Dream SMP: The Syndicate / Characters

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General

"Sic semper tyrannis."

Also nicknamed "Team Anarchy", the Syndicate is a faction located in the stronghold near the former Arctic Anarchist Commune. It is an organization of anarchists, with the sole mission to fight tyranny in all its forms. Being an anarchist organization, it has no official leader, though Techno tends to spearhead most activity.

Covert Group: They are an underground organization which promotes anarchy and fight against tyranny. The covertness of the organization is invoked by the Syndicate Manifesto.
No Member shall reveal information about the Syndicate to outsiders.
Decapitated Army: Downplayed. While Techno was not the Syndicate's leader, he was its most powerful member and the one who organised most of their activity, and during his time in prison, they ceased most of their Anarchist activity. When Techno is broken out by Phil, Techno offhandedly says that with him out of prison, they should "start scheming".
From Beyond the Fourth Wall: All of the named members of the Syndicate have their stream chats canonized — Techno's manifests as voices in his head with a love for bloodshed and the letter E, Phil's manifests as a flock of Clever Crows, Ranboo's are a group of purple Ender particles, Niki's manifests as writing in her journal, and occasionally voices in her head like Techno, and Connor's donations are the voices in his head, according to himself.
Grim Up North: The Syndicate's base of operations and Techno's cabin are located in a tundra said to be the Arctic north, and the unofficial predecessor of the Syndicate was nicknamed the "Arctic Anarchist Commune", in tribute to the Antarctic Empire. While whether the Syndicate is good or bad is tough to unpick, most of the people on the server recognize Techno, the main recruiter and one of the founders of the group, to be The Dreaded.
Pretentious Latin Motto: The motto of the Syndicate is "Sic semper tyrannis", Latin for "Thus always to tyrants", reflecting the group's stand against tyranny of all sorts.
Pyrrhic Victory: The Syndicate's mission to break out Dream and Ranboo turns to be this. While they succeed in freeing both of them (and Connor), Ranboo is killed by Sam before they could all make their escape. In addition, while the rest of the Syndicate and the former convicts managed to get away with their jailbreak, this also came at the price of Niki's involvement with the Syndicate also being exposed, potentially putting her in danger.
Religious and Mythological Theme Naming: Members of The Syndicate take on code-names based on Classical Mythology which allude to their personal characteristics.
- Techno's code-name, Protesilaus, is a nod to the ancient Greek hero from The Iliad who was the first Greek to leap to shore at Troy, despite a prophecy that whoever leaped ashore first would die, and took four Trojan soldiers down before being slain himself. This is in keeping with his Blood Knight tendencies and (alleged) willingness to put his own life on the line before anyone else's... though on the other hand, Technoblade never dies.
- Phil's code-name, Zephyrus, is also the name of the Greek god of the west wind, who was also depicted to have wings.
- Ranboo's code-name, Lethe, is the name of one of the five rivers of the Underworld in Greek mythology. The Lethe, specifically, causes amnesia when people touch or drink its waters. Similarly, Lethe is also the name of the Greek goddess of forgetfulness and oblivion.
- Niki's code-name, Nemesis, is also the name of the remorseless Greek goddess of divine retribution and revenge, referencing Niki's own Lack of Empathy and tendency to seek revenge on those she believes have wronged her.
- Harpocrates is the god of silence and secrets. Appropriate, given the unknown identity of the Syndicate member with that code-name.
- Apollo the dog, albeit an Odd Name Out among the rest of the Hound Army, was named in the same scheme as the rest of the Syndicate, after the Greek god of archery, music, prophecy, and many other aspects (including some that were tacked on later, e.g. light and the Sun). This initially doesn't appear to be a reference to any of the dog's characteristics, but Apollo's presence during the jailbreak definitely made it more light-hearted.
Sixth Ranger: Has two in the form of Apollo, a member of the Hound Army that Techno brought during the jailbreak and was hastily inducted into the Syndicate (albeit in a semi-joking way), and Connor, who joined the Syndicate after Techno broke him out.

Players

Technoblade, "Protesilaus"

For more information about this character, please visit this page.

Philza, "Zephyrus"

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/philza_skin.png

"I've watched [government] completely destroy and tear down people's wills, and change people. I've seen it change the nicest people into complete and utter tyrants. So... I think it's about time."

^{Click here to see his arctic skin}

In-game name: Ph1LzA
Preferred name: Phil

"I'm sorry. Maybe you'll understand one day."

Wilbur's father, Fundy's grandfather, and Techno's best friend. Phil was involved on the server's events long before he actually joined. He often gave input on the server's events in his own streams, but finally stepped in to try and stop Wilbur from blowing up L'Manburg. It didn't work, and Phil decided to stay to help clean up the server and steer his kids back onto the right path. Though he lived in L'Manburg, he did not involve himself in politics and had no loyalty to the government, declaring himself neutral.

After being put under house arrest for not ratting Techno out, Phil escaped with Techno's help and ran off to the Commune, leaving L'Manburg behind. Disillusioned with L'Manburg after Wilbur's death and Techno's failed execution, Phil assists Techno and Dream in the Doomsday War in order to bury the nation he once called home.

