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John Brown (ジョン・ブラウン, Jon Buraun) is Queen Victoria's aide and one of her Private Secretarial Officers.
Appearance
John is a young man with short, shaggy silver hair.
John dresses in a white uniform consisting of a double-breasted, button-down trench coat, with a medallion attached to the left breast. He also wears lace-up knee-high boots, black gloves, and large sunglasses. His white belt supports a whip on his left-hand side.
Personality
John is a composed, impassive individual. John is staunchly loyal to Queen Victoria and dutifully carries out his tasks. He holds Victoria in high esteem, having once extolled her virtues.[1]
As Victoria's aide, John attends to her needs, one of which is to be consoled while she is grieving for her late husband Prince Albert; he would slip on a Prince Albert hand puppet and speak to her as Prince Albert, albeit in a wooden tone.[2]
Additionally, John is exceptionally fond of his horse.
Plot
Indian Butler Arc
John takes the trophy.
John uses a Prince Albert doll to cheer up Queen Victoria.
At the Curry Fair, when the host is about to present the trophy to both the Harold West Company and the Funtom Corporation, John uses his whip to confiscate the trophy. Queen Victoria follows up on a horse, trampling him in the process. From beneath the horse, John introduces the Queen, explaining who she is and why she is so well-loved until she decides she would like to speak. Soon after, when Queen Victoria begins to cry for Prince Albert, he whips out a hand puppet of him, and impersonates him to console her.[2]
Eventually, Queen Victoria grieves for Prince Albert again, and John comforts her with the hand puppet. Subsequently, she realizes that she has spent too much time at the event, and he assists her in climbing onto her horse and watches as she departs. Ciel Phantomhive then points out that he should be leaving with her, and he chases after her.[4] Later, Ciel discovers that John has slipped an envelope from the Queen into his pocket, which has tickets and a note to lead Ciel on a mission to investigate the Noah's Ark Circus.[5]
Circus Arc
John, Grey, and Phipps watch Kelvin Manor burn.
From afar, John, Charles Grey, and Charles Phipps watch Kelvin's manor burn. Phipps comments that they are there to document the goings-on and report back to the Queen.[6]
Luxury Liner Arc
John and Charles Phipps have disguised themselves as the Scotland Yard members that are supposed to bring Karl Woodley to jail. Charles Grey eventually kills Karl along the way.[7]
Public School Arc
John vows to protect the Queen.
John, Charles Grey, and Charles Phipps accompany Queen Victoria to Weston College on the night of June 4th.[8]
Later at Buckingham Palace, Victoria asks John what he would do if Bizarre Dolls attacked them. John promises that he would protect Victoria in the place of Prince Albert.[9]
Emerald Witch Arc
John delivers the Queen's letter.
After Charles Grey and Charles Phipps give their analysis of the plant specimens from the Werewolves' Forest to Queen Victoria, who reads their report and panics. John uses his Prince Albert puppet to soothe the Queen. After she calms down, she proceeds to write a letter instructing Ciel Phantomhive to eradicate the werewolves.[10]
Sometime later, John arrives at Wolfsschlucht—on foot, as he does not wish to exploit his horse[11]—and interrupts Sebastian and Snake's conversation to deliver the Queen's letter.[12]
When John learns that Ciel is ill, he is troubled, because the Queen has explicitly ordered for the letter to be read immediately. He, then, requests Sebastian to read the letter's contents in Ciel's stead. Subsequently, John announces his leave, and Sebastian warns him to beware of werewolves. John leaves the forest.[13]
Blue Cult Arc
In Buckingham Palace, John stands beside Queen Victoria, while she holds an audience with Sieglinde Sullivan.[14] He supports the Queen, as they move over to a table, where cakes and tea are prepared.[15] When Sieglinde makes a promise to commit herself to help England advance, the Queen expresses her delight and compliments Ciel for his work—and in doing so, she mentions her late husband Prince Albert. At the reminder of Albert, she sobs, and John impersonates Albert with his Albert puppet, to comfort her. John comments that Ciel has become like his father, and the Queen agrees, saying that he is very reliable.[16]
Quotes
- (About Queen Victoria) "Victoria, the Queen of Great Britain. The ruler who has established the most illustrious era in British history. Not only is she responsible for expanding through her political prowess Great Britain's international colonial reach, and to such an extent that it has been dubbed 'the country upon which the sun never sets'... she also sets the trends for everything from fashion to social functions and popular dances, and boasts the unconditional favour of her people. She still deeply loves her late husband, Prince Albert."[17]
Trivia
Etymology
- "John" is the English form of the Latin name "Iohannes" which comes from the Greek Ἰωάννης (Ioannes), a name that is derived from the Hebrew name יוֹחָנָן (Yochanan, "YAHWEH is gracious"). It is composed of the roots יוֹ (yo) in reference to the Hebrew God and חָנַן (chanan, "to be gracious").[18]
Out of Universe
- According to the official Kuroshitsuji character popularity poll, John is the twenty-eighth most popular character in the series, with 23 votes.[19]
- John Brown is based on the real servant to Queen Victoria, who was a favorite of hers. The real John Brown, however, died in 1883.[20]
- As the real John Brown was Scottish, Yana Toboso wanted to let him wear a kilt, but ultimately decided against it as it was too "daring."[21]
References
- ↑ Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 21, pages 44-45
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 22, pages 39-45
- ↑ Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 94, pages 2-3
- ↑ Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 22, pages 16-17
- ↑ Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 22, pages 30-31
- ↑ Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 35, pages 37-38
- ↑ Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 51, pages 2-3
- ↑ Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 81, page 8
- ↑ Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 84, pages 42-43
- ↑ Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 93, pages 7-8
- ↑ Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 94, pages 2-3
- ↑ Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 93, pages 32-33
- ↑ Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 94, pages 3-5
- ↑ Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 108, page 4
- ↑ Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 108, page 6
- ↑ Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 108, pages 18-19
- ↑ Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 21, pages 43-44
- ↑ Behind the Name — John
- ↑ June 2015 Issue of Square Enix's GFantasy Magazine
- ↑ Wikipedia:John Brown (servant)
- ↑ Kuroshitsuji Character Guide, page 127
- ↑ Kuroshitsuji anime; Episode 14
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| Charles Grey • Charles Phipps • John Brown | |