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Playable Characters
Jules, The College Dropout
"I call shotgun!"
A lone girl who hitched a ride with Jeff on a stormy night and ends up getting chased into the Estate together with him.
- Action Girl: She's the default female character that doesn't need to be unlocked, and can kick some serious ass with a shotgun despite being an uneducated hitchhiker.
- Action Survivor: She and Jeff found themselves trapped in the Estate completely by chance, and now need to fight their way out. Jules herself is a college dropout who was hitchhiking with Jeff, but is surprisingly competent with a shotgun.
- Blood Knight: Very subtly, but there are implications that Jules is a little overenthusiastic at the opportunity to kill the monsters living in the Estate, such as the fact that one of her Curses (which are usually in reference to a character's personal traits) is called "Curse of the Bloodhungry".
- Glass Cannon: Compared to Jeff, she can put out more damage with her starting shotgun - but has only half of his health and has to get in real close, though she moves faster to compensate.
- Shotguns Are Just Better: Her starting weapon. She has a deliberately higher speed to take advantage of it by being able to zip into and get out of the shotgun's range on a dime.
- Tank-Top Tomboy: She's wearing a revealing halter top and miniskirt, and she's clearly quite a spitfire who likes shotguns more than other weapons. She's also seen getting along well with BOSS, another tomboyish character, in the true ending.
- Tragic Dropout: Her character type is labeled "The College Dropout." Whatever circumstances led her to become a hitchhiker in the rain in the middle of the night, it can't have been good. Luckily, Luis and Digby can be seen helping her study in the true ending, so hopefully she'll go back and finish someday.
Jeff, The Trucker
"Let's get movin'."
An experienced lumber truck driver, he finds himself at the Estate after the escaped experiments end up slashing his tires, forcing him to shoot his way out of there.- Action Survivor: He and Jules found themselves trapped in the Estate completely by chance, and now need to fight their way out. Jeff himself is a perfectly average trucker who has decent skill with a regular pistol.
- Boring, but Practical: His default weapon is a regular pistol. Not as flashy as a shotgun, magic staff, Magnum, a pair of mighty fists, burning pepper spray, bombs or a baseball bat, but it has decent range, decent damage, decent speed and it synergises well with many of the buffs available in the game.
- Cool Old Guy: A downplayed example. He's not actually that old, only being in his forties, but his white hair and total dearth of fucks to give about the monster-infested mansion both place him squarely into this trope. His kind treatment of the much-younger Jules doesn't hurt, either. He's also seen playing catch with Digby in the true ending.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: The devs make it very clear that he is designed to look like an older Johnny Utah aka Jeff Bandelin. Earlier designs made the similarities even more blatant.
- I Was Quite a Looker: Apparently Jeff was quite the handsome lad, if the Young Jeff costume is anything to go by.
- Jack of All Stats: With average starting damage, speed and health, Jeff is the perfect character to get familiar with the game with. It also means that he can adapt to and use virtually all the items and weapons in the game without issue, unlike other characters who are restrained by their gimmicks.
- Unfazed Everyman: Of the human characters, Jeff seems the least concerned about his predicament of being trapped in a gigantic mansion with hundreds of monsters who all want him dead.
- Younger Than They Look:
According to the game's character designer Jeff is actually 43.
His beard and the grey hair make him looks a lot older.
Cordelia, The Sorceress
"Well, if I knew someone was coming in..."
Unlocked by beating the game as both Jules and Jeff. Daughter of the scientist who owns the estate, she is a peculiar magician who is willing to aid anyone who can stop the madness that has taken hold of her family home. But not for free, of course.- Affectionate Nickname: Cordelia is referred to as "Corey" by her mother.
- Arms Dealer: Will begin to sell the player weapons starting on the second floor.
- Big-Breast Pride: Implied, given how often she poses in ways to emphasize her breasts, such as her portrait in the EXIT realm that has her stretching with both arms over her head so the player can get a good look at her chest.
- Big Damn Heroes: In most occasions, she not only gives you the weapon needed to best the Final Boss, but she also gets you out of the estate before it is too late.
- Boobs-and-Butt Pose: She manages to do this while lying down in her Floor 4 shop, giving the player a view of both her bosom pressed against the floor and her ass in the air.
- Buxom Beauty Standard: Her ample bust is the main source of her sex appeal both in and out of universe and she always wears a dress with a prominent cleavage and assumes poses that give emphasis to her chest.
- Coquettish Lip Biting: She's biting her lip in a flirtatious manner on the character select screen.
- Does Not Like Spam: She is not a fan of caramel.
- Eyes Out of Sight: Cordelia's eyes are almost always obscured by her bangs. On the rare occasion that this isn't the case they are instead hidden by the shadow of her large witch hat.
- Extreme Omnisexual: She flirts with every humanoid character regardless of their gender, and is in a canonical relationship with Fuji. She does not flirt with Mumba, however, despite his acquisition of several human female lovers in his past, and her dialogue makes it seem like she views him as a sort of pet. She also doesn't flirt with Digby, a literal child, for obvious reasons.
- Girls Love Chocolate: Quite the fan of the stuff.
- Implausible Hair Color: She inherited her mother's blue hair, although in her case it serves as Otherworldly Technicolour Hair since she's a practicing witch who fights with magic spells.
- Impossibly-Low Neckline: Wears a revealing low-cut dress that couldn't possibly stay on her body.
- Intrepid Merchant: She not only sets up shop on every floor but will even change her outfit depending on the shop.
- Hospital Hottie: She is also a doctor, able to increase stats and heal her allies, but she finds this job incredibly boring compared to being an arms dealer, banker, magician and merchant.
- Hot Witch: She's a Witch Classic with an incredibly large bust and a revealing dress with an Impossibly-Low Neckline that are rounded out by a pair of fingerless arm sleeves and some tight fishnet stockings. She likes to flirt, too, and her shop portraits have her in a variety of increasingly fanservicey poses, including reclining sexily on the ground, leaning forward and adjusting her hair while soaking wet from the rain, and stretching with her hands over her head so that her bosom is on full display.
- Leitmotif: "Sex Sells".
- Like Mother, Like Daughter: Similar to how her brother Lambert follows heavily in the image of their father, Cordelia inherited Roselia's impeccably good looks, sizable bust and blue hair.
