< Shifting Worlds

Shifting Worlds/Characters


Shifting Worlds possesses a rather rich cast of characters, what with spanning a multitude of stories over several worlds.

The Players Themselves

Sadistic Dungeon Master
SDM

Misanthrope. Self-admitted Troll and asshole. Would-be world conqueror. Awesome roleplayer.

These words all describe SDM, Sadistic Dungeon Master and Asshole Writer Extraordinaire, official founder of Shifting Worlds and creator of the single most epic and successful roleplay in it, the Hellgate saga. SDM is A Riddle Wrapped in a Mystery Inside An Enigma, reluctant to reveal personal information about himself, intending to forever remain The Faceless to other players and only wishes he could be the same in real life too. What is known of SDM is that he has a rather shitty life and hates mankind overall. He also believes that the political system is broke, and has admitted to strive towards conquering the world in order to replace it with a better one of his own invention.

SDM proudly revels in being a Jerkass and a Troll. In roleplaying, this manifests in his signature Player Punches that give his roleplays that extra awesome crisp. Despite, or perhaps even because of his many oddities, he is a well-respected member of Shifting Worlds.

Tropes associated with SDM:

Notable Characters: sentient Scarlet Devil Mansion, Patchouli, Hellgate, The General

Lovable Fox Cub
Shadow Ryusaki

The eternally cheerful Shadow loves cats, foxes, the word "Nya", and procrastination. His (extremely cute) way of speaking associated to frequently female avatars leads many people to believe he is a girl at first, though he is a guy and doesn't hide it. Shadow is famous for having Loads and Loads of Characters. Litterally HUNDREDS of them. Shadow has created an original world, Ninge, where many of his characters come from. He has produced multiple story arcs, and though he too is capable of extremely disturbing content that you wouldn't expect such a cheerful person to come up with, his stories are usually more lighthearted than SDM. Shadow is one of the more active members of the club and appears in a lot of roleplays.

Tropes associated with Shadow Ryusaki:

Notable Characters: Shadow Ryusaki, Shidow Ryusaki and other Ryusaki clan members and creations, Laia, Bergle, Sono Ruina

Captain Oblivious
KanakoVoWG

Though a moderately good roleplayer, KanakoVoWG (usually abbreviated to just Kanako) has become infamous for using for his characters numerous abilities typically associated with Marty Stus and other God Mode Sues, namely having a superpowerful self-insert, New Powers as the Plot Demands, stealing attacks from canon characters, stealing attacks from other franchises and such. It's not used to such an extent as to become unmanageable, however, and he's been making progress to restrain those urges. As such, he is also a valuable member of Shifting Worlds.

Before the CirnoXLaia pairing came about, he was arguably the most active member of the club. Now he's roughly the third most active member.

Tropes associated with KanakoVoWG:

  • God Mode Sue: Sometimes he gets called out on this, despite the high power levels of Shifting Worlds.
  • Name's the Same: His self-insert is ostensibly named Eric, but is usually called Kanako by everyone anyways. This causes a few problems when you take into account that he has another character named Kanako and that the roleplay takes place in a universe where there is a goddess named Kanako.
  • New Powers as the Plot Demands: He is infamous for occasionally pulling attacks out of his ass (sometimes stolen attacks), though he's doing so less now.
  • One-Hit Kill: Once. He pissed off Arachnos.

Notable Characters: Kanako alias Eric, Jonathan Scarlet, Ryoma, Nobuharu, another Kanako, Nicholas Stroud, Tomara

Cirno, Cirno, Cirno
Arachnos

Perhaps less notable personality-wise than the rest of the players, Arachnos is nevertheless distinguished by an overpowering fanboyishness towards his favorite character, Cirno, whom he first decided to control in a cameo in Crossroads and from there slowly proceeded to turn her (together with Shadow's Laia) into a powerhouse with an EX form, a castle, an army and what have you. Arachnos used to be a World of Warcraft player and remains a fan to this day, some of his characters being inspired to various degrees by WoW and some being entirely ripped right out of Azeroth. Overall he has an unhealthy tendency to use characters created by others instead of making up his own. One of his all too rare personal creations is the Brood lore, centered around his namesake Arachnos of Gensokyo. Arachnos is also known to usually dislike playing as human and humanoid characters, preferring to play as (often grotesque) monsters. Together with Shadow, he is one of the more active Shifting Worlds members, appearing in a vast array of roleplays and posting often (much to the dismay of the many who see Crossroads inexorably filling up with Cirno X Laia stories).

