Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
Weapon Of Choice is now a disambig
Changed line(s) 362,363 (click to see context) from:
* WeaponOfChoice: The most basic weapon of all: the club/stick.
to:
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
dewicking Knife Nut per trs disambig
Deleted line(s) 91 (click to see context) :
* KnifeNut: He kills Aspiration this way and attempts to kill Insanity on day 6.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
* TheHilarityOfHats: The Advocate has a hat, it's quite silly.
** Turned out it ''did'' do more than just look silly.
** Turned out it ''did'' do more than just look silly.
Deleted line(s) 417,418 (click to see context) :
* TheHilarityOfHats: the Advocate has one, it's quite silly.
** turned out it ''did'' do more than just look silly.
** turned out it ''did'' do more than just look silly.
* TheHilarityOfHats: The Advocate has a hat. It's quite silly. Turned out it ''did'' do more than just look silly.
Deleted line(s) 571 (click to see context) :
* TheHilarityOfHats: The Advocate has one. It's quite silly. Turned out it ''did'' do more than just look silly.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 417 (click to see context) from:
* NiceHat: the Advocate has one, it's quite silly.
to:
* NiceHat: TheHilarityOfHats: the Advocate has one, it's quite silly.
Changed line(s) 571 (click to see context) from:
* NiceHat: The Advocate has one. It's quite silly. Turned out it ''did'' do more than just look silly.
to:
* NiceHat: TheHilarityOfHats: The Advocate has one. It's quite silly. Turned out it ''did'' do more than just look silly.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
Moved from main wiki
Added DiffLines:
[[quoteright:305:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_2advocate_4101.png]]
[[caption-width-right:305:Just don't, or do, it's your choice]]
You find yourself in a room; you don't remember how you got here. But now, you have no choice but to participate in a sick game of manipulation. Welcome to [[http://http://www.reddit.com/r/MyLittleHouseOfFun/ my little house of fun!]]
The basic scenario is quite straightforward: 10 contestants are locked inside a mansion. Each contestant has a secret objective, a handful of tokens and a metal collar fixed with explosives.
The player who fulfills their secret objective and gathers the most tokens is the winner. Everyone else will be left to the mercy of the Master. What follows is a complex and downright ruthless game, where anyone can die as the game evolves into a gigantic pile of roleplaying, scheming, lying, and backstabbing, featuring intrigue, lies, betrayals, deaths and entertainment for the one who watches it all.
This page is a W.I.P. For now, ''everything'' will be spoilers, so beware!
Season 1, hosted by the Advocate, can be read [[http://https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/53167825/webpage/welcome.html here]],
Season 2, hosted by Ctom, can be read [[https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19127722/Ctom%20HOF%20Website/welcome.html here]].
The third game, titled ''Rails of Fun'', was hosted by Checklad.
The fourth game, titled ''Parody House'', was hosted by Avebone.
----
!!Characters
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_1rsz_4manipulation_game_opening_picture_181.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Don't believe their lies, or do: it's your choice.]]
The characters present in all games that are associated with ManipulationGameOfFun, right now there is only House of Fun.
Beware, as ''everything'' on here will be spoilers!
----
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder: House of Fun (Season 1)]]
----
!!Aspiration
[[quoteright:260:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_manipulation_game_aspiration_9809.png]]
[[caption-width-right:260:"Being alone sucks, but being together with you almost got me a knife in the back."]]
->''""Love and money are the only ways to get a woman to sleep with you. Everything else is off the table.”"''
A somewhat bright young man who had everything he could have ever wanted as a kid, except for the attention of his parents. In response to this, he ended up dropping out of law school and took to travelling, partying, gambling, drinking, and sleeping around. He indulged in his desires everyday to hide the emptiness that he always could feel whenever he was alone.
Not one to back down on the biggest gamble of his life, Aspiration sets out with the intention to win, making a joke or two along the way.
* AFriendInNeed: Became this for Insanity on day 4, giving her everything he owned because he wanted her to live and he thought he wouldn't be able to win. Sadly, Insanity only realized that this trope was truly in effect after he died.
* ALadyOnEachArm: This basically summed up a large part of his backstory.
* BrilliantButLazy: Seems to be a case of this in his backstory.
* TheChessMaster: Shows shades of this, even going so far as to compare certain characters with certain chess pieces, but eventually he gets outgambitted and overshadowed by the other resident ChessMaster: Checklad.
* ChessMotifs: Compares a couple of characters to various pieces on the board, unfortunately he was too convinced in him being right about the comparisons.
* EpicFail: So you find the only gun in the game, in front of four other people. What do you do? You check for the bullets, only to ''drop'' the only bullet on the ground, causing Insanity to pick it up, leaving you with the most powerful weapon in the game that's now useless.
* FatalFlaw: He's overconfident to a fault.
* FirstPersonSmartass: In his diary.
* Foil: With respect to Insanity, he is this to Falafel. Falafel was outwardly friendly and acted reliable but was constantly scheming to get Insanity killed, whereas Aspiration was outwardly sleazy but was genuinely loyal to her.
* GambitPileup: His scheme in the armoury on day 3 failed because this happened, as his own schemes clashed with Falafel's and Ctom's.
* TheGamblingAddict: to the point that a fair amount of his schemes are essentially nothing more than new ways to gamble for him.
* HalfwayPlotSwitch: His death induces this: any kind of conflict or development that might've happened regarding his character is completely lost the moment he died.
* HandsomeLech: ''reeks'' of this.
* HeroicSacrifice: Depends on your interpretation of whether he's heroic or not, but if he is this trope is played to full effect on day 4. Then again, he didn't exactly thought he'd die the way he did.
* HeroOfAnotherStory: While not necessarily a hero, as he had no problems playing the game, he was quite sympathetic towards Ctom and especially Insanity, which says something about the other characters.
* HeroAntagonist: Has no qualms about playing the game or killing, yet he's still one of the more likable characters out there.
* IrrationalHatred: He absolutely detests Checklad, to the point that Checklad was the only character that made Aspiration lose his cool in his diaries. It ended up costing him his life as it caused him to underestimate Checklad.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He has his kind moments with Ctom and especially Insanity.
* KansasCityShuffle: Believed he could survive whatever was awaiting him in the attic. It turned out the way you would expect.
* PoorCommunicationKills: One major reason he ultimately died on day 4 was because he send Checklad a PM asking whom he considered a threat; Checklad considered it a threat and schemed to get him killed afterwards.
* SacrificialLion: As far as 'sympathetic' characters go anyway.
* SmugSnake: even if he acts nice it shows a bit in how he handles conversations and situations in general.
* WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong: his armoury scheme, which failed causing him to get stuck between a rock and a hard place.
** Yhe same can be said about him going to the attic, as he believed he had more support than he actually had.
* XanatosSpeedChess: Attempted to do this a couple of times; it never really worked out in his favour.
----
!!Finalnwo
[[quoteright:260:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_manipulation_game_finalnwo_8799.png]]
[[caption-width-right:260:"We can decide who wins, but not with all this unskilled trash around."]]
->''"Heh, women are complicated. No wonder I can't get along with them."''
An irrational, blunt and petty young man, born into a rich family, who knows nothing but success. He's had his every desire and wish fulfilled, but isn't afraid to do any dirty work should he feel the desire to. Yet, now brought into a world where he doesn't belong, he realizes he's got nothing as he struggles to keep his sanity.
Despite having lost his once so luxurious lifestyle, Finalnwo seems to feel right at home in the new situation, showing no intention to play safe or act like he cares to leave.
* AxCrazy: Seems to hint at this in his diary. He's especially this on the last day, during which he declared everyone an enemy.
* BloodKnight: He's by far the most eager to kill or hurt others directly, which is certainly saying something as shedding blood is not even necessary to complete his objective.
* DudeLooksLikeALady: His flair (avatar) in the game is a girl, go figure.
* HeroKiller: Was bribed and manipulated by Checklad to kill Aspiration in the attic on day 4.
* ImAHumanitarian: When Lishy's butchered corpse is set on the table to terrorize the contestants, Finalnwo simply sit down and starts eating.
* KickThemWhileTheyAreDown: Subverts this in the attic on day 4, as he helps Aspiration up before stabbing him in the belly.
* KnifeNut: He kills Aspiration this way and attempts to kill Insanity on day 6.
* LackOfEmpathy: A big part of his personality; he hardly cares that he killed Aspiration.
* NonIdleRich: Has no problem getting his hands dirty.
* OpportunisticBastard: Quite so, as he takes any chance he can get to harm others.
----
!!Insanity
[[quoteright:260:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_manipulation_game_insanity_5002.png]]
[[caption-width-right:260:"I know what happened. You can try to cover it up, but it doesn't matter. What matters is the truth."]]
->''"Even if I'll get attacked, even if no one is willing to defend me, I absolutely refuse to kill someone. I will NOT become a murderer because of a place like this."''
A young woman whom for some reason was transported to this game, having lived an utterly boring and ordinary life: she wished for more excitement in her life. She's gotten more than she's ever wished for.
Caught between the will to help everyone and the want to return safe and sound home, she's at a loss what to do as the other people around her start to lose their sanity more and more.
* ActualPacifist: Her entire play style and personality resolves around it, which is striking as she had the tools at her disposal to dominate other characters.
* ActionSurvivor
* AssassinOutclassin: One of the characters that was targeted the most, she survived thanks to a combination of simply running away and unexpected help from other characters.
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: She wished for more excitement in her life...
* BeingGoodSucks: A lot of her troubles could have been easily solved if she would've gone on the aggressive when it comes to plotting and violence; unfortunately she has a set of morals she attempts to uphold.
* ConvictedByPublicOpinion: almost everyone in the game considered her a threat or a liar, courtesy of Falafel and Ctom.
* GoodIsNotDumb: Whilst she's a nice person, especially in comparison to everybody else, she's not an idiot: even if most of the scheming in the game eludes her, she knows when she's being played and involves herself in some small-scale schemes as well.
* HeroicBSOD: Gets this twice: first when Aspiration dies, though she manages to hold on; the second time after the Advocate ends the game, when she finally can release all the pressure that she build up over those six days.
* HeroWithBadPublicity: Courtesy of Falafel. Everyone expected her to be some big schemer who would dominate the game: whilst it's true she had the means, she ultimately lacked the edge that other characters had to actually play the game.
* ILetGwenStacyDie: Believes this for a short while about Aspiration, as she could've saved him, but she's adamant that it was ultimately out of her control.
* LoopholeAbuse: One of the first characters to do this, as she runs to rooms from previous days to complete her objective.
* MadeOutToBeAJerkass: Poor Insanity could never catch a break or have reliable allies because Falafel was specifically targeting her.
* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: What's that? You don't want to harm other players? Too bad nobody will ever trust you now because of that!
* RoomShuffle: Her main tactic to avoid conflict and complete her objective.
* SurvivorGuilt: She survived, but witnessed the death of Finalnwo and Falafel. It ultimately broke her more than anything else that had happened.
* TheDreaded: Falafel's actions caused her to be seen as this, which left her on bad grounds with almost everyone.
* TheHero: The closest character in the series to be this. having refused to attack anyone for the ''entire'' duration of the game. It did not serve her as well as you'd think.
* TokenGoodTeammate: The poor girl finds herself surrounded by liars, schemers, murderers and even more liars. She just wants to be left alone.
----
!!Kowzz
[[quoteright:260:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_manipulation_game_kowzz_2705.png]]
[[caption-width-right:260:"Ha... Hahaha... HAHAHAHA! Amazing! Superb! We have ourselves some talent. Entertainment. Promise."]]
->''"The walls in this room... they form a sort of prison, but is that really so? What confines us is not these walls, but the embodiment of fear strapped around our necks, wouldn't you say?"''
More or less an average guy. Maybe above average intelligence, but nothing to brag about. The years have taken their toll on Kowzz; extremes and the exotic are alien to him. He has grown complacent with the workings of everyday life. As he grew up his desire to do something extraordinary faded into nothingness-- or did it? This game of death may slowly unravel the series of locks that chain his inner self to reality. One by one, the bonds become undone as the situation grows more dire. What new heights will Kowzz reach as he trades his sanity for pleasure?
Who knows what this man is up to? One day he attacks a person, one day he'll gleefully watch from the sidelines, but one thing is for certain: he knows more, way more, than he lets on.
* BelievingTheirOwnLies: As said by his handler, "by the end, Kowzz pretty much believed all the shit that came out of his mouth."
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: Oh so very much.
* DudeLooksLikeALady: Well, his flair (avatar) is a girl, but it could be a disguise for all we know.
* EvilCounterpart: Cornetto is this to him, as both served as guides to a certain character, Ctom having Kowzz and Checklad having Cornetto, and never really bothered to try and complete their own objective.
** Both Cornetto and Kowzz had little interest in winning the game and instead focused on the actions of their fellow players. Cornetto wished for nothing more than to witness the bloodshed and turmoil the players would bring upon themselves and manipulated events to try and bring about these outcomes, while never attacking anyone directly. In contrast Kowzz encouraged the other players to seek the truth of the game, and would directly intervene or even begin conflict in order to preserve the status quo and keep the number of players high.
* FigureItOutYourself: Is a great information source, but have fun figuring out his riddles.
* MonsterClown: Can be seen as this, especially this towards Falafel.
* ObfuscatingInsanity: Averted: whilst some characters might think this is the case, he actually ''is'' completely insane for the most part.
* OrderVersusChaos: Technically the order to Cornetto's chaos. (You wouldn't think that'd be the case.)
* PaperThinDisguise: His flair (avatar) shows him wearing a stereotypical version of this trope.
* SecretTestOfCharacter: Kowzz does this to everyone; only Ctom bothered to even try, causing Kowzz to become his biggest ally.
* TricksterMentor: Is this towards Ctom.
----
!!Ctom
[[quoteright:260:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_manipulation_game_ctom_9325.png]]
[[caption-width-right:260:"I don't trust anyone."]]
->''"The dead can no longer betray you, but that doesn't mean their past betrayals cannot still cause a real headache"''
A washed-up old detective. Seen enough in his days and been betrayed enough times to know better than to place his trust in anyone. A solitary man who is clever at thinking on his feet and crafty at interacting with others.
However, as he wakes up in this new game, he finds himself dangling on the edge between sanity and insanity. Find the truth or play the game? Do what he should do or do what he would truly enjoy?
* AssShove: Ctom ''really'' didn't want anyone to find his hidden camera before it could be deployed.
