The Ringmaster

The Ringmaster, also known as Mr. T. Ringmaster, is the ringmaster of the circus Nanny Piggins left. He was married to Madame Savage, who used him for the purpose of acquiring his fire-breathing armadillos. The Ringmaster was turned into an "evil villain" by Madame Savage, but he was once normal and good, though Nanny Piggins has stated that he might have been a "run-of-the-mill bully if weren't for you."

Personality
The Ringmaster is considered wicked and callous. He has a habit of kidnapping people and has disregard for the welfare of his circus performers, though in book five, he seems to genuinely care about them and the circus, leaving the safety of the circus to Nanny Piggins. The Ringmaster is untrustworthy, greedy, wicked, callous and mean. He often sells the circus's safety equipment and it results in injuries. However, the fifth book showed his warmer personality.

The Adventures of Nanny Piggins
The Ringmaster is first seen in the same chapter that Nanny Piggins' sister, Katerina, appears in. Nanny Piggins and the children are at home when they hear someone knock on the door. They assume it is truancy officer, as Nanny Piggins has again kept the children away from school. Nanny Piggins peers through the lace curtains and says, "Dear Chocolate, he's found me!" and reveals her past with the Ringmaster to the children.

They don't open the door, so the Ringmaster climbs through the bathroom window. He greets Nanny Piggins and calls her by her first name, "Sarah." She pretends not to be Sarah Piggins and instead says that her name is Katerina Muellerstock and she has never seen the Ringmaster in her life. He knows better, but she eventually convinces him that she is Katerina. He believes her but says that if she is Sarah's twin sister, she is the same weight and height and therefore just as good for being blasted out of a cannon. The Ringmaster tries to force Nanny Piggins to leave, but Derrick says that you can't force someone to do something they don't want to do. The Ringmaster says that he can and shows Nanny Piggins and the children a paper, which is an exclusive binding fifty-year contract that says he can put Sarah in a sack and drag her back to the circus, even if she doesn't want to go back. The Ringmaster says that he will be back at 8:pm to get Katerina, and leaves. The children and Nanny Piggins go to the shop. Nanny Piggins says that they should split up. Derrick and Samantha agree to go together, and Michael and Boris agree to go together. Samantha and Derrick ask what they are supposed to be looking for, and Nanny Piggins says, "Trust me, you'll know." They go in their groups, and Michael and Boris hear Nanny Piggins trying to persuade people to buy vegetables. They are shocked, as Nanny Piggins does not usually "praise the health benefits of vegetables." Michael and Boris look and see a pig selling vegetables that looks exactly like Nanny Piggins. They assume that it is Nanny Piggins, but she insults both of them. Then someone says, "So we meet again, Katerina," and Boris panicks that they will never realise who the real Nanny Piggins is, as the pig who has just arrived looks indentical to the pig who insulted him and Michael. But Nanny Piggins stomps and Boris says that he'd "know that stomp anywhere." Nanny Piggins takes an old, crumped photograph out of her pocket.

The photograph shows a "very attractive, middle-aged looking-pig" and fourteen indentical piglets. Nanny Piggins points out all of her sisters, including herself and Katerina. Later at 8:pm, the Ringmaster returns to the Green house. He walks in to see two identical pigs sitting side by side. He says that he is going to make a fortune with two flying pigs, but Nanny Piggins says that he isn't and reveals that it was her earlier, not her sister.

The Ringmaster says that he "knew it" and Nanny Piggins reveals who her sister is. She says that her sister has agreed to go with the Ringmaster to be a flying pig on the condition that she is given cabbages every year. The Ringmaster agrees, and holds up a binding fifty-year contract, but Nanny Piggins stops Katerina from signing it and tells the Ringmaster that Katerina will sign a one-year contract with an option for renewal.

The Ringmaster and Katerina leave, and the Ringmaster is not seen again in the first book.

Nanny Piggins and the Accidental Blast-off
The Ringmaster makes another appearance in the fourth book. Nanny Piggins and the children are bug-catching when they see a man with very shiny shoes go to their house. They watch from the bushes, and they see that the man has a box of chocolates and some flowers. The Ringmaster sees Nanny Piggins in the bushes and asks if it is her. She comes out of the bushes and demands to know why he has brought her chocolate and flowers.

The Ringmaster says that they aren't for her, and then Boris comes out of the house. Boris runs to the Ringmaster, jumps on him, rips the box of chocolates out of the Ringmaster's hands and eats them. Nanny Piggins scolds Boris but he says that he couldn't help himself, as they were chocolate honeycups. Nanny Piggins tells the Ringmaster off and says that Boris is a recovering addict. The Ringmaster says that he has another box of chocolate honeycups in the car. Boris rushes to the car, and the Ringmaster leaves with him. The children comfort Sarah as she writes an apology letter to Boris.