Tropes associated with Arachnos:

  • Fan Boy: for Cirno. Used to be for Flandre.
  • Fan Dumb: has been called out a few times for turning Cirno into something she should not be.
  • God Mode Sue: Cirno. While less powerful than the rest of the SW cast, she has been greatly upgraded from her canon self.
  • Possession Sue: Cirno.

Notable Characters: Cirno (duh!), Arachnos, Arachna, Enthropod, Masophet, Erden, Animus, EX-Rumia, Horus'aman, Thebis'ra

Creator of a Hundred Gods
Kizeki

Kizeki is known to have created a very extensive lore with a great many characters... of those none whatsoever are playable. His characters tend to be waaaaay up there even for Shifting Worlds (that means they are in the immortal unbeatable God tier), and outclass by far the most overpowered characters of the other players. The fact that Kizeki's closest thing to a playable character - his namesake, Kizeki Auf Thanatos - is a God... Goddess... Entity of Time owning an omnipotent, incoherent, multiversal Mega Corp really says something about the level of his OTHER characters. Like Shadow, Kizeki always uses female avatars and is occasionally confused for a girl by others.

Tropes associated with Kizeki:

Notable Characters: Kizeki auf Thanatos, Kagemi

Paradoxical Enigma
Negative Zero Z

A newcomer to the club, Zero doesn't have an extensive character roster or anything yet. However, he has already made up an RP with an interesting plot and some rather devilish characters. Zero is also notable for (allegedly) possessing something akin to psychic powers.

Tropes associated with Negative Zero Z:

Notable Characers: Kagami Sakashima, the Neo Sapiens.

The Ultimate Procrastinator
Shadow "Scarlet" Aurion

Under Construction

Characters created by SDM

Hellgate

"Demonic. Twisted. Evil. Sick. Perverted. House"

--Arachnos

The future version of the sentient Scarlet Devil Mansion: a large, sentient house made stronger by Kizeki Corp mecha enhancements and infected by the Black Spawn's Dark Spores, which turned him into a monstruosity of unmatched evil. He originally went back in time in order to create a time paradox by killing his past self, and using the god aura he managed to steal from Cichol to rule over the universe that would have been effectively destroyed by this paradox. However, his living power source - Flandre of the future - was killed (of her own will), and Hellgate was destroyed thanks to a Heroic Sacrifice by the present-day SDM. Both SDM and Hellgate's souls were lost to Nihility.

However, that wasn't the end of him. Not long after this, Patchouli Knowledge tried to revive SDM, but inadvertently summoned Hellgate instead. Now that he was back, albeit in his present-day counterpart's body, he set to work on destroying Gensokyo, first by putting nearly the entire mansion in a deep sleep plagued by nightmares in his Dream World, then obliterating the Youkai mountain, and then destroying Eientei, along with everyone there who wasn't immortal (namely, Kaguya and Mokou), all the while impersonating SDM to fool everyone. Eventually, Hellgate's dream world was undone, and then his new power source, Patchouli, was freed from his grasp. After a final battle, Hellgate's Dark Spore was expelled out of him, leaving only SDM of the future, who lost his memory of actually being Hellgate. And this was the final end of this aberrant house...

Before getting destroyed, Hellgate boasted that he is a God and he will return, and according to some hints SDM has dropped, this is not that implausible. As The General was taking SDM away, Hellgate's theme was played, leading to a hypothesis that The General might reinfect SDM with a Dark Spore...

...or, Arachna save us all, with the actual Black Spawn.

Basically, combine Magnificent Bastard, Complete Monster, Genius Loci, Big Bad, Physical God, and as many negative adjectives and nouns as possible, and you get Hellgate. Has nothing to do with Hellgate:London.

Tropes associated with Hellgate:


Permanently Pissed-Off Fairy
Ice Moon

A fairy residing in the SDM, and the resident snarker.

First appearing in Kanako's Victory Thread for Help Yourself, she soon established herself as a cynical, snarky, yet still well-liked character.

Appears later in Hellgate 2 Part 1 to help the main characters while they enter the dream world to confront Hellgate.

