Gambler

Biodata

Power Progression

Background and History

Casino childhood

Gambler was abandoned as a newborn in a Las Vegas casino’s guest-room toilet. Mary, a cleaner who had formerly been an elementary school teacher, found and raised him. The casino owner supplied the surname Lade and restricted him from leaving the premises. Mary taught him to read and repeatedly warned him against gambling 1357.

His accounts differ on his birth mother: he initially describes her as a casino prostitute, while his later first-person account identifies her as a heavily pregnant gambler seen on surveillance footage. Both accounts place his childhood in the cleaners’ break room 480 1357.

He earned tips by performing small services for gamblers, but also endured their abuse. When the owner stopped allowing him free buffet meals at thirteen, Mary secretly shared her staff food with him. By sixteen, he had saved $100,000 and begun lending money to gamblers at exorbitant interest 1357.

After doubling that capital in less than a month, he celebrated with whisky and finally sat at a gambling table himself. His winning streak earned him the title God of Las Vegas. By his twentieth birthday, he owned another casino and returned to challenge Horns Ryder with their lives as the stakes 1357.

Experiments and the Pioneers

Shadow’s account traces Gambler’s recruitment to retaliation by a casino owner. After Gambler won an enormous fortune, the owner arranged false charges, extradition to China, and a death sentence. A research base subsequently acquired him as a death-row experimental subject 369.

Gambler repeatedly survived experiments that should have killed him. Antioch used him in an experiment, and Doctor Li later investigated his extraordinary luck. His status changed from expendable subject to special-squad member; when Antioch left the base, Gambler accompanied him. He subsequently fought for humanity during the catastrophe 369.

Gambler later reveals that these events were also part of Fate’s guidance. After learning a summoning ritual from a ruined gambler, he called upon Fate and received an answer. That guidance first helped him win a fortune, then directed him toward the Salvation Society, Cthulhu worship, Doctor Li, and the Original Anomaly Supervision Bureau 496.

The Saints and concealed leadership

Gambler’s early history within the Saints is obscured by his own claims. Shadow initially understands Niclade to be the founder and believes Gambler obtained the Fate and Greed Traits after joining. Gambler later reveals that he founded the organization himself, transferred his destined First Seat to Niclade, and occupied the Second Seat 369 496.

He wagers his life on Niclade dying rather than being resurrected by Cthulhu. Niclade adds that, if resurrected, Gambler’s soul must dissipate; if Niclade dies, Gambler will lead the Saints. Gambler ultimately wins the wager and claims the organization 94 230.

After attaining godhood, he defeats the Pope before the other Saints, establishing his authority as First Seat. The victory breaks the organization’s practical dependence on Cthulhu even while its professed worship continues 227 228. Its deeper allegiance is eventually revealed to be Miracle 496.

Appearance

Gambler has roguishly handsome European or American features and appears to be in his early thirties despite his actual age 725 922.

• Usual appearance: Short blond hair; he is also described with facial stubble 477 886.
• Clothing: Wears a mask in an early private scene and later presents himself publicly in a tailcoat 230 725.
• Niclade form: Waist-length dark-blue hair, deep eyes, and an overtly sinister presence 689 886.
• Persistent injuries: Later bears burns on his arm from Daimon and a charred scar below his neck from Zhang Chu. Lingering elemental rules prevent quick healing 1485.

Personality

Gambler is irreverent, provocative, and intensely attracted to risk. He treats life-threatening wagers as exhilarating rather than merely necessary, and is willing to stake himself even when assuming a false identity could trigger a lethal backlash. Shadow considers him unusual even among gamblers because he repeatedly acts against what appears to be Fate’s course 261 890.

His apparent recklessness conceals meticulous preparation. He studies incentives, curiosity, expectations, and crowd behavior, often allowing targets an initial reward before drawing them into a larger scheme. Warden attributes this expertise to his years running a casino through carefully constructed traps 726 727 729 889.

He frequently enjoys pain and humiliation, making ordinary punishment ineffective. Niclade’s attacks and Lu Xiao’s beatings provoke pleasure rather than submission. This does not make him indifferent to genuine danger: Zhang Chu’s destructive lightning immediately persuades him to behave 94 477 872 926.

Despite his manipulative methods, he remains involved in humanity’s survival. He urgently tries to stop Shadow from taking a potentially fatal action and later restrains Nico from jeopardizing cooperation with Doctor’s arrangements 256 824.

Abilities and Skills

Authority of Lies

Gambler’s true Authority concerns Lies, not Fate. Lu Xiao identifies its central mechanism: when others believe what Gambler says, the lie can become reality 482.

