 |
This Article Contains Spoilers -
WARNING: This article contains major spoilers. If you do not wish to know vital information on plot / character elements in a story, you may not wish to read beyond this warning: We hold no responsibility for any negative effects these facts may have on your enjoyment of said media should you continue. That is all. |
| “ | Now that my priestesses have my beacon engine working, all they need to do is call me into some other suitable vessel. ...Destroying this one small part of me won't destroy me at all! Not even close! | „ |
| ~ Lucrezia (in Agatha), gloating to Zola about her evil plans. |
| “ | Stupid girl. I'm doing you a favor! Don't you know that in all the best operas, the heroine hardly ever survives? | „ |
| ~ Lucrezia (in Agatha), to Princess Anevka. |
Lady Lucrezia Mongfish (also called Lucrezia Heterodyne after getting married to Bill) is the main antagonist of the print-and-web comic series Girl Genius by Phil & Kaja Foglio.
Lucrezia is known as many things to many people. To the people of Europa, she is who they more commonly know as "the Other" (even if they don't know it's her). To the Geisterdamen, she's their eternal goddess whom they served since ancient times. To the ancient God-Queens, she's a demon. To Agatha Heterodyne, however, she is unfortunately both her arch-enemy and her own biological mother.
Biography[]
The early life of Lucrezia is generally left vague in the comic, and when discussing what things are known, what order those events took place in is unclear.
That being said, we do know that she is one of three daughters of Dr. Lucifer Mongish, who was a powerful and evil Spark in his own right as well as an enemy of brothers Bill and Barry Heterodyne. At unknown points in time, she was educated by Tarsus Beetle and was a sorority sister with Dr. Francisia Monahan. She - also at an unknown time - became the object of worship of the Geisterdamen (who apparently had a portal to their realm near the Mongfish summer home). The Geisterdamen claim that their goddess had created them (Vol. 22 p. 050) - given Lucrezia's ability to time-travel it's entirely possible that she created them by traveling to the past.
The Mongfish family was a member of the Knights of Jove. Lucrezia was involved in the Order's affairs and was apparently "hot stuff" (Vol. 16 p. 75) with it's men. She used her influence to make the Order swear it's allegiance to her (Vol. 6 p. 32, Vol. 10 p. 73), gaining strong allies in the process. While some in the Order were content to go along with this change of affairs, some others resented Lucrezia's derailment of the Order's purpose (Vol. 5 p. 76, Vol. 15 p. 66).
Since her father was their enemy, Lucrezia had the time to meet the Heterodyne Brothers and their friends. She had an affair with Klaus Wulfenbach, which ended in her poisoning him and sending him away. She also publically renounced her father's ways, turning to the side of good (but this was likely a ruse), and married Bill Heterodyne to live in Mechanicsburg with him. While in Mechanicsburg she had set up a personal lab in Castle Heterodyne where she developed her Summoning Engines and other means of mind-transfer.
At some point, Lucrezia became who is known as "The Other" - it started when The Other had attacked Mechanicsburg and destroyed Castle Heterodyne. It was believed that The Other kidnapped Lucrezia, but in truth she escaped to the Geisterdamen to give birth to her daughter Agatha. She tasked the Geisters with guarding the infant Agatha as the "Holy Child". The Other led a war known as "The Other War" that consumed all of Europa that Bill and Barry worked to fight. At some later time she returned to her Geisters to punish them for not keeping guard of the "Holy Child", and afterwards the "original" Lucrezia disappeared as far as anyone was concerned.
At some unknown point she had used time-travel. While when or how she did it is unknown, we do know that she used it to appear to Van Rjin two centuries before her time, and also to kill God-Queens and destroy their civilization in ancient times.
While the "original" Lucrezia Mongfish is nowhere to be seen in the present-day, she has "returned" via the hijacking of different bodies with her personality uploads.
