he deserved it — is used to highlight just how ruthless and amoral she is.
- Put on a Bus: (Вывод за скобки) She hasn’t been seen since Tarvek deactivated her in Sturmhalten. He then removed her Cranial Processing Unit and replaced it with one containing the Other’s personality. And hasn’t mentioned that to anyone yet. This is concerning to say the least, especially as Other!Anevka was last seen controlling Klaus via slaver-wasp.
- Theseus' Ship Paradox: (Парадокс корабля Тесея) One of the heartbreaking human examples. Initially, Anevka’s remains — contained in the carboy carried by footmen — controlled the clank body attached to the carboy by cables like a puppet, but as she weakened, the clank did more and more on her own. In the end, the clank didn’t even notice when she died. The only one aware of the whole process was Tarvek, and apparently the clank was so much like his sister even he is unsure exactly when she died.
- Villainous Breakdown: (Злодейская истерика) After having nearly gotten away with her plan, she has a complete freak-out when Tarvek reveals what she really is.
von Blitzengaard family
Martellus
A cousin of Tarvek and the self-proclaimed Storm King.
- Asskicking Leads to Leadership: (Власть — это сила) He was able to retain his hold on the Storm King title once Tarvek was written off by being a better killer than the assassins they sent after him.
- The Atoner: (Кающийся грешник) Makes a point to stop pushing Agatha and wait on her to help him first. He refuses to be (intentionally) impolite or wake her up early in the morning for it. Agatha, still thinking he just wants to use her, calls him an idiot. He still fails, however, as he still tries to flirt instead of just admitting what he feels.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: (Мазохистское танго/Три дня я гналась за Вами…) He tries to invoke this with Agatha; after a conversation with a Jaeger, he decides that the best way to impress her is to «be a bigger monster.» Unfortunately for him, Agatha is not the monster her ancestors were, and therefore she doesn’t appreciate his aggressive flirting. To his credit, he learns quickly and gives up on this particular strategy.
- Benevolent Boss: (Добрый начальник) In general. His knights and sparkhounds are fiercely loyal to him and he returns their dedication. When Andronicus turns several of his men into zombies, Martellus puts them down as respectfully as he can and is furious with the man responsible. He also acknowledges the value in the Knights of Jove’s smoke knights and tries to avoid wasting their lives if he can help it. That said, he’s not above executing a minion who defies his direct orders and patronizes him in the process. Krosp also notes that he genuinely cares for his creations, which is a rarity among Sparks.
- Big, Screwed-Up Family: (Гнусное семейство)
- As with all the Valois clans, he is deeply involved in their backstabbing scheming.
« |
Martellus: Every single time I think I have killed the person responsible for usurping my command, I find there’s someone else higher up, still fighting me. Now, don’t get me wrong, I can kill family members all day and know I’m making the world a better place — But smoke knights take time and money to train — And I’d rather not waste too many of them. So, will killing you solve my problem, or— |
» |
- And then immediately subverted by the arrival of his little sister, who he seems to show genuine affection for, and who seems to reciprocate. Though she’s still willing to risk him as bait.
- Butt-Monkey: (Мальчик для битья)
- His introduction is… a bit embarassing. Despite having a showy entrance, he is completely outplayed by Klaus, his clank suit gets destroyed by a Dreen, and he’s basically forced into a bit player role for the rest of the battle. It’s only until Klaus suddenly shows up that he suddenly seizes his moment, nabs Agatha and surprises Tarvek with a poisoned knife, and even then it turns out this really ended up being surprisingly helpful for almost everyone involved.
- Goes through a decent amount of this during the Corbettite arc, despite also being a serious threat at the time. The monks' general mocks him, the rampaging monster-train humiliates him more than once, Agatha subjects him to a Groin Attack and he loses an army of bears to Krosp. And then he gets talked down to by Klaus-in-Gil and Lucrezia-in-Agatha. And as a final insult, he gets blackjacked by Violetta, without any of the Corbettites seeing her.
- This seems to be a recurring thing for him. While he ends the Paris arc in a good place, having done more to solidify his position as the Storm King, he’s also despised by Agatha’s group, Agatha is moving well out of his reach (England), his own sister is plotting behind his back to make sure Agatha hooks up with Tarvek instead of him (in a misguided attempt to get herself with Gil), the Empire, with Gil as its head, is unlikely to recognize him as Storm King despite his heroics in Paris given Gil would obviously favor Tarvek as long as Tarvek is an option (as evidenced by Martellus sending assassins after Tarvek to get rid of him), AND he loses said top assassin and many of his beloved sparkhounds in said assassination attempt.
- In spite of all of this, he eventually claims the crown of the Storm King through defeating his ancestor, albeit with help. But then, see below under Hoist by His Own Petard.
- Character Development: (Развитие персонажа) Since his arrival in England, he’s shown some hints of this, including nixing a suggestion to have Agatha subdued and captured again — because he wants her to see him as a genuine ally.
- Enemy Mine: (От вражды к союзу) Offers an alliance, since even if he considers Tarvek and Gil to be rivals for control over Europa, the fact remains that the Other is slowly but surely winning, and her victory would leave none of them an empire to fight over.
- Evil Counterpart: (Оттенить героя мерзавцем) Although he is initially presented as an Evil Counterpart to Tarvek (their Sparky predilections and means of education are even in contrast, as Tarvek’s signature is reverse-engineering the Muses which he learned to do from Van Rijn’s notes while Martellus’s is modified animals like his Sparkhounds which he learned from his mentor Dr. Vapnoople), he mirrors Gil better. Like Gil, he’s blunt, physically powerful, not good with people, and tends to treat his peers like children. At the same time, he has people he cares about and harming them or worse leads to both of them losing their shit. Unlike Gil, he’s perfectly willing to use murder as a first solution, administers various types of mind control on people he can’t kill for whatever reason, and where Gil tends to treat those who can’t keep up with him as children to be corralled and protected, Martellus tends to treat those he sees as his «lessers» and as disposable pawns. It’s Lampshaded by Tarvek’s «Martellus insider» Norville, who thinks Gil and Martellus would get along well if Tarvek was dead.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: (И у злодея есть любимые)
- Gets pissed off when his men are suddenly turned into zombie-like revenants thanks to a weapon wielded by Andronicus. He genuinely considered some of them his friends and when he has to put down them down, he tells them who they once were before telling them to rest.
- And he appears to be genuinely fond of his sister, and has openly praised her intellect.
- Krosp observes that he genuinely cares for his creations, which is rare among Sparks.
- Even Evil Has Standards: (Даже у зла есть стандарты)
- He also claims he would set aside his crown in an instant if it would end the machinations of the Other once and for all. Agatha doesn’t trust him an inch but decides she does believe him about that, likely because of the above.
- He is fully aware that most of his family and erstwhile allies are as much or more of a stain on Europa as he is, and killing them is doing the world a favor.
- The Corbettite abbot notes that supposedly, someone from Martellus' family stole something valuable from him, fled to their fortress, and released a monster imprisoned within while Martellus brought an army to their doorstep to recover his stolen property. Leading the abbot to accuse him of having planned the entire affair to give himself an excuse to «heroically aid the monks» via bringing his army into the stronghold of a famously independent sect. Martellus is taken aback by the accusation and swears he did not have such a scheme, before being impressed the abbot thought of something so devious and offering him a job as one of his advisors.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: (Злу не постичь Добра) A relatively mild example, but Martellus is utterly baffled as to why stabbing Tarvek in the heart with a poisoned dagger caused Agatha to start trying to kill him with everything she had (which, unfortunately, wasn’t a lot at that moment). In his own words, «Don’t tell me you’re upset about Tarvek? Don’t worry, he’s not longer of any use to you.»
- The Friend Nobody Likes: (Друг, которого никто не любит) He’s been turning into this after getting handed several defeats by the protagonists; in the 2020 strips, he, Agatha, Gil and Tarvek are going to a royal ball in London as a group. He’s an able Spark with considerable power who is willing to join the fight against the Other, so they’re willing to put up with him now that he’s toned things down a notch. But they still don’t like him.
- Groin Attack: (Удар ниже пояса/Кастрация?) Agatha gives him perhaps the single most deserved one EVER. Shortly after meeting Agatha for the first time, he did something to her so she would die without regular physical contact with him. Agatha quickly replicates the effect with a wasp weasel, but after such an intimate trespass, the thought of any contact with him drives her to screaming rage. Similar attacks can thus be expected.
- The Heavy: (Самый заметный злодей) He’s the most present antagonist from Vol. XIII to around Vol. 2-2 (15). He’s the one who kidnapped Agatha, meddled with her body, and pressured the Corbettites into recognizing his claim. But after entering Paris, he takes a backseat as the Token Evil Teammate of Agatha’s party.
- Hidden Depths: (Скрытые глубины)
- When interrogating a Jaeger he discovers fought his ancestor, the first Storm King, he surprisingly takes time to ask questions about Euphrosynia and why she betrayed Andronicus. The question and exchange afterwards reveal that he is a romantic like the rest of his family. In fact, it could be seen that his motivations for bad behavior is for pragmatic reasons along with his own shortcomings messing with it.
- He does have some family he cares about along with the men who serve him he considers friends. The fact he acknowledges them as good men shows implies that he knows they are better morally than him. He ain’t happy with what the Storm King forced him to do.
- And he’s proven to be very sharp on the subject of the mentality of animal constructs; evidently he was Vapnoople’s apprentice for a reason.
- Martellus actually appreciates Krosp giving him several «The Reason You Suck» Speech. Though insulting, Krosp is giving him useful criticism he can learn from.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: (Не рой яму другому) It turns out that his messing with his and Agatha’s body chemistry resulted in him needing her physical touch to survive as much as she needs his. Or more so for a while, since she has the weasels she modified to alleviate the effect on her, while it took Martellus longer to create his own stopgap.
- Idiot Ball: (Внезапный приступ глупости)
- Grabs one when dealing with a mysterious creature at the Corbettitie base. He insists they won’t be devoured since the monks have stated that the monster only eats metal. Not only do the monks point out that the creature wants revenge on them and thus they are very much in danger, but Tweedle has forgotten that his prosthetic hand is made of metal. Soon after that, he grabs Agatha in a borderline I Have You Now, My Pretty way… with predictable results (see previous entry).
- Decides to use Andronicus' sword to attack the undead Andronicus in Paris, which Agatha instantly calls out for how bad a plan it is. Sure enough he’s eventually disarmed and the sword is picked up by the person they very much did not want to have it.
- Moral Myopia: (Готтентотская мораль) Played straight and partially justified. Tarvek honestly isn’t that much better than Martellus is, yet more people respect and like Tarvek than Martellus. Tarvek is much more sociable and affable than Martellus and is more willing to talk first while Martellus is okay with killing right off the bat. Tarvek is also okay with killing in cold blood and can and will beat and strangle people to death with his own two hands. That being said, Martellus is much better at keeping his family in line as they are more easily scared than manipulated into submission.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain!: (Ай, молодца, злодей!) If Martellus didn’t kidnap Agatha precisely when he did, then he, she, Krosp and Violetta would have been frozen in time by the Baron. This means that the Other could have successfully attacked Paris and London and the Beast could have destroyed the Corbettites. Similarly, if Gil had retrieved Agatha from the time field, then the Klaus imprint on his mind might have killed her on the spot.
- Noble Demon: (Благородный демон)
- Evil as he may be, he genuinely cares for his men and is horrified when they’re zombified by the undead Valois. He puts them down with epithets before returning to fight the Storm King, this time utterly pissed off.
- Later at Mechanicsburg when talking to Krosp, he asks how Vapnoople’s bears were doing, hoping that they were happy and doing well. After confirming as such, Krosp realizes that Martellus genuinely cares about his creations, a rarity in sparks, and that while the nobility (except maybe his sister) would not even weep for him if he died, his creations would greatly mourn him. Krosp takes the opportunity to give him advice about being a true king, that being protecting those loyal to him.
- Not Me This Time: (На этот раз не я) He actually does this to himself. When the Master summons his army, Martellus starts freaking out.
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Martellus: EEK! Monsieur Machines! It’s the Gendarmy! …Wait… calm down… This isn’t my fault. I’ve done nothing wrong. Master Voltaire: Martellus Von Blitzengaard! Why am I not surprised?! Martellus: AH! It wasn’t me Master Voltaire, honest! |
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- Obfuscating Stupidity: (Прикинуться шлангом) As with the rest of the Sturmvoraus family, his seemingly goofy manner is all just an act to cover up a more sinister agenda, which becomes obvious when he whispers to Tarvek that Agatha should have been killed, since she will make a hard-to-control Puppet Queen. Violetta expresses surprise that he uses Spark Hounds, mentioning that he used to make miniature singing bears.
- Pay Evil unto Evil: (Зло воздающее) While putting down rebellious family members, he states he knows he can kill family members all day and know he’s still making the world a better place. And he’s not wrong in that either.
- Pragmatic Villainy: (Злодей-прагматик)
- His most secure bolthole inside his home fortress was set up by himself, without any minions. Agatha questions why he didn’t just kill them, and Martellus points out that this is a world where death keeps very few secrets.
- He decides against using a special drug to turn Agatha into his adoring slave, since it would also destroy her intelligence and her Spark, and she’s far too useful with those intact.
- He tries to end his family’s efforts to stop him asserting his authority as quickly as possible because, while he has no love for said family members and is perfectly willing to keep killing them, he’s also killing valuable smoke knights that will take a lot of time and effort to replace.
- Later, he orders his troops to not harm the mind-controlled civilians attacking them. When they complain, he points out they are being watched.
