Master of the Court


 * For other uses, see Master of the Court (disambiguation)

"She is the director of this movie theater. Gallerian's most beloved "daughter"."

- Ma

The Master of the Court, also known as the Clockworker's Doll and the Director Doll, was the awakened vessel of Sloth. Treated as the deceased daughter of Judge Gallerian Marlon, the Doll was taken to Evil's Theater after being seriously injured. Reinvigorated by Gear, the Doll took up her father's place as judge and convicted any trespassers to the theater. She pursued Gallerian's goals of utopia to eventually reunite with him. She was one of Irina Clockworker's reincarnations.

Miniature Garden Girl
"Papa is home, Michelle. While Papa was not here, did you get lonely?"

- Gallerian talking to the Doll

Sometime after Ma formed, she placed the soul of Irina Clockworker inside the Clockworker's Doll. In EC 978, she gave the doll to Gallerian Marlon and had him make a contract with Adam Moonlit in order to speak to the soul inside the doll, telling him soul was that of his deceased daughter, Michelle Marlon. Although hating the name "Michelle," the doll accepted the name in fear that her "father" would no longer love her if she told him her real name. Unable to walk and confined to a wheelchair, the doll was kept inside her room.

Not long after meeting Gallerian, she received a visit from him and Bruno, during which she chatted with her father; during their conversation, Gallerian declared he'd get her a wineglass, spoon, scissors, mirrors, and sword before they carried on their conversation. In the early EC 980s, the doll was attended to by Ma, before Gallerian entered the room and the two conversed; her "father" then spoke with her after the playwright left, promising to search for her "friends." Over time, Gallerian decorated her room with some of the vessels he'd acquired and she became familiar with the beings inside. Sometimes, the doll would sing for her "father".

During this time, the doll saw the bat Sickle always flying around her father. Later on, Sickle greeted her and she greeted him in turn, chatting with him and introducing him to her "friends," which Gallerian was continuing to collect. She then stated that she and her friends would be transferred to a theater in the forest due to bad people out to get them, looking forward to being able to watch movies. When Sickle called her Michelle, she admitted how that wasn't her real name and, when asked, shared her real name with the him before conversing further with the bat.

In EC 982, the doll was transferred to Evil's Theater after its completion in December of that year. During the Leviantan Civil War the following year, the doll was summoned to Gallerian's mansion by Adam, the doll confused to see what appeared to be two copies of Gallerian. As Adam insisted he was her husband and Gallerian insisted she was Michelle, "Michelle" learned that a citizen army was outside the mansion to attack Gallerian, with war having broken out. Resolving to protect her "father," the doll cast fire magic on the rioters, assuring Gallerian that the fire wouldn't affect the garden or the mansion.

As Adam questioned who she was, the doll replied that she was simply Gallerian's daughter, causing Adam to leave them in a rage. The mansion was soon set aflame; as Gallerian brought the doll to the study, she brushed off his apologies for getting her involved and the two tried to comfort each other in the face of their oncoming demise.

Gallerian soon after held the doll during his confrontation with Nemesis Sudou; afterwards, Gallerian was shot and the Doll was severely burned. She was later inherited by Ma along with the rest of the vessels of sin, and brought back to Evil's Theater several days later.

Evil's Theater
"Convict him, convict him, convict him anyway! Trial! Convict! Death!"

- Master of the Court

To sustain her life, the Clockworker's Doll was attached to the inner workings of Heartbeat Clocktower. Sometime afterward, the doll awakened and began singing the Clockwork Lullaby, attracting curious visitors to the theater who sought to attain Gallerian's legendary fortune. In reaction to Gear's cold treatment towards her, the Doll gifted him a Black Box made with blueprints from her mind.

In EC 990, the deteriorating gears broke down and the clock stopped, threatening her life. Due to Gear's sacrifice, the Marlon Spoon's powers transferred to her, healing her burns and restoring her. The Director Doll then took on Gallerian's title as the Master of the Court in respect to her father. With Ma's encouragement, the new Master of the Court decided to pursue Gallerian's plan of creating utopia by gathering the Seven Deadly Sins.

The doll established a courtroom in the theater's large hall and, using her power, put all visitors who got past the Master of the Graveyard on trial and would quickly find them guilty, sentencing them to death. With the entity Irregular inside her "womb", she treated him like her unborn child and sang to him the Clockwork Lullaby to heal him in preparation for his rebirth.

Later on, the doll tried Bruno after the latter entered the theater and declared him innocent in recognition of his service to Gallerian. After Gammon Octo managed to infiltrate the theater, he was captured and the doll swiftly trialed and convicted him. As the intruder was prepared for execution, the Waiter intervened, convincing the Master to spare Gammon by using him for chores; Gammon was then made the new "Gardener".

During this time, the Doll decided to have the song Red Shoe Parade play after her court adjourned before the convicted were executed. Afterward, the Master of the Court began investigating the past events in Evillious history that Ma and Gammon uncovered and wrote down. As such, she reviewed their their intelligence on Michaela, the departed Held, Elluka Clockworker, the Levianta Catastrophe, Père Noël, and the Toragay Epidemic.

After reviewing Gammon's report on his vision of her future, and hearing of Gammon's pessimistic view of the world's end, the doll eventually decided to continue with their plan for utopia regardless. In EC 998, she called the inhabitants to a "trial" meeting to discuss their search for the vessel of Wrath. There the Director Doll questioned Ma and was told that the key was in the possession of the Master of the Hellish Yard. Later during the meeting, she gave the Cursed Gardener permission to speak about his reasoning for coming to the theater, where he explained he came seeking the Venom Sword.

