👹 + 🎩

The actual context:

Hi anon 👋👋 No, don’t worry at all, this is a completely valid question, I actually wondered the exact same thing, myself, awhile back. I wasn’t a mortician back in the 1880s (lol, HMMM WHO WOULDA THOUGHT), but I can confidently tell you that Undertaker is not using formaldehyde on his "patients." - I’ll mostly focus on the Bizarre Dolls here, since that’s what we’ve seen him deal with the most recently.

Formaldehyde, at least as we know it today in mortuary science, wasn’t introduced into the field until 1893 by the German scientist Ferdinand Blum. (I had to double-check that one to make sure I had the right name and date.) Undertaker’s methods for creating his infamous Bizarre Dolls are entirely supernatural rather than… chemical.

If we set the cinematic records aside for a moment, he primarily uses blood transfusions to keep the physical vessels functioning and appearing human ('least when it comes to his more advanced ones.) That is worlds apart from what formaldehyde actually does to a deceased body. The dolls are not chemically preserved, which is why it’s repeatedly noted that they carry a putrid, repulsive stench. I’m pretty sure even Sebastian comments on how soft their flesh is.

From ch.150:

If Undertaker were heavily using formaldehyde as a tissue-hardening fixative, they likely wouldn’t smell nearly as rotten, nor would they feel as soft as they do. The entire purpose of formaldehyde is to slow visible decomposition and help the deceased appear "fresh" for viewing. It’s essentially there to prevent rapid breakdown in front of grieving families. That said, formaldehyde does not stop decomposition forever (it’s more of a temporary pause button than a permanent preservation method.)

From ch.52:

From ch.54:

To simplify the science a bit (not tryna give you a whole class here): formaldehyde works by linking proteins together inside the tissues. This locks everything in place, firms the tissue, prevents the body’s own enzymes from breaking it down and kills much of the bacteria responsible for putrefaction.

And trust me, the chemical itself is EXTREMELY pungent. We absolutely do not "rawdog" that stuff into the deceased without protection. It’s handled in specialized preparation rooms with proper ventilation and safety equipment. What’s interesting, though, is that people working around it regularly become desensitized to the smell over time. It’s similar to someone working on a farm... eventually they stop noticing the surrounding odor because they’re constantly exposed to it.

So realistically, if UT were using formaldehyde on his dolls, passersby probably wouldn’t be hit with a strong rotting-corpse smell. Instead, the bodies would likely have that very distinct "cold" and waxy scent embalmed bodies tend to have up close, sometimes with faint lavender or almond-like notes depending on the products used and what's surrounding them. (Yes, I know that sounds oddly specific, but that’s genuinely how many families describe it during viewings.)

So overall, the fact that the Bizarre Dolls are described as soft, actively decaying and foul-smelling strongly suggests they are not being chemically preserved in the way modern embalming works. Their "preservation" is supernatural maintenance, not mortuary science.

If Yana ever went that route and had him using formaldehyde (despite the historical mismatch) the smell is very strong at first but fades significantly once embalming is complete. So if the dolls are later described as no longer reeking, welpp ya gonna know the pungent fluid just made it’s grand entrance.

Normal person describing Ciel: Tiny pirate blueberry in shorts, with his walking case of Stockholm syndrome beside him.

The photos don’t do it justice 😭

Okay, everything is sort of holding steady for now. We’ve gotten enough backstories and flashbacks to fill an entire archive, so maybe we’ll finally start getting answers. Yana can't keep piling on new lore like this anym—

In french:

"Ce que vous êtes, nous l’étions. Ce que nous sommes, vous le serez."

In enlgish:

"What you are now, we once were; what we are now, you shall be."

The impression I’m getting lately, especially with the recent reveals and backstories piling up left and right... it's only a matter of time before Claudia Phantomhive gets hinted at somewhere and somehow (alongside her backstory too, by the way... because we really need more context on her.)

|f we're talking purely canon and completely setting aside fan theories: There's not much to work with beyond a death date, her being Ciel's grandmother, and a single ambiguous panel where we're not even certain it's her back.

(The mourning locket is technically another detail, though it doesn't expand the canon information we already have here, so I'm not really factoring it in.)

If demon hunters (assuming this concept is actually being implemented into the manga) and the Phantomhive ancestry are being linked, she isn’t really optional to the narrative anymore… she’s likely part of the wider plot.

If the lineage concept starts opening up, you can’t just gloss over the grandparents like they aren’t carrying half the lore.

Not in the near chapters (I don't think), but if a hunter theory develops (ahead in future chapters), we might get more focus on previously unknown details about past Watchdogs. That’d be the perfect opportunity for Yana to drop more breadcrumbs about her backstory/identity/past.

What could those details imply about who they were, their past dealings, their missions, and how they carried them out?

Also, what I’m getting at here is that if the hunter theory includes the idea that they can kill demons because they themselves have some kind of supernatural ability (or what not), it could also pave the way for an explanation of Undertaker.

We’re not exactly starting from zero here (the groundwork is already there) when the story has already hinted that O!Ciel himself may be connected to abilities beyond those of a normal human.

Conveniently enough, the manga first brings up the whole "one foot in the grave" explanation, only for the very next panel to immediately steer readers toward the idea that O!Ciel’s ability to sense Grim Reapers may actually come from his lineage instead.

Ngl, that one manga page alone pushed the grandfather theory up to like 85% credibility for me lol

BUT! The real question is whether Yana was foreshadowing Undertaker specifically, or simply planting the idea that supernatural abilities already exist somewhere within the ancestry itself.

Which would make the lineage panel even more meaningful, especially now that we know demon hunters may exist within the lore.

The fact that the family tree is literally sitting in the background while lineage gets hinted at feels WAY too intentional. I'd put my hand in fire that Yana did that to keep readers guessing between Undertaker and other bloodline-related possibilities. She loves confusing us, doesn't she?

The author has a pattern of keeping things ambiguous and unresolved early on, only to revisit them much later with a significant reveal that reframes everything.

Now, back to UT and Claudia and their very suspicious possible union...

Why would a legendary grim reaper care about a normal human girl? Perhaps she had "abilities" that set her apart.

I know this may sound a bit contradictory, but keep in mind we still don’t know whether the supernatural powers/abilities come from further back in the bloodline rather than from him directly.

Dumb lil side note: That reveal panel (maybe in the future) where Ciel’s entire identity, and the only reason he exists at all, is reduced to a Grim Reaper and his grandmother having "fun" is going to be absolutely epic.

That said, it would only apply to Undertaker if the grandfather theory proves to be accurate.😝

Phantomhive bloodline + possible supernatural traits = Undertaker connection or another source? Only time will tell.

All in all, if Yana starts pulling on the Claudia thread, Cedric's is likely around the corner too.

But of course, this is all just speculation, not fact. Oh great Yana, I really do wonder what you have in store for us.