Housewarden of Ignihyde. A gloomy boy who shies away from socialization and prefers to shut himself in his dorm room. At times, though, he gets unusually talkative and animated.
In-game Album
Appearance
Idia is a tall young man with pale skin and bright blue, fire-like hair. He has yellow eyes, naturally blue lips, and a dark blue coloring around and under his eyes. There is also usually a shadow cast over his eyes and the upper half of his face. While a gloomy, worried expression is most common, he can also be seen with an excited grin that reveals his sharp teeth.
Idia’s hair is considerably long and reaches down to his knees. While his long bangs fall loosely around his face and between his eyes, the hair on the top of his head seems to flow upwards. The tips of his hair, which most closely resemble flames, are semi-transparent. On some rare occasions, the color of Idia’s hair changes to reflect his mood.[1]
Dorm Uniform
As the housewarden, Idia’s dorm uniform somewhat differs from the rest of the Ignihyde students, the few distinguishing features being his padded belt, and several long strips of fabric that trail off of it. The uniform consists of a black textured jacket, a bright blue half-vest, navy-blue pants, and black and blue boots.
The jacket is mainly black with blue underlining. All over the outside of the jacket is a unique, geometric texture, consisting of evenly-arranged triangles. This texture appears to have a metallic shine. The jacket has a large, bright blue collar, resembling that of an aviator jacket, with black lines near the trim. Also along the collar are black zippers that go underneath the jacket. While barely visible, Idia also wears a navy-blue, crew neck shirt under his jacket.
On the right side of his chest is a bright blue half-vest that goes over his right shoulder, and is connected by a blue belt around his torso. The belt has a black triangle pattern and a dark-blue snap buckle, with the long end hanging down to his waist. The half-vest itself has one cargo pocket, above which is a large white button with the symbol of Ignihyde on it.
Just above Idia’s navy-blue pants is a blue padded belt, with a black belt strap and dark blue snap buckle. Hanging from the belt at both hips are blue, box-shaped pouches, with blue squares of fabric behind them, resembling the flaps on a tool belt. Worn over the navy-blue pants around his upper right thigh is a small blue belt with a black triangle pattern and dark-blue snap buckle. Both belts are connected by his black belt strap. Several long strips of fabric fall from the back of Idia’s belt and trail down to his ankles. The fabric’s outer sides are black, while the inner sides are bright blue.
The boots’ design resembles that of thick winter boots. They are mostly black, with bright blue tongues and heel counters. Over the tongues are four bright blue straps with black buckles, and the soles are white.
Personality
Idia is a shy and withdrawn person with a dark outlook on life. Despite his little brother’s suggestions, he prefers to stay in his room at all times, and takes classes remotely whenever possible to avoid interacting with other people. He almost never shows up to ceremonies or housewarden meetings in person, instead using a tablet device to speak from his room.
When in public, Idia can get anxious rather easily. He has a tendency to stutter when speaking with unfamiliar people, so he is sometimes seen using his tablet to communicate.[2] He also seems to be self-conscious about his looks, and is quick to assume that strangers will stare or make fun of him behind his back. In general, he expects a negative outcome from any social situation, so he would rather avoid them altogether.[3]
Despite all of this, Idia acts very differently under certain circumstances. He can talk with people more calmly if he's playing a board game with them[4], or if he's speaking with them over the internet. Moreover, he can speak quickly and enthusiastically about his hobbies or interests, greatly contrasting his usual demeanor. He can also be rather prideful when it comes to his engineering or gaming skills, often considering himself a genius. When he isn't talking to someone face to face, whether it be through a screen or behind a wall, he can speak clearly and quite bluntly. This sometimes backfires on him, though, as he can get a bit confrontational and say things he doesn't mean in the process.[3]
Idia tends to use variety of internet slang and abbreviations in his speech. He also commonly uses video game terms as metaphors for his own experiences.
Background
Idia was considered a "promising prodigy" when he was young.[1] According to Ruggie, he comes from a famous, noble family, and will eventually inherit their household.[5]
Idia was raised on the Island of Woe alongside his younger brother Ortho. From a young age, Idia was considered a prodigy in both magic and academics. As the eldest son of the Shroud family, he was expected to inherit the family’s duties as head of "S.T.Y.X.", a private blot-research organization.
Although Idia disliked the thought of becoming the head of S.T.Y.X. from the beginning, he wasn’t given much of a choice. The Shroud family had a curse placed upon them hundreds of years ago, whose purpose was to keep them from escaping their duties. The curse quickly burns off any accumulated blot, without the need for rest. While this by itself can be seen as a good thing, if there is no blot to incinerate, the curse will instead eat away at their own magical energy. Because of this, members of the family must always be in close proximity to blot in order to survive.