* CatchPhrase: "Those you trust are the ones who betray you", which showcased his general outlook on the game and attitude towards the other players. It almost came true on the final day when Kowzz stole his pistol.
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Ctom seemed to be really taken in with his snazzy detective's hat.
* EvilCounterpart: Had one in Checklad.
** Both had mirrored objectives: Ctom was the Detective, Checklad the Murderer.
** Both had 'guides', the former having Kowzz whilst the latter had Cornetto, and both of them did their guides proud: Ctom found the truth and Checklad caused bloodshed.
** Both had two extremes in their kind of diaries: Ctom's was highly detailed, narrative yet professional and long whilst Checklad's was short, lacked detail, very unprofessional and showed his character arc.
** Falafel also fits as the evil counterpart with respect to Ctom. Both spent most of their time manipulating the other players for their own benefits. However, where Ctom always acted alone with no close allies, and with as little direct conflict as possible, Falafel gathered as many allies as possible and attempted to stage many of the games most violent attacks.
* GambitPileup: The armoury scheme, interestingly: whilst it caused Aspiration and Falafel to be worse off, he profited from there not being any bloodshed as he started to realise whom were the real threats.
* HatOfPower: Managed to steal it from the Advocate; it helped in ultimately completing his objective.
* HeroAntagonist: Has no qualms about trying to kill others or playing the game, but unlike others he changes his way, even if just a little bit.
* IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim: This was the end result for Ctom. He figured out the truth of the game and it made him into the same type of monster that the Advocate is. Whether this was a result of wearing the detective hat, or whether the hat was simply an outlet to show the changes that had occurred to his psyche is unclear.
* ManipulativeBastard: One of his most defining traits, though he isn't as bad as certain other characters.
* MirrorCharacter: Shares some notable similarities with Checklad, which also sets the two further apart as time goes on.
** Both had a character act as a guide and were relatively loyal to them.
** Both had no qualms about attempting to stage murders and use others to their advantage, however Checklad's murder attempts succeeded whilst Ctom was more concerned with pushing others down to a worse position.
** The two of them were the only characters that held notable conversations with the Advocate, though the way the conversations happened differs.
* OrderVersusChaos: the order to Checklad's chaos, in play style; diaries and goal. However the epilogue seems to hint at a switch: Checklad had chosen order in death, whilst Ctom ultimately chose chaos after finding the truth.
* RoomShuffle: whilst not as noteworthy as Insanity, he still utilises this to same extent.
* SecretTestOfCharacter: was the only one that passed the test that Kowzz gave to everyone.
* SeenItAll: his back story claims this. Turns out he didn't see everything yet.
* StartOfDarkness: whilst he was questionable in his motives and actions in the game, he never truly fell into darkness: his epilogue however seems to signal this.
* TheUnfettered:
** The first instance was when he claimed that anyone who attacked or betrayed him would become his sole target and that he would do everything in his power to ensure their destruction. Bobemmo ended up being his target for this, but the threat was empty, and was mostly used for deterrence and posturing, thus subverting the trope.
** The second instance Ctom was deadly serious. Having been completely broken upon realizing the truth of the game as a means for finding the darkness in people's hearts and exposing the truth of their souls, Ctom became obsessed with tracking down the Advocate. He wanted to expose her truths the same way she had done to them. His motivations for this were a complex mixture of pride as a detective, pure drive for the truth, a sense of both kinship and rivalry with the Advocate, a thirst for revenge, and perhaps just a bit of infatuation.
* WhyDontYouJustShootHim: almost does this to Checklad on day 6 after a relatively long sequence of obvious lies to stall time.
* WorthyOpponent: Ctom considers Falafel this from day 1 and onwards, Falafel not so much.
* XanatosSpeedChess: utilises this to relative success, but ultimately losses the last instance of this to Checklad: as Checklad managed to stall enough time that Ctom was forced to guess Checklad's objective on day 6 which could have cost him the game.
----
!!Bobemmo
[[quoteright:260:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_manipulation_game_bobemmo_3505.png]]
[[caption-width-right:260:"I can't say I particularly want to talk with someone who so violently attacked me yesterday, but it's not like I'm in a position to just get up and walk away."]]
->''"If I'm correctly reading the atmosphere from their conversations in the common room and what they each tell me privately, it seems as though the two of them are out to get each other. [..] Managing these alliances has become a bit of a balancing act"''
Bobemmo is a straightforward young man: he says what he wants, does what he wants and has no stomach for nuances and subtleties. From the outside, he looks scary, strong and silent; from the inside it's pretty much the same.
His official statement to declare Falafel, Kowzz and Checklad his enemy on day 1 is what sets up a large part of the initial scheming, for all the good that it did for him.
* AssassinOutclassin: Survives for most of the game due to sheer luck combined with a powerful alliance with Checklad.
* BadassBoast: Does this on day 1, whilst also openly declaring Checklad, Falafel and Kowzz his enemy; however he doesn't particularly live up to it.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: He's quite nice in comparison to a lot of the characters. Doesn't mean he's afraid to use force on Finalnwo in the purple room on day 6.
* TheBigGuy: Very much so, both in play style and personality.
* DefeatMeansFriendship: After getting his ass handed to him by Checklad, you'd expect some kind of feud to set up, but Checklad was more than happy to offer a mutual friendship that would last for the rest of the game.
* EnemyMine: A lot of characters used his statement on day 1 to get alliances early on, as expected.
* IdiotBall: Was thought to have held this, having openly declared three people his enemy on day 1. Turns out he made the right choice.
* GentleGiant: Seems to be this after completing his objective. In fact, he's one of the two characters that doesn't appear to get corrupted by insanity at all.
* NiceJobFixingItVillain: If we go by Insanity's perspective of him, his actions fit with this in the purple room on day 6, as he killed Finalnwo whom was about to attack her.
* OddFriendship: Despite declaring him an enemy on day 1 and then getting beating up by him on day 2, Checklad becomes his most trusted ally and perhaps even a friend.
* PaperTiger: Despite initially appearing to be very threatening, he lost quite painfully to Checklad in the laundry room on day 2.
* SpannerInTheWorks: Was this to the armoury scheme, preferring to sit out the day rather than take his chances.
----
!!Falafel
[[quoteright:260:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_manipulation_game_falafel_7381.png]]
[[caption-width-right:260:“When have I ever not been your friend?"]]
->''"You're right, I didn't ask. That's because I didn't know I needed to. You know, I'm gonna need your help with those sort of things; sometimes I need to ask something but I forget, so I need you to tell me even if I don't ask"''
Outwardly friendly but reserved. Very principled and determined to be fair in his interactions, but also has a bit of a temper. An orderly man that likes predictable things.
Order and control is what Falafel is aiming for, even if that means he's the one providing it. Quickly setting up the pace of the next six days with a web of lies and intrigues.
* AllTakeAndNoGive: The type of 'alliance' Falafel tried to establish with Checklad primarily relied on Falafel emotionally manipulating Checklad into doing his bidding. Fortunately for Checklad, this did not work out.
* AssholeVictim: Let's face it, after all the shit he pulled the others through, he deserved his death perhaps more than anyone else.
* BatmanGambit: Attempts this multiple times, primarily on Insanity and Checklad, but ComplexityAddiction did him in.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: Tried very hard to outwardly appear as friendly, pleasant and reasonable. In private, he routinely planned to horribly abuse, exploit and betray everyone around him simply because he could.
* BreakThemByTalking: While his attempt to do this to Checklad proved ruinous, he came pretty close to breaking Insanity at some points.
* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: Ironic considering his objective.
* ComplexityAddiction: Falafel never did anything in a straightforward manner:
** Instead of relying on his bullet-proof vest and weapons to get rid of the threat of the gun, Falafel traded away a rigged bullet assuming that the unknown gun-owner will eventually acquire it by trading and by that unwittingly disable the weapon himself.
** When Falafel tried to betray Insanity and join an alliance with Kowzz, he made sure to preemptively triple-cross and poison Kowzz in order to make himself safer in case of Kowzz betrayed him.
* CrazyPrepared: Was this early on, but there was always a SpannerInTheWorks, whether it was Insanity, Bobemmo or Checklad.
* CruelAndUnusualDeath: Has the most brutal death of all characters that died: Lishy died comatose; Aspiration was stabbed in the belly; Finalnwo's skull was cracked open and died immediately, but Falafel dies by getting his face smashed in, repeatedly.
* DespotismJustifiesTheMeans: His prime long-term strategy is summed up nicely with this trope.
* EvilCounterpart: Fits as the evil counterpart with respect to Ctom. Both spent most of their time manipulating the other players for their own benefits. However, where Ctom always acted alone with no close allies, and with as little direct conflict as possible, Falafel gathered as many allies as possible and attempted to stage many of the games most violent attacks.
* FairWeatherFriend: Abandoned and turned on his close ally Insanity as soon as she stopped being useful to him.
* FatalFlaw: SmugSnake and ComplexityAddiction are not a good mix.
* FirstPersonSmartass: whilst it does make him even more unlikeable, it's also really funny in his diary.
* {{Foil}}: With respect to Insanity, he is this to Aspiration. He was outwardly friendly and acted reliable but was constantly scheming to get Insanity killed, whereas Aspiration was outwardly sleazy but was genuinely loyal to her.
* GambitPileup: was one of the prime schemers that caused this.
* HeroKiller: although not intentionally seeking out heroes, Falafel mostly targetted people he felt trusted him.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: When trying to murder Checklad and Insanity, he gives Insanity a poison pill meant for Checklad. Insanity slips it to Checklad, but he had removed the poison from the pill and gave it to Kowzz instead. In the end, Kowzz failed to kill Insanity due to the poison, and Checklad not only survived but eventually killed Falafel.
* {{Hypocrite}}:
** for all his constant lectures regarding the importance of allies working together, he had absolutely no sense of loyalty whatsoever.
** Falafel was utterly furious when he thought the Advocate served him poisoned food... approximately 48 hours after he himself served Kowzz poisoned food.
* ICanStillFight: believed this on day 6, when he finally managed to corner Insanity, it didn't exactly work out.
* ImAHumanitarian: When Lishy1's butchered corpse is set on the table to terrorize the contestants, Falafel simply sits down and starts eating.
* KarmicDeath: Falafel's death was perfect karmic justice. He had been trying to kill Insanity nearly all game despite her being a complete pacifist. As a result of his crusade he ended up being poisoned by her, and then injured by Ctom. On the final day he attempts to rob her, but finds nothing in her room. Finally he comes to kill her, only to be brutally murdered by Checklad, who Falafel had been intending to kill ''all game long''.
* LackOfEmpathy: a major strength of his is that he simply doesn't care if he hurts others' feelings.
* LonelyAtTheTop: perhaps one of the most interesting thing about him and his story is that he reached his top really early, and it only went downhill afterwards, and it's almost completely his own fault.
* LoopholeAbuse: did this to make sure he completed his objective:
** listing himself as his own ally.
** slipping a piece of paper amongst the 'meat' that states Lishy considers Falafel an ally.
* ManipulativeBastard:
** constantly pushed around the weaker contestants, especially Checklad, in order to intimidate them.
** once the gun was found, Falafel immediately used it to try and terrify as many people as he could into forming a lynch mob against Insanity. Having owned a bullet-proof vest, Falafel knew he was perfectly safe against the gun.
* MoralMyopia: had a strong sense of morals that applied to everyone but himself.
* OpportunisticBastard: Have you ''seen'' the instructions he send to Advocate for each day?
* TheSociopath: This trope is perhaps the reason he's far ''worse'' than most if not all the others. He fakes caring about others, but in his diary it's revealed he fakes all of it just to get what he wants, but he doesn't realise the sheer scope of the damage he's causing.
* StrawHypocrite: initially claimed that he wanted nobody to get hurt. This gave him a couple of alliances early on which he intended to manipulate in order to ensure nobody gets hurt until 'he' hurts them.
* TheUnfettered: After day 2 he made it his sole mission to destroy Insanity. Ironically his repeated failures cost him his own sanity and eventually his life.
* VillainBall: The longer the game goes on, the worse it gets.
* VillainousBreakdown: After getting poisoned on day 6, he starts to realise just how bad of a situation he's in and continued to break down at a record speed.
* WhyWontYouDie: Feels this way about Insanity, as she keeps escaping his murderous attempts.
* WorthyOpponent: Averted. Despite being considered this by a few others, Falafel flatly refuses to consider anyone his equal.
* XanatosSpeedChess: Did this a lot, especially early on, but it never really worked out for him.
----
!!Checklad aka Iko Unemero
[[quoteright:260:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_1rsz_2manipulation_game_checklad_5499.png]]
[[caption-width-right:260:"I prefer my targets to be more, personal."]]
->''"No-No-NO you're not! Th-the only stupid per-person is m-me-me!"''
Before all of this Iko used to work as a maid and handyman at a local university with an unknown past due to amnesia: his life was structured and he was happy. Unfortunately that changes when he woke up in this mansion.
Struck by fear, the timid Iko now finds himself transported from a lonely life to a lonely but deadly game. Yet, not all is what it seems, as even the weak are pushed to their limit.
* ArtShift: After Ctom's and Falafel's very detailed diaries you expected detailed reports about what he did and why? Heck no! Have some funny breaking diary entries instead: the style gets more serious however, once Checklad takes over.
* AssassinOutclassin: Was targeted almost every day by somebody, not to mention that everybody at least tried once to do harm to him, he survives it all due to a combination of paranoia, shrewdness and a massive dose of luck.
* AxCrazy: On the last day once he managed to finally outsmart and beat up Falafel. It broke whatever was left of him.
* BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork: Saves Insanity from Falafel in the purple room on day 6 by backstabbing and murdering Falafel.
* BadLiar: Iko is by far the worst liar of the players. Checklad uses this to his advantage though, as his actual lies are far better hidden because of it.
* BecomingTheMask: His back story: he got beaten up and was left for dead. Ended up surviving but with amnesia, his personality taking a complete 180 degrees turn.
* BeatThemAtTheirOwnGame: does this to Falafel, after losing his mask: might be a case of PoeticJustice as Falafel did nothing but scheme, plot and try to get him killed.
* BeneathTheMask: A sad and scary example: as in the game, he starts to revert back to his original self due to the sheer amount of pressure the situation and the other characters put on him. As the quote below indicates though, Iko didn't want the mask to be removed, but he had no choice in the matter.
