(Under Construction)

Syndicates

Criminal organizations who are the opposing forces to Fixers, and also often conduct raids on their Offices. They are comprised of gangsters and thugs who engage in several shady activities linked to organized crime and share a common goal. Syndicates go out of their way to prove themselves in gaining a reputation in the Backstreets such as by black markets, contraband, and hit jobs. Not all Syndicates are necessarily bad as some choose not to take the responsibilities and restrictions that being a Fixer of an Office or Association brings. Some Syndicates even exist to track down and stop other Syndicates making them resemble more like vigilantes. What's guaranteed for a Syndicate to rise into power is to raid and annihilate Offices, and the bigger and more seasoned the Office, the greater the infamy is received. Wings also will sometimes hire Syndicates as thugs to handle business matters they can't do officially. Syndicates are placed into a social hierarchy, where established ones with their powerful bosses in dictating districts at the top, but the ones that rise above all of them are the Five Fingers.

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In General

Band of Brothers: Despite being dangerous thugs, Syndicate members are unlikely to betray their own people and treat each other like comrades as opposed to Fixer Offices who are often rife with betrayals. Justified, because Fixers fear death and the negative emotional impacts caused by the death of a close one, forcing them to be as distant as possible, while Syndicates basically feed on death and thus don't have such concerns.
The Syndicate:
- It's in the name, and they can vary from typical street goons to extensively structured mafia gangs who can't be effectively controlled by the Wings, and even the Head can't regulate them as much as they do with their fellow Wings bar some fundamental laws such as gun control.
- Later, Limbus Company would reveal that The City classifies any non-Wing, non-Fixer Office organization as a Syndicate, up to and including The Associations, which are otherwise whole organisations that act as the superiors to any associated Fixer Office below them and work with the blessings of The Head itself.

The Five Fingers

Also known as the "Hand" and the "Fingers of the Backstreets", they are the biggest, most powerful Syndicates in the City who all other Syndicates who answer to, and have nigh-complete control of the Backstreets. They are so powerful that not even the Wings nor the Head can easily interfere with their activities and affairs. They have their own territory in the Backstreets and enforce different rules from the Wings and each other to dictate the districts of the City. They impose draconian measures upon their members and denizens of the Backstreets, and simple actions may result in death or body mutilation.

Higher-ups of each Finger come together on an occasion in a meeting known as the "Finger Bow-Bell" to discuss ways to effectively control the Backstreets, as well as manage their territories. Much like the Associations and their associate Offices, the Fingers also have Syndicates directly under them as their subsidiaries who assist in managing the Backstreets, and any business with other Syndicates.

In General

The Aces: They are the top Syndicates in the City, equal to the Wings and slightly below the Head in terms of authority in places they control. The Head also cannot control them as much as they could with other Wings, but the Fingers still do have to make sure not to anger the Head.
Big Bad Ensemble: They share this role in the game with the Wings, the Reverb Ensemble, and even the residents of the Library.
The Caligula: The ones we've seen appear to run on almost inane and incomprehensible regulations to outsiders, which also count as berserk buttons that are ground to brutal executions. Again, just like the Wings, they are anything but incompetent and are excellent in what they could and will do.
Cloudcuckoolander: The Fingers seen in-game are extremely eccentric unlike run-of-the-mill criminal organizations, basically running on strange rules and regulations that are subject to death sentence if violated.
The Dreaded: The biggest and baddest of the outlaws and lunatics of the City before the Distortions managed to outperform them in terms of both attitude and power.
The Ghost: Only two of the Fingers are introduced in Library of Ruina, namely the Index and Thumb, and the other three are only mentioned. Members, especially their higher-ups, with a few exceptions in the Index and Thumb, are also left mostly unknown. Downplayed for the case of the Middle Finger, as the artbook states that Tanya was one of its former executives. Limbus Company and Leviathan eventually avert this, showing the Middle and Ring in far more detail, with the Pinky seemingly to follow.
Hufflepuff House: The Fingers after the Library's books are the Index and Thumb. The other three are occupied for various reasons; the Ring and Pinky in a civil war with each other, and several sections of the Middle having been decimated by the Black Silence.
Intimidating Revenue Service: They replace B Corp as the general tax collector service in the Backstreets. Most of them will require heavy fees for the sake of sustenance, but the Index only needs its wards to do Prescripts, eccentric and oddly specific orders that are ground to execution if done incorrectly.
Quirky Miniboss Squad: A rare case where this is wholly Deconstructed and Played for Horror. Each Finger follows a specific type of eccentric habit amongst them, but unlike most other franchises where the "typical criminal gang with strange quirks" are Played for Laughs, their eccentricities are played to logical extremes and instead defines them as the fickle and dangerous groups they are.
The Syndicate: They are Syndicates, and the biggest of them all.
Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Although they occasionally come together on how to properly run the Backstreets and handle their turfs, the Fingers view each other as rivals, and don't really get along with one another, often getting into arguments and having turf wars over control of territory or other matters. The Ring and Pinky are noted to be in the middle of a major civil war with one another, and along with the Middle, are less involved in the battle for the Library. By the sixth chapter, the members of the Thumb located near the Library are decimated by the Index after one of their Sottocapi and three of their Capi are booked, while the Index themselves loses three of their Proxies and one of their Messengers, and with the other Fingers less involved, this effectively puts them out of the race for the Library.
Theme Naming: As the name suggests, all of them are named after a type of finger.

The Index

In General

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

"That's the scary part. Those Prescripts seem random, but they work out in their favor somehow."

- Roland

One of the two Fingers in-game, whose members wear distinctive, formal black and white clothing. They are unique as while they are still thugs who will kill if necessary, they are forbidden from killing anyone irrationally and don't tax their citizens with cash. Instead, taxes are handled via Prescripts, a type of order issued by Weavers to Proxies and their wards, the Proselytes and regular citizens, with a Messenger often doing the work of physically delivering the Prescripts to their targets. These Prescripts carry orders ranging from simple or vague tasks to even forced suicide or murder, and are often eccentric in nature. Those who do not perform the Prescripts will be executed without exception, and the Index takes failure to carry out a Prescript as seriously as tax evasion. The Prescripts are created and sent out by the Index's top brass, said to be an almighty, omnipresent will that can predict future events with perfection. Despite their seeming nature, every Prescript they hand out is not written at random but contains a goal in mind.

Affably Evil: The Index has laws forbidding its members from committing pointless violence, meaning that the Index's agents are generally peaceful as long as there's no Prescript commanding them to attack. Civilians are even encouraged to approach Proxies for clarification on what a Prescript could possibly mean if they're too vague or confusing, and they'll clarify best they can.
Badass Cape: All Index workers wear large white capes with emphasized collars as part of their uniforms.
Berserk Button: If they relay a Prescript to you, just do it no matter how weird or vague it might sound, or you could kiss your life goodbye. The excuse is tax evasion, since they use the Prescripts to tax civilians. In reality, it's implied that this happens because the Prescripts are the Will of the City, and thus if you don't or can't perform them means you are no longer of any use for the City.
Big Brother Is Watching: Somehow, the powers that be will know whether someone has done their Prescript or not not matter how hidden or unimportant they are, and Proxies will be sent to execute whoever hasn't done their duties with the exact location of the perpetrator, given to them by a Prescript of their own.
Bunny-Ears Lawyer: From an outsider's perspective, their organizational structure makes little to no sense, with the low-ranking Proselytes being allowed to quit whenever they want, and with their agents constantly being relayed nonsensical orders such as being ordered to extract the spinal cords of all 37-year olds or to exchange the left leg of the fourteenth person they come across with the right leg of the twenty-sixth person they come across. Despite all of this, carrying out the Prescripts always leads to a favorable outcome for the Index as a whole.
Chain Pain: Implied by their Binding Chains combat page, which features a person being wrapped by multiple chains. All named characters are shown to be able to summon chains, which sometimes have a pointed blade at the end. It is perhaps symbolic of their lives being bound to the Prescripts, especially considering they have been shown to be used to pull the unfortunate target towards them at quite some force as well, like in Gloria's mass attack.
Flower Motifs: Blue aconite (wolfsbane) according to the artbook, as depicted in their icon (more clearly seen in Distorted Yan's icon.) A poisonous flower symbolizing caution and death.
Gambit Roulette: No matter how nonsensical the Prescript may be, the Prescripts always lead to a favorable outcome for the Index in the end. For example, one Prescript demanded the Index to send a group of their Proselytes to the Library where the Proselytes would certainly meet their end. Sending the Proselytes into the Library, however, leads to one of the Thumb's Sottocapo and his subordinate Capi being lured into the Library to retrieve the books of the Index Proselytes, ultimately leading to the deaths of said Sottocapo and Capi allowing the Index to easily take control of L Corp's Nest.
Graceful Loser: Befitting their fatalistic mindset, all members of the Index accept their defeat upon being killed in the Library. At the very worst, they just express confusion as to how it had to end in such a way.
Grayscale of Evil: All of their workers wear uniforms in various shades of black and white, with some rare bits of gold. All of them but Moirai even have black or white hair.
Light Is Not Good: Members are primarily adorned in white, with black and grey as secondary colors and accented with gold trimmings, but are far from being heroic. Their 'Blade Unlocked' state is also denoted by bright shards resembling myosotis petals (clarified to be aconite instead in the artbook) surrounding them.
Mystery Cult: The Index has a few elements of being a cult, such as new members of the Index being called Proselytes, and practically nobody in the Index truly knows where the Prescripts come from and how the creators of the Prescripts are so omniscient. The higher ranked members are also clad in white robes, whereas the lower ranked ones have blindfolds to symbolize their dependance on the Prescripts. They are later allowed to take it off.

