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* KillEmAll: One part of Sadako's vendetta against the world.
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* DeterminedWidow: She carried on after her husband's death, taking care of her sick son despite knowing full well that he will not make it without a cure. And her life after Kaoru's decision to return to LOOP can be considered a second widowhood, as well, since she vows to raise her baby in new world that Kaoru has sacrificed his life to make.
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* InfantImmortality: Averted, as the ring virus eventually claims Yoko's life.
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Kazuyuki's wife and one-year-old daughter. When Kazuyuki carelessly left the cursed videotape in their apartment, she and their baby daughter Yoko watch it, further pressuring Kazuyuki to find the solution to stop the curse. He fails to do this, however, and the mother and daughter are killed off by the curse. Shizuka's maiden name is Oda.
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Kazuyuki's wife and one-year-old daughter. When Kazuyuki carelessly left leaves the cursed videotape in their apartment, she Shizuka and their baby daughter Yoko watch it, further pressuring Kazuyuki to find the solution to stop the curse. He fails to do this, however, and the mother and daughter are killed off by the curse. Shizuka's maiden name is Oda.
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This list covers the tropes for characters in the original book series of ''Literature/TheRing''. For their tropes as described in the Japanese adaptations, go [[Characters/TheRingAdaptations here]]. For tropes related to the American film adaptations, go [[Characters/TheRing2002 here]].
[[foldercontrol]]
!!Introduced in ''Ring''
[[folder:Kazuyuki Asakawa]]
!!Kazuyuki Asakawa
The protagonist of ''Ring''. Kazuyuki is a Tokyo-based journalist who investigates the death of his niece Tomoko and three other teenagers, discovering the cursed videotape's existence and seeks to end its curse. At first he is a workaholic but when his wife and daughter watch the tape, he is determined to move mountains to save them.
---
* AuthorAppeal: One of the driving forces behind Asakawa's character in the novel is his relationship with his daughter. The author is a leading advocate of stronger father/daughter relationships in Japanese society.
* BadassNormal: Very determined to solve the mystery of the videotape, particularly when his wife and daughter watch it.
* ChekhovsGun: The copy of the tape Kazuyuki made for Ryuji. He tries to use it to save his family.
* HeroicBSOD: After his family watch the tape, Ryuji dies and realising the enormity of the virus' power, and when Sadako manipulates him into writing the journal to spread the virus.
* IntrepidReporter: Goes to great lengths to uncover the truth behind the videotape.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Kazuyuki finds Sadako's body and it gives it to her family and everything looks fine. That is until Ryuji dies of a heart attack, revealing the Ring Virus is still active and can only be stopped by copying the tape. In ''Spiral'', it is revealed Kazuyuki wrote a journal on his investigation, thought manipulated by Sadako into doing, thus having a secondary container to spread the virus with. By the end of the novel, it has been adapted into a novel by Kazuyuki's brother, and an eventual film.
* OutlivingOnesOffspring: His daughter, Yoko, predeceases him by several weeks.
* PapaWolf: Comes off as a bit of a reluctant parent, finding his daughter Yoko's constant crying to be a bother. However, as soon as he learns his family have viewed the videotape, his true devotion to his daughter comes out.
* {{Salaryman}}: A bit focused on his work and dislikes certain aspects of being a father.
* ShootTheShaggyDog: His whole storyline. Not only he fails to solve the ring virus before dying, he drags his whole family into the rigmarole, and unwittingly accelerates the spread of the virus.
* SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome: Kazuyuki and his family are abruptly caught in a car crash a few days after the events of the first novel. His wife and daughter die, though it is later revealed they may have died before the crash. Kazuyuki ends up in a coma for a month and eventually dies himself.
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: As part of Sadako's plan to spread the tape.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Ryuji Takayama]]
!!Ryuji Takayama / Kaoru Futami / Seiji Kashiwada
A mathematician, philosophy university teacher, and former medical student. Ryuji is an eccentric but intelligent man who aids his friend Kazuyuki in investigating the origins of the cursed videotape. He dies in the climax of ''Ring'' to show the real nature of the ring virus, but is resurrected in ''Spiral'', having made a deal with Sadako Yamamura to come back to life in exchange for helping her spread the virus to the whole world.\\\
In ''Loop'', it is revealed that Ryuji was cloned by the scientists of LOOP shortly before he died, and transferred to the real world, where he grew up as a man named Kaoru Futami with no memories of his life in the artificial world. He becomes an unlikely savior of LOOP and the real world when the scientists figure out that he is immune to the effects of the Metastatic Human Cancer Virus, and returns to his home world to mass produce a vaccine, eliminating the virus for good.\\\
In ''S'', Ryuji took over the identity of Seiji Kashiwada, a convict accused of killing several girls who were clones of Sadako Yamamura. He is the biological father of Akane Maruyama, having fathered her with Masako, the Sadako clone born to Mai Takano.
----
* TheAce: Very smart and a genius in intuition, mathematics, and medicine.
* AgeGapRomance: With Reiko Sugiura, who is fifteen years his senior.
* AmateurSleuth: Has no background as a detective, but is bright enough to investigate the M.H.V.
* BackFromTheDead: After dying, Ryuji is resurrected by Sadako and reappears as his adult self a few months after Ando makes his deal with Sadako. In ''Loop'', it is revealed protagonist Kaoru Futami is the resurrected Ryuji. Extracted from the Loop computer system as a baby, he was raised as a normal person until the Metastatic Human Cancer infects his father, prompting him to return to Loop to counteract the Ring Virus, the cancer's real form.
* BatDeduction: Realises the tape must be copied to escape the curse.
* CelibateEccentricGenius: To an extent. Ryuji has a relationship of sorts with his assistant/student Mai, and claims to have raped three women, though he has no proof of it other than stories.
* CloneDegeneration: By choosing to activate the virus that speeds up the aging process of the clones, Kaoru (as a clone of Ryuji) ends up prematurely aging alongside the Sadako clones.
* CloneJesus: Kaoru is a reincarnated Ryuji Takayama. As a baby, he was extracted form the Loop program and raised in the real world, but brought the Ring Virus with him, where it mutated into the Metastatic Human Virus cancer.
* CoolTeacher: Mai is affectionate towards him because of his kindness and encouragement.
* CloudCuckoolander: He is pretty nuts.
* TheHeroDies: In ''Happy Birthday''.
* HeroicSacrifice: Kaoru willingly dies to stop the Metastatic Human Virus in the real world and is reborn in the Loop world as the revived Ryuji.
* IHaveManyNames: His real name is Ryuji Takayama, but after he is transferred to the real world, he is renamed Kaoru Futami by his adoptive parents. After returning to LOOP, he dons the identity of Seiji Kashiwada.
* TheMedic: Works as a medical student.
* MentorOccupationalHazard: Meets his end in ''Ring'' to eliminate Kazuyuki's source of information, though he gets better.
* NoDeadBodyPoops: Averted with his staged video of being hanged in ''S''. Takanori notes that as "Seiji" is hanging himself, a dark stain develops in the area around his pelvis.
* ThePhilosopher: Prone to philosophising about life, along with his own apparent crimes as a rapist.
* PunchClockHero: Claims to have raped several girls.
* RapidAging: After returning to LOOP and activating the virus that speeds up the aging of clones, Kaoru, by virtue of being a clone, rapidly ages in a matter of months and dies before his girlfriend Reiko gives birth to their son.
* {{Reincarnation}}: Kaoru was cloned from Ryuji's genes in LOOP. He is genetically identical to Ryuji, but has no memories of his past life whatsoever.
* RomancingTheWidow: Kaoru starts a relationship with Reiko and has a son with her, though this ends up leading Reiko's first son, Ryoji, to commit suicide.
* SacrificialLion: Killed by the virus to prove it hasn't been stopped.
* StrawNihilist: Makes quips about wanting the world to end. Ends up playing a part in its "evolution" by helping spread Sadako's virus. It's later revealed, however, that he does this mainly to fool Sadako, as he actually wants to ''save'' the world from her domination.
