Holt Hyde

"This ain't a party. WAHOO! THIS IS A PARTY! YEAH!"

- Holt Hyde in Hyde and Shriek

Holt Hyde is the 16-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Hyde, the latter presumably a descendant of the Mr. Hyde from the 19th century. Holt's father is a fire elemental.

Holt is the alter-ego of Jackson Jekyll. He, like his alter-ego, is voiced by Cindy Robinson.

Personality
Holt is a DJ, so he's very social and into promoting his music. He admits that he is "hot-headed" and can have a bit of a temper.

Physical Description
Holt has blue skin, sunrise-like eyes and a black tattoo on his face. His hair is made of flames and he has a yin-yang tattoo between his shoulders. He has an eye brow piercing on his left eye brow.

Transformation
Throughout each storyline, Holt and Jackson have no control over their transformations and change from one into the other under specific circumstances. In the cartoon series, it seems to be music that causes Holt/Jackson's transformation. This is first seen in "Hyde and Shriek".

In his Basic diary, Holt's transformation into Jackson Jekyll normally occurs at sunrise and lasts until sunset. Holt noted that when he was trying to see what the town was like during the day, he blacked out at the moment of sunrise. However, in Jackson Jekyll's diary, it's revealed that the trigger for Jackson's transformation has since changed, so that it is now also music as in the cartoon. Specifically, "music with a 4/4 time signature played in excess of 90 decibels" triggers the transformation into Holt. However according to the dairy, because of Jackson's "elemental heritage + hyde transformation + teenage boy" status, it is likely to change again at least once more before he hits adulthood.

In Holt's Basic diary he displayed one example of having some elemental powers from Jackson's parental heritage, as he melted the pen he was using and his entry indicated this had happened before. His bio also uses several fire related puns.

In the Monster High book series, the change is caused by temperature shifts, be it from him getting hot from embarrassment or from outside forces like a hot day.

Despite not being aware of their true nature, there are times when Jackson's and Holt's memories and abilities leak over to the other. For example, in the diaries Jackson is able to keep up with Deuce Gorgon in a basketball game (to the Gorgon's surprise), while Holt recognizes Draculaura at a club despite the fact it's the "first" time he meets her.

Classic Monster
Maintaining the trend of classic movies, there is a 1931 version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, released by Paramount, directed by Rouben Mamoulian and starring Fredric March.

The story of Jekyll and Hyde is based on a tale by Robert Louis Stephenson, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

In this story, a scientist devises a potion that will separate his evil, base nature from his normal self. The result is that while his regular self, Dr. Jekyll, remains human (both good and evil), his evil nature forms a new personality, Dr. Hyde; both occupy the same body.

Eventually, Hyde becomes more and more out of control, and Jekyll knows that some day he will take over the body completely.

While many movies portray Hyde as being monstrous in appearance, in the book he merely looks sinister, and is short.

The influence of these characters on the appearance of Holt Hyde is unknown, though he has many elements of duality or being patched together: his hair is two colors, he has a yin-yang tattoo, and his pet is a chameleon.

See also: Jackson Jekyll

Family
The exact way Holt's family tree looks is fuzzy at the moment. In Jackson Jekyll's diary, it is revealed that it's Holt's mother from whom the dual nature comes, while his father is revealed to be a fire elemental and implied to be the parent through which Holt is the cousin to Heath Burns, a fact first mentioned in "Fear Pressure". However, Ghoul Spirit states that Holt's mother is the sister of Heath's father, making the exact familial relations unclear.

Until he was 16 years of age, Holt did not know he had a human half in the form of Jackson. Neither his parents apparently thought it was something they needed to inform him about.

Especially Holt's mother is very protective of her little boy, and seeing him get hurt is something that can trigger her transformation into the mode most suited for helping him out. Also according to Holt's Basic diary, Holt's mother doesn't keep the same job for long and the family regularly moves to a place closer to her new job.

In the Monster High books, Holt regards Jackson as his brother, as he reveals to Melody Carver: "Because DJ likes her. I can't do that to him...or me, or whoever....He's kind of like my brother, I guess." Heath Burns is not related to Holt in the books, and Holt's father is absent, leaving it unclear how much of conventional canon is canon for the Monster High books.

