White Gloves: They all have gloves for hands barring Ragatha's three-fingered hands, Gangle's Fingerless Hands and the claw on Zooble's left arm. So far I have presented a short history of the universality and diversity of jesters, with these figures first emerging, as history tells us, in ancient Egypt. But how ancient really are jesters? The first written account of them does not mean they have only existed since that time, of course. But to discuss the origins of the jester, we do need to describe what we mean by a jester exactly. According to Otto, in an interview with the University of Chicago Press: Virtuous Character Copy: Gooseworx confirmed that Caine is based on AM, the evil supercomputer from the story that inspired the show. However, Caine's well-meaning, Obliviously Evil approach to it makes him leagues better than his inspiration, who absolutely despises humans and relishes in torturing them. It's particularly telling comparing how the two react to the idea of escape: AM has absolutely zero intention of letting any of his victims get away, even through death, and completely loses it when they actually manage it, whereas Caine understands how much the performers want to leave the game, even if he doesn't understand how that works, and is attempting to create an exit simply because he thinks they'll appreciate it. The ritual buffoons of Mesoamerica have frequently been compared to the Pueblo clowns of the contemporary American southwest. The absurd nature of the latter helps to provide insights into social perceptions since they “reveal what the Pueblos find serious or absurd, baffling or wrong, fearful or comical about life and about other people,” says Alfonso Ortiz, a Native American cultural anthropologist. Maya ritual clowns served a similar function, often satirising established authority and social norms. The Mesoamericanist and Mayanist Karl Taube notes that: The profession of aluzinnu provides the possibility that the jester may have been a recognisable role in ancient Mesopotamia (see this paper from Maddalena Rumor on the subject). It seems the term first occurred in the 20th century BC, with other words appearing next to it being related to laughter and humour, e.g. musihhu (“clown” – “he who brings to laugh”). Letters from the first half of the second millennium BC concern the attire of the aluzinnu and describe his relationship with the palace. There is mention of 60 elaborate hats/turbans and 35 pairs of boots or gaiters, reminiscent of the clothes and shoes worn by European court jesters. It appears the aluzinnu was provided with “eccentric clothes and accessories” by the palace administration.

Despite the visual archetype of the jester that Westerners carry around with them—the chap wearing the cap and bells—his distinguishing characteristics aren’t so much to do with costume. In some places he perhaps occasionally wore some kind of outfit that would mark him out from other entertainers, but by and large it’s his qualities and function that make him different.” Only Sane Woman: Well, she's clearly not playing with a full bag of marbles herself, but she still comes off as far more well-adjusted and friendly than the rest of the Circus performers, all of whom run the gamut from neurotic to cynical to downright mean. Older Than They Look: She's 30, but because her digital avatar is a ragdoll, she looks like a child magically made bigger.Quest Giver: Part of his job is to provide the Performers with "adventures", small quests and tasks that pushes them to explore the circus, have fun, and avoid going insane. Tombstone Teeth: His teeth usually appear as a single row of long rectangles, and don't separate even when he's talking (except when Zooble is choking him).

A girl with a ribbon body and a comedy/tragedy mask for a face. The mask she wears depends on whether she's happy or sad (if not the other way around), though her "happy" mask tends to break quite a lot... Ambiguous Situation: It's deliberately left vague as to whether her emotions determine her masks or her masks determine her emotions.Immediately after he says he only does what he does to see people get hurt or otherwise negatively affected, a Gloink comes by and bops him in the face. Compared with those of China, the abundance of jesters in Europe was relatively short-lived; yet for the time they lasted, they had a strong influence on court life. The jester died out as a court institution in about the 16th or 17th century in China and the early 18th century in Europe. Nonetheless, domestic jesters were still employed in homes less grand than those of kings. In Persia, the autocrat Shah Naseredin (r. 1848-96) had a jester called Karim Shir’ei, whose name means “opium addict” but also implies someone of lazy or sleepy demeanour. Karim Shir’ei would ridicule the whole court, including the shah. Once the shah asked whether there was a shortage of food, and the jester said, “Yes, I see Your Majesty is eating only five times a day.”