Lalli is rather scrawny and not very tall (the shortest member, after Tuuri and Emil). He has chin-length, ash blonde hair and pale blue eyes. He is depicted with very prominent cheekbones.
Lalli wears the expedition uniform, the one specifically designed for his position on the team as a night scout. He wears mid-thigh black boots and black gloves that reach above his elbow. His hood has flaps covering his ears, characteristic of Finnish mage-wear. His weapon of choice is a rifle, often seen slung across his back.
In the second arc, Lalli changes his outfit and wears a long, white and brown tunic with brown gloves reaching to his elbows, white pants and knee-high brown boots. He also wears a furry, white cape with a hood and orange designs and a black belt. He continues to carry Ensi's rifle.
Personality[]
“
I don't work with other people.
”
–Lalli Hotakainen
Because of his previous job as a night scout, Lalli rarely spent time with other people, and is thus an extremely quiet character. He is often seen with a blank expression, following Tuuri wherever she decides to lead him. He generally seems to be little aware of the mundane events occurring around him, as evidenced by his apparent surprise when learning that Tuuri signed him up to work for Taru. Lalli has been shown to prefer actions to words (such as when he refused to get aboard the Dalahästen by not moving instead of voicing his fears). Some difficulties in communication are due to the language barrier between him and the rest of the crew, leading him to being even less outspoken.
Lalli has unusual habits and manners, such as apparently sleeping under his bed and keeping his feet on his seat when sitting. His behavior has often been defined as "cat-like", having hissed at others when he's annoyed or stolen meat from Emil's sandwich, in addition to his standoffish personality.
He is also quick to obey orders, likely instilled from him from when he and his cousins were living on the military base in Keuruu. This is demonstrated by Tuuri when she told him to run to the train and hold the doors open or when he quickly accepted the fact that he couldn't go home.
Despite communicating very little and being a solitary character, he is shown to care for the people who surround him, trying to strap in Emil before the train was hit and putting his life at risk to warn Agneta, a guard on the train, of the imminent breach. Later on, he becomes closer with Emil and is seen trying his best for the rest of the group.
Lalli appears imperceptive/ununderstanding of jokes, as hinted to when he told Tuuri that he thought the expedition was another "weird joke". This behavior carries on to many social customs, like shaking people's hands or receiving or giving gratitude.
He has little interest in adventure or exploring the unknown areas, only participating in the expedition because Tuuri told him so and telling her that the outside world is nothing more than rows and rows of trees. Lalli is apparently judgmental of new things, defining horses "weird, ugly moose".
Lalli's introduction.
History[]
Past[]
Lalli was born in the Saimaa area of Finland, as one of the few people immune to the rash in his community. For a majority of his childhood he was trained to be a mage by his grandmother, Ensi Hotakainen. Due to the infection of his grandmother and parents by the rash illness when he was eight years old, he transferred to the military base of Keuruu along with his cousins, Tuuri and Onni Hotakainen. At some point he started working as a night scout in the surrounding forests, trained by Onni and other counselors at the base.
Joining the Expedition[]
When Taru Hollola offered Tuuri a part in the upcoming expedition to explore the Silent World, Tuuri decided Lalli would come, too (it is unknown whether Lalli had an actual part in the decision, or not), but when the moment to depart came he wasn't aware of any expedition, even going to work night before, and had to be reminded of everything by his cousin.
Mora[]
On the boat taking them to Sweden, Lalli suffered severe seasickness, and when they arrived, he was too sick to properly greet Emil Västerström. This trait seemed to have been passed down through his family from his great grandfather, seen in the prologue.
When the crew discovered they were about to miss the train to Mora, Lalli sprinted ahead and held the doors open. Once they were on, he questioned Tuuri about Emil's presence, and wasn't excited at the prospect of working with other people.
After passing through the decontamination station and going around outer Mora, Lalli and the others take a short break at the Västerström house, where they meet the children of Siv and Torbjörn Västerström. When Emil questions Lalli's magical abilities and Tuuri asks him to cast a spell, Lalli refuses, uninterested in proving himself.
