Major spoilers ahead. All spoilers are unmarked. You Have Been Warned.
Observers
Seiman Tsuchimikado
A presence in some black void who is listening to the Storyteller's tale.
He is actually the amnesiac consciousness of Seiman Tsuchimikado, who was taken in by a family from ancient times. After Lady Ashino's cruelty and desire for eternal beauty killed many innocents, Seiman fought her himself. Although he died, he inflicted a final curse on her that killed her as well. He resurrected himself with the Rite and wrote down how to destroy the Rite forever, then split himself into body, soul, and mind. His body became his lineage, his soul became the Beckoning Light — which allows the user to kill a Curse Bearer with their own curse — and his mind became the Player.
- Hello, [Insert Name Here]: The first question the Storyteller asks the player is a request for their name, but like quite a bit of the game, there are some meta-elements at play. After entering a name, the Storyteller will ask for confirmation using your profile's name instead of the name you entered. At the end of the game, this name is the answer when the Storyteller asks you who Seiman is, as Seiman (or more specifically, his mind) has been the Player Character throughout the entire game.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: This is also how the Beckoning Light's curse is meant to work. Its sole purpose is to kill curse bearers via their own curse, due to the curse echo inside The Beckoning Light being the spirit of Seiman himself, who regrets being involved in the creation of the Curse Stones in the first place.
- Tomato in the Mirror: You, the player, are Seiman's amnesiac mind trying to finish your work and destroy the Rite of Resurrection. It's also why you can pass along information from other timelines to Shogo and Mayu, as Shogo is your descendant and Mayu bears your Curse Stone. Putting the pieces together and realizing this is key to uncovering the True Ending.
The Storyteller
A mysterious old man who tells the story.- Ambiguously Evil: The Storyteller, the mysterious masked man who overviews the game and introduces the player to the endings and the larger game. The true ending subverts this - it turns out he's a friend of Seiman trying to help his ghost put both his mind and the mystery of the curses back together, with his cageyness being because he didn't want to harm Seiman/the player's mind by trying to remind him of too much too quickly.
- Ambiguous Gender: His Persons of Interest profile lists his sex as "?" but oddly enough it still describes him with male pronouns. This helps make him even more Ambiguously Human.
- Ambiguously Human: He appears as an old man, but has the ability to help the player alter events in the game, and even his sex is listed as "?" instead of male, making it unclear if he is a living human, a spirit, or something else entirely.
- The Storyteller: Yep. He's the game's narrator who advises the player as they uncover the mysteries surrounding the Feast of Shadows.
Curse Bearers
- Chekhov's Gunman: All four of the playable characters besides Shogo are introduced as NPCs in said route, except for Maya who is mentioned by the character and has a short bio but seems to be nothing more than Hajime's widow.
- More than Mind Control: The Curse Stones encourage murderous impulses in a variety of ways, but it works best on users who are particularly desperate to revive someone. As such, the extent of how much control the stone wields on the cast often varies by how strong their feelings already were.
- Shogo, a Nice Guy, becomes shockingly willing to kill everyone he encounters while in the immediate grief of Yoko's prologue death. The Storyteller will even make a point out of how many of his murders were his choice, ignoring the player's attempt to spare them, or because you made him do it.
- Harue, singularly focused on her son's death, is only held back from murdering others by Ritcher's presence. When Ayame points out her son would be horrified that his mother became a murderer for his sake, Harue crumbles and gives up the stone without further debate.
- Tsutsumi, despite holding between four to six stones throughout the story, never considers using the stones because he has no one he wants to revive and is said to be naturally resistant to supernatural influence. The player can try to activate his curse when conditions are met the same way you can for everyone else but he will always refuse the command.
- Yakko, just one week after her friend's death, can't help but fantasize about using her Curse Stone. Combined with Michiyo's spirit fusing with Yakko, the two of them end up enacting revenge on Michiyo's enemies in their sleep. Once they've unfused, Yakko immediately hands over her stone and turns herself over to the police.
- Araishi gives up his stone without much of a fight because he cares more about his research than actually completing the Rite. As long as someone is alive to report the different curse backgrounds to him, he's satisfied either way.
- Nejima, the serial killer has already murdered before for a failed ritual, and has no issues killing again for the same reason. In the epilogue with a world were there was no resurrection ritual, he's remarkably civil to Tsutsumi, which is a far cry from how he is in every other route.
- Ayame Tono the art student becomes fixated on reviving a dead artist under her belief that his life matters more than other people.
- Most notably of the entire cast, Mayu Chozawa never considers using her Curse Stone, despite sitting in the immediate grief of her lost fiance. Her morals remain completely centered without any successful corruption. Her Curse Stone is also the one most against the ritual working at all, being created by a remorseful Seiman because of how quickly resurrection brought out the worst in people.
- Story-Breaker Power: Two of the Curses are incredibly powerful compared to the other seven. Fittingly, they are the Souls of Ashino and Seiman.
