Agatha Heterodyne
From Girl Genius
This article is about a member of House Heterodyne. For others in the lineage or other uses, see Heterodyne (disambiguation).
This article is about a member of House Mongfish. For others in the lineage or other uses, see Mongfish (disambiguation).
This article is about a member of the Clay Family. For others in the family or other uses, see Clay (disambiguation).
| Agatha Heterodyne | |
 | |
| Name | Agatha Clay, Agatha Heterodyne, "Madame Olga", the Holy Child, "Pix" (she's had to hide a lot) |
| Age | 18 |
| Occupation | student, lab assistant, actress, fortune-teller, itinerant heroine |
| Residence | Currently in Mechanicsburg. |
| First Appearance | Outside the Kaja in Beetleburg. |
| Death | |
| Parents | William Heterodyne and Lucrezia Mongfish (born); Punch and Judy (raised) |
| Relatives | Barry Heterodyne (uncle), Theopholous DuMedd (cousin) |
| Children | |
| Marital Status | Single, much-pursued |
- "I have a lot of things to do. If I drop everything to make
- a girly fuss over him, we could all wind up dead." [1]
Agatha Heterodyne is the main character and eponymous Girl Genius. She's a strong Spark and the last known member of the famous Heterodyne family. As the main character, a summary of every event in which the protagonist is involved would be impossibly long. This article is mostly limited to events that Agatha is aware of, that affect her deeply, and that are likely to come up again as the narrative unfolds.
For a more in-depth analysis of her character, see Agatha's mad page.
Contents |
[edit] Early Life
Agatha is the daughter of Lucrezia Mongfish and Bill Heterodyne. She was their second child, the first being Klaus Barry Heterodyne, who died while still very young. The circumstances of her birth are a mystery. The only clue we have is that, according to Lady Vrin, she is the holy child long sought by the Geisterdamen and later stolen by persons unknown. Wherever and however Agatha first appeared in the world, no one expected that there was a second Heterodyne heir.
Agatha was raised by her Uncle Barry until the age of seven. During her earliest years, he kept the family moving in order to stay hidden. [2] One day, Barry left on a secret mission, entrusting Agatha to the protective and tender Adam and Lilith Clay, and never returned. Adam and Lilith (in reality, the famous pair of constructs, Punch and Judy) raised her in Beetleburg under the name "Agatha Clay". Agatha remained unaware that she was either a Spark or a Heterodyne throughout her early life. What became of her natural parents or her Uncle Barry is anyone's guess.
[edit] Lab Assistant
When the story opens, Agatha is 18 years old and a student at Transylvania Polygnostic University, where she works under the watchful eye of Doctor Tarsus Beetle, who is the only other person besides the Clays who know Agatha's true identity.
That day turns out to be exceptionally bad. She is startled by a foreboding electrical anomaly, her locket is stolen by Omar von Zinzer, Dr. Beetle is killed by Gilgamesh Wulfenbach, and she is expelled from the university. Later, she builds her first working clank in her sleep, which results in her being kidnapped and taken aboard Castle Wulfenbach.
On the castle, Agatha reluctantly pretends to be Moloch von Zinzer's girlfriend, until he threatens her. She also meets the students and gets to know Gilgamesh Wulfenbach, but cannot reconcile her enjoyment of his company with his having killed Dr. Beetle (accident or no), nor with his harsh treatment of the initially charming and heroic Othar Tryggvassen, Gentleman Adventurer. It's on Castle Wulfenbach that Agatha builds Dingbot Prime, acquires her first ally, Krosp I, and is introduced to the Jägergenerals.
It's also here where she has her first real adventure. The hive engine that was in Dr. Beetle's lab is activated by the sleeper revenant Mr. Rovainen and an accidental command from Agatha. With help from Agatha's Electric Foils and Dingbots, Gil and Agatha destroy the hive engine together. Euphoric, Agatha kisses Gil. He is instantly smitten and makes the worst marriage proposal Agatha has ever heard. Agatha takes umbrage at the idea of getting married just to annoy Klaus, but never gets a chance to answer Gil. As Adam and Lilith attempt to wisk Agatha out of the Castle, Klaus recognizes them as the Heterodyne constructs Punch and Judy and deduces that Agatha is the child of Bill Heterodyne and Lucrezia Mongfish. Agatha escapes, but Von Pinn kills Punch and Judy.
[edit] Actress
Agatha and her liege cat, Krosp I, flee in a stolen airship with Othar Tryggvassen. They part ways when Agatha refuses to be Othar's 'plucky girl sidekick.'
In the Wastelands, Agatha runs straight at danger to save Master Payne's Circus of Adventure from a rogue Spider Clank. The Circus then helps Agatha fake her death to throw off the Wulfenbach pursuit. Agatha acquires her second ally when Zeetha, Daughter of Chump takes Agatha as her Zumil. She acquires her third set of allies when the three wild Jägers that she freed from the town of Zumzum come to her aid at Passholdt. Agatha learns a lot about herself in the Wastelands, getting conflicting advice concerning heroics from Othar[3] and Master Payne.[4]
While performing the role of Lucrezia Mongfish in the Circus's Heterodyne plays, Agatha forms an attachment to Lars. Following a command performance at Castle Sturmvoraus, the young actress is taken prisoner in rapid succession by Aaronev Wilhelm Sturmvoraus, then by Anevka Sturmvoraus, and then by Lady Vrin. Throughout it all, Agatha is alternately aided and hindered by the machinations of Prince Tarvek.
