Duncan

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Duncan (邓肯)
Alias(es)	Captain Duncan; Mr. Duncan; Duncan Strain; Duncan Abnormal / Abnormall; Flame Usurper 107 131 194 491
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Captain of the Lost Homeland; proprietor of Duncan's Antiques in Pland City-State 43 600
Occupation/Role	Ghost-ship captain, investigator, and antique dealer 43 85
Status	Active 805
First Appearance	Chapter 10, “Elegance Is No Longer So Elegant” 10

Background

The feared “Captain Duncan” is publicly associated with the Lost Homeland, a ghost ship regarded as a mobile disaster and a source of vengeance. Historical accounts identify him as the father of Tyrion and Lucretia Abnormar, two long-lived captains who continued to operate on humanity’s side despite their connection to the ship. 85

Duncan later recognizes that a soul named Zhou Ming inhabits the captain’s shell, as well as other bodies maintained in Pland and Frost. He lacks much of the captain’s past memory and commonly attributes those gaps and his changed behavior to subspace damage. 236 607

Appearance

Duncan’s appearance changes with the body or manifestation he occupies. His primary captain’s form is tall, broad, and grim, with a dignified, sinister face described as sharply carved. 12 131

• Captain’s form — Tall, imposing, and somber; its presence can unsettle supernatural beings and people able to perceive his true nature. 131 179
• Pland avatar — The body of Roen: a bearded, hollow-eyed, exhausted-looking middle-aged man who operates Duncan’s Antiques. 43
• Frost avatar — A robust but badly damaged, corpse-like body concealed beneath a black overcoat, hat, gloves, and extensive bandages. 330
• True appearance — Observers such as Morris perceive distorted, inhuman phenomena around Duncan rather than a stable human form; direct exposure causes severe mental distress. 179 180 685

Personality

Duncan is intensely curious, methodical, and difficult to rattle. He treats bizarre events as problems to be investigated rather than denied, whether he is confronting a cult sacrifice, a supernatural artifact, or the structure of the world itself. 20 27 499

His pragmatism is tempered by a deliberate commitment to remain humane. After learning that his Spirit Body Fire may affect extraordinary people, he refuses to test it on civilians merely to refine his understanding of it. He is similarly cautious about making possession and avatar creation an ordinary habit, fearing that convenience could erode his regard for other lives. 79 607

Duncan also has a dry, occasionally theatrical sense of humor. He adopts the persona of an “honest” antique dealer, lectures Shirley about bus fares and homework, and can make alarming plans sound like casual practical suggestions. 112 142 390 499

Abilities & Skills

Spirit Body Fire

Duncan commands ghostly green Spirit Body Fire, an anomalous flame that interacts with supernatural objects, powers, memories, and entities.

• Can identify and establish feedback with anomalous items, including the brass compass. 16
• Can seize or suppress supernatural authority, including severing a Sun Priest’s connection to a ritual dagger and neutralizing a summoned fireball. 21 78
• Burns extraordinary targets and supernatural objects while leaving ordinary people unaffected in his observed tests. 79
• Can pollute and distort supernatural items, possess the dead, and conceal itself within the living. 109
• Allows him to inspect extraordinary objects and retrieve visions or historical impressions from them, including Alice’s coffin and a fragment of living metal. 101 561
• Can destroy or release corrupted entities, including a tainted History Avatar and an Ancient God tentacle. 491 700

Spirit World Walk and Avatars

Duncan can project himself through the Spirit World, occupy suitable bodies, and operate across several locations at once.

• His early Spirit World Walks let him inhabit recently dead bodies and access fragmented memories belonging to them. 39 40
• He used Roen’s body to establish Duncan’s Antiques as a foothold in Pland City-State. 41 43
• He gradually learned to control the Lost Homeland and multiple avatars simultaneously. 44 162 331
• He can use temporary bodies for infiltration and intelligence gathering, including bodies belonging to Annihilation Cultists. 293 327
• He deliberately limits the creation of long-term avatars, fearing that habitual possession would diminish his humanity. 607

Marks, Flames, and Remote Travel

Duncan can establish connections through fire, reflections, and prepared marks.

• Formed a connection with Inquisitor Vana after she spoke the Lost Homeland’s name near a flame. 109
• Uses fire to communicate, manifest at distant locations, and move between connected points. 587 634
• Can maintain awareness of distant avatars even while travelling beyond the Six Nautical Mile Threshold Line. 781
• Works with Ai Yi’s teleportation ability to cross otherwise impractical distances, including in the deep sea. 484

Perception and Cognition

Duncan’s perception allows him to recognize deception, endure corrupting information, and comprehend entities that overwhelm ordinary minds.