Weavers

Moirai (Unmarked Spoilers)

Moirai

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/spoiler__5.png

An Index Weaver whose purpose is to maintain a massive machine that oversees the creations of Prescripts. A Prescript leads Yan to encounter her and discover the true nature of the Prescripts, leading to his Distortion.

Affably Evil: She's pretty nice for someone who leads Yan to distort.
Just Following Orders: Her justification for not rebelling against the Prescripts.
Meaningful Name: In Classical Mythology, the Moirai are a trio of deities who personify destiny and control the thread of life of every mortal from birth to death. A fitting name for someone who weaves the Index's Prescripts.
Punch-Clock Villain: Supposedly, she was selected to be a Weaver via Prescript in the first place.
Statuesque Stunner: Moirai is around 186cm tall, even taller than Olga despite being a year younger than Isadora and Tenma, two of the shortest characters in the game.
Unfazed Everyman: She seems to completely ignore the fact that Yan transforms into a Mechanical Abomination right in front of her eyes.
The Unfought: One of the only characters featured in the game that never actually sets foot in the Library herself.

Proxies

In General

Officers and enforcers of the Index who lead the Proselytes.

Cruel and Unusual Death: The second time they're seen, they're in the process of following a different Prescript: "Remove the limbs of all Thumb thugs still remaining in the Nest. And hang their bodies on skewers."
Evil Is Bigger: All three of the Proxies seen thus far are huge, easily being some of the biggest characters in the game. Gloria in particular is second only to Tomerry as the biggest so far. It's especially jarring when they're with fellow Index Messenger Yan.
Go-Karting with Bowser: They briefly chat with Argalia, who passes by just to request for the corpses they skewered, because they need supplies for the Puppeteer and Bremen, Greta, and Tanya were feeling hungry. Esther goes for this so they don't cause unneeded conflict otherwise.
Honor Before Reason: The Proxies, when given a Prescript, will see it through unquestioningly, even when it's a death sentence such as being sent to the Library, and waver not once in the process. This includes forged ones, if permitted by actual Prescripts.
Magikarp Power: Every Proxy has the passive, Locked Potential, which does nothing until after they use six unique Combat Pages, upon which they enter a Blade Unlocked state that permanently gives them +1 Dice Power and access to their exclusive Combat Page. Each Proxy also has the Combat Page Unlock, which upgrades itself each time it is used until it reaches tier 3. Although rather useless at tier 1 and 2, upon reaching tier 3, Unlock becomes a 0-cost Combat Page that restores 1 light and draws another page, making it one of the most versatile Combat Pages in the game.
Martyrdom Culture: When the Proxies were given the Prescript of going to the Library and warned of the impossible chances of success, they didn't budge once as that was what their Prescript ordained.
No Mouth: All Proxies seen thus far invoke this in some fashion; Hubert has a mouth guard around his jaw and over his mouth, Esther's is obscured by his collar, and Gloria just doesn't have one to begin with.
Offscreen Moment of Awesome: First, saving Yan from certain death in the Thumb's southern base, and later slaughtering every single member of the Thumb in L Corp's Nest.
Secret Art: Each of the three Proxies has one that can only be used when they're in the Blade Unlocked state (which they will reach after using 6 unique pages).
- Esther has Castigation, an attack that makes up for its pathetic base rolls with the ability to lower the power of any die clashing with it by 12, in addition to the main attack dealing massive bonus damage proportional to the natural roll of the die.
- Hubert has Decapitation, an attack with a very high roll on top of inflicting Feeble and a massive amount of Bleed next Scene.
- Gloria has Eradication, a powerful Mass-summation attack that inflicts Feeble on the same Scene it's used.
Villainous Rescue: Gloria rubs it into Yan that had it not been in their Prescript's best interests he would have likely been left to die at the Thumb's southern base without them stepping in. He's not grateful for what's really just another order being carried out rather than any personal feelings or attachment, which Esther does agree with.
Villain Cred: Argalia notes he enjoys talking with Proxies, as they have a "similar scent" to him, following that with how he wishes to recruit one of them into the Reverb Ensemble.

Esther

One of the trio of Index Proxies seen in-game, a tall, long haired man with an especially sizable collar and a sheathed sword. His initial Prescript is to eliminate the Thumb.

Cloudcuckoolander's Minder: Sort of. He's the one that clears up ambiguities regarding the Prescripts for his fellow Proxies, such as whether or not Gloria needs to extract the spines from every 37 year old in the Nest (the answer is yes).
Criss-Cross Attack: His exclusive combat page, Castigation, features Esther dashing forwards and slashing at his opponent from multiple angles.
Dual Wielding: Not normally, but he briefly manifests a second sword before dealing the finishing blow with Castigation.
Even Evil Has Standards: He has no knowledge of Argalia's plans, nor does he have any reason to interfere with them, but he still recognizes that the latter is playing a risky gambit and gives him a scathing threat.
Just Following Orders / Nothing Personal: Gives both of these to the Thumb personnel he's been ordered to kill by a Prescript.
Gender-Blender Name: 'Esther' is usually a feminine name.
Mood Whiplash: Compared to Gloria & Hubert's Prescripts, his was very simple; eliminate the Thumb.
Hubert: This one needs no explanation.
"Not So Different" Remark: Pulls this on a Thumb Capo who calls them out for their blind obedience to the Prescripts.
Esther: Isn't that how everyone in the city lives? We're all fundamentally the same, aside from the variation in methods.
Secret-Keeper: It is implied from his comments towards Yan shortly before leaving the Library and from his key page story that Esther is aware of the true nature of the Prescripts.
Straight Man: Serves as this to Gloria, and later to Argalia as well.
Villain Cred: Notes to Gloria that Yan has shown obedience and efficiency with his Prescripts. He himself is respected for his wisdom by Argalia, however that may be taken.
You Have No Chance to Survive: Warns Argalia that he and the Reverberation Ensemble will die while they remain "roosted" in Nest L. Come the Reverberation Ensemble's battle, every last one of them is killed and booked, making this warning true. And in the true ending they're immediately killed off by the Library following their reconstitution, the only Guests to suffer such a privilege.
Esther: ...The Blue Reverberation, as long as you've chosen to roost in this Nest, know that you and your minions will have your guts spilt upon this land one day.

Hubert

One of the trio of Index Proxies seen in-game, a large, tan-skinned man with a golden jaw brace that obscures his mouth. His initial Prescript is to exchange the left leg of the fourteenth person he comes across with the right leg of the twenty-sixth person he comes across that day.

Badass Armfold: His default stance in his cutscene portrait.
BFS: A large, curved one. It's big enough that he drags it across the floor in his move animation.
Blood Knight: Shows signs of it, stating foremost his willingness to participate in a war with the Thumb as ordered by a Prescript. Later, he describes the limbless Thumb personnel struggling to live after being impaled as "magnificent."
Cool and Unusual Punishment: His Prescript of swapping the 14th person's left leg with the 26th's right leg that he met that day is weirdly specific and not even that damaging to the victims involved, especially compared to Gloria's and Esther's, but sees it out with the same seriousness as he always does. It also says something when this is what Gloria has to comment with:
Gloria: They're so out there~ It actually feels strange to get a straightforward Prescript for once, you see, Yan~?
Good Scars, Evil Scars: Has a prominent scar over his right eye, and as noted above is quite the brutal combatant.
Shut Up, Hannibal!: Shoots down Argalia's wish of wanting to include any of the Proxies into his ensemble and warns him to watch his tongue around them.
You Will Not Evade Me: His exclusive combat page, Decapitation, features Hubert throwing a chain to bring his target towards them before dealing a single, powerful swing to decapitate his victim.

Gloria

One of the trio of Index Proxies seen in-game, Gloria is a large, hulking, mechanical creature with a single red eye and multiple arms hidden under a large cloak. The arms are actually blades which can cut opponents easily. Gloria speaks in the high-pitched voice of a young girl and has a childish, carnage-happy personality.

