The Fantastical Bestiary is a satirical webcomic by Mike Rosen, following the life of Wilhelm von Bloodclot, a young gadabout living in the hustle and bustle of Regency era London. It originally debuted in 2001 and was published seven days a week until 2003, at which point it went on a long hiatus. It returned in 2004, completely revamped, and now publishes on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Plots generally involve seances, mysticism, class warfare, revolutionary politics, bread riots, cholera epidemics, and other facts of life in the late 1700s.
| Name | Role | And they are a..? | Personality
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| Wilhelm von Bloodclot | The Main Character | Effeminite German revolutionary poet | Wilhelm is the president of the Society to Understand the Path to the Inner Dimensions (S.T.U.P.I.D.), a revolutionary society dedicated to the violent overthrow of the dominant hierarchical...hegemonic...structural...uh...thing...dedicated to the violent overthrow of THE MAN. How do they do this? By writing lots and lots of mind-blowing, anti-establishment poetry. Also, sculpture. The Society has somewhat of a spiritual slant, as well, and its members have been known to dabble in the occult. Wilhelm is a fiery-tempered counter-culture artist sort who likes to protest stuff. It doesn't really matter what. Wilhelm's parents are Heinrich Anselmus von Bloodclot, a surgeon, and Gisela von Bloodclot, presumably a housewife. He's also a firm admirer of King Rudolph. He owns an extensive collection of ribald woodcuts depicting prominent parlimentarians urinating on one another. Oh, and some erotic taxidermy.
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| Bukkake "Hesper" Makimura | Obligatory Sarcastic Female | Mysterious Servant from the Mysterious Orient | Her real name is Bukkake (She was named after the method in which she was conceived; her parents had sex in a big vat of soup) but everyone pronounces it Hesper. Who knows why? Hesper and her sister Tiffany originally hail from the far and mysterious orient, but were accidentally transported to England in a wicker basket by Madam P's late husband Winston when he was returning home after his service in the Queen's navy. Since then, they have earned their keep as washerwomen and general maid servants in Madam P's "The Righteous Man Resisteth Temptation" Good Christian Boarding House.
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| Sashimi "Tiffany" Makimura | Perky Ingenue | Another Mysterious Servant from the Orient | Her real name is Sashimi, but she calls herself Tiffany because it's got a nice, classy ring to it. Like the lamp. Like Hesper, Tiffany traveled to England passed out at the bottom of a wicker basket. Weirdly naive about some things and strangely precocious about others, Tiffany is kind of a ditz but she's got a happy, hyper personality that just wins people over.
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| Nestor | Man in the State of Nature | Feral Child imported from France | Originally discovered living off pinecones in the forests around St. LeGueme, France, this feral child was presumed to have been raised by wolves. The National Academy of Science transported him to London for closer observation, but soon got bored with him and so dropped him off at a local madhouse. From there, he was adopted by Wilhelm, who undertook to civilize and educate the boy in order to prove...well, something. Nestormolester has a known vocabulary of two words: "Glarg" and "Boobs."
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| King Rudolph the Pirate Monkey | Gentleman and Scholar | English Aristocrat turned Privateer | King Rudolph used to be a favorite of King George III and a frequent guest in his court until, angered by the constant bigotry against and oppression of monkeys that he saw around himself everyday, he took to the seas to fight for monkey rights as a fearsome pirate. King Rudolph studied at Oxford (That's where he learned to talk) and now turns his education against the very society he once adored! Ironic, isn't it? King Rudolph is the captain of the good ship "Crimson Whore," and his crew currently includes some of the scurviest sea dogs to ever sail the seven seas. Recently, the crown placed a huge bounty on Rudolph's head, forcing him to lay low and stay in port. He and his crew are currently hiding out at Madam P's boarding house, disguised as nuns. Because, hey, whatever works.
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| Ilemauzer | Familiar Spirit | Demon from the depths of Hell | Ilemauzer is a lesser imp working behind the scenes in Hell's Kitchen to keep the armies of darkness fed. She tends to have bad luck in dealing with people. Ilemauzer used to be a witch's familiar, as seen in Witchprickers, before she took her current job.
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| Kitty Scratch | Provides fodder for fat jokes | Spoiled and Incompetent Ultimate Evil | Fat, lazy, and slobbish, Kitty Scratch is the current head honcho of the Nether Regions, but she'd rather just stuff her gullet. Widely known to be a puppet of the pitchfork industry, Kitty is incapable of independent thought, instead relying on The Silent Partner to make all the real decisions. Kitty's grandfather was Old Scratch, THE Old Scratch himself. Kitty took over when Old Scratch met his...untimely end at the conclusion of Witchprickers, but she's not really into the job.
Trivia
DID YOU KNOW?
The strip takes place in the late 1700s to early 1800s, under the rule of King George III. This is true to life. The Prince Regent, George IV, also appears in the comic. He was real, too. George IV is a fat, drunken lecher in the comic. This is also true to life. Lord Admiral Horatio Nelson also appears. Everything else in the strip is complete hogwash.
Canon
The strip takes place in the same universe as Witchprickers, another comic by the same cartoonist, except that The Fantastical Bestiary takes place in Regency London (1790s/1800s) and Witchprickers takes place in medieval Germany (1500s). Witchprickers is about Ilemauzer, a minor character who also appears in The Fantastical Bestiary.
Links
The Fantastical Bestiary
Witchprickers
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