List of Planescape: Torment characters
The 1999 role-playing video game Planescape: Torment featured a number of memorable characters who are listed in this article.
The Nameless One
Party members
The following is a list of all the potential party members the Nameless One can recruit on his journeys. While there are seven potential members, there are only five slots (not including the Nameless One himself) in the party. Players may switch party members by finding and speaking to whoever was left behind.
Mortimer "Morte" Rictusgrin
Dak'kon
(voiced by Mitch Pileggi)
Dak'kon is a githzerai, one of the tight-lipped people of Limbo. His skin is yellow and lined; he appears to be old, and pain haunts his small black eyes. He carries a blade of strange metal.
A Githzerai zerth, Dak'kon is the last known wielder of a karach (chaos-matter) blade, which alters its shape, appearance, and abilities depending on the power and mental state of its owner/wielder. Unlike most githzerai, Dak'kon is lawful neutral. He is a capable wizard and an even more capable warrior, making him a very valuable ally throughout the game as he can adapt to different situations easily, going into melee or casting spells, whichever the situation calls for. However, his coal-black eyes hold a deep, secret pain, one that weighs on his very soul.
Dak'kon can be acquired early in the game and is found in the Smoldering Corpse Bar. He joins immediately after the Nameless One first talks to him, though he does not at first reveal that he has known the Nameless One for many years.
Dak'kon carries with him the Unbroken Circle of Zerthimon, a religious text inscribed on a series of interlocking stone plates that follows the life of Zerthimon. Dak'kon is only able to read a portion of the text, though it is possible for the Nameless One to unlock the remaining texts if his Wisdom statistic is high enough, which also dramatically improves Dak'kon's abilities. Dak'kon's dread is that Zerthimon was broken by the torture of the Illithids, and had never really escaped their control. This doubt led to the destruction of the fortress under Dak'kon's care and his subsequent discovery by the Nameless One's Practical Incarnation, who gave him the Unbroken Circle of Zerthimon. It is later revealed that the circle was fabricated by the Practical Incarnation, in order to elicit Dak'kon's loyalty. His faith and will to live partially restored, Dak'kon swore to serve his savior until the Nameless One's "(life was) no more." (Githzerai are typically much longer lived than humans.) Not realizing that the Nameless One was immortal, this oath bound him in servitude to the immortal for eternity. Slavery is a serious cultural taboo among the Githzerai, and Dak'kon is now a pariah among his people. Even telling Dak'kon that his debt is nullified does not free him, as his own sense of honor won't allow it.
It is revealed that the Practical Incarnation rescued Dak'kon solely for the latter's "karach blade." Allegedly, such a weapon, in the hands of a wielder who knows himself, could be powerful enough to unmake the multiverse.
In the book, loosely based upon the game's early script, Dak'kon's history with the Nameless One is much briefer and less tragic than in the game. Rather than having been exiled by his fellows, Dak'kon left willingly after betraying a close friend of his; when his friend deliberately went into a Githyanki colony nearby to cause trouble, Dak'kon surrendered him to avoid a war. Dak'kon of the book is also a member of the Believers of the Source, who originally encountered the Nameless One after being sent to observe him and see if he could be useful to their faith. It is Dak'kon who gave the Nameless One the name of Hra'ka'lothanek, a shortened version of which—Thane—is used to address the Nameless One throughout the book.
Annah-of-the-Shadows
Ignus
(voiced by Charles Adler)
There is a burning man hovering in the air over a grille in the Smoldering Corpse Bar. His skin bubbles and chars, and flames pour from his tormented eyes, yet his expression is far away, almost as if he were reveling in the flames.
A pyromaniacal mage, Ignus is chaotic neutral. Ignus once attempted to burn down the Hive, and was only stopped by a collaboration of many local magic users, from minor hedge wizards to mighty sorcerers. Furious at his mad killing spree, they converted him into a living conduit to the Elemental Plane of Fire as an ironic punishment. Such treatment would have instantly incinerated a normal mortal, but Ignus survived and thrived in his fiery condition. Stuck in a semi-coma and reveling in the never-ending flames coursing over his body, he was eventually made into a mascot for the Smoldering Corpse Bar. If Ignus is freed from his imprisonment, it is possible to recruit him into the party.
