"Disciple"

**Ann**, also known as the **"Disciple"** or the **"Herald"**, is a Difficulty Level 2 Hunter available for purchase after the completion of the prologue. She is one of **28** playable Hunters added to Identity V.

—Ann ("Disciple" Backstory Trailer)

## Appearance

Ann is a slender, bony, and very tall young woman with pale bluish-grey skin, an extremely long neck, and face with haunting eyes, with black sclera and amber irises. She wears a white mask with cracks revealing several bits of bloody flesh and slightly rotting skin. Black markings on her mask streak down from her eyes. Her hair is not visible.

She wears a tattered and torn nun's robe with the left side torn into a slit to show off her emaciated left leg, a matching headpiece with the white cloth across her brow and the black hood obscuring her hair, with the frayed ends sweeping her shoulders, a twine rope with an attached silver key with a yellow crystal embedded in it tied loosely around her waist, and is barefoot. White linen bandages wrap around her neck and left thigh. A scruffy and bony pitch black cat with amber eyes is perched on her shoulder, and she carries a long, sharp, rough-hewn wooden pike in the shape of a cross with the handle wrapped in white linen bandages in her left hand, which is sometimes also stabbed point-first into the ground next to her.

## Gameplay

The "Disciple" is a fairly powerful Hunter who is able to send out her Cat toward Survivors. It can then be split into two, jumping onto any Survivor they come across. When a Cat is on a Survivor, a circular area of effect will appear, which will cause the Survivor to be stunned for a long time if the "Disciple" steps in it. If she chooses to instead call back her Cats, any affected Survivors will be unable to use their tools for a period of time. In addition, she is able to leap towards the Cat closest to her, allowing her to close the distance between an escaping Survivor and herself.

### External Traits & Abilities

Below is a list of "Disciple"'s intrinsic traits and abilities. For more in-depth information, please check the individual pages.

 Shadow Step | *Cat was born in a dark shadow and ignores certain laws of physics. Its body generates an expanding Alert Radius (small) and a Paralysis Area (big) after it splits.*
***Alert Radius**: When a Survivor enters its range, the alerted Cat will refresh its existence time, bite on Survivor's shadow and move with it.*
***Paralysis Area**: When Ann is within her Cat's range, her Cat's power increases and it confines all Survivors in the area for 2.5 seconds.*
 Ability
 Swoop | 0
*Tapping the ability button again enables the Cat to split into two and run in opposite directions. The Cat will split automatically after 5 seconds. After the split, the Cat will exist for 10 seconds.*
 Catwalk | *Ann shares some of her Cat's power through their bond.*
 Guide | 1000
*Ann can now sense where the Cat is and this ability gets 1 additional chances to charge.*

### Character Statistics

Below is a list of "Disciple"'s statistics. To view other Hunters' gameplay data, please view **this article**.

## Change Log

February 27th, 2020
* Nerf: Increased the duration of Herald's weapon retrieval motion when performing regular attack (from 0.467 seconds to 0.777 seconds).
* Adjustment: Shortened the distance in which the voice of "Herald" can be heard during battles.
* Nerf: Wildling will no longer leave the riding state when inflicted with the Confinement effect of Cat.
* Nerf: When Survivors in Stealth mode is inflicted with the Confinement effect of Cat, they will now be taken out of Stealth mode so they won't suffer Terror Shock triggered by Stealth mode.

March 19th, 2020
* Buff: Changed the performance of Cat-possessed Cowboy somersaulting over "Herald" (Cat would originally trigger confinement without affecting Cowboy and disappear; now Cat wouldn't trigger confinement nor disappear).

March 26th, 2020
* Adjustment: Improved the hit detection of Herald's regular attack, charged attack, and attack while holding a balloon.
* Buff: Furthermore, the duration of the attack backswing while holding a balloon is also reduced.

May 28th, 2020
* Buff: Extended the accessible area for "Herald's" Cat when it walks near the tunnel in Golden Cave.
* Buff: Improved "Herald's" attack so that it will not be blocked by the Command Mark when trying to hit Survivors.

December 10th, 2020
* Buff: Tier 0 Ability Swoop Adjustment:
	+ Added a new effect for tapping the ability the third time: Tapping for the third time enables the Cat to expand the Paralysis Area and intimidate Survivors caught within. Intimidated Survivors won't be able to decode, heal, or use items for 10 seconds. The Cat will return to the shadows after the ability is cast, and the ability will enter cooldown.
* Buff: Tier 0 Ability Catwalk Adjustment:
	+ This ability is now rechargeable and can be recovered once every 16 seconds. In the process of a Dash Hit, the player may slightly adjust the direction by turning the camera.
* Buff: Tier 2 Ability Psychic Adjustment:
	+ This ability will now increase the maximum rechargeable limit of Catwalk to 2.
* Buff: Stats Adjustment:
	+ Cat's outline is now visible to Survivors within 40 meters instead of unlimited range.
* Buff: New Mechanics:
	+ Once the command to Intimidate is issued, the Cat will no longer be able to possess or confine Survivors and is also unaffected by the Command Mark.
	+ Survivors who have been Intimidated will go stiff for 1 second, during which they can move but certain actions will be interrupted.

July 14th, 2021
* Nerf: The Herald can no longer imprison survivors passing through a Straight Passage.

March 2nd, 2023
* Adjustment: Shortened the judgement period for holding Herald's Swoop ability.

November 2nd, 2023
* Buff: Decreased the time required to perform Swoop by 0.2 seconds.

January 4th, 2024
* Adjustment: Adjusted "Herald's" Guide ability so that if the "Herald's" Cat returns while "Herald" is charging this ability, it will be interrupted.

## Trivia

* Her backstory seems to be inspired by the Salem witch trials.
* She is the first Hunter to be shown with torn skin and exposed muscles.
* While in the game she is titled as the **"Disciple"** in both the Notebook and the Appearance Decoration menu, Ann is referred to as the **"Herald"** in both official social media posts and announcements.
* She is the only female Hunter who can stun Survivors. The other Hunters who can stun, namely Gamekeeper, "Undead", Wu Chang, The Breaking Wheel, and Hermit are male.
* She is 1 of only 4 characters to be accompanied by an animal in matches alongside Eli Clark, Murro, and Victor Grantz. She was the first and currently only Hunter with an animal companion to be released.
* She will play with her cat and let it leap on her arms if she is idle in a match.
	+ While walking around in a match, she will occasionally mimic the sounds of a cat by meowing and growling.
* Fiona cosplays as Ann in the Halloween 2020 Event (see Guiding Spirit), and carries around a cardboard recreation of Ann's cat, Apostle, as her event-exclusive accessory.
* She and Hermit share the same god as their "savior".
* Ann's cat sometimes replies in her Japanese Twitter Replies.

## Other Languages

 🇺🇸 | English
 español | Español(Spanish) | "Discípula" (Ann)
 🇮🇩 | Bahasa Indonesia
 🇲🇾 | Bahasa Melayu
 🇹🇭 | ภาษาไทย(Thai) | "สาวก" (แอน)
 🇻🇳 | Tiếng Việt(Vietnamese) | "Môn Đồ" (Ann)

## References

1. ↑ Confirmed on the Japanese Edition of Reference Book
2. ↑ In-Game Voice. https://wiki.biligame.com/dwrg/%E2%80%9C%E4%BD%BF%E5%BE%92%E2%80%9D
3. ↑ While "Disciple"'s current career is also a priestess/nun of the Eye of Darkness, the exact career term was never confirmed.
4. ↑ In the 5th Chinese Anniversary character messages, her full name is shown as "琼·安" (Weibo)