Characters / Heroes Rise

Original Trilogy

The Protagonist

The child of two famous heroes, the Player Character is a newbie out to become a legend like their parents and redeem their family name. They screw up their first case spectacularly, but overcome that and keep rising from there.

• Always Someone Better: Can end up being this to Rebellion, decisively defeating them during every conflict, unraveling their plans, and ultimately convincing them to switch sides.
• Ambition Is Evil: Something they struggle with—they are very ambitious, desiring to make a name for themselves and restore the family honor, but the easiest and fastest way to do so often requires doing morally shady things.
• Anti-Hero: If played cynically or brutally, they can be played on any end of the scale. By default, the protagonist is a Classical Anti-Hero (with shades of Pragmatic Hero), but depending on how one plays, they can be anything from The Paragon to a Nominal Hero.
• Asskicking Leads to Leadership: They may potentially end up in charge of the Millennial Group at the end of Herofall for their badassery during the civil war.
• Attention Whore: If the protagonist values Fame over Justice.
• The Atoner: Can become one if the PC chooses to betray Jenny during The Hero Project.
• Badass Family: Their parents were a Super Couple, after all.
• Break the Cutie: Prodigal deliberately tries for this in the first game. She succeeds, but to what extent is left up to you.
• Brought Down to Badass: Has their Powers temporarily sealed at the end of the second game. It does not stop them from fighting highly-Powered individuals in the slightest.
• Celebrity Crush: Can have one on Black Magic.
• Chick Magnet: If a straight male or lesbian, or Dude Magnet if they're a gay male or straight female. This can be a problem, especially if they romance Black Magic, who's the jealous type.
• Dating Catwoman: In Herofall, the Protagonist can choose to romance Prodigal, the big bad of The Prodigy, or Jury, the son of overarching big bad Mayor/President Victon. None of these end well, however: Prodigal dies at the end of Herofall and they break up with Jury by the time of Redemption Season.
• Deadpan Snarker: They can be very sarcastic at times.
• Distracted by the Sexy: The PC can scarcely have a conversation with Black Magic without this happening. Even if the PC can't stand Black Magic as a person, they'll still linger over Black Magic's looks for a moment before having to remind themselves that they don't like them.
• Fallen Hero: It's possible to transition to a borderline-villain or a Nominal Hero over the course of the series.
• Fallen Princess: Or prince, if male. The PC's family used to be very rich and respected, but after their parents' Accidental Murder of Miss Artillery, they lost all their money and prestige. The PC's parents were thrown into prison for life and they wound up in the care of their destitute grandmother.
• Flight: One of their abilities. It’s actually Not Quite Flight, being derived from gravity manipulation.
• Foil:
  • With Black Magic: Both grew up poor after losing their parents as teenagers, both are Infini-Powered striving to become Legends, and both struggle with their ambition. However, the PC had their grandmother to protect them, and stayed relatively innocent; Black Magic had no one, and was ultimately forced into prostitution to survive.
  • With Prodigal: She also lost her mother as a teenager, to the PC's own parents in fact, and she's also determined to fulfill the legacy left unto her. However, her mother was a villain and her childhood unhappy compared to the PC's heroic parents and loving childhood, so the path she ended up on was much darker.
  • Even with Jury: both the PC and Jury hail from prestigious families, but Jury's family was responsible for the PC's falling from grace. Both struggle to live up to their parents' expectations and both tend to be outdone by the more prodigious heroes around them. Finally, while the PC is an Infini-Powered, Jury has no Powers at all.
• For Great Justice: If they aren't motivated by fame, they'll be motivated by their desire to save lives, carry out justice, and overall to do good.
• Friendless Background: The narration mentions they were frequently bullied in school and have no friends outside of Jenny and their MeChip.
• Gravity Master: Their flight power is an extension of their ability to manipulate gravity.
• Happily Married: If they romanced Black Magic, Jenny, or Lucky, then in the sequel they're engaged to their paramour.
• Heel: By betraying your teammates during the voting sessions and disregarding orders the Protagonist can earn the title of "The Villain" on the Hero Project.
• The Hero: They can become a paragon of justice and order.
• Heroic Lineage: Their parents were great heroes, and they're determined to be the same. Living up to the family legacy is a big driving factor for them, in fact.
• Hero with Bad Publicity: In the first game (thanks to your massive screw-up) and the third (thanks to Victon's slander).
• Hero Worship: Towards Rebellion, before s/he proves to be a Broken Pedestal.
• Hot-Blooded: Tends to be rather rash and hot-headed, often rushing into situations without fully thinking about the consequences.
• Hypocrite: If you choose to de-power Black Magic, then you do it during a battle where you're fighting to save your own Powers. The hypocrisy of this does not go unnoticed by the public.
• I Am Who?: Learns during the climax of the first game that they're actually an Infini-Powered, an individual whose Powers potentially have no limits.
• The Knights Who Say "Squee!": During their meetings with Black Magic and Rebellion. The internal squeeing gets taken up a notch when they learn they might have a chance at being offered the reserve slot for the Millennial Group.
• Love Martyr: Not as bad as some, since they aren't afraid to call Black Magic out on their behavior, but the PC has to have some of this for being willing to stay with them.
• Morality Chain: Is heavily implied to serve as one for Black Magic. The fact that they go crazy and begin a Roaring Rampage of Revenge without the PC's guidance helps.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Regardless of personality, the PC always has this initial reaction to betraying Jenny.
• Naïve Newcomer: In the first game. They outgrow it by the second.
• Order Versus Chaos: In the third game, the PC has to decide which they value more: the freedom to act as they please even if it means never truly being safe, or the security to live comfortably even if it means sacrificing certain rights.
• Parental Abandonment: Not by choice, mind you. They were arrested when the PC was a teenager and haven't been allowed to visit or even write letters.
• The Pollyanna: The game rewards you with Legend points for keeping an upbeat and positive attitude, though even the most optimistic of PCs will get slightly jaded as the series goes on.
• Power Incontinence: They experience a few random upsurges in Power that they can't explain in the first game. It serves as Foreshadowing for The Reveal that they're Infini-Powered.
• Power Loss Makes You Strong: When their powers do return in Herofall, they're stronger than ever.
• Previous Player-Character Cameo: If you import your save into the sequel, they'll be mentioned throughout and make a small appearance at the end.
• Pure Energy: Their second Power, derived from their ability to manipulate atoms. They can quite do a bit with it, from firing simple energy blasts to powering objects to decking themselves out in a suit of energy armor.
• Rage Breaking Point: In Herofall, the Protagonist's sheer rage at being unable to prevent Miss Artillery's brutal murder, and Prodigal running away in tears, reactivates their powers on a level surpassing their Infini abilities.
• Rags to Riches: They can eventually gain their wealth back.
• Revenge Before Reason: This trope is why “Revenge” is on the opposite scale of “Ideals”.
• Riches to Rags: Lost all their wealth before the game starts.
• The Rival: To Jury. The fact that Jury’s dad convicted the PC’s parents helps.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Can choose to go on one against President Victon and everyone else who wronged them in the third game.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: When they get an alert that Black Magic is in danger and the Millennial Group's HQ is on fire, they barge in to save them only to learn it was a ruse intended to seduce them. If they previously said they don't want any form of relationship with Black Magic, the Protagonist will take stock of the situation and leave in disgust.
• Sociopathic Hero: Two of the choices in Herofall - killing Rexford and President Victon - can have them openly admit they enjoyed doing so, which the narration calls them out on and does not go unnoticed by the public. This characterization is dropped in the Redemption Season, as a result of the author forgetting about it and needing to streamline the narrative anyway.
• Star-Crossed Lovers: If the Player Character romances Prodigal in Herofall, there's no way they can stay together due to Prodigal being terminally ill with incurable super-cancer and sacrificing herself to save them from Victon, with no indication being given in Redemption Season that they're aware of Prodigal cheating death by becoming a MeChip persona. The sequel series has the option of revealing that they did download Prodigal's MeChip, but they can still end up not being together after her resurrection.
• Stepford Smiler: The Player Character canonically chooses to keep quiet about their real feelings and stride forward with a smile at least once.
• Taking the Bullet: Non-lethally, though it still has consequences—jumping in front of Jenny as Rexford fires a Power Nullifier gun causes the PC to temporarily be de-powered.
• Took a Level in Badass:
  • Once their Infini powers activate, they very quickly climb up the ranks in terms of badassery.
  • After they regain their powers in Herofall, they're more powerful than they were even with their Infini powers.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: With Jenny. Their first appearance on-screen has them snarkily trading insults, then laughing and getting down to business.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: Their parents were never distant or anything, but the Player Character wants to make them proud above all else.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: The PC certainly has the option to do terrible or extreme things for a good cause, such as sacrificing civilians to stop terrorists.
• What Does She See in Him?: If the PC chooses to romance Prodigal or Jury, Jenny will disbelievingly ask them if they’re out of their mind.
• Wide-Eyed Idealist: If you have a high "Ideals" score, particularly with a high "Lawful" or "Justice" score.

