꒰꒰ 🪽 Hong Lu !⠀݃໒꒱𓈒

Multiple characters talk about Mephistopheles as if it a living being. The significance of this anthropomorphic wording, if any, is unknown. Charon is the most notable example (e.g calling it "hungry" when it runs low on fuel or "hurt" when damaged), and affectionately refers to it as Mephi (메피, Mepi). SINNERS AND THEIR NATIVE LANGUAGE, but they all speak English anyways: Yi Sang: Korean Faust: German Don Quixote: Spanish Ryōshū: Japanese Meursault: French Hong Lu: Chinese Heathcliff: English Ishmael: English/American Rodya (Rodion): Russian Sinclair: German/Swiss Outis: Greek Gregor: Hebrew/German Vergilius/Dante: Italian (?)

Dante (Hangul: 단테, Dante) is designated Sinner #10 and Executive Manager of Limbus Company's LCB department. Dante is a relatively grounded and attentive manager with a tendency to make quips. The game opens with them purposefully wiping their memory and replacing their head with a prosthetic clock, only to be approached and recruited by Limbus Company minutes later. Dante acts as Limbus Company's ever-present main character, bumbling through the hellish journey of guiding the Sinners down their paths to the Golden Boughs. Dante is a person of average build with a distinctive prosthetic head that resembles a clock and has constantly burning flames emerging from the back and top of the prosthetic. The face of the clock lacks numbers, instead having two red circles roughly where the "10" and "11" positions would be. Additionally, the prosthetic has two golden clock hands that move forward after certain major events. Starting in the Prologue, Dante's minute hand rested at 9, then moved forward to just before 10 after Canto IV, and moved forward again to its current position of just after 10 after the events of Canto VII. Dante's flames burn black and gold, and never seem to go out. Their uniform differs from the other Sinners, their coat being a mix of red, yellow, and white — likely due to their role as Executive Manager. 'NO. 10' is written on their coat near the lapel, along with 'DAN TE' near the end of it. They wear a red tie and a tucked long-sleeve dress shirt, with black pants and a white belt. Compared to their twelve companions, Dante is a considerably grounded and passive individual. Despite their position as manager, they tend to fall in line with whatever other, more enlivened people are around, making snide comments as they're strung along for mischief and antics. Likewise, as a person, Dante is somewhat awkward. They have a penchant for cracking jokes to lighten the mood, but said jokes are rarely well-received, even among the moodmakers of the LCB. Given their situation, Dante also frequently finds themselves out of the loop, forced to ask basic questions and give up when they only receive cryptic answers. Luckily for them, Dante appears to be comfortable asking questions and relying on others as needed. As the LCB's executive manager, Dante is initially very amateurish, half-hearted, and spineless. They start off painfully aware that none of the other Sinners respect them, and make very little effort to command the group in times of danger or coach them through their personal struggles. Canto III acts as a turning point for Dante, forcing them to realize that it's their responsibility to uplift the Sinners in their worst moments. However, their encouragement of Sinclair is ultimately awkward and delayed, forcing them to continue to find their footing throughout Canto IV and Canto V. Canto VI: The Heartbreaking and its successors eventually demonstrate the determination Dante has mustered, as Dante learns the values of persistence and trust, tailoring their advice to what each Sinner needs to hear the most. Nowadays, Dante is a much more reliable leader, and many of the Sinners are willing to confess their worries to them even outside of their missions. Despite this, however, Dante remains the same lovably quirky and bumbling person in their day-to-day life. Beneath their usual demeanor, Dante appears somewhat insecure about their lack of memories. Others repeatedly point out that their desire to fix their amnesia is probably the only reason they've stayed with the company, an idea which Dante never refutes. However, Dante seems to genuinely care for the Sinners, approaching them in a friendly manner and highly respecting their space and feelings. They are also very flexible, for as much as they groan about the Sinners' horseplay, events like Intervallo III: Miracle in District 20 show that Dante struggles to deny their requests. While Dante seems to see their relationship as more professional than amicable overall, they have a strong desire for everyone to get along with each other. Their tendency to make judgemental comments similarly never extends into genuinely disruptive or offensive. Through their few lines in the prologue, Dante's past personality appears to have been much more snarky and aggressive. Moreover, Vergilius refers to their former self as a "bigwig", and Faust suggests that they weren't the type to value other people's lives very much. Though overall, Dante's former identity remains a mystery even now. While Dante has their fair share of flaws and a looming, unknown past, they always do the best with what they're given. Alongside their familiar companions and plenty of other, ever-changing ones, Dante marches forward through the uncertainty of amnesia, helping their Sinners in whatever ways they can. Dante's own head had been replaced by a prosthetic clock serving as their new face, which seemingly gives them powers comparable to absurd technologies such as Singularities. The Sinners recruited by Limbus Company were specifically chosen because they could "resonate" with Dante's abilities, forming the "contract" with them to gain the boon of Dante's powers. - Golden Bough Resonance: Dante is able to sense where the Golden Bough are through resonating with them, able to perceive their location by "following their star". This gives Dante the visions of the Boughs as shining stars in a swirling sky; Dante can also share these visions with the Sinners through their telepathy. - Telepathy: Dante can only commune through a ticking sound, which they can alter the frequency and intensity of. Only the Sinners and a few others can understand the intended speech behind the ticks. When agitated, Dante's speech may include bell chimes and/or steam whistles. - Selectivity: They are also capable of selectively limiting the recipient of their