King of Riddles, Arlecchino

King of Riddles, Arlecchino
Name	King of Riddles, Arlecchino
Location	Arche Abbey Outer Wall
Information
Gender	Male
Status	Determinate
Actor	Joseph Balderrama

"Blood and revenge, revenge and blood. It is the only thing that truly drives me... And it was SO MUCH FUN... Hee-heeheehee!"
— Arlecchino

King of Riddles, Arlecchino is a character in Lies of P. He uses phones to call and give riddles to Pinocchio throughout Krat. Answering these riddles correctly will reward the player with Trinity Keys which are used to enter Trinity Sanctums.

Background

Arlecchino is a puppet who was once a servant for an unknown Alchemist until his Ergo awakened. Realizing that Ergo was the manifestation of a person's life essence and memories, he concluded that he and other puppets should be treated no different than normal humans. Because of this realization, he developed a deep hatred for humanity for locking Ergos in puppet bodies which he considered to be prisons. Taking note of the surgical skills used by his master, Arlecchino rebelled and tortured him. He quickly learned the location of Arche Abbey, the Alchemist's secret island where they conducted their experiments. Afterwards, Arlecchino sought to take revenge on humanity by traveling to the island to kill all the Alchemists. Along the way, he became a serial killer who murdered anyone that crossed his path, enamored in his work as an "artist".

On one fateful day, Arlecchino sought out and found the Venigni family. While he knew they were the ones who engineered the very first automated puppets and had enslaved all puppets without realizing it, he wanted to murder them because of how happy they were. Arlecchino spared the couple’s son, Lorenzini Venigni, however, not because the parents begged him to spare their son but because he wanted to make the choice himself to prove his humanity. Furthermore, the prospect of sparing a child made Arlecchino curious. He wanted to know how the boy would grow up after the traumatizing ordeal. He quickly departed and took the boy's toy as a souvenir.

Unfortunately, the Alchemists covered Arlecchino's involvement in the killings, blaming it on a mugging gone wrong. While this initially disappointed Arlecchino, he was delighted to find that it caused Venigni to endure twice as much pain as the boy had a first-hand account of who was responsible for his parents’ deaths. Over the years, Arlecchino tracked Venigni and was proud of his accomplishments as he saw them because of his own actions, so much so that he considered the man to be his "masterpiece."

Arlecchino eventually arrived at the Isle of the Alchemists. However, his attempt to kill everyone failed and his broken body was pinned to the wall in a room on one of the lower levels, serving as an eternal prison. Despite this, he sought to find ways to pass the time. Simon Manus built a machine at the summit of the Abbey to start absorbing all of the Ergo in Krat. The machine did this amplifying Sophia Monad's own power to absorb Ergo. Arlecchino discovered her power and was able to siphon off a small portion of it. In his boredom, he used it to call random citizens across Krat to terrorize them with riddles, solidifying his name as King of Riddles. Arlecchino did this for several years until the Petrification Disease and Puppet Frenzy took hold of Krat and kill off most of the population.

Eventually, a phone was picked up by Pinocchio. Overjoyed at the chance to terrorize someone again, Arlecchino gave P several riddles at various locations. If he answered them right then he rewarded him with Trinity Keys to open sanctums he had left behind. At the conclusion of the final riddle, Arlecchino gave P The Chosen One's Trinity Key. Sometime later, P managed to reach Arche Abbey and found Arlecchino in his prison. Arlecchino questioned him if he was human or not as he wanted to know if P truly understood his motivations. He then answered several of P's questions such as why he became a serial killer and later the King of Riddles. When asked about Venigni's parents, Arlecchino happily recounted what happened, declaring that it was one of his favorite murders and that he only spared Venigni to see what kind of man he would become. He then gave P the toy he had taken from Venigni all those years ago, telling him to return it so that Venigni had something to remember him by. Afterwards, P is given the option to attack and kill Arlecchino for his crimes.

Gameplay

For information on each riddle, see Trinity Key.

Arlecchino makes contact through five telephones scattered across Krat and challenges the player to riddles. If the riddles are answered correctly, he will reward the player with Humanity Points and a Trinity Key which is used to open hidden Trinity Sanctums. Should the player answer a riddle wrong, Arlecchino will instruct the player to take the Bright Red Apple to the gold statue of Adelina Corday in the Estella Opera House to receive a Trinity key. After the final riddle is answered, the player will the The Chosen One's Trinity Key instead of a normal Trinity Key. If it was answered incorrectly then the player will obtain King of Riddles' Surprise Box instead of the Chosen One's Trinity Key.

Use this key to gain access to the final Trinity Sanctum in the Arche Abbey Outer Wall and speak to Arlecchino in person. He will ask if the player considers themselves to be human or puppet. Regardless of the answer, he will give the player the Alchemist's Cape and a Quartz. Players can then talk to him to find more out about his background. After questioning him about Venigni's parents, the player is given an option to kill him.

Trivia

• Arlecchino in Italian means "Harlequin", referring to one of the marionettes that are owned by Mangiafuoco, who were all created from the same tree as Pinocchio.
• In the Lies of P - Gameplay Showcase, Arlecchino spoke, but he did not speak through the telephone with his usual filter.
• Prior to the release of the game, riddles from Arlecchino were posted on the Lies of P Twitter for people to solve.
• During his time as a serial killer in Krat, he likely wielded the Puppet Ripper. The weapon's description references a grinning killer said to have a clockwork heart.
• His obsessive use of riddles is similar towards The Riddler, a Batman villain within DC Comics.
  • Furthermore, Venigni is quite similar to Bruce Wayne, as he loses his parents at an early age and inherits everything, while his parents' death remains unsolved despite his own best efforts. He's also regarded as the 'Prince of Krat' for being its richest and most eligible bachelor, is accompanied by only a butler, owns a company that brought Krat wealth by inventing and selling hi-tech products, in this case being puppets, then uses that wealth to try and prevent the tragedy that occurred to him occurring again. However, the Riddler is never associated with the death of the Waynes.

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