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* WellIntentionedExtremist: The Narrator has the ultimate goal of creating a world where no one has to fear death because death as a concept no longer exists. To this end, he created the Shifting Mound/Princess as a physical embodiment of change and death and sealed it away within the Construct, and whole-heartedly believes that the Shifting Mound escaping will destroy reality, so he also created the protagonist to slay the Mound. This is only true ''in some endings'', meaning for the endings where it ''doesn't happen'', he's basically just torturing the Player and Princess for no reason. And should the player succeed, he reveals his planned world is a world of eternal nothingness and stagnation where there is nothing to do but be mindlessly happy for eternity. He also never considers the possibility of a diplomatic solution instead of resorting to murder, despite you being perfectly capable of working things out with the Princess this way.

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* WellIntentionedExtremist: The Narrator has the ultimate goal of creating a world where no one has to fear death because death as a concept no longer exists. To this end, he created the Shifting Mound/Princess as a physical embodiment of change and death and sealed it away within the Construct, and whole-heartedly believes that the Shifting Mound escaping will destroy reality, so he also created the protagonist to slay the Mound. This is only true ''in some endings'', meaning for the endings where it ''doesn't happen'', he's basically just torturing the Player and Princess for no good reason. And should the player succeed, he reveals his planned world is a world of eternal nothingness and stagnation where there is nothing to do but be mindlessly happy for eternity. He also never considers the possibility of a diplomatic solution instead of resorting to murder, despite you being perfectly capable of working things out with the Princess this way.
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* DirtyCoward: Some versions of the Princess argue he's this, that he and the Creator he's spun off from are trying to box the Shifting Mound away in the Construct purely because they fear things they can't understand or control and would rather not deal with them.

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* DirtyCoward: Some versions of the Princess argue he's this, that he and the Creator he's spun off from are trying to box the Shifting Mound away in the Construct purely because they fear things they can't understand or control and would rather not deal with them. Given how terrified he is of death, they might have a good point.
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** In the version of the Wild route where you and the Princess work together with your fused strength to try and escape, the Narrator descends into absolute panic\ and alternates between orders and outright threats to get the Princess and Player to stop.

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** In the version of the Wild route where you and the Princess work together with your fused strength to try and escape, the Narrator descends into absolute panic\ panic and alternates between orders and outright threats to get the Princess and Player to stop.
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Added DiffLines:

->'''Voice of the Hero:''' I'd listen to him, if I were you. He has a lot of strong feelings.
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* IdiotBall: PlayedForLaughs during "The Razor" route. While every route has a handful of questionable dialogue choices and actions the Player can pick, chapter 3 of the route sees you trying to deal with [[AxCrazy the Razor]] using many terrible options including flirting with her using '''''The Look''''', killing yourself so she can't kill you, or even [[LampshadeHanging just trying to think of more options that are less terrible.]]And then it is shown that you eventually get desperate enough to try ''all'' of them.

to:

* IdiotBall: PlayedForLaughs during "The Razor" route. While every route has a handful of questionable dialogue choices and actions the Player can pick, chapter 3 of the route sees you trying to deal with [[AxCrazy the Razor]] using many terrible options including flirting with her using '''''The Look''''', killing yourself so she can't kill you, or even [[LampshadeHanging just trying to think of more options that are less terrible.]]And ]] And then it is shown that you eventually get desperate enough to try ''all'' of them.



* InsaneTrollLogic: The Player at times can choose options that are genuinely bizarre such as flirting with the Razor or trying to jump off the stairs on the way to the Nightmare's basement.

to:

* InsaneTrollLogic: At times, The Player at times can choose options that are genuinely bizarre options such as flirting with the Razor or trying to jump off the stairs on the way to the Nightmare's basement.



** "Little Bird" by both the Tower and Eye of the Needle.

to:

** "Little Bird" by both the Tower and Eye of the Needle.



* OpportunisticBastard: The Voice of the Opportunist's PersonalityPower. He refuses to have an opinion unless he's sure that he's agreeing with the right side. If he turns out to be wrong, he'll backpedal and say he always agreed with the other. If he does turn out to be right, he'll make sure [[IWarnedYou everyone knows.]]

to:

* OpportunisticBastard: The Voice of the Opportunist's PersonalityPower. He refuses to have an opinion unless he's sure that he's agreeing he agrees with the right side. If he turns out to be wrong, he'll backpedal and say he always agreed with the other. If he does turn out to be right, he'll make sure [[IWarnedYou everyone knows.]]



* TheCynic: His skepticism stems from his pessimism. He (justifiably) assumes the worst of the Narrator and doubts that the Princess will end the world or that slaying her will save it if a "world" exists at all. That said, he doesn't trust the Princess either; he notes that while he does finds her a bit more believable and certainly a good deal more sympathetic than the Narrator in this whole mess, he isn't willing to accept what she says unquestionably and cautions the player to stay on their guard around her.
* DeadpanSnarker: He has his moments, particularly when the Narrator is being obvious about his deception or being a {{Hypocrite}}.

to:

* TheCynic: His skepticism stems from his pessimism. He (justifiably) assumes the worst of the Narrator and doubts that the Princess will end the world or that slaying her will save it if a "world" exists at all. That said, he doesn't trust the Princess either; he notes that while he does finds find her a bit more believable and certainly a good deal more sympathetic than the Narrator in this whole mess, he isn't willing to accept what she says unquestionably and cautions the player to stay on their guard around her.
* DeadpanSnarker: He has his moments, ''Very'' deadpan, particularly when the Narrator is being obvious about his deception or being a {{Hypocrite}}.