-->''I'm starting to lose control: I'm remembering my past, I have nobody I can trust and everybody wants to kill me! I feel alone and scared.''
* BlatantLies: At least a third of his lies are this. Iko seems to believe this actually works, whilst Checklad uses these kind of lies to throw other characters off.
* ButtMonkey: Initially, though Checklad keeps this up by playing this in the main room after having lost his mask.
* BrainsAndBrawn: Is the brawn to Cornetto's brains. It served both of them well.
* BreakThemByTalking: Falafel tries to do this to Iko. It works, but not in the way Falafel had hoped.
* CannotSpitItOut: Iko plays with this, due to his stuttering; Checklad keeps it up.
* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: Oddly averted, after having lost his mask he never betrayed Bobemmo and Cornetto, despite being capable of doing so.
* CreatureOfHabit: Iko is this, which why he's already a wreck so early on.
* CowardlyLion: Iko may be this, as he managed to beat up Bobemmo on day two without any problem, though it might very well have been Checklad.
* DirtyCoward: Whether it's an act or being ProperlyParanoid is anyone's guess. After day three however, he averts it.
* TheDogBitesBack: Ultimately kills Falafel, who has been pushing him around and trying to kill him since the beginning of the game.
* DontLookAtMe: A phrase uttered in his diary; it's one of the things that broke Iko.
* TheDragon: considering his objective and his relation with the Advocate, he fits. However, he doesn't get any additional information or support to help him out: he's just the contestant that's supposed to cause spectacle in the Advocate's eyes.
* TheDreaded: Oddly enough, Iko is considered this mostly due to his unintentional use of ConfusionFu.
** mostly due to managing to keep himself under the radar of those who gather massive amounts of information.
* DrivenToSuicide: In his epilogue, having lost his purpose, he felt lost and killed himself, knowing he had nothing.
** To elaborate, he has been haunted by Aspiration after having caused his death. He also killed his former self (who was pretty much an entirely different person) before that ''and'' on the last day he killed Falafel, the one who'd been pushing and trying to kill him since day one.
* DyingAsYourself: Wanted to achieve this by committing suicide. No one knows if it worked.
* EnemyWithin: Between Iko and Checklad, it should be noted that both consider ''each other'' this.
* EnfanteTerrible: Checklad in his backstory.
* FalseFlagOperation: managed to do this on day 4 in the attic: having bribed Finalnwo to deal the final blow to Aspiration whilst he himself was 'freaking out'.
* GoneHorriblyRight: From his perspective both the attic on day 4 and the purple room on day 6 are this, especially in combination with his epilogue.
* HatesBeingAlone: or rather, fears being alone.
* HiddenAgendaVillain: Initially he seems quite harmless: untrustworthy, but ultimately harmless. But nothing is less true, as he turs out to be one of the most dangerous characters in the game.
* HiddenDepths: Should you believe his initial personality, he fits: as he never mentions anything about hiding a darker side.
** However, even if you didn't believe his act, which barely any character did in the game, it would still come as a surprise that he turns out to be even ''worse'' than most other characters.
** This case for Checklad is helped that he's the last perspective in the route order: which means his diaries are hidden for a relatively long time. Sure, there's the knowledge about him from his conversations with other characters before his route was opened, but the fact that he acted so ''differently'', not just in talking with different people, but also in how he acts and plays as the game continues on, can be really confusing if you try to decipher the bigger picture.
* IdiotBall: Iko seems to hold this from time to time, as he acts like a complete moron at times: like how he lies about his objective. However, it seems this was AllAccordingToPlan for Checklad, as he did it to throw other people off; test their patience; stall time and look less dangerous.
* IntendedAudienceReaction: the handler of Checklad/Iko specifically made sure Iko was considered annoying and/or unlikeable, both towards other handlers and their characters, as well as to those who might read the story.
* KarmicDeath: kills himself after the game is over rather than let any of the other surviving players do it for him.
* TheKillerInMe: A secretive one, and a notably good one considering the situation.
* LogicalFallacies: Did this ''a lot'' when asked about any details of his objective. On purpose, mind you.
* LoopholeAbuse: Oddly enough seems to avoid this trope for the most part: the only time he did this was when he wanted to check Aspiration's body on day 5.
* LostInCharacter: His back story. He snaps out of it, but it only becomes worse. Much worse.
* MadeOfIron: for all the combat he was part of, he never suffered a scratch. If you aren't convinced, on day 2 he got tackled head-on by Bobemmo, he stood up and beat up Bobemmo not even a couple of minutes later.
* MadnessMantra: His diary is filled with them, including: sight, control, death, the past, his purpose and loneliness.
* MoreThanMeetsTheEye: and it's terrible.
* MurderByMistake: Fakes this in the attic: attacking anyone with a mask because 'he's losing his mind', his attack on Aspiration left him open to be killed by Finalnwo, whom was also wearing a mask: causing Checklad to attack and reveal Finalnwo's identity. Why is this important? Because Checklad listed ''all mask wearers'' as an enemy, allowing not only Aspiration to be open for a kill, but also shoved any responsibility off himself to Finalnwo as he revealed the masked killer.
** There might be less faking than it appears though, as he admits in his diary that "masks are scary as shit" and he ''was'' losing his mind.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Played with, as he's haunted by Aspiration's spirit, eventually causing him to commit suicide.
* MyMasterRightOrWrong: Seems to have a massive case of this when it comes to the Advocate, going so far as to consider her his only friend. However, it might be a case concerning trust, as Checklad knows the only reliable, 100% genuine person here is the Advocate herself.
* NervesOfSteel: Checklad keeps this up until the last day, when it all caught up to him leaving him a broken shell.
* NothingLeftToDoButDie: Seems to believe this in his epilogue, as he lost his purpose: the only thing he truly lived for.
* MirrorCharacter shares some notable similarities with Ctom, which also sets the two further apart as time goes on.
** Both had a character act as a guide and were relatively loyal to them.
** Both had no qualms about attempting to stage murders and use others to their advantage, however Checklad's murder attempts succeeded whilst Ctom was more concerned with pushing others down to a worse position.
** The two of them were the only characters that held notable conversations with the Advocate, though the way the conversations happened differs: Checklad talking casually with her, whilst Ctom interrogates her.
* ObfuscatingStupidity: Iko averts this: as he was quite an idiot; Checklad does this ''a lot'' to keep up the act, often using it to mild success.
* TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou: Seems to believe this in his second-to-last diary concerning Falafel.
* OutOfFocus: It isn't until Ctom's perspective that Checklad starts to seem more than just a ButtMonkey with masses of angst, even then it's relatively limited. This trope is so much in effect that, until his own route, he seems, relatively speaking, harmless: but nothing less is true.
* PayEvilUntoEvil: does this to Falafel, as Falafel would have done the same thing to him if he had the chance.
* PoorCommunicationKills: caused Aspiration to die on day 4 because he deemed Aspiration's pm a threat, rather than a simple request for information.
* ProperlyParanoid: Iko is this towards everyone, especially Falafel, which caused him to be a massive pain to Falafel and ultimately saved his life on day 3.
* PPRevenge}}: The main reason that he goes to the purple room on day 6, rather than the green room; he wanted to finish Falafel off for good.
* SanitySlippage: A major development, as he's the only character that becomes notably more dangerous because of it.
* SelectiveObliviousness: He knew a gun was in the game, as Falafel told him, but except in his conversations with Falafel he never bothers to speak or think about it at all.
* SpannerInTheWorks: Was this throughout the first couple of days, especially to the massive armoury scheme.
** Ctom considers him to be either this or a ChessMaster, turns out he's pretty much both.
** Falafel absolutely ''loathes'' Checklad for being this.
* SplitPersonality: a huge part of his character, and there's no such thing as a nice way to fix it, for more details see SplitPersonalityTakeover, or pretty much half of the tropes in this list really.
* SplitPersonalityTakeover: his entire character arc focuses around this, in his epilogue diary entry Checklad even mentions he killed Iko, who he is. However, Checklad was the ''original'' personality: Iko eventually came into existence after Checklad was LeftForDead, and was mostly there to keep him from killing again.
* TheStarscream: Hope you liked hating Falafel.
* StartOfDarkness: Whilst most details are vague, he apparently started his path to darkness when he killed a puppy out of curiosity, by bashing its face in: it only got worse.
* TraumaInducedAmnesia: The reason Iko exists in the first place.
* UnwittingPawn: Checklad faked this; no one really bought it. Whether Iko is one or not is not known.
* VillainousFriendship: Friends with the Advocate of all people. In his diary, he even goes so far as to call the Advocate his first and only friend, showing that he didn't felt the same about his reliable allies Cornetto and Bobemmo.
* VillainousRescue: Saves Insanity and keeps her pacifism intact by murdering Falafel in the purple room on day 6. Not because he wanted to save her, but because he really wanted Falafel to die.
* VillainsDyingGrace: Whilst he wasn't exactly dying, he was dead on the inside late into day 6: his last act, both to complete his objective and as a saving grace, was to kill Falafel, thereby saving Insanity in the process.
* WeaponOfChoice: The most basic weapon of all: the club/stick.
----
!!Cornetto
[[quoteright:259:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_manipulation_game_cornetto_7032.png]]
[[caption-width-right:259:"Hehehe, sometimes it isn't wise to believe everything you're told."]]
->''"That's what I'd like to know. It's one of a couple of things I'd like to know. Along with where is here, who the hell put us here and who the hell are all these people? I do know one thing though. I plan on getting my answers."''
Cold and calculating. Enjoys nothing in life other than the suffering of others. Finds very little value in his own life, death does not scare him. The only thing he believes is worth doing is searching for entertainment.
Upon entering this new environment that the Advocate calls a game, he sees it as the perfect opportunity to experience more fun than ever before.
* ActualPacifist: plays with this, as he never entered combat: he's got no problem with causing violence between others though.
* BrainsAndBrawn: is the brains to Checklad's brawn, it served them well.
* DissonantSerenity: this is implied to be his reaction to Aspiration's death in the attic on day 4.
* EvilDuo: himself as the Superego to Checklad's, in comparison, Id.
* EvilCounterpart: is the evil counterpart to Kowzz.
** Both Cornetto and Kowzz had little interest in winning the game and instead focused on the actions of their fellow players. Cornetto wished for nothing more than to witness the bloodshed and turmoil the players would bring upon themselves and manipulated events to try and bring about these outcomes, while never attacking anyone directly. In contrast Kowzz encouraged the other players to seek the truth of the game, and would directly intervene or even begin conflict in order to preserve the status quo and keep the number of players high.
* EvilFeelsGood: Cornetto seems to enjoy other people's suffering a bit ''too'' much.
* FigureItOutYourself: likes to do this a lot in pms, he eventually stops doing this to Checklad after realizing that he and Checklad want to achieve the same thing.
* ForTheEvulz: his main reason to not try and win but instead stick around Checklad.
* KnowledgeBroker: and everybody was aware of this fact.
* LackOfEmpathy: seems to have a case of this, but never truely shows it all that much.
* ManipulativeBastard: a defining trait, though he never bothered to actively kill somebody: unlike certain other characters.
* OrderVersusChaos: the chaos to Kowzz's technical order.
* SmugSnake: has some shades of this, but is far more subtle regarding this than most players.
* TalkingToTheDead: Cornetto had several heart-to-hearts with Lishy, once when he was comatose and again after his death.
** He also shared a moment with Aspiration after his death in the attic.
* TheChessmaster: his characters seems to be a play on this, as he actively participates in the scheming between the other chessmasters, but he never makes a finishing move.
* TheSociopath: wanted to see as many die as possible. He showed others the side he believed they wanted to see. For example he told Insanity he didn't want any more to die after Aspiration, yet at the same time was supporting Checklad in his murder attempts.
* TheStoic: calculating and manipulative, he doesn't let his emotions get in the way of his thoughts and actions.
* WorthyOpponent: seems to consider Kowzz this, we'll have to wait for the next game to see if this goes anywhere.
----
!!Advocate
[[quoteright:305:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_2advocate_8321.png]]
[[caption-width-right:305:insert sinister quote]]
->''"Welcome to your first day in my little home! I hope you enjoy your stay, and that it isn't a permanent one kuhihihihi."''
The host of this little game. A considerate soul who strives to keep her guests entertained throughout their stay. Generous with her time, monitoring her guests constantly through the aid of various cameras and microphones to ensure they kept active. Somewhat highly strung, she doesn't take kindly to disobedience, but who could blame her after all the effort she had invested? A forward thinker who knows the value of the "waste not, want not," ensuring nothing edible went to waste ...
* AffablyEvil: seems to be a case of this, as other than providing the tools and 'moral support', she doesn't directly intervene with what the players are up too. She's perfectly reasonable, was more than willing to let the survivors go after day 6 and even goes out of her way to serve the players dinner, in her own twisted way she's the perfect host and it shows.
** In Checklad's pms, it's revealed that she and Checklad had relatively civil conversations about the state of affairs over a cup of tea or a glass of wine.
* AntiVillain: has some slight shades of this, as all she wants is to show others the truth about themselves and each other: the insanity, killing, murder and trauma are merely entertaining side-effects.
* BewareTheSillyOnes: seems far too silly for a host of a battle royal.
* BigBad: or is she? Indeed, the biggest thing in this game is that, other than providing the tools, the Advocate did nothing to actively harm the (living) players. It's the players that are the real antagonists here.
* EvilOverlord: a possible interpretation
* HeWhoMustNotBeSeen: very much so: only communicating with the other characters through cameras and microphones.
** however, from what we can understand from Checklad's diary and his pms, Checklad had direct contact with the Advocate. Which seems fitting considering Checklad's objective.
* MoodSwinger: a major part of her personality, but the insanity remains: regardless of her mood.
* NiceHat: the Advocate has one, it's quite silly.
** turned out it ''did'' do more than just look silly.
* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: a possible interpretation, but who knows for certain?
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: other than her intentions and wish that the characters kill each other, she fits.
* SacredHospitality: seems to believe this, as she considers herself the host of the game and the caretaker of the players.
** also noted that one of the main rules that must be obeyed is no killing in the main room, as that is just rude.
* TheCaligula: seems to be this, at least from what can be gathered from what little background information is available.
* TooFunnyToBeEvil: especially for outside readers, not so much for the characters: who just consider it odd.
----
!!Lishy
->''"I wish to visit the kitchen."''
