open/close all folders
P-D1- 1938 Marael
The titular protagonist. A member of the Cendarii, a semi-Hive Mind of artificial beings with the ability to wield divine powers. She's a member of the expedition team sent to research and establish communications with Earth, as part of which she's enrolled at Saint Scarlet's Combat Academy to study both terrestial life and combat techniques.
She's a bit of a coward.
- Affectionate Nickname: It has yet to be used by any characters, but in her author's notes Miss M. frequently refers to her as "Mar".
- Artificial Human: Cendarii are made, not born. She has a serial number and regards the other members of her "batch" as sisters.
- Awesome, but Impractical: Her ability to manipulate divine power is impressive enough to make Sienna stop in shock, and the Cendaran Hive Mind gives her access to the combined knowledge of thousands of years of research from a species of interstellar data hoarders, but the combination of the power requirements and constantly maintaining the connection makes her extremely energy inefficient, to the point where just walking through the underground maze burns through half her capacitor. It's even worse on Earth, as the lower ambient mana density makes her refueling extremely inefficient.
- Berserk Button: Mar is both cowardly and deliberately pacifistic, but Althaea saying she has no free will is enough to make her snap.
- Big Eater: Cendarii don't even need to eat, but Earth food is so delicious that she does every chance she gets.
- Fish out of Water: She's not used to dealing with people she doesn't have a mental link with, and has to learn about concepts like "individuality" and "what forks are" during her time on Earth. It even affects her physically: she's much weaker on Earth due to the lower mana density, and the Master System tells her that she'll adjust as she... adjusts.
- Fragile Speedster: The Master System advises her to use her speed to her advantage in the first trial, but she's a tiny girl who gets her ribs broken by a single hit.
- Knows the Ropes: During her match with Sienna, she uses Divine Arc: Binding Light to summon a rope made of energy from her body, which automatically wraps itself around Sienna multiple times until she's completely immobilized. She upgrades to a pair of Combat Tentacle-esque prehensile lights when she awakens as a Warden.
- Lovable Coward: Mar constantly tries to get out of fighting despite being a student at a combat academy and has a tendency to freeze up at the first sign of trouble, but she's a big sweetheart at her core.
- Master of Illusion: At least her drone is; when she gets fed up with the Wyrmbanes teasing her and Lily, she has it scare Althaea off with a holographic recording of an Eldritch Abomination. The fact that she leaves in the audio of the warning against said abomination implies that she can only play pre-installed recordings, though.
- Mysterious Past: On a species wide level; despite having access to the combined memory of their entire race, no Cendaran has any idea who created them, what happened to their creators, or why they have the ability to manipulate divine powers. The discovery of another species that looks almost identical to them just raises another question they can't answer.
- Non-Action Guy: Repeatedly protests that she isn't a combat unit. Sienna calls her out for not throwing a single punch during their fight. Though this goes out the window when she's calm and focused enough to enter Assault Mode.
- Scarf of Asskicking: Wears a Proto Man-esque long yellow scarf, which serves to visually differentiate her from the rest of her otherwise identical species.
- Socially Awkward Hero: Marael isn't used to dealing with people who aren't part of her Hive Mind, and pinballs between sweating and stammering during conversations and getting disproportionately smug at the slightest praise. She confides in the other members of the expedition team that she doesn't know how or if it would be appropriate to approach Lily, despite wanting to help her. She also doesn't realize that casually admitting to spying on your friends is a bad idea.
- Stealth Expert: Apparently one of the powers of being a scout. The Master System advises her to "use her stealth and speed" in the first trial, and she's shocked when Sienna can tell that she's being followed by her.
- Super Prototype: Auriel informs her that she's a prototype for a new model of Cendaran Priest designed for solo operation. She's specifically referred to as a "Warden", and has the power to shift into an "Assault Mode" that causes her body to fight automatically when she empties her mind.
- Token Mini-Moe: A rare protagonist example. Cendarii are a tiny people, and Marael is no exception. She stands almost a full head shorter than the second shortest character in the cast, and every human who sees her immediately assumes she's a child, something she finds mildly annoying.