* TeenyWeenie: When Ando does an autopsy on Ryuji's body, he notes to his amusement Ryuji's unimpressive sexual attributes.
* TomatoInTheMirror: In ''Loop'', Kaoru finds out that he is the clone of Ryuji Takayama, an artificial life form in a virtual reality world.
* UnreliableNarrator: Mai's insight regarding his relationships and his autopsy revealing [[spoiler: he had a very small penis]] cast doubt on whether he'd ever actually raped anyone or if he made it all up.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Sadako Yamamura]]
!!Sadako Yamamura
The central character of the series. Sadako was a teenage girl with PsychicPowers, had a pretty miserable childhood, and was then chucked down a well to her death. Years on, her spirit [[HauntedTechnology haunts a videotape]] which contains a [[BrownNote curse that will kill whoever watches it within seven days]] unless they copy it and show it to someone else.
----
* AchillesHeel: Sadako's tape is initially both her strength and weakness. The ring virus can only spread if someone copies the tape and shows it to someone else, though the deaths of those who do watch it may inspire others to investigate the tape - and that actually happens. When all of the tapes are destroyed, however, Sadako finds another way to spread the curse: books.
* AlasPoorVillain: Usually invoked once per installment, when her backstory is taken into account.
* BackFromTheDead: Sadako's entire plan was to be reborn, since she had a premonition of her return before she died and made the cursed videotape and subsequent Ring Virus to achieve her goal. She succeeds and proceeds to spread her curse through Asakawa's journal as a published novel, and then through a film adaptation.
* BigBad: Of the whole series.
* {{Biomanipulation}}: Sadako created the Ring Virus this way, mutating a smallpox strand her rapist gave her, to the point she reworked it to cause heart failure, and impregnate women with her own DNA to come back from the dead.
* BlessedWithSuck: Her powers brought Sadako and her loved ones a lot of grief.
* BrownNote: The videotape in all of its forms.
* TheChessmaster:
** Her primary goal is to inflict suffering on the world. However, she will forgo this for the sake of a more immediate goal.
** In ''Spiral'', she actually grants Ando a reprieve from death in return for his assistance and non-interference in her resurrection plan.
* FetusTerrible: In ''Coffin the Sky'', Mai unwillingly gives birth to a reborn Sadako who grows at a phenomenal rate and can escape a roof ventilation shaft like an adult.
* HauntedTechnology:
** Her cursed videotape.
** A recorded piece of audio acts as a precursor to the videotape in ''Lemon Heart''. Like the tape, it inflicts the ring virus on its listeners, but has a much slower rate of infection (victims only die some thirty years after they heard the audio).
* {{Hermaphrodite}}: Sadako was born with androgen sensitivity syndrome, meaning she had both a penis and a vagina, but was infertile, and otherwise identified as a female. When Jotaro Nagao discovered this, he promptly threw her down a well. She's later reborn as a "complete hermaphrodite", meaning she can give birth without a sperm donor.
* IntersexTribulations: Sadako has Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome, an intersex condition that means she cannot give birth because she has XY chromosomes. This revelation tragically leads her plunge down the well. In ''Spiral'', the reborn Sadako gains the ability to give birth, making her, as she puts it, "A complete hermaphrodite."
* KillEmAll: One part of Sadako's vendetta against the world.
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Sadako is based on one Sadako Takahashi, a Japanese woman said to have developed psychic powers and was a test subject for Dr. Tomokichi Fukurai, who Dr. Ikuma is based on.
* ParentalAbandonment: Sadako's mother Shizuko committed suicide from depression.
* PsychicPowers: Sadako pretty much has displayed the entire variety of powers listed on the trope's page. Her most notably power is psychography (or "nensha") which she used to create the videotape. She is able to alter the genetics of human biology and mutate a smallpox strand with her DNA into a virus able to cause tumors, heart attacks, and impregnate women with said DNA to ensure that she can be resurrected, as well as create clones of the dead.
* RapeAsBackstory: Sadako was sexually assaulted by Dr. Nagao, who discovered she was a hermaphrodite and chucked her down the well.
* SealedEvilInACan: Thrown down a well to die, leading to her rise as a vengeful ghost.
* StarCrossedLovers: Sadako and Toyama. Sadly DoomedByCanon.
* StartOfDarkness: Thrown down a well leads to her becoming a vengeful ghost.
* ThrownDownAWell: After she was raped by Dr. Nagao, he threw her down a well, pelted her with rocks to make sure she died, before closing the lid.
* TraumaCongaLine: Where to begin? Her mother lost her second child to illness, became depressed and eventually committed suicide, Sadako joined an acting troupe and found love but a recording of Sadako and her boyfriend Toyama having sex killed six people, her father developed tuberculosis, and then she was raped by Jotaro Nagao who discovered she was a hermaphrodite and chucked her down a well to her death.
* TheVirus: The Ring Virus, a mutated strand of smallpox which can lead to heart attacks or impregnation in female victims (but only if they have sex while infected). The cursed videotape is intended to spread like a virus, being copied and passed onto another person to escape death.
* XanatosGambit: Sadako's plan goes pretty much as she hoped, also backed up by the visions she had of the successful outcome.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Kenzo Yoshino]]
!!Kenzo Yoshino
A journalist friend of Kazuyuki. Working in the Yokosuka city hall press club, Yoshino performs secondary tasks for Kazuyuki to find information of Sadako's past.
----
* CuriosityIsACrapshoot: Very wary around urban legends but investigates Sadako's past on Kazuyuki's request, but is kept in the dark about some of the more darker elements of his friend's investigation. Ends up being one of the few characters to escape Sadako's wrath in one piece.
* ADayInTheLimelight: Has his own chapters in ''Ring'' and is a supporting player in ''Lemon Heart''.
* FireForgedFriends: With Kazuyuki. They were coworkers back when Kazuyuki still worked at the Yokosuka press club.
* IntrepidReporter: Goes to great lengths to help Kazuyuki learn of Sadako's fate.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Shizuka and Yoko Asakawa]]
!!Shizuka and Yoko Asakawa
Kazuyuki's wife and one-year-old daughter. When Kazuyuki carelessly left the cursed videotape in their apartment, she and their baby daughter Yoko watch it, further pressuring Kazuyuki to find the solution to stop the curse. He fails to do this, however, and the mother and daughter are killed off by the curse. Shizuka's maiden name is Oda.
----
* HealthcareMotivation: Kazuyuki finds the determination to find the cure for the virus when Shizuka and Yoko end up watching the tape.
* {{Housewife}}: Shizuka is the ordinary housewife of a typical Japanese salaryman.
* InfantImmortality: Averted, as the ring virus eventually claims Yoko's life.
* KilledOffForReal: In ''Spiral'', the Asakawa car is found crashed with Kazuyuki catatonic and Shizuka and Yoko dead. Apparently, the latter two died before the crash happened, as they were claimed by the ring virus.
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Shizuka's name is romanized as "Shizu" in the English translations, but the correct pronunciation is "Shizuka."
* WetBlanketWife: Shizuka complains that Kazuyuki is too preoccupied by work to care much for her or Yoko.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Mai Takano]]
!!Mai Takano
Ryuji's student and possible girlfriend. Although she has a minor role in ''Ring'', her role is expanded in ''Spiral'', where she assists Mitsuo Ando investigate the ring virus, only to fall victim to it. She is forced to give birth to a Sadako clone, and dies in the process.
----
* AndIMustScream: Used by Sadako as an incubator for her resurrection. She is trapped in the ventilation shaft on her apartment roof, unable to move as Sadako gives birth to herself and leaves Mai to die.
* AscendedExtra: Has a relatively minor role in ''Ring'', but gets a major boost in ''Spiral''.
* ADeathInTheLimelight: The gist of ''Coffin in the Sky''.
* FaceFullOfAlienWingWong: Sadako impregnates her with herself.
* HeroicBSOD: After finding Ryuji's corpse.
* KilledOffForReal: In ''Spiral''.