The Dalahästen[]
Arriving at the train station to take the Dalahästen to Oresundbro Base, Lalli refuses to get aboard after learning of the train's dark history.
Lalli invoking Kuutar's light.
After Tuuri threatens to leave him there, Lalli invokes the help of Kuutar, the Finnish Moon Goddess, and clear the clouds away for a bright moonlit ride. The train workers inform everyone that the danger level of the journey has gone down to a seven. Lalli boards the train and, frustrated with the safety belts on the beds, turns over and attempts to sleep. Somewhere along the way, Lalli's spell appears to fade, and Lalli's vision as a mage detects a nearby troll. When he senses the imminent collision to the train, he grabs the safety belts and tries to hand one to Emil. After the initial impact, he runs off to warn Agneta of the imminent breach.
Emil arrives to take Lalli away from the fighting, but the two of them find themselves trapped in with the giant and the rest of the crew. Soon, the Dalahästen passes through a tunnel, killing the giant, and Lalli and Emil escape unscathed.
The following morning, Lalli, Emil and Tuuri arrive at Oresundbro Base, where they meet the rest of the official expedition crew.
Kastrup[]
The Crew's first mission was to journey to Kastrup, a suburban area outside of the Copenhagen city ruins. Lalli spent the first night scouting out the area, which he relayed to Tuuri the next morning.
In the morning, Lalli, Sigrun, Mikkel and Emil went to explore a building which used to house a public library. Mikkel stood outside to guard, while the others went in. They did find a collection of books, and managed to take many out to their vehicle. Lalli took out only one book, but he was still tired from the night before and fell asleep. But he woke up in time to warn the crew that the building was not as safe as they had thought at first.
The crew split up to explore the area, and Lalli left Emil behind to explore on his own. Sigrun found out the building housed a troll's nest and goes to find Emil. After Emil's actions caused an explosion and filled the building with smoke, Lalli escaped by crashing through an upstairs window, landing on Mikkel's arms. He runs to the Cattank with the rest of the crew, flashing Emil a displeased look, inciting Emil to defend himself, stating that Lalli abandoned him first.
After the crew flee to the Cattank and drive away to safety. Mikkle appoints Tuuri to find a safe place for the crew to stay Sigrun excitedly rants that the skirmish was "The Awesomest", surprising Emil into vomitting and Lalli into covering his ears. Mikkel seperates to two, placing Sigrun in a corner to face the wall and decides its best to clean up the crew.
Kastrup Fort[]
The next morning, the crew camp out at Kastrup Fort where Mikkel questions Sigrun about the choice of books but states that not all of them are irrelevant as the book that Lalli picked up captures his interest. The book is shown to detail the effects of the The Rash disease on a victim, likely a patient from the hospital who contracted the disease.
Mikkel, Sigrun and Tuuri continue to
banter about whether the crew is ready to venture further into the city while Emil and Lalli rest in the Cattank. As Lalli sleeps he enters the dream world and attempts to recall the figure of the other mage (who is revealed to be Reynir) he saw traversing the water. Unable to do anything, he sighs and gives up.
Later, he is seen exorcising ghost voices that were interfering with the radio for Tuuri. His first attempt to gently ask the spirits to leave is ignored and he forcefully threatens them on the second try and succeeds in doing so. Tired from the ordeal, he leaves Tuuri to join the rest of the crew outside, where Emil mistakenly agrees that it shouldn't take Mikkel so long to make breakfast.
The Dreamspace[]
Lalli was present for Reynir's arrival and proceeds to view the newcomer from underneath a blanket, staring ominously.
He later gets a very thorough bath after he returns from scouting, and immediately goes to bed.
