Trilby

Trilby's portrait in-game, where he is known as The Ministry Man.

Better resources, but delayed by bureaucracy - Character description.

Also known as the Ministry Man, Trilby is an agent of the Ministry of Occultism, and is one of the playable characters in The Consuming Shadow. He is also a character featured in the Chzo Mythos, acting as the protagonist of the first and third entry: 5 Days a Stranger and Trilby's Notes, respectively. The Chzo Mythos is a videogame series made by Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw, who also developed The Consuming Shadow.

Character traits

Trilby has £100 and the full banishment incantation at the start of the game, as well as knowledge of all the towns in England and Wales. However, he only has 24 hours to banish the Ancient, and doesn't know its identity.

Trilby also has a unique constellation when using Birth Stars, in the form of The Emperor, each Birth Star placed at the exact center gives a +20% discount on ammo, items and hospital services (to a maximum of +70%).

Unlocking

Trilby is unlocked by completing the game with ending A, B or C.

Tips for playing

• With the short time limit, the player should be gathering all the clues they can find, especially the subtle ones, to identify the invading god. These subtle clues are:
  • The colour of the runes that appear on-screen when Cultists try to encant them is the colour associated with the god that owns that dungeon.
  • Dead bodies can be examined to identify the cause of death, which will relate in some way to the aspect of the god that owns that dungeon. The Stonehenge dungeon belongs to the invading god, so dead bodies found there provide massive clues to the aspect of the invading god.
  • Colours of runes on walls show the colour associated with the god that owns that dungeon. This can be used in conjunction with examining dead bodies to assign colours to aspects in the note book. However, runes on walls cannot be found at Stonehenge.
  • The way said runes have been drawn can be used to idenitfy relations between the gods. The colour it is drawn in shows which god inscribed it, the rune drawn shows which god they are messaging to, and the orientation shows the relation. Eg.: the player finds the BTI rune drawn in red upside down; this shows that the god associated with the colour red has bad relations with the god associated with the BTI rune.
  • The Ritual of Banishment glows the colour of the invading god if there is 5 hours or less left.
• The Emperor and Trilby's starting supply of cash means that the player is likely to be able to afford anything they want. It is best to buy all the items the player can just in case they come across the random encounter that gives a perfect outcome if the player has its associated item.
• It is recommended that the player enters Stonehenge during the day if they haven't got the military flashlight to maximize field of view.
• It is also recommended to go to Stonehenge with at most 5 hours remaining so that the Ritual of Banishment glows the invading god's colour, which can help identify the player should they be struggling for clues. The time when 5 hours remains depends on the player's starting time, which ranges from 10:00 to 14:00 on the hour, meaning that 5 hours remaining can be from between 5:00 to 9:00.
• Since the price of a medkit refuel stays the same regardless of maximum capacity or how full it currently is, the Serpent and the Emperor are a good Birth Star combo.
• If the player's discount is high enough, bullets can actually appear in shops for free.
• The Hunter and the Emperor are a good Birth Star combo.

As Trilby, it is entirely possible to immediately go to Stonehenge, ignoring all the dungeons and gathering clues there instead. Since Stonehenge is very large, and there is a fairly even ratio of clues to equipment that can be found in the lootable containers, plus all of the aforementioned subtle clues, identifying the invading god isn't necessarily difficult. Should the player get unlucky, they may not get the best clues and find it difficult to do this. Doing this also doesn't give out much experience points at the end, as the player wouldn't have found many clues, killed many minions or explored any dungeons.

History

Trilby was a student in mechanical engineering in his early life. Sometime in 1988, he became a cat-burglar and grew to be quite well known. With his engineering skills, he created his signature tool: a grolly, which was a blue brolly (British slang for 'umbrella') with a grappling hook inside it. In Trilby: Art of Theft, it also showed the ability to act as a stun gun.

Trilby prided himself as a "gentleman thief", never stealing what he thought the owner might really need. As well as his trilby, he frequently wore a two-piece suit, adding to his gentleman-like character. Yahtzee, during his review of 5 Days a Stranger, describes his voice as "affected upper-class but a little bit posh and enigmatic", which also adds to his image.

On July 24th, 1994, he became trapped in the DeFoe Manor by the ghost of John DeFoe. After Trilby escaped the manor, his five days inside traumatised him and caused him to become sloppy in his thievery. He was caught, but was offered a place on the Special Talent Project as a paranormal investigator for the Ministry of Occultism. His adventures there are the main plot of Trilby's Notes. He plays a minor role in the subsequent game 6 Days a Sacrifice.

Trilby's activities over the last few days leading up to the events of The Consuming Shadow can be found in the diary he wrote, which the player can collect pages of while exploring dungeons in-game.

