A list of characters from Phantasy Star Online 2 that centers around individuals from Earth. To return to the main character index, click here.

WARNING: UNMARKED SPOILERS FOR CERTAIN CHARACTERS

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Celestia Academy

Hitsugi Yasaka

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hitsugi_pso2.png

Hitsugi in her Avatar Form

Voiced by: Risa Taneda (JP), Laura Stahl (EN)

The soon to be student council president of Celestia Academy and the main heroine of Episode 4. Friendly and kind, she's well respected among her peers and teachers as a dedicated hard worker. Along with her best friend Kohri, Hitsugi is a member of Mother Corps and was tasked along with the rest of the student council to investigate the strange bugs occuring within the renowned MMORPG, Phantasy Star Online 2, as there have been reports of the NPCs showing signs of sentience beyond their supposed programming.

To that end, she plays the game through a male avatar known as "Hitsugi". After going on various missions, she catches the attention of the ARKS leadership and is tasked to go on a mission with the Guardian as part of a "rehabilitation" mission for them. Unbeknownst to Hitsugi, this mission would inevitably lead to her life changing forever...

A-Cup Angst: While she's no slouch in the chest department, Hitsugi shows obvious envy at Kohri's sizable assets and is annoyed when the latter says she'd prefer to have a more slender figure like Hitsugi's.
Adaptational Modesty: The global release of the game removed all bath scenes involving Hitsugi and the others, and as well as added clothes to Hitsugi's model in the dreams she was having while in a coma.
Bad Liar: During her mission with the Protagonist, she tries to pass herself off as a regular ARKS operative but both Xiera and the Protagonist themselves are able to see right through it.
Big Damn Heroes: Together with Matoi and Hariette, all three arrive to rescue the Protagonist from the Profound Darkness during the true ending of Episode 6.
Big Sister Instinct: Develops one towards Al as the story of Episode 4 progresses. It's strong enough that she decides to turn on Mother Corps after they threaten to take him away.
The Cameo: Appears in the opening sequence of The Animation together with her brother and Kohri. She and the latter also makes an appearance in Episode 10 where Rina helps show them around during Seiga Academy's school festival.
Chekhov's Skill: The Ame-no-Murakumo's ability to sever photons/ether becomes a key aspect in Xiao's plan to save Persona at the beginning of Episode 5.In the true ending of Episode 6, Hitsugi uses it to help save the Protagonist from the Profound Darkness. However, it doesn't stick, and it takes Matoi's arrival for them to succeed.
Coming of Age Story: Episode 4 in general serves as one for her, detailing Hitsugi's journey from being an indecisive teenager who allowed herself to simply go with the flow to a young adult who readily makes her own decisions in life.
Cross Player: Her avatar in PSO2 is male.
Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: Her parents died when she was young and her brother Enga started becoming more aloof as he began working for Earth Guide unbeknownst to her. This basically left Hitsugi by herself, resulting in a desire to find a place to belong which causes her to throw herself into any activity she gets involved in just so she could be feel relied on by others.
Deuteragonist: The main heroine and primary focus of Episode 4.
Even the Girls Want Her: Kohri certainly does at least.
Gamer Chick: She plays PSO2 in her free time and is part of Mother Corps, a select group of people chosen to help debug aether-related software, including games like PSO2.
Giver of Lame Names: While the names Hitsugi tries give Al aren't exactly terrible per say, they do sound a bit too fanciful thanks to their mythological origins. He immediately rejects every single one until they both settle on just simply "Al".
Healing Shiv: The main strength of her Avatar Arm after its upgraded into the "Ame-no-Murakumo". She can use it to destroy the photon/aether within someone without harming their physical body.
Height Angst: Downplayed as it doesn't really pop up much, but when Klariskrays refers to her as a shrimp, Hitsugi quickly gets annoyed and points out that the former is even shorter than she is. This likely has something to do with being friends with the taller and much more filled out Kohri.
Heroic BSoD: Suffers from one when she thinks her brother was killed by Mother Corps in attempt to get to her. She doesn't really snap out of it until Risa of all people gives her a pep talk. She suffers an even worse one after Kohri breaks the Ame-no-Habakiri and impales her which nearly kills Hitsugi if not for Al's intervention, resulting in her going into a coma and not awakening until near the end of Episode 4.
Instant Costume Change: Her Avatar Form comes with a new set of Japanese style clothes to match the Ame-no-Murakumo.
I Owe You My Life: Hitsugi feels indebted to Al after he shielded her from a Phantasm's attack without a second thought. The idea of abandoning someone who so selflessly risked his life for someone he didn't know is abhorrent to her, and even the promise of going back to her halcyon school life isn't enough to make her give him up.
Katanas Are Just Better: The "Ame-no-Habakiri", and later its successor the "Ame-no-Murakumo". The latter in particular is a special blade that can cut photons/aether at their source which makes it incredibly useful when Hitsugi uses it to help separate Al from Mother near the end of Episode 4, and again later when she uses it to help save the Protagonist from the Profound Darkness during the finale of Episode 6.
Leeroy Jenkins: At the end of her mission with the Protagonist, the two encounter a Falspawn like entity and despite being told not to engage, Hitsugi outright ignores the order and charges in. This nearly gets her possessed by the entity if not for the Protagonist's intervention which saved her.
Leitmotif: "Hitsugi", after coming to terms with herself and her path in life, unlocking her true Avatar Arms, Ame-no-Murakumo, to show how she's gained the resolve to fight.
Motor Mouth: She's extremely high energy and the first thing she does after managing to log out of PSO2 is to babble about how everything is fine now... until she sees her game avatar on the bed. To which she then tries to deny it through even more monologuing only to fail.
Next Tier Power-Up: Along with the "Ame-no-Murakumo", she eventually awakens an Avatar Form similar to Itsuki and Disciples of Mother.
Only Mostly Dead: After getting impaled by Kohri, Xiera notes that she can't read any vital signs from Hitsugi anymore and assumes the worse. However, Al's arrival reveals that Hitsugi barely managed to survive which allowed him the chance to save her with his powers.
Ordinary High-School Student: Compared to Matoi, Hitsugi starts out as a simple high school girl who's mostly coasting through life trying to find something to do with herself.
Otaku: For legends and myths in general. The names she initially comes up for Al are all inspired from King Arthur^* and both of her Avatar Arms are based on Japanese mythology.
Pinball Protagonist: Hitsugi never chooses to get wrapped up in any of events of Episode 4, getting tossed from crisis to crisis in her desperate attempts to figure out what's going on and what she should do. Enga calls her out on this repeatedly despite her insistence that everything she does is her choice. This eventually bites her in the ass as her inability to find a reason to fight results in her Avatar Arms getting destroyed and Hitsugi herself nearly getting killed by Kohri.
Red Is Heroic: Has red hair and her Avatar Form's outfit is dressed primarily in red as well. Prior to it becoming Al, her avatar in PSO2 also wore a red version of the standard male ARKS combat suit.
School Uniforms are the New Black: She actually has casual clothes outside her school uniform, but chooses to wear it along with a pink jacket anyway once she joins up with the Protagonist and ARKS.
Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Pulls this off after the Protagonist saves her from the Falspawn like entity that tried to possess her, immediately pressing the logout button the moment her hands were free to do so. Unfortunately for her, that was only the start of her troubles.
Summon to Hand: Her Avatar Arms, which she gains the power to summon after Mother Corps assault on her and Al forces her to fight back.
Took a Level in Badass: She begins Episode 4 as a flighty, scared teenager just trying to make sense of everything that's happening to her. By the end she helps strike down an artificial god in Deus Hyunal. Then in Episode 6, her Ame-no-Murakumo is powerful enough to sever the Profound Darkness from the Guardian's body and even pin the monster down temporarily.
Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Had Hitsugi never ignored orders from Xiera at the beginning, the events of which led to the creation of Al, it's very well possible that the events of Episode 4 as a whole might never had happened at all.
Vocal Dissonance: While playing the part of a male ARKS operative, Hitsugi drops her voice an octave to sound more masculine, but her inner thoughts and hushed complaints are all in her natural, girly voice.

Al Yasaka

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/al_pso2.png

Voiced by: Aki Toyosaki

Originally serving as Hitsugi's avatar in PSO2, an encounter with a strange entity during a mission on Naverius resulted in Hitsugi nearly getting possessed. Fortunately for her, her life was saved by the Protagonist which allowed her to immediately log out of the game. However, after returning to her room, she soon discovers that her avatar had somehow physically manifested on Earth as well.

After coming to terms with her newfound ward, Hitsugi decides to name him Al. As Al, Hitsugi's avatar develops a childlike demeanor and treats her like an older sister. However, his existence quickly catches the attention of Mother, and soon both Al and Hitsugi are pulled into a conspiracy concerning ARKS and Mother Corps.

Accidental Pervert: Hitsugi decides to take him to a public bathhouse to get him washed. Hitsugi and Kohri manage to sneak him into (what they thought was) the women's side of the bathhouse and take note to blindfold him with a towel. However, because he can't see, he winds up groping both Hitsugi and Kohri at least twice.
Adaptational Modesty: The global release of the game removes all forms bathing and that Al had.
Amnesiacs are Innocent: Despite being almost the same size as Hitsugi, Al is child-like and easily impressionable. He quickly latches onto Hitsugi as his big sister and is merely confused when he accidentally gropes Kohri in the bathhouse.
Anti Anti Christ: He was originally a Dark Falz, but contact with the Protagonist's powers and Hitsugi's avatar while he was possessing it resulted in what would eventually become Al himself.
Bad Powers, Good People: His abilities explicitly come from the same negative photons used by other Dark Falz to lay waste to the landscape and even destroy entire planets. Yet, Al only uses his powers to teleport himself to the side of his loved ones and heal others.
Blue Is Heroic: Primarily associated with the color blue and is heroic at heart. Unlike all other Dark Falz, Al's outfit is accented with baby blue instead of red or pink, indicating that he's not malevolent.
Cat Girl: A male variant. When donning his Dark Falz outfit, he gains cat ears and a tail.
Cuteness Proximity: Constantly inspires this in Kohri despite her apparent dislike of men. Her over-the-top squeeing about his pretty features scares him enough to hide behind Hitsugi.
Dark Is Not Evil: Quite unlike any other instance of a Dark Falz, Al is a completely innocent sweetheart of a child, even after his true nature is revealed. It shows in his Falz outfit's color scheme, already having purified blue highlights instead of the evil Falz's red, and the only things he ever does with his powers are heal people and jump between dimensions.
Digital Avatar: Originally served as one for Hitsugi, but events led to him manifesting as his own individual.
Foreshadowing: Outside of his meeting with Matoi hinting of his true origins to some extent, Al being a purified Dark Falz on the side of the Guardian also foreshadows the eventual return of the original Dark Falz group in Episode 5, now purified and willingly working alongside the Guardian in order to prevent the return of the Profound Darkness.
Grand Theft Me: In a bid to help the Protagonist and everyone out against the final boss of Episode 4, he allows Mother to temporarily hijack his body to help the former return to Earth and also help restore the Avatar Arms of Hitsugi, Kohri, and Enga.
Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Blonde-haired, innocent, and sweet.
Happily Adopted: At the end of Episode 4, he's officially taken in by the Yasaka siblings as the third member of their family.
Have We Met?: Asks this of Matoi when they first meet, with the latter herself even admitting there's something familiar about Al that she doesn't quite understand. This is foreshadowing of the fact that Al is actually a Dark Falz who was born from a fragment of the Profound Darkness. It's likely Al and Matoi's familiarity with one another is a result of said connection as the latter once served as the Profound Darkness' host.
Humanoid Abomination: His true identity is a Dark Falz born from a fragment of the Profound Darkness that was left on Naverius. It only recently awoke once the Guardian arrived on the planet in Episode 4. The Falz fragment quickly sought them out in order to posses them, but Hitsugi's interference resulted in her getting possessed instead. However, as her body was actually an avatar composed of solid aether, the moment Hitsugi "logged out" of the avatar the Falz fragment quickly took control. Together with the Guardian's purification, the resulting fusion became Al.
Innocent Blue Eyes: He has big, blue eyes that underscore his innocence from his amnesia.
In Touch with His Feminine Side: Although he looks good in the outfit Kohri picked out for him, Al complains that they're too tight and wants clothes more like Hitsugi's. Justified in that he was originally Hitsugi's avatar, so clearly her preferences rubbed off on him.
Last of His Kind: By the end of Episode 6, Al is quite possibly the last Dark Falz in existence to remain after the death of the Profound Darkness. Fortunately, he's a good kid.
Living Macguffin: Mother wants Al for some reason and the first half of Episode 4 consists of Hitsugi protecting him while trying to figure out what Mother needs him for.
Naked First Impression: He spontaneously appears in Hitsugi's room completely naked.
Naked People Are Funny: His first appearance separate from Hitsugi has him butt-naked. Averted in the global release however as he's given clothes after manifesting.
Please, Don't Leave Me: His first night on Earth, he's terrified of being separated from Hitsugi and "going back to the way [he] was" before he met her, asking if he can sleep in the same bed as her.
Pretty Boy: Very, very pretty looking, to the point that Hitsugi actually takes a moment to consider if it would be alright to dress him in clothes like hers.
Punny Name: In the original Japanese script, his name "Al/Aru", means "to have". Given that Hitsugi's other idea was "Nai" (nothing), this means Al's name literally means that he has one.
Younger Than They Look: He appears and acts like a boy in elementary school, but he's only a few months old by the end of Episode 4.

