His signature on the hard cover edition of Hollow City
| “ | At the heart of nature's mystery lies another mystery. | ” |
–Perplexus Anomalous, quoted by Millard in Hollow City | ||
Perplexus Anomalous is an Italian peculiar with an unknown peculiarity. He is a cartographer who is best known for creating the Map of Days, a collection of maps that show the location of every loop throughout peculiardom. Not only was he a cartographer, but also a philosopher and great thinker, and Millard admires him greatly. Perplexus Anomalous's name is on the hardcover edition of Hollow City.
Biography[]
Pre-Series[]
It is said that Perplexus committed years to the hunt for the lost loop of Abaton, which is how he began discovering so many other loops.[1] Because of these discoveries, he would draw the first edition of the Map of Days.[2]
After the Italian peculiar war of 1325, he was one of the peculiar scholars who revised normal history books as part of the coverup, turning the conflict into what normals now believe was the War of the Oaken Bucket.[3][4] At some point he settled in a fourteenth century Venice loop that would become lost with time.
He also spent years on a secret project on loop regrowth, which was complete by the end of The Desolations of Devil's Acre and presumably used to restore several collapsed loops, including Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.[5]
Perplexus was kidnapped and imprisoned by Caul just prior to the events of the first book,[6] and then tortured for the location of Abaton and the Library of Souls, which he had managed to find.
Library of Souls[]
| “ | You are an ignorant pig! | ” |
–Perplex Anomalous, Library of Souls | ||
Perplexus would be freed by Jacob Portman and the other peculiar children, but is recaptured by the wights and taken to Abaton. He would have to be threatened to reveal the location of the Library. While Myron and Caul are fighting, the twelve ymbrynes initiate a loop collapse, and Perplexus escapes with them and the other peculiars before the loop collapses.
Perplexus had started to age forward during his time in Devil's Acre, with his hair and beard turning white, but these effects were mysteriously reversed over the course of a few days after escaping Abaton. This caused Millard to realize that the loop collapse had reset the internal clocks of everyone who was inside and had gotten out.
The Conference of the Birds[]
Millard sneaks out one night to meet with Perplexus. When asked about bothering him at midnight, Millard states that people as old as Perplexus don't sleep much. Millard tells Perplexus about the puzzle of the location of V's loop, and Perplexus points out that it would make sense to search the midwestern United States.
The Desolations of Devil's Acre[]
Miss Peregrine can be heard shouting at Perplexus in her office as Jacob and Noor, having recently escaped V's loop, arrive with Emma, Enoch, Bronwyn, and Addison. Miss Peregrine sends Perplexus out, with him muttering curses in Italian as he leaves. It turns out that he had been conducting temporal experiments, which were thought to be the cause of the desolations happening in the loop. However, the desolations were actually because of Caul's resurrection.
After learning that Miss Tern's loop is the meeting place of the seven prophesied peculiars, Perplexus and Millard work on finding the location of the loop and every possible route to get to it. Jacob and Noor's hovering eventually leads Perplexus to draw a line on the floor, which only his assistant Matthieu is allowed to cross. He takes frequent tea breaks, during one of which Millard explains to Jacob and Noor that they are looking for a quick but safe route. Perplexus eventually succeeds, rushing into the ymbrynes' conference room behind Matthieu and Millard and trailed by Francesca. He and Millard explain the three best routes, having settled on the third, which uses Miss Hawksbill's loop.
During the final battle of Devil's Acre, Perplexus retreats to Bentham's house with the other peculiars in Devil's Acre, where they end up under siege from Caul. After arriving, he discusses the escape with Miss Peregrine, Miss Wren, and Miss Avocet, later joined by Jacob and his friends. As the options moving forward are discussed, he suggests leapfrogging somewhere old and obscure. Miss Cuckoo laments the fact that the loop collapse reset reaction is still unsafe, stopping the loop-trapped peculiars from scattering into the present for fear of aging forward, for which Perplexus apologizes. He later works to repair the Panloopticon alongside Sharon and most of the ymbrynes.
After Caul's death, Miss Peregrine reveals that the reset reaction was perfected, thanks to Bentham appearing to Perplexus in the washroom the previous night and whispering the answer to him.
Description[]
Physical Appearance[]
Perplexus is a small statured, bearded man wearing dark glasses. Behind them, he has crossed eyes.
Personality[]
As a cartographer and philosopher, Perplexus has an interest in geography and differential equations and has a brilliant mind. Though Millard thinks that Perplexus doesn't have any interest in mechanical things, Klaus claims otherwise, saying that Perplexus has sticky fingers and resentful of him for apparently having taken a femur bone from Klaus's bone clock.
He also tends to mutter curses in Italian when angry.
Trivia[]
- His name, Perplexus, is most likely an alias, as the name is derived from the word "perplex", which is defined as 'To make complicated or confused as a matter or question'. Anomalous is probably derived from anomaly, which means something that deviates from what is standard, normal, or expected.
- His drink of choice is espresso, with the only other drink he lets pass his lips being smoky Russian tea.[7]
- Millard tells Jacob that Perplexus drew the first edition of the Map of Days a thousand-something years ago,[2] though Perplexus is 571 years old.[8]
References[]
- ↑ Library of Souls (Chapter 4)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Hollow City (Chapter 7)
- ↑ The Conference of the Birds (Chapter 3)
- ↑ Miss Peregrine's Museum of Wonders (The Dangers of Exposure)
- ↑ The Desolations of Devil's Acre (Chapter 25)
- ↑ Ransom Riggs Instagram livestream
- ↑ The Desolations of Devil's Acre (Chapter 11)
- ↑ Library of Souls (Chapter 11)