| “ | Ah, but you did see me through the security camera at the entrance just now, didn’t you? I don’t think I should have to introduce myself twice... is what I’d like to say, but since you’ve taken the trouble to ask, let me introduce myself. Re-introduce myself repeatedly, if you want! Because I love myself with an undying, unstoppable passion! Doubs. Doubs Hewley. If you like the name, I’ll say it again! My name is Doubs Hewley. Every time I say my name, I’m greeted by a round of applause, a rush of human blood, and the shouts of kittens. They all cry, ‘All Hail Doubs Hewley’! That is the world of my ideals, but I wonder if such a day will ever come? | ” |
–Doubs to Theodosius M. Waldstein, Vamp! IV | ||
Doubs Hewley (ドゥー・ヒューリー Dū Hyūrī) the "Iridescent Extra" (玉虫色のエキストラ Tamamushi-iro no Ekisutora) is a vampire motivated solely by personal amusement. He has no qualms with betrayal, and will do anything as long as it interests or amuses him.
He has proudly admitted that he is a vigintuple agent. Knowing this, The Organization allows him to remain a member - they just haven't allowed him access to important information.
Appearance[]
Doubs wears a luminous top hat that appears to be a shade of green. His suit also appears to be a shade of green, but it is made of a 'luminous fabric' that shines in colors like "gold, red, and blue" depending on the way light reflects on it.
His hat is so large it covers his eyebrows, making it difficult for one to read his expression.
He is an extremely tall man who appears to be a young fellow in his twenties.
Personality[]
| “ | “Merry April Fool’s! Trick or Lie!” | ” |
Doubs is an entertainer - he loves to entertain and be entertained. He loves extravagance. This love manifests itself in the form of small matters such as practical jokes, but in the more serious matter of traitorship.
That is to say, Doubs is a man who acts on his own whims. He'll do whatever amuses or interests him, which means that he has no qualms about betraying others.
He is very verbose, often speaking in an overly dramatic way. While some might take his demeanor for stupidity, it is clear that he is an intelligent man. Though he is a troublemaker, he is a clever troublemaker. He will go so far as to bug people with listening devices to gather the information that suits him.
Doubs carries candy on his person and often offers it to his companions, and he often peppers his sentences with alliterative words (e.g. 'terribly troublesome; incredibly inelegant').
Chronology[]
Pre-2005[]
During the 1920s, Doubs was a member of an North American circus troupe based in New York alongside child acrobat Claire Stanfield. He billed himself as a vampire, and regularly used his powers for his performances - such as transforming his top hat into a flock of bats, and splitting himself in two. The circus troupe eventually disbanded and scattered after they had a violent run-in with a large gang.
At some point following Doubs' induction into the Organization, Melhilm Herzog asks him to look into the situation of Elsa Wenders. Doubs eventually reports to Melhilm that "the vampire named Elsa died by the love of humans," which Melhilm takes at face value to mean "humans killed Elsa."
2005 - Vamp! IV[]
In 2005, Doubs pays a visit to Waldstein Castle on the island Growerth, hoping to speak with the castle's resident Doctor Theodosius M. Waldstein . He encounters the human Michael Dietrich while waiting at the entrance to the castle's laboratory, and the two strike up a conversation. After introducing himself, he correctly guesses that Michael is Ferret von Waldstein's suitor, and offers him candy before asking if 'Doctor' might be inside the laboratory.
Michael presses the doorbell repeatedly, to no avail. Doubs speaks into the intercom and laughs that it would be in the doctor's best interest to stop pretending that he isn't home, cheerfully threatening that he might do something to Michael if Theo doesn't hurry up and open the door. Theo replies to him via intercom, and remotely unlocks the door for him.
Inside the laboratory, Theo exchanges pleasantries with Michael, and asks Doubs who he is. Doubs spreads his arms wide and delivers a grandiose self-introduction. Unimpressed, Theo clarifies that he wants to know why Doubs has come to see him, clearly not in the mood for Doubs' little games. Doubs remarks that Viscount Gerhardt von Waldstein had told him that Theo liked harmless jokes, and when Theo admits that he's not been feeling particularly humorous, Doubs slyly deduces that the 'incident six months ago' is the reason for Theo's melancholia.
