Albert Dimesdale

Manta's butler, who was killed by OmniSent agents. Manta later found him as a ghost in the crew of Marbles Marlowe, and renewed Albert's services.

History

Albert was born in London in 1903. He came from a long line of servants to important British figures: his father, grandfather and great-grandfather were all the head household servants to very well-placed persons in the British ruling class. Albert's mother was also retained for a time as a personal secretary to Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, and then to his successor, Neville Chamberlain.

Albert would not immediately follow in the family trade, however -- although he had been groomed his whole life for butlery. Against the wishes of his father and mother, Albert joined the RAF Volunteer Reserve on its creation in 1936, and trained as an aviator in His Majesty's military. Albert's aptitude for combat flying and exemplary performance in certain military tests also drew the notice of British Military Intelligence, which pulled him from the rolls in 1937 and gave him supplemental espionage training, teaching him personal combat, codebreaking and other spy-type skills.

However, in the summer of 1940, the German airforce (which was, coincidentally, also called the Luftwaffe) launched an assault that would be known as the Battle of Britain. With Britain in desperate need for experienced and skilled RAF airmen, Albert would be compelled to rejoin the active roster of pilots and help defend mother England from Nazi invasion. It was in the midst of this conflict that Manta, caught in the midst of his temporal odyssey, arrived in WWII-era Britain. Albert had been shot down and was emerging from the wreckage of his plane very near to where Manta was deposited by the pesky time-space anomaly that was throwing him all over the place. Together, Albert and Manta thwarted an advance landing party of German soldiers -- part of what would have been Hitler's Operation Sea Lion. Like so many other great partnerships in history, Manta and Albert bonded while fighting Nazis.

After the Nazi landing party was defeated, Albert accompanied Manta on his odyssey for some reason that was never explained. Albert subsequently arrived with Manta just outside of Tasnicaport in the year 28 WR, and fell quite naturally into becoming Manta's butler. He helped Manta maintain his lavish penthouse estate in Tunlan, and also helped Manta excavate and construct the Manta Cave. He used his training in military intelligence to help support Manta's emerging role as the preeminent Celpo agent -- although, ever the dutiful servant, Albert would always remain in the background and demand little in the way of recognition or glory.

Tragedy would strike their friendship, however; after the emergence of the OmniSent, and Roland Boderick's usurpation of that organization, several prominent Celpo agents were targetted by OmniSent cells for neutralization. Manta, of course, was one of these. The assassination attempt that was meant for Manta caught Albert instead -- along with an attractive young Tunlanese girl that Manta had solicited for an evening's diversion. The explosion left little trace of anything behind, destroying Manta's penthouse and a good deal of the surrounding neighborhood. Rather than neutralize Manta, this would make him an eager adversary, and from then on he took missions against OmniSent agents and assets with psychotic delight.

Albert and Manta would not cross paths again until years later, when Manta was in El Nido, caught in the Devil's Mist and picked up by Devil's Mist Ghost Ship #34, captained by Marbles Marlowe. Albert, now a ghost, had somehow been drawn into Marbles' crew and had become the ship's butler, where he was responsible for introducing Captain Marlowe to the repertoire of Gilbert and Sullivan (including the play that would become Marlowe's favorite, the Pirates of Penzance). Manta won over Marbles, befriended the undead pirates, and enlisted their aid in his fight with the pyra ring that was operating out of the El Nido islands. Once the pyra smugglers were dealt with, Albert rejoined Manta in Tunlan and resumed his position as a ghostly major domo to Manta's El Presidente for Life -- a position which he continues in to this day.

Figgy

Albert Dimesdale was nominated for a Figgy in 2003 in the Best Supporting Character category .