Through Darkness and Mirrors reveals the interdimensional area known as Limbo, which is home to a variety of beings that work in tandem to either feed on the souls who traverse the land or cause them mad, whichever comes first. Neither good nor evil, but they do pose a threat to our heroes.
- All There in the Manual: A lot of backstory to them can only be found here since the story they're in is way too big to include it all.
- Blue-and-Orange Morality: Their ways of thinking don't align to anything human at all. Even the most normal ones like Spider Grandmother and Tormenta have their quirks. For one, they don't see any problem in capturing any soul — good or evil — that they come across, yet they're civil with the Rabbit Tribe and the CMC.
Word of God is that for the latter, they sense traces of Limbo in their souls and to them, that is considered that they are essentially part of the family. - Dark Is Not Evil: They're monstrous but they have such friendly personalities. Even Xihute can be Affably Evil when need be.
- Don't Fear the Reaper: Sort of...to those who have truly passed the Despair Event Horizon, they are willing to grant mercy and perform a swift (but not painless) death.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: They're insane and bicker alot, but they truly care for one another.
- Evil Is One Big, Happy Family: They're a family of insane creatures who don't mind killing off those who traverse the land/drive them insane. Word of God is that Lady Imagica is the mother, Spider Grandmother is the younger than the former, Llorona and Katrina are sisters, Tormenta's the older brother, the Maidens of Mictal can be seen as aunts/cousins, Hunah and Xbala are the annoying younger siblings and Xihute is the younger brother who overthrows them.
- Mercy Kill: As part of their bizarre morality, many of them believe that killing souls is better than them going mad in Limbo. That said, they don't promise that the deaths will be painless.
- Lady Imagica gouges out the eyes of those who gaze upon her for to long/
- Llorona drowns children into her.
- Katrina sucks the soul right out of the body.
- Spider Grandmother has her spiders pierce their spindly legs into the heart.
- Mythpunk: The land and the people ooze of this: they're bizarre-looking and eccentric speaking creatures based on Native American and Mexican culture whose moralities are skewed and, while dark and evil looking, they do have some qualities that make them seem human but they also have no qualms in driving souls mad or killing them. They also have a Steampunk element added into them (like The Slasher/Sota's Karakuri monsters and deck combined with some of the machines in the Nightmare Mirror Circus). The land itself is a dark woods with giant spiders parading about and a sentient darkness that wishes to draw people into its depths.
- Our Monsters Are Different: We've got a half-spider grandmother, a watery maiden, a hurricane skeletal woman, a lightning golem luchador, a turquoise flame man, two undead boys, a trio of Creepy Doll like women and an ethereal lady made of light that induces madness if you stare at her too long.
- Theme Naming: Many of them are based off of Mexican folklore or Aztec and Mayan Mythology.
- Time Abyss: They're thousands of years old.
Spider Grandmother
Mother of all spiders who roam Limbo and the oldest figure in the land. Her spiders carry off anyone foolish to fall into the webs for a feast...in which the spiders feast on them.
- Cool Old Lady: To those who she sees as family, she gives off this vibe.
- Cryptic Conversation: Warns the CMC of their fate by asking them what is the purpose of a spiderweb. Their answers — as a home for the spider and to lure in prey — foreshadows how all of Limbo is going to become their new home should they forgive Alternate!Gentaro and take his place to be fused to the Core of Limbo.
- Dark Is Not Evil: She's the mother of the spiders who constantly go after souls in Limbo (something the Crusaders have experience with), but she's also a grandmother and gives the Crusaders advice on what's to come.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Only called Spider Grandmother with her stating that the title fits her enough as it is.
- Giant Spider: She controls an army of these.
- Irony: Spider Grandmother is a prominent feature in mythology...but not Mexican mythology. She's actually from North American folklore.
- Odd Name Out: Aside from Lady Imagica, she's not based on any Mexican folklore or mythology.
- Never Mess with Granny: She may look old, but remember that she's the mother of all the spiders that parade Limbo, and these spiders are NOT friendly at all.
- Seen It All: Just rolls her eyes when Apple Bloom decides to burn the webs of her domain. The narration stated that Gentaro once tried that on her as well.
Lady Imagica
Mother of Limbo herself, whose disappearance causes a search for her prior to the story's beginning. She gives a home to those who can reach her...but those who stay too long in her arms end up giving into madness.
