History Characters / TheWitchsHouse

* DespairEventHorizon: She hits it after her father shouts that she's a monster and shoots her in the head when she can't get him to recognize her, and whisks Ellen away in her body after Ellen pauses to rub salt in the wound by giggling at Viola. Viola's despair actually kills her, as a witch can only lose her immortality through despair and Viola was a witch at that point; when she hit the Despair Event Horizon, she lost the immortality that'd been keeping her going up until that point, and died. [[TheBadGuyWins Just as Ellen planned]].

* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: Her befriending the sickly little girl who was all alone, and agreeing to that sickly little girl's request to trade bodies "for a day", resulted in her losing everything she had, including her life.

* AboveGoodAndEvil: How she tries to justify her vile actions and behavior- she claims that good and evil are concepts made up by humans, and considers the humans evil for getting in the way of her happiness.

* BitchInSheepsClothing: Her entire MO is to pretend to be a tiny, sweet, helpless IllGirl, only to lure her victims in to their violent deaths. Notably, Ellen befriended and used Viola to [[GrandTheftMe get her body]], tortured her by cutting her legs and gouging her eyes out before the switch, then burned her throat.

* DidntSeeThatComing: Ellen is capable of using magic, and has used it for centuries to kill people. When she uses the Body Swapping spell on Viola, she never imagined that Viola would suddenly be capable of using magic due to how magic is tied to one's body instead of soul. Granted, she isn't as surprised as most sufferers of the trope are, and believes that the House will remain loyal to her and show her the way.

* EvenBadWomenLoveTheirMamas: She did genuinely love her father, and feels guilt after killing him. She also loves the House, her surrogate mother, who loves her back.

* TheSociopath: Has traits of this mixed in with her general {{narcissist}} personality. Despite killing her mother after finding out that she never loved her, she feels no sense of remorse at all and ends up using her dead mother to get her father's attention, only to kill him as well when he doesn't even notice her. After making a contract with the demon, she only grew worse. Despite being able to feel empathy for animals (and even then that does not stop her from feeding a frog to a giant snake and killing his tadpoles), she possesses none for humans whatsoever. From her countless victims to eventually Viola, Ellen wants to [[ItsAllAboutMe make anyone love her]] and if they refuse regardless of reasons she'll kill them off and revel in their suffering.

* SuperDrowningSkills: Another possible method of death is via drowning; its also a very well deserved death, as the tadpoles (who were the children of the frog she fed to the snake to save her own skin) do it as revenge against her.
* SupernaturalGoldEyes: Had catlike golden eyes, but subverted since they have nothing to do with her being a witch; she simply happened to be born with them.
* SweetTooth: One of the childlike traits she never lost; she has no interest in proper meals, and consumes nothing but tea and sweets. She notes that the house's chef can prepare a variety of excellent meals, but she only ever has him make her pastries and cakes.

* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: She is a WickedWitch and prolific SerialKiller of children, but it's because she was broken into being so after facing nothing but abandonment in her life. Neglected by her parents, Ellen sought for someone to love her, until the Black Cat Demon told her no one would ever love her and the only way she could have take what she wanted was by killing people so he could devour their souls in exchange for keeping her alive and well. For how much of a monster she is, it is made clear that the Demon [[{{Tykebomb}} raised her into one]].

* CatsAreMean: Seemingly averted, as he follows the protagonist into the witch's house and provides friendly chatter (in addition to allowing her to save). While he comes off as aloof at times, he seems genuinely concerned about her. In both endings, he appears before Viola and disappears with her. And then played straight when he's revealed to be possessed by the demon that gave Ellen her powers, and was most likely claiming poor Viola's soul as another victim.

* GreaterScopeVillain: While Ellen is responsible for sacrificing the lives of countless innocent children and stealing Viola's body, none of that would've happened without the Black Cat as he's the one who turned Ellen into the cruel witch that she is today. He manipulates her into killing people so that he can devour their souls.

One of the two pursuers of the second floor.

* GiantSpider: It hides in the second floor and has a butterfly captured.

* TheManyDeathsofYou: She can suffer many deaths at the hands of the traps in the house.

* ProtagonistJourneyToVillain: ''The Diary Of Ellen'' essentially reveal her story from being a sympathetic ill-girl who wished to be loved to a sadistic little witch who willing to murder hundreds of people in order to archive that wish.