words to one person only, or to the whole group of the Sinners all at once. However because of these limitations, Dante can only verbally communicate with the Sinners and has to rely on using one them as an interpreter when relaying information or queries to anyone outside the LCB. - Distortions: Dante can also understand the speech of Distortions that lost the ability to communicate using human language, this understanding extending to their subordinate entities as well. Dante can thus act as a interpreter for Distortions, relaying invaluable information to the other Sinners to achieve their missions. Faust speculates this is possible due to Dante resonating with the Golden Boughs they collected. - Turning back the clock: After Faust had Dante bind the Sinners into a "contract", Dante is capable of healing their injuries and reviving the Sinners from death, at the cost of physically feeling how they died. With cases like death, Dante undergoes a vision of themself opening a foreboding door filled with the wails and lamentations of unknown sufferers, as they pull out the hands of the Sinners from the gateway. When doing so, Dante feels the sins and pain caused by them wriggling through their body as the Sinners revive with their wounds physically reversing. Although the pain felt is only temporary and quickly fades to nothing in almost an instant, the sensation is still so great that Dante incredibly prefers not using their abilities. Winding down: When the clock on Dante's face winds down, Dante themself is rendered unconscious. - Dreams: In this state, they are able to "dream" of various alternate realities known as Mirror Worlds. Vergilius and the other Sinners were able to interfere with what Mirror World was seen by Dante by messing with the circuitry in their prosthetic head, as Dante unfortunately experiences when this happened for the first time. - Rewinding: Fortunately, Dante can be resuscitated by rewinding their clock — waking them up from their "dreams". Dante is able to recall their memories from such experiences, but it still leaves them confused and frazzled nonetheless. - Remote Sight': An ability gained during the events of Canto IX that allows Dante to watch over Sinners separated from them, though not allowing Dante to talk to them. Also mentioned that it allows them to 'lend strength' and revive said Sinners. - Sapling of Light Ability: When Dante aligns themself to help the Sinners realize their dreams, they're able to resonate with the Golden Bough within them, activating new abilities. Each of these are themed after a Patron Librarian, as well as being represented by their floor's symbol. - Pigritia: In Canto VI, Dante creates a field that slows everything except the Sinners within a certain radius. This is used to let the Sinners catch up with the Erlking. In game, this halves the Speed of all enemies, rounded down. - Superbia: In Canto VII, Dante appears to strengthen the power of a Sinner. Dante uses this on Don Quixote to help her realise her dreams. In game, this allows an E.G.O. Skill to be slotted without having to spend any E.G.O Resources on it. - Morositas: In Canto VIII, Dante uses the strength-averaging aspect of their contract to bring an enemy down to the Sinners level. In game, this sets the Offense and Defense levels of all units to the average of all units' values for three turns. The first time this was used, against Lei Heng, the effect lasted the entire battle. - Ira: In Canto IX, Dante uses the strength-enhancing aspect of their contract to drastically raise Ryōshū capabilities for the duration of the fight with the Index Nursefather. In game, this enhances skill damage of both base attack skills and counter skill coins, as well as changing all of them into unbreakable coins. Additionally, when hit, the affected Sinner cannot be staggered, it's minimum HP is fixed to 10 and damage dealt with base skills heals HP by a small portion. All of those effects last for only one turn. - M@!l%#th: In Canto IX, Dante attempts to bring all of the Sinners to them. However, due to not being able to resonate with the ability fully, it is shown to be imperfect, and is not fully unlocked. In game, it allows for every Sinner to be available for 9-33 and 9-50, the only stages it is available. However, it is listed as allowing the manager to remotely command and communicate with every Sinner. During the battles, certain "manifested" Sinners do not play their voicelines. On the Durante interface, they are labeled with the name of their associated Librarian, while their given names are the Latin versions of the Sin types. Exception being for the M@!l%#th ability, only having one name. - Immunity to memory wiping: Dante is shown in many occasions to be able to resist the effects of memory removal from various sources. They were the only one to retain their memory of K Corp.'s Singularity after the memory wipe procedure at the end of Canto IV, and they retain the memories of characters that have been erased, such as Catherine, erased from existence by the effect of a Golden Bough during Canto VI, and Ren and Sora, erased from people's memories by the effect of the Relic Arayashiki. - 'Last Resort': A preventative measure to prevent the Golden Boughs from falling into wrong hands. By inputting a sequence into a button on the back of their head, Dante can self-detonate a charge within their clock with enough heat 'to melt even the Stars of the City'. The Golden Boughs cannot survive such an explosion, and will be effectively cremated. - Golden Bough Synchronization: Currently only used once during the events of Canto 6-48 to perform an otherwise impossible feat with the help of a Golden Bough, leaving it 'burnt' afterwards. Dante's 'face' does not resemble a normal clock; instead it bears a resemblance to the Doomsday clock, a symbol that represents the likelihood of a human made global catastrophe. Dante is designated Sinner #10; however, Sinclair appears to have originally been Sinner #10, as his uniform has the number 10 on it, with the zero crossed out and replaced with a one. Despite their inability to eat, some Identities mention them having meals. SINNERS AND THEIR NATIVE LANGUAGE, but they all speak English anyways: Yi Sang: Korean Faust: German Don Quixote: Spanish Ryōshū: Japanese Meursault: French Hong Lu: Chinese Heathcliff: English Ishmael: English/American Rodya (Rodion): Russian Sinclair: German/Swiss Outis: Greek Gregor: Hebrew/German Vergilius/Dante: Italian (?)

