Video Game / Identity V

Hide & Outwit Your Predator.

Fear Always Springs From the Unknown.

Identity V is an asymmetrical multiplayer Survival Horror game developed and published by NetEase (of Onmyoji fame) in which one player is a monstrous Hunter, and the remaining players take on the role of survivors struggling to escape from them. Its mechanics are extremely similar to Dead by Daylight, with the overall aesthetic changed from Slasher Movie to a Tim Burton-esque design and atmosphere.

Its Framing Device is that a mysterious benefactor hires a detective suffering from amnesia and multiple personality disorder to find a missing person. To this end, the detective reconstructs various twisted games documented in a mansion's library.

The game was adapted into a three-part stage play series in Japan, in 2019-2021. A fourth episode was announced for Summer 2024, with most of the cast returning.

Check out the official website here.

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Identity V provides examples of the following tropes:

Miscellaneous

• Abandoned Hospital: Sacred Heart Hospital. Rumor has it that the reason it was abandoned was an incident where a dentist ended up killing a patient (the same dentist is the character behind the “Hide and Seek” mode).
• Abandoned Mine: Golden Cave was a mountain owned by Count Barriere. It attracted many gold diggers, but after a sudden landslide in the mine, the mountain was abandoned.
• Abandoned Warehouse: Arms Factory and Leo's Memory are both the debt-ridden Minerva Arms Factory. It was abandoned after Leo set fire to the factory along with himself.
• Adaptational Villainy: The White and Black Guards [Wu Chang]. The Heibai Wuchang in the original Chinese myths were tasked with escorting spirits of the dead to the Underworld and judging them accordingly. Xie Bi'an would reward others for their good deeds while Fan Wujiu would punish unrepentant souls. In this game, both of them hunt Survivors indiscriminately and while many of them have shady pasts, some of them actually feel remorse for their actions. Xie Bian also became a spirit that manipulates his victims through their grief, manipulating a depressed Jose Baden, the First Officer, into turning against his team.
• Amusement Park of Doom: Moonlight River Park used to be a popular tourist attraction until something nightmarish happened one night during the festivities. Currently, it serves as one of the game stages for a series of deadly games. Specifically, the game number 8.
• And Your Reward Is Clothes:
  • Upon fulfilling the basic requirement for a character's final deduction, the player receives a "Worn Clothes" skin for said character.
  • After the player finishes reading the Character Diaries of one of members of the first group of Survivors (Emma Woods [Gardener], Freddy Riley [Lawyer], Emily Dyer [Doctor], and Kreacher Pierson [Thief]) or William Ellis [Forward], they will receive said character's "Dark Side" skin.
• Animal Companion: Several of the Survivors have these. Examples include Eli Clark [Seer] with his owl, Murro [Wildling] with his boar, Victor Grantz [Postman] with Wick the Post Dog
  • On the hunter side Ann [Disciple], has her cat, “Apostle”, Grace [Naiad] has a school of fish in her original skin, while Orpheus [Nightmare] has an unnamed raven that he uses to locate survivors.
  • In his Mr. Mole skin, Norton Campbell [Prospector] has a mole sitting on his shoulder.
• Character Blog: The Japanese twitter will occasionally have in-character Twitter replies from both Survivors and Hunters. A fan translation can be found here.
• Clingy MacGuffin: The Holy Key that Fiona Gilman [Priestess] carries around allows her to make portals; however, thanks to her oath, she can't pick up any other items.
• Constantly Curious: Kurt Frank [Explorer] is so curious that he can't resist tinkering, raising the chances of calibration checks and lowering the chances of success. Notably, his profile implies that he joined the life-or-death game not out of some particular driving need, but just to see whether or not he could win.
• Creepy Crows: Crows will circle around a Survivor if they have not touched a cipher for an extended period of time or are the last remaining one on the map. Lorewise, it is implied to be the way Orpheus keeps his eyes on the survivors. Nightmare himself has a crow as his Animal Companion.
• Crossover: Has its own page
• Deadly Game: Oletus Manor hosts several deadly games of many different types and that's basically the focus of the game.
• Difficult, but Awesome: Yidhra [Dream Witch] has a difficulty level of 3, making her one of the harder Hunters to play as. However, due to the fact that each of her followers has a separate cooldown time, a good enough main can make Survivors basically go up against five hunters instead of one.
• Don't Look At Me: Michiko [Geisha] loses her ability to go through objects when pursuing a Survivor if they look at her face. One of her official dislikes is being watched by other people and looking in mirrors.
• Dub Name Change: Some characters' titles have a different translation in the English version. In the original (Chinese) version of the game these characters have other occupation titles:
  • Philanthropist -> Thief
  • Air Force -> Coordinator
  • Blind Girl -> Mind's Eye
  • Prophet -> Seer
  • Conjurer -> Enchantress
  • Factory Manager -> Hell Ember
  • Deer Head -> Gamekeeper
  • Spider -> Soul Weaver
  • Red Butterfly -> Geisha
  • King in Yellow -> Feaster
  • Souls Residing in an Umbrella -> Wu Chang
  • Crybaby -> Axe Boy
  • Madame Red -> Bloody Queen
  • Apostle -> Disciple
  • Fisherwoman -> Naiad
  • Professor - >Undead
• Easter Eggs: Has its own page.
• Friendly Local Chinatown: The game has a Chinatown map. Considering the context of the game, it isn't exactly friendly though.
• Killer Robot: BonBon [Guard 26] who got reprogrammed by his creator, Burke Lapadura [Mad Eyes], from becoming friendly to becoming a killing machine.
• Lighter and Softer: Gameplay-wise Compared to Dead by Daylight. That being said, the game is still pretty dark.
  • Deduction-wise, Helena Adams [The Mind's Eye]'s deductions (her father describing how she grew up and how he's proud of her) compared to others such as Violetta [Soul Weaver]'s (Growing up in a freak show where she abused by the owner and being sold off when the audience lost interest in her).
• Magical Camera: Wielded by Joseph Desaulniers [Photographer]. It allows him to move through time and space through the Camera World.
• Malevolent Masked Man: Jack [The Ripper] and Joker [Smiley Face] wear masks and hunt survivors with great pleasure. Ithaqua [Night Watch] and Bane [Gamekeeper] wear masks in their original outfit to look like monsters and keep humans away from their territory (Read: Kill Invaders).
• One-Steve Limit: Broken; there are two Jokers, one being a Monster Clown and the other being a Phantom Thief. There are also two Marthas: Martha Behamfil [Coordinator] and Martha Remington.
• Schizo Tech: Theoretically the game should be set somewhere in the late Victorian/early Edwardian era, but it has technology and equipment that would only be invented some time later (some that are advanced even to 2020's decade) being shown in a casual and unquestioned manner.
• Shout-Out: See here.
• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
  • As the Coordinator, Mercenary, Forward and Batter trained their bodies (for the military for the first two and for sports for the latter) they can vault faster than the other Survivors such as the Doctor and Mechanic, who have less physically demanding occupations, and thus are much slower.
• Villain Protagonist:
  • One of the players gets to play as one of the Hunters to chase and eliminate Survivors who are the other players.
  • The first protagonist of the series, Orpheus the Detective, turned out to be the game's Big Bad who lost his memory.

