Associations

Large professional organizations comprised of Fixers and their managers specialized in more dangerous lines of mercenary work, taking jobs no one else wants to. This does not mean they don't take up non-combat jobs, however. They help manage the majority of the Offices under their contracts and allow much greater pay and more advanced equipment than a basic Office. Because of their larger structure, Associations are able to cover more ground with their Fixers and can take requests from any district. Most of their headquarters are most likely based in the Nests, where directors and Fixers manage requests from either the City's denizens or affiliate Offices. In an Association, the president is the head, and is split into several branches based on the directions of a compass, and are run by a branch manager. These branches are further divided into sections, which are run by directors. Sections are ranked from 1-6, 1 being the highest. There are 12 Associations, of which 11 are managed by the Hana Association, and they all have their own uniforms, rules, and specialties in their line of work.

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In General

Badass in a Nice Suit: The Associations are much larger and more professional than Fixer Offices and thus, favor a stricter dress code. The Zwei, Hana, Seven, and Liu Association Fixers all wear suits and ties as part of their uniform. The Shi Association instead takes the Badass Longcoat approach, since they focus on covert operations.
The Heavy: Since the Head does not deal with entities that don't directly anger him or harm them (including City-wrecking Distortions), the Associations and their Fixers act as the frontlines who do most of the work against the city's more generic disorderly entities.
Hufflepuff House: There are twelve Associations in total, but only the Zwei, Seven, Shi, Liu, and Hana Associations have any real relevance to the game, and four of the other Associations are not even mentioned (the ones corresponding to the numbers 8, 9, 10 and 12). Some of these have since appeared in the following game, Limbus Company, as mentions and corresponding Identities.
Numerological Motif: Their names are all based on a different sequential number, each in a different language. Not only that, but the Association's aesthetic is informed by what language their number is in: For example, "Hana" is 1 in Korean, and have a focus on Korean spiritual practices in their fighting styles, while "Dieci" is Italian for 10 and have uniforms similar to that of Catholic clergy.
Punch-Clock Villain: You might be expecting corrupt elites who don't give a rat's ass on who dies and who lives when you hear these organizations, but it probably only applies to the hidden higher-ups. In fact, most people you encounter personally that come from one are well-meaning, aspiring, and friendly folk who are forced to take on combatant jobs and die in the Library for occupational purposes, considering everything in the City is expensive and the only real way to live is to take up arms.
Token Good Teammate: Limbus Company reveals that the Associations are actually Syndicates in their own right, but they all clearly operate with the blessings of The Head rather than The Fingers' defiance through strength, and the services they provide to The City are shown to trend towards the morally grey at worst.
Theme Naming: "Coincidentally", each association's associated language lines up with the perceived "Nationality" (re: Language of origin for the book they are based on) of the matching numbered Sinner in Limbus Company (ie: Yi Sang, Sinner No 1, is Korean; Dante, Sinner No 10, is Italian, etc), with the exception of Gregor, as there is no 12th Association that is yet known.
- This leads both the 7th and 8th association to be named in English (Seven and Eight), as Wuthering Heights is of British origin, and Moby Dick is of American origin.
You Are Number 6: Each of the Associations are named after a number in a different language:
- The Hana Association is named after the number, "one" in Korean.
- The Zwei Association is named after the number, "two" in German.
- The Tres Association is named after the number, "three" in Spanish
- The Shi Association is named after the number, "four" in Japanese.
- The Cinq Association is named after the number, "five" in French.
- The Liu Association is named after the number, "six" in Chinese.
- The Seven and Eight Associations are named after the number, "seven" and "eight" in English respectively.
- The Dieci Association is named after the number, "ten" in Italian.
- The Öufi Association is named after the number, "eleven" in Swiss German

Hana Association

In General

"Like I said some time ago, the Hana Association is the institution that grants permits to Offices and grades Fixers. They also adjust threats real-time and let everyone know. And the Hana Association sometimes takes matters into its own hands to strike down Stars of the City. Just like now."

