within the manor ; miscellaneous hunter hcs
playing hunter is so fun guys (GETS SHOT 47 TIMES)
hwhshsg i really love a lot of the hunters in this game. i have many thoughts about them, so i scribbled down some here just for fun. i’ve also never written for hulla or joseph, so hopefully these are okay……
characters included : hullabaloo, ithaqua, and joseph desaulniers
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hullabaloo
due to the spring in his middle, it takes a conscious effort for him to keep himself upright. he’ll always lean a bit in a certain direction, his head hanging down as if it were too heavy for his neck. much like many of the other hunters, his posture is atrocious
he has a habit of laughing while in pursuit. he was never the stealthiest in his faction to begin with, but due his uncontrollable snickers (and the squeaking of his springs… and that humongous circle around him—), survivors can usually spot him from halfway across the map. he’s fast enough to make up for it, though
hullabaloo is the sort of hunter that doesn’t put a lot of stock in matches. if he wins, he wins. if he doesn’t, he doesn’t. he really just does it for the love of the game
his carefree attitude makes it all the more frustrating for the survivors he’s placed against. he doesn’t even look like he’s trying sometimes, and yet he’s still notoriously one of the manor’s most difficult hunter to kite. at least for new arrivals
among the residents with identity switches, hullabaloo and mike are a pair with a more… amicable relationship (though i use that term extremely loosely). neither of them are outwardly hostile towards the other, but most of the time mike prefers to pretend his hunter counterpart doesn’t exist
hulla, on the other hand, thoroughly enjoys reminding him. he’s all smiles when he sees his counterpart in a match, purposefully scaring him on and off ciphers but never fully committing to a chase
he’s so annoying lol
whenever he’s in a good mood, he’ll suddenly decide to chat with whatever survivor he just ballooned. the same goes for when he’s camping and the designated rescuer hasn’t shown up yet. “it helps pass the time!” he chirps, right as a cricket ball flies at the back of his head
he isn’t very fond of violence, so he’s one of the more gentle hunters in the roster. as gentle as getting knocked down can be, anyways
he can get a little excited and smack survivors around a bit, but he’ll never intentionally hurt them. he may look like it in this new form, but he doesn’t want to be seen as a monster
he also always gives out dungeon. in fact, he’ll even bring the last survivor there himself! there are some members within the faction that almost see it as degrading the way he picks them up and happily floats off in the direction of the hatch
he tends to take the win most of the time anyways, so it doesn’t matter if one escapes. besides, if they were able to kite him long enough for the dungeon to open up in the first place, then they deserve it! at least he thinks so
this is more of a headcanon for mike’s character in general, but i think he has dyslexia lol. there’s no evidence for it or anything, but i just feel like he would. this of course extends to hulla
his vision is a little altered in this new body anyways, so reading is made even more difficult. the star-shaped hole in the side of his face sort of makes the world look like a broken kaleidoscope
ithaqua
while some within his faction had a difficult time adjusting, ithaqua couldn’t be more perfect for his role. he’s familiar with hunting man and beast alike, it’s no different here in the manor
for him, the matches have become a good way to keep his skills sharp and blow off extra steam. it’s sort of like his personal ‘me time’, and he can grow irritable if it’s been awhile since his last game
while he does share hulla’s habit of giggling during a hunt, he usually only does it once he lands a hit or chairs a survivor. he values stealth a lot more than the circus clown, so he’s relatively quiet during a chase
he tends to take his games seriously. maybe not to the extent that other hunters do (cueist lol), but he doesn’t like losing. after a long string of defeats, he’ll start getting annoyed
it can be a little difficult to tell given that his face is always hidden by his mask, but if you don’t hear him laugh after a strike, consider yourself in for a rough match. despite his typical level-headedness, he can still become quite aggressive
ithaqua gets along really well with axe boy! since the two use similar weapons, he’s more than happy to give the younger hunter guidance if he ever asks for it. robbie himself has gotten into the habit of calling him big brother and always brags about their ‘matching ears’ (I LOVE THEM)
but aside from him and a small handful of other hunters who he’s somewhat cordial with (michiko, grace, and maaybe jeffery), the night watch is unsurprisingly rather solitary. he is on decent terms with a few of the survivors though, namely eli and victor
