| “ | ...She'll break if we don't do anything. | ” |
—Retrace LXXXIX: Staccato Drop | ||
Duldum (ドルダム, Dorudamu) is a character from Jun Mochizuki's Pandora Hearts. Technically Duldum is a Chain, however it is more correct to describe Duldum as an extension of a Chain's power. Duldee is the Chain Contracted to Noise of the Baskerville Clan. Her power allows Noise to control the body of whomever she targets, creating within them a puppet personality that she can freely manipulate however she wishes. This puppet personality is called Duldum, and a new one is created for every different person Noise controls. Upon fulfilling its purpose, each individual Duldum fades into nothing, entirely disposable as the next.
Noise uses Duldee's power to create a Duldum within Gilbert Nightray and makes him attack Oz Vessalius during the latter's Coming-of-Age Ceremony, which leads to Oz being cast into the Abyss. All of this in service of fueling Noise's personal grudge against Gilbert.
This article contains plot and/or ending details for Pandora Hearts.
Read at your own risk.
Over a century prior to Oz's Coming-of-Age Ceremony, a Baskerville girl formed a Contract with the Chain known as Duldee. This Contract was greatly traumatic for the girl, fracturing her mind and causing her to lose all memories of her past and identity prior to the Contract. Upon realizing her Contractor would not have the mental capacity to survive in her own body, Duldee created a second personality—a Duldum inside her, which the girl would come to call Echo. However, the Baskervilles would shun her for this, imprisoning her after discovering she was not the only mind in control of her body. The only companionship she had was with Vincent, also considered an anomaly among the Baskervilles for being a Child of Ill Omen, who had given her the name "Noise."
Noise and Vincent's connection would remain strong for the rest of their lives, even as the Tragedy of Sablier occurred and dragged the former capital city into the Abyss. Almost a century later, Noise successfully escapes and reunites not only with Vincent but her fellow Baskervilles. However her mental state begins to deteriorate at a rapid pace, Noise becoming more and more deranged as she loses more and more of herself. In turn, Echo took within herself those pieces of Noise's discarded self to keep protecting her heart. To stay by Vincent's side at all times, Noise ordered Echo to be his servant and allowed Vincent to abuse her other personality as he wished. All the while Noise's own mind would collapse in on itself so severely that even Duldee's hope to protect her Contractor began to fade.
The Echoes[]
The Echoes are a specialized version of Duldum that Duldee had created within her own Contractor in an attempt to both preserve Noise's heart and indirectly control Noise. The name "Echo" was given to these Duldum by Noise herself, as she viewed them as reverberations of her original self, essentially making them the "echoes of Noise". In the beginning, each incarnation of Echo acts as an empty and impressionable doll that's only focus is to follow orders. As such, The Echoes continuously attempted to put Noise's subconscious mind to sleep in order to save her from the powers of the Abyss that she was unable to control.
Unfortunately, at the same time, Noise's heart began to crack and break apart, resulting in lost fragments of the true Noise. This made The Echoes very sad, and so they would collect the broken fragments of Noise's heart and stored them within themselves until the day that Noise could one day reclaim them. Surprisingly, this remolded The Echoes' personalities, so while they still remained vacant and impressionable, they did not act as mirrors to Duldee's personality; as the first incarnations of Echo had. Without these pieces of her heart, Noise would fill the void within herself, losing her true nature in favor of imitations of the only other individuals she came into contact with: Duldee and Vincent. Sadly, as The Echoes are nothing more than disposable personalities, when they exist for too long the flow of power eventually fades, and Duldee casts them into a "disposal zone" to die in order to create another Echo in her predecessors' place.
The most recent incarnation of The Echoes was Echo, who was created 6 years prior to Oz's Coming of Age Ceremony. Due to the pieces of Noise's heart she possessed, Echo acted as the same impressionable doll that her predecessors had, only she was far more susceptible to change. When Echo encountered Oz and was treated as an actual person rather than a mere cog in the greater scheme, she grew to develop her own sense of self. This resulted in Echo's defiance of Vincent on some occasions, as well as her creator, Duldee, when the two fought over possession of Noise's heart. Though Echo had reached what was thought to be the end of her journey, she persevered and managed to rise up to take Duldee down and finally fulfill the mission of The Echoes by restoring Noise's heart.
Appearance[]
Duldum in Gilbert's body.
As Duldum is a split personality of an already existence consciousness, Duldum appears identical to the individual its possessing. The only noticeable difference from the individual Duldum possesses is a sharp, wicked grin and a pair of crazed eyes to complete her psychotic visage (an example is available at the picture in the right side). However these appear to be traits only belonging to young incarnations of Duldum who lack wills of their own, as these traits have faded in The Echoes.
Personality[]
An insane Duldum with Oz's blood.
To begin with, Duldum's personality mirrors Duldee; acting psychotic, carefree and malicious. Duldee is truly a malicious and bloodthirsty sadist, which each incarnation shows through its love to inflict pain on Duldee's targets. Being present in Duldee's targets' minds means that the pain Duldum enjoys dealing out isn't necessarily restricted to physical pain, but often emotional pain as well. Often times when battling someone, Duldum will look into the memories of Duldee's target, and use their various thoughts and feelings from their past to taunt whomever Duldee and Duldum are being used to fight.
As Duldee's puppet, Duldum is meant to follow every order Duldee presents her with; however that isn't always necessarily the case. On one specific occasion, Duldum disobeyed Duldee's orders and nearly killed Oz Vessalius during his Coming-of-Age Ceremony when he smelled Oz's blood and wanted to see more of it; showing that Duldum is loyal to Duldee, but can waver in favor of its own intent. However, this may be an effect of time, as the longer an incarnation of Duldum spends within a person's subconscious the more it develops a will of it's own; allowing it to stray from Duldee's intent and pursue its own interests like The Echo.
History[]
Coming Soon!
Plot[]
Coming Soon!
Powers and Abilities[]
Duldum in Gil's body during Oz's Coming of Age Ceremony.
- Possession: Incarnations of Duldum are placed by Duldee within the subconscious mind of her targets in order to allow Duldee complete control over her targets. While Duldee can bind a target with her strings and control them physically, she's unable to control a person's mind and soul, which is why Duldum must be used. Unfortunately, Duldum's control is not absolute, as some individuals can escape Duldum's control or are unaffected by her powers altogether. Additionally, incarnations of Duldum can rebel against Duldee's initial intent should they develop their own sense of will.
Gallery[]
Appearances[]
- Retrace I: Innocent Calm (First Appearance)
- Retrace II: Tempest of Conviction
- Retrace VI: Where am I?
- Retrace VII: Reunion
- Retrace XXXIV: Noise of Echo*
- Retrace LXXXIX: Staccato Drop*
- Retrace XCII: A Story
- Retrace XCVII: I am
(*) - Denotes that the character did not appear physically, but as a part of another character's memories.
Trivia[]
- Only two individuals are known to be able to resist Duldum (Vincent Nightray and Leo) though only one person has ever been known to be able to resist Duldee as well.