When Reynir crossed into his area in the Dreamspace, he retaliates violently by causing trees to grow around him and even hit Reynir. He then continues to spy on Reynir and follows him. He is eventually lead to Onni, who talks with Lalli, mentioning that something is looking for them and that Reynir cannot be blocked out of their areas. Lalli also admits he's made one friend who is implied to be Emil.
When the dog beast returns to die, Lalli makes a move to kill it, but Emil does it instead. The next day, Lalli cuts open the dog as the rest eat breakfast. He climbs up a tree to finish the ritual, and places the dog's skull on the tree to release its soul.
Copenhagen[]
Lalli briefly converses with Tuuri about socializing him before passing out from motion sickness. The group questions him about his choice of route involving going over the 'snake car', and he shows slight egotism. However, later, it is revealed he underestimated the snowstorm and the group now has no way through the city. He becomes frustrated when Tuuri questions his skills and yells at him, and he has a flashback from when he was very young and he caused four casualties due to writing vague notes on the area he was scouting. Onni approaches him and Lalli retorts the he only made one mistake, which Onni immediately dismisses, saying that their grandmother made one mistake and that ended poorly.
In present time, Lalli searches for an alternative path and is forced to summon his lynx luonto to destroy troll pods. This causes him to pass out later.
Road to Odense[]
Eventually, his luonto returns and he has a dream in which he knows what the others are saying and is being appreciated for his work. When he actually wakes up, he is angry that no one is noticing him and are all fawning over Kitty instead. When Emil attempts to bring him food, Lalli throws a fit and hits the soup into Emil's face. Lalli expresses anger at the fact that they didn't use the spot he had worked to find and Tuuri tells him about the ghosts.
Emil asks Tuuri about Lalli's mood, but she just tells him that she just ignores it if he's in a mood.
During the montage, Lalli leads the group along through Denmark. He eventually demonstrates that he now understands a very slight amount of Swedish by conveying the words 'no danger'. When Emil tries to thank him for finding books in Finnish, his attempt is bad enough that Lalli literally shuts him up. Tuuri tells him he's been doing really well lately, and he responds by saying he thinks they should leave soon.
Soon, Lalli spots an omen after reporting that their area has too much activity. Reynir is frightened momentarily by the presence of the omen. Lalli rudely tells him what it is, but Reynir misinterprets his message. Lalli goes to the cattank and apathetically says that they should have left already.
Odense[]
Odense Hospital[]
Lalli goes on the mission to explore an abandoned hospital. He spots a troll and kills it, but Mikkel ends up shoving his books into a troll's mouth to scare it away. Lalli gives chase, only to find a room full of abandoned ghosts and they flee.
The Battle[]
The ghosts give chase and even when they rest, Lalli discovers Sleipnope and his monsters. They go even farther and Lalli has Reynir draw runes to ward off the oncoming attack. Lalli fends off Sleipnope as best he can before Onni is able to intervene in the fight. A troll later gets into the Cattank and manages to wound Tuuri before Lalli shoots it.
The Aftermath[]
After the battle, Lalli makes Reynir draws runes that will only ward against ghosts and won't actually light on fire. He successfully tests them.
He refuses to eat due to a depression, but Mikkel makes him anyhow. Lalli worries over Tuuri's condition, and Tuuri is upset over his reaction.
Reynir finally gives into his frustration and forcefully grabs Lalli and yells at him, causing Lalli to bite him and for Emil to punch him. Lalli takes Reynir to Tuuri for translation and they come to a mutual understanding that neither are really capable of doing anything.
Tuuri has a flashback and remembers that Lalli was the only one besides her grandmother able to leave their home, and in the flashback, he is seen as a young child trying to take Ensi's rifle.
When the cattank breaks down, Lalli accompanies Emil to get supplies and vents, saying events are about to repeat themselves, and that he and Emil are not friends. Emil misunderstands the entire monologue, much to Lalli's chagrin.
Tuuri's Death[]
Lalli keeps watch when Tuuri asks him about the ghost voices. He replies that they're suffering and that he can't hear them very well from that distance. Tuuri then goes off and drowns herself due to the fact that her infection has been confirmed.
