Characters / Way Walkers University

Main Characters

The PC

The protagonist, a fourteen-year-old Exemplary Talent entering their first year at Tar'citadel.

• The Ace: As an Exemplary Talent, the PC is adept at all five of the major abilities, though they specialize in one.
• Action Girl: If female and specializing in any of the combat talents, especially if in the dueling club.
• Badass Adorable: They're fourteen, yet unafraid to go toe-to-toe with a dragon wraith or students larger and tougher than them.
• Badass Bookworm / Book Dumb: High and low Ulic, respectively.
• Big Brother Instinct: Can develop one for Owen.
• Broke Your Arm Punching Out Cthulhu: The PC will most likely die fighting the dragon wraith and come back damaged. But they will have some insights on events due to their near-death experience.
• Career-Ending Injury: With bad luck, they can get a disability that kills their highest stat and the career they were pursuing, like an aspiring warrior having a permanent limp or an aspiring scholar having memory problems.
• The Charmer: With high Beleskie, they are witty, cheerful, social, and very amicable.
• Cuteness Proximity: Male or female, the PC squeals over the kittles in the second game.
• Cutting Off the Branches: The PC, Jun, and Sem all canonically survive the second game—any route that ends with one of them dead or moved away cannot be transferred.
• Damsel out of Distress: Because of their youth and inexperience, it's not uncommon for them to end up in situations where they're endangered and outmatched. They can put up a good fight until help arrives, or, with the right stats, get out of it themselves.
• Deadpan Snarker: When presented with multiple responses, usually one of them lets them fire off a snarky comment.
• Disability Tropes: They will retain one of four handicaps if they die at the end of the first game, and the difficulty of it is very much Played for Drama.
• The Empath
• Evil Is Petty: If you have a high Red and Jun is your enemy, you can ask their crush Ay'cure/a out simply to spite them.
• Fatal Flaw: Invoked. During character creation, you will be asked to list one definite flaw you have. You choose from a list of traditional ones—aloofness, impulsiveness, dishonesty, etc—and the corresponding stat takes a large hit. Trying to pick a flaw that doesn't have a gameplay effect or saying you have no flaws earns you Red points.
• Forgetful Jones: The Ulic penalty causes them lose some of their childhood memories and have difficulty remembering new information.
• Friend to All Living Things: If they have a high Desmoulein score.
• I See Dead People
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: They can hook Jun and Ay'cure/a up while still harboring feelings for one of them.
• Jerkass: If you have high Red, then even your rare kind moments are done in a rude and condescending way.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Pulling pranks or firing off quips does not stop you from also being kind and compassionate.
• The Klutz: The Rhean penalty causes the PC to have balance issues and panic attacks.
• Magic Knight: If they apply for a battle mage position in the dueling club.
• Mind over Matter
• Morality Chain: For Sem and Jun. They both have worse dispositions and tread darker paths without the PC's friendship, Jun moreso. Sem becomes consumed by his desire to save Illyan, which eventually leads to either his or the PC's death, while Jun straddles the line of insanity at best and suffers a full Split-Personality Takeover at worst.
• Mutual Kill: It is possibly to defeat the dragon wraith in the first game, causing this.
• Near-Death Experience: They have a very high chance of this at the end of the first game, falling into a coma where their angel guide offers to help them return to life or move on.
• Nice Guy: If you choose not to join Sem in his pranks, then you're straight-up this, particularly with high Desmoulein or Angani.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:
  • If you defeat Jun's Enemy Within for them, you don't actually defeat him—he fakes it. You just make it easier for him to surprise them, when the time comes.
  • While the PC might have his best intentions at heart, telling Sem he should give up on Illyan drives him over the Despair Event Horizon and lands you a Non-Standard Game Over.
• Paper Tiger: The Kubesh penalty destroys most of their muscle mass and leaves them barely able to carry their own weight.
• The Prankster: The PC has several opportunities to goof off and prank people with Sem, usually to Jun's disapproval.
• Psychic Powers: As an Exemplary, you can use all five, but only specialize in one.
• Romantic Runner-Up: If they pursue Jun or Ay'cure/a, who are only interested in each other.
• Seers
• Speech Impediment: The Beleskie penalty, which causes Exactly What It Says on the Tin.
• Starving Student: It's implied the PC comes from a poor family, as they have either no or almost no money when they arrive. Tar'citadel keeps them fed, clothed and healthy, but they just can't afford to go shopping for niceties.
• Telepathy: A possible skill the PC can develop, usually only comes up if the current plan has gone pear-shaped.
• Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: Should the PC follow the Turin or Red paths, they frequently display this.
• Wise Beyond Their Years: Possibly.

