The Empress

*This article is about the character. For the ending, see The Empress Reversed.*
**Overview** Dialogue Gallery

## The Empress

### Appears in

Death
Wheel of Fortune
The Empress Reversed

### Locations

School
Train Station

### Status

Active

**The Empress** (stylized as THE EMPRESS in game) is a mysterious entity that appears in *Who's Lila?*.

## Appearance

The Empress is a large, incorporeal entity with little to no resemblance to humans. She has a pointed snout, and a mouth filled with long, jagged teeth. She appears to have a set of antennae protruding from her head, giving her appearance some similarities with an insect or perhaps a shrimp.

## Personality

Little is known about the Empress's personality, as only a few lines of dialogue from her exist, all entirely within the Empress Reversed ending. She seems to have a friendly, motherly relationship with Lila, calling her a "naughty girl" at one point, though it's unclear whether this is her teasing Lila or genuinely scolding her. She also is shown to be on Lila's side, as she gives her information that William had tried to keep hidden from her.

## Plot

The Empress can be encountered in two locations, both of which are industrial areas containing large machinery and boilers. The first location is the boiler rooms at William's school. Upon entering the area, Lila encounters Mr. Frank, a strange entity that somehow knows Lila's true identity. He alludes to a 'second caller' and gives her a hint that she can find what she is looking for by following the music. After navigating the boiler rooms while adhering to Mr. Frank's instructions, Lila eventually encounters the Empress. Loud, screeching music plays and the Empress twitches erratically. A prompt appears on screen telling the player to close their eyes. Depending on what the player then chooses to do results in one of two endings.

Keeping Lila's eyes open results in the Death ending. The screen simply turns white and then goes to the main menu without any fanfare, with no light shed on who or what the Empress is.

Closing her eyes leads to the Wheel of Fortune ending. This transports Lila to a tower with a spiral staircase, where Wheeliam can be encountered at the top. As one can imagine, this also gives little insight on the Empress's nature.

More information about the Empress can be obtained by going to the Train Station, which leads to the Empress Reversed ending. In summary, Lila arrives at the station after receiving a phone call from Strupnev, who informed her that Father Lawrence had something waiting for William there (the person he believed he was speaking to). This is revealed to be a ruse, and Strupnev actually intends on murdering William in order to win back Lila's affection. Lila evades his attacks throughout the train depot, before eventually encountering the Empress in one of the rooms deep inside the complex. The room is dark initially, and Lila bears a strange expression on her face, possibly one of pleasure. She says "it's her again..." and the room brightens, revealing the Empress. Strupnev catches up to Lila and expresses confusion at what he's seeing. Lila then says "So you wanted to see so badly? Well. **FEAST YOUR EYES, STRUPNEV.** Strupnev's body contorts into a horrific shape, seemingly getting killed by witnessing the sight of the lady in the boilers. The screen fades to white, then back to normal, with Strupnev and the Empress seemingly gone.

We see narration that she "hid in the boilers again", and Lila asks whether she is satiated now. The Empress, whose name is revealed here in the dialogue header, refers to Lila by name and calls her a "naughty, naughty girl". She states that she does not desire to feed for now and gives her the address to the Burned Apartment. Lila expresses anger over Lawrence, and William's ability to hide the address from her. The Empress states that she finds Lila's endeavors amusing but states that it's time for them to "cease".

## Trivia

* There are heavy parallels drawn in-game between the Empress and William's mother. The former is known as the "lady in the boilers" and the latter supposedly died in a boiler accident. Furthermore, when discussing the Empress Reversed tarot card, Detective Yu describes the "Devouring Mother" archetype, which bears strong resemblance to William's mother's behavior throughout her son's childhood.
* The Emperor is likely connected in some way to the Empress. Their names are opposite gender counterparts, and Ivan Yatuow describes an event occurring to Fedor I. Ryibkin in *Schastye* that is very similar to what appears to happen to Strupnev when the Empress killed him.