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Main Characters

    Quote 
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The Player Character. An amnesiac young man who awakes in a small cave in the depths of a strange island. He eventually discovers that he's really a scout robot from the surface.


    Curly Brace 

Mimiga Ally

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A mysterious young woman who seems to know a bit about our hero.


    Sue Sakamoto 

Looks up to her brother

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https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/face_sue_sakamoto_r.png
Click here to see spoilers 
A fiery young girl being pursued by the Doctor's henchmen.

    King 

The Leader

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The leader of the Mimiga village and Toroko's brother-figure.

    Balrog 

Misery's punching bag

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Click here to see his whole body 
An anthropomorphic bar of soap under the command of the Doctor.
  • Affably Evil: Despite being on the villains' side, Balrog is very cordial to the player. In their first encounter, if the player tells Balrog they don't want to fight him, Balrog will actually listen to them and leave them alone. Balrog does fight the player a few other times, but only because he has to. This is a clue that he is Forced into Evil.
  • Ambiguous Robots: He is said to be an anthropomorphic bar of soap, however, he possess noticeably robotic traits, such as visible slits for his arms, can fire a salvo of missiles from his body, and possess a visible exhaust vent on his rear.
  • Bait-and-Switch Boss: After you turn on the power on in Grasstown/Bushlands, the robot Malco prepares to attack you. Then Balrog shows up and crushes him, commencing a boss fight.
  • Bewitched Amphibian: On the third encounter with him, he gets transformed by Misery into Balfrog.
  • Boisterous Bruiser: He's an all-around fun loving dude with a generally pleasant and lax attitude, who takes to his every action with a lot of enthusiasm.
  • Bullfight Boss: During the first fight with him, all he does is rush you. He's easy to dodge if you know what you're doing, but if you don't, he can easily kill you with his Super-Strength. Averted with his later boss fights where he learns new attacks.
  • The Brute: He's the Doctor's strongman.
  • Catchphrase: Huzzah! (or "Oh yeah!" in commercial English versions)
  • The Cavalry: In the Best ending, he saves Quote and Curly Brace from Ballos' Seal Chamber just in the nick of time.
  • Cephalothorax: Balrog's face dominates his entire torso. In fact, it's such a large face that only half of it is depicted in his speech bubble portraits.
  • Defeat Means Friendship: You must fight him multiple times. However, after the Doctor is defeated, he immediately reforms. As it turns out, he never even wanted to follow the Doctor's plans: he just had no choice.
  • Dynamic Entry: His usual method of entering a building is to smash through the wall or ceiling while yelling his catchphrase.
  • Heel–Face Turn: In the good ending, he and Misery are freed from the Doctor's influence, which leads to Balrog pulling a Big Damn Heroes to save Quote and Curly from Ballos' Seal Chamber as it closes in on them.
  • Flying Brick: Almost literally. He's a sentient brick of soap who can take an utterly massive amount of damage and keep on going, and he can fly at appreciable speed.
  • Forced into Evil: Turns out there's a reason for his villainous behavior: he's forced to obey whoever wears the Demon Crown. When freed, he quickly pulls a Heel–Face Turn.
  • Gentle Giant: This guy twists the trope in knots. Under normal circumstances, Balrog is nice to a fault. However, he is cursed to be subservient to whoever wears the Demon Crown. As a result, he will do things that are decidedly unpleasant if and when he is ordered to. However, he is not cursed to serve Misery, who - like him - must also serve the wearer of the crown. Misery generally mistreats him, but his childlike personality prevents any sort of retaliation, to the point where he's practically a Butt-Monkey. In the credits, he is actually credited as "Misery's Punching Bag".
  • Incoming Ham: He always yells Huzzah! before making an entrance.
  • Just Following Orders: Unlike most people who invoke this trope, Balrog physically cannot resist the orders he's under, as he is being magically compelled to follow them. The moment he is free from that magic, he quits evil entirely.
  • Living Weapon: He is one for whoever wears the Demon Crown.
  • Macross Missile Massacre: During the final fight with him, he can launch a volley of missiles at Quote or Curly.
  • Morphic Resonance: In his giant frog form, his eyes don't change much except for their pupils, which are slightly narrower, and he has pink spots under his eyes where the stripes would be in his normal form. And his forelegs are the same color as his arms do in his normal form.
  • Names to Run Away from Really Fast: His name sounds worthy of Demon Lords and Archdevils.
  • Psychopathic Manchild: The disconnect between the almost child-like way he carries himself and the monstrous things he does during the story is astonishing. For one thing, during the Sand Zone part of the game you can come back to Jenka's house after getting the last dog for her and find the rest of them noticeably absent and Balrog gloating about having the key to the warehouse. This could be seen as him killing her dogs as an interrogation method to make her give him the keys. For another he force-feeds Toroko red flowers, basically killing her. The real kicker is, he actually isn't psychopathic. The Demon Crown has him under a spell that compels him to do as he is ordered. Once the spell is broken, he's basically a harmless goofball.
  • Recurring Boss: You will fight him four times throughout the first half of the game.
  • Skippable Boss: The first fight with Balrog can be skipped wholesale by answering "no" when he asks if you're going to fight him.
  • Stone Wall: He isn't particularly fast, and his attacks are pretty weak, but considering how often you fight him and how much punishment he can take, he's an absolute brick.
  • Super-Strength: He can fling gigantic, several-hundred ton boulder through the air.
  • Sympathetic Sentient Weapon: It's not actually his fault that he keeps trying to kill you. He's under a curse.