* MysticalPregnancy: She becomes pregnant despite being a virgin. The culprit is Sadako, who infects Mai when she is at her most fertile.
* SupernaturallyYoungParent: Sadako [[RapidAging grows up into an adult mere weeks after being born from Mai's womb]]. She is impregnated and gives birth to Akane Maruyama not too long after, making Mai a grandmother in her ''twenties''.
* TeacherStudentRomance: Possibly with Ryuji, although Mai denies that they ever had sex.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Jotaro Nagao]]
!!Jotaro Nagao
The last smallpox patient in Japan, and the person responsible for the death of Sadako Yamamura. In the present day, he works as a doctor in Atami, Shizuoka Prefecture, and is eventually confronted by Kazuyuki and Ryuji during their investigation into the ring virus.
----
* KarmaHoudiniWarranty: After raping and killing Sadako, Nagao was cured of smallpox and went on to open a clinic and start a family. But after Kazuyuki and Ryuji confront him for his role in Sadako's death, he has a mental breakdown. In ''Spiral'', Ando tries contacting Nagao for clues regarding the virus, only to find out that the clinic is closed because Nagao has been driven insane.
* SmallRoleBigImpact: Despite playing a small role in the series, he was the one who infected Sadako with the smallpox virus and killed her, a catalyst to the birth of the ring virus.
* UnsettlingGenderReveal: While raping Sadako, Nagao saw her underside and realized that she had a penis. [[BrainBleach He then threw her down a well]].
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Obviously, he has no idea that his smallpox virus would contribute to TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Nagao is last mentioned in ''Spiral'', where Ando is informed that Nagao has been "sick" ever since Kazuyuki and Ryuji visited him the previous novel.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Tomoko Oishi]]
!!Tomoko Oishi
Kazuyuki's teenage niece, the daughter of his wife, Shizuka's sister Yoshimi Oishi. The first victim of the series, she is killed by the ring virus a week after watching Sadako's cursed videotape, driving Kazuyuki to start investigating.
----
* IntroOnlyPointOfView: The very first chapter of ''Ring'' is narrated from her perspective, but she dies at the end of it.
* KilledOffForReal: In the prologue of ''Ring''.
* PlotTriggeringDeath: Her death, as well as three other people who watched the tape, leads Kazuyuki to begin researching about the ring virus.
* SpannerInTheWorks: It's thanks to Tomoko and her friends' playful deletion of the video that explained the solution to stop the curse that the ring virus evolved from infecting videotapes to books, which claims much more victims but also alerts the situation to the people outside LOOP, leading to its eventual demise. In fact, we don't even ''know'' what the original solution to stop the virus was; the "copying the tape and showing it to someone else" is only a speculation from Kazuyuki's part, as it fails to save his wife and daughter anyway.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Shizuko Yamamura]]
!!Shizuko Yamamura
Sadako's mother, a psychic who could burn images onto paper. She had an affair with Doctor Heihachiro Ikuma, who encouraged her to show off her powers to the press to gain fame. When they attacked her for being a fraud, however, she became depressed and eventually committed suicide by jumping into Mount Mihara.
----
* ArtifactOfPower: Shizuko's psychic abilities manifested after she fetched the statuette of En no Ozunu from the ocean.
* DrivenToSuicide: She became mentally ill thanks to repeated harassment from the press, before committing suicide.
* MissingMom: Died when Sadako was a little girl.
* TheMistress: She started an affair with the already-married Heihachiro Ikuma.
* OutlivingOnesOffspring: Her second child, a boy, died shortly after birth.
* PosthumousCharacter: Died decades before the events of ''Ring'' and only seen in flashbacks.
* PsychicPowers: She could burn images onto paper.
* SanitySlippage: After she was branded a fraud, culminating in her killing herself.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Heihachiro Ikuma]]
!!Heihachiro Ikuma
Sadako's father, a professor from Tokyo University who had an affair with Shizuko despite having a wife. His attempt to gain fame by showing off Shizuko's powers resulted in her being driven to suicide and Ikuma losing his prestige in the scientific community. In his madness, he attempted to unlock psychic powers of his own, but ended up infected by tuberculosis, requiring him to recuperate at a sanatorium.
----
* DisastrousDemonstration: Arranged Shizuko's public demonstration of her powers. It didn't go very well, leading to her suicide.
* {{Expy}}: Dr. Ikuma is based on Dr. Fukurai, a real life DeadlyDoctor, who tried to prove the existence of psychic powers. It took the deaths of two women for him to call it quits.
* IncurableCoughOfDeath: He suffered tuberculosis and was remanded in a sanatorium for the rest of his life.
* MeditatingUnderAWaterfall: Sat under waterfalls to try to gain psychic powers but it only gave him tuberculosis.
* OutlivingOnesOffspring: He outlived his daughter, Sadako, who was visiting him when she was raped and killed by Dr. Nagao.
* PosthumousCharacter: He succumbed to tuberculosis sometime after Sadako's death.
* TheProfessor: Was a professor in Tokyo University.
* SanitySlippage: Like Shizuko, Ikuma descended into insanity after he was branded a fraud by the press, though he did not go as far as killing himself.
[[/folder]]
!!Introduced in ''Spiral''
[[folder:Mitsuo Ando]]
!!Mitsuo Ando
The protagonist of ''Spiral''. Mitsuo Ando is a doctor who is grieving his son's death, traumatized by the accident and blaming himself for it and for his wife's emotional condition. Because of that, he has suicidal tendencies, though not brave enough to do the deed. He is also very intelligent and curious, and a very good person who wants to do the right thing, but is easily tempted by beautiful women.
----
* BabiesEverAfter: ''S'' reveals that not only Ando got Takanori back, his marriage was saved, and he conceived another child with his wife, Takanori's unseen younger sister.
* BrokenPedestal: Upon learning that his friend Ryuji is cooperating with Sadako to bring about the end of the world, Ando is disgusted and thinks to himself that, after gaining Takanori back, he will have no more involvement with the two whatsoever.
* ClassicalAntiHero: Ando works as a pathologist, his son drowned, and hates himself for not minding Takanori properly.
* TheCoroner: Performs the autopsy on Ryuji's corpse, kicking off ''Spiral'''s story.
* DealWithTheDevil: Ando agrees to spread Sadako's virus in exchange for resurrecting Takanori.
* DrivenToSuicide: Tried this but was too afraid to.
* FootDraggingDivorcee: His wife filed for divorce after Takanori's death, but Ando procrastinates signing the divorce papers because he thinks their marriage can still be saved.
* GuiltComplex: For Takanori's death.
* ObnoxiousInLaws: Averted. Akane thinks that Mitsuo will be condescending to her for being poor, but when Takanori and Mitsuo talk about her later, it's clear that Mitsuo has no problem with Akane becoming his future daughter-in-law.
* OutlivingOnesOffspring: He outlived his son, Takanori, who drowned while they were playing at a beach. He still blames himself for it, especially since his wife sought divorce afterwards. In the ending of ''Spiral'', he makes a deal with Sadako to resurrect Takanori in exchange for staying put regarding her plans to clone herself in mass.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Miyashita]]
!!Miyashita
Miyashita is Mitsuo Ando's co-worker at the pathology department and also his friend. He is a smart person, down to Earth, scientifically oriented and disbelieves in the paranormal.
----
* AgentScully: Disbelieves in the curse and the paranormal until he is dragged into it himself.
* TheCoroner: Works as a coroner alongside Ando.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Ando.
* TheMedic: Rieko is a microbiologist but knows how to treat people too.
* NecessarilyEvil: Aids Ando is spreading the Ring Virus in order to save his friend and himself after handling Asakawa's cursed journal.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Takanori Ando]]
!!Takanori Ando
Mitsuo Ando's toddler son, who died years ago in a freak swimming accident. At the end of ''Spiral'', Ando agrees to stop hindering Sadako in exchange for resurrecting Takanori. Takanori is the protagonist of ''S'', set 25 years later, in which he is dragged into the ring virus case when his pregnant girlfriend, Akane, is haunted by a serial killer.
