Slay the Princess / Characters

The multitude of personas and voices that accompany you throughout Slay the Princess.

Due to the meta and non-linear nature of the game, it's difficult to talk about anyone without revealing spoilers. As such, all spoilers will be unmarked. Please proceed with caution.

The Princess

open/close all folders

The Hero/Player

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

It's you.

You, the Player. The person that you directly control, and make the choices with. You are tasked with slaying the Princess. Seems simple enough.

Truthfully, you are the nascent form of the 'Long Quiet', the god of stability, put into an infinite pocket-dimension time-loop called the 'Construct' in order to infinitely stall the Princess, herself a nascent god, or to kill her for good. It is your actions that decide whether the Princess dies or escapes, whether or not she stays a god, and whether or not reality ends.

Absurdly Sharp Claws: Subverted. If you fight the Adversary unarmed, the Narrator describes you tearing at her with your claws, but while you do scratch her up, she, the Narrator, and all the voices but the Stubborn immediately point out that your claws are not nearly as effective as the Pristine Blade. You also use claws ascending or descending the sheer cliff that takes the place of the stairs in the Eye of the Needle's route, but you fit them into cracks in the stone rather than stabbing into it.
Act of True Love: The Player goes through the loops so the Shifting Mound can be whole despite the great cost it entails on the Player each route, including many a Cruel and Unusual Death.
Admiring the Abomination: It's possible to agree to go with the Shifting Mound, and by all accounts, you and her enjoy a romantic trip through the cosmos.
Animal Motifs: Birds, or more specifically, crows. You resemble a bird with feathers, bird-like arms, taloned fingers, and possibly even a beak. Some forms of the Princess call you "little bird" as a nickname. Appropriately, crows are associated with death, bad omens, transformation, and oncoming change.
Anthropomorphic Personification: Delved into less then the Princess, but the Player is the embodiment of stability and stasis.
Apologetic Attacker: You can keep trying to warn the Princess when the Narrator forces you to kill her in the initial route.
But Now I Must Go: In the "And? What happens next?" ending, the Player and the Princess leave the Construct and all the Voices to face the outside world as (presumably) mortals.
Back from the Dead: Due to the "Groundhog Day" Loop, you never stay dead. This is played more straight in "The Adversary" where you can choose to keep moving out of sheer spite and willpower, even after your brains have been dashed across the wall.
Barrier Maiden: The Spectre and Drowned Grey routes make it explicit that even if you slay the Princess, it doesn't stick if you die as well.
Benevolent Abomination: The Long Quiet is a Genius Loci with a dark, spooky-looking Bird Man avatar who represents the concept of stagnation. It was created to contain the Shifting Mound so as to stop her from destroying the world, and depending in your decisions, you can be a fairly heroic character who tries to make the right decisions and help others, and can convince the Shifting Mound not to destroy the world.
Bird People: At several points of the game, it is subtly mentioned or shown outright that the Player is some sort of bird-like humanoid entity:
- During different portions of the game your hands and feet are shown to heavily resemble bird feet, most times you are wounded by the princess you are shown with feathers flying off your body and each time you look in the route-end mirror you have what appears to be a wing on your outstretched forearm, and when the Adversary destroys your face and smears it across the walls you can see what appears to be part of a beak among the pieces.
- If you try to examine your reflection in the mirror when it starts appearing, several of the various Voices will call you out on it, telling you that it's a bad time to preen yourself. The Voice of the Smitten will periodically state that you should check if your feathers are out of place.
- While the Princess doesn't mention your appearance often, different forms make passing remarks about it. The Tower and the Eye of the Needle both refer to you as "little bird" along with the Tower mentioning your beak, the Beast calls you a fledgling (a young bird which has just begun developing wings), the Razor calls you a "silly little birdface", and the Prisoner tells you to "be a good bird."
- In flashes the Shifting Mound shows of you from the Princess's perspective, you have the outlines of two ear-like feathery tufts.
Brought Down to Normal: In the "And? What happens next?" end, you can choose to leave the cabin with the princess, at the cost of forgoing ascension to godhood.
Can't Kill You, Still Need You: In some routes, the Princess realizes that killing you will only reset the "Groundhog Day" Loop and will instead keep you alive to facilitate her escape. The Shifting Mound also needs you alive so you can build her a body.
Combat Pragmatist: If you're resolved to slay the Princess, there's no shortage of options to do so, and some are less than honorable. This includes stabbing her in the back after you've convinced her to trust you, stabbing her in the heart when she thinks she has the upper hand, and for one route, throwing yourself in an endless void when she has possessed your body.
Complete Immortality: Of the Resurrective Immortality kind — being a god, while you can (and do) die, you can't stay dead. The closest you can get is eternal unconciousness if you refuse to collect any vessels. The Narrator bitterly mocks this if you try to commiserate with his Mortality Phobia, telling you that you only play at death and have no idea what it's like for mortals who face genuine oblivion.
Create Your Own Villain: Your choices inform what the Princess becomes. How bad that might be is up to you. However, as is revealed later, you're literally creating her — the Shifting Mound needs vessels to become something more, which you provide for her in the form of the princesses.
Curb-Stomp Battle: You're on the receiving end of one quite often, courtesy of the Princess, usually as the result of a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown. The only time that you can turn this back on her in Chapter I is if you just choose to instantly slay the princess with no hesitation and confirm she's dead without double checking; she'll have no chance to fight back.
- You can deliver one to the Razor at the climax of her route if you didn't take the knife with you in Chapter II.
Dare to Be Badass: The Player can through his own volition or at the suggestion of the Voices, achieve or plan some truly badass feats.
- Luring out the Eye of the Needle to the advantageous terrain outside the cabin to fight her.
- Clearing his mind of distraction in order to duel the Razor efficiently.
- Resisting the Tower's willpower long enough in order to land a successful blow to her heart.
- Launching himself at the Apotheosis during her ascension.
- The Player overcoming his fear of the Nightmare and slaying her.
- Slaying the Beast from within once she’s eaten him by digging through her flesh and stabbing her heart.
- Tricking the Den into trapping herself.
- Throwing himself into the Long Quiet to stop the Wraith.
Death-Activated Superpower: When the Player dies, he and the Princess are taken to a new world, both remembering the last iteration and being affected by it. The Princess exploits this power in her attempts to escape the cabin, either by getting you to leave together or killing you on purpose to become more powerful the next time.
Demonic Possession: You are a victim of this in "The Wraith". You can choose to submit to the Princess, who forces you to the door, or you can resist and throw yourself into the abyss along with her.
Determinator: As opposed to the Princess who seems to Feel No Pain, you feel the pain and full damage from everything that is inflicted upon you. Yet you are given the choice to continue fighting to a supernatural extent. This can include manually operating your own organs while they shut down, cutting out of a giant beast while you dissolve in its stomach acid, successfully resisting mind control and walking forward after slitting your own throat open, and forcing your body to get up after literally having your brains blown out of your skull. That last one is so extreme that even the Princess is shocked.
Driven to Suicide: In instances where you become trapped in inescapable situations (such as the "good ending" or falling infinitely through an abyss), you can choose to stab yourself to restart the "Groundhog Day" Loop.
Eaten Alive: Play your cards wrong, and The Beast can catch you, grab you, and swallow you into her stomach. The Narrator promptly describes you being digested as well.
Eldritch Abomination: You are also revealed to be one, as the entity that counter-balances the Princess. You are the Long Quiet, an entity whose true body is an endless black void. The Shifting Mound — the true form of the Princess — is trapped within you.
Eldritch Location: As is eventually revealed, The Long Quiet, the space in which the Construct exists, the Shifting Mound is sealed, and which serves as the setting of the game... is you. Essentially, this makes you a Genius Loci, walking through the realities with the Shifting Mound trapped inside of you.
The Faceless: You only ever get to see about half your face in the mirror, shrouded in darkness. You have glowing white eyes, and that's about all you get to see.
Fighting from the Inside: You can choose to do this when the Narrator performs a Grand Theft Me or when the Princess performs a Demonic Possession.
Foreshadowing:
- Obviously, the hand alludes to you being something else other than a Human, but it's not clear what until later.
- In the 'Good Ending', where you become trapped in the Construct forever, the Narrator says "This is the beginning of eternity... your reward." While this initially appears to be a malicious taunt or show of true colors, you are later revealed to be the Long Quiet, the god of stability. Being in a single, unchanging location for all eternity is genuinely intended as a reward for you.
Fright Deathtrap: Just being around the Nightmare causes your organs to suddenly start shutting down. The Nightmare points out that it's not something she's doing intentionally; you're just that scared of her.
Genius Loci: Implied, since The Long Quiet is you.
God Couple: You can potentially become one with the Shifting Mound at the end of the game, either travelling the universe together or by choosing to become mortals in a relationship (or at least just immortals not going full multi-armed powerhouses in reality-warping).
Grand Theft Me: If you choose not to slay the Princess, the Narrator will override your body in an attempt to force you. You can try resisting him, but this only leads to the Princess performing a Mercy Kill on you.
Hair Antennae: Well, technically more like Feather Antennae. The Hero has two prominent tufts of feathers on the sides of his head. They are especially emphasized in the scenes seen from the Princess POV, where the Hero remains The Faceless, but his glowing white eyes and the silhouette of his tufts are clearly displayed.
Hearing Voices: You hear these, both of the 'Good' and 'Chaotic Neutral' variety, being the Narrator and Voices, respectively.
Hitman with a Heart: You can choose to play as one, depending on your dialogue choices.
I Am Who?: You are eventually revealed to be "The Long Quiet," a nascent undying god that personifies Stability that was created to act as a counter-balance to the real Princess, the avatar of Death and Change.