All-Encompassing Mantle: Gloria has the hugest cloak of the Proxies. It covers Gloria's entire body, only revealing Gloria's arms and head.
Cute and Psycho: Gloria seems to be a bit too enthusiastic for the fresh smell of blood from someone who failed a Prescript. Unlike the largely stoic Hubert and Esther, Gloria is noticeably a lot more childish and sadistic.
Cyber Cyclops: Gloria's only facial feature is a large red eye.
Establishing Character Moment: This huge, cloaked machine introduces itself by speaking like a young girl with the voice to match, and confronts an artist who was unable to fulfill his Prescript due to vague wording ("kill" the art he's made, which he interpreted as destroying his actual work and was outraged when Gloria explains that it was easy to just find someone as a model and kill them instead) and executes him moments after with childish cheerfulness.
Et Tu, Brute?: Doesn't handle the revelation that Yan was giving them illegitimate Prescripts well.
Genki Girl: Gloria's speech is almost always cheerful and doesn't lose its energetic tone even when Gloria is upset.
Lightning Bruiser: Despite being a hulking mechanical monstrosity, Gloria is incredibly fast. The game's art book gives Gloria's personal specialty as "High Mobility".
Mechanical Abomination: Gloria is a towering, robotic suit that seemingly doesn't have an actual body, larger and taller than most humans in the game at a whopping 250 cm of height, only outmatched by Tomerry at 350 cm.
Multi-Armed and Dangerous: The arms hidden inside Gloria's robes are actually blades fit to slice someone into bits.
Vocal Dissonance: One of the worst offenders of this trope in the game. Despite being a hulking mechanical monstrosity that towers over most characters in the game, Gloria speaks in a high-pitched young girl's voice, not even with a voice filter like other mechanical characters. In the Japanese script, Gloria's verbal tics are those of a young kid's.

Messengers

Yan (Unmarked Spoilers)

Yan

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/resourcesassets_2415.png

^{Click here to see 얀샋ㄷ요무}

"Prescripts are just meant to be followed. It's not a good idea to give extra meaning or have any sentiment for them..."

A newly appointed Index Messenger who goes around delivering Prescripts, orders that substitute monetary taxes, to the Index's members and the public they shelter. His full name is Yan Vismok and he is a young man with white hair tied in a ponytail, holding a greatsword and wearing the Index's trademark black-and-white officer clothing. Recently he's been fabricating Prescripts out of resentment towards his occupation, but nevertheless got a free pass just because the Index's authorities somehow wished for the fabricated Prescripts to be carried out. He is then given a Prescript of his own, ordering him to enter the birthplace of the Prescripts, and the truth is enough to have him distort into an automaton typewriter monster called 얀샋ㄷ요무 (enlxmfflsdis in the Korean text.) He covers Star of the City Chapter 3.1.

Affably Evil: Yan handles the Prescripts and would be more than happy to execute anyone who doesn't fulfill them, but at least he's willing to admit that he's just the one handling it and he's not responsible for any of these. If any given Prescript is potentially harmful to another person with no warning, Yan may also let its recipient warn them. Yan also warns a new resident that the Prescripts are not as simple as they first appear and asks if they really want to stay in an Index controlled area. This foreshadows the reveal that Yan was making fake Prescripts to try and destroy the Index out of resentment.
All for Nothing: Yan's rebellion is for naught, as the leaders of the Index knew that he was fabricating Prescripts, but let it slide anyways because they were exactly what the Prescripts predicted anyways. It's justified even considering the origin of the Prescripts is the City itself, which the Library and the Seed of Light's corrosion had seemingly flown into.
And Then John Was a Zombie: After serving as the main protagonist for the Syndicate arc, he becomes a Distortion in its last chapter and is ordered to go to the Library, and then dies in combat.
Battle Theme Music: Children of the City, a jazzy vaporwave piece that consists of the citing of random Prescripts, representing Yan's Despair Event Horizon over how his attempts to be an individual are for naught due to the true nature of the Prescripts being written by the City's will.
BFS: Carries a greatsword almost as long as he is tall, and it becomes colossal after becoming 얀샋ㄷ요무.
Bilingual Bonus: Typing out the Korean characters of his name in the English translation (얀샋ㄷ요무) on a corresponding English keyboard, or typing out the English characters of his name in the Korean translation (enlxmifflsdis) on a corresponding Korean keyboard, will lead to his actual name as a Distortion: simply, Distorted Yan. The same is true for the Chinese translation, using the Wubi method, and the Japanese translation, using a Japanese keyboard.
Boss Banter: Throughout the fight, the song and Yan recites random Prescripts, in a manner similar to the Abnormalities and Philip due to distorting.
Boss Battle: Serve as one of bosses as the climax of Star of the City, and serves as the finale of the Syndicate arc.
Cassandra Truth: He directly warns the Thumb that sending a high-ranking member into the Library is foolish and will lead to a catastrophe, since if someone that important dies there, it will not only devastate the Thumb and risk revealing their secrets, but will doom everyone else, since tons of people will rush into the Library to claim their book. He gets his jaw removed for his trouble, but later events show he was completely right.
Chain Pain: Just like all other Index members, his boss fight consists of using chains to attack.
Dark and Troubled Past: Was forced to kill his friends and family under a Prescript's order... and then was ordered by another Prescript to work for the Index.
Death from Above: His exclusive combat page, Distorted Blade, is a mass-summation attack where he summons a skyscraper-sized sword that crashes upon his foes.
Despair Event Horizon: He takes the revelation that the Prescripts are a Tulpa born from the actions of the people, making it the literal 'will' of The City, extremely poorly in light of his earlier concerns that his disgust with the Prescripts and his rebellion were predicted and accounted for.
Dismemberment Is Cheap: Went to a confrontation against the Thumb at one point but lost his jaw and eyes. He comes back in neat condition the next time you meet him because his wounds were repaired by prosthetics. This led to an Index order to massacre all Thumb members within L Corp's Nest, and numerous Thumb Soldato can be seen being impaled on spears right before Yan delivers a fabricated Prescript approved by the Index authorities that throws them into the library to be killed.
Empty Shell: Pretty much, as a Distortion, following the "City's will" as his own. As stated in his key page story, Yan ultimately accepts the futility of his actions and, with nothing left to live for, chooses to emotionlessly go with the flow in the hopes that maybe someone else will be able to break the cycle that he was unable to.
Ensign Newbie: According to himself, Yan only took the messenger job for the Index a month ago.
Establishing Character Moment: Is given two instances of this trope. He first shows up with the Carnival, addressing them in a familiar and lax way while they chew into desiccated corpses right in front of him. He then shows up later with the Index Proselytes, where he walks about delivering his Prescripts for the day. He notably tries to assist each and every person who he hands a Prescript out to, even outright telling one woman that her Prescript of "putting needles in the birthday cake of her neighbor" says nothing about telling said neighbor about the needles in the first place. This establishes him as a person who is used to the violence of the city, is well respected by the people who know him, and is deep down a kindhearted person. It also establishes him as an immediate threat- as quoted by Roland, only someone who's a danger in their own right would walk around the Backstreets without fear as he does.
Fisher King: His background is covered in ink dripping from the ceiling, and seismograph lines within the background, while a blue light shines at the very center, representing in order, Yan's despair, what the Prescripts really are and their omnipresence, and the City's omnipotent will.
The Fourth Wall Will Not Protect You: At the final verse of the song, the singer is given their own Prescript, "don't go home until you finish reciting the value of e", the singer gives up and the song loops again, reflecting Yan's predicament.
Identical Stranger: His overall white hair, side ponytail, and perpetually closed eyes bring to mind Angela's design back in Lobotomy Corporation. Fitting as he also struggled with his agency as she had.
Giant Hands of Doom: Yan is assisted by two mechanical hands dripping with ink and connected by chains called the Right and Left Hands, serving as separate targets.
Go Mad from the Revelation: Yan really didn't take what the Prescripts really were well, as it wasn't some secret exploitive cabal that abused their power, nor a vile mastermind that controlled the Index to their whims. It was a seismograph that records the "City's will", meaning that the Index members were following senseless orders from vibrations within the City, rendering all of Yan's efforts at exerting his free will meaningless. Incapable of comprehending the Index's "god", he instantly Distorts, completely losing hope of fighting it anymore.
Inside Job: It turns out that Yan had been fabricating Prescripts for the Index and its followers as a way of holding on to his own free will, culminating in trying to send his fellow Proxies and Proselytes to the Library from which he knows they'll likely never return. To his horror, it's revealed that they knew exactly Yan was doing and yet they condoned it anyway, perfectly willing to follow the Prescripts to their deaths. An official Prescript ordered them to obey Yan's fake Prescripts, as they ultimately can interpreted as still coming from the City itself.
Madness Mantra: As 얀샋ㄷ요무; "Receive a Prescript... And carry it out..." In battle, he instead quotes random Prescripts.
Mechanical Abomination: 얀샋ㄷ요무 resembles a ghostly version of Yan with the entire middle part of his head replaced with a lock and his ponytail on a ring. His limbs all have ink dripping from them, with his arms replaced with Giant Hands of Doom connected by chains, and typewriter keys growing from his legs. His voice is also garbled and deepened, as if speaking through a mouth of ink. This even extends to the in-game text subtitles, which gain a unique typing sound while writing out Yan's dialogue.
Mirthless Laughter: After being forced to kill his loved ones and resolving to kill himself as well, Yan picks up a Prescript believing it will allow him to do so, when it instead orders him to join the very organization responsible for his situation. This is his reaction.
Older Than They Look: He might look on the younger side, but this man is actually 25 years old.
Ominous Obsidian Ooze: A black, ink-like substance covers the screen as he transforms into a Distortion. The same liquid continuously drips from his hands and lower body.
Punch-Clock Villain: Yan doesn't really like seeing all the carnage unfold, to begin with. He's just doing his job against his will and he most probably meant it.
Secret Art: Three. Baleful Brand is one of the only consistent sources of Erosion in the game, Lock possesses the rare dice-destroying effect, and Distorted Blade is a powerful Mass-Summation that also inflicts Erosion.
Shielded Core Boss: While he is targetable, unless you can find a way around it, his dodge rolls are too high to realistically attack the main body. Only by defeating the Giant Hands of Doom will he be hittable, and even then, you need to overcome his Endure cards to do realistic damage. If he's still standing, then the hands will revive at 100 hp each.
Stopped Caring: Being confronted with the truth of the Prescripts' creation and origin drives Yan over the edge, causing him to fully distort, becoming an automaton whose only drive is to carry out the Prescripts' will. He then heads to the Library by the order of the Prescripts, in spite of the danger, and becomes a book as a result.
Tragic Monster: Realizing that his efforts to rebel meant jack-all to what can be best described as "the City's will created by it's inhabitants' cruelty" and realizing he can't escape or defy it, he becomes a Distortion that blindly heads into the Library to die.
The Unfought: Downplayed, but he's never fought in his human form, and he never uses his sword on-screen. You only fight him after he succumbs to the Distortion Phenomenon.
The Unpronouncable: While the name for his distorted form varies from language to language, it's always a mass of unpronounceable random-seeming symbols in the wrong language for its localization. Played with in that it's also a cypher; entering the keystrokes that would produce his name in that wrong language on a keyboard set to the correct language for his localization always produces the name "Distorted Yan."
Walking Spoiler: Knowing about Yan's later development brings forth a lot of light to the Index's situation.
Word Purée Title: The actual name in English is seemingly a bunch of random Korean letters, while the opposite is true if you're using the Korean language setting, and it's even more incomprehensible within other languages (in Japanese, it's a combination of English letters, numbers, and symbols). That said, if you enter said letters on the proper keyboard, it translates into 'Distorted Yan'.
You Can't Go Home Again: Implied by "Children of the City" in his Distorted boss fight, assuming that it lists off some Prescripts Yan himself has taken. One order is to never go home until having fully recited to the final value of e; e is an irrational number, meaning it goes on forever.
Your Worst Memory: According to Yan's key page story, he sees himself being forced to murder his family and friends every time he closes his eyes. He can't escape the past either, because he views his present reality as even worse. Note that he always has his eyes closed.

