Fred Nightray (フレッド=ナイトレイ, Fureddo Naitorei) was a minor character from Jun Mochizuki's Pandora Hearts. He was a member of the Nightray Dukedom, the eldest child of the Duke Bernard Nightray, and older brother to Elliot. He and his uncle, the younger brother of his mother Bernice, were the first victims of the Headhunter, a serial killer who is infamous for beheading their victims and fond of targeting particularly the Nightrays.
This article contains plot and/or ending details for Pandora Hearts.
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The Nightray family has always been at a disadvantage compared to the other Great Dukedoms since the era of the Tragedy of Sablier. They had been given the Black Winged Chain which couldn't be Contracted and the Door to the Abyss that couldn't be opened. Shortly after Oz Vessalius was cast into the Abyss, his valet Gilbert was found by the Nightrays. According to Vincent's word Gilbert was Raven's sole rightful Contractor, and Gilbert who wanted to use Raven to save Oz agreed to the adoption. The other Nightray children however detested both Vincent and Gilbert for being not pure of blood yet encroaching upon their perceived familial right to power, and thus they conspired to kill the two brothers. In return Vincent killed both Fred and his uncle—this became known as the first Headhunter Incident (首狩り事件, Kubikari Jigen). And many more were soon to follow.
Appearance[]
Fred had light beige-colored hair that had been cut rather short and styled so that the right side of his hair combed over at the part, laying on top of his head and partially reaching over the left side. Fred's facial features were never visible apart from his nose (a trait shared with his uncle, Xai Vessalius and Shelly Rainsworth) as Fred always appeared very briefly in the flashbacks of other characters, although his nose was shown to have been rather gaunt. A mustache can also be seen partially from the side of many of Fred's appearances. Fred's attire appeared to have commonly composed of a pure black coat, pants and shoes, while wearing a white undershirt that's collar stuck out over his black coat and white gloves. A more detailed description is unavailable because of Fred's brief appearances.
History[]
Fred was the first born son of Bernard and Bernice Nightray, born soon after Bernice married into the Nightray Dukedom alongside her younger brother, whom Fred became rather close with. Fred was soon joined by Claude, Ernest, Vanessa, and Elliot Nightray as the heirs to the Nightray Dukedom, although by Elliot's eventual birth, Fred had already reached adulthood alongside Claude and Ernest.
Fred was the first after his father to have tried to form a contract with their Black Winged Chain who guarded the Nightray Door to the Abyss, Raven. If a contract could be formed with Raven, the Nightrays would finally be able to use their Door to access the Abyss, having been unable to do so since first obtaining their Door. However Fred failed to form a Legal Contract with Raven, Claude and Ernest also failed in this task for reasons which they could not understand themselves.
Bernard had found a child lying barely alive before the Door to the Abyss while Elliot was still young. This child had one red eye and one gold eye and called himself Vincent. Vincent convinced Bernard to adopt him into the family, bribing Bernard with the opportunity for Vincent to share information with him of the Tragedy of Sablier, information which Bernard would have as a trump card over his fellow Dukes should the need for it ever arose. A child had been found before the Vessalius Door to the Abyss in the same sort of condition, and this child Vincent claimed to be his long lost brother, and so Vincent urged Bernard to adopt the child, Gilbert, as well. When Bernard did not appear to be so enthused about the idea, Vincent revealed to Bernard that the reason none of the Nightrays could form a contract with Raven was because Gilbert had been tied to Raven for more than 100 years. This prompted Bernard's decision to adopt Gilbert for Vincent, and so the two became Nightrays.
Fred was not pleased with his father's decision, feeling as though Gilbert and Vincent were scum for calling themselves Nightrays and competing with himself and the other siblings for the inheritance of the Dukedom. Fred was not alone in this sense, as his uncle, Claude and Ernest felt the same way. This led to the elder siblings and their uncle always trying to get Gilbert and Vincent alone and away from the valets, Bernard and Bernice, so they could attack them, viciously beating them for their nerve.
As Vincent and Gilbert grew older, Vincent became worried that Fred and his malicious family members would hurt Gil. Vincent followed Fred into Reveil one night as a result, and when Fred was alone in an alley, Vincent summoned his Illegally Contracted Chain, Demios the Executioner. Using Demios, Vincent decapitated Fred in order to prevent him from being able to hurt Gil anymore. Unfortunately, a man and a woman had seen the assassination from a far, and so they reported the figure of Demios (whose shadow they had seen) as the Queen of Hearts. Vincent would soon assassinate the Nightray Uncle, whom Fred had grown close to over the years, whilst someone else took on the role of the Head Hunter in order to kill Claude, Ernest and numerous guests in one of the Nightray mansions as it burned to the ground.
Bernice was grief stricken because of the deaths of her younger brother, Fred, Claude and Ernest. Soon her mind began to deteriorate as she lost hold of everything she had. This lead her into the arms of a seemingly sympathetic foreigner named Isla Yura, who offered her a place in his cult. Yura explained to Bernice that his goal was to create another event like the Tragedy of Sablier, which would plunge the world into the golden paradise of the Abyss, and that this would allow Bernice to reunite with her deceased family members once more. Bernice agreed, and Yura coiled around Fred's mother through his manipulation of her.
Relationships[]
Vincent and Gilbert Nightray[]
Fred was known to have despised his adopted siblings like almost all of the other legitimate Nightray children. Fred was known for severely beating Vincent and Gilbert when he got the chance for daring to call themselves Nightrays. While Fred's actions weren't as extreme as Ernest's, as Ernest planned to poison Gil and later decapitate him and leave his body in a burning building to be blamed on the Head Hunter, but Fred was still a danger to Gil's safety, which was a problem for Vincent. Vincent hated Fred as well as Claude, Ernest and their uncle for what they'd done to Gil and himself, which is what triggered the attacks on the Nightray Family, and lead to the legitimate members' eventual extinction.
Elliot Nightray[]
With Elliot, Fred was loving and caring as the legitimate Nightray siblings were very close. Fred has been shown with Ernest and Claude whilst Ernest played with Elliot when he was younger. Like Ernest and Claude, Fred wanted Elliot to shun their adopted brothers for having the nerve to call themselves Nightrays.
Gallery[]
Appearances[]
- Retrace XLV: Queen of Hurts* (First Appearance)
- Retrace LII: Bloody Rites*
- Retrace LXI: Demios (Mentioned only)
(*) - Denotes that the character did not appear physically, but as a part of another character's memories.
Trivia[]
- Coming soon!