- Roland

An Association that focuses on grading Fixer and office ranking, and the leader of all the Associations. All Fixers must first get a Fixer license from the Hana Association before they are cleared to begin Fixer work. Extraordinary Fixers are rewarded the title of a Color by the Hana Association. Their uniform is a pure white jacket with gold highlights with a white shirt and a black tie underneath. The Southern Branch's Section 3 director is Mirinae.
After defeating most of South's Section 3, the last operative, Olivier, returns and tries to assassinate Angela by using a gadget on her to experience a thousand years. Roland steps in to save her, and then challenges Oliver to a one-on-one match, while claiming his Black Silence's gloves from Oliver. Because of Olivier's former friendship with Roland, he accepts his challenge, causing Olivier to be booked as well. They cover Impuritas Civitatis Chapter 1.

Consummate Professional: The Hana Association characterizes itself with a heavy emphasis on professionalism and a collected approach in their operations, a sharp contrast to most organizations seen in the game.
Duel Boss: Episode 2 has you forced into a one-on-one match with Roland using the Black Silence pages against Oliver.
Elite Mooks: Hana Association isn't number one for nothing. Their basic Fixers are far more dangerous than the vast majority of generic enemies in the game, possessing a strong set of stats and powerful combat pages, including the first 5-dice combat page the game throws at you.
Morph Weapon: Their trigram weapons take the form of black crystals that they can shape into whatever they please. True Trigram Formation, the exclusive combat page of Harold, Mirinae, and Olivier, make use of this as they jab their opponent with their weapons before more blades form that also impale them.
Pure Energy: Their favorite attacking method is Ba Gua magic.
The Worf Effect: The Hana Association is stated to be the strongest and most elite Association of them all, and they're shown to have a very professional attitude. Despite this, at the start of the Impurity chapter, Sections 1 and 3 of the Southern Branch are devastated by the Reverberation Ensemble and the Library respectively, showing off just how dangerous both threats have become.

Known Operatives

Olivier (Unmarked Spoilers)

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One of Roland's former associates and a former friend of his. He was a former member of Charles' Office, who joined the Hana Association after its disbanding. He invades the Library alongside Mirinae and Harold, only to leave for a short while to get a device from T Corp, believing it could neutralize the Library. After the defeat of his cohorts, he returns and almost succeeds in crippling Angela, only for Roland to arrive and stop him. Roland requests to duel him one-on-one and officially assumes his true identity as the Black Silence during the duel.

Affably Evil: Well, to be clear, he's an antagonist to the Library, but he's not evil per se. While his first act before his reception was to nearly succeed in killing Angela (per Iori's advice), when he's facing Roland he suddenly changes attitude to a friendlier one, and has some time for banter before the two duel to make ends meet.
Assassination Attempt: Attempts to assassinate Angela with a device created by T Corp as a planned move beforehand. It's implied that Iori taught him to use the device to neutralize Angela.
Blade Lock: Depicted doing this with Roland in the art for Double-edged Rencounter.
Duel Boss: You must defeat him with Roland, and Roland alone.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: The blue oni to Roland's red. One of the reasons why Olivier worked well with Roland was because their personalities complemented each other's flaws well. Olivier would prevent Roland from acting too rashly while Roland would ensure that Olivier wouldn't prevent the pair from accomplishing their assignments due to acting too cautiously.
Unwitting Instigator of Doom: By calling Roland out to Y Corp's nest to do errands for him, Olivier indirectly set up the tragedy that follows after by leaving Angelica alone without Roland to protect her. She then gets killed out of nowhere by the Pianist, and by the time Roland killed it, it was already too late and she was dead.
We Used to Be Friends: Used to be old friends with Roland, with his Roaring Rampage of Revenge followed by his disappearance greatly worrying him.