    Misery 

The Doctor's servant

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A young-looking witch under the command of the Doctor.

    The Doctor 

The power-snatching betrayer

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The cruel tyrant of the island. Formerly the research group's medic, he discovered the Demon Crown and went mad with power.

Important Characters

    Arthur 
A Mimiga warrior, and Toroko's brother. He was killed by the Doctor.

    Toroko 

Nice and Courageous

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Click here to see her original design 
A young Mimiga and Sue's friend.

    Kazuma Sakamoto 

Sometimes reliable brother

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Sue's older brother.
  • Butt-Monkey: He is mostly seen trapped in a warehouse whining, and his younger sister Sue beats the crap out of him often.
  • Didn't Think This Through: Played for Laughs when he starts the ignition of a motorcycle in the Grasstown/Bushlands with Professor Booster as passenger... whereupon he realizes too late that he has no idea how to control the motorcycle. It goes about as well as you'd think it would, with the exception of him and the professor surviving. Not so much the poor motorcycle.
  • Dirty Coward: Of all the characters, Kazuma is the most cowardly. At the beginning of the game, he's begging for help from his little sister, who is in actual danger. Near the endgame, he decides to abandon the island, leaving behind his sister and the rest of his companions. Accepting his offer to go with him leads to the game's worst ending.
  • Distressed Dude: He's first met locked up inside a shelter, calling his little sister for help.
  • Eyes Always Shut: His eyes are always closed in both in his overworld sprite and portrait.
  • Hollywood Hacking: He's the one who finds the correct password to hatch a Sky Dragon egg.
  • Non-Action Guy: To extreme levels. He makes no effort to fight at all, and demonstrates that he is the most cowardly person on the expedition by far.
  • Pointless Band-Aid: Has one on his left cheek. It may not be pointless - he probably got it from Sue.

    Jenka 

Keeper of the Sand Zone

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An old lady who lives in the Sand Zone. She has five lost puppies, and requests that the hero find them for her.
  • All-Powerful Bystander: She's just as powerful as Ballos and could have killed him when he lost his mind, ending the drama before it began... but she couldn't bring herself to kill him.
  • Chekhov's Gunman: She is Ballos' sister, and the one who sealed him away after he went out of control. She is also Misery's mother.
  • Miniature Senior Citizens: She's the same height as the hero, who's half the height of most humans.
  • Retired Badass: Again, she sealed Ballos after he went insane. That must have required really strong magic.
  • Theme Naming: Jenka is named for the Finnish letkisjenkka dance, which even provides the music for her theme tune.

    Itoh 

The Mimiga-like coward engineer

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A cowardly engineer who was transformed into a Mimiga.

    Professor Booster 

Sue's grandfather figure

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The former research party's technician.

    Momorin Sakamoto 

Sue's mom

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The mother of Sue and Kazuma.
  • Badass Normal: She survives being thrown off the island by the Doctor. Then, after climing back up, she personally organizes the resistance against him.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Momorin's commentary on the Doctor trying to throw her off the island once she's done her job for him is to dryly retort about how "chivalry is dead, let me tell you,"note  Sue definitely got a bit of her attitude from Momorin.
  • Mama Wolf: Not that she could personally do anything about it herself, but Momorin does take particular offense to the Doctor taking Sue with intent to feed her red flowers with the rest of the Mimiga. Consequently, she near-immediately sends the One-Man Army that is Quote right to the Doctor's doorstep.
  • You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: The Doctor had Momorin tossed off the side of the island not long after the group's arrival, once she confirmed the existence and location of the red flowers. Somehow she survived just fine and snuck her way into the Plantation anyway, helping the player directly in reaching the Doctor as a bit of payback.

