Black Butler (manga)/Characters
Anime & Manga Characters
Ciel Phantomhive
Voiced by Maaya Sakamoto (JP) and Brina Palencia (ENG) |
"I'm arrogant, but not so much that I'd irresponsibly save someone just to brag about it."
- Adorably Precocious Child: Usually very solemn and composed, he is very committed to his jobs (running the Phantomhive family business, and fighting supernatural evil). Slightly different from the norm in that most people take him quite seriously, at least the ones who know him well.
- Always Save the Girl: As of the most recent chapter, he's definitely this toward Elizabeth. He threw himself in front of a bear for her chapters ago, but most recently he's taken to doing whatever he has to do to make sure she's safe from a ship load of zombies. Her mother, who's normally overprotective, calmed down upon finding out that her daughter was with Ciel because she knew he'd protect her. That's a pretty high level of trust there!
- Subverted something fierce in chapter 57, as it turns out Elizabeth was more badass than him all along and ends up saving him.
- Pulled it again in chapter 58, even though Lizzie saved him. He doesn't want her trapped on a sinking ship rife with zombies and shinigami, even if Sebastian and him are staying on board, so he has Sebastian knock her out and give her over to her brother.
- Anti-Hero: Type IV or type V in the anime, Villain Protagonist in the manga.
- Aristocrats Are Evil
- Authority Equals Asskicking: Subverted, as although he holds the highest rank in the Phantomhive Household (not to mention the fact that he works as the Queen's freaking watchdog), he's also a bit of a pansy, and likely the most physically incapable in the entire series.
- Badass
- Badass Adorable
- Badass and Child Duo: In spite of Ciel's badassery, he's still the Non-Action Guy, which permits him to work this trope with Sebastian.
- Badass Boast: Ciel is very proud of being Earl Phantomhive, and would very much like you to know that.
- Badass Longcoat/Badass Cape: Both.
- Heartbroken Badass
- Bad Guys Play Pool
- Barehanded Blade Block: Against Alois.
- Beautiful Dreamer: Subverted in that everyone seems to like watching him sleep, so it can be taken in a non-romantic way as well.
- Because Destiny Says So: In the manga, Ciel's goal is to torture and kill the people who killed his parents, though once this goal is complete, it is almost certain and an inescapable fate that Sebastian will eat his soul. In the anime, this is averted, as Ciel becomes a demon and Sebastian is unable to take his soul.
- Being Tortured Makes You Evil
- Birthday Hater: His tenth birthday was the day his house burned down with both parents inside. And he was kidnapped, and taken off to be a slave to a cult. Really great birthday!
- Blue Eyes: Well, one of them, anyway...
- A Boy and His X: A boy and his demon butler.
- Break the Cutie
- Broken Ace
- Byronic Hero: A very young example, but he still fits this trope to a T.
- The Chessmaster: Proved it during the murder mystery arc where he planned out and orchestrated the entire event. To sum it up he basically allows the murder mystery to play out all while knowing who the true killer was, keeping everyone else from finding out, placing the blame on someone else in order to complete the mission given to him from the queen, all while not only keeping suspicion off of himself, but also making himself seem like a victim. Then very end where he only tells one character based off of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle of his scheme because he wanted to motivate him to continue to write mystery novels.
- Also, with a few well chosen words towards Snake, Ciel turned a former enemy into another one of his devoted servants.
- Cannot Tell a Joke: It takes him all night to make Undertaker even utter a simple "...hah."
- Cold-Blooded Torture: Performed on him by the cultists seen in his backstory.
- The Comically Serious
- Corrupt the Cutie: Pretty much what the cult did to him. It becomes apparent throughout the series that Sebastian may be slowly making it worse (see rule number 43.
- Creepy Child
- Cross-Dressing Voices: In both sub and dub.
- Curtains Match the Window: Moreso in the anime than the manga.
- Dark and Troubled Past: His parents were killed, his house was burnt down, he was kidnapped, sold, and used as a sacrifice for a cult. Then he met Sebastian and sold his soul to him.
- Deal with the Devil: With Sebastian.
- Deadpan Snarker: Anime-only, for the most part. In the manga he's portrayed mainly as The Comically Serious.
- Deceased Parents Are the Best
- Defrosting Iceking: He has become significantly nicer towards people, at times even swallowing his pride to make Lizzy happy or showing concern for Snake and even Sebastian.
- Distressed Dude: For all of his vocal badassery Ciel is actually not that skilled in combat. He constantly has to be saved by Sebastian as their deal dictates. However, it is not only Sebastian. As it turns out he is this for his fiancée Elizabeth too.
- The Dog Bites Back: After Ciel's parents were killed, his house was burnt down, he was kidnapped, and he was tortured, he decided that he would seek out the person/people who killed his parents and deliver to them the same pain that he went through. Along the way he also decided that he doesn't mind killing people who get in the way of his plans.
- Dude Looks Like a Lady: Joker even had to ask if he was a boy to make sure.
- Escapist Character: An incredibly rich Teen Genius that nearly everyone loves and respects who has an almighty Bishonen Battle Butler that can grant his every wish and can be extremely close to him at times? Not to mention his Dark and Troubled Past (which he was 'rescued from' by the aforementioned butler), Even the Guys Want Him, he works for the queen, and he owns one of the largest toy companies in Britain.
- Even Bad Boys Love Their Mamas: Even now, Ciel loves the deceased Rachel and Vincent.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Ciel deeply cares for Elizabeth and his (deceased) parents and aunt. At one point in the anime, he even stops Sebastian from hunting down Grell because he "doesn't want Lizzie to witness anymore bloodshed."
- Even the Guys Want Him
- Evil Brit: This takes place in Britain after all.
- Evil Eye
- Expy: Of Artemis Fowl from Eon Colfer's book series of the same name.
- Eyepatch of Power: Because walking around with a demon's seal available to anyone who looks you in the eyes is kind of gauche.
- Fish Out of Water: The circus arc shows that Ciel doesn't take well to unfamiliar territories, i.e., actually having to work.
- A Glass of Chianti: Occasionally.
- Grade School CEO: He started his business empire at the age of ten.
- Hates Being Touched: He appears to not enjoy physical contact, though he tolerates Sebastian and does not complain when the demon picks him up or holds him. If he is stressed, he will slap someone touching him away, proclaiming, "Don't touch me so easily!" This is a negative influence of the trauma he underwent during his time as a slave.
- Hollywood Atheist
- Ill Boy: He suffers from asthma, for one.
- Improbable Age: Ciel is the leader of a popular toys and candy company, is working for the queen as a black ops/assassin, owns a mansion, and is rich from the money he inherited when his parents died. He is also only 13 years old, and this whole situation likely started around three years ago.
- He's also highly skilled at pool to the point that he can beat a bunch of adults, despite being so short he actually has to sit on the pool table to make a shot.
- Informed Ability: The first few volumes have characters like Sebastian and Madame Red waxing poetic about Ciel's chessmaster skills before he does anything even remotely close to chessmaster status.
- Innocent Prodigy: Sebastian outright says in the murder mystery arc that Ciel is still a child despite being the head of the Phantomhive manor.
- In-Series Nickname: "The Queen's watchdog/guard dog," one of the "evil noblemen."
- I Owe You My Life: In a very literal sense towards Sebastian.
- Jade-Colored Glasses
- Kubrick Stare
- Laughing Mad: After all the crap he pulled during the circus arc, he ventures off to the workhouse they were told about only to find out that it's in ruins. Ciel finds this darkly amusing.
- Little Mister Snarker: Again, mostly in the anime, as the manga portrays more as The Comically Serious.
- Little Professor Dialog
- Man of Wealth and Taste
- Mark of the Beast
- Mismatched Eyes: The eye that isn't blue is purple and has Sebastian's seal on it. By the rules of demon contracts, the more visible the spot you put the mark, the more power you get - and what's more visible than your eye?
- Nice Hat: Ciel has many a fancy hat, particularly his top hat.
- Non-Action Guy/Non-Action Snarker: A rare inversion, as he's the main character and he's far from being a Butt Monkey; he's simply physically weak. Ciel generally sits in the sidelines and watches Sebastian doing the fighting.
- Non-Idle Rich
- Not So Stoic: When he breaks down, he breaks down.