Mirinae

The Director of the Hana Southern Branch's Section 3. She's a young woman in white wearing glasses, having a body height shorter than her cohorts and Angela. Despite her appearance, she's professional and dead serious in destroying the Library.

Badass Adorable: She might not look like it unlike Yujin or Xiao, but she's dead serious in taking the Library down just like the other section directors.
Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: She's shorter than Angela and the co-operatives next to her.
Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Despite being an association leader and one of the last (and strongest) regular enemies of the game, Mirinae is only a bit taller than Tiphereth.
Status Buff: Her page's Hana For All passive encourages her to utilize cards that give these by giving a random ally an equivalent buff whenever she gains Strength or Endurance.
Support Party Member: She is geared towards support due to her aforementioned passive, which copies most types of buffs.

Harold

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A Fixer of the Hana Southern Branch's Section 3.

Gender-Blender Name: 'Harold' is a masculine name.
Lady Looks Like a Dude: Harold might look masculine, but her voice is decidedly feminine.
Power Fist: Their preferred weapon - formed with trigram crystals, like the rest of the Hana Association's weapons - is a giant gauntlet and sleeve formed around the arm.

Zwei Association

In General

We're the Zwei, 'Your Shield'.

"A case recognized by the Associations is guaranteed to be rewarding. And money attracts an awful lot of attention."

- Roland

An Association that specializes in peacekeeping and bodyguarding. Their uniform consists of a navy blue jacket over a yellow dress shirt with a black tie. Due to the nature of their specialty, they clash frequently with the Shi Association. Their Associate Offices include the Streetlight Office and Dawn Office. The Southern Branch's Section 6 director is Walter.

BFS: Their signature weapon is the Zweihänder, a two-handed sword from which they are named.
Blue Is Heroic: Downplayed due to the setting's Grey-and-Grey Morality, but they do specialize in normally heroic activities such as protection services and warding off dangerous Syndicates. Many of the people working for them were also generally easy-going, professional folk.
Law Enforcement, Inc.: While Associations as a whole are more akin to Private Military Contractors than law organizations, only taking jobs based on profit, the Zwei is the closest thing to a police force in the City. They even have major crimes units and investigators on top of public protectors.
Life Saving Misfortune: In the long run, getting booked in the Library saved the Zwei members involved from facing the wrath of the Stray Dogs.
No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: South Section 6 receives one from the Stray Dogs after their director Walter fails to pull through on a deal due to falling in the Library. The Stray Dogs massacre the section and beat their members to a pulp.
Stone Wall: Quite fitting, given that they most often take protection jobs, the Zwei Association's cards comprise primarily of defensive dice and focus on limiting their opponents' offensive options by inflicting paralysis and bleed.

Southern Branch

Section 1

Edgar

A highly-skilled Grade 1 Fixer in the major crimes unit of Zwei S. Section 1, appearing in The Distortion Detective.

For tropes about Edgar, see here.

Section 6

Walter

The Director of Zwei South Branch Section 6, motivated only by his career.

Pointy-Haired Boss: According to Salvador, Walter is pretty much a completely untalented hack whose saving grace is knowing how to suck up to his superiors. The Stray Dogs also note that Walter almost always sends his subordinates to do the hard jobs for him, which surprises them when they hear that he personally went to the Library.
We Hardly Knew Ye: Despite being a Section director for one of the biggest Fixer Assotiations in the city, he (and Zwei in general) is gone in the same story section he's brought up in and is only mentioned after the fact in a disparaging manner. The other Associations, like Shi and Liu, receive the lion's share of focus from then on.

Isadora

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One of the top Fixers in Zwei South Branch Section 6, known for her professional work ethic and her loyalty to her friends.

