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BSD Fyodor
Dostoyevsky: an in-
depth character
analysis

“Человек есть тайна. Ее надо

разгадать, и ежели будешь ее
разгадывать всю жизнь, то не
говори, что потерял время; я
занимаюсь этой тайной, ибо
хочу быть человеком.” / “Man is
an enigma. It must be unravelled,
and if you will unravel it your entire
life, then do not say that you have
wasted time; I occupy myself with
that enigma, because I want to be
human.” – the writer Fyodor
Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky, in a letter
to his older brother, Mikhail (St.
Petersburg, 16 August 1839)

The purpose of this post is to present and analyse

information related to Bungou Stray Dogs’ Fyodor
Dostoyevsky’s personality and methodology. Softer
than shadow, unsolved and endless, Fyodor may as
well “hide” his soul under our very eyes and we still
would not know if that is the “real” him. This is my
promised Fedya essay, an info-gathering analysis
masterpost I hope you will enjoy and find useful for
contemplating and coming to understand his
complex character a little bit better.

Warning: merciless BSD manga spoilers. Literally

spoiling everything. Also, this is an unbelievably
long post (20200+ words). Have some lovely tea,
listen to Rachmaninoff, and read in serene leisure or
endlessly curious passion.

Last update: November 2022. 20.200+ words. The

BSD manga reached ch105, the BSD anime
completed season 3, while season 4 is announced
for January 2023. Please refer to my original post
(this one) in the future, as I could add updates
periodically when new chapters release (or so I
hope). Please note that I am using the official English
translations for chapters 1-94 unless stated
otherwise. I am eternally grateful for all fan
translations. Lastly, please note that in this essay I
will not focus on: 1) connections to F.M.
Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment or other
literary works; 2) connections to F.M. Dostoyevsky’s
biography / personal life; 3) possibilities of what
Fyodor’s ability could be; 4) the philosophical and
ethical side of Fyodor’s motives. All these would
require vast separate posts entirely (who knows, I
might write them too one day). My intention is to
offer guidance in decyphering what Fyodor’s
personality is truly like, as well as how his methods
and tactics play a role into shaping said personality
or BSD’s plot. Last note: in this essay, quite
frequently, I am making references to other beautiful
posts written by BSD fans, tagging them and linking
to their posts. If you are tagged and want me to
remove the tag, please send me a message via
ask box and I will edit the tag out.

Sections:
A. Let the hand of God guide you: Fyodor and
hand / arm symbolism
B. He understands human nature deeply, if not
perfectly
C. He values independence and (most
probably) his co-workers
D. No confirmation yet that he is brainwashing
others and why this is relevant
E. He loves and lives for entertainment
F. Humble, not arrogant. Self-proclaimed god
or servant of God?
G. A strange divergence inside Fyodor. Is he a
singularity?
H. Soft, discreet, graceful, yet playfully
dramatic. His body language in the manga, in
comparison to the anime

A. Let the hand of God guide you:

Fyodor and hand / arm symbolism
When it comes to Fyodor’s character, even choosing
a starting point for our discussion about him might
prove challenging. For all we know so far, he is a
Russian man with a completely unknown past, he
appears to be in his 20s, just a pinch shorter than
Dazai (as @kaikaikitanmp3 showed here), elegant,
alluring and ambiguously sickly (see section H for
more on his self-proclaimed anemia and overall
physique). Until we get more canon manga
information on his personal profile, I propose we start
from something that already has numerous ties to
Fyodor’s character, a symbol we can present the
many meanings of, only to abandon us to our
roaming thoughts later. This symbol is that of the
hand, and, before that, the closely-related symbol of
the arm.