- Properly Paranoid: (Параноик был прав) Has a deep-seated dislike of Dr. Rakethorn because it’s clear to see to everyone, with the possible exception of Gil and Agatha, that he and Ms. Thorpe are cutting in between Agatha and any potential lovers. He hasn’t called it out directly, yet, because he is more diplomatic and less smug about noticing it than Tarvek. It just seems to annoy him.
- Token Evil Teammate: (Какой ни есть, а он за нас) Of Agatha’s party during the Paris and England arcs, overlapping with being The Friend Nobody Likes. But after the England arc, he no longer needs Agatha and seems to be getting back into his antagonistic role.
- Villainous Crush: (Влюблённый злодей) Tweedle happens to be interested in Agatha, part because marrying a Heterodyne is part of the whole Storm King mythos, and part because he’s actually interested in her. Agatha on her side of things makes it clear that she’s not interested.
- Villain with Good Publicity: (Злодей с хорошей репутацией) What his aims are in the Paris arc: to use his grandmother’s pageant-party to declare himself the Storm King publicly in a major city in such a way as to endear himself to people. His battle against the undead Andronicus plays right into this, even though Agatha, the Jägers, Tarvek, the Master, and Colette really do more of the work. It pays off as Colette, the new leader of Paris seemingly recognizes him as the Storm King afterwards. Of course, if he had been paying more attention to her wording, he would have realized she wasn’t actually recognizing his claim, but just saying he could leave in peace.
Xerxsephnia
Xerxsephina «Seffie» von Blitzengaard is the far more level-headed sister to Martellus von Blitzengaard, acting as the liason between Baron Gil Wulfenbach and the Knights of Jove after the Time Skip and the resurgence of the Long War.
- Affably Evil: (Дружелюбный злодей) Evil is a big stretch, but she is manipulative and can be uncaring towards others livelihoods. Nevertheless, she’s unfailingly charming. Gil regards her as an old friend, and Tarvek (who hates his family as a rule) says that she’s a doll, while acknowledging that she’s all the more dangerous for it.
- Badass Normal: (Крутой простой смертный) She isn’t a spark but that doesn’t hinder her ability to scheme and manipulate others, such as Gil or her brother. It also doesn’t stop her from being just as crazy as a Spark.
- Brains and Brawn: (Умный плюс сильный) Despite not being a Spark, she’s more often than not the scheming Brains to the much more direct Martellus’s Brawn.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: (Ревность) She’s decidedly not a fan of Gil’s crush on Agatha. Later, when Queen Albia is attempting to encourage a romance between Gil and Trelawney Thorpe, Seffie is apoplectic.
- Color-Coded Characters: (Расцвеченная команда) Typically wears light blue clothes to match her eyes, and blood-red jewelry to match her hair.
- Establishing Character Moment: (Момент характеристики) Two. First, her very first appearance has her performing a dramatic monologue to Martellus, complete with Evil Laugh, before cheerfully hugging her «favorite brother» Martellus and noting that she’s been practicing her the harmonics of her cackling. Later, she pauses Martellus’s pursuit of Agatha to demonstrate that she’s much more personally and politically astute than Tweedle, who quickly acquiesces to her plan to distance herself from his terrible first impression on Agatha.
- Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: (Козёл с золотым сердцем) She has a couple of moments during the attack on Paris. First, she tells her grandmother that she shouldn’t beat the servants… because it’s bad for her shoulder. Next, when Colette has trouble controlling the gargoyles, she asks her to avoid killing Martellus, because she needs him alive for her master plan. On the other hand, usefulness seems to overshadow affection in this family as a rule.
- The Matchmaker: (Помощник в любовной интриге) Encourages Tarvek’s crush on Agatha to get Agatha out of the way for her own crush on Gil, which also means she’s opposing Martellus' claim to the Lightning Throne, as his claim basically hinges on him wedding Agatha.
- No Sense of Personal Space: (Нарушитель личного пространства) She’s a bit hands-on when it comes to Gil. Not too much, not even enough for him to mention it, but enough to earn her a few glares.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: (Диалектика Льда и Огня) She is (at least when the subject isn’t Gil) a more level-headed counterpart to her heavy-handed and brutal brother.
- Secret-Keeper: (Хранитель тайны) Surprisingly, Gil trusts her enough to use her as a diplomatic messenger, even giving her papers meant to be placed «under the rock in catacombs.» Furthermore, she appears to know that Gil has his father riding around in his head.
- Stalker with a Crush: (Сталкинг) She has a borderline-psychotic crush on Gil and has been intercepting his letters since she was a child.
- Sure, Let’s Go with That: Inadvertently starts a new fashion trend in Britain when she shows up at the Queen’s court with candy in her hair, claiming it’s fashion, rather than just admitting she slipped and fell and it got stuck in her hair.
- Xanatos Speed Chess: (Мастер импровизаций) She’s very flexible in her planning, to the point of tossing the entire Knights of Jove agenda in the circular file after everything went pear-shaped and forming an alliance with the heir of the Empire they’d been planning to replace. She asks Colette not to kill Martellus for the sake of her newest master plan, suggesting she’s been through quite a few.
Selkinov family
Lord Selnikov
One of the Knights of Jove, Lord Selnikov assists Anevka in her attempt to usurp her brother. He also leads the Knights in their attack on Mechanicsburg, consequently getting himself killed by Gil.
- Brain in a Jar: (Мозг в банке) Thanks to a mix of Gil’s lightning stick and Vole’s method of «recovering» his body, it’s what he’s been reduced to.
- Dirty Old Man: (Старик Похабыч) Missed the news about his brother in-law being killed because he gave his staff orders to leave him alone for several hours, while his wife was away in Paris. Ahem.
- Pragmatic Evil: (Прагматичный злодей) During the attempted take-over of Mechanicsburg, he stated he wanted to make it at least look like he wanted to do it without bloodshed. He also advised against antagonising the Jägermonsters. He also switches sides to Wulfenbach rather readily, citing how despite them being so ruthless, it’s a step up from being in the Decadent Court of the Knights of Jove.
- Secret-Keeper: (Хранитель тайны) He is one of few that knows about Spark-infecting wasp. The others are Prince Aaronev and the creator of the device himself. Well, and Tarvek, but he wasn’t supposed to know.
Margarella
Lady Margarella Selnikov (or «Auntie Margolotta» to Violetta) is the widow of Lord Rudolf Selnikov, a member of the Knights of Jove, and sister to Prince Aaronev.
- Aristocrats Are Evil: (Загнивающая аристократия) Her exact rank isn’t stated, but she is clearly an aristocrat.
- Killed Off for Real: (Умер по-настоящему) Freeing the Beast? NOT a good idea. Violet herself verifies she is DEFINITELY dead.
- Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: (Прекрасная белоснежка) Goes well with her rather black travel dress as well.
Other family members
Dio Zardeliv
Violeta’s great-uncle Dr. Zardeliv is a Spark and professor whose study is focused on time, making him very in demand after Mechanicsburg was frozen by the Take-Five Bomb. Last seen in the company of the rogue Other allied Smoke Knight Madwa Korel.
- Faking the Dead: (Инсценировка смерти) After leaving the Immortal Library he and Madwa killed one of the librarians he was with and doctored his corpse to look like Zardeliv.
- Killed Off for Real: (Умер по-настоящему) His body was found on the smuggler’s submarine he and Madwa used to get to England and was identified by Violeta, though Madwa’s supposed body was found as well and she turned up alive.
Smoke Knights
Malek
A Smoke Knight based out of Paris who serves Martellus von Blitzengaard.
- Hidden Depths: (Скрытые глубины) He studied Ecclesiastical Architecture at University and considers himself a stonemason at heart, as he puts it «Being a Smoke Knight is what I do not what I am.»
- Hidden Weapons: (Потайное оружие) None of his weapons are seen unless he’s using them. It’s likely Smoke Knights often wear capes to help make hiding weapons easier.
- Surprisingly Sudden Death: (Внезапная смерть персонажа) The Geisterdamen announce their presence in Paris and the fact that they’ve been alerted to Agatha’s group by spearing him through the chest with some kind of hook on a rope and yanking him out of the carriage to toss him away off the rooftops.
- Worf Effect: (Силач на расправу) The Geisterdamen occasionally need to show the audience just how deadly they are. Even top level Smoke Knights can be sneak killed by them. Though, to be fair, he was distracted at the time.
Varpa
A Smoke Knight who serves Xerxsephina «Seffie» von Blitzengaard.
- Hidden Depths: (Скрытые глубины) She writes poetry about cheese, publishing it under a pseudonym.
- Hidden Weapons: (Потайное оружие) None of her weapons are seen unless she’s using them except the knife at her belt.
- Honey Trap: (Далила) How she interpreted Seffie’s order to «get in [Malek’s] way a bit.» In a twist, Malek was aware of what she was doing and didn’t seem to mind.
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Malek: Does this mean no more kissing? Varpa: …less kissing. |
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Veilchen
One of the Smoke Knights who worked for Tarvek’s faction. He «parted ways» with the rescue party leaving them in an oubliette and told Violetta about the hunt on Tarvek’s Smoke Knights when he was wounded himself. Seems to be a very popular dude.
- Informed Attribute: (Заявленная способность) He doesn’t have chance to prove his competency and get Game-Breaking Injury because he forgets the monster they escaped.
- Bald of Evil: ([Лысый, как череп) He’s more of a cold-blooded professional, but the archetype is here.
- Game-Breaking Injury: (Спираль смерти?) His right arm is broken after the mission in the Sturmhalten sewers, forcing him to rest.
- Idiot Ball: (Внезапный приступ глупости)
- Sure, he escapes from an oubliette in pretty badass fashion, but forgets about the pursuing monsters that caused him to fall into the thing in the first place.
- He also manages to forget that if you sneak through a sewer, you’re going to pong a bit afterwards.
- Laser-Guided Karma: (Кармическое возмездие) See Villain Ball below. He gets that after he abandoned the group for their fate.
- Offscreen Moment of Awesome: (Закадровый момент крутости) The monster catches him and he screamed. Next time he appears he reports to Tarvek.
Madwa Korel
The master of a rogue Smoke Knight cell that still serves The Other even after Grandmother divested the Knights of Jove cabal of her/it/them and all followers.
- He Knows Too Much: (Не оставлять свидетелей) She is all set to kill the pilot that smuggled her past England’s patrols to keep him quiet, up until being impressed by the fact that he knew all along and was too apathetic to care.
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Madwa: Well, now I kind of want to keep him. |
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- Master Poisoner: (Мастер ядов) Her poisons are well known to other smoke knights. Made from extremely rare ingredients, to boot.
- Never Mess with Granny: (Крутые старики) She’s an old woman, but still an expert smoke knight.
Other members
Zola «Heterodyne»
Once everyone had heard there was a Heterodyne girl running around, she stepped in (along with a conspiracy) to provide one. Agatha was… not happy about that.
- Ass Shove: (Всё через задницу) Lucrezia notes (after knocking her out, restraining her, and presumably searching her) that some of her equipment was «in rather uncomfortable places, I’d imagine».
- Badass Normal: (Крутой простой смертный) Lacks the Spark, but she’s still a fully-trained Smoke Knight carrying enough weaponry under that pink camisole to arm a small nation. After getting dosed up on Movit #11, she’s an even match for Higgs in a one-on-one fight.
- Big, Screwed-Up Family: (Гнусное семейство) She’s the daughter of Demonica Mongfish, one of Lucrezia’s sisters, meaning she’s also Agatha’s cousin, but that hasn’t stopped her from trying to kill her multiple times.
- Dark Action Girl: (Зло с женским лицом) A fully trained Smoke Knight and the main rival to Agatha in the castle.
- Determinator: (Превозмогатель) Manages to survive a Movit 11 overdose and briefly kills the Castle itself, and to add, by that point 70 % of the bones in her body are likely non-functional, she’s running on fumes and has a murderous Higgs hot on her heels, and she still escapes.
- Did You Just Scam Cthulhu?: (Посрами дьявола) Whatever the Other’s deal is, Zola managed to sucker it and snatch some of its secrets.
- Evil Counterpart: (Оттенить героя мерзавцем) She is one to her cousin, Agatha.
- Agatha spent most of her life unaware that she was a Heterodyne and still isn’t quite comfortable with all the attention she’s given. Zola was molded by the Order to be their fake Heterodyne and she loves making big, flashy scenes and being the center of attention.
- They both spent their youths looking less competent than they truly were. Agatha’s Spark was suppressed by the locket, making her seem much less intelligent than she actually was while Zola was Obfuscating Stupidity when she was studying in Paris to keep her cover. Likewise, Agatha manages to subvert people’s expectations of her as a Spark and a Heterodyne by being kind and mostly in control of herself while Zola, who isn’t a Spark and was originally thought to just be a pawn of the Order, manages to be more violent, crazy and ambitious than most Sparks.
- Agatha doesn’t like making people do things they don’t want to do or forcing them into dangerous situations while Zola has no problem with using violence and mind control to make people do what she wants.
- Both Agatha and Zola are interested in Gil romantically, but for Zola it was a case of both their fake cover identities interacting while in Paris (and the 'real' Zola may not even care for him all that much) while Agatha has only ever known him in his true identity. Gil on his side sees Agatha as an equal and is in love with her because of it, while he always saw Zola’s fake identity as a Damsel in Distress he constantly had to rescue and never anything else. By the time he realizes how competent Zola really is he’s thoroughly repelled by her.
- Agatha had the Other forced into her mind and she constantly fighting to keep it from taking over. Zola willingly allowed the Other into her mind and she has the training and conditioning to control it and use it for her own benefit.
