| Ahiru / Duck | |
|---|---|
 "If I could see the prince smile, just once... I'd give my life for that." | |
| Name | Ahiru / Duck |
| Kanji | あひる ありま |
| Characteristics | |
| Age | She is actually a duck, [not a real human,] so her genuine age is not revealed. (When human though, she is most likely around 14.) |
| Gender | Female |
| Eyes | Blue |
| Hair | Coral |
| Alternate Forms | Princess Tutu |
| Professional Status | |
| Occupation | Student (formerly) |
| Partner | Fakir |
| Personal Status | |
| Status | Alive |
| Alias | Princess Tutu |
| First Appearance | |
| Anime Debut | Akt 1 - The Duck and the Prince |
| Voices | |
| Japanese Voice | Nanae Katou |
| English Voice | Luci Christian |
Ahiru, (“Ahiru Arima” in the manga spin-off), known as Duck in English, is the protagonist of the series. She is a friendly, kind-hearted duck who was given a magic pendant that turns her into a human girl. This pendant also allows Ahiru to turn into her alter-ego Princess Tutu.
Appearance[]
In the majority of her appearances, both human and non-human, she wears Drosselmeyer's pendant. The pendant is a gold necklace with a red gem that rests in the center of her chest. The red gem is actually the last and final piece of Mytho's heart shards.
In her human form, Ahiru has coral hair that is braided with a huge cowlick, blue eyes, and light skin with freckles. She is most commonly seen wearing her school uniform, which consists of a light gray long-sleeved cardigan puffed at the shoulder with dark blue lines on the edges over a white collared blouse and a light gray puffed skirt with a dark blue line on the edge, white frilly ankle-socks and black thick-heeled Mary Janes.
She also wears a casual outfit consisting of a white turtleneck which shows a bit of her midriff and yellow frills at the end of each sleeve, yellow cargo shorts with pockets resembling duck wings, white and red striped socks and red flats with a gold round at the center. The color scheme of her casual outfit resembles the color scheme of her duck form.
As a duck, she is yellow with blue eyes, and has one single feather that sticks up at the top of her head.
During her ballet lessons, she wears a light grey leotard that has a dark blue stripe around the waist along with her pendant.
Personality[]
Ahiru is a friendly, kind-hearted, and goofy character. Often compared to a duck, she is easily excitable, clumsy, and talkative. She can be extremely scatterbrained and uncollected when nervous. As time goes on, she gains a strong determination and is more willing to take risks for her friends.
She often shows signs of self-doubt, frequently second-guessing her own actions and disparaging herself for her flaws. Despite this, however, she is always willing to do what is right, even in the face of great danger.
History[]
Ahiru was an ordinary yellow duckling until she saw the prince dancing on the lake and saw how lonely he looked. Hearing her desire to bring him happiness, Drosselmeyer gifted her a pendant which gave her the ability to transform both into a human girl and Princess Tutu. If Ahiru removes the pendant or quacks, she transforms back into a duck and must touch water while wearing the pendant to return to her human form.
Eventually, she is able to harness the power of pendant to turn into Princess Tutu so that she can save Mytho. Due to this, she becomes a part of Drosselmeyer's story and will turn into a speck of light and vanish if she confesses her love to Mytho. Nonetheless, Ahiru continues with her quest to save Mytho by helping to collect his missing heart shards. When Mytho was kidnapped by Rue as her alter-ego Princess Kraehe, Ahiru teams up with Fakir after she rescues him as Princess Tutu, revealing her true identity to him. During this time, she explains to Fakir about how she liked Mytho because he was handsome, and seeing how lonely he was, took the opportunity to become a girl. After rescuing Mytho from Princess Kraehe, she and Mytho help the injured Fakir to a bonfire created by Edel.
In the second season, Ahiru is the only person can stop Mytho as the Prince of Crows when he attempts to steal the hearts of Gold Crown Town's girls as a sacrifice for the Raven. She and Fakir begin to work together more closely to save Mytho, helping each other to restore several heart shards to the prince, even while he is corrupted. As Fakir begins to uncover the truth about Drosselmeyer and his own heritage, Ahiru supports him through the process, and discovers along the way that the five gates into Gold Crown Town are the last of the heart shards. In an attempt to save Fakir, she ends up in Drosselmeyer's dimension outside of the story, and speaks to him directly about how her feelings and motivations have changed.
During the end of the anime, Ahiru discovers Mytho transformed into a monstrous crow, as well as Rue, who has been shown the truth about her identity and has thusly stopped being Princess Kraehe. Rue informs her that if Princess Tutu fully restores Mytho's heart with the final shards, it will be sacrificed to the Raven, who will be released when the gates are destroyed. She is then told by Edel's spirit, through Uzura, that her pendant is actually the last of Mytho's heart shards.
Ahiru restores the five gate heart shards to Mytho, reviving the Raven. Despite Rue sacrificing herself for Mytho, and Mytho attempting to fight the crows away to save her, Ahiru finds herself unable to remove her pendant. Knowing that this is due to her fear of the story ending, she flees and falls into the Lake of Despair, sinking to the bottom as a horrified Fakir is forced to write about her suffering. He manages to free himself from Drosselmeyer's control and finds her in the Lake, where he initiates an intimate pas de deux. As they dance, Fakir restores Ahiru's courage by swearing to always stay by her side, and she is able to accept her fate and remove the pendant.
