A list of characters in Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis referring to the members of ARKS on Planet Halpha. To return to the main character index, click here.
ARKS is spacefaring organization dedicated to currently protecting Planet Halpha from mysterious invaders known as DOLLS. It's comprised of four difference races known as Humans, Newmans, CAST, and Deumans. In order to better protect the planet, ARKS divided itself up into four sectors: the vibrant green landscape of Aelio, the desert region of Retem, the mountainous winter region of Kvaris, and the volcanic region of Stia.
Within ARKS itself there also exists the Meteorn: mysterious ARKS Defenders who arrived on Halpha via drop pods without any memories of their past. None know where they came from.
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In General
- Ambiguous Situation: The Oracle Fleet. Despite ARKS being on Planet Halpha, no word is mentioned about what happened the fleet following the ending of the original game. The Reveal in Chapter 5 shows that they were still active over half a millennia ago, but their current situation is still ambiguous as Zephetto doesn't really delve much into the topic when talking to the Meteorn, Aina and Manon about his motives.
- Artificial Human: As a sequel to the original game, the four races are this are they were originally created by the Photoners long ago. Humans came first and were then followed by the Newman, CAST, and Deuman.
- History Repeats: In the original game, ARKS was created by the Photoners as a means to combat the Falspawn threat after having lost the ability to wield photons themselves. In New Genesis, the same thing happens again as hundreds of years following Shiva's defeat, ARKS became complacent and eventually lost the power they used to have which left them vulnerable to the Starless invasion. To combat this, Zephetto began experiments to restore ARKS's former power which eventually led him to artificial cloning much like the Photoners did.
- Unusually Uninteresting Sight: How the native ARKS on Halpha basically treat the Meteorn ARKS coming down from the sky. Despite their mysterious origins, all Meteorn are readily welcomed into the organization with no major issue, with no one even really focusing on finding out where they really came from outside of a few.
- Wave-Motion Gun: Central Cannon which turns out to be Central Tower. It's upgraded several times and used against Dark Falz to land a critical blow to its defenses. Crawford also reveals that during its testing phase years prior it once blew up the mountain west of Central City which led to their current unique shape.
- Worf Had the Flu: According to Zephetto, part of the reason ARKS couldn't do anything about the Starless was because in the years of peace following the end of the Falspawn War, ARKS gradually grew weaker as they no longer had any real enemies to fight and thus less reason to keep up their strength.
Main Characters
The Protagonist / "The Meteorn"
A Meteorn who arrives on Planet Halpha with no memories of their past and rescued by Aina and Manon. After proving their skill in battle, they're and later recruited into ARKS, a military organization dedicated to protecting the planet from various threats, and are quickly thrust into its war with the mysterious DOLLS.
- Amnesiac Hero: It's implied they have amnesia like most other Meteorn, but they don't seem to be bothered by it or even react to the idea much as they get right to fighting. Turns out, they likely have no memories to begin with and are just inherently dispositioned for battle as the 909th clone of the 3rd-gen Resurgent ARKS.
- Artificial Human: During Chapter 5 it's revealed that all Meteorn, including the native ARKS on Halpha, are clones created by Zephetto as part of his plan to restore ARKS to its former strength that it had over a thousand years ago.
- Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Thanks to their efforts in the DOLLS war and defeating Dark Falz, Crawford bestows upon them the title of "Guardian" at the end of Chapter 6 as he wants them to be a symbol of heroism among ARKS who leads from the forefront as their strongest fighter.
- Big Damn Heroes: Pulls this off on Kukka by sprinting in and delivering a devastating flying kick on a DOLLS unit that was attempting to surprise him from the back.
- The Chosen Many: One of various Meteorn that fell from the sky for unknown reasons, all of them inherently stronger than the Halpha ARKS natives. By being able to top Dark Falz, however, Zephetto sees them as The Chosen One alongside Aina and Manon solely by being the strongest of all the new-gen ARKS creations.
- The Confidant: Much like the Guardian, the Meteorn ends up being this to their comrades, particularly Aina and Manon. The latter even lampshades it during her character episode when she ends up pouring her thoughts out to them without even realizing it.
- Expendable Clone: Is one of many lab-grown ARKS on the floating island of Leciel, implied to be directly based off of the original Guardian of PSO2. The big difference is T909 was a rousing and ultimate success in creating a new-gen ARKS member on-par with the legendary Guardians of old, making them not-so-expendable anymore.
- The Faceless: Promotional artwork uses a default Hunter-class Ash as the player's representative, but any extra material usually either uses one of countless possible character designs, or straight up goes the route of having the Meteorn just off-screen or represented as a blank figure, like in Central! just making them a blue pop-up silhouette.
- The Gift: The Meteorn is noted to be particularly good at fighting even among Meteorn. Garoa says they could have handled the DOLLS that surrounded them when he arrived on their own. It isn't long before they're taking on powerful DOLLS that have devastated the Aelio region for decades. This is revealed to be an inherent property of being a 3rd Generation Resurgent ARKS, whose powers are comparable to the Guardian from 1000 years ago.
- Heroes Prefer Swords: In all cutscenes, they are assumed to be a Hunter and wield a Primm Sword.
- Heinz Hybrid: Expanding on Non-Human Humanoid Hybrid, your character's design doesn't have to stop at mixing two races. They can have Deuman horns, Newman pointy ears, and Cast parts at the same time.
- Identical Stranger: From a meta-perspective they're this to the Guardian from the original game as players can switch between them via the same character. Considering their nature as a clone and how the Guardian was the most powerful member of ARKS over a thousand years ago, it's very well possible that the Meteorn actually is an attempted replica of the Guardian by Zephetto as part of his experiments to restore ARKS to its former strength.
- Legacy Character: In Chapter 6, the Meteorn gains the title of "Guardian", much like the Guardian of a thousand years ago.
- Mysterious Past: All the player has to go off of is being conscious right before they're dropped off on Halpha; beyond their name and latent combat skills, it's not even certain if they're supposed to be the Guardian from the base game or someone entirely new. As of the Chapter 5 story, their being an Artificial Human very well implies they may not have a past and were created entirely for the ARKS vs. DOLLS conflict.
- Non-Human Humanoid Hybrid: This is the first game where such a hybrid can be created by the player. You can create a Newman/Deuman hybrid, a Newman with cybernetic parts, or a partially mechanical Deuman.
