#jack tcf

[aidanisking]

Found the Cards

[runahades]

"Elegance is the beauty never fades."

[crazydaymycrazyway]

If Rosalyn and Choi Han got married

Jack, as the wedding officiant: Now, repeat after me

Choi Han, sweating nervously: After me

Jack: ....

Eruhaben, using telepathy to talk to Rosalyn: Are you sure this is the one you want?

[nukudraws]

So, comic about Cale's thoughts on og Cale and og Choi han

Version with sound|yt version

-See, I know something-

-children don't.-

-What's that?-

-That no one 'bad'-

-is ever truly bad.-

-...-

-And no one 'good'-

-is ever truly good.-

..........................................................................................

Trash? Trash.

Hero? Hero.

Hotel? Trivago.

[wandering-tides]

Hannah, Hannah, Hannah.... don't get me wrong, I absolutely love you but like,,,

Is it just me or does she resemble that bastard Venion Stan? 😭

[elaemae]

GUYS ASAP HOW OLD ARE JACK AND HANNAH?!?! PLEASE I NEED IT FOR A FF DRAFT I BEG YOU ALLL

[blueteller]

So, Let's Talk Themes in TCF!

"Themes" is such a weird topic for me, not gonna lie... I always feel like it's something you're just supposed to know and feel instinctually – like rhythm in dancing. Which, btw, I'm not really good at. So it's difficult to talk about without that background anxiety that I'll totally flop and miss the point, despite my best intentions.

Still, I decided to give it my best shot anyway, and try to decide what "themes" there are in "Trash/Lout of the Count's Family", and why I like them, because that part is subjective and thankfully, I can decide without freaking out over the "correct" answer.

First, let me make one thing clear: I don't believe TCF was written to convey a single theme or idea. It's an adventure story, and it's supposed to be pure fun. Which it is!! But nevertheless, there is a lot of effort and thought behind it, and I believe that thoughtfulness from the author manifests itself clearly in the overall work, so it's definitely worth talking about.

Now, with that lengthy explanation of what I'm going for out of the way: what are the themes in TCF that I noticed (and like)?

Found Family

Beloved Hypocritical Hero

Overcoming Prejudice

Victory in Working Together

What makes Humanity, what makes a Monster

Healing and Moving Forward

Misunderstandings

Found Family is the most obvious theme, overall, so I don't think it requires much explanation. Cale doesn't "find" his new family on purpose as much and trips all over them, on total accident – then proceeds to adopt them all, despite his inner monologue telling the readers over and over that he intends no such thing. It's pure comedy, but it's also incredibly wholesome and heartwarming. Cale has the biggest, softest heart of them all, and he's the only one who doesn't see it. I wanna squish his cheeks and coo over how cute he is most of the time.

Beloved Hypocritical Hero is the second theme, which isn't apparent at the start. Cale's biased inner monologue does his best to convince us that he's totally selfish, and doesn't intend to be a paragon protagonists who selflessly helps others in the slightest! ...However, over the course of the story it becomes clear that Cale is one, big, fat, liar. He is exactly the sort of hero he constantly denies he is. His whole spitting-blood-from-power-overuse act practically became a meme at this point. Still, despite how frustrating Cale's blatant hypocrisy is, we can't help but love him all the more for it. I'd like to say that he gets better overtime, but.... yeah, personally, I don't see much progress on that front. He did promise Raon he won't get hurt one time, and he managed to keep that promise, but then he (spoiler alert) went ahead and stabbed himself right after, so. Yeah. Cale is a hero and a hypocrite and we all love him. That's definitely a major theme in the story.

Overcoming Prejudice is the best way I found to describe the whole plot of "anti-darkness attribute" propaganda in TCF. What I love about it is that the author found a much more interesting way to convey the theme than just make it about "fantasy racism". It isn't just about the Dark Elves, it's about Necromancers too, and all people using dead mana. The best part is that dead mana is, in fact, used by the very higher-ups who spread the prejudice in the first place, proving without a doubt that it's all 100% hypocrisy and there is nothing wrong with dead mana in the first place. It's all propaganda, and it serves a purpose. The true beauty of this plot unfolds when the Sun Twins show up, and Cale brings in Mary to help Hannah with her dead mana poisoning. Jack goes through an entire arc of realizing what "true light" is, and that despite the "voice of the Sun God" constantly ringing in his ears to eradicate all darkness, he comes to his own conclusion that it isn't what the power is, it's about what ones does with the power. It's just, beautiful. I feel like that part of the story doesn't get enough credit. Mary is one of my favorite characters, and Jack and Hannah combo is amazing as well. Definitely one of my favorite plotlines in TCF.

