CODE: REALIZE – CHARACTER DESIGN ANALYSIS (PART 4/5)

This has been a long way, but just two handsome are missing to end this series of the design of the five principal male characters of “Code: Realize – Guardian of Rebirth (コードリアライズ Code: Realize ~創世の姫君~)”. Now is the turn of the enigmatic Count Saint Germain that not just hide many secrets in this Otome, but also there is much speculation about his real life.

Maybe this is a little repetitive for those who have followed this series since the beginning, but for those who this is the first post you read, I recommend at least read the first part of this series to understand better some references about steampunk that are going to be used in here.

Well, finished this little introduction, let’s plunge into the fourth part of “Code: Realize – Character Design Analysis!”

SAINT GERMAIN: A COUNT, A PHILOSOPHER AND…IMMORTAL?

The Count of Saint Germain is a very controversial historical figure who has appeared many times throughout history always as a man of 45 years old. The aforesaid may seem like myths or legends, however, the Isabel Cooper-Oakley’s book presents a collection of letters, documents and quotes from real historical people who talk about how they met him, making the Count a real person. Among the characters named in Cooper-Oakley writing are: Casanova, Madame de Pompadour, Voltaire, King Louis XV, Catherine the Great, Anton Mesmer and others.

Thanks to this publication, it’s believed that the Count of Saint Germain born in 1690 as the first son of Francis II Rákoczi, the Prince of Transylvania. However, although there are more important events like these when talking about the Count, to achieve the objective that this post intends, the events in which it will mainly focus are: his life in Europe, including his appearance in England, where he commenced to be known under the title of the Count of St. Germain and his presence in France, where he has a close relationship with the real family. Equally important was his reunion with C.V. Leadbeater in Rome in 1926 in view of, in that time the theosophy and other religious theories behind him began to be mentioned.

The first event mentioned is better described in Isabel Cooper-Oakley’s work called “The Comte de St. Germain” making it a recurrent reference. Still, some other sources will be employed to complement, not just this topic, but also to justify the religious and the steampunk related aspects. All this will be very useful to understand the design of this enigmatic character who is part of the video game “Code: Realize”.

WHY IS HE SOOO HANDSOME?

The physical appearance of this figure has been defined by four different persons in four different moments.

Horace Walpole wrote how in 1743 there came into England a person with little or no colour and hair and beard extremely black. He was known as Count St. Germain. [1]. More or less at the same period, another description is expressed by Madame d’Adhémar:

“He had a pliant, graceful figure, delicate hands, a small foot, an elegant leg which set off a well-fitting silk stocking. The small-clothes, very tight, also suggested a rare perfection of form; his smile showed the most beautiful teeth in the world, a pretty dimple adorned his chin, his hair was black, his eyes were soft and penetrating. Oh! what eyes! I have nowhere seen their equal. He appeared about forty to forty-five years old.”

Isabel Cooper-Oakley, The Comte de St. Germain [2]

Approximately in 1755 the Countess v. Georgy explained:

“St. Germain is of medium height and elegant manners; his features are regular; his complexion brown; his hair black; his face mobile and full of genius; his carriage bears the impress and the nobility common only to the great.”

Isabel Cooper-Oakley, The Comte de St. Germain [3]

And finally C.W. Leadbeater in his book “The Masters and the Path” said:

“His eyes are large and brown, and are filled with tenderness and humour, though there is in them a glint of power; and the splendour of His Presence impels men to make obeisance. His face is olive-tanned; His close-cut brown hair is parted in the centre and brushed back from the forehead, and He has a short and pointed beard.”

C. W. Leadbeater, The Masters And The Path [4]

Reading these citations, it seems that the creators took more account Madame d’Adhémar words, designing a Count with a pliant and graceful figure, delicate hands, a small foot, graceful legs and soft and penetrating eyes. From Walpole the part relative to the little or no colour is taken; from Leadbeater the tenderness and humour in his eyes; and the elegant air is recurrent in all the citations.

Once knowing the possible reasons behind the general complexion of the Count of Saint Germain of the Otome “Code: Realize”, let’s delve into the hair and the eyes. This character had the opportunity to live during centuries where the wigs were the pattern of fashion used by the nobles to represent elegance in England and France. Considering that the white was the favored color and that the picture made by Nicolas Thomas where the Count wears one of this hue, it isn’t rare that the St. Germain of the Otome discussed in this post, has a white hair that represent the refined style of the two regions where he was seen more.

Maybe the eyes are the attribute the most controversial because there are not many reasons that clarify its light blue shade. Anyhow, considering the color psychology, this blue represents calm and soft, emphasizing perfectly what Madame d’Adhémar express: “…his eyes were soft and penetrating…”

THE ELEGANCE OF A COUNT

Behind the elegant clothes of the Count of Saint Germain, there are the European fashion, his spiritual counterpart and, of course, the steampunk style. With this in mind, let’s begin talking about how using three items of clothing was classic among the noble people, at least between 17^th to the beginning of the 19^th century and that’s why the Count has to respect this rule. Firstly the imperative white shirt that was known as the typical underwear of an 18^th century gentleman that was often on provocative display, in fact, there is a funny comment on The Tatler of1710: “A sincere heart has not made half so many conquests as an open waistcoat” [5]. And being sincere, this phrase suit perfectly the way how Saint Germain has his vest open.

The fabric, decoration and length seem to come from the so-called “French” suit that has prevailed in Europe since the end of the 17^th century and which covered much of the 18^th. The bottom photograph is a piece exhibited in the “Museo del Traje” in Madrid, Spain, and is an example of a French suit. It’s possible to see how the Count’s vest has a similar length, texture and frogging of the internal coat. The only button under the chest permits to show the jabot, the decorative clothing accessory from the throat that was also very common among the French people who lived the 17^th and 18^th century.

