Characters / Vocaloid - Crypton Future Media

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General

• Blank Slate: The Piapro characters have no set personalities and are treated as interpretative characters across the media. KAITO and MEIKO take this even further, due to being the only Crypton Virtual Singers who don't have a template assigning them age or an implied background like Miku due to the two predating the "Character Vocal Series".
• Breakout Character: Though their popularity as software varies, Crypton virtual singers are unique in that they are perhaps the most recognizable as characters out of all the Vocaloids released. Miku is the biggest example of this, though each character has a dedicated fanbase and years' worth of fan art and other fan-made content behind them.
• Color-Coded Characters: Each Crypton Vocaloid has a color associated with its character:
  • Miku: Turquoise / Green
  • Rin: Orange
  • Len: Yellow
  • Luka: Pink
  • MEIKO: Red
  • KAITO: Blue
• Costume Evolution: They've all had at least one after being upgraded to V3-V4X. Miku is notable for having received 4 costume upgrades after her initial V2 release (Append, V4X, Chinese, and NT).
• Interpretative Character: Generally, the way they look or act will change depending on the medium. Miku is often the one receiving the most drastic changes of the six to the point where sometimes the only thing she'll have in common with her original design is her iconic twin tails or turquoise hair.
• Iconic Item: Outside of the fan-given ones that have become invoked Ascended Fanon, a few of the Vocaloids have a part of their design that makes them stand out.
  • Miku: Square, gravity-defying hair accessories that apparently keep her twin tails in place
  • Rin: Hairbow
  • KAITO: Muffler
  • MEIKO: Microphone
• Insistent Terminology: The correct term for them is "virtual singers", rather than "Vocaloids". After the split from Yamaha in 2019, they're also meant to be referred to as "Piapro characters".
• True Companions: Often portrayed as a close-knit group by Crypton and their fanbase alike.
• Virtual Celebrity: The biggest example of this in the Vocaloid world. They're popular enough to have their own series of video games, mobile games, promotional material and real-life concerts.

VOCALOID

MEIKO

MEIKO

Artwork for VOCALOID

^{Click here to see her VOCALOID3 artwork}

Meiko is the first Japanese Vocaloid to be created, and was released for the original Vocaloid engine. She was released by Crypton Future Media and voiced by Haigou Meiko. She was re-released on VOCALOID3 engine on February 4th, 2014, which includes an English voicebank and several "append" variants (like Power and Whisper). A 14-day trial edition of her V3 Power voicebank is already available for download for those who want to try her out.

For tropes that apply to her (fictional) depiction in Project SEKAI, see here.

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• The Alcoholic: Since her favorite food is sake, fan portrayals depict her as this.
• Affectionate Nickname: It's not uncommon for fanworks to portray Kaito as calling her "Mei-chan".
• Animated Actor: She is regarded as this in the Evillious Chronicles, as she "portrays" several characters, with the most prominent of those characters being Banica Conchita.
• Artistic License – Physics: See the two artworks on the side. Unless the microphone in the picture had the same strength of a pole.
• Ax-Crazy: In Alice Human Sacrifice, she plays the role of a crazed Blood Knight.
• Black Knight: Often in fantasy/medieval styled songs (e.g. the Story of Evil series, where she plays the swordswoman Germaine). Usually a heroic one, though.
• Breakout Character: She was fairly successful on release, with her success eventually leading to the creation of Hatsune Miku and the rest of the Character Vocal Series years later. As well, it's because of her that voicebanks following her would be released with an avatar on their box art.
• Chromatic Arrangement: Whether it was intentional is debatable, but the first three Vocaloids were released in the classic order - red (Meiko), blue (Kaito), and green (Miku).
• Cool Big Sis: She's at times referred to by fans as "Meiko-neechan". Many tags for songs using her on Nico Nico also refer to her as "nee-san" (such as "Hyper-Cool Nee-san").
• Curtains Match the Window: Her eye color usually matches her hair. Sometimes, she'll have red eyes instead of brown.
• Demoted to Extra: Despite being the first Japanese Vocaloid ever released, she generally isn't treated as well by Crypton due to Miku being far more popular as a voicebank and character.
• Distaff Counterpart: She is the female counterpart to the male voicebank KAITO, though this tends to be unknown to most casual and even some hardcore Vocaloid fans since they aren't always described or promoted as such, unlike Len and Rin Kagamine.
• Extreme Omnivore: She plays as the titular character of Evil Food Eater Conchita. Conchita's appetite also extends to... Well...
• Flat Character: Even more so than the virtual singers in the "Character Vocal Series", as she started as a box art concept character for her voicebank rather than a proper character with a personality, age, height, etc. Even after the "Character Vocal Series" was released and she was absorbed into the Crypton voicebank group, she still lacks a basic profile, with everything about her being left up to interpretation.
• Hard-Drinking Party Girl: Sometimes depicted as such, though she is often more mature than other examples (in Japanese fanworks at least. Many western fanworks make her go full drunk).
• He Who Fights Monsters: A "she" example, seen in the "Daughter of Vengeance" video (albeit playing Germaine).
• Idiot Hair: Present in her Project Diva models.
• Impossibly-Low Neckline: Her V3 outfits, though this is exaggerated in her Project DIVA form, likely for the sake of fanservice.
• Jiggle Physics: Project Diva F gives her this trope.
• Lady of War: In action-oriented songs. Though it's not uncommon for her to play a more masculine role either, especially when cast with Miku and/or Luka. Fittingly, during Magical Mirai 2023 she is depicted as the team's commander.
• Magic Skirt: Her MMD models do this.
• Master Swordsman: Portrayed as such in a few videos, such as "Alice Human Sacrifice".
• Ms. Fanservice: She, along with Luka, tends to take on this role in secondary works and merchandise depicting all of the Cryptons for her more "adult-like" charms.
• Never Bareheaded: Averted Trope, as she's notably the only Crypton virtual singer that doesn't have a headset or earpiece of some kind, instead having a microphone stand in all of her official art.
• Not Evil, Just Misunderstood: In "The Music Wizard of Oz", she plays the Wicked Witch of the West and steals the Music Wizard's magic emerald guitar, but doesn't do so out of malicious intent; she does so because she's lonely and hopes that by singing she'll find a friend. Dorothy (Miku), the Scarecrow (Kaito), the Tin Girl (Luka) and the Vegetarian Lions (Rin and Len) convince her to return the guitar so that the Wizard will grant her wish for friends. It's also implied that her song was in mourning for her sister.
• Only One Name: Officially, she is just known as "MEIKO" and does not have a last name. She shares this in common with KAITO, who followed this naming trend before the creation of Hatsune Miku and the other Crypton Vocaloids in the Character Vocal series. There is an invoked Ascended Fanon version of her as a teenager known as Sakine MEIKO, however, in Project Diva and other media featuring that version of her, they are not treated as the same character, and therefore the last name is never attached to the MEIKO described here.
• Only Sane Man: In any given comedic fanwork (ones that use just the Crypton Vocaloids at least), if it isn't Len, it's definitely her. Often portrayed as the "adult" of the group, especially before Luka was released.
• Out of Focus: In spite of the initial success she saw on her release, MEIKO fell out of Crypton's favor due to Miku's popularity overtaking her a few years later, and she's often the least likely Crypton to be used when advertising the company. For example, she was absent in Crypton's collaboration with THE iDOLM@STER: Shiny Colors despite it featuring the other three female Crypton Virtual Singers as idols.
• Parental Substitute: In fanworks she will often be portrayed as one to the other Cryptons.
• Pay Evil unto Evil: In Daughter of Vengeance, she/Germaine leads the rebellion against Rin/Rilaine, who she plans to execute, but upon discovering that Len/Allen has pulled a Twin Switch with Rin/Riliane, she kills him anyway, because he's the only person she (Rin/Riliane) loves and Meiko/Germaine wants to make her suffer like she suffered. While the song is not canon, it's not far off.
• Playing with Fire: During Magical Mirai 2021, she's depicted as a fire goddess.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Commonly portrayed as the more gung-ho red to KAITO's laid-back blue, fittingly enough.
• Stripperific: Her outfit, to a certain degree.
• Ship Tease: Across media, it's usually with KAITO, though she has gotten some sparingly with Luka and Miku.
• Team Mom: In many songs, she's usually the parental figure for the younger Crypton Vocaloids (typically Len and Rin). She's often this in fan interpretations as well, depicted as the oldest sister of the "family" and by proxy the mom. If shipped with Kaito, sometimes the Crypton family can come to resemble the classic western sitcom family except less dysfunctional.
• Those Two Guys: Usually paired off with KAITO in official artwork, though sometimes she will be this with Luka.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Sake, more specifically Onecup Ozeki. That said, sometimes she's depicted with wine in place of sake to make her appear to be more classy. She's also grown more associated with coffee in recent years thanks to her portrayal in the Street SEKAI in Project SEKAI.
• Updated Re-release: Meiko V3 was released on February 4, 2014, which added additional voice banks as well as an English one.
• Vague Age: Like KAITO, she has never been given an official age due to her being introduced as a conceptual mascot for the MEIKO software for marketing purposes rather than who the voice was supposed to represent. Even after the "Character Vocal series" was introduced and V3 was accepted as the "main" version of MEIKO that would represent the software, she still was never given an official age. That said, and unlike KAITO, it's pretty much widely agreed upon by fans that she's an adult, usually close to Luka's age or older, due to her appearance and canonized preference for sake.