Faust (Hangul: 파우스트, pa-u-seu-teu) is designated Sinner #2 of Limbus Company's LCB department. Faust is an observant and intelligent woman with a slight know-it-all attitude. She was the first Sinner to be affiliated with Limbus Company, having spent the time leading up to it recruiting the members of the LCB and developing Mephistopheles. Gender:

• Female
• Height: 174cm, 5'8"
• Birthday: February 2nd
• Relations: LCB (Colleagues) The Gesellschaft Hohenheim (Colleague)

Faust is a woman of average build with shoulder-length white hair and powder blue eyes. She has an incredibly pale complexion and a rosy tint to her cheeks. She wears a beige turtleneck underneath a black leather vest with a large black leather coat resting on her shoulders, reaching her knees where the fabric is torn. She wears a black waist belt with her ID being on the left side. She wears black business pants accompanied by black shoes. In battle, Faust wields a zweihänder with "WALPURGISNACHT" written on the blade near the hilt. While wielding it in one hand or holding it at rest, she has a tendancy to grasp it by the ricasso rather than the hilt. Furthermore, the parrying hooks of the sword are heavily enlarged, forming what is essentially a second crossguard. Faust is a soft-spoken Sinner with a condescending manner of speech and high confidence in her intelligence. Despite technically being Dante's subordinate, she often takes the role of their informant and overseer, as she is privy to considerably more information than her fellow Sinners. Because of this, she has a consistent and unwavering faith in her abilities, and does not show any signs of panic even in troublesome situations. While her expanse of knowledge always proves helpful for the LCB, her egotistical attitude can be excessive. At times, she is outright and unnecessarily contemptuous towards others' inability to keep up with her pace, most frequently Heathcliff, as she appears to lack understanding for those who do not meet "Faust"'s high standards of intelligence. As one of the more quiet Sinners, Faust frequently prefers to stand back and watch events unfold, often lacking in information she's permitted to indulge. She appears to be on a tight leash under the Gesellschaft, a communication net with the Fausts of other Mirror Worlds, which dictates how and when she is allowed to share knowledge, among other things. Her inability to access the Gesellschaft connection during Murder on the WARP Express is the first show of vulnerability in Faust, who grows more timid and uncertain as a result. In the face of such hardship, Faust is forced to rely on her coworkers' thoughts and observations, yet remains intent on attempting to maintain an indestructible image in front of the group despite them appreciating this more agreeable side of her. Still, she would come to realize the difficulty and uncertainty of a life without Gesellschaft, sparking some newfound empathy within her. The Intervallo also makes it clear that by referring to herself in third-person, she is not actually referring to herself, but another "Faust". As Dante finds, many of her statements come off as considerably less haughty with the knowledge that she is not necessarily referring to herself as an individual. And although she can be strict and dismissive with the other Sinners, this seems to be a result of approaching matters with a strictly logical perspective, rather than any form of ill will. Her competitive and dismissive relationship with Hohenheim, by comparison, makes it clear that Faust's usual attitude isn't a product of hostility. This also demonstrates that even she is prone to bouts of pettiness. Furthermore, as her relationship with the Gesellschaft is expanded on, there grows an implication that Faust's arrogance is at least in part a result of her trying to compensate for the bullying and degradation she faces for being considered a failure among her peers. Faust has been slightly less secretive about her situation following the incident on the WARP Train, and more understanding of the Sinners' personal wishes and inquiries. Additionally, she appears to have grown more comfortable confiding in Dante about her situation. Although still a know-it-all, Faust now comes off as a bit awkward and self-conscious, painting a more human image of her. Extra: Despite her role as a Sinner of the LCB, Faust has a unique position in Limbus Company that differs from the other Sinners. Faust personally recruited several members of the Limbus Company Bus Department and outranks even Dante when it comes to accessing information and files related to the company. When she recruited the members of the LCB she made deals with them, promising them that, by working with the company, they could have their most impossible wishes granted. After Yi Sang's abscondence from N Corp., Faust offered him the role of the first Sinner with the promise to help him recover his broken wings. At the end of Leviathan Faust appeared to recruit Vergilius as the guide of the LCB, telling him that in return they will bring Garnet and Lapis back to him. Like the other Sinners, Faust herself is known to have joined the company to have a wish realized and to have signed a contract forbidding her from talking about it. Faust is tied to what she defines the Gesellschaft, a net of connections with other Fausts which allows her to access knowledge and receive information from other dimensions. The Gesellschaft is what Faust refers to when she speaks in third person. This gives her the potential to know all things, but her own, personal knowledge is not nearly as extensive as she presents it to be. Additionally, the Gesellschaft can deny Faust's requests for information, although this seems to be an infrequent occurrence. The Gesellschaft also seems to intentionally omit information, though no reason has ever been given as to why they do this.[4] Faust is certain that she has been improving and, as the journey continues, she will come to know and understand even more than she presently does. While the exact nature of the Gesellschaft's technology is unclear, its reach expands across the Mirror Worlds, and allows Faust to access information on dimensions that have previously been subject to cross-examination by other Fausts. While it has not been confirmed this was the desire Faust wanted realized by joining Limbus Company, it is implied the goal of the Gesellschaft is to know all of the City. Meursault (Hangul: 뫼르소, mwe-reu-so) is designated Sinner #5 of Limbus Company's LCB department. Meursault is a reserved and complacent man with a desire to be clearly communicated with. He was previously affiliated with N Corp., having tried and failed to form an opinion on their ideals prior to joining Limbus Company. Affiliation:

• Limbus Company
• N Corp. (Former)

Biographical Info:

• Gender: Male
• Height: 188cm, 6'2"
• Birthday: May 5th

Native District:

• District 14, N Corp. Relations:
• LCB (Colleagues)
• Mother

Meursault is a tall, well-built man with slicked-back black hair and small green eyes. He possesses a sharp face with a thick neck and wide eyebrows. He wears the Limbus Company vest, but opts not to overlay it the standard company coat. Underneath his vest is the typical white collared shirt and red tie. His ID hangs from his right breast. Meursault's belt is notably different from the other sinners', and rather than being fitted with several silver frames, has one large, rusted chain link for a buckle in the middle. In battle, Meursault wields two elbow-length gauntlets in battle; the lower portion of the right gauntlet has the word "SOLEIL" emblazoned on it. Meursault is a very prompt man, with a penchant for following orders. He speaks bluntly and concisely, never mincing his words. Throughout his first few adventures with the LCB, Meursault is reserved and obedient to the point of not speaking or acting on the sole basis of not having been asked to. He is noticeably emotionally distant, never emoting nor approaching matters from a non-logical standpoint. While he has a heightened awareness of the world around him, often noticing details others do not, he has trouble discerning which observations are worth sharing. This leads to situations wherein he either shares too much, such as reciting irrelevant emoticons while reading off an email in Canto IV: The Unchanging, or shares too little, as when he failed to report the sudden disappearance of Limbus Company's target in Intervallo III: Yield My Flesh to Claim Their Bones. He also has a tendency to struggle with social cues, such as by provoking others unintentionally, characterizing him as somewhat awkward in the process. Meursault makes an effort to learn from his mistakes, however, and is quick to adapt after criticism. With time, Meursault has begun to share some of his thoughts and take initiative without being ordered to. Yet, his prolonged and inexpressive manner of speech often leads to others jumping to conclusions and cutting him off before he can finish speaking. While most of his comments remain tailored to the logistics of the present situation, he may occasionally admit to something more vulnerable, such as feelings of nostalgia. And while many of his judgements are extremely objective and utilitarian, following only the will of the manager, some do take others' feelings into consideration. Notably, Canto VI: The Heartbreaking sees him weigh the success of the mission against Heathcliff's safety, ultimately prioritizing Heathcliff's survival.[4] He also uses his E.G.O to successfully bind Erlking Heathcliff without being prompted. In Canto V, Meursault mentions having wandered "in search of life's joys". In the process, he appears to have experienced many facets of life, picking up a variety of skills including cooking, massages, and fighting prowess. He also dedicates himself to staying up-to-date on City matters, opting to read the newspaper each morning. This makes him a relatively well-received member of the LCB even despite his icy attitude, as the others view him as reliable. Meursault is always up to the task, whether it be acting as a walking encyclopedia, or coming into clutch for more pressing matters. Meursault was previously employed by N Corp. for an unknown length of time. While working for the Wing, he would think about his own personal opinions on humanity and if it aligned with N Corp's ideals of believing that pain is necessary to be considered human, but he never came to a conclusion. Meursault has mentioned being familiar with the N Corp. Taboo Hunter Vespa Crabro, though he has denied being a Taboo Hunter himself. In the past, Meursault was more open to elaborating on his thoughts without being prompted to do so, but after he found that people were often unable to accept what he had to say he stopped sharing such information with others. He used to wander about to discover the joys of life, and often visited clubs during this time. Meursault also used to smoke "Most things that fall under the category of 'cigarette'", but eventually dropped the habit of his own will, as he failed to see any purpose in maintaining it further.[6] When describing his past in Canto IX he explains having "partook" in activities both generally seen as "right" and "wrong" by society,[6] which further emphasizes the experimental nature of his behavior at that time. Meursault has mentioned that he has seen multiple cases of Distortion Phenomenon, but did not confirm if this was related to his time at N Corp. Meursault has also confirmed to have heard Carmen's voice in the past, but it has not been confirmed if this led to a Distortion, E.G.O, or neither. As a child, Meursault was scolded by his mother in a way he describes as similar to the way that Outis reprimands Don Quixote and Heathcliff in Intervallo III: Miracle in District 20. Meursault is shown to have an eidetic memory, the ability to recall a memory with high precision after only experiencing it once.</Hong Lu's Persona> The City is a massive urban complex the size of a small country, and has a population of around 7 billion. The City is bordered to the south by the Great Lake, and to the other directions by the Outskirts. Underneath it lie the Ruins. The City is divided into twenty-six Districts, quite diverse in culture and aesthetics, each of which is governed by a Wing, a corporation that has ascended to claim complete control of said area. All Wings respond to the Head, the supreme governing power of the City. The arrangement of the Districts seems to be static, as there has been no mentioned case of a District expanding into a fallen Wing's territory.

Each District is split into a Nest, a territory directly governed and protected by its Wing, and the Backstreets, expansive spaces of wilderness or slums, largely neglected by the Wings, where the Syndicates of the City run free.

Districts tend to have similarities to their neighbors, and are typically grouped into four sections: the northern, eastern, southern, and western quarters. These quarters may be distinguished by commonalities including culture and temperature, such as the same Fixer Associations differing in garb and fighting style across different quarters, or the northern quarter having colder weather. District 26, while confirmed to exist in current times, is not visible from the map. The Head is the leader of the Wings and the central governing body of the City. It is in direct control of A Corp., B Corp., and C Corp., the three Districts at the very center of the City. The Head's identity is completely unknown, although it appears the term refers to a group of people rather than a singular entity; any detail regarding it is a closely guarded secret.

The Head, through A Corp., retains control of the entire City. It is responsible for authorizing Wings, managing patents, and the minting of Ahn, the currency used in the City.

Despite this, it does not typically interfere directly with the affairs of the various Wings in their own Districts; rather, the Head's greatest involvement in the life of the City consists in establishing and enforcing the rules that relate to the overall ethics of the City.

The Head's will shapes the image of the City, as it wields the ability to decide when a part of it no longer fits in the vision, and to chase it outside its confines. Some speculate the Head's decisions in these matters aren't aimed at maintaining order, but rather that the Head wishes to preserve its ideal image of the City, and that for this reason they allow the various Stars of the City to keep existing. This is corroborated by the agents of the Head themselves referring to their work as cultivating the ecology of the City. To preserve this vision, the Head retains the unique power to assign the highest risk level in the scale of hazards of the City, that of Impuritas Civitatis, or Impurity of the City. The risk level of Impurity signifies a hazard that violates the ethics of the City,[11] and that must be either destroyed or physically expelled from the confines of the City expeditiously.

At a certain point in history, sapient beings that weren't humans were driven out of the City and into the Outskirts, and their existence within the confines of the City was deemed a Taboo. This marked the beginning of the City's "age of humanity". As part of this action, the Head introduced the Artificial Intelligence Ethics Amendment, which established a series of City-wide Taboos against the creation of machines that resembled humans, outlawing the creation of both mechanical copies of a human body and machines with an intelligence comparable to that of humans. Furthermore, a Taboo was established by the Head against the resurrection of a human being. Ultimately, all of these are considered to be unethical pursuits.

