Christopher Shaldred

"You see, I want to challenge God. Would you believe me if I said I wanted to do that by destroying you, a man obviously gifted by Him, and in doing so overcome a massive inferiority complex left inside me by the fact of my artificial creation?"

- Christopher to Felix Walken

Christopher Shaldred (クリストファー・シャルドレード, Kurisutofā Sharudorēdo) is a homunculus and member of the Lamia, one of several factions under Huey Laforet's command.

In September 1933, Huey orders Christopher and the Lamia to infiltrate the Mist Wall and slaughter all twelve-hundred of its Nebula employees. It is there that Christopher experiences his first defeat in forty years (second defeat overall) at the hands of Felix Walken, surviving only to suffer near-fatal stab wounds not long after.

Christopher's life is saved by Ricardo Russo, whom he swiftly befriends and becomes bodyguard to following his recovery. While his stab wounds have long since healed, he is still yet to overcome the shock of his second defeat and as such remains no longer able to kill others.

Around 1980, Christopher attends the reportedly chaotic wedding of Firo Prochainezo and Ennis along with fellow Lamia member Rail. It has been hinted that he is still alive as of 2002.

Appearance
Christopher may be Lamia, but he is no vampire – though he is often mistaken as such. Not only does he possess eyes with crimson scleras, snow white irises, and pitch-black pupils, he possesses a full set of teeth that have been sharpened into fangs – a terrifying smile he deliberately chose after Nile broke all of his original teeth when he was somewhere around a decade old.

Christopher's fashion choices also contribute to his vampiric resemblance: he keeps his medium-long brown hair pulled back with a red band while tending to wear clothes at least a century or two out of date. Such is the case with his black-and-red outfit in 1933, which consists of a black jacket, black trousers, and a dark red shirt with a ruffled collar and sleeves; the clothes are described as, "stiff, formal, aristocratic clothes, the sort Western European nobles had worn a century or two ago."

Personality
(To be revised/rewritten).

Firo has said that Christopher is similar to Claire in personality - that they are similarly eccentric while carrying out gruesome deeds. In Chris' case, he is extremely theatrical - breaking out into song even when he is in the midst of slitting someone's throat. While even his team members call him insane, they still grudgingly respect him as the Lamia's figurehead leader. He's one of the more wildcard pawns under Huey's influence.

Christopher while being the one furthest away from nature in the group of homunculi in terms of appearance, loves and yearns to be with nature the most, entranced and often distracted by it. His love for nature stems from a deep insecurity over his own 'unnaturalness' - how he is an ultimately artificial being, created in a lab, and that no matter how much he wants to be natural (that is, normal), he can never be natural. Despite this want, he rejects the norm of society for fear of others' disapproval - so he distances himself so as not to be hurt.

Chris has a twisted regard for friendship. He made friends with Firo but has no problems with killing him, and has said that he would kill his own friends for the sake of Huey. However, he yearns for friends keenly, and has stated that he wants to have a thousand friends.

Chronology
(To be looked over later).

Pre-1933
Christopher was created sometime in the early 1880s (see Trivia) in the laboratory of Huey Laforet. At roughly close to ten years of age, he suffered his first defeat in combat when a man named after a river broke all of his original teeth. With Christopher's original teeth unable to grow back, he decided that his replacement full set of teeth would resemble that of a dolphin's grin. All poison..

1933
Christopher and the Lamia are hired by a detective working undercover in the Russo Family to take out a certain man and make the death look unsuspicious in September 1933. He and the others show up during a drug deal between the Russos and an Asian crime family in a warehouse near Lake Michigan, where the target and the detective are both present. Christopher crouches down by a single flower, admiring it so loudly that the mafia members take notice -- and consequently attempt to silence him. He, Hong Chi-Mei, and Leeza Laforet promptly take out every single one of the men present, save for the detective.

The detective is horrified at what has happened, and the Lamia reveal that they knew the real reasons for him hiring them beforehand. They exit the warehouse, leaving the detective in the hands of the newly arrived mafia members.

Christopher and Chi board a boat and set off across Lake Michigan, and Leeza, hidden from view, informs them that Huey wants them to take the train tomorrow to New York and help out Tim. Christopher is excited at the prospect of their first 'real' job in months.

They arrive in New York a day early, so Christopher decides to stroll the city in search of friends. In doing so, he bumps into Firo Prochainezo, running frantically through the rain. Christopher is strangely impressed by him, and offers Firo his umbrella. Firo explains his situation to him, and Christopher offers to help him out. Firo reluctantly agrees.

Later, the Lamia stays at Firo's flat with Firo and Czeslaw Meyer. The next day, Firo and the Lamia head towards the Mist Wall, where Firo separates from the others and heads up to the top floor Babel restaurant first.

Christopher takes the elevator up and steps into the restaurant, where Firo has just made a fool of Dallas Genoard. There, he massacres all the Nebula employees in his sight until Donny briefly stops him, and Adele breaks their fight up.

After a brief discussion with Firo, the elevator door chimes and Christopher throws a knife at it, only to be surprised when Claire steps out and deflects his throws. After Claire defeats Adele, Christopher prepares to attack him -- only to be shocked alongside everyone else when the Nebula employees come back to life.

Chi finally arrives, calling out for the Lamia to retreat. Tim decides to take Christopher off the mission, but he decides that since it's now his 'free time', he'll spend it taking care of Claire personally. Claire thinks this makes sense, and the two of them exit the restaurant via window and take their fight to the roof.

(To be continued)

Trivia

 * Prior to the Yen Press translation of 1933 &lt;Last&gt; The Slash -Bloody to Fair-, Christopher's last name was alternatively spelled by fans as 'Chareau de Red' and 'Shouldered'.
 * In a blog entry dated to August 11-20, 2006, Ryohgo Narita says he named Christopher after the actor Christopher Walken. The same blog entry also states: that Christopher's hobby is gardening; that the madeleines he bakes are his favorite dish; and that he considers 'nature' and 'friends' important. It also lists 'dog sled race' for 'special sports'.
 * His date of creation is estimated to be in the early 1880s (around 1883/4) based on his remark to Felix Walken that he's "been doing this ever since [he] was created, nearly five decades ago" in 1933  The Slash -Bloody to Fair-.
 * He likes sweet food.