The Hogwarts Mystery MC, an In-Depth Look
So, it occurred to me that I promised at some point in the past to write a meta about the protagonist(s) in Hogwarts Mystery. There's quite a few interesting details related to this, so let's get cracking, shall we!
Problems in Game Length and Content
I'm sure all of us who've played the game for any length of time are familiar with the problem - the story in the main quests completely disregards events that happen in the quidditch quests and the creature quests. Additionally, there is also the fact that they keep adding more and more TLSQs to the school years, but a single student only spends seven years at Hogwarts, there's only so many events that can fit in there.
It is obvious that they have already gone over the limit of events that can happen over the school years if you try to add all quests to a coherent timeline like I do, but even for a casual player the issue is visible with the seasonal quests. Halloween, christmas, and Valentine's Day only come around once a year - and the depicted MC doesn't even start dating until their fourth year, which allows only 3-4 Valentine's Day stories before they've run out of room to add more. Those limits have long since passed and they still keep adding more (cough cough rather than Beyond content, cough)
To say nothing of the chess issue. Combining all the chess-related quests in the game results in a protagonist who is simultaneously a bumbling beginner as well as one of the best student chess players of their era due to Murphy's consistent tutoring, and got their first wizard's chess board from McGonagall on their second year or scrounged it up themselves via Jae's black market connections later on. There are very obviously two different characters involved.
Another tell is the students in class. The main story MC has a very well-defined house distribution of students in their classes, and we know from canon that they don't combine all houses in a single class until NEWT level. The early TLSQs involving classes reflect the main story MC's classes in house distribution...but there are also later-added TLSQs that don't. Quite aside from the issue that they fill the background of the classes with students of all houses (which can be canonical or not depending on which year the quest actually takes place - it's not always the same as the year it's unlocked during), they also contain major roles for characters that the main story MC simply does not have that subject with, such as Tonks and Penny as well as Merula and Liz all being consistently present in Transfiguration at the same time - and that even when the quest very clearly and obviously takes place in lower years with zero chance it takes place on a NEWT year. Since the MC canonically has Transfiguration with Ravenclaws and the class has only 1-2 houses present, we have a major problem on our hands.
(ignoring the issue of the background merry mix of houses in classes on purpose. These quests are all new enough to be past the point where they started populating the game with AI-constructed details in the background and for background chatter, even if they didn't yet have AI construct the whole quest for all of the quests in question. We can safely dismiss everyone that doesn't have a major role in the story in this type of quests, no human made the decision to include them)
The Solution of the Two Protagonists
Enter the second MC theory. Since the main quest and quidditch quests as well as the main quest and creature quests are so obviously separate and incompatible, the obvious solution is that these are two separate characters - regardless of the feeble overtures Beyond makes in trying to claim they are the same. Even in Beyond their connection is nothing that the two characters being friends and moving in the same friend group doesn't explain.
In fact, this solution is so obvious and thoroughly supported by in-game evidence that I'm surprised it isn't commonly accepted. This way, the MC sneaking into other houses' common rooms during quidditch games is not a problem - they are two different characters. The MC not having a broom in main story despite acquiring one first thing in the quidditch quests is not a problem - they are two different characters. The MC not having access to creatures in the Creature Reserve is not a problem - the one who has access to the Creature Reserve is a different character. There being too many seasonal goings-on to fit into seven years is not a problem (yet) - there are two characters to share them between. The MC obtaining their first own chess set in two different ways and having two skill levels is not a problem - there are two characters. Even the spread of students from various houses in classes is not a problem - they are two different characters, there's no problem if they are from different houses. (there will be more about the two MCs' houses further below)
There are of course dependencies that mean some quests have to to one protagonist or the other. I'll spare you having the hunt down all the details to do the necessary separation since I've already done it.
The Main Story MC
Main story and Cursebreaker-related quests, mystery solving quests, Hogwarts Diary quests, Weasley-centric quests, Chiara and Talbott-centric quests, Weird Sisters quests, most dating quests, most seasonal quests, average chess player quests
The Quidditch Story MC
Quidditch story and quidditch-related quests, most creature-related quests, herbology-related quests, most Hagrid-centric quests, most Barnaby-centric quests, many Charlie and Liz-centric quests, backup dating quests, backup seasonal quests, expert chess player quests
To explain some of the divisions, both Chiara, Talbott, and the Weasleys are deeply tied in with later main story so their depicted friendship must be with the main story MC. The Weird Sisters are explicitly involved with the main story in their first appearance so the MC who is friends with Myron must be the main story one, and the Hogwarts Diary quests are too involved with cursebreaking and mysteries to be anyone but the main story MC.