KAITO

KAITO

Artwork for VOCALOID

^{Click here to see his VOCALOID3 artwork}

The second Japanese Vocaloid and the first male Vocaloid to be able to sing in Japanese, he was released for the original Vocaloid engine. He is distributed by Crypton Future Media and voiced by Fuuga Naoto. A V3 version of his voicebank was released on February 15, 2013.

For tropes that apply to his (fictional) depiction in Project SEKAI, see here.

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• Animals Hate Him: He gets attacked by a moose in Dreamy Vocal. His response is to try to befriend it.
• Animated Actor: He is regarded as this in the Evillious Chronicles, as he "portrays" several characters, with the most prominent of those characters being Gallerian Marlon.
• Anthropomorphic Personification: Of the snowman the hurt child built in the titular song by Halyosy, "Snowman". His "Diamond Dust" Project DIVA module for the song has a different colored sleeve because his arm used to be a broom handle.
• Badass Longcoat: Along with his Scarf of Asskicking, in vids where he is badass.
• Big Eater: He is portrayed as more obsessed with his Trademark Favorite Food (ice cream) than the other Vocaloids in certain songs. However, given his character's history with the stuff, you could call it justified.^note KAITO was deemed a commercial failure up until a cover of Saeko Shuu's "Ice Cream Song" was uploaded as a response to a "Dear You" cover by Hatsune Miku. The cover almost singlehandedly started a second wind for KAITO that would lead to his sales skyrocketing and cementing his status as part of the Crypton characters alongside MEIKO. In other words, you could say ice cream saved KAITO's life.
• Blue Means Cold: He sometimes gets associated with ice for his blue color scheme and of course his Trademark Favorite Food, ice cream. It's further emphasized by his 15th anniversary song, "Rainy Snowdrop".
• Butt-Monkey: If it isn't Len in a comedic work, it will be Kaito instead (if it isn't the both of them). There had been so much Kaito abuse going on in comics and fan works that a gallery was made especially for him, titled "Beating Kaito Shitless".
• Breakout Character: Though he had a bad start due to the lack of interest in male Vocaloids at the time of his release, following Miku's release and rise to popularity he got his second wind and eventually went on to become one of the most well-known male Vocaloids.
• Camp: Anytime he performs "Doctor=Funk Beat" at a concert the choreography is extremely flamboyant. It doesn't help that he wears his highly decorated "Requiem" module.
• Chick Magnet: In Prince of Blue and Acute.
• Chromatic Arrangement: Whether it was intentional is debatable, but the first three Crypton Vocaloids were released in the classic order - red (Meiko), blue (Kaito), and green (Miku).
• Cloud Cuckoo Lander: In many old Japanese fanworks (and some modern ones), he is this.
• Covered Up: The Kurousa-P song "Jougen no Tsuki" was actually a song written for his "Senbonzakura" character in its play adaptation first. It was one of the only songs from the show that got its own PV (by the same artist and composer, no less) and the Kaito cover ended up being the far better known version.
• Crazy Jealous Guy: In "Story About A Poor Rabbit".
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: There is a whole nicovideo and Pixiv tag called "Kaito no Honki" (Kaito's seriousness). It contains awesome. Loads and loads of awesome.
• Cool Big Bro: Viewed as this by his fans who refer to him as "Big Brother KAITO"^note "KAITO-oniisan". This has not gone unnoticed by Crypton, as they've included this nickname for him in several official materials. He's also sometimes portrayed as this in official works.
• Curtains Match the Windows: His eyes are almost always depicted as being the same color as his dark blue hair. It's not always the case, however, as sometimes they'll be lighter or a different color entirely.
• The Ditz: He commonly got portrayed as either this or a Manchild in early works (including KEI's unofficial manga Hatsune Mix), enough that he acquired the Fan Nickname "Bakaito" ("baka"/"stupid" + KAITO) in the Japanese scene. While he's been given a wider range of roles since then, this characterization still sticks around in various circles and media such as his Street SEKAI version in Project SEKAI. His 10th anniversary song "Attakaito" even acknowledges this.
  The clumsy and stupid role is always my default!
• Does Not Like Spam: In this song, he hates tomatoes.
• The Dragon: In "SHANTI", he is this to Miku (who appears in "Mafia"), according to Wotaku.
• Effeminate Voice: Due to the highness of his V3's soft append, playing with the gender factor makes KAITO sound "cute" and "feminine", a blunder Crypton pointed out during it's development. Humorously, fans have taken advantage of this to give his female derivative Kaiko a voice without using another female Vocaloid.
• Female Gaze: Project Diva reveals that he has some pretty nice abs. As well, in both "Piano x Forte x Scandal" and "Snowman", he does a lot of kicking with interesting camera angles.
• Flat Character: Even more so than the virtual singers in the "Character Vocal Series", as he started as a box art concept character for his voicebank rather than a proper character with a personality, age, height, etc. Even after the "Character Vocal Series" was released and he was absorbed into the Crypton voicebank group, he still lacks a basic profile, with everything about him being left up to interpretation.
• Forgot I Could Fly: His parody on Rin's Daughter of Evil, Lord of Darkness, ends with 'ah, he forgot he can transform to mist'.
• Greed: The sin of the sinner character he plays in the Evillious Chronicles.
• Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: While given no official height (Outside of Project SEKAI which is only "official" for that game), he's most often portrayed as the tallest of the Crypton Virtual Singers that towers over Miku and Rin.
