Anton Petrov

A teenager of short stature, with shaggy snow-white hair, eyebrows, and eyelashes. He also has green eyes. He wears round-framed glasses, without which he has very poor vision. He most often wears a white school shirt, a black vest, and black trousers, along with dark winter sneakers. Outside, he wears a warm gray hooded jacket, black gloves, and a striped hat with the word "Sport" written in circles. During certain elections, he will wear an amulet given to him by Polina under the collar of his shirt.

A quiet and shy child, he likely became so after Boris Petrov and his mother began constantly arguing and fighting. Before the move, he was apparently more outgoing and relaxed because he had friends, although he apparently wasn't treated very well at his previous school. He was very timid, but in critical moments, such as during the shootout with Semyon, he could be decisive and humiliate the bully.

Of all the people around him, he's most attached to his younger sister, Olya, for whom he does everything to please and not upset the girl. He loves his parents just as much, and his father is even a role model for him. However, the boy is deeply saddened by the fact that they are at odds with each other at the time of the knife fight, and believes he's partly to blame—after all, their first fight was when Anton didn't get what he wanted for his birthday, and he was very upset about it. At his new school, he falls in love for the first time—his classmate, Polina, for whom he's able to overcome his fears and try to protect her in desperate situations.

Anton draws well and has a rich, even overly so, imagination. He's intelligent and well-read, which allows him to express himself quite eloquently for his age. He mostly reads encyclopedias, children's detective stories, and adventure books. He enjoys various robot cartoons and listens to Russian rock and pop. He dreams of visiting Disneyland. He loves New Year's and everything associated with it, even the smells.

However, deep within the boy lurks a deep disappointment in those around him and certain depressive and misanthropic tendencies. With a prolonged series of failures (Depends), all of this will come to the surface, causing Anton to become increasingly embittered and cynical toward everyone around him. Even Polina, who is kind to the boy, is then seen by the hero as a two-faced and unpleasant person who treats him like a cripple, while everyone else (except, perhaps, Olya) becomes heartless or evil in his eyes, who, at best, simply don't care about him and his condition. In this scenario, the boy will eventually become embittered against the entire world, and Anton's personality will be completely consumed by his animal nature, becoming inhuman, cowardly, and worthless.

Furthermore, Anton, although it might not seem so at first glance, suffers from some kind of mental disorder, presumably schizophrenia. This disorder causes seizures during which Anton is plagued by hallucinations or, conversely, memory lapses, causing him to forget events and his own actions. To alleviate these seizures and dull Anton's consciousness, his parents give him special pills that make him drowsy and weaken his remaining strength. However, overuse of the medication runs the risk of Anton slipping into a coma, allowing his alternate personality to take control.

As it turns out in the fifth episode, a Demon Eater parasite resides within the boy. Through this parasite, the boy is the host of the spirit of Zaychik, which Anton perceives as his inner voice or second personality. Anton simultaneously fears this voice and sometimes agrees with it, which will only worsen if he experiences prolonged hardship.

Before the events of the novel, Anton lived in the city and went to school. It is hinted that his peers did not treat the boy very well and probably humiliated him, although he had friends. It is known that for a long time he dreamed of going to Disneyland, that even his parents promised to buy the whole family tickets there. However, on one of his birthdays, when Anton was most looking forward to these tickets, his father and mother bought him a regular Tetris, which greatly upset the boy. It was on this day that the parents had their first fight, from that moment on they gradually began to want to get a divorce. When Anton turned twelve, his parents, hiding from their ill-wishers, moved with him and his sister Olya to an unnamed village, where they settled in the house of their late grandmother.

