Characters / Eternal Darkness

These are the characters that appear in Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem, and the year in which their chapters are set if applicable.

Expect unmarked spoilers!

The Humans

Alexandra Roivas - A.D. 2000

A Death... ...in the Family

"Well, you'd better find out who did this. I'm not leaving Rhode Island until you do."

Voiced by Jennifer Hale

A college student majoring in abstract mathematics at a Washington university. She is called early one morning and informed of her grandfather's murder in Rhode Island, immediately setting out to investigate the cause of his death.

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• Action Girl: If not at the beginning, she at least has the potential to be this, being very quick and in good shape. By the end, she gained at least some of eleven different people's fighting experience, including the spells they know, and dueled with a lich over two thousand years old.
• Backup from Otherworld: Alex's fight against Pious was taking a severe toll on her sanity, so almost everybody who had died possessed her in order to take one last swing at the chosen artifact Pious is using against her. The only one who doesn't possess Alex is Edward Roivas. That's because he ends up defeating the Ancient Alex had unleashed.
• Badass Bookworm: She's working towards a degree in abstract mathematics. Like Grandfather, Like Granddaughter, really.
• Bath Suicide: A one time sanity effect, where she sees herself lying in a bathtub full of blood. It's not sure if the screaming was part of the hallucination, or her own.
• Dreaming of Things to Come: The game begins with a sepia-tinted dream of Alex trapped in a bedroom, shooting regenerating zombies with a shotgun; the only way out is blocked by an asylum door. She later uses the pickax to break into the same room inside the Roivas mansion, as it had been walled up over the centuries.
• Evil Phone: Another one time sanity effect. The ghost of her grandfather answers before hanging up.
• Expy: Of Buffy Summers.
• Improbable Use of a Weapon: She's not the only person to throw a sword, but she's the only person the player can use who can reliably use one as a projectile, provided you set up the delivery of the second gladius.
• Improbable Weapon User: Defied. She sees the pickax as being too cumbersome to wield as a weapon.
• Jack of All Stats: Decent health, magic, and sanity pools make her good at everything. But none of her pools are the game's largest, either.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall: At the end of the second path, Alex feels that a hole has opened in her mind and she has a sense of her "strong ally", but doesn't know who it is^*  Due to the fact the cosmic horrors don't experience time the same way humans do, Alex is her own "strongest ally. The best ending of the game sees all three ancients defeat each other simultaneously thanks to her efforts. She also remarks that her work is not yet done.
• Lightning Bruiser: Alex has only average health, but her sanity and magick meters are both generously-sized. Her magick refills twice as fast as other characters, she moves quickly, and she has access to a wide variety of good weapons by the end of the game. She has the harshes sanity drain, however, and sanity periodically drains as the game goes on and she collects more pages of the tome.
• Magic Knight: Has a reliable melee weapon, a strong firearm, and access to the game's Infinity +1 Sword, and her speedy magick replenishment ensures she doesn't have to go long without spellcasting. And while she doesn't have the smallest amount of sanity, it depletes faster than every other character (which makes sense considering the Lovecraftian nature of the story and how she's spent a good week or longer reading the Tome of Eternal Darkness).
• Meaningful Name:
  • The name Alexandra means "The helper and defender of Mankind", fitting as she is the last of the chosen, and the one to defeat Pious.
  • Combined with Sdrawkcab Name. Roivas → Savior.
• The Musketeer: Alex has access to one of the best guns in the game and a good pistol to complement it but needs to use a sword in parts of the game's final battle. In her possession, the Enchanted Gladius is the best weapon in the game but her guns still have their uses.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Screams this almost verbatim after killing Pious and allowing the Ancient of the alignment you've cleared get destroyed... by its rival (another Ancient), whom Alex herself released into our dimension. She freaks out as she sees horrible visions of the future, where the Ancient she's released is ripping humanity a new one.
• Nested Story: Every other character's chapters are explored from within her own chapter.
• Patrick Stewart Speech: Done before the final battle; Pious just laughs it off.
  Pious: Ahhh! Miss Roivas! You're just in time. The summoning spell I began 2000 years ago is finally complete. You will now have the honor of becoming the first morsel for <my Ancient> — an appetizer for the banquet your race shall provide.
  Alex: You forget what it means to be human, Pious! The human race will never go quietly into the darkness! For as long as you have spent summoning your lord, people have struggled against you! Now, thanks to their efforts, I have three of the Ancients' essences! Now, Pious, this is the end!
  Pious: Hahaha, the end, indeed!
• Raised by Grandparents: After her parents died, Edward raised her.
• Secret Legacy: There's quite a bit she doesn't know about her family before the game.
• Sword of Plot Advancement: She needs to find a gladius to unlock certain passage ways. She can later be delivered another that renders it largely redundant, but if she doesn't get the optional second sword then she still needs the first to weaken the final boss.
• Tank-Top Tomboy: Wears a low-cut tanktop, and has very few feminine traits.
• Throwing Your Sword Always Works: If it is an enchanted gladius anyway.
• Tomboyish Ponytail: It actually makes her look like a slightly less fantastic take on Samus Aran. This is amusing, given Jennifer Hale voiced both characters and Alex had the look and voice before Samus.
• Took a Level in Badass: She goes from a college student/mathematician who just ended up tangled up in the business of the Ancients to mowing down zombies with a shotgun (or other firearm of choice), and finally killing Cthulhu's Dragon with a little help from ghosts of past Chosen and possibly an enchanted gladius.

Dr. Edward Roivas - A.D. 1952

A Legacy of Darkness

"The Guardians grow restless. Their time once again near. Whether by fate or misfortune, my family has crossed their path...and they didn't take kindly to it."

Voiced by Neil Dickson

Alex's grandfather. A clinical psychologist who inherited the Roivas mansion. His death guides Alex's story.

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• Back from the Dead: Multiple times as visions or one time sanity effects. But unlike the others who come back to take revenge on Pious, he does not participate in the fight and instead seals the can Alex opened.
• Badass Bookworm: It was either that or die. He has low running stamina and is not very quick but turns out to be a good shot.
• BFG: The Elephant Gun. You have 3 guesses as to what it was designed to take down. If not properly braced, the recoil will knock you flat on your back. And damn does it pack one hell of a punch. And that's before you enchant it. Enchanted, it has a decent chance of scoring a One-Hit Kill on pretty much any enemy.
• Booze-Based Buff: He has a flask of "Liquid Courage" to restore sanity. Might also double as Bottled Heroic Resolve.
• Cool Old Guy: Though Alex's hallucinations sometimes say otherwise, his actual ghost is cool enough.
• Crazy-Prepared: He tore out certain pages from the Tome of Eternal Darkness and hid them throughout the mansion just so that his granddaughter could find them in the correct order, just in case Alex would have to pick up where he had left off.
• Forgets to Eat: According to Alex, if you examine the kitchen.
• Glass Cannon: Edward has access to two of the most powerful guns in the game: the double shotgun and the elephant gun. His magick and sanity meters are also large, but he ties for the smallest health meter in the game. Do not let him get hit by a Horror or a powerful Magickal Attack unless he has a shield in place.
• Gratuitous French: He refers to the Ancient's essence provided by Peter as "an unusual objet d'art."
• Jerkass: One scene has him reveal he is annoyed that Alex didn't die alongside her parents and he had to raise her because of it. Averted, It's just a hallucination.
• Magic Knight: With his low health meter, the "shield" and "pool" spells are very helpful for his combat heavy chapter. It is almost required to abuse them in a Chattur'gha game (as things do more damage).
• Mission Control Is Off Its Meds: As he appears to Alex, he slowly becomes more hostile to her. Subverted when it turns out to be hallucinations, then a projection of Pious in disguise.
• The Musketeer: He has some powerful adversaries, so you will want to use the sword on the weaker ones to make sure you have enough ammo when you get to them.
• My Death Is Only The Beginning: The ending of his chapter implies that he was fully aware that the Ancient was going to kill him, yet allowed it to happen anyway to further his plan to counter Pious' plan.
• Nightmare Fetishist: Of a sort; he was actually excited to study his family's history of mental illness and thoroughly committed himself to studying the Tome of Eternal Darkness.
• Off with His Head!: The corpse and the detective's analysis on the crime scene at the beginning of the game, as well as the scene where he is killed before it blacks out in the end of his chapter, strongly implies that the Lovecraftian monster that does him in did so by tearing his head off and eating it.
• Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: Neil Dickson, who is English, rather oversells Edward's American accent, rolling his Rs way more than any American would.
• Outliving One's Offspring: Both of Alex's parents died before Edward (the father of one of them) did; the detective refers to Alex as Edward's "only living relative," which means that if he had any other children, he outlived them too. The casual manner in which Edward's "ghost" delivers the line "...ever since they were killed..." makes that particular sanity effect extremely creepy.
• Plot-Triggering Death: He provides the page quote.
• Posthumous Narration: As he himself mentions, though his letters already point out the fact he is, so it could be his writings voiced over for flavor rather than him literally talking
• Secret Legacy: Enforced according to him since he says they are just pawns for Mantorok.
• Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: His narrations - fitting, given that he is narrator to a Lovecraftian horror story. Humorously, he drops it at one point for Buffy Speak to let Alex know which rune to use.
• The Shrink: Type 3 (Awesome Shrink) based on his Eldritch Abomination-fighting skills, it's implied that Peter Jacob saw him for treatment.
• So Proud of You: To Alex in the endgame.
• Spirit Advisor: While all of the Chosen who die serve as this to some extent at the very end of the game, Edward appears to Alex at times as she reads chapters in the Tome of Eternal Darkness, at first with comforting words, but then he gets increasingly creepy; by the end, he sounds exactly like Pious.
• Squishy Wizard: Good magic and sanity, and his "Liquid Courage" restores his sanity. However, he can't take many hits.
• Trademark Favorite Drink: He's a port man, the item description for his refillable hip flask even calls it "scarlet rush."