- Power Trio: With Aina and Manon.
- The Quiet One: Not unlike the Guardian, they don't really talk much during the story outside of a few select instances of dialogue choices.
- Stealth Hi/Bye: During Character Episodes they often sneak up on multiple characters without intending on it. Both Manon and Nadereh lampshade this and tease them over the fact.
- The Stoic: You can give them whatever expressions you want, but in terms of the main story, they're perpetually stone-faced, even if some of their scenes and dialogue imply more emotion than they show.
- Not So Stoic: At the end of Chapter 1: Episode 6, when Aina states that she'll forever stay by their side in a massive heap of Ship Tease, even with a stoic face the Meteorn visibly has a Double Take to realize what was just said — and then can cheekily repeat it back to her with their arms behind their back just to tease her for it.
- Supporting Protagonist: In contrast to The Guardian from the base game, The Meteorn more or less takes a backseat in the plot, with Aina and Manon doing most of the talking in cutscenes. That said, the Meteorn is considered the main muscle of the group.
- Unwitting Pawn: Of Zephetto's machinations, being the latest and potentially last creation of the 3rd-Generation Resurgent ARKS for the experiments to create soldiers on-par with the heroes that saved the universe a thousand years prior. Unlike most cases, this is a good thing when it succeeds, as this means they're the single most fit individual for fighting the Starless.
- Virtual Paper Doll: Even more so than its predecessor. With no defined gender you can mix and match whatever outfits and heads you want, and expanded accessory customization means you can be as stylish, cute, or horrifying as your creativity allows.
- Walking Disaster Area: Mere minutes after they arrive on Halpha, DOLLS land around them as if they're being targeted. West Aelio Town doesn't even survive one day after their arrival. Zephetto particularly seems to have an invested interest in 909 specifically, and likely sent the Dark Falz after them to set the stakes for the experiment.
- World's Strongest Man: By the start of Episode 1: Chapter 5, they defeated Dark Falz through absorbing Photons from all of the ARKS on Halpha to finish it off, and this is after already weakening it in direct combat and the Central Cannon blasting it several times in a row. As far as Zephetto's concerned, this makes them the most resonant with Photons in all of Halpha at this point and the single strongest ARKS member alive — which is going to be needed for what's to come.
- You Are Number 6: Their Leciel ID number is RA9G3-T909 (shortened to "909"), as designated by Zephetto.
Aina
Aina
Voiced by: Sumire Morohoshi (JP), Amber Lee Connors (EN)
A 15 year old Human ARKS trainee and native of Halpha. She's the first person that the Protagonist meets upon landing on the planet and becomes of one of their closest companions alongside Manon. A friendly and energetic girl, she works to prove herself as an ARKS defender in the making. She's also the daughter of Garoa.
- Ambiguously Brown: Has noticeable tanned brown skin.
- Artificial Human: Downplayed compared to the Meteorn and Manon who are more direct examples, but it's revealed that Aina and the native born ARKS of Halpha are descended from 2nd Generation batch of ARKS clones that Zephetto created long ago during his experiments on the planet.
- Badass Teacher: She finds herself recruited as an instructor to the next generation of ARKS defenders in Chapter 6.
- Big Sister Worship: Towards Manon. Though they're not related, Aina looks up to the former like a big sister and considers her a role model of what an ARKS defender should be alongside her father Garoa.
- Character Development: Aina initially starts out as a naive ARKS trainee who had no real idea of the dangers that ARKS defenders go through on Halpha. However, after Aelio Town is destroyed and her father Garoa is presumed dead, she eventually comes to realize the weight of the role, finds her own resolve to fight, and strives to live up to the legacy that her father left behind. When she finally meets Zephetto, rather than go on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge, she's surprisingly level-headed and she wants to understand why he did what he did rather than immediately get into a fight.
- The Chief's Daughter: To an extent as her father, Garoa is a high ranking ARKS defender and the leader and primary protector of West Aelio. It's also noted that the people of Aelio Town basically doted on her.
- Costume Evolution: During the Kvaris Expedition, Aina appropriately dons winter themed gear to prepare for the colder temperatures in the region. Later on, she gets a new dress when she takes up an instructor role.
- Eager Rookie: Starts out still an ARKS trainee but is quite eager to prove herself as an defender out on the field.
- Distinctive Appearances: Aina's Rifle is a regular Primm Rifle with Aelio Town bandanas wrapped around the handguard and stock. It was once available as a Weapon Camo in the Passionate Spirit SG Scratch, called "Ainerro Rifle".
- Doomed Hometown: She was born and raised in Aelio Town, which promptly gets destroyed in the prologue along with her father and most of its residents. This spurs Aina into becoming a proper ARKS defender so that the same incident doesn't happen again.
- Foil: To Manon. Aina is a Halphan native with a bright color palette to match her perkiness and fights at a distance with assault rifles. She's also a complete rookie compared to Manon who's shown to be far more experienced in battle. Furthermore, their character development throughout the story also foils each other, with Aina starting out inexperienced and traumatized by the DOLLS, but eventually grows out of it and shows surprising level of resilience during the events of Chapter 5 and 6, to the point that she shows Sympathy for the Devil to Zephetto, whereas Manon, despite putting up a stoic facade, gradually breaks down after witnessing many tragedies that befall upon Halpha through the course of the story.
- Genki Girl: Quite cheerful and energetic especially when compared to Manon.
- Hero-Worshipper: Towards Garoa. The reason Aina wanted to become an ARKS defender in the first place was because she admired her father greatly and wanted to emulate him. This gets deconstructed slightly as while Aina has the goal, she lacks the drive and understanding of what it means to be an ARKS defender which her father picked up on and part of the reason why he was initially against her joining ARKS in the first place.
- Ms. Fanservice: She's quite well endowed and happens to wear revealing clothes. This is finally toned down with her new outfit in Chapter 6, although her endowed body and thighs are still put on display.
- Missing Mom: Little is mentioned of her mother.
- Ship Tease: At the conclusion of her arc as an instructor in Episode 1: Chapter 6, she unwittingly makes a statement towards the Meteorn that sounds a lot like a marriage proposal to always stay by their side, before rapidly trying to backpedal when she realizes it. The Meteorn can repeat the sentiment to tease her back for it, leaving Aina even more flustered.
