History Characters / HiganbanaNoSakuYoruNi

* AndIMustScream: The fate that Higanbana's victims suffer, as shown in "Before the Spider Lillies Bloomed", that they're forced to dance eternally by strands of her hair for as long as she wants them to, even eternally. The boys who ruptured Shuuichi's eyes are still forcibly dancing there, even when Shuuichi is now an adult pianist.

* BadSamaritan: It's part of her nature as a youkai. She may seem to help people, but she really just wants to eat them in the end. The only real exception to this is Marie, especially after she becomes a youkai, though she openly states that she would've eaten Marie if she hadn't.

* [[spoiler:DiscOneFinalBoss: Being a pretty yet creepy girl who’s a big {{Troll}} and even somewhat resembles [[VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry Bernkastel]] makes her a dead ringer for being the main antagonist, but she’s just a pawn of the [[EvilerThanThou even worse]] Sumire [[TheDogBitesBack and even starts fighting back]].]]

* EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette

* KickTheDog[=/=]KickTheSonOfABitch: It doesn't matter who or how she kicks. She just likes to do it a lot.
* LackOfEmpathy: She curses and kills humans without a second thought, and she couldn't really care less about her fellow youkai. The only person she even remotely cares for is Marie, if only because she's interested in her capabilities as a youkai.
** Averted in "Before the Spider Lilies Bloom" where she develops an unlikely bond with Shuuichi and actually tried to protect him from his bullies. [[spoiler: She was sincerely repulsed when she saw the horrific damage the boys performed on him that last time, such as the fact that they ''ruptured his eyes''. Keep in mind, this is still while Higanbana had only just started to feel emotions.]]
* LargeHam: Higanbana likes her job.

* PetTheDog: Letting [[spoiler:Yoko]]'s ghost go to Heaven in "One Girl's Day". She's even stated to have done it on a whim.

* [[spoiler:TheDogBitesBack]]: After being abused by Kanamori for god knows how long, [[spoiler:she get the chance to eat him once she becomes a youkai.]]
* FirstEpisodeResurrection

* BigBad: As the most recurring antagonist, she’s the best candidate [[spoiler:[[DiscOneFinalBoss until Sumire shows herself]]]].

* HeelFaceTurn: Downplayed; while she doesn’t stop hunting for souls, she softened up after befriending Marie, even [[spoiler:turning on [[ManBehindTheMan Sumire]]]].

* PayEvilUntoEvil: Her philosophy is that Youkai must paint the night darker so that the day shines brighter, or in other words being evil so that people remain good. As a result, she tends to solely target people who've done terrible things, been arrogant, and sometimes those who are purely the victim and wish to die to take away people who would hurt others. This becomes apparent in more chapters, like [[spoiler: her targeting Takeshi because he was bullying Yoko horribly and made her commit suicide, killing all the bullies Sumire made in Yukari's class while sending her off to avoid dying in the same crash, and even aiding other Youkai in their hunts (like Renoir on Shintani) or the prey who were unfortunate enough to end up as such (Aya with Izanami).]]

* RedEyesTakeWarning

* {{Telepathy}}: One of her youkai powers.

* PsychoticSmirk

* AlliterativeName: Marie has the distinction of having multiple names that are all alliterative. ''M''arie ''M''oriya, ''M''eso-''M''eso-san, and ''Meso''-''M''meso ''M''arie.

* AlliterativeName

* MoralityPet: To Higanbana.

* TheRedBaron: [[FluffyTheTerrible Mesomeso.]]

[[Characters/HiganbanaNoSakuYoruNiHumans Humans]]
[[Characters/HiganbanaNoSakuYoruNiYoukai Youkai]]

[[folder:Yoshihito Kanamori]]
!!Yoshihito Kanamori
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/yoshihito_kanamori_7334.jpg

Kanamori is Marie's homeroom teacher. He originally defended Marie against her tormentors, but has long since taken to molesting her in the bathroom of the old school building to relieve the daily stress of his job. He is [[ArcVillain the main antagonist]] [[StarterVillain of the first chapter]], "Mesomeso-san".
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* AGodAmI: Well, not necessarily a god, but he declares himself to be Mesomeso after strangling Marie to death and pretending to be a youkai to ward off potential witnesses who came because of a ScareDare.
* ArcVillain: For "Mesomeso-san".
* [[spoiler:AssholeVictim: His final fate is being brutally killed by [[WhosLaughingNow his own victim]].]]
* BeneathTheMask: He'd be a fairly likable guy if he weren't secretly a brutal, animalistic child molester.
* {{Bishonen}}: Is said to be very popular with the girls. Well, except for Marie.
* {{Blackmail}}: Kanamori always videotapes Marie while molesting her, and threatens to expose the tapes in order to keep her quiet. [[spoiler:The moment Marie tried to turn this around on Kanamori, it led to her death.]]
* BreakThemByTalking: What he does to the ghost of Marie (see TheReasonYouSuckSpeech below). [[spoiler:[[HoistByHisOwnPetard Alas, he should have stayed silent.]]]]
* CorruptTheCutie: He actually started out as a WideEyedIdealist before the unbearable stress of work and his unhealthy paedophilia fetish twisted him into what he is now.
* EvilVsEvil: PlayedForLaughs in "[[{{Omake}} After School]]", when he and [[spoiler:Shintani]] trash-talk each other and [[PotCallingTheKettleBlack accuse each other]] of being a worse SadistTeacher.
* FauxAffablyEvil: He talks and acts like a teacher even when molesting and tormenting Marie.
* FreakOut: Does this a lot while trying to cover up his "supplementary lessons" with Marie.
* FreudianExcuse: See Corrupt The Cutie above.
* [[spoiler:HoistByHisOwnPetard]]: [[spoiler:He dies because he broke all the rules regarding the legend of Mesomeso. Mainly, he wasn't supposed to respond to or even look at her, and should've just run away. His mistake was in assuming the test was to determine who could be a better ''youkai'' instead of determining who could be a better ''Mesomeso''.]]
* HotTeacher: If he weren’t an evil molester, he’d be quite he catch.
* IgnoredEpiphany: There are numerous points in the story where he reconsiders his actions, but it never sticks.
* {{Large Ham}}: "[[AGodAmI TREMBLE BEFORE MESOMESO-SAN]]!!! [[EvilLaugh AHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAH]]!"
* PaedoHunt: Kanamori is one of these toward Marie, and his "supplementary lessons" with her are basically an excuse to molest and abuse her.
* PsychopathicManchild: Is more immature than [[PaedoHunt his targets]].
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: He lays one on Marie during the poll to see which one of them would become Mesomeso, telling her that she could've solved all her problems ages ago if she'd just grow a backbone and call the police. [[spoiler:See HoistByHisOwnPetard above for why it would've been better for him to just stay quiet]].
* SadistTeacher: ''Pedo'' teacher.
* SmallRoleBigImpact: He may have only been the StarterVillain, but his actions are what led to Marie meeting Higanbana and becoming Mesomeso, which sets up the plot of the rest of the series.
* SmugSnake: He thinks he can control Marie and become Mesomeso easily, but [[spoiler:fails to remember the instructions and gets killed for it]].
* StarterVillain: He’s the antagonist of the first story, [[spoiler:[[AssholeVictim but doesn’t last beyond that]]]].
* VillainProtagonist: The "Mesomeso-san" chapter is as much his chapter as it is Marie's, since it's told from both their perspectives.
* VillainousBreakdown: Kanamori has two. The first was when Marie threatened to turn over the evidence of his "supplementary lessons" to the police and put him away, which resulted in [[spoiler:him strangling her to death]]. The other was [[spoiler:when he learned he had failed the test to become Mesomeso and that Marie has become the youkai instead -- and is ready to take vengeance upon him]].
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: He has a reputation among the school as a wonderful teacher, and uses that to molest his students.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Yukari Sakaki]]
!!Yukari Sakaki
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/yukari_sakaki_3545.jpg

Yukari is a girl who comes from a poor, dysfunctional family, for which she is quite cruelly bullied. She is the main protagonist of "Utopia" and "A Thistle of Vengeance".
----

* AttemptedRape: The abuse she suffered after [[spoiler:Sumire disapeared]] was starting to go way beyond mere bullying. She just barely manages to escape.
* BigScrewedUpFamily: She's had some major issues with her life at home, particularly after the death of her mother. It's one of the reasons why she's bullied all the time.
* BullyHunter: In "A Thistle of Vengeance", she becomes this to her class.
* ButtMonkey: She's shown as a example of how, [[RealityEnsues realistically]], the idea of simply telling someone about being bullied doesn't always work as the adults she turned to for help were unable, or unwilling, to do anything.
* CharacterDevelopment: Going from someone who goes JustIgnoreIt to bullying, who in the end of her story decides to stand up against it. Needless to say [[EarnYourHappyEnding she got that happy ending]].
* {{Expy}}: She is the series entitled expy of [[VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry Rika]], after [[VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry Bernkastel]] and before [[VisualNovel/RoseGunsDays Stella]]. This comes not just from her design, but her character arc contains many similar themes with Rika's, mainly their shared sense of hopelessness from the many failures at making their situations better.
* HobbesWasRight: Downplayed, but she takes this approach to [[spoiler:the bullying in her class, crushing it like a dictator]].
* HugeSchoolgirl: She has a bit of a complex over it.
* JustIgnoreIt: She strongly believes this at first when it comes to dealing with bullies. After Sumire makes things worse for her, however, she takes on a far more assertive role against bullying.
* ShoutOut: Her name may be one to the [[Creator/YukariTamura actress]] who voices [[VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry Rika Furude]], whose {{Expy}} she is.
* ThePowerOfHate: [[spoiler: Azami's thistle gives her power to become a bully, and she uses it to [[HobbesWasRight become a tyrant in the class to kill off any other threats of bullying]], if only for a limited amount of time.]]
* YamatoNadeshiko: Nice and enduring but not a pushover. The HimeCut pushes her into this trope.
[[/folder]]


!Other Characters

[[folder:Humans]]
!!Nurse
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/infirmire_3296.jpg

ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin. She is a friendly and good-natured young woman who works at the school infirmary, and is Higanbana's owner. She is quite knowledgeable on the topic of TheSevenMysteries of the school, and may in fact seem to know more about them than she lets on…
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* ChristmasCake: If her drunk rant in the eighth story is anything to go by…
* CoolBigSis: Her personality in the visual novel.
* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep
* [[spoiler:ISeeDeadPeople:]] [[spoiler:She can see and chat with the yōkai when she is drunk, [[UnusuallyUninterestingSight and doesn't bat an eyelid when she meets the supposedly dead Marie on the roof.]]]]
* ManChild: Her manga incarnation, at least, ''really'' loves to play with that Higanbana doll of hers.
* {{Meganekko}}: In the manga. In the visual novel, [[GogglesDoNothing she wears her glasses on her forehead]].
* [[NiceGuy Nice Girl]]: She is the ''only'' adult human character in the series significant enough to get a sprite who isn't utterly fucked up.
* PerverseSexualLust: "[[{{Omake}} After School]]" shows her asking Renoir to use his powers to let her hit on the hot guys in her manga collection.
* SchoolNurse: Who apparently enjoys the scary stories of the school. [[VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry Not unlike another nurse.]]
* SenseiChan: A school nurse variation, in the manga at least. Her VN incarnation is a bit more composed.

!!Takeshi Nonomiya
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/takeshi_nonomiya_3490.jpg

Takeshi is a photographer and member of the school's journalism club. He was once falsely accused of breaking school equipment by Yoko Numata and her friends; unable to prove his innocence, he became obsessed with finding "the truth" in the pictures he takes. [[spoiler:He also harassed Yoko out of revenge by stalking her and sending her photos he took of her in secret, inadvertently causing her suicide]]. He is the main protagonist of "The Spirit Camera".
----

* BrainyBrunette: A male example.
* [[spoiler:DisproportionateRetribution]]: [[spoiler:He got scolded by his teacher because Yoko blamed him for an accident she caused. His response? To turn the student body of the entire school (a ''huge'' school, mind you) against her with embarrassing photos. That said, [[IDidntMeanToKillHim he never imagined she'd kill herself over it]].]]
* [[spoiler:HeelRealization]]
* IntrepidReporter
* [[spoiler:LaserGuidedAmnesia]]: [[spoiler:Due to the Headmaster's power of erasing the memories of anyone he eats, Takeshi forgot ever stalking Yoko since her corpse was eaten.]]
* {{Meganekko}}: Again, a male example.
* NiceGuy
** [[spoiler:BewareTheNiceOnes]]: [[spoiler:As Yoko can attest to.]]
* [[spoiler:StalkerWithoutACrush]]: [[spoiler:He used to take pictures of his classmate Yoko from afar and left them everywhere for her to find (even going as far as to clutter her locker with them), all out of revenge for being framed for something he didn't commit. He promptly stopped after she killed herself and her corpse was eaten by the Headmaster.]]
* [[spoiler:WhatTheHellHero]]
* [[spoiler:YouAreWorthHell]]: [[spoiler:When he finds out the kind of suffering Yoko had to endure in Hell, he becomes perfectly content with following her there to be with her if he can't go there in her place.]]

