Vil says that he would often be hounded by the press just outside of his home, but rather than try to slip away without their noticing he would stay inside. Vil says that, at age 10, he built a “secret base” where he knew he would be safe no matter what, as there was always the risk of intruders.
Jack guesses that Vil must have people screaming his name every time he goes outside, but Vil says they usually ask for his autograph, or to shake hands. Jack says it is an incredible story and Vil responds, “Of course it is; I lead an incredible life. I’m no common spudling, as you well know.”
Azul explains that Vil is “a highly popular figure who does everything from modeling for fashion magazines to acting in movies. When Fashion Week kicks off, he’s flooded with offers from big-name brands. He held the record for runway appearances in last year’s fall and winter seasons. Plus he’s a Magicammer with over five million followers. All this while still a student! They say whenever he plugs a piece of merchandise, it flies off every store shelf,” which Vil dismisses as “basic information hardly worth calling attention to.”
Azul later says that Vil’s quality “exceeds all expectations,” and “They’d draw enough of a crowd to fill this place even if the NRC Tribe was the only act here.”
Silver mentions that whenever the school was open to the public, “Vil always drew enormous crowds of people,” and Sebek says that “it was serious enough that we had extra security in place due to Vil and Neige LeBlanche performing there” during the VDC.
Staff at a store in the Fairest City faint after seeing Vil dressed for a film premier. The designer explains, “It often happens when Mr. Schoenheit is here.”
Jamil observes, “A reminder of the true power an internationally renowned celebrity like Vil wields…”
The Tapis Rouge group meets with the head designer of a world-famous brand and Ace comments on how casually Vil speaks with him. Jamil again comments, “You can tell they really respect each other, seeing as they’re both at the top of their individual fields…”
When the group leaves the store the entire staff line up to see them off, which Jamil guesses is something they only do for Vil.
On Azul’s recommendation (and with Vil’s permission), Vil’s group for Port Fest utilizes his fame to attract visitors to their food stall.
In Fleur City, Epel sees a makeup shop covered in posters of Vil.
During Halloween Jamil says that NRC has been attracting more visitors in recent years due to people coming specifically to see Vil.
Jamil comments on their group getting mobbed by fans if Vil is discovered to be in the Fairest City, which is something we see happen in the Cloudcalling event: vendors recognize Vil and, hoping he will use their products to promote sales, many within the marketplace start trying to give Vil their wares for free, which Vil refuses to accept.
Kifaji welcomes Vil to the city by saying, “it is a great honor to have such a famous model visit us,” and Vil tells the Kalim and Lilia that they will need to “cheer quite loudly” in order to be heard over his fans during their tournament.
This is proven to be accurate, with many spectators cheering for Vil. Kalim says, “The whole place is going wild!” and Lilia follows with, “What’d you expect? A world famous model just made a surprise appearance.”
After Lilia is disqualified from the tournament, compromising Leona’s strategy, he comes up with an idea to distract Kalim’s opponent by having Vil call out to him at the start of the bout, as the opponent is a big fan of Vil’s. Vil says that he doesn’t much like the idea of being used, but does not argue.
Ace says that, in the Fairest City, managers trip over themselves to greet Vil every time he enters a store. Vil comments that he would have liked to visit a lot more shops, “but not with the film festival on. Too many prying eyes.”
Vil receives birthday presents from all over the world every year, saying that he cannot thank everyone individually but he is always grateful.
After NRC goes viral on Magicam during Halloween Vil explains, “Before now, we were only visited by people already interested in Night Raven College…or people interested in me, I suppose.”
Vil is very popular during the Halloween event, with people taking pictures in a no-photography area and without his consent. It is later revealed that the costumes worn by the characters during the Halloween parade put together for every single student by tailors and volunteers from Foothill City, to thank Vil for giving the island more exposure.
Vil has five million followers on Magicam, and he says that his posts are filled with comments from fans seeking his help or advice (“even though I give them NOTHING.”)
