The Duelists are a pair of ghosts that haunt in the Haunted Mansion. The ghosts appear in the Haunted Mansions of Disneyland, Tokyo Disneyland and Walt Disney World but are absent from Phantom Manor and Mystic Manor.
Description[]
Background[]
These two men were likely of the upper-class in the late 18th to early 20th century. The two had a duel amongst them to settle some form of offence between them a la Code Duello. However, the end result of their duel was in futility as each man was killed by the other's shot.
Following their death, their portraits were hung up in the ballroom of the Haunted Mansion (found in New York in WDW's mansion and New Orleans in Disneyland's manor) where their ghosts would come to inhabit as-well. It is unknown if the men had any relation to the estate or its inhabitants in-life or if the portraits would come to be put up by means of the manor's undead ownership when the duelists became residents.
Appearances[]
The Haunted Mansion[]
Their ghosts emerge from a pair of portraits hanging on the left side of the ballroom wall, then turn and shoot each other at the same time. When they open fire, they both disappear.
In their portraits they are shown to have been gentlemen dressed from the early 19th century, the one on the left has a black goatee and curled moustache while the one on the right has a red moustache and sideburns. They are shown in their portraits to have had their duel in a wide open space with plenty of plants surrounding them.
Haunted Mansion Holiday[]
During the seasonal Haunted Mansion Holiday overlay of Disneyland (as well as Haunted Mansion Holiday Nightmare in Tokyo), the effects and mechanisms of the duelists remain the same. However, the duelists are here implied to be trying to shoot the ghost dog Zero as he floats around the Christmas tree in the centre of the ballroom.
Other Appearances[]
Ghost Gallery[]
In the unofficial Ghost Gallery, the duelists are named Etienne Lalaurie and Antione Germaine. In life, they had grown up as the best of friends until they met Madame Leota. Leota seduced them both, manipulating them into turning against each other. Their rivalry culminated in a duel that saw them both die from their wounds, vowing revenge on Leota with their dying breaths.
Grim Gazette[]
In the Grim Gazette they are referred to as Paul and Edward Flint, implying that the two men are in fact brothers and that their duel was the climax of their heated sibling rivalry
2003 film[]
The Duelists make a cameo in the graveyard scene of the 2003 film, where they shoot each other's hats off.
2003 video game[]
One of the two duelists appears as among the six friendly ghosts enslaved by Atticus Thorn in the video game. He first appears in the Great Hall with the other ghosts arguing on Zeke Holloway's worth to help break the curse and destroy it for good only to be silenced by the Beheaded Knight, who views Zeke worthy and commands them to introduce themselves. He helps the ghosts nurse a fainted Zeke back to health for his mission briefing by Madame Leota, who, prior to Zeke's arrival, had instructed them to hide the legendary soul gems, which power the Beacon of Souls, in order to prevent Thorn from using them for evil. The character later appears in the Game Room after its completion wherein he gives Zeke the first soul gem as a reward and upgrade and tells him to continue the fight. He then congregates with the other ghosts to commend Zeke on his bravery after his final battle with Thorn. It is later stated that he and the six other ghosts, along with Madame Leota, have become Zeke's mentors and guides for his career as an author.
This incarnation of the character has a backstory wherein he died in a duel in the Wild West.
Disney Kingdoms[]
The Duelists in Disney Kingdoms
In Issue 2 of the Haunted Mansion, the Duelists make an appearance as antagonists on the side of the villainous Captain. They shoot at the protagonist Danny at an attempt to kill him, and then inform the Captain about Danny in the basement when he escapes.
The Haunted Mansion: Frights of Fancy[]
The duelists are part of Sydney's rag-tag band of ghosts assigned to help her plan the house's Anniversary hauntings. Their habit of constantly arguing with each other ends up hindering the group project, though they eventually put aside their differences to see it through.
Muppets Haunted Mansion[]
Sam the Eagle and Pops play the role of the Duelists, with the call to "Draw!" at the start of the duel being taken literally with the two frantically doodling on sketchpads instead of using guns.
Haunted Mansion (2023 film)[]
The Duelists, named Etienne Lalaurie and Antoine Germaine, were a pair of brothers that dueled for the love of a woman named Lindsay Good, only to have killed each other. They were some of the 66 people to have been killed at the Mansion as a result of the Hatbox Ghost's manipulations after his takeover of the house.
Trivia[]
- In Liberty Square's Haunted Mansion family plot, there is a tombstone for one Mr. Sewell who died in a duel. Due to this some attribute Mr. Sewell to be the name of one of the Duelists.
- The unproduced 90s film script went with this interpretation, identifying them as the Sewell brothers Craig and Claude.
- In Phantom Manor they are replaced with a portrait of Ravenswood Manor in the ballroom. However as of the 2018 refurbishments, a portrait was installed in the Portrait Corridor which homages the duelists as a Changing Portrait. The portrait shows Henry Ravenswood and another man standing outside Ravenswood Manor standing back-to-back for a duel then when it changes it shows Henry cheating by turning before the draw and shooting his opponent in the back.
- Their animatronics are reused from the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction, most notably the Duelist on the left is the Auctioneer from the attraction.
- He shares this mould with the Sea Captain animatronic.
- The mould was originally intended for the character of Bartholomew Roberts.
- There is a small but brief head movement that the duelist on the right has after the guns are fired which lead some to believe that he died first although this could easily be him moving back from the force of the pistol.
- In the "Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom Adventure" DLC for Minecraft, the Duelist portraits feature crossbows instead of pistols, as guns are absent in the game.
Gallery[]
