— Tiny Bunny (RP!!)

Anton and Olya's Cottage: A two-story wooden house on the outskirts of the village, right at the edge of a creepy forest. The atmosphere inside is always tense due to the parents' arguments. Key points: a gloomy hallway with a crucifix above the door, Anton's room with a window where someone peers in at night, and Olya's cozy room. Polina's House: An old grandfather's house. Inside, it's clean and smells of wood and violin rosin. Her strict grandfather, Khariton, lives there with his faithful Caucasian Shepherd named Zhulka. Roma Pyatifanov's House: A typical village hut. Inside, the atmosphere is uneasy, reflecting his difficult family life. Katya Smirnova's House: A relatively wealthy house by the standards of the village, where Katya lives with her strict mother. 🏫 Public Spaces: School No. 70: An old two-story brick building. A place where teenage cruelty, bullying by Pyatifanov and Semyon, and the strict supervision of teacher Lilia Pavlovna flourish. It smells of bleach, old books, and fear.

Black Garage: A true urban legend of the village. An old, abandoned garage, covered in rust and oil, mysteriously appears in various places. Children believe it lures and "devours" people. Olshanka River (Smorodina in the English version): A frozen river covered in a thick layer of ice. Local children use it as a dangerous shortcut. In the game's folklore, it serves as a metaphorical border between the world of the living and the world of the dead (forest spirits). 🌲 Mystical Zones Taiga Forest: A huge, endless, and vibrant forest surrounds the village on all sides. In winter, it is bound by a deathly cold. It is here that the Master of the Forest and his animal retinue (Alice, Wolf Cub, Little Bear, and Owl) dwell. At the edge of the forest, a notice board is installed, on which new flyers about missing children are constantly posted.

A bitter, overweight boy who enjoys bullying the weak. When he can't bully children, he takes sadistic pleasure in tormenting stray animals. He doesn't practice proper hygiene, yet he eats a lot of flour and sweets, thanks to his overprotective grandmother. He transferred from another school a year ago, leaving behind some personal secret.

Semyon is a thirteen-year-old boy of average height, with cropped red hair and gray eyes. He is very fat, even obese, and has pimples, 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 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 he's already earned 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 unable to stand up for himself, which left him embittered. So, after transferring to the new school, he decided to treat people the same way they had 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 in and loses control of the situation, becoming uncontrollable and hysterical like a wounded animal.

The saddest thing for him is that in class, despite his status, he is essentially only slightly less of an outcast than Anton.

Semyon has no real friends; those around him hate and fear him, and the bullies only befriend him until he embarrasses himself, using psychological pressure whenever they feel like it. When Anton fights him 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 comrade, who flees the scene in tears.

The Guardians are made of unknown matter and fire, which constantly flows, seethes, and exists in all states of aggregation at the same time.

The Guardians' first appearance, as already mentioned, corresponds to biblical descriptions of the Seraphim: in this form, they appear as a shapeless, glowing sphere with an eyeball at the center. This sphere is surrounded by six enormous white feathered wings, each bearing numerous eyeballs. The Archangel hovers above the ground and constantly vibrates, emitting a light that ignites everything around it. The eyes on its body vary in shape and size, some with slit pupils resembling those of a goat. Numerous mouths constantly appear and open all over the creature's body, uttering prayer-like words and chants in a multitude of unknown languages.

The second image of the Guardians features a wide, white-toothed smile and a slightly upturned nose, with the upper half of their face hidden by a crown of feathers. The Guardian is a female figure dressed in a plain dress, and six wings sprout from their back, each with a multitude of eyes, framing their shoulders, arms, and legs.

During prayer, Anton sees the Guardians as a multitude of sparkling spheres, which then transform into eyes and stare at him. This force is often associated with fire or has a fiery appearance, something Anton also noted.

The Guardians are described as a cold, indifferent, and ancient force, "the embodiment of loneliness and despair." Anton, speaking of the celestial powers in the plural, notes that they are neither good nor evil, but nevertheless help people fight demons. Although the Guardians protect people and this world, they rarely pay attention to it, preferring to intervene only when their creation is threatened by an immediate, cosmic danger. Anton himself had to pray several times to attract the attention of the Higher Powers, and only then did they finally decide to take action. The Guardians also left behind several artifacts to communicate with them, one of which is a relic enclosed inside a cross hanging in Anton's mother's family home. Furthermore, all peoples of the world have had rituals and incantations to summon entities that protect people from evil. All of this likely indicates that they had some degree of concern for their world, at least in the sense of preventing its destruction. However, they also didn't constantly monitor the world and could have simply missed the intrusion of dangerous creatures into its domain.

