Ishmael

Overview

Story

Gallery

Sprites

You may be disheartened by the defective state of many of your sinners, but do not worry; this sinner is one of the few who can carry out most missions without much complaint. She is likely to make reasonable judgements, so it is a good idea to start conversations while looking her way if you're seeking sound advice. However, you mustn't forget: this sinner has survived an absurd voyage in a far and wide body of water. Her patience may run deep, but once you take a wrong turn with her, it will be a difficult task to regain her trust.

Ishmael
Color	#ff9500  (Isolate Orange)
Affiliation	Limbus Company The Pequod (Former)
Biographical Info
Gender	Female
Height	171cm, 5'7"
Native District	District 21, U Corp.
Relations	LCB (Colleagues) Ahab (Former Captain) The Pequod (Former Crewmates)
Other
Literary Source	Moby-Dick
Nationality	American
Voice Actor	Jang Ye-na

"If you please, call me Ishmael."

Ishmael (Hangul: 이스마엘, Iseumael) is designated Sinner #8 of Limbus Company's LCB department.

Ishmael is a straight-laced and dependable woman with a tendency for blunt words. She was previously affiliated with the Pequod and its crew, and subsequently spent a number of years working as a Fixer prior to joining Limbus Company.

She is the focus character of Canto V: The Evil Defining.

Appearance

Ishmael is a woman of average build with a fair complexion and wavy, voluminous knee-length orange hair, and she wears a thick headband woven out of rope with white ribbons on either end, a memento of Queequeg and a recurring feature in nearly all of her Identities. She has hazel-colored eyes, at times appearing yellowish or orange, with sharp eyelashes and thin eyebrows, and a number of freckles across her nose and cheeks. Outis describes her hands as "course and rough".

Ishmael wears the standard Limbus Company uniform, however with a coat that is torn at the waist, cutting off the last two letters of her name. Her employee ID is pinned to the coat's right breast.

Her weapon of choice is a flanged black mace made of numerous, vertical white stripes arranged radially, and she carries a circular shield branded with the word "HEARSE", with three bands across the face.

During her time as a sailor, Ishmael had chin-length hair and her uniform consisted of a gray sweater, thick overalls and black gloves. She also wielded a large harpoon.

Personality

Since her introduction, Ishmael appears as a calm, level-headed Sinner with an expectation for sound and reasonable judgment. She has a tendency to be exceptionally critical of those around her, regardless of their level of authority, as she prioritizes rationality above formalities, and often passes judgement on others based on how reasonable she deems them to be. This leads to her forming peculiar relationships with her fellow Sinners; she often clashes with the brash-acting Heathcliff, is baffled but amused by Outis' servile behavior towards Dante, and at times bluntly turns down other Sinners' attempts to have friendly interactions with her, as is often the case with Gregor.

Nevertheless, Ishmael's consistent dependability and desire for sensibility speaks to her staunch nature and overall intelligence. She tends to hold grudges, and will not easily forgive and forget once someone has broken her trust. However, Ishmael is willing to build upon her relationships. Canto IV sees her taking a harsh blow for Dante, despite previous complaints about them and their managerial prowess. Ishmael also retracts her insults after realizing the perfection of Effie and Saude's plan in the beginning of Canto II, and speaks of Ryōshū's twisted personality proudly when it benefits them against the Tieqiu Crew.

Additionally, Ishmael places an emphasis on general efficiency and adaptability, a habit from her previous job, where one mistake could compromise everyone's safety. This mindset caused significant stress upon realizing the next mission was at U Corp's District, and she spent much time ceaselessly making preparations and violently clashing with Heathcliff's blasé attitude to the upcoming voyage, one of the first times she truly lost her temper.

When exposed to situations relating heavily to past trauma, specifically Intervallo II, and Canto V, Ishmael has a tendency to exhibit neurotic behaviors. These behaviors are directly related to her obsession with killing Ahab, and her desire to maintain control of what's happening around her, to the detriment of both her, and the people around her. In the end she comes out more open and free person than she was at the beginning of her employment, and much more willing to trust the her coworkers and give them the benefit of the doubt.

Mirror Worlds

• World of the LCCB
  • In this world, Ishmael is an Assistant Manager of the Limbus Company Clearance Department Before Team, whose work is to assist the 12 Sinners aboard Mephistopheles, as well as Vergilius and Dante. She wears the standard LCCB uniform and her rope headband, without the ribbons, which are only visible in her sprites, and uses a Limbus Company ballistic shield and pistol in combat. This Identity mirrors Saude from the main story. She can be seen in her LCCB Assistant Manager Identity and appears in Ryōshū's LCCB Assistant Manager Identity Story.
• World of K Corp.
  • In this world, Ishmael is a member of the Technology Liberation Alliance. She wears a Sloshing E.G.O suit, appearing as a green armor with thin fairy wings, kept together by green slime which drenches her whole body, over a white collared shirt and red tie. She wears her headband, and her hair is partially dyed from the E.G.O, with the lower part of it appearing bright green. She wields the Sloshing E.G.O weapon, a baton covered in slime. She can be seen in her Lobotomy E.G.O::Sloshing Identity.
• World of the District 21 Backstreets
  • In this world, Ishmael is a Fixer of the Molar Boatworks Workshop, having previously worked at Molar Office before visiting the Library. Once she and the other members of Molar Office returned to their human forms, they opened Molar Boatworks and Ishmael began to use her combat skills as a Fixer to hunt Trash Crabs. She wears a full-body black wetsuit equipped with a leather utility vest and leg pouch, and wears her hair in a ponytail, tied back with dark rope, supposedly her headband, repurposed. She wields a harpoon-like drill designed to kill Trash Crabs. This Identity mirrors Olga from the main story. She can be seen in her Molar Boatworks Identity.
• World of U Corp.
  • In this world, Ishmael is the Captain of The Pequod, consumed by her obsession for the Crimson Whale. She wears a white shirt and dark green pants and jacket, as well as a matching captain's hat. She wears a golden harpoon-shaped peg leg starting from her right knee, and always carries a pipe. Notably, she does not wear her headband, as Queequeg is not present in this World. She wields a harpoon capable of heating up. This Identity mirrors Ahab from the main story. She can be seen in her Pequod Captain Identity.
• World of Wuthering Heights
  • In this world, Ishmael is a Butler for the Edgar Family, a Fixer contracted to the household, who takes care of the Edgar Family Heir, Gregor. She dons the Edgar Family Butler uniform, with her rope headband modified to be worn together with her Butler headband. In combat, she uses a large broomstick and the knives carried in her Butler case. She can be seen in her Edgar Family Butler Identity and appears in Ryōshū's Edgar Family Chief Butler Identity Story.
• World of Shi Association Southern Branch
  • In this world, Ishmael is a Fixer of the Shi Association's South Section 5 Branch. She wears a Shi Association uniform, consisting of a black sleeveless turtleneck and black slacks, and her headband. She appears heavily scarred over her arms and face, with her arms being bandaged in both arts. She wields a red katana. She can be seen in her Shi Association Identity, and appears in Heathcliff's Shi Association Identity Story.
• World of R Corp.
  • In this world, Ishmael is a member of the Reindeer Team of R Corp.'s Fourth Pack. She wears the standard Reindeer Team armor, and wields a charged quarterstaff as her main combat weapons. She can be seen in her R Corp. Identity.
• World of Liu Association Southern Branch
  • In this world, Ishmael is a Fixer of the Liu Association's South Section 4 Branch. She wears the Liu Association uniform, including a red coat and dark gloves, and her headband, and she fights with Liu Association's traditional fire-enhanced hand to hand combat. She can be seen in her Liu Association Identity and appears in Rodion's Liu Association Identity Story.
• World of Zwei Association Southern Branch
  • In this world, Ishmael is a Fixer of the Zwei Association's South Section 4 Branch. She appears in civilian clothing, wearing an oversized white jacket and dark pants, and her headband. She appears in Faust's Zwei Association Identity Story.

Trivia

• Ishmael's character icon represents a compass surrounded by a hank of rope tied at the ends with two white ribbons, referencing Ishmael's goal of finding a new life for herself, and Queequeg's memento Ishmael always keeps on her person, in the form of her headband.
• Ishmael is represented by the "⛪" Emoji . The church references a famous chapter of Moby-Dick, in which Ishmael and Queequeg, before boarding on the Pequod, visit a church of New Bedford, the Whaleman's Chapel and attend a sermon on Jonah, a prophet who was swallowed by a whale, but whose faith did not falter, until God decided to save him; the story of Jonah foreshadows the events of the novel.
• Ishmael's particulars are listed as "suffers from an obsessive-compulsive neurosis".
• Ishmael is named after the eponymous character from Hermann Melville's novel Moby-Dick. Ishmael was a member of Captain Ahab's crew on his whaling ship Pequod and serves as the story's first-person perspective narrator.
  • The title emblazoned on her shield, "HEARSE", references an event in Moby-Dick during which Fedallah, Ahab's harpooneer, speaks a series of prophecies regarding Ahab's fate: that Ahab will not have a hearse nor a coffin; that before his death, Ahab would see two hearses, one not made by mortal hands and the other made of American wood; that only hemp will kill Ahab. The prophecies all turn out to be true, as after Fedallah's death his corpse ends up lashed to Moby-Dick's back, thus making the whale himself the first hearse, and the Pequod ends up destroyed by the whale's attack, making the ship the second hearse. Ahab then throws a final harpoon towards the whale, but as the line gets tangled, the hemp rope loops around his neck, and drags him into the sea, where the captain meets his death.
  • Ishmael's base E.G.O, Snagharpoon, further reinforces this connection, as it takes the form of a harpoon tied to Ishmael's via a rope of hemp, which Ishmael uses to defeat Ahab by destroying her purpose, killing the Pallid Whale during the final fight of Canto V.
  • HEARSE might also reference Queequeg's coffin, an important prop both in Ishmael's backstory and in the book. In Moby-Dick, Queequeg suddenly falls very ill in the middle of the crew's voyage, and requests that a special wooden coffin be built for him to be sent out to sea in. Though Queequeg makes a miraculous recovery, the coffin is kept, and later ends up being fashioned into a replacement lifebuoy, which allows Ishmael to survive the destruction of the Pequod.
• Ishmael's introduction quote is the famous opening line of Moby-Dick. As Ishmael's character fades in the background as the story goes on, often seemingly disappearing and becoming a presence external to the narration while the most important events of the novel focusing on Ahab, the line is relevant in establishing Ishmael as the central narrator. The concept of Ishmael struggling to assert his identity over Ahab's is reprised by their counterparts within the events of Limbus Company.
• Like the other Sinners, Ishmael has voiced a character promo video.
• Ishmael's voice actress, Jang Ye-na, previously voiced Angelica in Library of Ruina.
• Before it got fixed, and despite being the 8th Sinner, Ishmael's coat used to read No. 7. As both Seven and Eight Association are based on English language numbers, this may imply her Sinner number used to be 07 in early development.

External Links

• Ishmael (이스마엘) - Korean page (Namuwiki)
• Ishmael (イシュメール)- Japanese page (wikiwiki)
• Ishmael (イシュメール) - Japanese page (wiki3)
• Ishmael (Измаил) - Russian page (Project Moon wiki)