- Odd Couple: With Sebastian.
- Perpetual Frowner: Moreso in the anime than in the manga. Especially in the second season, where you can count on one hand the number of times he smiles, even if it's just a smirk.
- Please Don't Leave Me: His breakdown over Sebastian's "death" in the murder mystery arc can be considered this, although later on this is subverted, as they were just acting.
- Power At a Price: He sells his soul in return for help from Sebastian in succeeding in all of his goals, including killing his parents' murderer[s]. After that last goal is finished, Sebastian will be able to take Ciel's soul.
- Pride: Ciel seems very proud of his status.
- Rags to Riches: An interesting aversion in that he went from riches to (being tortured in) rags, then back again.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Anime-only. When he gets turned into a demon, his eyes can glow an eerie fuschia.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Blue Oni to Alois's Red Oni.
- To a lesser extent, the Blue to Sebastian's red as well. Mostly only in the anime though.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Connections: The reason that he can usually get away with killing anyone he wants without any consequences.
- Security Blanket: There is a specific pillow that he cannot sleep without. Subverted, as it is later revealed that it was just an excuse to hide the blood on Sebastian's chest.
- Slouch of Villainy: He slouches when he's about to do something particularly nasty, and unless he is standing up, almost always gives orders to Sebastian exclusively in this pose. Also, he does it in almost all the official art.
- Sharp-Dressed Man
- Spoiled Brat: Sebastian certainly thinks so.
- Smart People Play Chess
- The Snark Knight
- The Stoic: Though he can get very angry, his default personality in the manga seems to be pretty stoic.
- Supernatural Is Purple: His Eyepatch of Power hides his cursed, mismatched eye that holds the symbol of his contract with Sebastian. It's purple, and glows with an eerie neon when he gives Sebastian an order.
- Sympathetic Murderer: As if you didn't want to give him a big ol' hug when he Ordered Sebastian to kill Baron Kelvin and set a bunch of kids on fire.
- Teen Genius: Although he's not a clichéd teen and appears to add up more with the Child Prodigy trope, he is in fact 13 and qualifies as a teenager.
- Those Two Bad Guys: When partnered with Sebastian.
- Trigger: Ciel suffers from PTSD because of his Dark and Troubled Past.
- Troubled but Cute
- Troubling Unchildlike Behavior
- Unable to Cry: He could cry when he was younger, but now he apparently can't. The closest he has come to since then was when his eyes got watery in chapter 34.
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Type 2 is one way to interpret his relationship with Sebastian.
- Weirdness Magnet
- Wicked Cultured
- Wise Beyond Their Years
- You Gotta Have Blue Hair
Sebastian Michaelis
Voiced by Daisuke Ono (JP) and J Michael Tatum (ENG) |
"Even though I dislike being kicked by others, I do enjoy the feeling of kicking others."
- Affably Evil: Although less so in the anime.
- Affably Evil Cat Lover
- Always Save The Kid
- Anti-Hero: Type V in the anime, Villain Protagonist in the manga.
- Antiquated Linguistics: More obvious in the original Japanese than the English versions.
- Badass
- Battle Butler: He's the trope image!
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: Has a little bit of this with Beast, though it's mostly one-sided on her part.
- Bishonen : Oh yes.
- Born Winner: It doesn't appear that he's actually done anything other than being a demon to become so awesome.
- Catch Phrase: In the dub, "I am one Hell of a butler."
- Also, some variation of, "If I didn't/wasn't (insert task here), then what kind of butler would I be?"
- "A butler who couldn't (insert highly improbable situation here) isn't worth his salt."
- The Charmer: The sex god trope listed above why he fits this trope also
- Cheshire Cat Grin: Occasionally.
- Coitus Ensues: Happens in both the anime and the manga, though in the former it was so out of the blue that it left most fans baffled.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: Sometimes performed on his/Ciel's enemies.
- Cute Little Fangs
- Cuteness Proximity: Get him close to his beloved cats, and he even ignore Ciel.
- Dark Is Evil
- Demi Human: In his human-like form, he still has Cute Little Fangs (at least in the manga), and his eyes are red or at least some rare shade of auburn.
- The fangs aren't always apparent though. They usually only show up when he's being creepy. It's possible that he can "summon" them.
- Dissonant Serenity
- The Dragon: To Ciel.
- Even the Guys Want Him:
- Evil Brit: If he can be considered British; even if he's not technically, he's good at pretending.
- Fangs Are Evil
- Fate Worse Than Death/Ironic Hell: He looked pretty darn unhappy with the fact that he'd have to serve Ciel for the rest of eternity in the anime.
- Femme Fatalons: In his demon form.
- Game Face: He shows his true form very occasionally to his and Ciel's enemies, though the actual readers have still never seen the whole thing up to this point.
- Genius Bruiser
- Gentleman Snarker: Especially apparent with his first interaction with Beast, which almost borders themes of Belligerent Sexual Tension.
- Glowing Eyes of Doom: When he is letting his demonic side closer to the surface.
- Gratuitous English: "Yes, my lord."
- Hellish Pupils: Occasionally.
- Immune to Bullets
- In-Series Nickname: "Sebas-chan" by Grell ("Bassy" in the dub, "Little Sebas" in the English manga). William never uses his name and usually simply calls him "demon" or something along the lines of "vile creature."
- Irony: Loves cats and dislikes dogs. Named after Ciel's dog.
- Though his discontent for dogs has only been stated in the anime.
- Man of Wealth and Taste
- Named After Somebody Famous: Sebastien Michaelis.
- Turns out that Ciel was naming him after his dog.
- Non-Human Sidekick
- Odd Couple: With Ciel.
- Offhand Backhand: Gave us a pretty epic one to a zombie while soaking wet on a sinking ship...no, seriously.
- The Omniscient: At least early on.
- Only Sane Man: Among the servants of Phantomhive, Sebastian is the only one that can actually get things done.
- The Perfectionist: One of his flaws is going for perfection even when it would be wiser to draw less attention.
- The Proud Elite: Suave but aloof, this demon turned butler is quite intelligent and there is very little he cannot do. Being a demon, he truly does care nothing for humans beyond their use as tools and food.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The red to Ciel's blue, especially in the anime.
- Red Right Hand: His fingernails are black even when he suppresses his other visible demon traits.
- Sarcastic Devotee
- Screw the Rules, I Have Supernatural Powers
- Servile Snarker
- Sex God: Because he's a demon disguised in the form his master ordered him to (a polite butler), Sebastian interrogates a cult member......very convincingly.
Woman: I can see the Gates of Heaven! |
- Sexy Discretion Shot: At the end of the first anime when he leans into Ciel to devour his soul. It looks as though soul-devouring requires some mouth action, but the scene just fades before he gets too close.
- Also, his sex scenes with Beast in the manga and Matilda in the anime.
- A Sinister Clue
- Slasher Smile: Occasionally.
- Snark to Snark Combat/Volleying Insults: With Claude in the second season of the anime. Their interactions usually include backhanded "compliments" and snarking about the other's butler aesthetics.
- Tall, Dark and Handsome: He fits this trope to a T.
- The Coats Are Off: He removes his tailcoat in his fight with Grell, and that's when things really get down.
- Those Two Bad Guys: When partnered with Ciel.
- Unwitting Pawn: In the final episode of Season 2, he kills Claude and escapes being bound to Alois for all of eternity only to be bound to a demonic Ciel for all of eternity.
- Villain Protagonist
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Type 2 is one way to interpret his relationship with Ciel.
- Wicked Cultured
Mey-rin
Voiced by Emiri Katou (JP) and Monica Rial (ENG) |
"A tiny mouse can run anywhere, but they are always in my sight."
- Action Girl
- Badass Adorable
- Blind Without'Em: She is farsighted, and she treasures her glasses as the first item she got from Ciel as his maid. However, when she removes them...
- Cold Sniper: As backstory.
- Curtains Match the Window
- Dojikko: Ciel, please get Maylene some new glasses.
- Meido
- Meganekko
- Ninja Maid: She's a Cold Sniper who can leap from roof to roof and go Guns Akimbo with two rifles.
- Only One Name
- Red Eyes, Take Warning
- Spell My Name with an "S": Also spelled Mei Lin/Mei Rin/Maylene/etc. Yen Press' official transliteration is Mey-rin.