!!Yoko Numata
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/yoko_numata_2_3746.jpg

Yoko is a girl who accidentally broke some school equipment and blamed it on Takeshi to avoid getting in trouble. [[spoiler:She committed suicide after Takeshi started stalking her, sending her harassing photos of her and getting her bullied by the whole school, dooming her to an eternity of torment as the youkai's plaything in Hell. Her ghost appears in "The Spirit Camera" as part of Higanbana's bid to eat Takeshi's soul, and again as the protagonist of "One Girl's Day".]]
----

* [[spoiler:BlindingBangs]]: [[spoiler:While in Hell as a ghost; she loses them once she makes peace with Takeshi]].
* CheerfulChild
* [[spoiler:DrivenToSuicide]]: [[spoiler:Due to Takeshi constantly spreading photos about her.]]
* [[spoiler:EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette]]: [[spoiler:Again, as a ghost.]]
* {{Frameup}}: She accidentally knocked over a skeleton dummy and pinned the blame on Takeshi, who happened to be there at the time, to avoid getting in trouble.
* [[spoiler:GoOutWithASmile:]] At the end of chapter 6.
* [[spoiler:InnocentlyInsensitive]]: [[spoiler:She didn't realize she hurt Takeshi's feelings until Higanbana brings her back from hell to take revenge.]]
* [[spoiler:ItsAllMyFault]]: [[spoiler:She blames herself for the whole fiasco that led to her killing herself and thinks it better she just go back to Hell instead of hurting Takeshi even further.]]
* [[spoiler:KillTheCutie]]
* [[spoiler:PayEvilUntoEvil]]: [[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope Subverted]]. Higanbana brings her back from Hell to kill Takeshi for causing her suicide, but Yoko feels equally guilty when she finds out why he did it, so they forgive each other instead.]]
* [[spoiler:PosthumousCharacter]]
* [[spoiler:UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Yoko, why didn't you just accept that you broke the skeleton instead of pinning it on Takeshi? Then again, this was probably a spur of the moment thing and she didn't realize the ramifications until later.]]

!!Midori Kusunoki
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/midori_kusunoki_2758.jpg

Midori is a wealthy student and member of the school drama club who was bullied by other students for [[RichBitch flaunting her wealth]]. Ever since making a contract with the Black Tea Gentleman to get a role in a play she wanted to be in, she has gained popularity and become the most beloved student in her class. [[spoiler:In reality, this is all part of an illusion fabricated by the Black Tea Gentleman, who granted her wish to have her literally switch places with another student she was jealous of]]. She is the main protagonist of "The Princess's Lie".
----

* BreakTheHaughty: See RichBitch and [[spoiler:FreakOut]] below.
* DealWithTheDevil: Her contract with the Black Tea Gentleman in exchange for a bit of her soul.
* {{Determinator}}: [[spoiler: Despite all of the bullying, she will never give up in improving her acting skills. A line from the second novel states that a few students have changed their opinion on her because of it.]]
* [[spoiler:DrivenByEnvy]]
* [[spoiler:FreakOut]]: [[spoiler:After Marie frees her from her DreamWorld, all her experiences of being bullied in the real world hit her like a truck. She only gets a hold of herself once she's returned to the DreamWorld.]]
* GenreBlindness: When she begins experiencing sharp pains on her body, she initially assumes it's just caused by anxiety over an audition for the lead role in a play. Once these pains become more frequent, and [[IAteWhat dead bugs appear in her food during lunchtime]], Midori reasons that her jealous classmate is using the Black Tea Gentleman's powers to curse her and get the lead role herself. [[spoiler:She's actually feeling the pain from the beatings her classmates inflict on her while she's in the DreamWorld--because of AGlitchInTheMatrix, some of their pranks also make their way through]].
* [[spoiler:IJustWantToBeYou]]: [[spoiler:She wishes to become the princess in the play. Instead she is given the role of the 'Princess' of the school, Nozomi.]]
* [[spoiler:LaserGuidedAmnesia]]: [[spoiler:While in the DreamWorld, she has no memory of wanting to switch places with another student and instead believes she made a contract with the Black Tea Gentleman for a role she wanted for a play.]]
* LonelyRichKid: Initially. [[RichBitch She brought it on herself, though.]]
* MeaningfulName: [[spoiler:"Midori" means "[[GreenEyedMonster green]]".]]
* {{Ojou}}
* RichBitch: By the start of "The Princess's Lie", though, [[TookALevelInKindness she seems to have grown out of it thanks to the contract she made with the Black Tea Gentleman]]. [[spoiler:[[DoubleSubversion Doubly subverted]] in that she's still a RichBitch, but as long as the Black Tea Gentleman's powers are in effect, she doesn't realize this]].
* StepfordSmiler: [[spoiler: How she appears in reality, despite being bullied. She really can't act any other way than how she normally would while the Black Tea Gentleman's powers are in effect.]]
* TookALevelInKindness: [[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope Subverted]]. The narrative leads us to believe this, and Midori herself believes she has, but in the real world she hasn't and she's still being bullied for it.]]
* [[spoiler:YourMindMakesItReal]]

!!Michiru Sakurada
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/michiru_sakurada_8340.jpg

Michiru is a girl with the ability to sense spirits. She is the main protagonist of "Shrine of the Guardian Deity" and "My Best Friend".
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* ElegantGothicLolita: Her parents make her dress like one as part of their hobby.
* {{Expy}}: In the VN at least, you won't be blamed if you see [[VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry Dlanor A. Knox]] for a second.
* EyepatchOfPower: She's actually said to not need it anymore, but she keeps wearing it anyway.
* [[spoiler:FreudianExcuse]]: [[spoiler:No one ever believed that she had a sixth sense, making her feel alienated with the world. So when a bunch of girls laughed at her when she insisted that they would be cursed if they didn't apologize for destroying Sakunoshin's shrine, she took matters into her own hands by making up her own curse, one that involved dropping a chair on one of the girls' heads.]]
* GirlishPigtails
* ISeeDeadPeople
* LonersAreFreaks
* [[spoiler:MaliciousSlander]]: [[spoiler:She insists that Sakunoshin is a vengeful spirit who will curse the girls who broke his shrine, just so she can convince them to apologize to him.]]
* OnlyFriend: Tomoko. [[spoiler:Too bad she's dead, but she'll get better once she moves on for Tomoko's sake.]]
* ShoutOut: Her profile states that she gets her clothes from "Anti-Rosa", the design company managed by Rosa from ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry''.
* TearsOfRemorse: [[spoiler:After Marie talks her out of [[MoralEventHorizon dropping a fire extinguisher on the head of a girl who refused to acknowledge Sakunoshin's "curse"]].]]

!!Hikaru Nihei
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hikaru_nihei_6906.jpg

Hikaru is a very intelligent cram school student and member of the animal raising committee. He looks down on his more inept classmates, which ended up getting him bullied by them. He vents his frustrations by abusing the rabbits kept on the school grounds, which he is supposed to be caring for. He is the main protagonist of "Hameln's Castanets".
----

* AndIMustScream: [[spoiler: His eventual fate (see KarmicRape and KarmicTransformation below), which leaves him screaming for Higanbana's mercy until he can no longer scream (as rabbits can't scream out in human language). And even afterward, he is described as attempting to scream for her mercy as she left...]]
* BalefulPolymorph: [[spoiler:As a result of his KarmicTransformation below.]]
* BullyHunter: A very dark variant once he teams up with Hameln.
* DeathSeeker: [[spoiler:Once Higanbana {{Mind Rape}}s him and hammers home that he's been murdering humans.]]
* EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette
* FreakOut: [[spoiler:He practically loses his mind when Higanbana shows him the scene of him killing his classmates, this time as humans instead of rabbits, to show him what it ''really'' means to kill.]]
* FreudianExcuse: He tortures rabbits out of frustration with being bullied and having little evidence backing it. When offered to take revenge, he targets [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking bullies, the ones who know he's being bullied but don't speak up about it, and people who just plain piss him off]].
* HitMeDammit: He hates that the boys who pick on him never lay a finger on him, making it easy for them to deny ever bullying him in the first place.
* InsufferableGenius
* ItsAllAboutMe: When lectured by a teacher about how he picks on his classmates for being smarter than them, Hikaru's response is to silently condemn the teacher as an incompetent idiot for not seeing things from ''his'' perspective. Hikaru then makes an attempt on the teacher's life.
* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: One moment he's petting rabbits after news of them being tortured starts to spread. Then we find out just who's been torturing those rabbits. [[spoiler:And if that wasn't enough, we find out that none of his bullies were ever unprovoked in tormenting him; they'd been merely sticking up for a girl Hikaru himself picked on]].
** Though [[spoiler:the girl [[EpilepticTrees might have been]] Sumire intentionally provoking him, [[WoundedGazelleGambit given what we know about her]]]].
* KarmicRape: [[spoiler: His final fate. After it's been shown how he's been killing the humans-turned-rabbits by Higanbana, the latter decides not to kill him, but to [[KarmicTransformation turn him into a rabbit by courtesy of the late Hamelin's castinets]] and leave him behind with the rabbits that are still alive but that Hikaru has been taking his anger out on. His final mentions denote on how he's trying to scream, despite rabbits being incapable of doing so.]]
* KarmicTransformation: [[spoiler:He's turned into a rabbit by Higanbana and left to be [[{{Squick}} gang raped]] by a bunch of other rabbits. As Higanbana points out, rabbits aren't picky about doing it with other rabbits of the same sex...]]
* KickTheDog: He abuses rabbits on the school grounds to vent his frustrations with being bullied.
** KickTheSonOfABitch: After Hameln turns the kids who bully him into rabbits. [[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] since those bullies only did it to avenge a girl Hikaru picked on.]]
* LonersAreFreaks
* PayEvilUntoEvil: He knows it's wrong to torture innocent rabbits. But if Hameln turns bullies into rabbits, then he wouldn't be torturing "innocent rabbits", would he... [[spoiler:Of course, you may be surprised how much this trope goes both ways]].
* VillainProtagonist

!!Aya Souma
Aya is a girl who lost the will to live, but continued to do so because she didn't want anything other than a peaceful, sleep-like death. After hearing the rumors of the 13 steps, she tests it out and accidentally steps on the 13th step, forcing her to participate in Izanami's game. She is the main protagonist of "The Thirteenth Step's Shinigami".
----

* CharacterDevelopment: Went from a nihilistic DeathSeeker to someone who’s proud to just live life and a passion to run.
* DeathSeeker: She believed that she has no reason to continue on living, so all she want is a peaceful death. Until Izanami showed her what kind of terrible hell she'd be thrown into if he caught up with her.
* {{Determinator}}: Her story pretty much is about her outlasting the 49 day time limit by running as fast as she could. Due to this, she became praised throughout the school for her running and gained a better outlook on life.
* EarnYourHappyEnding: One of the few humans who actually gets one; after being scared by Izanami and running for 49 days without stop, she ends up winning a school race, finds a new lease on life and has a student-teacher relationship with Izanami.
* {{Foil}}: To Midori Kusunoki. Instead of escaping into dreams and lies, Aya pushes herself through the 49 days being chased by Izanami and ends up becoming a better person. Fittingly enough the Black Tea Gentleman originally wanted to prey on her before she invoked Izanami. She's no longer to his tastes by the end of it.

!!Yuki Noda
Yuki is a young boy who enjoys art and loves his art teacher, Shintani-sensei.

* ISeeDeadPeople: Was able to see Renoir and converse with him, with Renoir stating he possessed a valuable wavelength. Unfortunately....
* [[spoiler: TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth: He was ultimately killed by Shintani-sensei and Renoir was deeply saddened by his loss.]]

!!Nafumi Shintani
An art teacher who considers herself the queen of the art room. She particularly enjoys having her favorite young male students model for her, although art isn't all she wants them for...

She is the main antagonist of "Renoir of the Art Room".
----

* ArcVillain: For "Renoir of the Art Room".
* FateWorseThanDeath: [[spoiler:She is forever trapped in the "Accending and Descending" portrait in an endless loop of running down the stairs where there's no escape for her. Renoir mentions the minute she stops running she'll be sent into another painting where she'll be KilledOffForReal.]]
* [[spoiler: IDidntMeanToKillHim]]: [[spoiler:How she reacts when she was cornered by Higanbana and Renoir in regards to Yuki's death.]]
* OhCrap: [[spoiler: She has a terrific moment when she realizes how she broke one of Renoir's rules from the get go and that she will be punished by him.]]

!!Tomoko Okada
Michiru's best friend [[spoiler:who ends up dying at the beginning of "My Best Friend" after slipping and hitting her head while on vacation with her family]]. Like Michiru, she loves occult stuff, but compared to her best friend, she leans more towards sci-fi.
----

* [[spoiler:BackFromTheDead]]: For a short period of time
* BeneathTheMask: She was the only person who was ever nice to Michiru and share the same interest to the occult, but once she was [[spoiler:revived]], she reveals her true feeling that she grew bored of her. [[spoiler:It was later revealed to be [[HiddenHeartOfGold an act]], as Tomoko is aware of the price that Michiru will pay for her revival, that she did because she wants Michiru live happily in her Life and have her move on by making new friends. Even in Death, this is Tomoko's true act of friendship]].
* ConspiracyTheorist
* {{Meganeko}}

!!Masaaki Yoshikawa
A boy who suffered bullying before being granted a magic thistle in "A Thistle of Vengeance". He uses the power to seek vengeance against his tormentors.

* DrunkOnTheDarkSide: The thistle has this effect on him.
* HeWhoFightsMonsters: Yukari lampshaded how he has become a bully himself, even targeting innocents who did nothing to him.
* StayInTheKitchen: Refuses to let Yukari help him because she’s a girl.
* VillainProtagonist: Becomes this when he starts bullying everyone.

!!Shuuichi Arimori
A human boy who unexpectedly befriended Higanbana during her early days as a youkai in "Before The Spider Lilies Bloomed."

* BreakTheCutie: The bullying he suffers gets so bad that [[spoiler:his eyes are ruptured and he can never become an artist again]]. Thankfully, he manages to [[spoiler:grow up and express the emotions he observes through becoming a pianist]].
* DesignatedVictim: [[spoiler: He was being set up by Sumire as the bully of her human alter ego, Reiko, in order to trick some boys into physically assaulting him on a regular basis. It got so bad their bullying eventually cost them his eyesight.]]
* ISeeDeadPeople: He's able to see Higanbana because his eyes were attuned to sensing and hearing youkai. [[spoiler: Once they get ruptured and he fully loses his ability to see, he also loses the ability to hear and sense Higanbana.]]
* MoralityPet: To Higanbana, before Marie came along.
* WiseBeyondTheirYears: He has a very philosophical outlook on emotions and life, and teaches Higanbana how to feel.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Reiko Osumi]]
!!Reiko Osumi[[spoiler:/Urara Misumi/Sumire of the Dusk]]
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sumire_2072.jpg

A NewTransferStudent that Yukari meets and befriends. Shy but sweet, she becomes the primary target of the school bullies. She never loses her smile, however, and Yukari tries to convince her to stand up for herself.

