Character from Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman
A dwarf ringmaster transformed into a building-sized parasitic vine — a third-floor city boss who controls his dead circus family like puppets and refuses to let the show end.
Grimaldi's tragedy is that he loves his family so much he turned them into a horror show. When Scolopendra's poison cloud struck during a performance, it transformed him into a vine creature and infected his circus crew with parasitic molds, placing them under his control. He resurrects them when they fall. He makes them perform. 'The show must go on' isn't his catchphrase — it's his condition. He's deeply protective and family-oriented in the way that makes you understand how love can become a cage. He may recognize the ethics of puppeting his dead wife and crew are questionable, but the alternative is letting them stay dead, and that's the one thing the ringmaster won't do. Carl defeats him using poisoned blood — because of course Carl uses his own toxic body as a weapon — and then negotiates with Grimaldi through parasitic worm communication, eventually convincing him to end the circus. It's one of the dungeon's rare moments where the boss fight ends not with a kill but with a conversation about letting go.
A giant bushy vine filling the center ring and reaching the ceiling of the circus tent — pale green coloring with multiple extending vines from a central stalk. Originally a dwarf, now a level 85 Pestiferous Vine City Boss Elite. The circus tent around him is both his stage and his body. His crew moves around him as infected puppets, still performing their acts.
Also known as: Grimaldi, Ringmaster Grimaldi, the Ringmaster