Credit: Margaretha’s 2025 Chinese server birthday artwork.
Welcome back to my Identity V character study/analysis series where I aim to explore each character in the game. I started this series to not only better my understanding of each character, but to highlight the talented writing team IDV has because I really do believe their character creation process from backstory to design has a lot of thought and care put into it. I hope to bring to light that while learning a lot about these characters while refining my own writing and analysis skills. Thus, I also want to preface this article by saying that I am no expert on these characters. This is my own interpretation and you’re free to disagree with me.
Anyways, this particular article will be on Female Dancer known by many names: Natasha, Natalie, and finally as Margaretha when we meet her in The Closing Night story. She is the third “Hullabaloo” Circus member I’ve written up on and she won’t be the last.
For those who missed it, I would recommend reading my pieces on Joker (where I also provided a summary of The Closing Night) and Mike. For this article, I will assume you already know about The Closing Night at least, but I still wanted to talk a little bit about Margaretha’s role in the story, but first, let’s start with her backstory.
Table of Contents
Backstory: The Girl Who Ran Away with the Circus
Sergi, Margaretha’s lover, who helps entice her to join the “Hullabaloo” Circus. Credit: 乔木
Originally known as Natasha, our soon to be female dancer was raised by her aunt and uncle, Marjorie and Eugene Hayward, at Lakeside Village. They were immigrants who had seemed to flee from their homeland in a hurry though why that is, is still as of now unknown. What we do know is that Natasha would help her aunt and uncle with the fishing, rising at the crack of dawn to work.
At some point, a traveling circus named the “Hullabaloo” would arrive at the village and lure Natasha with the promises of everything she wanted from fine clothes, applause, and her ticket to all this, Sergi, a red-haired clown who was a promising rising star of the circus.
The two would soon fall in love. Sergi would be the one to gift Natasha her beloved music box and the two would hang out consistently together much to the disapproval of Natasha’s uncle in particular. He would try to lock Sergi out of their house, but to no avail as Sergi would still be able to sneak inside to see her.
Eventually, Sergi would convince Natasha to join him at the circus asking if she would spend the rest of her life with him. While Natasha readily agreed to elope with him, her aunt and uncle would prove to be an obstacle and so, Sergi would help Natasha run away with him by adding soothing salt into their soup causing them to sleep through their little escapade.
It is assumed her aunt and uncle believed she went missing until Natasha would send them a letter an indeterminate time later confessing to spiking their borscht, but expressed no regret in leaving Lakeside Village though she does regret the way she did it.
From Margaretha’s 2020 birthday letter.
She would go on to ask for their forgiveness and plea for a reply adding that “Serge [sic] can no longer tear up my letters.” This point is important to take a deeper look at because indeed, Sergi ended up not being the charming husband Natasha had hoped he would be. Instead, he turned out to be an abusive drunk he would leave her with injuries and wounds especially on her back.
Margaretha hallucinates Sergi at the manor. Notice how as soon as he touches her from behind, she instantly reacts in memory of the physical trauma she endured. Credit: The Closing Night.
Margaretha is the only one in this manor game who is terribly effected by the drugs through the perfume that was left in her room. In reality, this hallucination was induced with the help of Joker who came to Margaretha’s room, eager to meet with her again after so long. Unfortunately, because Joker resembles Sergi, it is easy for her to hallucinate him as her abusive ex-husband and thus, reacts the way she does.
Joker meeting Margaretha for the first time at the manor. Unbeknownst to him, she can only see Sergi.
While at the “Hullabaloo” Circus, Margaretha, now known as Natalie, would manage to raise as a star performer specializing in animal taming, acrobatics, and dancing, that glitz and glam could only act so much like a blanket of false comfort and protection before its threads unraveled. Sergi’s abuse would end up being discovered by Joker who would send a letter to Natalie and would urge her to seek comfort in him which she did. He would even go on to carefully tending to her wounds in order to help her.
Unfortunately, this led to Sergi’s jealousy manifesting in a way that would lead to the downfall of the “Hullabaloo” Circus and countless lives lost. The star smiling clown would steal acid from Mike’s supplies and sabotage Joker’s makeup which led to the latter permanently scarring his face which would have potentially led to his career as a professional clown being finished. Pushed to his limits, Joker would go on to be the perpetrator behind the “Hullabaloo” massacre and would kill the ringleader, Bernard, and Sergi in the process.
This would free Natalie from her irredeemable husband, but the ghosts of the past would still follow her to the manor where at that point she was now a dancer named Margaretha.
Not All That Shines is Gold
Margaretha’s 2020 birthday art showing various accessories and costumes associated with her (ex: the black suit is her “Vile Blossom” COA costume, the lotus is her “Snow Lotus” S-accessory)
Personally when I first played through The Closing Night story, Margaretha was someone who didn’t make the strongest best impression on me. Though I didn’t quite dislike or either like Mike. It was more of an indecisiveness born from not completely understanding who she was besides being a rather nervous individual who held no confidence. She seemed quite passive despite knowing about Joker killing Violetta and appeared selfish in comparison to the others because it seemed clear she would rather stay quiet than risk her own claim to whatever desire the manor owner had promised her.
One draws his weapon,
he’s so dying to play.
The second looked away, puts his fear at bay.
Credit: The Cursed Sun (The Closing Night Exclusive EP)
One laughed and shouted: “Who will walk away?”
The second was quiet, hoping he could stay.
Credit: King’s Feast (The Closing Night Exclusive EP)
Both of the EPs from the story event describe Margaretha has quiet and passive seemingly wanting to not stir the pot. She is “the second” child while Joker is the first child.
