Our Party Attendees
The cast of The Sexy Brutale and associated tropes. Beware spoilers as details of deaths will be unmarked. Without further ado, let's meet our party attendees!
The Guests
A preacher who is an old friend of the Marquis's. He is one of the oldest guests at the party. He is revived by the Bloody Girl at noon, even though he's normally all part of the "Groundhog Day" Loop, and her magic allows him to remember the previous day and to take control of his own body.
The story follows Lafcadio as he tries to rescue each of his friends from being murdered by the staff.
Technically, he dies at noon in the chapel, making him the first death, but the Bloody Girl's magic keeps that from being permanent.
- Absurdly High-Stakes Game: According to the origin comic, Lafcadio was the former owner of The Sexy Brutale casino mansion, and lost it to the Marquis in a game of roulette betting against the Marquis' fortune.
- Dead Person Impersonation: The Lafcadio in the time loop originally died with Sixpence. The person we see as Lafcadio is actually an aspect of the older Lucas Bondes, the part of him that wants to respect his wife's wish and stop torturing himself for her death, imagining himself as Lafcadio to draw solace from his friend's faith and strength.
- Good Shepherd: Was a close friend of the Marquis and his wife. He conducted their wedding, and tried to bring out the best in the man. But his "Sinful Preacher" moniker and various hints from other characters suggest he may not be all he appears to be. He was a drinker and a gambler himself, once, before he cast it away.
- Guile Hero: Given his inability to interact directly with the staff and guests, all Boone can do is spy through keyholes and figure out what indirect actions he can take from out of sight to prevent the murders.
- Heel–Faith Turn: Became an ordained priest after losing his casino to the Marquis — though he'd been planning on becoming one anyway, and had received his confirmation shortly before taking the Marquis' big bet.
- Intergenerational Friendship: He is visibly older than the other guests, but they like partying with him anyway.
- Meaningful Name: His surname means beneficial, or something to be thankful for.
- Mega Manning: After rescuing a murder victim, he can take their mask to acquire one of their abilities.
- Memento MacGuffin: The three key items he keeps with him through every time loop are a broken pocket watch (signifying his mistake with the bomb timers), a lighter (used to start fires), and a ring symbolising his and his wife's love.
- Parental Substitute: It's mentioned several times that Lucas deeply respects him and looks up to him as a role model.
- Ripple-Effect-Proof Memory: He's the only one of the guests aware of the time loop, thanks to the Bloody Girl's blessing.
- Second Place Is for Winners: He lost his casino to the Marquis in a bet, but the casino was heavily in debt (so it was no longer his problem) and he'd just received his confirmation of priesthood, so the loss may actually have provided the fresh start he was looking for.
- Spanner in the Works: Thanks to the Bloody Girl's blessing, he's the only one aware of the time loops and working to stop the murders.
- Sympathetic P.O.V.: Technically, a lot of the guests are criminals, albeit ones that turned to legitimate professions. But they're also a), Lafcadio's friends, b) his true self's victims, and c), not half as bad as the guy murdering them all, so that fact has no relevance to the game other than providing backstories and joke fodder.
The clockmaker and mechanic of the Marquis's, Reginald has a special connection with all of the mansion's clocks. His watch is what allows Lafcadio to travel back in time, and his special mask ability is what grants Lafcadio the ability to save the game and set his spawn point at any ticking clock.
He is the first guest to die, in the chapel at around 3:45 p.m. Almost everyone in the house hears the shot that kills him, but none of them realize it's a gunshot.
- Assassin Outclassin': He manages to knock out his assailant with a thrown candlestick if you can prevent the first shot.
- Blown Across the Room: He's blasted backwards by the servant's rifle.
- Clock Punk: His inventions typically have this character. He's also the one who fixes your time-travelling pocketwatch.
- Failed a Spot Check: After being rescued, he immediately forgets knocking out a homicidal staff member with a candlestick and assumes the prone man on the floor simply sleeping off some drink.
- Gadgeteer Genius: He designed all the clocks in the Brutale, the robotic card dealer in the casino, and incendiary devices.
- Small Role, Big Impact: He's the first Guest you save, and before you even get the full stopwatch that lets you play a full day, so you don't get much time to know him. Additionally, since he's in a location far from where you start the game following his tutorial, you won't interact with him nearly as much as with the other guests, who generally mill about more. His death also comes at around 4:00, a third of the way into the day, whereas most of the deaths happen much later, to the point hearing the gunshot across the mansion is something all the staff have to cover for when the guests ask about it. Despite this, he aided the Marquis in his plans to burn down the Casino in the first place and helped with the creation of the timed incendiary bombs. Were it not for his aid and the Marquis' error in timing them, the mansion would have never burned down with the guests still in it and the Marquis wouldn't be so wracked with guilt as to relive and remix the terrible day to the point he has.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: He was complicit in the Marquis's plan to burn down the Sexy Brutale and start a new life with the insurance money, before it went horribly wrong.