• Saw through Annihilation Cultists’ disguises and recognized their bonded Abyssal Demons. 292
• Can perceive supernatural disturbances and hostile gazes directed toward him. 231
• Reassembled dangerous, fragmented memories from living metal into a coherent account of an ancient world’s fall. 561
• Communicated with the Abyssal Lord and received fragmented information from an Ancient God’s remains. 491 567
• Temporarily revealing his “truth” causes mental distress even among the Popes, while Rune cites Duncan’s ability to understand different beings as evidence for his theory of primordial ashes. 685

Equipment and Assets

• The Lost Homeland — Duncan’s ghost ship and primary base of operations; it recognizes him as its captain and responds to his control at the helm. 600
• Brass Compass — An anomalous compass responsive to Spirit Body Fire. 16
• Obsidian Ritual Dagger — A Sun Cult ritual blade recovered after Duncan’s projection returned from the underground assembly hall. 25
• Sun Mask — A mass-produced iron-and-copper cult artifact sent back to the Lost Homeland for examination. 79 109
• Revolver and ammunition — An illegally owned but practical weapon inherited with Roen’s body. 43
• Ai Yi — A talking white pigeon and messenger capable of teleportation; its skeletal fire form can carry Duncan through the air. 24 746

Relationships

• Goat Head — First mate and constant companion aboard the Lost Homeland. Goat Head is loyal to Duncan, though its talkativeness frequently tests the captain’s patience. 10 237
• Nina — Duncan’s niece under his Pland identity. He becomes protective of her, buys her gifts, involves himself in her education, and recognizes that she is the vessel of the Sun Shard. 44 94 221
• Alice — Cursed doll and crew member of the Lost Homeland. Duncan protects, tutors, and relies on her simple but sincere perspective; she openly worries about his well-being. 101 200 545
• Tyrion Abnormar — Duncan’s eldest son and captain of the Sea Mist. Their early meetings are wary and tense, but Tyrion later seeks Duncan’s advice and accepts responsibility as Consul of Frost. 236 449
• Lucretia Abnormar — Duncan’s daughter, the “Sea Witch” and captain of the Brilliant Star. Initially nervous around him, she gradually develops a warmer relationship with her father and openly challenges his dangerous ideas. 236 499 540
• Morris — Historian, follower of the God of Wisdom, and one of Duncan’s closest civilian allies. Morris has seen Duncan’s true form through his True Eye but continues assisting him with historical research. 179 263
• Vana — Inquisitor of the Church. Their relationship begins with mutual suspicion, but Duncan aids her during Pland’s crisis and later works beside her in Frost. 205 224 330
• Shirley and A'gou — A girl and her Abyssal Hound. Their first encounter is hostile, but they become part of Duncan’s group; Duncan takes responsibility for Shirley’s schooling and safety. 77 221 390
• Agatha — A Gatekeeper and Frost ally. Duncan works with her to investigate the Abyssal Plan, the Frost Queen’s legacy, and the deep sea. 454 474

Story Role & Major Arcs

Lost Homeland and the First Spirit World Walks

Duncan begins investigating the Lost Homeland’s anomalies, including Alice’s recurring coffin and the strange rules governing life aboard the ship. His experiments with the brass compass awaken the potential of Spirit Body Fire and lead to his first Spirit World Walk. 10 16 23

He infiltrates a Sun Cult assembly through a temporary body, allows himself to be taken as a sacrifice, and overturns the ceremony by severing the priest’s connection to the ritual dagger. 19 20 21

Pland City-State

Duncan occupies Roen’s body and reaches Pland City-State, where he discovers that the city identifies him as “Duncan” despite the body’s original identity. He assumes ownership of Duncan’s Antiques and begins learning how ordinary people live in the Deep Sea Era. 40 41 43

While maintaining his antique-shop identity and caring for Nina, he investigates the Sun Cult, obtains the Sun Mask, confronts Sun Priests, and reports cult activity to local authorities rather than exploiting the situation for himself. 73 78 79

Allies, History, and Family

Duncan gradually gathers allies around the Lost Homeland, including Nina, Alice, Morris, Shirley, A'gou, and Vana. He becomes increasingly involved in threats against Pland while studying the Great Annihilation, the Ancient Kingdom of Crete, and the corruption of history. 179 203 221 263

He learns that Tyrion and Lucretia are his children, then meets them through mirrors and flames. Although both initially doubt his humanity and memory-loss claims, Duncan seeks to avoid hostility and uncover their shared past. 162 236 250

Frost and the Abyssal Plan

Duncan enters Frost through a damaged avatar to investigate Annihilation Cult activity, the Frost Queen’s research, and the consequences of the Abyssal Plan. He coordinates an infiltration team consisting of Vana, Morris, and Alice while directing the Lost Homeland toward Dagger Island. 330 331

His deep-sea exploration reveals that the city-states are bound to the remains of Ancient Gods and that the deterioration of the Abyssal Lord may trigger future catastrophes worldwide. 484 491 499

World Fragments and the Approaching Doomsday

Duncan uncovers evidence that the world contains remnants of other worlds, including living metal, an ancient longsword, the “Crimson,” and records of civilizations destroyed before the current era. 561 563 565

He later learns enough about the world’s external barrier to understand how it could be destroyed, but stops himself from pursuing that knowledge further. In a simulated reality, he resolves to seek a “Super-system Event” capable of transcending the Boundless Sea’s limitations and creating a new world. 788 805

Notable Quotes

“They are people.”
— Duncan, ending his consideration of using ordinary people to test Spirit Body Fire. 79

“I’ve always been a cautious person.”
— Duncan, after proposing that the Lost Homeland might break through the Abyssal Deep Sea’s spatial fault lines. 499