Odd Della Robbia

From The Realm Of Lyoko

Odd Della Robbia is a character in Code Lyoko.

[edit] Character outline

Odd Della Robbia is the jokester and prankster of the group, acting less serious and more carefree than the others in any given situation. While Odd is fond of his own jokes, few others are. This attitude extends to most forms of danger, which Odd only seems to take seriously when responsible for the welfare of others. While Odd doesn't appear to be a serious student, he maintains a 75% average, apparently aided by high art scores as well as his propensity to copy the papers of others during those tests he actually attempts to pass. During his free time, he prefers to work on music, film, drawing, and other forms of art, as well as skateboarding.

Compared to his friends, Odd seems to be the most enthusiastic and energetic, being the one who's been to Lyoko most often and seems to get sincere enjoyment from putting his life on the line there. In the first episode, "Teddygozilla," he jumped at the opportunity to take a solo mission to Lyoko, despite Jeremie's insistence that it would be too dangerous.

Odd's carefree personality extends to his clothing, consisting of a long-sleeve shirt and bellbottom pants, both of which are different shades of purple. He wears gold shoes and a gold belt that matches the color of his hair. His hair is styled into a large point in the same fashion as his hair on Lyoko, which Odd purposefully copied after first travelling there (when he first arrived at Kadic, his hair was originally slicked back in a neo-hippie/surfer hairstyle). He also has a purple stripe on the front of his hair (which is naturally that color, as seen in both "Unchartered Territory" and "Revelation"). His night clothes, on the other hand, are red and orange. The shirt has a picture of Kiwi on it. In the fourth season though, he wears a new outfit consisting of a purple hooded sweatshirt with a lighter purple shirt underneath, purple bell bottoms, and dark red-orange shoes.

Odd has a pet dog named Kiwi, which he keeps in his room against school policy. Despite the rule against pets, most of the students know Odd has the dog. It would seem that only the teachers are unaware of Kiwi's existence. Jim seems to know (or suspects) that the dog exists, but has never been able to prove it without a return trip taking place. Odd also shares a room with Ulrich. The others have their own rooms or live at home. This occasionally results in arguments between the two on roommate-related issues.

Odd considers himself to be something of a ladies' man, having managed to date almost every (similarly aged) girl at the school in the two years he's been attending it, sometimes two at a time. As one would expect, such behavior in the school's small population eventually backfires on him; every girl at school knows (either through gossip or first-hand experience) about Odd, as well as some of his less flattering traits, namely his terrible foot odor.

A running gag in regards to Odd is his paradoxical figure when compared to his gluttony. Despite eating two or three portions at every meal, Odd never gains weight or height, being the shortest member of the group, which is somewhat disguised by his platform shoes and hairstyle. The school nurse attributes this to Odd's high metabolism. As part of the gag, other characters will refer to him as "scrawny", which he will invariably reply to by insisting that he's "svelte".

[edit] Powers and abilities

On Lyoko, Odd is dressed, as he describes it, as a "giant purple cat." The outfit is almost identical to the one he wears in the real world color-wise, but has no sleeves and is generally closer-fitting. It also has knee pads and long gloves that go past his elbows. To complete the "giant cat" motif, Odd only has four fingers on Lyoko, complete with claws, though they are bigger than normal and positioned in such a way that it does not affect his ability to hold objects. His ID card also has a paw print on the back. His changed outfit in the fourth season is virtually identical to the previous one, aside from being slimmer with slightly altered highlights. He also has cat ears and a tail to complete his cat-like appearance and looks much more physically built.

For faster travel in Lyoko, Odd uses the Overboard, a hovering skateboard. It's capable of flight and is easily the most maneuverable of the three vehicles. A pair of rockets are mounted on the underside of the board for quick boosts of speed. It is also unusual among the three vehicles as Odd is apparently able to control it remotely. The board will frequently return to Odd of its own accord or otherwise exhibit controlled movement without Odd visibly directing it to do so. Neither Ulrich's Overbike or Yumi's Overwing have demonstrated such an ability, though Jeremie does direct the Overwing's movement on at least one occasion.

Odd's main weapons on Lyoko are his "Laser Arrows", miniature spearheads fired from his gloves near the wrist. They are designed for long-range attacks, being fast moving but requiring precise aim due to their size. They usually fly in a straight line, but Odd has shown the ability to curve their flight path in the episode "Amnesia." The amount of arrows held in each glove vary between seasons. In the first season, the gloves only hold ten or twenty at a time, requiring Odd to be conservative with his shots. In the second season, Jeremie upgrades the gloves to hold 10,000 arrows each, removing this weakness, though he still needs reloads from Jeremie occasionally, such as in "Replika". In the real world, a purple aura surrounds the arrows when they are fired. Oddly enough, even though Jeremie reloads his arrows a few minutes earlier, Odd runs out in the real world, having to use one arrow to destroy the backup generator in "Bragging Rights".

For defense, Odd can create a shield over his chest by raising an arm. The shield absorbs any laser fire or even reflects laser fire depending on the angle of impact, but it doesn't cover Odd's entire body, allowing monsters to strike his legs or head. Odd also has limited precognition in the first season, referred to as "Future Flash", but the ability is replaced by the shield in the second season. This is retroactively explained in the third season episode "Triple Trouble", where Odd notes that it was lost during the reprogramming of their abilities and never restored because it was "useless". Odd does use the shield accidentally in the prequel episode "Xana Awakens", suggesting a continuity error on the writer's part.

Aside from his Lyoko-given abilities, Odd is a capable athlete, particularly where climbing is concerned. Combined his claws, Odd can climb almost any surface fairly quickly, and can even hang upside-down from the underside of platforms to perform sneak attacks. The claws can also dig into monsters, but it doesn't cause them any harm (aside from some pain). Like Yumi, Odd uses various flips to dodge attacks. To fit with his cat-like appearance, Odd also runs on all fours like a cat much of the time. Finally, Odd is a capable fighter, but more in terms of street fighting than martial arts, evidenced when he gets into a boxing match with a Creeper in "Franz Hopper". In "Revelation", however, Ulrich creates the suggestion that he and Odd spar against each other, probably in Pencak Silat, as Odd was shown to be copying Ulrich's ready stance in "Mister Puck" (when preparing to beat a possessed Jeremie).

His skills in boxing were revealed again in season 4. Once in "Distant Memory" and again in "Guided Missile".

[edit] Character theories

Some character theories exist for Odd, though these particular theories are mainly focused around his family and nationality. Due to the fact that Odd has the last name "Della Robbia", some fans believe that he is from the EU country of Italy. This is actually hinted at in "Attack of the Zombies" when Odd shows proficiency in Italian.