Phil has one life left. Unlike the vast majority of the server, he only ever had one life to begin with.

The Ageless: Implied. Phil is hundreds, possibly thousands of years old, but doesn't show the part at all; his content creator counterpart was in his early thirties throughout the course of the SMP.
Animal Motifs: Crows. Phil is a Winged Humanoid with large, feathered wings (though he lost them in the L'Manburg explosion), and his chat manifests as a murder of crows. It also helps that he's married to the Goddess of Death, and crows are heavily affiliated with death.
Big "WHAT?!": Phil responds this way when Techno tells him that Sam killed Ranboo just minutes after it happened.
Blaming the Victim: In a conversation after Tommy escapes from Logstedshire, Phil all but told him "I told you so" in response to Tommy's confusion over what he felt about Dream because of Exile.
Phil: What happened? Wilbur tells me Logstedshire is gone.
Tommy: Well, my–
Phil: That it's a crater in the ground
Tommy: My– eh… this guy, this guy, Dream, he was, you know, he was something to me– I think, he helped me at the time and then I realized he wasn't right for me… or did I? I'm very– I don't like thinking about Dream. My brain goes all flippy-floppy, but–
Phil: We tried to tell you from the start that he wasn't good for you, Tommy.
Broken Angel: Phil used to have wings, but after he used them to shield Wilbur from the detonation of L'Manburg, they were so mutilated he'll never be able to fly with them again.
Calling Parents by Their Name: Wilbur generally refers to him as "Phil", though he does call him "Dad" or "Dadza" on occasion. Averted with Fundy, who makes an effort to only refer to Phil as "Grandpa" or "Grandza", despite how much Phil hates it, though he does call him "Phil" in serious situations.
Cargo Ship: Allegedly in-universe, and an Exaggerated Trope. Wilbur was apparently created from Philza getting "down and dirty" with a Samsung Smart Refrigerator canonically, and cc!Wilbur, who came up with this in the first place, refuses to accept any other interpretation of this, not even from his fellow content creators. Philza, on the other hand, would prefer to retcon that information out.
Deadpan Snarker: Phil's usual response to people acting strange around him is either a sarcastic comment or a silent, disappointed stare.

