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The Belles
The Belles
The Belles
The only people in all of New Orleans who are naturally beautiful, blessed with the ability to make anyone beautiful with magic. Always female and are raised in inclusion until their sixteenth birthday, whereupon their talents are shown to the people and they're assigned various positions throughout the Kingdom to perform beauty work for those with the money to afford it. One Belle will always be chosen as Favorite, to live in luxury at the palace and exclusively serve the Royal family and other nobles deemed worthy of such treatment and another will always be sent back home to help raise the new generation of Belles.
It's hinted that past generations had large number of Belles, but the current one only has six.
- Beauty Equals Goodness: Each Belle is very beautiful and they're some of the nicest people you'll ever meet. Asides from Amber who is the former but certainly not the latter.
- Break the Cutie: The Belles tend to be fairly sweet natured girls at heart and they all go through some awful things once they enter the 'real world'.
- Deceased Parents Are the Best: They were all very fond of their mamans and miss them terribly after their deaths.
- Disappeared Dad: None of the Belles have fathers; Camille mentions that she was told their 'Mamans' were all they needed.
- Family Eye Resemblance: Camellia, her sisters, and all the other Belles, have amber brown eyes.
- Fish out of Water: Being raised in almost complete isolation until their sixteenth birthday leads to the Belles being very sheltered about the outside world.
- Floral Theme Naming: Every single Belle is named after a flowering plant, though other generations of Belles are known to be named after other types of plant, such as Ivy.
- Green Thumb: Belles can manipulate plants as part of their magic if they wish, mainly as a party trick. As Camille later realizes, it's very effective in combat.
- Meaningful Name:
- They are all named for various plants and flowers which is especially fitting as they're grown rather than born.
- Their surname, Beauregarde, means "pretty looks" in French. Fitting as all of the Belles are naturally very beautiful.
- Rapid Aging: Belles almost reach full maturity at around two years old and their mothers were known to age faster than other women their age. Camille herself is to said to be looking unnoticeably older in The Beauty Trials.
- Vague Age: Officially sixteen years old but it's revealed that Bells grow more rapidly than your average person. Given how quickly the Belle babies are growing, our Belles could be as young as just a couple of years old.
Camillia 'Camille' Beauregarde
Camillia 'Camille' Beauregarde
The protagonist of The Belles and The Everlasting Rose. Camillia is exceptionally talented, even amongst the Belles, and longs to be chosen as 'Favorite' by the Queen, just as her maman was before.
- Animal Motifs: Is called 'little fox' by her sisters and maman.
- Innocently Insensitive: Camillia forgets that she's privileged to always be beautiful no matter what, so saying that the clearly uglier looking Gris are 'fine how they are' is incredibly insensitive.
- Meaningful Name: According to the Secret Language of Flowers, camellias represent passion, perfection, and refinement, all of which describe protagonist Camellia to a tee.
- Misery Builds Character: Poor Camille goes through a lot but she ends up stronger at the end of it.
- Momma's Girl: Was incredibly close to her Maman while growing up and still struggles in the wake of her death.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Camille is horrified on learning that she and Amber ended up killing Claudine after Sophia demanded they keep changing her look.
- Official Couple: With Remy after they've spent weeks on the run posing as a married couple.
- Pink Is Feminine: Prior to her sixteenth birthday, Camellia was dressed in deep pink being told that it brought out the honey undertones in her complexion.
- Tsundere: Acts this way towards Remy to start with but tones it down once she gets to know him.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Is this with Amber; they often clash with one another but are also quick to make up.
Ambrosia 'Amber' Beauregarde
Ambrosia 'Amber' Beauregarde
One of the more uptight and studious Belles, who forever laments she doesn't have the natural talent Camille has. Amber is chosen to be the Favorite as she willingly follows the rules.
- Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Betrays Camille to help Sophia, is then seemingly back on the Belles side after Sophia has her arrested, but then turns out to just be spying for Sophia all along.
- Easily Forgiven: By Camille after betraying her to Sophia. Luckily Edel isn't so quick to forgive, and with good reason too.
- Fiery Redhead: Has both a quick temper and beautiful red hair.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: The other Belles are still very sweet to Amber but it's clear that she's the least popular amongst the sisters; Edel outright dislikes her, Camillia's feelings fluctuate towards her and the others openly admit that they think Camillia should have been favourite instead of her.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Almost always called Amber rather than Ambrosia.