A hungry man who knew the way to the kitchen. A generous man who ensured others were well fed. A man who made a lasting impression, leaving a little of himself within so many of his fellow players. A man who held a darkness within him, a poison that inevitably seeped out.
* ButtMonkey: both in a funny way amongst the ten handlers and a sad way with what's done to his body.
* ForgottenFallenFriend: friend is a stretch, but most characters didn't even bother to count his death amongst those who have died.
* LivingProp: for the most part as he only ever said one thing because his handler couldn't play, but he did play two important roles:
** His death set the stage that anybody could die.
** His body, items and room were vitally important to some characters, like Falafel and Insanity.
* MyFriendsAndZoidberg: the game settles around the nine players and the Advocate, well and Lishy's body.
* WeHardlyKnewYe: very much so, having done nothing of note whilst alive.
* WildCard: Ctom calls Lishy, or rather: his body, this when it comes to trying to figure out his objective.
--> ''"The real problem is Lishy. He died without accomplishing anything. He is a wildcard, a joker thrown into the deck just to affect the odds."''
[[/folder]]
----
[[folder: House of Fun (Season 2)]]
----
!!Steve Novac
----
!!Avelyn Novalle
----
!!Ainsley Mciver
----
!!Minna Eisenmann
----
!!Ezra
----
!!The Advocate aka Elanor Caimbeul
----
!!Anthony K. Thomas, Jr.
----
!!Insanity aka Isa Nissey
----
!!Frederick Wilkes
----
!!Ctom
----
!!Cornetto aka Dennis Locke
[[/folder]]
----
!!YMMV
* DesignatedVillain: The Advocate. This is the person that put the other characters here: surely she's the villain and unsympathetic. Except not really: even with her constant insane antics, she's a reasonable person in comparison to some of her contestants.
* MoralEventHorizon: Nearly all characters have this at some point, up to the audience whom actually deserves this and who doesn't.
* ShockingElimination: Aspiration's death.
** Especially if you follow the perspective of the two most 'heroic' characters: Ctom and Insanity. Neither of them had any idea this would happen.
* TheWoobie: Iko just can't seem to catch a break: every single character has been aggressive to him, either directly or indirectly.
----
!! Manipulation Game of Fun contains examples of:
* AHouseDivided: So the players find themselves in some weird house, where the only person who knows what's going on wants them to kill one another. You'd honestly expect them to work together to survive this?
* AllThereInTheManual: As if the main events and public conversations aren't enough, every character also has a pm-list, a diary and his/her actions and allegiances listed. You can choose to ignore them, but where's the fun in that?
* AnyoneCanDie: Very much so, the handlers themselves had ''no idea'' if what they did would let their characters live for another day or not.
** During season 1, Lishy; Aspiration; Falafel and Finalnwo all died, usually gruesomely. Checklad also died in his epilogue, shortly after the game ended.
* AxCrazy: Season 1 had Finalnwo, Falafel and Checklad (in chronological order).
* BigBad: The Masters
** The Advocate-- or is she? Indeed, the most important fact in this game is that, other than providing the tools, the Advocate did nothing to actively harm the living players. It's the players that are the real antagonists, but who is the biggest bad depends on your point of view.
** Ctom-- or is he? There is yet to be proven anything regarding him.
* BlackAndGrayMorality: Don't expect any character to be totally nice in season 1, other than Insanity.
* ButtMonkey: Lishy: both in a funny way, amongst the handlers themselves, and a sad way, with what's done to his body.
* BreakThemByTalking: A tactic used by a couple of characters, most notably Falafel.
* CastCalculus: Managed to just hit the sweet spot with eleven characters every season.
* ChekhovsGun: An actual gun in season 1, as it was essentially what gave Ctom the win, until it was stolen from him on the last day (which would've caused his death, if it the thief wasn't Kowzz).
* CooperationGambit: All alliances are ultimately this, as all it needs is a slight change in the knowledge a player has to break the strongest alliance.
* DivideAndConquer: A favorite strategy of Falafel, Checklad, Aspiration and Ctom in season 1.
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Ctom seemed to be really taken in with his snazzy detective's hat in season 1. It only gets worse in season 2, though it is far more in the background by then.
* DrivenToSuicide: Checklad in his epilogue: having lost his purpose, he felt lost and killed himself, knowing he had nothing.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Played with: there is no such thing as standards here for most characters, but events can prove otherwise.
* EvilDuo: Cornetto as the Superego and Checklad, in comparison, as the Id in season 1.
* EvilCounterpart:
** In season 1 there is Cornetto towards Kowzz as the main one, since it carries over to the next seasons. Both had little interest in winning the game and instead focused on the actions of their fellow players. Cornetto wished for nothing more than to witness the bloodshed and turmoil the players would bring upon themselves and manipulated events to try and bring about these outcomes, while never attacking anyone directly. In contrast Kowzz encouraged the other players to seek the truth of the game, and would directly intervene or even begin conflict in order to preserve the status quo and keep the number of players high. Interestingly, after season 1 both end up back in the 'cycle': Cornetto as a contestant and Kowzz as a Master.
** Season 1: By extension of the comparison between Cornetto and Kowzz, season 1 also has Checklad as Ctom's evil counterpart. Cornetto acted as an informant and ally to Checklad in order to assist him in bringing about the most destruction and chaos. Kowzz acted as an informant and guide for Ctom to assist him in reaching the truth. Which is fitting for the two characters who had the objectives of ''Murderer'' and ''Detective'' respectively. Ultimately, both sought different ways to cope with what they learned about the game: Checklad killed himself whilst Ctom became a Master.
** Season 1: Falafel also fits this with respect to Ctom. Both spent most of their time manipulating the other players for their own benefits. However, where Ctom always acted alone with no close allies, and with as little direct conflict as possible, Falafel gathered as many allies as possible and took part in many of the game's most violent attacks.
* EvilPlan: Obviously, considering the aim of the game and the nature of most characters.
** In season 1 Falafel seems to invoke this a lot, and he knows it.
** In season 2 this became Cornetto's main territory.
* EvilOverlord: A possible interpretation of the Masters. Whether it is true or not will depend on your own interpretation.
* FigureItOutYourself: About a quarter of the private communications between the players invoked this.
** In season 1 Kowzz frequently communicated in riddles and ciphers, especially with Ctom. Along wih that, the information brokers Ctom42 and Cornetto had a tendency to do this every day.
* Foil: Bound to happen.
** In season 1, the biggest one is between Insanity, Aspiration and Falafel. Falafel was outwardly friendly and acted reliable but was constantly scheming to get Insanity killed, whereas Aspiration was outwardly sleazy but was genuinely loyal to her.
* ForTheEvulz: Cornetto's main reason to do basically everything he does.
* GambitPileup: A staple of the game, with the entire game being dominated by by plots, schemes and more plots.
* GambitRoulette: Bound to happen, since every character has influence on what happens: causing the probability of failure to appear.
** Checklad's gambits in season 1 are playing this straight though, as they actually work out completely in his favour despite the odds of failure on day 4 and 6 (the lucky bastard).
* GenreSavvy: Every handler is this: after all, they are real people. As such, it is bound to influence their characters' decisions.
* HatOfPower: The Advocate's hat, complete with insanity-inducing powers, which eventually falls in Ctom's hands in season 1. It then returns to the Advocate in season 2, only for it to be ripped to shreds.
* HeroKiller: Usually it depends on your definition of what a hero is.
** In season 1 Checklad and Finalnwo are this after killing the somewhat heroic Aspiration in the attic on day 4, especially Finalnwo due to him dealing the final blow.
* HeroOfAnotherStory: Since there is no such thing as a main character-- or a real hero for that matter-- the story can easily take a different approach depending on the viewpoint of certain characters.
** In season 1, Insanity is it for anyone else in the game, as she's the only one who's morally good.
* HiddenAgendaVillain: Since almost all characters are villains to some extent, not to mention ''everybody'' has their own agenda, this comes into play all the time.
* HiddenDepths: One of the few plot points present in every game, regardless of the host, is that the games seek the real truth-- both of the selected individuals and humanity in general. Whether the hosts are successful in their goals or why they do this is never brought up.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Sometimes, plots or schemes can backfire spectacularly-- after all, nothing is certain in these games.
** Season 1: when trying to murder Checklad and Insanity, Falafel gives Insanity a poison pill meant for Checklad. Insanity slips it to Checklad, but Falafel removed the poison from the pill and gave it to Kowzz instead. Kowzz failed to kill Insanity due to the poison, and Checklad not only survived but eventually killed Falafel.
* IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim: This was the end result for Ctom in season 1. He figured out the truth of the game and it made him into the same type of 'monster' that the Advocate was. Whether this was a result of wearing the detective hat, or whether the hat was simply an outlet to show the changes that had occurred to his psyche is unclear. It is unclear whether he'll do the Advocate proud in season 2, though the Advocate did end up in his game.
* ImAHumanitarian: In season 1, when Lishy's butchered corpse is set on the table to terrorize the contestants, Falafel and Finalnwo simply sit down and eat.
* KarmicDeath: Let's be honest, most characters that died deserved it, whether because of their actions in the game or for what they did before entering the game.
** Falafel's death was perfect karmic justice. He had been trying to kill Insanity nearly all game despite her being a complete pacifist. As a result of his crusade he ended up being poisoned by her, and then injured by Ctom. On the final day he attempts to rob her, but finds nothing in her room. Finally he comes to kill her, only to be brutally murdered by Checklad, who Falafel had been intending to kill ''all game long''.
* KnowledgeBroker: Every season is bound to have one or two of them; whether the information they have is real is another thing entirely.
* LivingProp: Lishy for the most part, but he did play two important roles in season 1: his death set the stage that anybody could die and his body, items and room were vitally important to some characters, like Falafel and Insanity
** After-- and even during-- season 1, he mostly serves as a RunningGag and inside joke amongst the handlers.
* LogicalFallacies: A common tactic in [=PMs=]: some characters point it out to others to pressure them into forcing the truth out of them.
** Season 1 had Checklad whom did this the most throughout his run, on purpose to obnoxious levels.
* LoopholeAbuse: the Advocate admitted that for season 1, she made this possible on purpose, causing this trope to be the bread and butter for many contestants.
** Insanity occasionally ran into rooms the Advocate did not mention.
** Falafel listing himself as his own ally.
** Falafel by slipping a piece of paper amongst the 'meat' that states Lishy considers Falafel an ally.
** Most characters eventually started adding additional actions in their daily PM to the Advocate, whilst you were originally only supposed to send a list of allies and enemies: the longer the game goes on, the more additional actions are being sent.
*** In one specific case: Falafel sends a ''page-long'' list of additional actions to the Advocate.
* ManipulativeBastard: Season 1 has quite a high number of them: especially in comparison to season 2(?), including: Falafel, Cornetto, Ctom, Checklad ''and'' Finalnwo.
* MaskOfPower: It grants the wearer the ability to not be recognized. Subverted in that every time a character uses a mask, it never really works out in their favor.
* MoreThanMeetsTheEye: ''Everyone'', no exceptions. Well, except maybe Lishy's body.
* MurderByMistake: Oddly averted, especially with the high amount of items, plots and schemes that were in play. Character-induced deaths were, for the most part, planned accordingly.
** Played with in season 2, where Avelyn nearly drowned Frederick due to a hallucinogenic pill, courtesy of Cornetto.
* NiceHat: The Advocate has one. It's quite silly. Turned out it ''did'' do more than just look silly.
* NiceJobFixingItVillain: Checklad's and Bobemmo's actions in the purple room: especially from Insanity's perspective.
* NotEvenBotheringWithAnExcuse: Happened several times in [=PMs=], usually due to time constraints.
* OriginalCharacterTournament: Completely text based too!
* OneSideOfTheStory: Averted, since every character except for the LivingProp Lishy had an actual person controlling him/her. Most of the scheming that happened was because of the aversion: until the end of the game, there was no way of being completely sure something that somebody told you was true or not, which only caused the characters to spiral further down into darkness, madness and murder.
* OutGambitted: Happens every single day, in every season.
* PerspectiveFlip: A major reason that this is so successful, as the entire story depends on a certain character's perspective.
* PoorCommunicationKills: In season 1, after Aspiration send a PM to Checklad on day three asking whom he considered an enemy or ally, Checklad immediately went ahead to try and kill him. Why? The PM was so poorly worded, or Checklad's English skills so terrible, that it was seen as a threat to Checklad. It led to Aspiration's death on day four.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Other than their intentions and wish that the characters kill each other, Advocate and Ctom both fit, usually.
* RoomShuffle: A preferred tactic of Falafel, Ctom and especially Insanity in season 1.
* SanitySlippage: Almost everyone fits into this. The longer the game goes on, the worse it gets. So far, the Masters have been the best examples of this trope.
* SpannerInTheWorks: Season 1 had both Checklad and Bobemmo towards Falafel, Aspiration and Ctom.
* TalkAboutThatThing: A preferred way to get people confused about the allegiances in the main room.
* TalkingToTheDead: Cornetto had several heart-to-hearts with Lishy, once when he was comatose and again after his death. He also shared a moment with Aspiration after his death in the attic. In season 2, he continues this by talking into Checklad's severed ear: which he carries around his neck.
* TheChessmaster: Most characters, especially in [=PMs=].
** Season 1 had Falafel and Ctom, with an honorable mention towards Aspiration, whom used chess as an illustration about the other characters: but ultiamtely failed to become this trope.
* TheDogBitesBack: Checklad towards Falafel, after the former becomes himself again.
* TheDreaded: Oddly enough, Checklad towards Ctom, especially ''before'' his true colours were revealed, mostly due to Iko managing to keep himself under the radar.
* TheManBehindTheMan: Depends on the point of view of the character, but the possibility of this trope getting into play has always been there for several characters.
* ThePowerOfFriendship: Averted. Season 1 has a great example in both Falafel and Aspiration, as they claimed they'd protect Checklad on day 2 whilst at the same time they both separately plotted his demise.
** The Advocate admits she was afraid this would happen, but she was proven wrong.
* VillainBall: Falafel in season 1, the longer the game goes on, the worse it gets. Cornetto in season 2 is this as well, as he starts to make mistakes he gradually gets worse.
* WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong: Falafel, Ctom ''and'' Aspiration all schemed on day three to get everybody's allegiances changed and Checklad, Insanity and/or Bobemmo killed in the armoury, whilst trying to get almost everybody involved in one way or another. Too bad that Checklad escaped, again; Bobemmo decided the best bet was staying put and Insanity didn't initiateany fights. Note that this was during season 1, where half the time nobody knew what they were doing.
* WildCard: Ctom calls Lishy, or rather his body, this when it comes to trying to figure out his objective:
-->''The real problem is Lishy. He died without accomplishing anything. He is a wildcard, a joker thrown into the deck just to affect the odds.''
* WildMassGuessing: Happens far too often in the game itself, as information is never reliable.
* XanatosSpeedChess: As is bound to happen, but Falafel, Ctom, Checklad and Aspiration attempted to do this the most with one another and others almost every day. It only ever worked out in Ctom's favor.
* YouWakeUpInARoom: The main idea of the game. Don't expect escaping to be the priority here.
----
[[caption-width-right:305:Just don't, or do, it's your choice]]
You find yourself in a room; you don't remember how you got here. But now, you have no choice but to participate in a sick game of manipulation. Welcome to [[http://http://www.reddit.com/r/MyLittleHouseOfFun/ my little house of fun!]]
The basic scenario is quite straightforward: 10 contestants are locked inside a mansion. Each contestant has a secret objective, a handful of tokens and a metal collar fixed with explosives.
The player who fulfills their secret objective and gathers the most tokens is the winner. Everyone else will be left to the mercy of the Master. What follows is a complex and downright ruthless game, where anyone can die as the game evolves into a gigantic pile of roleplaying, scheming, lying, and backstabbing, featuring intrigue, lies, betrayals, deaths and entertainment for the one who watches it all.
This page is a W.I.P. For now, ''everything'' will be spoilers, so beware!
Season 1, hosted by the Advocate, can be read [[http://https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/53167825/webpage/welcome.html here]],
Season 2, hosted by Ctom, can be read [[https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19127722/Ctom%20HOF%20Website/welcome.html here]].
The third game, titled ''Rails of Fun'', was hosted by Checklad.
The fourth game, titled ''Parody House'', was hosted by Avebone.
----
!!Characters
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_1rsz_4manipulation_game_opening_picture_181.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Don't believe their lies, or do: it's your choice.]]
The characters present in all games that are associated with ManipulationGameOfFun, right now there is only House of Fun.
Beware, as ''everything'' on here will be spoilers!
----
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder: House of Fun (Season 1)]]
----
!!Aspiration
[[quoteright:260:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_manipulation_game_aspiration_9809.png]]
[[caption-width-right:260:"Being alone sucks, but being together with you almost got me a knife in the back."]]
->''""Love and money are the only ways to get a woman to sleep with you. Everything else is off the table.”"''
A somewhat bright young man who had everything he could have ever wanted as a kid, except for the attention of his parents. In response to this, he ended up dropping out of law school and took to travelling, partying, gambling, drinking, and sleeping around. He indulged in his desires everyday to hide the emptiness that he always could feel whenever he was alone.
Not one to back down on the biggest gamble of his life, Aspiration sets out with the intention to win, making a joke or two along the way.
* AFriendInNeed: Became this for Insanity on day 4, giving her everything he owned because he wanted her to live and he thought he wouldn't be able to win. Sadly, Insanity only realized that this trope was truly in effect after he died.
* ALadyOnEachArm: This basically summed up a large part of his backstory.
* BrilliantButLazy: Seems to be a case of this in his backstory.
* TheChessMaster: Shows shades of this, even going so far as to compare certain characters with certain chess pieces, but eventually he gets outgambitted and overshadowed by the other resident ChessMaster: Checklad.
* ChessMotifs: Compares a couple of characters to various pieces on the board, unfortunately he was too convinced in him being right about the comparisons.
* EpicFail: So you find the only gun in the game, in front of four other people. What do you do? You check for the bullets, only to ''drop'' the only bullet on the ground, causing Insanity to pick it up, leaving you with the most powerful weapon in the game that's now useless.
* FatalFlaw: He's overconfident to a fault.
* FirstPersonSmartass: In his diary.
* Foil: With respect to Insanity, he is this to Falafel. Falafel was outwardly friendly and acted reliable but was constantly scheming to get Insanity killed, whereas Aspiration was outwardly sleazy but was genuinely loyal to her.
* GambitPileup: His scheme in the armoury on day 3 failed because this happened, as his own schemes clashed with Falafel's and Ctom's.
* TheGamblingAddict: to the point that a fair amount of his schemes are essentially nothing more than new ways to gamble for him.
* HalfwayPlotSwitch: His death induces this: any kind of conflict or development that might've happened regarding his character is completely lost the moment he died.
* HandsomeLech: ''reeks'' of this.
* HeroicSacrifice: Depends on your interpretation of whether he's heroic or not, but if he is this trope is played to full effect on day 4. Then again, he didn't exactly thought he'd die the way he did.
* HeroOfAnotherStory: While not necessarily a hero, as he had no problems playing the game, he was quite sympathetic towards Ctom and especially Insanity, which says something about the other characters.
* HeroAntagonist: Has no qualms about playing the game or killing, yet he's still one of the more likable characters out there.
* IrrationalHatred: He absolutely detests Checklad, to the point that Checklad was the only character that made Aspiration lose his cool in his diaries. It ended up costing him his life as it caused him to underestimate Checklad.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He has his kind moments with Ctom and especially Insanity.
* KansasCityShuffle: Believed he could survive whatever was awaiting him in the attic. It turned out the way you would expect.
* PoorCommunicationKills: One major reason he ultimately died on day 4 was because he send Checklad a PM asking whom he considered a threat; Checklad considered it a threat and schemed to get him killed afterwards.
* SacrificialLion: As far as 'sympathetic' characters go anyway.
* SmugSnake: even if he acts nice it shows a bit in how he handles conversations and situations in general.
* WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong: his armoury scheme, which failed causing him to get stuck between a rock and a hard place.
** Yhe same can be said about him going to the attic, as he believed he had more support than he actually had.
* XanatosSpeedChess: Attempted to do this a couple of times; it never really worked out in his favour.
----
!!Finalnwo
[[quoteright:260:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_manipulation_game_finalnwo_8799.png]]
[[caption-width-right:260:"We can decide who wins, but not with all this unskilled trash around."]]
->''"Heh, women are complicated. No wonder I can't get along with them."''
An irrational, blunt and petty young man, born into a rich family, who knows nothing but success. He's had his every desire and wish fulfilled, but isn't afraid to do any dirty work should he feel the desire to. Yet, now brought into a world where he doesn't belong, he realizes he's got nothing as he struggles to keep his sanity.
Despite having lost his once so luxurious lifestyle, Finalnwo seems to feel right at home in the new situation, showing no intention to play safe or act like he cares to leave.
* AxCrazy: Seems to hint at this in his diary. He's especially this on the last day, during which he declared everyone an enemy.
* BloodKnight: He's by far the most eager to kill or hurt others directly, which is certainly saying something as shedding blood is not even necessary to complete his objective.
* DudeLooksLikeALady: His flair (avatar) in the game is a girl, go figure.
* HeroKiller: Was bribed and manipulated by Checklad to kill Aspiration in the attic on day 4.
* ImAHumanitarian: When Lishy's butchered corpse is set on the table to terrorize the contestants, Finalnwo simply sit down and starts eating.
* KickThemWhileTheyAreDown: Subverts this in the attic on day 4, as he helps Aspiration up before stabbing him in the belly.
* KnifeNut: He kills Aspiration this way and attempts to kill Insanity on day 6.
* LackOfEmpathy: A big part of his personality; he hardly cares that he killed Aspiration.
* NonIdleRich: Has no problem getting his hands dirty.
* OpportunisticBastard: Quite so, as he takes any chance he can get to harm others.
----
!!Insanity
[[quoteright:260:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_manipulation_game_insanity_5002.png]]
[[caption-width-right:260:"I know what happened. You can try to cover it up, but it doesn't matter. What matters is the truth."]]
->''"Even if I'll get attacked, even if no one is willing to defend me, I absolutely refuse to kill someone. I will NOT become a murderer because of a place like this."''
A young woman whom for some reason was transported to this game, having lived an utterly boring and ordinary life: she wished for more excitement in her life. She's gotten more than she's ever wished for.
Caught between the will to help everyone and the want to return safe and sound home, she's at a loss what to do as the other people around her start to lose their sanity more and more.
* ActualPacifist: Her entire play style and personality resolves around it, which is striking as she had the tools at her disposal to dominate other characters.
* ActionSurvivor
* AssassinOutclassin: One of the characters that was targeted the most, she survived thanks to a combination of simply running away and unexpected help from other characters.
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: She wished for more excitement in her life...
* BeingGoodSucks: A lot of her troubles could have been easily solved if she would've gone on the aggressive when it comes to plotting and violence; unfortunately she has a set of morals she attempts to uphold.
* ConvictedByPublicOpinion: almost everyone in the game considered her a threat or a liar, courtesy of Falafel and Ctom.
* GoodIsNotDumb: Whilst she's a nice person, especially in comparison to everybody else, she's not an idiot: even if most of the scheming in the game eludes her, she knows when she's being played and involves herself in some small-scale schemes as well.
* HeroicBSOD: Gets this twice: first when Aspiration dies, though she manages to hold on; the second time after the Advocate ends the game, when she finally can release all the pressure that she build up over those six days.
* HeroWithBadPublicity: Courtesy of Falafel. Everyone expected her to be some big schemer who would dominate the game: whilst it's true she had the means, she ultimately lacked the edge that other characters had to actually play the game.
* ILetGwenStacyDie: Believes this for a short while about Aspiration, as she could've saved him, but she's adamant that it was ultimately out of her control.
* LoopholeAbuse: One of the first characters to do this, as she runs to rooms from previous days to complete her objective.
* MadeOutToBeAJerkass: Poor Insanity could never catch a break or have reliable allies because Falafel was specifically targeting her.
* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: What's that? You don't want to harm other players? Too bad nobody will ever trust you now because of that!
* RoomShuffle: Her main tactic to avoid conflict and complete her objective.
* SurvivorGuilt: She survived, but witnessed the death of Finalnwo and Falafel. It ultimately broke her more than anything else that had happened.
* TheDreaded: Falafel's actions caused her to be seen as this, which left her on bad grounds with almost everyone.
* TheHero: The closest character in the series to be this. having refused to attack anyone for the ''entire'' duration of the game. It did not serve her as well as you'd think.
* TokenGoodTeammate: The poor girl finds herself surrounded by liars, schemers, murderers and even more liars. She just wants to be left alone.
----
!!Kowzz
[[quoteright:260:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_manipulation_game_kowzz_2705.png]]
[[caption-width-right:260:"Ha... Hahaha... HAHAHAHA! Amazing! Superb! We have ourselves some talent. Entertainment. Promise."]]
->''"The walls in this room... they form a sort of prison, but is that really so? What confines us is not these walls, but the embodiment of fear strapped around our necks, wouldn't you say?"''
More or less an average guy. Maybe above average intelligence, but nothing to brag about. The years have taken their toll on Kowzz; extremes and the exotic are alien to him. He has grown complacent with the workings of everyday life. As he grew up his desire to do something extraordinary faded into nothingness-- or did it? This game of death may slowly unravel the series of locks that chain his inner self to reality. One by one, the bonds become undone as the situation grows more dire. What new heights will Kowzz reach as he trades his sanity for pleasure?
Who knows what this man is up to? One day he attacks a person, one day he'll gleefully watch from the sidelines, but one thing is for certain: he knows more, way more, than he lets on.
* BelievingTheirOwnLies: As said by his handler, "by the end, Kowzz pretty much believed all the shit that came out of his mouth."
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: Oh so very much.
* DudeLooksLikeALady: Well, his flair (avatar) is a girl, but it could be a disguise for all we know.
* EvilCounterpart: Cornetto is this to him, as both served as guides to a certain character, Ctom having Kowzz and Checklad having Cornetto, and never really bothered to try and complete their own objective.
** Both Cornetto and Kowzz had little interest in winning the game and instead focused on the actions of their fellow players. Cornetto wished for nothing more than to witness the bloodshed and turmoil the players would bring upon themselves and manipulated events to try and bring about these outcomes, while never attacking anyone directly. In contrast Kowzz encouraged the other players to seek the truth of the game, and would directly intervene or even begin conflict in order to preserve the status quo and keep the number of players high.
* FigureItOutYourself: Is a great information source, but have fun figuring out his riddles.
* MonsterClown: Can be seen as this, especially this towards Falafel.
* ObfuscatingInsanity: Averted: whilst some characters might think this is the case, he actually ''is'' completely insane for the most part.
* OrderVersusChaos: Technically the order to Cornetto's chaos. (You wouldn't think that'd be the case.)
* PaperThinDisguise: His flair (avatar) shows him wearing a stereotypical version of this trope.
* SecretTestOfCharacter: Kowzz does this to everyone; only Ctom bothered to even try, causing Kowzz to become his biggest ally.
* TricksterMentor: Is this towards Ctom.
----
!!Ctom
[[quoteright:260:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_manipulation_game_ctom_9325.png]]
[[caption-width-right:260:"I don't trust anyone."]]
->''"The dead can no longer betray you, but that doesn't mean their past betrayals cannot still cause a real headache"''
A washed-up old detective. Seen enough in his days and been betrayed enough times to know better than to place his trust in anyone. A solitary man who is clever at thinking on his feet and crafty at interacting with others.
However, as he wakes up in this new game, he finds himself dangling on the edge between sanity and insanity. Find the truth or play the game? Do what he should do or do what he would truly enjoy?
* AssShove: Ctom ''really'' didn't want anyone to find his hidden camera before it could be deployed.
* CatchPhrase: "Those you trust are the ones who betray you", which showcased his general outlook on the game and attitude towards the other players. It almost came true on the final day when Kowzz stole his pistol.
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Ctom seemed to be really taken in with his snazzy detective's hat.
* EvilCounterpart: Had one in Checklad.
** Both had mirrored objectives: Ctom was the Detective, Checklad the Murderer.
** Both had 'guides', the former having Kowzz whilst the latter had Cornetto, and both of them did their guides proud: Ctom found the truth and Checklad caused bloodshed.
** Both had two extremes in their kind of diaries: Ctom's was highly detailed, narrative yet professional and long whilst Checklad's was short, lacked detail, very unprofessional and showed his character arc.
