Character · from book 1
Odette
Host of Dungeon Crawler After Hours with Odette, the most-tunnelled private program in the galaxy. On camera a crab-taur in a mantis helmet; off camera a legless human woman on a floating disc who was once a crawler, once Mordecai's trainer, and now makes money from Carl and Donut staying alive.
Race and class, since book 1: Human
First appears: Book 1
Series arc
As of book 5. The former crawler who took the deal, Mordecai's trainer, a broadcaster paid in access — and in book 5 the woman who saved Bea to protect an investment and to blackmail Borant, ran an interview she knew was horseshit, once had a warrant and married the man who bought it, was tried as a manager and pleaded down. What she did to Mordecai, she says, explains 'Everything'; it is still not said.
Open threads
Status is open or resolved; the chapter after it is the last one that moved the thread.
| Thread | Opened | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Mordecai's contract, and his history with Odette and his brother | B1 ch. 29 | open · B5 ch. 19 — Survives the regency change; before her show, Odette said what she did to him explains 'Everything', and he has not said. |
| The tenth floor's rules, and Odette's deal | B1 ch. 29 | open · B5 ch. 3 — Quasar: on the tenth floor a crawler becomes a citizen and the Syndicate bends him over; a lawyer should not exist before it. |
| Mordecai's 'unfortunate' experience with gods | B2 ch. 26 | open · B5 ch. 70 — He explains Diwata's loophole and memorial crystals; his own history still unspoken. |
| Why Odette sponsored Hekla | B3 ch. 35 | open · B5 ch. 43 — Odette tried as a manager and pleaded down; still no explanation of Hekla. |
| Odette's unnamed class choice | B1 ch. 48 | resolved · B2 ch. 1 — Former Child Actor; the Manager benefit binds Mordecai to Donut's saferooms. |
| What Chaco did to Mordecai, on his manager's orders | B3 ch. 7 | resolved · B5 ch. 69 — Still not told — 'I'm still not allowed to say' — but Chaco says they would all have died, Mordecai and his brother included, and that the place makes you turn on your own party. |
| Loita in Zev's place | B3 ch. 35 | resolved · B4 ch. 18 — Loita dead in a shielded trailer; Zev back as a temporary PR agent (ch. 19). |
| What Odette was about to say about Chris | B3 ch. 35 | resolved · B4 ch. 14 — Chris was Maggie My; Odette's warning is explained by a rock body with three skulls. |
| Bea, alive, in Odette's hands | B4 ch. 35 | resolved · B5 ch. 19 — Alive, off planet with Odette, a hologram in a red gown with holes in her memory; 'Goodbye, Beatrice.' |
All threads: Open threads.
Through book 1
The series' most useful and least trustworthy adult, by her own account. Book 1 gives her two interviews, a history (a crawler who reached the thirteenth floor's stairs and took a deal; Mordecai's trainer, who pushed him too hard), and a motive she states plainly — money. She holds first refusal on every floor opening (B1 ch. 36). Her unnamed class choice at the end of the epilogue is the book's cliffhanger.
Through book 2
Her book-1 advice is followed to the letter in book 2's first chapter, and it costs Mordecai his freedom of movement (B2 ch. 1). She is the one who was with him on the sixth floor (B2 ch. 13). On the couch in the epilogue she is at her most useful — the Celestials, the leaderboard, the deity sponsorship, Hekla — and admits she paid almost nothing for them. 'Not as long as you're still alive.'
Through book 3
Off-page until the epilogue, but her warning about Hekla is why Carl is alive (B3 ch. 24) and Chaco's confession is about her (B3 ch. 7). On the couch: the Death Challenge explained and money made on it; Hekla's crab-ranch sponsor was hers — 'It wasn't my husband. It was me […] I hope one day to explain it further'; muted by Loita at Eva and at Chris (B3 ch. 35).
Through book 4
Through book 5
'Beatrice is alive' (B5 ch. 17): saved to protect an investment and to blackmail Borant (B5 ch. 18); an interview that tells a story she knows is horseshit (B5 ch. 19). Once had a warrant, married the man who bought it, tried as Mordecai's manager with Mordecai testifying against her, pleaded down (B5 ch. 42, B5 ch. 43). What she did to Mordecai is still the key nobody has turned.
