What makes a trancy butler

For this reason, I think Claude has some sort of god complex. He transformed this apathetic, sadistic almost-adult into a dependent and needy child just by being constantly attentive, considerate, spoiling, and doting. He gave Jim a fairy tale come to life by granting wishes--he handed out the attention that Jim had been craving for his entire life, turning Jim into psychological putty that he then reshaped into Alois Trancy.

Mind games are a must to imagine, though they're only briefly touched upon in canon. For example, Claude used the phrase "Your Highness"--a term of endearment that Luca had for Alois--to constantly remind Alois of what was at stake, and also to make him feel like royalty. Genuine facial expressions could have been used to scare, sicken, and unbalance Alois. There is also reason to believe that Claude reinforced Alois' fear of the dark into a full-blown, crippling phobia, just because it'd be easy to manipulate him via darkness.

Since the mansion was so quiet and lonely anyway with only stoic demons around Claude, Hannah, and Hannah's mute triplet demons , Alois craved any stimulus he could possibly get--and by the end it all came from Claude only.

There was no one else worth a damn in Alois' world. Then, eventually, Claude was able to steal Ciel's soul away from Sebastian. He presented it to Alois, and a few months later, the series began. Why did Claude do that to Alois? Because he could. Because he was bored. It's that simple and just so cruel. Claude asserts that Alois Trancy is still a worthy soul to him--until he gets a taste of Ciel, anyway--so it must not bother him much at all, if at all.

He was still very much impressed by Jim Macken's original personality, but Claude wanted a dependent, needy master for whatever unelaborated upon reason. Ciel forgot that he had finished his own contract of obtaining revenge for his humiliation and his parents' deaths. According to Claude, that meant Ciel was incomplete until a second revenge was attained. Together, Claude and Sebastian made a demonic pact with roses to give Ciel that second revenge--Claude offered up Alois Trancy his own master!

In exchange, they'd battle evenly for who got to consume Ciel's complete soul. Sebastian didn't find that out until much later. More or less, Claude predicted Sebastian's every fucking move ever and then played him for a complete fool. The series creators admit that if they hadn't made Claude get "progressively weirder" after a certain event cf.

This was his most detailed, complex plan overall that he put into motion while also high as fuck cf. It might've been even more elegant and impressive if he had been clear-headed. Regardless: First of all, Claude perpetrated a series of violent assaults on the children in London, gouging out their eyes and compelling them to lie about who the perpetrator was. The Queen of England ordered Ciel to check into these assaults, though Sebastian mused that it was Claude forging Her orders. Ciel and Sebastian started investigating; midway through interviewing locals, Sebastian was attacked and led away from Ciel by two death gods that believed Sebastian had been manipulating souls recently.

Actually, Claude was the one messing around with souls, but he somehow pinned the blame on Sebastian. While Sebastian was busy fighting for his life, Claude had Hannah and humans from a mental asylum find and accuse Ciel of being the eye-gouging assailant: Alois Trancy.

Ciel freaked his shit, since he definitely was not Alois Trancy, but the mental asylum people carted Ciel away anyway. Likely at Claude's direction, they tortured Ciel by dunking him in liquid over and over again, repeatedly telling him he was Alois Trancy as they tore down his psychological defenses. Sebastian accused Claude of using "medicine" to confuse Ciel, so the liquid in the dunking tank might have been infused with some sort of psychotropic drug. Afterward, when Ciel was visibly traumatized and questioning his identity, Claude performed a "soul-infusing ceremony" to seamlessly blend Ciel's memories together with Alois'.

He planned to eat them both. I'll stop here, though, and say this: In general, Claude Faustus is a master strategist behind everything that happens. Also, it should be evident that Claude has extreme understanding of both demon and human psychology. Unfortunately , there's a bit of bad news for him and his plans: he did not plan for Alois Trancy falling in love with him instead of just staying a needy, spoiled child that wanted his protection and approval.

Claude seems to strongly dislike love--after all, Kuroshitsuji demons are defined as hatred incarnate in season 1. Alois himself says that his love is muddling the taste of his soul, and when exposed to that love, Claude seems impatient and disgusted with Alois.

A crude little soul who gives his love to a butler I could hardly work up an appetite for that. I'll keep you always with me. I have a use for your soul.

This is how Claude felt about love while under the influence of Ciel's blood cf. It completely did a to many of his personality traits, turning his ideal master from Alois Trancy into Ciel Phantomhive.

