Freckles is a ventriloquist dummy that appears for the first time in the episode: The Madness of King Zøg, not counting his cameo in the first episode. He is working for Dagmar, even though she does not like him.
History[]
Freckles spend years in the Ventriloquist Dummies Shop, sitting in the shops window. It is unknown how long he has been alive or how he was brought to life, but he does remember his time in the shop, and how he was mocked by passing children, drunks, and drunk children (all of whom where likely Bean). He makes a brief cameo in "A Princess, an Elf, and a Demon Walk Into a Bar" when Bean is being carried back to Dreamland Castle, and they pass by the store.
In "The Madness of King Zøg", after King Zøg, who by know is mentally unstable and unable to speak coherently, escapes from the castle's mental hospital, Bean finds him at the edge of the sea and brings him back to the castle. Along the way they pass by the ventriloquist doll shop. Zøg enters the shop and finds Freckles. Bean buys freckles for Zøg, unaware that the lady behind the counter is secretly Queen Dagmar. Thanks to Freckles, Zøg can continue to rule as King for a bit longer, but he does all his speaking through Freckles. Since Freckles is already secretly alive at this point, it is unclear how much of what he says is Zøg's and how much is his own doing. Freckles takes the opportunity to pull some pranks on Odval, like biting his nose. Bean begins to suspect something is not right about Freckles when the doll disappears from it's place and shows up elswhere, seemingly entirely on it's own. Eventually, Zøg, through Freckles, tells Bean he is aware that he is unable to rule any longer and appoints Bean as his succesor.
In "The Pitter-Patter of Little Feet", after Zøg has recovered and reclaimed Dreamland Castle, Freckles is first revealed to be alive but he keeps hiding it from the people around him. Zøg is still fond of Freckles. When Odval orders Sorcerio to dispose of Freckles, Sorcerio takes Freckles to his lab and plans to throw him down the laundry chute into Trøgtown. Freckles however pretends to be Sorcerio's consience, and encourages Sorcerio to bring him to life. Sorcerio thus spares Freckles and performs an experiment where he tries to animate Freckles with lightning, not knowing that Freckles is already alive. Thus, Sorcerio believes his experiment succeeded when he sees Freckles move and talk on his own, while Freckles now no longer has to hide his secret.
Now openly alive, Freckles befriends Zøg, but is secretly plotting against him. He helps Emperor Cloyd and Becky the Enchantress, who have turned themselves into puppets, to find the secret tunnel below Zøg's statue. After Zøg brings Jasper to the castle with him, who immediately develops a severe sibling rivalry with Prince Derek, Freckles decides to get rid of the two. He pays off three Elf bullies to attack Derek and Jasper, and when Freckles "helps" the two fight back, the leader of the bullies pretends Derek killed him. Freckles then convinces both boys they should run away from home to avoid getting in trouble for this murder. Derek and Jasper fall for it and run away to Steamland, where Freckles arranges for them to get caught by P.T. McGee for his P.T. Freak Show. Freckles however becomes the victim of his own scheme when P.T. also captures him for the Freak Show.
Freckles remains in the Freak Show until Zøg, Bean and Mora come and free all the captures freaks. As Zøg and Bean escape from Steamland in a hot air balloon, Freckles stows away on the balloon and attacks them with a knife, threatening to damage the balloon. Bean and Zøg however manage to throw him off the balloon and into the ocean. Since he is made of wood, Freckles stays afloat and begins to swim back to Dreamland.
Freckles is next seen back in Dreamland, which is now under the rule of Dagmar and Satan. When Bean comes to confront Dagmar in the Throne room, Freckles tries to throw her out of the trapdoor, but Bean jumps aside on time. After Dagmar is defeated and depowered, Satan punishes her by locking her up in the cage on the cliff of Dreamland Castle, along with Freckles.
Trivia[]
- In season three episode eight (Hey, Pig Spender), you can read Freckles was here at the entrance of a tower in the language of the ancients.
- The saleswoman who sells Freckles to Zøg and Bean, although concealing his face under a hood, looks strangely like Dagmar. The fact that Freckles cooperates with Cloyd and Becky then suggests that he must be linked one way or another to Maru.
- In the episode "In Her Own Write", Miri mentions that The Jittery calls Bean "Freckles" behind her back.
- His voice is similar to how Zøg sounded when he was young (before he started smoking), as seen in "The Pitter-Patter of Little Feet".
