History Characters / InfinityTrainSeekerOfCrocusSpecter

** He also has traits of Yusaku Fujiki. He has three reasons for him to go back on the Train, like Yusaku initially listed three reasons for why he does certain things, and he also had his own story arc of getting partnered with a non-humanoid based on them before they gradually see each other as friends (with one of Specter's reasons to get back on the Train is to forgive Easter for how mean he was). In fact, when Ai is going through a rampage, it's Specter who calmly vows to save the Dark Ignis; a role that Yusaku would obtain at the end of the series.

** After causing so much trauma by having to murder Lampetia, London did his best to get Specter to open up, and let himself take the brunt of the torture by Easter's dark half and Pyramid Head, to the point that he nearly ''died'' to Pyramid Head if it meant Specter can escape. Seeing London's selflessness made Specter do a 180 and he ends up devoted to the wrestler. However London repeatedly reminds him, and the others, that this is ''not'' a romance.

* {{Foil}}: An obvious one to Sycamore. One's a black haired scientist, the other is a white haired hacker. One uses shadows, the other uses electricity. Both of them are on the Train to search for someone, Alain for Augustine and Lampetia for Specter. Sycamore works with Pokémon while Specter's closest non-human companions are the denizens Easter and Lampetia. Also, in a very amusing meta-standpoint, the two of them are the favorite characters of both authors -- Sycamore for [=SpinnerNite=] and Specter for Green Phantom Queen.

* HypocriticalHumor: He calls Ai a "Gothic sell-out", completely forgetting that he also would fit in the Goth subculture with his pale hair and pale skin and that he's been confused by an OC that comes from a ten-year-old girl's stories of Gothic horror.

* ABoyAndHisX: A knight of Hanoi with a lightning bolt partner. He stands out as being the ''only'' member of White Gestalt with an actual denizen partner.

* CharacterExaggeration: The original ''Blossomverse'' shows Specter's bond with London in a light akin to him wanting to make amends for everything he said/did to the wrestler, almost insisting on staying on the Train so the wrestler wouldn't be lonely. ''Crocus'' Specter's feelings for London has it near full blown ''romance''/''martyrdom''.

** He's pre-Infinity Train Chloe in the sense that he ends up isolated with nothing to do by someone too stubborn to give them the time of day, and the assistants to said stubborn someone have a severe case of BystanderSyndrome, the only thing they're capable of doing is writing their thoughts down.
** In a ''Yu-Gi-Oh!'' sense, the fact that he writes a diary entry to "Easter", actually refers back to Ryou Bakura who, in the manga, wrote letters to his deceased sister Amane. And Ryou ''also'' had to deal with a pushy spirit/SplitPersonality. And both of them are pale, white-haired teens.

* LoveHurts: He crushes on Ryoken, but Ryoken either doesn't notice nor does he ''care''. London has to tell him that he needs to be direct to Ryoken if he's ever going to move on with his life.

** He's a mirror to Ash Ketchum, particularly when it comes to their interactions with Chloe. While Ash ''tried'' to make an effort to get closer to her, he didn't try to pursue her through other avenues due to Goh's "She's not into Pokémon" being the only advice he could give and he decided to step away when she refused his suggestions, not to mention Chloe had so much resentment towards this "black hole" being more than she ever could. Specter ''immediately'' steps forward and talks to her without any hesitation and, while most of his words ''are'' tainted with bluntness, he tries to motivate her more than Ash ever did, and he actually has knowledge of what Chloe has gone through on the Train with Chloe not having as much info about his cyber-terrorist past to have such disgust towards him. Ash gives compliments to Chloe, while Specter is more direct and asks how long she's going to wallow in her pity. They also have partners who can channel electricity -- Pikachu for Ash and Easter for Specter.
* {{Motifs}}: Mirrors and reflections. Specter gained spectrophobia -- fear of mirrors -- when he got off the Train and couldn't stand looking at his reflection, believing that it was mocking him. When he first fuses with Easter, he looks at himself through his cellphone (a black mirror).