Victory in Working Together is another obvious theme throughout the story. It isn't just reserved for the good guys, either: the bad guys have a ton of alliances, too. The difference is that the good side is based on genuine intent, without stabbing each other in the backs, while the bad guys only pretend as long as they need to, then throw away their "allies" to the wolves when it's convenient. It's portrayed less as a "message" and more of a purely pragmatic fact: to get anywhere, you need to have support. Cale knows this from the start, which is why he manages to make so many allies in such a short time. This theme is simply about being able to overcome the biggest of obstacles, as long as you honestly work together with others and put all your effort into it. It is the simplicity of it makes it so effective, in my opinion.

What makes Humanity, what makes a Monster is an interesting one for sure. In a world full of so many interesting races, the final boss is – always – human. Be it Venion Stan, Redika, Prince Adin, Queen Elisneh, the White Star, or even the Sealed God – all of the main villains are either purely human or started off that way. I think it's very much deliberate, in order to show how what makes these people evil isn't some in-born characteristic; but only their choices. Not to say that non-human characters aren't ever bad, of course not – there is a bunch of evil non-human characters all over the story. But evil, true evil, is always a choice. And thus, non-human characters who choose good are more "human" than the "monsters wearing human skins". I won't call it an allegory, because it isn't even as indirect as that: it's a fundamental truth of life that the only real monsters are people who are rotten on the inside. And since the author put so much effort to make all the fantasy races in TCF feel very much human-like, it only makes sense that their choices is the thing that makes them evil, not their race. Even actual Monsters aren't all pure evil in TCF! I truly appreciate it. It's such a simple concept, but it works extremely well.

Healing and Moving Forward is one of the themes which honestly melts my heart. It doesn't simply apply to Cale; it applies to everyone in the cast. Everyone in Cale's group comes in damaged, scarred, hurt or threatened in some way, and comes out better in the end. From the children, to the adults, the entire group heals through their "Found Family" and their quest to defeat the evil forces threatening their world, in order to achieve a peaceful, happy future. Every time we see the evidence of it – like Cale admitting his life is precious, Eruhaben agreeing to extend his life, Choi Han attribute changing, and so on – it feels like an amazing triumph, and yet completely natural and earned. One could simply call it "good character development" and move on, but I see a commond trend and it deserves to make itself a theme of its own. It's not just about everybody finding their place in the family: it's about them growing as family. And doing so, despite their traumatic pasts. And since I once called Cale a "poster child of trauma", it's no wonder he's the one who has the most of "healing" and "moving forward" to do of them all. I hope it continues all throughout book 2!

And of course, I saved Misunderstandings for last. I think the name speaks for itself. TCF is practically a comedy built upon misunderstandings; except misunderstandings of the BEST kind. The misunderstandings where people look upon Cale – tired, in-denial, clueless Cale – and see whatever they need to see the most in the moment: a saviour, an inspiration, a leader, a friend, a parent, and so on. Many misunderstandings result in people seeing Cale in too-good-to-be-true light, which is always funny (Clopeh instantly comes to mind). The thing is: Cale deserves most of it, even if he doesn't believe so. Because it's not about what Cale actually is that matters in those situations: it's about what others need. Cale inspires just by being, well, himself. And that inspiration is what changes people. It's Cale doing his best and affecting others, that makes all the huge waves of change. In my opinion, there is no better misunderstanding than one which results in inspiration: because even if "truth" was revealed later on, the effects of it were 100% real, and something to be grateful for. Imagine if you had a terrible day, and you suddenly saw someone smile at you, and you felt better. Even if the person wasn't actually looking at you in that moment – that doesn't matter!! What matters to you is that your day DID get better, and that person was to thank for! That's the beauty of TCF's misunderstandings. Cale will never truly comprehend the gratefulness of others, without understanding how he can affect them without even trying. ...Then again, his obliviousness and hypocrisy is one of the many reasons why we love him 😊

Let me know if there are other themes in TCF you like!

