Null

Null is the main protagonist of Louse. They are a former Pilgrim that seeks to end Rot.

History
Null's appearance is currently unknown; however, they are consistently shown with grey hands, and formerly had a mitestone mask. As all the other pilgrims wore black cloaks for their journey to Rot, it is possible Null did at some point as well; however, it is unclear if they still wear it, if they ever did. Null was a pilgrim, along with the Old Friend and an undetermined number of others. One of the tasks that they performed as a pilgrim was the creation of at least one mitestone mask; their first one was created for the Old Friend. When he saw it, he said that they had done wonderfully, and that he was glad their first mask would be going with him on his trip.

When the Old Friend reached Rot, he was not taken by it, and instead managed to stay up on the mountain above it. Null heard about this, and 10 years after he originally left, they began their own pilgrimage to Rot, with three other pilgrims. One of them was a pilgrim named Crine. When they left, they were given a nullification vial, as all pilgrims were given before they made their pilgrimage; however, they stole an extra one. While journeying to the mountain, the other pilgrims confronted Null about the extra vial they found. They claimed it to be a mistake; Crine asked if they expected him to believe this, to which they shrugged and nodded, which was not a satisfactory answer for them. Knowing that Null stole the vial, they approached them; realizing that their cover had been blown, they threw their mitestone mask at Crine, killing him. They then picked up a shard, and murdered the other two pilgrims in a blur of fury. After murdering them, they looked down and realized that their mask no longer had its tranquil effect on them; when they looked at the shard, they realized that it was what was causing their anger, and dropped it. They then continued to the mountain to find the Old Friend.

They reached the mountain the day before Rot opened, right as daylight was beginning to fade. Traveling up to the top of the mountain, they found the Old Friend sitting in front of a fire. Sitting across from him, they noticed that he looked noticeably worse for wear as he expressed his gratitude for Null having come, before saying that the voice of Rot told him it would break through the surface the next day. He explained that it grew steadily over the years, taunting him as he stayed on the mountain, and that it knew he could not nullify it on his own.

Null then begins to go to his house on the mountain; however, before they can, the Old Friend tells them that the affliction of the Blot wished to join them to end Rot. Null accepted, and the Blot broke out of his eye and entered their left eye. The Old Friend then warned them not to let its hatred drain their soul. Following this, the two entered the Old Friend's house; he had a room prepared for Null. He then explained that it would be likely that he'd be taken by Rot tomorrow, and said that he would not stop Null from nullifying him. They remained silent in response, not answering, until the Old Friend left to listen to Rot. Later, while sleeping, Null had sleep paralysis, and saw the half-rotted Old Friend talk to them; he told them that they were nothing but a single Louse aimlessly crawling through the surface, and that they would see what was truly important.

After sleeping, they were awoken by the Old Friend. They thanked him as the Blot stirred in their eye, and spoke to them. It asked them why they sought Rot; they said to end it, and began to feel pain as it called them naïve and oblivious. It then retreated back into their eye. Following this, the Old Friend opened the door to the house; outside was the opening of Rot, which was very close. Null began to approach it, but they took a moment to turn around, which let them see the Old Friend's house being taken by Rot, with no sound coming from inside. They then stepped into Rot, and saw the Face of Rot. It told them that it had a gift for all that arrived at its body, and offered it; Null accepted, but the Face then revealed that it heard what they said above, while saying that their goal is impossible as Rot is endless. The gift also melted into Null's hand. They then felt themself being pulled down; they decided to let themself sink down without struggling. The Blot then appeared, admonishing them for failing so quickly, while saying that it would intervene. Null accepted, and the Blot branched out of their eye; they looked down, and saw the rotted Old Friend dragging them down. The Bot decapitated him, and both him and Null slid through the walls of Rot into a large cavern.

After landing, the Blot retreated back into their eye. The Old Friend's decapitated head remained on the ground, and was hissing as if it wanted to speak. Null chose to listen, and heard the Old Friend tell them to give in to the Rot, before it liquefied. Their right eye then saw nothing but red, before the color congealed, revealing the gift of Rot that they had been given. It said that it accepted their offering of the Old Friend, and thanked them for not nullifying his body. Then, sensing that Null wished to speak, it told them it would listen to them; they asked why it was there, and it smiled before answering that it had always been there, and that it would turn the surface of the Earth into the skin for its body. The Blot then interrupted the conversation, telling Null to remove the Rot. Rot, meanwhile, told them to remove the Blot. They ultimately decided to side with the Blot, letting it branch out onto their left arm and control it. The Blot reached up and pulled out their right eye in a swift motion, removing the Eye of Rot from them. After removing it, the Blot retreated back into their left eye; looking down at the Eye, Null decided to take it with them. When they did, it sprouted red tendrils and used them to latch onto the back of their right hand, sticking with them.

