| “ | How long do you plan to chase me? You know that body won't last long. | „ |
| ~ Ellen in Viola's body to Viola in Ellen's body. |
Ellen is the witch and both the main protagonist and antagonist of The Witch's House. She lives in a house in the forest where she "befriends" Viola. She was dying of an incurable illness but instead of finding a spell to cure it, she found a body switching spell. She made a false promise to Viola to switch for only one day and instead remained in her body permanently.
Viola used Ellen's own magic to try to trap her in her own house, which she fails. Ellen was inside Viola's body the entire time during the game, meaning that she is the player character.
Appearance
Ellen takes the appearance of a seven-year-old. She has golden eyes and waist-length light-purple hair fashioned into a hime cut (cuted to make sidelocks and bangs) decorated with a large red ribbon. She is dressed in red dress atop of a well-tailored white blouse with a black ribbon tied around the collar.
Personality
Ellen is depicted as a sociopath, who took everything Viola ever had. While her friendship seemed genuine and Viola agreed to the (supposedly temporary) body switch out of pity for her disabled friend, Ellen had no intention of keeping her word. She even tricked Viola's father into killing Viola (in Ellen's body, thinking he was protecting his daughter.) She also demonstrates no regret at sacrificing a frog who had been helpful to her earlier. Ellen is shown to be completely selfish and feels no regret for the many deaths she caused. She even laughs before following Viola's father home, clearly amused at her own trick. However, all this was done due to her literally centuries old want for love. It's worth stating that in the novella her mother abandoned her and her father acted like Ellen didn't exist (before they were killed) and Ellen's first friend thought that she looked like "a monster" when he saw her ill and her relationship with the cat is heavily implied to be complicated, this because of her illness that she was willing to do anything to cure.
History
In a diary entry by Ellen, it tells of her parents not loving her, and that she was very sick so no one played with her. Ever since then, she has been living inside the house. The demon (possessing a cat) came along and granted her a wish for feeding him with the soul of her parents. It gave Ellen the house. She made a contract with the demon, making her a witch. The demon said, "if you let me eat more people, I'll teach you a spell to cure your illness." A letter shows that Viola's father knows of a witch in the forest, making a possibility that she had already trapped people in the house so many times that it is known even from the outside.
The next diary entry says that her friends came into her house and they were all eaten by the house but it wasn't enough.
One day Viola came into her house, becoming "friends" with her. She felt sorry for Ellen's sickness. Ellen asked her for a saying that they should switch bodies, "just for a day" (the body-swap spell requires both participants to be willing.) Viola was shocked to realize that the body she was in was falling apart. Ellen gave her "medicine", which burned her throat and made her unable to speak because Ellen didn't want to hear her own screams. Ellen cut off her own legs and gouged out her own eyes, so that Viola would despair and die painfully in her body and her soul could be eaten by the demon.
The witch's diary
I was sick, so no one played with me. My father and my mother didn't love me.
My father and my mother didn't love me. So i X them. I've been in this house ever since.
When i X my father and mother... A demon came along and ate the two of them. The demon took me to this forest. It thanked me for the meal and gave me this house. Then i became a witch. The demon said... If you let me eat more people, i'll teach you a spell to cure your illness.
I X all the friends who came to my house after that. They were all eaten by the house. But it wasn't enough.
I don't like the illness. Because it kept me from going outside. Because it made no one love me.
Then a girl came over to play. A cute girl with golden braids.
I didn't X her. Because she saved me from my sickness. So i made her "my friend."
My sickness was going to kill me. So... I took her body from her. I lived on in her body. That's fine, right? Because we're "friends." She gave me her body......because we're "friends." So, today... We should play some more. Right? Viola?
She was sure to hear out my wish. Because she was so kind. Because she was so trusting. When we traded bodies... Viola, you must have been surprised. My body was falling apart, it hurt all over. I was used to it, but i suppose you couldn't handle it. It must have hurt, you cried in pain So then i gave you a medicine. A throat-burning medicine. it made you unable to speak. After all, i didn't want to her my own screams. Since i lied that it would stop the pain, of course you would drink it. Heehee. Then i escaped from this room. In the garden, i felt the gentle breeze. Ahh... it was wonderful. Ah, that's right. Before you came, i gouged my eyes out. I cut off my legs. So that Viola, in my body, would despair as she died. Ahhh... Viola. My dear "friend." So kind, so charming, so loved. And with all that, so foolish. My dear "friend."
Trivia
- It is revealed that Ellen was only 7 years old when she killed her parents and became a witch.
- Ellen (in Viola's body) giggles after Viola is shot to death and just before rushing off after her new "Daddy"
- Ellen is the titular main character in the book the diary of ellen.
- The symptones of Ellen's illness are never clearly stated. But it's implied that the illness caused some kind of pain.