Theo identifies Doubs as 'one of them', which Doubs happily affirms. Theo coldly refuses his offer of candy, and Doubs closes his fist over the sweet -- only for a black cane to rise up out of his hand, awing Michael. Doubs says that he has a knack for magic tricks, and that "holding magic shows for vampires each and every night is the most magnificent joy of [his] life." Michael is fully on board with this until he remembers that there's already a vampire magician in the castle called Mage. Their characterization overlaps.
Doubs sinks to his knees (supporting himself with his cane) at the thought that there is another stage magician vampire, and he laments that his most dreaded moment has arrived -- to lose his 'unique idiosyncrasy' is to lose proof of his own identity. He declares that he must challenge Mage to a duel, and beseeches Michael to go fetch Mage on his behalf - giving him an entire bag of candy as recompense.
Once Michael is gone, Theo sits down and with a sigh estimates that they have at least ten minutes. He begrudgingly acknowledges Doubs' cunning in sending the boy away, but emphasizes that it'd be best if Doubs quickly disclosed his business.
Doubs snickers, strikes the ground with his cane once more, and gets to the point: he is a 'lowly officer' of The Organization, his color is iridescence, and the moniker the Viscount gave him is 'the Iridescent Extra.' Theo sighs at the Organization's obsession with monikers, wondering if all Colors have cartoonish nicknames; Doubs notes that those who are 'too embarrassed' to come up with a moniker themselves are assigned one by a committee, and opines that it's really better to choose a winning moniker on your own before you're stuck with something unflattering.
Like Theo's very own nickname of "mass murderer," which has quite a lot to do with why Doubs is here. Theo asks if Melhilm Herzog ordered Doubs to kill him, which Doubs emphatically denies -- what motivation would the Organization have to assassinate Theo? Does Doubs really look like the old Theo, the one who enjoyed meaningless murder?
Theo ignores the provocation and demands to know just what the Organization wants with him. Doubs asks if Theo has heard of the 'mysterious incident' that took place in the mountains of southern Germany last week, and Theo spits that he wasn't responsible for the massacre. Doubs prattles on about how every media channel is swamped with reports about the devastated village and its lone survivor, praising the disaster as a 'sensational news story' for relieving one's boredom.
He notes that there is one local rumor that hasn't been circulated by the media - the rumor that the villagers were killed by a vampire. It's a rumor that the Organization can't take likely...given Theo's precedent. Conflicted, Theo assumes that the Organization is suspecting him. Doubs tuts that while some Organization members do suspect Theo, Gerhardt argued that Theo's involvement was 'impossible', and even Melhilm thought Theo's involvement unlikely.
Most importantly, Doubs doesn't suspect him either.
At Theo's confusion, Doubs continues that the Organization has a great deal of information on Theo in their grasp, including on Theo's past crimes...which were much more atrocious than this village incident. Theo unfocuses, recalling a certain memory with vivid detail. Noticing this, Doubs leans in close and with a few words, jolts Theo out of his thoughts so abruptly that he screams and shoves his chair back.
From the laboratory entrance, Michael calls out that he has brought the Mage. As their footsteps approach, Theo expresses surprise at how quickly the time had passed. Doubs admits that his own 'riotous rambling' took up quite a bit of time, and comments that even though he'd used every provocation in the book to try and get Theo angry, Theo ended up falling asleep! Theo immediately shoots down the reward of one candy.
Michael enters the room and announces that Mage will show up shortly, apologizing to Doubs for his comments on the two magicians' characters overlapping. He'll still think that Doubs is swell even if he loses to Mage - after all, anyone who notices his relationship with Ferret can't be a bad person. Doubs chuckles that Michael will change his tune once he learns the truth of who Doubs is - yes, Michael will come to hate him, and he can't wait to see the look on the teenager's face when he learns what that truth is.
The door opens again to reveal the freeloading members of the NEET Squad, eager to witness the magic duel between Mage and the challenger. They are dismayed to realize that Doubs is the challenging magician, as is Mage himself when he arrives soon after. Doubs recognizes him, and snickers that he's looking forward to seeing how much Mage's magic has improved since he worked with Watt Stalf. Michael asks if the two know each other, and one of the freeloaders informs him that Doubs is one of the Colors of the Organization - Watt doesn't even compare to him.