----
* ArtificialHuman: The Takanori who appears at the end of ''Spiral'' and subsequently becomes the protagonist of ''S'' is a clone of the original Takanori, who died in a swimming accident and whose body is still presumably somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. Upon her own rebirth, Sadako was imbued with the power to recreate anyone, even deceased people, as long as she has their genes. Fortunately, Mitsuo Ando managed to grab some hair from the original Takanori when he tried to save him.
* BackFromTheDead: Takanori died when he was three years old, but his father made a deal with Sadako to resurrect him two years later. Mitsuo refuses to disclose the details, so Takanori can only guess the truth, and remains in the dark even twenty five years later.
* EurekaMoment: When he realizes that Seiji Kashiwada and Ryuji Takayama are the same person, and he has met him when he was a toddler.
* OneThingLedToAnother: How he describes him impregnating Akane. They were simply spending a holiday at a resort, but then one thing led to another and suddenly Akane is pregnant.
* PosthumousCharacter: Is this for much of ''Spiral'', but obviously no longer the case once he is resurrected.
* SurpriseIncest: He and Akane were born from the same womb, though neither is squicked out by this.
* TomatoInTheMirror: Takanori deduces that he was dead but got resurrected, judging by how the family registry lists him as "deceased" for two years.
* UnderstandingBoyfriend: He comforts Akane when she accidentally sees the video of Seiji Kashiwada's execution, and promises to keep track of her when she admits that she is being stalked by someone.
* UptownGirl: Inverted with him being the uptown boy to Akane. Takanori is the upper-middle-class son of a doctor while Akane is an orphan who leads a modest life as a high school teacher.
[[/folder]]
!!Introduced in ''Loop''
[[folder:Reiko Sugiura]]
!!Reiko Sugiura
A widowed mother and a carrier of the Metastatic Human Cancer Virus, which she passed to her son, Ryoji. She has an affair with Kaoru Futami, who tutors Ryoji, but this causes the latter to commit suicide upon knowing the truth. When she admits to being pregnant afterwards, Kaoru becomes determined to find a cure in the hopes that their soon-to-be-born son will grow up in a world without the virus.
----
* AgeGapRomance: With Kaoru, who is fifteen years her junior.
* ADayInTheLimelight: She is the POV character of ''Happy Birthday''.
* DeterminedWidow: She carried on after her husband's death, taking care of her sick son despite knowing full well that he will not make it without a cure. And her life after Kaoru's decision to return to LOOP can be considered a second widowhood, as well, since she vows to raise her baby in new world that Kaoru has sacrificed his life to make.
* DrivenToSuicide: After Ryoji's suicide, she nearly considers suicide herself because she doesn't want her son to grow up in a world with the ring virus.
* HealthcareMotivation: Kaoru begins searching for a cure to the ring virus so his and Reiko's son can grow up healthy.
* MyGirlBackHome: The ending of ''S'' implies that Ryuji is attempting to return back to the real world so he can reunite with Reiko and their son.
* OutlivingOnesOffspring: Outlives Ryoji, who kills himself upon learning that his mom is banging his teacher.
* SomeoneToRememberHimBy: Her son with Kaoru, who is born several months after Kaoru dies in LOOP.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Ryoji Sugiura]]
!!Ryoji Sugiura
Reiko's son with her deceased husband who is infected by the Metastatic Human Cancer Virus.
----
* DelicateAndSickly: He grew up suffering with the Metastatic Human Cancer.
* DrivenToSuicide: After discovering Reiko's and Kaoru's affair, he jumps off a building to his death.
* GoodbyeCruelWorld: He leaves behind a suicide note, which basically states that he does not want to get in the way of Reiko's relationship with Kaoru.
* ParentWithNewParamour: Ryoji eventually learns that Reiko is sleeping with Kaoru Futami, his teacher. He does ''not'' take this well, and resorts to committing suicide.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Toru Amano]]
!!Toru Amano
A doctor who worked in the LOOP project and a friend of Hideyuki Futami, Kaoru's father.
----
* MrExposition: Explains to Kaoru about LOOP, its history, the ring virus, its connection with the Metastatic Human Cancer Virus, and the attempts to find a cure for it.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Hideyuki and Machiko Futami]]
!!Hideyuki and Machiko Futami
Kaoru Futami's adoptive parents. Hideyuki is a mathematician involved with the LOOP project who was infected by the Metastatic Human Cancer Virus, while Machiko is a graduate of American studies.
----
* TheCuckoolanderWasRight: Kaoru initially doesn't take Machiko's suggestion about the Native American Ancient One seriously. He later learns that while the mythical figure does not exist, there is a secret research laboratory in the United States that was built to search for a cure for the MHC.
* DespairEventHorizon: After Hideyuki's diagnosis, Machiko slowly slipped into depression as she turned to alternative medicine to cure her husband.
* MotherNatureFatherScience: Hideyuki majored in hard science while Machiko majored in soft science.
* OutlivingOnesOffspring: Outlive Kaoru, who dies finding the cure for the MHC.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Professor Eliot]]
!!Professor Eliot
An American doctor involved in the LOOP project who has been researching for a cure for the ring virus ever since it escaped to the real world.
----
* TheHermit: Lives in an isolated laboratory in the American Rockies.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: He was the one who alerted Mitsuo Ando to begin investigating the ring virus, which would lead to Mai's death and the spread of the ring virus plague to the whole world. However, he did this so the cure for the MHCV, which developed out of a rogue strain of the ring virus, can be found.
[[/folder]]
!!Introduced in ''Birthday''
[[folder:Hiroshi Toyama]]
!!Hiroshi Toyama
Sadako's ex-boyfriend and associate at Theater Group Soaring. Toyama is a middle-aged man with a wife and children, but still has hopes to see Sadako again, since their relationship abruptly ended when she disappeared from the faces of the earth.
----
* KilledOffForReal: In ''Lemon Heart''.
* PeacefulInDeath: He is happy in death, since he finally reunites with his beloved Sadako.
* TheOneThatGotAway: Sadako is this to him, since he never stopped loving her, even years after their relationship ended.
* StarCrossedLovers: Sadako was forced to flee Toyama when she was suspected of murder, then died shortly after, something that Toyama only figures out more than two decades later.
* UnderstandingBoyfriend: He was more than willing to accept Sadako's peculiarities, but this did not stop her from having to disappear when she was suspected of Shigemori's death.
[[/folder]]
!!Introduced in ''S''
[[folder:Akane Maruyama]]
Takanori Ando's pregnant girlfriend. She is an orphan who works as a high school teacher. It is later revealed that she is the daughter of Ryuji Takayama and Masako, the Sadako clone born to Mai Takano.
----
* BestServedCold: It's implied that she pushes Hiroyuki to his death in the train station, as revenge for trying to kill her and gaslighting her.
* ImperiledInPregnancy: She is stalked by a serial killer, Hiroyuki Niimura, who once hunted Sadako clones a decade ago.
* SurpriseIncest: She and Takanori were born from the same womb, though neither is squicked out by this.
* TomatoInTheMirror: Learns that her mother, Masako, was a Sadako clone. And her father is Ryuji Takayama, who had a heavy involvement in the ring virus himself.
* UptownGirl: Inverted with her being the poor girl to Takanori's rich boy.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Hiroyuki Niimura]]
!!Hiroyuki Niimura
A former student of Ryuji Takayama. Ten years ago, he went into a crusade to kill off all Sadako clones in the world, despite Ryuji's belief that they deserved the chance to exist.
----
* BigBad: Of ''S'', though he is offscreen for much of the book.
* KarmaHoudiniWarranty: He escapes justice for ten years, but eventually dies in a suicide that Takanori thinks may been instigated by his former victim, Akane Maruyama.
* KnightTemplar: He killed the remaining Sadako clones even though they were harmless (the ring virus having been eradicated by Ryuji's research) and, most importantly, still children.
* NeverSuicide: Takanori speculates that Akane may have killed Hiroyuki in the train station, but stages it to look like a suicide.
