On this page, you'll find information on the characters of Princess Tutu. Please note: since a lot of Tutu's plot revolves around Character Development and Back Story, some spoilers will be unavoidable. Spoilers will be marked when possible, but some unmarked spoilers will be necessary just for ease of reading. You've been warned!
Main Characters
Ahiru ("Duck")
Sometimes a girl, sometimes a duck—but ALWAYS a klutz.
Once upon a time, there was a duck that wished she could do anything to save a lonely prince. There was also a clumsy girl that dreamed of one day becoming a ballerina. And there was also a princess that was cursed to turn into a speck of light and vanish if she confessed her feelings to the one she loved. Duck/Ahiru is all three.Originally a duck, Drosselmeyer heard her wish to save the Prince, and (partially to amuse himself, and partially because he needed something to kickstart the story) he decided to grant it. He gave her a pendant that allowed her to become a girl—and also the Magical Girl, Princess Tutu.As a girl, Duck spends her days struggling in her ballet class, getting into hijinx with her friends, fawning over the popular and distant Mytho, and arguing with the equally popular but hot-tempered Fakir. Duck adores ballet, but due to her clumsy movements and lack of discipline, her performances are somewhat lacking. This causes her teacher to constantly criticise her (when he's not threatening her with marriage), much to her dismay. However, other characters often note that her enthusiasm and personality shines through during her dance, making her dancing entertaining to watch.Duck is sweet, outgoing, and ditzy, but has a stubborn streak. This causes her to constantly butt heads with Fakir, particularly since she's so interested in Mytho. However, by the end of the first season, the two start to come to an understanding and learn to work together.In fact, most of the characters Duck comes across she quickly wins over due to her kind, cheerful personality. Despite her flaws (and sometimes even because of them), she's an endearing girl that finds it easy to make friends. But, in the end, Duck is really a duck. When she quacks (which happens often when she's flustered), she turns back into her true form as a duck. But, when wearing her pendant, water turns her back into a girl.In contrast to Duck is her Magical Girl form, the titular Princess Tutu. In "The Prince and the Raven" (a fictional fairytale from the world of the show), Tutu was a minor character that confessed her love to the Prince—which, because of a curse, caused her to turn into a speck of light and vanish. Still in love with Mytho, her quest is to gather the pieces of his missing heart and return them to him. Hidden in the hearts of the residents of Gold Crown Town, Tutu can retrieve Mytho's heart shards by dancing with them and helping them to realize their true feelings. However, Tutu's curse still haunts her, so as much as she encourages others to be true to their hearts, she's unable to speak her own true feelings aloud.In Duck's eyes, Princess Tutu is everything she is not. She's poised, graceful, an elegant and skilled dancer, and all-around nearly perfect. Duck often struggles with comparing herself to her alter-ego, unsure if Tutu is really her, or simply the character from the story somehow working through her. Also, while restoring Mytho's heart means he can feel joy and love, it also means he can feel sadness and pain, which causes Duck to doubt if her actions are truly helping him. Because of this, she actually has quite a bit of angst throughout the show—but she pushes forward, hoping that in the end she'll be able to see Mytho smile.In Japanese, "Ahiru" literally translates to "Duck"—so in ADV Films' English dub, she is named "Duck" (the series' translator spends a lot of time during one DVD Commentary informing people—presumably those who had already seen the fansub—that "Ahiru" is not a proper name in Japanese). One of the few ways to cause a fight in the Tutu fandom is to insist that you have to use one name or the other when referring to her—inevitably fans that prefer the other name will object (luckily, most fans have learned to use both interchangeably*
Outside the core PT fandom, though, the fight gets nastier, as it serves as a particularly large lightning rod for the eternal Subbing versus Dubbing war. Those who use "Ahiru" exclusively are MUCH more insistent about it, so those who prefer "Duck" have largely been confined to sites where the English dub is discussed
).
Tropes associated with Duck/Ahiru:
Abstract Apotheosis: Near the end, Princess Tutu becomes a symbol of hope to the other characters in the story, fully personifying the heartshard that she used to transform.
Ascended Extra: In-universe, Princess Tutu; she is an extremely minor character in "The Prince and the Raven" and only appears in a couple sentences.
Barbie Doll Anatomy: When Ahiru transforms from a duck to a human, her clothing doesn't change with her—so when she returns to her human form, she's naked. However, thanks to Barbie Doll Anatomy, nothing is ever really shown.
Bare Your Midriff: Ahiru does in her out-of-school outfit, although the end result looks quirky and even silly instead of sexy.
The Chosen One/The Unchosen One: Played with. Drosselmeyer specifically selected her as Princess Tutu, but she didn't exactly "follow the plot", so to say.
Disappears into Light: Princess Tutu's fate, should she confess her feelings to Mytho. It's ultimately what happens to her once she returns her necklace containing the final heart shard to Mytho, rendering her permanently to her original duck form.