- You Are Too Late: His realisation of Lucas' mistake with the timers comes too late for him to stop the incendiary devices burning down the mansion with everyone inside.
The mansion's previous head of security, Clay met his wife, Trinity, by catching her cheat at cards. His long time in the Casino makes its familiarity welcoming to him, and he spends his entire afternoon at the blackjack tables drinking a line of shots. He has no special mask ability Lafcadio can acquire, though he is known in his family as being a prizefighter.
He's the sixth to die, at 10:35 p.m. Notable for being one of the two guests other than Lafcadio who saves another guest, the second being his brother Redd.
- Action Hero: He falls back into his old vices a little too easily, but the moment he sees Trinity is in danger, he immediately drops what he's doing and charges into the garden, fully prepared to kill a giant spider with his bare hands while almost being blackout drunk to save his wife. Even the spider was smart enough to run away from him. A note in the portrait room remarks that Gold Skull tried to kill them both with the spider in previous loops, but eventually had to resort to separating and poisoning Clay because the spider lost the fight every time.
- The Alcoholic: He used to have this issue, but was always able to put it aside for work. The staff take advantage of this by distracting him with drinks and gambling in the casino, rendering him unable to save Trinity.
- Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: The huge guy to Trinity's tiny girl.
- Meaningful Name: Many sculptors — such as his wife — work with clay.
- Men Are Strong, Women Are Pretty: Played straight with Trinity.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Back when he was the casino's bouncer, his preferred method of dealing with cheaters was to wait for them to leave, and then brutalize them in the garden outside.
- Poison Is Corrosive: Examining his corpse shows the spider venom he drank burned the skin around his mouth.
- Politically Incorrect Hero: He makes light of Trinity and Thanos' disabilities, despite his affection for them. To his credit, he acknowledges how tasteless his jokes are."I know — I'm going to hell."
- Rescue Hug: He rips the webbing apart to free Trinity and gently cradles her in his arms, hugging her against his chest in relief before he pulls her to her feet.
- Super-Strength: Not as strong as his brother, but he's able to see off the giant spider and save Trinity if given the chance.
- Tragic Mistake: Clay has dozens of drinks lined up and takes a shot every time he loses at blackjack, and one of the staff discreetly places a glass of spider venom at the end of the line. Clay then proceeds to lose hand after hand. When the only glass that's left is the venom, he finally wins! And how does he choose to celebrate? With a victory shot, of course!
- Tsundere: Type B. He asks Trinity to play cards with him; when she declines, he mutters that now he can really enjoy himself since she's not "distracting" him. Sure.
The mansion's artist and sculptor, Trinity created most — if not all — of the statues littering the mansion, and she's also created the fireplaces. She's blind, but plays cards, which is how she met her husband, Clay Rockridge. She's also the step-sister of Tequila Belle.
Her special mask ability allows Lafcadio to hear people whispering when spying through keyholes and to hear people through the walls if he's listening for noises.
She's the second-to-last to die, at 11:05 p.m., but without Clay to rescue her, she's doomed at 10:35 p.m. She's notable for being the only guest you don't save yourself, since you save Clay, who saves Trinity.
- Affectionate Nickname: She likes it when Clay calls her The Moth by Moonlight.
- All Webbed Up: Her fate is to be trussed up and bitten to death by a giant spider.
- Born Lucky: Any bad luck she gets only enables good luck further down the line. She's blind, but she developed super-senses that mean she'll never lack for money. She got caught scamming a casino, but that meant she met her future husband and became friends with the wealthy owner of said casino, who commissioned her for many art pieces.
- Bad Liar: To the point where Four Hearts claims he can hear the inverted commas when she speaks.
- Curiosity Killed the Cast: Her curiosity compels her to investigate the spider room, where she meets her end.
- Damsel in Distress: She loses her cane and is trapped in the lair of a giant spider, and will die unless Clay comes to save her.
- Deaf Composer: She's a blind sculptress.
- Disability Superpower: She's blind but has excellent hearing and touch, which in the past she used to cheat at cards. The player can use her ability to hear footsteps, whispered conversations, and door codes.
- Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: The tiny girl to Clay's huge guy.
- I Need a Freaking Drink: After being saved, she heads straight to a bar.
- Men Are Strong, Women Are Pretty: Played straight with Clay.
