Heino is the main antagonist of the trilogy – and one of its most impenetrable figures. We first encounter him in a comic setting – living in a nest hidden behind the broken mill wheel. But even then, it’s clear that he’s not just an obstacle in the plot. He is the very essence of corruption – smug, cunning, already involved in shady deals. A big player caught in a bribery scandal, now hiding from the media – and it’s precisely this fear that Anne uses to outsmart him.

In Book I he’s a local villain – something like a forest mafioso, lazy and sly, but not all-powerful. What’s truly frightening about Heino, however, is his ability to evolve. In Book II he’s already the puppet master of the entire Forest. Through his media empire, he has rewritten history, turning Anne into a mythical villain. He has also built a giant amusement park glorifying his own lies. He has kidnapped her old toys and repurposed them for his propaganda. This is no longer the petty villain of Book I. Here, Heino has become something very close to the modern manipulators of the masses we all fear.

In Book III, Heino is no longer just a ruler – he is a hidden god. Thanks to a catastrophic mistake by Laptsev, Heino gains control of the Fire of Eternal Change and corrupts it into something called Black Light. The Forest lies in ruins. Heino himself has disappeared – in his place stands a new identity. Using a ghostly technique for changing appearances, he moves among everyone, unseen.

And he continues to weave his schemes.

– Beaver = diligence, distorted into parasitism

– Water wheel = blocked progress

– Amusement park = spectacle instead of truth

– Ghosts = victims turned into a resource

– Black light = technology turned into a destructive force

Sir, I’ve already said everything I had to say on this matter. Please leave my residence! By the way, how did you get this address?

What were you thinking, huh? That you could play little jokes on old Heino? And just get away with it? O-ho-ho, not a chance! No one has ever made fun of Heino without paying dearly for it! And the price is always the same, hee-hee-hee!

Idiots! Incompetents! You’re good for nothing, I have to do everything myself! I’ve become a laughingstock for the whole Forest – all because of you! Traitors! Scoundrels!

This little nobody here should serve as an example to everyone! Let them see for themselves what happens to those who go against me.

📘 Book I

– Comic villain who only hints at his real abilities

– Outsmarted by Anne through psychological manipulation

– Represents local but typical corruption

📗 Book II

– Rewrites the history of the Forest through his media empire

– Becomes the hidden ruler of the Forest

– Creates a new myth in which Anne is a witch

– Turns her toys back into Ghosts

– Embodiment of manipulation and falsified memory

📙 Book III

– Controls the Black Light (the twisted Fire)

– Operates under a new identity

– Rules indirectly but with devastating force

– Destroys the Forest, which becomes a desert

– His true identity is revealed only at the end

– How did Heino manage to master the Fire when even the wizards failed?

– Is his transformation irreversible – or is the real Heino still in there?

– Could his rise be the result of Anne’s own choices?

– Is it possible the Ghosts helped him – knowingly or not?

– Some suspect he isn’t acting alone. Who is his true master?