Dojikko: Justified in that she's really a duck. Most of the characters note that she moves rather like her namesake animal, unaware that it's not just her name.
A Duck Named Duck: Yes, even though Ahiru may sound like a pretty name, it is really just "duck" in Japanese.
Driven to Suicide: Though this was partly due to her own despair over not being able to get her necklace off to return to Mytho, and partly Drosselmeyer trying to manipulate Fakir's Reality Warper powers. She gets better, though.
Everything's Better with Princesses: Subverted. In the end, the show seems to say that Ahiru is better as herself meaning her original duck self, instead of as Princess Tutu or a human girl.
Expy: She might be an expy of the heroine from Sato's earlier work, Prétear, although since Tutu was in the works in the 90's it might be the other way around.
Gotta Catch Them All: Princess Tutu's quest to find the missing pieces of Mytho's heart.
Green Thumb: Princess Tutu can grow a plant of vines to help herself get around.
Heroic Self-Deprecation: Ahiru has major issues with her self esteem, partially because she thinks of herself as "just a duck".
Hope Bringer: Princess Tutu represents hope. This is what saves the town and ends Drosselmeyer's story.
Also, this feeling is literally what allowed her to transform into Princess Tutu in the first place - her pendant is a heart shard, the Prince's feeling of hope.
Idiot Hair: Ahiru's ahoge even exists in her duck form and is as tall as her head.
At several points it actually gives her position away when she's trying to hide.
Inner Monologue: When Ahiru's not rambling out loud, she's rambling inwardly about her various problems — particularly her identity issues and love towards/worry for Mytho.
Late for School: Subverted in the first episode, where Ahiru gets confused and actually arrives to school early, causing her Crash into Hello meeting with Mytho. However, it's played straight in several other episodes, and even lampshaded in the dub when Ahiru makes a comment about it being early in the morning and Fakir responds "Early for you, anyway."
Leitmotif: The Miniature Overture from The Nutcracker.
Missed the Call: Rue breaks Mytho's curse by confessing her love instead of Princess Tutu, and gets chosen to be Mytho's princess instead. Granted, Rue wasn't bound by the story to fade from existence if she did this.
Odd Friendship: With Fakir, once they start to actually listen to each other. With Rue also, in a way.
Only Sane Man: In early episodes, Ahiru is shocked to realize she's the only one that recognizes the odd things in town (like a cat that teaches ballet). Eventually she takes it in stride and gets used to being in a fairytale.
Polly Wants A Microphone: Averted — although Ahiru is shown as sentient, she can't speak in her duck form, even though other birds in the series are shown as being able to.
Princess Classic: Tutu dons some of the traits associated with this trope.
Star-Crossed Lovers: Played straight with Tutu and Mytho in the fairytale. Subverted with Fakir and Ahiru — Ahiru may be stuck in her duck form, but he promises to stay by her side.
Technician Versus Performer: Ahiru is a performer, thanks to her duck-like movements and cheerful attitude. Rue is more on the technician side, although this trope only truly comes into play in the "Sleeping Beauty" episode with Paulamoni.
Transformation Sequence: Both duck —> human and Ahiru —> Tutu. However, both are surprisingly short.
Mytho
Get used to that vacant expression. You're going to be seeing it a lot.
"When I think of Rue, when I think of you, Fakir, and when I'm thinking about Princess Tutu...Each one makes me feel different. But I don't know what names I should give these feelings. Tell me Fakir, don't I need to know what they are?"
Once upon a time, there was a Prince that was battling with an evil Raven in a story. When the man that was writing the story died, the Prince and the Raven escaped from the pages of the story into the town where the man once lived. In order to protect the people, the Prince used a forbidden spell to shatter his heart and seal the Raven away—losing his emotions in the process. That prince was found wandering aimlessly by Fakir, who gave him the name "Mytho", from the Greek word "Mythos", which means "story". And so began Mytho's emotionless existence — until Princess Tutu appeared in the story once more.Thanks to his heart being missing, Mytho seems lifeless and has no understanding of emotions, or even things like pain, feeling hungry and feeling sleepy. Because of this, he relies completely on Fakir and Rue to tell him what to do, making him little more than a doll. In the beginning, there's only one piece of his personality that remains intact — the part of him that wants to protect the helpless. Unfortunately, without his emotions to guide him, he often puts himself into danger that's disproportionate to what's at stake — like jumping out a window to save a bird from a crow when the bird knows how to fly and he doesn't.As Princess Tutu starts to return his emotions to him, his true personality starts to slowly be revealed. He's gentle, kind, brave and even a little inquisitive (which only causes his caretakers more headaches once he gets back the feeling of Curiosity). The story claims that he was "a prince who loved everyone — and was also loved by everyone". The more his heart is restored, the more this appears to be true.However, in the second season Mytho's heart is tainted with the Raven's blood, twisting his selfless personality. Instead of loving everyone, he demands that he be loved, and starts to search for a pure hearted girl to sacrifice to the Raven. However, Mytho's true personality is still within himself even as the Raven's blood starts to taint him more and more, causing a struggle between the two personalities as they fight for control.