Pious Augustus - 26 B.C.

The Chosen One

^{Click here to see Pious before becoming the lich} 

"Face me and you shall surely perish."

Voiced by Richard Doyle

A Roman Centurion tasked with locating a magickal artifact for his emperor. Upon finding it within the Forbidden City, he is corrupted and becomes a lich, allied with one of the three Ancients who seek to dominate the planet. He spends the next two millennia preparing a summoning spell to bring his Ancient to this dimension.

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• Badass Boast: Gives a different one for each path after touching his Ancient's artifact. He always begins and ends it with the same lines, with the difference below depending the on path.
  Pious: Aeons have passed since then, and I have learned much...
  • For Chattur'gha:
    Chattur'gha's power filled me, invigorating my dead body. With a touch, I could level buildings, rend the ground asunder, and channel power such as mortal men could only dream.
  • For Xel'lotath:
    I was once as naive as a child, but now my mind is sharp. With the power of Xel'lotath, I can now read the thoughts of others, and make them raving mad with a mere suggestion.
  • For Ulyaoth:
    All at once I understood. The forces of the multiverse all made sense, under the transcending power of Ulyaoth. No mountain too high. No city too far.
  • Regardless of the specifics, it ends thus:
    Face me, and you shall surely perish!
• Badass Normal: Trapped in an ancient underground temple with zombies after his hide? This centurion just picks up his sword and starts cutting a path right through them, and with absolutely no help from the Tome of Eternal Darkness!
• Big First Choice: Which of the Ancients' essences he attempts to claim dictates which Ancient he serves for the remainder of that playthrough.
• Chessmaster Sidekick: He becomes one in the timeline where Chattur'gha is the Big Bad. The latter, a millennia-old eldritch being who exists outside of space and time, definitely isn't dumb by human standards, but, being a god of physical strength and matter, isn't the schemer that the other Ancients are and prefers to just use his powers to brute force through any opposition, since, by his belief, that's all he should need to win a battle. Pious, a trained soldier and skilled commander, knows differently, so while Chattur'gha empowers Pious to do his bidding, Pious handles most of the planning and strategy. The only reason Pious is still a minion is because Chattur'gha and the Black Guardian boss him around regardless.
• The Dragon: To the Ancient whose artifact he is empowered by. While his interactions with them vary based on which one he serves, Pious always acts as their servant trying to bring them into reality in return for the power and immortality they bestow upon him.
• Dragon Their Feet: Pious is killed by Alex shortly after whichever Ancient he is serving is killed in battle with the Ancient Alex summons.
• Dragon with an Agenda: On Xel'otath's route, at least. If her assessment of him is any indication, that is. The fact he's implied to choose a different Ancient in each of the timelines set by Mantorok indicates he's far more interested in the power that comes with serving an Ancient, rather than true loyalty.
• Dude, Where's My Respect?: All of the Ancients treat him like crap, no matter how vital he is to their plans. Specifically, Chattur'gha thinks Pious' plans are unnecessary nitpicking, Ulyaoth reduced him to a groveling ass kisser, and working with someone with a split personality would be trying for anybody as shown with Xel'lotah, who also enjoys reading his mind. This is somewhat subverted, as Pious is rarely shown complaining about his masters' less-than-ideal treatment. Indeed, he seems to understand that it's par for the course when you serve an Ancient.
• Evil Gloating: Pious is a huge fan of this. So much so, that he even gloats to Mantorok! Mantorok pays him back for this on Edwin Lindsey's route, though.
• Evil Is Hammy: Just listen to his monologue towards the victims for the Pillar of Flesh at the end of Roberto's chapter.
• Evil Makes You Ugly: Being transformed into a lich probably didn't help, either.
• Face–Heel Turn: It's implied he was one of the Chosen meant to fight the Ancients. One of the things he does in his level is destroy a statue of himself. Said statue, now destroyed, shows up at the start of every chapter alongside statues of the other Chosen.
• Final Boss: He's the last foe you face in the game. Unless you intentionally let him get eaten by Mantorok zombies at the beginning of the game.
• First-Episode Twist: His Face–Heel Turn is the twist of the first chapter, and he goes on to become The Heavy for the remainder of the game.
• From Nobody to Nightmare: He starts off as a random Roman mook and quickly becomes the personal harbinger of a world-eating Eldritch Abomination.
• Glamour Failure:
  • Just before the beginning of Roberto's chapter, some random knight sees through Pious' disguise. Pious congratulates him, then has him used as the foundation of the pillar of flesh.
  • It happens again later when Alex sees that he was really appearing to her in the guise of Edward.
• Hearing Voices: Disembodied voices call him to the ritual stones which transport him to the Forbidden City. Another one utters his name inside.
• The Heavy: The Ancient he serves may be the Big Bad, but Pious is the one who makes the threat of their arrival possible and oversees all of their plans leading up to their summoning.
• Hero Killer: Despite the high fatality rate of Chosen throughout the story, Pious is only personally responsible for three of them: Ellia (who "survives" as a vessel for Mantorok's Heart), Roberto, and Edward (who he instructed a Lesser Guardian to assassinate). Everyone else either survives their chapter or is killed by someone/something else.
• Heroic Spirit: Pious is the only playable character who completely lacks a Sanity Meter. This is later subverted thanks to his Face–Heel Turn.
• Implacable Man: For the large majority of the game the only thing that even hurts him is direct assault from an Ancient. So he takes his time.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: How Alex finishes him off.
• Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: Manages to miss Lindsey every damn time. But then again, he is an Imperial Stormtrooper.
• Louis Cypher: Be very afraid if you meet someone called Paul/Phillipe Augustine...
• Lightning Bruiser: During his playable chapter he can run for days, take a hit, and pack a punch despite having no magic abilities.
• Meaningful Name: 'Pious' is an adjective meaning 'devoutly religious'. Pious' entire role in the story is being slavishly devoted to an evil god.
• Mighty Glacier: As the final boss. He shuffles rather slowly, but his staff and his spells hit really hard.
• My Death Is Just the Beginning: He's the Trope Namer. Considering that the Ancient that Alex summoned to smite his was gearing up to rip humanity a new one, he might have been on to something.
• Nerves of Steel: Pious is the only character without a sanity bar. In gameplay terms, this essentially means that when terrifying undead monsters rise up to fight him, he is immune to their attacks on his mind and simply begins killing them without a second thought. Being a Roman Centurion (and thus the only career soldier among the playable characters) might help with this.
• Our Liches Are Different: He requires no Soul Jar (unless the essence of the Ancient he serves counts), was transformed into his monstrous form right away, and he can talk just fine.
• Puzzle Boss: His final fight comes with several caveats that make things a bit tricky if Alex doesn't have the Enchanted Gladius. He can't be damaged at all unless Alex's weapon is enchanted, and at first, hitting him just reveals his Ancient's essence, which must then be attacked, going back and forth while Alex also channels the past Chosen until the essence is destroyed. Then you're free to whale on him until he goes down.
• Red Right Hand: Pious' disguised forms all have sickly grey skin (when you can see the skin, anyway) and Creepy Blue Eyes.
• Shout-Out: Lining up with the fact that Edwin Lindsey is an Indiana Jones expy, Pious' disguised form in Lindsey's chapter resembles a fancier, paler version of Arnold Toht.
• Soul Jar: The Essence of the Ancient that he chose ends up being the source of his power and immortality - once Alex shatters it, a lot of his strength goes with it.
• Start of Darkness: He is the first character in the tome you play as, and in it, you witness him set the plot in motion by getting lichified.
• Still Wearing the Old Colors: He continues wearing his old centurion armor after being lichified, although it's been scorched to a deathly black.
• Teleporters and Transporters: He has the ability to teleport himself short distances, as if he was passing through the trapper dimension.
• Transhuman Treachery: He can condemn humanity to the fate it will suffer under his master because he seems to think he will be exempt from it. Or, at the very least, he understands that he's bound to his Ancient now, and there's no going back.
• The Undead: He is transformed into a lich after messing with one of the Ancient artifacts.
• Unwitting Pawn: For Mantorok. His statue, broken as it may be, is still enshrined within the Tome's hallway for a reason.
• Yes-Man: To Ulyaoth. He submits to the Ancient's commands and orders without question. On the other hand, if Xel'lotath's right about him planning to backstab her, his submissiveness towards Ulyaoth could be an act.