The presence of the Guardians strikes fear into the hearts of their creations: Anton described his feelings upon contact with them as a sense of all-consuming dread, overwhelming his will and thought. This entity is the only thing the forest creatures truly fear, as it is capable of truly destroying them. It could also be said that the Guardians are cruel, as they dealt with the werewolves rather painfully and demanded that Anton and Polina execute Byasha by burning him alive. However, God is also fair and somewhat merciful: he grants Anton and the other participants in the events in the village oblivion if Anton calls upon him for help in one ending. In another, the Guardians make a deal with Polina and Anton, promising to erase their memories and give them a chance to live in peace if they fulfill his will.

In another, the Guardians make a deal with Polina and Anton, promising to erase their memories and give them a chance to live in peace if they fulfill his will, and he actually fulfills his part of the deal when the heroes destroy the last of the forest creatures.

Overall, the Guardians are a largely alien being/beings, devoid of any human morality, who enforce their will by any means necessary, regardless of cruelty. While retaining some responsibility for the world they created, the Guardians nonetheless disdain humans as such, allowing them to harm each other and the world in which they exist. This God is infinitely distant from his world, existing on another plane of existence.

They acknowledged the comparison of God/the Guardians to someone like a beekeeper: to him, people are insects, worker bees who live and toil in their hives, but about whom he has no personal concern. However, when parasites infiltrate the hive, and provided he pays attention, the beekeeper intervenes to eradicate them.

Harelip is a middle-aged man, tall and powerfully built, with close-cropped dark hair and an indifferent gaze. He has a bandage on the bridge of his nose, and a distinctive scar on his upper lip, which is the source of his nickname in the village. He dresses like a typical gangster: a thick leather jacket, with a gold chain visible at the open collar. He wears winter boots and gloves. He holds a dark briefcase in his right hand. He also carries a large cell phone, a "brick" designed for contacting his superiors. He is often seen smoking.

To carry out his orders, he may use a pistol with a silencer, duct tape, and a butcher's cleaver, which he uses to torture his victims to extract information. He refers to all of these devices as "tools," in his own way.

This man doesn't adhere to the principle of "the weak must be protected." He would kill even a child without hesitation (which is where he differs greatly from his "colleagues" in the organized crime group).

That's why he often criticizes his boss for telling him not to kill Boris's children (Olya and Anton).

Although he's an immoral freak, he surprisingly believes in God. While killing, he even mentally recites prayers (knowing them by heart), thinking it will wash away his sins.

A Russian language and literature teacher. Anton's homeroom teacher. A domineering and strict woman, but in her own way, a fair one. She keeps a tight rein on the class, disciplines hooligans and bullies, but turns a blind eye to Katya's antics (since she's her mother).

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.

Lilia Pavlovna is a serious and strict homeroom teacher of the old school. Polina even compared her to a "military march." She 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.

He loves his children, Anton and Olya, very much. But due to constant arguments with Karina, he can sometimes lose his temper with them, for which he ultimately blames himself. Before moving, he worked as an accountant or a banker, but when he lost his job, he became withdrawn and irritable. At the same time, family has always come first for him (no matter what).

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 is dressed in a white shirt, a dark sweater, and trousers.

Steadfast, serious, and courageous. He never loses his nerve in difficult times, but has recently grown weary of family and everyday problems. However, my father also has a dark side: even before moving to the village, he wasn't above collaborating with gangsters, likely believing he was doing it for his family. However, at some point, he likely realized he couldn't continue like this and decided to leave the criminal world, prioritizing his family and loved ones.

A wrinkled, dark-haired man dressed in a dark jacket, white shirt, and tie. It's impossible to see the director's full face, as it's hidden in shadow. He wears a wristwatch on his left hand.

He is a very strict and unfair person, willing to punish students for simple pranks. It seems he finds it easier to trust adults and children with a high reputation than ordinary schoolchildren, even if the latter have done nothing wrong.

She was nicknamed the "Devil's Bride" by the locals, as she was encountered by the Master of the Forest, but was not killed by him.

An old homeless woman with a face "marred by life and alcohol." She is dressed in rags and wears an old headscarf. She speaks mockingly, with a rustic accent ("I don't remember right away," "enta/entot").

Baba Tamara is a person who has descended to a bestial lifestyle, disdained by the Master of the Forest. Baba Tamara abuses alcohol, smokes, and frequently uses foul language and various obscene expressions in her speech, not hesitating in front of reporters and journalists.

A pretty six-year-old girl with a round face, large light blue eyes, and long dark hair. It is mentioned that Senya has a burn scar on her left arm.

In the photograph, Senya is wearing a light-colored T-shirt and holding a white mug of tea (photo taken at Tikhonov's station). The missing persons report states that on the day of her disappearance, Senya was wearing a brown nylon jacket, a gray scarf, and mittens.