Proselytes

In General

Artificial Brilliance: The Proselytes will always attempt to use a combat page that gains a power boost from their Grace of the Prescript passive. In addition, the Proselytes are unique in that they are one of the few guests that focus all of their attacks on a single Librarian at a time.
Blindfolded Vision: All Proselytes upon joining the Index are given a blindfold that they must wear over their eyes until they are promoted either to the rank of a Messenger or a Proxy.

The Thumb

In General

"The Thumb is the most cultivated and humane of the Five Fingers. Just be polite, and know to respect others.

- Excerpt from A Thumb Soldato's Page

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

"They execute anyone who ruffles their feathers even so slightly."

- Angela

One of the two Fingers in-game, and are noticeable by their brown and red attire. They are an Italian Mafia-themed Syndicate who run on absolute top-down obedience as a philosophy. The strictness of the hierarchy is so extreme, to the point that speaking out on a superior, or even turn or glance at one without permission will result in the harshest punishment. They take their hierarchy very seriously, those under a boss's command must follow their orders without question and enforce their rules of respect immediately, even in a middle of a casual meeting. The respect even extends to superior foreign entities, such as Angela (which was ranked as a Star of the City by the point she meets them). The Thumb is led by the Capo dei Capi (Godfather), directly him under are several Sottocapi (Underbosses) giving orders to Capi (Captains) who command squads of Soldati (Soldiers/Goodfellas) and manages the bosses of their Syndicate's subsidiaries. Rarely, a higher-up may go down in their rank if they need to attend to a specific matter that requires it, or if they need to disclose information to a trustworthy person. While their strict regulations are highly draconian, they are quite friendly towards those who follow them.

Affably Evil: To an outright obsessive and cult-like degree, the Thumb values respect for superiors above all else. When the Night Awls' leader quietly mutters out their objections over the dilemma the City is facing during a meeting between the Thumb and various subsidiaries under their control and influence, he's instantly and messily beheaded for speaking out without being prompted without anyone so much batting an eye. When the Kurokumo Clan Patriarch excuses his underling's insolence and politely states his concerns, Kalo promises to 'only' severe his left hand for his group's lack of manners. When Katriel started speaking a little absentmindedly while standing in the Library's lobby, she's told that she just spoke without permission from their superiors (Angela and the Library) and she offers up her tongue to be severed without hesitation. It ends up being why Roland and Angela see the Thumb as another brand of lunatics even when compared to the Index.
Artificial Stupidity: When you encounter them in-game. Due to a quirk in their AI they will use their melee pages way more often than they will use their more powerful ranged ones. It's easy to abuse this if one knows it.
Berserk Button: If you happen to join or even simply encounter the Thumb, never talk back against their elites. Just don't. This includes basically anyone or anything higher in rank than the offender, including an external Star of the City threat that the Thumb supposedly has no connection with. This often leads to a series of brutal amputations or even outright executions for strange reasons amongst their personnel, and for the same reason most Fixers do not want to deal with them.
Disproportionate Retribution: They treat any disrespect towards their social hierarchy very harshly. For example, if they see one of their members speak out against a superior, they'll cut out that lower member's tongue, or worse. And getting your tongue cut was already a mere warning (Granted, since they could most certainly buy a new tongue easily).
The Dreaded: If the Thumb Soldato's page is to be believed, very few Fixers want to get involved with the Thumb despite their polite nature due to the harsh repercussions that come from disrespecting the Thumb, which works on both sides.
Logical Weakness:: They're obsessed with hierarchy and respect to their superiors - getting rid of high-ranking leader figures predictably gets the underlings into a panic.
The Mafia: They run their Syndicate like an Italian-Mafia family, and aren't afraid to dismember or kill leaders of other Syndicates, especially of their own subsidiaries, for speaking out of line.
Noble Demon: They're one of the largest and most powerful Syndicates in the City, yet they are unfailingly polite towards those whom they interpret as their social betters and are just as willing to punish their own members as they are willing to punish others for any perceived disrespect.
No-Holds-Barred Beatdown:
- Their entire force in L Corp's Nest is decimated by the Index because of a Prescript's order, and many members' corpses impaled in brutal ways thank to their Sottocapi being booked. To add insult to injury, Argalia arrives to take their corpses and bring them to Jae-heon, the implication being he turns them into the Puppets you fight in the Reverberation Ensemble reception.
- In The Distortion Detective, Isabella's Thumb group, also in Nest L, is one-sidedly defeated by Moses' Office, Edgar, and the Marksman of the Mist.
Off with His Head!: Disrespect the Capo dei Capi and this what you get, as the boss of the Night Awls discovers.
Tongue Trauma: Katriel, when sent to the Library in the Thumb's second attack, only has '...' to say when they arrive, having suffered the loss of her tongue for badmouthing Angela. In a more general sense, severing the tongue is the average punishment Thumb subordinates can get for rudely speaking out without permission. The other Thumb Soldati accompanying their superiors during that reception are also silent, though this seems to be more because they know not to talk out of place.

Sottocapi

Kalo

One of the Thumb Sottocapi and the leader of the Thumb's forces in L Corp's Nest.

Early-Bird Cameo:
- Is one of the three people playing cards in the game's opening.
- Is also heard talking to Katriel during the Urban Legend chapter intro.
Decapitated Army: It's stated that the Thumb's forces in L Corp's Nest are left devastated by the loss of his leadership in the Library. This leads to them being easily finished off by the Index.
Rank Scales with Asskicking: He's an underboss of the Thumb, and noticeably stronger than the people who serve under him.
Rugged Scar: Over his left eye.
Tranquil Fury: He's very calm and collected as he orders Yan to be mutilated for his perceived disrespect.
Worthy Opponent: He views the Library with nothing but respect for reaching a Star of the City tiered threat. So much so that he considers the anomaly he's standing in and Angela herself as both his and the Thumb's superior.

Capi

Katriel

A Thumb Capo who is one of Kalo's direct subordinates, she is a young woman with purple hair and a pair of glasses. When greeting Angela, she found Angela weird and got her tongue cut off by Kalo as a result.

