The Flatliners are a group of criminals turned ghosts that play a major role in the events in Orpheus. Sentenced to death row at Marion Federal Penitentiary, they were chosen by the Orpheus Group as part of the initial projection experiments, also known as Project Flatline. Each of them were forced into projecting their spirits from their bodies a number of times by means of sleeper-style cradles. Finally, they rebelled against their tormentors and refused to return to their bodies; to cover up their mistake, Orpheus had arrangements made to burn down the death-row wing of Marion, destroying both the Flatliners' bodies and the evidence of Project Flatline in the process. There are twelve Flatliners in all, though only eleven are mentioned by name; the other one is left open for the Storyteller to create as needed.
The Missionary Works of the Holy Ghost[]
- Uriah Bishop: The unofficial leader of the Flatliners. A charismatic, dispassionate religious man, Bishop was sentenced to death after poisoning parishioners at a church picnic after they refused to follow him. He instigated the revolt that lead to the Flatliners fleeing, and as a result half of them followed him to help him accomplish his goals. He is now the head of the Missionary Works of the Holy Ghost and a close ally of Grandmother.
- Ethan Torrance: Serving as Bishop’s enforcer at the Missionary Works, Torrance is an extremely violent but loyal second-in-command of the organization.
- Jason Hein: A former con artist who was sentenced to death for killing a fellow prisoner, Jason appears to the cultists of the Temple of the Mother of Vision as the "angel" Nacrael. Through these visions, he manipulates the cult into doing his (and Bishop’s) will.
- Bruno Tavoularis: A loyal follower of Bishop, Tavourlaris controls the Church of the Angelic Host, a traditional-style church that has unknowingly become a pigment cult under his control.
- Harper Forester: A former mob accountant who killed two police officers while resisting arrest, Forester is an extremely loyal follower of Bishop and oversees two of the organizations under the Missionary Works: First Step and the Aphrodite Society.
The Blasphemers[]
- Lucas "Big Man" Broad: The head of the Blasphemers, Broad went to jail at a young age for running with street gangs. He continued this both in prison and in death, forming the Blasphemers from the ghosts of dead gang-bangers to work as ghost-mercenaries.
- Stephen Moluxe: A radical activist turned conspiracy maniac, Moluxe wants to create an empire dedicated to the Hispanic people in place of parts of the United States of America. He helps run the Blasphemers as an eventual means to reach his goal.
- Jeffrey Rose: The most unusual Flatliner, Rose has multiple personalities, each one a serial killer with a different type of target. In death, he still has his personality disorders, and he tends to possess bodies that match his current personality.
- Carlton Jackson: Helps Broad run the Blasphemers. Little is known about him other than he regards Moluxe and Rose as jokes and uses them as screens for the Blasphemers’ true goals.
Independents[]
- Terrence Green: A Flatliner uninterested in Bishop’s twisted plans and seeking to repent for his own crimes, Terrance is a gifted Haunter, the voice behind Radio Free Death, and an ally of Grace Ishida, a former Terrel and Squib agent and talented Phantasm.
- Theodore Albert Walters: A serial rapist and murderer, Walters took advantage of his new "life in death" to resume his old habits.