Gameplay

• Bad Luck Mitigation Mechanic:
  • The game has a pity system for Essences or Memory Spheres, where opening a certain amount of them gurantees an item of a specific tier will be awarded. An A-Tier item is guranteed at 60 openings, while an S-Tier item is guranteed at 250 openings.
  • In gameplay, Lucky Guy can "wish" for an item when he opens his Lucky Parcel or a chest, which greatly increases his odds of receiving it. If he does not receive the item he wished for, he will be guranteed to receive it the next time he opens a chest. Some items also have a 100% drop rate, such as the Syringe and Toolbox.
• Bowdlerize:
  • In the beta version, survivors were hung on "Execution Racks" (essentially DBD's Hooks but with the meat hook replaced with a noose) when caught, and the hunters had more menacing features. When a hunter knocked down a survivor, they would transport the survivor via dragging them by the leg. In the current version, the noose has been changed to a Rocket Chair (a chair with rockets attached to it that will either blast into the sky or descend into the ground), and hunters now transport survivors by balloons (or in slightly different ways, depending on the accessory the hunter carries). The hunters themselves were changed, with their menacing looks being heavily toned down and receiving more cartoonish weapons (ex: Leo Beck [Hell Ember]’s shark club).
  • Even the Rocket Chairs themselves were changed, with the barbed wire used to strap in Survivors being replaced with a safety bar. This notably created inconsistencies with the backstories of certain characters, notably Detective Orpheus [Novelist/"Nightmare"] and Leo Beck [Hell Ember].
  • Both Luchino [Evil Reptilian]'s weapon was changed from a knife to a pair of tweezers, and Robbie [Axe Boy] had his iron ax replaced with a wooden axe in the Chinese version of the game to avoid breaking Chinese law.
  • In the Chinese version, Hastur [The Feaster] has blue eyes instead of red.
• Bribing Your Way to Victory: Mostly averted given most purchases exclusively made with Echoes (a Premium Currency only bought using real money) contain cosmetic-based content, but there are some notable exceptions.
  • The 4-sided Dice Enthusiast is a monthly purchase for 60 echoes that gives the player 3 additional free dice each day (to a total of 4). This allows them to progress through the Logic Path much faster and earn more Clues, Inspirations and other reward overall. There's also the 20-sided dice that can be bought daily for 20 echoes, which gives a large amount of Logic Path progress in a small burst.
  • Each playable character can alternatively be bought using Echoes instead of Clues (the game's free currency), allowing people to essentially buy characters with real money if they don't want to grind. Martha Behamfil [Coordinator] notably only costs 1 Echo but a typical amount of Clues, meaning she can be obtained for dirt cheap if one spends real money on the game.
• Charged Attack: For the Hunter, they usually will use a charged attack by holding down the attack button.
• Costume Porn: And how! Identity V lets you dress the characters with skins and cosmetics, ranging from C-Tier to S-Tier. The A-tier (SSR in the JP/CN version) and S-tier(UR in the JP/CN version) skins and accessories comes with incredible details, special effects and are as pretty as they are rare and/or expensive, but damn don't they make the characters look good. Some skins ended up being popular and iconic to the characters as well.
• Creepy Basement: In each of the maps, there is a cellar located underground where all of the Rocket Chairs are unbreakable (We're talking to you, Emma). This guarantees that the Hunter will always have a place to put incapacitated Survivors.
• Hopeless with Tech: Murro [Wildling] spent most of his life isolated from society, so it makes sense that he wouldn't be good with decoding cipher machines.
• Interface Screw: One of Wu Chang [White and Black Guard]'s abilities makes Survivors unable to interact with the environment while another one reverses their movement directions.
• Invulnerable Attack: The "Flywheel Effect" Persona talent is one, allowing Survivors to dash forward while granting complete damage immunity for a fraction of time.
