Spoiler Alert: This article/section contains details about future plotlines of LOTM: Witnesses of Sleepy Hollow described. Do not proceed unless you want to be spoiled.
Baccarat Blueberry, Brightness, Rookie Mage Blue, Baccarat the Bright, the Angel of Art, Mr. Bright (by Helene), Bright, Baccara, Mr. Bruno, Bruno Junior, the Rookie, the Pupil
Characteristics
Race
Human
Age
19 (debut)
Gender
Male
Status
Alive
Birthday
unknown
Height
1.72m
Weight
57kg
Hair Color
Black (born), Prussian blue (as Order Rookie), Aquamarine (Mage Form)
Eye Color
Blue
Blood Type
AB-
Professional Status
Affiliation
Order of Flourish, Rookie Mages, Team Witness, Star Spangled Society, the Alliance (Astaroth Future only)
Help Helene Hawthorn to accept herself, Help Helene to embrace the light of outside world, Participate the Feast of Apollo (under brainwashing; formerly), Revive Hestia Hawthorn (under brainwashing; formerly), save Sleepy Hollow from destruction, Kill Phyllis Peach, Find Chimera and restore Pandora's magic power
Abilities
Powers
Ice Power, Blizzard Summoning, Light Magic
Type of Power
Cryomantic Elementals
Weapon
Staff of Absolute Zero
Portrayal
English Voice
Justin Briner
For me, there's something more than just that, Helene, and that thing is known as love. Your mother saw your face and smiled. If love can make her gaze into a smile, why can't it do the same for me?
Baccarat Blueberry
Baccarat Blueberry, born Baccarat Bright Bruno and also known as the Brightness, Rookie Mage Blue, Baccarat the Bright, the Angel of Art and Mr. Bright, is one of the major characters in LOTM: Witnesses of Sleepy Hollow - Harvest Saga. He is the third Rookie Mage of the Order of Flourish (after Calvin Cranberry and Kristen Kiwifruit) to be chosen by the White Wizard, and he is also the childhood friend of Lillian Lime and an subject of inspiration (as well as love interest) to Helene Hawthorn, the mysterious person who lurked within the dark basement beneath the Art Museum of Sleepy Hollow. He also serves as a supporting hero in the upcoming LOTM: Los Reina de Corazónes.
Baccarat is the son of a famous artist who was murdered alongside other family members (except his son) by the men of Don Francis Fleur, once a infamous mob leader in Sleepy Hollow, under the instruction of Blaze Banana (the man who hired Don Francis) and Phyllis Peach (the true mastermind), who both attempted to raise terror within the town and gain powers to dominate the world. After Phyllis prosecuted Francis and faked his suicide, Lord Helio adopted Baccarat and sent him to the Order of Flourish, but he later studied as an art student in the Art Museum in order to live a normal life, despite keeping the Order's existence as a secret.
Meanwhile, Baccarat was unaware of the murderer of his father, since that murderer himself was killed and his crime empire was split equally within five corrupt executive within Sleepy Hollow, including Blaze Banana, who attempted to gain the other four parts so that he could become a leading figure in crime world himself and went all the way towards the political world.
In Harvest Saga, Baccarat first appeared in Blaze Banana Arc as one of the five Shines kidnapped by Blaze to surrender them to the Wiseman, and he would later become a pivotal character in Helene Hawthorn Arc onward. When he was kidnapped by Blaze, Baccarat was yet to be adopted by Helio and was nearly ordinary, aside from his magical potential and art talent. He was later rescued by Katrina Crane and Cordelia Goode, who managed to stop Blaze's evil plan and avenged Baccarat's family. After that, Selina adopted Baccarat in Lord Helio's sake, as Helio wanted to manipulate Helene Hawthorn, who was in love with Baccarat, to make Baccarat one of the Rookie Mages so that he could start the second Feast of Apollo.
Baccarat later became a student to Helene Hawthorn, who was in the same age with him and had the same taste on art, music and favorite literature. However, when Baccarat knew about Helene's parentage and the true reason that she wore a beauty mask, he tried to embrace her with his love and generosity by making Helene unmask herself in front of him. However, Baccarat was eventually terrified by Helene's true disfigurement and fainted, although he later expressed regret for hurting Helene because of his behavior. He admitted his feelings to Helene, which made her to fake her own death and took him out of town in order to roam the world.
However, Baccarat was eventually involved in a conspiracy created by Gladius Grapefruit on Planet Sorensen-444, which nearly drove him into despair upon seeing Helene being tormented and almost get killed in front of him, as Gladius tried to remove the Stone of Wisdom on her with the help of Dark Arzonia and Lillian Lime. However, the love from Helene eventually made him out of despair and controlled the inner demon within him.
After he was saved, however, Baccarat rejected the Order's request to become a mage, since he never intended to become a mage and only wanted to become an ordinary person while dating Helene, despite the encouragement of Kristen Kiwifruit. Nevertheless, much to everyone else's horror and confusion, the White Wizard (revealed to be an avatar of Lord Helio) later captured Baccarat and brainwashed him to become a new Mage so that he could become a sacrificial lamb for the next Feast of Apollo.
