Alexander

Art by Nek

**Alexander** is a protagonist of The Room Beneath New Albion. He is voiced by Paul Shapera.

## Biography

### Pre-RBNA

Born to Isabela and The Red-Haired Dwarf, Alexander is the second child of a vast criminal empire in New Albion. As a kid, he lacked the criminal inclinations of his family. Isabela would degrade and threaten to beat him for this, so to avoid her anger, he attempted to trick her into thinking he was stealing, while in reality the money he obtained was earned legitimately. This never lasted, and by his teens, Alexander was well-known by his family to be a sensitive person. In spite of this, he *would* occasionally be brought by his family on official mafia business, though even then he performed considerably less than courageously. Eventually it got to a point where his Uncle gave him bourbon in an attempt to "man him up". This worked, and as Alexander became more comfortable with alcohol, he found that it gave him the drive, anger, and lack of empathy necessary to perpetuate his family's criminal legacy. At his mother's (apparent) death, Alexander did not cry, which earned him respect within the mafia. His elder brother, the Red-Haired Son, had been in charge of the mafia for a time before this, but his reign ended—and Alexander's began—when he was killed by the Gang of Four in an operation headed by the mouse, Sam. Now the head of New Albion's mafia, Alexander runs a bootleg Doll trade.

### Room Beneath New Albion

For about 4 years prior to the events of the album, some of Alexander's bootleg Dolls have been going missing. Eventually, his subordinates find an informant who tells them that the Dolls are indeed being stolen by an Albino girl, Alice. Using this as an opportunity to attempt a genocide of the Albinos (as having access to their network of tunnels would greatly facilitate the mafia's operations), Alexander takes his six strongest subordinates down into the tunnels with him in order to find and kill Alice, being sure to order his men to invade the tunnels and kill the Albinos should he not return within 6 hours. Upon finding Alice, the men attempt to kill her. She *easily* dispatches the 6 men Alexander took with him. Alexander, however, is left alive, and Alice shows him to the Room Beneath New Albion, which Alice has been working on by herself for 4 years, is made of the bootleg Dolls that have been stolen, is still under construction, and which Alice realizes, at her current rate, she will die before completing. Seeing this, Alexander takes it upon himself to help Alice complete the Room, which they will succeed in doing. With Alexander not returning within 6 hours, and his men dead, the mafia goes underground to exterminate the Albinos. The Albinos respond in kind and go to war with the mafia. Meanwhile, as his organization is losing, Alexander and Alice share an intimate moment before Alice overdoses on TanSan.

### Post-RBNA

Sometime after the events of The Room Beneath New Albion, Alexander abdicated his position as head of the mafia. He would then go on to have a daughter who was unaffiliated with the mob at first, but did eventually gain some connection to the mafia. Eventually, this daughter would have a son, who is the Red-Haired Lad.

## Personality

When he was younger, Alexander was far more timid and lacked the constitution necessary to even *steal,* let alone commit forms of physical violence. Now, as an adult, Alexander frames himself as a professional, business-oriented mafia boss. He shows himself to be capable of setting incredible atrocities in motion, such as the attempted Albino genocide, and is able to remain emotionless, if not stoic, in the face of an event such as his own mother's death. However, upon meeting Alice and learning about the Room, Alexander desires to be part of something greater than himself, spending time that could be used to escape in order to help Alice build the Room. When the Room is complete, he seems at peace with relinquishing the power he had as leader of the mafia, and also expresses concern for Alice's health, owing to her continual and prolonged use of TanSan, signifying that he has moved past his apathy towards others.

## Trivia

* Alexander is nonbinary. In the words of Paul:

"Alexander would also have identified as nonbinary, if things had gone differently. As things were, he absolutely would never, ever consider being labeled nonbinary, but if he had been raised in a completely different environment he would have and was, even if he couldn't admit it to himself. Had he been told what it was he would have scoffed but weeks later he would still have been thinking about it despite wishing he didn't. He wouldn't have changed pronouns, though."