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“
I am a researcher who wishes to humiliate the field of mathematical statistics, unlike the general lay of the academia.
”
–Hohenheim, Intervallo V: LCB Regular Check-up
Hohenheim (Hangul: 호엔하임, ho-en-ha-im) is the chief researcher working for Limbus Company as part of the LCE Department. He is a major supporting character introduced in Intervallo V: LCB Regular Check-up, where he acts as the primary overseer to the Sinners' check-up.
Hohenheim is a spindly man with unkempt blue hair, gray eyes, and round glasses. In the present, he most often holds a tired, neutral expression with prominent dark circles under his eyes and stubble. He wears an iteration of the AEDD E.G.O Suit extracted by Limbus Company's LCE Department and sourced from the Abnormality Shock Centipede. The suit features a high collar and two large belts fastening the front. Large glowing blue nails sparking electricity are on the E.G.O Suit's shoulders and lower portion. Beneath the coat, he wears a black turtleneck, dress shirt, slacks, gloves, and a blue tie. Typical of his department, he wears an LCE armband on his left arm.
In the past, while employed at Lobotomy Corporation, he had no dark circles under his eyes, was smooth-faced, and was relatively more expressive. He wore a white lab coat over a dark suit with a red tie. On his left arm, he wore a Control Team armband.
As a Distortion, Hohenheim takes a mostly humanoid appearance, gliding over the floor with his arms crossed across his chest. Over a red-stained tunic, he wears an open, mottled blue longcoat, the inside appearing like veins and viscera. Dark red arms with pointed claws cover his entire body, grasping him and holding up his "head," a flat disk containing one large eye with many pupils. His form appears to be in constant chromatic aberration with multiple colors refracted from his body.
During the events of Canto IX, Hohenheim wears the Lamp Lobotomy E.G.O suit, extracted from Big Bird. Additionally, he also carries the Diffraction E.G.O Weapon, alongside possessing its gift, obtained from Dimensional Refraction Variant. His main weapon is a large crossbow with a flaming arrow, though its source is unknown. He also lacks his glasses, and has shaved his stubble.
Personality
Hohenheim is blunt and straightforward, often making arrogant and haughty remarks without consideration of others—making him disliked by most. Concurrent with his arrogance, Hohenheim is vastly intelligent, being a high-ranking researcher both past and present. He is said to have a "highly irresponsible level of curiosity,"[1] putting both his safety and the safety of others after his desire to experiment and gain results. This is demonstrated in the present by inciting further danger for the Sinners and going as far as to willingly Distort to be the subject of his own experiment.
Despite his apparent callousness, he carries deep grief and survivor's guilt from his past at Lobotomy Corporation. To cope, he suppresses his emotions and covers them with an exaggerated act of his usual brash behavior. However, his anguish is expressed—even unintentionally—by his generally disheveled appearance and disregard for self-preservation. The Combat Events within the battle with Distorted Hohenheim convey his feelings of remorse, loneliness, and attempts to distance himself from his emotions.[2]
Story
Prior to Limbus Company
During the era of Lobotomy Corporation, Hohenheim was a researcher within the Control Team. He retained his unsociable attitude, briefly mentioning frequent workplace conflicts. With his high status as a researcher, he was provided an individual laboratory, where he would one day be contacted by Johann, a man who originated from the Backstreets. Johann thanked him for having chosen him as a new hire, seeing it as Hohenheim recognizing a "potentiality" within him that no one had cared to consider before. Hohenheim brushed off Johann's gratitude, after which Johann offered to become the researcher's "loyal right-hand man" due to their contrasting dispositions that could take advantage of different situations. Hohenheim dismissed the idea, but reluctantly accepted after Johann suggested winning Department of the Year together.
