| “ | Jonathan Sims: Who are you? Nikola Orsinov: Well, my father called me Nikola, and then I killed him, so I thought I rather deserved to have his second name too. Which makes me Nikola Orsinov. Pleased to meet you at last. Jonathan Sims: You, um… You killed Gregor Orsinov? Nikola Orsinov: Yep! He got really boring, and I’m a monster. I mean, what do you want me to do – not pull him apart? I did use all the bits. |
„ |
| ~ Nikola Orsinov to Jonathan Sims during their first encounter. |
| “ | Will the audience please take their positions? The show… has begun. | „ |
| ~ Nikola starting the Unknowing. |
| “ | Nikola Orsinov: It will not end like this! Timothy Stoker: You sound stressed. You know I hear the great Grimaldi’s in town. You should go see it. Cheer yourself up. Nikola Orsinov: That’s... Not... Funny. Timothy Stoker: I know. |
„ |
| ~ Nikola's final interaction with Tim before he kills them both. |
Joseph Grimaldi, later known as Nikola Orsinov, is the main antagonist in Season 3 of the Rusty Quill horror podcast The Magnus Archives.
Initially, he was a British circus performer living in the 1700s, loosely based on the real-life actor, comedian, and dancer of the same name. Falling into depression in his old age, he fell to Gregor Orsinov, the leader of the Circus of the Other and a worshipper of the surreal godlike entity known as the Stranger. Hoping to use him in a ritual to his god, Gregor, took Joseph apart and rebuilt him as Nikola, the lead dancer of the Stranger. A sadistic and unpredictable entity, Nikola killed Gregor and took over his circus, using it to spread chaos and fear around Europe for centuries for her own personal amusement. She would eventually set out to complete the ritual she was created for, seeking to twist reality to let the Stranger in and turn the world into a surreal hellscape. In doing so, she was put into conflict with the Magnus Institute, particularly Timothy Stoker.
She was voiced by Jessica Law.
Appearance[]
| “ | You don’t want to do that. I mean, you can if you really want to, but you’re not going to like it. Sometimes not being able to see something is actually quite a good thing. | „ |
| ~ Nikola on her appearance. |
Nikola changed her appearance frequently, but her true form, at least during the buildup to the Unknowing, was a strange plastic mannequin, with long arms, a twisted neck, and a crack in its forehead. In this form, she had the ability to rearrange her body parts at will and generally moved jerkily. She generally dressed as a circus ringmaster and, although she did not naturally have a face, seemed to create one for herself on special occasions. She had the ability to wear stolen skin and just looked like a normal human when doing this.
When she was Joseph Grimaldi, she just looked like a normal human white man. Grimaldi often wore clown clothing, with a porcelain white face, a shock of vertical dark hair on the top of his head, and a red diamond running down each cheek beneath the eyes. He had his lips painted red in a pointed smile, although his actual mouth almost never smiled. Nikola would occasionally take the form of Grimaldi, usually wearing polka-dotted tights with ruffles when she did this and covering her face with her hands.
Personality[]
| “ | I see the sad clown, bitter and hateful. I see him finding his way into the circus where nobody knew him. I see him torn apart, becoming the mask, remade by a cruel ringmaster. Sometimes a doll, sometimes a mannequin, always hiding in somebody else’s skin. Somebody else’s name. | „ |
| ~ Jonathan Sims seeing through Nikola's facade. |
Nikola Orsinov was an extremely unpredictable entity, relishing her position as an inhuman monster. Even to other servants of the Stranger, she was chaotic and dangerous, seeking more to spread as much random carnage as possible than to bring about any specific end. She did not her or anyone else's existences seriously, and more often than not, she acted almost hedonistically, simply acting however pleased her the most in the moment. She frequently changed her plans based on what seemed more "fun" to her and was prone to valuing her own amusement over efficiency. Although she did seek to bring the Stranger into the world, this was less out of loyalty to the entity and more because she enjoyed the idea of turning the world into a surreal playground for herself.
