Violet Evergarden (anime)/Characters
Characters from Violet Evergarden include:
Violet: Main Characters
Green: CH Postal Company
Red: Violet's Clients
Blue: Others
Main Characters
Violet Evergarden
The series' titular character, Violet is an orphaned child who was raised by the military as a killing machine. After the war ended, she given a new lease and a chance to find her purpose in life: an opportunity given to her by former Lieutenant Claudia Hodgins to work for his newly established CH postal company. She decides she wants become an Auto Memory Doll--a person who writes letters for others--in a bid to discover the meaning of the words "I love you". Thus begins her journey of travelling around the world, witnessing the personal events and emotions of many, from a mother about to die to a soldier on the front lines. This even includes other members of the CH postal company.
Tropes exhibited by this character include:
- Action Girl: Violet during her time in the military often rushes to the front line and takes out enemy soldiers with grace and speed. This continues when she is in episodes 12 and 13, taking an active role against the anti-peace faction.
- An Arm and a Leg: She loses both of her arms during the last leg of the war defending Major Gilbert, and her prosthetic ones were damaged in the final episode via bullets.
- Artificial Limbs: She has a pair of prosthetic arms to replace the real ones she lost, which always surprises her clients when she removes her gloves.
- The Atoner: Becoming aware of the pain she caused in the past, she vows to make amends by refusing to kill anymore, as well as bring people together through letters. This is seen in the final episode, where she refuses to kill any members of the anti-peace faction.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: Because Major Gilbert was the only person to show her kindness in the war, she becomes loyal to him, following him around and asking for his orders. This leads to a gender inverted I Will Protect Her scenario in the war, with Violet swearing to protect his benefactor.
- Break the Cutie: She loses both parents and was found alone, loses both arms and gets prosthetic ones, learns that Major Gilbert, the person most dear to her has died in a war, then loses her arms again in the final episode.
- Character Development: Violet receives plenty of this. She grows from an orphaned war child to an acclaimed writer whose letters bring people together rather than rip them apart. She learns to feel emotoins, and finally understands the meaning of "I love you".
- Child Soldier: Violet was in the army when she was found as an orphaned child. In episode 5, long after the war has ended, she reveals that she's only around fourteen years old.
- Cute Bruiser: While Violet can be considered cute, she is called the Battle Maiden of Leidenschaftlich for a reason.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Oh very much so! Having never known her parents, she was discovered by the military to raised to be a living weapon. It doesn't help that the Navy's captain would get physically abusive by shoving her around and barking orders at her like she was a dog. Then there is the crippling injuries she received during conflict and, of course, losing the one person who ever treated her with love and care.
- Despair Event Horizon: In episode 9, after Violet hears about Major Gilbert's death, she attempts suicide.
- Determinator: She is determined to travel anywhere, even to an active war zone, to meet her clients. She states that it's the harder part of being an Auto Memory Doll, but she'll still go through with it, with the travel often taking weeks across multiple modes of transport.
- Dynamic Entry: In the eleventh episode, she air drops into an active warzone, goes full Lightning Bruiser on the soldiers, and oh boy, it hurts. Why does she doe this? So she can write a letter for a client there.
- Early Teen Hero: Violet estimates that her age is around fourteen, although the series makes no effort to appeal to younger audiences. Violet's age allows the series to get dark quickly in episode nine.
- Emotionless Girl: When she first starts as an Auto Memory Doll, she cannot understand what love or any other emotion is, speaking in a stoic, composed voice. Because of this, she struggles to express others' emotions down on paper, leading to many angry complaints. By the end of episode 3 she still remains emotionless, but finally learns how to express others' feelings in the letter she writes. Later episodes does show her opening up and publicly crying. The final episode shows her realising what "I love you" means. Her lack of emotions and unchanging facial expressions are lampshaded by Princess Charlotte in episode 5.
- Evil Blonde: Her character before the events of the series. She is by no means evil, but being such a deadly and relentless force, killing everyone that stands in her way, to the point where she gets her very own Sobriquet certainly puts her up there. As the series progresses, Violet refuses to kill, and instead opts to mend and forge new relationships instead, turning into someone with a Hair of Gold.