Other Bodies[]
One of the things that makes it difficult to discuss the life of Lucrezia Mongfish is her ability to take over different bodies. Lucrezia developed a machine known as a Summoning Engine, which can overlay a copy of her personality & memories onto the mind of any person. Note that the Engine simply puts a copy of her, which means that the different "Lucrezias" (while all aligned with one another) aren't a hivemind. Below is a catalogue of the various bodies Lucrezia has manifested herself in, along with their histories.
Agatha[]
Lucrezia possessing Agatha.
The first time we see Lucrezia manifest in the comic in the present-day is when her daughter, Agatha Heterodyne, was hooked up to a Summoning Engine in Sturmhalten (in Volume 5). Upon her return, the first thing that Lucrezia does is catch up on what she missed with her Geisterdamen servants. While the machine was designed to completely erase Agatha's mind and replace it with Lucrezia's, it failed and now Lucrezia has to share a body with her daughter. The two minds struggled over the body until (in Volume 6) Lucrezia was able to suppress her daughter and come out on top for a while. Lucrezia also found herself in conflict with Princess Anevka; a conflict that ended in Lucrezia winning and uploading her personality into the now-vacant Clank body of the princess. The two agreed that the Lucrezia/Agatha will leave pretending to be her daughter, while the Lucrezia/Anevka will stay pretending to be the princess.
Lucrezia/Agatha was able to fool her daughter's friends into thinking she is Agatha. However, the group was caught by Baron Wulfenbach and his troops. Lucrezia took advantage of the Baron's distraction to send a single Slaver Wasp his direction to go down his throat; it works, and she walked up to him pretending to be saving him from choking. The Baron recognizes her as Lucrezia, but she brags that with the wasp in his brain there is nothing he can do to stop her. Lucrezia takes Agatha's locket from him and puts it around her neck - but to her surprise the locket suppresses Lucrezia's copy and returns the body back to Agatha (near the end of Volume 6).
For the rest of the comic, Agatha's body is mostly under the control of Agatha herself, with the Lucrezia copy within her suppressed by the locket. However there are a few times where Lucrezia was able to take control. These include:
- Twice in Castle Heterodyne (in Volume 10). The first time was when Agatha needed to remove her locket for the Si Vales Valeo Procedure, where Lucrezia returned for a very short moment. The second and longer time was when Zola had caught Agatha by surprise and removed her locket. Zola and Lucrezia talk for a while and the two agree that Zola will get a copy of Lucrezia downloaded into her. However, to Lucrezia's surprise, Zola is able to hold back the copy's power and uses it to search through her memories. This then leads to a three-way fight between Lucrezia, Zola, and some of Agatha's comrades. The fight ends when Madame Von Pinn comes back; Von Pinn is able to scare Lucrezia into retreating and giving the body back to Agatha.
- Once in the St. Szpac Depot Fortress (in Volume 15). An experiment Agatha and Gil were working on had caused a temporary shutdown of all machinery in the area - Agatha's locket included, which meant Lucrezia returned for a moment. This triggered the Klaus/Gil overlay to show up too. Because the area was under Corbettite protection, Lucrezia and Klaus were unable to harm each other. They were however able to argue - at least until the power came back on and Agatha's locket started working again.
Lucrezia/Agatha shows up one last time (in Volume 20) when Agatha was staying in England. As Agatha's friends are creating an "Exorcism Engine" to remove Lucrezia for good, the locket fails and Lucrezia takes over for a final battle. Lucrezia fights against the troops of Albia and against her daughters friends with the help of her Clank counterpart. During the battle she experienced a Second Breakthrough, ascending to the status of God-Queen and promptly going mad with power. But alas, when tricked by Martellus, Agatha's friends put her in the Exorcism Engine which removed Lucezia's personality from the body (Vol. 20 p 056), returning the body to Agatha once and for all.
The copy of Lucrezia that was once in Agatha is currently trapped in a container. The location of the container is unknown but likely still in England where it can't hurt anyone.
Clank-Anevka[]
Clank-Lucrezia in Mechanicsburg.
