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PARTIZAN
Player Characters
Clementine Kesh
A spoilt Kesh princess sixth in line for succession with dreams of conquest beyond her station, played by Jack de Quidt
- Abusive Parents: Clem is a terrible person. Her mother Chrysanth? An even worse person, and a large part of why Clem is the way that she is.
- Ambition Is Evil: She's less evil and more thoroughly entrenched in the system, but she aspires to the throne of Kesh.
- Back from the Dead: Resurrected by Perennial after her fatal fall from Fort Icebreaker.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: Although she was hardly ever "nobody", over the course of PARTIZAN, she goes from being a noble without any real political power to the servant of one of the galaxy's most powerful and fearsome Divines, as well as the leader of her own faction in the war.
- Meaningful Rename: After betraying the Principality, she is removed from the line of succession and becomes simply "Clementine." Fortunately for her, she already has a new title - "the Witch in Glass."
- Red Baron: As a servant of Perennial, she becomes known as "the Witch in Glass".
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: She’s actually a pretty capable field commander, and she doesn’t balk at danger. Unfortunately, it’s the only thing she’s good for.
- Taking You with Me: In her final confrontation with Gur Sevraq, she pulls him down with her after he pushes her off of Fort Icebreaker.
- Wild Card: In the three-way conflict between the Curtain of Divinity, the Pact of Necessary Venture, and Millennium Break, the Witch in Glass serves as this.
Exeter Leap
An infamous cyborg pirate/bank robber looking for a chance to escape, played by Keith Carberry
- Cyborg: He is an Equiaxed, a culture of synthetic beings who have spliced in organic material to their bodies. To that end, Leap as "80% of a digestive system" along with a human tongue.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Of a sort. He semi-retires in game mechanics at the end of the Kingdom game when Keith swaps to playing a new character.
- Kleptomaniac Hero: Leap goes straight to picking up anything that could be of value in the wreckage of the Divine Past.
Ver'Million Blue
A tank-grown super soldier clone of an ancient Apostolosian eidolon bred for war but not particularly keen to wage war, played by Sylvia Clare
- Defector from Decadence: Million was created to be an Apostolosian super soldier but actively rebelled against her intended role.
Sovereign Immunity
Also known as "The Farmer" or "Byron," a warrior monk disgraced by leading a failed rebellion, played by Art Martinez-Tebbel
- Famed In-Story: Sovereign Immunity was the Farmer who kidnapped Dahlia as a child, kicking off a chain of events that led to the current civil war within the Principality.
Kal'Mera Broun/Kalvin Brnine
An Apostolosian "arms innovator" just trying to make a buck in desperate times, played by Ali Acampora
- The Captain: Of the Blue Channel.
- Meaningful Rename: By the time PALISADE rolls along, they've changed their name to "Kalvin Brnine," since "Kal'Mera Broun" has become known as one of the galaxy's most notorious criminals in the wake of the PARTIZAN finale.
- No Social Skills: Is referred to by the cast as a "swagless fish."
- Only in It for the Money: Whether it's scurrying off after having finished the job and leave the Oxblood to their fate or jockeying for a reward for helping the Sable Court, Kal'Mera Broun is the embodiment of this trope. Over time they become genuinely dedicated to the cause, however.
Valence
A mysterious empath from a culture unknown to the Principality, scouting ahead and collecting information for their people, played by Andrew Lee Swan
- Mask Power: Valence wears a wolf mask that completely covers their face. It's also quite expressive, in-fiction. Its ear is replaced with a magical (?) stone as payment for the second SBBR mission, which lets them project their visions.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Valence's weird empathetic gifts seem to be guided by using mundane objects like a book and scrying tools.
- Taking You with Me: Pulls this on Chrysanth Kesh during the mission to intercept the Eyes of the Exemplar.
Phrygian
A Branched frontlines researcher who was sent here from the posthuman culture of the Golden Branch to learn more about the Divine Principality, who is waging a genocidal war against them. A posthuman entity that can transform into a war form that is equivalent to a mech. Played by Keith Carberry after the events of the Kingdom game when Exeter Leap forms a new squad.
