Guard 26/Lore

—Anniversary Tales Collection Booklet

Minor:

* Mark Reznik
* Dennis DeRoss
* Mrs. DeRoss

**Bonbon** or **Bang Bang**, also known as the **Guard 26**, is one of the **28** playable Hunters added to Identity V.

This page is a compilation of lore and story content for this character.

## Backstory

### Character Introduction

After twenty-five failed attempts, No. 26 was born on Burke's final endeavor and was once his proudest work. No. 26 exhibited a high level of autonomy, which significantly improved its work efficiency. It also allowed Burke to take breaks from work, avoid repetitive tasks, and invest time in new mechanical designs. Over time, No. 26 became sentient and even gave itself a name—Bonbon. Burke was angered by No. 26's declined efficiency due to its newfound sentience, so he replaced its central hub and wrote new programs for No. 26.

Curiously, no matter how many times Burke replaced its central hub and modified its codes, the same phrase showed up after each reboot: "Nice to meet you, Bonbon."

### Character Trailer

Identity V - Guard 26 BackstoryGuard 26's backstory trailer (combined with 2019 Halloween)
#### Trailer Transcript

*From the first time I traced a straight line,*

*I've always wanted an assistant.*

*Something that is calm and efficient,*

*something that never tires...*

*a precise, perfect machine.*

*"Nice to meet you, Bonbon."*

*Number 26, who got a name from humankind.*

*is starting to waste time on self-discovery.*

*Tools have no need for a name,*

*much less a sense of self.*

*However, once given, it is not easy to break one's free will.*

*No matter how many times I change the gears*

*or code different instructions,*

*Number 26 will always say the same thing when rebooted:*

*"Nice to meet you, Bonbon."*

## Deduction Quests

*All completed Objectives reward the player with +335 Logic points for the Logic Path. After the character's deductions are completed, their Worn Clothes will be available.*

## Letters

This section contains the letters the player receives after completing Bonbon's Character Day Event on August 8th each year. Each is removed from the player's mailbox in a week, but can still be accessed from the deduction quest menu.

* 2021
* 2022
* 2023

## Lore Connections

### Mentioned Playable Characters

* Burke Lapadura
* Tracy Reznik

### A Letter Attached to a Parcel (2021)

Dear Mr. Lapadura,

Greetings!

With regards to your request on improving the delay device's precision, I shamefully admit that I am not up to the task, and so I had my daughter study the sample with me. Please forgive me, but as I have mentioned many times before, her talents have long surpassed my own.

Even so, we were only able to increase the device's accuracy by 12% while still ensuring long-term operation. The clock's structure is simple, as is its function—it it only needs to mark every minute and every second, yet this device's functions appear to extend far beyond simple time-keeping. My daughter hypothesizes that it might even be part of autonomous calibration system. We have no intention of spying on your invention, my good sir, but the notion is quite unthinkable to us. After all, how could something "mechanical" also be "autonomous"?

All the same, we are honored to have been able to contribute to your marvelous invention, if only insignificantly. Please find the modified device along with this letter.

While we are still on the subject, would you be opposed to sharing your autonomous machinery with us at a later time? My daughter has become somewhat obsessed with the notion, quite frankly.

We wish you the best of luck with your work!

Respectfully yours,

Reznik

## Lore Connections

### Mentioned Playable Characters

* Burke Lapadura
* Tracy Reznik
* Luca Balsa

### A Page from a Diary (2022)

I ordered a new batch of parts today to modify No. 26.

Since that incident, No. 26 hasn't shown any signs of going out of control. This is a first.

It must have been those brats!

It's impossible for a robot to become autonomous.

That little boy seemed more interested in those mechanics, but that little girl...

Right! She must have done something to No. 26 while I wasn't looking. I thought she would give it a rest after her robot was scrapped.

I think I should take another look at No. 26's recordings. Maybe I missed something.

...

No, I should give this stupid machine a termination command first!

## Lore Connections

### Mentioned Playable Characters

* Burke Lapadura
* Tracy Reznik

### A Page from a Diary (2023)

This is worse than the last time — she is the only one who would take possession of or steal or dismantle Guard 26's stability component! And such foolishness makes her ambition clear as day. She holds unrealistic expectations toward machines, and so she does not hesitate to destroy for the sake of proving her ignorance.

The new mechanism's debugging has been completed, and I will be initiating even more instructive intervention tomorrow. The current error is similar to the error from many years ago. It is artificial and has nothing to do with such ridiculous notions of "sentience". She'll understand when the time comes. Machines are machines, and Guard 26 is only capable of performing tasks according to present commands — to carry out preventive observations and interventions on the game as an executioner. Any attempt to give machines "autonomy" or even project emotion onto them is a form of misguidance and misinterpretation of science.

The recordings from the first and second days are gone. Perhaps it's an error that occurred when that kid removed the component without authorization. I must fix all of it. Luckily, a new a batch of components has arrived.

This is the second and the last time Guard 26 goes out of control. After tomorrow, everything will be on the right track again.

### Rewards

Every letter comes with 30 Fragments, and depending on how many years the player has participated and completed the Birthday Event would determine which letter they receive and the extra reward.

