| Paton Yewbeam | |
|---|---|
|
Born |
1957 |
|
Family |
Bloor and Yewbeam family
|
|
Hair colour |
Black |
|
Eye colour |
Dark |
|
Endowment (if a child of the Red King) |
Power-booster |
|
Affiliation(s) |
Good side |
|
Ancestor (if a child of the Red King) |
|
|
Department (current or past) |
Unknown (possibly art) |
|
Gender |
Male |
"Don't say things like that about my uncle. I trust him more than anyone else in the world."
History
Paton Yewbeam is one of the few good Yewbeams in the series. He was born to James Yewbeam and Solange Sourzac and has four sisters, Grizelda, Lucretia, Eustacia, and Venetia, all whom are five years apart, making Paton and Grizelda twenty years apart, and Grizelda's son, Lyell, five years apart from Paton. One night at Yewbeam Castle, shortly after Paton's seventh birthday, his mother told his evil aunt Yolanda about Paton's endowment. On the second day, Yolanda killed Paton's mother and abducted his four sisters and tried to do the same with him, but James resisted her. Paton and James escaped to live with his grandmother Grace Bloor, and James never let Paton out of his sight until Paton was old enough to look after himself. Paton attended Bloor's Academy and came to live with his sisters in the city.
When Emma Tolly was going to be handed over to the Bloors, Paton's nephew and friend Lyell Bone tried to persuade Paton to come with him to stop them. Paton agreed, but he forgot to go because he was working on his book about the history of the Yewbeam family. Paton regretted this deeply and blamed himself for what happened to Lyell. After Lyell's disappearance Paton's relationship with Bartholomew Bloor was strained as Bartholomew blamed Paton for Lyell's disappearance and hated him for not putting his head up when he should have.
Following Lyell's disappearance, Paton went to live in the house on Filbert Street with Grandma Bone, Amy, Charlie and Maisie. At first he was very quiet and anti-social, only coming out at night to take walks and eat, but he gradually grew closer to Charlie, assisting him in several important quests: rescuing Emma Tolly, freeing Otus Yewbeam, stopping Count Harken both times, rescuing Asa Pike, rescuing Ollie Sparks, saving Henry Yewbeam, and discovering the true identity of the Red Knight. During the third book, Paton went away to stop Yolanda from coming to the city, but was unsuccessful and nearly died before Charlie gave him vervain, an herb. He was also nearly killed after being shot with an arrow during the battle on the heath over the Red King's City. During the course of the series, he developed a relationship with Julia Ingledew in the first book and eventually married her in the last book and moved to live with her in her bookstore.
Endowment
Paton is a power booster, which means he can increase the energy in lightbulbs, often causing them to burst. He discovered this when, at his 7th birthday party, he became too excited and all the lights burst and his guests sent home early. Paton's sisters informed him that he had shattered the bulbs and his parents were so happy that he was "normal" and was allowed to eat all the ice cream in the result of becoming sick. This is also displayed when he was on a date with Miss Ingledew and became very nervous at the sight of her. He then caused the light above to burst and showered her with glass, then blew up several more and ran out. This incident caused a brief halt in their relationship, but they got over it eventually. He rarely goes out in daylight and at night often enjoys bursting street lights. He thinks his endowment is useless, but it has proved beneficial, when the enchanter arrived at Miss Ingledew's and tried to break in, Paton shattered the glass in the window, smashing Julia's heaviest book on the enchanter and also bursting the light next to Manfred Bloor, and the glass scratched his face, which protected Miss Ingledew.
Personality and Traits
Paton is extremely tall, especially after drinking vervain, in the sixth book described as looking seven feet tall, but actually being about six feet and a half. He has short, black hair and dark eyes. He is very kind but is very quiet until he gets to know someone, then he warms up to them. He can have an occasional temper, but it is rare. Paton is also very rebellious, best displayed by the number of times he defied his sisters and the Bloors. Before Charlie had asked for his help, Paton kept his mouth shut and followed his sisters and the Bloors blindly. He had warned Charlie in the first book to not use his endowment to go too far and to keep it within the family when Charlie asked how he felt about being a Yewbeam. While going to Bloor's Academy when he was young, he "kept his head down" as to being a power-booster. In the fifth book, Bartholomew Bloor told him he was a ninny before and asked what made him stand up to the Bloors. Paton replied he simply had to help Charlie.