The Toy Soldier (played by Jessica Law) has no defined role on the Aurora. It sings and plays a variety of instruments for the band, including glockenspiel, mandolin and harmonica. The Toy Soldier will obey any order it is given, as long as the order is given "nice and hard".[2]
Origin[]
The Toy Soldier originally lived with a widow who collected clockwork figures. She treated the Toy Soldier like it was her husband and tried to teach it to act like him. (This is where it picked up a lot of its verbal quirks). Eventually, she died, and the Toy Soldier (along with all the other clockwork figures) were donated to the Victoria & Albert museum, where the Toy Soldier was put to work as a walking exhibit. Eventually, though, it just decided to leave, wandering out into the street and ending up joining the Salvation Army. While outside a bar, it heard someone singing, and followed that, meeting a blind person who it ended up falling in love with. However, they were in love with someone else, and out of jealousy, the Toy Soldier killed them and took their voice. Grieving and reckless, it ended up joining King Cole's army and fighting with the Rose Reds (presumably in a different timeline then when it's mentioned in Once Upon A Time (In Space), as the Toy Soldier had not met the Mechanisms yet). It was found afterwards by an antiques dealer, and ended up being bought by the Mechanisms to replace Jonny for a show (The Mechanisms @ Lashings) while he was in prison for 'grievous misuse of rodents and indecent exposure.[3] Afterwards, it stuck around. [4]
Appearances[]
Once Upon A Time (In Space)[]
During the events of Once Upon A Time (In Space), the Toy Soldier fights in the war alongside Rose Reds[5].
Ulysses Dies At Dawn[]
The Toy Soldier is present in the City during the events of Ulysses Dies at Dawn, "busy being a nymph". It encounters Orpheus, who finds it "bizarre", and dislikes it immensely after it takes his job as the favorite nymph of Dionysus[6].
Gunpowder Tim vs The Moon Kaiser[]
See Tales to be Told
The Toy Soldier fights on both sides of the war with the Moon Kaiser, rising easily through the ranks of both armies. By the time Tim is captured, it has obtained a position in the Kaiser's personal guard, which means that Tim is able to use its known obedience property to cause a distraction.
Miscellaneous[]
Who Killed Doctor Carmilla?[]
The Toy Soldier was present when the Who Killed Doctor Carmilla fiction took place.[7] It may have been the Jack of Diamonds.
Hiatus[]
The Toy Soldier went on hiatus for a short period around the time of The Bifrost Incident. It returned for some of Tales to be Told, Volume II and Death to the Mechanisms.
Trivia[]
- It has a mechanical arm from its time in King Cole's war. [8] This also implies that unlike the other Mechanisms, it cannot regenerate.
- Is possibly the Jack of Diamonds in 'Who Killed Doctor Carmilla'
- ↑ Went on hiatus at this point, but returned in time to collaborate on some of the songs in Tales to be Told, Volume II which was recorded after The Bifrost Incident Kickstarter
- ↑ "Gunpowder Tim Vs. The Moon Kaiser", lyrics
- ↑ The Mechanisms blog, twitter post
- ↑ "The Story of the Toy Soldier", fiction
- ↑ "In The Army", fiction
- ↑ "Orpheus, Dionysus, Muratic Acid, and the Strange Whirring Thing", fiction
- ↑ "Who Killed Dr Carmilla", fiction
- ↑ "In the Army", fiction
Death[]
After all the other Mechanisms are gone, the Toy Soldier doesn't want to stick around without its friends, committing suicide- or, quote, "It was never alive [..] but it stopped pretending to be." [1]