A ten-year-old green-eyed boy with short-cropped blond hair and protruding ears.

In the photograph, Vova is wearing a school uniform, which consists of a white shirt and vest. The missing person's notice states that on the day of his disappearance, Vova was wearing an orange hooded jacket, a black knitted hat, a scarf, and gray mittens with green stripes.

Khariton is a balding, gray-haired old man with a long beard and metal crowns on his teeth. His small eyes are cunning and thoughtful. He wears a plaid shirt, black pants, and slippers.

After being attacked by a pack of mongrels, he began using a wheelchair. However, despite this, Khariton actually has no physical injuries, and his belief that he is paralyzed from the waist down is a result of the fear he felt when the pack of dogs attacked him.

Polina says her grandfather is interested in the region's history and knows a lot about local folklore. Polina speaks fondly of her grandfather and is grateful to him for raising her as his own daughter.

In the fourth episode, Khariton, upon meeting Anton, appears as a polite but eccentric old man. From the very first moment, he begins telling him various facts and old stories, frequently changing the subject, putting the boy in an awkward position. Soon, another side of the old man emerges: he turns out to be a sinister, strange man whose motives arouse a vague apprehension in Anton. Ignoring Polina's hysteria, Khariton becomes capricious when Anton refuses to stay in their house, and then, in a state of delirium, shouts seemingly meaningless words after him.

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.

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

The Bunny appears as a tall, slender woman with sharp claws instead of nails, dressed in a long white fur coat made of hare skins and high, tight-fitting boots. The Bunny hides her face behind a black carnival hare mask.

The creature's true appearance differs only in its upper part: the hare mask transforms into a bestial head, which, in addition to two empty eye sockets, has two small glowing eyes beneath them; the long ears begin to stick out in different directions, and in place of the hare's muzzle, a wide, toothy mouth appears.

Zayka's personality shares some similarities with her host's, having been shaped by years of cohabitation with Karina. However, at her core, Zayka is a vicious, ruthless, and primitive creature. Like other werewolves, she is interested in the shared mission of her fellow werewolves to devour everything and everyone, as well as in completing the "moon bite" ritual, which involves eating her loved ones to consolidate her animal power. In most cases, Zayka will do this without hesitation, completely rejecting her humanity.

However, in some cases (Depends), Bunny may doubt the pack's plans and herself, suggesting that Bunny is not displacing Karina's personality, but merging with it. As shown in several endings, despite her cruelty, Bunny loves her children, Anton and Olya, and instead of killing them, she will offer them to come with her to hide where no one will harm them again. When Anton or Olya are frightened by the masked monster, not recognizing it as their mother, Bunny will suddenly burst into tears and, upset by the children's refusal to be with her, will walk away. However, in other endings, Bunny completely displaces Karina's personality, ultimately killing her own children, who then become mere receptacles for parts of the Hare parasite, which must be absorbed to reunite this entity into a single whole.

Zayka is loyal to the Master of the Forest and does not oppose him when Kostya launches his rebellion to claim the title of Pack leader. However, Zayka takes no active part in the battle, neither defending her master nor assisting his servants in the fight against the rebels. In the "Taiga Nightmare" ending, she at one point attempts to attack the wounded Master and eat him, but he manages to divert Zayka's attention to completing the "Bite the Moon" ritual. All this may suggest that the monster is, in some sense, indifferent to the fate of the Master of the Forest, and that her priorities are her own survival and the protection of the children.

Media: Karina Petrova.

However, because the previous generation of the Pack had become too powerful, the Master of the Forest decided to get rid of them, enlisting the help of Zayka and Kostya. After they started a fire that destroyed all their brethren, Kozyo took Kostya and Zayka's masks, allowing them to leave and live in the human world. After the birth of their children, Karina's parasite split between her, Anton, and Olya, triggering the emergence of the Zayka personality in Anton. The presence of the parasite in Karina's body explains many of her strange behaviors, including their intensification after she returned to her home village.

Anton and Olya's mother. Once the most compassionate and loving person, she now lives in constant stress and anger due to the move. When Anton's family lived in the big city, Karina was a housewife and loved winter sports: skating, skiing, even ice diving strengthened her character and enhanced her beauty. Now, daily arguments with her husband have driven her to nervous breakdowns, as if the real Karina had been replaced and hidden somewhere in the taiga forest...

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.

