Penacony

Once a desolate penal colony where prisoners labored under the Interastral Peace Corporation, a Stellaron led to its abandonment until the intervention of Xipe, the Aeon of Harmony. Under The Family, Penacony has thrived and become the Planet of Festivals.

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General Tropes

In General

Arch-Enemy: The IPC is the original master of Penacony, and they make it obvious that they want it back, hence making them the Family's biggest threat. Since business is business, they still make deals here and there, but the IPC is not welcome directly, while the presence of Aventurine, a high-ranking official, is due to receiving a personal invitation from the Watchmaker. The Family and the Watchmaker are revealed to be opposing each other as well, but the former can't make it public as the latter's reputation is ingrained to the identity of Penacony, so they can't do much about Aventurine.
Beware the Nice Ones: As the mystery around Penacony continues to unravel, it quickly becomes evident that the Family isn't nearly as benevolent as their message of compassion and unity implies. While they use Bread and Circuses to attract tourists to extract money from, behind the scenes they use their Harmony abilities to control the minds, emotions, or memories of potential troublemakers and/or witnesses who prove inconvenient, visitors and other Family members alike.
Crapsaccharine World: To visitors, Penacony's Dreamscape is like a paradise where they can live out their wildest fantasies. However, many of sidequests reveal a darker side. In particular, Penacony's natives have few prospects besides working for the Reverie to staff the Dreamscape, and living in the Dreamscape for extended periods of time causes them to gradually lose their grip on reality. In addition, the Family watches over people's thoughts and can manipulate emotions or memories of people, ostensibly to prevent potential troublemakers such as "W" and Emmrich.
Company Cross References: In some ways Penacony is similar to Fontaine from Genshin Impact, though with the details shifted around. Aesthetic-wise, it shares the Court of Fontaine's Art Deco design; its past as a Penal Colony as well as the hard work its inhabitants had to perform brings to mind the Fortress of Meropide; and there is a popular Fantastic Drug that gives euphoria and pleasant hallucinations, not unlike Sinthe. Its leader attempts to divert attention from a Plot-Driving Secret and pretend that disaster isn't on the horizon while opposing factions investigate a series of murders that turn the victims into puddles of water. There's even a prominent celebrity singer with an implied desire to escape from her role, a race of Little People involved with the management of the city's operations, a place of accommodation where Masked Fools gather and two Masked Fools, one who is an Ambiguously Evil Master Actor in red that switches "masks" as she pleases and the other with wind powers, joining the fray.
Den of Iniquity: The World's End Tavern, one of the Masked Fools' headquarters, is located in the Golden Hour Dreamscape. Here, the Masked Fools encourage one another and guests to make fools out of themselves For the Lulz.
Dream Land: When people sleep in Penacony, they enter one of multiple dreamscapes. Somewhat like a virtual reality, it allows people to change how they present themselves inside the dream. Things such as laws of physics and calories are mind-enabled suggestions at best inside the dream.
Dream Weaver: There are workers dedicated in building the dreamscapes called exactly Dreamweavers; most of them come from the Nightingale Family, and they also hire finest architects from the outside world to aid them.
Driving Question: "Why does life slumber?" It's part of the Watchmaker's legacy, and several characters allude to this question in the story. Aventurine claims that "sleep is the rehearsal of death," while Acheron echoes the sentiment and adds that since people aren't ready to welcome death, they'd want to be prepared—even if the end is predetermined, there are many things one can do while they're still living, which will change the meaning of the "end."
Emotion Control: The Trailblazer encounters a number of people who have somehow lost the capacity for a given emotion, requiring the Trailblazer to use their new "Clockwork" powers to harvest excess emotions in others and then transfer them to the victim to repair the balance of their mind. This most commonly has the consequence of restoring the victim's motivations, unlocking new quests.
The Evils of Free Will: One official informs the Trailblazer that most of Penacony's laws are suggestions, and they'll be fine so long as they don't cross a line, and sometimes even then. Serious crimes are rare because the Family has ways to smother the seeds of evil thoughts before anything serious can happen. This isn't a secret, but most tourists still don't know because they didn't ask.
Evil Versus Evil: The IPC is a MegaCorp known for its "invasive" business practices; however, the current ruler of Penacony, the Family, is cult-like, uses mind control to assert its power, and runs Penacony as a decadent resort for the wealthy. In particular, Penacony used to be the IPC's Penal Colony, and its original inhabitants rebelled against them, eventually leading to Penacony coming under Xipe's aegis.
Fate Worse than Death: It's revealed that the Family reserves a particularly terrible punishment for one of their own who betrays them. Their minds are forcibly turned into barely-sentient memory zone memes and left to wander the Dreamscape while their real bodies are kept in comas for eternity or until the Dreammaster, the supreme leader of Penacony to whom its five ruling families answer, deems them atoned or has some need for them. The siblings of one man have been left in this state for many years as punishment for selling secrets to the IPC.
Fantastic Arousal: Touching the small ball of tuft on a Pepeshi's head is considered to be a deeply personal matter. One Pepeshi is even rumored to have gone through a Gender Bender after having theirs touched.
Found Family via Work: Individual members of the Family may or may not share blood, but for the most part, they are bound as family by their way of life and their common worship of Xipe. The Family is further divided into branches depending on specialty.
Freudian Excuse: In the Dream's Edge, you can meet Yuan, a Foxian who is visiting Penacony for work-related reasons. The Trailblazer can point out her lack of a tail, which she will claim she removed in the dreamscape for a change of pace. Changing her emotions with Clockwork has her reveal that she was born without a tail, and much of her motivation regarding her current line of work largely revolves around trying to compensate for her shortcomings, citing people like Fu Xuan and Huohuo as inspirations.
Gambit Pileup: Various factions are invited to Penacony to search for the Watchmaker's Legacy, including but not limited to: the Family themselves, the Annihilation Gang, the Memokeepers, the Masked Fools, the IPC, the Galaxy Rangers, the Stellaron Hunters, and the Astral Express. They oftentimes are opposing one another for their own ends or alternatively teaming up for a perceived mutual benefit. The Trailblazer's uniqueness makes them a highly prized playing piece on the chessboard, making them a most wanted target for either getting on their side or taking out before they become a problem. Then there's the fact that the invite was sent by the Watchmaker, not the Family—and the two are revealed to have been waging a Secret War.
G.I.R.L.: It has been said that after entering the dreamscape, people can change their avatar away from their default, including race, age, and sex. There are rumors people have abused this to pretend to be people they are not.
- One person, an "animal lover", takes form of a Snow Plains bear cub. The person's true form is that of a female Intellitron.
- One Pepeshi is worrying about this to their new friend, and their new friend reassures them that they've known them all week.
- One Pepeshi supremacist ended up discovering that the handsome, charming Pepeshi man she met was not actually a Pepeshi. She considered going against her beliefs to date him anyways, but ended up annoying him with her antics.
- One of the Family's rules for the Dreamscape is that visitors should never assume what another person's appearance, identity, race, or gender is while in the dream.
Gondor Calls for Aid: During the revolt against the IPC, the rebels were able to organize an alliance of multiple factions including the Nameless, the History Fictionologists, the Omen Vanguards, the Mourning Actors, and the Masked Fools to win their independence.
Government Drug Enforcement: The Family's main method of "fixing" sources of disharmony is to give them mind-altering SoulGlad or other forms of Mind Control. With quite a number of such people, Clockie works with the Trailblazer to undo the Family's brute force "quick fix" and do their best to actually resolve the underlying issues.
Happiness Is Mandatory:
- The Family has various forms of Mind Control powers that they use to keep the peace. While some of the mentally damaged people the Trailblazer comes across got harmed by other sources, like hostile memetic entities, a lot of them became that way due to the Family, either voluntarily or by force. Even when it was done voluntarily, one man notes that removing his capacity for sadness only made him even more broken without knowing the reason, and reluctantly thanks the Trailblazer for undoing it. The net result is a Crapsaccharine World, refusing to face reality until the problems they have neglected accumulate to the point of destroying it.
- Bad news never shows up in Penacony, not even for propaganda purposes, because the Family bases their power on the myth that Penacony is a Dreamland paradise. The local newspapers have taken the hint that printing bad news will make them go out of business and order their reporters not to disturb everyone's happy dreams.
Head-in-the-Sand Management: Most of the Family refuse to solve problems at their roots or even acknowledge their existence unless forced to, and even then they often resort to quick fixes. Instead of urging caution, they cover up the existence of dangerous memetic entities like Something Unto Death. When a criminal figures out a way to make people disappear, the other Family heads order Sunday, the one head willing to investigate, to ignore it, because they consider keeping up appearances more important than taking the problem head-on. The Dreamscape itself is starting to collapse because of Penacony's hedonism and complacency, but most of the Family refuse to even comprehend this. The Family has turned Penacony into a virtual fortress that even superpowers like the IPC hesitate to take on, but as all of the problems they refuse to solve build up, various parties see an opening to take them down.
Jekyll & Hyde: One Adventure Mission involves a strange Pepeshi called Mullich and his evil Split Personality called "W" who is tied to Mullich's anger; the first time you see him, you have to use the "Anger Gear" to "awaken" W to start the mission. It's clear from his mannerisms that he's vicious and violent, and harbors a nasty grudge against the Dreamscape Motivator who dealt with him, claiming that she (and the Family by extension) are a bunch of hypocrites who are implied to use Emotion Control to cause him to lose his "anger" in the first place. When you talk to said motivator about this, it's implied that whatever happened between the two of them severely traumatized her (ironic considering her job) and she wishes to not talk about it, and warns you of his danger. After the mission, changing Mullich's emotions shows that he's aware of W and is suffering from not being able to make friends, implied to be because of W.
Journey to the Center of the Mind: Certain individuals in Penacony have had their memories nigh-irretrievable, willingly or otherwise, which appears to the Trailblazer as a complete breakdown of their Emo Dial and prevents them from using Clockwork to heal them. By locating a key item relevant to the subject, the Trailblazer can enter their Emoscape, a manifestation of the subject's lost memories, and complete their memories to repair the Emo Dial and restore the subjects.
Lotus-Eater Machine: Despite their origins, the Family is not above using the Dreamscape itself as one to effectively imprison people they consider dangerous or troublesome, such as Oksana and Emmrich.
Little People: The Pepeshi are a race of short people with a small ball of tuft on their heads. They're characterized with having passionate and inventive minds, dedicating themselves in seeking more knowledge or wealth.
Mechanical Lifeforms: Some of Penacony's inhabitants are Intellitrons, who originated from Emperor Rubert's Mechanical Empire. Their special technology allow them to enter Penacony's dreamscapes like organic beings do, suggesting that their consciousness is as advanced as organic beings' own.
Memory-Wiping Crew; When there are incidents that the Family needs to cover up, like Something Unto Death, they "process" the memories of the witnesses.
Mind Manipulation: One of the powers of the Path of Harmony, used by the Family to maintain their society.
"Not Wearing Pants" Dream: Newcomers are explicitly warned against sleeping in the buff, because their starting appearance in Penacony matches the one they had when sleeping in the bed/tub they used to enter the dreamscape, including clothes.
Our Angels Are Different: The Halovians, like Robin and Sunday, look like angels, complete with fair faces and voices, Holy Halo, and small wings behind their heads. They're also capable of telepathy through their halos.
Penal Colony: As mentioned above, Penacony was once a penal colony under the IPC.
Perspective Magic: With a good chunk of Penacony consisting of the dreamscape, some obstacles are crossed taking advantage of optical illusions via dream logic.
Punny Name: "Penacony" is an intentional portmanteau of "Penal Colony."
Souvenir Land: Penacony is a planet-sized amusement park designed for tourists, divided across the real world and the dreamscapes. It has a hotel district, shopping malls, and mascots. Penacony is marketed as a place you can buy dreams. It's also mentioned that thanks to advanced technology, anything a person buys in the Dreamscape can be fabricated in reality as well, though they don't have the capability to build entire cars yet.
Take That!: You can come across a visiting guest named Brona who vehemently opposes the Family's use of automated instruments to play music in the Dreamscape, calling them soulless and robbing real people of their jobs. Such opinions are a riff on real-world opposition to the rise of AI-assisted music generation services in 2023.^note
Telepathy: More skilled followers of the Harmony are able to communicate information or perceive the situation revolving around random bystanders. One of them warns the Trailblazer that no matter how loose Penacony's rules may seem on the surface, Big Brother Is Watching.
Thin Dimensional Barrier: The entire star system is affected by a breach into the Memory Zone, flooding the area with Memoria. This can cause some people to experience strange dreams or memories that aren't their own.
Town with a Dark Secret: Shortly after arriving, the Nameless are quick to discover that the Family is hiding something about the dreamscape, namely that it's not as safe as advertised and that it's under threat from "sinking" back into the Memory Zone, not to mention that they are well aware of the existence of "Something Unto Death" and its killing spree, which they covered up through the years, as well as their opposition to the Watchmaker, only maintaining a façade of reverence so as not to hurt tourism given his outsized reputation among outsiders. The IPC plans to forcibly bring the Family's dirty secrets in the open so that they can take advantage of the resulting scandals to reclaim Penacony for themselves.
Trademark Favorite Food: SoulGlad is the most popular drink in Penacony, and in one of the dreamscapes, the fountains and technology even run off of it.
We Have Become Complacent: Penacony has a reputation as the Land of Dreams and an impenetrable fortress built by the compassionate members of the Family. Rather than face up to their real life struggles, the Dreamchasers are overly indulging themselves in the Dream to live out a life of decadence and hedonism. Problems in Penacony are papered over, allowing them to build up out of sight, causing their society to rot from the roots and attract ill-intentioned parties anticipating the inevitable chaos.
Whole-Plot Reference: The existence of the Dreamscape in general as well as many of the available side quests in Penacony have plots that are practically ripped straight out of Inception:
- The Dreamscape acts as a massive shared dream that doubles as a commercialized Lotus-Eater Machine.
- The Trailblazer dives through multiple dream layers and even directly into other people's minds to solve their emotional traumas by making minor adjustments to change their cognition.
- Penacony hires famous architects to design and build the various zones in the Dreamscape.
- Inhabitants of the Dreamscape can use tricks like Perspective Magic to create shortcuts that normally wouldn't be possible in reality.
- The major conflict in Penacony is a shadow corporate war between the IPC and the Family over possession of the planet, which can only be resolved in the Dreamscape.
World Shapes: The Star Rail map shows that Penacony appears to be an artificial planet made up of two Alderson Disks. A smaller one with the Reverie Hotel in the center, and a larger one hovering just below it.
Your Mind Makes It Real: Zigzagged. In order to keep everyone safe, the Family uses a large crew of Dreamweavers to maintain an enchantment powered by the Path of Harmony strong enough to stop even Memokeepers from "killing" anyone. Thanks to the enchantment, death in the Dreamscape will normally just force the victim to wake up, albeit more due to the pain-induced shock than the "death" itself. Dying to "Something Unto Death," however, is said to cause a "spiritual death" and splatters the victim's memoria, dissipating it. The exact effects have yet to be explicitly stated, and Himeko herself does not know and is unable to investigate, but since Black Swan treats it as a true death, the consequences are unlikely to be light. However, Dr. Ratio believes that the impossible in the Dreamscape is not "Death," but rather "Dormancy." Acheron points out that Aventurine's agenda is to uncover a secret "more unspeakable than the murder cases," thus he wants to have someone making him experience "dream death" to get to the "true land of exile"—the legacy of the Watchmaker—and he's lucky that she's around. He also makes note of another "mute" who has gone through the "anti-death barrier" and lived, but couldn't tell the tale, heavily implied to be Firefly. In short, it's implied that whether it's by the memetic entity or by Acheron, someone strong enough to "cut" this barrier can uncover how "death" actually works in the memory zone, and by extension, the secrets lying in the "ocean beyond the barrier".

