History Characters / MonarkTrueStudentCouncil

* CharacterDevelopment: In a bit of GameplayAndStoryIntegration, the dialogue choices at the beginning of the game with some key exceptions (you have three dialogue choices [[ButThoutMust which all consist of "No"]]) to demonstrate the Vice-President's status as a blank slate for the player to mold. As the game goes on, however, their choices become more linear, the game giving you only a single choice or multiple choices with the same line of dialogue. This reflects not only the Vice-President's growth as a character but also their departure as Yoru's "puppet".

* GutturalGrowler: As Yog-Sothoth, Vanitas uses a more deep and throaty voice compared to his bombastic and lighter tone.

** In Act 2, the Vice-President questions Vanitas how he can find his Ideals or null their pact. Vanitas is more amused than anything and tells him to quit dwelling on pointless matters. Recall his first meeting with the Vice-President, and revelations regarding the Vice-President in "Deepest Depths". [[WhamLine At one point did Vanitas ever say he was going to make a pact with the Vice-President]]? More importantly, why would he even consider making a pact with a ''Monark''?
** When Sora questions how the Vice-President and Nozomi managed to leave the Otherworld after their first visit and Vanitas appears, she immediately recognizes him as a Daemon and identifies him as a Monark. Vanitas replies he's merely "the being who helped them survive". As you later learn in "Deepest Depths", Vanitas is ''far'' from being a Monark. Note how he says he's a "being" rather than calling himself a Monark.

* ItAmusedMe: His reason for helping the True Student Council and helping the Vice-President, as revealed in the True Ending. Vanitas was hopelessly bored while his true form was stuck inside the Gate, so he decided to help the TSC to alleviate it, though he later grew impressed by the True Student Council's Ego to the point he tells them the steps to reach the Gate and make their wish to Yog-Sothoth.

* SuperEmpowering: Subverted with the Vice-President. He is initially presumed to be the Monark of Vanity and made a pact with the Vice-President, allowing him to command Fiends in battle and use Resonance, though "Deepesr Depths" reveals he's not a Monark and the Authority of Vanity always belonged to the Vice-President, who is a flawed replica of the original Monark of Vanity. Played straight with Nozomi as he helps unlock her Imagigear by using the Vice-President as a medium.

* KillTheCutie: [[spoiler:She's killed off in "Intermission: Dusk", which sets off the events of Act 2 and the disbanding of the True Student Council. Thankfully, her death is reversed in "Deepest Depths" as Kakeru sends the Vice-President back to when Sora just disbanded the club where Chiyo is alive and well.]]

* BreakingTheFellowship: [[spoiler:In "Intermission: Dusk", Sora formally dissolves the TSC, with each member going their separate ways. It isn't until "Deepest Depths" that they're reformed by Nozomi.]]

* EarnYourHappyEnding: And holy ''shit'' do they have to work for it. [[spoiler:Act 2 always ends with the Vice-President disappearing, leaving his partner a traumatized wreck after he's helped them overcome their traumas or problems. "Deepest Depths" undoes this thanks to both the Vice-President's enhanced Animakinesis and Kakeru using the last of his powers to send the former back to when Sora just disbanded the TSC to find a solution.]]

* LoopholeAbuse: [[spoiler:While he's not a proper Monark, the Vice-President is a Monark nonetheless. Furthermore, thanks to everyone's shared experiences in Act 2 and the Vice-President's Resonance harmonizing their souls, they all qualify to make a pact with him, not unlike the Tono twins with Luxuria. This allows them to prolong the Vice-President's life by a few days when he's about to disappear after Yugo's Ideals shatter and Yoru is defeated.]]

* PuttingTheBandBackTogether: [[spoiler:After being disbanded in "Intermission: Dusk", and going through 4 separate {{Bad Future}}s broken and clashing against each other, "Deepest Depths" involves the Vice-President reuniting the TSC and Nozomi happily declaring them reformed, especially since they now know Sora's true nature as the Monark of Woe and how they can save the Vice-President.]]
* TokenHeroicOrc: Three of the five members of the TSC are Pactbearers, but like the Vice-President, who is the first heroic Pactbearer and a founding member of the TSC, they also work to restore Shin Mikado to normal. [[spoiler:In "Deepest Depths", virtually the ''entire'' True Student Council become heroic Pactbearers when they make a pact with the Vice-President, the false Monark of Vanity, so to prevent his CessationOfExistence.]]

