Iris

Iris Kwan

"I wish everyone here would just fucking DROP DEAD."

AKA

ALLMOTHER, ALLMO, mom, mui mui

Biographical info

Pronouns

she/her

Species

Human

Role

Student (former), Deified matriarch

Name in other languages

Chinese

艾莉絲 (Iris), 全能之母 (ALLMOTHER), 妹妹 (Mui Mui)

Japanese

アイリス (Iris), すべての母 (ALLMOTHER), ムイムイ (Mui Mui)

Appearance

Debut

Chapter 1

Voice actor

Aliyah Rayner

Once a Hong Konger-Canadian teenager trying to fit in with her classmates, Iris's immortality and immunity left her as the only human alive after the Occupant's disease wiped out everyone else on Earth. She now reigns as the ALLMOTHER, a god-like figure for the society of clones she has crafted in her image.

CAUTION! MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD! Iris's life and history is a major part of story of 1000xRESIST. It is highly recommend you complete the main story before reading this page

Personality

Iris is an incredibly complicated individual, whose toxic and callous actions ensure she maintains a significant distance between her and anybody else. Because her mother discouraged Iris from showing weakness and vulnerability, Iris represses her emotions, having a cynical disposition, and often displays feelings of anger or irritation.

MEMORY:

Tears are functionless. Worse, they are a threat. You learned this on the parking lot pavement, the day your mother taught you to ride a bike.

"It hurts!" you cried, cradling your skinned knee. Your mother looked down at you with disdain.

"Mul mui, look around," she said. "Everyone is staring. You can't show such weakness in front of others."

You tried so hard to stop crying, but it only made it worse. When you asked why, your mother said, "Otherwise, they'll take everything from you."

"Why would they take my things?" you asked.

"Because it is in their nature. Never let them see you cry, understand?"

Many years later, you remembered this lesson when they defaced your locker and stole your clothes after swimming practice. The first sign of sickness is watering of the eyes and nose. Every student who showed any sign of tears was sent home.

You went into the pool and dunked your head underwater so no one would see. (ch. 1)

Even Iris' happiness tends to be superficial, with Jiao remarking that Iris "never smiles with [her] teeth except when [she] thinks about food". Years of bottling up her feelings have made Iris lash out destructively – from microwaving her pet hamster Bobo as a child, to attacking the Jiao clone that Youngest presented to her.

Despite this anger, Iris has her moments of kindness, as seen when she gives Jiao her sweater. Iris' solemn moments are seen when she talks to the Jiao Portrait, revealing a more sensitive and remorseful part of Iris that she feels the need to hide. Additionally, Iris' genuine care for her cloned Sisters suggests a more motherly and caring facet of her personality. Iris also enjoys creative pursuits, like drawing and dancing.

Iris displays many symptoms of C-PTSD (Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder). She speaks of herself in a self-deprecating way and has disordered eating tendencies, using cigarettes to suppress her appetite. Heightened emotional responses can also be seen in Iris' anger issues, and she displays aversions to things that remind her of traumatic events, such as the piano. Iris also has difficulty maintaining healthy relationships, repeatedly spurning her friend, Jiao. Iris eventually starts sleepwalking as a trauma response, like her mother did.

History

Childhood

Iris was born in Canada on August 14th, 2029. Although her parents did their best to provide her with a childhood they didn't have, from an early age she prone to intense outbursts of anger. Iris learned Cantonese from her parents, but primarily spoke English in her daily life. As a young child, she enjoyed Mahjong and singing with her dad, as well as playing piano. She had raised a pet hamster named Bobo that she built obstacle courses for.

Her upbringing was characterised by the opposite pulls of her two parents, each responding their trauma in their own ways. While her father emphasised levity and joy, her mother raised Iris with vigilance and discipline. One early lesson, while teaching Iris how to ride a bike, was to never cry in front of others or show weakness.

In 2036, the Kwans moved to a new apartment in Vancouver. Although she was initially disappointed at its small size, Iris was ecstatic to learn that her parents had purchased a real piano for her to learn on, and gladly agreed to practice playing every day. Her early love for the piano changed after she met a friend who showed her a guitar. Afterwards, Iris found the piano and its fixed keys to be too rigid in comparison, so she tried to open up the piano so as to play the strings directly. The damage caused in her haphazard attempt to modify the instrument angered her parents and resulted in a beating. She hated the piano after that.