Tropes associated with Mytho:
Adorkable: In the first season, as he slowly regains more of his heart, Mytho becomes more and more curious about his emotions (much to Fakir and Rue's chagrin).
All Girls Want Bad Boys: Played with — in the second season Mytho has girls falling all over him, but it's because he's casting a spell on them to make them fall in love, not because they're attracted to how "bad" he's become.
Badass: After Princess Tutu returns his last heart shard, thus completing his princely persona, he undergoes a Good Costume Switch and then proceeds to defeat the collective asses of several ravens using his conjured sword and a few impressive acrobatic moves.
In the second season, he and Fakir develop this sort of relationship as Mytho constantly abuses Fakir and tries to cause him trouble because of the Raven's blood in him.
This was reversed in the first season, where Fakir was the one pushing Mytho around. His domineering treatment of Mytho was his own way of protecting him, however, as Mytho couldn't protect himself.
Cannot Tell a Lie: In the first season, another side-effect of losing his emotions. In the second season this isn't true at all, since he has many of his emotions restored and has been poisoned by evil.
Catch Phrase: "I don't know" and other noncommittal phrases in the first season — "Love me, and hate everyone else" in the second season.
Character Development: Very blatant when it comes to Mytho. With each additional heart shard, we start to see more and more of Mytho's true personality.
Expy: Mytho might be an expy of Sasame in the anime version of Prétear. They have similar, black-feathered outfits when they turn evil. But Sasame's attitude towards Takako is closer to Rue.
Fan Nickname: "The Pantless Wonder", thanks to his endearing trait of running around in nothing but a long shirt (and I do mean nothing but) when not in his school uniform. The Not Wearing Pants Dream holds no terror for him.
Faux Affably Evil: When his heart is tainted by Raven's blood, he's quite sardonic and demeaning, especially towards Rue.
Feel No Pain: Thanks to his missing heart. This has a tendency to cause problems for him.
First Girl Wins: Rue's already established as his girlfriend in the first episode, and they end up together.
Girl of the Week: Second season — Mytho convinces girl after girl that they're in love with him so that he can use their "pure hearts" as a sacrifice to resurrect the Raven.
Large Ham: Perhaps to make up for spending most of the first season wondering around with a blank expression on his face, Mytho gains a sadistic sense of humor and an overdramatic flair in the second season.
Loves My Alter Ego: Mainly in the first season. Mytho appears to be in love with Princess Tutu, but later tells Ahiru that he considers her a good friend.
Martyr Without a Cause: One of Mytho's major character flaws — partially due to his missing heart, but it's implied he was getting himself in trouble with this even when he had one.
Meaningful Name: As noted above, "Mytho" means "story". Also, Siegfried is the name of the prince from Swan Lake.
Sealed Good in a Can: Mytho may have sealed away the Raven, but he managed to seal his emotions and personality away in the process, too.
Spell My Name with an S: Mytho was known as "Mute" in early fansubs since both the Japanese original and the English dub pronounce it as something close to "Mew-Toh".
Tsurime Eyes: When he's corrupted by Raven's blood in the second season.
That Makes Me Feel Angry: Justified: Mytho will often explain how he's feeling, but it's because he's slowly regaining his emotions and they're rather foreign to him.
Transformation Trauma: The Raven's blood causes Mytho to slowly turn into a crow himself, including molting feathers. It's obvious that it causes him irritation and pain.
Villainous Breakdown: His evil/crow side starts having one as Tutu continues to foil his attempts to steal hearts; he apparently takes great pride in making women fall for him.
What Beautiful Eyes: Ahiru's reaction in the first episode after he saves her from falling when she trips. She ends up being able to stare deep into his eyes.
What Is This Feeling?: Just look at the quote at the beginning of his bio. He does this a lot.
White-Haired Pretty Boy: Subverted, Mytho's got white hair but he's one of the heroes. Double subversion — he becomes evil in the second season because of Kraehe tainting one of his heart shards. Then it becomes a triple subversion when he gets his final heart shard back, causing him to perform a Good Costume Switch back into his princely persona.
