is a gothic

Gothic fiction

Gothic fiction, sometimes referred to as Gothic horror, is a genre or mode of literature that combines elements of both horror and romance. Gothicism's origin is attributed to English author Horace Walpole, with his 1764 novel The Castle of Otranto, subtitled "A Gothic Story"...

 horror

Horror fiction

Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...

 shōjo manga by Kaori Yuki

Kaori Yuki

is a female Japanese manga artist best known for her gothic manga such as Earl Cain, its sequel Godchild, and Angel Sanctuary. Yuki debuted in 1987 with which ran in the manga anthology Bessatsu Hana to Yume published by Hakusensha. Her work is typically serialized in one of Hakusensha's two shōjo...

. The story tells about Prince Ludwig who is ordered by his father to find himself a wife more suitable (by more suitable, he means not dead) than the women he often brings into the castle. Along with his servant Wilhelm, they travel across the land in search of fair maidens from classic stories in hopes of finding Ludwig a wife.

Main characters

• Prince Ludwig: The hero (or, more accurately, anti-hero) of the manga who is known for his womanizing ways and his selfish actions. Ludwig is surprisingly intelligent, and solves the mysteries of some of the princesses. In the first chapter he is depicted as a necrophiliac and keeps a room full of female corpses in glass coffins, but by the second story he's given up on dead women and starts looking for a live bride. He has a fondness for well-endowed beauties, and chooses his potential brides judging mostly by their bust size. He bears an uncanny resemblance to his mother, queen Amalberga. Friederike was the first woman for whom he actually had feelings without noticing her breast size. After Friederike died, he always thought about her and got to see her again in the end. He is named after Jakob Ludwig Grimm
  Jacob Grimm
  Jacob Ludwig Carl Grimm was a German philologist, jurist and mythologist. He is best known as the discoverer of Grimm's Law, the author of the monumental Deutsches Wörterbuch, the author of Deutsche Mythologie and, more popularly, as one of the Brothers Grimm, as the editor of Grimm's Fairy...
  
  . He is a mere 19 years old, and stands at 186 cm tall. He is sometimes mistaken as a female, and is nicknamed Lui.
• Wilhelm: Lui's attendant. He is kind-hearted and easy to deceive. He is always being abused because of the prince's way of life. He and Lisette are childhood friends. It can be said that his patience and meekness keeps him with his master. He fills the role of the most prominent comic relief of the manga. As a child, Wilhelm wanted to be a knight but was too gentle. Ludwig took advantage of his kind heart and make Wilhelm a servant, partly to prevent others from ordering him around. He was named after Wilhelm Karl Grimm. Lisette loves him.

• Lisette: She is presented as a young girl in the beginning of the story, who is set up by Prince Ludwig and then deceived in believing that her parents sold her. She slaughters them with an axe, gaining the nickname "Red Riding Hood" after the massacre due to her blood-soaked mantle. After disappearing for a long time (during which she claimed she was sold as a prostitute), she reappears as a grown-up, mercenary killer on the hunt for Ludwig, bearing extreme hatred towards him. She is also obsessed with money, even taking gold from the City of the Dead. It is also suggested that she may have feelings for Wilhelm (in which she pulls him close to her) because she wanted him as a reward after Lui hired her. She was Wilhelm's childhood friend who treated Wilhelm kindly because she liked him.

• Dorothea: An eccentric witch with masochistic tendencies and possibly the bustiest character in the manga (she boasts a 65G cup, as Ludwig says). She is responsible for cursing princess Friederike and initially appears as some sort of villain, but then becomes attached to Ludwig and becomes his (unwanted) maid. As a witch she wields some impressive magical powers, which saved Ludwig's life at the cost of her own. Only in the end it is revealed that she lived for several centuries, reincarnating every time her current corporeal vessel died out. This loop is broken when Ludwig comes to her aid and sets her free, leaving her with one last life to live.

• Friederike: A princess blessed by twelve witches but cursed by a thirteenth (this one being Dorothea, the only "true" witch among the thirteen, the other twelve were ornamental, all mistresses of the king). She grew up believing that a crayfish blessed her mother and left her pregnant with her. During her 15the birthday, she follows her father to a tower where she discovers where he hides his mistresses. One jealous mistress tells Friederike that she was the result of a brutal rape and all her talents and looks were not her own by nature. This made Friederike lose faith in her parents; not completely believing the words of the mistress, she enters the tower and pricks herself on spindle (drugged with a powerful narcotic) making a deal with herself: should she fall asleep, then all the mistress's words where true. With this, she plunges into a century-long sleep. When Ludwig encounters her via the possession of a pocketwatch buried in a field where Ludwig passes by, she is still locked in her dream state. After Ludwig pursues Dorothea the witch who "cursed" Friederike and uncovered the drug used on the spindle, it becomes clear that the briar castle curse only became a reality because Friederike's mother was a witch and passed her magical blood to her daughter. Ludwig confirms Friederike's abilities and looks as her own and her birth. His words break Friederike's guard and he enters the castle at last and awakes her. However as no one can actually sleep for 100 years, after she awakes she dies. Friederike always worries about Lui, even agreeing to help Dorothea to save him. She is the only princess that Lui truly loves.

