- "Ed will introduce Ed. Full name Edward Wang Hwe Pepel Cybulski 4th."
- ―Edward[src]
Edward Wang Hwe Pepel Cybulski 4th (エドワード・ウォン・ハウ・ペペル・チブルスキー4世 Edowādo Won Hau Peperu Chiburusukī 4-sei?), born Françoise Appledelhi and colloquially known as Radical Edward, was a child prodigy skilled in hacking originally from Earth. Her father was the cartographer Mr. Apple.
Biography
Early Life
Edward was born on January 1, 2058 on Earth. Her father an eccentric man who was forgetful with anything but his work, left her at a day care center in 2064 and forgot to pick her up. Edward then spent two years in the care of other people before wandering into an orphanage in 2066. Under the care of Sister Clara, she was quickly part of the family there.[1] Her best friend during her time there was a boy named Tomato who was also passionate about computer science. She named her computer Tomato after him. (manga [citation needed]) Having grown up without parents, she gave herself the name Edward Wang Hwe Pepel Cybulski 4th. In 2068, Ed fled the orphanage for reasons unclear to Clara: perhaps to search for her father, or perhaps out of a desire for freedom.[1]
Edward built a reputation as a hacker, earning the nickname "Radical Edward." Many people had stories of who she really was – an alien, a basketball player, a 3-year old. She was only somewhat aware of her reputation. Edward also learned of a ship called the Bebop and wanted to be a part of its crew. She monitored its movements via the outernet, had several posters as well as a remote controlled model made with a styrofoam cup and layers of cardboard.[2]
On the Bebop
One day, Edward discovered the Bebop was on the way to Earth and hacked the ship. She found out that Jet and company were on the trail of a mysterious hacker guilty of vandalizing the surface of the earth by tampering with a satellite. Ed then discovered that the culprit was actually the software of the satellite itself. Naming it MPU, she wanted to help it evade capture. In exchange for her help, she extorted Faye Valentine to promise to make her a member of the crew by helping them get MPU off the satellite and using a copy of him to cash in the bounty. The plan worked, however, the Earth Police Department didn't pay a bounty on it since it wasn't a living thing. Nevertheless, Ed waited for the Bebop to pick her up. Faye tried to leave without her, but Ed managed to get what she wanted by taking control of the Bebop through her computer, forcing the crew to take her on board in order to leave.[3]
Ed's main task aboard the Bebop was to find information on bounties and crack computer systems. During, she came to know the crew, including asking Faye about her tanning routine.[4]
When the Fridge Monster threatened the ship, Edward helped Spike Spiegel try to track down the creature, but she ended up wandering off in an isolated area and fell asleep. She came across the creature accidentally and ate it, dreaming about pudding.[5]
Edward one day monitored communications and came across Julia's name in a communication from Callisto. This got Spike's attention right away and he demanded to know where it came from.[6]
When the crew went after Chessmaster Hex, Edward took the initial clue the crew obtained, chess pieces, and recognized them as pieces for E-chess. She started playing a game which turned out to be from Hex himself. The game lasted a whole week until she was asked who it was and to track him down to the Bohemian Junkheap.[7]
Ed develops a strong bond with Jet, who behaves towards her as sort of a father, and also with Faye. She is also the only one who seems to understand Ein, and the only one to treat him with respect, coming to consider him as her own pet.
When Jet went to go with Fad to confront Udai Taxim, Jet asked Edward to water his bonsai trees.[8]
The ship crashed on Io, and, with Edward not being a help fixing the ship, she went out to help look for food. In the process, Edward and Ein found a bounty head, Domino Walker, who had mushrooms. Unfortunately, the mushrooms were bad, as Edward determined by testing them out on the crew. She still went after him to get the bounty, but was convinced to take the valuable mushrooms he had instead. She found out later, however, that they were normal mushrooms without value.[9]
Faye had wanted to understand anything in the beta cassette that could tell her about her life. Ed, curious but also half asleep, sat next to her one night and revealed she may know where it is. Faye commandeers the Bebop and straps Ed to her ship on Earth to find it. During the trip, they pass by the orphanage that Ed used to live in. Ed knew there would be good food there, and reunited with the other children. Ed learned her father had been there looking for her. They go back to the Bebop and Faye, after recovering her memory, left again and convinced Ed to follow her heart. Ed made up a bounty on her father as an incentive to Spike and Jet to find him. They did, and Ed drove the Bebop to their location to meet him. Overjoyed, she leaped down and her father offered to take her with him, however, another meteor struck, prompting them to leave immediately. Ed went back to the Bebop and made the decision to join him. On her way, Ein caught up and insisted to stay with her even after she said he didn't have to come with her.[10]
Appearance
Ed is a skinny, lanky copper-colored teenage girl with tufts of bright red hair. She is drawn with red cheek marks to accentuate her youth. Edward wears a loose midriff-bearing sleeveless white T-shirt, showing her navel, compression shorts, and never wears footwear of any kind. Once she attempted to wear socks in Mushroom Samba but she immediately lost her balance, suggesting she may have never even worn shoes. She permanently wears a pair of large green goggles on her head or dangling from her neck. The goggles hook up to her computer and allow her to "net dive". Her somewhat androgynous appearance often causes her to be mistaken for a boy.
