Elios

* Season 2
* Season 1
* High School
* Child

Mr. Oscar (grandfather)

Ruby Dunsworth (grandmother; deceased)

**Elios Dunsworth** is one of the main characters in My Deepest Secret. He was an acquaintance of Emma Wilson until one year prior to his birthday, when she allegedly murdered him. Since then, he has frequently appeared in Emma's mind as a hallucination, where she deludes herself into believing he is still alive.

## Appearance

Elios has curly white hair, icy blue eyes, and pale skin. He typically sports black-framed glasses and casual attire. During his nightly ventures, Elios wears contact lenses, dark clothing, gloves, and a mask. Elios is considered quite tall and very good looking.

## Personality

Elios was introduced in the series as the loving, overprotective boyfriend of Emma Wilson. He was portrayed to have a sociopathic personality, capable of analyzing others to adjust his behavior accordingly. Though he acted sweet and caring towards Emma, patiently listening to her problems and offering advice and comfort, Elios consistently fed her toxic advice that emotionally isolated her from her peers. He explained that those without value were not worth helping, and should be discarded at the slightest inconvenience. When Emma confronted him on the university field trip, Elios defended his violent tendencies by claiming his actions were born out of love. He explained that he was willing to take any lengths to protect her from those he deemed a threat, including murder. Throughout the series, Elios was depicted to be physically strong, skilled in hand-to-hand combat, and well-versed with utilizing weapons such as bats and knives. He has certain telltale signs that give away his emotions. He tends to cover his mouth when he is uncomfortable, hide his hands when lying, and hold his neck when happy. Due to a difficult past, he holds little value in caring about others that are of no importance to him.

## History

Elios grew up in a town surrounded by the sea. As a child, Elios was very close to his father while he resented his mother for constantly breaking her promises due to her work. However, his father soon passed away in an accident when he was nine-years-old, and Elios grew up taking care of his irresponsible mother. He would frequently get up early before school to make breakfast for himself and his mother, who struggled to wake up in time for work. Neglected as a child and lacking parental love, Elios would find himself envying other children as they spent time with their parents. He suppressed these emotions to avoid burdening his already flighty mother. During this time, he met Emma.

Seeking affection from friends rather family, Elios treated everyone kindly at school and enjoyed the attention that was showered on him by his classmates and teachers. When he was in high school, he learned to observe his high school peers by changing his appearance, mannerisms, and preferences in order to fit in. Though he attempted to accommodate others, he overheard his friends scoffing at how he was a desperate pushover. During a class project, his friends took advantage of his diligence and refused to complete their portion of the assignment. Girls who were charmed by his personality and intelligence became offended and convinced Elios to report this to their teacher. Consequently, the other boys received poor grades and threw glue at his hair in retaliation. Following this incidence, Elios learned to value others less to avoid getting hurt.

## Reality

In Episode 69, it was revealed that Emma met Elios not after moving as she initially believed, but during her childhood. When they grew older, Emma presumably killed Elios in a stabbing incident one year ago on his alleged birthday. Since then, Emma has subconsciously engaged herself in violent activities, donning on a masked disguise and assaulting her peers. Elios had frequently appeared in Emma's mind as a hallucination, where she deluded herself into believing that he was still alive and in a relationship with her. Yohan Lee deduced from her strange, contradictory behavior that she has dissociative identity disorder, a condition formerly known as split personality. A hallucination of Elios then declared that he was a figment of Emma's imagination and no longer existed in this world. He explained that she destroyed what was once a good life that he led, and created an alternate personality of him due to the unresolved guilt she suffered from his untimely death.

In the third season, Elios lost his father who passed away in an accident when he was nine-years-old, leaving him to take care of his mother in his father's stead. Due to being unintentionally neglected by his mother, Elios became desperate for attention by treating his classmates at school kindly and doing well with his studies. One day, while out in the playground, he witnessed Emma being pushed to the ground by two female students. His friends laughed at this sight, claiming how freaky Emma is and Elios decides not to associate himself with the bullied Emma, fearing that he will lose his "friends" if he does. However, when one of his friends makes a snarky comment about Emma's parents and her upbringing, he has a change of heart. This prompts Elios to rush over and help Emma up which shocks everyone. He soon regrets this when he overhears his "friends" claiming that they will stop hanging out with him if he continues helping Emma or even becomes friends with her. Afterwards, he deliberately ignored Emma in order to protect his reputation. It was not until high school when he gradually began to realise that all the "friends" he had throughout his life were *never* genuine. He soon began to resent everyone around him (and mostly himself) to the point of contemplating suicide until he remembered that he still had his mother who cared for him. Elios then randomly remembers the bullied Emma and begins to regret ignoring her because of his selfishness back then. He wonders if he and Emma would have become good friends if he had continued to help her.

His thoughts are interrupted when he spots a girl with long blonde hair that is similar to Emma's. Thinking she might be Emma, Elios hastily approaches the woman who turns out to be Farah. He apologises to Farah for mistaking her for someone else, but she brushes it aside and hands him a flyer about a cafe that is about to open. Wanting to know Farah, Elios requests her to let him work at the cafe. He gradually began to admire Farah when he learned that she built and designed the cafe herself. He began to develop feelings for her when Farah accepted and encouraged him to be true to himself. They eventually started dating each other despite the misgivings of the other female customers who were crushing on him. When Farah got injured by Emma, he rushed to the hospital where she told him that she wanted to break up. Elios tried to reaffirm his feelings for her, but Farah lashed out by confessing how insecure and self-conscious she was when she was by his side. This caused Elios to relent and he told Farah to text him when she's ready to talk. It was then when he bumped into Emma who confessed her feelings for him, but he turned her down because of his love for Farah. When Emma insulted Farah out of jealousy, Elios angrily told her off and ordered her to stay away from him, claiming that he *hates* superficial people like her.

