Series / Novo Mundo

Back in the year of 1817, Prince of Brazil Pedro I would first meet his arranged bride, Maria Leopoldina of Austria. What history never told you, though, is that the Princess's ship to the New World brought along quite a few people who would then engage in their own amusing love stories, until the royal couple declared Brazil an empire independent from Portugal in 1822.

Closest to the Princess for her trip was her Portuguese teacher from England, Anna Millman. She would soon become the object of affection of Joaquim Martinho, an actor from Portugal who boarded the ship impromptu for escaping from the troubles of his wife, Elvira Matamouros, also a Portuguese actress. He would also need to deal with Thomas Johnson, an English navy officer who has his own reasons for wanting Anna as well.

This is the main cast of Novo Mundo ("New World"), the 89th of Rede Globo's 6-o'clock soap operas. Written by Alessandro Marson and Thereza Falcão, chapters aired in Brazil from Mondays through Saturdays, from March 22nd until September 25th 2017, with a total of around 157 chapters (no official list).

Isabelle Drummond and Chay Suede portray the protagonists of the plot. The cast also features Gabriel Braga Nunes, Ingrid Guimarães, Agatha Moreira, Vivianne Pasmanter, Guilherme Piva, César Cardadeiro, Caio Castro and Letícia Colin.

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Novo Mundo provides examples of:

• Abhorrent Admirer: Elvira becomes this to Joaquim.
• Adoring the Pests: Licurgo is shown to be really fond of the pigeons he cooks. One of them is named Paloma.
• All of the Other Reindeer: Jacira wants to be a warrior woman, but that's just not how things go in the Tucaré tribe...
• Alliterative Family: The native sisters Jacira and Jurema.
• Artistic License – History: While it is a fairly good reconstruction of the period, a few events are changed around, specially to fit the original characters.
• Bathtub Bonding: Pedro and Domitila have a nice time in the tub, until his epilepsy kicks in and she doesn't know what to do.
  • Diara helps Greta wash after the latter's deliberate suicide gambit. But Greta derails Diara's counseling by comparing her to a servant she used to have.
• Battle Couple: Diara and Wolfgang setting slaves free. Anna and Joaquim facing Thomas. Jacira and Piatã rescuing Vitória.
• Beauty Inversion: Vivianne Pasmanter is dirty and downright disfigured to play Germana.◊
• Bewildering Punishment: Hugo stealing the tavern away takes the Ferreiras entirely by surprise. After all, Licurgo never knew he had fathered a child.
• Book Dumb: Germana is nothing short of ignorant, but she will realize if there's money missing in the tavern's income. (Even though she takes a while to conclude that 1798 was 3 years after 1795.)
• The Casanova: Other than his wife, Pedro has a total of 5 mistresses seen in the course of the series. He attempts to woo Anna too, but she puts a stop to it.
  Dom Miguel: "There's naked lady in Pedro's bedroom!!"
• Catchphrase: Elvira says "Jesus!" whenever she's shocked. It's funny due to her accent.
  • Likewise, Princess Leopoldina has the habit of saying "Mein Gott!" whenever she's surprised. Patrício even lampshades it once:
  Patrício: (afraid she might find out about The Mistress) "And it's going to be 'mein Gott' everywhere."
  • Elvira also had a bit of fun with "You love me, Joaquim. You just don't know that yet." for a while.
  • "Madame Dalila! Knows it all, sees it all!"
  • Mad Libs Catchphrase: "Elvira Matamouros, great actress, and great [noun]."
  • Borrowed Catchphrase: When Hércules invites Germana to join the troupe of actors:
  Germana: "Me? Germana Ferreira, great actress?"
• Chaotic Stupid: The Ferreiras are this kind of villains. Thomas needs to explain them that the Constituent in not a lady; Licurgo is completely nonchalant about corruption when attempting a political career; and they take part in any scheme that will earn them a penny.
• Child Hater: Germana is apparently this, with zero regard for her nephew, and mocking pregnancy in the face of the expecting Princess. She's likely thankful for her menopause.
• Childhood Friend Romance: Matias had this with Diara, which Sebastião deliberately uses to cause jealousy to Wolfgang.