I Die Free: In the 'good ending', you kill the Princess with no strings attached. Unfortunately, this traps you within the Construct forever. Your only way to escape is by suicide, which you can do if you don't accept what the Narrator's offering.
Idiot Ball: Played for Laughs during "The Razor" route. While every route has a handful of questionable dialogue choices and actions the Player can pick, chapter 3 of the route sees you trying to deal with the Razor using many terrible options including flirting with her using The Look, killing yourself so she can't kill you, or even just trying to think of more options that are less terrible.And then it is shown that you eventually get desperate enough to try all of them.
Insane Troll Logic: The Player at times can choose options that are genuinely bizarre such as flirting with the Razor or trying to jump off the stairs on the way to the Nightmare's basement.
In-Series Nickname: The Player is referred with several nicknames by the Princess in multiple routes.
- "Little Bird" by both the Tower and Eye of the Needle.
- "Birdface" by the Razor.
- "Killer" by the Spectre.
- "Fledgling" by the Beast.
- "Wretched" by the Witch.
- "Good Bird" by the Prisoner
- "My Rescuer" by the Damsel
- "Coward" by both the Nightmare and the Moment of Clarity
- "Hero" or "Quiet" by the soft and the cynical variants of the heart of the Shifting Mound
Kick the Dog: Some of your options allow you to be needlessly cruel.
- You can choose to gain the Princess' trust and then (sometimes literally) stab her in the back. This, in turn, usually makes the Princess' next incarnation even worse.
- When you arrive at the mirror at the end of every route (except "The Moment of Clarity"), you have the option to callously tell the terrified Voice(s) accompanying you that the mirror is the end for them but not for you. If you go for the "A New and Unending Dawn" ending, most of them will turn on you for your betrayal, giving you the "And Everyone Hates You" variant.
Laser-Guided Amnesia: The player character doesn't always remember every loop he's been on - each time he brings the Shifting Mound another Princess vessel, when he's ready she makes him forget and brings him back to a fresh Chapter One. He remembers the other loops again the next time he's brought her another Princess and sees the mirror. Exaggerated with the You're on a path in the woods ending, which the Shifting Mound believes they've chosen together many times, and which sees him starting over altogether.
Laser-Guided Karma: Lying to and betraying the Princess often results in routes where she will get her revenge tenfold. Similarly, treating the Princess well results in the more positive and straight-up romantic routes. This trope applies both ways, however.
Literal Split Personality: You and the Princess were once a single being that encompassed the totality of existence through their combined concepts. This entity, through unknown means, was separated by the Creator into two independent beings. The Princess, who embodied change and was imprisoned within the Cabin; and the Player, who embodied stability and was given the task of slaying her. This is one of the reasons the Shifting Mound is so desperate to be with you, in a very real way you were always meant to be together.
Love Confession: You can give one to the Princess at the end of the game after you're both Brought Down to Normal. The Princess will reciprocate with a blush on her face. She'll be somewhat embarrassed about saying that depending on what you chose, but she'll still admit it.
Made of Iron: No matter where he stands on the scale of Strong as They Need to Be, the Player consistently exhibits the ability to take one hell of beating before being put down.
The Many Deaths of You: You can be stabbed to death, beaten up to the point of bleeding out from your organs rupturing, organ failure, starvation, suicide, burn to death, drown, have your existence forcibly reset by an Eldritch Abomination, and the list goes on.
Mutual Kill: Sometimes fighting the Princess results in this. With her dying breath, she acknowledges the futility of fighting against you.
My God, What Have I Done?: Should you choose to just slay the princess right away, you'll comment on how you feel bad about killing her. The Narrator chimes in that even if it was for the greater good, you did just kill somebody, and it would be odd if you didn't feel at least a little bad about it.
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: If the protagonist kills the Nightmare and is trapped beneath the cabin, one option is to wonder, aren't you a creature of biology? You can't fall or be trapped in the basement hellvoid forever, can you, not without starving. Before that, you could [wait] indefinitely, but after wondering about this, well...
The Needless: There seems to be a degree of Your Mind Makes It Real with regard to this. Killing the Princess on sight leaves him in the cabin until time loses all meaning and all that's left of the Princess's body is a skeleton, but he's fine. If he kills the Nightmare and is trapped falling or in the basement then he doesn't die until he considers if he should actually be able to be there forever. If he gets locked up besides the Prisoner for long enough that the basement deteriorates around them, the Voice of the Skeptic considers the prospect of starving, but the Voice of the Hero notes that the Prisoner hasn't starved, and they're both fine.
No Name Given: The Player is often referred to with Second-Person Narration, Hero, or by the title of "The Long Quiet" or several nicknames the Princess gives. What your name is never comes up, but it's likely that based on the nature of what the Long Quiet is, you never had a name to begin with. In the new update to the game's "And? What happens next?" endings the soft Princess will call the Player "Quiet" and the cynical Princess will call the Player "Hero", which he'll end up accepting as his name.
Normally, I Would Be Dead Now: As opposed to the Princess who has immense strength and feels no pain at the cost of a glaring weak spot, you are basically just a normal person who feels every injury in full force, but - depending on the route - won't die easily. Sometimes one stab does it, sometimes nothing short of total bodily destruction or blood loss can kill you.
Painting the Medium: The list of dialogue choices you are given are heavily implied to be the player character literally thinking of that list, and then choosing from it. Any time the Player is forced to do or think something out of his control (because of the Princess, the Narrator, or even the thought popping into his head before they can stop it) this is reflected by options repeating, being greyed out, or even narration about what is going on being displayed in the list.
The Power of Love: Arguably what drives you to save the Princess in several routes and endings. You're putting yourself through hell and back, even suffering pains and afflictions that should be fatal, all for the sake of saving the true form of the princess.
Reality Warping Is Not a Toy: Both the Player and Princess's perception of each other can heavily influence the outcomes of their encounters. This effectively places the pair in an arms race.
- The Princess changing into different forms each route to match the Player's perception of her.
- The Player's Voices and the supernatural abilities they grant him to combat the Princess's forms match the impression given to her in previous interactions.
Sanity Slippage: With each loop you restart, you gradually lose more of your sanity. You also gain an additional voice in your head, depending on the previous ending you get.
Save the Princess:
- You can make this your goal instead of slaying the princess in a few routes. The Narrator won't be happy with you, though.
- Your ultimate goal, shown after the Cosmic Horror Reveal, is to get the Shifting Mound enough vessels in order for her to regain her true form. Which, in a way, is still saving the princess.
Screw This, I'm Out of Here!: You can try leaving the path to the cabin, but the Narrator keeps railroading you towards the cabin. If you keep trying to leave, you'll end up in "The Stranger" route. The Princess usually takes more offence to this than trying to kill her.
Second-Person Narration: The Long Quiet — that is to say, the entity that is being controlled by the player — is only referred to as you.
Shut Up, Hannibal!: The Player can give this to the Narrator several times by defying his wishes, especially potent in the end where you can tell him that you plan on saving the Princess, or simply smash the mirror as your final act of defiance.
Strong as They Need to Be: While your ability to continue fighting while suffering even the most traumatic injuries is present in basically every scenario, your other physical abilities vary, ranging from human-level to almost on par with the Princess herself. This is even discussed in the Adversary route, where a powered-up Princess mentions how you have also become stronger to match her (otherwise it would have been a true curb-stomp battle). The Player also seems noticeably more capable against more powerful versions of the Princess, but can't match ALL of them. Given how the story implies you are in subtle ways influenced by the perception of the Princess just as you influence her form, this is likely caused by the Princess seeing you as strong or weak based on your prior actions.
Swallowed Whole: Antagonize the Beast enough, and you'll be Eaten Alive. The Narrator even describes you being slowly digested.
Taking You with Me: You can attempt this occasionally on the Princess, such as in "The Wraith" where you throw yourself into the Long Quiet to save the world from her.
Talking Is a Free Action: Averted. Time doesn't seem to move when the Narrator and the Voices are having discussions, but that's because you're the only person there. If the Princess is with you, she'll comment that you're just standing around doing nothing or daydreaming and in rare cases rush forward to perform her next action on you.
Too Spicy for Yog-Sothoth: Any of the Princesses that invade your mind will quickly make note of the other Voices and Narrator already occupying your mind, with reactions ranging from amusement to getting out of there as quickly as possible.
Turn the Other Cheek: You have the option to do this to the Adversary by refusing to fight her. It doesn't work and she kills you anyways. But it gives her such an identity crisis that she becomes the Fury, since her whole reason for being is fighting you to the death.
Willing Channeler: An option on "The Spectre" route, if you want to give her a ride to the outside or make her vulnerable again.
Winged Humanoid: If your reflection is lightened up, you can see two very large wings sprouting from your back, and another two at hip level. In a few endings, you are described as finally opening your wings and taking flight.
Wings Do Nothing: The mirror, with contrast adjusted as in the image above, shows that you have wings. Except in endings where you accept your godhood, they go completely unmentioned by anyone, though there are certainly several scenarios where flying and even flapping would have done you good.
Wistful Amnesia: Implied to be the reason why the Princess is a princess and not something more appropriate for a fairy tale hero to slay. Because the player and the Princess are parts of the same unfathomable cosmic being split in two, the Player's subconcious desire to reunite with his other half moulds her into the Standard Hero Reward of a fair maiden.
You Are Worth Hell: The Player goes through some of the most existential, surreal and downright esoteric horror seen in a game, just so he can save the Princess.