One winter day, Anton, while having breakfast with his sister, after her story about a huge and scary Owl that she saw outside the window of her room, thinks about the fact that Olya is scared for a reason, because that night he also saw, as it seemed to him, strange things in his dream Animals dancing outside his window. Anton is distracted from these thoughts by police officers who enter their new home. It turns out they were looking for a recently missing boy, Vova Matyukhin, so they ask Anton if he'd seen him, to which he denies. After this incident, the protagonist is inspired to help find Vova, to collect the reward and make his family happy. Despite his mother's orders, Anton sneaks out and begins his investigation, during which he finds the missing boy's mitten at the edge of the forest. It is at this very moment that he begins to suspect the power of the forest and its inhabitants. After taking the pills his mother regularly gives him, Anton decided to watch cartoons with Olya so as not to upset her. Suddenly, while trying to find a suitable tape for the TV, something strange happens: amidst the white noise, an image of a gloomy, dark winter forest appears on the screen, exactly like the one in Anton's window. After adjusting the TV settings (Depends), a report about a girl's disappearance in the taiga forest appears. The interesting and simultaneously eerie report prompted Anton to grab the first tape he could find and record the rest of the program onto it.

Katya Smirnova - appearance:

Katya is a slender girl, 155 centimeters tall. She's quite attractive, studious, and impeccably dressed. Her light-brown hair is braided, and her eyes are green. However, while she looks quite attractive, Katya's facial expression has a hint of a viper's demeanor, emphasized by her protruding fangs and sly gaze.

Katya's outfit includes a neat black sundress with a white skirt underneath, a white long-sleeved shirt, white stockings, and black strappy shoes. She wears stud earrings, and her hair is tied with a strawberry-shaped elastic band. Outside, Katya wears a purple jacket with a fur hood, white gloves, a white scarf, a knitted hat with earflaps, three pom-poms, and a flower bouquet brooch.

Personality/Character: Katya is a typical example of a malicious and vengeful beast who does not shy away from gossip and pitting other people against each other. Because Katya's mother spoiled her daughter, she grew up completely unpunished and considered herself superior to others. She feeds on the resentment and grief of others, often snitching, and with a sadistic glee, enjoys watching her victims suffer. At the same time, she has authority in the class, being the class monitor and the daughter of the homeroom teacher, so Katya has many friends with whom she gossips and discusses rumors, and no one dares confront her openly. Katya maintains a peculiar partnership with Roma Pyatifanov's gang and never misses an opportunity to help them bully the latest "lucky one," then watching them suffer, although it later turns out that Roma and his friend Byasha are also targets of her gossip.

The comic "Love, Death, and Strawberries" shows that Katya can fall in love, but she will deny it to the very end and hide it with her unpleasant character and actions, even if she subsequently feels shame and grief. Only when she finds herself in mortal danger does Katya give in to her emotions, begging for help and regretting that she never confessed her feelings to Anton.

In Anton's dream, Katya appears as a hyperbolic version of her true self, causing the boy to lose his temper and attack her, humiliating him and his family in front of his classmates. Even when Anton stops beating her, Katya calls him "off his rocker," and her face displays signs of total madness, malicious pleasure, and glee at the protagonist's moral destruction.

Polina Morozova - appearance:

Polina is a slender and beautiful girl. Her hair is long, black, and straight, and her eyes are a deep blue. She usually has a cheerful, gentle expression and a welcoming smile. Polina is distinguished by her refined, elegant gestures and smells pleasantly of blackberries.

At school, she usually wears a white shirt with a black vest and a light blue tie, a skirt, strappy shoes, and stud earrings. Outside, Polina wears a brown belted coat with six rows of buttons, black fur-trimmed boots, knitted turquoise mittens with a rope pattern on her hands, and a turquoise hat with a pompom on top. She often carries a violin in a black case.

Polina Morozova - character/personality:

Polina is a quiet, gentle girl. She's an orphan and doesn't even remember her parents, but according to her official description, Polina decided to follow in her mother's footsteps, and her grandfather, who was the first to notice his granddaughter's musical talent, supported this endeavor by hiring her a tutor. As a result, the girl plays the violin very well.