Badass Adorable: This cute Tsundere is one of the best in her Section.
Beleaguered Assistant: After struggling to convince Walter about the significance of the Library, when he suddenly changes his tune and joins her there because the Library has the L-Corp floor plans he desperately needs, she's then forced to remind him that provoking Angela might not be a good idea.
Childhood Friends: Reading her book reveals that she and San grew up together, and maintain a personal relationship despite San's departure from the Zwei.
Consummate Professional: Regretfully informs San that while she's sympathetic to his plight, her hands are tied until the Hana Association deems the Library worth an Association's attention... which happens just a few seconds later.
Roaring Rampage of Revenge: She's far more subdued about it compared to Lulu, but even Walter can tell Isadora has more personal reasons to be paying the Library a visit.
Supporting Protagonist: While Walter is toughest opponent out of the Zwei and his behind-the-scenes actions are what drive the overarching plot forward, the Zwei chapter mostly follows Isadora and her investigation of the Library.
Tranquil Fury: The only time she raises her voice during her fight is when she's killed.
"...You must be one of the clique that took San and Julia."
Tsundere: Are you surprised with that hairstyle? Isadora puts up a front of being a Consummate Professional to disguise the kinship with her associates that is typically discouraged among Fixers. She even drops a variation of a classic tsundere line.
"I-I said I'm just doing my job. It's not like I'm doing you a favor or anything."

Julia

One of the Fixers in Zwei South Branch Section 6 with a cheerful disposition.

Eyes Always Shut: Even in combat.

Tres Association

In General

An Association that specializes in Workshop products and weapons. They regulate what types of weaponry workshops are allowed to produce.

Shi Association

In General

Treat every person equally, as the weight of death is equal for everyone

"It's unfortunate to see 'em struggle, yeah. Here's the thing, though; we only saw things from their perspective. You think they're free from the blame of killing some other people who struggled for life and fought for change?"

- Roland

An Association that specializes in assassination. Their uniform consists of a black coat with red highlights. Due to the nature of their specialty, they clash frequently with the Zwei Association. Their Associate Offices include the Full-Stop Office, although others are mentioned to be indirectly decimated by Argalia. The Southern Branch's Section 2 director is Yujin while the Southern Branch manager is Thelma.

All Are Equal in Death: This is the reason that the Shi Association doesn't discriminate against who they get their requests from, and treat everyone equally.
Blackmail: Was hit by this during Urban Nightmare because Yujin threatened to rat Argalia out to the Head. Argalia then used his trust with Thelma to bombard Yujin with a series of dangerous Urban Nightmare quests to tire them out, and throw them onto the Library to get them killed. After he indirectly decimated a huge chunk of Thelma's fleet through treachery, he ordered the Smiling Faces to execute him, who flaked the meat on his body into ten thousand meat flakes while gagged as Argalia watches alongside Eileen and throws sarcastic remarks against him.
Critical Hit Class: A sub-theme they gain in Limbus Company, where each Shi Identity gets to gather Poise to deal critical hits.
Dark Is Not Evil: Though they specialize in assassination and have a terrifying namesake, they have a Code of Honour to treat every person fairly and are more of a Noble Demon.
Four Is Death: Their symbol is styled after the kanji "shi" (死, lit. "death"), with a red "4" being highlighted.
Handicapped Badass: Due to being forced to work on multiple Urban Nightmare-level requests prior to arriving to the Library, all of the Section 2 Shi Association fixers are inflicted with the passive Extreme Fatigue, which causes them to begin the battle with only 25% of their base HP remaining. This is abused by their decks, as nearly all of their cards gain additional effects when used by a character with 25% or less HP remaining. In addition, due to their base HP being absolutely massive (their weakest fixers have a base HP of 288), this causes their effective HP to be about the same as the other guests around their tier.
Katanas Are Just Better: The Shi Association's weapon is a red katana.
Murder, Inc.: Though as fixers, they theoretically can fulfill multiple jobs, their specialty is assassination jobs.
Noble Demon: Despite their haunting namesake, the Shi Association is surprisingly well-coordinated and maintained, and its members are professional, job focused folk.
Excerpt from A Shi Fixer's Page: Treat every person equally, as the weight of death is equal for everyone
Professional Killer: The Shi Association's specialty lies in discreet killing.

