* Heterodyne detection

* Heterodyne detection

* Heterodyne detection

A bit over four years after Wulfenbach's disappearance, the peace is shattered by an attack on the mechanically sentient Castle Heterodyne ; Bill and Barry return to find Lucrezia apparently kidnapped — and, though the details are kept secret from all but their closest associates, Bill and Lucrezia's son Klaus Barry had been killed.

Agatha Heterodyne has an impressive heritage as she's believed to be the daughter of the heroic Bill Heterodyne and Lucrezia Mongfish, who is the Villain's Beautiful Daughter and evil Spark herself, but who was believed to have turned a new leaf and given up her wicked ways upon marrying Bill.

She also proves herself adept at playing the role of Lucrezia Mongfish in the popular Heterodyne plays performed by Master Payne's Circus, an irony which is not lost on her or Krosp, though she keeps her real identity secret from the other members of the Circus.

Finally, Agatha reaches Mechanicsburg and meets her greatest challenge yet: Convincing the mechanically sentient and mentally fragmented Castle Heterodyne, given human-like response by her ancestor Faustus, that she is a real Heterodyne.

As of the end of Volume XI ( 4 November 2011 ), Agatha has been acknowledged by Castle Heterodyne as the true heir, begun to learn both her mother's and the Castle's secrets, and is preparing to defend the city of Mechanicsburg from various factions seeking to assume control of Europa.

The significance of her choice cannot be overstated ; both her father and uncle's heroism, atypical of the Heterodynes, and the legend of the " Storm King " who last unified Europe by taking a Heterodyne bride ( and who is allegedly an ancestor of Tarvek ) suggest that the future of Europa might be in her capable but inexperienced hands.

This army of monsters, created centuries ago by a Heterodyne, is known for fanatic loyalty to House Heterodyne.

With the disappearance of Bill and Barry Heterodyne, the bulk of the Jägermonster army has allied with Baron Wulfenbach, while the remaining, at general's orders, went into exile until a Heterodyne heir is found by one of them.

During the current storyline Tarvek, Gilgamesh, and Agatha are working together within Castle Heterodyne, where it is revealed that Tarvek and Gilgamesh were students together aboard Castle Wulfenbach and in Paris, Gilgamesh under an assumed name.

Lucrezia Mongfish is the daughter of Lucifer Mongfish, an old foe of the Heterodyne Boys.

Zola ( a. k. a. Pinkie ) is the pretender to the Heterodyne family name currently attempting to take over Castle Heterodyne.

A construct first encountered by Agatha in the Nursery / School on Castle Wulfenbach, Von Pinn is revealed as the construct manufactured by the Heterodynes to care for their children, and was thought to have gone insane after " The Other " attacked Castle Heterodyne and killed the son of Bill and Lucrezia, Klaus Barry Heterodyne.

Punch is massively muscled ( it is also a little known fact that he is supposedly mute, although Adam apparently talks with Lilith in Volume 1 ); consequently, Punch and Judy are usually portrayed as comic relief in Heterodyne plays, which is surely why they disliked them.

Their origin is never stated, but they appear to have been with the Heterodyne boys for some time before Lucrezia married Bill.

Castle Heterodyne is the ancient ancestral home of the Heterodyne family.

; HIFI ( Heterodyne Instrument for the Far Infrared ): A heterodyne detector which is able to electronically separate radiation of different wavelengths, giving a spectral resolution as high as R = 10 < sup > 7 </ sup >.

Sent to Castle Heterodyne by the Baron with the intent of removing Gil as a precursor to the Castle's destruction, Othar discovered his sister was a prisoner at Castle Heterodyne and has agreed to make her his " spunky girl sidekick ".

She was present at Castle Heterodyne for the first attack by the Other, and her subsequent disappearance led most to assume that she had been kidnapped.

Agatha has suppressed the Lucrezia imprint by use of her Heterodyne sigil locket, and Anevka / Lucrezia was last seen in the Great Hospital in Mechanicsburg attempting to take control of the Baron prior to the destruction of the hospital.

His true nature and identity appears to have been recognized by at least one of the Castle's fragments ( and also by Tarvek ), and his actions suggest an insider's knowledge of the history of the Heterodyne family and of the workings of Castle Heterodyne.

Originally simply a large fortress, the Castle was brought to life by Faustus Heterodyne who imbued it with an artificial intelligence.

The castle's obedience to an individual is seen as proof of that individual's claim to being the Heterodyne heir, which it can verify by a blood test and other means.