• Iconic Item: His muffler. It's one of the constants that sticks with his design across media, along with his signature slightly curled blue hair. Interestingly, KAITO's Sekai incarnations (besides the default form based on his V3 box art) lack his signature muffler in Project SEKAI. He does, however, keep a simplified version of his V3 earpiece in all but School SEKAI.
• I'm a Humanitarian: Along with Meiko in some of the Nightmare Fuel videos, most notably "Dark Woods Circus" where he's one of the circus freaks and is fed human flesh for the entertainment of the audience.
• The Klutz: He trips in both Project Mirai intros.
• Kung-Fu Wizard: Appears to be this in Synchronicity.
• Lyrical Dissonance: "Shineba Iinoni"/"I wish they'd just die".
• Making a Splash: His Magical Mirai 2021 design has him as a water god.
• Manchild: In some media, he'll be portrayed like this. One example of a semi-official portrayal of him being this way is in Miku Symphony 2021, where he excitedly urges the crowd to praise him more for his anniversary.
• Manly Tears: In "Double Rainbow".
• Naked People Are Funny: In old Japanese fanworks, he's shown in his underwear almost as much as Gakupo. Also, in Kurotsuki-P's videos, this is a running gag with him.
• Nice Guy: If he's given any official characterization, except him to be cool, kind, and accommodating of the other Virtual Singers' interest. As well, this is his most common characterization in Project SEKAI.
• Navel Window: His default MMD model has one of these. Most fanmade models have him wear a shirt under his coat to cover it up.
• Noodle People: The style of his V1 box art. Averted in his V3 box art, which has more realistic proportions and gave him a more "anime" look.
• Ode to Food: "Aisu ga Meruto" ("My Ice Cream Is Melting"), a parody of Miku's "Melt," is a sweet and silly song about how much Kaito adores ice cream.
• One of the Kids: Often portrayed as at least somewhat childish; messing around with the younger characters as if he were their age (whatever that is), obsessing over ice cream, being socially awkward, etc. Though interpretations of him as the mature, gentle older brother and Team Dad aren't uncommon either.
• Only One Name: His name is just "KAITO", as he follows the naming convention of MEIKO who was released before him. Fans had given him the last name "Shion", though it has never been officially recognized by Crypton. Despite this, many people still think it's his last name even years after it first came to prominence.
• Open Mouth, Insert Foot: One extremely funny example is present in this video.
• Out of Focus: Similarly to MEIKO, he's often shafted in advertising compared to Cryptons in the "Character Vocal Series". The creators of Project Sekai have acknowledged his lack of focus and have said they wanted to use it to promote his and MEIKO's characters more.
• Parental Substitute: In fanworks, he will often be portrayed as one to the younger Cryptons. In others, he outright will be their father.
• Prince Charming: As Prince Blanc in Cendrillion.
• Princely Young Man: Gives off these vibes in Project Diva and Project SEKAI (especially his Stage Sekai version). He also has played a literal prince a few times.
• Satellite Love Interest: In some songs, he has played the voiceless love interest role to Miku, Luka, and sometimes MEIKO.
• Scarf of Asskicking: In the vids where he's allowed to look like a badass.
• Scenery Censor: In earlier comedic works, a Running Gag among producers was that he would run around butt-naked with his scarf conveniently covering his naughty bits.
• Ship Tease: Due to Crypton's tendency to ascend fan-created Vocaloid content to "canon", he has gotten this with every other Crypton Vocaloid and unofficially with Vocaloids from other companies, such as Camui Gackpo.
• Spear Counterpart: He is the male counterpart to the female voicebank MEIKO, though this tends to be unknown to most casual and even some hardcore Vocaloid fans since they aren't always described or promoted as such, unlike Len and Rin Kagamine.
• Star-Crossed Lovers: With Miku in "Cendrillion", who is meant to kill him at the ball before the clock strikes 12, but they end up falling in love instead. It's ambiguous as to whether she actually stabs him in the end.
• Team Dad: Interpreted as this or the "Nii-san"^note Older brother of the group, which often makes him the closest the Crypton crew has to one. Though as mentioned, his maturity varies, and it isn't uncommon for the producer himself (if male) to be interpreted as the "dad"-like figure.
• Too Kinky to Torture: In this parody of Rin Kagamine's "Meltdown".
• Trademark Favorite Food: Ice cream, so much that he has a song about it!
• Twice Shy: "Drunken Distortion" has a tragic version of this trope between him and Gakupo, as it's about two friends that are deeply in love with each other but are too afraid to confess for fear that their relationship will be ruined if they do. Holding their feelings in is causing both characters distress, but they smile through the pain regardless. By the end song, it's implied that nothing about their situation will change and they'll continue suffering through the pain of pretending to view the other as just a friend.
• Updated Re-release: Kaito V3, but also has new voicebanks, including an English one.
• Vague Age: Like MEIKO and unlike the Cryptons in the "Character Vocal series", he has never been given an official age due to being introduced as a conceptual mascot for the KAITO software. That said, many fans tend to assume he's an adult due to his appearance and voice to the point where it's a common misconception that he has been given an official age, which is often assumed to be early to mid-20s when discussed seriously, though some believe he's a middle-aged man because of KEI Garou's unofficial comic. That said, some interpret him as being closer to Miku's age, which he technically would be due to his software being released about a year before her. His software also officially turned 16 years old in 2022.
• Yandere: His version of Uninstall gets altered lyrics and a small PV. Also here in Koi-Uta.