Jun

The PC's roommate, Jun is from the same nation as them and is also an Exemplary Talent. In their past life they were a devout Red mage; said mage is trying to take over their consciousness and steal their body to wreak havoc. They were also the PC's younger sibling in that life, and since the PC is the one who eventually killed them, feels both drawn to and repulsed by them.

• The Ace: Just like you, they're an Exemplary and are thus skilled at all five powers.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Despite their kindness, Jun is a talented telepath who will stand up for themselves or their friends. If they attack you head on, you'll have a pretty hard time defeating them.
• Black-and-White Morality: Sees the world in this. It slips into Black-and-White Insanity if they're you're rival.
• Big Bad: Well, more accurately, their past self is behind everything. That said, on the rivalry path, they are far more zealous and susceptible to his influence.
• Big Bad Friend: On the friend path, they genuinely try to push back their Enemy Within.
• Brutal Honesty: Slightly if they're your friend, but they really don't hold back on their opinions if they don't like you.
• Cannot Spit It Out: They’ve had a crush on Ay’cure/a since they were four. Ten years later, and they still can’t say anything.
• Childhood Friend Romance: They and Ay'cure/a have known each other since they were little, and are crushing hard on each other.
• The Comically Serious: Their straight-laced, no-nonsense attitude makes them the butt of many jokes or pranks.
• Cutting Off the Branches: The PC, Jun, and Sem all canonically survive the second game—any route that ends with one of them dead or moved away cannot be transferred.
• Enemy Within: Their past self was someone known as 'The Master', who frequently tries to manipulate them.
• Fatal Flaw: Fear. Jun is so afraid of ending up like their past self that they cling to the notion of purity with fanatical fervor. This, however, actually pushes them closer to him, because they gradually become more self-righteous, hypocritical, and arrogant—all of which are Red traits. Without the PC's friendship, their fear destroys their sanity.
• Holier Than Thou: Their attitude if they don't like you.
• Honor Before Reason: They are never happy with how the PC deals with the land drake—whether it be using a Jedi Mind Trick, scaring her off, or attacking her—because they find it manipulative and underhanded. The complaining is lessened if they're your friend, that said.
• Hypocrite: Only slightly on the friend path, but it really comes out when they're your rival:
  • Should the PC try to apologize for their behavior when they first met, Jun chides them for making assumptions. Immediately afterwards, they turn around and make a very rude statement based on their assumption of the PC.
  • Jun tries to act like they're above petty anger or other human emotions, but is just as prone to bouts of anger or frustration as anyone else.
  • In the second game, they try to murder you, breaking one of the Five Rules which they proclaim to uphold.
• Incorruptible Pure Pureness: Deconstructed. They try to force themselves to be this so they don't fall prey to their Enemy Within, but doing so puts them under a lot of stress that makes them vulnerable to said enemy's manipulations.
• It's Not You, It's My Enemies: One of the reasons they're reluctant to make a move on Ay'cure/a is because they're afraid what their Enemy Within will do to him/her. The PC can help them get over this.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Depends. They’re fairly nice to their friends but rude to people they don’t like—including you.
• Knight Templar: If they're your rival. Jun thinks they're fully justified in attempting to murder you, because they interpreted a vision as foretelling that you and Semryu would cause a great amount of chaos in the future.
• Make It Look Like an Accident: How they try to kill you in the second game... the first time, anyway. The second time they'll just attack you.
• Not So Above It All: Either Played for Laughs or Played for Drama. If they're your friend, then in the second game you and Sem can finally convince Jun to participate in a prank. If they're your rival, then in the second game they fall prey to "base emotions" and try to kill you.
• Oblivious to Love:
  • They are somehow unaware that Ay'cure/a is crushing on them, despite the PC (who has known Ay'cure/a for all of five minutes) noticing right away.
  • They'll also fail to notice the PC crushing on them.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: "Jun" is a nickname the PC assigned them for their "good-hearted" personality, either as an Affectionate Nickname or to mock them. Either way, it sticks.
• Pride: It's significantly more noticeable on The Rival path.
• The Rival: Potentially to the PC.
• Single-Target Sexuality: They will only have romantic feelings for Ay'cur(e/a) in the second game, even if they trust the PC utterly.
• Split-Personality Takeover: If your Red is high on the rival path, their past self will seize control of their body and attack you. If your Red is low, but Jun is still your rival, then it's only implied they've become more susceptible to his influence.
• Telepathy: What they specialize in. They're so good at it, they're the only ones who can get clear answers out of Master Cael, and any Telepathy attempts you try to make against them will always fail.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: In the second game, if they’re your rival or you lose their friendship. Notably, they may try to frame you for a prank or outright kill you.
• Twice Shy: Ay'cure/a likes Jun but Cannot Spit It Out, and if the PC doesn't intervene, the stalemate just drags on.
• Walking Spoiler: Jun has a lot more to them than you'd initially think and is closely tied to how the plot unveils.
• We Used to Be Friends: If the PC tries to be friends with both Jun and Sem, but fails to balance it properly, then it comes to a head in the second game when they have to choose one last time who to help—Sem like they potentially promised, or Jun who's abandoned them but now may need them. Picking Sem causes Jun to swear off the PC completely and follow the 'rival' path from then on. You even get an achievement for this.
• Wide-Eyed Idealist: They have a very moralistic and naive view of the world, which the PC can even call them on.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Jun initially can’t stand Sem, but if the PC is friends with them both, they’ll put up with him and eventually develop into this.

