History Characters / BlackButlerPhantomhiveHousehold

* LaughingMad: After all the crap he pulled during the circus arc, he ventures off to the workhouse they were told about only to find out that it's in ruin]]. Ciel finds this darkly amusing.

* BrokenAce: He's a very cute young male, the head of the Phantomhive noble family, and runs Funtom Toy Company. He is shown to be extremely competent and intelligent, both at running his company and at learning new tasks. He learns to dance in a short period of time, just through Sebastian's teaching, and it is stated that he takes a variety of lessons from tutors. He also comes across as being a mostly emotionless, cold, intelligent child; he is capable of portraying himself as an engaging, happy, easygoing individual, typically when undercover, but is quick to revert to being callous when he no longer has to hide his true self. Before the loss of his parents, his life as a slave and role as a human sacrifice, however, he seemed to be a happy and energetic child. He also seems to have no qualms with lying to, stealing from, or killing others, so long as it benefits him in some way.
* BrokenBird: He was a happy and innocent child once. Then his parents were murdered, he was kidnapped and sold off to an evil cult. Now, he admits that he has forgotten how to smile happily.

* IOweYouMyLife: In a ''very'' literal sense towards Sebastian.

* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: He has a few PetTheDog moments, but he seems to have ulterior motives for most of these. Take, for example, all of his house staff (except Tanaka, who's only really around because he's personally served the Phantomhive family for decades). Sure he rescued Mey Rin, Baldroy, and Finny from horrible lives, and he took in Snake when he had nowhere to go, but when you realize that all of these people are, in dangerous situations, extremely useful, his taking them in starts to look decidedly less altruistic.

* TheUnfavourite: Subverted. In the past, Ciel was believed to be one since his father chose [[spoiler: his twin brother]] to be the next successor to the Phantomhive Company instead of him. In reality, however, it was only due to the asthma he inherited from his mother and lack of social skills making him unfit to be heir.
* UnscrupulousHero: Ciel is willing to do all sorts of morally grey or even black things -- murder, blackmail, emotional manipulation, sacrificing innocent lives, etc. -- for the greater good of [[MyCountryRightOrWrong serving Great Britain's interests]]. That said, at times it seems to weigh on his conscience, and for the most part he does genuinely want to help people.

* YouKilledMyFather: He wants to find and get revenge on the one who murdered his parents. In the anime it was Angela who also fused his father's remains with his wife and made them into an abomination to be used to kill Ciel, their own son.

* HairDecorations

* MysteriousPast: Okay, so if Finny grew up as a test subject in a cell, how on earth does he know a specific dialect of German used mainly in Southern Germany?

* ReligiousAndMythologicalThemeNaming: Ciel named him after Fionn mac Cumhaill, a mythical hunter-warrior of Myth/CelticMythology.

* FrozenFace: Subverted; while his initial appearances seem to present him as emotionless, he does have facial expressions, which is shown more frequently after becoming Ciel's staff.

%%* NotSoStoic

%%* SugarAndIcePersonality

* DespairEventHorizon: It's implied Ciel crossed it in the past when he was made into a sacrifice by the cult [[spoiler:and his twin brother was murdered right in front of him]]. Crossing it was what allowed him to summon Sebastian and make a contract with him. It's probably also part of the reason he has given up on a happy life and is focused on revenge instead.

* DefrostingIceKing: He has become significantly nicer towards people, at times even swallowing his pride to make Lizzy happy or showing concern for Snake and even Sebastian.

* ThoseTwoBadGuys: When partnered with Sebastian.

* CutenessProximity: When he is near his beloved cats, he even ignores Ciel.

* OffhandBackhand: Gave us a pretty epic one to a zombie while soaking wet on a sinking ship...[[http://www.kuroshitsujimanga.com/img/Kuroshitsuji/56/24.jpg no, seriously.]]

* RedOniBlueOni: The red to Ciel's blue, especially in the anime.
** To drive this point home he has red eyes while Ciel has blue. 'Course after Ciel made his contract one of them turned purple.

