Characters / Enantiodromia

This is the territory where spoilers run free, so beware.

Puer and Puella Magi

• Break the Cutie: All of them get broken.
  • Karkat's wish for protection ends up subverted by himself.
  • Nepeta is doomed to die and is finally killed off by her lover.
  • Vriska loses control.
  • Kanaya's life becomes anything but peaceful.
  • Terezi who was already stubborn and dishonest, is dismembered by Karkat.
• Eldritch Abomination: As a Puer or Puella Magi each of them has a corresponding Witch form, although Nepeta's and Terezi's never grow due to them being killed by the protagonist. In order of appearance: Porrim's witch, Widdermagd (Damara), Erhellen (Vriska), Kanaya's witch, and Karkinos (Karkat).
• Foregone Conclusion: It's an alien world they live in without Madoka, so they become a witch or get killed.
• Little Miss Badass: All female characters. Special mention goes to Nepeta: even before she becomes a Puella Magi, she is described as an avid hunter (which is canon).
• Magical Girl: Natch.
• Our Liches Are Different: Making a contract means having your soul ripped out and transformed into a gem, while your body becomes an Empty Shell that's remotely operated. While this does give them a Healing Factor and the ability to block out otherwise crippling pain, separating a Puer or Puella Magi from their gem causes them to lose consciousness. If they stay separate for too long, their bodies begin to rot.
• Young Troll Soldier: Although Alternians and supposedly Beforans are a Proud Warrior Race.

Karkat Vantas

Our Main Protagonist, and later, our Main Antagonist. He starts as a Puer Magi who wished to protect his friends which comes back to bite him hard. His magic can summon a sickle, can use Blood Magic in the form of Red Miles, and can shield. He becomes a witch at the end of the story.

• And Then Karkat Was A Witch: In chapter 6, Embers To Dust.
• Asshole Victim: Also up for debate. He was almost strangled to death by Terezi at the night of the murder after he tells her that Nepeta was out to kill her for their promise. If it wasn't for Terezi leaving him for dead, Karkat would've been the victim instead (which he becomes anyway).
• Be Careful What You Wish For: His wish comes back to bite him badly. It helps that said wish was (broken down to the context) incredibly selfish to begin with.
• Blood Magic
• The Determinator
• Expy: In the parallel with Turnabout Corner, he plays the role of Alita Tiala, although he is the only one who is an Expy in their actions (and looks), and not in personality. If he was, the transformation into the witch would probably happen much later.
• Graceful Loser: He freaks out a couple of times, but when he finally realizes he's a murderer, he calmly admits it without much fuss. He turns into a witch, though.
• Hates Being Alone: Desperate without Nepeta. The primary reason for Karkat to contract is to keep Nepeta (actually his lover) with him. He retains this attitude even as a witch.
• Killing in Self-Defense: Arguably. Terezi strangled him unconscious and left him for dead. He killed her shortly after regaining consciousness both due to this as well as the fact that he overheard Terezi trying to expose their secret to Nepeta.
• Love Makes You Evil: Yep.
• Pimped-Out Dress: Not exactly, the text implies it's like an alien uniform. His Puer Magi form has the feather arrangement, his Soul Gem in the middle of the feathers, and pieces of fabric tied to his neck and both wrists.
• Protagonist Journey to Villain: The entire story.
• Red Herring: He isn't the one who sealed the promise; it was Terezi. And with the sane mind she has -despite being dishonest and stubborn-, Terezi isn't happy with the consequences, blames Karkat and strangles him (so he's the victim in some sense).
• Villain Protagonist
• You Can't Fight Fate: Something he has trouble accepting with. But it's rather obvious if you know what he is and finally becomes.

Nepeta Leijon

The girlfriend/matespirit of Karkat. She becomes a Puella Magi later on. She gets stabbed by a curse, and still high at the risk of dying. Karkat kills her.

