< Girl Genius

Girl Genius/Characters


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Please note that many of these categories are rather broadly defined and many characters have unclear allegiances. Characters may change categories. Listing is alphabetical by first name (so as to keep the main protagonist at the top...)

Main Characters

Agatha Clay / Heterodyne

Our Protagonist, 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.

Tropes associated with Agatha:

Ardsley Wooster

Or, Commodore Ardsley Roland Wooster. Originally from Britain, 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.

Classy and unflappable Wooster starts working for Gil, and thus is a major character, but his ultimate loyalty is to Albia or the British Crown (which is practically the same with Her Undying Majesty — she was Queen "before the Channel" and shows no desire to leave it).

Going back to Albia ended up being his undoing.

Tropes associated with Ardsley:

  • Badass Normal: He commandeers a rifle from one of the Baron's troops (after somehow ditching Agatha's party), fires from the top of one of 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 Jaegergeneral's airship from the window. He also survived being Gil's assistant for at least a year before the comic starts.
  • Battle Butler
  • Defiant to the End: He told off Lucrezia in god-mode.
  • Dragon with an Agenda: A heroic example, as he is still loyal to the queen, whatever that means.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Boris tries to invoke this when Wooster reveals the Baron's plan to level Mechanisburg to the Jager 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.
  • Offhand Backhand: Delivered to Bangladesh DuPree, of all people, and widely considered his Crowning Moment of Awesome.
  • Sarcastic Devotee: Though he grows out of it, he starts off as a man with little faith in Agatha.
  • Servile Snarker: As Gil's right-hand-man. Gentleman Snarker might be more accurate now we know his real background.
  • Spanner in the Works: When he derails Boris' manipulation of the Jägergenerals.
  • Spy Drama: This didn't really feature in the comic itself until this strip. There is, however, a custom ad for the Spy Battle browser game that portrays his past as being ridiculously martini-flavored.
  • Shoot the Dog: Is prepared to do whatever it takes to complete his mission, even killing Baron Wulfenbach.
  • The Stoic
  • Tall, Dark and Snarky: One of the tallest protagonists, dark haired, and he's British, so snark is a given.

Da Boyz

Oggie, Maxim, and Dimo

Fan Nickname for the three "wild" Jägermonsters who discovered Agatha while she was incognito and have followed her, to protect their new mistress, ever since.

Tropes associated with Da Boyz:

General Goomblast: Dimo! Hy am shocked at dis behavior!
Boris: Still, it was rather clever of him...
General Goomblast: Hy said Hy vas shocked.

Dingbots

Dingbot Prime was created by Agatha as a lab assistant, Dingbot Prime is an oh-so-cute little clank, about the size of a pocket watch. When not otherwise engaged he spends his time making other, more specialised but less durable, Dingbots. What is amazing about Dingbot Prime is that it seems to be self aware; if this is true to even a small degree then it would be a miracle due to its tiny size. Even more incredibly, it's been theorized to have inherited some of the Spark!

Tropes associated with Dingbots:

Gilgamesh Wulfenbach

Son of one of the major antagonists, Gilgamesh is one of the possible pairings for Agatha (probably the canon one, considering these) and has much more obvious motivations. May be wasped.

Tropes associated with Gil:

Krosp I, Emperor of all Cats

Created by a Spark 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. His phenotype as a cat was identified as Moldovian Puff - "a particularly heathenish breed".

Tropes associated with Krosp:

Krosp (to Gil on their first meeting): "I'm serious! Mess with me and your shoes are mine!"

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.

Tropes associated with Moloch:

Punch and Judy

A pair of 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.

Tropes associated with Punch and Judy:

Belloptrix: But... didn't he have a... lighter side?
Maxim: Oh yah! He build very amuzing toys for de orphan cheeldren!

  • Goggles Do Something Unusual: Judy has special glasses to make her eyes look the same size.
  • Hidden in Plain Sight: As the Blueprints point out, even when revealed as constructs, nobody would think they are the legendary Punch and Judy: both because folklore have greatly exaggerated their monstrous traits, and because they obviously are student work, which people could not connect with high and mighty Heterodynes.
  • Improbable Weapon User: Punch throws rivets at bullet-like force.
  • Meaningful Name: Punch is very capable of his namesake.
  • Parental Substitutes
  • The Speechless: Punch until Gil's repair, as it's Punch who tells him "Thank you." for his actions to save Agatha. Gil apparently did some upgrading while he was in there.

Tarvek Sturmvoraus

First encountered when Agatha travels through the city of his father, Tarvek is the 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 as of the Siege of Mechanicsburg he's been revealed to be sincerely in love with Agatha and a decent, if flawed, person in his own right. He is a powerful Spark and a keen intellect. The other possible pairing for Agatha.

Tropes associated with Tarvek:

  • Acquired Poison Immunity: Proved resistant even to multiple toxins used by Tweedle's chief assassin.
  • Awesomeness By Analysis: Only person known to successfully reverse-engineer a Van Rijn.
    • Simply glancing at an abstract operations table tells him that an entire Wulfenbach military unit has been subverted and was about to flank and destroy much of the Wulfenbach army.
  • Badass
  • Bastard Understudy
  • Beware the Nice Ones: Zola learns this the hard way. Also, calling his bluff when he threatens someone with a weapon is a bad idea[1].
  • Big Screwed-Up Family: Even by the standards of the Valois, Tarvek has had it bad. His mother died when he was very small. His father was an Other-worshipping serial killer. His sister was a homicidal clank who ended up murdering their father and kept Tarvek on her string with regular death threats. His family fortress had a horde of Geisterdamen in the basement that would have killed him without blinking if they'd thought he was less than perfectly loyal to the Other. The family intrigue once killed twelve of his bodyguards in less than three years, some of them not even lasting a single month. He can't even show up at a family party without wearing a disguise because at least half the room would try to kill him. With the exception of Violetta every one of the (very) few relatives he's ever liked and who needed his help has died horribly despite his best efforts, and saving Violetta from being killed required lying to her to make her hate him and driving her away from him for years. Somebody give this boy a hug.
  • The Charmer: Is quite a sweet-talker when he puts his mind to it.
  • Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Apparently congenital. He may be recovering, but readers are wary.
    • The most obnoxious part of it? He genuinely means well when he does it. Agatha finds it insulting as all hell.
    • At one point, Gil accuses Tarvek of plotting something. When Tarvek asks what makes him think this, Gil's response? That Tarvek is breathing.
  • Designer Babies: The Mongfish family "made sure" that there would be a throne-appropriate heir: male, Sparky, and free of problems like predisposition to alcoholism, non-Spark-related insanity, lycanthropy... Also, there's some redundancy, even after natural selection (that is, assassinations).
  • Dysfunction Junction: "The only way to keep my family in line would be to bury them in a row."
  • Mr. Fanservice
  • Extreme Melee Revenge: His brutal beating of Zola evokes this, especially considering the epic speech he delivers in tandem with said beatdown.
  • Failure Knight: And really cheesed off about this. Hinted before, but eventually he plainly says it. Oh, and Zulenna was(?) one of his non-vile cousins, too. (minor spoilers)
  • The Fashionista / The Dandy: You expect royals to be very well dressed. So this was not evident except one phrase out-of-continuity, but remember how he sat "doodling girls and clockwork"?.. Later, approved Jäger Generals' style.

Kaja Foglio: Yes, Sturmvoraus is apparently a house of evil fashion designers...

    • Sharp-Dressed Man: Well, he is when we meet him, anyway. He deteriorates sharply later. But found something better as soon as possible.
    • Later on, the tomboyish Violetta is condescended to by a snooty society lady and in return unleashes a withering torrent of high-end fashion expertise that leaves her opponent a metaphorical steaming puddle on the floor. As all parties present jawdrop at her in shock, she needs only one line of explanation for how she knew all this stuff:

Violetta: Why are you all so surprised? I spent practically my whole life with Tarvek!

Violetta Mondarev

Violetta is a Smoke Knight, although she herself says she's not very good at her job. Her job was originally to keep Tarvek alive, although her service has now been transferred to Agatha.

