Characters / Kiss Me First

List of character-specific tropes from the 2018 British Sci-Fi Thriller Kiss Me First, distributed in the UK by Channel 4 and worldwide by Netflix.

For general tropes, see Kiss Me First.

Protagonists

Leila Evans/Shadowfax

Played by: Tallulah Haddon

A lonely girl recently orphaned, Leila lives by herself in London, and works at a café to finance her fixation on Azana Planet, an online reality game. After she's introduced to a group of players calling themselves Red Pill, her life begins to change.

• Ambiguously Absent Parent: Her father never gets mentioned, so it's unknown what became of him.
• Ambiguously Bi: While she hooks up with, and briefly attempts to hook up with Jonty and Kyle respectively, she's also all but explicitly attracted to Tess. They sleep almost naked in the same bed more than once, and during one of those instances, she's seen nervously telling Tess how beautiful she is.
• Badass Bookworm: Though shown to be a geeky, socially-awkward loner, Leila sure comes through when the going gets tough.
• Beware the Quiet Ones: At the start of the series, Leila comes off as extremely introverted and shy, but by the end, she's proven to be a formidable force when messed with.
• Blackmail: Leila blackmails Tess' married boyfriend into breaking off their relationship in an effort to stop Tess' self-destructive behavior. It doesn't work out.
• Clear My Name: After Tippi accuses Leila of committing Adrian's crimes, Leila is on the run. If the show goes ahead with a season two, it will likely include a further exploration of this.
• Clothing Reflects Personality: Leila tends to dress very modestly, covering herself fully and often wearing multiple layers. This can be seen as a reflection of her introverted personality, hiding herself from the world and putting up a barrier around herself.
• Determinator: Leila simply will not give up, no matter what obstacles are thrown in her way, especially when it comes to protecting Tess.
• Disappeared Dad: There is no mention of Leila's father, but he's certainly out of the picture. This makes it easy for Adrian to pretend to be him to Jonty.
• Distracted by the Sexy: Leila attempts this in the finale by stripping off her clothes inside Adrian's simulation.
• Dumb Blonde: Subverted. Leila has blonde hair but is shown to be smart enough to put Adrian on the defensive. Moreover, she specializes in math and coding, two fields not typically attributed to women.
• Everyone Can See It: Adrian knows that the way to get to Leila is through Tess.
• External Combustion: The motorbike Adrian gives Shadowfax explodes the second she starts it, forcing her to log out.
• Frame-Up: Leila ends up on the run for Adrian's crimes, since there's security footage of her visiting Denier before his death. After Leila screws up the lakehouse rendezvous, Tippi paints her as being responsible for Adrian's crimes.
• Friendless Background: Leila is not shown to have any real life friends, and is only once or twice shown interacting amicably with a fellow Azana member around her introduction to Red Pill. Combined with Leila's intense introversion, the implication is she doesn't have any friends.
  Nurse: You got someone coming over to keep you company? Friends?
  Leila: My friends. Yeah.
• A Friend in Need: To Jonty, in the finale. When Leila is on the run for Adrian's crimes Jonty grabs his car and helps her and Tess flee London.
• Good with Numbers: It's revealed by one of Leila's past teachers that she's a math whizz, and she puts this to use against Adrian's coding later on.
• The "I Love You" Stigma: Blurts this out on a voice message to Jonty a day or two after they hook up, and immediately looks regretful.
• Living a Double Life: Played with—Leila keeps her life on Azana Planet to herself, but she also doesn't have many people to tell about it.
• Matricide: It would have been a Mercy Kill at her mother's request, but Leila took matters into her own hands and dosed her mother without telling her, leading to her mother calling Leila's name as the drugs took effect, while Leila wept in her room.
• Mercy Kill: With her mother, who was already dying. Leads to some major guilt problems further down the line.
• My God, What Have I Done?: After realizing she was unintentionally complicit in what happens to Calumny.
• Nerves of Steel: Even being kidnapped and drugged by Adrian does nothing to shake Leila's conviction that she can and will beat Adrian.
• The Power of Friendship: Adrian brings Leila into Red Pill to provide himself with a challenge, but Leila's unbreakable loyalty to Tess once their friendship develops pushes her into giving Adrian a run for his money, suggesting he underestimated not only Leila's badassery, but how far she would go to protect Tess.
• Ship Tease:
  • With Tess—oh, so much with Tess. They stare meaningfully at each other, sleep topless together, go out of their way to try to protect each other, and hold hands in the final scenes of the finale.
  • Later on, she also seems to seek sex with Kyle before backing out.
• Took a Level in Badass: Leila seems pretty unassuming at the start of the show, but by the end she's proven to be fearless and ridiculously determined.
• Tough Love: Towards Tess. Leila has no patience for Tess' affair with a married man, abuse of drugs, or irresponsibility. However, Tess tends to lash out and rebel when Leila tries to push her away from her more self-destructive behaviors. This can lead to Leila taking matters into her own hands...
• Violently Protective Girlfriend: While they aren't officially canon, Leila threatens to straight-up kill Adrian if he hurts Tess.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Tess does find out that Leila told her married boyfriend to kindly take a hike, and more or less tells Leila to stay out of her other relationships.
• Worthy Opponent: In the last episode, Adrian concedes defeat on this particular round, and declares Leila a worthy opponent—he also suggests he'd like to "play" with her again.