Then later, Nanny Piggins and the children go to the circus to find Boris, and they do. He says that he is sorry but reveals his addiction to chocolate honeycups (which Nanny Piggins already knows about). He is going to perform a ballet-dance, and the children and Nanny Piggins help him get ready. He cries over how handsome he looks, and finally goes to the stage. The Ringmaster uses the microphone.

He introduces Boris as "BORIS THE BIG BAD BEAR!" and says that Boris is 700 kilos. Boris finds it unusual that the Ringmaster has mentioned his weight, but begins the dance. As Boris is dancing, he feels a bump on his neck, and eventually finds that someone is strangling him. He sees two men in wrestling leotards and Nanny Piggins, who is watching from the audience, realises that the Ringmaster tricked Boris into becoming a professional wrestler. She leaps out from the audience and into the wrestling ring. She hurts all the wrestlers and rescues Boris. Later, Nanny Piggins, Boris and the children are in the circus tent and Nanny Piggins tells Boris what the Ringmaster did. He is not very fazed. The Ringmaster enters the tent and says that he is very cross with Sarah (Nanny Piggins). He says that this is why he tricked Boris into coming back and not Nanny Piggins, as he knew she would not be able to refrain from hurting everybody. Nanny Piggins, Boris and the children leave and go home, but not before Nanny Piggins twirls the Ringmaster by his moustache and flies him around.

Nanny Piggins and the Rival Ringmaster
Nanny Piggins and the children are having breakfast with Mr Green, due to the fact that he has grounded them. He regrets doing so, because he now has to have breakfast with his children. While they are all eating their porridge, a brick flies in, smashing the window. The brick lands in Mr Green's bowl of porridge, and Nanny Piggins pulls it out and pulls off the invitation attached to it. She reads it. It is from the Ringmaster. The invitation says that the Ringmaster hopes that Nanny Piggins will come along to see the trick he is going to perform at the Town Hall in the afternoon.

The children and Nanny Piggins leave and go to the Town Hall. When it is time, the Ringmaster comes with a big glass box outside the Town Hall. He asks for a volunteer and Mr Green comes pushing through the crowd, but only because he is on his way to work. Taking Mr Green's pushing through as a volunteer, the Ringmaster leads Mr Green to the glass box and leads him inside. Mr Green is busy telling the crowd off and doesn't notice. But he is soon trapped in the box. He punches on the glass, and is weeping and begging to be allowed out. The Ringmaster makes Mr Green dissappear from the box, using "magic." But when the Ringmaster tries to make Mr Green re-appear inside the portaloo, Mr Green is not in there. The Ringmaster calls Mr Green's name, (Mr Green, not Lysander) but there is no response. The Ringmaster leaves sneakily and no-one notices.

Soon after, Nanny Piggins notices the Ringmaster's absence and goes with the children, the Police Seargent and the Chief Police to the harbour. They board the ship where there are Bulgarian men. Nanny Piggins makes them all line up and speaks to them in Bulgarian, so they turn around. Then Nanny Piggins sees the Ringmaster in the line, disguised as a Bulgarian man. The Ringmaster tries to escape but the police catch him and arrest him.

Later, when asked if she is happy that the Ringmaster is "behind bars", Nanny Piggins says that she isn't, and that peace is overrated.

Later on in the book, Nanny Piggins recieves a letter from the Ringmaster that requests she visit the Ringmaster in jail. The letter says that it is a matter of life and death. Nanny Piggins goes to the jail and talks with the Ringmaster. He reveals that the circus is being torn apart. He says that everyone is leaving and going to the Cirque de Soul circus, owned by the wicked Madame Savage, who is bent on ruining the Ringmaster's circus.

The Ringmaster says to Nanny Piggins to get the circus performers back so that they can rebuild the circus. The Ringmaster also tells Nanny Piggins that if she won't do it for him, she'll do it for her friends. Nanny Piggins agrees. Having previously visited the circus and enlisted the help of Esmeralda for information, Nanny Piggins asks Esmeralda where the list of all the circus performers who have left is.

Esmeralda says that Rosalind, the bearded lady of the circus, has it, who is now working at a pharmacy. Nanny Piggins, the children, Esmeralda and Boris go to the pharmacy and find Rosalind, who tries to run but fails and is jerked back by the telephone cord. Nanny Piggins gets Rosalind on board and they recruit all of the circus performers who have left.

Then Nanny Piggins, Boris, the children, Esmeralda and the circus performers go to the Cirque de Soul circus, and meet Madame Savage. She and Nanny Piggins agree to have a competition for circus skills. They each choose two circus acts to do, and agree on one chosen by both of them. When it is time for the competition, Madame Savage nearly wins but is disqualified and fails one of the rounds, winning back all of the performers.

The Ringmaster returns to the circus, escaped from jail, and Nanny Piggins quickly leaves with the children so that he won't "forget his gratitude and try to kidnap them."