* BadassInANiceSuit: The Formal Attire costume has him wear a spiffy-looking purple suit.

* DarkIsNotEvil: Like the rest of the students at Shin Mikado, his uniform consists of a black jacket. He's also working to resolve the anomalies and defeat the Pactbearers in the hopes it will return the school to normal. Taken up a notch in "Deepest Depths" where he's revealed to be a Monark.

** The first of which is his [[RedEyesTakeWarning red eyes]]. The only characters to have red eyes in the game are the Monarks, with the exception of Tristia, who has blue eyes (though this can be attributed to her impersonating Sora Jingu).
** He is the only character to control Fiends, Daemons who answer solely to him. Neither Ryotaro nor Kokoro are shown leading Fiends of their own, instead commanding the common Daemonic Legions and Nobles encountered throughout the game. Hugo points this out in "Deepest Depths", citing this as one of the reasons why is a Monark and not a Pactbearer.

** As stated by Sora, his use of his Authority never generates any Mist, which should be impossible since every other Pactbearers' use of their Authority has caused a build-up of Mist. When the Vice-President interacts with Vanitas about voiding his pact or asking the whereabouts of his Ideals, he laughs in amusement and wonders if he knows what's he asking. "Deepest Depths" explains why Vanitas is amused and why he's not generating any Mist whenever he uses his Authority. The Vice-President never made a pact with Vanitas, and he doesn't have any Ideals because he's a Monark himself.

** The Vice-President's Authority of Vanity gifts him the power of Resonance, which allows him to sync up with his allies and/or his enemies and allowing all those affected by Resonance to use the authorities of affected parties. [[spoiler:In the endgame, Kakeru's repeated usage of his Authority to send the protagonist back in time in Act 2 amplifies his Resonance to the point he can now affect people's ''memories'', allowing him to share his memories with the TSC when Kakeru sends him back to when Sora just disbanded the club.]]

* HumanoidAbomination: Although Act 2 reveals him to be an ArtificialHuman made by Yoru, Yugo reveals he's much more than that: he's a "pale imitation" of the Monark of Vanity whose Authority and power were stolen by Tristia years ago.

* ImmuneToMindControl: Initially, Kurama's Authority of Pride manages to exert control over the Vice-President, only for his control to be broken when the Vice-President responds with his own [[PowerNullifyer Authority]].

* NoOntologicalInertia: The Vice-President's existence hinges on two factors: Yoru and Yugo's Ideals, the latter from which Yoru derives her power. If Yoru bites the dust and/or Yugo's Ideals are shattered, the Vice-President will die not long afterwards.

* ThePowerOfTheVoid: The Authority of Vanity is this, as noted in the Cromwell Archives. From what little is known about the Authority, it allows the user to "control the very essence of emptiness and void". "Deepest Depths" reveals its true power comes from the ability to manipulate a person's soul.

* ReplacementGoldfish: Albeit entirely unintentional. The Vice-President is not Chiyo's actual brother, having been made by Yoru and conveniently using the latter's recent death to have her "son" fill the gap and erase every memory pertaining to Takamori Suzuki, both from everyone's minds and every mention of him on any physical record. In "Deepest Depths" where Chiyo is made aware, she says she doesn't care if he's not Takamori because she loves him all the same, and he cares about her as well.

* SpannerInTheWorks: His presence throws a huge wrench in both Tristia and Kakeru's plans, as he never existed in the previous time-loops and his Authority is a huge unknown for all parties involved. This a rare case in which the spanner is actually enforced, as Yoru created him with the explicit purpose to put an end to the antagonistic Pactbearers and Sora, the latter of whom Yoru wishes to subsume.

* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Surprisingly not by Yoru (though she will try to kill him if he interferes with her plans), but instead by Sora. In all Act 2 chapters barring "Birth of a New World" where he willingly chooses to stay in the Otherworld with Kokoro, Sora attempts to erase him because he's one of the last remaining Pactbearers in the school and he seemingly generates no Mist when using his Authority, which makes finding his Ideals all but impossible and therefore especially dangerous.