Doubs' tone flips from jovial to one filled with malice, and he affirms that yes, he is an officer of the very same Organization that created the Eater responsible for attacking Ferret, paralyzing Michael's right hand, and wreaking havoc upon Growerth. In identifying his position as the enemy, he intends to provoke and relish a dismayed reaction from Michael; Michael's back is turned, and Doubs circles around to take a look at his face.
It turns out that Michael isn't bothered at all by this revelation, much to Doub's surprise. He ends up taking quite an interest in Michael, whose 'pathetic flaw' doubles as an 'incredible strength'. When Doubs learns that Michael is looking for part-time work, he divulges that a certain 'large event' is taking place at the end of the month, and that the Organization is currently looking for extra help. Michael takes time to think about it, but eventually takes Doubs up on the offer after consulting with the Viscount.
When the event draws near, Doubs and Michael leave Growerth and travel together to where the Organization is meeting in southern Germany. During the journey, Michael lets out a sneeze which Doubs finds uncommonly unusual sounding - he knows of only one other human who can manage such an odd-sounding sneeze. When Doubs asks if it's a cold, Michael jokes that's probably just someone talking about him, to which Doubs suggests that he sneeze one more time - since in Eastern tradition, the number of sneezes is said to specify the type of talk that goes on behind one's back.
Once they arrive in southern Germany, they take a black luxury car to a private country house owned by the Mars Family. On the way, they pick up Organization officer Fannie Lou after spotting him walking along the road, and offer a lift to Wol (a chihuahua vampire) as well, which he turns down. During their conversation, Doubs nearly reveals to Michael Fannie's 'true form,' and Fannie panics and shuts Doubs' mouth forcibly.
The driver drops them off at the manor, and the three head for the dining room where the Organization meeting is taking place. Doubs elects to eavesdrop rather than immediately heading in, explaining to Fannie that "it won't do to be anything but fashionably tardy." They are able to watch the interior proceedings with a laptop provided by a servant, during which time Doubs explains what Clans are to Michael.
He adds that Clan vampires tend to have the 'typical' abilities seen in the media, but (of course) no Clan has been able to use all abilities equally -- and that no vampire is powerful enough to dream of conquering the world like in movies - at least, not until recently. Michael realizes that Doubs is referencing his friend Relic, and Doubs replies that yes - Relic was born to become the 'ultimate' vampire. He notes that the Clans generally view all non-clan vampires with disgust, as lowly monsters who have crossed the line of normalcy.
Fannie pipes up that the Clans are awful, in his mind - they tried to kill him because he wasn't a 'true vampire.' Just a fake that didn't evolve from a human.
They resume watching the conference, and Doubs affects shock when Aiji Ishibashi tells Caldimir Aleksandrov to count his blessings that Doubs (and Mirald Mirror and Hawking) hasn't shown up yet. Fannie snorts that Doubs gets in the way of every conference.
A sickly young man coming down the hallway is horrified upon spotting Michael and runs away. Michael takes chase after him; Doubs tells Fannie that that man was Rudi Wenders, one of the Organization's employed Eaters, and that after half-murdering Michael six months ago, Rudi (near death himself) was revived by Garde Ritzberg and is now useless as a hunter. He's extremely pleased that things are "finally getting more interesting," and is torn on what to do - on the one hand, he's immensely interested in the conference, but on the other hand, he badly wants to follow Rudi and Michael.
Fannie calls him sick and disgusting, only to stiffen when he spots a young girl on the laptop screen. Doubs identifies her as the sole village survivor, and teasingly asks if she has stolen Fannie's heart. Fannie is entranced by her, mumbling that he wants to suck out all her blood. Doubs idly wonders which one of them is the truly disgusting one, before muttering that none of Fannie's desires will matter if she's not in one piece when they meet - after all, sometimes humans are capable of atrocities that even monsters like Fannie can't imagine.
After waxing lyrical about Michael's personality and his interest in the boy's future, Doubs sends Fannie off to fetch Michael and Rudi since it's almost time for Michael's 'job,' which is to help protect the village girl (Alma) along with Rudi, Fannie, and others. Alone, Doubs strides forth into the conference and announces his arrival. Half of the members cheer, while the other half frown. Gerhardt chastises him for being late, and inquires about an email he'd received from Growerth -- has Doubs brought a guest?