** In the original ''Blossomverse'', his relationship with London would eventually grow into VitriolicBestBuds, to the point Specter spent days on his computer trying to contact London when Infinet connections stopped working. Here, it's ambiguous as to what's going on Specter's end -- somewhere between atonement, loyalty, friendship and ''perhaps'' a romance -- while London want to work on repairing the damage he did but is quickly warned to approach the situation calmly and repeatedly has to state that he's ''not'' gay in the slightest. The author notes reveal that ultimately, it's just a very deep friendship.

** While he's good at FlawExploitation and mind-games, it doesn't work on individuals who are certain of themselves and can plow through without feeling insecure, or if the one's he is giving mind games too is just ''better''. Case in point: Jonathan Chiller out maneuvers him with mind games, making Specter lose his mind once he manages to destabilize Lampetia, Easter '''and''' London in one go.

* AdaptationalAngstUpgrade: Specter already had it rough in the original trilogy, with only Tokio having it worse off than him out of all of White Gestalt, but ''Crocus'' decides to one-up it by giving him a fear of reflections, have him be isolated in the mansion of the Knights of Hanoi at the hands of the man he loves, Ryoken, and then be ''assaulted by the past memories of his train trip'' when that gets restored thanks to One-One to the point he was about to get a ''knife'' to his throat.

** Chloe and Specter didn't really interact that much in the original trilogy as Specter was back in his world by the time she ever heard about him. In here, not only do they get more interactions together, but his bond with Chloe in ''Crocus'' is more akin to a partnership in contrast to the near romantic one they had in ''Infinity Train: Boiling Point'' and ''Melancholy Afterlife''. Chloe even tells Augustine outright that she ''doesn't'' have romantic feelings for him.

* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: When it comes to boys who actually confront Chloe about their problems, he's this in terms to Goh. It takes Goh years to realize he's really been a sucky friend to her, but Specter ''immediately'' tells her to quit with the meltdowns. Technology wise, while Goh is savvy, Specter is a hacker and former cyber-terrorist. Specter also has shown signs of combat, whereas Goh is a NonActionGuy.
* AmbiguousSituation: When Pandor asks for proof that Specter truly wants to go back on the Train, Specter stabs the plush aqua heart pillow that he used as a security blanket with a maniacal look on his face. Was he showing his seriousness or was it all an act for Pandor to walk off? What muddles it is his reaction to the remains of the pillow and his mental apology for what he had to do.

* AuthorAppeal: As you can tell, co-author Green Phantom Queen ''really'' has a thing for the Ghost Knight of Hanoi, and adds a hint of psychological and gothic horror to the mix.

* StealthPun:
** Specter gained a fear of mirrors when he got off the train, otherwise known as ''spectro''phobia.
** Starting in the Cyan Desert Car, Hewie bites Specter's hand to get Easter to switch plases. He gave Specter a ''jolt'' of pain.

* TheTeamNormal: He's the most normal person in the White Gestalt, as he doesn't have his duel disk with him this time nor does he have any ability of telekinesis and doesn't have the Pokémon Gladion and Tokio carry.
* TokenMinority: He's the only LGBT member of White Gestalt and of the three heroic groups in general, specifically labeled as demiromantic by the co-author.

* UnstoppableRage: This is the trope to describe his reaction to [[spoiler:Ai's tasteless joke on Lampetia -- who just lost half her face from one of his @Ignister monsters -- that she's now a sight for sore ''eye''.]] He quickly goes from shock to ''kill the AI with the force of a thousand suns''.

* LoveRedeems: A big part of his growth is how giving him love can soften him. Lampetia's unconditional love as his denizen partner, even as he hated how pushy she could be, Easter doing their best to be a wingman when Lampetia was shattered, and London still by his side despite being the one to ShootTheDog are enough to make Specter open up in ways being with the Hanoi can't.

%%Note: Any trope added '''must''' be relatively short, concise, and free from spite. Please consider these before adding a trope.

** Once his memories return, he's the male counterpart of ''Chloe'': someone who is trapped in a cage without any way of venting out their problems and sees the train as a chance to escape and heal all while having to stand up for themselves towards their loved ones who deny them the help they seek. They also get a partner that is essentially a an {{expy}} of himself.

