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Player Characters
Mosaiko Suzuki
The main character. An eight-year-old girl with a face obscured by a mosaic blur, she has lost contact with her parents and must get home on her own.
- Action Girl: For being so small, she manages to go through literal hell with barely a scratch on her.
- Ambiguous Situation: The car wreck scene. Did Mosaiko's parents die in the accident? Possibly an older sister? Or did she herself die and the entire game is her stuck in purgatory? This also ties into whether you believe the switched player to be an older Mosaiko or a relative.
- Character Tic: She points towards where she's supposed to go, complete with a twinkle sound effect.
- Cool Mask: At one point, she dons a Noh mask.
- Creepy Child: Subverted. She's a completely silent girl with no face and walks rather stiffly, but her childlikeness shines through enough when she puts on a mask for the Piano Woman in her bedroom or is crying in front of the car wreck.
- The Faceless: Her face is obscured by a mosaic blur, so we never see what she actually looks like. Then again, given the surreal nature of the place she lives, it could just be her real face.
- Fashionable Asymmetry: Her kimono has many frills and has every color of the rainbow hodge-lodged together.
- Lonely Piano Piece: She plays this when she's alone in her family's apartment, which attracts the Piano Woman's attention.
- Meaningful Name: Mosaiko's face is constantly censored by a mosaic blur.
- Miko: She isn't specified to really be a shrine maiden, but the first action the player controls is Mosaiko worshipping at a shrine, and the long, ornate kimono she wears certainly looks similar to typical Miko outfits, implying that she and her family are followers of the Shinto religion.
- Multiple-Choice Past: Depends on how you interpret the game:
- A. Mosaiko's family left her at the park, and died in a car accident. The whole game is Mosaiko realizing that her family is gone and can't protect her from the horrors outside the door.
- B. Mosaiko was the one who died, and the game is her realizing that she can't go home. Her older sister is left by herself.
- C. Mosaiko lost her older sister (who one can assume is Claudia) and is haunted by the twisted ghost of her.
- D. Any combo of the above.
- The Piano Player: A child version of this. She has a miniature red piano in her bedroom that she sits on the ground to play, likely because a regular piano is too large.
- Weirdness Magnet: Barely even covers it. She attracts a plethora of mind bending abominations and gets teleported to another reality with rotating bridges, jumping fish, and plenty of other examples of Surreal Horror. Poor girl can't catch a break.
The Other Player/ Older Mosaiko
Another player that you play as. Either a teenage girl or a young woman, this character tends to get switched at complete random with the original player.
- Ambiguous Situation: Is she Mosaiko's sister, Mosaiko's mother, or Mosaiko herself? While it's likely the last option, given the absurdist nature of this world, the story choosing a perspective switch isn't that out of the question.
- Driven to Suicide: She is heavily associated with suicidal imagery, with her jumping off of a building being one of the ways Mosaiko can die. By the end, she seems to have recovered from this and instead accepts that its okay to be sad.
- Foil: To Mosaiko. While Mosaiko wears an extravagant kimono with a variety of patterns, has her black hair in a bun with many hair clips, and is a small child, the other player wears a plain grey shirt with dark blue skirt, has brown hair in a bob cut, and is significantly older looking. Even more, Mosaiko can climb through the sewers, whereas this player can't.
Enemies
General Tropes
- Ambiguously Evil: It’s never confirmed where any of the ghosts came from, but all of them tend to flip like a switch depending on the player’s actions. The enemies have moments of hostility that seem to arbitrarily change depending on what happens in the story:
- While Claudia and Clodia try and attack you as soon as they see you, Claudia enters your home and floats aimlessly around your apartment, and you won’t die if she happens to not bump into you. Also, she comforts a grieving Mosaiko next to the car crash.
- The Piano Woman at first seems interested in hearing Mosaiko play piano, but switches to aggressiveness when you walk in on her.
- The Crybaby is offensive off the bat, but her crying implies she might not be as happy about the situation as you’d think.
