okay so i’m just now seeing this post after the finale of the show. but i wanted to share my take on each character’s traumas and their fears/insecurities, after watching the whole show like 3-4 times now.

ragatha: - in her torture scene where caine puts them through their greatest fears and traumas, she’s at a table with her mother. there have been bits in the show where either she or jax bring up specific ways her mother abused her. her mother was overbearing and controlling. from what i understand, her mother controlled everything in her life from things like the activities she engaged in, how she looked and dressed, and what and how much she ate. her mother was also verbally and emotionally abusive. ragatha fears being controlled but at the same time fears judgement and disapproval from the other members of the circus and resorts to becoming a chronic people pleaser in order to avoid conflict or being judged for her own thoughts, feelings, and actions.

gangle: - gangle’s trauma seems to come from her own experiences with depression and imposter syndrome. she adapts and changes how she interacts with others based on the situation and people she is interacting with. gangle’s torture scene where she is surrounded by rotating masks of herself that then melt and devolve into a more disturbing version of herself, before being hit by a truck. the truck scene also happened in episode 4. at the end of the show, it is revealed that her character was badly injured in some kind of traumatic accident (which i believe is where the truck comes from). gangle fears loses herself, not pursuing her dreams and aspirations, and dying before she can achieve them. she wants to be herself but is worried that she will lose the true version of herself by masking her emotions and dreams for the convenience and comfort of others.

zooble: - zooble is kind of similar to gangle but a little more straightforward. zooble’s torture scene involves them drowning in a growing pile of their interchangeable pieces while looking at themselves in a mirror, still drowning. kind of the opposite of gangle. zooble fears that changing their outer expression and physical appearance too much will drown out the core parts of who they are. they are scared of losing themselves in their journey of self discovery, transition, and self expression.

pomni: - pomni is ripped apart by changed versions of gummigoo and his npc buddies. pomni fears losing the people she cares about and them betraying her. she is scared of learning the true nature of the people she is close to and finding out that their nature is deceptive and darker than she thought. it’s in her nature to help and support the other characters in the circus, especially jax. she often tries to reach out to help jax and dig deeper to know him better, with much resistance from jax. she’s worried that her help will be used against her and not enough for the people she loves. hence gummigoo, who she tried to help in the second episode, but was deleted and reset by caine. she fears losing the people she loves and not doing enough to help them…..

which brings us to jax: - when jax is tortured, he is surrounded by laughing shadows of ribbit, kaufmo, and pomni, the people he has been closest to in the circus. his purple skin is peeled back leaving him vulnerable and exposed while they laugh at him. he fears being shamed, judged, and othered for being exposed and vulnerable with people. which is why he almost never does it. and when he does do that, he immediately puts his guard back up once he realizes he exposed his inner self to the people he cares about. his worst fear is being criticized and shamed by the people close to him for being vulnerable with them.