- Reverse Psychology: The servants manipulate her into going into the giant spider room simply by telling her not to go in and locking the door.
The antique collector of the Marquis's, Willow hails from the South and has, as the game puts it, a drop of voodoo magic in her blood. Her special candles, when lit, allow her to see spirits if any are nearby. Her special mask ability allows Lafcadio to speak with the spirits if one of her candles is lit in the room.
She knows many of the Marquis's secrets, including the little guppy hidden away in the mansion.
She's the third to die, at 6:50 p.m. Everyone in the house hears the bell as she swings from it, but everyone thinks it's just the bell ringing to call for the special event that's announced to happen at 7 o'clock in the Theater.
- Bazaar of the Bizarre: Used to sell strange curios, which is how she caught the Marquis's eye.
- Big Sister Instinct: Seems to have this relationship with Tequila, shouting at a perverted ghost despite it making her look crazy, and single-handedly trying to stop Grinmaw from giving Tequila nightmares.
- Broken Bird: Grinmaw's manipulation of her implies that she's lost a lot of people she cared about and the feelings are raw enough that he's able to convince her to join them in the afterlife. In the Old Habits ending, it seems the best outcome Lucas can imagine for her is simply to feel happy and contented.
- Driven to Suicide: Grinmaw brainwashes her into hanging herself in despair.
- Dude, Not Funny!: Lucas once arranged a 'dumb supper' (a meal for spirits of the deceased) in the hope Willow would be amused. She wasn't.
- For Doom the Bell Tolls: Her suicide causes the bell she hangs herself from to ring out across the casino.
- Hollywood Voodoo: She's described as a genuine voodoo priestess and has supernatural powers... albeit very weak ones, going by her reliance on the candles and the mockery by Grinmaw and a few ghosts.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: She locked Grinmaw away behind a giant skull seal, but his whispers still reached Tequila Belle in the next room.
- Shipper on Deck: Among her paintings is a (defaced) portrait of a couple, likely Lucas and Eleanor.
- Super-Senses: Her second sight allows her to see ghosts, though to do so she needs her special candles as well.
- The World's Expert (on Getting Killed): Is an experienced and talented practitioner of voodoo who was able to seal Grinmaw away. She confronts him to finally put an end to him once and for all... and immediately gets Mind Raped into suicide.
Tequila is an ex-girlfriend of the Marquis's. but also a renowned singer with an extraordinary voice. She's the step-sister of Trinity Carrington, who already knew the Marquis when he met Tequila. Her usual accompanist is Redd Rockridge, though she's also practiced with the Marquis.
Her special mask ability allows Lafcadio to shatter stained glass, permitting him to explore deeper into the mansion.
She's the fourth to die, at 7:35 p.m. Her body is actually discovered by another guest, who can do nothing to warn the others.
- Amicable Exes: The Marquis stopped seeing her after meeting Eleanor and she still loves him, but wishes the pair of them every happiness in spite of that.
- Glass-Shattering Sound: Her very high notes are capable of this, and her instructor was supposedly capable of shattering diamond. The staff use this against her by manipulating her into singing in front of a large glass window so the broken shards skewer her.
- The Resenter: A minor example, mainly due to her strength of character winning over her resentment. She loves Lucas and once wrote a mean, jealous piece of music about being given up for Eleanor, but outside that moment of weakness, she wishes them both every happiness. She never showed or performed that jealous song to others, and will happily sing a love song written by Lucas for Eleanor if saved.
- Undignified Death: Once she dies from her wounds, her body is hurled down a laundry chute into the garden area a floor below to be eaten by a giant spider, where it would lead to the death of her stepsister, Trinity.
- The Woobie: Her death is long and slow, and she certainly gets treated the most scornfully by the Staff and their boss.
An exceptionally good thief in his youth, Greyson acts as the security advisor to the Marquis. His job consists of trying to break in to everything in the mansion. He's good friends with Redd Rockridge, and is obsessed with the Moloch Egg, since he was arrested for trying to steal it. His special mask power grants this lockpicking ability to Lafcadio.
He's the seventh to die, at 10:45 p.m. in the magic show that's been announced earlier that day.
- Gentleman Thief: According to his biography, he'd prefer to be called a treasure hunter.
- Gory Discretion Shot: We're thankfully spared seeing his grisly death by impalement.
- Greed: His Fatal Flaw. The Marquis had a habit of taunting him with it by acquiring rare treasures Grayson wanted and hinting they could be found somewhere in the hotel.
- The One That Got Away: An item example. Greyon was arrested while trying to steal the Moloch Egg, so he was fixated on it forever after.