Doubs defers his answer. Over the course of several minutes, he briefs the Organization on the secrets of the village massacre: first, the village was actually a vampire settlement; second, the vampires were hunted by Eaters; third, the lone survivor survived because she was human; and finally, the Eaters are now after her because they afraid they might have seen their faces (and identify them to the police).
Hours later, members of the Organization congregate at a 'rest area' and other locations in the forested mountains, where hordes of Eaters have spread out in order to catch Alma. Several Organization members (including Doubs, Romy Mars, Rude Gardastance, and Dorothy Nifas) come across an unfamiliar vampire who appears to be the Eaters' leader by the manor gates. Romy demands to know what the vampire's business is with her house, and it is soon made clear that this vampire is a Clan vampire. Rude concludes that his Clan must be plotting to destroy the Organization and masterminded the village encounter; the vampire corrects him: although the attackers were Eaters under his influence, the ones who'd hired the Eaters to attack the village were humans from a city at the foot of the mountain.
Rude proceeds to humiliate the vampire with some excellent bluffing, and the vampire finally laughs and says that the Eaters will be more than enough to destroy the Organization. He raises his hands into the air, and suddenly light after light after light flicker on in the woods surrounding the Mars country house. Every light comes from a helmet of an Eater, all whom are carrying weapons with their lights directed at the officers.
Rude acknowledges the sheer number of Eaters at the vampires command, and jibes that it'll be that more humiliating for the vampire if his plan fails. The vampire counters that there's only a fraction of the Organization's full number at the manor - and oh, by the way, did the Organization by any chance receive a report that there were only twenty or thirty odd Eaters to contend with?
The vampire snaps his fingers, and Doubs chuckles loudly and moves through the throng of officers to greet the vampire with a bow, addressing him as "Master Levillio." He turns and give the officers another bow, glibly remarking that he hopes they don't think too badly of him. Now he can finally be considered part of a clan, though his position may be lowly.
Levillio guffaws at the officers, taunting them for having been betrayed by one of their own. Fully convinced that he has successfully driven his foes to despair, he brags that since they were fooled by Doub's misinformation, they sent most of their officers to the east side of the forest. While Levillio did send Eaters there, his true goal has always been Romy, a former cornerstone of a Clan who now has thousands of vampires flocking to her as their leader.
Romy expresses surprise - that she is a leader is news to her. Levillio tells her there's no need to play dumb, and Doubs agrees that it's 'inelegant' of her to deny her involvement. After all, she was the one who assigned him to play the 'terribly troublesome' role of a mole. Romy claps her hands in remembrance, recalling that she had indeed been in charge of Doubs' pay.
Momentarily confused, Levillio pins her for a fool and chortles at the idea of her having been caught in a trap set by her own mole. He asks if Doubs has any final words for his former comrades, and Doubs thinks for a moment. With a snide grin, he proposes a bet: will the Organization be able to defeat all of the two hundred plus Eaters in the forest? The stakes are, of course, the officers' lives and his own. Levillio joins Doubs in laughter, delighted at the 'cruel' gamble. He elects to join the wager -- if the officers can defeat every single one of his Eaters, he'll gladly surrender his own life.
With that, Doubs asks the crowd to raise their hands if they think themselves capable of defeating the Eaters. Every single officer raises a hand - including Doubs himself. Doubs adds that he's betting that the Organization will win. Levillio growls for an explanation, and Doubs chuckles that he only means that once the battle is over, he'll hand his very life to Levillio in a ritual of loyalty. It is obvious to everyone that he is only flattering the Clan member. Levillio cackles that he'll petition the head of his Clan himself to have Doubs accepted as their jester. Doubs bows at the "heavenly honor."
With a signal from Levillio, one hundred plus Eaters charge forth at the officers.
Romy proceeds to single-handedly devastate the majority the attacking Eaters, demoralizing the Eaters who are still conscious. Rude offers to provide the defeated Levillio with a ten thousand dollar consolation gift before he leaves. Ignoring Rude, Levillio glares at Doubs, who hadn't said something like this would happen. Doubs retorts that Levillio never asked - why hadn't he?