Kohri Washinomiya

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kohri_pso2.png

Kohri in her Avatar Form

Voiced by: Aya Suzaki (JP)

Hitsugi's best friend and the soon to be vice president of Celestia Academy. Much like the former, Kohri is a member of Mother Corps and also helps with the investigation regarding PSO2's supposed bugs. However, after an incident forces Hitsugi to leave Mother Corps, Kohri's sanity takes a turn for the worse...

Ambiguously Gay: Kohri dislikes men and her fondness for Hitsugi all but outright says that she's gay. She even fantasizes about Hitsugi in "Beach Wars 2020" event and in the epilogue of Episode 6. However, she does make an exception for Al since he's incredibly cute.
An Ice Person: Her element of choice is ice.
Axe-Crazy: After Hitsugi left and Ophiel's brainwashed her into becoming a soldier for Mother Corps, Kohri's default personality is basically this.
Battle Theme Music "Ice-Covered Love", which plays during her battles against Hitsugi and the protagonist.
BFS: Magic Sword Gram. It's big enough that it's actually larger than its wielder.
Blue Is Heroic: Once Hitsugi brings Kohri to her senses, Kohri's Avatar Form changes to a more regal-looking blue dress. The glowing parts of Gram also change to blue to represent her renewed determination and calmer mindset.
Brainwashed and Crazy: Thanks to Ophiel manipulating the aether in her body. She's eventually snapped out of it thanks to Hitsugi.
Buxom Beauty Standard: She has busty figure, which is surce of envy for Hitsugi and Och.
The Cameo: Much like Hitsugi, Kohri also appears in the opening of The Animation and appears with her during the school festival episode.
Clingy Jealous Girl: Towards Hitsugi. During her stint as a Disciple, she doesn't really like it when she develops a friendship with the Protagonist and blames them for Hitsugi leaving Mother Corps. On a more comedic note, when Hitsugi receives what appears to be a love letter in a substory, Kohri's first instinct is to pull out Gram.
Cloud Cuckoolander: She can be very "out there" at times.
Comedic Lolicon: Kohri absolutely fawns over Al and loves doting on him almost as much as her vaguely romantic attachment to Hitsugi. This includes a scene where she has absolutely no qualms with him accidentally groping her, much less encouraging it (much to Hitsugi's disbelief).
Cute and Psycho: Kohri is very friendly, at least towards Hitsugi and Al, but she's also not really all there in the head so to speak and can be quite dangerous. Hitsugi actually pokes fun at her for this, noting how appropriate it is that Kohri would get Gram as a weapon much to Kohri's embarrassment over the matter.
Cuteness Overload: This is her reaction upon meeting Al for the first time. It's enough to scare him.
Dull Eyes of Unhappiness: After being recruited by Mother Corp and awakening the Demonic Sword Gram as her Avatar Arms, Kohri's eyes go from their original look to this, emphasizing her Axe-Crazy mindset.
D-Cup Distress: Admits to Hitsugi that she thinks slender figures like hers are better. Hitsugi, and later Och, are not amused.
Economy Cast: Kohri is the only member of Celestia Academy's student council to be shown, with the rest of them only being alluded to as part of the memories they made at school.
Good Costume Switch: Her Avatar Form switches from dominatrix-style Disciple clothes to classic fantasy style clothes after snapping out of Ophiel's brainwashing. Gram's colors also switch from an eerie magenta to a more serene blue.
Hero Killer: Almost kills Hitsugi had it not been for Al's intervention.
Informed Attribute: Her dislike for men is one. Outside of Hagith who's a smug jerk, Kohri's interactions with other male characters are always cordial and polite. She's even incredibly fond of Al.
Instant Costume Change: Like Hitsugi, Kohri gains her own Avatar Form after coming to her senses, going from her tattered Mother Corps uniform representing her fractured mental state to a much more elegant blue dress.
Laughing Mad: Briefly in one of her encounters while Brainwashed and Crazy. According to Hitsugi, Kohri laughs this way when she realizes, deep down, she needs help.
Magic Knight: According to her Partner Card, she'd be classed as a Hunter/Force as an ARKS Operative. During her boss fight, she assails you with ice attacks while keeping you at bay with swings of Gram.
Ms. Exposition: When Hitsugi asks, she Info Dumps the history behind Esca and PSO2 in a matter of minutes.
Only Friend: Kohri is the only person Hitsugi is shown to be truly close to prior to the events of Episode 4.
Red Eyes, Take Warning: Has red eyes and between her and Hitsugi, Kohri is far more dangerous a person. Her stint as a Disciple of Mother shows it. She even almost murders Hitsugi in a psychotic craze.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Red to Hitsugi's Blue, being more outwardly emotional and energetic whereas Hitsugi tends to be more serious and driven. Ironic given their respective outfits and weapons give them the opposite colors.
Sailor Fuku: Going to the same school as Hitsugi, she also wears the same plain uniform.
Secret A.I. Moves: As a boss character, she uses a unique Hunter style where she can also conjure ice crystals that can inflict freeze. As an NPC teammate, she lacks access to any of these moves.
Shrinking Violet: When she's not with Hitsugi, Kohri is often submissive and tends to defer to authority, especially when in an unfamiliar situation.
Stepford Smiler: She was like this before she met Hitsugi.
Super-Strength: As part of the package of awakening her Avatar Arms, she gained enough physical strength to casually swing a sword as large as Gram with ease.
Undying Loyalty: Towards Mother. It's the reason why she's so hesitant about joining Hitsugi, because she can't really imagine why Mother might be wrong and tries to convince Hitsugi of that.
Yandere: Towards Hitsugi. She even gets called this directly by Och and Phul.

Enga Yasaka

Enga

Voiced by: Yoshimasa Hosoya (JP)

Hitsugi's sarcastic if well meaning older brother. Despite his young age, he's actually a member of Earth Guide, an organization dedicated to protecting Earth from supernatural and sometimes alien threats, and one of their top agents. When his sister Hitsugi is put in danger by Mother Corps, Enga doesn't hesitate to help his sister out.

Aloof Big Brother: He's rather diffident and condescending to Hitsugi, always calling her a dummy and rarely giving her sincere affection despite caring for her. He does this to keep her at arm's length in hopes of distancing her from his dangerous double life as a member of Earth Guide. This gets deconstructed however, as his behavior only contributed to Hitsugi's passivity and longing for others to rely on her, as she always tried to please others to fill that void left by his aloof behavior and their parents' deaths.
Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Him and Hitsugi. The two of them constantly trade jabs but deep down love each other as the only family they have left. Enga in particular is very grateful for the support that Protagonist has given towards Hitsugi and hopes they'll continue to do so in the future.
Badass in a Nice Suit: He wears a snappy black suit and red shirt when on official Earth Guide business.
Big Brother Instinct:
- Despite taking constant jabs at her, Enga clearly cares for Hitsugi and would do anything to protect her. He went so far as to join Earth Guide and train himself to be willing to kill and sabotage anyone if it means creating a more peaceful world for her. He also comes to consider Al as a younger brother soon after meeting him.
- This gets played for laughs in the epilogue of Episode 6 where Enga, after hearing about Hitsugi receiving a love letter, immediately asks her to set up a meeting between him and the sender, wanting to make sure that whoever sent it is good enough for his sister.
Big Damn Heroes: Pulls a fast one on Bethor by jumping in at the nick of time and shooting his Phantasms down.
Boring, but Practical: Compared to his sister and Kohri, Enga's Avatar Arms take on the form of twin machine guns and an assault rifle. His Avatar Form is also basically just regular battlefield gear not out of place in something like Call of Duty. Hitsugi and Kohri both poke fun at him on this, saying that he has no imagination.
The Cameo: Enga appears in the opening of The Animation, but unlike Hitsugi and Kohri does not appear in the show proper.
Child Soldier: Adam recruits Enga not long after his parents' deaths, and Enga tells Och that he was raised learning how to kill, sabotage, and cheat, implying this.
Combat Pragmatist: He opens his fight with Och by trying to shoot her while she's in the middle of monologuing, mentioning that he's used to sabotaging, lying, and cheating.
Continuity Nod: A side cutscene reveals that Enga was Aika's Earth Guide contact while she was investigating the Falspawn outbreak on Earth during the events of The Animation.
Curtains Match the Window: Red eyes to match his red hair.
Deadpan Snarker: Towards Hitsugi and Adam. He doesn't really miss a chance to snark at both whenever the chance pops up. He's also flabbergasted to meet Risa, asking if ARKS is one of those places where the weirdos run the place.
Dual Wielding: Phantom Gun can manifest as twin machine guns.
Embarrassing Nickname: Och likes to call him "10% Playboy/Casanova" much to Enga's annoyance.
Fiery Redhead: He's usually the calmer and more methodical one between him and Hitsugi, but he gets extremely fired up and emotional whenever she's in danger. He completely loses his cool in the later parts of the chapter after he witnesses Hitsugi nearly dying, Mother being killed by Adam, and the monstrosities Adam is turning Earth Guide and by extension all of humanity into.
Heroic BSoD: Goes through a brief one after Adam murders Mother and reveals his plans to force an evolution on humanity. Hitsugi helps get him through it.
Instant Costume Change: For the finale of Episode 4, Enga dons his Avatar Form, modern military body armor with a short camo-covered Badass Cape.
More Dakka: If his Avatar Arms: Phantom Gun is anything to go by, Enga's modus operandi when it comes to fighting is to keep shooting things until they're dead.
Promotion to Parent: After the deaths of his and Hitsugi's parents, Enga ended up as Hitsugi's primary caretaker and works with Earth Guide in order to do so.
"The Reason You Suck" Speech: Gives one towards Hitsugi as he calls her out on not having a reason to fight, warning her that such a mindset is dangerous to have in their line of work. Turns out Enga was right, as Hitsugi's inability to steel her resolve nearly ends up getting her killed by Kohri.
She Is Not My Girlfriend: With Och. Enga denies having any attraction towards her when the topic is brought up but fails to convince anyone thanks to how casual he and Och end up becoming.
Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Being only a few years apart from Hitsugi, it can be said that it was a given that she'd turn out the way she did as Enga wasn't really in a position to suddenly take over for their parents at such a young age. It doesn't really help that he distanced himself from her in order to protect her from the dangers of his job with Earth Guide, which only further worsened her desire to find a place to belong to which ironically led her to Mother Corps, Earth Guide's opposition.
Vitriolic Best Buds: With Och of all people at the end of Episode 4.

Seiga Academy

Itsuki Tachibana

^{Click here to see his Avatar Form}

Voiced by: Shouta Aoi (JP)

The main protagonist of Phantasy Star Online 2: The Animation. A completely average high school student who attends Seiga Academy with his friends in his third year. While a good athlete and student, he's notable for being perfectly unremarkable in every regard, a fact that leads Rina Izumi to appoint Itsuki as Seiga Academy's Student Council vice president, whereupon he is tasked to play the MMORPG that's sweeping the nation, Phantasy Star Online 2.