- Schmuck Bait: He walks up and grabs the valuable he's after immediately after Redd warns him they need to check for traps first. Naturally, he gets trapped and killed as a result.
Originally hired as a croupier in the Casino, Redd endeared himself to the Marquis and is now a valued friend to him. He is a talented musician and is Tequila Belle's usual accompanist at the piano. When the power goes out in the theater, he joins Greyson Grayson on his search for the Moloch Egg. He has no special mask ability, though he is by far the most physically strong character in the game.
He's the sixth to die, at 10:10 p.m. when the lights flicker, though nobody seems to notice the electrical problem. Notable for being one of the two guests other than Lafcadio who saves another guest, the second being his brother Clay.
- All Love Is Unrequited: It's not clear whether Greyson reciprocates his feelings.
- Ambiguously Gay: Harbors some feelings for Greyson Grayson, but it's never stated outright.
- Gentle Giant: The game points out that he's considerably stronger than his big, muscular brother Clay, but Clay ended up as the Sexy Brutale's bouncer while Redd was a croupier in the casino and a brilliant pianist.
- Senseless Sacrifice: In his desperation to save Greyson, he gets himself electrocuted. Greyson dies anyway after seeing Redd die in vain.
- Super-Strength: He's much stronger than his brother and will easily open the giant metal cage and rip out Greyson's restraints given the chance.
A renowned master goldsmith, Aurum crafted many of the artpieces in the mansion. His years of working in the forges caused him to have a heart problem that needs constant monitoring. He's willing to help his friend Thanos with his plans, but he doesn't believe Thanos's complaints are good ones.
He has no special mask ability Lafcadio can use.
He's the eighth to die, at 11:00 p.m. He is still alive at the top of the elevator shaft, but falls to the floor right after stumbling out of the elevator.
- Deadpan Snarker: He'll remark on how odd it is the wheelchair-bound Thanos didn't design the mansion with more lifts or ramps. He also notes the ghostly instruments playing themselves as creepy, but dismisses them as more of Sixpence's creations.
- Gas Mask, Longcoat: His welding mask monitors his heart rate after fumes from one project he worked on triggered a dormant medical condition (though he still takes it off when saved).
- Murder by Cremation: This is his fate when he ill-advisedly follows Thanos into the secret lift to the basement.
- Nice Guy: He can't believe the staff are doing anything to kill him, and even the staff member on the bar seems reluctant to kill him, in contrast to the coldness others display.
A master architect, Thanos is responsible for the design of the mansion. Thus, he knows almost everything there is to know about the Sexy Brutale. He's a bit cantankerous, and is known as a complainer. For this reason, nobody actually believes him when he voices his suspicions about the staff, who he doesn't recognize, or the absence of the Marquis.
His special mask ability allows Lafcadio to know the background of many rooms in the mansion. While this doesn't seem practical initially, he's the last guest to be saved, so his mask ability permits players to get more of the lore if they choose.
He's the last to die, at 11:10 p.m. The elevator descends with him still in it and his mask is on as he rolls out of the elevator.
- Genius Cripple: He's wheelchair-bound, presumably due to his age, but he's still the man who designed the mansion.
- Grumpy Old Man: He's bossy and mistrustful toward the servants, and chastises one of them for the suggestion he would not know his way through the house he designed.
- Murder by Cremation: His failure to realise the access code for the lift has been changed results in him being roasted alive.
- Properly Paranoid: He's the only one of the guests to get suspicious about the fact that the Marquis and his wife are mysteriously absent at their own party when they've been present at every previous one, and that all the old staff have been replaced. However, he isn't paranoid enough to consider the idea that the furnace has been hooked up again until it's too late.
The Staff
The impeccably attired and immaculately mannered staff at The Sexy Brutale are renowned for their dedication to their tasks and attention to detail. This year, however, there's a new set of staff in residence, and their full effort and focus appears to be reserved for planning and… executing the systematic murders of the guests.
No-one appears to be safe from their peculiar brand of personalized service. But are they acting on their own now that the master of the house is away… Or is it his murderous will that they continue to follow, day in and day out?
The staff are, by number and suit:
Seven Clubs. Avid pianist and easily annoyed.
- Seven Clubs: I swear, if I wasn't already committing murder today, I'd be seriously considering it!
- King Clubs: You two are so annoying.
- Two Diamonds: ...and then have a bastard of a time getting the stain out of the stonework.
- Five Diamonds: I should probably go get that...
- Three Hearts: It's days like this when it's great to be alive... and a total bastard.
- Four Hearts: Ha! WHAT gunshot, sir? I certainly didn't hear it!
- Nine Hearts: Sensational!
- Nine Spades: IT'S BLOODY IMPOSSIBLE, ALL RIGHT?