Southern Branch

Thelma

The branch manager of the Shi Association's Southern Branch. He was saved from losing his position by Argalia in return for having the Southern Branch finish a list of requests in a short time period. Secretly, this is out of spite that his subordinate Yujin was going to rat out Argalia to the Head, and he manipulates Thelma into tiring Yujin out with an endless barrage of dangerous quests that leads to the operatives of Sections 2 and 3 and their affiliate Offices being killed. After Yujin and her own subordinates die in the Library, Argalia hires the Smiling Faces to brutally murder him in a Night of the Backstreets (to make sure his crime couldn't be held accountable), citing the fact that he has failed his own promise with Argalia.

0% Approval Rating: The Shi Southern Branch's Fixers are well aware of his corruption, and Yujin is even planning to find a way to overthrow him. Unfortunately, they all have to respect his authority as branch manager and fulfill whatever orders he gives them. It's stated that he nearly lost his job in the past, too, and only kept it thanks to Argalia, causing him to owe Argalia a favor.
Asshole Victim: Is a live demonstration that the Nights in the Backstreets have no exceptions, being chipped and fileted by cannibals at the request of a former friend. Unfortunately for him, he's already been established as a massively corrupt cyst on the back of the Shi Association, making any sympathy he'd earn moot as he experiences one hell of a Karmic Death.
Authority Equals Asskicking: Actually one of the few times this is subverted in the game. Despite being the manager of Shi Association's Souhtrrn Branch, Thelma is a Dirty Coward who's easily blackmailed and manipulated by Argalia and obviously far less competent than his own subordinates.
Corrupt Corporate Executive: Blatantly abuses his power as a Branch Manager for his own benefit, defying the Association's belief that everyone is equal under death.
Cruel and Unusual Death: While not displayed on screen, Argalia executed Thelma by having the Smiling Faces chop him into 10,000 meat flakes while gagged, as the cannibal killers eat him alive.
Deal with the Devil: His promise with Argalia. Argalia saved him from being removed from his job, but in return Thelma had to use the Shi to complete the seemingly Impossible Task of finishing a large list of requests given by Argalia in a certain amount of time. Argalia manipulates him into only using Section 2 and wiping them out, and then kills him afterwards because Section 2 dies and the other sections cannot finish the tasks in time.
Karmic Death: He destroys Section 2 by piling requests on them to have them suffer a figurative Death by a Thousand Cuts through attrition. In return, Argalia gives him a literal death by ten thousand cuts from the Smiling Faces.
Villains Want Mercy: Even partway into his execution, he is still Defiant to the End against Argalia, threatening that his murder would cause severe retaliation from the Associations. However, after he realizes it's the Night in the Backstreets and thus no one will bother helping him or even investigate his death, he immediately breaks down in tears and begs for his life. Argalia simply rebukes him.
The Voice: He appears in two chapter stories, and is only heard in both.

Section 2

Yujin

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A cold, but a professional woman who runs Shi Association's South Section 2 as its director. She was targeted by Argalia because she wanted to report him to the Head, but Argalia intercepted this and blackmailed Thelma to give her a series of highly dangerous quests to tire her out, followed by a request for her to enter the Library. She dies in the Library alongside her co-workers afterwards.

