Characters across the Detective Grimoire franchise. Since this is a whodunit series, be prepared for spoilers, even in the names of some of the tropes.
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Recurring Characters
Detective Grimoire
Voiced by: Edwyn Tiong
The Protagonist, a snarky and skeptical Detective who has a bad habit of being hatless.- Agent Scully: In Secret of the Swamp, he highly doubts that Boggy exists, let alone committed murder...
- Agent Mulder: ...but in Tangle Tower, he's quick to propose that Freya was murdered by her own painting.
- Book Dumb: Grimoire struggles to understand characters with more scientific areas of expertise and doesn't seem to be joking when he asks if the Pythagoras theorem is a good band.Grimoire: Could you say that again, but, like — condense it? As if you were talking to a slightly stupid person?
- Deadpan Snarker: To Phoenix-worthy levels. Especially true in Secrets of the Swamp, where many of the conversation options you can choose for him are sarcastic quips.Agent Folder: What are you doing?
Option A: I'm writing bad things about you in my notebook.
Option B: I'm doing a drawing of your beautiful face.
Option C: I'm writing in my diary. It's been a long day. - Detectives Follow Footprints: The only footprints are at the murder scene and one other area but the footprints themselves are much more important than the trail of them. Since nobody knows what the creatures feet actually look like until much later.
- Expy: The main character looks like Gumshoe, the developers even note that they explicitly based Grimoire after him.
- Hat of Authority:
- In the first game this trope is inverted. Grimoire doesn't have a hat and everyone's quite willing to point it out, much to his annoyance.
- The second game subverts it in the very beginning of the game where he starts out with a hat...only to have it blow away as soon as they arrive at the bog.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Extremely snarky and a bit vain, but overall wants to help people.
- No Name Given: It's not clear whether Grimoire is a surname or a pseudonym. When Bobby asks if it's his first name in Secret of the Swamp, Grimoire only offers joke responses.
- Perma-Stubble: Has a thin beard that spreads from his chin to his cheeks.
- Private Detective: His occupation, specializing in murder cases.
- Trenchcoat Brigade: Grimoire has shades of this, though he hasn't made the full leap to Occult Detective yet.
Officer James
Voiced by: Josh Tomar
Grimoire's friend and possibly his superior officer, depending on the game. He normally leaves Grimoire be and just waits outside the entrance.- Agent Mulder: In Secret of the Swamp, Officer James easily accepts that Boggy exists and considers him the prime murder suspect.
- Deadpan Snarker: Can certainly be this if Grimoire won't stop bugging him about his mustache.
- Friend on the Force: It's not clear whether James is Grimoire's superior officer or this. If he was Grimoire's superior, the detective has gone his own way in Tangle Tower.
- Old-Fashioned Copper: James seems to fit this quite well, from his cop hat to his English accent and his very impressive mustache.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Will willingly stay out of Grimoire's way, and is equally willing to help if needed.
- Running Gag: Much like Grimoire's hat situation, James' magnificent facial hair just can't be ignored.
- Sequel Non-Entity: James does not return in Tangle Tower. Sally even mentions that she and Grimoire were called to investigate anonymously, unlike in previous games where Grimoire was called by Officer James.
Little Girl
Voiced by: Faye Mata
A mysterious, omnipresent little girl who follows and assists Grimoire on some of his cases.- Ascended Extra: She's more or less there to give you a map and a major hint in the first game, but has a greater presence in the sequel.
- Creepy Child: The fact that she's a little girl at a murder scene adds to the creep factor. And she arguably gets creepier in the second game.
- Fluffy Tamer: The little girl seems to know Boggy a bit more personally then anyone else in the game.
- Free-Range Children: She is always unoccupied and on her own doing her own thing.
- Helpful Hallucination: Grimoire tries to write the little girl off as this when she disappears after helping you in the beginning of the first game. Key word being try.