Early-Bird Cameo: Philza was often talked about and even joined a few calls with Wilbur and Tommy before he was officially added to the server.
Fictional Disability: Phil is a Winged Humanoid, but his wings were shredded when he used them to shield himself and Wilbur from the detonation of L'Manburg, leaving him permanently flightless.
Foregone Conclusion: Phil has mentioned a few times out-of-universe that there are plans for a Ghostza and even said that his death is a question of when, sealing his fate.
Great Escape: Phil escaped from his house arrest by digging a staircase under his house under the guise of making a basement, escaping through someone's haste-mine when Tubbo was distracted, then running for the Nether portal after Techno gave him an invisibility potion.
Handicapped Badass: Despite being rendered flightless after trying to protect himself and Wilbur in the destruction of Manburg, Phil is still highly competent in a fight.
Happily Married: He was the only one of the group who had a spouse (up until Season 3 when Ranboo and Tubbo got married), something his friends often poke fun at him for.
The Hermit: Downplayed. While Phil doesn't mind being around people, he's a lot more reclusive than the other members of the server. He's rarely the one to initiate conversations, and generally just does his own thing. He's also said that, despite having lived in L'Manburg, he holds very little loyalty to the nation itself and does not approve of its leader's actions, and will side with the people he likes regardless of affiliation.
His Name Really Is "Barkeep": "Philza Minecraft" became a jokingly popular full name for Phil as a result of memetic mutation, but Phil later confirmed it while talking to Fundy.
Phil: You're trying to fool someone whose last name is 'Minecraft'!
Honorary True Companion: Philza continues to support Technoblade's activities in the background while under house arrest but remains an "unofficial" member of the Syndicate due to Techno wishing to remain a "lone wolf" and Philza electing to maintain his neutrality for the time being.
Hypocrite:
- As shown in Tommy's more recent streams, despite Philza saying he values people over items, he is one of the richest members of the server.
- On Tommy's 12/4/21 stream, he browbeats Tommy for supposedly putting his items over his relationships despite putting his grandson over his morals, killing his own son (who was suicidal to boot) with little to no hesitation, blowing up an entire nation, refusing to treat Ghostbur like a person and even referring to him as a doll at one point, and freeing Tommy's abuser over a favor to Technoblade.
It's All My Fault: Phil blames himself for letting "his kids" get into this mess, either by failing to parent them properly, or by failing to intervene in time.
Phil: I expect it from Techno! He was born in blood, he was literally– He is the embodiment of chaos. I expect Techno to just murder everyone. But fucking Tubbo burning down a tree?! Wil nuking L'Manburg?! Like... Bruh, what'd I do– Where did I go wrong? Where'd I go wrong? We're having to hit reset now? [...] Yeah, I fucked up, chat. I fucked up. I, uh... (laughs) I gotta be a better role model, I think...
I Have No Son!: Phil seems visibly upset when his grandson Fundy joined the Butcher Army to put him in a house arrest and execute Technoblade. He also threw away the brown dye Fundy gave him as what seemed to be a peace offering after the failed execution. Later subverted; upon learning of Wilbur's revival, Phil reaches out to his grandson to inform him and comforts Fundy when he takes the news poorly. The two search for Wilbur together amicably chatting the whole time. While they awkwardly tip-toe around or avoid talking about the issues that drove them apart in the first place the two were very open with each other about their fears concerning Wilbur and offered one-another support.
Kick the Dog:
- During the Doomsday War, Phil deliberately spawned Withers on top of the apiary and mocked the L'Manburgians for being upset and distressed about it.
- About a week after Dream's escape (in real time), Phil burnt the Rapple, an enchanted golden apple that Ranboo spent ages finding and eventually gave to Tommy as Ghostboo as protection from Dream, to "teach" Tommy that having attachments to items is bad.
Know When to Fold 'Em: Phil tries to steer people onto the right track as best as he can, but he knows when to just accept it can't be helped. Case in point, after repeated attempts to get Fundy to remove the house he built on top of Quackity's, Phil decides to just leave and let Quackity handle it.
Locked Out of the Loop: For unknown reasons, Wilbur would lie in the letters he sent to Phil, writing how he had won the election and left L'Manberg willingly to start a new nation. Phil only finds out the truth months later from Fundy and is stunned by the revelation.
Master Archer: Phil is very adept with the bow and arrow. During one of Drista's visits, he successfully takes many potshots at Tommy, who was trolling him by switching in and out of spectator mode.
Morality Pet: Technoblade would drop everything on the spot for Phil. Case in point, when Techno was captured by the Butcher Army, one of his main concerns was Phil being held under house arrest rather than his own impending execution.
Mundane Solution: To ensure Phil wouldn't leave his house while under house arrest, the Butcher Army fitted him with an ankle monitor (a renamed pair of iron boots). Phil, who wanted to go check on Techno to see if he was alright, just put the ankle monitor on an armor stand in his house. When Tubbo discovered this strategy and gave him a new ankle monitor with Curse of Binding on it, Phil jumped off ledges and stood on magma blocks until the boots ran out of durability and broke.
My God, What Have I Done?: After killing Wilbur, Phil was so wracked with guilt he completely isolated himself in a tundra in order to meditate. The book he gave to Ghostbur says he felt "torn apart from the inside", and he only returned to civilization when he found something that could bring Ghostbur back to life.
Mythology Gag: The reason why Phil started out with one life instead of three is because he's primarily known for his Minecraft Hardcore series^note, and is the current record-holder for longest lasting Hardcore-world (just over 5 IRL years).
Neutral No Longer: After seeing how the nation of L'Manburg has caused nothing but conflict and driven good men (including Phil's son Wilbur) to corruption and insanity, the straw that breaks the camel's back is the Butcher Army's failed execution of Techno. From that point onwards, Phil devotes himself to the destruction of L'Manburg and willingly sides with Dream and Techno in the Doomsday War.
Never Bareheaded: He's never seen without either a green and white striped bucket hat, or a retextured version of the hat with light blue and white stripes instead. Enforced as it's a Minecraft skin.
No Sense of Direction: Downplayed during the Vengeance Arc. Phil can find Techno's house just fine, it's when he's trying to go back home that he gets lost. This almost cost him dearly when he had to race the Butcher Army back to L'Manburg so they wouldn't see he'd broken his house arrest, and got so hopelessly lost he had to pull up the coordinates, making it back barely a minute before the Butcher Army returned. This is averted later on, as Phil gains a better understanding of the land and becomes one of the better navigators on the server.
Offing the Offspring: An invoked variant. Wilbur, after pressing the button and finally detonating the TNT lying under Manburg, hands Phil his sword and begs for Phil to kill him. Phil tries to refuse, but ultimately obliges.
Once Done, Never Forgotten:
- Ever since Phil broke Techno out of jail after three months instead of three days, Techno has been snarking about it at every chance he gets, to Phil's frustration.
- Philza is famous for his 5-year Minecraft Hardcore run, which he lost to a baby zombie. This results in Technoblade flying into a screaming panic and "saving" him every time a baby zombie gets near him, despite the fact that he's more than capable of dealing with them on his own.
Outliving One's Offspring: He outlives his son, Wilbur, for understandable reasons. This is eventually subverted when Wilbur gets resurrected by Dream.
Parental Neglect: It is heavily implied that Philza has a distant relationship with his son, Wilbur, and at the very least seems to emotionally neglect him.
- Phil appears to have a tendency to trivialize Wilbur's issues and trauma in an infantilizing way, such as describing Wilbur's outbursts and mental breakdown (read: attempting to commit suicide by blowing up himself alongside the country he built and loved) as a kid "throwing his toys out the pram" and "throwing a tantrum" (mind you, Wilbur was apparently in his 30s when he died), doing the "replace the goldfish" thing with friend and Ghostbur (at least, to his knowledge), and immediately dismissing Wilbur's new ideas with his burger van project and sending him to "play with the neighbor's kid" (Ranboo) or get out of his house.
- Wilbur himself also hid his trauma from the L'Manburg War for Independence and eventually losing the Presidential Election (and being forced to Run or Die, losing a second canon life in the process) from Philza by lying about it in his letters. Although it can be said that Wilbur himself was in the wrong for being dishonest, it should probably also be taken into account why Wilbur lied and refused to trust his father with his feelings in the first place.
Pet the Dog: Tends to be particularly kind towards Ranboo, offering him a place to live after L'Manburg's destruction, forgiving him for his past involvement with the Butcher Army, and telling Ranboo to look away whenever he has to kill an Enderman.
Really 700 Years Old: His exact age is unknown, but he's stated that he's hundreds, possibly thousands of years old.
Red Baron: As a carryover from SMPEarth, he is nicknamed the "Angel of Death".
Shout-Out: Phil's sword is named "Philza hiasobi benihime" after Kisuke Urahara's cane sword. Phil's Minecraft skin also happens to be based off of the same character.
Team Dad: While Wilbur is his only biological son, he's acts as a father figure in the lives of Tommy, Tubbo and Ranboo, and has a fatherly demeanor towards pretty much anyone he interacts with. As a result, "Dadza" is one of his most popular nicknames.
Team Switzerland: Phil believes that him staying neutral would be best for everyone. While he refused to rat Techno out to the Butcher Army, he will not get involved in the conflict, and only went over to Techno's house to ensure that he and Tommy were safe.