• Instant-Win Condition: For the group of Survivors, it's a least three of them escaping either through an Exit Gate or the dungeon. Even if they are knocked down and crawling on their knees, if they manage to get past a certain point in the gate, they escape.
• Monster Clown: Joker [Smiley Face]. Except maybe he's a hallucination of Margaretha.
• Older Than They Look:
  • While the Survivors look like lanky, button-eyed ragdoll children, the backgrounds and careers of many imply that they're adults. Some even have yarn facial hair.
  • A more specific example would be Joseph Desaulniers [Photographer]. Although Joseph looks like a young man in his 20's, his deductions imply that he was an elderly man by the time that people began to suspect that he had something to do with the disappearances of the residents of the village where he resided.
• One-Hit Kill:
  • If the Hunter has Detention, they can down Survivors in one hit for a duration of 120 seconds once the last cipher is activated. However, it takes a while for Naib Subedar [Mercenary] to go down since he can ignore the damage for 30 seconds.
  • If a Hunter hits a Survivor while they are in the middle of performing an action (such as decoding or vaulting), a "Terror Shock" will be triggered. This doubles the amount of damage dealt, downing the Survivor instantly in normal circumstances.
  • The Will Brothers [The Breaking Wheel] can knock down survivors in a single hit if they have been affected by three spikes previously.
• Premium Currency:
  • Echoes are only obtainable by purchasing with real money. They can be used in place of the game's primary free currencies (Clues and Fragments) to buy Characters, Costumes and Accessories, or outright buy other currencies. Notably, there are some items only available for Echoes (i.e. real money), such as most crossover Costumes, some special offers, and high-tier Custom Lobbies.
  • Inspirations can be obtained in small quantities for free from the Logic Path, Login Rewards and some events, but can also be bought using Echoes for a 1:1 exchange rate. They are used to buy Essences and Memory Spheres, the game's gacha. They can also be used to buy certain "Nightingale's Singing" offers, available for short periods of time and offering a number of Essences and other cosmetic rewards at a discounted price.
  • Sealing Wax can only be bought using Echoes at a 1:1 exchanged rate. They are used to make draws in the Penrose Maze, a random-draw system (oddly separate from the Essence system) that gives random rewards like Clues, Fragments, Trial Cards and Costumes, with the grand prize being the SS-Tier Mary [Bloody Queen] costume "False Hope".
  • Nightingale's Blessings, which are obtained by receiving repeated items in the aforementioned Penrose Maze. They are used in the Penrose Maze shop to buy cosmetic rewards such as SS-Tier Costumes.
• Press X to Not Die: While being ballooned, Survivors can break free by struggling enough. If you are playing the mobile version of the game, this is done by repeatedly tapping the screen.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: If the Hunter has Detention then, when the last cipher is activated, their eyes will glow red and they will be able to deal double damage for 120 seconds.
• Taking the Bullet: If struck while carrying a female Survivor, Kevin Ayuso [Cowboy] will take double damage, sparing her the hit. Male Survivors he might be trying to help out aren't so lucky.
• Unlockable Content: Every player starts out with 5 Survivors and 1 Hunter for free. The survivors are Emily Dyer [Doctor], Freddy Riley [Lawyer], Kreacher Pierson [Thief], Emma Woods [Gardener] and Lucky Guy, while the hunter is Leo Beck [Hell Ember]. The rest of the character roster has to be unlocked using Clues, a free currency obtained through the Logic Path, Login Rewards and Events. Of course, someone could always just buy them all using Echoes, the game's Premium Currency.
• Run or Die: Survivors are faced with this if the Hunter finds them. Some survivors can fight the hunter, temporarily stunning them, but they can't do much beyond that.
• Video Game Caring Potential: One of the ways Survivors can rack up points is by rescuing and healing their teammates. It also has a practical purpose as having more Survivors still on the team increases the chances of escaping and winning the game.