Personality
Ed is an eccentric, resourceful, giggly, child-like, odd, tomboyish, curious, happy-go-lucky and extremely intelligent teenage girl. Ed has many attitudes, typically manifested by eccentric geniuses, such as a great susceptibility to distraction, and a tendency to talk to herself aloud and sing nursery rhymes or other literature popular among children. She often repeats the last words of the people who spoke before her and answers questions with seemingly meaningless phrases and sometimes real nonsense.
She frequently spaces out, similar to a trance, which seems to withdraw her from reality. She almost always refers to herself in third person and rarely interacts with other characters in a real conversation.
She could be considered sort of a "free spirit", very fond of nature and open spaces. Her eccentric behavior is the primary source of humor in the anime.
Ed also shares numerous behavioral characteristics of a wild animal. In particular in regards to her tendency to bite people and her way of walking, in fact, she is always barefoot and shifts to four-legged, rolling, or on the palms of her hands. She even uses her feet for tasks that would normally take place with the upper limbs. On one occasion, she proves to be unable to walk wearing a pair of shoes (Session 17: Mushroom Samba).
She likes to sleep at least twelve hours a day, has an incredibly fast metabolism and seems to prefer the company of animals, as seen with her rapport with Ein.
Despite the many oddities, Edward is very likely to be one of the most intelligent characters in the series. This is hinted at in the episode Bohemian Rhapsody, in which Ed was able to hold her own in a game of chess against Chessmaster Hex, who was considered a genius programmer for his time.
Memorable Quotes
Jamming With Edward
- "Uh huh! What have you heard?"
- "Satellite from days of old, lead me to your access code!"
- "Not coming for Ed, Oo-la-la."
Ganymede Elegy
- "Duty calls, 3 o'clock tea!"
Toys in the Attic
- "Ai-ya, what are we going to do, Ein? *You* believe it’s a horrible alien, don’t you? (Ein Barks.) Spooooky!"
- "Lesson, lesson: If you see a stranger, follow him!"
- "Where are you?! Are you heeerree, Mr. Spooky space creature?!"
- "Exploration, experimentation, exploration, explanation! I will come back alive, I trust you, Ed!"
Bohemian Rhapsody
- "Okay! One, two, three, four-or. Ed’s gonna score more-or! Play Ball!"
- "Edward is very busy! Try later!"
- "Hex Hex the Chessmaster! Edward is playing chess against him right now."
- "There it is. This is a memory cartridge for playing e-chess. The memory chip stores data within the piece. Yeah, you can activate one game. It connects to the net. See?"
Black Dog Serenade
- "Allright! Bonsai, bakchoy, wiseguy, waterboy! Light shines bright in the old town tonight!"
Mushroom Samba
- "High socks are cool! Gotta wear 'em outside!"
- "I'm a cowgirl."
- "FOOD! Gimme, gimme, gimme!"
- "Don't have cash."
- "This is a bust! Stinky Gas!"
- "Hey, wait a minute, Ein. We have to share and share alike. Ein?"
- "Pieces, pieces, all gone…"
Pierrot Le Fou
- "Faye Faye! Smoke Smoke, Faye Faye! Puff Puff, Faye Faye!"
- "Some mail came for Bebop!"
Boogie Woogie Feng Shui
- "Hot dog bun, not too young!"
- "Old and moldy, history, n' mystery!"
- "You Jet’s girlfriend?! Does he have a THING for you??"
- "All is fair in love and war!"
Brain Scratch
- "And this time, I hope you have sweet dreams."
Background
Originally, Ed's character was based on a description of the series' music director ("a little weird, cat-like, but a genius at creating music") and was going to be a dark-skinned boy. Edward was turned into a girl to even the gender ratio on the Bebop, which was, with Ed as a boy, three guys and one girl. This original character design appears in session 5, stealing a clearly adult magazine from Annie's bookstore by smuggling it under his shirt. She is described as being "like a cat out of control" by director Shinichirō Watanabe.
An obvious inspiration for Ed is the Swedish fictional character Pippi Longstocking [1]. Pippi shares almost all of Eds characteristics, such as using a long and ridiculous invented name: "Pippilotta Viktualia Rullgardina Krusmynta Efraimsdotter Långstrump".
She never refers to her computer as "Tomato" in the show, even though it is written on the side.
Gallery
References
Additional links
- w:c:GameLore:Chandra Nalaar, a 2007 playing card in Magic: The Gathering who resembles Edward, with orange-red hair and goggles
- w:c:WWE:Becky Lynch, a 2015 pro wrestler who resembles Edward, with orange-red hair and goggles