| “ | He's right. I am getting more powerful. Powerful enough to fulfill your every wish. That's why you're here, isn't it? | ” |
– Bierce | ||
Helen Bierce, commonly referred to by her surname, is the deuteragonist of Dark Deception. She is the person who appoints Doug Houser to collect the pieces of the Riddle of Heaven and had a history with Malak.
Appearance[]
Bierce is a tall, mature woman with a slightly tanned skin tone. She has short, white voluminous hair that appears to 'float' to the right side of her head. Her facial features include thin eyebrows and green eyes with dark makeup. She has a narrow nose with small lips. Bierce dons a high collared, deep V-cut skintight black rubber/latex dress with long draping sleeves. The sleeves have a gray lace design at the bottom. The dress is divided by a single round gem holding the cleavage of the dress together. Under the gem is a teardrop cut out on her abdomen. A necklace with three of these different forms of soul shards also connects the side of her dress just below the neck. She wears two of these jewels as earrings as well. Lastly, she sports red nails.
Personality[]
| “ | If you believe her, you're dumber than you look. Once she gets what she wants, you're done. | ” |
– Malak, warning the player about Bierce's treachery | ||
Bierce is shown to be a snarky, mindful, and very bored individual, often commentating on anything and anyone the moment something catches her attention. She's very quick to think of something at the current moment, especially if someone does something she doesn't like or doesn't appeal to her liking. Due to spending years semi-isolated from life, she gets impatient very easily, and she's more than willing to express that frustration to Doug if he gets even remotely distracted from his duties, even going so far as to mock him excessively if it means motivating him or just for the sake of it. Even if things seemingly go right, she sometimes comes off as arrogant, either in her own abilities or Doug's actions to some extent. This also extends to her viewing any visitors she comes across as possible.
Outside her sheer amount of apathy, she comes across as pretty aware and informative. Throughout the game, she's willing to give Doug hints on using his powers or whatever information she can discern from the current situation, or on occasion just simply comment on her life. Due to being pretty much her only chance at furthering her goals, she still shows some care for anyone who still trusts her. In Doug's case, she goes so far as to help him out of certain obstacles and, over time, outright shows care for his situation. However, how much of this is really genuine is unknown at this point, and both Malak and some of his lackeys point out that she's manipulating him (which, to an extent, is true).
Bierce's past and current personality is expanded on in her diaries. Throughout her diaries, Bierce is shown to be extremely arrogant and cold-hearted towards others, often viewing most people as nothing but stepping stools to her own personal gain, including her own husband, whom she married only for wealth. This soon develops into downright psychopathy, as she goes so far as to killing a young girl to help contact Malak. She even goes so far as to try backing out of Malak's deal by using the Riddle of Heaven against him, and even afterwards she chooses to stay in the middle of nowhere rather than give him her soul, showing her off as petty under the right circumstances.
Even after many years, Bierce's personality remained unchanged. She coldly referenced Edgar and, when confronted by the undead, broken counterpart of a girl she had murdered, she merely justified her actions as necessary.
Behavior[]
| “ | Bierce! Stay out of my room!
You're both cheating! |
” |
– Agatha, after Bierce opens the door. | ||
Throughout the game, Bierce will aid Doug in his quest to collect the Soul Shards to rebuild the Riddle of Heaven. This aid comes in the form of advice, unlocking powers for Doug and a radar to show him where the Soul Shards are. Bierce is rather confident in her abilities and her knowledge, shown in her cocky attitude. She is also able to influence certain events in the Nightmare Realms such as opening the doors after Agatha trapped the player in her room and providing them with mallet to help them vanquish the Goliath Clowns.
Abilities[]
High intelligence[]
In whole game (so far), Bierce has proven herself to be fairly intelligent and even though the nightmares throw challenges to Doug, she's capable of thinking of ways to overcome them, which mainly succeed.
Acting skills/Manipulation[]
As a famous film star in 1930s Hollywood, Bierce is likely a very skilled actress. She also knows how to manipulate people, such as Doug, whom she gives hopes and sweet words so he would keep going through the nightmares.
Knowledge of Riddle of Heaven[]
Out of known characters, Bierce is the one who shows the most proficiency in magic, even more than Malak. She uses the knowledge and ring pieces to give Doug powers & to fight on her own.
Telepathy/Clairvoyance[]
From the start, Bierce reveals herself to have a form of psychic ability, or at the very least, clairvoyance and telepathy. She has shown this by reading Doug's thoughts and memories, talking to Doug when in the nightmares, and being able to connect with his senses.
Portal control[]
Seen in game and heavily implied by Doug, Bierce has the power to unlock or lock portals to the nightmares.