Being the "village's first violin," Polina is in many ways like that instrument—she is sensitive and gentle, reminiscent of a member of the aristocracy or intelligentsia. Polina is intelligent and polite, treating others with kindness and patience, and skillfully choosing her words for dialogue. She also has a touch of mischief: she often jokes and flirts coquettishly with Anton. Polina is independent of other people's opinions and does not bend to alien morals, even at the risk of being alone. She spends all recesses the same way Anton does: staying in class to look out the window or to draw in her notebook. In times of danger, she's ready to stand up for herself and her loved ones: when she and Anton encountered bullies in the forest (Depends), she does everything in her power to protect the boy. In such cases, Polina usually relies on her intuition and intimate knowledge of people, trying to verbally appeal to their fears and weaknesses to completely demoralize the bully. This can be seen very clearly when, in the fourth episode, the girl used this skill to send Roma and Byasha into a psychological knockout (Depends). She's not above physical combat either: when Anton and Roma tried to put on a show for Polina, she unhesitatingly hit Petrov in the face with a violin case.

Polina Morozova - Character/Personality:

Polina is a big fan of various musical genres, especially classical music. Her favorite composers are Franz Schubert and Robert Schumann. She inherited her grandfather's love and interest in local folklore. Her favorite holidays are her birthday, and her favorite cartoons are "The Bremen Town Musicians" and "Sailor Moon." According to the character description on the novel's official website, she enjoys watching horror films on VHS.

The girl's greatest dream is to see the world. Apparently, she's never left her home village in her entire life. Polina feels very lonely and depressed in this remote place, whose "voice" "rustles and creaks like a gramophone needle," but she has no one but her grandfather, so she doesn't leave. Nevertheless, she never abandons her dream of visiting "cities with musical names," and most of all, she dreams of visiting Vienna. She feeds her curiosity by reading "Around the World" magazines in the library and mentally transporting herself to other places while playing the violin. When Anton mentions that he once visited Moscow, Polina reacts very vividly and joyfully, which only confirms her desire to reach the "big world."

But despite all of the above, Polina also has psychological problems. Firstly, due to what happened to her grandfather, who was paralyzed for life after being attacked by a pack of rabid mongrels, Polina developed a severe cynophobia (an uncontrollable fear of dogs). She experiences an aversion to dogs, to the point of nausea at the sight of them, hatred, and even sadistic tendencies: when Roma Pyatifan kicks the defenseless dog Zhulka so hard that she flies into a snowdrift, a satisfied smile involuntarily appears on the girl's face, but it quickly disappears as soon as she realizes the inappropriateness of her reaction.

Polina Morozova - Character/Personality:

Polina seems to understand that she is doing wrong when she does this, and in the third episode she apologizes to Anton for this smile, explaining that she is unable to control herself in such situations, but would never just harm a living being (Depends).

Secondly, in the fourth episode, Polina has a hysterical breakdown. When Anton is about to leave her house (Depends), Polina suddenly breaks down, starts crying and punching the sofa, begging the boy to take her away from this horrible village, even threatening to commit suicide, as she simply can't stand living there. Apparently, the girl is hiding a secret from Anton that is weighing heavily on her, and because of this, she wants to leave the village by any means necessary and never return, seeing Anton as the perfect opportunity to do so.

Polina's true background is revealed in the fifth episode and the prequel comic, "Stolen Childhood." It is revealed that Polina is the host of a Demon Eater parasite, through which Alice has inhabited the girl. The Fox spirit is capable of taking control of the girl under extreme stress or in her sleep, likely preventing Polina from remembering what she does under the control of the forest creature. In this state, Polina actively helps her grandfather replenish the ranks of the forest dwellers, carrying out all his orders. However, the girl seems to be aware of what is happening to her, and this is precisely the reason for her behavioral instability. At the same time, unlike Anton and Zaychik, the subpersonalities of Polina and Alisa seem to openly hate each other, which is why the parasite can provoke Polina to behave inappropriately in order to spoil her in the eyes of others, and if he gets the upper hand over her, he will completely destroy her as a person, replacing her with Alisa.

Semyon Baburin - appearance:

Semyon is a boy of average height, with short-cropped red hair and gray eyes. He is a very fat, even obese, pimply teenager with bitten nails and rotten teeth. Semyon wears a two-pocket shirt, jeans, and black quilted boots, and wears a signet ring with a geometric pattern on the ring finger of his left hand.

On the street, Semyon wears a black mink hat with earflaps, a warm dark brown sheepskin coat and a beige scarf.