Black Magic/Lucas or Lucia Taylor

Millennia City's latest heartthrob, Black Magic is a quickly-rising star with a Mysterious Past. They happened to be investigating the same case as the PC, so after they screwed it up, Black Magic offers their assistance.

• Ambition Is Evil: Like the PC, they desire renown above all else. This leads to them life-draining people, because without it their Powers wouldn't be strong enough for them to succeed. It's notable that they stop doing this after deciding to be a better person.
• The Atoner: If you stop their Roaring Rampage of Revenge, they’ll set out to make up for all their indiscrepancies by becoming a hero for the right reasons.
• Badass Bystander: How they made their debut. They were watching the news, saw that a group of terrorists were attacking, and decided to go over there and single-handedly defeat them—which they did.
• Betty and Veronica: Is the manipulative, seductive Veronica to Lucky's cheerful, kind-hearted Betty.
• Black Mage: Their powers are a mild form of reality warping powered by drained life force.
• Broken Ace: On the surface, they're attractive, powerful, wealthy, and popular. Dig a little deeper and you learn that Black Magic broke themselves pretty badly in becoming so.
• Broken Bird: Massively. Once an idealistic teenager like the protagonist, Black Magic was forced onto the streets after their parents' deaths. Unable to find work and stuck with Powers they could barely control, they had to turn to Madame Vice, who saw their looks and turned them into a Sex Slave for a number of years. By the time they were able to strike out on their own, Black Magic was unable to grasp that people would value them for something besides their bodies, and had a huge amount of emotional and mental scars.
• Broken Pedestal: For all of America once their Dark Secret comes out. If they last past their elimination, they can recover some of their prestige; if not, they remain a disgrace.
• Character Development: With the PC's influence, they'll gradually become less selfish, less controlling, and able to own up to their mistakes. Shown particularly well in Redemption Season, where they've changed their named to Bright Magic, stopped using their more powerful abilities, and seem to be much more mentally well-adjusted overall.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: Or Crazy Jealous Guy depending on their gender, as they become very possessive of the Player Character if in a relationship.
• Control Freak: Good Lord yes. The PC can even muse at one point that Black Magic is the one who calls all the shots in their relationship.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Even after they tell it to you, they leave a lot of holes. All that's clear is that they had to scrounge off the streets as a teenager and worked for Madame Vice as a prostitute.
• Deadpan Snarker: They're usually lightly, jokingly snarky, but can become very cutting very fast.
• Easily Forgiven: While it does appear to have some negative effects on her career, she faces absolutely no legal ramifications for draining the life force from the disabled to fuel her powers, and is even allowed to stay on the Hero Project.
• Fallen Hero: May become one in the aptly-named Herofall.
• Functional Magic: They're not sure whether real magic exists, but their Powers are very similar to this.
• Glowing Eyes: In the endings where they ascend to godhood, their eyes are described as just two glowing pools of power.
• Go Mad from the Revelation: Well, they weren't very stable before, but what pushes them over the edge is learning that their life was ruined to further Victon's political agenda and being confronted with the knowledge that they aren't quite human.
• Green-Eyed Monster:
  • In The Hero Project, it's implied that they're jealous of and/or threatened by Lucky, as the show tries to set up a professional rivalry as competing heroes and a personal rivalry for the PC's affections between them. It nearly results in a physical confrontation when they're both up for elimination. They turn out to be justified if Black Magic is eliminated, as Lucky is clearly being groomed as their replacement.
  • Especially if the PC is romancing Black Magic. When Black Magic goes to the PC's room to wait for them, they find a note from Lucky expressing a desire to be close to the PC again and they throw it in the garbage can. It's implied that this at least in part contributes to Black Magic giving their "vote with me or we're through" ultimatum.
• Holding Back the Phlebotinum: Redemption Season reveals they've started doing this, refusing to use their more powerful abilities because of the requirements.
• Humanoid Abomination: Channels off life-force from other human beings to fuel their own Powers. They were in denial about what this meant; but by the third game it’s pretty clear to everyone, even themselves, that Black Magic isn’t fully human anymore.
• I Did What I Had to Do: How they feel about life-draining the mentally-ill and dying.
• I Have Boobs, You Must Obey!: Male or female, if they've broken up with the PC in Hero Project, Black Magic will approach them later in the story asking them to save them from being voted out of the show by voting for Lucky instead. The PC notes that they've unzipped their costume in this scene so that their front is almost totally exposed. This is the only scene where Black Magic does this, so it's obvious they were trying to use their "assets" (more so if Black Magic is a woman) to help sway the PC's decision.
• Immodest Orgasm: If the PC is in a relationship with Black Magic and chooses to spend time with them in their room during ''Hero Project', it's said that their love-making became so intense that people called 911 because they thought there was some sort of "powered battle" going on.
• It's All About Me: Has a very “me”-oriented personality, before switching to a “me-and-PC” orientation. If their Character Development kicks in and goes positive, this trait will disappear completely.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: They do genuinely try to help the PC out in the first game, even if they tend to be rather controlling and/or manipulative about it. The “jerk” part takes over for the second game before potentially being dwarfed by the “heart of gold” part in the third.
• Jumped at the Call: Their decision to become a hero was made on the spot when they witnessed a terrorist attack happening.
• Life Drain: One of their Powers manifests at this in the third game. Though it was always a part of them.
• Making Love in All the Wrong Places: Really, they just love to throw themselves at the protagonist whenever possible if they're romanced. The most noticeable example is when they pull them into a bathroom in The Hero Project. While the cameras are still recording them
• Manipulative Bastard: At times in the first game, more so in the second.
• Meaningful Name: Their powers are fueled by draining the life energy of people, though they makes the distinction of getting permission, at least. This leads to a Meaningful Rename in Redemption Season, as they now go by "Bright Magic", having decided not to use the Human Resources their more powerful abilities require. Additionally, their real name, Lucas or Lucia, both share the root of a word meaning "shining", which at first seems inappropriate for their personality but becomes very fitting once they rename themselves "Bright Magic".
• Mr. Fanservice: Or Ms. Fanservice depending on their gender. Deconstructed in that they're so used to people only caring about their appearance, they're at a loss of how to treat someone who actually cares about them.
• Navel-Deep Neckline: Male or female, Black Magic always walks around with part of their suit unzipped to show off some of their chest. At one point, they unzip it down to their stomach.
• Physical God: Has essentially become this by the third game.
• Power Floats: By the third game, they’ve become so strong that this is their normal method of moving around.
• Power Perversion Potential: They frequently find ways to use their Power in the bedroom.
• Powered by a Forsaken Child: Almost literally. Black Magic's Powers are powered by the life force of a group of various disabled people, including a pair of mentally challenged girls, whom they keep hidden. According to Black Magic, they are only chosen if they have no chance of living long anyway or would never be able to lead a normal life. It's the PC’s choice whether they can accept this or not.
• Purely Aesthetic Gender: Their sex will be determined by the Player Character's sexuality.
• Ready for Lovemaking: They try to seduce the Protagonist by making it look like their room is on fire, while they're posing on their bed in their underwear. In Hero Project they'll have sex with the PC virtually every single time they're alone.
• Reality Warper: Their real Power.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Will begin one in the third game. If the PC is romancing them or on good terms, they can convince them to stop.
• Sanity Slippage: Starts experiencing this after their Dark Secret is revealed to the public.
• Secret Relationship: If romanced, they make the PC promise to keep their relationship under wraps for the first several months. The PC can choose to reveal the relationship anyway, or choose to respect Black Magic's wishes — which results in Black Magic revealing it.
• Sex Slave: Was forced into prostitution by Madame Vice as a teenager.
• So Beautiful, It's a Curse: They are utterly gorgeous, and have been objectified, used and discarded ever since they were a teenager because of it.
• Stepford Smiler: They pretend to be perfectly happy with their life, but if romanced reveal in a moment of vulnerability that they hate how everyone seems to want to use them rather than just wanting them. By the third game, they're also masking their budding insanity.
• There Are No Therapists: A lot of Black Magic’s... issues could have been avoided if someone had simply sent the poor kid to a therapist.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: In The Hero Project, their jealous, possessive tendencies come to a head.
• Took a Level in Kindness: In Herofall, they can potentially Go Mad from the Revelation and threaten to destroy the world, or they can back down, apologize for their behavior, and promise to change their ways. As of Redemption Season they seem to have permanently taken one.
• Violently Protective Girlfriend: Or boyfriend, if male. If they’re your Love Interest, then your life being threatened in the third game is what causes Black Magic to wake up from their coma, just so they can beat up the guys attacking you. Granted, they'll still show up if you aren't dating them, but for a much worse reason.
• Walking Spoiler: It’s pretty much impossible to talk about Black Magic without bringing up the true nature of their Powers or their Sanity Slippage in the third game.
• What Have I Become?: If romanced, they break down in tears during the third game over fear of what they’re becoming.
• What the Hell, Hero?: In the second game, Black Magic will give the player character a more subdued version of this if the player character firmly sides with the Underdogs against the Populars.