Embrace of all. A symbol of both power and

protection, the human arm represents the instrument
to apply justice and punishment, to rule and to guide.
Not only that, but as a symbol of a human’s strength
and capacity to act, its image becomes that of vitality
itself. To open one’s arms is an act of invocation,
raising them to the sky – an act of calling for divine
blessing, but this welcoming gesture also renders a
person wide-open and vulnerable, receptive and
embracing. A certain humbleness and vulnerability is
involved in this gesture, because only then one can
wholly accept what stands before or above them, let
them in, understand and feel them. This willingness
to embrace alterity, when represented in art or
various media, can be of different nuances, thus
triggering different responses in the viewer: it can be
soothing, heartwarming, comforting, just as it can be
unnerving, constraining, intrusive even for even just
suggesting such embrace. It is no wonder we see
this gesture in how Ango apparently imagines Fyodor
(ch78). While his arms are covered by his coat, his
open hands, as of darkness, extend towards the
viewer. This image appears as Ango concluded that
Atsushi getting shot by Nathaniel, later falling
unconscious in Anne’s room, was part of Fyodor’s
plan. How this plan covered and embraced that
outcome is portrayed as unsettling, therefore making
good use of the negative values of such body
language and symbols. Together with the ch63 panel
where Fyodor’s faceless silhouette is shown with his
open hands turned towards his chest, each finger
pulling a thin string, this example, too, suggests the
idea of Fyodor’s influence and interference being
disturbingly omnipresent, this time with the hand
gesture emphasizing the hidden character of his
plans. A different example, of Fyodor conveying
openness through body language, specifically
showing his palms to someone while even opening
his arms in a welcoming manner, is when he was
negotiating with Mushitaro in ch55, offering to end
his imprisonment in exchange for Mushitaro playing a
role in Fyodor’s Cannibalistic Mutual Destruction
operation. At that moment, Fyodor’s gesture
conveyed the sincere character of his offer, made
more impactful by being accompanied by much
gesticulation on Fyodor’s part during the whole
scene (more on Fyodor’s rhetorical use of expressive
gestures in section H).

Honesty and harmlessness. The symbol of the

hand also represents human ability to act, putting a
start or an end to action, as well as having the
freedom to act. Just like the arm, the hand is a
symbol of power, justice and dominance, as well as
guidance and bestowing blessings. Open palms,
much like open arms, convey the message of having
no ill will, no hidden secrets, thus presenting oneself
in an open, vulnerable position, but also one allowing
reception of the other, and, in the case of the open
hands, showing willingness to share, as the hand’s
different “powers” are almost as numerous as human
actions themselves: to contain, to take away, to keep
hidden, to harm, to mend, to unite, to divide, to
guide, to give. The meanings of these, melted
together, would all still accurately be applicable to
Fyodor’s character, who, in the most general sense,
just like Dazai’s character or even more so,
represents the complexity of human nature, so rich in
paradoxes, so ultimately impenetrable. Now,
showing your hands, and especially showing your
palms or inner part of your arms (interior side of the
wrists and upper arms, for example), means showing
you have no ill intent (based on how, for example,
since ancient times, such a posture simply showed
the other that you do not carry any weapons). Hence,
in this line of thought, we can approach the scene
where Fyodor showed his fragile hand and wrist to
Ace in ch42. It has a double meaning in this scenario:
firstly, Fyodor is indeed honest and open, he does
not have an ill intent, because his hidden purpose, in
itself, addresses the greater good of humanity;
secondly, Fyodor’s intent becomes “ill” only when
related to Ace himself, who saw Fyodor as a threat
and was ready to deny Fyodor his personhood, as he
did with all his subordinates, who became his slaves
or, rather, his disposeable objects and instruments. In
so many of BSD’s events and organisational
dynamics, it is evident how relativity rules the verdict
we as readers can give to various groups or
characters. BSD features excellent examples of grey
morality everywhere, and the problem of whether
Fyodor is good or evil is no exception. It is all relative
to a past and a future we do not know yet, while still
maintaing a certain unnerving, dark side that
undeniably accompanies Fyodor’s character at each
step. The reader is then immediately reminded of this
dark, threatening side of Fyodor’s, as he concluded
the ennumeration of his physical and circumstational
disadvantages with the abrupt “So how about this?
I’ll kill you instead”. And while I did call this
subsection “honesty and harmlessness”, everyone
is conscious of Fyodor’s potential to harm at any
time, most characters living in anticipation of being
harmed by him, and yet we still have no clear idea
how he applies physical harm (including death),
despite having valuable depictions of how subtly he
can exert mental and emotional harm, or simply
influence, on others (more on that in the following
sections). That being said, despite Fyodor calling
humans sinful and foolish and expressing his desire
to “purify” them (ch46, Fyodor: “Man is sinful and
foolish. Even if they know it is all an artifice, they
cannot help but kill each other. Someone must purify
them for those sins”), we never see him acting like he
hates or is disgusted by humans, nor like he
forcefully wants to change how they behave. The
latter reminds us of the thin line between plain
manipulation (a thing Fyodor does when necessary
for his larger strategic moves, as he has done in ch47
with fake Pushkin and the children or in ch75 with
Sigma) and exerting oppressive corrective behaviour
upon others (a thing we never see Fyodor doing, as
he never changes the people he interacts with, who
they are and what they value; see sections B and C).
In fact, his openness to human nature in general is
highlighted, for instance, in his interactions with
Nikolai and in the way he talks about Sigma (see
section C). Opposite traits blend perfectly into
Fyodor’s character in most subtle ways, as I intend to
prove by the end of this essay, so let us continue
gathering such examples on the way, across all
sections.

