Pantomime as Pantalone; and "zanni" (servants) such as Arlecchino, Colombina, Scaramouche and Pierrot. Italian masque performances in the 17th century sometimes included the Harlequin character. In the 17th century, adaptations of the commedia characters became familiar in English entertainments. From these, the standard English harlequinade developed, depicting the eloping lovers Harlequin and Columbine, pursued by the girl's father Pantaloon and his comic servants Clown and Pierrot. In English versions, by the 18th century, Harlequin became the central figure and romantic lead. The basic plot of the harlequinade remained essentially the same for more than 150 years, except that a bumbling policeman
Martine (character) 2011 when the illustrator Marcel Marlier died at the age of 80. The last book is the 60th, "Martine et le prince mystérieux", published in 2010. Two video games were released in Europe based on the character, however the character has been renamed "Emma" for English-speaking audiences. The games are based on the first and eighth books respectively. The games were recently announced for the U.S. Martine (character) Martine is the title character in a series of books for children originally written in French by the Belgians Marcel Marlier and Gilbert Delahaye and edited by Casterman. The first one, "Martine