- Lipstick Lesbian: While she does flirt with other men, she's canonically happily dating Fuji, and she is very feminine-presenting.
- Mad Scientist's Beautiful Daughter: Seems she got the best aspects of both parents. In a scrapbook of memories, we see that she was a perfectly average-looking child until she started practicing magic and hit puberty, when she began developing rapidly.
- Magic Staff: Her weapons of choice and the only character that can access them without having to find the instruction book.
- Masculine–Feminine Gay Couple: The extremely feminine half of her and Fuji's relationship. Cordelia is a sultry, buxom witch who directly appeals to fans of curvier women.
- Ms. Fanservice: The game makes no secret of her appearance. Hell, there is even an official Dress-Up game on Newgrounds featuring her, in case you wish to see her in different outfits. Lampshaded with the Curse of the Attractive, which changes her default staff to the Magnet Staff.
- New Job as the Plot Demands: Works as a merchant, nurse, and arms dealer.
- No Hero Discount: Unless you happen to find an item that does give you a discount, expect her to charge you for full price even if she wants to be rid of the monsters and cultists in the estate as much as you do.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: The only adult human character that Cordelia doesn't flirt with is Axel, and that's because he's already hitting on her the second he sets foot in her shop. In fact, she sounds downright annoyed at his presence, which is very unusual for her and more reminiscent of Cybil.Axel: Talk to ya later?
Cordelia: Get out. - Our Witches Are Different: Because Dead Estate isn't really focused on the characters' backstories, not a lot is known about how Cordelia's magic works or what her status as a witch signifies. She's definitely a sexy, seductive Witch Classic rather than a demon-worshipping crone or anything similar. Her intro cinematic and the Sorcery for Dummies item suggest that Cordelia started taking an interest in magic in her pre-adolescent years before being gifted a magic staff for Christmas as a teenager, and possibly dropped out of college to pursue witchcraft full-time.
- Power Floats: One of her abilities is to slowly float down after a jump; useful for avoiding hazards and bombarding enemies from above.
- Proud Beauty: She's a Hot Witch, and she knows it, and seems to very much enjoy flaunting her good looks or teasing people about them.
- Smug Smiler: She frequently has a smug and confident smile on her face.
- Sex Sells: Cordelia is plastered all over the game's promotional art and advertising. Her leitmotif even lampshades this, since it's literally called "Sex Sells". It's also a Double-Meaning Title, since she's a sexy character who sells you stuff.
- Sexy Backless Outfit: Her dress also has this, in addition to an Impossibly-Low Neckline.
- Sultry Bangs: Cordelia's eyes are perpetually out of sight due to her large bangs casting a shadow over them. She's also an extremely flirtatious Hot Witch whom the game frequently puts in sexy situations.
- The Tease: She really, really enjoys showing off. Her shopkeeper character portraits get increasingly more exhibitionistic the higher the floor the player is on.
- Tragic Dropout: Zig-zagged. Cordelia definitely graduated high school, as we can see from the third title screen, but her father's prepared final message to her begs her to not drop out of college, making it possible that she was considering doing so when he left, though it's unknown if she did finish or not.
- Witch Classic: Has the hat and magic broomstick of a stereotypical witch.
- You Bastard!: She's not going to be happy if you buy "Witch-B-Gone" (an item that replaces her store with a free treasure) or any item related to Cybil's Cult Store.
Fuji, The Fighter
"I'm ready to go!"
Unlocked by having over 12 health at once. A master martial artist and lover of Cordelia who came to visit her after everything went crazy at the Estate. No matter what might stand before her, she will punch her way out of trouble.
- Amazonian Beauty: Ms. Fuji is an attractive girl with a shredded body in a skintight pink leotard.
- Boxing Battler: She is limited to using her boxing gloves and a few fist-based weapons. If she attempts to pick up any other weapon it is immediately destroyed.
- Braids of Action: Fuji's hair is tied up into a single braid to accentuate her deadly skill with her fists.
- Butch Lesbian: Given her extremely close relationship with Cordelia in her backstory and that her end photo has the two of them together with Fuji looking extremely flustered and covered in hickies, it doesn't take a huge leap of the imagination to confirm this one.
- Close-Range Combatant: She relies only on fist-based weapons, meaning that she has to get up close to do damage. This contrasts her with the playstyles of many other characters, even including Digby, who can weave their way in and out of danger while attacking; Fuji has to commit to either moving or punching in order to fight effectively.
- Doesn't Like Guns: Any weapon she picks up is both literally and verbally trashed by her.
- Face: She's a star champion wrestler who always receives the support of the crowd, but she's only interested in Cordelia's approval.
- Glamorous Single Mother: She is the mother of Apple, the main character from another Milk Bar Lads game called Bonkers. It's not know if she is the result of adoption, artifical insemination or a past relationship, but Fuji has little trouble taking care of her. Especially since Apple can take care of herself very well.
- High-School Sweethearts: According to her intro cinematic, she and Cordelia met in high school, after Fuji noticed her shyly blushing from the bleachers while watching her during wrestling practice.
- Implausible Hair Color: Averted. In her intro cinematic, Fuji is shown to be a natural brunette who started dying her hair pink after she began to find success as a champion fighter.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: Despite her dislike for weapons and her love for her hands, she will still swallow her pride and begrudgingly pick up the rocket launcher provided by Cordelia during the fight with the Final Boss, knowing her fists can only do so much.
- Masculine–Feminine Gay Couple: The extremely hyper-masculine half of her and Cordelia's relationship. Fuji directly appeals to fans of the "Muscle Mommy" body type. It helps that she's also a single mother.
- Mighty Glacier: She starts with eight HP and has very powerful fist attacks (especially in the early game), but she has rather slow starting movement and her fists slow her down even more while she's punching.
- One-Man Army: In her intro cut-scene, she is seen tearing apart an entire horde of monsters with her bare fists before she even makes it to the front door.
- The Power of Love: One of her main motivations for mastering boxing and pro-wrestling was because of her need to impress Cordelia.
- Pro Wrestling Is Real: Downplayed. Fuji appears to practice something in between obviously showy, theatric Professional Wrestling complete with gaudy brightly-colored leotards and legitimately dangerous Mixed Martial Arts according to her intro cinematic.