Bestowing blessings. In the manga, Fyodor was

shown using a very specific hand gesture when using
his ability on Karma, thus openly depicted only in
ch42 so far. The same gesture, prepared but
changed into one of covering Mushitaro’s head with
its palm, appeared in ch56 in a hallucination, when
Mushitaro was forced into a corner by Ranpo’s
blackmailing, which for Mushitaro triggered images
of Fyodor (more on this below). To me, this peculiar
hand gesture is like a mixture of different acts I
witnessed or experienced in religious contexts (to
clarify my background, I’m slavic, Orthodox, and
Eastern European, no “expert” in religions but
fascinated by sacred rituals), and by this I mean
specifically acts of blessing and chrismation done by
priests. 1) Blessing marks bestowing holiness or
invoking the divine will and protection upon a person
(but also places, objects etc.), and is done in several
ways: when one-handed and by a (consecrated)
priest, using the right hand, with the finger positions
spelling out the letters “IC XC” (for Ἰησοῦς Χριστός,
Jesus Christ in Greek), the same sign being done
with both hands when the gesture is two-handed;
when one-handed and by a secular (also done
between regular people occasionally), making the
sign of the cross over someone or something using
the thumb and index + middle finger stretched
outwards, similar to the finger positions when making
the sign of the cross on oneself. Fyodor’s hand
position is most similar to the latter in this case,
albeit with a sinister twist: Fyodor seems to use
his left hand for the gesture. A different gesture for
blessing, in this specific meaning mostly starting with
the New Testament, is putting one’s hands over
someone. There, this gesture is closely linked to the
miraculous healings bestowed by Christ (as in Luke,
13, 13), and, after His ascension, keeping its relation
to healing and bestowing the Holy Spirit, to the duty
quite literally left in the hands of the apostles (as
in Acts, 8, 17). 2) Chrismation is a Christian
sacrament, where, in short, the priest anoints another
person with the holy chrism, a ritualic ointment, while
making the sign of the cross over specific body
parts, each being a symbol of something, starting
with the forehead (where the blessing of the mind is
bestowed). Chrism itself, a common element in
Mediterrean and Middle-East religious practices
since ancient times, gained a particularly important
role in Christianity, being used very often, in both
baptismal and funeral rites, as well as sacraments
(chrismation and acts of consecration). It symbolizes
divine benediction, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, but
also bestowing power and glory (in the context of
coronations or such). Each time the author of the
benediction is considered to be the divinity, whereas
the one who applies the chrism on the other is a
mediator between the earthly and the holy. Notably,
this use in baptisms and funerals marks an
associations with beginnings and endings, life and
death. To me, Fyodor’s hand gesture when using his
ability, particularly the gentle touch of another’s
forehead, always looked similar to the act of
anointing someone with chrism (though it is not
usually done directly with the fingers, but with a little
brush or one half of the ointment’s recipient), and in
line with his canon dialogues, we could say what he
bestows is “the great silence”, “the salvation of
death”, which can turn into the blessing of a
meaningful, peaceful death, bone-chilling
nonetheless, such as in Karma’s case (ch42, see
section B where I expand upon this). This gesture
links Fyodor’s character to the image of a mediator,
the role of “the right hand of God”, carrying out a
mission that can be regarded as holy (based on
Fyodor’s use of religious vocabulary), although we
still lack canon material to fully establish whether that
is only a trait of his way of speech or indeed a hint for
his motives’ origins (see section F).

