Analysis / Limbus Company

Sin Analysis

The Seven Deadly Sins are utilized in a new manner that elaborates on the sins themselves, and go deeper than the usual Wrath = anger, Lust = sexy, etc, simply by looking at the way the Sins are used, both in the lore and in the gameplay.

Wrath (Ira)

In Limbus, Wrath is the sin of standing up against something, or someone, or a given idea. It is the Sin of self-righteousness and defiance and calls for one to stop being an Extreme Doormat, to finally take action. This can go with the Unstoppable Rage but this is far from necessary - Tranquil Fury is still an example of this Sin, and it also goes vice versa as being an angry person does not equal Wrath immediately. To act with Wrath is to say 'No, I refuse' loud and clear.

• Identities with Wrath as their first skill are Little Sister Don Quixote, who seems to be rather unruly when executing targets, LCB Ishmael who seems irritable and nitpicky at first and Chef Ryoshu, who seems to be willing to just cut up every human she sees fit. Identities with Wrath as their first skill may at first seem to have a short fuse, or disliking what they have to put up with and wanting to step out of it all.
• Identities with Wrath as their second skill are W Corp Hong Lu, who is despite his facade, truly bored with what he's currently doing, and LCB Sinclair who wanted to prevent an Unwilling Roboticization happening to him. Identities with Wrath as their second skill have a hidden feeling of 'I can't accept this'.
• Identities with Wrath as their third skill are R Corp Ishmael, who hates her job to the point that she looks for information on R Corp's Singularity and many of the brainwashed N Corp Identities. Identities with Wrath as their third skill have a deep unwillingness and stubbornness to even hear dissenters or anything that says otherwise.
• When Vergilius finally enters the fray in Canto VI, all his skills are Wrath, because he finally stood up against what the Sinners were facing. Even knowing of the possibility of not getting everything in the contract or possibly even facing punishments does not make him think twice.
• Heathcliff's Bodysack changes from Envy to Wrath as he keeps bashing down Erlking Heathcliff in their first real encounter in 6-34, as our own Heathcliff comes to outright refuse to believe what Erlking Heathcliff said (that every Heathcliff is the one who kills every Catherine) could be true. His unique dialogue in that stage even calls him out for "building" the figurative wall that keeps him from reuniting with Catherine.
• The Liu Association may only seem to have Wrath in every skill they have as a shoehorn of the whole Playing with Fire schtick, but since here, Wrath is about standing up against something, Wrath still fits, as the Liu's whole ordeal in warfare is to stand up against their enemies.

Tropes associated:

• Best Served Cold
• Divine Punishment: Often, religiously-themed Abnormalities not only come with Lust skills (as seen below), but also Wrath skills, likely tying into divine wrath (as much as can be expressed by entities that take up religious motifs instead of directly being religious entities themselves).
• Playing with Fire - Physically, in the game itself, Wrath is associated with fire, as is shown in the attacks from the Fourth Match Flame E.G.O. (which stemmed from an Abnormality that rose up against the unfairness of the world and burned it all down).
• Red Is Violent - Is the red-colored Sin.
• The Revolution Will Not Be Vilified
• Tranquil Fury

Lust (Luxuria)

In Limbus, Lust is the Sin to seek for personal fulfillment that is non-physical. It is often related to personal beliefs and religion, of one striving to be the one others have to follow loyally like a deity. To act with Lust is to give up on logic and purely follow one's gut instinct and hidden desires. Unlike what the subtext implies, Limbus has this Sin also represent many other desires. The key point that differentiates this Sin from Gluttony is that the fulfillment that is sought, is purely non-physical.

Lust is the main Sin of the Ring, who always seek to perfect their own 'art'.

• Identities with Lust as their first skill are LCB Don Quixote, representing her Chuunibyou delusions to become a heroic Fixer, W Corp Ryoshu who seeks artistic flavor in her cleaning job, and Sous Chef Gregor, who strives to improve his cooking. Identities with Lust as their first skill have, at first sight, a long-term non-physical goal that they want to attain.
• Identities with Lust as their second skill are The One Who Grips Faust, who massacres Sinclair's town to get what she wants, similarly to Tingtang Leader Hong Lu who uses violence to those who dare invade his turf, and LCB Ryoshu whose ideas tie art with violence. Identities with Lust go further to attain their goal by using whatever means they have available and have gone past caring about the damage that might be done.
• Identities with Lust as their third skill are Chef Ryoshu, who needs to be one of the Eight Chefs, N Corp Heathcliff wants to preserve his true self above all, and G Corp Gregor who believes that the reason for his existence is to mindlessly keep on fighting. Identities with Lust as their third skill have this goal as their sole purpose.