- Stepford Smiler: Throughout the first chapter, it's obvious that Aina's still not really over the destruction of her hometown and her father's apparent death, but she tries really hard to be brave and prevent Crawford from noticing. It comes crashing down after an attack with a Nogleth.
- Sympathy for the Devil: When confronted with the full realization of Zephetto's Well-Intentioned Extremist plans to create ARKS Defenders capable of fighting the Starless, it initially seems like she's enraged at him — only to reveal she feels sorry for him, because that means Zephetto's been going through what amounts to countless acts of genocide and war games to save what's left for at least 300 years, non-stop. As she puts it, even he's a pawn in his own game. This actually gets him to pause and finally relent in the midst of his Motive Rant.
- Took a Level in Badass: At the beginning of the game in the Aelio Region, it's repeatedly remarked that Aina is way in over her head, has no idea of the sheer scale and weight of being an ARKS Defender, and is simply operating on desperate emotions thanks to losing everything. This nearly gets her killed against the Nex Aelio. The experience ends up opening her eyes enough that she takes the duty more responsibly, and over the course of the rest of Episode 1 she proceeds to slowly but surely keep up with the Meteorn and Manon on equal grounds as a Power Trio. This is actually an in-universe shock to Zephetto; all of the second-generation ARKS had failed to grow stronger to any significant degree in their phase of the testing, so Aina managing to grow to be on-par with a pair of inherently stronger third-gen ARKS is a massive mental, physical and photonic achievement all around.
- You Are a Credit to Your Race: Zephetto calls her a "second-generation" ARKS, as her bloodline, including Garoa, were all remnants of the second operation of testing that succeeded but barely got any stronger for it. Aina, by comparison, managed to overcome the generational boundaries and stand on-par with Manon and the Meteorn, who are inherently stronger third-generation ARKS members; Zephetto compliments her for this.
Manon
Manon
Voiced by: Yume Miyamoto (JP), Heather Gonzalez (EN)
An 18 year old Newman and a Meteorn who arrived on Planet Halpha about half a year earlier than the Protagonist did. Unlike most Meteorn who often forget their lives prior to arriving on Halpha, Manon was able to partially retain some of her memories. She's close friends with Aina and together forms a team with the Protagonist.
- Action Girl: Compared to Aina who's a rookie and uses ranged weapons, Manon is already an experienced ARKS Defender by the start of the story and prefers using melee weapons to fight with.
- Artificial Human: Similarly to the Meteorn, Manon is also a 3rd generation ARKS clone created by Zephetto as part of his experiments.
- Beneath the Mask: Although Manon presents herself as having her head on straight and rarely loses focus during missions, it's shown that she tends to worry a lot and is regretful over many things. Her character episode delves into this, where Manon admits to the Protagonist that she only acts the part of a dutiful ARKS defender in order to not disappoint Aina as Manon knows that the former admires her heavily and thus she wants to live up to her friend's expectations.
- Contrasting Sequel Protagonist: To Matoi. Both serve the role of a mysterious girl with an unknown history. However, Matoi was emotional and energetic, had no memories of her past at the beginning, fought at range with technics, and wore revealing outfits with bright colors. In contrast, Manon is stoic and reserved, has memories of her past but has yet to elaborate on them, fights primarily with a pair of daggers, and wears a form fitting combat suit with dark colors. Chapter 5 would reveal that like Matoi, Manon is an Artificial Human created for a specific purpose. The difference being that Matoi was created by the Big Good, Xion, to be a Messiah for ARKS, while Manon was created by the main antagonist of Episode 1, Zephetto, to observe the war between ARKS and the DOLLs.
- Cool Big Sis: Towards Aina. Manon tends to look out for the former's wellbeing and was also the one who taught her how to be a proper ARKS defender. Aina for her part even considers Manon to be like a big sister.
- Costume Evolution: During the events of Episode 1: Chapter 6, Manon trades her Form-Fitting Wardrobe for a Minidress of Power to show her "Renewed Resolve", which is also the name of the SG Scratch her new outfits are featured in.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Her dialogue throughout the story so far implies that Manon experienced something in the past that causes her to act the way she does in the present. Dozer even notes in one of his character episodes that Manon has a dark side and worries that it might cause her to lose focus one day in battle and asks that the Protagonist and Aina look out for her. Turns out that knowing the Awful Truth of the DOLLS and why they're at war with the ARKS almost the entire time she's been planetside and feeling responsible for the sheer casualty count really does numbers on one's psyche.
- Death Seeker: She has a lot of shades of this in Episode 1: Chapter 6, where she makes heavy use of a Overdrive, which was given to her by Zephetto with the warning to only be used in emergencies for a reason. It comes to a head when her overuse leads to her collapsing and becoming bedridden, with her admitting to wanting to die before Aina and the Protagonist talk some sense into her, as well as showing her just how many people assisted them, for her sake.
- Didn't See That Coming: As she implies, Manon was just one of many researchers aboard Leciel as yet another Resurgent ARKS clone doing her work in solitude. When Zephetto apparently offered an opportunity for her to go down to the ground level and examine the Halpha experiment up close, she ended up in Aelio Town — and was directly exposed to DOLLS killing the ARKS that she had only previously seen as statistics, followed by 909's arrival and then the Dark Falz attack. The nightmarish aftermath that killed Garoa in the process and orphaned Aina, combined with the complete lack of communication with Leciel as she was left to rot in her guilt over it all, ended up having her start fighting the DOLLS in return for some sort of atonement.
- Dual Wielding: Wields Twin Daggers in combat.
- Expository Hairstyle Change: She trades her long hairstyle for a ponytail during the events of Chapter 6, showing her new resolve after everything she went through in the previous chapters.
- Everyone Has Standards: Knowing the full truth of Halpha has caused Manon to be so shaken by the horror of the death and destruction that wipes out the countless ARKS members, and move to finally shut down the Resurgent ARKS' plans once and for all. Unfortunately for her, their plans completed as soon as the Meteorn killed Dark Falz, so she's not really able to do much about it and it was necessary to even hope to stand a chance against the Starless.