Sienna Harris
Another student at Saint Scarlet's. She's aloof, but an extremely competent fighter.
- The Ace: Comes in first place in Saint Scarlet's first trial, being the first person to reach the exit and winning every fight she gets in along the way. Her response to this is a casual "As expected", implying this is a regular occurrence for her.
- Aloof Dark-Haired Girl: Her hair is long, straight, and almost entirely black, and she's focused and to the point.
- Aura Vision: She can see people's auras, which is how she knew Marael was following her from through a wall and how she immediately recognized that she was a divine being.
- Bare-Fisted Monk: Her robes and her special moves being called "Holy Arts" implies that she's some sort of Church Militant, and she breaks Mar's ribs with a single open palm strike.
- Battle Aura: Sports a gold one. Holy Art: Ardent Sanctification, her Finishing Move, consists entirely of her flaring it, releasing a shockwave sufficient to send Marael flying into the wall.
- Church Militant: She works for the Church of Terra, and she beats the crap out of people with or without her magic.
- Empowered Badass Normal: She needs her magical focus to use any spells, but without it, she's still a martial artist who doesn't hesitate to face off against an entire army of Shades.
- Hime Cut: Sports a flawlessly cut one, conveying her as the serious one of the group.
- The Comically Serious: She's stolid, competent, and focused. So naturally, the first time we see her she's being followed around by Rime, who is getting slime all over her.
- Tsundere: Acts cold, aloof, and acts like she's above petty things like friendship, but she's not. Supplemental material by Miss M. shows her allowing Rime to slime all over her for body heat, sheepishly arguing that it would be "too much effort" to send them away.
Rime of Clan Desophine
- Attack Its Weak Point: Their spherical core is faintly visible in their chest. It's the only part of their body that can actually be damaged.
- Beneath Notice: The only thing stopping them from coming in dead last in the first trial: Instructor Graves admits that their ability to follow Sienna to the exit without anyone caring enough to fight them was worth some credit.
- Cloud Cuckoo Lander: To give just one example, their immediate assumption on hearing that Marael is a "support model" is that she's a robot, an idea they cling to until she explains what she actually is, at which point they immediately announce that they knew the whole time she was actually an alien... after spending a few seconds puzzling out what an alien is.
- Cuteness Proximity: As soon as they see Marael for the first time, they hug while yelling about how adorable she is.
- No Biological Sex: What with the whole "made of slime" thing.
- No Sense of Personal Space: Introduced clinging to Sienna against her protests, switches to Marael as soon as they lay eyes on her, and immediately goes back to Sienna after the fight. Apparently flesh people are warmer than slime.
- Slime Girl: Well, slime genderless being, but the design tropes are all there.
- Sweet Tooth: Their lunch consists entirely of a slice of chocolate cake, and they tell Marael that they "basically only eat sweets".
- The Nicknamer: Gives out nicknames pretty freely. Not particularly creative ones, mind you, seeing as how they dubbed Sienna "Si-Si" and then the Master System "Syssi".
- The Nose Knows: Tells Sienna they could find her in the maze because "I could smell you~." Sienna finds it
incredibly weird.
Lily Graves
A girl from the Shadow Tribe. Even though she has no interest in fighting, her parents forced her to go to Saint Scarlet's.
- Actual Pacifist: She hates fighting, and barely participates in St. Scarlet's lessons because even competition makes her uncomfortable.
- Casting a Shadow: As a member of the Shadow Tribe. Her father exposits that she can "shadow-walk" at will, conjure shadow constructs, and poison the air around her.
- Curtains Match the Windows: Purple hair, purple eyes.
- Cuteness Proximity: She thinks Marael's drone is adorable, and loses her usual shyness so she can ask to pet it.
- Dark Is Not Evil: This black-clad member of the Shadow Tribe is too busy being terrified of the world around her to even contemplate hurting someone else.
- Hiding Behind Your Bangs: Does this when Instructor Graves tells her to see him after class, clearly dreading the meeting.
- Idiot Hair: Sports a long strand coming out of the top of her head. It's mostly an extent of her hair generally being a mess.