The Voice: He was this for a while before he was whitelisted.
Wham Line: His grand entrance was a shock to both Wilbur and the audience.
Phil: What are you doing?!
Who Wants to Live Forever?: Discussed when Phil reveals his true age to Sam.
Sam: what was it like
Sam: seeing everyone you loved die
Sam: slowly as time moved on
Phil: painful
Sam: I feel for you then
Phil: but not as painful as what I inflicted on their enemies
Winged Humanoid: Phil canonically has wings, though they aren't visible on his Minecraft skin (they are implied to be hidden under his cape). They got shredded when he used them to shield himself and Wilbur from the detonation of Manburg, so he can't use them to fly.
Wing Shield: Phil used his wings to shield himself and Wilbur from L'Manburg's detonation at the end of the Manburg-Pogtopia War. This damaged them so badly that he will never be able to fly again.

Nihachu, "Nemesis"

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nikipinkhair.png

"Jack, I'm not sure I want to kill Tommy. Tommy has gone through a lot too and it's not his fault Wilbur left."

^{Click here to see her original skin}

^{Click here to see her L'Manburg skin}

In-game name: Nihachu
Preferred name: Niki

"Please remember that I've gotten everything taken away from me. And you know what they say about a woman that has nothing to lose."

A later recruit of L'Manberg. Niki joined under Wilbur's rule, and while she stayed in Manberg under Schlatt, she's been a vocal critic of him from the beginning. She was exiled after the festival, joined with Tommy and Tubbo to try and reclaim L'Manburg, and joined the rebuilding effort. When Fundy told her he was leaving, she decided to go with him, leaving L'Manburg behind.

After having had enough with constant wars and feeling ignored by the others, she teamed up with Jack to get revenge on Tommy, having blamed him to be the cause of her misery. However, after Tommy's death in the prison, she realized that he was never the source of her problems. She retreated into her secret city, but eventually joined the Syndicate, where she truly began to heal. However, Wilbur's revival threw a massive spanner in that, leaving her once again at a complete loss of what to do.

Niki has three lives left.

