Dungeon Crawler Carl

Donut the cat is an integral secondary character in Dungeon Crawler Carl. She is a long-haired Persian cat who has won numerous trophies and ribbons in cat shows. Her showmanship later helps Carl and his party to survive in the dungeon. Originally adopted by Carl’s ex-girlfriend, Beatrice, Donut is clever and snarky, and she is also deeply loyal to Carl. After Donut is transformed from a pet into a sentient character, she and Carl must come to a new understanding, and the author combines game mechanics with feline stereotypes to create a humorous moment when Donut comments, “[Carl is] a little slow. […] Intelligence of only three. Sad, really. But he’s been with the family for a while now, and I just can’t see myself letting him go” (64). However, when Carl threatens to leave her, she drops the attitude, revealing that beneath her snark, she is vulnerable, afraid, and often childlike.

Donut adores her original caretaker, Beatrice. Despite the cat’s newly increased intelligence, she views Beatrice with a childish adoration that never dims. Carl and Donut’s interactions on this point also demonstrate the difference between intelligence (book smarts) and wisdom (real-world experience). While Donut has an intelligence stat of 25, and Carl’s is only three, Carl has much better real-world understanding. Carl cannot bear to break Donut’s heart and reveal that Beatrice was willing to abandon her.

Early in the novel, Donut shows confusion and bewilderment at Carl’s softheartedness. However, as the narrative progresses, she gains a better understanding of his altruistic motivations, advancing the theme of Partnership and Loyalty under Duress. While she is initially focused on being the main character, she learns to work in partnership with Carl, and they become stronger together and save each other’s lives.

As Carl and Donut’s trainer, Mordecai is their first ally in the dungeon. He too was once a dungeon crawler and reached Level 11 before making a deal to train other crawlers instead. However, Mordecai does not believe that he made a favorable deal, and he carries an immense amount of trauma from his own dungeon crawl. In his rooms, he preserves the ashes of his mother and a photograph of his brother, who was also a crawler. Mordecai has been on Earth since 1964, preparing for this particular show to begin. Mordecai has a wealth of information about the alien world that exists beyond the dungeon, and he helps Carl and Donut to understand the politics behind the show.

While Mordecai is primarily an ally to Donut and Carl, his help has limits. The AI technology constantly monitors what he says, and if he gives away too much information or speaks poorly of Borant Corporation, he risks being punished. Even so, Mordecai is motivated to keep Donut and Carl alive because he will only be freed from his indentureship when they reach Level 4. When Carl asks if Mordecai will return to his home world, Mordecai tells him no, implying that the worlds forced to host a dungeon crawl are not worth inhabiting after the show has concluded. Mordecai also hates Odette, who was once his trainer, and the narrative implies that Odette’s actions somehow caused his brother’s death.

Zev is a kua-tin, or fish creature, who works for the PR department of the Borant Corporation. She becomes an important secondary character when she is introduced partway through the novel. When Donut and Carl’s exploits earn them a higher number of viewers, they are assigned a PR creature. Mordecai is immediately suspicious of Zev and is concerned that she is part of “the Bloom,” a kua-tin political party similar to Axis Japan or the Nazis. Soon after meeting Zev, Carl loses his temper with her, and she responds with surprising patience, saying:

You’re going to go out there and face mobs who know people like you are prowling the halls, trying to find and kill them. They, the sapient ones? They live in constant fear of you guys. We are all part of the same inexorable machine. All of us are afraid. Yes, your place in this really sucks. It’s not fair. You know it. I know it. The cat knows it. But believe it or not, I am on your side (314).

This moment of compassion establishes the fact that Zev is a sympathetic character and that despite her assigned role, not all kua-tin are evil. She also shows that everyone involved in the production—not just the crawlers—is in a terrible position. Her demeanor reveals another aspect of The Ethical Implications of Sadistic Entertainment because even the creatures involved in making the show or populating the dungeon are trapped in a situation that they cannot control.

Thus, although Zev is part of the group responsible for this season of the show, her demeanor indicates that she is willing to engage in a Partnership and Loyalty under Duress. Zev contradicts Carl and Donut’s cynical expectations and bonds with Donut. Although she has very little power to help the pair, she does what she can to ensure that they obtain interviews with reputable shows that may increase their viewership, knowing that the more viewers they have, the better their chance of survival.

Odette is an integral secondary character. As the host of a popular talk show, she interviews Donut and Carl after they defeat the swine ball, and her attention catapults their popularity. Odette was once a crawler herself; when she reached the staircase to Level 13, she made a deal to get out of the dungeon. She lost her legs during an explosion in the dungeon, and she now wears armor that resembles what she wore during her crawl. Odette gives Carl helpful advice, and when he asks her why she is helping him, she explains that she likes money, and he and Donut are popular on her show. Despite her pragmatic response, she provides more than surface-level help and guides Carl and Donut in ways that even Mordecai cannot because she is not under the same scrutiny that Mordecai must endure. Odette offers Carl and Donut valuable insight into the most advantageous classes to choose when they reach level three, and she also advises them on how best to retain the popularity that will help to keep them alive.

Frank and Maggie are two dungeon crawlers whom Carl believes were police officers. They are secondary characters who become antagonists when they choose to employ a vicious playing style that Carl finds repugnant. While Carl focuses on helping and protecting other crawlers, Frank and Maggie use a far more ruthless strategy. They follow their trainer’s advice to focus on killing other crawlers in order to increase their experience points and obtain valuable loot. Frank and Maggie attempt to attack Donut and Carl in a safe room, and Carl leaves a trap that ultimately injures of their daughter, Yvette. Later, when Maestro brings Frank and Maggie onto his show to confront Carl, Maggie vows to kill Carl and Donut. Carl demands to know why she killed Yvette instead of allowing the dungeon to heal her, but Maggie tells him that he does not understand everything. Carl’s conflict with Maggie and Frank foreshadows future problems in later installments of the series.