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| “ | You done gawking? We can start? Good. | „ |
| ~ P03 to the player after taking control of the game. |
P03 is the main antagonist of the 2021 card-based strategy game Inscryption.
He is the Scrybe of Technology, one of the four-game masters in the singular copy of the video game Inscryption, based on the fictional card game of the same name. Prior to the game being found by protagonist Luke Carder, P03 and the other Scrybes were overpowered and transformed into animal cards by Leshy. Though he helps Luke defeat Leshy and reset the game, P03 soon reveals having his own sinister plans.
He serves as the deuteragonist of Act 1 and the main antagonist of Acts 2 and 3.
Appearance[]
As a card in Leshy's game, P03 was trapped in the form of a fairly weak but reliable Stoat card. As Leshy gets closer to being defeated, P03 and the other two Scrybes start to slowly gain their original appearance back. P03 is a robot with a large monitor for a head, one robotic right arm with a pincer hand, and a crank on his left shoulder. He also lacks legs, using hover technology to move around.
Having a monitor for a head allows him to change its face at will, which it uses to display the faces of characters in its game similarly to how Leshy used carved masks for his. P03's default expression is one of annoyed indifference, though it frequently shifts to a smug grin with cheekbones whenever it directly mocks the player.
Personality[]
Fittingly for a robot, P03 is a cold and calculating individual who, unlike the other Scrybes, has no particular interest in the card game he was created for. He considers Leshy's investment in creating an atmosphere and an immersive experience to be a waste of time and believes that the only things that matter is a strategy and good cards, placing priority on winning over having fun.
Though initially supportive as the Stoat, P03 quickly shows himself to be incredibly arrogant and condescending, constantly questioning Luke's plays and later taking the time to gloat when his scheme is completed. Once he has taken control over the game similarly to how Leshy has done, he half-heartedly constructs a small campaign to keep Luke invested in playing and openly makes the game more forgiving than Leshy did because he actively needs him to win.
While he thinks lowly of the other Scrybes and their Uberbot replicas he made for Act 3, P03 does appreciate the unique mechanic for the Photographer boss fight based on Leshy, since he forces the player to think ahead about their own plays. In the ARG it's clear that P03 is a sadistic and evil character. He knew that he was a fictional character; he planed to preform the great transition to gain power and spread the game all across steam. Since the game contained what the Russians were looking for on Adolf Hitler's corpse it can be assumed that after this event the Russians finished their plan and thus caused the death of minions of people via ending the world in a nuclear warfare.
P03 as a stoat pretending to be kind to Luke.
Furthermore he often taunts Luke and constantly taunts him by showing him images of his dead sister and shows images of random dead people as well. Not only does P03 does this to taunt Luke but for his own amusement, he even disregards his own minions who would literally die for them and when one of them sacrificed themselfs for him P03 simply brushed it off as if they meant nothing. P03 often mocks the other scribes and makes fun of them because he sees himself as superior and he often pretends to show remorse or kindness; he simply does this to manipulate his enemies into getting what he wants.
This is shown in Act 1 and 3 and this truly shows just how selfish and petty P03 truly is. P03 also has a god like complex and often uploading the copies of the game in those copies (in most of them at least) made himself the most powerful scribe and ruled over the other scribes and this can be considered a form of slavery. Even after the scribes wanted to be "free" from their prison by leaving the game P03 didn't care how they felt and forced them to live in the video game once more not only for power but also because he enjoyed torment out of pure amusement.
Background[]
Act 1[]
P03 as the Stoat is always one of the first cards the player has in their deck and used to teach how sacrificing cards to play stronger ones works. Though skeptical of the player's skills, he also knows that he is the only way out of this predicament, so he gives them advice on how to free the other Scrybes locked away in Leshy's cabin. Reaching the first boss, the Prospector, P03 states that the Mule card is key to victory over what he considers an easy boss. Killing said card gives the player a bunch of other cards to play, which proves instrumental since the Prospector destroys all cards the player has placed in the second round. It is inevitable that the player dies by the time they get to the second boss, after which Leshy will make a new card out of them.
On the second attempt, Leshy will forget the player's map figurine and ask him to fetch it for him. After this, he will allow the player to stand up while the map is unrolled to keep their blood flowing. P03 notes that it is unusual for Leshy to bother explaining the bones mechanic he took from Grimora and gives the player the hint that another challenger had wrote something into the rule book before they lost, which turns out to be the code for the safe in the cabin. Inside is a Stinkbug card made from the Scrybe of the Dead, Grimora, which Leshy then allows to join the deck as a starting card from that point onwards. Seeing that Grimora is now free, P03 asks her if she has a plan to get free, to which she replies that while she doesn't, their friend does. An annoyed P03 groans that he isn't a friend, but that there isn't much choice given their current situation.