Lore

• Abusive Parents:
  • In Violetta [Soul Weaver]'s and Murro [Wildling]’s cases, abusive adoptive father and uncle. Max, the owner of a freak show physically abused Violetta and sold her off once the audience lost interest in her. Murro's Uncle Bernard, ringmaster of Hullabaloo Circus, kept him locked up in a cage for the first ten years of his life and then forced him to perform dangerous stunts.
  • Jerry Carl took in Aesop Carl [Embalmer] after the death of his mother and is implied to have isolated the boy to ensure his loyalty to him.
  • Anne [Toy Merchant]'s father saw her as a Replacement Goldfish for her mother, and was implied to have abused her because she was nothing like the woman he loved. He also conspired with Annie's fiance in an attempt to steal her inheritance.
• Adaptation Inspiration: The love triangle between Margaretha Zelle [Female Dancer], Sergi, her ex-husband and Joker [Smiley Face] is based on the movie The Last Circus. Margaretha (or Natalie, her real name) and Sergi are named after the main characters, Natalia and Sergio.
• Angsty Surviving Twin:
  • Joseph Desaulniers [Photographer] who is revealed in his Character Day letter to blame himself for surviving the illness which caused his twin brother to pass away.
  • Chloe Nair [Perfumer]. With the added twist of being responsible for her twin sister’s death.
  • Averted with Ithaqua. Like Vera, he killed his twin, but has no regrets, since the twin was a horrible person and tortured his adopted mother.
• Anti-Hero: A lot of Survivors have done rather shady things.
  • Helena Adams [Mind's Eye] lied about being deaf on instruction from her tutor, who wanted to gain fame from teaching a blind and deaf girl.
  • Vera Nair [Perfumer] (who is actually Chloe Nair) murdered her twin sister, the actual Vera and assumed her identity.
  • Servais Le Roy [Magician] might have killed his mentor so that he could inherit his reputation and fame.
  • Naib Subedar [Mercenary] is a Professional Killer, with vague motivations, who nevertheless is said to believe in the idea of equality for all human beings.
  • Andrew Kriess [Gravekeeper] robbed graves.
  • Melly Plinius [Entomologist] is implied to be responsible for the death of her husband.
• Artifact of Attraction: Norton Campbell [Prospector]'s Meteorite Magnet. In one issue of Famitsu (a Japanese gaming magazine), it is revealed that the magnets affected his cerebrum. Due to these magnets, his personality became extreme (grumpy, depressed and angry).
• Artistic License – History: Emma Woods [Gardener]'s deductions reveal that she was subjected to electroshock therapy sometime around 1890-1891. In reality, electroconvulsive therapy wasn't invented until the late 1930s.
• Asshole Victim:
  • Kreacher Pierson [Thief]. He ends up getting burned to death by Emma Woods but considering that he tried to rape her earlier and may have abused and/or exploited the children at his orphanage, he kinda brought it on himself.
  • Jerry Carl, who is revealed to be a serial killer. He manages to escape from the manor, apparently barely holding onto life, only to be killed by the man he had groomed to follow in his footsteps, through the same method he used to kill his victims.
• Asymmetric Multiplayer: The goal of the survivors is to escape by decoding cipher machines; the goal of the hunter is to prevent this by eliminating the survivors. Additionally, every character has a unique skill set.
• Ax-Crazy: Jack [The Ripper], who just like the real-life version, enjoys murdering his victims in cold blood and seeing them suffer, all the while putting on the facade of a gentleman.
• Bad Boss:
  • Max, the owner of the freak show Violetta performed at would regularly abuse her and the other attractions and would sell them off after the audience lost interest in them.
  • Yidhra [Dream Witch] towards her followers. One of her idle animations involves her toying with one of them and knocking her down. She also laughs when they are hit by a pallet.
• Bedlam House: Doctors at White Sand Street Asylum performed electroshock therapy on children. Justified considering the game is set during the Victorian Era. But even here it is made clear that it is a form of cruelty, and the doctors themselves recognize this.
• Cain and Abel: Chloe Nair Vera's true identity Vera [Perfumer] is the Cain to her sister's the actual Vera's, Abel. However, the Perfumer is horrified at what she has done after finding out the truth about her sister.
• Career-Ending Injury:
  • Joker [Smiley Face/Weeping Clown]'s face was disfigured by acid and the injuries were stated to be so bad that he could no longer work as the Weeping Clown for the Hullabaloo Circus.
  • After a mining accident that killed his fellow miners and scarred his face, Norton Campbell [Prospector] quit his job as a miner and became a prospector, so he wouldn't have to go down into the mines again.
• Child Prodigy: Tracy Reznik [Mechanic]. Young Tracy Reznik invented a new clock mechanism which gained the praise of many of her father's patrons.
• Circus Brat: Both Murro [Wildling] and Mike Morton [Acrobat]. Murro was actually the Ringmaster's nephew and was forced to perform dangerous stunts at a young age while it is implied that Mike joined the circus as a child.
• Crapsack World: Considering how many of the characters get screwed over by betrayal, Karma Houdinis, and even the occasional Eldritch Abomination among other things, the world of Identity V is not a pleasant place to live in.
• Cult:
  • There was one located in Lakeside Village where the followers worshipped Hastur.