Dialogues with Ignus reveal that his original mentor of the magical arts was one of the Nameless One's previous incarnations, allegedly "one of the last great sorcerers." This incarnation was a brutal teacher who believed that suffering is a necessity for learning, and subjected the young Ignus to many torments in order to teach him to master fire. Though he seems to harbor some grudge towards the Nameless One for the pain he inflicted, Ignus still views the immortal as his master in some way, and can be persuaded to teach the Nameless One some of his fire spells. Ignus retains his old master's policy of suffering to learn, however: each teaching requires that Ignus burn part of the Nameless One's body. While the Nameless One will quickly regenerate these body parts, Ignus's power is such that this burning results in permanent hit point loss.
As the little flesh he has remaining is molten, Ignus is unable to equip or wear any kind of armor or tattoos, making him very vulnerable to brute and raw physical damage. However, his magic spells and attacks are unmatched and he has the surprisingly high constitution score of 18, allowing him to regenerate lost health, albeit at a slow rate. Naturally, Ignus is also immune to fire attacks and spells.
Nordom Whistleklik
(voiced by Dan Castellaneta)
This modron seems to be subtly different from the others you have seen. It carries a pair of crossbows in its four arms, and it seems to be taking an active interest in your behavior.
A Modron who went rogue (separated from the Modron hive mind) after being exposed to the raw elemental chaos of Limbo, Nordom is chaotic neutral. While separated from the group mind by elemental chaos, he remains a very logical, mechanical thinker. While often referred to as "he", Nordom is sexless. He got his name after the Nameless One inadvertently referred to him as a "backwards Modron." He attacks with a pair of gear spirits in the form of crossbows, making him one of only two in-game characters able to attack from a distance.
Unlike all the other Modrons in the game, who have a pair of arms, a pair of legs, and a pair of wings as their limbs, Nordom has chosen to replace his wings with a second set of arms, so that he can reload his crossbows unnaturally quickly. If the player has not armed Nordom with special crossbow bolts, the gear spirits can create an infinite number of ordinary bolts for Nordom to fire at his enemies. Nordom is a very confused creature, unused to his new individuality; he's not entirely certain what happened to him to split him away from Mechanus, but being given a role in the Nameless One's party comforts him and gives him focus, as he's used to being part of a hierarchy.
With the right attributes, the Nameless One can reprogram Nordom making him more powerful, not to mention less troubled. Nordom has occasional dialogue with Fall-From-Grace which seem to indicate an attraction to her. He has no experience with humanoid social cues, so he often misses the point of jokes or barbs by other party members. Nordom is an extremely flexible ally. Under proper direction from his superior (in this case the Nameless One), he can modify his body to become stronger, stealthier, and/or smarter. Furthermore, he has a wide array of lenses and crossbow bolts, each with many different abilities, allowing him to deal with different types of opponents with great effectiveness. However, these lenses and bolts are very rare and are only dropped by the Constructs that reside within the Modron Maze itself.
Nordom is sort of a secret character, as players can play through the game without meeting him or even learning of his existence entirely, and the fact that he is in a somewhat hidden location only makes it harder to acquire him. He can be found in the maze of the Modron Cube, which is notoriously hard to navigate.
Fall-From-Grace
(voiced by Jennifer Hale)
Fall-From-Grace is a succubus, one of the tanar'ri, a creature literally formed of raw chaos and evil, her body and mind the perfect template to tempt a man of any species, any age. She is the proprietress of the Brothel for Slaking Intellectual Lusts.
One of hundreds of children, Fall-From-Grace was sold by her mother, Red Shroud, to the baatezu, the tanar'ri's mortal enemies. After suffering years of mental torture, she was able to trick her baatezu master and won herself her freedom.
Fall-From-Grace is a creature of contradictions. She is a cleric but worships no god. She is formed from pure chaos and evil, but is (apparently) lawful neutral with a good bent. She runs a Brothel for Slaking Intellectual Lusts (a typo in the game, seen above, has the name as "Slating"). Perhaps the oddest of all, she is a beautiful succubus, but is by all appearances chaste. While many in-game characters are quick to indicate her heritage and proclaim that she must have some sort of demonic and evil scheme, no such plot on her part is ever indicated.