- Teacher's Pet: To Du Barry; Amber always made sure to get the highest marks and stay out of trouble, which ended up isolating her a little from the other Belles.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: Amber used to be awkward and high-strung at most but rapidly became worse after inexplicably siding with Sophia, even after she was badly mistreated by her. She doesn't show any signs that she regrets her decision until her brutal death at Sophia's hands.
- Too Dumb to Live: After being horribly mistreated by Sophia and knowing that she can't be trusted, inexplicably stays on her side. Which eventually does kill her.
Edelweiss 'Edel' Beauregarde
Edelweiss 'Edel' Beauregarde
A rebellious and argumentative Belle who fights against the role she's been given all from the circumstances of her birth. The protagonist of The Beauty Trials.
- Deadpan Snarker: Thinks little of her expected role in life and how the world depends on beauty and isn't afraid to show it through snark.
- Hidden Depths: Comes across as thoughtless and rude to start with but is actually quite intelligent and compassionate to those who need help.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: The rudest of the Belles but is genuinely good and kind beneath her tough exterior.
- Meaningful Name: Edelweiss flowers often represent rebellion and notoriety. Edel quickly earns notoriety for her rebellious streak and later runs away from her station.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Only ever called Edel, rarely is her full name used.
- Properly Paranoid:
- Refuses to trust Amber after she betrays Camille to try and win Sophia's favour and it turns out she was more than right to do so.
- Averted when she later thinks that Quentin has betrayed her, but it turns out she really wasn't listening when he said he opposed what his family was doing. However given her prior experience with Amber and Camille's with Augustus, it isn't surprising she's wary.
- Rebellious Spirit: Edel is the only Belle who does not care about her reputation, and on her big debut night she completely goes off script and shaves the word "dung" into her child's hair for good measure. She ends up running away from her house entirely, only to show up again in another country to help Camellia and Amber flee.
- Street Smart: More so than her sheltered sisters, Edel learns the most about the true nature of the world and is able to handle it much more easily than they are.
- Took a Level in Kindness: Becomes nicer once she discovers more about herself outside of being a Belle, taking Camille's advice to try and be kind to heart.
Valeria 'Valerie' Beauregarde
Valeria 'Valerie' Beauregarde
A sweet and caring Belle who has a natural affinity for looking after children.
- Anyone Can Die: Dies after Sophia has her blood constantly drained to create the false Belles.
- Nice Girl: Valeria is very sweet-natured.
- Parental Substitute: Becomes this for the new generation of Belles that she helps raise back home.
- Prone to Tears: Edel notes that while all her sisters would cry to see the current state of their home, Valeria would cry the most.
- Put on a Bus: The only Belle to get sent back to their home to help raise a future generation of Belles.
- Weight Woe: Valeria is larger than her sisters and often laments the fact that she's not allowed to change her shape.
Padma Beauregarde
Padma Beauregarde
The peacekeeper amongst the Belles, often the voice of reason when the others are arguing with one another.
- Innocent Flower Girl: Loves collecting flowers and as a Belle, is quite naturally more innocent than most other girls her age.
- Meaningful Name: Padma is the Sanskrit term for a lotus flower and Padma herself is described as having Indian features as well as the style of dress she's usually in.
- Only Sane Man: The most level-headed of the Belles and often the one to settle disputes between them.
- Virtuous Vegetarianism: A very mild example in that Camille fondly notes that Padma would be horrified to be served steak cut up into the shapes of stars.
Hana Beauregarde
Hana Beauregarde
A cheerful and upbeat Belle who, unlike the others, is just a little curious about boys and the lives that regular girls their age get to lead.
- Long Hair Is Feminine: Has black hair that falls to her waist.
- Meaningful Name: Hana is described as having typically Asian features, and happens to be named after the Japanese word for blossom or flower. Additionally, 'hana' means bliss or happiness in Arabic and Hana is the sweetest-natured and most cheerful member of the Belles.
- Nice Girl: Genuinely a very sweet and kind-hearted person.
- Not a Morning Person: It's stated that Hana is always the last one out of her room in the mornings and often complains that breakfast isn't to her liking as it's grown cold and not having her first choice of fruit. Camilla later states that she's going to miss her 'morning grumpiness'.
- Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: Has pale skin and long dark hair.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Likes 'anything and everything with eggs'.