- She is also one for Violetta. Both are Smoke Knights who have agendas that don’t fit The Order’s. Violetta doesn’t really want to be part of it while Zola wants to manipulate it.
- Faux Affably Evil: (Притворно дружелюбный злодей) When in Mechanicsburg, manages to do a pretty good job of playing the «kind princess in waiting.»
- Foreshadowing: (Предзнаменование) She sure bears a strong familial resemblance to Lucrezia in that portrait, doesn’t she?
- Hate Sink: (Концентратор ненависти) When we first meet her she’s a false heir with an annoying personality — right off the bat not a good look. As time goes on, however, she crosses the line from a nuisance to a psycho who wants to murder Agatha.
- The Heavy: (Самый заметный злодей) For Volumes VII through XI, she’s the one providing the most direct opposition to Agatha and friends in Castle Heterodyne. Klaus is hospitalized and the Other is trapped thanks to the locket, so it’s Zola that’s doing most of the fighting for the Castle arc.
- Lethal Chef: (Невыносимо скверный повар) «Well, I always thought she just couldn’t make coffee. Now, I’m not so sure.»
- The Load: (Балласт) Apparently fulfilled this role in all of Gil’s adventures with her in Paris, and when nabbed by Agatha she slipped into it again.
- Made of Iron: (Распутинская живучесть) When she takes the Psycho Serum, she becomes so strong that it takes several No-Holds-Barred Beatdowns to make her flee.
- Meaningful Name: (Говорящее имя) Twofold: depending on grammar of the phrase and context in Slavic languages «Zola» can mean either «cinder» or an alternative form of the root «-zlo-» — "evil"note . And she tries to be the evil Cinderella of this story, going from Rags to Riches with all these nefarious plans.
- Muggle Born of Mages: (Инвалидность по магии) Unlike her cousins Agatha and Theo, at least one Aunt (Lucrezia), and her grandfather in the Mongfish family, Zola is not a Spark. This may be why the forces of the Other allied with the Queen of the Dawn have not really exhibited any breakthrough in Slaver Wasp technology, as observed by the Wulfenbach forces. Zola may have a captive essentia of Lucrezia in her head, but she herself is not a Spark.
- Psycho Pink: (Злодейский розовый) Her Princesses Prefer Pink asthetic turns into this trope as she gets high on Movit 11 and gets a bit of the Other in her brain.
- Put on a Bus: (Вывод за скобки) Dropped out of sight for a long time following events in Mechanicsburg, then finally resurfaced playing the part of «The Queen of the Dawn.»
- The Starscream: (Стремящийся в ГлавГады) For both The Order’s fake Hetrodyne plan and Lucrezia.
- Unstoppable Rage/The Power of Hate: (Бешеный гнев) Claims this is what’s sustaining her after suffering some truly grievous injuries.
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Tarvek: How are you even still moving? Zola: HATE! Hate and drugs! Lovely, lovely drugs! I’m a beautiful, chemical, killing machine! |
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- Villain with Good Publicity: (Злодей с хорошей репутацией) Post-timeskip she’s now known as the Queen of the Dawn and has a reputation for being a peacemaker. However, Gil and Tarvek suspect (without knowing the Queen’s true identity) that she’s been using slaver wasps and it’s unlikely that Zola’s ambition has faded over time.
- Xanatos Speed Chess: (Мастер импровизаций) She is «very good at improvising when things go wrong.»
Wolkerstorfer
Count Wolkerstorfer is an absent-minded member of the Knights of Jove, with a sparky propensity for magnets. He is first seen attacking the Wyrm of Limerick, a Corbettite rail liner, and later plays an important role in the defeat of the Beast of The Rails.
- Affably Evil: (Дружелюбный злодей) Appears genuinely personable and friendly, even while attacking the Wyrm of Limerick on behalf of Martellus.
- Magnetic Weapons: (Энергетическое оружие?) Wolkerstorfer is all about this, though not the typical rail/coil guns, but much more reality-breaking sparky applications. Martellus even calls him a «demon with magnets».
- Nothing Personal: (Ничего личного) It appears you really have to work at it to get him to form a grudge; after confronting Agatha and the Corbettite Monks and having them do some fairly serious damage to his mecha, he later cheerfully assists them in their fight against The Beast. He couldn’t be angry over it, because from Agatha’s and Matthias’s invention he learned something fascinating about magnets!
Knights of the Hunt
A force of elite bio-modified warriors loyal to Martellus von Blitzengaard who serve as his minions. They can shapeshift between human and wolf forms.
- Affably Evil: (Дружелюбный злодей) Norville thinks of Gil as a nice guy who would get along well with Martellus if they just sat down and talked for a bit, maybe even had some sandwiches. Well, that, and if Tarvek was killed.
- The Dreaded: (Грозная репутация) The confidence of Smoke Knights vanish the moment they see it’s the Knights of the Hunt they’re up against.
- Our Werewolves Are Different: (Оборотни) The Knights of the Hunt are bio-engineered fighters able to switch between a human form and a wolf form at will.
Baron Oublenmach
A member of the Fifty Families, and one of Zola’s public backers on the Pink Airship. Is weirdly obsessed with ringing the Doom Bell.
- Hostage Situation: (Взятие заложников) Threatens Vidonia and Vanamonde’s family if Vanamonde doesn’t do what he wants.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: (Пропавший из сюжета персонаж) He hasn’t been seen since being showered with a clawful of gold coins by Franz, so he is presumably trapped in the Time Stop field encompassing Mechanicsburg. Agatha H. and the Siege of Mechanicsburg reveals that he will spend the rest of his life serving the Heterodyne family in a gold-related capacity while denying that he is doing so all the time.
- Would Hit a Girl: (Боевой феминист) Threatens to slit Vidonia’s throat if Van doesn’t cooperate, and is presumably also responsible for giving Vanamonde’s mother a black eye.
Duke Strinbeck
A member of the Fifty Families, and one of Zola’s public backers on the Pink Airship. Suffers a fatal case of Lost to his Own Stupidity when Agatha begins repairing the Castle.
- Too Dumb to Live: (Роковая глупость Official cause of death and all, which doesn’t even count as a case of The Coroner Doth Protest Too Much since being too dumb to live is a recognized cause of death in the setting. And he more than qualified, first refusing to listen to the crew’s warnings about Mechanisburg (the unconquered Mechanicsburg), then pulling a gun on them when they tried to not get killed by the town’s defense systems, then threatening all of the crew, just as they needed to shed weight.
Associates
Van Rijn
R.note Van Rijn was a legendary Spark, surpassing his peers of the day (ie, 200-odd years before the events of the comic), and even Sparks of the modern day. He is best known for two things: being the close advisor of the original Storm King, and for constructing nine clanks of exquisite craftsmanship, the Muses.
- Born in the Wrong Century: (Родился не в ту эпоху) 200 years later, the exquisite craftsmanship and intricacy of his Muses remain unsurpassed by other clank designers. Although there have been hints he got a leg up thanks to his conversations with The Muse of Time.
- Bookworm: (Книжный червь) He founded an autonomous library of extreme bibliophiles.
- The Ghost: (Закадровый персонаж) His inventions and legacy feature heavily in the comic’s plot, but Van Rijn himself has been dead for centuries by the present, and even in flashbacks, the kind of person he was is deliberately kept extremely ambiguous. (Though we do eventually get to see what he looked like.)
- Immortality Seeker: (Искатель бессмертия) He sought to trap The Muse of Time in order to force from her the secret of immortality. Although it’s been hinted that this was not done entirely for his own sake.
- Omnidisciplinary Scientist: (Учёный-всезнайка) At the very least, he constructed the Muses, forged the Storm King a powerful electrified sword, built an industrial sausage-works and was a talented painter and sculptor.
- Posthumous Character: (Посмертный персонаж) By the time Agatha finds him, he is a long-mummified husk.
- Shrouded in Myth: (Человек-миф) Again according to the novel, not much was known about the guy even when he was alive.
- Sweet Tooth: (Сладкоежка) Among the hidden secrets inside his notebook Agatha finds numerous recipes.
The Muses
A set of clanks, built by Master Van Rijn, «The Greatest Spark of All Time» for «the Greatest King of All Time», Andronicus Valois. Their numbers include Otilia, Moxana, Tinka, Prende, Orotine, Mawu and Liza (the non-twins), Artimo and Contasia. Ludicrously advanced, even by modern Spark standards, most have been lost or gone missing due to people’s attempts to replicate their technology.
- Exact Words: (Буквально понятые слова/Не вся правда) As Orotine explains to Gil, she’s designed to give advice to the Storm King. She says this as she’s giving advice to him, after she’s already dismissed Tarvek and Martellus’s claims.
- Fem Bot: (Девочка-робот) Unlike most (gender-neutral) clanks, the Muses were explicitly designed in both form and personality to be female, and are referred to as such by other characters.
- Lost Technology: (Утраченная технология) Their tech is far more advanced than anything a Spark of the modern day could develop. Tarvek’s the only one who can reverse-engineer it, and only to a point.
- Off with Her Head!: (Обезглавливание) Tinka is decapitated by Vrin and her Geisterdamen, but given she’s a clank, and that Otilia’s severed head could continue to sustain a functioning Clank intelligence (the Castle, not Otilia herself), odds are good that Tinka could be repaired.
- Revenge: (Я отомщу) There is a final muse called the Muse of Vengeance, created to wipe out the Heterodynes for their crimes against Europa and their part in the Storm King’s downfall (or at least to be unleashed against enemies of the Immortal Library.) It has long remained inactive, but the librarians have recovered its heart as a precaution since some of their leaders fear Agatha is probably every bit the monster her ancestors were.
- Signature Headgear: (Крутая шляпа) One of Orotine’s distinguishing features is she’s always wearing a fancy hat emblazoned with the Fleur de Lis.
- Silent Snarker: (Безмолвный насмешник) Moxana may not be able to speak anymore, but she can still get her point across. After Krosp manages to outwit Master Payne, she rearranges her chessboard to signify he’s been put in check.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: (Пропавший из сюжета персонаж) Of the set, Otilia is stuck in Mechanisburg, Prende is (last seen) in Paris, Orotine is in England; Moxana and Tinka were last seen in Sturmhalten, before it was overrun by monsters and the Baron’s forces. And Tinka had been decapitated. And at least one of them was deactivated by an unidentified Spark. The fate of the rest is unknown.
Mister Obsidian
«Mister Obsidian», the only alias we know him as, has a rather apt name, being seemingly impervious to physical attacks. First appearing as a spy seemingly working for the Library, but actually working for Terebithia to bring Tarvek back to his family, by force if necessary.
- Affably Evil: (Дружелюбный злодей) Very much all business but tries to be polite where possible. He even complains that he rarely gets the chance to be nice when doing his job.
- Establishing Character Moment: (Момент характеристики) Curb-stomps Tarvek with ease without even needing to evade, with the first «holy crap» moment when Tarvek breaks a wrench over his head without the guy even moving.
- Names to Run Away From: (Устрашающее имечко) Mister Obsidian. With the latter word being generally associated with materials that are extremely durable.
Other
Prrriti M’Reau
An orange female cat who was the mouser of the British submarine that evacuated most of the heroes from the self-destructing Royal Society dome. Initially fawning over Krosp, she was turned into a construct with sapience and human-level intelligence by Martellus von Blitzengaard, both (presumably) as a counterpart to Krosp and (explicitly) a role much like Agatha’s weasel has in terms of keeping Martellus healthy. This also results in a 180-turn in her mental disposition towards Krosp. (Physically she’s still attracted to him.) Has noticeable lightning bolt markings above her eyes.
- Uplifted Animal: (Возвышение) Again, much like Krosp, though the difference is that we actually get to see what she was like before she was uplifted.
Paris
Ссылка: [8]
The Master of Paris
The ruler of Paris. He is said to be very fond of art. Notable as being one of the few powerful sparks that Klaus has not had to deal with as he doesn’t care much about what goes on outside his city, so his «Leave me and mine alone» policy works well alongside Klaus' «Don’t make me come over there».
- Berserk Button: (Кнопка берсерка) He is old, and still vividly remembers when the Heterodyne were the villains of Europa, having been forced to fight their schemes in person. The vaguest notion that a Heterodyne could be hypothetically messing with his city is enough to set him off.
- The Chains of Commanding: (Бремя лидера) Like Klaus, he’d rather focus on his spark work, so he tries to leave incidents to his agents. He’s very agitated when his agent fails to stop an incident involving Agatha taking control of the city, because it forced him to take matters into his own hands.
- Cyborg: (Киборг) Appears to be mostly mechanical from the neck down. This might be part of how he’s lived for so long.
- Hero of Another Story: (Герой другой истории) As we catch more glimpses of the story of the Shining Coalition, it becomes clear that it was an epic tragedy, easily worthy of its own webcomic, one that finally ends two hundred years later with the Coalition’s last two members, one embittered and the other corrupted, facing off for the final time.
- I Gave My Word: (Человек слова) Agatha’s rescue of his city only warranted 6 hours of study-time in Paris, with the other 2 days and 18 hours being time left over on the accounts of the Heterodyne Boys. Being their heir, she inherits this time because he pays his debts.
- Killed Off for Real: (Умер по-настоящему) Confirmed by The Castle. He was already spent after the battle with Andronicus, but Beausoleil successfully murders him, using a sword that purges him from the systems of Paris. Fortunately, Colette is able to take over for him.
- Massive Numbered Siblings: (Многодетная семья) He is very old and has many children. His children vary in age quite significantly, with some of them being ancient.