Nikola was sadistic, and one of her favorite pastimes was forcing pain or horror onto humans. She enjoyed targeting the most delicate parts of a person's psyche and breaking their spirits through manipulation and verbal abuse. On a simpler level, she enjoyed it when she brought fear to another creature, taking great pleasure in disturbing them, and was shown being actively confused and disappointed when a person was not scared of her. Despite this, she didn't seem to feel much contempt for anyone in particular (besides potentially her creator) and was generally friendly to everyone she met, even if her viciousness was almost always apparent. Until her final moments, she didn't take any threat posed by her enemies seriously, and while she did torture them, them working against her was more of an excuse to cause them pain than an actual reason.
However, much of her nature seemed to be something of a facade to cover up the deeply unhappy interior that still remained of her human days. It seems that as Grimaldi, Nikola had possessed a sense of self-loathing, and no matter how she tried to move past it in her new life by wearing new faces, she never truly felt comfortable with herself. It was difficult to see under her persona, but she deeply hated the world in general for abandoning her when she was alive, which was twisted into her sadism and chaotic tendencies. Part of her despised Gregor for what he turned her into and for making her live in the world forever, leading to a vague desire to make the world something other than it was. Despite this, she did fear death, and her menacingly cheerful exterior broke down right before her life ended.
Despite her notorious erraticism, Nikola seemed to be the master of every other servant of the Stranger, no matter how independent, and she knew how and when to use each of their specific skillsets. She was an intelligent individual, and capable of setting up large and complex plans when she did not change them for the sake of amusement. She was also quite good at using and torturing people, being able to take advantage of the parts of their mindsets that were the weakest. She was quite skilled at changing her personality for impersonations as well, which she used to her advantage.
Biography[]
Becoming Nikola Orsinov[]
| “ | Once. A long time ago, before Orsinov made me. And sometimes, even now, for special occasions. Like your brother. SHALL I? | „ |
| ~ Nikola on her origins. |
Nikola Orsinov was born a normal human man named Joseph Grimaldi on December 18, 1778. He grew up to be a popular actor and entertainer, working mainly at the Sadler's Wells and Covent Garden theatres. For a time, he was the most famous clown in London, before being forced to retire after sustaining numerous injuries through his many dangerous stunts. After his retirement, his life began to slowly crumble, and after watching his wife and son die, he descended into alcohol and depression. As his name fell into obscurity and he fell into poverty, he grew bitter and hateful at the world and at himself.
It was at this time that he wandered into the Circus of the Other: a paranormal circus worshipping the Stranger: a godlike entity representing the feeling of something not being right. There, he met Gregor Orsinov, the circus ringleader who killed him in a way, taking him apart. Gregor rebuilt him as Nikola, an inhuman creature meant to be the head dancer in a ritual he was preparing for called the Unknowing, which would bring the Stranger into the world. From that day forward, Nikola ceased being Joseph Grimaldi and worked for the circus as a clown.
Nikola worked under Gregor until near the end of the 20th century, operating mostly by spreading chaos around Russia. She eventually began to find Gregor "boring" and murdered him brutally, tearing him apart. She took control of the circus after he was dead and took it back to England. However, due to her unpredictability, she was distrusted by some of the other members of the troop, particularly the strongmen, Breekon and Hope.
Leading the Circus[]
| “ | Oh, of course! So, Elias, can I call you Elias? Let me set the scene, as I know you can’t actually see this. He’s tied to a chair – Sarah wanted to use nails, but I talked her out of it because I’m a good friend. You’re welcome. And he is absolutely surrounded with waxworks. Not… good waxworks, though. Weird ones. Wax faces where you feel like you almost recognize who it’s meant to be, but, then instead… ah, it’s downright uncanny! | „ |
| ~ Nikola describing the Trophy Hall on Jonathan Sims' tape recorder. |
Nikola brought the Circus back to the UK, particularly the Trophy Hall: a taxidermy shop in Edinburg, where she set out to eventually bring about the Unknowing, the world-ending ritual she had been made for, although it was not at the front of her mind. She began working with other servants of the Stranger who deferred to her leadership, including the Anglerfish, who gave her skinless bodies to serve as the ritual's choir, and the Hundreds of Shells, who controlled the skin that would be animated to create the ritual's dancers. However, around this time, the gorilla skin, a key component to the Unknowing, was stolen by Gertrude Robinson: a servant of the Eye and an enemy of the circus, setting Nikola back significantly.