* BlackAndWhiteMorality: His view of the world is extremely straightforward. The Princess is good, effectively flawless, and everything that goes wrong or gets in the way of you being with her forever is either the ''eeeeeevil'' Narrator's fault... or yours for going along with His wishes.

to:

* BlackAndWhiteMorality: His view of the world is extremely straightforward. The Princess is good, effectively flawless, and everything that goes wrong or gets in the way of you being with her forever is either the ''eeeeeevil'' Narrator's fault... or fault (or yours for going if you choose to go along with His wishes.wishes).



* SickeninglySweethearts: Going along with his suggestions to free the Princess results in the Narrator gagging from the overly romantic way they're acting. Him egging on the Narrator to describe you kissing the Thorn Princess causes the Narrator to go full PurpleProse out of spite.

to:

* SickeninglySweethearts: Going along with his suggestions to free the Princess results in the Narrator gagging from the overly romantic way they're acting. Him His egging on the Narrator to describe you kissing the Thorn Princess causes the Narrator to go full PurpleProse out of spite.



** He wonders if the player looks dazzling surrounded by flames, even though they're burning to death.
** When the Princess remarks that she feels cold, the Voice of the Smitten wants the player to pluck out all his own feathers and to make them into a coat for her.

to:

** He During the Burning Grey route, he wonders if the player looks dazzling surrounded by flames, even though they're burning to death.
** When the Princess remarks that she feels cold, the Voice of the Smitten wants the player to pluck out all his own feathers and to make them into a coat for her.



* ThinksLikeARomanceNovel: He sees the world as a love story, with the Princess being a DamselInDistress and himself as the KnightInShiningArmor, and believing the Princess to be his destined soulmate no matter how short of a time she and the Player have actually spent together. It does work for his advantage, however, as his beliefs are so powerful that he can even gain enough of the narrative influence to override the Narrator to will a happy ending for her and the Player. And since [[spoiler: the Princess is the Shifting Mound while the Player is the Long Quiet and the two were once one being before the Narrator had them separated and tried to get the Long Quiet to kill the Princess, the Voice of the Smitten is right in thinking of the Long Quiet and the Princess as soulmates.]]

to:

* ThinksLikeARomanceNovel: He sees the world as a love story, with the Princess being a DamselInDistress and himself as the KnightInShiningArmor, and believing the Princess to be his destined soulmate no matter how short of a time she and the Player have actually spent together. It does work for to his advantage, however, as his beliefs are so powerful that he can even gain enough of the narrative influence to override the Narrator to will a happy ending for her and the Player. And since [[spoiler: the Princess is the Shifting Mound while the Player is the Long Quiet and the two were once one being before the Narrator had them separated and tried to get the Long Quiet to kill the Princess, the Voice of the Smitten is right in thinking of the Long Quiet and the Princess as soulmates.]]
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* IdiotBall: PlayedForLaughs during "The Razor" route. While every route has a handful of questionable dialogue choices and actions the Player can pick, chapter 3 of the route sees you trying to deal with [[AxCrazy the Razor]] using many terrible options including flirting with her using '''''The Look''''', killing yourself so she can't kill you, or even [[LampshadeHanging just trying to think of more options that are less terrible.]]And then it is shown that you eventually get desperate enough to try ''all'' of them.

to:

* IdiotBall: PlayedForLaughs during "The Razor" route. While every route has a handful of questionable dialogue choices and actions the Player can pick, chapter 3 of the route sees you trying to deal with [[AxCrazy the Razor]] using many terrible options including flirting with her using '''''The Look''''', killing yourself so she can't kill you, or even [[LampshadeHanging just trying to think of more options that are less terrible.]]And ]] And then it is shown that you eventually get desperate enough to try ''all'' of them.



* InsaneTrollLogic: The Player at times can choose options that are genuinely bizarre such as flirting with the Razor or trying to jump off the stairs on the way to the Nightmare's basement.

to:

* InsaneTrollLogic: At times, The Player at times can choose options that are genuinely bizarre options such as flirting with the Razor or trying to jump off the stairs on the way to the Nightmare's basement.



** "Little Bird" by both the Tower and Eye of the Needle.

to:

** "Little Bird" by both the Tower and Eye of the Needle.



* OpportunisticBastard: The Voice of the Opportunist's PersonalityPower. He refuses to have an opinion unless he's sure that he's agreeing with the right side. If he turns out to be wrong, he'll backpedal and say he always agreed with the other. If he does turn out to be right, he'll make sure [[IWarnedYou everyone knows.]]

to:

* OpportunisticBastard: The Voice of the Opportunist's PersonalityPower. He refuses to have an opinion unless he's sure that he's agreeing he agrees with the right side. If he turns out to be wrong, he'll backpedal and say he always agreed with the other. If he does turn out to be right, he'll make sure [[IWarnedYou everyone knows.]]



* TheCynic: His skepticism stems from his pessimism. He (justifiably) assumes the worst of the Narrator and doubts that the Princess will end the world or that slaying her will save it if a "world" exists at all. That said, he doesn't trust the Princess either; he notes that while he does finds her a bit more believable and certainly a good deal more sympathetic than the Narrator in this whole mess, he isn't willing to accept what she says unquestionably and cautions the player to stay on their guard around her.
* DeadpanSnarker: He has his moments, particularly when the Narrator is being obvious about his deception or being a {{Hypocrite}}.

to:

* TheCynic: His skepticism stems from his pessimism. He (justifiably) assumes the worst of the Narrator and doubts that the Princess will end the world or that slaying her will save it if a "world" exists at all. That said, he doesn't trust the Princess either; he notes that while he does finds find her a bit more believable and certainly a good deal more sympathetic than the Narrator in this whole mess, he isn't willing to accept what she says unquestionably and cautions the player to stay on their guard around her.
* DeadpanSnarker: He has his moments, ''Very'' deadpan, particularly when the Narrator is being obvious about his deception or being a {{Hypocrite}}.