[[spoiler:[[TheReveal Actually]] the seventh ranked youkai, also known as "Sumire of the Dusk". She is the main antagonist of "Utopia", where she disguises herself as a transfer student named Reiko, and the antagonist of "A Thistle of Vengeance", and [[BigBad the true main antagonist of the overall story]]. Really looks up to Azami, who she refers to as an older sister.]]

-----
* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: As soon as she transfers, all the bullies start targeting her. This is apparently a normal thing for her. [[spoiler:In fact, her ''power'' as a Youkai is to turn people into to bullies by making herself the victim.]]
* [[spoiler:AlphaBitch: In an odd way. She turns everyone around her into bullies through her tears, and makes herself the most “popular” girl in school whenever she appears. Popular as in popular bullying target- everyone fixates on her. She’s also blonde, catty, superficial, and very cruel, like your typical example.]]
* AntiquatedLinguistics: When [[spoiler:speaking as Sumire]], she talks like this.
* [[spoiler:BitchInSheepsClothing: Never before will the player want to strangle a sobbing bullying victim.]]
* [[spoiler:BigBad: She’s responsible for the plague of bullying that causes most of the conflicts in the story, and for corrupting Higanbana.]]
* BigSisterWorship: She looks up to her sister [[spoiler:Azami]].
* ButtMonkey: The favorite target of the class. [[spoiler:Very deliberately. She does it to spawn as many bullies as she can, but her character file mentions [[TooKinkyToTorture she actually takes pleasure in being bullied.]]]]
* [[spoiler:CardCarryingVillain: She loves bullying and everything about it.]]
* [[spoiler:TheChessmaster: She stimulates the desires of Yukari's classmates to bully others so that when the time comes for them to change classes, they may spread bullying throughout the school and allow her to feast on the souls of bullied children. [[UnwittingPawn Higanbana]] [[TheDogBitesBack thwarts her plan]] by killing all the bullies in a BusCrash.]]
* [[spoiler:TheCorrupter: Is responsible for the plague of bullies, and entices people to become bullies themselves to retaliate. She’s also the one responsible for Higanbana’s StartOfDarkness.]]
* TheCutie: A small little girl with big teary eyes who has nothing but optimism in her words.
* [[spoiler:CuteAndPsycho[=/=]CuteIsEvil: Her “optimism” is [[TooKinkyToTorture twisted]] at best and at worst a cover-up for her sadism.]]
* [[spoiler:TheDogWasTheMastermind: A bullying victim is creating/intentionally provoking the bullying on a school-wide scale. And she’s only the ''second-lowest'' ranked Youkai, and was the lowest ranked before Marie showed up!]]
* [[spoiler:EvilAllAlong: Who would have thought that Reiko, who's ProneToTears, was the BigBad creating the bullies?]]
* [[spoiler:EvilerThanThou: Higanbana, [[DiscOneFinalBoss who was built up as the main threat]], winds up looking like a saint compared to her.]]
* {{Expy}}: Reversed. While a good number of the characters in the series are based off of, if not counterparts to, characters from ''Higurashi'' and ''Umineko'', Sumire was actually used as the basis for a ''Higurashi'' character introduced later in the series' production, [[spoiler: Une]].
* ExtremeDoormat: Her whole philosophy, as she explains to Yukari, is to allow herself to be bullied [[ForHappiness so everyone can get along and be happy bullying her]]. Yukari, of course, disagrees with this self-sacrifice, and tries to convince her to be her own person. [[spoiler:Unbeknownst to her, Reiko [[ManipulativeBastard is her own person]].]]
* FantasticDrug: [[spoiler:Her TenderTears act as this, getting people addicted to bullying.]]
* [[spoiler:GreenEyedMonster: [[EvilIsPetty Apparently jealous of Higanbana having a TV in her room]]. Also a literal example.]]
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler:She corrupts Higanbana and Yukari ForTheEvulz and possibly to use them as pawns, but they turn around and ruin her plans.]]
* [[spoiler:KarmaHoudini: While her plans are ''temporarily'' foiled, she recieves no punishment for the pain she’s caused.]]
* KimonoIsTraditional: Goes nicely with her AntiquatedLinguistics.
* [[spoiler:ManBehindTheMan: To Higanbana, being responsible for her turn to evil.]]
* MeaningfulName[=/=]SignificantAnagram: [[spoiler:O'''sumi''' '''Rei'''ko.]]
* MindRape: [[spoiler:Provides one to Marie.]]
* {{Moe}}: Pretty much her whole purpose within the story is to be the sympathetic moeblob [[spoiler:at first]].
* NewTransferStudent: How she’s introduced into the story. [[spoiler:Rare villainous example; this is her disguise whenever she’s looking to corrupt a class.]]
* ObfuscatingStupidity: [[spoiler:She turns herself into a ButtMonkey by acting like a [[StepfordSmiler Stepford Smiling]] little girl, which actually makes people want to bully her even more. Hell, even ''teachers'' want to bully her]].
* OnlyOneName: At least, [[spoiler:her real name is only one name]].
* PetTheDog: [[spoiler:For all her cruelty, she does seem to have a soft spot for her sister Azami.]]
* ThePollyanna[=/=]PerpetualSmiler: Even when she’s being bullied and crying TenderTears, she never stops smiling. She explains to Yukari that this is because, in her eyes, [[TheNeedsOfTheMany she’s sacrificing her own happiness for those around her]]. [[spoiler:Her ''actual'' reason [[{{Sadist}} is far]] [[TooKinkyToTorture less noble]].]]
* PoweredByAForsakenChild: The entire class turns on her and becomes a [[CrapsaccharineWorld “Utopia”]] in the process. [[spoiler:She invokes this upon ''herself'', [[TheCorrupter helping others unite to bully her.]]]]
* ProneToTears: She talks softly and spends half her time crying [[spoiler:[[BitchInSheepsClothing in her first appearance]]]] due to the bullying she receives.
* TheNeedsOfTheMany[=/=]ForHappiness: Her explanation to Yukari for letting herself be bullied is to sacrifice herself so everyone can be happy at her expense. [[spoiler:In truth, [[TheSociopath she cares nothing]] [[ItsAllAboutMe for other people]].]]
* TheRedBaron: [[spoiler:Sumire of the Dusk.]]
* [[spoiler:SlasherSmile: After TheReveal she pulls these out frequently.]]
* [[spoiler:SmugSnake: For all her manipulations, she is outdone by two of her own victims.]]
* TenderTears: Quite often when she’s being bullied. Even then she still smiles. [[spoiler:It’s her method of corruption; the tears get people hooked on bullying.]]
* TooKinkyToTorture: She apparently ''likes'' [[spoiler:being bullied]].
* TrueBlueFemininity: Her school outfit.
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: A lot of the horrible things [[spoiler:Higanbana]] does in the series can be traced back to [[spoiler:her StartOfDarkness]], which was a consequence of [[spoiler:one of Sumire's plans bringing a FateWorseThanDeath on Higanbana's MoralityPet. [[CardCarryingVillain Not that she regrets it or anything, mind you]]]].
* VerbalTic: "na no ja" in Japanese.
* [[spoiler:VillainousBreakdown: When Yukari manages to foil her plans [[HoistByHisOwnPetard with her sister’s own thistle]], she loses composure. In "[[{{Omake}} After School]]" she can be seen angrily ranting at Yukari and Azami.]]
* WalkingSpoiler: As one can see from all the spoilered tropes, the ''reason'' she is constantly bullied ([[spoiler:she is provoking it, as her initial personality turns out to be a facade to cover up her position as the true BigBad and a rather vile figure]]) is a major [[TheReveal reveal]].
* [[spoiler:WickedCultured: She loves UsefulNotes/{{kimono}}s and tea ceremonies.]]
* [[spoiler:WoundedGazelleGambit: One other tactic she uses to turn kids into bullies is to pretend that she's being bullied by someone else. She'll use this to get sympathy from other kids and have them attack the kid she's setting up in order to "defend" her. She's the reason Shuuichi was being bullied and subsequently lost his eyesight. Knowing this, it's entirely possible Higanbana stole her prey in "Utopia" for the sake of getting revenge. She also [[EpilepticTrees may have pulled this on]] Hikaru.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Youkai]]
{{Youkai}} are ghost-like creatures who are responsible for mysterious phenomena that occur within the school. Whenever someone gets mysteriously injured or suddenly becomes misfortunate, a youkai is usually the one responsible. The youkai have their own hierarchy based around the school's [[TheSevenMysteries mysteries]], which are caused by the top seven youkai (well, eight counting Mesomeso). Besides these youkai, there are numerous other youkai who try to contend for spots in the hierarchy.

* BadSamaritan
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: They certainly have no qualms in killing humans, but they don't see anything wrong with Marie refusing to do it or even trying to get in their way. Basically, hunting is part of their daily life, and even if Marie doesn't like it, she rapidly accepts it as something ordinary, remaining Higanbana's friend despite all that.
* ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve: A variant. The school yōkai are born by the ghost stories of the school; which means that if these stories cease to be told, they disappear with them.
* DrivenToSuicide: A common method of "hunting" apparently.
* KarmaHoudini: Since they’re so powerful, they never suffer for devouring people’s souls. Even [[spoiler:[[BigBad Sumire]]]] only received a slap on the wrist for her crimes.
* TheRedBaron: Every youkai has at least some sort of title relating to the mystery they represent. [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep Some of their names]] ''[[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep are]]'' [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep their titles]].
* TheSevenMysteries: Each of the school's youkai is responsible for one. The start of the story, though, features the creation of an eighth...
* {{Telepathy}}: They tend to respond to questions and comments that other characters think to themselves.
* {{Youkai}}: Duh.
* YourSoulIsMine: Type 2B.

!!The Headmaster
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/principal_1572.jpg


The highest ranked youkai in the school. He is said to emerge from one of the pictures in the school principal's office, and eats anyone he happens across. [[spoiler: He also has the ability to erase memories, thus his position as the top ranked youkai.]]

* BewareTheNiceOnes: He's said to be a gentle guy most of the time, but he is absolutely terrifying the rest of the time.

* EyesAlwaysShut: But when he does open them, you ''know'' something scary is going to happen.
** ProphetEyes
* HighClassGlass: The VN adds a creepy [[RedEyesTakeWarning red eye]] insignia on his monocle. [[FridgeHorror If it even]] ''[[FridgeHorror is]]'' [[FridgeHorror an insignia]]...
* NiceHat
* ThePatriarch
* PetTheDog: [[spoiler:After Takeshi and Yoko's ghost break the CycleOfRevenge that caused them so much suffering, the Headmaster escorts Yoko's ghost back to Hell and ensures her that she will no longer suffer eternal torment there, allowing her to achieve peace.]]

!!Black Tea Gentleman
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/homme_au_th_noir_5128.jpg

The Headmaster's right-hand man, also known as the Vice-Principal, unofficially ranked second among the school youkai. He is never seen without a fully-prepared tea set. He makes contracts with humans by offering them his power to [[spoiler:[[YourMindMakesItReal escape reality and believe their own lies]]]] in exchange for a small portion of their souls. He is currently contracted with Midori Kusunoki. He is the main antagonist of "The Princess’s Lie."

* AboveGoodAndEvil
* AffablyEvil: He's somewhere between this and FauxAffablyEvil. On one hand, he makes deals with tormented children, offering them a way to escape the pain by [[spoiler: literally escaping reality and believing their own lies]], and in exchange he eats only portions of their souls, not their whole lives. He does somewhat reason that his methods are akin to anesthetia or painkillers.
* ArcVillain: For "The Princess’s Lie."
* [[spoiler:BrokenMasquerade]]: [[spoiler:His hold over Midori is broken once Marie beats him, [[MindRape though it turns out to be more harmful to Midori than beneficial]].]]
* DealWithTheDevil: Makes contracts with a sacrifice of a small sliver of one's soul.
* TheDragon: To the Headmaster. He is known as "The Second Rank In the Shadows" for a reason.
* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: Midori calls him "Black Tea Gentleman" due to him arriving with a cup of tea in hand.
* EvilRedhead: Somewhat.
* EyesAlwaysShut: Not once are his eyes ever opened.
* GracefulLoser: In Reaper of the 13th Step, he admits that he wanted to take Aya's soul for his own and in his own way praises how she has outwitted Izanami.
* [[spoiler:KarmaHoudini]]
* [[spoiler:LotusEaterMachine]]: [[spoiler:He pretty much embodies this trope by allowing humans to escape reality and believe their dreams to be real in exchange for a bit of their soul.]]
* SkunkStripe: One long strand of white hair
* SpotOfTea: Usually seen with a tea cup in hand, which is where his name comes from.
* TheUnfettered
* WellIntentionedExtremist: [[spoiler:His contract with Midori is actually to protect her from Higanbana, who he knows would've done something [[CruelAndUnusualDeath much worse to her]].]]
* WickedCultured: Is almost never seen without a tea set lying around and he keeps a refined air about him.

!!Izanami
The second ranked youkai, also known as the "Shinigami of the 13 Stairs". If a human steps on the 13th stair, he forces them into playing a game of tag each day, where if the human ever stops running, they are dumped straight into hell. Granted, if the human can last 49 days of this, they will be free.

He is the main antagonist of "The Thirteenth Step’s Shinigami."