The Narrator

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

"I think you know what I am."

Voiced by: Jonathan Sims

"You're on a path in the woods. And at the end of that path is a cabin. And in the basement of that cabin is a princess. You're here to slay her. If you don't, it will be the end of the world."

Your guide. Just a disembodied voice in your head that informs you of your quest to slay the Princess. But he's definitely keeping secrets...

Truthfully, the Narrator is an 'echo' of the Creator, a figment of the essence of the one who created the Player and the 'Construct', an infinite pocket-dimension time-loop that contains the Narrator, the player, and the Princess. He tasks the Player with slaying the Princess. The only way for the Player and Princess to escape is if the Princess is unsealed, and The Narrator isn't going to let that happen.

All for Nothing: Depending on the ending you choose, this can be the case. While it's likely but not discernible that the "And? What Comes Next?" ending returns death to the world, the "Through Conflict" ending unambiguously releases the Shifting Mound and all that she embodies back into reality despite all the Narrator's efforts to seal her, all the pain he inflicted on both her and the Long Quiet in the process, and his own many, many deaths. To add insult to injury, it appears that The Shifting Mound doesn't actually destroy reality when she is freed, unless the Long Quiet, the Narrator's own creation, wants her to.
Alternate Self: Instead of the Ripple-Effect-Proof Memory that the Player and Princess have, which allows them to accurately remember their previous lives, the Narrator instead has one version of himself in each and every Construct that the Player and Princess interact in.
Angrish: Sort of; sometimes, when it's clear that he cannot do anything to prevent the Player and the Voices from doing what they want, nor can he offer a decent rebuttal to change their minds, he's left to respond only with quiet illegible grumbling.
Anti-Villain: His goal to end death and suffering in the universe is admirable, but his methods involve trapping you and the Princess in a Construct designed to slay her and imprison you.
Author Avatar: Literally the in-universe case. The Narrator is an 'Echo', a figment of the Creator's essence. The Creator made him to continue his work, even after his own passing. Filling the Creator's shoes, the Narrator is the closest thing to 'the' God that the world has anymore.
Big Bad Ensemble: He wants to stop the Princess/Shifting Mound from destroying the world, but he is also the one who created her, thus accelerating the coming end, so as to destroy the very concept of change she represents, and in the process will turn the world into a blissful stagnant nothingness and trap you in it for eternity.
Bird People: On the final route, the Narrator is revealed to be a crow-like being, similar to the Player.
But Thou Must!: You must slay the Princess, even if the Narrator needs to take matters into his own hands.
Cassandra Truth:
- If you pester him into giving you more information he will eventually tell you that revealing information would actually work against you and make your task harder, which after the reveal of your and the princesses nature is entirely correct. The easiest end is where you rush to kill the princess without question. The only reason it doesn't stick is the player and hero are understandably not satisfied with their "reward" of an eternity in limbo.
- In the Prisoner route, the Narrator warns you away from the empty manacle that hangs beside the Princess. Given how the last go around went, the Skeptic isn't inclined to listen to him.
Character Catchphrase: Two unintentional ones, given that it is technically his first time saying them each time he does. At the start of every chapter he attempts to give his same opening monologue, though by chapter 3 it is almost always shortened to "You are on a path in the woods-" before he is interrupted by one of the voices. Similarly, almost every chapter that ends with the Player's death is given the exact same ending narration:
The Narrator: Everything goes dark, and you die.
Cloning Gambit: There is an infinite amount of Narrators, with one per Construct. Every time the Princess is freed, or the Player dies, that world's Narrator ceases to be. The Narrator is fully aware of this, and seems pretty nonchalant about it, even spending his last moments in one world to describe in detail how it works, knowing that there's an infinite amount of Narrators left to continue his work.
Control Freak: He is hell bent on eradicating death for the sake of the world without the world so much as knowing what he's up to, let alone having a say in the matter. And to do so, he's going to make sure you slay the Princess and then sit in your personal little corner of eternity forever, no matter how many times you both have to die to make it happen.
Create Your Own Villain:
- The Narrator's function is to ensure that the Player slays the Princess. However, in EVERY ending except for one, the Player's direct actions either enable the Shifting Mound to escape and/or cause reality to end/be remade.
- Ensuring that the Princess, at the very least, stays sealed inside the Construct has not done wonders for her temperament or sanity; one has to wonder if keeping her locked up is only making her more of a danger than she would've had the potential to be originally.
Deadpan Snarker: He will be thoroughly unimpressed by any decisions you make that run counter to his advice, as well as the antics of whatever Voices are present.
Devious Daggers: He insists on supplying you with a Pristine Blade to slay the princess, even when the other Voices comment that something bigger than a dagger might be more useful. Unfortunately for him, you can choose not to fulfill the pragmatic imagery that wielding such a weapon implies.
Didn't Think This Through: The Narrator created The Long Quiet to slay the Princess; unfortunately for him, how much control he has once the deed is done appears to be limited. There are a few times where he forces you to slay the Princess, and other times where he can bend the reality of the Construct to help facilitate said slaying, but he appears wholly unable to stop you from committing suicide every time you manage to slay the Princess without dying yourself.
Divide and Conquer: Ostensibly, the Princess is locked away because she can end the entire world, and you are supposed to slay her to make sure she never escapes and makes that happen. Unfortunately for you, this is only half of the Narrator's plan. In order to keep the Princess from ending the entire world, not only must she be slain, but her slayer must stay locked in the Construct in her place, undying, forever. While the Narrator may play it like it's you and him against her, it's really him against the two of you ever getting out of the Construct that was made to cage you both.
Doublethink: He tries to inflict this on you; since the Princess changes depending on the perception of the observer, he tries to portray her as simultaneously a world-ending threat that you must slay and a harmless, easily-killable Princess.
Eat the Rich: If you show reprehension in killing the Princess because she is a princess, the Narrator insists that killing a princess is actually less problematic than killing a miller or seamstress because the latter two at least contribute something to society.
Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: The Narrator doesn't seem to comprehend why you might be hesitant to kill a supposedly normal woman locked away in a basement based on the unproven pretense that doing so will save the world. He's also so fearful of death that he can't fathom why you're averse to an eternity of boring stagnation to the point that you kill yourself to get out of it. He also can't fathom why the Player in the finale has no desire to kill the woman he loves and will damn his vision to escape with her.
Fatal Flaw: Appropriately enough, his inability to change or learn. He doesn't have Ripple-Effect-Proof Memory, unlike both his captives, so he's seeing each loop for the first time. He can't learn anything new or changes his goals without it being reset. This allows both the Princess and the Quiet to outsmart him, and is likely to be what ultimately leads to his failure. On a perhaps more tragic note, at several points he does seem to be developing more nuance or understanding of his enemies ... but then that loop ends, and he's back to his manipulative, obsessed former self.
Foreshadowing:
- You can ask if the Narrator you're talking to is the same as the Narrator who was with you in the previous loop. His answer: yes and no. Yes, because every Narrator is the same collection of experiences that make them who they are. No, because each Narrator becomes different the moment the player says or does anything. This is a hint that you and the Princess are something entirely different from the Narrator. The two of you have ripple effect proof memories to an extent; he very much does not.
- Choosing certain dialogue options in Chapter II can have the Narrator suggest parallel worlds himself and ask if leaving the previous world is what lets the Princess destroy it, thereby making it all the more important that you slay her. Technically, he's not wrong.
- If you allow the Specter to possess you, she says the Narrator is "-more like a memory than a person," and the Tower straight up calls him an "echo" once she detects his presence. Both directly and indirectly compare him to a ghost: the Specter by declaring that "[He's] kind of like me, actually," and the Tower by describing him as someone who "-used to be a person." It's later revealed that this is exactly what the Narrator is: an echo of his dead Creator's essence. Essentially, his ghost.
Go Mad from the Revelation: The Mind Rape sequence in "The Nightmare" breaks him, causing him to abandon the player.
Have We Met?: Because he lacks the same Ripple-Effect-Proof Memory as the Player or the Princess, this is what the Narrator says if he's confronted after the Player's first death. However, even though he doesn't directly remember any previous encounters with the Player, he is aware of the possibility that you died at least once before interacting with him. In the Prisoner route, he admits this is a "failsafe" against you potentially failing to slay the Princess.
Hypocrite:
- He will use the Princess' lack of detail (like not giving you her name) as proof that she can't be trusted, even though he refuses to give you any details on why you would need to slay her in the first place.
- He's very passionate in his opinion that death is the most horrifying thing there is - which is why he's also completely unapologetic about subjecting The Long Quiet and The Shifting Mound to a possibly endless loop of dying and/or getting killed in the most horrific ways imaginable over and over again.
Ignored Epiphany: Of a sort. As the Nightmare, the Princess takes her mask off to bare her heart, so that the player character can understand her. The Narrator recounts what he sees - living a painfully lonely cycle of living, growing old, dying, and coming back alone in the cabin, becoming worse and lonelier - and falters, saying that it's too much. This might be his awareness of how terrible the situation is that he's trapped the Shifting Mound in, causing him to feel guilt and horror. But, since every chapter has a unique version of the Narrator who's perfectly ignorant of what happened in every other chapter, just what the impact was on him and what, if anything, he might have done is unknown.
Immortality Immorality: His entire end goal is to eradicate the very concept of death. In the process, he turns change and death into a physical entity and creates the protagonist to slay it, and turns the two against each other. His ultimate plan will trap the protagonist (and possibly everyone in the outside world) in an eternal, stagnant, amnesiac nothingness, which he sees as preferable to death.
Immortality Seeker: One of the most extreme examples in fiction. The "end of the world" he's worried about? Well, if the princess leaves, everyone will die — eventually. The princess is the abstract concept of death, and by slaying her, you remove the capacity of anything to ever die again. That's what he set this whole thing up to allow.
I Need a Freaking Drink: At several points, if he thinks the Player has really screwed something up, he decides to take a brief time-out to fetch a stiff drink, as he cannot stand watching what is going to happen sober.
Insistent Terminology: He always calls the dagger the Pristine Blade, even when other Voices call it a dagger or a knife. He also insists that the task is "slaying" the Princess, and not "killing" or "murdering" her, although he does slip up sometimes.
"It" Is Dehumanizing: He will begin to employ this when he is feeling particularly spiteful towards one of the Voices. Must prominently about the Voice of the Hero, when he suggests suicide to escape the "reward" the Narrator gives you for slaying the Princess.
Jerkass to One: Even when you disobey him, the Narrator will try to be cordial and affable to the Player and the Voices. He does not spare the Princess this kindness, and if she is able to hear him, he will be very blunt about how much he hates her. This is because she is the representation of his greatest fear: the eventual death and end of all things.
Kick the Dog: His complete apathy for any pain inflicted on the Princess very easily comes off as this, especially in the routes where the Princess hasn't actually shown herself to be malevolent in any way, shape, or form. At it's worst it borders on comedically absurd, such as when he makes a point of noting how the Damsel pathetically collapses to the ground after being stabbed by the Player with no provocation or resistance on her part.
