Karl Woodley

Overview

Image Gallery

Karl Woodley
Kanji	カール・ウッドリー
Rōmaji	Kāru Uddorī
Characteristics
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Professional status
Affiliation	Arms Trafficking
Occupation	President of the Woodley Company
Base of operations	London Phantomhive Manor (briefly)
Personal status
Status	Deceased
Died	March 14, 1889
First appearance
Manga debut	Volume 9, Chapter 39
Anime debut	Book of Murder
Portrayal
Japanese voice	Tooru Sakurai
English voice	David Wald

Karl Woodley (カール・ウッドリー, Kāru Uddorī) is the president of the Woodley Company, a diamond polishing business.

Appearance

Karl has short, slick hair that is mostly black but shows signs of greying. He possesses dark eyebrows, and a neatly trimmed mustache and goatee. He wears a sophisticated tuxedo with a bow tie and dons a ring inlaid with diamonds on each of his fingers.

Personality

Karl is a loud, boisterous individual who is considerably affable in social gatherings; he appears to be good friends with Patrick Phelps. Additionally, Karl seems to be well-informed about distinguished individuals, having showcased great knowledge about Charles Grey. Arthur Conan Doyle identifies him as a man who displays his wealth through his jewelry.

Though ostensibly amiable, Karl is actually a very hotheaded and impetuous individual, who is liable to impulsively incriminate others and hastily reach unwarranted conclusions, as long as he can prove his own innocence in dire situations. When he feels vulnerable, he adopts a belligerent mentality, and is willing to physically lash out at anyone — even someone as young as Ciel Phantomhive. Furthermore, Karl is immoral and depraved, especially when it involves commercial business; outwardly, he runs a diamond polishing firm, but secretly, he sells illegal weapons. He also works to obliterate his business rivals behind the scenes.

Additionally, Karl is a strong advocate of the advancement of technology in society. He firmly repudiates the chances of "occult" and "unscientific" things happening in the nineteenth century.

Plot

Phantomhive Manor Murders Arc

Karl is invited to a party thrown by Ciel Phantomhive and mingles with Patrick Phelps, in particular. He and the other guests exchange greetings and commence introductions; they also discuss his prosperous diamond polishing business.

In the midst of the festivities, Karl and the other guests hear a loud scream from Georg von Siemens. They rush to his bedroom; inside, they discover, to their unanimous horror, that Georg has been killed. Patrick faints, startling Karl. After they move Georg's to the cellar, Lau points out that they cannot leave the Phantomhive Manor because of the storm, much to Karl's horror. They contemplate about the details of the murder, and Charles Grey concludes that the killer must be one of them, which Karl and Grimsby Keane react negatively to. When Lau suggests that Georg's death is a locked room murder, Karl ridicules the idea, saying that they are not in a novel. They further discuss the locked room scenario, and Karl and Grimsby throw accusations at one another. Consequently, each guest is obliged to state his or her alibi. When it is Lau's turn, he says that he and Ran-Mao were drinking in the lounge with Karl; Karl affirms this, remarking that they even asked for Sebastian Michaelis to fetch more alcohol after midnight. Ciel is the only one without an alibi, and thus, Arthur Conan Doyle is told to watch over him in his confinement. Afterward, Karl and the other guests are escorted to their respective rooms.

The next morning, Karl and the other guests discover the brutal murder of Sebastian Michaelis. Grey proposes that they move Sebastian's body to the cellar for the meanwhile and pursue the topic at breakfast, and Lau agrees; Karl comments that they are being a bit too easygoing about the entire affair.

Later, at the breakfast table, they realize that Patrick is absent; Karl believes that Patrick must have overslept, but Arthur says that they should check up on him, just in case. They head to Ciel's bedroom, where Patrick was assigned to stay in. When they find that the door is locked, Grey swiftly cuts it down. They hurry inside, and discover Patrick's corpse.

Later, they have dessert at the drawing room, where they discuss the three murders. Patrick has a stab on his neck that resembles the penetration of a poisonous needle, and since Lau is carrying a needle, Karl and Grimsby rashly jump to the conclusion that Lau is the killer.

Tanaka suppresses Karl's attack.

Arthur shortly declares that there has to be more than one murderer in order for the string of murders to occur, and Karl blames Grimsby and Irene, who came as a pair, and Grimsby explodes in fury. The disconcerted Karl continues to throw a fit and, next, accuses Ciel of scheming the whole thing. Arthur tries to calm him down, but Karl hits him in a violent rage. When Ciel orders him to sit down, Karl grows even more infuriated and attempts to punch him; however, Tanaka intercepts his attack and hurls him to the ground. After being subdued, a disgruntled Karl quietly listens to their discussion. Ultimately, they allow for Arthur to dictate their actions from here on out, as through deductive reasoning, he is the only one who could not have committed any of the crimes. Arthur asserts that they will be moving as a group wherever they go. They decide to investigate Sebastian's body in the cellar, and Arthur asks for Karl to stay behind; he wordlessly complies.

Subsequently, Arthur explains to all the guests that their rooms and belongings must be checked, and they give their consent. In due course, they gather once again in the drawing room. Soon after Lau suggests the existence of a "thirteenth person," Jeremy Rathbone appears. Following the verification that Jeremy is not involved in the string of murders, Jeremy is allowed to lead the investigation. For dinner, the group eats a scrumptious steak meat the Phantomhive servants have prepared. Lau presses for the truth behind the incidents, but Jeremy advises them to not be hasty.

While Jeremy implements a plan to catch Patrick's killer, Karl and the rest of them convene in his room and wait. Tanaka appears at the door to announce that they were successful in capturing the killer, whom of which Jeremy reveals to be a snake. They reason that the snake must have been smuggled from Africa, which shifts the attention to Karl, who specializes in African trade. Jeremy asserts that alibis do not worth much; according to Jeremy, Georg was in cahoots with someone and had initially faked his death with a substance in an ampule he threw into the fire—however, Georg was actually killed later by the person who had killed Sebastian and retrieved the ampule from the fire. The said person, then, attempted to destroy the evidence, and Ciel states that it might be found in Karl's hearth. Grimsby demands the evidence and searches the hearth. They, then, discover glass shards, in which Jeremy reassembles to the ampule. Grimsby aggressively proclaims that Karl is the murderer, in spite of the latter's fierce denials. Ciel, then, explains Karl's possible motive: originally, Ciel's Funtom Corporation and Rose, a major company in the diamond industry, were supposed to cooperate to generate a successful jewelry business with top-notch, superior technology; however, the autocratic president, Mr. Rose, was murdered just recently, and the plan was put on hold—if the plan were to take effect, the profitability of Karl's company would have been thwarted and damaged, so it is logical to assume that Karl eliminated Mr. Rose, and then conspired to get rid of Ciel as well.

Charles Grey arrests Karl.

Karl is killed.

Karl vehemently insists that Ciel has set him up, but Grey commands him to be silent. Grey, then, shackles Karl and escorts him to jail via a horse carriage. During the ride, Karl remains in utter shock and distress. Grey tells him to shut up and stabs his head, killing him.