- Yutaro Namigaki's Curse, The Foot-Washing Mansion, and the soul of Ashino, allows him to crush anyone who hears the Curses voice, and plugging your ears doesn't work. This effectively allows him to kill anyone he wants to within earshot and Yutaro is more than willing to use it. The only reason he doesn't win is that everyone he tries it on is a Player-controlled character, and you can shut off the curse's noise preemptively by going into your options and lowering the voice volume to 0 (an option that otherwise does absolutely nothing). Or more accurately, the mind of Seiman protects them by drowning the voice out. However, this is not the most powerful curse; that title easy belongs to...
- Mayu's Chozawa's Curse, The Beckoning Light, and the soul of Seiman, and the most powerful curse in the story. She can reflect any other curse someone tries to use on her back at them basically making killing her with one impossible. The only reason she doesn't kill anyone and use the Rite of Resurrection is that she is simply too good of a person. She flat-out refuses to consider it an option and the moment she gets a good chance, she hands it over to the police. Not to mention the Curse she has also doesn't want the Rite to happen either, so it doesn't try to influence her.
Playable
Shogo Okiie
An ordinary office worker who finds himself searching for the Seven Mysteries of Honjo in order to help his most recent acquaintance, Yoko Fukunaga. After witnessing her death and learning of the Rite of Resurrection, he becomes determined to kill enough people to recurrent her. His curse echo is The Whispering Canal.
He is actually the descendant of Seiman Tsuchimikado and his "body".
- Death by Irony: Shogo's Curse Stone is capable of letting him kill anyone who turns his back to him. One of his earliest deaths in his route is because he's tricked into turning his back to his assailant, who claims Yoko's corpse moved to draw his attention away.
- Decoy Protagonist: He is front and center of the box art and the advertising with the first story route being his, and he even resembles the typical black-haired everyman protagonist common in Japanese media, but in one of his routes Yoko is seemingly killed off and the bulk of the story is in the route where Shogo mysteriously dies, with him being unrelated to the main mystery and only becoming relevant at the very end of the game.
- The Everyman: He's an ordinary office worker with a typical "black-haired anime protagonist" appearance who gets thrown into the world of the supernatural by his crush, Yoko. His bio does everything to hammer this in, describing him as an apolitical man with no strong beliefs who is content to go with the flow, find a girlfriend, and eventually start a family with her. This is to make his transformation into a Villain Protagonist and subsequent death all the more shocking.
- In the Back: His Curse requires the victim to expose their back to him, allowing him to kill them.
- Lack of Empathy: Shogo shows shockingly little remorse throughout his route when he kills multiple people for the sake of bringing Yoko back from the dead, despite the two of them not even being that close with each other. While it should be noted that Curse Stones do amplify ones murderous impulses, Shogo's behavior is still very jarring considering that every other playable character either refuses to use their Curse Stonenote or have very sympathetic reasons for doing sonote .
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: In both routes of his chapter, he either revives Yoko using the Rite or saves her from dying. Unfortunately, Yoko was the Big Bad all along, and Shogo just ended up helping her accomplish her Evil Plan to kill hundreds.
- Villain Protagonist: He spends his route killing the other Curse Bearers to get their soul dregs and perform the Rite to revive Yoko (who, unbeknownst to him, is a criminal mastermind who will presumably go on to kill hundreds of innocents).
- Yandere: He spends his route going on a murder spree (granted, against other Curse Bearers trying to kill him in turn) to resurrect Yoko, a girl he knew and crushed on for only a month.
Harue Shigima
A housewife who is seeking revenge on the criminal who abducted and murdered her son. To discover the identity of the kidnapper and the truth of the case, she hires Richter Kai. When she learns of the Rite, she also decides on tracking down and killing other Curse Bearers to revive her son. Her curse echo is The Haunting Clappers.
- Awful Wedded Life: Her life is pretty miserable, all things considered, as she lives in a loveless marriage isolated from the rest of society. The one bright spot in her life was her son Shuichi, but he was tragically taken from her by a deranged kidnapper.
- Ax-Crazy: Her desire to revive her son Shuichi has left her with a strong urge to burn people with her Haunting Clappers and take their soul dregs. While she mostly tries to keep it under control, it really shows in her confrontations with Shogo and Ayame where she stops holding back.
- Chekhov's Gunman: She is introduced in Shogo's route as the last boss of the route before becoming the protagonist of her own route.
- Didn't See That Coming: In the Prologue chapter, she goes wide-eyed when Shogo decides to throw his lighter away, and even moreso when he kills her.
- Heroic BSoD: She was already rather unstable, but learning the truth behind her son's kidnapping and murder — that it was never a ransom but a sacrificial ritual just to make the kidnapper rich — really causes her to have a temporary breakdown.
- Kill It with Fire: Her Curse requires the victim to be near a flame or have possession of something that creates fire, like a lighter.
- Knight Templar Parent: She is perfectly willing to sacrifice innocent lives to revive her son. In Shogo's route, she tires to kill him for this purpose, and in her own route, Richter has to try to restrain her from going after people.