Reverie Hotel

Misha

Misha

Introduced: February 6, 2024 (v2.0 "If One Dreams At Midnight" [first half])
Voiced By: Liu Zhixiao (Chinese), Eriko Matsui (Japanese), Bak Sin-hee (Korean), Cat Protano (English)

^{Click to see his full Warp artwork.}

Rarity: 4★
Path: The Destruction
Type: Ice

A bellboy employed in the Reverie Hotel. Earnest and slightly clumsy, he idolizes the Nameless and dreams of one day becoming a galactic adventurer just like his grandfather before him.

Misha "serves" his enemies in the most painful way with his Ultimate, G—Gonna Be Late!, where he trips while carrying a cart full of baggage, dropping them down on his target followed by three random hits, each having a small chance to inflict Freeze, which can increase to as high as ten through the following: depending on the number of Skill Points consumed by his allies through his Talent, Horological Escapement, which additionally restores some of his Energy; one at a time through his Skill, R—Room Service, where he sweeps his mop on his target and adjacent foes; or two at the start of battle through his Technique, Wait, You Are So Beautiful!, which generates a Dream Prison that inhibits all enemy movement.^note

Adorably Precocious Child: Misha is one of the youngest male playable characters in the game, but he's also mature enough to become a bellboy and take care of various guests in the Reverie Hotel, clumsiness aside. He even dreams of growing up faster so he can travel through the stars.
Ambiguous Situation: As the player progresses through Penacony, it's hinted that Misha is more than just an ordinary bellboy and may be related to strange incidents there. When the Trailblazer first enters the Dreamscape, the Real Dreamscape flashes on the screen before it ends to a shot of Misha seemingly calling out for someone named Mikhail. His talent with gadgetry, his clock motif, and the Express Badge on his tie may be clues that he is related to the Watchmaker or at least one of the Nameless, not to mention he is Invisible to Normals just like Clockie. In Clockie's cartoon, he's shown to have a little doll shaped like Misha. What most likely is his voice can also be heard when the Trailblazer and Firefly got sent into a Child's Dream, where he is begging for Mikhail not to leave him before it devolves to a cacophony of voices of him begging for his life before Something Unto Death appears. Furthermore, the area itself is said to be formed from the distorted fragments of someone's memories and is connected to a profound secret of Penacony, features a room for a child and another for the Watchmaker, and the Origami Birds overseeing the area seem to be familiar with Mikhail. Also something of note: "Misha" in Russian is simply the diminutive version of "Mikhail". The connection becomes more suspicious once it's revealed Mikhail is the current Watchmaker.
Badass Adorable: Misha is a cute and friendly young boy who can lay the pain on all his foes and severely curtail their movements.
Boyish Shorts: Misha wears tiny shorts to emphasize his youthful age, and his fighting style revolves around him being The Klutz, putting him in contrast with Yanqing, who is around his age but has a more refined fighting style.
Broomstick Quarterstaff: Downplayed; while his movements are clumsy and unpracticed, he's nonetheless using a mop to smack around enemies for both his Skill and Basic Attack, E—Excuse Me, Please!
Company Cross References: Misha shares some similarities with Freminet of Genshin Impact, both androgynous, socially awkward boys with light hair and dark clothing (including a pair of Boyish Shorts), expertise in machinery, association with ice, and a purely offensive fighting styles.
Critical Hit Class:
- One of three stats Misha can upgrade via his Trace tree is his Critical Rate, with him getting a 6.7% boost once fully unlocked.
- Misha's sixth-ascension Bonus Ability, Transmission, boosts his Critical Damage against Frozen enemies by 30%.
Cute Clumsy Girl: Gender-inverted. Misha is a Pretty Boy with appearance as cute as a button, and his clumsiness only adds to his cuteness factor.
Dude Looks Like a Lady: His androgynous appearances means he can easily be mistaken for a girl.
Elemental Hair Colors: He has light blue hair, matching his Ice element.
Evolving Attack: Most of Misha's Eidolon Resonances are dedicated to increasing the power of his Ultimate or otherwise buffing it.
- His first, Whimsicality of Fancy, adds up to five random hits for each enemy on the field.
- His second, Yearning of Youth, gives each hit of his Ultimate a 24% base chance to inflict a 16% Defense penalty for three turns.
- His fourth, Visage of Kinship, adds 6% to the damage multiplier of each hit.
- His sixth, Estrangement of Dream, boosts his own damage output by 30% lasting until the end of his turn after using his Ultimate, as well as restores 1 SP.
Exotic Eye Designs: Misha has pale blue pupils shaped like keyholes.
Gadgeteer Genius: He's very capable of fixing machinery, and it forms a part of his daily duties in the hotel. To Misha's eyes, rusted and broken machinery (especially clocks) is akin to sailors lost in a sea of time, and he is a captain guiding them out of the storm.
Gathering Steam: Whenever he or his allies consume SP, Misha increases the number of the extra random hits of his Ultimate from three to as high as ten—one with his Skill, two with his Technique, and depending on the number of SP the party has consumed before his turn through his Talent.^note
Heroic Lineage: Implied. Prior to arriving at Penacony, the Astral Express crew touches upon how prior crew members will occasionally settle down on visited planets for one reason or another, such as starting families. Upon arrival, the Trailblazer meets Misha, who wears a Trailblazer pin, and with the lore behind his associated Light Cone as well as the memories heard in the Child's Dream, it points to Misha's grandfather Mikhail being a former Nameless or descending from one.
The Klutz: His official art shows him tripping on a cat and losing control of the baggage he was carrying.
Invisible to Normals: There are a few hints that no one else can see him during the Penacony arc:
- He's surprised when the Trailblazer talks to him during their first meeting in the Reverie hotel. Afterwards, March 7th doesn't even talk to him when she approaches the two.
- In the Reverie Hotel reception area, one NPC mentions that the luggage is moving itself.
- No one else acknowledges Misha's presence during the confrontation between Acheron and the gang^note, and when Acheron and Firefly introduce themselves. If the player chooses the dialogue option "How come they are all people I know!?", Firefly will be confused as who else are they referring to and choosing Misha's name will have her asking who he is. Acheron also acknowledges that she can feel a presence afterwards, while she may refer to Clockie, eagle-eyed players will see her staring at Misha instead.
Invocation:
(Ultimate activation) "How much time do I have?"
(Normal speed) "Not again! I'm running late, ahhh! Sorry..."
(×2 speed) "Ahhh! Sorry..."
Leg Focus: Misha's tiny shorts exposes a lot of his legs, which got some focus during his gameplay trailer. It doesn't help that at the end of his Ultimate, his bare legs face the camera after he trips down to the ground.
Lethal Klutz: His Ultimate shows him pushing a luggage cart and tripping onto the ground as the cart falls and spills heavy luggage onto enemies.
Making a Splash: Ironically, despite his Ice element, his mop attacks have water visuals.
Randomized Damage Attack: His Ultimate initially strikes his target, followed with three to ten strikes at random enemies. Against a lone enemy, however, all of the extra hits will hit that enemy for big damage and quick Toughness shred if they're weak to Ice.
Regenerating Mana: In addition to adding hits for his Ultimate, his Talent regenerates 1—2.2 Energy for every SP consumed by his allies.
Situational Damage Attack: His first Eidolon Resonance, Whimsicality of Fancy, adds up to five extra hits to his Ultimate for every enemy currently on the field.
Status Infliction Attack: Each of his Ultimate's hits has a base 12—21.6% chance to inflict Freeze. His second-ascension Bonus Ability, Release, increases the main strike's infliction rate by 80%, while that for his fourth, Interlock, boosts his Effect Hit Rate by 60% while using his Ultimate.
Time Stands Still: Misha's Technique tosses out a pocket watch that creates a localized bubble of stopped time to freeze enemies for fifteen seconds, as well as adds two random hits for his Ultimate at the start of battle.
Upgrade Artifact: By acquiring his Eidolons, you can upgrade his third and fifth Eidolon Resonances, Vestige of Happiness and Genesis of First Love, which will add two levels to his Ultimate and 1 to Basic Attack with the former, and 2 to Skill and Talent with the latter.
Weapon Specialization: Misha's associated Light Cone is "Indelible Promise" (4★), whose "Inheritance" passive increases its wearer's Break Effect by 28-56%, and Critical Rate by 15-30% for two turns after using their ultimate. Misha's Ultimate, with its high number of potential hits, will shred enemy Toughness to take good advantage of the former and have more opportunities for critical hits with the latter.
When You Coming Home, Dad?: Grandfather, in this case. While it's clear Misha loves his grandfather dearly, his character story shows that a part of him is saddened and resentful of the fact they've been gone for so long despite promising to return for him so they can journey the stars together.