The basic incompatibility of the storylines explains why quidditch and creatures are assigned to the quidditch MC. Hagrid, Barnaby, Charlie, and Liz are deeply involved with the creature quests so quite a few of those are automatically assigned to them as well. Herbology is a bit of an edge case, but I've chosen to add it to the quidditch MC as well due to the Barnaby connection. It's a minor issue at the time of writing, but if they ever add more TLSQs that are explicitly related to Herbology it might become more of a one. For now, even tangentially herbology-related quests like McGonagall's Holiday Surprise are otherwise assigned to the quidditch MC so it makes sense (McGHS due to the presence of a chess tournament, the MC in that one is clearly a very good player).
So! We have two characters. One of them is related to Jacob and Peregrine who is a natural Legilimens and gets into mad situations to solve mysteries. The other is a quidditch player who likes creatures and is very good at chess but is not a magical powerhouse like the other one. The next thing we could do is look at what hints there are to what houses the two of them were canonically sorted into - and due to the abundance of material, there's actually quite a lot of hints as to that. The quidditch MC we can actually lock down fully on, while the main story MC's house selection is a bit more permissive.
The below copypasted from my database project on this issue.
the most canonical house for the quidditch story's MC is easy to determine. first of all, it cannot be Gryffindor. the MC's quidditch team initially has a Seeker who is a girl with cornrow braids, who is replaced by the MC in the fourth year of the story. she goes on to study snidgets at the Modesty Rabnott Snidget Reservation after she graduates. canonically, Charlie Weasley is the Gryffindor Seeker during these years. Charlie is nowhere to be found on the MC's team, therefore the MC cannot be a Gryffindor.
secondly, it cannot be Ravenclaw. HM itself confidently identifies Andre Egwu first as the Ravenclaw team's reserve Seeker and then as the team's Keeper, taking over from Brennan Doyle on his fourth year (third year of the quidditch story) while Doyle is first made reserve then kicked off the team entirely. during the year in question the Keeper of the MC's team is the quidditch story's MC themselves, and before that it was a boy who graduated while still on the team and was picked up by Wigtown Wanderers after his last game at Hogwarts. Therefore the MC cannot be a Ravenclaw.
while the most egregious lore-breaking matters are those two, there is an additional aspect to consider and that is the canonical players of the MC's house's team. mainly, that the team is full of women and short slender boys, not the muscleheads that every single member of the Slytherin team is in the books starting 1991, two years after the conclusion of the quidditch story in HM. what team does canonically have that type of muscleheads in the game is one of the MC's opponents - either Hufflepuff, or if the player is a Hufflepuff then Slytherin. since it's canon that these two exceedingly muscled quidditch players are either Hufflepuff or Slytherin, it would make the most sense for them to be Slytherin who's known to consist of their type of players only, several years later.
the obvious conclusion to come to is that the MC of the quidditch story is a Hufflepuff, which makes the muscled twins who transferred to Hogwarts from Durmstrang into Slytherins. this also has the further consequence that Erika Rath is canonically a Ravenclaw, and that the Parkins of quidditch fame are a Hufflepuff family.
some might suggest that the quidditch story's MC should be Slytherin, since McGonagall in 1991 gets so worked up about beating Slytherin in specific. however, two things must be taken into account. one, that Slytherin canonically won the House Cup seven years in a row, not the Quidditch Cup. it's possible for one house to win the Quidditch Cup and another to win the House Cup, although it's probably rare given the point distribution involved. and two, we have no guarantee that the MC's team winning their matches is the canonical option. it is entirely possible for their team to lose every single year, the story takes that into account (although leaves the achievement related to the story's conclusion forever out of reach should you choose the loss option). therefore, the matter of Slytherin winning in those years, either just the House Cup or both House Cup and the Quidditch Cup, cannot be used to either rule out or reinforce the case for the MC being Slytherin and other considerations must take precedence - such as the type of players that Slytherin tends to recruit compared to the players present in the game's teams.
in addition to the above, one must note that the quidditch MC's team must canonically lose the Quidditch Cup during the first quidditch season story. Gryffindor won the Quidditch Cup that year according to the books and the quidditch MC cannot canonically be a Gryffindor, therefore the canonical option for the MC's team is to lose.