and of course, to address the elephant in the room. with brynhildr, he’s understandably rather hesitant. the vilulfs likely don’t know that they’re technically family, but archer’s striking red hair reminds him of his mother, so he’s subconsciously softer when it comes to downing and chairing her
the two don’t speak all that often either, but on the rare occasion that they do, it’s almost entirely one-sided. bryn is much better at carrying a conversation than her distant cousin
in general, itha tends to interact better with women and individuals with traits similar to his mother, but people who’ve won the favor of animals are also a little easier for him to be around
he’s still notoriously difficult to converse with though, simply due to the fact that he doesn’t want to most of the time. he tends to keep everyone at an arm’s length, never sparing more than a few words if he can help it
with how aloof he acts, you’d never guess how much of a yapper he really is. in the very, very rare case that he ever becomes close to someone, he can talk for quite awhile without even realizing it
he’s still more on the quiet side, but he’ll ramble about birds and stories he’s read and the moon and stars. it’s really lovely to listen to
it should be said that ithaqua does NOT give dungeon, even if he is already in a winning position. he’ll simply scoop up the downed survivor without a second thought, marching towards the nearest chair as they thrash and squirm about
to him, it’s the more merciful option. they’re already injured anyways—it’s best to kill them here than allow them to return to the manor with broken bones and lacerations
the only exception to this rule, however, is if the last survivor is either: memory (as she is a child. he tries his best to be gentle and refuses to chase her first), bryn (for the reasons stated above), or fiona (red hair. he sees his mother)
patrollie does not work with his play style at all, but i’d like to think that he would like the little pup… super self-indulgent, but itha always makes sure to toss the creature whatever leftover bones he has in his stew once he’s finished. just for the little beast to chew on until the next game
joseph desaul(nier)s
nier mention but at what cost…
kidding, kidding. the photographer has been growing on me quite a bit as of late, mostly due to the interesting parallels he and claude have with ithaqua and his own twin brother (am i maybe reaching?? idk but ithaqua mention)
regardless! joseph has been on the brain for a bit, especially after getting his coa skin. he’s quite the odd man, but it’s to be expected. no normal person would be so overly fixated on the preservation of life without some sort of unresolved trauma
part of the reason why the photographer looks the way he does despite actually being quite… ahem—long-lived is because during this particular point in life, his face was most similar to claude’s
with age comes change, and the older joseph became the less he could see his twin brother in his reflection. it was an agonizing realization, almost as if he was losing him a second time
so, he intentionally froze his appearance in the period just before he lost his brother. a perfect mirror, no? he even began dressing like him and wearing the same powdered wigs. now, with this appearance, claude—or the memory of him, at least—will never fade
blind old man joseph is canon to me. perhaps his appearance is that of how he used to look, but his body certainly isn’t. it’s agonizing the way his joints will ache after a particularly rough match
he’s dramatic about it too, always grumbling under his breath in french as he rolls his shoulders. please do not pallet stun him. he is petty and will hold a grudge
he requires lots of down time in between games, especially since matches with him tend to stretch much longer than usual due to his constant cipher reduction
you can typically find him having tea in a secluded part of the manor, indulging in delicately made pastries. many of which were once claude’s favorite flavors
the photographer 100% has some mercury in his system (aka the victorian special). spending so much time in a poorly ventilated darkroom with dangerous chemical fumes was bound to give him some problems sooner or later
hand tremors, memory loss, insomnia. the reason why he coughs so much during pursuit is probably caused by the chronic mercury poisoning too
this is a little silly, but i think it would be funny if a (huge) pet peeve of his would be survivors slipping into the camera world. who gave them permission to enter? certainly not him!
claude’s personality has more of an influence on him in this unchanging space (you know, like the big shift in his voice and such), so his frustration is softened quite a bit—but the second he steps out into the real world, he’s definitely swinging his sword a little harder than he usually does
he can be quite brutal, honestly. you’ve all seen his ballooning animation—he steps directly on survivors and chairs them with little thought. he also never gives out dungeon. you’ll unfortunately have to fight for that yourself if you wish to escape him
