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Protagonists
Gustav McPherson
Voiced By: Sven Eriksson
Victoria's grandfather, a private detective and the protagonist of Post Mortem (2002). In said game, he is an artist who wants to leave his P.I. days behind, but Sophia Blake ropes him into solving the murder of the Whytes. In Still Life, his lover Ida, a former prostitute, asks him to look into the disappearances and murders of her former co-workers.
- Dark and Troubled Past: He never told his son Patrick or Victoria the story of how he met his wife because it was connected to the Prague murders in which he saw his lover Ida and their unborn child being murdered in front of him.
- Dork Knight: Brave, determined, good at what he does, genuinely nice, and has a strong moral fiber.
- Love at First Sight: He claims this was the case with Ida, his Czech paramour.
- Happily Married: To Milena.
- Mystery Magnet: He somehow ends up involved in the strangest and most messed-up cases.
- Nice Guy: He is kind, considerate and non-judgmental to almost everybody he meets. He also immediately offers to marry Ida after she tells him she is pregnant.
- Starving Artist: He eventually gave up and became a private detective in order to survive.
Jaques Hellouin
A fellow private detective from Post Mortem. He was hired by Gregiore de Allepin to get back the Head of Baphomet, an artifact he had that was stolen from him. Unfortunately, he gets tangled in a murder plot and becomes the prime suspect.
- Big Damn Heroes: Should Gus present enough evidence to get him acquitted of the Whytes' murder, he will return in the finale to gun down the actual murderer and save Gus from them.
Victoria McPherson
Voiced By: Sarah Leger
A tough FBI agent with a sarcastic streak. She is the granddaughter of Gus McPherson, the main character of Post Mortem (2002). At the start of the game, Victoria is on the trail of a serial killer with a worrisome body count.
- The Ace: On top of her combat expertise and remarkable courage, she's very intelligent, determined and resourceful.
- Action Girl: Smart, fearless and able to kick ass effortlessly.
- Brainy Brunette: She certainly lives up to the standards one would expect of an FBI agent.
- Boyish Short Hair
- Career Versus Man: Career wins for Victoria, but it's understandable since she is trying to catch a serial killer. Richard was showing her the newly acquired paintings when Victoria got the phone call from officer William Tate, and they don't seem to be parting on cordial terms. She notes in her journal that her boyfriend will probably give her a hard time about her leaving the Art Gallery to go to a freshly discovered crime scene.
- Cowboy Cop: She chases the killer down a back alley and breaks into the police's archives to find information on the Prague killer. Her boss lampshades this, saying "I think you've been watching too many movies."
- Dissonant Serenity: Is able to make light-hearted comments at the sight of a gruesome murder. Justified because she is a police officer and has seen her fair share of sliced corpses. Worth noting however, is that she does feel empathy for the victims and their families, and this motivates her in her efforts to catch the murderer.
- Even the Girls Want Her: Just ask Mia.
- Fair Cop: A young and attractive FBI agent.
- Humble Hero: She insists that Miller call her Victoria, not Agent McPherson.
- It's Personal: The further her investigation goes and the more she reads about the Perlovka Ripper, the more personal it gets for Victoria.
- Missing Mom: Her mother died before the events of the game.
- Must Have Caffeine: She states that never works without coffee.
- Nice Girl: She is supportive and kind towards her friends and colleagues and strives to help them and she is amazingly non-judgmental. On top of that, she feels a great deal of compassion for the victims of the killer and wants to catch him for their sake and to protect any other potential victims.
- Pet the Dog: Feels sorry for David Miller and rather than branding him as incompetent, attributes his failure to rise through the ranks to bad luck rather than a lack of skills, and even asks Claire to go easy on him.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: She shares quite a few traits with her grandfather.
- Tall, Dark, and Snarky: Enjoys employing sarcasm whenever she can.
- Tomboy with a Girly Streak: Her skirt and boots add a touch of femininity to her otherwise practical outfit, and on top of that, she can cook well.
Chicago, 2004
David Miller
Voiced By: Arthur Holden
An FBI agent with a weak stomach.
- Butt-Monkey: Cursed with a weak stomach and not very physically fit, Miller is usually berated by Claire or laughed at by his other colleagues.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Gets into hot water with his girlfriend when Victoria answers his cell phone and spends a good chunk of time listening to her ranting on his phone.
- Donut Mess with a Cop: Implied by Victoria, who tells him that he shouldn't expose himself to gore anymore, as they can't risk any more "donut contaminated crime scenes."
- Lovable Coward: It's usually up to Victoria to get stuff like finding an exit from the abandoned building. He is also reluctant to go down to the morgue knowing that the killer was there half an hour before. To his defense, he is aware of his flaws and does his best to compensate for them, usually by doing research and providing Victoria with information.
- Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: The sensitive guy to Tate's Manly Man.
- Those Two Guys: With William Tate.
- Vomiting Cop: When Victoria first encounters him, he is leaning on a fridge, nauseated by a mere glimpse of crime scene he had seen a couple of minutes earlier.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: After interrogating Collar and lashing out at Browning, he is never seen or even mentioned in the game again.
Claire Ashby
Voiced By: Pauline Little
A coroner and Victoria's former professor.
- The Coroner: A typical case.
- Enraged by Idiocy: Cannot stand Miller because he insists on visiting crime scenes even though he always throws up and contaminates them. And by the start of the game, he's done this more than once.
- Fiery Redhead: Do not get on her bad side.
- The Illegible: Victoria mentions this in regards to Claire's hand-written report.
- Like a Son to Me: Victoria implies in her journal that Claire sees her as this, possibly because Claire is estranged from her biological daughter.
- Mentor: She is implied to be this for Victoria, her former student.
- Nausea Dissonance: Justified because she is a coroner.
- Workaholic: She notes that she is the only one crazy enough to work during the holidays.
William Tate
Voiced By: Terrence Scammell
An FBI agent and one of the first characters we meet in the game. Has a soft spot for Victoria, because he feels she's different from all the other agents.
- Big Brother Instinct: Towards Victoria. He often tells her to be careful and take care of herself.
- Cool Shades: In his concept art.
- The Eeyore: Has shades of this. When Victoria asks him how he's doing, he goes into a rant about the weather, the snow and the traffic.
- Nausea Dissonance: His stomach doesn't seem bothered at all by the horrific state of Cynthia's corpse.
- Sir Swears-a-Lot: Tends to swear more often than the rest.
- Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: The Manly Man to Miller's sensitive guy.
- Those Two Guys: With David Miller.
Chief Todd Browning
Voiced By: Terrence Scammell
Chicago FBI chief, a man who sticks to the rules and doesn't take well to cowboy cops like Victoria. As a result, they have a very tense relationship.
- By-the-Book Cop: Victoria describes him as a man obsessed with rules and discipline, and finds his style of work ineffective.
- Da Chief: Thinks that Victoria is getting too involved in her case and places her on probation.
- Dirty Cop: Browning was a patron of the Red Lantern club and became nervous when Victoria's investigation turned towards the place and its clients. For that reason, he released Kolar even though they had incriminating evidence and rushed to close the Chicago Ripper case once Victoria shot the murderer, without making sure the killer is actually dead.
- Dirty Old Man: His name appears in the VIP guestbook of the Red Lantern brothel, where all sorts of kinky BDSM stuff takes place.
- Jerkass: While he is a huge one, sometimes he's more along the lines of a Reasonable Authority Figure. Victoria's style of work as an agent has often went beyond the acceptable norms: not informing her superior about a detained suspect just because her gut told her he's not the murderer, breaking into the FBI archives, not to mention concealing evidence (the rose found at the sixth murder scene, the photo of Mia and the implicit knowledge that she is the next victim etc.). Her not telling anybody about Mia being the next target of the killer makes absolutely no sense and is tantamount to reckless endangerment. She leaves her in the care of her boyfriend who ironically, is the Ripper instead of giving her police protection, which nearly ends in tragedy.
- Must Have Caffeine: Victoria even needs to get him a cup.
- Sharp-Dressed Man: Wears an impeccable suit.
Vaclav Kolar
Voiced By: Harry Standjofski
A student at the Chicago university who acted as a tutor for one of the killer's victims. He lives in a filthy room and tends to keep to himself.
- Ceiling Banger: Perhaps not literally, but he does suspect that Mia invited him to her party next door just to make sure he won't complain about the noise.
- Nerd Glasses: To make the picture complete.
- Trash of the Titans: His room is absolutely filthy. Victoria instantly regrets having asked if she could come in.
- Room Full of Crazy: The walls in his room are covered with photos from gore films, crime scenes and pornos. While Miller is taken aback by it and calls him sick, Victoria brushes it off.
- Slashed Throat: What he got for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
- Wrongly Accused: Of being the Chicago Ripper. A bit ironic since the aim of his thesis was to prove that Gus, who was innocent, was the Perlovka Ripper.
Patrick McPherson
Voiced By: A. J. Henderson
Victoria's father and the son of Gus and Milena. The District Attorney for the city of Chicago.
- Distinguished Gentleman's Pipe: His concept art shows him smoking one.