* DeclarationOfProtection: How the Vice-President "ties his fate" with her in Act 2. In a strange twist, he asks her to protect him so as to give her a reason to continue pushing forward in life. [[spoiler:In "Deepest Depths", she reaffirms her desire and states she will protect the Vice-President no matter what happens.]]

* SoleSurvivor: [[spoiler:In a temporal, technological sense. In a conversation in the TSC club room, the team discusses how many times they were defeated or died across the four timelines in Act 2. Nozomi implies she managed to survive being absorbed or killed by Sora in the TSC Pactbearer chapters and thus never died whereas everyone else has died at least once. Kokoro bluntly tells her it's because she chose to hid away in the Student Council club room.]]

* BlackAndWhiteMorality: Befitting his age, he sees morality and people in simple, contrasting terms: Pactbearers are evil, selfish, and should be hated, his family of Daemon hunters are good, selfless, and should be loved. Though it starts in the Pactbearer of Lust arc, his values are challenged and mature in his Act 2 chapters, becoming more in line with reality's messy, complicated, and grey truths that no one is truly only good or evil.

* FamilyOfChoice: Implied. [[spoiler:In "Deepest Depths", Shinya chooses to stand firmly with the Vice-President in spite of TheReveal and opposes Yugo, later revealed to be Hugo Cromwell, after the latter denounces his former identity.]]

* PleaseDontLeaveMe: In both his Act 2 ending and "Deepest Depths", [[spoiler:he begs the Vice-President to live regardless of what sort of complications may arise because of him being a Monark]].

* AbortedDeclarationOfLove: At the start of "Deepest Depths", [[spoiler:Kokoro gives the Vice-President a confession similar to the one she gave him in Act 2, albeit without the tragedy and heartbreak involved. She backs out at the last second by saying it was merely "hypothetical", but in the post-game, it becomes very clear she really wasn't]].

* FlatJoy: During "Deepest Depths" where she cheers on the Vice-President to find an ultimate solution to their problems, she can only manage a deadpan, quiet, "Rah-rah."

* IronicEcho: [[spoiler:During '''Deepest Depths''', after much CharacterDevelopment, Kokoro abandons the thought of "safety and security" and begins taking risks again.]]

* LastGirlWins: She's the last female party member you run into, and there's a lot of ShipTease involved with her and Mr. VP. Her Act 2 chapters also have some rather blatant romantic undertones [[spoiler:and given how the Vice-President wants to stay in the Otherworld with her because her disappearing hurts, there's at least ''some'' reciprocation going on. It isn't made apparent until "Birth of a New World" where she gives him an AnguishedDeclarationOfLove as he's disappearing, as she's fully given up on her idea of "safety and security" to live out her life with him. In "Deepest Depths", she gets these memories and tries to give him a proper confession, only to be so embarrassed she backtracks and says it was merely hypothetical. Though in the post-game "Addendum: Dawn", she says she still intends to be with the Vice-President, get to know him, and expects him to "take responsibility" for her "no longer being safe or secure".]]

* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: In "Deepest Depths", [[spoiler:Kokoro breaks her self-imposed rule of never using her Authority in the school and uses her Precog-analysis to help them find a way to reach the Gate in the Otherworld]].

* ShipTease: Far more blatant than Nozomi. "Slothful Philosophy" even implies [[spoiler:there may be a hint of OfficialCouple since the Vice-President wants to stay in the Otherworld with her, something Sora amusingly picks up on]]. After the Pactbearer of Wrath arc is resolved, Kokoro wishes to extend her stay with the TSC, "jokingly" stating that she wants to stay with the Vice-President. And then there's her asking the Vice-President to wipe off some cream from her face during Neiko's party to celebrate the TSC's actions in helping the academy. [[spoiler:While Kokoro's Act 2 chapter ends tragically, she tries to give the Vice-President an AnguishedDeclarationOfLove. She even nearly succeeds in actually giving said confession in "Deepest Depths", but says she was being 'hypothetical'...aaand then declares in "Addendum: Dawn" that she wants the Vice-President to "take responsibility" for not making her "safe or secure"]].[[note]]It should be worth noting that, in Japan, [[spoiler:the phrase "take responsibility" is usually used by women who want their lover to support them by way of marriage or in a monogamous relationship]].[[/note]]

* TookALevelInCheerfulness: Her dour, serious personality gradually evolves to a very awkward but endearing cheerfulness, with Kokoro making humorous puns with the Vice-President, joking around with her newfound friends, and ''especially'' in "Deepest Depths" where she reiterates her desire to [[spoiler:spend the rest of her life with the Vice-President and expects him to "take responsibility" for her no longer being "safe or secure"]].

