"Psychologist"

**Ada Mesmer**, also known as the **"Psychologist",** is an Assist-Type and Difficulty 1.5 Survivor available for purchase after completion of the prologue. She is one of **43** playable Survivors added to Identity V.

—Ada Mesmer ("Psychologist"'s Birthday 2022)

## Appearance

Ada is a tall, slender doll with pale skin, long, messy, light brown hair, thin brown eyebrows, and large, smoke blue button eyes cross-stitched with white thread. She has large eyelids with brown eyeshadow, which obscure half of her eyes, and mascara runs down her cheeks. She also wears brown lipstick.

She wears a torn, white surgical coat with long, tapered sleeves and haphazard grey stitches visible on the sleeves and hem over a pleated, smoke blue dress, secured with a white string tied into a bow at the back of her waist. A white face mask hangs around her neck, and a leather belt hangs loosely around her hips, to which a pouch containing various metallic equipment such as scalpels, as well as a key ring with a long chain are attached on either side. She also wears tall, laced-up leather boots. A small, rusty, iron wire ring is visible on her left ring finger. A tear is visible in her left shoulder, showing cotton stuffing. She holds a brass Metropolitan whistle with a matching chain, hook clasp and silver heart charm in her right hand.

## Gameplay

The "Psychologist" is an assist-type Survivor who can use her Whistle to heal teammates from a distance by transferring the damage from the teammate to herself, but increases her healing time with each use. She is able to reduce her own damage by half once by undergoing Stress. If she is downed before she has finished reducing damage, the effect will continue to apply once she is not incapacitated. She can also dash to the Patient.

### External Traits

Below is a list of "Psychologist"'s intrinsic traits. For more in-depth information, please check the individual pages.

### Character Statistics

Below is a list of "Psychologist's" statistics. To view other Survivors' gameplay data, please view **this article**.

### Tips

**Please press "Expand" to see tips about playing as and against this Survivor.**
* Empathize is useful to heal rescuers and harassers, like Forward or Mercenary, without having to meet in the match so they can quickly provide assistance on the spot.
* Using empathize doesn't count towards Enchantress' Blessing.

## Concept / Design Notes

### Planning Notes

Based on the setting of the main plot, we needed to introduce a couple with a strong bond, since couples mean a closer bond can exist. They should be two people who not only have independent experiences and personality, but also have a unique way to interact with each other. Based on the set of skills and story planned for them, we used a patient escaping from an insane asylum and a psychologist practicing hypnotherapy as the pair. In terms of skills, "Hypnotherapy" and "By Hook or By Crook" fit the context of their story and also meets the needs for their skills. For the appearance, we used the asylum straitjackets, nurse's uniform, and surgical gown as the main elements.

What should a couple in a madhouse look like?

In the social context of her time, Ada Mesmer's family background and education allowed her to reach academic heights that most women would not have reached. She is an overwhelmingly sincere doctor, eager to heal her patients with better treatments. But she is also a paranoid woman who became increasingly determined to pursue her research, even to the point of desperation, in the face of many obstacles.

Emil was once tortured, used only as a fighting machine, and pain was carved into his mind, so he hardly had the opportunity to feel emotions, and even his tragic past became blank after having amnesia. Until he met Ada, appearing in front of her as a patient, and his quality attracted Ada. Ada's care and treatment slowly brings life back to Emil, giving new memories and a new identity.
In reality, it is against professional ethics for psychologists to have feelings for their patients. But as a couple in "Identity V", we want Emil and Ada to have a "it must be him/her" kind of relationship. In this game, Emil is the aggressive fighting fog, but also a loyal lover who falls in love with tenderness. Ada is the crazy researcher, but also developed a desire for love and healing after the initial research was over. We hope that this is an eerie, moving kind of love that is not Florence Nightingale Effect or Stockholm Syndrome. Love cannot be replaced by any emotion, even if that love is special itself.

