Orpheus | Alice | Survivors (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3) | Hunters (Part 1, Part 2) | Others
Warning! All spoilers below are unmarked.
Orphy
- It's virtually impossible to list tropes for these characters without spoiling everything or creating Self-Fulfilling Spoilers since the whole existence of his identities already reveals a large part of the game's main lore.
Orpheus was once a famous crime novelist, but after being rescued from a fire about 10 years ago, he lost all his memories. His body recovered, but his memories never returned. Unable to do anything about his memory, Orpheus accepted his new lifestyle and founded his own detective agency. However, he received no good cases and turned back to drinking. Orpheus would awaken the next day to find cuts all over his body, with objects that he never would've touched normally. Even after Orpheus stopped drinking, days would mysteriously get skipped over with increasing frequency. He eventually found the source of his problem from the looks from his neighbors: he didn't lose track of the days at all, but instead, another persona awakened inside him, his old self.
Orpheus was the first protagonist of the Identity V series, and the main character of the event "Time of Reunion", at the same time it is implied to be the Big Bad of the story who at some point in his life lost most of his memories.
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Orpheus
The Detective Villain Charm
- No Name Given: Orpheus is admittedly his pseudonym, and his real name is not known. Alice this Lampshades twice when questioning his lack of last name and thinking his true identity might be her childhood friend/adopted brother.
- Same Character, But Different: As of season 30, there are at least 5 different versions of Orpheus found in the game. These are the Detective (the game's original protagonist), Villain Charm (the detective's dark counterpart), the Novelist (his survivor persona and young self), "Nightmare" (his hunter persona) and “Illusion” (the Journalist’s unique item and a representation of Orpheus’ childhood self).
The Detective
The Detective
Voiced by: Liu Beichen (Chinese), Shin-ichiro Miki (Japanese), Scott Whyte (English)
- The Alcoholic: Was this prior to the start of the game.
- Ambiguous Situation: The translated version of his backstory (provided in the Chinese version of the game) contains info strikingly similar to what was revealed in Burke's deductions (particularly on the matter of the DeRoss family), and later reveals that the fire Orpheus was rescued from occurred at Oletus Manor. If this remains canon is this an implication that Orpheus was a past survivor? Or was he, prior to losing his memories, the Lord of the Manor, Baron DeRoss? The Time of Reunion expansion, which implements the aforementioned backstory into the game, and the Nightmare's Background Story trailer, imply both to have been the case. "Ashes of Memory" implies the truth may not have been so simple...
- Amnesiac Hero: Lost his memory in an accident ten years before the start of the game's main story. Although the hero part may be questionable.
- Animal Motifs: He is often associated with corvids such as ravens and crows. His hunter form wears a plague doctor mask made to resemble a raven.
- Female Gaze: He's shown naked in the animated tale "DA CAPO". His bare buttocks are very briefly seen.
- Good Hair, Evil Hair: From time-to-time, promotional art depicts him with a goatee. It is unclear if this is meant to be symbolic.
- Most Writers Are Writers: A former best-selling novelist. That being said, this trope is not completely in play, due to his amnesia preventing him from regaining his former talent at writing.
- Out of Focus: Hasn't been focused on for quite a while, with the game instead choosing to focus on the lore present in the deductions and Character Day letters of both new and old playable characters. Fortunately, he came roaring back to prominence following the release of the Time of Reunion expansion pack, which not only expanded on the main story of the game, but also led to the release of both his Survivor and Hunter persona.
- However, with the game's main storyline having been confirmed to have reached the - potentially temporary - end of its timeline following the conclusion of the Time of Reunion expansion, and instead moving on to chronicling Alice DeRoss' investigation of the manor a decade earlier, it would appear that Orpheus's Detective persona has once again being pushed out of the spotlight.
- Private Detective: Became one after he failed to readjust to his life as a famous writer after the accident that left him with amnesia. A strange request from a commission letter leads to him investigating a strange manor with a dark past...
- Split Personality: Is theorized to have one by his neighbors.