• False powers: His claimed Fate Trait persuades others that he can establish supernatural wagers 482.
• Environmental changes: His magnificent casino hall reverts to a cramped cleaners’ room when Lu Xiao rejects the lie sustaining it 482.
• Divination: After Prison Doctor believes he can read cards, the resulting death prediction becomes genuine 685.
• Altered memories: Doctor identifies an inexplicable memory in Lu Xiao’s mind as a likely product of Lies; Lu Xiao later connects it to Gambler’s experiences 875.
• Godhood manipulation: He allows Shadow/Liu Guang to bypass a Deification Ritual. The supposed temporary shortcut conceals that Liu Guang has already become a god, while preserving the possibility of completing the ritual later 498.

Limitations

• Disbelief can invalidate a lie: Once his companions know his real Authority, he loses the apparent betting power when dealing with them. Uninformed people can still sustain that belief 501.
• Revealing a scheme can undermine it: Lu Xiao avoids pressing him for the details of a lie told to Angel because doing so might cause the Authority to fail 1029.
• Madness obstructs persuasion: Gambler struggles against a completely deranged Liuguang who may no longer retain enough reason to manipulate 688.
• Authority has a cost: Giving the jellyfish a human form leaves Gambler a desiccated corpse until she restores him 750.
• Invented identities carry risk: He fears backlash if a powerful Heavenly Insect race already exists when he claims to be its king 890.

Wagers and Apparent Immortality

Gambler commonly presents Lies through the language and rules of gambling 478 482.

• Protection during unresolved wagers: Niclade twists his body and destroys his shoulder, yet Gambler survives and immediately restores the missing flesh 94.
• Regeneration: Lu Xiao breaks his legs and destroys his head with the Corrupted Revolver, but he recovers without visible bleeding 478.
• Behavioral restraints: Shadow believes unleashing his full power would break their wager and make him the loser 215 256.
• Compelled participation: When fighting the Pope, Gambler declares himself “the house” and claims the Pope has no right to refuse 331.
• Unreliable explanations: He claims wagers can be inherited, but Lu Xiao’s Eye of Truth finds no connecting threads between them. Lu Xiao subsequently exposes the underlying role of Lies 478 482.

Self-Deception and Borrowed Authorities

Gambler can direct Lies inward, convincing himself that he possesses another identity or Authority 688 689 864.

• Ordinary self-deception requires repeated psychological suggestion and time; the emergency Niclade transformation bypasses that slower process 689.

Gambling, Sleight of Hand, and Manipulation

Gambler’s practical expertise predates his supernatural powers 1357.

• Card handling: Shuffles with magician-like flourishes and is confident he can restore a stacked deck after someone else cuts it 863.
• Fraud and recruitment: Uses staged rewards and promises to cultivate Drak’s dependence, adapting techniques formerly used to fleece casino patrons 889.
• Public image-building: Uses truthful stories, luxury cars, delayed reveals, and spectacle to make an audience more receptive to a planned lie 726 727.
• Psychological deduction: Predicts that a confident Deity may remain at an exposed location because everyone expects him to flee 684.
• Strategic betting: Anticipates that Daimon’s arrival will force the enemy to deploy comparable elemental-Authority users, giving substance to his wager with Tina 1029 1030.

Equipment and Property

• Playing cards — Used for games, cheating, divination, and framing supernatural effects. A Black Joker bearing the Pope’s face is destroyed before Gambler draws a Colorful Joker 230 685 750.
• Gold die — Recovers it after Warden secretly steals it 818.
• Northern European casino — His habitual base outside business trips; the luxurious interior is exposed as a manifestation of Lies 476 482.
• Historically significant luxury cars and engines — Collects vehicles marking turning points in automotive history. During a broadcast, displays an engine he identifies as humanity’s first V8 twin-turbocharged engine 727.
• Greed Trait — Manifests as his gray, motionless heart, which he tears out and gives to Shadow 432.