Jenny Yu/Null

The PC's best friend as well as the agent who handled affairs once their parents were arrested. After the events of The Prodigy, she enters The Hero Project under the alias of Null to investigate a possible conspiracy.

• Action Girl: As Null, she comes into her own as a superhero.
• Badass Normal: She has no Powers, but as Null she is able to hold her own against Powered individuals.
• Brainy Brunette: Is brown-haired and an expert hacker, historian, and gadgeteer.
• Character Death: Jenny can be accidentally killed by Jury in Herofall.
• Consummate Professional: Which makes it a little hard to start a relationship with her.
• Deadpan Snarker: Is a World of Snark, Jenny stands out as the queen of wit and brevity.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: If the PC betrays her, she treats them with the barest amount of societal politeness in all interactions afterwards. It takes her a while to warm up to them again, but she will, so long as they are genuinely sorry.
• Empowered Badass Normal: If she survives the third game, she gets bionic implants in her legs that turn her into this.
• For Great Justice: Her main motivation is protecting American rights and upholding the law.
• Gadgeteer Genius: It's implied that Jenny maintains the care of her very varied and very technological arsenal herself.
• Gay Option: The Player can chose to romance her if they're female, but not if they're male.
• Hypocrite: Jenny always votes Underdog. If the PC wants to vote Popular, she tries to pressure them into changing sides, but gets huffy and gives them the cold shoulder if they ask her to switch to the Populars. Apparently, it's her way or no way.
• Incompatible Orientation: With a male player character, as Jenny is attracted to women.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She’s sarcastic and tends to keep things from the PC, or else does things to them without their approval (like installing a tracker chip), but honestly has their best interests at heart.
• Jumped at the Call: She always wanted to be a hero, but didn't think she could compete with all the Powered individuals. It's not surprising that when she learns that she can, she signs up to be one.
• May–December Romance: Not as extreme as some, but one reason she's hesitant to start a romance with the PC is because she's several years older than them.
• The Mole: One for the good guys during The Hero Project.
• Not So Above It All: Despite being a Consummate Professional and mainly joining The Hero Project to investigate a possible conspiracy, she gets really into the alliances, and gets mad at you if you vote against the Underdogs.
• Properly Paranoid: Jenny has a lot of failsafes ready, comes Crazy-Prepared for nearly everything, is a Conspiracy Theorist, and is almost always right. The only reason she’ll get ousted during her term as The Mole in the second game is because she wasn’t paranoid enough—-namely, by trusting the PC, who can choose to betray her.
• The Smart Girl: Is generally the one the PC goes to for information and research.
• Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Default personality is aloof and sarcastic, but she can be very warm, caring and relaxed. She just prefers not to dwell on "sentimental stuff".
• Took a Level in Badass: Between the first and second games, where she becomes a Powered Armor-clad heroine called Null.
• Tranquil Fury: Is extremely calm when speaking to the PC after the betrayal or when speaking with Prodigal in the third game, but is undeniably pissed off.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: With the PC. Their first appearance on-screen has them snarkily trading insults, then laughing and getting down to business
• What the Hell, Hero?: Will very calmly tell the PC that they are "dead to [her]" if they betray her and then walk off.

Grandma

The PC's grandmother (it's never mentioned which grandmother she actually is) and guardian. She's the protagonist's constant supporter and friend through thick-and-thin, but can be a bit overbearing, and is also hiding quite a few secrets of her own.

• Berserk Button: Never, ever mess with her family. When Grandma and Prodigal encounter each other again at the beginning of Herofall, the former traps the latter in a plant that steadily begins squeezing the life out of her, and Grandma's dialogue indicates that she'd have no problem killing Prodigal if necessary.
• Crazy-Prepared: Her houseplants double as an extremely capable home-security system. As of Herofall, she has at least one plant that's straight-up bulletproof.
• Granola Girl: Carries the undertones, especially if the player chooses "Kooky" as her style of dress when prompted.
• Green Thumb: Grandma's power. In addition to controlling them, she can also (mundanely) breed plants with supernatural qualities (like shimmering pollen or the ability to sing), and communicate with them mentally.
• Intergenerational Friendship: She and Jenny are quite close, and she also forms one with the PC's sidekick, until their inevitable betrayal.
• Mundane Utility: She's mentioned to use her Green Thumb ability to sell fantastical plants to interested buyers as a means of making money.
• Never Mess with Granny: Prodigal and Pressie both find this out the hard way.
• Not So Above It All: For all her work at being the protagonist's moral compass, Grandma becomes just as invested as them in taking down President Victon's regime in Herofall, though she does urge them not to take the Revenge Before Reason path.
• Old Flame: To Officer Sanders. They get back together at the end of Herofall.
• Open-Minded Parent: In Herofall, if the protagonist romances Prodigal, Grandma's response to learning this is to note that "Love is blind." but otherwise accept it, even though Prodigal previously took them hostage and tried to kill them.
• Out of Focus:
  • One of the most important characters in Heroes Rise, her appearance is restricted to a few brief scenes in The Hero Project.
  • Regains some of her relevance in Herofall, though it's mostly restricted to the beginning and end of the story.
• Playing Cyrano: Non-romantic variety: The player discovers late in Heroes Rise that Grandma's been sending letters to the protagonist's parents in the Devoid, addressed as being written by the protagonist themselves. They can choose to call Grandma out on this or forgive her (or both).
• Riches to Rags: She's just as affected as the protagonist by the arrest of their parents, if not more so, since entering the DRPR's witness-protection program required her to leave her entire life behind and act as a guardian to the orphaned PC.
• Shipper on Deck: Platonic variety, but she really wants the PC and their sidekick to be friends. It's possible to call her out on this after the PC's sidekick is outed as The Mole.
  • She's also one for the PC and Jenny romantically, if you go that route - when you and Jenny share a Big Damn Kiss at the end of the second game, she comments that "it's about slugging time."
• Supreme Chef: Even Prodigal has nothing but compliments for her cooking.