- Doting Parent: To Victoria. She is very grateful for his ability to feel whenever things get too much for her and subsequent invitation to relax and unwind at the family home.
- Gift Shake: Does this with the Christmas gift he got from his daughter.
- Good Parents: To Victoria. They have a close relationship.
- The Lost Lenore: His wife. Victoria wishes he would start dating again, but suspects that he couldn't get over her death.
Richard Valdez
Voiced By: Marcel Jeannin
Victoria's boyfriend. He works at the Chicago Art Gallery.
- Dating Catwoman: Inverted, since he's the Chicago Ripper.
- Dissonant Serenity: He is disturbingly calm and collected when Victoria discovers that he is the Chicago Ripper.
- Fanboy: To Mark Ackerman's paintings and his murders, apparently.
- Tall, Dark, and Handsome: Easily one of the most attractive men in the game.
- Parental Abandonment: How he views his relationship with his mother.
- Soft-Spoken Sadist: Not so much in the first game, but in Still Life 2, his voice is almost feeble.
Mia Holmes
Voiced By: Jennifer Seguin
A student at Chicago University and friends with the Ripper's fifth victim, Cynthia.
- Damsel in Distress: Gets kidnapped by the Chicago Ripper.
- High-Class Call Girl: Works at the exclusive S&M club Red Lantern.
- Ms. Fanservice: Sultry and very sexy.
- Stripperific: Wears a very attention-grabbing corset.
The Chicago Ripper
- Badass Cape: Wears a long, black one.
- Big Bad: In the Chicago Ripper case, as the killer who Victoria is hunting down.
- Cheap Costume: Averted. He wears a fancy cape and top hat and a silver mask.
- Classy Cane: His concept art shows him sporting one.
- Couldn't Find a Pen: Leaves cryptic messages written in his victim's blood.
- Disney Death: Victoria shoots him and he falls into the Chicago River.
- The Faceless: His face is never seen in-game, leaving his identity a mystery until the sequel.
- Jack the Ripoff: To the Perlovka Ripper, to the degree that they could almost be the same person.
- Leave No Witnesses: He slits Kolar's throat because he saw him without his mask on.
- Ominous Opera Cape: Worn to a very dramatic effect.
- Theme Serial Killer: Has shades of this, since he goes after prostitutes and carefully selects victims and the locations he dumps the bodies so he can recreate the paintings of his favorite artist and grandfather, Mark Ackerman.
- Slipping a Mickey: His favorite modus operandi is to get his victims drunk and then slip Rohypnol into their drink, making it easier for him to drown or strangle them.
- The Voiceless: Never utters a word whenever he is on screen so as to hide his identity.
Prague, 1920s
Inspector Jiří Skalnic
Voiced By: Mark Camacho
A Prague police inspector investigating the recent string of murders plaguing the city.
- Be as Unhelpful as Possible: Towards Gus. He intentionally gave him vague answers and as little information as he could. Gus picked up on this immediately.
- Classy Cane: His concept art shows him sporting one.
- Dirty Cop: Conceals evidence regarding the Prague murders in exchange for money from Ackerman's father. On top of that he planned to have Gus take the fall for the ripper crimes.
- Establishing Character Moment: The first time we see him, he is stealing and concealing evidence from the latest crime scene.
- Jerkass: A huge one. Because of his crooked ways, he's indirectly responsible for the gruesome deaths of at least five women, because he kept eliminating evidence which led to the real killer and did his best to stall the investigation. And he doesn't feel sorry at all, because he sees prostitutes as second class citizens.
- Pay Evil unto Evil: Gus eventually discovers that Skalnic has been disposing evidence leading to the Perlovka Ripper and gives him a well-deserved beating.
- Villain with Good Publicity: According to Stašek, he has a very good reputation.
Kazimír Stašek
Voiced By: Marcel Jeannin
A police officer who was kind enough to help Gus out with a couple of minor cases before the Prague murders, Stašek is the only ally Gus has within the Czech police force.
- Blatant Lies: To Gus, when he explains how he got a black eye. He claims that he was trying to help a woman when the guy who was harassing her suddenly punched him in the face. In reality, he was the one harassing the woman (Apolina), who had stolen his medal as punishment for using her services and not paying her. He got a black eye when Roman intervened.
- Friend on the Force: Helps out Gus on several occasions, at times even looking the other way to allow him to obtain information through unconventional means.
- Heroic Fire Rescue: He saved some children from a burning orphanage and got a medal of bravery for it.
Emil Korona
Voiced By: A.J. Henderson
A nearly deaf coroner who works in a filthy morgue.
- The Coroner: Although he doesn't seem very reliable at first, he can figure out what happened to his victims in spite of his rudimentary equipment (for starters, the straw-littered morgue he works in is actually a former chapel). Some of it is logical deduction, some is medical expertise.
