The Virtuoso

The Virtuoso is an Awoken that takes part in the Awakening Wars. He is the first person to notice the Protagonist passed out and in danger after her ascent from the Sea of Ink, and frequently checks in on her playing the role of her friend and mentor.

The Virtuoso's role in the story changes depending on the player's actions in the following way:

• Somnia Route: He is killed by Ego at the Crossroads, leaving his Memento in the Protagonist's care. In the ending cutscene his glasses can be seen on the Protagonist's shelf.
• Incubia Route: He is killed by Ego at the Crossroads, leaving his Memento in the Protagonist's care. In the ending cutscene his glasses can be seen among the Protagonist's possessions.
• Vera Oniria Route: After being killed by Ego he lingers on within the Sea of Ink, and with the help of Tsubame he manages to save the Protagonist to drown within it during the events at Obsydia's Point. He can be spotted in the ending cutscene, rushing to school hopelessly late.
• Bloodbath Route: With Ego out of the picture, he tries to oppose the Protagonist multiple times only to be apparently killed off and sent to an inked hell. As a last desperate struggle of a world without its Maker, he faces her once more as the last test of her beastly resolve.

Fuckass dev art of the Virtuoso.

Character

The Virtuoso is a classic example of a "double cross" character; by that I mean that, despite coming across as objectively pretty suspicious, he is one of the very few characters who never really doubts that the Awakening Wars can be solved with minimal loss of life, and earnestly tries his best to reach that conclusion.

Similarly to the Protagonist and almost unique among the Awoken, he starts the game with very few of his memories intact and in most routes he never really gets the chance to recover them; most oddly, he seems to not even remember his own Ego, and thus fights relying solely on his skills; he is an extremely nimble fighter, with an eerie affinity for summoning blades and blinding speed.

Despite his ruthlessness and overt superiority in battle to most Awoken, he comes off as somewhat aloof and well-meaning to a fault, to the point of venturing into "not-getting-the-hint" territory in more than one occasion.

Relationships

• The Protagonist: most of the Protagonist's dialogue options with the Virtuoso remark how, despite her lack of memories, she feels somewhat at ease around him; he feels the same, much to the confusion of both. They come to the agreement that if they both feel the same way and are amnesiac it's probably because they just both forgot the very good reason for this feeling and are content at leaving it at that. The Virtuoso is also the one who teaches the Protagonist the Virgola (Parry) and the Ritorta (Counter).
• Omar: after a bit of initial friction, mostly due to jealousy on Omar's part, the two become fast friends and true ride-or-die bros, the other's antics taking up a big chunk of their conversation with the Protagonist. His death really hits Omar, and is ultimately the catalyst for him to change into whatever the current route has in store for him.
• Tanith: although the Virtuoso was never quite low-energy enough to truly hang around Tanith for long they respect and admire each other a lot, and quietly and awkardly try and learn from each other whenever possible. When he dies she laments how she wished she'd made an effort to get to know him more in the little time they spent together. Throughout the course of the game, however, it becomes clear just how much of him really rubbed off on her, whether it be in her fierce opposition to the Player's actions or her determination and quick thinking in the other routes.
• Maya: since Roxenal is basically a natural counter to the Virtuoso's abilities, Maya has never really seen him as a threat and thus managed to witness more of his awkward and "real" self than almost anyone could, building a sibling-like relationship with him. After a while they reveal to him his true nature, which is the catalyst for the events at the Crossroads. Maya never quite manages to forgive themselves for indirectly causing his death, eventually bringing them to a crisis that resolves in different ways depending on the route the player chose.

Synopsis

Generic

First steps in the land of Naluund

The Virtuoso awakened in a manner not dissimilar to the Protagonist in the fields outside the Forgotten Town, a short period before the story of Ego Breakers starts. Despite his confusion he managed to carve his way back to it quite easily, helping those he found along the way; he found that many of the newly Awoken were just as lost as he was, and seeing them regain their composure and memories in the following days ensured him that he too would be able to shake off those unsettling feelings.

As the days and weeks passed, however, the Virtuoso was none the wiser to his origins, who his supposed Ego would be or even his name: while this didn't seem to impede him much, many within the Town started distrusting him, assuming he was hiding his true identity for who know what sinister purpose. While not completely unaware of the fact, he elected the whole situation to be "not that big a deal, really" and continued his newfound role as seeker and guide of newly Awoken.

This eventually led him to stumble upon and narrowly save the Protagonist from some creatures of the forests around the Town: the two seem to hit it off right away, on the account of her also having pretty severe amnesia and her deadpan personality gelling well with his carefree one.

During the walk to the town the Protagonist demonstrated her ability to acquire Mementos, techniques stolen from other beings and adapted to her own body; intrigued by her potential (and the possibility to learn more about himself through her) he elected to spar with her to see if they can awaken some dormant technique. That turned out to be the case, and with some extra tutoring from the Virtuoso himself the Protagonist mastered the art of the Virgola and the Ritorta, a technique to deflect enemy attacks and pay them back with raw Ink.

Satisfied, the two make it back just in time for dinner, and the two split off for the night.

The beginning of the Awakening Wars

The very next day, after an uneventful morning, the peace was broken by an eerie announcement in the central plaza of the Forgotten Town; a God descended upon them, demanding attention.

He introduced himself as Ego, and instructed every Awoken present that they are to reach him within the ruins of Old Obsydia: there every surviving Awoken would be tested, and those deemed fitting would rise as the new Gods of this dying world. He, in no uncertain terms, described this pursuit as a war: whether among kin, or united against a common enemy, it's clear that blood was to spill.

The Virtuoso was among the crowd that listened to this message in the plaza, and rushed to the Protagonist as soon as it was over, frantically reassuring her that he didn't intend to lay a finger on her or any other Awoken and tried to convince her that it would be unwise to act with only the information they had, and even a few rash decisions could cause a big tragedy nobody really wanted: then, without waiting for an answer, rushed off to the woods to gather supplies and see if any more Awoken were to be guided back.

Unbeknownst to him, the "private conversation" he had with the Protagonist turned out to be an acceptable enough speech to cool down almost everyone in the town square, averting a crisis for the time being. That night, the Virtuoso returned to a town still standing, almost quiet in its simplicity: and so, without even knowing it, he had already began to mold the Awakening Wars against Ego's wishes.

Somnia

Content that applies to Somnia Route specifically here

Incubia

Content that applies to Incubia Route specifically here

Vera Oniria

Content that applies to Vera Oniria Route specifically here

Bloodbath

Content that applies to Bloodbath Route specifically here