Ellia - A.D. 1150

The Binding of the Corpse God

"I only wish something that fantastic and of higher purpose could happen to me."

Voiced by Kim Mai Guest

A young Khmer slave girl who longs to be part of something greater after reading what she believes are just myths and tales from the Tome. She finds herself trapped within a temple and searches for a way out.

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• And I Must Scream: Pious "kills" her after she doesn't respond to his demand that she hand over the essence of Mantorok entrusted to her. Its presence absorbed inside her keeps her conscious as she spends almost a millennium guarding it as a rotting shell, until she can pass it to another Chosen (Lindsey).
• Back from the Dead: In the final boss fight against Pious.
• Badass Normal: Despite acquiring the Tome, she has no magical ability whatsoever. She's still quite competent with her sword and a blowpipe.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: She wanted adventure and got it.
• Blowgun: With 100 poisoned darts, a blowgun is the replacement to her short sword. However, you can use it to get the sword fixed if you are quick enough and thus be a sort of medieval musketeer equivalent.
• Dare to Be Badass: Her last words before the death of her physical body are demands for action and combat
• Fragile Speedster: Her movements are quick and her stamina is good, but her health meter is tiny. Thankfully, actually engaging enemies is mostly unnecessary in her chapter.
• Good Counterpart: To Pious, given her undead state when she beseeches Lindsey to reclaim the Heart of Mantorok.
• Irony: Compare her dying scene with her introductory one.
• I Just Want to Be Special: She laments her lot in life and wishes for a greater purpose. See above...
• Kid Hero: Word of God says that Ellia was originally supposed to be about 13, but due to possible backlash over having someone so young being gruesomely killed, she was aged up to 16.
• Kill the Cutie: It's more complicated than that. See Miles to Go Before I Sleep, but she paid a nasty price for an innocent wish for adventure.
• Kukris Are Kool: It's referred to as a "Short Sword", but it's the same model as Lindsey's kukri.
• The Load: She can't actively cast spells outside of using an enchanted amulet a finite number of times to heal herself, and her health and magick meters are both tiny. In addition, she can permanently lose her only decent weapon, the Short Sword, if you fail to save an NPC, a task which varies from difficult (Chattur'gha) to nigh-impossible (Ulyaoth) if you don't know what you're doing.
• Magical Accessory: She finds a "Strange Necklace" in the temple which bestows limited charges of healing magic.
• Miles to Go Before I Sleep: She was conscious the entire time she held Mantorok's essence. 800+ years before she could lay down her burden.
• Most Writers Are Writers: A twelfth century slave girl being able to read is highly unlikely, much less one having ownership of a book. Then again, given the eldritch nature of the book, it's very possible that the book simply gave her the ability to read it. It also gave Alex the ability to understand it, and it can be read equally well by all the Chosen, no matter their native language.
• Ms. Fanservice: Justified, as she's a slave girl.
• Nothing Exciting Ever Happens Here: Needless to say her boredom is very quickly dispelled.
• Stripperiffic: Ellia isn't exactly dressed for the occasion. Possibly justified, given that she is a slave, though traditionally the costumes for Cambodian dancers aren't actually revealing.
• The Undead: Mantorok's Heart grants her unlife within a rotted husk of a body after her death at Pious' hands, and she only truly passes on once she has given the Heart to Lindsey.
• Wrecked Weapon: Her blade after a fall through a secret passage. It's repairable if you save the right NPC before the zombies kill him.

Anthony - A.D. 814

Suspicions of Conspiracy

"What sorcery is this?! A spell? I am bewitched! If this was meant for Charlemagne... then what will become of him?! I have to warn him of this treachery!"

Voiced by Cam Clarke

A Frankish page who is tasked with delivering an urgent message to Emperor Charlemagne. Driven by curiosity to read the scroll himself, he sees that it contains a curse which gradually corrupts him. He takes it upon himself to warn the emperor of the plot against him.

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• And I Must Scream: After his chapter's close, he goes on to spend nearly 700 years imprisoned in the room that he drops "dead" in, with the curse wearing on and on - and keeping him "alive" enough to go completely out of his mind until he receives a Mercy Kill from Paul.
• Auto-Revive: Thanks to the curse, he cannot die. Not in his own chapter, anyway.
• Back from the Dead: In the final boss fight against Pious. But before he serves as an enemy against Paul. If you picked up the BFS in Anthony's chapter, you'll be able to reclaim it, alongside the MacGuffin in his eye socket.
• Battle Butler: Taken upon himself.
• BFS: The two-edged sword. Even a scrawny messenger can cleave a zombie in half with it. And he'd better get it if you want Paul to have access to it later.
• Break the Cutie: He gets cursed at his chapter's start out of nosiness, and his sheer doggedness to warn Charlemagne has him enduring the effects of being zombified alive and forcing himself through... only to finally find that it was in vain, the conspirators decided not to wait up, and Charlemagne was dead before he could make it. As Paul's chapter reveals, it did not stop then and there with apparent Kill the Cutie.
• Despair Event Horizon: At lower levels of sanity, between psychological and physical trauma, it's clear he's barely hanging on - and the fact that on top of it his chapter concludes with him finding out in the hardest way that for it all he was doomed to fail and too late to protect Charlemagne prior to a presumable 671 years in isolation may be partly to blame for his mindlessly attacking when Paul comes along.
• Determinator: Even after 600 years, what's left of him is still trying to warn Charlemagne.
• Eye Scream: One of the gemstones needed for a puzzle in Paul's chapter is lodged inside of Anthony's eye socket. The ruby, more specifically.
• Failure Is the Only Option: His efforts to save Charlemagne are doomed to fail. Even though he inadvertently takes the curse intended for his Emperor, the conspirators have already assassinated him by the time Anthony reaches him.
• Go Mad from the Isolation: Presumably why he attempts to kill you as Paul, since he still is under the delusion that he is trying to warn the long-dead Charlemagne. Justified, given that he has been in an And I Must Scream state for hundreds of years.
• Heroes Prefer Swords: Wields a scramasax as his default weapon, and he can get a two-edged sword from a monk later if you save him.
• I Cannot Self-Terminate: You can try to get Anthony killed for as long as you like throughout his chapter, but whenever his health reaches zero the curse kicks in and restores it. He's permanently put down by Paul many years later.
• Impeded Messenger: Which seems to bother him for the rest of his (un)life.
• Kiai: Has a distinctive one when he swings a weapon. It's yelpy, befitting his probable lack of any personal combat experience.
• The Klutz: Though in fairness, it's thanks to the decaying effects of the curse.
• Lightning Bruiser: He has average to above average meters in all three main stats, the second-best melee weapon in the game, and the curse will also revive him from death if he is killed.
• Mighty Glacier: As the curse progresses, his walking speed tanks. However, the curse means he can't die, so he can take as many hits as necessary.
• Only One Name: You'd think someone with access to such a powerful king would have something to set him apart from every other Anthony.
• Pretty Boy: At his chapter's start, at least - by the end, a lot less so.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: As listed under Eye Scream above, he has the ruby lodged into his eye-socket, and is encountered as a boss in Paul's chapter.
• Sacrificial Lion: Though he lives longer than one would expect for this trope he basically exists to show that the bone thieves are screwing up politics.
• Throwing Your Sword Always Works: His scramasax finishing move until the curse progresses, then he just bends over and stabs them.
• The Undead: The curse seems to be having this effect on him. More and more obviously to the end of his chapter.
• Undying Loyalty: As literally as possible.
• Walking Spoiler: Somewhat. The Reveal that he doesn't actually die at the end of his chapter and is later encountered as a miniboss tends to smack some spoiler tags on his folder.
• You Got Murder: The cursed scroll.
• Zombify the Living: What the curse does, in a nutshell. Anthony falls to his knees as the curse wears at his body, becoming more and more corpse-like while also rendering him unable to die. The process is agonizing, if Anthony's voice clips are any indication.