* If this is the first time the player has completed the event, they would get a portrait and the 2021 letter.
* If this is the second time the player has completed the event, they would get a portrait frame and the 2022 letter.
* If this is the third time the player has completed the event, they would get a dynamic graffiti and the 2023 letter.

2021 Portrait2022 Portrait Frame2023 Dynamic Graffiti
## Character Resources

The additional in-game and external documents for this character include:

* Character Relations
* Quotes & Media
* Event Appearances
* Mentions

The Character Relations menu shows how certain characters are connected and how they feel about each other. It also contains other personal information on characters that cannot be found anywhere else. It can be found in the Notebook, under the "Clues" tab. Although the web of relations for Guard 26 have not been released, we know a few of the characters that would be on it, which have been included below.

### Character Day Questions

*Only the questions and answers relating to its backstory were included here. The other questions not listed relate to gameplay.*

* 2022 Character Day questions:
	+ Question 4: *"Who came up with the name "Bonbon"?"* Answer: *"Miss DeRoss"*
	+ Question 5: *"What was the intention behind Guard 26's design?"* Answer: *"Construction Work"*
* 2023 Character Day questions:
	+ Question 4: *"What is Bonbon fond of?"* Answer: *"Bow Tie"*
	+ Question 5: *"Who created Guard 26?"* Answer: *"Burke Lapadura"*

### Quotations

* Deduction Star 2020 quotes:
	+ *"Bonbon will listen to you."*
	+ *"Hello! Nice to meet you, Bonbon."*
	+ *"What are you afraid of? I'll blow it up for you."*
* Deduction Star 2021 quotes:
	+ *"It's really nice to meet you, Bonbon."*
	+ *"Copy that. Bonbon is reading the text..."*
	+ *"Bonbon has an owner. Where did she go?"*
* Valentine's Day 2023 Cards:
	+ *"Thank you! Happy Valentine's Day! Bonbon... Bonbon!"*
	+ *"I love it! Thank you! Happy Valentine's Day!"*
* 5th Anniversary Congratulatory Video quote:
	+ *"Hello, I'm Bonbon. Thank you for inviting me. This bouquet is a present. Please take it."*

### Japanese Twitter Replies

Please press "Expand" to see in-character replies from the official Japanese Twitter.

**Guard 26** has been mentioned in the following documents for other characters:

## Canon Manor Game

We can gather who was in a canon Manor Game together by information in Letters and Diaries, and very occasionally from character quotes during events.

Edits to this table can be made here.

## Compiled Overview

The following section contains an overview based on canon information.Please note that some information may be missing as it may not have been provided from official sources. See the given references for further information.
Burke Lapadura created multiple robots in his attempts to make one that was fairly self-sufficient so he could assign it to work while he did other things. After 25 failures, his 26th robot was the only one to show potential. Of the first assignments he gives to Guard 26 is construction work and babysitting the children belonging to the Manor Owner which Burke didn't want to do. While working on Guard 26, he finds a recording by the one of the children, a little girl, most likely the phrase "Nice to meet you Bonbon." In other tests, Burke sets the robot on poachers in the forest, which successfully drives them away, but due to the robot's explosive methods angered the Gamekeeper. In response, Burke worked to improve the issue.

Meanwhile, the DeRoss couple hired more employees to "boost the local employment rates" even though Burke believed it an unnecessary risk when his machines were capable enough to do the work. Unfortunately, the local townspeople turned against the DeRoss family, and stormed the manor and took away the two DeRoss children.

### Events at the Manor

Not much is known beside the fact that Guard 26 played the role of an executioner in Group 10's Manor Game, including Mechanic, "Prisoner", Aeroplanist and an unknown participant.

### Alternate Theories and Conclusions

The below article or section(s) contains speculation, analysis, or theories which may include unconfirmed information.When adding content, use references to link or explain **legitimate/official** supportive evidence for specific theories, otherwise it may be removed.
* The DeRoss children were curious about Burke's machines and the Forest of No Return, despite warnings of how dangerous these were.
* The event where the villagers mobbed the manor is likely what spurred Burke to add more dangerous weapons to Bonbon.
* Despite Burke's many attempts to delete the little girl's recording, it remained within Guard 26's memory.

## References

1. ↑ Confirmed in the Japanese Reference Book
2. ↑ Backstory from the official Identity V website - https://idv.163.com/character/index.html
3. ↑ Translation by @IdentityV\_\_Sub.
4. ↑ The wife of Baron DeRoss would be *Mrs*. DeRoss, which means *Miss* DeRoss is referring to the daughter

### Manor Game Table References

1. ↑ See Guard 26's 2023 Letter
2. ↑ See "Prisoner"'s 2023 Letter
3. ↑ Based on the information given by Mechanic's 2023 Letter, it is likely that he was the third person to arrive at the Manor.
4. ↑ See Mechanic's 2023 Letter
5. ↑ Mechanic's 2023 Letter confirms Group 10 has four participants. Even though we have yet to receive his actual serial number, he likely arrived at the Manor the latest in Group 10.
6. ↑ The mentioned participant who cleaned up the "scene" could refer to Grave Keeper. However, this is not confirmed.