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Enigmatic and mysterious, the man in the grey suit is one of the primary antagonists of the novel, but he does not fit the mold of a traditional villain. Ironically, while the man in the grey suit uses magic to make himself inscrutable and easily forgotten, his maneuverings influence the fates of everyone involved in the Night Circus. The man in the grey suit is icy in his demeanor, keeping himself at a distance from everyone. While the man in the grey suit does not change during the course of the novel, he is revealed to be a more complex man than he first appears. As one of the men behind the game and the teacher who all but neglects a young Marco, the man in the grey suit seems cruel and calculating at first. The novel’s reveal after the climax that he is hundreds, possibly thousands, of years old suggests that this behavior is a defense mechanism. He truly cares for his students but does not want to get attached to someone he knows may die. His near immortality adds weight to the lessons his beliefs impart: that stories are powerful and that magic must be teachable to have any meaning.