- Three Amigos: With Finny and Bard.
- Yaoi Fangirl: She has a crush on Sebastian, but doesn't mind him being all over Ciel and gets huge nosebleeds at the sight.
- Zettai Ryouiki: In Sniper Mode.
Baldroy "Baldo"
Voiced by Hiroki Tochi (JP) and Ian Sinclair (ENG) |
"Cooking is an art! And art means explosions!"
- Blue Eyes
- Chef of Iron: His food isn't good mostly because he's blowing people up with it.
- Cordon Bleugh Chef: His food might taste good if he tried cooking it the right way instead of using flamethrowers.
- Gatling Good: Keeps it in the kitchen, of course.
- The Engineer: A combat type.
- Only One Name
- Spell My Name with an "S": Baldo/Bard.
- Stuff Blowing Up
- Three Amigos: With Finnian and Maylene.
Finnian "Finny"
Voiced by Yuuki Kaji (JP) and Jason Liebrecht (ENG) |
"It requires strength? Since that's the case, I might be able to do it! I wanna do it! Please allow me to do it!"
- Badass Adorable
- Blue Eyes
- Break the Cutie: In the flashbacks where he's being tortured.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass
- Cute Bruiser
- Does Not Know His Own Strength: He keeps breaking things by accident.
- Dude Looks Like a Lady
- Every Boy Is Cuter With Hair Decs
- Hair of Gold: A male example.
- Keet
- Only One Name
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Briefly, in episode 21.
- Spell My Name with an "S": Some call him "Phinnian" as well...
- Three Amigos: With Bard and Maylene.
- They Would Cut You Up: His Super Strength comes from surviving human experiments.
Tanaka
Voiced by Shunji Fujimura (JP) and R. Bruce Elliot (ENG) |
"Ho ho ho."
- Badass Grandpa: With a touch of Dissonant Serenity.
- Cool Old Guy: The only reason Sebastian tolerates him. That and he doesn't get in the way.
- Only One Name
Elizabeth "Lizzy" Midford
Voiced by Yukari Tamura (JP) and Cherami Leigh (ENG) |
"He finally returned to the mansion, but he wasn’t able to laugh anymore. I love Ciel. I love Ciel’s smile. Why is it as though we always seem to end up going in circles? How can I bring back his smile?"
- Action Girlfriend: Never saw that coming, huh?
- Arranged Marriage: In one of the beginning chapters he says that he was forced to marry her and does not really want to. He does seem care for her, though.
- Perfectly Arranged Marriage: Well, not perfectly, but he does seem to have warmed up to the idea some more.
- Lizzie herself also seems quite happy about this.
- Perfectly Arranged Marriage: Well, not perfectly, but he does seem to have warmed up to the idea some more.
- Ascended Extra: Before the current arc, she had only appeared in about 5 chapters.
- Badass Adorable / Cute Bruiser / Badass Damsel: We were all shocked.
- Badass Family: Including her, too.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Take our word for it.
- Big Brother Instinct: Her older brother Edward seems to have this going for her.
- Cat Smile
- Distressed Damsel
- Deliberately Distressed Damsel: In the manga, she's actually a Little Miss Badass. She thought Ciel wouldn't like her enough if she was too "brash and uncute", so she didn't use her swordmanship skills until there was no choice.
- Could also be a deconstruction of the Deliberately Distressed Damsel trope. Unlike most girls that fit this trope, it's all for the sake of her beloved, and not because she simply likes being rescued. It also shows that Lizzie actually had to sacrifice a few things in order to maintain Ciel's pride, and it harmed her self-esteem badly.
- Elegant Sweet Lolita: Unsurprising, given the time period.
- Fridge Brilliance: Granted Elizabeth's mother Frances knows that Ciel will protect Elizabeth at all costs, but she is also aware that Ciel is not all that skilled in combat. Just why was she so sure of her daughter's survival? Because her daughter is just as skilled in swordsmanship as the rest of her family and thereby is perfectly capable of handling herself.
- Also, the fact that Lizzie hid her Lady of War side due to fearing he'd see her as "uncute" or "brash" ? Makes more sense when you recall this is Victorian Britain, thus a female who didn't behave like a Proper Lady would be more often than not ostrasized by others, if not thrown into an asylum. While it's unlikely that the Midfords would let her be locked away, she would still be looked down something fierce by others.
- Genki Girl
- Girlish Pigtails
- Mega Twintails: That hairstyle can't possibly be achieved in real life without lots of curlers and hair gel. As Lizzie's hair seems to be naturally straight, looks like it's not possible without curlers for her, as well.
- The Glomp: She never hesitates at a chance to glomp Ciel.
- Green Eyes
- Hair of Gold
- Hidden Depths: Elizabeth is actually quite the accomplished swordswoman.
- Hot Chick with a Sword
- Dual-Wielding: Two swords, actually.
- Kicking Ass in All Her Finery: When fighting zombies.
- Kissing Cousins: She and Ciel are cousins. Not that this was unusual for this time period.
- Lady of War / Little Miss Badass So badass that when Grell was about to make an entrance, sweet Lizzie pointed a sword at her and glared at the Shinigami.
- Locked Out of the Loop: With most things regarding Ciel. Like what happened during the month he was kidnapped or even the fact that he has asthma. Ciel probably keeps these things from her in order to not worry her but now she's starting to get suspicious.
- Love Martyr: For Ciel. Most of the stunts she pulls are only for Ciel's happiness.
- Master Swordsman
- Morality Chain: Her entire reason for existence seems to be keeping Ciel from falling into the abyss.
- It's lampshaded in chapter 58 she even states that her goal was to be a wife Ciel could protect. Then she changes this so she could protect Ciel.
- Naive Everygirl: You wish she was this.
- No Guy Wants an Amazon: The reason she wasn't fighting was because when they were little, young Ciel was afraid of Lizzy's mother and her harsh personality, and was glad he was marrying Lizzy. This made Lizzy feel that if she were to show her sword-fighting side, Ciel wouldn't like her.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: She's not so harmless after all.
- Overly Long Name: Elizabeth Ethel Cordelia Midford is her full name in the anime. Not that that was unusual for that time period either.
- Plucky Girl
- Regal Ringlets: Though the manga seems to indicate these aren't natural and are the way she chooses to style her hair.
- Shallow Love Interest: Subverted hard. She's quite the accomplished Action Girl; she just doesn't want to show that side often in front of Ciel, fearing he may dislike her should she do so.
- Silk Hiding Steel: More like Sugar Hiding Steel.
- Skewed Priorities: Lizzie, honey, the cake is not that important, especially when your fiancé has a gun out and there are zombies running about. Really.
- Neither is the cute dress or the cute demeanour as a whole. Ciel briefly chastises her for this, which shortly leads into Character Development and Took a Level In Badass for Elizabeth.
- Spoiled Sweet: She's used to getting what she wants but, for the most part, isn't a bad person for it.
- She does seem to be getting better at it, though. Even more now that she decided to not hide her Little Miss Badass side anymore.
- Stepford Smiler: As seen from chapter 66, she keeps most of her fears and worries regarding Ciel to herself.
- Unfazed Everyman: One of the few genuinely normal people that Ciel knows.
- Violently Protective Girlfriend: In the manga.
Angelina "Madame Red" Durless
Voiced by Romi Park (JP) and Lydia Mackay (ENG) |
"I used to hate my red hair that was just like my father's. I used to hate red."
- All Women Are Lustful: At any rate, she certainly enjoys male attention.
- Anti-Villain: She does some monstrous things, but it's pretty hard not to have sympathy for her.
- Break the Cutie: She was quite cute growing up...but then things got bad...really bad. See It Got Worse below.
- Broken Bird
- But Your Wings Are Beautiful: Initially hated her signature red hair.
- Cannot Tell a Joke
- Christmas Cake
- Curtains Match the Window
- Evil Redhead: More like very broken redhead, though.
- The Fashionista
- Fiery Redhead
- The Glorious War of Sisterly Rivalry: Envied her older sister for being lucky enough to attract the eye of Earl Phantomhive.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Envied the pregnant prostitutes who came to her clinic for abortions...so she killed them.
- Hidden Depths: Ooh boy.
- Hospital Hottie
- I Am Not Pretty: She did believe her red hair was ugly.