Prodigal

The Protagonist’s self-proclaimed Arch-Enemy, who holds a grudge against them for an unknown reason.

• 11th-Hour Ranger: In Open Season, after disappearing from the MeChip servers a few chapters prior, she suddenly returns for the final battle by hacking into the Brainwashed and Crazy Processor and hijacking her body.
• Abhorrent Admirer: The protagonist is repulsed by her obsession with them. This can change in Herofall if you so choose.
• Affably Evil: She's cheerful and friendly, but murderously insane nevertheless.
• Arm Cannon: She can use her powers to manifest plasma cannons and other ranged weapons on her arms, and likes to dual-wield them.
• Arch-Enemy: Deliberately sets herself up to be yours.
• Arms Dealer: She set up the Artillery, a black-market weapons-manufacturing organization, using money taken from the Protagonist's parents.
• Artificial Intelligence: In Redemption Season. She uploaded her personality into freeware for the MeChips, which the protagonist of that game uses because it's free, so they see quite a bit of her post-mortem.
• Avenging the Villain: Why she’s after the Player Character — their parents killed Miss Artillery.
• BFG: Likes to dual-wield these.
• Big Bad Friend:
  • Disguises herself as Sparrow, who can be selected as your sidekick.
  • In Herofall, she solicits the cooperation of the Player Character in order to find her mother, and can be befriended and even romanced.
• Big Bad Wannabe: She tries really hard to establish herself as the PC's greatest foe, with rather mediocre results. While she is the main antagonist of the Prodigy, she is nowhere near as threatening as Victon in the grand scheme of things.
• Brain Uploading: Redemption Season reveals she cheated her death by uploading her psyche as a MeChip personality. She later hijacks Processor's body to come back from the dead.
• Broken Tears: The psychotic villainess who tried to nuke Millennia City to make her archenemy suffer breaks down in tears in Herofall, having watched her mother - who she had presumed dead and desperately wanted to meet before her own encroaching demise - be brutally murdered by the Meek organization.
• Catchphrase: Has a habit of calling people "chicken". This is one of the clues that Sparrow is her in disguise.
• Card-Carrying Villain: She's evil, she knows it, and she loves making sure other people know it too. Particularly her scene during the Hero of Tomorrow ceremony and the climax of the first game.
• Casual Kink: Her romance scene in Herofall implies she's into BDSM and likes rough sex.
• The Chessmaster: Orchestrates nearly everything that goes on during The Prodigy as part of her grand plan to break the PC.
• Cute But Psycho: Prodigal's a good-looking woman with a humorous personality. She's also a bat-shit insane murderer.
• Daddy's Little Villain:
  • She’s the daughter of Miss Artillery, who appeared to be killed by the PC’s parents.
  • She’s also President Victon’s daughter, though neither of them know it until the end of the third game.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Prodigal's backstory is a For Want Of A Nail version of the Protagonist's own. She was raised by her mentally unstable mother, and forced to fend for herself after her mother's death. Victon reveals that Prodigal spent time living in an asylum and other unsavoury places, which may explain her mental instability.
• Deflector Shields: She can generate momentum-based energy barriers called kick shields.
• Death Equals Redemption: Zigzagged. If she died in a Heroic Sacrifice with a high relationship with the Player Character, history will remember her as a confused but ultimately heroic figure, despite her numerous flaws. However, if she sacrifices herself with a low relationship with the Player Character, history remembers her as a sociopathic villain who was selfish until the end, with the Player Character merely writing off their sacrifice as Prodigal wanting her story to have a "final twist".
• Enemy Mine: Is the one sending the PC messages in the second game, and directly allies with them in the third to take down President Victon and free her mother.
• Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: The entire reason she’s fighting is to avenge her mother, Miss Artillery. When she learns that she’s still alive, Prodigal immediately switches to your side to save her.
• Evil Is Hammy: She has a proclivity for monologuing and theatrics.
• Expy: Of the Joker, right down to the obsession with The Hero.
• Faking the Dead: If the PC “killed” her in the first game, she reveals that she was really just doing this.
• Genre Blind: She falls into the age-old trap of monologuing, and even explains all her plans to the PC.
• Heel–Face Turn: In Herofall, she joins forces with the Protagonist as the group's Token Evil Teammate.
• Heroic RRoD: More like Villainous RROD, but Herofall reveals that her chronic overuse of her Infini powers, conjunction to exposure to the literal fallout of her Deathwave plan, came back to bite her in the worst way possible. She develops terminal "Infini cancer", which has no cure.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Possibly pulls one in Herofall. If on good terms with the Player Character, she takes a blast meant for them and dies as a result.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: It's revealed in Herofall that Prodigal's chronic overuse of her Infini powers and her Deathwave Plan have inflicted her with terminal cancer.
• Icy Blue Eyes: Her blue eyes are mentioned by the narration to be as cold as she is.
• Karmic Death: In Herofall, she's dying of terminal cancer brought about in part by her Deathwave Plan in Hero Rising.
• The Knights Who Say "Squee!": In Redemption Season, if a save file where the Protagonist befriended or romanced her is used, MeChip Prodigal will tell the new Protagonist to shut up so that she can squee over her old friend/lover.
• Laughably Evil: Her shameless card-carrying villainy, lack of respect for anyone, and free-spirited attitude can lend to this.
• The Last Dance: Is up for one in Herofall, being secretly dying of cancer.
• Luke, I Am Your Father: Twice!
  • The first time, you reveal she is President Victon's daughter, something not even he knew.
  • The second time, she reveals that JK and the new Protagonist are the children of Miss Artillery and thus her younger half-siblings.
• Meaningful Name: She calls herself Prodigal as a reference to her being Miss Artillery's "prodigal daughter."
• Mirror Character:: From the PC. They're both Infini-Powered people suffering from Parental Abandonment. The difference is, the Player Character had a happy childhood and people to support them, while Prodigal had a terrible childhood and no-one who cared about her.
• No Name Given: She's only ever referred to by her codename, "Prodigal", and the Player Character can wonder if she even had a real name at all.
• Nominal Hero: In Herofall, she fights on the side of good only to find her mother and - if befriended or romanced - out of love for the Protagonist, and is not averse to using lethal force against those who stand in her way.
• Not Me This Time: Near the end of the first game, while the 3-D hologram of Prodigal is ranting that she's been behind all the shenanigans so far, she's innocent of one incident: she didn't hire the Wisp to try to kill you. That was Madame Vice, just before she died.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: Unlike everyone else here, you never learn what her real name is, or if she even has one.
• Promoted to Love Interest: No, your eyes aren't deceiving you, she really is one in the third game. After a mind-walk that potentially reveals her secret feelings for the Protagonist, the Protagonist can choose to put their past animosity behind them and declare that Prodigal is their soulmate.
• Psychopathic Manchild: She's immature, maniacal, and eccentric, and utterly dedicated to ruining the Protagonist via a complicated gambit. Herofall provides context to her actions and shows she has a softer, almost innocent side despite her ruthlessness.
• Radiation-Immune Mutants: Invoked in a flashback, where she walks across the nuclear wasteland caused by her Deathwave Plan with no apparent ill effects. The Protagonist assumes she's immune to the fallout due to her powers being responsible. It's later revealed that this radiation bath, coupled with her chronic abuse of her Infini powers, gave her terminal cancer.
• Red and Black and Evil All Over: She wears a black kevlar costume with a red stripe up the middle, continuing across her face.
• Room Full of Crazy: Her lairs are full of things related to Miss Artillery, the Sound and the Fury, and the Protagonist, including photographs, surveillance cameras, merchandise, and replicated costumes.
• Sadist: Derives great pleasure from mentally and emotionally tormenting the PC.
• Spontaneous Weapon Creation: Her Power allows her to summon or create any sort of technology instantly, so long as it has a wartime application.
• Stalker with a Crush: Is all but outright stated to be obsessively in love with the PC. Herofall drops the subtext and reveals that Prodigal does indeed have a crush on the PC.
• Taking the Bullet: If you treated her decently, she’ll return and do this for the PC at the end of Herofall.
• Took a Level in Kindness: After a Journey to the Center of the Mind, Prodigal is no longer quite the same villainess who wanted to kill you. This continues into her post-mortem appearance in Redemption Season, where she's noted to be eccentric but has left her villainous past behind her.
• Villainesses Want Heroes: Herofall reveals that her obsession with the Protagonist goes beyond mere hatred.
• Walking Spoiler: Look at all that white.
• War Is Glorious: Takes this outlook, and with (relatively) good reason since she can only use her powers when at war with someone or something.
• With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: Abusing her Infini powers didn't help her psychological stability.
• Yandere: Towards the Protagonist. Prodigal initially tries to ruin and kill them to avenge her mother, but after finding out she's alive approaches them asking for help and lets them view her memories to prove she's sincere. This potentially reveals she feels that the Protagonist is her soulmate, and has had a deep sense of longing towards them going back years. The Protagonist can choose to reciprocate Prodigal's feelings for them.
• Your Days Are Numbered: In the third game, she reveals that she’s slowly dying of “Infini-Cancer” caused by overuse of her powers and exposure to the radioactive aftermath of her attempt to destroy the Fringes, and estimates that she has about a month left to live.