Badass Longcoat: She is said to be wearing Wilbur's cloak and coat from his Pogtopian days after his passing, regardless of her in-game appearance.
A Birthday, Not a Break: During Niki's birthday party in early November 2020, everything seems to go relatively well and is fairly light-hearted... but then in the last 15 minutes of the livestream (streamed from Karl's POV), Wilbur suddenly announces he was going to blow Manburg up, forcing Quackity, Niki, and Karl to calm him down and delay his plan before he could actually blow the country to smithereens. The livestream ends with Quackity facing the ultimatum to carry out Plan Ass by that Friday or Wilbur would actually press the Big Red Button.
Black-and-White Morality: Niki's Fatal Flaw is that she tends to focus all of her anger and trauma onto one person, regardless of how much that person was actually responsible for, or the circumstances that led them to make the decisions that hurt her. After Doomsday, she started blaming Tommy for Wilbur's spiral and L'Manburg's downfall, and teamed up with Jack to try to kill him. She did eventually reflect and realize the destruction of L'Manburg and Wilbur's death weren't Tommy's fault, but she then shifted the full blame of everything onto Wilbur. Since Wilbur was already dead at that point, she took that chance to focus on healing, joining the Syndicate and rebuilding her life... which got completely uprooted when Wilbur came Back from the Dead.
Break the Believer: Niki was one of the most patriotic of the original L'Manburg citizens; she loved the place Wilbur had made and wanted to defend its honor with her life. However, the night before Doomsday, she realized that she felt like the L'Manburg she loved was gone, and could no longer bring herself to fight for what Niki feels to be a country that doesn't care for her and was overall a broken shell of the nation she loved.
Broken Bird: Niki started out on the server as the "First Lady" of L'Manburg and a Sweet Baker, but somewhere between having her beloved nation taken over by a tyrant and her subsequent oppression, having one of her closest friends "abandon" her (read: dying from Suicide by Cop in front of practically everyone) after detonating the country they had been fighting for, and being talked over and ignored by the New L'Manburgian cabinet, she crossed the Despair Event Horizon around the Doomsday War and was left a vengeful, tired shell of her former self, and ended up burning down the L'Mantree to show her discontentment. It took a long while for her to recover and try to heal and reconnect with others by joining the Syndicate, but even then, much of her former fire had been reduced to embers and ashes, with few resources to help her deal with her grief properly.
Character Overlap: Niki's character is the same across Dream SMP and Bear SMP.
Curtains Match the Window: Downplayed. In her default appearance, Niki has light brown eyes and blonde hair that appears to be only a few shades lighter than her eye colour.
Defiant Stone Throw: Niki's mode of protest. She's practically the only one in Manberg willing to publicly rebel against Schlatt (with the others either in exile in Pogtopia, being The Mole, or too afraid to do anything drastic), and has torn into him on multiple occasions. One such blowup at the Manberg Festival winds up getting her exiled after Schlatt finally had enough.
Dragged Off to Hell: In an attempt to appeal to George, DreamXD "pranks" her by sending her to the Afterlife for a few seconds (sixteen minutes in Afterlife-time). By the time she comes back, she's been reduced to a sobbing mess.
Expository Hairstyle Change: After she decides to seek revenge on Tommy with Jack Manifold's help, she cuts her long hair into a shorter style and dyes it bright pink.
Face–Heel Turn: She burned down the L'Mantree during Doomsday, and committed to getting revenge on Tommy after having decided that he is the source of her problems no matter the cost. She has since had a Heel Realization and is working towards healing in a more healthy manner.
Fisher King: On a smaller, mundane scale. The state of Niki's bakery symbolizes her mental health; as her content creator counterpart says during the "Dream SMP Reunion" panel at TwitchCon 2022, when the bakery is open and she's baking, she's okay, but when it's blown up and slowly reopening, she's hurt and slowly healing.
Foil:
- To Puffy. Both are emotional people who are compassionate and willing to help and support their needs, and both follow their own beliefs. However, when it comes to expression, Niki tends to quietly hold grudges without anyone noticing, but she loses some of her morals, becoming more willing to hurt people who helped her before and take actions that only benefit herself. On the other hand, Puffy openly expresses her opinions, and keeps her willingness to save others and do what's best for the people. Puffy fought for L'Manberg, while Niki burned down one of their monuments. The two also have opposite relations towards Tommy; Niki planned to kill Tommy, while Puffy is somewhat of a parental figure towards him. Niki viewed Tommy as someone who brought chaos and destruction towards the adults, but Puffy views the adults as the ones who'd brought chaos and destruction towards Tommy. Much like Niki, Puffy has also eventually reached a breaking point that has caused her to fall down the path of "villainy".
- To Jack. Both were original members of L'Manburg, the only two who joined after the War for Independence, and as time went on, both of them grew to feel outcasted by the other citizens. They both even destroyed a monument of L'Manburg that survived Doomsday, the L'Mantree and the bakery for Niki and Ze Haus for Jack, after growing to hate the memories attached to them. However, when Tommy was killed by Dream, Jack began to feel guilty and started to reflect and move on, Niki outright refused to believe he was dead. And when Tommy gets revived, where Niki was able to find a support system in the form of the Syndicate, realizing she was targeting Tommy for the wrong reasons and dropping her plans to try and kill him, Jack only got angrier, abandoning his plans for change and putting his everything back into trying to kill him. At the same time, Niki turned against the people and country she was initially loyal to, while Jack was initially only to himself but eventually grew to care about the people he was supposed to despise.
Gilded Cage: Downplayed in that Manberg isn't the most pleasant place, but it's clear that Niki felt like the place was a prison and a mockery of what L'Manberg was, i.e. Manburg was a totalitarian state when L'Manburg advocated for freedom, being polar opposites in terms of values. That's why she wasn't all too upset when Schlatt finally tired of her rebellious attitude and banished her via ordering her execution after the initial shock.
Graceful Ladies Like Purple: Niki's L'Manberg uniform was a lighter, more purplish shade of blue than the standard uniform of other L'Manbergians (excluding Fundy), and she was the only woman in the faction/nation at the time. At that early point in her character arc, she's also characterized by her Silk Hiding Steel demeanor.
The Heart: Niki often serves as the mediator for tense situations.
Inconsistent Coloring: Her eye colour has changed as she switches skins, from the light brown of her original skin (and most of her other skins), to the bistre (dark greyish brown) one of her current look, to even a greyish blue while wearing her villain coat.
Misplaced Retribution: Being constantly ignored, talked over, and suffering from the actions of others has taken its toll on Niki, which caused her to seek revenge. She's targeted Tommy, seeing him as the cause of her problems, and falls into unreasonable rage (as a part of her character's arc, as confirmed by Niki, the streamer herself). Tommy's death appears to have finally gotten her to realize that Tommy's just as much of a victim as she is.
Monumental Damage: During the Doomsday War, she refuses to fight, except for burning down the L'Mantree.
Noodle Incident: At one point during the Manburg Rebellion, Niki goes to her bakery to retrieve gunpowder.
Niki: Don't ask why. Sometimes you need gunpowder in your bakery. Let's get it.
Perpetual Poverty: During the Schlatt administration, Niki was heavily taxed for her rebellion, and had her valuables stolen as a result of the taxation. She remained penniless until HBomb gave her all his stuff after the Doomsday War.
Rose-Haired Sweetie: Subverted. While Niki is usually a friendly person, her dyeing her hair pink symbolized her going through her Revenge Before Reason arc.
Self-Harm: At her lowest point, Niki would starve herself and throw herself off of buildings. She stopped after joining the Syndicate, getting a chance to heal properly.
Silk Hiding Steel: At least, initially. Niki was generous and thoughtful during the days of Wilbur's L'Manburg, and was respected by most people. However, she was by no means a pushover, most notably seen after Schlatt took over, as she burnt down the Manburgian flag and planned to eventually blow up the White House, essentially leading a one-woman rebellion against him. And everything starts going downhill from there.
The Smurfette Principle: She is one of only four women on the server, and has been the only woman in every faction she's been in (L'Manburg, Pogtopia, Dry Waters, and the Syndicate).
Sweet Baker: Niki is usually a very kind person and gifted her friends with homemade cakes in the L'Manburg era. The beginning of her healing process after her Heel Realization is also symbolized by her starting to bake again.
Tomboy and Girly Girl: Downplayed. Niki is the generous Girly Girl to Puffy's bubbly and sometimes trickster Girly Girl with a Tomboy Streak, They both love baking and flowers, and have set up their own flower shop.
Tragic Keepsake: Although it's not seen on her skin, Niki always wears Wilbur's Badass Longcoat wherever she goes in remembrance of him.
Tranquil Fury: Among her friends and allies, Niki is usually kind and warm. However, when she means business, she can become very serious. This is best shown whenever she lashes back against Schlatt and his corrupt regime — for instance, when she is told to supply the country with food in spite of them antagonizing the only baker in the faction-state, she bluntly refuses.
Niki: I hope you starve.
The War Has Just Begun: At the beginning of the Manburg Rebellion, Niki states that her burning of the Manburg flag is only the start.
Niki: Oh, they should care, because this is just the beginning. Chat, this is just the beginning. (chuckles) And they should know that... They should know that. First their flag burns... (chuckles) ...and then they burn.
Was It All a Lie?: After everything that goes down with L'Manburg, Niki gets very disillusioned.
Watching Troy Burn: Niki and Fundy refused to fight during Doomsday and instead watched as L'Manburg fell, Niki personally having felt like the L'Manburg she knew had been long dead and felt no loyalty to what it had become.