** In a very weird way, Specter actually is a foil to one of London's former wrestling partners, Brian Kendrick. Both are the light-haired foil who wears white (Kendrick would later wear white in his The Brian Kendrick gimmick) and their friendship/tag-team started because one was saving the other from a monster. In this case, Kendrick was going in to save London from a pummeling from Brock Lesnar while it's London who stands up to Pyramid Head to save Specter. The first time London and Kendrick teamed up, Kendrick left for Japan before returning to the WWE in 2005 -- just like Specter left the Train and ended up in Den City before reuniting. On a more humorous note, the first time London and Kendrick teamed up (in 2003), Kendrick had been going by the name of ''Spanky'', like Specter just goes by his alias -- both being a one letter word starting with "S".
** He's a mirror to Ash Ketchum, particularly when it comes to their interactions with Chloe. While Ash ''tried'' to make an effort to get closer to her, he didn't try to pursue her through other avenues due to Goh's "She's not into Pokémon" being the only advice he could give and he decided to step away when she refused his suggestions, not to mention that Chloe had so much resentment towards this "black hole" being more than she ever could. Specter ''immediately'' steps forward and talks to her without any hesitation and, while most of his words ''are'' tainted with bluntness, he tries to motivate her more than Ash ever did, and he actually has knowledge of what Chloe has gone through on the Train with Chloe not having as much info about his cyber-terrorist past to have such disgust towards him. Ash gives compliments to Chloe, while Specter is more direct and asks how long she's going to wallow in her pity. They also have partners who can channel electricity -- Pikachu for Ash and Easter for Specter.

** Do not ''dare'' insult his mother. By mother, we mean the tree that he was abandoned as a baby. He calmly dismissed [[spoiler:[=UnCerise=] until the Unown abomination mentioned Specter had a mother for a tree and it's up to ''Asher'' to pull him away.]]

* SpotlightStealingSquad: He's easily got the most focus of the White Gestalt, having not only the most drastic change in personality and circumstances compared to his colleagues, but having the most presence once he returns to the Train and [[spoiler:even getting an unique power up in the form of fusing with Easter, creating Harmonious Storm, which puts him ahead of his own teammates, ''even his leader Gladion''.]] Fittingly, he develops a friendly bond with Chloe, who's ''also'' an example of this trope. To emphasize this, he's the only member of White Gestalt to have his own sub-page, putting him at equal billing with Augustine and Chloe herself. However, Horrorland Car reveals that ''Gladion'' is the real focus of White Gestalt as it focuses more Gladion's struggles to find his calling on the Train.

** Act 2 focused on the time he spent with Lampetia prior to meeting the other Gestalt members and explaining how he felt so distant from everyone in the orphanage he grew up in.

** And finally, say any ill will about Lampetia, or hiding any information about her whereabouts, will make him flip his lid. Ai learned this the hard way.

* NoSocialSkills: Despite his silver tongue when it comes to psychologically breaking people, he sometimes doesn't understand when to filter his words. When he first meets Lillie and Lusamine, he tells the story as to how he and Gladion met -- which involved Gladion tackling him and ''looking at his crotch'' because Gladion thought it was London stalking him and London has sequins covering ''his'' crotch. He fails to notice that neither Gladion's sister or mother would react to that sort of sentence.

* SpotlightStealingSquad: He's easily got the most focus of the White Gestalt, having not only the most drastic change in personality and circumstances compared to his colleagues, but having the most presence once he returns to the Train and [[spoiler:even getting an unique power up in the form of fusing with Easter, creating Harmonious Storm, which puts him ahead of his own teammates, ''even his leader Gladion''.]] Fittingly, he develops a friendly bond with Chloe, who's ''also'' an example of this trope. To emphasize this, he's the only member of White Gestalt to have his own sub-page, putting him at equal billing with Augustine and Chloe herself.

* StraightGay: He's confirmed gay by Green Phantom Queen (technically demiromantic) with a crush for Ryoken but doesn't show any signs of it, his reactions with London not withstanding.

