Le Chevalier d'Eon

Late 18th Century France: a time of great trial and turmoil -- and for none more than French Secret Police member D'Eon de Beaumont, whose older sister Lia has just been found floating in a coffin in the Seine River. Lia was an accomplished spy for the French Court, which recently sent her to faraway lands on a mysterious assignment. But now she's turned up murdered, and it's up to D'Eon to find her killers. No sooner has he stumbled upon the Ancient Conspiracy that might be responsible for it, than he, his comrades, and his entire household all fall victim to a vicious attack, which only D'Eon himself manages to survive. The King of France, Louis XV, graciously allows D'Eon to retrace his sister's steps and investigate her murder, and to that end he gives him a new set of comrades; all of them are Chevaliers who, like D'Eon, have vowed their unswerving loyalty to the King, even unto death...

Of course... this isn't the only help D'Eon will receive during his investigations.

It seems the angry soul of his murdered sister, Lia, has decided not to pass onto the next life just yet. She has some unfinished business to attend to. And she has found the perfect vessel through which she can carry out her revenge -- D'Eon's own still-living body....

Loosely inspired (very loosely) on the historical spy D'Eon de Beaumont, whose crossdressing (in retrospect, s/he was probably transgendered, and s/he insisted for the latter half of his/her life that s/he had been a woman all along and had been disguised as a man previously) and extraordinarily half-hearted attempts at espionage caused a major international incident.

The show itself is based on a series of novels by Tou Ubukata; a manga was released at around the same time as the show, but is completely different, being described by Ubukata as "a humorous attempt at combining d'Eon de Beaumont, eighteenth century France, and a superhero story;" where the anime is a serious historical drama with mystical elements, the manga is a Seinen action series similar to Hellsing; despite being a completely different animal, its definitely worth a look.

The show noticeably draws from the 1970's Shojo Anime Rose of Versailles.

Tropes used in Le Chevalier d'Eon include:

• Affably Evil: The Count of Cagliostro and Lorenza, arguably the Comte De Guercy (who's more of a Lovable Traitor) and King Louis XV
• Alternate History: An interesting example: instead of beginning from a point of divergence, it begins at a point that is in accordance with actual history, and slowly begins to diverge as the plot unfolds, and various historical figures meet very different fates than they did in real life.
  • It acknowledges this in the closing credits, where the dates of death are given for the real Madam De Pompadour and Queen Marie, who died two years apart. But in the series, they die on the same day.
    • The show cleverly uses this trope to fool the viewer into thinking that its version of Robespierre is part of the alternate history. In fact, the man who goes by that name for most of the series isn't the one we know from history; the "real" Robespierre doesn't reveal himself until the final episode, and things line up much closer to reality with him.
• Ancient Conspiracy: Given the number of powerful bigwigs and bureaucrats involved with it, it can easily qualify as a Government Conspiracy as well.
• Audible Sharpness
• Back From the Dead
• Battle Aura
• Because Destiny Says So: The prophecies within "The Verse of the King" have the power to shape history as well as predict it.
• Big Brother Instinct: Actually, a Big Sister Instinct -- with Lia protecting D'Eon, the younger and weaker of the two.
• Body Horror
• Break the Cutie: Robin is probably the happiest and most optimistic member of the main cast early in the series. By the end, however, he's become so angry and disillusioned he changes his name and becomes the historical Maximilien Robespierre, responsible for the Reign of Terror.
• Brother-Sister Incest: D'Eon and Lia are close (uncomfortably close, now that they have to share the same body), but they've never felt anything improper towards each other. However, the relationship between half-siblings Lia and Maximilien Robespierre was almost consummated, although to be fair, neither of them knew they were related to the other at the time of their romance.
• Catherine the Great
• Cool Old Guy: Teillagory
• Deadly Distant Finale
• Did Not Do the Research: While the series is pretty accurate in its building designs, clothing style, and some of the history behind this period, there are still a few glaring errors before the series became Alternate History near the end. In particular, a shot in England shows the houses of Parliament with Big Ben as they are today, even though these were not fully completed as late as 1870, when the series takes place probably in the 1760's.
  • Also, there is a scene in which Peter, his guards, Bestuzhev, and the Revolutionary Brethren are assembled in Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg, with Peter examining Empress Elizaveta's corpse. Kazan Cathedral wasn't built until the 1800s to celebrate Russia's defeat of Napoleon.
  • Similar to the examples above, some scenes show the Arc de Triomphe du Carroussel (the smaller of the two, located in front of the Louvre) and the Obelisk on the Place de la Concorde. The Arc was built in 1809 to commemorate the battles won by Napoleon's Grande Armée, and the Obelisk was brought in 1836 as a gift to France.
  • On the other hand, the trope is VERY cleverly played with in the case of Robespierre. The series takes place in the 1760's, when the real Robespierre would have been just a child, but the show's version of him is in his early 30's. The viewer goes through the entire series thinking they're seeing an example of this trope, until the last five minutes, when we learn that Robin, who IS a child, is the "real" Robespierre who is remembered by history, having taken his name from the other one.
    • It still doesn't quite work. The historical Robespierre would be about 3-5 during the time the series is taking place, while Robin is clearly 12 or 13.
  • Also, the bridge across the Rhine into Cologne wouldn't be renamed "Hohenzollern Bridge" as it is called in the series until 1907.
• Doomed Hometown
• Downer Ending: Considering it takes place right before Maximilien Robespierre's Reign of Terror, it was a Foregone Conclusion that it would end this way.
  • The show still makes a very fine point of ending things on a tragic note, though. The last scene of the series is of D'Eon as a sad old man who has lost everyone he ever loved.
• Dressing as the Enemy
• Ermine Cape Effect: Although it's justified by the Limited Wardrobe.
  • Though things do get bleaker and grimier towards the end. Especially considering that the story ultimately leads to the French Revolution.
• Everybody's Dead, Dave
• Even the Girls Want Her: Lia was and still is loved and adored by everyone who knew/knows her, male of female.
• Evil All Along: Teillagory is a spy for the Duc D'Orleans, and King Louis is an imposter who is prepared to kill those who discover his secret
• Face Heel Turn
• First-Episode Resurrection: An interesting variation; It's not his death and resurrection which gives D'Eon his powers, but his sister's. And it takes a traumatic event to "activate" them, as often befits this trope.
• Fridge Brilliance
  • When Telliagory dies from a bullet wound he makes a comment about the irony that he lived too long to "die by the sword," since he had lived by one for so long. It seems like another example of his gently dark sense of humor, until you realize what he said to Durand's corpse: "I hope I die like you." Durand died in a swordfight, like an old-school knight. Thus Telliagory's last words are actually a lament for the end of French chivalry.
  • The opening sequence shows Robin shooting through the royal crest. This seems like it was done simply because it looks cool; but in the final episode, Robin changes his name to Robespierre and becomes the leader of the French Revolution. Only after seeing the entire series do you realize what that scene was actually symbolizing.
• Fridge Logic: So if Maximilien and Lia are half-siblings because they share the same father and Max's father was Louis XIV, does that mean D'Eon is also the son of Louis XIV and is thus the remaining heir to the throne after Maximilien dies?
  • History would disagree, unless Prince Auguste/eventually Louis XVI does not have younger brothers in this timeline. (After the fall of Napoleon, Louis XVI's younger brother Louis XVIII comes onto the throne, followed in turn by his younger brother Charles X.)