Semyon Baburin - Personality/Character:

Semyon is a bully who belonged to a gang of thugs in sixth-grade class, where he served as the "brute force." He lives with his grandmother; nothing is known about his parents. He transferred to Anton's school not long ago, but has already earned himself a reputation as a troublemaker.

According to Polina, Semyon's grandmother told her that before he transferred to another school, the boy had a completely different personality. It seems he was severely bullied at his old school for being overweight and not standing up for himself, which made him bitter toward everyone around him. So, after transferring to the new school, he decided to treat people the same way they treated him at his old school. He became so aggressive and cruel that even older students, not to mention his classmates, began to fear him. Semyon isn't above cruelty to animals, hooliganism, and violence, and he himself is quite a vile and despicable character. However, he is also quite weak psychologically, and when faced with failure, he quickly gives up and loses control of the situation, becoming uncontrollable and hysterical like a wounded animal.

The saddest thing for him is that, despite his status, he's essentially little less of an outcast in class than Anton. Semyon has no real friends, everyone hates and fears him, and the bullies only befriend him until he embarrasses himself, and they can exert psychological pressure on him if they feel like it. When Anton fights back in the second episode in front of Roma and Byasha, they quickly realize their friend has lost his nerve and switch sides. Only when Semyon starts fighting in a way they consider unmanly do the boys beat up their former friend, who flees the scene in tears.

Roma Pyatifanov - appearance:

Roma is a boy with short dark brown hair, large lips, and sharp, coarse features, leading him to be compared to a small predatory animal. He is physically well-developed, and regular boxing has left calluses on his palms. Roma also has bruised knuckles. He is said to have strong, sharp teeth and dirty nails.

Roma usually dresses in a blue three-stripe tracksuit, consisting of a turtleneck sweatshirt and pants, and wears blunt-toed boots.

In the comics "Bunny. Romka and Byasha Against Everyone!" and "Bunny. Stolen Childhood," Roma wears a black tracksuit jacket similar to the one he wears in the novella, but without the thick stripes and "Abidas" lettering, paired with black shorts. He has several bandages on his feet, which are clad in striped sneakers, and on his nose.

Roma Pyatifanov - character/personality:

Roma is the main bully in 6th grade, a strict rule-breaker who doesn't shy away from bullying the weak. Due to pedagogical neglect and adult indifference, Roma is in many ways like a wild animal. He likely understands the hopelessness of his situation in a forgotten village where child abductions regularly occur, and this largely contributes to his marginal lifestyle. The only thing known about his family is that his father fought in Dashti-Margo, fulfilling his International Duty, as Roma himself acknowledges. Apparently, he deeply respects his father, and the topic of war is serious enough for the boy to punish those who would use it for blackmail. Roma easily recognizes the lie that Anton's father fought in the war and threatens to seriously injure his classmate for such a statement. It later emerges that Roma's father served time in prison.

Roma respects those who stand up for themselves and despises those who act underhandedly, considering it a form of stealth. If Anton humiliates Semyon twice, it impresses Roma, and he develops a new respect for the boy: when Semyon steals Anton's glasses, an enraged Roma, along with Byasha, attacks his former friend, demanding the return of the "lenses." After this, Roma quickly changes his mind about Anton, walks him home, and later even begins to see him as a friend. It's unclear whether Roma has any friends besides Byasha and Anton. He's also in love with his classmate Polina and wants to win her heart. Roma's description on the official website states that he's adored by his classmates, but this isn't evident in the game—Polina prefers Anton, and Katya shows no interest in Roma, seeing him as just another object for gossip.

At the same time, Roma is known for his cruelty and instability. Other gang members, including Semyon and even Byasha, fear him, and he himself provokes and insults the guys—especially Baburin, whom Roma dismissively calls "sheep" and "fat."

Roma Pyatifanov - character/personality:

Later, if Morozova openly tells Roma that Anton is better than him, Pyatifanov will go mad with jealousy and the realization of his own worthlessness, and when Anton returns home after visiting Polina, Roma will attempt to kill his classmate. The same thing will happen if Anton betrays his new friend by telling Polina about the plan to stage Roma's "performance" in front of her. In this case, Roma successfully kills his former friend, seeing him as a "traitor," for which he will later be arrested.

