The Radioheads, (previously known as 'Bubbleheads') are clank/construct hybrids, and a recurring type of background character in the employ of Baron Klaus Wulfenbach. They look outwardly like very tall and muscular human men, normal execpt that instead of a human head they have the eponymous bubble. This bubble is presumably made of glass and often shows complicated machinery beneath. The Baron aquired them when he defeated Albania. They are used on Castle Wulfenbach for manual labor and physical combat, but are rarely used off of the massive airship due to their unsettling effect on the general population.
They are accompanied by young women with smaller glass bubbles on their heads who act as puppeteers for the larger cyborgs. When he brought them into his service, the Baron offered to attempt to remove the cyborg equipment from the young women (presumably the Radioheads themselves would not be able to survive such a procedure, having no brain of their own), but none of them have taken the baron up on this.[1] When Punch shatters the bubble of one of the large cyborgs, the bubble belonging to the corresponding young lady shatters as well, reinforcing that they were linked (possibly; the bullets are not obvious in this scene and so there could be two separate shots, one for each head). A pair can be seen in one of the Girl Genius sketches. (The young women are identified in the Chronology as Bubble-head cyborg sidekick.)
A bubblehead squad in front of the Hoomhoffers
They can be seen:
- Helping fight bugs in Volume III. ✣ (Two, one in each half of the image.)
- Attempting briefly to fight Punch and Judy. ✣
- Included in the Baron's armies in his flashback. ✣
- Bubble shattered by Punch. ✣
- In a loading dock at the start of Volume VI. ✣
- Hauling boxes in the background. ✣
It has been noted that the mechanism in the bubbles resembles the mechanism in the bubble on top of an activated hive engine ✣ , though no linkage has been established.
References
- ↑ Agatha H and the Airship City, Chpater 5, via Sleipnir O’Hara