Karim - A.D. 565

The Gift of Forever

"The things I do for love..."

Voiced by Rino Romano

A Persian warrior who is sent to find an artifact to present to his beloved Chandra in return for her affections. Like Pious, he finds himself transported to the Forbidden City, guided into its depths towards the remaining artifact.

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• Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: His accusations against Chandra at the end of his chapter: "You lied to me! Betrayed me! And you really don't look so good anymore."
• Back from the Dead: In the final boss fight against Pious. And before that, he stayed in the lair as a guardian of the cursed objects alongside his lover.
• BFS: The good old Ram Dao, which is capable of killing even Horrors with a single hit if properly enchanted.
• Blade Across The Shoulder: Holds that Ram Dao like he has had it his whole life.
• Dogged Nice Guy: His chapter takes place during an attempt to impress the girl he loves. So much for that.
• Deadpan Snarker: Has a couple of lines that come off as dryly making fun of his circumstances.
• Dual Wielding: His Tulwars, if you choose to take a second one.
• Hearing Voices: Like Pious before him.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Gives up his life to spend the next millennium guarding the Artifact from the Ancients. The things he does for love.
• Kiss of Death: Goes out this way.
• Lightning Bruiser: He has only average magick and sanity (and his sanity will quickly drop considering the amount of Bonethieves in the level), but Karim ties for the largest health bar in the game, has high running stamina and speed, and the Ram Dao is obscenely powerful.
• Love Makes You Dumb: Even after he found out that Chandra had two-timed him and gotten herself killed, and the only way he could be with her was by getting himself killed as well, he still took her Kiss of Death.
• Magical Accessory: He brought a Talisman with him that functions the same way as Ellia's necklace, since he's the last character who might not have access to a proper healing spell depending on which essence Pious chose in the player's current run.
• Multi-Mook Melee: The gauntlet of Zombies and Horrors that he must endure after taking the Ram Dao, as well as at his chapter's end.
• Nerves of Steel: One of the only practiced fighters in the cast with average to high stats all around. While his sanity is likely to fail at some point, his resolve never does and he rarely shows signs of fear.
• Only One Name: No family, clan or residence can be used to guess a second name. Chandra only has one name too.
• Only the Worthy May Pass: Due to Chandra's manipulations.
• Religious Bruiser: He describes a shrine made of flesh and bone as "blasphemous". Which religion Karim follows is never stated but given the time period he is likely mazdean.
• Rings of Death: He has a small supply of chakrams.
• Sword of Plot Advancement: About halfway through the Forbidden City, Karim encounters a locked door that he can only unlock after acquiring the Ram Dao. This teaches Alex to advance in a similar manner with her first gladius.
• Together in Death: With Chandra.

Dr. Maximillian Roivas - A.D. 1760

The Lurking Horror

"Dear god, I had to do it...had to..."

Voiced by Michael Bell (during his chapter) and William Hootkins (autopsies narration)

A wealthy doctor living in colonial Rhode Island and the ancestor of both Edward and Alex. He inherited the Roivas mansion from his father Aaron. He has become quite eccentric in his later years.

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• Admiring the Abomination: Comments "Fascinating!" or similar when doing an autopsy. His notes are not so complimentary however.
• Back from the Dead: In the final boss fight against Pious. Before that, he also appears as a ghost to Edward and briefly to Alex.
• Badass Bookworm: He knows how to use a cutlass and a flintlock, and he is also a medical doctor.
• Cassandra Truth: No one believed him when he tried to warn them. It ended badly for him.
• The Coroner: He can take autopsies of the creatures he's killed and place his findings in a Monster Compendium for future Tome bearers.
• Foreshadowing: One of the sanity effects involves an asylum room. His ultimate fate? Trapped in an asylum.
• Go Mad from the Revelation: Being declared crazy and locked up in an asylum sure didn't help.
• Guns Akimbo: Dual wielding flintlock pistols.
• Kick Them While They Are Down: His saber finishing move.
• Kill It with Fire: While he doesn't have to access to a torch, he claims that the only way to ensure the complete removal of a Chattur'gha bonethief from the Earth is by burning it out with fire.
• Large Ham: For an extra helping of ham, listen to his narration of the autopsies. He's overweight, too.
• Laughing Mad: The voice over during some of his autopsies, and at the end of his chapter.
• Mighty Glacier: Given his age and paunch, he's not too light on his feet. He can still handle a saber rather deftly. His fire arms are fairly powerful too, but they only fire one projectile at a time and take time to reload.
• The Musketeer: Once he finds the saber. More literal than most as he is actually shooting musket balls, though with a flintlock.
• Monster Compendium: His autopsies.
• The Nose Knows: Claims to be able to detect Ulyaoth bonethieves by their smell.
• Sanity Slippage: He stands out from the rest of the chosen ones in this regard; his decreasing sanity is a major plot point. His autopsy recordings show it best.
• Secret Legacy: It seems some of his kin may have decided to invoke this, as his bloodline is stated to save him from an eroding curse should he break the seal on one of Aaron's letters.
• Unfinished Business: His ghost specifically tasks his descendant with avenging him, then guides an even later descendant to a crucial room in completing that avenging in what was once his house.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: What got him sent to the asylum? He murdered his entire serving staff, convinced they were all infested with Bonethieves. While some of the staff were possessed, evidence suggests that only about one fourth of them were; the other three fourths were innocent victims. He may have felt he couldn't take the chance given the stakes. That defense doesn't work too well in court, however.

Dr. Edwin H. Lindsey - A.D. 1983

A Journey Into Darkness

Pious: You are a scholar Dr. Lindsey, not a warrior.

Voiced by Neil Ross

An archaeologist who has recently made a breakthrough using satellite imaging to discover a temple mound in Cambodia. He sets out to investigate it, funded by a benefactor named Paul Augustine, who double-crosses him, revealing himself to be Pious in disguise. Lindsey explores the temple for clues to Pious' whereabouts and plans.

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• Adventurer Archaeologist: As an homage to Indiana Jones. Notable in that he's virtually the only character who is well-prepared to fight the monsters before he finds the Tome.
• Badass Bookworm: "You are a scholar, Dr. Lindsey, not a warrior." That doesn't stop him from... anything, really.
• Badass Normal: Lindsey not only lives but shows virtually no negative side effects from his little jaunt into a Cosmic Horror Story. And, as stated above, he is one of the few characters who is well equipped to fight supernatural horrors even before he finds the Tome of Eternal Darkness.
• Captain Ersatz: Basically, he's Indiana Jones.
• Crazy-Prepared: A Remington M-870 shotgun, a Colt .45, a kukri, a torch, and his archaeologist's brush. And that's just his starting equipment.
• Determinator: He has the option to simply leave the temple but won't as nobody crosses Edwin Lindsey. Not even if that someone's an undead horror.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: Relatively speaking. Nearly everybody else who came into contact with the Tome of Eternal Darkness suffers some form of horrific, terrible, fate, either dying in an excruciating fashion, becoming bound to their cursed location or going totally insane, and are thus represented as such in the chamber leading to the Tome. Not Lindsey. He wrote a pulp book about his adventures, passed Mantarok's artifact on to Edward, and had a happy retirement.
• Kukris Are Kool: His melee weapon.
• Last-Name Basis: He's addressed by Pious and in the game's text as just "Lindsey".
• Lightning Bruiser: Lindsey has above-average health, the highest sanity meter in the game, average magick, and a great weapon arsenal.
• The Musketeer: In addition to his kukri, he has access to firearms right from the start.
• Mysterious Middle Initial: You only ever see it on the cover of the pulp novel he wrote which Edward uses to hide the Heart of Mantorok.
• Not That Kind of Doctor: His doctorate is in archaeology, as you might imagine.
• Once More, with Clarity: Lindsey adventures through the same temple that Ellia was trapped in during her chapter. As an archaeologist, he has a better understanding of what the carvings, tiles and murals in the temple mean.
• The Quiet One: The only time he speaks are during his short quips with Pious. Other than his babblings if his sanity meter is low, he doesn't really speak much.
• Throwing Your Sword Always Works: His Kukri finishing move.