- Foil: To Aina. Manon is a Meteorn who wears predominantly dark and subdued colors that matches her cool-headed demeanor and prefers close combat with twin daggers or short-ranged Gi-techniques. She's also shown to be an experienced ARKS defender compared to the rookie Aina. Their character development also foils each other. While Manon puts up a strong facade, she gradually breaks down after witnessing all the tragedies throughout the story, experiencing Guilt Complex, tries to atone for what Resurgent ARKS have done, and even becomes a Death Seeker during Chapter 6. Meanwhile, Aina starts out inexperienced and traumatized by the DOLLS, but eventually grows out of it and becomes much more resilient, to the point that Aina is the one comforting Manon after her breakdowns.
- Form-Fitting Wardrobe: Her combat suit hugs the contours of her body quite nicely.
- Male Gaze: The cutscene camera has a peculiar habit of placing itself behind her to show off her butt.
- Magic Staff: Her other weapon of choice is a Rod.
- The Mentor: For Aina as it's revealed that she actually only began her formal training as ARKS defender under Manon's tutelage.
- The Mole: A strange case, in that she wasn't inherently sending info to her creators of the Resurgent ARKS thanks to the lack of communications between the ground and Leciel, but she was still their eyes on the ground into ensuring the Halpha ARKS versus the DOLLS worked its way to a proper conclusion for data analysis. In fact, by simply working with the Meteorn and Aina, she accelerated their plans tremendously and helped break the stalemate — which is exactly what the Resurgent ARKS needed to prepare for the return of the Starless.
- Minidress of Power: Manon's second outfit, Diri Actif, which the player can obtain through limited time SG Scratch. Her outfit change also reflects on her finding her new resolve.
- Mysterious Waif: Like the Protagonist, she's a Meteorn who arrived on Halpha for reasons unknown. Unlike them, however, Manon seems to know more than she lets on, and notably avoids answering questions about it.
- Senseless Sacrifice: She hates the idea of people dying to protect her as seen during Chapter 4 when a member of the Stia Vanguard sacrifices his life to protect her from Nils Stia in order to return the favor of her saving him previously during an earlier battle. This causes her to confront Zephetto alone to not risk Aina or the Meteorn, only to get defeated and used to lure them in anyway.
- Significant Wardrobe Shift: Chapter 6 introduces Manon's new outfit, a Minidress of Power, being stark contrast with her previous Form-Fitting Wardrobe outfit. Aside from her renewed resolve, the wardrobe change is also to distance herself from Resurgent ARKS, since her previous outfit was given by Zephetto as their standard uniform.
- Space Elves: She's actually a Newman, but it's not immediately noticeable due to her hair covering her ears. With her new hairstyle in Chapter 6, it is now easier to spot her pointy ears.
- The Smart Guy: Shown to be adept at research and engineering, helping Nadereh discover the true power of her singing ability through studying it and later helps Ilma reactivate Lost Central's main computer database during the Kvaris expedition. She's also shown throughout her character episodes to be learning as much as she can about her surroundings and the history of ARKS.
- Stepford Smiler: While Aina has the trauma of losing her entire hometown and father, Manon seems to struggle with the death and pain all of ARKS as a whole face down on Halpha, and gradually seems to be going through a long-term, subtle Heroic BSoD. That's because she had arrived shortly before the game began, and was just another researcher from Leciel with no idea how the experiment was actually proceeding; once she witnessed what the DOLLS really were doing and Dark Falz killing off Aina's home, what was supposed to be a "safe examination" knotted her heart into an unbearable pain as she blamed herself for merely being involved despite having nothing to do with Zephetto's horrific Well-Intentioned Extremist goals at that point. The fact that she had to present herself as the reliable Cool Big Sis for Aina while thinking she's the reason the girl was orphaned only hurt more.
- The Stoic: Acts in a calm and collected fashion for the most part.
- Unwitting Pawn: It's not explained if Zephetto knew sending her into the thick of the war was going to create the desired outcome or not, but at the very least, Manon helps emotionally angle Aina and prepare the Meteorn to fight the DOLLS where no one else could, on top of significantly helping bolster the Halpha ARKS in other ways like figuring out Nadereh's powers or helping Ilma's retrieval of Central Cannon data in Lost Central. Every good act she did as The Atoner was making the ARKS stronger, which is exactly what Zephetto was hoping to see.
Aelio Region
Garoa
Garoa
Voiced by: Kenta Miyake (JP), Christopher Corey Smith (EN)
Aina's father and one of the five strongest ARKS defenders on Planet Halpha. He serves as the protector of West Aelio and helps the Protagonist settle in on the planet.
- The Ace: As far as ARKS Defenders on Halpha go, Garoa was considered to be the best that ARKS had to offer. Dozer, an experienced ARKS Defender with at least 10 years of experience, even mentions that he has never once won a sparring match against him.
- Action Dad: He's a father and a cool as hell dude - how does he show his badass credentials? He does visible damage to Dark Falz with one of his strikes, and takes it on by himself. Even when he's staring down a Wave-Motion Gun, he shows no indication of fear or hesitation.
- Boyfriend-Blocking Dad: Implied to be one during the prologue. One of the Aelio Town residents admits to having an interest in Aina, but Garoa basically scared them off.
- Disappeared Dad: Mysteriously vanishes after his battle with Dark Falz. Aina holds onto hope that he's still alive somewhere out there.
- Fantasy-Forbidding Father: Aina ultimately reveals that Garoa didn't even want her joining ARKS in the first place because he was certain she wouldn't take it seriously. He only really conceded thanks to Manon being around to help keep an eye on her.
- Hunk: Oh so very much.
- Never Found the Body: He's last seen staring dead in the face of Dark Falz's Wave-Motion Gun right before it obliterates Aelio Town. ARKS defenders who came to investigate weren't able to find Garoa's body among the wreckage, which gives Aina hope that he might still be alive.
- Not Too Dead to Save the Day: Appears in the climatic finish against Dark Falz Aegis to seem quite proud of the Meteorn, albeit only as a distant spirit, before slapping them on the back to give them the push forwards to finally end their war.
- Sacred Hospitality: After the Meteorn crashes down not far from Aelio Town, Garoa immediately welcomes them in, no questions asked. He then offers them food and a place to stay, only asking that they help defend the town from DOLLS.
- Walking Shirtless Scene: His main outfit has him topless outside of gauntlets on his arms.