  • Fiona [Priestess] is a the leader of a cult who worships Yog Sothoth.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Many of the characters, Survivors and Hunters alike, have gone through some rough times. Most of the Survivors are participating in the Deadly Game in hopes of winning a reward or otherwise reversing their fortunes.
• Death of a Child: Robbie White [Axe Boy] dies after being decapitated by a broken window.
• Deliberate Values Dissonance: Strangely enough, for a game with a large number of supernatural elements, this happens a lot. Many of these examples also overlap with Truth in Television considering the time period the game takes place.
  • Given the time period in which her backstory was set, when Ann ["Disciple"]'s eyes were altered by a plague, she was blamed for said plague and branded a devil. She later on gets impaled through the chest by a stake and left to die.
  • Martha Behamfil [Coordinator] was a tomboy and because of that, her mother gave her hell for not wanting to conform to the gender roles of the time.
  • Despite excelling over her brother, Keigan [Clerk's] parents arranged for her to be married due to gender norms at the time.
  • Had the game been set in present day, Max, the owner of a freakshow and Violetta [Soul Weaver]'s adoptive father figure probably would been charged for child abuse (since he took her in when she was a baby), exploitation of the disabled, and human trafficking for his treatment of her. However, since the game takes place in the late 19th to early 20th century, his abuse and eventually selling her off is treated as acceptable and just business.
  • The staff at the White Sand Street Asylum used electroshock therapy on their patients (many of which were children), which was once considered an acceptable form of treatment, although even here it is treated as ineffective and unnecessarily cruel.
  • After losing their parents, Robbie White [Axe Boy] was forced into long hours of child labor while his older sister Dolores had to beg on the streets. In modern day England, the youngest a child can be to legally work is 13 years old (which Robbie is implied to be younger than) and they can only work a maximum of 12 hours a week.
• Distracted by the Luxury: Despite being worried and hesitant, Margaretha Zelle [Female Dancer] still agreed to leave her home in Lakeside Village, as her boyfriend, Sergi (who afterward became her husband) promised her a better life in the "Big City".
• Domestic Abuse: It's implied that Margaretha Zelle [Female Dancer]'s ex-husband Sergi, Hullabaloo Circus' smiling clown, was physically abusive to her (as evidenced by the marks Joker [Smiley Face] is detailed to have seen on her back and the fact that he said to have torn up any letters his wife would presumably send to her aunt and uncle).
• Dysfunction Junction: Most of the characters in this game have a dark backstory.
• Eldritch Abomination: Both Hastur [Feaster] and Yidhra [Dream Witch] are based on deities from the Cthulhu Mythos.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones:
  • Leo Beck might have come back as a Vengeful Ghost and it's clear that he still holds a grudge against Freddy Riley [Lawyer] but he still genuinely loves his daughter.
  • Xie Bi’an [White Guard] and Fan Wujiu [Black Guard] have always been as close as brothers. The main reason why Xie thinks that he doesn't deserve happiness is that he believes that he was responsible for Fan Wujiu's death.
  • In one of his Deduction Star lines, Robbie White [Axe Boy] states that he wants to see his sister again.
  • Joseph Desaulniers [Photographer] seemed to be close with his twin brother Claude as the latter's death was the reason why he became obsessed with parapsychology and preserving life in photographs.
  • Michiko [Geisha] still thinks about her husband Miles and wonders if he still remembers her.
• Expy:
  • Joker [Smiley Face], Margaretha Zelle [Female Dancer], and Sergi are expies of Javier, Natalia, and Sergio from The Last Circus.
• Fantasy Kitchen Sink: Among the Hunters are an Outer God, two Chinese deities tasked with escorting the spirits of the dead, and the god of nihilism, decadence and shepherds.
• Faux Affably Evil: Jack [The Ripper]. He seems like a polite and courteous gentleman though unfortunately, this isn't going to stop him from murdering people in a horrific fashion.
• Foil:
  • Leo Beck [Hell Ember] to Freddy Riley [Lawyer]. Both of them were married to Martha Remington at one point and played a role in the life of Emma Woods [Gardener]. While Leo was and still is a loving father to Emma and his love for her is one of his redeeming qualities as a Hunter, Freddy is a Survivor who is lacking in morals and is responsible for many of the hardships she endured. In addition, Freddy is skinny and physically weak compared to Leo who has a muscular build.
• Four-Man Band:
  • Doctor, Gardener, Lawyer, and Thief's diary stories take place within the same time at the manor, as the fourth set of guests.
  • Painter, Perfumer, First Officer and Enchantress the fifth set of guests.
  • Seer, Professor, Barmaid and Coordinator, the sixth set of guests.
  • Forward, Mercenary, Magician, and Explorer's diary stories take place within the same time at the manor, as the ninth set of guests.
  • Novelist, Entomologist, Journalist and Prospector, the last set of guests.
• From Nobody to Nightmare: All of the Hunters, save for perhaps Hastur [Feaster] and Yidhra [Dream Witch], whose careers are listed as 'Deity'.