"Harpocrates"

The unnamed fifth member of the Syndicate. They did not attend the first meeting, and their identity is not known as they do not feel comfortable revealing themself yet.

Affectionate Nickname: Techno refers to them as "Harp" for short when speaking about their absence to his fellow Syndicate members.
The Ghost: They did not attend the first meeting, and their true identity is unknown as of now.

Connor

In-game name: ConnorEatsPants
Preferred name: Connor
"You're just a conflicted person, not a bad person... and I hope you find what you're looking for."

Added after the second war, Connor was a old friend of Jschlatt (and business partner from SMPLive), and after getting evicted from L'Manberg, he formed his own faction, Little Penis Land, before he disbanded it after Dream's imprisonment. Connor has found himself in multiple mishaps, including getting held hostage by Techno and Tommy, finding out Karl was a time traveler, and even getting into debt with Las Nevadas. After getting arrested for stolen valor, he gets broken out during the Jailbreak and joins the Syndicate.

Connor lost his first canon life when "he was having a bad day", but the exact time and cause of death is unknown, as is his second death. However, the final death he had was at the hands of DreamXD after a plan from Wilbur to piss off DreamXD so they could come to them to fulfill a wish.

For tropes relating to this character as he appears in SMPLive, see SMPLive: Schlatt & Co.