- Statuesque Stunner: She stands at least two heads taller than everyone around her, which is another aspect of her sex appeal.
Mumba, The Experiment
Muh muh, Hey hey
Unlocked by finding the strange vat in the Laboratory. Once a hero in his own world, he was teleported away by an evil witch after rescuing his human lovers. Ending up in this world instead, he was nursed back to health by Albert, who wished to conduct further research upon him. Now released from his healing tank after everything went to hell, he aids the rest of the crew in order to take down the evils of the Estate.
- Disc-One Nuke: Mumba has the best stats out of any character at the start, and his Mumba Special is a lethal and consistent firearm with a faster attack speed then Jeff's handgun and only slightly less damage than Luis' magnum. The only thing holding him back is his extremely low health, which can be remedied at the guaranteed Doctor's Office on the Ground Floor. Once sufficiently beefed up, he's capable of obliterating the entire game with ease.
- Fragile Speedster: Has the highest agility in the game coupled with the lowest base health.
- Glass Cannon: Has an incredibly strong starting weapon and good agility, which is balanced by him only having 2 health at the start. Can be further exacerbated with the Curse of the Glass Cannon, which increases his damage further but decreases his starting max health to one.
- Healing Vat: Mumba is initially found in one, and breaking him out of it is the way to unlock him.
- Refugee from TV Land: Mumba's backstory involves him somehow getting transported out of his own game and abducted and experimented on by Albert.
- Token Heroic Orc: The one monster in the Estate who doesn't want the others dead. Doubles as a Token Nonhuman.
- The Unintelligible: Communicates entirely through grunts and mumbles.
Luis, The Ex-Officer
Unlocked by finishing a looped run.
"How 'bout we blow this popsicle stand?"
An old and unprofessional detective who is sent to investigate the weird goings on of the Estate, only to find that things are not going to be quite as normal as he had thought. But any excuse to use his Magnum is a good one, especially when an old friend of his seems to be involved in the case.
Luis fires his guns with 100% accuracy; i.e. the bullet will always go where you want it to go. He can also carry an extra weapon compared to other characters.
- All There in the Manual: His last name is "Cabrera", according to concept art.
- Hand Cannon: He starts with a Magnum, a large, powerful but slower pistol than most other.
- Hard Boiled Detective: Luis is a jaded ex-cop who's also a crack shot with his magnum. He came to the estate to find Cordelia's father, whom he was apparently friends with in the past.
- Improbable Aiming Skills: His 100% starting accuracy means he can fire the bullets from a minigun in a perfectly straight line. This makes him exceptionally deadly with weapons that do a lot of damage but are handicapped by their widespread. When he uses shotguns, he basically changes their ammo to slug shot.
- Limited Loadout: Downplayed relative to the other characters; Luis can carry an extra weapon(up to 3 at once), which means he runs into substantially less situations that involve conserving ammo.
- Mighty Glacier: Aside from having the lowest speed stat alongside Jeff, his Magnum has a naturally slow fire rate.
- Revolvers Are Just Better: Luis makes great use of his magnum, which does more damage than a basic pistol, albeit with a slower fire rate. His incredible accuracy also further increases its deadliness, since it's a little hard to aim.
- Smoking Is Cool: He is always seen with a cig to smoke on. Even when getting killed, he takes one last drag before passing out.
- The Stoic: Luis's voice never wavers from his Steve Blum-like tone, no matter how many times he gets shot, bitten or otherwise hurt.Luis [upon getting hit]: Owie.
Digby, The Boy-Scout
Unlocked by purchasing one map from each possible level. A young lad hoping to continue his duties as a scout, he came to the Estate answering an ad posted (presumably by Albert) requesting someone to serve as a lab assistant. One could wonder how many badges surviving this horrific place will earn him.
Digby starts building up a combo meter after killing three enemies in quick succession. Each enemy killed boosts his movespeed and fire rate, and he can even heal once he hits a high enough combo. Also comes with a double jump. To compensate, he can only use non-gun weapons such as melee or various thrown (non-explosive) stuff, and he's about as tough as you'd expect a boyscout to be.
- Adorably Precocious Child: Despite being very small, he'll put a bat to the face of any monster he encounters, and can rack up a combo meter to go faster and hit harder.
- Ambiguously Related: The image of him and Jeff playing catch in the True Ending is labeled in the Gallery as "father/son bonding time", implying that Jeff is his father. However, the game never elaborates on this beyond this one sparse statement.
- Batter Up!: Being a shy, scared and easily flustered kid, this is among the few weapons he will ever bring himself to use.
- Doesn't Like Guns: Unlike Fuji, who considers herself too strong for firearms, Digby is simply too afraid to use them, being content with his baseball bat and other weapons that doesn't involve shots or explosions.
- Family-Unfriendly Death: Whereas other characters just fall over, Digby's head explodes when he dies if he's wearing the Friday Night Funkin' costume. Word of God stated that this was actually a request from the FNF devs in exchange for letting Milk Bar Lads use the likeness of Boyfriend.
- Free-Range Children: Digby went to the Dead Estate in the middle of the night all by himself, and looks like he can't be much older than ten.
- Gathering Steam: Digby's primary mechanic is that his speed and attacks get faster the higher of a combo he racks up. This allows him to blaze through rooms while putting out insane damage if the player is good enough.
- Glass Cannon: If he builds up a high enough combo, he can easily tear through entire rooms of enemies in no time. Still won't do much about his lack of health, though.
- Implausible Hair Color: Digby's hair is naturally a light shade of pink.
- Nervous Wreck: Digby is constantly frightened for his life and on edge, even when he wasn't trapped in a mansion full of monsterss.
- Precocious Crush: In addition to his troop requiring him to serve as a lab assistant, part of the reason he answered the ad which led him to the Estate was because it featured a photo of Cordelia, whom he is clearly enamored with as seen briefly in his intro cinematic. He also stammers nervously around her quite a lot.
- Skill Gate Characters: He's far more lethal if the player is really good at taking advantage of his combo-induced speed, which is not as easy for new players to get the hang of.
- Unexplained Recovery: In his intro, he is seen getting grabbed by Chunks and taken into the Estate. It's never revealed how he got out of that situation despite being a small child.