• Connected All Along: Amália's story connects quite a few important characters: Working in the Palace of Queluz, she had a baby with Dom João, whom Carlota Joaquina paid Sebastião to kill. Sebastião's wife Mercedes sparing the child's life was likely the reason Amália gifted her with her jeweled necklace, which became the family jewel Cecília sold away, and was later bought by Domitila. Years later, when Dom João found Amália demented from the hopeless search for her child, he ordered Chalaça to take care of her. Coincidentally, Sebastião sent Cecília to study in the same convent Amália was hidden. And Amália's baby turns out to be Joaquim, who became a close friend of the royals long before the revelation, and the arch-nemesis of Thomas, Sebastião's partner in crime.
• Cordon Bleugh Chef: Licurgo sometimes goes full Lethal Chef, but he's mostly just this. It's shown that he can be a competent chef, but his problems are: 1) He's such a cheapskate that his tactics for Cutting Corners include using poor quality ingredients (especially selling pigeon meat as if it was chicken). And 2) He loves getting creative, like the time he invented the dessert Quindim! ...only he used salt in the place of sugar. His poor hygiene also doesn't help.
• Dead Guy Junior: "An orphan like my Joaquim. [...] I'll call you Joaquim too!" (Joaquim is only Legally Dead, but it took them 4 years to know otherwise.)
• Death by Childbirth: The mother of Quinzinho, Carmem Ferreira. She lasts barely more than one episode before she croaks.
• Discreet Drink Disposal: Joaquim attempts to make Francisco drunk on wine when investigating Domitila and Thomas. Due to his personal oath of never drinking again (after his experience with Elvira), he just turns his every cup on the tavern's floor.
• Double Agent: Miss Liu helps Anna to deal with Thomas, but ends up betraying her for him. But it turns out she's really acting for her husband: Soulless Fred.
  • After that fails, Nívea tells Anna she's been willing to help her out of honest concern, and actually manages to put her money where her mouth is.
  • Idalina convinces her son Matias to help Cecília by pretending to support their master Sebastião.
• False Reassurance: After Licurgo downplays Germana's worry about money missing from the tavern, implying she can't do math, she gets enraged and Hugo tries to help:
  Hugo: "I think you're quite intelligent, Ms. Germana... if that helps. You're more intelligent than Mr. Licurgo for sure."
  Germana: "Ya think, do ya? (Beat) BIG DEAL!! Anyone is more intelligent than Licurgo! That one is a bugger so stupid it hurts!"
• A Fool and His New Money Are Soon Parted: Here's a Drinking Game: take a shot every time the Ferreiras get rich due to some scheme. Naturally, expect the money to be gone by the end of the week.^spoilers slaves who flee, a fake ship ticket, golden teeth implants, being stolen by Hugo, being stolen by pirates
• Foreshadowing: "I still consider you a brother." Dom Pedro to Joaquim.
• Four Lines, All Waiting: Other than the main couple - each with their own plotline - there are various nucleuses: the royals, the royals' servants, the tavern, the natives, the liberals, the slaves, Amália, etc. There will be episodes with a group of major characters missing every now and then.
• A Friend in Need: Even after all the nasty things they did, even to her, Elvira shelters the Ferreiras, when Hugo swindles them out of their tavern.
  Elvira: "Because... in a kinda twisted way, you are my family."
• "Friends" Rent Control: Elvira must have gotten a lot of money from Thomas in order to keep her house, because she never bothered to look for a job again. And then it was finally subverted after Joaquim's situation with Anna was resolved: Elvira explains that her last rental period, paid by Joaquim, has expired, so she decided to move back to the tavern, since she's now an associate of it.
• Glorified Sperm Donor: The story of Quinzinho's mother, as told by herself:^note We only learn she was pregnant in the following episode, when she gives birth, but still
  Carmem: "I ran away from home to marry a circus clown. One trip was enough for him to trade me for the bearded lady."
  Germana: "Ha, and the clown in this story was you."
• God Save Us from the Queen!: Queen Carlota Joaquina is shown to have quite a temper. In chapter 2, Dom João imposes a house arrest for her to avoid a trial about the murder of her paramour's wife. Also, she has at least once paid someone to kill a bastard newborn of her husband.