* AffablyEvil
** He devours souls like the others, but is kind enough to not go for immediately killing his victims, give them a head-start in his game, encourages them to succeed, and he also befriends Aya after she succeeds in avoiding him.
** The time limit for his game starts out at 5 minutes of avoiding him, of which he increases by five minutes per day. However, he willingly reduces it overall if the victim ran during the day. This includes between classes, for PE classes, or even running in their free time. He also allows his victims to choose a peaceful death if they've impressed him enough.
** If we also take the dream he shows Aya into account, he does seem to give a chance for even those who collapse to get back up and run again, only actually killing them if they refuse to. Then again, he does throw them into an AndIMustScream situation...
* AndIMustScream: Not to him, but his victims. Those who remain as "failures" in his eyes are killed by his scythe, then sent into a world where their soul is eternally tormented by hot and cold flames, piercing needle flesh and being essentially eternally digested in his stomach. It's shown that there's some souls who've been there long enough that they're essentially living lumps of meat that cannot scream anymore.
* ArcVillain: For "The Thirteenth Step’s Shinigami."
* {{Foil}}: To the Black Tea Gentleman.
** Black Tea Gentleman is refined, wears a suit and is shown to be FauxAffablyEvil underneath his calm manner while Izanami is known to swear, wears a track suit and shows ToughLove on his victims.
** Their methods are also complete opposites: the Black Tea Gentleman is all about having children make contracts to go into their dream worlds to run away from reality, Izanami is about scaring the living daylights out of them and making them face reality.
** The Black Tea Gentleman practices ExactWords while Izanami WillNotTellALie.
** How they devour their prey differs. The Black Tea Gentleman seeks out his targets, isn't content with taking lives and takes portions of their souls like he would drink tea, letting his victims live in blissful ignorance of their situations. Izanami only chases prey that step on the thirteenth step, forces them to fear for their lives, killing them when they give up and eternally torments them in a realm that essentially serves as his stomach.
** Finally, they're both the second ranked Youkai in different ways. Izanami is the official second ranked Youkai of the Eight Mysteries, but the Black Tea Gentleman is the Principal's right hand man and equated as "the Second Rank in the Shadows".
* GracefulLoser: Congratulates Aya on successfully avoiding him for the 49 day limit and states that he'll be keeping an eye out on her from now on.
* {{Shinigami}}: He mentions that he can ferry people to any afterlife he wants, when offering Aya the peaceful way out she originally wanted.
* SinisterScythe: One he only uses to kill those who give up in his game.
* SlasherSmile: Predominantly shown when chasing people. Becomes abit more of a genuine one as time goes on.
* SkunkStripe: His hair has white streaks.
* StealthMentor: Possibly this to Aya; he seems glad to be helping her find real meaning in life, even if it’s by endangering her.
* SureLetsGoWithThat: Played with. He originally didn't have a name, but someone started to add on "Izanami" as his name alongside the "Shinigami of the 13 Stairs". Despite the fact that it refers to the mythologically female Izanami, it does have the "Ruler of the Underworld" motif, so he goes with it. [[LampshadeHanging He refers to this when introducing himself to Aya.]]
* ThirteenIsUnlucky: He's the "Shinigami of the 13 Stairs" and his track suit at the end of his story has the number "13" on it. His 49 day limit also adds to the motif (4 + 9 = 13).
* WillNotTellALie: He admits this when Aya accuses him of being dishonest with his bargain of offering to let Aya die peacefully like she originally wanted to. To his credit, he does seem to hold this up.

!!Azami
The fourth ranked youkai, also known as "Azami the Vengeful". Using her magical azamis, she can turn bullied kids into bullies themselves.

* BerserkButton: Being called an old lady. Or a {{Hypocrite}}.
* KimonoIsTraditional
* OneeSama: To Sumire.

!!Kyou
The fifth ranked youkai, also known as "Kyou of the Mirror". He polishes all of the mirrors in the school, particularly one that is capable of becoming a doorway to the Mirror World.

-----
* LittleBitBeastly: Has a pair of wolf ears and a wolf's tail.
* MirrorVerse: He's the guardian to the doorway of the Mirror World.
* NiceGuy: Compared to the other Youkai (particularly Higanbana), he's nice and courteous to Marie.
* NobleWolf: Has wolf ears and a tail and he's known to be one of the nicer Youkai of the bunch.
* TokenGoodTeammate: Pretty much one of the nicer Youkai you'll meet.

!!Renoir
The sixth ranked youkai, also known as "Renoir of the Art Room". He spends most of his time sleeping within portraits in the art room, but every once in a while awakens to eat. If a human breaks one of the rules regarding Renoir (borrowing a brush from Renoir, giving an incorrect answer as to the artist of one of the portraits in the room, or lying at all during a conversation with Renoir) they are sucked into a portrait where they are doomed to live forever.

-----
* AndIMustScream: One of the possible fates he can cause on his victims. Those who break his rules are forced into a painting on the art room's walls, of which he can choose to kill them there or make them suffer there eternally. This may not sound as bad depending on the painting, but considering how some of the ones presented are "Saturn Devouring His Son" by Francisco Goya, "Guernica" by Pablo Picasso, and "The Four Stages of Cruelty" by William Hogarth, the fate of being eaten alive, burned in the flames of war, and being dissected eternally are horrid fates. Renoir even makes non-lethal paintings terrifying, as he traps Nafumi into Ascending and Descending by M.C. Escher, where she runs the stairs eternally without pause out of fear of being sent to the other ones.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Is one of the nicer Youkai besides Kyou. However, he shows exactly how terrifying he can be when dealing with Nafumi, [[spoiler: Yuki's murderer. He traps Nafumi in an M.C. Escher painting, but declares the minute Nafumi stops running she will be transported to another painting where she'll be killed.]]
* BlindingBangs: You never see his eyes.
* DudeLooksLikeALady: We don't blame you if you thought Renoir was a girl at first sight. In fact the chapter he appears him keeps using female pronouns before TheReveal.
* TheGhost: He's never seen in "Lunar Festival" which is most to keep his appearance a surprise in his focus story.
* HumansAreInteresting: What he believes in after learning about his friendship with Yuki. He then decides to show himself to the students in the Art Room from then on.
* ItsAllMyFault: [[spoiler: Renoir is legitimately saddened and guilty by Yuki's death because he wasn't strong enough to intervene. He feels, at least, that torturing Yuki's killer could help Yuki rest until he finds Yuki's soul.]]
* NiceHat: Wears a lavender hat with a purple ribbon
* PhantomZonePicture: His preferred method of punishing rulebreakers is trapping them inside paintings.
* PowerPerversionPotential: In "[[{{Omake}} After School]]", the Nurse asks him to send her into her manga to flirt with the hot guys in them.
* SamusIsAGirl: TheReveal in his chapter that he's actually a boy.

!!Sakunoshin
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sakunoshin_186.jpg

The leader of the animal spirits who inhabit the school. He lives in a {{UsefulNotes/Shinto}} shrine on the school grounds.

* CheerfulChild
* ExpectingSomeoneTaller: Judging from Michiru's description of him, Marie expected him to be a terrifying and vengeful spirit, and doubted she'd be able to speak on even terms with him, even as one of the eight highest ranking youkai in the school.
* {{Expy}}: He is basically [[VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry Sakutaro]] in all but name.
** Also shares similar twists with [[spoiler: [[VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry Oyashiro-Sama]], see TheScapeGoat below]].
* HandHidingSleeves: As with Sakutaro, it's to make him look cuter.
* InsistentTerminology: The way he's described makes him appear to be a {{Kitsune}} but, being the "king of animals", he insists that he is a lion.
* {{Leitmotif}}: A remix of "Sakutaro no ganbarimonogatari" plays during his appearance.
* LittleBitBeastly: While the narrative implies that he may be a [[{{Kitsune}} fox]], he insists that he's really a lion.
* OlderThanTheyLook: He might look like a kid, but he's by far the oldest of the known spirits inhabiting the school. This is because his shrine was built before there ''was'' a school. It's also the reason why he wasn't involved in establishing the youkai hierarchy.
* [[spoiler:TheScapegoat]]: [[spoiler:He's blamed for the "curse" that Michiru tries carrying out in "Shrine of the Guardian Spirit".]]
* VerbalTic: "Uryuu~!"[[note]]Shared with Sakutaro from ''Umineko''[[/note]]

!!Hameln
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hameln_9761.jpg

A youkai who haunts the school's music room, also known as "Hameln of the Music Room". According to his legend, anyone who enters the music room at night when no one else is around will hear the sound of his castanets playing, and then will turn into an animal to be lured away to their doom. He is not one of the eight ranked youkai of the school, but hopes to be. He is the main antagonist of "Hameln’s Castanets."

-----
* ArcVillain: In "Hameln’s Castanets."
* BalefulPolymorph: His power allows him to turn students who hear his music to turn into small animals.
* CoolMask
* [[spoiler:CruelAndUnusualDeath]]: [[spoiler:Hameln, after cursing Higanbana into the form of a bunny, tries to eat her. Higanbana responds by biting onto his tongue and then eat it along with the rest of Hameln's insides.]]
* ImprobableWeaponUser: Hameln uses a pair of castanets for his magic spells.
* LazyBum: As Higanbana points out, he's using a human being to do his work for him instead of getting his victims by himself.
* TheRedBaron: "Hameln of the Music Room"... or at least, he'd ''like'' people to call him this, since he's not yet recognized as a mystery by the school.
* RedEyesTakeWarning: He's never seen without his mask, but when he leans close to Hikaru, he is described as having "stunningly red" eyes like a rabbit.
* SlasherSmile: Sports one of these at all times.
* SmallNameBigEgo: He aims to become one of the Eight School Mysteries, but also seeks to surpass the school and bathe the whole city in fear and terror thanks to his legend.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Humans]]
!!Nurse
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/infirmire_3296.jpg

ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin. She is a friendly and good-natured young woman who works at the school infirmary, and is Higanbana's owner. She is quite knowledgeable on the topic of TheSevenMysteries of the school, and may in fact seem to know more about them than she lets on…

* ChristmasCake: If her drunk rant in the eighth story is anything to go by…
* CoolBigSis: Her personality in the visual novel.
* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep
* [[spoiler:ISeeDeadPeople:]] [[spoiler:She can see and chat with the yōkai when she is drunk, [[UnusuallyUninterestingSight and doesn't bat an eyelid when she meets the supposedly dead Marie on the roof.]]]]
* ManChild: Her manga incarnation, at least, ''really'' loves to play with that Higanbana doll of hers.
* {{Meganekko}}: In the manga. In the visual novel, [[GogglesDoNothing she wears her glasses on her forehead]].
* [[NiceGuy Nice Girl]]: She is the ''only'' adult human character in the series significant enough to get a sprite who isn't utterly fucked up.
* PerverseSexualLust: "[[{{Omake}} After School]]" shows her asking Renoir to use his powers to let her hit on the hot guys in her manga collection.
* SchoolNurse: Who apparently enjoys the scary stories of the school. [[VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry Not unlike another nurse.]]
* SenseiChan: A school nurse variation, in the manga at least. Her VN incarnation is a bit more composed.

!!Takeshi Nonomiya
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/takeshi_nonomiya_3490.jpg

Takeshi is a photographer and member of the school's journalism club. He was once falsely accused of breaking school equipment by Yoko Numata and her friends; unable to prove his innocence, he became obsessed with finding "the truth" in the pictures he takes. [[spoiler:He also harassed Yoko out of revenge by stalking her and sending her photos he took of her in secret, inadvertently causing her suicide]]. He is the main protagonist of "The Spirit Camera".

* BrainyBrunette: A male example.
* [[spoiler:DisproportionateRetribution]]: [[spoiler:He got scolded by his teacher because Yoko blamed him for an accident she caused. His response? To turn the student body of the entire school (a ''huge'' school, mind you) against her with embarrassing photos. That said, [[IDidntMeanToKillHim he never imagined she'd kill herself over it]].]]
* [[spoiler:HeelRealization]]
* IntrepidReporter
* [[spoiler:LaserGuidedAmnesia]]: [[spoiler:Due to the Headmaster's power of erasing the memories of anyone he eats, Takeshi forgot ever stalking Yoko since her corpse was eaten.]]
* {{Meganekko}}: Again, a male example.
* NiceGuy
** [[spoiler:BewareTheNiceOnes]]: [[spoiler:As Yoko can attest to.]]
* [[spoiler:StalkerWithoutACrush]]: [[spoiler:He used to take pictures of his classmate Yoko from afar and left them everywhere for her to find (even going as far as to clutter her locker with them), all out of revenge for being framed for something he didn't commit. He promptly stopped after she killed herself and her corpse was eaten by the Headmaster.]]
* [[spoiler:WhatTheHellHero]]
* [[spoiler:YouAreWorthHell]]: [[spoiler:When he finds out the kind of suffering Yoko had to endure in Hell, he becomes perfectly content with following her there to be with her if he can't go there in her place.]]

!!Yoko Numata
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/yoko_numata_2_3746.jpg

Yoko is a girl who accidentally broke some school equipment and blamed it on Takeshi to avoid getting in trouble. [[spoiler:She committed suicide after Takeshi started stalking her, sending her harassing photos of her and getting her bullied by the whole school, dooming her to an eternity of torment as the youkai's plaything in Hell. Her ghost appears in "The Spirit Camera" as part of Higanbana's bid to eat Takeshi's soul, and again as the protagonist of "One Girl's Day".]]