* SerialKiller: He was the true serial killer of the four girls ten years ago, not Seiji Kashiwada.
* WouldHurtAChild: And kill them too.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Seiji Kashiwada]]
!!Seiji Kashiwada
A man accused of the murder of four girls ten years before the events of ''S'', who is executed in the prologue of the novel.
----
* AcquittedTooLate: Takanori and Akane learn that Seiji was innocent of the murders... a year after he was executed by hanging.
* IntroOnlyPointOfView: Narrates the prologue of ''S'', which ends with his execution.
* NoDeadBodyPoops: Averted, as he describes himself urinating while he is choked to death.
[[/folder]]
[[foldercontrol]]
!!Introduced in ''Ring''
[[folder:Kazuyuki Asakawa]]
!!Kazuyuki Asakawa
The protagonist of ''Ring''. Kazuyuki is a Tokyo-based journalist who investigates the death of his niece Tomoko and three other teenagers, discovering the cursed videotape's existence and seeks to end its curse. At first he is a workaholic but when his wife and daughter watch the tape, he is determined to move mountains to save them.
---
* AuthorAppeal: One of the driving forces behind Asakawa's character in the novel is his relationship with his daughter. The author is a leading advocate of stronger father/daughter relationships in Japanese society.
* BadassNormal: Very determined to solve the mystery of the videotape, particularly when his wife and daughter watch it.
* ChekhovsGun: The copy of the tape Kazuyuki made for Ryuji. He tries to use it to save his family.
* HeroicBSOD: After his family watch the tape, Ryuji dies and realising the enormity of the virus' power, and when Sadako manipulates him into writing the journal to spread the virus.
* IntrepidReporter: Goes to great lengths to uncover the truth behind the videotape.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Kazuyuki finds Sadako's body and it gives it to her family and everything looks fine. That is until Ryuji dies of a heart attack, revealing the Ring Virus is still active and can only be stopped by copying the tape. In ''Spiral'', it is revealed Kazuyuki wrote a journal on his investigation, thought manipulated by Sadako into doing, thus having a secondary container to spread the virus with. By the end of the novel, it has been adapted into a novel by Kazuyuki's brother, and an eventual film.
* OutlivingOnesOffspring: His daughter, Yoko, predeceases him by several weeks.
* PapaWolf: Comes off as a bit of a reluctant parent, finding his daughter Yoko's constant crying to be a bother. However, as soon as he learns his family have viewed the videotape, his true devotion to his daughter comes out.
* {{Salaryman}}: A bit focused on his work and dislikes certain aspects of being a father.
* ShootTheShaggyDog: His whole storyline. Not only he fails to solve the ring virus before dying, he drags his whole family into the rigmarole, and unwittingly accelerates the spread of the virus.
* SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome: Kazuyuki and his family are abruptly caught in a car crash a few days after the events of the first novel. His wife and daughter die, though it is later revealed they may have died before the crash. Kazuyuki ends up in a coma for a month and eventually dies himself.
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: As part of Sadako's plan to spread the tape.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Ryuji Takayama]]
!!Ryuji Takayama / Kaoru Futami / Seiji Kashiwada
A mathematician, philosophy university teacher, and former medical student. Ryuji is an eccentric but intelligent man who aids his friend Kazuyuki in investigating the origins of the cursed videotape. He dies in the climax of ''Ring'' to show the real nature of the ring virus, but is resurrected in ''Spiral'', having made a deal with Sadako Yamamura to come back to life in exchange for helping her spread the virus to the whole world.\\\
In ''Loop'', it is revealed that Ryuji was cloned by the scientists of LOOP shortly before he died, and transferred to the real world, where he grew up as a man named Kaoru Futami with no memories of his life in the artificial world. He becomes an unlikely savior of LOOP and the real world when the scientists figure out that he is immune to the effects of the Metastatic Human Cancer Virus, and returns to his home world to mass produce a vaccine, eliminating the virus for good.\\\
In ''S'', Ryuji took over the identity of Seiji Kashiwada, a convict accused of killing several girls who were clones of Sadako Yamamura. He is the biological father of Akane Maruyama, having fathered her with Masako, the Sadako clone born to Mai Takano.
----
* TheAce: Very smart and a genius in intuition, mathematics, and medicine.
* AgeGapRomance: With Reiko Sugiura, who is fifteen years his senior.
* AmateurSleuth: Has no background as a detective, but is bright enough to investigate the M.H.V.
* BackFromTheDead: After dying, Ryuji is resurrected by Sadako and reappears as his adult self a few months after Ando makes his deal with Sadako. In ''Loop'', it is revealed protagonist Kaoru Futami is the resurrected Ryuji. Extracted from the Loop computer system as a baby, he was raised as a normal person until the Metastatic Human Cancer infects his father, prompting him to return to Loop to counteract the Ring Virus, the cancer's real form.
* BatDeduction: Realises the tape must be copied to escape the curse.
* CelibateEccentricGenius: To an extent. Ryuji has a relationship of sorts with his assistant/student Mai, and claims to have raped three women, though he has no proof of it other than stories.
* CloneDegeneration: By choosing to activate the virus that speeds up the aging process of the clones, Kaoru (as a clone of Ryuji) ends up prematurely aging alongside the Sadako clones.
* CloneJesus: Kaoru is a reincarnated Ryuji Takayama. As a baby, he was extracted form the Loop program and raised in the real world, but brought the Ring Virus with him, where it mutated into the Metastatic Human Virus cancer.
* CoolTeacher: Mai is affectionate towards him because of his kindness and encouragement.
* CloudCuckoolander: He is pretty nuts.
* TheHeroDies: In ''Happy Birthday''.
* HeroicSacrifice: Kaoru willingly dies to stop the Metastatic Human Virus in the real world and is reborn in the Loop world as the revived Ryuji.
* IHaveManyNames: His real name is Ryuji Takayama, but after he is transferred to the real world, he is renamed Kaoru Futami by his adoptive parents. After returning to LOOP, he dons the identity of Seiji Kashiwada.
* TheMedic: Works as a medical student.
* MentorOccupationalHazard: Meets his end in ''Ring'' to eliminate Kazuyuki's source of information, though he gets better.
* NoDeadBodyPoops: Averted with his staged video of being hanged in ''S''. Takanori notes that as "Seiji" is hanging himself, a dark stain develops in the area around his pelvis.
* ThePhilosopher: Prone to philosophising about life, along with his own apparent crimes as a rapist.
* PunchClockHero: Claims to have raped several girls.
* RapidAging: After returning to LOOP and activating the virus that speeds up the aging of clones, Kaoru, by virtue of being a clone, rapidly ages in a matter of months and dies before his girlfriend Reiko gives birth to their son.
* {{Reincarnation}}: Kaoru was cloned from Ryuji's genes in LOOP. He is genetically identical to Ryuji, but has no memories of his past life whatsoever.
* RomancingTheWidow: Kaoru starts a relationship with Reiko and has a son with her, though this ends up leading Reiko's first son, Ryoji, to commit suicide.
* SacrificialLion: Killed by the virus to prove it hasn't been stopped.
* StrawNihilist: Makes quips about wanting the world to end. Ends up playing a part in its "evolution" by helping spread Sadako's virus. It's later revealed, however, that he does this mainly to fool Sadako, as he actually wants to ''save'' the world from her domination.
* TeenyWeenie: When Ando does an autopsy on Ryuji's body, he notes to his amusement Ryuji's unimpressive sexual attributes.
* TomatoInTheMirror: In ''Loop'', Kaoru finds out that he is the clone of Ryuji Takayama, an artificial life form in a virtual reality world.
* UnreliableNarrator: Mai's insight regarding his relationships and his autopsy revealing [[spoiler: he had a very small penis]] cast doubt on whether he'd ever actually raped anyone or if he made it all up.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Sadako Yamamura]]
!!Sadako Yamamura
The central character of the series. Sadako was a teenage girl with PsychicPowers, had a pretty miserable childhood, and was then chucked down a well to her death. Years on, her spirit [[HauntedTechnology haunts a videotape]] which contains a [[BrownNote curse that will kill whoever watches it within seven days]] unless they copy it and show it to someone else.
