The cast of characters as portrayed in Hands.
All spoilers, both for this fic and the source material OMORI, are unmarked.
Sunny and Omori
Sunny
The main character, as in canon, and here the victim of Mari's sexual abuse. Having been victimized all his life, he eventually pushed Mari down the stairs by accident trying to fight off her latest rape attempt. He then created Omori and Headspace to keep the horrible truth of their relationship locked up, so he may remember Mari as a loving big sister, but nightmarish visions of her true self still peak through in the form of Something and Black Space.- The Dog Bites Back: Him breaking his violin and subsequently pushing Mari down the stairs is depicted as this after putting up with her sexual and emotional abuse for so long.
- Driven to Suicide: Sunny nearly throws himself off the hospital's roof when he's triggered by his reawakening trauma, but Omori manages to dissuade him.
- Grew a Spine: He lets himself be bullied and molested by Mari for years, up until the night of the big recital- then he finally reaches his breaking point, smashes the violin on the ground, and pushes Mari off the stairs when she tries to rape him again.
- Hates Being Touched: Sunny is averse to physical intimacy — particularly from grown women — because he was sexually assaulted by his sister.
- I Reject Your Reality: Like in canon, he suppresses the memory of him killing Mari. But he also does the same to his memories of Mari molesting him, and is much less successful.He just needed to push it all away. Mari committed suicide. Mari never molested him. Mari is the good sister that everybody loves.
Just need to push it all down...
[...]
In the dream world, Mari stuck to that ideal. She was Omori’s big sister who would never hurt him, who was the shining beacon to everyone in the group without the horrible interests lying underneath.
This was the version of Mari that Sunny would remember. Everything else became forgotten in his period of self-isolation. - It's All My Fault: He spends a lot of time blaming and hating himself for killing Mari when he was defending himself from her rape attempt.
- Take Me Instead: At one point, when Mari attempts to invite Basil to "practice taking pictures" with her, Sunny bursts in and meekly demands she practice for the recital with him instead- which in context is him being willing to subject himself to Mari berating him endlessly (and later being molested by her)- in exchange for her leaving his best friend alone.
- Trauma Button: The thought of Sunny being around Mari, as well as things that heavily remind him of her, cause his traumatic memories to resurface. At one point while in Headspace, Mari saying her catchphrase (“All it costs is your love“) causes him to instantly wake up in fear because that’s what she would say to demand he let her molest him. To protect Sunny, his mother donated their piano to Faraway's church, and Hero decided to stow away Basil's photos of Mari (and all except the ones of her with Hero were burned by Aubrey).“Just let me know if you need help with it, little brother,” Mari said. “All it costs is your love.”
Sunny awoke with a start from that, a sense of nausea hitting him.
That’s what she always said when he needed a favor. Then she would do Something.
[...]
With the truth no longer suppressed, he also gained some new fears in reality. He was extremely squeamish about being touched, especially by older women. He couldn’t take hugs, especially from his mother, who thankfully just wrote it off as his intrinsic shyness. The sound of a piano playing made shivers run down his spine, but thankfully, Sunny’s mother chose to donate the piano to Faraway’s church, safe and out of sight.
Omori
A split personality created by Sunny to protect him from the truth of what Mari did to him.- Anti-Villain: Ultimately, he's just expressing Sunny's beliefs about his role toward Mari. Once Sunny reconciles that Mari's a bad person, Omori makes a full Heel–Face Turn.
- Blaming the Victim: Does this to Sunny in the final battle between them, telling him he should have just let Mari rape him so everyone can be happy. He does come around when Sunny stands up to him.You should have let her do what she wanted. You loved her. Your friends loved her. It was selfish of you to take her away for your own sake.
- Demoted to Extra: He is somewhat of a major focus in the first fic as a being specifically created to protect Sunny from the truth and talked down Sunny in "Truth," but he only makes a brief appearance in "Recovery".
- Heel–Face Turn: Omori stands against Sunny at the end of the first fic because he's upholding Sunny's sincere belief that he should hide what Mari did to him. After Sunny comes to terms with the truth, though, he actively helps him fight against his trauma... which is what he was first created to stave off.
- Talking Down the Suicidal: When Sunny attempts suicide in response to his awakening trauma, Omori talks to him to remind him that he's no longer alone in the truth, at least delaying Sunny long enough for Hero to finish the job.
