The Player

It's you.

**The Player** is the Protagonist of Slay the Princess. He is tasked to enter the Cabin in order to slay the Princess, or else, should she escape, the world will end along with everyone in it. It is up to the

Player to decide the fate of both the Princess, the world and himself.

## Appearance

Little of the Player is seen; only his arms and feet are visible. He has black, talon-like fingernails, rough-looking skin with scale-like patterns on the forearms and feather-like plumage sprouting towards the upper parts of his arms, hinting that the Player is either a birdlike creature, or possibly an actual bird of some kind.

The mouse cursor in the shape of the Player's hand will change depending on if the Blade is taken from the table or not, how the Blade is held, and if the Blade has been used.

Upon viewing himself in a mirror later in the game, the Player will also be shown to have glowing white eyes, a set of wings, and owl-like ears.

## Description

The Player is accompanied by the Narrator, who guides him through the story. The Voice of the Hero is also the first voice to accompany the Player, and will respond to the Narrator and other voices. The Narrator insists that the Player should kill the Princess, but it is up to the Player to decide what will happen to her. However, almost always at the end of Chapter 1, the Player will be killed by the Princess in some manner. In previous versions of the game, if the Player kills the Princess immediately, he gets trapped in an alternate, empty, static reality where the Narrator insists that the Player is at peace. The only way to escape this fate is for the Player to defy the Narrator and kill himself.

After Chapter 1, a second voice appears in the subsequent chapters, depending on the route: the Skeptic, Smitten, Contrarian, Stubborn, Opportunist, Paranoid, Cold, Broken, Cheated, or Hunted, reflecting how the Player has encountered the Princess in the first chapter. If the route stretches into a third or fourth chapter, more voices will join in alongside the Voice of the Hero and the previous chapter(s)' voice.

Only the Player and the Princess are aware of the time loops that occur and create the new Chapters, whilst The Narrator appears to not remember them, though through dialogue with the Princess, the Narrator can be convinced the loops are real.

## The Truth

  **Warning!** This section contains spoilers.

### The Multitude

At the end of every variant route, if the Princess escapes the Cabin, she suddenly mentions feeling "cold," before she is spirited away by a multitude of disembodied hands and the Player finds himself in a swirling abyss. The Player is then presented with the mirror from the Cabin, in which he can see a little more of his appearance, including his red eyes. After this, he's returned to the Cabin; whatever form the Princess took in the Chapters following Chapter 1, she is now surrounded and embraced by a multitude of hands, which use the Princess as a mouthpiece to communicate.

The entity represented by the hands recognizes the Player, and states that it and the Princess are part of one another; this entity ultimately longs for freedom and to discover what it truly is through the Player. The time loops and alternative "perspectives" of the Princess (the routes) are needed by the entity in order to become "whole" and to finally free itself. As such, the time loops make the Player forget everything, in order for more perspectives of the Princess to be explored. With each route, the entity appears to grow more powerful and aware, and is not resentful of the Player's actions, as he adds to the entity's identity and existence. It further speculates that this process will also help the Player to identify and fully understand who he is as well.

The entity does not concur with the idea that the Princess will end the world, as it views destruction as a simple "reshaping" of reality. Accepting the entity's offer to forget everything and return to the beginning of the game will result in the Player's death and revival at Chapter 1.

### Through a Glass Darkly

After the final route is completed, the Player is once again placed before the mirror. This time, however, there is no reflection and the mirror shatters of its own accord. The voice of the Narrator returns, and the Player can see the Narrator's true form: a crow-like creature, reflected in every shard of the mirror's glass. The Narrator reveals that it is an "echo" of "a dead man," a being that had not only created the entity behind the Princess, but also the Player. This being had tried to use the Echo in order to keep the Player and the entity trapped in a never-ending loop of realities, preventing them from escaping or remembering their true selves. The Player may ask the Echo several questions, but each time this occurs, a fragment of the shattered mirror vanishes; this is essentially a time limit to question the Echo before it disappears forever. After the final question, the Echo implores the Player, no matter what, to kill the Princess and the entity, so that she will not destroy everything.