Lydia, The Realtor
"You didn't even give me time to paint my nails..."
Unlocked by beating the game with $1000 or more on hand. Seeing great potential in the property value of the seemingly abandoned Estate, she decides to have a look inside before getting any monetary plans in motion. Sadly for her, the inhabitants of the home are less interested in selling and more interested in dining. On her.
For Lydia, money is power; each 600$ she collects rewards her with a free item. However, she passively loses money, with the rate it degrades increasing as she earns more money. Furthermore, if she ever goes broke, her health will start going down fast. Also starts with 200$ already in her pocket.
- Aerosol Flamethrower: Lydia's weapon of choice is nothing but a can of pepper spray, which is capable of igniting enemies.
- Ambiguously Brown: Lydia has the darkest skin of the cast of playable characters, but even then her ethnicity is unclear. The fact that she can wear the clothing of Mariah, a femme fatale from Egypt, implies that she might be of middle eastern descent, but she can also wear the clothing of The Bride, who is white, so it's ultimately up in the air.
- Balance Buff: Originally spending any money will set her back on earning items. This was later changed to her passively losing money, which meant that purchasing things is no longer as punished (provided that you at least leave enough money to deal with the money drain).
- Lady in a Power Suit: Kicks ass in a tight-fitting full suit and tie, and looks good while doing it.
- Magikarp Power: She starts out exceptionally weaker than other characters and has a bad starting weapon, but her ability to rapidly collect more items than normal just by getting more money means she can quickly become overpowered.
- Money Fetish: Lydia likes money so much that she starts taking damage and eventually dies if she runs out of it. However, she also gets reward items if she collects enough of it, though it drains over time.Lydia [upon running out of money]: I'm...broke?
- Money Multiplier: Her unique ability is being able to earn more money than other characters.
- Money Is Experience Points: Each time she collects $600, she is rewarded with a free item.
- Shady Real Estate Agent: She came to the Dead Estate to attempt to sell it, and is weirdly unfazed by all the monsters lurking inside.Roselia: Um, this house isn't for sale...
Lydia: Uh, that's alright.
BOSS, The Kingpin
"YOU TALKIN' TO ME?"
Unlocked by finding the "Wanted!" Poster in one of the bonus rooms. A bombinatrix with a love for Stuff Blowing Up, she not only found a way to blow up half of the prison she was held in, but also managed to sneak into Jeff's truck afterwards, taking her far away from it all. Of course, she didn't expect that his truck would later get abandoned at the haunted Estate, leaving her to fend for herself against the hordes of monstrosities. Then again, this only means her path of destruction will continue sooner than expected..- BFG: The Curse of the Maniac changes her default weapon to the Triple Bazooka, albeit with a lessened fire rate as a Necessary Drawback.
- Covered in Scars: Her escape from prison left almost half of her body covered in scars from the flames. Nothing a few bandages can't fix.
- Dark Action Girl: She's very obviously a hardened criminal even if she isn't a villain, but she's also an explosion-loving Boisterous Bruiser with plenty of skill to back it up.
- Die Laughing: Upon getting killed, she will laugh before collapsing to the ground.
- Eyepatch of Power: Wears bandages over one of her eyes to cover a presumably permanent injury as she later upgrades it to an actual eyepatch in her unlocked costume.
- Great Escape: Not many people who can brag about blowing up half a prison for an escape.
- Grenade Spam: Practically a requirement. Her sticky bombs don't do a huge amount of damage by themselves but do a ton of explosive splash damage, so she'll need a lot of grenades to take out a single strong target but far less to kill a group of weak ones.
- Mad Bomber: Her main weapons are sticky bombs, and she starts with the Second Chance item and a random explosive-related item. She's also an Ax-Crazy Boisterous Bruiser who nearly blew herself up in her prison escape.
- Mechanically Unusual Fighter: BOSS is the only character who starts with two items to begin with, as well as the only character whose primary weapon requires switching to another weapon to effectively use. If the player dislikes the mechanics of the sticky bombs, they have the option of swapping them out for a more standard explosive BFG.
- Perpetual Smiler: She is never seen without an ear-to-ear grin on her face.
- Sarashi: BOSS has bandages wrapped around her chest in her default outfit as she was injured during her escape from prison.
- Slasher Smile: She's more than a little unhinged from all the explosions she's caused, and has one of these on her face at all times.
- Sticky Bomb: She starts with these as her primary weapon, although they function more as rapidly deployable bombs that she can detonate by switching to another weapon.
- Throw Down the Bomblet: Her playstyle encourages this mentality, hurling bombs rapidly at enemies and causing huge room-clearing explosions(that she's also immune to).
- Token Evil Teammate: Out of all the playable characters, she is only slightly less evil than the enemies they face in the Estate.
- The Queenpin: Her in-game title is "The Kingpin." As far as gameplay goes, it's an Informed Ability, as we never see any part of her criminal empire.
- "Wanted!" Poster: They're hung up in every bonus floor. Finding one is how you unlock her.Cordelia [as BOSS is leaving]: Hey, you're that girl from those posters!
BOSS: Yep.
Axel, The Hunk
Gameplay-wise, Axel starts with two hatchets that return to his hands after being thrown and can be charged up for an extra-damaging attack which travels through enemies. He also has access to a secret hideaway spot on every floor that has extra items and resources in it. He also makes quips after killing enemies, but this is purely cosmetic.
- Action Survivor: He was once merely an actor with no combat training, but after zombies killed his whole film crew he learned how to throw hatchets to defend himself, and now hides in secret dwellings around the Estate.
- A Lizard Named "Liz": His name is Axel, and he wields axes as his primary weapon.
- Cool Shades: He's never seen without his reflective sunglasses, even though the game takes place at night.
- Charged Attack: Axel can throw both of his hatchets at once by holding down the fire button and releasing it, dealing extra damage and piercing through enemies.
- Blood-Splattered Warrior: He becomes this in his introductory cinematic after killing a ton of zombies.
- Bond One-Liner: Axel is very fond of making these, no matter the situation and no matter how insignificant the enemy he just killed was. A lot of them don't make any sense or are completely irrelevant to the situation.