After this, Null heard wet footsteps approaching; they attempted to hide, but the Eye squealed to give away their position, saying that it wanted them to meet all of its friends. As such, the Love of Rot approached them, saying that it had been searching for them. Null somehow already knew their name. The Love asked them to embrace Rot, and asked them to let it help them start their new life today; Null accepted, and their vision grew fuzzy as the Love took their hand, while they felt an unbearable sense of hopelessness. Before they fully succumbed, however, the Blot told them that they did not want this failure, and forced them to see a flashback of the day they arrived at the mountain.

The flashback showed them what they did once they arrived at the mountain; however, when the Old Friend told them that he would be taken with Rot, Null attempted to convince him to leave the mountain, which worked. When this happened, however, the Blot intervened directly, filling the sky as it told them that despite what they wished they had done, they can never go back. The flashback then continued to show what truly happened; after reliving the sleep paralysis with the half-rotted Old Friend, the Blot broke into the flashback once again, saying that their regret over what happened is no excuse to not continue. Null chose to get up instead of sinking into Rot, causing the flashback to disappear; the Blot told them that it is almost impossible for someone like them to end Rot, but that they are the only option. After this, Null's eyes snapped open, letting them see the Love above them. Getting out of the Rot they were sinking into, they took a step back as the Love expressed confusion. Using this opportunity, they took out a nullification vial to nullify the Love. The Blot told them to do it now, but the Eye attempted to dissuade them, telling them that they could miss. They ultimately chose to throw it, shattering it at the top of its mask. The Love grew furious with Null for lying, and was about to attack before it suddenly froze, its mask falling off. It then dissolved into dust from the vial, being fully nullified. Looking at the shattered mask, Null realized they could take a shard, and use it to remove the Eye; the Blot encouraged this, saying that it did not know what they were thinking, but the Eye warned that it could tell what they were thinking based on their face. They decided to try to remove the eye anyways, but it leapt off their hand just before they could stab it, resulting in them stabbing their right hand instead.

The Eye gathered mass until it grew taller than Null, while telling them that pilgrims like them belong to it, and that they would not stop its endless spread. It continued, saying that them not being like the others concerned it at first, but they barely managed to end the Love, while a new one grows. Rather than continue to listen, Null chose to nullify it, smashing a vial against it. As it dissolved, it told them that it saw how many vials they had, and that it was not enough.

All that remained of it after nullification was Null's leftover eye. They moved to crush it, but before they could, a voice called out to ask them for it. Turning towards it, they saw someone they did not immediately know the name of; they asked them who they were, and they responded by saying that they do not have a name, but Rot called them Turmoil before it stopped speaking to them. The Blot told Null that all that comes from Rot must be ended, while Turmoil asked them what they were doing down here. They decided to be honest and explain that they wanted to end Rot. Turmoil was shocked before nodding, saying that they are not like the others, as the other pilgrims did not want that. They then said that they could help if Null gave them their spare eye. The Blot, furious, told them to end it; however, they chose to give Turmoil the spare eye. They thanked Null as they put it in, causing a blinding light to shine out. When the light subsided, they apologized, showing that their eye produced light.

Turmoil then turned around to reveal two passages. They explained that the passage on the left led down to the Bones of Rot and the Heart of Rot, while the passage on the right led up to the Face and the Brain of Rot. Null chose to go up, with Turmoil in tow; as they walked, the Blot spoke to Null, saying that it understood they were using Turmoil, and warned them to end them as soon as they were no longer useful. It then retreated back into their eye.

As the two continued walking, Turmoil asked Null what their name was. When they responded, however, the game broke while trying to load their name. Before it fully broke, the Blot began to move in their eye. When the game glitched, it loaded in alternate paths that were not taken; one of them showed Null cowering in the Old Friend's house, dying with him as he got a game over, while the Blot ran away. Another showed them when they first approached the mountain, noting that all the land around it was dead and grey. The third showed them immediately crushing Turmoil, which made the Blot confident that they were the one to end Rot. The game fixed itself after a brief amount of time, with Turmoil thanking Null for telling them their name. The Blot, calmer than before, told Null to be careful about what they said to Turmoil, as Rot would use everything against them.

Eventually, the two reached a large, cavernous room. Shining their light around, Turmoil saw nothing, while Null heard humming behind them. Turning around revealed the Sound of Rot. They got Turmoil's attention; when they did, Turmoil told them to move backwards very quietly. However, the Sound then rushed Turmoil, wrapping itself around them, as the Face descended from the ceiling. It claimed that Turmoil was working for it and led them to it; in an act of defiance, they shouted for Null to do what they came to do. However, in doing so, they used Null's name, which the Face noted. The Blot then appeared, telling Null that it was a betrayal, and that they should end all around them. Rather than doing so, they decided to focus on the face, pulling out a vial and throwing it into its mouth. The Face grew furious as it began to dissolve, screaming that nothing would stop its spread, and that Null would get the suffering they so eagerly desired. It then wrapped tendrils around Null, trapping them, while forcing them to watch Turmoil as they were absorbed by the Sound. The Blot then chose to intervene, saying that the vial needed more time to end it. Null agreed, and the Blot said that they could save Turmoil before leaving their eye and restraining the Face. Doing so freed Null. The Blot then began to dissolve with the Face as the vial spread to it, and Null was faced with the choice to either save Turmoil, or help the Blot; they chose to save Turmoil and nullify the Sound.