• Going Native: Joaquim, after being healed by the Tucaré. He's even renamed Tinga. He doesn't go full Mighty Whitey, but he does convince different tribes to unite against "the white man", ultimately moving them from Salvador to Rio de Janeiro.
• Heir Club for Men: At one point, Leopoldina laments that her duty is to keep getting pregnant until she can give Pedro a male heir.
• His Name Is...: Chalaça is unfortunately too shaken to tell Joaquim that it was Domitila who set him up, before he was deported to Portugal. So Joaquim is left to figure it out for himself.
• Historical Beauty Upgrade: In real life, Empress Leopoldina was a chubby woman. In the soap opera, she is played by the gorgeous and thin Letícia Colin, who wears a ridiculous fat suit to look fat. It fails. Miserably.
• Horrible Judge of Character: Poor Leopoldina didn't forgive herself for encouraging Anna to marry Thomas.
• Instant Sedation: Anna attempts to spike Thomas' wine so she can escape, but Miss Liu sells her out and he just fakes it.
• Insult of Endearment: As Diara's rivalry with the butler Schultz begun, she said he had a face like a gecko (lagartixa). Lagartixa then became her mockful nickname for him, and she kept it up even in the moment they finally started warming up to eachother, when he realized how truly she cared about Wolfgang.
• Last Disrespects: Just before Elvira's funeral, even the Ferreiras were mourning the loss of their friend. But Germana kills the mood by wondering if her clothes would fit her. And Licurgo doesn't miss the opportunity to make a profit out of the occasion.
  • When the funeral does begin, the Ferreiras are completely tactless about people's mourning. And to take it a step further, Licurgo recognizes Ferdinando and asks him about his wife. Learning that she had died in the woods, Germana's response is "I did I warn you. But you didn't listen to me." Ferdinando is understandably aggrieved.
  • Narcisa made a point of accompanying the Princess to the funeral, even though she didn't even know the person. She was just hoping to see some drama (see Strange Minds Think Alike below). And there she went, being a critic about everything.
• Lazy Bum: Germana claims to be allergic to work and will seize every opportunity to avoid it. Mostly by trying to get slaves to do it, but apparently jail is also good enough.
• Leitmotif: Due to the various nucleuses in the soap opera, with characters often travelling between settings, it's useful to have a familiar background music to set the atmosphere whenever the relevant characters are in focus. Just to name a few:^note Admittedly, describing the mood of music is an all too subjective matter, so feel free to weigh in
  • "Sir Thomas" is full of impetus, setting the mood for the threatening presence he is.
  • Amália's music is reminiscent of a lullaby. Most adequate for a mother longing for her baby...
  • Anna has a slow beat, perhaps due to her dreamy expectations of overcoming her ordeals.
  • Joaquim has a heroic march.
  • Elvira has an enticing tune, worthy of her tricksy plottings.
    • Elvira has a second music, notable for being the only one to have vocals. This one is good for her more dramatic moments, specially her monologues. Watch this scene, it's nice to hear the music play for a moment before she actually comes into the screen.
  • Piatã has a rather mysterious beat. Suitable for someone approaching the mystery of his origins.
  • The Pirates' theme has an adventurous vibe to it.
• The Lost Lenore: Letícia becomes this to Ferdinando, after she contacted the swamp fever in their research trip. He vowed to honor her memory by finishing and publishing their studies, so that people wouldn't suffer the same fate as her. And he never managed to move on from her.
• Love Triangle: Can't have a soap opera without these, right?
  • All Love Is Unrequited: Jacira is smitten with Joaquim, but alas, he only has eyes for Anna. And then Anna gets married to Thomas...
  • Fire and Ice Love Triangle: Elvira finds herself torn between the heroic love of her life, Joaquim, and the kind, loving worker of the tavern, Hugo. It would almost count as a Betty and Veronica dilemma, if Joaquim hadn't made it clear that he's had enough of her. One wonders if she acknowledges that.
    • Cock Fight: Only in Elvira's dreams. Literally. It's an amusing scene, really. She marries them both!