- Ace Spades: This is a good man...
- Gas Mask Mooks: They all wear card-themed gas-masks, which also makes them Malevolent Masked Men, though they have their own personalities rather than being identical. Though ironically, they're even more identical when they take their masks off, as they're all the elderly version of Lucas.
- Expressive Mask: Despite having gas masks that encase their entire heads, the eyeholes emote just as well as eyes.
- Musical Assassin: Tequila Belle's assassin Seven Clubs is a skilled pianist who manipulates her into singing a high note that brings down the glass behind her. He may not be the only one, as the notes imply many of the Brutale's staff are musicians who work there for the chance to use the Marquis's collection of high-quality instruments and meet the masters who visit. It's hard to determine if the real mansion's staff members used to be this musically-inclined due to the game's Unreliable Narrator status, and the fact that it's explicitly stated that the staff in the game are completely different from the real staff, which is partly why Thanos is suspicious of them.
- Pet the Dog: Ace Spades, who just serves a drink to Aurum and doesn't kill anyone, is notable for being the only staff member to display any kind of guilt or remorse over what they're all doing. The worst he does is deny that he heard the gunshot that killed Reginald.
- Professional Killer: They're killers, and they're very professional.
- Those Two Guys: Nine Hearts and Nine Spades, who never leave each others' side and share an idiosyncratic speaking pattern where one asks a two-word question and the other gives a one-word answer. When they're both in agreement, they'll both answer in unison. If King Clubs is any indication, they're eccentric even by their coworkers' standards.
The Marquis and Marquessa
The mysterious head of The Sexy Brutale.
A wild and erratic gambler, Lucas's gambling addiction brought him to the brink of ruin and madness before fortune smiled on him, making him rich beyond his wildest dreams. He created the Sexy Brutale Casino Mansion, but as costs mounted and his priorities changed, he sought a way to escape, resulting in the criminal deaths of those he held dearest and destroying everything he was or dreamed of. Over the decades that passed, Lucas has relived the consequences over and over, unsure whether death or life in torment was the correct punishment.
- Absurdly High-Stakes Game: In the backstory, he bet his entire fortune against Lafcadio's casino on a game of roulette. He won, and changed the name of the casino to The Sexy Brutale.
- Animal Motif: Birds, which he shares with his wife. Specifically, a Phoenix, which is capable of incredible destruction and creation.
- The Atoner: Although he will never be able to truly atone for his friends' deaths, because, well... they're dead.
- Black-and-White Morality: Because of his grief, he considers being negligent enough to kill people (manslaughter) exactly the same as wanting to kill people (murder). The servants' sadism is a reflection of Lucas' own self-hatred, even though he wasn't malicious in reality.
- Born Lucky: In a manner of speaking. He's won a crapton of money and a mansion through gambling, and somehow survived not only a fire that killed everyone else in the building, but a leap out of a second-story window. The only point at which he ever lacked money was when he started actually working for it (by managing The Sexy Brutale).
- Collector of the Strange: His mansion contains all manner of strange occult items, including a collection of dangerous venomous creatures.
- Condescending Compassion: A rare sympathetic example; he's afraid that if he remembers his friends as anything other than victims, he'll forget what he did to them.
- Determinator: If Lucas put half as much effort into making an honest living as into wallowing in his own guilt, he would likely never have 'needed' to commit fraud in the first place. Even after a Near-Death Experience and 20 years in prison, he never doubts that he can move on — only whether he even deserves to.
- Due to the Dead: Lucas was so terrified of forgetting the victims of his manslaughter that he created a mental landscape where they are murdered brutally, over and over again, so that he will never forget how cruel he was in snuffing out their lives. The staff are projections of his irrational level of guilt. In the good ending, he pays his respects in a more healthy way, by visiting their graves.
- Early-Bird Cameo: A particularly brief one that requires the player to be in a specific room to catch a glimpse of him. You have to be in the main ballroom at 4:15 p.m. sharp; you'll hear breaking glass and see a falling body coming from an upper floor of the mansion. That's Lucas falling from the highest room in the Sexy Brutale, just after he realized that he set the timers wrong on his firebombs.
- Family of Choice: It's implied that he considers the victims his family. The Old Habits demon jealously tells Lucas that it 'loved' him before they did — Lucas' biological relatives are not mentioned anywhere — and he has deep affection for and knowledge of them all. In fact, several places in his mansion are specifically tailored to what they'd want in a home — Willow's bedroom is adjacent to a studio/gallery where she can paint, Trinity's mimics the gardens she loves, there's a chapel for Lafcadio to pray in, and a safer place for Tequila to sing (instead of the high platform she used to stand on).
