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Protagonists:
Alyssa Hale/Yū Midōshima/
Alyssa Hale/Yū Midōshima/Lynn Maxwell/Rin Saidou
Voiced by: Rebecca Wink (English), Kae Araki (Japanese)
The heroine of the game. She was recently released from a mental hospital after being the vessel of her alter ego that ended up murdering her classmates in cold blood. To prevent this, an amulet was formed to keep her alter ego at bay indefinitely, unless it is removed.- Action Girl: Subverted. She can fight back (even collecting a gun as she goes), but only with certain objects like chairs, brooms, and fire extinguishers, she leaves firearms to Bates. (And occasionally will refuse to pick up guns.)
- Amulet of Dependency: A literal example, Alyssa needs the amulet to keep Bates dormant. Then again...
- Magic Feather: Alyssa's amulet might be this. Interpretations can vary if the amulet can truly quell Bates, but it's possibly just a placebo. The Drama CD confirms it to be a placebo, at least in the sense that Bates can still see and hear everything Alyssa sees while she has it.
- Beware the Quiet Ones: In the drama CD, Alyssa actually yelled, She's the one who snaps nurse Cook out of her trauma, not Bates. She's also willing to unleash Bates if needed to survive.
- Bewildering Punishment: A recipient of one; she has no idea why people want her dead.
- To elaborate, Shannon hates her for being with Allen, while Maxwell wants her dead because she's the curse he thought he prevented, and finally Phillip tried to kill her upon realizing she may have something to do with his family's demise. Compare Misplaced Retribution bellow.
- Boring, but Practical: Despite the above, you will be using her a lot because she is
- A. The key to the good ending.
- B. She can hide and use evade points by attacking her stalkers with a broom or a fire extinguisher.
- C. She is a lot more sensible compared to Bates.
- Brains and Brawn: Seems to be more intelligent and observant than Bates, and actually has something vaguely resembling people skills.
- Bullying a Dragon: Subverted. Bates did promise that he'd protect Alyssa, and he does, but he could also get her killed due to his arrogance.
- Buried Alive: Her adoptive father rescued her, which leads to a lot of complications.
- Cursed with Awesome: Having a murderous, sociopathic alter ego of a brother comes in handy once in a while.
- I Just Want to Be Normal: She really resents her evil side.
- Daddy's Girl: If you pay any attention to the dialogue between Allen and Alyssa, it comes off as this.
- Happily Adopted: To Allen Hale.
- Death by Pragmatism: Played with, and a poorly done example. The main difference between her and Bates is that she isn't Too Dumb to Live. However, some of her deaths don't make sense, as we are shown that she can fend for herself and she can avoid them in the same separate scenarios. Another frustrating example is that sometimes panic is locked and the player can't intervene, as if Alyssa herself isn't trying. The game really wants to enforce that she's really helpless without Bates or it's needed to expand the endings.
- Doesn't Like Guns: To a ridiculous extent, even if she's cornered or low in courage. She will always prefer mundane objects over the shotgun she can find. Perhaps enforced to make room for Bates.
- Fighting from the Inside: She doesn't want Bates out for good reasons, once you know her backstory.
- Foil: Alyssa is Bates' antithesis, timid yet quick-witted and empathic towards others.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: She's the blue oni to Bates' red.
- Four-Temperament Ensemble: Melancholic.
- Hearing Voices: Seems to be able to hear Bates in her head by the ending, where there was no indication of being able to do so before.
- Improvised Weapon: Alyssa will use chairs and other mundane objects.
- Interface Screw: When Alyssa goes into Panic Mode.
- Jekyll & Hyde: Alyssa / Yu is Dr. Jekyll to while Bates / Sho is Mr. Hyde.
- Mad Scientist's Beautiful Daughter: Could count, Alyssa's visage is not that of a typical pretty anime character, but her rendering and her manga portrayal is that of a simple yet realistic Japanese teenager with no exaggeration whatsoever. You don't see this kind of style everyday. This is in contrast to Shannon, who seems to have bleached her skin.
- Meaningful Name:
- Alyssa: means, to cure rabies i.e madness; or to be against madness.