- Big Good: Of Limbo...depending on how you see "Good" in Limbo...
- Big Damn Heroes: Upon her freedom, she saves the CMC from being killed by the destruction of the Mirror Pantheon. This does not save them from Limbo itself however.
- Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Due to how haunting Limbo is, she has this appearance.
- Eye Scream: Those who stay in her refuge for too long go mad, leading to the victims to have their eyes gouged out...mostly by her.
- Light Is Good/Light Is Not Good: Depends on how you see her; while light is a great source in the dark lands of Limbo, too much exposure to the light that she radiates can drive one into unending madness. Then again, it's either that or being dead...
- Little "No": Her last words
- Reminiscing About Your Victims: She remembers everything about each person who has their eyes gouged out by painting murals in her home.
- Shout-Out: Word of God is that she's based on Saint Lucy, who is the Saint of the Blind.
- Small Role, Big Impact: She appears in a Flashback and the finale of the story, but being swallowed up by the already unstable darkness within Limbo causes more and more chaos.
- Team Mom: She's the mother of Limbo and practically the only one who can get the denizens of Limbo to stop bickering.
- You Cannot Grasp the True Form: Being exposed to her for long periods of time causes souls to go mad.
Llorona
An aquatic being who searches for her lost children...except she mistakes other children for them and tries to take them home with her...which kills them via drowning. Some of the children she holds are grateful for giving them a swift death, while others just want to escape and leave Limbo for good.
- And I Must Scream: Those who welcome her Mercy Kill live a peaceful life; those who don't scream in agony and attack anyone in an attempt for someone to kill them.
- Friend to All Children: On one hand, she truly cares for kids like their her own...on the other hand, that does involve drowning them.
- Large Ham: Most of her dialogue has her shouting and screaming at anyone who would even touch her children.
- Making a Splash: She's associated with water. Fitting since she's shown to drown children in the water in the search for her own.
- Mama Bear: Hurting her children is a death sentence.
- Shout-Out: To La Llorona, Mexico's famous Weeping Woman. Word of God is that she was also inspired by a The Twilight Episode "The Bewitching Pool" and Blue Diamond.
- Starter Villain: The first opponent of the CMC.
- Obliviously Evil: She fails to realize that the children that she's taking home are not hers...and that doing so kills them via drowning. Word of God is that while most of the children were afraid of it, some were close to dying and she sees her work as a weird Mercy Kill.
- Underestimating Badassery: Didn't see the Crusaders as threats...it cost her dearly. Katrina notes that Llorona has a habit of that.
- Would Hurt a Child: Drags children to their deaths into the depths of the water she lives in. We see in a flashback that She did this to Mirror Mokuba by drowning him right in front of his brother.
Katrina
A being who rules over winds and leads a legion of skeletons. During All Hallow's Eve, she gathers the remains of the dead and celebrates a "bountiful harvest" of all of Limbo's labors...that of the harvested souls that her army has obtained.
- Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: She and Llorona don't see eye to eye, but she's not happy upon learning that the CMC defeated her sister in combat.
- Blow You Away: She rules over the winds of Limbo.
- Dem Bones: She's based off of Calavera Katrina figurines, which are all basically skeletons and leads a skeletal army.
- A Father to His Men: Cares deeply about her skeletal soldiers and mourns their deaths whenever they're destroyed.
- Flower Motif: Marigolds, which are considered the flower for Day of the Dead.
- The Glorious War of Sisterly Rivalry: Word of God states that she and Llorona are sisters who constantly bicker with one another. That said, she is horrified that the Crusaders nearly murdered Llorona and is ready to squeeze the life out of them.
- I'll Kill You!: Screams this at the CMC before they fight.
- Lady of War: She's elegant, graceful, wears a pretty flower hat and is the leader of a skeleton army.
- Logical Weakness: Fire is known to use oxygen, so unleashing a big enough explosion is enough to knock her out.
- Pet the Dog: All Hallow's Eve has her settle down and produce a harvest for her skeletal army.
- Razor Wind: Is capable of making air-cutters that slices trees in half.
- Stealth Pun: A figure who is based off the winds named Katrina...Hurricane Katrina
, anyone? - Wind Is Green: She's the wind-based member of Limbo and her hat is bright green.