* BlackAndWhiteMorality: His view of the world is extremely straightforward. The Princess is good, effectively flawless, and everything that goes wrong or gets in the way of you being with her forever is either the ''eeeeeevil'' Narrator's fault... or yours for going along with His wishes.

to:

* BlackAndWhiteMorality: His view of the world is extremely straightforward. The Princess is good, effectively flawless, and everything that goes wrong or gets in the way of you being with her forever is either the ''eeeeeevil'' Narrator's fault... or fault (or yours for going if you choose to go along with His wishes.wishes).



* SickeninglySweethearts: Going along with his suggestions to free the Princess results in the Narrator gagging from the overly romantic way they're acting. Him egging on the Narrator to describe you kissing the Thorn Princess causes the Narrator to go full PurpleProse out of spite.

to:

* SickeninglySweethearts: Going along with his suggestions to free the Princess results in the Narrator gagging from the overly romantic way they're acting. Him His egging on the Narrator to describe you kissing the Thorn Princess causes the Narrator to go full PurpleProse out of spite.



** He wonders if the player looks dazzling surrounded by flames, even though they're burning to death.
** When the Princess remarks that she feels cold, the Voice of the Smitten wants the player to pluck out all his own feathers and to make them into a coat for her.

to:

** He During the Burning Grey route, he wonders if the player looks dazzling surrounded by flames, even though they're burning to death.
** When the Princess remarks that she feels cold, the Voice of the Smitten wants the player to pluck out all his own feathers and to make them into a coat for her.



* ThinksLikeARomanceNovel: He sees the world as a love story, with the Princess being a DamselInDistress and himself as the KnightInShiningArmor, and believing the Princess to be his destined soulmate no matter how short of a time she and the Player have actually spent together. It does work for his advantage, however, as his beliefs are so powerful that he can even gain enough of the narrative influence to override the Narrator to will a happy ending for her and the Player. And since [[spoiler: the Princess is the Shifting Mound while the Player is the Long Quiet and the two were once one being before the Narrator had them separated and tried to get the Long Quiet to kill the Princess, the Voice of the Smitten is right in thinking of the Long Quiet and the Princess as soulmates.]]

to:

* ThinksLikeARomanceNovel: He sees the world as a love story, with the Princess being a DamselInDistress and himself as the KnightInShiningArmor, and believing the Princess to be his destined soulmate no matter how short of a time she and the Player have actually spent together. It does work for to his advantage, however, as his beliefs are so powerful that he can even gain enough of the narrative influence to override the Narrator to will a happy ending for her and the Player. And since [[spoiler: the Princess is the Shifting Mound while the Player is the Long Quiet and the two were once one being before the Narrator had them separated and tried to get the Long Quiet to kill the Princess, the Voice of the Smitten is right in thinking of the Long Quiet and the Princess as soulmates.]]
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Not a trope


** '''Bias''': The Narrator chooses what and how he narrates, which inevitably results in some bias. He can be extremely petty with his word choice and descriptions, and he will always insist that the Princess is lying or manipulating you and must be slain, even when she isn't and doesn't have to be. In the endgame, when you can speak to him through the broken mirror, he gives several reasons why other Narrators deny the possibility of looping: denial, different assumptions of how the Construct works, existential dread, and the general belief ([WishfulThinking or hope]) that ''they'' were the first version the Long Quiet encountered.

to:

** '''Bias''': The Narrator chooses what and how he narrates, which inevitably results in some bias. He can be extremely petty with his word choice and descriptions, and he will always insist that the Princess is lying or manipulating you and must be slain, even when she isn't and doesn't have to be. In the endgame, when you can speak to him through the broken mirror, he gives several reasons why other Narrators deny the possibility of looping: denial, different assumptions of how the Construct works, existential dread, and the general belief ([WishfulThinking or hope]) (or hope) that ''they'' were the first version the Long Quiet encountered.
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* KickTheDog: His [[NoSympathy complete apathy]] for any pain inflicted on the Princess very easily comes off as this, especially in the routes where the Princess hasn't actually shown herself to be malevolent in any way, shape, or form. At it's worst it borders on [[ComedicSociopathy comedically absurd,]] such as when he makes a point of noting how [[TheCutie the Damsel]] ''pathetically'' collapses to the ground after being stabbed by the Player with no provocation or resistance on 0her part.

to:

* KickTheDog: His [[NoSympathy complete apathy]] for any pain inflicted on the Princess very easily comes off as this, especially in the routes where the Princess hasn't actually shown herself to be malevolent in any way, shape, or form. At it's its worst it borders on [[ComedicSociopathy comedically absurd,]] absurd]], such as when he makes a point of noting how [[TheCutie the Damsel]] ''pathetically'' collapses to the ground after being stabbed by the Player with no provocation or resistance on 0her her part.

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Added example(s)


* AngelUnaware: God, in this case. For most of the game, you are unaware of your status as a deity, due in no small part to the Narrator's manipulations keeping you in the dark. When you finally meet the Narrator face to face after delivering five vessels to the Shifting Mound, he finally fesses up that you are the Long Quiet, a truth that settles over the Player afterwards.



* ImmortalityHurts: Just because you can't ''die'' die doesn't mean you can't experience the pain of being punched, kicked, stabbed, crushed, burnt, drowned and otherwise victimised by the Princess in her many forms. It's a good thing you forget about each Route temporarily, or the sheer weight of pain and trauma might break you for good.