- Memetic Badass: (Такой крутой, что уже смешно) In-Universe, he’s seen as being able to hold off Klaus and force the latter to recognize his authority in Paris. The «memetic» part comes because it’s more of a puppet-theater joke — Simon is independent because Klaus knows he will never have any reason to come over there.
- Power Floats: (Магический полёт) When he links in with the systems of Paris, he starts floating in an energy bubble.
- Stern Teacher: (Строгий педагог) How he deals with unruly foreign heads of state he can’t kill, judging from a footnote about a visit from some rambunctious tsars the second novel gives. After a lengthy period of debauchment (which did make several businesses in the city much richer), they were summoned before the Master… who promptly sent then packing with homework.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: (Новый, точно такой же) To Klaus Wulfenbach. He keeps order through his reputation, he hates The Chains of Commanding and would much rather be left alone to his Spark work, and he distrusts Agatha because of his prejudice against the Heterodynes. The only difference between the two personality-wise is that the Master is willing to talk to Agatha and give her three days in his city.
- Wetware CPU: (Органический компьютер) The legends of his ability to know everything that goes on in his city stemmed from the fact that at one point, he had literally hardwired himself into the control systems of Paris. As he grew older, he was forced to stop doing so and delegate control of various subsystems to subordinates for health reasons, but that doesn’t mean he can’t plug himself back in and assert admin privileges over everything if he has to.
- We Used to Be Friends: (Когда-то мы были друзьями) Was once one of Andronicus Valois' closest and reliable allies before the latter was changed into an undead monstrosity. He is determined to finish what he started, despite his extremely advanced age, so he can save his old friend from himself.
Aldin Hoffman
Aldin is a member of Incorruptible Library. Assigned to keep eyes for Agatha and company when they arrived the Library.
- Bookworm: (Книжный червь) Pretty much a given for anyone who works in the Library.
- Cassandra Truth: (Правда Кассандры) Nobody believes his stories about the adventures his brother drags him on. They’re just that weird.
« |
Larana: Well, Aldin, if you didn’t write such fantastical reports… Aldin: I am incapable of making things up! It all happened! No one ever believes me, but it happened! Larana: Even the— Aldin: Yes, even the thing with the naked mole rat queen. Dimo: Hoo Hoo! Sounds spicy! Aldin: It was not. I assure you. |
» |
- Distressed Dude: (Парень в беде) He apparently plays this role often, judging how often he ends up captured and dressed up by villainesses to the point that he has a reputation for it.
- Go-Go Enslavement: (Раздеть женщину) Apparently evil villainesses enjoy dressing him up in «silly loincloth outfits.» And then we see why, the man looks like a classical gladiator.
- Hero of Another Story: (Герой другой истории) He gets dragged into a wide variety of misadventures with his brother. To the point more than a few people consider he and his brother the next Heterodyne Boys. It gets to the point that his adventures get titles.
- Hidden Depths: (Скрытые глубины)
- It eventually becomes clear his shy and timid personality is partly a facade.
- He’s an expert lock picker.
« |
Agatha: «Master Safe Cracker?» Really? That’s an interesting skill for a librarian. Aldin: When you’ve been captured as often as I have, you develop an interest in locks and escapology. |
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- Noodle Incident: (Инцидент с кошкой) We only get hints of all the crazy stuff Jim has dragged him into.
- Sibling Yin-Yang: (Родные братья противоположны) Would you believe that shy, serious Bookworm Aldin and gung-ho Genius Ditz adventurer Jiminez are brothers?
Beausoleil
A Parisian professor of Philosophy and Ars Mechanica. He also serves as one of the Master’s agents and a "voix de la raison"note for the occasional «heroic type».
- Death Montage: (Смертельный монтаж (в разработке)) We’re treated to most of a page of the ways Colette killed his bodies.
- Dirty Cop: (Оборотень в погонах) While he does do his duty to thwart various schemes against the Master, he is also a key figure in one of those himself. He also embezzles from Voltaire’s private cheese stock.
- Manipulative Bastard: (Манипулятивная сволочь)
- He manipulates a bunch of his students into fighting one another in order to create a diversion in order to abscond with Agatha in the confusion.
- He worms his way into Du Quay’s trust, manipulates him into accepting Agatha as a prisoner by pointing out that she makes a good hostage against Gil, and looses her to rip apart Du Quay’s attempt at overthrowing the Master.
- In order to motivate Agatha, he refuses to give Agatha the info she wants until she completes a task for the master. When she does so, he admits that they don’t actually have what she wants.
- He manages to betray and sabotage the Master himself right under his nose, forcing the Master to do his last resort.
- Not Worth Killing: (Неохота мараться) Colette doesn’t deem it worth her time to hunt down Beausoleil’s real body outside Paris after destroying all his clank bodies, as whoever his new «masters» are will certainly not be happy on his failure to deliver Paris to them.
- Secret Police: (Тайная полиция) As one of the Master’s agents, it is his job to deal with the occasional overly ambitious spark so the Master isn’t interrupted from his work by yet another would be conqueror.
- This Is Gonna Suck: (Осознание катастрофы) Just after he kills the Master, all manner of alarms start going off. He isn’t reassured when they stop, and with good reason…
« |
Beausoleil: …Why does this not seem like a good thing? Colette: Think of it — AS A FINAL MOMENT OF SANITY! |
» |
Colette
A daughter and agent of Simon Voltaire.
- Badass Boast: (Крутая похвальба) «Paris is mine- and I will defend it.»
- Badass Finger Snap: (Щелчок пальцами) Does this when killing Beausoleil’s bodies.
- Clothing Damage: (Урон по одежде) As Colette becomes more and more a madgirl, her clothes start catching fire and get rent apart by the electric arcs caused by her interface with Paris. By the time she’s at full-tilt Madness Place while exacting revenge on Beausoleil, her clothes are so shredded that she’s one soft breeze away from being essentially naked.
- Don’t You Dare Pity Me!: (Не смей меня жалеть!) She rejects Violetta’s sympathy for having a difficult family, because of the source.
« |
Violetta: Whoof! And I thought my family was bad. Colette: Your family is bad. Mine is noisy and embarrassing. |
» |
- Just Friends: (Просто друг) She’s well-aware of Hoffman’s infatuation with her and while she’s appreciative of it (mainly since he was interested in her as an individual rather than her status), she states that she sees him more as an annoying younger brother. Jiminez ends up finding someone else and they end up engaged, with her smiling during it.
- Missing Mom: (Пропавшая мама) Her mother is never revealed or mentioned.
- Not Listening to Me, Are You?: (Да ты не слушаешь меня) After Agatha has been traumatised by her meeting with The Master, Colette confesses her love for her, then takes Agatha’s lack of response as confirmation that she’s not pretending.
- Power Floats: (Магический полёт) When she is channeling the energy of Paris, she gets some impressive floating done.
- Unwanted Harem: (Гарем не в радость) Because she is the daughter of the Master of Paris and prime fodder for marriage for power, she has quite an unwanted following.
- Wetware CPU: (Органический компьютер) Unlike her father, Colette still has the vigor of youth at the time her nascent spark emerges. As such, she is able to handle the mental burden of being plugged into all of Paris like her father used to be ages ago.
Jiminez Hoffmann
A Parisian student who offers to help Agatha for extra credit.
- Accidental Pervert: (Извращенец поневоле) After he is almost blinded by acid, he and Agatha make a vision-enhancing helmet with different settings. One of the them is X-ray vision.
« |
Hoffmann: I can zoom in between macro and microscopic vision! We even gave it different filters! It can do infrared, ultraviolet, and… [stares at Larana] And… Uhhhh… Agatha: [changing the settings] And X-ray. Larana: WHAT?! Hoffmann: Uh, yeah. X-ray. Sorry. |
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- Battle Couple: (Боевая пара) With Larana, after they finally sort out their Unresolved Sexual Tension.
- Cool Helmet: (Крутой шлемак (sic)) His vision-augmentation helmet after he suffers the Eye Scream incident below.
- Determinator: (Превозмогатель) Nothing will stop him from adventuring. Whether it be broken legs, having his bones turned soft or literally being on fire.
- Eye Scream: (Ранение глаза) He gets a faceful of acid from an old clank while exploring the Corbettite crypt. He’s lucky the acid had lost most of its potency, and it still leaves him almost blind.
- Hero of Another Story: (Герой другой истории) According to Aldin, the two of them have gotten into so many crazy adventures that the library curators consider them to be the new Heterodyne Boys. Just like Aldin, it’s to the point that their adventures have titles.
- Humble Hero: (Скромняжка) He saves a king’s life and puts an end to a war that has lasted generations. He insists it’s no big deal. And gets chewed out for it because that war was the only thing keeping the people involved from waging war upon the surface.
- Last-Name Basis: (Называть по фамилии) He is usually called by last names, except when his brother, Aldin, is around.
- Not Me This Time: (На этот раз не я) He releases monsters onto Paris often enough that the Master assumes he’s behind the latest weirdness involving van Rijn’s secret lab. He really wasn’t.
- Oblivious to Love: (Любовная близорукость) From Larana.
- Perfectly Arranged Marriage: Played With all around in regards to his arranged union with Larana. She loves him, but he’s painfully oblivious to it and only sees her as a friend- at first. Then he starts to reciprocate, only to get the impression that she’s in love with his brother. It takes an Anguished Declaration of Love from Larana to finally sort things out between the two of them.
- Sibling Yin-Yang: (Родные братья противоположны) Would you believe that shy, serious and Bookworm Aldin and Genius Ditz, Good Is Dumb and adventurous Jiminez are brothers?
- Unrequited Love: (Безответная любовь) He is one of Colette’s many admirers. But she has no interest in him, viewing him in the same way one would an Annoying Younger Sibling.
- Weirdness Magnet: (Магнит для неприятностей) His brother Aldin laments this fact. Trying to keep him out of trouble only makes it worse.
« |
Aldin: Lady Heterodyne, if we take him back now, he will complain for months. He will actively seek me out, follow me around, and tell me at excruciating length why we shouldn’t have «run away-» And while he is doing so, he will drag me into six «adventures» worse than this death crawl can ever be. |
» |
Larana
Princess Larana is daughter to the King of the Silver Lands, a subterranean kingdom deep beneath Paris. Unlike her father, she sees infestation by Revenants to be a problem.
- Action Girl: (Бой-девка) She is a member of Deep Library’s Hunting Party" who frequently goes to dangerous expeditions. She later proves to have a love of explosives.
- Cannot Spit It Out: (Непроизносимое «люблю») Larana has it for Hoffman, who is clueless about it.
- Establishing Character Moment: (Момент характеристики) Lady Heterodyne, be my friend (Huge Grin, pictured at right). I have exploded the tunnel and will do so to boats which we don’t use. (Gasp) Mr. Hoffman, you are also here?
- Frontline General: (Генерал-рубака) Plans to lead her people into battle against the newly risen Storm King, after usurping the throne from her father.
- Violently Protective Girlfriend: (Боевая подружка) When Hoffman gets sprayed in the face with acid by a Corbettite clank, her response is to break out the explosive charges on the clank with intent to collapse the passageway on it. She also previously got vehement when the Library sentry expressed hope that Hoffman would throw himself out of the lift due to his notoriety at the Incorruptible Library.
- While she planned all along to take her father out of power, she outright usurps the throne as soon as he threatens Jiminez.
The Arguron King
The unhinged king of the Argurons of the Silver Lands, one of the deep realms beneath Paris.
- Author Avatar: (Аватара автора) For the comic’s colorist, Cheyenne Wright.
- Go-Go Enslavement: (Раздеть женщину) Inflicts this on his captives, dressing them all in skimpy loincloth outfits after they have a bath.
- Humiliation Conga: (Жизнь кончена) He gets deposed by his daughter and then sent back to TPU to account for twenty years of grant expenditures.
Vipsania Perrault
An aspiring librarian in the Incorruptible Library of Paris. She strikes a deal with Franz Scortchmaw, Dragon of Mechanicsburg to recover a deceased dragon’s hoard. There seems to be more to her than meets the eye…
- Exact Words: (Не вся правда) Vows none of her friends will throw any more stuff at Hector, only for Lumi to hit him with a stick. She points out she had just met Lumi and couldn’t quite call her a friend just yet, and Lumi didn’t throw anything.
- Insistent Terminology: (Настойчивая терминология) Takes offense to being called a thief, despite all the supporting evidence. When Lumi realises she stole the alchemical device from her professor:
« |
Lumi: I knew it! You are a thief! Vipsania: I AM NOT! Well… at least… not professionally. Franz: Heh. Don’t worry. With practice, you’ll be a pro in no time. Vipsania: I don’t want to be a «pro»! |
» |
- Sole Survivor: (Последний выживший) The only survivor of three expeditions, though was deemed not at fault.
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Brother Marcus: Bears, a weak staircase, and then more bears, wasn’t it? |
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England
Ссылка: [9]
Englishmen as a whole
Residents of the nation of Great Britain, which, due to a Spark-related mishap centuries prior, has gone from an island nation to an archipelago with a number of underwater cities.
- Atlantis: (Затонувший континент)
- It’s revealed when Agatha and co get to England that the island-nation was somehow set to sinking by a band of Sparks some 300 years ago. Rather than let this bother her, Albia simply rebuilt England as an aquatropolis, and the nation is thriving, even as it continues to sink ever-deeper into the sea.
- This has caused them to be Crazy-Prepared when it comes to sparks, too: They have a large dome where the best are collected and kept, not really so they can inspire and work together, but because that makes it conveniently easy to take them all out if things go awry. One of the labs allotted to Agatha is called «abominable» (as in, abominations unto science) and comes with all sorts of safety measures and a prepaid electrical bill.