- Fiction 500: He owns a huge mansion/casino filled that's filled to the brim with rare and priceless items. It becomes subverted, as he goes bankrupt due to his excessive spending and the casino failing to generate enough income to compensate. He ends up committing various acts of fraud to keep up the appearance of being endlessly wealthy, ultimately culminating in him deciding to burn the mansion down to try and collect on the insurance.
- For Happiness: He has a knack for helping people relax and enjoy themselves, which is one reason he's such a good host. His Happy Place is all his friends happily dancing in an elaborate ballroom, alive and well.
- The Gadfly: He obtained various treasures, with the Moloch Egg in particular, and told Greyson that he had them simply because he knew searching for them would drive Greyson mad.
- The Gambling Addict: He tried to walk away from gambling and instead adopt a simple life with his wife and child, but in doing so, he got carried away with the thrill of his insurance scam scheme and makes a critical mistake which results in many deaths.
- Hidden Depths: For all his self-indulgence in life's pleasures, he deeply respected Eleanor and Lafcadio.
- Kill It with Fire: Many of the metaphorical cards that symbolize his old gambling addiction were discarded in the mansion's fireplaces.
- Man of Wealth and Taste: He dresses impeccably, conducts himself with immense flair, and could be mean or shady at times, such as running two sets of books in the casino and acquiring artifacts simply to taunt his head of security. After meeting Eleanor, he starts to move away from this, desiring a simpler, more pious life.
- The Power of Love: The only reason he hasn't killed himself yet is because he knows Eleanor wouldn't want him to.
- Sinister Schnoz: His mask as a long bird's beak. Behind the mask, it matches his nose perfectly.
- Survivor Guilt: His actions led to the deaths of his friends, wife, and unborn child and even after serving time for his actions, he is still unable to forgive himself.
- Tragic Villain: He meant to commit insurance fraud. Not to kill his friends, along with his wife and unborn child.
- Walking Spoiler: Discussing anything about the owner of the Sexy Brutale brings unavoidable spoilers, as his actions directly contributed to the time loop trapping the mansion's guests.
The wife of the Marquis, and seemingly just as elusive. Known as Ellie to her friends. She is a keen gardener and her influences can be found in all manner of places in the Brutale's rooms.
Eleanor met Lucas through her uncle, Reginald Sixpence. Originally she was enraptured with his flair and charm, but as the two fell in love, Lucas began to rely on her grace and judgment in almost all challenges they faced together. When Eleanor became pregnant, everything changed for Lucas and he began to look for ways to provide a secure future for the both of them. Her death, and that of their unborn child, unmade Lucas's life.
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: She was swept away by the charisma of Lucas, an inveterate gambler (although he did genuinely care about her).
- Ambiguous Situation: It's unclear if she died in the fire or if she died due to something else, as the fire is shown not reaching her house and her death is the only one Lucas doesn't torment himself over. All that is known is that she died before her child was born.
- Animal Motif: Birds, a dove specifically. Seems to be something she shares with her husband.
- Dark Is Not Evil: She is the kindest character in the game, but she also has a fondness for dark imagery. She painted all the frightening paintings around the mansion and her Hell Room was so intense that even she was unsettled by it, despite painting it herself. She also kept a number of exotic, creepy fish as pets, her favorite being a guppy that was possibly cursed.
- Happy Place: The little house at the back of the mansion's gardens, though it's questionable whether that house ever really existed or it's just a representation of Lucas's dream for his would-be family.
- The Heart: She is described as "the heart and soul" of the mansion; her power gives Lafcadio total knowledge of everyone's movements through it.
- Hope Spot: The Bloody Girl's remark that Eleanor was always safe in her house outside the mansion — as well as the fact that the fire didn't reach her house — gives the player hope that maybe she and her child survived. Unfortunately, we learn that she did die before she gave birth.
- The Lost Lenore: Her death utterly destroys Lucas and results in the events of the game.
- Magic Mirror: Her mask unlocks an ability called "Eleanor's Mirror Walk" which allows you to walk through mirrors so you can traverse the mansion more easily.
- Meaningful Name: Her name may be a reference to the Lost Lenore of Edgar Allen Poe's "The Raven".
- Morality Pet: The version of Eleanor we meet in the game is a literal embodiment of everything kind and merciful in Lucas.
- Nightmare Fuel Station Attendant: She painted most of the paintings in the mansion, often putting an unsettling twist on existing styles. Unusually, she became unsettled with some examples, like Grinmaw, and insisted on having the Hell Room wallpapered over.