Mayor Harold Victon

An ambitious politician with a strong anti-Powered campaign going on. He's also the man responsible for the arrest of the Player Character's parents and serves as the series' primary antagonist.

• Abusive Parents: Turns out to have been very emotionally neglectful and abusive towards Jury. Also, he may kill his own daughter, though in his defense he didn’t know it was her.
• All There in the Manual: His first name goes unrevealed in the games themselves, but was mentioned by the author to be Harold.
• Ambition Is Evil: He puts his political ambitions before everything else in his life.
• Big Bad: He is the main antagonist of all three games, taking center-stage in Herofall.
• Character Death: The Player Character can kill him in public if they have a high enough "Revenge" score.
• The Chessmaster: He specifically sponsored The Hero Project for two reasons: 1), to manipulate the PC and/or the Crush into having a power melt-down and thus greatly boost Anti-Powered sentiments, and 2), to ensure that the members of the American Protectorate were all heroes who would be loyal to him.
• Corrupt Politician: He starts off as Mayor and is elected president at the end of the second game, abusing his political power to persecute Powered people.
• Faux Affably Evil: He maintains a veneer of civility towards the PC in public, but drops it as soon as the cameras are gone, letting them know in no uncertain terms he has it out for them.
• Freudian Excuse: Watching Miss Artillery’s powers drive her mad is what prompted his severe anti-Powered agenda. By the time the third game rolls around, though, it’s pretty clear he’s lost sight of any noble goals he may have once had.
• Greater-Scope Villain: He serves as this for both Prodigal and Rexford, being the main reason for their roles in the story and a greater threat than either of them.
• The Heavy: Everything that goes wrong in the series can be traced back to him. Your parents' arrest? He framed them. Prodigal's vendetta against you? He encouraged it and even helped her to an extent. The Hero Project being corrupt? Guess what, he organized it. Black Magic's Sanity Slippage, Jenny's possible death, and your temporary power loss? He didn't cause any of them, but his actions and agendas indirectly led to them.
• Hero Killer: Unlike Black Magic (who may not turn) and Jury (who may fail), President Victon is the only antagonist guaranteed to kill a protagonist—either the PC or Prodigal.
• Jerkass: It's hard to find one likeable trait about this guy.
• Knight Templar: He is very much anti-powered.
• Luke, You Are My Father: Gets told he’s Prodigal’s father in the most surprising way possible, and right after fatally wounding her.
• Non-Action Guy: He’s not a threat to the PC because of any Powers, he’s a threat because he’s an important political figure who can ruin their life. Thus, the confrontation with him in the third game is rather anti-climactic.
• Offing the Offspring: In his defense, he didn't know Prodigal was his daughter when he shot her.
• President Evil: He's elected President at the end of The Hero Project, and spends Herofall implementing measures to depower and execute Heroes, with the Protagonist as Public Enemy #1.
• The Stoic: Nothing makes this guy lose his cool. …well, except for the PC and Jury hooking up.
• Villain with Good Publicity:
  • Mayor Victon is the judge who sentenced your parents (the premier superheroes of the time) to life imprisonment over an accidental death... and used that to jump into politics. While he does do some good as Mayor, it's all motivated by his desire for political advancement. He also implies that he allowed — maybe even protected — your arch-rival over the years in order to keep on antagonizing your family, as well as hinting he might have framed your parents to begin with.
  • By the end of the sequel, he's become president and co-heads a nationwide anti-Powered movement via orchestrating a known Infini-Powered terrorist-turned-hero (and/or you) going into an Infini-Power meltdown on national TV on the day of the election in order to boost Anti-Powered support Up to Eleven.
  • By part 3, he's pretty much become President Evil and has somehow amassed enormous executive power without any other branch of the government stepping in (then again, they could be influenced by his allies, the Meek), forcing all Infini-Powereds to undergo Power Nullification and even ordering executions of those he claims are a danger to society (starting with your parents).
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: What he claims to be.

Rebellion

The leader of the Millennial Group and the PC's idol.

• The Ace: They are the leader of the Millennial Group and are idolized by the Player Character.
• Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Was made leader of the Millennial Group for being such a badass during the third world war. And they’ve only gotten better since.
• The Atoner: If you can show them the error of their ways, they’ll become this in the epilogue.
• Broken Pedestal: Becomes one for the PC in the second and third games, where they side with Victon.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Tends to deliver this to anyone who attacks them. The PC and Black Magic are the only ones who manage to last longer than ten seconds.
• The Dragon: To Victon's Big Bad as the leader of American Protectorate
• Face–Heel Turn: In Herofall, they side with Victon and try to arrest you.
• Fallen Hero: In the third game.
• Large and in Charge: They stand proud and tall at seven feet, and lead the top hero groups in America.
• The Leader: Of the Millennial Group, and later, the American Protectorate.
• Made of Iron: They have Super-Toughness.
• Manipulative Bastard: Tries to manipulate the PC into taking drugs specifically designed to destabilize them in the second game.
• A Father to His Men: If the PC humiliates or otherwise hurts any member of the Millennial Group, then Rebellion immediately rejects their application to join, no questions asked. It’s a sign of how far they’ve fallen when they don’t blink an eye at hurting their former teammates.
• The Stoic: The number of times they raise their voices or express emotion can be counted on one hand.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: Starts off heroic, if a bit stern. Later throws in with Victon out of a belief powers need to be controlled.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Believes the dangers posed by Infini-Powers are simply too great to allow to them roam free, which is why they willingly work with Victon and their old enemies, the Meek.