Tess/Mania

Played by: Simona Brown

Tess is the reason Adrian claims to have brought Leila into Red Pill—to give Tess a friend. But Tess' wild habits start turning Leila's life upside-down from the start.

• Ambiguously Bi: Tess' boyfriend may be on-and-off, but her attraction to Leila seems pretty solid—she encourages Leila to strip before they share a bed, and gives a hoot of approval when she gets to see Leila's breasts.
• Antagonistic Offspring: Play with. While it's clear some of Tess' behavior stems from her disorder, she does nothing to try to control herself. She's certainly the Black Sheep and may feel like The Unfavorite (particularly after what happened with her father), and responds reactively, casually dropping the bomb that she dropped out of college months ago to her mom during a therapy session.
• Asshole Victim: The show really makes it tough to know whether you should feel bad for Tess or not. On one hand, she clearly is struggling with her mental health, self-esteem, and loneliness. On the other, she steals money from her friends, trashes Leila's house in a fit of rage, and is having an affair with a married man.
• Black Sheep: Tess' family doesn't want her around, and she doesn't want to be around them either. Sufficient to say they have history.
  Tess: I made a new friend.
  Mom: Did you now? I hope she's strong.
• Clothing Reflects Personality: Particularly in contrast to Leila. Tess is mostly shown wearing bright colors and sexy outfits that display her exuberant and wild personality. See the big furry coat she wears to her therapist's office—it's cotton candy pink.
• Disappointing Older Sibling: To her younger sister, who is noticeably bitter and angry towards Tess over her behavior and the way she treats the family. It's the sister who has stayed home to care for their father while Tess pretends to still be attending university while spending her money on drugs.
• Family of Choice: Tess talks about Red Pill as her family. Given that Tess' real family wants nothing to do with her after her drug-induced inaction allowed her father's stroke to permanently paralyze him this isn't totally surprising. Red Pill also appears to be some of the few people who will put up with Tess' erratic and irresponsible behavior—both a friend of Tess' and her sister warn Leila that Tess will burn her eventually.
• Foil: Tess is set up as this from the beginning for Leila—while Leila is introverted, quiet, and a real wallflower who lives only through Azana, being often quite awkward in person, Tess is extroverted, loud, and wild, enjoying raucous dance parties, drugs, and general debauchery.
• Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: With her sister. While Tess is gallivanting around London as she pleases, after her father was rendered quadriplegic during a stroke that Tess was present for, but too high to call an ambulance, her sister has stayed at home and helps care for their father.
• A Friend in Need:
  • Not long after Tess arrives at Adrian's secluded getaway, she starts to be unsettled. Leila, recognizing the danger, is relentless in her pursuit of rescuing Tess before Adrian harms her.
  • Additionally, when Leila finds out Tess is 620 pounds in debt to her roommate, she pays Polly off herself (leaving a measly 50 pounds in her own hollow bank account).