Tropes associated:

• A God Am I - In the game, Lust is associated with things that are religious in nature, from N Corp having many Lust-affinity attacks to them and Kromer having many innuendoes in their text to religiously-themed Abnormalities like My Form Empties and Skin Prophet primarily wielding Lust skills, as well as Sign of Roses' E.G.O. being Lust affinity.
• Chuunibyou and its associated tropes
• The Unfettered

Sloth (Pigritia)

In Limbus, Sloth is the Sin of inaction and resignation. Unlike most other Sins, Sloth thus also shows through inaction. It is to ignore what is happening in front of you on purpose, and to just do whatever you're told without any kind of complaints or questions. Due to this it is in some way opposing Wrath, and can also be as a result of being misguided.

• Identities with Sloth as their first skill are LCB Meursault, who simply does whatever he's told, W Corp Don who is initially completely blind to what really happens in W Corp, and LCB Outis whose Professional Butt-Kisser act is overtly visible. Identities with Sloth as their first skill may seem sheerly unwanting to change no matter what's in front of them.
• Identities with Sloth as their second skill are LCB Hong Lu, who despite showing signs of reacting on what's happening, never truly seems to understand what is going on (or at least pretends to do so), Spicebush Yi Sang who has already given up on the future and instead wants to return to the past, G Corp Gregor who knows that being a mindless killing machine is wrong but knows that he also has no choice, and LCB Faust, who is clearly an Unreliable Narrator at times. Identities with Sloth as their second skill do not take action where it is appropriate on purpose.
• Identities with Sloth as their third skill are the Dieci Identities, who simply learn, forget, relearn in an eternal cycle with the belief that it's right to do so, K Corp Hong Lu who doesn't seem to mind his terrible job of being locked up and only being let out at occasions, and Blade Lineage Don who once fought alongside her comrades but now just fights for the kill. Identities with Sloth as their third skill have a total loss of vision and have resigned themselves to whatever they are doing, and doing nothing about it.

Tropes associated:

• Blind Obedience
• Brilliant, but Lazy
• Bystander Syndrome
• Dishing Out Dirt - In game, Sloth is associated with earth, as earth as an element does not move by itself.
• Empty Shell
• Extreme Doormat
• Happiness in Slavery
• Lack of Empathy

Gluttony (Gula)

In Limbus, Gluttony is represented by a want for something physical. This can move in two ways - one being survival in a dog-eat-dog world, to do anything just to get by another day, and the other being a hunger for more achievements, recognition, what have you, even when you have what should be enough and never being satisfied. It is the Sin of hunger, and both of these versions are by definition endless.

• Identities with Gluttony as their first skill are G Corp Gregor, who just has to scrape by every day in battle and fight for his own life, LCCB Ishmael who wants to be seen as a diligent worker, Spicebush Yi Sang who, like Dongbaek, who wants the absence of technology, and LCB Rodion who seems to love all vices of life like gambling, smoking and eating. Identities with Gluttony as their first skill have a very simple want that they seek, something physical like remaining alive or money. They might seem greedy at first sight.
• Identities with Gluttony as their second skill are R Corp Heathcliff, who began to derive enjoyment from the kill, N Corp Don who is Not Brainwashed but wholeheartedly followed N Corp's ideology herself, and LCB Ishmael who had a Soul-Crushing Desk Job and sought a way out. Identities with Gluttony as their second skill want more at a crucial point of their lives, and may bite more off than they can chew. It can also be their start of addiction.
• Identities with Gluttony as their third skill are Tingtang Hong Lu, who is completely content at the stage he's in, Seven Heathcliff, who grew to accept his job, and W Corp Hong Lu who doesn't want a raise and is simply fine with how things are now. Identities with Gluttony as their third skill are satisfied and at the final stage at what they want, even though it might be wrong.

Tropes associated:

• Death by Materialism
• Green Thumb - In gameplay, Gluttony is associated with plants that constantly fight for light, water and oxygen.
• Villainous Glutton - Once again, with 'Glutton' in the sense of what's written in the description.

Gloom (Morositas)

In Limbus, Gloom is the Sin of dwelling on feelings for too long. Acting with Gloom is acting guided by one's negative emotions and is, in a sense, the Sin of losing oneself, similar to Lust, but the main difference is the cause - whereas Lust is caused by letting one's desires and positive experiences rein oneself, Gloom is caused by negative experiences. Gloom is associated with water, as is hinted earlier in The Distortion Detective that water tends to symbolize deep emotions of melancholia.