- Invisible Parents: The little girl's parents are never shown. Grimoire often asks where they are or tells her to go home with them but she never says anything herself about them. It is very ambiguous whether she has any or not.
- It May Help You on Your Quest: The little girl gives you helpful items and hints, including the first two games' Point-and-Click Maps. Her motives for doing so are unclear.
- Just a Kid: Grimoire occasionally treats her as such but is also very aware there is more to her then meets the eye.
- Kid Sidekick: The end of Secret in the Swamp suggests that she'll become this in the sequel, but in Tangle Tower Grimoire has Sally as his sidekick instead, and the little girl doesn't appear at all.
- Little Miss Snarker: She is often very sassy and snarky when addressing Grimoire. "Saw your hat blow through here already, you must be slow... if it wouldn't even wait for you!"
- Mysterious Stranger: Neither Grimoire nor the player know anything about her.
- No Name Given: It's not even clear whether she has one.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: As Grimoire is near the end of solving the case in the second entry, she drops her snarky demeanor and tearfully asks him to not arrest Boggy. She's relieved when Grimoire clarifies he's not arresting the creature.
- Redhead In Green: The little girl has red hair and wears a green dress in both games.
- Sequel Non-Entity: The little girl does not return in Tangle Tower, and no mention is made of her, though her Leitmotif can be heard on occasion — most notably when you receive the Soulbearer toy, seemingly from Freya's ghost.
- Snooping Little Kid: The little girl kind of falls into this trope pretty well. She seems to follow Grimoire around and aid him despite having no reason to be at the crime scene.
- Stealth Hi/Bye: The girl seems to vanish without a trace in both games.
- Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: Not only does this kid hang around murder scenes, she also somehow gathers key pieces of evidence and is completely unsupervised.
- Wise Beyond Their Years: The little girl often gives off a vibe of this. She seems to know much more then she is willing to let on and understands how unfairly Boggy is treated and empathizes with how the land is being invaded upon with the tourist attraction.
Sally Spears
Click for her original appearance.
Voiced by: Amber Lee Connors
A suspect in Secret of the Swamp who becomes Grimoire's partner/sidekick in Tangle Tower.- Agent Scully: She quickly shuts down Grimoire's suggestion that Freya was murdered by her own painting.
- Alliterative Name: Sally Spears
- Ascended Extra: She's just a suspect in Secret of the Swamp, but is a main character in Tangle Tower.
- Characterization Marches On: Sally in Secret of the Swamp is a mostly minor character who is flirty, peppy, and flaunts her beauty. In Tangle Tower she is now a major and much more developed character, being a kind yet grim Jerk with a Heart of Gold who now holds some distaste towards her curvy figure.
- Deadpan Snarker: Constantly. Compared to Grimoire, Sally is very sardonic and almost always speaks in a bored tone.Grimoire: You just... leave your gift shop here when you go?
Sally: No. I put it in my pocket. - Deuteragonist: From Tangle Tower and onwards, Sally shares the spotlight with Grimoire as a team.
- Hartman Hips: Is really broad hipped. Much more noticeable in her Tangle Tower design where they got a bit bigger.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Sally can be a tad rude, especially whenever she teases Grimoire, but she can be quite gentle and respectful to people who deserve it.
- Ms. Fanservice: In Secret of the Swamp, Sally's flirty demeanor, form-fitting outfit, and constant stretching push her into this territory. Averted in Tangle Tower, where none of the above applies.Sally: Look, Detective. When you have legs like mine, you don't want to be wearing disguises.
- Not So Above It All: Compared to Grimoire, Sally is the more professional of the two, but she can play along with his more goofier habits.Grimoire: (interrogating a teddy bear) Don't think you can out of being questioned, just because you're a bear.
Sally: (in a childish voice) I'm innocent, I promise!
Grimoire: Save it for the judge!
Detective Grimoire Supporting Characters
Hugh Everton
- Asshole Victim: Hugh was terrible at his job and wasn't well-liked at the fairground.