- By the end of the story, everyone has joined in on a concert, with no animosity to be seen.
- The Kitchen Oni is the only one who doesn't outright harm you, and she even helps you escape at one point, but she also blocks your path and enables the rest of the enemies to get you.
- Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Claudia and the Piano Woman are the only enemies with both visible hair and skin, and fit this to a T.
- Go-Karting with Bowser: In the credits, the spirits all have a dance party with you, with any past gripes seemingly gone.
- Japanese Spirit: These monsters were based off of a dream, but they vaguely resemble a mix and match of different yokai.
The Swollen-Headed Spirit/Claudia
A ghost woman who is the most prominent antagonist of the game. She primarily chases Mosaiko through the city streets on her way home, but manages to follow her into her house.
- Ambiguously Evil: regardless of what she is or where she came from, the ghost seems to have some strange habits that contradict themselves. She spends the earliest parts of the game chasing you down and trying to kill you, but later, when she gets into your apartment, she floats around aimlessly and only kills you if your directly in her way (If you stand on your bed she doesn't harm you). Later on, she actually comforts Mosaiko while she cries in front of the car wreck, hinting that she has some kind of soft side. During the credits, she even participates in the dance party with you and the other spirits.
- A Boy and His X: A deformed ghost girl and her dog that has her face.
- Body Horror: Her head is constantly swelling and stretching, and her eyes bulge from her face constantly. When she runs, her legs also seem to break and distort.
- Dissonant Serenity: The music that plays when she chases you is especially bombastic.
- Divine Intervention: One interpretation of her character is that she is a Kami or god of the shrine Mosaiko prays at, and she's actually trying to help her get past the car accident in the weirdest way possible.
- Genki Girl: a downplayed and frankly bizarre example. She never speaks, but out of all of the spirits she seems the more active and energetic of them all. While the others go after you typically because you do something that triggers them, she chases you constantly and seems to have a lot of energy. She also smiles more frequently than the other enemies (although its hard to notice). She even dances enthusiastically in the games credits during the dance party.
- Lightning Bruiser: Her biggest advantage over you is speed. Once her chase music begins, she comes at you fast.
- Mascot Villain: She's represented the most in the game's marketing.
- Mysterious Past: What her relationship with Mosaiko is supposed to be isn't specified. Is she a ghost of one of Mosaiko's relatives? A manifestation of grief or guilt? A Kami of the shrine trying to either help or punish Mosaiko? Or is she just an Onryo with nothing better to do?
- Stringy-Haired Ghost Girl: She certainly gives off this vibe. Aside from her appearance, she floats constantly, and seems to have some fixation on Mosaiko.
The Dog Spirit/Clodia
A dog monster with the face of the Swollen Headed Spirit.
- All Animals Are Dogs: Whatever it is, it still acts like a dog, following the instructions of its presumed owner. In the credits, rather than dancing, it howls to the moon.
- Animalistic Abomination: It looks like a dog, and its chase theme consists of barking, but it has the same face as the swollen headed spirit and very clearly isn't a regular dog.
- Hell Hound: A demonic dog-like creature that belongs to an antagonist will imply this, and while, like its owner, it can't be defined as purely evil, it's definitely a problem for Mosaiko.
- Theme Naming: It has a similar name to Claudia, who could possibly be its owner.
The Crybaby
An enemy that appears in your house. when you turn off the lights, she begins to hunt you down.
- Berserker Tears: She's probably the most aggressive enemy, and the only one you have to attack with a slingshot to get her to back off. The whole time, she's also loudly sobbing.
- Body Horror: She's made out of bright red flesh and is jump-roping with what looks like an intestine.
- Exactly What It Says on the Tin: She is constantly scream-crying as she attacks you
- The Eeyore: She's constantly sobbing loudly as she attacks you, and never loses this attitude. She finally stops in the credits during the dance party.
- Mood Dissonance: Even though she's screaming loudly, she's also jump-roping, complete with a "boing" sound effect.