Tropes associated with Violetta:

  • Big Screwed-Up Family: A cousin of Tarvek's from an offshoot 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.
  • Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: 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".
    • The old lady in this comic is Night Mistress Madwa Korel, perhaps the single deadliest Smoke Knight alive and a renegade who's spent over a decade surviving a death mark put out on her by the entire Order of Smoke Knights. And she's giving Violetta a professional compliment... when Violetta's on the enemy team, no less. At this point Miss "I'm not a very good Smoke Knight" is clearly talking just from an inferiority complex.
    • In an earlier arc, Violetta blasted the MacGuffin out of Madwa's hand while two other Smoke Knights, who Violetta had just described as 'better than her', were entirely unable to get a shot off. Definitely an inferiority complex.
  • Fiery Redhead
  • Grappling Hook Pistol
  • Impossible Thief: Specialist in misdirection and sleight of hand, to the point that she can switch out a hostage for a straw dummy, while said hostage is still being held by his captor, and she's in full view of said captor, across the room. It just has to happen off-panel.
    • In the comic, Zeetha looks not particularly impressed and says, "Meh. Not bad..." The novelization reveals that Zeetha had to work at looking unimpressed.
  • Legacy of Service: Violetta is basically made out of loyalty and devotion. She spent her entire life mastering a profession she didn't enjoy to devotedly bodyguard a man she hated, and then became immediately ready to fight and die for a strange woman she'd just met simply because her (now former) liege lord told her that her feudal obligation had been transferred. Despite the fact that Agatha would almost certainly free Violetta of any bond of obligation just for the asking, the idea of simply leaving to find her own life visibly fails to enter Violetta's mind at all.
    • In the novelisation, Moloch tells her that he's leaving Mechanicsburg and getting away from 'this crazy Spark business' as soon as he can, and says that she can leave with him too. Simply suggesting that Vi leave her post causes Moloch to feel like he's stepped over an invisible line he can never step back across.
  • McNinja: Smoke Knight.
  • Minion Shipping: with Moloch von Zinzer
  • Ninja Maid: to Tarvek Sturmvoraus, before Tarvek transfers her allegiance to Agatha.
  • Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Her sleight of hand is so impressive that not even the reader can see it.
  • Only the Knowledgable May Pass: She tried to pull this one on Moloch, arguing that he had to be trained or have secret knowledge when they first met.
    • To be fair, the idea that an untrained civilian could pull off a 20-foot vertical leap simply by the power of 'I really don't want to die!' is kinda unbelievable. Violetta herself only made that jump because of Smoke Knight powers.
  • Servile Snarker: She gets away with way more abuse of Tarvek than most Sparks would probably allow. Hell, he even rewards her by allowing her to switch allegiance to Agatha.
  • Shipper on Deck: Agatha/Tarvek.
  • Tomboy and Girly Girl: By herself. Her Smoke Knight training mostly requires her to be the former, but both she and Tarvek (while he was in an illness-induced delusional rant) have commented on how much she'd desperately like to be able to dress nice and be girly once in awhile.

Zeetha, Daughter of Chump

Warrior woman 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.

Tropes associated with Zeetha:

Antagonists

Anevka Sturmvoraus

Tarvek's debatably-living sister. After an ill-concieved Mad Science experiment of her father's (attempting to download the Other's mind into her brain) left her at death's door, her brother constructed a new robotic body that she could operate from within her life-support tank. Over time, the original Anevka weakened as the clank Anevka picked up the slack, without ever quite realizing it. By the time of the events of the comic, biological-Anevka was dead.

Tropes associated with Anevka:


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.

Tropes associated with Bangladesh:

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!

  • Undying Loyalty: To Baron Klaus Wulfenbach. If the Baron tells her to do something, she does it. End of story.

Baron Klaus Wulfenbach

One time friend of Agatha's parents, Klaus disappeared shortly before Agatha's parents married and returned to find Europa in utter chaos. He imposed order on Europa, not by negotiating and being nice like the Heterodyne Boys but by imposing his Iron Will on an ever increasing area of the globe. Was recently reported killed when the Great Hospital exploded and/or was kidnapped by incarnations of the Other. We're not sure yet. And...he's fine, dandy, and taken control back from Gilgamesh.

Tropes associated with Baron Klaus:

Gilgamesh: "My father once wrote a monograph on how to communicate in the workplace."
Dimo: "...iz dat so?"
Gilgamesh: "All seven popes ordered it burned."

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.

    • Upon seeing Gil cutting through an enemy army like a hot knife through butter, an onlooker had this to say:

Councillor: Hmph. His father would have hit the wall and started another sweep by now.

  • This one basically sums it up:

(A small drop pod falls from the sky to land directly in the middle of a horde of Jagermonsters, in the heart of a fully-armed and operational Mechanicsburg)
Jager General Gkika: (laughing) Velcome, big meestery ting! Hy dun know vat you iz, but now hyu iz on de ground, and hyu is de Jagers problem!
(The drop pod opens to reveal Klaus. Just Klaus.)
Gkika: (screaming in panic) WHOA! Evryvun attack! Attack vit EVRYTING VE GOTS!

"If someone can't handle an unpleasant truth? Lie to them. If somone won't listen to reason? Make them. If people don't choose to live peaceably--Don't give them a choice. If you don't like the rules--change the game.

  • The Unfettered: "I did it alone. Because I had to. And it worked".
  • The Untwist: Supposedly the Baron died when the battles in Mechanicsberg started and the hospital got bombed. Very few were surprised when the Baron showed up, very much alive some time later.

Gil and Tarvek: I knew it!

Boris Vasily Konstantin Andrei Myshkin-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 humourless 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.

Tropes associated with Boris:

Othar Tryggvassen, GENTLEMAN ADVENTURER!

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.

Tropes associated with Othar:

Confound it! An entire train full of helpless Sparks AND dangerous monsters AND a handy chasm nearby. Someone is tempting me. So not fair!
This is ridiculous. There were only two and a half innocent people on this train (Jäger =0.5 person). Surely I can skip the last one. Yeah.
No. I can't. This is what being A Hero is about. I should never have taken that aptitude test back at the university. I wanted to be a chef.

  • Comically Invincible Hero: The others are fully aware that he's probably unkillable. Gil even takes the opportunity to exploit it.
  • Dating Catwoman: Has evidently done a bit of this, based on a conversation with his sister when he thought she had a crush on Gilgamesh Wulfenbach:

Othar: What did I tell you about getting romantically involved with evil?
Sanaa: "...It's not a bad way to kill time, as long as it ultimately results in the total destruction of her lair and the ruination of her nefarious plans!"
Othar: Oh. Yes. Well, I meant—

What a double edged sword a reputation is. Save thousands, thwart evil, bring peace... kill one corrupt quester and it's all out the window.
Now I'm just "The Guy Who Killed A Quester." It demonizes me, and ignores all of my finer points. Bit of a resume stain, to be honest. Sigh.
Questers are usually pillars of honesty. Therefore it's understandable that people are skeptical when you badmouth one. My rep vs. theirs.

  • Hero Antagonist: Plus or minus a little serial murder.
  • The Hunter: Of sparks.
    • Hunter of His Own Kind: He is one. He's a spark, with a goal of killing every other spark, then killing himself when he's the last one left. Being also insane, he isn't very consistent at that either, when it runs into other delusions.
  • Idiot Hero

Like all prisoners in the castle, I'm outfitted with an exploding collar. Ha! The fools, my head is the least dangerous part of my body.

    • Obfuscating Stupidity: Sometimes.
      • In the novelization, Klaus is actually a bit shocked when Othar abruptly drops the Large Ham to be serious and sensible. He wonders,

It...he can't always be...acting...can he? The thought was chilling. Klaus had always considered Othar a clown. If this was all just a game to him...

  • Implacable Man
  • In Spite of a Nail: According to his Twitter account a Spark's experiment with time travel and alternate realities has revealed that every Othar has some kind of predisposition to deciding to wipe out Sparks. He briefly wonders if there's something about the Othars that causes them to simply have suicidal craziness before dismissing the idea.
  • It Runs on Nonsensoleum: Othar apparently has "special trousers" that allows him to Won't Work On Me having an irate Jaeger landing on him and breaking his back. No, we have no idea what that means either.
  • Jerkass Has a Point: Squibs, a much put upon minion in the radio drama 'Minor Heroes', sums it up best:

Let me see if I understand this. He thinks all the problems in Europe are caused by mad scientists that build all the monsters. The mad scientists who vie with each other to see who can turn the population into clowns or bats or inanimate objects the quickest.The raving lunatics who set off volcanoes and unleash flash floods upon innocent cities. Othar wants to destroy these people, and you think he's insane.

    • And Klaus secretly acknowledges that Othar has a point. He had apparently been in the habit of subtly directing Othar in the direction of dangerous Sparks who hadn't technically violated the Baron's Peace up until Othar started killing Sparks that Klaus considered useful.
  • Large Ham: Most sparks chew scenery when in The Madness Place — Othar does it all the time.

