Mirror World / Characters

A list of characters from Mirror World. Characters from Clawing at Glass can be seen here.

Be aware of spoilers.

open/close all folders

House Noon

In General

We of Noon, we of day; we of fire, and the ray
We the embers in the gust; we the dancers in the rust; we of iron will and trust
We unshackled, and evermore; we once chained and nevermore

The native House of the day-vamps.

Animal Motifs: Bats. The day-vamps have vampiric overtones and batlike features, up to sleeping upside down while dangling from hooks, and Volte and his sister having batlike wings.
Daywalking Vampire: True to the name "day-vamp," the residents of House Noon appear to have openly vampiric traits, like fangs and claws — and in the case of Volte and Wiggy, full-out bat wings — but all of them are at their strongest during the daytime.
True Companions: One thing House Noon is shown to emphasize is brotherhood and family. Geiger says as such when introducing the tenets of the House and seems almost betrayed when Vita seems to ignore Volte's death, which causes such a vengeful stir in the rest of the House they're willing to go to war with Dusk over it.

Vita "Vee" Lynere

You're not ready. But what other choice do you have?

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mw_4.png

◊

(Credit

)

A teenage girl from Calgary who ends up stranded within the other world of Inoptica—seemingly not out of coincidence.

All-Loving Hero: Vita eventually develops into this, wanting to save everyone in Inoptica and even admits that she's above hating Cheshire at the end for all it's done.
Ambiguous Disorder: It's never named explicitly, but Vita is clearly suffering from some sort of depression given the lack of motivation she shows back on Earth, constant self-beratement and ambiguously suicidal thoughts.
The Anti-Nihilist: It takes her a while to get there, but Vita eventually resolves to push ahead with pure optimism and face the future with a smile, no matter what.
Bastard Angst: A lot of Vita's depression and home troubles go back to the fact she's a result of her mother's infidelity, which caused the fallout between her parents and led to Vita's father taking custody of her, bitterly recalling the look on her mother's face when she found out she was "a mistake."
Be Careful What You Wish For: 'Yearning for a life beyond making ends meet' leads Vita into quite the disturbing situations.
Bespectacled Cutie: She wears glasses, which compliment her vulnerable and low-key personality.
Big Sister Instinct: While she's initially apathetic toward Wiggy, she gradually starts to feel guilty about leaving Wiggy to face Volte's death alone and starts to develop a sisterly complex toward her. When Wiggy's threatened, Vita rises to the occasion and manages to kill the seed-ghoul attacking her, taking a horrible injury in the process.
Blind Without 'Em: She can't see anything without her glasses. She's not helpless without them, though, and she manages to kill one of the seed-ghouls even seeming incapacitated without them.
Break the Cutie: Vita goes through hell in Inoptica, ending up terrorized and pursued with no way to make sense of the situation.
Character Development: Vita enters Inoptica scared, reluctant, and hostile to everyone around her, utterly unwilling to confront responsibility and turning away from the new reality she's in even after it ignites a war. Once circumstances force her to stay in House Noon and it sinks in for her she's not leaving, Vita slowly readjusts her attitude and starts to warm up more to the day-vamps, gradually fostering more connections with them and become less reclusive and frightened.
Classical Anti-Hero: Scared, inexperienced, averse to conflict and responsibility, and occasionally selfish, but she has a good heart underneath that and eventually resolves to start protecting the people of Inoptica instead of running away from them.
Cool Big Sis: She begins slowly trending in to acting like Wigavat's big sister after the loss of Volte. She compounds how far she's come to treating Wiggy as such in the last line of the penultimate chapter:
We're going home, sis.
Cycle of Revenge: Vita realizes that the Houses cannot coexist all together for precisely this reason. Cheshire's plan is doomed to failure because they cannot forgive one another.
The Cynic: Vita has a very grim view of the world, believing it's a bad place and nothing amounts to much. At first.
Dark and Troubled Past: Beginning from when she was eleven years old, where Vita discreetly reveals to Geiger her father found out Vita wasn't actually his daughter, which eventually caused such friction between Vita's parents they split up. Vita was dragged along for the next few years, constantly moving and forced to grow up too fast in some desperate attempt to help provide for Dad. The whole experience has left Vita severely embittered and way more cynical and depressed than any fourteen-year-old should be.
Declaration of Protection: Vita declares she's going to protect Wiggy and follows through, even taking down a seed-ghoul and nearly dying to protect her.
Defrosting Ice Queen: Vita is scared, defensive, and hostile toward the inhabitants of the Houses at first, to the point where she can't even summon the energy to try and look out for Wiggy right after her brother dies, but the longer she stays, the more it settles into Vita she can't just turn away from all her problems anymore, resulting in Geiger finally starting to defrost her.
Demonic Possession: She ends up possessed by the krylyrk, made into its host and true body.
Determinator: Eventually evolves into one. When the war of the Houses begins and Vita's facing nigh-impossible odds to stop it, she refuses to give up, because as weak as their chances are, "we have that responsibility."
Determined Defeatist: Vita may think things are hopeless and nothing turns out well. That doesn't mean she'll give up when the tough gets going.
The Eeyore: Vita's usually glum, pessimistic, and depressed when she's not being terrified out of her mind, never even smiling. Character Development softens her up and she stops being so ineffectually pessimistic, but she remains a Perpetual Frowner.
Fantastic Racism: Vita is royally freaked out by the inhabitants of the Houses and considers them 'freaks' at first.
Fire-Forged Friends: After all she's been through with them, she forms a deep bond with House Noon, especially to Geiger and Wiggy.
Goggles Do Something Unusual: Her glasses seem to have some sort of connection to the strange visions she keeps having the longer she's in Noon—which apparently let her look into someone's past and see the last moments of someone's humanity before it vanishes in Inoptica.