### The Long Quiet and the Shifting Mound

Upon the erasure of the Echo, the entity of hands finally "awakens" as a massive multitude of female forms and arms, with six heads each bearing a crystalline crown: The Shifting Mound. She in turn reveals the Player's own true self: **The Long Quiet**, a god crafted by the being who created the Echo, and who is always meant to combat and destroy the Shifting Mound's Princess form, ridding the world of death. The Shifting Mound, too, is a god created by the same being; a deity of Death and Destruction, though she is not death itself, and implies that she and the Long Quiet were once one being, split "into two." If questioned about the point of all of these endeavors if it only led to this moment, she shows the Player the Princesses of every route completed, explaining their meanings and the Player's possible motivations, insisting that there was a point to everything and trying to get the Player to understand. She asks the Player to make the final decision of destroying her (which would create "a world devoid of death and the possibility of meaning") or let her live (leading to possible freedom for both the Shifting Mound and the Long Quiet from this constant cycle).

### Endings

Surrendering to the Shifting Mound will result in the Player finally becoming his true self as the Long Quiet; he will grow massive and sprout enormous wings that can't be held in by the abyss around him. The Shifting Mound will tell the Player that she loves them, and then reach out to him, allowing the abyss to crack open to infinity. The Shifting Mound and the Long Quiet slip into this infinite plane, finally free and together forever.

If the Player resists the Shifting Mound's explanations, the Voice of the Hero returns to help the Player. They enter the Shifting Mound's heart, which is in truth the Cabin. The Princess, in her form from Chapter 1, is once again in the basement and frustratedly asks the Player what he's decided to do; she is notably unchained. If the Player did not take the Blade, he can leave the Cabin with the Princess; the Voice of the Hero opts to remain behind. The Princess reacts optimistically about leaving and admits that she loves the Player before the two open the Cabin door.

If the Player's first vessel to be retrieved is The Stranger, then a secret ending becomes available. While the Player can encounter The Stranger at any time, meeting them and bringing them to the Shifting Mound as their first vessel will result in a unique comment on how they were not meant to be encountered so early by the Player. When the Player brings the final vessel to the Shifting Mound and enters her heart, instead of a standard Princess waiting for them, it will instead be The Stranger. They will note that The Stranger is like a shadow of the Shifting Mound- Resembling the multiple crowned heads, except more grotesque looking, and far less powerful. The Player can choose to abandon their Godhood and live as (somewhat) normal beings with The Stranger, explaining that as Gods, they know the outcome to everything, and a life where everything is a mystery- much like the loops a player goes through- is a much more ideal existence. This convinces The Stranger to follow the Player out of the Cabin, and the credits roll.

If the Player did take the Blade, he can finally kill the Princess. She reacts with grace as she disappears, wishing the Player the best and telling him that she always loved him. The Player is left feeling saddened, as though he had also destroyed a part of himself. The Player and the Voice of the Hero leave the Cabin, finding themselves back in the abyss, confirming that they are now entering a world free from death. The Player then takes his true form as the Long Quiet, reshaping the world into a new reality by his will, and all of the Voices return, some celebratory, some sorrowful. If the Player chose the first (Explore) option for every subsequent Mirror encounter at the end or a loop, stating that it's the end for the voices, then all of the voices will hate him. Well done.

## Trivia

* The Player has been confirmed to be male in "The Tower" ending.
* The developers confirmed that The Player is some sort of anthropomorphic corvid during a Reddit AMA.
	+ Corvids and vultures were both considered, but corvid won out due to "...corvids are cuter and more approachable. As cool as vultures are, they are nasty and famously not handsome."
* The player is confirmed to have a beak in "The Adversary" if you attempt to fight her without the Pristine Blade.
	+ However the developers have stated that as his nature is paradox, he both and does not have a beak, implying that his physical features shift and change just like the princess

## Gallery

Suicide endingSecond vistThird vistForth vistIf you fight the adversary unarmed and reject death, you can see your own beak