A bit of a rant but I can’t be the only one who’s noticed that 50% of Jamil angst is just Kalim angst in disguise right? Maybe I’m picky but when I see Kalim characterized as a blameless depressed sad boy who is victimized by Jamil I lose brain cells
Jamil being overshadowed by Kalim ain’t even just story anymore the fandom is in on it I swear
Like. I feel like it’s always Kalim’s shitty situation getting brought up, and it’s expected to be this Kalim pity party the whole way thru. While he does deserve angst and whatever, Jamil always ends up having to just play an emotion support role rather than addressing his own feelings and issues that wrap up into it.
Jamil has his emotional and physical boundaries crossed alllllll the tiiiiime. And Kalim has his reasons, but that doesn’t mean Jamil shouldn’t be entitled to like. His own angst/breakdown abt it. And also like?? All the isolation he has to deal with as Kalim’s servant? He can’t really complain or set boundaries, and doesn’t have any to confide in abt it. Hence him just seething to himself. <-(Amazing character study potential)
You see, in my mind, you could get angst from Kalim having a typical breakdown, but Jamil can’t stand to be the shoulder to cry on anymore, when Kalim isn’t someone he can come to for the same thing. Kalim wants to be that for him, but can’t connect in a meaningful way.
PUNCHES WALL THE ANGST COMES FROM THE DESIRE TO BE THERE FOR EACH OTHER BUT BEING UNABLE TO BRIDGE THE GAP The emotional distance is what hurts, not just the traumaaaaaa bitchhhhhh
Alright rant over I just need more and better Jamil angst but there isn’t enough bc Kalim has to be the pitiful baby all the time
I've noticed something in this fanbase. A lot of people treat some of the overbloters like the people in their backstories treated them😭. Azul, Jamil, Vil and of course Leona are the biggest examples and im just like how does it feel being backstory black and white NPC number 67.? Repressing Jamil The Repressed ™ when like that's everything he has been told and everything he's been trying to fight against?😭 There ain't noway. I know i joke that people dont read when playing this game and im starting to worry that that might be a reality. And dont try blaming the localisation. Book 4 explores its themes in many ways the trailer of it alone with the sun and shadow PLEASE 😭 Also, and i rarely speak about this but Kalim is my boy. And the tragedy of him comes in so many different forms. Heck, book five barely mentioned this but it is still canon but Kalim came to realise Jamil forcibly let him win as children, so what is Kalim actually good at if he has been handed everything? SEE! That's its own kind of pain in relation to Jamil but not centering him, and it gives Kalim more complexity. He has his own pride and his ambitions too just uniquely his. Book 7.5 kind of hints at this too. Why y'all making my boy one dimensional and repressing Jamil 😭. ???
And i know to like Vil you have to complete book 6 but i actually liked him from the second i saw Ace and Deuce paralyzed from his signature spell, and saw him walk Kalim through a skin-care routine. Vil's the only overbloter who i liked before his backstory. So, seeing him actually overblot devastated me. The sentence "it doesn't matter who forgives me how can i forgive myself" is basically engraved into my bones because it is relatable to me and BECAUSE IT DEVASTATED HIM TO BECOME THE VERY THING HE HAS BEEN FIGHTING AGAINST BEING SEE AS. LISTEN TO ME. Vil made sense to me. Maybe because im a kpop stan and i know you're not really debuting by being a silly little guy, you gotta lock in and because the amount of sternness and dedication Vil has didnt translate to me as overwhelming but admirable and inspiring. I like locking in too ngl. Around book 6, I started caring about my own skin care routine, my fashion sense, my posture, moisturising and hydration. I owe him a lot of myself improvements. Ah .. yeah, i just noticed as i type this. Not once did i use the word vain. Hardworking and dedicated. That's what Vil is. And the best leader and housewarden by the way. This guy didnt let Idia jump into the underworld and held up the teams morale even when he lost everything that ever mattered to him. Everything in his SSR dorm card. He is so beautiful to me. Vil is self aware too. He apologised fOR BEHAVING IN A WAY THAT HE DISAPPROVES OF, FOR GOING AGAINST HIS OWN STANDARDS. LISTEN TO ME. HE IS SO SO . SO. And yeah, being a forever second place despite how hard you work would send anyone into madness bUT HE IS SELF AWARE ENOUGH TO KNOW LIFE IS NOT A ZERO SUM GAME. HE SAID SO HIMSELF, something about someone being in the shadow of someone else's happy ending and how it is nothing personal. In conclusion, Vil is a hardworking baddie for the baddies and only i get him.