Lemony Narrator: The Narrator is very talkative and is the one who directs you on your quest. He displays varying levels of irritation and enthusiasm depending on how much you obey him. When you start openly defying him, the consequences of your actions have him narrate your death in a manner that suggests the Narrator thinks you have it coming.
Manipulative Bastard: The Narrator wants you to slay the princess, and he's willing to use any means necessary to ensure that you do so. Including lies by omission, giving you information that is only metaphorically true, and keeping you in the dark as best he can through gaslighting, guilt-tripping, flattery, snark and insults in equal measure. In the Chapter I scenarios where you free the Princess from her chains and try to leave with her, he will even take control of your body to physically force you to kill her.
Marked to Die: There is an infinite amount of Narrators, one for each of the infinite amount of Constructs. If the Princess escapes the Cabin in any of these Construct, he dies. Additionally, if the Shifting Mound is unsealed, he dies in every Construct. Unless the Player manages to get the 'Good Ending' in which he kills the Princess with no strings attached on the first route, at least a single Narrator will die no matter what.
Metaphorically True: Everything he tells you about the Princess and the world has a kernel of truth in it, but he intentionally omits details and context. For example, the Princess will end the world if she gets freed—only in so much that she allows the capacity for the world to end, but he phrases it as if her freedom means the absolute and instant death of all things. On one hand, he must be vague because letting you know too much would alter your perception of the Princess and make it harder to slay her. On the other hand, this is only the Narrator's concern because he refuses to accept an outcome where the Princess is dealt with peacefully.
Mortality Phobia: The entire game happened because he feared death and the possible end of the world so much that he turned change and death into a physical vessel so he could get the Hero to destroy the very concept of death.
Never My Fault: Despite sending the Player to kill a freakishly strong princess who can live through almost any injury with just a dagger and expecting complete compliance without any question as to why said princess needs to die, any failure on the Player's part to complete the task is almost always attributed to him simply not following his directions well enough. Not that he's really wrong; a Player who follows his instructions and kills her immediately and without pause and doesn't so much as inspect her body afterwards has little difficulty.
No Name Given: He's subtitled "The Narrator" but doesn't exactly introduce himself. One of the Voices says "We've been calling him the narrator". If you call him the Narrator when you meet face to face he admits the title fits, but doesn't seem to consider it his name.
No Place for Me There: The Narrator has permanently sealed himself within the Construct to see the Shifting Mound's death through. If she dies, the Narrator is trapped in the Construct forever and fades into nothingness. If she is freed, the Narrator dies via the Construct ending. No matter what happens, he will never get to leave the Construct alive.
O.O.C. Is Serious Business: When he starts freaking out, you know something has gone terribly wrong. For instance, when he realizes that the Tower can not only hear him but is attempting to use her Compelling Voice on him, the Narrator will scream in fright.
- The Nightmare is so frightful and such a departure from how the Princess usually appears that she actually cracks the Narrator's blasé façade. If she removes her mask to show you the endless cycle of death and rebirth she's forced to endure as a prisoner of the Construct, the Narrator is so disturbed by it he just quits and leaves.
  Narrator: What did you do? Pull yourself together, she isn't supposed to be like this.
- His usual detachment gives way in the Adversary route when he realizes the player character and the Princess are just going to fight on forever.
  Narrator: No, she's dead, she has to be...[The seemingly dead Princess raises her head with a grin] NO! [Beat] Great. we're all shit out of luck, aren't we?
- Should you search inward to find your freedom during the Wild Route, he drops absolutely all of his cordiality and snark to directly order and even threaten you away from seeking an escape from his Construct with the aid of the Princess.
- During the Stranger Route, things get so screwed up that he outright says "Lucky for all of us" when he thinks the world is ending.
Passive-Aggressive Kombat: While he's never outright rude to you, he's not above resorting to Gaslighting, Reverse Psychology, sarcasm, underhanded comments, or just straight-up complaining to try getting you to do what he wants.
People Puppets: Is, to a point, capable of puppeteering the Player's body. Most notably, if you help the Princess out of her chains and then try to leave the cabin with her in Chapter I, he'll use this ability to try to force you to stab her in the back.
Pet the Dog: Despite how devious he tends to usually be, at some points, he can actually be empathetic to you and the Voices.
- In the Tower route, if you point out the existence of the mirror, he'll deny that it's there as usual, and the Voice of the Broken would insist that you shouldn't look, as to not see anything "sad and miserable" in it. The Narrator would actually try to reassure you and the Broken that you wouldn't look "sad and miserable" in the mirror.
- Also, in the Tower route, if you succeed in slaying the Princess, she'll also inflict fatal injuries on you in turn. After the Voice of the Hero gets upset about the fact that they'll never get their happy ending, the Narrator would comfort him by pointing out that you did save the world, even if it costed you your life, so as to not let you die with belief that everything you did was All for Nothing.
Pronoun Trouble: In a conversation through a broken mirror, the Narrator switches repeatedly between "I" and "the one who created" while discussing The Creator, who he is an echo of.
Psychological Projection: Once you get to know him a bit, a lot of the things he says—the warning he gives you before you enter the cabin, in particular—can come across as this in hindsight.
Narrator: A warning, before you go any further...
Narrator: She will lie, she will cheat, and she will do everything in her power to stop you from slaying her. Don't believe a word she says.
Pyrrhic Victory: You can choose an ending where you truly slay the Princess and thus remove death entirely, but it's only after the Narrator fades out forever, meaning he'll never get to see the outcome he set up the entire game for.
Railroading: The Narrator will consistently try to force you into slaying the Princess. Besides just reminding you that your mission is to slay her, attempts to deviate from this course of action will often have the Narrator trying to force your hand. Sometimes figuratively, and sometimes literally by pulling a Grand Theft Me.
Reality Warper: With his narration he can change the Construct in clearly unnatural ways, doing things like taking control of your body, making objects appear and warping space. However, it's implied that largely a bluff based on the perception-based nature of the Construct — if the Player or Princess try to resist his changes, they can almost always do so.
Ripple-Effect-Proof Memory: The only character to avert this, as he never remembers the previous loop. This is because each new Narrator is, technically, a different Narrator, since he was presumably made from a mortal creature while you and the Princess were made from something else entirely. However, the Narrator is aware that there are other "echoes" like him and can catch on what this being your third "time" means quite quickly, and obviously knows it's nothing good.
Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies: If you continually avoid entering the cabin, the screen goes black as the Narrator comments that the world has ended and killed every living person, including you, because you didn't slay the Princess.
Shut Up, Kirk!: Will do this several times to both the Voices and Player, whenever they question or defy his wishes of Slaying the Princess. The Narrator will also also deliver one final jab towards the Player, if the Player tells the Narrator that he's saving the Princess no matter what in the finale.
Toothy Bird: In a scene where the Player talks to him through the broken mirror, he appears to have the head of a crow, but with white teeth in his beak. But it's possible that this is the Narrator speaking through the Player's reflection.
The Unapologetic: Right up until the end, he expresses no regret for anything he's done or even any doubt that he was ever anything other than right to do so.
The Player: If you made us, then I want you to know that this has been torture.
The Narrator: The inevitability of death is torture. I would gladly put two infinite beings through what you've been through to spare infinite lives from oblivion.
The Unfettered: By his own admission, there's no line he wouldn't cross to erase death from the universe — not lying, not murder, not torture, nothing. Interestingly, in the Nightmare route, he's forced to experience what he did to the princess firsthand, and does have a My God, What Have I Done? reaction. Of course, that version of the Narrator soon ceases to exist, and the other incarnations keep their callousness.
Unreliable Narrator: Multiple facets.
- Dishonesty: It's almost immediately made clear he's not being completely honest with the Player about himself, the true nature of his mission, the Princess, the cabin, the woods, or even himself. It's largely through Lying by Omission, but sometimes he will simply refuse to answer your questions or address what's happening if it's inconvenient for him.
- Ignorance: The Narrator is not omniscient, and he can overlook quite a few details.Unlike you, he is unable to remember the previous loop, he seems genuinely unaware of the mirror that appears in Chapter II and Chapter III, and doesn't seem to consider the basement becoming an endless void or the woods becoming a mass of meat to be at all out of the ordinary. Because of all this, the Narrator can flat-out give you an incorrect impression of what is happening and become blindsided by the Player or the Princess' actions. Despite his attempts to function as a guide, he can end up far less informed about what's going on than you become just by exploring various options.
- Bias: The Narrator chooses what and how he narrates, which inevitably results in some bias. He can be extremely petty with his word choice and descriptions, and he will always insist that the Princess is lying or manipulating you and must be slain, even when she isn't and doesn't have to be. In the endgame, when you can speak to him through the broken mirror, he gives several reasons why other Narrators deny the possibility of looping: denial, different assumptions of how the Construct works, existential dread, and the general belief ([Wishful Thinking or hope]) that they were the first version the Long Quiet encountered.
- Even his ability to narrate is unreliable. While he has some direct influence over events through his narration, (in that do things like make the Player's body freeze or move awkwardly, cause the Pristine Blade to reappear in Chapter I, or even make a hallway stretch on indefinitely) it's implied that he is only capable of this if the Player or the Princess aren't aware of what he's really doing (tying into the Player's ability to alter reality based on your perception). If they are aware, he is completely helpless to stop or manipulate what they're doing. In a few cases, they can even step in to do the job for him.
Villainous Breakdown:
- In the version of the Wild route where you and the Princess work together with your fused strength to try and escape, the Narrator descends into absolute panic\ and alternates between orders and outright threats to get the Princess and Player to stop.
- This also occurs if you almost achieve the "Happy Ending" of slaying the Princess but decide to turn away from the Narrator's reward of a blissful but stagnant eternity. He snaps at you, and describes your escape via suicide petulantly. This is likely because it directly spits on his goal of giving this kind of existence to the whole universe.
  Narrator: I made this happy little place for you! Is this not a good enough reward for saving the world? An eternity of bliss? You...you ingrate!
- Subverted in the finale, when you talk to him across a broken mirror. His plans are in shambles, the Shifting Mound is awakening to return death to the universe, and he is about to fade away for good. Though he laments his failure to keep you in the dark, the Narrator is willing to explain himself calmly.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: The Narrator has the ultimate goal of creating a world where no one has to fear death because death as a concept no longer exists. To this end, he created the Shifting Mound/Princess as a physical embodiment of change and death and sealed it away within the Construct, and whole-heartedly believes that the Shifting Mound escaping will destroy reality, so he also created the protagonist to slay the Mound. This is only true in some endings, meaning for the endings where it doesn't happen, he's basically just torturing the Player and Princess for no reason. And should the player succeed, he reveals his planned world is a world of eternal nothingness and stagnation where there is nothing to do but be mindlessly happy for eternity. He also never considers the possibility of a diplomatic solution instead of resorting to murder, despite you being perfectly capable of working things out with the Princess this way.
What the Hell, Hero?: He'll call you out for not listening to him and guilt-trip you for choosing your own curiosity over the fate of the world. If he pulled a Grand Theft Me to force you to kill the Princess in Chapter I, you can start Chapter II by calling him out on it.^note