- Inept Mage: Subverted. She tells her father that "the shadows wouldn't answer" to justify her failure in the first trial, but after class, he tells her that she's actually one of the strongest magic users he's ever seen. She just doesn't want to use it for anything St. Scarlet's teaches.
- Messy Hair: She looks like she can barely find the energy to take care of herself.
- Nervous Wreck: It's difficult to find a panel with her on screen where she isn't fidgeting or shaking.
- Odd Friendship: Despite being anxious and easily frightened, she's on a nickname basis with Xelophis, the most physically imposing and outgoing member of her class.
- Tattoo as Character Type: Everyone from a Tribe has a runic tattoo that grants them their magic, but the positioning of Lily's has the side effect of making it look like she constantly has tear streaks on her face.
The Wyrmbane Twins
Althaea on the left, Alaric on the right.
Alaric and Althaea Wyrmbane, a set of dark elf twins attending Saint Scarlet's Combat Academy. Neither of them are particularly pleasant.
Tropes Applying to Both
- Can't Argue with Elves: If you try, Alaric will ignore you and Althaea will just insult you until you get fed up and leave.
- Half-Identical Twins: They're of opposite genders, but they look so similar that it's difficult to tell them apart if Althaea's bust isn't in frame.
- Identical Twin ID Tag: Althaea is decently busty, and Alaric... isn't. Alaric also doesn't have Althaea's fang.
- Jerkass: Both of them spend most of their dialogue on mocking the other students.
- Our Elves Are Different: Animesque dark elves, with brown skin, white hair, a proclivity for magic, and outfits that incorporate a lot of leather. Given that nobody has any comments on them attending Saint Scarlet's, they probably don't have a species-wide reputation for evil, but they are colossal jackasses, and Lily mentions that elves are a rare sight outside of their own villages.
- Super-Hearing: Good enough that they can hear people talking from the other side of the courtyard. Guess those big ears aren't just for show.
Tropes applying to Althaea
- Alpha Bitch: She's a haughty, catty, bratty bitch who constantly insults people for fun.
- Arbitrary Skepticism: Outright mocks the idea that Marael could be an alien, despite being a dark elf living in a world where the magic came back after Earth touched a cosmic Ley Line.
- Cute Little Fang: As seen in the image, she sports one. And she's certainly mischievous and hostile.
- Deadpan Snarker: She probably couldn't do anything deadpan if she tried, but she's got a venomous tongue on her. When Marael tells everyone that she's an alien, she sarcastically asks if she comes in peace.
- Dirty Coward: Talks a big game, but Marael projecting a hologram of an anti-corruption PSA is enough to make her run for the hills.
- Fantastic Racism: Calls Xelophis and Marael's drone "beasties" and asks if Lily is befriending them because she's "not good enough" for humans. She's even worse about bioroids, going on an extremely long, mocking rant about how Marael and her kind are all objects with no rights and no free will.
- Small Name, Big Ego: She insults Marael and Lily for being the last two to complete the first trial, even though she scraped in barely ahead of them, and unlike those two, she doesn't have the excuse of not having run into other students to fight to get her points up: she did get in multiple fights on her way through the maze... and lost all of them.
- The Bully: Textbook: While her brother mostly doesn't care, she goes out of her way to belittle the 'lesser' students in her class, even physical knocking them over when the opportunity shows itself.
Tropes applying to Alaric
- Dude Looks Like a Lady: Comes with sharing most of your character design with your sister.
- Hates Everyone Equally: Miss M. remarks that he likes to tease everyone equally. He finds Marael managing to scare Althaea away as amusing as Althaea bullying Lily and Mar.
- Long-Haired Pretty Boy: It reaches all the way to his hips when he has it tied back!
- Stronger Sibling: Probably a fair shake stronger than Althaea, considering that he came in second in the trial and actually won a fight.
- The Quiet One: He isn't as prone to speaking up as his sister, and what little dialogue he does have is dismissive of those around him.
Xelophis of Clan Desophine
A shark girl in Marael's class.
- Affectionate Nickname: Lily calls her "Xel".
- Amazonian Beauty: She has extremely defined muscles, which are constantly visible because she's also the most skimpily dressed character in the cast. And she has enormous boobs.