Breekon and Hope blamed Nikola for this loss and left the Circus. However, a few years later in 2010, she reconnected with them, promising to bring the Unknowing to fruition in 2017. Through them, she became acquainted with the NotThem, a shapeshifting creature of the Stranger.
Nikola began collecting more skin on her own. In 2013, she began to stalk Danny Stoker, a young man with an interest in urban exploration. In her original form, she brought him to the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden and forced him to stand on the stage. As she did this Danny's brother Tim entered the Opera House, hoping to save him. Nikola mocked Tim, and then ripped off Danny's skin, revealing a small peak to Tim of the Unknowing.
Later that year, she pretended she was a normal mannequin Fanton's Department Store, presumably for amusement. She would stand as a display all day, and then change her position the next day, confusing and squaring the employees working there. She eventually murdered and flayed the store's manager Lana Billings, taking her skin for the ritual.
In 2014, Nikola began to prepare for the Unknowing in the isolated Gwydir Forest, harvesting skin, and toying with other living mannequins and living human heads. Under the guise of "Megan", Nikola lured a plumber named Sebastien to her compound in the woods and had him rid the pipes of some human skin, all though the man was oddly unable to notice the severed human body parts strewn around and simply left the compound once he was done. Nikola was forced to call him back the next day, at which time he did notice their operations and fled. Shortly afterwards, Nikola asked Jude Perry, an arsonist and high-ranking member of the Cult of the Lightless Flame, to burn down the forest and destroy all evidence of the circus' involvement there.
The Final Days[]
| “ | Jonathan Sims: What do you want? Nikola Orsinov: I already have what I want, little Archivist! Now I just want you to join me for a dance! |
„ |
| ~ Nikola to Jon during the Unknowing. |
In 2016, as the time for the Unknowing came close, Nikola set out to regain the gorilla skin. She had Breekon and Hope deliver a paranormal table containing the NotThem to the Magnus Institute. The NotThem was tasked with figuring out where the skin was and would report back to Nikola frequently. However, it was not able to regain the skin and ended up being imprisoned after its cover was blown.
Nikola's next attempt was to track down Jonathan Sims, the new head archivist of the Magnus Institute after the death of Gertrude Robinson. She broke into an apartment he was staying in and tasked him with finding the gorilla skin, threatening to take his skin instead if he failed. However, she decided shortly afterwards that she would actually rather use Sims' skin and had him abducted and brought to the Trophy Hall by Breekon and Hope. However, the Trophy Hall was infiltrated by the Distortion around this time, who released Jon. Shortly after his escape, Jon took a flight to the United States, so Nikola sent Max Mustermann to capture him there and take his skin.
Nikola set about setting up the final preparations for the ritual, bringing the Anglerfish's skinless choir to the Trophy Hall. She then dug up the bodies of Gertrude Robinson and Jurgen Leightner: two people who had been connected to the paranormal for most of their lives. She turned their skins into her puppets and used them as the final ingredient to the Unknowing.
On August 7th, 2017, Nikola and her allies finally brought the ritual into fruition in the Trophy Hall. However, the ritual was interrupted by a small group from the Magnus Institute, including Jonathan Sims, Timothy Stoker, Basira Hussain, and Daisy Tonner, who planted bombs in the shop. Unfortunately for them, once the ritual had begun, they were unable to grasp reality. Nikola took the opportunity to taunt Jon as she danced, mocking him for his failure to protect the world from the Stranger while wearing the skins of Gertrude Robinson and Jurgen Leightner. However, mid-ritual, she was interrupted by Tim, who had somehow gotten the detonator. After calling her out for killing his brother, Tim set off the detonator, destroying the Trophy Hall, stopping the Unknowing, and killing Nikola.