* WistfulAmnesia: Implied to be the reason why the Princess is a princess and not something more appropriate for a fairy tale hero to slay. Because the player and the Princess are parts of the same unfathomable cosmic being split in two, the Player's subconcious desire to reunite with his other half moulds her into the StandardHeroReward of a fair maiden.

to:

* WistfulAmnesia: Implied to be the reason why the Princess is a princess and not something more appropriate for a fairy tale hero to slay. Because the player and the Princess are parts of the same unfathomable cosmic being split in two, the Player's subconcious subconscious desire to reunite with his other half moulds her into the StandardHeroReward of a fair maiden.



** The Narrator's function is to ensure that the Player slays the Princess. However, in EVERY ending except for one, the Player's direct actions either enable the Shifting Mound to escape and/or cause reality to end/be remade.
** Ensuring that the Princess, at the very least, stays sealed inside the Construct has [[GoneMadFromTheIsolation not done wonders for her temperament or sanity]]; one has to wonder if keeping her locked up is only making her more of a danger than she would've had the potential to be originally.

to:

** The Narrator's function is to ensure that the Player slays the Princess. However, in EVERY '''every''' ending except for one, the Player's direct actions either enable the Shifting Mound to escape and/or cause reality to end/be remade.
** Ensuring that the Princess, at the very least, stays sealed inside the Construct has [[GoneMadFromTheIsolation not done wonders for her temperament or sanity]]; one has to wonder if keeping her locked up is only making her more of a danger than she would've had the potential to be originally. be.
** It's possible for him to do this to ''you'', driving you to such depths of misanthropy that you'll choose to leave the Construct with the Mound and willingly bring about a multiversal apocalypse just to get back at him for constantly tormenting you.



* DirtyCoward: Some versions of the Princess argue he's this, that he and the Creator he's spun off from are trying to box the Shifting Mound away in the Construct purely because they fear things they can't understand or control and would rather not deal with them.



* EvilCannotComprehendGood: The Narrator doesn't seem to comprehend why you might be hesitant to kill a supposedly normal woman locked away in a basement based on the unproven pretense that doing so will save the world. He's also so fearful of death that he can't fathom why you're averse to an eternity of boring stagnation to the point that you kill yourself to get out of it. He also can't fathom why the Player in the finale has no desire to kill the woman he loves and will damn his vision to [[YouAreWorthHell escape with her]].

to:

* EvilCannotComprehendGood: The Narrator doesn't seem to comprehend why you might be hesitant to kill a supposedly normal woman locked away in a basement based on the unproven pretense pretence that doing so will save the world. He's also so fearful of death that he can't fathom why you're averse to an eternity of boring stagnation to the point that you kill yourself to get out of it. He also certainly can't fathom why the Player in the finale has no desire to kill the woman he loves and will damn his vision to [[YouAreWorthHell escape with her]].



* IgnoredEpiphany: Of a sort. As the Nightmare, the Princess takes her mask off to bare her heart, so that the player character can understand her. The Narrator recounts what he sees - living a painfully lonely cycle of living, growing old, dying, and coming back [[GoMadFromTheIsolation alone in the cabin]], becoming worse and lonelier - and falters, saying that it's too much. This ''might'' be his awareness of how terrible the situation is that he's trapped the Shifting Mound in, causing him to feel guilt and horror. But, since every chapter has a unique version of the Narrator who's perfectly ignorant of what happened in every other chapter, just what the impact was on him and what, if anything, he might have done is unknown.
* ImmortalityImmorality: His entire end goal is to eradicate the very concept of death. In the process, he turns change and death into a physical entity and creates the protagonist to slay it, and turns the two against each other. His ultimate plan will trap the protagonist (and possibly everyone in the outside world) in an eternal, stagnant, amnesiac nothingness, which he sees as preferable to death.

to:

* IgnoredEpiphany: Of a sort. As the Nightmare, the Princess takes her mask off to bare her heart, so that the player character can understand her. The Narrator recounts what he sees - living a painfully lonely cycle of living, growing old, dying, and coming back [[GoMadFromTheIsolation alone in the cabin]], becoming worse and lonelier - and falters, saying that it's too much. This ''might'' be his awareness of how the terrible the situation is that he's trapped the Shifting Mound in, causing him to feel guilt and horror. But, since every chapter has a unique version of the Narrator who's perfectly ignorant of what happened in every other chapter, just what the impact was on him and what, if anything, he might have done is unknown.
* ImmortalityImmorality: His entire end goal is to eradicate the very concept of death. In the process, he turns change and death into a physical entity and entity, creates the protagonist to slay it, and turns the two against each other. His ultimate plan will trap the protagonist (and possibly everyone in the outside world) in an eternal, stagnant, amnesiac nothingness, which he sees as preferable to death.



* JerkassToOne: Even when you disobey him, the Narrator will try to be cordial and affable to the Player and the Voices. He does not spare the Princess this kindness, and if she is able to hear him, he will be [[BrutalHonesty very blunt]] about how much he hates her. This is because she is the representation of his greatest fear: the eventual death and end of all things.
* KickTheDog: His [[NoSympathy complete apathy]] for any pain inflicted on the Princess very easily comes off as this, especially in the routes where the Princess hasn't actually shown herself to be malevolent in any way, shape, or form. At it's worst it borders on [[ComedicSociopathy comedically absurd,]] such as when he makes a point of noting how [[TheCutie the Damsel]] ''pathetically'' collapses to the ground after being stabbed by the Player with no provocation or resistance on her part.

to:

