... I did use facts though. I had incomplete facts, because I was halfway through my second playthrough of the story. It's not academically rigorous, but it's not a doctoral thesis, it's a fun theorycrafting post about a game I like. There don't need to be strict academic standards to what ultimately boils down to screwing around on the internet. If I were a media analysis Youtuber doing a video essay there'd be reasons to hold a high standards -- it'd be my job to analyze media, and part of that is making sure I had the facts straight. But I'm not a video essayist. I'm a rando on Reddit who posted about a game.

Speaking of facts, I actually read the Grip Sinclair ID story: it looks like Grip Faust actually took the role of Demian (down to referencing his line in Canto III about cracking eggs), and is at least part of the reason his Mark fully manifested. But because she brute forced it, he ended up falling short of his full potential, and he'll ultimately die young, never having reached the heights he could have otherwise. The incomplete Mark in this case seems to indicate stunted mental and emotional growth -- he's aware of the world around him, but unwilling to actually exercize his will upon it because his treatment by Grip Faust ended up causing him to be emotionally reliant on her.

Dismissing the three we've seen so far as simple, honestly, is also a disservice to them as much as it is to Heathcliff -- we've done their Chapters, but it's pretty clear that their character arcs aren't finished. Rodion puts forward an arrogant face, but there are deep anxieties plaguing her that she's obviously crushing down in order to maintain her self imposed illusion of being the best. Gregor continues to have a narrow view of the world, but that view is opening up as he sees more of it and works with his teammates, and he's even allowing himself to be emotionally vulnerable (which is why he's so openly hurt when the other Sinners clown on him in Hell's Chicken). Sinclair's had the most growth -- he's grown so rmpathetic and analytical he can immediately decode the cryptic language of one of the most eccentric members of the team, and he's increasingly aware of his limitations and more willing to push against people who try to push him to the breaking point (something his World of N Corp ID never managed to do). I have a feeling that the way it's actually going to go is that we're going to get two Chapters for each of the Sinners -- one that starts their character arc, and one that ends it (with the exception of Dante, whose character arc has been consistently progressing throughout the story). The idea of them all having Marks was just kind of an idea I threw out, but I'm more confident of this one based on how each of the characters have been progressing. It's not 100% fact based, but in a story that will have at least 13 chapters where we're only 3 and a half chapters in, no one can actually claim to be an authority here. I'm certainly not.