As Lobotomy Corporation's higher manager completed his final goal, all Branches began a sudden burial protocol to seal the Abnormalities inside. The escape pods within Hohenheim's Branch only had room for one more person, with the next set to come several minutes after the burial. Despite Hohenheim's distress and reluctance to leave his colleagues behind, Johann eventually convinced him to take the remaining seat. Hohenheim would later become employed under Limbus Company's LCE Branch, where he would favor hiring employees from the Backstreets.
As the Sinners first arrived at the Limbus Company Headquarters, Hohenheim announced the beginning of the mandatory check-up, something repeatedly delayed due to the LCB's constant travel. Hohenheim and his two assistant researchers, Alyssa and Marton, tested the Sinners with a variety of combat trials involving Peccatulum, allowing the team to gather relevant information about each Sinner's abilities and personality. Hohenheim eventually chose Heathcliff to be his assistant during the check-up, utilizing him to keep some level of control over the other Sinners as the tests continued.
While the tests continued steadily, Hohenheim and his assistant researchers garnered a curiosity about Don Quixote's particular behavior about her shoes. Goading her into removing Rocinante, the researchers witnessed the Sinners battle Sancho until she killed them all — requiring Vergilius to enter and subdue her. Hohenheim discussed his observations, unconcerned about the lethal conditions he incited out of curiosity before quickly moving on to the next part of the check-up, wherein he explained updated Abnormality and Distortion classification codes.
Hohenheim willingly chose to distort via a Monolith, acquired by Limbus Company's early adoption of them as a resource. He admitted he understands that he may only turn into a Peccatula, noting that doing so would indicate his own limitations, and that he would then have no value in life. Remaining steadfast in taking the chance, he successfully distorted, entering his Fathoms as it is opened using a pre-planned code he provided to his assistants, read out by Meursault.
Inside his Fathoms, taking the form of his former Lobotomy Corporation Branch, Hohenheim censored and obfuscated information regarding his past. However, this would prove futile as the Sinners unveiled his history as they proceeded. When they reached the end of the Fathoms, they begin suppression of Distorted Hohenheim, assisted by Dante reasoning against Hohenheim's denial-based façade of his thoughts and emotions regarding his past. Following the successful suppression, the Sinners witnessed the truth that Johann had persuaded Hohenheim to escape the crumbling Lobotomy Corporation Branch, contrary to his previous retelling of the event skewed through his self-condemnation.
After the suppression, Hohenheim shortly recovered, stating to the Sinners that he once wished he could be more like Heathcliff; someone who puts their faith not in numbers but in potentialities. He declared his experiment a failure, with his hypothesis that the reason for continuing to exist as a Distortion being holding nothing but a firm belief in the self was disproven. Hohenheim stated his decided Distortion code and lamented over his mediocre classification, while Faust hastily proclaimed the check-up concluded. The Sinners then departed after Hohenheim expressed that that would be their first and only meeting.
In order to report their progress on combining the LCB's retrieved Golden Boughs into a 'sapling', the LCE planned an important presentation that the LCD were required to attend. However, on the day of their research report, the Limbus Company HQ was raided by members of the House of Spiders. Hohenheim and Marton were together at the time, while Alyssa had gone off to retrieve something. As such, when the attack hit, Hohenheim was able to grab Marton and run with him into the broadcast sector, as Alyssa was forced to fend for herself. There, the two hid with the members of the LCD until they were eventually joined by the Sinners, who had entered the headquarters through a portal after hearing about the attack from Saude.
Together, the group made plans to start mending the situation and prevent the attacking Fingers from stealing the Golden Boughs. Unfortunately, shifting doors would result in them getting split off into unexpected groups, and Hohenheim and Marton were ultimately paired with Faust, Heathcliff, Don Quixote, and Sinclair. After some discussion, it was decided that they'd focus on restoring power to the facility.
During this process, however, they were discovered by the Ring Nursefather. After Dante attempted to activate a Durante ability they weren't yet ready for, the Sinners were knocked unconscious, forcing Marton and Hohenheim to fend for themselves. Although both of them offered to sacrifice themselves at one point, it was Marton who was ultimately saddled with the task. He would set his E.G.O Gear's Attunement level to 120%, hypnotizing the Nursefather of the Ring for several minutes and giving Hohenheim just enough time to restart the facility's powergrid. Though Hohenheim managed to survive the ordeal after the House of Spiders achieved their goal and the Ring Nursefather departed on his own, Marton lost his life in the explosion resulting from over-Attunement with his E.G.O.
Later, the surviving members of Limbus Company would regroup to conduct a raid on the House of Spiders. Hohenheim donned a new set of E.G.O Gear for this mission, and entered the fray accompanied by his remaining coworker Alyssa, who had been saved from the spiral weapon after Dante's team retrieved the code.
Observation Logs
Log Writer: Heathcliff
Bloody hell, why’s it gotta be my job to write this report?
I didn’t feel like writing it myself, so I was going to ask someone to do it for me. Had I known this was going to be my responsibility, there’s no way in hell I would’ve accepted bein’ his assistant or whatever.
… Well, what have I got to say? Looks like he’s just as much of a pain in the arse as he was as a human.
His outfit didn’t change much, but his neck got stretched out like some broccoli with eyeballs in its head.
Oh, maybe the outfit did change. There were those shadowy hand-like things stuck all over ‘im.
He’s… putting up quite the challenge. Shootin’ laser beams from his head…
Absorbing something and siphoning our energy…
Oh, and he’s been observing us through the whole mess, too. I guess these habits die hard, even after he's distorted.
And once he observed us for a while… how should I put this? Yeah, his attacks hurt more. As though he’s analyzing our weaknesses.
… And that’s pretty much it for the changes. Bloke’s just as irritatingly eloquent as ever.
You know what, though? He sure is bloody pompous, but I don’t know if he really is that much of a bastard.
I’ve been feeling something familiar goin’ on between the researchers here while I worked as his assistant.
It’s like a bond, of sorts… kinda like… the same family-like solidarity I’ve felt before when I was a part of that Backstreets Syndicate.
And… if we’re being honest here, even you lot don’t ever take my suggestions seriously, do you?
But he does. Whatever dumb suggestion I make, he listens earnestly. Sure, he’ll shut me down, but at least he’ll listen before he does and explain why I'm wrong. He doesn't just look away pretendin’ I didn’t say anything.
He’s not gonna bite it from a Distortion or whatever experiment this is.
So… let’s bring ‘im back.
It’s what we do best, innit?
→ Damn, now that’s unexpected. I thought you two’d be like oil and water. I guess you grew pretty fond of Hohenheim, huh? (Gregor)
→ We’ve all been too hard on him, that’s why… Alright! Heath, if ya need anyone to lend ya an ear, come to me. How’s that? (Rodion)
→ Rodya, aren’t you the one who always 'ignores' Heathcliff's inputs…? (Ishmael)
→ W-well, that’s because Dante told me to~ (Rodion)
Gallery
Story Log Portrait
Story Log Portrait (Past)
Story Log Portrait (Distorted)
Distorted Form
Battle Background (Fathoms of the Ego)
Trivia
Hohenheim's name stems from the Swiss alchemist and physician Paracelsus, or Theophrastus von Hohenheim, active in Europe in the first half of the 16th century.
The code Meursault reads to open Hohenheim's Fathoms directly references his background, particularly of Johann.
This code being "Lobotomy Corporation. Five Minutes. Potentiality. Anticipation. Right-hand."
Hohenheim's self-assigned classification code is HE-5-SU.
The "SU" part of the code refers to Superbia—Pride—reflecting his persistent comments and demeanor about his abilities and success.
The "5" rating is halfway up the expected damage scale out of 10, which gives Hohenheim a "mediocre"[3] rating to contrast with his high intellect and arrogance. This coincides with one of the overall theme of his story: belief in the potentiality of the average man.
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