VOCALOID2

Hatsune Miku

Hatsune Miku

The second ^note That's right, the second. Sweet Ann was first. However, Miku was the first in Japan. Vocaloid for the VOCALOID2 engine, though the first from Japan, and Japan's third in total. She is voiced by Saki Fujita. Miku was the one who attracted popularity for the Vocaloid engine through some of her Memetic Mutation videos; before then, Vocaloid was nothing more than an obscure music virtual instrument. She is the first in Crypton's Character Vocal series, and thus has a code-name of CV01.

A separate release by Crypton, "Miku Append", features six new voice banks recorded by Fujita Saki, "soft," "solid," "dark," "light," "sweet," and "vivid," designed to capture different moods. The original Miku is required to be installed in order to install the Append. An English bank, which began development way back in 2011, was released (at least in downloadable format) on August 31, 2013 (which coincidentally is her birthday), including an Apple Macintosh version, a first for Vocaloid. Her V4X voicebanks were released on August 31st, 2016; the ninth anniversary of the release of her original V2 voicebank.

She has a bright, generally-used-for-high-pitch voice, which also has a very large song demographic.

For her tropes, see Music/Hatsune Miku. For tropes that apply to her (fictional) depiction in Project SEKAI, see here.

Kagamine Rin/Len

Kagamine Rin/Kagamine Len

Artwork for VOCALOID2

^{Click here to see their VOCALOID2 Append artwork}

^{Click here to see their VOCALOID4 artwork}

Formally distributed as a package together (officially they are Kagamine Rin/Len), Rin and Len make up the second Japanese Vocaloid to be released for the VOCALOID2 engine and the fourth overall. They are distributed by Crypton Future Media and voiced by Asami Shimoda. They are the second in the Character Vocal series and are thus codenamed CV02.

They later received an "ACT2" update voice package with an entirely new set of voices, although whether they're better are up to you. At the time, installing ACT2 required the original Rin/Len installation, but now only the ACT2 is currently being sold and the original is unavailable. In the same vein as Miku, they received an Append—Power, Warm, and Sweet for Rin; Power, Cold, and Serious for Len. They also received a VOCALOID4X update with English voicebanks on December 25 2015.

Debating on whether they are mirror images or twins will cause backlash, as Crypton once described them as opposite sides of a mirror ("kagami" meaning "mirror"), but later changed it back to twins. Eventually they just took back both definitions and left it hanging to anyone's interpretation.

For tropes that apply to their (fictional) depiction in Project SEKAI, see here.