- Unreliable Narrator: While the presence of his amnesia and the manor's hallucinogenic memory altering drugs, along with the whole Split Personality situation, made it quite clear that Orpheus's slow recollection of the past may not be 100% accurate, both the final scene of the Time of Reunion expansion, and the entirety of the first part of the Ashes of Memory expansion, the latter taking place from the perspective of the much more mentally sound Alice DeRoss, make it clear just how inaccurate Orpheus's theories about his history with the manor actually are. To wit;
- Orpheus's perspective in Time of Reunion presents him as the son of the DeRoss couple, orphaned after the murder of his parents and sent to an orphanage by his relatives. According to Orpheus, some time after achieving fame as a novelist, he made the decision to come to the manor after being invited by the manor's owner on the condition of said owner providing Orpheus some clues to help in his investigation of the death of his parents. Orpheus would then go on to participate in a number of games held at the manor, with the manor's drugs fracturing his mind and eroding his memories all the while. Eventually, he managed to uncover a number of the manor's secrets, before faking his death, continuing to investigate the secrets of the manor and the "Nightmare" while the games continued. Eventually, a "Little Girl" and her mother would arrive at the manor; said pair would stir up unexpected feelings inside of Orpheus. Following the tragic death of the mother, Orpheus would wait for the chance to enter the manor's secret study to search for clues that could help him piece together his past. After coming to the realization that he had never truly escaped from the "Nightmare", and drinking a bottle of strange medicine labeled "Rebuild Memory", Orpheus realized that the mother and daughter were respectively his wife and daughter and that he was the "Orphy" mentioned in the girl's diary that she had come to the manor to find. Orpheus rushed to save his "daughter", only to find himself being stalked by the "Nightmare". Orpheus would seemingly vanquish the "Nightmare" after breaking the valve to a gas line, subsequently starting a fire that would damage both the manor and the forest area surrounding it, and leaving Orpheus with amnesia.
- Alice DeRoss' perspective in Episode I of Ashes of Memory, on the other hand, would reveal that she was the child of the DeRoss couple - and an only child at that - and that the young Orpheus was in fact a close former playmate of hers. The now twenty-something Alice came to the manor to investigate its connection to a number of cold cases, after a colleague of hers managed to obtain an invitation. It was here that she encountered the famous novelist, "Orpheus", who had recently finalized work on his latest novel, The White Stallion of Death, and offered to tell her about another book he was working on. Orpheus openly interacted with the other guests present at the manor, with Alice theorizing that Orpheus may have had some history with the other guests. The "Little Girl" and her mother, remembered by the Detective, were nowhere to be seen, with the former in fact being a picture-perfect recreation of Alice's childhood self.
- Additionally, the newspaper seen at the end of the Time of Reunion event reveals that, at the time he was found passed out in the burning forest, Orpheus had been missing for days, rather than months like one would expect one to have hidden in the manor while multiple games took place to have been. To make matters even more complicated, the final cutscene of Time of Reunion, depicts the unconscious Orpheus holding the mask of the "Nightmare" in his hand, with Orpheus's own distorted voice bidding "Orphy" farewell...
- Younger Than They Look: Looks like a middle-aged man, but is officially said to be in his 30s.
Villain Charm
- Ambiguous Situation: What he's supposed to be, and why he has button eyes is not completely clear. Furthermore, as he is referred to as Orpheus's "old self" there is the question, is he the Novelist, the Nightmare, or someone completely new?
- Jekyll & Hyde: Theoretically he should be Mr. Hyde from Detective, but he never does anything particularly evil, acting primarily as Orpheus' conscience.
The Novelist
"Orpheus" - The Novelist
A renowned novelist whose past is a mystery to all, even to himself. When he received the invitation letter that came with the flute, he knew that he had no reason to refuse. Or at least that's the story he tells.
For information on him after he lost his memory, see Orpheus. For information on him as a Hunter, see The Nightmare
Voiced by: Liu Beichen (Chinese), Shin-ichiro Miki (Japanese)
- Ambiguous Situation:
- His personal character details give his age as 22, which would seem to imply that this was how old he was during the flashback segments of Time of Reunion, which lead up to the event that lead to him ending up in a coma and losing his memory. However, a medical report present in the Oletus Manor Investigation Report gives his age as 30 at the time of the incident. Was his age at the time of the apparent final game not finalized at the time the tie-in book was written or is the age given to him in the Identity System instead how old he was when he either (a) participated in his first game, or (b) allegedly faked his death and started hiding in the manor while the games continued?
- During his exposition on his alleged reasons for coming to the manor, he takes the time to mention that he apparently hid in the cellar while the bandits ransacked the manor. Alice, who does not recall a cellar being present in the manor during her childhood, ponders if he had mentioned the cellar in order to put the idea of exploring it in her head. Is Alice's hunch correct? If it is, is Orpheus alluding to a forest ranger being the one who colluded with the bandits the truth of what happened, or is he hinting that Alice should explore Bane's cabin, something that she is revealed by Bane's fourth letter to have done at a later point?