* [[spoiler:BlindingBangs]]: [[spoiler:While in Hell as a ghost; she loses them once she makes peace with Takeshi]].
* CheerfulChild
* [[spoiler:DrivenToSuicide]]: [[spoiler:Due to Takeshi constantly spreading photos about her.]]
* [[spoiler:EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette]]: [[spoiler:Again, as a ghost.]]
* {{Frameup}}: She accidentally knocked over a skeleton dummy and pinned the blame on Takeshi, who happened to be there at the time, to avoid getting in trouble.
* [[spoiler:GoOutWithASmile:]] At the end of chapter 6.
* [[spoiler:InnocentlyInsensitive]]: [[spoiler:She didn't realize she hurt Takeshi's feelings until Higanbana brings her back from hell to take revenge.]]
* [[spoiler:ItsAllMyFault]]: [[spoiler:She blames herself for the whole fiasco that led to her killing herself and thinks it better she just go back to Hell instead of hurting Takeshi even further.]]
* [[spoiler:KillTheCutie]]
* [[spoiler:PayEvilUntoEvil]]: [[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope Subverted]]. Higanbana brings her back from Hell to kill Takeshi for causing her suicide, but Yoko feels equally guilty when she finds out why he did it, so they forgive each other instead.]]
* [[spoiler:PosthumousCharacter]]
* [[spoiler:UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Yoko, why didn't you just accept that you broke the skeleton instead of pinning it on Takeshi? Then again, this was probably a spur of the moment thing and she didn't realize the ramifications until later.]]

!!Midori Kusunoki
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/midori_kusunoki_2758.jpg

Midori is a wealthy student and member of the school drama club who was bullied by other students for [[RichBitch flaunting her wealth]]. Ever since making a contract with the Black Tea Gentleman to get a role in a play she wanted to be in, she has gained popularity and become the most beloved student in her class. [[spoiler:In reality, this is all part of an illusion fabricated by the Black Tea Gentleman, who granted her wish to have her literally switch places with another student she was jealous of]]. She is the main protagonist of "The Princess's Lie".

* BreakTheHaughty: See RichBitch and [[spoiler:FreakOut]] below.
* DealWithTheDevil: Her contract with the Black Tea Gentleman in exchange for a bit of her soul.
* {{Determinator}}: [[spoiler: Despite all of the bullying, she will never give up in improving her acting skills. A line from the second novel states that a few students have changed their opinion on her because of it.]]
* [[spoiler:DrivenByEnvy]]
* [[spoiler:FreakOut]]: [[spoiler:After Marie frees her from her DreamWorld, all her experiences of being bullied in the real world hit her like a truck. She only gets a hold of herself once she's returned to the DreamWorld.]]
* GenreBlindness: When she begins experiencing sharp pains on her body, she initially assumes it's just caused by anxiety over an audition for the lead role in a play. Once these pains become more frequent, and [[IAteWhat dead bugs appear in her food during lunchtime]], Midori reasons that her jealous classmate is using the Black Tea Gentleman's powers to curse her and get the lead role herself. [[spoiler:She's actually feeling the pain from the beatings her classmates inflict on her while she's in the DreamWorld--because of AGlitchInTheMatrix, some of their pranks also make their way through]].
* [[spoiler:IJustWantToBeYou]]: [[spoiler:She wishes to become the princess in the play. Instead she is given the role of the 'Princess' of the school, Nozomi.]]
* [[spoiler:LaserGuidedAmnesia]]: [[spoiler:While in the DreamWorld, she has no memory of wanting to switch places with another student and instead believes she made a contract with the Black Tea Gentleman for a role she wanted for a play.]]
* LonelyRichKid: Initially. [[RichBitch She brought it on herself, though.]]
* MeaningfulName: [[spoiler:"Midori" means "[[GreenEyedMonster green]]".]]
* {{Ojou}}
* RichBitch: By the start of "The Princess's Lie", though, [[TookALevelInKindness she seems to have grown out of it thanks to the contract she made with the Black Tea Gentleman]]. [[spoiler:[[DoubleSubversion Doubly subverted]] in that she's still a RichBitch, but as long as the Black Tea Gentleman's powers are in effect, she doesn't realize this]].
* StepfordSmiler: [[spoiler: How she appears in reality, despite being bullied. She really can't act any other way than how she normally would while the Black Tea Gentleman's powers are in effect.]]
* TookALevelInKindness: [[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope Subverted]]. The narrative leads us to believe this, and Midori herself believes she has, but in the real world she hasn't and she's still being bullied for it.]]
* [[spoiler:YourMindMakesItReal]]

!!Michiru Sakurada
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/michiru_sakurada_8340.jpg

Michiru is a girl with the ability to sense spirits. She is the main protagonist of "Shrine of the Guardian Deity" and "My Best Friend".
----

* ElegantGothicLolita: Her parents make her dress like one as part of their hobby.
* {{Expy}}: In the VN at least, you won't be blamed if you see [[VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry Dlanor A. Knox]] for a second.
* EyepatchOfPower: She's actually said to not need it anymore, but she keeps wearing it anyway.
* [[spoiler:FreudianExcuse]]: [[spoiler:No one ever believed that she had a sixth sense, making her feel alienated with the world. So when a bunch of girls laughed at her when she insisted that they would be cursed if they didn't apologize for destroying Sakunoshin's shrine, she took matters into her own hands by making up her own curse, one that involved dropping a chair on one of the girls' heads.]]
* GirlishPigtails
* ISeeDeadPeople
* LonersAreFreaks
* [[spoiler:MaliciousSlander]]: [[spoiler:She insists that Sakunoshin is a vengeful spirit who will curse the girls who broke his shrine, just so she can convince them to apologize to him.]]
* OnlyFriend: Tomoko. [[spoiler:Too bad she's dead, but she'll get better once she moves on for Tomoko's sake.]]
* ShoutOut: Her profile states that she gets her clothes from "Anti-Rosa", the design company managed by Rosa from ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry''.
* TearsOfRemorse: [[spoiler:After Marie talks her out of [[MoralEventHorizon dropping a fire extinguisher on the head of a girl who refused to acknowledge Sakunoshin's "curse"]].]]

!!Hikaru Nihei
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hikaru_nihei_6906.jpg

Hikaru is a very intelligent cram school student and member of the animal raising committee. He looks down on his more inept classmates, which ended up getting him bullied by them. He vents his frustrations by abusing the rabbits kept on the school grounds, which he is supposed to be caring for. He is the main protagonist of "Hameln's Castanets".
----

* AndIMustScream: [[spoiler: His eventual fate (see KarmicRape and KarmicTransformation below), which leaves him screaming for Higanbana's mercy until he can no longer scream (as rabbits can't scream out in human language). And even afterward, he is described as attempting to scream for her mercy as she left...]]
* BalefulPolymorph: [[spoiler:As a result of his KarmicTransformation below.]]
* BullyHunter: A very dark variant once he teams up with Hameln.
* DeathSeeker: [[spoiler:Once Higanbana {{Mind Rape}}s him and hammers home that he's been murdering humans.]]
* EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette
* FreakOut: [[spoiler:He practically loses his mind when Higanbana shows him the scene of him killing his classmates, this time as humans instead of rabbits, to show him what it ''really'' means to kill.]]
* FreudianExcuse: He tortures rabbits out of frustration with being bullied and having little evidence backing it. When offered to take revenge, he targets [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking bullies, the ones who know he's being bullied but don't speak up about it, and people who just plain piss him off]].
* HitMeDammit: He hates that the boys who pick on him never lay a finger on him, making it easy for them to deny ever bullying him in the first place.
* InsufferableGenius
* ItsAllAboutMe: When lectured by a teacher about how he picks on his classmates for being smarter than them, Hikaru's response is to silently condemn the teacher as an incompetent idiot for not seeing things from ''his'' perspective. Hikaru then makes an attempt on the teacher's life.
* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: One moment he's petting rabbits after news of them being tortured starts to spread. Then we find out just who's been torturing those rabbits. [[spoiler:And if that wasn't enough, we find out that none of his bullies were ever unprovoked in tormenting him; they'd been merely sticking up for a girl Hikaru himself picked on]].
** Though [[spoiler:the girl [[EpilepticTrees might have been]] Sumire intentionally provoking him, [[WoundedGazelleGambit given what we know about her]]]].
* KarmicRape: [[spoiler: His final fate. After it's been shown how he's been killing the humans-turned-rabbits by Higanbana, the latter decides not to kill him, but to [[KarmicTransformation turn him into a rabbit by courtesy of the late Hamelin's castinets]] and leave him behind with the rabbits that are still alive but that Hikaru has been taking his anger out on. His final mentions denote on how he's trying to scream, despite rabbits being incapable of doing so.]]
* KarmicTransformation: [[spoiler:He's turned into a rabbit by Higanbana and left to be [[{{Squick}} gang raped]] by a bunch of other rabbits. As Higanbana points out, rabbits aren't picky about doing it with other rabbits of the same sex...]]
* KickTheDog: He abuses rabbits on the school grounds to vent his frustrations with being bullied.
** KickTheSonOfABitch: After Hameln turns the kids who bully him into rabbits. [[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] since those bullies only did it to avenge a girl Hikaru picked on.]]
* LonersAreFreaks
* PayEvilUntoEvil: He knows it's wrong to torture innocent rabbits. But if Hameln turns bullies into rabbits, then he wouldn't be torturing "innocent rabbits", would he... [[spoiler:Of course, you may be surprised how much this trope goes both ways]].
* VillainProtagonist

!!Aya Souma
Aya is a girl who lost the will to live, but continued to do so because she didn't want anything other than a peaceful, sleep-like death. After hearing the rumors of the 13 steps, she tests it out and accidentally steps on the 13th step, forcing her to participate in Izanami's game. She is the main protagonist of "The Thirteenth Step's Shinigami".
----

* CharacterDevelopment: Went from a nihilistic DeathSeeker to someone who’s proud to just live life and a passion to run.
* DeathSeeker: She believed that she has no reason to continue on living, so all she want is a peaceful death. Until Izanami showed her what kind of terrible hell she'd be thrown into if he caught up with her.
* {{Determinator}}: Her story pretty much is about her outlasting the 49 day time limit by running as fast as she could. Due to this, she became praised throughout the school for her running and gained a better outlook on life.
* EarnYourHappyEnding: One of the few humans who actually gets one; after being scared by Izanami and running for 49 days without stop, she ends up winning a school race, finds a new lease on life and has a student-teacher relationship with Izanami.
* {{Foil}}: To Midori Kusunoki. Instead of escaping into dreams and lies, Aya pushes herself through the 49 days being chased by Izanami and ends up becoming a better person. Fittingly enough the Black Tea Gentleman originally wanted to prey on her before she invoked Izanami. She's no longer to his tastes by the end of it.

!!Yuki Noda
Yuki is a young boy who enjoys art and loves his art teacher, Shintani-sensei.

* ISeeDeadPeople: Was able to see Renoir and converse with him, with Renoir stating he possessed a valuable wavelength. Unfortunately....
* [[spoiler: TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth: He was ultimately killed by Shintani-sensei and Renoir was deeply saddened by his loss.]]

!!Nafumi Shintani
An art teacher who considers herself the queen of the art room. She particularly enjoys having her favorite young male students model for her, although art isn't all she wants them for...

She is the main antagonist of "Renoir of the Art Room".
----

* ArcVillain: For "Renoir of the Art Room".
* FateWorseThanDeath: [[spoiler:She is forever trapped in the "Accending and Descending" portrait in an endless loop of running down the stairs where there's no escape for her. Renoir mentions the minute she stops running she'll be sent into another painting where she'll be KilledOffForReal.]]
* [[spoiler: IDidntMeanToKillHim]]: [[spoiler:How she reacts when she was cornered by Higanbana and Renoir in regards to Yuki's death.]]
* OhCrap: [[spoiler: She has a terrific moment when she realizes how she broke one of Renoir's rules from the get go and that she will be punished by him.]]

!!Tomoko Okada
Michiru's best friend [[spoiler:who ends up dying at the beginning of "My Best Friend" after slipping and hitting her head while on vacation with her family]]. Like Michiru, she loves occult stuff, but compared to her best friend, she leans more towards sci-fi.
----

The cast of ''VisualNovel/HiganbanaNoSakuYoruNi'' and associated tropes. Beware of '''spoilers''' from the first episode onward.

** He devours souls like the others, but is kind, gives his victims a head-start in his game, encourages them to succeed, and he also befriends Aya after she succeeds in avoiding him.
** While he increases the time limit by at least 5 minutes per day, he reduces it overall if the victim ran during the day. This includes between classes, for PE classes, or even running in their free time. He also allows his victims to choose a peaceful death if they've impressed him enough.

** Black Tea Gentleman is refined, wears a suit and is shown to be FauxAffablyEvil underneath his calm manner while Izanami is known to swear, wears a track suit and shows ToughLove on Aya.

* SinisterScythe

Marie is a hopeless girl who is harassed by everyone in her class and abused by her homeroom teacher. While despairing over her troubles in the bathroom of the old school building where she regularly meets her teacher for "[[RapeAsDrama supplementary lessons]]", she accidentally starts the rumor of a youkai named Mesomeso who haunts the bathroom. Higanbana gives her the chance to actually become Mesomeso, which she does after being strangled to death by her teacher. Instead of seeking revenge, however, Marie uses her newfound status to help other bullied students in her school.

* TheDragon: To the Headmaster.

* EyesAlwaysShut:

* WickedCultured

The second ranked youkai, also known as the "Shinigami of the 13 Stairs". If a human steps on the 13th stair, he forces them into playing a game of tag each day, where if the human ever stops running, they are dumped straight into hell. Granted, if the human can last 49 days of this, they will be free but...

* AffablyEvil: He devours souls like the others, but is kind, gives Aya a head-start in his game, encourages her to succeed, and befriends her afterward she succeeds in avoiding him.

* {{Foil}}: To the Black Tea Gentleman. Black Tea Gentleman is refined, wears a suit and is shown to be FauxAffablyEvil underneath his calm manner while Izanami is known to swear and shows ToughLove on Aya. There methods are also complete opposites: the Black Tea Gentleman is all about having children make contracts to go into their dream worlds, Izanami is about scaring the living daylights out of them and making them face reality.

* SlasherSmile
* SkunStripe: His hair has white streaks.

* SamusIsAGirl: TheReveal in his chapter.

* SlasherSmile: Sports one of these.

* StepfordSmiler

* DeathSeeker: She believed that she has no reason to continue on living, so all she want is a peaceful death. Until...

