Girl Genius
Register
Advertisement
Girl Genius

Jägerization[]

Fact: Zeetha has fangs (small ones) and has had them since her first introduction . However, recently they have been noticed more as she worries about the effect of Mamma Gkika's treatment . (Note, however, it is a feature of the art that any character may have variable-sized teeth depending on their emotion.) We also (at least the readers) know at this point that Gil and Zeetha are twin siblings.

Theory: Zeetha and Gil were Jägerized by Klaus as infants. This is why they responded so well to Mamma's treatment, which after all is intended for those already Jägers . The Jägers themselves and maybe even Mamma don't seem to understand how the process works, but Mamma does infer from Gil's response that Klaus must know many Heterodyne secrets . Of course, Klaus doesn't want his kids to look like Jägers, only be able to fight and heal like them, so he figured out a way to suppress the obvious physical changes as well as ensuring that it's not fatal itself. But the suppression didn't work completely in Zeetha's case (at least).

People who support this theory: Zarchne (talk)


Cute Monster Girl[]

Zeetha bears a certain resemblance to Lum Invader, a popular main character of the 80s manga and anime Urusei Yatsura. ( A good website on the show is here)

Urusei Yatsura itself was quite popular in certain circles at one time; as in, one of the leading anime (along with Ranma 1/2) to be bootlegged into the US before anime took off enough for more formal commercial releases to take place, not counting Saturday-morning-compatible shows such as Speed Racer, G-Force, and Star Blazers.[1] This was also before YouTube.

We also know that Kaja Foglio, who just might be old enough to remember Urusei Yatsura when it was fresh[2] to our Western[3] shores, is a great fan of anime.[4] (Actually, of course, she must be,[5] because the time frame in question is the early 90s, and Girl Genius has sketches dated back to 1993.) Thus, it is unsurprising that Lum and Urusei Yatsura, having a formative influence on Kaja, would be given an homage in Girl Genius.

And who is Lum Invader? A short description which emphasizes Zeetha's evident similarity would include: {C}green haired, oversexed[6] alien princess with unusual fighting ability, including a couple of dangerous pointy bits — although in Lum's case these are literal horns whose chief danger is the magical power they possess. There's a bit more[7] to Lum than that, though. {C}It is not entirely[8] accidental, nor undeserved, that Lum is the first example given of a Cute Monster Girl on the TV Tropes Wiki.

Unfortunately for this hypothesis, Kaja reacted with horror when confronted with the similarity.

Tananda the Trollop[]

Closer to home than Lum Invader would be Tananda, also called Tanda for short, the green-haired warrior of Robert Asprin's Myth Adventures series, for which Phil Foglio did the illustrations (and later on, an entire graphic novel).

Zeetha Wulfenbach?[]

Prior to the marriage of Lucrezia Mongfish and William Heterodyne, Lucrezia Mongfish was romantically involved with Klaus.

At the time, she claimed to be intending to convert from evil to good: consistent with this, instead of killing him to prevent any interference on his part, she drugged Klaus, and sent him somewhere out of the way.

When Lucrezia returned in the form of a personality imposed on Agatha's brain, she was very much surprised to hear that Klaus returned from where she had banished him.

We know that Skifander is very remote .

When Klaus did return, he had the infant Gil in tow . Since returning to Europe, after Klaus dealt with the chaos he found there, day-to-day politics had kept Klaus too busy to travel extensively.

As well, there is apparently some connection between Gil and Skifander. Furthermore, Klaus can speak Skifandrian, and Lucrezia is familiar with the appearance of a Skifandrian.

{C}For these reasons, it has been widely considered reasonable to suppose that Skifander was where Lucrezia had disposed of Klaus after having drugged him. As Zeetha was not , in fact, sent to assassinate Gil, and for a number of other subtle reasons, including a conspicuous lack of sexual tension between them in a couple of compromising situations[9][10][11], it has been further theorized that Zeetha and Gil might be blood relatives, although there is significant variation in the nature and extent of the relationship supposed.

Her hairstyle bears a resemblance to the characteristic Wulfenbach mop, and the Baron spares her when he could easily have killed her in the thick of battle. Also notable here Zeetha and Gil have similar eye colours.