Not long after moving into their new apartment, there was an incident where Iris microwaved Bobo, killing the hamster. Mother pressured Father into punishing Iris by beating her.

At an unknown age, Iris traveled to Hong Kong for the first time with her parents, and met with her grandmother. Although brief, this trip was a formative and precious memory that Iris would hold onto for many years to come. Around the age of 10, Iris would learn more of why her family left Hong Kong. One night, Iris went into the kitchen for a midnight snack, only to find her mother walking around the house and her father silently watching over her for her safety. This was when she first learned about her mother's sleepwalking, most intense around the months of October and November. She promised to her father to keep this secret a secret.

Iris remembers her parents often "fighting about the past" and hating the sound of her mother's shrieking. She views her mother as a hypocrite and a coward for choosing to leave Hong Kong and abandoning her cause.

Teenage Years

In her teenage years, Iris had a small group of friends from school. She no longer enjoyed playing music, but listened to it and would dance in her free time. She picked up art, and although she did not fully commit to this pursuit, her art teacher says she has a talent for it. Iris may have applied for a scholarship which required her winning an art competition.

Iris's high school life became strained with Jiao's arrival to her school, beginning their complicated relationship. Students asked Iris who the new transfer was despite being complete strangers, save for their shared ethnicity. Iris was embarrassed by the many differences Jiao exhibited, which the other students might lump onto her by association. She coaches her on how to integrate, trying to get her to stop speaking Chinese, chew with her mouth closed, and not clear her throat loudly or spit in public and told Jiao that she wouldn't be liked until she stopped coming across as such a "F.O.B" (Fresh off the boat).

Her mother would often invite Jiao for dinner, which Iris was annoyed by, although she was unable to articulate why it annoyed her. Jiao's somewhat overbearing obsession with Iris would lead to her trying to avoid Jiao, whether by tricking her into playing hide and seek, or pretending to be asleep when Jiao came over. It is implied that Jiao had to keep their relationship a secret from Iris's friends, and Iris would avoid her at school and refuse to sit with her and eat lunch together.

Iris regularly had sleepovers with Jiao, but always at her friend's home and never her own, potentially using this as an excuse to get away from her parents.

In 2046, Iris held a birthday party where she was embarrased by her parents serving a traditional fruit cake and e-fu noodles. Jiao is the first guest to arrive, and asks where everyone else is, to which Iris muses that they might have gotten lost. Iris has ordered pizza, to her father's disapproval.

Iris befriended a a boy in the bathrooms, and the two would sometimes smoke cigarettes together. She gave him with a drawing at one point, and expressed her desires to leave Canada. Jiao asks Iris if she liked the boy and if he was Iris' "bathroom boyfriend", to which Iris responded incredulously (he was not).

In 2047, the spread of the Occupant's Disease led to a wave of sinophobia. As a result, Iris' friends of several years began avoiding her, and refused to sit in the cafeteria with her, breaking a years-long habit.

Potentially as a result of this, Iris says and/or shows something to her classmates that is incredibly damaging and embarrassing to Jiao, potentially as an attempt to claw back Iris' own social reputation. However, this does not help – many students found what Iris did cruel, calling her a 'bitch'. It was also cruel enough that a teacher sees fit to separate Jiao from the other students, and especially Iris. Potentially because of this, Jiao does not find out what Iris did until the night of the dance.

Nearing midnight, a distraught Jiao runs out from the dance, with Iris chasing after her. This draws the attention of an Occupant, who materializes on the street.

[iris: what are you waiting for quote]

As every student from the dance falls ill with the Occupant's Disease, Iris alone appears to be unaffected. She visits Jiao in hospital and it slowly dawns on her that she may be immune to the effects of the disease.

After Jiao's passing, Iris feels intense guilt over how their friendship ended. She keeps a large portrait of Jiao in her bedroom, along with Jiao's diary which Iris begins to use to write and draw in.

The school dance draws the attention of local news, and is reported on as a super-spreader event. Iris's apparent immunity is also reported on, which draws the attention of The 50.

Leaving Home

Iris is visited by Johnson and Mimi of the Pacific 50 who ask her to come with them, as her immunity might hold the key to end the Occupant plague. Her parents oppose Iris being taken away, however the 50's tell her she can choose to go as a legal adult. Iris barricades herself in her room and chooses what to pack, while her mother argues with her through the door. Around this time, Iris began to speak to an imagined version of Jiao, represented by her photograph.