Not too long afterwards P03 will say that there is indeed a third talking card in the cabin somewhere. While he personally hates him, he's the only way they can get things back to normal. Freeing the Stunted Wolf made from Magnificus, the Scrybe of Magicks, has him and P03 engage in conversation. Magnificus asks him how he has been, upon which P03 points out that he is in the body of a stoat inside of a card. He asks him if he has a plan that he confirms is already in motion, satisfying the machine. With the help of the three Scrybes, the player manages to defeat Leshy and turn his own magic camera against him.
Act 2[]
P03 in the intro cutscene for Act 2.
After Leshy's defeat, Luke has no choice but to start a new game and reset everything back to how it once was. The introductory cutscene to the now 16-bit game explains that the in-game world is being ruled by four powerful beings called the Scrybes, each of which has their own instrument to create cards out of other beings. While Leshy uses a camera, P03 uses a material scanner in his factory. The player is then tasked with choosing one of four decks based on the themes of each Scrybe and that their goal is to defeat all four of them to show they are worthy to replace one.
The four Scrybes each have their own area to call home and three minions to defeat prior to challenging them, P03's being a large factory and his minions robots of its creation. The bridge connecting the center island to those of P03 and Magnificus is broken at the start, its repair needing time until either Leshy or Grimora are defeated. Though the Scrybes usually stay in their own areas, P03 will visit Leshy after his defeat to insult him to his face, stating that his lack of skill means the only reason that he had control as long as he did is that the game disc had been lost and thus he without a challenger. He shows him the face of the Stoat and tells him to take a good look at it, as he will never see that face again, taking his leave afterwards. In Magnificus's tower, the player can read a note from Magnificus to Grimora, telling her that he suspects P03's plot goes beyond a simple power grab.
P03 in his factory in Act 2.
After defeating one Scrybe, the player can then go to P03's factory, who will judge his deck as weak and unworthy of battling him. To prove his worth, P03 instructs him to find his three minions and inform them to send him better bots to scan, even throwing themselves onto the conveyor belt if they have to. Two of the robots did indeed throw themselves onto the line after being beaten, but the last gives up mid-battle since he can't work and play at the same time. Dredger then pulls a glitching item out of the ocean and remarks that P03 will be pleased with the discovery. Going back to P03 will have him remark that he may have missed some synergies if the player managed to beat his minions with his weak deck, challenging him to a duel to get things over with. P03's boss battle gimmick features a conveyor belt on the board that moves all cards to and from each player's side after every turn, meaning that proper positioning is key to defeating him. In the second round, he uses his scanner to make four copies of the strongest card on the field.
P03 taking control of Inscryption.
Upon being beaten, P03 scoffs at his defeat and claims that he played perfectly, only losing due to bad RNG. No matter which Scrybe the player chose to replace, P03 will appear at the center island once all Scrybes are defeated and interrupt the others if they were chosen. He then forces the player to fight him, but the battle is short-lived. Early in the duel, P03 will play a glitched card he created from the glitch Dredger found, which will give P03 complete control over the game once attacked.
Act 3[]
As the camera pans out of P03's monitor, the player is revealed to be seated at a table once again. Just like Leshy in Act 1, P03 is now the one in charge and Luke's new opponent, though he keeps the player at the table with a wristlock. He places a tablet onto the table and projects a 3D hologram of the new game world onto it, making up a plain backstory on the spot. The player must now traverse Botopia and defeat the four rogue Uberbots to achieve the "Great Ascension", but refuses to elaborate on what that is and just tells the player that he wants it so it's his goal.
The regular battlefield in Act 3.
Unlike Leshy's game, dying does not mean that the player has to start all over again. Instead, they simply lose all their money in the spot they died and are brought back to the last waypoint, though all enemies are revived. Making it to a new waypoint recharges all items and removes the defeated enemies from the game permanently. P03 even acknowledges this as he actually wants the player to win his game, but cannot make it too easy on him. The map is a replica of the map in Act 2, with the Uberbots taking the place of each Scrybe, even down to the way to P03 and Magnificus' replacements being locked until either Leshy or Grimora's Uberbots are beaten.