Heroic Bastard: Vita's not actually her father's child—it's discreetly revealed Vita was born out of her mother's cheating heart. Despite this, Vita is a heroic, if somewhat cowardly, person at heart.
Heroic Self-Deprecation: Constantly. Vita can't seem to make one move without lambasting herself for it in her inner monologue. This lessens as she spends more time in Inoptica.
Heroic Willpower She manages to hold down the krylyrk in her body with sheer force of will by the end.
I Just Want to Be Special: As a result of living a life of making ends meet, Vita wants something special to happen to her and to be more than just a girl working dead end jobs...it comes true in all the wrong ways.
Jade-Colored Glasses: As a consequence of having forced herself to grow up too fast after her parents split apart, Vita bitterly admits to Geiger that "I'm fourteen years old, and I've already seen myself working dead-end jobs until the day I die."
Jerkass Realization: She realizes how bad her panic and fear have ended up affecting House Noon, and how her own emotional issues led to her neglecting Wiggy's well being before showing genuine guilt about it.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She's hostile and standoffish towards the day-vamps at first, and can't even find it in herself to trust them enough to comfort Wiggy or even spend time with the others after Volte's death (after she'd been the only one to hear his last words, at that) but she gradually realizes the futility of trying to shut herself out and slowly starts to open up to the day-vamps.
Kid Hero: She's fourteen years old—albeit a lot more cynical than one would expect—and finds herself, however unwillingly at first, in the middle of a war she accidentally starts.
Knight in Sour Armor: Vita keeps fighting to try and stop the Houses from wiping each other out even when Noon and Midnight team up to attack Dusk, fully acknowledging peace was never a likely option and she's not going to be able to fix even most of it—but that's no reason not to do the right thing.
A Mistake Is Born: The root cause of Vita's many issues and insecurities; she's fully convinced she's nothing more than a mistake, a product of her mother's infidelity and shattered both her life and that of her parents.
Missing Mom: Vita's mother left her father when Vita was only eleven as a result of strain caused by her own infidelity. It's the leading cause of Vita's depression and Bastard Angst in the present day, and she firmly believes her own mother hates her, even remembering her mother's last words telling Vita not to hate herself and her life has value. By the end? Vita has resolved this and even believes she will see her mother again one day.
My God, What Have I Done?: Vita starts to regret her behavior with House Noon, especially when her own trauma made her abandon Wigavat after Volte's death.
Not So Above It All: Cynical and world-weary as she is at her young age, and even in-between moments where she demonstrates she's Wise Beyond Their Years, Vita has moments where she really is just a naive kid in many aspects, remaining innocently oblivious of Angie's implied profession.
Perpetual Frowner: Vita virtually never smiles, not even during sewing where she's quite intent and focused. Aile even notes it's a goal of hers to get Vita to smile. As her Character Development progresses, she breaks out of this, if not fully, letting one very quick one slip when she's with Geiger for the first time in the fourteenth chapter, and smiling a bit more regularly after she gives one to comfort Wiggy after they're tossed outside the Wilt.
The Pessimist: Vita tends to assume the worst of every scenario and her mind is constantly dreaming up new, awful scenarios for her in the future based on her decisions. She even admits she's more world-weary and cynical about her future than she remotely should be at her age.
The Quiet One: Almost the entirety of the first three chapters go without any verbal comment from her. Even when she's in the company of others, Vita tends to say little compared to the others in the Houses. She tends to talk the most when she's flustered or panicked. She starts to talk more and more as she opens up to the others and learns more about the conspiracy going through the Houses.
Refusal of the Call: Brought in to be a hero in Inoptica? No thank you. At least at first.
Took a Level in Badass: Once her Character Development has proceeded far enough and she's finally dedicated herself to becoming a full member of House Noon, Vita starts fighting along with them instead of trying to run away from the fight. When House Dawn attacks, Vita fights back and kills one of the considerably stronger seed-ghouls while protecting Wiggy, and ends up freeing Geiger in the process (albeit she very nearly bleeds to death afterwards).
Took a Level in Kindness: After her Character Development, Vita begins connected more to House Noon, and those closest to her like Geiger. Despite her initial apathy and fear, she begins bonding heavily with Wigavat and defends her fiercely.
Reluctant Hero: Vita wants absolutely nothing to do with Inoptica and the war between the Houses and just wants to go home, but she's pulled into the center of it — particularly after Volte dies and she's caught in the middle of a blooming war. Eventually, Vita does resolve to stop turning her back to everything and decides to join House Noon permanently to see some solution to the war through.
Shrinking Violet: Vita's very timid by nature and scared of the day-vamps, and it—although justifiably—takes several days for her to even begin to feel comfortable warming up to them. The longer she stays, the more she opens up to them, gradually shedding her previous reticence.
Took a Level in Idealism: Vita starts as a depressed cynic, but graduates to a much kinder and idealistic person who cares about saving everyone.
Trauma Conga Line: Vita goes through hell in Inoptica. From being pursued by horrific monsters, hunted by Zeil and cronies and witnessing a horrible slaughter she feels responsible for with Volte dying practically in her arms.
Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: Vita drearily relates to Geiger how she's already foreseen herself working dead-end jobs until the day she dies. She's fourteen.
Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Vita's actions result in a practical war between Houses Noon and Dusk, without her having intended any of it.
When She Smiles: When Vita smiles, and keeps smiling, in the depths of Syrile's laboratory, Geiger remarks she looks better with it rather than a "sourpuss frown."
Will Not Be a Victim: When House Dawn attacks and Vita—still a normal, seemingly defenseless fourteen-year-old girl at this point—refuses to submit, fights back and kills one of the seed-ghouls when they threaten Wiggy's life.

