Characters / The Pale Beyond

Crew members on the Temperance:

Robin Shaw

The ship's newly-hired First Mate, who takes command after Capt. Hunt's disappearance. Being unfamiliar with most of the crew, Shaw needs to work hard to gain their trust when disaster strikes.

• The Chosen One: If Shaw is able to catch up to Hunt, Hunt reveals he chose Shaw to be his First Mate because he noticed throughout all of the time loops, Shaw always gave different answers during the job interview. This convinced Hunt that Shaw was the person best qualified to find a way to lead the crew to safety.
• Jumped at the Call: Can apply to Shaw, who applied to the First Mate position despite the advertised risks. Various dialogue choices can establish Shaw as a thrill-seeker looking for an adventure.
• Gender-Inclusive Writing: As Shaw is meant to represent the player, their appearance and gender are concealed, with no mention being made toward either. They also have a Gender-Blender Name, "Robin".
• Multiple-Choice Past: Shaw's past is chosen by the player at the beginning of the game, allowing them to pick whether Shaw is a sailor or "landlubber" and what their relation is toward authority.
• Number Two: Shaw is second to Capt. Hunt, and thus assists him with decisions and crew requests during the journey. After Hunt's disappearance, Shaw becomes captain to respect the chain of command, though not without some protests.
• Screw Destiny: This is implied to be Shaw's special power, as they serve as an avatar for the player. Their ability to freely change their own background and choices over different time loops means that they can eventually find a loop where Everybody Lives.

Capt. Rufus Hunt

The good-natured captain of the Temperance, who abruptly disappears partway through the expedition. Though his crew is loyal to him, he has a reputation for playing fast and loose, and he starts to behave strangely as the journey begins...

• Drinking on Duty: After the ship gets stuck on the ice, Hunt briefly vanishes, before reappearing drunk in his cabin's bathtub. He gives an inebriated rant to Shaw and Templeton until they leave him to sober up. By the time the boiler melts down, he's abandoned ship.
• Graceful Loser: If Hunt loses his bid to become the captain again, and Shaw decides to punish him for his earlier desertion, Hunt takes it in good stride, believing that's what he deserves as long as the crew survives.
• Kill It with Fire: Hunt wishes to burn down the tree growing in the Viscount, and abandoned the Temperence in a failed attempt to do so before the crew's arrival. Should Shaw find Hunt and the Viscount, Hunt will try to convince the crew to burn the tree, though whether he succeeds is up to Shaw (and the rest of the crew's loyalty toward Shaw).
• Nepotism: Hunt is revealed to have hired several crew members based on personal connections over experience.
• No Party Like the Donner Party: Upon his appearance at the Viscount, Hunt reveals that after deserting, he was forced to eat his three companions to survive. He refers to it as "the oldest tradition".
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Hunt deserts the ship with three of his most loyal crew members not long after it gets stuck in the ice, leaving Shaw to ensure the survival of the rest.
• Who Wants to Live Forever?: Though the tree's fruits gave Hunt "immortality" through the ability to travel back in time to try to improve the journey's fate, he is ultimately broken from seeing the death and destruction that ensue each time.

Richard Templeton

The aloof science officer aboard the Temperence. He represents the expedition's mysterious benefactor, and generally distances himself from the rest of the crew.

• The Cynic: Templeton dislikes many of the crew members, who he believes are too inexperienced and chummy to effectively survive. He often warns Shaw not to give in to too many demands, believing becoming too friendly with the crew can jeopardize the mission.
• Just Think of the Potential!: Templeton is fixed on carrying out the expedition's mission — despite the disasters occurring during the journey — due to the potential scientific discoveries that could ultimately be made.
• Heel–Face Turn: While his loyalty is initially to the expedition's benefactor, if Templeton's loyalty is high enough he can be convinced to switch sides and speak up in Shaw's defense when Lady Appertton tries to arrest Shaw.
• Mysterious Employer: Templeton is on the ship to represent the interests of his employer, whose identity he keeps hidden from the rest of the crew (aside from Capt. Hunt). He eventually reveals his employer to be the Appertton Tinning Company, a MegaCorp with a keen interest in the Viscount's recovery.
• The Needs of the Many: Templeton believes that the Appertton Tinning Company's ambitions are justified, despite the harm they cause to some, due to their overall benefit to society and scientific progress.