• The Hedonist: Tess seems primarily motivated by whatever will please her in a given moment. Despite the long-term consequences, she borrows money without repaying it (thus losing her friends and isolating herself), throws out her medication (when she later wants it, her therapist refuses as she is not yet due for a refill), and engages in a dead-end relationship with a married man.
• Implied Love Interest: Although Tess and Leila never get together on screen (instead hooking up with other characters), they are heavily implied to be sexually and romantically interested in each other. Even promotional art gave their relationship a distinctly romantic bent, and certainly set them up for a potential canon relationship in the future.
• Manic Pixie Dream Girl: Deconstructed—Tess certainly has the untamed passion and free nature of the MPDG, and brings excitement and whimsy into Leila's staid life, but while a typical MPDG has no flaws that are genuinely damaging, there are most certainly in-story consequences for Tess' behavior.
• Meaningful Name: Tess is strongly implied to have Bipolar I disorder, formerly known as Manic-Depressive Disorder, and her screenname is Mania.
• Mysterious Woman: Tess is this for Leila throughout the first episode. The first time Leila sees Tess onscreen is implied not to be the first time, and Tess says nothing, only shares meaningful looks with Leila. When Tess unexpectedly appears at Leila's workplace in person, she inexplicably knows Leila's address and real name, and promises "everything's going to work out beautifully".
• Quirky Curls: Only based off the difference between her Azana hairstyle and her standard hairstyle. While Tess' in-game hair is worn in tight cornrows, her real life hair is an impressive mop of curls, which may indicate her free-wheeling personality. Particularly notable as all other characters' Azana avatars are fairly close approximations of their hairstyles in real life.
• Sea Monster: Adrian appears to have slipped one of these into the pool at Red Pill where Tess likes to swim.
• Ship Tease: With Leila, constantly. They stare meaningfully at each other, sleep topless together, go out of their way to try to protect each other, and hold hands in the final scenes of the finale.
  Tess: You're going to save me.
  Leila: How do I do that?
  Tess: Love me.
• Tantrum Throwing: After her married boyfriend breaks up with her, she goes ballistic and wrecks most of the first floor of Leila's house, even overturning her mother's urn and spilling the ashes down the hallway.
• Tough Love:
  • While it's made fairly clear that Tess is no longer welcome at home due to her irresponsible and reckless behavior, her mother still shows up to some of Tess' meetings with her therapist, and seems genuinely pained by her daughter's self-destructive behavior, proving that there is still love there.
  • To some degree also with Leila later in the show. While Leila clearly cares a great deal for Tess, she also takes firm action to try to shut down some of Tess' more self-destructive behavior.
  Tess: You're not supposed to be cruel.
  Leila: I'm not. I'm your friend, and I'm here.
• Vomit Indiscretion Shot: When Leila forces her to vomit so she won't overdose.
• Where Did We Go Wrong?: From her mother, during a vitriolic therapy session.
  Mom: Please tell me what I did to deserve this.

Red Pill

Adrian

Played by: Matthew Beard

The leader of Red Pill, Adrian is a talented hacker who has created a separate, off-limits oasis for the group to meet within Azana. Leila is mistrustful of him from the get-go.

