Geppetto

“	I've been traveling around the world in search of wood to create my puppet masterpiece.	”
—Geppetto, The Final Cinderella

Geppetto was a minor character and the secondary antagonist of the fifth Dark Parables game, The Final Cinderella. He also made a brief appearance in its bonus game, The Oriental Cinderella.

Initially a kind-hearted woodcraver, Geppetto was eventually driven mad by the evil trees in the Forbidden Grove and became The Puppet Master.

Geppetto was based on the character of the same name from The Adventures of Pinocchio.

Appearance and Personality[]

In life, Geppetto was a handsome older man with chin-length, greying brown hair, soft brown eyes and a lightly stubbled square jaw. He wore a frilly white shirt, grey beeches, a heavy leather apron, white stockings and round grey shoes. As the Puppet Master, he appeared the same but made of dark wood and with glowing red eyes that were evil looking.

Geppetto was once a kind, soft-spoken man who dearly loved his wife and son. However, exposure to the evil trees of the Forbidden Grove drove his ambition to create his 'puppet masterpiece' into an all-consuming obsession. As the Puppet Master, he was cold and intent on revenge upon the world.

History[]

Nothing is known of Geppetto's early life but for many years he lived simply as a woodcraver who enjoyed creating toys and puppets. He dreamed of one day creating a masterpiece of a puppet and thus traveled the world in search for the right kind of magical wood. His travels eventually took him East, where he ran afoul of the Spider Queen's army of spiders, who strung him up in webs and planned to eat him. Thankfully, he was rescued by a Prince who happened to be traveling through the area, searching for his beloved Princess. In exchange for saving him, Geppetto assisted the Prince in his search. Along the way, Geppetto caught sight of the Princess' Godmother, Amelia, and proclaimed her "a vision of beauty".

The two were eventually introduced and they fell deeply in love; they married soon after and shared many blissful years together. At some point during their marriage, Geppetto was commissioned by the Hunter to build a secret hideout in a hollowed tree where he could train his adopted daughter, Isabella - many years later, Amelia would sew the enchanted red robes wore by the Order of the Red Riding Hood Sisters.

Knowing her husband's desire to create a puppet masterpiece, Amelia one day brought him some wood from the Forbidden Grove and Geppetto set to work creating a life-sized boy puppet he named Pinocchio as well as the Wood Orb, a powerful elemental sphere. Because Geppetto was a pure-hearted person, Pinocchio was given a soul and came to life. He was treated as a son by both Amelia and Geppetto, and for a time the small family was happy.

However, the villagers did not accept Pinocchio as a sentient puppet and he began to tell lies to get attention. Geppetto felt bad for his lonely son, and so traveled to the Forbidden Grove himself to carve a companion and protector for Pinocchio. Eventually an enormous Wooden Beast was completed, but the many months Geppetto had spent in the Forbidden Grove had corrupted him; he became obsessed with creating more puppets, not eating for days and snapping at Amelia not to bother him.

The villagers were even less accepting of these changes in Geppetto than they had been of his puppet son. Their fears came to a head one day, while Amelia was away on Godmother business, and they sentenced Geppetto to be burned at the stake. Before his execution, Geppetto wrote a letter to his son telling him how proud he was of him, to not blame himself for his death and to take care of his mother.

Upon hearing of her husband's death, Amelia descended into madness and hatched a desperate plan: she would find the 'Final Cinderella' and use her soul, together with the Soul Necklace, to bring Geppetto back to life. In order to achieve her goal, Amelia inserted a 'Cinderella Detector' in Pinocchio and created cursed dresses to root out the Cinderella soul she needed - her evil actions eventually earning her the name 'Evil Godmother'.

Amelia ultimately discovered Katherine Belloni was the 'Final Cinderella' and performed the ritual needed to revive Geppetto inside of a puppet in his likeness; however, Geppetto's soul was still corrupted and he was now the Puppet Master. Coldly casting his wife aside and stealing the Soul Necklace from her, he started to raise an army of sentient puppets with which to destroy the world.

His efforts were ultimately ended by the Fairytale Detective, along with help from Geppetto's son and wife. Once defeated with the Magic Glass Wand, the Puppet Master's soul was purtified back to Geppetto's kind and gentle self, and he lamented what he had almost done. He was reunited with the soul of his now deceased wife, and the two combined their own souls to give their son a real body.