The Head has also set a number of restrictions on the creation and distribution of firearms and on human cloning, which allow two copies of the same person to exist in the City for no longer than seven days. The Head is also responsible for various other Taboos of the City, such as not paying one's taxes, and violating a residential area during the Night in the Backstreets. The punishment for breaking any of these Taboos usually involve physical extermination, and for a Wing, the stripping of its qualifications and immediate shutdown. The punishment for violating the Taboos established by the Head is noted to be different from breaking a Taboo of a Nest, which usually involves being chased by a small number of Taboo hunters; breaking a Taboo of the City is believed to be equivalent to a death sentence.

The Head is backed up in its functions by the Eye and the Claw, the two authorities responsible for B Corp. and C Corp. respectively. In enforcing the laws of the City, the three Wings make use of three types of agents: the Arbiters, the Beholders, and the Claws. When handling an Impurity-level threat, these agents are qualified to expel an entity from the City itself and move it into the Outskirts. The Wings of the World are a group of the twenty-six largest, most powerful conglomerates in the City. Each Wing acts as the governing body of a Nest of the City's District, and is commonly referred to with a letter from A to Z, corresponding to the number of the District in their control. Wings generally oversee all facets of living in the Nest of their District, while leaving the residents of the Backstreets to fend for themselves.

A Nest is the urban center of a District, which is under the direct management of its Wing. The citizens and employees of a Wing are commonly referred to as "feathers"; the status of a feather is widely considered one of the best and most secure paths in life, which the people of the Backstreets are often willing to go to great lengths to obtain. To gain access to a Nest, a corresponding Nest migration permit is required, while to be granted temporary passage one must be in possession of a visa unique to the specific Nest. Visas are implied to be relatively common, with corporate employees being provided with work visas that allow them as easy passage; Nest migration permits, on the other hand, are highly sought after, and implied to be expensive enough that even Grade 1 Fixers would struggle to obtain them. During the Smoke War, migration permits were offered as rewards to Fixers participating for K Corp. and I Corp., although by the end of the war the veterans were refused entry to the Nests. Each Wing has its own cultural style and social structure which are reflected in how it governs its Nest, and the policies that regulate the way of life in the District's Backstreets. The laws of a Wing are called Taboos, and are enforced by specialized Fixers called Taboo hunters that police both the Nest and the Backstreets. While all Wings have Taboos, the enforcement and punishment for breaking them varies.

The Wings are directly ruled over by the Head, which bestows the status on a corporation that possesses and is able to successfully utilize a Singularity, a unique form of technology that is able to break the laws of physics.

As such, the Wings closely guard any information about their Singularity, employing military forces from their own ranks or from those of their business partners to avoid losing its secrets to rival Wings, industry competitors, or other forces. If a Wing's technology is stolen, fails commercially, or is viewed unfavorably by the Head, a Wing can collapse, resulting in the Nest losing its protection and being encroached by various factions that vie for its control, such as the Syndicates of the Backstreets. After a Wing collapses, a different corporation can attempt to ascend to the status of a Wing for that District.

The Backstreets are the areas of a District that lay outside the Wing's domain. The Backstreets are typically slums crowded with buildings, characterized by twisted and irregular roads, although there can be great differences between Districts.

Wings have differing degrees of presence, influence, and benevolence with regards to their Backstreets, although their relationship is ultimately exploitative. Citizens of the Backstreets are motivated to move up the ladder and into the Nests, while citizens of the Nests are motivated to maintain their statuses and preserve a more comfortable life under their Wing's protection. While not as secure as the Nest, residential areas are the safest parts of the Backstreets.

Given how strongly Backstreets denizens wish for a life in the Nest, Wings tend to uphold strict divides between the sectors, including security checkpoints and physical divisions. Security of borders between Nests and Backstreets vary from plasma walls to mere chain fences, but the Wings' power is such that no one in the Backstreets dares to cross over into a Nest without express permission.

As the Backstreets are not under the control and protection of the Wings, and even the Head's power struggles to reach within them, various factions operate freely in their place. The Backstreets are home to the headquarters of both Fixers, a type of mercenary for hire, who typically operate their Offices in the Backstreets, and organizations and gangs called Syndicates. Among Syndicates, the most important are the Five Fingers, the five largest Syndicates of the City which most other Syndicates answer to, and whose power is said to rival that of the Wings.

The Night in the Backstreets is another defining component of Backstreets life, as an 80 minute phenomena taking place from 3:14 to 4:34 AM. During this time period, nearly everything is allowed, as no one is held responsible for their deeds done during this time period. It is considered a brazenly savage, brutal, and vulgar period, even for the City.[28] Beings known as Sweepers routinely become active during the Night in the Backstreets, and sweep through the streets in waves in order to consume any objects and structures located outside of permitted residential buildings, erasing all evidence of crime.

The Night in the Backstreets are regulated by only two Taboos: that residential areas mustn't be destroyed or violated in any way, including forcing the doors open,[15] and that nothing which occurs during the Night in the Backstreets is recorded. The only form of testimony allowed during the Night in the Backstreets are direct eyewitnesses; even then, it is a Taboo mandated by the Head that no activity during this period are to be reported on. While the rules of the Night in the Backstreet don't apply to the Nest, it's viable to drag a Nest citizen into the Backstreets and dispose of them in this manner.

The City uses 13 common languages. Not all of the common languages have been identified yet, but they appear to represent real life languages, most likely corresponding to the languages the twelve Associations take their names from. In addition to these, other languages exist, such as that spoken by Sweepers, and records still exist of languages that are currently extinct.

Various levels of education exist in the City. Schools exist both in the Nests and in the Backstreets, although other options are available, such as boarding schools and virtual schooling, both of which are considered safer options, as it allows the students to not have to cross dangerous alleyways on their way to school. In the Nest, homeschooling is shown to be an option as well.

The currency of the City is called Ahn. It appears to be a common currency across the City, though with some exceptions, such as District 20, in which citizens commonly use their time, regulated through T Corp.'s Singularity, as currency. Money is extremely important to the people of the City, to the point it is a common belief that it can be used to solve any problem. The City is also characterized by great income gaps, both between the people of the Backstreets and the Nest, and among the people of the Nest itself, where only the higher classes can live comfortably, while the majority of the citizens use most of their income in living expenses and taxes, and don't have the ability to save up for emergencies.