[murasaki-cha]

Dude I miss so many characters who haven't appeared yet

I miss Bud and Glenn

I miss Hanna and Jack

I miss Cage and Taylor

I miss THE FREAKING WIND ELEMENTALS!! WHERE ARE THE WIND ELEMENTALS!!? CHAOS AND DESTRUCTION!!!

[sourrattree]

need more ppl to hear me out on rosalyn x hannah... 

its literally the best flavor of enemies to lovers, the tension they were having while fighting w the whales, its just so hsashdgfygfg they are so chaotic!good x chaotic!neutral

i can totally see ppl generally assuming rosalyn is like the more sane, leash on hannahs craziness but NO she’s 10x crazier, just more elegant

Hannah: Let’s slice them apart and bathe in their blood!

Rosalyn: No need darling, let’s just explode them.

*cue mana and aura explosion noises*

Cale: shivers

[kiwipyon]

[skipping stones on a lake]

Priest Jack, smiling: 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨.

Hannah, whispering: 𝘛𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘢𝘬𝘦.

[pprj-28]

Oblivious Cale's Suitors

Trash of the Count's Family

[runahades]

The recent scene of Alberu in his Dark Elf form really made me itchy to draw my own version. Hope you guys like it~!

[unparalleledtrash]

💎Seventeen as TCF/LCF characters [Masterlist]

Some comparisons are based on appearance, some based on personality, and some based on their dynamics with certain members/characters. Also, some characters are interchangeable with each member. Btw, this goes without saying but these are just my opinion.

Choi Seungcheol as Choi Han

Yoon Jeonghan as Cale Henituse

Hong Jisoo as Taylor Stan

Moon Junhui as Clopeh Sekka

Kwon Soonyoung as Bud Illis

Jeon Wonwoo as Beacrox Molan

Lee Jihoon as Glenn Poeff

Lee Seokmin as Saint Jack

Kim Mingyu as Alberu

Xu Minghao as Fredo von Ejellan

Boo Seungkwan as Archie

Chwe Hansol as Paseton

Lee Chan as Lock

[teriri-sayes]

TCF Modern AU Character Checklist (Official)

RIDI, one of the Korean publishers of TCF/LCF, recently released new ebook volumes for TCF. The volume set consisted of volumes 10-18, spanning chapters 201-398 of Part 1. And RIDI added a "Character Checklist" as the exclusive bonus content for buying the volume set.

What is this character checklist about? It's just a list of things that the characters are most likely to do or prefer. But it is set in a modern AU (alternate universe) setting.

Those who want to purchase official merchandise can head over to RIDI to buy the new ebooks. You can get a 10% discount and a 5000 won coupon if you participate in the event, so the cost for the new volume set will only be 24,160 won. But be aware that this is only in the Korean language. There is no official English ebook for TCF. 🥲

The new ebooks included new novel covers. For volumes 1 - 9, they changed the ebook cover to this:

And for volumes 10-18, the new ebook cover is this:

Because the character checklist is not publicly available for free, I will only post a quick summary of it.