Bloodhound Family

In General

The lineage of the Family charged with security.

Gallagher

Gallagher

Introduced: March 27, 2024 (v2.1 "Into the Yawning Chasm" [first half])
Voiced By: Ma Yufei (Chinese), Satoshi Mikami (Japanese), Park Sang-hoon (Korean), Erik Braa (English)

^{Click to see his full Warp artwork.}

Rarity: 4★
Path: The Abundance
Type: Fire

A security guard affiliated with the Bloodhound Family, who also doubles as a slovenly bartender, who keeps anything and everything about himself under wraps.

When not offering immediate healing refreshments on an ally through his Skill, Special Brew, Gallagher gives his foes a terrible hangover through his Talent, Tipsy Tussle, which for two turns inflicts the "Besotted" debuff that increases their Break damage intake and heals their attackers. This is inflicted with swings of phantasmal crimson claws from his right arm that hit all his foes, either through his Technique, Artisan Elixir, or through his Ultimate, Champagne Etiquette, which also upgrades the next use of his Basic Attack, Corkage Fee, into a Nectar Blitz strike that inflicts an Attack debuff for two turns.^note

Achilles' Heel: Although Gallagher's unique attributes makes him surprisingly potent for a 4★ healer, he does have a handful of noticeable weaknesses. He needs to use his Ultimate consistently to function as an off-turn sustain, meaning any fight where enemies repeatedly delay or limit access to his Ultimate, or when they're fast enough that their turns come so quickly their Besotted status is gone before his Ultimate is ready, will make his job a lot more difficult (though this can be alleviated through his fourth Eidolon Resonance, which extends the debuff's duration). He also cannot cleanse debuffs at all unless he unlocks his second Eidolon Resonance, requiring a minimum amount of investment to compete with 5★ Abundance Pathstriders with inherent cleanse effects.
Animal Motif: Dogs, fitting for a member of the Bloodhound Family. Or more specifically, the black jackal, associating him with Anubis, given his true identity and the color scheme linking him to the ominous hound statues scattered throughout Penacony.
Anti-Debuff:
- His first Eidolon Resonance, Salty Dog, increases his Effect Resistance by 50%, in addition to restoring 20 Energy at the start of battle.
- His second, Lion's Tail, allows his Skill to remove one debuff from his target ally, as well as provides a 30% Effect Resistance boost for two turns.
The Bartender: While he's officially a security guard, he's also good at making drinks.
The Butler Did It: "Bartender," to be precise. Representatives from many factions attend the Charmony Festival, many of whom appear very suspicious. In contrast, Gallagher is an unassuming bartender and a 4★ playable character. In the v2.1 livestream, Shaoji even describes him as "the only villager in a game of werewolf". Gallagher is revealed at the end of that patch's Trailblaze Mission to be the murderer of Robin as well as the true master of Something Unto Death.
Breaking Old Trends:
- Not counting the Preservation Trailblazer (assuming Caelus), Gallagher is the first and (as of v2.1) only male character with a Fire damage type.
- Gallagher is the first Abundance Pathstrider whose healing abilities are, on their own, based on flat values instead of scaling off of any of his basic stats (i.e., Max HP, Attack, or Defense), with such a scaling (through Break Effect) unlocked with his second-ascension Bonus Ability.
Combat Medic: For an Abundance Pathstrider, Gallagher is unique in that his kit revolves around inflicting foes with a Life Drain effect. His mostly stat-agnostic healing numbers and enhanced Basic Attack also incentivizes players to build him offensively, using most of his turns to deal supplementary damage rather than being a pure Stone Wall. He is also the first of his Path to (indirectly) scale off of Break Effect percentage as a healing stat through his second-ascension Bonus Ability, allowing him to pack a mean punch against enemies weak to Fire, and with a full Eidolon, he gains even more power to dish out pain on his foes.
Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: To Tingyun. Both are 4★ playable characters with a brown/red/white clothing scheme, have support-oriented playstyles, and acts as a guide to the Nameless amidst the issues surrounding their respective worlds, only to reveal that they are not what they seem and serves as the major antagonistic threat. While the Tingyun the crew met is actually Phantytia, the Emanator of Destruction, Gallagher is an amalgamation of 52 members of The Family and presumably a follower of the Enigmata. The method they use to subtly sow chaos also differs, as Phantylia/"Tingyun" manipulates her enemies into doing her bidding to destroy themselves from within the Xianzhou Luofu, Gallagher controls Something Unto Death to kill any who knew too much or who he deems not innocent, with an ambiguous motive for doing so. Another notable difference between the two is that Tingyun does not send any daily messages to the player if they have her in their roster (as a result of being Phantylia in disguise), whereas Gallagher does (despite being revealed to be the mastermind behind "Death").
The Dog Was the Mastermind: Shaoji describes him as "the only villager in a game of werewolf", a simple yet brilliant misdirection to hide his identity as the true "werewolf". Who else in Penacony has canine motifs and Wolverine Claws?
EX Special Attack: Apart from inflicting Besotted, his Ultimate enhances his next Basic Attack into dealing more damage, shredding more of his target's Toughness Gauge, and inflicting an Attack reduction debuff for two turns. ^noteDepending on Trace levels, it deals damage equivalent to 125–275% of his Attack stat and reduces his target's Attack by 10–16% 2 of his ascension Bonus Abilities are tied to this:
- The 4th one, Organic Yeast, allows his Ultimate to immediately bring forward his turn, so he can immediately use his enhanced basic attack.
- The 6th one, Bottoms Up, allows him to extend Besotted's healing effect to the entire party when he hits the affected enemy with his enhanced basic attack. With all of them combined, they grant him a unique kind of "panic heal button" different from other Abundance characters (such as Natasha or Lynx).
Fashionable Asymmetry: He wears his left sleeve fully and a white glove on his left hand, while his right sleeve is rolled up and he wears a black fingerless glove on his right hand.
Foreshadowing:
- When March 7th asks him about his age, he gives the comically false answer of "Thirteen". The 13th card in the tarot deck is ''Death''.
- Numerous times throughout the story, it's shown that Bloodhound members don't even know who Gallagher is despite him supposedly being their superior. This hints at the fact that "Gallagher" as a person never existed, and the Gallagher we know is an infiltrator.
- Partway through the 2.1 story sequence, Gallagher opts to mix a drink for the Astral Express crew out of ingredients you can find in the run-down Dreamjolt Hostelry, the drink names all being references to classic crime and mystery novels, with a strong bent towards allusions towards death.
- One of Gallagher's voice lines has him claim that it doesn't matter how you look in the Dreamscape because most of the people within don't care if you're actually a real person inside. He does not exempt himself from this.
- In another line, he says that it's his job as a member of the Bloodhounds to deal with anyone inside the Dream who steps out of line, before noting that it's easier to make people vanish than materialize. Sure enough, his control over Something Unto Death gives him a real gift for making the Family's problems "disappear."
- His signature light cone, What is Real? is a sinister picture of him holding a lighter under his face in a dark environment, and the flavor text is questions about paradoxical "what if" scenarios, presumably asked by Gallagher himself. He does the same thing with his lighter right before Something Unto Death attacks Sunday.
- His final character story entry has him telling a tale that alludes to his struggles for freedom when he was under the Watchmaker (as he told the Astral Express crew in the Trailblaze Mission). Then a guest asks him if all that was really something he lived through, and he casually denies it. Then the text outright says "Gallagher is my most genuine lie. Sometimes, I can't even distinguish between him and myself." At the end, it's signed with "Note: Gallagher", like how his previous character stories are from the perspective of some other people. He's later revealed to be a made-up identity from an amalgamation of the traits of more than 52 Family members.
- The amalgamation is foreshadowed in a report that Acheron picks up in Sunday's office. The report is a list of 52 suspects with physical descriptions and traits, and after reading the report, Acheron may have come to the same conclusion. Several of the suspects on the list are mentioned by name when he confronted Gallagher.
Frothy Mugs of Water: Gallagher, like much of Penacony, mixes implications of soda and alcohol freely in his animations and kit.
Gameplay and Story Segregation: It shouldn't be possible to call upon Gallagher outside of Penacony or any of the end-game modes, as he's a made-up identity and not a real person. But you can.
Healing Potion: His Skill has him pop open a canned drink to heal a single ally.^note
Invocation:
(Ultimate activation) "Life's like a good brew: full-bodied and sweet."
(Normal speed and ×2 speed) "My friends, indulge yourselves!"
Irony: Some of Gallagher's attributes as a playable unit are at odds with the fact that he's behind Something Unto Death as its master. As an Abundance unit, he's supposed to prevent death, but also commands a symbol of Death itself. As a Fire unit, he hits one of its weaknesses reasonably hard, and his one-two punch of Ultimate into enhanced Basic Attack is reasonably efficient at destroying the summons from the second phase onwards. Played efficiently, he may very well be an obstacle towards the death his own pet is supposed to be inflicting.
Life Drain: His Talent allows his Technique and Ultimate to inflict the Besotted effect for two turns (extensible to three for the latter through his fourth Eidolon Resonance, Last Word), which allows the party to heal themselves whenever they attack at least one marked foe, as well as increases their Break damage intake by 6–13.2%.^noteWith healing worth 80–707.2 HP In addition, his Ultimate inflicts the debuff before the damage is dealt, allowing him to immediately heal himself.
Manly Facial Hair: He is a security guard and, notably, the first playable male character with stubbles.
Mechanically Unusual Fighter: He is unique among Abundance Pathstriders in that his healing is based on flat values as opposed to a percentage or two of some other stat. These are still affected by Healing Boosts, and a Bonus Ability adds a Healing Boost which scales off of his Break Effect.
Percent-Based Values: His second-ascension Bonus Ability, Novel Concoction, increases his Outgoing Healing stat equivalent to half his Break Effect stat (to a maximum of a 75% boost).
The Reveal: The finale of the Trailblaze Mission "A Walk Among the Tombstones" reveals "Gallagher" is a false identity created via a composite of features and personality aspects of 52 dead members (and a few living members) of The Family, is possibly a minion of Enigmata, and that he is the true culprit behind Something Unto Death.
Right-Hand Attack Dog: Something Unto Death is his pet, which he uses to assassinate his targets, and he can even summon it on command as shown with Sunday. In one of his texts with the Trailblazer, he mentions having a difficult pet that broke his phone.
Roundhouse Kick: His Basic Attack has Gallagher deliver two swift roundhouse kicks in quick succession; when enhanced, the second kick is replaced with a stab of his claw.
Surrounded by Idiots: You first meet Gallagher when he steps in to stop two rookie subordinates from wrongfully arresting Firefly for being a stowaway they're searching for, berating that the suspect they're looking for is a silver-haired male. Granted, she later admits to actually being a stowaway, but she still didn't match the description that was given. And that's not even going into how some of his subordinates don't even seem to know who he is, though that may be due to him being an impostor who took on the amalgamation of traits from multiple Family members.
Theme Naming: His Eidolon Resonances are named after cocktails, such as Corpse Reviver.
Unreliable Expositor: If Sunday's claim of Gallagher being a "minion of Enigmata" is true, then it stands to question how much of what he had said (including the Watchmaker's history) to be true; notably, by the way he speaks, he seems to have dropped the "act" of being "the Watchmaker's disciple whom the Family wronged and is biding his time" when Sunday exposes his fraud.
Upgrade Artifact: His third and fifth Eidolon Resonances, Corpse Reviver and Death in the Afternoon, add two levels to his Skill and 1 to Basic Attack with the former, and 2 to his Ultimate and Talent with the latter.
Weapon Specialization: His associated light cone is "What Is Real?", whose "Hypothesis" passive increases its wielder's Break Effect by 24–48% as well as heals them after using their Basic Attack, equivalent to (2–4%)+800 of their Max HP. The former buff helps with his kit that relies on said stat (assuming he has unlocked his second-ascension Bonus Ability), while the latter plays well into his Combat Medic-oriented gameplay.
A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing: With his slovenly appearance and agreeable demeanour, he successfully kept his true agenda under wraps until his confrontation with Sunday reveals that he's the one behind the killings.
Wolverine Claws: Gallagher can gather red energy around his right arm and shape them into phantasmal claws, with which he strikes at his foes whenever he uses his Basic Attack, Ultimate, or Technique.^note

