Adrien Knox

"Creating an entire species capable of great things, only to treat them the way that your kin have treated us...that's a pretty long-winded way of bringing about your own deaths."

- Adrien, speaking to Mollaig about the Premortals. (Sanguine Melancholia)

"I want to stay with you."

- Adrien confessing his feelings to Locke. (Better Days)

Adrien Knox, later referred to as the Masked Wolf, is the main protagonist of Sanguine Melancholia. He also serves as the lead character in Better Days, but this is a separate instance of Adrien in an alternate dimension. He is a former detective who abandoned his life in Precinct 03 after meeting his now-lover, Locke.

In-Game (Sanguine Melancholia)
Adrien's mother passed away at a young age, and his only other potential guardian (his uncle, Lucien) had vanished not long before then. The result of this was that Adrien grew to be an extremely pessimistic man struggling with clinical depression in a world that didn't understand the meaning of such a diagnosis. Thanks to the company of Isaiah John Locke, Adrien is eventually able to overcome his depression. He finds it far easier to smile and enjoy things in general, and starts making an effort to be friendlier to people (even if he still pokes fun at Hoyt relentlessly.)

Adrien is in the player's party from the start of the game, due to him serving as the game's main protagonist. After being in a train crash due to Abilsin's power sabotage, he winds up meeting Hoyt Margrave, and is encouraged to join up with Maelstrom due to Locke's optimism and the information given to him by Graham Welles regarding his uncle.

He goes on to overcome his depression and defeat Abilsin, as well as Molllaig, thanks to Aberdeen.

Adrien and his boyfriend later attained the title of Great Hunter, and is last known to have been hunting alongside Locke and his uncle, awaiting the day that Aberdeen needs him and the other Hunters to prepare for war. As a Great Hunter, he bears the title of the Masked Wolf, and it's heavily implied to be due to his decision to wear the mask of the late Silencer, Vrid.

In-Game (Better Days)
The Better Days version of Adrien has a similar struggle with clinical depression, and with the Hunt no longer present, it falls to his friends- especially Locke- to pull him out of it.

Near the end of the game, Bell invites Adrien to come along with her and join the fight in the other world, with the other Adrien. Adrien refuses almost immediately, however, having finally overcome his fear of uncertainty and refusing to leave his friends behind, even at the cost of never getting the answers he wants. He decides that he's done fighting, and chooses to instead live out his life peacefully with Locke and his friends in Mottsburgh City.

Isaiah John Locke
"'You make me feel safe too, you know. In a different kind of way...I find it easier to accept things that aren't great. Because you always look on the bright side. Always make it easier.'"

"— Adrien to Locke"

In Sanguine Melancholia, Locke and Adrien quickly bond with one another after their first meeting, and this closeness slowly develops into a significant level of romantic affection for one another. Adrien struggles with clinical depression, and Locke seems to have a profound positive effect on his health- and the same can be said for Adrien in regards to Locke's anxiety disorder.

In Better Days, the two once again develop feelings for one another slowly, but when Adrien is held hostage and nearly killed by Nathan, he panics and realized that he doesn't want to die without telling Locke how he feels. In what is possibly his greatest display of attachment to his partner, Adrien allows the razor wire binding his hands to carve up the flesh around his wrists, enduring the excruciating pain until he is able to slip his wrists through. His captor catches him in the act and shoots him in the right thigh, which only serves to further increase the pain he's in. A final, painful sacrifice is made as Adrien squeezes the razor wire from before and allows it to dig into his fist before punching Nathan in the face, slashing his eyes and leaving him blind.

He escapes the house, but collapses, only to get back up as he remembered Locke's face. He managed to make his way down the street to a roadblock and then take a detour through the sewers, only to collapse again after climbing the ladder back to the surface. Though he hadn't reached Locke, he made it far enough to be rescued by Eloise and have his wounds mended.

After waking up, he hurries to the hotel where Locke is and embraces the boy, nervously confessing his feelings then and there. Locke responds by kissing him, revealing that he does feel the same way, and the two take a moment to reflect on what had happened, and what was to come. Adrien says that he is done running away from how he feels, and that he just wants to stay with Locke forever. Locke's final line of dialogue implies that the two proceeded to sleep with each other, with that evening becoming the unforgettable night that their relationship truly began.

Lucien Knox
"'And I know you probably won't remember this, come tomorrow morning...but I love you too, Uncle Lucien.'"

"— Adrien to his drunken uncle."

In Sanguine Melancholia, Adrien is shown to have a friendly relationship with his Uncle Lucien. He cried tears of joy upon finding him and realizing that he's still alive. He surprised his uncle by not harboring any anger towards the older man for his decision to stay with Graham instead of returning to him and his mother, many years prior. Lucien promised never to leave his side again, and has kept his promise so far.