Kurt Darling

A celebrity adventurer who has joined the Temperence as the ship's navigator. He is experienced and affable, but his older age is starting to catch up to him.

• Broken Pedestal: Kasha idolizes Kurt at the beginning of the adventure, but is eventually disgusted by his dishonesty when he asks her to leave his illness out of her account of the journey.
• Feeling Their Age: Despite his love for adventure, Kurt has been growing slowly more impaired with age, which he pointedly tries to ignore. This can come back to bite him if he overworks later in the journey, causing him to have a heart attack.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: Kurt isn't particularly popular among the crew due to his arrogance, especially when it comes to Kasha and Hammond who heavily dislike him due to their opposing personalities.
• Heroic Sacrifice: If he attempts to help Kasha rescue her camera, both of them will fall off a cliff, saved only by an overloaded harness; Kurt may cut himself off the harness, falling to his death to save Kasha's life.
• Hollywood Heart Attack: Kurt suffers from one of these if Shaw allows him to ignore Nutlee's advice and overwork.
• Very Loosely Based on a True Story: Kurt admits that while his adventures are certainly real, his documentaries tend to embellish his achievements while omitting certain details he'd rather keep hidden.
• When You Coming Home, Dad?: Kurt has two daughters, who he believes resent him for constantly working away from home.

"Junior" Stoke

The ship's cook, and the younger brother of Grimley. He is friendly with the rest of the crew, and loyal toward Hunt.

• Camp Cook: Junior is responsible for the food preparation on the ship (and at camp, once the crew moves onto the ice). Cooking ingredients are given to him to feed the crew during any given week.
• Mystery Meat: Much of Junior's cooking turns into this once the crew is forced to hunt and scrounge for food (with animals such as penguins and seals thrown into the mix).

"Grimley" Stoke

The ship's carpenter, and the older brother of Junior. He is curt and unfriendly toward Shaw, distrusting them and their orders, but remains popular with much of the crew.

• Accordion to Most Sailors: Grimley owns an accordion, which he uses to play songs for the rest of the crew — including songs disparaging Shaw. The player can choose to punish this insubordination by smashing the accordion, enraging the crew.
• Informed Attribute: Though Grimley is the ship's carpenter, he is rarely if ever seen performing that duty.
• Undying Loyalty: Grimley is loyal to Captain Hunt, and only Captain Hunt. He refuses to call Shaw "captain" and doesn't respect their authority over the crew. He's also the most difficult crew member to earn the loyalty of. If the crew finds Hunt at the end of the game without Grimley being loyal to Shaw, Grimley will immediately flip to Hunt's side, becoming his choice for a new first mate.

Clive Hammond

The Temperence's lead engineer, who is responsible for maintaining the boiler. A coarse and gruff man, Hammond is more focused on his work than anything else.

• Neutral No Longer: The engineers abstain from the first captaincy vote, as they're unconcerned with who's leading the expedition as long as they survive (and get paid). Depending on Hammond's ultimate loyalty toward Shaw, the group can vote either with or against him during the final vote.
• Not What I Signed on For: Hammond grows increasingly irate about the goals of the journey's mysterious benefactor, stating that he's unwilling to die to complete their mission. This creates a rift between himself and Templeton.
• Workaholic: Hammond cares about little else other than doing what he's been hired to do: keeping the boiler running. He frequently gets little sleep, but states he prefers it that way. If he survives to the end of the game, he states he'll probably do the same thing on the next ship he works with.

