Cher Degré (シェール・ドゥグレ , Shēru Dugure) was a scientist involved in the study of Cheza and the Lunar Flowers, and she was the ex-wife of Hubb Lebowski.
Appearance[]
Cher had fair skin and long, blonde hair that she kept tied in a loose ponytail, with bangs that framed her face. She had icy-blue eyes and wore fuchsia-colored lipstick. A pair of light-blue teardrop earrings dangled delicately from her ears. She wore a grey women's business suit and skirt with a purple blouse underneath and sheer stockings with white heels.
While in the laboratory, she wore a white lab coat and tunic and was often seen with silvery-white framed glasses, the lenses of which were tainted a light pink.
Personality[]
Cher took her work in Freeze City's labs very seriously and maintained a calm, stoic demeanor. She sometimes looked down upon Hubb's comparatively immature approach to things, frowning or showing irritation at his jokes. Driven by science and logic, Cher often sought to independently seek her own answers to the questions that puzzled her, much like her ex-husband; however, unlike him, Cher relied more on reason than emotion. As the series progresses, Cher's personality softens and she begins to accept a more hopeful notion on the idea of Paradise.
Background[]
Cher and Hubb Lebowski were once married, but they separated once her work with Cheza increased to the point of obsession. Ironically, Cher's work as a scientist was fueled more by her furious attempts to find reason in an otherwise unreasonable alchemic product like Cheza. Hubb's work as a detective would presume to rely on reason, but he displayed the ability to look outside the box and accept more fantastical reasons for the happenings around him.
Both were unknowingly driven by the same inner voice that pushed Kiba toward Paradise, though they lacked the strong instinct present in the wolves.
Plot[]
Anime[]
Cher worked in the Freeze City laboratories studying Cheza the Lunar Flower Maiden who was kept in the possession of Lord Orkham. Soon after Kiba enters Freeze City Lord Darcia III steals Cheza from the facility, using his cursed wolf's eye to knock Cher unconscious. Afterwards, Hubb meets her in the hospital and asks her about the Book of the Moon, ever-inspired by his increasing encounters with the wolves. But Cher tells him it's only a fairy tale and is hesitant to agree with the notion that wolves have returned after a 200-year hiatus. She then accompanies Lord Orkham's soldiers to find and retrieve Cheza. They locate her and the wolves and Cher is shocked to see that Cheza is happy in their company. Not only that, but Kiba reveals himself to her in human form before escaping Orkham's forces.
She returns to the city where she shares a drink with Quent Yaiden. Then, searching for more answers surrounding the mystery of the wolves and Cheza's existence, she goes to the Darcia family cemetery where she encounters Darcia III who, once again, puts her to sleep. When she wakes, she finds herself in Darcia's keep. He indulges her curiosities and reveals the secrets of Cheza's nature and that she was created to open Paradise. He reveals he needs to enter Paradise to cure his beloved Hamona who has fallen with Paradise Sickness. He puts her to sleep once more and restrains her to a machine while he goes in search of Cheza again. His efforts, this time, are successful, but when he returns to his keep and finds his beloved Hamona dead and Lady Jaguara's troops on the verge of taking over, everything falls into chaos and Darcia falls into madness. Cher takes this opportunity to escape. She runs out into the city where she is reunited with Hubb. Not wanting to lose her again, Hubb refuses to part ways and goes with her back into Darcia's Keep to retrieve Cheza. Inside, they are intercepted by the wolves and Blue and work together to find Cheza. As Jaguara's troops continue to invade and destroy portions of the keep from their airships, Hubb and Cher manage to take Cheza to relative safety with Blue as the wolves battle Darcia. However, they are soon captured by Jaguara's troops and taken aboard an airship.
They are taken to Dome City, where Jaguara's troops have been in conflict with Lord Orkham's forces. Cher and Blue are separated from Hubb and Cheza, of which the latter two are captured once again and transported to Lady Jaguara's stronghold; a massive domed fortress surrounded by a sea of immigrants looking for a safe haven from the increasingly hostile conditions of the outside world. Cher becomes separated from Blue within the city and then follows a mysterious hooded figure into Jaguara's keep. Inside, they confront Jaguara and the hooded figure is revealed to be Darcia III. Following the battle that leaves Jaguara dead at Darcia's hands and Cheza back with the wolves, Hubb and Cher leave the now desecrated city. They find a military vehicle with its occupants dead over an apparent feud over money.
Eventually, Cher and Hubb, their relationship rekindled, pick up Quent and Blue first, then the rest of the wolf pack, giving Cheza a warm place to ride. They make their way across the freezing wasteland, following the pack, until an angry Quent decides to leave the group, followed closely by Toboe who promises Blue he'll keep him safe. The rest of them continue before the vehicle crashes out of control near a cliff, as the landscape has become unstable and riddled with meteor strikes. Cher hands Cheza over to Hubb but, before she can get out of the car, the ice upon which it is perched falls away and Cher falls to her death. Hubb retrieves her at the base of the cliff and is given a few tender moments before Cher draws her last breath. Devastated and worn, Hubb places her body into the frigid waters nearby and watches her body sink.
Relationships[]
Hubb Lebowski[]
Once married, Hubb and Cher separated once she began to devote more time at work, to the point of obsession. Despite this, they remained amicable and clearly still had feelings for one another. Though Cher usually rolled her eyes at Hubb's relationship jokes and his pining for their married life, her love for him runs deep.
Cheza[]
Cher views Cheza a specimen to be studied, never interacting with her until after she was freed and began accompanying the wolves to Paradise. Once she began to see Cheza as a 'person' and how her relationship with the wolves made her come alive (versus her stagnant existence in the lab's water tank), Cher became protective of the Flower Maiden. As the world began to literally fall apart around her, Cher eventually came to a sobering realization that getting Cheza to Paradise and staying with Hubb as long as possible were the only things that really mattered.
Lord Darcia III[]
The relationship between Cher and the noble, Lord Darcia III, was a complex one. She was fascinated by the lore surrounding Darcia's family and the connection they had to Paradise and the Flower Maidens; the object of her studies. Though she regarded Darcia with intrigue, viewing him as the ultimate source of knowledge of Cheza, wolves, and Paradise, she also feared him and what she didn't know about him.
Blue[]
When she met Blue for the first time, Cher was unaware that she was actually acquainted a wolfdog. After Cheza and Hubb are kidnapped by Lady Jaguara, Blue accompanies Cher and the two become friends. Blue repeatedly protects Cher against soldiers and a rogue gang. Each of them sees qualities in the other that they lack and wish for. For Blue, she sees a confident, feminine woman who is set in her convictions. Cher, meanwhile, sees a wild freedom and a level of certainty borne out of raw instinct present in Blue, a more in-tune awareness to the inner calling that both the wolves and humans feel.
Quotes[]
- "According to the data we found, the first thing Cheza showed a reaction to was blood, wasn't it?"
- "Cheza, herself, is the crowing achievement of an alchemy that cannot be proved. The Flower Maiden and the wolves are being drawn to one another."
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Cher and Hubb did not have any children, though Hubb expressed a desire to have them. Cher theorizes a major reason was the impending end of the world.
- Hubb gets annoyed and even a bit jealous when Cher pays more attention to Cheza than him.
- Cher is the first of the human protagonists to die, preceding Quent Yaiden and Hubb.