- Secretly Selfish: At the end of Harue's route, Richter points out that Shuichi wouldn't want her to bring him back if it meant that other people would need to die, questioning whether Harue is acting for Shuichi's sake or her own. It turns out to be the push that convinces Harue to give up on the Rite of Resurrection.
- Sympathetic Murderer: In Ending 3 where she decides to use her curse on Ayame. Sort of zigzagged in that she doesn't really express remorse about burning another person to death, but considering that Ayame was actively trying to kill her it's sort of hard for the audience to feel too bad about it. Likewise while Richter clearly disapproves of Harue's decision, the ending indicates that he doesn't really approach the police about it either.
- Token Evil Teammate: Of the seven characters trying to solve the mysteries of the Rite, she is the most unstable and prone to violence. She plans to use the Rite to revive her son, Shuichi, and actively tries to get Richter to scout out fellow Curse Bearers for her to kill. Richter himself is the one mainly holding back her murderous tendencies.
Tetsuo Tsutsumi
A police detective who is working with his younger partner Jun Erio to solve a series of mysterious deaths that have occurred in Honjo. He is well-versed in the paranormal and works with a secret police department to handle supernatural incidents. After becoming a Curse Bearer, he also decides to track down the other Curse Bearers and take their Curse Stones to stop them from killing each other. His curse echo is The Evergreen Beech.
- Chekhov's Gunman: He and Erio are introduced as a pair of NPCs who question Shogo in the Prologue at one point.
- Final Speech: In the "Conclusion" chapter, Ayame uses her Curse Stone on Tsutsumi, causing him to get bludgeoned to near-death, only to stand up again long enough to tell her that he truly considers her his daughter and that it's not too late to atone.
- Old Cop, Young Cop: The old, more experienced cop well-versed in the ways of the paranormal to Erio's peppy, jokey young cop who only just learns about the supernatural.
- Parents as People: He wasn't exactly the best father to Ayame, being absent for most of her childhood on account of his work. That said, it's clear that does love her, even if he isn't exactly the best at expressing it.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: He's a cop and is shown to be a pretty decent guy all around. He refuses to use his Curse Stone, even when the player attempts to do otherwise, and puts a hold on the Rite of Resurrection by collecting Curse Stones from other users to stop them from abusing their powers.
- The Straight Man: Tsutsumi is typically on the receiving end of Erio's jokes.
Yakko Sakazaki
A high school student who is trying to uncover the truth behind the supposed suicide of her classmate. She is normally bubbly and energetic, but the mysterious death of her dear friend has left her in a more sour state. After becoming a Curse Bearer, she starts getting thoughts of using the Rite to bring back Michiyo. Her curse echo is The Fool's Procession.
- Chekhov's Gunman: She is introduced as an NPC in the prologue who doesn't even last two minutes before getting killed by Shogo.
- Genki Girl: She is described in her bio as being a normally energetic girl, though for most of the game this aspect is subdued as she is dealing with the trauma of losing her friend Michiyo.
- Heroic BSoD: Learning the Awful Truth that she was possessed by Michiyo and killed people in her possession causes her to briefly Go Mad from the Revelation before Mio, Tsutsumi, and Erio are able to calm her down.
- Informed Attribute: Yakko is described as quick-tempered and energetic in her Persons of Interest file, but she's primarily shown to be gentle and restrained. By the time the story introduces Yakko to the narrative, she's been possessed by her more elegant friend Michiyo. Once exorcised, Yakko quickly proves herself to be every bit the Genki Girl she's described as.
- Go Mad from the Revelation: Downplayed. When she learns the truth that Michiyo was possessing her to commit the murders all along, she briefly undergoes a psychotic break, screaming about how It's All My Fault, before Mio and the detectives calm her down.
- Muggle Best Friend: She's Mio's best friend despite being a normal person and not having any sort of spiritual powers of her own. Though it's zigzagged in that Yakko turns out to be the host of Michiyo's spirit.
- Only Friend: She is Mio's only friend at school, as everyone else is suspicious of her for being a psychic.
- Symbiotic Possession: She's possessed by Michiyo throughout most of the game. As the two of them were close friends during Michiyo's time on Earth, their spirits are able to fuse together almost seamlessly.
Mayu Chozawa
A beautician abducted by Hihaku Soaps to extract information about her deceased fiancée, Hajime Yoshimi. She is the secret fifth playable character who must escape the room she is in. She and Hajime were in rival gangs and fell in love despite having polar opposite interests. Her curse echo is The Beckoning Light.
- Boyish Short Hair: She has short hair and was a Former Teen Rebel and gangster hack in the day; even now as a beautician, she has a similar hairstyle and her Hot-Blooded nature has not dwindled in the years since.
- Damsel out of Distress: She manages to escape from Hihaku Soaps herself, contacting Harue and Richter to notify them of her location.
