History Characters / ArkhamHorrorTheCardGameInvestigators

* JackOfAllTrades: {{Downplayed|Trope}}, he is not as flexible as his basic version, but Parallel Jim's access to low level allies of other classes through his Spirit Deck do give him more options to play with (and upgrade into once he has the experience), compared to being [[CripplingOverspecialization only limited to level 0 cards of other classes]], and he also can take a (limited) number of Survivor cards, one of the most versatile classes in the game.

* GhastlyGhost: Parallel Jim is pursued by the Vengeful Shade, which acts as an additional personal weakness. It's not very strong, but its main gimmick is that it's a part of a small side deck which can occasionally show up instead of helpful ghosts, take up the limited place he has for spiritual Allies, and immediately attack Jim for 2 horror. He can attack or evade it as if it's engaged with him, which allows to temporarily get rid of it, but failing just makes it go into material world.

* ActionSurvivor: Compared to his basic version, "parallel" Pete is slightly better as a fighter, having higher Health, Sanity and Combat, as well as some Tactic cards to increase his combat capabilities (which can become even better if he takes [[CanineCompanion Duke]] along). But he's still just a drifter, with no special training, skills or gear, and is unlikely to last for long without support.

* JackOfAllStats: She has 3-3-3-3 statline, which makes her decent at any task (and, accidentally, gives her above-average Willpower for her own class), and makes her able to [[CrimefightingWithCash put her resources supply to good use]]. But this also makes her a bit slower than the other Rogues, which she would always need to keep in mind.

* ReducedManaCost: Amina's main ability is to play assets once per round for 3 less resources [[PowerAtAPrice by putting Doom on it instead]].

* CriticalStatusBuff: Unlike the other investigators, once per scenario, Hank can [[AutoRevive shrug off the fatal damage/horror]] and become [[HeroicSecondWind "Resolute"]] (one of the two flavours), gaining extra stats in several fields (at expense of others) which makes him stronger overall than basic Hank was. The downside is that he no longer can be healed by normal means, with either Health or Sanity being now reduced by 1 (depending on which version you chose).

* CripplingOverspecialisation: Because of his design as a SupportPartyMember, Carson is at his strongest in a full table of 4 players where he can aid 3 other Investigators while they do "his part" in his stead in return. His effectiveness declines in smaller tables, where Investigators have to fulfil multiple roles at once to make up for the lack of players, to the point of being objectively the worst Investigator in the game when playing solo, as he has a weak statline combined with an ability and a signature card he straight up cannot use [[NoSelfBuffs because they do not work on himself]], and a personal weakness he cannot counter because it is 'also' reliant on him aiding other Investigators.

* ExtremeOmnivore: As may be expected from Blob-themed investigator, all her mechanics are built around her "devouring" cards, regardless of what they represent. She can't devour story cards, but almost anything else is a free game (albeit most frequently, she targets player cards), with her personal weakness, "Reality Acid", specifically existing to make her actively devour her and teammates' cards, with a table of possible results. There's a very small chance that she would devour some enemies instead, but enemies killed that way don't award victory points.
* GameplayAndStoryIntegration: Investigator based on the Blob, as may be expected, has all her mechanics built around hunger and her being ExtremeOmnivore.
* GatheringSteam: She starts with all stats at 1, but whenever she "devours" cards, they gets put beneath her signature card, "Ravenous: Controlled Hunger", which gives her +1 to all stats per card "devoured". However, actually reaching the maximum can be risky, as it turns her signature into "Ravenous: Uncontrolled Hunger", which starts actively devouring either cards under control of investigators, or those beneath it, now putting them aside.