The violet color in that also is applied in the lapel of the cape and in the tips of his hair are from the beliefs of New Age religion, where he is associated with the jewel amethyst, and the Maltese cross.

The black cape looks like an adaptation of the inverness cape date from 1859.

Judging by the height of the hat, this is like the Victorian silk top one from 1837 to 1901, it has between 16 and 17 cm.

Finally the boots and the pants. During the 18^th and the early 19^th century boots surpassed shoes as the fashionable footwear for men and it was not rare used them over light-color pants. The design of Saint Germain take this approach in a more tight style, because apparently is the way he like according what Madame d’Adhémar says about their encounter: “The small-clothes, very tight, also suggested a rare perfection of form…”

CLOCKS, THE STEAMPUNK ACCESORY OF AN IMMORTAL PERSON

As already talked in the post about the other characters of “Code: Realize”, each one has an emblem which is used like an accessory. For the Count of Saint Germain is the clock, an iconic steampunk item due to the Victorians has a “mania” for punctuality. This may be for three reasons: as an immortal, the notion of the time can be different and more because it’s not necessary to sleep or eat, then the clock allows to be in sync with mortals.

Another reason possible is his likely taste for watches considering what Mme. V Georgy said: “His only luxury consists of a large number of diamonds, with which he is fairly covered; he wears them on every finger, and they are set in his snuffboxes and his watches” [3]. The item name is used in plural, what at the same time justify why he has clocks in his neck, his hat and his boots; and watches or watch cases over all its arm both left and right.

The last reason be linked to the fact that this element gave the Count the steampunk touch. Anyway, whatever the case, the emblem of this character is a classic pocket clock with the first five roman numbers, and he wears it over the jabot, and in the upper belt of his boots.

In his hat there is an abstraction of this kind of clock, but with numbers eight to eleven and a winding key, being this last one used also as a detail in the belts of his legs. Lastly, to continue with the idea of the clock with roman number, he has around his arms a sequence that, respecting the range of numbers on a clock, can be read like 1-2-10-8 or 2-9-8 or 3-10-8 (IIIXVIII).

It can be seen this character has a lot of inspiration sources thanks to the fact that he lived as a nobleman during the 16^th to 19^th centuries and like a spiritual master the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries. This situation permits, unlike his companions, a character that combines a lot of European fashion styles, both in time and places with some other touches that have relations with theology.

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Well, this is how it ends the post about the most elegant character of “Code: Realize – Guardian of Rebirth (コードリアライズ Code: Realize ~創世の姫君~)”. This time the fashion was a very important theme, and I hope you will enjoy reading this post as I enjoy learning about European style at the same time to write about it. And what do you think? There is something you want to add on this topic? Please comment it and let’s have a nice conversation! Until then, see you in my next post!!

REFERENCES

[1] “The Yale edition of Horace Walpole correspondence”, vol 26, (1712–1784), pp. 20-21 [Online]. Available: http://images.library.yale.edu/hwcorrespondence/ [Accessed: 25-Feb-2020]

[2] Cooper-Oakley, Isabel. “The Coming Danger” in The Comte de St. Germain, Perennial Press, 2018, pp.30-31. [Online). Available: Kindle.

[3] Cooper-Oakley, Isabel. “His travel and Knowledge” in The Comte de St. Germain, Perennial Press, 2018, pp.16. [Online). Available: Kindle.

[4] C. W. Leadbeater, The Masters and the Path. Health Research Books, 1998, pp. 44.

 [5] S. R. Steele, The Tatler. Rivington, Marshall, and Bye, 1789, pp.258.

[6] “Shirt | V&A Search the Collections,” V and A Collections, 05-Mar-2020. [Online]. Available: http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O137719. [Accessed: 05-Mar-2020]

[7] Waistcoat | V&A Search the Collections,” V and A Collections, 05-Mar-2020. [Online]. Available: http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O357023. [Accessed: 05-Mar-2020]

[8] A. L. Sánchez, “La moda en España durante el siglo XVIII,” Indumenta: Revista del Museo del Traje, no. 0, pp. 88, 2007 [Online]. Available: https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=2672193. [Accessed: 05-Mar-2020]

BIBLIOGRAPHY

• Footalk, “History of Boots: Regency Period (1811 to 1820) Boots,” History of Boots, 13-Jun-2009. [Online]. Available: http://historyofboots.blogspot.com/2009/06/regency-period-boots.html. [Accessed: 05-Mar-2020]
• “History of the top hat | Silk Top Hats .eu.” [Online]. Available: https://www.silktophats.eu/historytophat.html. [Accessed: 05-Mar-2020]
• “Inverness cape,” Wikipedia. 23-Sep-2019 [Online]. Available: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Inverness_cape&oldid=917463262. [Accessed: 06-Mar-2020]
• “Pocket watch,” Wikipedia. 04-Mar-2020 [Online]. Available: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pocket_watch&oldid=943925625. [Accessed: 05-Mar-2020]
• “Saint-Germain,” Code: Realize Wikia. [Online]. Available: https://code-realize.fandom.com/wiki/Saint-Germain. [Accessed: 05-Mar-2020]
• S. R. Steele, The Tatler. Rivington, Marshall, and Bye, 1789.
• T. W-C, “Watches and clocks in the Victorian era,” The Watch-Collector Leeds, 01-Feb-2015. [Online]. Available: https://watch-collector.co.uk/watches-clocks-victorian-era/. [Accessed: 05-Mar-2020]