Iris Family

In General

The lineage of the Family charged with culture, headed by Maeven Ellis.

Firefly

Introduced: (v2.3)
Voiced By: Song Yuanyuan (Chinese), Tomori Kusunoki (Japanese), Yu Hye-ji (Korean), Analesa Fisher (English)

An area guide affiliated with the Iris Family who also works as a supporting actor for the Dreamscape's shows... At least, that's what she claims when the Trailblazer first encounters her.

To see her character sheet, see Sam's folder in Honkai: Star Rail—Stellaron Hunters.

Siobhan

Voiced by: Laila Berzins (English)

A drinksmith running the Dreamjolt Hostelry, a bar in the dreamscape that exclusively serves members of the Dreamjolt Troupe. Once a singer and rising star for the Iris Family, her compassion for the fallen members of the Sweet Dreams Troupe lead to her abandoning her post and setting up shop inside the dreamscape to alleviate the suffering of the monsters. She gets a focus in the "Vignettes in a Cup" event.

Almighty Janitor: She's currently a Drinksmith who operates a bar in a small corner of the Dreamscape, but she's also the adopted daughter of the head of the Iris Family and described as having authority second only to Maeven. It's part of why she can get away with ripping off a certain guy's invite from the Iris Family (because he had been an unreasonable jerk to the Sweet Dreams Troupe).
The Bartender: She serves members of the Dreamjolt Troupe drinks that help alleviate their trauma.
Bifauxnen: She's definitely more handsome than pretty, with her short hair and somewhat unkempt suit.
Nonstandard Character Design: She's considered an NPC but she also looks unique enough to avert the nigh-uniformity among other NPCs.
Parental Abandonment: Her birth parents originally came to Penacony a long time ago to strike it rich, but failed. As they were about to go bankrupt, they left Siobhan in the Dreampool before escaping the planet, never to be heard from again. She was subsequently found by hotel staff, upon which she was adopted into the Iris Family and raised as their own.
Suspiciously Similar Substitute: March 7th notes that she's rather similar to Serval in both appearance and personality, with Siobhan expressing an interest in actually meeting her one day.
Team Mom: She acts as something of a mother figure to the regulars of the Dreamjolt Hostelry, whom she refers to as children. In return, they are very fond of her and genuinely fear the idea of her one day leaving them.
What Measure Is A Nonhuman: She defies this, unlike most other people in Penacony. Siobhan does not see the machines of the Sweet Dreams and Dreamjolt Troupe as mindless servants, and considers them fully sapient beings suffering under the yoke of the Family.

Oak Family

In General

The lineage of the Family charged with political organization.

Robin

Robin

Introduced: v2.2 "Then Wake to Weep"
Voiced By: Qian Chen (Chinese), Kaori Nazuka (Japanese), Shin Onyu (Korean), Alice Himora (English), Chevy (All Languages [Singing])

Rarity: 5★
Path: The Harmony
Type: Physical

A singer that is popular across the cosmos, and Sunday's sister. She is slated to perform at the opening ceremony for Penacony's upcoming Charmony Festival.

Caged Bird Metaphor: Implied: her song "If I Can Stop One Heart From Breaking" is about someone wanting to metaphorically spread their wings and be free as a bird, her art depicts her singing out of a broken birdcage, and Gallagher's voice line about her has him note that it's rare for Penacony locals to want to leave the planet (her singing career apparently brought her to other planets before she was invited for the Charmony Festival).
Chekhov's Gunman: She was first mentioned at the start of version 1.5's special program.
Dub Pronunciation Change: In Chinese her name is the actual word for robin "知更鸟" (pinyin Zhīgēngniǎo) while the other dubs transliterate the English name.
Foreshadowing: Sunday suggests that Robin and Firefly were both killed by Something Unto Death. However, Firefly's body dissipated almost immediately after getting impaled, while Robin's didn't fade away until after the Trailblazer discovered it, so something about Robin's death isn't adding up. This is supposedly cleared up by 2.1's continuation making it clear that the "body" was actually a memoria hologram showing her corpse at the time of discovery, but The Stinger also sees Sunday being attacked by the true culprit behind Something Unto Death, with the strike letting loose the same "goo" that was present at Firefly's "death"...and Sam reveals "himself" to be Firefly shortly before this. In addition, the Myriad Celestia Trailer "A Revisiting of Past Dreams", set before the events of Penacony, shows Black Swan performing a tarot reading that has Duke Inferno's card burning up, representing the Annihilation Gang's interception and destruction, but Robin's card doesn't follow suit, despite her death having been discovered over enough time that the Family already had body doubles set up by the time of the Astral Express's arrival.
Killed Offscreen: Aventurine's "surprise" to the Trailblazer at the end of the first part of Penacony's story is Robin's dead body in the Dreamscape, with visible impalement scar, before it dissipates into bubbles. In the scene afterward, Sunday implies that "Death" (i.e Something Unto Death) did it.
Lost Voice Plot: It is revealed that sometime before her death, Robin realized that upon arriving in Penacony her voice began to sound out of tune, and as time progressed it escalated into moments where she would completely lose her voice. A letter to Sunday explains that she did some investigative work and discovered that this could only be possible if the power of the Path of Harmony was somehow tampered with in Penacony, which is only possible for someone as powerful as one of the five heads of The Family.
Ms. Fanservice: She oughta be, to have a convincing stage presence on Penacony. Robin wears a sleeveless, low-cut dress that, while showing minimal cleavage, has an assymetrical design that still draws attention to her chest.
She Knows Too Much: A letter from her addressed to Sunday reveals that she discovered the presence of a traitor within the Family, and planned to investigate for herself. It's safe to assume that this was one of the reasons for her murder at the hands of Something Unto Death - whose "true master" is an impostor among the Family.
Strong Family Resemblance: Robin's hair is a shade of blue similar to that of her brother's, and the two also share halos and wings on the back of their head.
Unusual Halo: Her halo takes the form of a circlet. It is more modest than her brother's in that it could pass as normal headgear if it weren't floating above her head.