Tormenta
A wrestler-type figure who guards the way to the Nightmare Mirror Circus, trying to tell souls to avoid going into it, else become the circus's next act.
- Ambiguously Human: The most human-looking of the residents of Limbo, but it's not known if he IS one. Word of God is that he's based off a golem.
- Badass Preacher: A preacher who is built and fights like a wrestler. Fittingly, he lives in the remains of the Mirror Pantheon's House of Faith.
- Religious Bruiser: Again, he's based on the famous priest-turned-wrestler.
- Cassandra Truth: Gives warnings that the Nightmare Mirror Circus is a trap and that travelers should take the longer path to reach Lady Imagica. He states that he can count how many people who actually took his advice on one hand.
- Cool Big Bro: He's the older brother figure to Llorona and Katrina, according to Word of God, and the only one who can stop their bickering.
- Dishing Out Dirt: Can make the earth tremble and rise with just a wave of his hand.
- Face of a Thug: Due to his mask, he looks absolutely malevolent...he's really a nice guy compared to his younger brother though.
- Historical Domain Character: Based off of the (still alive) famous priest-turned-wrestler Fray Tormenta, his predecessor is named after El Santo, and he believes in a figure called The Blue Demon
- Ironic Name: His name sounds similar to Torment (actually it means "Storm" in Spanish) but he's one of the nicer figures the Crusaders encounter.
- Also, seeing as his original name means "Storm", you think he'd have some lightning abilities. Instead, he's based off of the earth.
- I Warned You: Whenever he sees a god foolish enough to not heed his warning, he mutters this under his breath.
- Malevolent Masked Man: In appearance.
- Noble Demon: The narration states that he was a pretty cool guy to the point that Gentaro/Mala Suerte shared drinks with him after a fight. Funnily enough, he likes talking about a literal noble demon called "The Blue Demon".
- Not So Above It All: Despite his straight-laced and sane mentality, he believes in a strange Limbo Santa Claus figure that is simply called "The Blue Demon".
- Secret Test of Character: Challenges anyone who wants to enter the Nightmare Mirror Circus to a fight. Those who win get to move on, and those who don't can either try again later or give up and take an alternate route. Those who win, unfortunately suffer a Fate Worse than Death, while those who take Tormenta's advice get to live a little bit longer.
- Paul London once got into a fight with him and actually won...but declined visiting the Nightmare Mirror Circus in order to focus on following the White Rabbit. This decision saved him.
- Theme Naming: He and his predecessor (and the "Santa Claus" of Limbo) are named after famous luchadors.
- Only Sane Man: Second to Hunah and Xbala, he's the most 'normal' person in Limbo.
- Wouldn't Hit a Girl: Tormenta refuses to hurt women, probably because he has two sisters.
- Wrestler in All of Us: Justified as he's based off a real-life wrestler.
Hunah and Xbala
These two are essentially the tour guides of Limbo.
- Animal Motifs: Xbala has a deer motif with little antlers sprouting out of his head.
- Children Are Innocent: Well, innocent is a stretch but they're the most sane members of the Limbo family.
- Cool Mask: They wear Keaton Masks that covers one eye but with a sun and moon decorated on it.
- Creepy Twins: They are two boys who run about the lands of Limbo as if it was their playground.
- Cuteness Proximity: They like cute things and coo at the site of Kaiba holding Perry the Parasol and play tug-o-war on Happy when the Fairy Tail Guild encounter them.
- Development Gag: Word of God is that their dividual personality and the decorated Keaton Masks they wear is based on an old draft for Yugi/Yami Yugi for The Friendship Asylum in which both of them wore Keaton Masks.
- The Dividual: They consider themselves two halves of a whole being.
- Everyone Has Standards: They love pranks and having fun, but neither of them have a fond opinion on the Nightmare Mirror Circus nor of Xihute's sadism.
- Identical Twin ID Tag: Hunah has a Keaton Mask marked with the sun and it covers his right eye. Xbala wears his mask marked with the moon and it covers his left eye.
- Keet: These guys are very hyper.
- Lunacy: Xbala has a moon motif to him.
- The Power of the Sun: Hunah is represented by the sun.
- Serious Business: They take their ball games very VERY seriously.