* FauxAffablyEvil: The Demon has loyalty to none save his own hunger for souls and even though he can feign kindness to Ellen and others--usually by adapting a goofy, laidback demeanour--he manipulates everyone around him for his own greedy purpose. He even drops the charade to Ellen occasionally, callously telling her she'll never be loved and doesn't really seem to care for her beyond grooming a witch to feed him souls.

* UngratefulBastard: Averted. He will stay true to his contract no matter what. As long as Ellen feed him souls, he will honor his end of the contrat, by giving her the body-changing spell. Helping Ellen after the spell was cast seems to be a bonus and he didn't particularly care about the outcome.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Averted towards Ellen, when she finally gets Viola's body (and thus, no longer useful to him as her powers are linked to her original body) and thus fullfilling his side of the contract, he doesn't mind her escaping the house (and he does help her in a way) and living her new life.

* RapunzelHair: Her hair goes all the way down her back.

* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: She has purple hair, which she inherited from her father.

* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: He had light purple hair, which his daughter inherited from him.

* JerkAss: Beneath his friendly demeanor, he's really a self-serving monster who cares for no one. He constantly emotionally abuses Ellen and belittles and insults the hard-working cook.

* GoodParents: From what's seen of him, he genuinely cares about Viola and the two are close.

* {{Jerkass}}: Towards Ellen. He did love his wife, but given her reactions toward his angry outbursts even she feared him.

'''WARNING: due to the nature of the plot, all spoilers are unmarked!'''

* DeathByDespair: After getting Ellen's body, she also recieves her powers as a Witch and the Immortality that comes with it, which has only one clause that can kill her: Despair. If a Witch despairs, they immediately die. Sadly enough, in the True Ending as she pitifully tries to call out to her father, she gets called a monster by him, shot, and takes Ellen who taunted her to hell and back beforehand. All of this culminated into despair, which is what truly killed her.

* HalfTheManHeUsedToBe: In Ellen's body, all that's left of Viola is her upper torso; Ellen, in Viola's body, cut off the girl's legs.

* WiseBeyondTheirYears: Possibly. The inner monologues she gets in "The Diary of Ellen" sound surprisingly eloquent and sophisticated for a 13 year-old girl.

* CuteIsEvil: She is a seven-year-old ([[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld in appearance]]) CuteWitch with flowing purple hair and big eyes, and an adorable IllGirl. She is also a sadistic WickedWitch who kills many innocent people and betrays those she befriends. That being said, it is downplayed as she was corrupted into being one.
* CuteWitch: In appearance, anyway. She is a small child with purple hair and big eyes in a red dress. Personality-wise, though, she is a grade-A WickedWitch.

* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: She did genuinely love her father, and feels guilt after killing him. She also loves the House, her surrogate mother, who loves her back.

* FreudianExcuse: She became an evil witch because [[ParentalNeglect her father never acknowledged her]] and [[ParentalAbandonment her mother was leaving her with her father to go with a rich man]], and afterwards the Demon, who took her in at her most vulnerable moment, [[AbusiveParents abused and warped her]] to beat the compassion out of her and make her a witch.

* HalfTheManHeUsedToBe: In the third pseudo-ending, it's revealed that Ellen cut her legs off and gouged her eyes out, and to add insult to injury, gave Viola a throat-burning "medicine" so that she would no longer be able to scream with Ellen's own voice. This was to ensure that Viola died, because a witch's immortality and glamour fails if she suffers great despair. She can also suffer this fate in some of the Game Overs, notably the very first one in the MV remake, which has her crushed by two walls and split in half when they retract. Her organs can even be seen stretching.

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Essentially all the potential deaths she can suffer are deaths that she subjected her victims to, utilizing the traps in her house.

* OlderThanTheyLook: Ellen seems to have been born back in the Middle Ages, and is stated by the novelization to have been around seven years old when she gained immortality by becoming a witch. It's unclear how long she's lived since then -- either decades or ''centuries'' -- but it was long enough for guns to be invented.

* WellDoneSonGuy: Ellen had this trope in spades with regards to her father, who rarely even looked at her. It was bad enough that she was actually ''excited'' at the prospect of how furious he would be with her for killing his beloved wife, because that meant that he would finally be paying her attention; when he didn't ''even then'', she lost it (again) and killed him. Ellen also had this trope with her mother to a lesser extent, feeling that she had her mother's love but being so insecure and so desperate not to lose her mother's love that she would do anything she thought would please her mother and make her decide to stay and keep loving her.