The Voices In Your Head

General

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

"Consumption and betrayal. Skepticism and blind devotion. Rivalry and submission. Terror and longing. Pain and unfamiliarity. And at the heart of it all, an emotion that can only be described as-"

"Empty your mind."

Voiced by: Jonathan Sims

The Voices are entities that reside within the Player's mind, being spawned from certain routes or events, usually after the Player is killed. They provide commentary about what the Player does and also interact with the Hero, The Narrator, and each other.

Unlike the Player, the Narrator, or the Princess, the true nature of the Voices is never revealed, however, it is stated they are not the same type of entity as the Narrator. It's heavily speculated the Voices are either the Player's split personalities or the Princess's perception of the Player himself.

Ambiguously Human: They're voices with no physical form but have very human ideas about how the world should work, try suggesting the hypothetical use of various items that do not appear in the game, and are awed or baffled when the Player and the Princess show much more than a normal human's capacity for strength and survival.
Ambiguous Situation: What are the Voices, exactly?
- They reside in the Player's head, but they are separate entities from him at the same time, themselves flip-flopping between seeing themselves as an extension of you and as entirely different people.
- A new Voices appears every time the Player dies, and it's implied that it's because they are the Princess' impression of you, as which Voice you get depends on what choices you make.
- They're voiced by the same actor as the Narrator, while the Player's lines and any rare non-Narrator narration are unvoiced. It is made explicit that the Narrator is an entirely separate entity that exists as an "echo" in the Construct.
- In the Razor route, "clearing your mind" and silencing the voices makes the background revert from a cracked mess into the Chapter I basement. Immediately after that the Narrator is silenced too and the Chapter I basement vanishes. So, they have some degree of Fisher King ability, and perhaps have something to do with the changing environment. Their personalities are strong enough to influence the player far beyond the choices you make and can even affect the world without him.
- When the Princess is aware of the Voices, as the Spectre and the Wraith, she acknowledges their existence. The Spectre describes the Voice of the Hero as "[a] shard of broken glass on the floor", which he objects to, but he can't actually say what exactly he is.
- When the Princess is claimed by the Shifting Mound, the Voices outlast the Narrator, but will disappear when the Player approaches the mirror, and are aware of their impending "death." However, in the ending where he slays the heart of the Shifting Mound, they return to him in the new world he created.
- In two variants of the "And? What happens next?" ending, the other Voices are mentioned as being around but scattered.
Anti-Hero Team: Mainly of the Nominal Hero variety. Barring the Voice of The Hero, most of the Voices don't actually take the assigned goal of "saving the world" very seriously. Anytime they end up helping the Player slay the Princess it is usually just because they have to for their own survival. Likewise, while (most of) the voices are not above helping the Princess out of sympathy for her, they are just as likely to do it because it is easiest option, or even just because they know it will upset the Narrator.
Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: The Voices in their own way genuinely care about the Player's wellbeing.
Clap Your Hands If You Believe: It's implied that the voices are determined by how the Princess views the Player, much like how the Player's perception of the Princess changes how she is in each loop.
The Dog Bites Back: If you're unkind to the Voices when you arrive at the mirror at the end of every route (i.e., say that it's the end for them but not for you), they'll hate you when you kill the Shifting Mound and turn on you in the new universe. Only the Hero and Contrarian will still be okay with you.
Expy: Voices that embody an aspect of the player's personality and influence the player and the world through that personality? This sounds incredibly similar to the Detective's Skill Tree. Word of God confirms that it isn't a coincidence.invoked
Excellent Judge of Character: Most of the Voices will accurately point out the Narrator's shady nature regarding the Player Character's quest and willing obtuseness for life and death scenarios.
Foil:
- Each of the Voices contrast a specific version of the Princess that appears in chapter II, likely being each a literal manifestation of how she views the Player at that point. This leads to their thoughts and suggestions usually playing into her existing perception of the Player for better or worse. Interestingly, this also leads to some cases (such as the Opportunist and the Stubborn to the Witch and Adversary respectively,) where the Voice and the Princess end up having almost the exact same personality.
- Similar to the different forms of the Princess being foils to each other, so too are the Voices foils to each other.
  - "Consumption and betrayal": The Hunted and the Opportunist occur if you didn't take the Pristine Blade, only to turn on the Princess later. The Hunted is reactive and cautious, watching the Princess for a chance to escape. Meanwhile the Opportunist is active and confrontative, watching the Princess for a chance to attack. They both try to turn bad situations in your favor in different ways: the Hunted tries to outpace the Princess by thinking ahead, while the Opportunist goes with the flow and uses underhanded tactics when the opportunity presents itself.
  - "Skepticism and blind devotion": The Skeptic and the Smitten occur if the PC take the Princess's side no matter what, even when the Narrator tries to make him kill her. The Skeptic questions the Narrator and the nature of the quest, trying to unravel its rules but finding only contradictions. Meanwhile, the Smitten doesn't question the Narrator but instead creates his own rules, dedicating himself to a Rescue Romance that contradicts the nature of PC's quest but nonetheless ascribes meaning that is absent in the Skeptic's presence.
  - "Rivalry and submission": The Stubborn and the Broken occur if you hesitate before trying to kill the Princess, allowing her the chance to retaliate. The Stubborn is a Blood Knight who loves to fight and enjoys hurting and being hurt in turn. Meanwhile, the Broken is The Eeyore who hates being hurt and so, avoids confrontation. They are both obsessed with the Princess in different ways: the Stubborn sees her as an equal while the Broken sees her as an indomitable goddess.
  - "Terror and longing": The Paranoid and the Cold occur if you try to avoid choosing between freeing the Princess and slaying her or go all in and slay her without hesitation. The Paranoid is emotional to the point his furtive panic tip-toes right up to the edge of hysteria, he's afraid of the Princess and the Narrator as he sees them both as untrustworthy, omnipresent threats, and actively tries to come up with strategies to keep the Player alive. Meanwhile, the Cold is emotionless, consistently underestimates the danger the Princess presents, can't relate to anything that's happening to anyone, and is ultimately uncaring as to whether you succeed or die. Both get a peek behind the curtain, both meet dramatically abnormal variations of the Princess and both are given even less reason to trust the Narrator than many other Chapter II voices.
  - "Pain and unfamiliarity": The Cheated and the Contrarian occur if you pursue options the Narrator tries to dissuade you of. The Cheated is a bitter and angry Sir Swears-a-Lot who feels the whole situation he's in is unfair and wants to find a way to brute force a win out of things despite this, arguably out of pure spite and lack of other options. The Contrarian also has little to no respect for the rules and confines of the Construct, but seeks to mess around with things as much as he can through more indirect and playful means, citing "fun" as his primary motivation more than once. While the Cheated never feels sympathy for the Razor and is, from the start, laser focused on overcoming the challenge she poses, not only is the Contrarian never confrontational with the Stranger, he is taken aback by her final form, feels responsible for it, and ultimately suggests before she is taken by the Shifting Mound that the three of you should try to help her.
  - "And at the heart of it all, an emotion that can only be described as...": The Hero occurs when you take the agency and choose to either go to the cabin or walk in the other direction. He always sticks to the Player's agency where the rest of the Voices force or coerce you to follow their whims, whenever you pick an option where you have the most agency in he always responds with a suggestion. Where the rest of the Voice's Personality Powers are heavily noticeable during their routes and other routes they may appear, along with enabling supernatural feats when the situation requires. The Hero's Personality Power is subtle and easily missed during chapters, but ends up being the most reality warping ability of the voices. Unlike the rest of the voices he isn't born from the Princess's perception of the Player, but he is born from your perception of the situation as a whole.
Hearing Voices: The Chaotic Neutral variety. It's not clear what the origin of the Voices is, however, judging how they persist even after the Construct has ended, whereas the Narrator does not, it is safe to assume that they are not the same kind of entity as he is. Even the voices themselves appear not to know what they are, or where they came from.
I Choose to Stay: In the "And? What happens next?" ending the Voices stay behind, while the Player and the Princess venture to the world beyond the Cabin.
Insane Troll Logic: The Voices at times will suggest utterly insane options either out of desperation or because they think it's funny to do so.
Leaning on the Fourth Wall: If you return to the cabin in the endgame and take the blade, a Voice will comment that taking it usually gives you more (dialogue) options.
Mind Hive: All of the Voices inhabit the Player's body (alongside the Narrator). Although how much sway in what the Player does varies, to giving advice about what they think the Player should being acting to taking control of his body. Sometimes they give the Player options he wouldn't have had before, though, such as the Stubborn granting the Player the option to revive.
Misfit Mobilization Moment: Either the Player Character can tell them or the Voices will do this to themselves during some of the game's most dire moments.
No Name Given: The subtitles refer to them as the Voice of the Hero etc, but they don't refer to each other or themselves as having names. The Narrator may or may not be aware of those labels - when fighting the Tower, the Narrator demands that the "'heroic' one" do something about the Voice of the Broken obediently stabbing the player in the chest.
O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
- While the Voices themselves essentially never break character, the Player has one moment where he is able to "empty his mind", clearing his head of the Voices so that he can concentrate on defeating the Princess in a blade duel.
- The only time the Voices aren't terrified of the mirror that appears at the end of a route is "The Moment of Clarity". In fact, they welcome it. Either the countless loops that got you to this point were so bad that the mirror seemed less terrifying by comparison, or the countless loops gave them enough knowledge to no longer fear it. Either way, they don't want to be here anymore.
Personality Powers: Each corresponding Voice seems to give you abilities related to whatever they personify. Such as the Voice of the Hunted heightening your survival instincts, or the Voice of the Opportunist enabling you to take cunning advantage of situations.
Reality Warper: They are all this to a certain degree, given the nature of both the Player and the Princess. However, of the ten, the Smitten, the Cheated and the Hero stand out as having exerted the most control during their respective routes. With the Hero's being the most prominent as his Heart Is an Awesome Power allows the Player character to reach the cabin where the shifting mound's heart is.
Seinfeldian Conversation: They constantly trail off onto other topics that are (vaguely) related to the situation at hand. After "The Razor" reaches her final form, every voice begins arguing with each other and the Narrator, to the point that the Player has to shut them all out of his head to focus.
Strong as They Need to Be: Specific Voices are able to grant the Player supernatural abilities, usually relevant to whatever form of the Princess he is fighting, such as the Stubborn enabling the Player to revive from the dead, or the Paranoid enabling the Player to manually re-activate his organs.
Split Personality: The Voices are reminiscent of split personalities, it's speculated they're born from the Princess's perception of the Player.
Split-Personality Team: The Voices work like this for the Player.
Split Personality Take Over: The Voices will occasionally take control of the Player's body if he's in mortal danger, or in less than hospitable circumstances. Or just because they think it's what they should do.
Voice of the Paranoid: Oh. Is this how things are going to be now? All of us vying over a single body? Fine. See this corner? It's mine. And I'd better not see any of you trying to invade my personal space.

The Voice of the Hero

"We're not going through with this, right? She's a princess. We're supposed to save princesses, not slay them."

The voice of your conscience and reason. He's skeptical of your supposed quest since heroes are supposed to save princesses, not slay them.

Audience Surrogate: Of all the Voices, he's the one most likely to say what the average player is probably thinking, and tries to find a middle ground between trusting a Narrator who isn't being straightforward, and trusting a Princess who may or may not end the world. He's often in favor of playing it safe and staying near the middle at first—take the blade to be on the safe side, but don't go in swinging without at least hearing her out, don't take the Narrator's words at face value, but hear him out, etc.
Cloudcuckoolander's Minder: He's this to the other Voices. When every other voice is distracted, the Voice of the Hero will try to ground everybody in what's happening right now. When the Hero takes over for the Paranoid in repeating the Survival Mantra so that the Paranoid can argue with the Narrator, the Hero wonders how in the world the Paranoid kept that up for as long as he did.
The Conscience: He's the one who clashes with the Narrator and questions why you're killing the Princess instead of saving her, and advises you to at least hear her out before making a decision.
Deadpan Snarker: He has his moments since he's generally the reasonable one among the Narrator and the other Voices.
Foil: To the Narrator. The Voice of the Hero is the only Voice that stays with you in every route and in every situation, and generally contrasts the Narrator's direct and cold-hearted insistence in slaying the Princess with a willingness to reason with her and question what is going on.
The Heart: The Voice of the Hero's primary purpose is keeping everyone together and on the same page through his supporting presence. Several of the routes extend this to facilitating your relationship with the Princess.
Heart Is an Awesome Power: The Voice of the Hero's Personality Power. He might not grant the Player character various super natural abilities like the other voices can, but his ability to serve as The Heart in several endings proves immensely useful as it allows the PC to permanently slay the Princess, restart the loop again, or just convince the Shifting Mound to leave the cabin with the Player character.
The Hero: Embodies the archetype of the classic hero who overcomes adversity and rescues the Princess. Unfortunately, this isn't that type of story.
Heroic Willpower: Is able to make himself heard even while you and the Shifting Mound, both awakened to your full power and divinity, are entangled in a furious contest of wills that has shunted all the other voices off the battlefield.
I Choose to Stay: In the "And? What happens next?" ending, the Voice of the Hero declines the Player's offer to come with him and the Princess beyond the cabin and chooses to stay behind with the other Voices, stating that this journey is just for the two of them alone.
Insistent Terminology: He gets on the Narrator's case for telling the PC to "kill" the Princess instead of "slay". Despite insisting that there's a difference between "slaying" and "killing" earlier, he waves the Hero off by saying the distinction is negligible.
Nice Guy: He genuinely just wants to do what's right, for you, the world, and the Princess. This ends up proving incredibly useful in the finale of the game.
Only Sane Man: He's the first to suggest talking to the Princess and finding information rather than immediately killing her like the Narrators wants you to do. Although, considering the setting, being reasonable can actually make things worse, depending. He also comes across as this when with the wackier Voices.
O.O.C. Is Serious Business: While the Hero isn't afraid to question things, he's generally accommodating and tries to keep an open mind. So if he's gotten to the point where he's directly confrontational with the Narrator or any of the other Voices, you know things have gotten bad.
The Shrink: His Heart Is an Awesome Power can enable the Player and the Princess to simply talk things out peacefully, after both parties were having a monumentous argument during the finale.
Screw This, I'm Outta Here: In the path where the player choses to have the Hero pledge their loyality to the Tower, he gets increasingly exasperated with how willing the Voice of the Broken is to go along with it, until he finally declares that he has had enough and grumbles that he just going to sit in the corner until the Hero's agency returns.
What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?: At first The Voice of the Hero's status as The Heart for the entire collective is overshadowed by the other voices Personality Powers. It isn't until the finale, that we learn just how powerful the Hero's Personality Power really is.

The Voice of the Broken

"What's the point of fighting if she's just going to win every time?"

Spawned from "The Tower", the Broken is utterly defeated and sees no point in opposing the Princess. He may also spawn in Chapter III if you chose to give up when confronting the Princess.

Despair Event Horizon: Embodies this as his Personality Power, as he sees any resistance against the Princess as futile and encourages the player's submission so she won't hurt them. If you successfully kill The Tower, or if the Apotheosis is claimed by the Shifting Mound, he's reduced to broken sobbing now that his goddess is gone.
The Eeyore: Has a fatalistic outlook and demeanor of learned helplessness. The other Voices, who usually want to do something, tend to get ticked off at him.
The Friend Nobody Likes: Like the Opportunist, in the routes where he shows up, the Broken isn't well liked by the other Voices. Especially after trying to slit your throat at the Tower's behest.
Inelegant Blubbering: If you choose to kill the Tower, he spends the beginning of the next chapter sobbing and moaning. He even preempts the Narrator, which freaks out the latter. He'll also start crying after the Apotheosis is claimed by the Shifting Mound.
Love Martyr: Is extremely and unhealthily devoted to the Tower, to the point where he immediately tries to slit his own throat when she orders that the Player do so. The only thing that slows his suicidal crusade down is the Voice of the Hero fighting him every step of the way.
The Millstone: While how beneficial any of the voices are changes depending on the form the princess takes and how the Player plans to help or oppose her, the Broken is easily the least useful of the voices, usually annoyingly useless at best and borderline hostile to the Player and other voices at worst. This is exemplified when the Player opposes the Tower, where fighting her turns into having to fight both her and the Broken due to his obsession with her.
O.O.C. Is Serious Business: The Broken normally doesn't really do anything — most of his contributions are just bleak statements of hopelessness, and he never really gets out of depressed helplessness as a emotional state. In the Tower route, though? He becomes disturbingly passionate in his devotion to the Tower, even actively turning against the Player and trying to force you to kill yourself. This is noted by the Hero, who nervously asks if we should be worried when the Broken starts enthusiastically emoting about the Cabin stairs.
Weak-Willed: He is spawned by the Hero doubting himself when facing the Princess for the first time in chapter I and being at the receiving hand of a Curb-Stomp Battle, this results in him feeling utterly dominated by the Princess which allows her to easily command the Hero during the Tower route.