***

Alberu 

likes to eat snacks while working

beautiful handwriting

celebrates others' birthdays grandly

frequent social media poster because of work

Beacrox 

makes tteok-galbi and gives it to Cale

2nd best at making snow ducks

Ron

makes travel plans because of the kids

good at claw machines

Bud 

world traveler who's good at driving any vehicle

frequent social media poster because he's an attention-seeker

Hilsman 

scared of bugs

Witira 

heavy drinker

troublemaker child because she couldn't control her strength

Eruhaben 

good singer of old songs but only does it upon the kids' request

picky appetite

doesn't use kiosks because he's not interested in learning anything new

On

great dancer

makes travel plans

knows the most about memes

Hong

makes travel plans

likes winter because of family get-togethers

frequent social media poster because he finds it exciting

good at drawing because everyone praised their drawings

posts memes

Raon

makes travel plans

prefers to play together than go on amusement park rides

likes winter because of family get-togethers

late sleeper because he always daydreams of going on trips with his family

good at drawing because everyone praised their drawings

Choi Han

stiff dancer

secretly prefers thrills in the amusement park

good at making snow ducks

student with low grades

Deruth

believes in fortune telling stuff but is in denial over it

Cale

somehow ends up as the leader in team projects

celebrates others' birthdays secretly

best fit as the leader of a K-pop boy group

buys lots of online books to read when he achieves slacker life

heavy reader

drinks hot Americano because Ron says cold drinks is bad for him

Mary

likes spicy food

likes horror movies

good at computers because Tasha taught her

Lock

first to apologize after getting into a fight

model student with good grades

Tasha

loves to eat meat

Archie

always grumbles on trips but shuts up when Cale stares at him

Toonka

bad at using machines and gadgets

Cage

prefers eating over studying

Rosalyn

drinks iced Americano in the morning

troublemaker child because she wanted to do lots of things

Jack

likes pineapple pizza

Hannah

likes mint chocolate and eats it together with Mary

***

Some trivia:

Mint chocolate in Korea is similar to pineapple pizza that people either heavily like or dislike.

Witira being a heavy drinker is a pun related to her race as a whale tribe. Sulgorae (술고래) is a figurative expression for a heavy drinker. It’s a combination of the words 술 (alcohol) and 고래 (whale). English has a similar expression to it - drink like a fish

Making snow ducks is a trend in Korea. They use plastic tongs with a duck mold to create snow ducks. Some treat is a game where you make dozens of it fast as if printing out items in a factory, and line it up in a row.

Tteok-galbi is grilled short rib patties. Hmm, delicious~! 😋

[follow-up-news]

Former President Donald Trump was "fundamentally" acting as a private candidate for office and not as president of the United States when he sought to overturn his 2020 election loss, special counsel Jack Smith's team argued in a filing on Wednesday that revealed new details of the scheme at the heart of Trump's federal election interference case. The filing asserts that Trump knew that the claims he was spreading about the 2020 election were lies, with Smith's team arguing that Trump didn't believe his own falsehoods but instead spread them as part of his broader scheme to stay in power. As officers were being brutally assaulted at the Capitol on Jan. 6, Smith's team says, Trump was scrolling Twitter, according to an analysis by an FBI expert that is among the revelations in the new filing. "The phone’s activity logs show that the defendant was using his phone, and in particular, using the Twitter application, consistently throughout the day after he returned from the Ellipse speech," Smith's team wrote. The filing also elaborates on the Smith team's prior claim that a member of Trump's campaign encouraged rioting at the TCF Center in Detroit, where a pro-Trump mob tried to stop the counting of votes in what was America's largest majority-Black city on Nov. 4, 2021, the day after the election. "Make them riot," an unnamed campaign employee texted a colleague, according to the filing. "Do it!!!" The filing is a response to the Supreme Court ruling that Trump had immunity for some actions he took as president and that prosecutors could not use his official acts in their case. Smith's team argued the 2024 Republican presidential nominee "must stand trial for his private crimes as would any other citizen" and a federal grand jury returned a superseding indictment against him in August adjusting Smith's case to comply with the Supreme Court's order. Trump "resorted to crimes to try to stay in office" after his loss, Smith's team wrote in Wednesday's filing, arguing that he launched "a series of increasingly desperate plans to overturn the legitimate election results in seven states that he had lost—Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin."

[blueteller]

Who are the gods that have been introduced in tcf? What do you think are their power levels and their stance in the story and towards cale?, what do you think about their personalities? (Sorry couldn't keep up with them and i need to know more abo

An excellent question! As of now, there are 11 known or semi-known gods in the TCF pantheon. Let's count them down:

1. God of Death

We don't know his name, but we know him the most out of all of the gods. There's quite a bit to go over here.

First of all, we know that he's a male with white hair, dark skin and pitch black eyes (also, "great complexion" according to Cale lol).

Secondly, he wasn't originally "supposed" to become a god. In other words he wasn't a "Tribulator", or "Single Lifer", which are humans who don't reincarnate after death, due to being born with the potential to ascend. He became a god through sacrifice, somehow. According to the God of Despair – who is notably a liar, so his account is probably not entirely accurate – God of Death killed his "friend" in order to achieve godhood. Presumably that friend was a Single Lifer, and thus had enough Karma to elevate the God of Death to his current status. The World Tree from Nameless 1 (aka. the TCF world) knows this, which is why she warned Cale not to trust the God of Death. (More on the topic God of Despair and God of Death's friend later.)