Self indulgence hour. Leona who canonically cares for his hair having a thing for type 4 A hair girlies (me) because their (my) hair looks like a lion's mane. Using my fave to self love. I can not be stopped.
Im listening to the twst solos vocals only and why did Jamil slay so hard ? 😭 He ATE that. Like, damn the misery is all yours babe. I literally have it on LOOP.
Back in June 2025, a question occurred to me: “Do people with certain personality traits gravitate to certain OB boys?” This led me to create a survey to try and get to the bottom of things.
Now we have results of our findings!! The Tumblr post you're currently reading only includes our findings, discussion, and credits. Some graphs, tables, and charts are included here, but not all of them, since Tumblr posts have a 30 image maximum. To read the full paper (which is ~50 pages), please see this Google Document.
Summary Statistics
Total number of responses: 1263
By Gender:
67.6% female
6.7% male
16.0% non-binary
9.7% other
By Age:
40.9% are between 13-18 years of age
40.3% are between 19-24 years of age
15.8% are between 25-30 years og age
2.4% are between 31-36 years of age
0.6% are older than 37, with the highest age noted being 42
By Region:
54.9% from North America
20.0% from Europe and Central Asia
14.1% from East Asia and Pacific
8.7% from Latin America and Caribbean
1.1% from Middle East and North Africa
0.8% from South Asia
0.4% from Sub-Saharan Africa.
By Keeping up with JP:
64.5% play EN
26.3% play both EN and JP
9.2% play JP
By Knowledge of Japanese:
96.4% do not know Japanese
3.6% know Japanese
By Main Source of Translation:
35.3% use video translations
32.5% use the EN game
21.0% use written translations
5.5% use summary threads
3.0% use machine translations
2.6% use word of mouth
By Years Playing:
12.6% five years
7.9% four years
32.5% three years
21.5% 2 years
13.8% 1 year
11.8% less than 1 year
By Story Quality:
34.1% rate it Excellent
53.9% rate it Good
11.8% rate it Okay
0.2% rate it Poor
By Relatability (to OB boy):
72.6% say yes, OB boy is relatable
27.4% say no, OB boy is not relatable
Most frequently selected favorite OB boy:
Leona (18.4%)
Riddle (17.4%)
Malleus (16.8%)
Idia (16.3%)
Azul (11.6%)
Vil (10.5%)
Jamil (9.0%)
Most frequently selected LEAST favorite OB boy:
Leona (17.5%)
Jamil (16.3%)
Azul (16.0%)
Malleus (15.3%)
Vil (13.3%)
Idia (11.5%)
Riddle (10.0%)
When evaluating our data, we must keep in mind that it is largely representative of:
self-identified women (~68%)
those aged 13-18 (~41%) and 19-24 (40%)
those from North America (~55%) and Europe + Central Asia (20%)
those who play EN (~65%) or both EN and JP (~26%)
those who overwhelmingly do not know Japanese (~96%)
those who mostly use video translations of the JP game (~35%) or play the EN game (~33%)
those who mostly keep up with JP updates (60%)
those who have played Twst for two (~22%) to three years (~33%)
those who rate the Twst main story “good” (~54%) or “excellent” (~34%)
those who say the OB boys are relatable (~73%)
In other words, this survey is NOT representative of the Twst JP fanbase or even of the international fanbase; it is concentrated on the lens taken by the young English-speaking women of North America and Europe/Central Asia.
Methods, Results + Discussion (Personality of Respondents vs Favorite OB Boy(s))
The method of collecting responses we used is known as convenience sampling, which gathers data from participants who are the easiest to reach. We, the researchers, sacrifice random and representative selection for speed and cost-efficiency.
To measure personality traits, we asked that each participant take the Big 5 or Five Factor Model (FFM) personality assessment and provide their resulting overall scores across 5 dimensions. Those 5 dimensions, commonly referred to by the acronym OCEAN and each existing on a spectrum, are as follows:
Openness (to experience) — measures imagination, curiosity, and willingness to try new things.
Conscientiousness — measures goal-directed behavior, planning, and self-discipline.
Extroversion — measures how much an individual is energized by social interactions.