- Former Teen Rebel: Mayu was a delinquent throughout her childhood, though she decided to get her beautician license as an adult.
- Hot-Blooded: Mayu's shown to have a pretty fiery and defiant personality, not being willing to play along with Hihaku Soap's plans.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: As a former delinquent herself, she's shown to be pretty understanding to troubled youths such as Hitomi, even convincing Hitomi to entrust her with the heirloom that Hajime gave to her.
Others
Yoko Fukunaga
A housekeeper with an strong interest in the paranormal. She is the original owner of The Whispering Canal curse echo who invited Shogo with her to discover the truth of the Rite of Resurrection in hopes that she can use it to revive her pet dog, only to be killed mysteriously.
Except all that is a lie. She is actually a descendant of Lady Ashino and the true mastermind behind the Feast of Shadows, who hopes to use a massive amount of sacrifices to revive Ashino and salvage her bloodline from mediocrity.
- The Bad Guy Wins: Every ending except for Another Conclusion has her successfully eliminate any opposition to her plan to massacre the people of Honjo.
- Big Bad: She is the real mastermind behind the Feast of Shadows and the Deadly Game manipulating Nejima into carrying out his crimes and planning a huge massacre in Honjo to revive her ancestor, Lady Ashino, and bring glory back to her bloodline.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: The friendly, bubbly persona she puts on in the game's opening is far from her true personality.
- The Dog Was the Mastermind: The mastermind behind the Feast of Shadows and the Deadly Game between the Curse Bearers is revealed, after several false leads, to be Yoko Fukunaga, the cute, occult-obsessed housekeeper and Shogo's Love Interest from the prologue who got killed in one timeline. After Shogo's route, Yoko disappears for almost the entire game, not even being referenced once. She doesn't show up again until the Conclusion ending, in which her true nature as the mastermind of the Rite of Resurrection is revealed.
- Damsel in Distress: She's set up as one in the opening. Shogo, and by extension the player, participates in the Rite of Resurrection in order to bring Yoko back from the dead after she inexplicably dies. Although it turns out in the end that it would be in everyone's best interest that Yoko stay dead.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: This is actually the cause of Yoko's death at the very beginning. She attempted to use the Whispering Canal curse to kill Shogo, but Seiman's spirit within Shogo awakened at that time and caused the curse to rebound on her.
- Love-Interest Traitor: The mastermind behind all the deaths and curses overtaking Honjo is Shogo's friend who he has a crush on and was willing to kill others to revive in the prologue timeline.
- Psychotic Smirk: In the Conclusion Ending, Yoko displays a sadistic grin right before murdering Erio and Mio, revealing her true personality underneath her bubbly facade.
- Put on a Bus: After Shogo manages to prevent her death in the beginning of the game (and dies), Yoko becomes completely absent from the majority of the story; while Shogo's death is mentioned in a few occasions throughout the main story, Yoko isn't mentioned at all...
- The Bus Came Back: ...which makes her sudden reappearance in the Conclusion Ending (also acting very out of character) all the more surprising.
- The Sociopath: She is very good at making herself out to be a cute, quirky Girl Next Door-type person, and charms Shogo with her love of the occult and a sob story about how she wants the Rite of Resurrection to revive her beloved pet dog. But this is all revealed to be a lie hiding a manipulative and ambitious mastermind who only cares about her self-image and improving her bloodline from what she sees as a fall into mediocrity, and has no problem organizing the gruesome deaths of hundreds or killing Shogo himself.
Michiyo Shiraishi
A student at Komagata High School and childhood friend of Yakko Sakazaki. She had a horrible home life and was a victim of abuse by her stepfather, and seemingly committed suicide by falling from her apartment to end it all. But Yakko is convinced she didn't kill herself, and when a spirit confirms she died in an accident of some sort, Yakko becomes determined to find the truth.
She was the prior owner of The Fool's Procession who was killed in a hit-and-run accident by Yutaro and Ayano, after also having suffered abuse by her stepfather and molestation by her teacher Jonouchi. As such, she possesses Yakko and seeks revenge on her tormentors.
- Died Happily Ever After: Zigzagged. Michiyo's actual death was just as tragic as most of her life, but she's still able to receive closure before moving on to the afterlife. Thankfully, it's shown that this still occurs in the True Ending.
- Symbiotic Possession: She possesses Yakko throughout most of the game. As the two of them were close friends during Michiyo's time on Earth, their spirits are able to fuse together almost seamlessly.
- Sympathetic Murderer: Working through Yakko, Michiyo kills her teacher Mr. Jonouchi, her stepfather Kankichiro Iwai, and (in Ending 1) Yutaro Namigaki. Considering that the former two put Michiyo through hell and the latter one killed her in a hit-and-run, you really can't blame her for seeking retribution. Yakko even outright admits that she would've helped Michiyo get revenge if she had just asked.
- You Are Not Alone: Despite all the shit that Michiyo got put through during her lifetime, it's clear that Yakko truly was her friend until the bitter end. When the two of them say goodbye as Michiyo moves on to the afterlife, Michiyo admits that she regrets not turning to Yakko in her time of need.
