Thundering Engine Woman (circus)

Thundering Engine Woman was the name of one of the Heterodyne Boys' travelling companions, a very strong Spark from the Americas. It is rumored that she said her Spark would be easily eclipsed by those regarded as Sparky among her people... which makes one wonder how and why the Americas became "lost".

In her card in "The Works", she's shown wearing fringed leather garments and holding a six-shooter. Her exotic looks and amazing talent got her invited to various courts of Europe, and one could suspect a strong personal charm kept her invited to more. She was well-known enough to fascinate the general public, and has subsequently become a frequently-reproduced character in Heterodyne plays.

One of the actors known to play Thundering Engine Woman in a travelling show is of Italian ancestry with a convincing complexion. She is helped in her portrayal by the fact that her grandfather had travelled the Americas, and she is a keen sharpshooter. As all of the performers do, she has other duties in Master Payne's Circus of Adventure, but her primary job is to be exotically foreign.

Questions and Theories
Due to Baron Klaus Wulfenbach's comment about women with the Spark, speculation has been frequent as to whether TEW was one of those women (and how she tried it, and what did he do that time).

Until recently, also due to a comment by the Baron, some theorizing has been bandied about that TEW was Gilgamesh Wulfenbach's mother. This now seems to be one of the more remote possibilities.