- Shout-Out: They're based off Hunahpu and Xbalanque. For more examples:
- Their favorite food is corn — they're represented by corn stalks in some texts and their father was born as a maize god.
- They ride on a large turtle; one myth has their father resurrected from a turtle shell.
- The Keaton masks marked with a sun and moon represent how they climbed out of the underworld until they reached the sky and became the sun and moon.
- Trademark Favorite Food: They love anything made from corn. This comes from the myth of the Maya Hero Twins where their father became reborn as a maize god.
- Troll: They're known for being pranksters; most notably, in Act 3, when the Yugioh group (with Sota) encounter them, Sota (trying to negotiate with the boys and wearing a coyote mask) asks him if "Grandpa Coyote" has found himself in the midst of a partynote before laughing their asses off.
- Undead Child: Hunah's body resembles a corpse.
Xiuhte
A monster of flame who is going along with the Darkness's plan to cause chaos and destruction because he can.
- Animal Motif: He's associated with firebirds.
- Cool Crown: Wears one adorned with burning feathers.
- Deadpan Snarker: Has the snarkiest responses out of all of his siblings.
- Everyone Has Standards: He may be a sadist but he's not a cannibal. Then again, he could be trolling everyone.
- Faux Affably Evil: He can be quite polite and offers people refuge in his home...and then he tosses them into his fire and watches them burn.
- Fire/Water Juxtaposition: The fire to Llorona's water, being Ax-Crazy and shows no shred of mercy to anyone, whereas Llorona has a twisted shred of mercy to children.
- For the Evulz: Why he's joining along with the Darkness's desire to flood the Pantheon.
- Human Sacrifice: Is very fond of this.
- Meaningful Name: He's based on the Aztec God, Xiuhtecuhtli, the God of Fire who was symbolized with turquoise stones.
- Omnicidal Maniac: It goes without saying.
- Playing with Fire: Is a fire-based deity.
- Kill It with Fire: Wants to kill the CMC like this because he can and any soul that decides to believe his lies are tossed into a large hearth.
- Technicolor Fire: His flames are a turquoise color.
Nightmare Mirror Circus
A circus tent whose path is guarded by Tormenta, filled with twisted souls of Mirror Pantheon gods who did not heed Tormenta's warnings that it is a death trap, created by the Maidens of Mictal as a gift for Gentaro.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: How the Body Horror works; those who wish to stay in the circus can stay...as deformed freaks.
- Another way this works is that there is a wishing fountain where one can wish for anything they want. Example: Mirror Takatora wished to smile and laugh again, so the circus transforms him into a smiling cuckoo scarecrow. Mirror Kaiba wanted a place where he never had to go hungry again, so he became the cannibal tied to a straitjacket who eats any leftover 'parts' the circus no longer needs...
- Body Horror: Does it to anyone who rebels or disobeys against it. This is the fate for many of the Mirror Counterpart gods...best not to think about how that happened.
- Circus of Fear: Hell yeah it is.
- Combat Tentacles: How it captures any freak foolish enough to escape its presence.
- Foil: To the Friendship Asylum itself. Both are sapient buildings who corrupt gods, but the asylum does it for self preservation, the circus does it as punishment for those who disobey it.
- The Freakshow: Has one of these. And boy you do not wanna know who is which freak.
- Kill It with Fire: How it is defeated.
- Light Is Not Good: A beautiful white and black circus tent and so many bright attractions to lure you in...and transform you into circus acts while you're at it.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Nightmare Mirror Circus. That sounds so family friendly.
- Repulsive Ringmaster: Has one of these. And it's Gangrel's Mirror Counterpart!
- Sapient House: It is alive and breathing and will twist any and all gods who do not obey it into circus freaks.
- Scary Scarecrow: Mirror Takatora's fate was to become a scarecrow that advertised the Mirror Circus.
- Shout-Out: Word of God is that it's based off of the Vocaloid song "Dark Woods Circus" mixed with the Parasite Cage Heartless and a book known as Mechanique.
- Steampunk: Has this aesthetic with the strange gears and mechanical wonders it holds.
- Walking Spoiler: Let's just say there's a good reason Tormenta's guarding the path to it...
- Would Hurt a Child: It wants the blood of the CMC and will do anything to get them at all costs.