After waving goodbye to Uzura, Fakir and Autor in her human form, she transforms into Princess Tutu and gives the last heart shard to Mytho, turning into her duck form permanently. Mytho returns to his full self, Prince Siegfried, and summons his sword while she looks helplessly on. Ahiru is the only one who can prevent Mytho from shattering his heart for the second time, convincing the townspeople who now transformed into crows to dance. Their dance performance is violent, and Ahiru is badly injured to the grief of the writing Fakir. Despite her wounds, she refuses to give up, drawing on her own strength and Fakir's words to manifest Princess Tutu for the last time. With the townsfolk purified, Mytho is able to call Rue back from the depths of despair and slay the Raven with her. Ahiru and Fakir later say their goodbyes to Mytho and Rue as they return to Mytho's kingdom for their happily ever after.
In the epilogue of the anime she is seen swimming at a lake next to Fakir, who is writing a new story.
Relationships[]
Mytho: Ahiru developed a crush on Mytho when she saw him for the first time while he was dancing by a lake. Like most of the other girls, her crush was mild and mostly based on admiration, rather than actual romantic feelings. As time passes, she and Mytho become close friends until he becomes possessed by the Raven's blood. Despite how much her feelings change for him, she remains devoted to his happiness, and seems to develop a genuine affection for him as a person. During the finale, she helps him conquer the evil Raven, even though she is now only a duck.
Fakir: In the beginning of the series, there is tension between the two due to Fakir constantly interrupting conversations between Ahiru and Mytho, as well as his harsh treatment. As the story progresses, Fakir and Ahiru develop strong feelings of affection for each other.
The night that she tells him that she has no desire to fight with him, Fakir realizes that Ahiru is Princess Tutu. This realization is further reinforced when he sees her sneaking around the dorms shortly after the encounter and recognizes the pendant on her chest. When he confronts her about this, she admits that she is and feels relieved that he knows. Ahiru begins to have more positive and intimate thoughts about him after that.
In the episode "Banquet of Darkness", Ahiru tells Fakir that she doesn't know why she likes Mytho and explains how she just thought he was handsome. In this same episode, Fakir and Ahiru are seen swimming side-by-side, Fakir staring intently at their joined hands. They begin to work together after this, and even start to spend time together casually, with Ahiru often visiting him at his house.
Near the end of the series, it is revealed that Fakir is a direct descendant of Drosselmeyer, and becomes a target of the Book Men. Ahiru is supportive, but worries about him deeply, frequently stepping in to rescue him when things go wrong. While she is trapped in Drosselmeyer's alternate dimension, Fakir's desperate plea for her return allows her to break free of her puppet strings and come back to Gold Crown Town to reunite with him. She later states that Fakir is her strength when he finds her in the Lake of Despair and dances with her, accepting his declaration of love and commitment. His writing gives her the support she needs to manifest Princess Tutu during the final battle with the Raven.
In the final scene of the anime, Ahiru is shown still by Fakir's side, peacefully swimming as he writes.
Rue: Ahiru admires Rue for being an advanced student in ballet class and often tries to reach out to her as a friend. The first time Ahiru ever truly interacted with her was when they did a pas de deuxtogether after getting to know each other. Even when Rue insists that she and Ahiru aren't friends, Ahiru keeps saying that they are.
When Rue becomes Princess Kraehe, Ahiru keeps faith that the kind girl she knows is not lost forever. When she sacrifices herself for Mytho's sake, Ahiru admits to Fakir that Rue's love for Mytho was deeper than hers since Rue managed to fully give herself up for Mytho's sake, whereas she has second thoughts about giving him the pendant that makes her human alias the last shard of his shattered heart. However, she holds no ill will towards Rue, and shares a tender goodbye with her in the final episode, with Rue thanking her for her love and friendship.
Abilities[]
- Human Morphing (limited): Through her pendant from Drosselmeyer, Ahiru could transform from a duck into a human girl. However, if she loses her pendant, or were to be separated from it, or said or did anything resembling a duck, then she would be transformed back into a duck. Another ability she derived from this province is:
- Heroine Mode (limited): Through her pendant, Ahiru could also transform into her heroic alter-ego, Princess Tutu, but she still suffers from the same vulnerabilities she did in her human form.
- Emotion Detection (limited): Through her pendant, Ahiru could sense the presence of Mytho's emotions (heart shards).
- Hope Embodiment: Even without her pendant and as a duck, Ahiru had the ability to become the embodiment of hope - during the final battle between Mytho and the Raven, Ahiru danced a dance that literally converted the hope within her into a limitless source of pure energy that illuminated all those who had fallen under the Raven's control, "warming their hearts" and enabling them to cease to dance to the Raven's tune, and giving both Mytho and Rue the strength and courage to vanquish the Raven once and for all.
Trivia[]
- In the English dub of the series, her name is Duck (which is the English translation of "ahiru").
- She is not a duck in the manga, although she is briefly turned into one.
- In the manga, her last name is mentioned being Arima.
Gallery[]