• Antagonistic Offspring: Adrian has a...less than loving relationship with his mother.
• The Antagonist: Leila doesn't trust Adrian from the start, and continues to butt heads with him throughout the show.
• Brainy Brunet: Adrian is a coding whizz and has dark brown hair.
• The Chessmaster: Adrian treats Red Pill and its members like just another virtual reality game, and his plan seems to have begun long before Leila became involved, spanning potentially years. He's in no rush to finish things, feeling free to take his time and nudge things along a seemingly natural course.
• Child Prodigy: With programming. In fact, it's implied he's the one who created Azana.
• Graceful Loser: Adrian takes being outwitted by Leila in stride, calling their game a draw and promising to make another one.
• Intelligence Equals Isolation: Adrian is never shown interacting with another person in real life, and does not seem to genuinely regard any of Red Pill as his "friends". Even his mother is estranged from him. However, this might be due more to his personality rather than intelligence.
• Manipulative Bastard: Adrian targets the emotionally vulnerable so he can push them to extremes.
• Narcissist: Adrian clearly thinks a lot of himself, and considers most everyone else beneath him, particularly when it comes to intelligence. Leila takes it upon herself to knock him down a peg or two.
• No Challenge Equals No Satisfaction: Adrian at one point narrates that a game isn't truly difficult unless there's the possibility you can't win. He seems to have recruited Leila into Red Pill because she's a potential threat to his plans.
• Non-Action Big Bad: Adrian never gets personally involved in his plans, hiring or manipulating others to do the work in the real world that he isn't willing to do himself.
• Sadist: Adrian is playing with a group of vulnerable young people purely for his own amusement, leading to two (almost three) deaths and ongoing trauma for the whole group. Additionally, he makes himself out to be a trustworthy figure to those with no one to go to, and then betrays them.
• Soft-Spoken Sadist: Adrian, whose voice is always a very soothing, even tone, never rising in anger or alarm, yet he also enjoys manipulating people to kill themselves or others at his bidding.
• Underestimating Badassery: Adrian brings Leila in to give himself a challenge, but seems to greatly underestimate how much trouble she'll be.
• Would Hurt a Child: Adrian doesn't hold back on Ben, even though he appears to be 12-14 years old.

Calumny/Cyril

Played by: George Jovanovic

• Abusive Parents: Not to him, but Calumny's father habitually beats his mother, and Calumny believes it's his fault, that something in him triggers his father's behavior.
• Driven to Suicide: Adrian and other members of Red Pill (including Leila, unintentionally) appear wholly supportive of Calumny's desire to take his own life, which he eventually does.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: Calumny's real name is only mentioned by his mother, and only after his death.

Denier/Ben

Played by: Samuel Bottomley

The youngest of the Red Pill group, Ben's past is not explained. He clearly has a talent with wiring and electronics, but is deeply unhappy by the time Leila meets him.

• Child Prodigy: Possibly with electronics, as he is seen tinkering with them often in his room, and is visibly the youngest of the cast.
• Driven to Suicide: Between the abuse at the foster home and Adrian's encouragement, Ben is driven to blow himself up, along with his abuser, during what appears to be a human trafficking trade.
• Orphanage of Fear: Ben is living in a foster care facility or group home, and it's strongly implied one of the caretakers sexually abuses him.
• Taking You with Me: Ben improvises an explosive vest to kill himself and his abusive caretaker.

Force/Kyle

Played by: Freddie Stewart

Jocasta's boyfriend, very eager to meet up with her offline. Adrian has promised to help arrange this meeting in exchange for a favor.

• Abusive Parents: It's heavily implied that Kyle's father beats him.
• Antagonistic Offspring: Possibly justified, but Kyle brags to Red Pill about insulting his father.
• Cool Car: Kyle drives around in a Ferrari. It's implied that Adrian got it for him.
• If It's You, It's Okay: Jocasta has the sincere hope this will be the case with Force. It gets him beaten so badly he is rendered comatose until the season finale.
• Incompatible Orientation: With Jocasta/Jack, despite how badly they want it to work out.
• Love Makes You Evil: Initially the case with Kyle, who does some dirty work for Adrian in exchange for the means to meet with Jocasta. Subverted when he continues on without that motivation, and is implied to have had a violent past.
• Meaningful Name: Force is the most physically imposing of the group, and later becomes The Brute.