Threat and manipulation, relative examples. Later,

in ch56, Ranpo hit Mushitaro’s most profound,
personal weakspot by adopting Fyodor’s type of
manipulation, in the form of a one-time bargain with
emotional pressure, an offer he could not refuse
(Ranpo would have releaved a truth Mushitaro did
not want to make public if Mushitaro did not accept
Ranpo’s terms; see also @looking-for-stray-dogs ’s
post here). However, given that we already saw
Fyodor offering Mushitaro a deal in ch55, there is a
noticeable difference between Fyodor’s and Ranpo’s
deal here, which, in my opinion, shows that Ranpo
cannot immitate Fyodor completely (or refuses to)
while he also imagines him as a much worse person
than Fyodor can be deduced to be, in fact, strictly
based on his interaction with Mushitaro. In ch55, it is
shown that Fyodor simply offered to free Mushitaro
from the basement he was locked in, in exchange for
Mushitaro using his ability serving Fyodor’s Mutual
Destruction plan once. This deal was fulfilled and
their interactions ceased. I would call this a case of
pragmatic manipulation, because Fyodor did not
profit of Mushitaro’s feelings or past, he only offered
freedom from Mushitaro’s cell. By contrast, Ranpo,
assuming Fyodor works only (and especially) with
emotional manipulation, simply blackmailed
Mushitaro into turning himself in. Of course, Fyodor
is capable of emotional manipulation (as in Sigma’s
and Nikolai’s cases, see section B, but also section H
below), but he can also manipulate others not even
bringing their emotions into the discussion (as in
Mushitaro’s case). By limiting his assumptions to
emotional manipulation, Ranpo may be walking
down a dangerous path, disregarding the full spectre
of Fyodor’s methods. Assuming Fyodor is “the worst
person possible” by default could also prove to be a
wrong approach, as it is easier and convenient to
conclude on that for others, but assumes too much
about Fyodor and adds a rigid label on him, one that
Fyodor can exploit later. In fact, we saw he already
did once, by giving the worst relationship advice on
purpose in ch64, in Meursault, when Dazai asked for
said advice within Fyodor’s “All-smiles Problem-
solving Roooooundtable” (and yet, this, together with
Dazai’s lines, were shaped that way for the purpose
of establishing the terms of their secret code, as I
shall argue below, in section C). Meursault guards are
portrayed monitoring Fyodor and Dazai, whom they
consider “demons” of crime, expecting them to be
exactly the worst souless manipulator and the worst
flirtacious lunatic respectively. I would like to thank
Eliott @stories-from-saint-petersburg for discussing
this scene with me in-depth and putting this aspect
of it into very fitting words I shall copy below.
Besides the ideas presented here, see also section C
for this brilliant scene’s actual meaning, according to
what I could deduce further.

Eliott: “But also, they know they are

filmed and that people are listening
to them. So it would make sense to
give answers that are more far from
their characters, to confuse or not to
give too much info to their jailors.
Just like they switch to code when
speaking about more serious things.
That’d make sense in a strategy
where you have to deceive your
opponent, the opponent being
Meursault. If they both give shit
answers (and the answers that are
expected from them), then the way
they make up their plans will be still
more difficult to find out by the
prison.”

There is more to be inspected in Mushitaro’s ch56

hallucination of Fyodor covering his head with his
palm. For this, I shall leave a different discussion I
had with Eliott below:

Lav: “One difference is that Karma

(ch42) actually experiences that
touch. He sees Fedya’s hand, he
feels the touch of his fingers. It
happened as an event in his life. In
comparison, Mushi (ch56) sees this
image when Ranpo blackmails him
into turning himself in, as Ranpo
makes a speech about using the
methods of a demon to reach his
goal (debatable, I will expand on this
when the time is right). Apparently,
Ranpo’s speech triggers an
emotional reaction in Mushi, who
then imagines Fedya reaching
towards him, making the same
gesture he did to Karma, and the
panels are white, while the end of
this vision (Fedya placing his whole
hand over Mushi’s head) is in black.”
Eliott: “Can’t it simply show the
effect Fedya had on Mushi? A feeling
of being oppressed and trapped, or
something akin to control from a
mind that’s greater than his? To me it
looks like an allegory of
manipulation, but not especially like
an ability or something akin to it.”
Eliott: “If Mushi saw Fedya use his
ability, then he knows his touch
means death. Anyway, he knows
Fedya is dangerous. Touching
someone’s head is a common
symbol for either intimacy, fondness
or manipulation. Mushi probably
knows he can end up killed, and this
is a fear that can explain this
imagery, and even the manipulation
he’s subjected to. The fear of dying is
a good motivation for someone.
Furthermore, he is still traumatized
by the death of his dear friend, so it’d
make sense this is very impactful for
him, either death or being near / in
danger of it? Also, Fedya here looks
like how his friend is depicted
graphically.”
Eliott: “<So,> he doesn’t have to
<have experienced this physically
before>! Imagining someone
threatening touch you is frightening,
even if you don’t know they can kill
you with one touch. And when
speaking of being trapped /
manipulated, it’s quite logical to
imagine the person that has you
trapped touching you, it’s an
oppressive image either way.”
Lav: “True. (…) One detail that
supports this <that Mushi only
hallucinated without previously
witnessing Fedya’s gesture> is how
in Karma’s case Fedya stretched out
two fingers (index and middle) to his
forehead, much like in a blessing
gesture, while Mushi imagines a
hand with all fingers fully extended
towards his forehead. Also the death
touch to Mushi is done with the right
hand, while for Karma it’s the left
hand??”
Eliott: “I still don’t understand that
gkflg, I’m wondering if the artist just
forgot to draw one right hand ahah”.

