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Odd 
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"Does everyone agree that Della Robbia has remarkable potential, and that he is lazy as the day is long?"
#62 Nobody in Particular
Let's face it: Odd is your average student! Without Jeremy's help, he would have to repeat his 8th year. Also, his...prowess during the science exam in episode 33 “Final Mix” demonstrates that study isn't his priority! Making origami out of his paper instead of trying to respond to any questions proves his total disinterest concerning science and the other teachings at Kadic Academy. If he had a rough night, Odd will occasionally skip morning classes (episode 73 “Replika”). We can also see him in episode 18 “Killer Music” spending the night singing rather than studying with Ulrich. Not content with being the class clown (recall his “joke” in episode 57 “Aelita”), Odd also spends some time sleeping in maths, among other classes (episode 19 “Frontier”). Nonetheless Odd is gifted, but not in the classic subjects such as mathematics or English but the more arty subjects. He tells us this in episode 51 “Revelation” when Ulrich remarks that his grade point average (75) was boosted by his grades in art.
Odd becomes a good student one time during multiple returns to the past in episode 30 “A Great Day”. After living through the same lesson more than once it eventually got through his thick skull. Unfortunately for him, this was the only time he was ever excellent in a science class. Despite the returns in time at the beginning of the series, we can't conclude that they help, especially with regards to his studies. Now who knows, maybe one day, Odd will surprise us all by reciting Pythagoras' theorem by heart...until then, have a nice sleep, Odd! | | |
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"A weird relationship problem! Teenagers are always having lots of conflicts with their parents...a generation gap. Except for one: me! My mother and father are always cool, supportive, understanding. In fact, they're just perfect."
#91 Bad Connection
Like with Jeremy, we know very little about Odd's family, except that he comes from a large family and that his parents are artists who probably inspired Odd's whimsical side. His father is an opera singer and his mother a costume designer. Our little comedian has five sisters: Pauline, Elisabeth, Marie, Adele and Louise (we don't know much about them except that either Adele or Pauline are the youngest) who give him many nicknames. This information comes mainly from the novels.
Odd's parents appear briefly in the series (episode 91 “Bad Connection”). Odd has a complex about his relationship with them. They're cool personified. They revere their son, believing him to be exceptional in all aspects. Ultimately they ignore his bad points, stating that his poor marks reflect his not wanting to outdo his classmates. The principal finds it difficult to reason with them and try to keep the conversation about his student's marks on track.
The way they act towards him is the origin of Odd's feeling bad about his relationship with them: not having arguments with each other like every other person his age. This “relationship problem” is a big issue for him, though it's not the only one he should be worrying about.
Odd's parents were XANAfied during their visit in episode 91, at the same time as the rest of the school. This is the only time any of the heroes' families are directly involved in a XANA attack (though Yumi and Ulrich's families were the program's targets on some occasions).
They try to get rid of their son, but don't succeed because the attack is countered by the Lyoko Warriors in the virtual world. | | |
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"There it is! That's exactly where I saw Yumi fall!"
#6 Cruel Dilemma
Odd's first power was Future Flash, which he had no control over in the least, and we only saw a few times at the start of the virtual conflict (episode 1 “Teddygozilla”; episode 6 “Cruel Dilemma”; episode 10 “The Girl of the Dreams”; episode 15 “Laughing Fit”) and was later erased by Jeremy by mistake. He didn't bother to reprogram it because he believed it was useless; we learn this in episode 63 “Triple Trouble”. Episode 15 “Laughing Fit” cam show us how tough Jeremy is on these flash visions.
When Odd has a premonition, it's certain that the action will occur in one way or another, but if the heroes are warned in advance they can cope a lot better with it! The visions can also get them out of a jam, like showing the exit of a labyrinth in episode 15 “Laughing fit”!
As his power is manifesting, Odd is completely stopped in his tracks, incapable of reacting to threats, as he is completely blinded! This can get him devirtualised like in episode 6 “Cruel Dilemma”.
It must be said that Odd, because of the loss of his power, becomes frustrated at not having an ability that could help him destroy even more monsters!