- Posthumous Character: He his murdered at the very beginning and is why Gilmore goes to the fairground.
Charles Ringer
- Non-Ironic Clown: In terms of his employ at the Fairground, Charles is literally just a clown hired to entertain kids, and he seems to really like his job. Sadly, they don't tend to respond to him well.
- Monster Clown: The game drops some pretty broad hints that the clown was the murderer. He wasn't, the real killer planted clues in hopes he would be framed.
Mandy Ferrier
- Bookworm: She has many books in her stall she reads to catch up on studying.
- Excuse Me While I Multitask: She will often look into her book when you talk to her as part of her talking sprite loop
Pete Nubhat
The carnival's mechanic.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Pete puts on a front of being a jovial old man. In reality, he harbored a deep enough hatred of Hugh to murder him.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He may be the killer, but he does genuinely care about his niece Mandy, to the point that part of his motivation for the murder was letting Mandy take charge of the funhouse after Hugh's death as she expressed interest in it.
- Evil Old Folks: He's an old man, and also the killer.
- Put on a Prison Bus: At the end of the first game, when Grimoire finishes The Summation, we cut to Pete screaming, and it transitions to him behind bars. Cue credits.
Jerry Spears
- Insistent Terminology: Although it's clearly a joke, when you ask Jerry if he's the cleaner, he'll tell you he prefers the term 'refuse engineer.'
Rick Warrer
A mascot performer at the carnival.
- Goofy Suit: Wears an ugly mascot costume.
- Vocal Dissonance: See above.
Gary Coils
Owner of the carnival.
- Forgetful Jones: To the extent that he forgets he let you in to his own office and demands to know why you're there!
- Trekkie: He left the Fairgrounds early in order to watch the 'Star Explorer' all-night marathon.
Secret of the Swamp Supporting Characters
Bobby Burle
Voiced by: Josh Tomar
- Busman's Holiday: Bobby works as a movie cameraman, but he also has a special hobby... photography. He actually keeps two cameras with him, a professional movie camera for his job, and a smaller instant camera for his hobby.
- Carpet of Virility: Burle has some intense chest hair.
- Face of a Thug: Grimoire notes that he looks imposing, but Burle turns out to be kindhearted and gentle.
- Gentle Giant: The largest and most physically imposing suspect turns out to be the kindest and most cooperative.
- Nice Guy: The least antagonistic and most forthright and cooperative suspect towards Grimoire.
- Punny Name: His last name is pronounced "burl", as in "burly", fitting for his imposing figure.
Edward "Echo" Everstone
Voiced by: Michael Patterson
- Animal Wrongs Group: Says he's fighting to protect Boggy's home but seems more interested in the cartoon character.
- Determinator: According to Echo, he gained that nickname because "I always come back, again and again, until my job is done."
- Dirty Coward: When he killed Remington in self-defense, he went to great lengths to try and cover it up, rather than just confess. And when he is about to be arrested, he tries to run away, only for Boggy to stop him.
- Evil Sounds Deep: Downplayed. He has a deep voice, and he is the killer in this game, but his intentions weren't too evil.
- Fanboy: Echo is a fan of Boggy as a cartoon character more than anything else.
- Hidden in Plain Sight: He wears the torso of the monster costume for the entirety of the game without you realizing until the end. The player assumes it is just a poncho.
- Manchild: He has shades of this. He planned to put on a Boggy costume to scare Remington away, and his drawings for the costume look rather childish. Also, although he is fighting for Boggy's rights, he admits that he mainly likes Boggy for the old cartoons it was featured in.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: His real name is Edward Everstone. "Echo" is just a nickname he picked up because he "always comes back," yet he is referred to as Echo in most conversations and his profile.
- Put on a Prison Bus: After Echo confesses to the crime, he suddenly tries to run away, only to be stopped by Boggy the swamp monster, who is Real All Along. He is then arrested by Officer James.
