Phuny

Phuny as he appears in the promotional material for the game.

Phuny is a hyena who lives in Illusion Village. He's the first creature that Lenin discovers who isn't a lion upon first traveling to the Depression Realm. He is initially friendly to Lenin, but is secretly the first area's major antagonist and represents Panic.

## Description

Phuny is a supposedly young hyena (he may or may not be around Lenin's age but also refers to him as "kiddo", though this does not confirm an age gap) with orange-and-brown fur and gray eyes with the standard black pupils most characters have. He's slightly taller than Lenin and is often depicted sporting a toothy grin full of sharp teeth. He wears no clothes, nor do the other male residents of Illusion Village (this is outright confirmed by Gott).

## Abilities

In his "regular" form, Phuny does not seem to have any particularly special skills. He is strong enough to wield an ax as he cuts down the bridge to Illusion Village, but besides this, no other abilities of his are explicitly present.

## Personality

At first glance, Phuny comes off as slightly eccentric (his sudden laughing fit when speaking about the Cave of Insulation is still puzzling) but is still generally friendly and has a willingness to help. He's also described as having an affinity for plants as displayed by his patch of Hyena-Plants, each of whom he names. However, Phuny can also be aggressive, paranoid, and confrontational, often changing his temper on a whim. It's highly suggested that he suffers from some kind of mental disorder, simply labeled as "personality problems" by Magnolia (the obvious assumption would be Bipolar Disorder but it's never directly said). His motivation in "creating" the Patriarch stems from the pain felt by himself and the other members of Illusion Village after Jonas' wife and children left, believing that if pain and fear surrounded him and him alone the others would be protected. His ideology that contact with the outside world brings suffering causes him to essentially treat the village as his own prison, with the villagers as the prisoners.

## Trivia

* It's been suggested by someone on the games Itch.io page that the mental disorder Phuny suffers from more closely resembles Borderline Disorder as opposed to Bipolar Disorder, but no official response has been given to this.
* Phuny may or may not be the Depression Realm's "version" of Lenin, as both of them have similarly troublesome relationships with their parents. This is supported by the depiction of lions and hyenas as rivals in the wild.
* Despite his affinity for plants, Phuny also seems to have a way with machines as he created the mechanisms that caused poisoned water to be pumped into the lake and cause the toxic rain and most likely built the sirens that dot the village. It's not known *how* they were built, however.
	+ Based on what is later said by a flamingo on Hopeless Island, it's possible that Horace had a hand in their creation but this is never confirmed.
* The house Leeroy was locked into possibly belongs to Phuny considering that:
	+ He had the key to be able to lock Leeroy up in the first place
	+ The house is right next to the Hyena-Plants
	+ The houseplants still intact have been watered with the toxic water- a feature that no other houseplants have in Area 1
	+ There are many signs that the resident of the house may not be in their right mind (The smashed TV, scratches on the floor and table, bizarre books on obedience and not leaving the house)