Pinocchio later erected a beautiful statue to honor his father and mother for their love and their sacrifices.

Powers and Abilities[]

Wood carving: As a woodcarver, Geppetto can create many things from an entire hideout in a tree to human-realistic puppets.
Control over puppets (formerly) : As the Puppet Master, Geppetto could summon dark puppets through the power of the Soul Necklace. He lost this ability when he was purtified with the Magic Glass Wand.

Relationships[]

Amelia (wife, deceased)
Pinocchio (adopted son, fate unknown)
Wooden Beast (creation, deactivated)
Puppets (creations, destroyed)
Prince in the East (acquaintance, deceased)
Fairytale Detective (enemy)

Relevant Parables[]

The Evil Godmother (from The Final Cinderella)

Chosen by the Maiden Goddess to be "Godmother", Amelia traveled the world in search of Cinderellas. She aided many Cinderellas, and in return, the Cinderellas treated Amelia as if she were their real mother. One day, while on her travels, she met the woodcarver Geppetto. It was love at first sight. They got married and spent many blissful years together. However, their happiness was not to last. Upon returning home after one of her journeys, she discovered that her husband had been killed. The shock was to great, and she descended into madness. Desperately, she hatched a crazy plan: she would find the Final Cinderella and use her soul, together with the soul necklace, to bring Geppetto back to life. To find Cinderella, Amelia installed the Cinderella detector in her son, Pinocchio. She also created cursed ball gowns and glass slippers. If a girl who was not Cinderella wore her cursed clothes, she would turn into a glass maiden at midnight. Heedless of the suffering she caused to innocent girls and to her son, Pinocchio, Amelia single-mindely devoted her life to reviving her husband. She became known as the evil Godmother.

Geppetto and Pinocchio (from The Final Cinderella)

There was once a woodcarver named Geppetto, who traveled the world in search of wood suitable to carve his puppet masterpiece. One day, his wife Amelia brought him wood from the Forbidden Grove, with which he carved a puppet named Pinocchio. To his surprise, the puppet came to life. Pinocchio was shunned by villagers for being a sentient puppet, so he started telling lies to get people's attention. Seeing his son's loneliness, Geppetto spent several months in the Forbidden Grove carving a giant wooden Beast to act as his son's companion and protector. The time Geppetto spent in the Grove corrupted him, and he grew obsessed with carving puppets, even neglecting his family for the sake of creating more puppets. The villagers grew afraid of Geppetto and his creepy puppets, so they had him put to death. Devastated, Pinocchio blamed himself for his dad's death. He decided to redeem himself by searching for Cinderella, so that he might help his mother revive his dad.

The Forbidden Grove (from The Final Cinderella)

Deep inside the Mirror World lies a grove of trees filled with great spiritual power. This magical grove can only be accessed by means of specially enchanted mirrors. Long ago, a band of thieves found one of these mirrors and entered into the Mirror World to plunder its treasures. However, they were caught and executed in the magical grove. In death, their souls lingered, corrupting the trees with their hatred and greed. The trees became twisted and deformed, and the grove came to be known as the Forbidden Grove. It is said that if a pure-hearted person created a puppet with wood from these trees, the puppet would be given a soul and come to life. However, if the puppet maker had a tainted heart, the puppet would be soulless. Those who spend too much time in the Forbidden Grove will gradually become corrupted by the thieves' souls and the Evil Trees. Only the Magic Glass Wand is able to purify the Grove.

Quotes[]

Quotes by Geppetto[]

"I've been traveling around the world in search of wood to create my puppet masterpiece."
"Who is that vision of beauty? Could you introduce me to her?"
"Go away, woman! Don't bother me."
"Pinocchio, I have always been proud to call you my son."
"I have returned!"
"Behold my magnificent army!"
"With unlimited puppets at my disposal, we cannot fail!"
"Your world will be mine!"
"Those humans will rue the day they killed me."
"You'll never stop me!"
"Beast, get rid of this Detective!"
"This can't be happening!"
"What have I done? I almost destroyed this world and the next!"

Quotes about Geppetto[]

"My master will take over your world. You can't stop him." (a puppet in the mansion control room to Fairytale Detective)
"He was a good man, you know, before he was corrupted by the Evil Trees and turned into the Puppet Master." - Amelia