This article is about a member of the Clay Family. For others in the family or other uses, see Clay (disambiguation).
- "The Clanks are enforcing a curfew."
- "Really? It will be like old times then. We'd better change. You get to packing."
- Agatha and Lilith Clay[3]
Judy, along with her husband, Punch, is one of the earliest construct creations of the Heterodyne Boys. Following their creation, she and Punch spent many years adventuring with the Heterodyne Boys, and it is through stories of these adventures that much of Europa remember them both. Unfortunately, in current Heterodyne Plays, [4] they are both portrayed as goofy, unintelligent, undignified sidekicks, which is almost completely inaccurate. Indeed, her skill-set includes giving piano lessons[5], being a dancing instructor, canning foods, casing the thieves' market, being a good foster mom, avoiding being caught by literally an army of searchers, and infiltrating floating castles.
Still, as an early creation, when we first meet her, she shows physical signs of being 'student work' with one of her eyes being bigger than the other, something she disguises with special glasses. It is perhaps those flaws that helped disguise her and Punch following the Boys' disappearance, for while some might see that she was a construct, they might not accept that this 'imperfect' work was the product of the legendary Heterodyne Boys.[6]
As the story starts, she and Punch have for many years hidden themselves in Beetleburg from their old adventuring partner Klaus Wulfenbach, and passing themselves off as normal humans, going by the name of Lilith and Adam Clay, and raising Agatha while faithfully awaiting Barry's long-overdue return,. On the momentous day when the story actually starts, she and Adam are out hunting for Agatha's stolen locket when their foster daughter is taken into custody by Klaus, and brought on board Castle Wulfenbach. They escape the locked-down city and sneak onto the airship, but their attempt to extract Agatha is complicated by their meeting Klaus and his coterie, which unfortunately includes Von Pinn. The blonde construct literally rips them both to shreds, but Agatha still escapes and both of them are reassembled in secret by Gilgamesh Wulfenbach.[7]. Gil not only restores them, but also improves on their original construction, allowing Punch to speak where he was previously mute, adjusting Judy's eyes so that they are the same size, and allowing Punch and Judy to (unexpectedly) reproduce biologically, The last we see of them in the early going they are still recovering from this procedure on Castle Wulfenbach.
Time Skip (Approximately two and a half years after Bomb/Door)[]
After Agatha escapes the effects of the Time Skip and rejoins the rest of the time stream, she is joyfully if briefly reunited with the pair in the Sneaky Heterodyne caverns near Mechanicsburg. (It is not said how they got there, but again see that skill-set list above.) Time froze for Mechanicsburg, but the rest of the world still turned: Lilith has been caring for the children of Mechanicsburg who were away from the city at the time of the Siege, along with having her own daughter Maxinia Agatha Gilliana Heterodyne Clay. [8] Agatha immediately sets out on her trip to Paris and England, once again leaving Lilith and Adam behind.
It is reported that during the Polar Ice Lord invasion of the area, the Lords never learned about the cave complex and so its inhabitants passed through the attack unscathed.
When Our Heroes finally get themselves back to Mechanicsburg, Lilith is visited off-screen in the caves by Zeetha and Violetta, and sends a cake along with them as they rejoin ✣ Agatha.
The Works[]
Lilith Clay is a card in The Works where her details are Hero and Construct. She is depicted flexing her stitched-together arm.
Outside information and speculation[]
When Punch and Judy kept Agatha in hiding with them as their child, they went by the aliases Adam and Lilith Clay. Adam was the name given to the first man in the Bible, and some myths refer to Lilith as the wife of Adam prior to Eve. In the myth, Lilith was fashioned from clay.[9] The medieval story of the Golem also refers to its being made from clay. It appears that the aliases chosen for Punch and Judy were intended as an ironic reference to their status as constructs. We have no explanation for why the name Lilith was chosen, other than that it would have been less obvious than Eve, though it does raise another interesting point for fan discussion on religion.
Their actual names, of course, are references to Punch and Judy, characters from a traditional English puppet show dating back to the 16th century in the real world. Whether such a show actually exists in the Girl Genius universe is unknown.
References
- ↑ Vol. III p. 103 ✣ Frunch!
- ↑ Vol. V p. 104 ✣ Gil's side project revealed
- ↑ Vol. I p. 50 ✣ The Clays prepare to leave town.
- ↑ Vol. II p. 51 ✣ Theo mentioning 'dopey monsters'
- ↑ My mother gives piano lessons. ✣
- ↑ See the Secret Blueprints article
- ↑ see above
- ↑ Vol. XIII p.144 ✣ Agatha meets Maxinia
- ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/apr/07/there-are-many-ways-we-deal-with-grief-but-few-as-full-frontal-as-this-one