- Waving Signs Around: This is literally his character sprite.
Agent Folder
Voiced by: Arin Hanson
- Bag of Holding: One of his animations involves him opening up a jacket pocket like a 'filing cabinet drawer.'
- Captain Ersatz: Agent Folder is a play on Fox Mulder (Fo + lder) from the X-Files. Both of them believe in the existence of something that may not exist. A swamp creature for Agent Folder and the paranormal for Fox Mulder.
- Insistent Terminology: It's AGENT!!! Folder.
- Insufferable Genius: He really holds his encyclopedic knowledge of the swamp and Boggy over people.
- It Belongs in a Museum: He will say this exact line if you show him a certain peice of evidence, and Grimoire responds by saying he "Isn't wearing the right hat to be saying that." referencing Indiana Jones and his iconic fedora.
- Mr. Exposition: Folder is more then happy to share the backstory and History of Boggy.
Mr. Harper
Voiced by: Arin Hanson
- Ignorance Is Bliss: Is aware that Richard harbors potentially dark secrets, but willingly chose not to pursue them for the sake of their friendship.
- Nice Guy: Along with Burle, he is completely forthright and cooperative with Grimoire's interrogation.
- Old Friend: Of Richard Remington.
Lady Weybridge
Voiced by: Kimlinh Tran
- Astonishingly Appropriate Appearance: Her design uses a leaf motif, with her hair resembling a big red leaf and her nose being the stem. Fitting for a woman who lives in the swamp.
- I Was Quite a Looker: While she doesn't look terrible now, we see a more beautiful picture of her when she was 20.
- Renaissance Man: She's skilled at fashion design, chemistry, botany...
Richard Remington
- Asshole Victim: Revealed to be part of a secret organization that seeks to hunt cryptids. He built the Boggy's Bog tourist attraction purely to provide himself a means to hunt Boggy in a protected habitat.
- Continuity Nod: Richard's name appears on the family tree in Tangle Tower. He also appears in the photograph of the five Ambassadors of Mystid Manor.
- Gag Nose: He has a massive hooked nose.
- Posthumous Character: Is the murder victim for whom solving his murder is the premise of the game.
Sally Spears
See Recurring Characters above.
Vincent Van De Peer
Voiced by: Josh Tomar
- Every Man Has His Price: He bribed Remington to get permission to film a movie in the swamp.
- Jerkass: He acts rather smug and condescending.
- Prima Donna Director: A film director who is rather egotistical, and views himself as an "artist".
The Explorer
- Adventurer Outfit: His pith helmet can be seen in the Boggy's Bog museum.
- The Ghost: Although the explorer is important to the history of Boggy and the swamp, his image is never shown and his name is never mentioned. The only person to have actually known him is Lady Waybridge.
- No Name Given: Lady Weybridge confirms he has one, but refuses to tell Grimoire.
Tangle Tower Supporting Characters
Freya Fellow
- The Ace: Everyone remarks on Freya's gifts and talents in basically all available spheres. Poppy even notes that Freya could have been better than her at piano if she'd kept practicing, as she had more natural talent.
- Blithe Spirit: Though Freya grew up in Tangle Tower, her distance from the main families and their ties to the house gives her an outsider's perspective that allows her to consider truly leaving Tangle Tower in a way that other characters seemingly can't (compare with Penny's Caged Bird Metaphor, for example).
- The Kirk: Both Fifi and Poppy suggest that Freya was this to their Freudian Trio before her death.
- Posthumous Character: Again, she is the murder victim that provides the premise for the game's murder mystery.
- Teen Genius: Hawkshaw considered her the most intelligent resident of Tangle Tower, and notes that Freya discerned her client and her mission within a day of Hawkshaw's arrival.