* YoungerThanTheyLook: Oddly manages to be both this and OlderThanTheyLook due to being supernaturally young. While she's been alive for hundreds of years, her physical body is that of a seven year-old, but she's often depicted as being around the same size as Viola, a thirteen year-old.

* AbusiveParents: Of the emotionally abusive variety. He takes every opportunity to break down Ellen's sense of self, convincing her that only he loves her, so she will be more receptive to his demands that she kill people for him. In this case, however, the abuse is mutual, as Ellen herself beats and kills his body if he annoys her.
--> '''Ellen''': I ... really despise you.
--> '''Black Cat''': Oh? Well, I like you.

* CuteIsEvil: He is a tiny cat who can be adorable at times. He is also the demon who gave Ellen her powers, manipulating her to his whim, and eats the souls of children.

--> ''But I'm sorry Ellen. When that happens, I just don't feel like I will be as interested in you as I used to be...''

* JerkAss: Beneath his friendly demeanor, he's really a self serving monster who cares for no one. He constantly emotionally abuses Ellen and belittles and insults the hard working cook.

* ParentalSubstitute: After Ellen killed her parents, the Black Cat took her in, gave her powers, and also taught her things like how to read and write. He also [[AbusiveParents abused her to hell and back]].

--> ''"COME TO MY ROOM"''

* AbusiveParents: To a lesser extent than the Demon, as unlike him she genuinely seems to care for Ellen, but she still helps the Demon in [[{{Tykebomb}} molding Ellen into a mass murderer]].

* BigDamnHeroes: In the normal ending, Viola's father arrives and blasts the witch to bits with his shotgun when it follows Viola out of the house. Subverted by the true ending; he unknowingly killed his daughter and took the witch home in her place.

* WalkingSpoiler: He only appears in the endings, and his role is to unknowingly kill his daughter.

* OffWithHisHead: What happens if it catches you.

* Foreshadowing: They likely represent how Ellen's eyes were gouged out.

* ThePowerofLove: It was her love for her father, and her fear of Ellen harming him, that kept her alive in the witch's mutilated body. It is only when her father doesn't recognize her and shoots her in the head that she finally gives in to despair and dies.

* UngratefulBastard: Averted. He will stay true to his contract no matter what. As long Ellen feed him souls, he will honor his end of the contrat, by giving her the body-changing spell. Helping Ellen after the spell was cast seems to be a bonus and he didn't particularly care about the outcome.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Averted towards Ellen, when she finally gets Viola's body (and thus, no longer useful to him as her powers are linked to her original body) and thus fullfilling his side of the contract, he don't mind her escaping the house (and he does help her in a way) and living her new life.

* FamousLastWords: The last thing she says (or attempts to say) is "Daddy", trying to get her father to recognize her. Unfortunately, Ellen's "medicine" has ruined her throat to the point where she can't even say a word as simple as that.

* WouldHurtAChild: ...And what do you know? Childrens are her primary target of her mass murder as they're easily lured into the house.

--> '''Ellen''': I ... really despite you.

* TheBadGuyWins: He successed in getting Ellen out of the house and claims the soul of Viola.

* DealWithTheDevil: He struck up one with the neglected and abused Ellen; magical powers, and a home, in exchange for souls. Thankfully for Ellen, the cat seems to be loyal enough; so long as Ellen holds up her end of the bargain, he upholds his. This even includes ''bringing her back to life'' countless times during the course of the game.

* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Zig-zagged but ultimately subverted. His behavior in game and in the prequel, ''the Diary of Ellen'', suggests that he ''does'' seem to hold some genuine affection for Ellen, such as teaching her, answering her questions, tolerating her nasty attitude towards his fellow Demon, the Crow (which delivers medicine for Ellen mind you) and himself, defending her against the Crow Demon when he reads her diary. But other scenes, such as when he gives her a BreakingLecture, make it clear he sees her as a mean to his own ends, and he outright admits at one point that he does not care whether she lives or dies but he ''did'' help her in the house by acting as a savepoint for Ellen and reseting each death. While he lets her live her new life with Viola's body, he thinks that will be only temporary and when this happens, he will not acknowlegde her.