Mari
Mari
The antagonist of the series and Sunny's sexually abusive big sister. Though publicly everyone's favorite perfect big sister, behind closed doors she is a terror to her little brother. She was eventually killed by Sunny fighting off another rape attempt, but her abuse continues to be the source of all of Sunny's nightmares.- Adaptational Villainy: The story follows an alternative reading of the game's story where Mari is portrayed as a predator who molested Sunny and is thought by Aubrey to have planned to prey on Basil. In canon, Mari most likely wasn’t a sexual predator and very little indicates that she wasn’t the Nice Girl she’s portrayed as being.
- Big Bad: Mari in the first and second stories is Sunny's sexual abuser and the cause of all his trauma. Even after her death, her actions cast a shadow in the two following stories.
- Big Sister Bully: The premise of the fic is her sexually abusing Sunny and alternating between talking sweet and guilting him into compliance and silence. And this isn't the only example- it also extends to the music recital, which she roped Sunny into solely so she could "spend more time" with him and then constantly criticizes and "punishes" him for not living up to her impossible standards during practice.
- Depraved Bisexual: Implied; in addition to molesting Sunny and trying to do the same to Basil, it is indicated that Mari wanted to prey on Aubrey too, since she also wanted to spend time alone with her and is depicted as touching her in a manner that very much resembles groping during their picnics together.
- Even Evil Can Be Loved: Despite sexually abusing Sunny, he still loves her and still feels the canonical guilt he does for accidentally killing her. Hero also loved her, while she only shows frustration that Hero doesn't want to have sex with her.
- Hate Sink: In sharp contrast to her canonical self, Mari is depicted as a sexually abusive Big Sister Bully to Sunny who's predations are played seriously, horrifically traumatizing Sunny. She is shown to be nothing but a Manipulative Bitch who has no genuine emotional connections with anyone, only seeing her supposed friends as potential victims. Her death at the hands of Sunny accidentally pushing her down the stairs, in response to her trying to rape him again, thus becomes a Karmic Death, and even her friends turn on her the moment they realize the truth about her.
- Hormone-Addled Teenager: Played for Horror. She is a teenager who repeatedly sexually abuses her own brother and is implied to have wanted to target Basil and Aubrey.
- Hypocrite: She respects Hero not consenting to having sex with her - and is implied to have molested Sunny afterward.
- The Perfectionist: Even more so than in canon, and it gets ugly here. She is so obsessed with being the perfect one that she gives it as an excuse for molesting Sunny- it serves as stress relief for her.Mari practiced her song in front of an audience of one. Sunny had went over to Kel and Hero's for a little bit, leaving his friend Basil by himself to listen to Mari's music. While composed for most of it, Basil could see a flash of agitation on her face when she messed up one note. Despite that and Mari's own perfectionism though, Basil thought it was beautiful.
"You did great, Mari!" Basil complimented when she finished, giving her a little applause.
She looked bashful. "I'm glad you liked it, though it could have been better..." - Pragmatic Villainy: At one point she saves Sunny from drowning and tells him how much she loves him. Given that she spends the rest of the story treating him as a sex toy, it is made clear that she only rescued him so she could continue molesting him. She also relents on pursuing Basil, Aubrey, and Hero when they reject her amorous interests, but only because she can simply displace them onto Sunny, whom she fully controls.
- Serial Rapist: An implied attempted example. Not satisfied with molesting Sunny, she tried to spend time with Basil alone for what is speculated to be making him her next victim (and her word choice supports this) until Sunny saves him by asking Mari to practice for the recital with him. She then tried to invite Aubrey to a "sleepover", only for Aubrey to refuse, but still "wrapped her hands around her" during their picnics together.
- Slasher Smile: On the night that she was killed, and in response to Sunny smashing his violin and finally sporting the courage to say "I don't like being around you" (which is a really gentle way of putting it), she sports a smile that is described as "laced with venom" before going into a Breaking Speech.
- The Sociopath: On the surface, she is the same sweet Cool Big Sis as in canon. But behind closed doors, she is a sexual abuser who targets her own little brother. She is shown throughout the series to only care about two things- satisfying her hedonistic desires, and preserving her "perfect big sis" reputation, which the narrative outright refers to as a "face" and a "mode" that she puts on for others.
