Despite being number 9, Noir is one I've had for a while, courtesy of @mrchaosman as he's the one who made him and gifted him to me. For a while, I didn't exactly know what to do with him, other than just chucking him into Fool's Fate, but then Chaosman also made Alice (now Alicia) and things started to come together more. Anyways, enough dilly-dally, onto the mystery himself, Detective Noir!
Since Noir was another one made by Chaosman, I didn't come up with the name, but unlike Casper I have a pretty good guess as to were Detective Noir came from. Film Noir, defined by Britannica as "style of filmmaking characterized by such elements as cynical heroes, stark lighting effects, frequent use of flashbacks, intricate plots, and an underlying existentialist philosophy", are black and white movies from the 40s which are stereotypically mysteries with no-nonsense, cold detectives who seem to monologue quite a bit. Detective Noir is a black and white detective Darkner, who's personality I've at least made to fit these sorts of movie characters.
I'm pretty sure Noir doesn't have a text quirk. I never gave him one and I'm pretty sure when Chaosman first gifted him to me, he said Noir just doesn't have one. Might have to look back through our DMs to be sure. As for soul mode, I've given Noir the switch soul mode, though as I mentioned in Polaris's ref, I might switch her upgraded switch mode with Noir's regular switch mode for skill leveling.
I mentioned most of Noir's assumed inspiration in his name blurb, but as for the Lightner item he's based on, it's Dess's diary. She lost it somewhere in the Bunker before she went missing in there. Because of this, I've determined that though Detective Noir my be all about mysteries and tries to solve any he comes across, his main goal is solving the mystery and disappearance of December Holiday.
Backstory under cut
It was a dark night like any other. There's not much darker a night can get in a place like such as this, unless you dare to go down deeper into the depths of this sketchy town's dank underground. Deep, deep down into the depths below, the depths from which few return. It was a dark night. Dark and cold, the same as any other. Can't have sun with out a sky, after all. Only dim city lights flickering faintly. Mostly darkness. Cold, dank, darkness.
It was a dark night like any other, the city was quiet, yet bustling. Bustling with under handed bets, back alley deals, whispered plans of crime. Yet while the city's dark under belly bustled and thrived with degenerate life, on the surface it seemed a ghost town. A dark city with dark streets and no one around. No one around on this dark night like any other. Some might even call it eerie if they weren't accustomed to it. It was a dark night. Dark, cold, and eerie.
It was a dark night like any other, until something broke through the darkness. Something bright, something warm. Something abrasive. A harsh ray of something foreign, something different, something light. Cutting through the dark, quiet night of the city like hot knife through butter. Some met the light with caution, only to find how it burned away their shadowy flesh, most others met it with apprehension. It was a dark night, and the light was not welcome. Yet before anyone could do anything...
It was a dark night like any other, until two figures emerged from the light. A human, a monster, and no one else. A human and monster from the light. They approached as strangers, outsiders to this city. Foreigners from a realm above. No one approached them, no one came near, all too afraid of the light and those that came from it. Too afraid that the foreigners might burn as much as the light itself. Lucky for them at least, it seemed the strangers from the light were unable to see them. It was a dark night, intruded upon by Lightners unable to see the dark.
It was a dark night like any other, until a monster fell into the abyss. The monster from the light, with the human calling after her. Out stretching their hand as tears fell down their face. However they could not save her, and so the helpless human ran as the monster fell into the darkness. Yet the true monsters were what lurked below the depths, down in the deeper dark. Dragging her deeper yet deeper in to the dark, darker yet dark depths. Never to be heard, never to be seen, never to return to the surface again. It was a dark night, in which two teens entered, yet only one saw the sun again.
It was a dark night like any other, a night which Noir knows happened, but can't recall. A night that Noir doesn't know if he was truly present or not. A night that Noir's memory only started after, and which he thinks about every night since. Walking down dark alleys and passing empty streets, all while trying to piece together a mystery he can never solve. A mystery trying to solve a mystery, a mystery which the knows the answers to, if only he could remember. If only he could ask the right questions. If only... If only... Does he even know the question he's trying to ask?
It was a dark night. A dark night... That haunts Noir's very existence.
Noir never met a man. At least not formally. It's hard to formally meet someone everyone already knows. A man who everyone either loves or fears, everyone either reveres or despises, either finds odd or charming. A man not too important yet not too unimportant either. A man that most pay no mind to, despite basically being like a god to the gods. A man from here yet not here. A man from beyond yet who lives in this city like anyone else. A man who Noir didn't really care about... Until he let it slip that he might be able to help Noir solve the mystery of that dark night.
And so they had a deal, not unlike any others made in the dark city, yet one with the opportunity to change the fate of this world for ever. An object of glass, maybe a pane, maybe a mirror, maybe both, but made of glass nonetheless. Glass capable of reflecting ones own fears and doubts, but also acting as a window, a view port to the world beyond. The man promised Noir it would help him find what he was looking for. To just look through the glass and it would reveal all the answers Noir was searching for... Yet when Noir looked through the glass, all he saw was darkness. Same as the dark city around him.
Enraged, Noir shattered the glass. Broken it into shards and pieces, falling to the ground and blending into the shadows all around. Noir had enough of the man's riddles and games, tired of chasing wild geese and fishing red herrings. Noir just wanted answers, straight, honest answers. And if he couldn't get them from the man then he'd just have to keep searching for him himself. Even if it meant rejecting the man's offer and aid. Yet regardless of how Noir felt, the deal was still done, and fate was still sealed, at least for now.
Noir spent years searching for the answers he sought, likely much longer than he was initially meant to. All the while picking up smaller mysteries on the way, yet no matter how many smaller mysteries Noir picked up and solved with ease, his mission was still on the mystery of that dark night. The dark night like any other, yet much more important than any other night. The dark night when the light intruded and two Lightners entered but only one left. The dark night that Noir might have been present for but can't remember. The dark night... That a young girl went missing after falling into the depths.
...
It was a dark night, just like any other. Until the light intruded once again and two different figures entered. Lightners, still blind to the darkness. Lightners, who found Noir caught in the light and took him away. Lightners...