Roma is a professional butterfly knife maker, a smoker, and collects inserts with Byasha. From his questionnaire in Polina's notebook, we learn that Roma's favorite musician is Shafutinsky, his favorite holiday is February 23rd, that he loves to go for walks, considers Stallone Schwarzenegger his hero, dreams of buying a Boomer, his favorite cartoon is DuckTales, and that his best friend is Byasha. When asked about his fears, he doesn't answer, instead writing, "Don't trust, don't be afraid, don't ask."

It's worth noting that he made three grammatical errors in his application: he misspelled the last name "Shufutinsky," missed a letter in the word "February," and misspelled Stallone's last name—though he later crossed it out and wrote "Schwarzenegger." If Anton befriends Roma, he'll learn that he and Byasha were fascinated by black magic, and one day, on the advice of an old eccentric, he went to the Black Garage, where he and Byasha were supposed to knock so that an unknown force would "take all the children to a better world."

Romka hates the police and contemptuously calls them "cops." He himself has been brought to the police station several times for vandalism and theft. Despite this, Romka may develop some respect for Lieutenant Tikhonov in the future, judging by Roma's voiceovers.

Igor "Byasha" Budaev - appearance:

Byasha is a boy of Asian appearance with slanted eyes (he is of Buryat ethnicity). He has shaved sides and thick black bangs. As a result of an accident, Byasha is missing two central upper incisors, which causes him to lisp.

At school, the boy wears a lemon-yellow knit sweater with a dark turquoise collar, cuffs, and stripes. The word "Tear Boyz" is embroidered in the center of the sweater, along with jeans and fur-lined boots.

On the street, Byasha wears a purple The North Fake jacket with a hood[5].

In the comics "Bunny. Romka and Byasha against everyone!" and "Bunny. Stolen Childhood," Byasha wears a simple white T-shirt, dark pants with the right leg rolled up, and flip-flops.

Igor "Byasha" Budaev - personality/character:

Byasha is a brazen and impudent little troublemaker, a joker, and Roma's closest friend. Byasha doesn't always understand hints and isn't as insightful as his friend, but he also lacks Roma's cruelty. According to Byasha's character description, he usually resorts to goading and verbal abuse of the victim, and is incapable of much without his best friend, quickly losing his former confidence when conflict escalates. Despite this, Byasha rarely initiates arguments, mostly being led by Roma. It's quite possible he views his lifestyle more as a game and doesn't fully understand the seriousness of his actions.

Byasha is one of the lucky few who survived their encounter with the Black Garage. The incident left a deep mark on him, and Byasha never brings it up himself, panicking at any mention of it. The very existence of this mysterious structure frightens Byasha more than the possibility of a serial killer operating in the village: if Anton mentions the Black Garage as being behind the children's disappearances, Byasha will interrupt in a panic and point to the activities of a local maniac (Depends).

Byasha's psychological trauma, in addition to his panicky fear of the Garage, also manifests itself in the fact that at certain moments he begins bleating like a sheep. It's unclear whether the trigger is severe stress or memories of what he saw in the Garage. According to Roma, this behavior only developed after the Black Garage incident and hadn't been observed before.

Byasha smokes and collects earbuds with Roma. He's a keen camper and spent a week camping in the woods during the summer. In the third episode, it's revealed that Byasha enjoys pyrography: he uses a soldering iron to burn wood and once gave his mother a tulip he'd burned onto a cutting board for her birthday.

Liliya Pavlovna - appearance/character:

Liliya Pavlovna is a stern-looking woman of forty to fifty years old. Her dark, medium-length hair is tied in a bun at the nape of her neck. She wears fox-eye or fox-shaped glasses and amber earrings, and dresses in a jacket and skirt.

When out and about, Liliya Pavlovna wears a long fur coat with a fur collar, a knitted beret, and black high-heeled boots. According to her missing person poster in "A Perfect Day," she also carries a bag with a floral print: Dark hair, knitted hat, long fur coat, bag with a floral print, amber earrings, black high-heeled boots.