- Expy: Of Ashley J. Williams. Like Ash, Axel is an Action Survivor who fights loads of zombies and gets covered in their blood after all his friends are killed, and has a tendency to spout one-liners. Where they differ is that Ash is more of a meathead Gadgeteer Genius capable of weaponizing his surroundings, whereas Axel is a hunky actor who's full of himself and prefers to dispatch his enemies with simple hatchets. Some of Axel's quips even directly reference Ash's lines.Axel: Groovy.
- The Fighting Narcissist: Despite his considerable combat prowess, Axel clearly thinks he's a lot cooler than he actually is with his cheesy, nonsensical quips. He also thinks that he's God's gift to women, hitting on every one he meets. His Normal Ending photograph is the only unique one in the game, and has Axel in the foreground making finger guns while Cordelia scowls annoyedly in the background.
- Handsome Lech: He hits on Cordelia every time he enters and exits her shop, and she is having none of it. Whether that's because she's so repulsed by him, in a committed relationship with a woman or both is not explained. None of that stops Axel from relentlessly trying, though. He also hits on Cybil after defeating her.Axel: Heya, pretty lady.
Cordelia: Oh brother.
Axel: How 'bout I get your number?
Cordelia: Not a chance. - Hunk: It's right there in the name of his unlock achievement. He's a musclebound, vain badass with a Heroic Build, blond hair and a killer jawline.
- Leitmotif: He's the only playable character besides Cordelia to get his own unique theme, "Hidey Hole", which contains a riff that accompanies his appearances in other parts of the game's score.
- Mr. Fanservice: He's an incredibly muscular Walking Shirtless Scene and is always trying to pick up the ladies. In the true ending he gets his jacket fully off to compare abs with the more muscular women of the cast.
- Noodle Incident: Apparently he made a romance film in Tijuana that he'd rather forget.
- One-Hit Polykill: Can be done with his hatchets' Charged Attack, which travel through enemies without stopping, unlike bullets.
- Precision-Guided Boomerang: His hatchets always return to his hands, no matter what.
- The Prima Donna: Heavily implied. A promotional video for the Axe to Grind update has him claiming that he's the lead star, lead writer and executive producer of "Axe To Grind", the movie he and his crew were going to film at the estate. There's also a rare chance that after he dies, he'll start doing an in-universe version of Wag the Director from beyond the grave, saying he doesn't like the script of the game itself and that it needs a rewrite because he "doesn't do tragedies".
- Small Name, Big Ego: Implied by his intro cinematic. The film crew Axel was with was rather small and the newspaper in Lydia's intro cinematic directly confirms that it was an independent production. That's doesn't dissuade Axel from acting like he's the coolest guy in Coolsville.
- Walking Shirtless Scene: His ripped denim jacket with torn sleeves barely covers his extremely jacked body.
The Estate Family
In General
Cordelia's immediate family and the homeowners of 666 Hamlin Street, somewhere in the Leelanau Peninsula, Michigan.
- Badass Family: Every member of this family is awesome in one way or another: Albert is an Omnidisciplinary Scientist, Roselia is a baker who makes food so good it literally increases your stats, Cordelia is a powerful and sexy witch and what little we know of Lambert indicates he's a brilliant Child Prodigy. Even their Team Pet Chunks (although he was once a normal rat) is an almost unkillable monster who was once smart enough to serve as The Igor to Albert.
- Nuclear Family: The family of the Estate consists of two (heterosexual) parents, a daughter, a son, and a pet (though it's a rat rather than a usual cat or dog).
Albert, The Scientist
- Ambiguously Evil:
- He created many of the experiments now running rampant throughout the Estate, but it's clear he's not affiliated with Diavola or any of the other creatures that came through the portal from the EXIT realm. It is also clear that things were much more in control and far less messed up when he was still around to maintain everything.
- Assignment Anya reveals he collaborated with the Mors Mundi cult, but the extent to which he knew what they had planned for both him and the world is unknown, and it seems like they were merely using him as a means to an end to gain access to the EXIT realm and seek audience with Diavola.
- Distressed Dude: Dad is at the mercy of Diavola, the Eldritch Abomination ruler of the Exit Realm, who currently has him imprisoned in the Sacrificial Grounds.
- Collector of the Strange: If the Crypt is anything to go by, he has a tendency to collect cursed artifacts, especially those from Ancient Egypt.
- Crazy-Prepared: He was able to rig up a self-destruct sequence for his house that would only abort if it detected that his daughter was the one who activated it, gave Chunks the ability to open the EXIT realm gate in the event that he was trapped on the other side, created an antidote to revert Chunks back into a normal rat in case he got out of control, and left a message detailing how to rescue him in a secret room that also served as his final message in the event that none of these things could be achieved.
- Everybody Calls Him "Barkeep": Prior to the Bombs Away update, Cordelia's Father was only ever called "Dad" or some variation thereupon. There is a very easily missable exchange between Luis and Roselia in the Kitchen where she calls him "Al", and later his name was revealed to be Albert.
- Mad Scientist: The one responsible for opening the portal to the Exit Realm.
- Omnidisciplinary Scientist: He is apparently a master of biology and genetic engineering, while also being a chemist, mechanical engineer, and quantum theoretical physicist, so it's probable that there's no limit to what he's skilled in.
- Opaque Nerd Glasses: Zig-zagged. He normally has his Eyes Out of Sight thanks to his pair of reflective spectacles, but there are certain shots and art pieces where they can be seen through.
- Professor Guinea Pig: After Chunks successfully made it to and back from the EXIT Realm, he deemed it safe enough to send himself through the portal. This was a bad idea.
- Strapped to an Operating Table: He spends most of the game restrained in this manner.
- When You Coming Home, Dad?: Downplayed. Roselia's old note in Assignment Anya states that both she and Albert missed Cordelia's sixteenth birthday due to his research, implying that his experiments distanced him from his family to some extent. However, they were still close enough that Cordelia is willing to brave the EXIT Realm to bring him back.
Roselia, The Mom
"Stay Safe, Honey!"
The Mother of Cordelia, who will happily take on the duties of shopkeeper, doctor and arms dealer whenever her daughter is off fending off foes in the Estate. And just like her daughter, she doesn't do it for free.
- Happily Married: Ironic that a religious woman would end up living in a healthy relationship with a Mad Scientist in a spooky estate and not mind in the slightest that their beloved child would end up becoming a witch.
