Carl

Carl from the Schadenfreude MV

**Carl** (シャーロ, *Sharo*[?]) is an original character by Guchiry and the main protagonist of the song *Schadenfreude*.

He is a ghost who befriends people with a misfortunate life, haunting them until they eventually commit suicide. Carl's identity is currently unknown which makes him an unidentified entity who made watching people suffer be his hobby.

## Appearance

Carl is a ghost with the appearance of an upper grade elementary school kid with bright purple eyes and choppy pink hair. He wears a long purple sailor-styled collar, black shortalls, and a white undershirt that has three purple buttons. He wears below-knee level purple socks with purple bands connecting them, and black penny loafers.

His appearances can change such as in *Vanish* where he looks more dark purple, however the main components of his outfit are the same.

## Personality

Carl is a sadistic ghost who enjoys turning his favorite people into his friends, who are ghosts. He seeks enjoyment from people being miserable to the point, they eventually commit suicide while he grins as they do so. He's shown to be pessimistic about the world, calling it 'unfair' and 'unforgiving' whilst also finding it amusing at the same time. Carl knows that his actions are wrong but doesn't care about the potential consequences of it, remarking that he will go to hell for his wrongdoings.

## Relationships

### Michiko Ame

Carl and Michiko first interacted in Rainy Girl with Carl meeting her and hugging her then inviting her to the Midnight Ball. Carl is curious about Michiko and wants to know what her expression would look like if she became even more unhappy. He would stalk her and watch her, interested what she would do next, whispering to her then disappearing abruptly. Despite this, Michiko seems to trust Carl and viewed him as a friend while the same can't be said for Carl as he sees her as entertainment for her misery.

### Luchika

Carl appears outside's Luchika house at night tempting him to follow him and making him spiral further, leading to his death. It's assumed afterwards that Luchika becomes a ghost with Carl afterwards.

### Shou

Shou's ghost follow Carl around after he was invited to the Midnight Ball, possibly by Carl. They seem to have no direct connection.

## Etymology

**Carl** is a North Germanic male name meaning "free man".

## Story

Carl follows and watches many victims of unfortunate situations or lives with him enticing them to commit suicide to see their misery and to keep them around as ghosts.

In Rainy Girl, Carl appears behind Michiko to hug her only to disappear and for her to start choking. Later in the MV, Carl appears near the end of Michiko's walk through the city to the alleyway with Michiko smiling to reach for Carl for him to disappear again and leaving her to fall on the ground as he smiles at this situation.

In his song, Schadenfreude, Michiko's story is told from his perspective. It's shown that Carl has been watching Michiko and her situation the entire time while smiling at how unfortunate she is, indulging in her misery. He observes her at the ticket station and her at the escalator tripping over with him only helping her to see how she begs for help. At the end of Schandenfreude, he dances with Michiko and later remarks that there is no god and fate.

## Trivia

* Carl at some point meets Crowley and Astraea, possibly at the Midnight Ball.
* His name in Japanese is spelled as “シャーロ” and pronounced as “*Sharo*”, so technically his name is Sharo, not Carl. However, Hima and Guchiry decided to call him Carl making it his official name.

## References

1. ↑ https://twitter.com/bomless\_race2/status/1602955499955433472
"シャーロの素性は不明です。概念のようなものです。/Carl's identity is unknown. It's like a concept."
2. ↑ https://bomless-race-characters.localinfo.jp/posts/48670887
"正体不明の存在。 人の苦しむ姿を見るのが趣味。/An unidentified being. His hobby is watching people suffer."
3. ↑ https://twitter.com/bomless\_race2/status/1602960505546866688
"シャーロは小学校高学年くらいの高さかな/Carl is probably about the height of an upper grade elementary school student."
4. ↑ https://twitter.com/bomless\_race/status/1449711160731701253
"それぞれの話にも繋がることなんですが、シャーロは不幸な人間が大好きで、お気に入りを仲間にしようとする傾向があります 仲間=幽霊、つまり…ということです 彼らは所謂シャーロの犠牲者な訳ですが、果たしてそれが今の彼らにとって不幸だったのか救いだったのか…まぁ、それぞれでしょうね/This is related to each story, but Carl loves unhappy people and tends to try to make friends with his favorite people. Friends = ghosts, that is... They are the so-called victims of Carl, but I wonder if it was a misfortune or a relief for them now...well, to each their own."
5. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl\_(name)
"Carl is a North Germanic male name meaning "free man"."
6. ↑ https://twitter.com/bomless\_race2/status/1602958268707770370
"どうでしょうね…。 でも、アストレアはクローリィたちと一緒にシャーロに会うことになります。/I wonder….

However, Astraea ends up meeting Carl with Crowley and the others."
7. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20211018022721/https://bomless-race.theblog.me/posts/8230818
"ナル と ニル は双子の幽霊で、クローリィになついています。 真夜中の舞踏会場で一悶着逢った時についてきました。（細かいことは後日）/Naru and Niru are twin ghosts who are attached to Crowley. They followed him when we met at a ballroom in the middle of the night. (Details will be discussed later)"