Marionetta is a Webtoon created by Míriam Bonastre Tur. The Webtoon's release was first teased on December 12, 2022 and was officially launched originally in English on Webtoon on December 27, 2022.[1] Marionetta has since gotten official Thai, French, and Korean translations. The series updates every Wednesday.
Synopsis[]
A mysterious circus. A missing friend. A dangerous deal. Julia Lazarrett is happy with her honest, predictable life. But when her best friend Kamille convinces her to visit a travelling circus, they both get more than for which they bargained. Thrust into a world full of secrets, magic, and death, Julia finds herself presented with the most horrific of deals in order to survive.[1]
Characters[]
Julia Lazarett[]
The first protagonist in the series, she is serious and doesn't believe in magic. The author states that she took a risk in making Julia the main character, as she is grumpy and against the other members of the circus, unlike Kamille who is happy and easygoing. Her father is in the military, which is where she got her serious nature from. Julia thinks Kamille has a crush on Sahed, even though she doesn't.
Kamille Bernaud[]
Julia's best friend. She joined the circus to escape her stifling life and being forced to choose a suitor. She has a crush on Rainah at first sight, implying that Kamille might be lesbian. When around Rainah, she acts very shy and flustered, to the point that Rainah has said that Kamille suffers from nerves. She is the polar opposite of Julia, open-minded and carefree.
Anthonn Gremminger[]
Owner, clown, and ringmaster of the circus, also known as Tonny. Tonny is the reason why the members of the circus are alive, and he forged the first contract between Dotty and her lover to ensure that they died, but were able to reside on Earth as ghosts. Sahed says that Tonny is the person who controls whether anyone lives or dies, which makes it so that the circus members do not actually have control of their lives like implied.
Sahed[]
The illusionist. He is an Ah'kon and seems to have a past with Steinheimer who, from information in the story, may have experimented on Ah'kon in order to take advantage of their magic. Colonel Amalia knows him as Steinheimer's favourite 'pupil' and 'the boy who disappeared'. It seems likely he joined the circus in order to escape Steinheimer and his 'science'. Julia suspects that Sahed made her sign the contract that forces her to kill Tonny in exchange for being able to be alive.
Rainah[]
Sahed's assistant, also an Ah'kon. Kamille has a crush on her and becomes Rainah's (and Sahed's) personal fashion designer. Her third eye is able to see the spirit world, and if she has all three eyes open she sees a combination of the spirit world and the human world. During Dotty's recounting of her and Bob's past we see that Rainah had already been with the troupe for a very long time, even sporting her characteristic long curls then. It's unclear just how long Rainah has been with the circus and exactly why she joined.
Dotty[]
A woman with rose colored hair, she was the first member of the circus. Although she was married, she was unsatisfied with all of her suitors and married the most pushover one. However, when she met Bob at a party they instantly fell in love. This caused her husband to become angry, and they were chased by the military. Luckily for them, a woman was able to offer them help and led them to Tonny. She and Bob signed a contract with him and died together in order to be able to freely love each other. Eventually, she found life in the mansion they were confined in lonely, and upon discovering that she needed to stay in proximity to keep the magic alive, came up with the idea of a traveling circus. She thinks that Julia has a crush on Tonny, and pushes them together, much to Tonny and Julia's embarrassment.
Robert (Bob)[]
Bob is Dotty's lover. They met at a party and clicked right away, and later exchanged both their lives in order to be free from the military men that were in pursuit of them. Bob is very empathetic and sweet. He is almost always seen beside Dotty.
Mr. Finnegan[]
Mr. Finnegan is a happy-go-lucky member of the cricus, who's act is a show with his many dogs. Currently an old man with gray hair, Mr. Finnegan was blonde in his younger years. He witnessed the win in the war against Betheid. Finn states that he joined the army when he was 18 because of a crush on a girl named Helena. When he was 18, he had just finished school and had no intention of joining the army. He wanted to do nothing in his life, and his parents didn't care because he was the youngest of his siblings. He met Helena by coincidence, and continued to spend time with her, but since she was older than him, he was unable to propose to her before she would receive suitors. His friend told Finn that if he joined the military, he could have marriage privileges earlier, per military rules. He immediately accepted, and he and Helena got married. However, due to being a soldier he missed many key moments in her life, and he started to feel numb. He could finally go home when the war ended thanks to Steinheimer's discoveries, but at 65 years old he was diagnosed with a terminal illness. He came across the circus by chance, and when Tonny took pity of him and told him about the contract, he accepted, becoming a member of the circus.
Paul Lazarrett[]
Julia's father, in the military. He is a very serious and patriotic man.
Colonel Amalia Steinheimer[]
Granddaughter of the renowned Steinheimer and a Colonel at the Aspet science centre, Amalia has an expressive though somewhat sadistic personality. So far she appears to be the main antagonist of Marionetta, mistreating Ah'kon and digging into the secrets of the circus.
Yerik[]
The closest person to Colonel Amalia, Yerik does not speak much but when he does he is serious and concise. Yerik is significantly taller than Amalia and tends to intimidate others, he lacks much humour and prefers to focus on his job. Because of this he is not fond of the required visits to schools with Amalia or the circus.
Trivia[]
- The beginning of the story, where Julia and Kamille chase the bus, is a mirror of the beginning of Hooky, Miriam’s other WEBTOON.
- Before Julia and Kamille joined the Anthonn's Traveling Troupe, Mr. Finnegan was the youngest circus member.
Gallery[]