Ambiguously Human: For the most part, Connor just appears to be a human in a Sonic costume, but Sonic being listed as one of his dubiously canon parents makes it a bit more ambiguous whether he's just a regular human or part hedgehog. Fans often depict him as the latter.
Ambitious, but Lazy: As shown in his diary, Connor wants to revive Schlatt, but only if it's not too much work for him.
i miss my friend jschlatt
im gonna solve mortality
if its not that hard tho
if its a lot of work im good
Animal Motifs: Hedgehogs. He wears a hedgehog onesie, and some fans often depict him as even being part hedgehog.
Back from the Dead: Implied with the Syndicate finale, where Connor shows up alongside the Goddess of Death, Kristin. While he claims to be a ghost in this encounter, he lacks the one defining trait of the ghosts on the server — the desaturated color scheme — and is specifically noted as having been "spiritually tied" to Rosie the sheep in some manner, likely by Kristin.
Butt-Monkey: For some reason, bad things always seem to happen to Connor when he gets involved in "Big Lore", whether it be getting tortured for information or tricked into debt to Las Nevadas. He also gets imprisoned in Pandora's Vault for using a stolen military ID he found at the L'Manburg wreckage, and even loses his last canon life by being used as a guinea pig for Wilbur's plan.
Character Overlap: Canonically the same person as his SMPLive counterpart.
Color Motif: Mainly blue, due to his association with Sonic, although fanworks often include yellow and purple to a lesser extent, referencing his old skin^notewhere he wears Wario's outfit.
Eaglelander: Connor is very keen on spreading a United States influence on the Dream SMP, to the point of making several flag replicas and spreading them around the server. He even puts one in Ghostbur's sewer home, which manages to send the otherwise meek, kind Ghostbur into a quiet fury.
Hidden Depths:
- Connor is usually a facetious person who doesn't take things too seriously, as well as a prime source of dubiously canon "cursed lore", but is also far more forgiving and perceptive of others than most of the people on the server.
- He acknowledges Tommy's actions towards him, though traumatizing, was fueled by his own internal conflict and spiral, and doesn't think of Tommy as a bad person. This greatly contrasts many other characters on the server who hate(d) Tommy and want(ed) him dead for hurting them through his spiral, e.g. Jack.
- He might also have some kind of supernatural power that allows him to be present for the "Haunted Mansion" episode of Tales From the SMP and know Karl's secrets.
- On top of this, it's notable that Connor is one of the only people who have had an unambiguously good relationship with Schlatt, and gets along with him quite well.
- His actor describes him as "lost", which is an accurate term for him. He tends to bounce between people and groups, given that his only real connection on the server died before he joined.
Hostage Situation: While occupying Tommy's house, Connor was kidnapped by Techno and Tommy in an effort to claim Techno's weapons from L'Manberg. It somewhat backfires on them as Connor is not an official L'Manberg citizen.
House Squatting: It's become a Running Gag for him to start squatting in Tommy's house (or even hotel) whenever it's left unattended.
Man Scara: Connor wears excessive makeup around his eyes. This is a holdover from Connor teaming up with James Charles in Minecraft Mondays Week 6 in 2019.
Necromancer: He claims to have the ability to bring people back to life, although this hasn't been shown aside from the non-canonical revival of Schlatt. His diary also states that he wants to "solve mortality".
Nice Guy: He doesn't seem to hold any grudges against Slimecicle for forcing him into debt to Las Nevadas, and calls him his friend throughout the visit regardless. He's also quite patient with Slimecicle as he tries to explain gambling with the slot machine to him.
Noodle Incident: When asked by Wilbur about "threatening a god", Connor says it "wouldn't be the first time". Given XD's association with time travel and Connor's suggested ability to do so, as well as the last time traveler being stated by XD to have been "gotten rid of" in some way, it calls into question what exactly this may have been referring to, which is never explained.
No Social Skills: Connor struggles with social interaction heavily, and will go as far as to avoid it ouright as much as he can get away with.
Odd Friendship:
- Connor is best friends with the manipulative and ambitious alcoholic former dictator of Manberg, Schlatt. This makes sense if you've seen SMPLive, but to a Dream SMP viewer who's never seen it, this seems bizarre in-universe. In the Tales episode "The Haunted Mansion", Glatt basically kidnaps Connor and holds him hostage, making his other friends hunt for Nether Stars to save him. It turns out he wasn't really in any danger at all, and it was just a very elaborate plan to get Connor's other friends to party with them.
- To a lesser extent, with Karl — Connor tends to be antisocial, while Karl is outgoing. The two seem to know each other well, with Connor knowing Karl's secrets and the two greeting each other fondly in "The Haunted Mansion". It's justified when you consider Connor's implied time travel abilities.
Pajama-Clad Hero: Connor wears a Sonic the Hedgehog onesie.
Phony Veteran: Mostly Played for Laughs. Connor tried to use a military ID he got from the L'Manberg crater at a Chick-fil-A to get a discount.^note This ends up being deconstructed when Sam, the Warden of the local prison, ends up arresting and imprisoning him for this off-screen.
Resolved Noodle Incident: He was unable to fully explain how he ended up in Pandora's Vault before Techno hastily inducted him into his breakout plans, but elaborated on it later — he found a military ID in the wreckage of L'Manberg, and used it to attempt to get a discount at Chick-fil-A by pretending to be the person on it. He then spent six months in jail until the Syndicate broke him out.
Retcon: Initially it was implied in a lore "teaser" shown in one of Connor's streams that he was the son of Dream. However, as the series went on, it became increasingly obvious that this wasn't considered canon anymore, as Connor has never met Dream and the extent of his interactions with him is hearing about him from Tommy, and reacting with disgust to the treatment of Tommy that the boy explains to him. In his Christmas 2021 charity stream, when asked about this, he himself says that he doesn't know if/think it's canon.
Screams Like a Little Girl: Particularly during Tommy's water torture.
Secret-Keeper: Connor is the only one who knows about Karl's secrets, though it is ambiguous to whether this refers to his time travelling abilities or his Loss of Identity.
Shout-Out: Wears a Sonic the Hedgehog onesie. His old skin used to just be Sonic.
Sixth Ranger: Connor only joined the Syndicate since Techno broke him out of prison and he wants to play more of a role in server events. He's also the only member to not have a Greek myth-based codename (yet) and is quite literally the Syndicate's sixth member.
Soul Jar: Rosie serves as one to Connor as of the Syndicate finale, with his soul being "spiritually bound" to it by a god (presumably Kristin). The exact type is unknown, as we don't see this bond long enough to see if Connor can be harmed if something happens to Rosie.
Sticky Fingers: Instead of looking for the things he needs or asking others for help, Connor prefers to ransack unattended homes for resources.
Connor: (reading his stream chat) "Ask." No. I'd rather steal.
Wild Card: A completely unpredictable character. Fans joke about how he "contains multitudes" — between the SMPLive backstory, interest in necromancy, joining an anarchist syndicate, implied time travel abilities, stolen valor, and showing up at places seemingly out of nowhere, it's safe to say no one really knows what he'll do next.