* LethalJokeCharacter: Suzi has absurd design, very low stats, and strange and confusing deckbuilding rules which makes her build extremely huge deck of low-level cards without easy ways to upgrade them to anything. But her concept isn't just for making another Blob-related joke (even if it ''is'' a Blob-related joke); in truth, [[MagikarpPower she's meant to grow stronger as she keeps "eating" cards]]: during scenario, she can accumulate extremely high stats, even if it's hard to maintain them for long; and across campaign, devouring cards also unlocks ability to actually upgrading or replacing them, ''with no regards for level'', which ultimately makes her only investigator who can access ''any'' cards period, only passing on non-story "Permanent" ones.
* MagikarpPower: She's normally restricted to level 0 cards (excluding Neutral ones). However, as she keeps playing and "devouring" cards, she gains ability to purchase cards of higher levels, albeit from just one class at a time (depending on what class had higher count of devoured cards in a last scenario). This allows her to potentially stockpile end-game gear from multiple classes and become quite universal.

** Each turn, she "devours" one card from her hand, and her free action ability allows her to devour one card under her or other investigator's control, which then gets put beneath her signature card. Reaching the maximum of 5+ cards makes it putting devoured cards aside, and devouring one card either beneath or under players' control until it empties, at which point it reverts. Fortunately, her signature event "Regurgitation" allows to forcibly revert it (and return up to 3 "devoured" cards), while her Elder Sign returns any 1 "devoured" card of her choice to its owner's hand.

* TokenNonHuman: All the other investigators are humans. Suzi is a sapient human-shaped [[GreyGoo blob]]. Backstory behind her birth is so long, it didn't fit on investigator card (not that there was much place left; instructions how to play her consumed all the space), so it was instead put into a separate section of the ''The Blob That Ate Everything Else'' manual (with extra blurb if you also recovered a Pet Oozling).

* FragileSpeedster: PlayedWith; Rita has 9 Health, which Guardian-level of endurance, so she cannot really be called fragile... Physically at least, because she has only 5 Sanity and average Willpower, which leaves her very vulnerable mentally. However, Rita is much faster than most Guardians, have a perfect 5 in Agility, letting her evade and outrun enemies that would inflict lots of Horror at least.

** Her personal weakness, "Smite the Wicked", spawns an additional monster, to which this card gets attached; if the monster to which this card attached survives until the end of scenario or Zoey's defeat/retreat, she will suffer mental trauma, due to "failing" her "mission". Fortunately, it's not mandatory for her to finish off this monster personally, any investigator may help.

* Status Buff: The advanced version of her personal weakness, on top of spawning an enemy as normal, also raises its health and fight value, making it harder for Zoey and other Investigators to defeat it.

* FragileSpeedster: PlayedWith; Rita can't be really called "fragile", having health as high as Guardian, a grand total of 9, same as physically tough characters like Roland and Mark, but just like them she has only 5 sanity and average Willpower, which leaves her as vulnerable to horror. However, unlike Roland and Mark, she is much faster than the two, having a perfect 5 in Agility, letting her at least outrun any enemies that deal lots of horror before they can attack her.

* WeakButSkilled: Lore-wise, he is not much of an investigator, fighter or spellcaster, but he is definetly a good leader. Gameplay-wise, Charlie has 1 in every stat and is pretty much unable to do anything on its own, and can only take up to level 2 cards of any class, but at deck creation he can choose which two classes he can access cards from and he can get essentially any ally in the game without any level or class restriction, which he can make very good use of given he starts with 4 allies slot, when most investigators only start with 1. On top of that he has the ability to exahust allies to increase his skills temporaly during a test by 1 for every ally exahusted that way plus every icon on them that matches the type of test: the more icons on them the better they get for Charlie. [[MagikarpPower If you can put enough allies in play fast enough]] Charlie can perform as well as any other Investigator in spite of his weak stats.

** His signature, "Ad Hoc" is an Upgrade card for your Item or Weapon cards; once attached, it lets you to discard a Weapon or Tool asset from hand, only to then trigger their action ability ''for free''.

* StatusBuff: After placing a clue to activate her signature, each time Kate puts a clue on another Tool or Science asset she gets a bonus to her skill value for the next test she is going to perform.