His relationship with Alois, overall, is something I could talk about at extreme length. I'll sum it up by paraphrasing what the series creators had to say: Claude and Alois are "dependent on each other, so after a while you can't understand anymore who is the spider and who is the butterfly. Although Claude and Alois are constantly rating each other's value, "it tends to feel like some kind of romance.

In crafting Alois' current self, Claude made the one person that could and did utterly destroy him. Claude created the agent of his own demise. Now, you might be asking Like, really? Why the fuck? Short answer: He's a lonely, bored demon that has nothing better to do with his life. Long answer: He has lived for so long; for far too long. He has eternal life--more time than he knows what to do with. The only thing that gives him any sort of pleasure is the taste of human souls, so he spends his days tinkering with them via contracts in search of the "ultimate flavor" that will give him orgasmic bliss cf.

If there is anything going on between Claude and Sebastian in their backstory pertaining to why Claude targeted Sebastian specifically, it's never ever explained.

However, there is an upcoming OVA about the Trancys slated for the end of May, and maybe that will fill in some blanks. Claude thus far has been characterized by his quiet, stoic demeanor that hides a hungry demon's chessmaster mind. Almost all of that gets thrown right out the window when episode 7 happens: Claude inadvertently tastes Ciel Phantomhive's blood. Due to events in Kuroshitsuji 1 that I won't explain here, Ciel's blood and soul has become the equivalent of potent crack cocaine for demons.

In Claude's own words: "[Ciel] knows blood and death and darkness, and yet his soul is pure, untainted, immaculate Day into night, pleasure into pain, and this chance encounter into The series creators say Claude gets "progressively weirder" after tasting the blood, but that phrasing doesn't even begin to describe what happens to him. Claude becomes singularly obsessed with Ciel--something that he mocked Sebastian for at the beginning--until he drives himself insane.

He starts acting bizarrely and erratically, breaking his own rules for conduct and propriety. He displays all manner of facial expressions that he mostly hid before.

He reveals his now-enhanced emotions freely, wearing what little heart he has on his sleeve. He murders Alois without a second thought and transforms Alois' soul into a ring so he can use it as a tool to obtain Ciel for himself. He waxes poetic about Ciel's everything --Ciel's slender legs and feet, Ciel's teeth being brushed "Perfectly uniform, close-fitting teeth like a row of fresh young skulls The most disturbing thing is how Claude becomes a demon Disney Princess: he's so ecstatic that he communes with nature, drawing in canaries to sit on him and putting sweetbriar flowers in his hair.

He demonstrates a heretofore unknown ability of making origami and crocheting a super complex wedding shawl for Ciel. He even dances ballet like there's no tomorrow while explaining his villainous, cracked out plans to the other Trancy servants--it gets so silly, it's fucking surreal. When confronted with Sebastian's obvious angst, Claude is playfully derisive and mocks Sebastian time and time again for being a loser.

I mean, you just need to watch this video. It covers what I'm trying to say very well. Ciel Phantomhive is Claude's cuppycake of ecstasy. There is a tremendously skeevy moment where Claude doodles mindlessly on a piece of paper.

If you pause and zoom in, it's possible to see phrases like "Ciel Phantomhive," "delicious soul," "a soul to be relished," etc. As Claude begins to die, he comes back down from his blood-induced high and tries to understand everything that happened while he was tripping balls. The most important thing here is that Claude finally acknowledges Alois Trancy as a soul worthy of his hunger and attention.

He realizes that it was Alois who bested him in the end, not Sebastian or Ciel. Alois "made a stir in the long, long, idle life of a demon" and should be commended for it. Right before dying, Claude repeats a variation of his catchphrase one more time: "Passion into insincerity, lies into truth, and a stray dog into an earl. Hannah says that Alois defeated Claude, "ending Claude's life as a demon. Alois has a voice over stating that they're going to stay together forever.

What does that mean? Well, apparently they really do get to nirvana! Official art released post-canon corroborates that assertion: Claude and Alois standing in a field of black and white roses , a location associated with the edge of reality.

Alois embracing Claude peacefully while sitting on a large, dew-covered spider's web. The eternal happy family with Sebastian being hella jealous of them. There is also this random picnic scene that may or may not belong in nirvana, but I'd say it is nirvana because there is no other time that Claude and Alois look so peaceful with and adoring of one another.

