The characters in Dear Mariko. Due to the short length, spoilers are unmarked.
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Mariko
The supposed protagonist of the game, who is actually the antagonist. She is Darien's girlfriend.
- Antagonist Title: The game is titled after her, and as it turns out, she is the Hero Antagonist.
- Berserker Tears: She breaks down after reading Darien's breakup letter.
- Ethereal White Dress: She wears one to make her more ghost-like (despite being fully human).
- Hero Antagonist: She is simply trying to protect Darien from a stalker who has infiltrated their home.
- Psycho Knife Nut: She uses a knife as her weapon and is a little crazy herself, though not to the extent of Shinku.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: She has bright crimson eyes.
- Sanity Slippage: It is implied that she has been going slightly crazy as a result of Shinku stalking her and Darien.
- Sleeping Single: Despite living together and being in a relationship, she and Darien have two separate beds.
- Suddenly Voiced: Her final scream is voiced.
- Trauma Conga Line: Crimson shows that the poor girl had it rough before the game. First Liddy kills her big brother, then loses Shinku's friendship due to her obsession with Darien, and then Darien leaves her to protect her from Shinku. And finally Liddy's vengeful ghost goads Shinku into murdering her.
- Violently Protective Girlfriend: The psychological trauma of being stalked and threatened constantly has made her willing to outright kill Shinku.
- Walking Spoiler: Her being the antagonist, rather than the protagonist, is The Reveal of the game.
- We Used to Be Friends: Crimson reveals she used to be friends with Shinku before she became obsessed with Darien.
Darien
The boyfriend of Mariko.
- The Ghost: He never actually appears, instead only being mentioned and speaking through a letter.
- It's Not You, It's My Enemies: The reason he decided to leave Mariko was because he feared that Shinku would kill her if he stayed with her.
- Sleeping Single: Despite living together and being in a relationship, he and Mariko have two separate beds.
Shinku
The true protagonist of the game. She is the stalker pursing Darien.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: In the original game she was a crazy yandere without positive traits who killed Mariko because Darien chose her over Shinku. In Crimson she wants to kill Mariko not so much for jealousy, but to appease Liddy's vengeful ghost.
- Ax-Crazy: She wants to kill Mariko violently to get Darien for herself.
- The Bad Guy Wins: In the True End, she kills Mariko.
- Big Bad: Of the original game, as she is the stalker out to kill Mariko.
- Childhood Friend Romance: Horrifically averted according to the “Crimson” epilogue. Supposedly, Shinku knew Darien since they were kids, but to him she was only an acquaintance. Since Mariko came much later into his life, this made Shinku believe that she was undeserving of Darien's love.
- Dual Wielding: Uses two kitchen knives to kill Mariko in the True Ending.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Literal example. She has green eyes and is a crazy stalker who is jealous of Mariko for having Darien love her.
- Entitled to Have You: Thinks she deserves Darien more than Mariko because she knew him all his life, while Mariko only knew him from a couple of years ago.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: In the Normal Ending, she leaves the house without any more fuss after learning that Darien thinks of her as a stalker and is deeply afraid of her. It's implied she gives up on him afterwards.
- Meaningful Name: Her name, Shinku, is Japanese for "crimson".
- Murder the Hypotenuse: Her goal is to do this to Mariko. She succeeds in the True End.
- My God, What Have I Done?: In the first Bad End for the epilogue, Shinku can turn herself over to the police out of guilt for killing Mariko and stalking Darien.
- Never My Fault: In the True Ending, Shinku blames Mariko for being the reason why Darien ran away. She doesn't acknowledge that she's the one who drove Darien away. Although it may be because she's so insane that she honestly believes that she and Darien are in a relationship and Mariko is interfering.
- In Crimson she also blames Mariko for Liddy's death, even though Liddy brought it on herself by murdering Mariko's brother.
- Pet the Dog: The Normal Ending, in which she gives up on Darien and lets Mariko have him, is one for her (although it only makes sense after watching the True End).
- Player Character: She is the one whom the player controls.
- Psycho Knife Nut: She is a crazy stalker who wields kitchen knives as her weapon.
- Redhead In Green: She has pink hair and wears a green dress.
- Sanity Slippage: After Liddy's death, she begins slowly losing her mind rapidly, to the point she starts stalking Darien, loses Mariko's friendship and hears the voice of Liddy's ghost.
- Slasher Smile: Shinku wears one before stabbing Mariko the second time.
- Stalker with a Crush: Shinku towards Darien. She is the one driving him and Mariko apart.
- Suddenly Voiced: After most of her lines remained unvoiced, her final line is voiced, likely to heighten the impact of the Wham Line.
- Undying Loyalty: She's very devoted to her best friend Liddy and acts solely to appease her spirit.
- Villain Protagonist: She is the true main character and a deranged, murderous stalker.
- Walking Spoiler: Her being the protagonist is The Reveal of the game.
- Yandere: Shinku, the stalker who is after Darien. Who turns out to be the protagonist herself.
Liddy
A mysterious ghost girl introduced in Crimson, relentlessly driving Shinku to murder Mariko. When she was alive she was in love with Mariko's brother and was friends with Shinku.
- The Bad Guy Wins: In the True End, she succeeds into goading Shinku to kill Mariko.
- The Corrupter: To Shinku, whom she drives into evil.
- The Dreaded: Darien and Mariko are afraid of her.
- If I Can't Have You…: Mariko's brother rejected her affections, so she killed him in response. And then her vengeful ghost decided to target Mariko too, just to twist the knife in.
- Ghostly Goals: In death, Liddy's soul has been distilled down to a core of bitter, resentful, vengeful spite who relentlessly drives Shinku to "avenge her".
- The Man Behind the Man: She is the one guiding Shinku to commit the horrible actions she does.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: It's never made quite clear whether Liddy's ghost actually haunts Shinku, or is just a manifestation of her own insane desire for revenge.
- Moral Myopia: Liddy is angry at how Mariko did nothing to save her when she died. Coming from the one who killed Mariko's brother because he rejected her, it rings a little hollow.
- Only Friend: Was this to Shinku when she was alive.
- Sadist: Is overly delighted by just the thought of tormenting Mariko as Revenge by Proxy to her brother.
- Walking Spoiler: Her role as the one behind Shinku is the twist in the prequel.
- Yandere: Used to be one when she was alive, being a stalker who murdered Mariko's brother.