- Too Good for This Sinful Earth: Unlike the previous games' victims. Everything Grimoire and Sally learn about Freya point to her being a talented and kindhearted individual who was respected if not outright loved by all residents of Tangle Tower, helping to mellow their Dysfunctional Family aspects.
Flora Fellow
- Floral Theme Naming: Alongside her sister Primrose and niece Poppy.
- The Insomniac: Flora apparently only sleeps an hour at a time.
- Parents as People: It's never suggested that Flora doesn't care about Fifi, but it's clear that between their various communication issues, she and Fifi have never been able to connect.
- The Voiceless: According to other characters, Flora was always a woman of few words, but she only stopped speaking entirely after the loss of her beloved pet.
- Widow's Weeds: Flora only wears black dresses. In-universe, Flora has simply always dressed this way, but given the fact that she's mourning the loss of her pet, her black dress is clearly meant to evoke this trope.
- Younger Than They Look: According to her daughter Fifi, Flora is only forty-four.
Felix Fellow
Voiced by: Doug Stone
Flora's husband. He claims to be a daring explorer, but others suggest he's simply a greedy egotist.- Adventurer Outfit: Felix wears a red cape.
- Bold Explorer / Gentleman Adventurer: Felix fancies himself this...
- Cloudcuckoolander / Miles Gloriosus: ...but he's actually this.
- The Cuckoolander Was Right: Despite Felix's penchant for puffing himself up, Sally's correct when she suggests he knows more than he lets on. Notably, he straight-up tells you what Hawkshaw's after if you present her character profile to him.
- Only in It for the Money: Several characters suggest that Felix only cares about money, and Felix has a few voice lines where he remarks on the apparent value of an object. That said, Felix does care about the glory he associates with being an explorer — he'd just rather obtain it through trophies and other valuable possessions than through actual deeds.
- Shared Family Quirks: Fifi considers Felix a bad father because "He has trouble expressing his emotions... and something of a willful detachment from reality." When Grimoire suggests that makes them similar, Fifi agrees.
- Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: Felix dislikes the Pointer family, and Percival in particular.
Fiona "Fifi" Fellow
Voiced by: Sarah Anne Williams
Flora and Felix's teenage daughter, and a friend of Freya and Poppy. Microbiologist. Inventor. Innovator.- Affectionate Nickname: She prefers to be called "Fifi" instead of Fiona because that's what Freya called her.
- Child Prodigy: She's a little too old for the label now but she mentions building her first microscope at age 10 and designing a custom lens device for herself at 12.
- Hates Small Talk: Per Fifi herself, she dislikes "the superfluous window-dressing accompanying the majority of human contact."
- Insufferable Genius: Fifi has shades of this— she's definitely intelligent but has No Social Skills, having an intense dislike for most interaction with others. She also initially claims she's above suspicion and presses Grimoire about not having formed a hypothesis about the murder after twenty-three minutes at Tangle Tower.
- Labcoat of Science and Medicine: Howie-style — and seemingly handmade, given its numerous patches.
- No Social Skills: See Hates Small Talk above.
- Omnidisciplinary Scientist: In Fifi's words, "My studies cannot be categorized in any one recognized field."
- Teen Genius: She's a brilliant nineteen year old whose been fascinated with microbiology since the age of ten.
- The Spock: To Poppy's McCoy and Freya's Kirk.
- Shared Family Quirks: Fifi considers Felix a bad father because "He has trouble expressing his emotions... and something of a willful detachment from reality." When Grimoire suggests that makes them similar, Fifi agrees.
- Shorter Means Smarter: Fifi is tiny — her character model is easily half the height of every other character in the game — and easily the most intelligent character by everyone else's estimation.
- Smart People Wear Glasses: And design them themselves, no less.
Fitz Fellow
Voiced by: Josh Tomar
Fifi's cousin, and the gardener of Tangle Tower. Fitz cuts an imposing figure, but in reality he's quite shy.- Caring Gardener
- Gentle Giant: He doesn't have a mean bone in his body and he'll break down a door if he thinks someone's in trouble.