In PSO2, his avatar is Itsuki, who, despite being randomly generated, bears a striking resemblance to his real-life self. He is a Hunter/Braver. While new to the virtual world of the Ethernet, he slowly gains information about the new world surrounding him with the help of his friends and the veteran player, SORO. Although a new player, he has since gained a reputation amongst others for being "that guy" that plays with SORO, a player who usually tackles the game alone.

Audience Surrogate: As a complete newbie to PSO2 and internet in general, he has a lot of terminology explained to him.
Back for the Finale: He and the rest of Episode 4's cast lose practically all of their screentime once Episode 5 rolls around. But he reappears in Episode 6 defending Earth from the oncoming Photoner invasion.
Beware the Nice Ones: He attacks the Falspawn in a rage when he sees one of them holding RINA hostage in Episode 7 of The Animation.
Big Eater: In Episode 6 of The Animation, he manages to down a whole potluck of food exponentially faster than any of the other council members.
Brought Down to Normal: He is told that he has lost access to his Photon powers following the final confrontation against Apprentice. However, as Episode 4 shows that he can still access it when doing his client orders.
The Chosen Many: He's one of a handful of people on Earth whose aether affinity is high enough that he can utilize Photon Arts and other abilities from his PSO2 avatar in the real world by manifesting them as his Avatar Arms.
Demoted to Extra: The protagonist of The Animation, but after the anime ended he doesn't really do much outside of being an NPC with a unique set of client orders during Episode 4. He does however help with the defense of Earth together with Rina and Aika during Shiva's invasion.
Did You Just Have Sex?: His increasing closeness with Aika along with his poor choice of wording convinces the student council that they are in a sexual relationship. Given that he's getting involved with ARKS, there's no reasonable way for him to explain it.
Distracted by the Sexy: Itsuki is pretty taken when he sees RINA for the first time.
Dull Eyes of Unhappiness: He gets these in Episode 9 while still shell shocked about the boosted Goldrahda that nearly offed him. He performs a Get A Hold Of Yourself Man on himself to snap him out of it.
Everybody Knew Already: Itsuki has a single-person version of this when he figures out that SORO is Rina; she would often repeat the same words in real life as in-game, and vice-versa. When Rina confesses to him, he's more surprised about her shouting it than the actual fact.
Fanservice: His trip to the hot spring in episode 6 includes multiple shots of his butt.
Forgotten First Meeting: He first met with Rina as a young child on a playground. He has since forgotten this event, but Rina certainly hasn't.
Hero of Another Story: He's the protagonist of The Animation, a side story that takes place prior to the events of Episode 4 of the main game.
Innocently Insensitive: It's established early on that Itsuki knows jack-squat about internet ethics, or anything about the internet in general. He reveals Musashi's real-life identity in front of a crowd of players because he didn't know that that's something he shouldn't be doing. When Musashi had threatened to reveal his identity earlier, Itsuki didn't care because he didn't believe it was that big of a deal.
Jack of All Trades: The one remarkable thing about him is that him being "average" accounts for a high level of "average"; he's often known as the "handyman" for being able to be decent at pretty much anything.
Jumped at the Call: He's ecstatic to learn that he's one of a handful of people on Earth with a high enough aether affinity to battle Falspawn and can't wait to get involved with ARKS. Aika admonishes him for this childish enthusiasm, as he's approaching combat like it's still a game rather than the life-or-death struggle it actually is.
Keet: He's a rather cheery guy most of the time.
Large Ham: He gets a moment at the end of Episode 3 when he steals Koa's lines.
Leeroy Jenkins: He recklessly charges at the boosted Goldrahda in Episode 9 and nearly gets himself killed in the process.
Nice Guy: His defining trait outside of being an average guy.
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: He accidentally exposes Musashi as Yutaka in front of a crowd of other players, which causes a lot of What the Hell, Hero? reactions from his friends and causes Yutaka to start bailing out on school. To be fair, he also had no idea that doing so was bad practice.
Open Mouth, Insert Foot: Rina remarks that she didn't expect her first PSO2 avatar to look so much like herself. Itsuki interjects by asking if her boobs are that big in real life. This snipe earns him a Death Glare from Rina and he quickly pipes down.
Ordinary High-School Student: Totally normal guy who just wants a nice, quiet life. Of course, Rina isn't going to make that easy for him.
The Protagonist: Of The Animation.
Red Armband of Leadership: His Avatar Form includes one on his left arm.
Remembered I Could Fly: It takes some memory-jogging from SORO for him to remember that the Gunblade has a Shot Mode on its Weapon Action. Justified in that he's new and is still getting the hang of things.
Ridiculously Average Guy: In the real world, Itsuki is an average guy with good grades and nothing better to do. His "average" status makes him a good candidate for student council VP, as Rina exposits.
Shirtless Scene: In episode 6.
Signature Move: Stargazer, the Photon Art that he summons with his friends to kill Dark Falz Apprentice. It basically runs on The Power of Friendship that he has with both Rina and Aika. He later uses it to smash apart a small army's worth of Luminmechs and an entire freaking flying battleship when helping Aika and Rina defend Earth from Shiva.
Super Mode: His Avatar Form is this, as it allows Itsuki to fight even outside PSO2 avatar.
Stalker without a Crush: In Episode 8 of The Animation, Itsuki begins tailing Aika to figure out what her deal is. Unfortunately for him, everyone thinks he's a Stalker with a Crush; Silva even thinks they're a couple on first sight. He needs to deny this every time someone brings it up.
Took a Level in Badass: Once his Super Mode becomes permanent and turns into a Mid-Season Upgrade, Itsuki's badass level rockets up several notches. However, he still requires training to get his new powers under control. Takes it further in Episode 6 where he managed to keep in synch with the Protagonist as they take on members of Shiva's army.

Rina Izumi

Voiced by: Ayaka Suwa

^{Click here to see her Avatar Form}

The pitch-perfect Student Council President of Seiga Academy. She's everything anyone could ever hope to be: smart, athletic, beautiful, graceful, and a strong leader. As the head of the Seiga Academy Student Council, her mission is to delegate the actions of the council and provide the school with feedback on Phantasy Star Online 2, a game that many students of Seiga Academy are infatuated with.

In PSO2, her avatar is SORO, a self-proclaimed "veteran player" who is alternatively known as the "Lone Warrior" for being a powerful solo player. Despite this, Rina, under the guise of SORO, joins Itsuki and helps him learn the ropes of the game while being a powerful ally. In-game, SORO can be rather chatty at times and is somewhat eccentric. Prior to SORO, her first avatar was known as RINA, basically a replica of herself only as a Gunner.

Badass Cape: SORO has a big, red, tattered cape.
Big Damn Heroes: SORO saves Itsuki from an imminent KO by popping up out of nowhere and using Impact Slider on the El Dagan ready to take Itsuki out.
Cannot Spit It Out: When Itsuki begins neglecting his PSO2 reports, Rina approaches him in the middle of a council meeting in an attempt to confront him about his claims that he didn't play despite being logged into the game... then chickens out immediately, as she has No Social Skills.
The Chosen Many: She's one of a handful of people on Earth whose aether affinity is high enough that she can utilize Photon Arts and other abilities from her PSO2 avatar in the real world by manifesting them as hre Avatar Arms.
Clingy Jealous Girl: Subdued. While she and Itsuki aren't officially an item, she gets very annoyed when she thinks Itsuki prefers Aika's company.
Cross Player: Rina's avatar in PSO2 is the masculine and talkative CAST, SORO.
Damsel in Distress: Becomes this near the end of The Animation as she's captured by Falspawn in order to become the new host of Dark Falz Apprentice. Happens a second time during Episode 5 where Rina ends up becoming a denizen of Apprentice thanks to Margaretta's actions.
Dark Action Girl: While possessed by Dark Falz Apprentice.
Even the Girls Want Her: Rina is very popular with the boys and girls alike.
Forgettable Character: Rina was this when she was a child; it's part of why she has No Social Skills and doesn't like conversing with other people.
Forgotten First Meeting: Itsuki and Rina met as children, which also factors into why Rina decides to connect with Itsuki many years later in high school. Itsuki doesn't remember this interaction or Rina as a child, so when they first met at Seiga, he naturally assumed that her knowing him was the Student Council President doing her thing.
Friendless Background: Due to a combination of having No Social Skills and not meeting people often, she doesn't have many friends and is adverse to communicating with others.
Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: See Irony below.
Irony: She plays both the Ranger focused SORO and Gunner focused RINA, but in real life without her avatar or her powers she's actually a terrible shot.
Large Ham: As SORO, she tends to be bit more dramatic in speech. Not as much as Itsuki's friend however
Laser-Guided Amnesia: She loses her memory of what she did in Omega after the player sends her back to Earth. However, she makes contact with the ARKS Ship after the debacle, upon which she gets a very strong feeling of "doing something really embarrassing".
Master of All: She's good at everything. Except people.
Mistaken for Profound: Inverted; SORO likes to talk like this. Itsuki isn't buying it.
No Social Skills: Even Rina admits that she sucks at communicating with other people. SORO is alternatively known as "Mr. Aloof" or "Aloof" because he has trouble with other players.
Pink Is Feminine: Rina's dorm room has a lot of pink wallpaper.
Punny Name: SORO is renowned as the "Lone Warrior" because he's a solo player.
She Is Not My Girlfriend: She has a rather... enthusiastic reaction to Kid implying that she and Itsuki are together.
Stripperiffic: As RINA, her outfit shows off a healthy amount of skin.
Super Mode: Gains hers in Episode 10, only to be captured by the Falspawn shortly after.
Suspiciously Specific Denial: In an episode preview for Episode 3 of The Animation, Quna jokingly asks if SORO is male, to which he vehemently confirms despite the fact that Quna's kidding around.
Trademark Favorite Food: In Episode 1, she states that her favorite food is ankimo, or monkfish liver.
Tron Lines: SORO's body sports lots of red lines.

Other Students

Kouta Kayano

Voiced by: Nobunaga Shimazaki

One of Itsuki's long-time pals, and an avid player of Phantasy Star Online 2 who has tried to get Itsuki into the game at least once before. When Itsuki is appointed to student council vice president, Kouta helps him start out on the right foot with a hand-drawn guide. He is a fan of roleplay; when playing PSO2, he often acts in-character, much to the amusement of Itsuki and pals.

In PSO2, his avatar is Koa, a Deuman Bouncer who has a penchant for theatrics. Despite his rather enthusiastic approach to the game, his skills are a force to be reckoned with.

Horned Humanoid: Being a Deuman, Koa is this. He has one horn, while female Deuman have two.
Large Ham: Large enough to give even SORO pause.
Scarf of Asskicking: Koa sports a red one that defies gravity.

Mika Konoe

Voiced by: Rie Murakawa

One of the three closest members to Rina in the student council. She has a tendency to come off as cold to everyone else, but she's very warm to Izumi, her senior and head of the council. Since Itsuki joined the council, she is the least amicable member towards him, mainly because she's jealous of him for taking Rina from her.

In PSO2, her avatar is Lilika, a Hunter/Fighter that sports a unique pink Lillipan costume.

Clingy Jealous Girl: She's this for Rina. It's why she's resented Itsuki since he joined the student council.
Damsel in Distress: She is kidnapped by Falspawn in Episode 7, forcing Itsuki, RINA, and Aika to save her and bring her back to Earth. Thankfully, Quna gets in on the action and helps out.

Yutaka Sasaki

Voiced by: Aki Kanada (Yutaka), Hiroyuki Yoshino (Musashi)

The meek member of the student council who is often assigned to the dirty work. While shy, he's a hard worker, and returns the care others show for him. When Itsuki is assigned to handle a variety of odd jobs, Yutaka steps in and offers a helping hand.

In PSO2, his avatar is a Newman called Musashi. Through it, he acts troll towards other players.

