Edouard

is a character in the Netflix original animated series, Castlevania: Nocturne. He is a famous opera singer from Saint-Domingue who decides to leave everything behind and accompany Annette to Europe in search of a man named Richter Belmont, who is told to be able to help them with their struggles.
He is voiced by Sydney James Harcourt.
==History==
Edouard was a talented opera singer, until he met Annette and joined her cause to slay vampires. He accompanied her all over Europe, until they arrived just in time to save Richter Belmont from a night creature. He thanked Tera for a decent meal and then told his story; later singing a song when Maria was burying one of her bird familiars that died during the previous battle.
He later accompanied the group to the nest of vampires, but sadly, as they were fleeing, he wasn't fast enough and was surrounded and drained dry of blood by a massive horde of vampires. His corpse was then turned into a night creature, although he maintained the memories of his past life; so, during his first battle, he saved Annette instead of killing her. This resulted in him being imprisoned by his masters. In his cell, he would sing songs, which had an effect on the other night creatures held there. During Richter and his companions' raid on the chapel, Annette found Edouard and offered to end his life. However, this terrified him and Annette then apologized, telling him she thought that was what he wanted. After Richter ran away at the unexpected sight of Olrox, Edouard was approached by the vampire, who asked what happened to him; Edouard responded that he wanted his freedom, and Olrox responded "we all do". Later, Edouard spoke with his guard, who resulted to be Jacques, another revolutionary who was killed by vampires and also had his corpse turned into a night creature, and they formed an alliance.
During the final battle, Annette made it to the cells and offered Edouard to free him, but he told her to finish her mission first before saving him. Later, when a night creature was ordered to kill Edouard for singing, Jacques decapitated it. Edouard then arrived to the basement and embraced a crying Annette, as she failed to push the machine back to Hell.
==Appearance==
Edouard was a man of African and European descent, having a fair-olive skin tone and long curly brown hair, which he kept tied in a ponytail most of the time. One of his most particular characteristics were his big clear blue eyes. Being a famous opera singer, he could often be seen wearing elegant and expensive clothes.
After his transformation into a night creature, Edouard adopted the form of a brown colored demon, with bat-like wings coming out of his lower back, and a darker external layer of skin that somewhat resembled an open-chested one piece suit, complete with a neck with long raised flaps and other bat inspired motifs. He also developed a bone mask that divided into four horns curved toward the back and with golden tips. More notably, he grew an extra pair of arms, with his normal ones remaining almost the same, as well as two additional slim forearms coming out from his neck that perpetually have their hands covering his face. He also retained his big blue eyes almost intact, although now with a perpetual glow.
==Personality==
Edouard is remarkably generous and amicable, although that doesn't mean he isn't also very courageous. Aware of the great economic and social differences between the wealthy French colonists of Saint-Domingue and its slave population, as well as himself being a creole who had the opportunity to live an accommodated life as a famous opera singer, he desires a world where more justice and equality prevail. When Vaublanc interrupted his performance while looking for his escaped slave, Annette, he immediately recognized his kind and took a dislike for him. On the other hand, when he discovered Annette hiding in his dressing room, he made sure to calm her down and let her know she could trust him, even going to the length of risking his name by helping her escape. From that day, he and Annette became best friends, and this would go to the extent of not even hesitating in leaving his lavish life and following her in joining the Maroons, escaped slaves mobilizing a resistance, along with the many battles that came with that.
When he was turned into a night creature, despite his drastic physical change, Edouard retained his soul and thus was able to remember most of his past life when he saw Annette during an attack where he was supposed to kill her and her friends, and even saved her from another creature. This disobedience would make him get thrown into the abbey's cellars. Sad and lonely, he began singing his old opera songs with such passion that it had an effect on some of the other creatures there, helping them to also start recalling their memories as humans, and even being able to communicate and ally with some of them.
He retained his selfless good heart even after being transformed into a monster, which he evidenced both times when Annette was able to reach his cell; the second time, where he told her to leave him and first go complete her mission (destroying the infernal machine), as his work there wasn't finished, referring to how his songs could soothe the other creatures.
==Powers and abilities==
As a human, Edouard has some skill with a sword, as seen when fighting against vampires and night creatures. After he is transformed into a night creature himself, he becomes a monster equipped with fangs, claws, wings, and the typical speed and strength associated with their kind. His most unique ability is his opera singer's voice he retained from being human, which seems to take on a quality that mesmerizes some of the other night creatures and may have a persuasive element to it that allows him to remind them of their humanity.
==Appearances==
==Quotes==
;"A Common Enemy in Evil"
*"We're from the island of Saint-Domingue in the Caribbean Sea."
;"Horror Beyond Nightmares"
*"Do you feel close to these creatures?" [...] "So, part of you has died. Like part of you died with your sister. I'll sing for them both."
;"Freedom was Sweeter"
*"There are five hundred people in this theater, and all any of us can smell is your dogs."
*"He's a vampire, isn't he? Your master."
*"There's not that many places to hide for people who look like us."
*"It's what's in our hearts that matters, Annette."
*"I make them happy, and they lower their guard and loosen their tongues. You learn useful information that way. It helps when I have to hide runaways."
*"Warriors in arms, Annette. Family in hearts."
;"Horrors Rising from the Earth"
*"I don't know what happened, who I am, what-- what I am, but I want my freedom."
;"Guilty Men to be Judged"
*"Who were you, friend? Do you remember who you were?"
*"And in this prison, down here in the dark, Jacques. Standing guard over me. Do you accept it now, as your fate?"
;"Devourer of Light"
*"My work here isn't finished, Annette. I'm not ready to leave. When I sing, there's light in this darkness. it touches souls. But yours, your work... is down there. Hurry. There is evil everywhere."
==Gallery==
==Trivia==
*Edouard and Annette join a group of escaped slaves mobilizing a resistance called the Maroons. The Maroons were real life descendants of Africans in the Americas and Islands of the Indian Ocean who escaped from slavery and formed their own settlements. One of these groups led a six-year rebellion against the white plantation owners in Haiti that preceded the Haitian Revolution.
*While in the series it isn't explicitly stated the date when the slaves rebellion of Saint-Domingue took place, the real life Vodou ceremony of Bois Caïman and subsequent first slave revolt of the Haitian Revolution took place in 1791, while the main events of the series' story take place one year later, in 1792. This would correctly match with the chronology of the series timeline, including Edouard's apparent age during the flashback.
Category:Male Characters
Category:Night Creatures
Category:Vampire Hunters and Huntresses
Category:Nocturne Characters
Category:Nocturne Season 1 Characters