Othar: So -- all the vipers are in residence!
Gilgamesh: I can't believe you still talk like that.

"That letter is a fraud! Othar Tryggvassen may do things that lesser men find objectionable or slightly illegal, but I never apologize!"

The Other

The mysterious force of mysteriousness that almost conquered Europa before vanishing mysteriously. May be Agatha's mother, though there are… changes.

Tropes associated with The Other:

  • Big Bad
  • Compelling Voice: The Geisterdamen and revenants cannot disobey a command if it's made in her voice.
  • Control Freak: What would you expect from [A God Am I|a wannabe Goddess] and the developer of [Puppeteer Parasite|Slaver Wasps]? Jägers tend toward complete lack of surprise when told that Lucrezia is the Other. She used to treat everyone around like toys or her personal servants, after all.
  • Evil Is Not a Toy: Inverted. The Sealed Evil in a Can is finding out that its unsealer is not a toy.
  • Grand Theft Me
  • Horrifying the Horror: The mere mention of the name Barry Heterodyne is enough to frighten the Other.
  • Meaningful Name: who is actually The Other? The Mother!
    • Though she got the name because after a while, all the usual suspects for who could be destroying Europe were dead by her hand, meaning that all the devastation was caused by some other party.
  • Mood Whiplash / Sugar and Ice Personality: Whether it stems from Lucrezia's "inherent" insanity, or a result of all those mind transfers, but she is obviously unstable. 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. Later does much the same with Theo.
    • This seems to apply only after the "attack": in every flashback and reference (so far) to the time before, she was "mad and bad" within limits common for Mad Scientists, and also more narcissistic than most, but didn't flip between gushing and murderous, and fit Klaus' assessment as "manipulative, and a consummate actress" much better than her current personality does ("I am the Agatha Girl!").
    1. someone who was capable of killing her equals and almost got Albia herself, whom she positively identified as former Lucrezia, but thoroughly messed up in ways that puzzle even Albia;
    2. the original Lucrezia Mongfish was pretty much what she was known to be: a capable and entertainingly twisted Mad Scientist, but no more than this.
  • Religion of Evil: Is the goddess of one.
  • Science-Related Memetic Disorder
  • Sealed Evil in a Can
  • Showing Off the New Body
  • Terms of Endangerment: She does this to a lot of people, but does it to Klaus especially often.
  • The Vamp
  • You Have Outlived Your Usefulness

Lucrezia-Mongfish-specific:

  • Capulet Counterpart: This is what most people think she was to Bill. That's how she's depicted in the stories, anyway.
  • Civilian Villain: One interpretation of her apparent repentance in That Naughty Flashback Scene.
  • Chronic Villainy: Another...
  • Demonic Possession: Yet another. Getting the feeling there are a lot of theories?
    • The one that seems to be rising to the top is that the Mongfish family is part of an Ancient Conspiracy under the command of "The Other", some bodiless entity that is periodically downloaded into suitable daughters with the "Summoning Engines".
  • Grievous Harm with a Body: And that's her nephew.
  • Luke, I Am Your Father
  • Mad Scientist's Beautiful Daughter
  • Master Actress: Klaus says she is, but this comes off as an Informed Ability since she likes to gloat and is so different from the person she's impersonating. Although maybe if she knew anything at all about the girl she is pretending to be, she'd do better. Still, "I am the Agatha girl!" hardly could achieve anything but elicit a mocking response.
    • To be fair, Lucrezia is extremely good at pretending to be a less evil or more trustworthy Lucrezia. She is, however, horrible at impersonations.
  • Names to Run Away From Really Fast
  • Noblewoman's Laugh: One of her somewhat-hammy moments.
  • Offing the Offspring: Her first child with Bill, Klaus Barry, was killed in the attack on Castle Heterodyne, and it's strongly implied that this was deliberate on her part. Even Agatha, having already seen how evil she can be, had some trouble with that idea.

"...really, one mustn't get too sentimental about children." (Said while trying to persuade Klaus to murder his son and help her finish off Agatha. He was ... not amused.)

Captain Vole

The only Jägermonster ever to be kicked out from the Jägers. 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.

Tropes associated with Vole:

Zola

Zola La Sirene D'oree AKA Zola "Heterodyne" AKA Zola Anya Talinka Venia Zeblinkya Malfeazium AKA the Queen of the Dawn.

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.

Tropes associated with Zola:

Tarvek: "How are you even still moving?"
Zola: "HATE! Hate and drugs! Lovely, lovely drugs! I'm a beautiful, chemical, killing machine!"

  • Up to Eleven: The scene where she downs the Psycho Serum is literally called "Zola goes up to eleven." Ah, Foglios, we love you.
  • Villainous Breakdown: Hoo boy...
  • Villain Decay: Subverted. She undecays completely over the span of two strips, and then some. Then goes from an incredibly dangerous intelligent opponent to an incredibly dangerous physical one when she downs the Moveit 11. Then, she decays AGAIN to an extent when she goes completely utterly psycho, and undecays yet AGAIN when she gets back to the hospital. Then becomes a major threat, but not too subtly to be marked as such. Then tries to act up before about half of the "Europa's top 10 scariest people" list, with half of the rest on the way (which she theoretically could predict) .
  • Xanatos Speed Chess: She is "very good at improvising when things go wrong."
  • Yandere: If this page is of any indication.

Martellus von Blitzengaard

Also known as "Tweedle". Spark. Another candidate for the throne of Storm King, the one who walked into Mechanicsburg to "save the Heterodyne" (fake) and make himself king.

Tropes associated with Martellus:

  • A Father to His Men: You'd expect him to be a Bad Boss given all his other personality flaws, but Martellus is actually a very good boss. He makes a point to know all of his immediate subordinates and keep track of their individual interests and achievements, takes good care of his troops, and is one of the very few Sparks in Europa whose constructs are devotedly loyal to him because they want to be. When Andronicus Valois killed and then re-animated several of Martellus' household knights, he was not only enraged at the desecration but took time out from a desperate battle to end their suffering personally.

Martellus: You were Prince Huvart Desplains, Protector of West Lesalle. Go now, to your rest.

    • It even shows in the small details. In one scene during the Corbetite arc one of Martellus' Sparkhound constructs is whining about having to ditch his favorite suit of armor to escape a magnetic trap and is asking if his new suit of armor can be red, because he likes red. Martellus sarcastically replies that he'll make it shiny red with golden tassels if the idiot will just move! Except that later on during the Paris arc we see that minion again, and his new suit of armor is shiny red with golden tassels. Even when made under stress and when it's not at all important, Martellus keeps his promises to his people.
  • Bad Boss: Martellus once threw a would-be Grand Vizier out of an airship to his death. Admittedly, that was more of a case of Too Dumb To Live because said advisor had 1) ordered an artillery barrage on a sacred monastery and neutral sanctuary that Martellus was trying to negotiate with 2) responded to Martellus' objections to this idiocy by bragging about his 'genius' at establishing a 'show of strength' 3) got a significant fraction of Martellus' fleet destroyed when the Corbettites returned fire 4) openly stated in hearing of the rest of the command staff that he considered his new king to be an idiot who should just do everything his chief advisor told him like a good little puppet and 5) did all this before Martellus had had his morning coffee. At this point it was essentially an Ankh-Moporkian suicide, really.
  • Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass / Obfuscating Stupidity: Turned out to be more competent than previously suspected. Didn't just about everyone in that family?

Violetta: Those are Tweedle's? But he was always- I mean- He made these little bear things. They... they sang.

  • Didn't Think This Through: It's a definite pattern with this guy. He's had 95% of a great plan almost every time he's ever made a major play, and that last 5% he missed is what got him stomped. Has tapered off since he started working with the protagonists, largely because he now has peers available to point out what he's missing.
    • Also played with in that several times Martellus has been the one to point out when the heroes weren't fully thinking it through.
  • Enemy Mine: Despite having tried to kill most of the protagonists multiple times and abduct Agatha, Martellus legitimately despises the Other. And all parties involved have come to the realization that if they don't unify against the Other then there won't be a Europa left for them to fight over.

Martellus: I will not insult your intelligence by playing the innocent. But I swear, I would put aside this crown in an instant if I knew it would end the machinations of the Other.