* {{Familiar}}: Inverted, as he is the master of the witch Ellen. He specifically seeks out witches and makes contracts with them, making him the boss of the relationship.
* FauxAffablyEvil: The Demon has loyalty to none save his own hunger for souls and even though he can feign kindness to Ellen and others--usually adapting a goofy, laidback demeanour--he manipulates everyone around him for his own greedy purpose. He even drops the charade to Ellen occasionally, callously telling her she'll never be loved and doesn't really seem to care for her beyond grooming a witch to feed him souls.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: Subverted. He mentions that it was mean of Ellen to cut up the white flower on the roof. Yes, the demon who eats the souls of children thought the callousness of that act was worth pointing out. However, he indicates that he was just [[CatsAreSnarkers being a smartass]].
* EveryoneHasStandards: Not for moral reasons mind you, but it's indicated that he found the sheer sadism his previous witch (now the house) displayed during her murders rather off-putting.

* TheBadGuyWins: He success in getting Ellen out of the house and claims the soul of Viola.

* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Subverted; his behavior in game and in the side-story suggests that he ''does'' seem to hold some genuine affection for Ellen, but other scenes, such as when he gives her a BreakingLecture, make it clear he sees her as disposable, and he outright admits at one point that he does not care whether she lives or dies.

* YourCheatingHeart: Her husband loved her immensely, but she still cheated on him with a richer man, and was planning to leave him and their daughter for said man.

* ProtagonistJourneyToVillain: ''The Diary Of Ellen'' essentially reveal her story from being a sympathetic ill-girl who wished to be loved to a sadistic little witch who murder thousands in order to archive that wish.

* SilentProtagonist: For most of the actual game, she never says a word out loud, only speaking in the True Ending during TheReveal, in order to hide the twist. Averted in ''The Diary of Ellen'', where she is more chatty (as the prequel is a novel/manga).

* CuteBookworm: He sure loves reading books, but apparently he cannot read well.

* ImpliedLoveInterest: Despite Ellen's claims that she doesn't know what is love and how it feels to be loved, some of her lines in the novel imply that she might had feelings for him. By the time of the game, however, she has clearly abandoned such feelings.

* TheFarmerAndTheViper: In Extra Mode, it will try again later on to kill you even after you fed it a frog.

* AndIMustScream: Its method of killing Ellen is by putting her inside a painting.

* AbusiveParents: Of the emotionally abusive variety. He takes every opportunity to break down Ellen's sense of self, convincing her that only he loves her, so she will be more receptive to his demands that she kill people for him.

* GiantSpider: It hides in the second floor and has a butterco y captured:

[[folder:Mona-Lisa Portrait]]

A portrait of Mona Lisa that pursues the player after taking the Music Sheets.

* AndIMustScream: Its method of killing Ellen is by putting her inside a painting.
* DamnYouMuscleMemory: Go ahead and try to touch it while being chased by the Toy Soldier.
* SlasherSmile: Displays when it catches you.

[[folder:Toy Soldier]]

A seemingly ordinary toy soldier carrying a [[BlatantLies fake]] gun. Becomes and replaces the Portrait as the pursuer in the fourth floor.

[[folder:Red Eyes]]

One of the (many) pursuers of the fifth floor.

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: The Demon's manipulation of Ellen has distinct predatory undertones, taking a broken little girl with no social contacts, inserting himself as her only source of education and convincing her she needs to 'receive' people in her house for his benefit lest he allow her illness to fester bears a disturbing allegorical reminder of a pimp and child prostitute.

* TheManInFrontOfTheMan: He initially appears to be a {{familiar}{ and sidekick to Ellen, but is actually the one who took Ellen in and made her who she is, and came up with the body-switching plan. ''The Diary of Ellen'' goes into more detail on this, showing how he turns her from a scared little girl with some violent tendencies into a depraved WickedWitch.

* AffablyEvil: To Ellen, and only Ellen. He's rather cordial with her and is extremely polite when speaking with her, appearing genuinely nice. In any situation where he's not speaking with her, he's FauxAffablyEvil at best, and even then he indicates that his kindness towards Ellen is grooming his {{Tykebomb}} and nothing more.

* FauxAffablyEvil: Whenever he's not interacting with Ellen, he's this ''at best''. He may be rather goofy, casual, and laidback for a demon, but he's still known to have devoured countless souls, including those of children. Usually he's not even this, being an open {{Jerkass}}, dismissive and unappreciative of the cook.