Badass Bandolier: Wears one that hangs around her waist carrying grenades and is a Capo for the Thumb. It doesn't see use in gameplay, however.
The Dragon: She appears to be Kalo's second-in-command despite being the same rank as Boris and Denis, given that she fights alongside him in the Thumb's reception.
Early-Bird Cameo: Is first heard during the Urban Legend chapter intro, reporting to Kalo about the upcoming war for Nest L and the appearance of the Library.
Four Eyes, Zero Soul: Despite her appearance, keep in mind that this is still a dangerous Syndicate fighter.
Tongue Trauma: Got her tongue cut off by Kalo because she questioned if Angela was a machine, something that only so slightly irritated her.

Boris

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/resourcesassets_2751.png

A Thumb Capo who is one of Kalo's direct subordinates.

Cool Shades: Wears a prominent pair of sunglasses.
Good Old Fisticuffs: Instead of fighting with a bayonet like his peers, Boris fights with his fists in rather inelegant style instead, but is no less effective for it.
Kick Them While They Are Down: As a visual treat to his Secret Art, Discipline, the final couple blows of the attack has the user knocking the opponent to the floor and wailing on them repeatedly with a hail of fists.
No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Can use the exclusive combat page Discipline, which consists of him beating down on his opponent savagely.
Red Eyes, Take Warning: It's not often visible behind his shades, but in the rare sprites where they aren't covered, Boris' eyes glow red.
Stone Wall: With his passive, Grit, automatically reducing both health and stagger damage he receives, as well as using combat pages that feature multiple block dice such as Ferrous Guard and Discipline, it can be very difficult to take Boris down.

Denis

A Thumb Capo who is one of Kalo's direct subordinates.

Perpetual Frowner: Hardly ever shows any other expression besides a grimace. The only exception to this is when he's firing his gun, when he puts on a Slasher Smile.
Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Much shorter than the other Thumb leaders, but every bit as strong.

Soldati

In General

Standard foot soldiers, the lowest rank of the Thumb.

Bayonet Ya: Considering the insane durability weapons in the City are made for, the Thumb just decided that, even if their soldiers run out of bullets, they can just use their guns as spears or polearms.
Combat Pragmatism: Compared to the Full-Stop Office and their use of limited ammo supply with only their leader having a backup weapon, the Thumb soldiers just decided to slap a bayonet on their guns so even if they're not firing off their (remarkably plentiful) ammunition, they can still fight in close quarters combat. On top of that, their AI is programmed to focus fire on certain Librarians to try and stagger them out of a fight sooner, and readily abuse their common (and reusable!) ranged cards.

Other Fingers

The Middle

One of the Five Fingers whose modus operandi is kinship and retribution. They treat their fold as a "family" (complete with their hierarchy following a familial naming scheme) and fiercely protect those under their watch, closely tracking each and every percieved infraction leveled against them before exacting horrific and disproportionately brutal vengeance against even the most mundane of wrongs. At the time of Library of Ruina, its southern operations were decimated by the legendary Color Fixer known as the Black Silence and the Syndicate is still reeling from the attack, thus making it unable to participate in the war for Nest L unlike the Index and Thumb. Their hierarchy consists of Little Brothers/Sisters that follow Big Brothers/Sisters, whom in turn are led by Great Brothers/Sisters, with the highest leadership in the syndicate being unknown.
The only known member of the Middle shown in Library Of Ruina is Tanya, a former executive of its Southern operations, as revealed in the official artbook for Library Of Ruina. Limbus Company elaborates more on the Middle and introduces more of their members.

Ascended Extra: They were just mentioned in passing in Library of Ruina with Tanya being implied as a former member. In Limbus Company, they get an elevated role, both in the past and present timeline of the game.
Attack on One Is an Attack on All: When you combine this with their penchant for Disproportionate Retribution, it's not hard to see why people are so afraid of crossing them. The Middle interprets any offense against one of their Brothers or Sisters as a declaration of war by the offending party, and will respond with an utter massacre of them and everyone affiliated with them.
Barefisted Monk: In lieu of weapons like the blades of the Index or bayonet-rifles of the Thumb, every seen Middle member uses either their bare hands or brass knuckles to fight, which is made lethally effective due to their strength-enhancing tatoos.
Berserk Button: In no circumstances you hurt one of their members or their friends or family. They will slaughter hundreds of people over this with no mercy, no matter how powerful you may be or may be not.
Disproportionate Retribution: Limbus Company shows that they take any offense against their family very seriously, and don't really care if the ones they punish are responsible or not.
- When Rodya killed a pawnbroker connected to them, the Middle retributed by mass-murdering Rodya's entire neighborhood instead of gunning just for her.
- At one point in Canto V, a Big Brother of the Middle tried to kill all of the Sinners just because they stole his coupon for a luxury hair salon.
- One of the dialogue lines of Meursault's Middle Little Brother ID has him noting that the Book of Vengeance has explicit instructions on how to enact retribution against various infractions, ranging from avenging a Brother's death to something as minor as getting their foot stepped on.
- There's also a tale where a child's family was never seen again after the child accidentally spilled ice cream on a Middle member's prized clothing, even if the Middle member's completely non-hostile response to the spill would imply otherwise.
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Morbidly deconstructed and played for horror. Their whole ideology focuses on kinship, but just like other Fingers, this is played not as an admirable trait, but defines them as the insane and horrific organizations they are. The Middle values their comrades and family so much that they will murder hundreds if you even so hurt or kill one of them.
Evil Is One Big, Happy Family: Exaggerated - Middle members are almost psychotically devoted to their 'family', and the structure of the organization reinforces this, with low-ranked grunts being called 'Little Brothers/Little Sisters' who are 'looked after' by 'Big Brothers/Big Sisters', who in turn answer to a 'Great Sister'.
Laser-Guided Karma: Implied. Their whole gimmick is endless loyalty to each other and endless retaliation to even the smallest of slights against them. Usually, this ends up causing absolute massacres of anyone even tangentially related to the person who wronged them in the first place... until they ended up in the crosshairs of the Black Silence. Someone who not only has a Perception Filter that ensures no one can be linked to them, but also ironically was themselves lashing out at anyone even tangentially related to the Distortion phenomenon. The end result of their off-screen conflict was a complete decimation of the Middle, to the point they're unable to even contest the other Fingers for new territory.
The Mafiya: They're implied to be themed after the Russian Mafia: the one named member we know of is named Tanya, a Slavic name, and they were heavily involved in Rodya and Sonya's backstory in Limbus Company, both characters themed after the Russian book Crime and Punishment.
Power Tattoo: As a whole, Middle members tend to prefer enhancement tattoos over prosthetics or weapons, with their particular brand glowing purple whenever they're being used. Queequeg also reveals that these tattoos cannot be removed normally.
Resignations Not Accepted: As demonstrated by Queequeg, the only way one is allowed to leave the Middle is if they remove every part of themselves that can be considered part of the Middle. This includes their tattoos (which cannot be removed normally), their memories of the organization and their tongue which was used to speak for them. If that cannot be done, they will find and kidnap former members and force them to rejoin.
Shout-Out: They have a big 'book of vengance' where every single slight done against any member of the group is jotted down, no matter how small, and later violently avenged, similiar to the Dwarves' Great Book of Grudges from Warhammer Fantasy.
Walking Shirtless Scene: To show off their Power Tattoos and their glow properly for intimidation, many of the members opt to go shirtless, with Little Sister Don only wearing a Sarashi.
The Worf Effect: While their decimation isn't shown, the way that it is treated serves as proof of just how strong and reckless the Black Silence is in directly targeting one of the Five Fingers and actually getting away with it.

The Ring

Absent from the war for Nest L due to a territorial disptue with the Pinky, the Ring is a Finger with an obsession with artistic expression through bloodshed and mutiliation, creating and auctioning off enormous galleries of art created from others or even themselves. They have close ties with N Corp. and its Mirror technology. Their hierarchy is determined by the number of rings they wear on their ring finger, with one-ring Students under two-ring Docents, who in turn answer to the three-ring Maestros.

A Day in the Limelight: While they are completely glossed over in Library of Ruina, Leviathan gives them a chance to shine as the main antagonistic faction, while Limbus Company also seems to be setting them up as a major threat.
Damage Over Time: In Limbus Company, the units associated with the Ring specialize in inflicting large amounts of Bleed and using it to buff themselves.
Mad Artist: The Ring's entire shtick, transforming humans into grotesque works of artwork and even assigning them grades based on them.

The Pinky

The last of the Five Fingers who was at civil war with the Ring for unspecified territorial reasons during the time of Library Of Ruina, and as such, neither were involved in the war for Nest L. Almost nothing is known about their structure, philosophy, or abilities.

The Ghost: Virtually no information is given about the Pinky besides their feud with the Ring, with the only hints being their depiction in Ryoshu's character art (a necrotic, bandaged finger with metal shards sticking out of it) and the Liu Association treating them with a special level of caution.

The Five Fingers' Subsidiaries

The subsidiaries are Syndicates which have directly subordinated themselves to one of the Five Fingers.