* TokenMinority: He's the only LGBT member of White Gestalt and of the heroic groups in general, specifically labeled as demiromantic by the co-author.
* TookALevelInCheerfulness: [[SincerityMode No, you're not misreading things.]] Once he gets his memories back and the determination to return on the Train, his outlook is ''much'' brighter than ever.

** The fact he holds any sort of ''emotion'' towards Ryoken after his first train trip that isn't pure hatred and disgust is quite frankly ''a miracle'', given that the man not only ignored his warnings about the Train, but essentially ''tortured him'' by isolating him from everybody else while calling him a madman.
** Amusingly, Ryoken doesn't understand what Specter sees ''in London'' and why Specter is willing to go back to that death trap for a man who wears sequins on his crotch.

* ThePromise: Has three main ones: go back on the Train to apologize to Easter, go back on the train to truly start a friendship with London and go back on the train find Lampetia and see her one more time.

* CommonalityConnection: He notes to Ai that he and London carry a singular trait: they did atrocious deeds to an apathetic master. Specter was loyal to Ryoken but Ryoken refused to see that right-hand man was in serious need of help. London murdered his Rabbit Tribe members to a leader who didn't feel sorry about it.
-->'''Ai:''' Oh, so ''that’s'' why you two get along so well. Seriously, if you love London so much then just kiss him already!”

** London: Initially the two were neutral until London was forced to kill his denizen partner, and their relationship was frosty until London willingly sacrificed himself to Pyramid Head if it would mean Specter could escape. This act of kindness is what makes Specter see London as someone to be close to. However, the co-author states that this isn't "love" that Specter feels as it is "companionship".

** In Horrorland Car, Specter claims his fused state is alive and kept him sane [[ItMakesSenseInContext when he gets sealed in a coffin going down a river.]] Is he saying that Storm is alive or is he hallucinating and stressed over what this car is doing to him?

* CutenessProximity: Downplayed since this is ''Specter'' we're talking about, but he does open up a little to Goh's Oddish, enough to at least get a handshake with them.

** He's a mirror to Ash Ketchum, particularly when it comes to their interactions with Chloe. While Ash ''tried'' to make an effort to get closer to her, he didn't try to pursue her through other avenues due to Goh's "She's not into Pokémon" being the only advice he could give and he decided to step away when she refused his suggestions. Specter ''immediately'' steps forward and talks to her without any hesitation and, while most of his words ''are'' tainted with bluntness, he tries to motivate her more than Ash ever did, and he actually has knowledge of what Chloe has gone through on the Train. Ash gives compliments to Chloe, while Specter is more direct and asks how long she's going to wallow in her pity. They also have partners who can channel electricity -- Pikachu for Ash and Easter for Specter.

* NoSocialSkills: Despite his silver tongue when it comes to psychologically breaking people, he sometimes doesn't understand when to filter his words. When he first meets Lillie, he tells the story as to how he and Gladion met -- which involved Gladion tackling him and ''looking at his crotch''.
* OnceDoneNeverForgotten: For all the redemption that Specter is trying to work on, he's not in the clean and has a ''lot'' of sins on his hand.s

* AchillesHeel: While he's good at FlawExploitation and mind-games, it doesn't work on individuals who are certain of themselves and can plow through without feeling insecure, or if the one's he is giving mind games too is just ''better''. Case in point: Jonathan Chiller out maneuvers him with mind games, making Specter lose his mind once he manages to destabilize Lampetia, Easter '''and''' London in one go.

** He's a mirror to Ash Ketchum, particularly when it comes to their interactions with Chloe. While Ash ''tried'' to make an effort to get closer to her, he didn't try to pursue her through other avenues due to Goh's "She's not into Pokémon" being the only advice he could give and he decided to step away when she refused his suggestions. Specter ''immediately'' steps forward and talks to her without any hesitation and, while most of his words ''are'' tainted with bluntness, he tries to motivate her more than Ash ever did, and he actually has knowledge of what Chloe has gone through on the Train. They also have partners who can channel electricity -- Pikachu for Ash and Easter for Specter.