    • It also starts to dwell into Love Dodecahedron territory when Hassan and Jacinto come along. She takes advantage of that, of course.
  • Murder the Hypotenuse: Thomas attempts to kill off Joaquim early on. But seriously, you didn't really expect a main character to die on episode 6, did you?^note Still, it's quite telling about Thomas' character. And the circumstances are important, here
    • Romantic Runnerup: Even after showing Anna his true colors, Thomas doesn't give up on bringing her back home.
  • Then there's Princess Leopoldina, who, in spite of her suffering because of Pedro's overt affair with Domitila, cannot bring herself to cheat on Pedro with Bonifácio, who is married himself.
    • Domitila, on the other hand, gets crazy jealous of Pedro's affairs. Including the Princess.
  • Rich Suitor, Poor Suitor: Sebastião arranges to marry off Cecília to the a rich elderly man, when she already intends to marry Libério.
• Luke, You Are My Father: One character planned to take revenge on their father for abandoning the mother at pregnancy. Hugo's mother never told Licurgo she became pregnant.
• Made a Slave: Other than the well-known slaves from Africa, some of the characters end up with some time of servitude. Some worse off than others:
  • Elvira's ill-advised scam earns her 4 years working it off to the Ferreiras. But at least Quinzinho brings a newfound joy to her life.
  • Diara was freed from slavery, but goes back to Sebastião after a fight with Wolfgang. It doesn't last, thankfully.
  • Hugo comes to the tavern asking for a job, and the Ferreiras demand a no-pay "training period" first. Next thing you know, they're openly referring to him as their slave, and he puts up with it for a suspiciously long while.
  • As for the native Brazilian side of the story, Priest Olinto and the Tucaré men get enslaved by deforestating gunmen. Jacira pulls off a glorious rescue.
  • Then there's the tragic case of Libério. Born free, then lawfully claimed slave when Sebastião finds out the mother was pregnant when she was sold by him. Major rescue plan on that one.
• Magical Native American: Mostly averted. The only natives that have special gifts are the ones who become pajé (shaman), and that requires special training. Their gifts include visions of the past and present, and asking the spirits of the jungle for protection against enemies.
• Maligned Mixed Marriage: Cecília, daughter of a slave merchant and one of the richest men in Brazil, pursues love with Libério, black freeman and liberal journalist.
• Mama Bear: Amália remembers Sebastião was present in the story of her baby, so she goes to his house inquire him about it. He teases her about it, but she's having none of that. He needed to scream for Idalina to break them apart.
• Most Writers Are Writers: Anna Millman, one of the protagonists, writes a book about her trip to the New World^spoiler it suffers a lot of censorship by the court and the first novel of Brazil.^spoiler burned by Thomas as revenge The latter was gradually published online in pdf.
• The Mourning After: Ferdinando never wanted a new relationship, even after 4 years entirely by himself.
• My Own Private "I Do": When Joaquim takes Anna to the Tucaré village, they have an indigenous wedding ceremony, just the two of them and the natives. After they go back to the city and ensuing misunderstandings lead Anna to marry Thomas, Jacira is baffled to see Anna suggest that the native wedding "didn't count".
• Ninja Maid: Miss Liu turns out to be a skilled warrior. Soulless Fred's wife, no less.
• No Historical Figures Were Harmed: A slave woman sold to rich man who sets her free and then marries her. One wonders if Diara and her friends have ever heard of Chica da Silva (1732-1796). Knowing that she lived in the state of Minas Gerais and died well before the period of the series, Diara's character was likely made to fit the right time and place.
  • Miss Liu, the Chinese woman who turns out to be a pirate (and the captain's wife), was based off Ching Shih (1775-1844).
• Non-Nude Bathing: Everyone in the series seems to bathe clothed: Pedro, Domitila, Germana, Greta...
• Nouveau Riche: Diara resents that, despite being happily married to Wolfgang, she's scorned for not behaving like upper class. She asks him for an etiquette teacher.
• Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: In-universe, Elvira is posing as a Hispanic gypsy. Seeing Thomas, she gets so scared she reverts to her Portuguese accent. Licurgo recognizes her voice and she quickly pretends she's having a medium connection to her spirit.
