Black Butler
In Victorian-era Europe, a young boy loses
everything he once held near and dear to a vicious plot. In his moment
of death, he strikes a deal with a demon: his soul, in exchange for
revenge. Ciel Phantomhive is now the head of the Phantomhive
corporation, handling all business affairs as well as the underground
work for the Queen of England. His new partner is a demon butler,
Sebastian Michaelis, whose powers as a butler is only surpassed by his
strength as a demon.
The story follows the two along with their other servants, as they work to unravel the plot behind Ciel's parents' murder, and the horrendous tragedies that befell Ciel in the month directly after.
The story follows the two along with their other servants, as they work to unravel the plot behind Ciel's parents' murder, and the horrendous tragedies that befell Ciel in the month directly after.
Bard
Bardroy,
usually referred to as Bard, is the household cook of American descent.
He rarely produces anything edible as he uses weaponry such as
flamethrowers to cook and believes cooking is an art requiring
explosions. Sebastian believes anything he creates is made up of
charcoal and carcinogens. Bard pursues cooking to learn how to slow down, as he states cooking takes patience to master. He used to be an English soldier whose entire platoon was wiped out,
leaving him to be the only survivor. While terrible at cooking, he is
shown to be capable of taking advantage of his surroundings, such as
using fine quality flour to create a dust explosion. At the anime's
conclusion, it was unknown whether he is alive or dead, although it was
noted he was breathing before he collapsed. In the second season, he was
revealed to have survived.
Finnian
Finnian,
often called Finny, is a gardener. However, it seems every time he
tends to the garden, it is destroyed through an accident caused by his
clumsiness. He is portrayed as an innocent, child-like character who
loves his work, but is dubbed an idiot by Sebastian. Finnian displays
feats of superhuman strength, such as dragging and throwing Pluto
around, which he tries to suppress for fear of hurting others and risk
of sabotaging his work. The sequence, S-012, is tattooed to his nape
and is covered by his straw hat. He works as a gardener to spend as
much time as possible outside because he was not able to do so before.
Mey-Rin
Mey-Rin
is a clumsy maid whose cracked glasses do nothing to improve her
clumsiness. However, she refuses to purchase a new pair as they are the
first thing Ciel bought for her. Sebastian believes her main problem is
her intelligence and not her poor eyesight. She has a crush on Sebastian
as she blushes whenever she is in his presence and is even clumsier
when Sebastian is watching. In the anime, she fantasizes about being
close to him in episode 1. She is rather superstitious but admits to
having a soft spot for scary stories. Mey-Rin used to be a sniper who
did not use a scope, due to her sharp far-sighted vision caused by her
ill-fitting glasses. She is also physically fit as she can use a sniper
rifle like a hand gun and keeps hundreds loaded at once to decrease
reload time. At the anime's conclusion, it is unknown whether she is
alive or dead, although it is noted she was breathing before she
collapsed.
Tanaka
Tanaka is the house steward who has served under the former Master
Phantomhive. He was present when Ciel's parents were killed and was
stabbed in the back during the incident. As a result, he rarely talks or
does any work. Sebastian seems to respect him the most out of all the
staff. He is usually seen drinking from a Japanese tea cup. Despite his
appearance, Tanaka is capable of killing intruders effortlessly. Prior
to Sebastian's appointment as Ciel's butler, Tanaka served as the head
butler of the Phantomhive household, for both Ciel's father and Ciel. In
the manga, when Sebastian is apparently murdered, Ciel appoints Tanaka
as the head butler again, a position he fulfills nearly as well as
Sebastian.
Madame Red
Madame Red (マダム・レッド, Madamu Reddo?), born Angelina Durless (アンジェリーナ・ダレス, Anjerīna Daresu?),
is Ciel's aunt. As her title suggests, she is known for her red
appearance and clothing. Initially she hated her red hair, which she
inherited from her father, until Ciel's father, Vincent, said he liked
it. Angelina fell in love with him, but became distraught when she found
out her sister was marrying him. Madame Red later married Baron
Barnett, who treats her lovingly and gently, stating that he does not
mind that she harbors feelings for another. She obtained a medical
license against the wishes of her parents and practices at the Royal London Hospital.
After a carriage accident in which her husband was killed, her womb and
unborn child had to be removed. This causes her great strife as a
doctor because she regularly performs abortions on prostitutes
because they believe having a child is troublesome. Unable to bear her
misery at ending so many pregnancies when she herself wants one so
badly, she begins to kill her patients with Grell Sutcliffe and the two
become known as Jack the Ripper.
