Queen Vanessa
Queen Vanessa is a major character of A Hat in Time, serving as the overarching antagonist of Subcon Forest, and the main antagonist of Vanessa's Curse.
She is the lone resident of the Manor, the former ruler of Subcon Forest and The Snatcher's ex-lover.
Appearance
Queen Vanessa appears as an inhumanly tall, shadowy figure. She has thin arms, claw-like hands, long messy hair and a hunched-over stature, with black smoke/flare emitting from her body. She wears a crown, and seemingly a dress, although they also appear dark and shadowy. Due to the factors above, her form is comparable to a constantly shifting shadow. The only real distinguishing feature of her in-game model are her eyes, which ignite in a bright red flare. Vanessa is technically a human, but this has issues. As we've seen in Mafia Town, Humans in A Hat in Time's universe appears similar to humans in real life. The Queen, however, looks and behave nothing like one. Moreover, she seemingly has the ability to transform surrounding environment and living beings, including Hat Kid, into ice. Though, as we've seen through the game, humans can have magical abilities, such as the Mafia Boss, who has the power to summon thunder. Therefore, it is entirely possible that she already had this power before turning into what she is. Her transformation has likely elevated this ability however, as seen in The Forgotten Children storybook, the entire icy wasteland section of Subcon Forest was artificially caused by Vanessa. Furthermore, she is also abnormally tall for a human. Although her height as a human is unknown, with the Prince's silhouette in her basement and The Tale of Queen Vanessa storybook, we can approximate her to have been around two and a half Hat Kids tall. In her new form however, she is about four Hat Kids tall, judging by her standing upright model, and three Hat Kids tall, in her regular stance. All things considered, with Vanessa's strange shift in appearance, and her overwhelming magical capabilities, she is likely no longer human.
Personality
Through her storybook and diary pages, Vanessa appears to have been a highly obsessive, jealous and controlling person. The Queen had an unhealthy obsession in someone she calls her "Prince". Even getting to the point of styling his hair to match hers, banning bacon from the household because he "loved it more than her", and even becoming upset about being called "Queen" because then she was no longer her prince's "princess". One day, she suddenly spotted the Prince holding Hands with a florist. Heartbroken, she stormed home, and commanded the guards to chain the Prince in the basement so he won't leave her again. This event turned her from a love fanatic, into an insane, manipulative, cruel and dangerous in-human being. As seen in Queen Vanessa's Manor, she will often speak out to Hat Kid with an overly sincere tone, as well as attempt to lure her with false offerings such as cookies or tea. The Queen also speaks to herself as well, often times maniacally laughing without any definite reason. Upon locating Hat Kid, she will immediately chase her and, if Hat Kid is caught, she will immediately be frozen into a statue. She is also shown to be very cruel. As seen throughout her residence, many unfortunate past intruders can be found in different rooms, showing that the Queen attacks anyone who enters. These include Mafia Goons, Subcon Dwellers, and other assorted figures. Especially after she froze the Mafia Goon inside her closet, she just leaves the frozen corpse of him inside her bedroom, and casually takes a shower.
History
Queen Vanessa's backstory can be learnt through reading the notes scattered around her Manor, using the Dweller's Mask in certain spots, and collecting all pages of the Storybook in the Sleepy Subcon Memory Rift.
The letters and diary entries depict the story of her and her obsession with the Prince. In her diary and scattered pages, Hat Kid can read about Queen Vanessa's jealousy when the Prince was being educated by a female tutor, making several exclamations that the tutor got all his time while she only received letters. In his absence, Vanessa states that she wishes she could keep him in her manor so that he'll never leave again but admits that she couldn't just keep him chained up in the basement. This serves as intense irony, as after the letter was written, the prince would end up just like that.
The Storybook of Sleepy Subcon tells a different part of Vanessa's story. In The Tale of Queen Vanessa, Vanessa sees her Prince holding hands with a florist lady and storms away, heartbroken. The next page shows that the prince had just been handing the florist some money to pay for flowers, buying them as a gift for Vanessa. When the Prince goes home to bring her the flowers, Vanessa has already flown into a rage. She'll then command the guards to chain him up in the basement. It may be possible that the events of the Storybook happened when the Prince returns from his education and was about to surprise her with flowers. This could also serve as the overarching point where Vanessa's intense enamor for the prince transitioned to locking him up out of spite for his supposed betrayal, and possibly to keep him by her side forever.
The storybook also provides to Vanessa's backstory a possible explanation to how her magical powers over ice began to manifest. On the fifth and sixth pages specifically, after fleeing from the false betrayal of the Prince, Vanessa is shown visibly crying. The tears themselves however begin to resemble ice crystals, as well as her hands becoming sharper and more hooked, her skin becoming darker and her hair wicking up a dark cloud, becoming a light brown from the golden blonde hair of prior panels. The sixth panel further emphasizes the complete transformation to her current form, developing a slight hunchback, covered in shadow and her hands now more than ever turning inwards like claws or talons.
These clues suggest that Vanessa's transformation to an uncanny, shadowy appearance was caused by either emotional distress, or unending hatred. In later story book pages added by Seal the Deal, it shows that her transformation resulted in the freezing and death of all who lived in her kingdom, going as far to leave all the children's souls trapped in what is now Subcon Forest.
When using the Dweller Mask near the basement's back wall, a silhouette becomes visible, describing a figure shackled to the wall until. It seems reasonable to assume this silhouette belongs to the Prince, since the same tragic pose can be seen in the shackled prince in The Tale of Queen Vanessa.