Vrin and the Geisterdamen use the "Holy Machine" to download another personality into Agatha—a personality that they believe is their goddess, Lucrezia Mongfish, Agatha's mother, and The Other. As Agatha fights a losing struggle for control of her own body, she builds a distress signal to warn the world and the Baron.
Agatha finally regains control when Lucrezia puts on the damping locket. When Lars intercepts a killing blow from the Baron meant for Agatha, Agatha learns about rage. She recovers her perspective only after becoming the subject of the first successful test of the calming pie. The Circus creates a mass illusion of the Heterodyne Boys to cover Agatha's escape from the Battle of Sturmhalten.
[edit] Itinerant Heroine
The Circus retreats to England, but Agatha advances to Mechanicsburg to take possession of Castle Heterodyne. There, she is elated to watch Gil stop an invading army of battle clanks. Agatha encounters competition from that other Heterodyne heiress, Zola, but on the strength of some very fine coffee-making, she convinces former seneschal Carson von Mekkhan to get her into the castle.
Inside the castle, Agatha attempts to take control and begin repairs while Zola and the prisoners[5] hunt her.[6] Agatha gains control of the main castle library, and with it, Mechanicsburg's air defenses, though this leads to a confrontation with Castle Wulfenbach.
As Volume 8 ends and Volume 9 begins, Agatha rescues Tarvek from one of her Castle's rogue defensive systems and goes in search of Gil, who is also trespassing in her Castle.
[edit] In our next episode
Klaus suspects that, some time in the not too distant future, Agatha will use a time travel device with Gil and a Geisterdame.
[edit] Command Voice
(See main article: Command voice.)
There is a series of incidents in which commands given by Agatha's voice (usually while in the madness place) exact obedience from servants of the Other.
[edit] Agatha's Spark
Agatha first performed the characteristic Heterodyne humming at age 5. This is the earliest breakthrough known, the second earliest being Gilgamesh Wulfenbach. Her uncle Barry feared that a breakthrough at such an early age could be disastrous, and built her a locket that suppressed her Spark until the story's beginning.
Like most strong sparks, Agatha's style is hard to define because she is marvelously proficient at a number of sparky disciplines. More importantly, she is still a student. However, she seems to specialize in mechanical engineering; her breakthrough creation is a clank, and she produces perhaps the smallest known clank soon afterward - Dingbot Prime - which assists her in building generations of miniature self-replicating clanks. These are a key factor in her first victory against Baron Wulfenbach. However, she shows a knack for surprisingly potent Death rays. Agatha has not yet created a construct in canon and her medical skills are limited, at least at present.
[edit] Creations
(in order of appearance)
- Search Engine
- Dingbot Prime and other Dingbots—self-replicating miniature clanks
- Othar-Rescuing machine[7]
- Electric foils[8]
- several portable Death rays
- repurposed Silverodeon,[9] together with the Battle Circus[10] and Baba Yaga
- holographic recorder-projector
- Personal Trainer exo-skeleton (non-canon)
- Fashion Clank (non-canon)
- Coffee engine capable of producing perfect coffee
[edit] Outside information
Agatha's appearance is based on the way Phil used to draw Kaja Foglio. Kaja explains in this old Livejournal post how Agatha was initially designed and why her hair is such a vibrant red-blonde color.
Agatha’s “heterodyning”—the humming/singing noise she makes while thinking Sparky thoughts—was partly inspired by Doc Savage’s famous trill (in the works of Lester Dent).[11] Doc would unconsciously produce the sound while thinking or fighting.
Shortly before the publication of the Secret Blueprints in February, 2001, issue 279 of Dragon Magazine with the cover date January 2001 contained a page of What's New with Phil and Dixie which had characters strongly resembling both Agatha and Krosp in one panel. (Krosp had previously been named in pages of that comic which appeared in Duelist.)[12]
[edit] See also
Secret Blueprints: Agatha Clay/Agatha Heterodyne
References
- ↑ Agatha settles Pinkie's hash.
- ↑ Why Barry kept her hidden is not entirely clear, though Klaus seems to favor the theory that it was at least partly from him. "You've obviously been hiding from me all these years."
- ↑ "You ran straight at danger without even thinking.
- ↑ "Our lives ... are dangerous enough without questing for adventure."
- ↑ "Is everyone I know in here, or is it just everyone who hates me?"
- ↑ Zola promises freedom and gold to whoever kills Agatha, and more importantly, threatens to kill anyone who won't.
- ↑ "Fear not! Soon you will be safe!"
- ↑ "Build something."
- ↑ "That music!"
- ↑ "Showtime."
- ↑ Related to, or implied in part by Kaja's comment here.
- ↑ Based on The Phil Foglio Gallimaufry.
