Even more mysterious than Inspector Dusk, the Enigma Killer is the person who sets all the series events in motion. He spends the whole time in the shadows, pulling the strings from afar. He only involves himself personally when an investigation ends, killing one final victim.
He always appears to Desmond at the end of investigations, offering cryptic and often threatening messages, hinting that he is closer to Dawn and Dusk than they know. A calculating master of routine and predictions, the Enigma Killer never says a word, preferring to speak through messages, some of them written years in advance.
From what little we see of him, it is clear that the Enigma Killer is a cold psychopath, calmly arranging death and chaos without a second thought. Older than all of the immortals, more than any of them, his crimes are the pinnacle of his existence.
The part of the Enigma Killer that took me the longest was which historical villain he was. Obviously after the likes of Jack the Ripper and Josef Mengele, the series needs to culminate in the most famous of historical villains. Like choosing Dusk’s identity, it took a while.
For a long time it looked like I was going to have to invent my own historical villain, based on how I wanted the eventual plot to go. However I eventually decided to forego that idea when a found a real historical villain who fitted better. This did necessitate changing who Dusk was, but only to some degree.
The second reason there are so many seemingly quite pointless characters across the books, many of whom do not speak, is because one of them is the Enigma Killer. Again, like choosing who he was historically speaking, it also took a long while to decide who he was out of the characters as well. I had considered three other characters before I decided upon who the Enigma Killer finally was.
Even after he (or perhaps she?) is revealed, the Enigma Killer still doesn’t say a word. This is purely a stylistic choice. It was something completely unlike my normal villains, who often rely on monologues and grand speeches. I also feel that a silent, almost monstrous death glare can say so very much.
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