    • But honestly how are D'Eon and Lia connected? Did Lia's and D'Eon's mother become Louis XIV mistress, birthed Lia, been wedded to some backwater knight called de Beaumont and had D'Eon with that knight? I mean this is really the only sensible explanation, because otherwise either D'Eon has to the son of Louise XIV or he's not connected by blood to Lia, which by the way has some other fridge logic implications.
• Flynning: Averted outside of staged fights, when two enemies are engaged in a fight, they go straight for the kill.
• Gambit Pileup: It would be easier to list the characters who didn't have some grand scheme.
  • "The extras in the crowd scenes." Done!
• Grand Theft Me: A slightly gentler form, where the soul "appropriating" a body shares it with its owner -- although not always equally at all times.
• Hermetic Magic: The Functional Magic system used by the Ancient Conspiracy is a complex combination of Alchemy and Rune magic. It's practitioners are called "Poets" and the "spells" they chant are actually Psalms from the Bible. (A poet has to have their hearts "opened to the Psalms" in order to use them, though.)
• Historical Domain Character: More of the cast than not.
• Historical In-Joke: The entire series is one (albeit a very serious one) which details the behind-the-scenes events that lead up to the French Revolution and Catherine the Great's rise to power in Russia, amongst others. Many of the characters (including the hero) are actually based on real-life people from that era.
  • The thing about this show is that you're meant to take it seriously, but it does not take itself seriously. Which accounts for the immense historical inaccuracies.
    • Or rather, it takes itself seriously as an alternative history. It just doesn't seem like one at first.
• Implausible Fencing Powers
• I Cannot Self-Terminate: Everyone who's been turned into a gargoyle but still has some control over their mind, such as Bernis and Durand. D'Eon kills both of them
  • Also King Louis XV, once he burns the psalm and starts decaying
• Instant Runes: Appear as the words of the Psalms in Latin, which are able to appear out of nowhere, crawl around and affect any surface they touch.
• Kill the Cutie: Anna gets shish-kabobbed by King Louis when she walks in on him poisoning Queen Marie
• Knight Templar
• Large Ham: The Compte De Guercy
• Life or Limb Decision: Durand cuts off his own arm to keep himself from being controlled via the Psalms.
• Luke, I Am Your Father: Lia and Maximilien Robespierre aren't only half siblings, they're also the children of the last king, Louis XIV. And it turns out that Madame de Pompadour is the "mommy" of the skull that Queen Marie is always carrying around.
• Mexican Standoff
• My Master, Right or Wrong: Durand is exceptionally loyal to his king, which becomes a point of conflict both for him and the series in general.
• The Mistress: Pompadour
• The Mole: Teillagory serves Philippe II
• Nice Hat: Teillagory
• Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: Axe-wielding Parisian zombie whores!
• Only Six Faces: Some character designs are nearly identical, like the Queen of France, and the Empress of Russia. Lia and D'Eon don't count, since they are supposed to look similar.
• Our Zombies Are Different: they're called "gargoyles," their blood is mercury and they are controlled by a Poet and can be killed by destroying a rune somewhere on their body
• Out-of-Clothes Experience: Durand, at the moment of his death.
• Pathetic Character Pathetic Death: Peter
• Pimped-Out Dress: Loads of them, given the opulence of the period.
• Psychic Powers
• Religion Is Magic: And psalms are spells.
• Requisite Royal Regalia
• Second Episode Introduction: Durand and Teillagory
• Separated at Birth: Robespierre and his half sister
• Shoot the Dog
• Slipknot Ponytail: Every time Lia possesses D'Eon's body.
• Smug Snake: The Duc D'Orleans is significantly less accomplished compared to most of the other villains, with the possible exception of Piotr and the Marquise De Pompadour
• Spirit Advisor: The child's skull that Queen Marie carries around, dresses up, and speaks to all the time. Only near the end of the series do we learn of the child's true identity. The skull also pulls duty as a Waif Prophet, and were it still alive, it would probably be a Creepy Child as well.
• Spiritual Successor: To Rose of Versailles
• Spoiler Opening: If you pay attention during the opening, you can clearly see that Teillagory is kneeling in front of the Philippe II, Duke of Orléans. Considering Philippe is portrayed as a villain, Teillagory turning out to be a mole is not very surprising at all.
  • However, you don't see the Duke's face, or anything but the very top of his head, making it near-impossible to determine who Teillagory is kneeling before, so it's easy to just write off the scene as being emblematic of his status as a loyal knight. Of course, once the revelation is made, it seems obvious.
• Sword Sparks
• Synchronization
• Tap on the Head: Subverted in the scene where Robin tries to knock a guard unconscious with the butt of his pistol. He only succeeds in hurting the guard, and has to resort to a more vigorous attack to bring him down.
• Tome of Eldritch Lore: The "Royal Psalms", which doubles as an Empathic Weapon, "choosing" those who can carry or read it.
• Transformation Sequence: When D'Eon changes into Lia, his hair usually comes loose and his lips become more feminine. It's more subtle than most transformations, but still dramatic.
  • This is played with later on; it is revealed about halfway through the series that when two souls occupy the same body, they slowly lose their individuality. Sure enough, the differences between D'Eon and Lia become more and more subtle to the point that by the end of the series, the show no physical changes when they switch.
• Uncanny Family Resemblance: D'Eon and Lia look very similar to each other, which is a major plot point. (They're not Half-Identical Twins, though, even though they can easily pass for each other.)
• Voices Are Mental: When Lia possesses D'Eon's body, the voice coming from his mouth is hers.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: You can't swing a dead cat in this series without hitting a Well-Intentioned Extremist. Even the heroes sometimes engage in extreme behavior in the pursuit of their duties.
• Where Are They Now? Epilogue
• Wholesome Crossdresser: D'Eon, however, crossdresses mainly for utilitarian reasons, not because he gets any enjoyment out of it.
• Two Siblings in One: Lia and D'Eon.
• You Are Already Dead: After being stabbed in the bloody chest, Robespierre somehow manages to walk around and say goodbye to Robin and D'Eon/Lia before dying.