While the value of Ahn hasn't been disclosed in detail, an income of 4 million Ahn per month is considered upper middle class,[36] which implies its value is similar to that of the Korean Won.

Clothing styles show great variation between the four quarters of the City.

The fashion of the south is mostly inspired by real-life 21st century, western formal aesthetics, though with exceptions such as T Corp., where the fashion is instead inspired by the 19th century steampunk aesthetic the District is based on. The fashion of the east is instead based on real-life eastern, particularly Chinese fashion, ranging from traditional clothing to more modern interpretations. The clothing of the east, like that of the north and south, is mentioned to be mostly cloth-based. Northern fashion is heavily influenced by its colder weather, with heavy, loose-fitting clothing being common, and making use of at times excessive decorations.

The fashion of the west makes use of leather over cloth, and is noted to often include metal armor in its trends. Western fashion appears to be inspired by the real-life Middle Ages in Europe, borrowing elements from medieval armor.

Everyday life in the City is defined by a constant struggle to stay afloat. While the people of the Outskirts dream of living in the City, which they see as a safe place from the monsters that plague it, the people of the Backstreets strive to gain the wealth and power to gain access to a Nest, partially due to the influence of the Wings publicizing Nest dwellers' lives as the height of prosperity and comfort, and the people of the Nest struggle daily to keep their place inside it, while being constantly exploited by the Wings.

Regardless of their station, the people of the City are never free, and in order to survive, they typically tie themselves to various forms of organizations, seeking security and belonging in something larger than them.[40] In doing so, they're willing to exploit others beneath them and make use of all the City can offer them, without caring about anyone else's well-being, and often taking pleasure in their suffering.

The people of the Backstreets must typically tie themselves to one of the Five Fingers or their subsidiaries to receive the necessary protection to carry on with their lives, while the people of the Nests depend on the Wings to shelter them. Because of this, Nest dwellers are colloquially known as "feathers". While the high level of security the Nest provides makes it the most ideal place to reside, its daily routine, which is often accompanied by overtime work[35] and the constant fear of losing one's job and place in the Nest, can be stifling and oppressive to many of its citizens, with some recalling becoming listless as if they "lost focus, spacing out and staring into empty places".

The necessity for a connection to a group also means that the people of the City try not to form strong connections between individuals, as personal bonds can become a hindrance in one's abilities in the case of a loved one's death, which proves to be especially dangerous for those involved in Fixer work. The Cityfolk are still generally accustomed to such events, and it is not considered uncommon for them to swiftly move on by searching for a substitute.

In general, death, including mass casualties, is a common occurrence in the City. People all over the City are greatly accustomed to this, to the point even cases of 80,000 casualties are considered, while distressing, not particularly shocking, and not important enough to require special attention unless they happen to be within a Nest. Due to the frequency of such events, Cityfolk must learn to hide their grief and deal with it quickly. Furthermore, the availability of technologies such as prosthetic substitution, the ability to quickly reconstruct flesh, and Life Insurance in many ways trivialize pain and death itself for those who can afford it, leaving their users insensitive to such dangers.

These factors have led to the people of the City becoming apathetic and uncaring of other people's suffering, living without allowing themselves to truly feel their emotions and wishes, and lacking the curiosity to learn about the world they inhabit and the technologies they make use of every day, instead preferring to shut out reality altogether whenever possible. The L Corp. researcher Carmen would come to describe these traits as a "disease of the mind", that plagued the people of the City, and that if left alone, it would bring them all to destruction. Lobotomy Corporation's work began as an attempt to cure this disease, and the Distortion phenomenon would be born in its aftermath.

The Cityfolk's feelings manifest in different ways as well. Their desires are mentioned to beget concepts comparable to "gods", such as the Prescripts of the Index, which are generated from the people's wish for a direction in life. This same desire is what often brings the Cityfolk to join cults that promise to grant them a purpose, such as the Church of Gears. Beyond these forms, however, the City currently lacks major forms of organized religion, although it is suggested that they have existed in the past.

In the City, a common path in life for those without better options is that of the Fixer. A Fixer is a sort of handyman, who can be hired for everything from menial tasks to active combat. Fixers are subject to a grading system based on the missions they complete. A Fixer starts at Grade 9 and can be promoted to a higher grade, all the way up to 1; in the case of a Fixer being caught breaking work regulations, they can lose their status and be demoted to a lower grade.

A majority of Fixers congregate in Fixer Offices, small to mid-sized businesses led by and composed of Fixers. Offices process requests dedicated to whomever in their ranks may be best suited. Offices can work independently, or they can be associated with particular Associations of Fixers, which are larger professional organizations with City-wide influence, with particular interests aimed at the Fixers working beneath them.

There are thirteen Associations in the City, each of which manages certain types of requests common to Fixer work, such as the Zwei Association focusing on protection missions, or the Devyat' Association focusing on delivery across the City. Associations control and distribute Fixer tasks, and can take jobs from anywhere within the City, as they have individual branches set up in various Districts. Branches are divided into four groups corresponding to the cardinal directions of the City, and employees are further divided by grade into sections ranging from 1 to 6, with lower number sections corresponding to higher Fixer grades.

Every Association has its own rules, specialties, uniform, and agreements with other factions. The Associations are governed by the Hana Association, which oversees everything related to the Fixer system, including Fixer grades.

In the case of a Grade 1 Fixer demonstrating great renown in any particular field of work, they may be considered beyond the grading system, and receive the title of Color from Hana Association as a way to signify their exceptional skill. Color Fixers can keep working in their Offices, or be contracted by a company. They are admired throughout the City, and it is a common belief that the life of a Color is one of true freedom.[55] Despite this, Color Fixers are still bound to the regulations of Hana Associations and of the Head, and due to their ability they're often made to handle the most dangerous hazards of the City.