A conversation with his mother that evening caused Elios to realise that Farah is in danger. This prompted him to dash to the hospital, fearing that Emma might try to harm Farah because of what he said to her. Upon arriving at the hospital, he was shocked to find no sign of Farah and her roommate informs him that she had snuck out to meet him by the lake. He then dashes to the lake (where he and Farah visited during their last date) and he finds Emma lunging at Farah with her knife. Elios manages to shove Farah out of the way, causing Emma to accidentally stab him. As he bled out, he told Farah to run away, but desperate to save him, Farah administered basic first aid and told Emma to help her stop the bleeding while she went to get help. After Farah left, Elios tells Emma that he just realised that she is George Brenton's daughter. He asks her what she was trying to tell him when they met as kids, and she quietly replies that she just wanted to wish him a 'Happy Birthday' back then. Hearing this, Elios tells Emma that he can't even hate her now as he falls limp.

In Episode 101, it is revealed that Elios had actually survived his stab wound. It was thanks to Farah who managed to flag down a driver who happened to be a doctor. After he recovered from his stab wound, he and Farah rekindled their relationship and continued working together at the cafe which expanded into a successful business. At some point, he was appointed the cafe's manager. Yohan visited him at the cafe to learn about his acquaintance with Emma. When Yohan asked him why he did not report Emma to the police, Elios replied that he pitied Emma and also felt guilty. When he regained his consciousness, he had heard that she had moved cities and thought that he should probably give her another chance. The episode then ends with Elios introducing himself to Yohan as "Elios Dunsworth", marking the start of his and Yohan's friendship.

## Reception

The release of episodes 68 and 69 sparked a wave of controversy over social media platforms as readers from all around the world expressed their opinions on the series's portrayal of Disassociative Identity Disorder (DID). Hanza Art released an official statement on their Instagram account, reminding readers that the series is a fictional work that takes creative liberties with plot points and does not necessarily depict scientifically-accurate disorders.

## Quotes

* *"This is all karma my dear. I had a great life. I was happy. But you ruined all of it."* - Episode 69
* "*Now that... I know who you are... I can't even hate you...*" - Episode 85
* *"Elios Dunsworth, nice to meet you."* - Episode 101

## Trivia

* The name "Elios" is derived from the Greek god of sun, *Helios*. It can also mean "he who loves."
* His zodiac sign is Scorpio.
* His favorite color is black.
* He is generally picky about food.
	+ He does not like sweets.
* His favorite food is stew.
* His favorite pet is a dog.
	+ He has a dog called Gabi.
* In Episode 101, Elios' surname is revealed to be 'Dunsworth'. This makes him the grandson of Mr. Oscar and his wife, Ruby Dunsworth.
* Hanza Art's favorite expression to draw of Elios is when he wears a cold expression
* Conversation between @my\_deepest\_secret\_wiki, the official wiki Instagram account, and Hanza Art confirmed that Elios is 20 years old.
* According to a Q&A that Hanza Art conducted on Instagram Story on August 19, 2020, Elios's favorite food is his mother's chicken stew, and his favorite drink at work is an Americano.
* Hanza Art referenced Chase Holfelder's cover of The Police's "Every Breath You Take" as a song that reminds them of Elios.
* Hanza Art revealed that they felt bad for Emma's ignorance and subsequently refrained from drawing a kiss between her and Elios.
* Hanza Art stated that they used their younger brother as a reference for the panel of Elios's dead body in Episode 69.

## List of Appearances

* Episode 1
* Episode 2
* Episode 3
* Episode 4
* Episode 5
* Episode 7
* Episode 8
* Episode 10 (flashback)
* Episode 11
* Episode 12
* Episode 13 (flashback)
* Episode 14
* Episode 15 (flashback)
* Episode 16
* Episode 17
* Episode 18
* Episode 19
* Episode 20
* Episode 21
* Episode 22
* Episode 23
* Episode 24
* Episode 26
* Episode 27
* Episode 28
* Episode 30
* Episode 31
* Episode 32 (flashback)
* Episode 37
* Episode 38
* Episode 40
* Episode 41 (flashback)
* Episode 43 (mentioned)
* Episode 52 (mentioned)
* Episode 58 (flashback)
* Episode 60 (mentioned)
* Episode 61
* Episode 62
* Episode 63
* Episode 65 (mentioned)
* Episode 66 (mentioned)
* Episode 69

## References

1. ↑ Episode 38
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 File:Character ages.jpg
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Episode 39
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Episode 69
5. ↑ Episode 65
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Episode 4
7. ↑ Episode 26
8. ↑ Episode 23
9. ↑ Episode 31
10. ↑ Wikipedia - Disassociative Identity Disorder
11. ↑ Hanza Instagram
12. ↑ 04.03.2020 Instagram Story - @HANZA\_STUDIO
13. ↑ 08.20.2020 Instagram Story - @HANZA\_STUDIO
14. ↑ My Deepest Secret Discord; File:Elios song.jpg
15. ↑ Discord
16. ↑ File:Kiss.jpg
17. ↑ File:IG Elios Death.jpg