Paul Luther - A.D. 1485

Heresy!

"I managed to find remnants of his journal and it all points to Augustine's involvement with a paganistic cult operating inside the Cathedral!"

Voiced by Paul Eiding

A Franciscan monk who has traveled to Oublié Cathedral to view a holy relic, the Hand of Jude. A priest named Phillipe Augustine (another alias of Pious) has him detained as a suspect in a murder; Paul sets out to prove his innocence with the help of a custodian.

---

• Back from the Dead: In the final boss fight against Pious.
• Bait-and-Switch: The cutscene before his chapter shows Pious bringing about the Black Guardian, making it look like Paul will be the one to rid of it. He is killed within seconds flat during their confrontation.
• Bald Mystic: He is a Franciscan Monk, though as a Christian he wouldn't find "mystic" as a compliment and definitely does not appreciate circumstances he cannot deny are mystic entering his life.
• Bow and Sword in Accord: But only if Anthony found the two-edged sword.
• Carry a Big Stick: He wields a mace as his default melee weapon (the aforementioned sword only available if you found it as Anthony).
• Clear My Name: His goal. Not that it would do him any good; Augustine is already well aware of his innocence in the matter.
• Cowardly Lion: He is clearly out of his depth throughout the entirety of his chapter, and letting his sanity run low reduces him to a screaming, gurgling mess; however, he stays in the Cathedral to get to the bottom of things out of his own volition and in spite of being encouraged to run.
• Due to the Dead: Besides his hatred of human sacrifice, see Mercy Kill entry.
• Frame-Up: He's framed for murder and convinced to run by the men not in on the conspiracy against him. He's killed before he can clear his name to the general public, but his name is not villified in history, suggesting most people didn't believe him guilty to begin with.
• Good Shepherd: This Franciscan monk is genuinely faithful, even in the face of cosmic horror.
• Hearing Voices: If Pious is serving Xel'lotath, the Black Guardian will murmur his name before confronted.
• The Many Deaths of You: Paul, depending on Pious' given Ancient, can die in three different ways. Either he gets flattened under the red Guardian's claw, stomped by the blue Guardian's foot, or his head a sploded psychically by the green Guardian.
• Mercy Kill: He does this for Anthony, finally putting him out of his misery and offering him last rites.
• Psychometry: Giving Anthony last rites also grants Paul a vision of the very moment the page was cursed.
• Real Men Love Jesus: A Franciscan monk who can pray to restore Sanity. He also conducts a funeral for poor Anthony.
• Sacrificial Lion: He exists mostly to show what Pius and company have been up to over the years and to finish off another such "lion" and teach you to fear the greater guardian.
• The Spanish Inquisition: His chapter, albeit technically in France.
• Squishy Wizard: His magic and sanity are pretty good, but his health and stamina are low (he handles heavy weapons better than characters higher in these areas though, suggesting he does some lifting despite his lack of cardio and fortitude), plus his chapter unlocks five-point spells for use. Also getting literally squished in two timelines doesn't change his status as one.
• Worthless Treasure Twist: Used darkly in that the Hand of Jude is revealed to be a false holy relic; its sole purpose was to draw people to Oublié in order for them to be captured and sacrificed to the Black Guardian. Of course, it's not a twist to the audience at all.

Roberto Bianchi - A.D. 1460

The Forbidden City

"The foundations are infested! Demons and devils! Many lives will be lost if you try to build there!"

Voiced by Phil Proctor

A Venetian artist and architect who was captured by a warlord during his travels abroad. He is being forced to survey the Forbidden City's site if he has any hopes of being freed.

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• Back from the Dead: In the final boss fight against Pious. He also appears as a ghost to Michael.
• Bad Boss: Not Roberto himself. He's not only unknowingly in the forced service of the evil Pious, but he's being made to survey and oversee crucial repairs to damaged structures whilst demons try to kill him.
• Bow and Sword in Accord: Though poking holes in this game's monsters is not very easy or effective, so the low rate of fire bow will not see much use besides offing Trappers or downed enemies.
• Buried Alive: His ultimate fate.
• Failure Is the Only Option: According to the some of the other workers, Roberto was sent into the depths of the forbidden city to be eaten by monsters, but he successfully surveys the building project there anyway. He is not exactly thanked for it, so they were probably right.
• Hearing Voices: Like Pious and Karim before him.
• Mighty Glacier: Roberto has above average health, average sanity, ties for the smallest magick meter in the game, is extremely slow (even moreso than Maximillian) and he tires quickly. His two primary weapons are a saif sword and crossbow. The saif causes decent damage but has a very wide swinging arc, and it often gets caught on walls in narrow corridors. The crossbow also inflicts good damage, but it only holds one round and has a very long reload time. Luckily he has access to better magic than Maximillian, because Roberto also potentially faces tougher opposition, but when he possesses Alex in the final battle he offer little upside.
• Only the Worthy May Pass: Karim and Chandra's specters subject Roberto to this before they relinquish the Ancient's essence to him.
• Spell My Name With An S: The official Japanese website for the game lists him as "Robertor".
• Spirit Advisor: Technically since he does advise Michael to take the artifact he found and destroy the temple. However he's supplanted by the whispers of Mantorok fairly quickly.
• Unexpected Gameplay Change: As an architect, Roberto is tasked with surveying specific rooms within the Forbidden City, making sure their structural integrity is intact, and then reporting his findings back to his captors. These are identified by crumbling debris which must be examined. It's also what guides Alex to the next chapter page.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Despite eventually completing the task at hand, he ends up dead for his troubles anyways. Just trying to complete his assigned task often triggers hostile enemy encounters.

Peter Jacob - A.D. 1916

A War to End All Wars

"...And that was how I came by it. I know it sounds crazy but there you have it."

Voiced by Michael Bell

A wartime reporter researching the Battle of the Somme from the front lines at Oublié Cathedral, which he learns has a far more sinister history than a church/field hospital should have.

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• Action Survivor: All the Chosen besides Karim (a swordsman) and possibly Michael (a Gulf Wartime fireman) qualify for this, but as for the trope name, Peter actually survives.
• Blinding Camera Flash: Peter has a flash pan with a limited amount of powder which he can use to stun enemies (which is good, since you don't start off with any particularly powerful weapons in that chapter).
• Cowardly Lion: He initially won't leave the church building because he's afraid of being shot. The events after the power outage frighten him more than potentially getting shot, but he still won't leave the church building until he's done all he can to find out and potentially hinder what the ancients have set in motion there.
• Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: He is the one who slays the Black Guardian.
• Geek Physique: Scrawny, without the ability to wield any of his non-Magickal defenses gracefully, and quick-moving but with low stamina as well as health.
• Good Luck Charm: He begins his chapter with a Lucky Penny with no obvious use. Turns out it acts as a great makeshift fuse, both for himself and for Alex in modern times.
• Hearing Voices: Like Paul, if Pious is serving Xel'lotath, the Black Guardian will murmur his name.
• Improvised Weapon: He carries his photography flash pan with him and can use it to stun mooks with the burst of light.
• Intrepid Reporter: Even before he ran into the Ancients and their forces, he was reporting from the front lines in WWI. That alone requires nerves of steel.
• Oh, Crap!: He doesn't put on a brave face against The Black Guardian, but he still battles it competently.
• The Musketeer: With the two-edged sword, which he can find in the Old Tower (even if Anthony never got it).
• Nervous Wreck: What he's seen covering the war first-hand has taken a mental toll on him, reflected in gameplay by the smallest Sanity Meter in the game.
• Sleep Deprivation: In the epilogue of his chapter, he attributes the artifact to the sleepless nights he's been having for years.
• Squishy Wizard: One of the best magic-users out of the cast, very low sanity and health and too physically weak to wield the two-edged sword easily. He's also the first character who can cast every spell in the game with the seven-point Circle of Power he finds, but he must create the final three spells whose scrolls aren't found until later.
• Two First Names: Peter and Jacob both being first names.
• Wizard Duel: Versus the Black Guardian.
• World War I: His chapter takes place during this time.