    • Has been approaching The Friend Nobody Likes territory recently, with Martellus actually joining the party. Even if they still can't stand him.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: Martellus doesn't hesitate at kinslaying, mass assassinations, abusing Sacred Hospitality via technicalities, poisoning, kidnapping, or altering a woman's biochemistry so that without regular bodily contact (although not that kind of contact, simply grabbing his arm will work fine) she'll go into shock and die, or very many other things. But even he has no ruck with Lucrezia Mongfish's use of mind-control wasps, stealing other peoples' bodies, or similar atrocities.

Lucrezia: You! You want to be the Storm King? Help me and all of Europa will be yours!
Martellus: I am already king, and you are a plague upon the land!

  • Evil Counterpart: To both Tarvek and Gilgamesh. Like Tarvek he's a primary heir to the legacy of the Storm King and a high-ranking nobleman raised in the whirl of Valois family intrigue, but where Tarvek is a manipulator and diplomat who hides behind a mask of foppery Martellus is a general and warrior who leads people to underestimate him via a facade of muscle-bound oafishness. And like Gilgamesh he's a Large And In Charge killing machine who's good at strategy but lousy at the softer touch, but Gil is a good-hearted young man who has to be provoked before he unleashes his inner warrior, while Martellus is a lethally-edged aggressor who only rarely indulges - or even admits to - his inner romantic.
  • He Who Fights Monsters: He says this is his intention: "And I know this: the best way to catch a monster -- is to be a bigger monster."
  • Hidden Depths: After spending most of the chronicle to date apparently being just a charismatic brute trying to rampage his way to a shiny hat, Martellus reveals in a discussion with Krosp that he has what may very well be the least medieval understanding of political science out of the entire cast. He understands that rulership is a mental construct, not a divine right, and that it's a two-way street.
  • Mad Scientist: Specializes in biology, including fancy poisoning and Sparkhounds. Oh, and these singing "little bear things".
    • "Fancy poisoning" included biochemical tampering that made Agatha need to be close to him. Power Perversion Potential much? This one also backfired, however.
  • McNinja: And a top-tier one.

Smoke Knight: Your Grace, with all respect, von Blitzengard is good at this sort of thing. Better than any of us. It's one of the reasons he was able to make his claim to the title stick.

    • To underline the above, Tarvek survived a childhood marked by most of his extended family trying to kill him by frantically playing Xanatos Speed Chess and abusing Obfuscating Stupidity. Martellus survived it by simply butchering every assassin they sent. The 'Fortress of Storms' sequence in particular (where the above quote is from) is noteworthy; Martellus gets teleported into an isolated mountain redoubt full of Smoke Knights and relatives who all want him dead, and three days later all the survivors are bending the knee to him because he's still been winning. The guy might be a clumsy planner sometimes and he still can't beat absolute top-tier opponents like Gilgamesh, but he's a legitimately grade-A killing machine.
  • No Social Skills: Played with. Martellus is very good at oratory, pageantry, military leadership, and being charismatic in general... but he is absolutely the worst person in the entire chronicle at romance. Cannot Talk to Women would be an improvement from where he is, because at least then he wouldn't have his mouth open to be continually shoving both of his big fat feet into. An example of one of his best attempts to pay a compliment to Agatha is noted below. (Note particularly that his sister, the last person speaking, is justly famed for never losing her composure in public.)

Agatha: (with barely-contained hostility) Fine. I don't trust you, but I'll believe you.
Martellus: Hah! You see, Seffie? Our children will be magnificent!
Seffie: ARRRRGGGH! This is why YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO TALK TO MY FRIENDS!

  • Not So Different: Not that he's aware of it, but there's a scene when he's wondering whether Euphrosynia Heterodyne had any genuine affection for the Storm King, and his wistful expression is very much like the one Tarvek shows at sentimental moments.
  • Villainous Valor: Say whatever else you can about him, the man is no coward. He's led his men from the front in every battle, charged small armies single-handed, gone toe-to-toe with the undead Andronicus Valois despite being hopelessly outclassed, and tackled Lucrezia while she was in Second-Breakthrough god-mode.

Oggie: Hyu is a real pain in de neck, but hyu gots de schtuff to be a king. No qvestion.

Assorted

Castle Heterodyne

The last thing Judy (AKA Lilith) told Agatha was to get to the Castle. Castle Heterodyne is a masterpiece of Malevolent Architecture and Artificial Sentience. It is also badly damaged, currently suffering from multiple personalities and falls under "sadistic deathtrap" even when running normally.

Tropes associated with Castle Heterodyne:

Castle Heterodyne Inhabitants

A thoroughly mixed bag of sparks, contructs, 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 ascendent.

Tropes associated with the Castle Heterodyne Inhabitants:

Sanaa Wilhelm/Sanaa Tryggvassen

One of the inhabitants of Castle Heterodyne. We first encounter her reporting on her repair efforts in Castle Heterodyne. She seems to be constantly competent at avoiding the death traps and kicking ass which is probably genetic given her brother. She also befriends Agatha when she arrives at the castle, meaning that she may well be around for a while.

Tropes associated with Sanaa:

Castle Wulfenbach Students

Sleipnir O'Hara, Theopholous DuMedd and Zaemae Yahyae Ahmad ibn Sulimaen al-Sinhaejae

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, have recently re-entered the story. Theo is notable as he is Agatha's closest known living relative, the son of Lucrezia's sister.

Tropes associated with the Castle Wulfenbach Students:

The Jäger Generals

The leaders of the Jägermonsters. There were originally eight of them, however one was killed in battle, leaving only seven:

  • "Dose three old ogres". They seem to act as military advisers for Klaus. There are three of them,
    • General Zog: the big one in the purple fez, though shorter than e.g. Dolokhov, and downright tiny next to Goomblast. Left-handed or ambidextrous.
    • General Khrizhan: the one without a hat and gold-capped fangs who is the best at "cheatink - but in der goot vay!" and who also "knows pipple!".
    • General Goomblast: the freaking massive one.
    • The fourth novelisation mentions that Jagers tended to take up hobbies to help "stay in touch with their slowly-receding humanity". Zog specialized in the study of military strategy and how to adapt new technologies to the battlefield, Khrizhan specialized in human psychology and psychological warfare, and Goomblast was the Jagers' chief military historian.
  • "Mamma" Gkika is another general, and one of only two female Jägers seen so far. She runs the bar/hospital where incapacitated Jägers wait for a Heterodyne to come along to heal them up.
  • General Gargantua (Koppelslav?): appeared after Agatha was proclaimed the new Heterodyne.
  • General Zadipok, who is currently missing for unknown reasons.
  • A "tricky general" who is said to be "keeper of many secret things." Also, the spymaster of Heterodynes. He apparently wishes to remain hidden until the Other is removed from Agatha's mind. After some increasingly transparent hints, it was revealed (Tarvek solved the puzzle and got it confirmed). Soon after which the problem was indeed solved, and he could introduce himself properly.

Tropes associated with The Jäger generals:

General Zog: hmf. Iz still cheating. But in der goot vay!

  • Dark Action Girl: Mamma seems to be half way between this and Lady of War.
  • Femme Fatalons: Seen on Mamma here. And she keeps them perfectly lacquered even when in "uniform".
  • Four-Star Badass: 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
  • Genre Savvy: Despite their Undying Loyalty, they seem to know better than to completely discount accusations against their mistress just because the person making them was trying to get her killed.
  • Gentle Giant: All of the generals seem perfectly capable of being personable and making very polite conversation over a pot of tea (Zog less so). They are, however, still Jägers.
  • Genius Bruiser: Perhaps due to their age 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 the Other, and Boris tries to stop the Generals from declaring for her by deceit, they ask Boris to tell them what he knows rather than killing him out of hand.
  • Hidden in Plain Sight: This is how Mamma Gkika's remains hidden, it is underneath a much gaudier tourist trap of the same name.
  • I Call It "Vera": Mamma Gkika's "Dollink".
  • Implausible Fencing Powers: General Goomblast is capable of disarming his enemies such that their (poisoned) swords impale them. While fighting six on one.
  • Improbable Weapon User: Gargantua can apparently throw his Spikes of Villainy with deadly accuracy that should be impossible with their curved shape.
  • Lightning Bruiser: At least, General Goomblast. A Wulfenbach assault team seeing a huge Jäger General with a light fencing sword missed the clue why they should be terrified. Oh, and he also seems to be ambidextrous.
  • More Teeth Than the Osmond Family: While standard for most Jägers, Goomblast takes a bit further.
  • Nice Hat: General Zog and General Gargantua (like most Jägers) both have one. Fandom is divided as to whether Goomblast's skullcap (seemingly riveted to his skull) counts. Khrizhan lacks one, a very rare thing in a Jäger. However, in this strip, we're told sometime in the past he had to abandon a very impressive uniform in Mamma Gkikka's, which got recycled for Gil. Gil's hat may also be built out of (or on) Khrizhan's.
  • Really Seven Hundred Years Old: Almost literally, their ages are in the neighborhood of 600–700 years.
  • Shipper on Deck: Agatha/Gil, although Zog got beaten up by Khrizhan for suggesting they push it along.
  • Slasher Smile: Goomblast has a mouth a shark would be envious of.
  • Super Soldier
    • Super Serum: Mentioned as the source of change and confirmed by Word of God. They are humans transformed by the "Jägerdraught". Perhaps due to advanced years causing additional mutation, side effects of repair or perhaps because they might have been in the original batch, most Generals are a LOT less human than the regular Jägers.
      • On the other hand, apart from her aqua hair, sharp teeth and pointed ears, Mama Gkika can almost pass for human (and in fact does, hiding in plain sight among her human showgirls who dress up as Jägers).
  • Undying Loyalty: Explicitly explained to be a choice on the Jägers' part. They are not compelled to serve the Heterodynes; rather, every Jäger has made a conscious choice and vow to serve the Heterodynes for life before they drank the Jägerdraught - it's a gamble, but "de vuns vot live gets all kinds ov goodies", evidently including toughness and immunity to aging.

