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Penelope Fittes is the current Chairwoman of the Fittes Agency and an influential figure in post-The Problem society. She is the granddaughter of Marissa Fittes, one of the two scientists who discovered the problem and the original founder of Fittes. Seemingly reclusive but amiable, she harbors more than one secret.
On the Lockwood & Co. TV series, Penelope is portrayed by Morven Christie.
Biography
Early life
Penelope Fittes was the granddaughter of Marissa Fittes, the esteemed founder of the Fittes Agency and the woman credited for uncovering the Problem of ghosts affecting the United Kingdom. She lived what was apparently an unnotable life as a child. While still a girl, her grandmother Marissa lay on the edge of death, her body worn out and surviving only by pure will. When it finally gave out, her spirit, raging for life, refused to accept death. It jumped to the nearest living vessel, her own granddaughter, Penelope. Marissa's will completely subsumed that of her granddaughter. From this point on, the girl known as Penelope Fittes ceases to exist except as a name that Marissa uses to hide her true identity.
Future endeavours
- Main article: Marissa Fittes
From this point forward, Marissa is forced to wait a few years for Penelope's body to mature enough for it to be reasonable for her to run a corporation of the scale and scope of the Fittes Agency. Until then, she had to let her daughter, Margaret, run the company, much to her disdain, as Margaret was weak in both mind and body. As soon as she was big enough, she deposed Margaret and resumed control of the company, allowing almost everyone to believe that she was Penelope.
As Penelope, Marissa continued to research the secrets of the Other Side, aided by her Type Three ghost ally Ezekiel. She also aided the Orpheus Society in their endeavours, but did not reveal to them the full truth of her knowledge, nor her true identity. She spent much of her time in her apartment at the top of the Fittes House, seemingly a reclusive rich woman, with the Marissa Fittes body kept in a cabinet in the apartment as her source.
Appearance
Penelope Fittes is described as a beautiful and serene woman with black hair and impeccable style. At the street carnival in the third book she wears a snow-white ankle-length coat with collar and cuffs made from white fur.
Characteristics
Personality
It is said in the novels that she is widely regarded as one of the most powerful women in the country and is often consulted by ministers when dealing with the problem. Nonetheless, she is a gracious and polite person, very different to the more arrogant Steve Rotwell. She was, however, also said to be highly reclusive, rarely leaving her apartment at the top of the Fittes House.
Abilities
While no longer possessing the acute Talents comparing to prime-agents, Penelope is not rusty in the practice and is able to keep her head in dire situations. During a riot in the carnival held by Fittes and Rotwell Agency, she had taken off her hair band, which was crescent moon—sharp and made of silver, and used it as a dagger.[1]
Behind the scenes
In the Netflix Lockwood & Co. series, Penelope, or rather Marissa, appears earlier in the story than in the original novels. She appears at the funeral of the boy Samaran Pandy (Sam McCarthy in the novels), thanking Lockwood & Co. personally for retrieving his body from Combe Carey Hall, whereas in the novel The Screaming Staircase, she merely sends them a letter. Furthermore, it is said in the TV series that Sam was Marissa's friend and fellow agent, whereas in the novels she claims him to have been his friend, which would not make sense in terms of the timeline except as an inadvertent hint at her true identity that nobody picks up on.
In the TV series, George Cubbins (known as George Karim) does not attend the Fittes party with Anthony Lockwood and Lucy Carlyle, and as such, does not have the moment of her not recognizing him despite having previously worked at her agency. Furthermore, Penelope meets with Lucy personally and tells her that she looked up her history and that what happened at her previous employment at the Jacobs & Co. agency wasn't her fault. She personally offers her a job with Fittes and furthermore tells her that she's seen to it that Agent Jacobs will no longer be working in the industry. Later, during the scene in the Black Library, instead of the individual from the Orpheus Society, she instead with the Golden Blade, who later appears at Julius Winkmans auction for the Bone Glass.
In the finale of the TV series "Not The Eternal," she speaks with the Golden Blade following the destruction of the Bone Glass. He apologises, telling her that he thought he killed Lockwood and she tells him that it's alright, so long as it's out of the public domain. She tells him that they should take extra precautions. This hints that there is more to Penelope than meets the eye, something which is not explored until later in the novels.
References
- ↑ The Hollow Boy, IV: Unrest, Ch. 16