Lalli literally feels her die and rushes to the shore to save her. However, the rest of group do not understand and Lalli is left alone at the sea.
When they burn her body, Lalli goes into deep mourning and searches for her soul to make sure she made it to Tuonela. The rest try and make him go, but he manages to convey he needs at least three hours. Emil resolves to wait with him and they will go catch up later.
Catching Up[]
Lalli finishes searching and knows that Tuuri's soul is safe. He and Emil head out. Along the way, they encounter a giant hiding in a house. They run into ice, but Emil is too heavy to cross it and the giant is approaching. Lalli immediately uses a spell to save them, but at the same time is cast out of his own body. Emil is then forced to drag Lalli's unconscious body in search of a place to rest.
Emil's Mind[]
Lalli finds himself alone in the Dreamspace and goes towards a light. He discovers Emil's dream, where he speaks to him. He watches Emil switch between lucid conversation to mindless yelling at a nanny from his youth, and also flames in the distance. Though, he is assured that the flames won't reach them.
Later, Lalli is still inside Emil's mind and proceeds to rudely speak to Emil, who now believes he has gone insane. Lalli is able to use Emil's eyes to see and finds a route to walk, and tells Emil that troll spotting is his job and that the group won't be waiting for them. They pass a house and Lalli orders Emil not to look at it, which nonetheless, Emil does. A large ghost within the house beckons Emil to kill it, and Emil hears it. Lalli tries to convince Emil to stop, but is unable to. Lalli is then forced to use some sort of magic to cause a migraine in Emil to discourage him from confronting the troll which will kill them both. This tactic is successful, but obviously damaging and strenuous for Lalli as his head begins bleeding from it.
That night, Emil discovers that Lalli really is in his head, and the two bond somewhat. Lalli learns about social interactions and even thanks Emil for helping him, which Emil responds to gleefully. Lalli is, however, extremely against talking about his past. He also reveals he doesn't know how to return to his body. Emil goes to sleep and Lalli is then left alone in the dream.
Dusklings[]
A few days later, Emil drags Lalli through some woods, where they encounter a Troll. The Troll begins to speak to Emil, while Lalli attempts to focus him by telling stories about himself. Lalli identifies the Troll as a Duskling, a subspecies he hates for their ability to survive in low light. The Duskling tries to attack Emil, only to be burned by the sun, and then retreats and follows the pair from the shadows. Lalli tells Emil to keep going, but Emil shoots the Duskling, killing it, but attracting numerous others which watch them from the dark. Lalli explains that if he sees Dusklings he runs until either they stop following or it becomes day, and he orders Emil to get out of the area before dark. Emil explains he can't and Lalli solemnly replies that in that case he must be left behind, but asks Emil to kill him if he does. Emil clarifies he isn't fast enough to run away even alone, and he and Lalli agree to hide out until morning in an abandoned house. Unfortunately, the Dusklings find them and surround the house. As they wait, Emil sudden hears the Dusklings in his head as they attempt to control him, and Lalli tries to stop it by having him focus on his stories. The tactic fails and Lalli is forced to render Emil unconscious, though after the two realize how vulnerable they are in that state, Lalli releases Emil and decides to try to find a way back into his body.
Escape[]
Lalli searches for a way out of Emil's mind, finding that all hallways loop around, the doors and windows are impossible to open and the way he came in no longer exists. However, he discovers a trapdoor on the ceiling and opens it, finding water on the other side. He climbs through, separating himself from Emil who stops hearing the Trolls. Although, Lalli finds himself in Troll-infested waters and desperately hopes he isn't spotted as he breaks the surface and calls for Onni. A lone figure appears in the distance and Lalli swims away, but doesn't get far before a large Troll under the water finds him. He starts screaming for help as the Troll drags him down, mocking him as Lalli creates an air-bubble to breathe. After a struggle, Lalli begins to drown, lamenting that Emil will die because he tried to save him. Lalli looks up to see the Swan of Tuonela, though it is suddenly slammed aside by Onni, in his owl form, who rescues Lalli. Onni asks where his cousin is, but Lalli explains he doesn't know before leaving to save Emil.