- Implausible Hair Color: Her hair is inexplicably a bright, iridescent blue, despite her being a normal human woman.
- Innocent Fanservice Girl: Roselia herself is not the flirt that her daughter is, but her portraits play up the "M.I.L.F" aspects of her character design by having her be covered in splotches of cake batter or dressed in tight-fitting tennis gear while dripping wet.
- Intrepid Merchant: She takes up the shopkeeper role when playing as Cordelia and like her, she'll travel all around the floors switching costumes for each shops.
- Jumping Out of a Cake: She does this if you manage to reach the cake at the end of a challenge and beat it.
- The Pollyanna: Roselia seems to be completely cheerful and welcoming, despite the fact that the Estate is full of monsters and failed experiments, there are loads of strangers running through her house and her husband is trapped in an extraplanar demon dimension. Justified, since it is her house, and her husband is a Mad Scientist, after all, so maybe that's just an average day for her.
- Sexy Sweater Girl: She wears a form-fitting sweater and apron, which contribute heavily to her Stacy's Mom status by outlining her vast bosom.
- Stacy's Mom: Winds up going from implicit to explicit when Axel enters the kitchen and starts hitting on her. Unlike her daughter, she actually likes the attention he gives her and takes it as a compliment, despite being the one who's married.Axel: That witch didn't tell me she had such a pretty sister!
Roselia: Oh, stop it you~! - Strong Family Resemblance: It is clear where Cordelia got her looks from.
- Sweet Baker: She is the one running The Kitchen, offering you food-based items at a massive discount as well as many food-based items for free. And she is among the most loving people in the game.
Lambert, The Brother
Albert and Roselia's second child, and Cordelia's missing younger brother. During the events of both Assignment Anya and Dead Estate proper, he is attending college in Europe, conveniently avoiding the plight his family's house finds itself in.
- Child Prodigy: Cordelia mentions that he is attending university at just 16, meaning he's likely following in the footsteps of his father Albert as a scientific genius.
- Like Father, Like Son: He heavily resembles a juvenile Albert, but with even thicker glasses.
- Noodle Incident: Roselia's note requests that Cordelia not let Lambert into Albert's laboratory again, for an unknown reason.
- Opaque Nerd Glasses: From what little we see of him in Cordelia's memories, he has a thick pair of these, denoting his Child Prodigy status.
- The Ghost: The only mention of him is in logs scattered around the Estate, and he otherwise does not appear.
- Remember the New Guy?: There is no indication given in Dead Estate that Albert and Roselia have a second child, and Lambert appears in none of the family portraits which appear throughout the game. He was retroactively added into Cordelia's flashback in her introductory cinematic with the Assignment Anya update.
Chunks, Rambunctious Rodent
START RUNNING...note
The family's pet rat who was experimented upon by Albert, turning him into a nearly unkillable monstrosity. He will hunt down any outsider who steps into the Estate.
- Ambidextrous Sprite: Zig-zagged. Chunks has four different sprites for each direction he can move in, and they all correctly have his left arm as the missing one. However, his attack animation sprite is flipped and shows him attacking with his left arm if he is oriented to the right.
- An Arm and a Leg: Chunks is missing his left forearm, which is cut off at the elbow. It can be found as a secondary weapon that spews blood on enemies. Assignment Anya reveals that the Cordelia Mimic bit it off while he was chasing Anya, distracting him long enough for a bathtub to fall on top of him and temporarily incapacitate him.
- Angry Guard Dog: It turns out that Cordelia's father had intended for him to be this for the safety of the family as he knew someone had to protect them wile he went to explore the 3X1T Realm since he had a feeling that something might escape from the portal. Sadly, the lingering effects from the EXIT Realm only made Chunks hostile to anyone but the evil forces that threatens those he cared about. Making matters even worse was how the antidote for the experimental treatment is locked away in a coffin.
- Balance Buff: When the Milkbar Lads received feedback that Chunks was very easy to knock out and substantially less of a threat than they intended, they gave him a massive buff in the Axe to Grind update so that he has genuinely dangerous attacks that are hard to avoid as well as healing whenever he moves between rooms, making him into much more of a Recurring Boss.
- Composite Character: Chunks is effectively a combination of every Tyrant-class B.O.W. encountered in at least the first three Resident Evil games. He share's Mr. X's original status as an Implacable Man who can be defeated to gain great rewards if the player is good enough, has Nemesis' extremely persistent singlemindedness in chasing your character down, and shares the spot with numerous Tyrants as Final Bosses, or at least Disk One Final Bosses. He's also thematically similar, being a genetically mutated monster with an arm which mutates in his final encounter.
- Corrupted Contingency: Chunks was originally supposed to serve the dual function of being the only one able to open the EXIT Realm and also Roselia and Cordelia's protector in the event Cordelia's dad was trapped there. Unfortunately, due to a combination of the EXIT Realm's taint and his own biology, Chunks was reduced to little more than a mindless killer who wanders the halls of the estate, ruthlessly hunting down anyone foolish enough to enter.
- Difficult, but Awesome: It is possible to knock him out if you are willing to shoot him enough times. It is not easy to do so unharmed due to his speed and durability, but he does drop a rather large amount of money and a Chunks Medallion if you manage to do it.
- Disc-One Final Boss: You need to turn him back into a normal rat if you want to enter the Exit Realm.
- Dumb Muscle: Zig-zagged. Chunks was raised to be intelligent enough to help Cordelia's Dad build and test the portal device, but he later had his mind wiped of any memory relating to its construction and he's clearly little more than a rabid monster in his current state.
- Expy: As mentioned elsewhere, he is essentially a Tyrant from Resident Evil (drawing a lot of inspiration from Mr. X and Nemesis specifically) if they were a lot faster and were a rat.
- Fluffy the Terrible: "Chunks" isn't exactly the name that springs to mind when one thinks of a feral, borderline indestructible super-rat. Justified, since at one point he was simply a regular house pet/lab rat and the name probably just stuck.
- Forgot to Feed the Monster: It's implied that Roselia forgetting to feed him contributed to the aggregation of his current condition, Which may be why he has such single-minded persistence in chasing down Cordelia and her allies.