Young Idia spent most of his free time with Ortho. Influenced by the video games they would play, they both dreamed of becoming heroes and going on adventures together in the outside world. One day, Idia promises on a whim to have a real adventure with Ortho, before he’s forced to take up the family mantle.
The two then attempted to leave the island by shutting down S.T.Y.X.'s high-end security system. In the middle of their venture, however, an unknown person launched a cyber-attack while the system was still down, which opened “Tartarus”, a facility that housed overblot phantoms. Before Idia could turn the security back on, he and Ortho are attacked by an escaped phantom.
Idia survived the incident, but by the time he woke up, Ortho was gone, and presumably dead. He immediately blamed himself for what happened, and desperately wanted him back so he could fulfill their promise. Over the next two years, Idia shut himself in his room, working tirelessly to recreate Ortho in the form of an artificially-intelligent robot. He eventually succeeds, but in the end, his efforts weren't enough to fully alleviate his grief, as he spends the following years continuing to shut himself away from others.
As a student at Night Raven College, Idia originally didn't want the housewarden position, but was later convinced that no one else in the dorm was more capable of being Ignihyde's housewarden than he is. He would also rather not abide by a housewarden less skilled than him. It's rumored among other students that Idia received special permission from the headmage to attend classes remotely, in exchange for safeguarding the school's network environment.
In the events of Book 6, Idia returns to the Island of Woe to serve as the acting captain of S.T.Y.X. while his parents are away.
Trivia
- Idia's name likely comes from the greek word «ἴδιος, -α, -ον», meaning 'private, personal, of oneself, reserved'. This could relate to his personality.
- "Idia" in the intial Greek meaning meant 'one who is removed from politics'. Later coming to mean "idiot". Which some students at NRC tend to see him as.
- His surname, Shroud, from the Latin word «sudarium», which originally means 'a cloth or handkerchief used to cover the face of dead people, to show them respect', which has relation to the story of Hades (or Pluto) being the God of Death and taking care of the dead.
- Idia's online nickname is Gloomurai, which is short for Gloomy Samurai.[1]
- According to Ortho, he has a decent number of fans in certain gaming circles, who tend to copy his in-game fashion sense.
- Idia has managed to make a few friends over the internet, one of which being someone nicknamed Muscle Red.[6] The two occasionally play video games together.
- Muscle Red is confirmed later on to be Lilia Vanrouge.[7] However, neither of them seem to be aware of the other's true identity.
- He has a fondness for cats, as he is once seen baby-talking Trein's cat, Lucius.[8]
- He is apparently good at sketching people from observation.[5]
- Idia is an avid fan of a three-member idol group called "Precipice Moirai", or "Premo" for short. The group is likely inspired by the three Fates from Hercules.
- Once, while watching a broadcast of one of Premo's concerts, Idia was caught performing a passionate, cheer-like dance that he calls "glowing".[10] This dance is based on a real practice called "wotagei", and the words used in his cheers are similar to that of a commonly-used wotagei chant.
- During the school's annual Beanfest, Idia covertly designs and builds high-tech gear to be used by both teams.[11] He gives these to Sam to trade off, and in exchange, Sam lets him hide in the Mystery Shop over the course of the tournament.[12] When trading, Idia goes by the nickname "Mr. Smith" to conceal his identity.
- In the Japanese version, Idia occasionally uses the pronoun sessha (拙者 or せっしゃ) to refer to himself. This pronoun has gone mostly unused in modern times, but it was used primarily by samurai in the feudal ages.
- Other times, though, he uses the common pronoun boku (僕 or ぼく). He appears to switch between the two depending on his mood.
- He is good at singing, often singing anime and game theme songs in his room.[13]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Idia Suitor Suit Vignette
- ↑ Idia School Uniform Vignette
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Idia Ceremonial Robes Vignette
- ↑ Idia School Uniform Voice Lines
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Idia PE Uniform Vignette
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Idia Labwear Vignette
- ↑ Lilia Suitor Suit Vignette
- ↑ Idia Ceremonial Robes Voice Lines
- ↑ Idia Labwear Voice Lines
- ↑ Jamil Gala Couture Vignette
- ↑ Beanfest: Bean or Be Beaned Chapter 6
- ↑ Jade Beans Camo Vignette
- ↑ Idia Masquerade Vignette
