Girl Genius
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Girl Genius


"DuPree. When I say the words 'Alive and Unharmed', do any neurons actually fire in that brain of yours?"
"Um -- no Sir!"
"I thought not."
The Baron and DuPree [1]

Bangladesh DuPree, also known as Dupree or Bang, is a pretty thoroughly amoral and bloodthirsty pirate queen.

Backstory[]

Or more precisely, an ex-queen, who lost her fleet and base when, in her evident absence, some of her minions made the mistake of keeping their captive Zeetha alive with plans to sell her into slavery.

To date it has only been mentioned in various Girl Genius supplementary material, but Bang is also a "normal" queen-in-exile; her Pirate-Queen mother was deposed from her kingdom and the whole point of the pirate operation was her attempt to gather enough of an army to reclaim the family throne. (Her father is/was a unnamed Professional Castaway who deserted the family ten years ago; his dialogue implies this split happened before the throne-loss.)

In any event, after Zeetha's rampage left Bang back at square one, she accepted an offer from Baron Klaus Wulfenbach, working with him on the condition that he help find out who wiped out her assets. While that hunt failed to produce results, the arrangement otherwise worked well for both of them: Klaus could terrify rebellious Europans without getting his hands dirty (most of the time), and DuPree got to do what she loves most -- namely, torturing and killing people, in which she was often assisted by a loyal squad under her command (possibly members of her old pirate crew). In the second print-novel Klaus also mentally commends Bang as an "easily-refuted, public voice of unreason."

Bang additionally made some sort of official public announcement in Pirate-type social circles, establishing "The Devil's Prize", a reward offered to anyone who could screw up their nerve and bring her information about her quarry. The exact nature of said "prize" has not been elaborated upon; it may be a tangible treasure, the promise of a night of intimacy with Bang, or something else entirely.

During Gil's Parisian school days, DuPree was one of his close companions,[2] leading to they developing something of a sibling-like relationship.[3] At this time, she also crossed paths with Tarvek, to the point of holding him prisoner , a situation he evidently escaped from by faking a plunge to his death. Years later Dupree remembers fondly her time spent tormenting him, calling him Prince "How Dare You". At that time Tarvek actually believed Bang to be "one of Gil's debauched companions," but both Gil and Bang have repeatedly denied ever having considered such a relationship.

Appearance[]

BangDishabille

She normally wears an airship captain uniform consisting of a white cap, slacks and coat over a red turtleneck. The turtleneck is undoubtedly red so as not to clash with all the blood she spills. A small skull-shaped bindi normally adorns her forehead. She has been shown to have a love of wacky socks. She has also appeared on at least one occasion where she is scantily clad, during and immediately after a fencing workout with Gil on the fantail deck of Castle Wulfenbach. (See image to right.)

Upon arriving in England (see below) and adapting, for disguise purposes, a new public sartorial look that again exposes a whole lot more skin, Bang also begins sporting a prominent neck scar, which in fact goes all the way around her neck, that is not present during the aforementioned (and other ) occasions that said neck is visible. The wound then proceeds to disappear and reappear, sometimes in the course of a single scene . The obvious answer is that this is an artistic oversight, but it is possible that it is supposed to be a cosmetic affectation on Bang's part. Either way, long after the narrative has left England, the scar is still present.

Bang At Work[]

In the comic proper, she's first seen briefly in a flashback by Moloch von Zinzer, but makes her first real appearance here aboard Castle Wulfenbach, taking Othar Tryggvassen's cry for help as a request to be tortured more. She then describes to Klaus her odd encounter(s) with some Sparky "windows" showing a glimpse of (presumably) Agatha in (presumably) the future.

Her.. liberal.. attitude towards obeying orders and society's annoying little rules is highlighted when Agatha and Krosp are escaping from Castle Wulfenbach, and Her Highness Zulenna Luzhakna fights a delaying action to let them get away. DuPree cordially and nonchalantly stabs her with a stiletto and kicks her out of the way, which is probably not something Klaus would have preferred happen to a student from one of the Fifty Families. Not to mention Von Pinn; witnessing this act prompts her to administer a "final lesson" on Bang, starting with crushing her hand, but Klaus cuts that particular bit of education short with a dose of D-gas (which is, perhaps mistakenly, called C-gas in the novelization, but the letter D is plainly visible in the drawing.)

Bang accompanies Gil when he is sent to retrieve Agatha from Master Payne's Circus of Adventure, but they are successfully deceived by a ruse using the dead body of Madame Olga. Still, she got to terrorize and electro-zap people with her rejiggered hand-healing device, and, hey, roasted dead corpse, a bonus!

During the Battle of Sturmhalten, she acquires a broken jaw inflicted by The Unstoppable Higgs during a melee aboard a Wulfenbach medical airship. Though for a while her jaw is wired shut , her enthusiasm for homicide remains undampened. Her capacity for sass while performing it, on the other hand, is significantly impaired -- the prospect of a speechless DuPree is one of those things that helps Klaus maintain his will to live as he convalesces. Fortunately for our favorite pirate, her jaw is soon once again functioning correctly , thanks to Sun Jen-djieh and the other men and women of the Great Hospital. Gil leaves her as Klaus's guard while he deals with various other crisises.

She eventually reappears on board Castle Wulfenbach where she receives word of Gil's Magnificent Hat, but sadly doesn't get the chance to actually see it for he gave orders to an officer to "hide it in a safe place and never speak of it again" .