A Darker Me: Musashi is this to Yutaka.
Affectionate Nickname: Itsuki starts calling him Yu-chan in Episode 3. He isn't particularly fond of it.
Apologizes a Lot: Does this with frequency. Itsuki tells him not to worry about it.
Cool Shades: Musashi sports futuristic sunglasses.
Extreme Doormat: He does what people tells him to because he's afraid of being disliked. However, this also contributes to his willingness to troll people in PSO2, because he feels like he would be disliked if he acted that way in real life.
Fanboy: For SEGA.
Jerkass: Musashi doesn't like to help his teammates and looks down on noobs. He joins Itsuki, SORO, and Koa on an expedition to the Volcanoes, refuses to help them and insults them all the way through, then has the gall to send them a friend request. Kouta is incensed enough to send him to the blacklist.
Out-of-Character Moment: In Episode 6, he is invited to join in a friendly ping-pong match. When he wins, he aggressively insults his opponent much like how he would online. When he gets called out on it, he backpedals immediately.
Troll: Musashi is referred to as such by other players.
Took a Level in Kindness: Musashi gets slightly better after Itsuki helps Yutaka understand that it's not okay to troll other players. He still walks over his teammates, but at least he's actually helping.

Earth Guide

Adam Sacrid (SPOILERS)

Adam

Voiced by: Yuichi Nakamura

A young nobleman and the current leader of Earth Guide, an ancient and secret organization of aether-sensitive Earthlings dedicated to preserving the future of the human race. They are opposed to the actions of Mother Corps.

Affably Evil: He won't even speak ill of the player character or their allies in private. He is genuinely thankful for their (unwitting) contribution to his plan. In addition, the transformation he subjected the nameless Earth Guide guard to was a gift for his service... a gift he did not expect to be fatal.
Arch-Enemy: Towards Phaleg. The two of them have been fight for millennia as Phaleg disagrees with Adam's notions of controlling humanity from the shadows. She eventually moves to try and kill him for good once he's gone too far with his ambitions during Episode 4.
The Archmage: He has been manipulating aether for thousands of years, long before Mother reawakened in the modern day. His usage of it goes beyond mere Avatar Arms, being able to duplicate himself, forcibly change a human's form, and perform summoning rituals to create beings as powerful as Deus ESCA, albeit he needs Mother's power to do the latter two. During his boss fight he also attacks you with beams of light, traps, and other attacks that seem magical, suiting his previous aliases as wizards like Merlin and alchemists like Paracelsus.
Badass in a Nice Suit: He's strong enough to have dueled Phaleg throughout history and takes on the protagonist, Hitsugi, Enga, and Kohri all at once. He loses, but the latter three are all winded by the end.
Beethoven Was an Alien Spy: Adam has taken many aliases throughout history in order to manipulate humanity, such as Merlin, Abe no Seimei and Paracelsus. He and Phaleg are also implied to be Adam and Eve due to their names Adam Sacrid and Phaleg Ives sounding all too similar to mythological characters in question.
Big Good: Of Earth Guide. Adam leads the organization which by itself has help protect Earth from supernatural threats in the past and has even done some mediating between warring nations as well. This is quickly subverted once he kills Mother and tries to force an unwanted evolution on humanity.
Blue-and-Orange Morality: He sincerely believes that his actions, however extreme, are unequivocally good, since they're for the betterment of mankind in general. As Phaleg puts it:
Phaleg: Adam cannot even conceive of the notion of having used you. It's never even crossed his mind. He believes that he is always doing good. On the contrary, it's unlikely he understands your reasoning at all. That is why he tried to convince you. To him, Mother is an evil being who abused the Earth. Naturally, he feels beyond reproach for killing her. And naturally, he believes stealing her power and using it to Earth's benefit is a just act—perhaps the only just act. [...] He does not believe that his actions are wrong. He will never stop.
Battle Theme Music: False Credo - Earth Guide, which he shares with his subordinate and Number Two, Ophiel.
Broken Pedestal: To Enga. Despite how they act together, the latter respects Adam heavily and was distraught to learn that the leader he's been following all these years turned out to have god complex and needed to be put down.
Foil:
- To Phaleg. The two have existed and crossed swords with one another for thousands of years. Adam is obsessed with improving humanity by any means necessary, manipulating it under various aliases as figures of history and legend. While he appears outwardly kind and altruistic, he has grown disappointed with the state of humanity, calling it stagnant and seeing only the strife and suffering. This has led him to develop a disconcerting Blue-and-Orange Morality where anything he does is good, as it's for the "betterment" of humanity. Meanwhile, Phaleg lives only for herself, relentlessly training her entire time on Earth to reach the apex of her potential. While she has gained the moniker as "The Demon" for her ungodly strength, she is a firm believer in humanity's ability to grow and change, opposing all of Adam's attempts to force it to evolve against their will. Adam wears bright white clothing and is affable on the outside but twisted on this inside, while Phaleg wears all black and is battle hungry and merciless, but does not lack a sense of honor. This is even reflected in their fighting styles. Adam bombards you with multi-directional magical attacks, creates clones to fool you, wields a rapier like a magic wand, while Phaleg simply tries to overwhelm you with raw speed, power, and her mastery of martial arts.
- To Mother. They are the heads of organizations manipulating humanity from the shadows and want to see them reach their full potential. But while Mother is motivated by her desire to be loved and take vengeance on the Photoners who abandoned her, Adam acts entirely on his love of humanity. Mother only awakened relatively recently, introducing ARKS-level communications technology in the past few decades while Adam has been monitoring humanity's progress since the very beginning. Ultimately, Mother is able to look past her hatred and find new reasons to live, Adam can't see himself as anything but good and is willing to turn humanity into Phantasms to suit his own vision for them.
Graceful Loser: His defeat and presumed death at the hands of the heroes ends up with him acknowledging the strength and warning them that the being he's summoned will come back, before fading away with a smile after Enga confirms their determination and refusal to give up hope.
Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: He's golden-haired and a serene protector of humanity... until he decides that he's tired of their constant wars and stagnation and takes it upon himself to evolve it by force.
The Illuminati: Earth Guide is basically this. Specifically, Adam himself has secretly manipulated humanity for tens of thousands of years in hopes of guiding them towards a proper future.
Leitmotif: "Nobleness", a regal sounding theme that plays whenever you visit him at Earth Guide headquarters. It gets a sinister remix, "False Credo - Earth Guide" when Adam reveals his true colors.
Light Is Not Good: His golden hair, brightly lit headquarters, and light-based attacks in battle all contrast Mother's colder blue and dimly lit meeting room. But he's revealed to be even more alien than she is when it comes to his ideology and goals.
Magic Knight: He can attack with both his rapier and a wide arsenal of magical attacks.
Meaningful Name: Named after "Adam", aka the Original Man in Christian mythology.
Non-Specifically Foreign: Adam belongs to a noble family, but it's not specified exactly which country he's from.
Restart the World: This is how he ultimately decides to usher in humanity's evolution.
Royal Rapier: Adam's sword seems to be both a weapon and a conduit for manipulating aether like a Magic Wand. He's also a noble in an undisclosed country in his current identity.
Spell My Name With An S: In Japan his name is Ardem, which changed to Adam in the localization. The former was really an alias for actually being the Adam, making it a fair bit less subtle with the change.
Supernatural Gold Eyes: He has the same golden eyes as Phaleg, underscoring their connection as the First Man and the First Woman respectively.
Utopia Justifies the Means: He kills the repentant Mother to steal her power and fulfill his ambition of forcing humanity to the next stage of their evolutionary development.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: He genuinely believes that everything he does is for the sake of humanity... inlcuding murdering Mother and forcibly and painfully transfiguring all of humanity into Phantasms.
What Measure Is a Non-Human?: His insistence on helping humanity and only humanity means that he completely disregards an alien being like Mother, murdering her without a hint of regret or hesitation. He can't even begin to register that he did anything wrong even when Enga, arguably his closest subordinate, calls him out on it.

Mother Corps

An organization that controls Earth through its aether based technology. They are led by the individual known as Mother along with her disciples who are titled after the planets within the solar system. They are also responsible for the creation of the beings known as "Phantasms".

Mother (SPOILERS)

Mother

Voiced by: Rina Sato

The mysterious leader of Mother Corps, who is spoken about in reverent tones by its members. Through her actions, Earth has gone through a technological breakthrough in communications with the introduction of aether and the Esca system. She leads the Disciples, aether-sensitive humans with special abilities that grant them strength beyond that of regular people. During Episode 4, she takes an interest in the child known as Al, and works to get capture him through any means necessary, putting her into a conflict with ARKS whom Mother seems to have history with...