In General

The Kurokumo Clan

In General

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

"Looks like the Fingers are fiercely wrestling for the ownership of the Nest that L Corp. once had reign over."

- Roland

A Subsidiary of the Thumb, they're a powerful Yakuza-themed Syndicate which originated from the Backstreets. Because of their poor beginnings, they dislike those from the Nests who spectate the suffering within the Backstreets from their comfy positions. They cover Urban Plague Chapter 2.1.
In addition to their role in Library Of Ruina, they also make a brief cameo in chapter 29 of Distortion Detective. There, they set up a roadblock on the way to L Corp's Nest and try to extort Moses' group for safe passage. Ezra pays them the cost, but Vespa suddenly kills them and recovers their money.

An Arm and a Leg: With a serving of Eye Scream. Their chapter's story starts off with them extorting a couple for protection money, and when they couldn't cough up the cash to pay them anymore the trio chopped one of their arms off plus an eyeball as payment instead.
Curb-Stomp Battle: They get their asses handed to them by Tanya, a.k.a L'heure de Loup. Unable to keep fighting, they're forced to head into the Library as execution.
Damage Over Time: The group focuses on inflicting heavy bleed damage with relatively cheap cards.
Meaningful Name: "Kurokumo" (黒雲) can be translated as "black clouds". Fitting, considering the cloud patterns decorating their symbol and which they tattoo themselves with. This refers to their irezumi tattoos, irezumi being a style commonly associated with the Yakuza in Japan.
Power Tattoos: They make liberal use of this and also show them off, meaning boob windows for both men and women.
Rags to Riches: They were originally ordinary denizens from the Backstreets before rising to become a powerful Syndicate.
Yakuza: Word of God from the English translation team confirms that the Kurokumo Clan is based on the Yakuza. Their casual clothing (and Sayo's kimono) threats and extortion, katanas, and irezumi tattoos all contribute to this atmosphere.

Sayo

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dialogue_4.png

A captain of the Kurokumo Clan, she makes her appearance early during a meeting with the Carnival. After a routine run through the clan's territory for debt collection, she and her fellow enforcers encounter Tanya, and overstep their boundaries when the trio push her too far.

Bullying a Dragon: Sayo and her underlings really have a lot of fun pushing Tanya around, which comes around and gets them absolutely trounced and forced into the Library.
Dragon Lady: Given the theme of the Kurokumo Clan it seems only fitting she would play hard into this trope.
Impossibly-Low Neckline: Sayo wears her kimono really loosely, exposing her tattoos.
Katanas Are Just Better: She's always seen with one at the ready.
Kimono Fanservice: She wears a black kimono that shows off quite a lot of cleavage.
Ms. Fanservice: The most blatant one in the game; her design doesn't leave much to the imagination.
Prim and Proper Bun: Sayo's hair is styled like this to match her position in the Kurokumo Clan.
Tattooed Crook: She has a pair of tattoos on both of her shoulders, and is a member of what's essentially the City's Yakuza.
Trash Talk: Upon seeing Tanya in the flesh, the Yang has to clarify to Sayo that she's got a wolf's head.
So she’s a wolf, not a dog? Still appears to be a little bitch to me.

Yang

The second of the trio, Yang is a young enforcer of the clan who's seen accompanying the others during their debt collection.

Eyes Always Shut: Not always, one of his portraits has him opening his left eye, but for the most part they are.
Tattooed Crook: Has one on his chest which extends to both of his arms.

Gin

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

The third of the trio, Gin is an enforcer of the clan who accompanied the others on a debt collection visit.

Cruel Mercy: The one responsible for taking the arms and eyes of the freshly impoverished Nest citizens who have to live under their watch. While getting cybernetic replacements is completely possible in the City, the couple is not only broke enough to not be able to afford paying the clan, they’re in no working conditions to either get new body parts or work off their debt thanks to now being armless and half blind.
Electronic Eyes: He’s replaced one of his eyes with an amber contraption.
Younger Than They Look: Despite his graying hair, Gin is actually the youngest of the named Kurokumo enforcers at only 31 years old. For reference, Yang and Sayo are 32 and 35, respectively.

The Rumanos Cartel

In General

Another Subsidiary of the Thumb. Their forces have been crushed by the Black Silence and were unable to attend the meeting. They were soon cut off from the group due to failing to recuperate their strength.

Get It Over With: After being caught up in Roland's aimless rampage rather than try and entertain the notion of giving whatever information they have the Cartel boss insists they just kill them. His request is obliged.
You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: At the meeting of Thumb subsidiaries shown in the Thumb's episode, Kalo receives word that the Rumanos Cartel still hasn't managed to recover from the Black Silence's attack. Kalo immediately orders for the group to be "cut off" for failing to get themselves back together, which makes them useless to the Thumb.

The Ramier Family

In General

A Thumb subsidiary that attended the summit with Sottocapo Kalo.

The Queen Pin: As revealed by the voice clips for the Thumb receptions, the family boss that leads them is one.
The Unfought: None of their members were received as Guests for the Library. In fact by the time they "appear", Kalo has instructed the syndicates under the Thumb to back out of the conflict for L Corp's Nest per the orders of the Capo dei capi.

The Night Awls

In General

One of the many Syndicates that is a Thumb subsidiary. After the Night Awls' boss inadvertently insulted the Thumb's Capo dei Capi, Sottocapo Kalo issued an order to execute all members of the Night Awls, forcing a few survivors led by the second-in-command Allen to flee into the Library.

Armed Legs: One of Allen’s legs is a bladed pegleg. With his exclusive combat page, Stiletto, he pulls off some blindingly fast stabs.
Crippling Overspecialization: Enforced by their passive, Stiletto (Not to be confused with Allen's exclusive combat page which is also named Stiletto). They gain whopping +2 power on all Pierce die but are also penalized with a -2 power on all other offensive dice. This means that they'll end up in trouble against any enemy that is resistant to Pierce attacks while generally steam-rolling over any enemy that is not resistant to Pierce attacks.
Devious Daggers: A syndicate serving as a subsidiary to the mafia-like Thumb and their members utilize stiletto knives. In keeping with the deviousness Allen's page has passive called Chink in One's Armor which can destroy a block dice if his speed is 3 or greater while clashing with a melee combat page. Their combat pages have attacks that inflict Bind on hit making it more likely to capitalize on that.
Injured Vulnerability: Their passive, Mercy, has Offensive dice gain +1 power when clashing against targets with less than 10% HP.
Morton's Fork: After their boss accidentally insults the Thumb's Capo dei Capi, the remaining members are forced to either face certain death from the Thumb, or just as near-certain death entering the Library. The Night Awls' second-in-command Allen and some of his subordinates would end up choosing the latter in a desperate bid to find something in the Library that will get them back in the Thumb's good graces.
Sinister Switchblade: Even if their standing in the Thumb isn't ideal, they're a deadly syndicate all the same and those stilettos aren't for show.

The Carnival

In General

"Quality fabric is a rarity. Tailors are just as important as Syndicates and Fixers. There guys seem to be operating underground. Looks like they're eating people to make silk..."

- Roland

A Syndicate of Tailors that eat people to create silk. They are a subsidiary to the Index, although this status comes more from having to carry out the Index's Prescripts. Their abilities were actually from a Singularity held by a fallen Wing. Unlike most other Tailors in the City, they used to be fully independent before being forced into service of the Prescripts.

Ambiguous Situation: Exactly what the Carnival members are is left ambiguous. They sound like robots yet they have fairly organic, though bizzare, bodies that they use to eat people. Given the Head's rules on artificial beings and the fact that their powers originate from a Singularity that they stole, they are most likely just humans (or some other organic beings) in origin, though.
The Dividual: While they're identified as Alpha, Beta, and Gamma, and have their own voices, their only book drop is simply the 'Book of the Carnival', painting them as such.
Eldritch Abomination: When neutral they look like tall humans in black cloaks and a mask, but the moment they move for a kill they'll reveal their twisted black flesh and absurdly sharp spines and teeth. One of their cards shows that behind their masks they have lamprey-like mouths, and their coats split open to show enormous mouths filled with spines and huge pointed teeth.
Genuine Human Hide: As stated, they can make a special silk out of the people they've killed. It's surprisingly durable too.
Human Resources: The Carnival specializes in this, since they create high quality silk from humans which can be used to create workshop armor. The silk they create is infused with that person's bodily qualities. For example, cloths made from silk created from an agile person can allow its wearer to move faster.
Personality Powers: The fabric they make from eating people contains properties reflective of the person that they ate.
Stone Wall: Their fighting style makes use of their mostly neutral defenses by using plenty of evade and defend dice before winding up for a big and deadly hit through moves like Tailoring, which stacks bleed on top of its considerable damage.
Strange-Syntax Speaker: All three speak in terse, curious sentences, but are apparently much more eloquent when writing if their page backstory is anything to go by. Roland and Angela copy and make fun of their speech after their defeat, though Angela is less than amused with Roland's attitude while doing it.
Turns Red: Their passive has them gain two strength per scene if one of their own dies, making them more powerful to compensate for a loss in their trio. This passive can be applied to your own librarians once their page is acquired.
Vocal Dissonance: While all members resemble tall, nearly-identical looking, centipede-like abominations in robes and wearing a white mask, Beta most notably has the voice of a young girl that doesn't fit how she looks like, but with extra synthetic voice effects.

