Wayne

*For the location, see Wayne's House.*

* Hylics
* Hylics 2
* Hylics 2 Arcade Minigame

**"***Whatev.***"**
— **One of Wayne's few spoken words in Hylics**

**Wayne** is the main protagonist of *Hylics,* and *Hylics 2.*

#### *Hylics*

Wayne takes on the appearance of a humanoid creature with a crescent-shaped head, similar to that of a crescent moon; Wayne has a constant, stoic expression on his face. Wayne wears a utility outfit, which has since been interpreted as a leather jacket along with matching leather pants.

#### *Hylics 2*

Similarly to his appearance in the original Hylics, Wayne keeps his crescent-shaped head and leather outfit, but a bit more detail is given to him as his overworld sprite is larger in the sequel. His stoic expression is replaced with a more relaxed look, though still quite neutral. Instead of a gun, Wayne starts with no weapon, as his attack snaps can be enhanced with the addition of gloves, which do not affect his appearance in-game.

It's revealed in Hylics 2's opening level, the Waynehouse, that Wayne is just one of a species of Waynes who all look identical to our protagonist. It's possible to equip Wayne with an alternate costume that presents a skintight dark indigo suit with a short cape-like shawl of the same color. His figure gains wider hips and a thinner waist due to this design originally being the scrapped character Decres, a female member of Wayne's species.

### Personality

#### *Hylics*

Not much is known about Wayne's personality but he often responds to questions with casual language, such as how when talking to a food salesman, he will have the option of buying the food by saying "*Heck yeah!*", or declining the offer by saying "*Nah man, Nah.*" Aside from responding to questions, Wayne is mute for most of the game, only giving input when confronted with a yes-or-no question or when interacting with an object or item lying on the ground.

#### *Hylics 2*

Wayne's personality seems to be a bit more defined, but still mostly left to interpretation. Unlike in the original Hylics, Wayne can be seen having conversations with other characters during plot-related matters. As with many characters in Hylics 2, his dialogue is quite formal.

## History

#### Hylics

Wayne is the first available party member, controllable from the start of the game from his house. The adventure starts with Wayne setting out to stop the tyrant ruler of the planet, Gibby. He visits various locations along the game, encountering the three other party members Somsnosa, Dedusmuln, and Pongorma. As Hylics is a fairly open-ended game, much of the game's plot points are decided by the player, though it's canon that the full party is assembled as they all recognize each other in Hylics 2.

Wayne is recognized by Somsnosa upon reaching her house, implying the two have history together.

At the end of the game, Wayne and company use a Rocket Ship to fly to the planet's moon where they assault Gibby's moon palace. They battle with the tyrant and emerge victorious, though Gibby sets the moon to self-destruct upon his death. The final shot of the game shows Wayne alone drifting in space above the planet's orbit, using the same sprite as found in the game-over screen.

#### Hylics 2

Hylics 2 begins in the Waynehouse. Wayne is once again the starting party member. It's not very clear if this Wayne is the same Wayne from the first Hylics.

One day, Wayne is summoned by Old Wayne who gives him a warning that Gibby is being resurrected by his cult-like followers, including the evil wizard Odozier. As Wayne is the only member of his species with sufficient training to leave the Waynehouse, he sets out on his own to proscribe the reconstitution.

On Old Wayne's order, Wayne travels to New Muldul first to warn the town's mayor, Blerol, that Gibby is being resurrected. He arrives to find that Blerol has been kidnapped, however, and Pongorma is investigating the mayor's house for clues. He reveals that Blerol has been taken to a prison on Viewax's Edifice. Wayne and Pongorma travel there and meet Dedusmuln, whom they recruit and sneak into the fortress's prison as a trio. They kill Viewax, lord of the fortress, and free Blerol and the other prisoners.

Back in New Muldul, Blerol informs Wayne and company that Gibby is being resurrected on the island of Foglast. He gives Wayne an airship to get to Foglast and interrupt the ritual. However, the island is protected by a giant forcefield. The party follows power cables leading to a nearby island, where they find Somsnosa who is repelling an invasion of monsters. Once assisted, Somsnosa joins the party and presents a key to get inside the forcefield generator facility.

Once the field is shut down, Wayne's party enters Foglast and attempts to stop the ritual, but they are delayed by Odozier. They defeat him, but Gibby resurrects at the last moment. Gibby kills Wayne and his party, constructs the Hylemxylem, and begins transmitting a strange signal which converts all the world's inhabitants into mindless beasts.