- Floral Theme Naming: Errr....a rose? As a bonus, the series uses the Character Title trope, so this applies to the name of the show, the two films, and the light novels.
- Friend to All Children: Violet, after a fair bit of character development, becomes friendly to children, exemplified via her positive interactions with Anne Magnolia in episode 10 and the fourteen year old Princess Charlotte in episode 5. Also prominent in the theatrical film, with her being friendly and supportive towards children on an island.
- Good Is Not Soft: While she is considered a good person as Character Development happens, she can still return to her former war self and become an efficient warrior. This is illustrated in the last three episodes, when she airdrops into an active warzone and takes out anti-peace rebels. Then, she sees her co-workers while returning home and travels down to help them navigate through the hijacking of their train in episode 12. In episode 13, despite having damaged prosthetic limbs, she tries to disarm a bomb. Of course, she can return to her nice self in episodes like "Loved Ones Will Always Watch Over You" and "Somewhere, Under a Starry Sky", helping people come together through writing.
- Heroic BSOD: After learning about Gilbert's fate, Violet becomes an emotional wreck, screaming, crying, and even attempting suicide. She snaps out of it when she receives a letter from Erica and Iris in episode 9.
- Hidden Depths: Who expects that the girl with Innocent Blue Eyes writing letters has a dark story in the war, and is actually an efficient killing machine?
- Icy Blue Eyes: The character has large sparkling blue eyes, but her role as a murder weapon for the army is what lands her here. Violet's eye colour reflects her lack of emotions and stoic behaviour at the beginning of the series.
- Innocent Blue Eyes: After the war and over the course of the series, she gradually begins to learn about human emotions, as well as letting her kind-hearted and compassionate nature blossom.
- Image Song: She has a few of these... thirteen to be exact, all of which chronicle her journey across the entire series (read, the show and both films), all of which are sung by her Japanese voice actress, Yui Ishikawa. They're all neatly laid out in the Letters and Doll ～Looking back on the memories of Violet Evergarden～ album. Check it out yourself.
- Innocent Fanservice Girl: She doesn't see anything wrong with changing clothes right in front of other people, after being given uniform for the CH Postal Company. Doing so causes Benedict to cover his eyes in panic.
- Kick the Son of a Bitch: Though trained as a vicious murder weapon, Violet wasn't above killing soldiers from her own faction. In context though, they were kind of asking for it considering they tried to rape her in her sleep, so...
- Lightning Bruiser: Violet is an all-rounded soldier who is nimble and can quickly attack her enemies. She has no trouble dodging bullets, and thus is hard to hit. All of this means that you do not want to be near this girl when she's angry. Fortunately, she learns to calm down, stops killing, and mostly focuses on writing letters meant to bring people together.
- Literal-Minded: Due to her lack of social skills and inability to understand human emotions, she takes Hodgins' "on fire" metaphor literally.
- This trope also has a negative effect on her work. Though she means well, she tends to take what her clients say too literally at first, thus her first letters read like they are mission reports.
- Little Miss Badass: The character can take on and kill soldiers twice her size before entering her teens.
- Living Weapon: Some members of the military call her this, due to her efficiency and deadliness, single-handedly turning around a war.
- Nice Girl: While appearing cold and robotic at times, once Character Development kicks in, she is a kind young lady who thinks more about others rather than herself, promising to never kill anyone.
- No Social Skills: Violet is unable to sustain a meaningful conversation near the beginning of the series, and her attempts at writing letters results in unnatural sounding words which generate complaints from customers..
- Not So Stoic: Once she gets a firm grasp on the range of emotions humans can feel, she starts to feel/express said feelings herself.
- After learning about Major Gilbert's death, she breaks down and runs away.
- In episode 10, she loses control and starts crying in the CH postal company once she realises that Anne will receiving her mother's letters only after her mother dies.
- Again in episode 11 in front of Aiden Field's family (his childhood sweetheart included) after she delivers his letters to them, and is deeply remorseful that she couldn't save him.
- Oral Fixation Fixation: Because her prosthetic arms can no longer transmit any feelings, she has a habit of sticking things in her mouth, be it her brooch, or removing her gloves with her teeth. While working, she takes off her gloves using her mouth. She occasionally nuzzles her cheek up against the stuffed puppy that Hodgins gave her in the first episode.