----
* AchillesHeel: Sadako's tape is initially both her strength and weakness. The ring virus can only spread if someone copies the tape and shows it to someone else, though the deaths of those who do watch it may inspire others to investigate the tape - and that actually happens. When all of the tapes are destroyed, however, Sadako finds another way to spread the curse: books.
* AlasPoorVillain: Usually invoked once per installment, when her backstory is taken into account.
* BackFromTheDead: Sadako's entire plan was to be reborn, since she had a premonition of her return before she died and made the cursed videotape and subsequent Ring Virus to achieve her goal. She succeeds and proceeds to spread her curse through Asakawa's journal as a published novel, and then through a film adaptation.
* BigBad: Of the whole series.
* {{Biomanipulation}}: Sadako created the Ring Virus this way, mutating a smallpox strand her rapist gave her, to the point she reworked it to cause heart failure, and impregnate women with her own DNA to come back from the dead.
* BlessedWithSuck: Her powers brought Sadako and her loved ones a lot of grief.
* BrownNote: The videotape in all of its forms.
* TheChessmaster:
** Her primary goal is to inflict suffering on the world. However, she will forgo this for the sake of a more immediate goal.
** In ''Spiral'', she actually grants Ando a reprieve from death in return for his assistance and non-interference in her resurrection plan.
* FetusTerrible: In ''Coffin the Sky'', Mai unwillingly gives birth to a reborn Sadako who grows at a phenomenal rate and can escape a roof ventilation shaft like an adult.
* HauntedTechnology:
** Her cursed videotape.
** A recorded piece of audio acts as a precursor to the videotape in ''Lemon Heart''. Like the tape, it inflicts the ring virus on its listeners, but has a much slower rate of infection (victims only die some thirty years after they heard the audio).
* {{Hermaphrodite}}: Sadako was born with androgen sensitivity syndrome, meaning she had both a penis and a vagina, but was infertile, and otherwise identified as a female. When Jotaro Nagao discovered this, he promptly threw her down a well. She's later reborn as a "complete hermaphrodite", meaning she can give birth without a sperm donor.
* IntersexTribulations: Sadako has Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome, an intersex condition that means she cannot give birth because she has XY chromosomes. This revelation tragically leads her plunge down the well. In ''Spiral'', the reborn Sadako gains the ability to give birth, making her, as she puts it, "A complete hermaphrodite."
* KillEmAll: One part of Sadako's vendetta against the world.
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Sadako is based on one Sadako Takahashi, a Japanese woman said to have developed psychic powers and was a test subject for Dr. Tomokichi Fukurai, who Dr. Ikuma is based on.
* ParentalAbandonment: Sadako's mother Shizuko committed suicide from depression.
* PsychicPowers: Sadako pretty much has displayed the entire variety of powers listed on the trope's page. Her most notably power is psychography (or "nensha") which she used to create the videotape. She is able to alter the genetics of human biology and mutate a smallpox strand with her DNA into a virus able to cause tumors, heart attacks, and impregnate women with said DNA to ensure that she can be resurrected, as well as create clones of the dead.
* RapeAsBackstory: Sadako was sexually assaulted by Dr. Nagao, who discovered she was a hermaphrodite and chucked her down the well.
* SealedEvilInACan: Thrown down a well to die, leading to her rise as a vengeful ghost.
* StarCrossedLovers: Sadako and Toyama. Sadly DoomedByCanon.
* StartOfDarkness: Thrown down a well leads to her becoming a vengeful ghost.
* ThrownDownAWell: After she was raped by Dr. Nagao, he threw her down a well, pelted her with rocks to make sure she died, before closing the lid.
* TraumaCongaLine: Where to begin? Her mother lost her second child to illness, became depressed and eventually committed suicide, Sadako joined an acting troupe and found love but a recording of Sadako and her boyfriend Toyama having sex killed six people, her father developed tuberculosis, and then she was raped by Jotaro Nagao who discovered she was a hermaphrodite and chucked her down a well to her death.
* TheVirus: The Ring Virus, a mutated strand of smallpox which can lead to heart attacks or impregnation in female victims (but only if they have sex while infected). The cursed videotape is intended to spread like a virus, being copied and passed onto another person to escape death.
* XanatosGambit: Sadako's plan goes pretty much as she hoped, also backed up by the visions she had of the successful outcome.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Kenzo Yoshino]]
!!Kenzo Yoshino
A journalist friend of Kazuyuki. Working in the Yokosuka city hall press club, Yoshino performs secondary tasks for Kazuyuki to find information of Sadako's past.
----
* CuriosityIsACrapshoot: Very wary around urban legends but investigates Sadako's past on Kazuyuki's request, but is kept in the dark about some of the more darker elements of his friend's investigation. Ends up being one of the few characters to escape Sadako's wrath in one piece.
* ADayInTheLimelight: Has his own chapters in ''Ring'' and is a supporting player in ''Lemon Heart''.
* FireForgedFriends: With Kazuyuki. They were coworkers back when Kazuyuki still worked at the Yokosuka press club.
* IntrepidReporter: Goes to great lengths to help Kazuyuki learn of Sadako's fate.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Shizuka and Yoko Asakawa]]
!!Shizuka and Yoko Asakawa
Kazuyuki's wife and one-year-old daughter. When Kazuyuki carelessly left the cursed videotape in their apartment, she and their baby daughter Yoko watch it, further pressuring Kazuyuki to find the solution to stop the curse. He fails to do this, however, and the mother and daughter are killed off by the curse. Shizuka's maiden name is Oda.
----
* HealthcareMotivation: Kazuyuki finds the determination to find the cure for the virus when Shizuka and Yoko end up watching the tape.
* {{Housewife}}: Shizuka is the ordinary housewife of a typical Japanese salaryman.
* InfantImmortality: Averted, as the ring virus eventually claims Yoko's life.
* KilledOffForReal: In ''Spiral'', the Asakawa car is found crashed with Kazuyuki catatonic and Shizuka and Yoko dead. Apparently, the latter two died before the crash happened, as they were claimed by the ring virus.
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Shizuka's name is romanized as "Shizu" in the English translations, but the correct pronunciation is "Shizuka."
* WetBlanketWife: Shizuka complains that Kazuyuki is too preoccupied by work to care much for her or Yoko.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Mai Takano]]
!!Mai Takano
Ryuji's student and possible girlfriend. Although she has a minor role in ''Ring'', her role is expanded in ''Spiral'', where she assists Mitsuo Ando investigate the ring virus, only to fall victim to it. She is forced to give birth to a Sadako clone, and dies in the process.
----
* AndIMustScream: Used by Sadako as an incubator for her resurrection. She is trapped in the ventilation shaft on her apartment roof, unable to move as Sadako gives birth to herself and leaves Mai to die.
* AscendedExtra: Has a relatively minor role in ''Ring'', but gets a major boost in ''Spiral''.
* ADeathInTheLimelight: The gist of ''Coffin in the Sky''.
* FaceFullOfAlienWingWong: Sadako impregnates her with herself.
* HeroicBSOD: After finding Ryuji's corpse.
* KilledOffForReal: In ''Spiral''.
* MysticalPregnancy: She becomes pregnant despite being a virgin. The culprit is Sadako, who infects Mai when she is at her most fertile.
* SupernaturallyYoungParent: Sadako [[RapidAging grows up into an adult mere weeks after being born from Mai's womb]]. She is impregnated and gives birth to Akane Maruyama not too long after, making Mai a grandmother in her ''twenties''.
* TeacherStudentRomance: Possibly with Ryuji, although Mai denies that they ever had sex.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Jotaro Nagao]]
!!Jotaro Nagao
The last smallpox patient in Japan, and the person responsible for the death of Sadako Yamamura. In the present day, he works as a doctor in Atami, Shizuoka Prefecture, and is eventually confronted by Kazuyuki and Ryuji during their investigation into the ring virus.