Affably Evil: She genuinely cares for her disciples like a mother would her children, and while she uses the Phantasms to control Earth, she doesn't wish for large-scale destruction.
All Your Powers Combined: Fight like a combination of Elder, Luther, Apprentice, and Gemini. This is a given as she had absorbed Al, who himself was the manifested F-Factors of the Protagonist that they absorbed from fighting all four Dark Falz and expunged during their cryo sleep.
Anti-Villain: A quiet, caring and heartfelt person, albeit a little aloof and otherworldly. Under normal circumstances she's the Big Good for humanity as she only wants the best for them. Unfortunately, she has a massive chip on her shoulder when it comes to the Photoners, which puts her into conflict with ARKS and whoever is on their side.
Apologetic Attacker: As Esca Falz Mother, since she has lost control of her body to the F-Factor.
The Assimilator: Her goal is to absorb Al, a hybrid of photons and aether, to gain the power to wipe out every trace of the Photoners, including ARKS.
Attack Its Weak Point: As Esca Falz Mother she's invincible until you take out the Arms, which opens her chest and exposes the weak point on her heart. It's exposed completely after you whittle down her health enough, but she also becomes much more aggressive in her attack patterns in the process.
Battle Theme Music:
- In her initial story battle with you, she shares the theme "Ice-Covered Love" with Kohri.
- As ESCA Falz Mother, she has Superliminal ~ Rush ~ ESCA Falz Mother while chasing her throughout the moon base in a Rideroid. The actual boss fight features a heavily-remixed version of the Phantasy Star II boss theme, "Death Place", which has become synonymous with Mother Brain.
Benevolent Boss: She loves all of her disciples like they are her own children. She mourns when it seems like Och and Phul have died and tells Aratron that it's probably best for him to leave her, lest he come to blows with ARKS. This is the reason why her followers have such fanatical loyalty to her, as she gathers those isolated by their own passions and talents and nurtures them to lead happy and successful lives. This is also why Aratron is quick to question Ophiel's insistence that Bethor was killed on Mother's orders, as Aratron notes that would be uncharacteristically callous of her.
Blue Is Heroic: A subversion. Mother's outfit is predominantly blue and white like Xion and Xiao, and she desires nothing more than the destruction of the Photoners and by extension ARKS. Double Subverted when she pulls her Heel–Face Turn after Hitsugi gets through to her, only to get hit with a Heel–Face Door-Slam courtesy of Ophiel and Adam.
Bullet Hell: The first phase of her boss battle has you speeding after her in a Rideroid while she bombards you with energy projectiles and weaves through obstacles that damage you if you run into them. Her proper boss fight also has her fill the arena with lasers, falling meteors, and a Storm of Blades.
Composite Character: In gameplay, the battle against Esca Falz Mother can quite literally be summed up as "every Falz battle mashed into a single character". The fight occurs on a circular arena like Dar Falz Luther's, the background resembles that of the Profound Darkness fight, a Falz Arms gimmick is used like the Elder fight, and One-Hit Kill moves are used at certain intervals like the Apprentice fight. There's also the fact that said Arms use modified versions of existing Falz moves that make her act like a Ditto Fighter.
Clone Angst: As it turns out, Mother's actually a imperfect clone of Xion just like Xiao. She was created long ago by the Photoners, and was in fact the first Xion clone ever created, but was discarded by them because of her free will and due to having weaker abilities than Xion did. This resulted in Mother developing a complex regarding her worth and a desire to prove herself to her long deceased creators. Unfortunately for her, they're all dead, which causes her to turn her attention towards ARKS and the Oracle Fleet instead.
Ditto Fighter: A large majority of Esca Falz Mother's attacks are based on the four Dark Falz bosses: Elder, Luther, Gemini, and Apprentice.
Dual Wielding: She wields a pair of energy swords called Laevateinn, named after the flaming sword that lights Yggdrasil ablaze during Ragnarok.
Energy Weapon: Par for the course for Falz bosses. In the initial phase, she summons various laser arrays that inflict massive damage to your Rideroid if you happen to fly into them. In the fight proper, she supplements her regular attacks with lasers.
Evil Aunt: She's the first copy of Xion. So when she learns of Xiera as Xiao's creation and replacement as Overseer, she refers to Xiera as her grandniece.
Evil Counterpart: Mother basically serves as one for Xiao, both being clones of Xion who ended up becoming the leaders of a large organization that helps guide the people of Earth and Oracle respectively. However, whereas Xiao only works to ensure Xion's wish of a brighter tomorrow for the people of Oracle and the universe, Mother wishes to annihilate Oracle and ARKS as a whole due to her vendetta against the Photoners and wishing to erase all traces of their legacy and is willing to go to any lengths to achieve said wish.
Evil Is Not a Toy: She absorbs Al to gain his powers as a photon-aether hybrid, but because Al is actually a Dark Falz, she struggles to suppress the F-Factor and gives birth to uncontrollable Esca Falspawn.
Fighting from the Inside: During the final battle with Deus Esca, Mother reappears as a sort of spirit. It's revealed that since she once collided with Earth billions of years ago, remnants of her remained and became one with planet itself. This gives Mother enough of control over Deus whom she's able to temporarily hold back as she restores Hitsugi, Kohri, and Enga's ability to use their Avatar Arms.
Flechette Storm: Esca Falz Mother's Luther Arm is capable of raining small knives down in a concentrated area for enormous damage, resembling Luther's One-Hit Kill attack.
Genius Loci: Her true body is the moon itself, having crashed into the Earth eons ago when the Photoners dropped her into subspace. The impact forced her into dormancy for billions of years until Aratron discovered and awakened her, but her presence provided aether to Earth, resulting in a variety of supernatural phenomenon.
"Get Back Here!" Boss: The first part of her raid boss fight has you chase her through her base in a Rideroid while she bombards you with projectiles and forces you to weave through obstacles. Falling too far behind will prompt you to chase after her with a special turbo boost, but falling even further behind will damage your Rideroid until you wipe out.
Good with Numbers: Her calculation powers far surpass Xiera's and are on par with Xiao's, allowing her to remotely hack the ARKS Ships and deny Xiera the ability to release the dampening fields, leaving the ARKS operatives on board at Aratron's and Ophiel's mercy.
Heel–Face Door-Slam: Mother is about to join Hitsugi and Al in a peaceful life when she is murdered and absorbed by Adam. She manages to atone later after Deus is summoned by Fighting from the Inside, but still fades from existence after the battle.
I Just Want to Be Loved: Hitsugi notices that this is Mother's true motivation all along: to end her eternal solitude and prove that she wasn't a mere failed copy of Xion. That's why she took in lonely, talented people across the globe into Mother Corp to soothe her own loneliness and to save others from the isolation she felt when the Photoners discarded her.
Image Song: A Cover Version of the Moon Base's theme, "Tears of the Moon".
Leitmotif: "The Replica - Mother", a techno remix of Xion's theme, to show that she's a copy yet distinct from Xion.
Misplaced Retribution: Towards ARKS. Her real vendetta is with the Photoners who created and then abandoned her, but since they're all dead, Mother decides to take her frustrations out on the next best thing: the legacy of the Photoners which is ARKS and the Oracle fleet.
Mister Big: When her face is first shown, she is also revealed to be notably shorter than her Disciples.
One-Hit Kill: In the final stage of the fight against Esca Falz Mother, she summons and draws in a number of destructible cubes, then deals damage to everyone depending on how many she absorbs. The damage can be in the tens of thousands, though it's not technically a automatic kill (unlike the Yamato's missile barrage or the Guar Zigmorde's soul brand) because it can be avoided with invincibility effects or a dodge move that grants invincibility frames.
One-Winged Angel: Al's negative photons as the remnants of the Dark Falz from within the Protagonist corrupt her into the Esca Falz Mother. Only through the Protagonist, Matoi, and Hitsugi's combined efforts is she transformed back to normal.
Prescience by Analysis: Like her "sister" Xion and her "nephew" Xiao, Mother is able to predict the future by running high-speed calculations to determine all possibilities. In battle, she announces that all is going according to her calculations, only to be shocked when she's defeated as she had not accounted for being beaten even after absorbing Al's power.
Sins of Our Fathers: She's completely unfazed when Xiera informs her that the Photoners are long dead, meaning that there's no one to exact her vengeance on. Mother instead settles for wiping out every last trace and record of their existence, starting with ARKS.
Strong Family Resemblance: It's never really brought up, but in terms of appearance Mother's human form strongly resembles Xiao's only older and female. The resemblance gets even stronger when Xiao shows up as a teenager in Episode 5. Appropriate considering that they're both imperfect copies of Xion.
Time Abyss: Despite Xion clones at best being no more than a few thousand years old if going by Oracle's perspective, Mother is revealed to be far far older than that. After being dumped into subspace, she eventually fell out of it, found herself near Earth, and crashed into it which caused her main body to become its moon. This is based on the scientific theory of the Giant Impact, where it's theorized that the moon came to be after another planetary object collided with Earth about 4.5 billion years ago. That essentially makes her the oldest character in the story barring maybe Xion.
That's No Moon: Her real body is the Moon. Yes, the Moon.
Theme Song Power Up: You get two during the battle against Esca Falz Mother. The first is when the weak point on her heart is exposed, and the typical reprise of The Whole New World during the final phase.
Tragic Villain: By the time Episode 4 begins, Mother has near-total control over Earth and a loyal party of trusted friends. She has no reason to escalate her plans, and is actually perturbed by some of the evil things she and her Disciples do. Yet she is unable to relinquish her vendetta against the Photoners, which pushes her into some very regrettable actions and culminates in her being corrupted into Esca Falz Mother. She's saved, and eventually convinced to stand down, but is soon betrayed by Ophiel and then slain by Adam.
So Proud of You: Just before her last remnants vanish for real, Mother says she's so proud of Hitsugi, Kohri, and all of humanity for forging their own path without the guidance of a mother's or a god's hand.
Unwitting Instigator of Doom: She thought she could control the unique hybrid Falz powers of Al when she absorbed him. Not only was she wrong, which led to Esca Falspawn that were stronger than their original state trying to unleash hell on Earth outside of her control, but even after the Guardian, Matoi and Hitsugi manage to purify and stop her, all it did was make Mother one big mass of power that Adam consequently kills and absorbs to start his own plans which threaten the Earth she wanted to protect.
Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Created by the Photoners as the first copy of Xion, then dumped into subspace when they couldn't control her and proved to be weaker than the original. Ultimately her actions are driven by a deep sense of loneliness and a desire to lash out at the Photoners.

Phaleg Ives (SPOILERS)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/phaleg_pso2.png

The Disciple of Mars

Voiced by: Yuko Minaguchi

An inhumanly strong woman and the "Disciple of Mars". Despite her absurd power, Phaleg does not use aether or photons to enhance her strength at all, claiming herself to be a normal human who has simply honed her natural talents to the utmost. Despite her allegiance to Mother Corps, Phaleg acts on her own accord free from the organization. She has a natural belief in the power of humanity and yearns to see them achieve their potential.