Once upon a time, there was a knight that served a Prince. Ever loyal to his liege, he pledged that he would serve the Prince with his life. When the Prince began to fight an evil Raven, he was granted a chance to fulfill his vow—and died when the Raven clawed him in two.After the Prince escaped into Gold Crown Town, the story gave this role to the Knight Reborn—a boy named Fakir. He found the Prince and gave him the name of Mytho, and decided that he would be his Knight like the one in the story. However, he soon found out that protecting Mytho was no easy task when he was constantly rushing into danger to save something. After an accident where Mytho nearly died in order to save a bird, Fakir put his foot down and began to treat Mytho harshly, ordering him around and protecting him from anything that could hurt him—including his own feelings.By the time Ahiru steps into the picture, Fakir has become a bitter, cynical young man that constantly orders Mytho about and treats everyone around him distantly, if not cruelly. He and Ahiru immediately clash—she wants Mytho to regain his lost heart, while he would do anything to stop that from happening. He dreads the reappearance of Tutu into the story, and when she finally reveals herself he treats her as an enemy.However, underneath Fakir's harsh exterior is a boy that genuinely cares about Mytho's wellbeing. He desperately wants to protect Mytho and prove himself as his knight—but he also is afraid that when the story begins to move forward, he will be killed just like the Knight from the story.As the details of his Back Story start to unravel, Ahiru realizes that he's not as bad as he seems and starts to reach out to him. Fakir rejects her at first, distrustful of her, but he eventually relents and reluctantly agrees to be her partner—at least for a little while. That one concession drags him into Ahiru's world (practically kicking and screaming), and he finds himself slowly changing his views on Mytho and Princess Tutu—as well as his own role in the story.
All Girls Want Bad Boys: Probably part of the reason Fakir's one of the most popular guys in school. Pique in particular feels this way about him.
Ambiguously Brown: Many fans believe that Fakir is from the Middle East because of his name and skin tone, but Ikuko Itoh has denied he's Arabic (Although she did concede that he might have some Middle Eastern heritage in his bloodline somewhere).
Anger Born of Worry: Much of the reason behind his treatment of Mytho in the first season. Mostly a non-romantic example, if you ignore the subtext.
Back Story: His is particularly important to the plot, especially in the second season, when his bloodline is revealed.
Baka: Fakir's Catch Phrase. He uses it both harshly and fondly, depending on the situation.
Deadpan Snarker: Particularly once he starts to loosen up in the second season.
Defrosting Ice King: In the beginning he seems cold and cruel, particularly towards Mytho, but once he warms up to Ahiru he starts showing how kind he can really be.
Expy: Fakir is possibly an expy of Hayate from Prétear. Funnily enough, Fakir shares the Japanese and English voice actors of Sasame in the same show, who Mytho seems to be an expy of.
Failure Knight: Fakir feels like he has to protect Mytho no matter what. In the second season, we learn that his parents protected him from an attack of crows as a child, which lead to their deaths, and he feels responsible.
Hair Color Dissonance: While his hair looks black in a lot of shots, it's actually colored green. There's never been clear consensus among fans on what his "real life" color is.
Harmful to Minors: Fakir witnessed the deaths of his parents — which he blames himself for.
Heroic BSOD: After Ahiru dredges up his suppressed memories of his parents' deaths.
Iconic Outfit: A few tears in some of the costumes he's seen in during the series has led to some members of the fandom portraying him as very uncomfortable unless his outfit is torn up in some way.
I Just Write The Thing: Non fictional example. It's explicitly stated that part of his powers is recording what happens in reality, and that if he doesn't do a good enough job then his story will conform to reality rather than reality conforming to his story. In the last episode he attempts to get the ravens to stop attacking Ahiru...and has to write that they didn't stop, which almost forces him to stop writing completely to save her.
Impossibly Cool Clothes: Subverted — Fakir's clothing gets torn up enough that it's become a popular fandom joke to show him tearing clothing, having a tear even when he's wearing a different costume, etc.
Like Brother and Sister: Fakir's relationship with Raetsel. However, Raetsel's so flirty that Ahiru and her friends first think that she's his girlfriend instead.
Loners Are Freaks: Not blatant, but the show definitely thinks he's better off once he starts to be slightly more sociable.
Meaningful Name: Fakir is a word for a sort of Arabian mystic (those guys that walk on coals, for example), which makes him sound mysterious and also hints at his powers.
Mr. Fanservice: *sigh* We could be here all day to tell you how much this guy qualifies.
Orphan's Ordeal: As Fakir's backstory is revealed, it becomes clear that a lot of his flaws and issues stem from his parents' deaths, and how he's (poorly) dealt with it.
Please Put Some Clothes On: A running gag in the show is Fakir being around to see Ahiru transform from a duck into a girl, and then freaking out when she's suddenly standing naked in front of him (to the point where he dives behind a building in one episode).
Quivering Eyes: Fakir has these a couple of times, notably when he starts to remember his parents' deaths. Meant to be disturbing, but tends to be unintentionally humorous.
Red Herring: In early episodes, it's quite easy to think of him as the human incarnation of the Raven. given how his hairstyle looks like black tail feathers and his less than friendly personality. If you look closely however, said hair is green, which is a hint to his true nature.
Secret Keeper: Fakir is the first character (outside of Drosselmeyer and Edel, who knew from the beginning) to find out that Ahiru is Princess Tutu — and then, as an act of trust, she tells him she's really a duck.
