Denizen

Denizens are immensely powerful NPCs found in Sburb sessions. They are, at first, supposedly asleep, but as the player progresses through the Seven Gates, they awaken. However HS 5853 (visiting a denizen early) HS 5844 (causes them to wake up prematurely.) Each is said to guard an immense Grist hoard, to be released upon their defeat and used for the Ultimate Alchemy, although their true purpose appears to be to offering players The Choice which HS 5844 (differs depending on the circumstances) but seems to be based on HS 5885 (facing your mortality). The denizens control the underlings and are responsible for many of the problems found on the players' planets.

Most of the trolls fought denizens of their own, as they are an integral part of the game and its often ignored "plot", with both HS 5873 (Karkat) and HS 5853 (Vriska) believing all the trolls to have killed them without talking to them. However HS 5879 (Kanaya) and HS 5853 (potentially Tavros) talked to their denizens. This may be due to Kanaya's role as a Sylph, as Sylphs are often skilled at speaking and reasoning, and Tavros' psychic communing abilities.

The denizens appear to speak in a manner or language that only their respective players understand, as Karkat was HS 5873 (unable to understand) what Echidna said to Jade, and despite Kanaya also being assigned Echidna HS 5879 (had to ask) Jade what Echidna had said to her. Yaldabaoth also to spoke to Caliborn in a way that only he understood. Some of the denizens may have a connection to the aspects that form part of a players' title.

Typheus


Typheus is the denizen of John Egbert in the Land of Wind and Shade. He may also be Tavros's and Rufioh Nitram's denizen.

According to a salamander on LOWAS in the Flash at the start of Act 4, before he fell asleep, Typheus cast a spell on the fireflies trapping them under the clouds, was commissioned by Agents (implicitly Agents of Derse) to create an army of Underlings, and befouling LOWAS with sludge, clogging the pipes in the process.

Typheus has HS 4787 (large minions) resembling the corresponding browser icon.

In Greek myth, Typheus was a terrible monster that even the gods feared, and after he was defeated, was trapped underground, specifically, under Mount Etna, the volcano Hephaestus was said to reside in.

Cetus


Cetus is the denizen of Rose Lalonde and Vriska Serket, two Heroes of Light, in the Land of Light and Rain and the Land of Maps and Treasure, respectively. She may also be Aranea Serket's denizen, however there is contradictory evidence on the matter.

According to Jaspersprite, Rose's denizen ""HS 3526. Vriska refers to Cetus as female, and says that she was "8a88ling in riddles through most of the fight".HS 5853

In Greek myth, a Cetus was a large fish, serpent, whale, or sea monster, which would explain all of the fish of LOLAR being eaten, and why the trolls' version of Cetus was found amidst shipwrecks.

Hephaestus


Hephaestus, lord of the forge, is the denizen of Dave Strider in the Land of Heat and Clockwork. He may also be Aradia's and Damara Megido's denizen. He posseses a hammer called Fear No Anvil that had its captchalogue code acquired by alternate Dave through "shennanigans".

In Greek myth, Hephaestus lived in a volcano, and was the God of blacksmithing.

Echidna


Echidna, the mother of all monsters, is the denizen of Jade Harley and Kanaya Maryam, two Heroes of Space, in the Land of Frost and Frogs and the Land of Rays and Frogs, respectively. She may also be Porrim Maryam's denizen, however there is contradictory evidence on the matter suggesting that Aranea may have had Echidna as a denizen instead.

In Greek myth, Echidna was considered the mate to Typheus and the "mother of all monsters" in that she actually gave birth to them.

It is also of note that Echidna's quills can be used as not only a weapon, but are also the only thing sharp enough to scratch the Scratch construct (the Beat Mesa in Dave's LOHAC and the Cardinal Movement in universe A1). The picture of Echidna shown as Jade's web browser shows a serpent-like monster with no discernible quills, however HS 5771 (statues of Echidna) seem to indicate that the quills are simply hidden from a front perspective, because her quills prod from her back

This denizen having quills is most likely in reference to the real life animal sharing the same name.

Hemera
Hemera is the denizen of Jane Crocker in the Land of Crypts and Helium. She may also be Feferi's and Meenah Peixes's denizen.

In Greek myth, Hemera is considered to be the personification of daytime.

Nyx


Nyx is likely the denizen of Roxy Lalonde in the Land of Pyramids and Neon, based off Roxy's web browser. She may also be Equius's and Horuss Zahhak's denizen.

In Greek myth, Nyx is considered to be the personification of nighttime.

Yaldabaoth


Yaldabaoth, the self-proclaimed god of all monsters, the most powerful and rarest of all denizens, is Dirk Strider's denizen in the Land of Tombs and Krypton and Caliborn's denizen on Earth, making him the only denizen confirmed to have been assigned to players of multiple aspects. He is also the first denizen to be actually shown in Homestuck.