Lilia Pavlovna is a serious and strict homeroom teacher of the old school. During a conversation with Anton in a dead-end street near the locker room, Polina compared her to a "military march." The teacher is quite strict with her students, and has a touch of irritability. At the same time, she is fair, trying to stop bullying and squabbles between children at school as soon as she sees them. Her fairness, however, does not extend to her daughter Katya, whom she loves and spoils dearly.

Olya Petrova - appearance:

Olya looks like an ordinary preschool-aged girl. Her hair is very light and tied into two ponytails that hang down to her shoulders, and her eyes are green.

Olya dresses in a pink hooded sweater with an embroidered bunny head on the pocket, black tights and pink house slippers.

On the street, Olya wears a long dark purple coat with six buttons, a knitted lilac hat with blue ties, decorated with a golden brooch in the shape of a bunny, a green scarf, blue mittens with snowflakes embroidered on them, black pants and boots with zippers in the front.

Olya Petrova - character/appearance:

Olya's behavior varies depending on the situation. She's usually quite shy and quiet, but when something amuses or interests her, she lights up like a bright sun and doesn't calm down until she loses interest. She loves spending time with her brother and needs his support and attention. She's quite timid, especially when something scary happens in the house, like the appearance of an owl outside her window. She calms down when she watches a cartoon with the curtains closed. She loves books and cartoons about princesses (her tapes include "The Little Mermaid" and "Aladdin") and sometimes compares herself to them. Overall, Olya is a very ordinary child, trapped in her home in the terrifying, inhospitable taiga.

Starting with the third episode, it becomes clear that, due to spending daily time with her mother, who often snaps at her husband, Olya gradually adopts her mother's personality, becoming more irritable. Furthermore, her parents' constant bickering has a very depressing effect on her, leading her to admit by the end of the next episode that she no longer wants to live like this and dreams of Neverland, where there's always a party and no one will ever hurt anyone.

Karina Petrova - appearance/character:

Karina is an attractive, slender woman in her 30s or 40s, with dark hair, medium height, and green eyes. She wears a dark dress with a low neckline, sometimes over which she wears a white apron with flowers. She also wears earrings and a necklace.

On the street, Karina wears a black ankle-length fur coat, a large fur hat and black high-heeled boots.

Karina was previously described as a cheerful and gentle woman, sympathetic and loving. During the game, her character has changed dramatically. She is a strict, picky mother who doesn't get along with her husband and can sometimes be a bit indifferent. Despite this, she remains a loving mother and cares for her children, protecting them from harm, and her divorce from her husband is not yet imminent.

As revealed in the third episode of the novella, Karina suffers from epileptic seizures, causing her to convulse and foam at the mouth. These seizures were previously very rare, but after moving to the village, they became more frequent due to frequent arguments with her husband. Another trigger for the seizures was witnessing someone die before Karina's eyes, such as someone being hit by a bus or her mother killing a chicken.

Boris Petrov - appearance/character:

Boris Petrov is a stately, rugged man. He has dark hair, a short crop, and a beard. Gray hairs are visible at his temples. He has a keen, sensitive gaze. He wears a white shirt, a dark sweater, and trousers. Outside, he usually wears a button-down winter jacket and a fur hat.

Steadfast, serious, and courageous. He never loses his nerve in difficult times, but has recently grown weary of family and everyday problems. However, the father also has a dark side: even before the events of the novella, he wasn't above collaborating with bandits, likely believing he was doing so for his family.

Despite Boris's calm nature, from the third episode onward, he becomes increasingly nervous due to his time in the village. When Boris had another argument with his wife, she suffered an epileptic seizure. Although he helped her, he laughed hysterically beforehand, and then burst into tears.

Anton's grandmother - appearance/character:

An elderly woman with a plain appearance. She is dressed simply and wears a headscarf. Her pupils are cloudy, which may indicate cataracts. She also has a small amount of light-colored hair growing on her chin.

According to Anton, his grandmother was kind and affectionate, and never argued or fought with anyone.