Friends
On his Monster High website profile, he's friends with all the monsters, who in turn love his music. Draculaura was at a club when he was performing.

In one of Monster High's facebook posts, it states that Hyde worked with Deuce to make a go-cart for the Monster Derby, so it could be assumed that Deuce is friends with both Jackson and his alter ego.

Pet
Holt's pet is a chameleon named Crossfade, who absolutely loves Holt's music.

Romance
In his Basic diary, he goes on a date with Operetta. He also spots Draculaura at a club, and calls her "a hot little vampire" and her nickname "Ula D". His feelings for Draculaura seem to be a result of the memories he shares with Jackson.

In the webisode "Hyde and Shriek" Holt meets Frankie Stein, calling her a "high-powered hottie" and "Frankie 'Fine' Stein". This may also be a result of his shared memories with Jackson Jekyll, as he had never met Frankie before to know her name, let alone develop an interest in her, or he has the same interests as Jackson. He seems to really care for Frankie as much as Jackson does, and loves to make her happy. He is a little dissapointed when Frankie says they can't go out yet until he works things out with Jackson, but is willing to wait. They still stay friends and doesn't mind waiting for Frankie.

Books
In the Monster High book series, Holt is known as DJ Hyde. He has a crush on Frankie Stein in the first book and half of the second, at which point they break up.

In the book, Jackson is the grandson of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, making him a third generation monster. The chemicals used by Dr. Jekyll were apparently very toxic and clung to the DNA, passing the condition down to his progeny. The condition afflicted Jackson's father and drove him mad, despite his mother's attempts to help. The only ray of hope Mrs. Jekyll could see for her son was that the change had stabilized through the generations, becoming less violent and unpredictable than its previous forms. As a biochemist, she surmised that the chemical had mutated into a more stable state.

Jackson's condition manifested around the age of 13 or 14. Due to the prejudice faced by monsters from humans, his mother protected him by keeping the truth about the family hidden. In the book, Jackson's physical change is more mental than physical (although in the second book Hyde gains a physical appearance of his own, having lighter hair and different colored eyes) and is governed by temperature rather than night and day. When Jackson gets too hot, Holt Hyde emerges, and Holt disappears when he gets too cold.

He has a major crush on Frankie, whom he refers to as "Firecracker".

By the second book, DJ/Holt has lost his interest in Frankie, saying that they should see different people. Frankie having not seen DJ/Holt for quite a while, because Jackson was preventing his 'visits' by using a mini fan to keep him cool, DJ/Holt was unaware of Frankie's relationship with Brett (by the second book they are dating). Frankie was relieved to hear he lost interest in her. She had feared DJ/Holt would be mad at her for abandoning him for Brett.

Though Holt wasn't directly seen in the third book, but when his mother got fired, they moved to another town, where DJ was the main personality.

He wasn't seen in the fourth book until the last Melody chapter, where he became a roadie for Leadfeather.

Basic

 * Line: Basic
 * Release: October 2010
 * Assortment number: N2851
 * Model number: V2324
 * Holt wears a red leather jacket with gold stitching, black and purple pinstripe pants with a flame pattern at the hem, and a yellow belt. His shoes are black and yellow high-top sneakers. He accessorizes with black and orange headphones.
 * The doll comes with an orange backpack designed to look like a mix table and with a black and white checkered flap, a Crossfade figurine, an orange doll stand and a diary.
 * The doll's stockphoto shows orange glasses. These are not actually included with the doll.

Meta Timeline

 * May 6, 2010: Mattel requests the trademark for Holt Hyde.
 * July 22, 2010: Holt Hyde's first doll is on display at San Diego Comic-Con International.
 * September 1, 2010: Holt Hyde makes his Monster High book debut in Monster High.
 * October, 2010: Holt Hyde's first doll is released as part of the Basic series.
 * October, 2010: Holt Hyde's profile art is revealed.
 * October, 2010: Holt Hyde makes his diary debut in his Basic diary.
 * January 14, 2011: Holt Hyde's profile is published on the Monster High website.
 * June 23, 2011: Holt Hyde makes his 2D cartoon debut in "Hyde and Shriek".
 * February 12, 2012: Holt Hyde makes his 3D cartoon debut in "Why Do Ghouls Fall In Love?".