- Ear Trumpet: Uses one because he is almost deaf.
- Forgetful Jones: Mostly due to his age. He always forgets his safe's combination, and when he writes it down he forgets where he put the note... and then forgets how his own safe works.
- Nausea Dissonance: As expected of a coroner.
- Punny Name: His surname, Korona, sounds like “coroner”.
- Combat Medic: Was a medical aid in the Great War. He lost part of his hearing when a mortar shell exploded near his location.
The Crow Man
Voiced By: Arthur Holden
A mysterious coachman often employed by Prague's ladies of the night. He lives in a derelict building and has taught his pet crows to steal shiny objects for him.
- Cassandra Truth: He thinks that Inspector Skalnic doesn't take his suggestion that the killer is using the sewer system to move throughout the city undetected seriously because he is a homeless bum and doesn't want to feel outwitted by someone like him. It's actually because Skalnic is a Dirty Cop who is actively working to avoid capturing the killer.
- Dark and Troubled Past: His statement that he's had a miserable life and his secrecy hint at this.
- Hidden Depths: At first, he seems a homeless bum who scrapes by to survive... but then you find out he's been traveling all over Europe, has a very sharp mind and the ability to train crows to collect shiny objects for him.
- Mysterious Stranger: We know very little of him, as he refuses to discuss his background. He only mentions that he originates from London, England.
- Non-Human Sidekick: He has trained his crows to collect shiny objects and bring them back to him, so he can survive the days where he doesn't get any work.
- No Name Given: He obviously does not want to reveal his name, and the game indulges him.
- Pet the Dog: He is fond of Vladanna and is relieved when Gus confirms that she was not the recently murdered prostitute. He also feels sorry for her, stating that she is "far too young to be doing what those animals wanted."
- Private Detective: Gus seems to believe the man fits the profile.
- You Remind Me of X: Vladanna reminds him of a woman he knew in his youth.
Otokar Kubina
Voiced By: Harry Standjofski
A pimp who owns a lingerie shop. Since the Prague murders have begun, business has been bad for him.
- Enemy Mine: Kubina reluctantly helps Gus by providing him access to Vladanna, because he is also interested in getting the Prague serial killer caught.
- Pragmatic Villainy: He helps Gus track down the Ripper solely because the murders of his prostitutes are obviously bad for his business, not out of any care for the prostitutes themselves.
Ida Skaličková
Voiced By: Sarah Leger
A beautiful woman involved with Gus. She is the one who asked him to look into the disappearance and murders or her friends.
- Abusive Parents: Ida's stepfather molested her on a regular basis.
- Damsel in Distress: Gets kidnapped by Mark Ackermann. It ends very badly.
- Doomed by Canon: Victoria reads about what happened to her when she receives a copy of Kolar's thesis, before she finishes reading her grandfather's files.
- Hooker with a Heart of Gold: Always looking out for her friends and trying her best to help them and keep them safe.
- Kill the Cutie: Gus describes her as a caring person, always willing to help and protect others, in spite of her hard life. And then Mark Ackermann gets to her...
- Ms. Fanservice: Easily the most voluptuous woman in the game.
- Statuesque Stunner: Tall and gorgeous.
- Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Mostly to Gus, because she is what society considers a fallen woman, and knows very well that men tend to use and discard women like her. She doesn't react well when she thinks she's being objectified or not taken seriously (as when Gus refused to take money for investigating the Prague murders).
Apolina
Voiced By: Jennifer Seguin
A prostitute from Prague, she can usually be found at the park. Unlike her fellow working girls who prefer to play it safe by sticking to clients they know and trust, Apolina is known for taking many new clients, especially if they happen to be rich.
- Alpha Bitch: Very territorial and assertive.
- Asshole Victim: She was not exactly a pleasant person before her death.
- Best Served Cold: She steals Stašek's medal, leading to his wife becoming suspicious and him spending some nail-biting days worrying that she is going to find out and leave him, taking their children with her. She does this because he does not pay her for her services, and she hates being taken advantage of.
- The Cynic: Highly so, because very little worth is placed on her by people (especially the police) due to her profession. Made worse by the fact that in spite of her sass and street smart attitude, even she gets screwed over sometimes (see Stašek).
- Eye Scream: The killer gouges her eyes out. When Victoria sees the painting inspired by her murder, she can only hope she was already dead when it happened.
- Lack of Empathy: Doesn't feel sorry when the local prostitutes begin to die because it means more clients for her.
Milena
Voiced By: Claudia Besso
A young prostitute living in Prague, Milena was traumatized by the murder of her best friend Frantiska.