Other Syndicates

The Brotherhood of Iron

In General

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

"These guys are using whole-body replacements. And low-quality ones from shoddy workshops at that..."

- Roland

A low-class Syndicate of people who chose to replace their human bodies with mechanical ones so they wouldn't be burdened by human necessities such as hunger and sleep. Unfortunately, the mechanical bodies they gained were of low quality.

Blessed with Suck: While their mechanical bodies do give them slightly greater endurance, as well as the inability to feel pain, they still suffer the psychological effects of human physiology such as hunger. Unfortunately, due to the low quality of their bodies, they can't eat food nor they can enjoy otherwise simple human comforts such as a soft bed.
Chainsaw Good: All three known members wield chainsaw-swords as weapons.
Cyber Cyclops: Arnold and Mo only have one optic under their hoods.
Cybernetics Eat Your Soul: Especially cheaply made cybernetics. They're suffering the problems of human impulses and desires stuck in cold metal bodies, Consta especially is always craving the taste of food but lost every way to taste or even eat. All three members also have a hard stuttering problem to their speech.
Early-Bird Cameo: Arnold shows up twice in the game's intro cinematic, first playing a game of cards with other guests on a table in the Library, twice later being swiftly killed and split in half by Roland.
Man in the Machine: They were previously humans who replaced their bodies with robotics.
Shock and Awe: They focus on inflicting paralysis.
Terrible Trio: Three cyborgs who sold their organic bodies to fight and kill for money more easily. Although 'terrible' is stretching it, since they're still pretty low in the City's hierarchy.

The Stray Dogs

In General

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

"Syndicates have a tendency to kill more than they need to, unlike Fixers. They cause trouble just because they feel like it."

- Roland

A Syndicate based in District 22 that deals in the black market for artificial and harvested organs, ran by Gyeong-mi, Dino and Zulu. They prefer to send their own to ambush targets, though they'll occasionally send Rats to do the dirty work for them in exchange for a position within the group. They cover Urban Legend Chapter 2.1.

Band of Brothers: Though the claims of their subordinate's page story, the Stray Dogs have a tight bond and loyalty between members, unlike Offices who'd be far more likely to backstab or abandon their own despite their professionalism.
Black Market: Where the Stray Dogs tend to do business.
Dumb Muscle: While far from an idiot, Gyeong-mi is too hot headed for his own good and flies into unreasonable rage easily, killing a bunch of Zwei Section 6 members against the advice of his friends, who are now cautious of retribution they can't hope to fight against once Zwei Section 1 hears about what happened.
Genius Bruiser: By contrast, Dino and Zulu are calmer and more reasonable than Gyeong-mi, they plan their objectives out, recognize the incoming threats if they don't act fast in their goal and can deliver just as harsh of a beating as they can receive it.
Good Old Fisticuffs: They excel in fighting with their bare fists, thanks to their strength-enhancing augmentations and nano-tattoos.
Lightning Bruiser: This trio moves fast and goes for hits that can easily drop unprepared librarians to half health in a single blow, offset by the fact that they don't have many cards that hit multiple times, and the ones that they do have aren't as strong as their single hit attacks. Even Gyeong-mi, whose signature cards deal intense amounts of damage with multiple strikes, can't afford to use his best attacks for long without exhausting himself to no-lights and needing to idly recharge for a turn.
Loophole Abuse: Exploited by Gyeong-mi's signature card, Brawl. Brawl randomly copies the dice from another page in his hand on use. Brawl does not, however, copy any on use effects from the page it copies, meaning Brawl is best used in conjunction with pages that have negative on use effects, such as Gyeong-mi's other signature card, Scratch That!, which normally has a -2 power modifier on use.
My Rules Are Not Your Rules: Normally, each character deck can only have 3 copies of the same card. Gyeong-mi has 4 copies of Brawl and Scratch That! - and the latter is an "Objet d'Art" rarity page, which normally are limited to just one per deck.
No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Gyeong-mi is introduced beating up some Section 6 goons in rage due to Walter failing to deliver them L. Corp's floorplans.
Power Tattoo: Those tattoos are more than just intimidation. They actually can enhance physical strength.
Pummeling the Corpse: Gyeong-mi loves doing this while explaining how all this carnage meant to send a message to Section 6, with each word followed by a bloody punch to an already dead corpse of the goon he beat to death earlier.
Revenge Before Reason: Gyeong-mi decides that going on a killing spree against Zwei Section 6 and potentially invoking the wrath of one of the higher graded Sections in the name of "sending a message" is an appropriate reaction to Walter failing to deliver on the L-Corp floor plans. Part of why the Stray Dogs accept the invitation to the Library is fear of being hunted by Section 1 if they don't grab the plans and skedaddle.

The Musicians of Bremen

In General

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

"Looks like the Pianist left a whole bunch of nutjobs in its wake."

- Roland

A Syndicate of people who have gone mad from the Pianist's performance, wishing to recreate its performance by using humans as instruments. The Syndicate's original founders were Heehaw, Doodle-loo, Woof, and Meow while Mumu and Oink joined the Syndicate later on. Heehaw, Doodle-loo, and Woof would go on to leave the Musicians of Bremen to join with the Blue Reverberation Ensemble.

Animal Motifs: Each of them are named after the sound that an animal makes. The founders of the Musicians of Bremen are each based off of one of the animals from The Bremen Town Musicians.
Animal-Motif Team: They're all wearing animal masks, and they're named after the various sounds their respective animals make. Meow after a cat, Oink after a pig, and MuMu after a rabbit supposedly.
Black Eyes of Evil: Their masks give them black sclera and white beady pupils.
Brain Washed And Crazy: A side effect of being caught in the Pianist's song but not close enough to be absorbed into his instruments made them obsessed with replicating the music they heard the day he attacked.
Dramatic Irony: They spend their part of the chapter constantly planning and hoping for the day they create the perfect music with their next victim. Their dying words when killed in the Library, more often than not, is melancholily lamenting that their death is making the perfect music they've been training to achieve.
Foreshadowing: They make mention of Heehaw, Doodle-doo and Woof in passing, who'd show up much later in the storyline as a member of the Reverberation Ensemble.
Human Resources: In order to accomplish their goals, they butcher people and use their flesh and bones to make "instruments" for them to play with.
Mad Artist: They're homicidal musicians who seek to recreate the Pianist's music by making instruments out of others.
No-Nonsense Nemesis: As soon as the trio of Musicians left behind by the founders enter the Library, they strike Angela in the head and threaten her to her face before she has to begrudgingly let them all in.
Shout-Out: They're based on The Bremen Town Musicians.
Skewed Priorities: While standing around the lobby of the Library, they're more concerned with talking about what kind of noise a rabbit makes (MuMu's mask) than actually acknowledging Angela trying to greet them in.
Support Party Member: Their key and combat pages focus on inflicting strength buffs on their allies and various debuffs on their enemies.
Theme Naming: Each member of the syndicate is named after a sound an animal makes. Or at least, everyone's but MuMu's is.
Wham Shot: They reveal that Angela is becoming human over time when they smash her over the head, making her bleed and feel pain for the first time. In every other instance of a guest attacking Angela before, the weapon just got deflected harmlessly with a loud metal impact sound.

Meow

Alright~ I'll show you how sharp a cat's claws are!

The fourth founding member of the Musicians of Bremen and the first of the trio fought, Meow wear's a mask based off a cat and is looking after the newest members of her Syndicate.

Authority Equals Asskicking: The standing leader of the Syndicate while Heehaw, Doodle-loo and Woof are away, and the toughest member of the trio during the gang's battle at the Library.
Cute Little Fangs: True to her animal of choice, she's got long canines on display when she's smiling.
Nightmare Fetishist: As consequence of being driven Brainwashed and Crazy by the Pianist's music and being right at the epicenter of his attack, Meow goes into very loving detail describing all the people who were transformed and were assimilated right into his instrument and how close she was to joining him too, getting way more excited and carried away about recalling it than Mumu and Oink.
Older Than They Look: She looks and sounds fairly young, but she's actually 41 years old.
White Mask of Doom: Her cat mask is white and stained with blood around its eyes, and as with the others gives her Black Eyes of Evil.

Mu Mu

MuMu

Fly like a rabbit, sting like a bee~

The second of the trio, MuMu is a man wearing a bunnys mask who joined up to replicate what he heard the Pianist play on the day of his attack.

Odd Name Out: Among all of the current and former members of the band, Mumu stands out in that his name doesn't directly reference the sound that his respective animal makes. Lampshaded by the Oink and Meow who struggle to come up with an appropriate sound for Mumu's animal.
White Mask of Doom: His white bunny mask, helped by the fact it's got some faint blood on it and gives him Black Eyes of Evil.