Agreeableness — measures empathy, willingness to cooperate, and ability to trust in others
Neuroticism — measures emotional instability, such as anxiety, hostility, and impulsivity.
We chose to use the Big 5 because it is widely accessible (i.e. free to the general public), widely recognized, and, most importantly, widely researched. Many languages and cultures use this test, leading to Big 5’s validity and reliability to be demonstrated many times over in several peer-reviewed studies. It is considered the “gold standard” in personality psychology.
For the purposes of this report, we will be using a significance value of 0.05. In hypothesis testing, the p-value is used to determine whether an observed result is likely due to chance or a true effect. 0.05 will be our marker, or threshold. In this case, a p-value HIGHER than 0.05 means the results are not statistically significant (i.e. these results are due to random chance). A p-value LOWER than 0.05 means the results are statistically significant (ie these results are due to a true effect, NOT random chance).
We determined that this data set has homogeneity of variance and for normality. For the oneway ANOVAs, we only considered the characters that respondents marked as their favorite (1). This was done for every dimension. Where relevant, Fisher’s LSD multiple comparison test was used to determine if the difference between two scores within the same dimension were statistically significant.
Openness:
The Openness scores were not significantly different from each other (p-value=0.2858). The scores were generally clustered together without one being an outlier.
Those who ranked Jamil as (1) were the highest in terms of Openness (mean=89.98, sd=8.79)
Those who ranked Riddle as (1) were the lowest (mean=87.50, sd=8.97).
Using Fisher’s LSD multiple comparison test, we can see that Jamil likers and Riddle likers were significantly different from each other in terms of Openness scores (p-value=0.0271).
Since the Openness scores were not statistically significant, this means fans of all OB boys were roughly the same in terms of Openness. This makes sense, as the concept of Twisted Wonderland itself invites curiosity and imagination for a world that reinterprets classic Disney characters. Those attracted to Twst’s world and characters would have to be open to a decent degree to get invested and stay invested.
If we examine the two characters who are notably different from one another, Jamil likers were the most open and Riddle likers were the least open. This reflects the personalities of the two OB boys. Jamil desires his freedom and can act unhinged when he lets himself cut loose, whereas Riddle is notoriously uptight. Fans of these respective characters may share these characters’ respective traits, which would explain the scores.
Neuroticism:
The Neuroticism scores were statistically significant from one another (p-value=0.0074). At least one of the scores was different enough from the rest.
Those who ranked Idia as (1) were the highest in terms of Neuroticism (mean=90.96, sd=13.83).
Those who ranked Leona as (1) were the lowest (mean=86.13, sd=13.91).
Using Fisher’s LSD multiple comparison test, we can see that Idia likers were significantly different from Vil (p-value=0.0464), Azul (p-value=0.0130), and Leona (p-value=0.0003) likers in terms of Neuroticism scores.
Leona likers were significantly different from Idia, Riddle (p-value=0.0033), and Malleus (p-value=0.0366) likers.
Idia likers scored the highest in Neuroticism, whereas Leona likers scored the lowest. Again, I believe this reflects the tendency for fans to gravitate to characters that are similar to themselves. Idia is extremely anxious but can swing between periods of extreme confidence and extreme meekness. Leona, on the other hand, can usually keep his cool and does not act impulsively; he plans for the long term.
Agreeableness:
The Agreeableness scores were significantly different from each other (p-value=0.0449). At least one of the scores was different enough from the rest.
Those who ranked Malleus as (1) were the highest in terms of agreeableness (mean=89.80, sd=11.87).
Those who ranked Jamil as (1) were the lowest (mean=86.14, sd=12.04).
Using Fisher’s LSD multiple comparison test, we can see that Malleus likers were significantly different from Riddle (p-value=0.0087), Vil (p-value=0.0099), Idia (p-value=0.0052), and Jamil (p-value=0.0122) likers in terms of agreeableness scores.
Jamil likers were only significantly different from Malleus likers.
Malleus likers scored the highest in agreeableness, meaning they are the most empathetic and willing to cooperate and trust in others. Jamil likers are the opposite, having scored the lowest. This, too, reflects the characters, whom the fans may see themselves in. Jamil is highly distrustful of others and assumes the worst of them. On the other hand, Malleus can be on the naive side and there’s a whole subplot in the main story about how he overcomes loneliness, learns to be more open with others, and makes new friends. He is also shown to be empathetic, especially when he relates to others’ loneliness (like in Endless Halloween Night; he was sad for the ghosts who had missed the party).