"Lucky" Smith

A newbie hero who knew the PC as a kid, Lucky joins the Hero Project in hopes of making enough money to support their poor family.

• Action Bomb: Lucky’s Power is to detonate any part of their body, then regrow it instantly with temporary Super-Strength.
• Ambition Is Evil: Averted. Lucky is as ambitious as the PC and Black Magic, hoping to rise to the top to build a better life for their younger siblings, but unlike them they will never compromise their morals for it.
• Betty and Veronica: Lucky is Betty, being a nice, stable, wet-behind-the-ears childhood friend, while Black Magic is Veronica, being popular, powerful, and massively screwed up.
• Born Lucky: It’s explicitly noted as not being part of their Powers, but Lucky has an exceptional amount of …well, luck.
• Childhood Friend Romance: Lucky is a cute kid the PC met at summer camp and shared their First Kiss with. Whether or not they end up Victorious Childhood Friend or an Unlucky Childhood Friend (get it?) is up to you.
• The Cutie: If the player character is romancing Lucky, this is a significant part of Lucky's appeal to the player character.
• Deadpan Snarker: On occasion.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: Is offered a spot in the Millennial Group after being eliminated and/or waking up from their coma. In some situations they can wind up becoming the leader.
• First Girl Wins: If romanced, since technically they're the first romantic partner the PC ever met.
• Naïve Newcomer: Just like the PC was, Lucky is very new to the whole “hero” gig.
• Nice Guy: Is the nicest, most moral person of the series. Heck, even if you side with the Populars and vote them off, while they'll be understandably disappointed, they won't hold it against you in the long run. The only way to make Lucky permanently resent you is betraying Jenny.
• Rags to Riches: Entered the Hero Project hoping to invoke this, since they have a single mother and a bunch of younger siblings to provide for.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: When ordered to leave a bunch of civilians to die, Lucky ignores their orders and runs off to help.
• She Is All Grown Up: Once the PC recognizes Lucky from summer camp, they take note of the fact that Lucky has a "grown up body" now, not to mention all the comments about their tight costume even before that.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Will call the PC out on leaving citizens to die, though that won’t end the romance. What will is if the PC betrays Jenny, or if the player firmly sides with the Populars against the Underdogs.
• Wide-Eyed Idealist: They have very strong opinions on the moral rights and wrongs of heroism.

Jury/Aaron Victon

Mayor Victon’s son and the PC’s rival. Also an arrogant jerk, though the third game reveals some Hidden Depths.

• The Atoner: At the end of Herofall, he quietly turns himself in as atonement. After his acquittal, he renames himself Verdict as a sign that he's changed.
• Daddy's Little Villain: Though he's not nearly as much of a threat as his father.
• Empowered Badass Normal: Jury doesn’t actually have any Powers; his “surveillance” abilities are caused by implants the Meek gave him.
• Even Evil Has Standards: What prompts his Heel–Face Turn is nearly killing or actually killing Jenny.
• Heel–Face Turn: Depending on the PC; this can be a Heel–Face Door-Slam if they reject his attempt.
• Hero Killer: May end up killing Jenny in Herofall.
• Jerkass: It's hard to find even one likable trait about this guy. At least until Herofall reveals his Hidden Depths.
• The Load: Is guaranteed to be dead weight every time he teams up with the PC in The Hero Project, except if you tell him to do surveillance in a challenge against Wintry and Stage Show, as while Jury will get knocked out, in the process you'll find out where Wintry and Stage Show are so you can fight them.
• May–December Romance: By the time of "Redemption Season", he's sleeping with Lyra Vite, one of the producers of the show.
• Meaningful Rename: In "Redemption Season", he's changed his Hero persona to Verdict as a sign of his atonement.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Is visibly horrified after he seriously wounds or kills Jenny.
• Not Me This Time: He has a moment of this in the first game. He's a jerk, and the Victons do have it in for your family, but surprisingly, despite it being tracked to his account, Jury didn't hire a Wisp to try to kill you. It was Madame Vice, just before her death.
• Promoted to Love Interest: Like Prodigal, he becomes one in the third game.
• Reformed, but Rejected: In the third game, he genuinely wants to stop his father and offers the Protagonist his help, even if up until that point they've been nothing but bitter rivals. If he's injured or killed Jenny, he expresses genuine remorse for doing so... not that that stops the Protagonist from vengefully blasting him with intent to kill and lamenting that he'll probably survive.
• The Rival: In the first game, both he and the Protagonist vie for a spot on Millennia City's local team of heroes, and compete over casework.
• Small Name, Big Ego: He's not that Powerful, as far as heroes go, but he acts as though he's the next Rebellion.
• Smug Snake: He's far more confident then his power deserves, backed up by his father's wealth and influence.
• Terms of Endangerment: He flirts with the protagonist regardless of gender and sexuality, but there is no love between them.
• This Looks Like a Job for Aquaman: In the second game, he's useful once, and even the narration comments on how surprising it is that for once he isn't useless: during one of the challenges, you need to find Wintry and Stage Show through Wintry's snowstorm. If you tell Jury to do surveillance, Stage Show will knock Jury out with a laser, but this will give away Wintry and Stage Show's position.
• Took a Level in Kindness: In Herofall, he starts to showcase his more redeeming qualities and can ultimately join you.
• Useless Useful Skill: Supposedly Has the Power to see through twelve different perspectives at once, which would actually be kind of useful in, say, a spy game. In an action game? Not so much.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: In Herofall he reveals that he always wanted to make his father proud, but never could. Realizing that he never will and that he can't condone what Victon is doing is what sparks his (attempted) Heel–Face Turn.

Your Sidekick

Your sidekick, whom you take under your wing in the first game. There are three potential ones you can choose: Sparrow, Pressie, and Tarana Rain. They get Put on a Bus after The Prodigy, but make a return in Herofall.

• Action Girl: Sparrow and Tarana are both quite adept at kicking ass.
• The Atoner: When they return in Herofall, Pressie and Tarana are very sorry for their treatment of you and in fact came back to make it up to you.
• Badass Adorable: Applies to all three of them, but especially Pressie.
• Big Bad Friend: Your sidekick is either Prodigal in disguise (Sparrow), her lackey (Pressie), or blackmailed into helping her (Tarana).
• Blood Knight: Sparrow enjoys fighting, getting an "almost feral look" in her eye at the prospect of fighting the Ani-gangs.
• The Bus Came Back: As said, they return in Herofall. Or more accurately, Pressie and Tarana will. Prodigal's Sparrow persona doesn't, but the Protagonist can note that Prodigal has a spare Sparrow costume in her lair, and Prodigal uses Sparrow's wings to get them to the Meek's ship.
• Cloudcuckoolander; Pressie is… odd, to say the least. He thinks his ability to control the earth comes from his "peg leg", for example.
• The Cameo: Tarana makes one in The Hero Project, and later in Redemption Season.
• Cute Monster Girl: The best way to describe Sparrow is as a half-bird, half-human teenage girl.
• Deadpan Snarker: Tarana is incredibly sassy.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: Tarana starts off haughty and snobbish, but will warm up to the PC if they're nice to her.
• The Mole: They're all involved with Prodigal, though exactly how varies depending on who you choose.
• Put on a Bus: They disappear after the first game, for justifiable reasons. Tarana makes a cameo in The Hero Project, but you don't get to interact with her and she vanishes very quickly.
• Rich Bitch: Tarana starts out as one, but if you're nice to her, moves to being rather sweet.
• Story Branch Favoritism: If you skip The Prodigy and jump directly into The Hero Project, the game establishes that Sparrow was your sidekick. This makes sense, since her betrayal is the most shocking.
• Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Sparrow in a nutshell.