- Parasol of Prettiness: Violet carries one, given to her as a gift by the playwright she helped in episode 7.
- Parental Abandonment: She was found without parents and raised by the military.
- Posthumous Character: In the second film, she died somewhen in the 50 year time gap between reunion with Gilbert and Daisy's journey to learn about her. That said, Violet is still a key driving force in the present day's plot, which itself is driven by Clara Magnolia's letters (Daisy's great grandmother). Said letters were written by Violet, who practically became a household name by that point, influencing Daisy's choice to learn more about the legend herself.
- Prim and Proper Bun: While Violet works as an Auto Memory Doll, she organises her hair into buns so it does not get in the way of her work.
- Rei Ayanami Expy: Violet Evergarden at the beginning of the series, before Character Development kicks in, checks most of the boxes:
- Teenage girl with pale skin? Check.
- Stoic demeanour? Check.
- Lacking in emotions? Check.
- In explaining her odd behaviour, she is found to have a tragic past? Check.
- Objective to become a "real girl" by learning human emotions? Check.
- Ill girl who suffers some sort of major injury? Double check.
- Possesses a special ability which makes her stand out from the crowd? Check again.
- Sacrificed Basic Skill for Awesome Training: She was raised by the military to extremely proficient in combat, but once the war ended, they weren't much use for anything else and she had no other skills. She was also emotionally stunted because of her upbringing, which of course left her social skills a lot of be desired.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: After the war ended, she never fully recovered, having lost many people dear to her. She still gets regular flashbacks of the traumatising events, but slowly learns to recover and move on.
- Sobriquet: The "Battle Maiden of Leidenschaftlich" is one of those names that you should run away from the moment you hear it. Oh, that "Battle Maiden" is Violet.
- Spock Speak: She speaks like this at the start of the series, with military service being all she's ever known in her life. This habit carries out to how she addresses people, and she even writes like that in her letters. Of course, her clients aren't happy with letters written like that, hence why she joins an academy for training Auto Memory Dolls. This does change throughout the series, as she grows and understands human emotions more.
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I believe what you said was a disingenuous answer. |
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- The Stoic: Because of her upbringing, Violet initially has a hard time processing emotions, so she just talks in the most flat and robotic manner imaginable. This changes as the series progresses.
- Ten-Minute Retirement: Violet runs away to the place where she lost Major Gilbert to the war in episode 7 after getting a Heroic BSOD, before overcoming grief in episode 9.
- Thou Shalt Not Kill: In the last two episodes, she refuses to kill any members of the anti-peace rebel faction, regretting her past as a war-driven killing machine, and wishing to turn into a person which creates new relationships instead of tearing up existing ones. This does create minor problems for her, as the Mooks keep coming back to fight her. Dietfried calls her out on this, saying that she's of no use if she refuses to kill.
- Took a Level In Kindness: Violet is a notable example, going from a killing machine to being a nice and supportive person who writes letters.
- Tragic Keepsake: Her emerald brooch is the only thing she has to remind her of Gilbert.
- Trying Not to Cry: Episode 10 has Violet write a large batch of letters on behalf of Clara Magnolia, whom we learn is in poor health, and intends to have them delivered to her 7-year-old daughter, Anne on her birthday for the next 50 years. Once she returns to the office though, she admits that she had to hold her tears back for the entire week she was gone, and just starts crying in the comfort of her co-workers upon explaining to them that little Anne will have no one left to look after her, knowing that her mother won't be around much longer.
- She demonstrates this trope again in the next episode in which she keeps a calm and collected demeanour as Aiden Fields passes away, only to burst into tears again when when Aiden's mother gives her a hug for the letters she wrote on his behalf.
- Undying Loyalty: Major Gilbert Bougainvillea means the world to Violet, mainly because he was the first person to treat her like an actual human being, so much so that she would anything she could to serve and protect him, even if her injuries at the end of the war made it impossible. His orders are the only things Violet knew for a large part of her life, and she feels lost without them.
- Unstoppable Mailman: While Violet writes the mail instead of delivering them, nothing will stop her from reaching her clients, not long distances nor a literal civil war.