- Tattoo as Character Type: (Опознавательная татуировка) the more nautical characters appear to be heavily tattooed, and there is the «Queen’s Tattoo» which appears to serve as a mark of special distinction.
Queen Albia of England
The mysterious and seemingly immortal Queen of England.
- Berserk Button: (Кнопка берсерка) According to the Klaus-overlay in Gil’s mind, she doesn’t like it when other people describe her seemingly-supernatural abilities as «magic».
- Clarke’s Third Law: (Закон Кларка) Even by the setting’s standards, her technology seems magical, to the degree that she can make things happen without any visible interfaces or machinery. According to Klaus Wulfenbach, her technology still follows the normal laws of nature, it is simply far more advanced than what most of the world has access to.
- The Collector: (Коллекционер) She maintains a «garden» of interesting individuals, the exact size of which is not yet clear; it may even be all of Londinium or even England. She hopes to lure Agatha and (some of) her companions into «voluntarily» becoming permanent residents.
- The Dreaded: (Грозная репутация) Doctor Sun was horrified to learn that Gil threatened to destroy her and England to get her spy Wooster to submit to him, indicating that provoking her is a very bad idea. Later on, it’s shown that pretty much everyone is terrified of the idea of crossing her. Even the Lucrezia copy in Agatha’s mind is absolutely terrified of her.
- Enlightenment Superpowers: (Просветлённый со сверхспособностями) Albia very much implies that this is responsible for at least some of her otherworldly abilities when she meets Agatha. Trelawney Thorpe says that she started out as a Mad Scientist no different from any other, and then broke through a second time.
« |
Albia: Oho! Yes we thought so! We can always tell. You are one who has peeped into the infinite! |
» |
- Everyone Has Standards: (Моральные стандарты (В планах)) As furious as she is at Dr. Vapnoople for his past crimes against England, she’s absolutely horrified to see what Klaus' lobotomy procedures have done to his brilliant mind.
- Good Parents: (Хорошие родители) She’s got 74 daughters, and unlike pretty much every other parent we’ve seen, is absolutely loving and doting to her «pookies».
- Gorgeous Garment Generation: (Символическая смена костюма (В разработке)) Her unexplained shapeshifting abilities extend to her outfits. She often shifts her clothes based on who she’s talking to, or even what they’re talking about.
- Immortality: (Бессмертие) She is known as «Her Undying Majesty» and is (far far) older than Simon Voltaire, who is well over two hundred years old. And, unlike the elderly cyber-assisted Master of Paris, Albia appears as a young and beautiful woman.
- Massive Numbered Siblings: (Многодетная семья) Albia has 74 daughters according to Neena. Unknown if she has any sons.+семья владыки Парижа
- Mama Bear: (Родительский инстинкт) She comes to the rescue of her daughter Princess Neena when she cried for help as she, Agatha and the rest of their company are surrounded on all sides by giant monsters and hostile ascendant god-queens — armed, and decked out in full wargear, literally size of a mountain and radiating with her full power.
- Manipulative Bitch: (Манипулятивная сволочь) She’s a Mad Social Scientist, and her fingerprints are all over England. While the question of if she will ultimately be an antagonist or not remains to be seen, she is conspiring very effectively to split up Agatha from Gil and Tarvek so that Agatha will remain in England as part of her collection. And the degree of fanatical devotion her subjects display tapdances on the line between Undying Loyalty and something far more sinister.
- Royal «We»: (О себе во множественном числе) Utilizes this manner of speech, which is appropriate, since she is the Queen of England. Although an occasional «I» still slips in there.
« |
Sizeshifter: She can shift sizes, apparently at will, though doing so too quickly makes her burning hot to the touch. |
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- The Social Expert: (Социальный эксперт) Even among Sparks, who are all charismatic and can turn their genius to social engineering in a pinch. Even beyond her second breakthrough this is her specialty, since back when she was a normal Spark in Doggerland she was a master of the art of knowing people’s hearts and motivations.
- Technically Naked Shapeshifter: When she suffers a Power-Strain Blackout, most of her outfit disappears, leaving her naked except for her earrings and Holy Halo.
- Telepathy: (Телепатия) She can examine other peoples' minds.
- Time Abyss: (Бездна времени) Has been a Spark since before the English Channel existed, which depending on your interpretation could put her at four hundred and fifty thousand years old. She can remember when Wooly Mammoths were still extant.
- Weather Manipulation: (Управление погодой) Capable of conjuring tiny storm-clouds in the palms of her hands. She ramps it up to a giant one while confronting Krosp and his legion of bears.
- We Used to Be Friends: (Когда-то мы были друзьями) According to the print novels, Albia was one of Klaus’s biggest supporters during his conquest/cleanup of Europa. However, as their two empires began to butt political and commercial heads, as well as the tendency of Sparks to seek hierarchical control over each other, their relationship fell apart and Klaus (and later Gil) are barred from entering England as long as she rules, and both sides are waiting for the other to start something so they can invade. Assuming that Lady Astarte wasn’t just winding Gil up, they apparently used to be more than just friends…
- It’s unclear whether or not the feelings were mutual, but Albia expressed liking Lucrezia Mongfish, before she became The Other.
Princess Neena of England
One of England’s many princesses and an old friend of Tarvek’s from their time studying in Paris.
- Ambiguously Brown: (Неясно-смуглый) The queen shifts her appearance constantly and it’s not even clear if her princesses are biologically related to her but Neena has dark skin, black hair and blue eyes.
- Geeky Turn-On: (Ум — это сексуально) Flirts heavily with Tarvek over the subject of rare books.
Trelawney Thorpe
An agent in Albia’s intelligence service.
- Action Girl: (Бой-баба) Who carries around explosives.
- Hero of Another Story: (Герой другой истории) While her novels are said to be exaggerated, she really does have a very busy life.
- Honey Trap: (Далила) Queen Albia sends her to capture Gil’s heart to ensure Agatha has fewer reasons to leave England. Klaus-in-Gil has not only caught onto this, but encourages it, if more so as to keep Gil away from Agatha.
- Spy Catsuit: (Шпионка в облипочку) As noted, this is her chosen outfit when she’s in action. It’s green.
Lady Ariadne Steelgarter
An English noblewoman. Has interests in both Science! and fashion. She was the financial backer for the airship expedition that «discovered» Skifander.
- Bitch in Sheep’s Clothing: (Милый козёл??) It appears she’s got some sort of covert agenda regarding Zeetha and/or Skifander. She later turns out to be working with the Other.
- The Fashionista: (Модница) Has a very intense attitude when it comes to clothes.
- Meaningful Name: (Говорящее имя) Along with her more obvious last name, in Classical Mythology, «Ariadne» is associated with thread. The spider-motif also ties in whith her extra arms.
- Screw This, I’m Out of Here!: (Не буду в это лезть) Runs rather than stick around in a fight between Lucrezia and Monahan.
Hadrian Rakethorn
The Spark Albia assigns to Agatha with the intent on distracting her from her current romantic interests and getting Agatha to stay as part of Albia’s «garden». He has some kind of feud with Ardsley Wooster
- Honey Trap: (Далила) Albia hopes to replace Gil and Tarvek’s positions in Agatha’s affections with Hadrian.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: (Опора на четвёртую стену) In this comic, his cry of «I don’t get to do anything!» is both an Ironic Echo of Neena’s frustration and seemingly recognition of him being Demoted to Extra following the end of the Londinium arc.
- Tall, Dark, and Handsome: (Жгучий брюнет) His character design.
Francisia Monahan
An English Spark and member of the Queen’s Society, who is one of Lucrezia’s spies in the organisation.
- Blatant Lies: (Наглая ложь) Insists that the variety of outfits Steelgarter has found are from shipwrecks. Mysterious shipwrecks which also happen to have left behind things like a playlist for «Two Gentlerats of Verona».
- Crazy Cat Lady: (Безумный любитель животных) Replace cat with rat and she is essentially this. She is fairly obsessed with her rats, to the point that they are practically her children.
- Disproportionate Retribution: (Неадекватное возмездие) Being ignorant about rats is a good way to rile her up.
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Zeetha: Rats, weasels, all those fuzzy little scrungly guys… they’re basically the same kind of critters, right? […] Monahan: Ah. How sad. Now your friend must die. Agatha: NO! |
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- Enlightenment Superpower: (Просветлённый со сверхспособностями) Once Lucrezia «helps» her figure out how to use the «cursed waters» as a power source she ascends to Queendom, allowing her to resist the Lantern’s time freeze among other things.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: (И у злодеев есть любимые) She genuinely adores her rats, and even feels bad when her attempts at enhancing them cause them to explode.
- Gas Mask, Longcoat: (Крутой в противогазе) Wears a face-concealing mask revealing only her hair, along with a labcoat.
- Heel-Face Turn: (Переход на Светлую сторону) After betraying Lucrezia and ascending to Queendom, she sides with Albia in the ensuing battle and Albia accepts her as a new «sister», coaching her in gaining full mastery of her new powers. Although the fact that she was secretly aligned with Loremistress Milvistle raises the question of how evil she was in the first place.
- The Mole: (Внедрённый агент (в разработке)) A member of the Queen’s Society of Sparks for years, with none suspecting she secretly remained loyal to Lucrezia. She was responsible for locking up Agatha’s surviving helicopter dingbot carrying the undoctored message from Sturmhalten, which was initally intercepted by Wooster, in order to prevent Albia and the world at large hearing it. She’s also a mole for Loremistress Milvistle, the rogue Geister leader working against Lucrezia, and ends up kicking «Luci»'s clank body into the «cursed waters».
- No-Sell: (Никакого эффекта) Lucrezia attempts to Mind Rape and transfer her own personality onto Monahan. Turns out, she was expecting this (and had in fact built the 'upgrade' allowing Lucrezia to do this herself), and it has no effect.
- Spanner in the Works: (Рояль в кустах?) If she hadn’t intervened, one of Lucrezia’s personalities would have ascended to Queendom wholly unopposed, which would have led to no end of troubles for the protagonists.
- The Starscream: (Стремящийся в ГлавГады) As it turns out, she’s been working as The Mole for Loremistress Milvistle all along, and almost destroys clank-body Lucrezia after an attempted Mind Rape.
- «The Reason You Suck» Speech: (Уничижительная речь) Delivers a killer putdown to Lucrezia upon betraying her.
Kjarl Thotep
An alien from another dimension. He has long lived within the English undersea dome of the Queen’s Society and built up a reputation as a ghost due to his invisible nature.
- Amazing Technicolor Population: (Разноцветная раса) When fully integrated into Agatha’s world, he looks like a human, except with white hair, red skin, and yellow and purple irises.
- Human Aliens: (Люди с другой планеты) He originates from a completely different plane of existence, but mostly looks like a large and oddly colored human.
- Invisible to Normals: (Невидимые существа) Most people can’t see him. Tarvek and Higgs are among the few who can.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero!: (Ай, молодца, герой!) He didn’t know just how dangerous Dr. Dimitri Vapnoople was before his lobotomy and heals him.
- Oh, Crap!: (Осознание катастрофы) Has this reaction after he restores Dr. Vapnoople’s Spark and learns that he’s a terrifying Social Darwinist and «master of monsters.»
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Kjarl: Oh, dear. He seemed like such a nice man. |
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- Seers: (Прорицатель) He has a different perception of time relative to the natives of Europa and can predict the future in broad strokes, ie, «perform Action X and it will somehow get everyone killed.»
- This Is Gonna Suck: (Осознание катастрофы) His reaction when he realizes that he’s going to have to talk to the Dreen if he hopes to get home.
- Time Abyss: (Бездна времени) Time works a bit differently for him than for the natives of Europa, but it is a fact that he was stuck in the temple beneath the dome for tens of thousands of years, predating even Queen Albia.
Quintillius Snackleford
An important official in Queen Albia’s Society of Mad Scientists. There’s more to him than meets the eye.
- A God Am I: (Комплекс бога) Manages to achieve second breakthrough, effectively making him a demigod, and later expresses panic and outrage that his summoned Eldritch Abomination would dare to leave its «god».
- Beware the Silly Ones: (Крутой в дурацком колпаке) His incompetent efforts to fight the protagonists may well make him look like a buffoon, but he is one of the very few Sparks to achieve second breakthrough.
- Enlightenment Superpowers: (Просветлённый со сверхспособностями) By siphoning knowledge and energy from an Eldritch Abomination from Another Dimension, he successfully achieves second breakthrough, taking the next step past a Spark and effectively becoming a demigod like Queen Albia.
- Glowing Eyes of Doom: (Светящиеся глаза) He always wears a visor which produces this effect. Interestingly, after he levels up Spark-wise, his eyes actually become more normal-looking.
- Multi-Armed and Dangerous: (Многорукое существо) He can manifest multiple arms as part of his Voluntary Shapeshifting.
- Unskilled, but Strong: (Сила есть — ума не надо!) This is Vapnoople’s assessment after Snacky makes his ascension- he wastes far too much of his new power flashily killing all the other Gray Hoods, leaving himself open to attacks from other quarters.
- Villain Has a Point: (Никто не верит злодею) Agatha wonders if his lies about creating a new golden age of wonder using an Extradimensional Power Source might have a valid point. Since such a thing could theoretically turn everybody into a spark, she admits that it’s an idea that should only be pursued cautiously.