In some of the fifth episode's storylines, it is revealed that Karina is a carrier of the Hare parasite from a previous generation, possessing a second personality known as Zaika. Thirty years before the events of the game, six-year-old Karina was infected with the Eaters' parasite, becoming a member of their Pack. However, due to the previous generation of the Pack becoming too powerful,

Konstantin Vladimirovich Tikhonov (Kostya) is a senior police lieutenant and local police officer. He and other officers from the station where he works are investigating the case of missing children from the village.

A middle-aged man of athletic build, dressed in a police uniform, a fur hat, and combat boots. His hair is short and black, his eyes are brown, and his gaze is tired but heavy, piercing.

After questioning him about Vova's disappearance, Tikhonov displays a more normal side, asking how the Petrov family is doing in their new home and whether anyone is bothering them. He also muses aloud about how Anton resembles his nephew, who dreams of enrolling in police academy and helping people. Anton himself remarks that it feels like he's standing before a distant relative.

Kostya's appearance is entirely based on Tikhonov's: even when the cardboard mask turns into a beast's face, Kostya still remains dressed in his police uniform.

Like the other forest creatures, Kostik's head in his beast form is disfigured by numerous scars and marks, the most prominent of which is his deformed right eye, full of bubbling substance.

Kostik is described as the Master of the Forest's "most devoted dog," but it soon becomes clear that his loyalty lies not with his master personally, but with his Pack. He accuses the Master of the Forest himself of murdering his fellow dogs and dispersing the old Pack, as well as of betrayal, since the destruction of his mask forced Kostik to languish in the "meat cage" all these years.

Like the other forest creatures, Kostya hears a "whisper" that tells him the Master of the Forest is too weak to leap to the moon, and therefore the "hungry beasts" need a new leader. Kostya's wolf howl possesses a similar power to the Goat's bone flute, and Wolfchik and Alice, who had resisted the flute's melody, respond to the risen one's howl and join the battle against the other beasts.

Carrier: Lieutenant Tikhonov.

The "Forest Creatures" are ordinary people (and animals) living in the village, whose bodies contain an insectoid parasite that links the infected victim to one of six Devourers - demons from the icy hell.

The six Devourers—Goat, Fox, Bear, Wolf, Owl, and Hare—being creatures from another world, they cannot directly interact with the rest of the human world outside the Black Garage (which is a portal to their dimension). However, they can infect a person who finds themselves in the Black Garage with one of the parasites, turning the infected person into their doll. Each Devourer can have several active dolls in the human world at once, but under certain circumstances, the dolls can change their patrons. This ability has one significant drawback: the Devourers can only fully control children, mentally weak adults, or small animals. As a result of the Moon Bite Ritual, the doll that performed it, having completely rejected its humanity and offered a human sacrifice to the pack, becomes the avatar of its Devourer and completely infuses its consciousness. If the ritual is performed by the dolls of all six Devourers, the avatars gain sufficient power to fully enter our world and begin the destruction of the entire earthly world and outer space.

Dolls can possess their own consciousness, distinct from that of the victim or devourer. A parasite contained within a human brain can normally only influence the victim's consciousness, sending visions, as well as visual and auditory hallucinations (including the ability to communicate with its host). Under certain circumstances, when the host's will and consciousness are weakened—most often this occurs when donning a beast mask—the parasite can take control of the host's body, simultaneously imbuing the body with special abilities, the most important of which is metamorphosis—the ability to transform the host's body, assuming one of many forms. The parasite possesses all of its host's memories.

A parasite possesses all the memories of its host, but the host itself typically has no knowledge or memory of what the parasite did while in control. Parasites obey the will of their devourers, which they hear as whispers in their heads. Goat Dolls wield power over the Pack and are capable of dictating their will through sonic signals—usually produced by a bone flute, though under certain circumstances, other sounds can also possess power.[3] Parasites, possessing mystical powers, cannot be detected by medical examination, and traces of their presence are attributed by doctors to psychoneurological illnesses such as schizophrenia or epilepsy.

The Forest Master and his minions are closely tied to the village's folklore, which includes the tale of the huntsman, the legend of the origin of the counting rhyme, and tales of the Black Garage. People have little understanding of the true nature and purpose of the "forest creatures," who manifest their existence once a generation through their incessant attempts to perform the "moon bite" ritual, resulting in multiple deaths. However, local priests possess a relic that summons a celestial protector capable of engaging the dolls and destroying them. However, as shown in some endings, even he is unable to detect and destroy the parasites unless they reveal their true form, hiding within their hosts. The only way to reliably eliminate the Devourers is to destroy the Black Garage, thereby severing the link between dimensions and cutting off the demons' only means of influencing the mundane world.

Each forest creature has multiple appearances and forms. All of these forms are interconnected, and each is used for specific actions by both the parasite and the devourer.