She is the only available healer in the game and is the only party member, aside from the Nameless One, that is able to resurrect fallen party members. Although she can only inflict physical damage with her touch (due to the fact that she cannot stand the feel of metal and is, therefore, unable to utilize any sort of weapons), she can also kill with a kiss.
Fall-From-Grace can be found during the mid-game at her brothel in the Clerk's Ward. The Nameless One requires a relatively high amount of intelligence and charisma to convince Grace to leave her brothel to journey with him to the other planes. Grace is a member of the Society of Sensation and is also a potential love interest for the Nameless One.
Vhailor
(voiced by Keith David)
This suit of Mercykiller armor apparently has been standing here in the prison under Curst for some years. It has not been disturbed, which is strange, considering how very quick the people of Curst are to seek a profit.
A fanatical Mercykiller who is lawful neutral, Vhailor's drive for Justice is so strong that it enabled his soul to remain long after he had died and his corpse rotted completely away. He now inhabits his suit of armor and does not appear to recognize that he has died. He simply doesn't think about it - and why should he, when there are so many criminals in the Multiverse to bring to justice? Vhailor's favored weapon is his executioner's axe, "Final Judgement". It is a cursed weapon and cannot be removed from Vhailor, even if a "Remove Curse" spell is cast on him.
When he was alive, he tried to track down and bring to justice one of the Nameless One's incarnations. This incarnation, the Practical Incarnation (see above), sealed Vhailor in a magical prison in the gate town of Curst. When the current incarnation of the Nameless One (the player) meets Vhailor, Vhailor doesn't immediately recognize that the player is the killer he has been hunting. However, through a certain conversation path, the Nameless One can end up revealing to Vhailor that he is the killer that Vhailor has been tracking, ending with violent results. Other conversations allow the Nameless One to convince Vhailor to depart this realm and truly "die."
He is found relatively late in the game in a magically sealed prison cell located under Curst. Like Dak'kon, he can immediately join the party after conversing with him for the first time. Near the very end of the game, the Nameless One may battle Vhailor in the Fortress of Regrets if the player has been mostly chaotic and/or evil throughout the game, depending on his choices. If the Nameless One informs Vhailor of the truth about his immortality and the enemy they will face Vhailor will get a large boost to his ability scores reflecting that he gains power proportional to the guilt level of his opponent.
NPCs
Ravel Puzzlewell
(voiced by Flo DiRe)
All the stories you heard about Ravel Puzzlewell prepared you for a loathsome monster who would devour your soul. If she intended that, though, she chose a strange way to go about it - she is undeniably insane, trapped in a black-barbed maze of thorns and evil. You can't help but pity her, despite her great power: She has lost everything and doesn't even know it.
One of the ladies of the Gray Waste, a night hag,[1] she was the one who made the Nameless One immortal. She's well-known and feared throughout the planes. Many people come to ask boons of her, and are enslaved when they fail to answer her riddles. The Nameless One is the only known person who got the better of Ravel in this contest and, consequently, got his wish.
The most notable of her riddles: "What can change the nature of a man?" is a recurring theme throughout the game. Only the Nameless One's first incarnation could answer, partly because he gave Ravel not the answer she wanted, but the one he believed to be true, and partly because the first incarnation was able to make Ravel fall in love with him.
At the time of the game, Ravel had been "mazed" by the Lady of Pain: placed in a pocket dimension constructed from an unused section of Sigil. This was in retaliation for Ravel's attempt to destroy Sigil. It is revealed through conversation with her, however, that she discovered the way to leave the maze long ago but actively chooses to remain.
There are hints that Ravel is still attracted to the Nameless One—one conversation path leads to her transforming into Fall-From-Grace or Annah, whereupon she kisses him, and he can gain a powerful tattoo from this experience.
In the game, when the Nameless One encounters a portrait of her, he recovers a memory of himself experiencing a classic, macabre three wishes joke.
Trias the Betrayer
(voiced by John de Lancie)
Trias is a deva, a celestial being from the Upper Planes. You first encountered him in the prison of Curst, imprisoned in an obsidian bubble. His beauty is astonishing to behold; the aura of goodness rolls from him like a glorious wave of light. His wings are charred down to the bone, yet he seems to bear his suffering with pride.