Aloof Ally: Mother Corps aside, she becomes this to the Protagonist, Hitsugi, and their friends. While not truly on their side, Phaleg does come to their aid more than once and is even casual enough about dropping in on Hitsugi and Kohri at their school and even bathe with them.
Arch-Enemy: To Adam. The two of them have crossed paths and fought numerous times throughout the years.
Bare-Fisted Monk: She fights almost exclusively with her fists and feet and is the most dangerous of the Disciples in single combat.
Big Damn Heroes: Phaleg shows up on Harukotan without warning and attacks Shiva, incidentally saving the heroes from a messy end at Shiva's hands.
Blood Knight: She has no interest in Mother's actual plans, but since being a part of Mother Corps means she gets to fight strong opponents, she does it anyway. Fittingly, she's the Disciple of Mars, the planet named after the Roman god of warfare and bloodshed. The same planet is associated with fire in Japanese astrology, fitting her fiery desire to meet strong opponents.
Buxom Beauty Standard: She has a well-endowed figure and her clothes make no attempts to hide her cleavage. Her breasts often trigger Hitsugi's A-Cup Angst.
Charles Atlas Superpower: She explicitly does not use aether and says that her inhuman strength and speed comes solely from her training. The other characters speculate that she has reached the absolute apex of human ability. It helps that she's been alive for tens of thousands of years. She's flattered when Huey compliments how hard she must have worked to obtain her abilities, as he's the first one to ever acknowledge this.
Chekhov's Skill: Phaleg's independence from Photons and Aether comes in handy when she attacks Shiva during the assault on Harukotan. This trait is even recognized by the latter.
Curb-Stomp Battle: Nearly every single fight she enters ends this way in her favor. Earth Guide's combined forces can't slow her down and she's absolutely confident in her chances of victory no matter who her opponent is. The only ones able to challenge her in single combat are the Guardian, Adam, and Shiva, and even then the former two would much rather avoid taking her head on, while the latter is the most powerful being in the entire story.
Diving Kick: She comes down on you with a flaming kick in the shape of a phoenix, wrecking the tower you're fighting on in time for round two. She also attacks Shiva this way as part of a Dynamic Entry and her Big Damn Heroes moment in Episode 6. Phaleg does it again while defending Earth from the Photoner fleet, blowing up enough Luminimechs with one kick to be seen from a huge distance away.
The Dreaded: To the members of Earth Guide, who call her "The Demon". In Episode 6, the thought of going Round 2 with Phaleg is enough for the Guardian to break into a cold sweat.
Enemy Mine: With the Protagonist and their comrades. Phaleg doesn't really consider herself allies with the former, but as they're fighting to help oppose Adam and protect humanity, she decides to work with them for the sake of fulfilling a common goal. She even allows them their own shot at stopping Adam first.
Establishing Character Moment: She's introduced casually walking up to the heroes before immediately Flash Stepping behind the protagonist and throwing a karate chop that gouges the ground beneath their feet. She then compliments the protagonist for their outstanding reflexes and notes that it was worth coming out to Las Vegas for a chance to fight you. After this, she quickly stops Enga's bullets and Hitsugi's Ame-no-Habakiri barehanded before easily making fools of them, showing her love of battle, Lady of War mannerisms, and her obscene power.
Everyone Has Standards: While not truly evil, she's also an unabashed Blood Knight who thinks nothing of beating others half to death if not outright killing them. However, even she's appalled by Adam's plans to forcefully "evolve" humanity by turning them all into Phantasms against their will.
Eyes Always Shut: Constantly wears this expression unless she's serious, where she reveals her Supernatural Gold Eyes. Players can wear the same expression if they earn the "Slit Eyes" Scratch Bonus.
Finger Poke of Doom: When the heroes are trapped inside Ophiel's barrier, the Protagonist takes a sword to it and slowly begins sawing through it. Phaleg says she doesn't have time to wait and simply shatters it with a touch, stunning everyone present.
Flash Step: She demonstrates unimaginable speed when she attacks you in her introductory cutscene. In her battle, she brings this down to mere Super-Speed, although it's clear that she's holding back.
Foil: To Adam. Both have them have existed since time immemorial and both believe in trying to better humanity as a whole. However, whereas Phaleg believes in humanity's potential to grow and evolve on their own, Adam believes in controlling human evolution thanks to his continued disappointment over their actions throughout history as he believes them to be stagnating. This naturally puts the two into conflict.
Graceful Loser: She takes losing her Superboss duel as an eye-opener that she can always become stronger and with thanks to the protagonist - and then gets back up like she was mildly inconvenienced before taking her leave to meet again another day.
Hate at First Sight: She doesn't get along with Maria at all, and the two are instantly at each other's throats from the moment they lock eyes. It isn't long before they're challenging each other to a "friendly spar" in the middle of their Passive Aggressive Combat, even inviting Huey and Klariskrays to join in. The only reason they don't come to blows is the Guardians reminding everyone that they're in the middle of a war council.
Humans Are Special: Phaleg is a firm believer in human potential and will. Although change may be slow, she says humans can improve themselves a little every day to reach incredible heights. Given that she's among the most powerful figures in the entire story, she has every right to believe in it. She's horrified when she discovers that Adam has been using Mother's powers to turn people into Phantasms, calling it a subversion of human will.
I Shall Taunt You: She trash talks you throughout her Superboss duel, remarking about how she's running circles around you and asking you to try not to die.
Kill the God: She possesses complete and utter confidence in her ability to kill Adam and Deus Esca, telling the Protagonist that she'll finish him off if they fail to.
Lady of War: Phaleg is impeccably polite, graceful, and elegant in her mannerisms and speech. She's also one of the most powerful beings in any dimension and will hand anything short of a Physical God its ass on a silver platter.
Launcher Move: One attack involves smashing the ground. If you're in range, this move will launch you up, which Phaleg will follow up by kicking you into the ground.
Leitmotif: "The Fighter - Phaleg".
Lightning Bruiser: She can easily stop bullets and catch swords with her bare hands, is fast enough to Flash Step across massive distances nigh-instantly, and strong enough to leave gaping fissures in the ground with every attack.
Meaningful Name: Named after "Phaleg", the Olympian spirit associated with Mars, and "Eve", aka The First Woman in Christian mythology.
Motherly Side Plait: Her braid is worn like this, and while she can be somewhat antagonistic, she's also quite polite and encouraging towards those whom Phaleg deems to have potential to be great.
Muscles Are Meaningless: Her lithe, feminine physique belies her outrageous physical strength, able to send Huey, a member of the Council of Six, flying with a single blow. She even pushes back Shiva, who is as strong as all of ARKS put together and can casually overpower the latest AIS units, with a surprise attack.
Noble Demon: Bloodthirsty and battle-hungry as she may be, she has nothing but the highest respect for those able to challenge her in a fight. While she's eager for rematches with those she finds worthy, she doesn't press them or coerce them into a fight, instead asking them to come on their own terms and fighting in a place where no one else will get hurt. She also strongly believes in the idea that Humans Are Special and will firmly put down anyone who has lost faith in humanity's ability to grow and change.
No-Sell: Both times Enga tries to shoot her, she simply blocks the bullets with a wave of her hand. She's also able to casually match Huey's attacks even when he has his Cosmogenic Arm drawn. Ophiel's barriers, which pin down space itself and are tough enough that even the Guardian struggles to cut through them, also shatter like fallen glass at Phaleg's touch, with her calling them "flimsy".
Not Quite Flight: She can travel extremely quickly by jumping into the air and kicking off it to propel herself in any direction.
Obvious Rule Patch: Her optional sub-story duel is intended to be one of the hardest solo challenges in the entire game prior to certain Episode 6 content, so naturally the player can only heal themselves for a measly fraction of the amount they'd normally recover from varous means, and cannot use Scape Dolls either; in a game where most content can be powered through with a consistent set of heals, this forces players to make as few mistakes as possible.
Offscreen Moment of Awesome: She rescues Och and Phul from the collapsing Moon Base where Hitsugi was held and later does so again with Aratron where she saves him from hordes of Esca Falspawn while the Protagonist and company confronted Mother. This allows all three come to your aid in the final battle against Adam by holding off the Phantasms trying to stop you.
Older Than They Look: She doesn't look a day over twenty, but she's heavily implied to be the Biblical Eve, making her the first human woman in existence. Whether you go by the scientific or Biblical version of Earth's creation, she's at least thousands of years old.
One-Man Army: She single-handedly destroys a whole horde of Luminimechs on her lonesome with a Diving Kick, only needing Ophiel's teleportation ability to get into position. Phaleg is also enticed by the idea of facing Maria, Huey, and Klariskrays all at the same time in a "friendly spar".
Physical God: By far the most powerful warrior in the game. She's so strong in fact that even the Protagonist, who's faced off against numerous Falspawn hordes, the Dark Falz, and even the Profound Darkness, would rather avoid having to fight against her if possible. After she fights them "seriously" in her sub story duel, the Protagonist is barely standing while Phaleg looks no worse for wear afterwards. She's even strong enough that she can hurt Shiva somewhat without outside assistance in Episode 6.
Playing with Fire: Some of her attacks incorporate flames, fitting her title as the Disciple of Mars, whose Japanese name "kasei" refers to fire.
Pre-Asskicking One-Liner:
- She delivers one to Ophiel after opening the path toward Adam.
  Phaleg: These hands, these legs, this body is the result of the human potential you refused to believe in. Care for a full sample?
- She has another one for the Protagonist.
  Phaleg: This body is the end result of continuous refinement since the dawn of time. Would you like to see what it's capable of? Well, then. Let's begin!
Really 700 Years Old: Phaleg is heavily implied to be the first woman, Eve, from the Bible, given her storied rivalry with Adam across all of human history.
Skewed Priorities:
- Subverted. While Phaleg admits that the idea of fighting an entity as powerful as Shiva is tantalizing to her, she quickly rushes back to Earth to defend it from the oncoming Photoner fleet, trusting the protagonist and ARKS to fight Shiva in her place.
- Played straight when she bumps into Maria while on her way to deliver a message to you. She and Maria quickly develop Hate at First Sight and are quick to challenge each other to a "friendly spar". Huey and Klariskrays are eager to join the fray and the thought of fighting all three of them only sweetens the deal for Phaleg. Only the Guardians reminding them that they have a war council to attend sets everyone's priorities straight.
Supernatural Gold Eyes: The very rare moments she opens her eyes reveal that she has gold eyes. Fitting, considering she's been alive for millennia and is one of the strongest living beings in the entire multiverse.
Super-Strength: The very first attack she tries to maul you with cuts straight into Las Vegas' turf. She also manages to catch Hitsugi's sword with her bare hand and flings her about half a mile, as well as deflect one of Enga's gunshots with just her hand. Even the Luminimechs far more advanced than anything ARKS has to offer don't put up much of a fight against her. She can destroy a small army of them with a single Diving Kick.
Stuff Blowing Up: A fan of explosions as much she is of fire.
Superboss: You can fight her in a bonus chapter in which she has additional attacks and several handicaps are applied, including Time-Limit Boss, healing nerf, and no Scape Dolls or Half Dolls.
Wild Card: She is a member of Mother Corps, but makes it very clear that her true allegiance lies with herself and humanity as a whole. This is why she supports the members of Mother Corps who nurture their own human talent for manipulating aether, but opposes Adam for his attempts to change humanity.
World's Strongest Woman: She's by far the most powerful member of Mother Corp and easily the strongest Earthling alive. Even after you've punched out the Dark Falz time and time again, Phaleg is one of the few characters who can truly strike fear into the Protagonist's heart. Notably, she's one of the few opponents the Protagonist is winded against after the fight.
Worthy Opponent: After the fight, she deems you this. She also comes to view Hitsugi and Kohri as this once they achieve their true Avatar Arms after overcoming their doubts and struggles, dropping by every now and then just to ask them for a quick spar.

The Disciples

In General

Anti-Villain: Minus Bethor and Hagith, the Disciples are mostly this as they're only antagonistic because they're working for Mother who herself sees ARKS as her enemy. Once the conflict between both groups comes to a close, it's shown they can get along very well with Hitsugi and the others.
Battle Theme Music: The Disciples all share the same battle theme: "The Assault of Mother Cluster". The sole exception is Ophiel, who shares his battle theme, "Alchemist of Ages", with his real boss, Adam.
Dub Name Change: "Mother Cluster" got changed to "Mother Corps".
Heel–Face Turn: All them undergo this at the end of Episode 4 after Mother's death and Aratron takes charge of Mother Corps. The only exception is Ophiel, who was more or less forced into becoming a servant of good thanks to Phaleg.
Karma Houdini: Despite their misdeeds, none of them are truly punished for it and instead are given the chance to atone for it through work. The only exceptions to this are Bethor, who's executed for his rampages in Tokyo, and Ophiel, who ends up becoming Phaleg's personal errand boy as punishment for his actions in Mother's death and aiding Adam.
Leitmotif: "Maneuvers of Mother Cluster".
Light Is Not Good: As a direct contrast to the Dark Falzes, the members of Mother Corps dress in white and blue. They nonetheless serve as Episode 4's antagonists.
Minored In Ass Kicking: In their day jobs, the Disciples are leading businessmen, scholars, and scientists renowned as geniuses and pioneers in their fields. But as members of Mother Corp, they are more than capable of kicking ass too.
My Name Is Inigo Montoya: They have the courtesy to introduce themselves and their title in Mother Corps before starting a fight.
Sigil Spam: Mother Corps' sigil flashes in front of them whenever they prepare for battle. Hagito's Yamato also possesses these sigils on either side of the Yamato's shield generators.
Spell My Name With An S: Their titles can be translated as either "disciple" or "apostle" in the original Japanese, while the planet they're associated with can also be associated with an element matching its position in Japanese astrology. So "Disciple of Mars" can also be interpreted as "Apostle of Fire", which often matches the user's preferred element.
Theme Naming: The Disciples each take their given name from one of the seven Olympian spirits and, with the exception of Hagith and Phaleg, their surname from a notable writer.
Underestimating Badassery: All of them towards the Protagonist. While deemed a threat, most of the Disciples believe that they can handle them just fine. This is in spite of the fact that they're a proven one-man army who has taken down legions of Falspawn, faced off against all the Dark Falz, and even fought and took down the Profound Darkness on foot.
Undying Loyalty: Towards Mother.

Hagito Anie / Hagith

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hagith_pso2.png

The Disciple of Venus

Voiced by: Kenichi Suzumura (JP)

The genius president of YMT Corporation, a popular software company specializing in Esca Apps. He leads a double-life as the "Disciple of Venus". Through his Avatar Arms: "Emerald Tablet", he has the ability to summon Phantasms which are creatures manifested through the power of aether. As a military geek, his Phantasms take the form of historically-noteworthy war machines such as tanks, helicopters, and most notably the Battleship Yamato.