- Yuu: means superiority, gentleness, and distant. Her Japanese name foretells who she truly is. Bonus points for it being unisex.
- Misplaced Retribution: A victim of one, this girl can't catch a break. Everybody wants her dead as well as revenge for the fault of her adoptive and actual fathers. Her fate can vary in the endings. See
The Woobie. - Morality Pet: To Bates.
- Reincarnation: Of Dan. Surprisingly, she's not a psycho, unlike her brother.
- Shrinking Violet: Has elements of this.
- Sibling Yin-Yang: The opposite to Bates' violent personality.
- Split Personality: See Bates.
- Stockholm Syndrome: Seems to develop this in the Drama CD, latching onto Bates when everyone except Alex is dead in the end.
- Helpless Good Side: Though she can attack her stalkers with mundane objects. Once confronted, she stands in fear and can only dodge, unlike Bates, who attacks head on.
- Synchronization: Alyssa / Yu herself shares this attachment to her amulet; without it, she's helpless against her brother's influence. Downplayed, as it only happens when she's really stressed or scared. Bates is linked to his sister, he can awaken once the amulet is gone. If he happens to get her killed, he dies as well.
- The Killer in Me: A non twist version, we already meet Bates at the start of the game as well as establishing he's a gun wielding maniac who likes to swear a lot. Although, Alyssa's a Type 2 at the beginning of the drama CD.
- Unknown Rival: To Shannon, she really has no idea why she hates her. That is, until Allen revealed it.
Bates/Shō
Bates/Shō
Alyssa & Bates
Voiced by: Roger L. Jackson (English), Fujiko Takimoto (Japanese - Game), Houko Kuwashima (Japanese - Drama CD)
Alyssa's evil alter ego. He can awaken within Alyssa to take over her mind and body, and takes great pleasure in causing harm to others, with the exception of Alyssa herself (possibly because she IS his means to interact).- Adaptational Nice Guy: The Drama CD makes Bates slightly more caring for Alyssa, not so much to everyone else.
- Adaptational Villainy: In the game the reason why he killed two of Alyssa's classmates was because they were bullies that were harassing her. In the Drama CD however, he kills three of her classmates for no reason, he also physically assaults Nurse Cook to get her to talk and executes Allen in the end.
- Awesome, but Impractical: He can use guns, but he can't hide and use evade points, unlike Alyssa. He is also the cause of many of the bad endings.
- Ax-Crazy: The reason why Allen gave Alyssa the amulet in the first place. The first thing he did when he woke up was kill two boys harassing Alyssa. You think that's not bad? His personality is revealed more in the drama CD. When he explicitly killed Alyssa's classmates for no reason.
- Brains and Brawn: Not stupid, but definitely not the cerebral type. Prone to impulsive, violent actions and decisions. A more-than-capable fighter, unless the plot says otherwise.
- Buried Alive: He didn't survive, unlike his sister.
- Cutscene Incompetence: Fights off zombies and psychos with aplomb. Unless, of course, it's time for a bad ending.
- Dissonant Serenity: It may not be noticable during gameplay, but you could say he could be enjoying himself. Made obvious by his voice acting.
- Deadpan Snarker: He'll snark here and there. He also does it even when Alyssa's crying after the climax.
- Understatement: Some of his lines come off as this, especially when you find Ashley's body parts. He also delivers a dark chuckle at it.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He's a psycho around everybody but Alyssa.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Kills Allen Hale for his deeds in one bad ending, though this may not be a matter of "standards" so much as anger at getting him and Alyssa in trouble.
- Foil: Bates is Alyssa's antithesis, he's an intrepid yet arrogant and impulsive psycho.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The red oni to Allysa's blue.
- Four-Temperament Ensemble: Choleric.
- The Ghost: Bates shares his sister's body, but we never saw what he truly looks like without Alyssa. The closest thing we've got is this picture
◊ from the drama CD. - Jerkass: To anyone not named Alyssa.
- Kick The Son Of A Bitch: Outright executes Alan with a pistol in the Drama CD in the ending.
- Meaningful Name
- "Bates" hearkens back to the Bates Motel.
- "Shou" can mean "to rise", and he regularly rises to the surface.