Piano
Another enemy who appears outside your home. She changes between a humanoid form and a monstrous piano-hybrid.
- Beauty Is Bad: Out of all the enemies, she starts off the most conventionally attractive, but it doesn’t make her any less dangerous.
- Body Horror: Unlike the other enemies, she resembles an almost normal looking person - at first, then her face deforms and she melts into her piano.
- Exactly What It Says on the Tin: She's a pianist named Piano.
- The Piano Player: Her whole schtick involves her playing the piano. She's attracted to Mosaiko when she hears the girl playing her piano, and she plays a more extravagant piece later on. She also seems like she's physically attached to her piano. She also plays the piano in the dance scene in the credits.
- Proper Lady: She’s dresses in an extravagant rainbow-hued dress and hat.
The Kitchen Oni
A spirit in your kitchen.
- Almighty Mom: Gives off this vibe. The way she wields her daikon, stands in a kitchen, dons an apron and gives off an air of authority depicts her as such. She's also the closest thing the player gets to any assistance in the game.
- Hidden Depths: In the credits, she displays that she can play the electric guitar.
- Jump Scare: When you approach her, she turns around and shouts "Ha!" as the lights turn red.
- Nightmare Face: Her face resembles an oni mask, being red with tusks.
- Token Good Teammate: She is the only spirit that never directly hurts you or attacks you. The closest she gets is with her jumpscare, but even that only startles you for a second. When Claudia is in your house, the Oni even unlocks the front door for you to escape. In the December 2020 update, she appears as an enemy in the technical sense when she pops up when you go try to enter a red manhole, but even then confronting her never results in a Game Over. She's also the only spirit that doesn't chase the player.
The Elephant Man
Another enemy that appears later in the chase.
- Animalistic Abomination: The "elephant" is not an animal as much as it is a strange, bumpy amalgam in the shape of one.
- A Boy and His X: A headless man and his elephant.
- Body Horror: The rider's head is missing with blood constantly pouring out like a fountain.
- Dissonant Serenity: The rider is seen drinking a cup of tea while chasing you.
- Hidden Depths: He can play the trumpet, as shown in the ending credits.
- Out of Focus: Unlike the other spirits, he doesn't have many moments where he shines. Whereas Claudia and Clodia have the first level chasing you around, Piano gets an entire cutscene, and The Jump-Roping-Woman approaches you in your home, the Elephant Man doesn't get much time to shine on his own.
- Trampled Underfoot: If you don't crouch when he walks by, the elephant steps on you, resulting in a game over.
The Octopus
A new enemy introduced in the December 2020 Update, who has it's own boss fight.
- Animalistic Abomination: The tentacles of the Octopus are red and fleshy, almost like they are made from bloody meat, There is a Noh mask instead of a mouth, and its "head" sags and rises as it breathes. It also moves sporadically with no real regard for physics in a "swimming" motion, despite being on land.
- Berserker Tears: Somewhat. The Octopus cries intermittently throughout the boss fight. The spots where it cries are the points where you attack it.
- Foil: It's kind of this to the rest of the enemies. Unlike Claudia, Piano, The Crybaby, or the Elephant Man, The Octopus is completely non-humanlike. Even the animalistic enemies (Like Clodia and the Elephant man's elephant) are still resembling of land dwelling creatures, while the Octopus is aquatic. Unlike the other spirits, who all tend to switch their behavior depending on their moods, the Octopus seems to be overtly hostile and is unable to be reasoned with. While the other enemies end up hanging out with Mosaiko at the dance party at the end credits, the Octopus must be killed in order to be defeated.
- Giant Space Flea from Nowhere: Even by this game's standards, the Octopus is a very strange addition. It has no real impact on the rest of the story, is never foreshadowed aside from the mini-game (which was also an update), and doesn't show up after, even at the dance party with everyone else.
- Tentacled Terror: It's a giant octopus with a mask that you need to fight against.
