Annette (Netflix's Castlevania)

Annette is one of the main protagonists of the 2023 Netflix animated dark fantasy series, Castlevania: Nocturne. She is a former slave on the colony of Saint Domingue who later became a freedom fighter for the Haiti Rebellion. 
She later travels to France with her best friend Edouard to find Richter Belmont and investigate the rumored "vampire messiah". She is a descendant of Ogun, the African god of war and iron and a powerful practitioner of Vodun magic. She is the archenemy of Comte De Vaublanc, the vampire who enslaved her and killed her mother. 
She is voiced by Thuso Mbedu in the English dub and Asuna Tomari in the Japanese dub. 
==Biography==
===Slave of Saint-Domingue===
Many years ago, Annette was a simple slave girl born in Saint-Domingue to a slave named Esther, she was minding her own business and picking up the crops like any slave would. Until she got distracted and was nearly punished by one of their masters but her mother prevented that from happening. Later on, they were visited by the plantation owner, Comte de Vaublanc, who discovered many magic symbols in their home, which infuriated him. He grabbed Esther by the throat and told her that there will be no dances, singing, charms, and magic sigils, meaning he will not tolerate her anymore. He snaped her neck with Annette witnessing it, traumatizing her.
Years later, Annette was caught attempting to escape the plantation and was brought forth to Vaublanc. He had one of his servants to brand her but Annette, with unknown powers, threw the branding iron away. She ran away as far as possible with Vaublanc and his dogs chasing after her until she ran into a theater and hid in there for safety. She was later found by the singer Edouard, who was revealed to be a close ally to a growing rebellion in the mountains, helping smuggle Annette to the hideout. Once there, she's trained by the priestess Cecile in the mastery of her powers. She and Edouard then take part in the Haiti Rebellion, where the slaves of Saint Dominique are liberated and the plantations burned to the ground. The duo goes to Vaublancs mansion and attempt to kill the slave master, overwhelming him with her powers and forcing him to flee the island. 
As the rebellion celebrates their victory, Annette finds Cecile meditating and has a terrifying vision about Erzsebet Bathory and the destruction and suffering she was preparing to bring to the world. Realizing that Erzsebets arrival would render their revolution meaningless, she travels with Edouard to France to find the last known Belmont (Richter) so that they could make him their ally and thwart Erzsebets conquest. 
=== Journey In France and The Loss of a Comrade ===
She and Edouard arrive at the home of Tera, Maria, and Richter to kill a party of Night Creatures to save the family. After introducing each other the next morning and explaining their purpose for coming to find Richter, they decide to infiltrate the Chateau of the Marquis to investigate his ties to Erzsebet Bathory and the Night Creatures. During their spying, Annette sees Vaublanc in the gathering of vampires and becomes overcome with rage, causing her powers to react and send shockwaves that reveal them to the vampires, leading to a fight breaking out. Making their way to the river, they barely manage to cross it to safety over a bridge made by Annette's powers. Edouard, however, is ambushed and killed by the vampires before he can make it across, and Annette is forced to leave him behind to escape and breaks down in grief over her brother-in-arms death. 
After telling Richter, Maria, and Tera her full story, she attends a Revolutionary rally and gives a speech about the Haiti Rebellion to inspire hope in the people. At that moment, Night Creatures attack the town square the rally is held in, leading to a fight to protect the people in attendance. After killing most of the horde, Annette notices a demon with Edouard's eyes, with the creature moving to save Annette from an advancing Night Creature before being carried away by another demon with wings. Realizing to her horror that her friend had been reborn as a Night Creature for Erzsebet, Annette is overcome with despair once again as she cries for Edouard. 
After a fierce debate over how to approach the situation, the group decides to follow up on Maria's suspicions of Abbot Emmanuel as a collaborator of the vampires, with Tera leading them down into the catacombs under the Abbey through a secret tunnel. After fighting and killing several Night Creatures, they discover Emmanuel in the company of the Marquis and Drolta Tzuentes, affirming Maria's suspicions. A fight breaks out and Annette soon stumbles upon a cell with a chained Edouard as its occupant, he recognizes Annette who initially moves to kill him to end his suffering, realizing when he moves back in fear that he doesn't want to die. Briefly locking blades with Drolta, Annette sees Richter fleeing in terror after coming face -to-face with Olrox, causing him to have a ptsd attack, and she finds herself forced to retreat and leave Edouard behind. Outside the Abbey, she expresses fury at Richter for running away. 
After helping tend to Maria's wounds, Annette goes out on her own to gather information on the enemy. She follows and eavesdrops on Drolta and Olrox's conversation in the cemetery, during which she learns about Erzsebet's plan to bring eternal night. After the 2 leave for the night, Annette finds Vaublanc about to drink the blood of a street urchin, attacking the vampire and saving the urchin before facing her mortal enemy down for the last time. Initially taken off guard and pinned down by Vaublanc due to the latter's speed and strength, she eventually drives him back and uses her powers to turn the metal posts of the cemetery's fence to create a series of large crosses to disorient Vaublanc before turning them into a makeshift cage to trap the vampire. Staring her mother's killer down with stone-faced resolve in the face of his cruel taunts and gloating of Erzsebets glory, also revealing to her that she had drank Sekhmet's blood and harnessed her powers to bring about the eternal night, before turning away from him and leaving him to burn in the light of the rising sun, smiling to herself in relief as her former slave master dies in agony. 