Relationships

• Mary — Foster mother and childhood teacher. Raises him in the casino, shares her meals, and tries to keep him away from gambling 1357.
• Lu Xiao / Fate — The being who answered his summoning ritual and guided his life. Their later cooperation combines genuine trust in his usefulness with anger at his schemes; Gambler even stakes Lu Xiao’s services without permission 496 1029.
• Shadow / Liu Guang — Fellow Pioneer, collaborator, and rival planner. Gambler enables his godhood but withholds crucial information about the mechanism; their conflicting plans eventually bring Lu Xiao to confront him 256 479 498.
• Niclade — Receives Gambler’s original First Seat and later loses leadership through their life wager. Gambler also reproduces Niclade’s identity through self-deception 94 230 496 689.
• Pope — A recurring opponent whom Gambler defeats to establish leadership. He distinguishes the Cthulhu-serving clone from the original body, whose difficult faith-based Deification Ritual he supports 227 230 331.
• Lust / Amanda — Gambler protects her from Shadow’s group and claims love as his motive. Shadow suspects that his real purpose is to delay fusion of the Sin Traits 431 432.
• Doctor — Fellow planner who uses Gambler’s Authority in coordinated schemes and later asks him to help the Pope complete an unprecedented path to godhood 726 1121.
• Warden — Fellow Pioneer and frequent comic foil; they exchange barbs, while Warden recognizes Gambler’s professional skill at deception 501 682 726.
• Prison Doctor — Investigates an epidemic alongside him. His belief makes Gambler’s improvised card divination genuinely functional 685.
• Nico — The jellyfish he gives a human form and name. She restores him after the transformation nearly kills him; he later relinquishes their wagers and relies on her connection to Lu Xiao instead 750 751.
• Dante — Card-game opponent and later collaborator. Defeats Gambler’s Theft trick, then recruits him to conceal a second consciousness during an advancement 864 1311.
• Drak — Zerg follower named and cultivated by Gambler. Becomes his foremost supporter and shares its vision with him 889 892 926.
• Tina — Negotiates a wager granting Zerg assistance in exchange for Lu Xiao helping kill five Gods 1029.
• Zhang Chu — An ally whose lightning Gambler genuinely fears; later leaves him with a difficult-to-heal training injury 926 1485.

Story Role and Major Arcs

Exposure of the Fate Deception

After protecting Lust and surrendering Greed to Shadow, Gambler becomes an obstacle to the planned collection of the Sin Traits. Lu Xiao visits his casino, attacks him, and investigates the apparent immortality that survives the beating. The confrontation ends with Lu Xiao identifying Lies and rejecting the false casino environment 432 476 478 482.

The subsequent revelations establish Gambler’s connection to Fate, his founding role in the Saints, and the organization’s worship of Miracle. Lu Xiao also realizes that Gambler’s deception surrounding Liu Guang’s godhood was more consequential than a simple shortcut 496 498.

Epidemic Investigation and Public Deception

Gambler assists Prison Doctor in searching for an epidemic’s source. His fabricated divination produces real death warnings, which he hides by secretly introducing an ace of hearts. During the ensuing danger, he turns self-deception into a means of assuming Niclade’s identity 685 689.

He later participates in a planned public lie with Doctor and Warden. His seemingly irrelevant broadcast performances build curiosity and credibility before the central deception, demonstrating how carefully he prepares belief rather than simply making assertions 726 727 729.

Nico and the Zerg

Gambler wins a Three-Card Poker wager against the jellyfish, granting her human form at nearly fatal cost to himself. After she restores him, he names her Nico and invites her into the human world 750.

Following his own further Ascension, he infiltrates the Swarm and invents the Heavenly Insect Clan. He cultivates Drak through rewards and promises; when Drak consumes a Brain Worm and takes control of its Swarm, other Zerg move to execute it, forcing Gambler to seek a way to protect his follower 886 888 889 892.

Later Human Operations

Doctor asks Gambler to use Lies alongside Dante’s Correction to help the Pope, who is attempting to attain godhood by atoning for the Pioneers’ sins 1121.

While rebuilding Las Vegas, Gambler agrees to hide his consciousness inside Dante during an advancement intended to test suspicions about the Neutral Faction. Once the encounter yields evidence, he emerges and calls upon the Weaver of Fate, Niclade 1311.

During preparations for the Species Ranking Tournament, he explains that Doctor has committed almost all available funds to training. His lingering burns demonstrate the effectiveness of Antioch’s law-type attacks, which Gambler cannot learn because they require elemental Authority 1485.

Notable Quotes

“I'm not like ordinary gamblers. I've never lost. Not before, and not ever.” 230

“I am Gambler, and I'm placing my bets!” 230

“I am the Gambler, and now I'm going to start lying!” 501

Trivia

• He first encountered the word “Gambler” in an anti-gambling magazine distributed throughout Las Vegas casinos 1357.
• He never attended school, though Mary taught him to read. His lack of historical education later prevents him from following Prison Doctor’s intended discussion of medieval Europe 686 1357.
• He reads cultivation novels and uses a familiar auction-house plot to explain why Liuguang’s discovery of a perfectly suited Authority seems suspiciously arranged 696.