Selection screen text

All characters have introductions when selected in the character selection screen. This made up of two paragraphs, each picked from a pool of pre-written passages. These are the possible passages for Trilby.

First paragraph

If you want something done properly, you have to do it yourself. I am no longer content to sit killing time, waiting to see if the human race still has a future on this planet.

The twilight of humanity grows closer and closer and the shadow grows stronger and stronger. And I've decided this matter can no longer be left in the hands of enthusiastic amateurs.

Something happened to the scholar. I'm hearing reports of his body showing up with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. I wish all of us could have the luxury of an easy way out of this.

Well, this will teach me not to sub-contract. The scholar has gone dark. He either died, or lost his mind, or suffered some other terrible consequence of not listening to me.

Second paragraph

Fortunately, I have what the scholar lacked: the support of government resources. I have the banishment ritual, and I have money. What I don't have is the identity of the invading god, nor do I have much time. I estimate that 24 hours remain before the incursion event.

I recovered the scholar's notes from his abandoned car. Most of them were covered in deranged scribble, but the important thing is, he found the banishment ritual. Unfortunately, now I only have 24 hours to deduce what I'm supposed to banish when I reach Stonehenge.

With the time I wasted concluding matters at the Ministry - not to mention the bullets - the human race is perilously close to the cosmic deadline, So I grabbed what information I could find on the banishment ritual and stole my secretary's car. Can't trust anyone.

I wasn't actually expecting to get out of the Ministry building alive. Perhaps the shadow is confident that its schemes can no longer be reversed. It may be right: there are only 24 hours left. All I have to turn the tide is a banishment ritual with no name attached.

The Descent

This Insanity Edition Challenge Mode assumes the player character has achieved Ending A. Each character has unique openings for this mode.

Introduction

I may be persona non grata at the Ministry now, but I still have the contacts. And they brought a very strange story. Apparently, a very familiar-sounding doorway has appeared at Stonehenge.

At this point I don't know if the Ancient is invading again, or if this is just yet another lingering after-effect of their last attempt. One thing's for sure: I'll get no answers standing at the entrance stroking my chin.

In-between levels

After clearing one level the screen cuts away to another screen of text. The character will ask a question and you have to choose either Yes or No to proceed to the next level. Certain text prompts will initiate a status effect. Status effects will disappear by the next level.

These screens are a hazard at low Sanity.

Question

Could the Ministry have handled this without me?

Was I right to abandon the Ministry?

Am I doing the right thing?

Am I going to survive this?

Will I ever reach the bottom?

Should I have acted faster?

Trading Card

The Steam version of the Insanity Edition updated with Steam Trading Cards on December 29, 2015. This card has the following description when it is in the player's inventory:

A veteran paranormal detective and senior agent of the Ministry of Occultism, fighting to maintain control as the corruption of the Ancients encircles him. Has he bitten off more than he can chew this time?

Trivia

• While Trilby is never referred to as Trilby in-game, a few clues are present that can point to suggesting his identity:
  • The Ministry Man, when he sends the player text messages, signs them with a "-T". It can be assumed that this is Trilby's digital signature.
  • The Ministry Man wears a hat that bears resemblance to a trilby, which is Trilby's signature attire and namesake.
  • The Ministry Man's unique constellation, the Emperor, takes the appearance of a trilby.
  • One of the text messages the Ministry Man receives from the minions of the shadow refers to him as the "pawn of prophecy".
  • In the game's config files, the variable that keeps track of whether or not the Ministry Man is unlocked is called 'trilbyunlock'.
  • In a review of the game made by the game's creator Yahtzee, he says that it is purposely heavily implied that the Ministry Man is Trilby. However, he said that he did not want to alienate players who may have not necessarily played the games in the Chzo Mythos.
    • It can be argued that the identity of the Ministry Man is just speculation, as Yahtzee at 1:04:18 in the same video says "Good ol' Trilby. If it really is him."
    • However at 1:07:05, he says "The Trilby running the Ministry in this game...", which could lead one to believe that not only the Ministry Man is Trilby, but that he has been promoted to an extremely senior role.
  • The Steam Achievement "This Seems Familiar" can only be earned if The Ministry Man banishes Chzo, the God of Pain.
• While his real name is never mentioned within the games he features in, the commentary in the Special Edition of 7 Days a Skeptic, the second entry into the Chzo Mythos, reveals it to be Malcolm.
• According to his file included in the 6 Days a Sacrifice Special Edition, his alias was coined by a newspaper after his famous Valentine's Day Heist on February 14, 1989.
• Trilby has also gone by the alias Terence Railby in Trilby's Notes.
• Trilby is the only character with only one constellation that always appears in his night sky when using Birth Stars other than the Crab and the Lion.