- The Quiet One: The guy blends into the scenery, only noticeable in the greenhouse by his bright eyes.
Detective Hawkshaw
Voiced by: Tiana Camacho
A stern private detective hired to investigate Tangle Tower for mysterious reasons.- Awesome McCoolname: So awesome, Sally considers becoming her sidekick instead of Grimoire's.
- Deadpan Snarker: Hawkshaw is not impressed with Detective Grimoire, and she's quick to let him know.
- Not So Above It All: Despite her disdain toward Grimoire, one of her theories about who killed Freya, that being the painting itself, is exactly the same as his. She defensively notes that she's supposed to explore every avenue of a case.
- Private Detective: Hawkshaw claims to have solved no less than three hundred and fourteen cases, much to Grimoire's amazement.
Professor Percival Pointer
Voiced by: John Mondelli
The patriarch of the Pointer family. The Professor is as obsessed with astronomy as he is with outdoing the Fellows. Actually, he's not as interested in astrology as he claims...- The Hilarity of Hats: It's not exactly clear what Professor Pointer is wearing on his head, but it certainly supports his characterization as a nutty professor.
- Jerkass: Though both Felix and Pointer keep the feud between their families going, Pointer is far more directly nasty about it- to the extent that he refers to Fitz exclusively as "the gardener" and makes clear his intent to disown Penny once she marries into the Fellow family.
- Lack of Empathy: Absolutely blind to the complicated feelings of the Fellow family or his own family. Even after spying on Flora and Freya for days, he's completely unaware that Flora's pet bird has died, despite how heavy its loss has been on her.
- Last-Name Basis: He is sometimes referred to as simply "Pointer" in dialogue and on his character profile, even though he's just one member of the Pointer family.
- Parental Neglect: Barely seems to acknowledge that he's also supposed to be raising Penny and he only brings up Poppy to brag about his daughter's talents.
- Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: Pointer hates the Fellow family, and Felix in particular. This drives him to search desperately for the Golden Beetle, to profit off of it by breeding enough of them to increase Poppy's inheritance.
Poppy Pointer
Voiced by: Faye Mata
Professor Pointer's teenage daughter, and a friend of Freya and Fifi.- Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: If purple can be considered brunette. When Grimoire and Sally first meet her, they wonder if she's a ghost.
- The Eeyore: She's got a cynical worldview and isn't particularly subtle about it.
- Girlygirl: Preteen Poppy preferred a very pink, very girly style.
- Looks Like Cesare: She has long dark hair and prominent dark shadows under her eyes.
- Old Shame: An old picture reveals pre-teenage Poppy to have been a big fan of bright pink and cute stickers. She -and everyone else at Tangle Tower- will deny this when confronted with the picture.
- The McCoy: To Fifi's Spock and Freya's Kirk.
- Talented, but Trained: When her piano skills are remarked on, Poppy notes that she's put in thirteen years of dedicated practice.
Penelope "Penny" Pointer
Voiced by: Tiana Camacho
Professor Pointer's niece. Twenty-something, Aquarius, loves to travel, and nearly all of her friends are birds.- Animal Motifs: Penny adores birds, to the extent of identifying with them and dressing like them.
- Caged Bird Metaphor: Though Penny states that she has traveled and is portrayed as somewhat... well, flighty, it's clear that she feels both tethered to and isolated at Tangle Tower.
- The Beautiful Elite: In addition to her looks and style, Penny makes a point of emphasizing her jet-setting lifestyle and her engagement to Fitz.
- The Fashionista: Opens by complimenting Sally on her hair, dresses in an impossibly stylish bird-themed ensemble, and becomes dramatically incensed at being shown a cassette tape combining three different shades of pink.
- Hartman Hips: Penny's waist is barely wider than her arms, in stark contrast to her exaggerated hips.