Sonja Challa

A reporter who takes an interest in the player and begins stalking them after. She crosses your path after writing a smear article following your first case. She's a shameless paparazzi figure with an ocular photography power.

• Intrepid Reporter: She wants to be one but believes she needs to suck up to influential Powered in order to get opportunities for more serious stories.
• Killed Off for Real: She'll die for real, unlike your sidekick, if you choose to not save her from Prodigal.
• Motor Mouth: She talks very fast, blending her words together.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: If she dies, her twin sister who convienantally has the same job, powers, and personality takes her place.
• Took a Level in Kindness: If saved from Prodigal, she'll become nicer and actually form a friendship with the player.

GG

The Protagonist's handler in The Hero Project and one of the producers of the show in Redemption Season, GG is a flamboyant but manipulative obese man who uses a hi-tech wheelchair-like machine to get around.

• Affably Evil: GG is more manipulative than malicious, but he never stops being anything but jovial towards the Protagonist.
• The Atoner: In Herofall, GG lets the Protagonist, Jenny and Prodigal hide at his mansion and apologizes to the protagonist for trying to manipulate them in "The Hero Project".
• Camp Gay: He has a pink hi-tech wheelchair and is very flamboyant. He also engages in a debate with The Bear, Sideshow, and Null in The Hero Project regarding the exploitation of homosexual stereotypes.
• The Chessmaster: He tries to manipulate the Protagonist into siding with the Populars and initiating a showmance with Lucky.
• Fat Bastard: He is morbidly obese and tries to manipulate the Protagonist's decisions.
• Odd Friendship: GG and Prodigal get along swimmingly due to both having eccentric and flamboyant personalities, though he is a little annoyed when she blasts her way out of his heavily-armored guesthouse.
• Only Known by Initials: He's only ever called "GG". What that stands for has yet to be revealed.
• Super Wheelchair: He rides around in a pink body mover to support his immense girth.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: His attitude as one of the Hero Project's producers in Redemption Season is a lot more nasty than in the previous games. Lyra Vite realizes he was administering a secret test of character to her at the end.

Fumble & Stage Show/Stefan Agnes & Kiki Kard

A couple of powered heroes that first appear in The Hero Project, they are a married couple and big names in the powered hero community. They're part of the Popular alliance.

• Attention Whore: Stage Show. Fumble seems to be this at first, but when you actually get to talk to him he turns out to be a pretty down-to-earth guy.
• Beam Spam: The most frequent use for Stage Show's powers.
• Foe-Tossing Charge: Fumble's signature move, which involves using his superathletic powers to tackle into stuff.
• Handicapped Badass: Fumble lost both of his legs due to overuse of his powers, and had to get prosthetics that he constantly changes between his time doing heroic stuff and during his daily life. This doesn't stop him in the slightest.
• Sacrificial Lion: Non-lethal example, but Fumble is eliminated very early in the competition, earning either 13th or 12th place depending on your vote during the first sequence.
• Token Good Teammate: Fumble serves as this for the entire Popular alliance, alongside Black Magic and potentially the PC. He's also the only member that won't turn on the PC during the finale.
• Trans Equals Gay: Stage Show, a trans woman, ends up on the receiving end of this from The Bear, who calls her "a gay man pretending to be a woman."

Mach Girl/Caroline Yilmaz

A teenager that joined The Hero Project in order to pursue a heroing career before her parents inevitable force her to focus on her studies. Part of the Underdog alliance.

• Big Eater: Her metabolism is just as fast as the rest of her body, so she has to eat constantly in order to conserve energy.
• Fragile Speedster: Her power allows her to fly at super-sonic speed. She also can't take much punishment, being taken down rather quickly by Scoundrel during the final selection and during the castle mission.
• Sacrificial Lion: Non-lethal example, but she's eliminated very early in the competition, earning either 13th or 12th place depending on your vote during the first sequence.
• Undying Loyalty: To the Underdog alliance, to the point where she immediately jumps at the chance to help the PC during the finale if they were allies on the show, as well as showing up to help them during their final encounter with the American Protectorate in Herofall.

Wintry/Mandy J. Millar

A housewife that entered The Hero Project in hopes of fulfilling her lifelong dream of becoming a powered hero after her children went to college. Is part of the Underdog alliance until she's charmed by Stage Show into joining the Populars.

• An Ice Person
• Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: She ends up betraying the Underdogs and joining the Populars during the second half of The Hero Project. Then, in Herofall, she turns on the American Protectorate after realizing just how far they're going in their agendas.
• Evil Costume Switch: No really evil, but she heavily changes her outfit and general style after joining the Populars.
• Happily Married: She has a husband and three children.
• Odd Friendship: With Mach Girl.
• Reformed, but Rejected: She joins the fight against the American Protectorate in Herofall, but a vengeance-oriented Protagonist can choose to blast her anyway for betraying them in the first place.

The Bear/Dean Reece

A prominent hero that doubles as a Gay Icon, The Bear joins The Hero Project in order to "Reclaim" the stereotypes about his sexual orientation. Part of the Underdog alliance.

• Camp Gay: Oh, yes. GG despises him because of his exploitation of stereotypes to further his image.
• Hulking Out: His power set, as it allows him to transform into a massive behemoth with incredible strength.
• Lightning Bruiser: His transformed form is surprisingly agile for something of his size.
• Undying Loyalty: To the Underdog alliance, to the point where he immediately jumps at the chance to help the PC during the finale if they were allies on the show, as well as showing up to help them during their final encounter with the American Protectorate in Herofall.

Summit

An outspoken anti-Powered advocate, he joins The Hero Project in order to prove that people with no powers deserve just as many chances as the powered heroes.

• Badass Normal: He has no powers whatsoever, having to rely on his own strength and skills to fight. This doesn't stop him from going toe to toe against some of the best powered heroes.
• Everyone Has Standards: While he does hate powered heroes, he also heavily opposes The Meek movement, seeing them as extremists and bigots who are taking everything way too far.

Redemption Season

The Protagonist

The player character, a Powered individual who is Ani-Powered, Disembodied, and Morpho-Powered, meaning they shapeshift every day with no control over what they change into. They entered the Hero Project for the sake of their younger sister, and inevitably ended up becoming part of something bigger.