He wakes up as Emil has accepts they won't make it out alive and Lalli vomits on the floor from having been in a coma for so long. He discovers the Dusklings have all come inside and the two make a break for it by jumping out the window. Lalli collapses while running but gets up and senses something nearby. He uses some of Emil's explosives to lure a Giant out of a house and they hide in a trash can as the monster proceeds to devour the Dusklings before leaving. The pair meet in their dreams once again despite Lalli no longer inhabiting Emil's mind, and Emil convinces Lalli to wake up and make sure they're safe, much to Lalli's chagrin.
Pickup Point[]
Lalli and Emil make it to the pickup point and reunite with the surviving members of the crew. A while later they board the quarantine ship where they wait for a month. Lalli and Emil continue to meet in their dreams, where Emil tells Lalli he attempted to find him a Finnish speaker to help him, however Lalli states he doesn't want to talk.
[]
Iceland[]
They arrive in Reykjavík and Lalli meets with Onni, who tells him everything will be fine. When a group of reporters arrive, Onni keeps them away from Lalli, preventing them from interviewing him. Onni later asks him if he wants to go sightseeing, but Lalli refuses and they sit down on a bench. Emil is unimpressed with the cousins' plans and complains loudly, leading Onni to question Lalli's choice of friends. Emil then leaves to look at the shops and Lalli follows.
The crew and Onni go to Brúardalur to stay at Reynir's home. Reynir's mother mistakenly assumes Emil and Lalli are Reynir's friends. Lalli tries to take Reynir's bed as his own and is thrown out of it. The next day, Emil takes Lalli up one of the mountains to see the view, however it rains as soon as they reach the top.
Lalli receives a letter from Onni telling him he is leaving to go back to Keuruu, but overhears Mikkel talking about Saimaa. He goes to the dreamworld to question Reynir about it and learns that Onni lied to him and intends to return to Saimaa. They look for Onni but can't find him. Reynir's Fylgja becomes worried, so they leave.
Listless over Onni's departure, Lalli goes after him, leaving behind a note in broken Swedish for the crew. He returns to Reykjavík and tries to find a boat to take him back to Finland, only to become hopelessly confused by the language barrier, so he gets a room at a hotel. The next day he goes back to trying to get a boat, though Mikkel interrupts him, takes him to the rest of the group who have gone after him and go pay for tickets. They board a boat together and Mikkel explains his reasons for helping Lalli are that he promised to look out for him and he dislikes 'shenanigans'. They arrive on an artificial island where Lalli attempts to purchase a single ticket for himself to Finland though the rest of the crew go with him.
Finland[]
When they finally get into Finland, Lalli buys a boat and tries to go immediately to find Onni, but Mikkel prevents him and tells him he needs to get supplies first by having Emil translate. While shopping, Lalli buys himself a better outfit. They begin their trip to Saimaa with Lalli giving directions in the form of pointing.
Toivosaari[]
They arrive in Saimaa and Lalli learns from a skald that Onni passed by recently and then headed further into the lake system. Lalli sees Onni left Tuuri's headstone but wonders why he'd continue onwards, knowing there's nothing out there.
That night, Lalli, Emil and Reynir find themselves as their child selves in a scene from Lalli's past. Lalli explains he came back from a scouting trip with Ensi and the other scouts. Ensi calls to another mage named Hilja, however she barely responds and is told Hilja may be going senile. Emil and Reynir come to the conclusion no one but Lalli can see them and ask if they're in his memories, to which he responds yes, but that he doesn't understand the situation.