He says that most of their questions are along the lines of how to become as beautiful as he is, but also for life advice and how to become famous. Vil says that he doesn’t respond because his time is precious and he “won’t spare a second for people who can’t even be bothered to do the bare minimum of research.”
Lilia says, “Even if we upload a shot of the same tourist spot to Magicam, Vil will get way more views than me,” and Vil asks the prefect to take pictures of him in his liongarb outfit, as his “fans on Magicam would love to see it.”
Epel experiences the power of Vil’s celebrity influence personally in Book 5 where Vil promotes apple juice from Epel’s hometown, saving Epel’s family (and possibly his entire village) from a financially uncomfortable situation. This convinces Epel that he shouldn’t look down on people who care about being cute or charming, and of the concept of “power” that Vil has been trying to teach him.
Vil’s ability to influence trends is also an integral part of the story covered across Azul, Floyd and Jade’s dorm uniform vignettes, with Jade pretending to desire a transfer to Pomefiore to convince Vil to unknowingly promote a drink sold at Mostro Lounge on his Magicam account.
Azul explains, “Vil is an incredibly famous model known for his stoic beauty. Having him declare our drink as his favorite was far more effective than wasting all our money on an expensive commercial. And we were able to get him to do it for free!”
Epel worries about the possibility of Vil’s performance during Halloween convincing people that he really is a vampire, and Rook reveals that Pomefiore students have taken over a hashtag by constantly posting photos of Vil.
Rook explains, “If anyone made a post at this point about how Vil Schoenheit is really a vampire, They would be greeted with replies like, ‘Yeah! I saw,’ and that would be it.”
Vil says that people have been taking pictures of him without his consent since he was a child, and “not a single person who takes pictures without permission is a decent human being. They’ve not a care in the world for how much they inconvenience others, as long as they get their precious clout.”
Vil tells a story from his first year of a time he and his father needed to run away from stubborn paparazzi who saw through their disguises, so he used color-changing magic on his and his father’s outfits. Vil says that the paparazzi panicked upon losing sight of them, and he will never forget their frantic expressions: “It felt splendid to pull one over on those uncouth rascals.”
Vil says he has seen his fair share of fans who ignore personal boundaries as it suits them, complimenting Pomefiore’s students for following proper fan etiquette with his tsum by getting permission for their photos and not using flash while maintaining proper distance.
When the tsum comes across less polite fans who take pictures and touch it without consent, he is pleased when the tsum fights back.
Vil tells the prefect to be mindful of people’s privacy so as not to follow in the footsteps of ill-mannered reporters and he is happy to take pictures with fans who approach him during Halloween, saying, “My TRUE fans are all well-mannered.”
Vil agrees to pose for pictures with fans for Halloween, who immediately declare that they will be buying three copies of every magazine he is featured in, watching his next movie in theaters and buy all his cross-promotional merchandise.
Trey observes, “Seems to me like this has a pretty huge bearing on his PR.”
A reluctant Vil is convinced to participate in Fairy Gala after Crowley threatens to hold back the entire student body, saying, “It would be devastating to my public image.”
Vil is a beloved, patient and considerate celebrity in his dream in Book 7, but behind the scenes is rude to his assistant. Discovering the group of Silver, Sebek, the prefect, Grim, Ortho and Idia, Vil decides that they must be paparazzi who are looking to ruin his reputation.
Vil says he will be calling is manager and setting groundwork with publishers, asking his assistant (Neige), “What will you do if my carefully cultivated reputation gets dragged through the mud?!”
He then threatens to force-feed the group poison apples if they dare to post online about what they saw.
Vil seems to enjoy his first experience fishing as his positions as Pomefiore’s housewarden, leader of the Film Research Club and “a highly popular model” mean nothing to the fish.
He says, “It’s been a long time since l’ve fought as simply Vil Schoenheit, It’s like I’m right back where I began. It’s quite thrilling, really,” and later does an interview with a magazine where he says fishing takes him back to his roots.
Twisted Wonderland Reference Note 