Michael Edwards - A.D. 1991

Ashes to Ashes

"The Guardians know where I am and I won't last the night. But that's not the point..."

Voiced by Greg Eagles

A Canadian firefighter that works on extinguishing burning oil fields. His team is killed in a violent explosion, and he is knocked through a layer of rock and finds himself in the Forbidden City.

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• Badass Normal: Unlike most of the cast, Michael is well-equipped to fight supernatural horrors with a BFG (albeit by looting a dead soldier) and an axe even before he acquires the Tome of Eternal Darkness. And boy, does he need them...
• Bald of Authority: He led his firefighting team before they were all killed.
• Better to Die than Be Killed: It was originally planned for Michael to commit suicide in front of Edward; this was changed to leave his fate ambiguous when the suicide proved "too depressing".
• BFG: The OICW. Wow, that is a hell of a gun. There are multiple settings for single-shot, burst, and full auto fire, and it even has a grenade launcher. The downside? When you run out of ammo, you are out for good, because there is none lying around. Good thing you start with a lot.
• Dumb Muscle: Statistically Speaking, since they usually don't let morons be firefighters. He ties with Karim for the largest health bar in the game, has incredible stamina and has access to an automatic rifle with a grenade launcher. Both his magick and sanity meters, however, are pathetic. And this is a game where magic is specifically tied to knowledge. Michael is nonetheless about as intelligent and resourceful as the rest of the Tome bearers: his explosives expertise mingles with his newfound spell-casting abilities and it allows him to destroy the Forbidden City and the Pillar of Flesh; he arranges for the enchanted Gladius he found to be delivered to Alex moments before she needs it; and in the meantime, he managed to elude the Guardians for at least five years straight.
• Gulf War: This is where his chapter is set.
• Gut Feeling: He knows something is off about the particular oil fire that ultimately kills his firefighting team, but since he cannot explain exactly what the problem is his concerns are brushed off.
• Hearing Voices: A mysterious voice urges him to use some C4 explosive to destroy the Forbidden City. Also, his name is uttered if he finds the Enchanted Gladius.
• I'm Dying, Please Take My MacGuffin: To Edward Roivas. Michael is perfectly healthy, but he suspects that Pious' minions are hot on his trail and that his hours are numbered.
• Infinite Flashlight: Not that it helps much, as the game's entire brightness can simply be increased on the options menu and even it if is not, enchanting your weapon achieves the same effect. On the other hand it is a flashlight made with long use in mind so it is more justified than the various wooden brands before it.
• Magically Inept Fighter: He's tied with Karim for the largest health pool, and his stamina massively dwarfs everyone else's in the game. However, his sanity is just okay, and his magick pool is so small that he outright can't cast some spells because he never gets enough mana to cast them. Luckily his arsenal is so powerful he doesn't really need spells in combat.
• Power-Up Letdown: Most characters receive the Tome straight away and can start casting magick before facing any monsters. Michael, however, must first endure enough rooms in the Forbidden City to complete a puzzle, and even then, his Mana Meter runs out quickly.
• Uncertain Doom: Hands a package off to Edward before vanishing, claiming he won't survive the night. His death is never seen.

The Ancients

In General

• Above Good and Evil: Their magicks are capable of healing and protection as well as obstruction and destruction, but none of them seem to care what effect their manifestation in the universe will have on the universe. Except Mantorok, who has already manifested in the universe, and who took a liking to the humans who lived near his lair.
• Artifact of Doom: Their essences corrupt those who don't exercise the proper caution when handling them, and they can be used in summoning rituals to bring the Ancients into reality.
• Asshole Victim: Chattur'gha, Ulyaoth, and Xel'lotath are to conquer Earth, their actions would lead to different but equally horrifying fates for humanity, and they are shown to view their underlings as nothing more than tools for their ambitions. No tears are shed over their gruesome deaths.
• Bad Boss: All of them treat Pious like crap. Chattur'gha views Pious' schemes as needlessly complicated and nitpicky, Ulyaoth is so full of himself, he reduces Pious into a groveling Yes-Man, and Xel'lotath's paranoia is trying for anyone, but she likes to read his mind.
• Big Bad Ensemble: The artifact you choose in Pious' chapter determines the Big Bad of your playthrough, but the greater context of the story notes that the Ancients conspire against each other as much as against mankind.
• Chromatic Rock Paper Scissors: The three antagonistic Ancients are color-coded and share a rock-paper-scissors dynamic. Chattur'gha is fiery red and embodies the rock, who simply crushes the opposition; Ulyaoth is a tranquil blue and embodies paper, utilizing magick and intelligence to nullify his enemies; Xel'lotath is a vibrant green and embodies scissors, employing deception and trickery to cut to her victims' minds. When squared against one another, Chattur'gha floors Xel'lotath's deception, but dies to Ulyoath's magick, who is in turn outwitted by Xel'lotath's trickery. Mantarok, represented by an enigmatic purple, defeats all three but lacks the ability to summon monsters due to his binding.
• Enemy Summoner: Guardians can call everything the player can, but themselves require nine points to summon and thus cannot be called by the player.
• Eldritch Abomination: Based off of antagonistic figures from the works of Robert W. Chambers and H. P. Lovecraft, so naturally.
• Elite Mooks: Gatekeepers are able to shield their bodies with their wings, forcing you to either wait for them to open for an attack or to strike them from behind. They're also able to cast summoning spells using your own magic, cancel out Mantorok's life sapping property and dispel a Shield with a single attack. Finally, because Max never encounters one, you're never privy to their autopsy report, meaning you have to figure their strengths and weaknesses on your own.
• The End of the World as We Know It: Each primary Ancient is trying to bring it about (or at the very least, they're trying to manifest in the material universe, and that manifestation would inevitably bring about the end of the universe). Mantorok's goals are still unknown.
• Fighter, Mage, Thief: Chattur'gha, Ulyaoth, and Xel'lotath, respectively.
• Four Is Death: There's four of them, and except for Mantorok, any of them gaining complete control spells doom for humanity. And even Mantorok's goals might not be wholly altruistic.
• Giant Mook: Horrors are huge and they hit hard, which can also be a benefit for you once you learn how to summon them. Just being near one makes you take damage thanks to the electrical energy they constantly channel.
• Hufflepuff House: There is a fifth Ancient that does not appear and has no apparent relevance to the story beyond a few yellow-tinted enchantments. Fans sometimes call him/her/it "The Yellow Ancient."
• Inexplicably Awesome: What the Ancients are and why they are so powerful is never explained.
• Jerkass Has a Point: When Pious explains he has found Mantorok's essence, his Ancient warns him against underestimating the power of Mantorok. Chattur'gha and Xel'lotath outright belittle Pious, saying Mantorok's power is beyond their understanding. Ulyaoth is less condescending but warns that while Mantorok's essence appears unguarded, being easy to take means it could be stolen from underneath Pious. All of their concerns are proven right. Mantorok turns out not to be as powerless as he looks and drives off Pious. Ulyaoth's concern about the essence being stolen is spot on, as Lindsey finds it before Pious can and escapes with it thanks to Mantorok's intervention.
• Kick The Son Of A Bitch: Chattur'gha, Ulyaoth, and Xel'lotath demonstrate their cruelty when they fight, but they inflict it on another Ancient who more than deserves it.
  • Chattur'gha cuts Xel'lotath in half while she struggles in vain to break free from his grip, then rips off her arms before finally ripping apart her entire torso.
  • Ulyaoth cuts Chattur'gha's right arm off and then cuts him in half while he struggles to escape.
  • Xel'lotath fries Ulyaoth with a blast of pure insanity, leaving him a charred corpse.
• Lamarck Was Right: Their minions are given an Astonishingly Appropriate Appearance. Mantorok's zombies (the only creatures he can command after getting canned) are withered and blackened (Corpse God), Chattur'gha's monsters have bulging muscles and a Healing Factor (strength and warfare), Ulyaoth's look like they're made from blue crystal or ice, and are associated with sea creatures (sorcery and water), and Xel'otath's are...weird, such as being wrapped in flammable cloth or having Bizarre Alien Biology, and can conjure phantom limbs to keep fighting if dismembered (insanity).
• Mind Rape: The various protags don't lose Sanity when they see a monster, they lose Sanity when a monster sees them.
• Mysterious Past: Whatever past the Ancients have is likely a mystery to all but the Ancients themselves.
• Not So Omniscient After All: Each of the three antagonists tells Pious that they had a vision of besting a rival Ancient, assuring their dominance of humanity, so they are not concerned with potential opposition. Unfortunately for them, their visions are actually of a parallel timeline, not the one being experienced in the player's current playthrough.
• Our Zombies Are Different: Voodoo Zombie; Flesh-Eating Zombie, and taking on some aspects of the Eldritch Abomination giving them Unlife; see Lamarck was Right above. The most numerous of the Ancients servants, seconded only by Bonethieves and cultists.
• Sadist: Xel'lotath is the most blatant with her fondness for mentally torturing her foes, but based on how Ulyaoth and Chattur'gha prolong the misery of their foes when facing them, all three of the villainous Ancients delight in the suffering of others.
• Sealed Evil in a Can: The primary Ancients are currently bound to their own dimensions and cannot enter the material world without Pious' help. The entire game consists of the Chosen attempting to prevent Pious from accomplishing this.
• Summon Magic
  • All but Mantorok allow you to call forth a minion of theirs and puppeteer it around.
  • Magic Pool (a Healing Factor for whatever aspect it's cast for) uses the Summoning rune as well.
• Time Abyss: How old the Ancients are is up in the air, only that they have existed longer than humanity has.
• Underground Monkey: six enemy types (trapper, zombie, bonetheif, horror, possessed human, gatekeeper) and two bosses (Black Guardian and Vampire) with three different affinities (plus Mantorok zombies). Chattur'gha monsters do bonus physical damage and have a Healing Factor, Ulyaoth monsters steal MP and have a gimmick (exploding zombies, for example), and Xel'otath monsters do bonus San damage and instantly regrow lost limbs without healing.
• Tactical Rock–Paper–Scissors:
  • Chattur'gha relying on brute force means Xel'lotath's insanity-based attacks do not affect him while he freely rips her apart.
  • Xel'lotath's mental abilities counter Ulyaoth's magic, even turning his lasers back on him before using a blast of pure insanity to fry him.
  • Ulyaoth's use of portals turns Chattur'gha's predictable attacks back on him, cutting off both his claws before killing him by cutting him in half.
• We Have Reserves: When Pious informs them of the destruction of the Guardians in Ehn'gha, all of the Ancients dismiss his concerns about the manpower loss for their own reasons:
  • Chattur'gha doesn't care, as he has his vision of killing Xel'lotath and is sure of his victory as a result.
  • Ulyaoth knew of the massacre as it occurred and is irritated that Pious feels the need to inform him. Regardless, he doesn't care, seeing the Guardians as mere tools and inevitable casualties.
  • Xel'lotath explains she has other Guardian colonies, and losing one doesn't affect her plans.