This sentiment reaches its climax in episode 63 “Triple Trouble”! Jeremy, feeling sorry for him, programmed a second power, teleportation! By pronouncing this single word, Odd was capable of teleporting himself over short distances on Lyoko! And I did say “was capable”. Jeremy's program turned out to have a lot of bugs in it, causing Odd not to teleport, but to multiply! With each jump, there was an Odd left at the starting point and another at the arrival spot! The heroes found themselves with three Odds roaming free before Jeremy fused them back together with the scanners.
Odd finally gives up this ability, even though Jeremy fixed it! After all, a pro like him doesn't need any special powers! | | |
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"Forget it, Ulrich! Your sabre may have some class, but compared to my laser arrows, your monster count is way behind mine!"
#58 The Pretender
“Laser arrows!” This line is well known to all fans. Indeed, Odd's weapons are arrows that are fired from his gloves that, if aimed well, will spin right into the eye of the target monster. The destructive power of the arrows is inferior to the others' weapons, and we notice in the Prequel that if the arrow isn't well-aimed, the arrow will bounce right off the monster (like the Bloks in “XANA Awakens”). Laser arrows are first choice against flying monsters, hard to reach and often with fragile bodies. Odd develops various uses for them. For example, he blows up the Mantas' mines from a distance in the Ice Sector to clear the passage to the tower in episode 45 “Cold War”.
In the beginning, Odd only seemed to have 10 arrows per virtualisation, but since episode 27 “New Order”, Jeremy recharged him up to 10000! And no different in episode 53 “Straight to Heart”!
His second weapon is his shield. He makes it appear to protect himself from monster lasers, given that his arrows don't give him any protection, but it doesn't seem that he can sustain it for long, or he sometimes lowers it at the wrong moment. In season 1, we don't see him use it but in the Prequel, he does activate it. Did it take him an entire season to remember the existence of this shield? We're still really curious to know!
His shield is made of a kind of energy that resembles Aelita's energy fields, but is much less resistant than said energy fields. A Manta breaks it in three hits while attacking Odd in episode 74 “I'd Rather Not Talk About It”.
This weapon therefore isn't really for maintaining a constant defence. It's used more often to rapidly counter-attack like in episode 56 “False Lead”.
Vehicle: Resembling a surfboard, Odd's Overboard isn't designed to surf on waves but in the air. It can, like the other vehicles, carry two passengers, mostly Odd and Aelita. It's probably the fastest and most manoeuvrable of the three vehicles, but on the other hand, it doesn't cover its riders from laser fire while under attack.
Next to the Overwing, it's the vehicle Aelita uses the most. Like Odd, it's able to do impressive moves that confuse the poor monsters... Ulrich is a lot less accustomed to using this vehicle (episode 91 “Bad Connection”). | | |
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"One more of your stupid proverbs, and you are dead!"
#52 The Key
According to general consensus, Odd is the comedian of the ground, the little humorous touch the series would otherwise lack. Always a teaser, even in the most desperate situations, we can always expect his input, a little word which will restore the rest of the group's high spirits. If he sometimes annoys his friends slightly with his teasing, it will leave him chewing his nails for a while. During episode 24 “Ghost Channel”, he really upsets Jeremy by telling him that he's “not a real hero” as he never comes to Lyoko. Odd's also the one who constantly reminds Jeremy that being the modest person he is, he doesn't understand scientific language, like the rest of the group!
Odd's turbulent temperament can sporadically cause problems for the heroes. This can be like a simple misunderstanding inside the group – in episode 92 “Cold Sweat” Odd sends an incriminating photo of Yumi to Milly and Tamiya and arranges for Ulrich to take responsibility for it, which creates some conflict within the group – or end up in him narrowly missing being excluded from the group. In episode 85 “Kadic Bombshell” Odd betrays the heroes' secret by bringing his girlfriend of the day to the factory.
Evidently, when his offence is too grave, Odd always redeems himself. His more endearing side usually wins out over his normal behaviour which, for some fans, makes him a more controversial character.
This tendency remains a less common occurrence as Odd remains the most popular character in the series (according to the polls on many fansites that also have an incalculable number of Odd-related names on the forums). The writers seem to have understood this and Odd has a central role in a majority of the episodes, particularly in the second half of the series in which his love life on Earth and fights in the virtual world are always a major part of most episodes.
In Lyoko, the virtual feline that is Odd is the joker of the group. First to confront danger, last to get rid of the final Kankrelat that remains by chance. Blind to danger, he rushes head-first into XANA's traps in the digital world as the others look on feeling sorry or in disbelief.