Telekinesis[]
While very limited, Bierce is revealed to perform telekinesis to some extent, as she's capable of controlling the ring pieces and granting their abilities to Doug. She's also capable of controlling certain objects at Doug's need in the nightmares, although it's implied that she can only do so while connected to Doug there, and the momentary usage of it suggests that it's weak in some capacity. During her skirmish with Malak, she reveals her more offensive use of telekinesis when she uses it to pick up and attack him.
Healing/Immortality[]
Presumably because she has a ring piece that is tied to her soul, Bierce cannot be destroyed, only enslaved, as she tells Doug after "Bearly Buried". According to her, she is not made of flesh and blood, and no matter what torment Malak or other monsters inflict on her, she will heal from any injuries. For example, when Malak invades the ballroom, Agatha impales her shoulder, but later she manages to heal herself from the wound.
Affliction[]
While not directly shown, Bierce points out that she could change Doug's physical appearance at her own behest (presumably gained from the ring pieces), such as changing his size or turning him into a cockroach.
Banish[]
Shown how invasion in her ballroom ends, Bierce has ability to banish anyone she wants.
Relationships[]
Edgar[]
Edgar is Bierce's late husband. Bierce states in her diary entries that he was a wealthy man working in the film industry and she only married him for his money and connections. Bierce had a low opinion of her husband from the start, referring to him as a fat pig and calling him and his friends degenerates for their odd partying habits. It's heavily implied that her husband was a philanderer when Bierce calls other women in the industry "Edgar's tramps".
Not much is known about how Edgar felt about Bierce, however given his implied unfaithfulness, it is most likely he too did not have a high opinion of his wife. He is initially baffled by Bierce's sudden popularity as an actress, though he seems to be unaware of her true doings.
Edgar died early in the relationship (Bierce implies it took six months) due to arsenic poisoning by Bierce's hand.
Victor[]
Victor was a strange man Bierce met during one of her husband's parties. Not much is known about him other than he has a strange accent and states he came from a place known for black magic. Victor is the one who influenced Bierce enough to try her hand at a deal with demons, which is how she met Malak. What Victor's true intentions were are not clear, as he disappeared shortly after Bierce completed her deal with Malak.
Agatha[]
Agatha is one of the many demons loyal to Malak who roams the school seen in "Elementary Evil". Bierce herself does not say much about Agatha. However, Agatha clearly has a deep hatred for Bierce, drawing unflattering pictures of her on the wall, yelling at her to stay out of Agatha's room, and even attacking Bierce. As confirmed by Vince Livings in Q&A 16, Agatha was the child Bierce sacrificed in order to make a deal with Malak, explaining this hatred.
Malak[]
Bierce first met Malak when she enacted a demonic ritual to ask him to make her a movie star. Malak gave her seven years and a day and after which, he will take her soul as payment. Initially, Bierce was alright with this arrangement, however she later cheated Malak and later found herself within the ballroom she resides in. The two have a deep distaste for each other: Malak can't get Bierce's soul while she's in the ballroom, and Bierce can't get the ring pieces because Malak has them scattered about. The two frequently try to pull Doug Houser back and forth on who is actually trustworthy, though Bierce usually seems to win the argument in the end.
Doug Houser[]
Doug Houser is a man who finds himself at Bierce's mercy when he attempts to find a way to correct his mistakes in life regarding his familial relationships. Bierce has promised Doug that she will give him a better life if he can recover all of the ring pieces scattered throughout the realms. As the story goes on, Bierce is routinely impressed by Doug's progress after initially stating that he disappointed her when they first met, even seeming relieved when he returns to the ballroom alive after being captured by Malak and Mama Bear in Bearly Buried. On that same note, Bierce becomes a lot more demanding and aggressive as Doug progresses and will make fun of him when he dies.
Elise Houser[]
Elise Houser is Doug's late wife and the previous guest of Bierce's ballroom. Bierce states that Elise is the one who left the tablet behind after being killed by the Murder Monkeys. Bierce refers to Elise as a very clever girl "but not a very fast runner". Unbeknownst to Bierce, Elise survived the Murder Monkeys and continued into each realm on her own.
Reaper Nurses[]
The Reaper Nurses are a group of female demons bound to Malak. While the Nurses are implied to usually be very kind towards other women, they do not care much for Bierce, referring to her as "the Dealbreaker," and stating that she is only using Doug, though Bierce claims to not know what they are talking about.
Mama Bear[]
Mama Bear is a demon loyal to Malak. Much like Agatha and the Reaper Nurses, Mama Bear does not like Bierce, referring to her as an abomination and not wanting Doug to return to her.