Lau
Lau is a Chinese noble, President of the British Branch of a Chinese
trading company, and friend to the Phantomhive family. He is actually
the head of the Shanghai Mafia and runs an opium
den. He is always smiling and his eyes are always closed except for
brief moments in episodes fifteen and twenty. Lau often agrees to things
before learning what is happening and jumps into conversations with
helpful information only to later state he has no idea. He is also
unaware his antics appear strange to others. However, he can be very
coldblooded and cryptic, willing to go further than Ciel would, such as
having Lord West and his wife killed because he knew they'd try to cheat
again. He is often seen with his personal assassin Ran-Mao ,
a Chinese, doll-like girl referred to as his sister, although not by
blood. Although she very rarely speaks and is portrayed as emotionless,
she is very loyal to him, later revealed to be his personal assassin. In
the anime adaption, Lau and Ran-mao are defeated by Ciel and Sebastian
after they use the Earl's company to store and sell Lady Blanc opium in the guise of candy. Lau and Ran-mao then throw themselves into the River Thames. They have shown to have survived this in Season 2, and oddly back on good terms with the Phantomhive family.
Prince Soma
Prince Soma Asman Kadar is a seventeen-year-old Indian prince.
Unlike Ciel, he is spoiled and uses his parent's fortune for his
personal needs and blames all of his problems on others. He bestowed his
affections on Meena ,
a beautiful maidservant who had served at his palace in India since his
birth. He saw her as an older sister. However, she came to hate him due
to his arrogance and ran away to England with Lord Harold West, a
trader in Indian goods, to become a rich wife, rather than an ordinary
cook bound to her social class. During the course of his time in
England, Soma begins to see things in a different perspective, realizing
that he is blaming problems he caused on others. After learning Meena
hated him for his ignorance, Prince Soma decided to stay with Ciel and
learn how to act as a gentleman and even proclaims to be Ciel's best
friend. He does not know that Meena and Lord West were both killed by
Ranmao on Lau's orders after they lost the curry contest. Shortly after,
Ciel has him and Agni manage his property in London, in order to keep
them out of his way. In the Anime, he and Agni are seen on the streets
handing out curry bread to the poor.
Agni
Agni
is the servant of Prince Soma, whom he sees and worships as a god. Agni
was once a nobleman named Arshad who used his
powers and wealth for his own desires to the point that he was to be hanged
for his crimes. Before he was to die, Prince Soma offered him a new
life, shedding his former self. He is able to fight on a par with
Sebastian while using a fencing foil,
a feat which briefly makes Ciel wonder if he is a demon until Sebastian
confirms he is a human. The source of his martial prowess comes from
his devotion to Prince Soma. Unlike Sebastian, he is able to see the
good in the Phantomhive manor staff and assign them tasks where their
skills will be of use. He is known as the "Right Hand of God" for his
god-like skill at making curry.
He betrays Prince Soma and becomes the chef for a curry contest for
Lord West to keep him from revealing to Soma that Meena ran away and
hated the prince. Later, Agni reconciles with the prince. He is staying
in the Phantomhive manor to learn to become a better servant from
Sebastian, and even calls Sebastian his friend, something that surprises
Sebastian as no one has ever called him that before. Sebastian also
takes Agni's advice on taking care of Ciel, much to the younger boy's
annoyance.
Grell SutcliffeGrell Sutcliffe ,
Grell, in the anime adaptation, is a flamboyant Grim Reaper who works
as Madame Red's butler. He is initially portrayed as worthless and is
often seen in the anime adaption trying to commit suicide
after mishandling tasks, something he did so often the Phantomhive
staff just gave up on trying to stop him. As a Grim Reaper, he is
characterized with red hair and shark-like teeth. Grell often refers to
himself as a female and verbalizes his infatuation with Sebastian, much
to the latter's disgust. He meets Madam Red while she is murdering a
former patient. Grell and Madam forge a partnership and continue the
murders. They are known as "Jack the Ripper". Grell's Grim Reaper scythe is illegally modified to look and function like a chainsaw.
When cutting someone with his Scythe, their past memories are played
out like a video reel; this is referred to as "Cinematic Record".
Sebastian almost kills Grell with the Grim Reaper's own scythe, but he
is stopped by William Spears. William beats Grell and takes him back to
headquarters. In the manga, Grell has not appeared since. However, he
makes a reappearance in the anime adaption, where his role is lengthened
through missions William assigns him to investigate. His scythe is
confiscated and Grell has to rely on small scissors able to cut through
anything. At the anime's conclusion, William returns his chainsaw scythe
so that he can help the other Grim Reapers destroy the tainted souls
caused by Angela and Ash.
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William T. Spears
William T. Spears is a high-ranking death god
and belongs to the Dispatch Management Division. He is portrayed as
emotionless. William comes to the human world to take Grell back for
punishment. He has a strong, open hatred for demons, to the point of
becoming disgusted with himself after apologizing to Sebastian for
Grell's behavior. His scythe is a double-sided clipper that is able to
extend to unknown lengths. In the anime adaption, it appears to be the
standard scythe. He is not as proficient at blending in with humans as
Grell or Sebastian, often openly talking about Grim Reapers and demons,
but the people that hear this think of him as a jokester.