Extraversion:
The Extraversion scores were significantly different from each other (p-value=0.0142). At least one of the scores was different enough from the rest.
Those who ranked Vil as (1) were the highest in terms of Extraversion (mean=63.52, sd=13.41)
Those who ranked Idia as (1) were the lowest (mean=59.32, sd=13.17).
Using Fisher’s LSD multiple comparison test, we can see that Vil likers were significantly different from Azul (p-value=0.0218) and Idia (p-value=0.0031) likers in terms of Extraversion scores.
Idia likers were significantly different from Vil, Riddle (p-value=0.0056), Malleus (p-value=0.0135), and Leona (p-value=0.0141).
Riddle likers were significantly different from Azul (p-value=0.0437).
Vil likers scored the highest in Extraversion, while Idia likers scored the lowest. Vil, being a celebrity, is constantly in the public eye and interacting with fans, whether indirectly (social media, films, etc.) or directly (in-person events). Additionally, his character revolves around the idea of beauty, being seen, and being confident in outward expression of his gender. I could see this pulling fans who similarly want to be seen or to express themselves in the same ways that Vil does. Idia, meanwhile, tends to keep to himself and be a loner, which may attract fans who behave similarly.
Conscientiousness:
The Conscientiousness scores were significantly different from each other (p-value=0.0142). At least one of the scores was different enough from the rest.
Those who ranked Azul as (1) were the highest in terms of conscientiousness (mean=76.94, sd=13.68), while those who ranked Idia as (1) were the lowest (mean=71.98, sd=14.30).
Using Fisher’s LSD multiple comparison test, we can see that Azul likers were significantly different from Riddle (p-value=0.0428), Leona (p-value=0.0308), Vil (p-value=0.0188), and Idia (p-value=0.0009) likers in terms of conscientiousness scores.
Idia likers were significantly different from Azul and Malleus (p-value=0.0229) likers.
The conscientiousness scores were statistically significant, meaning respondents are different in their goal-directed behavior, planning, and self-discipline. Twisted Wonderland is a free-to-play gacha game, in which players can earn currency to roll on banners by completing various tasks. However, there are limited ways for players to earn this currency, especially if they have been playing for years. This incentivizes paying money to acquire more rolls, which funds the game. Because banners–particularly event banners and birthday banners–are limited time, this feeds into FOMO (fear of missing out), furthering the pressure to not save or plan for future banners, but to spend on the current one. This data seems to suggest that fans of some OB characters (such as Azul) are better at long-term planning, including saving rolls for gacha banners, than fans of other characters (such as Idia).
Azul likers having the highest conscientiousness score makes sense, given that this is also true of the character. Azul often schemes and prepares for situations far in advance, and a perfect example of this is his ascension to dorm leadership. He implies that he worked hard to get into the good graces of his previous dorm leader to earn the recommendation to succeed him.
Idia likers are the least conscientious, but my best guess as to why this is the case… maybe his explosive and sudden anger? Or his ability to tackle any problem on-the-spot with the skills currently at his disposal? Perhaps it’s that he prefers to maximize efficiency?