In Better Days, Lucien had already died by the time the game begins. He appeared as Adrien's hallucination, however, after Nathan trapped and tortured him. The imaginary Lucien tried to help Adrien escape, and did motivate him to do so, but in a very awkward and almost pitiful manner.

Eliza Knox
Though their relationship is never fully explored, it's clear that Adrien's mother meant a great deal to him, given the shape that her passing leaves him in.

Vrid
In Sanguine Melancholia, though initially terrified of the masked soldier, Adrien and Vrid grew to deeply respect one another by the end of their conjoined storyline. Adrien solemnly reassured Vrid that he wouldn't allow him to exist as an Archdemon, and that he would be laid to rest. Vrid acknowledged his belief that Adrien is a far better warrior than him when it came to persuasion and logic, and thanked Adrien for teaching him about such things. He died shortly afterwards, only to turn into an archdemon, which was promptly put down by the Hunters of the Maelstrom.

In Better Days, Randal Lovrid is assigned to Adrien as a bodyguard when he searches for Carter. The two grow closer to one another quickly. When Mottsburgh is attacked, Randal sacrifices himself after being cornered by Vergil, giving Adrien time to escape. Adrien is saddened by his death.

Abilsin
Adrien and Abilsin were hostile towards one another for most of Adrien's journey, but after the Hunters finally defeated Abilsin and learned that he was only a vessel, their anger faded.

Later, after defeating Mollaig, Abilsin's cathedral starts to collapse. Adrien is trapped under a pillar, and Locke refuses to leave him behind, though he isn't strong enough to lift the pillar. Just as it seems both Hunters are going to die in the collapsing building, Abilsin appears and lifts the pillar, saving Adrien's life. Adrien is extremely confused by this, as Aberdeen had already informed him that Abilsin was devoid of any purpose or desires now that he had failed his mission. He asks Abilsin why he saved him, but Abilsin says there is no time to answer, and compels the two to leave the cathedral while he stays behind, dying as it falls to pieces.

Voice Lines (Sanguine Melancholia)
Battle start: When attacking: Leveling up: When killed in battle:
 * "Alright, then..."
 * "Get ready!"
 * "I guess we're doing this."
 * "I didn't want to do this!"
 * "At least make this interesting!”
 * “Idiot."
 * "Hopefully that's the end of that..."
 * "Let's not make a big deal out of this."
 * "Well...it's something."
 * "Locke...I..."
 * "Not here...not now..."
 * "Is...this really the end?"

Quotes
Hoyt: "But it could be a trap."

Adrien: "It probably is, but that doesn't mean anything, because I'm smarter than him."

— Adrien just before he and Locke challenged Carter

"Humans feel the need to explain themselves when they're being judged, but if someone is judging you for something innocent and irrelevant to their life, your words are more than they deserve."

— Adrien to Locke

"People use concepts that even they don't believe in to support their arguments solely because it's more familiar and sounds less immoral than the truth of their beliefs. That's just my perspective, though."

— Adrien to Locke

"Stop being right."

— Adrien to Hoyt

"Everybody wants to be safe, but not when that safety is paid for with the blood of innocent people."

— Adrien to Carter

Trivia

 * At one point in an earlier version of the story, Adrien was to lose his right arm, and have it replaced with a robotic one designed by Johann.
 * Adrien's father remains unknown- a testament to his close relationship with his uncle Lucien.
 * Adrien's abilities differ greatly between Sanguine Melancholia and its companion game. In the former, Adrien slowly becomes strong enough to defend himself properly, and uses a variety of handguns to do so, as well as having access to Abilities. In Better Days, Koda teaches him to protect himself using a technique that involves dodging attacks exclusively in order to tire out his opponent.
 * Adrien's attire seems to match with Lucien's well, but it's implied that his mother dressed in the same way, and that the coats both he and his uncle wear have been passed down through the family.
 * Adrien is shown on many occasions to have a strained relationship with technology, either not understanding how it works or exercising poor judgement in what he invests in.
 * He is terrified of microwaves, as revealed by a Trick Spectre, believing them to be modified time bombs.
 * When asked if he's any good with computers in the Throne Room (Better Days,) he simply remarks that he "saw a computer once, but it was a long time ago."
 * When three people cancel their roommate interviews with Adrien, he doesn't notice the notifications, and chalks the disappearance of the interviewees to be a glitch in his phone's software before Hoyt corrects him.
 * Adrien's phone is also referred to by many characters in Better Days as a "girly phone." Locke seems to like it, though.
 * In the Let's Play bonus event, Adrien struggles to understand the appeal of a mystery game, as he is able to solve all of the game's mysteries just by looking at the game's title screen. He concludes that the game was made too easy.
 * When playing a VR game with Hoyt, Oxford, and Locke in Better Days, he briefly forgets that it's all simulated and has an over-the-top reaction to Locke's "death".
 * Both universes' versions of Adrien are stated to be homosexual.