----
* KarmaHoudiniWarranty: After raping and killing Sadako, Nagao was cured of smallpox and went on to open a clinic and start a family. But after Kazuyuki and Ryuji confront him for his role in Sadako's death, he has a mental breakdown. In ''Spiral'', Ando tries contacting Nagao for clues regarding the virus, only to find out that the clinic is closed because Nagao has been driven insane.
* SmallRoleBigImpact: Despite playing a small role in the series, he was the one who infected Sadako with the smallpox virus and killed her, a catalyst to the birth of the ring virus.
* UnsettlingGenderReveal: While raping Sadako, Nagao saw her underside and realized that she had a penis. [[BrainBleach He then threw her down a well]].
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Obviously, he has no idea that his smallpox virus would contribute to TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Nagao is last mentioned in ''Spiral'', where Ando is informed that Nagao has been "sick" ever since Kazuyuki and Ryuji visited him the previous novel.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Tomoko Oishi]]
!!Tomoko Oishi
Kazuyuki's teenage niece, the daughter of his wife, Shizuka's sister Yoshimi Oishi. The first victim of the series, she is killed by the ring virus a week after watching Sadako's cursed videotape, driving Kazuyuki to start investigating.
----
* IntroOnlyPointOfView: The very first chapter of ''Ring'' is narrated from her perspective, but she dies at the end of it.
* KilledOffForReal: In the prologue of ''Ring''.
* PlotTriggeringDeath: Her death, as well as three other people who watched the tape, leads Kazuyuki to begin researching about the ring virus.
* SpannerInTheWorks: It's thanks to Tomoko and her friends' playful deletion of the video that explained the solution to stop the curse that the ring virus evolved from infecting videotapes to books, which claims much more victims but also alerts the situation to the people outside LOOP, leading to its eventual demise. In fact, we don't even ''know'' what the original solution to stop the virus was; the "copying the tape and showing it to someone else" is only a speculation from Kazuyuki's part, as it fails to save his wife and daughter anyway.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Shizuko Yamamura]]
!!Shizuko Yamamura
Sadako's mother, a psychic who could burn images onto paper. She had an affair with Doctor Heihachiro Ikuma, who encouraged her to show off her powers to the press to gain fame. When they attacked her for being a fraud, however, she became depressed and eventually committed suicide by jumping into Mount Mihara.
----
* ArtifactOfPower: Shizuko's psychic abilities manifested after she fetched the statuette of En no Ozunu from the ocean.
* DrivenToSuicide: She became mentally ill thanks to repeated harassment from the press, before committing suicide.
* MissingMom: Died when Sadako was a little girl.
* TheMistress: She started an affair with the already-married Heihachiro Ikuma.
* OutlivingOnesOffspring: Her second child, a boy, died shortly after birth.
* PosthumousCharacter: Died decades before the events of ''Ring'' and only seen in flashbacks.
* PsychicPowers: She could burn images onto paper.
* SanitySlippage: After she was branded a fraud, culminating in her killing herself.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Heihachiro Ikuma]]
!!Heihachiro Ikuma
Sadako's father, a professor from Tokyo University who had an affair with Shizuko despite having a wife. His attempt to gain fame by showing off Shizuko's powers resulted in her being driven to suicide and Ikuma losing his prestige in the scientific community. In his madness, he attempted to unlock psychic powers of his own, but ended up infected by tuberculosis, requiring him to recuperate at a sanatorium.
----
* DisastrousDemonstration: Arranged Shizuko's public demonstration of her powers. It didn't go very well, leading to her suicide.
* {{Expy}}: Dr. Ikuma is based on Dr. Fukurai, a real life DeadlyDoctor, who tried to prove the existence of psychic powers. It took the deaths of two women for him to call it quits.
* IncurableCoughOfDeath: He suffered tuberculosis and was remanded in a sanatorium for the rest of his life.
* MeditatingUnderAWaterfall: Sat under waterfalls to try to gain psychic powers but it only gave him tuberculosis.
* OutlivingOnesOffspring: He outlived his daughter, Sadako, who was visiting him when she was raped and killed by Dr. Nagao.
* PosthumousCharacter: He succumbed to tuberculosis sometime after Sadako's death.
* TheProfessor: Was a professor in Tokyo University.
* SanitySlippage: Like Shizuko, Ikuma descended into insanity after he was branded a fraud by the press, though he did not go as far as killing himself.
[[/folder]]
!!Introduced in ''Spiral''
[[folder:Mitsuo Ando]]
!!Mitsuo Ando
The protagonist of ''Spiral''. Mitsuo Ando is a doctor who is grieving his son's death, traumatized by the accident and blaming himself for it and for his wife's emotional condition. Because of that, he has suicidal tendencies, though not brave enough to do the deed. He is also very intelligent and curious, and a very good person who wants to do the right thing, but is easily tempted by beautiful women.
----
* BabiesEverAfter: ''S'' reveals that not only Ando got Takanori back, his marriage was saved, and he conceived another child with his wife, Takanori's unseen younger sister.
* BrokenPedestal: Upon learning that his friend Ryuji is cooperating with Sadako to bring about the end of the world, Ando is disgusted and thinks to himself that, after gaining Takanori back, he will have no more involvement with the two whatsoever.
* ClassicalAntiHero: Ando works as a pathologist, his son drowned, and hates himself for not minding Takanori properly.
* TheCoroner: Performs the autopsy on Ryuji's corpse, kicking off ''Spiral'''s story.
* DealWithTheDevil: Ando agrees to spread Sadako's virus in exchange for resurrecting Takanori.
* DrivenToSuicide: Tried this but was too afraid to.
* FootDraggingDivorcee: His wife filed for divorce after Takanori's death, but Ando procrastinates signing the divorce papers because he thinks their marriage can still be saved.
* GuiltComplex: For Takanori's death.
* ObnoxiousInLaws: Averted. Akane thinks that Mitsuo will be condescending to her for being poor, but when Takanori and Mitsuo talk about her later, it's clear that Mitsuo has no problem with Akane becoming his future daughter-in-law.
* OutlivingOnesOffspring: He outlived his son, Takanori, who drowned while they were playing at a beach. He still blames himself for it, especially since his wife sought divorce afterwards. In the ending of ''Spiral'', he makes a deal with Sadako to resurrect Takanori in exchange for staying put regarding her plans to clone herself in mass.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Miyashita]]
!!Miyashita
Miyashita is Mitsuo Ando's co-worker at the pathology department and also his friend. He is a smart person, down to Earth, scientifically oriented and disbelieves in the paranormal.
----
* AgentScully: Disbelieves in the curse and the paranormal until he is dragged into it himself.
* TheCoroner: Works as a coroner alongside Ando.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Ando.
* TheMedic: Rieko is a microbiologist but knows how to treat people too.
* NecessarilyEvil: Aids Ando is spreading the Ring Virus in order to save his friend and himself after handling Asakawa's cursed journal.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Takanori Ando]]
!!Takanori Ando
Mitsuo Ando's toddler son, who died years ago in a freak swimming accident. At the end of ''Spiral'', Ando agrees to stop hindering Sadako in exchange for resurrecting Takanori. Takanori is the protagonist of ''S'', set 25 years later, in which he is dragged into the ring virus case when his pregnant girlfriend, Akane, is haunted by a serial killer.
----
* ArtificialHuman: The Takanori who appears at the end of ''Spiral'' and subsequently becomes the protagonist of ''S'' is a clone of the original Takanori, who died in a swimming accident and whose body is still presumably somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. Upon her own rebirth, Sadako was imbued with the power to recreate anyone, even deceased people, as long as she has their genes. Fortunately, Mitsuo Ando managed to grab some hair from the original Takanori when he tried to save him.
* BackFromTheDead: Takanori died when he was three years old, but his father made a deal with Sadako to resurrect him two years later. Mitsuo refuses to disclose the details, so Takanori can only guess the truth, and remains in the dark even twenty five years later.