- Villainous Breakdown: (Злодейская истерика) When Agatha manages to banish his summoned Eldritch Abomination back to where it came from, he starts panicking. Dr. Vapnoople then tells Agatha, his new «student», that the distraction of a Villainous Breakdown is the best time to strike and casually tosses Lord Snackleford into the closing rift.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: (Пережить свою полезность) He formed a Secret Circle of Secrets gathering nearly all of his fellow British Mad Scientists. He promised to bring a new age of enlightenment, delivering demigodhood to his cultists, and eventually the world. But as soon as they help him achieve it personally, he zaps them all to death.
Transylvania Polygnostic University
Ссылка: [10]
Tarsus Beetle
Ruler of Beetleburg and Headmaster of the Transylvania Polygnostic University. Agatha attends TPU under his supervision and acts as his assistant.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: (Особо жестокая смерть) His favored means of dealing with criminals in his city is to stick them in a giant bell jar to die of exposure, starvation and/or dehydration. He then leaves their bodies there until he needs to reuse the jar.
- Deader than Dead: (Полное уничтожение) His demise is used to showcase that in the Girl Genius universe 1) being dead need not be permanent, and 2) it still can be.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: (Не рой яму другому) Killed when Gil knocks his own bomb back at him.
- Screw the Rules, I Make Them!: (Я здесь главный, мне всё можно) As the Tyrant of Beetleburg, his word was law. This was why Agatha was allowed to attend whatever lesson she pleased, even if her teachers didn’t like her.
- Secret-Keeper: (Хранитель тайны) He knew Barry had returned to Beetleburg with Agatha, and knew who she, Lilith, and Adam were.
- Starter Villain: (Гад из экспозиции) To the point where Agatha never even faced him, since he got thwarted by the Baron before he even got to the part of his plan that involved her.
- We Used to Be Friends: (Когда-то мы были друзьями) Resents his former protege Klaus for annexing Beetleburg into the empire, despite the fact that the takeover was peaceful and he was allowed to remain in control of local affairs.
Silas Merlot
Assistant and second-in-command to Tarsus Beetle.
- Green-Eyed Monster: (Ревность)
- He lives in bitterness and jealousy over the fact that he’s not a Spark and feels that he gets overlooked and left out of Beetle’s important plans because he’s «a mere mortal.»
- The novels would later suggest that his erratic personality and his odd experiments is him trying to emulate Sparky traits.
- Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: (Эффект штурмовика) He fires dozens of rapid-fire shots at Gil and Agatha with two giant machine guns and they all miss. The only bullet that actually hits is fired with a pistol from less than a foot away, and only gets Gil in the shoulder.
- Killed Off for Real: (Умер по-настоящему) Crushed by Castle Heterodyne while trying to kill Agatha and her friends.
- Laser-Guided Karma: (Кармическое возмездие) The Baron sent him to Castle Heterodyne for arson and murdering his research team. Agatha straight up tell him he deserved what he got.
- Never My Fault: (Не признаёт ошибок) Blames Agatha for him getting sent to Castle Heterodyne, despite him being the one who burned down all of Beetle’s records and murdered the Baron’s men in a vain attempt to protect himself.
- Spanner in the Works: (Рояль в кустах?) The Baron wanted to interrogate Beetle and had some unspecified plans for him, but Silas’s early reveal of the Slaver Engine that Beetle was hiding resulted in Beetle fighting and dying. Likewise, Silas’s burning of Beetle’s records kept the Baron from learning about Agatha months ahead of time.
- Villainous Breakdown: (Злодейская истерика) Merlot was a jerk early on and didn’t get less so. Compare him then to now. He has totally lost it by here.
Hugo Glassvitch
Headmaster Beetle’s chief of research, he along with Merlot work under Professor Beetle.
A really nice guy, if a bit of a worrywart.
- Nice Guy: (Хороший парень) Encouraging of «Agatha Clay’s» initially unsuccessful inventing efforts, and capable of being friendly to even Silas Merlot.
- Put on a Bus: (Вывод за скобки) Not seen after the Beetleburg portion of the story. The last time he was mentioned he’d learned her true identity and sent her academic transcripts to Paris a couple of years before she actually got there.
The Professoressa
A professor at the Transylvania Polygnostic University who decides she will interview Agatha and write her official biography when they run into each other in Paris. She is the presenter behind the stories in the «Radio Play» side stories, and co-writer/director of the Cinderella sidestory.
- A Day in the Limelight: (Эпизод-фокус) The December 2020 side story focuses on the Professoressa and the Storyteller and is set after the main comic.
- Author Avatar: (Аватара автора) She is a stand in for Kaja Foglio, just as the Storyteller is the stand in for Phil.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: (Бойся своих желаний) The December 2020 side story involves her inquisitiveness about the Mechanicsburg Solstice resulting in her stumbling into filling in for Agatha as the «Heterodyne». It results in her getting a lot more than she bargained for, and the only reason she gets away unscathed is thanks to the Castle’s help.
- Signature Headgear: (Крутая шляпа) Her top hat with winged goggles is quite nice, and even gets complimented by one of her husband’s cousins.
The Storyteller
An incredibly unlucky traveling storyteller who by strange coincidence always seems to end up near the latest disaster.
- A Day in the Limelight: (Эпизод-фокус) The December 2020 side story focuses on the Professoressa and the Storyteller and is set after the main comic.
- Black Sheep: (Паршивая овца) The rest of Oggie’s descendants definitely act more Jäger-adjacent than he does, and most think as little of his profession as everyone else.
- Butt-Monkey: (Мальчик для битья) He’s arrested and thrown in an oubliette in Sturmhalten for «unflattering portrayal of a royal», mocked for being boring, pestered by Oggie, frozen in the time-stop, used as a guinea pig from removal from said time-stop by Wulfenbach scientists…
The Corbettite Order
Ссылка: [11]
Corbettites as a whole
A monastic order dedicated to the operation of a passenger rail line network throughout Europa. Staunchly neutral and quite able to defend their neutrality, they serve a vital role in transportation through the politically volatile realm.
- Artifact Collection Agency: (Хранилище сверхъестественных предметов) Of a sort. Among their duties is acting as custodians for all sorts of horrific products of deranged science that event most Sparks would prefer never to see the light of day.
- Badass Normal: (Крутой простой смертный) The majority of Corbettites are perfectly normal (for a given value of «normal») people who joined up for a variety of reasons. Doesn’t make them any less dangerous, especially since they’re the ones keeping Spark-created blasphemies under lock and key; even the infamously rogue House Heterodyne trust them to keep such things safely secured, and won’t cross them.
- Badass Preacher: (Крутой церковник) Corbettite trains can, will, and on many occasions have shot their way through a wide variety of horrific constructs and clanks wandering the Wastelands that threatened their railways. The monks are so well regarded for their toughness that when the Old Heterodynes accidentally made something so dangerous that it scared them, they entrusted it to the Corbettites for safekeeping. And the monks were able to successfully extract concessions from them (which the Heterodynes actually honored for centuries) in return for doing so.
- In addition, the Corbettites provide free «assassin disposal» services and are skilled enough to be able to take down Smoke Knights by surprise.
- When one character asks why the Corbettites would build a massive crypt filled with all manner of incredibly deadly traps, the immediate answer is «Because it would be awesome.»
- When Martellus' fleet foolishly opens fire on their fortress depot, the Corbettites immediately return fire and destroy eight of his airships with a single shot. Notably, while Martellus can be an idiot, he’s not this big an idiot; a subordinate went behind his back to order the attack. Martellus personally tossed him out of the command airship for his stupidity.
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Father Gerät: Yes, it has been a long time since we faced the trials of raiders… Corbettite: Exactly, and are we strong enough to stand against them? (massive explosions) Father Gerät: …I meant, will we find the strength to spare any of them? |
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- Christianity Is Catholic: (Христианство — это католичество) The Christian religion in the world of Girl Genius is something of a mess, with reportedly seven competing popes, and the Corbettites owe allegiance to the one in Belfast; nevertheless, this all-male order of monks who take their religion seriously even as they build cool trains and defend them with cool weapons are recognizably Catholic.
- Rail Enthusiast: (Поезда — это круто!) Explained in Agatha Heterodyne and the Voice of the Castle as to why some of them signed up — it’s a chance to drive big shiny trains really fast.
- Secret Test of Character: (Проверка на вшивость) Gives one to Vipsania Perrault when she seeks their assistance via bribing individual brothers to help her loot an abandoned Dragon Hoard containing a dangerous Spark device. The first brother she talked to who «wasn’t too holy to take a bribe» is dragged away by other members, the second misses their second meeting because he was Reassigned to Antarctica, and the third is sealed up in a room. Brother Marcus explains that when someone shows up asking questions and trying to bribe members of the Order, they will try to scare them off first, then assist them if they continue.
Brother Ulm
A brother and confessor of the Corbettite Monks, who serves as the Conductor aboard the Wyrm of Limerick, a rail liner with a massive dragon head figurehead on the front of its locomotive.
- Badass Preacher: (Крутой церковник) Presumably, he has received the same training that enables his brothers to dispatch Smoke Knights skulking around the train looking for Margarella.
- Brain Uploading: (Загрузка сознания) After nearly dying when the Beast was finally unplugged (which involved an explosion), he was instead uploaded to be a construct consciousness in the Corbettites' brand-new super-locomotive that Agatha also helped complete and perfect, in a manner similar to Castle Heterodyne. Though it’s ambiguous whether the procedure involved full Brain Uploading or just Wetware CPU.
- Cool and Unusual Punishment: (Смехотворные пытки?) After trying to kill Agatha for fear of her causing his order trouble at their base, his punishment is to accompany her around and do her no harm, while also making sure she doesn’t cause trouble.
- Fiery Redhead: (Огненная шевелюра — огненный характер) He can vary from kindly priest to steam-headed rather quickly. Especially if he thinks there’s a threat to the Corbettites.
- Wrong Genre Savvy: (Жанровая ошибка) He discusses this with Wooster upon realizing that maybe Agatha’s not evil like the old Heterodynes were (and after she’s not the one to release the monster).
Brother Matthias
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Not every Spark is crashing around trying to take over Europa, you know! Some of us get to work on trains! Beautiful, shiny, wonderful trains! Other Sparks beg us to build lines into their territories! Muhahahaha! |
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The chief engineer of the Wyrm of Limerick, as well as a Spark. He is by far the most…eccentric of the Corbettites, and as such Brother Ulm tries to keep him away from passengers as much as possible.
- Berserk Button: (Кнопка берсерка) Do not insinuate that his train will ever be late.
- Cloudcuckoolander: (Чудак) Especially in regards to trains. To the point where he cares more about how awesome the Beast is than the fact that his order needs to take it out. Thankfully his rant on the subject still gives Vadaxus the information he needs.
- Rail Enthusiast: (Поезда — это круто!) Brother Matthias likes trains quite a bit, to the point that he sees working on them as far more fulfilling than the things most other Sparks get up to, like ruling empires.
Father Gerät
The Abbot of Saint Szpac, and Ulm’s superior. He describes himself as an administrator, and isn’t as worried about the theological implications of the Order’s work.
- Bilingual Bonus: (Билингвальный бонус) «Gerät» is German for «device».
- Swiss-Army Appendage: (Сверхфункциональный протез) Father Gerät’s prosthetic arms have been seen as a tentacle, a water nozzle, a hammer, pincers, claw machine-style grabbers, and a hand.
Brother Vadaxxus
The head cook and military leader of the Depot Fortress of St. Spzac.
- Almighty Janitor: (Бог-уборщик/Всемогущий нищий?) When he’s not leading the battle against whatever is besetting the Fortress, he’s the head cook. He says preparing food for all the Corbettites at the fortress makes planning a battle look easy in comparison.
- Electronic Eyes: (Искусственный глаз) Steampunk/Gaslamp Fantasy variant. Vadaxxus’s left eye is not the one he was born with.
- Frontline General: (Генерал-рубака) Vadaxxus is out front leading the Corbettites against the Beast.
Humongulus
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Greetings, brother! Humongulus is here to punch and lift things! |
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An enormous Clank in service to the Corbettites. He works at their monastery lifting platforms into position. A one-shot taking place apparently after the series proper depicts Humongulus now residing in Mechanicsburg, working at a newly-constructed Corbettite trainyard and still more than happy to take any sort of challenge posed to him, be it a show of strength or a brawl with Franz.
- Big Damn Heroes: (Офигенные герои) He shows up just in time to stop the Beast from reclaiming its lost cars.
- Defeat Means Friendship: (Дружба начинается с поражения) Becomes fast friends with Franz following their fight.
- Hyperspace Arsenal: (Бездонный инвентарь) He somehow produces his sword out of nowhere, and the accompanying monk says that he has never asked where Humongulus keeps his tools.
- Large Ham: (Переигрывание) In every sense of the word. Particularly when it comes to his lifting abilities.
- Noodle Incident: (Инцидент с кошкой) Brother Ulm explains that, since he joined the monastery, Humongulus hasn’t leveled any mountains in decades…
- Odd Friendship: (Непохожие друзья) With Franz, despite resembling a knight.
- Pretentious Latin Motto: (Высокопарный латинский девиз) Parodied, with a gratuitous dose of Ye Olde Butcherede Englishe; Humongulus has a motto scrawled on his chest reading «Dost thou even lyft?»
- Third-Person Person: (О себе в третьем лице) Humongulus rarely lets a sentence go by without mentioning himself in third person.
The Beast
A sentient train that was created by Agatha’s grandfather Saturnus Heterodyne. It constantly hungers for coal and any form of metal, and to roam freely across the land devouring new and interesting things; after Saturnus gave the Beast to them, the Corbetite Monks tried to use it on their railway network but were finally forced to trick it and seal it in one of the Vaults in their Depot-Fortress.