Types: The parasites that infest humans and animals take the form of insects resembling large, monstrous moths. Upon entry, they resemble large white caterpillars, but once inside, they quickly develop into a winged form. The "moths" reside in the human brain, but in certain situations, they can migrate throughout the body, such as if the host is injured. Also, if the host is no longer useful to the parasite or the devourer, the moth can escape by punching a hole in the skull and flying out. Typically, in this case, the parasite is absorbed by another host, and their personalities and memories merge.

Besides ordinary moths, there is another type of parasite, similar to locusts or grasshoppers. The Devourers implant these parasites in ordinary animals, which, as they develop, take complete control of the host, gradually consuming its entrails and growing in size. These "locusts" serve forest creatures as scouts and lowly servants, designed to monitor candidates for joining the main Flock and lure other victims to it. It remains unclear how exactly the Flock members interact with these animal parasites, whether they can see their surroundings through their eyes or whether the servants simply provide them with information. If the host dies, the locusts leave the corpse, crawl out, and attack people. However, despite their menacing appearance, these parasites are quite vulnerable and can be killed with a well-aimed axe blow, as happened with the locust.

This form is intermediate between human and monstrous. When disguised, the beasts transform into humans, with faces replaced by muzzles resembling old-fashioned papier-mâché carnival masks. All masks are flexible, and their facial expressions can change, like the beast's face. The superpower of jumping high seems to be inherent in this form. Also, in this form, each child wears specific clothing that complements their mask. The Fox wears a light red fur coat, the Wolf wears a dark blue caftan with fur inserts, the Bear wears dark brown overalls without buttons, the Bunny wears a dark gray jacket, the Hare wears a white fur coat made of hare skins, and the Master of the Forest wears an old dark cassock with a fur collar. The only thing that stands out is Sovushka's clothing - her costume is more reminiscent of real bird plumage with wings.

Like the other animals, the Bear's mask is seemingly devoid of facial expressions, resembling more a costume piece than a true animal face. Through the eye slits on the Bear's mask, only unwavering blackness is visible. Another striking feature of the creature is its twisted, grinning mouth, complete with human teeth and gums. The corners of the Bear's "eyes" are drooping downwards, giving it a melancholic, slightly sad appearance, although they can widen when it ceases to be sleepy. He has a swollen belly, suggesting excess weight, and a bandaged left hand, which he claims "hurts." Bear is dressed in buttonless wool overalls, boots, and a single mitten on his right hand.

The appearance of the forest monster, Teddybear, is revealed along with the other beasts in the fourth episode. Of all the werewolves, he has perhaps the most grotesque, terrifying, and disproportionate appearance. The mask on Teddybear's face transforms into a real bear's head, with a crooked mouth and a palisade of sharp teeth. White maggots crawl from his nostrils and watery eyes, which stare at everything with a deathly gaze. His left hand becomes a disproportionately huge paw, resembling a dinosaur's with enormous claws, and his jumpsuit bursts in many places, thick tentacles protruding in all directions. Every millimeter of Teddybear's flesh oozes scarlet ichor.

The appearance of the forest monster, Teddy Bear, is revealed along with the other beasts in the fourth episode. Of all the werewolves, he has perhaps the most grotesque, terrifying, and disproportionate appearance. The mask on Teddy Bear's face transforms into a real bear's head, with a crooked mouth and a palisade of sharp teeth. White maggots crawl out of his nostrils and watery eyes, which stare at everything with a dead gaze. His left hand becomes a disproportionately huge paw, resembling a dinosaur's with enormous claws, and his jumpsuit bursts in many places, with scaly appendages protruding out in all directions.

The left hand becomes a disproportionately huge paw, resembling a dinosaur's with enormous claws, and the jumpsuit bursts in many places, thick tentacles protruding from it in all directions. Every millimeter of the Teddy Bear's flesh oozes scarlet ichor.

The demonic form of the Teddy Bear, which can be seen during certain choices in this same episode, is even more alien and unimaginable in appearance. In this form, the Teddy Bear appears as a massive, enormous monster, reminiscent of a giant shrew. Unlike the forest monster's appearance, its arms are the same size, but its head is far more terrifying—instead, a deformed skull protrudes from the Teddy Bear's body, from which grows a cluster of thick tentacles, also protruding from its entire upper body. Where the eye sockets should be, gaping black holes appear, and its drooping mouth reveals a grin of enormous, human-like teeth.

In the guise of a child wearing a mask, Bear, like the other animals, is friendly toward Anton and claims he won't let anyone hurt the boy. However, Bear often shirks his duties, a reference to the fact that bears hibernate in winter, and comes across as lazy, such as when he claims there's no point in digging through the snow to find Anton if others can do it for him.

