Heathcliff

Personality Heathcliff is an exceptionally short-tempered and abrasive individual, electing violence as a first resort and aggression as a way of life. He is overly impulsive and quick to anger, with consequences for those involved. However, over the course of several Cantos, a considerably calmer, more considerate, and selfless side of his personality would come to light.

Originally, Heathcliff comes off as remarkably hostile. He expresses a loathing for being ordered around and is as willing to talk back to his allies as he is his enemies. He prefers people to prove themselves through actions rather than words, claiming to despise complicated speech on several occasions. As such, the negative impressions he gives are often in the form of physical violence. One of his first interactions with Dante even consists of him beating Sinclair near-death for suggesting he go easy on the manager.

Despite this, the majority of Heathcliff's antagonism is in response to belittlement from others. In actuality, Heathcliff is not often one to start fights uncalled-for; rather, his fits of rage are but an over-the-top reaction to bullying and ridicule, and he is fully capable of engaging in grounded conversation. Constant jabs from Ishmael, Faust, and Don Quixote simply hit a sore spot, as Heathcliff demonstrates a clear aversion to being looked down on.

On the other side of the spectrum, Heathcliff uses action in a show of loyalty and consideration. And as the Sinners got to know each other, he began to treat the group like friends, in spite of their tendency to mistreat him. This included things like stepping up against N Corp. Inquisitors after they threatened Dante or helped Ishmael break out of the pallidification. Despite harboring self-consciousness surrounding his intellect, Heathcliff also demonstrates an ability to think on his feet, often to a successful end. He has, on several occasions, come in clutch for others due to his fast-acting nature.

He would eventually become more willing to rely on verbal communication as the others respected him more in return. Intervallo III: Miracle in District 20 sees Heathcliff open up about his situation to Dante and Don Quixote when they are willing to listen and treat him with dignity. A wide array of conversations in Canto VI: The Heartbreaking Cement this pattern in behavior: Heathcliff will attack those who provoke him but is inclined to calmly converse with those who take him seriously. He is even prone to showing outright charity to these people, forgiving and thanking Nelly for all she's done for him after finding out about her betrayal. His former maid, who knew him better than most anyone, would later describe Heathcliff as a "good, kindhearted boy."

Anything involving Catherine consistently shows the most vulnerable sides of Heathcliff. Though still a brash, violent, and bad-tempered person, he is also one with regrets, fragility, selflessness, and a heart holding a lot of love for his favorite person in the world. Heathcliff mourns her with sincerity and grows genuinely bashful when the topic of their relationship comes up. Having learned of the consequences of their lack of communication, he shows himself to be trying to improve in this matter, both in his relationship with Catherine and his bond with the Sinners, whom he's began considering like a family. He shows an unbending will to do anything for those he holds, dear.

Post Canto VI, Heathcliff continues to wield his bat to strike against those who stand in his way, but now with determined purpose instead of meaningless anger. Rodion notes that he'd become more tame following the events at Wuthering Heights, after which he'd begun keeping a notebook. In it, he records memories of Catherine and his travels with Limbus Company, showing his determination to remember his loved one and one day get her back while still treasuring the new journey experienced with his new comrades.

Trivia Heathcliff's character icon represents a silver ring surrounding a purple hill being hit by lightning, with a branch of heath on one side of the ring, and the initials CE💜HC carved inside the ring. The hill references the Wuthering Heights manor, while the ring and the branch reference the ring gifted to him by Catherine, and the flower he is named after. Heathcliff is represented by the "⛈️" Emoji. Heathcliff's particulars are listed as "anger-management issues", "ruffian", and "inferiority complex". Heathcliff is named after the protagonist of Emily Brontë's 1847 novel Wuthering Heights. Similarly to Heathcliff, his literary counterpart is a foundling raised by the Earnshaws of Wuthering Heights. While he and the daughter of the family, Catherine, fall in love, Heathcliff suffers racial and class discrimination from both the neighbors of the Linton family and the Earnshaw heir Hindley, who reduces him to a servant. This act determines Catherine's unwillingness to marry him in fear of destitution, with her instead marrying the affluent Edgar Linton. Heathcliff then flees Wuthering Heights, only returning after accumulating a fortune, set on taking revenge on Hindley and the Lintons, who have pulled him and Catherine apart, and on Catherine herself. While the events of the second half of the novel deviate from the story of Heathcliff as seen in Limbus Company, both Heathcliff and his literary counterpart eventually gain ownership of Wuthering Heights, following the death of their tormentor Hindley, their rival Linton, and their loved one Catherine, whom they still yearn to reunite with. Despite the obvious ties with his namesake, many points of Heathcliff's characterization appear based on the character of Hareton Earnshaw, Hindley's son, with his relationship to Catherine resembling some aspects of Hareton's relationship with Catherine Linton. Similarly to the Heathcliff of Limbus Company, Hareton was deprived of his education and treated as a servant; he is described as intelligent but unrefined, and extremely sensitive to perceived slights, as well as deeply bashful and easily frustrated by teasing, especially that received from Catherine, whom he develops feelings for. Most significantly, unlike Heathcliff's namesake, Hareton is noted by the old housekeeper Nelly to have an honest, warm nature, leading him to strive to change and improve himself out of the degradation of his youth for the sake of others as well as his own, a determination that strongly resembles the core of Heathcliff's development during Canto VI. Heathcliff's introduction quote comes from Heathcliff and Catherine's final meeting scene. As Catherine lays in her deathbed, Heathcliff laments both of their fates, claiming Catherine has broken his heart by condemning herself to an unhappy life, and bringing about her own death. The concept of the two's shared pain in life and death is reprised within Limbus Company. One of Heathcliff's Mirror World forms bears a resemblance to the Big Bird Abnormality. The Big Bird Abnormality was a bird dedicated to the protection of its forest, and that, to save the people and creatures that lived within it from being hurt by a monster, began killing them itself, not realizing that the monster had been Big Bird itself all along. This appears to resemble the events of Canto VI, in which Erlking Heathcliff begins killing countless versions of himself in order to save Catherine's life, unknowingly continuing the cycle of tragedy. Like all of the Sinners, Heathcliff voiced a "Document Excerpt" Youtube short. Heathcliff has a very distinct British Cockney accent, often using slang in his speech. His dialogue, as well as that of most T Corp. residents, also tends to use British spelling for words. Heathcliff is the first Sinner to distort, albeit temporarily. He is also the first Sinner to have his appearance slightly altered after the events of his focus Canto, with the name difference in the bat as seen in the character and battle sprite. However, this is currently unchanged in the Splash Art. Heathcliff's voice actor, Hong Seung-hyo, previously voiced Nemo and Maxim from Library of Ruina. During HamHamPangPang's Limbus Company Pop-up theme, one of the available menu items was "Sinner Soul Food" which changed every week to be a different meal associated with one of the twelve playable Sinners. Heathcliff's associated meal was Fish and Chips.

The events occur following Canto VI, in which Heathcliff experiences profound emotions while reflecting on the significant events of his life, particularly regarding his beloved Catherine, if such memories remain accessible to him. Additionally, he contemplates the internal struggle against an alternative aspect of his identity, Erlking Heathcliff.