Rory Mancer
From ONISM1999
"Hi, I'm Rory. I'm a scene kid with a dead sister."
Rory Mancer is a main character in YIIK: A Post-Modern RPG. He's a resident of Wind Town and an active ONISM user, but people tend to not reply to his posts very often.
Personality[edit | edit source]
A quiet boy with a troubled past.
Rory is a pacifist and doesn't wish to bring harm onto anyone. He is so committed to his ideals that he will not attack any enemies in battle, and instead opting to defend others and take the hit. Fittingly, he feels responsible for Carrie's suicide, as he believes she was bullied specifically for being his sister.
In a conversation with The Essentia 2000, Rory expresses his desire to save people who have suicidal thoughts, and make others realize how precious life is. However he also struggles depression and grief. Rory desperately seeks for attention, and seems to use ONISM as a way to engage with other people. However he's not very popular, and often ends a post typing "THERE ARE NO MORE REPLIES TO THIS POST", a self-aware joke knowing that no one will respond to him.
Relationships[edit | edit source]
Carrie[edit | edit source]
Carrie was Rory's younger sister who committed suicide. It's clear that the two were very close, as Rory mentions her very often and feels her presence even after death. Rory feels responsible for her death because he believes that she was bullied at school because of him.
Vella[edit | edit source]
When Rory meets his own soul survivor and is convinced it's Carrie, Vella tells him that this is not true. Vella is sympathetic to Rory and tries to comfort him about his sister's death. Vella also immediately defends Rory whenever Alex acts cruel towards him. Despite this, Rory does not appear to have a strong relationship with Vella, and often tries to seek validation from Alex instead.
Alex[edit | edit source]
Despite Alex berating him for "lying," Rory often accepts the verbal abuse and even agrees with him. He later asks to have a personal conversation with him in Chapter 4. This may be not be because Rory actually likes Alex, but because he feels like he has no one else to talk to about it.
Story[edit | edit source]
After his sister Carrie's suicide, Rory fell into a deep depression. Two weeks after her death, he found his sister's possessions down in the sewer. He thought about how it might've not been a suicide, but an accidental death. Despite that, his feelings of sadness increased and he considered suicide as well, desiring to leave the world behind. This mindset allowed his soul to separate from the body, where he ascended into the Soul Space for a short period of time. There he met face to face with a Soul Survivor, which he believed was his sister. Now with a newfound belief that his sister is out there, his soul descended back down and went back to his body.
Rory makes a post on ONISM1999 titled Sensing the presence of a passed loved one 
, discussing how, despite his sister's suicide, he still feels her presence. Rory decides to PM Alex about his sister, who he explains "vanished" in a similarly mysterious way to Sammy. Alex, accompanied by Michael and Vella, come to investigate with Rory. He explains more details about her disappearance, and how she left multiple items throughout the town where a lethal accident soon followed. This leads them down in the Wind Town sewers, where Rory feels a strange presence. Down there they find the same Soul Survivor which Rory met when he was in the Soul Space. He explains to the group that Carrie didn't just disappear- she committed suicide. He elaborates how he thinks it was because of excessive bullying in school, including being made fun of for being "his sister." However, Vella explains to him that the entity is not Carrie, but instead him from another reality.
Rory doesn't get much time to process what Vella said, as they are ambushed by a Golden Alpaca, who kills the Soul Survivor, deeming it an "illicit presence." The group defeats the Alpaca and escape the sewer. Once at the surface, Rory begins freaking out, unable to come to terms that he'll never meet his sister again. Alex has no sympathy, accusing Rory of lying. He argues that not only did he act as if it was connected to Sammy, his "lie" put them all in grave danger. However, Rory only said it was similar to Sammy's case, and he was also in the belief she was still alive as a Soul Survivor. Alex continues to berate him and defend himself, which leads Rory to make the smart choice to walk back home.
A while later, Alex and Michael meet with Rory to find the Mystical Ultima LP Legend. Michael nudges Alex to apologize to Rory for his cruel rant, but no matter if he actually does or not, Rory admits that he did lie and decides to go along with Alex. The LP leads the group to play it in the Radio Tower, awakening The Essentia 2000. After this event, Rory asks Alex if he's willing to talk to him about something. If Alex accepts, Rory confesses that he is depressed. He says that he feels aimless without his sister in his life, considering her to be his best friend. Alex has a choice to comfort Rory, telling him that while he doesn't have Carrie, he has him and his other friends. Alex can also decide to kiss him, which Rory deems extremely inappropriate. Alternatively, Alex can respond negatively to his feelings, telling him that "being depressed is a choice."