A fallen Deva who had some past dealings with the Nameless One. In the game, Trias and the Nameless One's paths cross only tangentially. Trias has obviously met the Nameless One before, and did feel the need to lie to him and use his strength to break free, but nothing of their past is revealed or even hinted at.
Although he is a Deva, Trias has the ability to lie. Since it is generally believed that Devas never lie, both the Nameless One and Fhjull ended up being tricked by Trias. His true name is Trias the Betrayer, and true to form, he uses the Nameless One to escape his prison in Curst and drive the entire border town of Curst into Carceri, the prison plane at its edge. Trias does, however, provide the Nameless One with some of the information he needs, which leads him to Avernus, the uppermost level of Baator, where the Pillar of Skulls waits. Later, it turns out that the Pillar of Skulls did not have the answer the Nameless One wanted, but Trias did, and so the Nameless One returns to a hellish Curst to confront the Deva and defeat him. If Vhailor is with the party, you are given no choice but to kill Trias. Otherwise, Trias can actually be "redeemed", though this could simply be another lie.
Pharod Wormhair
Pharod Wormhair is the Collector King of the Hive, a man crippled in body and spirit. His mind, however, seems to be as sharp as ever. He rules the Buried Village with an iron fist, keeping even that disorderly rabble in line. He is a sneak, a thief, and he seems to know far too much about you, though he does not reveal it without ... coaxing.
The "King of Rags" who rules a community of thieves, grave-robbers, and other desperate ne'er-do-wells beneath Ragpicker Square, and Annah's adoptive father (for whom she usually expresses, at best, ambivalent feelings - though she does care for him a great deal). The Nameless One seeks him out because the tattoos on his back advise him to. Once a man of nobility and influence, but dubious integrity, Pharod demands that the Nameless One retrieve a certain object, a Bronze Sphere, for him in exchange for information. Pharod believes that the Sphere will somehow enable him to avoid damnation for his many sins. This, however, is a lie told to him by the Nameless One's Practical Incarnation for his own purposes: the Sphere cannot save Pharod, and is, in a sense, ironically responsible for his death: he is slain by the Shadows for associating with the Nameless One, appearing later in the game on the Pillar of Skulls: the final fate for those whose lies lead to the death of others.
Deionarra
(voiced by Jennifer Hale)
The ghostly apparition, Deionarra, claims she knows you, that you are her "Love." Whatever keeps her on the physical plane must be powerful indeed for her to stave off death so long. Dying does not seem to have improved her disposition.
First encountered in the Mortuary early in the game, this female ghost is clearly embittered towards the Nameless One. In life, she had the ability to glimpse the future in visions, and fell deeply in love with the Nameless One's Practical Incarnation.
The Practical Incarnation was quick to use her devotion to convince her to follow him on his travels, making use of her prophetic dreams. She traveled with the Nameless One throughout the multiverse, only to be left behind to die in the Fortress of Regrets. Now, as a ghost, she haunts the Fortress of Regrets and the Mortuary, lamenting the loss of her love. Only the Nameless One can actually see her, all the other characters seem to think he is talking to thin air whenever he converses with Deionarra. Having met the Practical Incarnation, and having the power of devoted love, she possesses valuable information and can prove very useful to the player.
Fell
Fell is a fallen dabus, a former servant of the Lady of Pain, and one of the few remaining priests of the dead god of portals, Aoskar. He has achieved some renown as a tattoo artist, somehow bringing his pictures to a kind of life. Simply return to Fell with tales of your exploits and he can sketch them on your skin, and allow you to draw strength from them.
A fallen dabus that is skilled in the art of tattooing. While most Dabus float slightly above the ground, Fell has been cursed to walk on the ground by the Lady of Pain for worshiping her "rival," Aoskar, God of portals. He provides certain insights and advice to those that are willing to risk the wrath of the Lady, as well as creating a variety of different enhancing tattoos as the game progresses (reflecting what the Nameless One experiences).
