Both versions of The Night Unfurls make use of the foil to accentuate the properties of the other, more prominent character. Surrounding context will be provided instead of a crude notion saying "A and B are complete opposites" in order to help understand how the foil reveals information about the characters.
Original version
(WIP)
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Remastered version
Chapter 1
Kyril Sutherland (main) vs Alicia Arcturus (foil)
In Chapter 1, The Protagonist Kyril Sutherland encounters Alicia Arcturus while preparing for his next greenskin hunt. Teeth-Clenched Teamwork ensues as the former goes on his merry way while the latter, despite her distrust, accompanies him in order to achieve their common goal, gauge his abilities, and fulfil her Goddess's task.At first, contrast is set up in roles, physical appearances and accessories. Kyril is a lone foreign mercenary, whereas Alicia is a Princess Knight with two knights in tow. Kyril is a sinister-looking stranger with dark crimson eyes; Alicia is a blonde beauty with blue eyes. Kyril's otherness is represented by his hat, mask, grey longcoat, bandolier and cleaver; Alicia's nobility is represented by her barded horse, light blue plate, mail and sword. Although Kyril's shtick as the grim Anti-Hero is already shown before Alicia's presence, it stands out due to Alicia presenting herself as a noble, glorious knight — Alicia serves to emphasise Kyril's otherness within a pseudo-medieval setting.
Kyril and Alicia both hold each other in low regard, yet they express this sentiment in different ways. Kyril is subtle about it, being nonchalant towards her glory and higher standing. Alicia, in contrast, is more overt, being snappy with him because of his otherness and lack of respect. Kyril is indifferent to her displeasure; Alicia is displeased by his indifference. During their hunt, Kyril's air of cold professionalism is at odds with Alicia's (plus her two subordinates') trepidation in the face of danger. As they arrive to their destination, Alicia is disturbed upon witnessing the fates of those taken by the orcs, but Kyril is more interested in reporting how many orcs they have to kill. The compare and contrast that occur in Kyril and Alicia's interactions help emphasise Kyril's aloof attitude.
But that's not all. It is only when the characters arrive at an orc den and fight the orcs does the real meat become apparent — Kyril outperforming Alicia by a large margin. Originally, Alicia doubted the stranger's ability to cut down orc war bands on his lonesome. In a turn of events, Kyril swiftly takes out the majority of the orcs via his Super-Strength plus his proficiency in his throwing knives, gun and cleaver. Meanwhile, the only thing noteworthy about Alicia is getting her blade stuck. Even her two subordinates, who are meant to be minor characters, end up getting more kills than she does. The immediate effect of this moment is that the story brings attention to not just "Kyril is better at combat than Alicia", but a disparity of power, strength and expertise. This disparity is emphasised further via Kyril's uncompromising brutality towards his enemies, as well as him being a head taller than his foilnote .
Subtly, the above moment serves to set gauges (or "power levels") in the minds of readers. Without Alicia as a foil, Kyril would only seem like "a guy who hunts orcs" and nothing more. The Batman Cold Open of this chapter already provides this information — the readers know that Kyril is good at killing orcs, but not how good he is in killing orcs. Alicia and her subordinates' less impressive performance helps illustrate Kyril's incredibility. No regular person or seasoned knight should be able to fight orcs head on thanks to their toughness, so tough that stabbing a blade into the gut would do absolutely nothing (looking at you, Alicia). This grey-coated stranger, on the other hand, can somehow one-shot a pair by sending two of his knives to their heads, cut off a big orc's arm like a knife through butter, and crack open said big orc's head like an egg. No one should be able to fight like that or inflict such horrible wounds, and yet, he did.
Overall, the dynamic:
- Highlights that Kyril is highly unusual (especially when it comes to combat), in a way that invites apprehension, not awe, because of the perceived danger he poses.
- Highlights that Kyril is a detached Consummate Professional.
- Highlights that Kyril disregards prestige, in contrast to Alicia, who cares a great deal.
- Drives the plot and conflict. Kyril turns out to be the agent the Goddess requires because of his skills, which sets the stage for the plot. Alicia dislikes and distrusts him for his aforementioned traits, but for the sake of fulfilling her Goddess's task of finding skilled agents to champion her cause, she has to tolerate him. This is the beginning of Alicia's beef towards Kyril (that he doesn't care).
Alicia Arcturus (main) vs Unnamed old man (foil)
Even unimportant characters can serve as effective foils, as shown from how an unnamed old man with less than two pages of screen time brings attention to Alicia's traits, fleshing out her character further.The old man is the leader of the village Idoun. He expresses gratitude towards Alicia for defending his folk from the orcs (i.e., the orc hunt mentioned above). He then recognises a familiar figure — Kyril — and shivers, something Alicia takes notice.
Like Alicia, the old man has met Kyril before. Like Alicia, he feared the grey-coated stranger and his strength. Unlike Alicia, who sees an ill omen due to her fear, the old man sees a "cordial, but real quiet" person despite his fear. Although Kyril is terrifying, the old man acknowledges that he has yet to give others trouble. Kyril minds his business and the old man does the same.
Alicia has her reasons for disliking and distrusting Kyril, but the old man's assessment of the stranger isn't as critical as hers. Besides giving our Anti-Hero some Hidden Depths, this short interaction highlights Alicia's Jerkass to One attitude towards Kyril. She's shown to be cordial to people of lower status (the old man is basically a random peasant), even blaming herself for her failure to rescue two victims, yet she behaves the opposite towards Kyril.
