Sebastian Lièvre

## Chronology

### First Appearance

* *Paladin, Where Do You Roam?* (*Blazin’ Trails: Terror of the Rio Grande* season 1 special)
* *Inheritor of the Blade*(*Blazin’ Trails Redux* season 3, episode 4, cameo only)

### Last Appearance

*Duel Control*(*Blazin' Trails Redux*, season 6 special)

**Sebastian Lièvre** was a European brown hare who worked as a hero-for-hire. Orphaned at a young age, he was taken in by the then-famous House of Ancients and later became a hero-for-hire under their service. Often known as "Paladin" by those who came across him, he quickly became the most powerful and famous hero-for-hire in the world, a title that he continues to hold posthumously. After being exiled from the House of Ancients, he later became a member of the renowned World Heroes Society, and formed his own school for aspiring heroes-for-hire. In between his missions and family, he mentored many students, including his own daughter, Edith, and later Touché Turtle, with whom he formed a good father-son relationship. His career as both a decorated hero and a teacher came to an abrupt end when he was murdered by the Black Knight, leaving Edith to handle affairs.

Though a posthumous character within the series, he is mentioned within *Blazin' Trails Redux,* courtesy of his daughter and former pupil*,* and would make a few appearances in its companion series, *Blazin' Trails Alter*. He made his proper debut in the miniseries *Blazin' Trails: Terror of the Rio Grande,* where he develops a professional rivalry with Ricochet Rabbit I.

## Personality

Described by his pupils as the ideal knight, Sebastian is a devoted believer of defending the innocent and the weak, and was grateful for his job as it allowed him to work outside of the extent of the law, especially where injustices such as animal trades and rape (two crimes that are personal for him) are concerned. Much of Sebastian’s character came from being raised in the House of Ancient’s convent, where the ideals of justice and protecting the weak were ingrained into him at a young age. After his own mentor’s untimely death, he would throw himself wholeheartedly into the world of heroism, where he passed the trials and became renowned both within the House and the world as their “paladin”. Though he was duty-bound to a fault and never turned down a case, one thing that he always carried was his outspokenness and willingness to rebel, and was known to disregard orders if he found a better (or in his case, flashier) way to do it. The convent hated him for this, but Sebastian believed in the freedom of thought and would encourage his students to use their own judgement when it came to situations, and was a firm believer in making mistakes, noting that error was the best teacher. He was also known to have a flair for the dramatic, and was known to make grand entrances into battle, a habit that his students would sometimes pick up and he wouldn’t get out of even in his older age; he joking stated that he was fortunate to have turned to the hero business rather than be a spy, as stealth was not his strong suit.

Though coolheaded, he was known to be overconfident in his abilities, which has landed him in trouble for his stunts and words. He could also be somewhat incorrigible, believing that his way of doing things was the best way, and even Touché noted that he was incredibly stubborn. Similar to his rival, he held onto grudges and never forgave a wrongdoing, doubly so if someone committed a wrong against him. Like most lagomorphs, he had a wicked, biting sense of humor that contrasted with his gentlemanly image, something that shocked most people who met him. Though he was devoted to his wife, his wife noted that he had a “wandering eye” and among his favorite things listed in his profile were sweets, drinks and beautiful women. Similar to Ricochet Rabbit, he had numerous paramours before he settled down, and rumors spread rampant that he had mistresses and illegitimate children, but many of them were disproven.

Though he could be a bit of a stickler for order, and had his own faults, Sebastian was, for all intents and purposes, a man who stood by principle and by the belief of "what you see is what you get". He adored children, and part of his reason for starting his School for Heroes was to give all children, especially ones who were orphaned like himself, a proper home. His warm heart and joyful attitude, as well as his wisdom and advice, led to many who were taught under him to consider him to be their second father. He treasured his daughter Edith, who was his only child to survive into adulthood, and took her under his wing when she insisted on following in his footsteps, as well as keeping numerous suitors at bay (in his time, the daughters of heroes-for-hire within the Society were to be married off).