Self-Made Orphan: A story he wrote as a child went out of control and caused the deaths of his parents.
Shirtless Scene: Several, mostly to show off Fakir's important birthmark (...but probably also for fanservice).
Trauma Induced Amnesia: Fakir is aware of his parents' deaths, but doesn't give any indication that he remembers how it happened until Ahiru drags up the memories. He also completely forgot about his powers.
Obviously, the school uniform does nothing for a girl's figure.
"The only one I've ever had eyes for is Mytho. Whether or not he has a heart does not change the simple fact that I love him. I will continue to love him. I'm still far from having loved him enough."
Rue is the star ballerina of Gold Crown Academy, and Mytho's girlfriend. Although very beautiful and an amazing dancer, she's proud and cold towards others, rarely thinking about their emotions. However, she does have a good heart, and once Ahiru reaches out to her and tries to become her friend she begins to open up to her—at least until she finds out Ahiru is Princess Tutu.As you can probably tell from the quote above, Mytho the main focus of her world. She's completely, absolutely in love with him, but fears that if the Prince regains his heart, he will no longer be with her and instead fall in love with Princess Tutu. Desperate, she becomes her alterego, Princess Kraehe, and attempts to keep Tutu from returning the pieces of Mytho's lost heart. As Kraehe she's even colder and far crueler than she is normally, but there's hints of her true personality even when transformed.In the second season, Kraehe dips one of Mytho's heart shards into the Raven's blood, tainting Mytho's personality and twisting him from the kindhearted prince she fell in love with. At first she enjoys that Mytho sides with her, but as his personality becomes more and more violent she starts to doubt her choices.
Amusing anecdote: During ADV's commentary track for episode 13, Jessica Boone saw the Rue -> Kraehe transformation and commented, "Rue is stacked."
Abusive Parents: Kraehe's father is the Raven, and he treats her very abusively, telling her that her human body is "hideous" and that only the Prince and himself could ever love her — and even then, not enough to die for her.
Aloof Dark Haired Girl: She's the best in her class and has many admirers, but doesn't seem to have much in the way of real friends.
Clark Kenting: Makes even less sense than with Ahiru and Tutu, particularly since the personality difference between Rue and Kraehe is much more vague.
Damsel in Distress: Near the end of the anime, she's swallowed and held captive by the Raven.
Dark Magical Girl: Kraehe is perhaps one of the best examples out there.
Defrosting Ice Queen: Even before her alter-ego stepped into the picture, Rue genuinely appeared to be warming up to Duck.
Being Mytho/Siegfried's princess, on the other hand...
Expy: Rue's possibly an expy of Fenrir/Takako from Prétear. Possibly the other way around, since Tutu was first thought of long before Pretear came out.
Femme Fatale: Rue has her moments where she uses her sex appeal to her advantage — particularly when trying to lure Mytho in the first season, and when trying to take the hearts of some boys in the second season.
Freudian Excuse: Rue's father emotionally abuses her, and then, when she finds out she was kidnapped as a child and she's not even a crow at all, he tries to kill her.
Good Hair, Evil Hair: Rue's curls should've probably been a clue that something was up with her.
Half-Human Hybrid: Rue's father, the Raven, tells her she's a crow born in a human body. In reality she's actually human, but was raised on his blood, so she's gained dark magical powers from it and may essentially be part crow at this point.
Heel Face Turn: In the end, Rue does a Heroic Sacrifice to save Mytho. After he rescues her, she helps him kill the Raven once and for all.
Heroic Sacrifice: When Mytho is fully under her father's control, Rue offers to have her own heart eaten instead. This breaks the spell on Mytho and allows him to fully become the Prince, just in time to witness the Raven abduct and swallow Rue.
I Shall Taunt You: One of Kraehe's favorite tactics — probably taking after Papa Raven.
Knight of Cerebus: The point where the series starts its Genre Shift can be marked with the introduction of Princess Kraehe.
Luke, I Am Your Father: The Raven is revealed to be Rue's father in the second season. Except not really, her parents were actually normal humans, and she was kidnapped as an infant.
Makeup Is Evil: Kraehe wears purple eyeshadow, in contrast to Tutu who doesn't wear any sort of makeup.
The Ojou: So much so that Rue, at one point, insists that Ahiru calls her "Rue-sama" ("Lady Rue" in the dub). Ahiru persists in just calling her "Rue-chan" (or just "Rue" in the dub), however.
Painful Transformation: Kraehe's transformation scene includes her body being wrapped in thorns as she screams in pain.
Parental Abandonment: Kidnapped as a child by the Raven from her human parents, then emotionally abused by him.
Spell My Name with an S: The original fansubs mistakenly called Princess Kraehe "Princess Claire". In fact, a few fans even believe ADV changed the name, even though it would take away the meaning behind it.