Jenka

The female Jäger (one of only two we have met so far, the other being Mama Gkikka) who seems to be Da Boyz immediate superior officer but who spends quite a bit of time away from them. She was away when Da Boyz were caught by Othar and then left again to get orders about Agatha. She has turned up and left again a time or three since. Her mysteriousness, femaleness, and general awesomeness has lead to a lot of speculation about her nature and origins.

Tropes associated with Jenka:

Jenka: I forgive. Once.

  • Badass
  • BFS: Her weapon of choice.
  • Breast Plate: Not initially, but contrast her first appearance with her later one.
  • Cool Mask
  • Cute Little Fangs: Shockingly for a Jäger, averted -- when she's finally seen without a scarf covering her lower face, her teeth look completely like those of a normal human. She's not precisely embarrassed by that, but makes clear that it's been a bit of an issue with some of the male Jägers. Presumably the less-intelligent among them think that without fangs, she's not truly a Jäger ... or maybe they regard her as disfigured.
    • Confronting Andronicus Valois, the original Storm King, Jenka mentions that he yanked her fangs out 200 years ago. She's naturally unhappy with him.
  • Cute Monster Girl
  • Drop-In Character: Shows up every once and while, with very little warning of her appearance.
  • Everything's Worse with Bears: Füst. And he is awesome.
  • Funetik Aksent: As of mid-December 2015, it's shown that she's capable of dropping the accent in order to pass as a more-or-less normal human, "Lady Jenka -- mysterious and eccentric beauty!" (The "eccentric" part refers to having Füst with her, instead of keeping a yappy little dog as most noblewomen do.)
  • Nice Hat: No Jäger should be without one.
  • Really Seven Hundred Years Old: No actual word on her age, but the last generation of Heterodynes don't seem the type to make Jägers and she seems to have seniority over Da Boyz.
    • The Storm King -- THE Storm King, 200 years undead -- shows up ... and addresses her by name....
  • Super Soldier
  • White-Haired Pretty Girl
  • Women Are Wiser: She comes across as being calmer and careful than Da Boyz. Though she's up for a good brawl... Well, when Jägers returned to their proper hierarchy as much as possible, she turned out to be the head of Mechanicsburg diplomatic corps, so likely to be one of the most "presentable" Jägers in the entire pack.

Master Payne's Circus of Adventure

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.

Tropes associated with the Circus:

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. As such his hat is very imporant to Jägers as the more important and Badass the hat's owner the more awesome and Badass the hat. As such it seems 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.

Tropes associated with Old Man Death:

Heh, even today your grandmother is a remarkable woman.

I'm just a human. Rode with the Jägers. Never. Lost. A. Fight.

  • Foregone Conclusion: It was obvious that Maxim was going to get Old Man Death's hat as soon as you saw it - while the purple hat with red trimming looked out of place on an old man in an orange shirt and an apron, it already matched Maxim's outfit perfectly. It actually looked pretty similar to his old hat, only more ornate.
  • Former Teen Rebel: As was mentioned, "rode with the Jägers", i.e. was an auxiliary to the most Badass and evil army in Europe. Now runs a sandwich shop.
  • Grandpapa Wolf: The fight with Maxim over his hat was going fine, and was fairly friendly, until Maxim tried to hit on the waitress, his granddaughter.
  • Hash House Lingo: He knows the ingredients of the most obscure sandwiches you can imagine.
    • And there is apparently a story behind every one of those oddly named sandwiches. The "Red Heterodyne" (Fried bat wing with mushroom sauce on pumpernickel) apparently stemmed from the long-dead Red Heterodyne getting trapped in a cave network for several years after a raid gone bad, forcing him to live on bats and mushrooms (And developing a taste for them) until he could get out. The "Prince of Sturmhalten's Big Bet" (Hat sandwich) stemmed from Prince Viden of Strumhalten saying that he'd eat his hat if Goot Heterodyne could get a cathedral built in Mechanicsburg.
  • Moral Dilemma: Maxim forces him to choose between his reputation as a sandwich-maker and his hat. He chooses his reputation.
    • Subverted, he's apparently fine with it, he really didn't care about the hat, and he told his granddaughter "your grandmother always hated that hat".
      • Plus the Jager used his brains in the end instead of his fighting skills. Old Man Death didn't know the "Prince of Sturmhalten's Big Bet" - Maxim had to explain that example of Hash House Lingo to him, and that was how Maxie won the battle.
  • Nice Hat: Played with, he freely admits his hat is nothing special, but the fact that it is his makes it irresistible to the Jägers.
  • Not So Different: When he gets angry enough, he starts talking in the same Funetik Aksent as the Jägers.

Airman 3/c Axel "The Unstoppable" Higgs

Rescued the Baron from a crashed airship after a major confrontation. The Unstoppable honorific is well-earned; he's introduced by a flashback to a scene where he sustains two broken arms, a broken leg, an infected bite and a bullet in his other leg—and still completes his mission.

Tropes associated with Higgs:

  • Almighty Janitor
  • Badass: The cast page calls him "The Unstoppable Higgs". That probably qualifies him as a Memetic Badass too, actually.
  • Berserk Button: If that's how he is when it's someone he was STARTING to like, God help you if you ever hurt someone he's SURE about. See also Roaring Rampage of Revenge below.
  • Blue Eyes
  • Cosmic Plaything: The only possible explanation for what the man went through to rescue Klaus. I mean come ON, a nesting goose?
  • Death Glare: "I vas starting to like her."
  • Determinator: "Let me tell you about Airman Higgs..."
  • Extreme Melee Revenge: Once Zola pissed him off, he wasn't pulling his punches.
  • Hotblooded Sideburns
  • Implacable Man
  • Kubrick Stare . Has no one told Zola that you should Beware the Nice Ones ?
  • Lightning Bruiser
  • Made of Iron: Gets bashed into a wall by a powerful clank and dusts himself off like it was nothing here
    • Also here where he lands from a long fall with simple bent knees as opposed to Zeetha who has to roll and their quarry who has to use a zip line/grappling pistol.
  • The Magnificent
  • Minion Shipping: With Zeetha. It may or may not be one-sided - Zeetha seems thoroughly smitten by Higgs' smooth talking and quick thinking (badassery notwithstanding), but Higgs alternates between snarky apathy and justified fear with regard to Zeetha.
  • More Than Meets the Eye: Him in general, but his "map" talk especially. He knows a lot more than we do. Otilia/the Castle recognizes him, which means that there is a lot more to him than we believed. We just don't know what yet.
    • He called Tarvek "sir." We know what Tarvek is like. There may be a connection we don't know about yet...
    • It seems he's seen older Heterodynes drink from the Dyne and specifically compares Agatha's reaction to "Old Igneous".
    • Tarvek notes that he got permission to leave his post from Agatha.
    • At the very least, the Jagers know him. He was brought to Mama Gkika's for treatment, and here Dimo deflects Gil's question about that while giving Higgs a conspiratorial smile. Mamma Gkika knows Higgs personally, mentioning that he is always up to his "tricks."
    • As of this comic, it appears that Higgs might just be a Jager. His response to Zola mocking Zeetha is "Yes... but I vas starting to like her." He has never displayed a hint of an accent before. Looking back at all of his appearances, his ears are noticeably pointy, much like the Jagers'. Granted, we have seen non-Jäger inhabitants of Mechanicsburg with accent and ears.
      • Note he has that Nice Hat all the time as well.
      • Later suspected of being a Jäger General, specifically the seventh "tricky" General (i.e. most likely Heterodynes' chief of intelligence) who shall remain hidden until the Other is "exorcised" from Agatha. Later he was the one explaining how someone becomes a Jäger General.