** Falafel also fits as the evil counterpart with respect to Ctom. Both spent most of their time manipulating the other players for their own benefits. However, where Ctom always acted alone with no close allies, and with as little direct conflict as possible, Falafel gathered as many allies as possible and attempted to stage many of the games most violent attacks.
* GambitPileup: The armoury scheme, interestingly: whilst it caused Aspiration and Falafel to be worse off, he profited from there not being any bloodshed as he started to realise whom were the real threats.
* HatOfPower: Managed to steal it from the Advocate; it helped in ultimately completing his objective.
* HeroAntagonist: Has no qualms about trying to kill others or playing the game, but unlike others he changes his way, even if just a little bit.
* IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim: This was the end result for Ctom. He figured out the truth of the game and it made him into the same type of monster that the Advocate is. Whether this was a result of wearing the detective hat, or whether the hat was simply an outlet to show the changes that had occurred to his psyche is unclear.
* ManipulativeBastard: One of his most defining traits, though he isn't as bad as certain other characters.
* MirrorCharacter: Shares some notable similarities with Checklad, which also sets the two further apart as time goes on.
** Both had a character act as a guide and were relatively loyal to them.
** Both had no qualms about attempting to stage murders and use others to their advantage, however Checklad's murder attempts succeeded whilst Ctom was more concerned with pushing others down to a worse position.
** The two of them were the only characters that held notable conversations with the Advocate, though the way the conversations happened differs.
* OrderVersusChaos: the order to Checklad's chaos, in play style; diaries and goal. However the epilogue seems to hint at a switch: Checklad had chosen order in death, whilst Ctom ultimately chose chaos after finding the truth.
* RoomShuffle: whilst not as noteworthy as Insanity, he still utilises this to same extent.
* SecretTestOfCharacter: was the only one that passed the test that Kowzz gave to everyone.
* SeenItAll: his back story claims this. Turns out he didn't see everything yet.
* StartOfDarkness: whilst he was questionable in his motives and actions in the game, he never truly fell into darkness: his epilogue however seems to signal this.
* TheUnfettered:
** The first instance was when he claimed that anyone who attacked or betrayed him would become his sole target and that he would do everything in his power to ensure their destruction. Bobemmo ended up being his target for this, but the threat was empty, and was mostly used for deterrence and posturing, thus subverting the trope.
** The second instance Ctom was deadly serious. Having been completely broken upon realizing the truth of the game as a means for finding the darkness in people's hearts and exposing the truth of their souls, Ctom became obsessed with tracking down the Advocate. He wanted to expose her truths the same way she had done to them. His motivations for this were a complex mixture of pride as a detective, pure drive for the truth, a sense of both kinship and rivalry with the Advocate, a thirst for revenge, and perhaps just a bit of infatuation.
* WhyDontYouJustShootHim: almost does this to Checklad on day 6 after a relatively long sequence of obvious lies to stall time.
* WorthyOpponent: Ctom considers Falafel this from day 1 and onwards, Falafel not so much.
* XanatosSpeedChess: utilises this to relative success, but ultimately losses the last instance of this to Checklad: as Checklad managed to stall enough time that Ctom was forced to guess Checklad's objective on day 6 which could have cost him the game.
----
!!Bobemmo
[[quoteright:260:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_manipulation_game_bobemmo_3505.png]]
[[caption-width-right:260:"I can't say I particularly want to talk with someone who so violently attacked me yesterday, but it's not like I'm in a position to just get up and walk away."]]
->''"If I'm correctly reading the atmosphere from their conversations in the common room and what they each tell me privately, it seems as though the two of them are out to get each other. [..] Managing these alliances has become a bit of a balancing act"''
Bobemmo is a straightforward young man: he says what he wants, does what he wants and has no stomach for nuances and subtleties. From the outside, he looks scary, strong and silent; from the inside it's pretty much the same.
His official statement to declare Falafel, Kowzz and Checklad his enemy on day 1 is what sets up a large part of the initial scheming, for all the good that it did for him.
* AssassinOutclassin: Survives for most of the game due to sheer luck combined with a powerful alliance with Checklad.
* BadassBoast: Does this on day 1, whilst also openly declaring Checklad, Falafel and Kowzz his enemy; however he doesn't particularly live up to it.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: He's quite nice in comparison to a lot of the characters. Doesn't mean he's afraid to use force on Finalnwo in the purple room on day 6.
* TheBigGuy: Very much so, both in play style and personality.
* DefeatMeansFriendship: After getting his ass handed to him by Checklad, you'd expect some kind of feud to set up, but Checklad was more than happy to offer a mutual friendship that would last for the rest of the game.
* EnemyMine: A lot of characters used his statement on day 1 to get alliances early on, as expected.
* IdiotBall: Was thought to have held this, having openly declared three people his enemy on day 1. Turns out he made the right choice.
* GentleGiant: Seems to be this after completing his objective. In fact, he's one of the two characters that doesn't appear to get corrupted by insanity at all.
* NiceJobFixingItVillain: If we go by Insanity's perspective of him, his actions fit with this in the purple room on day 6, as he killed Finalnwo whom was about to attack her.
* OddFriendship: Despite declaring him an enemy on day 1 and then getting beating up by him on day 2, Checklad becomes his most trusted ally and perhaps even a friend.
* PaperTiger: Despite initially appearing to be very threatening, he lost quite painfully to Checklad in the laundry room on day 2.
* SpannerInTheWorks: Was this to the armoury scheme, preferring to sit out the day rather than take his chances.
----
!!Falafel
[[quoteright:260:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_manipulation_game_falafel_7381.png]]
[[caption-width-right:260:“When have I ever not been your friend?"]]
->''"You're right, I didn't ask. That's because I didn't know I needed to. You know, I'm gonna need your help with those sort of things; sometimes I need to ask something but I forget, so I need you to tell me even if I don't ask"''
Outwardly friendly but reserved. Very principled and determined to be fair in his interactions, but also has a bit of a temper. An orderly man that likes predictable things.
Order and control is what Falafel is aiming for, even if that means he's the one providing it. Quickly setting up the pace of the next six days with a web of lies and intrigues.
* AllTakeAndNoGive: The type of 'alliance' Falafel tried to establish with Checklad primarily relied on Falafel emotionally manipulating Checklad into doing his bidding. Fortunately for Checklad, this did not work out.
* AssholeVictim: Let's face it, after all the shit he pulled the others through, he deserved his death perhaps more than anyone else.
* BatmanGambit: Attempts this multiple times, primarily on Insanity and Checklad, but ComplexityAddiction did him in.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: Tried very hard to outwardly appear as friendly, pleasant and reasonable. In private, he routinely planned to horribly abuse, exploit and betray everyone around him simply because he could.
* BreakThemByTalking: While his attempt to do this to Checklad proved ruinous, he came pretty close to breaking Insanity at some points.
* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: Ironic considering his objective.
* ComplexityAddiction: Falafel never did anything in a straightforward manner:
** Instead of relying on his bullet-proof vest and weapons to get rid of the threat of the gun, Falafel traded away a rigged bullet assuming that the unknown gun-owner will eventually acquire it by trading and by that unwittingly disable the weapon himself.
** When Falafel tried to betray Insanity and join an alliance with Kowzz, he made sure to preemptively triple-cross and poison Kowzz in order to make himself safer in case of Kowzz betrayed him.
* CrazyPrepared: Was this early on, but there was always a SpannerInTheWorks, whether it was Insanity, Bobemmo or Checklad.
* CruelAndUnusualDeath: Has the most brutal death of all characters that died: Lishy died comatose; Aspiration was stabbed in the belly; Finalnwo's skull was cracked open and died immediately, but Falafel dies by getting his face smashed in, repeatedly.
* DespotismJustifiesTheMeans: His prime long-term strategy is summed up nicely with this trope.
* EvilCounterpart: Fits as the evil counterpart with respect to Ctom. Both spent most of their time manipulating the other players for their own benefits. However, where Ctom always acted alone with no close allies, and with as little direct conflict as possible, Falafel gathered as many allies as possible and attempted to stage many of the games most violent attacks.
* FairWeatherFriend: Abandoned and turned on his close ally Insanity as soon as she stopped being useful to him.
* FatalFlaw: SmugSnake and ComplexityAddiction are not a good mix.
* FirstPersonSmartass: whilst it does make him even more unlikeable, it's also really funny in his diary.
* {{Foil}}: With respect to Insanity, he is this to Aspiration. He was outwardly friendly and acted reliable but was constantly scheming to get Insanity killed, whereas Aspiration was outwardly sleazy but was genuinely loyal to her.
* GambitPileup: was one of the prime schemers that caused this.
* HeroKiller: although not intentionally seeking out heroes, Falafel mostly targetted people he felt trusted him.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: When trying to murder Checklad and Insanity, he gives Insanity a poison pill meant for Checklad. Insanity slips it to Checklad, but he had removed the poison from the pill and gave it to Kowzz instead. In the end, Kowzz failed to kill Insanity due to the poison, and Checklad not only survived but eventually killed Falafel.
* {{Hypocrite}}:
** for all his constant lectures regarding the importance of allies working together, he had absolutely no sense of loyalty whatsoever.
** Falafel was utterly furious when he thought the Advocate served him poisoned food... approximately 48 hours after he himself served Kowzz poisoned food.
* ICanStillFight: believed this on day 6, when he finally managed to corner Insanity, it didn't exactly work out.
* ImAHumanitarian: When Lishy1's butchered corpse is set on the table to terrorize the contestants, Falafel simply sits down and starts eating.
* KarmicDeath: Falafel's death was perfect karmic justice. He had been trying to kill Insanity nearly all game despite her being a complete pacifist. As a result of his crusade he ended up being poisoned by her, and then injured by Ctom. On the final day he attempts to rob her, but finds nothing in her room. Finally he comes to kill her, only to be brutally murdered by Checklad, who Falafel had been intending to kill ''all game long''.
* LackOfEmpathy: a major strength of his is that he simply doesn't care if he hurts others' feelings.
* LonelyAtTheTop: perhaps one of the most interesting thing about him and his story is that he reached his top really early, and it only went downhill afterwards, and it's almost completely his own fault.
* LoopholeAbuse: did this to make sure he completed his objective:
** listing himself as his own ally.
** slipping a piece of paper amongst the 'meat' that states Lishy considers Falafel an ally.
* ManipulativeBastard:
** constantly pushed around the weaker contestants, especially Checklad, in order to intimidate them.
** once the gun was found, Falafel immediately used it to try and terrify as many people as he could into forming a lynch mob against Insanity. Having owned a bullet-proof vest, Falafel knew he was perfectly safe against the gun.
* MoralMyopia: had a strong sense of morals that applied to everyone but himself.
* OpportunisticBastard: Have you ''seen'' the instructions he send to Advocate for each day?
* TheSociopath: This trope is perhaps the reason he's far ''worse'' than most if not all the others. He fakes caring about others, but in his diary it's revealed he fakes all of it just to get what he wants, but he doesn't realise the sheer scope of the damage he's causing.
* StrawHypocrite: initially claimed that he wanted nobody to get hurt. This gave him a couple of alliances early on which he intended to manipulate in order to ensure nobody gets hurt until 'he' hurts them.
* TheUnfettered: After day 2 he made it his sole mission to destroy Insanity. Ironically his repeated failures cost him his own sanity and eventually his life.
* VillainBall: The longer the game goes on, the worse it gets.
* VillainousBreakdown: After getting poisoned on day 6, he starts to realise just how bad of a situation he's in and continued to break down at a record speed.
* WhyWontYouDie: Feels this way about Insanity, as she keeps escaping his murderous attempts.
* WorthyOpponent: Averted. Despite being considered this by a few others, Falafel flatly refuses to consider anyone his equal.
* XanatosSpeedChess: Did this a lot, especially early on, but it never really worked out for him.
----
!!Checklad aka Iko Unemero
[[quoteright:260:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_1rsz_2manipulation_game_checklad_5499.png]]
[[caption-width-right:260:"I prefer my targets to be more, personal."]]
->''"No-No-NO you're not! Th-the only stupid per-person is m-me-me!"''
Before all of this Iko used to work as a maid and handyman at a local university with an unknown past due to amnesia: his life was structured and he was happy. Unfortunately that changes when he woke up in this mansion.
Struck by fear, the timid Iko now finds himself transported from a lonely life to a lonely but deadly game. Yet, not all is what it seems, as even the weak are pushed to their limit.
* ArtShift: After Ctom's and Falafel's very detailed diaries you expected detailed reports about what he did and why? Heck no! Have some funny breaking diary entries instead: the style gets more serious however, once Checklad takes over.
* AssassinOutclassin: Was targeted almost every day by somebody, not to mention that everybody at least tried once to do harm to him, he survives it all due to a combination of paranoia, shrewdness and a massive dose of luck.
* AxCrazy: On the last day once he managed to finally outsmart and beat up Falafel. It broke whatever was left of him.
* BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork: Saves Insanity from Falafel in the purple room on day 6 by backstabbing and murdering Falafel.
* BadLiar: Iko is by far the worst liar of the players. Checklad uses this to his advantage though, as his actual lies are far better hidden because of it.
* BecomingTheMask: His back story: he got beaten up and was left for dead. Ended up surviving but with amnesia, his personality taking a complete 180 degrees turn.
* BeatThemAtTheirOwnGame: does this to Falafel, after losing his mask: might be a case of PoeticJustice as Falafel did nothing but scheme, plot and try to get him killed.
* BeneathTheMask: A sad and scary example: as in the game, he starts to revert back to his original self due to the sheer amount of pressure the situation and the other characters put on him. As the quote below indicates though, Iko didn't want the mask to be removed, but he had no choice in the matter.
-->''I'm starting to lose control: I'm remembering my past, I have nobody I can trust and everybody wants to kill me! I feel alone and scared.''
* BlatantLies: At least a third of his lies are this. Iko seems to believe this actually works, whilst Checklad uses these kind of lies to throw other characters off.
* ButtMonkey: Initially, though Checklad keeps this up by playing this in the main room after having lost his mask.
* BrainsAndBrawn: Is the brawn to Cornetto's brains. It served both of them well.
* BreakThemByTalking: Falafel tries to do this to Iko. It works, but not in the way Falafel had hoped.
* CannotSpitItOut: Iko plays with this, due to his stuttering; Checklad keeps it up.
* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: Oddly averted, after having lost his mask he never betrayed Bobemmo and Cornetto, despite being capable of doing so.