Third thing we know about him, the God of Death is responsible for transporting – or attempting to transport – at least 3 Choi family members to Nameless 1: Choi Jung Gun, aka. Nelan Barrow, Choi Han, and Choi Jung Soo. Those three were Single Lifers, and thus, have the potential to become divine beings after death. However, Choi Jung Gun refused and became a Wanderer (and beats up the God of Death with a broom on occasion lol). Same happened with Choi Jung Soo, who died before he could get transported to another dimension, but became a Wanderer anyway. Choi Han is still alive, so he isn't one yet.

Also, he currently has no Saints – at least not at Nameless 1. Cage and Cale were his preferred candidates, but they both refused the offer. Which is how we know that the Saint position has to be accepted in order for it to happen.

The God of Death's power is stronger – or at the very least, a natural opponent – of the power of the Sun God, unlike darkness attribute and dead mana. Thus, when Alberu faced the risk of his Dark Elf heritage being exposed by Saint Jack, Cale requested Cage to bless the bracelet Mary created for him with the power of the God of Death, for additional protection. Another instance of this was in the tower in the Empire where a "heretic" – aka. a real Saint – was once imprisoned. The corrupted priests put the God of Death's divine item, a book, into a wall in that tower to suppress her powers, which was said to be very effective.

The God of Death is capable of striking powerful deals with people on the verge of death. For example, the deal with the original Cale Henituse to regress back in time and transmigrate into Kim Rok Soo's body. He is also able to grant deals through sacrifice of one's lifespan, like Choi Han sacrificing the time he would outlive Raon Miru to go help Cale in the Sealed God's Test, or that time when Choi Jung Gun sacrificed his lifespan to create the Sword of Disasters and Dragon Blood Drinking Crown. The God of Death also has the Vow of Death, which can be used to track the people who made it with their lives on the line. The "thread" connecting the vow-makers break if one of them dies, or their soul gets transported into another dimension all of a sudden – as it happened when Cale was put through Sealed God's Test. Not to mention the God of Death has limited precognition, by knowing the place and date of a potential death (which he uses to warn Cale about his potential death on the 8th of November in the Sealed God's Test).

The God of Death's divine items are the book mentioned earlier, which he could use to communicate with Cale and the new prison of the Sealed God, and the mirror, which basically functions as a tablet and means of transport between different dimensions. It requires "invitations" from outside forces, however.

Among people working for the God of Death, there is Choi Jung Gun, who clearly isn't too happy about it considering the broom incident. There was also Lee Soo Hyuk, although that deal expired once he got properly reincarnated as Sui Khan with all his memories from his past life. And of course Choi Jung Soo, who seems to be under similar Wanderer contract as his uncle, although that has not been discussed in depth yet.

Now, the God of Death's personality. First of all, he's obviously an introvert. He does not like socializing at all. However, he does like to bother Cage and Cale for attention because he likes them. He often acts very childish. Certainly very low emotional intelligence (I am never forgetting when he basically wrote Cale a letter saying: "Hi, I'm a huge fan of your work, your best friends' deaths are your fault by the way, also you're gonna die on your next birthday – good luck lol"). But he is intelligent where it comes to strategy. Cale's transmigrations seems to be entirely his idea. He certainly felt bad about his curse accidently affecting him by proxy, but was unable to undo it before the transmigration.

While the God of Death certainly has good intentions – meaning he's trying to prevent people from dying – the way he does thing is certainly in the morally gray area. He often does not ask for permission – like kidnapping teenage Chois and putting them in mortal danger. He also basically never apologizes. I'd put him in a True Neutral alignment, as I doubt he qualifies to be in the "chaotic neutral" category.

On his relationships, we know that he loves Cage (who is apparently the reincarnation of the Glutton Priestess) and Cale (whom he had been observing since early childhood). He also gets along with Super Rock and Cheapskate (the Gods, not the Ancient Power versions of them). He has a working relationship with Angelina the Sun God, and the God of War as well. He also fears the God of Balance – for a good reason – but wishes to see her face, so he probably doesn't really respect her as much as he fears her.