- Weapon Tombstone: After discovering the weapon he left behind in the ruins of Aelio Town, Aina decides to build one for him using it. As Garoa himself is only officially listed as MIA, she calls it a monument instead in tribute to her father's efforts to defend Aelio Town.
Crawford
Voiced by: Kappei Yamaguchi (JP), Landon McDonald (EN)
The administrative leader of Central City and the overall governing authority of ARKS. After the destruction of Aelio Town, he recruits the Meteorn, Aina, and Manon to become ARKS Defenders at Central City and often sends them on missions pertaining to the operation to subdue Dark Falz once and for all.
- Big Damn Heroes: When the party struggles to defeat Nils Stia, Crawford suddenly appears to lend a hand, much to the surprise of everyone considering that at this point, he hasn't been in action for a long time.
- Big Good: For the ARKS on planet Halpha.
- Blue Is Heroic: Crawford wears white and blue wardrobe, and is the Big Good of ARKS and Halpha as a whole.
- Chick Magnet: Implied by the comic shorts for the game where it's revealed Crawford has a dedicated fan club.
- Desk Jockey: He was formerly a frontline operative not unlike the Meteorn and is noted to be Glen's equal in strength in Chapter 4, but his job as ARKS supreme commander means he's more or less taken a supporting role in order to better lead the organization as a whole.
- Heroic Lineage: Being a member of ARKS runs in the family as both Crawford's father and grandfather were once the leaders of Central City themselves. They were also responsible for jumpstarting the project to restore Central Cannon which would later fall into Crawford's hands by the time he took charge.
- Mr. Exposition: Tends to fall into this as part of his job is explaining the situation to the Protagonist, Aina, and Manon whenever a mission comes up.
- Older Than They Look: He's 26 years old but looks like he could be the same age as Aina and Manon.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Is quite welcoming and reassuring of the Meteorn and their companions. Later when the truth of Halpha is revealed and Manon and the Lecelians are taken into custody, Crawford has no intention of outright punishing on any of them as he understands their reasons and decides it better to make peace and work together instead.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The blue to Glen's red, being the calm, calculating, and more defensive one in contrast to the more aggressive and offensive Glen. This is even reflected in their outfits, with Crawford wearing white and blue while Glen is wearing silver and red.
- Workaholic: Between running battle operations and handling Central City's administration, it's noted by Ran that Crawford rarely take any breaks and wonders to herself how he gets any sleep done.
- Young and in Charge: He's only 26 years old but serves as the supreme commander of ARKS on Planet Halpha.
Dozer
Voiced by: Tokuyoshi Kawashima (JP), Chris Hackney (EN)
A CAST ARKS instructor and Crawford's most trusted agent. He takes the Meteorn, Aina and Manon under his wing after they join ARKS after Aelio Town is destroyed by Dark Falz.
- Badass in Distress: He goes MIA while investigating Nex Aelio's appearance in Resol Forest, prompting Crawford to send the Meteorn, Aina and Manon to look for him.
- Big Damn Heroes: When the heroes bump into Nex Aelio, he rushes in and distracts it long enough so they can regroup and face the beast. He does it again in Retem, providing the region's ARKS with much-needed reinforcements from Aelio during their assault on Renus Retem's lair.
- Cyborg: Like all CASTs, he looks like a mecha thanks to his cyberware.
- Improbable Age: Although a veteran ARKS Defender, Dozer's canonical age is listed as 17 years old. As he was recruited into ARKS over 10 years ago, this means that Dozer was essentially 7 years old when he joined. Not only that, but he also took part in the failed operation to subjugate Nex Aelio (re-enacted during the Moonlight Invasion limited-time quest) at around the same time as well.
- The Mentor: Towards new recruits, being in charge of training up and coming ARKS defenders. He also acts as a more personal one to the Protagonist, Aina, and Manon, looking out for the trio and gives Aina in particular a lesson that allows her to overcome her initial fears and discover her own will to fight.
- Mysterious Past: Much like the Protagonist and Manon, Dozer reveals to the former that he's a Meteorn much like they are and mentions that he doesn't remember much of his past prior to landing on Halpha. He was rescued over 10 years ago by Crawford who would then help recruit him into ARKS.
- Younger Than They Look: He's an experienced ARKS Veteran who's tasked with training new recruits, but he's chronologically only a year younger than the 18 year old Manon.
Crawford's operators
Ran voiced by: Yumiri Hanamori (JP), Courtney Lin (EN)
Liu Lin voiced by: Eri Inagawa (JP), Elizabeth Maxwell (EN)
Rossa voiced by: Michiko Kaiden (JP), Megan Hensley (EN)
Oranje voiced by: Risa Shimizu (JP), Cristina Valenzuela (EN)
Crawford's four assistants who serve as mission control and data analysts for ARKS Defenders throughout Planet Halpha. Their names are Ran, Liu Lin, Rossa, and Oranje.
- Amazonian Beauty: Rossa who's noticeably toned compared to her colleagues.
- The Baby of the Bunch: Ran, who's 18 years old, which makes her the youngest among her coworkers Liu Lin (20), Rossa (28), and Oranje (25).
- Bridge Bunnies: They primarily do most of their work from inside Central City's command center.
- Cool Big Sis: Rossa, who's the eldest among her colleagues, and is noted to have a big sister disposition.
- Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Ran is blue, Liu Lin green, Rossa red and Oranje... Orange.
- Covert Pervert: Oranje seems like The Ditz trying to have fun with things in Central!.. up until she pulls out a seemingly-inexhaustible supply of cosplay outfits, Kimono Fanservice, wedding gowns and revealing bikinis that she tries to dress up girls like Manon and Kanrui in.
- Mission Control: In addition to the ARKS in the Aelio region, the four also work to coordinate with the ARKS from other regions especially during joint operations.
- Ms. Exposition: Ran. Two of her character episodes have her explaining the background of the Kvaris and Stia regions.
- Ms. Fanservice: While each of them bare their midriffs since their outfits aren't exactly all-encompassing, Rossa is notably bustier than the rest. The Central! webcomic tends to exploit this by having her midriff and chest almost always be in full view whenever she's got a front shot in a panel.
- Only Sane Man: Ran seems to be the only one with her head on her shoulders properly in Central!, though it also fits with True Blue Femininity.