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Both

• Age Lift: Officially, they're both eternally 14 years old, though producers and fans tend to age them up and down depending on the song or story.
  • In Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA Project Diva, Rin gets a module called "Future Style" which is based on what Miku and Luka imagine a grown-up Rin would look like in "Rin-chan Nau".
• Alternate Self: The pair are portrayed this way in Mirror's Magic and Magic Mirror, in which Len is an eternally unlucky and miserable boy locked in a tower and Rin is his eternally happy and lucky counterpart. When Len manages to reverse his situation by cursing her through the eponymous mirror, she ends up in the same position as him. Stricken by remorse, he takes the role of a "magician" and gives her back all of the happiness he stole from her at the cost of his own, destroying the mirror at the end to make it permanent, implying that he'll be left to languish in terrible conditions despite Rin's pleading him to stay.
• Ambiguously Related: They look like Half-Identical Twins and have the same last name, but they have no set relationship, leaving it up to the artist's interpretation. This has led to various songs portraying them as a couple, siblings, or simply characters that look exactly the same for unexplained reasons.
• Animated Actor: They are regarded as this in the Evillious Chronicles, as they "portray" several characters, with the most prominent of those characters being Riliane Lucifen d'Autriche and Allen Avadonia for Rin and Len respectively.
• Boastful Rap: They do a surprising amount of this, with "Gekokujou" and "BRING IT ON" both having them flaunt their superiority against the likes of Miku.
• Breakout Character: Though not quite as famous as Hatsune Miku, Rin and Len are the second and third most popular Crypton Vocaloids and among the most popular and widely used Vocaloids to date. They are also the only characters besides Miku to get an official solo concert.
• Brother–Sister Team: In some songs, such as Trick and Treat and Desert Bluebird.
• Cosmic Motifs: They're sometimes given these to hark back to the Gemini (the Twins) constellation, such as in the appropriately-named song "Gemini". They're also given designs with very star-heavy motifs in their guest appearance in Muse Dash.
• Creepy Twins: In "Trick and Treat" and "Saa, Docchi?". In general, they tend to be great picks for Halloween songs for their ability to be this.
  • Also in the Evillious Chronicles; two of the characters they play, Hansel and Gretel (as well as their various reincarnations), are pretty unsettling to say the least.
• Cute and Psycho: Both twins are portrayed as this in various songs, but Len especially in tracks like True Love Restraint and Super Hero.
  • Rin definitely in Fear Garden.
• The Dividual: Obviously of the Twindividual variety.
• Evil Versus Evil: In "Karakuri Burst". With Rin as an Axe-Crazy assassin and Len as a Knight Templar, Nazi-like soldier, it's kind of hard to tell who we're supposed to root for.
• Greek Chorus: In "Witch Hunt", they appear as two commoners providing exposition.
• Half-Identical Twins/Opposite-Sex Clone: Depending on what side of the twins vs. mirror images debate you're on. ^note Of course, if you consider them to be robots, they lean closer to the latter.
• Iconic Item: The road roller is synonymous with the Kagamine twins, especially Rin. Where they keep it (or how they're able to drive it despite being 14) is rarely explained.
  Our beloved yellow car,
  We got it from the construction site for FREE!
  We didn't steal it ^^
• Inconsistent Coloring: Sometimes their eyes are sky blue like Miku’s, other times they’re bright green, or a sort of teal color, or anything in between. Sometimes they’re even depicted with red eyes (though that’s likely a stylistic choice).
• Identical Stranger: Officially, they're not recognized as being related to each other, as their relationship is meant to be up to ones interpretation. In songs where they aren't related but are made lovers or close friends, this trope will be played up. That said, some songs won't acknowledge that they look alike at all.
  • Various 3D renders of the two (including holograms used at concerts) have simply placed separate heads and clothes onto the same torso model, which has resulted in Rin occasionally sporting a rather noticeable bulge.
• Leitmotif: "BRING IT ON" by REOL and Giga-P has become the closest thing to an official theme song for them. While the song was originally used to promote their 10th anniversary, it's become heavily associated with the Kagamines in some of their appearances in other media, such as it being what plays when you select them in Muse Dash.
• Lookalike Lovers: In songs where they're romantically involved such as "Rin Rin Signal", "Suki Kirai" and Juvenile. Humorously, the fact that they look alike is never addressed in these songs.
• Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: In the aptly named "Girlish Man and Mannish Woman", Rin is the tough, intimidating Masculine Girl to Len's shy, emotional Feminine Boy. It's reinforced by the pronouns the two use—Rin uses "ore", which is an extremely informal and almost always exclusively masculine pronoun, while Len uses "watashi", a polite and usually feminine pronoun.
• Meaningful Name: 'Kagamine' means 'mirror sound', to emphasize their mirror-image nature.
• Navel Window: But only on their Append designs so far.
• Not Allowed to Grow Up: Similarly to Miku. No matter how many birthdays pass for them, their canon age of "14" is never changed. This is lampshaded by the characters in Project SEKAI, who acknowledge that as Virtual Singers it's impossible for them to ever grow up.
• Order Versus Chaos: In "Karakuri Manji Burst", wherein Rin is an Axe-Crazy serial killer (chaos) and Len is a Knight Templar soldier whose mission is to destroy all evil (order). Interestingly, it's also a case of Evil Versus Evil.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: In portrayals where they aren't equally energetic, Len will usually be portrayed as the calmer one of the pair.
• Sailor Fuku: Rin, however, gets shorts, while Len gets the male version with the tie.
• Sarashi: They used to provide the page image, each modeling her/his own gender's variation.
• Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: A fairly common portrayal of their dynamic. It's humorously reversed in "Negative Vs. Positive".
• Screw Yourself/Twincest: If you're under the impression that they're copies of each other, then pairing them together would fall under selfcest. As well, it's not entirely unusual to portray them as siblings and then romantically pair the two of them up with each other. Many songs indeed play this up.
• Separated at Birth: Played for Drama in many of their songs.
  • In Synchronicity, they're both this but linked psychically, this being the reason for Len's determination to save her from the dragon that so many girls before her had died for.
• Sibling Yin-Yang: Songs usually describe Rin as outgoing, Tsundere, selfish, stubborn and/or plucky; Len is usually portrayed as intelligent, sensitive, cute, and/or serious. Their Appends stretched this further: Rin has Power, Warm and Sweet, while Len has Power, Cold and Serious.
  • They have a juxtaposed duet in Paradise of Light and Shadow:
  Rin: A song of hope and light for tomorrow
  Len: A song of despair and shadow to bury the past.
• Ship Tease: They usually get teased officially and unofficially with each other, Miku, and KAITO. Len will also rarely get ship tease with Luka, while Rin will even more rarely get some with Gakupo or GUMI.
• Sibling Rivalry: Not common, but this can come up between the two, the best example being "Childish War".
• Stalker with a Crush:
  • Len in Like, Dislike. His stalking allowed him to buy the Rainbow Quartz that Rin was eyeing and he tries to cover it with a Suspiciously Specific Denial. Rin doesn't buy it for a second.
  • Also Rin, in "A Loving Robot."
• Spotlight-Stealing Squad: After Miku herself, there's the Kagamines. As they're the second and third most popular Cryptons and among the most recognizable and used Vocaloids out there, they get a lot of attention from Crypton and their advertisers. For one example, At Magical Mirai they usually have the most songs after Miku, leaving few slots left for the others unless their anniversaries are being celebrated.
• Strong Girl, Smart Guy: In Alice of Human Sacrifice, Rin is stated to be "a stubborn elder sister" while Len is noted to be "a smart younger brother". While this is present in many other works, this song spells it out.
  • Their designs and roles in the "superhero team" during Magical Mirai 2023 similarly adhere to this, with Rin being a fighter and Len being a mechanic.
• They Killed Kenny Again: Both of them get killed in many of their songs, though Len is more infamous for it.
• Theme Twin Naming: Their names (R and L) are plays on 'right' and 'left' respectively. In addition, L and R are nearly interchangeable in Japanese, making their names sound almost identical.
• Token Mini-Moe: Both of them are among the Cryptonloids.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Oranges for Rin (due to her hair ribbon resembling mandarin leaves), and bananas for Len (due to his Anime Hair).
• Trickster Twins: It's not unusual to see them portrayed as highly mischievous, with their pranks typically aimed at Miku or KAITO (if not at their producers).
• Updated Re-release: The Kagamine Rin/Len Append and V4X.
• Vengeful Abandoned Toy: In the song "Trick and Treat", the twins play a pair of living dolls who were abandoned by Miku when she was younger and want to rip out her heart in revenge. They end up getting it.
• Villain Protagonist: They tend to be this in the darker songs. Usually, it's Rin (Evil series, Fear Garden and Thirteen Year Old Killer) but Len has played this role in The Riddle Solver Who Couldn't Solve Riddles, Spice!, True Love Restraint and Psychotic Love Song. Both of them have played as this in Trick and Treat.
  • Len (playing Allen) could be argued as an Anti Villain Protagonist in the Story of Evil, too. Though motivated by sisterly love, he is still The Dragon to the Royal Brat Rin and participated in a lot of unsavory acts at her command (including killing his adoptive father). Of course, his sacrifice tends to overshadow that.

