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- If someone has to end this, it must be you.
- —Mike to Norton at The Great Race
Tonton is the slash ship between Mike Morton and Norton Campbell from the Identity V fandom.
Canon[]
Background[]
Based on the serial numbers of Character Day Letters, we can assume Mike's manor game happened some days before December 1st of 1899 and Norton's manor game happened during or after July 1902. [1]Both characters share similarities and maintain contrasting differences regarding their personalities and life events.
Mike began life as a young orphan. At some point, he was discovered by a middle-aged man named Bernard Morton. Bernard took in Mike as a performer in his traveling circus, the "Hullabaloo" Circus. Under Bernard's teaching, Mike was trained to be the circus's star acrobat. Mike began to see the man as a father to him, with Bernard even giving him his last name, Morton.
Several years after, while Mike was out shopping, a terrible massacre would occur at the circus, with an unknown killer slaughtering almost everyone in the circus. Mike was initially suspected given he was conveniently away from the circus during the incident, but wasn't convicted. Mike would end up having to identify the bodies for the records, including that of Bernard. Mike would notice that he did not find the bodies of 2 people: Natalie and Sergi. Mike was also uncertain if Joker was one of the victims, unsure the body he thought was Joker's was actually his. Mike, determined to find who destroyed his home and family, would employ a private investigator named Arthur Russel to help him investigate the massacre, specifically looking for information on Natalie.
One day, Mike received an invitation to Oletus Manor containing a photo of Natalie, now sporting dark hair. With this new lead, Mike set off to the manor, hoping to find answers.[2]
Norton was a boy who lost his parents at an early age. When his father died of black lung, he was forced to work and learn how to take care of himself while still being young. He became a miner like his father, but due to conditions of that time, it did not earn him very much. Norton was desperate to change his fate and live a better life, resulting in him learning and working harder than most others, which "intimidated" those around him. Even so, he persevered, and soon he was able to improve his reputation despite the mockery and physical aggression of those in the mines, due to his efforts at work which earned the respect of the superiors and his visits to the elderly.
Eventually, Norton met Benny, an old miner who was once a friend of his father. Benny showed him a list of 13 locations, of which there might be gold in the stone of the mine. As Norton had been doing everything he could to find valuable mine locations in order to quickly get out of poverty, he took the list and began searching the locations. In impatience, after 12 of the 13 mines came up empty, Norton set off dynamite in the last location, which caused the entire place to collapse with him and his co-workers inside the mine. Right as a search and rescue team were about to give up finding any survivors in the rubble, Norton was discovered a few dozen meters away from the entrance of the mine, having dug his way out of the cave through a mountain creek. He was the only survivor of the mining accident.
As he recovered alone in the hospital, he refined the piece of meteorite he had obtained into a magnet, which he used to change professions from a miner into a geological prospector where he obtained his desired stability, but not the immense wealth he dreamed of. Therefore, when he received an invitation to the Manor, he jumped at the chance of earning a fortune.[3]
Events at the Manor[]
Mike committed suicide shortly after realizing the "Hullabaloo" Circus was not the paradise he'd gaslighted himself into thinking it was. While he enjoyed his time at the circus and loved Bernard like a real father, others suffered of psychological and physical abuse, along with explotation by Bernard himself. After Natalie threw herself to the lake and Joker followed soon after, only Murro and Mike were left to decode the final cipher machine and escape. However, as they headed towards the exit, Mike asked Murro to leave first along with his companion as he wanted to stay for a bit longer. As Mike wandered around the reconstructed park, for the first time he didn't see his happy memories but rather the terrible memories of the others. Mike, realizing the truth of the place he called home, spilled the gunpowder in his bombs around the park. In a final farewell to the "Hullabaloo" Circus, Mike ignited the gunpowder, setting off the fireworks and blowing the circus up with him inside, with Murro helpless to do anything but watch
Norton was the latest of his Group to arrive at the Manor, other participants were Orpheus, Alice DeRoss, Melly Plinius and Frederick Kreiburg. His game being one of the last ones that was held. He was hired to kill a certain woman (suspected to be Melly). When the Group went to the Forest of No Return, he was soon seen punching Melly while she was distracted by something and knocked her out, potentially seeing her as a hunter due to the drugs the survivors had been applied on. As the game went on, he seemed to be trying to actively target Alice. However, Orpheus, under the effects of the same drugs, saw him as a monstrous being who was trying to attack two of them. His actions eventually seemed to awake Orpheus' evil side and in his desperation to protect Alice. Orpheus then attacked Norton fiercely and brutally, causing Norton to be knocked out immediately. Nevertheless, it is unknown if the injuries were enough to kill Norton.