* JerkassToOne: Even when you disobey him, the Narrator will try to be cordial and affable to the Player and the Voices. He does not spare the Princess this kindness, and if she is able to can hear him, he will be [[BrutalHonesty very blunt]] about how much he hates her. This is because she is the representation of his greatest fear: the eventual death and end of all things.
* KickTheDog: His [[NoSympathy complete apathy]] for any pain inflicted on the Princess very easily comes off as this, especially in the routes where the Princess hasn't actually shown herself to be malevolent in any way, shape, or form. At it's worst it borders on [[ComedicSociopathy comedically absurd,]] such as when he makes a point of noting how [[TheCutie the Damsel]] ''pathetically'' collapses to the ground after being stabbed by the Player with no provocation or resistance on her 0her part.
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* TheIdealistWasRight: While even the more realistic Voices tend to find him and his fawning behaviour annoying, following his advice during the Damsel route gets you one of the few unambiguously positive endings (if only temporarily), leaves you with the least blood on your hands (figuratively and literally) and actually resonates with the wider MythArc in which you (the Long Quiet) and the Princess (the Shifting Mound) are genuinely soulmates.

to:

* TheIdealistWasRight: While even the more realistic Voices tend to find him and his fawning behaviour annoying, following his advice during the Damsel route gets you one of the few unambiguously positive endings (if only temporarily), leaves you with the least blood on your hands (figuratively and literally) and actually resonates with the wider MythArc in which you (the Long Quiet) and the Princess (the Shifting Mound) are genuinely soulmates. Likewise, in the Thorn route, he appears to have a much better understanding of the Princess's plight, knowing that it was your act of treachery that made her bitter as the Witch, and that giving her the blade gives you both an opportunity to mend things. Following his advice would lead to you and Thorn reconciling, thus netting you a genuinely positive ending (even if it's also temporary).

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Added example(s)


* NotSoOmniscientAfterAll: [[AmbiguousSituation Assuming he's telling the truth when he says he can't see the mirror]], his actual range of knowledge is limited. This is further reinforced by each Narrator being a separate being, meaning that he always starts assuming he's the first one you encounter. Should the scenario he's laid out for you ever go seriously OffTheRails, e.g. the Wild route, he starts having a full-on VillainousBreakdown.



** In the Tower route, if you point out the existence of the mirror, he'll deny that it's there as usual, and the Voice of the Broken would insist that you shouldn't look, as to not see anything "sad and miserable" in it. The Narrator would actually try to reassure you and the Broken that you wouldn't look "sad and miserable" in the mirror.
** Also, in the Tower route, if you succeed in slaying the Princess, she'll also inflict fatal injuries on you in turn. After the Voice of the Hero gets upset about the fact that they'll never get their happy ending, the Narrator would comfort him by pointing out that you ''did'' save the world, even if it costed you your life, so as to not let you die with belief that everything you did was AllForNothing.

to:

** In the Tower route, if you point out the existence of the mirror, he'll deny that it's there as usual, and the Voice of the Broken would insist insists that you shouldn't look, so as to not see anything "sad and miserable" in it. The Narrator would actually try tries to reassure you and the Broken that you wouldn't look "sad and miserable" in the mirror.
** Also, in the Tower route, if you succeed in slaying the Princess, she'll also inflict fatal injuries on you in turn. After the Voice of the Hero gets upset about the fact that they'll never get their happy ending, the Narrator would comfort comforts him by pointing out that you ''did'' save the world, even if it costed cost you your life, so as to not let you die with belief that everything you did was AllForNothing.life.



-->'''Narrator:''' A warning, before you go any further...
-->'''Narrator:''' She will lie, she will cheat, and she will do everything in her power to stop you from slaying her. Don't believe a word she says.

to:

-->'''Narrator:''' A warning, before you go any further...
-->'''Narrator:'''
further... She will lie, she will cheat, and she will do everything in her power to stop you from slaying her. Don't believe a word she says.



* SycophanticServant: He's disturbingly excited to spend eternity as the Tower/Apotheosis' willing bootlicker.



* EveryoneHasStandards: Genuinely finds the Narrator to be abhorrent despite being a cold blooded figure.

to:

* EveryoneHasStandards: Genuinely finds the Narrator to be abhorrent despite being a cold blooded cold-blooded figure.



* IChooseToStay: In the Stranger version "And? What happens next? the Voice of the Contrarian decides to stay with the Voice of the Hero in the Cabin, to either wait or track down the other Voices. He also states that they've done their job to help the Player on his Journey.

to:

* IChooseToStay: In the Stranger version "And? What happens next? next?" the Voice of the Contrarian decides to stay with the Voice of the Hero in the Cabin, to either wait or track down the other Voices. He also states that they've done their job to help the Player on his Journey.



* CowardlyLion: He might be apprehensive and unwilling to fight; but if there's no other choice, he'll give it his all. If you spawn him during the Eye of the Needle encounter, he'll suggest luring her into an advantageous position right off the bat. And if you do, he'll guide you in dodging and timing your strikes to wear the behemoth down. With help from the Stubborn's determination, you will end the encounter victorious.

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* CowardlyLion: He might be apprehensive and unwilling to fight; fight, but [[CorneredRattlesnake if there's no other choice, he'll give it his all.all]]. If you spawn him during the Eye of the Needle encounter, he'll suggest luring her into an advantageous position right off the bat. And if you do, he'll guide you in dodging and timing your strikes to wear the behemoth down. With help from the Stubborn's determination, you will end the encounter victorious.



* TheFriendNobodyLikes: The other Voices, including the Hero, find his brown-nosing and backstabbing distasteful, and mostly resort to TeethClenchedTeamwork since it's not like they can be rid of him. The only Voice who is willing to accept him is the Smitten, and even then it's only because the Smitten is willing to accept anyone who sides with the Princess.
** According to Creator/JonathanSims, the Voice of the Opportunist genuinely thinks the other Voices view him as a friend when in reality, they can't stand him period.