Vole (full of remorse): Hy haff done all kinds ov horrible tings!
Higgs: Kid? We all did — and then we grew up.

      • The page 95 of volume 18 marked "Tarvek works it out". Tarvek has addressed him as "General," after noting that Higgs has probably had "lots and lots of practice" infiltrating armies. After which it's confirmed, just not explicitly. Soon after Agatha's "possession" is fixed, Higgs confesses to Zeetha specifically that he is a Jäger without visible side effects.
      • The page 96 of volume 20 - finally reports to the Heterodyne.
  • Nice Hat: Apparently he's a crewmen of the ship Rozen Maiden.
  • Not So Stoic: When Zeetha is stabbed.
  • Only a Flesh Wound: Apparently, anyway.
  • Really Seven Hundred Years Old: Not "only" a Jäger, but from one of the first batches — transformed by Vlad "The Blasphemous" Heterodyne himself. No wonder he got this much scar tissue despite being absurdly tough.
  • Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Higgs is fast when he's angry. So fast that he's a near invisible blur of motion to someone already on a potentially fatal dose of stimulants. Oh dear.
  • Scars Are Forever: 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

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.

  • Smoking Is Cool: That is one badass pipe.
  • Stealth Pun: His name and title/rank. In an old navy, a third mate (or seaman, third class) is also known as a bosun, making Axel the Higgs boson.
  • The Stoic
  • Unfazed Everyman
  • Unreliable Narrator: 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. Considering how Made of Iron we've seen he is, what Higgs went through to get the injuries Dr. Sun mentioned has to have been far, far worse than he reported.
  • Would Hit a Girl: He has no problems with getting into a truly vicious fistfight with Zola, and he's not pulling his punches. Of course, neither is she...and she has a sword!
  • Zen Survivor: Despite everything he's gone through, his expression of perpetual apathy has very seldom slipped since his first appearance. Five of those slips were: getting bitten by DuPree, explaining his tale while heavily drunk, being threatened by Zeetha, finding out his new boss is Gil, and holding a critically wounded Zeetha in his arms while threatening Zola ... in what may be a Jäger accent.

The von Mekkhans

Carson von Mekkhan 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.

Tropes associated with the von Mekkhans:

  • Bald of Evil: 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.
  • Big Brother Is Watching: So, the von Mekkhans are second only to the masters themselves… and those tend to be distracted from mundane matters most of the time. Vanamonde grew up dedicated to his "spider in a web" role. His career day essay in fifth grade apparently proclaimed "Muhahaha! Nothing shall happen in this town without my agents knowing about it!", or something similar enough that he recognised where the above statement comes from.

Ivo Sharktooth: Hyu vos vun creepy kid.

  • Bluff the Impostor: Carson tries this on Agatha at first, asking if Punch ever mentioned him. He is quite surprised that she knows Punch couldn't talk, though this still isn't enough to convince him.
  • Fascinating Eyebrow: Young Vanamonde has shown a strong skill in this.
  • Former Teen Rebel: Carson. Again, rode with the Jägers in his youth, under the old evil Heterodynes. Is now retired, lives with his daughter-in-law, and seems to have mostly spent his days soaking up rays on the balcony before being introduced in the comic.
  • Multicolored Hair: Vanamonde
  • Obfuscating Stupidity/Rich Idiot With No Day Job: 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.
    • Alternatively, he may or may not have an actual day job at the coffee house: it has been referred to has "Van's Coffee House" in this cast page, he has paid for the coffee engine and he tends to use first person pronouns about it. He isn't shown to be particularly active though.
  • People Puppets/Unusual User Interface: Part of Carson's duty as seneschal. He has special holes drilled in his skull that let him use the Throne of Faustus Heterodyne to become Castle Heterodyne's puppet so that Agatha can talk to it in the crypt. Vanamonde's skull hasn't been prepared for such a thing yet, but the Castle is looking forward to it.
  • Psychic Link: Carson didn't even notice he had this until he felt Castle Heterodyne die.
  • Retirony: Inverted by Carson, who retired just in time to miss dying in the Other's attack. His replacement, who was also his son, died instead.
  • Seen It All: Carson.

Carson: Don't try to boggle me, Mister Talking Cat. This is Mechanicsburg. You are by no means the strangest thing in this town.

  • Skeptic No Longer: Agatha's performance in the coffee shop (and her coffee) make Vanamonde a believer. By the time Agatha forces Castle Heterodyne to back down from punishing Herr Diamant for expressing his skepticism, Carson is convinced she's real too.
  • Spell My Name with an "S": There's some disagreement on whether it's spelled Mekkahn, Mekkan, or Mekkhan.
  • Legacy of Service: They are top level minions.

Otilia 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.

Tropes associated with Von Pinn:


Sergeant Scorp

Sergeant Scorp of the Baron's Vespiary Squad.


Doctor Sun Jen-djieh

"You are a terrible patient!"

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.

Tropes associated with Doctor Sun:


Ruxala

Did not have time for return yet, but she's clearly set up for this. At very least as the most obvious candidate for an important position, because someone will have to run the weasel menagerie after she and her charges will be "unfrozen" and healed properly.

  • Berserker Tears: Of course she is distraught - they've hurt her weasels.
  • The Hunter: Mostly took care of the weasels, but she is a dedicated and trained Vesper.
  • Mauve Shirt: Introduced one panel before death of her commander, then avenged him, then was stabbed with a poisoned dirk, then got qualified first aid...


Xerxsephnia "Seffie" von Blitzengaard

The fine young lady who happens to be sister of Martellus and thus another cousin of Tarvek. If this wasn't enough of a fair warning, too bad. She is the Order's emissary to Gilgamesh Wulfenbach, and as such personally responsible for the two main forces in Europa successfully finding common ground and keeping the truce. She also runs a "totally not romantical, just political expediency" campaign to marry him herself. There's far more than mere expediency there, though, although it takes the readers years to find out.

Tropes associated with Xersephnia:

  • Aw, Look -- They Really Do Love Each Other: Played with as her character intro. In one panel the recently-freed-from-time-stasis Martellus, just after having reclaimed the Fortress of Storms by brute force, is angrily demanding that a prisoner tell him who was leading the conspiracy against him to be confronted by Seffie doing a massively Dramatic Entrance complete with Evil Laugh, implying that she's the mastermind. In the next panel...

Seffie: (glomping Martellus) Eeee! I'm so glad you're alive! You're my favorite brother!
Martellus: (loving smile) Aw Seffie... I've missed that creepy laugh of yours.

  • The Chessmaster/Guile Hero/Manipulative Bastard: She does personally walk into dangerous situations when the prize is big enough (such as good relations with the incumbent Heterodyne, greater chance to get Gil, or saving Martellus who almost outsmarted himself to death), but never was shown fighting so far. And probably never needed to do it with her own hands.
    • She rose to a very high status in a backstabbing family where she had to compete with borderline superhuman charisma of Sparks without (apparently) being one herself. Also, they tend toward excessive enthusiasm, while she always plans ahead. This girl is not only very good at acting, she's brilliant in diplomatic skills. It should be no surprise that she gets along splendidly with those outside the clan — so far including Agatha, Gil and Colette Voltaire (daughter of the Master of Paris). Even when we know she is double-dealing (at very least), and half of the conditions she points out may "just happened to" be pulled together by her own deft hand, whatever she says is still hard to counter. In fact, usually what she says comes across as the most sensible thing in the given circumstances.

Violetta: Jeez, Seffie, I hate it when you're right...

  • Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: The girl thrives in that family and the Order, what would you expect? She "supports" just about everyone, but only for her own reasons, so it happens...

Krosp: So you're related to that big chump back there?
Xerxsephnia: (wincing) My brother. Yes.
Krosp: You've pretty much sent him to Wulfenbach, you know. Your family members are my kind of people... I'm told that's not a compliment.