Although in a strange bit of Fridge Brilliance, the name Claire has the triple meaning of clear, bright and famous, which is ironic, given that she's the series Dark Magical Girl.
That Girl Is Dead: In the second season Ahiru insists on continuing to call her Rue, no matter how much she insists her name is Kraehe.
Tsurime Eyes: Always there but especially prominent when she turns into Kraehe.
Wrong Genre Savvy: Oh Rue...did you really think that any story controlled by Drosselmeyer would have anyone end up happy?
Herr D. D. Drosselmeyer
What prolonged exposure to TV Tropes can do to a person.
"Now, tell me the best story that was ever told! Tell it to me with no regard for your lives!"
Voiced by: Noboru Mitani (JP), Marty Fleck (EN)
Years before the opening of the series, Drosselmeyer was a writer that was working on his masterpiece, "The Prince and the Raven". However, before he could complete his story, he died, leaving his story unfinished and the two title characters trapped in an endless battle. Eventually, the characters were able to leave the story — and it turned out that Drosselmeyer, while dead, could somehow control the story even from the grave...In the series, Drosselmeyer takes a mostly passive role (or at least seems to be), commenting on the action and giving Ahiru (and occasionally other characters) little pushes in the directions he'd like to see the story go. At first, he appears to be mostly on Ahiru's side, trying to encourage her to continue in her task to recover Mytho's lost heart, even when things become difficult for her. But he has a sadistic streak that's obvious from the start, and it soon becomes clear that the sort of story Drosselmeyer finds entertaining likely won't be as happy as the characters might want.Thanks to being a writer and storyteller in the series, Drosselmeyer is often very Genre Savvy, particularly when it comes to fairytales. He takes great delight in telling the other characters what they should be doing per their "roles" in the story, and will sometimes even scold the characters for subverting their roles and trying to do something beyond what's expected for them. However, even when things seem to be going against what he'd wanted, after a brief moment of frustration he chippers back up as long as the twist is at least entertaining.This is, perhaps, the part of Drosselmeyer that is most chilling: Although his "characters" are real people trapped in a story, he's fine with anything happening to them — as long as the story is entertaining. While this is a perfectly reasonable reaction towards fictional characters (as tropers that love The Woobie will often admit), the sociopathic personality needed to treat real people this way can be quite frightening, indeed.Named after the character from The Nutcracker, and visually and musically borrows several of his motifs — although the Drosselmeyer from the ballet was more benevolent.
Beware the Silly Ones: He gets some of the funniest moments in the series, all of which are jokes at his expense, but don't let that give the wrong idea about him, he's far from harmless.
Blood Magic: He could still use his powers even after his hands were cut off, by writing with the blood oozing from the stumps where they used to be.
Catch Phrase: Drossy closes every episode preview with "All children that love stories come, gather 'round..."
Creator Breakdown: Part of his Back Story. Drosselmeyer was a profitable writer until the townspeople began to fear his ability to warp reality with his writing. They chopped off his hands to prevent him from writing anymore, but with his dying breath and blood from the stumps on his arms he wrote the last bit of the story that allowed him to continue writing it even after his death. It goes a long way to explain Drosselmeyer's insanity and taste in plotlines.
Determinator: He kept writing after his hands were chopped off, just to keep fooling around with his stories even after death.
Eccentric Mentor: Subverted. Drosselmeyer is kooky, but he's the one who gives Ahiru her powers and guides her along the way... But he really wants the characters to be trapped in an endless cycle of death, rebirth and tragedy.
Evil Laugh: In every episode preview he has a low evil chuckle, and he seems to have a evil laugh pretty much Once an Episode.
For the Evulz: Even though he does have a few things in his backstory that give him a motive for what he does...he mainly seems to be into it because he seems to think tragedy and pain makes for a fascinating story.
Graceful Loser: Whenever his plans are disrupted, he expresses anger/confusion, then interest in the new direction of the story. When he loses, he basically shrugs it off, and goes with Uzura to find a new story.
God Is Evil: Or the writer is, but when you're a character in a story he might as well be God.
Large Ham: Drosselmeyer can be completely over-the-top when commenting on the action in the story, particularly in the dub, where he was given a booming aristocratic voice completed with rolled R's. Which just makes his commentary more entertaining.
Leaning on the Fourth Wall: When all his plans are ruined at the end and the characters get their happy ending, Drosselmeyer wonders how they overcame his script as author. Then he wonders if he himself might be a character in someone else's story.