* CreatureOfHabit: Iko is this, which why he's already a wreck so early on.
* CowardlyLion: Iko may be this, as he managed to beat up Bobemmo on day two without any problem, though it might very well have been Checklad.
* DirtyCoward: Whether it's an act or being ProperlyParanoid is anyone's guess. After day three however, he averts it.
* TheDogBitesBack: Ultimately kills Falafel, who has been pushing him around and trying to kill him since the beginning of the game.
* DontLookAtMe: A phrase uttered in his diary; it's one of the things that broke Iko.
* TheDragon: considering his objective and his relation with the Advocate, he fits. However, he doesn't get any additional information or support to help him out: he's just the contestant that's supposed to cause spectacle in the Advocate's eyes.
* TheDreaded: Oddly enough, Iko is considered this mostly due to his unintentional use of ConfusionFu.
** mostly due to managing to keep himself under the radar of those who gather massive amounts of information.
* DrivenToSuicide: In his epilogue, having lost his purpose, he felt lost and killed himself, knowing he had nothing.
** To elaborate, he has been haunted by Aspiration after having caused his death. He also killed his former self (who was pretty much an entirely different person) before that ''and'' on the last day he killed Falafel, the one who'd been pushing and trying to kill him since day one.
* DyingAsYourself: Wanted to achieve this by committing suicide. No one knows if it worked.
* EnemyWithin: Between Iko and Checklad, it should be noted that both consider ''each other'' this.
* EnfanteTerrible: Checklad in his backstory.
* FalseFlagOperation: managed to do this on day 4 in the attic: having bribed Finalnwo to deal the final blow to Aspiration whilst he himself was 'freaking out'.
* GoneHorriblyRight: From his perspective both the attic on day 4 and the purple room on day 6 are this, especially in combination with his epilogue.
* HatesBeingAlone: or rather, fears being alone.
* HiddenAgendaVillain: Initially he seems quite harmless: untrustworthy, but ultimately harmless. But nothing is less true, as he turs out to be one of the most dangerous characters in the game.
* HiddenDepths: Should you believe his initial personality, he fits: as he never mentions anything about hiding a darker side.
** However, even if you didn't believe his act, which barely any character did in the game, it would still come as a surprise that he turns out to be even ''worse'' than most other characters.
** This case for Checklad is helped that he's the last perspective in the route order: which means his diaries are hidden for a relatively long time. Sure, there's the knowledge about him from his conversations with other characters before his route was opened, but the fact that he acted so ''differently'', not just in talking with different people, but also in how he acts and plays as the game continues on, can be really confusing if you try to decipher the bigger picture.
* IdiotBall: Iko seems to hold this from time to time, as he acts like a complete moron at times: like how he lies about his objective. However, it seems this was AllAccordingToPlan for Checklad, as he did it to throw other people off; test their patience; stall time and look less dangerous.
* IntendedAudienceReaction: the handler of Checklad/Iko specifically made sure Iko was considered annoying and/or unlikeable, both towards other handlers and their characters, as well as to those who might read the story.
* KarmicDeath: kills himself after the game is over rather than let any of the other surviving players do it for him.
* TheKillerInMe: A secretive one, and a notably good one considering the situation.
* LogicalFallacies: Did this ''a lot'' when asked about any details of his objective. On purpose, mind you.
* LoopholeAbuse: Oddly enough seems to avoid this trope for the most part: the only time he did this was when he wanted to check Aspiration's body on day 5.
* LostInCharacter: His back story. He snaps out of it, but it only becomes worse. Much worse.
* MadeOfIron: for all the combat he was part of, he never suffered a scratch. If you aren't convinced, on day 2 he got tackled head-on by Bobemmo, he stood up and beat up Bobemmo not even a couple of minutes later.
* MadnessMantra: His diary is filled with them, including: sight, control, death, the past, his purpose and loneliness.
* MoreThanMeetsTheEye: and it's terrible.
* MurderByMistake: Fakes this in the attic: attacking anyone with a mask because 'he's losing his mind', his attack on Aspiration left him open to be killed by Finalnwo, whom was also wearing a mask: causing Checklad to attack and reveal Finalnwo's identity. Why is this important? Because Checklad listed ''all mask wearers'' as an enemy, allowing not only Aspiration to be open for a kill, but also shoved any responsibility off himself to Finalnwo as he revealed the masked killer.
** There might be less faking than it appears though, as he admits in his diary that "masks are scary as shit" and he ''was'' losing his mind.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Played with, as he's haunted by Aspiration's spirit, eventually causing him to commit suicide.
* MyMasterRightOrWrong: Seems to have a massive case of this when it comes to the Advocate, going so far as to consider her his only friend. However, it might be a case concerning trust, as Checklad knows the only reliable, 100% genuine person here is the Advocate herself.
* NervesOfSteel: Checklad keeps this up until the last day, when it all caught up to him leaving him a broken shell.
* NothingLeftToDoButDie: Seems to believe this in his epilogue, as he lost his purpose: the only thing he truly lived for.
* MirrorCharacter shares some notable similarities with Ctom, which also sets the two further apart as time goes on.
** Both had a character act as a guide and were relatively loyal to them.
** Both had no qualms about attempting to stage murders and use others to their advantage, however Checklad's murder attempts succeeded whilst Ctom was more concerned with pushing others down to a worse position.
** The two of them were the only characters that held notable conversations with the Advocate, though the way the conversations happened differs: Checklad talking casually with her, whilst Ctom interrogates her.
* ObfuscatingStupidity: Iko averts this: as he was quite an idiot; Checklad does this ''a lot'' to keep up the act, often using it to mild success.
* TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou: Seems to believe this in his second-to-last diary concerning Falafel.
* OutOfFocus: It isn't until Ctom's perspective that Checklad starts to seem more than just a ButtMonkey with masses of angst, even then it's relatively limited. This trope is so much in effect that, until his own route, he seems, relatively speaking, harmless: but nothing less is true.
* PayEvilUntoEvil: does this to Falafel, as Falafel would have done the same thing to him if he had the chance.
* PoorCommunicationKills: caused Aspiration to die on day 4 because he deemed Aspiration's pm a threat, rather than a simple request for information.
* ProperlyParanoid: Iko is this towards everyone, especially Falafel, which caused him to be a massive pain to Falafel and ultimately saved his life on day 3.
* PPRevenge}}: The main reason that he goes to the purple room on day 6, rather than the green room; he wanted to finish Falafel off for good.
* SanitySlippage: A major development, as he's the only character that becomes notably more dangerous because of it.
* SelectiveObliviousness: He knew a gun was in the game, as Falafel told him, but except in his conversations with Falafel he never bothers to speak or think about it at all.
* SpannerInTheWorks: Was this throughout the first couple of days, especially to the massive armoury scheme.
** Ctom considers him to be either this or a ChessMaster, turns out he's pretty much both.
** Falafel absolutely ''loathes'' Checklad for being this.
* SplitPersonality: a huge part of his character, and there's no such thing as a nice way to fix it, for more details see SplitPersonalityTakeover, or pretty much half of the tropes in this list really.
* SplitPersonalityTakeover: his entire character arc focuses around this, in his epilogue diary entry Checklad even mentions he killed Iko, who he is. However, Checklad was the ''original'' personality: Iko eventually came into existence after Checklad was LeftForDead, and was mostly there to keep him from killing again.
* TheStarscream: Hope you liked hating Falafel.
* StartOfDarkness: Whilst most details are vague, he apparently started his path to darkness when he killed a puppy out of curiosity, by bashing its face in: it only got worse.
* TraumaInducedAmnesia: The reason Iko exists in the first place.
* UnwittingPawn: Checklad faked this; no one really bought it. Whether Iko is one or not is not known.
* VillainousFriendship: Friends with the Advocate of all people. In his diary, he even goes so far as to call the Advocate his first and only friend, showing that he didn't felt the same about his reliable allies Cornetto and Bobemmo.
* VillainousRescue: Saves Insanity and keeps her pacifism intact by murdering Falafel in the purple room on day 6. Not because he wanted to save her, but because he really wanted Falafel to die.
* VillainsDyingGrace: Whilst he wasn't exactly dying, he was dead on the inside late into day 6: his last act, both to complete his objective and as a saving grace, was to kill Falafel, thereby saving Insanity in the process.
* WeaponOfChoice: The most basic weapon of all: the club/stick.
----
!!Cornetto
[[quoteright:259:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_manipulation_game_cornetto_7032.png]]
[[caption-width-right:259:"Hehehe, sometimes it isn't wise to believe everything you're told."]]
->''"That's what I'd like to know. It's one of a couple of things I'd like to know. Along with where is here, who the hell put us here and who the hell are all these people? I do know one thing though. I plan on getting my answers."''
Cold and calculating. Enjoys nothing in life other than the suffering of others. Finds very little value in his own life, death does not scare him. The only thing he believes is worth doing is searching for entertainment.
Upon entering this new environment that the Advocate calls a game, he sees it as the perfect opportunity to experience more fun than ever before.
* ActualPacifist: plays with this, as he never entered combat: he's got no problem with causing violence between others though.
* BrainsAndBrawn: is the brains to Checklad's brawn, it served them well.
* DissonantSerenity: this is implied to be his reaction to Aspiration's death in the attic on day 4.
* EvilDuo: himself as the Superego to Checklad's, in comparison, Id.
* EvilCounterpart: is the evil counterpart to Kowzz.
** Both Cornetto and Kowzz had little interest in winning the game and instead focused on the actions of their fellow players. Cornetto wished for nothing more than to witness the bloodshed and turmoil the players would bring upon themselves and manipulated events to try and bring about these outcomes, while never attacking anyone directly. In contrast Kowzz encouraged the other players to seek the truth of the game, and would directly intervene or even begin conflict in order to preserve the status quo and keep the number of players high.
* EvilFeelsGood: Cornetto seems to enjoy other people's suffering a bit ''too'' much.
* FigureItOutYourself: likes to do this a lot in pms, he eventually stops doing this to Checklad after realizing that he and Checklad want to achieve the same thing.
* ForTheEvulz: his main reason to not try and win but instead stick around Checklad.
* KnowledgeBroker: and everybody was aware of this fact.
* LackOfEmpathy: seems to have a case of this, but never truely shows it all that much.
* ManipulativeBastard: a defining trait, though he never bothered to actively kill somebody: unlike certain other characters.
* OrderVersusChaos: the chaos to Kowzz's technical order.
* SmugSnake: has some shades of this, but is far more subtle regarding this than most players.
* TalkingToTheDead: Cornetto had several heart-to-hearts with Lishy, once when he was comatose and again after his death.
** He also shared a moment with Aspiration after his death in the attic.
* TheChessmaster: his characters seems to be a play on this, as he actively participates in the scheming between the other chessmasters, but he never makes a finishing move.
* TheSociopath: wanted to see as many die as possible. He showed others the side he believed they wanted to see. For example he told Insanity he didn't want any more to die after Aspiration, yet at the same time was supporting Checklad in his murder attempts.
* TheStoic: calculating and manipulative, he doesn't let his emotions get in the way of his thoughts and actions.
* WorthyOpponent: seems to consider Kowzz this, we'll have to wait for the next game to see if this goes anywhere.
----
!!Advocate
[[quoteright:305:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_2advocate_8321.png]]
[[caption-width-right:305:insert sinister quote]]
->''"Welcome to your first day in my little home! I hope you enjoy your stay, and that it isn't a permanent one kuhihihihi."''
The host of this little game. A considerate soul who strives to keep her guests entertained throughout their stay. Generous with her time, monitoring her guests constantly through the aid of various cameras and microphones to ensure they kept active. Somewhat highly strung, she doesn't take kindly to disobedience, but who could blame her after all the effort she had invested? A forward thinker who knows the value of the "waste not, want not," ensuring nothing edible went to waste ...
* AffablyEvil: seems to be a case of this, as other than providing the tools and 'moral support', she doesn't directly intervene with what the players are up too. She's perfectly reasonable, was more than willing to let the survivors go after day 6 and even goes out of her way to serve the players dinner, in her own twisted way she's the perfect host and it shows.
** In Checklad's pms, it's revealed that she and Checklad had relatively civil conversations about the state of affairs over a cup of tea or a glass of wine.
* AntiVillain: has some slight shades of this, as all she wants is to show others the truth about themselves and each other: the insanity, killing, murder and trauma are merely entertaining side-effects.
* BewareTheSillyOnes: seems far too silly for a host of a battle royal.
* BigBad: or is she? Indeed, the biggest thing in this game is that, other than providing the tools, the Advocate did nothing to actively harm the (living) players. It's the players that are the real antagonists here.
* EvilOverlord: a possible interpretation
* HeWhoMustNotBeSeen: very much so: only communicating with the other characters through cameras and microphones.
** however, from what we can understand from Checklad's diary and his pms, Checklad had direct contact with the Advocate. Which seems fitting considering Checklad's objective.
* MoodSwinger: a major part of her personality, but the insanity remains: regardless of her mood.
* NiceHat: the Advocate has one, it's quite silly.
** turned out it ''did'' do more than just look silly.
* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: a possible interpretation, but who knows for certain?
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: other than her intentions and wish that the characters kill each other, she fits.
* SacredHospitality: seems to believe this, as she considers herself the host of the game and the caretaker of the players.
** also noted that one of the main rules that must be obeyed is no killing in the main room, as that is just rude.
* TheCaligula: seems to be this, at least from what can be gathered from what little background information is available.
* TooFunnyToBeEvil: especially for outside readers, not so much for the characters: who just consider it odd.
----
!!Lishy
->''"I wish to visit the kitchen."''
A hungry man who knew the way to the kitchen. A generous man who ensured others were well fed. A man who made a lasting impression, leaving a little of himself within so many of his fellow players. A man who held a darkness within him, a poison that inevitably seeped out.
* ButtMonkey: both in a funny way amongst the ten handlers and a sad way with what's done to his body.
* ForgottenFallenFriend: friend is a stretch, but most characters didn't even bother to count his death amongst those who have died.
* LivingProp: for the most part as he only ever said one thing because his handler couldn't play, but he did play two important roles:
** His death set the stage that anybody could die.
** His body, items and room were vitally important to some characters, like Falafel and Insanity.
* MyFriendsAndZoidberg: the game settles around the nine players and the Advocate, well and Lishy's body.
* WeHardlyKnewYe: very much so, having done nothing of note whilst alive.