SDM has an arc planned for her, and considering who we're talking about, it ain't gonna be pretty.

Tropes associated with Ice Moon:

Deadpan Snarker: Full. Stop.


The Apocalypse Given Form
The Black Spawn

The abominable creature that destroys entire worlds and leaves nothing behind, and the antagonist of Hellgate 2 Part 2. Its messenger Dark Spores created Hellgate in the original timeline, created a couple of difficult bosses in hellgate 2 Part 1 as well as a mass takeover near the end of Hellgate 2 Part 2, as well as spurring Saito to attack other youkai and eventually Coronai thousands of years ago.

Originally summoned by Vocus and the Nihilus Clan, it was beaten back by Zoruff's sacrifice, at the cost of losing Mia, the godesses, and most of the city. In the original timeline, it is beaten to a bloody pulp by SDM (and thanks to the Dark Spore infecting SDM, causes a sort-of patricide). In the alternate timeline, it is beaten to within an inch of its life by the Gensokyoans, but manages to escape and be brought to The General.

Following its original defeat at Coronai, it was fed other Black spawns to become a super (ultra?) version of itself, which The General then used as his own personal weapon.

Tropes associated with The Black Spawn:

The One-Thousandth and First Youkai King
Gustaf Coronai

The king of Coronai prior to Saito's attack. Enlisted the aid of the main characters at his daughter's insistence, and acted as a helpful royal figure.

A prime example of nobility actually fighting, he helped defend Coronai from Saito's attack, but eventually is killed in his throne room when she and him face off.

Tropes associated with Gustaf:

The One-Thousandth and Second Youkai Queen
Mia Coronai

Gustaf's daughter, able to send people into the past and the future--which is how the main characters went back in time in the first place.

After the rule of Coronai was passed onto her by her father, Mia was soon captured by Vocus and the Nihilus clan as they traveled to aid another city, but was soon reclaimed safely.

Despite seeing the effects of the Dark Spore and hearing about the warnings of the Black Spawn, she and Zoruff dismiss these claims as they send the main characters back to their timeline. However, they get interrupted in their travels to see Coronai be destroyed and Mia killed by the Spawn (if indirectly). She still manages to send them back to their own time with her dying breath, however.

Tropes associated with Mia:

Power-Hungry Rebel Leader
Saito

The leader of the rebel youkai forces under the power of the Black Spawn's messengers in Gustaf's time. She claims to be very powerful, and led many an attack on Gustaf's army (including an attack on Coronai itself), but is mocked by the main characters. In a fit of rage she creates a large ball of darkness, whicih is only just kept away by Arachnos's Voidwebs. She disappears while Arachnos does this, however, appearing in Gustaf's throne room to do battle with the king himself. They both fight for 50 days, destroying the castle itself, before she is finally killed by Gustaf.

She is also Akuko's mother, and her death is why the latter bears a lot of resentment toward the main characters.

Tropes associated with Saito:

The Shadow Mage
Vocus

The man in charge of the Nihilus Clan, and the summoner of the Black Spawn. Originally left his clan members to deal with the main characters, and then Zoruff as a distraction, he eventually meets his demise at their hands just before they see the Black Spawn arrive.

Tropes associated with Vocus:

Doomsday Cult
Nihilius Clan

A group of mages under Vocus. Each mage is very skilled in a specific element, and some have traces of other elements for usage, as well. All but one--the steel mage--are killed by the main characters.

Tropes associated with the Nihilius Clan:

The Guy Nobody Remembers
Zoruff

Originally cast as a Dark Spore-infested youkai sent to act as a distraction for the main characters, he eventually comes to earn Mia's trust, become her 2nd-in-command and most trusted advisor, and eventually a sacrifice to defeat the Black Spawn in his time and fufill the legend.

Tropes associated with Zoruff:

The Three Goddeses
Ami, Thayla, Gressalarye

The three Goddess of Coronai. They and the main characters met up when both groups were trying to purge Goruntuaff, and despite a slight mishap in the middle of the purging, they eventually suceed. However, this is relatively short-lived, as all three goddesses are killed by the Black Spawn. Only Ami was able to be found, and thanks to Kanako Imrah, was entombed in a diamond tomb that survived to be found underneath SDM itself.

