Larry Lang: King of the Ring

Since this first fact was guessed fairly into the game, I'll start here: Larry's surname, Lang, is a reference to James "Clubber" Lang--Rocky's opponent, played by Mr. T, in the film Rocky III.

Furthering the reference, Larry's given birthday, May 28th, is the day Rocky III was released to theaters, with only the year adjusted to make his age fit the guidelines for DA2.

A character trait that was eventually cut from his overall character was that Larry was initially supposed to have a fear of knives. This would have been due to the fact that, since his hands are his livelihood, any accidents with a knife (which he had experienced once in his early youth) could end his career. There was even evidence of this in his room, with the remainders of sandwiches left about--sandwiches were one of the few foods Larry could make in the kitchen with relatively small risk to his hands. However, this trait was retconned out, as it didn't fit with his overall personality.

A small detail: Larry's relationship with someone could be gauged by paying attention to how he addressed them. Casual acquaintances and relative strangers were often referred to solely by their last name, and the honorific "-san" (I.E. - Ueyama-san) or "-dono" in the case of Mimi Arakaki. Closer acquaintances and new friends were referred to by their first name, again with the honorific "-san" (I.E. - Kiyoshi-san). Friends, allies, and romantic interests of sufficient closeness were referred to by first names, with the appropriate honorific "-kun" or "-chan" (I.E. - Kazuya-kun, Koemi-chan). Finally, people of enduring importance to Larry were referred to by first name, sans honorifics, or by nicknames (I.E. - "Little Brother" Eiji Oshirou, etc.) depending on their exact relationship to him.

The above fact leads to...a rather amusing anecdote that never came up during the small window of time it would have been relevant. As some of you may recall, I, at one point, wrote a smutfic of Larry x Mimi called "Cold Comfort". While initially meant to be little more than fiction created based on some jokes tossed around in the NSFW chat...Cold Comfort later became canon, as a result of collaboration between myself and Mimi's lovely, amazingly talented mun. Yes, Larry and Mimi ended up becoming 'intimate' following the Renée/Ritsuka trial. In their mutual grief over both losing their loved ones, Larry and Mimi turned to each other for comfort, leading to a one-night stand between them. This was supposed to be further expanded on, leading to deeper character development between the two, but was derailed following Mimi's murder, as the preceding two weeks leading up to it, Larry had been heavily embroiled in a private investigation.

The small window of time when the above anecdote would've been relevant? The 'naked trial' a.k.a. Adeline/Marian's trial, if I'm not mistaken (please correct me if I'm wrong). Two subtle pieces of evidence hinted at the altered relationship between Larry and Mimi: the first piece of evidence was that, from that trial forward, Larry switched from addressing Mimi as "Arakaki-dono" to "Mimi-chan." The second piece of evidence? Larry's back. Because of the cursory nature of the naked trial, Larry never had to show his back to the class--an event he remarked on with relief during an internal monologue. Had he been made to reveal his back, the marks from Mimi's nails would have still been visible, most likely necessitating the need for him to explain their origin.

To a handful (if not more) of the players, Larry's deteriorating mental state was no secret. However, a small detail that may have made it under the radar, was Larry's Madness Mantra. Yes, Larry had a phrase that he would repeat whenever he felt his sanity starting to slip. The phrase? "It's gotta get worse before it gets better." (Seriously, if you feel so inclined, take a look back at each time he says it: he's very rarely himself after doing so.)

Related to Larry's declining mental health: though I only ever got around to having Koemi and Fumiko featured in one, Larry's hallucinations of his dead classmates was initially intended to be a recurring event, that often followed a particularly stressful trial. Due to time constraints, I didn't get an opportunity to collaborate with you all as much as I would've liked, so his remaining hallucinations were relegated to subtle cues in his inner monologues. These near-constant hallucinations are why Larry seems largely unfazed that he's able to talk to Koemi utilizing the specialized facilities in the Spa, and why arriving in the 'deadside' spa didn't leave him confused or disoriented.

A meta example: Larry's mental state and overall personality was reflected in the autoplay on his blog. Early on, it consisted of upbeat, almost inappropriate music--given the situation he was in--reflecting Larry's denial that everyone would come out of the Spa fine, and that he could still save the majority of his classmates, ultimately becoming the 'big hero'. When he was enraged over Renée's death, his autoplay consisted of aggressive, beat-heavy music, while his declining sanity was marked with more melancholy, eerie tunes.

Larry's haircut was largely symbolic: his afro symbolized Larry the "Showman": big, over-the-top, and largely a gimmick meant to make him stand out and be seen as an entertainer and athlete. When he cut it down to the fauxhawk, it was a return to form for him: He was dedicated, focused, relying on his body and mind to see him through, instead of depending on his persona as a 'celebrity'. Instead of Larry the Showman, he was--for a brief time--Larry the Boxer once more.

Larry's love of the occult was exacerbated further by the events of DA2. Being surrounded by death, the supernatural, and a constant environment of lying, secrecy, and ulterior motives, his penchant for the eerie, unexplained, and even taboo, was gradually rising to the surface. This can be glimpsed in a lot of his behavior up to, and including, Mitsuko's murder. Mitsuko's murder, in and of itself, was almost ritualistic--the presentation meant to make his classmates see a 'higher truth': his belief that either Mitsuko herself, or Naoto was the Mastermind. (That he was wrong on both counts is what contributed to his attempt at gracefully accepting his death: with most of the more informed students now dead, and Naoto being the last of his former secret investigation team remaining, Larry accepted that he wasn't any closer to finding the Mastermind than when he started.)

Speaking of his former investigation team, Larry had developed a special bond with Noa Kita, a.k.a. Yukiko Asahara. Initially starstruck that he was speaking to one of his favorite horror authors, Larry came to respect her both as a friend, and as something of a mentor. Regardless of her feelings on the matter, Larry saw in Yukiko something noble. She was ultimately well-intentioned, if not occasionally misguided in her attempts, and that spoke volumes about who she was as a person. This is why, even after learning that Yukiko was the one who killed Renée, Larry still saw her as a friend and continued to act warmly towards her. That vague element of hero worship was still in play however, in the sense that--save for a few moments of weakness on his part--he never saw Yukiko in a romantic/sexual light: she was "too far above him" to think such base thoughts about her. This gradually tapered off after his death, leading to more equal and genuine friendship between the two.