History Characters / TheFutureEve

** [[spoiler: The truth s rather complicated. Hadaly was originally just a mindless robot, but then Sowana managed to posses her mechanical body, using it as a way to interact with the world while in her astral state. Doing this repeatedly led to a part of Sovana's soul being left in Hadaly, merging with her original programming to create a new person. But it is not clear ''when'' exactly this happened, or where to draw the line between her original programming, the influence of Sowana, or the new woman she eventually becomes.]]

A female robot created by Edison, which he offers to Ewald as a replacement for his own fiancée. She is supposedly only a very advanced automaton, but there are hints that there might be something more to her.

* ReluctantMadScientist: He's not entirely morally pure himself, [[EverybodyHasStandards but he still doesn't want his inventions to fall into the wrong hands,]] and is reluctant to hand over Hadaly to Ewald unless he understands that WithGreatPowerComesGreatResponsibility.

* CallingTheOldManOut::

* EarnYourHappyEnding:[[spoiler: Brutally Subverted.]]

* ReedRichardsIsUseless: Yes, this trope even applies to ''Thomas Edison,'' of all people. Ewald actually accuses him of keeping most of his inventions for himself without releasing them to the public. (Considering that the ''real'' Edison has the world record for "Most patented inventions", he must have been ''way'' more productive than people think.) This is [[JustifiedTrope Justified] by him being vary of his inventions ending up in the wrong hands, and he has still managed to get rich off the inventions he ''has'' released (as he did in RealLife.)

* BornInTheWrongCentury: Subverted. He doesn't actually mind the nineteenth century that much. He just laments that previous generations didn't have access to his inventions or genius.

--> '''Edison''': "Of course, I dont mean that all women are like that, but most of those who bring men to a desperate end are, more or less."
* ReedRichardsIsUseless: Yes, this trope even applies to ''Thomas Edison,'' of all people. Ewald actually accuses him of keeping most of his inventions for himself without releasing them to the public. (Considering that the ''real'' Edison has the world record for "Most patented inventions", he must have been ''way'' more productive than people think.) This is justified by him being vary of his inventions ending up in the wrong hands, and he has still managed to get rich off the inventions he ''has'' released (as in RealLife.)

* BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy: Apparently, Edison had a secret underground garden where he hid his most secret inventions (A RidiculouslyHumanRobot, mechanichal [[TalkingBird talking birds]] and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking technicolour sound films.)]] He also dabbled in mysticism and learned the art of hypnosis, though he admits that he isn't nearly as good as Sowana. Notable in that the ''real'' Creator/Thomas Edison was still alive and working when the book was first released.

Either the Wizard of Menlo Park himself, or a very transparent {{Expy}} of him. Edison is a genius - if somewhat morally ambiguous - scientist with a mind centuries ahead of his time.

** On the other hand, Edison seems rather undecisive (and uncertain) on whether she is sentient or not. He argues that, even if Hadaly isn't "real," she still comes of as kind and empathic, and that's better than being an undoubtedly real jerk like Alicia. He also feels that it is hard to call her "fake" when many women are just as guilty of hiding their true faces behind cosmetics, putting on false personas, ending up in relationships that are mere charades, and spending their lives just going through the motions. He makes a point of always treating her like a real person, giving her an aviary full of talking, mechanical birds so that she doesn't get lonely or bored, (which he admits to be a bit superstitious of him,) and telling her to leave the room if he wants to have a private conversation.

* [[DoAndroidsDream Do Andraiads Dream?]]: A big theme of the book. Lord Ewald insists that she is JustAMachine, and Edison's claim that she has a limited set of pre-programmed actions and responses seems to support this, but Edison seems rather undecisive (and uncertain) on whether she is sentient or not. He argues that, even if Hadaly isn't "real," she still comes of as kind and empathic, and that's better than being an undoubtedly real jerk like Alicia. He makes a point of always treating her like a real person, giving her an aviary full of talking, mechanical birds so that she doesn't get lonely or bored, (which he admits to be a bit superstitious of him,) and telling her to leave the room if he wants to have a private conversation. On her hand, Hadaly argues to Ewald that she might very well be sentient, and does things that should be well beyond her programming, speaking words that hasn't actually been recorded by her phonographs, and having the power of second sight. [[spoiler: The truth s rather complicated. Hadaly was originally just a mindless robot, but then Sowana managed to posses her mechanical body, using it as a way to interact with the world while in her astral state. Doing this repeatedly led to a part of Sovana's soul being left in Hadaly, merging with her original programming to create a new person. But it is not clear ''when'' exactly this happened, or where to draw the line between her original programming, the influence of Sowana, or the new woman she eventually becomes.]]

!!Lord Ewald

* DrivenToSuicide: When he visits Edison, he is planning to kill [[MurderSuicide both himself and his fiancée]] later the same evening. Edison manages to talk him out of it, but Ewald is still planning to kill himself in a few months if Edison's experiment doesn't work. It does, and Ewald gets his lust for life back. [[spoiler: Unfortunately, he still dies at the end.]]

* PosthumorousCharacter: As mentioned in her description. She only appears as a piece of footage recorded by Edison.

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Even in the versions where "Professor X's" name isn't mentioned, it is blatantly obvious who he is supposed to be. He is said to be "about forty" (the real Edison was thirty-nine at the time), to have pioneered film making, invented the phonograph and what sounds suspiciously like a lightbulb, and to be a founder and director of a large electric company (actually called ''the Edison Electric Light Company.'') He is compared to a wizard and lives in a large house in a park which also functions as a laboratory (Edison was known as "The Wizard of Menlo Park," Menlo Park being the location of his research lab.) He even uses "Mr. George ''Thomas''" as a pseudonym. The biggest inaccuracy (aside from the [[BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy fantastical]] elements) is that he is portrayed as being a father, which he wasn't. (Though he ''did'' have children within the next decade, so... LifeImitatesArt?)

[[caption-width-right:250: ''"I am another being now, not myself. Here I forget my sorrows, and I do not suffer."'' ]]

!!Miss Evelyn

!!Sowana / Mrs. Anderson [[spoiler:/ Hadaly]]

[[caption-width-right:250: ''"It shouldnt be done this way. I dont want the people who live in this house to think that I'm middle class."'' ]]

A rich aristocrat who has ended up in a very dysfunctional relationship. He goes to Edison to announce his decision to end his life, but is slowly onvinced that there might be a future for hm, after all.

[[caption-width-right:250:]]

[[caption-width-right:250:]]

[[caption-width-right:250:]]

[[caption-width-right:250:]]

[[caption-width-right:250:]]