The Voice of the Cheated

"This whole thing's a crock of shit."

Spawned from "The Razor", the Cheated is very fed up with the nature of the story and is determined to stick it to the Narrator. He may also spawn in Chapter III if you chose to disregard the Narrator and he forces you to do something you didn't choose to do, or when listening to the Narrator ends badly for you. Replaces the Voice of the Flinching from the demo.

Deadpan Snarker: He responds to most of the Narrator's lines with bitter sarcasm.
Determinator: After dying to the Razor the first time, he becomes insistent on finding a way to defeat her. So much so that he overrides the Narrator and wills you to revive in the basement rather than going through the "You're on a path in the woods" intro every time you die. In fact, he may be purposefully getting you killed repeatedly to see if you'll be able to overcome her once you've gained enough Voices. But even he throws in the towel, when he sees the Razor's final form.
Properly Paranoid: He's suspicious of the Narrator and the Princess, and refuses to believe either of them are harmless or helpful. Regardless of his reasoning, he's generally correct.
Rage Quit: Upon seeing the Razor's final form, a body that is nothing but blades and a heart, the Cheated metaphorically throws up his hands and gives up whining that they're screwed.
Sir Swears-a-Lot: Notable for being more foul-mouthed than the other Voices.
"No, fuck that! If we're going to have to do this over and over and over again, we're not starting in the goddamn woods every time. We're starting in the fucking cabin."
Smash Cut: See the quote above. Is the Voice of the Cheated's Personality Power and this is outright enforced by the Cheated on The Narrator to skip the repetitive description of the forest and immediately cuts to you and all the voices inside of the cabin already; the Hero even gets dizzy, as if it causes motion sickness. It comes with him taking advantage of a lot of the narrative through meta devices to cut to the chase, and it brings to mind players who make use of bugs and glitches in the system when confronted with tedious obstacles, or readers that are already too familiar with a story formula to resist poking holes in it.
Sympathy for the Devil: In the Thorn route, upon seeing her encased in a painful prison, the Cheated still has the capacity to empathize with the Princess, commenting that she's a victim in all of this, too. Similarly, in the confrontation with the Wounded Wild, like all the other voices that accompany you on this route, the Cheated is extremely resistant to slaying her.

The Voice of the Cold

"I think I'm better at killing than you are."

Spawned from "The Spectre", the Cold is a hardened killer who expresses no joy and no sadness at your situation. He may also spawn in Chapter III if you chose the merciless options or otherwise strike down the Princess with no hesitation.

Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: The Voice of the Cold despite having Lack of Empathy does in his own surprising way, does genuinely care about the Player's wellbeing. As in Implied Death Threat below, he coldly tells the Narrator he intends to kill him during the Spectre route for harming the Player.
Creepy Monotone: With a very few exceptions, he constantly talks in a cold, emotionless monotone, with at most a slight hint of amusement.
Deadpan Snarker: He leans much heavier on the "deadpan" side since he doesn't really care.
Entertainingly Wrong: Because they're ghosts, the Cold believes that the Spectre and the Greys are incapable of doing the Player any harm. On this, he's proven to be deeply incorrect.
Everyone Has Standards: Genuinely finds the Narrator to be abhorrent despite being a cold blooded figure.
Feel No Pain: He appears to be capable of forcing the body to stop feeling pain as an extension of him being "unfeeling", since on the Razor route, he pops up after the Player attempts to deliberately force himself to stop feeling the pain of his body, with the Cold confirming his lack of pain response after being murdered by Razor again.
Voice of the Hero: And? Does it hurt?
Voice of the Cold: No.
Ham and Deadpan Duo: The deadpan to the Smitten's ham during the "Damsel-Grey" route.
Implied Death Threat: On the Spectre's route, if the Player asks the Narrator what's the point of listening to him or doing anything, after the Narrator's explanation, the Cold states that he won't mind slaying the Princess again... but then adds that he intends to slay the Narrator as well for what he did to the Player in the previous loop, in a thinly-veiled threat.
"But after that nasty trick you pulled on us, maybe she's not the only one around here in need of slaying."
Lack of Empathy: He is extremely detached and uncaring of any harm or suffering inflicted on the Princess. Or even the other voices.
Power Limiter: An odd case, where the Voice of the Cold is specifically this to the Princess's Resurrective Immortality. During the Spectre and Grey routes, his complete confidence in the Princess being dead seemingly does keep her from reviving fully like in other routes, but doesn't stop her from returning as a spirit.
Seen It All: The Voice of the Cold sounds extremely bored, expressing no reaction whatsoever when the Princess shows up as a ghost.
Skewed Priorities: He's interested in the experience of burning or drowning to death because it's never happened to him before.
Stopped Caring: He embodies this, appearing as a response to the uselessness of the Princess' death and his own suicide.
Strawman Emotional: The Voice of the Cold's Personality Power, sees emotions as unproductive and prefers to have a hardened heart and whatever happens, happens. It's heavily implied that his Personality Power is the reason why the Player was able keep himself sane when dealing with the Moment of Clarity's torment.
Not So Stoic: There will be times in the game when even the Voice of the Cold is flabbergasted by the bizarre situations the Player and Voices find themselves in, especially during the Moment of Clarity and The Razor routes. The Voice of the Cold also did not enjoy the Narrator trapping the Player in the Long Quiet as a "reward" and is coldly bitter towards the Narrator during the Spectre route.
Tempting Fate: He does a spectacular job of underestimating both the Spectre and the Greys.
Took a Level in Kindness: The Voice of the Cold in the Moment of Clarity route is in his own way actively encouraging the Player character to not lose himself and see things through.

The Voice of the Contrarian

"He might have walled off everything but the path to the cabin, but I'm sure there's plenty of other ways we can ruin his day."

Spawned from "The Stranger" route, the Contrarian wants to do the opposite of anything the Narrator says, just to spite him. He may also spawn in Chapter III if you Take the Third Option or otherwise chose options that are contrary to expectations.

Actually Pretty Funny: He'll be amused and proud if you do throw the blade out the window during the endgame-Stranger's cabin, finding himself to be wrong when he said that suggesting it again wouldn't be as funny. He'll also be one of the only Voices still on your side in the "And Everyone Hates You" ending variant, having found your condemning him to oblivion funny.
Audience Surrogate: He's basically the embodiment of players who avoid doing what the game wants them to do and mess around just to see what happens. Unfortunately for the Contrarian, he realizes his willingness to futz with reality has consequences.
Back for the Finale: If you started the game with the Stranger Route and got him as your first voice, he comes back during the endgame when you enter the Stranger's cabin once again. Noticeable since he's the only voice other than the Hero who can appear in that scene.
Commander Contrarian: Embodies this archetype as his Personality Power, in a manner different from the Skeptic, who's a Seeker Archetype. His presence usually enables more absurd choices for the player to take. He just wants to piss off the Narrator by questioning and refusing everything the latter says.
The Gadfly: Consistently wants to ruin things for the Narrator because it's funny. This includes doing the opposite of what he's told or suggesting chaotic or destructive actions. That said, he's not malicious, just in over his head because he thinks his actions are without consequences.
I Choose to Stay: In the Stranger version "And? What happens next? the Voice of the Contrarian decides to stay with the Voice of the Hero in the Cabin, to either wait or track down the other Voices. He also states that they've done their job to help the Player on his Journey.
Voice of the Contrarian: Our job here is done.
My God, What Have I Done?: His reaction to causing five princesses to merge into The Stranger because he wanted to have fun at the Narrator's expanse.
Nice Guy: He not only coaxes the Voice of the Hero through something akin to a panic attack when they enter the Stranger's cabin and see how wrong it is, but as pointed out below, when he sees the result of the Stranger's uncomfortable merger he immediately suggests that the three of you try to help her. Should the Stranger be the first Princess you visit, he's there for you both at the end, just as much a figure of gentle support as the Voice of the Hero. He's even unambiguous in how he feels about the Narrator being gone: he's sad about it, if only because he considered him to be a good nemesis.
O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Once the five alternate versions of the princess got fused in "The Stranger" route, he completely drops his contrarian attitude.
Voice of the Contrarian: We should help her. I think… we did this.
Voice of the Hero: How surprisingly sincere.
Voice of the Contrarian: I didn’t actually think our actions had consequences.
Reality Warping Is Not a Toy: Learns this the hard way, when his attempts to abuse your ability to influence reality ends up terrifying him.
Reverse Grip: Insists that you hold the Pristine Blade this way, because it looks cooler. If you choose to do so, your mouse icon will change to reflect this.
Running Gag: Suggesting that you throw the Pristine Blade out the window, to the point of suggesting that you throw the Razor out the window depending on your choices.
Running Gagged: If "The Stranger" was the first route completed, then during the endgame, he won't suggest throwing the blade out the window again because the Narrator isn't present to annoy and it wouldn't be as funny a second/third time. You can still go through with it. He'll be thoroughly proud of you if you do.
Sanity Slippage: Becomes noticeably more distressed once the world starts breaking down in "The Stranger" route.
Sarcasm Failure: During "The Stranger" route, he drops his usual snark, even as the Voice of the Hero outright asks him to say something funny to help deal with the horror unfolding before them.
Took a Level in Jerkass: In the Fury route, the Voice of the Contrarian is notably ruder and more openly malicious than in the other routes, antagonizing and insulting the Voice of the Stubborn for the heck of it, joking about how it was funny to make the Adversary uncomfortable, and even poking fun at the Voice of the Hero's comment that he saw trying to reason with the Adversary as an attempt to break the cycle of violence. When the Player comes into the cabin and points out that the door is blocked by the mirror (provided that the Narrator didn't comment on the mirror on the previous loop), the Contrarian straight-up states in an unorthodox way that he doesn't like or respect anyone present.
"Oh, are we playing a game where we lie to people about things? That sounds fun! I respect and admire all of you, and I'm so happy to be here."
Troll: His main goal is to annoy the Narrator and he enables the player to make idiotic choices just to mess with Him. He's also usually spawned during other routes by the player taking absurd options such as Playing Possum before the Beast, refusing to fight the Adversary, or choosing to commit a Spiteful Suicide when facing the Razor.

The Voice of the Hunted

"Should we even return to the cabin? We could find a safe little hole somewhere instead..."

Spawned from "The Beast", the Hunted is terrified of the Princess the same way that prey fears its predator. He may also spawn in Chapter III if you chose options to fight and lose to the Princess. Replaces the Voice of the Obsessed from the 2022 Demo.

Animalistic Abilities: Due to being spawn when the Princess takes the form of the Beast, his presence seems to grant the PC traits usually found in prey animals such as heightened senses and quick reflexes.
Bash Brothers: Is one with the Voice of the Stubborn if they choose to lure the Eye of the Needle into a fight outside and against the Den if you die fighting the Beast. With the Hunted's finesse and survival instinct and the Stubborn's brute strength and determination, they manage to use your Fragile Speedster ability to dodge around and inflict a Death of a Thousand Cuts.
Batman Gambit: In "The Eye of the Needle", he advises you to bait the Princess into following you out into the woods so you'll have more room to fight her, accurately predicting her reactions based on her Blood Knight tendencies.
Call a Rabbit a "Smeerp": He refers to the prisine blade as the "steel claw", to enforce his more animalistic viewpoint.
Cowardly Lion: He might be apprehensive and unwilling to fight; but if there's no other choice, he'll give it his all. If you spawn him during the Eye of the Needle encounter, he'll suggest luring her into an advantageous position right off the bat. And if you do, he'll guide you in dodging and timing your strikes to wear the behemoth down. With help from the Stubborn's determination, you will end the encounter victorious.
Fragile Speedster: The Personality Power he bestows when he's present. As an extension of your survival instincts, his enhances your agility to dodge and strike at opportune moments. That said, you're still facing off against the Princess, who can easily turn you into a paste if she gets a good hit in.
The Quiet One: His voice is notably lower than the other Voices and he doesn't talk as much.
Super-Senses: The only Voice that realizes that the Narrator is telling the truth and that the mirror isn't real based on the fact that he can feel the wind coming from the other side. These are another Personality Power he grants the Player.
Sympathy for the Devil: If you choose to lure the Den into the entrance tunnel, he'll become sympathetic when she gets stuck, feeling bad for her and wanting to help.

