TV-Series
Description
The enigmatic proprietor of a mysterious pet shop in Chinatown, the character known as Conte D. or Count D serves as the central figure of his story. While he politely denies this title, insisting it belongs only to his traveling grandfather, almost everyone refers to him by this name, often shortened to Count or simply D. He is a slight, androgynous figure of Chinese descent, almost always dressed in traditional and elaborate changshan robes. His most distinctive feature is his heterochromatic eyes: one is a deep purple while the other is a brilliant gold. Notably, his right eye is said to hold the power to erase a person's memory.
On the surface, Count D presents a consistently calm, soft-spoken, and courteous demeanor. He has an insatiable sweet tooth and a particular fondness for confectionery, a weakness that is well-known to those who interact with him, and he can often be bribed with pastries or rare cakes. Despite his polite and sometimes dramatic flair, he harbors a deep-seated disdain for humanity as a whole. He claims to dislike human children and is generally unimpressed by human folly. His genuine love and empathy are reserved for the myriad of animals, mythical and mundane, that inhabit his shop. He cares for them with a tenderness he rarely shows to his human clientele.
Count D is not human, though his exact nature is left somewhat open to interpretation. He is the last of an ancient Chinese civilization that possessed a unique kinship with animals and served as wise men in the imperial palace. After a failed marriage proposal from a prince led to a genocide against his people, a single survivor fled into the mountains. On the verge of death, he was saved by the animals who asked him to remember the pain inflicted by humans and exact revenge. This survivor is the progenitor of Count D’s lineage. To perpetuate their existence, this line reproduces through imperfect cloning or duplication, meaning Count D, his father, and his grandfather (who now appears as a small winged creature named Q-chan) are essentially the same being recreated in a new body.
His motivations are complex and layered. As the caretaker of his shop, he provides supernatural pets to grieving or desperate customers. However, every sale comes with a three-term contract. When a customer inevitably breaks the rules due to their own greed or weakness, the consequences are swift and often fatal for the buyer, for which Count D accepts no responsibility. This process seems to serve as a form of judgment, exposing the flaws and sins of humanity. He once defined his shop as selling not just animals, but love, dreams, and hope, yet simultaneously, his family carries an ancient vow to avenge the destruction of their people. This creates a duality in his character: he wishes to help, but also seems destined to punish.
Count D’s primary relationship is with Detective Leon Orcot. While Leon is initially suspicious of D, believing him involved in drug or animal trafficking, the two develop a contentious but deep bond. They frequently bicker and fight, but Leon often brings sweets to bribe D for information, and they become reluctant allies who occasionally rely on one another. Through this connection, D also becomes attached to Leon’s younger brother, Chris. Although D professes to hate human children, he shows Chris a surprising amount of kindness and patience. Over the course of the narrative, D’s seemingly static personality evolves. His disdain for humanity is challenged by his interactions with Leon and others, revealing a more vulnerable and conflicted side beneath his calm exterior, particularly as the ancient conflict between his family and humanity comes to a head.
In terms of abilities, Count D possesses a wide array of supernatural powers. He is capable of communicating fluently with any animal, as well as seeing them in a humanoid form. He has accelerated healing, able to recover from severe wounds within hours, and his speed and strength far exceed what his slender frame suggests. He is also highly proficient in Chinese martial arts and can use a special incense to allow humans to perceive the true, sometimes human-like, forms of the pets they purchase. His knowledge of languages is vast, including English, Japanese, German, Italian, and presumably Chinese. While he denies being a vampire, his blood has unique properties, such as the ability to summon animals or to grant true death to the undead who seek to end their immortality. He is a vegetarian, specifically a lacto-ovo vegetarian, as eating meat would cause the animal souls within him to drive his instincts wild.
On the surface, Count D presents a consistently calm, soft-spoken, and courteous demeanor. He has an insatiable sweet tooth and a particular fondness for confectionery, a weakness that is well-known to those who interact with him, and he can often be bribed with pastries or rare cakes. Despite his polite and sometimes dramatic flair, he harbors a deep-seated disdain for humanity as a whole. He claims to dislike human children and is generally unimpressed by human folly. His genuine love and empathy are reserved for the myriad of animals, mythical and mundane, that inhabit his shop. He cares for them with a tenderness he rarely shows to his human clientele.
Count D is not human, though his exact nature is left somewhat open to interpretation. He is the last of an ancient Chinese civilization that possessed a unique kinship with animals and served as wise men in the imperial palace. After a failed marriage proposal from a prince led to a genocide against his people, a single survivor fled into the mountains. On the verge of death, he was saved by the animals who asked him to remember the pain inflicted by humans and exact revenge. This survivor is the progenitor of Count D’s lineage. To perpetuate their existence, this line reproduces through imperfect cloning or duplication, meaning Count D, his father, and his grandfather (who now appears as a small winged creature named Q-chan) are essentially the same being recreated in a new body.
His motivations are complex and layered. As the caretaker of his shop, he provides supernatural pets to grieving or desperate customers. However, every sale comes with a three-term contract. When a customer inevitably breaks the rules due to their own greed or weakness, the consequences are swift and often fatal for the buyer, for which Count D accepts no responsibility. This process seems to serve as a form of judgment, exposing the flaws and sins of humanity. He once defined his shop as selling not just animals, but love, dreams, and hope, yet simultaneously, his family carries an ancient vow to avenge the destruction of their people. This creates a duality in his character: he wishes to help, but also seems destined to punish.
Count D’s primary relationship is with Detective Leon Orcot. While Leon is initially suspicious of D, believing him involved in drug or animal trafficking, the two develop a contentious but deep bond. They frequently bicker and fight, but Leon often brings sweets to bribe D for information, and they become reluctant allies who occasionally rely on one another. Through this connection, D also becomes attached to Leon’s younger brother, Chris. Although D professes to hate human children, he shows Chris a surprising amount of kindness and patience. Over the course of the narrative, D’s seemingly static personality evolves. His disdain for humanity is challenged by his interactions with Leon and others, revealing a more vulnerable and conflicted side beneath his calm exterior, particularly as the ancient conflict between his family and humanity comes to a head.
In terms of abilities, Count D possesses a wide array of supernatural powers. He is capable of communicating fluently with any animal, as well as seeing them in a humanoid form. He has accelerated healing, able to recover from severe wounds within hours, and his speed and strength far exceed what his slender frame suggests. He is also highly proficient in Chinese martial arts and can use a special incense to allow humans to perceive the true, sometimes human-like, forms of the pets they purchase. His knowledge of languages is vast, including English, Japanese, German, Italian, and presumably Chinese. While he denies being a vampire, his blood has unique properties, such as the ability to summon animals or to grant true death to the undead who seek to end their immortality. He is a vegetarian, specifically a lacto-ovo vegetarian, as eating meat would cause the animal souls within him to drive his instincts wild.