Fortunately, Pandora, Nick Hawley and Abbie Mills rescued Baccarat in time after they ruined the feast by releasing Chimera from the Hidden One's Emerald, letting it to consume The Blackness released due to the Feast and ruined the ritual. Baccarat later regained his sense and left Team Witness, but he later returned and fought against Phyllis Peach after the latter got the Stone of Wisdom for herself. After the final battle against Phyllis, Baccarat and Helene joined Pandora's journey in order to find Chimera back to restore Pandora's magic.
Originally, Baccarat is like many newly-introduced members of the Order of Flourish, being a character wholly improvised for the story, and his role is yet to be decided whether he's a heroic mage or a pawn in Helio's plan. His former design showed him as a villain in a manner like a Knight Templar fanatic, pretty much like most of the other members of the Order, except Phyllis Peach, who was still set to be a voracious and plain Arc Villain then.
However, this eventually had a change after the writer decided to add the role of Zodiac Demons in the arc, before making Phyllis Peach the primary and final villain in the entire Harvest Saga by adding more to her personality. The Harvest Saga story's expansion as a result has greatly changed the entire story as well as many characters' characteristics. Baccarat is no exception.
To expand Baccarat's role, the writer himself decides to make him a Rookie Mage, and later, after being inspired by The Phantom of the Opera, the writer made up his mind to make Baccarat a pivotal figure in the part of Helene Hawthorn Arc, making him actually an equivalent of the Christine Daae in the story. He went from a crazy zealot to an ordinary teenager and art student raised by the Order, but he had no any attempt in joining their bidding and always spoke nothing to the whole town about the Order, enforcing its will in its own way. Unbeknownst to himself, Baccarat is still a pawn in the plot of Lord Helio, as well as a victim in Phyllis Peach's conspiracy, which eventually made him the next Rookie Mage in charge.
Baccarat's current design
However, this is when Baccarat's own character development starts as soon as his life overlapped with the life of Helene Hawthorn (inspired by the Phantom of the Opera), who will also going into a even longer and harder way in her character development in the new settings.
As the story getting progressed, Baccarat and Helene fell in love to each other since they're birds of a feather, both like arts, music, reading Edgar Allan Poe, and are both in a same age while having their own dark and troubling pasts. Baccarat was scorned due to his parentage as a village boy, while Helene had to shunned herself away from the outside world due to her hideous disfigurement beneath her mask.
However, they're actually involved in some sort of a love triangle relationship, due to the intervention of Lillian Lime (inspired by Viscount Raoul de Chagney). In the meantime, Helene's protector as well as in truth, her father, named Harold Honeydew (inspired by the Persian) also warned Baccarat about Helene's fragile and unstable nature, not wanting them to hurt each other when their love relationships came to an end. Harold revealed that he found the love triangle relationship, which happens between Baccarat, Helene and Lillian, was mirroring the past love triangle between Harold himself, Helene's mother (the late Hestia Hawthorn, who was murdered by Phyllis Peach) and Harold's unnamed betrothed (who was also tragically killed in the infamous New York Bio-weapon Attack, also set up by Phyllis), believing that it was his punishment to be involved into such a dreadful triangle.
Even so, Baccarat declined to leave Helene and was still showing affection to Helene, believing that showing kindness will make Helene feel better when she was without her mask, trying to be kind to her without involving into a romantic relationship... or so he thought However, even Baccarat was terrified by Helene's true face, although he eventually felt sorry for his reactions. This eventually turned the entire arc's tone down when Helene suffered a horrible mental breakdown that drove her into a violent protection to Baccarat and seek retribution upon the world that laughed at people like her. Then, the full story's next stage begins between a Star-Crossed Lovers, and it's still only the beginning...
As Order's Mage[]
Baccarat after the White Wizard turned him into a Rookie Mage
Unlike Kristen Kiwifruit, who voluntarily joined the White Wizard's own side in order to seek revenge on Evil Christine for what happened to Colin, Baccarat's own ascension into the Rookie Mage is never out of his own free will. Instead, he was forced to become such. After overcoming his despair and preventing himself from turning into a Zodiac Demon, Baccarat was saved at last, but he refused to become an Order's magician, worrying that everything beside him will be torn apart.
After everyone start agreeing with Baccarat's final decision, Pandora, who adopted Baccarat as her son, later invited Baccarat and Helene to a wood, where she'll help in removing the potential Blackness inside Baccarat and Helene, but the White Wizard interfered and forced Baccarat to become a mage, saying it was his destiny, before having Helene (who called White Wizard as "Grandfather", hinting the White Wizard's true identity) captured as well. This turned everyone questioning the true motive of the White Wizard as well as the Order of Flourish, since there were proof that the Wizard is actually one with the Order.
As a mage, Baccarat reprised his role at the climax of the Star Spangled Sub Saga, where he was totally brainwashed by the White Wizard, who had revealed himself as Lord Helio, the mysterious Light Lord, as well as the true form of the Wiseman as well. After revealing his immoral nature, Helio decided to start the new Feast of Apollo and discarded his loyal Zodiac Demon executive, Proxima. He also forced a brainwashed and crazy Baccarat to capture Kristen.
Baccarat in his Rookie Mage form, after regaining his free will
After Pandora managed to crash the Second Feast of Apollo, Baccarat regained his free will and changed his mind. He decided to move on as a magician and trying to fight with Moloch's forces and Lord Helio for what they did, but Pandora and Helene refused to let him join the fight, worrying that he will get hurt. During this time, Baccarat and Helene became lovers as Lillian had died after forgiving Helene's feelings for Baccarat. In addition, Baccarat also developed a bond between him and Pandora, his stepmother, as he respected her and calling her his mother.