* EurekaMoment: When he realizes that Seiji Kashiwada and Ryuji Takayama are the same person, and he has met him when he was a toddler.
* OneThingLedToAnother: How he describes him impregnating Akane. They were simply spending a holiday at a resort, but then one thing led to another and suddenly Akane is pregnant.
* PosthumousCharacter: Is this for much of ''Spiral'', but obviously no longer the case once he is resurrected.
* SurpriseIncest: He and Akane were born from the same womb, though neither is squicked out by this.
* TomatoInTheMirror: Takanori deduces that he was dead but got resurrected, judging by how the family registry lists him as "deceased" for two years.
* UnderstandingBoyfriend: He comforts Akane when she accidentally sees the video of Seiji Kashiwada's execution, and promises to keep track of her when she admits that she is being stalked by someone.
* UptownGirl: Inverted with him being the uptown boy to Akane. Takanori is the upper-middle-class son of a doctor while Akane is an orphan who leads a modest life as a high school teacher.
[[/folder]]
!!Introduced in ''Loop''
[[folder:Reiko Sugiura]]
!!Reiko Sugiura
A widowed mother and a carrier of the Metastatic Human Cancer Virus, which she passed to her son, Ryoji. She has an affair with Kaoru Futami, who tutors Ryoji, but this causes the latter to commit suicide upon knowing the truth. When she admits to being pregnant afterwards, Kaoru becomes determined to find a cure in the hopes that their soon-to-be-born son will grow up in a world without the virus.
----
* AgeGapRomance: With Kaoru, who is fifteen years her junior.
* ADayInTheLimelight: She is the POV character of ''Happy Birthday''.
* DeterminedWidow: She carried on after her husband's death, taking care of her sick son despite knowing full well that he will not make it without a cure. And her life after Kaoru's decision to return to LOOP can be considered a second widowhood, as well, since she vows to raise her baby in new world that Kaoru has sacrificed his life to make.
* DrivenToSuicide: After Ryoji's suicide, she nearly considers suicide herself because she doesn't want her son to grow up in a world with the ring virus.
* HealthcareMotivation: Kaoru begins searching for a cure to the ring virus so his and Reiko's son can grow up healthy.
* MyGirlBackHome: The ending of ''S'' implies that Ryuji is attempting to return back to the real world so he can reunite with Reiko and their son.
* OutlivingOnesOffspring: Outlives Ryoji, who kills himself upon learning that his mom is banging his teacher.
* SomeoneToRememberHimBy: Her son with Kaoru, who is born several months after Kaoru dies in LOOP.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Ryoji Sugiura]]
!!Ryoji Sugiura
Reiko's son with her deceased husband who is infected by the Metastatic Human Cancer Virus.
----
* DelicateAndSickly: He grew up suffering with the Metastatic Human Cancer.
* DrivenToSuicide: After discovering Reiko's and Kaoru's affair, he jumps off a building to his death.
* GoodbyeCruelWorld: He leaves behind a suicide note, which basically states that he does not want to get in the way of Reiko's relationship with Kaoru.
* ParentWithNewParamour: Ryoji eventually learns that Reiko is sleeping with Kaoru Futami, his teacher. He does ''not'' take this well, and resorts to committing suicide.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Toru Amano]]
!!Toru Amano
A doctor who worked in the LOOP project and a friend of Hideyuki Futami, Kaoru's father.
----
* MrExposition: Explains to Kaoru about LOOP, its history, the ring virus, its connection with the Metastatic Human Cancer Virus, and the attempts to find a cure for it.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Hideyuki and Machiko Futami]]
!!Hideyuki and Machiko Futami
Kaoru Futami's adoptive parents. Hideyuki is a mathematician involved with the LOOP project who was infected by the Metastatic Human Cancer Virus, while Machiko is a graduate of American studies.
----
* TheCuckoolanderWasRight: Kaoru initially doesn't take Machiko's suggestion about the Native American Ancient One seriously. He later learns that while the mythical figure does not exist, there is a secret research laboratory in the United States that was built to search for a cure for the MHC.
* DespairEventHorizon: After Hideyuki's diagnosis, Machiko slowly slipped into depression as she turned to alternative medicine to cure her husband.
* MotherNatureFatherScience: Hideyuki majored in hard science while Machiko majored in soft science.
* OutlivingOnesOffspring: Outlive Kaoru, who dies finding the cure for the MHC.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Professor Eliot]]
!!Professor Eliot
An American doctor involved in the LOOP project who has been researching for a cure for the ring virus ever since it escaped to the real world.
----
* TheHermit: Lives in an isolated laboratory in the American Rockies.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: He was the one who alerted Mitsuo Ando to begin investigating the ring virus, which would lead to Mai's death and the spread of the ring virus plague to the whole world. However, he did this so the cure for the MHCV, which developed out of a rogue strain of the ring virus, can be found.
[[/folder]]
!!Introduced in ''Birthday''
[[folder:Hiroshi Toyama]]
!!Hiroshi Toyama
Sadako's ex-boyfriend and associate at Theater Group Soaring. Toyama is a middle-aged man with a wife and children, but still has hopes to see Sadako again, since their relationship abruptly ended when she disappeared from the faces of the earth.
----
* KilledOffForReal: In ''Lemon Heart''.
* PeacefulInDeath: He is happy in death, since he finally reunites with his beloved Sadako.
* TheOneThatGotAway: Sadako is this to him, since he never stopped loving her, even years after their relationship ended.
* StarCrossedLovers: Sadako was forced to flee Toyama when she was suspected of murder, then died shortly after, something that Toyama only figures out more than two decades later.
* UnderstandingBoyfriend: He was more than willing to accept Sadako's peculiarities, but this did not stop her from having to disappear when she was suspected of Shigemori's death.
[[/folder]]
!!Introduced in ''S''
[[folder:Akane Maruyama]]
Takanori Ando's pregnant girlfriend. She is an orphan who works as a high school teacher. It is later revealed that she is the daughter of Ryuji Takayama and Masako, the Sadako clone born to Mai Takano.
----
* BestServedCold: It's implied that she pushes Hiroyuki to his death in the train station, as revenge for trying to kill her and gaslighting her.
* ImperiledInPregnancy: She is stalked by a serial killer, Hiroyuki Niimura, who once hunted Sadako clones a decade ago.
* SurpriseIncest: She and Takanori were born from the same womb, though neither is squicked out by this.
* TomatoInTheMirror: Learns that her mother, Masako, was a Sadako clone. And her father is Ryuji Takayama, who had a heavy involvement in the ring virus himself.
* UptownGirl: Inverted with her being the poor girl to Takanori's rich boy.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Hiroyuki Niimura]]
!!Hiroyuki Niimura
A former student of Ryuji Takayama. Ten years ago, he went into a crusade to kill off all Sadako clones in the world, despite Ryuji's belief that they deserved the chance to exist.
----
* BigBad: Of ''S'', though he is offscreen for much of the book.
* KarmaHoudiniWarranty: He escapes justice for ten years, but eventually dies in a suicide that Takanori thinks may been instigated by his former victim, Akane Maruyama.
* KnightTemplar: He killed the remaining Sadako clones even though they were harmless (the ring virus having been eradicated by Ryuji's research) and, most importantly, still children.
* NeverSuicide: Takanori speculates that Akane may have killed Hiroyuki in the train station, but stages it to look like a suicide.
* SerialKiller: He was the true serial killer of the four girls ten years ago, not Seiji Kashiwada.
* WouldHurtAChild: And kill them too.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Seiji Kashiwada]]
!!Seiji Kashiwada
A man accused of the murder of four girls ten years before the events of ''S'', who is executed in the prologue of the novel.
----
* AcquittedTooLate: Takanori and Akane learn that Seiji was innocent of the murders... a year after he was executed by hanging.
* IntroOnlyPointOfView: Narrates the prologue of ''S'', which ends with his execution.
* NoDeadBodyPoops: Averted, as he describes himself urinating while he is choked to death.
[[/folder]]