Tropes associated with The Three Goddesses:

Supreme Commander
The General

The main antagonist of Hellgate 2 Part 3, and in effect the main villain of the entire Hellgate saga.

Originally appearing as a teaser trailer at the end of Part 2 (and quickly inciting some rage from the players by calling the Black Spawn his "pet"), he soon makes his presence known in Part 3, quickly coming to decimate Gensokyo and destroy the Hakurei Border with the Black Star Cannon.

Claims to have been searching for a particular spark in Gensokyo, and found it in SDM. Also has plans for SDM, as well as his big plan to destroy the universe and reconstruct it in his image.

Tropes associated with The General:

Blood of the Rising Sun
Souichirou Kusakabe

Commander of the F squadron, and the main characters in said squadron. He was not one of the original defectors with Amadeus, but rose through the ranks to become an important man in the rebellion.

Seems to have a greater reason for being in the rebellion, as shown when he went to visit a distant memorial on Holomon.

Tropes associated with Kusakabe:

Base Commander
Amadeus

Commander of the rebellion. Formerly under The General's command, and even sharing his vision, he became disillusioned with the idea, and broke off to fight The General along with some of his loyal retainers.

Thanks to his unusually long life, he has been able to oversee much of the rebellion's progress, and has helped it build toward becoming a veritable threat to The General's plan.

Tropes associated with Amadeus:

Starship Captain
Timothy Demetrious

Captain of the Blacklight. Originally didn't even have a name, but was eventually named thanks to a couple of the main characters as well as Kusakabe talking to him.


Tropes associated with Demetrious:

Rebel Hacker
Trevor Darras

Tropes associated with Darras:


Stain of the World
Akuko

Daughter of Saito. Bears quite a lot of resentment towards the main characters for having a hand in her death. During the thousands of years between Saito's death and her appearance, she was heavily prosecuted for being a youkai by humans, building up quite a bit of hatred for their kind.

SDM claims that her story will be WAY darker than any story he's done so far. It's bad enough that Arachnos breaks down into tears whenever it's mentioned to him.

Tropes associated with Akuko:

Characters Created by Shadow Ryusaki

Mad Mechanist
Bergle

Tropes associated with Bergle:


Grand Goddess of Time and Eternity
Martel

Tropes associated with Martel


Nirvana's Servant
Sono Ruina

Tropes associated with Sono


'
Chloe

Tropes associated with Chloe

Shy girl of wind
Venticia

One of the six chosen in Alta Marea.

Tropes associated with Venticia


Characters created by KanakoVoWG


Man of Power
Antonius "Kanako" Imrah

Though present in a couple other RP-style events beforehand, this is the first major battle that he has taken part in. Originally he was neutral, content to watch a previous battle unfold between Stallord and a few others, but when the other players tried to attack him, he was drawn into the battle (and despite what he might say, he wasn't forced into it).

Following a devastating spike attack by Horus-Aman, he traded spots with Jonathan Scarlet after the Last Spell "Virtue of Wind God", and also came back to deal the final blow to Horus-aman. Since then, he has either been integral or an observer to nearly every single major event in SW's canon.

Tropes associated with Kanako Imrah:

  • Author Avatar: He's a self-insert of KanakoVoWG.
  • Bash Brothers: With Aurion.
  • Desperation Attack: "Virtue of Wind God" after he got spiked badly by one of Horus's attacks. The final light blast could also be seen as this.
  • Leeroy Jenkins: Not as apparant here, but very obvious after Help Yourself Take Over tMS.
The Scarlet Demon
Jonathan Scarlet

A human-turned-half-vampire under Kanako's command. He fought Anarchos through Kanako's body after Kanako nearly got kill by Horus'aman, and fought through at least two of his forms. However, during an ice attack on Horus, he was weakened by a mind flaying attack from Horus and replaced by Zorochi and forced to sit out the remainder. Near the end, he went and infiltrated Horus'aman's mind in hopes of distracting him, but that proved to be a tough challenge. Eventually, Zorochi, Kanako, and himself did a mental/physical holy blast that kill off Horus'aman for the RP.

Jonathan hasn't had the same amount of RP time as Kanako has, but he's been in just as many integral events. Jonahtan also makes some views in an alternate (non-SW-canon) RP called Cure to Vampirism.