• Good Parents: In contrast to the Abusive Parents mentioned above, there truly are parents in this game that care about their children.
  • When he was still alive, Leo Beck [Hell Ember] was a kind and caring father to his daughter Lisa (AKA Emma Woods [Gardener]) and would make toys for her. Even after becoming a Hunter, he is still shown to love her very much.
  • Helena Adams [The Mind's Eye]'s father. When his daughter lost her sight due to an illness, he decided to gift her a specially designed cane to her so that she could find her way around and even hired a special tutor to help her. In addition, all throughout Helena's deductions, he is nothing but proud and supportive of her.
  • Patricia Dorval [Enchantress]' foster mother who cared for Patricia as if she were her own child and loved her unconditionally.
• Historical Domain Character:
  • William Ellis [Forward], based on the creator of rugby.
  • Servais Le Roy [Magician], based on the real-life Belgian magician of the same name.
  • Margaretha Zelle [Female Dancer] and Martha Behamfil [Coordinator] are both based on dancer and spy Mata Hari.
  • Helena Adams [The Mind's Eye], named after and based on Helen Adams Keller, the first blind-deaf person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree. Her tutor Sullivan is based on Helen Keller's own tutor, Anne Sullivan.
  • Jack [The Ripper], who honestly needs no background information. What little lore we do have on him, however, does imply that he may also be based on London painter, and Ripper suspect, Walter Sickert.
  • His teammate "Edmund Reed" is also based on the similarly named police officer "Edmund Reid" who investigated the Jack the Ripper case in real life.
  • Violetta [Soul Weaver], based on the disabled performer, Aloisa Wagner, who went by the stage name Violetta.
  • Joseph Desaulniers [Photographer], named after and based on Joseph Nicéphore Niépce, the French inventor credited for the creation of photography. His late brother is named after Niépce's older brother and partner, Claude.
  • Mary [Bloody Queen], based on Marie-Antoinette. Lorewise they place emphasis on "based".
  • Antonio [Violinist], based on enigmatic musical composer Niccolo Paganini. Shares the first name of Paganini's father.
• Honor Before Reason: According to White/Black Guard's backstory, Xie Bi'an told Fan Wujiu to wait under the bridge while he went to get an umbrella. While he was waiting, Fan saw that the water was rising, but chose not to move so that he wouldn't break his promise. Xie returned to find the bridge fully submerged and his friend nowhere in sight. That being said, Wu Chang's character deductions reveal that the full story was actually far more complicated.
• Karma Houdini:
  • The governor's son from Wu Chang [White and Black Guard]'s deductions. He was causing an incident at a local tavern but due to good old nepotism, both Xie Bi'an and Fan Wujiu were blamed for it while he got away scot-free. With that being said, Wu Chang's backstory contains the detail that the government of the town fell into chaos shortly after the souls of the guards were seemingly exorcised from the umbrella they were trapped in, so it's possible that the duo may have posthumously got their revenge.
  • Freddy Riley. He tricked Leo Beck [Hell Ember] into buying an arms factory that was severely in debt and convinced Leo's wife, Martha Remington, to run off with him. As a result, Leo was forced to put his daughter in an orphanage (where she would suffer severe psychological trauma) and then committed suicide. During his game, Freddy not only was able to get revenge on the woman who (accidentally) killed Martha Remington but he also appeared to be the only participant who was able to avoid trouble.
  • Unsurprisingly, Jack [The Ripper], who managed to get away with at least five murders.
• Love Triangle:
  • There was one between Margaretha Zelle [Female Dancer], her husband Sergi, and Joker [Smiley Face] with Joker's feelings for Margaretha being unrequited.
  • Another example is between Leo Beck [Hell Ember], Martha Remington, and Freddy Riley [Lawyer]. Martha chose to elope with Freddy but regretted her decision once she found out how it affected her family.
• Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: The Time of Reunion reveals that at least some of the hunter's supernatural appearances are only drug-induced hallucinations.
• Multinational Team: In the sense that this can be the case in matches. While most of the characters are of British origin, there are some characters from different countries.
  • On the Survivor side there is Kevin Ayuso [Cowboy] and Patricia Dorval [Enchantress] (American), Naib Subedar [Mercenary] (Nepalese), Vera Nair [Perfumer] (French), Ganji Gupta [Batter] (Indian) and Servais Le Roy [Magician] (Belgian). It is also implied that Eli Clark [Seer] is Welsh.
  • For the Hunters there is Luchino [Evil Reptilian] and Antonio [Violinist] (Italian), Joseph Desaulniers [Photographer] and Mary [Bloody Queen] (French), Xie Bi'an [White Guard] and Fan Wujiu [Black Guard] (Chinese) and Michiko [Geisha] (Japanese). Where Yidhra [Dream Witch] and Hastur [Feaster] are originally from has yet to be specified in this game (though the latter does technically live in the lake in Lakeside Village).
  • The fifth game consists of Edgar (British), Vera (French), José (Spanish), Kevin (American) and Patricia (Haitian-American. Later when Kevin is "eliminated" before the game starts Xie Bian and Fan Wujiu (Chinese) are added into the game as hunters.