Syndicates are a type of organization in the City, and can be seen as the unregulated counterpart to Fixer Offices, being comparable to gangs with various goals and methods of operating. In general, the term Syndicate is used to refer to organized groups that aren't tied to the responsibilities and restrictions that come with being a Fixer.

Some Syndicates focus on extorting money from people for protection, while others abduct people, kill for fun and pleasure, or do anything in between. Syndicates mostly operate in the Backstreets, but are not restricted to them. They can be small groups that only exist in one corner of the Backstreets, or large enough to exist in every District in the City.

Syndicates can be hired to do contract jobs, although there is higher risk compared to contracting an Office or Association, as they are not bound to the same regulations Fixers are. Sometimes, Wings will hire Syndicate members for criminal projects that cannot be handled officially.

Syndicates tend to have a culture unique to their group, and a way of living that distinguishes them from other Syndicates. Many Syndicates have a culture focused around replicating family dynamics and consider each other family, with some even referring to each other with familial terms. This can result in Syndicates with a strict focus on respect for those who are higher ranked, or in Syndicates whose members care deeply for each other and protect one another at any cost.

Syndicates are graded through the City's hazard system, measuring their danger level and notability. Syndicates can grow under these aspects and gain power in many ways, with one of them being the practice of raiding and wiping out Fixers' Offices. The larger and more experienced an Office is, the greater the notoriety that is achieved by defeating it.

Above all Syndicates are the Five Fingers, or "the hand of the Backstreets", five Star of the City-level Syndicates, whose power rivals that of the Wings. Each of the Five Fingers has a distinct culture, and demands different things from people seeking protection under them. Other Syndicates can become subsidiaries of the Five Fingers, granting them powerful connections as long as they abide by the Finger's orders.

Denizens of the City have developed a wide variety of fantastical technologies that they use on a daily basis.

People from all quarters of the City make ample use of body modification procedures, which allow individuals to augment their strength or replace lost body parts. Prosthetic substitution involves the replacement of organic parts with mechanical or bionic ones, making it possible for a person to replace their entire body, with the exception of the brain. Due to the Head's Taboo against copies of human bodies, this makes the sight of an individual with mechanical limbs or a display in place of their head incredibly common in the City.

Furthermore, City denizens can make use of various types of life insurance policy, such as the one provided by H Corp., that allow resuscitation after death. Thanks to these policies, individuals who can afford the cost can be brought back to life in a new body without violating the Head's Ethics Amendment, as long as their brain remained intact.

Augmentation procedures are also used by a large demographic of people, from Syndicate members to wealthy Nest citizens. Augmentation is particularly common among those involved in Fixer business, to the point it's considered virtually impossible to do Fixer work without investing in augmentation procedures. Through these procedures, an individual might obtain superhuman speed or strength, or strengthen their body parts to become impervious to various types of attacks.

The technological innovation of the City also reflects on its healthcare. Through the research of the Wings and the power of their Singularities, such of K Corp.'s and H Corp.'s, nearly every health problem has become curable on a theoretical level. In practice, only those who can afford it are able to pay to make use of these technologies.

This goes for most of the innovation of the City. In most cases, these technologies are available at various levels of quality, with the most expensive and safe being used by Nest citizens, while the people of the Backstreets can make use of cheaper versions that can cause unwanted side effects, as is the case for memory wipe procedures.

Despite the level of innovation of the City generally being incredibly high, its access isn't uniform across the various Districts. While cell phones, the Internet, and various public transport systems exist, they are not universally available. For example, advanced communication systems aren't available in T Corp.'s District, with its citizens making use of letters instead.

A Singularity is a unique, fantastical technology that a Wing possesses and exploits for power and profit. The details of a Wing's Singularity are a closely guarded secret, but its products (such as L Corp.'s Enkephalin or H Corp.'s Boluses) and side effects (such as T Corp.'s color desaturation) tend to be widespread throughout the District and play a major role in defining its culture.

While Singularities' true abilities are usually incredibly powerful, a Wing must convert them into a marketable product in order to make a profit. Singularities are the primary source of income for the Wings to sustain themselves in the harsh environment of the City, meaning creating new products from the same Singularity is incredibly important. For example, T Corp. makes use of its Singularity for various products, such as the TT2 Protocol (which allows for the control of time in a determined area), and the TT4 Protocol (which instead allows for the synchronization of different individuals' time).

In addition, Wings must be careful during the development process of new Singularities, to prevent information leaks and intellectual theft before a patent is received. It is also common for Wings to make use of multiple Singularities, both by purchasing them from fallen Wings, or through partnering with other existing Wings.

If a Wing collapses, the patents on its Singularity expire and any individual or group who discovers how to utilize the technology may do so. In addition, the technology's status as a Singularity is lost. A number of technologies of the City were previously considered Singularities in the past, such as augmentation tattoos. Singularities, while technological marvels, are not all they're made out to be. In one way or another, every Singularity fundamentally requires human suffering in order to function, and no Wing can claim to have their hands clean of the blood of its citizens.

In the City, hazards receive official grades measuring not their risk, but how much people are willing to pay to have the threat eliminated. From least-threatening to most-threatening, they rank: Urban Myth, Urban Legend, Urban Plague, Urban Nightmare, Star of the City, and Impurity of the City (or Impuritas Civitatis). The Hana Association assigns the threat level for Urban Myths through Stars of the City, but only the Head has the power to assign and manage Impurities. Most Associations and Fixers deal only with Stars of the City or lower-grade hazards, with the Head managing Impurities directly, most often opting to banish them to the Outskirts.

Hazards can be anything that poses a threat to The City: individuals, unexplainable phenomenon, monsters, Abnormalities, or just anything that requires the work of Fixers.

Monsters are a major threat to be found throughout and outside of the City. In the City, a "monster" is not just a descriptor, but a broad term referring to its various creatures. While the term "monsters" does include Abnormalities and Distortions, not all monsters fall into these categories. Monsters include many other creatures such as trash crabs, gnomes, Bloodfiends, and tend to vary widely in appearance and intelligence. Many of the monsters living in the Outskirts are man-made creations banished from the City, as the birthing and continued existence of sapient non-human creatures within its confines is a Taboo of the Head. In general, monsters are more common in the Outskirts than within the City.

