Mario Demoiselle

> I couldn't be anymore prouder to be your father, Miriam, and I know for a fact that this is what your mother would have exactly done too.
>
> Mario Demoiselle to Ophelia Demoiselle

## Media

### Music Theme

The Night The Pugilist Learned How To Dance

Mario Demoiselle is a character in Team OPRA's story. He is the father of Ophelia Demoiselle and the widower of Estelle Demoiselle. He resides in Illyria and works as a carpenter.

He first appears in "Preludes" when he says goodbye to Ophelia when she departs for Haven Academy.

Mario later makes an appearance in "Backstage Romance" watching Team OPRA fight against Team ALMD in the 40th Biannual Vytal Festival. He later watches Ophelia and Albert fight against Beryl Alabaster and Russet Damon in the doubles rounds. When Ophelia is returned to Illyria after the Fall of Beacon, Mario comforts her in the hospital before Orsino Gladio arrives to question Ophelia about her attacker.

In Volume 4, Mario resides in Illyria and loans his basement space to Pierre, Rhea and Albert while they work as trainee hunters for the Illyrian Army. When Ophelia is kidnapped, he appears at the Opera House with a letter from Erik in hand that attempts to scare him into not interfering with his plans for the Opera House. Afterwards he meets Ophelia in the infirmary when she is returned. When Ophelia announces her engagement to Raoul, Mario witnesses the temporary disbanding of Team OPRA because of Pierre's pent up frustration with Ophelia. When Ophelia attempts to commit suicide because of the stress from Erik and the Opera Society, he manages to save her and later scolds her team to make amends with her. When Erik attacks Ophelia and Raoul at the Montpelier Cemetery, he thanks his wife Estelle for looking over their child.

In "Down Once More", he watches the company perform Don Juan and recognises Erik to his horror when he is unmasked by Ophelia. When Grimm begin to invade the capital city, Mario helps Orsino evacuate civilians from the Opera House before saving Rhea from a Berengel grimm. Three days later he is seen visiting Ophelia in the hospital.

## Appearance

### Physical

Mario stands at 6'8 and has a somewhat large and stout body shape. He has tanned-brown skin with a square head shape, jean blue eyes and dark faded brown hair that is slicked back. He also has a bushy moustache of the same colour with dark grey wisps.

### Attire

Mario's attire consists of a cream-button down work shirt tucked into a pair of dark, faded green trousers. Around his trousers Mario wears a brown belt with a gold buckle. Mario then wears a pair of brown work boots on his feet.

## Personality

Mario is shown to be an exceptionally kind, compassionate and gentle man. He is incredibly fatherly, not just towards his daughter, Ophelia, but also other individuals who are younger than him. He is shown to be calm and reasonable in tense situations but is also not afraid to turn serious when the situation calls for it, such as convincing Yves Delacroix and Gilles Andre to let Ophelia follow through on the plan to capture Erik and scolding Pierre, Rhea and Albert for leaving Ophelia in a dire situation such as Erik.

Despite being a jovial man at the surface, Mario is also shown to still harbour deep grief for the loss of his wife, Estelle. While it is described that he has grown past this and continued to live on for both her sake and for Ophelia, he wishes to learn about the true circumstances of her death and find her killer.

## Backstory

Not much is known about Mario's early childhood.

As explained in his conversation with Yves and Gilles, Mario joined the Pinnelli Crime Syndicate when he was 22. During a raid conducted by the Illyrian Army, he fought Estelle Demoiselle and was defeated by her. After being released on bail and leaving the Pinnelli Crime Syndicate, he courted and began a relationship with Estelle. He marries her and then fathers their only child, Ophelia.

Three months after Ophelia's birth, Estelle is murdered on a mission and her sword is given to Mario.

## Abilities and Powers

Despite not being a hunter or having a weapon, Mario is shown to be an incredibly competent fighter who uses heavy hand to hand attacks. He is shown to even be able to wrestle and overpower a Berengel to help Rhea.

### Semblance

Mario's semblance has not been shown in the Team OPRA story.

## Relationships

### Ophelia Demoiselle

Mario is shown to have an incredibly close and healthy relationship with his remaining family member. He is often concerned for her safety but knows that like his deceased wife, Ophelia is incredibly strong and brave. Mario cares so much about Ophelia's wellbeing that he will become overly-doting, evident in how he sends weekly packages to her when she studied at Haven and Beacon. Mario will also often speak for Ophelia in cases where she cannot, such as telling Raoul her status as a huntress and scolding Team OPRA for being selfish in their behaviour towards her.

### Estelle Demoiselle

Based on how Mario refers to Estelle, it is obvious that Mario was completely in love and utterly devoted to Estelle. It is shown that he still grieves over her loss and expresses desire to find who really killed her. Within the Demoiselle household, Mario still keeps pictures of Estelle hung up on the walls and in frames.

### Evangeline Lambert

Because of her friendship with his deceased wife, Mario and Evangeline have been close friends with each other for a long time. Mario is shown to trust Evangeline so much as a friend that he has named her Ophelias godmother after Estelles death.

### Raoul La Marchand

At first, Mario was shown to be cautious towards Raoul because of the latter's rather quick engagement to Ophelia. However, Mario begins to grow closer to Raoul to a point where he begins to become friendly and treat him almost like a son.

### Orsino Gladio

Mario and Orsino are shown to have some level of association with each other through Estelle's time as a Knight of Illyria.

### Erik

It is unknown the extent of Erik and Mario's relationship.

## Trivia

### Allusion

* Mario alludes to the character of Gustave Daae from the 1986 musical *The Phantom of the Opera* by Andrew Lloyd Webber, which is based on the book of the same name by French author Gaston Leroux.
	+ Both are talented violinists.

### Colour Naming Rule

* Mario is a male name of Italian and Spanish origin meaning 'Mars', which is a planet within the milky way galaxy that is orange and red in colour.
* Demoiselle is a french surname meaning 'Damsel'.