Ciel and Sebastian are only there for promotional purposes. Yes, Claude and Alois are at last at peace. Nirvana literally means "blowing out" or "extinguish"--in the Buddhist context, this refers to blowing out the fires of greed, hate, and delusion. It is also the "end of the world;" there is no identity left and no boundaries for the mind. The subject is at peace with the world, has compassion for all, and gives up obsessions and fixations. This peace is achieved when the existing volitional formations are pacified and the conditions for the production of new ones are eradicated.

When I look at those pictures above of post-canon Claude Faustus, I see something similar to these descriptions of nirvana. Alois has freed Claude of his inherent demonic traits, like that eternal hunger--Claude is blissfully happy and loving and loved. The problems begin again when Claude is taken out of nirvana and put in Siren's Port with an Alois that has a much, much earlier canon point right before episode 4.

When Claude arrives, he will still be under nirvana's influence--but that will wear off soon enough. Nirvana will have a lasting effect on his mind, however.

The restoration of his demonic hunger will be particularly vexing to him. Basically, he's going to get in touch with Alois, integrate into the "Phancyhive" family, and be a source of awful conflict for Alois and anyone who cares about Alois. Claude will also be very much conflicted and at war with himself over the events of Kuroshitsuji 2, since he'll be confronted with an earlier canon point Alois and if he could do it all over again, would he? Could he do it better? Does he still acknowledge Alois?

So on and so forth. There's also Ciel Phantomhive to deal with Also, everything I've said about Alois has the blessing of Rinna Alois-mun. I made sure that our characters would mesh well. The glasses, given to him by Alois, are not necessary for him to see. His contract mark is on the back of his left hand and his nails are black; he hides both with white gloves. His eyes will turn from gold to shimmery purple-red when he is tapping into his demonic power. It's hinted in the show's opening that he has a true form , which other demons do, but nothing beyond sharper teeth is seen of it.

They're the only things of visible interest, standing no more than a few yards away. The video stays steady as a white-gloved hand moves into view, its palm turned to the sky and holding a few leaves of romaine lettuce. The geese immediately notice the offering, but they're too wary to approach for some reason.

The voice is definitely masculine and has a vague foreign accent. Despite having an undertone that can only be described as dark , the cameraman speaks gently and calmly. He tears the lettuce into smaller pieces one-handed and fast as hell, displaying amazing dexterity to feed them each an equal portion. Beautiful landscaping, magnificent houses--wonderfully pure greed in material form. He lingers on some architecture, but the viewpoint keeps going until it's aimed over his shoulder at the impressive mansion behind him.

Then, much more directly:] They have no difficulty finding their way home after flying south for the winter. He turns his head enough to reveal part of his pale face, which is wearing glasses that don't do much to hide mellow gold eyes. The cameraman is standing outside in front of the approximate location of Alois Trancy's bedroom. And in dreams The video ends there.

If he wasn't mistaken and he never was , this bookshelf had been crafted from solid ponderosa pine for the base and hardwood for the fluted moldings. Anyone else would think the design was sophisticated, enough to express time and expense, but Claude looked at it and just thought, Amateur. Claude is a tall, bespectacled, and handsome man with short, black hair and golden eyes. He dresses in a dark suit and wears white gloves. His tongue is remarkably long; he is able to lick the bridge of his nose.

Claude's contract seal. Claude's contract seal with Alois Trancy is located on the back of his left hand. The mark only becomes visible when he is within Alois's proximity.

Claude is distinctly apathetic; he speaks and acts virtually without emotion. He does not respond to direct taunts such as Alois Trancy undoing his buttons moments after Claude fixed them.

Claude's personality drastically changes after he tastes Ciel Phantomhive 's blood. Note: Events occurring in this arc only pertain to the second season of the anime and do not constitute canon material. Appearing in almost the same way Sebastian Michaelis did to Ciel , Claude forms a contract with Alois and chooses to serve him as his butler. Time passes, and the next seen of the pair is during a sudden visit of Arnold Trancy , Alois' uncle, to the manor.

Under his master's order, Claude restores the mansion to the way it was before Earl Trancy's demise, thus helping Alois keep the facade of actually caring for his father. Later that evening, a storm brews and a mysterious stranger appears at the Trancy manor. This stranger is then revealed to be none other than Sebastian Michaelis, bearing Ciel Phantomhive in a suitcase. When he is found out, Alois orders Claude to give chase, but Sebastian escapes by plunging the manor into darkness.

Alois has an anxiety attack and orders the servants to restore light to the manor but insists that Claude stay by his side. He is next seen on the same train Ciel and Sebastian board and presents them with an invitation to a ball hosted by his master.

