Gertrud
Gertrud (GERTRUD) is a witch appearing in Episode 2 of the anime. She, along with her familiars, reappear in Madoka Magica Portable, Madoka Magica Mobage, Madoka Magica Online, Madoka Magica: The Battle Pentagram and Magia Record.
While Gertrud does not appear in The Rebellion Story, rental versions of Anthony do under the control of Sayaka Miki.
Witch Card
薔薇園の魔女。性質は不信。なによりも薔薇が大事。その力の全ては美しい薔薇のために。結界に迷い込んだ人間の生命力を奪い薔薇に分け与えているが、人間に結界内を踏み荒らされることは大嫌い。
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The rose garden witch with a distrustful nature. She holds roses dearer than anything else. She expends all of her power for the sake of beautiful roses. Despite stealing the life-force of humans who wander into her barrier to give to her roses, she loathes the thought of them trampling the inside of her barrier. | ||||||||||
Minions
魔女の手下。その役割は造園。おヒゲは魔女にセットしてもらう。
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The witch's minion. His duty is landscaping. His mustache is set by the witch. | ||||||||||
薔薇園の魔女の手下。 その役割は警戒。人間を見つけると、ベルのような警戒音を鳴らし、容赦ない頭突きを食らわせる。視力は 2.5。 小さなタイプは侵入者を阻む薔薇の蔦に変身可能。
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The rose garden witch's minion. His duty is to act as lookout. Upon seeing a human, he will sound a warning bell and headbutt him mercilessly. They have 2.5 (20/8) vision. The smaller type can change into rose vines to hinder intruders. | ||||||||||
薔薇園の魔女の手下（レンタルver.）。その役割は造園。魔女の手下達の中ではかなり従順で数も多いため、ほむら救出の主戦力として薔薇園の魔女から派遣されて来た。直接的に人魚の魔女の指揮下へ入っているため、その魔女の影響で以前とは容姿が少し異なる。胸に付けた勲章は薔薇園の魔女から付けてもらった宝物。
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Servants of the Rose Garden Witch (rental ver.). They take the role of gardeners. As they are relatively docile and numerous, as far as familiars go, the Rose Garden Witch dispatched them as the main combat force for saving Homura. As they are under the direct command of the Mermaid Witch, the influence of her magic has changed their appearances. The medals on their chests are a treasure added by the Rose Garden Witch. | ||||||||||
History
Original Anime
Gertrud's barrier appears in Episode 1 along with her Anthony. Gertrud makes her first appearance in Episode 2 along with Adelbert.
In Episode 1, Madoka and Sayaka are ambushed by Gertrud's barrier after saving Kyubey from Homura. They're surrounded by Anthony but are quickly saved by Mami. All three girls later hunt down Gertrud in Episode 2. They find a woman attempting to commit suicide after having Gertrud's witch kiss placed on her but Mami saves her in time. Mami defeats numerous Anthony and Adelbert before finishing off Gertrud at the deepest part of her labyrinth.
Anthony are shown to attack with black scissors and their faces change drastically when doing so, they seem to have high pitched voices. Adelbert appear in two forms, large and small - the latter often coming in groups of three. They seem to only attack by flying towards their enemy. Gertrud is seen attacking with her red chair and using scissors like Anthony.
The Rebellion Story
Anthony make a reappearance in The Rebellion Story as rental versions, leant out to Sayaka. They appear more like Oktavia with a mermaid tail instead of their butterfly wings. Adelbert also make a brief appearance.
Magia Record
Gertrud and Anthony make an appearance in Magia Record. Gertrud's description stays the same as her original anime description however Anthony's description differs.
Anthony
Minions of the witch of rose gardens. Their role is to do landscaping. The witch styles their mustaches for them. They originally resided in a place called Mitakihara, but due to their wholehearted desire to grow more beautiful roses in rich, fertile soil for their master, they unleashed their pioneering spirit and marched right on over to Kamihama. They happily carry on gardening even in barriers besides their master’s, so some witches see them as a huge nuisance. Incidentally, due to the sheer density of witch barriers fighting each other for space in Kamihama, it’s hardly unusual to see a given witch’s minions wandering around other witches’ barriers.
