Paul Hanbridge (ポール・ハンブリッジ Pōru Hanburijji) formally known as the Earl of Hanbridge (ハンブリッジの伯爵 Hanburijji no hakushaku) is a character in Little Witch Academia. He is the count and Minister of State of the country.
Appearance[]
He is a middle-aged man with gray hair and green eyes. He wears a brown suit, dark brown shoes, a beige shirt, and glasses.
Personality[]
The Earl is a very serious and cold man. In spite of maintaining his manners and his good deal in public, it shows that in fact, he is a rigid person to which only his political duties concern him, something that left him indifferent to other people and Andrew's former dream to be a pianist.
That being said, his amicable yet formal and distant relationship with Andrew, along with the fact that the latter has grown into an exemplary viscount and Appleton Academy student, prove that Paul is a capable father nonetheless, even if his approach in raising his son best described as a form of 'tough love' since he intended the latter to be a proper successor. To further drive this point, his colleague Mr. Blackwell by contrast evidently spoiled his son Louis more than necessary, resulting in the latter's attitude and capacity as his own heir left much to be desired.
Like mundanes in the present day, Paul is firmly convinced that magic and witches are outdated and have no place in the present age. Whereas Mr. Blackwell holds this belief out of bigotry against them, Paul is driven by justified skepticism whether they and the rest of magic community still have their place in modern era[1]: Through his visits to Luna Nova Magical Academy which financial resources he is partly in charge of, Paul sees that many people in magic community made little to no effort in improving their ways in face of changing times, which only solidified such belief. Despite this, he is still willing to make frequent visits to the academy and handle his part in maintaining its financial resources to maintain the relationship between Luna Nova and the government of England.
By the time of the episode Tree of Leaves, Paul seems to have changed his mind about witches, asking Andrew to tell him his full thoughts on them. Around this time, he also regains his faith that the magical culture built by witches still has its place in the modern world.
Plot[]
TV Series[]
The Fountain of Polaris (episode)[]
Paul attends the party organized by Luna Nova Academy in his name next to his son Andrew. During the party, he maintains his good manners with Headmistress Holbrooke, asking that one of his students show the academy around to his son upon noticing his boredom. After the party, Paul states that the day was a waste of time that only reaffirmed his bad ideas about witches. When Andrew asks why it was in the first place, he responds that he wants to maintain good relationships.
Bee Commotion[]
Paul is hosting a party for Andrew's birthday. When he learned that some witches had entered the party, he asked his son to pay them, reminding him of his duties as heir to the Handbridge and his abandonment of the piano. When Akko tries to get rid of the Cupid Bee in the middle of the party, Paul tries to make her leave but the bee ends up biting him causing Paul to briefly fall in love with Akko before she knocks him in the face with her giant fan, killing Cupid Bee and breaking the love spell.
Cavendish[]
Paul and Andrew travel to the Cavendish Manor by invitation of Daryl, picking up Akko on the way who also headed there. In the limo, all three have an uncomfortable discussion about what happened at the party and Paul complains about the attitude of people for a simple football game. In the mansion, Paul and Andrew have dinner with Dary, Diana, and Akko, revealing that the reason for the invitation was to sell them some of the Cavendish's family relics, which Paul rejects and leaves.
Chariot and Croix[]
Paul is shown unamused by Andrew's approach regarding his son's approach in dealing with Akko and Diana who infiltrated Appleton Academy prior and the knowledge of his son's rebellious side, though he cannot stay mad due to the bigger problem at hand; the ongoing strike in the light of soccer verdict between England and its rival nation is worsening as they speak and that there's a chance it would escalate further into the fourth all-out conflict between them. Worse still, Paul overlooks the implication that Mr. Blackwell deliberately twisted certain details to make Louis a martyr in the aforementioned fiasco.
The Road to Arcturus[]
As the strike worsens further to the point of coup d'état being around the corner, Paul implores Andrew who reported the situation to gather more intel while Mr. Blackwell insists to enforce stricter law against England's rival with military forces, much to the young Hanbridge's chagrin knowing the latter only wanted to start a war all along, uncaring if that will cause an even bigger conflict.