- Important Bob Haircut: She used to have longer hair before she started killing people.
- It Got Worse: Wow. The love of her life marries her older sister, though Red still manages to marry a good and loving Nice Guy anyway. Then, after getting her medical license, her husband and unborn child are killed and she has to have a hysterectomy. She then loses both her sister and the love of her life in a fire. After all of this, she gives abortions to prostitutes. Jealous of the pregnancies they can't keep or don't want, she begins killing them, which is where Grell steps in. However, when faced with more or less getting away with her murders so long as Grell keeps Sebastian busy and she murders Ciel, poor Red can't bring herself to kill her nephew "who was like a son to her"... and is promptly chainsawed by Grell.
- Which also involves a minor, but surprising, case of hopefully is what Did Not Do the Research. Abortions at the time were illegal in England, in large part because the procedure itself was highly unsafe for the mother--to the point where one textbook flat-out advises doctors to consider the procedure attempted murder of her. If she didn't want to perform them...
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: She tried to convinced herself that she was happy as long as Vincent and Rachel were happy. Her husband might qualify too as he didn't mind her having feelings for someone else.
- Jack the Ripper
- Lady in Red: Duh.
- Like a Son to Me: Ciel. This saves Ciel's life, actually. And costs her her own life.
- Mad Doctor
- Obfuscating Stupidity
- Precocious Crush: On Lord Phantomhive, who would go on to marry her sister.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Subverted in that she's pretty harmless and truly loves her nephew. Double Subversion when you find out whoe she really is.
- Shrinking Violet: When she was younger.
- Stepford Smiler
Grell Sutcliff
Voiced by Jun Fukuyama (JP) and Daniel Fredrick (ENG) |
"Even if I'm like this, I'm still the butler of death!"
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: All the guys she seems to like. She even says that Ronald, who follows the rules and listens to his superiors, is not her type.
- Ambiguous Gender: There's still discussion among fans on whether or not she's a transsexual or just flamboyant gay, though this now counts as Fanon Discontinuity as Word of God has confirmed her to be a transsexual. Because both Grell herself and the creator use "she" and "her" when referring to the character, female pronouns will be used here.
- For any doubts, check "Grell's Confessional". Made by Yana Toboso herself. She's a pre-op.
- Badass Long Hair / Badass Longcoat: The long coat in question being the coat she took from Madam Red as she died.
- Best Her to Bed Her: Possibly. The men she falls the hardest for are the men who have beaten her in a fight.
- Arguably, this is why she fell for William T. Spears in the first place!
- Blind Without'Em: Apparently it's a shinigami trait.
- Camp Gay: Subverted; she is a transwoman. Still comes off as camp gay to those who don't know about the whole transsexual thing, though.
- Even if you ignore that Grell is transsexual, it's heavily implied that she was romantically involved with Madam Red..
- Chainsaw Good: Yes, in Victorian Era England.
- Cheshire Cat Grin: This seems to be a popular trope for the characters of this series, but now Grell can especially fit it, seeing as how she's portraying the Cheshire Cat in the Alice In Wonderland-inspired OVA.
- Combat Sadomasochist
- Combat Stilettos: Wears women's boots, unsurprisingly.
- Cross-Dressing Voices: Subverted for obvious reasons.
- Dark Action Girl: She considers herself one, anyway.
- Hot Chick with a Sword: This, too.
- Depraved Bisexual: She actually did fall in love with Madam Red, so she could be considered bisexual.
- She could be pansexual. It seems she just likes cruel people.
- Drag Queen: Semi-subverted. She behaves and dresses like one all the time - not just as an act.
- Evil Is Stylish
- Evil Redhead
- Fangs Are Evil
- Friendly Enemy: When it comes to Sebastian, at least. Although apparently she thinks it's more complicated than that.
- Green Eyes / Eyes of Gold: Somehow both at the same time. Seems to be a shinigami trait.
- In Love with Your Carnage: This was likely the reason she fell in love with Madame Red and Sebastian in the first place.
- Interplay of Sex and Violence: With Sebastian, and William in the Shinigami OVA.
- Jack the Ripper: She's at least one half of "Jack The Ripper", being Madam Red's accomplice in murdering the prostitutes.
- Jerkass Dissonance: Most fans seem to completely ignore her ruthless and sadistic streak and tend to portray her as something completely different.
- Long Hair Is Feminine
- Love At First Punch: Sebastian. (And Will too, for this one. It seems she likes them both for the cold shoulders they give her. And the bruises.)
- Mad Love
- Meaningful Name/Partially Named After Somebody Famous: She shares a surname with the original Jack the Ripoff.
- Psycho for Hire
- Put on a Bus: In the manga. She reappears about 50 chapters later on the Campania.
- Rapunzel Hair
- Shinigami
- Sissy Villain: Only in the anime, in the manga, she's rather vicious, especially if you harm her face.
- Slasher Smile
- Transsexual: Part of what attracted her to Madame Red was that she was taking out her frustrations at being barren - since Grell has a man's body, she can't give birth either, so they had a common cause.
- Trans Equals Gay: Played straight; back when she identified as a man she had feelings for Madame Red, but after identifying as a women she became attracted to men (especially Sebastian) and adopted many mannerisms that would otherwise be considered Camp Gay. Of course, it isn't portrayed very offensively.
- Weapon of Choice: The chainsaw she uses as her Death Scythe... even though it got taken away in the anime and replaced with scissors. As a result, she was mostly reduced to comic relief since. She got it back in season 2, though.
Undertaker
Voiced by Junichi Suwabe (JP) and John Swasey (ENG) |
"Because you hold great power, you gradually fail to understand the importance of things that cannot be recovered. You will realize once it's too late."
- Badass Long Robe: Full of grave markers that may as well be spears.
- Badass Preacher: Well, if said priest was also a J-Rocker. He's wearing the collar in any case.
- Sinister Minister, then too.
- Blinding Bangs: Though in the anime, Grell does brush them aside to find What Beautiful Eyes! he has.
- In the manga, though, Grelle noticing his eyes causes her to realize immediately he's a rogue shinigami; apparently they all have the same kind of eyes, but he's not wearing any glasses!
- Beautiful All Along: In chapter 59 of the manga he finally sweps his hair back and reveals himself as one hell of a Bishonen. Cue the fangirls squee, of course.
- Bishonen: See above. Were you really surprised?
- Cheshire Cat Grin
- The Creepy Undertaker
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep"
- For the Evulz: Morbid laughs are the only reason he does anything; in most settings, this would be classified as It Amused Me, but given the Black and Black Morality of the setting and the fact The Undertaker is responsible for the zombie outbreak going on just because he thought it'd be funny to see what happened if he helped an idiot scientist reanimate corpses, the Undertaker's amusement can be seen in a rather negative light.
- Green Eyes / Eyes of Gold
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: It's as if his skull's had to have been stitched back together... and maybe it has.
- Knowledge Broker
- Long-Haired Pretty Boy: Maybe not necessarily when he's dressed the way he usually does, but definitely when he's in shinigami form. So much so that when Grell saw what his face really looked like, she was completely enamored by his looks.
- Name's the Same: Three words "REST IN PEACE"
- Necromancer: In the manga with his Night of the Living Mooks.
- Nice Hat
- Nightmare Fetishist: Quite a few different examples, including cooing over how nice a corpse looks with its cuts and allowing Grell to bury him in epsom salts and smiling about the sensation of moisture leaving his body. Justified in that he's a Shinigami in the anime, and later in the manga, as well.
- Nigh Invulnerable: He got attacked by Grell's chainsaw Death Scythe but he blocked it..
- No Sense of Personal Space: He tends to get a little too close for Ciel's comfort.
- Not-So-Harmless Villain: A ton of recently murdered (read: eaten) ship passengers should drive the point home.
- And he took on Grelle, Ronald, and Sebastian at the same time and won effortlessly.
- Perky Goth
- Shinigami: In the anime, and later, the manga.
- Interestingly, in the former, he's a retired and highly respected ex-shinigami, while in the latter, he's just been revealed to be a renegade shinigami; apparently the fact he alone of the Shinigami we've seen so far doesn't wear glasses is a very bad sign.