Kagamine Rin

• A-Cup Angst: A few songs have her bemoaning her completely flat chest compared to MEIKO and Luka.
• Always Someone Better: Quite a few early songs portrayed Rin as being jealous of Miku for varying reasons, such as envying her popularity, her looks, or her getting more attention from their producers (or from Len) than her. This has tapered off over the years.
• Ambiguously Gay: In the song "Summer Idol" sung with Miku. She seems disappointed when Miku says that they're never going to date.
  • She also gets a large amount of Ship Tease with Miku in the Project Diva series, though it was especially prominent in the cutscenes of the game.
• Ax-Crazy:
  • She is portrayed as a serial killer in "Karakuri Burst", wielding a gun and katana.
  Rin: Destroy, destroy
  Is it enough? It's not enough
  I have an insatiable impulse for destruction
  Fragile, how fragile, how fragile humans are
  • In "Fear Garden", she gleefully murders the other Vocaloids and chops off their arms to plant in her garden like flowers.
• Big Brother Worship: In works where Len is portrayed as the elder of the two, Rin is typically portrayed as fawning over him.
• Cute, but Cacophonic: During their initial V2 release, a common complaint for her was how her voice echoed in the head of the listeners. This was rectified somewhat in their ACT2 release.
• Cute Little Fangs: She sports one in the video for "I Wanna Be a Princess!"
• The Cutie: Project Diva and Mirai often emphasize and describe her cuteness.
• Damsel in Distress: She plays one in the Synchronicity series, which takes place in a world where girls are selected at a young age to appease a dragon by singing and dancing for it nonstop until they die of exhaustion and starvation. Naturally, Len and several of the other Vocaloids take it upon themselves to rescue her.
• God Save Us from the Queen!: While playing Riliane in Story of Evil. She also plays a much sillier example in the "Death Should Not Have Taken Thee!" duology.
• Heel Realization: Her character in "Story of Evil", after Len's character sacrifices himself for her.
• Heroic RRoD: Part of the main conflict of Synchronicity. Len has to find Rin before she succumbs to this.
• "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: She pulls this off against Miku in Festival of Asylum.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: The best example of this would probably be "Okay, Green is the Enemy", where Rin gets jealous of Miku after she catches Kaito's attention, and asks Neru for advice on what to do about it. Neru suggests that they leave nasty comments on her videos and make her life miserable, but Rin turns the idea down because while she's jealous of Miku, she still admires her and doesn't want to do anything that would hurt her feelings.
• Kiddie Kid: She is often portrayed with a childish personality, in contrast to Len's maturity. Though at times they're both equally childish.
• Lethal Chef: According to Dreamy Vocal.
• My God, What Have I Done?: In "Message of Regret", this is her reaction when she realizes that her cruelty and selfishness led the people to revolt against her and her brother to sacrifice himself for her.
• Pink Means Feminine: She wears a pink dress and a white hat with a pink ribbon in the PVs of "Prisoner" and "Paper Plane".
  • She also has a pink bow in one PV of "S-S-Suki Daisuki".
• The Prankster: If she and Len aren't portrayed as equally tricksterish, she's usually the one with a liking for pranks.
• Princess Phase: She has a song about this trope, called "I Wanna Be a Princess!". Surprisingly, it has nothing to do with the Story of Evil series, where she actually is a princess.
• Rockers Smash Guitars: The Project Diva X and live version of The Lost One's Weeping has her smashing and tossing equipment all over the place, starting with her guitar.
• Serial Killer: In "Fear Garden", she plays a horrifically dark example who obsesses over hands, so much to the point she rips them of her victims and places them in her titular "garden" like they were flowers... even killing Len for his hands too!
• Shrinking Violet: She's portrayed as one in "S-S-Suki Daisuki". The last verse of the song is entirely composed of her stuttering and stammering in an attempt to confess her love for her crush.
• Sweet Polly Oliver: The video for "Skeleton Life" has her pulling one of these.
• The Disease That Shall Not Be Named: In "Paper Plane", she is suffering from an unspecified terminal illness. She dies at the end of the song, allowing her to be reunited in death with Len. She's also implied to have been suffering from an unnamed illness in "Proof of Life" that leads to her passing away.
• The Ojou: Plays one in the Story of Evil series. A rather bratty and later genocidal one, however.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: She is generally portrayed as being more tomboyish than the more feminine Miku, both officially and unofficially. A good example of this is their portrayals in "Gimme x Gimme", where Rin has a more boyish style of dress and speech pattern while Miku is dressed more femininely, and her speech while singing reflects this.
• Tomboy with a Girly Streak: She has sometimes been portrayed this way, with this inspiration for her characterization being taken from her design on her box art.
• Tsundere: She is usually portrayed as this, combined with having a Hair-Trigger Temper. It's primarily directed at Len in songs such as "Suki Kirai".
• Trash the Set: Rin is a constant witness to this trope in the Project DIVA series. She shreds a guitar in a flaming stage for Tengaku, watches a classroom dissolve into nothing during Tokyo Teddy Bear, breaks a guitar and mic stand in Lost One's Weeping...