The Voice of the Opportunist

"We've tried doing it our way, and we've tried doing it His way. I think the only way left is hers."

Spawned from "The Witch", the Opportunist is motivated by self-interest and keeping the player safe and will side with whoever offers the best chance of achieving that. He may also spawn in Chapter III if you chose options to take advantage of situations when you were otherwise unprepared.

Bad Liar: He's very bad at pretending to be a loyal ally, although to be fair it's less due to a lack of skill and more due to the fact he'll regularly change allegiance mid-conversation and try to pretend he's been on his current side the whole time.
Didn't Think This Through: If you let the Witch follow you up the stairs, and thus you get your back broken by her dragging the both of you down, the Voice of the Opportunist laments not walking up the stairs behind her, because he planned to use the Pristine Blade on her when they made it to the cabin. The Voice of the Hero points out that, since she was planning to betray you first, she would have also gotten to the blade first. Indeed, if you follow the Witch up the stairs, you don't even get the chance to use the blade, because the Witch locks the door in front of you.
The Farmer and the Viper: If you choose to help the Witch without giving her the blade and convince her to lead the way out, you can stab her In the Back at his suggestion. The achievement you get is called "The Scorpion", in reference to the fable "The Scorpion and The Frog", indicating that it's in the Opportunist's nature to betray her.
The Friend Nobody Likes: The other Voices, including the Hero, find his brown-nosing and backstabbing distasteful, and mostly resort to Teeth-Clenched Teamwork since it's not like they can be rid of him. The only Voice who is willing to accept him is the Smitten, and even then it's only because the Smitten is willing to accept anyone who sides with the Princess.
- According to Jonathan Sims, the Voice of the Opportunist genuinely thinks the other Voices view him as a friend when in reality, they can't stand him period.
Harmless Villain: He's one of the most ruthless and amoral voices, but he's so obviously malicious that he's very unlikely to convince you to act on any of his suggestions. Of course, if you do, the Long Quiet can quickly become very nasty.
Has a Type: Some of his admiration for the Wraith makes it sound like he has a thing for strong women or women who are willing to be just as opportunistic as he is.
Heel–Face Revolving Door: From the Voice of the Smitten's perspective, as in the romancing-the-Thorn route he agrees with the Narrator about killing the Princess, then agrees with his fellow voices about freeing her, then suggests to slay her while pointing out how easy to backstab she is, and as the Thorn and the Player leave the cabin together he says he's been on their side the whole time. The Smitten forgives him with a bit of pompous drama.
It's All About Me: He's very openly only looking out for his own skin, and only really values you and the other voices insofar as you dying would kill him.
I Fight for the Strongest Side!: The reason why he wants to side with the Wraith. Why would he side with the Narrator when he's powerless against her? In his words, the Wraith has "gumption" and is "going places", so it would be best for their survival if the player works for her. She's going to need someone to help her manage what comes after destroying the world, right? He's so set in this that, unlike in the Witch and Thorn routes, he doesn't so much as entertain the idea of resisting her. Even when the Voice of the Paranoid saves up enough willpower to fling everyone into the void, the Voice of the Opportunist just protests that he doesn't think he'll be able to smooth this over.
I Told You So: He's apprehensive about trusting the Witch. When she does invariably stab you in the back, he makes sure to point out that he was ignored.
Major Injury Underreaction: Upon ending up in a body with a broken spine, he whines that it sucks and he doesn't like having a broken back.
Odd Friendship: On the Thorn route, he gets along surprisingly well with the Voice of the Smitten, with the two capable of holding a decent conversation and the Opportunist being willing to hear out the Smitten's point of view. The Smitten, in turn, is remarkably patient with the Voice of the Opportunist's antics, and is very quick to forgive him and his two-faced nature whenever the Opportunist makes siding with the Princess his final decision.
Opinion Flip Flop: On the Wraith route he's dead set on pleasing her, but in any other case he will change his opinion depending on what you choose on a dime. For example, when you retrieve the Pristine Blade from the Thorn, he'll insist on slaying her, but if you choose to cut her free, he'll say that he wanted to do that first.
Opportunistic Bastard: The Voice of the Opportunist's Personality Power. He refuses to have an opinion unless he's sure that he's agreeing with the right side. If he turns out to be wrong, he'll backpedal and say he always agreed with the other. If he does turn out to be right, he'll make sure everyone knows.
Voice of the Hero: You... you do see [the mirror], right? I don't know how to read you.
Voice of the Opportunist: I see all sorts of things.
Voice of the Hero: But do you see the mirror? It's a simple yes or no question.
Voice of the Opportunist: Uh... I... (turns to the Narrator) Help me out here, will you?
Professional Butt-Kisser: Compliments the Wraith extensively to try to get her to accept the player. It doesn't work but she finds it funny.
Slimeball: He's a manipulative, selfish, amoral voice who'll happily suck up to whoever's most powerful and immediately stab them in the back once he finds a better option. He's very bad at hiding it though, so most of the other Voices just treat him as a minor annoyance.
Smug Snake: He thinks of himself as a cunning Manipulative Bastard who's skillfully playing the Long Quiet, the Narrator, the Princess and the others Voices for his own gain. He might even have managed it if he was just able to hide it for five minutes.
Voice of the Hero: That one's not the smooth talker he thinks he is.

The Voice of the Paranoid

"Shhh. What if He hears us?"

Spawned from "The Nightmare", the Paranoid is panicky and generally suspicious of everything and treats the Princess as an omnipresent threat that could jump out at him at any moment. He may also spawn in Chapter III if you chose the options that lead to the Princess doing something unexpected and being ill-prepared to deal with it.

Being Watched: Faint silhouettes with staring eyes manifest in the Nightmare cabin, enforcing the feeling the Paranoid describes.
Cowardly Lion: Another Personality Power he grants, despite being deeply afraid of the Nightmare or other horrifying variants of the Princess. He'll enable the Player to face his fears long enough to take action.
Deadpan Snarker: He will remember when he's being doubted and make appropriate jabs when the others are confronted with the things he has to deal with.
Heroic Willpower: Somehow prevents the Player Character's body from shutting down against the Nightmare by merely willing it to keep functioning. During the Apotheosis route, he's also the Voice that spawns specifically to counter the Voice of the Broken's enabling the Apotheosis's mind control.
Precision F-Strike: In the Nightmare route, the Voice of the Hero asks him if he thinks they should trust the Narrator. His response, after having to take a few minutes to teach the Voice of the Hero to take over the Survival Mantra for him?
The Voice of the Paranoid: Finally, I can talk. Now, what were you asking me?
The Narrator: They were asking you for your blessing to trust me.
Voice of the Paranoid: Oh, that's right! Yeah, fuck this guy. Don't trust him.
Properly Paranoid: The Voice of the Paranoid's Personality Power, for as much as the Narrator tries to brush him off as Improperly Paranoid, he has very good reasons to be wary of the Princess. He's also suspicious of the Narrator and will become aggressive when the Narrator lets slip that he knows more than he's telling.
Survival Mantra: "Heart. Lungs. Liver. Nerves." He does this to stop the player from literally dying of fright. You can still hear him in the background while the dialogue continues.

The Voice of the Skeptic

"You mean you're on our side as long as we do what you tell us to."

Spawned from "The Prisoner", the Skeptic looks for the truth and is leery of the Narrator for hiding it. He may also spawn in Chapter III if you chose options to stay back and observe or reason with the Princess. Known as the Voice of the Doubtful in the demo.

But Thou Must!: The Skeptic will flat out refuse to face the Princess unarmed. If the player attempts to just have the Hero walk past the blade, he will take direct control over the Hero in the moment he walks past it and make him swipe it in a quick motion. If the player protests, the Skeptic insists he isn't planning on using it, but he believes it is safer to always have a weapon to defend yourself with, just in case things end up going south.
Commander Contrarian: In a manner different from the Contrarian, who's The Gadfly. He recognizes that the Narrator isn't being entirely honest, and is quick to question his directions and motivations. To gather more information, the Skeptic is generally against complying with the Narrator.
The Cynic: His skepticism stems from his pessimism. He (justifiably) assumes the worst of the Narrator and doubts that the Princess will end the world or that slaying her will save it if a "world" exists at all. That said, he doesn't trust the Princess either; he notes that while he does finds her a bit more believable and certainly a good deal more sympathetic than the Narrator in this whole mess, he isn't willing to accept what she says unquestionably and cautions the player to stay on their guard around her.
Deadpan Snarker: He has his moments, particularly when the Narrator is being obvious about his deception or being a Hypocrite.
Hardboiled Detective: Gives off this vibe, due to his cynical and practical personality and his drive to try to solve everything. The Voice of the Hero even calls him gruff.
Saying Sound Effects Out Loud: Since you can't see him doing so, he says "wink" when he suggests following the Narrator's directions.
The Narrator: Did you just say "wink" out loud?
Voice of the Skeptic: No, I didn't. Wink.
Seeker Archetype: The Voice of the Skeptic's Personality Power, he knows the Narrator has more information than he's sharing, so he tries to use context clues and the Narrator's reactions to uncover whatever secrets are being kept from you.
Stopped Caring: In "The Moment of Clarity", where all the Voices remember every route. Knowing what he does now, he sees no point in doing anything because regardless of your decision, it just goes on and on.
Sympathy for the Devil: If you choose to lure the Den into the entrance tunnel, he'll become sympathetic when she gets stuck, suggesting that you try talking to her.
The Smart Guy: Another Personality Power he grants the Player is the options for for more intelligent or logical dialogue options.

The Voice of the Smitten

"What can I say? A world without Love is a world that isn't worth saving."

Spawned from "The Damsel", the Smitten is completely head-over-heels in love with the Princess and strives to rescue her in a valiant and dashing way. He may also spawn in Chapter III if you chose the flirtatious options or otherwise try to romance the Princess.

