Terezi Pyrope is one of the twelve trolls who played the game of SBURB that created humanity’s universe and the true brains behind the Scourge Sister duo compared to the more smug and impulsive Vriska. Teaming up with Vriska to kill criminals and hunt fellow trolls for sport, Terezi believes that Vriska took their game too far by paralyzing Tavros Nitram and killing Aradia Megido. In retaliation, she manipulates the nigh-omniscient Doc Scratch into nearly killing Vriska for her by revealing she stole one of his treasures. When Vriska blinds Terezi in retaliation, Terezi learns how to “see” without her eyes via her sharp sense of smell, even learning to take pride in her disability. Upon entering the game session, Terezi allows Karkat to act as leader to satisfy his ego before conspiring with Snowman to exile Jack Noir behind his back to protect the group. Upon becoming aware of the human session of SBURB, Terezi is effortlessly able to manipulate John to his death, forcing Davesprite to travel back in time to save him. Getting in a competition with Vriska to see who could train their respective human to become stronger, Terezi becomes Dave Strider’s self appointed guide, forming a genuine friendship with him. When Dave questions her on how to obtain Godhood, Terezi tests his ability to face his own mortality by tricking Dave into make a binary choice that creates an alternate timeline version of himself, then ordering the original Dave to kill his doppelganger. When Dave is unable to go through with it, Terezi explains that his inability to face his own death is why he can’t achieve Godhood. After being forced to kill Vriska to save the rest of her friends, Terezi is completely overtaken with grief, allowing herself to be trapped in an abusive relationship with Gamzee Makara that systematically destroys her sense of self worth for the next three years. After most of her remaining friends are killed and she’s left on the brink of death by Gamzee, Terezi concocts a plan in her final moments to undo all the Gamzee had set in motion, utilizing John’s newfound time travel powers and predicting her plans effects on the timeline so thoroughly that she’s able leave hidden messages for the real world readers themselves to keep the plan hidden until it’s already in motion. In the new timeline that’s created, Terezi is able to shut down Gamzee’s plans before they even begin and spends the next three years repairing her friendship with Vriska, before joining the final battle against Lord English and his minions on the frontlines. Despite being wholly mortal, she’s able to pull her weight in the final battle against godlike foes with sheer tactical ingenuity. Ultimately, both versions of Terezi achieve a happy ending, with Pre-Retcon Terezi reuniting with her version of Vriska in the afterlife while Post-Retcon Terezi bears witness to Lord English’s ultimate defeat and sets out to the deepest corners of Paradox Space to find her version of Vriska. Brilliant and ruthless even at her lowest, Terezi plays the role of both the villain and the hero flawlessly over the course of her arc and matches every threat thrown at her with a shark-toothed grin.