Kagamine Len

• Adorably Precocious Child: He is often portrayed as this.
• A Magic Contract Comes with a Kiss: In "Magical☆Kitty Len Len", one of the conditions for Len's magical boy transformations is kissing KAITO. He pretends he doesn't enjoy it until Rin says if he wants to stop being a magical boy that means kissing KAITO is forbidden since that's the only way to activate his powers. His response to this is to shyly say that he'll still transform sometimes.
• Boys Like Creepy Critters: He likes 'cool' bugs like beetles in Dreamy Vocal, unlike Rin, who dislikes bugs aside from butterflies.
• But Not Too White: Subverted in the beach setting of Project Diva F. He is a skinny white noodle who definitely needs the sun he's getting.
• Butt-Monkey: It's very common (especially in earlier works) for him to be this, whether it be via him dying, forced into feminine or embarrassing outfits, or otherwise being made fun of.
• The Casanova: A tragic version in Spice!! where he is a playboy who thinks love is just a game, but he knows his inner sadness makes him incapable of genuinely loving someone.
• Chick Magnet: In one Project Diva video, a Rokurokubi falls in love with him instantly!
• Declaration of Protection: While Rin is usually depicted as the older of the two, Len is usually portrayed as being very protective of her (Servant of Evil and Kaito ga Uninstall for example). This is usually what leads to his death.
• Early Installment Character-Design Difference: While redesigns for Len are quite common, he could almost pass for a completely different character in "Crybaby Boyfriend", as he has short, messy, pale blond hair and light blue eyes, contrasting Len's bright blonde hair that's tied into a short ponytail and turquoise eyes. "Suki Kirai", the song's sequel, updates his design to resemble a slightly older version of his box art design, with the final song entry "The Beginning's Goodbye" retaining this look for him.
• Even the Guys Want Him: KAITO is among his many admirers in "Magical☆Kitty Len Len", though it appears he actually reciprocates KAITO's feelings judging by his reaction to Rin saying he won't be allowed to kiss KAITO anymore to activate his powers if he quits being a magical boy.
• Girly Run: Len in this PV of Alice in Musicland.
• Heel Realization: He has one of these in a fanmade PV for "Spice!", when he is in the middle of pretty much trying to rape Rin.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Usually in regards to Rin and/or Miku.
• KidAnova: In "Spice!", "Plus Boy" and "Messiah or Desire". One YouTube comment pretty much sums it up for all the mature Len songs.:
  "If he's not dying, he's womanizing."
• Knight Templar Big Brother: He is often depicted as this in darker songs. He takes on a more heroic variant in Synchronicity.
• Lovable Sex Maniac: It's become a long-running joke to write dirty songs for him, in which he is often portrayed as an absurdly horny teenager (such as in "Plus Boy" or "Gigantic OTN").
• Magical Girl: Parodied, with Len as a Magical Kitty. Seriously.
• Noodle People: Happens to him a few times, particularly in this clip from Project Diva F.
• Only Sane Man: Most often portrayed as this, especially in the early years or when Meiko is drunk and is incapacitated from being so.
• Prone to Tears: In the aptly titled song "Crybaby Boyfriend" by HoneyWorks.
• Servile Snarker: Len (the soldier) is this to Rin (the king) in the Death Should Not Have Taken Thee! duology.
• Shock and Awe: In Magical Mirai 2021, he's portrayed as a lightning god.
• The Smart Guy: In earlier works, he would often be portrayed as the more level-headed and intelligent one in the group (alongside Luka after her release), especially in settings where Meiko or Kaito's flaws are played up. This is slightly reflected in his team role during Magical Mirai 2023, where he's portrayed as the group's mechanic.
• Stupid Sexy Flanders: Especially in Project Diva 2nd.
  • Here and here too. 'Legs that beg captivation' indeed...
  • Made worse by the release of Dreamy theater....enjoy higher graphics version of the above songs here and here.
• Tender Tears: To say he looks adorable when he cries is an understatement.
• Vocal Evolution: He has a distinctly more masculine tone in his V4X voice package (and somewhat in his COLD and SERIOUS appends) compared to his original ACT1 and 2 voicebanks.
• Wholesome Crossdresser: He has done so on a couple of occasions (sometimes against his will). And he looked quite good doing it. This is also a recurring theme in the Van'N'Ice song series, as his wearing a dress is supposed to suggest that he's playing a female role.

Megurine Luka

Megurine Luka

Artwork for VOCALOID2

^{Click here to see her VOCALOID4 artwork}

Luka is the sixth Japanese Vocaloid and released by Crypton Future Media. Notable in that 1) she's actually given a Canon personality as "cool, somewhat mysterious", 2) she has both a Japanese and heavily accented English voicebank and 3) her given "age", 20, is significantly older than that of the other Crypton Vocaloids with confirmed ages, Miku's (16) and Rin/Len's (14). She is voiced by Yuu Asakawa.

As the third in Crypton's "Character Vocal" series, she is codenamed CV03.

For tropes that apply to her (fictional) depiction in Project SEKAI, see here.