- Nightmare Fetishist: Unlike Alyssa, who's understandably shocked and scared, Bates seems a little too lax and very amazed upon finding Ashley's scattered pieces.
- No Sympathy: Towards nurse Cook when he finds her scared out of her mind in the hospital, which is infested with zombies. He even threatens to kill her if she doesn't divulge some info about said zombies.
- Pet the Dog: Bates can be a jerk to others, but he is totally kind to his main ego, Alyssa."Don't be afraid, Alyssa".
- Reincarnation: Of Bobby.
- Revenge Before Reason: Talk to Alyssa's father as Bates in an early scene and he'll kill him on the spot, granting you a bad ending.
- Sensor Character:
- Claims to have been able to sense the evil in Alan since Alyssa was a child in the Drama CD.
- He also can tell something is evil/dangerous about the statue which is covered in an insanity-inducing toxin.
- Sharing a Body: With Alyssa.
- Sibling Yin-Yang: The opposite to Alyssa's meek personality.
- Sir Swears-a-Lot: His voice acting and this are the reasons why he's so well liked.
- Sociopathic Hero: Would be a full-on villain if not for his concern for Alyssa.
- Split Personality: In Ghost Head, there's Yu / Alyssa and her male alter ego Sho / Bates.
- Suicidal Overconfidence: One of Bates' biggest flaws is his tendency to flaunt his arrogance over the antagonists. Even when said antagonists are wielding weapons and perfectly capable of killing Alyssa within the next second.
- Superpowered Evil Side: He's not that super, but he can use magic if you activate the cheat code for the milicana. Plus he's a lot braver, and unfortunately arrogant. See Too Dumb to Live.
- Too Dumb to Live: Some of the endings in the game result from Bates threatening people whom he should know are both unhinged, antagonistic towards Alyssa (possessed or not), and have weapons they are willing to use.
- Voices Are Mental: Played straight in the English localization, when Bates takes over Alyssa body, the voice coming out from her mouth is definitively masculine and voiced by a different actor. Averted in the original Japanese, however; while Yuu and Sho still don't share the same voice actress, Sho is still voiced by a woman (Fujiko Takimoto in the game, Houko Kuwashima in the Drama CD) who gives him a deeper, rougher register than the soft-spoken Yuu.
- Would Hurt a Child: He spartan kicked a little girl in the face. Justified, she was homicidally crazy. Then you stab her later.
Alex Corey/Hitoshi Ishizue
Alex Corey/Hitoshi Ishizue
Voiced by: Greg Weber (English), Issei Futamata (Japanese - Game), Naoki Kinoshita (Japanese - Drama CD)
The police detective of the game who is seen questioning Alyssa after the events of the first chapter. He conducts his own investigation after zombies begin appearing and is willing to cooperate with Alyssa to figure out what is going on and to put an end to it.- Clueless Detective: An unintetional example. See Idiot Ball.
- Conscience Makes You Go Back: Why he brought and left a teenage girl all alone, in a zombie infested research lab, is this game's mystery.
- Big Damn Heroes: In the end, Alex ultimately kills Maxwell before he could attack Alyssa. That's assuming that you hit the panic button fast enough the second time.
- Four-Temperament Ensemble: The Phlegmatic.
- Idiot Ball: The game seems to imply that Alex is an incompetent detective. Read at your own risk, but here are his faults in order:
- After his introduction, he left Alyssa after hearing a scream without saying a word to her and just ran off.
- He immediately suspects Phillip without investigating/questioningnote . The latter is actually paranoid.
- He took Alyssa with him to the lab after establishing there are zombies running amuck, when he should have taken her to a shelter.
- He left Alyssa again, just because she wouldn't leave with him. Although this is subverted, but he actually left her until the climax.
- He runs off again after being brutally honest to Alyssanote and leaves her alone at the street.
- Let's Get Out of Here: Near the end, Alex reasons that there is nothing he can do about the zombie situation and suggests to Alyssa that they ought to leave. He'll stay behind if you choose not to.
- Police Are Useless: Alex does not really help around much aside from a couple of his heroic moments and providing occasional exposition and speculation.
- Shotguns Are Just Better: In the final part of Chapter 2, he pulls one out when you play as him, and uses one in the ending to kill Maxwell. Averted in the former since the gunplay somehow got worse...
