Doctor Byron Orpheus
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Dr. Byron Orpheus is a major supporting character on the Adult Swim show The Venture Bros. He is a very obvious parody of Marvel Comics' Doctor Strange, sharing his mystical powers and methods of speech. Orpheus physically resembles Vincent Price, as well as Doctor Strange. He is voiced by Steven Rattazzi.
[edit] Personality and relationships
Dr. Orpheus is an expert necromancer, and, until recently, the only one of his kind seen on the show. He is head-strong, tends to be unaware of the perils of most situations, and is quite melodramatic even in everyday situations. He has quite a large, extensive vocabulary he freely uses, though his theatrics tend to spill over into his more everyday activities (such as offering a snack of pizza rolls with an unnecessarily dramatic flourish). Orpheus' actions and speech are usually accompanied within the show by overly suspenseful string music which adds to his campy, over-the-top presentation. Unlike some more conventional characters, Dr. Orpheus sometimes uses his great powers in very mundane ways (he can be seen using telekinesis to help him prepare dinner in the episode "Ghosts of the Sargasso"). He seems to be somewhat self-conscious of the fact that despite his abilities, he leads a rather ordinary life. Perhaps this is best illustrated by his proclamation that although he only holds a bachelor's degree in communications from a community college (with a minor in women's studies), he has been granted a doctorate from "a higher power" - his master admits Orpheus is his "greatest student".
Despite his initially imposing necromancer persona, Orpheus is actually one of the more benevolent and morally balanced characters in the series, as contrasted with the cynical and amoral Dr. Venture. He is helpful, pleasant, and genuinely cares about people. He also acknowledges his job is to help preserve the fabric of reality from supernatural forces, suggesting that he has given up a normal life (which he seems to desire) in order to serve others.
However, like all characters in Venture Brothers, he has his moments of sheer failure. He is clueless about relationships, which is only somewhat mitigated by his affable nature. His pomposity is legendary and often off-putting, driving away people he likes or tries to like (which is most everyone). He is very insecure as people don't seem to take him seriously, and often longs for a more adventurous life, not appreciating the work he does. Finally he also has a dark side - when he or those he cares about are threatened, he has no problem using magic in horrific ways out of proportion to the situation, from trapping people's souls to erasing the memories of those he loves. His casualness about magic and lack of appreciation for himself seems to lead him to casually use his abilities.
He has rented out a section of the Venture compound, where he lives with his teenage daughter Triana (who dresses in goth style, although it is unclear whether this is due to the influence of her father's "career" or an ironic statement on it. In one episode of the series it is suggested that she is simply afraid to change her clothes, as her closet is used by her father as a portal to the Necropolis). Although Dr. Orpheus seems out of touch with reality at times (and tends to embarrass his daughter at least as much as any typical teenager's parents do), the two have an apparently good relationship with each other. He displays the ability to detect when others are lusting after his daughter, specifically using it to track Dean Venture at one point, and (in a dream sequence) sternly burning the mistletoe above Pete White's head from afar during the Venture Christmas party. Triana is apparently uncomfortable with her father's ability to raise the dead; she actually began to sob when he discussed his attempt to resurrect the Venture boys. He ends up responding to complaints like this by mindwiping her memory clean of such events; perhaps this explains why she has raised no qualms on the Venture boys being clones.
Dr. Orpheus' age has not been specifically mentioned; although Triana's youth might hint that he is in his forties or fifties, his gray hair and lined face seem to indicate a more advanced age. While his birthplace is to date unspecified, his preference for referring to carbonated drinks as "tonic" and attempts to order Moxie and birch beer in "Return to Spider-Skull Island" may indicate he hails from the northeastern U.S.
Dr. Orpheus' master is a mysterious being living in a place called the Necropolis, which may or may not have some connection to Hell or the Underworld. When we first meet his master in "Escape to the House of Mummies Part II," he appears in a form similar to Cerberus in order to make a point - but can apparently take other forms. His master does seem to have some affection for Orpheus, but will not hesitate to correct or criticize him and lacks Orpheus' gift for pretension. Despite his strange abode, his master does not seem to be demonic or malicious.
He is quite protective of Hank and Dean, and seems to bear more fatherly feelings towards them than does their own father (an ongoing joke in the series -- even The Monarch seems to like the boys more than Dr. Venture does). Dr. Orpheus was utterly devastated by the boys' deaths in "Return to Spider-Skull Island," suffering under a great deal of self-imposed guilt. He was shocked to learn that they were clones, despite his own plan to resurrect them. Dr. Venture goes so far to suggest that Orpheus is hungry for a cut of the Venture inheritance, though this may be more a creation of Venture's cynical nature than anything else.