Battle in the Rain: To emphasize the bumped up difficulty of Yamato's final rematch level, "Iron Juggernaut of the High Seas", the battlefield's weather becomes dark and stormy in place of the previously sunny skies from earlier fights.
Beam Spam: The Yamato defends its sides with rows and rows of laser cannons that sweep the air and water. In addition, it unleashes two giant Attack Drones to rain lasers from the sky once the second phase of the battle begins.
Big Damn Heroes: In Episode 6, he reappears in the latter end of the mission to defend Earth from one of Shiva's Photoner fleets, creating a second Emerald Tablet to summon his Phantasmal Battleship Yamato once more to wipe out massive numbers of Luminimechs.
Card-Carrying Villain: He acts pretty evil for the sake of being evil.
Cool Ship: Creates a Phantasm version of the Yamato, a famous World War II flagship romanticized by Japanese culture. Hagito's version is armed to the teeth with powerful cannons that can down a Humongous Mecha in one hit, and laser cannons along the sides. It can even work as a submersible, fly, and teleport short distances.
Deflector Shields: The first version of the Phantasmal Battleship Yamato gives the ship powerful deflector shields that must be brought down by targeting the generators on the starboard and port sides of the ship before you can deal any real damage.
Demoted to Extra: After the plot goes out of its way to emphasize his villainous role and even show his Emerald Tablet preparing a fleet to wreak havoc with, he's suddenly abandoned until the "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue and has his build-up result in a raid boss fight as a side note in the events on Earth. Turns out this is because of his Yamato going out of control as seen during the Urgent Quest where it nearly wrecks Tokyo if not for ARKS interference. Once all was said and done, Mother Corps essentially grounded him for the trouble he caused.
Empathic Weapon: Unlike the other Avatar Arms, Emerald Tablet is able to operate on its own with or without Hagith's input. Fueled by The Power of Hate after the protagonist makes a fool of him, it responds to his will, taking on a personality identical to his own and creating the Phantasmal Battleship Yamato, a threat severe enough for ARKS to call an Emergency Alert and send in a squadron of AIS units to defeat it.
Heel–Face Turn: In the "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue, Hitsugi mentions a news article that concerns Hagith pulling a sudden change of heart and doing some charity work. He's also shown hanging out with Enga and Al in the baths together with Aratron. He cements it in EPISODE 6 when he arrives to help fend off the Photoner invasion. He even summons the Yamato once more, this time to defend the city it once risked destroying.
Jerkass: Quite arrogant and willfully looks down on others below his social status. He even slaps Kohri for no reason other than because she was in his way and was willing to sick his phantasms on Hitsugi and hurt her just for the sake of capturing Al.
Meaningful Name: Named after "Hagith", the Olympian spirit associated with Venus, and "Aniel", an archangel who is also associated with Venus.
One-Hit Kill:
- During the final phase of "Dignity of Steel", the Yamato will summon eight colossal missiles that slowly descend from the skies. If all eight missiles aren't cut down in time, they will detonate, instantly knocking out every AIS standing.
- The souped-up rematch, "Quintessence of Steel", ups the ante to sixteen missiles with the same results. On top of this, the Yamato will fire smaller missiles into the air in the earlier phases with similar results. Luckily, these missiles can be easily shot out of the sky and with the AIS' machine gun.
Otaku: Hitsugi and Kori pin him as such after he gushes over the Yamato and its meaning to the YMT Corporation on live television.
The Power of Hate: His childish hatred towards ARKS for getting in his way, along with his desire for an opponent capable of defeating them, conjures the Phantasmal Battleship Yamato: an incredibly dangerous enemy that requires an entire squadron of Humongous Mecha to fight it.
Put on a Bus: After summoning the Phantasmal Battleship Yamato, Hagith completely drops off the radar and is nowhere to be seen for the rest of Episode 4 until its epilogue. It's later revealed that he actually lost control of the Yamato after summoning it, and after its defeat by ARKS, Mother Corps simply opted to leave him alone afterwards and refrained from getting him involved further.
Smug Snake: Fancies himself as an Evil Overlord who emotionally manipulates Kori against Hitsugi, but throws a hissy fit when things don't go his way.
Superboss: Should you clear "Quintessence of Steel" Urgent Quest and meet the level requirements, you'll be able to access "Iron Juggernaut of the High Seas". In this fight, only four party members are allowed and the battle is kept to a strict eight minute time limit. In addition, the Yamato's attacks are far more aggressive and powerful, making it a race against time to finish it off while it assails you with everything it has.
There's No Kill like Overkill: He summons the Yamato to kill Hitsugi and the protagonist, producing an energy signal powerful enough to raze Tokyo and trigger an ARKS Emergency Alert, reserved only for major enemy infestations and the arrival of Physical Gods like Dark Falz and Magatsu, in the process.
Turns Red: After the Yamato takes enough damage, it will almost completely forgo its previous historical look to reveal rows and rows of cannons along the sides as well as two giant Attack Drones. At this point, its attacks grow much more aggressive and frequent, easily taking down unprepared AIS with a barrage of homing missiles while practically doubling the number of lasers it's firing.
Villainous Breakdown: After ARKS bails out Hitsugi and Al and he is forced to run, he makes his way to an empty rooftop somewhere, where he abruptly flips his shit and goes ballistic over his loss.
Would Hit a Girl: He slaps Kohri across the face when she starts getting in his way.
Wrecked Weapon: The main guns on the Yamato can all be destroyed with repeated attacks, as can several of the smaller turrets. It's generally recommended to do this before the second phase of the battle begins, as the Yamato will attack more aggressively and frequently. Destroying the main guns before this will neuter the Yamato's overall damage output, giving more breathing room to dodge and shoot back.

Bethor Zelazny

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bethor_pso2.png

The Disciple of Jupiter

Voiced by: Ryūsei Nakao (JP)

A famous film director who serves as the "Disciple of Jupiter" for Mother Corps. He is so committed to capturing footage that is true to life that he's willing to cause real-life destruction to do it. His Phantasms are drawn from iconic movie genres such as zombie or Kaiju pictures.

As Long as It Sounds Foreign: He's supposed to be American, but good luck finding anyone with a name like his.
Asshole Victim: He's not really given any sympathetic perspective to his reckless and destructive actions and repeated attempts at murdering the heroes as he is abruptly killed off by Ophiel.
Composite Character: Of many different writers, producers and directors, including Eiji Tsuburaya, Steven Spielberg, Stephen King, James Cameron and Michael Bay.
Disaster Movie: He directed a film known as "The Liner", whose posters can be seen all around Tokyo^note. Said poster features a gigantic train/dragon hybrid attacking Tokyo. Appropriately, he's the cause of Train Ghidoran, the monster based off his Kaiju from "The Liner".
Evil Is Hammy: And how!
Flunky Boss: When not fighting, he sics Phantasms on you while sitting behind the safety of a barrier. He never fights with his flunkies, though.
Having a Blast: His power, "ES-F-X", allows him to weaponize any kind of special effect used in film, allowing him to turn almost anything into a bomb and even create more Phantasms in the process.
Human Pincushion: Gets stabbed in and out by numerous surgical knives after Ophiel decides that his directing days are over. As usual PSO2 standard, not a trace of blood is left behind.
Improbable Weapon User: When not commandeering a Phantasm, he fights on foot with his megaphone and clapperboard. Oh, and they make stuff explode.
Leaning on the Fourth Wall: In the English localization, he refers to the player as "player." Which definition he's using not being clear is what keeps this from outright Breaking the Fourth Wall.
Mad Artist: He goes on a rampage in Tokyo for the chance to film real-life destruction and carnage for a movie.
Meaningful Name: Named after "Bethor", the Olympian spirit associated with Jupiter, and Roger Zelazny (an American sci-fi writer).
Precision F-Strike: When things start going south, he tends to drop a "SHIT!" in glorious Engrish. When things go really south, they tend to be followed with an even more Engrish-y "HOLY SHIT!"
Prima Donna Director: He's incredibly over-the-top in all of his mannerisms and demands all of his "actors" to perform exactly as he imagines them to, growing irate if they aren't showing enough emotion or passion.
Robeast: The Train Ghidoran, a three-headed hydra made from bullet trains, is his creation.
Stuff Blowing Up: Fan of explosions, which he will abuse in his boss fight.
Token Evil Teammate: Of the members of Mother Corps, Bethor is by far the most villainous of the group. He's quite willing to cause rampages in the city and sacrifice innocent lives just for the sake of shooting his perfect movie. This behavior eventually gets him executed by Ophiel, though this is later implied to be more about getting rid of a powerful subordinate of Mother's than any kind of morals, as shown by Ophiel's indifference when Aratron interrogates him about it.
Translator Microbes: He mentions at one point in response to Hitsugi that the "auto-translation" failed and he didn't understand what she said, implying that he's actually speaking English that's being translated through aether and what seems like Gratuitous English is in fact some of his actual words slipping through.

Och Miller

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/och_pso2.png

The Disciple of the Sun

Voiced by: Manami Numakura (JP)

A prodigy scientist and mathematician who acts as Mother Corps' "Disciple of the Sun". Her Phantasms are inspired by famous scientific theorems and thought experiments such as Laplace's Demon.

A-Cup Angst: She rages over the fact that both Kohri and especially Phaleg have such huge chests compared to her. She even outright demands Kohri hand over hers if she's not going to make any use of them.
Barrier Warrior: She can create barriers around herself and her allies by "adjusting probability vectors" in such a way that incoming attacks become impossible to land. During her Dual Boss fight with Phul, Och's own barrier is impenetrable until you destroy Laplace's Demon first.
Because You Were Nice to Me: Mother was the only one who truly accepted her and Phul's talents. This cemented their loyalty to her.
Disney Death: She and Phul are apparently left for dead after being defeated by the Protagonist and Enga, but return for the finale of Episode 4 to help your party fend off Adam's Phantasms.
Dual Boss: With Phul.
Evil Genius: Of the Disciples, being a prodigious scientist and mathematician despite her young age.
Flunky Boss: She primarily fights by summoning Laplace and Maxwell to do most of the heavy lifting for her while she protects them all by manipulating probability to steer your attacks off course.
Improbable Weapon User: Her Avatar Arm is an oversized protractor.
Intelligence Equals Isolation: Society did not take kindly to her being a prodigy.
Mad Mathematician: A villainous mathematician whose preoccupation with numbers bleeds into her speech.
Meaningful Name: Named after "Och", the Olympian spirit associated with the Sun, and Henry Miller, a diversified American writer.
Ship Tease: With Enga. She denies having any attraction towards him but the two end up becoming rather casual with one another at the end of Episode 4.
Valley Girl: Speaks like this in the English dub, peppering her dialogue with "likes" and other colloquial syntax.
Verbal Tic: Typically speaks in "percents", befitting of her mathematical prowess.
You Shall Not Pass!: Och and Phul's goal in antagonizing you is to keep you on the moon while Mother invades the ARKS ship to kidnap and absorb Al.

Phul Janice Lasswitz

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/phul_pso2.png

The Disciple of the Moon

Voiced by: Yui Ogura (JP)

A world-renowned and best-selling author. She serves as Mother Corps' "Disciple of the Moon".

Because You Were Nice to Me: Mother was the only one who truly accepted her and Och's talents. This cemented their loyalty to her.
Disney Death: She and Och are apparently left for dead after being defeated by the player and Enga, but return for 4-8 to help your party fend off Adam's Phantasms.
Dual Boss: With Och.
Intelligence Equals Isolation: Same story as Och but with literary genius.
Meaningful Name: Named after "Phul", the Olympian spirit associated with the Moon, and Kurd Lasswitz, a famous German sci-fi writer.
Meta Guy: Comes with the territory of being a Genre Savvy author. She points out when her teammates say lines that would be a "death flag" in any other story.
Reality Warper: The true power of her Embodied Weapon. She uses it to trap the Protagonist and Enga in a "Groundhog Day" Loop during their attempted rescue of the kidnapped Hitsugi.
Throw the Book at Them: Her Embodied Weapon.
White Mage: In her Dual Boss fight with Och, Phul focuses on buffing and healing her allies.

Aratron Tolstoy

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aratron_pso2.png

The Disciple of Saturn

Voiced by: Yuichi Nagashima (JP)

An accomplished historian, astronaut and archaeologist. He is Mother Corps' "Disciple of Saturn" and also Mother's oldest known acquaintance and long-time confidant.

Affably Evil: He may be unfailingly loyal to Mother, but he's a perfect gentleman who is critical of his allies' questionable actions while praising his opponents' valor and resolve.
Big Ol' Eyebrows: Big and bushy enough to hide his eyes. They stop hiding his eyes right before he transforms.
Bring It: He has a habit of daring others to face him before preparing to battle.
Cool Old Guy: Though an enemy, he can be quite affable towards his enemies and if not for his loyalty to Mother, might even be allies with them. He's also strong enough that, together with Ophiel, the two can hold their own against Matoi.
Even Evil Has Standards: Despite his Undying Loyalty to Mother, even Aratron has his misgivings about some of the actions that Mother is taking to satisfy her vendetta against ARKS.
Graceful Loser: To the point where he offers to hold off the ESCA Falspawn so the player, Hitsugi, Kohri, and Enga can go deeper into the Mothership.
Meaningful Name: Named after "Aratron", the Olympian spirit associated with Saturn, and Leo Tolstoy.
My Master, Right or Wrong: Even though he has issues with what Mother Corp and Mother herself are doing, he swears to follow her to the end. By the climax of Episode 4, he's the last member of Mother Corps standing and refuses both Mother's and Hitsugi's requests to stand down, saying that it's his responsibility to see where Mother's path takes him.
Noble Top Enforcer: In contrast to Ophiel. He treats allies and adversaries alike with respect, even taking Kohri's defection in stride.
Old Friend: Towards Mother. He was one of the astronauts who discovered her years ago and thus one of her oldest companions since she started Mother Corps.
Shielded Core Boss: In his boss battle, he is invulnerable to damage until you break his hammer. This sends him into a temporary stunned state that leaves him vulnerable. He does get up afterwards, but his shield is down for the rest of the fight.
Shock and Awe: His Avatar Arm is Thor's Hammer. Fittingly enough, he's crackling with lightning when you face him in his boss fight.
Super Mode: He's revealed to have one where he turns into giant golden knight to fight against the Protagonist and company during the final confrontation against Mother.
Token Good Teammate: Among the Disciples he's by far the least antagonistic character, only fighting against the Protagonist and company purely because of his loyalty towards Mother and wanting to see what the future holds by following her.
Undying Loyalty: To Mother. Even when he begins to question if he and Mother are doing the right thing, he concludes he is too set in his ways to abandon her. After her death, he takes charge of Mother Corp and vows to uphold her will and desire to help humanity prosper.
Wrecked Weapon: You have to destroy his hammer during his boss fight, otherwise he'll simply shrug off everything you throw at him.
You Shall Not Pass!: Pulls this off near the end of Episode 4, fending off an endlessly-spawning horde of Esca Falspawn so that the Protagonist and Hitsugi can reach Mother. He does it again during the final battle against Adam's forces together with Och and Phul.