Hideki Araishi
A historian and obsessive researcher who works as a teacher at Komagata High School. He is the one who uncovered the Rite of Resurrection and publicized its existence. While a Curse Bearer himself, he couldn't care less about the twisted game or killing others; his only goal is the pursuit of knowledge. His curse echo is The Everburning Lantern.
- Evil Teacher: While not ordinarily a violent individual, he is willing to kill Yakko if he still has his Curse Stone with him in Chapter 1 when she sees him.
- Insufferable Genius: While a skilled and learned historian, he's a rather unsociable individual. He primarily researches the Rite of Resurrection for the sake of its knowledge, and Yakko can get information out of him by appealing to his ego.
Yutaro Namigaki
A young university student and Curse Bearer. He is a calculating man who is willing to make deals with others only to screw them over once he no longer needs them. He is first encountered by Shogo, where he tries to make an alliance with him to kill the other Curse Bearers. His curse echo is The Foot-Washing Mansion.
He turns out to be the driver who killed Michiyo in a hit-and-run, and wants to use the Rite to revive her and fix his mistake.
- Four Eyes, Zero Soul: He has a pair of glasses that he sometimes adjusts in a threatening manner, and is the perpetrator of a hit-and-run that killed a high school student and is willing to kill people so he can revive her and assuage his guilt.
- Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: He desires to kill people and use their soul dregs to revive Michiyo, who he killed in a hit-and-run, which seems like a noble goal, but the heroes fire back that he doesn't actually care about Michiyo as a person and only wants to selfishly erase his feelings of guilt.
- Smug Snake: Out of the many Curse Bearers, Yutaro is particularly unpleasant. While he seeks the Rite of Resurrection to return his hit-and-run victim to life and planned to turn himself over to the police before he tripped in the magical world, it soon becomes clear that he's more interested in rectifying his own guilt rather than actually repairing any damage.
- Unskilled, but Strong: His curse, which kills anyone who merely hears it, is extremely powerful and doesn't require any trickery or strategy to use, so his main tactic is just to activate it and hope for the best. It would work if not for the spirit of Seiman's powers, but even so he doesn't have any backup plans when it fails. As such, the two times it does thanks to Seiman, he is left helpless before his opponent.
Hajime Yoshimi
A police officer found dead under mysterious circumstances. He and Jun were close friends, and Jun hopes to solve his death to get closure.
- The Lost Lenore: To Mayu. Though in her case, she refuses to use the Rite of Resurrection to bring him back, knowing that Hajime wouldn't want her to take the lives of others for the sake of bringing him back.
- Nice Guy: If what other characters say about him is anything to go by, he was an all-around great guy who genuinely cared about helping troubled youths.
- Posthumous Character: He was murdered by Yoko before even the Prologue, and his death is what Detectives Tsutsumi and Erio are trying to solve.
Fumichika Nejima (alias: Makoto Ashimiya)
A Serial Killer who perpetrated the Nejima Murders, in which several women vanished under strange circumstances, although he was only convicted for one murder. He was sentenced to life, but let out for good behavior and took on a new identity and life as the janitor of Komagata High School. Unfortunately, he has no intention of actually repenting, and being a Curse Bearer, he seeks to take revenge on everyone who put him away while carrying out a huge massacre in Honjo. His curse echo is The One-Sided Reed.
- Arch-Nemesis: He despises Tsutsumi for bringing him to justice and upon receiving freedom has dedicated his life to making Tsutsumi as miserable as possible. Maybe subverted in the True Ending, where he seems to show some level of gratitude to him for raising Ayame, his biological daughter.
- The Dog Was the Mastermind: At least from the perspective of the characters, particularly Yakko and Mio, it comes off as a big surprise to learn that the friendly, unassuming, wise janitor of Komagata High School is actually the Serial Killer who haunted Honjo with his murders of several women and is seeking revenge against everyone who put him away. The player, however, is clued-in early on.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Make no mistake, Nejima is one nasty piece of work. However, he did genuinely love his late partner Shino, as the original motivation for his murders was to resurrect her. It's somewhat played with in that he didn't care about raising her when she's possibly reincarnated as a baby, and moreover his participation in the Rite of Resurrection was just as much motivated by a desire to enact revenge on Tsutsumi as it was to bring Shino back. That said, in the true ending he seems to express some gratitude towards Tsutsumi for raising her, even if it isn't clear how genuine he's being.
- Fat Bastard: He's visibly obese in his profile image, though he's slimmed down considerably by the time he was released from prison. Supposedly, him losing weight was a ploy on his part to make it harder for Tsutsumi to identify him.
- Formerly Fat: He slimmed down by approximately 100 lbs/50 kg since being released from prison.