- Someone Has to Do It: In the good ending, Alex decides to walk off to take care of the remaining zombies himself.
Significant Persons
Doug Bowman/Wataru Gōmoto
Doug Bowman/Wataru Gōmoto
Voiced by: David Nowlin (English), Akio Ōtsuka (Japanese - Game), Yoshiyuki Kono (Japanese - Drama CD)
One of the people Alyssa meets at the second scenario of the game. He is a newspaper reporter who came to investigate the strange occurrences at the hospital.- Four-Temperament Ensemble: The Leukine.
- The Generic Guy: He adds nothing to the plot. He's barely a character.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: He left a 17 year old girl all alone in a zombie-infested Research Lab. Granted, you can decline his offer to leave with him and you're not that helpless. But still...
Allen Hale/Takashi Midōshima
Allen Hale/Takashi Midōshima
Voiced by:Terry McGovern (English), Tamio Ōki (Japanese - Game), Ginzō Matsuo (Japanese - Drama CD)
He was once an outstanding scientist working at the Memorial Pharmaceuticals Research Lab, until Maxwell showed up and removed him from his high position. Since this is Alyssa's story, a lot of the things he does are offscreen.- Always Someone Better: Maxwell again.
- The Atoner: After George Maxwell buried Alyssa, Allen dug her up again, although it's not clear if he did this to save Alyssa or just to spite George. However, he's definitely The Atoner for abandoning Shannon and making her jealous.
- Dressed to Heal
- Green-Eyed Monster: To Maxwell.
- Holding Your Shoulder Means Injury: At the climax, he was seen holding his abdomen while confronting Maxwell.
- Kick the Dog: He tricked his friend Phillip into doing the above deed with him, and then later (possibly) tried to frame him for his crime by sending him the statue. Or he was the intended victim of the toxin, making it look like he committed familicide. Allen's plan almost succeeded, as he was Alex's number one suspect.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: His plans succeeds at driving Maxwell insane and almost framing Phillip; however, he didn't count on Shannon coming after Alyssa for his mistake and Phillip still being alive to learn the truth; let's not forget Maxwell, who actually got back on him. What's worse is that he didn't expect his daughters to come to look for him. And everybody, as in everybody, believes this is Alyssa's fault for being 'cursed'. Although, when it comes to Katherine, she seems to be in denial, and Phillip switches from this to in-between. To make it short, everybody attacked Alyssa for his fault.
- Noodle Incident: We were never clearly told of whatever Maxwell did to him to deserve his fate, and why Bates and him hate each other so much.
- Paternally Challenged: He's a brilliant doctor, but when it comes to parenting, that's where he fails.
- Parental Favoritism: Towards Alyssa. To Shannon, not much.
- Parental Neglect: Always buried in his "work"note .
- Fatherly Scientist: Implied, even though he's neglectful. Through his daughters' perspective, Shannon and Alyssa see him as this.
- Papa Wolf: Despite being neglectful, he is this to Alyssa. He attempts to talk to the insane Maxwell while he hides her in a room.
- Pet the Dog: He was originally going to use Alyssa to ruin Maxwell, but he couldn't bring himself to do it."I... I loved you as if you were my very own daughter. I never thought of you as a tool to harm anyone."
- Revenge Before Reason: So the guy just proved himself to be better than you, and got you demoted. Did you really have to plan a 17note year long complicated scheme to ruin him? Then again, he could have been a jerk. Allen's hatred for him was never fully explained.
- Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: Invoked by Allen in a more literal sense. When Maxwell learned that his twin babies are the cursed generation, he responds by burying them alive. Little did he know his two pissed-off colleagues who hate him with a passion would decide to rescue his children. Not out of disgust or concern, but for revenge. Subverted in the end, as he states above. Allen admitted he tried to invoke this trope by using Alyssa/Yu, but he eventually grew fond of her, and decides to fulfill the "curse" himself.
- Stupid Scientist: His plan on getting revenge is driving his rival murderously insane. Needless to say, this didn't go well.