Ophiel Herbert

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ophiel_pso2.png

The Disciple of Mercury

Voiced by: Takehito Koyasu

An exceptional surgeon whose ability is said to be godlike. He is the "Disciple of Mercury" within Mother Corps and one the highest ranking members of the group alongside Aratron and Phaleg.

Actor Allusion: A villain charismatic enough to place himself as the leader of his own group^note who has the ability to brainwash other people^noteKohri with aether manipulation and attacks and kills Bethor by throwing a storm of scalpels. All that's missing is vampirism and the ability to freeze time.
Brainwashing: A specialty of his, due to his ability to manipulate the aether within someone's body. He uses this ability to brainwash and control Kohri into fighting against Hitsugi and company.
Curb-Stomp Battle: On the receiving end from Phaleg, where she basically ragdolls him with absolutely no effort. By the time we see the results, his face is bloodied all over and missing teeth, and he's utterly terrified to the bone.
The Dragon: Though there is no designated leader of the Apostles, Ophiel acts the closest to one and is most willing to get his hands dirty. Later proves himself to be a Deceptive Disciple, as he is actually a spy for Earth Guide, or more specifically, Adam.
Eviler than Thou: His first action is to kill off Bethor for going on a destructive rampage.
Fate Worse than Death: Since it would be impossible to punish him through the criminal justice system, Phaleg takes him into her "care", promising to work him until death would be a preferable substitute.
Faux Affably Evil: He seems cordial enough and the most formal and polite of the Mother Corps. Beneath that all is a sadist of a doctor that is willing to brainwash Kohri so thoroughly and cruelly, and outright murder Bethor for going against Mother's orders, though it's really wiping another threat off the board for Adam ahead of time.
Flechette Storm: With scalpels!
Foreshadowing: Part way through the episode when the heroes manage to confront him, he talks about how his goal as a doctor is the evolution of mankind. Small wonder this is the same rhetoric Adam follows and that the two are secretly in cahoots.
Laser-Guided Karma: Among the members of Mother Corps, he's easily the most cruel of the lot. Caring little for others other than his own plans which is best seen when he outright kills Bethor for acting out of line and only gets worse when he helps plot Mother's death together with Adam. Phaleg eventually gets her hands on him however, and decides to punish him by putting Ophiel to work as her helper by force.
Manipulative Bastard: Towards Kohri, using his abilities to brainwash her into servitude in order to use her as a tool against Hitsugi and ARKS. Taken further when it's revealed he was a double agent working for Adam, setting things up so that Mother would be in a prime position to be taken down by the former so that he could absorb Mother's powers for himself.
Meaningful Name: Named after "Ophiel", the Olympian spirit associated with Mercury, and Frank Herbert, an American sci-fi writer.
The Mole: He's Adam's secret agent in the Mother Corps, having played them for fools the whole time besides Phaleg.
Oh, Crap!: Towards Phaleg once she shows up to ruin his and Adam's plans in the finale of Episode 4.
Put on a Bus: Unlike the other members of Mother Corps, he does not appear in Episode 6 to defend Earth from the Photoners, and is only mentioned in passing as the one who helped Phaleg cross over to Oracle's dimension. She's also seen utilizing his telportation in cutscenes.
Smug Snake: Shows consistent confidence in his abilities and looks down on others outside himself and Mother.
Teleport Spam: Abuses this during his boss battle in the finale of Episode 4.
Utopia Justifies the Means: His reason for joining Mother Corps is to guide humanity to a new paradigm shift, the next step in its evolution. His rhetoric is eerily similar to Adam's, and it's subtle Foreshadowing of his eventual reveal as The Mole to Earth Guide.
Villain Teleportation: Ophiel's specialty. He has the ability to isolate a point in space, along with whatever is inside it, and then transfer it to another location. In practical terms, this means teleportation and he can do it just about to anyone and anywhere. He uses it forcibly send back the Protagonist and ARKS back to the Oracle dimension.
You Shall Not Pass!: His goal in the final chapter of Episode 4 is to bar the heroes from reaching Adam and stopping his ritual to create a god that will force humanity to "evolve" by turning them all into Phantasms.

Other Earthlings

PSO2 Players

Yumiko

Voiced by: Kikuko Inoue

A Braver/Human who often parties alongside Koa. She is proficient with the Bullet Bow, a ranged weapon that specializes in raw strength over frequency, compared to the likes of Assault Rifles and Twin Machineguns. Her victimization by the online Troll "Musashi" has kept her on her guard.

In the real world, "Yumiko" is a young housewife. She is married to "Last Samurai", and the two run a hot spring. While happily married, she is often in charge of keeping Last Samurai in line, and can be rather dangerous when provoked.

Eyepatch of Power: Her avatar sports a black eyepatch.

Last Samurai

Voiced by: Katsuyuki Konishi

A Braver/Human who often parties alongside Koa. He is proficient with the Katana, a small blade that combines the best of style, strength, and speed. His victimization by the online Troll "Musashi" has kept him on his guard.

In the real world, "Last Samurai" is a young father of a baby boy. He is married to "Yumiko" and is the proud owner of a public hot spring. He has a penchant for being distracted by the petty things in life, like PSO2 and cute maids, although Yumiko keeps him in check.

Everything's Better with Samurai: His character in-game looks, fights, and talks like he jumped out of an Akira Kurosawa film.

Silva

Voiced by: Emi Nitta

A Ranger CAST who is often seen partying with Koa. She's oftentimes the quietest of the group and rarely speaks up. She specializes in Assault Rifles, a weapon that is capable of fulfilling many roles with its multitude of gun-based attacks.

In the real world, "Silva" is an independent pre-teen girl. Unlike her online persona, she is rather outgoing, and sometimes a little nosy.

Genki Girl: She's has energy to spare in the real world.
Robot Girl: She's a CAST, after all.
Spell My Name With An S: While her official bio gives her name as "Silva", the official English subbed broadcast insists that her name is spelled "Silver".
The Stoic: Silva has one expression and one expression only. This probably falls into her interpretation of what a CAST is typically like, since in the real world, she's a rather energetic kid.

Kid

Voiced by: Kazuhiko Inoue

A Fighter CAST who is often seen partying with Koa. He wields the Knuckles, a weapon with minimal range, but maximum hitting power.

In the real world, "Kid" is a nice elderly man. He almost never shows signs of anger, and is incredibly affable.

Cool Old Guy: He's a kindly old man who passes time playing video games.
High-Class Glass: He sports a monocle. He doesn't mess with it, however.

Phantasms

Strange beings born of Ether, a substance found on the alternate world of Earth. They are born from mankind's thoughts, and as such take somewhat of a form from them.

Deus Esca (SPOILERS)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/deushunas.jpg

Maker of New Epochs

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/deus_phase2.jpg

Singer of Genesis

An immensely powerful Phantasm brought into being by Adam cointegrating the powers of Mother and Al into his own millennia-old aether in his attempt summon a god that would descend unto the world and remake it. However, as it is born from Adam's impure interpretations of what a god is and his lack of faith in humanity, Deus Esca is a callous being of destruction that merely imitates the idea of a god.

BFS: Deus Hunas wields one nearly as big as its body. When it becomes Deus Esca Zephiroth, its sword scales in size.
Colony Drop: In the final portion of his boss battle, Deus Esca Zephiroth destroys part of the Moon and sends it crashing down towards Earth. You have five minutes to defeat him to stop it.
Final Boss: Of Episode 4.
Final Boss, New Dimension: According to Word of God, Deus Esca Zefirot's appearance creates an aether duplicate of Earth and the Moon that threatens to overwrite "normal" reality. This is why the Earth isn't actually destroyed if you fail to stop Zefirot's Colony Drop: you simply make a hasty retreat back to the normal dimension.
Fisher King: Its arrival is heralded by a large continent appearing from nowhere with the massive Yggdrasil tree at its center. The longer Deus Esca exists, the further the continent spreads, overwriting everything in its path, but it all fades away if it is defeated.
Foil: To the Profound Darkness. Deus ESCA seeks to recreate the world where the Profound Darkness desires only destruction.
Gold and White Are Divine: Similar to the Profound Darkness, all of its forms have this color scheme, only mixing it with Aether-induced light-blue as opposed to the Profound Darkness' red.
Green Thumb: Many of its attacks involve creating massive thorns to impale the player.
Light Is Not Good: It is by no means a loving god.
Lone Wolf Boss: It is a Final Boss completely unaffiliated with the Falspawn or the Photoners.
Marathon Boss: Its Emergency Quest has you fighting Deus Hunas, some massive trash packs, Deus Anges and finally Deus ESCA Zephiroth in succession. The last one takes longer to kill than the rest combined.
Nerf: Upon release, the Extra Hard version of Deus Esca Zefirot had such a demanding DPS race that most players failed the Colony Drop section at the end, and those that passed did so with only a few seconds left on the clock. This clear rate was far below what the dev team had planned (they were aiming for something close to Esca Falz Mother) so Zefirot's HP was adjusted in a later patch.
Orochi: The form of Deus Esca Zefirot is inspired by this and the dragon described in the Book of Revelation: a seven-headed draconic monster wearing a crown of thorns, who seeks to imitate the authority of God with an army of fallen angels.
Reality Warper: It proves its godly credentials by creating Yggdrasil just by existing, banishing Hitsugi's, Kohri's and Enga's Embodied Weapons with a flick of its wrist, and banishing the Player Character back to their own world with another flick of its wrist.
True Final Boss: Defeating Deus Esca Zefirot unlocks the ability to immediately challenge Deus ESCA Gracia for better loot. Gracia is a demonic Palette Swap of Zefirot with special restrictions: up to four players only (compared to Zephiroth's twelve) with their Main Class and Sub Class at least Lv.80, a twenty-minute time limit, and only five KOs allowed across all raid members.
Tulpa: Despite carrying itself as the God and demonstrating the Reality Warper abilities to back it up, it is in reality a Phantasm based on Adam's idea of what God is, and as a result has a personality and goals not unlike Adam's own.
You Can't Thwart Stage One: Averted! Deus Esca doesn't get to go One-Winged Angel in its first appearance, being slain in its base form and taking its defeat with dignity. It comes back later of course, the next version being based on Adam's despair over mankind's stagnation and his defeat, but unlike with the Dark Falz, ARKS gets ample time to prepare for it.

Characters / Phantasy Star Online 2 - Earth

Celestia Academy

Seiga Academy

Kouta Kayano

Mika Konoe

Yutaka Sasaki

Earth Guide

Mother Corps

In General

Hagito Anie / Hagith

Bethor Zelazny

Och Miller

Phul Janice Lasswitz

Aratron Tolstoy

Ophiel Herbert

Other Earthlings

Yumiko

Last Samurai

Silva

Kid

Phantasms

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Index

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Characters / Phantasy Star Online 2 - Earth

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Celestia Academy

Seiga Academy

Kouta Kayano

Mika Konoe

Yutaka Sasaki

Earth Guide

Mother Corps

In General

Hagito Anie / Hagith

Bethor Zelazny

Och Miller

Phul Janice Lasswitz

Aratron Tolstoy

Ophiel Herbert

Other Earthlings

Yumiko

Last Samurai

Silva

Kid

Phantasms

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Index

Next