• Big Brother Instinct: For JK, regardless of their actual gender. The entire reason they entered The Hero Project was part of a deal so she could get treatment for her medical condition.
• Combo Platter Powers: Most of their animal forms incorporate a variety of vaguely-connected abilities.
  • Hawk form has wings, Super-Senses, a sonic scream, and Absurdly Sharp Claws.
  • Bee form packs a poisonous stinger and can establish a Hive Mind with others.
  • Tardigrade form is Nigh-Invulnerable, and can fire Hand Blasts which can injure targets or share that same invulnerability with them.
• Contrasting Sequel Main Character: The protagonist of the original trilogy was, by default, hot-headed, stubborn, and impetuous. This protagonist is, by default, hyper-responsible, reserved, and tends to dwell more on the injustices of the broken class system.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: Or King, if male. It's possible to play the protagonist as initially standoffish from the rest of the cast before slowly opening up to them. There's even an achievement for it lampshading this trope, called "Letting Your Walls Down".
• Determinator: They will get onto The Hero Project to save JK, and they will stay on it.
• Fantastic Racism: Has faced a triple-case of this their entire life, due to being an Ani-Powered, Disembodied and Morpho-Powered.
• Good Old Fisticuffs: They trained heavily in one of several martial art styles of fighting, and the Fighting stat revolves around relying on these rather than your Powers.
• Heroic BSoD: Goes through one after witnessing The Slaughter and potentially Miss Boss's death.
• Heroic Neutral: You can play them as being interested only in looking after themselves and JK rather than being a social reformer or real hero.
• Involuntary Shapeshifting: They have no control over what form they take each day. Sometimes they're part hawk, sometimes they're part dog, sometimes they're anything else. It's made them quite good at adapting on the spot, at least.
• Like Father, Like Son: You can choose to play this straight or avert this; the game lets you decide what the protagonist's father was like after The Reveal of who he was, and whether or not that lines up with the protagonist's own personality and goals is entirely up to you.
• Lineage Comes from the Father: Before the third act of Open Season, Prodigal reveals to the protagonist that, among other things, their father had the power to change his body parts into animal parts at will, essentially the same power the protagonist has but voluntary. The protagonist and JK even muse together that they inherited their father's animal-based powers while Prodigal, their half-sister, got their mother's weapon powers instead.
• New Powers as the Plot Demands: Whatever animal form they take happens to end up being very useful for whatever mission they end up doing in said form. This is later Justified as it's revealed in Open Season that their powers are actually activated on a subconscious level to some degree, so they likely took on whatever form they would need to complete the task at hand.
• Promoted to Parent: Their parents died when they were young in unknown circumstances, and the player has been looking after JK ever since.
• Secret Legacy: Their father was The Menagerie, a somewhat notable Ani-powered figure with a similar power set as the protagonist. More surprisingly though, their mother was Miss Artillery, which makes Prodigal their half-sister.
• The Stoic: If you so choose. Their default mood seems to be "calm and reserved", additionally.
• Token Evil Teammate: One of the social reformer options is to sympathize with the InfraCircle and the Voiceless, Underrepresented terrorist/freedom fighter groups, to the point of planning to take over their leadership, unite them, and become a mole in the American Protectorate.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: It is possible to play them as willing to "burn the world down" for JK.
• Wide-Eyed Idealist: ...or it's possible to play them as someone hoping to improve the social system in America and make it a better place for all Underrepresented Powers.

Jelly Kelly "JK"

The protagonist's little sister, a jellyfish Ani-Powered who is slowly dying from her liquefied spine and various other medical problems.

• Blessed with Suck: Having Powers is cool... except when it comes at the cost of liquefying your spine, confining you to a wheelchair, and all in all slowly killing you, while having little to no positives.
• Deadpan Snarker: She's too old—a teenager—to qualify as Little Miss Snarker, but she has a very sassy personality.
• Delicate and Sickly: As said: she has a liquefied spine, as well as various seizures that, combined, are slowly killing her. Getting her treatment is why the player signed on with The Hero Project in the first place.
• Fantastic Racism: Also gets this, though she doesn't have it as bad as her elder sibling.
• Hand Blast: Her second treatment gives her the ability to shoot energy bolts from her hands.
• Little Miss Badass: Set up during the Project, as Loa's treatments have granted her the Hand Blast ability.
• Morality Pet: For the PC.
• Playful Hacker: Being stuck in a wheelchair means she doesn't have much to do but surf the web, but she restricts her fun to harmless pranks and whatnot.
• Punny Name: She legally changed her name to "Jelly Kelly" after becoming a jellyfish Ani-Powered.
• Selective Obliviousness: Even if the PC has made virtually every choice for the sake of Underrepresented Powereds, JK will still accuse the PC of not being willing to stand up for their rights (though as she lacks any actual criticism for the "The Reason You Suck" Speech that would normally follow this statement, she immediately moves on to an unrelated topic). Furthermore, she will accuse the player of "turning their back" on the Ani-powereds in Magnuspiral if they refuse to ally with the city, ignoring the fact that Magnuspiral is lead by Culic and Smyther, a murderous terrorist and infamous gang lord.
• Signature Song: invoked She considers "Bootylicious" by Destiny's Child - specifically the chorus - to be her personal theme song and frequently sings it.
• Took a Level in Badass: She gets promoted to an Action Girl in Open Season after she's fully healed at the end of Redemption Season.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: Also in Open Season - she's desperate to prove herself, which can lead her to clash with the protagonist if they don't let her spread her proverbial wings. She does apologize for it however, and you can reconcile with her.
• Wide-Eyed Idealist: She sees the PC being in the Hero Project as an opportunity to raise awareness about Underrepresented Powers, and will push them into doing so. She also really dislikes it if they go the Well-Intentioned Extremist route, not wanting to be the reason they sacrifice their morals.

Miss Boss/Daniela Estela

One of the Rookie Finalists, a stunning young woman with Telekinesis.

• A Day in the Limelight: Starts getting more prominence towards the end of the episode, right before her almost-certain Plotline Death.
• Broken Bird: Defied. She has the baggage for it, but still clings to hope of changing things in the future.
• Disney Villain Death: She's thrown off a waterfall to her death.
• Expy: She's a lot like Black Magic, being a gorgeous superhero who was orphaned at a young age and deconstructs the fanservice tropes. The difference is, Miss Boss actually had someone to stay with when her parents died, is thus a more mentally-stable individual, and her Powers aren't as strong as theirs. If they had been, she probably would have survived.
• Ms. Fanservice: Deconstructed; people judge her by her appearance and not by anything else.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: Pretends to be more vapid and silly than she is so that people underestimate her.
• So Beautiful, It's a Curse: Like Black Magic, she tends to get judged and labelled based on her looks.
• Stepford Smiler: Her life isn't as perfect as she makes it out to be—people have put her in a box of being a dizty hot Latina just because of how attractive she is, and her parents had some old enemies that have tried making things hard for her by encouraging that stereotype.
• Telekinesis: Her specific power is energy telekinesis - she can manipulate other people's energy-based attacks.
• Walking Spoiler: Her sole role is dying, but it's a big, unexpected role, given how hard it is to avert and her status as a Love Interest.

Griffin/Dax Gillian

Another of the Rookie finalists, Griffin is an aging hero out for one last shot at glory.

• Attention Whore: Loves the cameras, and loves looking good for them. Part of it comes from him being terrified at the prospect of fading into obscurity alongside his Powers.
• Jerkass: Makes several rude comments about Transfer, is rather condescending to the other contestants, and is the only Love Interest who doesn't apologize or try to make up to the PC for not being able to look at them when they shapeshift into a tardigrade.
• The Last Dance: He's not dying, but his Powers are starting to degrade. This is likely going to be his last big hurrah.
• May–December Romance: He's 49. The PC's age isn't stated, but it's unlikely they're older than 25 at most, given JK's age.

Weaver

The PC's producer and costume designer, Weaver is the niece/nephew/niephew of Lyra Vite, one of the Hero Project's producers, and is a blind individual dedicated to helping all the Rookies get as far in the competition as they can.

• Applied Phlebotinum: It's mentioned Weaver has several implants to help them manage everyday life and design costumes, and their MeChip will auditorily identify people for them.
• Blind and the Beast: With the PC. Weaver's the one person the PC feels at ease with besides JK, since they can't see them.
• Cool Big Sis: Or bro. They end up becoming really fond of JK and taking on this role for her.
• Meaningful Name: Has the power to create and manipulate thread.
• Nepotism: Their aunt, Lyra Vite, is one of the higher-ups, leading some to believe Weaver got their position for this reason. They haven't, but Weaver does resent the accusation that they aren't earning their position for their own merits.
• Unequal Pairing: They're reluctant to get romantically involved with the PC for this reason—though they note they'd be willing to take the chance once the show is over and they're no longer their superior.