Berthe

Berthe is a ghost of a maid. She appears in the French sitcom Ghosts and is portrayed by Tiphanie Daviot.

Biography[]

Little is known about Berthe besides the fact that she's a maid from the 15th century, making her the oldest ghost at Mérudeaux Castle after Tayac and the Gallic ghosts. She possibly predates the construction of the Castle, given that she seems to think of, and treat Marie-Catherine de Mérudeaux (and by extension her descendant, Alison Cardinet) as royalty rather than by Mérudeaux's correct title of Countess.

Berthe had a brother named Albert who was burned at the stake. She watched his execution and berated him for screaming, but it is unknown if this happened when she was still alive. Her cause of death is unknown.

Ghost Power[]

Berthe makes a foul odor when a living passes through her, that can be smelled by the living. The smell is implied to be of excrement.

Appearance[]

Berthe wears a simple Medieval dress and has long blonde hair. Her coif is wrinkled and dirty, and her hair is slightly disheveled despite keeping most of it in a braid. She has a missing tooth that is visible when she smiles.

Personality[]

Berthe is generally nice and goes with the flow, but she tends to make comments that make others uncomfortable without seemingly realizing it or intending to upset people. This includes recalling how she berated her brother for screaming when he was burning alive, comparing cereal floating in milk to drowning maggots, or happily quoting the words of an apparent rapist that threatened her once. It is unknown if she was like this when alive or if she went insane after her death. Likewise, she has little filter when talking about sex and seems to have enjoyed it in life. However, she will defend her ghost power when someone refers to it as disgusting, claiming that it is the smell of the country.

She is happy to serve the Countess and her descendant Alison as a result, whom she takes for royalty, even to their detriment. But she also considers them friends rather than just being their servant.

Quotes[]

"It's the smell of the country!" (whenever someone mentions the stench she makes when a living passes through her).
"Well, I haven't eaten in 600 years so yes, I would eat [burned lasagna]."

Trivia[]

Berthe is about 200 years older than her foreign counterparts Mary and Griet, and was not burned at the stake, unlike them. Instead of burning, she makes a fecal smell, like Isaac.
Her occasional, sometimes destructive cluelessness also makes her comparable to Kitty and Flower, who have no direct counterpart in the show.