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Gaddes is one of my favourite secondary characters in the wonderful shoujo anime series, Tenkuu no Escaflowne, or The Vision of Escaflowne as it's known in English. There isn't a lot of information about him available, because he plays such a small part in the series, but what the hell, he's a babe, so I thought I'd give him his own mini-shrine. And yes, the title is a horrible pun, isn't it?

If you haven't seen the series, this shrine may not make much sense to you, but help is at hand! You can order it online from www.animevillage.com - or just check your local video store, as it may be available for rental. It is worth every penny and then some.

Basic Stats (very basic, I'm afraid)

Name: Gaddes (the variant spelling Gadeth is acceptable)
Age: Equivalent of 23 Earth years
Height: 190 cm*
Affiliation: Asturia
Debut: Episode 3
Voice: Tohru Ohkawa

(Information from The Vision of Escaflowne Compendium)
* The Compendium says only 180 cm, but the Memory of Gaea artbook says 190. I'm trusting the book. I think confusion may stem from the fact that in character designer Nobuteru Yuuki's handwriting, an 8 and a 9 look pretty similar, but the character height charts clearly show that Gaddes is taller than Allen, who's 185 cm in his socks.

Snazzy Quote Justifying My Position (i.e. Fangirl)
'I personally like supporting roles, such as Gaddes. He seems to be the most human among the characters on the Crusade. Having a character like that around really adds depth to the drama. There's something dependable about him. Kind of like, when you have him around, even if things get depressing around him, he knows how to liven things up. There's something very human about the Crusade because of what he brings to it. I like that.' - Kimitoshi Yamane, Mechanical Animation Director, Tenkuu no Escaflowne.

Observations

Gaddes is second-in-command to the dashing Asturian knight, and master of the airship Crusade, Allen Schezar. The two men seem to be close friends, and it is clear that Allen trusts and relies upon his sergeant absolutely. This trust is merited because Gaddes is loyal, efficient, courageous and practical to the core.

Although the men of Crusade are, by and large, a pretty raffish motley crew, Gaddes's personal standards are a little higher than theirs. He at least wears something approaching Asturian military uniform (gotta love those puffy sleeves) and maintains a pretty tight standard of discipline on duty, mainly by yelling at the other guys a lot and calling them dirtbags *^.^* Okay, he's a little foul-mouthed - I seem to recall him exclaiming 'Shit!' a couple of times, and calling people things like 'bastards,' but as a person who thoroughly enjoys swearing, I admire him for this.

Allen & Gadeth

Another reason for my favourable opinion of him is his kindness to Hitomi while she was in Allen's fort (before it got flamed back into the Stone Age by Dilandau and the Dragonslayers). He didn't tease her as the rest of the crew did; he didn't patronise her as Allen did (though, to be fair to Allen, he only meant to be chivalrous). He was simply nice to her, behaving like the normal sensible person he is, which must have been a heck of a relief to Hitomi after what she'd just been through.

Hitomi & Gadeth

That's the thing about Gaddes - he's a nice, normal guy, in amidst all the gorgeous knights and disgruntled princes and lunatic prettyboys who abound in Escaflowne. I like them very much too, but he's a breath of fresh air by comparison. He kind of reminds me of Enobarbus in Shakespeare's Anthony & Cleopatra, Anthony's level-headed friend who tends to take a detached or amused view of Anthony's life, and tries to talk some sense into him. Put it this way, if things had gone his way, the play wouldn't have been a tragedy. Unlike Enobarbus, though, Gaddes never lets Allen down in any circumstance.

I think he must get pretty exasperated with Allen sometimes, but sticks with his supportive role. He's definitely semi-exasperated, semi-amused by Van's bravado - I love the 'ohshit' face he makes when Van pushes forward to challenge Dilandau in episode three. On two occasions Gaddes teams up with Princess Millerna to rescue Allen - he's lucky his best friend and his would-be) girlfriend get on so well! But I don't want to get too far into spoilers here. You really need to watch the series and enjoy it fully.

Looking more closely at this rapport with Millerna, I think it suggests that he respects her and thinks she's a sensible, trustworthy companion - someone he can rely on to do her part and not lose her nerve. Either that or she said 'Right, I'm joining in the rescuing and you can jolly well like it or lump it' - and there's no answering back to a princess in that kind of mood *^.^* But I don't think so - I like to think that Gaddes sees past Millerna's fluffy, immature, sheltered exterior and recognises the strength and honour that are just waiting to be developed, once she gets into situations that actually require her to use those muscles. People can be pretty hard on Millerna, and I used to be one of them, but I'm coming round to being a bit of a princess booster. She needs people to believe in her and encourage her in her efforts to become more than the Tori Spelling of Gaea, and while she doesn't get that from Allen, who would presumably rather she sat around in an ivory tower or a rosy bower waiting for him to come home victorious, it does come from Gaddes and from dear old Mr Mole. They're two very unlikely friends for a princess, but I think their influence is good for her. Ummm, I'll try and drag this back towards the original subject.

Gaddes' attitude to the princess suggests to me that he's perceptive and a good judge of character; also that he is not blinded by some of the more male-chauvinistic aspects of chivalry (as Allen is) to the potential for active heroism in women. All the more reason to like him! The support she receives from her two unlikely friends enables Millerna to do that whole significant-other-rescuing thing that's so nifty when Hitomi (or Buffy or Scully!) does it. So Gaddes isn't just cool, he is a cause of coolness in others. (Ditto Moley.)

The first couple of times I watched Escaflowne, I mainly focused on Allen, on whom I had an enormous crush. (C'mon. Look at him. Could he be much hotter?) Then I dragged my tapes over to my friend Helen's house to try and indoctrinate her. I was sure she'd have a crush on Allen as well, being the hopeless/hopeful romantic she is, but instead she kept pointing out 'that cute dark guy in the background' - and damn it, she was right! With Helen I started seriously Gaddes-gazing - so I'd like to take this opportunity to thank her! And... don't you think he looks a little like David Duchovny? *^.^*

Millerna & Gadeth

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