Jellybean

Jellybean, also known as The Black Hound, is a Barghest and a recurring character in the Hilda TV series, as well as appearing in the graphic novels and the novelization.

He is posed as a threat to Trollberg citizens, and is Tontu's pet.

Appearance
Like all Barghests Jellybean resembles a big black dog, that is the size of a small building.

He has pointed ears, a dark gray nose, a pink tongue, a long, furry tail, and eyes that are sometimes a glowing blank white with a bright yellow outline, but are actually white with black pupils in them.

Personality
Jellybean is shown to have two sides to him: one being an evil, scary dog, and another being a little, sweet, playful puppy.

For unknown reasons, or because he was adapting his true nature, he was scary at first, striking fear into people and creatures' hearts, as well as devouring citizens. He is also quick and has a tendency chase things whenever they run away from him. He is also very tough at first, snarling, howling, and showing his sharp teeth, not really running away from anything except for food.

When he recognizes his owner, he turns into a sweet, loving, playful puppy-like dog. He also gets a little more timid, as shown by him getting frightened by police sirens. He is also more nice, as he doesn't attack straight away anymore, and just sits tight. Jellybean is also very smart, as he knows how to use the Nowhere Spaces himself.

Animated series
Long ago, when Jellybean was just a puppy, he was found by Tontu. Tontu decided to adopt him, as they did what Nisses do with lost things: take them home with them. Jellybean was looked after in secret for a while, but one day, Tontu's parents found Jellybean and they took him away, despite Tontu's pleas. Most likely, this was done because Tontu's father knew how big Jellybean would eventually become.

As time passed, Jellybean grew bigger, and became a threat to the Trolberg citizens. Still loyal to Tontu, he tried to find his former owner. Due to being raised by a Nisse, he had learned to enter and leave Nowhere Space on his own, and used this to stalk the city without anyone being able to find him. Since as early as "Chapter 6", sightings of him were reported around Trolberg, with people addressing him by names as "The beast of Trolberg" and "The Black Hound". As he navigated the nowhere spaces, he accidentally trashed several homes, leading to the Nisse living there being blamed and getting banished by the home owners.

In "Chapter 10: The Storm", a news report about him was shown when Hilda turned on the television during the storm, but due to the weather outside, the channel was messed up, and Hilda turned off the television.

In "Chapter 12: The Nisse", news and rumors about sightings began to spread around the city. The news channel Johanna turned on later also reported about how the number of sightings was increasing and it was the main talk of the town. After learning more about it, Johanna had doubts about Hilda going on her Sparrow Scout Camping Trip because of the creature out there, but some sightings were considered fake ones or other things besides The Black Hound, which relieved Johanna.

While driving to the camping grounds for Hilda's overnight camping trip, Johanna caught a glimpse of Jellybean between two houses, but when she turned to look back, he was gone. Later, during the trip, when Hilda and David found out that Frida was actually hanging out with some Marra, David heard a rustling in the bushes and assumed it was the Black Hound. Panicking, he ran, and tripped, where he grew even more frightened, ran into Hilda, and intercepted into the Marra's gathering. Jellybean's final appearance in this episode was when, while David was standing up to the Marra himself, Jellybean suddenly appeared right behind him, causing everyone to back away in terror.

In "Chapter 13: The Black Hound", Kelly tried to feed Frida to the hound while the Marra fled, but Hilda managed to distract Jellybean with a bag of chips. When Raven Leader heard about Jellybean being sighted near the camp, she had the camp called off early and send everybody home. A day after the camping trip, after Hilda tried to get a Sparrow Scout Badge and find Tontu and was unsuccessful with both. Jellybean meanwhile consumed three humans, and the Trolberg Safety Patrol was tasked with hunting the beast down.

Then, during the badge ceremony at the Scout Hall, Tontu (alpha) found Jellybean hiding in the Nowhere Space of the building. He quickly warned Hilda, and dragged her along into Nowhere Space. There, they travelled from building to building, stalked by the hound. Eventually, they ended up in Hilda's house, where Jellybean was finally reunited with his Tontu. This calmed him down, and Tontu even made him hurl out the three humans he ate earlier.

The danger was not over yet, since the safety patrol was still hunting Jellybean. Their sirens made Jellybean panic, and he ran outside, where the safety patrol tried to capture him with nets, with no success however. Hilda, Johanna, and the two Tontus came to his rescue and tried to lure him out of the city walls with Johanna's car. Jellybean caught up with the car, jumped on the roof, and blocked Johanna's view, causing the car to go out of control. To get rid of the safety patrol following them, and prevent the car from crashing into the city wall, the two Tontu's did the one thing no Nisse would usually ever dare; enter the Nowhere Space of the outside world.

The gamble payed off for Johanna, Hilda and Tontu (alpha), who ended up outside the city walls. Jellybean and his owner however vanished into the Nowhere Space. At the end of the episode, it was revealed they eventually got out as well, and had ended up in the wilderness near the remains of Hilda's old home. There, they encountered some Elves and the Wood Man, who told them a bit more about Hilda and her history with the giant Jorgen.

Neither Tontu nor Jellybean appear in Season 2, leaving it unknown what became of them.

Graphic novels
In the Graphic Novels, Jellybean only appears in "Hilda and the Black Hound". Unlike the animated series, there is nothing foreshadowing him in the earlier stories.

His role in the graphic novel is largely identical to the animated adaptation, with a few changes: he is first seen by Hilda and Johanna the same night Hilda joins the Sparrow Scouts (in the animated series, these events are spread over separate episodes). The scene with the Marra never happens since the Marra are exclusive to the animated series. There are two additional scenes where Hilda sees Jellybean (once near the camp site, and once in Trolberg), but the beast doesn't harm her. And at the end of the story, it is shown that he and his owner got out of Nowhere Space, but at an unspecified location. They thus don't meet the Wood Man.

Novelization
The events from chapters 12 and 13 are adapted into the book "Hilda and the Nowhere Space". Unlike the animated series, Jellybean is not hinted at or foreshadowed in the previous two books.

Jellybean's role in the book is mostly identical to the animated series. The book does however add an additional scene in which Hilda follows Jellybean out of the city and into The Great Forest, and thus discovers Jellybean has made a nest for himself there, in a hole under the roots of a bristlecone. She tries to tell this to the authorities, but the Trolberg police has already handed the Black Hound case over to the Safety Patrol, and they have no authority outside Trolberg so they can't investigate the nest. The book does not reveal what became of Jellybean and Tontu after they entered the Nowhere Space of the outside world.

Appearances
Graphic novels
 * Hilda and the Black Hound

Animated series
 * Chapter 6: The Nightmare Spirit (cameo on a poster on the wall)
 * Chapter 10: The Storm (television cameo, mentioned on the radio)
 * Chapter 12: The Nisse (debut appearance)
 * Chapter 13: The Black Hound

Novelization
 * Hilda and the Nowhere Space

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