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* TheFriendNobodyLikes: The other Voices, including the Hero, find his brown-nosing and backstabbing distasteful, and mostly resort to TeethClenchedTeamwork since it's not like they can be rid of him. The only Voice who is willing to accept him is the Smitten, and even then it's only because the Smitten is willing to accept anyone who sides with the Princess.
**
Princess. According to Creator/JonathanSims, the Voice of the Opportunist genuinely thinks the other Voices view him as a friend when in reality, they can't stand him him, period.



->'''The Narrator:''' Whatever you do, be sure to ignore ''him'', specifically. It sounds like he's the sort who'd sacrifice the whole world for a peck on the cheek.



* BlackAndWhiteMorality: His view of the world is extremely straightforward. The Princess is good, effectively flawless, and everything that goes wrong or gets in the way of you being with her forever is either the ''eeeeeevil'' Narrator's fault... or yours for going along with His wishes.



* TheFriendNobodyLikes: All of the other Voices who get to interact with him tends to find his over-the-top theatrics and fawning over the Princess to at least be somewhat off-putting. The Voice of the Cold is particularly belligerent towards him.

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* TheFriendNobodyLikes: All of the other Voices who get to interact with him tends tend to find his over-the-top theatrics and fawning over the Princess to at least be somewhat off-putting. The Voice of the Cold is particularly belligerent towards him.



* TheIdealistWasRight: While even the more realistic Voices tend to find him and his fawning behaviour annoying, following his advice during the Damsel route gets you one of the few unambiguously positive endings (if only temporarily), leaves you with the least blood on your hands (figuratively and literally) and actually resonates with the wider MythArc in which you (the Long Quiet) and the Princess (the Shifting Mound) are genuinely soulmates.



* SpitefulSuicide: If you kill the Damsel, he forces you to kill yourself to fob off you and the Narrator, starting the Burned Grey route.



--> Oh, stop bickering over nothing. Our destiny is right in front of us! Pick up your blade and go to her!

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--> -->'''Stubborn:''' Oh, stop bickering over nothing. Our destiny is right in front of us! Pick up your blade and go to her!
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* NeverMyFault: Despite sending the Player to kill a [[SuperStrength freakishly strong princess]] who [[NighInvulnerability can live through almost any injury]] with just a dagger and expecting complete compliance without any question as to ''why'' said princess needs to die, any failure on the Player's part to complete the task is almost always attributed to him simply not following his directions well enough. Not that he's entirely ''wrong''; a Player who follows his instructions and kills her immediately and without pause and doesn't so much as inspect her body afterwards has little difficulty.

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* NeverMyFault: Despite sending the Player to kill a [[SuperStrength freakishly strong princess]] who [[NighInvulnerability can live through almost any injury]] with just a dagger and expecting complete compliance without any question as to ''why'' said princess needs to die, any failure on the Player's part to complete the task is almost always attributed to him simply not following his directions well enough. Not that he's entirely ''wrong''; a Player who follows his instructions and kills her immediately and without pause and doesn't so much as inspect her body afterwards has little difficulty. He also doesn't seem to even recognize that he might have been wrong to separate the original divine being into the Long Quiet and the Shifting Mound and order the Long Quiet to destroy the Shifting Mound even if the Long Quiet outright tells him that he's not going to destroy the Shifting Mound.
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* NeverMyFault: Despite sending the Player to kill a [[SuperStrength freakishly strong princess]] who [[NighInvulnerability can live through almost any injury]] with just a dagger and expecting complete compliance without any question as to ''why'' said princess needs to die, any failure on the Player's part to complete the task is almost always attributed to him simply not following his directions well enough. Not that he's really ''wrong''; a Player who follows his instructions and kills her immediately and without pause and doesn't so much as inspect her body afterwards has little difficulty.

to:

* NeverMyFault: Despite sending the Player to kill a [[SuperStrength freakishly strong princess]] who [[NighInvulnerability can live through almost any injury]] with just a dagger and expecting complete compliance without any question as to ''why'' said princess needs to die, any failure on the Player's part to complete the task is almost always attributed to him simply not following his directions well enough. Not that he's really entirely ''wrong''; a Player who follows his instructions and kills her immediately and without pause and doesn't so much as inspect her body afterwards has little difficulty.
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* SickeninglySweethearts: Going along with his suggestions to free the Princess results in the Narrator gagging from the overly romantic they're being. Him egging on the Narrator to describe you kissing the Thorn Princess causes the Narrator to go full PurpleProse out of spite.

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* SickeninglySweethearts: Going along with his suggestions to free the Princess results in the Narrator gagging from the overly romantic way they're being.acting. Him egging on the Narrator to describe you kissing the Thorn Princess causes the Narrator to go full PurpleProse out of spite.



* ThinksLikeARomanceNovel: He sees the world as a love story, with the Princess being a DamselInDistress and himself as the KnightInShiningArmor, and believing the Princess to be his destined soulmate no matter how short of a time she and the Player have actually spent together. It does work for his advantage, however, as his beliefs are so powerful that he can even gain enough of the narrative influence to override the Narrator to will a happy ending for her and the Player.

to:

* ThinksLikeARomanceNovel: He sees the world as a love story, with the Princess being a DamselInDistress and himself as the KnightInShiningArmor, and believing the Princess to be his destined soulmate no matter how short of a time she and the Player have actually spent together. It does work for his advantage, however, as his beliefs are so powerful that he can even gain enough of the narrative influence to override the Narrator to will a happy ending for her and the Player. And since [[spoiler: the Princess is the Shifting Mound while the Player is the Long Quiet and the two were once one being before the Narrator had them separated and tried to get the Long Quiet to kill the Princess, the Voice of the Smitten is right in thinking of the Long Quiet and the Princess as soulmates.]]
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* ImmortalityImmorality: He wasn't seeking it for ''himself'', but for the people who lived in his dying era, and for other people across the universes. For that, he tore the concept of life and death, of transformation and stability, in two, personified them, and set them up in the Construct with an echo of himself to pit them against each other. As you can see through the game, rarely are any of those characters happy.