- Karma Houdini: The main route made it perfectly clear that Nejima feels zero remorse for the murders he committed and planned to kill hundreds of innocent people out of petty revenge against Tsutsumi. However, because he doesn't technically commit any crime in the true ending, on account of the Rite of Resurrection being shut down, he pretty much walks away a free man.
- Love Makes You Evil: He became a Serial Killer in order to gain sacrifices to revive the woman he loved.
Other People
Richter Kai
An eccentric private investigator from Tokyo called to Honjo by Harue Shigima to investigate the unsolved kidnapping and murder of her son.
- Armor-Piercing Question: In the Conclusion ending, he asks Harue if she truly wants to resurrect Shuichi for his sake or for her own, noting that Shuichi wouldn't want her to bring him back if it meant that other people would need to lose their lives. This turns out to be the push that ultimately convinces Harue to give up on the Rite of Resurrection.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Richter is a pretty eccentric guy. He dresses flamboyantly, speaks in an over-the-top manner, has a passion for collecting Mocking Bird stickers, and frequents candy stores aimed at children. He's also an extremely competent and dedicated private investigator.
- Deuteragonist: He serves as Harue's main companion throughout her route.
- Morality Chain: Richter refuses to become an accessory to murder, and as such serves as the main reason why Harue doesn't resort to hunting other Curse Bearers.
Jun Erio
A young detective investigating the mysterious deaths in Honjo with the veteran officer Tetsuo Tsutsumi.
- Deuteragonist: He serves as Tsutsumi's main companion throughout his route.
- The Gadfly: He's constantly making jokes at other people's expense, mainly Tsutsumi.
- It's All My Fault: Should Erio not lower his gun when confronting Nejima, he'll lose his nerves and fire at him. He misses, allowing Nejima to escape into the river. Erio clearly blames himself after the fact, but sadly there's nothing he and Tsutsumi can do to prevent Nejima from carrying out his revenge scheme.
- Locked Out of the Loop: He seemingly doesn't find out about the police investigating paranormal activity in the True Ending, although it's possible that he may have found out about it later on considering the nature of Hajime's death.
- Not So Stoic: He's generally pretty cocky and jovial, but there are a number of moments where he loses his nerves, such as when confronting Nejima on the bridge.
- Old Cop, Young Cop: The young cop to Tsutsumi's old cop.
Mio Kurosuzu
A classmate of Yakko Sakazaki with a strong spirit sense. Due to her strong spiritual powers, she frequently works with the police to solve crimes related to the supernatural.
- Amateur Sleuth: Despite her talent as a psychic and how crucial she proves to be to the detectives throughout the game, Mio doesn't see a single yen for her work due to being a teenager.
- Child Prodigy: Mio is a very capable psychic despite still being in high school, to the point that she works as an (unpaid) intern for the police.
- Deuteragonist: She serves as Yakko's main companion throughout her route.
- Friendless Background: Her only friend at school is Yakko, as everyone else avoids her for being a psychic.
- Knew It All Along: She managed to figure out that Michiyo was possessing Yakko fairly early on, but avoided saying anything to avoid making things worse.
- Noodle Incident: She exorcized a spirit from her classmate Hitomi some time prior to the events of the game.
Ayame Tono
A strange woman who is Yutaro's gold-digging girlfriend. She appears every now and then to the main characters.
She is actually Nejima's birth daughter and possible reincarnation of his lover, and Tsutsumi's adopted daughter, as well as a Curse Bearer herself. She aims to use the Rite to resurrect a famous ukiyo-e painter who she looks up to as her idol. Her curse echo is The Taiko of Tsugaru.
- Disc-One Final Boss: She is the Final Boss of the main route and is pegged by the other characters as being the real mastermind, but she explains she wasn't actually the one who set everything up.
- Disappointed by the Motive: Anyone who learns of her desire to resurrect her favorite ukiyo-e painter with the Rite of Resurrection so he can make more paintings, instead of a deceased loved one she is personally close to, tends to mystify anyone who learns about it.
- The Dog Was the Mastermind: Yutaro's unassuming girlfriend who is also Tsutsumi's daughter he mentioned here and there is revealed to be the other perpetrator of the hit-and-run that killed Michiyo and manipulated Yutaro into killing other people for their soul dregs.
- Final Boss: While not the mastermind, the final confrontation is against her, and you as Harue must find out how to avoid being killed by her curse while also avoiding killing her yourself.
- Freudian Excuse: Ayame's childhood is... complicated. The divorce of her parents and her (correct) suspicion that she was adopted was testy enough. The fact that she was either abandoned by Nejima's lover as a baby would be bad enough to leave some lasting damage, but the unconfirmed possibility that she could be ''Nejima's reborn lover'', as well as Tsutsumi's refusal to ever truly discuss her origins with her, has left her perpetually unwilling to trust anyone's words. Art was the only thing in her life that felt truly honest, but also left her valuing someone's art over someone's actual life. Its hard not to at least understand how she was a prime target for the influence of a Curse Stone.
- Lady Macbeth: Ayame plays this role to Yutaro, encouraging him to cover up his hit-and-run as a suicide and pushes him to kill others as a curse-bearer.