Upon boarding the Pacific 50, the chief scientist Mimi began her experiments, starting by collecting samples of her hair and saliva. The procedures grew more invasive and experimental, and they began cloning Iris. However, none of these clones inherited her immunity. They also discovered that Iris was immune not just to the virus, but the effects of aging altogether. For over thirty years, the experiments progressed, and although their cloning technology developed, her immunity was never able to be replicated.

Over 30 years passed with little progress towards a cure, and an entire generation was born and grew up on board, while Iris stayed stuck at 18. She began to act out against the crew of the 50. Iris made a suggestion that the key to her immunity be found at her school. Crew morale was dwindling due to having no answers in sight, and with Iris's behaviour worsening, Johnson authorised an expedition to the surface.

The 50s returned to Vancouver and visited Iris's high school. Although they detected higher-than-normal volumes of the virus, nothing was learned about Iris's immunity, and it became clear that Iris's real motive was to visit a memorial to Jiao and light candles for her. During this trip, Johnson showed Iris the state of the world: Crumbling buildings and the giant glowing bodies of Occupants lounging atop them. He made an appeal to her:

JOHNSON THE 50: I know some of the things we've done to you... They're unforgivable. They would not pass under normal circumstances. I can understand why you're acting out... But...

JOHNSON THE 50: Things are going very badly for the 50. Much worse than is generally known.

JOHNSON THE 50: ...we're losing contact with the other facilities, one by one.Their last communications are...disturbing.

JOHNSON THE 50: Iris, I need you to think more than one step ahead. I need you to endure. Humanity needs you to endure. Please...

JOHNSON THE 50: What do you say? Will you help me return the world to normal? ...will you behave?

IRIS: ......

IRIS: Fuck Bach. And fuck you.(ch.4)

The expedition was controversial amongst the crew, with many seeing it as an unacceptable risk. Things took a further turn for the worse when Iris stabbed Mimi, fatally wounding her. With the lead researcher dead, many on the ship lost hope. George The 50 led a mutiny to take over command from Johnson. Although they were able to take control of the bridge, crew members resisted and the mutineers opened fire on their fellow crewmates.

The intense emotion provoked by the violence attracted an Occupant who was able to communicate with Iris. Iris made a wish for everyone else aboard the ship to drop dead, which Source granted. They then provided Iris with the three Familiars, giving her the ability to commune with the Occupants.

The You That Remains

alone in the orchard

IRIS: It's my birthday soon. I hate that. Trapped in this body. Trapped in this age...trapped in this time. (ch. 7)

Now the sole occupant of the Pacific 50, Iris buried the bodies of the 50s in the Orchard. She began regular communions with her "Keepers", speaking only with the Occupants and her imagination of Picture Jiao. After spending at least one birthday alone, Iris started to teach herself how to use the onboard cloning machines. Eventually, she was able to print out five clones of herself to be her companions. She assigned roles and colours to each of her five daughters in order to distinguish them.

TK:Sleepwalking and etc.

IRIS: Stay longer, the Keepers said. It's already longer than before. Has an affinity for me, apparently. A burning sensation pulls on my scalp. Don't go yet. So I stay.

The communions took a physical toll on Iris's body, as well as worsening her sleep problems. Iris hid this as best as she could from the Sisters and the Keepers. She held the communions behind closed doors to deny the Keepers access to her children. They specifically requested Iris bring her Youngest, however Iris refused and poured more effort and focus to keep the Occupants satisfied.

The insomnia and reliving of memories led to Iris losing track of time, requiring her Eldest to remind her on one occasion. After repeated lateness, the Keepers punished her by attacking the Sisters. How they lashed out is not known, but at least three sisters were harmed, with Pink (Healer) the worst injured and almost dying.

As the communions intensified, Iris would need to sleep for longer and longer. Her Youngest struggled to be included with her Sisters, and frequently came to Iris for help, often waking her up. Iris shared some of her past with her clones, especially Youngest, although they struggled with simple concepts such as parenthood or romance.

She managed to take control of the Familiars and used them to initiate a communion with her clones, sharing with them a vision of when she visited Hong Kong as a child.

Youngest attempted to create a Jiao clone and revealed it at their birthday party. Iris reacted violently, cutting the throat of the disfigured clone. As punishment, Iris left Youngest in the Orchard, with two Familiars (Secretary and Vice) and departed with the other sisters.