The monstrous nature of Medvezhutka is revealed when the animals shed their childlike appearance, which is nothing more than a disguise. Like the other servants of the Master of the Forest, Medvezhutka is an extremely cruel monster, obsessed with feeding on human flesh, expressing a desire to personally disembowel Olya before Anton's eyes and force-feed him her sister's remains. He mutually hates his fellow creatures and is even willing to fight them to the death for the right to partake of the "treat."

Media: Semyon Baburin.

Unlike the other animals, Owl has few anthropomorphic features, resembling a giant owl more than a human. Like ordinary birds, Owl has a pair of wings and thick feathers, though it's unknown whether these are genuine or merely part of a costume, as Owl wears pants and boots. Her face wears an owl mask, with slits in the pupils for her eyes. Owl is significantly shorter than the other characters and the shortest of the animals. She speaks with a deep, distorted voice, accompanied by owl-like hooting.

In its monstrous form, the Owl, like the other beasts, is a terrifying monster, virtually devoid of human features. Its feathers stretch out, forming distinctive "ears" on its head, like an eagle owl's, slanted and whitish like those of a blind person. Its eyes ooze mucus, and its elongated beak sprouts a multitude of razor-sharp teeth. From beneath the feathers all over the Owl's body, huge larvae and worms crawl over the monster. In place of arms, it sprouts true wings, tipped with bat-like claws, and its feet transform into three-toed bird-like feet, ending in large talons.

The owl also appears in another, far more terrifying form. It grows taller than a full-grown human, its build becoming much more massive. The creature's face and appearance in this form are more reminiscent of a bat than a bird, a fact emphasized by the lack of normal plumage on its body. Its enormous, toothed beak is very wide-slit, reminiscent of a nightjar's beak, its slanted eyes emanate malice, and the feathers on its head, eyebrows, and ears point upward, resembling demonic horns.

In the guise of a child wearing a mask, Owl acts childishly naive and seems genuinely surprised to learn that Alice can "read like a human"—presumably, Owl doesn't have the skills to read or write. Despite this, Owl is not without cunning: possessing the ability to mimic other people and imitate their voices, she sometimes skillfully uses this to her advantage. Owl, like the other animals, is friendly toward Anton, speaking kindly to him, promising that no one will hurt him again, and even returning his glasses that Semyon stole.

Her monstrous nature can be seen from the fourth episode onward. Like the other servants of the Master of the Forest, Owl is an extremely cruel creature, obsessed with feeding on human flesh, hating all her "friends," and willing to tear them apart for the next "treat." It's also worth noting that Owl particularly singles out Olya among her victims, wanting to eat her herself rather than give her to the other animals. Owl is more brazen than the other animals when they humiliate Anton, but she also seems the most cowardly of the group, as even Anton, using Zaychik's voice, managed to frighten her with a threat.

Carrier: Most likely Igor Budaev.

The Lord of the Forest is a mysterious creature terrorizing the village. One of the two main antagonists (along with Zaychik), he is a child abductor. He lives in the forest, and the other animals obey him. He is the leader of all destructive, dark, chthonic forces.

The Master of the Forest appears as a huge anthropomorphic goat, whose size and appearance can change. His goatish head is crowned with two curved horns, and his eyes glow like bright points across his silhouette. Instead of front hooves, the Master of the Forest has bony hands with long fingers ending in sharp claws. Smelling of animal urine and wet fur, the Master of the Forest's body is hidden beneath a tattered cloak with a hood and fur collar, revealing boots beneath the hem. A rope is wrapped around the Master of the Forest's neck, from which hangs a small bell, and human bones hang from his belt. In his mind, Anton describes the Master's voice as inhuman, and his breathing as cutting into his ears, like the sound of sandpaper.

In his guise as Father Frost, the Master of the Forest appears as a tall man in a long red coat with thick white fur trim. He wears oversized mittens and a hat with two tails, each with a pompom hanging from the end. His face is hidden by a cardboard mask of an old man with a red nose, gray beard, and a friendly smile.

In its monstrous form, the Master of the Forest appears as a gigantic monster, resembling more a demon than a goat. Its goat-like muzzle elongates, revealing several enormous fangs, and its tongue grows long like a snake. In addition to its two main eyes, four smaller ones appear on the monster's forehead, and two enormous curved horns are joined by a pair of smaller ones, forming a crown-like structure on its head. Its extremely long, knee-length, fur-covered arms end in bestial paws with enormous claws on its long fingers, while its horse-like legs end in hooves. A bell, now even larger, still hangs from the monster's neck, and several dangling bones with holes drilled into them are visible from its belt.

