Valerie Alton

Valerie is the playable protagonist of Ethereal: New Moon. She is the daughter of Martin Alton and Lucy Alton.

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Appearance

Valerie is a thin, pale girl of below-average height. Due to her albinism, she has pure white hair with a red iris.

She keeps a neutral expression on her face in nearly all situations, and her droopy eye gives off a look of indifference and laziness. Her eyelid is coated with dark red eye shadow, and she has dark bags under her eye. The burn scar on the left side of her face, which took her left eye away, is obscured by her overgrown bangs.

Her in-game appearance is customizable, beginning with a black, lolita-style dress with white accents and medium-length white hair. Later in the game, her appearance defaults to a black, frilly, wedding-like dress, which, along with her snow-white hair, skin, and red eyes, gives her an appearance very similar to that of a spirit, particularly a fully-developed leecher. As per family tradition, her everyday outfit contains a hint of purple, in the form of a bow below her neck. Her default clothing and its changes throughout the game are the only canon outfits.

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Personality

Valerie is shown to be witty and quick to vex, learning much from the books she has read over her time as a shut-in. But despite her vast knowledge of various subjects, Valerie has seen little exposure to the outside world, and as such does not understand certain concepts, namely unconditional love, banter, and romance. She is a skilled flower arranger, able to turn over her arrangements for an easy profit. Her laziness, however, tends to get the best of her, and she often spends days doing nothing but reading or sleeping. She is well-mannered and polite with those she is familiar with but can be dismissive and annoyed when meeting strangers.

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Most who take one look at Valerie are quick to judge, swiftly assuming that she is an antisocial creep, or even mistaking her for a reanimated corpse. She has been dubbed the "town ghoul" by Moonsreach locals, due to her introverted nature, appearance, and frequent visits to the cemetery for lümysium. Regardless of those beliefs, Valerie is neither antisocial nor a creep, caring greatly for her friends and family, and showing undying loyalty to those who have never wronged her.

At a younger age, Valerie was the near opposite of her teenage self. She was cheerful, fussy, and easily scared. Spending much of her childhood alone while her parents were on business trips, the household maids would abuse Valerie- Threatening physical harm against her when she would get too excited. This evolved into Valerie's behavior as a teenager, fearing the possibility of letting her emotions show.

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Early Life

Born on October 6th, 1918, Valerie began her life as a cheerful yet fussy and clingy child. Her parents generally kept her shielded from the outside world, leaving her with only her parents and her older sister, Susie Alton. Little is revealed of Valerie's relationship with Susie. Questions toward Valerie regarding Susie stir aggression.

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In 1924, Susie was declared missing. Her remains were found near Man's End a week later, dismembered and skinned, missing "several vital organs".  Valerie was horrified by the news, and her behavior was permanently affected.

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Valerie's father, Martin Alton, began to show little care for Valerie. He would already be out of the house on business trips much of the time, but he began taking Valerie's mother, Lucy Alton, along with him, against her own will and desire to provide attention for Valerie. As such, Valerie was left home with the housemaids more often than not.

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The maids were tasked with keeping Valerie alive and inside the house. They treated her cruelly, locking her in her room for days at a time, and starving her if she misbehaved.

Martin gave no thought to the abusive behavior shown toward Valerie. Tiring of her pleas, Martin would begin physically harming Valerie should she express her emotions. He proceeded to lock Valerie at home for three years, until her eleventh birthday.

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At this point, Valerie had become flat. Her voice was monotone, and her expression had become one of emptiness- Or "wooden", as said by Theria.

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Trivia

• Valerie's very first design depicted her in modern-day clothing, with a crazed expression on her face. Her personality changed drastically after proper writing began.

  • During this time, consideration was made to assigning Valerie the role of a witch. Harggoth, possessing supernatural powers rather than magical ones, took this role.

• Valerie's appearance was strongly inspired by the character Sally from "The Nightmare Before Christmas", as well as Morticia Addams from "The Addams Family".

• Despite her history being similar to that of Marnie, Valerie takes the place of Anna in Ethereal: New Moon's story adaption of "When Marnie Was There".

• After ending C, as the eldest living member of the Alton family, it is implied Valerie becomes the family leader, as she is rightfully entitled to be.

• Valerie's hair color with a sufficient amount of melanin is black, along with purple eyes, a genetic mutation carried by all offspring of the Alton family. The trait is also carried by Martin, as well as Valerie's younger sisters, Evelyn and Marilyn. Interestingly, despite Vincent being her paternal brother, he does not carry this trait.

• Her case of albinism was likely carried down by her mother, who suffered from the same condition.
• Valerie's eyesight is very poor, as commented on in-game and demonstrated by her need for a magnifying glass while reading, and binoculars to see far distances.
• Her middle name 'Lillian' was chosen after the song by The Dear Hunter of the same name.