Also, he's passively suicidal. He wishes he could die enough that he explored all the options, as he discussed it with Angelina. He did not find a way for a god to die, despite being the God of Death himself. Thus it's safe to say he has low self-esteem and is probably heavily depressed.

Lastly, he hates the Hunters with a passion. It's safe to say he was not one of them when he was still alive.

2. Sun God(dess); aka. Angelina

Her name and gender were revealed at nearly the end of Part 1. Angelina's backstory, as told by the World Tree to Cale, is that she was a Tribulator who met an evil Dark Elf when she was still alive. After achieving godhood, she declared that he would erase all darkness, aka. darkness attribute and dead mana races. Thus, her Church became heavily racist as result.

She let it go overtime however, eventually deeply regretting her attitude, as the God of Death described her going from "bold and radiant" to "sulking in shadows". Just like the God of Death, she became disillusioned and depressed enogh to consult him on possible ways of gods commiting suicide. Her full regret was shown in how she let Alberu trade his family's curse for a way to contact Cale in the Sealed God's Test, by possessing a Dark Tiger monster. Also, she hired Choi Jung Gun to steal Taerang (Ahn Roh Man's AI shape changing Spear) from Earth 3 so that Alberu could use it against the Lion Dragon.

Her Saints are Jack and Hannah – or at the very least intended Saints. Angelina split the power between the two of them, Jack getting the power to heal, and Hannah the light attribute and sword skills at Swordmaster level. However, while Jack embraced his powers and the position of a Saint, Hannah refused them. So it's possible that only Jack is a Saint, now...? Not 100% sure how that works.

Her powers include "purifying" – aka. destroying – dead mana, however it is unable to heal people poisoned by it. Thus the reason why Jack was unable to touch his sister after she absorbed dead mana with the help of necromancer Mary. However, later on Angelina somehow changed how her powers worked for dark attribute and Jack was able to touch his Hannah again, as well as Alberu. I'm not 100% sure why or how that happened. Presumably part of Angelina's "redemption arc".

Angelina's divine item was called "Condemnation of the Sun". Unlike the intimidating name, its original form was a small cracked mirror which Cale found under a trash can. Jack was able to extract the true for of the divine item from it in a time of need, which was a white sword. Hannah used it to defeat Bell Tower Master, Lich Bernard.

Due to both Jack and Hannah being blond, as well as both Crossman and Mogoru Empire royal families claiming that the Sun God's blessing was connected to golden hair and golden eyes, it's easy to assume that Angelina was a golden blond herself. However, as we had not gotten her physical description yet, it is merely speculation at this point.

...She also has a warehouse with wine, which is apparently pretty good, according to the God of Death. Makes me wonder if she's not an alcoholic... I mean with her depression, it would make sense. (I wonder what she uses to make the alcohol tho, lol)

3. God of War

A lot of things are undertain about this god. We don't even know this god's gender yet, much less their appearance personality. We can make some guesses based on what little we know, however.

First of all, the Saint of this god is Deputy Priestess of the demon worshippers in Endable Kingdom, Cotton. Cotton was heavily undercover as a Saintess. She was able to create "shelters" for Eruhaben and the others while Cale was trapped in a black orb by the Sealed God's Test. From this, we can conclude that despite the title, the God of War's power are not actually connected to the violence of war at all; quite the opposite. It seems like this god is more concerned with preventing bloodshed and espionage work connected to ending war early. Perhaps that is a new development, like with Angelina, or perhaps it was that way since the beginning.

Secondly, there is information which is not 100% confirmed to be about the God of War, but is heavily implied to be. The God of War's Saintess used to be the Water of Judgement, Cale's Water Ancient Power's original owner. She was a slave, before one god freed her and had her working for them instead. Water of Judgement was much displeased with this, and with the help of Cale's other Ancient Powers, eventually escaped to the Eastern Continent and renamed herself Sky Eating Water. This all took place in the north, in the area where the Paerun Kingdom later came to be. The same god was responsible for creating a river for the frozen land, but because the locals decided to hoard the water for themselves by turning the river into a lake, and tried to control and/or rejected Sky Eating Water, the god became furious with them. They left a divine item in the shape of a watering can, which Cale found in an old farming shed.