Wigavat/"Wiggy"

"Weeeelllll, you're still here. Trying to hide isn't going to do anything."

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mw_1.png

◊

(Credit

)

The youngest member of House Noon and Volte's little sister.

All-Loving Hero: Wiggy's concerned for almost everyone, showing no trace of the Fantastic Racism plaguing most of the others in the Houses and showing true concern for Vita even after Vita rather coldly blows her off after the death of Volte. The one exception to this manages to be Zeil, whom Wiggy coldly states she hates for his on-the-nose lack of remorse for his atrocities.
Badass Adorable: As cute and sweet as Wiggy is, she can really, really step up. Just ask the Brood in Chapter 18 that Wiggy savages for attacking Vita.
Beware the Nice Ones: Wiggy is a sweet little girl without a mean bone in her body. She's also got razor sharp talons and a killer instinct, and she will use them on people who threaten her loved ones without mercy.
Break the Cutie: The death of her beloved elder brother has her screaming in the most aggrieved manner Vita has ever, or will ever hear.
Cheerful Child: For her situation, Wiggy is an adorably perky little thing.
Cute Little Fangs: As a humanoid bat Day-Vamp, she's got fangs. She makes them look just precious.
Cute Monster Girl: She's a vampiric little girl who looks like a humanoid bat. She's also the cutest thing to come out of Inoptica.
The Cutie: Despite looking like a humanoid bat, Wiggy wears a dress, acts adorable and is sweet to just about everyone.
Deuteragonist: Shares this role with Geiger to Vita.
Earn Your Happy Ending: She accepts Volte/Sorin as her brother once more and returns to earth, and her human family, knowing she will see Vita again some day.
Femme Fatalons: Cute as she may be, Wiggy is wielding a set of razor-sharp talons.
Fire-Forged Friends: With Vita. After all they go through together, Wiggy forms an unshakable attachment to her.
Jade-Colored Glasses: Downplayed. Wiggy never loses her good-hearted, selfless nature or her insistence on doing the right thing, but her naive innocence is essentially destroyed after Volte dies and she's left to fend for herself for the first time in twenty-four years. Wiggy bitterly acknowledges once the war starts that them listening to any sense of reason is, at best, extremely unlikely.
Kid Hero: Wiggy is the secondary heroine of the story and she's even younger than Vita.
Little Bit Beastly: She looks like a humanoid bat. Of course, she's also completely adorable.
Little Miss Badass: For as tiny and cute as she is, Wiggy can savage anyone who goes after her friends, as tough as her brother was.
Never Grew Up: Wiggy has been a little girl for 24 years and counting in Inoptica.
Nice Girl: Wiggy is a very, very sweet girl, and shows concern for everyone she meets. Even after losing her brother, she still takes time to show concern and kindness to Vita, even if Vita deserving it at the time is debatable.
O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Wiggy's cheeriness dropping is a good indication things have become serious. She cracks in pure grief at the death of Volte, mercilessly savages a Brood to death to protect Vita, and outright states she hates Zeil for what he's done and his lack of remorse over it.
Plucky Girl: Wiggy is remarkably upbeat and rather tougher than she first seems.
The Pollyanna: Wiggy is perky, upbeat and very, very little stops her optimism. This does change when her brother dies, but even then she forces herself to the bright side through her bonds with others.
Took a Level in Badass: Wiggy is a noncombatant child, so the fact she's able to step up to fight a Brood for Vita is quite something.
Took a Level in Cynic: Wiggy gains some of Vita's cynicism after Volte's death, losing her belief that everything will just be fine and acknowledging the Houses won't just sit down and talk things out.
Trauma Conga Line: Her beloved brother dies, she's on the receiving end of attempted violence many times, has to deal with her House fighting a war and many people she cares for potentially dying...despite this, Wiggy refuses to break down despite her young mental age.
Was Once a Man: She was once a human little girl. Her real name was Sorina Reiner.
Wide-Eyed Idealist: Wiggy is incredibly optimistic and idealistic about things in Inoptica, largely as a result of having so many to look out for her.
Winged Humanoid: She has quite noticeable batlike wings as a Day-Vamp.

Geiger

"None of us 'belong' here, Vee. We're just rats trapped in this cage. But apparently it's too indignant of you to stick around."

A day-vamp from House Noon, and the first resident of Inoptica Vita meets.

Big Brother Instinct: He makes it clear Wiggy is like his little sister, much as she is to everyone in House Noon.
Berserk Button: Turning on the family is a big one for him. Vita's callousness to Wiggy results in a fierce lambasting by him, Raz questioning Vita shortly after she saves his life causes him to threaten Raz with violence, and her betrayal gets him to a point he's never been seen before.
Blue-and-Orange Morality: Admits he has "trouble putting dots" on Vita since she's still too human for him to gauge.
Brutal Honesty: He tells Vita in no uncertain terms how shitty of her it was to just retreat from House Noon after Volte's death.
Cultured Badass: A tough fighter and friend, who loves classical violin music.
Deuteragonist: Shares this role with Wiggy to Vita.
Dying as Yourself:Geiger opts to give his life against Zeil to protect his friends and he rest of Inoptica, knowing he's slipping away and has a limited time.
Everyone Has Standards: Warped as Geiger's humanity has become, he's clearly pissed off something fierce by Vita's apparent apathy to Volte's death and Wiggy's ensuing reaction.
Family of Choice: Noon is his, as well as his pack. He speaks of the others as brothers and sisters, even quipping one day he might see Vita as a sister as well.
Fate Worse than Death: Geiger is taken by Syrile and subjected to horrific experimentation.
Fighting from the Inside: After being devoided, he fights like hell from within to keep control of himself.
Gratuitous French: He has a tendency to work in a phrase in French or two here and there.
Heroic Sacrifice:He goes down stopping Zeil for good.
Humanoid Abomination: He's the "man who isn't" Cheshire warns Vita of. He doesn't start as this, and his morality never degrades, but the bandersnatch's venom ends up devoiding him of his humanity and leaving him barely able to keep his own human form without his biology shifting.
Fire-Forged Friends: He slowly bonds with Vita through some serious adversity.
I Owe You My Life: Geiger comes around on Vita when she saves him from a seed-ghoul.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: As crude as his pranks are and as warped as some of his morals are, his heart's generally in the right place and he's one of the first Vita comes around to.
Precision F-Strike: Geiger angrily calling Cheshire a "conniving little pissant" is among the saltiest anyone ever gets in a book with pretty mild language.
Snark Knight: Geiger is weary, disdainful for outsiders and rather acid-tongued, but has a decent heart under it.
Thicker Than Water: Of all those who cherish the constant familial bonds of Noon the most, Geiger is the most obvious. Geiger's immediate to try and welcome Vita into the family any way he came (and eventually proclaims he'll never forget Vita saving his life from a seed-ghoul), callousness to the other day-vamps is his Berserk Button, and Raz's betrayal after twelve years of knowing her as a sister cuts him deep. He even notes the irony that, even after he loses his humanity, he still feels his connection to his family as powerfully as ever.
"The Reason You Suck" Speech: Gives a scathing one to Razmin in chapter twenty-one:
"Twelve years I called you a sister, Raz, and now here you are standing on the other side of a cage. Even longer you knew Volte, and you're throwing in your lot with the people who murdered him. You played everyone you ever could've called a friend, maybe your heart's a bit sore over it–but hey, at least you get to be a human again. While I'm left with nothing. While every single soul in this hellhouse is left with nothing[...] Hope you live easy with that on the other side, night-rat."
Undying Loyalty: To the rest of House Noon. Family is Serious Business to him, to the point where Raz's betrayal and the hints of Volte's own planning under their noses cuts deeper than even losing his own humanity.
Your Days Are Numbered: Being infected with bandersnatch blood devoids him of his humanity and results in him slowly slipping away, with the infection gradually growing worse and worse.

Volte

"I do hope, 'Vita,' that you'll come to enjoy us some day regardless. We always enjoy broadening the gaze of the sun."

The Batlord, and the leader of House Noon.