    Tetsuzou Kamadani (Unmarked Spoilers

The Hermit Gunsmith

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The man who made the Polar Star.

    Ballos (Unmarked Spoilers
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Click here to see his second form 
Click here to see his final form 

Jenka's remorseful younger brother

Once Jenka's kind and loving brother, now a mad sorcerer trapped in the depths of the island. He knows this full well, and is waiting for someone strong enough to finally put him out of his misery.

    Ballos' King (Unmarked Spoilers
The king whom Ballos used to serve. He became jealous of the wizard's popularity with his people and subjected him to Cold-Blooded Torture, driving him to insanity.

Bosses

    Igor 

Rabid Mimiga who kidnapped Sue

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Click here to see his whole body 

A frenzied Mimiga. He kidnaps Sue in the Egg Corridor. It is implied he was the caretaker of the Dragon Eggs, as the 3DS version reveals the ID Card is his.


    Omega 

Machine-monster that lurks in the sand

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A robotic monster that lives in the Sand Zone. Prior to its appearance, Misery was going to fight the hero. Upon noticing him about to rise from the sand, she leaves dealing with the hero to him.

    Puu Black 

Ghost in the clinic

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A "ghost" that haunts an old clinic in the labyrinth.
  • Ambiguously Related: Puu is clearly a member of Balrog's species, but it is unknown if the two know each other or what relationship they have.
  • Inconsistent Spelling: His name is spelled "Pooh Black" in the Aeon Genesis Translation.
  • Kaizo Trap: After killing him, it is still possible to take damage and even die if you touch his remaining bubbles.
  • Palette Swap: Of Balrog, for the most part. There are subtle differences between Balrog's sprite and Puu Black's.

    Monster X 

Big boss in the labyrinth

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Click here to see its true form 
A large "X" shaped tank that appears in the Labyrinth.

    The Core 

Heart of the island

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Click here to see spoilers 
A large, multi-segmented monster that lives in the center of the island.
  • Attack Its Weak Point: The only acceptable target is its face: everything else is covered in an invincible shell.
  • Boss Bonanza: The second fight with it comes right after Misery and the Doctor.
  • Climax Boss: Both times you fight this thing are hugely important events in the plot.
  • Cores-and-Turrets Boss: The Core consists of a large central monster, surrounded by a bunch of smaller, near identical monsters that act as its "limbs". The "limbs" are fully indestructible, and act to protect the center "body", both by blocking your attacks and firing projectiles of their own.
  • Disc-One Final Boss: The first fight with the Core marks the point of no return.
  • Final Boss: If you did not met the criteria for the Best Ending, the Core will be the last thing you fight, resulting in the Island falling from the sky.
  • Genius Loci: Whatever this creature is, it's stated by Misery to be the heart of the Island that the game takes place in. It also does not take too kindly to non-native life forms such as Quote and Curly and tries to kill and/or devour them when they enter its chamber.
  • Load-Bearing Boss: The Core's power keeps the island floating in the air. More specifically, it keeps Ballos's magic from making the island fall. If it is destroyed, the island will fall. Misery is understandably pissed off at you when you almost destroy it.
  • Nightmare Face: It has no distinct face during its first battle, only nine eyes. However, when the Doctor possesses it, it gains several nasty looking faces that indicate when it's vulnerable and what attack it's going to use.
  • Perpetual Smiler: It might be because of the Pareidolia effect, but the opening of the core where its face pops out looks very similar to a wide smile.
  • Underwater Boss Battle: In the first fight, it can raise the water level in the chamber in an attempt to make you drown.
  • Wave-Motion Gun: When it is low on health, it will fire a trio of massive energy spheres that do absolutely ridiculous damage.

    Ironhead 

Big fish in the island's artery

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A masked fish that lurks in the Waterway.

    The Sisters 

Twin dragon surprise attackers

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A pair of dragons that attack Quote if he decides to pick up the missile upgrade in the destroyed Egg Corridor.