In Christian Gnosticism Yaldabaoth (which is literally "childhood" in Hebrew) is the demiurge, a being who was responsible for the creation of the universe. While Yaldabaoth is not a figure of classical Greek mythology as per the previous six revealed denizens, the concept of a 'demiurge' was originally derived from the Platonic dialogue, Timaeus.

Abraxas


Abraxas is the denizen of Jake English in the Land of Mounds and Xenon. Like Yaldabaoth he originates from Gnosticism, making it unclear if he possesses any connection to the aspects. However he appears to be connected to angels, in particular, the cherubim, which are in turn associated with the aspect of Hope, potentially making him Eridan's and Cronus Ampora's denizen.

Abraxas was a word of mystic meaning in the system of the Gnostic Basilides. This is the second denizen that appears in Gnostic texts (the first being Yaldabaoth). Opinions abound on Abraxas, who in recent centuries has been claimed to be both an Egyptian god and a demon. The Swiss Psychologist Carl Jung wrote a short Gnostic treatise called "The Seven Sermons to the Dead", which called Abraxas a God higher than the Christian God and Devil, that combines all opposites into one Being. These interpretations may be connected to Calliope and Caliborn.

Connections to the Aspects
While some of the denizens appear to have some connections to a player's aspect, others like Yaldabaoth, who was assigned to a Hero of Heart and a Hero of Time, and is described as HS 7396 (a rare denizen that is "usually designated for the most naturally gifted warriors") seems to be absent of such connections. Given this, it is unknown if the apparent connections are coincidence, or if only some denizens are connected to aspects, or if the aspects are only a single factor in denizen assignment.

Typheus, as John's denizen in the Land of Wind and Shade, was shown to have control over the breeze, the domain of John's aspect, Breath. It is however possible that his powers vary from session to session in order to better suit the player he is assigned to, making his control over the Breeze session specific. Cetus while having no apparent connection to the aspect of Light has never-the-less been assigned to two Heroes of Light; Rose and Vriska.

Echidna and Hephaestus appear to have some connection to Space and Time, respectively. Echidna, as the denizen of two Heroes of Space, Jade and Kanaya, is described as "mother of all monsters" is tied to creation, the domain of the aspect of Space. Echidna's quills are needed to cause a scratch, as the scratch appears to be union of Time and Space, as seen by the appearance of Skaia during such an event, and the device to cause the scratch is located on the planet of the Hero of Time, it would imply that Echidna would be representative of the Space component during the scratch. Hephaestus, as Dave's denizen, wielded a hammer with power over Time, though it is possible his hammer changes depending on to whom he is assigned. Hephaestus requires lava from the Forge, a volcano that is brought into the session by the Hero of Space, implying that Hephaestus cannot be assigned to Space players, likewise, this dependency on the aspect of Space would tie into the unity of Space and Time.

In the A1 session there is some confusion over to who was assigned Echidna. Aranea, a Hero of Light, while attempting to explain events of the A1 session gave indications she had Echidna as her denizen. However she was interrupted both times, possibly indicating that the hints were simple miscommunication. Eventually it was implied that Porrim, a Hero of Space, was assigned Echidna, however it still has not been explicitly stated and the issue is still unclear.

Trivia
The denizens of each kid match up with their respective browser of choice, implying that they may share appearances with these browsers' icons, or at least their minions should. The sole denizen actually seen to date, Yaldabaoth, has demonstrated this to be factual in its own case, though minor details such as scales were obviously left out of the browser icon, as was the sheer luminosity of his head. Echidna's browser icon has a white human torso with breasts and head (perhaps, lacking arms) with two snake tails on its bottom; Typheus' has a white torso with head and a snake tail on its bottom; Hephaestus' browser icon version is engulfed in flames, but seems to have a black torso and black head and would be humanoid, making him most human (perhaps, because in Greek myth he was god of blacksmithing and was a human-like god), and Cetus' has a fish body with a white human-like head. This would relate to Rose's strong connection with The Noble Circle of Horrorterrors and her least human and most reckless actions in the game (her plan to blow up the Green Sun and her going grimdark), as a foil to Dave's, who was mainly gathering money to buy fraymotifs. So far, all confirmed denizen player pairs share the same gender.

Each browser icon has a coloured part that matches its user's normal clothing: John's green slime ghost and Typheus' snake part are green, Jade's depictions on her shirts are blue like Echidna's lower half, Rose's Horrorterror picture on her shirt is purple, like Cetus' icon, and Dave's record has a red part, like Hephaestus' flames. Nothing associated with Jane matches Hemera's coloring, though Jane's recent Trickster mode-powered alteration of her own planet appears to, and her clothing does appear to match the colour associated with Dirk Strider. Roxy also does not match, however, in both Roxy and Jane's cases the colorations on these two icons may possibly be references to Prospit and Derse, since they match the respective user's dream moon.

Each of the denizens' lairs are also marked with the same browser icons; at least, Hephaestus', Typheus', and Yaldabaoth's are, thus indicating that the homes of the others are probably marked the same way.