- While being force-fed the manor's drug after being restrained in the cellar of the manor, Alice's memories provide a brief glimpse of a photograph showing a doctor wearing a monocle to the left of the bespectacled doctor who experimented on Alice who bares an uncanny resemblance to the Novelist. What this means is, as of yet, unclear.
- Famed In-Story: A famous author who ended up being one of the many unfortunate souls to come to the manor. Or so it would seem...
- Grand Theft Me: His main ability used to swap the control of characters with either his teammates or the Hunter for a set period of time (60 seconds for Survivor, 5 seconds for Hunter). He does need consent if he wants to swap with a Survivor though; In return he gets to use their skills, whereas he can only control a Hunter’s movements.
- High-Class Glass: He wears a monocle which goes with his formal attire to show him as an esteemed and successful novelist, and sets him apart from Detective Orpheus’ disheveled appearance.
- Light Is Not Good: He has a bright color scheme, but he is a manipulative and dangerous man which may or may not be the series Big Bad.
- Most Writers Are Writers: The Novelist is Orpheus when he was still a bestselling, well, novelist and regarded as a prodigal talent in the literary world. One of his notable creations is the Call of the Abyss book series that are acted out in the lore of each COA event.
- Pure Is Not Good: His S-tier skin, "Hollow", is meant to represent incorruptible purity and the way he sees himself, as an Obliviously Evil, meanwhile its direct counterpart "Abyss", a "Nightmare" skin, is his true self, a Tragic Monster who is aware that he is evil, and hates it, but also believes to be unable change.
- Renaissance Man: During Episode II of Ashes of Memory, Orpheus reveals to Frederick that, on top of being a well-selling novelist, he also dabbles in detective work. Later, after Alice awakens in her bedroom after being rendered unconscious at the Kreiburg Racecourse, the manor's butler claims that Orpheus is also knowledgeable about medicine, and provided the other occupants of the manor with a preliminary diagnosis on Alice's current condition.
- Significant Reference Date: His birthday is the same date as the game's initial release date.
- A True Story in My Universe: The Orfeo's Game event heavily implies that many - if not all - of his famous novels were fictionalized retellings of the real-life stories of the other Survivors.
- Unreliable Expositor: The reasoning he gives for coming to the manor in Episode II of Ashes of Memory, of how he was the only child of the DeRoss couple who was placed in an orphanage after his parents' murder and how he received an invitation containing a piccolo from the manor's owner whilst investigating the mystery behind his parents' murder sometime after achieving fame as a novelist, matches what he recalls of his lost past in Time of Reunion. What complicates the situation, however, is the presence of Alice, the actual only child of the DeRoss couple, whose experiences we witness firsthand, in contrast to both Detective Orpheus's unreliable recollections of his alleged past, and Novelist Orpheus's secondhand exposition.
The Nightmare
The Nightmare
The raven is often associated with a bad omen, the feared reality revived through him. Perhaps, only "Orpheus" knows about him, the memory re-lived from a nightmare.
For further information on him before the fire see "The Novelist". For information on him after the fire see "The Detective".
Voiced by: Liu Beichen (Chinese), Shin-ichiro Miki (Japanese), Scott Whyte (English)
- Attack! Attack! Attack!: Part of his ability allows him to stalk Survivors for a short time. Once he has finished doing so, his attacks are replaced with a leaping attack focused on one target he has stalked. At max presence, he can chain into two leaps to potentially catch up to a Survivor.
- Being Evil Sucks: Never said directly, but he is heavily implied to be the side of Orpheus that hates himself for all of his questionable actions.
- Dark Is Evil: He is the big bad of the Time of Reunion event, and has a dark color scheme and association with black birds.
- Creepy Crows: Wears a plague doctor mask that seems to actually be a part of his face, and has long black strands of hair, making him resemble a raven. He can also summon ravens to monitor ciphers.
- Enemy Within: The final cutscene of the Time of Reunion expansion heavily imply that he is Orpheus's Split Personality and that he continues to haunt and torment Orpheus in the present day, although there is also enough evidence to say that he is actually Orpheus "good side". Depending on how accurate Orpheus's recollection of the past in Time of Reunion is, "Nightmare" may have played this role far before the fire that broke out at the manor.
- Scarily Competent Tracker: His abilities can be used to find and keep an eye on Survivors very easily.
- Tragic Monster: Implied. His character notes and skins imply that he represents the part of Orpheus's psyche that feels bad about his vile actions.