    Ma Pignon 

A tasty mushroom

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A mischievous mushroom that lives in Mimiga Village's graveyard. He gives the hero the Mushroom Badge if he saves Curly and tells him about her amnesia. The badge itself does nothing; the actual cure is Ma Pignon himself. However, he won't go down without a fight.
  • Doppelgänger Attack: One of its attacks involves it jumping into the ceiling and summoning a number of clones. Those are weaker than the real one, and can be destroyed.
  • Jerkass: To put it bluntly, you probably won't feel sorry about having to feed it to Curly due to how obnoxious it is.
  • Let's Meet the Meat: The "I want to live!" kind.
  • Route Boss: Required in order to get the best ending.
  • Troll: Before fighting it, you have to get the Mushroom Badge from it by answering a series of questions designed to confuse you. Then, you find out it has no use. Talking to it again will initiate the bossfight.

    The Red Ogre/The Red Demon 

True heroes meet the...

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A red monster that appears in Last Cave (Hidden). It's implied that this is the creature that Arthur drove away from Mimiga Village.
  • Chekhov's Gunman: Briefly mentioned by Jack in an optional dialogue in the Assembly Hall earlier in the game.
  • Giant Space Flea from Nowhere: Barely averted, since he gets a optional mention. His appearance in the Last Cave (Hidden) is rather sudden, though.
  • Oni: What his design is based off of. His original Japanese name is even Akaoni (red oni).
  • Palette Swap: Of the generic enemy Droll.
    • The Plus version takes it a step further and gives him a Head Swap as well, making him look more like an actual demon.
  • Route Boss: Only present in Last Cave (Hidden), only accessed if the player has the Booster 2.0.
  • Spam Attack: Like the Drolls he throws blades, but he throws three at a time, pause, then three more, rinse and repeat.
  • Taken for Granite: It turns into stone when defeated.

    Heavy Press 

The swollen mech

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A giant Press. It appears as a boss at the end of Sacred Grounds.
  • Boss Bonanza: With Ballos.
  • Flunky Boss: Its only direct attack is its lightning strike. During its boss battle, two Rollings appear, and Butes constantly spawn from the sides of the room.
  • Kaizo Trap: Heavy Press falls through the floor after being killed. The punishment for standing underneath it when it does so is instant death. That is, unless you abuse Mercy Invincibility via one of his minions.
  • One-Hit Kill: If you don't step out of the way as it falls through the floor after defeat, you will die instantly.
  • King Mook: It's a basically larger version of the Presses seen throughout the game.
  • Pre-Final Boss: Penultimate boss of the true ending, as well as the game as a whole.
  • Route Boss: Can be fought only in the True Ending route.
  • Shock and Awe: It has a lightning attack which strikes directly below it that it uses every so often.
  • Stationary Boss: It only ever moves after its health bar is depleted to crash through the floor. The main threat in its boss fight is the enemies present.

    G-Clone 
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A mysterious machine within the Wind Fortress that produces clones of Curly.
  • A.I. Breaker: The Mooks it spawns won't attack you when you stand on the block at the very left.
  • Mook Maker: Curly clones, to be precise. Naked ones, at that, which attack by grappling you.
  • Optional Boss: Boss of the Wind Fortress, which itself is only unlockable in Plus-based versions.

Other Characters

    Jack 

Number-Two

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Mimiga Village's second-in-command. He guards the entryway to the graveyard.
  • Number Two: He identifies himself as the number-two of the village. When spoken to, he speaks the clearest and most directly of all the Mimiga in the game.
  • Sole Survivor: Out of the Jack/Toroko/King trio, it's implied that he's the only one who didn't die during the game.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: The last time he can be seen is in a Plantation prison. He disappears completely without a word thereafter.

    Santa 

The cowardly loner

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A resident of the Grasstown/Bushlands. He lost his key, so he asks the hero to find it for him.

    Chako 

The colorful Mimiga

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A Mimiga who resides in the Grasstown/Bushlands. The fireplace in her house contains a passageway that leads to the second half of the area.

    Malco 

Power Supply Bot

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A robot that oversees a power room. He helps break Kazuma out of a shelter.
  • Because You Were Nice to Me: Despite his initial aggression, Malco helps Quote after the latter helps him out.
  • MacGyvering: He can make a bomb out of charcoal, gum, and jellyfish juice.
  • Robo Speak: In the Aeon Genesis translation he always speaks in ALL-CAPS.
  • Tin-Can Robot: He certainly gets crushed like one thanks to Balrog.

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