* ArmorPiercingAttack: Hank's signature event, "Stouthearted", dumps damage and/or horror on an enemy the moment he engages them, with no test required, however Elites are immune to it.
* AutoRevive: Once per scenario, if Hank would get defeated by Damage or Horror he can instead choose to become [[HeroicSecondWind resolute]], which allows him to keep playing, albeit with different stats and no longer being able to heal by normal means.

** Hank stats with an extremely low 5 Health ''and'' Sanity, but he also transforms into one of the two versions geared towards either tanking damage or tanking horror upon defeat.
** Both his Elder Sign and signature card, "Stouthearted", allows him to move some of his damage/sanity to the other cards (in "Stouthearted" case, even to the other investigators or enemies), further prolonging his survival. This works even for "Resolute" versions, which can't be healed by conventional means.

* CriticalStatusBuff: Unlike the other investigators, once per scenario Hank can [[AutoRevive shrug off the fatal damage/horror]] and become [[HeroicSecondWind "Resolute"]] (one of the two flavours), gaining extra stats in several fields (at expense of others) which makes him stronger overall than basic Hank was. The downside is that he no longer can be healed by normal means, with either Health or Sanity being now reduced by 1 (depending on which version you chose).
* DrawExtraCards: The "Assistant" version of Resolute Hank draws a card whenever he suffers horror,

** By default, Hank has only 5 Health and Sanity ("Ashcan" Pete has the same Sanity, but 6 Health); however, if he gets defeated by damage or horror, he can [[AutoRevive get back up]] and [[HeroicSecondWind become resolute]], which gives him a second chance and readjusts his Health and Sanity to better tank either damage or horror, at expense of other stat; if counting both "lives", he becomes the most durable investigator in the game.

* HeroicSpirit: Many aspects of Hank's design {{Invoke|dTrope}} this: he is the only Investigator who can shrug off being defeated on its own, without the aid of other cards, and he has access to Spirit cards, which are generally all about surviving the impossible odds and drawing from one's inner strenght.
* LifeDrain: "Stouthearted" lets Hank place a total amount of 2 damage and/or horror he has on an enemy he engages. Notably, because it ''transfers'' damage/horror, it can heal Hank even after he becomes [[WoundThatWillNotHeal Resolute]].
* LightningBruiser: Just like Mark, Hank's is a {{Downplayed|Trope}} version of this, having high Combat (5) and average Agility (3). His "Warden" Resolute version raises his Combat stat to 6, while his "Assistant" version [[PlayedStraight plays this more straight]] by giving him equal Combat and Agility (4)

* SearchingForTheLostRelative: Like in other ''Arkham Files'' games, Hank's motivation is to find his lost Pa. [[GameplayAndStoryIntegration This quest manifests as his personal weakness]], "Where's Pa?", which spawns an enemy in connected location, and makes it "Elusive" (actively tries to avoid being engaged with), forcing Hank to abandon everything and go on a hunt, as each turn he fails to kill it, he takes 1 direct Horror: who knows what these monsters would do to Pa if not rescued in time?
* WoundThatWillNotHeal: After becoming [[HeroicSecondWind Resolute]], Hank can no longer be healed by conventional means. Effects which moves damage/horror elsewhere still work, however, like his Elder Sign (which gains new effect specifically to keep him alive).

* NonStandardGameOver: As explained by [[ObviousRulePatch additional rulings]]: Luke can only access any ''revealed'' location from his [[{{DreamLand}} Dream-Gate]] and will get kicked out into one of his choice when the gate leaves play. But if there are no revealed locations left when Luke is at his gate and he would be forcibly kicked out, [[OneHitKill he is immediately Defeated instead]].

* FragileSpeedster: Monterey has very high Agility of 5 in both versions, but suffers from pitiful 6 Sanity and 1 Willpower, combined with only 2 Combat. His unique card, "Trusty Bullwhip", somewhat compensates for it, allowing to fight using his Agility instead, and even evade the enemy after successful attack. However, his weakness, "Buried Secrets", exacerbate the issue by making him unable to move (outside of scenario cards' effects) until he investigates his location (if he can investigate it, otherwise he is free to move), leaving him as a sitting duck for "Hunter" enemies chasing after him.