After the death of Helio, Phyllis Peach absorbed Dark Azonia with the Stone of Wisdom and her stolen vial of enhanced Croatoan Virus, turning into her fusion form that is both deadly and destructive. At this point, with the whole town facing an imminent danger of being destroyed, Baccarat returned to fight against Phyllis in his mage form, not wanting Helene or Pandora to fall into the trouble ever again. This character establishment moment, where he uses his new power in his free will to help others away from despair and destruction, making him from an ordinary person into a brave warrior.
Name[]
Baccarat pallet and cards
Baccarat or baccara (/ˈbækəræt/ or /bɑːkəˈrɑː/; French: [bakaʁa]) is a card game played at casinos. There are three popular variants of the game: punto banco (or "North American baccarat"), baccarat chemin de fer (or "chemmy"), and baccarat banque (or à deux tableaux). In Punto banco, each player's moves are forced by the cards the player is dealt. In baccarat chemin de fer and baccarat banque, by contrast, both players can make choices.
The winning odds are in favor of the bank, with a house edge no lower than around 1 percent. Baccarat is a comparing card game played between two hands, the "player" and the "banker". Each baccarat coup (round of play) has three possible outcomes: "player" (player has the higher score), "banker", and "tie".
A maturing 'Polaris' blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum)
The origins of the game are disputed, and some sources claim that it dates to the 19th century. Other sources claim that the game was introduced into France from Italy at the end of the 15th-century by soldiers returning from the Franco-Italian War during the reign of Charles VIII.
"Blueberry" is a kind of perennial flowering plants with indigo-colored berries. They are classified in the section Cyanococcus within the genus Vaccinium. Vaccinium also includes cranberries, bilberries and grouseberries. Commercial "blueberries" are native to North America, and the "highbush" varieties were not introduced into Europe until the 1930s. Blueberries are usually prostrate shrubs that can vary in size from 10 centimeters (3.9 in) to 4 meters (13 ft) in height. In the commercial production of blueberries, the smaller species are known as "lowbush blueberries" (synonymous with "wild"), while the larger species are known as "highbush blueberries".
Introduction[]
Basic Information[]
Tarot Motif - XVIII. The Moon[]
The Moon (XVIII) is the eighteenth trump or Major Arcana card in most traditional Tarot decks. It is used in game playing as well as in divination.
The card depicts a night scene. Two large, foreboding pillars are shown. A wolf and a domesticated dog howl at the moon. A crayfish appears in the water. The Moon has "sixteen chief and sixteen secondary rays" and "[is] shedding the moisture of fertilizing dew in great drops" (totaling 15 in the Rider-Waite deck) which are all Yodh-shaped. The figure in the moon is frowning, reflecting displeasure. The Moon Arcana is associated with creativity, inspiration, dreams, madness, illusions, fear, fantasy, the subconscious, and trickery. In tarot readings, it can also represent being attuned subconsciously to the world around, gaining the ability to sense things without being told about them or without anyone else knowing.
According to Waite's The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, "The card represents life of the imagination apart from life of the spirit... The dog and wolf are the fears of the natural mind in the presence of that place of exit, when there is only reflected light to guide it... The intellectual light is a reflection and beyond it is the unknown mystery which it cannot reveal." Additionally, "It illuminates our animal nature" and according to Waite, "the message is 'Peace, be still; and it may be that there shall come a calm upon the animal nature, while the abyss beneath shall cease from giving up a form.'"
Logo[]
Data[]
Personal Information[]
All information of Selina Strawberry, such as her hobbies, her favorite things
Favorite Color:
Pale blue
Favorite foods:
Coffee, candy corn, bread with blueberry jam, soup and blueberry cake
Favorite clothes:
White suit & blue suit
Favorite hobbies:
Drawing, studying, singing, reading books of Edgar Allan Poe
Chinese painting, culture, oil painting, famous artists' work, love, family, friend, opera, knowledge, history, artistic design, creative design, dark fantasy stories (especially those written by Edgar Allan Poe among other classic authors)
Hates:
Plagiarists who stole others' works and never gave credits, perverts, those who values art only with money, stalkers, false artists, people who has no regards on art, comic books, people who values only money, corruption, greed, lust, dark comedy, pornography, nude painting, people who mocks Helene's true form, criminals, mobsters, psychopaths, being forced into a Rookie Mage, people who has no regards on history, drunkards, lack of inspirations
Religion:
Neutral over all religions
Political types:
Not a politician
Favorite musics:
Opera and orchestra
Gender:
Female
Age:
22 years old
Hated allies:
Dora Dorian (false ally), Lord Helio, Gregory Grape
Rookie Mage Ring (blue) on Baccarat Blueberry's thumb
The Light Lord's Rings are collections of several Magic Rings owned by mages from the Order of Flourish. They were carved from the magic stones via the hands of Lord Helio and Marshall Mango (until the day came when he quit the Order). The Light Lord's Ring can prevent the forces of Twelve Nethers, their Zodiac Demons and other demons from turning humans into monsters.