At the ball, Claude confronts Sebastian under Alois' order. A fight ensues. They agree that neither one is satisfied with Ciel; as he is without his memory of accomplishing revenge, his soul is incomplete. Since Claude wants a perfect Ciel to present to Alois and Sebastian does not want to devour an incomplete soul, the two then agree to a bargain in which Ciel will have a second revenge, this time on Alois.

Claude is confident that he will be able to get Ciel away from Sebastian once this is accomplished; Sebastian is equally confident of keeping him. They seal this bargain by dripping their blood into cut white roses; each one first drops blood into a rose that subsequently turns red and then passes it to the other for a second drop which causes it to turn violet-black. Seeing as neither butler was defeated, they continue their confrontation at a second ball.

This time, this is a private affair to which only Ciel was invited. The battlefield is set on an enormous chess board with Alois and Ciel watching from a balcony. During the first half of the battle, Claude commands the triplets and Hannah to attack in his place, but they are easily defeated. Before Claude attacks Sebastian he stalls the fight as it was then time for tea.

Both butlers withdraw and call a ceasefire to prepare tea for Ciel and Alois. When the battle resumes, Claude pulls an ancient demonic sword, "Laevateinn" out of Hannah's mouth and challenges Sebastian to a duel.

He manages to corner him in a mass of spider threads, sturdy enough to cut through steel. But as it seems Claude has the upper hand, both butlers hear sounds in the mansion and rush in to see Ciel confronting Alois. Claude stops Ciel before he can deliver the death blow by grabbing his sword. As Ciel flails, he slaps Claude and leaves a trail of his own blood on Claude's cheek.

Tasting Ciel's blood leaves Claude in a stunned state until Sebastian calls his attention. Claude ignores his wounded master, who is pleading for his help, continuing instead to taste and analyze Ciel's blood.

This suggests abandonment of the contract. The next day. Claude changes the bandages on the sword wound Ciel gave Alois, remarking that the wound is shallow, and that Ciel could probably have done better if he hadn't been so angry. Alois asks if the scent of his blood makes Claude hungry, and he says yes, but then smiles at Alois and leaves.

In a flashback, Claude is seen appearing as a giant spider when Alois then called Jim first speaks the summoning chant. He is annoyed that he has been called by someone who has no wish in mind, and says that they will form a contract once Jim knows what he wants.

Later, when Jim has become Alois Trancy, Claude tells him that it was a demon, Sebastian Michaelis, who destroyed his village under the command of his former master, and that Sebastian has a new master named Ciel Phantomhive. He adds that Sebastian is more attached to this new master than a demon under contract should be, leading Alois to decide that taking Ciel away will be the most fitting punishment for Sebastian.

When Alois has dragged himself from the wrecked coach, Claude appears again. Alois grovels at his feet, calling Claude "My Highness" and begging him never to leave, but Claude coldly says, "What a thing to say to a mere butler," kills Alois, and takes his ruby ring. He says that a soul so lowly and cheap as to give its love to a butler could never tempt his appetite, and tucks the ring into his coat, saying he has a use for Alois' soul.

He asks Grelle Sutcliff if he'll try to take it, but Grelle declines, saying he'd rather just watch how this plays out. Claude presents the ring which possesses Alois' soul to the Trancy household.

After two bad guesses from the triplets as to what he's to do with it, Hannah finally remarks on the change of the furnishings colours—all that were dark blue had been changed to midnight blue. Claude declares her to be correct. With them it's their past.

It is shown that he is keeping a close eye on Sebastian and Ciel as they embark in another assignment from the Queen when Sebastian becomes occupied in a fight with William T.

Spears, Ciel is arrested by the police who believe he's Alois Trancy and is identified by Hannah as Alois. Ciel is then tortured, which Claude and Hannah override. While Ciel is in a weak state after heavy and severe treatment Claude begins hypnotizing him and then places Alois's ring on Ciel's finger causing Alois's memories to mix in with Ciel's memories; this causes Ciel to believe that Sebastian was the cause for the death of his parents and his "brother," Luka Macken.

When Sebastian finally reaches Ciel, Ciel pushes him away and refers to Claude as his butler. Claude then whispers to Ciel to order Sebastian to leave his sight, which Ciel does willfully.

Claude then takes the weak and tired Ciel back to the Trancy mansion where he is warmly welcomed. Claude wakes Ciel up and hands him a cup of Earl Grey tea and begins the morning ritual of dressing him. When Ciel asks where Alois went to, Claude declares proudly that Ciel killed him during their duel.