- Ax-Crazy: (Буйный неадекват) When it first appears, this thing seems to be giving Castle Heterodyne a run for its money in this department, with the added danger that it doesn’t obey the resident Heterodyne, or possibly doesn’t believe that Agatha is a Heterodyne. Although in the end, it only kills one person (Lady Selnikov) and even that wasn’t particularly intentional.
- Cool Train: (Поезда — это круто!) It goes without saying, really.
- Defeat Means Friendship: (Дружба начинается с поражения) After being defeated by Agatha and reduced to a small dingbot body, the Beast gradually becomes fiercely protective of her and even makes an friendship with the Castle.
- Defiant to the End: (Непокорные, несгибаемые, несломленные) Continues to hurl threats even as its brain is finally physically ripped from its mangled body.
- Even Evil Has Standards: (Даже у зла есть стандарты) Seems to have a soft spot for cute animals, considering it was shocked and dismayed when it thought Krosp was attacking it and tried to shoo him away.
- Extreme Omnivore: (Великий пожиратель) According to Brother Ulm, one of the main reasons the Corbetites fear it so much is because it can subsist on literally anything, as opposed to normal trains that can only run on coal.
- Humiliation Conga: (Жизнь кончена) The process of its defeat. It started when it was swarmed by the Swartzwalders who had no metal on them to manipulate. Then its energy reserve cars were cut off by Count Wolkerstorfer and dropped down a cargo lift shaft. Then it got grappled by Humongulus when it tried to magnetically lift the cars back out of the shaft. Then it had its cab ripped open. Then its core brain was unplugged, and eventually revealed to be stored in a glass jar where it impotently yells at people.
- It’s All About Me / Spoiled Brat: (Эгоист/Избалованный ребёнок) Generally comes across as a super-powered child in desperate need of some discipline.
- More Teeth than the Osmond Family: (Чудовищная пасть) Made of train grates.
- Psychopathic Manchild: (Жестокий большой ребёнок) Much like the other living Heterodyne object we’ve seen so far, it is positively giddy at the prospect of devouring the Corbetites and Martellus.
- Selective Magnetism: (Забили на третий закон Ньютона?) It has the power to selectively manipulate metal items in order to consume them. This includes Martellus' gold crown, which he notes isn’t a ferrous metal and asks how it’s doing that. It later pins almost all of the people around in place by holding the bits of metal in their clothes.
- Smug Snake: (Самоуверенный мерзавчик) Constantly reaffirms its superiority and talks down to Agatha and her allies, even as the battle turns more and more against it.
- Those Two Guys: (Те два парня) After it is rendered unto a super-dingbot and is joined by the Castle super-dingbot, the two become this.
Brother Marcus
A brother in the order who joins Vipsania and Franz on their journey to the Dragon Hoard of Hydrargyros the Godburner, providing a reference book on dragons and assistance transporting the loot in exchange for the dragon’s flame-enhancer and any other dangerous Sparky creations.
- Lantern Jaw of Justice: (Квадратный подбородок справедливости) A prominent square jaw.
Assorted
Ссылка: [12]
Othar Tryggvassen
A man possessed with a quest to eradicate all Sparks, including himself (eventually), for the damage they do to the world. Harder to kill than James Bond.
- Amusing Injuries: (Насилие безобидно) No matter what happens to him, Othar bounces back almost immediately.
- Anti-Hero: (Антигерой)
- Othar Tryggvassen is a bizarre character; he has the external looks and speech of The Cape, while his goals and actions better fit the '90s Anti-Hero. By all accounts he does have some genuine heroism under his belt, though this is a big counterbalanced by his life goal of killing all Sparks. So he often fights both genuine villains and random people minding their own business.
- To illustrate: once in his Twitter blog, the father of one of his Sparky enemies pleaded that no parent should see their kid die. Othar agreed, so he killed the dad first. «Call me Herr Sensitive.»
- Anti-Villain: (Антизлодей) Feels bad about killing Sparks, and a lot of them do need to die…
- Beware the Nice Ones: (Добро с кулаками) Othar is generally friendly and cheerful off-the-job, and fair on it. Don’t make him kick your ass. He can.
- Beware the Silly Ones: (Крутой в дурацком колпаке) As much as he is a walking joke, Othar can be very, very effective in a Crazy Is Cool way. Note that Castle Heterodyne rather likes the guy because they both approach this trope from different directions.
- Black-and-White Insanity: (Чёрно-белое безумие) The concept of «moral ambiguity» seems entirely lost on Othar. In his mind, all Sparks are irredeemably evil folks who must ultimately die in order to bring peace to the world, even the ones that are moderately harmless or even helpful to his crusade.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: (Профи с причудами) Even by the standards of Sparks. Which is saying quite a bit. On the other hand, as Sparky plans go, «Kill all the other Sparks one by one and then myself» is actually pretty logical and well-considered, and even other some Sparks admit the notion is a pretty well thought out plan for a valid experiment.
- Chaste Hero: (Целомудренный герой) Aside from his marriage to a Geister in the alternate timeline, according to the novels he actually is completely resolute in his desire to avoid dallying with his female sidekicks. This ends up being rather disappointing for most of them, since the romance was the whole point of even joining up in the first place.
- While this is because he is a gentleman first and foremost, there’s also the question of what happens if he accidentally produced a child. Since he’s a spark, he may have sparky children which he would have to kill by his own logic. Even if they weren’t sparky, no one knows how the spark gene works by Othar’s own admission. It may skip generations in his family (Tarvek’s, Albia’s, and Voltaire’s families for example do skip generations, while it never seemed to skip any of the Heterodynes, and his sister Sanaa doesn’t have the spark either). It’s no wonder that he refuses to have a relationship with his assistants.
- Chronic Hero Syndrome: (Синдром хронического героизма) One of the things that prevents him from being just an Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain; he is a genuinely good person, at least to ordinary people. Sometimes ends up saving the very people he wants to kill, but don’t count on this.
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Цитаты, цитаты... Кому нужны эти цитаты? |
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- Genius Bruiser: (Гениальный силач) He’s both incredibly tough and a Spark, as pointed out here.
- Hero Antagonist: (Героический антагонист) Played with. Othar is here on the «Assorted» page because he’s often pitted against the protagonists, but he really is a hero to the common folk: rescuing innocents, vanquishing monsters, and— in short, hero work. Unfortunately, most of Agatha’s social circle are on his hit list, so there’s obviously a certain amount of Enemy Mine when they do happen to be working together.
- Heroic Build: (Шесть кубиков) He wouldn’t be a Hero without it!
- Hero of Another Story: (Герой другой истории) Invoked. You can follow his heroic story on Twitter! One of his most glaring flaws is that he is not only unaware of this trope, but completely unwilling to accept its possibility.
- Hunter of His Own Kind: (Крысиный волк) He’s a Spark hellbent on the eradication of all Sparks, himself included. Although his particular focus seems to be more in sabotaging the devices of others rather than building any of his own; people often forget he’s a Spark.
- Jerkass Has a Point: (Козёл был прав)
- This is not to say that Othar isn’t dangerously insane and regularly murderous. He is. He really, really is. It’s just that most of the people he’s killed either have attacked him or otherwise been an asshole in his presence; Sparks in particular, especially as he boasts of all the Sparks he’s killed. Doesn’t change the fact that he tried to summarily execute Agatha the instant he learned she was a Spark.
- Squibs, a much put upon minion in the side story 'Small Problems', sums it up best:
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Squibs: Let me see if I understand this. He thinks that all the problems in Europa are caused by the mad scientists who build all the monsters. The mad scientists who vie with each other to see who can be the first to turn the population into wombat bats or clam people or stylish furniture. The raving lunatics who set off life-size chocolate volcanoes and unleash flash floods of porridge upon innocent villages. Othar wants to destroy these people, and you think he’s insane?! |
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- And Klaus secretly acknowledges that Othar has a point, and that the only difference between their «Peace Through Violence» approaches is that Klaus gives his enemies a chance to avoid execution by not being murderous jerks. When Othar first got started, Klaus got into the habit of subtly directing Othar in the direction of dangerous Sparks who hadn’t technically violated the Peace. He only dragged Othar onto Castle Wulfenbach for a little Doc Savage-esque brain surgery because the idiot started killing Sparks that were doing their best not to threaten the Peace.
- Also there’s the slight problem of Othar being a Spark exactly like all his foes, meaning his chosen means and methods of achieving his goals are the most complicated and destructive available to him at any given time. For example, to cover his and Agatha’s escape from Castle Wulfenbach, he turned loose and/or turned on every experiment he could find. And Agatha just got finished destroying a Hive Engine. If Wulfenbach had been any less awesome, that touch of genius could likely have wiped out all of Europa before sunset.
- As of the Mechanicsburg Arc, he does at least seem to be of the opinion that while all Sparks need to die, there are some that need to die sooner than others. As Agatha seems to be following the legacy of her heroic father and uncle, Othar seems to be willing to bump her and her friends to the back of the queue for now.
- Large Ham: (Переигрывание) Most Sparks chew scenery when in The Madness Place— Othar does it all the time.
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Othar: So— all the vipers are in residence! Gilgamesh: I can’t believe you still talk like that. |
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- Moral Myopia: (Готтентотская мораль)
- The typical Spark acts like a stereotypical Mad Scientist and Othar acts like a stereotypical adventure hero, but there’s little practical difference between the two breeds of Madboy. Othar has groveling minions with a high mortality rate, only he calls them «spunky girl sidekicks». He does dangerous things that put others at risk, only they’re usually acts of sabatoge instead of inventions. Lastly, he has a mad hypothesis that he thinks will change the world, and that hypothesis is «no more Sparks = world peace».
- This goes both ways; Othar being much like the typical Spark also makes the protagonist Sparks much like Othar. That they’re not so different is pointed out by Violetta on one occasion:
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Tarvek: I… keep forgetting he’s a Spark. Violetta: Really. So you’ve completely missed the fact that he’s overbearing, self-aggrandizing and certain death to be around? |
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- Othar was suitably impressed by Tarvek’s evolving morals, but he «corrects» Tarvek on the idea that the female Sparks being killed is a downside. They were Sparks, thus they had to die. It didn’t matter that many had just broken through and, thus, were innocent.
- Offscreen Teleportation: (Закадровая телепортация)
- Dropping him out of sight, by whatever means, never seems to stick. At least twice, he manages to get back up onto Castle Wulfenbach by unknown means after being thrown off and then survives being pushed over the side of a much smaller airship.
- And when Castle Heterodyne is introduced to him, its immediate response is to drop him into a bottomless pit. So far as it is concerned, surviving this is one of a Hero’s Required Secondary Powers, so it feels totally justified in pulling this stunt. And sure enough, Othar immediately reappears unscathed.
- This is something he’s apparently so well known for in-world that when he ends up being defenestrated while handcuffed to someone else, Gil used the opportunity For Science, demanding Tarvek figure out the trick on the assumption that Othar would magic himself to safety per usual. On the plus side, he did manage to get himself out of the handcuffs… while busy fighting Vole… without the person he was handcuffed to finding out how. Even more amusing and impressive in retrospect, since it turns out the guy he got himself un-handcuffed from is no slouch in a fight and very good at misdirection.
- He also manages to find his way into Gil’s super secret lab, a place nobody else in-story (including Klaus) seemed to be aware of, simply because he is a hero and finding secret villain lairs is what heroes are good at.
- Plot Armor: (Сюжетная броня) An In-Universe version, apparently. The man simply cannot be killed. Many, many people have tried. But since he’s the Hero of Another Story, he’s effectively immortal.
- Protagonist-Centered Morality: (Готтентотская мораль) The codifier of what this looks like FROM THE OUTSIDE.
- Shirtless Scene: (Рубашка не нужна) When first encountered, he is only wearing trousers. When he turns up again, however, he seems to stick to sweaters. After being broken out of a time stop, he is left shirtless until Gil insists that he wears something, much to the disappointment of the women and one male fan.
- Sunglasses at Night: (Крутые тёмные очки) Or whatever that visor thingy is. There’s a fan theory that it’s there to protect bystanders from the power of his amazingly pretty blue eyes; another theory (given his white hair, pale skin, and extremely light eyes) is that he’s an albino and needs it to protect his eyes from the light.
- Testosterone Poisoning: (GAR) Big, manly, aggressive, and has a tendency to barrel towards danger, just because.
- This Is Gonna Suck: (Осознание катастрофы) When the Baron tells him that he has a job for him instead of just killing Othar on the spot, Othar notes that he thinks that he’d prefer to be killed instead, even before he knows what the job is, prompting Klaus to note that he might actually be smart.
- What Beautiful Eyes!: (Какие красивые глаза!) So beautiful that they make his normally imposing self look pretty girly.
Dreen
A species of other-dimensional beings with a tangential relationship to time.
- Blood Knight: (Рыцарь крови) They are described by another extradimensional being as «murder hoboes» and essentially like big game hunters for monsters. In fact, it seems that Klaus drawing in a monster with the time stoppage is the reason they helped him create his empire.
- Destructive Saviour: (Спаситель-разрушитель) They are capable of taking down some of the biggest baddest extradimensional horrors around, but don’t count on your city remaining intact after their epic battle.
- The Dreaded: (Грозная репутация) Everyone who knows about the Dreen is scared shitless of them due to their powers over time and know that whenever one shows up, something very bad is about to happen. Even other beings from outside of time are afraid of them! Agatha using Lady Heterodyne’s Star’s ability on them has their true appearance and character revealed, showing that they’re apparently extra-dimensional non-linear beings that are basically Jagers in all but name, with all the reputation and fighting skills possessed by Agatha’s minions being applied across inter-dimensional beings. Small wonder nobody wants to tangle with that combination.
