Hong Lu
Hong Lu (鴻璐; 鸿璐; Hóng lù)(Hangul: 홍루, Hong Ru), referred to as Baoyu (寶玉; 宝玉；Bǎoyù; Pao-yu) by the Jia Family, is designated Sinner #6 of Limbus Company's LCB department.
Hong Lu is a giddy and naive man with a tendency for unintentionally insensitive words. He is one of many children of the large and wealthy Jia Family, having lived a life of sheltered luxury prior to joining Limbus Company.
He will be the focus character of Canto VIII: The Surrendered Witnessing.
Appearance
Hong Lu is of average height and build. He has pale complexion that contrasts with his raven black hair. His hair is very long, and tied into a high ponytail with a cyan hair tie, which he wears in most of his Identities. Notably, he has heterochromia: his right eye is a deep shade of purple, almost black, and his left eye is a bright cyan.
His clothing consists of a white long-sleeved dress shirt, mostly covered by a black, low-cut waistcoat tucked into his black belt. Tucked beneath this waistcoat is a red tie. On top of all this, Hong Lu wears a long black coat that reaches just above his ankles. The long sleeves of this coat have accents of red at the end of each sleeve. Inside of this coat, there seems to be a red color. This coat has his Sinner number on his left, and a metal pin inscribed with writing on his right. Finally, he wears long black pants and shoes of the same color.
Hong Lu wields a long guandao called "太虛幻境" (pinyin: tài xū huàn jìng; lit. 'Illusory Land of Great Void'), often one handed, on his right hand. The glaive appears unnatural, with one side having a 3/4 cut circle and rimmed with rings across the portion after the cut hole.
Personality
Hong Lu is an exceptionally curious person with a rather ditzy demeanor and friendly attitude. He exhibits a potent, almost childlike indiscriminate curiosity and wonder, to the point of baffling the people around him. While this implies having lived a sheltered lifestyle up until his employment with Limbus Company, there are also indications– and first-person accounts– that he grew up in a difficult family full of danger, betrayal, and disapproval. Hong Lu speaks casually of attempted murder and abuse against him in a similar way to how he approaches the hardships of the City, almost as if it has nothing to do with him. On one occasion, when concerns about his little sister dying are expressed, he simply and matter-of-factly states that he would take care of her body as she would for him. He has a tendency to give off the impression that he doesn't have particularly strong emotions about anything, regardless of the severity of the topic. While sometimes jarring, this trait primarily serves to make Hong Lu come off as amusingly easygoing and absentminded.
Hong Lu also appears to lack inherent social tact, leading to excessively oblivious statements and questions when something inevitably catches his eye. While the Sinners have learned not to dwell on his offenses, they are sometimes shown to grow frustrated with him. Despite this, he does not grow angry or depressed when others give him a difficult time. Hong Lu will either playfully disregard words of scorn, or is altogether too oblivious to be hurt by them, at least outwardly. Although some matters may lead to him growing more obedient or solemn, Hong Lu will consistently let anything and everything slide right off of his back without complaint or meaningful retort. He is exceptionally cheerful compared to most of the Sinners, in no small part to his positive, carefree approach to everything around him. He is additionally very amiable and is shown to be open to striking up neighborly conversation with everyone he comes across.
Despite this, Hong Lu is not loud or a big talker in the way Don Quixote is. He is surprisingly quiet, with only occasional input. Rather, he comes off of as reservedly observant. Canto IV: The Unchanging is the first story chapter to give insight into Hong Lu's unique perceptiveness and emotional intelligence. He takes the role of Young-ji in the League of Nine play, who Yi Sang describes as the most gentle and heartfelt of the League in their heyday, and contributes tender observations pertaining to Yi Sang's mental state and growth throughout his Dungeon. Hong Lu goes as far as to espy "I'm thinking that he may have been calling for help all along." In the face of Yi Sang's emotional vulnerability, Hong Lu demonstrates striking maturity and self-control in contrast to his usual attitude.
Canto VI: The Heartbreaking and Intervallo IV: Timekilling Time add to this more empathetic, mellow side of his character. He is gentle and insightful: happy to help Heathcliff prepare to visit Wuthering Heights, stating that he trusts in him when the other Sinners begin to worry about his ability to deal with the return to his homeplace, and volunteers to help with the Time Ripper case out of a desire to understand the world better, then encouraging Rodion through her moments of fragility during the investigation. In tandem with his emotional maturity, however, grows Hong Lu's own signs of distress. Timekilling Time and its subsequent Canto depict him acting passively suicidal, with noticeable, albeit casual, warning signs. In Canto VII: The Dream Ending, he goes as far as to state that he is always ready to accept death, his usual smile plastered across his face. As the story goes forward, Hong Lu continues to be playful and blissfully ignorant, but has grown into a tendency to display emotional maturity and subtle disquietude.
Mirror Worlds
- World of the J Corp. Backstreets
- In this world, Hong Lu is the leader of the Tingtang Gang. He wears a blue Hawaiian button-down with a lotus design, and sports black tattoos on both of his arms, reaching up to his neck. He also wears a green and yellow bracelet on his left hand, a golden necklace, and two golden earrings on each ear. He wields a modified karambit. This Identity mirrors the Tingtang Boss from the main story. He can be seen in his Tingtang Gangleader Identity.
- World of K Corp.
- In this world, Hong Lu is part of the K Corp. Security Staff, having been recommended to K Corp. by his grandmother to see more of the City. He dons the Excision Staff armor, a dark blue armor enhanced with HP ampules, and wields a polearm that only reacts with organic tissues. This Identity mirrors the K Corp. Class 3 Staff from the main story. He can be seen in his K Corp. Excision Staff Identity.
- World of District 20 Backstreets
- In this world, Hong Lu is a member of the Yurodiviye operating in District 20. He wears his hair in a low ponytail, and dons a long checkered maroon coat, with his pocketwatch pinned on the right lapel, a black vest and white pants, as well as the distinctive Yurodiviye scarf, and a large brown tophat with a decoration resembling a gear and magnification lens positioned over his right eye, acting as a monocle. Under his left eye, he has a small, T shaped tattoo. He wields a modified cane that expands into a giant spear. This Identity mirrors the District 20 Yurodiviye Captain from the main story. He can be seen in his Yurodivy Identity and appears in Ryōshū's Yurodivy Identity Story.
- World of the Fanghunt Office
- In this world, Hong Lu is a Fixer for the Fanghunt Office, searching for a Bloodfiend who turned one of his family members. He wears the Fanghunt Office uniform, made up of a beige shirt and waistcoat, and dark pants and jacket, with numerous pouches and a bandolier tied across his chest. In combat, he wields a large hammer. He can be seen in his Fanghunt Office Identity.
- World of the Former Library Guests
- In this world, Hong Lu is a Fixer for the Hook Office, having been recruited to this Office as an assassin after leaving the killer Syndicate he previously worked for. He wears an orange parka with a large fur hood, and a black shirt that ends in a mask over his mouth. His main weapon are two bionic arms that end in scythes, which he obtained from the Union Co. Workshop. This Identity mirrors Taein from Library of Ruina. He can be seen in his Hook Office Identity.
- World of the Kurokumo Clan and Blade Lineage
- In this world, Hong Lu is a Wakashu for the Kurokumo Clan. He wears a black jacket over his shoulders, a gray shirt open across his chest and black slacks, and wields a katana with a cloud design. His upper forearms are tattooed, all the way up the sides of his chest, with a similar cloud design. He can be seen in his Kurokumo Clan Identity.
- World of Dieci Association Southern Branch
- In this world, Hong Lu is a Key of the Dieci Association's South Section 4 Branch. He wears the Dieci Association uniform, and he fights with a Dieci Key, a magnifying lens that expands into a large golden key that can be wielded as a sword. He can be seen in his Dieci Association Identity.
- World of Liu Association Southern Branch
- In this world, Hong Lu is a Fixer of the Liu Association's South Section 5 Branch. He dons two outfits: in his base art, he wears a red jacket with golden detailing over a black turtleneck; in his Uptied art and combat sprite, he wears the Liu Association uniform, including dark gauntlets, and he fights with Liu Association's traditional fire-enhanced hand to hand combat. He can be seen in his Liu Association Identity and appears in Meursault's Liu Association Identity Story.
- World of W Corp.
- In this world, Hong Lu is a WARP Corp. Level 2 Cleanup Agent. He dons two outfits: in his base art, he wears a long sleeved blue shirt with a round collar and a white jacket; in his Uptied art and combat sprite, he wears the W Corp. Cleanup Agent uniform, with fingerless gloves as opposed to the standard ones, and he wields a laser polearm. He can be seen in his WARP Corp. Identity and appears in Don Quixote's WARP Corp. Identity art.
Background
Hong Lu is a child of the incredibly wealthy Jia family, and appears to have lived a sheltered life, until he was told by his family elders to see and experience as much of the world as he can before returning home. His role as a Sinner of Limbus Company allows him to travel the City and fulfill the wishes of his family.
Hong Lu's family has strong connections to many Wings, with the elders being able to pull a few strings to get a member of the family hired by a Wing or obtain items unavailable to others, such as when one of the children of the family wanted a special, red passport and the family contacted the shareholder of H Corp. to acquire it. Hong Lu's time living with his family has not yet been fully explored, but he has shared that his siblings would often try to kill him while growing up. During those moments, while he was afraid, he also felt as if he could understand his family. He would also style his sister and younger sibling's hair and seems to have fond memories of them, although it is unknown if these siblings of his were among the ones who would make attempts on his life.
Many of Hong Lu's siblings seem to have received similar directions to Hong Lu, and are assembling their own factions to aid them on their own journeys through the City.
Trivia
- Hong Lu's character icon represents a jade-colored eye surrounded by clouds.
- Hong Lu is represented by the 🔮 emoji[2], with the crystal likely referring to his left eye.
- Hong Lu's particulars are listed as "bachelor" and "sheltered".
- Hong Lu is based on the protagonist of Dream of the Red Chamber, Jia Baoyu, a youth who is born as the incarnation of a magical piece of jade, to fulfill its wish to learn about humanity.
- Hong Lu's name, 鸿璐[3] (pinyin: hóng lù), is derived from both the name of the main character of Dream of the Red Chamber and the title of his source material, "紅樓夢" (pinyin: hóng lóu mèng). The meaning of the name ("precious jade") remains unchanged, but the pronunciation of his name becomes very similar to the pronunciation of "Red Chamber" (紅樓, pinyin: hóng lóu). Despite this, on his splash art his name is still written as "紅樓" (hóng lóu).
- In Canto II, Hong Lu mentions that he did not get along with his younger sibling as a child, and that his younger sibling liked to "cheat and grouch if things didn’t go as desired." This references a scene in Dream of the Red Chamber in which Jia Baoyu's younger half-brother Jia Huan cheats at a game during his introduction.
- In Intervallo IV, Hong Lu mentions one of his aunts being fond of District 23's purple salt. This appears to be a reference to Baoyu's paternal aunt Jia Min, whose husband Lin Ruhai is a wealthy official in the Yangzhou salt commission.
- Hong Lu's introduction quote comes from the frame story of Dream of the Red Chamber, in which a sentient stone converses with a Buddhist monk and a Taoist priest, expressing its desire to be taken with them to experience the mortal world. The two masters attempt to cull its enthusiasm and convey the various problems of human life, by replying that "beauty has its flaws, life its vicissitudes."
- Like all of the Sinners, Hong Lu voiced a "Document Excerpt" Youtube short.
- Hong Lu wears a metal name tag as opposed to the ID badge that the the majority of the other Sinners use, a trait he shares with Don Quixote and Outis. This is likely due to the name "Hong Lu" being a pseudonym, as his true name is "Baoyu".
External Links
- Hong Lu (홍루) - Korean page (Namuwiki)
- Hong Lu (ホンル)- Japanese page (wikiwiki)
- Hong Lu (ホンル) - Japanese page (wiki3)
- Hong Lu (Хун Лу) - Russian page (Project Moon wiki)
- Hong Lu (鸿璐) - Chinese page (Huiji wiki)
References
Wiki Navigation
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