- Living Lie Detector: The Taiko of Tsugaru allows her to tell if someone is lying to her. If someone does so, that activates her Curse, allowing her to kill them.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: The Taiko of Tsugaru is the one giving these to her victims. When she gives it to Nejima, he looks like he got on the wrong end of a beatdown.
- You're Not My Father: Ayame cut all ties with her father, Tsutsumi, and points out that they're not even blood-related. When she uses her Curse Stone on him, he tells her that he still considers her his daughter despite everything she's done, and she finally acknowledges him as her dad as he dies.
Kankichiro Iwai
- Asshole Victim: He's a repulsive parasite who abused and exploited his family and murdered a child out of greed and a petty grudge against society. No one feels bad for him when he's murdered by Michiyo.
- Bald of Evil: He's completely bald and he's one of the worst people in the game.
- Domestic Abuse: He routinely abused his wife and stepdaughter, eventually forcing them through threats of violence into serving as accomplices to Shuichi Shigima's murder
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: He has a scar running across his cheek, and he's an outright loathsome individual.
- Greed: He became obsessed with the occult for the sake of achieving eternal youth, hoping that it would allow him to obtain a large amount of wealth.
- Hate Sink: Iwai is established as an abusive father to Michiyo even before the true extent of his evil is revealed. A greedy, lazy ex-con who hated modern society, he is revealed as the kidnapper of Shuichi Shigima to sacrifice him in a ritual, and coerced his wife and stepdaughter into helping. He is also a fanatical worshipper of Fumichika Nejima who carried out this crime to get revenge on the police and Harue Shigima for throwing Nejima in jail. Nobody feels bad for him when Michiyo kills him.
- Karma Houdini Warranty: He doesn't get away with his crimes in the true ending, as Harue and Richter are able to connect him to Shuichi's murder.
- Posthumous Character: He spends most of the game deceased, having been killed by Michiyo offscreen.
- Would Hurt a Child: Iwai was the culprit behind Shuichi Shigima's kidnapping and murder.
Takumi Yumioka
Shogo's superior at Hihaku Soaps. He first shows up after the death of Yoko to ask Shogo to give over his Curse Stone, as he is supposedly collecting them to keep them outside of dangerous hands. He also shows up in the other characters’ routes periodically.
- Bad Boss: He's willing to kill one of his employees, though it's significantly downlayed considering the circumstances.
- Blatant Lies: He describes Hihaku Soaps as some kind of guardian for the city, when in reality it's a somewhat corrupt company.
- The Dragon: He serves as the right-hand man of Hihaku Soaps' CEO. Though it's of course subverted in the end given that Yamamori turns out to be a Red Herring.
- Undying Loyalty: To his boss, Natsue Yamamori.
- Warmup Boss: He is the first antagonist Shogo, and by extension the player, confronts, and he introduces the Puzzle Boss mechanics that will be used for other confrontations.
Natsue Yamamori (alias: Suigen Gamyodo)
The CEO of Hihaku Soaps and a supposed psychic under the "Suigen Gamyodo" alias.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: Considering that she's willing to resort to kidnapping for the sake of achieving her goals, she definitely qualifies.
- The Ghost: Never shows up in person.
- Red Herring: She's built up as the potential mastermind of the game's events, though this turns out not to be the case. Furthermore, the rumors that she's a psychic turn out to be false, as in reality she's a complete fraud.
Hitomi Okuda
A classmate of Yakko and Mio at Komagata High School. A troubled youth with a bad history with the law, she eventually came to befriend Hajime Yoshimi, who served as one of the very few trustworthy authority figures in her life. Prior to his death, he entrusted her with a certain family heirloom.
- Attempted Rape: It's heavily implied that her teacher Jonouchi tried to use her as a substitute for Michiyo following the latter's death.
- Intergenerational Friendship: She was on great terms with Hajime, with him being one of the very few adults she could trust. She seems to have a similar relationship with Mayu.
- Japanese Delinquents: She's a juvenile delinquent.
- Noodle Incident: She was apparently possessed by a spirit and exorcized by Mio some time prior to the events of the game.
- Troubled Teen: She's a rebellious teenager who distrusts authority as she lacks any sort of positive adult influence in her life aside from Hajime and Mayu.
Shuichi Shigima
Harue's deceased son who she seeks to resurrect. An idealistic young boy born into a police family, he aspired to join the police ranks himself for the sake of protecting society. Sadly, he was kidnapped by Michiyo and murdered by Michiyo's mother, with both women having been forced to do so to by Iwai.
- Back from the Dead: Harue successfully completes the Rite of Resurrection in Ending 3, allowing her to bring Shuichi back to life. He seemingly finds work with Richter after the fact.
- Death of a Child: He passed away several months before the game takes place.
- Nice Guy: According to what Harue says about him, Shuichi was a genuinely great kid who had a passion for helping people.
