BEHIND THE CHARACTERS - EPISODE 05
BEHIND THE CHARACTERS - EPISODE 05
Dimitri “Yul” Bullonov: Too Many Humans for One Cyborg
A highly decorated colonel, a partially artificial brain, and virtually no patience. Behind Dimitri “Yul” Bullonov stands one of the most irritable characters in The Seven Magnificent Dwarfs. Here's where he came from, why he can't stand human unpredictability, and how his frustration became a song: Too Many Humans.
Picture a three-foot-tall garden gnome carrying an ion-phaser cannon nearly as big as himself, rescuing four teenagers from a monstrous creature. Once the danger is over, instead of accepting their gratitude, he snaps to attention, rattles off his military rank and decorations, and orders everyone to remain where they are. The terrified teenagers run for their lives.
To Colonel Dimitri Bullonov, this is an intolerable insult. He has just saved four human lives, and those four idiots couldn't even respect the chain of command.
That's how I wanted readers to meet Yul: an extraordinarily efficient soldier who, despite his extensive military training, possesses an almost supernatural ability to become irritated by other people's behavior.
A Little Yul Brynner, a Little War Machine
Yul's creation begins with a cinematic tribute. Yul Brynner, the famous bald actor who starred in The Magnificent Seven, is a reference woven into the novel's very title. I liked the idea of a commander with the same authority as Brynner's gunslinger, but trapped in the appearance of a harmless garden gnome. A contrast that could be funny without making him any less dangerous.
Then I added a complication: Yul is a cyborg.
During the Battle of Casmeel, fought in the Wars of Reunification of the Three Kingdoms, Dimitri Bullonov was mortally wounded. Professor Weynold Sthumberger managed to save his life by implanting a Bionic Consciousness System into his brain. Since then, Yul has been seventy percent biological and thirty percent sophisticated biomechanical technology.
The operation saved his life, but it also intensified certain aspects of his personality: his rigidity, his obsession with order, and his inability to tolerate anything that doesn't fit neatly into his plans. Yul thinks in procedures, statistics, and operational assessments. Unfortunately, life—especially when other living beings are involved—rarely follows a predetermined plan.
And that is his curse.
The Commander and the Problem with Other People
Making Yul's life even more complicated is the team he's supposed to command. Henrietta follows her instincts, Zeeno is unpredictable, Alita thinks about fashion even in the most desperate circumstances, and Johnas Blackrain considers obedience a habit best left to his employees.
Johnas, in particular, presents Yul with a problem that seems almost impossible to solve. Both men are authoritarian, stubborn, and convinced they know best. The colonel invokes military regulations, while the seventy-year-old billionaire believes no extraterrestrial dwarf has the right to give him orders. Their relationship is a constant battle for control, fought with sarcasm, threats, and mutual exasperation.
But beneath the comedy lies a deeper contradiction. Yul is brave, loyal, and willing to risk his life for his mission. Yet his absolute faith in discipline can make him insensitive to other people's suffering. When military priorities clash with compassion, the colonel tends to side with the rulebook.
That's what makes him interesting: the machine allows him to calculate almost everything, but it doesn't necessarily teach him how to understand people.
Too Many Humans: When Patience Runs Out
For The Blackrain Session, I didn't want to give Yul a predictable military march. I had something more aggressive in mind: hard-edged, gritty rock with blues and industrial influences, something that could evoke metal, engines, weapons, and anger held in check for far too long.
The result is Too Many Humans, a musical outburst built around one very simple idea: Yul has had enough of humanity.
Too many rules. Too many mistakes. Too many humans.
The irony, of course, is that Yul himself is still seventy percent human. He despises other people's irrational behavior without realizing that his own pride, stubbornness, and short temper are thoroughly human flaws.
The music drives that contradiction with deliberately excessive energy. This isn't an anthem celebrating an invincible warrior. It's the sarcastic rant of a veteran who can face terrifying monsters but can barely survive a conversation with Alita Sanlorant.
There's one phrase that sums him up perfectly:
Built for war. Forced to socialize.
Perhaps Yul would be much happier in a world populated entirely by obedient machines. But without that infuriating seventy percent of humanity, he wouldn't have his memories, his pride, his loyalty, or even a reason to fight.
I doubt he'd accept that explanation, though.
He'd probably consider it another waste of time.
And ask someone to hand him his cannon.
Listen to Yul — Too Many Humans
An aggressive, darkly comic rock track for Colonel Dimitri “Yul” Bullonov, from The Blackrain Session by GNOME RECORDS.
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Andrea Bigiarini