- Vague Age: Due to how unclear the series' timeline is, it's hard to tell how old Violet is, but when she is commissioned to write letters on behalf of Princess Charlotte Abelfreyja Drossel in episode 5, she reveals that, while unsure of her age, she is around fourteen years old. This is made confusing by the Dashed Plotline the series takes, only showing Violet's significant clients, and we don't know exactly how much time has passed since the last episode.
- Waif Fu: She can take on grown man twice her size with grace and elegance in the Great Offscreen War.
- What Beautiful Eyes!: Her reason for picking out the Emerald brooch in the first episode, because it matches her superior officer's eyes. When contextualised in a later episode, it is the first time she learns what "beauty" is.
- What Is This Thing You Call Love?: The entire reason why Violet joins the CH Postal Company and becomes an Auto Memory Doll is to learn about what love is. She finally learns in the last episode.
- Woman Child: Despite her elegance and beauty, she does have a couple of childish quirks like pinching her cheeks to force a smile, rubbing a stuffed toy with her face, nibbling on inedible objects (though that one is not her fault), and standing in the corner of a room when research becomes too tough. All of which show that she is technically still a child at heart.
Gilbert Bougainvillea
A major in the Leidenschaftlich Army, who raises Violet. His last words to Violet were "I love you", the meaning of which Violet spends the series pondering. He acts like a father figure to Violet, and is an important part in her character arc.
The 2020 film reveals that he's alive, and survived the attack in episode 8 and 9. Since he didn't have identification, he was anonymously admitted to a hospital and discharged. He lives in a remote island.
Tropes exhibited by this character include:
- A Day in the Limelight: Episode 8 is a flashback episode focusing primarily on his relationship with Violet, and contextualising previously established moments from their time during the war.
- The Dutiful Son: Compared to his older brother Dietfried, he was more obedient to his father's wishes and demands, since he was raised to pursue a career in the military, like his dad.
- Eye Scream: In episode eight, he is shot in the eyes, with lots of visible blood, even some flying out from the socket. His eye socket become holes filled with blood, and the force of the bullet causes him to fall over. Bonus points for the slow motion during the sequence. Cue a Say My Name yell from Violet.
- Floral Theme Naming: His family name comes from the Bougainvillea flower.
- Love Confession: "I love you" are the last words he speaks to Violet before their separation. These words are what drives Violet's character growth, as she wants to learn their meaning.
- Living Emotional Crutch: Because of how he treated Violet during the war, he essentially became one to her; she has a rough time functioning without him and hits the Despair Event Horizon when she starts to think he's dead. This is why Claudia felt he had to hide Gilbert's fate from her, because he suspected this would happen.
- Parental Substitute: He is tasked by his older brother with raising an orphaned girl into a living weapon for the army, but he sees her as an actual person rather than a tool to be used for war purposes. That girl, of course, is Violet.
- What Beautiful Eyes!: Beauty is a concept Violet when she tries to describe the feeling she gets when she looks into Gilbert's eyes; when he offers to buy her a gift, this is the reason she chose the emerald brooch--reflective of the colour of his eyes.
- You Gotta Have Blue Hair: In the anime, specifically.
CH Postal Company
Claudia Hodgins
The president of the CH Postal Company, and a good friend to Gilbert in the war. He helps Violet transition away from life as a Child Soldier, and integrates her into the post-war society.
Tropes exhibited by this character include:
- The Alcoholic: Implied to be one, but his refusal to have a drink when offered in episode 5 suggests he might be in the recovery phase.
- Cannot Spit It Out: Tends to get a little anxious whenever Violet mentions Gilbert since he is aware of the latter's fate, but he simply can't bring himself to tell her the truth.
- Embarrassing First Name: As we learn from an exchange with Cattleya, he doesn't like being called by his forename.
- Gender Blender Name: He was unfortunate enough to be given the feminine name Claudia at birth. The reason for this is because his parents wanted a girl, and intended to name him as such if that happened.
- Hunk: He's as much of a manly fellow as they come, particularly next to his Pretty Boy co-worker Benedict.
- Nice Guy: He does all he can to ensure his employees are treated well, even taking a pay cut just to get Violet's brooch back.