After Lucrezia/Agatha defeated Princess Anevka in Sturmhalten (in Volume 6), the Clank body of the princess was shut down and a new personality was uploaded to the machine - that being Lucrezia's personality. Lucrezia/Anevka, also known as Clank-Lucrezia, agrees with her other self that she will stay behind in Sturmhalten pretending to be the Princess.
Clank-Lucrezia doesn't appear again until the Mechanicsburg arc (in Volume 11), where she impersonates the princess in the hospital. Not knowing that she's actually Lucrezia, Klaus' assistant Boris notes that "Princess Anevka managed to calm him [Klaus] down" (Vol. 11 p. 90, c.f. p. 86), which implies that Lucezia was able to control the Baron (using the Slaver Wasp in his brain) during the siege of the city. When the Baron's troops were ordered to destroy the Vespiary Squads and kill their wasp-eater weasels, it was almost certainly Lucrezia behind the order. The novelization Agatha H. and the Siege of Mechanicsburg is more explicit in depicting Lucrezia's control of the Baron. It contains an extra moment in the scene where Klaus forces Gil into accepting his demands, where Lucrezia says she'll force Klaus to do something he would hate to Gil (implicitly the creation of Klaus/Gil)
Clank-Lucrezia in England.
Yet again, Clank-Lucrezia remains offscreen for much of the comic until much later, returning only in the England arc (in Volume 20). She returned to rescue Lucrezia/Agatha and aid her in her fight. Her mechanical body had a complete makover, but it wasn't enough to come out on top in the fight. While incapacitated she had her troopers take her away elsewhere.
Clank-Lucrezia returns in the next arc on the island of rats (in Volume 22), accompanied by her partners in crime Madwa Korel, Francisia Monahan, and Ariadane Steelgarter. She came there to try and open one of the "Queen's Mirrors" (portal), however she got sidetracked by Dr. Mohanan finding the water she needs to become a God-Queen. Lucrezia and Francisca fought with each other while bathing in the water, both of them ascending to Queenhood. Clank-Lucrezia grew to a giant form where she found herself fighting against Dr. Mohanan, the Zeno airship (Agatha & friends), and later Queen Albia. Lucrezia is defeated (in Volume 23) when the Zeno launches an exploding engine right into her mechanical head, knocking her out, and when Albia destroys the Clank-Lucrezia body once and for all while it's down.
Muse of Time[]
Various appearances of the Muse of Time, as illustrated in Van Rijn's notebook.
The "Muse of Time" isn't so much an individual body as it is a name applied to several different forms.
This figure is first mentioned in-comic (in Volume 15) when Agatha reads through Van Rjin's notebook (Vol. 15 p. 090) - however it first appears (without any context) in the earliest pages of the comic before Agatha in Beetleburg (Vol. 1 p. 004). Later on when exploring the libraries of Paris (in Volume 16), Agatha accidentally awakens one form of the Muse of Time held captive by Van Rjin, who promptly dissapears in a flash. The reader learns that this "Muse of Time" was an apparently time-traveling entity that Van Rjin saw in many mysterious encounters, and that he tried to capture for research.
Much later (in Volume 20) during Lucrezia/Agatha's battle in England, Queen Ablia asserts that the "Muse of Time" was actually Lucrezia all along. Oddly, when she remembers the various forms of the Muse (Vol. 20 p. 025), the form Agatha saw in Beetleburg is seen not among them.
Zola[]
Lucrezia/Zola (in the left speech-bubble) struggling against Zola.
In Castle Heterodyne (in Volume 10), Lucrezia/Agatha was able to meet with Zola Malfeazium, who is her niece. Though the two butted heads with each other, Zola agreed to get a copy of Lucrezia in her head. However this was a trick; Zola's family worked with the heretical Geister named Loremistress Milvistle, who used the rogue's information to make their daughter resistant to Lucrezia's mind-control. Zola remains in control of her own body even with the copy of Lucrezia in her - in fact she is able to search through the memories of the copy. Zola then escapes.
