Misery

Background

Misery is the daughter of the witch Jenka and servant of the Doctor at the time Cave Story takes place. Like her mother, she possesses magical powers. She appears in several scenes throughout the game talking to Quote, most often seen alongside Balrog. The player also faces her in a boss battle, Misery being the first boss encountered on the Balcony.

This dropdown contains the synopsis of Misery's story. Read at your own risk as you may be spoiled otherwise!

Misery makes her first appearance within the game at Mimiga Village, where she has come to collect Sue under orders of the Doctor. She arrives at the Shack, confronting Quote and Toroko as the two are becoming acquainted. Mistaking Toroko for Sue, Misery kidnaps Toroko and leaves Balrog to deal with Quote. According to Balrog, she was later punished by the Doctor for bringing back the incorrect Mimiga. Misery reappears to Quote after the player collects the Gum Base, where she recognizes Quote as a soldier from the surface. When Balrog arrives to warn Misery that Quote's strength may outmatch that of a Mimiga's, she transforms Balrog into a frog as a reminder that he has a responsibility of defeating the soldiers. In the Sand Zone, Misery comes to Quote again, realizing he may be more trouble to the Doctor than expected. She starts to challenge him to a battle but leaves as soon as Omega rises from the sand, claiming that there is no need for her to get involved, assuming that Omega will dispose of the player. At the Sand Zone storehouse, Misery shows the Doctor the red flower seeds, fulfilling his request. She offers to test the potency of the flowers by consuming one, but the Doctor suggests using a Mimiga instead. Misery agrees and brings in Toroko, who is force-fed a flower by Balrog. At that moment, King suddenly bursts into the storehouse in an attempt to save Toroko but is too late. He attacks Balrog, causing him to leave. He then tries to kill the Doctor, but Misery stops him with her lightning, causing him to be thrust to the other side of the storehouse and against the wall at full force, flying out from the warehouse ceiling afterward. Once Quote leaves the storehouse after defeating Toroko+, he is stopped by Balrog and Misery. Misery banishes him to the Labyrinth, along with Balrog. After both Quote and Balrog are gone, she comments on how refreshing it is to have them both out of the way. Misery later appears once Quote and Curly have defeated the Core, venting her hatred of robots and teleporting the Core away before it is destroyed. Misery appears again at the Balcony as one of the three final bosses of the Normal Ending, she tells Quote that she cannot disobey the crown bearer before fighting Quote and ultimately losing. Once losing she teleports away, to where she's found again stopping Quote before he destroys the core, using Sue as leverage as she does not want the island to fall. However, The Doctor lives on through his consciousness, angered by this, Misery attempts to attack him and fails, with The Doctor noting that she will be his puppet for as long as she lives and possessing her. After Quote kills the Doctor, Misery's fate is left vague in the normal ending, however, in the best ending, due to Quote and Curly killing Ballos, Misery's curse is broken and she tells Balrog to go save Quote and Curly before the base crushes them. In the credits sequence, she is shown on the fortress still, implying she is staying there now.

General Information

Name: Misery

Origin: Cave Story

First Appearance: Cave Story

Company: Studio Pixel, Nicalis (Publishers for the Wii, DSI, and Cave Story+ versions), NIS America (Publishers for Cave Story 3D)

Creator: Daisuke Amaya (The initial creator)

Sex: Female

Sexuality: Heterosexual

Pronouns: She/Her

Age: Unknown

Homeworld: Unknown

Residence: The Floating Island

Story Role: Controlled Villain

Classification: Witch, The Doctor's servant, Cursed by the Crown

Species: Human

State of Being: Regular

Physiology: Humanoid Physiology

In-Universe Creator: Unknown

Occupation: Servant of the Crown

Affiliations: The Doctor (Forced to obey his commands as he is a wearer of the crown), Balrog, Quote & Curly Brace (In the best ending, due to Quote and Curly Brace defeating Ballos, the curse was lifted and Misery and Balrog no longer had to obey orders from anyone), Jenka (Misery's mother)

Enemies: Quote (Formerly in the best ending), Curly Brace (Formerly in the best ending)