The history of Bierce[]
Helen Bierce was born on January 5th, 1894 of British descent. In the 1930s, she came to Hollywood to become a popular actress, but she was inexperienced, so she married Edgar Goldman, a rich man who had strong connections to the film industry, only for his money. Edgar stole movie costumes and performed fake satanic rituals with his friends for fun. Eventually, at one of the parties, Bierce met a new Hungarian man, Victor. Unlike the other partygoers, he didn't seem all that interested in the festivities, didn't drink or even take much notice of the girls. Bierce struck up a conversation with him and at one point, while drunk, asked him what he thought about black magic. Victor replied that where he came from, people took such things seriously.
Victor told Bierce stories about those who sold their souls in exchange for wealth, power, and fame. Bierce dismissed this as nonsense and simply laughed in his face, but Victor stood his ground. Ultimately, he became Bierce's mentor and spent several months teaching her the ritual for summoning a demon named Malak. The ritual involved sacrificing a human soul, after which Malak would come and grant a wish. This deal would last for several years until he came back for the soul of the person who performed the ritual as payment. As soon as Bierce performed the ritual, sacrificing her maid's daughter, Malak came and made her a successful actress in exchange for her soul in seven years and one day. The day after the ritual, all the film studios began calling her and inviting her to star in their films, meaning that Bierce became a successful actress and got what she wanted. Victor disappeared, and Bierce killed Edgar by poisoning him with arsenic and inherited his wealth.
Bierce didn't plan sticking to her deal with Malak, so she began searching for a way to repel the demon. She learned of a ring called the Riddle of Heaven that could strip Malak of his powers. It was located somewhere in China, or possibly Tibet. Bierce got hold of the ring, and when Malak came to finish their deal, Bierce tried to suck out his powers with the ring.
However, her ambush failed. Malak shattered the ring into ten pieces and took them. But one of the pieces was able to form a connection with Bierce's soul, and this created a pocket dimension that resembled the ballroom of Bierce's manor. Bierce got trapped in the pocket dimension, which became a purgatory for souls who had done both good and bad in their lives. Portals to nightmare realms opened between the columns in the pocket dimension, and unknown doors appeared in the middle.
The Riddle of Heaven was split into pieces that were scattered throughout the nightmares. Bierce started sending people who came to her into these nightmares to collect the shattered crystals, Soul Shards, to rebuild the ring, take what was left of Malak's powers, become an actress, and do whatever she wanted. Malak appointed his monster minions as guardians of the Soul Shards, and they killed most of the people sent into the nightmares. However, after meeting Doug Houser, everything changed.
Family tree[]
| Edgar Goldman |
| Helen Bierce | ||||||||
Monsters & Mortals[]
 "Are you not aware that she offers only lies?" This article contains information on a subject that isn't considered canon in Dark Deception franchise.
|
Bierce returns as a playable mortal in Monsters & Mortals.
As a Mortal of the Support class, she is more than average in movement speed, great at collecting soul shards, has the 2nd most health a Mortal can have at max, a fast attack cooldown, and if she uses her heavy attack on a teammate, it will automatically heal them for 5 HP. However, she doesn't do a lot of damage. She is useful in shard collecting and healing teammates.
Her ultimate ability, "Helping Hand", when used will cause her to regen all of her health over time and will cause her teammates to regen 25% of their max HP over time. This doesn't work on other Support Mortals so she will need to heal them with her heavy attack. She attacks and heals with her hands via slapping.
| Team | Mortals |
| Class | Support |
| Health | 200 |
| Speed | Average (>) |
| Light Attack Damage | 10 |
| Heavy Attack Damage | 20 |
| Ultimate Ability |  Helping Hand
|
| UA Description | Bierce rapidly regenerates 100% of her health over 10 secs. All non-support allies are healed 25% as well. |
| UA Duration | 10 seconds |
Skins[]
| Image | Name | Rarity | Appearance |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
Bride |  Common
|
In the Bride skin, Bierce's appearance is the same as her default skin, but her outfit is replaced by a white dress with flowers. |
 |
Geisha |  Rare |
In the Geisha skin, Bierce has black hair and wears makeup. Her fingernails now have glowing purple nail polish. Her outfit is replaced by a blue dress with cherry blossoms. |
 |
Empress | Rare |
In the Empress skin, Bierce has the same appearance as her Geisha skin, but without makeup. Her outfit is replaced by a red dress with two dragons at the bottom. |
 |
Queen of Hearts | Rare |
Halloween Collection
In the Queen of Hearts skin, Bierce now has black nail polish on her fingernails, Red hair, her dress is now black, white and red with red hearts covering it, and the soul shards are now red in color. |
 |
Strawberry Chocolate | Common
|
Sweet Collection
In the Strawberry Chocolate skin, Bierce's hair is now pink and her dress is now pink with brown stripes. |
Trivia[]
- In the 2014 and 2015 builds of the game, Bierce's voice was heard, but she was never seen in the game itself.