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* ImmortalityImmorality: He To his credit, he wasn't seeking it immortality for ''himself'', but for the people who lived in his dying era, and for other people across the universes. For that, Unfortunately in order to have it for others, he tore the concept of life and death, of transformation and stability, in two, personified them, and set them up in the Construct with an echo of himself to pit them against each other. As you can see through the game, rarely are any of those characters happy.
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-->'''Hero:''' ''Her voice sounds different. More... threatening.\\

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-->'''Hero:''' ''Her Her voice sounds different. More... threatening.\\
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-->'''Hero:''' ''Her voice sounds different. More... threatening.
-->'''Stubborn:''' ''[chuckles]'' Good. Sounds like my kind of princess.

to:

-->'''Hero:''' ''Her voice sounds different. More... threatening.
-->'''Stubborn:'''
threatening.\\
'''Stubborn:'''
''[chuckles]'' Good. Sounds like my kind of princess.
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'''Stubborn:''' ''[chuckles]'' Good. Sounds like my kind of princess.

to:

'''Stubborn:''' -->'''Stubborn:''' ''[chuckles]'' Good. Sounds like my kind of princess.
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-> '''Hero''': ''Her voice sounds different. More...threatening''
-> '''Stubborn''': ''[Chuckles] Good. Sounds like my kind of princess.''

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-> '''Hero''': -->'''Hero:''' ''Her voice sounds different. More...threatening''
-> '''Stubborn''': ''[Chuckles]
threatening.
'''Stubborn:''' ''[chuckles]''
Good. Sounds like my kind of princess.''
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Added DiffLines:

** Slaying the Beast from within once she's eaten him by digging through her flesh and stabbing her heart.
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** '''Bias''': The Narrator chooses what and how he narrates, which inevitably results in some bias. He will always insist that the Princess is lying or manipulating you and must be slain, even when she isn't and doesn't have to be. He can also be extremely petty with his word choice and descriptions. In the endgame, when speaking to him in the broken mirror, he gives several reasons why other Narrators deny the possibility of looping, including denial, different suppositions of how the Construct works, existential dread, and the general belief that they ''had'' to be the first version the Long Quiet encountered.
** Even his ability to narrate is unreliable. He has some direct influence over events through his narration: he can make the Player's body freeze or move awkwardly, cause the Pristine Blade to reappear in Chapter I, or eve n make a hallway stretch on indefinitely. But it's implied that he is only capable of this if the Player or the Princess aren't aware of what he's really doing (tying into the Player's [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve ability to alter reality based on your perception]]). If they are aware, he is completely helpless to stop or manipulate what they're doing. In a few cases, they can even step in to do the job for him.

to:

** '''Bias''': The Narrator chooses what and how he narrates, which inevitably results in some bias. He can be extremely petty with his word choice and descriptions, and he will always insist that the Princess is lying or manipulating you and must be slain, even when she isn't and doesn't have to be. He can also be extremely petty with his word choice and descriptions. In the endgame, when speaking you can speak to him in through the broken mirror, he gives several reasons why other Narrators deny the possibility of looping, including looping: denial, different suppositions assumptions of how the Construct works, existential dread, and the general belief ([WishfulThinking or hope]) that they ''had'' to be ''they'' were the first version the Long Quiet encountered.
** Even his ability to narrate is unreliable. He While he has some direct influence over events through his narration: he can narration, (in that do things like make the Player's body freeze or move awkwardly, cause the Pristine Blade to reappear in Chapter I, or eve n even make a hallway stretch on indefinitely. But indefinitely) it's implied that he is only capable of this if the Player or the Princess aren't aware of what he's really doing (tying into the Player's [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve ability to alter reality based on your perception]]). If they are aware, he is completely helpless to stop or manipulate what they're doing. In a few cases, they can even step in to do the job for him.
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** Should you search inward to find your freedom during the Wild Route, he drops absolutely all of his snark and even resorts to direct threats in a last desperate attempt to keep you and the Princess from catching a glimpse of the world outside his Construct.

to:

** Should you search inward to find your freedom during the Wild Route, he drops absolutely all of his cordiality and snark to directly order and even resorts to direct threats in a last desperate attempt to keep threaten you and the Princess away from catching a glimpse seeking an escape from his Construct with the aid of the world outside his Construct.Princess.



** '''Ignorance''': The Narrator is not omniscient, and many details are simply missed by him. He is unable to remember the previous loop, [[RippleEffectProofMemory unlike you]], he seems genuinely unaware of the mirror that appears in Chapter II and Chapter III, and doesn't seem to consider the basement becoming an endless void or the woods becoming a mass of meat to be out of the ordinary. The Narrator can flat-out give you an incorrect impression of what is happening and become blindsided by the Player or the Princess' actions. Despite his attempts to function as a guide, he can end up far less informed about what's going on than you become just by exploring various options.
** '''Bias''': The Narrator chooses what and how he narrates, which inevitably results in some bias. He will always insist that the Princess is lying or manipulating you and must be slain, even when she isn't and doesn't have to be, and can be extremely petty with his word choice and descriptions. In the endgame, when speaking to him in the broken mirror, he gives several reasons why other Narrators deny the possibility of looping, including denial, different ideas of how the Construct works, existential dread, and the general belief that they ''had'' to be the first version the Long Quiet encountered.
** Even his ability to narrate is unreliable. He has some ability to influence events directly by narrating them, such as making the Player's body freeze or move awkwardly, causing the Pristine Blade to reappear in Chapter I, or making a hallway stretch on indefinitely, but it's implied that he is only capable of this if the Player or the Princess aren't aware of what he's really doing (tying into the Player's [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve ability to alter reality based on his perception]]). If they are aware, he is completely helpless to stop or manipulate what they're doing, and in a few cases, they can do his job for him.