Tropes associated with Jonathan Scarlet:

The Arrogant Soul
Zorochi Hinayama

A Soul Reaper nearly 4000 years old, Zorochi very nearly killed Kanako when the latter mentioned that Zorochi was under his command. But, they've worked it out since then.

In the RP, Zorochi took over for Jonathan after the latter got hit by a mind-flaying attack, and stayed to do the physical part of the battle until the end. Later, in Help Yourself Take Over tMS he killed Horus for good by banishing him to the Underworld.

Tropes associated with Zorochi Hinayama:


Blood of the Fold
Desmond

Desmond's origins, as explored in The Bloodward Diaries, stretch all the way back to the epoch when Rumia was free and unsealed, and ruling the earth, using humans as her personal livestock. A human back then, Desmond joined a secret group which decided to keep Rumia away from themselves and their loved ones with Human Sacrifice. Once Rumia was sealed and stopped, they were discovered and all executed. In the last hours of his life, the man's sanity slips away as he comes to perceive what he did as the right thing, and mankind, instead of Rumia, as the true enemy.

In the actual roleplays, Desmond appears as a youkai with control over blood. He is a truly malevolent and man-eating youkai full of vengeful thoughts, whose primary goal in life is to free Rumia from her seal so that she may fill the world with darkness again and butcher humans for youkai to feast on them. In Another World in Gensokyo, he freed the murderous immortal Animus so that he would help him gain power, but Animus was pulled off the path of darkness by Ken. In Crossroads, he is an opponent of both the Queen of Hearts, whose sadistic handling of Animus he does not appreciate, and of Cirno and Laia, who succeed to her. He attempts to unseal Rumia, fails due to his poor knowledge of the new Ender's Seal, and casts a self-destructive spell in an attempt to destroy his opponents, but fails. In Crossroads 2, he comes back with no explanation (as of yet), at the service of a mysterious and powerful new villain, and is seeking revenge against Cirno and Laia.

Despite his goals, Desmond is not an obvious psychopath and can seem perfectly normal when he wants to. Besides, he is good to those who serve him, and even to those who have once served him.

Tropes associated with Desmond:


Villager with the Sword
Ian

Tropes associated with Ian:

Man of Mystery and Strength
The Hooded Man

Tropes associated with The Hooded Man:

Right-Hand Man of Mystery
Solomon

Tropes associated with Solomon:

Precise and Orderly Doctor Fairy
Dithonia

Tropes associated with Dithonia:


Soul of the Fire
Kanako Yasagawa

Tropes associated with Kanako Yasagawa:

Sister to the Fire
Laylasa Yasagawa

Tropes associated with Laylasa Yasagawa:


Angel of Death/Fallen Angel
Tomara Kargaara

Tropes associated with Tomara:

Small Protector
Claire

Tropes associated with Claire:

Starry-eyed girl of energy
Mia Starlight

Tropes associated with Mia Starlight:


Commander of the Itauian Army
Nicholas Stroud

Tropes associated with Stroud:

Characters created by Arachnos


Claw of the Lich King
Horus'aman

A carcass of a former Arachnos reanimated by The Lich King to serve as his commander. Horus'aman receives not much development, and is only described as a wicked being who revels in murder and carnage. He faces Kanako himself, then two of his retainers in the BOSS BATTLE RP, and returns for revenge in Help yourself take over tMS. He is responsible for the removal of EX Rumia's seal.

Horus'aman was created before the character who would finally come to be named Arachnos. For the duration of BOSS BATTLE he is referred to as "Arachnos", but is later retconned into Horus'aman.

Tropes associated with Horus'aman:


Weaver of Fate
Arachnos

Born of the Weaver of Worlds Arachna herself, Arachnos has the heavy task of protecting the realm of Gensokyo from dangers, so his mother doesn't have to. Versions of him exist across all dimensions created by Arachna, and everywhere he maintains (or tries to maintain) order and peace. He first appears in "Help yourself take over tMS", but continuity-wise, Hellgate 1 is the first time he shows up.

He is also a Giant Spider.

The best-known Arachnos is his Gensokyan version, though an Arachnos of Earth also exists and acts as the self-insert of Arachnos the player himself.