Magia Record Anime
Gertrud makes a brief appearance in Magia Record Episode 11. The labyrinth created from Gertrud's appearance steals Sana Futaba's coaster and her, Iroha Tamaki, Tsuruno Yui and Felicia Mitsuki travel into the labyrinth to find it. The Anthony take their findings to the top of the labyrinth, noticeably taking Sana's coaster. They destroy any finding that isn't a rose so the girls quickly reach the top to save the coaster. Quickly after, a stone rose at the top of the labyrinth breaks to reveal Gertrud herself. The girls aren't shown fighting the witch but are shown holding her Grief Seed afterwards.
Note
In Episode 1, Anthonys are seen surrounding Sayaka and Madoka and yelling the following German phrases in a distorted manner:
| Original | English Translation |
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| Das sind mir unbekannte Blumen. Ja. Sie sind mir auch unbekannt. Schneiden wir sie ab? Ja. Schneiden wir sie ab! Die Rosen schenken wir unsrer Königin. Und die schlechten Blumen steigen auf die Guillotine. Ja. Schneide sie ab! Ja. Schneide sie heraus! |
Those flowers are unknown to me. Yes. They are also unknown to me. Shall we cut them off? Yes. Let us cut them off. We present the roses to our queen. And the bad flowers go to the guillotine. Yes. Cut them off! Yes. Cut them out! |
Observations
- A red rose is commonly associated with romance, passion, humility and romance however a rotten rose could signify the corruption of these values which result from Gertrud's transformation into a witch
- Scissors used to be placed next to beds in older times to ward off changelings from replacing human children, since Gertrud has butterfly wings this could be a reference to them
- Scissors are also commonly used as a symbol in relation to ending a life, cutting the thread of life which may refer to Gertrud dying and becoming a witch
- Gertrude Jekyll was a British horticulturalist and garden designer. Her younger brother was a friend of author Robert Louis Stevenson, who used his surname in his novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, about a scientist who transforms into an embodiment of all his negativity and evil after drinking a serum he created
- Gertrud's name may be a reference to Queen Gertrude from Shakespeare's play Hamlet
- In the Catholic tradition, St. Gertrude is considered the patron saint of gardeners and herbalists.
- Incidentally, she is also the patron saint of cats (and those who also loved them), travelers in search of lodgings, and insane people.[1]
- In episode 2 there's a grotesque image of Napoleon right before the door to Gertrud's barrier opens. Gertud may have been inspired by Joséphine de Beauharnais, wife of Napoleon Bonaparte. She was known as Rose until she married Napoleon, and she patronized the development of rose breeding at her gardens at Malmaison, collecting some 250 varieties
- Anthony's name may be a reference to the incorrect claim in the 16th century that the name "Anthony" was derived from the Greek word "anthos", meaning "flower".
- They may also be a reference to the character Anthy Himemiya, named for a similar reason, from the anime Revolutionary Girl Utena.
- Anthony's butterfly on it's body seem to resemble a monarch butterfly, which is a symbol of protection and of guardianship. Considering the Anthony's cut off 'undesirable roses' to please their queen this does make sense
- Adelbert is named after German poet and botanist Adelbert von Chamisso, author of the novella 'Peter Schlemihl's Miraculous Story, in which the titular character sells his shadow to the devil and eventually grows to regret his decision after being ousted from society
- The way the Anthony destroy foreign things with their scissors in their Magia Record Anime appearance may be the 'guillotine' described in their song from the original anime
Trivia
- Seiyus called Anthony ひげおじさん (Higeojisan, Uncle Moustache) in the audio comentary tracks of BD/DVD.
- They think he is cute
- The Anthony from Rebellion that appear in the new world are presumably the ones that were summoned by Sayaka, unable to return to the Law of Cycles
Gallery
See Gallery:Gertrud
External links
- Anthony card at official website (Japanese)
- Gertrud card at official website (Japanese)
- Adelbert card at official website (Japanese)
- Gertrud pixiv fanart
- Anthony pixiv fanart