Calvin Cranberry would put some normal rings on the finger of Shines (townspeople who are descendants of witches and warlocks) after cleansing the Zodiac Demon inside them, formed because of Nether's Curse. People who wielded this type of ring would be protected by them and had their Mind Palace secured. Selina Strawberry stated that there were many people saved from despair and death by the ring's power, and that's why she still believed in the Order of Flourish even after Helio's true nature was exposed.
The Star's control room after being charged by Baccarat Blueberry's ring
Among them, there are three rookie mages - Kristen Kiwifruit, Baccarat Blueberry and Richard Raspberry - which are special cases. Each of them have a special type of Ring named Rookie Mage Ring, which is made for fueling power into the second Feast of Apollo. The rings are made to make Rookies into tools of the Order so that the second Feast would be instigated and the world would be purge from the Blackness, while Hestia Hawthorn would come back to life.
In LOTM: Witnesses of Sleepy Hollow Spin-Off - Firenza Junior, during the first phase in the Battle of London and Bethlehem, Guinevere Arzonia captured Baccarat Blueberry in order to use his ring to fuel the Star's energy source, which made Helene Hawthorn and her clowns from the Merry Melody surfaced and fought against the KnightWalker Family in order to get him back. She said she would capture Kristen and Richard one day, believing Baccarat's ring alone cannot support the Star to its maximum power. After La Nueva Familia de Arzonia succeeded in shutting down the Dome, the ring was retrieved by Esther Blanchett, who returned the ring back to Baccarat.
Relationships[]
List of Victims[]
Goals[]
As Antagonist (brainwashed)[]
Serve as the sacrificial lamb for the second Feast of Apollo
"From this day on, the Order of Flourish shall paint this world colorful once again!"
"I'm not the protagonist of a novel or anything. I'm just a college student who likes art, like you could find anywhere. But... if, for argument's sake, you were to write a story with me in the lead role, it would certainly be... a romantic tragedy."
"Sometimes, genius equals madness while sometimes, madness equals genius. It's not a paradox."
"After all, as you possibly know, all best people are crazy. If they aren't crazy, they would not become so special at all. You're mad, and I'm mad after all."
"As far as I know, there are three things that Sleepy Hollow never lacks, and they are secrets, supernatural presence and revival."
"If you aren't mad, you will never be here... Welcome to Sleepy Hollow."
"One day, I'll turn juice into paints to paint a landscape of orchard, which full of aroma of fruits for eternity. I'll donate it to blind children, and they'll feel the sweetness."
"I don't think I can be a Mage of the Order... I only wants to be a normal person who devotes myself into art, and maybe I'll have a different life. The Order raised me, and that's enough for me to have a reason to be grateful. However, I think my own path has already been chosen, and it all thanks to * her * who was standing by me and helping me to go through all those difficulties. Maybe I'll stand against demons, but not now. Not yet. I'm just afraid of becoming nothing but a burden..."
"We cannot allow you to tire yourself so much, Ms. Pandora. Now, I'll carry on this duty to protect everyone."
Quotes about Baccarat[]
Gallery[]
Human[]
Mage[]
Trivia[]
Amongst many celebrated authors in history, Baccarat's favorite author is Edgar Allan Poe, who is not only the favorite author of Helene as well, but also one of the major real-life inspirations for Helene herself. His favorite short stories of Poe included Fall of the House of Usher and Masque of the Red Death.
Baccarat is based on Christine Daae from The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux.
Baccarat is the only Rookie Mage of the Order who met with Zoe Corinth before becoming Lord Helio's apprentice (besides Calvin Cranberry). Kristen met Zoe after she became the Order's Mage, and Richard never met Zoe face to face.
Unlike Dora Dorian, who officiously steals others' work for money and fame, if Baccarat copies a famous artists' work, Baccarat never officially claims the work to be his own or trying to sell it for money. Instead, he'll give credits to the original painter, and he did this for studying, making him away from a plagiarist.
His first original work was his painting named Sunset in Chinese painting style, which paid off his learning process under Helene's care.
Baccarat often uses literal reference in his speech as his own habit, like "falling into the rabbit hole" and "paint white roses red" that are both references to Alice in Wonderland, and sometimes he speaks with rhymes as well (a habit shared by Helene, but Helene speaks in rhymes much more often).
Real-Life inspirations[]
Claude Monet[]
Oscar-Claude Monet (/moʊˈneɪ/; French: [klod mɔnɛ]; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a founder of French Impressionist painting, and the most consistent and prolific practitioner of the movement's philosophy of expressing one's perceptions before nature, especially as applied to plein air landscape painting. The term "Impressionism" is derived from the title of his painting Impression, soleil levant (Impression, Sunrise), which was exhibited in 1874 in the first of the independent exhibitions mounted by Monet and his associates as an alternative to the Salon de Paris.
Monet's ambition of documenting the French countryside led him to adopt a method of painting the same scene many times in order to capture the changing of light and the passing of the seasons. From 1883 Monet lived in Giverny, where he purchased a house and property and began a vast landscaping project which included lily ponds that would become the subjects of his best-known works. In 1899 he began painting the water lilies, first in vertical views with a Japanese bridge as a central feature, and later in the series of large-scale paintings that was to occupy him continuously for the next 20 years of his life.