It's also worth keeping in mind that Klaus calls for her to surrender even after he ordered his men quite specifically to "kill them all."

Reference to this possibility was made in the page for 2008-11-03 (Monday) . Truth or just the Foglios teasing us? Only time will tell!

She is "the daughter of Chump". It's entirely possible that Klaus called himself a Chump after getting drugged by Lucrezia and ending up in Skifander. Also, while one might have initially assumed that, given the apparently matriarchal nature of Skifander, that Chump would be Zeetha's mother, apparently a vote incentive sketch showed Zeetha indicating that Chump was her father's name.

Klaus has suggested she will kill Gil at some point. No one seems to know why he thinks this. So far Zeetha has been friendly to Gil. What if Gil has a claim to the Skifandrian throne as strong as Zeetha's? Might the Law of Succession of Skifander require claimants to Battle to the Death?

People who support this theory: Quadibloc SocksCorgi


Counter-theories[]

Using 'lack of sexual tension' as a reason why Gil and Zeetha could be siblings has such an astonishing lack of logic... c'mon, Luke and Leia were attracted before they found out and their social taboos (and greater delight at finding family) overwhelmed such. Consider, please, the lack of sexual tension is because Gil is madly in love with Agatha? -- 23:50, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

Zeetha is not a Spark. If Klaus really did go about making babies with the Queen of Skifander, who is also a strong Spark, Gil. Zeetha? Not so much. Even if the queen is not involved, one would think the daughter of Klaus Wulfenbach would be at least a little sparky. Build a nice death ray or two, that sort of thing. However, it may just be a genetic fluke, and female sparks do seem to be significantly rarer. (Is that partially genetic or does that have to do with kidnappings {theory is that the Geisterdamen know of a female Heterodyne heair and are kidnapping girls searching for her} and pitch-forked mobs?) --13:33, September 14, 2009 (UTC)

Othar is a spark. His sister, Sanaa, isn't. Therefore, the Spark isn't ALWAYS inherited. Kretzer 15:09, March 11, 2011 (UTC)

The Breakthrough for a Spark only happens young in rare cases. She might just not have had her breakthrough yet. Additionally the Spark seems like it can mean different things for different people. Examples show in the Sparks in the Circus (Magician, Baker, Perfumer) and her whole education seems to have been hurting people and breaking things. Another possibility is that the sickness she had when leaving home was the preliminary stages of a breakthrough and her breakthrough was the killing of the whole pirate fleet. Her gift might be inspiration in ways to kill people. She also might not know how to use it yet. The people of her homeland might not know as much about the spark.

Confirmation[]

The Professors have "leaked" a confirmation, mostly via book preorder bookplate sketches[12], that Klaus was also known as "Chump" while he was in Skifander, and therefore is Zeetha's father .

Kolee-dok-Zumil[]

Zeetha may train only one person other than her own daughters in the secret fighting arts of Skifander (or so Zeetha says), so why does she choose Agatha for this boon? You'd have to ask Zeetha to be sure, but:

  • Agatha, being a Spark, has a certain charisma;
  • It's very much in Zeetha's own interest to keep Agatha alive, so that she can make introductions to Uncle Barry and help Zeetha discover a way back to Skifander;
  • Zeetha sort of owes Agatha one, for giving her hope by convincing her that Skifander really does exist and wasn't just a figment of her feverish imagination;
  • Zeetha, who is tough as nails, likes having a nice, soft novice around to whip into shape, and Agatha fits the bill perfectly;
  • They do seem to get on pretty well;
  • And of course, above all, Zeetha is one of the Good Guys, and therefore fated to help Agatha out.

Ms. Fan Service[]

Not only has Zeetha, since Gil accidentally placed Bunbury's Wacky Weave Destabilizer on her near the end of Volume VIII, displayed the most common attributes of Ms. Fan Service, but one of her first lines[13] in volume VIII was "Here, drink this", which has been the standard way to greet new posters to the Yahoo Groups list for some time. (Notionally, the beverage offered is Jägerbräu. Though there are indications that that stuff kills people, so far the effects conferred by the kind offered are limited to temporarily changing one's speech as expressed in writing.) {C}Later, Zeetha uses the term "Pinky"[14] in reference to Zola which also originated in fandom as short for "the girl from the pink airship" (although Agatha said it before Zeetha[15]).