A Father to His Men: An elder brother more like, but Volte cares greatly for his followers who respect him in turn.
Armor-Piercing Question: Gives one to Dreya in horror at what he's left behind that triggers Dreya's Heel Realization:
"How many have died?"
The Atoner: After his plans failed, Volte/Sorin is determined to make amends and ends promising to be the best brother he can be.
Back from the Dead: He returns from his death in the climax, as his true self, 'Sorin Reiner.'
Big Brother Instinct: One of his main goals is protecting his young sister Wigavat.
The Chessmaster: Played with. Volte was involved in a ton of double dealing and manipulation to set up new plans and escape Inoptica. The problem is none of it really worked as intended and things fall apart when the pileup becomes too much to stand on its own.
The Heavy: While he's not an outright villain, it turns out Volte's machinations behind the scenes in cooperation with the krylyrk are responsible for driving literally everything in the plot.
The Leader: The head of House Noon with all that implies.
My God, What Have I Done?: When he returns with his body made host to the krylyrk, Sorin is clearly horrified at the amount of death his schemes have wrought.
Odd Friendship: With Psyka, the leader of House Midnight. It's transparently obvious that Noon and Midnight have some immense tension and racism between the sides, even if they are less antagonistic toward each other than Dusk, but Psyka and Volte's friendship seems to endure and Psyka even allows Wiggy to play around in her room.
Reasonable Authority Figure: Volte is beloved by House Noon for his agreeable, helpful personality, and he even endears himself to Vita when he offers, instead of forcing Vita to accept House Noon's ways, to see that maybe she isn't cut out for the house and transfer her to Midnight instead.
Sacrificial Lion: He goes out fighting Zeil in a savage fight, and dies to trust very plot relevant information to Vita.
Universally Beloved Leader: He's utterly beloved by House Noon and the other day-vamps. They're willing to slaughter all of Dusk to avenge him.
Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Volte didn't plan for any of the horrors after his death to happen, but all his double dealings and plots? Came back to bite everyone else in a bad, bad way.
Walking Spoiler: Difficult to discuss him without spoiler an early story twist.
Was Once a Man: Volte used to be a human named Sorin Reiner.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: Volte is revealed to have worked with Korva, having been in communication with the seed-ghouls and was participating in the schemes to free Inoptica. Meaning he was involved in some dark stuff.
Winged Humanoid: He has batlike wings, much like his sister.

Dreya

"I see meat, I bite. So what?"

The second-in-command of House Noon, and Volte's confidante.

All for Nothing: The war of extermination she wages on House Dusk for the murder of Volte ends up completely moot when he's returned to life, and Dreya realizes she's responsible for thousands of deaths for essentially no reason whatsoever.
Anti-Hero: She's on House Noon's side, and she's Vita's ally, but she's also a snappish jackass to even her own teammates, and she's almost as militant as Zeil is. When Volte dies and Dreya Succeeds him, Dreya is calling for the head of every single night-claw in retribution, which isn't far off from Zeil's own stated goals.
Break the Haughty: Dreya breaks hard after Volte dies. She's unwilling to show her grief and forces herself to become the new head of House Noon, but it's clear she's putting way too much onto herself when she's in no position to do so.
Broken Bird: Under her vicious warmongering is a heartbroken woman who lost the nearest thing she had to family.
Earn Your Happy Ending: She's returned to being Angie Skyler, and her experiences from Inoptica leave her a better person. She immediately opts to leave her profession, pursuing a tip a friend left her for a job.
Everyone Has Standards: No matter how grim she gets, she won't see Wiggy hurt.
General Ripper: Dreya is out to completely tear House Dusk down in revenge, and doesn't care what she needs to do to accomplish this.
Heel Realization: Dreya begins to understand she's mistaken in her vicious zealotry to destroy House Dusk, even acknowledging Zeil's despair to an extent...but it doesn't change the fact that the fight has begun. By the time Volte (or, rather, Sorin) returns, the full weight of this smashes down on her and leaves her in sobbing shock.
Hidden Heart of Gold: It takes a bit but Dreya, or Angie, reveals herself as a fundamentally good person broken by circumstances, and recovers a lot of her old goodness.
Jerkass: Easily the most antagonistic day-vamp in House Noon. She's not murderous like the night-claws and she has flashes of decency, but she's rude, snappish, and seems to take delight in terrorizing the clearly-terrified Vita, letting her wander off into the Wilt and using her authority to countermand Geiger's attempt to go after her. After Vita almost dies, Dreya doesn't seem to care much.
The Lancer: She's Volte's second-in-command and completely contrasts his personality; while Volte is friendly and willing to see that Vita is comfortable in House Noon, Dreya is a snappish prick who happily lets Vita wander off into the Wilt to see that she's taught a lesson.
The Leader: After Volte dies, she succeeds him as head of House Noon.
This Means War!: When Volte is assassinated by Zeil, Dreya snaps and decides Dusk has to pay—and every single night-claw within.
Revenge Before Reason: Dreya doesn't care who might fall in the process, the cost to House Noon or anything else. House Dusk killed Volte. House Dusk must die.
Streetwalker: As Angie Skyler, it is strongly implied Dreya was a prostitute when she lived on earth.

Razmin

"You didn't tell me we were going to be getting an actual baby."

One of the day-vamps, and a member of Geiger's pack.

Alas, Poor Villain: Even after her betrayal and the hundreds of deaths it inadvertently leads to, Vita can't help but sob profusely over Raz's death protecting her and the others from Syrile, and even Geiger decides to honor her sacrifice even if he can't fully forgive her.
Anti-Villain: Raz is with House Dusk, but she's never wanted to do any more than just spy on them to find out what Volte was hiding, and everything that transpires from Volte's murder clearly crushes her.
Dying as Yourself Invoked. Raz implores them not to use the devoiding process specifically so she can pass as herself.
Embarrassing Nickname: Due to her multi-colored black and red hair, Cheshire nicknames her "raspberry."
Face Death with Dignity: She opts to die with dignity and to refuse to be brought back, scared but not breaking down.
Forced into Evil: Raz hasn't had a single say in controlling the fallout that results from Volte's death. She's forced to stand aside by Korva, and it clearly destroys her inside even if she does believe it's ultimately necessary to escape Inoptica.
Killed Off for Real: Even when it's revealed Geiger's blood has the capacity to bring people back to life—albeit devoided of their humanity—Raz's last action is to implore Geiger not to bring her back, stating she's "lived here long enough".
The Mole: For House Dusk. She did a House swap from when the Vorpal Blades consisted of Volte's partnership with Dusk, but after becoming tired of Cheshire's obliqueness and Volte's secrecy, defected back to Dusk in secret to feed them back information. What she didn't anticipate and regrets with every inch of her being is that information convincing Zeil to assassinate Volte, triggering the war that follows.
My God, What Have I Done?: Raz is hideously remroseful over her betrayal and the actions that have resulted from it, especially the slaughter commencing from the conflict.
Pet the Dog: She takes time to comfort a scared Wiggy at times.
Properly Paranoid: Raz reasonably points out that it's probably no coincidence that Vee showed up right when all the insanity began going down.
Redemption Equals Death: Raz saves Aile's life from Syrile after having failed to take him down, and is gutted for her actions.
Regretful Traitor: She's The Mole for House Dusk, feeding back her leader Korva information about what Volte had been hiding, but she genuinely cares for those in House Noon, and she never intended on things proceeding to the eventual assassination of Volte.
The Smart Guy: Girl, but one of the brighter members of House Noon who deduces quite a bit.
Taking the Bullet: She takes a stab from Syrile after grappling with him once he attacks Aile.
Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Raz never intended for her treachery to actually hurt anyone, simply to keep an eye on Volte for the purposes of Korva's scheme. Her information convinces Korva's Dragon-in-Chief Zeil to act out and murder Volte on his own.
Was It All a Lie? Her treachery makes Geiger believe all they ever shared as friends was nonexistent. Though it's revealed it wasn't, and the Raz they knew was the true Raz. Geiger manages to come to grips with this as she passes.