Other residents
- "Death Dealer"
A gambling machine constructed by Reginald Sixpence for the Sexy Brutale casino.
- Animate Inanimate Object: The machine appears to be purely mechanical, yet there's no way Sixpence would have programmed into it knowledge of Clay and Trinity's plight.
- The Cassandra: The machine pleads with Clay Rockridge to stop gambling and save Trinity, but without your intervention, he'll ignore it.
- Chess with Death: Invoking the imagery of it, being a Grim Reaper that runs a card game. Inverted in that Clay winning the game leads to his death via poison.
- Cloudcuckoolander: In the basement, you can find another one that spurts out random jokes, trivia such as the meaning of the hotel's name, and hints.
- "Deep Demon"
One of the true voodoo demons of the deep, Grinmaw resembles a gigantic anglerfish with the tiny, colourful guppy as the lure on the end of his tether.
Only those with the second sight can see Grinmaw's true form — but he delights in whispering madness into any who will listen.
- Brainwash: He mind-controls Willow into hanging herself in despair.
- Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: He's an invisible voodoo witch doctor fish.
- Stealth Pun: He's introduced and implied to be key to the supernatural goings-on in the mansion. Turns out Gold Skull created him just because he loves the idea of a voodoo fish. So, he's a red-colored fish set up to be important, but turns out to be a misdirection. He's a Red Herring.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Turns out in reality, he was an unusually colourful but otherwise normal fish. The Marquis only acquired him because of the stories surrounding him, not because the tales of voodoo were true.
- "Deceased but not Departed"
The ghosts lurking around The Sexy Brutale, only visible to those blessed with the second sight.
- Brutal Honesty: They tend to speak their minds since nobody (except Willow) can actually hear them.Ghost: (on Aurum Runes) That is a large, large man.
- Ghostly Chill: Try to pass through a location where a ghost is standing invisible and you'll receive one of these and be unable to proceed.
- Jacob Marley Apparel: Despite their insubstantial forms, they all wear old, tattered frock coats, dresses, and hats.
- Loony Fan: Several of them are fans of Tequila Belle, discussing her and attending her performance. Takes a darker turn when they express appreciation for the "beauty" of her final performance and brutal, tragic death.
- NPC Roadblock: They're happy to move once you can see and talk to them, but until then they'll stand stock-still and invisible, blocking access to the next part of the hotel.
- Power Perversion Potential: You can find ghosts searching through the female guests' things, looking for smutty books in the library, and trying to feel up Tequila Belle. They're a pretty lewd lot, all told.
- "Let's play a round together! (I WILL ONLY NEED ONE)."
In the Room of Old Habits lurks a demon in chains who offers escape, relief, and joy to those who will just give in to old vices. Why not just walk away from it all? The two of you will have a whale of a time!
- Enemy Within: The creature is a representation of the protagonist's gambling addiction, locked away in a dark corner of their mind.
- The Gambling Addict: His goal is to make the protagonist one of these again.
- Immediate Self-Contradiction: His every friendly offer is accompanied with another statement in brackets demonstrating rage at "Boone" for suppressing him, and promises to never let him go when he gives in again.
- Toxic Friend Influence: He offers the chance to relive old adventures, but is constantly tempting Boone to resume his self-destructive gambling habits.
The Sexy Brutale Mansion and Casino
The central location of the story, it is detailed and vivid enough to be a character all by itself.
- Big Fancy House: The Brutale includes its own ballroom, casino, theatre, music hall, and large grounds.
- Closed Circle: There's only a blank space of wall where the front door should be, and going to the garden in the back shows that the casino is floating in a black void, so you can't hop the fence either.
- Conspicuous Consumption: And how! Its grandeur boggles the mind, full of art, statuary, devices and a wine collection full of impossibly valuable spirits.
- Genius Loci: It's all in the mind of Lucas Bondes, which shapes some of the more impossible spaces in its basement.
- Haunted House: The house has its share of ghostly residents, though the living and breathing staff are a bigger threat.
- The Load: The casino was running at a loss before Lucas won it in a bet, and the losses and stress of running the place get in the way of Lucas's plans to live a simple life with his wife and child.
- Meaningful Name: If the malfunctioning card dealer in the basement is to be believed, it's "Sexy" because of the allure of gambling, "Brutal" because of the damaging effects of gambling, and "Brutale" because the Marquis thought that sounded more glamorous.
- Before the Marquis took over, it was called "The Devil's Odd", perhaps to re-enforce the connection between devils and gambling, which Lafcadio turned away from in joining the priesthood.
Spoiler Characters
The Bloody Girl is the manifest memory of Lucas's wife, Eleanor. His wife brought purest joy to Lucas — but knowing that he caused her death is white-hot, impossible grief and agony.