Call of the Abyss IV[]
- This is not just a race, for a scene that makes you feel you were there so many times. My heart is whispering I need to finish everything. If so, I'm sure who will play that role will be you.
- —Trailer Description
The Great Race - Official trailer of COAIV
Call of the Abyss is a series of books written by Orpheus before arriving to the manor. The characters in his stories are adapted to the characters of the manor games to promote the annual tournament of the same name.
"No one can fight alone"
Overview[]
Highway Cavalier and Pumping Tires are Norton's and Mike's respective identities in this universe. Highway Cavalier is a former worker of the transportation corporation Pumping Tires currently works for. Both of them eventually meet in The Great Race, an underground racing event held by three major corporations (Mike's being one of them) that wish to experiment with their Cthulhu technologies.
Retrieving Tires' body
Independent and corporate racers are sent to the Broadcaster's Dreamlands for a 24-hour race, whose winner will be rewarded by her. It's assumed none of the participants are truly aware at first of the dangers the race entails, except for Norton, who keeps going back to the start line everytime he dies at the hands of the Molten Hound with memories of previous attempts and deaths of his friends.
Tires saves Cavalier from Molten Hound
Pumping Tires, aware about the Molten Hound's existence and somewhat knowledgeable about Highway Cavalier's time travels, constantly seeks to protect Highway Cavalier. At some point in the race, Pumping Tires can be seen smiling at Highway Cavalier and Fueling Agent before being attacked by Molten Hound's hook. Highway Cavalier then takes Pumping Tires out of his wrecked car, most likely dead.
Pumping Tires even sacrificed himself towards the end of the race by crashing his own car against's Molten Hound so Highway Cavalier could get to the finish line and end the time loop. This resulted in Pumping Tires' car sinking in a frozen lake and drowning in it.
"If someone has to end this, it must be you."
Official Summary[]
The "Great Rally" competition amongst 3 corporate giants is about to commence. Whether you have an ORV, a motorcycle or a vintage car–––any vehicle with an engine is qualified to join the race!
But there's only one rule–––Stop, and you're disqualified!
Lose a tail and break through all obstacles. What matters between the start and the finish line is the speed beyond "The Shadow Out of Time"!
Dangerous racetracks cultivate great drivers and great drivers pave the way for [???]
Fanon[]
Tonton started as a ship from the moment Mike's "Mr. Swifts" costume came out with Norton's matching "Mr. Mole" and Soul Weaver's "Long-Legged Lady". The lore of the skins is unknown despite belonging to the same universe, since at the time Identity V didn't make trailers for the gacha Essences. The name for this skinship is called SwiftsMole.
Some other popular skinships for their survivor forms are Highway Cavalier x Pumping Tires, Soul Catcher x Tea Party, Wild Pitch x ACE, Jarhead x Cocoa Bean, Tulip x Cunning, Sparrow x Bohea or Rain Pearl, and Ronald of Nice x Sparrow, either because of their matching themes, color palette or belonging to the same story.
It's common between Tonton shippers to depict Mike and Norton as players of the same game, despite never meeting in canon. Others prefer to headcanon they met long before the explosion at Golden Cave and the fire at Moonlit River Park, with Norton witnessing one of Mike's shows.
The ship has over 600+ works on AO3. It's the second most popular ship for Norton and most popular ship for Mike in the page.
In July 2024, Tonton ranked place 14 in a fanmade ranking of top 50 Identity V ships, based on its amount of works on Lofter.[4]
Fandom[]
- FAN FICTION
- Norton Campbell/Mike Morton tag on AO3
- Norton Campbell & Mike Morton tag on AO3
Trivia[]
- Tonton is a play on the names "Morton" and "Norton"
- Moonlit River Park and Golden Cave are locations owned by the same person, Count Barriere.
References[]
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| Identity V Ships • Identity V Characters | ||
| SHIPS | het | Adamil • GanjiAnne • Kevpat • Ithagrace • NortVera • OrpheAlice |
| slash | Aesvic • Edluca • Elisop • JosCarl • Tonton | |
| femslash | Adaemily • EmmaEmi • MarthaVera • MichiMary | |