Much later, Zola would begin to be a force in her own right. Although she doesn't have the Spark, Zola uses the memories she gained from Lucrezia to copy her technology anyways, though Zola is unable to improve Lucrezia's designs due to not having the Spark.
Lady of Sharp Crystal[]
The "Lady of Sharp Crystal", as seen in Eotain's flashback.
The "Lady of Sharp Crystal" is, according to the Geisterdamen, the "cruel aspect" of their goddess. The name was first mentioned in the novelization Agatha H. and the Clockwork Princess published in 2012, in the scene where Lady Vrin describes the Geister history to Agatha. It is only mentioned in the comic proper in 2021 (Vol. 22 p. 050) when Eotain describes the Geister history to Gil and Tarvek. This "aspect" is yet to appear in-person.
Personality[]
From what has been seen in the comic so far, Lucrezia was/is a very self-centered and amoral person with little respect for others, if any at all. The only people she's ever depicted as caring about are herself and maybe her Geister worshipers. She has also been shown to be crafty and clever; Klaus Wulfenbach described her as "ruthless, manipulative, and a consummate actress" (Vol. 7 p. 058). In every iteration she has been shown to be a controling person; Jäger General Goomblast mentioned how back when Bill was around she "treated effryvun like dey vos her servants" (sic.) and "treated der Jägers like leedle petz - no - like dey vos property" (sic.) (Vol. 11 p. 061). Tarvek, who worked with her personally, described Lucrezia as a "first-class megalomaniac" (Vol. 13 p. 44) even compared to other Sparks (who already have tendencies towards delusions of grandeur). All of these descriptions line up with what we have seen Lucrezia actually do. It is not surprising a manipulative, control-obsessed person would develop something like Slaver Wasps to enslave and conquer a continent.
Fitting her description as a "consummate actress", Lucrezia's demeanor often changes, sometimes in one sitting. At times she acts giddy and exited like a little kid, especially when she's plotting some scheme or bragging about one. Other times she acts seductive and sultry, like when she was with Klaus, or checking out her possessed Agatha body in Sturmhalten. Meanwhile at other moments, especially when hearing bad news or facing opposition, she has been known to act wrathful, spiteful, and almost petulant. She's even acted motherly and consoling to the Geisterdamen when she returned - even if it did turn to wrathfulness the next minute. But whatever demeanor she adopts, one thing that remains consistent with Lucrezia is her immense arrogance and pride. While her precise motives are unknown at the moment, they are clearly self-centered motives.
Her personality appears to have been modified by her time outside of a human body, whether trapped inside the Summoning Engine or inhabiting Clank bodies like that of Anevka. The official novelization Agatha H. and the Siege of Mechanicsburg has footnotes that suggest that she lost her humanity. According to Dr. Francisia Monahan, her old sorority sister, she was rather fond of chocolate (Vol. 22 p. 107). Though it's unlikely that lacking human form is what made her evil, given how in her organic forms she is still shown to be a manipulative villainess.
Powers and Abilities[]
Aside from the above-mentioned body hijacking, Lucrezia has been shown to have a number of abilities. Being a Spark, she naturally has developed plenty of advanced technology to enhance her power. These include:
- The Spark - Lucrezia Mongfish, much like her father Lucifer, has the Spark (aka, superhuman intelligence). As a result she is both very smart and somewhat on the mad side; while these traits are common in Sparks it seems that they are exaggerated in Lucrezia, as she has been able to make technologies that baffle even other Sparky minds. Given her inventions, the speciality of Lucrezia's Spark appears to be mind-control and consciousness transferal, which is what she studied when in Castle Heterodyne. She also appears to specialize in making insect-like Constructs (such as the slaver wasps).