Mantorok

*cacophonic roar*

The "Corpse God", Mantorok is a force of pure Chaos. Its powers are supreme over all three Ancients, and its energies are tinted purple.

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• Alliance with an Abomination: Works with certain humans out of necessity, but arguably has some measure of respect for them.
• Ambiguously Evil: It is a force of pure chaos and a terrifying Eldritch Abomination like the other three Ancients, but is actually working for humanity. But despite being the Big Good, it shows itself willing to sacrifice individual people and do some unsavory things to destroy the three rival Ancients. It's left unclear if it plans to do anything malicious to humanity by the true ending after killing the three Ancients, though there is the implication that everything was part of its own plan.
• And I Must Scream: Pious impales it with stone pillars empowered by its own magic and binds it. It is implied this will eventually kill Mantorok, but the process appears to take time; it's still alive when Lindsey later arrives over 800 years later. During this time, it is bound to the temple, unable to do much of anything. Or so you'd think.
• The Beast Master: In its temple murals, Mantorok is depicted bringing forth game for its worshippers to hunt.
• Beat Still, My Heart: Mantorok's essence is one of its still-beating hearts.
• Big Good: The benefactor of the playable characters who aids them through the Tome of Eternal Darkness despite his motivations and goals being unknown. Even the true ending isn't sure if his plans conceal some ulterior motive.
• Chaos Is Evil: It's complicated. On one hand, it's only through the power contained within the Tome of Eternal Darkness that humanity is able to fight against Pious and his Ancient. On the other, the Tome is bound in human skin and bone, undeniably blasphemous and immoral. It also engineers the deaths of the other three Ancients across multiple timelines to move forward with its own plot unopposed; where humanity factors into that plot, and how, is unknown.
• The Chessmaster: Mantorok subtly moves his various pawns against his enemies across time and space. Not only that but it also ensures that the other Ancients simultaneously destroy each other in parallel universes, which it then merges into one reality. This makes it the victorious sole survivor across reality.
• Covered in Gunge: Everything in its immediate area is covered in residue it has been belching out over the years.
• Dark Is Not Evil: Well, sort of. Its zombies attack people without reason, Mantorok draws its power from death, decay and entropy, its temple is full of booby traps and Pious claims that it "corrodes the universe" just by existing; and the Tome of Eternal Darkness, bound in human skin, is still an aspect of Mantorok's power. However, it opposes the three villainous Ancients, its zombies prioritize attacking their creatures over people, those traps work just as well on monsters as they do against people and Mantorok used to be a fertility god to the region around its temple. Perhaps it just has a soft spot for humans.
• De-power: Due to being bound by Pious, Mantorok can no longer fuel Summon Magic. Just as well, really, as its zombies are the weakest enemy in the game. Though it can still manipulate time and space to some degree, ensuring the other ancients are dead and it remains the last one standing.
• Extra Eyes: Mantorok probably has a total field of vision twice over.
• Green Thumb: One mural depicts Mantorok showering the Khmer people with crops.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Its own magic is what bound it. Ulyaoth lampshades the irony.
  Such an irony that the Keeper itself be imprisoned within the walls of its own magick.
• Honorable Elephant: One of the forms Mantorok takes on the murals.
• Invisibility Cloak: Mantorok-aligned Reveal Invisible instead makes the caster invisible
• The Man Behind the Man: Mantorok's scheming is the real cause for conflict, but you need to see the best ending to learn of this, after the "villain" Ancient has been destroyed.
• Meaningful Name: Mantorok. Humanity provides his pawns, as opposed to the Trappers, Bonethieves, Horrors, etc. that the other three Ancients use. Though that's because his binding binds his power to call his own guardians.
• Mighty Roar: Outside of his magicks, he only communicates in savage growls and snarls, including a particularly loud roar when he's impaled with the giant stakes.
• Mooks: Mantorok Zombies. Even if you could summon them, you wouldn't want to — they're incredibly weak, flammable, and slow both in attack speed and walking pace.
• More Teeth than the Osmond Family: This thing has multiple mouths inside of mouths and they are all filled with teeth.
• Multiarmed And Dangerous: In one of his murals, though some of those arms look more like tongues.
• Mysterious Backer: Of the ancients, he has sided with humanity for reasons unknown.
• Non-Elemental: Figuratively speaking, anyway. His magicks have no weaknesses to the other three Ancients, affecting all equally, but they're not quite as powerful as using a properly aligned offensive magick, though in their favor, they have a Damage Over Time effect akin to poison.
• Not Quite Dead: Mantorok has been mortally wounded, but his status as an ancient means "dying" requires hundreds of years, if not more.
• Poisonous Person: His magicks have a decaying effect when used offensively, sapping away enemy health over time. Incidentally, the only poisonous traps and weapons in the game are located in Mantorok's temple, and Mantorok powers the only spells that cause damage over time.
• Purple Is Powerful: Mantarok has purple-aligned magick that far exceeds the others, becoming a Game-Breaker if you get the rune before it becomes Permanently Missable. The other Ancients recognize this and have the Corpse God bound in his own temple. It's not enough to stop him from killing them all.
• Ragnarök Proofing: The temple it resides in, by way of its magic and in fact may be a product of it.
• Shapeshifter: Upon examining Mantorok directly, Lindsey hypothesizes that it is one of these. This is further implied by the many different forms that Mantorok takes within the frescoes on the walls inside its temple.
• To Serve Man: It only resorts to this after being bound, and the only people it is ever seen eating are working for Pious, suggesting this was what Mantorok's ability to defy him was reduced to. It wasn't.
• Walking Spoiler: The New Game Plus ending can't be explained without its master plan.

Chattur'gha

"It is of no matter, for the power I will wield on my return will crush all that oppose me."