* SternTeacher

* ThoseTwoBadGuys: When partnered with Ciel.

* OlderThanHeLooks: He takes on the form of a man in his late twenties/early thirties, but he's Really700YearsOld obviously because he's a demon.

* ByronicHero: A very young example, but he still fits this trope to a T. He's a charismatic, brooding, cynical, self-destructive, and isolated individual tormented by a dark past and motivated to get revenge against those who messed up his life.

* SoBeautifulItsACurse: Zigzagged. Ciel never complains or comments on his appearance. That said, he frequently uses his good looks to manipulate others and definitely reaps some rewards simply for being cute, but his good looks ''have'' earned quite a bit of unwanted attention.
** The three most notable examples are in the fifth chapter/second episode when his captor plans to sell him to a brothel (introducing this trope), the entire Circus Arc, and [[spoiler: [[RapeAsBackstory his history with the cult.]]]]

* TheStoic: Though he can get very angry, his default personality in the manga seems to be pretty stoic.

* AlwaysSaveTheGirl: He's definitely this toward Elizabeth. He threw himself in front of a {{bear|sAreBadNews}} for her first, but he's taken to doing whatever he has to do to make sure she's safe from a ship load of [[EverythingsDeaderWithZombies zombies]]. Her mother, who's normally overprotective, calmed down upon finding out that her daughter was with Ciel because she knew he'd protect her. That's a pretty high level of trust there!
** Inverted something ''fierce'' in chapter 57, as it turns out Elizabeth was more [[LittleMissBadass badass]] than him [[DeliberatelyDistressedDamsel all along]] and ends up saving ''[[DistressedDude him]]''.
** Pulled it again in chapter 58, even though Lizzie saved him. He doesn't want her trapped on a sinking ship rife with zombies and shinigami, even if Sebastian and him are staying on board, so Sebastian knocks her out and gives her over to her brother.

* AngstySurvivingTwin: [[spoiler: His twin brother, the real Ciel, died in the ritual that summoned Sebastian. Plus, he himself seems to view himself as an "extra" and his past as the asthmatic, weaker twin seems to have had an effect on his confidence and self-worth as a human being.]] From the way Tanaka and (possibly) Lizzy seem to behave once learning this, [[spoiler: he might not be the only one who sees him as being more worthless than the real Ciel.]]

* FishOutOfWater: The circus arc shows that Ciel doesn't take well to unfamiliar territories, i.e., having to do manual labor.
** He gets better as time goes on, being much more self-sufficient in the Public School arc.

* {{Jerkass}}: Ciel Phantomhive is not a nice person.

** JerkWithAHeartOfGold: YMMV on this one, but at times it seems he actually does care in his own way for those around him.

* OfCorsetHurts

* PetTheDog: One of Ciel's manipulation tactics is to do this when it's easy and costs him nothing, since this misleads others as to what sort of person he is and allows them to gain their trust. YMMV on how many (if any) of his PetTheDog moments are genuinely altruistic.
* PleaseDontLeaveMe: His breakdown over Sebastian's "death" in the murder mystery arc can be considered this, although later on this is Exploited, as they were acting.

* PragmaticHero: Ciel is willing to do all sorts of morally grey or even black things -- murder, blackmail, emotional manipulation, sacrificing innocent lives, etc. -- for the greater good of [[MyCountryRightOrWrong serving Great Britain's interests]]. That said, at times it seems to weigh on his conscience, and for the most part he does genuinely want to help people.

* UsedToBeASweetKid: So much he was the trope image.

* AffablyEvil: Although less "evil" in the anime. Sebastian is always polite to everyone.

* AintTooProudToBeg: Type 2 - He begged Sieglinde to save Ciel, and his desperation was sincere. Yeah, the situation was just that serious.
* AlwaysSaveTheGirl: He cares about protecting Ciel more than anything else. Not just Ciel but Elizabeth on occasion as well.