- Boisterous Bruiser: Large, muscular, and wears her heart on her sleeve.
- Heroic Build: She's cut like a Greek statue and has an enormous chest.
- Odd Friendship: Given that they're on a nickname basis, it's implied that this enormous amazon is on good terms with Lily.
Instructor Graves
Marael and co.'s teacher at Saint Scarlet's Combat Academy, and also Lily's father.
- Beleaguered Assistant: Frequently grits his teeth or gives exasperated sighs at being forced to work around the Director's seemingly impulsive decisions and refusal to communicate with him.
- Education Papa: Lily tells Marael that her parents forced her to attend Saint Scarlet's because they want her to become a powerful Shadow Priest, and her father doesn't hesitate to verbally rip into her when she comes in last in the first trial.
- Parents as People: He clearly loves Lily and praises her when they're alone together, but he insists that she need to study combat magic against her own desires to keep herself and the world around her safe.Instructor Graves: ...I've been hard on you in the past. And I'll keep being hard on you. But by the end of this, I hope you'll prepared for the dangers of this world.
- Stern Teacher: He's impatient, says he wants to get the post-trial meeting over as quickly as possible, and pushes Lily especially hard, but when Xelophis invites Lily to lunch, Instructor Graves tells her that their meeting can wait and that she should go eat first.
- Trickster Mentor: Downplayed a bit given that he is himself being jerked around by someone above him, but he's clearly not above playing with his students' heads. When Alaric asks him what the prize for earning the most points over the year is, Instructor Graves merely smirks and says that anyone who would be dissuaded by not knowing would never have signed up for his class in the first place.
- Older Than They Look: He could easily pass for Lily's older brother, rather than her father. The only things about him that look remotely old are a few centimeters of cheekbone and that he carries a walking stick.
Alex Wyvern
Physical Combat Trainer
The combat trainer (essentially a fantasy gym teacher) at St. Scarlet's.—-- Covered in Scars: One on her shoulder, two on the opposite arm, and two over her eye. Clearly, she's lead an eventful life.
- Drill Sergeant Nasty: Downplayed compared to many other examples, but she regards people like Marael and Lily with sarcastic disdain, actively singling out the two "softies" to "pummel each other" in front of the rest of the class - twice in one day, in Marael's case. And even though she yells at Althaea for bullying Mar and Lily, she also refuses to intervene to "see her get serious".
- Locked Out of the Loop: Nobody told this poor woman that the petite girl who hates exercising is actually a celestial being.
- Tank-Top Tomboy: A rugged woman in a plain, no-nonsense white tanktop.
- Tomboyish Ponytail: Keeps her hair tied back in a low, lose ponytail that screams "only chosen for practicality".
The Master System
Marael's Cendarii Drone, which the Master System uses to communicate with non-Cendarii
The guiding intelligence of the Cendarii, responsible for directing the species as a whole and distributing divine power. Like the rest of the Cendarii, her true origin is unknown.
- Deus est Machina: The leading theory is that she's an ancient A.I., and she can grant the Cendarii true divine powers.
- God's Hands Are Tied: There are rules about when she is and isn't allowed to grant Cendarii access to divine power, and she can't violate them even when she wants to. These limitations are a big part of why people In-Universe suspect that she's an A.I.
- Hidden Agenda Hero: She's Marael and the rest of the Cendarii's guide, but she has a bad habit of not explaining her decisions and refusing to explain what she knows, even when directly asked.
- Hive Queen: Downplayed. The individual Cendarii have their own personalities and can even ignore orders from the Master System if they want. That said, they're all raised from birth with a connection to her, so almost none of them do, and if they did, she could cut off their access to their divine powers. And she would still be in their head and capable of talking to them, as any Cendaran who is completely cut off from the Master System falls into a coma.
- Not So Above It All: Sparkles with delight when she declares that Rime's nickname is "acceptable".
Auriel
A nice mom who knows what's best.
A High Priestess of the Cendarii, and the woman in charge of the Terran Expedition. Marael (and presumably the rest of the Expedition Team) regard her as their mother.- All-Encompassing Mantle: Generally wears her cape like this when not using her arms.
