Emperor

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Hobart
Alias(es)	Emperor; Mr. Emperor; Elliot; the Creator (manifested identity)
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Tarot Club; Creator's Blessed; Atlantis Empire 2 544 749
Occupation/Role	Tarot Club member; ruler and later Emperor of Atlantis 2 749
Pathway	Black Emperor pathway 667 749
Status	Alive; stabilizing his condition after assisting Klein against the Celestial Worthy's awakening 754
First Appearance	Chapter 2

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Non-Beyonder	2	Joins the Tarot Club while still an ordinary person suffering from dangerous contamination and amnesia.
Barbarian	47 170	Obtains a portion of the Barbarian Extraordinary Characteristic; later accelerates digestion of the corresponding potion through a court victory.
Sequence 4 demigod	514 531 556	Publicly presents himself as having advanced to demigodhood; later identifies the decline of his empathy after reaching Sequence 4.
Sequence 2	667	Obtains a Sequence 1 Kingslayer Prince Extraordinary Characteristic during George III's failed advancement and successfully advances.
Duke of Entropy	670	His Bribe, Bestowal, and Amplification abilities become substantially more abstract and powerful.
Black Emperor	749	Completes the Sequence 0 ritual through his coronation, nationwide recognition, abnormal rules, nine mausoleums, and a population-wide sacrificial ceremony.

Background

Hobart's amnesia protected him from memories connected to the Country of Disorder, a Sephirot bound to him. He could recover those memories only within a Sephirot capable of blocking contamination from high-sequence beings and Outer Deities. Realizing that uncovering the Country of Disorder's origin required entering the Beyonder world, he accepted Klein's invitation to the Tarot Club and drew the Emperor card as his codename 2.

He is the biological son of Rex Trensoost and was raised by Christine, whom he calls his adoptive father. Rex's investigations tied the Trensoost Family's curse to the Night Emperor, the Country of Disorder, and the Child of Chaos; Rex deliberately challenged that curse so Hobart would not suffer the same fate 170 234 556.

Hobart later assumes control of South Colson, seeking to restore industry, commerce, infrastructure, and agricultural productivity rather than rule through fear. When residents demand an immediate return to demonic faith, he sets production goals and consequences while rejecting Archibald's implied proposal of mass slaughter 500 556.

Personality

Hobart is analytical, pragmatic, and highly conscious of power's underlying rules. His legalistic reasoning lets him turn political structures, formal authority, and logical loopholes into weapons; he uses these talents to outmaneuver the Black Emperor Uniqueness in Anst City by establishing a parliament, becoming its Speaker, and ultimately redefining himself as the rightful Emperor 674.

Despite his ambition, he prioritizes ordinary people and fears losing that concern as his divinity rises. After becoming Sequence 4, he notices a growing coldness toward life and asks Fors to keep him connected to the territory and its people if he ever becomes emotionally detached 500 556.

He is also commercially minded. He routinely sells high-level historical intelligence, rents Mystical Items, purchases Extraordinary Characteristics, and seeks methods to reprocess them into more useful resources 316 380 464 556.

Abilities & Skills

Black Emperor Authority

After becoming the Black Emperor, Hobart's principal authority is Alteration: the ability to change physical, conceptual, and abstract phenomena, including Fate and results 750.

• Creates multiple substitutes with independent thoughts. 750
• Attacks while hidden in “Shadow.” 750
• Manipulates the universe's “strings” to alter reality. 750
• Alters sound transmission across dozens of kilometers. 674
• Can bring enemies into the Country of Disorder for containment or confrontation. 750
• Is vulnerable to outside influence when using the Black Emperor's “shadows,” which expose deeper rules of the world. 749

Duke of Entropy Abilities

His advancement greatly expands the scope of his former Black Emperor pathway powers 670.

• Bribe — can bribe natural laws; for example, bribing the sky with water can produce heavy rain. 670
• Bestowal — can transfer a target's hostility onto that target's companion. 670
• Amplification — can enhance an area's essential qualities, potentially allowing ordinary people to harm Low Sequence Beyonders. 670
• Can use enemies' deployed abilities and Sealed Artifacts without suffering their negative effects. 670

Stealing Fate

Hobart explains Stealing Fate as an ability capable of replacing a target's identity. A person whose Fate has been stolen enters a state resembling Concealment: others cannot detect them, and their words and actions no longer affect reality 345 719.

Country of Disorder

The Country of Disorder is Hobart's bound Sephirot and the source of both his protected memories and his family's long-standing danger 2 234.

• Protects recovered memories from contamination within its domain. 2
• Stores and suppresses dangerous objects, including the Conqueror Extraordinary Characteristic taken from the Nether Emperor's corpse. 689
• Receives ritual sacrifices, including Rex's notebooks and historical records. 233
• Allows Hobart to replace the Mysterious Switchboard Operators with his substitutes. 750

Extraordinary Characteristic Processing

Hobart can shatter Extraordinary Characteristics, remove certain corruptions, and reclaim residual evil-god contamination for a price 316.