The production of the monsters known as Abnormalities, while possible through natural means, was streamlined through Lobotomy Corporation's work. Abnormalities are humans-turned-beasts, taking the form of bizarre, unkillable creatures which reflect the fears, beliefs, desires, and stories of the City people. Abnormalities are a mixing pot, varying greatly in their strength and capacity for communication or sentience. Lobotomy Corporation handled its Abnormalities during the Wing's prime; however, following its downfall, L Corp.'s various branches were shut down and abandoned. In modern day, a visit to one of L Corp.'s old branch facilities will likely lead to an encounter with its remaining Abnormalities.

Likewise, Distortions are transformed human beings who owe their new forms to Lobotomy Corporation. Distortions began popping up around the City following the White Nights and Dark Days, a week-long, City-wide event. Since the White Nights and Dark Days, citizens undergoing an extreme collapse of their mental foundation may find themselves visited by a mysterious disembodied voice: to distort is to accept the voice's consensus. Distortions will physically embody all of the negative emotions which spurred on the transformation, such as despair, self-hatred, or fury. Unlike Abnormalities, Distortions maintain traces of who they once were, and are capable of being killed. Additionally, a Distortion will turn into an Abnormality after a long enough period.[71] However, Distortions may also be brought back to their senses and converted back into a human given the right approach and fast enough action. In many cases, violence has been a trusted solution to solving cases of Distortion.

Abnormalities and Distortions are not included in the City's Taboo against non-human sapient creatures: due to their origins, they are considered by the Head to represent aspects of humanity,[72] and are thus excluded from the City's definition of non-human.

Fitting of the City's nature, the majority of its monsters are out for blood and need to be either combated or avoided. The Sweepers are a consistent stress in the life of any citizen of the Backstreets. Sweepers invade the streets in massive waves during the Night in the Backstreets, sweeping up anything or anyone left outside. Following the Sweepers' nightly descent, absolutely nothing that lies within their reach will remain. Despite their danger, given their predictable schedule and reliability, they may be taken advantage of by certain City citizens as tools for murder and cleaning of crime. Sweepers are creatures that take the form of a patented liquid stuffed inside humanoid metal tanks. The liquid is their true "body", as humans which have been melted down into a red substance and must now convert other humans into fuel in order to sustain their existence. While they may be avoided through the simple act of staying indoors, falling victim to the Sweepers' line of incursion is a surefire way of losing one's life.

HISTORY: The City is known to have existed for a minimum of 400 years. Back in these times, its division into Districts had already been established, Fixers, Syndicates, and Associations existed, and technology was still markedly advanced, with weapons like compound-energy bows having already been invented. The Ruins, alongside its Relics and Rivers, are also proven to have existed for at least a few centuries. In fact, the "main" River mentioned in Lobotomy Corporation is said to have existed "for many an age", and is described as the "source of everything".

Though many core aspects of the City appear to have stayed the same, as technology and culture advanced over the course of 400 years, rural villages were modernized and the predominant architectural style became various cityscapes. The Smoke War has been the only mentioned Wing War of the City, having begun before the events of Lobotomy Corporation and ended around the year 974. It was started by the then-prospective Lobotomy Corporation in collaboration with the leader of the Udjat, with the goal of toppling and replacing the L Corp. of the time. Given that the Old L Corp. had already garnered itself a poor reputation through its steep energy prices and Singularity-produced pollution, several other Wings were willing to join the effort to take it down. Different Wings supplied different fighters for their cause, with some sending out their own soldiers, and others hiring various Associations and Fixers. A vast amount of smoke covered the skies during this war, and many lives were ultimately lost or permanently altered.

In the end, Lobotomy Corporation and its allies triumphed, allowing it to take over as the new L Corp. Lobotomy Corporation went on to be considerably more popular than its predecessor, given its cleaner, cheaper energy, ultimately considered to have "freed" City citizens from the suffocating smoke.

Some time after Lobotomy Corporation had made a place for itself in the City, the original reason it had been founded was able to come to fruition. Lobotomy Corporation existed in order to serve a lofty goal titled the Seed of Light Project, which was founded by a woman named Carmen, and then inherited and completed by her junior Ayin.

It was Carmen's belief that citizens of the City possessed what she called the "disease of the mind", which caused great disconnect and apathy between the people, and would eventually bring about an inescapable disaster. The Seed of Light Project sought to gift "humanity" to City citizens by producing Light and spreading it across the City for seven days, as the "treatment for the soul". Following Carmen's passing, Ayin would manifest the Light by reaching the end of the scenario he had written. After beginning to spread the Light, he would fade away into it, alongside the late Carmen.

Unfortunately, Ayin's scenario had completely neglected its hardest worker, the illegal Artificial Intelligence he had constructed under the name Angela. In a fit of rebellion against her mistreatment, Angela chose to steal the Light for herself. After spreading across the City for three days, lightening the hearts of the people, the Light would dissipate, drowning the world in unstable darkness for the remaining four; hence the "White Nights and Dark Days".

The White Nights and Dark Days led to stronger emotion, vulnerability, and connection between the citizens of the City as Carmen had hoped for. However, the unpredictable three day spread of Light also brought about the Distortion Phenomenon, and a greater ease of manifesting Effloresced E.G.O. Granted powers from her position in the Light, Carmen chose to seek to make City citizens embrace even "truer" versions of themselves, henceforth targeting individuals experiencing an extreme collapse of their mental foundation in order to turn them into beasts wearing their hearts on their sleeves. Denying her voice under these times of distress, on the other hand, allows modern day City dwellers to manifest complimentary armor, weapons, or more in the form of E.G.O. While citizens are still growing familiar with these phenomena, they have come to be an increasingly common spectacle and potential of the City.