Xerxes Break

Xerxes Break is one of the main characters from the Pandora Hearts anime and manga.

Xerxes is an acting valet of the Rainsworth Dukedomand is renowned as the most powerful member of Pandora; being the Legal Contractor of Mad Hatter. Though not a Baskerville, Break was born a Child of Ill Omen, and thus also possesses the powers that comes alongside this title, albeit slightly weaker.

Initially, Break was born as Kevin Legnard and served the Sinclair Family as a knight, but disaster pushed him to form an Illegal Contract with Albus the White Knight. This led to a murderous rampage that earned Break and Albus the alias of the Red-Eyed Specter, until he was eventually dropped into the Abyss. Here, the Intention of the Abyss crafted a new timeline for Break, provided that Break grants her wish in return. As Oswald and Jack Vessalius attempted to destroy the world as it presently exists, Break fought hard to oppose this but ultimately died as a result of his Contract with Mad Hatter before having fulfilled the Intention's wish.

Appearance
Commonly referred to as Break, he is a member of Pandora and a servant of the Rainsworth household. Like Sharon, Break's appearance did not change during the ten year gap between Oz entering and escaping from the Abyss, on account of having a legal contract with the Mad Hatter. Break is often seen with a doll on his shoulder, which he calls Emily. He adores sweets and cakes. He has short white hair and wine-red eyes. He usually carries a sword disguised as a cane. Break has no left eye, as it was taken by the Intention of the Abyss and given to Cheshire. (As shown in Chapter 030 of the manga: Snow White Chaos)

Personality
On the surface, Break seems a carefree character, never serious and always smiling, with a weak spot for all kinds of sweets and cakes. Sometimes he eats whole cubes of sugar that which he always brings along with him. When needs be, however, Break can also be sinister and dangerous. Reim tells Oz that Break has not always been the way he is now. Before, after losing his eye and for a short while after, he was a bitter and angry person, never smiling. However, through the kindness of Shelly, Sharon's mother, he began to open up. It seems though that some of the emotions from his past still linger as he becomes slightly depressed when he is reminded of it. He has sworn absolute loyalty to Shelly; promising not to die until he has fulfilled the Intention's wish. Break's true motive is to find the truth behind what happened 100 years ago. He hates Vincent with a passion, due to him ordering Echo to attack Sharon, who afterwards was poisoned by Vincent. In Retrace 42, it is shown that Break has become blind. However, he can still differentiate different objects placed in front of him, but not people's faces. He states that he will lose that ability soon. Break says very early in the series that he might not have another year left of his life, as the strain of his contract is slowly crippling his body. He is therefore eager to achieve his goals as quickly as possible, even taking extreme measures when necessary.

He is very protective of Sharon. While he once said that he sees Sharon as a daughter, as Sharon matured with Break looking after her, Sheryl Rainsworth sees it more as a brother-sister relationship. He still looks after and worries about Sharon throughout the series although she is already old enough to do things on her own. There are times when he does not mention where he is going or the condition of his health to Sharon so as not worry her. Sharon especially gets mad when he does this; calling him Mister One-man-show. Break did not immediately tell Sharon about his blindness, fearing it would worry her and make her cry. In the end he finally does tell her and finds Sharon's reaction to be positive and supportive. At this point, Break starts to realize that Sharon is no longer a young girl, but a growing woman.

Abilities
Break has shown some magical ability. An example would be when Oz was possessed by Alice after they left the Abyss, Break set up a magic trap that kept Oz from moving while showing a magic circle on the floor.

Since he was formerly a knight, Break is also an excellent swordsman. He can easily defeat enemies without the use of his Chain. He deflected Fang's huge blade, given that he was blind and his sword was much smaller. He also stabbed Noise's hand and impaled her stomach.

Chain

 * See More: Mad Hatter

Mad Hatter is Break's current chain. It resembles the Alice in Wonderland character of the same name but gives off a more sinister feel. Mad Hatter resembles a giant top hat with flowery decorations, under which is one big eye. It has the power to reject and destroy the power of the Abyss and exists for the purpose of killing other Chains.

Because Mad Hatter is his second contract, it is very dangerous to Break and strains the condition of his body. Even by using a little bit of Mad Hatter's power may leave his body in a critical state, making him cough up blood and almost unable to walk on his own. It is probably that this is also a consequence of his previous contract. As seen in Oz, an illegal contract can give the contractor extreme chest pain and creating a new contract only makes it worse.

Trivia

 * Break's character heavily draws inspiration from The Mad Hatter of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures In Wonderland and Through The Looking Glass And What Alice Found There. The most prominent attributes Break and The Mad Hatter share include:


 * Both Break and The Mad Hatter have eaten plates in front of the main protagonist.
 * Both Break and The Mad Hatter began new lives under a pseudonym (Kevin Legnard to "Xerxes Break" and The Mad Hatter to "Hatta").
 * Break has a friendship with the character meant to represent The March Hare, whom is The Mad Hatter's best friend.


 * Another character from Lewis Carroll's Through The Looking Glass And What Alice Found There whom Break draws inspiration from is The White Knight. Some of these attributes used for Break's inspiration include:


 * Break held the position of knight in his past life while serving under Lord Roman Sinclair.
 * Break had an Illegal Contract with Albus the White Knight, whom was meant to draw inspiration from The White Knight as well.
 * Both Break and The White Knight are rather elderly, and worry about being unable to be there for a protagonist, with Break worrying about Sharon to contrast Alice.


 * The final character from Lewis Carroll's Through The Looking Glass And What Alice Found There whom acted as inspiration was Old Father William. Old Father William was a character mentioned in a poem who seemed capable of anything, despite initially being believed to be old and senile, much like Break.
 * Break had the habit of appearing and disappearing out from underneath beds, or from within closets and pantries, however how he does this has never been explained.
 * Break can will himself to never get intoxicated.