Always Save the Girl: Always on the Princess' side, no matter which version of her you're engaged with.
Beware the Silly Ones: He may be a love-drunk fop, but Smitten is the voice most likely to overpower the Narrator and the player's control over the situation should he be moved to do so for love or revenge. He's also the only one of the voices to say anything about what you look like, as he knows you have feathers.
The Dandy: He's very intent on looking into the mirror to primp and often worries that you're not looking your best.
Decomposite Character: In the 2022 Demo, the Hero was the one who fell in love with the Princess. Here, that smitten behaviour has been separated into a different voice.
Driven to Suicide: If you choose to kill the Princess, he turns the blade on himself. Both out of grief, because there's nothing left for him without his beloved, and to spite the Narrator and Hero.
The Friend Nobody Likes: All of the other Voices who get to interact with him tends to find his over-the-top theatrics and fawning over the Princess to at least be somewhat off-putting. The Voice of the Cold is particularly belligerent towards him.
Ham and Deadpan Duo: The ham to the Cold's deadpan during the "Damsel-Grey" route.
Inexplicably Awesome: Should you choose to free the Damsel, the chain will just slip right off of her wrist, and the locked door will become magically unlocked. Even the Narrator has no explanation for how this is possible. The Smitten chalks it up to The Power of Love, which just makes the Narrator even angrier.
In Love with the Mark: His whole schtick is that he's so in love with the Princess that any attempt to hurt her in any way is seen as a step too far.
I Reject Your Reality: His will to act out his "Knight in Shining Armor rescuing a Damsel in Distress" fantasy is so strong that he gains narrative influence, to the confusion and aggravation of the Narrator.
Knight in Shining Armor: Embodies this archetype as the highly romanticized version of The Hero. Even the Hero is weirded out by him.
Large Ham: He describes his passion and his love for the Princess in grandiose, overtly flowery terms, even complete with some Purple Prose. When the Narrator points out that the Princess can't hear him, the Smitten voice replies that sure she can hear his spirit. Both the Narrator and the Voice of the Hero think the Smitten is way too into it as a result.
Nightmare Fetishist: In the route where you meet the Razor, the Smitten is just as in love with the Princess as ever, breathlessly calling her beautiful even as her whole body turns to blades. He's still like this in The Moment of Clarity, calling the Princess a cruel and beautiful goddess who is above you where she belongs.
The Power of Love: The Voice of the Smitten's Personality Power. It's so powerful in fact, that the Voice of the Smitten ignores the Narrator's words and wills an ending where he and his beloved princess leave the cabin!
Save the Princess: His core motivation as an archetypal Knight in Shining Armor is doing whatever he can to rescue and protect the Princess, to the point it overrides the Narrator.
Sickeningly Sweethearts: Going along with his suggestions to free the Princess results in the Narrator gagging from the overly romantic they're being. Him egging on the Narrator to describe you kissing the Thorn Princess causes the Narrator to go full Purple Prose out of spite.
Skewed Priorities:
- He wonders if the player looks dazzling surrounded by flames, even though they're burning to death.
- When the Princess remarks that she feels cold, the Voice of the Smitten wants the player to pluck out all his own feathers and to make them into a coat for her.
Thinks Like a Romance Novel: He sees the world as a love story, with the Princess being a Damsel in Distress and himself as the Knight in Shining Armor, and believing the Princess to be his destined soulmate no matter how short of a time she and the Player have actually spent together. It does work for his advantage, however, as his beliefs are so powerful that he can even gain enough of the narrative influence to override the Narrator to will a happy ending for her and the Player.
You Must Be Cold: When the Damsel is freed but feeling the cold of her true self approaching, The Smitten immediately suggests making a coat out of the Player's feathers but never gets the chance to follow through.

The Voice of the Stubborn

"We're going to fight her, and we're going to win."

Spawned from "The Adversary", the Stubborn sees the Princess as a Worthy Opponent and looks to fight her again after being killed by her the first time. He may also spawn in Chapter III if you chose more aggressive options or options that prioritize putting up a fight.

Amazon Chaser: He's very into the more physically imposing and combative Princesses — his obsession with the Adversary only barely holds back from being explictly sexual, and he refers to the Razor's knife form as "the perfect woman!"
Hero: Her voice sounds different. More... threatening.
Stubborn: [chuckles] Good. Sounds like my kind of princess.
Baritone of Strength: His voice is rougher than the others, to demonstrate his aggressive nature.
Bash Brothers: Is one with the Voice of the Hunted if they choose to lure the Eye of the Needle into a fight outside and against the Den if you die fighting the Beast. With the Hunted's finesse and survival instinct and the former's brute strength and determination, they manage to use your Fragile Speedster ability to dodge around and inflict a Death of a Thousand Cuts.
Blood Knight: Itching for a rematch, and constantly talks about breaking and smashing things. He's such a Blood Knight that the fact that Princess keeps getting up after apparently slaying her delights the Stubborn to no end. The Narrator can chime in that he "appreciates the enthusiasm" but tries to keep the Stubborn focused on slaying the princess, not just fighting her. No dice.
Combat Sadomasochist: Every bit as much as the Adversary. He's positively gleeful if he traps you and the princess in an eternal knife-fight.
Oh, stop bickering over nothing. Our destiny is right in front of us! Pick up your blade and go to her!
Determinator: The Voice of the Stubborn's Personality Power, taken to the absurd point of straight up Resurrective Immortality. If you receive fatal wounds while fighting the Princess, he'll order you to get back up and keep fighting, even if your brain matter is splattered on a wall. Even the Princess can become disturbed by the pulverization the Player can endure at his behest.
Interplay of Sex and Violence: Or romance and violence, that works too.
Know When to Fold 'Em: A downplayed version in The Fury route where she is created from the Adversary getting an unsatisfactory fight because you refused to take the blade. He's still ready to face off with her again but is willing to concede that you need the blade to stand any chance.
Nightmare Fetishist: When fighting The Razor's final form, he gleefully declares her, "The perfect woman."
O.O.C. Is Serious Business: If he appears in the Wild route when you fight The Witch head on and get crushed or if you decide to kill yourself after getting eaten in an act of defiance against the Beast, he is as willing to let go of your past grievances as all the other voices. For a Blood Knight, this should be a sign there is merit to The Wild's words that you are both meant to be one. A bigger red flag is when the Narrator tries to make you recall your anger or fear to get you to seperate. The Stubborn pushes back and tells you to ignore those thoughts. Following his advice allows you and The Wild to make a crack in the construct.
Super-Strength: Another Personality Power he grants the Player is heighted strength.
Worthy Opponent: Considers the Princess to be one if she's the Adversary or the Fury, as he desperately wants to fight her.

Other

The Creator

The posthumous creator of the Narrator (along with everything else in reality), and the indirect creator of the Player and the Princess. He created the 'Construct', an infinite pocket-dimension time-loop, in order to seal away the Shifting Mound to prevent the end of everything.

Badass Normal: By his own admission, he's only a mortal. He still somehow managed to rend the cycle of live and death into two, shape the results, and imprison them in a separate plane. Whether his plan ultimately succeeds or fails is up to the Player Character.
Create Your Own Villain: The Shifting Mound is a natural part of reality, and would not have been a problem if the Creator didn't try to seal her away. Because he did, the Narrator had to create the Player, who in turn is able to convince the Shifting Mound to end reality upon being released.
Driven to Suicide: The Creator claims this is how he died. Given his crusade against death, it's possible he saw it as better to die than be killed. He also says that it was a countermeasure to the Shifting Mound, who becomes what others perceive her to be - and an echo can't perceive things the way people can.
The End of the World as We Know It: In a conversation with the Narrator through a broken mirror, the Narrator calls himself (as an echo of The Creator) a witness to the end of days. The universe is old and dying, and people are consumed with that knowledge. Something would come after the end - "when the patterns are wiped from the sand when the board is reset" - but no one would even remember the people who lived at that end, and the point of the construct is to let people live outside of the "shadow of the end".
Fate Worse than Death: Despite his own claim that he died, the fact that he still persists as an echo has shades of this trope. His Mortality Phobia was such that he found that shattering himself into countless shards to forever torment the gods he'd created was a better option than simply dying.
The Ghost: The Creator is mentioned, but never seen. The only thing even remotely left of him is the Narrator, continuing his wishes and speaking as him.
A God I Am Not: For all his power and the feat of creating two gods from universal concepts, the Narrator rejects the idea that The Creator himself was a god and admits he was a mere mortal. Considering there isn't much of an advantage to allowing his creation and mouthpiece to think this independently of him, it could be surmised the Creator saw himself this way.
God Is Dead: The Narrator says he was no god, but painfully mortal. Long before the start of the game, the Creator has already died.
God Is Flawed: Textually not a god. The Creator tore the multiversal concept of life and death, transformation and stasis, in two and pitted them against each other within the Construct, trying to protect people from death and change. What effects does having both in the Construct have on reality? What effect will killing the embodiment of death and rebirth have? The Creator, or his echo, claims that the enough of the Shifting Mound exists in the Long Quiet that life and meaning will continue if the Player kills her, but his vision of what the lives of people will be like at that point, a gentle existence of forgetting and rediscovering without pain or fear, sounds quite static.
Gone Horribly Wrong: The Creator's plan to stop death by sealing away The Shifting Mound potentially causes the death of all of reality, depending on the Player's actions.
Graceful Loser: Downplayed. In a conversation through a broken mirror, the Narrator speaking as the Creator is much calmer and more forthcoming than the Narrator usually is but if the Player tells him that his efforts were all futile and the Player will release the Princess, he just says with resignation that there's no reasoning with a god, even one he made himself. He'll admit without the Narrator's usual anger or desperation that he failed in what he set out to do, but he won't even acknowledge the possibility he was in the wrong to try.
Greater-Scope Villain: While not deliberately malicious, or even alive during the game's events, he indirectly causes the untold suffering of the Player, the Princess, and the Narrator. He even could be considered responsible for the Player deciding to end reality, as he created the Narrator, who in turn created the Player.
Immortality Immorality: To his credit, he wasn't seeking immortality for himself, but for the people who lived in his dying era, and for other people across the universes. Unfortunately in order to have it for others, he tore the concept of life and death, of transformation and stability, in two, personified them, and set them up in the Construct with an echo of himself to pit them against each other. As you can see through the game, rarely are any of those characters happy.
Irony: The Narrator describes his Creator's ideal world as a pattern of forgetfulness that leads to the joys of discovery... which sounds an awful lot like what the Narrator goes through every time you die. Which he never enjoys. It can't help that neither the Player nor the Princess are his loved ones.
Kill the God: Downplayed. He didn't want to fully kill the original divine being that the Long Quiet and the Shifting Mound were made from. Only the part of it that governed the aspect of Death, and for whatever reason, he couldn't do this himself. His entire scheme was pulling that being apart into two Literal Split Personalities, isolate its Mortality/Chaos and Stasis/Order aspects into each of the halves, entrap both of them in a pocket dimension with no memories, and then influrence the Order half to kill the Chaos half.
Laser-Guided Amnesia: His vision for the world if the Shifting Mound is killed.
"Light. Burdenless. An eternal pattern of forgetfulness leading to the joys of discovery. Everyone will be with the ones they love. No more fear, no more howling chaos. Just life. Forever."
Mortality Phobia: The harshest he gets in the conversation across the broken mirror is when you question him about if death is really that bad - you can't meaningfully die, he says, and clearly don't understand the desperation of it.
No Name Given: As with the other characters, if he has or had a name it doesn't come up, but we have to call him something and capitalizing "creator" makes it look more like a name.
Pronoun Trouble: The closest he gets to appearing is in a conversation with the Narrator across a broken mirror. The Narrator admits to being just an echo of the Creator, but answers questions calmly and frankly and mostly refers to the Creator as "I".
Tailor-Made Prison: The Creator created the Construct, his own echo, and then sealed said echo, the Long Quiet, and the Princess in it for all eternity.
Utopia Justifies the Means: Seems to genuinely believe that all the pain and suffering he causes the two imprisoned deities and whatever damage he could've potentially caused to reality by removing them from it was worth the chance to create a world without death.
Player: If you made us, then I want you to know that this has been torture.
Narrator: The inevitability of death is torture. I would gladly put two infinite beings through what you've been through to spare infinite lives from oblivion.

Characters / Slay the Princess

The Voices In Your Head

Other

Previous

Index

Next

Characters / Slay the Princess

Edit Locked

The Voices In Your Head

Other

Previous

Index

Next