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Bane Perez [Gameskeeper] once showed kindness and mercy to a boy who was trespassing on the manor, letting him off easy by not turning him over to the authorities. Said kindness was repaid by him getting mutilated by the group of poachers the boy was a part of and being left for dead.
• Off with His Head!: Both Robbie White [Axe Boy] and Mary [Bloody Queen] died via decapitation. For Robbie, it was because of a broken window while Mary was executed by a guillotine. Except not really for Mary.
• Oh, Crap!: Lucky Guy's reaction upon coming across Joker [Smiley Face] in the tutorial stage.
• One Degree of Separation: Several of the playable characters' deductions are related to each other. (Ex. Murro, Joker, Margaretha, and Mike were all performers at the Hullabaloo Circus and mention each other in their deductions.)
• Orphanage of Love: What Kreacher Pierson [Thief] tries to pass his orphanage off as.
• Parental Abandonment: This seems to be a common occurrence in the characters' deductions.
  • Dissatisfied with her marriage to Leo Beck [Hell Ember], Martha Remington ran off to elope with Freddy Riley [Lawyer], abandoning her daughter Lisa Beck (AKA Emma Woods [Gardener]) in the process.
  • Fiona Gilman [Priestess]'s father left his family due to wanting to go after "heroes and beauties".
  • Violetta [Soul Weaver] was abandoned by her parents underneath a seat at a freak show, presumably because they didn't want to take care of a limbless child.
• Parents as People: Martha Remington eloped with Freddy Riley [Lawyer], abandoning her daughter because she was dissatisfied with her marriage with Leo Beck [Hell Ember].
• Polar Opposite Twins: Vera Nair [Perfumer] and Chloe Nair. Vera, the cheerful twin, was loved by everyone for her elegance and flattering beauty. On the other hand, Chloe, the nervous twin, was seen as strange for her weird and comical endeavors.
• Riches to Rags:
  • Tracy Reznik [Mechanic] has spent all of her inheritance upon various projects and found herself in debt, and is drawn to the manor not just for the promise of riches, but the chance to examine the various gadgets there.
  • Margaretha Zelle [Female Dancer] lost her husband and with him her financial security.
  • Alice DeRoss [Journalist] was the child of the wealthy DeRoss couple and lived a comfortable life in Oletus Manor, alongside her playmate Orpheus. Everything changed when bandits raided the manor and slaughtered the DeRoss couple. She spent the rest of her childhood miserable in an orphanage that blamed her for the deaths of her parents, and her teenage years subjected to a series of cruel experiments.
• Sad Clown: Joker [Smiley Face/Weeping Clown]'s job before he was physically disfigured and became a Hunter.
• Serial Killer:
  • As it turns out, Jerry Carl who had taken in Aesop Carl [Embalmer] hoping to groom the latter into following his footsteps.
  • The one and only Jack [The Ripper].
• Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: Leans more towards the cynical end as the characters deal with heavy issues such as racism, sexism, and abuse and very few of their deductions end on a high note.As Acrobat's letter makes clear, being an idealist at Oletus Manor will usually end in tragedy.
• The Runaway: The Circus Runaway, Margaretha Zelle [Female Dancer], who ran away with the circus. She left her home in Lakeside Village where she lived with her uncle (Eugene Hayward) and aunt (Majorie Hayward) in order to run away with her boyfriend (who later became her husband), a circus performer known as "The Happy Clown".
• Town with a Dark Secret: Lakeside Village. There are unusual religious activities that are investigated by Volcker Berglund, a Surveyor for an unnamed organization with ties to several Survivors.
• Tragic Villain: Most of the hunters are this. Some examples are:
  • Leo Beck [Hell Ember]. Had his wife stolen by someone he considered a friend, tricked into poverty by said 'friend', and had to give up his daughter to an orphanage before finally burning himself in his own factory.
  • Michiko [Geisha], who fell in love and married a foreign man only to be murdered by her racist in-law when her husband was away.
  • Bane Perez [Gamekeeper] who had the moose he took care of killed, was betrayed and tortured by a boy he once tried to help, and was left for dead.
  • White Guard/ Black Guard [Wu Chang] (Xie Bi'an and Fan Wujiu). They were slighted by their governor for an accident, ending with Fan Wujiu drowning in the Nantai Bridge to shoulder the blame. Xie Bi'an was so distraught over this that he hanged himself on the same bridge where Fan Wujiu had drowned.
  • Violetta [Soul Weaver ] was born without limbs and was abandoned by her biological parents at a freak show. Max, her adoptive and owner of said freak show physically abused her while she was growing up and sold her off to third-rate circuses once the audience lost interest in her. Her third letter even reveals that she never even became a villain.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: According to a letter written by his mother, Aesop Carl [Embalmer] was a kind and gentle boy.
• Was Once a Man: Luchino was once a brilliant yet eccentric professor at a university. However, that changed one day when he was studying a four-legged snake (which is implied to be related to Yidhra [Dream Witch]) he received from a colleague and was transformed into his current reptilian form.
• "Well Done, Daughter!" Girl: Implied in Fiona Gilman [Priestess]'s and to a lesser degree, Violetta [Soul Weaver]'s deductions.