The Bloody Girl has been trapped in the mansion all the years that Lucas has tormented himself. To look upon her is torture, with every detail of her suffering impossible to forget, etched over every part of her face and body.
But within her memory is the seed of forgiveness. Lucas knows deep down she would still want him — one day — to be able to move on and live a life, so not everything of worth was lost on that one terrible night.
- Arc Words: "Time to move on, old man."
- Big Good: She's the one who empowers Boone and sends him to save to save the guests, and eventually himself.
- Good Angel, Bad Angel: She is the good angel of Lucas's nature, arguing he should try to forgive himself and live his life rather than torturing himself by endlessly reliving that day.
- Trauma-Induced Amnesia: Implied. She doesn't actually know why everyone but Lucas died until Gold Skull tells her.
The man in the Golden Skull mask is the terrible aspect of Lucas that wishes for him to never forgive himself. In his mind, the mansion has been created to keep the tortured memories of everyone fresh and alive.
In this way, Gold Skull believes that he honours them as best he can: by never allowing them to be forgotten, and never allowing him, Lucas — the Marquis — to forgive himself and move on with his life.
- Affably Evil: He fully admits to being a murderer and a villain, but he's friendly enough towards Boone, leaves notes for him, and essentially wants him to understand why he does what he does.
- Early-Bird Cameo: Can be seen wandering through the Sexy Brutale, long before Lafcadio meets him face to face.
- Evil Is Cool: For all his cruelty, him and his subordinates are all snappy dressers.
- Good Angel, Bad Angel: He's the darker aspect of Lucas, arguing he should continue his torment.
- Hope Spot: Invokes the trope; he lets Lucas' victims initially enjoy the casino's luxury so that the realization of their impending deaths will shock them more.
- Kick the Dog: While walking Boone through all of the guests' deaths, he realizes that he could make Greyson and Redd's scenario even worse by playing on Redd's unrequited love and having him survive long enough to see Greyson die first. He makes a mental note to try that on subsequent loops.
- Meaningful Appearance: His mask resembles the "Golden Skull" painting in the Hell Room showing the skeleton of a young child with beautiful golden hair, likely as a reminder of his dead unborn child. His gloves are red, likely as a reminder that his hands will never be clean again.
- Meaningful Name: His "Golden Skull" moniker is a reference to the painting above, and his surname "Bounde" intentionally contrasts with those of his other alter-egos Bondes and Boone, suggesting bondage and villainy (like a bounder) instead of goodness.
- Mirror Boss: Though not confronted directly, him and the player character appear to share abilities. He uses Sixpence's ability to link Boone to the clock in the theater, his duplicates make use of Eleanor's Mirror Walk, and in the ending, the player ends up copying the self-duplication ability he used to create the staff once he receives the Red King's mask.
- My Greatest Failure: The moment his actions caused the deaths of everyone he loved defines him.
- Narrator All Along: Turns out he's been the one writing all the room notes for you.
- Pet the Dog: It seems he's unable to reach Eleanor, perhaps because he can't bear to see her or to involve her in the murders he carries out.
- Reality Warper: While the power he uses is technically the King in Red's, he is effectively in control of everything that happens in the Sexy Brutale and is the engineer of the hotel and all the murders. Only Boone and the Bloody Girl are outside his influence, and even they can be halted with a snap of his fingers.
- Red Baron: The artbook calls him The Golden Enigma.
- Villain in a White Suit: A murderer whose impeccable white suit complements the purity and clarity of purpose he has in contrast to the shabby Boone and ragged Red King.
- "Nightmare Engine"
An ancient man, his body broken and ravaged by the atrocities he has endured, hangs suspended in a chamber that forces breath into and out of his lungs.
Surrounding him are seven mirrors, showing him the murders of the guests throughout the mansion. With every death, the man weeps tears of blood. When the tank is full, a nightmare engine rains the blood down over the mansion, starting the same, hellish day all over again.
He is the near-mindless source of the power that fuels the endless days of The Sexy Brutale.
- And I Must Scream: As in the description above, he's forced to watch the suffering of his friends over and over, with no relief from his pain and guilt.
- Fisher King: The entire mansion is merely the product of his tortured mind, the unending violence a result of his unwillingness to forget and desire to punish himself.
- Ocular Gushers: He can fill a glass prison with tears in a short amount of time, which the mansion feeds upon to keep the time loop going.
- Self-Inflicted Hell: As a representation of the Marquis, he's essentially inflicting all this agony on himself in an attempt to ensure his friends are not forgotten.
- Swiss-Army Tears: The mansion feeds on his tears.