They don't need to get him out of trouble however as he's still a very efficient fighter: he's like Aelita's knight in shining armour, pro at saving the damsel in distress. His exploits can sometimes have drastic effects for the enemy troops, like in the memorable episode 54 “Lyoko Minus One” during which he defeated four Tarantulas to protect Aelita.
He often develops original combat styles based on the originality of his weapons. At maximum range, his arrows have less offensive power compared to Ulrich's katana or William's sword. Odd must cope with this and count on his ingenuity to untangle the most tender situations. In episode 24, as mentioned before, he develops a style based on sliding. He's also capable of riding on Mantas by clinging to them with his claws, on which he can do various aerial tricks (episode 89 “Music to Soothe the Savage Beast”). | | |
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“It's too dangerous!”
“I volunteer!”
#01 Teddygozilla
The go-ahead type, funny, always looking for a prank to pull or someone to tease, Odd is known as the crazy one of the group. The joker, who always has a word to say to reignite spirits or cheer the group up when they're in a jam. We also see him acting as a confidante (episode 57 “Aelita”). Very rarely – almost never – we see him moping. He's always in a good mood that brings people's smiles back. Telling Sissi to go fly a kite, doing acrobatics on his Overboard or mocking XANA? He only asks for that! For him, life's just a game. It's for this reason that he has difficulty concentrating on his studies. He prefers having fun to working. He sleeps in maths, clowns around in history...without him, the series would definitely be more sullen.
But behind this good mood, this joyful smile constantly painted on his lips, hides a boy of great generosity. He won't hesitate to protect his friends, even by risking his own life. His is a dynamic character: this manner of never looking ahead, running head-first into everything and stupidly falling into traps but if it can help his friends, it's worth it!
After all, fighting is also a game. “Wanna play tag?” he asked William during a battle on a Replika.
Odd likes to be star of the show. Competition to destroy the most monsters, election campaign for class representatives, proposition for the supervisor of the recreational room, presentation of his short films. He can handle a crowd and is quite comfortable in front of an audience.
Very competitive, he's been known to be a sore loser on several occasions. In episode 63 “Triple Trouble” his performance on Lyoko falters, which he angrily blames on not having any powers, unlike his friends.
Paradoxically, the critical situations leave Odd stony-faced while the little details of teenage life provoke massive overreactions. This contrast is another major trait of his character. In the one episode, he becomes furious about being called scrawny then taunts a XANA-controlled person ready to inflict major damage on him (episode 47 “Tip-Top Shape”).
Odd has a cheeky sense of humour. He doesn't crack under his teachers' reproaches and considers every reproach or sanction against him as an insane injustice. In contrast, he died of concern when leaving Kiwi under someone else's supervision (episode 87 “A Space Oddity”).
However, some regrettable flaws characterise the young man. Generously offering himself to important causes, he unfortunately has an odious manner of managing the mundane affairs of daily life.
He flees any responsibility, more so for love-related things than anything else. He doesn't hesitate to push the blame onto someone else or his friends (episode 73 “Replika” or 92 “Cold Sweat”). He says it himself in episode 92: “I want to, but I can't! I'm too chicken...”
It would require many lines to summarise his pretentiousness and his lack of modesty. To alleviate this, we can quote the emblematic episode 79 “Bragging Rights” during which he cracked under the pressure of not being able to boast and recognises that he's an avid show-off.
He has nurtured a strong relationship with Ulrich and Aelita. The former is his exact opposite. Silent, sullen, frankly Odd wasn't welcomed with open arms when they first met, when he introduced himself to him in science class. But oh, that doesn't matter! He forced the sullen dam that is Ulrich to end up seeing him for who he really is. And at the end of the first day, Ulrich could no longer do without him...
With Aelita, it's another story. A young, naïve girl overflowing with kindness, he finds in her perfect company to play his pranks, and sometimes, he's surprised to see Aelita exceed his level of acute insanity.
When it comes to Yumi and Jeremy, they are both best friends but in Odd's opinion, too serious, though thanks to him, as the seasons, this seriousness changes little by little.
Ulrich and Yumi are privileged to be targets for Odd's sarcastic humour, after Sissi. What's more enjoyable than teasing a person who gets upset immediately? The stiff relationship between his two friends is an endless source of inspiration for Odd, especially when the cake can be iced with a dose of William (episode 75 “Hot Shower”).