It all has yet to become revelant to the story, but it's quite an interesting bit of backstory nonetheless. (Like I said, it's not 100% sure it's all about the God of War, but it's the only one who fits.

4. Sealed God; God of Despair

The first member of the Hunters who managed to become a god. Whether by accident or otherwise, this person – who we only know is male – managed to kill a Single Lifer, and with the power of their Karma, ascended despite not being born a Tribulator.

Thus, the Hunters became obesssed with creating more gods by killing as many people and creatures as possible for the power of Karma. Also including entire Worlds, as Worlds are sentient beings with a ton of Karma themselves.

Apparently, gods can become stronger through getting Karma even after achieving godhood. Because the God of Despair continued hunting and killing Sinle Lifers. He said that he killed 10, and was about to kill the 11th when he "got caught". We can assume that whatever happened then was either directly or indirectly caused by the – living and mortal at the time – God of Death, who was friends with the 11th Single Lifer target. Perhaps God of Death unwittingly took his friend's Karma through a mercy kill, causing his ascension. Whatever actually happened at the time, it ended with the God of Despair getting "arrested" – presumably by one or more of the Old Gods – and sealed away in his own temple statue as punishment. The seal wasn't perfect, however. The Hunters had methods to summon the Sealed God's Temple in different dimensions for it to harvest despair, in the hope of releasing the God of Despair once more. Cale eventually managed to use Embrace on the Sealed God and sealed him away for good in the God of Death's divine item.

Cale described the statue of the Sealed God as looking serene and beautiful – before turning furious and demonic – so if it depicted the God of Despair accurately, it's quite possible that he was once very good looking.

The God of Despair has an extremely merciless, evil personality. He describes himself as the personification of malice and wickedness. He controls Unranked Monsters and is worshipped by the demonic race. He makes very cruel tests for people which are nearly impossible to succeed at, but he is still limited and has to follow certain rules. ....that doesn't stop him from being an a**hole about it tho, as it showed when he "rewarded" Cale's success in his Test by gving him the whole 10 minutes for saying goodbye. What a bastard.

God of Despair is a liar, a manipulator, who does not hesitate to do whatever he needs to get what he wants. He used the White Star as his pawn and did not hesitate to try replacing him with Cale Henituse the first chance he got. He also got completely abandoned by the Hunters once Cale sealed him away. So it's easy to guess that despite all his self-importance of being "the first Hunter to become a God", he isn't actually the leader of the Hunters – not the King, nor the King's Successor.

In the end, the Sealed God is just as much of a puppet in the game of the Hunter as the White Star himself. Poetic.

5. God of Protection; Super Rock

Due to some of the original owners of Cale's Ancient Powers ascending after their deaths, the Super Rock inside Cale's Earth Attribute and the God of Protection are essentially two different people. However, since we know things about Super Rock the Ancient Power, we automatically know some things about the God of Protection, too.

First of all, he likes Cale and wishes for him to succeed. He left Cale a necklace with a pebble, presumably with a purpose to use later on. Secondly, he's still rivals/best friends with Cheapskate, aka. God of Purifying Fire. The live together in an area which seems like a burned mountain. ....Makes sense to me, lol.

God of Protection is said to be quite powerful – powerful enough to face the God of Balance, who is one of the Old Gods. How his powers currently function is unclear, but we can use our imagination and assume that it has to do with both Earth and Protection.

I don't recall any physical descriptions of him in the novel. We know he faced the Ancient White Star in battle and was known as the Guardian of the Land of Boulders – future Forest of Darkness area – so he must have had the body of a powerful fighter.

Also, according to Choi Jung Gun's journal, he was quite grumpy when he first met him. From the way he acts with Cale as an Ancient Powers, his personality falls into the "harsh but worried grandpa" category.

6. God of Purifying Fire; Fire of Destruction aka. Cheapskate

Just like with the God of Protection, aka. Super Rock, we know things about him via Cale's Ancient Power. But we also got a physical description, thanks to the Pope of the Fire of Purification Church! His hair was burning red, just like Cale's (probably a bit more orange than blood red tho, which is more of a Thames characteristic color).