Semryu aka "Sem"

An upperclassman and the PC's partner in their History project, Sem is a Clansman looking to investigate the arrest of his friend Illyan Giesi. He's also the only Non-Traditional Ice Mage in existence, meaning he can summon ice at will in any shape or form.

• The Ace: He is an Exemplary talent, after all.
• Affectionate Nickname: His friends call him "Sem" for short.
• An Ice Person: As said, he can summon ice whenever he wants, which differentiates him from others who need to draw energy off nearby ice.
• Beware the Silly Ones: For all the joviality and blitheness he projects, Sem is very dangerous, especially if you piss him off. He's the best duelist in the club, easily intimidates Clay, and like Jun, is a hard but optional boss fight.
• Cutting Off the Branches: The PC, Jun, and Sem all canonically survive the second game—any route that ends with one of them dead or moved away cannot be transferred.
• Deadpan Snarker: His wit is as sharp and cold as his ice.
• Despair Event Horizon: If Illyan is executed at the end of the second game, he goes over this, eventually moving away from Tar’citadel.
• Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Played with. He’s very dangerous, but is more mischievous than evil.
• Everyone Has Standards: He doesn’t like targeting the undeserving with his pranks.
• Fantastic Racism: Gets a lot of flak for being a vampire.
• Fatal Flaw: Loyalty. Sem never abandons someone once they've earned his loyalty, even if sticking with them is detrimental to his reputation, emotional and mental stability, and even life. If the PC forces him to abandon Illyan, he actually crosses the Despair Event Horizon because he can't forgive himself or get over his 'betrayal.'
• Gay Option: For a male PC in the second game, provided you stay friends with him.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: The only way to win against him is to redirect the ice shards he's throwing at you into his chest, killing him.
• Icy Gray Eyes: Cool gray eyes, befitting An Ice Person.
• I Just Want to Be Normal: Played with. He genuinely enjoys being a Non-Traditional Exemplary, he just wishes it didn't cause people to automatically be wary (well, warier) of him.
• Leeroy Jenkins: When he hears that Illyan is scheduled to be executed, he tries to break into the Municipial Citadel at the end of the second game. If the PC fails to stop him, he gets arrested.
• Lonely Rich Kid: Turns out his dad is the leader of his Clan—essentially making Semryu a noble. His parents were always away on business, though, and there's a five hundred year age difference between him and his closest sibling, meaning he grew up by himself.
• Magic Knight: He holds the position of battle mage in the dueling club, using both a sword and his ice magic in tandem.
• Misunderstood Loner with a Heart of Gold: Many people at Tar'citadel warn the PC to stay away from Sem, citing his race, abilities and shenanigans as the reasons. He's actually fairly nice, if snarky, and very loyal once you get to know him.
• The Nicknamer: He quickly assigns the PC a nickname depending on their country of origin, ie "Mirror gazer," "Tazu watcher," etc., and only uses their real name during an emotional moment.
• Oblivious to Love:
  • Fails to realize that when the PC asked him out to the winter ball, they meant as a date. Hilarity may ensue.
  • If the PC chooses not to make the first move with any of the other love interests, they'll still pick up the signals and ask them out. Sem is the only one who won't.
• Our Vampires Are Different: He very quickly establishes the facts about Clan when you meet him, presumably due to being asked about the myths so often. They're quite different from regular vampires in media.
  Sem: "And oh yes, the quick Clan basics: not allergic to sunlight, not immortal— just very, very slow-aging —was Born this way, not Changed into it, and, no I am not going to eat any of you— even if you ask nice. Sorry if any of that disappoints."
• The Prankster: To start, you meet him when he sneak attacks your group of new arrivals with snowballs. His penchant for pranks only grows more evident from there, usually with the PC getting the option to help him out or not.
• Precocious Crush: Had one on Illyan when he was younger, but he got over it and now just sees her as a Cool Big Sis.
• Sad Clown: Oh yeah. Inwardly, he's really bothered by the prejudice he faces, worried about Illyan, and lonely, but covers it up with his usual cheekiness.
• Tranquil Fury: His wrath manifests itself like this, outright freezing the air around him if he's pissed off enough.
• Undying Loyalty:
  • Sem is unerringly loyal to Illyan and, if they become his friend, the PC. This originates from his Clan’s motto, which is “Family first, First second”.
  • Tying into this, he's the only romance option who doesn't have a "date_rapport" variable hidden in the coding, nor can his friendship be lost once gained. Nothing you do can irritate him enough to break up with you or abandon you—once he's yours, he's yours.
• Uptown Girl: It only comes up a few times, but Sem is filthy rich. Meanwhile, the PC's best clothes are hand-me-downs and their family is implied to be so poor, they can't even send up letters.
• Violently Protective Girlfriend: His loyalty and protectiveness kick into overdrive if he and the PC start dating. If Clay thrashes them in a duel, Sem is downright furious, and threatens to kill him. If Jun tries to murder the PC and they suggest killing them in retaliation, Sem has absolutely no problem, save that he doesn't think they can get away with it.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: He finds Jun too 'pure-hearted' and straight-laced to befriend, but if the PC is friends with them both, he'll agree to put up with Jun for their sake. Eventually, they'll develop into this.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: He veers very close to this trope, with the lengths he’s willing to go to to save Illyan. He's one of the very few who doesn't automatically shy from the Red, and even wonders whether it's really "evil" like everyone says.