A few days after Alex runs off with The Essentia 2000, depending on the choices made, Rory will or will not commit suicide. If he dies, a suicide note is posted to ONISM. A funeral is hosted for him, but since Alex is away, he does not attend. Vella is particularly distraught by his death. In Ending 2, he appears as a ghost in KNN's supply closet that "only people with dead friends are allowed to go in" and tells the player that his death wasn't their fault. He also adds that "...nothing you did really pushed me over the edge. It was going to happen one way or the other I think." These details from Ending 2 imply that Rory choosing to not commit suicide is wish fulfillment from Alex, and that the true reality is that Rory committed suicide. Additionally, Rory is one of the only characters Alex does not reach out to in the Follow Voices segment.
Combat[edit | edit source]
Unlike most party members, Rory cannot immediately attack. Instead he has a counterattack. If Rory is hit during his counterattack, he will damage back.
Rory is generally meant to support the rest of the party. His skills are incredibly helpful in keeping everyone alive, and his great SPD can often have him make two turns in a row.
| Skill | PP | Description | Cast Time | Recovery Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Protest | 3 | "Convince enemy to leave the fight." | Unknown | Unknown |
| Give Karta | 3 | "Give random Karta to an ally." | Unknown | Unknown |
| Stat Swap | 2 | "Trade LIFE amount with an enemy." | Unknown | Unknown |
| Suture | 3 | "Give ally a Heart, and stop bleed." | Unknown | Unknown |
| Curveball | 5 | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
Unlike most party members, Rory does not attack. Instead, he has Pacifism, which defends the entire party from an attack. His defense is boosted as well. Some of the damage dealt to him can be reflected back at the enemies. Because of his increased defense, a good strategy is to intentionally take damage to fill up the Time Energy meter faster.
| Skill | PP | Description | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| HP/PP Swap | 0 | "Swap Rory's HP and PP Values." | |
| Protest | 2 | "Fight for what you believe in! Chance of lowering an enemy's luck." | This move affects the entire enemy party. |
| Sacrifice | 25 | "Give up Rory's remaining HP to revive a fallen party member." | This move will revive all party members. |
| Talk | 15 | "Attempt to reason with the enemy by talking." | This move can instantly defeat an enemy, making it extremely strong. The less HP an enemy has, the more likely it has the chance to work. |
| Holy Heal | 4 | "Divide up the damage Rory has taken as health to heal the party." |
Gallery[edit | edit source]
-
Rory's Portrait in the Old Combat status menu. -
Rory's cartoonish appearance on New Year's. -
The gang meets Rory for the first time. -
Rory being cautious about Vella. -
Rory speculates... -
"This is all my fault. It's all because of me. Because of what I'm like, you know?" -
Rory's soul ascending to the Soul Space. -
Rory seeing Arcangelo. -
Rory's soul survivor experiences Soul death. -
Alex being unable to reach Rory in Chapter 6. -
The appearance of Rory's Soul Survivor in 1.0.
Trivia[edit | edit source]
- Celebrating 8500 followers on Twitter, AckkStudios posted a shirtless video of Rory. And it is beautiful.
- According to Andrew Allanson, Rory's favorite song is Bright Eyes - A Perfect Sonnet.[3]
- Rory has a job at Planet VHS.
- The variable which decides Rory's death is called SuicideWatch. If it is 0 or less, Rory dies.
- When apologizing to Rory, Alex gets a choice to visit the Record Stop first or Rory First. If he meets Rory first and apologizes, it gets set to 2. Refusing sets it to 1. However if he visits the Record Stop first, apologizing sets it to 1 and refusing sets it to 0.
- When Rory is outside the Radio Tower and asks Alex if he wants to talk, refusing to talk with him does not change the variable.
- If Alex decides to talk, hurrying Rory along adds +1, and having him take his time adds +2.
- When Alex is searching for the van, choosing to pickup Rory first will grant +5. Going to a location and then picking up Rory grants +3. Choosing to not pick up Rory at all will subtract -3.
- If you pick the Mall before picking up Rory, this will prevent you from being able to pick him up later.
- It is a common misconception that choosing to kiss Rory will affect his decision of suicide. It does not change things at all.