• Open-Minded Parent: Jurema has no problem when her son Cauã asks her to teach him how to make a necklace (instead of bow and arrows), in contrast with her husband's more conservative mindset:
  Ubirajara: "CAUÃ BE WARRIOR LIKE UBIRAJARA! PIATÃ AND JACIRA GUILTY! VILLAGE UPSIDE DOWN!"
• Open Secret: In the early episodes, the tavern cooking pigeon meat in the place of chicken is treated as a dark secret. By episode 87 or so, even Germana will lampshade it.
  Licurgo: "I'm gonna leave a plate of chicken with farofa at the intersection, to please death."
  Dalila!Elvira: "Don't need to! The late lady doesn't like pigeons."
  Licurgo: "Hey, how do you know they're pigeons?"
  Germana: "Eh, the whole city knows that, Licurgo."
• Orphan's Plot Trinket: When asked how she could identify her baby after 24 years, Amália says there's a way: Mercedes gave the baby a necklace. A Lorraine Cross adorned with a ruby.
• Outdated Name: Orozimbo, the old man Sebastião arranges to marry Cecília. The series takes place 200 years ago, but even then his name is regarded as weird, making the point that he is that old.
• Parental Substitute: Since Quinzinho's biological mother died soon after giving birth, his father is unknown, and the Ferreiras wanted to send him to an orphanage, Elvira is the only mother he's known. He later gets two sets of parents, when Joaquim stays with Anna and Elvira hooks up with Hugo.
  • Idalina is not Diara's mother, but she considers her one, since she raised her.
• Politically Incorrect Villain: Not satisfied with being a manipulative abuser who commits treason to his host country as well as his home country, Thomas also disses Brazil for being a race-mixing country.
  • Sebastião also counts, but being a slave merchant, that's a given.
  • Greta too is contemptuous about her sister-in-law's color, but she is discreet about it, and actually has a different motivation.
• Promotion to Parent: Hugo is aware that his father is cousins with Quinzinho's late mother, so maybe that's why he gets invested in taking care of Quinzinho. And then Hugo becomes enamored with Elvira.
• Really Royalty Reveal: We learn that Amália had a baby with Dom João: Joaquim, making him a royal bastard.
• Red Herring: To keep the mystery of Amália's baby going, multiple clues are given by different characters. Could it be Cecília? Or Joaquim? Maybe that newcomer Hugo? Perhaps even Anna?
• Reveal Shot: After the funeral, in the very end of the episode, the coffin is put on a carriage to be taken to the burial. The camera pans to the coachman, and the face we see is Jacinto's. Cue suspense background music.
• Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: Although Sebastião is one of the richest men in Brazil, his charge for illegal slave trade and tax evasion causes the justice the block his possessions until he pays his fine, so he struggles a little on that one. He also prefers to denounce his associate Thomas over going to jail.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Every time Dom Pedro is motivated to do against the wishes of the Portuguese Courts, for the best of Brazil, culminating with the shout of independence.
• Shipper on Deck: The Ferreiras role play in bed, and are shocked to find out they have different preferences concerning the Prince's relationships. Portmanteau Couple Name and all:
  Germana: "I am Pedro x Leopoldina. Pedrina!"
  Licurgo: "Well I'm Pedro x Domitila. Petila!"
  Germana: "Pedrina!"
  Licurgo: "Petila!"
• Shocking Voice Identity Reveal: Elvira^spoiler disguised as a gypsy and believed to be dead and Joaquim^spoiler disguised as a friar and arrested for her murder bump into eachother and recognize eachother's voices after apologizing. Both stop for a while, wonder if it could be... but dismiss it as impossible.
• Sink or Swim Fatherhood: The existence of a 4-year-old Quinzinho is quite a shock to Joaquim (especially since Elvira never really got that close to Joaquim to begin with), but he manages to be a good dad.
• Soap Opera Disease: A recurring element in the series is the marsh fever (malaria, still understudied in the period). It kills Letícia off, but this leads Ferdinando to research about the cure, ultimately saving a couple of other characters.^namely Jurema and Wolfgang
• The Stool Pigeon: While helping Pedro with his affair with Domitila, Patrício is employed by Thomas to spy on the palace for him.