Frank Sinatra[]
Francis Albert Sinatra (/sɪˈnɑːtrə/; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer, actor, and producer who was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century. He is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, having sold more than 150 million records worldwide. Born in Hoboken, New Jersey, to Italian immigrants, Sinatra began his musical career in the swing era with bandleaders Harry James and Tommy Dorsey. Sinatra found success as a solo artist after he signed with Columbia Records in 1943, becoming the idol of the "bobby soxers". He released his debut album, The Voice of Frank Sinatra, in 1946. Sinatra's professional career had stalled by the early 1950s, and he turned to Las Vegas, where he became one of its best known residency performers as part of the Rat Pack. His career was reborn in 1953 with the success of From Here to Eternity, with his performance subsequently winning an Academy Award and Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor. Sinatra released several critically lauded albums, including In the Wee Small Hours (1955), Songs for Swingin' Lovers! (1956), Come Fly with Me (1958), Only the Lonely (1958) and Nice 'n' Easy (1960).
Sinatra left Capitol in 1960 to start his own record label, Reprise Records, and released a string of successful albums. In 1965, he recorded the retrospective September of My Years and starred in the Emmy-winning television special Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music. After releasing Sinatra at the Sands, recorded at the Sands Hotel and Casino in Vegas with frequent collaborator Count Basie in early 1966, the following year he recorded one of his most famous collaborations with Tom Jobim, the album Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim. It was followed by 1968's Francis A. & Edward K. with Duke Ellington. Sinatra retired for the first time in 1971, but came out of retirement two years later and recorded several albums and resumed performing at Caesars Palace, and reached success in 1980 with "New York, New York". Using his Las Vegas shows as a home base, he toured both within the United States and internationally until shortly before his death in 1998.
Sinatra forged a highly successful career as a film actor. After winning an Academy Award for From Here to Eternity, he starred in The Man with the Golden Arm (1955), and received critical acclaim for his performance in The Manchurian Candidate (1962). He appeared in various musicals such as On the Town (1949), Guys and Dolls (1955), High Society (1956), and Pal Joey (1957), winning another Golden Globe for the latter. Toward the end of his career, he became associated with playing detectives, including the title character in Tony Rome (1967). Sinatra would later receive the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1971. On television, The Frank Sinatra Show began on ABC in 1950, and he continued to make appearances on television throughout the 1950s and 1960s. Sinatra was also heavily involved with politics from the mid-1940s, and actively campaigned for presidents such as Harry S. Truman, John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan. Despite his political connections, the FBI investigated Sinatra and his alleged relationship with the Mafia.
While Sinatra never formally learned how to read music, he had an impressive understanding of it, and he worked very hard from a young age to improve his abilities in all aspects of music. A perfectionist, renowned for his dress sense and performing presence, he always insisted on recording live with his band. His bright blue eyes earned him the popular nickname "Ol' Blue Eyes". Sinatra led a colorful personal life, and was often involved in turbulent affairs with women, such as with his second wife Ava Gardner. He went on to marry Mia Farrow in 1966 and Barbara Marx in 1976. Sinatra had several violent confrontations, usually with journalists he felt had crossed him, or work bosses with whom he had disagreements. He was honored at the Kennedy Center Honors in 1983, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Ronald Reagan in 1985, and the Congressional Gold Medal in 1997. Sinatra was also the recipient of eleven Grammy Awards, including the Grammy Trustees Award, Grammy Legend Award and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. After his death, American music critic Robert Christgau called him "the greatest singer of the 20th century", and he continues to be seen as an iconic figure.
Leslie Cheung[]
Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing[4] (Chinese: 張國榮; Jyutping: Zoeng1 Gwok3-wing4; 12 September 1956 – 1 April 2003) was a Hong Kong singer and actor. He is considered "one of the founding fathers of Cantopop" by "combining a hugely successful film and music career."
Cheung rose to prominence as a teen heartthrob and pop icon of Hong Kong in the 1980s, receiving numerous music awards including both Most Popular Male Artist Awards at the 1988 and 1989 Jade Solid Gold Best Ten Music Awards. In 1989, Cheung announced his retirement from the music industry as a pop singer. Returning to the music scene after a five-year hiatus, Cheung released his chart-topping comeback album Most Beloved (寵愛) which achieved a huge market success. In 1999, he won the Golden Needle Award for his outstanding achievement as a musician at the RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs Awards, and his 1984 hit song Monica was voted as Hong Kong's "Song of the Century". He was honored as "Asia's Biggest Superstar" at the 2000 CCTV-MTV Music Honors.
Cheung won the 1991 Hong Kong Film Award (Days of Being Wild) and the 1994 Hong Kong Film Critics Society Award (Ashes of Time) for best actor. He had also won the 1994 Japan Film Critics Society Award for best actor for his performance in Farewell My Concubine and ten other best actor nominations, five Golden Horse Awards, three Cannes Film Festival Awards, an Asia Pacific Film Festival Award, and a Venice Film Festival Award.
Cheung's music and films not only captured fans in Hong Kong but also other Asian areas including Singapore, Malaysia, Mainland China, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea. He is the first foreign artist to hold 16 concerts in Japan that has yet to be broken and the record holder as the best-selling C-pop artist in Korea.
Cheung was ranked as the favorite actor in the 100 years of Chinese cinema. In 2010, he was voted the third "Most Iconic Musicians of All Time" (after Michael Jackson and The Beatles). CNN considered Cheung as the "Most Beautiful Man from Hong Kong Cinema" and one of "Asia's 25 Greatest Actors of All Time."