The group clown, ok, but when he needs to, Odd can also be serious (episode 39 “A Bad Turn”). When it's a particularly bad XANA attack, it's no longer time for jokes and Odd quietly adheres to the circumstances and sometimes, if a joke gets out of his hands, we easily forgive him. It's his way of trying to de-stress because, saving the world while keeping a smile on your face...few know how to do it, but Odd is definitely one of them! | | |
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"You're going steady with two girls at the same time?"
#42 A Fine Mess
When it comes to love, Odd isn't in a stable relationship. He declares in episode 43 “XANA's Kiss” that he has gone out with all the girls in year 8 except Heidi Klinger and Sissi (which we doubt, as in “XANA Awakens” he had a thing for her before he realised that she was a real...turkey, as Jeremy put it). We can also add Aelita to the list, though he stole a kiss from her in episode 73, a brief but noteworthy instant... In episode 42 “A Fine Mess”, he was going out with two girls at the same time: Claire Girard and Magali De Vasseur...who both broke up with him when they found out about Odd's deceit.
Odd is a real Don Juan, he always has a new crush, which according to him, is part of his quest for true love...and he seems to have found her in Samantha, aka Sam.
Sam, who first appeared in “Rock Bottom?”. A young, rebellious girl from a neighbouring school who wanted to steal a computer from Kadic. Odd stopped her and was punished in her place, he narrowly avoided expulsion but it didn't affect his...friendship with her. Friendship which seemed to transform into love when he saw her again (episode 65 “Final Found”), as Ulrich remarked, they're made for each other.
In episode 65, we learn that Sam moved to the other side of the country and that she was at Kadic for an inter-school skateboarding championship. Unfortunately, Odd had to leave because XANA was attacking. These episodes are the only two times we see them together.
Various elements distinctly prove Odd's feelings for Samantha. She's the only person to make him flustered or blush when he's around them. She's also the only one of his girlfriends that he tried to hide rather than bragging about her.
In episode 85 “Kadic Bombshell”, Odd seemed to have a serious crush on Sissi's Icelandic pen pal: Bringa. This relationship was one-sided because the Icelander, playing the seduction game with Odd, was more interested in having an effect on the opposite sex than her relationship with the Lyoko Warrior. It must be noted that Bringa is a diva and probably in the unattainable category, and Odd was the one who bit the hardest on the hook.
This episode remains notorious because Odd ditched Samantha, whom he loves, to fight in Sector Five, but revealed the group's secret to Bringa by taking her to the factory. | | |
| | "That's how it is for unsung heroes like ourselves. We've gotta act and win, and remain in the shadows. I guess that's what being a true hero is all about! But someday, everybody's gonna know just how brave we are! And we'll reap the benefits and rewards true heroes deserve!"
#37 Common Interest
Odd entered the group thanks to Kiwi. As strange as that seems, it's true.
A new student at Kadic Academy, the principal put him in a room with Ulrich Stern, a student of his age and in his class. He met him during science class but Ulrich didn't seem especially overjoyed to meet his new roommate. He starts to confidently tag along with Ulrich, not remarking that it seems to bother the boy more than anything else, met the principal's daughter, Sissi, and crushed on her, as the Casanova he was – and still is – as soon as she approaches Ulrich.
By chance, while he and Ulrich were near the drinks machine, he witnessed Jeremy's electric shock but didn't worry about it too much.
That afternoon, when Ulrich came back to their room, he met Kiwi, the dog who would, without his knowing, interrupt his quiet teenage life, and who was technically not allowed at the school.
Later, during the night, while he was sleeping, Ulrich came to take Kiwi but the dognapper's phone ringing disturbed the silence in the room and woke Odd, who saw his roommate take off with Kiwi. Odd ran after him, and with Sissi – who had organised a meeting with Ulrich. He didn't come and the girl had decided to look for him, Odd running into her (literally). He discovered that the teen took his dog to the old abandoned factory. After listening for a moment to Sissi rattling off about why she thought Ulrich might have taken Kiwi to the factory, he decided to climb down the old lift shaft – still with Sissi – and discovered his dog, sitting in a cabin. Odd entered it to pick his animal up but the dog jumped out of his hands and the doors of the scanner closed on the teen.