A relatively minor but important character in the second season, Autor is the main source of information for Fakir and Ahiru. Before he's properly introduced, Autor has several cameos showing him shushing people at the library and hovering in the background watching Fakir. Once he enters the story, he proclaims himself to be the expert when it comes to Drosselmeyer and his powers. Autor is in fact a fanboy of Drosselmeyer and finds the very idea that he's still around pulling the strings "thrilling". That, combined with his massive ego and Training from Hell that he puts Fakir through, causes him to be a very unsympathetic character at first.As the series nears its end, however, he's given some minor attempts at Character Development that make him more than just an overenthusiastic Info Dump vehicle. Firstly, it soon becomes obvious that his egotistical attitude is covering up for a massive inferiority complex, and when Fakir turns out to be extremely gifted in the Story Spinning powers while he himself might not even have them, he starts to fluster about for what his true purpose in life is. Also, he's given a brief scene where he confesses love for Rue - which actually sets her down the path towards discovering her origins and defying her father. In the end, he's an interesting enough character that he's gained a small but dedicated following in the fandom.
Tropes associated with Autor:
Attention Whore: Possibly; although he's shown as a loner, he tends to go to great lengths to play an active role in the story and get the attention of the other characters.
Break the Haughty: Autor's pride gets absolutely thrashed in the course of the story.
Chekhov's Gunman: Although his official introduction isn't until Akt 21, he has a cameo in every episode from 15 to 20, ranging from blantant foreshadowing to blink-and-you'll-miss-it moments of him hanging around in the background.
Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: When his delusions of his greatness start to unravel, Autor throws a tantrum that culimates in him storming down a street muttering to himself "Then what was I put on this world for?"
Know-Nothing Know-It-All: Autor's portrayed at first as having little useful information about Drosselmeyer. Eventually it's subverted — he is helpful, although probably not as much as he would've liked.
Male Gaze: In one scene, Autor is following behind Rue, and the camera focuses on Rue's back and slowly pans down to examine her rear end and legs. The camera then switches to show Autor looking downwards and blushing, implying that the view we were seeing was from Autor's point of view.
Meaningful Name: "Autor" is German (and coincidentally Spanish) for "author".
Megane: Occasionally something of a male meganekko, but not always.
Mr. Exposition: Really, when it comes right down to it, this is Autor's main purpose for being in the show.
Nightmare Fetishist: Somewhat debatable, but considering his manic approval of Drosselmeyer and the gleeful manner he handles Drosselmeyer's powers, it's likely he falls under this trope.
Only Sane Man: Believe it or not, Autor may qualify — he's the only character outside of the main cast that seems to realize that Gold Crown Town is being controlled by one of Drosselmeyer's stories.
Scary Shiny Glasses: We don't even see Autor's eyes until he talks to Fakir in akt 21.
Unstoppable Rage: The final episode, again. Fakir gets attacked by the leader of the Book Men, and Autor fends off his attacker using only a book and his bare hands. Did I mention the other guy has an axe? Yeah.
You Gotta Have Blue Hair: It's either blue or purple, depending on who you ask, but it still counts as stylized black.
Secondary Characters
Princess Tutu has a number of supporting characters, since the format of the show requires that most episodes have a Victim of the Week. A few of the characters you should know about:
Edel: A mysterious woman with an organ grinder. She speaks cryptically and poetically, working as a listening ear for Ahiru whenever she might need it. Secretly, she's a puppet controlled by Drosselmeyer to push her in the right direction.
Femio is a character that only shows up for one episode as a victim for Kraehe, but if you've seen the series, you'll remember him. With curly purple locks and a fondness for French (despite having distinctly Spanish accoutrements), he runs around Gold Crown Academy passing out roses to girls and claiming to be "a prince that loves everyone... and is also loved by everyone" (copying from the Prince in The Prince and the Raven). He's such an over-the-top parody of bishounen that he became a wildly popular character among fans, showing up in fanart as much as characters with far more screentime than him. Despite his foppish personality, he was the only (non main) character able to break the Raven's spell all on his own. For comparison, he's just like Tamaki, only more foppish. Hilariously, both over-the-top parodies of bishounen boys are voiced by Vic Mignogna.
Neko-sensei/Mr. Cat is the ballet teacher at Gold Crown Academy. He's obsessed with marriage and constantly threatens the girls with it when they mess up, but otherwise he's a competent teacher. Oh, he's also an anthropomorphic cat.
Pique and Lilie are Ahiru's two friends from class. They function mostly as comic relief, gossiping about the characters in the show and getting into crazy antics with Ahiru. Pique is tomboyish but supportive of Ahiru, while Lilie is girly and seems to take sadistic pleasure in Ahiru's failures so she can "comfort" her.
The Raven: The villain from "The Prince and the Raven", and the series other main villain apart from Drosselmeyer. His real name is never given, if he even has one, and while called a raven he's more like a Godzilla-sized demon. In the story, he enjoyed toying with the hearts of the people that loved Mytho, tainting them with his evil before devouring them, and eventually set his eyes on the prince's heart. Mytho fought the Raven, but could only stop him by sealing the beast away and shattering his own heart. In the 2nd season, Rue covers a shard of Mytho's heart in the raven's blood, turning more and more evil. The raven's goal is to have a heart sacrificed to him so that he may escape from the seal.