They are brought to quarantine, though Lalli finds he can fast forward through time and skips past the quarantine. As they return to Toivosaari, he senses something odd with Hilja's package and tells Ensi, who questions her. Hilja tells Ensi to look her in the eyes and then tells her it's just a package, which Ensi agrees with. Reynir asks to see a young Onni and Lalli replies he's on a separate island with Tuuri helping out with the harvest. Lalli then states he wants to look around for a while and ends up giving the other boys a tour of the island.
Lalli then fast forwards events to a bake sale. Hilja appears once again but is anti-social and rude, blowing in people's faces and telling everyone she's been working on her garden before leaving. Lalli's only explanation of her is she was weird. He skips to two weeks later and meets his parents, though Hilja has not come to greet her daughter and a man goes to get her. Ensi tells Lalli to get his cousins, but the man returns and takes Ensi and several other men with him to investigate Hilja's home as his cats reacted with fear upon getting close. Lalli and company follow, as the group begins putting on protective gear, save for Ensi, who is immune. They find Hilja's package, and learn it contained a small Beast inside it which one of the men kills. Ensi realizes Hilja's package was protected from the cats at quarantine with spells even she doesn't understand. They entertain the possibility that Hilja was being manipulated, and enter her room to discover that she has become a Troll. Hilja attacks one of the men as she flees, but is eventually caught and killed. The men believe they have stopped Hilja, but Ensi realizes Hilja must have already infected the village. The men leave to save those who haven't been infected and Ensi stays to guide Hilja's soul. Unfortunately, she begins hearing voices saying she can't save herself or Hilja and tells Lalli not to look her in the eye and to bring her rifle to Onni. Lalli obliges but Ensi suddenly demands he look her in the eyes, which he refuses to do. He tries to ask about his parents but Ensi sends him off.
Lalli finds Tuuri and Onni and says they have a Code 0. Onni quickly forces all of them onto a boat. Emil asks what happens next and Lalli skips forward and tells him they found a safe spot to protect Onni and Tuuri who hadn't been exposed, and wait several days for the quarantine boats. Lalli explains they were picked up and later Onni got a military job in Keuruu while Lalli and Tuuri got apprenticeships there. He, Reynir, and Emil revert to being adults. Reynir asks what happened to Ensi and why Onni is in Saimaa, though Lalli only knows she was never seen again and he believes there's something still out there that Onni is after.
Relations[]
Tuuri Hotakainen[]
“
Don't be sad. There's nothing interesting to see out here, anyway.
”
–Lalli to Tuuri after she couldn't see the outside world because of the darkness.
Lalli's older cousin, Tuuri was also a member of the expedition to explore the Silent World. Tuuri was Lalli's guide in society and spoke for him most of the time. Lalli was shown to care for his cousin, trying to cheer her up when she was disappointed and following her wherever she went. After Tuuri became infected, Lalli was very concerned for her. When Tuuri committed suicide, he mourned for her by the sea, and even let the others go on ahead while he made sure Tuuri had made it to the afterlife for three straight hours.
Onni Hotakainen[]
Lalli's relationship with his cousin Onni is currently unknown. Onni was first annoyed at Lalli's presence, but it probably was because he thought Lalli's absence would change Tuuri's mind. He cared for both of them since they were children and didn't want them to go.
Onni continued to look out for Lalli and Tuuri while they were in Denmark, using his powers on several occasions to protect them as best he could. After he was reunited with Lalli in Reykjavík, however, Onni soon left for Saimaa, trusting that his cousin would stick with Emil.
Emil Västerström[]
When Lalli first met Emil, he was suffering the effects of seasickness and ignored him. On the train, he called Emil a "messy Swedish person" and wasn't excited at the prospect of working with him.
On the Dalahästen, Lalli and Emil wished each other good night. Sensing the attack to come, Lalli tried to get Emil to put on his bed belt, with no success. The two of them instinctively hugged in the chaos when the giant burst through the roof. In general, Emil has often been protective of Lalli.
