TV-Series
Description
Edward is a tall Shadow who resides on the second floor of Lord Grandfather's Wing and serves as the warden of the Children's Building. He has slicked-back gray hair, grayish-blue eyes, and is known for wearing a distinctive yellow and black floral-patterned suit. Having already completed the process of Fusion with his living doll named Ed, he is an adult Shadow who can voluntarily switch between his Shadow form and his living doll form, with Ed being the name used for his human face.
His personality is defined by an overwhelming ambition and a perfectionist nature. Edward is an overachiever driven by a selfish desire to elevate his social standing within the house, and his primary goal is to join the third floor as one of Lord Grandfather's close aides. This relentless pursuit of recognition and power makes him a man to be feared, as he will stop at nothing to achieve his aims, and he has little concern for ruining either his superiors or his subordinates in the process. According to another character named Ryan, his personality can be described as "clingy". He hates anything that does not go according to his will and is prone to making blunders due to his obsession with taking credit. While intelligent, diligent, and competent, his perfectionism and emotional attachments are considered weaknesses by the higher-ranking Shadows on the third floor.
In his role within the story, Edward is first seen as the proctor for the Debut, a test taken by new Shadow and living doll pairs including Kate and Emilico. His goal as the examiner was not to evaluate the participants fairly but to put on a good show for the third-floor lords and appear strict and highly selective. After Kate's successful performance in the Debut, Edward was promoted to manager of the Children's Wing, succeeding the previous manager Thomas. However, upon taking the position, he made a critical error by using the name Edward while in his living doll form, a mistake that would haunt him for a long time.
Edward's primary antagonism is directed toward Kate, whom he despises and views as a potential rebel within the Shadow family. His hatred stems from his own ambition and his belief that Kate poses a threat to the order of Shadows House, especially after he suspects she has been concealing her soot ability. While Kate is indeed a rebel, Edward's suspicions are based on her cautious behavior rather than concrete evidence. He makes several attempts to expose her, including disguising himself as a shadowy figure to contact and recruit Doug and Sarah as spies. In the anime adaptation, an original storyline was created in which he disguises himself as a faceless doll to kidnap Emilico in order to lure out Kate.
Key relationships for Edward include his former debutante classmates Aileen and Gerald, with whom he conspires to ascend to the third floor, considering them comrades in his ambition. He also has connections to Christopher, with whom he was synced, as well as to the star bearers and other enforcers within the Children's Building. Despite his scheming, Edward is not well-liked; the children's Shadows and even the third-floor Shadows keep their distance from him due to his ambition and methods.
Edward's notable ability is the manipulation of sound waves by vibrating the air with his soot. This power allows him to alter his own voice, perfectly mimic the voices of others, and inflict direct auditory damage on his targets, potentially causing them to faint or collapse. He can also use this ability to disguise or deceive others about his identity. Outside of his soot powers, Edward is proficient at playing the piano, an activity he often engages in to calm himself when in a bad mood.
Throughout his development, Edward's drive to include emotions in certain events and his obsessive desire for recognition are shown to be his undoing, causing him to fail in the eyes of Lord Grandfather and the third-floor adults. His failures are often a direct consequence of his own need for prestige, and while he remains a cunning and ruthless figure, his emotional recklessness frequently undermines his own schemes.
His personality is defined by an overwhelming ambition and a perfectionist nature. Edward is an overachiever driven by a selfish desire to elevate his social standing within the house, and his primary goal is to join the third floor as one of Lord Grandfather's close aides. This relentless pursuit of recognition and power makes him a man to be feared, as he will stop at nothing to achieve his aims, and he has little concern for ruining either his superiors or his subordinates in the process. According to another character named Ryan, his personality can be described as "clingy". He hates anything that does not go according to his will and is prone to making blunders due to his obsession with taking credit. While intelligent, diligent, and competent, his perfectionism and emotional attachments are considered weaknesses by the higher-ranking Shadows on the third floor.
In his role within the story, Edward is first seen as the proctor for the Debut, a test taken by new Shadow and living doll pairs including Kate and Emilico. His goal as the examiner was not to evaluate the participants fairly but to put on a good show for the third-floor lords and appear strict and highly selective. After Kate's successful performance in the Debut, Edward was promoted to manager of the Children's Wing, succeeding the previous manager Thomas. However, upon taking the position, he made a critical error by using the name Edward while in his living doll form, a mistake that would haunt him for a long time.
Edward's primary antagonism is directed toward Kate, whom he despises and views as a potential rebel within the Shadow family. His hatred stems from his own ambition and his belief that Kate poses a threat to the order of Shadows House, especially after he suspects she has been concealing her soot ability. While Kate is indeed a rebel, Edward's suspicions are based on her cautious behavior rather than concrete evidence. He makes several attempts to expose her, including disguising himself as a shadowy figure to contact and recruit Doug and Sarah as spies. In the anime adaptation, an original storyline was created in which he disguises himself as a faceless doll to kidnap Emilico in order to lure out Kate.
Key relationships for Edward include his former debutante classmates Aileen and Gerald, with whom he conspires to ascend to the third floor, considering them comrades in his ambition. He also has connections to Christopher, with whom he was synced, as well as to the star bearers and other enforcers within the Children's Building. Despite his scheming, Edward is not well-liked; the children's Shadows and even the third-floor Shadows keep their distance from him due to his ambition and methods.
Edward's notable ability is the manipulation of sound waves by vibrating the air with his soot. This power allows him to alter his own voice, perfectly mimic the voices of others, and inflict direct auditory damage on his targets, potentially causing them to faint or collapse. He can also use this ability to disguise or deceive others about his identity. Outside of his soot powers, Edward is proficient at playing the piano, an activity he often engages in to calm himself when in a bad mood.
Throughout his development, Edward's drive to include emotions in certain events and his obsessive desire for recognition are shown to be his undoing, causing him to fail in the eyes of Lord Grandfather and the third-floor adults. His failures are often a direct consequence of his own need for prestige, and while he remains a cunning and ruthless figure, his emotional recklessness frequently undermines his own schemes.