Axel

"You're starting to come to the other side. You just need to transition all the way into a new... perspective."

One of the day-vamps, and a member of Geiger's pack.

And I Must Scream: Axel is taken by the seed-ghouls as one of their "body-suits," with his entire body enveloped by wood he's trapped within.
Body Horror: He has a growth of naarl (basically a strange, eldritch lichen—or so Axel estimates) growing out from the top of his head. He doesn't seem to mind it much, even naming it "Calvin."
Cool Shades: Tinted white spectacles he switches with Vita's glasses briefly to illustrate the difference of "perspective" with them.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Seems to be one of the House's more casually racist members and he's insensitive to Vita at first, but he truly cares about his fellow day-vamps and welcomes Vita almost immediately when she starts to trust them more, even given her some sincere advice about the new perspective she'll eventually adapt to within Inoptica.

Lazlo

"Naarl. Good stuff. Try it cooked. Very good, crunchy."

One of the day-vamps, and a member of Geiger's pack.

Terse Talker: He seems a bit detached from the others, and usually only answers directly and with one or two words.

Jethro

"The prodigal son returns. And he's brought a miracle with him."

One of the day-vamps, and a member of Geiger's pack.

Uncertain Doom: Jethro's missing after the attack on House Dawn, but whether he was killed or made one of Dawn's body-suits is unrevealed.

House Midnight

In General

The native House of the wing-sages.

Animal Motifs: Doves. Most of the wing-sages have downy, feathery white hair, and their pacifistic attitude toward the Brood and the tension between the Houses (at least, up until Volte dies and Psyka declares war) fit the non-aggressive nature of doves.
Light 'em Up: Their main powers. It's communicated in a variety of ways—Aile uses a bow made of Hard Light, and Psyka uses claws of the same—but the usage of their powers is always coupled with blinding white light.

Psyka

"Volte. I've told you, take better care of your kids, huh?"

The Farseer, and the leader of House Midnight.

Odd Friendship: With Volte, the leader of House Noon. It's transparently obvious that Noon and Midnight have some immense tension and racism between the sides, even if they are less antagonistic toward each other than Dusk, but Psyka and Volte's friendship seems to endure and Psyka even allows Wiggy to play around in her room.
Reasonable Authority Figure: Like Volte, Psyka is patient and willing to listen to reason, and seems to have absolutely no qualms with letting Vita join Midnight even if the act of a House transfer is incredibly rare. Sadly, after Volte's death, being reasonable doesn't prevent her from declaring all-out war on House Dusk in retribution for it.
Wolverine Claws: Her main method of offense. They appear to be made of light.

Regor

"I think today's council should resolve the issue of House mutualism, too. Especially something as preposterous as a swap."

The second-in-command of House Midnight, and Psyka's aide.

Number Two: To Psyka, and a dissenting voice to hers as well (although she can bring him in when he gets too far). While she's a lot more open-minded concerning House relations, Regor is a strict conservative who can barely disguise his contempt for the other Houses even when he's about to go to a formal meeting between them.

Aile

"I could put an arrow in an apple in the dark of night from five hundred paces away."

A member of House Midnight who finds Vita and becomes a guide to her in the dangers of Inoptica.

Action Girl: The most action oriented female character in Inoptica thus far.
Big Damn Heroes: She shows up to rescue Vita from Zeil with a solid warning to Zeil if he puts a toe out of line.
Cheer Them Up with Laughter: Aile loves to cheer people up and make them smile. She's like this when she's human as well.
Cuteness Proximity: She finds the addition of Wigavat to an otherwise solemn area quite pleasing.
Due to the Dead: Aile specifically honors the fallen, notably Geiger after his final sacrifice for the sake of everyone else.
Fire-Forged Friends: With Vita and Wiggy. Aile becomes one of the closest friends to them through everything in Inoptica.
The Flapper: Aile, or Holly Lorraine, appears to be one, given she's really from the roaring 20s and quite the spirited girl herself.
Genki Girl: Aile is perky and cheerful more often than not, and rarely loses how upbeat she is.
Good Is Not Soft: Aile is pleasant, kind and helpful, and will happily put a shaft through the enemy's skull if she has to.
The Idealist: To contrast to Vita, Aile is tough, but idealistic.
Improbable Aiming Skills: Aile is probably the best shot in Optica with a bow and can hit anything, at any distance.
Little Bit Beastly: Like most people in Inoptica. Aile seems to have some birdlike qualities, namely her downy hair.
Meaningful Name: Aile means 'wing' after all.
Nice Girl: Surprisingly pleasant and kind to Vita.
Plucky Girl: A cheerful, upbeat woman who likes to bring joy to others.
You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Aile is supportive and warm to others, being one person who believes in Vita and encourages her to not say she's 'nothing.'

Gayle

"I don't envy you, fledgling. Your splashdown here is igniting some things we at Midnight thought would stay unlit."

A member of House Midnight, and one of the Vorpal Blades.

And I Must Scream: He's ensnared by House Dawn, presumably made one of their body-suits."
Gender-Blender Name: Not his own name, but Cheshire calls him "Mary." He doesn't seem to mind in the slightest.

Liam

The "tech wizard" among the Houses and a bookish member of the Vorpal Blades.

Gadgeteer Genius: Liam is the one member in a Low Fantasy world where the residents barely even understand electricity (as a result of losing their humanity) to know anything about how technology works. She's responsible for the electric systems for both Noon and Midnight, and the only one who seems to know about the phones those who are able to talk to Cheshire come into Inoptica with.
Gender-Blender Name: It's enough to make Vita think Liam's a guy at first, not helped by her not seeing Liam's face well at first.
Shorter Means Smarter: Liam is the smartest, most tech-savvy in the Houses, and she's also really tiny, even shorter than Vita.
Shrinking Violet: She's quite shy, even more so than Vita. Every word of hers is hesitant and nervous.

House Dusk

In General

The native house of the night-claws.

Casting a Shadow: Seemingly their main powers. Their approach in the Wilt is always heralded by shadows, in which they can manifest in and out of to hunt down their prey.
Our Vampires Are Different: Quite vampiric, alongside the day-vamps, but a lot more monstrous in appearance and with serpentine eyes meant to see in the dark.
Weakened by the Light: The light severely burns them, to the point where it can leave them writhing in agony.