Other

Kristin

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/img_8163_7.png

In-game name: misstrixtin
Preferred name: Kristin

The Goddess of Death and Philza's wife. Initially only played as a guest, but as of the Syndicate finale she has made an actual on-server appearance as a character.

In the Syndicate finale, she takes the remaining Syndicate members, barring Ranboo, with her to the End to protect them from the incoming Project Early Dawn nuke launch.

Don't Fear the Reaper: Despite her role as the Goddess of Death, Kristin is kind and friendly, and goes out of her way to protect the members of the Syndicate by leading them into the End.
God of the Dead: Kristin is the Goddess of Death.
Goth Girls Know Magic: She has a gothic appearance, wearing a black hat and black-and-red dress somewhat reminiscent of Elegant Gothic Lolita, and is a goddess. She's specifically the Goddess of Death, so her goth apparel is thematically fitting.
Hard-Drinking Party Girl: During her second visit, she treated it like a vacation and got drunk (read: downed a bunch of potions).
Necromancer: Implied to have this ability to some extent, as when she arrives to the server, Connor is alongside her, appearing the same as normal, with his soul having been "spiritually tied" to Rosie the sheep.
Portmanteau: "Mumza", a mix between the words "Mum" and "Philza".

Phil's chat

Phil's chat manifests as a murder of crows that follows him around. Phil regularly talks to them when he's alone. See the Main Character Index for more information about them.

Niki's chat

Niki's chat manifests as writing in her journal, and occasionally voices in her head like Techno. See the Main Character Index for more information about them.

Ranboo's chat

Ranboo's chat manifests as a blend between the purple particles that surround Endermen and creatures resembling the soot spirits from Spirited Away. See the Main Character Index for more information about them.

Fungi

Niki's pet fox gifted to her by Fundy, who is accidentally killed by Sapnap.

Accidental Murder: Sapnap one-shotting him was an accident.
Knife-Throwing Act: How Fungi died. In a livestream, Sapnap pretended to shoot Arrows on Fire at Fungi and shot above him three times... before accidentally killing him with his fourth shot. Needless to say, Fundy, who gifted Fungi to Niki, was not amused, and this death triggered the start of the Pet War.
You Say Tomato: Fungi's name is pronounced "FUN-gee" with a hard 'g', because he is named after Fundy. This is contrary to alternate pronunciations of the word.

Mushroom

Niki's pet fox, gifted to her by Antfrost. Mushroom was accidentally killed when Tubbo tried transporting him back to L'Manburg, by falling from Pogtopia's top walkway.

Locked Up and Left Behind: Mushroom was gifted to Niki right before the Manburg-Pogtopia War. With the commotion of L'Manburg being nuked, Wilbur and Schlatt being Killed Off for Real and Phil joining the server, Niki completely forgot about Mushroom until days later.

Rosie

A pink sheep that lives in the Syndicate meeting room. As of the Syndicate finale, it is spiritually bound to Connor, and went to the End with the Syndicate members.

Soul Jar: Rosie serves as one to Connor as of the Syndicate finale, with his soul being "spiritually bound" to it by a god (presumably Kristin). The exact type is unknown, as we don't see this bond long enough to see if Connor can be harmed if something happens to Rosie.
Sweet Sheep: A cute pink sheep with an equally cutesy and friendly name.

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