Sunday

Voiced By: Xu Xiang (Chinese), Takeo Ōtsuka (Japanese), Griffin Puatu (English)

The organizer of the upcoming Charmony Festival and representative of the Family on Penacony. He's the Oak Family's current head.

Animal Espionage: All over the course of the Penacony storyline, Sunday's ravens can be seen spying on other characters.
Asshole Victim: The most recent victim of Something Unto Death, but considering Sunday is a manipulative Control Freak, he is not as widely mourned among the audience like Firefly and Robin were.
"Back to Camera" Pose: At the end of the 2.0 quest, there is a shot of Sunday with his back turned to the audience, one hand behind his back, as he monologues about serving revenge in the name of the Harmony. At the start of the 2.1 quest, he greets Ratio and Aventurine as they enter his office with the same pose. It is also how his confrontation with Gallagher starts.
Big Brother Instinct: He is deeply upset by Robin's death, but keeps it hidden under a veil of Tranquil Fury. He claims that in due time, he will have his vengeance on those responsible. Examining his office reveals that he has been prioritizing investigating Robin's death to the disapproval of other Family heads.
Cold-Blooded Torture: The Geas that he implanted on Aventurine also simulates the trial spell that the Families use to test potential newcomers to join the Harmony, which is stated in the lore to be a heavily unpleasant experience.
Control Freak: Described as such by Aventurine, or rather the spiritual manifestation of his "future", who he states is so meticulous that you need to be careful of how much truth you tell and how much you keep to yourself when bluffing him. Considering how he forgoed actually making a deal with Aventurine in favour of placing a fatal Geas on him to force his cooperation, it's hard to disagree.
Dub Pronunciation Change: In Chinese his name is the actual word for Sunday "星期日" (pinyin Xīngqírì) while the other dubs transliterate the English name.
Early-Bird Cameo: He first shows up in the Version 1.6 Special Program, showing an early sneak peek of Penacony and the events about to be held there, along with other characters that will make an appearance, including those from other factions that were invited to the festival.
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: As much of a controlling jerk that he is, he genuinely loves his sister Robin and her death hurt him deeply.
Everyone Has Standards: Though he is perfectly willing to get involved in unsavory business, he is absolutely disgusted by Sparkle's decision to impersonate his dead sister around him, and even more so when she offers to act as a body double for Robin.
Fatal Flaw: Overconfidence. He explains to Aventurine that he meticulously plans everything out well ahead of time, likening it to never having to adjust his clothes in public because he makes sure everything is in place before he leaves the house. Though he is a genuinely intelligent strategist, his intense confidence in his plans means he has no contingencies for when people act outside of his predictions and can be blindsided when they do. This allows Aventurine to outsmart him by pretending to have been thwarted by Sunday's plans, and later gets the halovian killed when he approaches Gallagher about the murders, despite knowing the latter is the culprit.
Heads I Win, Tails You Lose: Sunday gives Aventurine 17 hours to solve Robin's murder. If he succeeds, he will be assimilated by the Harmony, and if he loses, he will be punished by Them. While the latter is obviously a bad outcome, the former seems to be only "good" from the perspective of the Harmony as a philosophy - and in Aventurine's case, he's already following a different path (Preservation), so for him, that outcome could've been a negative one.
Horrible Judge of Character: Sunday somehow believed that meager Stellaron research would be enough to tempt Dr. Ratio, an accomplished scholar whose entire philosophy is to encourage others to think critically rather than to rely on geniuses' results, into betraying Aventurine.
Hypocrite: For the head of the family leading the Harmony's sole faction, he proves to be a bit of a ruthless Jerkass behind closed doors. Case in point, before his meeting with Aventurine, he goaded Dr. Ratio into backstabbing the IPC official for research materials on Stellarons by revealing how he hid his Cornerstone from him. Then when the actual meeting occurs, he goes out of his way to humiliate Aventurine by calling his bluff, forcing him into a game of "Yes or No" that starts out relevant to the bluff before devolving into deeply personal questions meant to hurt him, rubs the fact that Ratio betrayed him in his face, and then reveals to have placed a Geas on him that will kill him in 17 hours unless he solves Robin's murder. All that while he preaches about the Harmony's virtues.
Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: The end of his meeting with Gallagher seems to end with him getting ambushed from behind by Something Unto Death, which impales him like it did its other victims.
Kick the Dog: Suspecting Aventurine is up to something during their meeting, Sunday subjects him to an interrogation in which he must answer all questions truthfully or suffer serious consequences. Though Sunday starts by asking questions important to the matter at hand, he quickly pivots to forcing the gambler to answer irrelevant and needlessly invasive inquiries about his past, then finishes by revealing that Aventurine must either solve the murders in seventeen hours and be assimilated into the Family, or die.
Knew It All Along: When he's listing the victims of "Death", he mentions "a stowaway" as one of them, implying that he already knew Firefly's status.
Laser-Guided Karma: Sunday puts a Geas on Aventurine that would kill him in 17 hours unless he solves Robin's murder and is smug about it...but ends up becoming the one that dies by the actual killer's hand at the end of the Trailblaze Mission instead. Also, even if it's Acheron who "killed" Aventurine, the fact that he can "die" at all goes against the Family's promise that nobody can die in the Dreamscape - and thus, IPC now has an excuse to act in Penacony since Aventurine was their representative.
Light Is Not Good: He is dressed in all white and has an angelic motif, but is actually an authoritarian Control Freak.
A Lighter Shade of Black: Sunday is no good guy by any measure, but compared to the other Family heads of Penacony he's also the only one that actually bothers to investigate the reason behind the encroaching collapse of the Dreamscape.
Outgambitted: Sunday's plan to thwart Aventurine's relied on Dr. Ratio betraying Aventurine so that he could end up in control of the two Cornerstones he brought (his and Topaz's) and thus force him to work for him. This however played into Aventurine's favour because he predicted that he would do such a thing due to his Control Freak personality, as such, he prepared to have Dr. Ratio intentionally "betray" him and shattered his Aventurine Cornerstone so that he could smuggle Jade's instead. This out-playing is on another level as well because Sunday predicted that the Cornerstones could only be useful so long as their owners had them on their possession, not realizing that the Ten Stonehearts can actually use them at the distance (as shown by Jade), and thus he inadvertently opened a way for Jade and Topaz to act within Penacony and with Aventurine's "death" the excuse to do so - the one thing the Family had been trying to avoid.
Revenge Before Reason: Despite the Dreammaster (the supreme leader above the family heads) giving direct orders to him to cease investigating Something Unto Death and focus on organizing the Charmony Festival, Sunday continues his pursuit due to his desire to avenge Robin's death.
Stupid Evil: Sunday putting a deadly Geas on Aventurine, a high-ranking IPC representative, is not only an act of needless cruelty, but also one of severe idiocy as this basically means he's violating diplomatic immunity, an action that would entail retaliation from the IPC.
Tempting Fate: Tells the primary suspect for the memetic murders that he does not care how he did it, just before said suspect summons the memetic entity to attack him next.
Too Clever by Half: Sunday is by no means unintelligent, but over the course of the Penacony chapter he consistently allows initial "successes" to get to his head, constantly assuming he's seen his opposition's full hand when he has actually failed to notice the aces still kept in the hole. The result is that his "masterstrokes" not only fail to deliver him any real results, they don't even seem to interfere with the plans of Aventurine or Gallagher other than speed up the timetable for things already planned out before he stepped in.
Tranquil Fury: He maintains a calm, yet undoubtedly furious tone with Sparkle for impersonating his sister and offering to pose as her so that the festival won't be cancelled on account of her death. He only once drops the facade when he confronts Gallagher regarding his motive behind the murder of his sister.
Uncertain Doom: "Cat Among the Pigeons" ends with him apparently being killed by Something Unto Death.
Underestimating Badassery: Sunday's Fatal Flaw. Due to his Control Freak tendencies and his position as head of the Oak Family, he can be blindsided by people who can play to his expectations of being on the ropes while actually having a trump card on reserve. This is how Aventurine managed to both smuggle his own Cornerstone under his nose while also providing a way for Topaz and Jade to act on Penacony. Likewise, he underestimates Gallagher's own lethal capabilities to his own demise after he summons Something Unto Death to deal with him.
Unusual Halo: Sunday has a golden, pronged halo floating behind his head.

Mr. McCoy

The Oak Family's head butler.

Cain and Abel: He forcibly turned his own siblings into memes as punishment for betraying the Family.
I Did What I Had to Do: He stresses that betraying his own siblings was necessary since it was a task personally assigned to him by the Dreammaster, and was basically a loyalty test.
My God, What Have I Done?: He deeply regrets the fact that he turned both of his siblings into memes as punishment for their supposed betrayal of the Family, to the point where he tries to have all memory of it erased in an attempt to escape the guilt. It doesn't work.
Rank Up: He has ambitions to be promoted to be a Family head.

Memetic Entities

In General

Within the Dreamscape, and to a lesser degree, in Reality, exist entities made of pure memoria, the essence of memory.

Animate Inanimate Object: The dreamscape is literally made of memories. Some objects, like the walking talking billboards, are intentionally animated; sometimes, objects come to life from absorbing the surrounding emotions.
The Heartless: While the Family reassures everyone that they have their protection in the dreamscape, nightmares still manage to come to life and spread chaos and destruction.
Tulpa: Some of them were born from collective thoughts and feelings.

Clockie

Voiced By: Qin Qiege (Chinese), Kōhei Yanagi (Japanese), Ju-seung Lee (Korean), Niko Gerentes (English)

The main mascot of Penacony, a walking, talking, anthropomorphic clock. Believed by most to be a fictional character, Clockie is real, and passes his Emotion Control powers to the Trailblazer to help various people around Penacony.