Counter-theories[]

Er, Zeetha has more in common with Shampoo of Ranma 1/2 than she does with Lum of Urusei Yatsura. In Ranma 1/2, Shampoo was very much a Ms. Fan Service while also presenting a serious threat to Ranma and Akane, all thanks to the misbehaviour of Ranma's father, Genma Saotome. Ranma was even more at risk with his mother, Nadoka Saotome, for similar reasons. It was all Genma's fault. This situation appears to be all Klaus Wulfenbach's fault. There is a mind-bending twist thrown into all of this when Klaus referred to himself as "Chump." That seems to come from a Jackie Chan film entitled Who am I? Whenever you borrow from someone else's work, that someone else needs to be a genius. You could hardly find greater storytelling geniuses than Takahashi and Chan.

Zeetha is a Martian.[]

1. As seen in the prologue of “Agatha H and the Airship City”, the Other (Lucrezia) launched meteors at targets in Europa from orbit, followed closely by the hive engines that descended on parachutes; this means she had access to some form of space (or at least interplanetary) travel.

2, Lucrezia ‘traps’ Klaus in Skifander after drugging him were he apparently fathers Gil and Zeetha. We have seen much weaker sparks drill through the earth, navigate the oceans, and fly in airships. If Skifander is on Mars, it makes sense that Klaus would be stuck there, and it is within Lucrezra’s power to do this (see 1).

3. The city of Skifander never shows any outdoor shots (Domed city?), is always depicted in red, and is called “Guardian of the Red Mountain” (Olympus Mons?) – There are no red mountains on Earth.

4. Agatha’s Uncle Barry remembers Skifander and tells the story of it to Agatha as child after being prompted by: “They had gazed at them (The stars at night) together, and Agatha had said something about the night revealing her hidden jewels.”

5. When the queen is depicted “killing every Fafflenarg beast herself” the picture closely resembles drawings of aliens in some of the Foglio’s early work.

6. When Klaus wonders about the whereabouts of the Heterodyne Boys he never says “Where on earth”

7. When Olga describes Zeetha's illness after leaving Skifander in 'Agatha H. and the Clockwork Princess:' “On the journey here, she got really sick. Feverish. She doesn’t remember anything about the trip – except the hallucinations, and from her description, they were pretty awful. Floating around, furniture on the ceiling – wild stuff.” Zero gravity anyone?

8. When Tarvek tells of a young Gil not knowing what his ancestry is, one of the possibilities he (jokingly) lists is "Martian Prince".

9. Zeetha has green hair.

10. "Skafandr" (скафандр) is Russian for "space suit" - is it an accident that Skifander sounds similar?

Counter-theories[]

1 Nothing points to the bombardment being a Heinlein Maneuver.

2 No one have really specified the range of the different machines and the Americas have been implied to be currently unreachable.

3 Yes there are [[1]] and the scene is probably standard flashback-sepia tone.

10. The Russian "skafandr" is actually a loanword from French scaphandre, which means "diving suit" - does this rather point at some kind of reference to Atlantis??

References

  1. None of which are mentioned in the undated history of American adaptation known as the Macekre
  2. still wet, in fact
  3. in both senses
  4. Great line in the author info for volume VI
  5. old enough, that is, unless perhaps some sort of time travel is involved
  6. a horny devil?
  7. or a couple of bits, counting the navel
  8. the fact that "anime" starts with "a" does muddy the waters
  9. Missing something
  10. We're even
  11. Gil takes no interest in Zeetha's goosebumps.
  12. Haus of Klaus, "At long last - and it's not even January!", 7 October 2010
  13. 2008-04-07 (Monday) "Ah! You're awake! Relax. You're safe." "Er...Am I?" "Yup! Couldn't be safer. And I'll bet you have questions." 2008-04-09 (Wednesday) "I know I do. Here, drink this."
  14. "Higgs ditched it when Pinky showed up!"
  15. "We'll have Pinky and her thugs out of here in no time."
Advertisement