- Parental Substitute: After Gilbert's supposed death, Claudia becomes Violet's father figure after the war ended. Naturally, when Violet learns that Gilbert is alive, only to be pushed away by him, Claudia becomes furious. In fact, he has quite the paternal instinct despite not having children of his own.
- War Is Hell: He learned this first hand, which is why he bolted the minute the war ended. Part of the reason he founded CH Postal is to help not just the citizens, but also war veterans like himself and Violet recover from the war's traumatic effects.
Benedict Blue
One of the few men working for CH Postal, Benedict is one of the company's mail couriers. He is the first character to give Violet a rundown of how operations at CH Postal run.
Tropes exhibited by this character include:
- Alliterative Name: Benedict Blue
- A Day in the Limelight: He becomes the central protagonist in the second half of the first film, helping Taylor deliver her letter to her foster sister Amy/Isabella, in addition to voicing over the epilogue.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: Implied by the occasional bickering between him and Cattleya.
- Big Brother Mentor: He becomes this to Taylor Bartlett in the second half of Eternity and the Auto Memory Doll, who calls him Brother every time she sees him.
- Bishonen: A very pretty looking guy compared to his more rugged, gruff looking boss.
- Casanova Wannabe: Tries to charm some of his female co-workers by asking them if they'll eat lunch with him, but he gets shot down each time.
- Covert Pervert: Though panic-stricken by Violet changing clothes in front of him, he still gets a peep in anyway.
- Impractically Fancy Outfit: Benedict opts to wear a spiffy pair of high heel boots. As fashionable as they may be, they aren't exactly the most practical thing to wear when carrying mail for hours at a time. He even sprains his ankle in them in a later episode. Why? In the novel, he claims they look cool.
- Like an Old Married Couple: He is often seen getting into arguments with Cattleya, often for the pettiest of reasons.
Cattleya Baudelaire
A doll who works alongside Violet in the CH Postal Company. Cattleya is the most popular doll before Violet became famous.
Tropes exhibited by this character include:
- Ms. Fanservice: She dresses far more provocatively than her co-workers, and is frequently sought out by CH Postal's clients. Is it any surprise that Iris is a little jealous?
Iris Cannary
Iris is another key employee at CH Postal, and soon becomes one of Violet's closest friends. Her ambition is to become the most popular Auto Memory Doll in the continent, but is having a tough time achieving that dream due to her co-worker Cattleya, and eventually Violet getting requested all the time.
Tropes exhibited by this character include:
- The Atoner: In Episode 4, she is remorseful of her behaviour during her birthday party and to atone for it, she confides in Violet about what happened and asks her to write an apology letter to everyone involved, especially her parents.
- Brutal Honesty: Like Violet, she is very to-the-point and direct.
- Boyish Short Hair: Her hair is noticeably shorter than the other girls at CH postal, contrasting her coworkers Cattleya, Erica, and Violet. By Eternity and the Auto Memory Doll however, she has grown it out a little.
- Childhood Friend Romance: She had a crush on a boy she grew up with some time ago, but unfortunately, when she told him she loved him, she essentially got friend-zoned. Ouch.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: A non-romantic example, in the sense that she is annoyed that she almost never gets requested to write letters on behalf of the company's clients, with Cattleya (and soon Violet) sucking up all of the attention.
- Dramatic Slip: As she gloats about receiving her first commission as an Auto Memory Doll, she fall down a small flight of stairs (thanks to her discomfort in high heels), complete with close-ups, slow motion, and dramatic hand reaches from Violet and herself. Despite Violet trying to catch her, Iris winds up breaking her arm, forcing the former to tag along with her to ghost write for her, all to Iris' total annoyance. This meant Violet was sent alongside her on the commission. Not exactly the most flattering first impression, having another Auto Memory Doll with you, Iris.
- Floral Theme Naming: Irises, of course. Her parents give her a small bouquet of these for her birthday, after all.
- Girliness Upgrade: In both films, Iris has grown her hair out, wears a neat hairband, and has started wearing long dresses. She is the one character who has undergone the biggest design change in the films.