- Punny Name: Look at Rossa and Oranje.
- The Stoic: Liu Lin, who always remains a calm professional during her work.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Liu Lin hates extreme temperatures, so naturally going to Kvaris or Stia is absolute suffering for the poor girl in Central!, to the point that even just entering Kvaris has her kindly calling for a Reversasign.
Retem Region
Nadereh
Nadereh
Voiced by: Azusa Tadokoro (JP), Valeria Rodriguez (EN)
The administrative leader of the Retem region. She is a 24 year old human who comes from a long line of Retem leaders who used their singing abilities to empower their fellow ARKS. However, Nadereh herself lacks this power for some reason which proves disadvantageous when attacks from DOLLS units begin to increase. Despite this, Nadereh is dedicated to protecting her people and is willing to put her own life on the line to do so.
- Action Girl: She's the leader in charge of the Retem Region and isn't afraid of diving straight into the action alongside her fellow ARKS. It is also hinted that she's the best fighter in the region as well; Hadi casually points out in one of his conversations with the protagonists that Nadereh subjected herself to brutal training regimens that would probably have killed others, to make up for the handicap of (supposedly) lacking her ancestors' ability to empower their allies through song.
- Damage-Increasing Debuff: How Nadereh's music works when fighting DOLLS. Any DOLLS unit that hears her music has its defenses crippled like they suffered a Break. This includes Dark Falz Aegis.
- Heroic Lineage: Much like Crawford, Nadereh comes from a long line of ARKS Defenders who served as leaders of Retem city. Much like her, they also had singing abilities that allowed them to support fellow ARKS.
- Idol Singer: After the crisis regarding Renus Retem is over and the DOLLS threat reduced somewhat, Nadereh starts to devote more time to her singing as she begins to regularly holds concerts in Retem City. But while she plays a similar role in the setting to her predecessor Quna, her musical style draws more from jazz than pop music.
- Kick Chick: Fights primarily with Jet Boots.
- Magic Music:
- Nadereh comes from a long line of Retem chiefs who were able to use song to empower their fellow ARKS defenders during battle. Although it's initially believed she lacked the power, it later turns out that her singing doesn't empower ARKS defenders - rather, it weakens DOLLS instead. As she had never sung in battle, she never found out until Manon had discovered it.
- During Manon's character episode in Retem, she researches more about Nadereh's singing and lampshades the absurd nature of the phenomena. She compares it to a Technique, but notes that it requires a massive amount of photons for it to be any affective at the range Nadereh does that it borders on actual magic.
- Ms. Fanservice: Similar to Manon, Nadereh dresses in a black body suit that shows off her figure quite a bit. During concerts, she also switches to a black dress that shows off more of her arms and legs.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Although initially skeptical, she's quick to accept the help the Protagonist, Aina, and Manon when they arrive in the Retem region in order to deal with Renus Retem, and in turn she later helps them in their request to deal with Dark Falz.
- Not So Stoic: Although she presents herself as always being calm and collected, Nadereh admits that she actually suffers from some mild stage fright when singing in front of others due to her inexperience. Aina quickly teases her over this.
- Tomboy with a Girly Streak: She's a battle hardened warrior and leader of the Retem Region ARKS. Doesn't stop her from collecting cute dolls and painting her room pink as revealed by Aina after she visited her room once.
Nadereh's Advisors
Hadi voiced by: Junpei Morita (JP), Richard Epcar (EN)
Jalil voiced by: Atsuki Tani (JP), Patrick Seitz (EN)
Mohsen voiced by: Yoji Ueda (JP), Paul St. Peter (EN)
A CAST trio of veteran ARKS Defenders who serve as Nadereh's closest aides and as well as serving as her bandmates during concerts. Their names are Hadi, Jahlil, and Mohsen.
- Cyber Cyclops: Both Jalil's and Mohsen's heads only have one eye.
- Old Soldier: All three of them are in their 50s and still take part in active combat.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Hadi, the first of the trio to meet with the Protagonist, Aina, and Manon, is far more open to working with them as opposed to Nadereh and the others who initially had their doubts. However, this is very much understandable as Nadereh, Jahlil and Mohsen had yet to witness the Protagonist's, Aina's and Manon's skills in combat and thus cannot be sure if they will end up as liabilities when working together. Indeed, their apprehension all but vanishes by the end of the Retem story arc after seeing their skills for themselves.
- Rock Trio: Each of them serve as musicians during Nadereh's concerts. Hadi plays the guitar and saxophone, Jalil plays the drums, and Mohsen plays the bass.
Kvaris Region
The Kvaris Siblings
Taivas voiced by: Yuichiro Umehara (JP), Dane Jamieson (EN)
Tuuli voiced by: Ryōta Ōsaka (JP), Aleks Le (EN)
Ilma voiced by: Yoshitsugu Matsuoka (JP), Tony Azzolino (EN)
Kukka voiced by: Miyu Irino (JP), David Cui Cui(EN)
Meri voiced by: Konomi Kohara (JP), Corina Boettger (EN)
A group of 16 year old Newman quintuplets who operate in the Kvaris Region seeking to help restore the area to its former glory one day as per their late grandfather's wish. From eldest to youngest, they are Taivas, Tuuli, Ilma, Kukka, and Meri. The Protagonist, Aina, and Manon meet them during their expedition to Kvaris in search of Ilma at Crawford's request.
- Absent-Minded Professor: Ilma. He tends to work at his own pace and even failed to inform to his siblings that he was going to Lost Central despite the dangers there.
- Big Brother Instinct: Taivas, as the oldest, he has firm desire to protect his younger siblings. When Tuuli suggests they go look for Ilma in Lost Central, his immediate reaction is reject the idea due to how dangerous it is.
- Birds of a Feather:
- Aina and Meri quickly hit it off after getting to know each other, both being cheerful girls at heart and considering the other to be a survivor of tough circumstances like they are. It's even revealed by Aina they've begun regularly hanging out.
- Ilma and Crawford as well. The two met online and although both have yet to actually meet in person, their shared interest in science and research led to them corresponding with each other frequently and both think highly of one another's intelligence and skills.
- Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Each of them is easily identifiably by the color of their hair and clothes. Taivas is Red, Tuuli is Blue, Ilma is Yellow, Kukka is Green, and Meri is Pink.