When he was asked if he had made any friends on the expedition, Lalli said he had "maybe" made "one", with the next panel cutting to Emil, implying that he does think of them as friends.
Lalli and Emil began learning each other's languages.
While Lalli and Emil travelled alone after Tuuri's death, Lalli protected Emil from a giant, but was subsequently forced out of his own body. He later found himself inside of Emil's mind, who let him stay there. They began to bond while Emil shared his mind, and though Lalli initially acted rudely, he later admitted that he was grateful that Emil hadn't left him. During the Duskling attack, Lalli became upset that Emil would die because he wouldn't leave Lalli behind, though the two made it out. Even after Lalli returned to his own body, he continued to meet Emil in dreams.
After returning from the expedition, Lalli tagged along with him to go sightseeing and confirmed to Onni that Emil is his friend.
Abilities[]
Magic[]
Lalli is a Finnish Mage, and used to employ his magic abilities in his job as a night scout. His mage-like abilities have manifested in creating a spell to invoke the moon's protection, and in being able to sense and predict the position of a troll.
As any mage can, he has the ability to see ghosts.
Dream World[]
He is shown to have the ability to communicate with mages through dreams when he attempts to contact Onni as well as another mage in the dream world before being dragged under by elk trolls. During this, he displays the ability to defend himself by using a magically charged knife and blasting away the monsters in a cat-shaped ball of magic power (dubbed "Cat-Bomb"), further emphasizing his relationship to cats.
The usual language barriers do not seem to be a problem in the dream world, such as when Reynir intrudes on Lalli and Onni, and the two are able to speak. Another instance is when Lalli is cast out of his body and subsequently is trapped in Emil's mind, he frequently speaks to Emil.
Lalli leaving his Dream World with disappointment.
[]
In another insistence in Copenhagen, during his sleep to recover from the use of his Luonto, he was attacked ghosts who broke through his dream barrier, forcing him to repel them with magic. This defensive spell was not strong enough as he was overwhelmed until Onni showed up to help. This is likely due to the being forced to fend off the ghost without his Luonto present with him, a notion that is supported when he
Lalli fighting against elk trolls underwater.
battles a ghost (dubbed "Sleipnope") in the real world who asks him if he is "less weak this time?"
Physical Abilities[]
He is able to run quickly and for extended amounts of time, stated in a conversation with Emil, saying that he sometimes runs from certain trolls until the sun rises. Being a scout, he presumably is good with his rifle and has been seen to wield his short blade with ease.
Lalli only speaks Finnish, making it difficult for him to understand what others say, unless there is a translator present (usually Tuuri). Nevertheless, he seems to be adept in non-verbal communication, shown by his and Emil's slow but growing friendship, despite the fact that they had not spoken an understandable word to each other for much of the first adventure. Lalli has learned a little Swedish, but his speech is somewhat difficult to understand.
As a scout, he displays an uncanny ability to memorize places, both before (when shown a map of locations he's supposed to check out) and during his mission / debriefing, when he reports his findings in great detail.
His scout abilities compliment his mage duties as he is shown to be able to scale a tall tree in the winter to help bring peace to the dead dog beast and to lead lost souls to Tuonela, the final resting place in Finnish beliefs.
Trivia[]
Lalli likes cookies.
Lalli was the first main character to be introduced, but the second to have his name given (the first being Tuuri).
Lalli's name is the same of the well-known Finnish folkloristic figure Lalli, who was said to have decapitated a bishop.
Lalli is prone to motion sickness, exactly like his ancestor, Saku Hotakainen.
The rifle that Lalli uses is said to be used and passed down from his grandmother.
In the Nordics, "Lalli" is predominantly used as a first name, more often as a male one (derived from Lalle) than a female one (derived from Lalla), probably due to the historic precedent. On a global plane, "Lalli" is more frequently used as a last name.
While unleashing powerful spells, Lalli starts to bleed from the nose and/or eyes.
While using spells, Lalli is known to either grab his ears or thrust his arms out.