- Sinister Scythe: So far, the only Shinigami to use a real scythe. Decorated with bones, Absurdly Sharp Blade and all.
- Take Our Word for It: We never find out what Sebastian did to make Undertaker laugh.
- Too Kinky to Torture: Again, only in the anime.
- Took a Level In Jerkass: In the manga (chapter 60 onwards), he reveals himself to be much nastier than the slightly creepy Perky Goth everyone was used to, to the point in chapter 61 he stabs Sebastian in the gut with his scythe. His plan, which he explains in chapter 60, isn't a nice thing either.
- Undertaker: Uh… yeah.
- What Beautiful Eyes!: Finally reveals them in chapter 59.
- White-Haired Pretty Boy
- Yandere: Possibly for Ciel if his willingness to kill Sebastian for Ciel is any indication.
Lau
Voiced by Kôji Yusa (JP) and Jerry Jewell (ENG) |
"Even if you step toward a place from which you can't return, you choose not to reveal your screaming for help to other people, eh?"
- Beware the Silly Ones
- Curtains Match the Window
- Eyes Always Shut
- Handsome Lech: Almost always seen with Ran-Mao in his lap… and occasionally hitting on Ciel.
- Only One Name
- Opium Den: Lau's occupation.
- Pretty Freeloader: He's made numerous appearances despite Ciel only requesting his service a couple of times.
- Psychotic Smirk
- Stereotypes of Chinese People
Ran-Mao
Voiced by Sayuri Yahagi (JP) and Trina Nishimura (ENG) |
"Glad... you're safe."
- Anime Chinese Girl
- Beware the Silly Ones
- Braids of Action
- Cute Bruiser: She's primarily Lau's lap dog, but she's proven a fairly dangerous assassin.
- Cute Mute
- Dandere: For Lau.
- Dual-Wielding: She carries two ornamental clubs.
- Eyes of Gold
- Little Miss Badass
- Mini-Dress of Power
- Odango: Shaped like cat ears. Yeahhh...
- Only One Name
- Spell My Name with an "S": Lan Mao vs. Ran Mao.
- The Quiet One
- The Stoic
- Zettai Ryouiki
William T. Spears
Voiced by Noriaki Sugiyama (JP) and Barry Yandell (ENG) |
"If you interfere, I'll reap you."
- Adjusting Your Glasses: All the time, usually with the pointy end of his death scythe.
- Badass: The artbook implies he even has "strength equal to Sebastian."
- Badass in a Nice Suit: Also fits the other Death Gods (with the exception of Grell).
- Bishonen: While he's more handsome than pretty now, he certainly fit this trope when he was younger.
- Blind Without'Em: There are some amusing side effects when he loses his glasses.
- The Comically Serious
- Green Eyes / Eyes of Gold
- Improbable Weapon: A pruning pole.
- Jerkass: The manner in which he treats his fellow reapers leaves something to be desired.
- He also doesn't take too kindly to Ciel or Sebastian.
- Mean Boss: There is nothing redeemable about a boss who stomps on the faces of his lowerclassmen.
- Mysterious Middle Initial
- Only Sane Man: Among the Shinigami, though he is quite quirky...
- Perpetual Frowner: The only time we ever see him laugh (or even smile, at that) is in the Ciel in Wonderland OVA. Theoretically, you'd think it to be a charming moment, but...
- Romanticized Abuse: For the most part, this is only in the anime. The more William beats Grell up the more the fangirls Squee.
- In the anime, Grell apparently fell in love with him because of it.
- Scary Shiny Glasses: Played for intimidation, mostly when Grell is involved.
- Serious Business
- Shinigami
- Stoic Spectacles
- Surrounded by Idiots
- Tall, Dark and Handsome
- Tall, Dark and Snarky
Ronald Knox
Voiced by KENN (JP), Joel McDonald (ENG) |
"From the start, I've never been one to do overtime."
- Badass in a Nice Suit
- Blind Without'Em: Apparently, all the Shinigami are ridiculously near-sighted, for whatever reason.
- Bumbling Sidekick: Subverted; he's semi-competent but seems to depend on advice from Grell and William.
- Chivalrous Pervert
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass
- Green Eyes / Eyes of Gold
- Handsome Lech
- Idiot Hair
- Improbable Weapon: A lawn mower.
- Multicolored Hair
- Reckless Sidekick: He jumps headfirst into a fight between Sebastian and William... and ends up almost hitting both of them.
- Share Phrase: Attempted in the anime, when he tries to use a variant on Grell's Catch Phrase. It doesn't work too well.
- Shinigami
Soma Asman Kadar
Voiced by Shinnosuke Tachibana (JP) and Chris Ayres (ENG) |
"From now on, I want to try and learn all sorts of things. And someday, I'll become a great man who won't lose to anyone and show you!"
- Bishonen
- Break the Cutie
- Eyes of Gold
- Heterosexual Life Partners: He and Agni care deeply about each other, they are always together.
- Keet
- Spoiled Sweet: A bit self-centered, but a genuinely good guy.
- The White Prince
- Trademark Favorite Food: He loves curry.
- Those Two Guys: When partnered with Agni.
- You Gotta Have Purple Hair
Agni
Voiced by Hiroki Yasumoto (JP) and Patrick Seitz (ENG) |
"It's for my master to be bright and healthy that I would risk my life. Isn't that what you would call a butler's aesthetics?!"
- Battle Butler
- Bishonen
- Charles Atlas Superpower
- Chef of Iron: Also, a Supreme Chef.
- Curtains Match the Window
- Dark-Skinned Blond
- Happiness in Slavery
- Heterosexual Life Partners: He and Soma care deeply about each other, they are always together.
- I Owe You My Life: Towards Soma.
- Only One Name
- Proper Lady: A male version.
- Tears of Blood
- Those Two Guys: When partnered with Soma.
- Undying Loyalty
Fred Abberline
Voiced by Hisayoshi Suganuma (JP) and Jonathan Brooks (ENG) |
- Friend to All Children: He feels sorry for Ciel because he's a burdened child.
- Go Out with a Smile: In the anime.
- Heroic Sacrifice: See just above.
- Named After Somebody Famous: Or rather, is someone famous.
- Nice Guy
Paula
Voiced by Yui Itsuki (JP) and Jessica Cavanagh (ENG) |
- Canon Immigrant: Originally an anime-only character, she later makes multiple appearances in Lizzie's flashbacks in chapter 58 of the manga and still later comes to the cricket game with Elizabeth.
- Catch Phrase: "Jingle jingle!"
- Curtains Match the Window: Paula has brown eyes and hair.
- Meido: She works as Elizabeth's personal maid.
- So Unfunny It's Funny: Her attempts at cheering Lizzie up in the anime are very awkward, but endearing.
Queen Victoria
Voiced by Ayako Kawasumi (JP), (young) Alexis Tipton (ENG) and (old) Bridgett Dahl (ENG) |
"ALLLBEERTT!! I wish you were here today too!!!"
- Affectionate Nickname: She enjoys calling Ciel "boy", much to his embarrassment.
- Cool Old Lady: In the manga.
- Dynamic Entry: In the manga, she arrived at the curry cooking competition on horseback.
- Friend to All Children: She has a particular soft spot towards children, calling them "the future".
- Historical In-Joke: In the manga, Queen Victoria has the occasional fit of tears that can be only alleviated by a servant (John Brown) with a Prince Albert puppet.
- Widow Woman
- Yandere: In the anime.
Anime-Only Characters
Angela Blanc/Ash Landers
Voiced by Akiko Yajima/Satoshi Hino (JP) and Colleen Clinkenbeard/Chuck Huber (ENG) |
- All Women Are Lustful
- Angelic Beauty
- Battle Butler
- Cool Sword
- Fallen Angel
- Gender Bender
- Holier Than Thou
- Knight Templar
- Kill It with Fire
- Light Is Not Good
- Man Behind the Man
- Meaningful Name: Blanc is French for white. Nice name for someone obsessed by purity.
- Meido
- Moral Myopia
- Our Angels Are Different
- Perpetual Molt
- Purple Eyes
- Retconjuration: Comes with being an angel.
- Whip It Good
- White-Haired Pretty Boy
- White-Haired Pretty Girl
- Winged Humanoid
- Woman in White: Occasionally.
