Character Biography
Names: Jirarudan (phonetic transliteration of ジラルダン, see below), Gelarden (English (?) closed captions), Lawrence III (English novelization, English trading cards)Alternate spellings: Since Japanese is syllable-based, there are multiple valid spellings of his name. "Jirarudan" is most commonly used, but variations on J/G and l/r are also acceptable (the G would still be pronounced like a J, as the sound is "jee").
Age: Inderminate, usually assumed to be between 25 and 35.
Height: According to the height chart, Jirarudan is by far the tallest human in the film (second is James, and he's much taller than James). However, there is no indicator for exact heights, as pokemon heights are inconsistant with their official stats.
Hair: Light green, straying into blond tint. It varies in the film itself depending on lighting, but his stock art has this.
Eyes: Purple. The shade varies in the film, however.
General Appearence: Tall, elegant, oddly strongly built considering his lifestyle.
History: Largely unknown. What little we have is scattered here and there. In the movie itself we learn that the first item in his collection was the Ancient Mew, and even the dialogue about it only appears in the dubs, with it originating from the Japanese program book rather than within the film.
The propellors on his airship were his idea, to fit his sense of aesthetics, but it is unknown what his degree of input, if anything, on the rest of the ship was.
Trivia:
- According to a production sketch, Jirarudan possesses "frightening scientific knowledge." It is unknown how, if at all, this manifests in the film, but the likely output of that would be the capture devices.
- On the same sketch, it reveals that he wears a long-sleeved shirt under his blue garment.
- His unique name is almost certainly derived from René Girard, philosopher and Stanford University professor whose teachings range from religious symbolism and its impact on society to the desire people have for what others possess. Those who subscribe to his theories are known as Girardians.
- A rumor prior to the release of the film was that the villian would be a mad researcher intent on destruction. If this was ever true at any point in production is unknown, but with the aformentioned "frightening scientific knowledge" reference and, later, the creation of movie 11's Zero, it's certainly possible.
- A prevalent idea among Jirarudan's fans is that his red ring was from his mother, who died when he was young. Neither of these has been confirmed, however they don't conflict with anything else either.
- The Hikoukyuu was the first massive mechanical airship shown, and it was followed by Brandon's Battle Pyramid and Zero's Megaliba. All three eventually crashed in the pursuit of Legendaries.