Hans Tannhauser
Tannhauser is a physicist – very much so – and a clever one at that. An adorable little fellow who is very well-read, always curious and of a deeply friendly nature. As a man who devoted his life to science, he strongly believes in well defined systems and an indisputable order; as a man of reason however, he came to terms with a world that seems to be inherently chaotic and at times frustratingly uncontrollable. This inner conflict gives him a somewhat unconcerned and lighthearted attitude.
- Absurd Phobia: He claims to have an allergy to brass.
- But Not Too Foreign: While American by birth, he is of German descent and is fluent in the language of his forefathers.
- Cloudcuckoolander
- Genius Ditz: Very odd and even more brilliant.
- Kleptomaniac Hero
- Last-Name Basis: Everyone always calls him by his last name due to his given name being terribly common in Germany.
- Made of Iron: He is massively electrocuted, dangerously irradiated, and falls off a cable car line from several stories up barely the worse for wear.
- Nice Guy: Pleasant and empathetic, he's able to get along with almost anyone, often helping them out in the process. This puts him in stark contrast to Gretchen, who prefers to be and work alone.
- Note to Self: Frequently makes audio recordings of his thoughts regarding his current circumstances to a "Beverly" whose relationship with him is never fully defined.
- Smoking Is Cool: And very much in vogue during a time period where almost Everybody Smokes.
Gretchen Lemke
A somewhat overenthusiastic student of paleoanthropology. She is adventurous, outgoing and radiates more coolness and self-confidence than anyone in town can probably bear. When it comes to science, her heart beats exactly 12,56865 bpm faster.
Gretchen came to Trüberbrook in pursuit of an ancient proto-germanic sanctuary she first heard about in a class. She's made it her mission to unravel the mysteries that may or may not surround the lovely village of Trüberbrook.
- The Aloner: While she has made acquaintances all over the globe, she prefers traveling on her own lonesome. Teaming up with Tannhauser isn't something she'd typically do, but a project this big requires a little extra help, even if it's from a kooky stranger.
- Badass Biker
- Decoy Protagonist: The first character the player controls. Although not chronologically.
- Fiery Redhead
- Omnidisciplinary Scientist: Besides being fluent in history and other languages as one would expect from a scholar in her field, Gretchen is also well-versed in mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, and computer programming. She explains away her diverse set of expertise by claiming that they're all skills she picked up in her travels.
- Strong Family Resemblance: Her mother was basically a brunette version of Gretchen.
- Walking the Earth: Does this partly for research purposes, but also because she genuinely enjoys exploring places outside of her divided country.
Lazarus Taft
An infamous local recluse, health guru, inventor, and card shark. Having arrived in Trüberbrook over a decade prior, he quickly attained notoriety for somehow winning the provincial annual Doppeklopf tournament year after year. He's amassed so much money this way, that he now lives in a costly historic mansion purchased with his winnings.
While otherwise secretive and taciturn, the villagers suspect that it's only a matter of time until Taft does something outright illegal.
- Alien Blood: Secretes a glowing blue fluid rather than sweat or blood.
- Always Someone Better: Despite his supposed cosmic knowledge, Tannhauser and Gretchen wind up being much better at Quantum Physics than him.
- Dimensional Traveller: He's a local variant of this trope, capable of using specific interspatial junctures in his environment to traverse great distances depending on where the corresponding exit point is. Like everyone else, he can travel to entirely different parallel universes with the help of special portals.
- Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette
- Healing Factor: He has a very limited one that allows him to gradually regrow cut-off extremities.
- Know-Nothing Know-It-All: Above all else, his travels have made him enlightened yet largely ignorant as to how the universe intrinsically works.
- There Are Two Kinds of People in the World: Taft has a depressingly binary view of those around him, classifying them as either "scoundrels" and those who "are not".
Trude
Alongside her brother Klein, Trude runs the Waldeslust inn, a family business in the seventh generation. She’s also the lone mother of Leni and the town’s unbeaten arm wrestling champion. She has the rare talent of beeing simultaneously gruffy and warm-hearted. She always has a sympathetic ear for your everyday problems, but she would never hesitate to punch you in the teeth if you fail to keep your inner drunk in check.
- The Bartender
- Beware the Nice Ones: She's a pleasant and hardworking woman, but she makes it clear that she will not broker insult to either her inn or her town regardless if it comes from a guest or not, as she makes very clear to Tannhauser.
- Brawn Hilda
- Lethal Chef: Due to a lack of funds, she can't cook food for the inn's complimentary buffet too regularly, and often just leaves a spread out until it gets rotten enough that she has to replace it.
Leni
Trude's daughter and "the weird kid” in Trüberbrook Elementary. Leni is drawn to anything that is within the realm of science fiction and paranormalilty. It isn’t an unusual Trüberbrook holiday experience to find her on the streets at night, highly focused on the hunt for monsters with her stuffed animal minion and a butterknife.
Luckily for the town, the big anniversary festival is being held on the same date as a full-day marathon of Leni's favorite sci-fi serials, so the celebration will probably be safe from her usual antics so long as she doesn't run out of episodes to watch.
- Adorably Precocious Child
- Irony: She's a fan of the paranormal, but remains oblivious throughout Chapter 4 that Human Alien Lazarus Taft is resting in one of the rooms of her family's inn.
Baron Otto-Titan of Trüberbrook-Sülz
Everything was better in the olden days, at least according to Baron Otto-Titan of Trüberbrook-Sülz, mining engineer in the 3rd generation and generous patron of the village. When a man had to earn his honor and the youth didn’t dance so inappropriately to this horrible horrible modern beat music … There wasn’t much to keep for the old man when “those filthy communists” took over his ore mines. And after he lost the majority of his wealth and his hearing, even his cat Klaus seemed to keep an eye out for a more independent and financially secure provider. Today, only his beloved hunting trophies bring some comfort to the baron’s mind, reminding him of better times, when Kaisers and Tzars were fighting over their dominions.
- Black Comedy: Won a pair of hiking boots in the village anniversary raffle which he's rather eager to trade since, for obvious reasons, he can't make full use of them.
- Broken Ace: A former soldier, entrepreneur, and community leader, the Millennium Cooperative buying him out and all but destroying his village has taken a toll on both his body and spirit.
- Right-Hand Cat: Klaus. Although he often runs away from him due to finding the baron to be rather depressing to be around.
Dr. Von Streck & Dr. Römmler
- Kick the Dog: A visage of Von Streck that Tannhauser meets in Void Between the Worlds scoffs at the idea of him being friends with his creation Barbarossa 2000, stating that he viewed him as little more than a glorified groundskeeper, which would explain why he never bothered to visit him after the Saturn Portal experiments were shut down.
- Morally Ambiguous Doctorate
- Sleepyhead: Römmler, who naps his time away, whether he's on guard duty or attending a community concert.