Story - Before the story begins, the grandmother taught her grandson a spell against evil spirits:

"On the island of Buyan, in the blue ocean, there stands a coffin, in it lies lard and clay, gray hair—food for the devils, but God's servant [Name] will never be touched. The demons will forget the way home. The dead to the dead, the living to the living." Anton first utters this spell in the first episode, upon noticing the forest creatures. He repeats the last line a second time when meeting the Master of the Forest in the second episode. He utters the spell a third time in Chapter 5, during the crucifixion, summoning the Archangel, who incinerates the beasts and saves Anton and Polina, later erasing their memories. One day, Anton overheard his parents' conversation and learned that his grandmother had made arrangements for her funeral in advance. She'd bought herself a coffin and affectionately called it "little coffin." The coffin had stood in the closet all this time, black and lined with the color of meat—Anton later saw this during his grandmother's funeral. After his grandmother's death, the house remained just as it had been when she died, only all the photographs had been put away somewhere. At the beginning of the first episode, Anton, bending over to pick up a dropped spoon, notices the name "Karina" scratched into the countertop with something sharp. He guesses his mother must have left this inscription when she was a child. Anton imagined his grandmother entering his little mother's bedroom, sitting on the edge of the bed where Olya now sleeps, and telling her in a soft, ingratiating voice: "The taiga is a special place, my dear. It watches you closely, sniffs you. It's as if it wants to understand what kind of animal you are. If it likes you, it won't abandon you in trouble. And if you're naughty, it'll grab you by the side and drag you underground. And that's the end of it."

Alice - appearance:

At first glance, Alisa appears to be a humanoid, resembling a teenage girl, roughly Anton's height, with bright amber eyes and long eyelashes. She wears a red-orange fur coat with large, voluminous white fur panels that cover her wrists and the edges of her hood. The low hem of the coat also conceals her feet, clad in black pimas. Alisa also wears dark leather gloves and a distinctive fox mask, which Anton initially believes is made of papier-mâché.

The Fox's monstrous appearance, revealed in Episode Four, is a tall, bony beast with a twisted, toothy fox-like face, where a single left eye glimmers brightly. Alice's muzzle is fringed with enormous appendages reminiscent of insect legs, her fur coat is covered in blood, revealing bloody wounds, her hands become unusually large, and the clawed fingers stretch out like driftwood. Instead of a fluffy tail, a peeling club with visible vertebrae protrudes from behind the monster's back, ending in a thickening with several sharp spikes.

Beyond this appearance, under certain choices, the Fox assumes an even more chthonic form, completely losing any anthropomorphic features. Her body elongates, taking on the appearance of a gigantic insect, its skin peeling off, leaving only scraps. Protrusions resembling the paws of a gigantic insect cover the entire upper half of the Fox, and her distorted face takes on the appearance of a gigantic bat, with an elongated mouth and two glowing eyes. A long tongue, reminiscent of a large black centipede, constantly protrudes from the Fox's mouth.

In the fifth episode, it is revealed that Polina was hiding behind Alice's mask.

Alice - character/personality:

As Alice, the Fox has a vibrant and explosive personality. When interacting with the protagonist, Alice displays a wide range of emotions and reactions, ranging from flirting, smirks, and giggles to manipulation, nasty jibes, feigned/real insults, and sudden seriousness, which, however, almost always turns out to be another joke. Overall, Alice behaves like a truly otherworldly eccentric who, despite her constant silly jokes, knows a lot about the forest and its inhabitants. Alice clearly harbors many secrets and is likely not who Anton thinks she is, a fact only fueled by the fact that foxes are traditionally considered symbols of cunning in folklore.

Despite her mysteriousness and strange nature, Alisa is indistinguishable from an ordinary playful girl and displays a human side. For example, she knows some Russian proverbs ("You're clever, but we're cleverer!"), traditions (New Year and related things), jokes, and songs from the 90s ("Hey, Macarena!"). Alisa is apparently kind to animals, feeding her mongrel dog Zhulka, who constantly hangs around the fox, and is also a fan of various outdoor games, candy, New Year's, and New Year's paraphernalia like fireworks, firecrackers, and citrus fruits, as hinted at by her constant festive scent.

The Petrov family moves to a village, where children soon begin disappearing. Olya sees strange creatures, and Anton is hunted and encounters a forest that hides a terrible secret.