Lake

**Overview**
Synopsis
Gallery
Quotes

* Book Two
* Book One

Derogatory:
Shatter (Mace)
Sliver (Mace and Sieve; a slur)

**Lake**, formerly **MT (Mirror Tulip)**, is the main protagonist of *Infinity Train* Book Two, and a minor antagonist in Book One. A former denizen of the Chrome Car, she began as the mirror version of Tulip. Being a cracked reflection, a reflection that chooses to pursue their own life instead of reflecting their prime, Lake has developed her own personality. As a reflection, she needs to always be connected to a reflective surface, which Tulip is able to solve by using the metallic side of her Swiss army knife. This allows Lake to stay in the "prime world" without trapping Tulip in the mirror world.

## Appearance

Lake looks very similar to Tulip in the Mirror World, while in the Prime world, she is metallic as the Chrome Car, where she comes from. Her hair, once long, was cut shorter after a narrow escape from the sanders of the mirror agents who threatened to kill her. Unlike Tulip, she doesn’t need glasses to see properly. She also has a portion of Tulip's Swiss-army knife on her arm, allowing her to move freely in the prime world by having the mirror reflect on itself.

In Book Two, Lake makes further changes to her appearance. Upon removing her mirror clothing, she wears a bracelet that she created from a pen chain from the Pencil Bank Car. spray-painting it black to prevent the Flecs from finding her. She also wears grey jeans that stop above her ankles, a black shirt, she ripped off the sleeves and a heart-shaped hole below the torn collar, and brown work boots, the right side is where she hides Tulip's Swiss-army knife mirror inside for safekeeping. She drilled piercings into both of her ears, and by using one of the train car's wheels, shaved off all her hair and a small part of her right eyebrow.

## Personality

Lake tries to distinguish herself as much as possible from her Prime World counterpart. She is at first bitter about having to spend her life reflecting everything Tulip does, and has a dislike of coding (and onions) to completely contrast Tulip's love of them. She’s also much more open about needing help than Tulip is, a trait which she calls out Tulip on. She also finds the Pencil Bank Car incredibly interesting, in contrast to Tulip finding it boring.

It is shown in Book Two that Lake maintains a strong belief that everyone should be free to make their own choices. This is displayed when Lake becomes angry after Jesse tries to come up with a name for Alan Dracula, without his consent.

## Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths

* **Metallic Body** - Like all Mirror People, Lake is near indestructible. She can survive falls and heavy strikes that would be considered fatal to an average human. This also gives her super strength, as she is able to chop and break through thick tree branches with her bare hands and crushed Jesse's phone without much effort. This is due to her body having more mass as a result of being made of metal.

* **Unnatural Weight** - Lake is shown to be extremely heavy, the best example being one of the games she and Jesse play at the carnival in the Lucky Cat Car to reach a combined score of 1000 points. She ends up in a weight game where the heaviest contender is the winner. Jesse is confident they'll win with Lake, they give it a try and the two win, damaging the machine in the process.

* **Basic combat skills** - Despite having no formal training, Lake is somewhat proficient at hand-to-hand combat, a requirement due to her status as a fugitive. This is first seen when she defeats a car full of anthropomorphic rabbits before changing her appearance, then later overpowers two members of The Apex who had been restraining her.

Weaknesses

* **Mirror Dependency** - Like all Mirror People, Lake cannot move freely in the Prime World without a reflective surface. Fortunately, Tulip solves this problem by giving Lake her Swiss-army knife's mirror.

* **Anti-Reflection Weaponry** - The sander-like tonfas used by the flecs can potentially grind her down into nothing. This is first seen when Agent Mace cuts off a large portion of Lake's hair while attempting to kill her.
* **Unnatural Weight** - Aside it being a strength, it does have a downside. She is incapable of floating in water or even swimming due to her metallic body's weight.

## History

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*To read all the appearances of Lake visit the synopsis article.*

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## Relationships

### Tulip

Being Tulip's reflection, they've essentially done everything together. In "The Chrome Car", Tulip discovers that her reflection is alive, and brings her into the prime world. Shortly after escaping the flecs, the two then go their separate ways. Tulip is shown to be very accepting of Lake wanting to be her own person. It is unknown if she will ever meet Lake on Earth, since they are now located and/or inhabited in different states (Lake in Arizona and Tulip in Minnesota).

## Behind the scenes

Lake was not initially introduced with the intention of becoming Book 2's protagonist. When the writing team was given the notice of the show's renewal, they discussed what stories from the first set of 10 episodes they felt were worth expanding on, eventually settling on Lake. An early outline for Book 2 would see Tulip's reflection (not yet Lake) take the role as a villainous protagonist in her quest to gain a number, coming into conflict with a passenger (possibly Jesse) for her actions. This was changed because the writers liked the character too much and felt she deserved to succeed.

### Trans allegory

Viewers of the series have noted several of Lake’s actions fit popular stereotypes among the LGBTQ+ community. One example is the drastic alteration of her clothes and appearance, from as early as "The Chrome Car" when she lets down her hair and more specifically in the opening of "The Black Market Car" when she shaves her head, changes her clothing, and gives herself rudimentary piercings. In LGBTQ+ circles, it is not uncommon for people to experiment with gender expression through drastic changes of appearances, including shaving their heads. Due in part to this, a popular headcanon has emerged suggesting that Lake is herself trans or non-binary.