Cheapskate is certainly someone who was very greedy for money in life. It is unclear if he got over it after his ascension, but it's doubtful. He achieved godhood after setting the northern half of the Western Continent on fire all at once, to get rid of dead mana and black magic golems, giving even the World Tree quite the scare.

His powers involve Purifying Fire, which unlike Angelina's power are able to purify without harming those with the Darkness Attribute. His divine item is a stove which emits purifying smoke, to heal living jiangshi from dead mana in their hearts in Part 2. Cale is allowed to keep this divine item until his own death.

When Cheapskate appears before Cale, he shows up as a cute puppy, wagging his tale for validation. He is generous (unlike the God of Death, in Cale's eyes) and seems to like Cale a lot, just like the God of Protection. Possibly because Cale has their Ancient Powers, but more likely because they see themselves in Cale and thus appreciate him and his efforts.

Unlike the God of Protection, who faces the God of Balance head on in a fight, God of the Purifying Fire seems to be quite scared of her due to the whole hiding-as-a-puppy thing.

7. Blue Wolf

This one is the lest certain of all the deities, but I decided to mention them as the God of Death spoke about them in the journal, as well as told Cale to seek them out when they head out to Aipotu, aka. the World of Dragons which has been taken over by the Hunters. Apparently this deity wil help Lock, and it's possible their deal with help explain why Wolf People are considerd a race "abandoned by the gods" (they can't use potions for example) despite not having a Darkness Attribute.

Basically, I'm pretty sure this guy is a Wolf God of some sort and their whole deal will be explored later on.

8. God of Balance

One of the 4 "Old Gods", meaning gods who did not manage to find any replacements for a very, VERY long time, and as the result are some of the oldest gods running around.

This does NOT mean that they are the "first" gods of their kind, however, as all gods can – and wil – retire one day, and thus the position is passed down sooner or later. It simply means they are especially picky with their successor, for one reason or another.

The God of Balance is a woman who wears heels (presumably for the intimidation factor) and likes to approach from behind, making the other person frozen in place and unable to turn around to look at her. (Which is why the God of Death tried to encourage Cale to try to get a peek on ther misterious face.) She is capable of inflicting pain even upon the God of Death, who is notably powerful. She is a very harsh person who has strict rules and is extremely displeased when people try to go against them. She wrote an entire rulebook, in fact, as Central Plains once mentions to Cale looking it over to see if certain things are allowed.

She is clearly obsessed with order and control, as her biggest opponents are the God of Chaos – her natural opposite – and Hope, who defies both Balance and Chaos.

She wants to press Cale into becoming a god under her in order to keep her under control. Cale definitely does not like that, and thus it's impossible it's actually going to happen.

9. God of Hope

Officially Cale's favorite god, as it's the only one who respects his slacker life dream and sincerely wishes him luck with it.

Hope met Cale only once, but was quite revealing about their personality during the meeting (even though we did not get any physical description nor gender reveal yet). First, they did not want to become a god, but felt obligated to as someone was needed for the role at the time. Secondly, they consider the lust for power "repulsive". Lastly, their power comes from people being inspired and hoping, thus while not always powerful, Hope can on occassion become more powerful than Balance.

Hope and Balance are clashing forces, because Hope goes againt and beyond the order of Balance to achieve the impossible.

...out of all the possible roles, if Cale actually becomes a god himself in the future, I'm betting him becoming the next Hope is the most likely outcome. However, Hope kind of made me think that Cale's perfect ending will be avoiding exactly that fate. So perhaps, Cale will avoid becoming a god in the first place with their help.

10. God of Chaos

Only mentioned as the opposing force of Balance. Nothing more is known just yet. One of the 4 Old Gods.

11. Unnamed 4th Ancient God

The last of the 4 Old Gods. Nothing is known about them yet beyond the fact that they exist. However, as @crazystorygirl pointed out, it might actually be the God of Fate, as they were mentioned in the God of Death's journal among Hope and Balance, so that would make the most sense. Fate would also fit thematically with Hope, Balance and Chaos, which are all themes showing up frequently in TCF.

...Phew! That was much longer than I expected. I hope it helps you!