And there you have it, there is no realistic choice for the quidditch MC to be other than a Hufflepuff. This ties in well with the later era TLSQs that feature both Hufflepuffs and Slytherins in Transfiguration class in early years. That spread of houses in a class in the earlier years is only possible if the MC is a Hufflepuff or Slytherin. This fits in so well with the canonical quidditch MC that it's hard to think it to be a coincidence, it's like those quests were tailor-made to fit the separate quidditch MC.
The main story MC is a slightly more difficult case, but we can narrow that down to one or two options too. Again, copypasted from my database files.
the canonical house of the Hogwarts Mystery MC can be narrowed down several options, although with some uncertainties. the first lore restriction comes from the presence of Charlie Weasley - Charlie is canonically a prefect, and since the MC is also a prefect they cannot ever be a Gryffindor boy. additionally, Corey Hayden is a Gryffindor who's always the opposite gender from the MC and they are either the Head Boy or Head Girl, whereas the MC gets the other title. if the MC were a Gryffindor girl, then that would mean that Corey became Head Boy without ever being a prefect. while this doesn't completely prevent the MC from being a Gryffindor canonically since no mention of Corey being a prefect ever comes up, it does present extra difficulties that make it unlikely compared to the other options. we know that James Potter was made Head Boy without being a prefect first, but Dumbledore had good war-time reasons for tying James Potter to himself with further ties of gratitude. there is no such reason to elevate poor unknown Corey - other than for a good showing as a prefect.
as for Slytherin, the MC is very unlikely to be one due to how they're treated by both canonically Slytherin characters and by Snape, as well as by Hagrid. Snape hates them from the start and favors canonically Slytherin characters - just like he does in the books. there is no sign of any favorable treatment towards the MC, not even any leniency in turning a blind eye to their actions that minorly break the school rules such as he does on a routine basis in the books. Slytherin students are mainly antagonistic towards them before getting to know them. Merula Snyde in one christmas quest even makes a point to say that she had plans to go skating with the Slytherin girls - regardless of if the MC is one or not. as a cherry on top, the hugely prejudiced Hagrid is predisposed to like the MC from the start and will follow their advice on almost anything. combine these all and it is very unlikely indeed that the MC could canonically be a Slytherin.
which leaves either Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff. when considering this, the quidditch MC's house must be taken into account. the quidditch MC must canonically be a Hufflepuff, and there are quests that show both Hufflepuffs and Slytherins in their Transfiguration class. a single house's worth of students can't be in two classes at once. therefore, the main story MC cannot be a Hufflepuff, or Slytherin for that matter.
this leaves the option of being a Ravenclaw, with a small chance that the MC could be a Gryffindor girl.
And that's that. I personally think of the MC as a canonical Ravenclaw despite the vanishingly small chance that Dumbledore could have chosen randomly elevate Corey who never did anything for him, before or after being made Head (Girl/Boy). I know there are people who complain how the story seems to treat the MC as a Gryffindor, but I've personally never seen a single hint towards that when there is the mystery-obsessed witty Ravenclaw to consider.
By now we have established that there are most definitely two separate MCs in Hogwarts Mystery. The main story MC is most likely a Ravenclaw with a small chance they're a Gryffindor girl, while the quidditch MC is a Hufflepuff pure and simple. This explains away the multiple and more ways we see celebration of seasonal events in the game despite there being only max seven years available for them, as well as all the inconsistencies between main story and other major storylines.
I'm not saying anyone has to follow this division of the MC or the house placements, the game is specifically made to allow for player customization. But the evidence is there in canon if anyone wants to follow it! Not to mention the existence of freaks like me who prefer to look at what's there before taking the leap.
I have one more thing to add. I'm sure everyone knows the dark-skinned black-haired girl from the loading screens and other promotional material. She may currently in the AI era be depicted as a Gryffindor, but originally she was created as a Hufflepuff from the same dorm as Penny. Starting to sound like something? Because I personally like to think of Emma (as the production team calls her) as the quidditch MC. As someone who's seen promotional characters like that transform into major characters in the game itself, to me this connection makes perfect sense - the character we create as the main story MC and Emma as the quidditch MC whose life we get insights into every now and then. That's just a fun little detail though!
If you made it to the end, thank you for reading! As always, I fully welcome discussion on the points I bring up so feel free to add your own thoughts.