- Head Pet: Penny has a bird she wears as a hat and apparently thinks of as an article of clothing — she doesn't even deign to name it.
- Impossibly Cool Clothes: Her sleeves aren't just shaped like bird wings — they move like them, too, and somehow don't impede her ability to use her hands at all.
- Insecure Love Interest: Penny has a hard time trying to hide her jealousy that Poppy understands Fitz far better than she does.
- Hypocrite: She angsts loudly about Fitz's seemingly uncaring attitude, but she blatantly doesn't understand exactly how heartfelt Fitz's flower present really was.
- Lonely Rich Kid: If asked about Penny, Felix will note that between her biological parents' abandonment and Professor Pointer's neglect, she had a lonely childhood. Even as an adult, it's obvious that Penny lacks companionship at Tangle Tower.Sally: ...can [the birds] not feed themselves?
Penny: Of course! And they often do. But I think they just like the company. ...As do I. - The Resenter: Penny clearly resents Poppy for her musical talent, Pointer's favoritism, and Fitz's drifting attention.
The Killer (Unmarked Spoilers Ahead)
A.K.A. Penelope Pointer/Detective Hawkshaw
Voiced by: Tiana Camacho
The true mastermind behind both Penny Pointer and Detective Hawkshaw, Penelope is determined to make her own way in the world, and to use the Mystids to do it.- All for Nothing: She killed Freya to hide evidence of her Mystid plans, only to lose the Mystid beetle and have her plans exposed. Perhaps more tragically, she's no closer to finding her own purpose than before, still chasing after the dreams of her relatives.
- Always Second Best: Penelope feels that she's been outshone by everyone else at Tangle Tower and that her personal growth was stunted by it. This feeling is what propels to find her missing family members.
- Breaking Old Trends: She has quite a few "firsts" for a villain in this series:
- She is the first female villain.
- She is the first villain who is not captured and arrested, but rather, escapes.
- She is the first villain to use two different personas as a disguise.
- If she really is a Self-Made Orphan, then she would be the first villain to kill more than one person.
- Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: Penelope left Tangle Tower not only to find her missing relatives, but also to find her place in the world. She hoped she would belong with them. In her words, "I felt there must be a reason why everyone else left. Some common purpose they all shared. Perhaps it could be my purpose, too."
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Penelope states that many of the more theatrical details of Freya's murder — knocking out Flora with the golden beetle, distracting Fifi and Poppy with the painting of the bloody knife — were plans to spare her relatives from excess pain.
- Freudian Excuse: When Penelope finally met her missing relatives, she realized they weren't any more self-actualized than the people she'd left behind at Tangle Tower. She returned home disillusioned, but also even more curious about the Mystids — setting in motion the events that will lead to Freya's murder.
- Insistent Terminology: Penelope demands that Grimoire refer to her by her full name, rather than by Penny. She even distances herself from "Penny" altogether, treating her as a retired persona rather than somebody she actually was.
- Karma Houdini: Downplayed. She manages to escape arrest, her whereabouts now being completely unknown to the others. But she ultimately failed to keep her plans a secret, lost the Mystid beetle, and is no closer to finding a purpose in life than she was before.
- No Sympathy: For all her despair over her purpose in life, she doesn't have much to offer her family. She mocks the other Tangle Tower residents as people who haven't "self-actualized" and cling to shallow pursuits rather than exploring the world. She acknowledges that Freya would have left, but ignores Poppy and Fifi's own interests in leaving. Her opinion of Fitz, her fiance, goes entirely unmentioned in her Motive Rant. Her above-mentioned Even Evil Has Loved Ones example indicates this may not be as true as she claims.
- Self-Made Orphan: Sally makes a pointed but indirect accusation that Penelope's reunion with her parents was just as murderous as her attack on Freya. Penelope refuses to elaborate.
- Significant Double Casting: Tiana Camacho is the only actor who voices two characters in the game. Turns out, it's because they were the same person all along.