Height: Unknown

Weight: Unknown

Status: Alive

Alignment: Lawful Evil under the orders of The Doctor (Misery is forced to obey the commands of the wearer of the crown), Neutral Good with the curse dispersed (Due to Quote and Curly Brace defeating Ballos, the curse was lifted and Misery and Balrog no longer had to obey orders from anyone. Located where Quoteand Curly Brace were, sending down Balrog to save them. Balrog further confirms the thanks should be given to Misery)

Threat Level: Global Threat (Misery and Balrog are under a curse to take orders from people with the Demon Crown. With them being forced to serve The Doctor, who seeks to rule the surface using the island as a flying fortress, along with the enraged Mimiga army to attack the surface)

Codex Statistics

Grade: A

Tier: 9-A

Cardinality: Finite

Dimensionality: 3-D

Attack Potency: Room level (Potency) (Can fight and harm Quote who can take an explosion that covered an entire room)

Durability: Room level (Can take hits from Quote's weapons)

Striking Strength: Unknown: True Class (Her attacks are magic based)

Lifting Strength: Unknown: True Class

Travel Speed: Unknown: True level

Attack Speed: Transonic (Can tag Quote, who can hit missiles/rockets before they can tag him, which move around 300 m/s)

Reaction Speed: Transonic

Stamina: Superhuman (Fought against Quote/Curly Brace, and even after losing had more than enough power to use her magic and threaten Quote with Sue's life)

Range: Standard Melee, Tens of Meters with Energy Projection (Her energy projectiles can reach out this far). At least Kilometers with Teleportation, Battlefield Removal, & Creation (Misery created the labyrinth with her magic and confined the Gaudi within it and can teleport into it)

Intelligence: Unknown Intelligence

Knowledge: Master level (Misery is noted to be a witch that uses magic, creating the labyrinth with her magic and confined the Gaudi within it, showing mastery levels of magic)

---

Powers and Techniques

Superhuman Physical Characteristics, Magic (Misery is noted to be a witch that uses magic), Flight (Flew away with Toroko after leaving the rest up to Balrog), Transmutation (Magic is able to transform humans into Mimigas, with it being noted that Misery did this), Energy Projection (Can shoot out energy porjectiles to attack targets), Power Bestowal (Misery transformed Balrog into a giant frog who could summon other frogs to help him attack), Teleportation (Teleported to Quote after seeing him appear in Sand Zone. Teleported Toroko to her location. Teleports around during her boss fight), Afterimage Creation (Creates afterimages as she teleports around), Telekinesis (Telekinetically brought down parts of the arena. Can create two defensive shields that she orbits around her), Battlefield Removal (Sent Quote and Balrog to the Labryinth, along with Curly Brace), Creation (Misery created the labyrinth with her magic and confined the Gaudi within it), Curtain Fire (Rapid Fire & Directional; Can shoot out a rapid fire of energy projectiles in a single direction), Summoning (Can summon fire bats to attack. While corrupted, she summons Orange Critters), Water Manipulation (Trapped Toroko in a bubble), Electricity Manipulation (Can create black orbs that shoot down black lightning when over a target)

---

Equipment

• Balrog: Balrog is Misery's "punching bag" and the one she commands to carry out tasks for her.

---

Other

Standard Tactics: She normally will command Balrog to take care of things or teleport someone away to the Labyrinth if they're causing too much trouble, if it ultimately comes down to it, she will fight herself where she will shoot out various projectiles and form magic around herself to shield from attacks.

Weaknesses: Due to Misery forcing Ballos to create the Demon Crown, she was cursed by the Crown, compelled to obey whoever possesses it.

Trivia

• Misery's hair is green in her portraits in the original Cave Story, while her sprite depicts blue hair. This is fixed in Cave Story+, where in both her sprite and portraits Misery's hair is blue.
• In the credits for the Good Ending, Misery can be seen but taller and with longer hair. She seemingly decided to stay on the island despite Balrog going to live with Quote and Curly Brace.
• Misery's Halloween outfit resembles Morrigan Aensland from the Darkstalkers series.

Battle Records

1-1-0

• Curly Brace or Quote (Depending on the mode) - Explanation of the Fight
  • Conditions: None.
  • Location: Sand Zone Residence

• Quote or Curly Brace (Depending on the mode) - Fight
  • Conditions: None.
  • Location: Throne Room

None.