* PowerNullifier: "Buried Secrets" weakness makes Monterey unable to move unless instructed by scenario cards, which not only pins him to the ground, but also shuts down his abilities, as they rely on him being always on the move. He may try to investigate his location to either discard it (if he succeeds) or shuffle into deck at the cost of 2 horror (if he fails).

** His signature event, "Seeking the Truth", lets him draw 1 card per clue he controls (capping at 5 cards). Parallel version lets to instead drop one clue to get a card from discard pile.

* YourWorstMemory: Her personal weakness, "Dark Memory", forces her to relive the worst moments of her [[VisionsOfAnotherSelf past life]], where she was a Hyperborean witch, dealing her constant horror every round, unless she plays the card, [[SadisticChoice which will add Doom to the agenda instead]].

* DespairEventHorizon: Her personal weakness, "Abandoned and Alone", removes all cards from her discard pile from the game, symbolising her losing the will to keep fighting. And the tinnier the deck becomes, the easier it's to draw this card again, not to mention taking some horror each time the deck resets.

* OrphansPlotTrinket: Her signature card, "Wendy's Amulet", is an Elder Sign trinket given to her by her parents. It allows her to play events from her discard pile, as long as she keeps it in play.

* RevolversAreJustBetter: His signature card is his .38 revolver. Its main gimmick is providing an additional bonus to Combat when used in a location with at least one clue, which further amplifies the hybrid fighter/searcher playstyle of his default kit.
* SecretWar: Roland is obsessed with keeping his activities hidden from unrelated people; his signature weakness, "Cover Up", is him realising that he left evidence behind and has to get rid of it. Failure to do so before the scenario ends or Roland resigns/is eliminated will result in mental trauma.

* BoringButPractical: Her signature card, "Daisy's Tote Bag", gives her two additional Hand slots (and doesn't take up any slots itself), which can only be used to hold Tome cards (something she relies upon a great deal); simple, but reliable. She can even dump her weakness, [[TomeOfEldritchLore "The Necronomicon"]], into her bag until she can deal with it.

* TomeOfEldritchLore: Her involvement in the plot was kickstarted by her study of [[TropeCodifier The Necronomicon]]. That same book is also her personal weakness (specifically, the "John Dee" translation of it), preventing her from using elder sign tokens while it is in play. It becomes even more dangerous if she fails her LoyaltyMission, "Read or Die."

* ManaBurn: Skids' personal weakness "Hospital Debts", requires him (and potentially other Investigators if they are willing to help him) to spend 6 resources to deal with it. He can choose to ignore it, but if by the end of the scenario the debt isn't paid, he will earn 2 less experience. What makes it tricky to deal with is that each Investigator can only pay up to 2 resources per round, which means you can't just dump all your resource at once even if you have enough in hand.

* StealthExpert: His signature card, "On the Lam", makes non-Elite enemies unable to attack him.

* CoolKey: The Heirloom of Hyperborea, a family artifact Agnes found in her attic, which is the [[{{Pun}} key]] to unlock the latent powers inside her, and a link to her [[{{Reincarnation}} past self]]. In-Game, it is Agnes' signature Accessory asset, which allows her to draw cards every time she plays a spell of any kind.

* SpeedrunReward: Kate can place clues on certain type of asset to gain a StatusBuff, but she is hard-capped by how many times she can do that by the number of assets she control (and each can only hold 1 clue each). There are 3 ways to clear clues from assets: discarding the assets (which means she needs to find a replacement or replay a copy), using either "Aetheric Current" (and she needs to find an enemies to target with the event) or advance the act and/or spend clues specifically on her assets first. In other words, Kate is encouraged to make progress quickly to gain more uses of her main ability.