- Ground Punch: His basic attack was upgraded into this in the Axe to Grind update, resulting in a damaging area of effect around himself that is more difficult to dodge than a basic punch.
- Heel–Face Turn: Turning him back into a normal rat causes him to deactivate the laboratory self destruct and help you get into the Exit Realm.
- Healing Factor: He heals 200 of his health back every time he follows the player's character into a new room.
- Hell Is That Noise: Chunks' presence in a level is preceded by a grumbling sound, and a series of loud earth-shaking footsteps means that he's about to enter the room the player is currently in.
- The Igor: According to Albert's notes, Chunks once was his primary assistant with his experiments, and was the original guinea pig for the EXIT Realm portal.
- Implacable Man: Few things will slow Chunks down. All damage he takes is reflected in zeroes, he can jump over obstacles like chairs and tables, and he speeds up to match the speed of the player's current character if they have any movement speed buffs.
- Invincible Boogeymen: He's almost invulnerable when chasing you if you spend too long on a floor and it takes plenty of damage just to stun him for the level. As the normal Final Boss, he's still technically invulnerable until Cordelia drops a Rocket Launcher for you to kill him with. He's also not immune to the antidote, which will shrink him back to his normal self.
- Nigh-Invulnerable:
- Chunks can shrug off all damage thrown at him, except for a very specific rocket launcher Cordelia gives you during his boss fight. Ironically, this winds up meaning that he's immune to stuff that would be theoretically stronger than that, such as lasers, magic and radiation poisoning, as well as any other potentially larger explosions the player might be capable of causing.
- Assignment Anya shows that he can survive being wholly crushed by a bathtub to the point where it creates a giant puddle of gore on the ground and be right back to chasing down his prey in literal minutes.
- Recurring Boss: He has boss-level health every time he appears in a level and is very difficult to subdue before finally appearing as the Final Boss of the Normal Route.
- Rodents of Unusual Size: A pet rat mutated into a colossal monstrosity through chemistry and eldritch magic.
- Shockwave Stomp: He was given this as a second attack in the Axe to Grind update. Chunks will randomly jump and leave behind a shockwave that must be jumped over when he hits the ground.
Mors Mundi Pro Supremo Leviathan Cultists
George V. Kostopoulos
The original founder of the Mors Mundi cult, George Kostopoulos was a man from the late 19th century who claimed to have seen visions from the Leviathan giving him instructions in remote areas in Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Cybil is his descendant and the inheritor of his mantle as Mors Mundi cult leader.
- Greater-Scope Villain: He's largely the one who is responsible for the cultists who cavort through the Dead Estate, being the one who founded the Mors Mundi Apocalypse Cult in the first place.
Cybil, The Cult Leader (Spoilers)
Cybil V. Kostopoulos
- Buy or Get Lost: She's borderline hostile to the player in her shop, which is justified, since she is one of the villains.
- Clothing Damage: Her already Stripperiffic outfit gets nigh-obliterated after her boss battle, showing off even more skin than before◊.
- Evil Counterpart: A pretty clear one to Cordelia.
- Deal with the Devil: Assignment Anya reveals that her and her cult's greater motivations mean that they are offering sacrifices to Diavola in exchange for her help resurrecting the Leviathan.
- In the Hood: Cybil's head is entirely obscured by her hooded cultist's cloak.
- Kick the Dog: If Cordelia enters her shop, she will ask her if her father's doing well before chuckling, knowing full well of Cordelia's Dad's fate at the hands of Diavola.
- Navel Window: Cybil sports one of these.
- Only in It for the Money: It's clear from the fact that she is willing to give you upgrades in exchange for money despite the fact that she now has an easy way of killing you at your weakest as well as how she runs away when defeated that she cares more about how much wealth and power she can get from being a cult leader than to actually following through with Diavola's plan.
- Punch-Clock Villain: She's willing to sell items to the player in secret rooms, albeit while obscuring what they are so they player doesn't know what they're buying, and sounds rather apathetic while doing so.Cybil: Kill you later.
- Shadowed Face, Glowing Eyes: She has no discernible facial features except for a single glowing eye, which are shrouded underneath her hood. Defeating her reveals her to be quite attractive, with a brown-haired mullet and yellow irises.
- Smug Snake: Despite being an apathetic and snarky cult leader, her ego(and the rest of her body) gets mightily bruised after you defeat her, and she's clearly fuming about it if you encounter her afterward.
- Stripperiffic: Even more so than Cordelia, with a Navel Window that almost goes up to her neck and shows off most of her stomach.
- Villain: Exit, Stage Left: Instead of fighting to the death like every other boss, she simply flips you off and teleports away when she feels it has become more trouble than it was all worth.
- Warmup Boss: As she possesses many of Diavola's abilities, but of a weaker variety, she gives you a good clue of what you are up against when facing the real boss.
- We Will Meet Again: If you meet her in a cultist shop during a looped run after having defeated her, she promises that she will kill you in the next battle. But she also states that you should be thankful for how she is forgiving enough to sell you more items.
Other Characters
Filia and Faith, Cursed Demoness and Blessed Angel
Thanks to Dad messing about with interdimensional portals, he has not only found a way into the 3X1T Realm, but he has also accidentally caused gateways within The Estate to open up into Hell and Heaven itself! This has given Filia, owner of Hellmart, a brand new source of customers to make her unholy offerings to. Thankfully, this customer base is also accessible to Faith, owner of Heavenmart, who is willing to undo the damage caused by these devilish deals, even if just for a few minutes.
- Deal with the Devil: Filia demands Chunks Medallions in exchange for Curses, unique buffs that can be toggled on and off.
- Hot as Hell: Thought the devs were about to pass up on the chance of making another alluring lady for the cast of characters? Think again.
- Guardian Angel: Faith is not only willing to offer strong items in exchange for Chunks Medallions, but she is also willing to remove the negative effects of your curses for a few minutes.
- Our Angels Are Different/Our Demons Are Different: Apparently in the world of Dead Estate, angels and demons are large-breasted women who run extraplanar convenience stores.
- Power at a Price: Filia's curses grants the player a powerful buff, but gives them an equally powerful debuff in return.
Diavola, Mother of All (Spoilers)
- Badass Cape: Sports a cape (or cape-like growth) made of flesh in her humanoid form.