Levillio is outraged that Doubs was a double agent all along, to which Doubs takes insult. He's not some mere double agent - not at all. With an impressive leap, Doub jumps onto the top of Levillio's trailer and declares that he is a vigintuple agent, reeling off a list of all of his current affiliations. Noticing the officers' disinterest, Levillio lashes out at Rude that they knew Doubs was like this from the start, and Dorothy quips that she thought everyone knew Doubs was a traitor. When Doubs first attended an Organization conference, he introduced himself as an informant who sells intelligence to others. The Organization keeps sensitive information away from him on principle.
When Levillio refuses to give up his dream to destroy the Organization, Rude's tyrannosaurus rex emerges from the woods and gobbles him up.
A few days after the battle is settled, Doubs (still at the Mars estate) calls Loa via telephone after her massacre of the Sunford Clan in the Sunford's castle stronghold. On the other end, Loa hands the home to Levillio, who had barely managed to survive the t-rex - only to just now return home and find his Clan extinguished. Doubs apologizes to Levillio for the events upon the mountain, and explains that he thought he'd call to remind Levillio of their bet - doesn't Levillio remember how he wagered his life that his Eaters would defeat the Organization?
On the other end of the phone, Loa impales Levillio with a silver laced blade. Doubs cheerfully makes it clear that he happily handed over Levillio's life to Loa, and who knows? If he pleases Loa, he might just survive...though from the sounds of it, too late for that.
Loa snaps up Levillio's body into the maw of a wolf (which she'd opened in the floor), and laughs that she is the castle now - only to fall to her knees and swear at the strain 'her' powers are causing her body. Doubs asks if she's alright, and Loa thanks him for role in giving her group a foothold in Europe. Doubs is intrigued at her use of the word 'we', curious to learn whom her allies are.
With the 'cutest voice' she can muster, Loa uses excessive profanity to emphasize how she has no information whatever to dump on someone like Doubs, and threatens to "kiss [his] ass and tear it off with [her] teeth" should she ever see his face again.
Doubs mentions that Loa has hung up to QAWSED, whom has been speaking to Doubs via a laptop. He glances out the window to see Ferret beating Michael and remarks that Michael has already fit right in with the Organization. QAWSED asks why Doubs brought Michael when he'd previously said he was going to bring Theo - recalling Doubs' report to Melhilm on Elsa. He suspects that Doubs is plotting something, and Doubs says he didn't mean for Melhilm to take his words at face value.
(As a side note - thanks to a listening bug Doubs planted in Theo's desk, he was privy to Theo's private confession to The Professor regarding his past with Elsa Wenders and Theresia Riefenstahl. The confession took place during the mountain battle.)
After a pause, he continues that he doesn't actually take that much entertainment from meaningless deaths. He'd been so little entertained by the village massacre that he decided to give Theo a petite poke. To think that he and Theo shared such a strange connection!
QAWSED supposes that this is true; Doubs may be a hedonist, but he's not homicidal, and QAWSED apologizes. Still watching Michael, Doubs admits that he ended up bringing Michael along out of curiosity. What sort of future awaits the boy? Ferret herself is a special case - she also walks the line between humans and vampires. Doubs almost wants to cheer for their relationship, completely taking QAWSED by surprise.
Doubs response is a touch lonely: "I do always say: As long as I am entertained." He adds that Michael and Ferret are so innocent he can't help but feel that only tragedy awaits their future. So...if they somehow beat the odds and find happiness, wouldn't it feel like winning the lottery?
Trivia[]
- Doubs frequently conspires with Mirald and Hawking to interfere with Caldimir's meetings, since they find his 'babbling' dreadfully dull.
- In turn, Mirald will sometimes contact him when he comes across potential for entertainment.
- He has numerous eavesdropping bugs at his disposal, all of which he has placed QAWSED in charge of.
- He likes popcorn.
- He received his moniker from the Viscount.
- Many vampires believe that QAWSED is just another one of Doubs' pranks.
- Claire Stanfield, one of Doubs' fellow circus performers, is a major character in Baccano!, another light novel series written by Ryohgo Narita that takes place in the Naritaverse.
- He always pops up to alleviate the boredom of the Organization offers, regularly setting up all sorts of "shocking events" for their 'benefit.' Past examples include:
- the Stress-Busting Human Hunt (it turned out all the humans were master Hunters)
- the Vampire Fight Club
- the Spontaneous Tour of a Dangerous Werewolf Village
- the Midnight Cathedral Visit