On the floor above, Jeremy and Ulrich launched the transfer procedure, but Ulrich noticed, horrified, that it wasn't Kiwi in the scanner, but Odd!!
After a moment of panic, Odd found himself virtualised in the form of a purple cat in the Forest Sector, soon joined by Ulrich.
While the two explored a little of the Sector they accidentally landed in, Odd leaned on the outside of the Way Tower, fell through the wall, and grabbed onto the edge of the platform but when Ulrich joined him, both of them fell into the void before appearing in the Ice Sector where they encountered Bloks who, due to their inexperience, devirtualised them almost immediately. Back on Earth, they saved Jeremy from electrical cables that came to life and threatened to kill him with electrical discharges.
The next day, after the four of them (Jeremy, Ulrich, Sissi and Odd) swore to keep the secret they learned of during the day, Sissi was attacked by a ball of electricity. Odd and Jeremy rushed to the factory, joined by Ulrich and a Japanese girl he met during a martial arts class given by Jim, and who was there when Ulrich was almost electrocuted by the same energy ball that went after Sissi.
At the factory, Odd is virtualised for the second time with Ulrich and Yumi and meets Aelita – called Maya at this point in time – and starts to try and pick her up but Ulrich stops him almost immediately because monsters were approaching them.
After Aelita deactivated her first Tower and Jeremy launched his first Return to the Past, it became obvious that the latter retained no memory of their first mission, so the three friends filled him in one everything, and all four of them swore to keep the secret...
Mission after mission, Odd became much stronger on Lyoko than he'd been during his first virtualisation, he learned to fight XANA in different ways, on Earth or on Lyoko, saving his friends when they were in danger because of the virus, gradually adapting as XANA's strategy changed. At first, we saw Odd having a rough time against a Megatank (episode 1 “Teddygozilla”); what a contrast with what followed, when the catboy took care of three Tarantulas by himself (episode 54 “Lyoko Minus One”). When XANA tries to possess him in episode 31 “Mister Pück”, it turned out that Odd, Yumi and Ulrich can't be controlled by XANA thanks to their numerous voyages on Lyoko.
In addition, Odd never hesitates to volunteer to hold back XANA's attacks on Earth, which is very dangerous when the heroes must fight without superpowers! In episode 43 “XANA's Kiss”, it's Odd who stays to confront the polymorphic clone!
In episode 47 “Tip-Top Shape” again it's Odd who stays behind on Earth to be “Jeremified” and fight Yolanda, despite being warned that Jeremification was still in development...
We note that it's often Odd who's the victim of all sorts of unexpected inconveniences! In episode 42 “A Fine Mess”, he finds himself in Yumi's body and risking cellular degeneration, in episode 63 “Triple Trouble” he is multiplied into three, again with the same risk!
And despite, several times, narrowly avoided losing his life in an attack (episode 51 “Revelation” is a perfect example), he has never thought of giving up, not because he swore to it but because there's a world to save and friends to protect.
In the final part of the conflict after the recreation of Lyoko, Odd's daily life doesn't change very radically. He's still the target of occasional XANA attacks (episode 76 “The Lake”), and still, still subject to a more hectic than peaceful life, still the disruptive or blundering element in the group's harmony (episode 80 “Kiwodd”), still teasing some days and talking frankly other times (episode 77 “Lost At Sea”).
The catboy doesn't lose his fighting skills. He struggles more than the others in fights against William, turned XANA Warrior. It wasn't until the end of episode 79 that Odd finally managed to get rid of William alone and he repeats this exploit fewer times than his brothers and sisters in arms.
On the other hand, Odd is completely enthused by the novelty that is the fight on board Navskids and during Teleportation. He destroyed two Supercomputers out of three that were annihilated by the heroes. In the Digital Sae, he seems to be the best pilot.
Odd goes to Lyoko more and more. His role is essential in devirtualising William (he delivers the coup de grâce after a long time of protecting Aelita in Teleported form). He did his best protecting Aelita and Franz Hopper during the final fight and has yet to break the trend.
At the moment of turning the Supercomputer off, he's not very enthusiastic as life as he enjoys life as a hero. However he quickly adjusts to the new life. Of the 5 ehroes, we easily remember that Odd was surely the only one who lived life to its fullest even before the anti-XANA adventure. He just has to continue doing so. | | |
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