Sophinx Riddleton

Warning: Mentions death and maltreatment of the dead.

"A kingdom for the best of you. A rope for the rest of you!"

- Sophinx Riddleton

Meet Sophinx Riddleton, a Prince Charming’s worst nightmare. She is no ordinary princess. In fact, Sophinx is the heir to the throne of an organ trade empire, financed by the bones and flesh of any foolish princes that tried to win the hand of the kingdom’s infamous princess. Sophinx is a Royal, determined to carry on her mother‘s legacy and strike fear into the hearts of men, potential invaders in particular. Even so, there are minor changes she would like to make to her story.

Personality

 * Cold and indifferent.
 * Manipulative, will do anything to get what she wants. Bends rules or makes new ones instead of breaking them.
 * Masked by a sweet squeaky voice. (Think Sugarplum from Nutcracker and the 4 realms).
 * Prim and proper like any classic princess on the surface.

Appearance
Sophinx radiates beauty. But like radiation, something’s not quite right. She has fiery blue eyes that if you look closely, they shine with a purplish glow like the flame of a bunsen burner. She is a redhead leaning towards the auburn side that is dyed with an ombre that resembles a sunset but with neon green tips alluding to the elusive green flash.

Abilities and Interests
Sophinx is able to transform into a black neck swan or sprout wings in her human form allowing her to take flight. She inherited these owers from her ancestor. Sophinx is descended from a swan maiden who was the missing queen in the first edition of the story. The king’s sorrow after her disappearance was amplified when the princessade her first kills as he felt he had failed as a parent. That he had failed his beloved.
 * Gardening
 * Dance:
 * Collecting:
 * Glass eyes
 * Squishes including mad balls and flippy
 * Anatomy
 * Knitting: What’s a girl to do while she waits for heads to roll? That’s right, knit.
 * Dressage: Aside from the killings, Sophinx’s kingdom is also known for its grand parades featuring the men and women of court in their finest, with the princess herself being the main attraction. As the star of the show Sophinx is trained in dressage.

How the story goes
Main article: The Traveling Companion

After “Happily Ever After”
"An entire city built on top of the dead."

Many generations after the first reenactment of the story, the Riddleton royal family has transformed their kingdom into an empire profitting off the remains of the dead.

Sophinx’s family, the princesses in particular, is infamous for their mass executions of princes and how they dealt with the bodies. According to the story, the skeletons of dead princes are hung in the royal gardens. Most of them are to be returned to their home kingdoms once the princess’ “curse” has been lifted but a few unlucky individuals are left behind to entertain tourists visiting the gardens, which are open to the public while the kingdom waits for the next generation.

Every prince who wants a chance at winning the princess’ hand must sign a contract, agreeing to donate his body for the greater good should he fail. After the decapitation, the bodies are to be used for medical research or harvested for transplantable organs. Sophinx says it’s sometimes the donation is the only ‘’useful’’ thing some of the princes will ever do in their lives. Little goes to waste. The blood from the bodies are examined then sucked clean to fuel the national blood bank. Even the fat gets made into tallow for soapmaking. The remaining bones are processed, reassembled and left in rusty gibbets to terrify the next John. Those unclaimed by the end of the story are left in those cages. New skeletons replace older ones, which are used to construct a nearby chapel of bones as a final goodbye to the unlucky princes disowned and forgotten by their families and kingdoms. Bones which are too small or too fragile for constrcution are turned into bone ash to be made into bone china. The Sophinx casually nicknamed her kingdom “the Prince Charming processing plant.”

Though never officially acknowledged, applying their sons for the destiny of the unlucky princes was a legal way for some Charming branches and other royal families with too many children to get rid of ones that are inept and spoiled to save money (and save face). Sophinx admits it’s a little bit harder to find healthy lungs, kidneys and livers due to some of the donors being smokers and alcoholics.

The princes’ contributions have allowed the Riddleton kingdom to provide some of the best healthcare services in Ever After, therefore becoming a popular destination for medical tourism.