* {{Foil}}: To Midori Kusunoki in that instead of escaping into a dream, Aya pushes herself through the 49 days being chased by Izanami and ends up becoming a better person. Fittingly enough the Black Tea Gentleman appears in her story, wanting to make a deal with her.

* LackOfEmpathy: She curses and kills humans without a second thought, and she could really care less about her fellow youkai. The only person she even remotely cares for is Marie, if only because she's interested in her capabilities as a youkai.

* [[spoiler:AndIMustScream]]: [[spoiler:His eventual fate (see KarmicTransformation below), which leaves him screaming for Higanbana's mercy until he can no longer scream (as rabbits can't scream out in human language). And even afterward, he is described as attempting to scream for her mercy as she left...]]
* [[spoiler:BalefulPolymorph]]: [[spoiler:As a result of his KarmicTransformation below.]]

* [[spoiler:DeathSeeker]]: [[spoiler:Once Higanbana {{Mind Rape}}s him and hammers home that he's been murdering humans.]]

* [[spoiler:KarmicTransformation]]: [[spoiler:He's turned into a rabbit by Higanbana and left to be [[{{Squick}} gang raped]] by a bunch of other rabbits. As Higanbana points out, rabbits aren't picky about doing it with other rabbits of the same sex...]]

* [[spoiler:EvilAllAlong: Who would have thought that Reiko, TheWoobie and FragileFlower, was the BigBad creating the bullies?]]

* FragileFlower: She talks softly and spends half her time crying [[spoiler:[[BitchInSheepsClothing in her first appearance]]]] due to the bullying she receives.

* JerkassFacade: Looking back on the previous entries as a whole after seeing "Before The Spider Lilies Bloom" subtly implies that Higanbana's LackOfEmpathy status might just be a front. [[spoiler: Even she was disgusted at what happened to Shuuichi. The full awakening of her emotions and evolution into the Higanbana we know stems from her new belief that all youkai are beings of darkness whose job is to ensure that the night stays dark and that humans stay out of it. To that end, Higanbana creates a dark and terrifying night in order to shape a more beautiful and fulfilling day. While her cruelty towards her victims like Hikaru and the boys who crippled Shuuichi is indeed genuine, the apathy and twisted statements she makes about wanting to eat Marie's soul could just be things she does so people don't think she's weak.]]

* BeneathTheMask: She was the only person who was ever nice to Michiru and share the same interest to the occult, but once she was [[spoiler:revived]], she reveals her true feeling that she grew bored of her.
** JerkassFacade: [[spoiler:It was later revealed to be an act, as Tomoko is aware of the price that Michiru will pay for her revival, that she did because she wants Michiru live happily in her Life and have her move on by making new friends. Even in Death, this is Tomoko's true act of friendship]].

* WalkingSpoiler: As one can see from all the spoilered tropes, the ''reason'' she is constantly bullied ([[spoiler:her initial personality turns out to be a facade to cover up her position as the true BigBad and a rather vile figure]]) is a major [[TheReveal reveal]].

* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep

* EyesAlwaysShut

* AffablyEvil: He devours souls like the others, but is kind, gives Aya a head-start in his game, encourages her to succeed, and befriends her afterwards.

* GracefulLoser: Congratulates Aya on successfully avoiding him for the 49 day limit and states that he'll be keeping an eye out on her from now on.

* HumansAreInteresting: What he believes in after learning about his friendship with Yuki.
* ItsAllMyFault: [[spoiler: Renoir is legitimately saddened and guilty by Yuki's death because he wasn't strong enough to intervene. He feels, at least, that torturing Yuki's killer could help Yuki rest.]]
* NiceHat

* [[spoiler:DrivenToSuicide]]

* [[spoiler:HeelRealization]]: [[spoiler:She didn't realize she hurt Takeshi's feelings until Higanbana brings her back from hell to take revenge.]]

* [[spoiler:UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Yoko, why didn't you just accept that you broke the skeleton instead of pinning it on Takeshi?]]

* [[spoiler:IJustWantToBeYou]]

* {{Ojou}}

* CharacterDevelopment: Went from a nihilistic DeathSeeker to someone who’s pround to just life life.

Higanbana is ranked third among the seven major youkai who haunt the school, also known as the "Dancing Higanbana". She often takes the form of a doll that sits on one of the shelves in the school infirmary, and is rumored to dance around in the middle of the night. She forms an OddCouple with Marie after she effortlessly starts the rumor of Mesomeso, opening a spot for an eighth youkai.

* BigBad: As the most recurring antagonist, she’s the best candidate [[spoiler:[[DiscOneFinalBoss until Sumire shows herself.]]]]

Kanamori is Marie's homeroom teacher. He originally defended Marie against her tormentors, but has long since taken to molesting her in the bathroom of the old school building to relieve the daily stress of his job. He is the main antagonist of the first chapter, "Mesomeso-san".

[[spoiler:[[TheReveal Actually]] the seventh ranked youkai, also known as "Sumire of the Dusk". She is the main antagonist of "Utopia", where she disguises herself as a transfer student named Reiko, and the antagonist of "A Thistle of Vengeance", and [[BigBad the main antagonist of the overall story]]. Really looks up to Azami, who she refers to as an older sister.]]

* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: As soon as she transfers, all the bullies start targeting her. This is apparently a normal thing for her. [[spoiler:In fact, ''power'' as a Youkai is to turn people into to bullies by making herself the victim.]]

* [[spoiler:TheChessmaster: She stimulates the desires of Yukari's classmates to bully others so that when the time comes for them to change classes, they may spread bullying throughout the school and allow her to feast on the souls of bullied children. [[spoiler:Higanbana thwarts her plan by killing all the bullies in a BusCrash.]]

* [[spoiler:TheDogWasTheMastermind: A bullying victim is creating/intentionally provoking the bullying on a school-wide scale. And she’s only the ''second-lowest'' ranked Youkai!]]

* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: A lot of the horrible things [[spoiler:Higanbana does in the series]] can be traced back to [[spoiler:her StartOfDarkness]], which was a consequence of [[spoiler:one of Sumire's plans bringing a FateWorseThanDeath on Higanbana's MoralityPet. [[CardCarryingVillain Not that she regrets it or anything, mind you]]]].

[[folder:Main characters]]

* KillTheCutie

* RapeAsBackstory

* {{Youkai}}

* HeelFaceTurn: Downplayed; while she doesn’t stop hunting for souls, she softened up after befriending Marie, even turning on [[spoiler:Sumire]].

* TheRedBaron: The Dancing Higanbana

* SmugSnake

[[folder:Youkai]]
{{Youkai}} are ghost-like creatures who are responsible for mysterious phenomena that occur within the school. Whenever someone gets mysteriously injured or suddenly becomes misfortunate, a youkai is usually the one responsible. The youkai have their own hierarchy based around the school's [[TheSevenMysteries mysteries]], which are caused by the top seven youkai (well, eight counting Mesomeso). Besides these youkai, there are numerous other youkai who try to contend for spots in the hierarchy.

* BadSamaritan
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: They certainly have no qualms in killing humans, but they don't see anything wrong with Marie refusing to do it or even trying to get in their way. Basically, hunting is part of their daily life, and even if Marie doesn't like it, she rapidly accepts it as something ordinary, remaining Higanbana's friend despite all that.
* ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve: A variant. The school yōkai are born by the ghost stories of the school; which means that if these stories cease to be told, they disappear with them.
* DrivenToSuicide: A common method of "hunting" apparently.
* KarmaHoudini: Since they’re so powerful, they never suffer for devouring people’s souls. Even [[spoiler:[[BigBad Sumire]]]] only received a slap on the wrist for her crimes.
* TheRedBaron: Every youkai has at least some sort of title relating to the mystery they represent. [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep Some of their names]] ''[[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep are]]'' [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep their titles]].
* TheSevenMysteries: Each of the school's youkai is responsible for one. The start of the story, though, features the creation of an eighth...
* {{Telepathy}}: They tend to respond to questions and comments that other characters think to themselves.
* {{Youkai}}: Duh.
* YourSoulIsMine: Type 2B.

!!The Headmaster
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/principal_1572.jpg


The highest ranked youkai in the school. He is said to emerge from one of the pictures in the school principal's office, and eats anyone he happens across. [[spoiler: He also has the ability to erase memories, thus his position as the top ranked youkai.]]

* BewareTheNiceOnes: He's said to be a gentle guy most of the time, but he is absolutely terrifying the rest of the time.
* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep
* EyesAlwaysShut: But when he does open them, you ''know'' something scary is going to happen.
** ProphetEyes
* HighClassGlass: The VN adds a creepy [[RedEyesTakeWarning red eye]] insignia on his monocle. [[FridgeHorror If it even]] ''[[FridgeHorror is]]'' [[FridgeHorror an insignia]]...
* NiceHat
* ThePatriarch
* PetTheDog: [[spoiler:After Takeshi and Yoko's ghost break the CycleOfRevenge that caused them so much suffering, the Headmaster escorts Yoko's ghost back to Hell and ensures her that she will no longer suffer eternal torment there, allowing her to achieve peace.]]

!!Black Tea Gentleman
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/homme_au_th_noir_5128.jpg

The Headmaster's right-hand man, also known as the Vice-Principal, unofficially ranked second among the school youkai. He is never seen without a fully-prepared tea set. He makes contracts with humans by offering them his power to [[spoiler:[[YourMindMakesItReal escape reality and believe their own lies]]]] in exchange for a small portion of their souls. He is currently contracted with Midori Kusunoki. He is the main antagonist of "The Princess’s Lie."

* AboveGoodAndEvil
* ArcVillain: For "The Princess’s Lie."
* [[spoiler:BrokenMasquerade]]: [[spoiler:His hold over Midori is broken once Marie beats him, [[MindRape though it turns out to be more harmful to Midori than beneficial]].]]
* TheDragon: To the Headmaster.
* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep
* EvilRedhead: Somewhat.
* EyesAlwaysShut
* [[spoiler:KarmaHoudini]]
* [[spoiler:LotusEaterMachine]]: [[spoiler:He pretty much embodies this trope by allowing humans to escape reality and believe their dreams to be real in exchange for a bit of their soul.]]
* SkunkStripe: One long strand of white hair
* SpotOfTea: Usually seen with a tea cup in hand, which is where his name comes from.
* TheUnfettered
* WellIntentionedExtremist: [[spoiler:His contract with Midori is actually to protect her from Higanbana, who he knows would've done something [[CruelAndUnusualDeath much worse to her]].]]
* WickedCultured

!!Izanami
The second ranked youkai, also known as the "Shinigami of the 13 Stairs". If a human steps on the 13th stair, he forces them into playing a game of tag each day, where if the human ever stops running, they are dumped straight into hell. Granted, if the human can last 49 days of this, they will be free but...

He is the main antagonist of "The Thirteenth Step’s Shinigami."

----

* AffablyEvil: He devours souls like the others, but is kind, gives Aya a head-start in his game, encourages her to succeed, and befriends her afterwards.
* ArcVillain: For "The Thirteenth Step’s Shinigami."
* GracefulLoser: Congratulates Aya on successfully avoiding him for the 49 day limit and states that he'll be keeping an eye out on her from now on.
* SinisterScythe
* SlasherSmile
* StealthMentor: Possibly this to Aya; he seems glad to be helping her find real meaning in life, even if it’s by endangering her.

!!Azami
The fourth ranked youkai, also known as "Azami the Vengeful". Using her magical azamis, she can turn bullied kids into bullies themselves.

----
* BerserkButton: Being called an old lady. Or a {{Hypocrite}}.
* KimonoIsTraditional
* OneeSama: To Sumire.

!!Kyou
The fifth ranked youkai, also known as "Kyou of the Mirror". He polishes all of the mirrors in the school, particularly one that is capable of becoming a doorway to the Mirror World.

* LittleBitBeastly: Has a pair of wolf ears and a wolf's tail.
* NiceGuy: Compared to the other Youkai (particularly Higanbana), he's nice and courteous to Marie.
* TokenGoodTeammate: Pretty much one of the nicer Youkai you'll meet.

!!Renoir
The sixth ranked youkai, also known as "Renoir of the Art Room". He spends most of his time sleeping within portraits in the art room, but every once in a while awakens to eat. If a human breaks one of the rules regarding Renoir (borrowing a brush from Renoir, giving an incorrect answer as to the artist of one of the portraits in the room, or lying at all during a conversation with Renoir) they are sucked into a portrait where they are doomed to live forever.

-----
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Is one of the nicer Youkai besides Kyou. However, he shows exactly how terrifying he can be when dealing with Nafumi, [[spoiler: Yuki's murderer. He traps Nafumi in an M.C. Escher painting, but declares the minute Nafumi stops running she will be transported to another painting where she'll be killed.]]
* BlindingBangs: You never see his eyes.
* DudeLooksLikeALady: We don't blame you if you thought Renoir was a girl at first sight. In fact the chapter he appears him keeps using female pronouns before TheReveal.
* HumansAreInteresting: What he believes in after learning about his friendship with Yuki.
* ItsAllMyFault: [[spoiler: Renoir is legitimately saddened and guilty by Yuki's death because he wasn't strong enough to intervene. He feels, at least, that torturing Yuki's killer could help Yuki rest.]]
* NiceHat
* PhantomZonePicture: His preferred method of punishing rulebreakers is trapping them inside paintings.
* PowerPerversionPotential: In "[[{{Omake}} After School]]", the Nurse asks him to send her into her manga to flirt with the hot guys in them.
* SamusIsAGirl: TheReveal in his chapter.

!!Sumire / [[spoiler:Reiko Oosumi]]
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sumire_2072.jpg

The seventh ranked youkai, also known as "Sumire of the Dusk". She is the main antagonist of "Utopia", where [[spoiler:she disguises herself as a transfer student named Reiko]], and the antagonist of "A Thistle of Vengeance", and [[spoiler:[[BigBad the main antagonist of the overall story]]]]. Really looks up to Azami, who she refers to as an older sister.