Korva

"When you have been robbed not only of an identity, but all feeling, when we are nothing more than fallen creatures wanting to uplift themselves again... can you understand how far, how long, we will push?"

The Pitchwraith, and the head of House Dusk.

Affably Evil: Korva is not a particularly moral person and allows for horrible things like Syrile's devoiding experiments, but his friendliness and politesse? Genuine.
Animal Motifs: Ravens. Korva is associated very strongly with these corvids, his armor even modeled after them.
Anti-Villain: Korva allows for some very, very morally dubious events to occur because they all seem to be progressing his goal of escaping Inoptica, something he wants to let all the Houses do.
Everyone Has Standards: Korva isn't evil per se, and while he allows it for the greater good, he is revolted by Syrile and his experiments.
I Did What I Had to Do: Korva views all he has done as firmly necessary to free those in Inoptica.
The Lost Lenore: As Korva remembers his true self as Michael Brooker, he remembers Margaret, the woman he lost on earth. Although when he returns, he's able to finally see her again.
The Man Behind the Man: Zeil claims Korva is as much in the plot to assassinate Volte and Psyka as he is, but several things fail to corrobate this—mostly the fact that Korva is reputed to be the complete opposite of Zeil's pragmatic, stab-you-in-the-back villainy, and his failure to show up at either the meeting or any of the ensuing aftermath. As it turns out, Korva never ordered Zeil to assassinate Volte—but never prevented the decision either, since it worked out for him in the long scheme.
The Unfettered: Korva will not allow anything to stop him from having the krylyrk slain and Inoptica liberated. What do you mean "moral concerns about the means involved?"
Walking Spoiler: Korva doesn't physically appear until twenty chapters in, and his appearance heralds some of the heaviest reveals in the story.
Was Once a Man: He was once a man named Michael Brooker.
We Used to Be Friends:He and Volte were once friends until he realized how badly Volte played him and all others with Cheshire.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: Korva is reasonable in the long scheme and professes he wants Vita to willingly join him on his crusade—which is to use the Long Talon to break through Inoptica and free those trapped within by slaying the krylyrk. He's allowed some particularly murky stuff to happen in the process of that, though, standing by as his second-in-command murders his old friend and the subsequent fallout causes House Dawn to attack Midnight and Noon.

Zeil

"How fast can you run?"

(Credit

)

The second-in-command of House Dusk, and a night-claw with a prejudice against the other Houses—Noon, in particular.

Alas, Poor Villain: Zeil's final death is curiously somber, and it's not clear if he means to curse or thank Geiger before they perish together.
All for Nothing Zeil nearly breaks when he realizes all the pain he went through, everything he ever did, was for nothing, just part of the krylyrk's plans.
Back from the Dead: Syrile revives him through the technique of "devoiding." When Zeil is brought back, he's utterly stripped of anything that could call him human, explaining he can only feel "rage and hate and hunger."
Berserk Button: Volte insinuates Zeil doesn't really care about his beloved "Pye" or any of his pack-mates, and this seems to provoke Zeil beyond anything else that's been said to him before. Enough so that it leads directly to his death.
Blood Knight: Zeil enjoys little so much as fighting and killing.
Boom, Headshot!: With a bow and arrow instead of a gun, but this is how Aile kills him the first time.
Came Back Wrong: As a result of the devoiding experiments, Zeil is back, but without any of his humanity.
Death Seeker: It's strongly implied that Zeil's motives, at least partially, are to die due to his despair over his inability to feel much beyond 'rage and hate and hunger.'
Decoy Antagonist: Subverted. Zeil is introduced more or less the closest thing the story has to a tangible villain, then unceremoniously carks it ten chapters in while taking Volte with him. Then, closer to the end of the story, he's brought back from the dead through the devoiding process, and while initially forced to ally with Vita, the subsequent war finds him right back in his comfort zone.
Despair Event Horizon: Zeil is crossing it when the devodiing process robs him of so much of his former humanity. The utter lack of humanity he feels gets to him far more than he's willing to outwardly admit.
Disney Villain Death: His final fate is plunging to his death, dragged with Geiger into the krylyrk's abyss in their final moments.
Dragon Ascendant: When Korva flees House Dusk, Zeil takes over and is all too willing to kill him some Noonies.
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Zeil's a murderous savage and known militant in the Houses, but he truly does care about his fellow night-claws. His vendetta stems from Noon's apparent murder of a night-claw named Pye, and Volte accusing Zeil of simply using her death as a cheap excuse makes him flip. Even Vita picks up there's no way Zeil could have murdered Pye himself. Even after he's arrived and stripped of his humanity, Zeil still can't get past the death of his pack member, and he's clearly aggrieved about the failed resurrections of Aiken and Reva, too.
Even Evil Has Standards: As vicious and monstrous as Zeil can be, underhanded tactics do genuinely seem to piss him off.
Fangs Are Evil: Zeil is distinguished by a pretty nightmarish set of sharp teeth and he's one of the nastiest in story.
General Ripper: As a military commander, Zeil's strategem is "murder everything in front of you and throw forces at it until it's dead."
The Heavy: Zeil isn't the root of all conflict in the story, but he is the main villain. His assassination of Volte directly sets the stage for all the bloody fallout that occurs later, and he sticks around long enough to become the final, climactic threat.
Hidden Depths: As nasty as Zeil can be, he does seem to value loyalty, straightforwardness and deeply loved the lost Pye like a sister.
Jerkass: Good god, Zeil is just a dick sometimes, even coldly telling off little Wiggy, who tends to bring out the best in everyone.
Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: Being devoided makes him lose it, and he goes from a vicious night-claw to a warmonger out to massacre everyone in his path.
Kick the Dog: Gleefully implores the Regretful Traitor Razmin to tell Wiggy what her brother—whom he murdered—had supposedly been hiding, and sneers to her face "I will never say sorry for what I did."
Round Hippie Shades: Wears a pair verbatim called "Lennon specs" in the story itself, to hide his real eyes and seemingly to help him see in the light.
Not Me This Time: For all his viciousness, he's not the ultimate source of conflict in Inoptica. Rather that's more Volte's fault than his in his rather poorly thought out double dealings.
Omnicidal Maniac: At the very end, Zeil, driven utterly insane by the devoiding process, decides the only way for Inoptica to find peace is for everyone to die, and promptly attempts to kill Cheshire/Vita to collapse Wonderland and take everyone with him.
Put Them All Out of My Misery: A devoided and insane Zeil opts the best way out of things is to just kill Cheshire to collapse Inoptica and wipe everyone out, allowing him to find a measure of peace.
Rasputinian Death: It takes a lot to eventually put Zeil down for good. Taking an arrow between the eyes kills him, but he's subsequently resurrected with bandersnatch venom. From here, Zeil endures a fight with Dreya, getting brutally ripped apart by Geiger, Holly putting a sewing needle into his eye, all while the bandersnatch venom is slowly killing him and destroying his mind. It takes Geiger dragging him into the krylyrk's bottomless abyss to finally do him in.
The Soulless: Syrile's experiments with "devoiding" brought Zeil back, but at the cost of all of his humanity, even if he retains a conscious mind.
Spanner in the Works: Zeil murdering Volte was not planned and threw everyone for a loop, but Zeil couldn't contain his hatred of the Batlord.
Sunk Cost Fallacy: After so much time killing and destroying Zeil refuses to believe he can ever just walk away from it, particularly after being devoided.
Tragic Villain: Zeil's murderous extremism and the person he ultimately becomes is entirely his own fault, but Zeil is put through the wringer in the story. His attempts to get vengeance for Pye's death only ends up dragging him lower and lower, to the point where eventually he's lost the rest of his pack, thousands of other night-claws in the subsequent war, and his own humanity. By the time of the climax, Zeil's nothing more than a soulless, piteous husk desperately attempting to clutch to happy memories of his pack and lingering bits of humanity he doesn't even have left anymore.
Villainous Friendship: Shares one with his Co-Dragons Aiken and Reva. He openly calls them "pals" and gets along with them plenty even in the middle of his hunts. It's hinted Pye used to be among his Co-Dragons as well, which explains a lot about his ensuing grief.
Walking Spoiler: Like Volte, it's hard to discuss him without revealing pertinent details about the plot.
Would Hurt a Child: Zeil flat-out attempts to murder Vita within minutes of meeting her, and again tries to kill not only her, but Wiggy as well in the battle of House Dusk.