Deciding to use the shard, they stabbed through the Sound's mask, shattering it, revealing a gaping maw beneath it. It detached from its tendrils, leaving Turmoil. Null chose to go to Turmoil and remove the Sound's tendrils, allowing it to escape without being fully nullified. When Turmoil was freed, they appeared to be largely unharmed outside of some scars. They then heard a crash behind them; turning around, they saw that the Face was fully nullified, but that the Blot was unmoving on top of it. Approaching it, they saw that the Blot was just barely hanging on, and let it back into their eye. It told them to end Rot as it crawled to the back of their eye to recover.

They then looked back at the shattered mask of the Sound of Rot, and had a flashback to their past as a pilgrim. They remembered making the Old Friend's mitestone mask and his reaction to it, remembered the aftermath of murdering their three fellow pilgrims, and remembered approaching the mountain, while thinking to themself that they were the only one supposed to know that the Old Friend wasn't taken by Rot. After this, they snapped back to reality, grabbing a larger shard. Turmoil also picked up a shard, unsure of what material it was or whether to take it, but Null encouraged them to do so. The two of them then turned to face an opening in the wall, which led to the Brain, and began to walk down it.

As they approached the Brain, the way behind them sealed, while a voice told them to continue. When they found the Brain, it told them that it was not interested in attacking them, and asked them to refrain attacking. Null consulted Turmoil, who said they would do whatever Null told them to; the Brain then revealed that it knew both of them had the means to end it, but that it wishes to talk first. Null then decided to allow the Brain to talk.

The Brain began to explain that it knew Null came a long way to find it, including killing the other pilgrims. Null flinched when it said that, not knowing how it knew, but remained silent as it continued. It asked them if they were remorseless or felt as if it were necessary, before saying that they are guilty either way, as the Old Friend did not ask them to do so. It then said that it knew what the Old Friend was telling them. Continuing, it said that Null was now here to end it, but warned that there would be unforeseen consequences, while taking a glance at Turmoil.

Rather than let the Brain continue, Null chose to nullify it. The Brain expressed disappointment at their eagerness for violence. They decided to throw a vial at it. Before it dissolved, it smiled as it told Null that they made several poor choices, before asking how many more they could survive. It then turned to Turmoil, telling them that "Turmoil ends" before fully dissolving, leaving just its shell behind. After being nullified, Rot began to grow uncontrollably, making the room smaller and smaller as Turmoil looked on in shock. They explained that Rot is still alive, and that without the Brain it isn't being maintained, allowing its uncontrolled spread; they apologized for not realizing this. Null attempted to stab the encroaching walls as they pressed against their back, but it was no use; they started being taken by it as Turmoil entered the Brain's old shell. Once they entered, a blinding light filled the room, leaving Null to float in an endless white void.

A giant eye opened in the void as Turmoil's voice surrounded Null, telling them that they managed to slow the spread of Rot; however, it warned that the Brain's influence still surrounded it, while asking Null to end the Heart as quickly as possible. Null asked where they were as the eye looked around; it explained that this is where the Brain made a vast network of connections to the rest of Rot, but that they were all erased when the Brain was ended. They then offered to reopen any connections that might be of use, which Null accepted. A large tendril extended from the eye as Turmoil said they would open the way out so that Null could continue down to the rest of Rot.

The light then faded, revealing Turmoil in the Brain's shell. They explained that they would stay there to keep the Rot's spread under control. Before Null could leave, the Blot appeared to talk to them; it had somewhat healed, but was still damaged. It explained that the Brain spoke to Turmoil in a way that Null could not understand before it died, but that its senses were too damaged to hear what. Asking Turmoil what was told to them, they calmly explained that their true name, the Seed of Rot, was given to them; however, they rejected this name, saying that they are Turmoil. As Null began to leave, the Blot told them that Turmoil was hiding something, as something else was said; however, when they turned back around, the way back was closed.

After leaving the Brain, Null had another flashback, this time to when they murdered Crine and the other two pilgrims, and stole their nullification vials. They flinched back to reality after the flashback, and continued moving through Rot as exhaustion began to grip them. The Blot told them to rest a minute, which they did; unable to actually sleep, they leaned against one of the walls and caught their breath, as they heard some humming in the distance. They moved slowly towards the noise, noticing the Sound; they decided to sneak past it, noticing that it appeared deflated.

After sneaking by, they reached the intersection they saw before, where they went up to the Face and Brain; this time, however, they went down, to the Bones and Heart. Struggling to see in front of them, they heard something move above them in the darkness, as a viscous fluid dripped to the floor beside them. As they continued, they heard a wet mass hit the ground behind them. The unknown mass said that they knew Null was coming, and expressed anger towards them. In response, Null chose to run.

Null is currently alive.