- Half-Identical Twins: All five are quintuplets, with each sharing the same basic facial features, but Meri is the only girl among the group.
- The Heart: Meri, being the youngest and only girl of the group, tends to rein in her older brothers.
- Hot-Blooded: Taivas who's dressed in red, quite vocal about his opinions, and the most physically oriented among his siblings as a Hunter.
- Only Sane Man: Kukka. Between the hotheaded Taivas, the lone wolf Tuuli, and the spacey Ilma, he's generally the most reliable of his brothers and was also open to working with the Protagonist, Aina, and Manon whereas Meri was somewhat hesitant due to her inexperience with strangers.
- Parental Abandonment: Meri reveals that the siblings' parents died in an accident and that their grandfather Lasias disappeared during a blizzard and never came back.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Taivas and Tuuli.
- Sibling Team: As shown during battle within Lost Central, the five of them work quite well together in a fight.
- The Stoic: Tuuli, who's generally calm and collected among his siblings.
Stia Region
Glen
Voiced by: Kenjiro Tsuda (JP), Kevin K. Gomez (EN)
A 25 year old Deuman who serves as the commander of the Stia Vanguard, a group of ARKS Defenders stationed within the Stia Region. He's an old acquaintance of Crawford whom Glen has a somewhat tense relationship with. He's obsessed with chasing after a DOLLS unit known as Nils Stia.
- The Ace: Of the Stia Vanguard. He's the strongest member of the group and the only person known capable of matching him is Crawford himself. The Vanguard unit as a whole is also considered to be the most elite unit that ARKS has to offer on Halpha.
- The Comically Serious: Central! depicts him as keeping his usual stoicism even as he wonders what goofy outfits to welcome the Aelio ARKS Operators in for the sake of being more approachable, or riding sleds on lava to figure out if it was safe transport. It wasn't.
- Dual Wielding: His main weapons are a pair of daggers much like Manon.
- A Father to His Men: Towards the Stia Vanguard. Its members are quite loyal towards him cause of how Glen goes out of his way take care of those under his command, even risking his life by putting himself as rear guard whenever the group needs to retreat from enemy forces.
- Horned Humanoid: As a male Deuman, he has a single black horn on his forehead.
- The Lost Lenore: It's revealed that the reason for his grudge against Nils Stia is because it killed Hibana, a close friend of his and Crawford.
- Old Friend: To Crawford, though neither have been on the best of terms as of recently due to disagreements over their plan of action after Hibana's death. Crawford aimed to fortify Central City's defenses whereas Glen was obsessed with taking down Nils Stia which Crawford considered a suicide mission.
- It's Personal: With Nils Stia. While generally coolheaded, he almost immediately flies off the handle when he lays eyes on Nils Stia as he tries taking it on by himself. It's later revealed that is because an old friend of his and Crawford's, Hibana, died in battle thanks to Nils Stia and Glen had made it his mission to avenge her.
- Rage Breaking Point: He is seconds away from a violent meltdown once Pharia reveals the true nature of the war with the DOLLS to him in Central City.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: While appearing to be somewhat cold, he's not above working with the Meteorn, Aina, and Manon especially after hearing of their exploits in Aelio, Retem and Kvaris. He's also willing to listen to the Meteorn when they notice Glen's frustrations and try to advice him over the matter.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: While Glen is The Stoic, he's the red to Crawford's blue. Glen's strategies are mostly focused on offensive against enemy bases with him taking the lead, while Crawford prefers defensive tactics by staying in Central City. This is also reflected in their outfits, with Glen wearing silver and red in contrast to Crawford wearing white and blue.
- Scars Are Forever: He has a noticeable scar on the left side of his face which he gained in a past battle against Nils Stia.
- The Stoic: Rarely emotes outside of battle.
- Tsundere: During Kanui's character episode, he appears together with her in Aelio to thank the Meteorn for their aid during Chapter 4. However, due to his stoic nature and has to be nudged by Kanui into actually doing it. After he leaves, Kanui reveals he almost never thanks anyone for anything which shows how much respect he now has for the Meteorn.
Kanui
Voiced by: Akari Kitou (JP), Laura Post (EN)
A 26 year old CAST who serves as Glen's loyal adjutant. Professional and coolheaded, she looks out for both Glen's wellbeing and that of the Stia Vanguard.- BFS: Wields a large double saber as her primary weapon.
- Horned Humanoid: She has two distinctive red mechanical horns attached to her head.
- Ms. Fanservice: In the Central! webcomic, where Oranje breaks the game's cosmetic rules to have her dress up for the sake of it with a little Kimono Fanservice — and then partly strips her solely to invoke an embarrassed reaction while commenting that she's perfectly modest by default underneath anyway. The comic effectively exploits her being a CAST to emphasize her body in a way they couldn't get away with for the normal characters.
- Number Two: To Glen. She's the one leading the Stia Vanguard whenever Glen can't do it himself.
- Robot Girl: Comes with being a CAST.
- Team Mom: To the group in Chapter 4. Compared to Glen who acts in a somewhat standoffish manner, Kanui's quite friendly and levelheaded as she tries to look out for those around her. She also tries to get Glen himself to be more honest about his feelings such as when she gets him to say thank you towards the Meteorn for their aid.
Resurgent ARKS (Major Unmarked Spoilers Ahead!)
Zephetto
Zephetto
Voiced by: Taiten Kusunoki (JP), Paul Guyet (EN)
The ultimate mastermind behind the ARKS Vs. DOLLS conflict as part of a larger experiment, a CAST who is centuries old and aims to restore the photon capabilities of ARKS Defenders to the threshold they were a thousand years ago, in order for ARKS to stand a chance against a new threat called the "Starless". He's the creator of the Meteorn as well as the DOLLS, and considers himself to be Manon's father.- Affably Evil: He treats Manon like crap when she finally resists the program, but ultimately is a Graceful Loser when the team defeats him, and reveals himself to be probably one of the biggest cases of Well-Intentioned Extremist in the franchise as he outlays his motivations without a hint of despair, spite or hatred. After all, they finally proved ready for the bigger threat at large.