That Remains and Remains

Not much is known about the intervening years. A thousand years are said to pass without Iris returning to the Orchard. Sisters were periodically sent to the other side to join her. What happened to these sisters is not clear. Iris continues to communune with her Keepers (eventually reduced to a single Occupant) which seems to leave her in a trance-like state. From her reaction when Watcher arrives on the other side, this seems to be fairly normal, and Iris placidly reminds her that it is "mother's time".

Watcher stabs Iris from behind with a shard of Secretary, fatally wounding her. Iris turns in shock and falls to the floor. As Principal approaches, Iris recognises her as Youngest and is confused. She seems to think that she had just left her, and is confused that so much time as passed. With her last words, she says to Youngest:

IRIS: You have no idea... How I missed you.

Before being unable to hold her head up and falling, dead.

Many years later, during the mass communion, Iris is envisioned in the "impossible conversations" sitting on a stairwell talking to her mother. Iris seems to have sought out her mother, and she tells her about how she has become a mother to many clones - Much to Clara's amusement. Clara tells her that she simply had to keep moving forward. Iris confesses that she broke her promise to go back home, unable to "move backwards", which Clara inexplicably praises her for.

As a result of the Secretary's merge, the memories of Iris held by Source are erased. The final scene of the game shows Iris on a beach as Blue emerges from the Pacific 50, where she spots the ancient sisters (except Youngest) and walks towards them.

Relationships

Jiao

IRIS:
Dear Dumpster Jiao...
Since you haven't been around
I've got hot goss for you
Turns out I can multiply myself
Just by wishing for it to be true.
It also turns out I'm immune
To the virus that did you in
So I'm still alive but without you
It's sort of pretty grim.
At least your journal keeps me warm
Its pages feed the fire
By the way I read it all
All of your weird desires.
Remember how I'd hate your laugh?
How I'd hate your style?
How I'd hate walking home from school
With you bothering me for miles?
Well now all i have is your picture
And the world has come to an end
I promise I will be nicer
If you want to come around again. (ch. 3)

doomed yuri (original) (edit this more later)

Iris has a complicated relationship to Jiao, soured by Iris' own internalized racism and pressures from both her mother and her peers. White classmates ostracized Jiao for being "fresh off the boat", so Iris, in trying to better fit-in and assimilate, acts mean to Jiao in attempts to distance herself from being viewed as "too Asian".

Another source of Iris' cruel treatment towards Jiao lies in Iris' mother. Mother is often pressuring Iris to give up her time or her things to Jiao without Iris having a choice in the matter, which likely builds some resentment. Watcher also notes none of the memories ever show Mother expressing a kind smile towards Iris like she shares with Jiao, so Iris likely habours some jealousy in that regard as well.

Having been taught that she “can’t show such weakness in front of others”, Iris has also internalized her mother's "tough love" approach in showing others she "cares" – by being hard on them, so they learn to stay safe.

Despite Iris' projected toxicity, she genuinely cares for Jiao. She holds a devotion to Jiao, which becomes more pronounced after Jiao's death. Iris risks the death of many 50 personnel and her own future freedom, to go back to her old school to light candles in remembrance of Jiao. All of Iris' most treasured items (including Jiao's diary), are kept behind the waterfall, in a shrine-like manner to Jiao. The Jiao Picture became Iris' only companion and emotional support in her decades of torment and loneliness aboard the Pacific 50.

Mother

IRIS: ...did you ever regret...having a child?

MOTHER: Foolish question. Next.

IRIS: But Iris was... I was...

MOTHER: Regret? Mui Mui. Or, whoever you are... We are poor technology. The human body and brain? Too capable of storing clutter. Too desperate to hold onto things. You just have to move forward.

MOTHER: If you are tired? Doesn't matter. If you are bitter? Doesn't matter. I do not forgive my daughter for having left me. Doesn't matter. I do not forgive my husband for having left me. Doesn't matter. So, I keep moving.

IRIS: I didn't go back.

MOTHER: What?

IRIS: I promised you and 爸 (dad) I would come back home. And it was a lie. I even had a chance. But I couldn't go back. I could only go forward.

MOTHER: ...

MOTHER: ...... Good girl. (ch.10)

its complicated

Father

what i wouldnt give for a bowl of moodle

The 50

IRIS: 媽 (Mom) – I am sorry. 爸 (Dad) – I am sorry.

IRIS: They stole my body, my hair, my mouth... They stole everything of ours and called it theirs.