Thoughts on destiny
Sophinx loves her destiny, but she’d stop at allowing the next John to successfully answer her final riddle. She doesn’t want to marry someone who didn’t earn her hand. And flirting the guy who actually did get the answers...would be creepy.

She wants to follow in her mother’s footsteps so that no foolish prince would try to take over her small kingdom via winning her hand. Sophinx wants to be terrifying. She wants to be powerful. And if selling her soul to the devil is the way to do it, so be it.

...Maybe she doesn’t have to go that far. Aside from harvesting eyes, her future relationship with the troll magician seems quite friendly. She’d rather keep such a reliable ally alive. Her kingdom could use his magical knowledge somehow. In exchange for the powerful magician’s wisdom, cornea-less eyeballs is a small price to pay.

Contrary to popular belief, Sophinx is not cursed and never will be.

Paralels

 * Sophinx’s appearance is based on sunsets because the princess’ beauty in the story is often compared to the sun. Her eyes are based on the flames of a bunsen burner because the princess was described to have fiery eyes.
 * Sophinx’s designs feature moths and tulips because the princess wore a mantle with butterflies sewn on. The princess and her riders were carrying tulips as they rode.
 * Sophinx does dressage. The princess makes her first appearance leading a group of riders. Ceruse is the same color as the horse she was riding.
 * Sophinx is capable of turning into a black neck swan. At the end, the princess shortly turned into a black swan, then a white one while John was trying to wash her with magic water.

King John Riddleton (father?)
King Riddleton is a kind and generous man. He’s just not very smart and that’s intentional. His title is ceremonious and he only has as much influence as a royal consort to Queen Riddleton. He’s been led to believe his beloved daughter has been cursed. There’s not a day he’s not secretly in despair about it. His innocence ensures authenticity in his emotions when he eventually pleads for help from his successor.

Ceruse (pet)
Ceruse is Sophinx’s prized Lipizzan horse which she rides during parades.

Basic

 * A spiky halo crown sprinkled with rubies and diamonds. Tiny gem-encrusted skulls are impaled on some of the spikes.
 * Skull shaped glass gem attached to black choker.
 * Black cape with yellow lapels over a warm yellow dress. Both feature prints mimickingg the patterns on a death’s head hawkmoth. The dress has a silver stripe that goes from the top of the bodice to the bottom of the skirt. Around the skirt is a pattern with diamonds on a black background. Each diamond has a ruby attached to it.
 * High heeled boots with skulls carved into the back of the heels.

Trivia

 * Sophinx’s first name is a combination of the name Sophie and Sphinx. Alike the princess, the Sphinx kills people who fail to answer its riddles correctly.
 * Coincidentally, hawkmoths are also known as sphinx moths. Sophinx’s design is based on the death’s head hawkmoth, a creature often viewed as a bad omen and a sign of evil.
 * Sophinx’s motivations are based on those of Vlad Dracul, the infamous Wallachian prince known for impaling his prisoners. He was greatly feared by invaders yet still respected by his people.
 * I may or may not have been basing Sophinx’s kingdom off of Geneco from Repo! The Genetic Opera.
 * Sophinx’s knitting hobby is a reference to the tricoteuse, knitting ladies who attended public executions during the French Revolution.
 * Sophinx’s birthday is on World Sight Day.
 * Sophinx likes bubble baths.
 * She likes drinking a cocktail made with black vodka and brandy.

Quotes
"Without their pain, without their sacrifice, we would have nothing."

"Guess what this cup is made of? Ex-boyfriend material."

- Sophinx holding a bone china teacup. She’s kidding...isn’t she?

Theme songs
"No one ever thanks me when I’m done. How self absorbed people can be."

"She will capture your heart and your head."
 * Thankless Job - Repo! The Genetic Opera.
 * Rasputin - Boney M

"To catch a predator you can’t remain the prey. You have to become an equal in every way."
 * Madame Guillotine - The Scarlet Pimpernel The Musical


 * Become the Beast - Karliene
 * We appreciate power - Grimes