Living Doll

**CAUTION!**
**This place has many spoilers!**

## Living Dolls

* Manga
* Anime

## Name

**Living Dolls** (生 (い) き人 (にん) 形 (ぎょう) , *Iki Ningyō*?) are personal servants that are assigned to an individual member of the Shadows House.

## Description

**Living Dolls** are created for the sake of the Shadows House. They are "built" in the image of a human because they have faces that resemble the members of the Shadows House, as their faces can’t be seen, making them hard to distinguish, Living Dolls are their faces' replacement.

Their lifestyles are also very different from their master's, with small rooms that have coffin-like beds. They only have few clothes, a small desk, and papers that are full of instructions and information stuck on the walls. They always eat dry and hard bread that is delivered by Dolls whose faces can't be seen, also known as Faceless Dolls.

## Appearance

A black bow is a common accessory worn by Living Dolls located in places where the Doll’s Shadow Master wears a head accessory. Presumably this is a measure to emphasize that the Doll’s role as it’s Shadow Master’s Face.

### Standard

**Female:** A simple outfit that is worn all the time. It can be put on by covering oneself and fastening a string at the base of the neck. Primarily worn in the Doll's own room, during lessons only for Living Dolls, etc. It consists of a simple dark-blue dress with wide sleeves coming up to the elbows, tightened by a red drawstring at the base of the neck. On the legs are dark-blue socks and white spats worn over short black boots.

**Male:** A simple outfit that is worn all the time. Primarily worn in the Doll's own room, during lessons only for Living Dolls, etc. Consists of a simple white button-up shirt, black breech-style shorts tucked into knee high white and black boots with hook fasteners. Socks are also worn, but they are not visible.

### Maid/Valet

**Maid:** The "standard" outfit, but with the attached cuffs and apron over it. Has large pockets. Primarily worn during cleaning, while doing chores in their Master's room, etc... Consists of the "standard" female outfit with attached button fastened cuffs and a white lacey apron with pink details on pockets.

**Valet:** The "standard" outfit, but with attached collar and a vest worn over it. The sleeves are rolled up to keep them out of the way. Primarily worn during cleaning, while doing chores in the Master's room, etc. Consists of the "standard" male outfit with an attached collar that gathers at the front and a black bowtie, and a dark-green vest with floral pattern.

### Soot Suit

Outfit worn during large-scale cleaning. Consists of a white coat with purple leather collar, belt and cuffs, affixed with fasteners, purple gloves and white boots. The face is covered by a "robin mask", looking like a bird face with goggle-like lenses for eyes, giving a very narrow field of vision. There are three variations of this outfit:

* **Female:** Also contains bloomers to cover the dress and a mobcap.
* **Male:** Also contains overpants and a cap. Their coats are also shorter than the female one.
* **First-Aid Team:** Wears a variation with a red armband and a white nurse headpiece with lace ruffles.

### Portrait

The outfit given to the "face" to wear after the debut. Designed to make the face stand out. Is always worn when outside their room when with their masters.

**Female:** The "standard" outfit, but with an attachable white collar made out of three layers of lace ruffles, fastened by a red string at the base of the neck. The arms and legs are covered by semi-transparent black gloves and stockings, as well as simple black leather shoes.

**Male:** The 'standard' outfit, but with an attached collar made out of two layers of patterned white fabric, fastened by a red string at the base of the neck. The arms and legs are covered by semi-transparent black gloves and tights, as well as simple black leather shoes.

## Rules

* Living Dolls are not allowed to dress in a Shadow's clothing.
* Living Dolls cannot speak freely when they perform as a Shadow's face.
* Living Dolls should not think about unnecessary things.

## Cleaning

Living Dolls are expected to maintain their master's room at all times as it's constantly dirtied by soot emission. After a period of time they'll be called to participate in a grand cleaning, this being their first time outside their rooms. From this point forward their expectations broaden and they will be assigned to a team to work with. If their bodies are too dirtied with soot to clean themselves properly, they use the desooting rooms which uses high powered air to blast away the soot.

### Teams

Teams are groups of typically 4 Living Dolls, one of which a team leader, who supervises the teams work. Team leaders are decided by the Star Bearers and pairs may ascend after proving themselves capable or earning their favor. The position of team leader brings on an array of new responsibilities, such as keeping their members on track with their work and taking part in regular meetings with other leaders and the Star Bearers. Leaders will also be held responsible when their members incompetence come to light. The Shadow of the leader is expected to act as the social leader among the others, chatting with them and catering to them regularly. Although it brings on more responsibilities, it's an honor to be promoted and is a step toward joining the ranks of the Star Bearers.

## Rejoicing Party

*Main Article: Rejoicing Party*
The Rejoicing Party is hosted by the Star Bearers, with Susanna in charge. It's during this time every week that the Living Dolls are served the "coffee". The coffee brainwashes them into loyalty and makes them feel good, hence the name "Rejoicing Party". After the party their inclination to follow the rules increases noticeably, even to the point of disobeying their masters in favor of the House, but eases with time after not drinking it for a while.

## Stages

### School

In reality, Living Dolls are humans that were brought by the Shadow Family from the villages nearby. Serving the nobles is a high honor, for that purpose, children are to attend schools which will teach them the basics like reading, writing, cleaning, and exercising, as well as general noble activities such as dancing and etiquette.

### Selection

Top students in the school are chosen by the principal and are gathered into the Selection in front of renowned nobles to choose the best looking ones to serve the Shadows House. The chosen ones drink a cup of coffee as a signal of approval which is where the brainwashing process starts. Arriving in the manor, they pass some days isolated with Morphs who mimic their habits and continue to be served with coffee to reinforce the brainwashing. When a Morph shapeshifts into one of the humans in the room, they form a pair and goes to the next stage.

### Contact

In order for Shadows to retain their humanlike intelligence after the initial contact as Morphs, they must be in regular contact with their Doll. It's also necessary to keep their physical form from decaying and to keep it consistent with the human they've copied. The goodnight kiss exists for this purpose. Before bed each night, the Living Doll is expected to kiss their master on the cheek before retiring to their room. The real reason for this is never revealed to either of them.

Typically Shadows whose Living Dolls don't practice the goodnight kiss or some other form of contact seem to "die", in that their body hardens and they become unable to move. In Shirley's case, however, after never receiving the goodnight kiss, she 'disintegrated' into soot and failed the debut. It is revealed later she simply reverted into the form of a miniscule Morph, surviving but losing the ability to communicate through speech.

### Debut

During the Debut, a small group (typically 5) Doll-Shadow pairs will be put through a series of trials conducted by an adult to determine whether or not they're in sync, capable of making themselves useful, and deserving of the honor of being full fledged members of the Shadows House. The challenges they face vary as the adult in charge creates their own unique program.

At least one pair is expected to fail every debut. If all of them pass, it bores the third floor Shadows and reflects badly on the adult, resulting in some challenges being specifically geared against a certain pair.

### Fusion

During the process of Fusion, a Shadow merges or takes over the body of the Living Doll, giving their master the ability to shed their Shadow form and appear as a human. The Doll dies in the process.

## Trivia

* Shadows are encouraged to bestow their Doll with a nickname or name similar to their own, although it is not a rule.

* The official English localization differs between Funimation's anime and Yen Press' manga in some terms as well:
	+ Soot Suit is called Soot Coat
	+ Fusion is called Integration

## Gallery

Female StandardMale StandardMaidValetFemale Soot SuitMale Soot SuitFemale PortraitMale Portrait