- Wounded Gazelle Gambit
Pluto
Voiced by Takafumi Yamaguchi (JP) and Z. Charles Bolton (ENG) |
- Big Friendly Dog: In a manner of speaking.
- The Brute: Pluto is this To Ash/Angela.
- Dogs Are Dumb
- Hell Hound: Seems like the Hunter type.
- Innocent Fanservice Boy
- Naked on Arrival
- Playing with Fire: Especially when commanded by Ash/Angela.
- They Have the Scent: Used to track Lizzie when Drocell had her.
- White-Haired Pretty Boy
Alois Trancy
Voiced by Nana Mizuki (JP) and Luci Christian (ENG) |
"They should all die! All of them! Everything, completely annihilated!"
- A Boy and His X: A boy and his demon butler.
- Agent Peacock: Dangerous and camp.
- Ambiguously Gay: The only thing keeping it ambiguous is... nothing, actually. He rivals Grell himself in terms of overall flirtatious camp. Much creepier, though.
- Not very ambiguous at all anymore, after the scenes in episode 5 of season 2 when he licked Ciel's ear, then later on told him that he "wanted him". Or how in episode 8 he practically confessed his love to Claude and tells Claude in episode 11 "I wanted your love."
- His overly-sexualized behavior could be a mirror to Ciel's own Hates Being Touched and, like Ciel, is a result of his abuse.
- Animal Motifs: Apparently the Trancy clan has been long associated with spiders, and Alois himself has had quite a few What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic scenes with spiders and webs.
- His contract mark even looks a bit like a spiderweb.
- Aristocrats Are Evil
- Ax Crazy: Oh dear, was that your eye? That's what you get for... looking at me?
- His behavior/actions in general are rather Ax Crazy.
- Badass Adorable
- Bishonen: Being a year older than Ciel, he could qualify for either trope.
- Bodyguard Betrayal: In episode 8, Claude betrays him.
- Bodyguard Crush
- Break the Cutie
- Blond Guys Are Evil
- Blue Eyes
- Cannot Spit It Out: By this point it is pretty obvious he is in love with Claude. However, even right before Claude kills him, he still never directly says that he loves him.
- Averted in episode 11.
- The Chessmaster
- Creepy Child: Much more so than Ciel.
- Cute and Psycho: And holy goddamned shit HOW!
- Possibly Yandere for Claude - see Love Makes You Evil.
- Dark and Troubled Past: His whole village was killed, including the only person he cared about at the time (Luca, who supposedly was his brother, although it is unknown whether they were blood-related or not). He was then taken and used as a sex slave for the head of the Trancy manor. Then he met Claude.
- Dead Little Sister: Brother, actually, and the driving force behind Alois' autophobia.
- Deal with the Devil: With Claude. It doesn't end well for Alois.
- And again with Hannah.
- Decoy Protagonist
- Depraved Homosexual: Rape and Switch, possibly.
- Desperately Craves Affection
- Doomed Hometown
- Dying Alone: Even more of a Tear Jerker due to the fact that it was Claude, the only person he seemed to care about, who killed him.
- Et Tu, Brute?: At the end of episode 8, Claude offs him before their contract was even complete. Then again, the fact that he didn't save him from getting stabbed by Ciel earlier could also fit this trope.
- Evil Brit: This takes place in Britain after all.
- Expy: Ladies and Gentlemen, Lio Shirazumi's equally depraved 14-year old son! I mean, think about it. These two look rather similar, blonde hair and all, they crossdress, and have... disturbing fetishes... with Shiki Ryougi/Ciel Phantomhive to the point where they even start licking them and comparing themselves to them. And they threaten their Morality Pet loved ones (Mikiya Kokutou/Elizabeth Midford) and practically have horrid backstories that make you feel bad for them until...
- If you subtrackt the licking, Lio and Alois may both be expies of Johan Liebert.
- Eye Scream: Performed on an undeserving maid. With his fingers. To impress Claude, apparently.
- Foil: Of Ciel.
- Forgiveness: It's implied that he was able to forgive Claude that the latter killed him, as Hannah mentioned that she, Claude, Alois and Luca can all be together in nirvana.
- Freudian Excuse: His foster family died in front of him, from unknown supernatural means, including his adoptive brother and only friend. When he was delivered back to his father after a life of what could be equated to slavery, the man raped and beat him.
- So it seems. However, in episode 8, his true backstory is revealed: he is really an orphan named Jim Macken. In his childhood, he and his younger brother Luca got by as thieves. After all the people in his village mysteriously died (including Luca), he was sent to the Trancy household to be a sex slave. This is where he formed a contract with Claude, and inherited the Trancy household fortune by using Claude to off old man Trancy and declaring himself heir.
- I Just Want to Be Loved: An evil variation. It gets so bad that eventually he doesn't care whether it's Claude, and sells his soul to Hannah instead because she was pretty much the first person since Luca to earnestly say "I love you".
- I Owe You My Life: Subverted. He would owe Claude his life, in a very literal sense (as with Ciel towards Sebastian), except that Claude killed him in episode 8. However, he came back to life in episode 10, but it is unclear if he still has a contract with Claude, and therefore it is also unclear if he still owes him his life.
- Kill the Cutie
- Leitmotif: The Slightly Chipped Full Moon and its variations.
- Love Makes You Evil: Poking out Hannah's eye...to impress Claude, apparently.
- Man of Wealth and Taste
- Naked on Arrival
- No Sense of Personal Space
- Nouveau Riche: He flaunts his money and doesn't rally seem to care, as seen by the first episode when he tosses bills and bills of money down to his "uncle".
- Please Don't Leave Me: Performed on Claude. Claude still killed him.
- Rags to Riches
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Red Oni to Claude's Blue Oni. Can also be considered the Red Oni to Ciel's Blue Oni.
- Royal Brat
- Secret Identity: Jim Macken.
- Sex Slave: Used to be one to the late Earl Trancy.
- Sissy Villain
- Stepford Smiler: Type C.
- Those Two Bad Guys: When partnered with Claude.
- Together in Death: He, Luca, Claude, and Hannah. Somehow.
- Troubled but Cute
- Troubling Unchildlike Behavior
- Villainous Crossdresser: Did this at one point to taunt Ciel
- Villainous Fashion Sense
- Who Wears Short Shorts?: His "Booty Shorts" have pretty much reached memetic status by now.
- Yandere: For Claude after Character Development.
- Zettai Ryouiki: Grade A.
Claude Faustus
Voiced by Takahiro Sakurai (JP) and Jason Douglas (ENG) |
"Passion to calm, hesitation to resolve, love to gravestones. That is the Trancy butler."
- Cheshire Cat Grin
- Cool Sword: The Demon Sword Laevatein, which he stores inside Hannah.
- Decoy Protagonist
- Demi Human: Like Sebastian, in his human form he has Cute Little Fangs. Also, his eyes are yellow/gold.
- Dragon with an Agenda: He doesn't care about fulfilling Alois's goals; he just wants Ciel's soul.
- Evil Brit: If he can count as one.
- Eyes of Gold
- Though sometimes they glow red.
- Fangs Are Evil
- Four Eyes, Zero Soul
- The Glasses Come Off
- Gratuitous English: "Yes, your highness."
- Hellish Pupils: Occasionally.
- Jackass Butler
- Taken Up to Eleven with his behavior towards Hannah in the Trancy OVA.
- Man of Wealth and Taste
- Mind Rape: After he killed Alois, Claude abducted Ciel, drugged him, practically drowned him, and overall completely screwed with his mental state to the point of semi-hypnotism to accomplish his goals.
- Meaningful Name: Claude Faustus.
- The Oathbreaker: Sorry, Alois.
- Real Men Wear Pink: He's got a real talent for crocheting, as episode 9 of the season 2 shows. Though that may be playing with the fact that he's a spider demon.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Blue Oni to Alois's Red Oni.
- Stoic Spectacles
- The Un-Smile: He smiles at the beginning of episode 8, shocking and disgusting Alois.
- Those Two Bad Guys: When partnered with Alois.
Hannah Annafellows
Voiced by Aya Hirano (JP) and Caitlin Glass (ENG) |
- Absolute Cleavage
- Affably Evil
- Ambiguously Brown
- Bag of Holding/Hyperspace Arsenal : She IS one.