IRIS: I wish everyone here would just fucking DROP DEAD. (ch. 4)

this sucked

Mimi The 50

<error 0x80070570>
Tests were ////[REDACTED]////[REDACTED]////[REDACTED]////]

WATCHER: Secretary, thoughts?

SECRETARY: As I’ve said, we can only see what the ALLMOTHER has experienced or dreamt...or allowed us to see. […] She may be open to us, but some things are too personal – even for Sisters. (ch.4)

While some members of the 50 accuse Iris and Mimi of being in a secret relationship, the actual truth is that Mimi groomed and abused Iris, likely to exploit and experiment on Iris more easily (something Mimi might have done to others before). Beyond their initial meetings, we never see Iris directly say anything to, or about Mimi. What we do see is Iris, upon arriving at the testing facility, immediately experiencing medical abuse so traumatic that these memories are all shown as [REDACTED]. Eventually, after 30 years, Iris has had enough and stabs Mimi, who later succumbs to that injury.

Johnson The 50

Fuck you and fuck Bach.

enabled iris' abuse and dehumanization under the 50. even if he was remorseful about it and prevented some more extreme procedures, he is still complicit in the abuse. iris dislikes him because of this, and how johnson holds absolute authority over her

Occupants

there is a you that remains and remains and remains

abuser, yet again

Principal (Youngest)

youngest...you dont know how much ive missed you

Gallery

• 

  Iris (Allmother outfit)
• 

  Iris in a hoodie (fullbody)
• 

  Iris in a hoodie (close up)
• 

  IRIS: "There is an us with a pattern we are threading." (ch. [Redacted])
• 

  square icon of Iris
• 

  IRIS: Why can't you just act NORMAL? (ch.1)
• 

  Iris' drawings (ch.2)
• 

  IRIS: Sorry. you won't fit in my backpack. (ch.2)
• 

  Iris with a birthday crown and cake knife (ch.3)
• 

  JOHNSON THE 50: Humanity needs you to endure. (ch. 3)
• 

  An ancient sister mother crossed (ch.3)
• 

  Iris decreeing "the Ancient Sin" to Youngest (ch.3)
• 

  Iris, alone with an Occupant in The Orchard (ch.7)
• 

  PICTURE JIAO: I can't wait to spend every minute with you. (ch.7)
• 

  IRIS: Maybe...I will finally get some peace and quiet. (ch.7)
• 

  "The Other Side" where Iris resided
• 

  Iris bust shot
• 

  Close-up of Iris after stabbing.

Etymology

The name Iris has many layered connotations:

• The Greek goddess of the rainbow, and messenger to the gods
  • Iris assigns colors to the Ancient Sisters, forming a rainbow of sorts. She is a "messenger" who communicates with "gods", ie. the Occupants.
• The part of the eye that controls how much light is let in.
• A flower (eleaborate on flower symbolism)

• when have name in chinese, analyze the character choices

Trivia

• Iris' text color is  #FFD300

• The term "mui mui" that Iris' parents call her is 妹妹, which means "little sister/lil' sis". Calling someone "sister" in Chinese doesn't have the same literal implications as in English – it can be used to casually refer to someone younger than you.

• Iris' birthday is August 14.
  • In the year 2047, Iris is graduating from high school and is stated to be both a teenager and a legal adult. Thus, Iris was most likely 18-19 years old when she stopped aging, which would make her birth year either 2028 or 2029.

• Iris likely stopped eating meat in 2043, as that is when Father created the (vegan) Moodle dish for her. Her pizza order in 2046 is for a vegetarian pizza however, so it is assumed Iris was vegetrian.
• According to Father, Iris likes 干燒伊麵 (braised E-Fu noodle)

• According to Jiao, Iris smells like lavender and strawberry pocky
• Iris is implied to be sapphic. This is seen from her relationship with Jiao, as well as members of The 50 discussing Iris' relationship with Mimi
  • Mark your calendars, himejoshis, himedanshis, and himejin – Jiao/Iris day is January 23rd (1/23)!

• The "error 0x80070570" message seen in Iris' repressed memories is based on an actual Windows error code, for corrupted and unreadable files.

• The patterns on Iris' ALLMOTHER armour is of iris flowers. In Chapter 3, Knower states "the ALLMOTHER favours white [irises]" when picking flowers for a birthday bouquet.

• Iris' glasses (as well as the other eyewear in 1000xRESIST) are inspired by MASAHIRO MARUYAMA's collection of designer glasses