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• Age Lift: She's 20 years old officially, but she will sometimes be aged down into a teenager so that she can be paired with Miku or the Kagamines.
• Animal Motifs: Thanks to her character item and her association with Tako Luka, she's commonly associated with sea creatures like fish and octopi.
• Animated Actor: She is regarded as this in the Evillious Chronicles, as he "portrays" several characters, with the most prominent of those characters being Kayo Sudou.
• Ax-Crazy: "Tailor Shop on Enbizaka" features her playing a tailor who murders three women her boyfriend was cheating on her with, then the boyfriend himself, and it turns out she's actually crazy, the man was never her boyfriend in the first place, and the "mistresses" were actually his wife and two daughters.
• Big Bad: Plays the villainous role in the "Synchronicity" series, although it's later implied that the REAL villain is the dragon.
• Big Little Sister: It's often pointed out that despite being "younger" than Miku, Rin, and Len in a meta sense due to being released last, she looks and sounds much older than them, being 20 to their 16 and 14 respectively.
• Bilingual Bonus: Luka is the first Vocaloid to support phonemes for more than one language (Japanese and English). As of her V4X update, she has two English voicebanks- Straight and Soft.
• Breakout Character: Upon her release, Luka was very well-received by fans and producers alike, and she became the first Vocaloid to challenge Miku's explosive popularity. Though her popularity has lessened over the years and she wasn't ever able to topple Miku, she still gets promoted heavily alongside her and the Kagamines, sometimes being in the center of the group next to Miku, as if they were a pair.
• The Cameo: Although she isn't made into a playable character like Miku and the Kagamines, she still appears alongside them in their Muse Dash collaboration where as appears as a boss.
• Cool Big Sis: Some interpretations feature her like this. The Project DIVA games even have a cutscene where Miku, Len, and Rin refer to her as "Luka-nee".
• Determinator: In Double Lariat.
• Elegant Classical Musician: She tends to have this aesthetic about her. To be fair, character designer KEI has said her design was based on orchestral instruments such as woodwinds and brass.
• Fashionable Asymmetry: It depends on who's drawing her, but a lot of the time she only has one forearm sleeve. According to KEI, she was specifically drawn asymmetrical to reflect the fact she is bilingual.
• Jiggle Physics: In her cover of Ievan Polkka^note Shown here alongside Miku's. Project DIVA also likes to emphasize her bust, such as in "Ai Dee".
• Meaningful Name: "Megurine" means "revolving sound", referencing her bilingual capabilities.
• Ms. Fanservice: Along with MEIKO, she's usually the most fanservice-y character of the Cryptons, as reflected by her having four swimsuit modules in Project DIVA. Her beauty is commonly emphasized by various media as well, such as her reveal for Symphony Miku 2024 posing her like Venus.
• Navel Window: Both her original and V4X designs have one.
• Ojou: Luka is usually portrayed as a refined young lady in official media. She has a more sophisticated design than the other Cryptonloids (especially in the V4X version), a calm and whispery voice, very long hair, a black/brown/gold color scheme, design elements that mimic woodwind and brass instruments with a blue jewel, was seen playing a cello in one of the Project Diva openings, was a main character in the Elegant and Cool clouds in Project Diva X, most of her dance routines are distinctively more feminine and graceful than the other females of the group, and one of her recommended genres is Jazz.
  • Crypton Future Media even teamed up with the famous French brand Cattier to produce a special limited edition of Luka-themed champagne.
• Out of Focus: While not nearly as shafted as KAITO and MEIKO, she still plays second fiddle to Miku and the Kagamines, having fewer songs than them in Magical Mirai concerts and at times being left out of advertising.
• Pair the Spares: A platonic example. Officially, MEIKO and KAITO are often paired together because they are meant to be counterpart vocals, while Rin and Len are "mirror images" of each other. Luka becomes an outlier in the group due to being the only Crypton without a set "partner", as Miku already has her role as the group's face and leader. Because of this, and for the sake of balance in official art, Crypton often defaults to pairing her off with Miku in the center of the group.
  • In fan works that ship KAITO/MEIKO and Rin/Len, this is also often how Luka ends up being paired off with Miku if she's not left single.
• Reality Warper: In this PV of Alice in Musicland, wherein she's shown to teleport, turn invisible and even replace Miku's reflection in the water with her own. Justified partly because she's playing the Cheshire Cat and partly because it's All Just a Dream. Or is it?
• Ship Tease: She has gotten this with every other Crypton and including some non-Cryptons like Gakupo (unofficially).
• Sixth Ranger: As the last Crypton virtual singer to be released, Luka is at times treated like this in unofficial works, as some fans find difficulty giving her a role among the other five. For example, if the group is depicted as having a family dynamic, KAITO and MEIKO will be the father and mother respectively, while Miku, Len, and Rin will be their "children". Luka will either be aged down into a teenager to fit in as their child or a friend or will just be some person that's there, usually off to the side, if she's included at all.
• Smug Snake: In the "Synchronicity" trilogy. Just look at her face!◊
• Spotlight-Stealing Squad: Due to her quick rise to popularity after her release and her being the first Vocaloid to shake up Miku's explosive popularity, Crypton responded in kind by promoting her as a secondary face of the Crypton Vocaloids, usually being promoted alongside Miku as though they were a pair. Even after her popularity dwindled with time, she still generally gets better treatment from Crypton than MEIKO and KAITO, such as receiving more songs to perform than them at Magical Mirai concerts, though still less than Miku and the Kagamines.
• The Stoic: Most of the time as her official profile states. She also has a notably serious pose and expression in her boxart compared to her predecessors.
• The Runt at the End: The last Crypton Vocaloid to be released and she differs quite a bit design-wise from those that came before her, especially those in the "Character Vocal Series".
  • Despite being a "Character Vocal Series" virtual singer, she doesn't follow Miku and Kagamine's trend of wearing a school uniform-based outfit, with her outfit instead taking inspiration from asymmetry, and the fact that she's intended to be bilingual. She's also 20 years old, which differs from Miku and the Kagamines, who are teens.
  • She's the only Crypton virtual singer to not have her nail polish match her character color, as her nails are pale blue instead of pink.
  • She's also the only Crypton to not have her character color be incorporated anywhere in her outfit, as both of her box art outfits are black (brown in V4X) and gold with blue accents and don't feature pink anywhere.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Tuna.
  • Yuu Asakawa (Luka's voice provider) stated to have followed the item competition that created this; when she found out it was tuna, she let out a Big "NO!".
  • "Maguro Tabetai" (I Want to Eat Tuna) is all about Luka craving tuna and going on about the best kinds of Japanese tuna to eat.
• Tsundere: Extreme A-type in "Go Google It". Hell, the song's even nicknamed "Gugudere"!
• Updated Re-release: Received not a VOCALOID3 update, unlike Kaito, Meiko, and Miku, but a VOCALOID4 update titled "Megurine Luka V4X". This update is notable in that it contains the brand-new EVEC system developed by Crypton to provide greater expression for their Vocaloids, as well as two different English vocals- Straight and Soft.
• Villain with Good Publicity: In "The Tailor of Enbizaka" (albeit playing Kayo) and the "Synchronicity" series. For bonus points on the latter, she turns everyone against the heroes, boosting her publicity even further.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: According to the handy manual, her character in the "Synchronicity" trilogy wants the human sacrifices to continue because she knows the dragon will go on a murderous rampage if they don't. Not the best plan, but she had the kingdom's best interests at heart.
• Yandere: The Tailor Shop On Enbizaka. Though she isn't Luka herself, it's Luka portraying Kayo Sudou. Her voice just increases the effect.
  • RIP=RELEASE, an answer song for Len's Spice!.
  • Love Disease. (Warning: The image is Nightmare Fuel for some).
• Victoria's Secret Compartment: Hides a fork in her bra in the PV for "Go Google It" — which she uses to stab Gakupo in the hand.