Chief Nurse Cook/Atsumi Kishi
Chief Nurse Cook/Atsumi Kishi
Voiced By: Colleen Quintana (English), Taeko Nakanishi (Japanese - Game), Makiko Mizogami (Japanese - Drama CD)
- And Then John Was a Zombie: She becomes one if the player comes to check on her as Bates.
- Driven to Suicide: She comes off as this, considering her situation does not seem to be getting better. Then she goes through with it if you check on her as Bates.
The Tates/Takanos
Philip Tate/Hajime Takano
Philip Tate/Hajime Takano
Voiced by: Doug Boyd (English), Kōji Yada (Japanese - Game), Shinobu Satouchi (Japanese - Drama CD)
Alyssa's 'uncle', a family man and close friend of Allen. Like Allen, he was once a brilliant scientist working at the research lab, before Maxwell showed up and took his position. At the beginning of the game, he is seen contemplating the Maxwell curse with his wife, before Alyssa arrives in their home.- Driven to Madness: Briefly in the end of Chapter 1. Tate decides to strangle Alyssa in hopes to be free of a liability, though she can fight back. Bates, for some reason, can't, and is locked to a bad ending.
- Good Parents: Implied, Philip and Katherine are the only characters shown to be Happily Married with children before the tragedy came about. In contrast to Allen Hale's habit of Parental Neglect and the Maxwell family's practice of burying their children.
- Kick the Dog: Talk to Tate the second time as Bates, and one bad ending will result in this on Tate.
- Properly Paranoid: Played with, at the beginning of the game, we see him and his wife Katherine dreading Alyssa's arrival. Except, Alyssa had nothing to do with their misfortune. Subverted even further, as his friend Allen is the cause of the curse, not Alyssa.
Stephanie Tate/Chinatsu Takano
Stephanie Tate/Chinatsu Takano
Voiced by: Lee Kitts (English), Tomiko Suzuki (Japanese - Game), Chiaki Maeda (Japanese - Drama CD)
The youngest daughter of the Tate family. She just happens to be possessed and going around murdering her family by the time Alyssa arrives. She's also your first stalker in this game.- Creepy Child: She's younger than Bobby.
- Demonic Possession: Subverted, everybody thought it has something to do with the curse. In truth, she was infected when she touched the tainted statue.
- Girl with Psycho Weapon: There's obviously something wrong with a seven-year-old wielding a butcher knife, going about the house, slaughtering her family. Yet Alyssa still thinks she's her cousin and refuses to harm her. Subverted with Bates.
- I'll Kill You!: "I'm going to kill you."
- Improbable Infant Survival: After Stephanie/Chinatsu is stabbed in the chest, she's mentioned to be expected to make a full recovery in the beginning of the next stage.
- Laughing Mad: That's when you should be on your alert. Can also become annoying due to her insistence in invoking this, even in the endings.
- Made of Iron: She can take bullets really well, even if it does slow her down. Also, at the end of chapter 1, she gets stabbed by Bates. At the beginning of chapter 2, Alex reassures Alyssa that she'll be alright.
- Not Quite Dead: Bates stabs the girl in the chest, presumably killing her. She gets right back up and either stabs him if he just stands there (therefore granting you a bad ending), or prepares to stab Alyssa (which gives you a game over).
- Self-Made Orphan: In the bad endings, this is implied or invoked. Thankfully, subverted otherwise.
Ashley Tate/Akiyo Takano
Ashley Tate/Akiyo Takano
- Born Unlucky: Noted to be such in her biography.
- Gamer Chick: Implied, as she has a poster of the previous game in her room.
- Sacrificial Lamb: The first victim in the game. Thankfully off-screen.
- Sailor Fuku: Artwork depicted her wearing this one, she's a middle schooler.
SPOILER
The Samurai/Michael Tate/Masaharu Takano
- Destination Defenestration: His end, via George Maxwell throwing him at Alyssa. Which occurs in the lab, though it's not explained how he got there.
- Katanas Are Just Better: His weapon.
- Made of Iron: Thanks to the armor, he can't be stopped with any of the game's weapons. Bates still kicks him over, though.