Tar'citadel students

Ay'cure/a

A young Desmoulein following human from Jun's village, fostering a (unknown to either) reciprocated crush on their childhood friend.

• Childhood Friend Romance: Ay'cure/a has known Jun since they were little, and harbors feelings for them.
• Friend to All Living Things: They love animals, and want to pursue a career in veterinary medicine.
• Massively Numbered Siblings: They mention having six younger siblings who they had to help take care of when they were younger.
• Meaningful Name: In-Universe, their names comes from Tar'cil words meaning "I love", or "my love". Fitting for a character who is both universally loving and Jun's beloved.
• Oblivious to Love: Just like Jun, they don't realize their feelings are reciprocated.
• Obliviously Beautiful: They are described as being incredibly gorgeous, and Word of God says they're the most physically attractive out of all the characters, but they never seem to notice it.
• Promotion to Parent: Downplayed, considering their parents are still alive, but they matured faster since they had to help out with their many younger siblings.
• Single-Target Sexuality: They only have eyes for Jun. You actually can ask them out on a date, and they'll accept, but at the end of it admit they just can't move on and that it isn't fair to you.

Kess

A bubbly girl in the drama department.

• Ascended Extra: In the second game.
• Ditzy Genius: A lot of people think she's just another popular Dumb Blonde, but she's got some top grades and is quite cultured.
• Dude Magnet: She constantly has admirers around her but she always seems only interested in the MC romantically.
• The Empath: Her specialty, specifically emotions and not auras or images. If people around her get too upset or afraid, it overstimulates her senses and nauseates her.
• Gay Option: For a female PC in the second game.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Has curly blonde hair and a golden personality to match.
• Hidden Depths: She does not want to be an actress—she wants to be a psychologist, because she likes studying how people interact. Who knew?
• Nice Girl: Everyone loves Kess because she's just so friendly. If the PC is Book Dumb or has the memory flaw and shares a class with her in the second game, she'll promise to help them study and make sure they pass if it's the last thing she does. She's well-loved in social circles and comes from a good background, but never lets it go to her head and always remains one of the most kind-hearted characters in the game.

Umbrave

A quiet, half-Avenea student in the duelist club.