* AmbiguouslyHuman: His status a "Vanity project" marks him as an ArtificialHuman and byproduct of Yoru's Essokineses. However, he also has the powers of a Monark, which makes it uncertain as to whether he's like Yoru and Tristia, taking on a human guise or he's a human with Daemonic abilities. The ambiguity is rendered moot by the end of the game, where the Vice-President becomes fully human.

** His status as the Pactbearer of Vanity is one of great confusion to Sora as his Authority is an aberrant and even Cromwell, who has extensive knowledge of almost everything pertaining to the Otherworld and Daemons, knows very little of it aside from it appearing in documents from Shin Mikado's early years. It is also not one of the seven deadly sins, further confusing things.[[note]]It is worth noting that Vanity, also known as vainglory, ''is'' one of the seven sins and is in fact a contemporary for the deadly sin of {{Pride}}.[[/note]] Act 2 has Sora reveal that the Vice-President doesn't have a corresponding Mist associated with him, muddling things further. It isn't until "Deepest Depths" that you learn the Vice-President received the Authority from Yoru when he was created, as Tristia was unable to use the Authority of Vanity even after absorbing its associated Monark.

** He is the only character to control Fiends, stated to be Daemon Legions who answer solely to him. While the enemy Pactbearers also have Legions under their control, they only obey the Monark and defend the Ideals of the Pactbearer, and neither Kokoro nor Ryotaro is shown leading Fiends of their own in battle even when their Ideals are threatened.
** The Authority of Vanity acts as a PowerNullifier, allowing the Vice-President to cancel out other Authorities that directly affect a person. Even Ryotaro notes this power is very unusual since it was only believed his Authority allowed him to Resonate with others.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Outside of "Shield of Hope" and "Dark Abundance", Nozomi makes no appearance at all in the other Act 2 chapters. If you try to enter the Student Council room, you'll find it's locked up tight. [[spoiler:Based on how she is in "Shield of Hope" when you first start the chapter, it's implied Nozomi is too entrenched in grief to do or react to anything going on at the academy until the Vice-President pulls her out of her funk, leaving for some unsettling implications for what happens to her in the TSC Pactbearer Chapters.]]

* SpannerInTheWorks: His presence throws a huge wrench in both Tristia and Kakeru's plans, as he never existed in the previous time-loops and his Authority is a huge unknown for all parties involved.

* TheLeader: She acts like this to the True Student Council, and previously served as the head of the Student Council before Kurama took over.

* ShipTease: She becomes very close with the Vice-President over the course of her character arc in "Blind Fool's Hope", and even more so in "Shield of Hope".

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Outside of "Shield of Hope" and "Dark Abundance", Nozomi makes no appearance at all in the other Act 2 chapters. If you try to enter the Student Council room, you'll find it's locked up tight. [[spoiler:Based on how she is in "Shield of Hope" when you first start the chapter, it's implied Nozomi is too entrenched in grief to do or react to anything going on at the academy until the Vice-President pulls her out of her funk, leaving for some unsettling implications for what happens to her in Ryotaro and Kokoro's chapters.]]

* JerkassHasAPoint: As blunt and callous as he is, Shinya isn't wrong when he points out that the Pactbearers are responsible for the anomalies and suffering of the students. Of the five antagonistic Pactbearers, three have an actual body count and only illustrate his point, no matter the justification for their actions.

** It's made blatantly obvious in Act of Wrath that Kokoro has some affection for the Vice-President, what with her asking if he would be happy if she stayed on board with the TSC and all, nevermind her attempting to ask him to wipe off some cream from her face during the celebration made by Shironeko. The Vice-President can reciprocate in some manner in Act of Greed, where he can claim to be a "Kokoro-mantic" when she asks why he picked her to accompany him in the Old Dorm building.