Cheung died by suicide on 1 April 2003 by jumping off the 24th floor of the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Hong Kong. A suicide note left by Cheung stated that he had been suffering from depression.
Virginia Poe[]
Virginia Eliza Clemm Poe (née Clemm; August 15, 1822 – January 30, 1847) was the wife of American writer Edgar Allan Poe. The couple were first cousins and publicly married when Virginia Clemm was 13 and Poe was 27. Biographers disagree as to the nature of the couple's relationship. Though their marriage was loving, some biographers suggest they viewed one another more like a brother and sister. In January 1842 she contracted tuberculosis, growing worse for five years until she died of the disease at the age of 24 in the family's cottage, at that time outside New York City.
Along with other family members, Virginia Clemm and Edgar Allan Poe lived together off and on for several years before their marriage. The couple often moved to accommodate Poe's employment, living intermittently in Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York. A few years after their wedding, Poe was involved in a substantial scandal involving Frances Sargent Osgood and Elizabeth F. Ellet. Rumors about amorous improprieties on her husband's part affected Virginia Poe so much that on her deathbed she claimed that Ellet had murdered her. After her death, her body was eventually placed under the same memorial marker as her husband's in Westminster Hall and Burying Ground in Baltimore, Maryland. Only one image of Virginia Eliza Clemm Poe has been authenticated: a watercolor portrait painted several hours after her death.
The disease and eventual death of his wife had a substantial effect on Edgar Allan Poe, who became despondent and turned to alcohol to cope. Her struggles with illness and death are believed to have affected his poetry and prose, where dying young women appear as a frequent motif, as in "Annabel Lee", "The Raven", and "Ligeia".
Henry VII of England[]
Henry VII (Welsh: Harri Tudur; 28 January 1457 – 21 April 1509) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from seizing the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death on 21 April 1509, and the first monarch of the House of Tudor.
Henry won the throne when his forces defeated King Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field, the culmination of the Wars of the Roses. Henry was the last king of England to win his throne on the field of battle. He cemented his claim by marrying Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV and niece of Richard III. Henry was successful in restoring the power and stability of the English monarchy after the civil war, and after a reign of nearly 24 years, he was peacefully succeeded by his son, Henry VIII.
Henry can also be credited with a number of administrative, economic and diplomatic initiatives. He paid very close attention to detail, and instead of spending lavishly he concentrated on raising new revenues. His new taxes were unpopular and when Henry VIII succeeded him he executed his two most hated tax collectors.
His supportive stance of the islands' wool industry and stand off with the Low Countries had long lasting benefits to all the British Isles economy. However, the capriciousness and lack of due process that indebted many would tarnish his legacy and were soon ended upon Henry VII's death, after a commission revealed widespread abuses. According to the contemporary historian Polydore Vergil, simple "greed" underscored the means by which royal control was over-asserted in Henry's final years.
Washington Irving[]
Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American short story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He is best known for his short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" (1820), both of which appear in his collection, The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. His historical works include biographies of Oliver Goldsmith, Muhammad, and George Washington, as well as several histories of 15th-century Spain dealing with subjects such as Alhambra, Christopher Columbus, and the Moors. Irving served as the U.S. ambassador to Spain from 1842 to 1846.
He made his literary debut in 1802 with a series of observational letters to the Morning Chronicle, written under the pseudonym Jonathan Oldstyle. After moving to England for the family business in 1815, he achieved international fame with the publication of "The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.", serialized from 1819–20. He continued to publish regularly—and almost always successfully—throughout his life, and just eight months before his death (at age 76, in Tarrytown, New York), completed a five-volume biography of George Washington.
Irving, along with James Fenimore Cooper, was among the first American writers to earn acclaim in Europe, and Irving encouraged American authors such as Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Herman Melville, and Edgar Allan Poe. Irving was also admired by some European writers, including Lord Byron, Thomas Campbell, Charles Dickens, Francis Jeffrey, and Walter Scott. Also, as the United States' first internationally best-selling author, Irving advocated for writing as a legitimate profession and argued for stronger laws to protect American writers from copyright infringement.
Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanova[]
Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia (Russian: Анастаси́я Никола́евна Рома́нова, tr. Anastasíya Nikoláyeva Románova; 18 June [O.S. 5 June] 1901 – 17 July 1918) was the youngest daughter of Czar Nicholas II, the last sovereign of Imperial Russia, and his wife, Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna.
Anastasia was the younger sister of Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, and Maria, and was the elder sister of Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia. She was murdered with her family in an extrajudicial killing by members of the Cheka, the Bolshevik secret police, at Yekaterinburg on 17 July 1918.
Persistent rumors of her possible escape circulated after her death, fueled by the fact that the location of her burial was unknown during the decades of Communist rule. The mass grave near Yekaterinburg which held the remains of the Czar, his wife, and three of their daughters was revealed in 1991, and the bodies of Alexei Nikolaevich and the remaining daughter—either Anastasia or her older sister Maria—were discovered in 2007. Her possible survival has been conclusively disproved. Forensic analysis and DNA testing confirmed that the remains are those of the imperial family, showing that all four grand duchesses were killed in 1918. Several women falsely claimed to have been Anastasia; the best known impostor is Anna Anderson. Anderson's body was cremated upon her death in 1984, but DNA testing in 1994 on available pieces of Anderson's tissue and hair showed no relation to the DNA of the Romanov family.