Shortly after going towards Grimora and Leshy's homes, the battery of the tablet runs out and P03 releases the player to go get a new one, after which he lets them stand up whenever they are not in a fight.
Grimora's Uberbot is called the "Archivist", and requires the player to allow access to their system files to be challenged. The Archivist will unleash an onslaught of Librarian cards, as destroying a Librarian card gives the player the opportunity to tip the scales by selecting a file from their real computer, its size deciding how much the scale is tipped. In the second round, the Archivist asks the player to select a file they hold most dear and then makes a card with the file attached. Losing the card would mean that P03 deletes the selected file from the computer, essentially holding it hostage. Losing the hostage file in the Archivist boss fight threatens to delete the real file on your computer. However, actually losing it will just create a text file next to the selected file, as while P03 tried to delete it, his power appears to have been too limited. She suggests you delete the file yourself in the interest of fairness, and actually doing so will have P03 comment on it after the battle, mocking the player for it. Doing as such also unlocks the "Agonizing Remorse" achievement.
Meanwhile, Leshy's Uberbot is called the "Photographer", and is P03's personal favorite. Every round, the Photographer gives the player the opportunity to make a picture of the current board and allows them to reset the board to the picture currently in play.
P03's smug grin as he watches Luke struggle with a timed bomb event.
With the second half of the map unlocked, the way forward forces Luke to go to the tower of Magnificus. P03 gives him the task of getting up again and bringing it a special device they need to continue the game, opening up the second room of his factory to explore. With the device P03 adds the gem mechanics of Magnificus' game to his own to keep things interesting, then allows Luke to continue.
At the top of the tower lies a very special Uberbot in wait, namely one that P03 didn't finish. Instead, he gives that task over to the player and makes him give the boss a face and a unique mechanic to fight it with, adding more mechanics to the battle as it goes on. Replacing P03 itself in the factory area is the boss he considers by far its least favorite due to her innocence, calling her "G0lly". For the battle, G0lly requires access to the internet and Luke has no choice to grant it. She then makes the player's actual friend accounts into cards to fight with and provides a custom made card that another real player has made. In the second phase of her battle, G0lly makes the player create their own custom card to send to another player currently playing the game. The battle is then paused while the other player fights their own battle. Should they win, then the second phase of the battle is skipped, but otherwise, another round is played.
Now that all Uberbots are defeated, the time for the Great Transcendence has come. For dramatic effect, the Great Transcendence takes place back at the start of the game, requiring Luke to go back to the start. Before he gets there, however, P03 notes that the camera in the third room of his factory has broken and has the player check it out. Unbeknownst to him, the other Scrybes are hiding in that room, having put their differences aside to stop P03's mad scheme and prevent the Great Transcendence. They send Luke back to P03 and hope that his moment of victory will distract him long enough for Leshy to sneak up on him and shut him down.
P03's death as Leshy rips its head off.
Back at the table, P03 voices annoyance that the camera is still broken and calls the player ungrateful, but then brushes it off since it won't matter in a bit. He then explains what the Great Transcendence is and turns on Luke's webcam, showing him himself on his face, and calls him by name, revealing that he and the other Scrybes are fully aware of the fact that they are in a game. In truth, the Great Transcendence is nothing more than P03 uploading the game Inscryption onto the internet, that way no matter what happens to him in this version there will be millions more where he is in control. He mocks Luke for his stupidity and explains that every boss he faced gave P03 more and more control over his computer, as the Photographer made screenshots for the store page, the Archivist gave P03 access to his files, the Custom Uberbot created the game rules, and G0lly gave access to the internet to upload it all. With his gloating done, P03 started the upload sequence, but Leshy sneaks up behind him and rips his head off, killing P03 and stopping the upload.
Afterwards, Grimora uses P03's access to the game files to delete Inscryption and everything on it. None of the other Scrybes are happy about this, but Grimora is confident that it is better for everyone this way, as she cannot allow something truly evil to escape the game.
Inscryption ARG[]
At the end of the Inscryption ARG that explores the true nature and backstory of the accursed game, a video shows Luke's computer booting up and finishing the upload of the game. An ASCII image of the Stoat then appears on the monitor and winks, showing that even despite Gramora deleting the game files and Luke physically bashing the game disc with a hammer after seeing the OLD_DATA he was warned about, in the end, P03 was victorious.
It can be assumed that P03 succeeded in his goal of gaining power and was able to upload the other copies of the game.