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—Description of Mr. Holbrooke from Witchpedia[4] | ||
Mr. Holbrook (ホルブルック氏 Horuburukku-shi) is a character in Little Witch Academia. He is a deceased human soldier and principal Holbrooke's father. Akko revived him through a freak accident where she unintentionally exposed his grave with a mix of her Magic Mending Powder and Grave Mushroom Sucy just find in her attempt to fix his headstone.
Appearance
Upon being revived, Mr. Holbrooke is a living skeleton whose only remnant is his mustache and bushy eyebrows. He wears an old military uniform composed of a red coat, long brown boots, a black belt where he carries his sword, and a large, stylized tricorn hat resembling those of pirate captains (minus the skull and crossed bones) instead of a generic one.
When he was alive he was a handsome man with blond hair, brown eyes, and a green moss suit.
Personality
He is someone very emotional and eccentric. He always expresses his feelings with exaggerated outbursts that end up causing problems. He is very impatient and loud, always running and screaming everywhere. Still, despite his eccentricities, he is a caring and kind soul. Despite being a normal man, he was extremely proud of his daughter being a witch after swearing an oath to his late witch wife to ensure their child had a chance to follow in her mother's footsteps.
Plot
Background
Mr. Holbrooke was a mundane soldier who, during the Golden Age of Magic fell in love with a witch of the Holbrooke clan. It's implied that their families questioned their union at best since the two resorted to elope together. Regardless, both had a daughter, Miranda, after which his wife died shortly. After this, he promised his wife's clan that he would make Miranda a great witch. During the following years, he took care of his daughter, frequently playing in the town's bell tower. One day, Miranda received a letter from Luna Nova Academy to become a student. Before she left, he fashioned a magic staff out of the bell-ringer of the town's bell tower. Unfortunately, Mr. Holbrook died shortly after this, presumably from one of conflicts during such era.
TV Series
Blytonbury's Undead Travelogue
in the present day, Mr. Holbrooke was accidentally resurrected by Akko due to the contact between a Grave Mushroom Sucy just found when they unknowingly stumbled upon his grave and a portion of the Japanese witch's Mending Magic Powder. The resulting mixture brings Mr. Holbrooke back to life as revenant version of himself albeit without his memories — all he remembered that he sought revenge against the one who hurt people he cared about in life. With that goal in mind, he runs off to the town, much to the three friends' panic.
Over the course of his undeath quest for vengeance, Mr. Holbrooke causes a ruckus at wherever he goes, forcing Akko, Lotte, and Sucy to take turns in improvising so as to avoid suspicion on the resurrected eccentric soldier. Mr. Holbrooke eventually composes himself a bit after saving Akko from an incoming truck yet still hellbent on his quest where it leads them to a house at Caliban Road only to be dismayed by jt had since replaced by a large building. To his delight, a nearby pedestrian suggested them to go to Last Wednesday Society who revealed to keep items from aforementioned house prior to being demolished.
At Wednesday Society, Mr Holbrooke finally finds what he sought: A Golden Magic Age painting of a smiling soldier alongside his wife and baby daughter Miranda; and a Luna Nova acceptance letter. He explains to red team how the soldier and his wife opted to elope only for their lives took a tragic turn; the latter died in childbirth forcing the former to raise their only daughter by himself in her memory all while ensured her to grow into a great witch. It takes the sound of the town's bell tower for Mr. Holbrooke to gain more leads in his undeath quest; rushing towards the bell tower with the three friends in tow, Mr. Holbrooke explains how the soldier broke his oath to remain with Miranda not long after sending her to Luna Nova.
However, when they arrive on top of Blytonbury's bell tower during which Akko unwittingly hits her head against its old bell because she notices the bell's curious lack of clapper, the feeling of epiphany struck Mr. Holbrooke to the core; the soldier he obsessively sought revealed to be none than himself but, that's not it all. He explains to Akko, Lotte, and Sucy that he and Miranda used to play together there and that he fashioned a magic staff for her out of the old bell's clapper both to cast magic with and importantly, as the reminder to her home. Thankfully for the devastated revenant, all is not lost as Akko puts pieces together and concludes Miranda and Luna Nova's current headmistress are the same person. With no time to lose, Akko uses Mending Magic Power onto the bell so it will magically fly towards its clapper. As it does, Akko, Lotte, Sucy, and Mr. Holbrooke cling onto the bell which brings them to Ursula and Headmistress Holbrooke who just emerged from Glastonbury Tor, leading to a heartwarming reunion between father and daughter.
Visiting Mrs. Holbrooke's grave with his daughter, Mr. Holbrooke is delighted by the fact that Headmistress Holbrooke doesn't harbor ill-will towards him now that he had fulfilled his oath, even with her noticing peculiar circumstances surrounding it. Before he eventually had to return to the land of the dead once more, Mr. Holbrooke sees his daughter casting a spell on the old bell of Blytonbury's bell tower — now reunited with its original clapper — so it rings once more above the late afternoon sky of Glastonbury, allowing him to hear the familiar sound he heard back when he still alive. As his revenant form disperses into gleaming golden dust, Mr. Holbrooke bids everyone, red team in particular for making such reunion possible in the first place, farewell.
As Mr. Holbrooke departs back to the afterlife, Mrs. Holbrooke expects him and the two share an embrace, if the sight of leaves blown by the wind into shapes of a man and woman witnessed by Akko and co. below to be believed.
Relationships
Miranda Holbrooke
Mr. Holbrooke is very protective of his daughter, Miranda, so much that the first thing he did when he came back to life was hunting down "the person who hurt Miranda". After figuring out that he was the one who actually "hurt" his daughter, Mr. Holbrooke was very upset and felt shame about dying before picking up his daughter from school. Upon meeting her later on in her life, they exchanged some few but loving words from father to daughter. After he returned back to the dead, Miranda was moved to know that she was able to speak to her father once again.
Abilities and Equipment
In life, Holbrooke was a formidable soldier whose full might not fully explored, only that he proved skillful with his scimitar which buried alongside him. He retained his combat abilities upon his accidental revival as a revenant, able to slice his own tombstone into half on ease. Becoming part of Holbrooke clan through marrying one of their own allowed him to learn the clan's magical arts, at least to the extent where he can fashion a magic staff out of mundane objects such as Blytonbury's bell-ringer.
Voice Actors
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Trivia
- Mr. Holbrooke is the first character in the anime series that was brought back from the dead as magic users are strictly prohibited from resurrecting them.
Gallery
- For more images related to Mr. Holbrooke, see the file category: Category: Images of Mr. Holbrooke.
References
- ↑ Little Witch Academia Chronicles, Chapter 2, page 37
- ↑
- ↑ https://imdb.com/title/tt6617636/
- ↑
- ↑ https://imdb.com/title/tt6617636/
