Ludwig van Beethoven

'Ludwig van Beethoven'
Debut (Manga):
Debut (Anime):	Episode 28
Affiliation:	Historic Figure
Seiyū:
Voice actor:

Ludwig van Beethoven was one of the historic figures that Flint Hammerhead met on his adventures and is based on the man of the same name. They met while he was studying under Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who Flint also met.

Depiction in the show

Beethoven is shown as a young man, struggling to find his musical inspiration. In contrast to his energetic teacher Mozart, he had much doubt on his abilities: this doubt held him back.

Trivia

• Since Beethoven did not study under Mozart until 22 years of age, he should be about this age in the show. However, as in the case of Marco Polo, he does appear slightly younger then one expects.
• In the English dub, Old Timer states he has to correct the issue of Beethoven and Mozart meeting each other later. Except, historically they did met, making the English dub throw up a historical error - the error was also not in the original Japanese dub.
• The real life Beethoven was far different to the shows depiction. He was a man who refused to obey normal social expectations and lived by his own rulings: he had no patience for those who did not give respect to his work and had a strong spiritual belief.
  • Note: Beethoven's struggle to compose music did not come from a lack of confidence - by the age of 26 he began to suffer from deafness which impacted his ability to hear music.
  • Another thing to note, many composers at the time did not get commissions until after Mozart died due to his fame and music abilities, Beethoven was among them. However, Mozart was known to have praised Beethoven's own abilities.