    • It's important to note that at the time Seffie 'left' Martellus behind, Martellus already had a flying war-clank inbound to extract him. Seffie's job was to get Agatha to safety and her horse could only hold two people.
    • Later she organized and participated in a covert operation to save Martellus at significant risk to her own life, when she had basically a free pass to defect to Team Agatha already waiting. She does seem to genuinely love the big jerk.
  • Dysfunction Junction: She's in that family. This should already say something.
  • Emphasize Everything: Seffie tends to talk rather expressively. But occasionally just drops it, which suggests it's a deliberate act too.
  • Evil Laugh: She's trained herself to do it just right! Know your audience, indeed.

Martellus: Aw... Seffie - I've missed that creepy laugh of yours.
Xerxsephnia: Hee hee! Isn't it good?! ...but I'm still working on the harmonics.

  • Good Cop, Bad Cop: She knows that her brother is not very good at being likeable, and can work with that.

Martellus: But why are we splitting up?
Seffie: Because, my dear, you've been boorish, tyrannical, and an all-around beast, and now [Agatha] doesn't like you. If I show up with you she won't like me either, and things will be so much easier if she likes me.

  • Hoist By Her Own Petard: Despite being madly in love with Gilgamesh Seffie has managed to keep him utterly unaware of the fact via her considerable talents as an actress, and has managed to seamlessly disguise her dogged pursuit of him over the years as merely being pragmatic power politics. (Which to be fair it actually would be). She does this due to having been raised in a Deadly Decadent Court where exposing one's true feelings and vulnerabilities was, to put it mildly, strongly discouraged and because she's already aware Gilgamesh's heart belongs to Agatha so she apparently believes she can only hope to hook him via his intellect. The irony is of course that Seffie simply admitting she actually likes Gilgamesh for himself and not just because he's the Wulfenbach heir would almost certainly work far better than anything else she's tried, because that's how Agatha hooked Gilgamesh in the first place.
  • In-Series Nickname: Virtually everyone calls her "Seffie", even on formal occasions. Only total strangers ever use her real name 'Xersephnia', and sometimes not even then.
  • Lovable Alpha Bitch: Despite being an incredibly wealthy princess and one of the chief political manipulators of an extended family positively infamous for backstabbing and manipulation, essentially everyone in the narrative still likes Seffie. Her infamously cold-hearted and manipulative grandmother holds Seffie as her "prize pupil". Her ruthless brute of a brother positively dotes on her. Even her opponents, such as Gilgamesh, still likes her (if not as much as she'd wish). Even Agatha, who is her chief romantic rival and who detests her brother to the point of barely being able to avoid punching him whenever she sees him, still genuinely likes Seffie. Her most devious relative readily acknowledges that Seffie has positively weaponized her likeability.

Tarvek: Oh, Seffie is a darling. It's one of the things that makes her so dangerous. Don't let your guard down.

    • Seffie's ability to be liked has even crossed the fourth wall. Several discussion threads in various forums have contained multiple comments along the lines of 'I like Seffie and want her to win - even when I shouldn't!!'.
  • Master Actress: She makes Zola look like a clumsy amateur trying too hard.
  • Obfuscating Insanity: Not much, but occasionally she acts crazier than she is. Between training to perform maniacal laughter just right and using fits to cover her other shenanigans.
  • Politically-Active Princess: Literally a princess, as her older brother was a prince (and is now arguably a king). And of all the members of her family we've seen so far, Seffie is second only to her ultra-Machiavellian grandmother at politics and diplomacy. The family doesn't hesitate to use her as their envoy on their most delicate negotiations, such as their attempted alliance with Baron Gilgamesh Wulfenbach.
  • Sanity Has Advantages: Remember how the pecking order on Castle Wulfenbach was to large degree defined by "degree of sparkiness", and how Klaus personally doesn't think much of "mundane" nobles and their games? This factor does not seem to hinder Seffie at all, and she is constantly dealing with nobility, Mad Scientists and not. From what we have seen, she plays the voice of sanity and is heeded as such, running negotiations with the crazier big fish quite well.
  • Unlucky School Days Friend: Suggested with regard to Gil. Whose letters she used to intercept "since she was a child".

Xerxsephnia (after admitting Gil hasn't come to the party): You think I'm silly. I know you always have.
Colette (smiling sympathetically): I do -- but if we can't be silly about affairs of the heart — then we're no better than clanks.

  • Yandere: For Gilgamesh. But played with in that Seffie's a very polite yandere. Her reaction to Gil's being madly in love with Agatha is simply to try and set Agatha up with her cousin Tarvek (who is also madly in love with Agatha) so as to gently remove the obstacle without hurting anyone and even making her family a little happier. Seffie's even self-aware enough to know that Gil isn't going to just turn around and fall in love with her even if her romantic rival is cleared out of the way and so is instead setting things up so that if Gil ever gives up on marrying for love he will then find it expedient to marry Seffie for political reasons, at which point she will do her best to give him the happiest married life she can and hope his affection for her eventually grows over time. She's even by all appearances genuinely trying to be friends with Agatha, or at the very least sincere not-enemies. Really, if it wasn't for the fact that Seffie has been obsessively pursuing Gil for years despite receiving no encouragement from him whatsoever, has been willing to sabotage her own family to try and get a shot at him, and also has a habit of stealing Gil's mail and smashing the occasional teacup in jealous frustration, she wouldn't even be this trope.

Simon Voltaire

Usually called just "Master of Paris". Thanks to his implants and perhaps other mad science, he is at least 200 years old and doesn't look decrepit in the least. He personally knew the Storm King and van Rijn, referring to the latter as having taught him.

Tropes associated with

  • Electronic Eyes: His right eye appears to be replaced with a big artificial one.
  • Heroic Neutral: He maintains Paris as the Truce Zone of Europa. With an iron hand.
  • Mad Scientist
  • Neural Interface: When he's connected, the city systems become extension of himself. It's just too taxing to do without a need.
  • Old Master: One of the oldest Mad Scientists - and humans in general - alive.
  • Power Is Sexy: Old Voltaire certainly has a reputation on top of imposing looks and confidence. He's at least two centuries old, yet has a lot of offspring of different looks and ages - down to Colette, who seems to be in late twenties.
  • Shout Out: To the Marquis de London, possibly.

Colette Voltaire

Master of Paris considers her a prospective "worthy heir". Tagged in The Works only as "Hero" and "Spy", but not "Spark", so probably not a Mad Scientist (when we meet her, because "breaking through" is a thing). After being plugged into city controls for a while she seems to break through, so may just be a "late bloomer", so to speak.

Tropes associated with Colette:

  • Friendly Rivalry: Even Grandmother considers her being a genuine friend to Seffie... "as much as anyone from a rival House can be" , and as Colette demonstrated before and later, she isn't oblivious of politics.
  • I Am the Noun: "I am Paris..."
  • Mad Scientist: She did finally break through.
  • Neural Interface: A port implanted in her neck allows connection to the city systems, though she isn't supposed to "drive" the city without oversight of "Papa".
  • Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Pulls off a rare one-person version against Drusus Beausoleil, immediately after he'd killed her father. Then again, the upside to your enemy having multiple bodies is that you get to kill him multiple times!
  • Spirited Young Lady: She used to go on adventures with Gil, Wooster and others , and occasionally still does. Also, she prefers to drive a [steam] car herself.
  • Tall, Dark and Bishoujo: A stylish no-nonsense lady who has enough of admirers that some of them even started a club, though she dismisses them as liking not as much herself as her status and thus social climbing.
  • Worthy Opponent: Being implicitly placed among "the best strategists" by The Grandmother, no less. Before breaking through.

Princess Terebithia

Ah! Princess! You are as beautiful as ever!
…Also, as suspicious, homicidal and unapologetic as ever.

—Mister Obsidian

The Grandmother. The matriarch of the Storm Lords clan - Valois, Blitzengaards, Sturmvorauses and no doubt many others. The Dowager Princess of Sturmhalten, lately living in her Paris residence. Her name was not given for a long, long time after she is first mentioned, because everyone knows her — for the outsiders she speaks for Storm Lords as a whole, and for the family, of course, she's "grandma".