Cosmetics

• Our Vampires Are Different: Jack [The Ripper]'s "Count's Banquet" and Joseph Desaulniers [Photographer]'s "Bloody Sword" skins are vampire-themed.
• Our Witches Are Different: Season 26 introduced us to the history of the Witch family. A Tragic Hero family that would always end up dying and disappearing when they reached a certain age for being accused of witchcraft. Led by the Cosmic Witch [Gardener], Wilderness [Disciple], Animal [Sculptor], Hedonist [Barmaid], Ventriloquist [Toy Merchant], Crystal [Psychologist] witches, also accompanied by Punisher [Wax Artist] come together in a union that transcends time and stars to save their family destiny.
• Wight in a Wedding Dress:
  • Michiko [Geisha] "The Bride" and "Shiromuku" skins evokes this imagery.
  • Vera [Perfumer] Crimson Bride's skin is a tragic vampire bride who was left waiting at the altar by her human lover.
  • The Bloody Queen skin “Promised Day” subverts this by portraying Mary as happy bride, who probably would never have died and become a hunter.
  • The "Succubus" skin for Galatea Claude [Sculptor], with her wedding gown, Undeathly Pallor and exposed ribcage giving the impression of an undead bride. Subverted in that neither Hebe/Succubus (the Truth and Inference character) nor Galatea herself are actually undead. Or are they?
• Yakuza: Michiko’s [Geisha] "Blood Fan" skin was inspired by and designed after them, giving her a Dragon Lady look.