- In-Universe Nickname: Brnine starts calling them "Phryg" (pronounced like "fridge"), which eventually sticks.
- Starfish Alien: As one of the Branched, Phrygian can take a number of different forms - including a humanoid shape made out of wires and cables, a "haunted" deck of a ship, or an inhabitable room. When they get therapy, they take the form of a therapy couch.
The Figure in Bismuth
A servant of the Witch in Glass, a semi-crystalline reanimated battle casualty and former school teacher. Played by Andrew Lee Swan after the first post-Kingdom mission where Valence sacrifices themself to kill Chrysanth Kesh.
- Meaningful Rename: They become known as simply "Figure" after turning their own body into concrete in order to stop the Iconoclasts from using it as a portal.
- Restraining Bolt: The nature of Figure's resurrection is such that he needs continued access to the Witch's power to stay resurrected, so he has no choice but to obey her. Andrew Lee Swan describes this situation as "if somebody told you to do something or you'd never get to drink water again". Eventually they escape this by binding themself directly to Perennial so they don't need the Witch anymore.
- Spell My Name with a "The": Until their Meaningful Rename, at least.
NPCs
Cymbidium
An Ashen, and the Elect of the Divine Past (formerly known as Crystal Palace).
Gur Sevraq
The mysterious leader of the Church of the Resin Heart on Partizan.
- Meaningful Name: "Gur Sevraq" is "The Friend" after being cipher-shifted through ROT 13.
- Taking You with Me: Tumbles off of Fort Icebreaker with Clem at the end of the Kingdom arc.
Crysanth Kesh
A high-ranking member of Stel Kesh royalty, and a spymaster working for the Curtain of Divinity.
- Abusive Parents: A real piece of work of a mother for Clem.
Arbitrage
A capitalistic Divine that deals primarily in information and commerce.
- Greater-Scope Villain: Its role in PALISADE and the COUNTER/Weight prequel series as a threat that is potentially more dangerous (but less immediately-threatening) than the one the cast directly faces.
- Playing Both Sides: Its usual M.O., by taking advantage of existing conflicts (or manufacturing more) to further its own nebulous agendas.
Motion
A ruthless Divine aligned with Stel Apostolos. She commands the Black Century - a legion of undead soldiers in service to the Pact of Necessary Venture.
- Perpetual-Motion Monster: Motion 'does not stop'.
Perennial
An ancient Divine who dwells in the centre of the galaxy, after being brought there by the rebel group HORIZON during The Road to PARTIZAN. She is the source of the "Perennial Wave" - a swarm of nanomachines that floods the galaxy and deactivates or destroys complex machines and electronics.
- Ape Shall Never Kill Ape: The Perennial Wave has no effect on Divines, since Perennial views them as being too similar to herself.
- Satan: From the point of view of the Divine Principality, who even refer to her as "the Adversary".
- Satan Is Good: Her ultimate goal is to "break the wheel" of empire and colonisation throughout the galaxy - with particular emphasis on destroying the Principality. It's somewhat downplayed, of course, in that she's still responsible for a great deal of difficulty and harm caused by the Perennial Wave, and like many Divines, she's not immune to making morally-dubious decisions (such as reviving Clementine and empowering her) for the sake of what she perceives to be the greater good.
Dahlia
The "Glorious Princept" - one of the two, rival claimants to the throne of the Divine Principality. They lead the Pact of Necessary Venture as the Apokine.
- The Social Darwinist: Their goal, as revealed in PALISADE, is to continue the war against the Branched indefinitely, as they believe that conflict is what spurs evolution. They would have the bloody, merciless conflict carry on in spite of the massive number of casualties because they believe that whatever emerges (be they human, Branched, Divine, or something new entirely) would be all better for it.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Despite their massive importance to the story, their only "on-screen" appearance in PALISADE ends with them being assassinated by Brnine.