-----
* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: Her ''power'' as a Youkai is to turn people into to bullies [[spoiler:by making herself the victim]].
* AlphaBitch: In an odd way. She turns everyone around her into bullies [[spoiler:through her tears]], and makes herself the most “popular” girl in school whenever she appears. Popular as in [[spoiler:popular bullying target- everyone fixates on her]]. She’s also blonde, catty, superficial, and very cruel, like your typical example.
* AntiquatedLinguistics
* BitchInSheepsClothing: [[spoiler:Never before will the player want to strangle a sobbing bullying victim]].

* [[spoiler:ButtMonkey: Very deliberately. She does it to spawn as many bullies as she can, but her character file mentions [[TooKinkyToTorture she actually takes pleasure in being bullied.]]]]
* CardCarryingVillain: She loves bullying and everything about it.
* TheChessmaster: She stimulates the desires of Yukari's classmates to bully others so that when the time comes for them to change classes, they may spread bullying throughout the school and allow her to feast on the souls of bullied children. [[spoiler:Higanbana thwarts her plan by killing all the bullies in a BusCrash]].
* TheCorrupter: [[spoiler:Is responsible for the plague of bullies, and entices people to become bullies themselves to retaliate. She’s also the one responsible for Higanbana’s StartOfDarkness.]]
* CuteAndPsycho
* TheDogWasTheMastermind: [[spoiler:A bullying victim is creating/intentionally provoking the bullying on a school-wide scale]]. And she’s only the ''second-lowest'' ranked Youkai!
* EvilAllAlong: [[spoiler:Who would have thought that Reiko, TheWoobie and FragileFlower, was the BigBad creating the bullies?]]

* FantasticDrug: [[spoiler:Her TenderTears act as this, getting people addicted to bullying]].
* FragileFlower: [[spoiler:Acts this way in her Reiko persona]].
* GreenEyedMonster: [[EvilIsPetty Apparently jealous of Higanbana having a TV in her room]]. Also a literal example.
* KarmaHoudini: While her plans are ''temporarily'' foiled, she recieves no punishment for the pain she’s caused.
* KimonoIsTraditional

* MindRape: Provides one to [[spoiler:Marie]].
* NewTransferStudent: [[spoiler:Rare villainous example; this is her disguise whenever she’s looking to corrupt a class.]]

* OnlyOneName: At least, her real name is only one name.
* PoweredByAForsakenChild: [[spoiler:She invokes this upon ''herself'', [[TheCorrupter helping others unite to bully her.]]]]
* TheRedBaron: Sumire of the Dusk.
* SlasherSmile: After TheReveal she pulls these out frequently.
* SmugSnake
* TenderTears: [[spoiler:Her method of corruption; the tears get people hooked on bullying]].

* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: A lot of the horrible things Higanbana does in the series can be traced back to her StartOfDarkness, which was a consequence of one of Sumire's plans [[spoiler:bringing a FateWorseThanDeath on Higanbana's MoralityPet]]. [[CardCarryingVillain Not that she regrets it or anything, mind you]].

* VillainousBreakdown: When Yukari manages to foil her plans [[spoiler:[[HoistByHisOwnPetard with her sister’s own thistle]]]], she loses composure. In "[[{{Omake}} After School]]" she can be seen angrily ranting at Yukari and Azami.
* WalkingSpoiler
* WickedCultured: She loves UsefulNotes/{{kimono}}s and tea ceremonies.
* WoundedGazelleGambit: One other tactic she uses to turn kids into bullies is to pretend that she's being bullied by someone else. She'll use this to get sympathy from other kids and have them attack the kid she's setting up in order to "defend" her. [[spoiler:She's the reason Shuuichi was being bullied and subsequently lost his eyesight. Knowing this, it's entirely possible Higanbana stole her prey in "Utopia" for the sake of getting revenge.]] She also [[EpilepticTrees may have pulled this on]] [[spoiler:Hikaru]].

!!Sakunoshin
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sakunoshin_186.jpg

The leader of the animal spirits who inhabit the school. He lives in a {{UsefulNotes/Shinto}} shrine on the school grounds.

* CheerfulChild
* ExpectingSomeoneTaller: Judging from Michiru's description of him, Marie expected him to be a terrifying and vengeful spirit, and doubted she'd be able to speak on even terms with him, even as one of the eight highest ranking youkai in the school.
* {{Expy}}: He is basically [[VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry Sakutaro]] in all but name.
** Also shares similar twists with [[spoiler: [[VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry Oyashiro-Sama]], see TheScapeGoat below]].
* HandHidingSleeves: As with Sakutaro, it's to make him look cuter.
* InsistentTerminology: The way he's described makes him appear to be a {{Kitsune}} but, being the "king of animals", he insists that he is a lion.
* {{Leitmotif}}: A remix of "Sakutaro no ganbarimonogatari" plays during his appearance.
* LittleBitBeastly: While the narrative implies that he may be a [[{{Kitsune}} fox]], he insists that he's really a lion.
* OlderThanTheyLook: He might look like a kid, but he's by far the oldest of the known spirits inhabiting the school. This is because his shrine was built before there ''was'' a school. It's also the reason why he wasn't involved in establishing the youkai hierarchy.
* [[spoiler:TheScapegoat]]: [[spoiler:He's blamed for the "curse" that Michiru tries carrying out in "Shrine of the Guardian Spirit".]]
* VerbalTic: "Uryuu~!"[[note]]Shared with Sakutaro from ''Umineko''[[/note]]

!!Hameln
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hameln_9761.jpg

A youkai who haunts the school's music room, also known as "Hameln of the Music Room". According to his legend, anyone who enters the music room at night when no one else is around will hear the sound of his castanets playing, and then will turn into an animal to be lured away to their doom. He is not one of the eight ranked youkai of the school, but hopes to be. He is the main antagonist of "Hameln’s Castanets."

-----
* ArcVillain: In "Hameln’s Castanets."
* BalefulPolymorph: His power allows him to turn students who hear his music to turn into small animals.
* CoolMask
* [[spoiler:CruelAndUnusualDeath]]: [[spoiler:Hameln, after cursing Higanbana into the form of a bunny, tries to eat her. Higanbana responds by biting onto his tongue and then eat it along with the rest of Hameln's insides.]]
* ImprobableWeaponUser: Hameln uses a pair of castanets for his magic spells.
* LazyBum: As Higanbana points out, he's using a human being to do his work for him instead of getting his victims by himself.
* TheRedBaron: "Hameln of the Music Room"... or at least, he'd ''like'' people to call him this, since he's not yet recognized as a mystery by the school.
* RedEyesTakeWarning: He's never seen without his mask, but when he leans close to Hikaru, he is described as having "stunningly red" eyes like a rabbit.
* SlasherSmile: Sports one of these.
* SmallNameBigEgo: He aims to become one of the Eight School Mysteries, but also seeks to surpass the school and bathe the whole city in fear and terror thanks to his legend.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Humans]]
!!Yoshihito Kanamori
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/yoshihito_kanamori_7334.jpg

Kanamori is Marie's homeroom teacher. He originally defended Marie against her tormentors, but has long since taken to molesting her in the bathroom of the old school building to relieve the daily stress of his job. He is the main antagonist of the first chapter, "Mesomeso-san".

* AGodAmI: Well, not necessarily a god, but he declares himself to be Mesomeso after strangling Marie to death and pretending to be a youkai to ward off potential witnesses who came because of a ScareDare.
* ArcVillain: For "Mesomeso-san".
* [[spoiler:AssholeVictim]]
* BeneathTheMask: He'd be a fairly likable guy if he weren't secretly a brutal, animalistic child molester.
* {{Bishonen}}: Is said to be very popular with the girls. Well, except for Marie.
* {{Blackmail}}: Kanamori always videotapes Marie while molesting her, and threatens to expose the tapes in order to keep her quiet. [[spoiler:The moment Marie tried to turn this around on Kanamori, it led to her death.]]
* BreakThemByTalking: What he does to the ghost of Marie (see TheReasonYouSuckSpeech below). [[spoiler:[[HoistByHisOwnPetard Alas, he should have stayed silent.]]]]
* CorruptTheCutie: He actually started out as a WideEyedIdealist before the unbearable stress of work and his unhealthy paedophilia fetish twisted him into what he is now.
* EvilVsEvil: PlayedForLaughs in "[[{{Omake}} After School]]", when he an Shintani trash-talk each other and [[PotCallingTheKettleBlack accuse each other]] of being a worse SadistTeacher.
* FauxAffablyEvil
* FreakOut: Does this a lot while trying to cover up his "supplementary lessons" with Marie.
* FreudianExcuse
* [[spoiler:HoistByHisOwnPetard]]: [[spoiler:He dies because he broke all the rules regarding the legend of Mesomeso. Mainly, he wasn't supposed to respond to or even look at her, and should've just run away. His mistake was in assuming the test was to determine who could be a better ''youkai'' instead of determining who could be a better ''Mesomeso''.]]
* HotTeacher
* IgnoredEpiphany: There are numerous points in the story.
* {{Large Ham}}: "TREMBLE BEFORE MESOMESO-SAN!!! AHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAH!"
* PaedoHunt: Kanamori is one of these toward Marie, and his "supplementary lessons" with her are basically an excuse to molest and abuse her.
* PsychopathicManchild
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: He lays one on Marie during the poll to see which one of them would become Mesomeso, telling her that she could've solved all her problems ages ago if she'd just grow a backbone and call the police. [[spoiler:See HoistByHisOwnPetard above for why it would've been better for him to just stay quiet]].
* SadistTeacher
* SmugSnake
* StarterVillain: He’s the antagonist of the first story, [[spoiler:[[AssholeVictim but doesn’t last beyond that]]]].
* VillainProtagonist: The "Mesomeso-san" chapter is as much his chapter as it is Marie's, since it's told from both their perspectives.
* VillainousBreakdown: Kanamori has two. The first was when Marie threatened to turn over the evidence of his "supplementary lessons" to the police and put him away, which resulted in [[spoiler:him strangling her to death]]. The other was [[spoiler:when he learned he had failed the test to become Mesomeso and that Marie has become the youkai instead -- and is ready to take vengeance upon him]].
* VillainWithGoodPublicity

!!Nurse
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/infirmire_3296.jpg

ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin. She is a friendly and good-natured young woman who works at the school infirmary, and is Higanbana's owner. She is quite knowledgeable on the topic of TheSevenMysteries of the school, and may in fact seem to know more about them than she lets on…
----

* ChristmasCake: If her drunk rant in the eighth story is anything to go by…
* CoolBigSis: Her personality in the visual novel.

* [[spoiler:ISeeDeadPeople:]] [[spoiler:She can see and chat with the yōkai when she is drunk, [[UnusuallyUninterestingSight and doesn't bat an eyelid when she meets the supposedly dead Marie on the roof.]]]]
* ManChild: Her manga incarnation, at least, ''really'' loves to play with that Higanbana doll of hers.
* {{Meganekko}}: In the manga. In the visual novel, [[GogglesDoNothing she wears her glasses on her forehead]].
* [[NiceGuy Nice Girl]]: She is the ''only'' adult human character in the series significant enough to get a sprite who isn't utterly fucked up.
* PerverseSexualLust: "[[{{Omake}} After School]]" shows her asking Renoir to use his powers to let her hit on the hot guys in her manga collection.
* SchoolNurse: Who apparently enjoys the scary stories of the school. [[VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry Not unlike another nurse.]]
* SenseiChan: A school nurse variation, in the manga at least. Her VN incarnation is a bit more composed.

!!Takeshi Nonomiya
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/takeshi_nonomiya_3490.jpg

Takeshi is a photographer and member of the school's journalism club. He was once falsely accused of breaking school equipment by Yoko Numata and her friends; unable to prove his innocence, he became obsessed with finding "the truth" in the pictures he takes. [[spoiler:He also harassed Yoko out of revenge by stalking her and sending her photos he took of her in secret, inadvertently causing her suicide]]. He is the main protagonist of "The Spirit Camera".

* BrainyBrunette: A male example.
* [[spoiler:DisproportionateRetribution]]: [[spoiler:He got scolded by his teacher because Yoko blamed him for an accident she caused. His response? To turn the student body of the entire school (a ''huge'' school, mind you) against her with embarrassing photos. That said, [[IDidntMeanToKillHim he never imagined she'd kill herself over it]].]]
* [[spoiler:HeelRealization]]
* IntrepidReporter
* [[spoiler:LaserGuidedAmnesia]]: [[spoiler:Due to the Headmaster's power of erasing the memories of anyone he eats, Takeshi forgot ever stalking Yoko since her corpse was eaten.]]
* {{Meganekko}}: Again, a male example.
* NiceGuy
** [[spoiler:BewareTheNiceOnes]]: [[spoiler:As Yoko can attest to.]]
* [[spoiler:StalkerWithoutACrush]]: [[spoiler:He used to take pictures of his classmate Yoko from afar and left them everywhere for her to find (even going as far as to clutter her locker with them), all out of revenge for being framed for something he didn't commit. He promptly stopped after she killed herself and her corpse was eaten by the Headmaster.]]
* [[spoiler:WhatTheHellHero]]
* [[spoiler:YouAreWorthHell]]: [[spoiler:When he finds out the kind of suffering Yoko had to endure in Hell, he becomes perfectly content with following her there to be with her if he can't go there in her place.]]

!!Yoko Numata
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/yoko_numata_2_3746.jpg

Yoko is a girl who accidentally broke some school equipment and blamed it on Takeshi to avoid getting in trouble. [[spoiler:She committed suicide after Takeshi started stalking her, sending her harassing photos of her and getting her bullied by the whole school, dooming her to an eternity of torment as the youkai's plaything in Hell. Her ghost appears in "The Spirit Camera" as part of Higanbana's bid to eat Takeshi's soul, and again as the protagonist of "One Girl's Day".]]