Tree of Leaves[]
Paul is irritated by the alarm that interrupted the parliament's meeting regarding the worsening riot before being informed by Mr. Blackwell that one of their country's ICBM had been assimilated by Noir Rod.
Bringing the meeting to the control room, Paul, Mr. Blackwell, and Andrew argued whether to inform the rival country about the situation until they learned about Akko and Co. chasing Noir Rod as well. As the public voice their support on the witches, more so in courtesy of Croix hacking the entire planet so Ursula can inform everyone of the message about their struggle, Paul remains skeptical about it while Mr. Blackwell is insistent that what he perceives as madness (their unlikely allies being the very thing he despises), prompting Andrew to stand up for both himself and the truth of what truly happens, though the two eventually listen once Prime Minister shows up.
After Akko and Co. manage to defeat Noir Rod and unleash the power of Grand Triskellion along the way, Paul decides to try to see witches and the rest of the magic community in a better light now that he realizes he has misunderstood them all this time. The delighted Andrew agrees to share his opinions regarding their existence.
Keisuke Satō Manga[]
Chapter 8[]
Andrew and Paul discuss Luna Nova's invitation which the latter is not enthusiastic about. The young Hanbridge asks his father why they don't turn it down, and Paul explains that they need to keep Luna Nova in debt before reminding him to focus on his studies instead of being mixed up with such matters.
Chapter 9[]
Accompanied by Andrew and Frank, Paul attends the party organized by Luna Nova Academy in his name next to his son Andrew. During the party, he maintains his good manners with Headmistress Holbrooke, asking that one of his students show the academy around to his son upon noticing his boredom. As he and his companions return home, Paul expresses his annoyance over Frank's interest in witches, oblivious that Andrew is having second thoughts about the magic community's future.
Little Witch Academia: Chamber of Time[]
Paul is mentioned by Finnelan, Badcock, Lukić Holbrooke during the events of the game.
It's revealed that Paul being the government official who funded Luna Nova, though he can only do so much in helping the academy surviving the ongoing decline of magic.[3]
Relationships[]
Andrew Hanbridge[]
Paul maintains a very formal and distant relationship with his son. While his focus in ensuring Andrew to be his proper successor unfortunately made him indifferent to the latter's opinions or interests, even forcing him to give up what he considers inappropriate like the piano, the fact his son grew into an exemplary viscount and Appleton Academy student as well as admiring him as a role model proved that Paul is a good father in his own right, wisely not spoiled him more than necessary like Mr. Blackwell with Louis. Not only that, after Akko and co.'s success in stopping the Noir Rod-infested missile proves to him that magic still has value in the world, he asks Andrew to teach him his ideals.
Mr. Blackwell[]
Paul and Blackwell are political colleagues. Despite not sharing the same ideals, both work together for the country's welfare.
Atsuko Kagari[]
Paul doesn't have best opinions about Akko at the beginning, imploring Andrew to have her kicked out for entering their party. This doesn't help by her accidentally hit him at the face while stopping a Cupid Bee from rendering everyone at the same party in lovestruck standstill, still remembering the fiasco that he thinks she would make a bad company for Andrew. Nevertheless, as his opinions about witches and magic community improved following her and New Nine Witches' success in defeating Noir Rod-infested missile, so do his views about her.
Voice actors[]
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Gallery[]
- For more images related to Paul Hanbridge, see the file category: Category:Images of the Earl of Hanbridge.
Trivia[]
- Hanbridge greatly resembles and is possibly modeled after British actor
Colin Firth who is famed for portraying Harry Hart aka. Galahad from Kingsman. Interestingly, both Paul and Harry Hart resembled one another appearance-wise.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Little Witch Academia Chronicles, Chapter 1, page 13
- ↑
- ↑ Little Witch Academia: Chamber of Time Sub Event (37.Budget Crisis)