Important unexplained details. Everyone’s ability in

Dead Apple has an ability gem located on their
forehead except: Atsushi’s tiger (nape), Akutagawa’s
Rashomon (inside its chest), arguably Dazai’s No
Longer Human (inside his chest), and most
importantly here Fyodor’s Crime and Punishment (the
back of his right hand). Another note, out of all the
abilities, only Mori’s Elise, Fukuzawa’s All Men Are
Equal and Fyodor’s Crime and Punishment are able
to talk or heard talking. One detail unique to Fyodor’s
ability and Mori’s ability, though, is that they each
have real eyes with irises and pupils, as if they are
human, and not just an ability with empty, glowing
yellow eyes like in all the other cases, except
Atsushi’s tiger. One could surely speculate on why
exactly Crime and Punishment has its ability gem
placed on its hand, but I want to move on to other
topics in this essay. Lastly, on Fyodor’s motto, “Let
the hand of God guide you”, see section G.

B. He understands human nature

deeply, if not perfectly
Contrary to the popular opinion that Fyodor does not
have an ounce of humanity in him or that he cannot
understand nor feel human emotions, the canon
presents evidence that Fyodor understands other
humans and their emotions profoundly. Let us keep
in mind the definition of empathy (“the ability to
understand other people’s feelings and problems”),
as well as the fact that there are different types of
empathy, such as affective empathy or cognitive
empathy (the latter applying to Fyodor the best).
Instead of speculating that Fyodor completely lacks
empathy (a lack psychopaths share, and Fyodor’s
case proves to be much too complex to simply throw
into that spectrum and call it a day; see @tecchous-
thicc-buttocks ’s post here, where OP not only has a
great post, but also a smashing username AND a
superb N.V. Gogol reference in their blog description
to laugh your heart out to), I invite you to explore
exactly the opposite, namely the idea that he has
capacity for perfect empathy and uses it
instrumentally to make it suitable for his plans. The
canon material showed us many situations that
support this (too), as we shall see below.

Fyodor “connects” with others mentally, emotionally

and / or spiritually in such an accurate way, that this
skill of his is portrayed as bone-chillingly sinister, in
scenarios holding starkly contrasting ideas. It is not
just about analytically deducing what a person would
do next or what would objectively motivate that
person, Fyodor knows the depths of people’s hearts,
as can be seen in his discussions with Karma,
Shibusawa, Nikolai, and the way Fyodor talks about
Sigma. I shall present each case in detail in what
follows, made into a list of people whose problems
Fyodor saw through and responded to adequately.

Karma’s problem was of intellectual nature: to die a

slave or a free man, and how those are mutually-
exclusive conditions, in regard to which Karma
recognized himself trapped in the first condition
(slave), but was later “transported” into the second
condition (free man) by the circumtances and type of
death Fyodor “granted” him. Frequently rationalizing
each situation in his inner monologues, pondering
each factor and possible outcome analytically and in
admirable control of his emotions (as seen
throughout the entire ch42), Karma explored, so to
say, the “syllogisms” behind what was happening to
him too: I want to be saved + I am a bad person +
saviours do not save bad persons => I will never be
saved; OR I am a bad person + I am not a free
person + a saviour can free me by saving me +
saviours do not save bad persons => I will never be a
free person. Even if the concepts belong to morality
discourse, Karma’s approach is straightforward and
logical, therefore there is no scene of him begging
Fyodor for help, freedom or vengeance, as well as no
scene of him even running away from Fyodor:
despite being frightened, he was able to withstand
his irrational reaction and sought knowledge and
clarifications through conversation even in the face of
the Demon. Karma was a person who rationalized
and accepted his personal condition, and he was all
the more shocked that this “slave” condition was
dissolved by the events caused by Fyodor. Although