It doesn’t help that Margaretha in AUs like Call of the Abyss and even the Ivory Tower story appears to manipulate others or refuse to be helpful when she has important information respectively. Even in the recent anniversary story, Libero’s “Visitor from Beyond,” when Mr. Inference and Jose would have benefited from her aid in solving the mystery of the island, she refused to help them any further as she was worried about her career being at risk of being over.
Credit: IDV Fandom Wiki.
To be fair to Margaretha in this event, she did provide them help up until this moment as best as she could. The Count himself was truly a despicable and dangerous individual as it would later be revealed in the event. Honestly, her response to the Count feels reminiscent of her relationship to Sergi.
After believing she saw Sergi the night before, Margaretha fearfully realizes she physically and verbally rejected him and fears what he may do to retaliate so she thinks about appeasing him.
Then, is she really so terrible of a person as Mike describes in The Closing Night? As always the answer is a little more complicated than that. Yet, the short answer is that while she is indeed a selfish individual, it was born from the deep desire to spread her wings towards a sky that promised freedom. A freedom she would only get within the icy waters of Moonlit River Park.
I do want to add as a side note that being selfish usually as negative connotations but I do feel given more context, you will understand that for some people, being selfish is a necessity for survival. Credit: JR-NETWORK.
Ever since Margaretha was still known as Natasha back in Lakeside Village, she wanted more. The glamour and excitement of the circus promised her not only the promise of the finer things in life like beautiful dresses, pretty ornaments of decoration, etc. but also recognition. Having her own stage where she could be whoever she wanted. Having her own stage where she could be comfortable in her own skin. A stage where she could be Natasha, Natalie, Margaretha, whoever she wanted to be. Though having one stable identity would have been wonderful as well, I would imagine as there are not many who want to float between identities not knowing exactly who you are or who you want to be.
Yet, looking towards others for answers of who you are can be a terrible mistake as well. Margaretha was a victim to this. Each name she associated herself with was a marker of the people and places she encountered and in many cases would become a stain on her progress of moving forward.
Natasha – Lakeside Village, Eugene and Marjorie Hayward
Natalie – The “Hullabaloo” Circus, Sergi, Joker, Mike, Murro, Violetta, Bernard
Margaretha – …who is she?
Spinning Round and Round and Round Again
Try as she might, Margaretha can don as many masks as she wants but what she truly desired could never be gained through a simple shift in name and identity.
I love looking at the music of IDV because the character-specific EPs can provide a bit more context to a character. Sometimes, it also presents the obvious. Margaretha is no different.
“Jewels, smiles, they both light my stage.
But none of them can calm my deep desire.
…
Chasing a dream that’s just beyond my grasp and will.
The music fades and I find despair.
Yet here I stand a lone fool laid bare.
The mirror cracks as I see my face.
But find no trace of any worth or grace.”
Credit: Margaretha’s Stage (Female Dancer’s EP)
It’s as if Margaretha had sold her soul not to the Devil, but to worldly desires such as jewels, the approval and recognition of others, and even that fur coat she wore in The Closing Night. These things while fleeting and frivolous to some were things that gave Margaretha some sort of lease in life. She wanted desperately to break free from the label of being just some fisher girl from a small lakeside village, but a star who was well-dressed and well spoken.
While I don’t have official access to her letter this year as it hasn’t been uploaded yet on the IDV fandom wiki, I was able to read it through the equivalent Chinese site and while the translation is a little funky at times, it was worth the read as it gives context to what I just noted.
As it goes in her EP, Margaretha truly went “round and round and round and round” in a cycle of name changes and identities, in a futile attempt to fulfill her deep-rooted desire. To simply be free on her own stage without pain or sorrow.
The Valkyrie Who Couldn’t Reach the Skies
Margaretha’s 2026 Chinese server artwork. Credit: IDV Official Weibo.
As per usual, I do try to end these on a positive note despite the fact that many characters in IDV meet terrible fates which is the case for every single member of the “Hullabaloo” Circus. Yet, for Margaretha, I can happily say my perspective on her is quite different now and not just framed by her watery death (which always stuck with me from day one).
Initially, due to her seemingly coveting the material things in life along with displaying some vanity for performance, her initial impression can come across as being a rather shallow and selfish person. Yet, just like with any character in this game, there truly is more than meets the eye. While I will admit I didn’t delve too deeply into the repercussions of Sergi’s abuse on her, we can’t forget about how deep of a cut that made on her. I personally don’t want to say too much as I have little knowledge on domestic violence/abuse but most of us will know that anyone who goes through that won’t ever quite be the same. The negative experience will stay with them, both mentally and physically. We see this with Margaretha in The Closing Night.
The penultimate moment right before Margaretha decides to jump into the river. What is striking about the scene is her smile of goodbye she gives Sergi (really Joker) before leaping in.
But I want to give her more credit than you would think is due. She did survive for a time after the “Hullabaloo” massacre and did her best to make a life for herself. Ultimately, things wouldn’t go according to plan as she obviously ends up at the manor where her buried traumatic memories and experiences manifested terribly through the drugs she was unknowingly taking.
And yet, in the end, she had the freedom to choose not only how her life would end, but also came to the realization that she would and could reject Sergi. I think her smile was taking solace in the fact that at least in the end, some part of her life was controlled by her own decisions even if it wasn’t the kind of freedom she wanted.
Hence why I used her birthday art from this year as the header of this section. It shows Margaretha in quite a different light than we see her. It’s a rather unique cosmetic that I see no one wearing because it’s just that different from the rest of her fits, yet no less Margaretha when you really look at it. Fighting her battles on her own personal stage alone, but filled with the hope for better days.
Margaretha’s 2026 Global server artwork.
Though I know some have seen it already, her birthday art from this year truly embodies her well, so I will leave off with the quote written with this image from IDV’s official social accounts:
The birdsong draws my eyes upward — to where the sky holds no walls, only endless blue.
Today, I dance for no audience but the wind.