Nanny Piggins and the Pursuit of Justice
The Ringmaster will likely appear in the sixth book, ''Nanny Piggins and the Pursuit of Justice. Information to be added after the book's release.''

Abilities
The Ringmaster has short legs but displays circus abilities. He often jumps out of the window and lands well when leaving the Green house. The Ringmaster's short legs are a disadvantage but he can still manage things that average people can't. The Ringmaster can leap, jump and run without difficulty and possesses the standard circus-performer abilities, though he seldom uses or displays these abilities.

Responsibilities and circus-owning
The Ringmaster has responsibilities linked to his circus-owning, such as protecting the welfare of his circus performers and making sure they are safe, but he doesn't do a very good job of it. He often sells the safety equipment of the circus, doesn't pay his performers properly and is not very responsible. The Ringmaster wholey takes on owning the circus and accepts the responsibility, but not very well. The Ringmaster is an entrepreneur, as he makes money from owning a business (the circus) and accepting the responsibilty of owning that business (he is the owner of the circus).

Earlier life
The Ringmaster's age and birthdate are unknown. More is known about his teen life than any other part, and adulthood. The Ringmaster attended the same school as Mr Green, and was the person who stole the cup that Mr Green was accused of stealing. The Ringmaster was a nerdy boy in highschool, and still had the mean streak that he has now. However, he was normal and good until his marriage to Madame Savage, who changed him.

He was taught by her how to lie and be mean, deceitful and spiteful. The Ringmaster was transformed into an "evil villain" as stated by Sarah Piggins.

Unknown facts
There are some facts about the Ringmaster that remain unknown, such as his age, date of birth and several details of his marriage to Madame Savage. There are also unknown facts about what happened while he was Ringmaster of the circus until being put in jail.

Arresting
The Ringmaster was arrested in the fifth novel. When he is arrested, Nanny Piggins reveals to the children that she is not happy that the Ringmaster is behind bars, as "peace is overrated". In the last two chapters of the fifth novel, the Ringmaster sends a letter to Nanny Piggins that says she must visit him right away, and that it is a matter of life and death. When she visits him, the Ringmaster reveals that Madame Savage is taking his circus performers and that she must save the circus. Nanny Piggins does so, but before visiting him she finds that he attempted to escape from jail twice but was unsucessful. In the last chapter of the fifth novel, he escapes from jail and order is restored the circus. However, Nanny Piggins still doesn't trust him and goes home with the children "before he forgets his gratitude."

Sarah Piggins
The Ringmaster and Sarah Piggins seem to have a hateful relationship, and she doesn't trust him. However, he often greets her kindly and she stamps on his foot in retaliation every time. The Ringmaster and Sarah's relationship is most likely his most explored and main relationship with every one. For the first four novels, Nanny Piggins views him as somewhat of an enemy and a threat to her and the children, but a shift in the fifth novel occurs when they seem to trust each other and he entrusts the safety of the circus to her, telling her not to save the circus for him but her friends. She does save the circus, and they seem on friendly terms after he escapes from jail. When he is jailed in the first chapter of the fifth novel, Nanny Piggins is disappointed and not happy about him being behind bars, saying that "peace is overrated." Nanny Piggins was in the Ringmaster's circus for seven years and was blasted out of a cannon five times a night, something she became very good at. The Ringmaster always enters the Green house by coming in through the bathroom window, which he is first seen doing when they refuse to let him in when he knocks at the front door.

Rosalind
Rosalind is the bearded lady of the circus, and one of the Ringmaster's perfomers. Not much is known about their relationship but it can be assumed Rosalind was loyal and loved being in the circus.

Katerina Piggins
In the first novel the Ringmaster tries to take Nanny Piggins back to the circus but is unsuccesful and instead agrees to take Sarah's sister, Katerina. Katerina serves the Ringmaster well and takes Sarah's old job as the flying pig of the circus. She does good but later sees cabbages while the circus is traveling, and runs away. The Ringmaster had Katerina sign a one-year binding contract with an option for renewal, but it is unlikely Katerina will ever return to the circus, with her desire for vegetables taking power over her wish to be the flying pig of the circus.

Madame Savage
The Ringmaster and Madame Savage had a marriage but Madame Savage revealed she only married the Ringmaster for his fire-breathing armadillos, and, she says, "As soon as I had them, I walked out." Madame Savage corrupted the Ringmaster and taught him how to lie and be callous. It is unknown when they were married and how long the marriage lasted. Nanny Piggins blames Madame Savage for the Ringmaster being callous. It is unknown if the Ringmaster loved Madame Savage, or if they were in a happy marriage. Their marriage is regarded as her "dark secret" and she has buried it deep.

Derrick, Samantha and Michael
The Ringmaster's relationship with the children is unknown. However, Nanny Piggins expresses a fear that if she leaves them alone with him he will kidnap them and force them to be circus performers against their wills. It is apparent that the children don't trust the Ringmaster and often rely on her nanny during any situation involving the Ringmaster.