Though not confirmed explicitly in the basegame, the eighth panel of The Tale of Queen Vanessa describes the Prince's body transforming into a shadow, heavily implying that the prince would soon become The Snatcher. This, alongside several of the many comments made by Snatcher during Death Wish Mode about coldness, death and love implies that Snatcher and Queen Vanessa were at least once lovers, and, based on the empty crib in Vanessa’s manor, may have had, or was about to have a child at one point.
The events of Vanessa's Curse (DLC) finally confirmed that The Snatcher was indeed the prince, showing that he carries a deep grudge towards her for the cruelty of her actions.
Role
Queen Vanessa's Manor
As the only other major living being in the Manor to the intruding Hat Kid, Vanessa plays a very intimidating role in following and hunting down Hat Kid as she gets further through the Manor. She is often seen pacing in the hallways, waiting for Hat Kid to emerge on her own to snatch her up and freeze her, leading to an instant death. As such, on top of the limited use of Hats and the loss of the umbrella attack, Vanessa serves far more as a hazard than a traditional Enemy in this act.
After traversing through the icy wasteland, Hat Kid approaches the Manor. Upon entering and getting to the first floor, the Queen immediately becomes aware of an intruder. She will loudly question the presence, and enters the hallway to find out, pressuring Hat Kid into hiding in the kitchen.
After Hat Kid does so, she will wander around in the hallway, rendering Hat Kid stuck inside the kitchen. Hat Kid will then mess with the Piano, causing it to make a loud noise. This, in turns, gets Vanessa to go into the kitchen, giving Hat Kid a chance to escape to the second floor. Vanessa will soon follow after.
When Hat Kid is sneaking inside the Queen's bedroom, she will have to use balloons to reach a key. Vanessa can be seen through the walls, wandering in the hallway, in search of Hat Kid. The balloons however, are not exactly good at being balloons, popping after physical contact with the key. This will alert the Queen, prompting her into investigating the bedroom. Luckily, Hat Kid is inside another room at this point. If Hat Kid hid in the closet earlier, she can encounter a Mafia Goon inside it, which will be frozen by Vanessa after she went into the bedroom.
After freezing the Mafia Goon, Vanessa will take a shower. Hat Kid then goes to take the key. The key will, however, start flying into the bathroom. This forces Hat Kid to directly confront Vanessa to get it. Going into the bathroom and getting close to the key, Vanessa will start reaching out from the shower, until she eventually notices Hat Kid, and goes out to catch her. After narrowly escaping, Hat Kid can use the key to go onto the attic, finally ending the act.
Vanessa's Curse
Despite the gamemode's being named after her, Vanessa doesn't directly appear at any point. She will talk to Hat Kid at the start of a round, and sometimes interact with The Snatcher. She also appears in the beginning cutscene, in Snatcher's flashback sequence. However, she does play a big role, being the overarching factor of the story, and the threats Hat Kid can face. Vanessa's presence can be felt through her voicelines, and, obviously, the cursed puppets. When the Hat Kids are trying to steal her crowns, she will summon a cursed soul to hunt them down, in an attempt of stopping Hat Kid and turning her into a puppet. If her cursed puppets takes too long to catch the Kiddos, she'll aid them through various power-ups for her puppets, or inconveniences to the Kiddos.
Gallery
Official artwork
Queen Vanessa's in-game sprite.
Pax 2014 co-op test promo.
Concept art by Shane Frost.
Early art of Moonjumper, the Snatcher, and Queen Vanessa.
Art of Vanessa at the beginning of the manor.
Hat Kid hiding from Vanessa.
Vanessa in the Vanessa's Curse titlecard.
In-game
A closeup of Queen Vanessa in her manor.
Queen Vanessa casts her shadow.
Vanessa's former self in the opening of Vanessa's Curse.
Vanessa fully corrupted in the Vanessa's Curse opening.
Vanessa's talksprite from Vanessa's Curse.
Trivia
- Despite being portrayed as very brave and fearless, Hat Kid is shown to be visibly terrified of Vanessa. It is reasonable to think that this is due to Vanessa's dangerous nature and uncanny appearance, but Hat Kid's diary entry reveals that she is just scared of old ladies.
- Interestingly, Vanessa is the only named character of A Hat in Time. Any other character only uses their titles, status or trait as their monikers. For example, The Snatcher is literally a soul-snatching phantom; DJ. Grooves is literally a DJ; so on.
- This fact has sparked various theories of a darker side to the story. This being that the adventure Hat Kid goes through is just a child's imagination's way to cope with a bad home life, with Queen Vanessa's Manor having such a distinct tone in contrast to the rest of the game being the results of bad memories she wants to keep away.
- She, Snatcher, and Moon Jumper were originally planned to be the three key figures that fought over ownership and control of Subcon Forest. This was later shortened to herself and Snatcher when Moon Jumper was scrapped from the final game.
- Moon Jumper was originally going to be the prince's tortured soul, but that role was later taken by Snatcher.
- The shadow Vanessa casts on the ground in the final game bares a high resemblance to her early official artwork.
- Queen Vanessa froze several unused characters and scattered them around her mansion including Rough Patch, Oldster, and Thor.
| Characters | |
|---|---|
| Main Characters | Hat Kid • Mustache Girl • Bow Kid |
| Major Characters | Mafia Boss • The Conductor • DJ Grooves • The Snatcher • Queen Vanessa • The Captain • The Empress |
| Support Characters | Badge Seller • Cooking Cat • Goofy Mafia • Rumbi |
| Minor Characters | C.A.W Agents • Coffee Clerk • Express Owls • Fat Bird • Fire Spirits • Fish Dude • Goats • Metro Cats • Mafia Goons • Meowjima • Moon Penguins • Nomads • The Receptionist • Snatcher's Minions • Subcon Dwellers • Tourist • Seals |