Where they appear
| Book | Chapters they are in (of the book's) | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 1 — Dungeon Crawler Carl | 11/48 | 27–31, 35–36, 42, 44, 47–48 · the book's own page |
| 2 — Carl's Doomsday Scenario | 13/26 | 1, 4, 6–8, 12–13, 15, 19–20, 23, 25–26 · the book's own page |
| 3 — The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook | 13/35 | 1–3, 6–8, 18, 21, 24–25, 29, 34–35 · the book's own page |
| 4 — The Gate of the Feral Gods | 10/35 | 1–2, 10, 12, 14, 18–19, 24, 34–35 · the book's own page |
| 5 — The Butcher's Masquerade | 17/78 | 6, 12, 15–21, 24, 33, 39, 41–43, 52, 77 · the book's own page |
By book
Odette in book 1 — Dungeon Crawler Carl
Two Odettes. On air (ch. 28) she is a naked crab-taur in a praying-mantis helmet with breasts on the desk, host of the most-tunnelled private program in the galaxy, who makes Carl say his catchphrase and gives Donut a stage. Off air (ch. 29) she pulls the helmet off: sixty, human, legless, floating, a crawler who reached the thirteenth-floor stairwell and took a deal, Mordecai's trainer, and a woman who drugs the cat treats for a better interview and says so.
Her advice is the best in the book and she charges for it in attention: loot is not random, so stop complaining about pants; Donut must stay a cute cat; never trust anyone whose motivations aren't clear — hers being money. In the epilogue she supplies the Valtay warning, the class advice (pathfinding, let Donut go first, ignore the AI on race), the word 'velociraptor', and a last suggestion she does not name, a class hidden among Donut's choices that will make someone very angry. Mordecai would rather eat his children than work for her; she admits she pushed him too hard.
Odette in book 2 — Carl's Doomsday Scenario
Present before she appears: her instructions for stealing Mordecai as a manager are followed to the letter (ch. 1), and her fingerprints are on Mordecai's sixth floor (ch. 13). On the couch in the epilogue she explains Celestial boxes and Borant's veto, unveils the leaderboard, warns of King Rust's deity sponsorship and Grull, says she watches Mordecai all day, admits she paid almost nothing for their season, tells Carl that Hekla wants Donut for the manager, agrees that Donut will not leave him 'as long as you're still alive,' and identifies the last number on each line as a bounty.
Odette in book 3 — The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook
Off-page until the epilogue, but present: her warning about Hekla is the reason Carl is alive (ch. 24); her contract now has a Katia option (ch. 25). On the couch she explains the Death Challenge and her winnings, is called out for sponsoring Hekla — 'That was my husband,' then off air, 'I hope one day to explain it further' — is muted twice by Loita, once at Eva and once at Chris, and screams at the kua-tin between segments before they both laugh (epilogue). Chaco's confession is about her: 'We’d have lost Odette.' (ch. 7).
Odette in book 4 — The Gate of the Feral Gods
Off the floor entirely — her show is cancelled by the teleport ban and she appeals (ch. 19) — but the warning about Chris she tried to send (ch. 10) comes true when Maggie speaks through him (ch. 14), and Orren clears her as Carl's source (ch. 19). The epilogue puts her behind Lexis in Seattle: a sac pirate killed and his partner, a null, framed for it, a null's warrant to be bought, a cat to Borant for the walk-on bounty, and Beatrice in a bounty cube: 'we have a much better use for her […] We can't all have happy endings' (epilogue).
Odette in book 5 — The Butcher's Masquerade
She has news she meant to keep until the crawl was over: Beatrice is alive (ch. 17). She saved her to protect an investment and to blackmail Borant, and points Carl at what she once did to Mordecai (ch. 18). Her interview tells a story she knows is horseshit — 'Well played, Carl' (ch. 19) — and she calls them poor bastards (ch. 20). She had a warrant once and married the man who bought it; she was tried as a manager and pleaded down (ch. 42, ch. 43). Carl's next appearance on her show is after the next floor starts.