Voiced by Greg Eagles

The Ancient who presides over physical strength and matter. His essence is a claw-shaped idol, and his powers are tinted red.

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• Atrocious Arthropods: His physical form resembles a giant crustacean and he serves as one of the three main antagonists of the game.
• Big Creepy-Crawlies: He and many of his creatures have chitinous exoskeletons; his essence is even described as a red clawed worm.
• Blood Knight: Depicted as a warrior in Michael's chapter.
• Cutting the Knot: Why Xel'lotath's trickery is useless against him. Chattur'gha simply brute forces his way through them, best demonstrated by how he deals with Xel'lotath using illusions: swipe at all of them at the same time to weed out the real one.
• Dumb Muscle: Downplayed. He is a god of strength and definitely doesn't seem to display Ulyaoth or Xel'lotath's level of intelligence, nor does he put the same value on it that Ulyaoth seems to, but he's certainly not dumb (by human standards, at least). The conversations between Chattur'gha and Pious do, however, seem to imply that the Ancient leaves much of the evil planning to Pious.
• Evil Is Visceral: Chattur'gha has no skin and the recurring theme of his monsters is that of exposed sinews and thews.
• Evil Sounds Deep: To almost guttural levels.
• Healing Factor: Chattur'gha Zombies and Horrors have this quality, being able to grow back limbs and even heads they have lost.
• I'm a Humanitarian: Chattur'gha claims that in his vision of killing Xel'lotath, he eats away at her body until nothing is left, showing he has a fondness for consuming his enemies after beating them.
• Might Makes Right: A firm believer in its strength being the only real quality required to overcome its enemies. This is true when he encounters Xel'lotath (where he can just brute force his way past her trickery attempts) but not so much against Ulyaoth (who uses his own strength against him before slicing him apart with a series of Portal Cuts).
• More Teeth than the Osmond Family: Chattur'gha has several mouths running up and down the sides of his body, and all of them fit this trope.
• Our Giants Are Bigger: Chattur'gha's black guardian is the largest of the three; we don't even get to see its whole body.
• Power Pincers: Don't work so well if he cannot touch you with them but he most likely can.
• Too Dumb to Fool: By Ancient standards, if not by human standards; he's not nearly the schemer that Ulyaoth or Xel'lotath is. This proves to be a problem for Xel'lotath when she creates two clones of herself during battle with Chattur'gha. He simply glances at the three, and then swipes at all three of them at the same time.
• To Serve Man: This seems to be Chattur'gha's ultimate goal, if he crosses over to our world. He hurdles humans to butcher and feed to his monsters.
• Tractor Beam: Uses one to drag Xel'lotath into his claw before tearing her to shreds.

Ulyaoth

"The Universe is a yawning chasm, filled with emptiness and the puerile meanderings of sentience."

Voiced by Richard Doyle

The Ancient who presides over magick and dimensional planes. His essence is a translucent idol in his image, and his powers are tinted blue.

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• Action Bomb: Ulyaoth Zombies, if they're not beheaded, will start to sing, blowing up after a couple of seconds. Put more than one in a room together and the singing chains, making the potential blast radius bigger.
• Alien Geometries: Its essence resembles a delicate dome which phases in an out of existence as it turns through different realities.
• Blue Means Smart One: Ulyaoth takes the form of a giant jellyfish-like creature who is associated with the color blue and is The Chessmaster of the three Ancients.
• The Chessmaster: All of the Ancients are but he is the one who seems to be the most involved in it. He desires for Pious to act fast and outpace the other Ancients, and kill them off one by one as they lag behind. Ulyaoth sends Augustus to specific points that seem to hinder his Evil Plan, doing most of the planning himself. What he doesn't take into consideration (and ends up being his own undoing) is the bound Mantarok getting involved in the conflict.
• Deadpan Snarker: Shows signs of this occasionally in his interactions with Pious, seemingly amused by his servant's lower intelligence.
  Pious: My meditations reveal a flaw in our plan.
  Ulyaoth: Our plan, Pious?
• Dimension Lord: "The boundlessness of Ulyaoth" does not seem to be hyperbole... Well, besides the fact he still gets bound.
• Eternal Engine: According to the rapid jump-cuts if Ulyaoth starts to cross over, he feeds humans to his bizarre engines.
• Evil Sounds Deep: As opposed to Chattur'gha, Ulyaoth is heard in a smooth, soothing deep voice.
• Evil Sorcerer: Depicted as a magician in Michael's chapter.
• Flying Seafood Special: Besides Ulyaoth himself, his gate keeper guardians take up this look in a cut scene.
• Jerkass: While Chattur'gha and Xel'lotath seem quick to remind Pious where he stands in their world (with them being his source of power), Ulyaoth flaunts his supremacy over him, having broken him into being a Yes-Man. He seems genuinely pleased when Pious informs him how close he is to bringing his liege to the mortal realm, however. A plan that Pious himself came up with.
  Ulyaoth: Yes... yes. Make... haste...
• Light Is Not Good: It and its servants often shine with a ghostly blue glow.
• Mana Burn: If you get struck by his creatures, you lose a sizable amount of magick.
• Pet the Dog: Has one or two moments. He occasionally takes a pleased tone when Pious is doing his job well, and even speaks with a genuinely kindly tone when asking the lich for patience at one point.
• Portal Cut: Ulyaoth's preferred method of attack. It is also a fan of Frickin' Laser Beams.
• Sea Monster: The theme of most aligned creatures, his zombies look drowned and his bonethieves look like they are made of ice. Ulyaoth itself looks like a jellyfish. None of them are encountered in water, mind you.
• Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: See the above quote? His greater guardian takes after him too, isn't it cute?
• Smug Snake: In conversations between Pious and Ulyaoth, Pious is a Yes-Man and merely listens to whatever orders that the Ancient supplies. On the rare occasion that Pious does offer a (usually good) suggestion, Ulyaoth always treats him with disdain.
• Squishy Wizard: In the literal sense, though physical contact isn't such a smart way to deal with the Ancient itself. His creatures don't do or take a lot of physical damage compared to Chattur'gha's but can be annoying if you wanted to use magic before one hit you.
• Too Clever by Half: His boundless knowledge does him little good against The Trickster Xel'lotath.

Xel'lotath

"He lies...as do we all."

Voiced by Jennifer Hale and Kim Mai Guest

The Ancient who presides over the mind and sanity. Her essence is an idol with wing-like accessories, and her powers are tinted green.

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• An Arm and a Leg: Chattur'gha completely disassembles her, ripping off her limbs and separating the big, central eye from the rest of her body.
• Astonishingly Appropriate Appearance: She is vaguely shaped like a human woman who is missing her head.
• Cyclops: She has one singular green eye, which glows when she uses her magick.
• Dreadful Dragonfly: She resembles a giant dragonfly, with her four arms serving as wings and her insectoid lower half.
• Evil Laugh: Over Ulyaoth's corpse, just in case you forgot she is something to be worried about presumably.
• Hartman Hips: Assuming that those are basically hips.
• Losing Your Head: Most of her minions don't have heads, and even those that do can "see" just fine without them. Xel'lotath herself also vaguely resembles a headless humanoid female. Makes sense.
• Mad Goddess: She is quite unhinged, especially in comparison to Chattur'gha and Ulyaoth.
• Minored in Ass-Kicking: Depicted as a scholar in Michael's chapter.
• More Deadly Than the Male: Or at least more sadistic. For instance, while she like her fellows agrees that Charlemagne needs to be removed from power, she suggests that Pious kill him or drive him insane... or perhaps first one, than the other. Her Black Guardian also seems to enjoy playing with its victims and blowing up their heads instead of simply crushing them underfoot.
• Multiarmed And Dangerous: They are not just for show either, Xel'lotath does attack with them.
• Our Angels Are Different: For whatever reason, people think her essence looks like an angel, though a warped one.
• Power Born of Madness: Is the Anthropomorphic Personification of it.
• Properly Paranoid: Xel'lotath seems convinced that Pious is a Starscream. She kinda has a point — he does serve another Ancient in two of the timelines... and, unknowingly, serves Mantorok in all three.
• Restoration of Sanity: When healing spells are powered by Xel'lotath, this is the result.
• Sickly Green Glow: Its color of choice. Hacking off a Xel'lotath Zombie's head or limbs will also replace them with this in the shape of said limb like a phantom.
• Split Personality: It's delightfully creepy hearing it talk to itself.

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