Later that year, the Doll gave birth to the twins Adam and Eve; in the process, her body was damaged. When Evil's Theater was destroyed by Punishment along with the rest of the world in EC 999, the Doll perished with the rest of the theater's inhabitants.

Personality and Traits
"Judge Gallerian's corrupt temperament seems to have been passed down to the Director Doll rather than his Marlon Spoon collectible."

- Gammon's writings about the Doll

Due to her circumstances as Gallerian's "daughter," the doll was naive about the outside world and therefore had a limited perception of right and wrong, struggling to develop a conscience. This caused the doll to become impressionable, particularly following Gallerian's death as Ma influenced her actions in Evil's Theater. Despite this, she occasionally expressed concern with her inability to understand her own actions and questioned the morality of what she was doing.

Having an enormous adoration for Gallerian, the doll based many of her actions around him, such as sparing those he cared for and taking up his role as judge in imitation of him. Emulating Gallerian as "Master of the Court," the doll acted with a serious demeanor and blindly treated even mundane things as if they were a trial or judicial review. Despite this, she was impatient and rushed her "trials" for intruders so that she could quickly convict them, holding no notion of justice or a proper judicial process.

Aside from this the doll was generally pleasant in personality, trying to make friends with all of the demons inside their vessels and similarly acting polite when talking with Sickle; she was even capable of innocent crushes, having a crush on Bruno. Despite this, she seemed disturbed by the idea she was the same as the vessels of sin and took comfort in any differences she had from them. The doll also had musical interests, singing the Clockwork Lullaby both before and after Gallerian's death; she also took a liking to the Red Shoe Parade song, finding it to be a fitting means for the convicted to enjoy their execution and trip to Hell afterward.

Skills and Abilities
"Due to the Marlon Spoon that became Gear of the clock tower, the Director Doll's burns are gone; she received a new power. However, power without purpose begins a meaningless rampage. She became a means to only make the death sentence to visitors."

- Excerpt of Gammon's writings

Because her vessel was made of Nechuha wood, the Doll's body was durable save for her legs, which were made of softer material at the joints. Unable to walk as a result, the Clockworker's Doll was often confined to a wheelchair while in Gallerian's home. The doll was capable of performing magic, however, apparently able to occasionally present the illusion that she was Michelle, the illusion being so strong that few could see through it. She was also able to summon a type of fire magic which would only burn humans.

After being severely burned, the Doll was permanently connected to the theater clock tower as a form of life support and was unable to survive without it. However, Gear's later sacrifice rejuvenated the Director Doll and gave her the capability to walk, as well as freely use the magic of the Marlon Spoon. Her body was also able to store the black box containing Irregular. The doll could also sing and was knowledgeable about how to perform the Clockwork Lullaby.

Character Connections
Gallerian Marlon: The doll's perceived father. The doll cared for Gallerian deeply and wished to please him, completely loyal to his wishes and singing for him often. Although aware that he had mistaken her identity, the Doll nonetheless considered him to be her father, becoming dependent on his love. Following his death, she continued to look to him for guidance and maintained a hope of saving him from Hell.

Ma: The Master of the Court's partner. The doll looked to Ma for guidance on how to gather together the Sins and acted on her theory that utopia would be created from assembling them. Despite this, the Master of the Court expressed uncertainty over whether Ma was right or not, and was initially reluctant to trust her.

Gammon Octo: A fellow member of the theater. She initially saw Gammon as a trespasser to be judged and executed, but after Waiter's intervention she became interested in his motives for coming to the theater. She expressed uncertainty over whether his vision of the end times was right or not.

Gear: The Master of the Court's caretaker. She acknowledged the role Gear had in her survival, but disagreed with his view on what would happen when the Seven Deadly Sins were reunited.

Irregular: The Master of the Court's perceived unborn child. She treated Irregular with motherly affection, such as in singing the Clockwork Lullaby to heal him, and maintained high expectations for the results of his birth.

Irina Clockworker: The creator of the Clockworker's Doll and the first incarnation of Master of the Court. She did not acknowledge Irina's role in her creation.

Eve Moonlit: The inspiration for the Master of the Court's appearance.

Held: A god who was also referred to with the title "Master of the Court."

Conceptualization and Origin

 * The type of wood the Doll is made from, Nechuha, spells ハチュネ (hachune) with its characters reversed; this is likely a reference to Hachune Miku.
 * The workshop the Doll was made in, Gine, is similarly a reference to the Doll's representative Vocaloid Hatsune Miku and her character item, the green onion; when reversed, Gine's characters spell ネギ (negi), meaning "green onion".
 * The Master of the Court's relation to the Court is connected to the event of Judgment in Hieronymus Bosch's The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things.

Curiosities

 * She is the only known awakened vessel of sin with the powers of two of the vessels of sin.
 * While Gallerian states that the Clockworker's Doll is unable to walk in Judgment of Corruption, she is shown standing several times in the PV for Miniature Garden Girl.
 * The Master of the Court shares the same title as the one attributed to Held.
 * Her profile on the Evils Kingdom website suggests her disability is due to the leg joints being made of a weaker material than the rest of the doll's body.

Gallery
Concept Art=