- Non-Standard Game Over: If you don't inspect the armor before finding the golden statue, you'll find Michael stabbed to death in his room — and when Maxwell throws the armor without him inside, it'll crush you — for some reason, you can't just dodge it like you normally do.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Rather than relentlessly pursuing you, if you move into another room, he'll stay in the same room — and if you leave him out there long enough, he'll wander off to another part of the house.
Antagonists:
George Maxwell/Fushito Saidō
George Maxwell/Fushito Saidō
Voiced by: Terry McGovern (English), Akio Ohtsuka (Japanese - Game), Tomotsu Nishiwaki (Japanese - Drama CD)
The main villain of the game, who chases you around in the lab.- Ax-Crazy: A rare justified version, thanks to Allen; he was a victim of his vengeance, the former infecting him with toxins that drive anybody mad.
- Archnemesis Dad
- Luke, I Am Your Father: Fushito Saido, turns out to be Yu's biological father driven insane by a curse.
- You're Not My Father: Alyssa says this at the climax.
- BFS: A giant hatchet in this case.
- Determinator: Say what you will about the man, but he managed to retain enough sanity to get back at Allen. He managed to capture him and cuff him to a pipenote . It's also revealed in the drama CD that he was the cause of Ashley's zombification, meaning he figured out Phillip's involvement.
- Hell Is That Noise: When you hear scraping, that's your cue to run, hide, evade, or shoot twice.
- Hereditary Curse: The source of conflict in this game.
- Dressed to Heal: Complete with a bloodstained labcoat.
- Informed Ability: Everybody likes to stress what a genius chemist Maxwell is, yet Allen is the one who perfected the toxin.
- Mad Doctor: Phillip and Allen used to help him experiment on patients.
- Malevolent Masked Men
- Morally Ambiguous Doctorate: They may not be referred to as doctors, but they are doctors. Maxwell probably has a doctorate in chemistry as well.
- Mugging the Monster: Ending F
- My God, What Have I Done?: He really didn't want to kill his children.
- Not Quite Dead: Again at the end where Maxwell is shot in the back by Alyssa's father. Then he gets right back up at the very very end to attempt to kill Alyssa again, unless you manage to perform the QTE for Alex to intervene.
- Offing the Offspring: A common practice for the Maxwell family, especially if they're twins.
- Omnicidal Maniac: "Everyone must die!" Then he released a horde of zombies to the world.
- The Reveal: He is Alyssa'snote real father. He was the one who orchestrated their burial... alive.
Shannon Lewis/Fujika
Shannon Lewis/Fujika
Voiced by: Lee Kitts (English), Tomiko Suzuki (Japanese - Game), Mieko Nebashi (Japanese - Drama CD)
When her mother died, her father apparently didn't want to take care of her, so she was left in the care of her relatives. She's extremely envious of Alyssa, enough to want her dead.
- Daddy's Girl: Invoked, she wants to be.
- Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: So pale she's practically blue and a stalker/murderer.
- Freudian Excuse: Unlike the others (whose craziness is justified), she went completely mental because Allen didn't want to care for her.
- Green-Eyed Monster: To Alyssa, who doesn't even know her or what she did to her.
- Revenge Before Reason: She doesn't care that Alyssa has no idea who she is, she wants to kill her for living with their dad while their mom, who took Shannon, died soon after.
- Murder Is the Best Solution: Therefore killing Alyssa would definitely make Allen want to take her back.
- Ineffectual Death Threats: She likes to threaten the confused Alyssa that she will be the one to kill her. In the true ending, at least, this is played straight. Though this can be averted with Alyssa's dragon Bates, in the other ending. Surprisingly...
- Driven to Suicide: When she found out that Allen is willing to die in Alyssa's place.
- Irrational Hatred: She blames Alyssa for something that's barely her fault.
- The Reveal: She's Alyssa's step-sister. After she did the above.
- The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: In Struggle Within, Shannon only helps Alyssa in the hospital just so she can let her suffer before killing her later on. She kills her early if Bates talks to her in the next chapter, and will succeed in strangling her if she still had her amulet on later. Also, she ultimately kills herself.
- Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: Averted with the former. She gets points for being savvy, by shooting Bates as he continues to threaten her.
- Yandere: A platonic example, she is willing to watch her step-sister suffer for awhile and then attempts to kill her. All for the sake of being with daddy.