Oink

Mumu and Meow cheered me up... I can do this!

The third of the trio. Originally a Fixer from the Seven Association's South Section 3 before hearing the Pianist's performance, Oink is an anxious man who's been practicing hard to impress the others with a great performance to match the Pianist himself, or at the very least the Syndicate's leaders, but hasn't been able to find much success.

Pig Man: His mask is themed after a pig, and despite his nervousness he's just as violent as his companions.
Riches to Rags: He laments that he's given up basically everything he had joining the band just for a shot at recreating what he heard the Pianist play. And the Syndicate, as dangerous as they are, is something of a backstreet dump considering he left an Association for it.

Axe Gang

In General

A Syndicate that consists of many members that were well-acquainted with the Fixers of Hook Office before they actually joined Hook Office.

Smiling Faces

In General

"But, there's a whole lot of fields of Fixer activity, and the situations can differ for each case, so it's hard to make a fair one-on-one comparison. For example, the Red Mist liked to work alone, but the Blue Reverb is leading a Urban Nightmare-class Syndicate as you can see there."

- Roland

A Syndicate of masked cannibals likely originating from Backstreet 23. Their masks are specially designed to inhale large amounts of smoke, which they use alongside their weapons to choke and burn their victims. They were hired by Argalia to execute Thelma, the Director of Shi Association's Southern branch, after he manipulated him to send all of his Section 2 and Section 3 Fixers and Offices to an endless barrage of Impossible Tasks just to get them decimated. Argalia also chose the Night of the Backstreets to execute him, presumably to make sure he is completely unaccountable for the crime. They cover Urban Nightmare Chapter 2.2.

Anti-Debuff: Their passive, Smokey Brume, inverts the negative effects of the Smoke debuff they inflict on themselves and others. Instead of taking more damage, they inflict more damage instead.
Deadly Gas: The first reception to introduce the Smoke debuff, making heavy use of it to strengthen themselves and weaken their opponents. One of the side-effects it has on other people is the numbing of senses, which is how they prolong Thelma's suffering as noted below.
Death of a Thousand Cuts: They're introduced torturing the Shi Association's Southern branch manager Thelma, having already made 1347 cuts from his body, with the Blue Reverberation requesting them to make a total of 10,000 cuts from Thelma's body before killing him.
Faux Affably Evil: They act friendly and warm towards everyone, including their victims even as the Smiling Faces torture them.
I Am a Humanitarian: They prefer chopping people into meat flakes and eating them.
Laughably Evil: They talk in a cockney accent and are mutant abominations whose attire can't be taken seriously, but they are extremely dangerous and gruesome cannibals.
Malevolent Masked Men: Their members wear Haehoetal masks and are one of many cannibals that operate within the City.
Vocal Dissonance: The middle, tall Syndicate member, Mi has a voice that resembles a young woman despite her appearance being nearly identical to the other Syndicate members.
You No Take Candle: All members speak in extremely garbled sentences.

Rusted Chains

In General

A Syndicate that clashes often with the Kurokumo Clan. They wield rusted, spiky chains in combat.

Cast from Hit Points: A good portion of their cards inflict bleed to themselves in return for boosting their dice rolls.
Chain Pain: As mentioned earlier, they utilize rusted, spiky chains in combat. These chains can easily damage themselves, however.

Blade Lineage

In General

Another Syndicate that clashes often with the Kurokumo Clan. They are filled with generally low-class people who have murderous inclinations.

Critical Hit Class: Their hat in Limbus Company, specialising in piling upon Poise to net as much damage as they can crit with on their third Skill.
Difficult, but Awesome: The exclusive combat page for Bamboo-Hatted Kim, To Claim Their Bones, is a 14-23 single counter dice combat page that inflicts 5 paralysis and 3 bleed for every hit. It can only be obtained, however, by losing a clash using Bamboo-Hatted Kim's other exclusive combat page, To Yield My Flesh, which contains a single 5-10 slash die but is boosted to 7-12 by Bamboo-Hatted Kim's passive. Due to this, even obtaining To Claim Their Bones is a difficult feat. Additionally, To Claim Their Bones exhausts on use, meaning Kim needs to lose another clash with To Yield My Flesh if he wishes to use To Claim Their Bones again.
Rugged Scar: They only allow individuals with scars on their bodies to join their Syndicate under the premise that people with scarless bodies are Dirty Cowards.

Bamboo-Hatted Kim

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

A high-ranking member of the Blade Lineage that assisted in founding the group after deserting S-Corp. While no reason is given in Library of Ruina as to why he and his group entered the Library, it's revealed in Limbus Company that they were on the run from the Kurukumo Clan and accepted the Library's invitation to seek respite.

Achilles' Heel: In Limbus Company, Bleed. His Distorted form only has one part and all of his attacks have at least two coins, so stacking enough Bleed on him can chip away at his health incredibly quickly. Damage sustained through Bleed also depletes the shield he creates when uses To Claim Their Bones, making the move easier to clash against. Fitting, considering the Kurukumo IDs specialize in Bleed.
A Father to His Men: He cares greatly for his subordinates, enough that their deaths are enough for him to distort.
Anti-Villain: Despite Blade Lineage being classified as a syndicate and therefore a criminal organization, all he wants is for him and the people under his guidance to find a better place in life than what S-Corp gave them.
Ascended Extra: Went from an optional encounter in Library of Ruina to the star of his own event in Limbus Company, which also expanded on his backstory and his motives for entering the Library.
Ax-Crazy: Becomes this after distorting, leading him to brutually slaughter everyone in the room with him, including his own men.
Brainwashed and Crazy: Normally the subject of a Distortion has to willingly submit to it, but the monolith that was within Kim's proximity when he hit his Heroic BSoD was able force the process without Kim fully giving into it.
Brought Down to Badass: The Sinners are successfully able to reverse his distortion.
A Day in the Limelight: Intervallo IV in Limbus Company revolves around him, where the Blade Lineage's arrival at the Library is given an explanation, and his distorted form serves as the Final Boss of the chapter.
Defector from Decadence: He and several of his subordinates abandoned S-Corp after getting fed up with the dystopian state District 19 was in.
The Faceless: His signature bamboo hat has never once revealed what the man has looked like, even expanding to covering his face with literal shadow when he distorts, a single glowing eye visible from the darkness.
Heel–Face Door-Slam: The Sinners are able to reverse his distortion, only for Aeng-du to stab him in retribution for killing his own men while rampaging. Subverted in that he ultimately survives Aeng-du's attempt on his life, and he wasn't in control of his actions when he was distorted to begin with.
Heroic BSoD: Escaping the Library with his Salsus only for them to be immediately set upon and massacred by the Kurukumo Clan caused Bamboo-Hatted Kim to regard himself as a total failure of a leader and mentor. This normally wouldn't have been enough to make him vulnerable to distorting, but the monolith in the room made him easier to corrupt.
Master Swordsman: Referred to this by Aeng-du, even stating that Kim might be the best swordsman in the entire Lineage. This turns out to be true, as in a flashback sequence we see Kim and a few other salsus fending off Kurokumo clan members. Kim is effortlessly cleaving through foes, while his comrades unfortunately fall one by one.
My Greatest Failure: Kim declares this as he watches the remaining lineage members around him get cut down, believing he has utterly failed in securing a home for his brethren and failed them as a mentor, leading him to distort shortly after.
Shadowed Face, Glowing Eyes: After distorting in the Yong-jin building due to the monolith, Kim gains this as he rampages, with a flame-like trail accompanying his glowing eye as well.
Signature Headgear: Never seen without his massive straw hat. It's in the name; Bamboo-Hatted Kim.
Took a Level in Badass: If you thought Bamboo-Hatted Kim was bad enough as is, wait until you play Limbus Company and meet Distorted Bamboo-Hatted Kim.
Walking Spoiler: Most of the spoilers in this folder pertain to his appearance in Limbus Company.
You Are Already Dead: If he hits the Area of Effect version of To Claim Their Bones when fighting his Distortion, you might as well hit the "Give Up" button then and there, as he will probably TPK the Sinners within the next two turns.

The Reverberation Ensemble

See here.

Characters / Library Of Ruina - Syndicates

Edit Locked

The Five Fingers

The Index

Weavers

Moirai

Proxies

Esther

Hubert

Gloria

Messengers

Yan

Proselytes

The Thumb

Sottocapi

Kalo

Capi

Katriel

Boris

Denis

Soldati

Other Fingers

The Five Fingers' Subsidiaries

The Kurokumo Clan

Sayo

Yang

Gin

The Rumanos Cartel

The Ramier Family

The Night Awls

The Carnival

Other Syndicates

The Brotherhood of Iron

The Stray Dogs

The Musicians of Bremen

Meow

MuMu

Oink

Axe Gang

Smiling Faces

Rusted Chains

Blade Lineage

The Reverberation Ensemble

Alternative Title(s): Library Of Ruina Other Syndicates, Library Of Ruina The Five Fingers Subsidiaries, Library Of Ruina The Five Fingers

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