Powers and Abilities[]
| “ | The world is ours! That toy won’t help you now. | „ |
| ~ Nikola during the Unknowing. |
Nikola was widely considered to be the most powerful servant of the Stranger, and almost all of them deferred to her leadership one way or another, including the reality-warping and usually independent NotThem. Although her leadership was not considered impeccable, no creature ever moved to dethrone her, and she seemed capable of killing any who stood against her the same way she killed her creator. She was not considered a threat to be taken lightly even to other servants of the Dread Powers, including Elias Bouchard and Jude Perry, who tried to stay out of her way.
After being worked on by Gregor, Nikola seemed to gain some degree of immortality and invincibility. She seemingly could replace parts of herself every time she was injured, and never aged or decayed, seemingly not feeling any pain. The only way she can be killed was to destroy her body completely through blowing her up.
Nikola had some shapeshifting ability. Her limbs were detachable, and she could rearrange them so they fit on any part of her body. Additionally, she could wear a person's skin and appear as them, mimicking their voice as well. Similarly, she seemed to have the ability to hypnotize someone before yanking their skin off like a magician would pull a cloth off of their next act.
During the Unknowing, Nikola became nigh-omnipotent. The lack of solidity in reality allowed her to manipulate existence and people's perceptions of it to her will, turning the world into her twisted playground. However, she wasn't in control of everything, and could not warp reality enough to stop Tim and his all-encompassing hatred.
Quotes[]
| “ | Shhhhh… | „ |
| ~ Nikola as a department store mannequin to Chloe Ashburt. |
| “ | Jonathan Sims: A-are… Are you going to kill me? Nikola Orsinov: No! I mean, yes. But not for a good long while yet. I don’t want you to go to waste. |
„ |
| ~ Nikola threatening Jon. |
| “ | After you attacked poor Sarah, I thought it was about time we had a good old chat. Face to no face! Eye to… well. | „ |
| ~ Nikola to Jon. |
| “ | Question time is over, little Archivist. Find the skin for us. You have until… well, until I change my mind. Shhh… Save your energy for the dance. | „ |
| ~ Nikola ending her first interaction with Jonathan Sims. |
| “ | Oh, wonderful. Now, about the whole skin thing… You see, originally, I was just planning to have you followed, in case you found that ancient relic one. I mean, my goodness, it is very powerful. And if you didn’t come through, well, you’re quite powerful yourself, and more than that, you are… symbolically appropriate [chuckles] so I thought you’d make a lovely frock! Exactly! And, well, I was going to wait, but… y’know, have you ever had one of those backup plans that, when you think about it, they’re, they’re just more fun? So, I thought, out with the old, in with… well, in with the you! Oh, no, I’m afraid he can’t See you, can you Elias, can I call you Elias? What’s the point of having a secret place of power if you can’t hide it from a big, stupid eye? Anyway, you sit tight. Lots to do! Ooh, also, do you have a preferred brand of lotion? Because you have not been taking care of your skin, and we really do need it in better shape before we peel you. | „ |
| ~ Nikola to Jonathan Sims after kidnapping him. |
| “ | Shall I? | „ |
| ~ Nikola to Timothy Stoker before killing his brother. |
| “ | Do you feel it, Archivist? it’s almost there, the new day. A terrible new world. It is all your fault. Though I suppose you never really had a chance. | „ |
| ~ Nikola taunting Jon during the Unknowing. |
Trivia[]
- Tim telling Nikola to see Grimaldi perform is a reference to a famous joke that dates back to the 18th century. In the joke, a deeply depressed man seeks help from a physician. The physician encourages him to visit the theatre, as a very famous actor is performing in town, but the man reveals that he is the actor in question. Historical versions refer specifically to Joseph Grimaldi, referring to his famous depression near the end of his career and through his retirement.
- Both times Tim encounters Nikola as Grimaldi, she uses the phrase "shall I?" This was one of his Grimaldi's most famous catchphrases, most often used to ask the audience before he engaged in further mischief.
- Jessica Law was one of several Magnus Archives voice actors to also be members of the band the Mechanisms, along with the show's writer Jonathan Sims. In the Mechanisms, she played "The Toy Soldier", a living wooden automaton with some similarities to the plastic Nikola Orsinov such as both having stolen someone's voice box.
- Nikola's character was created with Jessica in mind for the role.