• Cats Are Snarkers
• Expy: In the parallel with Turnabout Corner, she plays the role of Wocky Kitaki minus the gangster slang (lively, Cute Bruiser).
• Heart Beat-Down
• Informed Ability: Nepeta says she can cast Charm Person on others, but also on witches probably because they've been trolls first. However, we never see it in action since Terezi interferes.
• Keet: Less than in the source comic, but she's still a very excitable young adult.
• Pimped-Out Dress: Subverted, contradicting a lot of stereotypes.
• Soul Power
• Taking the Bullet
• Useless Girlfriend: At first. Then, subverted.

Vriska Serket

The first Puella Magi Karkat meets. Wished for more control over her life. She fights with a set of dice which can summon multiple weapons. Somewhere between chapter 2 and chapter 3, she becomes a witch.

• Asshole Victim: Depending on how you see Vriska.
• Designated Victim: It is pretty much clear that her becoming a witch was a tool for the writer to make Kanaya spill the beans.
• The Heavy: Subverted, she became a witch before the fight between Terezi and Karkat happened and was as such left out of it.
• Noodle Incident: Her contracting is wrapped in mystery. As is her becoming a witch.

Kanaya Maryam

Another Puella Magi Karkat meets, via Vriska this time. The additional Team Mom who finally reveals their true nature. In the time skip in chapter 4, she becomes a witch.

• Bystander Syndrome: Slightly. Subverted when she enters Erhellen's barrier with the rest.
• Pimped-Out Dress

Terezi Pyrope

The last character to be introduced, a Puella Magi and an old fling of Karkat's who kills her.

• Asshole Victim: If she would've checked Karkat's vital signs, she'd be the killer. She also made a controversial promise with Karkat.
  • Incidentally, it goes both ways. If Karkat kept up with his attitude, he'd fall under this as well. Either way, the sympathy isn't much here.
• Combat Clairvoyance
• Expy: In the parallel with Turnabout Corner, she plays the role of a younger version of Pal Meraktis (stubborn, dishonest). She's the one who resembles their Expy the most, even their last words are the same:
  Pal Meraktis and Terezi: (Name of lively character), you're being tricked! It wasn't only me...
• Failed a Spot Check: Not checking a pulse isn't something for a trained Puella Magi to do. It could be that she just panicked and just wanted to get rid of Karkat.
• What Could Have Been: The original plan of the author was to let loose a bit more about her and Karkat's past, Dave would be mentioned as her new matespirit. However, this was abandoned due to this being set in an Alternate Universe where Dave doesn't even exist (yet).

Witches

The same creatures as in Puella Magi Madoka Magica, except they were other characters fallen into despair of course: Porrim, Damara, Vriska, Kanaya and Karkat. The witches of Vriska and Karkat play a particular (spoileriffic) role and are as such spoilers. These are the tropes all five share:

• Meaningful Name: The ones that do have names, that is.
  • 'Erhellen' is German for 'lighten up'. Fitting if you know that Vriska is a Light player in the source material.
  • 'Karkinos' shares the root with Karkat's own name.
  • Widdermagd means 'Ram-Maid'.
• Was Once a Man

???

Erhellen

^{Click here to see her.} 

Vriska's Witch form.

• No OSHA Compliance: Her barrier is very intricate.
• Meaningful Name: 'Erhellen' is German for 'lighten up'. Fitting if you know that Vriska is a Light player in the source material.

???

Karkinos

^{Click here to see him. Warning: It's not pretty.} 

Karkat's Witch form.

The crab witch with a lonely nature. He cherishes the ones that enter his barrier the most, feeding off of their life forces. He longs for the feelings he felt long ago, constantly searching for the ones that brought him company. He stops at nothing to make sure they never leave, going into an everlasting rampage at the thought of losing new friends.

• Eldritch Abomination / Animalistic Abomination
• Game Over: What his emerging triggered for the story.

• The Unfought:
  Game over.
• Walking Spoiler: Due to him being Karkat's Witch form.
• Yandere: For two reasons, according to the description.
  • In less flowery language: Karkinos is the personification of the despair Karkat felt at the end of the story (being all lonely), so he attempts to never be lonely again. For this, he tries to keep the visitors in his barrier forever. It's unknown what exactly the description implies what he does when they try to leave, but it's certainly not pretty.