Tropes associated with Grandmother:

  • Arch Enemy/It's Personal/Green-Eyed Monster: She had a great and un-friendly rivalry with Lucrezia Mongfish back when she was young. After Lucrezia gone bad, Terebithia purged the Order of Jove of her followers and influence (though not quite as thoroughly as she thinks, seeing how Prince Aaronev VI tried to bring Lucrezia back), proclaimed Lucrezia's loyalists the common enemy and made it stick (Smoke Knights of the Order must invoke truce between themselves to gang up on these). While having resources of all these powerful families denied to The Other and raising opportunity costs of more is obviously a good thing for Europa, this also means "the Grandmother" is quite happy when her family usurps pre-existing assets of The Other, and even goes along with using Slaver Wasps (though we didn't see her explicitly approve such a plan).
  • The Chessmaster: She is on top of the situation more than most people, and occasionally reminds this by politely blindsiding her younger relatives with a revelation or warning, or helps with "damage control".
  • Cool Old Lady: She leads the contentious clan of habitual backstabbers and assorted "duplicitous snakes" that spawned Tarvek, Tweedle and the rest. And is considered the undisputed authority there - reference to her decrees is treated as final judgement.
    • She throws very classy parties. As revealed in a conversation between two Smoke Knights.

Varpa: This party is about to be crashed by a giant undead Storm King! The Master will be there.
Malek: Oh my gosh — the Master, the Lady Heterodyne, and the actual Storm King at her party?
Varpa: I know! Grandma's going to be thrilled!

Ishtvan: Could it always do that?
Martellus: How should I know? Knowing my Grandmother's parties, probably.

  • McNinja/Old Master: She's good enough to steal a pistol from Zola (who was standing a little behind her) and either break or field-strip it, in a smooth move.
    • Grandmother also got that close to Zola in the first place by pulling a ninja swap, as she'd standing arm-in-arm with Tarvek until suddenly noticing that Tarvek had vanished and Grandmother had her by the arm instead. Given that Zola is herself a high-end Smoke Knight and that sort of off-panel substitution maneuver is Violetta's signature move, its strongly implied that Grandmother is a very high-end Smoke Knight.
  • No Name Given: Until old Voltaire met her, she was mentioned only as "Grandmother" or by title. Given that most of the clan seems to be trained as Smoke Knights, it's likely to also be an allusion to "the Grandfather" of Assassins.
  • Properly Paranoid: The quote at the start of this character section is Mr. Obsidian's response to Grandmother stabbing him in the eye when he is reporting in, solely to check that he actually is Grandmother's Nigh Invulnerable subordinate as opposed to someone else.

Grandmother: Oh, spare me the outrage. Disguises are easy, and anyone can learn a code phrase.

Trelawney Thorpe

Tagged in The Works as "Hero, Legend, Spark" (not Spy, see below).

Dimitri Vapnoople / Dr. Dim

  • The Beast Master: Used to be "the greatest monster wielder of the century".
  • Chekhov's Gunman: He's just an unsettling evidence of Klaus's unsavoury experiments. Then we find out what sort of things he was making before plush bears (or even Krosp). And that Martellus used to be his apprentice. That he managed to really upset Albia, too (and survive). And that he was dealing with otherworldly monsters…
  • Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: We are introduced to the pitiful post-lobotomy version of the guy. Vapnoople used to be quite tough and aggressive, even for a Spark.
    • Eventually Dr. Vapnoople is cured by the intervention of an extradimensional entity. He then goes on to fight and resoundingly defeat a Second Breakthrough Spark that had just achieved demigod-ascension with only a death ray he kit-bashed out of available scrap and sheer fighting skill, summon a host of Things Man Was Not Meant To Know from Beyond The Outer Gates, absolutely terrify the entire cast and everybody else in the zip code, and then gleefully dive into a dimensional portal leading horribly Elsewhere so as to try and learn all the eldritch secrets of the higher dimensions... all in the first five minutes after being cured. No wonder Klaus needed three years and his entire Empire to beat this guy.
  • Evil Mentor: Wants to be one to Agatha. After all, he and Agatha's grandfather were fraternity buddies! Even when Agatha fights him he just praises her on her combat ability and says it's good that she can take care of herself.
  • Evilutionary Biologist: He does not exactly have ill will toward the people he doesn't see as rivals, but made monsters because humanity as the uncontested apex predator tend to go decadent. Of course, his idea of optimal evolutionary pressure is so crazy even his creations can see it.

Queen Albia

Her Undying Majesty. Queen Albia of England. Marital status unknown. May have some prince consort, or at least had recently, seeing how there are multiple Royal Princesses (in habit of being kidnapped). She has some cephalopod subjects, and evidently had peaceful relations with Deepdwellers and Great Cetaceans… until outside malicious interference.

  • Brain Uploading: Just for memory archive, because human brain's storage capacity is not up to that age, no matter what.
  • Expy: Whimsical, brightly-colored God-queen who loves practical jokes and is simultaneously worshipped yet seen as mostly harmless by her subjects, who is actually a terrifyingly ancient and wise being who maintains this facade because she doesn't want to frighten the mortals around her? Are we talking about Albia of England or Princess Celestia?
    • Ever since the candy hair incident, some fans have been calling her "Trollbia". As in 'Trollestia'.
  • God-Emperor: One of the last Immortal God-Queens[3], though she seems to have some hopes for Agatha.
    • Albia and those trying to "ascend" like her consider this sufficiently godlike state the next stage beyond Spark, even calling the process of attaining it the "second breakthrough".
  • Living Lie Detector: Her ability to "see" minds isn't enough to omit asking questions, but it's good enough that deceiving her is not really an option. She doesn't bother to hide this.
  • Mad Scientist: Used to be one, but moved to the next stage. Still can play the role nicely when she wants to.
  • Odd Couple: Had a "beautiful, doomed affair" with… Klaus Wulfenbach of all people. Does not give her any hang-ups about Gilgamesh, as far as can be seen.
  • Royal We: The first ruler in the comic actually using it. Of course, given what we know of attempts at "second breakthrough" by Lucrezia Mongfish and Lord Snackford (and her own behaviour immediately after the audience), this may be "hive mind We", meaning the Queen herself and her otherworldly symbiont. Or something weirder.
  • Shapeshifter: She rapidly changes her hair and attire as a way of non-verbal communication; e.g. black dress and veil upon hearing of another God-Queen's demise, then shifting into that queen's shape (presumably) as a tribute to her achievements and memory.
    • Sizeshifter: Among the other things she does seemingly at will.
  • Sufficiently Godlike Abilities: Even Agatha in "first attempt" and Lucrezia immediately upon reclaiming her "godhood" had abilities from mental enhancement to unusual relationship with spacetime continuum to telekinesis. Albia does this for millennia, and is remotely connected to artifacts that give her more perks, so…

Klaus (personality overlay): It is not magic — and, for Heaven's sake, don't call it that in front of Albia. Everything she does is subject to the laws of nature. Hers is a science so advanced it merely seems like —

  • Telepathy: Occasionally uses it to communicate and cancel mind control.
  • Teleportation: Or some equivalent. She certainly has advanced understanding of space (as seen in the Queen's Henge), and does something to vanish and appear where she wants to.
  • Time Abyss: "Her Undying Majesty" is not just a honorific. She got too many memories to carry them all. As to the changes, she was around back when Britain was connected to the continent...
    • Albia is noticeably nostalgic for her circle of "sister Queens" (that fun time ended about five millennia ago). She occasionally sends explorers, but "tries not to get her hopes up", and it was above-average news that at least Skifander is still around, if not Luheia herself.
    • ...and Lonely at the Top: That could be only nostalgia, but Albia was also disappointed that Luheia wasn't replaced by another Immortal God-Queen, and quite excited to discover Agatha already have tasted and survived "god mode".
  • Took a Level in Badass:
  • You Kill It, You Bought It: Albia started with spying upon and deposing the neighbour "Witch Queen" Lozz who was raiding her people. Then she walked to the mirror... The rest seem to have decided Albia is easy to deal with (she was really chatty back then), so they just brought her up to speed and eventually helped to achieve "second break-through", making her what she is now.


  1. ↑ conspiracy spoiler!
  2. ↑ A line in the novelization suggests that she'd already slept with Theo at least once before first meeting Agatha: she mentions looking for her shoes under his bed.
  3. ↑ A few of the old ladies survived, but are hiding. Lucrezia (as The Other) may have reached the same power level, and even killed several God-Queens, but she didn't perfect this (and is somewhat bitter about Albia not having her problems), and in other ways still is a fake in the boots of a giantess, and even if this wasn't always so, her only subjects are hijacked Geisters - nobody else openly recognizes her as "Goddess" when not in Geisters' presence, and few even know
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