### "Psychologist" - Initial Sketches

Based on the backstory of the "Psychologist", it is clear that she is a very dominating character. For the first versions of the sketch, we designed 3 schemes in the direction of a strong, professional woman. Sketch 1, while is certainly strong, is a bit too overpowering and does not fit the vulnerable position of a Survivor being pursued. The other two sketches are a bit ordinary in temperament, and the costume is a bit out of step from the times.

In the second version of the sketches, we were more careful in the costume design to recreate the surgical uniforms of that era and tried a few more hairstyles. However, these sketches were a bit overdone in terms of temperament, and the character looked like an ordinary, gentle beauty with little memorable characteristics.

In the third edition of the sketches, we decided to make a bold breakthrough in her temperament, so that the character would be strong, but with messy hair and makeup to show that she was too controlling and became a bit nervous. In terms of costume, we experimented with the nurse's uniform, but in the end we decided to use the doctor's surgical gown from previous versions. The tool belt was also made unfolded, revealing the surgical instruments stored within it. This time the character's characteristics are very prominent.

Finally, to reflect on her relationship with the Patient, we added a wire ring to her ring finger on her left hand. After refining and splitting the three views, the design of the "Psychologist" was completed.

### Character Details

1. The long curly hair and heavy makeup reflect the character's strong personality, with a seemingly calm exterior that suppresses an undetectable madness.
2. The doctor's well-worn clothing fits in with the time period of the character's background story.
3. The tool belt is worn unfolded, revealing the surgical instruments inside.
4. A ring made of twisted wire is worn on her left hand's ring finger. It echoes the ring on Emil's hand, and is a testament to their love and their bond.

## Change Log

August 19th, 2021
* Adjustment: The "Psychologist" can no longer use Empathize on Survivors that have not taken any damage.
* Adjustment: While under the effect of "Stress," the "Psychologist's" Fear meter will now flash repeatedly.

August 26th, 2021
* Adjustment: When there are 2/3/4 "Psychologists" in a match, Empathize's casting time changes to 10/20/30 seconds.

December 2nd, 2021
* Nerf: Reduced the duration of Stress from 40 seconds to 32 seconds.
* Nerf: When there are 1/2/3/4 "Psychologists" in a match, the casting time of Empathize is increased from 5/10/20/30 to 7/12/22/32 seconds.

January 4th, 2024
* Adjustment: When the target of the "Psychologist's" Empathize cannot receive it, the "Psychologist" can still use Empathize, but the button will not pop up until the target can receive it.

## Trivia

* She was one of the playable characters that was announced in the Time of Reunion Trailer.
* Her surname is possibly based on that of Franz Anton Mesmer, a German physician who developed the theory of animal magnetism. It later became referred to as mesmerism, which influenced the later development of hypnotherapy.
* She and Patient are the first pair of playable characters that are, canonically, a couple (excluding the playable characters who have unplayable, confirmed lovers), and the first two survivors to be released at the same time (not including the initial release survivors).

## In Other Languages

 🇺🇸 | English
 español | Español(Spanish) | "Psicóloga" (Ada Mesmer)
 🇮🇩 | Bahasa Indonesia
 🇲🇾 | Bahasa Melayu
 🇻🇳 | Tiếng Việt(Vietnamese) | “Nhà Tâm Lý Học” (Ada Mesmer)

## References

1. ↑ Note that this is not her actual birthday, but rather the day she escaped from the asylum with Patient.
2. ↑ Originally obtained from the official Identity V website.
3. ↑ As the In-Game Voice, in the Character Trailer and as Feathered Cloak in the Season 17 Essence 2 Trailer.
4. ↑ In the Character Trailer and as Feathered Cloak the Season 17 Essence 2 Trailer. Confirmation by the voice actress on Twitter.
5. ↑ "Psychologist" Design Notes from Weibo.

* https://weibo.com/tv/show/1034:4662090456301595?from=old\_pc\_videoshow
* https://twitter.com/GameIdentityV/status/1418427270461415424