- Almighty Mom: Marael speaks to her very formally and starts sweating (even more than usual) when she calls. She gets more respect than the Master System!
- Ambiguously Evil: On the one hand, she's Marael's mother who Mar trusts and looks up to her, and she calls her daughters before bed because she can sense they're feeling lonely. On the other, she casually refers to Raziel as "a very close friend of mine", she incorporates several design tropes associated with shady figures, and when she asks Marael to win the Academy's first year prize, there's a sudden zoom-in on her face that's framed a lot like a Jump Scare complete with red eye.
- Eyes Always Shut: Her one visible eye is closed for the entirety of her screentime with the exception of a single panel when she opens it, revealing its pupil and a ring within the iris are red.
- Hiding Behind Your Bangs: Her bangs are much longer on her right side than her left, completely hiding that side of her face.
- Holy Halo: A Cendaran blue-green halo ringed with crystals is constantly visible behind her head.
- Team Mom: Literally the mother of her team, and she calls her "little girls" to check up on their emotional well-being before bed.
The Terran Expedition Team
P-D1-1942 Ashriel, a member of the Expedition Team
Marael's batchmates, the other members of the Terran Expedition Team sent to investigate Earth. They're all in constant psychic contact with each other. 26 in total, including Marael. Those known consist of P-D1-1939 through 1953.
- Big Sister Bully: 1939 - who, assuming the numbers go in birth order would be older than every member of the expedition except Mar - enjoys teasing 1942 by telling her about how dangerous Terra is and laughing at her reactions.
- Humans Through Alien Eyes: They're just learning about humanity, and readily admit to each other that they find things about earthlings weird, like how they all have distinct likes and dislikes and are comfortable eating meat.
- Lovable Coward: They are both genetically and socially cut from the same cloth as Marael, after all. Ashriel in particular has a spine of jelly; the side story comic starring her ends with her cowering under a blanket at the knowledge that man-eating monsters exist... anywhere.
- Magitek: Their mental link is represented in the comic as just being an IRC group chat that they can psychically access.
- Nice Girl: 1945 tells 1939 to stop teasing 1942, advises Marael to go help out Lily despite her hesitation, and tells the others not to judge humans for eating meat, sympathizing with them needing to eat to survive and not being in a position to be picky (despite agreeing with the other Cendarii that it's gross).
- Super Prototype: Judging by what's heard on the group chat, most if not all of them are prototypes like Marael.
The Director
The Director of Saint Scarlet's Combat Academy.
- Clueless Boss: Inverted. He regularly withholds information from his employees, to the frustration of Instructor Graves.
- No Name Given: He's just "The Director".
- No One Sees the Boss: Implied. Not only has he not yet appeared on screen, but Althea's surprise when Marael claims to have spoken with him, and her response that they didn't meet in person, implies that he doesn't appear off screen either.
- Trickster Mentor: The aforementioned mystery prize gambit from Instructor Graves's section was originally his idea.
Raziel
A mysterious entity serving as a "Guide" for Marael and the other Terran Expedition Team members. Much about them is shrouded in mystery.
- Affably Evil or Faux Affably Evil: Cuts in to the expedition team psychic group chat to casually say Marael will "get used to" feeling isolated, which could be read as reassuring or... really not. They also give her a sincere sounding "I'm proud of you" when she stands up to Althaea.
- Ambiguous Situation: As said above, much about them is still unknown at this stage. While the name "Raziel" fits the Cendarii Theme Naming structure, it's almost certainly not their real name, and their messages look completely different from any Cendarii's. All we know is what they've said (which doesn't help), and the visuals they're associated with. The Master System writes off their presence as "It's a surprise", which somehow raises even further questions.
- Deadpan Snarker: Tells Marael "Rule Number One for spying on people: don't let them know you're spying on them" when she tells Lily she was listening in on her meeting with her father.
- No Name Given: The Cendarii group chat initially gives their name as [ ]. "Raziel" is just what they say Marael "can" call them "for now".
- Red and Black and Evil All Over: Their text appears as blood red words in a black box, and they're ominous as hell.