- New Media Are Evil: A mild example; in the second film, Iris shows that she is not a fan of a new invention called the telephone. Her distain for this new tech stems from people being able to communicate almost instantly over long distances, thus threatening her job as an Auto Memory Doll since the telephone could make handwritten letters obsolete. She warms up to it soon after when Yuris uses one to talk to his best friend with his dying breath.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: She is the tomboy to...well, pretty much every other female character in Leidenschaftlich. She has a shorter haircut, doesn't wear dresses at work, and has a harder time walking in high heels.
Erica Brown
A doll who starts out working for the CH Postal Company, but eventually quits to work for a playwright. Notably, she is the first person to see Violet's potential as a doll after the latter's disastrous first attempt to write a letter for a client.
Tropes exhibited by this character include:
- Canon Foreigner: She is an anime-original character.
- Demoted to Extra: Erica doesn't appear as often in the first film, and by the second, she has left CH Postal to pursue her dream career as a playwright.
- Shrinking Violet: She's very quiet and has difficulty with her confidence.
Violet's Clients
Princess Charlotte
The princess of the Kingdom of Drossel, introduced in episode five.
Tropes exhibited by this character include:
Leon Stephanotis
A member of the staff in the Shahar Observatory's Manuscript Division, who Violet helps in episode six.
Tropes exhibited by this character include:
- Dark and Troubled Past: He loses both of his parents at a young age. His dad never returned from an expedition to find manuscripts, and his mum, while searching for his dad, never returns. He is reluctantly taken into the Shahar Astronomical Observatory.
- Long-Haired Pretty Boy: Fits the trope like a charm, and his appearance is very much a stereotypical "pretty anime boy".
- Parental Abandonment: His parents left in search of manuscripts and never returned.
Oscar Webster
A playwright who becomes an alcoholic, helped in episode seven.
Tropes exhibited by this character include:
- The Alcoholic: Which often gets in the way of his work.
Anne Magnolia
A young girl, whose mother is Violet's client in episode ten. Her granddaughter, Daisy, is used to frame the theatrical film.
Tropes exhibited by this character include:
- Babies Ever After: In episode ten, we are briefly shown a shot of her with her new child after she gets married.
- Break the Cutie: She only wishes to play with dolls and live a carefree life. Her mother's illness means that it's difficult for her to do so, and she has to worry about her mother's health. She tries her best to spend time with her mother before her death.
- Children Are Innocent: Her behaviour is portrayed as this, with her calling Violet a literal "doll" and comparing her to other plastic dolls. This moves into Break the Cutie territory, with what she has to go through in the tenth episode.
- Disappeared Dad: Her father died before the events of episode ten.
- Tears of Joy: Cried when she starts receiving letters from her mother.
Aiden Field
A soldier who Violet helps in episode eleven.
Tropes exhibited by this character include:
- Childhood Friend Romance: Sadly, he was conscripted in the war, and is unable to pursue his feelings with his lover Maria.
- I'm Cold... So Cold...: He says this next to a fireplace, after being shot and just before dying.
Irma Felice
A famous opera singer who hires Violet to write a love letter in the OVA.
Tropes exhibited by this character include:
- Her Heart Will Go On: In the OVA, titled "Surely, Someday You Will Understand `Love`", the her lover Hugo was conscripted for the Great Offscreen War, and never returned. She requests that Violet captures the spirit of her love in a letter, which serves as the lyrics to the climax of her opera.
- Tears of Joy: Cried once Violet writes a love letter that perfectly fits her request.
Others
Luculia Marlborough
A person who attends the Auto Memory Doll training course alongside Violet. Luculia is a kind and considerate person who is willing to go out of her way to assist others, shown by events such as her offering Violet some of her food the first day they met.
Despite a tragic backstory, she is shown to carry a positive attitude and cheerful demeanour when around other people, but tends to be more quiet and solemn when alone. She is expressive and sociable, but she struggles to communicate her own feelings, particularly regarding her brother.
Tropes exhibited by this character include:
- Canon Foreigner: Alongside Erica, another character who never appeared in the light novels.
- The Caregiver: To her alcoholic brother. Violet helps her write a letter expressing her feelings, and her brother later comes back to Violet to write a letter expressing his gratitude.
- Back to Violet Evergarden (anime)