- Barbie Doll Anatomy: Despite being a completely naked fleshy demonic monstrosity, she has no nipples or lower genitalia to speak of.note
- Big Bad: The ruler of the Exit Realm which is home to the abominations that now infest the Estate, and is holding Dad captive.
- Bishōnen Line: An extremely powerful otherworldly demon-creature hell-bent on invading our world with her legions of monsters just so happens to look like a sexy humanoid woman with plenty of curves.
- Doppelgänger Attack: An attack in her first phase consists of spinning around and summoning a circle of mirror Diavolas that slowly close in on the player. Shooting the real Diavola stops the attack.
- Evil Is Visceral: Just like the realm she resides over, she's mostly made of molded flesh, teeth, bones and eyes, especially in her One-Winged Angel form.
- Go for the Eye: Her One-Winged Angel form has a gigantic eyeball that serves as the boss' weak spot.
- Horns of Villainy: She has a pair of demonic red horns in addition to the curved antlers of her bone helmet.
- Humanoid Abomination: She's a powerful demonic entity who is the ruler of the Exit Realm and initially takes a voluptuous human form. However, as her second phase clearly demonstrates, she can assume a far more visceral and monstrous form if she so pleases.
- Meat Moss: Diavola becomes this in her second phase, covering the entire arena in her One-Winged Angel form's flesh.
- Meteor-Summoning Attack: She can call down a slew of falling stars to cover her arena
- More Teeth than the Osmond Family: Her second form literally surrounds the boss arena with teeth, and she can turn entire halves of the floor into huge teethy mouths that snap at the player's character.
- Ms. Fanservice: Her human form is nearly nude and quite attractive. Her true form, however...
- One-Winged Angel: Her second form is a huge fleshy monstrosity with a giant eye and appears to be partially merged with the Boss Room.
- Our Demons Are Different: Diavola and her minions, the denizens of the EXIT realm, look and act very demonic, and "Diavola" is a feminization of the word for "Devil" in Italian. However, they don't appear to be supernatural beings, rather extradimensional entities with Bizarre Alien Biology. Diavola herself is capable of Blood Magic and transforming into a huge, fleshy mass of teeth topped with a single gigantic eye when she's hurt enough.
- Transformation Horror: Diavola assumes her second phase form by melding with the ground of her Boss Room and flipping her skin inside out, revealing a a toothy diamond-shaped mouth and a huge puke-yellow eyeball. That's probably not even the worst of it, but Cordelia comes into rescue her Dad and the player before they can see the worst of it, and she's already fully transformed when the player is knocked back down.
- True Final Boss: Can only be fought by obtaining all four silver key pieces on the alternative floors. Otherwise, you can't access the EXIT realm and will merely have to fight Chunks as normal.
- The Scream: Diavola lets loose a bloodcurdling shriek as she transitions into her One-Winged Angel form.
- Skeletons in the Coat Closet: She wears a horned skull helmet with a disturbingly large nasal cavity that drapes over her face.
- Spikes of Villainy: She sports a pair of spiky shoulder pads. Upon closer inspection it can be seen that the spikes are actually teeth growing out of her shoulders.
- Vagina Dentata: Her true form takes on features evocative of this, especially right at the start of her transformation.
Characters from Assignment Anya
Anya
The Protagonist of Assignment Anya, she was Axel's co-star who unbeknownst to him was actually disguised as a Zombie. Getting trapped within the house, she's forced to find a way out by herself.
Unlike other characters, Anya has no weapons and her only real protection from the zombies are a zombie mask. Her gameplay is all about exploring the mansion and solving puzzles while dodging the monsters.
- Action Survivor: Even moreso than the other characters since she has no actual way to defend herself and her only options are to run or hide behind her mask, meaning the lowly zombies, cultists and floating masks which barely take a single bullet to kill and are given nary a second thought in the main game become Anya's primary threats.
- Burger Fool: She becomes one if you get a C rank after Dead Estate flops critically and commercially, in an effort to get a BA in Media Studies.
- Cassandra Truth: She tells some highway police at the end all about Albert's experiments and the cult's machinations at the Estate, but they brush her off as crazy. As such, she decides to pitch her story as a video game.
- Pretend We're Dead: She has a zombie mask that can fool enemies provided that they don't get too close. She even slows down when wearing it, presumably simulating a Zombie Gait.
- I Should Write a Book About This: After escaping the Estate and Chunks, Anya tries to tell the local authorities about the estate only for them to be complete cowards. She then finds a billboard for the Milk Bar Lads and turns her experience into a video game that she can potentially leverage into becoming the POTUS.
- Universally Beloved Leader: If she manages to become president in 2004 after the smashing success of Dead Estate (1998), commentators will go on to note that her two-term presidency would become widely regarded as the most prosperous era ever for America, if not the whole world.
- You Have Researched Breathing: By default she can't jump and moves at a slow pace. She needs to collect gear items that take up slots in her very limited inventory in order to actually jump and move faster than the zombies.
The Cordelia Mimic
A monster pretending to be Cordelia, it attacks Anya in Cordelia's room and chases her until she finds a safe room. It reappears to inadvertently rescue Anya from Chunks at the end of Assignment Anya.
- Glamour Failure: At first the monster is a dead ringer for Cordelia, even playing her signature Leitmotif "Sex Sells". after a few seconds, though, its disguise dissipates and it attacks Anya.
- Vagina Dentata: It's a essentially one big v-shaped mouth with a Cordelia-shaped lure on its back.
- Small Role, Big Impact: It only appears in two scenes (one of which is an extended chase scene), but it's responsible for why Chunks only has one arm in the main game.
The Leviathan
A long-dead Eldritch Abomination which nearly succeeded in eating the planet. The Mors Mundi cult wants to resurrect it, but without Diavola's help they only manage the botched attempt of the Nataleviathan, an Attic Sanctum boss in Dead Estate.
- Eldritch Abomination: Judging from the appearance of the Nataleviathan, it's some kind of unbelievably colossal planet-eating space demon shrimp.
- Greater-Scope Villain: From the way Cybil describes it, Diavola is peanuts compared to the danger the Leviathan would pose to the world were it revived from death.
- Planet Eater: Is described as a devourer of planets.
- Red Baron: "The Devourer King".