• Strange Minds Think Alike: After the burial, Narcisa complains that it was one of the longest and dullest ones she's been to: "Nobody fainted, nobody threw themselves onto the coffin asking to go along." 5 episodes later, Elvira asks Jacinto several questions about the event: "Was it declared a national holiday? Did all of the court show up? Was there a round of cannons? Was there anyone who tried to throw themselves onto the coffin to be buried with me?"
• Stranger in a Familiar Land: Piatã is an orphaned native Brazilian whom Sir Millman found during an expedition, so he was mostly raised in England, until he had grown up enough to seek his origins. Subverted in that he wasn't born in a tribe like the Tucaré; his biological father had to raise him by himself, for the cultural reasons involving his mother, an Icamiaba.
• Take That!: Numerous references to current politics. For instance, Thomas intended to become president of the Rio de Janeiro province, thus escaping England's trial, "After all, presidents are always innocent."
  • An amusingly subtle one directed at President Michel Temer:
  Leopoldina: "I've always feared the independence, but... Now is time to look forward. Basta de temer. [enough with fearing] We need to inaugurate a new time for Brazil."
  Pedro: "You're right, my love. Chega de Temer." [Enough with Temer]
• Tampering with Food and Drink: Greta puts lead on Wolfgang's medicinal tea, as well as his goulash. Not even Dr. Peter is able to identify the cause of the illness, but Schultz get onto her when he realizes Wolfgang is having the same symptoms as her last husband.
• A Taste of the Lash: The treatment given to slaves is the first thing to shock Anna when she comes to Brazil.
  • When Sebastião finds out Cecília has married Libério, he goes home furious and punishes Idalina for not stopping her. As the old lady begs for mercy, her son Matias comes and takes it in her place. He swears every mark on his back is a debt.
• Tell Me About My Father: Piatã goes to live with the natives, hoping to find out about his origins. Turns out Pajé Tibiriçá knew his father, and kept the secret for a reason.
• Time Skip: Two major ones: One early on of 3 months, for the boat trip from Europe to Brazil. And one of 4 years, during which Quinzinho grows up, Joaquim brings the Tucaré tribe to Rio de Janeiro, and Thomas conquers Anna's love with letters.
• Verbal Backspace: When Leopoldina goes to the tavern for the funeral, Licurgo offers her his new recipes. "No, thank you, I'm avoiding your sweets— Sweets in general."
• Villain with Good Publicity: As Joaquim puts it to Anna, Thomas' high patent "practically forces the Embassy to search for mechanisms to protect him."
• Walking Spoiler: The whole point of Amália's plotline is that she's trying to remember her backstory, so it's hard to talk about her without giving the revelations away.
• Wham Line: "And who said that Mr. Millman is dead?"
• What the Hell, Hero?: Elvira is awfully disappointed with Hugo when he takes over the tavern and kicks the Ferreiras out. So she breaks up with him until he changes his mind.
• Woman Scorned: Various women are cheated on in the series and they all react quite badly. Leopoldina puts up with it as gracefully as she can, but when she reaches her breaking point, she at least expels Pedro from her bedroom.
  • On the other hand, Domitila, who is a mistress herself, is a tad crazy with her competitors.
  • Leopoldina's predecessor Carlota Joaquina was also less merciful. See God Save Us from the Queen! above.
  • Germana goes through this with a few times (sometimes readily getting her hatchet in hand), but they always set things straight without damage. They Really Do Love Each Other.
• Words Do Not Make The Magic: When training Piatã for becoming Pajé, Tibiriçá tells him things such as "Illnesses are not cured with medicine alone, you must listen to the spirits." and "You need three things: healing power, enchanted words, and plants."
• Work Off the Debt: Elvira thought it would be a good idea to try and scam the Ferreiras when she was penniless. Big mistake. Germana forced her to work it all off, threatening to call the police, and they went on adding more time of service for every little thing she used in the tavern. They made it no secret that they really intended to keep her as a slave.
  Elvira: (after 4 years of work) "By their calculations, I owed them... 90 years, 3 months, 7 weeks, and 1 hour of work. Good thing I'm so young."