The Master of the Forest uses these bones as musical instruments, playing chthonic chants on them that compel the other beasts to obey him instantly. Apparently, the melody of these flutes emits special infrasonic vibrations that affect the parasitic insects within the werewolves' bodies, causing them to completely overwhelm their host's mind and take control of them, turning them into a mindless puppet.

A report was filmed about the Master, which featured a photograph of one of his alleged victims, Senya. The Master of the Forest is said to be carrying mountains of candy and toys, including items belonging to the missing children (such as Vova's machine gun).

As the leader of the werewolves who inhabit the forest, the Master of the Forest appears to be an extremely cruel and merciless creature, delighting in devouring human flesh. However, it should be noted that, unlike his frenzied subordinates, the Master of the Forest is significantly more intelligent and prefers to deceive his unsuspecting victims. For example, he induces massive hallucinations in potential candidates for a feast or to join the ranks of the beasts, making them believe a celebration is taking place around them, with mountains of candy and gifts, when in fact, all these "candy" are nothing more than an illusion concealing the bloody remains of his victims, mixed with insects. In the fourth episode, he appears to Anton and Olya in the guise of Father Frost, inviting them to join the celebration he is hosting. And if the boys try to refuse, the Master of the Forest easily charms Olya with his words, revealing him to be an excellent manipulator. In addition, with the help of his skills, he keeps the other animals in complete submission, controlling them with the help of melodies hummed on his “flutes”.

Media: unknown (two options: Khariton, depending on the choice it will be Igor Budaev.)

In his baby form, Bunny looks like a child with the head of a hare. His head has glowing white eyes and black fur, and his long, hare-like ears stick out in all directions.

In its monstrous form, the Bunny is a monstrous humanoid of tall stature and bony build. A pitiful remnant of fur covers its disfigured body, its hands become enormous, asymmetrical, clawed paws, and spike-like growths appear on its elbows. The eye sockets on its enlarged head turn black, its nose becomes a hole in the middle of its face, and in place of its mouth, a terrifying maw of many segments appears, each terminating in enormous bony growths and fangs. Another enormous, round mouth appears in the monster's belly, opening and closing like a flower. In addition to the two ears on its head, two long, thin appendages grow from the Bunny's back, trailing down to its feet and framing the creature from behind, like the edges of an invisible cloak.

Media: Anton Petrov.

A local oddball who, she claims, lives in the forest. She wears a frighteningly living fox mask and smells like New Year's. She loves to feed the mongrels and spout nonsense. She looks at Anton like he's a treat.

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.

Media: Polina Morozova.

The leader of a gang of thugs from 6B. His father served in Afghanistan, speaks a little lingo, is a boxer, and is a professional butterfly knife twirler. He has several police records for theft and vandalism. And despite his dangerous nature, he's adored by his classmates.

Roma is a twelve-year-old boy with short dark brown hair, large lips, and sharp, coarse features that have led 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.

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

On the street, Roma wears a leather jacket over his tracksuit. His hat covers only the back of his head.

Roma is the main bully in 6th grade, a strict rule-breaker who doesn't shy away from bullying the weak. Due to his poor education and the indifference of adults, Roma is in many ways like a wild animal. He also hates the police, dismissively calling them "trash," having been brought to the police station several times for vandalism and theft. He likely understands the hopelessness of his situation in a forgotten village where child abductions regularly occur, and this contributes significantly 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.

Roma's description on the official website states that he is adored by his classmates, but this is not 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."

A petty troublemaker and jokester. He loves to verbally taunt and tease his victims, but as soon as things get tough, he hides in the bushes. Without his best friend, Romka, he's incapable of anything. He lost his front teeth when he bet he could hang from a horizontal bar by his teeth for a minute. He's the only one who saw the Black Garage and survived, albeit partially insane.

Byasha was designed as a cowardly and not particularly intelligent henchman of the class's biggest bully. Depending on the game's decisions, he will either contribute to the bullying of Anton Petrov or build a tenuous friendship with him based on his close mutual acquaintance with Pyatifanov.

Byashi's distinctive features include his peculiar manner of speech (a lisp, adding "na!" at the end of most of his lines) and a panicky fear of the Black Garage, which is a result of post-traumatic stress disorder.

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, with the inscription Tear BOYZ embroidered in the center, jeans and fur-lined boots.

On the street, Byasha wears a dark blue The North Fake down jacket with a hood.

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 limits himself to taunting and verbally abusing his 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.

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.

A snitch and a gossip. She's the favorite and also the daughter of Anton's homeroom teacher. She loves to manipulate and pit people against each other, then feeds off of arguments and resentments like an energy vampire. Behind her back, people say she's the devil in an angel's mask.

Katya is a slender twelve-year-old girl, standing 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's quite attractive, Katya's facial expression has a hint of a viper's demeanor, accentuated 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-shaped brooch.