• Julius: Prince Julius appears out of nowhere as the King's stepson, and thus Ludwig's stepbrother. This is, however, a mere hoax plotted by his "mother" Petronella, a witch craving for the title of queen. Mistaking Amalberga for Ludwig, he bears an extreme hatred towards him for most of the series, but it is actually revealed that he fell madly in love with him some times prior to the beginning of the story. Wielder of some potent witchcraft, he is allowed to stay under Ludwig's protection in the end.

• Hansel and Gretel: Abused children who were abandoned and forced to wander and live miserably, to the point of almost dying of starvation, until they were took in by a murderous and sadistic woman. The experience left the two, brother and sister, extremely deranged and cruel, and turned them into brutal assassins. They were hired by Julius to kill Ludwig when Lisette failed the same duty twice, and were apparently killed during one of these attempts. They were saved however, and were allowed to live with Julius in the care of Ludwig. For their assassinations, the two are by no means stealthy: Hansel wields an enormous and eerie-looking axe, while Gretel uses an oddly-shaped flamethrower.

Minor characters

• Amalberga: Ludwig's mother and the queen of her kingdom, she appears near the end of the manga. A warlike and fierce woman, the first time is seen she wears what appears to be a Schutzstaffel uniform and wields a bazooka. It is not mere cosmetics, for the queen is exceptionally feared due to her ferocity and explosive temper, especially by her husband. She bears an extreme physical resemblance to her son, so much in fact that Julius mistook her for Ludwig when she was, actually, the murderer of his sister. Her nickname is the Massacre Queen.

• Ludwig's Father: The King, mostly a comic relief due to his arguments with his son Ludwig and his fear of his wife, queen Almaberga.

• Petronella: A powerful witch that posed as Julius' mother and made herself known as a mistress of the King in his court. She actually took in Julius when he was exiled from the kingdom and taught him the arts of witchcraft, hoping to use him as a way to become queen herself. It is quite ironic that she never knew that the true queen never actually died or vanished, but was just waging war in nearby countries.

Manga

Written and illustrated by Kaori Yuki

Kaori Yuki

is a female Japanese manga artist best known for her gothic manga such as Earl Cain, its sequel Godchild, and Angel Sanctuary. Yuki debuted in 1987 with which ran in the manga anthology Bessatsu Hana to Yume published by Hakusensha. Her work is typically serialized in one of Hakusensha's two shōjo...

, the sixteen Ludwig Revolution chapters were serialized in Hana to Yume

Hana to Yume

is a semi-monthly Japanese shōjo manga magazine published by Hakusensha.The magazine is published on the 4th and 22nd of every month. It is often nicknamed as among the readers...

. Hakusensha collected the chapters in four bound volumes and published them from June 18, 2004 to December 18, 2007. The series is also licensed in Hong Kong by Culturecom Comics, in German by Carlsen Comics, and in French by Editions Tonkam.

Volume list

Drama CD

On November 22, 2006, Geneon Entertainment released a drama CD of the series. It featured Miyuki Sawashiro

Miyuki Sawashiro

is a female Japanese voice actress and singer who works for Mausu Promotion.She voiced Puchiko in the English dubbed releases of Di Gi Charat the Movie and Leave it to Piyoko, making her one of the few Japanese voice actors to have reprised a role in English in addition to the original Japanese...

, Tomokazu Sugita

Tomokazu Sugita

is a Japanese voice actor employed by Atomic Monkey. Best known for his role as Gintoki in Gintama, he also voices Kyon in The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. He is also one of the three hosts on the radio show Bururaji promoting the videogame Blazblue which is produced and released on Nico Nico...

, Yumi Kakazu

Yumi Kakazu

is a female seiyū from Kamifukuoka, Saitama . She is currently affiliated with Genki Project...

, and Akiko Yajima

Akiko Yajima

, born May 4, 1967, is a Japanese voice actress from Kashiwazaki, Niigata Prefecture.-Anime:*Battle Athletes Victory *Berserk *The Big O *Blood+...

.