- Command Voice - No matter which body she uses, Lucrezia has the ability to use her Command Voice, which is when Revenants and Slaver Wasps instantly obey her voice regardless of their will. The voice also has power over the Geisterdamen (as some if not all of the Geisters have been shown to be Revenants). Her blood-relatives like Agatha have a similar voice and thus a similar ability, but Lucrezia's voice itself is the most effective and potent.
- God-Queen Ascension - In two on-screen events, Lucrezia has attained a Second Breakthrough, which means she can ascend to the status of a God-Queen. The first time this happened was with Lucrezia/Agatha who did so on a whim in England, which was only stopped with Martellus von Blitzengaard exploiting a weakness in Agatha's body chemistry. The second time was with Clank-Lucrezia on the island of rats, who bathed in special waters - she grew in truly gigantic size and was only stopped when God-Queen Albia intervened directly.
- Time Travel - It is unknown how exactly Lucrezia gained the ability to travel through time; she either developed the technology herself or borrowed it from some other Spark. However, it is known that she used this time-travel power to appear before Van Rjin as the "Muse of Time". She had also used it to destroy the prehistoric society of God-Queens.
- God-Queen Killing - Also unknown how she did it, but Albia's flashbacks reveal that Lucrezia knows a way to somehow kill immortal God-Queens.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Fans of Girl Genius have often given nicknames to the different forms taken by Lucrezia. These include "Lunevka" (the copy in Clank-Anevka) and "Lu-Agatha" (the copy in Agatha's mind).
- There are a few possible reasons why Phil & Kaja Foglio chose the name "Lucrezia" for this character:
- It may be a reference to the 1970 song "Lucretia Macevil" by the band Blood, Sweat & Tears. As the name implies, it's about an evil lady named Lucretia.
- It also may be a reference to the Renaissance-era noblewoman Lucrezia Borgia. Ms. Borgia was seen as a sort of femme fatale as she was rumored to be a poisoner and murderer. This view of Ms. Borgia carried on into many pop-culture depictions of her. The Borgias were family with a long reputation of crime like the Mongfishes. The first scene we see Ms. Mongfish in the comic is a scene where she poisons Klaus.
- Another historical reference could be Lucretia, from the ancient Roman kingdom era. Like Lady Mongfish, Lucretia was attacked and kidnapped by someone when her husband was away; this attack on her later led to the downfall of the Roman monarchy. However there's no indication Lucretia organized the attack.
- A fairly common fan theory is that Lucrezia wasn't the original Other, but rather just someone like Agatha that The Other has possessed and taken over. A related but less common fan theory is that The Other/Lucrezia - or more accurately, their mind/personality - isn't of human origin. This theory is inspired by the official Girl Genius novelization Agatha H. and the Clockwork Princess; in the novel, when parts use Lucrezia/Agatha as the POV character, Lucrezia talks about the Girl Genius universe as though she was an outsider. Author footnotes in the novel Agatha H. and the Siege of Mechanicsburg suggest Lucrezia is no longer human.
- In the school of Continental Philosophy, the concept of "the Other" refers to quite literally the concept of the other person or group, i.e. the concept of otherness itself. According to that branch of philosophy, "the Other" is the person/group who is the proverbial "them" in an "us-versus-them" mindset, used as a scapegoat to reinforce self-identity or in-group-identity. How much the Foglios were influenced by this philosophical idea when making Girl Genius is unknown.
- In an interview on the podcast 'TGT Webcomics' in episode #37 (audio link, archived), Phil Foglio himself gave extra information on the Other. Around the 53:53 to 55:35 mark, he makes mention of there being three different 'Others' (Agatha, Anevka, and an unknown third) at the time, with the identity of third one being kept a secret at the time of recording. It is unknown if he is talking about either Zola, the "Muse of Time", the "original" body, or some still-unknown incarnation that is yet to appear in the comic.
External Links[]
- Lucrezia Mongfish on the Girl Genius Wiki
 Villains
| ||
|
Forces of the Other Knights of Jove & affiliates Wulfenbach Empire Misc. | ||