Syrile

"You gotta take the laws of nature and bend 'em until they snap. That's when you've proven yourself the master of humanity and inhumanity; that's when you know you can't be held back by anything anymore."

A member of House Dusk, and the master of the "devoiding" technique.

Berserk Button: Syrile's smiles and cheer until someone insults his research, which immediately brings out his more spiteful, violent side.
Dirty Coward: Slinks behind Vita and uses her as a human hostage when he's threatened, and tries to defect to Dawn the moment it looks like Dusk is going to lose against Noon and Midnight.
Fate Worse than Death: Practices this while perfecting devoiding, stripping his victims of their humanity irreparably and leaving them as monsters.
Faux Affably Evil: Syrile puts on a show of friendliness, but it's ultimately hollow.
For Science!: All Syrile does? To test his mad theories.
Hate Sink: Syrile is the only member of a House filled with morally ambiguous but mostly sympathetic characters to lack any of those sympathetic traits. He's arrogant, spiteful, and a condescending scumbag once his façade of affability is stripped.
It's All About Me: What separates him from all the others in the Houses; whereas even those like Zeil and Dreya have those they care for immensely, Syrile runs away from danger at the first sign of it, murders even other night-claws for his experiments, and tries to run away to House Dawn and abandon the rest of Dusk.
Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: In a cast of ambiguous morality, you might tihnk there'd be something more to Syrile. Nope, he's just a total prick.
Karma Houdini Warranty: Despite getting away with everything in Inoptica...he's in Hiroshima just before the bomb drops as a human with no idea what's coming for him next...
Karmic Death: Syrile, or Hamada, is returned to his own time and place from whence he left, on leave from Unit 731....in Hiroshima, just before the bomb hits, thinking he's gotten away with everything.
Lack of Empathy: Syrile cares nothing for anything but himself and his experiments, viewing all around him as experimentation fodder.
Mad Scientist: He experiments on others to gain the whole devoiding process down.
Medical Horror: The Devoiding experiments are done medically, and they're nightmarish.
Morally Ambiguous Doctorate: The only thing close to a doctor is a vicious mad scientist and a cruel sadist. Even worse? He was a member of Unit 731 in his past life.
More Despicable Minion: He lacks Korva's redeeming qualities and is easily the most hateable member of House Dusk.
Necessarily Evil: He'll claim this and Korva acquiesces to his experiments, viewing them as necessary to escape Inoptica.
The Sociopath: Syrile ticks the boxes: superficially charming, devoid of empathy or care for others and has quite the ego to him.
Token Evil Teammate: The most vile of House Dusk and has no care for anything but his research.
The Unfettered: Syrile has left no room in himself for anything but his devotion to his research, even noting as such directly when he discusses "bending the laws of nature."
Would Hit a Girl: When Vita refuses to knuckle under to his demands to let him study her, Syrile has no hesitation striking her and kicking her in the gut for her defiance.
Would Hurt a Child: Syrile has no hesitation threatening or harming Wiggy, and neither does he show any compunction in torturing Vita or threatening to cut her neck.

Aiken & Reva

Zeil's two cronies and members of his pack in House Dusk.

Co-Dragons: To Zeil, serving as his fellow pack members. It's hinted Pye used to be among them too.
Half the Man He Used to Be: Cut in half by Psyka in the six seconds that also claim Volte and Zeil.
Villainous Friendship: Share one that's entirely corrobated with Zeil.

House Dawn

In General

The native House of the seed-ghouls.

Absolute Xenophobe: The seed-ghouls do not take kindly to anything that isn't them. They're distrustful at best, violently hostile at worst.
Alwayschaotic Evil: In contrast to other layered Houses, the seed-ghouls are vicious and nasty to a one.
Botanical Abomination: They're plantlike monstrosities.
The Dreaded: The other Houses are pretty terrified of Dawn and for good reason.
Plant Person: The seed-ghouls, natch, are all living, alien plants.
Puppeteer Parasite: They tend to communicate by body-jacking some poor sap.
Was Once a Man: Like anyone and anything else in Inoptica, they were once humans who twisted and mutated into plantlike monsters.

Wydel

The Sprucequeen and leader of House Dawn.

All for Nothing: Everything she's done was for naught, given how badly she was played.
Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Wydel is fully willing to at nice and play along with bargains. Under that, she's a devious sadist who doesn't react well to disappointment.
Disproportionate Retribution: Wydel doesn't taken kindly to being disappointed by Volte's deal and is willing to bathe Inoptica in blood after, no matter how many innocents die who had nothing to do with that.
Evil All Along: Might be noticing a pattern with Wydel, but she turns out to be utterly vile and unreasonable.
Evil Gloating: Wydel loves to gloat over her enemies.
Evil Is Petty: Wydel is willing to butcher everyone else in Inoptica because she was spited by Volte not having lived up to his end of the bargain.
Faux Affably Evil: She's polite enough, but utterly wicked beneath it.
Full-Circle Revolution: Wanted to rebel from and escape Inoptica, and ended up playing right into the hands of the dark force that has her enslaved.
God Save Us from the Queen!: The queen of House Dawn and a rather depraved, brutal seed-ghoul.
Hive Queen: The Seed-ghouls seem rather linked to her, with her as the dominant.
Misanthrope Supreme: Wydel puts no faith whatsoever in other Houses or beings. She's antisocial, virulently distrusts others and has no compunction doing them grievous harm.
People Puppets: Wydel communicates via jacking the bodies of others. In her case? Korva.
Sadist: For all her claims of being a more neutral party, Wydel enjoys the pain of others ust a wee bit much.
Unwitting Pawn: she learns she's just another piece of Volte, or Sorin's chessboard and doesn't react well to that.

