Misery

Misery (ミザリー Mizarī) is the daughter of the witch Jenka and servant of the Doctor at the time Cave Story takes place. Like her mother, she possesses magical powers. She appears in several scenes throughout the game talking to Quote, most often seen alongside Balrog. The player also faces her in a boss battle, Misery being the first boss encountered on the Balcony.
== Appearance ==
Misery has a human-like figure, with curly blue hair in remastered, green hair in original, and tinted red eyes against pale skin. She wears a green top and pants, with part of her belly exposed. Her overworld sprite usually shows her in the air sitting cross-legged while holding onto her magic staff. In the PC port of Cave Story she wears silver earrings, while on the Wii and 3D ports, she wears golden earrings.
== History ==
Some time after Ballos was banished to the floating island, Misery forced him to create the Demon Crown. As a result, both she and Balrog were cursed by the Crown and had to serve whoever wore it.
=== Mimiga Village ===
Misery makes her first appearance within the game at Mimiga Village, where she has come to collect Sue under orders of the Doctor. She arrives at the Shack, confronting Quote and Toroko as the two are becoming acquainted. Mistaking Toroko for Sue, Misery kidnaps Toroko and leaves Balrog to deal with Quote. According to Balrog, she was later punished by the Doctor for bringing back the incorrect Mimiga. 
=== Bushlands ===
Misery re-appears to Quote after the player collects the Gum Base, where she recognizes Quote as a soldier from the surface. When Balrog arrives to warn Misery that Quote's strength may outmatch that of a Mimiga's, she transforms Balrog into a frog as a reminder that he has a responsibility of defeating the soldiers. 
=== Sand Zone ===
In the Sand Zone, Misery comes to Quote again, realizing he may be more trouble to the Doctor than expected. She starts to challenge him to a battle, but leaves as soon as Omega rises up from the sand, claiming that there is no need for her to get involved, assuming that Omega will dispose of the player. 
At the Sand Zone storehouse, Misery shows the Doctor the red flower seeds, fulfilling his request. She offers to test the potency of the flowers by consuming one, but the Doctor suggests using a Mimiga instead. Misery agrees and brings in Toroko, who is force fed a flower by Balrog. At that moment, King suddenly bursts into the storehouse in an attempt to save Toroko, but is too late. He attacks Balrog, causing him to leave. He then tries to kill the Doctor, but Misery stops him with her lightning, causing him to be thrust to the other side of the storehouse and against the wall at full force, flying out from the warehouse ceiling afterwards. 
Once Quote leaves the storehouse after defeating Toroko+, he is stopped by Balrog and Misery. Misery banishes him to the Labyrinth, along with Balrog. After both Quote and Balrog are gone, she comments on how refreshing it is to have them both out of the way. 
== Abilities ==
Throughout Cave Story, Misery is shown to possess magical powers that enable her to carry out tasks under the orders of the Doctor. One of her revealed powers is the ability to teleport, as seen whenever she enters or exits an area. Misery's teleportation is seen as a vertical fade-in animation on screen. 
With her scepter, Misery can transport other beings from a distance away. This is seen when she first meets Quote in the Shack, where a bubble encases Toroko and takes her out of the building. 
Misery also uses her staff for transformation purposes. Before leaving the Gum room in Bushlands, she changes Balrog's appearance into that of a frog.
== Boss forms ==
The player fights Misery twice in Cave Story: once as a solo boss in the Throne Room, and a second as an accompaniment to the Undead Core while being possessed by The Doctor.
After traversing the Last Cave, the player must guide Quote to the far right of the Balcony where they will meet Misery, sitting at the top of a throne. She tells Quote that the island's fate is not her responsibility and decides to fight him. 
=== Attack patterns ===
During the battle, Misery floats in place until about three seconds has elapsed, and then teleports to another location within the area. Unless she is flashing on screen, indicating she is about to attack, the player is able to cause damage at any time.
Prior to teleporting, Misery will launch one of two attacks, the second attack being used every third time.
* Black Orbs - Misery fires six black orbs at Quote. Deals 6 damage.
* Block - Misery summons a block over Quote's current position that drops to the ground and disappears. Deals 10 damage.
Depending on the amount of damage she has taken, Misery uses additional abilities in an attempt to attack Quote.
At two thirds of full health a new attack is added. Immediately after teleporting, three solid black orbs travel horizontally in Quote's direction. When one is directly above Quote (or below Quote, should he try to use the Booster), it will turn into a deadly magical bolt and dart after him. If one hits Quote, he takes 10 damage.
At this stage, Misery also gains a method of defense. Two black orbs appear, rotating around Misery during her standby phases. These circles can block the player's weapons and will cause some damage to Quote if one touches him. As she teleports, the orbs transform into orange bats that can be shot at for pickups. When the bats hit the floor or a wall, however, they are instantly destroyed and do not leave behind any obtainable items.
When Misery's health has been depleted to one third of its original length, her defense upgrades. She will now have four black circles rotating around her rather than two. These also turn into bats that fly towards Quote. Since they block incoming attacks, the Missile Launcher (or Super Missile Launcher) at level 3 may be more effective at damaging her at this phase.
She continues using these attacks until her health has been fully drained.
=== Post-battle ===
When Misery is defeated after she takes 500 HP of damage, she falls to the ground with a stunned expression on her face. Frustrated, she immediately gets up and flies through the ceiling of the enclosed area. Soon after, five pale blocks appear in the air in a step-like formation as well as an opening leading to the King's Table, where Quote fights the Doctor. 
== Relationships ==
* Quote - Misery is the first primary character to recognize Quote as a soldier from the surface. Assuming he is like the other robots that came to the island, she uses Balrog to deal with the situation of defeating him. As she encounters Quote further into the game, she begins to see him as a nuisance and take care of the matter herself. In the cutscene of the Undead Core fight, she notes that he is different from other robots because he cares for others.
* Doctor - As he was the current crown bearer, Misery had no choice but to follow the Doctor's commands under his control. Consequently, she often obeys the Doctor with no resistance. She tends to use "my lord" as a formality when speaking to the Doctor. Near the Normal ending of the game, the Doctor tells Misery that until the day she dies, she will be his puppet, then possesses her.
* Balrog - Balrog appears to be Misery's main servant, carrying out tasks that Misery tells him to under the orders of the Doctor. Misery is sometimes seen commenting on Balrog's unintelligence or reminding him of his duties to the Doctor in the game. He was banished to the Labyrinth by Misery shortly after Quote. Misery and Balrog never appear in the same scene again. In the Normal ending credits, Balrog is referred to as "Misery's punching bag".
* Jenka - Jenka refers to Misery as her "half-wit of a daughter" when she talks to Balrog for the first time within the game. She is aware of Misery and Balrog's intentions to help the Doctor succeed with his plans.
== Trivia ==
* Misery's hair is green in her portraits in the original Cave Story, while her sprite depicts blue hair. This is fixed in Cave Story+, where in both her sprite and portraits Misery's hair is blue.
* In the credits for the Good Ending, Misery can be seen but taller and with longer hair.
* Misery's Halloween outfit resembles Morrigan Aensland from the Darkstalkers series.
== Gallery ==
Cave-story-3d-misery-character-artwork.jpg| Cave Story 3D official artwork
Credits-3.png|Credits artwork showing Misery fighting Quote in the Throne Room
Credits-2.png|Credits artwork showing Possessed Misery in the Undead Core fight
Dsimisery.png| Misery's artwork from the Japanese Cave Story DSi website.
File:Misery20th.png|Misery in Nicalis' Cave Story 20th Anniversary Message
Category:Bosses