- Barehanded Blade Block: Against a freaking chainsaw, no less. Justified by the fact that she's a demon.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: one of the two reasons she becomes attached to Luka. Hannah notes that he was genuinely excited that she appeared to him to grant his wish and that, upon his death, he was the first soul to have ever expressed gratitude towards her for granting their wish. She was mournful in his death.
- Benevolent Boss: It is revealed in "Crossroads Butler" that the triplets actually serve Hannah when we see them groom her and assist her burning down Luka's and Alois' village in a flashback. In "Spider's Intentions", she is shown treating them gently, placing flowers in their hair, with the triplets seeming quite fond of her preferring her over Claude.
- Body Horror: In episode 10, she opens her mouth disgustingly wide to give Ciel a look at Alois' eye that she stole, which stares back at him from seemingly an abyss inside her.
- Butt Monkey
- Clothing Damage: A lot.
- Expy: Arguably, of Angela. Both have white hair, look vulnerable at first, are actually stronger than they look and very manipulative and have crossed the limits of their own species (one is a Fallen Angel and the other is a demon with feelings).
- Eye Scream: The unfortunate(?) victim.
- Then she redirects it by swallowing Alois's eye and keeping it in the back of her mouth so his soul can use it to take over Ciel's body.
- Fan Service: Although to some, with the amount of eroguro that she becomes involved with, it could be Fan Disservice.
- Girl with Psycho Weapon: Even worse than the giant gun she keeps hidden somewhere is the massive sword she keeps literally inside her.
- Go-Go Enslavement
- Love Martyr: It pays off in the end though.
- Mad Love: For Alois. No matter how much he hurts her, she wouldn't think of leaving him, since she absorbed Luca's love for him.
- Ninja Maid
- Not-So-Harmless Villain: While we were all busy feeling sorry for the poor girl with one eye, she went and Out-Gambitted everybody in the show by having Alois' soul take over Ciel's body. Then she took both Ciel's and Alois's souls, forcing Sebastian and Claude into a duel over the former's, before making Ciel into a demon so that they both lose anyway.
- The Reveal: Hannah was the one who made the contract that took Luca's soul, and she came to serve him alongside Claude because she and Luca both wanted to be near Alois.
- Spell My Name with an "S": Depending on the subs, it's either "Anafeloz" or "Annafellows".
- Tears From a Stone: Demons aren't exactly emotionless but you do not make one cry easily.
- Trouser Space: Where she seems to store a... rather large machine gun.
- What Is This Thing You Call Love?: Hannah was a typical, uncaring demon until she was summoned by Luca. His naivety and selfless reason for selling his soul shook her immensely, to the point where she became Alois's servant just to be close to him for Luca's soul.
- White-Haired Pretty Girl
- You Gotta Have Blue Hair
- Your Soul Is Mine: In the end, SHE ends up with Luca AND Alois' souls. They're pleased.
Thompson, Timber, and Canturbury
Voiced by Kenichi Suzumura (JP) and Scott Freeman (ENG) |
"None of your business."
"My cowlick spins to the left."
"My cowlick spins to the right."
- Buxom Is Better: In their opinions, anyway.
- Cute Mutes
- He Who Must Not Be Heard: Until the OVA, when Alois demands that they speak up.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning
- Theme Naming: English writers, it seems.
Luca Macken
Voiced by Marina Inoue (JP) and Lindsay Seidel (ENG) |
"I made a contract with a demon!"
- Ambiguous Innocence: Between dead parents and needing to steal to live, Luca apparently never realized that, well... summoning demons to kill people is wrong.
- Also, in Spider's Intention, there was a moment where Luka was showing Hannah the swing where he and his brother regularly swung from, and telling her how amazing he is at it. While telling her, he sees two boys, presumably the two who harrassed him in the main season play on the swingset prompting him to ask if they'll be annihilated along with the village later on.
- Big Brother Worship: Adores his brother Jim.
- Big Brother Instinct: Or in his case, Little Brother Instinct. He summons Hannah for the sake of Jim.
- This also serves as the second reason Hannah becomes attached to Luka.
- Cheerful Child
- Children Are Innocent: One of the series' few emotionally innocent children.
- Creepy Child: Being rather pleased that your Deal with the Devil killed a village is weird.
- Deal with the Devil: He was the one who summoned Hannah.
- Death by Falling Over: As far as Jim knows.
- Go Out with a Smile: Hannah reminisces that he was the first person who had ever been genuinely HAPPY to see her.
- Keet
- Meaningful Echo: "Yes, your highness."
- Not-So-Harmless Villain: He remains an innocent child until the end, but that causes one to wonder just how he contracted Hannah.
Drocell Keinz
Voiced by Anri Katsu (JP) and Sonny Strait (ENG) |
"Therefore, I reason for a superior present to be given to a very dear person, the most suitable thing would be your very self."
- Affably Evil
- Creepy Doll
- Evil Redhead
- Ironic Nursery Tune: He changes the lyrics in My Fair Lady, more commonly known as London Bridge Is Falling Down, to whatever he plans to use in the creation of their doll. It also controls the dolls he's already made.
- This is actually based on a longer version of the song, in which the bridge is rebuilt with the different materials he uses for dolls, but they all fail to stay up somehow
- Perverse Puppet: He makes dolls based on real people and uses them to fight. He also happens to be one himself.
- Marionette Master
- Purple Eyes
- Razor Floss: Deals with someone with this.
- Undying Loyalty: Drocell's devotion to his master is absolute, even when Sebastian splits his head open and spills the straw filling his head. He still gets up to report on the intruders and his own failure before collapsing dead.
- Sebastian: "Perhapse I judged him too hastily. He may well be, one hell of a butler."
Matilda Simmons
Voiced by: Ao Takahashi (JP), Leah Clark (EN) |
- It's Not Rape If You Enjoyed It
- Nun-Too-Holy: Though not exactly by choice.
Manga-Only Characters
Frances Midford
- Lady of War
- Proper Lady: Despite her intimidating personality.
- Royal Rapier
- Master Swordsman: She is a brilliant fencer.
Freckles/Doll
"There's a long life o' circus ahead o' you!"
- Anti-Villain
- Berserk Button: When she finds out that Ciel and Sebastian were the ones who killed the circus crew, she immediately tries to attack them.
- Berserker Tears: When she tries to attack Ciel and Sebastian.
- Bifauxnen: Freckles and Doll are the same person.
- Break the Cutie: When Ciel tells her that he killed the rest of the circus crew.
- Dark and Troubled Past: It hints that all of the circus members have this.
- Dropped a Bridget On Him: Towards Ciel.
- Keet: Actually, a Genki Girl.
- Kill the Cutie: After she found out that Ciel and Sebastian had killed the rest of the circus crew, she tried to attack them. The attempt failed.
- Love Makes You Evil: Love for her "father" and siblings causes her to follow his orders and kidnap children in order for their bones to be used for prosthetic limbs. Most of the other circus crew members do this as well.
- Only One Name
- Parental Abandonment
- Peek-a-Bangs: Covers the part of her face which is deformed, mainly her eye.
- She Cleans Up Nicely: Doll is incredibly elegant.
- This Is Unforgivable!: Her reaction when she found out that it was Ciel and Sebastian who had killed the rest of the circus crew.
- Utopia Justifies the Means
Joker
"We decided to protect our most precious thing. For that, we will do anything."
- Above Good and Evil: He didn't care what he had to do, as long as he thought it would save the other children.
- All Love Is Unrequited: Beast seems to feel differently about Joker than he does about her.
- An Arm and a Leg: Is implied in the manga.
"If I still had my right arm, I'd let you on my back, but…" |
- Anti-Villain
- Artificial Limbs: His arm. Made of children's bones.
- Beneath the Mask: Has two of these- the goofball, and the stoic.
- Brother-Sister Incest: With Beast(seemingly one-sided on her part), although they're not actually related.
- Cute Little Fangs
- Dark and Troubled Past: It hints that all of the circus members have this.
- Distinctive Appearance
- Evil Redhead: Even though he wasn't really evil.
- Fiery Redhead: Subverted, as he only acts outgoing to the general public.
- Flaw Exploitation: Applied by Baron Kelvin.
- Freaky Is Cool: The way the circus group sees each other versus the rest of the world.