Others

"Cheshire"

(; !nuf evah

The mysterious, cheerfully oblique presence that starts texting Vita when she crosses into Inoptica, and the "leader" of a grouping of people who call themselves the Vorpal Blades.

Ambiguous Gender: The Vorpal Blades freely refer to Cheshire as whatever seems to stick with them, with no care for consistency; many refer to them as male, Gayle and Liam refer to them as a female, and Vita never seems confident with either.
The Chessmaster Cheshire? Is the krylrk and arranging everything against everyone to have its host and 'fix' its world.
God Was My Co-Pilot: Cheshire is the krylyrk and in Inoptica, that's as close to god as you get.
I Have Many Names: Cheshire has little names for all of the Vorpal Blades, and all of them have names for them; among them are Beethoven, Mary, Pi, and Moor.
O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Cheshire's usually humorous, non-forward, and only ever speaks in annoyingly vague riddles. When they drop this and flatly tell Vita to get out of the council room in the tenth chapter with no humor to it whatsoever, Vita quickly picks up something terrible is about to happen—and indeed, Volte dies not long afterwards in an assassination by Zeil.
Troll: Cheshire seems to love screwing around with their "disciples," only ever speaking in oblique riddles and dodging around direct question with playful vagueness.

The Krylyrk

Beware the man who isn't,
Leash your wandering eye,
Don't think, don't talk, don't question
The krylyrk's blackened lie

The all-powerful, all-seeing force that rules over Inoptica as its domain.

Affably Evil: The krylyrk is surprisingly friendly for an ultimate evil.
All for Nothing: Cheshire wishes to create a perfect wonderland for the inhabitants of Inoptica, with the belief they'll love it when it's over...unfortunately, the trauma they undergo in the process makes them despise the krylyrk and reject it, making Cheshire realize how much was for nothing.
Anti-Villain: Cheshire isn't truly evil. Rather, it simply wants to stop being alone and is truly aggrieved to realize that nobody will care for it. Vita helps it come to terms with itself and release everyone from Inoptica.
Big Bad: All the agony in the book goes right back to it and the humanity it steals from those that enter Inoptica. Even if the actual bloodshed is completely unintentional and more a result of the Houses' own Fantastic Racism.
Blue-and-Orange Morality: The more that's revealed about it, the further it turns to be rooted in this. Cheshire doesn't earnestly mean anyone harm, but is essentially an alien researching human topics without actually understanding what makes them natural. Its attempts to transcend this and stop being "mad" only make things even worse in its disastrous attempts to fix things.
The Chessmaster: Subverted. The krylyrk turns out to have masterminded just about everything down to the letter to bring its host down to it, but then proceeds to completely shut down when all its "ants" turn on it and revolt even after it gives them their perfect "Wonderland."
The Dreaded: Everyone who knows of the krylyrk is terrified of it.
Eldritch Abomination: An unfathomable, unknowable, all-knowing force that rules over all Inoptica. Even its name is a Brown Note.
Foil: Is essentially Vita's own Evil Counterpart. Both are set up from the start and driven by their fundamental inadequacies, fears, and effort to validate themselves—in Vita's case, as worthy of her existence as a "mistake", and to Cheshire, to stop being "mad" by transcending its Blue-and-Orange Morality. The contrast between them (and the main focus of their climactic confrontation) lies in Vita being able to pull away from her worst behavior when it starts to hurt others, whereas Cheshire's distorted, selfish perception on everything outside itself causes thousands of deaths.
Fun with Palindromes: Not exactly "fun," but the krylyrk's name is a palindrome, seemingly a meaningful one as it rules over a world of reflections.
God Was My Co-Pilot: Cheshire is the krylyrk and in Inoptica, that's as close to god as you get.
Graceful Loser: The krylyrk accepts its failure and resolves to put things right when Vita reasons with it.
Grand Theft Me: Its ultimate design for Vita. Cheshire leads Vita on as being the slayer of the krylyrk, for the real purpose of possessing her to finally transcend its own Blue-and-Orange Morality. This comes with the minor detail of trapping Vita herself within her own mind.
I Just Want to Have Friends: All the Krylyrk wants? Not to be lonely and to make a 'proper' world...no matter what it has to do to get it.
Manipulative Bastard: The single best chessmaster in the story. All of the grand drama was for the purpose of bringing it its host: Vee.
Not Evil, Just Misunderstood: The krylyrk is a cheerful, friendly entity that doesn't mean anyone any real harm, simply desiring companionship after an eternity of being alone. The barriers of Blue-and-Orange Morality end up costing thousands of lives.
Powers That Be: The thing behind the curtain that runs the show of Inoptica, and essentially its god. It ends by crafting a new world to create new infinite potential.
Reasoning with God: Vita and Cheshire's ultimate 'battle' is Vita gently convincing Cheshire of the error of its ways and helping it to make amends best it can.
Sole Survivor: The last survivor of a world annihilated by the Necrosis. So little is left that the krylyrk recollects nothing about its former existence.
Speak of the Devil: The moment you say or even think of the krylyrk's true name, it sees you, and you belong to it. Those in the Houses refuse to utter its name, only calling it "the Watcher."
Unseen Evil: The krylyrk is never seen, never even depicted, only ever being presented as an unfathomable, all-seeing presence that can only be hidden away from. The closest it gets to being properly depicted is as a tapping claw on the other side of a mirror and a dark reflection of Vita herself.
Utopia Justifies the Means: Cheshire just wants to provide a beautiful, harmonious world for those it has captured to be in, resulting in the creation of a new world called Wonderland. It's a sincere but horrifically misguided and misjudged effort that only makes things worse for the denizens of Inoptica when it attempts to force them to stay in Wonderland.
Villainous Breakdown: Suffers a particularly piteous one where Cheshire freaks upon realizing its efforts to pacify the residents of Inoptica have completely failed, and it will always, always be alone.

Characters / Mirror World

House Noon

House Midnight

House Dusk

House Dawn

Others

Previous

Index

Next

Characters / Mirror World

Edit Locked

House Noon

House Midnight

House Dusk

House Dawn

Others

Previous

Index

Next