• Always Someone Better: Admits to feeling inferior to Semryu in dueling. Umbrave is good, but Sem is just better in both skill and charm. Even though Sem is older and has more experience, it weighs on Umbrave enough that he admits he doesn't know whether he should pursue a career in dueling, despite how much he likes it.
• Ascended Extra: Like Kess, he gets some more screentime in the second game.
• Gay Option: For a male PC in the second game.

• Heroic Self-Deprecation: He's a talented duelist, but if you try to compliment him, he shrugs it off and says he's not nearly as amazing as Sem.
• I Shall Taunt You: Does this to test the PC if they apply for the dueling club.
• Little Bit Beastly: He's got plates covering his body.
• The Strategist: He really enjoys studying strategy and war history.
• Super-Toughness: The plates covering his body are good armor, so the dueling club uses him to test newcomers, who can "whack him all day".

Owen

An eleven-year-old Exemplary Talent.

• Child Prodigy: In a cast of prodigies and geniuses, Owen stands out for taking advanced classes for students way above his age.
• Hero Worship: Is implied to have this towards the PC, should they look out for him.
• Nice Guy: To everyone, even the people his friends hate.
• Shrinking Violet: Which makes him a prime target for bullies, unfortunately.
• Wise Beyond Their Years: For all his youth, he displays a surprising amount of insight and maturity.

Shelly Alberth

The niece of the Headmaster's assistant and a fifteen-year-old girl working as a student librarian. At the end of the second game, she joins the PC and Sem in conspiring to help Illyan.

• Country Mouse: She grew up in a small village, and while she’s mostly adjusted to Tar'citadel, she’s still occasionally overwhelmed by the size of it—particularly the library.
• Cuteness Proximity: Her cold demeanor breaks when she sees the kittles, and she spends just as much time cooing over them as everyone else. Though she still does try to analyze them.
• Gay Option: For a female PC in the second game.
• Photographic Memory: She’s a Non-Traditional, but not an Exemplary. Thus, her Empathies and Energy Manipulation work differently from everyone else by allowing her to “tap into” the emotional and logical energy an author leaves behind in their books, essentially letting her remember everything from the book as though she wrote it.
• Seeker Archetype: She believes in pursuing knowledge, no matter how potentially dangerous or evil it may be, for knowledge's sake.
• Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: Befitting her intellectual personality, Shelly speaks in an overly complicated, precise and verbose manner.
• Sugar-and-Ice Personality: She's very cool and reserved when you first meet her, but if you befriend or romance her, Shelly will open up substantially and reveal herself to be just as capable of affection as the other love interests.

Other

Illyan Giesi

An Exemplary and former student teacher, recently accused of attempting to recruit people for the Red and corrupt the student body.

• The Ace: As with all Exemplary talented.
• Ambiguously Evil: Her innocence in her accused crimes is up in the air. She and Sem both swear she's innocent, and the Headmaster will confirm she isn't lying, but it's possible for talented enough Exemplaries to fool mind-reading. The nature of her research doesn't help, as it's a threat to both the Red Mages and the High Mages. The one thing in her favor is that she'll save the PC from the dragon wraith if they free her—as she points out, she has no reason to foil her own escape attempt.
• Badass Bookworm: Her research was a theoretical breakthrough on High Magic and Red Magic which would have threatened both groups, which is why she faces trial. She will also use this research to kill the dragon wraith with no trouble if you’re able to free her in the first game's climax.
• Broken Pedestal: Many of her friends at Tar'citadel lost faith and abandoned her after she was arrested—Sem is the only one who remains.
• Cool Big Sis: To Sem.
• Former Teen Rebel: Hinted. She admits to the Headmaster that she used to romanticize the Mad Mage and admired his genius, but swears it was childhood folly.
• Frame-Up: Hinted. Digging around reveals she was studying magic that could unbind long-term magical effects, which is something both the Red Mages and the High Mages would want her imprisoned and executed for.
• Loved by All: She was seemingly very well-loved at Tar'citadel—even Master Cael liked her, and keeps a framed photo of them in his office.
• Not So Stoic: Her cool demeanor breaks if you let Sem speak to her; she’s so touched by his loyalty, she almost breaks down crying.
• Sugar-and-Ice Personality: She treats the Headmaster and the PC with cold courtesy, more coldness to the Headmaster and courtesy to the PC, but is openly happy to see Sem again.
• Tranquil Fury: If you accompany the Headmaster and Sem to speak with her, then she’s clearly frustrated and enraged by her arrest, but keeps her voice level.