Rat

Rat is a side character that first appeared during the Deck of Disaster. He is known for his love of artifacts and gives the group the deck of the same name, setting the events of the arc in motion, after some of the cards are stolen from him.
== History ==
One Part (the upwards scale of how many make him up is unknown) of Rat was a merchant Tiefling who collected cursed artifacts. When the tiefling's ancestor came to collect his soul, he left him alone because Rat had become so cursed that not even the beings from the Underworld wanted to have to deal with the consequences. He was also the man who sold The Drum of the Destroyer to Thog, initiating the events of Thrilling Intent itself.
=== Deck of Disaster ===
Rat enlists the help of Markus, Ashe, Gregor and Kyr to help him retrieve all of the cards from the Deck of Disaster. He gives each of them a card from the few he has left to aid them, as the cards pulls towards each other, wanting to be complete. 
=== Romance of the Four Clans ===
=== Everything Is On Fire ===
=== BIG WAR ===
=== The Harpy's Nest ===
Rat has set up a shop on In Development, trying to sell artifacts to those who arrive at the island. When Markus, Ashe, Gregor, Thog and Firi arrives at the island, he tells them about the monster situation on the island, as well as pointing them in the direction of where they can find the blacksmith.
He later tries to help Ashe from being kidnapped by Harlock, where he, after taking Ashe's money, curses the boat Harlock intends to use to get away from In Development so that it can only go in circles. Harlock, however, easily undoes the curse.
=== Dungeon Truck ===
Once again, Rat has set up shop, this time within the dungeon in Kuravia that the main trio and Inien has set foot in, between the first and second level. He also confirms that it was indeed him that is behind the Rat Coins the group has found thus far, along with many more all over the dungeon, which can be traded in for tiered rewards, the final reward being a key to the secret final boss.
After the group accidentally destroys one of the dungeon floors by feeding a phylactery to Rat's fish statue, they end up on the floor beneath where Rat is and say hey to him. He is a bit perturbed that they're not weirded out by all of the things he set up within the dungeon, to which they responded that he was their friend.
=== The Calm ===
As Markus was pinned down by One, and nearly killed him, until the Platinum Ticket given by Rat glowed, and Rat appeared. Rat informed Markus that the Platinum Ticket wasn't a one time use, that it could be used as many times as he wanted, and told Markus and Thog to leave the cultists to him. 
Once Rat became alone with the cultists, he said that he didn't have any tricks up his sleeves, and that he wasn't secretly super strong or anything similar. However, as soon as they begun bearing down on him, one of the cultists touched his bare skin, which made the cultist fling onto the wall and become turned to paste, to which Rat warns them to not touch his skin.
After, he meets with Markus after the group dealt with the Harrow, telling him about he dealed with his "tielfing nonsense".
== Appearance ==
Rat's hair is somewhat hard to spot due to his hood, but what can be seen seems to be short, reaching to around his neck, and blonde. His eyes, however, are hidden behind his mask which he always wears. His skin is somewhat pale.
He carries a large, brown backpack on his shoulder, keeping it up with the help of one of his hands. He wears a a large, dark purple coat with a hood, where a small, golden chain keep it from falling off of him. The sleeves on the coat are drawn up to his elbows. Underneath the coat, he wears a dark grey shirt with a dark red tie. He also wears a couple of brown belts, where a dagger is strapped fast, whilst his gun is strapped onto his coat. His pants are in a dark brown colour.
== Personality ==
Rat has a mysterious air about him with regards to who he is, what his powers are, etc. When the group tries to ask him questions (such as in the Deck of Disasters), he often deliberately answers vaguely. Not much about his past has been revealed.
He is very excited by rare and interesting artefacts, and trades them a lot - however, he is a good sport in that he informs his customers if something is cursed or not. When Gregor gets his new glaive in Harpy's Nest, he uncurses it for him, showing a charitable side; he is still a shrewd businessman though, and Ashe paid him in order to enlist his help to escape from Harlock.
Rat seems used to people assuming he is the "mastermind" behind creepy things, as when the group encountered him on the bottom floor of the Kuravian dungeon in Dungeon Truck he was surprised that they didn't accuse him of being the secret-secret final boss. He was slightly surprised when the Nine Shrines gang declared him their friend, and "their weird cursed merchant".
== Abilities ==
* If anyone touches Rat's skin, they are flung far, far away, and reduced to paste, as seen in episode 191.
* He has many rat servants, which appear to be rehabilitated monsters - when come across one that wasn't in Rat's employ, Gregor commented that they are usually a lot more aggressive than the ones that Rat has.
* As shown in the Village of Corpses arc, Rat can go into and out of the curse zone that Gregor was in when he got got as an owl - likely due to him being extremely cursed himself.
== Relationships ==
=== Markus ===
=== Gregor ===
=== Ashe ===
=== Thog ===
The two had met before the events of The Adventure Begins, where Rat had sold Thog the Drum of the Destroyer.
== Trivia ==
* Rat is featured on the banner of the TI Merch shop.
* Rat has a resemblance to the Happy Mask Salesman from Majora's Mask.
** This was referenced in Village of Corpses, when he teaches Gregor a song somewhat akin to the Song of Healing from the game; however, Gregor was nowhere as proficient at his Clarinet than Link was.
== References ==
Category:Side characters