Bad Powers, Good People: Clockie has the ability to manipulate emotions via a gear system, which he teaches to the player. While the power to manipulate emotions is usually akin to Mind Control, and it could be easy to just force everyone to be happy all the time, Clockie has only shown genuine concern for the emotional and mental health of the people in Penacony and wants them to have their full spectrum of emotions, even negative ones that The Family themselves don't approve of.
Company Cross References: The Clockie Statue accepting your Clockie Credits is one to Genshin Impact's Elemental Sigils, and especially their history; in their earliest versions, Anemo and Geo Sigils are acquired from chests and quests, and used to purchase special things in the local shop, like how Hertareum, Shield (Belobog's currency) and Strale works in this game. From Inazuma update onward, however, the newer elemental sigils are instead used as "offerings" to a certain place (Electro Sigils for Sacred Sakura Tree, for example)^note, like how Clockie Credits are used here.
Deprogram: Seems to be his ultimate goal. Every time his alarm chimes when interacting with an NPC, he is letting the player know that the person is missing a key piece of their emotional cognition and he wants you to repair it.
Early-Bird Cameo: Clockie first shows up in the image for "Penacony, Land of the Dreams" Link Rope from version 1.5, though his name was never mentioned.
Expy: Gallagher alludes that the character of Clockie is a direct parallel to the Watchmaker himself.
Emotion Control: Clockie teaches the Trailblazer how to do this in order to combat the negative emotions that are being spread around Penacony.
Invisible to Adults: He can only be perceived by children or people with a pure, innocent heart. So far the only people that confirmed to able to see and talk to him are the Trailblazer and Misha. His sidequest involves gathering enough gold certificates so he can gain the power to be seen by everyone.
Mascot: His cartoon is used to promote Penacony to tourists.
Mocky Mouse: He has the same style as the old-fashioned Mickey Mouse, both in terms of his voice, the art style of his cartoon, and even his mannerisms.
Nice Guy: In contrast to the soulless hedonism that's begun to overtake Penacony, Clockie is every bit the cheerful and helpful cartoon hero his cartoons portray him as. He considers the staff of the Reverie his friends even if none of them can actually see him and just wants to make sure all the visitors to the Dreamscape have a good time.
Not-So-Imaginary Friend: Not everyone seems convinced when the Trailblazer explains that they've run into a certain memetic entity most people cannot see.
Rubber-Hose Limbs: As a classic cartoon parody, his limbs do not have single hinge joints. Instead his limbs bend like, well, rubber hoses.
Time Master: It's unknown if the version of him in Penacony's Dreamscape can do this, but in his cartoon he can reverse and pause a target in time.
Tulpa: While his exact origins are unknown, he appears to be a memoria entity based on his own cartoon.
Verbal Tic: He often says "Tick-Tock!".

Hanu

One of Clockie's colleagues in his cartoon show. While Hanu is not known to have a corresponding memoria entity like Clockie, games based on him can be found throughout Penacony.

And Now for Someone Completely Different: When an in-universe player plays Hanu's Adventure games, they will take the form of a shrunken down Hanu to steal back the treasures Boss Stone stole. In gameplay, this makes you (the player) control Hanu.
Can't Use Stairs: He's too small to climb stairs, meaning that you'll have to switch between playing him and being regular sized to solve certain puzzles.
Incredible Shrinking Man: In the Hanu's Adventure games, he has been shrunken down to the size of a housecat by Boss Stone. In some puzzles involving him, you'll need to use him to get past passages too narrow for your normal-sized characters to pass through - even though that passage may sometimes be merely a stack of books no taller than your characters' shins with a convenient small gap.
No Historical Figures Were Harmed: An In-Universe example, the cartoon Hanu is based on one of Penacony's important historical figures: Hanunue, one of the original rebel leaders who helped free Penacony from IPC control.
Pocket Rocket Launcher: In his cartoon, he is armed with a rocket launching gun. In later areas of Penacony, you can acquire Hanu's Launcher while playing as Hanu in certain sections, enabling him to take out foes he'd otherwise have to sneak past and detonate fireworks that block access to new areas.
Sharp-Dressed Man: He's dressed in a sharp 3-piece suit, fedora, and Cool Shades.
The Speechless: All he can speak with is a "grunt that sounds really cool".
Stealth-Based Mission: During gameplay, Hanu can't normally attack, so you have to avoid being found by "Boss Stone's Lackeys" (represented by Dreamjolt Troupe) when he's looking for Boss Stone's treasure. He can hide behind pieces of furniture or boxes to avoid the lackey's gaze, or drop objects onto them to knock them out. Subverted in the 2.1 update, where he can pick up a rocket launcher to directly knock out the lackeys.

Origami Birds

The origami birds of Penacony, lead by Owl. They feature inside of Clockie fiction and have a presence as memetic entities in the dreamscape. One of them even exists in reality at the Hotel. They claim to be responsible for designing much of the Dreamscape.

Art Evolution: In-Universe, the Trailblazer will note that Sunday's artwork of the Origami birds has a much different style (looking like birds made from actual paper folding) than the origami birds that the Trailblazer has actually seen (who look more like cartoon birds made of paper), and assumes that this is a result of Penacony's art evolving.
Hidden Object Game: Most of them are scattered throughout the dreamscape. Some of them are attempting to complement an existing object with their feathers, some of them have gotten stuck, and some are hiding on purpose. Regardless, their manager in each zone of the dreamscape wants them found and will reward the Trailblazer for doing so. They are most easily noticed by their constant chirping and one of their head feathers will always be sticking out.
Invisible to Adults: Like Clockie, it is implied that they can only be seen by children, the pure of heart, or those with high memoria sensitivity. However, when playing the game from Aventurine or Acheron's perspective, even though they cannot see them, they can still touch them and can hear them chirping on a subconscious level, even if they confusedly dismiss them as hallucinations.

The Dreamjolt Troupe

Formerly a part of the Sweet Dreams Troupe, the cast of objects animated by the Dreamscape, certain members became moved by permeating negative emotions, becoming the violent Dreamjolt Troupe. They can be found both as wandering monsters in the Dreamscape, and employed by the Family as security troops.

Their ranks consist of: Birdskull, Spring Loader, Mr. Domescreen, Winder Goon, Bubble Hound, Sweet Gorilla (elite), and Beyond Overcooked (elite).

Action Bomb: When Bubble Hounds are defeated, they'll release an explosion that deals Physical damage and inflicts Bleed on adjacent enemies, but will also buff their Speed.
Helpful Mook: When Mr. Domescreen is in his Surprise Channel mode, he'll use his "Surprise Variety Show" move, which refills 50% of the target's energy. Careful target selection can ensure that he'll spend the entire encounter using only this move.
Hoist by His Own Petard: Sweet Gorilla has 2 cases of this:
- Its thrown Soulglad bottles can be reflected towards it with shields; if this happens, the Gorilla will also suffer from lowered defense.
- It can summon Bubble Hounds to aid it; the Bubble Hounds' explosion when they're defeated can hurt the Gorilla as well as damage its Toughness Gauge.
Lethal Chef: Beyond Overcooked is a T-rex robot that originally works as a chef, but has a tendency to, well, overcook the dishes it made with its fire powers.
Mana Burn: Mr. Domescreen can use "Startling Broadcast" to sap 20% of the energy from the entire party.
Mecha-Mooks: They're robotic dream-creations originally meant to serve the guests. As they're dream constructs, they can be affected by negative emotions, becoming hostile in the process.
Pain & Gain:
- The Bubble Hound can buff itself whenever it's attacked or it takes Damage Over Time, up to 4 times.
- Beyond Overcooked can build up "Stove Heating" whenever it gets attacked or whenever it takes Damage Over Time. If it reaches 6, it'll enter "Ignite Stove" state and use a powerful AOE attack on its next turn. However, if you can build Stove Heating up to 6 again in its Ignite Stove state, it'll instead explode and deal damage to itself and surrounding enemies. Its "bug" version in Simulated Universe makes it enter Ignite Stove with only 4 Stove Heating, but to make it overheat and explode, you have to build up 12 Stove Heating instead of 6.
Robot Dog: The Bubble Hounds are worker robots who are supposed to deliver Soulglad bottles to the clients.
Soda Can Shakeup: Sweet Gorilla's strongest attack involves it shaking the Soulglad container it carries before the bottles rocket towards your characters at random, using the soda as propulsion.
Stance System: Mr. Domescreen has 2 "faces", an angry face (which it always starts the battle with) and a happy face, and will switch between the two if they take a hit from attacks^note. When its turn comes up and it has the angry face, it'll perform an AOE attack that will also burn your characters' energy; if it has a happy face, however, it will instead recover energy for one of your characters.
Status Infliction Attack:
- Spring Loader's attack inflicts Effect RES penalty on its target, making the target more likely to suffer from other debuffs.
- Birdskull's attack inflicts Bleed on its target.
Support Party Member: The Winder Goon's primary purpose is to "set their alarm"; once their next turn comes up, their alarm will ring, advancing forward all of its allies' next turn. Weakness Breaking them will prevent their alarm from ringing.
Turned Against Their Masters: They are artificial memoria constructs that were intended to serve guests or provide security. Due to absorbing negative emotions, many of them have glitched and become hostile. However, the ones that manage to retain their sanity decide to leave the Family anyways (such as Starlet), since they're basically treated as slaves.
Vocal Dissonance: Beyond Overcooked may be a t-rex, but its roar when attacking is a shrill, high-pitched trumpeting sound.

The Dreamjolt Hostelry Gang

These particular Dreamjolt Troupe robots were effectively adopted by Siobhan out of sympathy, and she tries her best to tend to their issues by making drinks for them in the Dreamjolt Hostelry. They're featured in the event "Vignettes in a Cup".

They consist of: Spade the Spring Loader, Mr. Bigwig the Bubble Hound, Tin Man the Winder Goon, Lady the Mr. Domescreen, Melancholy the Birdskull, and Starlet the Sweet Gorilla.

Memory Zone Memes

Memes floating through the Memory Zone, they have matured into monsters of thought and concepts, and roam the distorted Dreamscape.

They consist of: Allseer, Heartbreaker, Something in the Mirror, and Shell of Faded Rage (elite).

Armored But Frail: Heartbreakers and Shells of Faded Rage have a variant - so long as their Toughness gauge is up, they gain the buff "Safeguard" which decreases the damage they take. Inflict a Break, and they will not only lose the buff, but take even more damage than usual and suffer much more pushback on the Action Initiative than other enemies.
Gathering Steam: The Shell of Faded Rage builds stacks of Obscure Blaze as it takes action, dealing additional hits with its Bonepiercing Odium attack for each stack. It can have up to five stacks, and loses all of them upon suffering Break; getting rid of the full five stacks at once gets you an achievement.
Transformation Sequence: Something in the Mirror will do this at the very start of combat far ahead of anything else, shattering to reassemble as a random Mook from anywhere else in the game. This can lead to them becoming an Elite Mook as well, though they only inherit the respective moveset and not the HP or Toughness values to go with them, making them something of a Paper Tiger.