Gil then asks her why she was not at the hospital protecting his father during its destruction. She claims that she had left under Klaus's orders. When Gil expresses disbelief at the idea of her following orders, she claims that she always followed Klaus's, no matter how stupid she considered them, and then breaks down in tears as she expresses genuine regret over not reaching the hospital in time to save him. Gil comforts her for this, during which she threatens to kill him for making her cry. This only speaks volumes of how much she really cares about Klaus, indicating that he may be more than just an employer to her . After the Baron reappears alive, Gil forces a dose of Tarvek's anti-revenant formula on her; it appears she doesn't suffer any long-term damage from this.

Following the Klaus-induced Timeskip and Gil's assumption of the title of Baron, she is still working for him, though showing increasing frustration and suspicion with his erratic behavior; she finally forces him to admit that he allowed Klaus to imprint a copy of his personality into Gil's brain as a control mechanism. Her reaction to this revelation is fairly typical. She might prove to be somewhat mollified by the recovery of Captain Vole from the Mechanicsburg time-bubble, especially since the process has made him even more attractive and desirable. (At least physically...)

During Agatha's flight from The Refuge of Storms, Tweedle proves to be a nicely sturdy target upon which Bang can practice her stabbing skills, but he is hauled away from the fight before she can turn him into her coat-rack.

Bang also accompanies Gil on his trip to the Corbettite Depot Fortress of St. Szpac, where (despite they missing out the fight and the monastery being neutral ground) she still has a chance to show her skills, as she manages to detect a smoke knight hidding under invisibility during the first reunion of the so-called Fighting Girls Tea and Cake Society (Violetta, Zeetha and herself).

Bang On The Hunt[]

Bang accompanies Gil when he goes in pursuit of the "rescued" Tarvek, leading eventually to them intercepting the cargo airship The Mopey Tortoise as it crosses the English Channel from Paris, whereupon (to much squee-ing by the Tortoise's pirate-ish crew) she gives Tweedle's Chief Assassin Jaron a taste of his own medicine. She and Tarvek then knock out and chain up Gil, taking him on to England in hopes of removing the Klaus-copy. Upon arriving in Albia's domain Bang passes herself off as one of the aforementioned crew and lays low... until ex-pirate Ulysses Bonny claims The Devil's Prize and tells her about Zeetha's history with pirates. Bang's reaction is unmitigated glee, and she immediately finds Gil and announces her resignation from Wulfenbach service. For numerous obvious reasons, she does not tell Gil who her target is, and refuses to let him come with her as she sets out to Wreak Vengeance.

She eventually turns up working (playing?) at the English Privateer Museum. Upon being informed that Gil has in the meantime been cured of his little overlay problem, she shows her gratitude by only lightly stabbing Tarvek in the arm. Gil brushes this off with his usual mild irritation, but Agatha lays down the law. And so, Bang has to (relatively speaking) pull her punches when an oblivious Zeetha goads her into a sparring match (after sharing more cake - this time with rum ) while everyone moves on to visiting the Royal Observatory. This ends inconclusively when Princess Neena drags Zeetha away to do some translating.

..Which leads directly to Agatha and Co. investigating events in the vicinity of a certain island. Bang accompanies them, even as Gil returns to the Continent to deal with a Polar Ice Lord invasion. It turns out to be a good thing she's around, as the unnamed captain of the expedition's airship proves to be a traitor, requiring Bang to take over (not that she exactly needs much urging.) The sabotaged airship is destroyed as a distraction while some of the group lands covertly on the island. Bang remains with the rest of the crew in concealed boats on the sea, until an attack by a cadre of corrupted Deepdwellers forces them to land as well. Everyone is reunited as they take control of the island's Mirror chamber... including Bang with her airship-captain father. Before long, the situation deteriorates to the point of the island both collapsing and being overrun with monsters, but fortunately, between them, Bang and Agatha are able to get Bang's father's dilapidated airship off the ground. Bang is conspicuously missing from Agatha's group after these events.

When everyone finally returns to the Continent to combat the latest Polar Ice Lord invasion, it turns out that Bang is once again working for/with Gil as an airship captain, because that's where Zeetha is, and Bang still hasn't given up on the idea of a Big Final Fight between the two of them. It's also revealed (much to Bang's surprise) that Tarvek (and likely everyone else) knows all about Bang's plans thanks to his spy network, and agrees not to interfere, since for all they know, Zeetha is herself looking forward to their "big ultimate fight" - plus he knows Bang won't stab Zeetha in the back or anything, despite her protests that she totally could, as she is also looking forward to it, too. Bang's reaction to the news is of utter child-like glee, down to making Tarvek promise her not to tell Zeetha that she knows, as "this is going to be amazing" and "it's going to be a surpise!". Given Bang's and Zeetha's past story, the surprise is likely to involve cake and violence. And cake.

The Novels[]

In Agatha H. and the Airship City, it is noted that the kingdom which Bang has been plotting to reclaim is located on an island in the North Sea. Until she meets Captain Vole in Agatha H. and the Siege of Mechanicsburg, she has never given much thought to matters of romance, beyond presumably, hypothetically, taking the time to pop out an heir once she reclaims that kingdom.

The Works[]

Bangladesh DuPree is a card in The Works. Her epithets are Mad, Villain, Lackey, and Queen.

The depiction is very similar to how she appears in the comic. She is laughing and holding a serpentine-bladed dagger dripping green slime.

Some fan art[]

References

  1. Discussing a corpse.
  2. Parisian Bang can be seen in flashback (as envisioned by Tarvek) here and here . The print-novels note that the Baron sent her to Paris as one of his endless tests of Gil, with Gil both receiving training from Bang and learning to deal with violent crazy people. From Bang's perspective, it was "Fun times! Lots of exploration and danger."
  3. Close enough for Bang to personally sleep in a cot in Gil's quarters to care for him during the time when he was about to crash from the stress of having a Klaus overlay on his mind, and even close enough for her to actually beg to Agatha and to Tarvek to fix him.


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