Benevolent Boss: Cares very much for her subordinates' well-being. Many of her current scars and injuries are said to have come from her taking hits for her subordinates.
Death or Glory Attack: Her Secret Art Boundary of Death, a 4-light cost card that uses a single pierce dice with an unimpressive roll range of 1-4. If it rolls the max value, however, the dice gains an additional 45 power, all but guaranteeing a massive blow on the target, if not outright killing them.
Fighting Your Friend: Potentially, as Roland knew her while he still worked as a Fixer in the City.
Four Is Death: As mentioned above, the name and icon for the Shi Association already references this trope, but several of Yujin's abilities in particular are themed after it - her Eye of Death gives +4 to all her rolls, while her Boundary of Death technique does massive damage (often guaranteeing a kill) if she rolls a natural four.
Glowing Eyes: Whenever Yujin attacks, her eyes momentarily flash red.
Handicapped Badass: By the time she enters the Library, Yujin is exhausted to the point that in-game she only has 25% of her health remaining. This doesn't stop Yujin from still being one of the strongest enemies by this point in the game.
The Informant: Defied. Yujin wanted to report Argalia to the Head so they could take him down for severe misconduct, but Argalia knew this and manipulated Thelma (which he was a close friend with) to barrage her with a series of heavily exhausting tasks before sending her and her fellow workers to the Library so they might be killed.
Numerological Motif: Four, and it's not just in the name of the Association she leads. Her keypage is number 24001, her fight lets you bring four Librarians, her playable page has 44 stagger resist, her Secret Art Boundary of Death has a cost of 4 Light, she starts at 1/4th of her max HP, and her story is coded as number 400001 in the game data.
Worf Had the Flu: At their peak, Yujin alone would be comparable to an endgame boss fight. However, due to being in such bad shape after Argalia's manipulations, they're not even a Star of the City level threat, making them quite manageable for the part of the game they appear in.

Tenma

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A colleague of Yujin who is a young woman with her mouth covered by her clothes and an eyepatch on her right eye. She was involved in a series of dangerous quests alongside Yujin and Valentin before they were all baited into the Library and killed.

Badass Adorable: Tenma might be one of the more childish looking entities working for an association, but she's a dangerous assassin.
Dual Wielding: In combat, Tenma fights with two katanas - one in each hand. One of them is on her back in her dialogue sprite and is shorter (possibly a tantou).
Gender-Blender Name: 'Tenma', when written as 天馬, is a masculine name.
Older Than They Look: She's a short woman who could almost pass off as a young girl like Hod, but she's actually 29.

Valentin

Cinq Association

In General

A duelist Association, Cinq specializes in one-on-one combat and are usually hired as proxies to solve personal disputes between two parties. They also hold a secondary duty of organising meetings between Associations, since duel requests don't show up as frequently as other kinds of requests each Association specialises in.

Lightning Bruiser: Gameplay-wise, their specialty in Limbus Company is to pile up stacks of Haste, increasing their own speed compared to the enemy. Since they gain more power the greater the speed difference between them and the enemy, a Cinq ID with a ton of Haste is going to completely annihilate anyone that clashes with them.

Liu Association

In General

We're the Liu, the Association that solely exists for war.

"[The Liu is] a combat-oriented Association specializing in all-out war. Basically the polar opposite of the Shi we received the other day."

- Roland

An Association that specializes in all-out warfare. Their uniform consists of a maroon coat with gilded highlights. The Southern Branch's Section 2 director is Lowell while the Section 1 director is Xiao.

Attack! Attack! Attack!: Subverted, though the Liu Association's specialty lies in large scale battles, their strategies in approaching these battles are much more nuanced than recklessly charging forwards.
Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Section 1 of the Liu Association's Southern Branch Actually manages to take down The Crying Children. Unfortunately for them, Argalia and Oswald don't allow them to get the finishing blow.
Katanas Are Just Better: A variation. Whereas the Shi use Japanese katanas, the unnamed Liu members use Chinese blades known as dao. Meanwhile, Lowell and Xiao prefer using the guandao.
Playing with Fire: The Liu Association channels fire in their attacks as they apparently have hidden gear in their equipment that allows them to set things on fire. They are stated to do this because of their focus on fighting groups, as fire can easily spread. This is also represented some of their passives that apply Burn to your entire team after hitting just one already Burned librarian.
Red Is Heroic: While they are still an Association under the whims of the Wings and the Head, they are noticeably more prone to displaying emotional bursts than the Zwei and the Shi, and its director Xiao became open to expressing her true self, something that is noticeably unusual for high ranking Fixers.