Something Unto Death

The most dangerous entity that roams the dreamscape, granting a "spiritual death" to those unfortunate enough to meet it.

Eldritch Abomination: A memetic monster symbolizing "death" with a grotesque form with its head and neck consisting half of its body, multiple eyes on its body, unnatural body posture, and huge Razor Wings.
Foreshadowing: One of its ultimate attacks in its second phase is called "Watery Dissolution", which is an Instant Kill attack, though the target can recover by being freed from its Sombrous Sepulcher. After it impales Firefly on its claws, she dissolves into water, and is thought truly dead until Sam revealed she was alive after all.
The Heartless: It's said to embody humans' fear of death and murder.
Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Its favorite method of attack is to impale its tail through its target, as can be attested by Firefly and Robin (if the state of her corpse is of any indication).
Knight of Cerebus: Its appearance marked a darker turn of the story, with its murder of Firefly and Robin raising the stakes and making it clear that nobody is safe from it.
Lightning Bruiser: It's durable enough that it could take a beating from both the Trailblazer and Black Swan without trouble, fast enough that nobody in the room could react when it ambushed Firefly, and its abilities allow it to practically One-Hit Kill its targets.
The Man Behind the Monsters: At the start of "Cat Among the Pigeons", Aventurine suggests that someone is connected to the monster's appearance, though he believed that someone is Acheron, whose power as an Emanator could possibly break through the "thought barrier" that Penacony's Dreamweavers built to prevent the idea of death from occurring in the Dreamscape. Later, Sunday's notes suggest that there might be some hidden connection between the past murders done by the memory zone meme, so that someone might be behind it. In the end, it's revealed that "the man" in question is Gallagher.
Only Mostly Dead: The boss's gimmick is that certain actions, such as "Fading Radiance" and "Toward Moonrise", "kill" characters and entrap their souls in Sombrous Sepulchers. They can be attacked by surviving party members; if they take damage from 5 separate actions (taking damage on a turn or a Damage Over Time effect) or their HP is reduced to 0, the Sepulchers will burst and free the trapped character, reviving them with half HP and immediately maxing their Energy. However, if all available party members are captured, this results in a Game Over. For the "Complete" version of the boss in Simulated Universe, the Sombrous Sepulchers will have increasingly more health.
Status Buff: Its "Biting Obituary" move buffs its damage output for 1 turn, or until it gets Weakness Broken.
Super-Persistent Predator: Despite Black Swan fending it off and giving some precious time for the Trailblazer and Firefly to escape, it keeps chasing after Firefly until it could ambush her and finish the job.
Wrong Context Magic: It can seemingly cause lasting harm in a place where even the Memokeepers cannot due to the Harmony's blessings.

Lordly Trashcan

Entities in Penacony presumably born out of the Trailblazer's fantasies, said to be bearing the important mission of eliminating all waste that pollute the world.

Badass Armfold: Their default stance in battle.
Boss in Mook Clothing: They can be easily summed up as "Malefic Ape, but stronger and more unpredictable". They have thick Toughness Gauge akin to an Elite or a Boss, they only attack one target at a time but can continuously buff their damage output, and unlike Malefic Ape, the buff raises exponentially, will never expire, and cannot be dispelled - if you take long enough to defeat them, their attack can even shred through your toughest shielded ally. However, you can apply up to 2 kinds of weakness onto them just by attacking them, and they'll be immediately defeated if they get Weakness Broken.
Graceful Loser: Once they get Weakness Broken, they will gracefully bow to salute you, then walk away from the battlefield.
Metal Slime: Just like Warp Trotters, they are part of the "treasures" of the given map. Uniquely, you have to talk to them first; depending on the individual trashcan in question and your dialogue choices, you can get your reward from them without fighting them, or you have no choice but to fight them.
No-Sell: Lordly Trashcans are notably immune to attacks or Techniques from your allied characters in the overworld, preventing you from initiating combat with them directly.
Roundhouse Kick: Their only method of attacking, including to ambush your character.

Others

The Watchmaker

The mythical, alleged founder of Penacony.

Foreshadowing: It's revealed in the early part of Penacony's story that the one who sent the invite to various out-world factions to join Penacony's Charmony Festival wasn't the Family, but supposedly the Watchmaker himself. Among other things, this makes Himeko and Welt suspect that there's more than meets the eye in this event.
The Ghost: While famous in Penacony, the Watchmaker has been seen in public for a very long time and so far has not physically appeared in the first half of the Penacony story arc.
Internal Deconstruction: Or "Inter-verse Deconstruction" in this case. The "Clockie Credits" are Penacony's local currency, but you don't use them to purchase stuff in specific shops like in previous planets - instead you only use them to upgrade the Clockie Statue. In Genshin Impact which featured something similar, you can't use Electro, Dendro or Hydro Sigils to purchase things in the respective region's souvenir shop because the shops are "conveniently closed" until you have offered enough of them to their respective landmarks. Here? Clockie Credits are actually an illegal currency and are prohibited for use in any of Penacony's shops; according to a note about the investigation of Watchmaker, he apparently had introduced said currency (the text described it as a "speculative token") specifically to disrupt local economy, and it took the Alfalfa Family decades to recover the economic situation.
Legacy Character: According to Gallagher, the original Watchmaker is likely long dead, with the title passing on to his descendants. The last person known to be the Watchmaker was Mikhail.
Mr. Alt Disney: As the creator of a massive amusement park as well as the cartoon character Clockie, he's the setting's version of Walt Disney.
Secret War: Gallagher reveals that the Watchmaker and the Family have long been locked in a secret contest over the direction of Penacony's future. While the Family currently has the upper hand, the Watchmaker's influence is still pervasive throughout Penacony in the form of the many cartoons and products he created, which the Family can't get rid of without exposing The Masquerade and hurting their tourism business. The Watchmaker sending the invitations out to various groups that can potentially cause trouble on Penacony (including to IPC, the Penaconians' Arch-Enemy) appears to be the latest step in his plans to fight back against the Family.
Shadow Dictator: Supposedly the founder of Penacony, a legendary craftsman, and the one to send out the invites to so many factions during the Reverie. And yet there is no direct evidence that he has ever physically existed. Some people even think that he's just a myth to add to Penacony's historical appeal.
Shrouded in Myth: According to a note found in Dewlight Pavilion, the Family had investigated The Watchmaker's possible identity and whereabouts from time to time; one striking thing they found is that they have never been described the same way twice (including taking on the appearance of non-humanoid figures such as Sweet Dreams Troupe or Clockie cartoon characters), and that the memories of the witnesses to the Watchmaker show sign of tampering, which made the Family suspect that he is connected to the Enigmata and may have had outside help.

Cocona

A luxury clothing store owner working in Penacony. The subject of the Adventure Mission "Envision a Rose Forthcoming".

And Now for Someone Completely Different: Cocona becomes playable in her emoscape.
Battle in the Center of the Mind: At one point, you fight Cocona's own ego - her "innocence, kindness, honesty and principles" - represented as Dreamjolt Troupe monsters.
Beautiful Singing Voice: In the past, her teacher mentioned she had a natural talent for singing. In the present, if the Trailblazer saves her life, Cocona decides to commit to becoming a singer and becomes an instant success.
But Thou Must!: As Cocona, you can repeatedly say to her parents that you want to become a musician, but eventually this option disappears from the dialogue entirely, and your only choice is to agree to their career idea.
Dark and Troubled Past: To say Cocona had a rough life is a huge understatement. She had to live under Control Freak parents who trampled over her childhood dream to become a singer and instead forced to take a job she hated and was bullied in. Later, she attempted to leave Penacony for good with her fiance, but he tried to fund their trip with a massive bet he subsequently lost. Since he borrowed a huge sum of money from the Family, he subsequently disappeared (heavily implied to have been killed), leaving Cocona in despair and accepting her lot in life.
Driven to Suicide: At the climax of her quest, Cocona considers jumping off the roof in her own emoscape. The Trailblazer can choose to intervene or let her jump. If you choose the former and keep going till the end, you'll succesfully prevent her suicide, and the next day, you can accompany her to sing in the crowd, where the people around her give their praises. If the latter is chosen, when the Trailblazer returns to reality, Cocona is missing, her shop is under new management, and the Family only vaguely mentions she won't be working any more, heavily implying she committed suicide in reality, as well.
Empty Shell: When the Trailblazer first meets her, they can already tell that Cocona is emotionally dead and her chipper attitude is merely a front. This is due to the Family keeping her drugged with memory altering SoulGlad to suppress her negative emotions. If the Trailblazer intervenes, she becomes more open with her singing hobby, and while she continues to work in a career that she hates, she is more stable now and has reduced the amount of SoulGlad she needs to keep herself calm.
Fantasy-Forbidding Father: Cocona's parents hated her passion for music and forced her to enlist in a retail job because it paid well, causing her to give up her dreams of becoming a singer.
Four Is Death: Inverted - when you try to prevent Cocona's suicide in the climax, you are prompted four times if you want to hold her hand.
Soul-Sucking Retail Job: She hates her job due to the harassment she dealt with from coworkers on top of having her dreams as a singer crushed.

Tizocic II

A woman known in Penacony for her charity and kindness and for calling herself "Emperor." The subject of the Adventure Mission "Goodness is Rare."