Katya is a typical example of a malicious and vengeful beast, not averse to gossip and pitting others 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 watches with sadistic amusement in her eyes, loving the suffering of her victims. 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 her education, she gossips and discusses rumors, but no one dares to confront her openly. Katya maintains a peculiar partnership with Roma Pyatanov's gang and never misses an opportunity to help them bully the latest "lucky one," then watching their suffering, although it's only natural that Roma and his friend Byasha are also the targets of her gossip.

Katya is her homeroom teacher's daughter. This is likely why she has become the biggest bully and gossip among her classmates. Since Katya is her mother's favorite and never receives criticism for her bad behavior, it can be assumed that Liliya Pavlovna spoils her only daughter immensely.

Anton's classmate. Polina's mother was a violinist, and after her death, the girl wants to learn to play like her. She lives with her grandfather, who was paralyzed after an attack by a pack of wild dogs, and Polina now cares for him. She has a lot of videotapes, including horror films. She sleeps in the living room in front of the TV, but even the scariest films somehow calm her. Polina senses that something bad is happening in the village, but she doesn't know how or who to tell about what she sometimes sees in the dark outside the windows.

Polina is a slender and beautiful twelve-year-old 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 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 "first violin of the village," Polina is in many ways similar to this instrument—she is a sensitive, gentle soul, reminiscent of a member of the aristocracy or intelligentsia. Polina is intelligent, polite, treats others with kindness and patience, and skillfully chooses her words for dialogue. She is also not without a touch of mischief: the girl 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 remaining

Polina is unaffected by other people's opinions and doesn't bend to alien morals, even at the risk of being left alone. She spends all recesses the same way Anton does: staying in class to look out the window or to doodle in her notebook. In times of danger, she is ready to stand up for herself and her loved ones: when confronted with bullies in the forest with Anton ("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 is clearly demonstrated when, in the fourth episode, the girl used this skill to send Roma and Byasha into a psychological stupor ("Depends"). She also doesn't shy away from physical resistance—when Anton and Roma tried to put on a show for Polina, she unhesitatingly hit Petrov in the face with a violin case.

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 sad and depressed in this remote place, whose "voice" "rustles and creaks like a gramophone needle," but she has no one except her grandfather, and so she doesn't leave. Nevertheless, the girl never gives up her dream of visiting "cities with musical names," and most of all, she dreams of visiting Vienna. She feeds her interest 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.

Polina reacts very vividly and joyfully to Anton's words about having once been to Moscow, which only confirms her desire to get into the "big world."

Parasite: Alice.

Anton's younger sister. She'll start school next year. She didn't go to kindergarten and rarely interacted with other children. Anton has always been her best friend and her crush. She loves sweets and watching TV with her brother, and she also loves listening to stories—not read from a book, but made up on the spot, and always with a happy ending. She's very afraid to sleep in her room.

Anton's younger sister, who is terrorized at night by an owl the size of a man.

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'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 by watching 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. She also loves animals, especially dogs. Overall, Olya is a very ordinary child, trapped in her home in the terrifying, inhospitable taiga.

Starting from the third episode, it can be seen that due to spending daily time with her mother, who often snaps at her husband, Olya gradually adopts her character, becoming more irritable. In addition,

Furthermore, her parents' constant bickering is extremely depressing, 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. Despite this, the girl is terrified of masked animals, so no matter what the plot, Olya will be reluctant to get close to them, especially after learning their true intentions.

Information: The main character of the story. Quiet and shy, short. He wears glasses, without which his vision is very poor. His family just moved to the village, so he has no friends. He reads a lot and loves to draw. He doesn't tell anyone, but he often watches children's cartoons with his sister, and he enjoys it. His bedroom windows overlook the forest. Sometimes he thinks this is his biggest problem.

Appearance: A twelve-year-old boy, approximately 155 centimeters tall, with shaggy snow-white hair, eyebrows, and eyelashes. He also has green eyes. He wears round-framed glasses, but without them, his vision is very poor. His most common attire is a white school shirt, a black vest, and matching pants, along with dark winter sneakers. Outside, he wears a warm gray hooded jacket, black gloves, and a striped hat with the words "Sport" written in circles.

Character (and details): 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 offender.

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 deeply upset about it. At his new school, he falls in love for the first time—his classmate, Polina, for whose sake 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, the boy has a Demon Eater parasite inside him. Through this parasite, the boy

Through this parasite, the boy becomes the bearer of the spirit of Zaychik, whom Anton perceives as his inner voice or second personality. Anton simultaneously fears this voice and sometimes agrees with it, which will only worsen if the troubles continue.

Parasite: Bunny.