- Teens Are Monsters: Since she dies at the same age her canon counterpart did, she sexually molested her brother when she was fifteen.
- Villainous Incest: Initiated by Mari on her unwilling little brother Sunny, and it's very much portrayed as a horrifying ordeal.
- Villain with Good Publicity: Mari is seen as her beloved, perfect Cool Big Sis self from the original game, despite being a sexual abuser to her brother Sunny here, as Sunny refuses to hurt everyone else's perception of her.While everyone else believed that Mari was a good person, Hero believed her to be perfect. Sunny wanted to tell him what Mari does. That despite all the lovey-dovey talk and touches and kisses, Mari was more intimate with her own little brother than him.
But Sunny couldn’t bring himself to tell. Even when Mari practiced with Sunny things she wanted to do to Hero, he couldn’t bear telling. He didn’t want to ruin Hero’s happiness. He didn’t want to ruin anyone’s happiness. He didn’t want to shatter Aubrey’s image of a kind older sister, or the reverence that Kel and Basil had for her. - Why Did You Make Me Hit You?: Shortly before her death, Mari blames Sunny for getting slapped in the face by her after he tried to resist her rape attempt.
Sunny's Friends
Basil
Sunny's best friend and the protagonist of Will You Forgive Me, My Best Friend?. After witnessing Mari trying to molest Sunny before he killed her, Basil becomes the one person to know his and her dark secret.- Doesn't Trust Those Guys: After learning of Mari's molestation of Sunny, he develops trust issues in general, but he especially has issues trusting Polly, his caretaker who desires to be his Cool Big Sis- because that's the exact same image Mari projected and now Basil doesn't trust big sisters in general. It takes a while before he warms up to her and realizes she's nothing like Mari, but a genuinely loving person."Basil appreciated her, but he couldn’t push away that cold feeling inside himself. There was once another big sister figure in his life, and she (strikethrough: turned out to be a monster) died."
- Driven to Suicide: Attempts suicide like in the original game, but it's less motivated by the guilt of hanging Mari's body but more motivated by his guilt of failing to recognize that she was abusing Sunny.
- I Reject Your Reality: Not only does he pretend that "Something" pushed Mari down the stairs as in canon, but he also pretends that same "Something" is the one who hurt Sunny instead of Mari.
- Secret-Keeper: As in canon, he hides the truth about Mari's death- that Sunny accidentally killed her- but also hides the fact that Mari sexually abused him.
Aubrey
One of Sunny's dear friends. Upon realizing the truth, she fully believes him after some initial reluctance.- Ambiguous Situation: It's unclear whether or not Mari wanted to prey on her too, but Aubrey does worry about it.
- Let the Past Burn: She's the one to suggest that everyone burn all the photos of Mari that Basil took.
- Psycho Pink: Still has pink hair and is open about having murderous intent toward Mari.
- Sir Swears-a-Lot: Aubrey in the present, fitting with her delinquent theme. If there is a swear word uttered in the fic, there's a good chance it came from her mouth.
- Trauma Button: The very concept of a picnic has been ruined for her, as they remind her of the picnics she had with Mari- a sexual abuser who is heavily indicated to have groped her at them.Aubrey did not think about the quality of his food, though. She was thinking about the picnic. The whole concept of a picnic felt tainted for her now. She remembers all those times of sitting down and eating with Mari, being hugged by her, feeling her hands wrap around her -
Kel
One of Sunny's dear friends, who immediately believes in Sunny's story.- Nice Guy: Like his original self. He instantly believes Sunny's story with no conditions.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: He gets stern with Hero when he initially refuses to believe Sunny. He also gets serious with Basil and Aubrey when he suspects they're still strugging with trauma from Mari but won't confront it.
- Spanner in the Works: Once foiled one of Mari's rape attempts with a surprise visit.
Hero
Sunny's oldest friend and Mari's former boyfriend, who initially refuses to believe the truth about Mari.- Big Brother Mentor: Tries to act as a more responsible surrogate older sibling for Sunny, advising him to get proper help for his trauma.
- Chastity Couple: Wanted to be this with Mari on account of both of them being too young, completely unaware that Mari's been forcing sex on her brother to make up for it.
- Mirthless Laughter: When Sunny confesses his victimization by Mari in Truth, he nervously laughs in desperate disbelief.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Clearly blames himself for Sunny's near attempted suicide after initially denying the truth.
