Angelina Durless, also known as Madam Red, is the younger sister of Rachel Phantomhive and the maternal aunt of Ciel Phantomhive. She was born into the Durless family and grew up as a bookish and shy young woman who disliked her inherited red hair, often hiding it until Vincent Phantomhive, Ciel’s father, complimented her appearance. That moment transformed how she saw herself, leading her to adopt red as her defining color and dress exclusively in that shade. Though she fell in love with Vincent, he married her sister Rachel, and Angelina eventually married Baron Barnett, with whom she found happiness. She pursued medical studies and became one of the few female doctors in Victorian England, a role that gave her an unusual degree of independence and education. Her life took a devastating turn when a carriage accident killed her husband and caused a miscarriage so severe that it left her unable to bear children. The loss of her unborn child and her fertility plunged her into profound grief.

In public, Madam Red presented a flamboyant, loud, and irreverent personality. She was known as the queen of high society parties, loved to tease others, and did not shy away from crude humor or physical flirtation. Beneath this confident exterior, however, she carried deep emotional wounds. She channeled her pain into resentment toward women who she believed did not appreciate the ability to have children, particularly those who sought abortions. This resentment, combined with her medical expertise and access to vulnerable patients, led her to become the serial killer known as Jack the Ripper alongside the grim reaper Grell Sutcliff, who posed as her butler. Together they murdered prostitutes in Whitechapel.

Madam Red’s motivations were rooted in a tangled blend of love, loss, and jealousy. She genuinely loved her sister Rachel and her nephew Ciel, and she considered Ciel like a son, keeping watch over him after the Phantomhive manor burned and his parents died. Yet her inability to conceive and the destruction of her family twisted her maternal instincts into a murderous crusade. Her relationship with Ciel was central to her role in the story: she acted as a doting aunt who invaded his home unannounced and fussed over him, but she was also the hidden antagonist of the Jack the Ripper arc. When Ciel and Sebastian uncovered her secret, she had the chance to kill him but could not bring herself to do it because she saw the face of her dead sister in his features. In that moment of hesitation, Grell killed her, declaring that she was no longer fit to wear red. Her funeral was held quietly, and Ciel referred to her as Aunt Ann.

As a character, Madam Red underwent little direct growth because her story ended with her death, but her development is revealed through flashbacks and her actions. She transformed from a shy, insecure girl into a confident, scandalous socialite, then descended into a grief-driven killer. Her medical abilities were notable: she was a competent doctor who served female and child patients, used her knowledge to commit murders, and employed scalpels and surgical precision in her attacks. She also had a sharp intellect that she applied to her schemes, and she moved easily between the roles of aristocratic lady and clandestine murderer. Her distinctive red hair and matching attire became symbols of both her pride and her torment.