Content Warning: Discussion of child sexual abuse, sexual assault, physical and emotional abuse, sexualization of minors, mental illness, PTSD, slut-shaming, and gaslighting; NSFW images (nudity).
Spoilers for Black Butler II
I remember the first time I encountered Alois Trancy: Black Butler II opens with him naked on a canopy bed, dishevelled and bruised all over, sitting next to a naked old man in a red, luxurious-looking room. In that moment he formed a contract with a demon while repeating to himself, “I choose this, I want this.” This scene was relying on its shock factor to introduce the audience to Alois’ tortuous narrative arc, and for me, it fulfilled its aim well.
I rewatched these few minutes many times in a row to fully grasp what I was looking at. What struck me was both the implied crudity of the scenery and Alois’ apparent agency. Since then, despite the fact that he’s a character quite hated by the audience, I’ve loved the Earl Alois Trancy as a multi-layered character that carries many intertwined themes around child abuse, queerness, genre influences and slut-shaming.