* WildCard: Ctom calls Lishy, or rather: his body, this when it comes to trying to figure out his objective.
--> ''"The real problem is Lishy. He died without accomplishing anything. He is a wildcard, a joker thrown into the deck just to affect the odds."''
[[/folder]]
----
[[folder: House of Fun (Season 2)]]
----
!!Steve Novac
----
!!Avelyn Novalle
----
!!Ainsley Mciver
----
!!Minna Eisenmann
----
!!Ezra
----
!!The Advocate aka Elanor Caimbeul
----
!!Anthony K. Thomas, Jr.
----
!!Insanity aka Isa Nissey
----
!!Frederick Wilkes
----
!!Ctom
----
!!Cornetto aka Dennis Locke
[[/folder]]
----
!!YMMV
* DesignatedVillain: The Advocate. This is the person that put the other characters here: surely she's the villain and unsympathetic. Except not really: even with her constant insane antics, she's a reasonable person in comparison to some of her contestants.
* MoralEventHorizon: Nearly all characters have this at some point, up to the audience whom actually deserves this and who doesn't.
* ShockingElimination: Aspiration's death.
** Especially if you follow the perspective of the two most 'heroic' characters: Ctom and Insanity. Neither of them had any idea this would happen.
* TheWoobie: Iko just can't seem to catch a break: every single character has been aggressive to him, either directly or indirectly.
----
!! Manipulation Game of Fun contains examples of:
* AHouseDivided: So the players find themselves in some weird house, where the only person who knows what's going on wants them to kill one another. You'd honestly expect them to work together to survive this?
* AllThereInTheManual: As if the main events and public conversations aren't enough, every character also has a pm-list, a diary and his/her actions and allegiances listed. You can choose to ignore them, but where's the fun in that?
* AnyoneCanDie: Very much so, the handlers themselves had ''no idea'' if what they did would let their characters live for another day or not.
** During season 1, Lishy; Aspiration; Falafel and Finalnwo all died, usually gruesomely. Checklad also died in his epilogue, shortly after the game ended.
* AxCrazy: Season 1 had Finalnwo, Falafel and Checklad (in chronological order).
* BigBad: The Masters
** The Advocate-- or is she? Indeed, the most important fact in this game is that, other than providing the tools, the Advocate did nothing to actively harm the living players. It's the players that are the real antagonists, but who is the biggest bad depends on your point of view.
** Ctom-- or is he? There is yet to be proven anything regarding him.
* BlackAndGrayMorality: Don't expect any character to be totally nice in season 1, other than Insanity.
* ButtMonkey: Lishy: both in a funny way, amongst the handlers themselves, and a sad way, with what's done to his body.
* BreakThemByTalking: A tactic used by a couple of characters, most notably Falafel.
* CastCalculus: Managed to just hit the sweet spot with eleven characters every season.
* ChekhovsGun: An actual gun in season 1, as it was essentially what gave Ctom the win, until it was stolen from him on the last day (which would've caused his death, if it the thief wasn't Kowzz).
* CooperationGambit: All alliances are ultimately this, as all it needs is a slight change in the knowledge a player has to break the strongest alliance.
* DivideAndConquer: A favorite strategy of Falafel, Checklad, Aspiration and Ctom in season 1.
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Ctom seemed to be really taken in with his snazzy detective's hat in season 1. It only gets worse in season 2, though it is far more in the background by then.
* DrivenToSuicide: Checklad in his epilogue: having lost his purpose, he felt lost and killed himself, knowing he had nothing.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Played with: there is no such thing as standards here for most characters, but events can prove otherwise.
* EvilDuo: Cornetto as the Superego and Checklad, in comparison, as the Id in season 1.
* EvilCounterpart:
** In season 1 there is Cornetto towards Kowzz as the main one, since it carries over to the next seasons. Both had little interest in winning the game and instead focused on the actions of their fellow players. Cornetto wished for nothing more than to witness the bloodshed and turmoil the players would bring upon themselves and manipulated events to try and bring about these outcomes, while never attacking anyone directly. In contrast Kowzz encouraged the other players to seek the truth of the game, and would directly intervene or even begin conflict in order to preserve the status quo and keep the number of players high. Interestingly, after season 1 both end up back in the 'cycle': Cornetto as a contestant and Kowzz as a Master.
** Season 1: By extension of the comparison between Cornetto and Kowzz, season 1 also has Checklad as Ctom's evil counterpart. Cornetto acted as an informant and ally to Checklad in order to assist him in bringing about the most destruction and chaos. Kowzz acted as an informant and guide for Ctom to assist him in reaching the truth. Which is fitting for the two characters who had the objectives of ''Murderer'' and ''Detective'' respectively. Ultimately, both sought different ways to cope with what they learned about the game: Checklad killed himself whilst Ctom became a Master.
** Season 1: Falafel also fits this with respect to Ctom. Both spent most of their time manipulating the other players for their own benefits. However, where Ctom always acted alone with no close allies, and with as little direct conflict as possible, Falafel gathered as many allies as possible and took part in many of the game's most violent attacks.
* EvilPlan: Obviously, considering the aim of the game and the nature of most characters.
** In season 1 Falafel seems to invoke this a lot, and he knows it.
** In season 2 this became Cornetto's main territory.
* EvilOverlord: A possible interpretation of the Masters. Whether it is true or not will depend on your own interpretation.
* FigureItOutYourself: About a quarter of the private communications between the players invoked this.
** In season 1 Kowzz frequently communicated in riddles and ciphers, especially with Ctom. Along wih that, the information brokers Ctom42 and Cornetto had a tendency to do this every day.
* Foil: Bound to happen.
** In season 1, the biggest one is between Insanity, Aspiration and Falafel. Falafel was outwardly friendly and acted reliable but was constantly scheming to get Insanity killed, whereas Aspiration was outwardly sleazy but was genuinely loyal to her.
* ForTheEvulz: Cornetto's main reason to do basically everything he does.
* GambitPileup: A staple of the game, with the entire game being dominated by by plots, schemes and more plots.
* GambitRoulette: Bound to happen, since every character has influence on what happens: causing the probability of failure to appear.
** Checklad's gambits in season 1 are playing this straight though, as they actually work out completely in his favour despite the odds of failure on day 4 and 6 (the lucky bastard).
* GenreSavvy: Every handler is this: after all, they are real people. As such, it is bound to influence their characters' decisions.
* HatOfPower: The Advocate's hat, complete with insanity-inducing powers, which eventually falls in Ctom's hands in season 1. It then returns to the Advocate in season 2, only for it to be ripped to shreds.
* HeroKiller: Usually it depends on your definition of what a hero is.
** In season 1 Checklad and Finalnwo are this after killing the somewhat heroic Aspiration in the attic on day 4, especially Finalnwo due to him dealing the final blow.
* HeroOfAnotherStory: Since there is no such thing as a main character-- or a real hero for that matter-- the story can easily take a different approach depending on the viewpoint of certain characters.
** In season 1, Insanity is it for anyone else in the game, as she's the only one who's morally good.
* HiddenAgendaVillain: Since almost all characters are villains to some extent, not to mention ''everybody'' has their own agenda, this comes into play all the time.
* HiddenDepths: One of the few plot points present in every game, regardless of the host, is that the games seek the real truth-- both of the selected individuals and humanity in general. Whether the hosts are successful in their goals or why they do this is never brought up.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Sometimes, plots or schemes can backfire spectacularly-- after all, nothing is certain in these games.
** Season 1: when trying to murder Checklad and Insanity, Falafel gives Insanity a poison pill meant for Checklad. Insanity slips it to Checklad, but Falafel removed the poison from the pill and gave it to Kowzz instead. Kowzz failed to kill Insanity due to the poison, and Checklad not only survived but eventually killed Falafel.
* IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim: This was the end result for Ctom in season 1. He figured out the truth of the game and it made him into the same type of 'monster' that the Advocate was. Whether this was a result of wearing the detective hat, or whether the hat was simply an outlet to show the changes that had occurred to his psyche is unclear. It is unclear whether he'll do the Advocate proud in season 2, though the Advocate did end up in his game.
* ImAHumanitarian: In season 1, when Lishy's butchered corpse is set on the table to terrorize the contestants, Falafel and Finalnwo simply sit down and eat.
* KarmicDeath: Let's be honest, most characters that died deserved it, whether because of their actions in the game or for what they did before entering the game.
** Falafel's death was perfect karmic justice. He had been trying to kill Insanity nearly all game despite her being a complete pacifist. As a result of his crusade he ended up being poisoned by her, and then injured by Ctom. On the final day he attempts to rob her, but finds nothing in her room. Finally he comes to kill her, only to be brutally murdered by Checklad, who Falafel had been intending to kill ''all game long''.
* KnowledgeBroker: Every season is bound to have one or two of them; whether the information they have is real is another thing entirely.
* LivingProp: Lishy for the most part, but he did play two important roles in season 1: his death set the stage that anybody could die and his body, items and room were vitally important to some characters, like Falafel and Insanity
** After-- and even during-- season 1, he mostly serves as a RunningGag and inside joke amongst the handlers.
* LogicalFallacies: A common tactic in [=PMs=]: some characters point it out to others to pressure them into forcing the truth out of them.
** Season 1 had Checklad whom did this the most throughout his run, on purpose to obnoxious levels.
* LoopholeAbuse: the Advocate admitted that for season 1, she made this possible on purpose, causing this trope to be the bread and butter for many contestants.
** Insanity occasionally ran into rooms the Advocate did not mention.
** Falafel listing himself as his own ally.
** Falafel by slipping a piece of paper amongst the 'meat' that states Lishy considers Falafel an ally.
** Most characters eventually started adding additional actions in their daily PM to the Advocate, whilst you were originally only supposed to send a list of allies and enemies: the longer the game goes on, the more additional actions are being sent.
*** In one specific case: Falafel sends a ''page-long'' list of additional actions to the Advocate.
* ManipulativeBastard: Season 1 has quite a high number of them: especially in comparison to season 2(?), including: Falafel, Cornetto, Ctom, Checklad ''and'' Finalnwo.
* MaskOfPower: It grants the wearer the ability to not be recognized. Subverted in that every time a character uses a mask, it never really works out in their favor.
* MoreThanMeetsTheEye: ''Everyone'', no exceptions. Well, except maybe Lishy's body.
* MurderByMistake: Oddly averted, especially with the high amount of items, plots and schemes that were in play. Character-induced deaths were, for the most part, planned accordingly.
** Played with in season 2, where Avelyn nearly drowned Frederick due to a hallucinogenic pill, courtesy of Cornetto.
* NiceHat: The Advocate has one. It's quite silly. Turned out it ''did'' do more than just look silly.
* NiceJobFixingItVillain: Checklad's and Bobemmo's actions in the purple room: especially from Insanity's perspective.
* NotEvenBotheringWithAnExcuse: Happened several times in [=PMs=], usually due to time constraints.
* OriginalCharacterTournament: Completely text based too!
* OneSideOfTheStory: Averted, since every character except for the LivingProp Lishy had an actual person controlling him/her. Most of the scheming that happened was because of the aversion: until the end of the game, there was no way of being completely sure something that somebody told you was true or not, which only caused the characters to spiral further down into darkness, madness and murder.
* OutGambitted: Happens every single day, in every season.
* PerspectiveFlip: A major reason that this is so successful, as the entire story depends on a certain character's perspective.
* PoorCommunicationKills: In season 1, after Aspiration send a PM to Checklad on day three asking whom he considered an enemy or ally, Checklad immediately went ahead to try and kill him. Why? The PM was so poorly worded, or Checklad's English skills so terrible, that it was seen as a threat to Checklad. It led to Aspiration's death on day four.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Other than their intentions and wish that the characters kill each other, Advocate and Ctom both fit, usually.
* RoomShuffle: A preferred tactic of Falafel, Ctom and especially Insanity in season 1.
* SanitySlippage: Almost everyone fits into this. The longer the game goes on, the worse it gets. So far, the Masters have been the best examples of this trope.
* SpannerInTheWorks: Season 1 had both Checklad and Bobemmo towards Falafel, Aspiration and Ctom.
* TalkAboutThatThing: A preferred way to get people confused about the allegiances in the main room.
* TalkingToTheDead: Cornetto had several heart-to-hearts with Lishy, once when he was comatose and again after his death. He also shared a moment with Aspiration after his death in the attic. In season 2, he continues this by talking into Checklad's severed ear: which he carries around his neck.
* TheChessmaster: Most characters, especially in [=PMs=].
** Season 1 had Falafel and Ctom, with an honorable mention towards Aspiration, whom used chess as an illustration about the other characters: but ultiamtely failed to become this trope.
* TheDogBitesBack: Checklad towards Falafel, after the former becomes himself again.
* TheDreaded: Oddly enough, Checklad towards Ctom, especially ''before'' his true colours were revealed, mostly due to Iko managing to keep himself under the radar.
* TheManBehindTheMan: Depends on the point of view of the character, but the possibility of this trope getting into play has always been there for several characters.
* ThePowerOfFriendship: Averted. Season 1 has a great example in both Falafel and Aspiration, as they claimed they'd protect Checklad on day 2 whilst at the same time they both separately plotted his demise.
** The Advocate admits she was afraid this would happen, but she was proven wrong.
* VillainBall: Falafel in season 1, the longer the game goes on, the worse it gets. Cornetto in season 2 is this as well, as he starts to make mistakes he gradually gets worse.
* WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong: Falafel, Ctom ''and'' Aspiration all schemed on day three to get everybody's allegiances changed and Checklad, Insanity and/or Bobemmo killed in the armoury, whilst trying to get almost everybody involved in one way or another. Too bad that Checklad escaped, again; Bobemmo decided the best bet was staying put and Insanity didn't initiateany fights. Note that this was during season 1, where half the time nobody knew what they were doing.
* WildCard: Ctom calls Lishy, or rather his body, this when it comes to trying to figure out his objective:
-->''The real problem is Lishy. He died without accomplishing anything. He is a wildcard, a joker thrown into the deck just to affect the odds.''
* WildMassGuessing: Happens far too often in the game itself, as information is never reliable.
* XanatosSpeedChess: As is bound to happen, but Falafel, Ctom, Checklad and Aspiration attempted to do this the most with one another and others almost every day. It only ever worked out in Ctom's favor.
* YouWakeUpInARoom: The main idea of the game. Don't expect escaping to be the priority here.
----