Jocasta

Played by: Misha Butler

Jocasta is a shy, quiet girl who is very close with her boyfriend, Force. They're making plans to meet in real life.

• Ambiguously Absent Parent: No explanation is given for why Jocasta appears to live alone, with someone who may be a nurse, nanny, or housekeeper stopping by during the day.
• Ambiguously Gay: Either this, or a WLM trans girl.
• Ambiguous Gender Identity: Is Jack a gay boy or a WLM trans girl? It's not specified.
• Domestic Abuse: Kyle's reaction to finding out Jack is physically male could qualify, since they were technically dating at the time.
• Forced Out of the Closet: As Adrian arranges Kyle's meeting with Jocasta without her permission or knowledge, Jack is caught unawares and his true identity is revealed to Kyle.
• G.I.R.L.: Done tragically with Jocasta, who offline is a boy (or trans girl) named Jack. Force does not take the revelation well, to say the least.
• Parental Neglect: Could be the case here, as Jocasta seems to live entirely alone. However, she also looks to be over 18, so she may just be on her own and subsidized by her parents. Either way no parents show up to visit him in the hospital.
• Please, Don't Leave Me: Jocasta has one of these moments with Kyle when they meet in person.
• The Reveal: The audience learns Jocasta's secret just one episode before Kyle does.
• Unsettling Gender-Reveal: When Jocasta is revealed to be physically male, Kyle reacts very badly, and is implied to have beat Jack badly enough to put him in a coma for several days.

Tippi/Tomiko

Played by: Haruka Abe

• Berserk Button: Better not to badmouth Adrian around Tippi, or suggest you aren't willing to go through with his plans.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: Adrian and Tippi are not together, but she expresses a pretty fervent desire to be his favorite, and tends to dislike anyone she sees as threatening that.
• Dark and Troubled Past: She reveals that in the past she'd have sex with men to get money for drugs.
• Do Not Call Me "Paul": When Tess asks Tippi for her real name, she instead answers that their usernames are their "real" names (though she later gives her legal one, Tomiko Teshima, in the interview where she claims Leila is the leader of Red Pill).
• Only Known by Their Nickname: Tippi's real name is only revealed in the last episode after the events at the cabin—around Red Pill she exclusively goes by Tippi.
• Yandere: Tippi is willing to go after Leila with a knife on Adrian's behalf. Unfortunately for her, Leila proves to be the better fighter and knocks her out. She also willingly blames Leila for Adrian's crimes on national television.

Supporting Cast

Jonty

Played by: Matthew Aubrey

The renter Leila takes in after her mother's death to help cover bills. Jonty is an aspiring actor and helps Leila begin to break out of her shell.

• The Alleged Car: Jonty's ride is old and in very poor condition.
• The Ditz: Jonty is often comically unaware of the serious issues Tess and Leila are dealing with. They don't appear to consider him worthy of explaining the situation, and while he is well-meaning, he never comes off as particularly bright. His attempts at "acting" (his chosen career) are portrayed as ridiculous—he doesn't realize how awful he is.
  Jonty, preparing to show Leila a bit of acting: This'll blow your babs off.
  Leila: Probably not.
• Dumb Blond: Blond and notably the least intelligent character on the show.
• Horrible Judge of Character: Had he really thought about Adrian's behavior, he might have avoided some problems...
• Kindhearted Simpleton: While Jonty is far from the sharpest crayon in the box, he is a genuinely kind person and tries to help Leila as much as he can. Even his manipulation at Adrian's hands was born of a desire to make Leila happier.
• Unwitting Pawn: Adrian pretends to be Leila's father so Jonty will give him information and keep tabs on her.