Dr. Arthur Nutlee

A young, nervous surgeon who has recently been employed as the ship's doctor.

• Dirty Coward: This is what he thinks of himself due to witnessing Hunt and his party abandoning ship and being too afraid to report it to anybody, a choice that has haunted him.
• Don't You Dare Pity Me!: Nutlee hates it when other crew members express sympathy toward him, which only feeds his insecurities.
• Driven to Suicide: Feeling that he's being a burden to the expedition, Nutlee can commit suicide by walking out into the freezing cold winter unless convinced to do otherwise by Shaw.
• Green Around the Gills: Being unused to sea travel, Nutlee grows visibly green from seasickness at the beginning of the voyage.
• Nepotism: Nutlee was only appointed to the ship because his father was Capt. Hunt's barber. This has haunted him, since he wishes to be judged by his own merits. However, this is later subverted when Hunt reveals he brought Nutlee along as a favor to his father, who wanted Nutlee to get some experience of the outside world.

Passengers on the Temperance:

Ingrid "Lady" Cordell

A mysterious kennel master who has boarded the ship to look after the expedition's sled dogs.

• Defector from Decadence: Cordell grew up as part of the nobility and ultimately became a Member of Parliament, yet was unhappy with the stuffiness of her spoiled life and the arrogance of the people around her. She abandoned it for a simple life as a kennel master.
• Lonely Rich Kid: Cordell is revealed to have been a former noble, who grew up as the child of a rich family. Despite this, she never fit in with her noble peers, preferring the company of dogs to people. This hasn't changed by the time she boards the ship, as she's still very distant from the crew.
• Loyal Animal Companion: Though all of Cordell's dogs can apply here, the most notable example is Stanberry, who stands beside Cordell and is present in most of her sprites.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Cordell may attempt to desert the expedition when she discovers her favorite dog, Stanberry, is pregnant. She fears that Stanberry's puppies will not survive among the Temperence's crew.
• Shoot the Dog: Taken literally when Cordell is forced to either abandon or shoot her sled dogs, as their presence compromises the survival of the crew.

Kasha Bellford

A civilian photographer who has boarded the Temperance to document its journey.

• Camera Fiend: Kasha hardly goes anywhere without her camera, which she uses to constantly document the going-ons of the crew — even during crises. She believes that photographic evidence is the only way people will believe what's happened during the journey. When she accidentally drops her camera off a cliff, Kasha goes to lengths to save it, potentially costing her life.
• Intrepid Reporter: Kasha has become known for her reporting on marine adventures and scientific discoveries. As the trip progresses, she works hard to delve into the lives and secrets of the various crew members, causing some annoyance.
• Naïve Newcomer: Though she's excited to be on the ship, Kasha is shown to have little understanding of the risks or protocols involved in going on the expedition.

Runt

A young stowaway who hid aboard the Temperance hoping to join his father on the journey.

• Little Stowaway: Runt, a short teenager, stows away aboard the Temperance due to his father's presence on the expedition. Shaw can choose to allow him to work on the ship, or can simply drop him off at the next port.

Other Characters

The Benefactor (UNMARKED SPOILERS)

Name: Lady Appertton

The wealthy owner of the Appertton Tinning Company, who has organized and funded the Temperance expedition in order to discover the fate of the missing Viscount.

• Historical In-Joke: Lady Appertton is clearly a nod to Nicolas Appert, inventor of the canning process.
• I Was Quite a Looker: She used to be a famous and very attractive performer in her younger days, and her likeness is used as the Appertton Tinning Company's mascot.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Even though she threatens to have Shaw arrested for failing to find the Viscount, she can be convinced to change her mind if the crew is loyal enough to stand up for Shaw, telling her that without Shaw's leadership, none of them would have survived.
• Set Right What Once Went Wrong: It's implied that Lady Appertton seeks the Tree so she can use its power go back in time and prevent her husband's death.