H.P. Lovecraft[]
Howard Phillips Lovecraft (August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937) was an American writer who achieved posthumous fame through his influential works of horror fiction. He was virtually unknown and published only in pulp magazines before he died in poverty, but he is now regarded as one of the most significant 20th-century authors in his genre.
Lovecraft was born in Providence, Rhode Island, where he spent most of his life. Among his most celebrated tales are The Rats in the Walls, The Call of Cthulhu, At the Mountains of Madness, The Shadow over Innsmouth, and The Shadow Out of Time, all canonical to the Cthulhu Mythos. Lovecraft was never able to support himself from earnings as an author and editor. He saw commercial success increasingly elude him in this latter period, partly because he lacked the confidence and drive to promote himself. He subsisted in progressively strained circumstances in his last years; an inheritance was completely spent by the time he died, at age 46.
Fictional inspirations[]
Esmeralda[]
Esmeralda [ɛs.me.ʁɑl.da], born Agnès, is a fictional character in Victor Hugo's 1831 novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (or Notre Dame de Paris). She is a French Roma girl (near the end of the book, it is revealed that her biological mother was a French woman). She constantly attracts men with her seductive dances, and is rarely seen without her clever goat Djali. She is around 16 years old and has a kind and generous heart.
Esmeralda's birth-name was Agnès. She is the love child of Paquette Guybertaut, nicknamed 'la Chantefleurie', an orphaned minstrel's daughter who lives in Rheims. Paquette has become a prostitute after being seduced by a young nobleman, and lives a miserable life in poverty and loneliness. Agnes's birth makes Paquette happy once more, and she lavishes attention and care upon her adored child: even the neighbors begin to forgive Paquette for her past behavior when they watch the pair. Tragedy strikes, however, when Gypsies kidnap the young baby, leaving a hideously deformed child (the infant Quasimodo) in place. The townsfolk come to the conclusion that the Gypsies have cannibalized baby Agnes; the mother flees Rheims in despair, and the deformed child is exorcised and sent to Paris, to be left on the foundling bed at Notre-Dame.
Fifteen years later, Agnes—now named La Esmeralda, in reference to the paste emerald she wears around her neck—is living happily amongst the Gypsies in Paris. She serves as a public dancer. Her pet goat Djali also performs counting tricks with a tambourine, an act later used as courtroom evidence that Esmeralda is a witch.
Mami Tomoe[]
Mami Tomoe is a supporting character in Puella Magi Madoka Magica. She is a magical girl who rescues Madoka and Sayaka from a witch in episode 1. She is already contracted to Kyubey and offers to act as a mentor to the pair should they choose to become magical girls. She is a powerful veteran who fights with summoned muskets and ribbons, as well as a ladylike older sister figure who enjoys tea. Mami, eager to acquire new friends, demonstrates the glory and heady thrill of magical heroism, but also shows Madoka and Sayaka the terrible danger inherent in going into the teeth of a witch's domain.
Mami first appears as an older, more experienced girl, and is one of the first magical girls introduced in the series. She is shown to have feminine tastes, such as drinking tea and dressing with flower clips in her hair and bows on her shoes. Mami enjoys hosting tea parties. She has been shown to be a rather good cook, especially when it comes to dessert. A kind senior to Madoka, she’s the helpful, sisterly type. She lives alone in an apartment after her parents died in a car accident.
She has a strong sense of personal justice, which keeps her on the path of helping innocents despite gaining little reward for it. This sense of justice also makes it difficult for her to team up with other magical girls for more than short periods, as many will only fight witches for the chance of finding a Grief Seed or in self-defense, and many others are against teaming up with their "competition" in hunting witches. These circumstances compound with her lonely nature as an orphan who has trouble making friends at school due to her having little time for much outside of witch hunting, which has turned Mami into a very isolated person looking for friends. While she appears to be mentally strong, Mami is emotionally much frailer than she seems to be. In episode 3 Mami admits it openly to Madoka, and in the manga rendition of said scene she said that she cries a lot when on her own, declaring that she is not a good role model for anyone before Madoka tells her she's not alone.
She has been shown to take the harsh truths of the magical girl system quite badly depending on the circumstances, and at times has proven to be unstable and dangerous when confronted with them.
Mami always uses honorifics and calls people by their surname with the honorific '-san'. This shows her age and emotional distance to the other girls, who are younger than her and closer in age to each another.
In the spin-off manga Puella Magi Madoka Magica: The Different Story, Mami serves as the main protagonist alongside Kyoko Sakura.
Dea[]
Dea is the female protagonist in Victor Hugo's The Man Who Laughs and its later adaptations. She was an orphan who was born blind. She was discovered by Gwynplaine and eventually raised by him.
In late 17th-century England, a homeless boy named Gwynplaine rescues an infant girl during a snowstorm, her mother having frozen to death whilst feeding her. They meet an itinerant carnival vendor who calls himself Ursus, and his pet wolf, Homo. Gwynplaine's mouth has been mutilated into a perpetual grin; Ursus is initially horrified, then moved to pity, and he takes them in. Fifteen years later, Gwynplaine has grown into a strong young man, attractive except for his distorted visage. The girl, now named Dea, is blind, and has grown into a beautiful and innocent young woman. By touching his face, Dea concludes that Gwynplaine is perpetually happy. They fall in love.
