Ponman

* Battle
* Spare

A simple organism that takes life one square at a time.

**Ponman** (plural **Ponmen**) is a Darkner enemy in the Card Kingdom, that appears on the Great Board. They are based on pawns from chess.

## Profile

### Appearance

Ponmen appear similar to white pawns from the game of chess. Their lower body is split in half, giving them legs. The black dot on their head is not only an eyespot, but also a nucleus.

### Personality

Ponmen don't talk. According to Mr. Society, Ponmen are simple beings with no will of their own, as they only attack on the order of the King. However, if they are spared multiple times, they agree to stop the battle, indicating that it may not be completely true. After the King is defeated, Ponmen become free and join the Closet Dark World.

## Main Story

### Chapter 1

As the party travels through the Great Board, Ponmen appear as inanimate statues of pawns. Some of them jump down from pillars and chase the party as they pass by them.

## In Battle

### Attacks

Ponman shoots 1-3 diamond projectiles from its eye-spots, which track the SOUL.

### Strategy

Kris can say goodnight to a Ponman, which puts it to sleep and makes it spareable. Kris can also command Ralsei to sing a lullaby, putting the targeted Ponmen (and Susie) to sleep and making the others tired. A Ponman can also be spared 10 times to make it spareable, and reducing one to 46 HP (a third of its maximum HP) or less makes it tired.

A spareable Ponman stops attacking and their idle animation freezes.

Damaging a Ponman with an attack wakes it up if it was put to sleep by the Goodnight or Lullaby ACTs (and removes the "asleep" status which makes it spareable), but it remains spareable after it is spared 10 times.

### Flavor Text

* *Its nucleus doubles as an eyespot.* **[Check]**
* *Ponman drew near!* **[Encounter with another Ponman or with other Ponmen]**
* *Ponman advances one step at a time.* **[Neutral]**
* *Ponman listens politely, despite having no ears.* **[Neutral]**
* *Ponman seems hypnotized by your idle animation.* **[Neutral]**
* *Ponman gazes enigmatically.* **[Neutral]**
* *Smells like a pawn shop.* **[Neutral]**
* *You whispered goodnight to Ponman. It fell asleep...* **[Goodnight]**
* **[Lullaby, Susie on the team]**
	+ *Ralsei sang a soft and entrancing lullaby!*
	+ *PONMAN fell asleep! SUSIE fell asleep! The enemies became TIRED!*
* **[Lullaby, Susie is not on the team]**
	+ *Ralsei sang a soft and entrancing lullaby!*
	+ *PONMAN fell asleep! The enemies became TIRED!*
* *The enemies became SLEEPY from Ralsei's lullaby!* **[Unused]**
* *You and Ralsei warned Ponman about Susie. The enemy went on guard...* **[Warning]**
	+ *You and Ralsei warned the enemies about Susie. Everyone went on guard.* **[Everyone]**
* *Ponman can't keep its eye open.* **[Tired]**
* *Ponman looks dilated.* **[Low HP]**
* *Ponman is sleeping soundly.* **[Spare conditions met]**

## Trivia

* The Ponmen do not jump from the pillars to attack if Susie has rejoined the party.
	+ This is likely because the Lullaby ACT puts Susie to sleep, and would be counterproductive when she follows commands.
* The dislike of "moving backwards" is a reference to the fact that in chess, pawns cannot move backwards.