- Posthumous Character: He died at the (unwilling) hands of Michiyo's mother several months prior to the game's events.
Kohei Jonouchi
A teacher at Komagata High School. After finding out about Michiyo's role in Shuichi Shigima's murder, he blackmailed her into staying silent as he sexually exploited her. Following Michiyo's death and possession of Yakko, he's killed by The Fool's Procession from beyond the grave.
- Asshole Victim: He was a sexual predator who used his position as a teacher to exploit his students; no one's exactly shedding tears over his fate.
- Cassandra Truth: He's scared out of his wits upon Michiyo's supposed suicide and contacts Richter to protect him. His fears turn out to be well-founded, as she takes revenge on him from beyond the grave.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: In the True Ending, it isn't known if he faces justice for his crimes. Though considering that Yakko and Mio still manage to communicate with Michiyo, it's likely that the truth of Jonouchi's actions became public.
Curse Echo Spirits
Toki
The daughter of Koma and Jinkichi. She told Kanzo, her babysitter, of the Rite of Resurrection, setting off a chain of events that would kill him and both her parents. She went looking for them, only to drown while everyone turned their backs on her. Her curse echo kills anyone who walks away from the Curse Bearer.
- Advertised Extra: She is on the box art as an Evil Overlooker, but is only one of the nine curse echoes, and while she is wielded by the Decoy Protagonist and the Big Bad, she herself doesn't have a lot of screentime.
- Stringy-Haired Ghost Girl: She resembles one and became vengeful upon losing her parents to the actions of several men (and the woman who manipulated them) and drowning after trying to find her parents.
- Undead Child: She drowned as a little girl looking for her parents and is the only one of the curse spirits to be a child.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Her telling Kanzo about the Rite of Resurrection led him to paint it, and when Lady Ashino saw it, this convinced her to get the daimyo to torture Kanzo and Jinkichi for information on it, leading to the family's destruction, the deaths of several others, and Toki's own death by drowning.
The Chief Retainer
The daimyo's chief retainer and the man who tortured Kanzo and Jinkichi to death. He is also the one who killed the dancer who spread the truth of his actions. He was eventually burned to death by Lady Ashino for failing to find Seiman. His curse echo kills anyone with a light source on them.
- Asshole Victim: After organizing the torture of Kanzo and Jinkichi, killing them both, and being indirectly responsible for the deaths of Koma, Toki, and Tomezo, he himself is burned to death by Lady Ashino for failing to bring in Seiman.
Jinkichi
The husband of Koma who took in Seiman. He was captured and tortured by the forces of the daimyo, and ultimately died from the torture. He was then hanged and falsely accused of spreading false rumors about the Rite of Ressurection. His curse echo hangs anyone who lies.
Old Man Kanzo
An ukiyo-e artist who babysat Toki. When she told him of the Rite of Resurrection, he depicted it in his next painting, which got the daimyo to torture and kill him for information. His curse echo beats anyone who tries to hide something from the Curse Bearer.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Him painting the Rite of Resurrection painted a target on him and Jinkichi's family by lady Ashino, who had him and Jinkichi tortured for information on the Rite.
Lady Ashino
An evil onmyoji who is responsible for the events of the game. She was a vain woman who sought to preserve her beauty with black magic, and manipulated the local daimyo into torturing and killing everyone who stood between her and eternal youth. Seiman eventually killed her in a fierce battle by cursing her legs, and she went to a nearby mansion and demanded they wash her bloody feet before succumbing to the curse. Her curse echo crushes anyone who hears her voice.
- Greater-Scope Villain: Practically everything that happens in the game is an indirect result of Ashino's crimes throughout her lifetime. She and everyone else turned into barely-sentient curse echoes, and her descendant, Yoko, is the real Big Bad who wants to revive her.
- Meaningless Villain Victory: She ultimately won the final battle between her and Seiman, killing him. Unfortunately for her, he inflicted a Dying Curse on her that quickly killed her, making every murder she masterminded in her search for immortality pointless.
- Vain Sorceress: She was an onmyoji who killed many innocent people in search of magic that could eterally preserve her beauty.
- You Have Failed Me: She burned the chief retainer's house with him in it for failing to find Seiman and bring him to her.
Tomezo
A spy for the daimyo who was manipulated by Koma into revealing the truth of her husband's death. When he realized the deception, he killed Koma in a rage, but was called out on dishonoring himself and promptly committed seppuku near a soba cart with a lantern to atone. His curse echo kills anyone in an area with no light.
Koma
Jinkichi's wife and Toki's mother. When her husband supposedly hung himself, Koma saw through the deception by the daimyo and manipulated his spy, Tomezo, into telling her the truth, only to have her arm and leg ripped off on one side. Her curse echo dismembers anyone whose personal information is known by the Curse Bearer.
- Crusading Widow: After her husband supposedly hung herself, she sought to manipulate a spy for the daimyo into revealing he had tortured him to death and covered it up. Unfortunately, she was killed before she could enact retribution.