- Friend to All Children: Seems to behave this way, for good reason.
- Guyliner
- Hidden Depths
- Important Hair Accessory: He didn't have clips before.
- I Owe You My Life
- Long-Haired Pretty Boy
- Love Makes You Evil
- More Than Meets the Eye
- Multicolored Hair
- Only One Name
- Parental Abandonment
- Perma Shave: Doesn't seem to have stubble in the morning.
- Purple Eyes
- Real Joke Name: Quite literally.
- Red Right Hand: Although technically he wasn't evil.
- Son of a Whore: His mother was a prostitute.
- Stage Names
- The Chains of Commanding: Is responsible for what his troupe does, and doesn't do.
- Undying Loyalty: Less towards the Baron than the other children.
- Utopia Justifies the Means
Beast
"Yes, we are all father's possessions."
- Action Girl
- Anti-Villain
- Artificial Limbs: Her leg. Made of children's bones.
- Brother-Sister Incest: With Joker, although they're not actually related. Also, Dagger has a crush on her.
- Cool Big Sis
- Dark and Troubled Past: It hints that all of the circus members have this.
- Love Makes You Evil
- Ms. Fanservice: Of the Circus arc.
- Of Corsets Sexy
- Only One Name
- Parental Abandonment
- Princess Curls
- Red Eyes, Take Warning
- Whip It Good
- Zettai Ryouiki
Dagger
"More important than the tent is sis's purity!"
- Brother-Sister Incest: He has a crush on Beast. Although, they're most likely actually Not Blood Siblings.
- Berserk Button: Touching his big sis seems to have this effect.
- Chronic Hero Syndrome: Seems to have this ending.
- Dark and Troubled Past: It hints that all of the circus members have this.
- Flaw Exploitation: Seems to be applied by Baron Kelvin.
- Guyliner
- Keet
- Kill the Cutie: Semi-subverted considering he died due to a protagonist.
- Knife Nut
- Only One Name
- Parental Abandonment
- Skilled but Naive
- Undying Loyalty
Snake
"I'm sorry for my carelessness that could have sent you to the next world."
- Animal Theme Naming: His name is Snake... you know, since he's half snake.
- Badass Adorable
- Because You Were Nice to Me
- Belated Backstory
- Beneath the Mask: Begins to slip off the mask upon reappearance.
- Dandere
- Dark and Troubled Past: It hints that all of the circus members have this.
- Dull Eyes of Unhappiness
- Eyes of Gold: With a hint of green.
- Expressive Hair
- Flaw Exploitation
- Friendless Background
- Frozen Face
- Green Eyes: With a hint of gold.
- Half-Human Hybrid
- Hellish Pupils
- Horrible Judge of Character
- I Am a Monster
- I Am What I Am
- Idiot Hair
- I Just Want to Have Friends
- I Owe You My Life
- Morality Pet: Seems to be becoming another one of these for Ciel.
- Mysterious Past
- Never Got to Say Goodbye
- Not So Stoic
- Only One Name
- Parental Abandonment
- Perpetual Frowner
- Put on a Bus: After the Circus arc, he was left behind none the wiser. He returned near the end of the Murder Mystery arc to look for his friends by questioning Ciel and Sebastian. He joins Ciel's staff in the meantime.
- Scarily Competent Tracker: When you consider just how much time seemingly passed since the circus arc.
- Survivor Guilt
- Sugar and Ice Personality
- The Beast Master
- Theme Naming: His snakes' names, all named after authors.
- Troubled Child
- Unable to Cry
- Verbal Tic: Every time he speaks, whether it's for one sentence or a longer exposition, he always adds on "...says (fill in name of one of his snakes)". It's unclear whether he really is just a mouthpiece for the snakes, or whether he's so self-effacing that he disguises his own opinions and observations in this way.
- Wall Glower
- White-Haired Pretty Boy
Baron Kelvin
"Special people can only be touched by other special people."
- Abhorrent Admirer: For Ciel.
- An Offer You Can't Refuse: "Work for me or all those workhouse children, your friends, die." Made particularly tragic because he demanded committing an endless series of crimes of a similar magnitude, just inflicted on strangers, and he didn't even hold on to his own end of the deal.
- Bandaged Face
- Complete Monster: His lack of redeeming traits is quite remarkable.
- Gonk: Fully aware of this after his second meeting with the Phantomhive household.
- Grand Romantic Gesture: Some particularly creepy and ill-thought ones based on his general lack of taste and his romantic conception of Ciel as Complete Monster. Ciel doesn't approve.
- I Just Want to Be Beautiful
- Lolicon: He likes little girls too.
- Man of Wealth and Taste: Thoroughly averted. He may be very rich and very evil, but he has less taste than people who would normally be considered to have zero taste.
- Jabba Table Manners: Just look at how he eats that lobster.
- Jerkass
- Psychopathic Manchild
- Serial Killer
- Shotacon: One-sided towards Ciel.
- Stalker with a Crush: Towards Ciel.
- The Cake Is a Lie: His promise to the circus crew to gain their loyalty was a complete and utter lie.
- Unsexy Sadist
- Villainous Glutton
- Would Hurt a Child
- Yandere: For Ciel.
Arthur
"It's just a pretentious bit of writing done outside of my own specialty."
- Adorkable
- Detective Patsy
- Named After Somebody Famous: Or more like, is somebody famous.
- Nice Guy
- Wrong Genre Savvy: His assumptions about what is possible are in line with normal, non-supernatural mystery novels.
- Young Future Famous People: It's heavily implied that he is Arthur Conan Doyle, but his last and middle names are never actually revealed.
Charles Grey
"Wow! Double guns are so cool! But, I win at close combat."
- Absurdly Sharp Blade: A sword slicing a thick wooden door into pieces like that isn't normal.
- All Work vs. All Play: While Phipps is all about his work Grey is all about the play.
- Beware the Nice Ones
- Big Eater
- Co-Dragons: With the other servants of the queen, at times.
- Cute and Psycho
- Dynamic Entry
- Gray Eyes
- Keet
- Licking the Blade: In the Manga there is a picture of this.
- Long-Haired Pretty Boy
- Man in White
- Named After Somebody Famous
- Psychopathic Manchild
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Red Oni to Phipps' Blue Oni.
- Serial Killer
- Sissy Villain
- Super Window Jump
- Terrible Trio: With Phipps and Brown.
- White-Haired Pretty Boy
Charles Phipps
"All that matters is her majesty the queen's will."
- All Work vs. All Play: While Grey plays he works.
- Beauty Mark
- Co-Dragons: With the other servants of the queen.
- Man in White
- Named After Somebody Famous
- Nice Guy: Or it seems like it, at least after he fixed Finnian's hat.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Blue Oni to Grey's Red Oni.
- Terrible Trio: With Grey and Brown.
John Brown
"I am done talking... but it seems the queen has something to say."
- Co-Dragons: With the other servants of the queen.
- Man in White
- Named After Somebody Famous
- Nice Guy
- The Quiet One: Possible Dandere for the queen.
- Terrible Trio: With Grey and Phipps.
Maurice Cole
- Alpha Bitch: A male version, as befits a boys-only school.
- Bishie Sparkle
- Bishounen
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing
- Make Up Is Evil: Getting caught using it is enough to ruin your reputation.
- Screw the Rules, I'm Beautiful
- Villain with Good Publicity
Sieglinde Sullivan
- A Child Shall Lead Them
- Child Mage
- Comically Missing the Point
- Curtain Clothing: Sebastian makes her a new dress out of a bed cover. She thinks it looks great.
- Elegant Gothic Lolita
- Equivalent Exchange: Her feet.
- Fille Fatale: Her hilariously awkward attempts at seduction are Played for Laughs. Ciel isn't attracted.
- Mixed Metaphor: When she tries to sound all lofty and adult.
- Pimped-Out Dress: Her dress may not belong to any consistent style, but it sure has a lot of expensive detail.
- Suddenly Bilingual: So when did she learn English?
Musical-Only Characters
Alan Humphries
- Duet Bonding: On Unmei
- Incurable Cough of Death: Alan's Thorns of Death manifests like this.
- Just Friends: With Eric, natch.
- Mentor Ship: Eric tutored Alan through his exams.
- Your Days Are Numbered: The Thorns of Death.