## History

### Early Life

Sebastian was born in Versailles, France, on August 12th, 1767. He came from truly humble beginnings; his father was a fisherman, and his mother sold them in the market, trades that were considered lowly and disgusting for hares. When he was two, a contagious disease swept through the city, killing many hares, including his mother. His father sent him to what Sebastian recalls as "a dreary white church", which was considered by many to be the last refuge for the plague; shortly after this, his father succumbed to the plague as well. When the plague passed about a few months later, Sebastian chose to stay in the convent, having been taken under the wing of a priest, Baptiste. As the leveret had no family willing to claim him, Baptiste formerly adopted him a month later.

## Trivia

* Sebastian is an original character lifted from iheartgod175's *For Love and Glory* series, where he is also a posthumous character in that series, but much of his life is chronicled through both anecdotes and stories from people who knew him. Much of his story and character is lifted from the remake, *For Love and Glory Relance*, where iheartgod175 decided to revise some of his history and give him a few more character traits and flaws.
* During early development of the *Touché Turtle* cartoon, Touché was originally going to be a hare named "Harebrain", only for the concept to be scrapped. Sebastian was created to honor this part of the character's history, with his nickname (Harebrain) and his surname (Lièvre, which is French for hare) being outright references to this.
	+ His birthday was originally going to be the same as Touché's as another reference to their connection. Instead, he shares a birthday month with his pupil and his pupil's sister (the latter of whom was born a day later than Touché).
* Sebastian had a lot in common with his rival, Ricochet Rabbit I:
	+ Similar to Ricochet Rabbit I, much of his life is chronicled by family or people who met him personally. Due to both the House of Ancients and the World Heroes' Society keeping detailed records on their heroes' lives, his life story is filled with more fact than fiction, unlike his rival.
	+ Much of Ricochet I's family died young, and their chances were doubled if they went into the military or took up a dangerous profession. According to Edith, much of Sebastian's family died young, with illnesses and accidents claiming many of their members. Both Ricochet and Sebastian managed to live a long time, with Ricochet I living to be in his nineties. The fact that both managed to live for so long in an age where medicine was advancing but people weren't expected to live into adulthood is a miracle. Sebastian once joked that his love of sweets (with chocolate soufflés being his personal favorite) may have been the secret to his longevity.
* Sebastian's greatest desire in life was to have a large family, and though sons were coveted amongst hares, he stated that he wouldn't care if he had all daughters, so long as he had them and got to be in their lives. Sadly, many of his children with his wife Marguerite died early in infancy or shortly after birth (as was the case with Edith's older brother Fabien, and her older twin brother, Edmond), which sent him into depression and he believed himself to be cursed. He was so distraught after the death of his son Fabien that he planned to commit suicide, only to be stopped by his wife. He latched so tightly to Edith because of his memories of his first set of twins' births and deaths, afraid that he would lose her later in life like he'd lost his other children. Up until his dying day, any talk of his children’s deaths would immediately make him emotional.
* According to Marguerite, he knew of Edith and Touché's mutual pining for each other, and out of all the suitors who liked his daughter, he felt that Touché would be a better match than any jack who looked her way. Although neither of them pursued each other due to their fear of his disapproval, Sebastian subtly tried to get them together, from scheduling practice missions where they'd work together to even inviting Touché over to his house (albeit with some supervision, as he noted that Touché "is still a man, after all") so they could study. The day of his death, he intended on having an intervention with the two of them in order to get them to finally confess, because he was getting exasperated with their hesitation. This would eventually be solved by lieu of Ricochet Rabbit, Touché's rival, who also noticed their mutual affection for each other and literally smacked some sense into him to get him to confess to Edith.
* Sebastian is one of iheartgod175's personal favorite original characters.
* Paladin, which is his nom-de-guerre, was a reference to Paladin from *Have Gun, Will Travel*.