- Happily Married: To Gus.
- Hooker with a Heart of Gold: Exposes herself to danger by standing in the park just to keep an eye out for Apolina, who doesn't even consider her a friend. Her general behavior is also very sweet and kind.
- Horrible Judge of Character: Averted. The only one of the girls to feel that there was something off about Mark Ackerman.
- Orphan's Ordeal: Met Frantiska at the orphanage where she lived and ran away with her. They ended up trying to survive on the streets as prostitutes, and even tried going to different cities in the hopes of a better life, but always ended right back in Prague, where they started.
- Second Love: She is this for Gus, who marries her after his first love Ida is murdered by Mark Ackerman.
- Shrinking Violet: Is meek and gentle, especially compared to Ida and Apolina.
- Strong Family Resemblance: Just compare her picture to that of Victoria, her granddaughter.
Vladanna Tominova
Voiced By: Holly Gauthier-Frankel
A sixteen year old prostitute and the only one to have escaped the Perlovka Ripper, Vladanna is found hiding in the Junkyard.
- Covered with Scars: She was stabbed seven times by the Ripper before her screams attracted Roman's attention, and he scared off the killer and got her to safety.
- Deer in the Headlights: When she first saw the mysterious man who soon proved to be the Perlovka Ripper emerging from the fog, she was too terrified to do or say anything.
- Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: The fact that she spent two months hiding in an abandoned train wagon might have helped with her pallor.
- Irony: She describes Mark Ackerman as being cordial and always very well behaved and wishes she could pose for him again, not knowing that he is the one who nearly murdered her.
- Rags to Riches: Came with Gus to America and seems to have done well. As she was the main benefactor for the construction of a bridge in Chicago, it was named after her.
- Shrinking Violet: When Gus first meets her, she's very traumatized and fearful. Justified, given that she was viciously attacked and nearly died at the hands of the Perlovka Ripper.
Mark Ackerman
An aspiring artist in Prauge who uses the prostitutes as his models for his erotically charged paintings.
- Abusive Parents: Richard claims that Ackerman was abused by his father, and that his mother knew of that but did not do anything to stop it from happening.
- Faux Affably Evil: Initially, he appears to be a friendly artist fully dedicated to his art. He even pays prostitutes good sums of money simply to pose for his paintings. Unfortunately for them, not only does he despise them, but he also gets his artistic inspiration from their brutal murder and mutilation.
- Agent Peacock: Long haired, dressed in a rather showy manner, wearing elaborate bracelets and arm cuffs and displaying certain feminine gestures (such as examining his nails from time to time). Also a particularly ruthless and sadistic killer.
- Ax-Crazy: What happens to him eventually. He is restrained and locked in a mental asylum.
- Blatant Lies: I never touched these women.
- Evil Mentor: Was this to Harold Perrin, whom he also painted.
- Foil: To Gus. Both are artists, but while Gus is a starving artist who has to give up his dream in order to survive and a protector of the less fortunate (the prostitutes of Prague), Mark is an Idle Rich artist living off his father's money and preying on the very people Gus wants to protect.
- Identical Grandson: His grandson Richard looks a lot like him.
- Foreshadowing: The opening sequence pretty much spells out the fact that he is the Perlovka Ripper. On top of that, there are a number of clues which lead to his true identity, such as his disgusted tone with which he denies ever having slept with the prostitutes he employed as his models.
- Mad Artist: Murders women and then paints portraits of them with the place where he intends to dump the bodies in the background. Even creepier is the fact that although the women seem alive in his paintings, the position of their bodies is the same as the position of their corpses.
- Red and Black and Evil All Over: He wears a dark suit and a blood red sash around his waist.
- Sanity Slippage: Is eventually locked into a mental asylum by his father.
- Self-Immolation: Was the cause of the fire at the mental hospital where he had been locked in for over twenty years. He and nine other people perished in the fire.
- Slasher Smile: Sports one of these when killing Ida.
The Perlovka Ripper
A vicious serial killer who preys on the prostitutes of the Prague red-light district. His unfortunate victims end up with their throats slashed and bodies mutilated at various locations throughout the neighborhood.
- Badass Cape: Wears a long, black one.
- Big Bad: For the Prague section of the game, as the killer who Gus is hunting down.
- The Dreaded: The prostitutes are justifiably terrified of him, and Gus is highly disturbed by the mutilations he inflicts on his victims.
- Predecessor Villain: Since the Chicago Ripper is a copycat of him and his grandson.
- Ominous Opera Cape: Worn to a very dramatic effect.
- The Voiceless: Never utters a word whenever he is on screen.
