Ernesto is the appointed manager of Playful Land. He appears in the Playful Land's Miraculous Marionettes event story as its main antagonist alongside Gino.
Appearance[]
Ernesto is a tall fox beastman with orange shoulder-length hair (that turns white at the tips), orange irises with sharp pupils, fox ears and a tail. He has dark angled eyebrows, green eyeshadow, and a black top hat with an emblem of Honest John resting on his head. He wears a white dress shirt covered by a light green vest and a maroon cravat. Donned over this interior clothing is a knee-length navy-blue coat with a scarlet inner lining wrapped by a black leather belt and adorned with golden Playful Land memorabilia. He wears long black-and-white shoes and white gloves that would've given the illusion of elegant luxury if not for the hole on his right pinky finger. Another evidence of his poor lifestyle covered up by over-the-top presentation is his green pants, its left leg covered in multicolored and multipatterned diamond-shaped patches. From time to time, he has the ability to summon a small black staff topped by a golden fox head.
Personality[]
As a grandiose quick-talker, Ernesto initially comes off to most people as an amiable manager and host who has a tendency to generously compliment and praise the people he meets. Thanks to this, others think he's a friendly, honest fellow or a sketchy sleaze. Unfortunately, the latter impression is more accurate to his true nature, as he eventually reveals himself to be a lackey tasked to turn all park visitors into puppets and sell them for money. He harbors no remorse for these hapless victims due to his strong belief that the world is a dog-eat-dog one, and he will do whatever it takes for him and Gino to survive. Despite his willingness to work for the powerful mages behind this scheme, however, Ernesto has a strong dislike for them and their cruel natures, stating that the only thing he thinks they're good for is their money. This animosity towards rich and privileged folk extends to young mages who get to attend highly-prestigious schools (like the students of Night Raven College), as they are the objects of his deep-seated envy.
Ernesto is not mighty in both strength and magic, so he relies on his streetwise cunning and charisma to gain the advantage over others. He is especially proficient in lying, to the point that he is able to stay undetected under Ortho's lie-detecting functions. He is not afraid to play dirty, willing to resort to running away or kissing up to people if it ensures his victory. While some would call his tactics "cowardly", he insists that he's "playing it smart", and he looks down on those who view the world with a naïve or optimistic lens. He holds an immense distaste for schools, especially magic ones, due to their unfairly selective and exclusive nature. Deep down, however, he dreams of studying in one and seems to generally hold the value of education in high regard, seeing it as a good path to true prosperity, joy and success.
Despite being far from honest, Ernesto is a highly resilient fellow, sporting the capabilities to navigate any situation and outsmart his opponents while harboring a zeal for fun theatrics and snappy comebacks.
Background[]
Ernesto seems to have come from "dirt-poor" origins. Not much is known about his life other than the fact that there were high expectations placed on him for his ability to wield magic. However, since his magic was considered weak and minor, he was disbarred from attending any good arcane schools. This sparked his grudge over these institutions while he set his sights on tricking and scamming people for a living, eventually meeting and adopting Gino along on his wily adventures.
Signature Spell[]
Ernesto Foulworth's Signature Spell is called "Rose-Tinted Dream; Life is Fun". It's a spell that doesn't require a large amount of magic, and when it's used on unsuspecting people, the targets feel a "smidgen" more positive to the point where they are more inclined to go along with whatever the caster suggests or offers. However, while it may be a useful spell, it can be countered when the targeted person is too guarded, distraught or shows no signs of interest. It is also more effective when the target is surrounded by peers who are easily persuaded than conversing with the target one-on-one. This spell essentially requires its caster to bear a silver tongue and great charisma for maximum efficiency, qualities that Ernesto prides himself in having.
Trivia[]
- He is inspired by Honest John from Pinocchio (1940).
- He was first known as "Fellow Honest" on the Japanese server, but his name got changed to Ernesto when the event got released onto the English server.
- Ernesto is an Italian name, but has its roots in the germanic term ernust (or eornost, "vigor", "seriousness"), thus meaning "serious" or "honest".
- He suspects that the reason why he and Gino were recruited to work in Playful Land was due to their resemblance to the Friendly Fox and the Gentle Cat--the park's mascots. Ernesto states that he feels a certain kinship to these two characters, and lovingly polishes their main statues in the park every day. It's unclear how true this claim is, however, since he said it while he was using his amiable public persona.
- In moments where he praises the characters or dramatically expresses his sentiments, confetti and disembodied noises of applause tend to erupt around him. It's never made clear where these come from, but it is either the game's way of supporting Ernesto's performances with dramatic effect or Ernesto himself supplies this dramatic effect via minor uses of magic.