Amnesiac Dissonance: Tizocic II is first introduced as a kind citizen of Penacony beloved by many. When her memories return, she learns that she was the mass-murdering tyrant of an empire. She decides to allow herself to be taken away to be judged for her crimes.
The Atoner: She did a lot of good things in the Penacony Dreamscape to atone for the atrocities she committed in the past. When she's arrested in the end, the Trailblazer can tell her whether she can still atone or if she's Beyond Redemption.
But Now I Must Go: In the end, she chooses to leave her life at Penacony and be judged by her world's people.
Cruel and Unusual Death: When one of her ministers vocally opposes her carpet-bombing a city with a 4-million civilian population, she orders to throw him together with the bombs on that city.
Disproportionate Retribution: She put her own chef to death for merely suggesting she eat ice cream before her meal, fearing that he was trying to poison her. She then later has on of her ministers executed because he was trying to help people suffering from a famine, and she feared this would make her look bad in comparison to him.
God Save Us from the Queen!: Once she rose to power, Tizocic II became a ruthless tyrant, killing anybody she even vaguely perceived as a threat to her rule. When she is finally arrested, it is revealed that she is personally responsible for the deaths of over 13 million people.
My God, What Have I Done?: Once her memories are restored, she is utterly crushed by the horror of her past actions, especially killing the Gray Knight who had protected her since her childhood in a fit of paranoia, and sobs for several minutes before composing herself.
Never My Fault: During her reign, she never takes responsibility for any of the atrocities she committed, either blaming her subordinates who were only following her orders, or gaslighting her opposition.
Noble Top Enforcer: She had one of these back when she was the emperor of the Pupsha Empire, whom she called the "Gray Knight." The Gray Knight had Undying Loyalty to their emperor, but was still considered even by the rebels against Tizocic II as someone who could be reasoned with. Unfortunately, as her paranoia grew, Tizocic II had them killed.
Taking Up the Mantle: After her arrest, an Intellitron lady takes up the title of Tizocic III to continue her legacy of good works on Penacony, even knowing she was a tyrant in her homeworld.
Tragic Monster: She initially wanted to be a benevolent ruler, but witnessing her older brother being killed in a coup organized by her own sister, and getting into a power struggle with her regents who intended to use her as a puppet ruler badly traumatized her and she went through incredible lengths to ensure that nobody could betray her ever again.
Used to Be a Sweet Kid: When she was a young girl, she wanted nothing more than to help the common people. But years of dealing with life-threatening politics and wars turned her into a cruel tyrant who killed anyone she feared threatened her life.
Walking Spoiler: For her own Adventure Mission, due to Amnesiac Dissonance.
You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Pulls that on basically everyone who helps her at some point or other.
You Remind Me of X: She gives the Trailblazer the title of "Gray Knight" after giving her some assistance. It turns out she subconsciously chose the title of her personal bodyguard from childhood. She continues calling the Trailblazer by Gray Knight after her memories are restored.

Lesley Dean

A superstar actor who passed at a young age and suddenly reappeared in the Dreamscape. The subject of the Adventure Mission "Cosmic Star".

Dead All Along: The real Lesley Dean is really dead, and the Dean that the Trailblazer meets is a synesthesia construct put together by his former personal assistant and some of his ardent fans.
Grew Beyond Their Programming: Due to the Trailblazer using their Emotion Control powers to imbue him with the capacity for sadness, he starts realizing that something is wrong and starts becoming independent of his collective creators' intentions.
Heroic Sacrifice: He decides to help cure the emotional traumas of the fans keeping his consciousness alive, otherwise they will destroy their own lives just to recreate a pale shadow of the real Lesley Dean. Dean succeeds with the Trailblazer's help, knowing very well that he will eventually disappear as a result of his own actions.
No Celebrities Were Harmed: He's likely based on Leslie Howard, an actor who died in an air crash, and James Dean, an actor who was famous for dying young.
Oblivious to Love: The real Lesley Dean did not pick up any hints that his personal assistant was in love with him.
Set Right What Once Went Wrong: Upon finding out that he's only a simulacra of the real Lesley Dean, Dean enters the emoscapes of the fans supporting his consciousness to resolve the lingering traumas and regrets they suffered in the past that caused them to latch on to him, giving them a sense of closure so that they can live on without him.
Tomato in the Mirror: While he initially is certain he is the real Lesley Dean, Dean suddenly begins to harbor doubts about his true nature after realizing he can't wake up from the dream, and asks the Trailblazer to check his hotel room in reality. He then finds out to his dismay that he is not the real Dean, but instead a memory construct created by his most ardent fans. He is horrified his fans would go to such lengths to create a pale copy of Dean and decides to put a stop to their plot. He is also disturbed to realize that he isn't "real", though towards the end, he decides to see himself as an extension of the original Lesley Dean.
Tulpa: He is an artificially created one, generated by the pooled imaginations and Synthesia Beacons of his obsessed fans.
Wetware CPU: Dean's existence is supported by several of his fans joining their consciousnesses together so that their collective memories of him can fill in his memoria bubble's lack of personality and sense of self. Gradually cutting them off from the network causes Dean's existence to fade away in the Dreamscape.

Lew Archer

A world-weary detective who used to work for the IPC.

Accidental Child-Killer Backstory: While working as an IPC detective, Lew accidently shot and killed a child who had been taken hostage by a fleeing criminal. This incident not only ended her career but is also the source of her present despair and self-hatred.
Drowning My Sorrows: She spends most of her time at the bar, downing SoulGlad to forget her past mistakes.
Gender-Blender Name: "Lew" is a male given name, and her namesake is a male character.
I Cannot Self-Terminate: Lew has tried to end her life several times before in the Dreamscape, but only succeeds in shocking herself back to reality. Once she’s returned to reality, she finds that she’s lost her nerve and returns to the Dreamscape to begin the cycle anew.
Interrupted Suicide: The Trailblazer first encounters Lew when she’s on a bridge, about to jump off into incoming traffic.
My Greatest Failure: Noka’s death is this for her.
Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Noka’s appearance in the Dreamscape is subject to this. The Trailblazer can choose to interpret her presence as either a therapy tactic employed by the Family or as a genuine case of ghostly intervention.
Private Detective: After the Trailblazer helps resolve her emotional problems, Lew resolves to return to work as a private eye.
Shout-Out: Named after Lew Archer, a popular fictional Hard Boiled Detective.

Emmrich

An ambitious and especially greedy Pepeshi inventor.

Ambulance Chaser: He is not only a patent troll, but actively looks for legal excuses to shut things down to squeeze out money. For example, posting his device to a telescope will not find any patent violations, but it will still shut the telescope down for discriminating against the Pepeshi because it wasn't designed with their height in mind.
Industrialized Evil: He invents a special piece of paper that can be stuck onto any object in the Dreamscape. The paper analyzes the object for any patent or legal issues. If it finds any, it then disables the object until the owner disputes with him in court. The catch is, the paper will twist anything into benefitting him, so the poor objects are almost guaranteed to be disabled. He gloats that his invention will enable him to economically conquer Penacony. The Trailblazer worries that he stands a dangerously high chance of succeeding.
Necessarily Evil: One doesn't need to go deep into his mission to figure out why the Family deemed it necessary to sabotage his mind. After his mission is over, the Trailblazer can conclude that as pitiful as he looks while sad, all of Penacony will probably be much safer if the Trailblazer uses their Emotion Control powers to leave him stuck in a depressed state.
Pragmatic Villainy: If he is in a calm state, he will realize that shutting down public utilities to harass money out of the Family will probably be biting off more trouble than he can chew... So he decides to target dreamchasers (i.e visitors) instead.

Oksana

A woman claiming to be a philanthropist offering her aid to war-torn worlds.

Arms Dealer: This is her true job, which you find out after talking to 2 of her "clients".
Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: In the end, it's clear that she doesn't care for any sides of the wars and just see them as opportunities to make a profit, even if she tries to mask it with amiable-sounding words.
Buy Them Off: After her true dealings are revealed and the Trailblazer confronts her about it, and her rationalizations failed, she resorts to bribe them with credits to let everything between them be water under the bridge. Interestingly, you can choose to deny (which prompts Woolsey the Bloodhound to appear and help you apprehend her), or accept the money and let your conscience move you to report her to Woolsey, or leave the place; you can get one of the 3 separate achievements for it.

Characters / Honkai: Star Rail—Penacony

Penacony

In General

Reverie Hotel

Misha

Introduced: February 6, 2024 (v2.0 "If One Dreams At Midnight" [first half])
Voiced By: Liu Zhixiao (Chinese), Eriko Matsui (Japanese), Bak Sin-hee (Korean), Cat Protano (English)

Bloodhound Family

Gallagher

Introduced: March 27, 2024 (v2.1 "Into the Yawning Chasm" [first half])
Voiced By: Ma Yufei (Chinese), Satoshi Mikami (Japanese), Park Sang-hoon (Korean), Erik Braa (English)

Iris Family

Introduced: (v2.3)
Voiced By: Song Yuanyuan (Chinese), Tomori Kusunoki (Japanese), Yu Hye-ji (Korean), Analesa Fisher (English)

Oak Family

Robin

Introduced: v2.2 "Then Wake to Weep"
Voiced By: Qian Chen (Chinese), Kaori Nazuka (Japanese), Shin Onyu (Korean), Alice Himora (English), Chevy (All Languages [Singing])

Memetic Entities

The Dreamjolt Hostelry Gang

Something Unto Death

Others

Previous

Index

Next

Characters / Honkai: Star Rail—Penacony

Edit Locked

Penacony

In General

Reverie Hotel

Misha

Introduced: February 6, 2024 (v2.0 "If One Dreams At Midnight" [first half])Voiced By: Liu Zhixiao (Chinese), Eriko Matsui (Japanese), Bak Sin-hee (Korean), Cat Protano (English)

Bloodhound Family

Gallagher

Introduced: March 27, 2024 (v2.1 "Into the Yawning Chasm" [first half])Voiced By: Ma Yufei (Chinese), Satoshi Mikami (Japanese), Park Sang-hoon (Korean), Erik Braa (English)

Iris Family

Introduced: (v2.3)Voiced By: Song Yuanyuan (Chinese), Tomori Kusunoki (Japanese), Yu Hye-ji (Korean), Analesa Fisher (English)

Oak Family

Robin

Introduced: v2.2 "Then Wake to Weep"Voiced By: Qian Chen (Chinese), Kaori Nazuka (Japanese), Shin Onyu (Korean), Alice Himora (English), Chevy (All Languages [Singing])

Memetic Entities

The Dreamjolt Hostelry Gang

Something Unto Death

Others

Previous

Index

Next

Introduced: February 6, 2024 (v2.0 "If One Dreams At Midnight" [first half])
Voiced By: Liu Zhixiao (Chinese), Eriko Matsui (Japanese), Bak Sin-hee (Korean), Cat Protano (English)

Introduced: March 27, 2024 (v2.1 "Into the Yawning Chasm" [first half])
Voiced By: Ma Yufei (Chinese), Satoshi Mikami (Japanese), Park Sang-hoon (Korean), Erik Braa (English)

Introduced: (v2.3)
Voiced By: Song Yuanyuan (Chinese), Tomori Kusunoki (Japanese), Yu Hye-ji (Korean), Analesa Fisher (English)

Introduced: v2.2 "Then Wake to Weep"
Voiced By: Qian Chen (Chinese), Kaori Nazuka (Japanese), Shin Onyu (Korean), Alice Himora (English), Chevy (All Languages [Singing])