By highest percentage:
15% of Jamil likers ranked Riddle as their least favorite OB boy
28.4% of Riddle likers ranked Leona as their least favorite OB boy
22.9% of Vil likers ranked Azul as their least favorite OB boy
23.3% of Malleus likers ranked Jamil as their least favorite OB boy
19.1% of Idia likers ranked Vil as their least favorite OB boy
17% of Leona likers ranked Idia as their least favorite OB boy
28.3% of Jamil likers ranked Malleus as their least favorite OB boy
Most common rankings
When Riddle was ranked 1 (n=218), the most common OB Boy chosen at each other rank was:
2: Azul (22.5%)
3: Azul (19.3%)
4: Idia (21.1%)
5: Vil (21.1%)
6: Malleus (22.5%)
7: Leona (28.4%)
When Leona as ranked 1 (n=230), the most common OB Boy chosen at each other rank was:
2: Jamil (23.5%)
3: Malleus (20.0%)
4: Riddle (20.0%)
5: Riddle (22.2%)
6: Azul (21.3%)
7: Azul and Malleus (19.1% each)
When Azul as ranked 1 (n=145), the most common OB Boy chosen at each other rank was:
2: Riddle (24.8%)
3: Vil (20.7%)
4: Malleus (22.8%)
5: Vil (20.0%)
6: Leona (22.1%)
7: Leona (27.6%)
When Jamil as ranked 1 (n=113), the most common OB Boy chosen at each other rank was:
2: Leona (22.1%)
3: Riddle (27.4%)
4: Leona (23%)
5: Idia (21.2%)
6: Idia (23%)
7: Malleus (28.3%)
When Vil as ranked 1 (n=131), the most common OB Boy chosen at each other rank was:
2: Riddle (26.7%)
3: Malleus (21.4%)
4: Leona (22.1%)
5: Azul (21.4%)
6: Idia (22.1%)
7: Azul (22.9%)
When Idia was ranked 1 (n=204), the most common OB Boy chosen at each other rank was:
2: Malleus (26.5%)
3: Azul and Vil (19.6% each)
4: Riddle (20.1%)
5: Azul (20.6%)
6: Jamil (23.0%)
7: Leona (21.6%)
When Malleus was ranked 1 (n=210), the most common OB Boy chosen at each other rank was:
2: Idia (26.7%)
3: Riddle (24.3%)
4: Vil (21.4%)
5: Jamil (22.9%)
6: Jamil (24.3%)
7: Jamil (23.3%)
The trends observed are:
Riddle likers usually also liked Azul
Riddle likers usually disliked Malleus or Leona
Leona likers usually also liked Jamil
Leona likers usually disliked Azul
Leona likers are conflicted about Malleus; some like Malleus while others consider him to be their least favorite of the OB boys
Azul likers usually also liked Riddle
Azul likers usually disliked Leona
Jamil likers usually also liked Leona
Jamil likers usually disliked Malleus or Idia
Vil likers usually also liked Riddle or Malleus
Vil likers usually disliked Azul or Idia
Idia likers usually also liked Malleus or Vil
Idia likers usually disliked Jamil or Leona
Malleus likers usually also liked Idia or Riddle
Malleus likers usually disliked Jamil
Overall comments on personality + favorite OB boy:
Noting the important differences between highest and lowest scores:
Jamil likers scored high in Openness
Riddle likers scored low in Openness
Idia likers scored high in Neuroticism
Leona likers scored low in Neuroticism
Malleus likers scored high in Agreeableness
Jamil likers scored low in Agreeableness
Vil likers scored high in Extraversion
Idia likers scored low in Extraversion
Azul likers scored high in Conscientiousness
Idia likers scored low in Conscientiousness
The trend seems to be that one’s favorite OB boy correlates with shared personality traits. This is observed over 4 (Neuroticism, Agreeableness, Extraversion, conscientiousness) of the 5 dimensions of the Big 5 personality test, with the remaining 1 (Openness) being insignificant, as the concept of Twst itself depends on the fans to have an open mind to begin with.
Leona was most often chosen as the favorite OB boy, and Jamil was the least often chosen as the favorite OB boy. It’s ironic, because both Leona and Jamil are the top two most often cited as the LEAST favorite OB boy(s). Leona seems to be a point of contention among respondents; he is simultaneously liked and disliked.
Results + Discussion (by Other Metrics)
Favorite OB boy by time spent playing Twst:
Those who have been playing for 5 years or more showed a preference for Idia
Those who have been playing up to 4 years showed a preference for Riddle
Those who have been playing up to 3 years showed a preference for Leona
Those who have been playing up to 2 years showed a preference for Malleus
Those who have been playing up to 1 year showed a preference for Malleus
Those who have been playing less than 1 year showed a preference for Leona
Inexperienced players seemed to like Leona or Malleus, which is interesting given that Leona notoriously has a disliked main story book early on and Malleus has little relevance early in the story. Based on the word analysis, it seems like many people were initially drawn to Twst due to the visual appeal of Malleus and Leona.
Fans of 2-3 years have been playing for about the same length of time as EN has been out. This is around when we’d anticipate the preference for Malleus and Leona transforming into more of an appreciation for their characters, as 2-3 years is time to acclimate to the latter parts of the story.
Players of 4 and 5 years like Riddle and Idia, respectively. This may be because, deep in the story, they are very important characters. Riddle has a substantial segment towards the end which adds more depth to the nature of his family, earning him much attention and empathy from fans. Idia plays a pivotal role in saving the day in book 7.