Violet Harmon[]
Violet Harmon is a teenage girl transported to a new home with her dysfunctional family. She is the female protagonist in American Horror Story: Murder House portrayed by Taissa Farmiga. Violet is the 15-year-old only child of the Harmon family. After her mother had a stillbirth, her father is caught having an affair with his psychology student, Hayden. As an attempt to keep the family together, Violet is forced to move to Los Angeles in order for her parents to have a fresh start. At first, she doesn't like the house that her father Ben wants them to live in, but upon learning about the murder-suicide committed there by and against the previous owners, she has a change of heart. It was her vocal opinion that persuaded her mother and father to buy the house. She is then later bullied in school.
Violet is a pretty, clever and highly sardonic teenager. She is described by her mother as "fearless". She possesses a strong intellect and a sharp, witty demeanor. Violet is suffering from major clinical depression and engages in several instances of self-mutilation such as cutting herself and smoking cigarettes. Violet is attracted to the darker elements of the house and of life.
Normally fearless, when encountering all of the ghosts in the house, she is overwhelmed with emotion and breaks down and tries overdosing on sleeping pills given to her by Leah.
Violet is a bit of a loner, and while she often seems to enjoy her individual lifestyle, she becomes increasingly isolated. She seems to have little to no respect for her father due to his affair. She has displayed some resentment toward her mother at times, but remains close with her.
Violet is quite thin with a petite build. Her wardrobe usually consists of layered items, including long dresses, cardigans, long-sleeved shirts, and hats. She has long dirty blonde hair that she wears down and parted in the middle. She usually has a natural face, with very minimal makeup.
Hideyoshi Nagachika[]
Hideyoshi Nagachika (永近 英良, Nagachika Hideyoshi), also known as Hide (ヒデ), is a normal human and the best friend of Ken Kaneki.
He attended Kamii University as a freshman and, later, sophomore. While there, he was studying Foreign Language Studies — majoring in English — at the Department of International Studies. He is a supporting character in Tokyo Ghoul and a major hero in Tokyo Ghoul:re.
At a certain point, he started working part-time at the CCG, and soon became an investigation assistant helping both Koutarou Amon and Akira Mado. He disappeared during the Owl Suppression Operation, and later resurfaced under the identity of Scarecrow (スケアクロウ, Sukeakurō). Assumed to be a low-rated Ghoul, he lingers on the fringes of several major operations and meddles without revealing his true nature or goals.
Most of the time, Hide has a carefree attitude, always joyful and friendly, which greatly annoyed Nishio. However, Hide is actually incredibly observant and can figure things out about people in an almost Sherlock-like manner. He also becomes interested in things and works hard on them until he finds something else that interests him. Hide claims to have a habit of pretending to be a detective by putting tracking devices on suspicious people and notifying the authorities if his intuitions turn out to be right (however, the "hobby" part of it is most likely a lie he made up to hide his true motive from the CCG, which was to find clues about Kaneki's whereabouts).
Hide also has a very "determined" behavior. When he's set goals or decisions, he'll stick to them to the very end. He looks out for his friend Kaneki, encouraging him about many things and worrying when he doesn't return his calls. In some ways, Hide is also the opposite of Kaneki, as he is the outgoing type for festivals while Kaneki, more the introverted type, does not like these kinds of events.
Though he is loud and outspoken, Hide is usually found keeping most of his concerns to himself in order to not trouble those surrounding him. Just like his best friend, Hide has a habit of placing his hand on his face when he is nervous or is lying.
Christine Daae[]
Christine Daaé is a fictional character and the female protagonist of Gaston Leroux's 1910 novel The Phantom of the Opera and of the various adaptations of the work. Erik, the Phantom of the Opera falls in love with her.
Christine Daaé was born in a town near Uppsala, Sweden. Her mother died when she was six. Raised by her father, they constantly traveled to fairs where he played the violin and she sang. They were discovered at one of these fairs by Professor Valérius, who took them to Gothenburg and then to Paris, providing for Christine's education.
Christine was extremely close to her father, who told her Scandinavian fairy-tales; the tale of the "Angel of Music" was her favorite. Christine entered the Paris Conservatoire and trained for four years to become an opera singer to please her father and Mamma Valérius, the bedridden wife of the late Professor. However, by the end of the four years, she had lost her passion for singing.
When Christine arrives at the Opéra Garnier, she was described as "sounding like a rusty hinge", but one person found the beauty hidden in her voice. When Erik, the Phantom of the Opera began to tutor her, he told her that he is the "Angel of Music" of whom her father had spoken. She believed him, and he inspired her soul back into her voice. Christine debuted at a gala at the opera in place of the singer Carlotta, who had fallen ill. Christine's singing was described as "seraphic".
Christine became torn between her loyalty and sympathy for her mentor, Erik, and her love for her childhood friend Viscount Raoul de Chagny.
In the Lofficier translation of the novel, Christine's age is given as 15 years old. However, this is a mistranslation of a passage that says her heart was "as pure as that of a 15 year old". The evidence of Christine's childhood friendship with Raoul, and her studies at the Paris Conservatoire, put her age at 20.
