Ciel Sousa

**Ciel Sousa** is a gender non-conforming seventh grader. Along with Stephie, they are one of the two central characters of *Assigned Male*.

## Appearance

Ciel has a round face and fairly short golden hair. Their ears are prominent and their eyes are somewhat far apart. They wear a wide variety of clothes.

## Personality

Ciel is flamboyant and outspoken about their gender. They like acting, tap-dancing, and dogs.

At the start of the comic, Ciel was anxious, depressed, and lacked self-confidence. They were unsure of and uncomfortable with their feelings about their gender.

Comics 170-174 detail some of Ciel's life before the beginning of the series. Their grandfather was disrespectful and transphobic towards them. This caused conflict within the family, which Ciel always blamed themselves for. This led to the beginnings of their anxiety and depression.

This was only worsened when their mother committed suicide. They also felt that this was their fault, and even long afterwards they feel like they're asking too much of people.

At school, Ciel was bullied and socially isolated. This isolation was partly self-imposed, as they thought they would bring bad luck on people. It was in this context that Stephie stood up for them against their bullies and their friendship began. Ciel was impressed by Stephie's confidence.

In the short graphic novel *Nail Polish*, Stephie helps Ciel to explore their identity, and their friendship is solidified. This seems to be the first time that Ciel starts to become confident and comfortable in their own skin. Ciel expresses reservations about coming out or transitioning, as they don't want to "be seen as a living joke forever," but Stephie reassures them that they're allowed to take their time or change their mind later. Despite initial concerns, they decide to leave their nail polish on.

At present, thanks to Stephie's friendship and their own personal growth, Ciel is openly genderfluid to their family and at school.

At the end of The World Needs More Trans Cuties, Ciel admits that they always wonder if they truly are the way they think they are; "that's why I need so much reassurance from people."

Ciel has made several other friends over the course of the comic, including Frank, Eiríkur, and a Rubber Chicken they received as a Christmas present. Ciel developed a strong crush on Eiríkur. They were anxious but eventually mustered up the courage to ask him out, and he agreed.

## Relationships

### Stephie

Ciel and Stephie are very close friends. Stephie initially acted as a sort of mentor to Ciel, helping them talk through their confused feelings. Since then, they've been on a more even footing. The two became friends when Stephie defended Ciel from school bullies and helped them to become more confident in themself and in their gender.

### Virgil

Ciel and their brother are very close. They find him annoying but concedes that "he's not all that annoying... he can be sweet sometimes." Virgil struggles with understanding their sibling's gender among other things, and Ciel helps him to wrap his head around various issues. Virgil comes to think of Ciel as "a bit like my sister" and feels protective towards them. Ciel also helps Virgil to try to figure out his own gender, helping him decide that he is not a girl.

### Eiríkur

Eiríkur is Ciel's boyfriend. He got them into video games. Their romance was built up over several points. In *Help! Everything In My Life Is Turning Gay!* it is implied that Ciel and Eirikur are romantically involved in some way. When everyone goes to search for firewood, they return without much. Flustered, they say there weren't many sticks where they looked. Later, as Frank plays ABBA's Dancing Queen on guitar, they hold hands by the fireside.

In Comic 286, Eiríkur comes to Stephie's house for a holiday party. Stephie jokingly remarks that Eiríkur will "have to fight to sit next to Ciel, they're all mine," after which Ciel quickly denies they and Eiríkur are a couple. In the last panel, everyone has piled into a group cuddle; Ciel and Eiríkur are sharing an affectionate look.

In Dating Tips for Trans and Queer Weirdos, Ciel invites Eiríkur over to their house under the pretence of asking him to squish spiders that had infested their bedroom; they'd actually planted the spiders. They go on a date. Ciel eventually asks him out and he agrees.

### Frank

Ciel mainly knows Frank through Stephie. They find him annoying sometimes "but I guess he's cool."

## Trivia

* Ciel can shoot lasers from their eyes. So far, they have only used this ability once. It is unclear whether this is canon.
* Messages saying "Ciel is the cutest" can occasionally be seen in the background of the comic.
* Ciel is of Portuguese heritage and speaks Portuguese at home with their father and brother. This could mean that they are either bilingual or multilingual.
* Ciel was given the name Alessandro, and went by Sandro until they decided that this name did not appropriately represent their gender. They began to go by Sandr@, and later by Sandrx, before eventually deciding on Ciel.
	+ Ciel has not yet changed their name legally, and doesn't bother with correcting people who get their name wrong.
	+ In school, their teachers refer to them as Alessandra.
* In French, Ciel tends to use she/her pronouns.
* *Nail Polish* states that Ciel at least used to be a bedwetter.
* Ciel likes tap dancing and dogs.

## References

1. ↑ Comic 169
2. ↑ http://www.assignedmale.com/comic/2015/9/8/3gyqbgmeexitaah316ybbru5yun9vr
3. ↑ http://www.assignedmale.com/comic/2015/9/8/1355l3ejsmipqp1vqvo5yqvrux52w6
4. ↑ http://www.assignedmale.com/comic/2015/9/8/szxrtlrwdsx3t06x5c384z5a76qy7v
5. ↑ Comic 227
6. ↑ Comic 228
7. ↑ http://www.assignedmale.com/comic/2015/9/8/2rtdpn308b4r54tgtqi5nhq5demdrc
8. ↑ http://assignedmale.tumblr.com/post/129640218062/is-this-a-special-issue-of-assigned-male
9. ↑ Comment by Sophie Labelle from Facebook
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Confirmed by Sophie Labelle via Facebook on September 3, 2018