- However, it is implied that Bierce is a flying crystal ball in her ballroom in 2015 version, imprisoned or changed into a different form who must be freed/restored by all ring pieces. All the reasons to suspect this are:
- In the old game's description it is said that there's a part of legend saying Bierce will show up if the ring is completed.
- In alpha, the ring altar existed but was not added in her ballroom, like in the remaster.
- In one of her cut lines, she orders the player to unlock the puzzle. The puzzle itself is blue flying crystal, although it is a ball in 2015.
- Bierce's earrings and necklace are soul shards, as revealed in the 7th Q&A.
- A portal of Bierce was found at the end of an old 2015 video. When the developers were asked about it, they said that there will not be a portal for her and that it was just some old art.
- In the 2014 and 2015 builds of the game, Bierce was presumably going to have originally been the one who picked out Evans' (who was the protagonist back then) nightmares instead of Malak, as she claims that the monkeys were just "a little something (she) plucked from his worst nightmares".
- At the beginning of "Monkey Business", Bierce mentions a female "guest" that arrived before Doug. This, along with the number of soul shards in the nightmares, suggests there were multiple guests here before the events of Dark Deception, leading to some speculation that the realm Doug is in is a variant of Purgatory.
- Agatha, the primary antagonist from the "Elementary Evil" level, seems to have a distaste for Bierce, hinting that they have some history with each other. This may be a hint towards one of Bierce's recordings in which she states that she sacrificed her maid's daughter.
- This connection was eventually confirmed by Vince in the 16th Q&A.
- Despite being an apparent ally of Doug, Bierce seems to have little to no regard for his survival, as she will taunt and mock Doug upon his death.
- In the 2015 version of the game, Bierce was much more careless for the protagonist's wellbeing and would be much more impatient over his slowness.
- It was speculated that Bierce might have been the last enemy of the game, due to the portal depicting her image and the existence of a second Bierce beneath the staircase, with a suggestive purpose.
- It was originally speculated that Bierce's portal was meant to be the 10th portal in the Ballroom before it was debunked by Vince himself.
- The name 'Bierce' comes from an American short-story author and Civil War veteran: Ambrose Bierce, who had a daughter named 'Helen'.
- According to Vince, Bierce's personality was very heavily inspired by Madeline Ashton amd Helen Sharp from Death Becomes Her and Cruella De Vil from 101 Dalmatians.
- Malak mentions that Bierce relies on Doug's vision to witness what happens in each level, explaining how she can observe, react to, and comment on each of the chases.
- In a cut voiceline, Bierce jests about Doug being fed arsenic tea, alluding to how she murdered her husband, Edgar.
- Her voiceline from Stranger Sewers upon dying from Doom Ducky or the Dread Duckies, "Yes, your corpse will float too." may be a reference to the 2017 film IT.
- Another voiceline she makes in the level, "Oh, but it makes bathtime so much fun. Doesn't it?" is an obvious reference to the Sesame Street song "Rubber Duckie".
- Vince Livings said in the fourth Q&A video that Bierce was initially designed to look like an old woman. This can be seen when looking at some of her concept art.
- She is tied with Clown Gremlin, Murder Monkey, and Gold Watcher for the most alternative skins (4 variations, not counting default) in Dark Deception: Monsters & Mortals.
- Her voice line in Crazy Carnevil upon dying to the Clown Gremlins or Goliath Clowns, "It would be funny if it weren't so sad" might be a reference to the song "Want you gone" from Portal 2.
- Her voice line in Mascot Mayhem upon dying, "You've been terminated. Humanely, I'm sure." might be a reference to "The Terminator".
- In Bierce's Diaries, specifically her eighth diary, there is a strong indication that Bierce has Musophobia (fear of rats) and Arachnophobia (fear of spiders).
- Considering the time she ended in Dark Dimension, Bierce is confirmed to be 45 years old.
- According to Vince in one of his Q&As, Bierce clothing choices are influenced by both her work ethics and her straightforward, competitive spirit.
- Most of the time, Bierce wasn't hired as an movie star not because of her acting ability, but because the pitchers just didn't find her talents unique enough.
Voicelines[]
Bierce is voiced by Carolyn Seymour.
- Main Article: Bierce/Voicelines
- Main Article: Bierce's Diaries
Gallery[]
In-game[]
Dark Deception[]
Super Dark Deception[]
Models[]
Miscellaneous[]
![[Voice Vault] Cut! Helen Bierce Lines Thumbnail](/wiki/File:Cut_Helen_Bierce_Lines_Thumbnail.jpg "Cut Helen Bierce Lines Thumbnail.jpg (69 KB)")
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Concept arts
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