Favorite OB boy by region:
East Asia and Pacific: Idia with 18.7%
Europe and Central Asia: Malleus with 20.8%
Latin America and Caribbean: Leona and Idia with 18.9% each (color only reflects Leona)
Middle East and North Africa: Vil with 28.6% (small sample size 4/14)
North America: Riddle with 19.2%
South Asia: Leona with 30% (very small sample size 3/10)
Sub-Saharan Africa: Malleus with 40% (very small sample size 2/5)
The most popular character varies by region due to cultural values and traditions differing. For example, Europe + Central Asia have lore about spirits, fae, and/or dragons, which may boost Malleus’s popularity, since he is a dragon fae.
By age:
The most popular OB boy for ages 13-18 is Riddle
The least popular OB boy for ages 13-18 is Jamil
The most popular OB boy for ages 19-24 is Leona
The least popular OB boy for ages 19-24 is Jamil
The most popular OB boy for ages 25-30 is Leona
The least popular OB boy for ages 25-30 is a tie between Jamil and Vil
The most popular OB boy for ages 31-36 is Azul
The least popular OB boy for ages 31-36 is a tie between Jamil and Vil
The most popular OB boy for ages 37-42 is Riddle
The least popular OB boy for ages 31-36 is a tie between Leona, Azul, Jamil, Vil, and Malleus.
It’s possible that minor fans (13-18) like Riddle due to relatability; children may relate to not enjoying having a helicopter parent micromanage their life (preferring to rebel or leave the situation) and may sympathize with Riddle’s situation.
Leona is liked by ages 19-24 and 25-30, and that may indicate a “maturation” of the fan. He has ambitions and the skill/talent to realize them, like the fans who are now adults and are preparing for or have careers at this point. These adult fans may also relate to his stance on children (as studies show that adults are now having families later and later in life) or respect his involvement in politics, as they are now at the age where they are actively thinking about how it affects them.
Jamil in general may not be liked because (given that most responses come from the west), the ideas of filial piety + carrying on the family legacy and staying trapped in an abusive system are a challenge for westerners to understand. These are more normalized concepts and practices in the east.
Vil may not be liked by 25-30 year olds because this age group is aging and/or getting to a point where they do not care as much for aesthetics (which Vil is big on). They are generally more focused on adult responsibilities rather than putting all their energy and effort into looks like Vil does.
I will not comment on ages 31-36 and 37-42, since the sample sizes for those were too small.
By relatability:
All the OB boys were viewed as more relatable than not relatable. However, Jamil (63 vs 50) and Vil (75 vs 56) have the smallest gaps between “relatable” and “not relatable”. This may be because not many fans can relate on a literal or direct level to being trapped in servitude or being a famous but typecasted actor/model/celebrity. Idia was rated the most relatable, with a gap of 181 vs 23 (relatable vs not relatable). This may be because fans relate to his anxiety, which, as you’ll see in the word analysis portion, frequently comes up in reference to him.
Results + Discussion (Word Analysis)
Frequently cited reasons as to why respondents liked or disliked certain OB characters include:
Character’s personality/arc/background
Character’s design
Personal attachment for a particular Disney film
Relatability
Like more/less compared to the other OB boy options
First exposure
Factors unique to each OB boy were:
Riddle:
+ Likes Alice in Wonderland/Heartslabyul aesthetic
+ Relatable relationship (with mother)
- Preferred calmer characters
- Boring (compared to the others)
Leona:
+ Complexity; need to be able to read between the lines
+ Actually cares about others
- Book 2 makes him look bad
Azul:
+ Fun to watch his interactions with others
+ Love glasses and/or moles
Jamil:
+ His dynamic with Kalim
+ Enjoy his dynamic with others
+ Interesting/well-written
+ Voice
- Don’t like manipulative people
- Dislike his OB design
Vil:
+ Well-written
+ Resonate with him always being in second place
+ Breaks gender norms
+ His ethics and dedication
- “Rubs me the wrong way”
- Dislike the way he treats others and/or Epel
Idia:
+ Social anxiety (is relatable)
+ Fun to draw
+ Love his relationship with Ortho
- Cringe
- Not into otaku characters
- Boring
Malleus:
+ Relate to his fear of losing people and/or change
+ Like dragon and/or fae characters
+ Relationship/dynamic with Yuu/MC/Player
- Not interested in his role in the main story
- First Halloween event (I assume Endless Halloween Night, which is actually the second event?) made him look bad
Key Recurring Phrases
Depression
Leona: 29 mentions
Idia: 11 mentions
Anxiety
Azul: 1 mention
Idia: 24 mentions
Autism
Vil: 1 mention
Idia: 2 mentions
Malleus: 10 mentions
Yuu/MC/Player
Riddle: 4 mentions
Leona: 11 mentions
Azul: 3 mentions
Vil: 5 mentions
Idia: 6 mentions
Malleus: 24 mentions
(Gap) Moe
Riddle: 1 mention
Leona: 2 mentions
Malleus: 2 mentions
Cute
Riddle: 20 mentions
Leona: 5 mentions
Azul: 7 mentions
Jamil: 2 mentions
Idia: 12 mentions
Malleus: 18 mentions
*PLEASE SEE THE FULL RESEARCH DOCUMENT TO SEE CHARACTER WORD CLOUDS (and other charts/graphs/tables); Tumblr posts have a max image limit of 30 so it is not possible for us to include all images.