The Lady of Pain
The Lady is a mystery. She's widely regarded to be the de facto ruler of Sigil, its protector and its victim. She is said to guard the doors of the Cage against the myriad schemes of the gods, to be the ultimate expression of balance in the multiverse, to be the prisoner of the City of Doors. There are thousands of stories about her - one even tells that she's actually six giant squirrels with a headdress, robe, and ring of levitation and illusions - but none of them can be verified. She is a true enigma, a puzzle with no solution.
If someone displeases her - by upsetting the balance of the city or by worshiping her - the Lady may punish the offender. Her punishment ranges from the Mazes - a twisting, turning hell with a cleverly disguised exit - to the casting of her shadow across the transgressor, covering him with slashes and gouges from her sharp-edged shadow, leaving behind a pile of gore and viscera. Neither option is particularly attractive.
A very powerful being, many of the hive dwellers consider her to be a deity, but no one really worships her for fear of her wrath. No one knows how she came to be or what her true purpose is, but she helps in maintaining the balance within Sigil and throws defilers and denizens who anger her into one of her mazes. Often, she will only interfere when the very balance and stability of Sigil is threatened. While the clueless may dismiss the Hivers' fear of her as superstition, the informed know that she is quite real and extremely deadly. She is also known as Her Serenity, for the permanently vacant expression on her face, or simply as the Lady. She is only a lady insofar as she is characterized as female in her countenance. The Lady may as well be male or sexless, or such a type that traditional gender classification is impossible.
In-game, the Lady is often mentioned but will only appear if the Nameless One angers her. The first time he does so, the Nameless One will be sent to a Maze to which one of his previous incarnations was previously condemned (and which still holds some of his former possessions). On a second offense, she will destroy the Nameless One, overcoming his immortality and ending the game. There are only three actions that the Nameless One can take that will make her angry: praying to a small doll that looks like her, agreeing to worship Aoskar, or going on a rampage and killing a lot of NPCs.
Coaxmetal
A huge iron golem laboring away in the mysterious siege tower in the middle of Sigil, Coaxmetal is metal given life with an urge toward destruction. It is immense in size and its goal seems to be the creation of weaponry.
A giant Iron Golem serving the cosmic force of entropy, he has caused so much madness and chaos across the Planes that the Lady of Pain imprisoned him in the confines of a siege tower. He is a very skilled blacksmith who is able to create a range of very exotic weapons, even weapons which can kill otherwise immortal beings. He longs for his freedom and asks the Nameless One to help free him by giving him the Modron Cube (a small portal device). Coaxmetal's ultimate goal is absolute entropy, the complete lack of order, and he creates weapons to someday aid in a war against order across the planes.
The Pillar of Skulls
This disgusting mass of heads towers lonesome in the fiery wastes of Avernus, the first layer of Baator. Apparently, it is composed of the heads of liars and ill-meaning sages, a punishment for those who squandered the gift of knowledge. You have been told that the Pillar holds the answers to your mortality, the precious secret that has been driving you for these long years.
A grotesque pillar composed of the skulls of those whose lies lead to the deaths of others. With the combined knowledge of all its component heads, it is extremely intelligent and has some information that the Nameless One needs. It is willing to answer questions, but at a steep price. For his crimes, Pharod has long been destined to be part of the Pillar and Morte first came to the Nameless One when the Practical Incarnation pulled him from the mass of heads.
The Transcendent One
(voiced by Tony Jay)
This mysterious spectral entity is responsible for delivering the killing blow to Ravel during her last moments in the Black-Barbed Maze. Who this adversary is is unknown.
The Nameless One's mortality in a corporeal form. After it was separated from the Nameless One by Ravel's ritual (which "cursed" the Nameless One with immortality), it manifested into a physical being and evolved, growing in power and intellect. He and the Nameless One share a bond, and if either of them dies permanently, so shall the other. He later reveals that he sends out shadows after the Nameless One not to kill him, but rather to make him forget through his death, and therefore leave the Fortress of Regrets (and the Transcendent One himself) in peace once and for all. He believes that nothing can change the nature of a man. Also, unlike the Nameless One, the Transcendent One remembers the past lives that both shared and retains all of the powers and skills gleaned from them.
References
- ↑ Chris Avellone (2007-11-21). "Un-Ravel-ling Torment.". Chis Avellone's Blog. Obsidian Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-11-07.
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||