• Identities with Gloom as their first skill are Rosespanner Meursault who is leading a life with an unsatisfying Soul-Crushing Desk Job and R Corp Ishmael who is always tormented by headaches caused by her line of work. Identities with Gloom as their first skill have just experienced or are currently experiencing something negatively that is affecting them.
• Identities with Gloom as their second skill are most W Corp Identities, who have to deal with what W Corp really is, and N Corp Heathcliff who realizes what he's really doing. Identities with Gloom as their second skill have a negative experience acting as the turning point in their lives.
• Identities with Gloom as their third skill are G Corp Outis, who knows that she cannot escape the unfair treatment, and W Corp Yi Sang who abandoned hopes for a future job change. Identities with Gloom as their third skill have their negative experiences affect the way they treat others as well.

Tropes associated:

• Death by Despair
• Despair Event Horizon
• Making a Splash - In game, Gloom is associated with water for reasons explained above.
• Sanity Slippage: Sinking has a sub-association with Gloom through the Making a Splash motif as well as Sinking converting into raw Gloom damage should the enemy be at minimum SP or don't have any.

Pride (Superbia)

In Limbus, Pride is the Sin of the ignoring of consequences. It is the Sin of actions done with oneself in mind first and foremost, any damage be damned. One can be Prideful if one believes that The Needs of the Many overshadow the damage done, or refusing to acknowledge them. The inherency of Pride to selfishness is not necessarily a part of how Pride manifests itself in Limbus, as Prideful actions can be born from a lack of self-confidence or a misguided selflessness.

• Identities with Pride as their first skill are LCB Faust, who doesn't even hide her Insufferable Genius way of thought, K Corp Hong Lu who finds delight in deployment regardless of the damage he has to inflict due to it providing relief from boredom, and Pequod Heathcliff who decided to leave the Middle and join the Pequod crew purely because he wants out of the Middle, only coming to regard the damage later. Identities with Pride as their first skill may seem arrogant at first.
• Identities with Pride as their second skill are LCB Meursault and LCB Outis, who are competent and know it themselves, W Corp Ryoshu whose art comes from chopping up people, uncaring of who they were, and LCB Rodion who believed she was special enough. Identities with Pride as their second skill can excuse their actions by justifying it with their own wants.
• Identities with Pride as their third skill are Spicebush Yi Sang, who, like Dongbaek, in truth doesn't care about the end goal being the eradication of modern technology but rather has his personal goal set above all, The One Who Grips Faust who doesn't care about her underlings and just does because she can, and LCB Ryoshu who seems to have the littlest regard for human life. Identities with Pride as their third skill have their own desires take precendence over the rest.

Tropes associated:

• Code of Honour: Practically every Blade Lineage Identity uses Pride for at least one of their skills, highlighting that they take pride in their skill with a blade. They also make it a rule that nobody can join them unless they have at least one scar.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!
• The Needs of the Many

Envy (Invidia)

In Limbus, Envy is the Sin that is done in reaction as to what others do to you. While the Sin is associated with jealousy, it is only a small part of what Envy entails in Limbus. By definition, one cannot act with Envy unless something is done to oneself in provocation. This way, Envy can also be a desire to surpass another, or do something in retaliation against another. It is also why the symbol of Envy are thorns, as one has to stick out their hand in order to be hurt by them, and it is also the Sin that's related to abuse the most.

Envy is the main Sin of the Middle, as the Middle is known of retaliating extremely hard against those who even did a minor offense in their eyes.

• Identities with Envy as their first skill are LCB Heathcliff, who has been hurt in the past and now thinks that rich people don't deserve to live, The One Who Grips Faust who has seen people become tin cans and decided that they have to be eradicated, and Tingtang Leader Hong Lu who began wanting to become stronger. Identities with Envy as their first skill have something else as a starting point, and decided to react out of that.
• Identities with Envy as their second skill are Chef Ryoshu, who wants to make better pies than others and the Pequod members who laid their personal desires to rest and decided to hunt the whale. Identities with Envy as their second skill have a culture of one-upmanship going on within themselves.
• Identities with Envy as their third skill are W Corp Ryoshu, who is extremely powerful but has a price to pay, Pequod Heathcliff who managed to get out of the Middle, but still has the scars as a reminder, and LCB Sinclair who avoided becoming a robot but had to watch his family die instead. Identities with Envy have experienced the Sin and the results of it.

Tropes associated:

• The Dog Bites Back
• Disproportionate Retribution
• Shock and Awe - Certain associations with Envy has electricity and lightning (as evident with status effects like Charge and Paralyze), likely because of the 'divine bolt of retribution' sense.
• Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds