Charon
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Charon (Hangul: 카론, ka-ron), is the offbeat, childishly strange driver of Limbus Company's bus, Mephistopheles.
She is a returning character from Leviathan, where she is introduced as Lapis (라피스, Rapiseu), a headstrong young woman who grew up in Vergilius' orphanage. Her disappearance leads to Garnet, her childhood friend and fellow orphan, and Vergilius investigating what happened to her, eventually discovering she has been abducted by the Ring. As part of the Ring's experiments with the glass window, Lapis' personality was overwritten with an Identity of herself from another Mirror World.
This process left the Identity known as "Charon" trapped in Lapis' body, with no memories of who Lapis is. Vergilius would ultimately take the job as Limbus Company's guide as a part of a deal made with Faust to one day get Lapis back.
Appearance
Charon is a short girl with grayish skin. Her droopy eyes are of a similar gray color and tend to have a vacant, emotionless look. Charon has silver hair with bangs and that covers her ears; in the back, it is tied into two thin, floor-length twintails.
Charon wears grayish-green, church-like attire in the form of a ankle-length, long-sleeved dress and hat. Her hat is tall and brimless with silver rims; the lower rim splits and curls outwards to make room for a mural of a dark cross within a larger, silver cross with two dots below the cross's arms. Charon's dress has a high collar, a very low neckline, a layered skirt and rounded hems; she also wears a pleated white top with a cross mural on the chest, black boots with white laces, black gloves and two black belts with silver buckles.
The hems and edges of the dress have silver lining; the outermost skirt parts in the middle and has geometric murals (the same as on her cuffs, lapels and bottom rim of her hat) running partway down its length whereas as the inner skirt has black outlining. The collar and hems of Charon's dress have the same cruciform mural as on her hat.
Charon carries with her a black, square-type oar.
Personality
Charon is a laconic, quiet individual whose few words are blunt and brief. Charon simply seems to be in her own world, and repeatedly proves that she is neither shy nor scared of the Sinners. Similarly to Vergilius, Charon stays disconnected from the group and shows no interest in becoming close with them. Her stubborn refusal to learn how to use a map or navigate properly in Canto I: The Outcast is indicative of her unwavering nature and tendency to resist outside influence. Charon has somewhat of a childish personality, frequently using phrases such as "vroom-vroom" or "shimmy-shaky" and talking about Mephistopheles as if it were a living being. She also refers to herself exclusively in third person.
At the beginning of Limbus Company, Charon has a pre-established relationship with her guardian Vergilius, who treats her as something of a daughter. Their relationship shows off both of their softer sides: Charon will act more childlike and needy with him, and Vergilius treats her with a surprising amount of affection. However, Charon seems to be missing some memories of the time they've spent together, and will sometimes contradict herself. For example, when Vergilius mentions that she used to hum when she was sad, she denies this, stating she only hums when happy. Though she comes off as relatively detached and carefree, it's clear that Charon has more going on underneath the surface. Vergilius would at one point remark to Dante that she is "going through a long tunnel with no end in sight".
Story
Leviathan
Lapis' father was a Syndicate boss who loved his daughter, with it being well known in the Syndicate how much he cared about her. While on a Fixer Contract, Vergilius killed her father and many of the other members of the Syndicate. After the death of her father, Vergilius had Lapis was moved to an orphanage where she would be well taken care of. At the orphanage, she became close friends with Garnet, but didn't open up to any of the other children. Lapis often talked about Vergilius, who occasionally stopped by the orphanage to drop off gifts and see her and the other children, and looked up to him. One Christmas Eve, the orphanage was attacked by Iori and Tomerry, and Lapis witnessed the deaths of many of her fellow orphans but managed to survive.
Half a year after the destruction of the orphanage, Lapis planned to meet with Garnet and catch up. She had gotten a job at a fruit harvesting company and seemed to have been recovering from the trauma of the attack. However, Lapis would never get to make it to the meeting as she was kidnapped by the Ring. She had a camera on her at the time of her abduction and was able to record inside the corridors and the laboratory where they were running experiments on other orphans who had grown up alongside her. Somehow, this video was sent to Vergilius's Office, which resulted in the Office Fixers and Garnet, who had been attempting to request help from Vergilius to find Lapis, deciding to infiltrate the laboratory. While the Office Fixers only decided upon the job to get information about the Singularity that was being created through these experiments, Garnet only cared about rescuing Lapis and the other orphans.
Lapis along with the kidnapped children from the orphanage were used for experiments by Aseah and Jumsoon as they refined the glass window and tested refraction rates. Despite his best efforts, in his attempt to save Lapis, Garnet suffered from being subjected to extremely high refraction rates and turned into a gem-like cocoon like many of the other subjects did. Vergilius eventually arrived to the laboratory and, after dealing with Jumsoon, found Lapis resting in a test tube. When it was opened, however, the girl inside was confused about being called "Lapis" and asserted that her name was "Charon". The experiments with the glass window had been successful, and Lapis had been overwritten by this Charon Identity.
Charon explored the room, and found a broken shard of Garnet's gem which had been shattered while Vergilius was fighting. She showed the gem to Vergilius, despite not knowing what (or who) it was, and he decided that Charon would be his responsibility to care for from now on. Not long after, the LCA broke into the laboratory and Faust offered a deal to Vergilius: if he worked as the guide of Limbus Company, they would help him get back Lapis and Garnet. As seen in Limbus Company, Vergilius would ultimately agree to this deal and have Charon work alongside him at the company.
Limbus Company
Charon works as the bus driver of Limbus Company, and drives them to their destinations on their search for the Golden Boughs. While not often the focus of a scene, Charon is often found at Vergilius' side when not she is not driving. She never gets involved in combat, and typically waits in the bus until the Sinners return from their mission.
During Canto I: The Outcast, Yuri, a Fixer who traveled with the Sinners while they were on their first Golden Bough retrieval mission, attempted to teach Charon how to use maps to navigate, as Charon simply drives based on instinct. Unfortunately, Yuri died before getting any of her lessons to stick with Charon and she has continued driving as she always has.
In Canto VII: The Dream Ending, Charon and Dante had a short conversation, with Faust helping act as a translator for them. Dante asked Charon what she would like to do if they got a chance to visit a normal amusement park while not working, and Charon answered that she would like to eat candy. While Charon often asks Vergilius for sweets, this appears to be a connection between her and Lapis, as Lapis had a dream when she was a child to one day try all the flavors of candy in the world.
Mirror Worlds
During the events of Leviathan, Garnet sees into multiple Mirror Worlds and knows Lapis in several of them.
- In a world where Lapis and Garnet are Fixers of Steetlight Office, Lapis mirrors Mars from Library of Ruina and Garnet mirrors Lulu. The scene Garnet witnesses is a direct reference to Lulu's heartbroken breakdown upon learning that Mars had been turned into a book in the Library.
- In a world where Lapis and Garnet are married, Lapis mirrors Angelica from Library of Ruina and Garnet mirrors Roland. The scene Garnet witnesses is a direct reference to Roland discovering Angelica has been killed by the Pianist.
Trivia
- Charon is based on the Greek mythological figure of the same name, known as the ferryman of the rivers Acheron and Styx.
- In the Divine Comedy, Charon is the ferryman who takes Dante and Virgil down into first circle of Hell, beginning Dante's journey through Inferno.
- The oar Charon carries reference common depictions of ferryman Charon using an oar.
- Lapis is named after after a gemstone, lapis lazuli, which is a trait she shares with the other characters who grew up in the orphanage.
- Her associated color is Stygian Cobalt - #84a79d.
- Charon's sprite received a quiet revamp around two years into Limbus Company's lifespan, with the release of A Midspring Night's Dream 2. This update changed her sprite to add bows where her hair is tied, a triangular tip to the oar she carries, and made the shape of her dress more symmetrical. This newer version of Charon's sprite is now used across all story content, including those released prior to the April Fools event.
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