Uzura: A young girl puppet made by Charon, Fakir's foster father, from the burnt remains of Edel. Curious and emotional, she's fascinated by Ahiru's ability to transform from a duck to a human, and causes several awkward moments between Ahiru and Fakir. Has a Verbal Tic where she says "-zura" at the end of her sentences.
Tropes associated with secondary characters (or several groups of characters):
Kitty Ears Lawyer: Mr. Cat, for all his comic relief, is a genuinely accomplished teacher who is actually capable of dispensing valuable advice to Duck.
Uzura: Either "Lovey-dovey-zura!" or "Love-love-zura!", depending on the translator. She also loves to say "Hoooooo~!" It's more of a Catch Expression, really.
Femio: "Oh, heaven! Please pour judgement upon... THIS SINNER!"
Mr. Cat: "You have to [insert command here], or I WILL HAVE YOU MARRY MEEEEE!"
Cat Girl: Or, rather, a cat-man — Professor Cat. Even if he's more of an anthro cat than a man with cat features.
Clingy Jealous Girl: Anteaterina, in Akt 2. Subverted in that she was never really interested in Mytho and only tried to take him as an act of revenge on Rue, who she believes snubbed her.
Diabolus Ex Nihilo: The Raven, in universe, there's no explanation as to where it came from, which is probably intentional since fairy tales usually didn't explain where the supernatural creatures came from.
Dirty Old Man: Mr. Cat is a minor example - he's not so much "dirty" as just obsessed with marriage.
Giant Space Flea from Nowhere: For the first season, the series seems to indicate that Rue is the raven from the story, but at the start of the 2nd season, the real one more or less shows up out of nowhere and she's revealed to be his daughter which turns out to be a lie.
In the English dub, we have Vic Mignogna as Femio. Yes, same guy who provided the dubbed voice for Tamaki Suoh. And Anteaterina is none other than Asuka.
Hot for Student: Professor Cat, although his focus is marriage, and every time he gets a girl that actually likes him...he runs. Because the girls who like him are typically Abhorrent Admirers — the first example is "Miss Goatette" in season 1, who is basically a female goat in a tutu and acts even less anthromorphic then Mr. Cat or Anteaterina or, well, any of the other Talking Animal characters.
The Matchmaker: Pique and Lilie. Pique because she genuinely wants to see Ahiru happy... Lilie because she thinks Fakir's dark, mysterious image will clash well with Ahiru and cause lots of drama.
Something about a Rose: Femio has a thing for roses and even has a servant to scatter rose petals all around him.
Small Name, Big Ego: Femio really overestimates his Bishōnen cred. While Kraehe does go after him, it's really more of picking on an easy target to impress her dad.
Spanner in the Works: Uzura singlehandedly derails Drosselmeyer's schemes at points.
Throw The Cat A Fish: The epilogue of the final episode reveals that Mr. Cat (who is now just a normal cat) has finally found himself a mate, and they have kittens.
Verbal Tic: Uzura ends all of her sentences with "-zura".
Fakir's green hair and Autor's blue/purple hair might be both stylized black, but what about Pique's bright magenta hair and Akt 9's green-haired supporting character Malen??
On the other hand, Femio's hair is a slightly dark shade of purple, but not dark enough to count as stylized black.
In contrast to Duck is her Magical Girl form, the titular Princess Tutu. In "The Prince and the Raven" (a fictional fairytale from the world of the show), Tutu was a minor character that confessed her love to the Prince—which, because of a curse, caused her to turn into a speck of light and vanish. Still in love with Mytho, her quest is to gather the pieces of his missing heart and return them to him. Hidden in the hearts of the residents of Gold Crown Town, Tutu can retrieve Mytho's heart shards by dancing with them and helping them to realize their true feelings. However, Tutu's curse still haunts her, so as much as she encourages others to be true to their hearts, she's unable to speak her own true feelings aloud.In Duck's eyes, Princess Tutu is everything she is not. She's poised, graceful, an elegant and skilled dancer, and all-around nearly perfect. Duck often struggles with comparing herself to her alter-ego, unsure if Tutu is really her, or simply the character from the story somehow working through her. Also, while restoring Mytho's heart means he can feel joy and love, it also means he can feel sadness and pain, which causes Duck to doubt if her actions are truly helping him. Because of this, she actually has quite a bit of angst throughout the show—but she pushes forward, hoping that in the end she'll be able to see Mytho smile.In Japanese, "Ahiru" literally translates to "Duck"—so in ADV Films' English dub, she is named "Duck" (the series' translator spends a lot of time during one DVD Commentary informing people—presumably those who had already seen the fansub—that "Ahiru" is not a proper name in Japanese). One of the few ways to cause a fight in the Tutu fandom is to insist that you have to use one name or the other when referring to her—inevitably fans that prefer the other name will object (luckily, most fans have learned to use both interchangeably*).