• Acquires Characteristics in bulk for later “reprocessing.” 380
• Requires artifacts and Characteristics obtained through his auction house to be submitted to him for inspection and processing. 556
• Attempts to remove curses, spiritual remnants, and other sources of mutation or Loss of Control. 556

Historical Knowledge and Deduction

Hobart possesses extensive knowledge of the Second, Third, and Fourth Epochs, including the Four Emperors, Angel Families, the Blasphemy Slates, Ancient Ones, and the histories of the Solomon and Trensoost Empires 407 464 474 505 571.

• Uses family records, the Country of Disorder, and information learned from the Creator. 233 474 532
• Forms logical conjectures from incomplete historical evidence rather than relying solely on inherited records. 486
• Trades high-level intelligence with Tarot Club members, often for substantial sums or shared contributions. 464 474 505

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Clock of Order — used to suppress the Conqueror Characteristic, halt the Nether Emperor's resurrection arrangement, and temporarily suppress the Celestial Worthy's awakening within Klein. 689 754
• Sun Scepter — wielded while Hobart manifests as the Creator. 674 690
• Black Emperor Uniqueness — seized in Anst City after Hobart overthrows the Dog Emperor's authority structure. 674
• 0-73 Death Domain Characteristic — retrieved from the Death Domain before Hobart enters the Bronze Gate. 689
• 0-76 Death God Sword / Conqueror Extraordinary Characteristic — recovered from the Nether Emperor Salinger's corpse and sealed within the Country of Disorder. 689

Relationships

• Klein Moretti / Mr. Fool — Klein brings Hobart into the Tarot Club, divines whether he is dangerous, and remains his cautious ally. Hobart later helps suppress the Celestial Worthy's awakening and is assigned a key role in Klein's eventual return. 2 754
• Fors Wall / Magician — Hobart's wife and confidante. He reveals that he is Mr. Emperor to her and confides his fear of losing empathy; she later becomes one of Atlantis's two Empresses. 556 749
• Audrey Hall / Justice — Tarot Club ally, historical-information customer, and later Empress. Hobart entrusts her with negotiating with the Orthodox Churches and redefining their authority. 26 750
• Christine — Hobart's adoptive father, who reveals the Trensoost Family's history and supports Hobart's decision to pursue advancement. 170 556
• Rex Trensoost — Hobart's biological father and ancestor whose notes expose the family curse, George III's mausoleums, and secrets of the Night Emperor. 233 234 556
• Alger Wilson / Hanged Man — fellow Tarot Club member and expedition partner. Alger acknowledges Hobart's strength after their Small Island adventure. 380
• The Creator — Hobart is recognized as the Creator's Blessed and can manifest in the Creator's image when acting openly at high levels. 544 674
• Rosell Gustav — fellow transmigrator and prospective ally. Hobart develops a plan to separate Rosell from the Black Emperor pathway and give him new life as the Knowledge Emperor. 734 747
• Medici — Hobart offers him a choice between serving Adam and pledging loyalty to the Creator; Medici chooses the latter. 747

Story Role / Major Arcs

Tarot Club Intelligence Broker

As Emperor, Hobart becomes the Tarot Club's foremost supplier of dangerous historical intelligence. His revelations about the first Blasphemy Slate, the Eight Ancient Gods, Angel Families, the Ancient Sun God, and the War of the Four Emperors repeatedly reshape the members' understanding of history 407 464 486 571.

Trensoost Family Curse

Rex's notes lead Hobart to investigate the Night Emperor's fall, the Child of Chaos, the Lamp Genie, and the Country of Disorder. He learns that the curse affecting his family is directly linked to Trensoost's legacy and later discovers that the Night Emperor has resurrected 234 673.

George III's Failed Apotheosis

Hobart assists in sabotaging George III's godhood ritual, obtains a Kingslayer Prince Extraordinary Characteristic, and gains an advantage in the struggle for the Black Emperor Uniqueness 667 673.

Seizure of the Black Emperor Uniqueness

In Anst City, Hobart exploits the Uniqueness's dependence on public recognition of imperial authority. By challenging the Dog Emperor, forming a parliament, and combining the offices of Emperor and Speaker, he forces the Uniqueness to crown him 674.

Coronation and Apotheosis

Hobart establishes the Atlantis Empire after ending colonial rule and warfare in the Southern Continent. His coronation proclamation emphasizes human dignity, the abolition of inherited nobility, protection for workers and farmers, and punishment for evil; the ceremony fulfills the Black Emperor ritual and elevates him to Sequence 0 749.

Notable Quotes

“It is precisely because I am loyal to the Emperor that I question him!” 674

“I will strive to be a good Emperor. You will strive to be good officials. Those before the screens will strive to be good workers and farmers.” 749

“No one is born noble, and no one is born lowly! From today onward, no one shall need to kneel again!” 749

Trivia

• Hobart chose the codename Emperor by shuffling the Tarot deck and letting fate decide, though he immediately considered it excessively high-profile. 2
• He jokes that, after reviving two Fourth Epoch emperors' arrangements, he deserves to be called the “Friend of the Four Emperors.” 689
• The first “Emperor” Hobart confronts while seeking the Black Emperor Uniqueness is a black dog wearing a crown and the Uniqueness as an ornament. 672 674