=== Regaining the Resolve to Fight ===
Later the following night, Annette speaks to Cecile through a magic communication ritual to tell of her Edouard's passing and confide her frustration with Richter's supposed cowardice and her feelings of powerlessness against the coming of Erzsebet Bathory. Cecile advises her pupil of her own experience with running away when she first escaped slavery and reminding her of how slavery isn't an inherent aspect of the world merely a system enforced by people like Vaublanc, and not to allow her anger at the state of the world to make her lose sight of what she fights for. Her resolve renewed she eventually meets back up with Maria and Tera at the time that Erzsebet arrives in Maschoul, repeating Cecile's advice to them and herself to reassure them that there is still hope.
When Richter return following his meeting with his grandfather Juste and the reawakening of his magic in his fight with Nikolai, Annette reconciles with him as he promises to use his regained powers to help get Edouard out of the Abbey. After Olrox unexpectedly gives them the plans for Emmanuel's Hell machine, the group learns that Annette can use her powers to push the machine back into Hell through a portal that Tera can open with Emmanuel's book. Initially planning to attack the Abbey in daylight, their plan changes when Mizrak tells them of Maria's capture by the Abbot, which is followed by Erzsebet using Sekhmet's power to completely eclipse the sun, allowing her vampire followers to roam freely and attack in the open. 
Fighting their way into the Abbey and rescuing Maria from being sacrificed on the Abbey's altar, Annette heads down to the basement to prepare to send the machine back to Hell. Along the way she finds Edouard again, who had managed to convince other Night Creatures to turn against Emmanuel and defend Annette from the loyalist demons, who tells her he can't leave with her yet. Arriving in the Hell machines room, she tries to use her powers to push the machine through a portal conjured by Tera. Unfortunately, the attempt fails due to Erzsebet arriving at the Abbey and interrupting Tera's concentration, causing the portal to close and leaving the machine on Earth. Left with no choice but to retreat, she says goodbye to Edouard one last time before fleeing with her allies, while also being forced to leave Tera at the mercy of Erzsebet. Escaping into the countryside, she and Richter move to fight an approaching Drolta, only for Alucard to kill her at the last second and drive off the other vampires with her, with Annette expressing confusion at his arrival, having never heard of him before. 
== Personality==
Annette is a determined and passionate young woman devoted to ensuring her peoples freedom and prosperity. Having spent most of her life as a slave, Annette was left with a burning desire to protect others from slavery and despised those who support it, most notably her former slave master and the murderer of her mother Vaublanc. She's shown to be fiercely loyal and protective of her friend and brother in arms Eduard, and upon his death and transformation into a vampire becomes determined to free him from Emmanuels clutches as he had done for her when he smuggled her to the rebellions mountain hideout when they'd first met. She's shown to be stubborn and at times impulsive, insisting on storming the Abbey to rescue Eduard and reducing the building to rubble without considering what they would face or who their enemies truly are.
Hardened by her experiences, Annette is shown to despise demonstrations of fear or perceived cowardice, as shown by her anger towards Richter for running away from Olrox after being confronted by him under the Abbey. She's initially unsympathetic towards his trauma regarding Olrox due to having endured worse during her time as Vaublancs slave, equating the terrors of childhood as another form of slavery that she refuses to be dictated by. Much of her insensitivity is a projection of her shame at having been forced to run for her life by Vaublanc when she first escaped from him, something that her mentor points out during their discussion. She eventually comes to accept that fear isn't something to be ashamed of and eventually comes to forgive Richter and acknowledge that feeling fear can help to remind them of all that they protect. 
==Appearance==
Unlike her counterpart in the games, Annette is depicted as a black women with dreadlocks along with golden tips on them. She wears a yellow vest with a sash around her waist and a shirt underneath. The sash itself contains colors relating to red, grey, and yellow. She has black pants and brown high-knee boots.
==Gallery==
File:Annette Nocturne.webp|Annette's promotional poster.
File:Annette bust shot.webp
File:Annette and Edouard.webp
File:A Common Enemy in Evil - Nocturne - 72.webp
File:Annette witnessing her mother's death..webp|Annette witnessing her mother's death at the hands of her slave master, Comte de Vaublanc.
File:Annette's powers.png|Annette using her powers against Vaublanc.
File:Annette fighting Drolta.webp|Annette fighting Drolta Tzuentes in the Abby's basement.
File:Annette Nocturne 02.webp|Edouard saving Annette from night creature atttack.
=== Videos ===
File:Annette - All Powers & Fights Scenes (Castlevania- Nocturne S01)
==Trivia==
*Annette is named after Richter's love interest from the 1993 game, Castlevania: Rondo of Blood. Annette was a simple damsel who Richter needs to save from Dracula's cult, who plan to use her as a sacrifice for their master. She is one of the four maidens who are rescued by Richter with Maria being the first.
**Despite taking a lot of liberties with her character, some fans has taken issue with the changes and accuse the show of being political due to the topic of slavery being brought up for her character and with it being the main theme of the show as well.
*The slaves, who Annette assisted during their revolt, are known as Maroons, who are real-life descendants of Africans who escape from salvery in the America's and Indian Ocean. They are known for forming their own settlements and are often mixed with indengious peoples.
*According to Annette, she is a descendant of the god Ogun on her father's side. Ogun is the African god of war and iron, who is presented in Yoruba religion, Haitain Voodoo, and West African Voodoo.
==External Links==
*Annette (animated series) at the Castlevania Wiki
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