Specific points in the main story and/or events weighted Leona and Malleus down. Certain character dynamics enhanced or tore down a few OB boys (for Vil, it’s Epel; for Jamil, it’s Kalim, for Idia, it’s Ortho). Some most unique character traits were a big pro or con as well. For example, Vil’s breaking of gender norms was loved.
Yuu/MC/Player was often mentioned as a reason for liking Malleus. Malleus likers placed high weight on Malleus’s involvement and acknowledgement of Yuu in the main story.
Notably, diagnostic terms such as “depression”, “anxiety”, and “autism” (or variations therein) were frequently recurring for certain characters. Fans attributed these diagnoses to certain characters and cited relatability. For example, Leona had the most mentions with “depression”, Idia had the most mentions with "anxiety", and Malleus had the most mentions with “autism”.
Riddle was most frequently described as “cute”, but Malleus was a close second (2 less mentions). No one called Vil cute.
By maximum/highest word count in open-ended questions section:
FAVORITE
Malleus (963)
Leona (642)
Idia (606)
Jamil (599)
Azul (391)
Riddle (261)
Vil (231)
LEAST FAVORITE
Malleus (587)
Jamil (479)
Vil (460)
Azul (266)
Leona (167)
Riddle (149)
Idia (143)
By average word count in open-ended questions section:
FAVORITE
Jamil (61)
Leona (57)
Vil (48)
Azul (45)
Riddle (44)
Idia (44)
Malleus (43)
LEAST FAVORITE
Malleus (55)
Vil (44)
Jamil (39)
Leona (34)
Azul (33)
Idia (31)
Riddle (25)
Jamil likers had the average highest word count (61) when explaining why responders like him, followed by Leona likers’ average (57). Malleus likers had the average lowest word count (43) when explaining why responders like him.
Malleus dislikers had the highest average word count (55) when explaining why responders dislike him. Riddle dislikers had the lowest average word count (25) when explaining why responders dislike him.
In terms of individual responses with the highest maximum word count for favorite character, that distinction goes to a Malleus liker (963), followed by a Leona liker (642), an Idia liker (606), and a Jamil liker (599). A Vil liker had the lowest maximum word count at 231.
The characters with the highest maximum word count for least favorite character, the top three are a Malleus disliker (587), a Jamil disliker (479), and a Vil disliker (460). An Idia liker had the lowest maximum word count at 143.
We can conclude that:
Jamil likers talk the most on average to explain why they like him
Malleus likers talk the least on average to explain why they like him
Malleus dislikers talk the most on average to explain why they dislike him
Riddle dislikers had the lowest average word count when explaining why responders dislike him.
Malleus likers can yap for the longest to explain why they like him
Vil likers can yap the least to explain why they like him
Malleus dislikers can yap for the longest to explain why they dislike him
Idia likers can yap the least to explain why they dislike him
Weaknesses and the Future
Please see the full document for the complete list. No research project is perfect, and certainly not this one! If we were to do another project like this in the future, we'd take the limitations of this one into consideration.