to:

** '''Ignorance''': The Narrator is not omniscient, and many details are simply missed by him. He he can overlook quite a few details.[[RippleEffectProofMemory Unlike you]], he is unable to remember the previous loop, [[RippleEffectProofMemory unlike you]], he seems genuinely unaware of the mirror that appears in Chapter II and Chapter III, and doesn't seem to consider the basement becoming an endless void or the woods becoming a mass of meat to be at all out of the ordinary. The Because of all this, the Narrator can flat-out give you an incorrect impression of what is happening and become blindsided by the Player or the Princess' actions. Despite his attempts to function as a guide, he can end up far less informed about what's going on than you become just by exploring various options.
** '''Bias''': The Narrator chooses what and how he narrates, which inevitably results in some bias. He will always insist that the Princess is lying or manipulating you and must be slain, even when she isn't and doesn't have to be, and be. He can also be extremely petty with his word choice and descriptions. In the endgame, when speaking to him in the broken mirror, he gives several reasons why other Narrators deny the possibility of looping, including denial, different ideas suppositions of how the Construct works, existential dread, and the general belief that they ''had'' to be the first version the Long Quiet encountered.
** Even his ability to narrate is unreliable. He has some ability to direct influence over events directly by narrating them, such as making through his narration: he can make the Player's body freeze or move awkwardly, causing cause the Pristine Blade to reappear in Chapter I, or making eve n make a hallway stretch on indefinitely, but indefinitely. But it's implied that he is only capable of this if the Player or the Princess aren't aware of what he's really doing (tying into the Player's [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve ability to alter reality based on his your perception]]). If they are aware, he is completely helpless to stop or manipulate what they're doing, and in doing. In a few cases, they can even step in to do his the job for him.



** In the version of the Wild route where you and the Princess work together with your fused strength to try and escape. The Narrator absolutely panics and alternates between orders and outright threats to get the Princess and Player to stop.

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** In the version of the Wild route where you and the Princess work together with your fused strength to try and escape. The escape, the Narrator absolutely panics descends into absolute panic\ and alternates between orders and outright threats to get the Princess and Player to stop.
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Added DiffLines:

* PetTheDog: Despite how devious he tends to usually be, at some points, he can actually be empathetic to you and the Voices.
** In the Tower route, if you point out the existence of the mirror, he'll deny that it's there as usual, and the Voice of the Broken would insist that you shouldn't look, as to not see anything "sad and miserable" in it. The Narrator would actually try to reassure you and the Broken that you wouldn't look "sad and miserable" in the mirror.
** Also, in the Tower route, if you succeed in slaying the Princess, she'll also inflict fatal injuries on you in turn. After the Voice of the Hero gets upset about the fact that they'll never get their happy ending, the Narrator would comfort him by pointing out that you ''did'' save the world, even if it costed you your life, so as to not let you die with belief that everything you did was AllForNothing.
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* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: The Broken normally doesn't really do ''anything'' -- most of his contributions are just bleak statements of hopelessness, and he never really gets out of depressed helplessness as a emotional state. In the Tower route, though? He becomes ''disturbingly'' passionate in his devotion to the tower, even actively turning against the Player and trying to force you to kill yourself. This is noted by the Hero, who nervously asks if they should be worried when the Broken starts enthusiastically emoting about the Cabin stairs.

to:

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: The Broken normally doesn't really do ''anything'' -- most of his contributions are just bleak statements of hopelessness, and he never really gets out of depressed helplessness as a emotional state. In the Tower route, though? He becomes ''disturbingly'' passionate in his devotion to the tower, Tower, even actively turning against the Player and trying to force you to kill yourself. This is noted by the Hero, who nervously asks if they we should be worried when the Broken starts enthusiastically emoting about the Cabin stairs.
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** "Hero or Quiet" by the happy and the cynical variants of the heart of the Shifting Mound

to:

** "Hero "Hero" or Quiet" "Quiet" by the happy soft and the cynical variants of the heart of the Shifting Mound



* NoNameGiven: The Player is often referred to with SecondPersonNarration, Hero, or by the title of "The Long Quiet" or several nicknames the Princess gives. What your name is never comes up, but it's likely that based on [[DeityofMortalCreation the nature of what the Long Quiet is,]] you never had a name to begin with. In the new update to the game's "And? What happens next?" endings the soft Princess will call the Player "Quiet" and the cynical Princess will call the Player "Hero" which he'll end up accepting as his name.

to:

* NoNameGiven: The Player is often referred to with SecondPersonNarration, Hero, or by the title of "The Long Quiet" or several nicknames the Princess gives. What your name is never comes up, but it's likely that based on [[DeityofMortalCreation the nature of what the Long Quiet is,]] you never had a name to begin with. In the new update to the game's "And? What happens next?" endings the soft Princess will call the Player "Quiet" and the cynical Princess will call the Player "Hero" "Hero", which he'll end up accepting as his name.
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Moving to the main page.


* GagEcho: During the Witch route, if you turn your back to her in the stairs and let her claw you in the back, he laments that he was planning to do the same and stab her in the back for you to acclaim the idea as amazing and thanking him for looking out for your back. If you do let the Witch go before you, he proposes exactly that and you get the chance to respond exactly what he thought you would say.
-->'''Voice of the Opportunist:''' Wow! You said exactly the thing I imagined you would say as soon as you heard my brilliant plan. This whole day is a dream come true, really.

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