* [[spoiler:BlindingBangs]]: [[spoiler:While in Hell as a ghost; she loses them once she makes peace with Takeshi]].

* [[spoiler:DrivenToSuicide]]
* [[spoiler:EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette]]: [[spoiler:Again, as a ghost.]]
* {{Frameup}}: She accidentally knocked over a skeleton dummy and pinned the blame on Takeshi, who happened to be there at the time, to avoid getting in trouble.
* [[spoiler:GoOutWithASmile:]] At the end of chapter 6.
* [[spoiler:HeelRealization]]: [[spoiler:She didn't realize she hurt Takeshi's feelings until Higanbana brings her back from hell to take revenge.]]
* [[spoiler:ItsAllMyFault]]: [[spoiler:She blames herself for the whole fiasco that led to her killing herself and thinks it better she just go back to Hell instead of hurting Takeshi even further.]]
* [[spoiler:KillTheCutie]]
* [[spoiler:PayEvilUntoEvil]]: [[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope Subverted]]. Higanbana brings her back from Hell to kill Takeshi for causing her suicide, but Yoko feels equally guilty when she finds out why he did it, so they forgive each other instead.]]
* [[spoiler:PosthumousCharacter]]
* [[spoiler:UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Yoko, why didn't you just accept that you broke the skeleton instead of pinning it on Takeshi?]]

!!Midori Kusunoki
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/midori_kusunoki_2758.jpg

Midori is a wealthy student and member of the school drama club who was bullied by other students for [[RichBitch flaunting her wealth]]. Ever since making a contract with the Black Tea Gentleman to get a role in a play she wanted to be in, she has gained popularity and become the most beloved student in her class. [[spoiler:In reality, this is all part of an illusion fabricated by the Black Tea Gentleman, who granted her wish to have her literally switch places with another student she was jealous of]]. She is the main protagonist of "The Princess's Lie".

* BreakTheHaughty: See RichBitch and [[spoiler:FreakOut]] below.
* DealWithTheDevil: Her contract with the Black Tea Gentleman in exchange for a bit of her soul.
* {{Determinator}}: [[spoiler: Despite all of the bullying, she will never give up in improving her acting skills. A line from the second novel states that a few students have changed their opinion on her because of it.]]
* [[spoiler:DrivenByEnvy]]
* [[spoiler:FreakOut]]: [[spoiler:After Marie frees her from her DreamWorld, all her experiences of being bullied in the real world hit her like a truck. She only gets a hold of herself once she's returned to the DreamWorld.]]
* GenreBlindness: When she begins experiencing sharp pains on her body, she initially assumes it's just caused by anxiety over an audition for the lead role in a play. Once these pains become more frequent, and [[IAteWhat dead bugs appear in her food during lunchtime]], Midori reasons that her jealous classmate is using the Black Tea Gentleman's powers to curse her and get the lead role herself. [[spoiler:She's actually feeling the pain from the beatings her classmates inflict on her while she's in the DreamWorld--because of AGlitchInTheMatrix, some of their pranks also make their way through]].
* [[spoiler:IJustWantToBeYou]]
* [[spoiler:LaserGuidedAmnesia]]: [[spoiler:While in the DreamWorld, she has no memory of wanting to switch places with another student and instead believes she made a contract with the Black Tea Gentleman for a role she wanted for a play.]]
* LonelyRichKid: Initially. [[RichBitch She brought it on herself, though.]]
* MeaningfulName: [[spoiler:"Midori" means "[[GreenEyedMonster green]]".]]
* RichBitch: By the start of "The Princess's Lie", though, [[TookALevelInKindness she seems to have grown out of it thanks to the contract she made with the Black Tea Gentleman]]. [[spoiler:[[DoubleSubversion Doubly subverted]] in that she's still a RichBitch, but as long as the Black Tea Gentleman's powers are in effect, she doesn't realize this]].
* {{Ojou}}
* StepfordSmiler
* TookALevelInKindness: [[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope Subverted]]. The narrative leads us to believe this, and Midori herself believes she has, but in the real world she hasn't and she's still being bullied for it.]]
* [[spoiler:YourMindMakesItReal]]

!!Michiru Sakurada
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/michiru_sakurada_8340.jpg

Michiru is a girl with the ability to sense spirits. She is the main protagonist of "Shrine of the Guardian Deity" and "My Best Friend".

* ElegantGothicLolita: Her parents make her dress like one as part of their hobby.
* {{Expy}}: In the VN at least, you won't be blamed if you see [[VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry Dlanor A. Knox]] for a second.
* EyepatchOfPower: She's actually said to not need it anymore, but she keeps wearing it anyway.
* [[spoiler:FreudianExcuse]]: [[spoiler:No one ever believed that she had a sixth sense, making her feel alienated with the world. So when a bunch of girls laughed at her when she insisted that they would be cursed if they didn't apologize for destroying Sakunoshin's shrine, she took matters into her own hands by making up her own curse, one that involved dropping a chair on one of the girls' heads.]]
* GirlishPigtails
* ISeeDeadPeople
* LonersAreFreaks
* [[spoiler:MaliciousSlander]]: [[spoiler:She insists that Sakunoshin is a vengeful spirit who will curse the girls who broke his shrine, just so she can convince them to apologize to him.]]
* OnlyFriend: Tomoko. [[spoiler:Too bad she's dead, but she'll get better once she moves on for Tomoko's sake.]]
* ShoutOut: Her profile states that she gets her clothes from "Anti-Rosa", the design company managed by Rosa from ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry''.
* TearsOfRemorse: [[spoiler:After Marie talks her out of [[MoralEventHorizon dropping a fire extinguisher on the head of a girl who refused to acknowledge Sakunoshin's "curse"]].]]

!!Hikaru Nihei
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hikaru_nihei_6906.jpg

Hikaru is a very intelligent cram school student and member of the animal raising committee. He looks down on his more inept classmates, which ended up getting him bullied by them. He vents his frustrations by abusing the rabbits kept on the school grounds, which he is supposed to be caring for. He is the main protagonist of "Hameln's Castanets".

* [[spoiler:AndIMustScream]]: [[spoiler:His eventual fate (see KarmicTransformation below), which leaves him screaming for Higanbana's mercy until he can no longer scream (as rabbits can't scream out in human language). And even afterward, he is described as attempting to scream for her mercy as she left...]]
* [[spoiler:BalefulPolymorph]]: [[spoiler:As a result of his KarmicTransformation below.]]
* BullyHunter: A very dark variant once he teams up with Hameln.
* [[spoiler:DeathSeeker]]: [[spoiler:Once Higanbana {{Mind Rape}}s him and hammers home that he's been murdering humans.]]
* EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette
* FreakOut: [[spoiler:He practically loses his mind when Higanbana shows him the scene of him killing his classmates, this time as humans instead of rabbits, to show him what it ''really'' means to kill.]]
* FreudianExcuse: He tortures rabbits out of frustration with being bullied and having little evidence backing it. When offered to take revenge, he targets [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking bullies, the ones who know he's being bullied but don't speak up about it, and people who just plain piss him off]].
* HitMeDammit: He hates that the boys who pick on him never lay a finger on him, making it easy for them to deny ever bullying him in the first place.
* InsufferableGenius
* ItsAllAboutMe: When lectured by a teacher about how he picks on his classmates for being smarter than them, Hikaru's response is to silently condemn the teacher as an incompetent idiot for not seeing things from ''his'' perspective. Hikaru then makes an attempt on the teacher's life.
* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: One moment he's petting rabbits after news of them being tortured starts to spread. Then we find out just who's been torturing those rabbits. [[spoiler:And if that wasn't enough, we find out that none of his bullies were ever unprovoked in tormenting him; they'd been merely sticking up for a girl Hikaru himself picked on]].
** Though [[spoiler:the girl [[EpilepticTrees might have been]] Sumire intentionally provoking him, [[WoundedGazelleGambit given what we know about her]]]].
* [[spoiler:KarmicTransformation]]: [[spoiler:He's turned into a rabbit by Higanbana and left to be [[{{Squick}} gang raped]] by a bunch of other rabbits. As Higanbana points out, rabbits aren't picky about doing it with other rabbits of the same sex...]]
* KickTheDog: He abuses rabbits on the school grounds to vent his frustrations with being bullied.
** KickTheSonOfABitch: After Hameln turns the kids who bully him into rabbits. [[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] since those bullies only did it to avenge a girl Hikaru picked on.]]
* LonersAreFreaks
* PayEvilUntoEvil: He knows it's wrong to torture innocent rabbits. But if Hameln turns bullies into rabbits, then he wouldn't be torturing "innocent rabbits", would he... [[spoiler:Of course, you may be surprised how much this trope goes both ways]].
* VillainProtagonist

!!Yukari Sakaki
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/yukari_sakaki_3545.jpg

Yukari is a girl who comes from a poor, dysfunctional family, for which she is quite cruelly bullied. She is the main protagonist of "Utopia" and "A Thistle of Vengeance".

* AttemptedRape: The abuse she suffered after [[spoiler:Sumire disapeared]] was starting to go way beyond mere bullying. She just barely manages to escape.
* BigScrewedUpFamily: She's had some major issues with her life at home, particularly after the death of her mother. It's one of the reasons why she's bullied all the time.
* BullyHunter: In "A Thistle of Vengeance", she becomes this to her class.
* ButtMonkey: She's shown as a example of how, realistically, the idea of simply telling someone about being bullied doesn't always work as the adults she turned to for help were unable, or unwilling, to do anything.
* CharacterDevelopment: Going from someone who goes JustIgnoreIt to bullying, who in the end of her story decides to stand up against it. Needless to say [[EarnYourHappyEnding she got that happy ending]].
* {{Expy}}: She is the series entitled expy of [[VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry Rika]], after [[VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry Bernkastel]] and before [[VisualNovel/RoseGunsDays Stella]]. This comes not just from her design, but her character arc contains many similar themes with Rika's, mainly their shared sense of hopelessness from the many failures at making their situations better.
* HugeSchoolgirl: She has a bit of a complex over it.
* JustIgnoreIt: She strongly believes this at first when it comes to dealing with bullies. After Sumire makes things worse for her, however, she takes on a far more assertive role against bullying.
* ShoutOut: Her name may be one to the [[Creator/YukariTamura actress]] who voices [[VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry Rika Furude]], whose {{Expy}} she is.
* ThePowerOfHate: [[spoiler: Azami's thistle gives her power to become a bully, and she uses it to [[HobbesWasRight become a tyrant in the class to kill off any other threats of bullying]], if only for a limited amount of time.]]
* YamatoNadeshiko: Nice and enduring but not a pushover. The HimeCut pushes her into this trope.

!!Aya Souma
Aya is a girl who lost the will to live, but continued to do so because she didn't want anything other than a peaceful, sleep-like death. After hearing the rumors of the 13 steps, she tests it out and accidentally steps on the 13th step, forcing her to participate in Izanami's game. She is the main protagonist of "The Thirteenth Step's Shinigami".

* CharacterDevelopment: Went from a nihilistic DeathSeeker to someone who’s pround to just life life.
* DeathSeeker: She believed that she has no reason to continue on living, so all she want is a peaceful death. Until...
* {{Determinator}}: Her story pretty much is about her outlasting the 49 day time limit by running as fast as she could. Due to this, she became praised throughout the school for her running and gained a better outlook on life.

!!Yuki Noda
Yuki is a young boy who enjoys art and loves his art teacher, Shintani-sensei.

* ISeeDeadPeople: Was able to see Renoir and converse with him, with Renoir stating he possessed a valuable wavelength. Unfortunately....
* [[spoiler: TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth: He was ultimately killed by Shintani-sensei and Renoir was deeply saddened by his loss.]]

!!Nafumi Shintani
An art teacher who considers herself the queen of the art room. She particularly enjoys having her favorite young male students model for her, although art isn't all she wants them for...

She is the main antagonist of "Renoir of the Art Room".

* ArcVillain: For "Renoir of the Art Room".
* FateWorseThanDeath: [[spoiler:She is forever trapped in the "Accending and Descending" portrait in an endless loop of running down the stairs where there's no escape for her. Renoir mentions the minute she stops running she'll be sent into another painting where she'll be KilledOffForReal.]]
* [[spoiler: IDidntMeanToKillHim]]: [[spoiler:How she reacts when she was cornered by Higanbana and Renoir in regards to Yuki's death.]]
* OhCrap: [[spoiler: She has a terrific moment when she realizes how she broke one of Renoir's rules from the get go and that she will be punished by him.]]

!!Tomoko Okada
Michiru's best friend [[spoiler:who ends up dying at the beginning of "My Best Friend" after slipping and hitting her head while on vacation with her family]]. Like Michiru, she loves occult stuff, but compared to her best friend, she leans more towards sci-fi.

** JerkassFacade: [[spoiler:It was later revealed to be an act, as Tomoko is aware of the price that Michiru will pay for her revival, that she did because she wants Michiru live happily in her Life and have her move on by making new friends. Even in Death, this is Tomoko's true act of friendship]].

* ManBehindTheMan: To Higanbana, being responsible for her turn to evil.

* Though [[spoiler:the girl [[EpilepticTrees might have been]] Sumire intentionally provoking him, [[WoundedGazelleGambit given what we know about her]]]].

* DiscOneFinalBoss: Being a pretty yet creepy girl who’s a big {{Troll}} and even somewhat resembles [[VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry Bernkastel]] makes her a dead ringer for being the main antagonist, but she’s just a pawn of the [[EvilerThanThou even worse]] [[spoiler:Sumire]] [[TheDogBitesBack until she starts fighting back]].

* NecessaryEvil: As she puts it, the Youkai make the school's night dark so that way the day will shine even brighter. This is after [[spoiler: Marie awakens as Mesomeso and kills Kanamori.]]

* TheDogWasTheMastermind: [[spoiler:A bullying victim is intentionally provoking the bullying on a school-wide scale]]. And she’s only the ''second-lowest'' ranked Youkai!