He and Dr. Venture (whom he consistently addresses as Mr. Venture) get along fairly well, although Dr. Venture is often annoyed by Orpheus' passion for theatrics. However, scenes featuring Dr. Orpheus and Dr. Venture together frequently end with Orpheus muttering, "'kay...", in a way oddly at contrast with his usual mannerisms. Dr. Venture sees no difference between science and magic, and this seems to be a point of some conflict between them. The two get into a contest of magic-versus science, but Dr. Orpheus declares himself the loser after his mentor uses the opportunity for Orpheus to explore his life. Venture and Orpheus end up reconciled. Otherwise, Dr. Orpheus has admitted that he frankly envies Dr. Venture's more adventurous and exciting life, and desperately desires an archenemy; during the episode "Tag Sale -- You're It!," he deliberately attempted to insult villains while handing them business cards and later openly solicited nemeses during a battle. Orpheus has gone so far as to petition The Guild of Calamitous Intent for a regular foe (expressing preference for a female redhead with the possibility of romantic tension).
In the episode "Powerless in the Face of Death", he mentions several celebrity "clients" he has rescued from death specifically, magician David Blaine, stuntman Evel Knievel, and former president Ronald Reagan (until he bounced a check).
Orpheus and Triana have one pet, a cat named Simba. He owns a classic black Bug.
[edit] History and activities on the show
Very few details of Dr. Orpheus' life have been revealed. He has remained silent about Triana's mother, except that she left him "for a young necromancer", and his master claims that she left him more for his tendency to overwork and not stand up for himself and has hinted at a poor sexual relationship. His first appearance on The Venture Bros. comes soon after he begins renting from Dr. Venture ("Eeney, Meeney, Miney... Magic!"); his mystical powers prove useless in rescuing Brock and the boys from the "joy can," but Dean's feelings for Triana prove the key to their freedom. Disgusted by the revelation that the machine is powered by an orphan's heart, he destroys it with bolts of mystic power.
He has had minor appearances in several episodes, such as in "Ghosts of the Sargasso," in which he finds Jonas Venture's notes regarding Major Tom and puts the boys in contact with the pilot's widow, and "Tag Sale – You're It!," in which he helps the Ventures with their yard sale. The original Team Venture briefly mistook Dr. Orpheus for a villain in "Past Tense." When Action Man grazes his arm with a bullet and attempts to attack him again after learning that he is a friend, Orpheus predicts the elderly hero's death from a stroke in the near future and leaves coldly.
The necromancer plays a pivotal role in "The Trial of the Monarch," using his powers to view the past in serve as a witness. Before he can testify to The Monarch's innocence, however, Guild agents led by the Phantom Limb immobilize everyone in the courtroom. The Limb takes advantage of Orpheus' "frozen" state to implant subliminal instructions in his mind; unaware that anything has happened, Dr. Orpheus unwittingly perjures himself and declares The Monarch guilty. Apparently based on this "trustworthy" testimony, the costumed villain is sentenced to a lengthy prison term.
In "Return to Spider-Skull Island," the first-season finale, Orpheus is asked to take care of Hank and Dean while Brock attends to their father during a medical emergency. When the boys run away in a mistaken fit of jealousy, Orpheus decides to watch over them from a distance and keep them out of trouble. Although he fails to prevent their arrest (apparently for driving their hoverbikes too slowly), he drives Dr. Venture and Brock to and from the prison to bail them out. Orpheus allows the boys to drive several hundred yards ahead of them to give them more freedom, but two of The Monarch's henchmen accidentally kill the boys in a fiery explosion. In the subsequent episodes, the sorcerer is wracked with guilt and misery over his perceived role in their deaths, and finally resolves to resurrect them. He is unable to locate their souls in the astral plane, however, and seems horrified when he learns that the boys have been repeatedly cloned by their father. (Dr. Venture argues an interesting point: what he did was no different than what Orpheus had planned, but used science instead of magic.)
Though he has only one major effect on the plot, a great deal of Orpheus' character is revealed in the episode "Escape to the House of Mummies Part II". Venture reluctantly calls the necromancer for help when Team Venture is trapped in a room with closing, spiked walls. Later, Orpheus' offers of help are met with resentment and open hostility from Venture, leading the two to agree to a duel of sorts to compare their abilities: whoever can shrink himself more than the other will be declared the winner. In concentrating on the challenge, both doctors completely forget their original intent-to rescue Brock and the boys from the clutches of an Egyptian cult. After consulting with his master and much soul-searching, Orpheus philosophically concedes that he can make himself no smaller than he is already - his master had pointed out many of Orpheus' failings and pretensions. (Venture, meanwhile, has failed to find a reliable technological way to shrink himself, and also admits defeat.)
In "Fallen Arches", Orpheus' petitions to the Guild of Calamitous Intent are finally fulfilled and he is granted an opportunity to select an archenemy. He assembled his former team (the Order of the Triad), containing friends The Alchemist, a homosexual monk and alchemist who was researching a cure for AIDS, and Jefferson Twilight, a vampire hunter who hunts only blaculas, neither of which he has seen in at least sixteen years. The Order is ecstatic at their chance to finally fight supervillains and the publicity it will bring and begin screening every applicant at Venture Industries (much to Dr. Venture's chagrin), with the fiery fiend known as Torrid winning out as the Order's archenemy due to his kidnapping of Triana.
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