Maidens of Mictal
A trio of females who are responsible for managing the population of souls in Limbo. They are allied with the Slasher, acting as Dark Synchro monsters. Consists of Guardian Muñeca, Cold Shadow Overseer and Obsolete Soul Crusher.
- Amazon Brigade: They are a trio of female Dark Synchro monsters.
- Back from the Dead: Overseer's special ability.
- Creepy Doll: All three have this aesthetic, but Muñeca plays this straighter (Overseer is likened to a crystal statue, and Soul Crusher is a Killer Robot).
- Fate Worse than Death: Noxicron cards them before he fights Yugi...so that he can give them over to his boss and see what she can do with them. This doesn't pay out due to how Noxicron entered Limbo, so Rudolf uses them instead in his battle with Fourze...and even that ends up a moot point, as they end up as Noxicron's servants anyway after a minor Cosmic Retcon.
- Friend to All Children: Guardian Muñeca loves children, so much that she gives lost undead kids new bodies in the form of dolls and let them play around in her home.
- The Hecate Sisters: Guardian Muñeca is the Maiden, Cold Dark Overseer is the Mother and Obsolete Soul Crusher is the Crone.
- Rule of Symbolism: Word of God is that each monster also represents a female in Gentaro's trek through Limbo and the aftermath: Muñeca is Elena, Overseer is the Maiden in Black and Soul Crusher is Lady Imagica.
- Rule of Symbolism:
- Light Is Not Good: Obsolete Soul Crusher is dressed like a nun, but she works under the insane Slasher and uses a glowing halo to brainwash Joey. Plus, she's actually a DARK monster.
- Overall, the three present themselves in a holy light, but they're not on the side of good.
- Making a Splash: Cold Shadow Overseer is Water attribute.
- Meaningful Name:
- Muñeca means "doll".
- Mictal is the name of the Aztec Underworld, fitting considering what type of place Limbo is.
- Mystical White Hair: Muñeca has silver hair.
- Names to Run From Really Fast: Obsolete Soul Crusher is definitely a nun you don't want to mess with.
- Nun Too Holy: Soul Crusher has armor similar to a nun's robe.
- Power Trio: Does this require further explanation?
- Puppet Permutation: Guardian Muñeca can transform a monster into a puppet just by touching them. She even does this to Joey!
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Overseer.
- Shout-Out: Guardian Muñeca is based on Mexico's Isle of the Dolls, and she rules a land of dolls who are inhabited by the souls of deceased children.
- Tron Lines: Guardian Muneca has purple ones on her face.
Darkness within Limbo/Tezcatli
The driving force of the entire trilogy, a sentient mass of corruption and despair that likes "shiny" souls.
- Animal Motif: Cats, specifically jaguars.
- Big Bad Ensemble: By Through Darkness and Mirrors, it is part of one along with the GUAM and GUAD.
- The Corruption: It's a dark influence that tries to take control of gods for its own goals.
- Dark Is Evil: It is a villain, is evil, and is literally a mass of darkness.
- Demonic Possession: Once it reaches the Pantheon, it decides to spread out and possess others to make it difficult for it to be killed off.
- Eviler than Thou: It ends up on the receiving end thanks to the other villains. The GUAM view it as something to experiment on (Plus, the Grox are immune to its corrupting effects), while the GUAD view it as a weapon/potential ally, with Zamasu in particular proving to be even worse.
- The Great Flood: It's described as a sentient body of water and wants to flood the Pantheon and sink any soul into its depths.
- The Heavy: It's the central villain of the entire trilogy, even while other antagonists are running about.
- The Man Behind the Man: It is revealed that it is sentient, and is the one responsible for the trilogy.
- Motif: Mirrors.
- No Name Given: It's just called the "Darkness within Limbo". It's later revealed to be named Tezcatli.
- Meaningful Name: "Tezcatli" is short for the Aztec God Tezcatlipoca, with one of its symbols being a smoking mirror.
- Psychopathic Manchild: Gives off this vibe despite its age being unknown. It has a very childish view of the way that the world works, although it shows some signs of cunning, and tries to kill people. It's appearance is that of a young girl.
- Yandere: It wants the Crusaders and any other pure innocent soul out there and will do anything to get them.
- Zombie Apocalypse: When possessing Jeff Hardy, it unleashes a wave of zombies — souls from the Mirror Pantheon that were killed off — to attack everyone who did not heed the warnings.