I had to reblog this because im hellbent on finding the rest of that 1.1% from the middle east and north Africa 😭 i knew we're not a lot in this fanbase but i also didn't expect us to be so little. Idk what i expected. Ah also i know the chart show Vil taking over the Arabian peninsula rip 😔 but i wanna see if anyone else digs Jamil and Kalim for the culture aspect like i do! Still cant believe 1.1% out of 1263 means ≈14 and one of them is me😭😭
Mini rant: I hate when people blame Jamil for enabling Kalim’s incompetence, like he wants Kalim to be helpless so he can control him or whatever. He has to do that because that’s his job. Jamil very clearly does not like being a servant to Kalim, (I’m not saying he doesn’t care about Kalim himself) and he wouldn’t want to increase his workload. Blaming him for something he is being forced to do just rubs me the wrong way
Jamil has always been forced to constantly cater to Kalim but while they’re at NRC there’s no one to enforce it, so as long as Kalim doesn’t tell his family Jamil can get away with pretty much anything. However pre book 4 he is still stuck in a (literal) slave mentality preventing him from being directly rebellious, which is why he resorts to backhanded schemes.
He also maybe didn’t trust that Kalim wouldn’t tell his parents about any efforts at decreasing his burden. We all know Kalim ignores a lot of things Jamil says. Telling Kalim not to tell his parents would also let him onto the fact that Jamil is doing everything against his will, which was something he was hiding.
After Book 4 Jamil lets himself push his limits and get away with whatever he can get away with, he also trusts Kalim a bit more. That’s why he starts letting Kalim be more independent, because he realizes that he can, it’s nothing to do with Kalim himself.
In conclusion, Jamil doesn’t enable Kalim because he wants to, he enables Kalim because he thinks he has to, and he thinks he has to because before coming to NRC he actually had to.
Kinda got off topic there and there’s probably typos, I’m writing this at 3am. Please give me any thoughts or comments
Im sorry im gonna rant and it's about Jamil because when it wasn't... But ... I saw someone say Jamil's family position is just a job and that Jamil saying "i cant put my family in the street out of my selfishness" as in LITERALLY be in the street because it is a job and their house is in the Asim property so like .. the streets as in outdoors 😭. Im not saying that's a wrong interpretation, Im saying that's reading what is on the screen and then not thinking. Also, yeah, what's up with this fanbase and downplaying basic security in this economy? This is the second time i saw the whole "he could leave if he wants to because it is just a job" i wouldn't want my family to be homeless either nor jobless??? 😭 Do you want to? Homelessness? In this economy? For your entire family? There ain't noway y'all being fr.. i saw them point out that "if Jamil's situation is THAT constraint then his character arc about finding his own freedom makes no sese" and yeah, it wouldn't. IF YOU'RE THIS LITERAL ABOUT EVERYTHING. His arc is closer to "doing your best despite your circumstances" which is similar to Leona's and Idia's arcs. .. i cant . I really cant. "Jamil is just working a job. He did put his feet down to Kalim and nothing happened" .. to Kalim. In the school. Where no one knows. To Kalim. I can put my whole foot in Kalim's soup and nothing would happen because the PROBLEM ISN'T KALIM. Jamil got scolded as a child for winning in games against Kalim you think everyone would be nonchalante if they knew what happened in book 4 ? Actually the way Jamil behaves in book 7.5 aligns more with him trying his best in this reality he is in. There ain't no way , aint no way ......... Someone pointed out that a lot of things are IMPLIED in twst. Like, Leona's depression, Idia's suicide attempt in book 6, and Cater's depression. But of course IMPLICATIONS would not exist here if we're just reading the text and going " aight". Guess Azul is also so benevolent cuz it's said so right here. Gotta go get a shift in the Mostro Lounge then. Im not done. I lied. I got MORE TO SAY. So, it is easy to sympathise that Minajael is basically in a golden cage and that being a royalty is not all that great, so if i said he is the first prince he can change the law once he is in control you'll say— If you're smart—you'll realise systematic changes are not done by the snap of a finger and it's nearly impossible... BUT SUDDENLY WITH JAMIL IT IS "BUT, IF, AND" 😭 i dont see WHY .. it is not like his arc is uniquely his either. Almost all of the overbloters have the theme of "i was dealt a rough fate, put in positions out of my control but im going on" just in different forms.
I really hope the “Twst Timeloop theory but also Leona is aware of the timeloop and that’s why he’s so lazy theory” isn’t true because I don’t want to live in a world where the twunk version of Scar and Sans Undertale have the same backstory