- Anti-Villain: He's only a villain in so much as being antagonistic for the sake of the experiments. The characters are rightfully pissed at him for taking and destroying so much with the DOLLS, but in the end his Well-Intentioned Extremist methods are justified when the Starless prep to return right after his defeat, and he dies trying to save what's left of ARKS to stop them. While he stopped caring about the individual lives on Halpha, he devoted centuries to finally making sure ARKS was ready for what comes after him.
- The Bad Guy Wins: Played with, in that for all of his crimes against humanity and the sheer death toll of ARKS that can be laid at his feet, Zephetto's actions got the modern ARKS prepared for the Starless, which was his goal from the very beginning; his winning effectively sets the stage for everyone else to hopefully win in turn.
- Big Bad: The ultimate antagonist of the Halpha DOLLS saga, and the final boss.
- Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: He's one towards Luther from the original game. Both used genetic engineering to help create the modern day ARKS of their time, and both are quite willing to sacrifice lives for the sake of their ultimate goals. The difference is that Luther did so for the sake of his own selfishness to reach the Akashi Records whereas Zephetto did so out of a desire to strengthen ARKS as a whole to prepare them for the return of the Starless.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Could've had Manon killed just to spite her attempting to undermine his plans — but instead he simply has her non-lethally defeated, albeit to serve as bait for luring the Meteorn and Aina to him. And while he preps for the fourth generation of ARKS Defenders, once the trio prove themselves against him he is damn proud of what they've managed to accomplish rather than discouraging or rude to them.
- Final Boss: Of Episode 1: Chapter 5, appearing in a specialized superweapon solely for a story mode battle that lifts attacks and abilities from each of the major regional bosses and Dark Falz to use to its advantage. This effectively makes his weapon a Final-Exam Boss as well.
- Foreshadowing: After his defeat as a boss and his affirmation that the third-generation ARKS test was a success, he specifically mentions to prepare the data for the "fourth clone", as if all the data that went into our heroes can be pushed into one final production for the end of their experiment. Come the next chapter, the characters realize the DOLLS production plants are still running even after Zephetto's disappearance, meaning the "test" protocols are still currently active for reasons still unknown despite the active Starless threat.
- Heroic Sacrifice: As far as anyone knows, at the end of the floating island arc he flies up into space with his mech to sacrifice himslf to prevent the Starless from landing on Halpha before the ARKS Defenders there are ready for them.
- I Did What I Had to Do: If he hadn't done these experiments, someone like the Meteorn or Aina would've never grown strong enough to be prepped for the Starless. Even when Aina makes him suffer a Heel Realization that maybe he has gone too far with his work even at expense of himself and his mentality, he never falters on believing in the necessity of the project at all.
- Luke, I Am Your Father: He is referred to as the father, and "mother", of all modern ARKS on Halpha as well as of Resurgent ARKS. It's never elaborated if he's an actual genetic donor, but at the very least, everyone that wasn't part of the second generation's own bloodlines made after colonizing was directly made by the Resurgent ARKS with Zephetto at the helm, effectively making him the pseudo-God of Halpha and creator of the modern, artificial mankind.
- Obviously Evil: The guy literally represents himself with a skull. Nevermind the crystal skull inside his head.
- Shoot the Dog: So many times prior to the game that it's impossible to keep count. Keep in mind that Retem alone has thousands dead, and this is the third generation of his wargames; as he puts it, the first generation failed the experiment entirely. Because the DOLLS were his creations, every single death of an ARKS member can be directly laid at his feet, especially Garoa and all of Aelio Town as a victim of Dark Falz. But he doesn't falter from his goals to try to get someone finally capable enough of fighting off the Starless.
- Skull for a Head: His first appearance is through a monitor with a very glitchy display of a skull, which seems like blatant Card-Carrying Villain fare... until you reach and defeat him and his mask falls off, revealing that the skull actually is his face.
- So Proud of You: He has nothing but praise, even in his own aloof way, for Meteorn, Manon and Aina managing to become as arguably strong as the ARKS of a thousand years prior. Aina managed to surpass the rest of the second generation's limitations, which in and of itself is a significant feat that implies she surpassed even Garoa, while the Meteorn is a particular case of him investing personally in their improvement and as the star of the new ARKS. Manon he was a bit more disregarding of, but he still loosely praises her for being able to stand alongside the other two.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: It turns out everything he's done is to restore ARKS to its former glory and create ARKS Defenders with photon-wielding capabilities at least matching the heroes of a thousand years ago. The Meteorn can potentially call him out on his insanity, and Zephetto will openly admit that they may be right.
Pharia
Voiced by: Ari Ozawa (JP), Brenna Larsen (EN)
One of the staff members of Leciel, as well as Manon's "backup" as someone that could replace her had the experiments gone awry. Aloof and distant, she nonetheless seems to have second thoughts about the experiment under the Resurgent ARKS like Manon did, and was sent down to the surface of Halpha as seemingly bait to help bring the Meteorn and Aina up to Zephetto himself.- The Bait: At first glance it seems that Pharia arrived on Halpha to initially to warn everyone about what happened to Manon on Leciel, but the implications from Zephetto himself confer that she was unknowingly sent down to set up the Lost Central teleport so that the Meteorn and Aina would be sent his way for the final test knowing that they would want to find and rescue Manon no matter what.
- Emotionless Girl: Seems as much at first, but the more the Meteorn, Aina and Ilma question her about the Resurgent ARKS and Leciel, the more it becomes clear that she does have emotions but doesn't know how to exert them yet. As we see from similar individuals on-board Leciel itself, they're all so devoted to their workloads that none of them seem to think or act on their own unless directly questioned, implying Pharia is going through what Manon did in learning to finally think for herself — and her silence on certain subjects speaks for her.
- Identical Stranger: Messier, longer hair and different eye colors aside, Pharia looks almost like a younger version of Manon. Given the Expendable Clone nature of the Resurgent ARKS on-board Leciel, and Pharia calling herself Manon's backup unit, it's entirely probable the two are genetic sisters of the third-gen Meteorn project.
- Ms. Exposition: The first thing she does upon recovering from her Retem pod landing is outright explain the Awful Truth of what Halpha and the DOLLS really were, setting the stage for the heroes to be opposed to Zephetto. Just as he desired. Notably, Glen is practically seething with fury and looks like he's seconds away from trying to maim her over her liberally saying it all, until Crawford calls him off.