Tropes associated with Arachnos:

Smoking Mirror
Tezcatlipoca

A god modeled after those of the ancient Aztecs. First seen conversing with Desmond in regards to a kind of game started among the youkai in the Forest of Magic that Desmond was forced to let happen.

While little is known about him, one of his known powers is divination, which he has shown to Desmond twice.

Tropes associated with Tezcalipoca:

  • For the Evulz: May be why he initiated the "Youkai Games" in the Forest of Magic. Even Arachnos doesn't know.


The Solid Rock
Erden

One of the six chosen in Alta Marea. A little reserved, and also a very bad cook.

Tropes associated with Erden


Characters created by NegativeZeroZ

Goddess of the Sands that Shed No Tears
Kagami Sakashima

A Goddess of Chaos, Kagami is uninterested in the dichotomy of good and evil. She is undaunted by the heroes' insistence that her actions are wrong, and she quickly became a Complete Monster in the eyes of almost every human who ever learned her true character.

Tropes associated with Kagami Sakashima:

Mimir's Archivist
Katrina/Yuro

Leader of the Research Division of the Neo Sapiens' army, and one of The Four.

Tropes associated with Katrina/Yuro:

  • Berserk Button: Perverts, arrogant people.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: She's nice by default, but she'll mentally break down people who excessively get on her nerves.
  • Dead Little Sister: Katrina is this to Varukisas. Or is she? She disappeared after one RP, in which Varukisas had no part, so not much is known to the canon characters about Katrina or the relationship she had with Varukisas.
  • Instant AI, Just Add Water: What Varukisas wants Yuro to believe happened to her internal Governor.
  • Laser-Guided Amnesia: Katrina lost her "event memory data." Personality traits and things like language files are left intact.
  • Les Yay: As a non-human, she's a bit oblivious to human conventions. She's also a bit of a Fan Girl for Gloria. Hilarity Ensued.
  • Only One Name
  • Mega Manning: She archives magic spells and emulates them.
  • Sharing a Body: With Varukisas, until Yuro was worried she was inconveniencing her.
Black Renegade
Malik Kilvehn

Leader of the Hunter Division of the Neo Sapiens' army, and one of The Four.

Tropes associated with Malik Kilvehn:


Characters created by Shadow Aurion


Sebastian Jebediah Aurion

Sebastian, simply called Aurion by his friends, is a Milletian who was taken to Gensokyo by Yeshaida, the long-time friend of Aurion's father. Aurion was given to Sanae so that he can be raised by someone who actually knows the area. Under Sanae's care, Aurion ended up becoming pretty powerful, much more powerful than a regular Milletian. He's traveled to many worlds, gained quite a few friends, and learned many thing and abilities that would help him in the battles to come.

Technically, Aurion actually debuted in the Loli Hunt series. However, Hellgate was the start of Aurion becoming more than a self-insert, and eventually became his own character. So far, the earliest-dated RP in the Crossroads Saga (ShadowAurventures in Gensokyo) has him as the main character.

Tropes associated with Sebastian Jebediah Aurion:

Seal against the darkness
Saphir/Laertes

Adopted son of Aurion and Flandre after they married, brother to Sharon, and lives with them in the SDM. Originally named Saphir, he first canonically appears in Hellgate 2 Part 3, being abducted with the house itself via the General. Later on he appears in Crossroads, though he only gains prominence later in the RP during the Icecrown Invasion arc. While there, he and his sister are suddenly transported to meet with a robed man, who changes his name to Laertes and gives him a special cloak as well as explaining that he and his sister, whose name was changed to Sharon, were to be pivotal in the battle against Yami.

Tropes associated with Laertes:


Shield against the darkness
Arietta/Sharon

Adopted son of Aurion and Flandre after they married, brother to Sharon, and lives with them in the SDM. Originally named Arietta, she first canonically appear in Hellgate 2 Part 3, being abducted with the house itself via the General. Later on she appears in Crossroads, though she only gain prominence later in the RP during the Icecrown Invasion arc. While there, she and her brother are suddenly transported to meet with a robed man, who changes her name to Sharon and gives her a special cloak as well as explaining that she and her brother, whose name was changed to Laertes, were to be pivotal in the battle against Yami.

Tropes associated with Sharon:


Icy Silence
Minoru

One of the six chosen in Alta Marea. Very cold to others, and also seems to have a hard past.

Tropes associated with Minoru

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