Upon returning from the Afterlife, Wayne and company use a giant bomb to blow open the entrance to the ancient labyrinth. Once explored, they trigger the resurrection of the Sage's Airship. Boarding the ship, Wayne presents three Sage Tokens to learn Bombo-Genesis, an extremely powerful and forbidden gesture. Suitably prepared, Wayne's party leaves for the Hylemxylem.

They enter the artificial castle, raised high up in the sky, and eventually break into Gibby's Chamber. Enraged, Wayne demands a fight and insists the "long, dark age" of the Accretion is over. Gibby mocks Wayne, telling him that he was barely a larvae during that time, and engages the party. Through a long and difficult fight, Gibby is killed and the Hylemxylem is destroyed, freeing the planet's inhabitants of their curse.

Wayne, Dedusmuln, Somsnosa, and Pongorma are taken to a concert in the Afterlife where they can meet various characters they met throughout the game. Once this is over, Wayne hits a switch in the Afterlife and is carried off into the sky by a pair of mysterious red gloves. Wayne is not seen in person during the game's Finale sequence.

## Strategy

#### *Hylics*

* When you start the game, Wayne will be your only party member. This makes combat dangerous as you will often always face off against multiple enemies at once. Avoid combat until you have a minimum of two party members.
* Wayne starts with a Pistol as his equipped weapon, though it has no ammo loaded. It offers very little bonus, so getting better equipment for him is considered a priority.
* Wayne's signature gesture is Hypno Sigils, which has a high chance to put all enemies on the battlefield to sleep. This is very useful for buying yourself time to heal off damage or buff your party members. Note that bosses are resistant to its effects.
* Wayne's stats are fairly balanced, though he has the highest base Guts (Speed) stat of anyone in the party, making him always move first by default. Use this to your advantage when planning your party's order of attack.

#### Hylics 2

* Once again, Wayne is your only party member at the start of the game. Luckily, combat is quite easy to avoid unless you deliberately go looking for it. By the time you get to the game's first dungeon (Viewax's Edifice), you should have both Pongorma and Dedusmuln on your team.
* Wayne's signature gesture is Dissolution, which inflicts a damage-over-time (DoT) effect and reduces an enemy's Power level by %20 for two turns. With low Will cost, Dissolution is an effective skill against Bosses who hit hard and have lots of health.
* Combining Charge Up with Dissolution will increase its DoT and damage reduction effects but reduces the duration to one turn. However, Charged Dissolution isn't very useful compared to other characters' Charged signature gestures. You may prefer to keep Will costs down and just stick to regular Dissolution.
* Wayne retains a balanced stat spread as in Hylics, allowing him to adapt to a variety of combat roles. You may wish to make him a damage dealer or support, depending on what suits your playstyle.
* Wayne has the second highest Will stat of anyone in the party, making him an effective user of damaging Gestures.

## Trivia

* While his head shape is based on a crescent moon, Wayne's name is a pun on the moon's waning phases.
* According to Mason Lindroth, Wayne's signature head shape originated from the straightforwardness of its sculpting process. Mason described it as "a simple bent clay snake".
* When asked about Wayne's outfit in the first *Hylics*, Mason Lindroth would answer "It was some kind of utility outfit in Hylics 1 but I looked at too much fanart so now its a bespoke faux leather jumpsuit."
* In the first game, Wayne is shown to have a pet cat.
* Wayne plays the guitar in the band at the Band House, as well as the concert at the end of Hylics 2.
* Mason Lindroth has joked about Wayne's blood type being "moon".
* Wayne's favorite food is the burrito.
* In the files he is also referred to as "Clayman" and "Protag", which could be an abbreviation of protagonist.
* In the files of Hylics 2, Wayne's black costume is referred to as "MaleWayne" and his blue costume as "FemWayne."

## Gallery

Wayne's portrait from the first game.Wayne in the game over screen before the flesh of his head melts.Wayne's portrait from the second game.Wayne's idle sprite from the second game.Wayne in Hylics 2 game over screenWayne petting one of the larvae on the beach in the AfterlifeWayne's Alternate Costume from Hylics 2Waynes moveset in Hylics 2Chibi Wayne's moveset in the arcade minigames.

Sage of Monitors • Sage of Accretions • Sage of Satellites (*Hylics 2*)