- Egomaniac Hunter: (Злой охотник) Their apparent occupation, as supposedly their entire reason for being in Europa this whole time was to hunt and kill the gargantuan monster attracted by the timestop caused by Klaus in Mechanicsburg.
- Human Aliens: (Люди с другой планеты) The «horrific» appearance is only one of their forms. When Agatha uses Prende’s lantern on them, it reveals blue skinned humanlike forms with slightly disproportionate builds.
- No-Sell: (Никакого эффекта) For an as of yet unexplained reason, they are immune to the Time Stands Still effect of Prende’s Lantern/Lady Heterodyne’s Star. Being inter-dimensional beings that don’t fully conform to the rules of Agatha’s world on their own, the time-stopping ability from the artefact merely brings them more in synch with Agatha’s world, allowing their true forms to be perceived.
- Seers: (Прорицатель) Their relationship with time allows them to predict and plan out possible futures based on their actions.
Ferretina
The main antagonist of the «Revenge of the Weasel Queen» side story.
- Benevolent Boss: (Добрый начальник) Agatha assumed she controlled her lapinemoths with fear and mind control. Unfortunately for her, Ferretina controlled her army with good dental coverage.
- Cleavage Window: (Вырез на груди) Her top barely covers her, yet it still has a hole in to expose more cleavage.
- Freudian Excuse: (Тяжёлое детство) Her Spark father turned her into a weasel hybrid and she was chased away from her home village for her freakish appearance.
- Go Mad from the Isolation/I Just Want to Have Friends: (Я просто хочу иметь друзей) She was driven away from her home village due to her appearance and the lack of human companionship caused her more evil, animalistic side to emerge. However, she longed for someone to see her as a person and not a monster. Unfortunately, Othar was not that person, but luckily Agatha’s fashion clank was.
- Half-Human Hybrid: (Полукровки) Her father’s experiments turned into a human-weasel hybrid.
- Heel-Face Turn: (Переход на Светлую сторону) After Agatha’s fashion clank praises her clothing, she quits being a villain and the two of them run off to Paris to start a fashion shop. Later, during Agatha’s trip to Paris, we see that they’ve done pretty well for themselves. (See second panel)
- Hidden Depths: (Скрытые глубины) While she’s probably not a Spark, she’s knows enough about science to create an army of killer rabbit constructs. She’s also a skilled and talented fashion designer.
- I’m a Humanitarian: (Каннибализм) She regularly kidnapped tall, lusty young men… because they tasted better when they were grilled with cheese.
- Karma Houdini: (Как с гуся вода) Suffers no consequences for killing and eating villagers and she gets to open a successful fashion shop in Paris. See the background of the second panel of this comic
- Unkempt Beauty: (Неухоженная красотка) A wild, half-animal woman who’s half dressed in furs and rags. Subverted in that it’s revealed she actually does put a lot of effort into her appearance.
- Villainesses Want Heroes: (Влюблённый злодей) She fell in love with Othar after he defeated one of her giant rabbits. However, after she bared her soul to him, hoping to win his heart, he assumed she was a vile seductress plotting to kill him which lead to her angrily deciding to put him in an elaborate death trap.
The Circus
A traveling Heterodyne Show that takes Agatha in for a while after she saves them from a wandering monster-clank. Zeetha was originally one of them, but decided her place was with her student when the rest of the Circus was Put on a Bus.
- Arm Cannon: (Наручная пушка) Ollie has a prosthetic hand that either can transform into a hand cannon or he has a separate hand cannon prosthetic. He is never seen with it in any stage but mechanical hand or weapon so it is unknown if it is two devices or one but it looks like he just removes the hand portion to access the cannon.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: (Мазохистское танго/Три дня я гналась за Вами…) Abner and Pix start out this way, then get together soon after Agatha joins the circus.
- Blessed with Suck: (Вредный дар) The circus is composed mostly of sparks who lost the Superpower Lottery, their abilities held back by a lack of education or being so weak that they are barely considered sparks — but they’re still recognisably 'sparky' enough to be hated and feared by the general populace, while nowhere near powerful enough to protect themselves from angry mobs, Baron Wulfenbach or anyone else who might have a use for them.
- Blue Blood: (Аристократ) Marie is apparently distantly related to the Queen of England, and is often referred to as «the Countess.»
- Foreshadowing: (Предзнаменование) Apparently the von Mekkahns' general appearance is well known as a Vanamonde look alike appears early in one of the Heterodyne shows. It’s possible Carson had the blond hair, black eyebrows that his grandson currently has in the past and the Circus picked up on that trait.
- Frying Pan of Doom: (Сковородка под рукой) Marie again.
- Happily Married: (Счастливо женаты) Master Payne and Marie, with a little bit of Vitriolic Best Buds mixed in.
- Hidden in Plain Sight: (Спрятано на виду) A lot about the circus. Especially how they’re mostly Sparks.
- Lovable Coward: (Милый трусишка) The whole circus is this. They play heroes on stage, but they don’t do any actual heroics — traveling the Wastelands is dangerous enough without it.
- The Masquerade: (Маскарад) Many of them are minor Sparks, hiding from the Baron and from potential Burn the Witch! situations.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: (Устрашающее имечко) Master Payne, though he’s a pleasant enough fellow most of the time.
- Older Than They Look: (Старше, чем выглядит) Embi, who is apparently well over a hundred years old.
- Phony Psychic: (Великий Гудвин) Madame Olga is a fortune teller traveling with the circus; after she is killed, Agatha takes over her act using the same name.
- Pie in the Face: (Пирог в лицо) Shockingly, this is plot-relevant! Taki the chef believes there is no problem in life that cannot be solved by application of pie to the face, whether it’s a dud act, a panic attack, or a full-blown Sparkish rage. It actually helps with that last one.
- Tsundere: (Цундэрэ) Pix has a one-sided crush on Abner, and is very flustered that he doesn’t notice her. Until he does.
- Vampire Hunter: (Охотник на нечисть) Dame Ædith is one, or tries to be. This has caused the circus some problems, such as when she asked the audience if any of them were vampires and one man, assuming she was joking, raised his hand.
Lars
A former cheese maker’s apprentice who joined Master Payne’s Circus of Adventure as an actor and as an advance man. He was one of Agatha’s closest companions in the first half of the comic.
- Glory Seeker: (Отчаянное желание внимания) He left his life as a cheese maker behind to become a lead actor in the Master Payne’s circus.
- Ladykiller in Love: (Ловелас нарвался) Lars, who falls for Agatha. He confesses it as he lies dying.
- Lovable Coward: (Милый трусишка) Sort of; he’s competent enough during dangerous situations, but as soon as the current situation is resolved, he breaks out in a delayed panic attack.
- Spider-Sense: (Тактическое ясновидение?) Lars has an uncanny ability to sense danger before it happens; this leads him to be far more cautious than usual around Agatha.
König
Leader of a group of sentient bear constructs, and tentatively named the Swartzwalders by the fandom after their previous appearance in the non-canon Girl Genius card game The Works. He considers himself their temporary leader, and has been long awaiting the arrival of the bears' true «Master».
- BFS: (Офигенно большой меч) He has a curved saber that is easily as long as Dimo is tall. Since König is also quite large, it’s a one-hander to him.
- Bilingual Bonus: (Билингвальный бонус) «König» is «King» in german.
- Bling of War: (Вычурная военная форма) His «crown» is a ring on a necklace, and he has a pair of bronze armguards to indicate his station. Or alternatively, it really is a crown, intended to be worn by Krosp.
- Large and in Charge: (Большой — значит главный) König has significantly more body mass compared to the other Swartzwalders.
- Made of Iron: (Распутинская живучесть?) When the Beast was finally vanquished and it exploded, he fared better than Brother Ulm, who only survives by means of Brain Uploading into the Corbettites' new super-locomotive.
- No-Sell: (Никакого эффекта) He and the other bears aren’t affected by The Beast’s magnets due to not having metal on them.
- Retired Badass: (Крутой в отставке) As soon as Krosp appears on the scene he immediately and cheerfully steps down from his leadership position and takes a new job as the engineer on the aforementioned super-train.
Professor Blintzie von Wyrmhaut
Former instructor at Transylvania Polygnostic, now curator of Drachenzen Hall. Currently leading a party seeking the Iram Solis, a dragon flame-enhancer held in the hoard of Hydrargyros the Godburner. Once taught Agatha at TPU.
- Bullying a Dragon: (Моська лает на слона) She tries to destroy Mechanicsburg completely on her own, using the Iram Solis, an Amplifier Artifact for fires. The Iram Solis is strong, but not that strong, especially when she’s only powering it with a match. The Mechanicsburg news proceeds to mock her attempt as an embarrassing failure.
- Curtains Match the Window: (Глаза и волосы одного цвета) Grey hair and eyes.
- Cute Little Fangs: (Торчащие клыки) Very prominent (almost Jaeger-like) canines.
- Hate Sink: (Концентратор ненависти) She’s an arrogant, greedy, short-sighted, violent jerk.
- Hunter of Monsters: (Охотник на нечисть) Franz adds «notorious monster hunter, specializing in dragons» to her titles. Apparently from a family of monster hunters («Wyrmhaut» means wyrm [dragon] hide). Notably, she isn’t fanatical about it and is quite respectful and cordial towards Franz, addressing him by his formal title of Lord Scortchmaw, while Franz admits most dragons aren’t as nice as him and are «flat out monsters».
- Meaningful Name: (Говорящее имя) «Wyrmhaut» means dragon hide. Presumably this is how Franz deduces she comes from a family of monster hunters.
- Sadist Teacher: (Педагог-садист) Shoots one of her students for getting a question wrong, then immediately backpedals when she realizes that the material wasn’t covered in their lessons. Previously taught Agatha and gleefully claims she flunked her (though Agatha was still wearing the power-limiting locket and hadn’t broken through at the time). Declares her entire class failed the midterms when Franz’s drunken dancing interrupts her. Decides to kill them all when they become a case of You Have Outlived Your Usefulness since they are potential competition for the treasure.
- Try to Fit That on a Business Card: (Сапогами попирают из Вселенной) «Supreme Curator of Drachenzehen Hall, High Queen of Historians, and Artifact Hunter Extraordinaire (and also notorious monster hunter specializing in dragons)».
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: (Пережить свою полезность) She only wanted the help of Franz’s group to get herself past a door designed for dragons. After that, she considers them boring, in the way, and competition for the treasure. She isn’t terribly fond of her students either. Thus, her minion, Hector, betrays them and gives her (very temporary) control over one of the traps to help her kill them all.
Zantabraxus
The current Queen of Skifander, a hidden and mysterious civilization, mother of Zeetha and wife of the mysterious warrior known only as «Chump». Also known as Klaus Wulfenbach, making her Gil’s mother.
- The Exile: (Изгнание) Before Chump showed up, there’d been a period of severe civil unrest between the priestesses of Eshkigax and Zantabraxus’s mother, which meant she had to go into exile. Chump helped her recover her throne.
- The Ghost: (Закадровый персонаж) First mentioned very early on in the story offhandedly by Klaus, name-dropped by Zeetha several times, but it took up until 2022 before she makes a confirmed physical appearance in a flashback.
- Missing Mom: (Пропавшая мама) For Gil, who doesn’t know a thing about her, including her name. The novels make it clear that Klaus mentioning her when he’s hospitalized is the first time he’s said anything about the subject ever.
Polar Ice Lords (Unmarked spoilers)
Mysterious and dangerous in equal measure, the Polar Ice Lords are things that rule over the frigid lands north of Europa. That is, until the fall of the Wulfenbach Empire, which seemingly encouraged them to expand their frozen dominion southwards.
- Ancient Evil: (Древнее зло) They’ve ruled over their icy lands for untold millennia, being venerable even in comparison to Albia. According to Ixthaliox, they even predate whoever built the Queens' Mirrors.
- An Ice Person: (Магия льда) And how. The Polar Lords are defined by their disturbingly powerful control over the cold — they can use it to ground fleets of airships, protect themselves and their troops from harm, and turn enemy soldiers into icy revenants who obey their every command.
- Bad Boss: (Злой начальник) Ixthaliox demands to know why the soldiers have stopped marching. One of them answers his question—the opposing army has sent a group carrying a White Flag, looking to parlay—and Ixthaliox promptly freezes him solid.note
- Horrifying the Horror: (Уволен из гестапо за жестокость)
- Albia, a practically immortal Physical Goddess and Reality Warper, never talked about what she found when investigating territories abandoned by them as the ice receded. When she sends a British expeditionary fleet to escort Agatha back to Mechanicsburg, they are also tasked specifically with helping Gil’s forces fight the Polar Lords, showing that she views them as even more of a threat than the Other.
- Conversely, one of their number refers to Agatha as a horror, though in a manner which almost seems to be a compliment.
- Humanoid Abomination: (Чужеродный человек) Once in their weakened state, they look human (ish), and might have been human once. But in most circumstances, they’re monstrous beings that wield the cold in a manner that even manages to shatter the setting’s Rule of Cool based laws of nature.
- Even their foot soldiers don’t seem entirely human, having glowing, pupilless eyes and sharp teeth.
- Too Dumb to Live: (Роковая глупость) The Polar Lord thinks this of Ixthaliox for failing to cut and run when Agatha arrived.
- Wrong Context Magic: (Чужая магия) The ice-based abilities wielded by the Polar Lords can only be described as actual, «traditional» magic without any of the Sparky trappings, which makes them a dangerous and unpredictable anomaly in the eyes of most other characters.