The cloud was to be observed over a period of weeks or months by ground instruments and the Spatial Heterodyne IMager for MEsospheric Radicals ( SHIMMER ) instrument on the NRL / STP STPSat-1 spacecraft.

Meanwhile, the absent " Heterodyne Boys " have become increasingly popular folk heroes, with many of their known exploits ( and not a few wholly imaginary ones ) captured in a series of popular novels and plays.

Othar Tryggvassen at first wished to kill her as part of his crusade against the Spark, but once he realized that she was the Heterodyne heir, he decides he would prefer to ally with her.

After being led to believe that Agatha died defending a traveling Heterodyne show from a rogue clank, he spent his time resuscitating Agatha's surrogate parents Adam and Lilith Clay ( otherwise known as Punch and Judy, assistants to the Heterodyne Brothers ), and taking out his frustrations upon captured rogue clanks, with a side effect of honing his already impressive sword-skills and reflexes.

He eventually became close friends with Bill Heterodyne in particular.

Originally, The Baron pursued Agatha after her escape because of the legendary charisma the Heterodyne name carries with it ; even a false Heterodyne attracts devotion, until they are proven false.

After several clashes with the Heterodynes, she eventually married Bill Heterodyne, and had a son named Klaus Barry Heterodyne ( notably, 2 years and 3 months after Baron Wulfenbach had vanished ).

After encountering Gilgamesh and Zeetha as they passed through Mamma Gikka's into Mechanicsburg, Higgs entered Castle Heterodyne with them, where he has demonstrated both an unusual prowess and resourcefulness.

She returned to Castle Heterodyne after Agatha entered the Castle, with the aid of Castle systems, where it was revealed that her consciousness was taken from Otilia, one of the nine Muses of the Storm King.

A construct couple that worked for ( and with ) the Heterodyne Boys on several of their fabulous adventures, they are best known in recent years as caregivers to Agatha under the names Adam and Lilith Clay.

However, that same pilot's same headstrong nature, combined with the talents of his fellow pilots, enable Dai-Guard to be victorious against multiple Heterodyne attacks ( to the chagrin of the military that spurned the ' 100 foot sales gimmick ').

Although everyone involved with 21st Century and the Anzenhosho Army ( ANPO ) shares the same goal of protecting Japan from Heterodyne attacks, their own personal beliefs often cause much conflict.

The series ends its run not with the final elimination of the Heterodyne threat, but in an epiphany shared by all of the former rivals: The Heterodyne, although a threat that must be faced with impressive technology, are simply yet another disaster to be faced in a dangerous world, no different from earthquakes or typhoons.

Foglio co-won the first Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story in 2009 for Girl Genius, Volume 8: Agatha Heterodyne and the Chapel of Bones, and has continued to co-win two Hugo Awards the following years.

In 2009 the Foglios and their colorist, Cheyenne Wright, won the first Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story, for Girl Genius, Volume 8: Agatha Heterodyne and the Chapel of Bones.

The main character, Agatha Heterodyne, at first seems to be nothing more than a struggling student at Transylvania Polygnostic University, but when Baron Klaus Wulfenbach and his son come to investigate irregularities at the university, a seemingly unrelated sequence of events leads to Agatha awakening to her family's genetic inheritance and their secrets.

Those that survive this process of attrition become the power players of their fictional world, and if they successfully reproduce they begin lineages that are nothing less than royalty – right down to personal heraldic sigils: the Heterodyne Trilobite, the Sturmvoraus Sword-and-Gear, and the Wulfenbach Winged Rook, for example.

About twenty-two years before the beginning of the current story, a fragile peace has been framed through the actions of brothers Bill and Barry Heterodyne and their allies, including their closest friend, Baron Klaus Wulfenbach.

The peace was apparently cemented when Lucrezia Mongfish, daughter of one of the more villainous Sparks, consented to marry Bill Heterodyne ; the concurrent disappearance of her other suitor, Klaus Wulfenbach, appears to have passed without comment.

Traveling shows often present the Heterodyne plays to audiences in towns of all sizes.

Agatha Heterodyne, also known as Agatha Clay: the Girl Genius of the title.

Agatha has inherited both the legendary Heterodyne charismatic genius and the distinctive Mongfish voice.

When Agatha was five years old, her uncle Barry Heterodyne gave her a locket containing pictures of her parents, instructing her to never remove it.

Agatha gains her first sworn servitors: a trio of Jägerkin, who had been searching for the Heterodyne heir and are surprised to find she's a girl instead of a boy as expected.