* DemiHuman: In his human-like form, he still has CuteLittleFangs (at least in the manga), and his eyes are red or at least some rare shade of auburn.
** These features aren't always apparent though. His eyes glow bright red and he bares his fangs when he is about to attack or in some state of arousal.

* NominalHero: In the anime.

* PapaWolf: Sebastian will protect Ciel from anything or anyone who would pose a threat to him, [[spoiler: so he can eat Ciel himself when the time comes]].
** Seems to be played more straight with Lizzie.

* StealthMentor: To Ciel in the manga only. At least, compared to the anime.
** Sebastian will occasionally make a challenge deliberately more difficult than it needs to be, or else goad the boy in order to get Ciel to do the work himself. He'll also comment on Ciel's actions, praising what he did well and pointing out mistakes; over time we can see the kid take these lessons to heart.
*** Chapter 118 has a quick example: Sebastian tells Ciel that "a heart cannot be chained" and allows their hostage to escape, which inspires Ciel to think up a strategy that lands a much stronger blow to their enemies than his original plan.

* UndyingLoyalty: To Ciel,[[spoiler: at least until his contract is fulfilled of course. [[YourSoulIsMine Then...]]]].

* VampiresAreSexGods: Granted, he's a demon not a vampire but otherwise fits this troupe perfectly.
* VillainProtagonist: In the manga.

* BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil: He used to be a nice, sweet boy before being kidnapped and made into a human sacrifice. Now, he's a cold, selfish and ruthless adolescent who won't hesitate to kill other people if they're in the way.

* DefiledForever: Repeatedly stresses that he's not a good person and it's too late for him to become one. This mindset seems to come from three events in his life: [[spoiler: being raped]], contracting Sebastian, and being responsible for murder.

** The two most notable examples are in the fifth chapter/second episode when his captor plans to sell him to a brothel (introducing this trope), and the entire Circus Arc.

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* RapeAndRevenge: Implied to be his motive in the anime, averted in season 2 (when he's given Alois' memories of being raped but doesn't seek revenge for it), and [[spoiler: played horribly straight]] in the manga.

* BadassTeacher: He made Ciel into the Earl Phantomhive he is today and taught him pretty much every skill a noble is expected to know and then some.
** It's also hinted he taught Finnian how to read.
* SubmissiveBadass: Even though he's one of the most powerful characters in the series, he's still Ciel's servant and will do (almost) every single thing he orders.

* TheGardener: He's supposed to be the one in charge of the garden, but he always ends up destroying the plants and Sebastian has to clean up his mess.

%%* RapeAndRevenge: Hinted to be his motive in the anime, averted in season 2 (when he's given Alois' memories of being raped but doesn't seek revenge), and [[spoiler: played horribly straight]] in the manga.

[[quoteright:240:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ciel_2014_profile.png]]

* RapeAndRevenge: Hinted to be his motive in the anime, averted in season 2 (when he's given Alois' memories of being raped but doesn't seek revenge), and [[spoiler: played horribly straight]] in the manga.

%%* RapeAndRevenge: Hinted to be his motive in the anime, averted in season 2 (when he's given Alois' memories of being raped but doesn't seek revenge), and [[spoiler: played horribly straight]] in the manga.

** The three most notable examples are in the fifth chapter/second episode when his captor plans to sell him to a brothel (introducing this trope), the entire Circus Arc, and [[spoiler: chapter 135]].

* StaticCharacter: This rings ''especially'' true in the anime, particularly in contrast to [[{{Foil}} Alois]] who had lots of it in the second season, despite it being so short.

** The two most notable examples are in the fifth chapter/second episode when his captor plans to sell him to a brothel (introducing this trope), and the entire Circus Arc.

* StaticCharacter: So far in the manga, Ciel has had little to no character development. This rings ''especially'' true in the anime, particularly in contrast to [[{{Foil}} Alois]] who had lots of it in the second season, despite it being so short.

* SixthRanger: As both the Noah's Arc First tier and as Ciel's staff.

* TheBeastMaster: He can control snakes.