Inigo Maier

Anna Maier (spouse)

Esme Maier (daughter)

Anthony Fields (brother-in-law)

Yuliang Fields (sister-in-law)

Mei Fields (niece)

Zanhua Fields (nephew)

Deshi Fields (nephew)

Inigo is one of the main protagonists in Murrain. He is employed as a scientist to find a cure for the plague at Sanctuary.

## Background

Inigo was born to Grace and James Maier, a middle-class couple living in the countryside.

When he was 9, Grace announced that she was pregnant again, only to miscarry a few months later. The miscarriage devastated both parents, and James quickly became exceedingly cold and distant to his wife and son.

When Inigo was 10, his parents divorced. Inigo remained with his mother in their old house while James moved out and didn't keep in contact.

Grace developed stomach cancer, and died when Inigo was 14. He moved in with James, who was still cold and distant.

Inigo managed to get a place studying biochemistry at Oxford University, but in his first year his father overdosed on sleeping pills. Though emotionally devastated, he continued his studies. He became best friends with an English student named Alice, who he met through the chess society though they lived in the same college. Inigo developed romantic feelings for Alice, and confessed this to her in their second year, but she turned him down. Regardless, the two were still close friends, though the distance between them widened after Alice finished her degree and eventually they fell out of contact.

Inigo continued studying higher until he was offered the job at Sanctuary.

## Appearance

Inigo is quite pale, with black hair and dark brown eyes. He has quite defined facial features and is typically considered to be very good looking. He has a thin scar on his left shin from where he was stabbed. He is slightly taller than average, and in good physical shape.

## Personality

At Sanctuary, Inigo is often described as cold and unfriendly. He even calls himself as asshole. However, Inigo is actually quite a warm person, and was scared of getting too close and unsure how display his affection. He is quick to get irritated and prone to snapping.

Inigo greatly appreciates intelligence and sometimes envious of Raul's and Anna's greater mental capacity. He is by no means stupid, however, and makes comments on how smart and good looking he is.

He is prone to pessimism however, and this side of him becomes more apparent when he becomes depressed and his self esteem rapidly drops to the point where he genuinely despises himself and who he is, viewing himself as a horrible, unpleasant, selfish person.

## Relationships

### Anna Maier

While at first Inigo and Anna didn't have the most positive relationship, they came to respect each other and each thought of the other as their closest friend in Sanctuary. At some point Inigo developed romantic and sexual feelings for Anna and eventually the two started a sexual relationship. However, both were unsatisfied and started dating. When Anna was shot, Inigo proposed to her (though more out of desperation than love, he was trying to keep her awake and focused on something) and after they moved out of Sanctuary they were married and moved in together. Though at the time Inigo considered them getting engaged a compromise, Inigo never regrets proposing.

Anna is the person Inigo loves the most, he admitted he would even sacrifice his daughter to save her life. As both are quite stubborn they can have bad arguments, nevertheless the two love each other deeply and support the other no matter what. However, ever since Esme's birth Inigo has become increasingly emotionally distant to Anna. He is paranoid and accusing, always worrying about her true feelings towards him and often starts petty arguments to validate his suspicions that Anna is falling out of love with him. After the argument he blames and gets angry at himself, especially when Anna cries, or tries to or actually does leave his company, yet he is unable to stop himself from getting irritated and starting more arguments. He still loves her as much but becomes less affectionate and patient. He refuses to inform her of his depression or talk to her about his feelings, fearing rejection and believing that she would hate and mock him for it. Even though it is clear that Anna is aware that something is wrong with him he stubbornly still tries vainly to make her believe that he is completely fine and that nothing has changed.

Anna only finds out about his depression when she finds his bottle of antidepressants and confronts him. While at first angry, she calms down enough for them to have a discussion and clear up many misconceptions they both had.

### Esme Maier

Inigo's feelings towards Esme are complicated. She loves him unconditionally, as she is still a toddler, but Inigo is always conflicted around her. He loves her unconditionally and loves spending time with her yet struggles with his feelings that his life would be better off without her. He views himself as a bad father and often avoids spending time with her in fear that he will somehow scar Esme for life or ruin any mother/daughter bonding time.

### Raul Hyde

At first Inigo respected Raul at first and found no reason to quarrel with him. However, once it was revealed that Raul would torment Anna and that Raul was in fact involved with the plague his feelings quickly started to sour. This did not stop Inigo taking a job with Raul though, admittedly while still angry from an argument. When they worked together, Raul was often insulting or mocking, and once he knew that Inigo and Anna were dating he became more aggressive to Inigo, causing Inigo's hatred to deepen. Inigo is unable to forgive Raul for the many acts of violence he committed against both himself and Anna, especially Raul shooting Anna and strangling Inigo, and for his attempts to destroy Anna and Inigo's relationship. Though he never said it at the time, Inigo was terrified of Raul and occasionally still has nightmares about him.

After Sanctuary Inigo develops a strange sense of pity for Raul when it is revealed that Lizzie Hyde has been kidnapped when Raul tried to stand up to his father Richard, and it's been revealed how miserable and unwilling Raul was during his time at Sanctuary. When Raul realises that Inigo is suffering from depression the two make an uneasy bond, Inigo even admitting some of his feelings to his former boss.

### Anthony Fields

Inigo and Anthony quickly became good friends when they met, and while they don't see each other often due to them living in different countries, when one of them visits the other they enjoy their time with each other. Anthony is Inigo's second closest friend, beaten only by Anna.

### Zanhua Fields

Zanhua, despite his young age, forms a fixation with Inigo when he meets him that continues when he's older even though the two rarely see each other. Despite Inigo's dislike of children he grows fond of Zanhua, especially Zanhua's easy nature and his lack of crying. Zanhua is Inigo's favourite out of his nephews and nieces. Anna remarks that Inigo is unusually patient and considerate when around Zanhua. At one point, before Esme's conception, Inigo remarks that if did have a child he would want them to be very similar to Zanhua.

### Rachel Darcy

Inigo developed a strong dislike for Rachel due to Rachel's insistent chasing of Inigo. He fiercely defends his relationship with Anna and rejects Rachel's advances and proposals of unfaithfulness. His dislike develops into hatred after Rachel forces him to kiss her, an action which leaves him feeling very guilty. She helps distract Inigo while Raul beats up Anna. When Raul and Inigo are caught watching her beat up a test subject she molests Inigo and threatens to punish him, Inigo only escaping due to Raul.

## Trivia

* His favourite colour is red, to the point where he has a fetish for it. Inigo has only ever been sexually attracted to red-heads.
* His favourite type of food is Chinese.
* The code for his phone is 0406, his birthday.
* When he was a child his favourite food was pasta.
* Inigo has a passion for Sudoku and other similar puzzles.
* His favourite animal is the bat.
* Inigo is incredibly sentimentally attached to a penknife which was given to him by his father.