In terms of canon, Lake does not identify as transgender: she is never explicitly shown rejecting her gender, she does not correct anyone when they use female pronouns to describe her, nor does she choose to change her pronouns—a common (though not compulsory) practice among people who choose to change their gender identity from that assigned at birth. However, viewers have noted several elements of her story very closely parallel the journeys of people in LGBTQ+ circles, particularly trans and non-binary people, leading to speculation her story may be an intentional allegory.

It is worth noting that Lake's change of appearance has more to do with her attempts to disguise herself while on the run. However, it also plays into her attempt to form her own identity independent of her "prime" Tulip, such as taking on an abbreviated variation of her prior identity of "Mirror Tulip" with "M.T." while trying to find a new name for herself. In trans communities, there is often a general aversion to a person’s "deadname" (i.e. the name they were given to reflect their gender identity at birth) and therefore an effort to find a name that they feel suits them more, with some taking on a temporary name while figuring this out. Throughout the season, Lake rejects efforts by the Reflection Police, the Apex, One-One, and even the train itself to ascribe her to the identity and status (a reflection and a denizen) that was given to her upon her creation. Through her adventures with Alan Dracula and Jesse she not only escapes the train but forces it to recognize her as her own person and a passenger deserving of leaving the train—similar to a trans person's fight to have society recognize their identity.

To date, the writers have never explicitly confirmed whether this allegory was intentional, but two key statements given by them point to the possibility.

1. Book Two’s DVD commentary includes a significant amount of discussion on Lake’s storyline, including a number of statements about how the season is about her fighting for her own identity despite the system’s efforts to stop her. Justin Michael explicitly outlines in the commentary for "The Tape Car" that Book Two is about forming your identity against others’ expectations. This is a broad concept that can easily be applied to a vast multitude of stories, including ones about trans identity.
2. The other key statement comes from a (since-deleted) thread by series creator Owen Dennis. In the thread, Dennis addresses the issue of LGBTQ+ representation in animation, namely the struggles animated shows aimed at a family audience have to go through should they wish to portray such themes. In the process of explaining this, Dennis presents a hypothetical scenario (implied to be from experience) of how a writing team will often rely on subtext to portray such representation as they will otherwise be forbidden by the network, or the show will be unable to air in some countries. By not stating it explicitly but instead relying on subtext, he explains, the hope is that "everyone who needs to see it and hear it will be able to access it."

## Trivia

* She is the first ever denizen of the train to get a number, by reflecting it from a passengers hand, and leave the train.
* Owen Dennis once claimed on Twitter that she named herself "Gambit" after the X-Men character.
* The crew occasionally had Lake use swear words in certain parts of the scripts. The crew felt that she would swear naturally. The swearing in the script would then be replaced right before they were sent to the network.
* Lake’s whole solid chromium body is very heavy, but she was lifted up out of the mirror world by Tulip who held her briefly, albeit under the strain of her counterpart’s weight. Later, Jesse Cosay would also have to muster enough strength to safely help Lake down from a tree branch.
* Lake's hair can grow back as confirmed by Madeline Queripel during an AMA.
* Lake is the protagonist who would enjoy eating burnt toast the most. It is uncertain whether she can actually taste food, or if she is more of a texture person.
* Although it’s not known if Lake needs to eat, she often drools while asleep. She can also shed tears, implying that she likely requires water for hydration. However, it is not known how regularly she needs to drink. During her days on the run from the Flecs, Lake most likely only drank water on rare occasions, as it is reflective and capable of being used by the Mirror Police to enter and catch her. When Lake did drink, she would have done so out of a dark non-reflective source or receptacle with very little light.

## Gallery

*Click here to view this page's gallery.*

## Reference

1. ↑ Owen Dennis's Twitter. "So the question becomes, do you try to say the word and risk the show or book not being published or not allowed in certain countries, or do you not use the word but still tell the story with metaphor, and everyone who needs to see it and hear it will be able to access it."
2. ↑ Owen Dennis's tweet.
3. ↑ Owen Dennis response to which character he would allow to say a swear word once without getting in trouble.
4. ↑ "Will or can MT's hair grow back?"
5. ↑ Reddit AMA

Tulip Olsen • One/One-One • Atticus • Jesse Cosay • **Lake/Mirror Tulip** • Alan Dracula • Grace Monroe • Hazel • Tuba • Ryan Akagi • Min-Gi Park • Kez

**Antagonists**
The Cat • Amelia Hughes/The Conductor • Steward • Ghoms • Mirror Police (Agent Sieve • Special Agent Mace) • Marcel • The Apex (Simon Laurent) • Bug Cowboys (Caterpillar Sheriff/Judge Morpho • Beetle Bailiff • Grasshopper • Mantis) • Pig Baby/Pig Toddler • Docent • Morgan

**Minor Characters**
Andy Olsen • Megan Olsen • Mikayla • Mirror People (Mirror Atticus • Mirror One • Mirror Medics) • Giant • Greige • Khaki Bottoms • Nancy • Randall • Pencil People • Tiny Wizards • Mildred the Tyrannosaur • Turtle People (Aloysius) • Alrick Timmens • Ben Greene • Nathan Cosay • Terrance • Sashay • Porters • Lucy • Chandelier • Octopus People • Cubey Denizens (Driveway) • Origami Birds • Parka Denizens • Judge Morpho • Cow Creamer • Nigel • Paco • Brando • Spiceman • Beehive • Morgan