The overseers of the game in question, antagonists and associates of the masterminds behind the death game.
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Floor Masters
General Tropes
The Floor Masters are Dolls that are tasked to govern the floor/floors that the participants find themselves in prior to their participation in the Main Game. They are responsible for hosting the participants that make it to their floor, ranging from answering questions they might have to overseeing the sub-games that take place prior to the Main Game.
- Arc Villain: Sue Miley for Chapter 1, Rio for Chapter 2-1, the Reception Doll for 2-2 and Midori for 3-1. Tia officially shares her Floor Master status with Rio, but her meek personality usually has her partner call the shots instead.
- Cannot Tell a Lie: One of the few rules they actually have to follow is that they can not lie to the participants. That said, most of them try and circumvent this with careful wording or simply not speaking up unless someone directly asks them. During the second sub-game, Keiji catches on to their act and uses that to get Rio to admit there is a fake Reko.
- Evil Is Petty: Played for Drama. Some of the biggest tragedies in this game happen either because a Floor Master wanted amusement (Miley/Midori/Rio), was bitter (Rio) or were plain offended by a participant's existence (Reception Doll/Rio) rather than any real fault of the main cast themselves. The only one that seems to avoid this is Safalin, but its less of her having stronger morals and more of just her own submissive personality and cowardice that prevents her from acting out.
- Faux Affably Evil: While they try to maintain an air of politeness, it gradually becomes quite clear it's nothing more than a thin facade to mask their cruelty and sadism. Even those like Tia or the Reception Doll have their moments that show they're not that much better than Miley, Rio and, especially, Midori.
- Human All Along: While all try to present themselves as living robotic Dolls, Safalin, Miley and the Reception Doll are merely humans pretending to be them. Averted with Rio and Midori who are actually Dolls. Well, as revealed in Russian Roulette, Midori's case is a bit more complicated than expected...
- Jerkass: All of them. Given that their running a death game it's to be expected that they aren't the nicest people around, but all of them have moments (some more than others), were they take it upon themselves to actively antagonize and hurt the participants, be it mentally or physically. Usually mentally, but it doesn't stop some from trying to get the some of the cast killed.
- Karmic Death: After spending their time actively tormenting the participants, both Rio and Midori end up getting killed during the Death Games, with Rio being executed by Gashu for killing one of the Yabusame's and Midori ends up losing Rusian Roulette to the survivors.
- Killed Off for Real: Rio, Gashu and Midori die in their respective floors as the Death Game progesses. Rio as punishment for breaking the rules, Gashu kills himself in order to allow the 2nd Main Game to go on, and Midori as the final casualty of the Russian Roulette sub-game.
- Laser-Guided Karma: It doesn't happen too often, but throughout the Death Game the Floor Masters, especially those who take active sadistic glee in messing with the survivors, do suffer some form of payback as the game goes on for their sins. This can range from Miley getting struck in the face with a pan after tormenting Kanna for getting her sister killed or even as far as the participants, after spending the first of the 3rd chapter toyed about by Midori, finally pull one over on him to get him killed in Russian Roulette.
Sue Miley/Hoemi
Sue Miley/Hoemi
Click here to see Emiri Harai
The "Laughing Doll" Sue Miley. She is the Floor Master of the first and second floors, delightfully cruel and sadistic, she guides the survivors of the First Trial and teaches them about the First Main Game, over which she presides.
- Adaptation Personality Change: A downplayed variant in the manga, but in addition to being a Giggling Villain, she's also Faux Affably Evil and The Tease to the survivors. She even goes as far as kissing Reko's collar, and holding Mishima's face against her chest.
- Arc Villain: Of chapter 1 as a whole, particularly 1-2.
- Breaking Speech:
- Delivers one to Kanna after the Test Vote, exploiting her fear that that she could have saved her sister by insisting it was fully possible.
- Later does the same to Sara after Joe's death.
- Cruel Mercy: Her modus operandi. She offers Sara what appears to be a chance to save Joe, but is really just a way to extend his suffering further and leave her feeling more responsible for his death. She's also the one to tell Shin about the survival rates in his first trial, which seems to give him a chance to save himself by becoming Sou, but which really just makes it hard for him to cooperate with the group out of his own mistrust.
- Demoted to Extra: After chapter 1 ends, the cast is no longer on her floor. She does still reappear a handful of times throughout chapter 2, but they're much briefer. Her sole appearance in chapter 3-1, meanwhile, isn't in person, but rather a dossier revealing elements of her backstory.
- Dragon with an Agenda: Gleefully cruel to the cast, but it's clear from her actions that she's up to something that doesn't quite align with the interests of all of the game staff. During the second chapter, her sole in-person appearance during 2-1 has her giving Sara the full version of the simulation statistics, which Gashu was taken back by after finding out she'd done it. She wanted Rio Ranger's chip under the pretext of it being a risk to the game's security, but its use to form an escape route was ultimately useless to the cast, as she must have already knownnote . Lastly, her final appearance in 2-2 is immediately before the main game to tell the entire cast that Gashu interfered with it, demonstrating that she's opposed to his vision for the game.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Chapter 3-1B reveals she wanted to marry one of her coworkers, causing Asunaro to declare him an obstacle to recruiting her and decide to drive him mad.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Despite being a rather cruel person, she greatly disapproves of Gashu's bending of the rules to his favor, giving a major hint that he had changed something to the main cast before being cut off.
- Evil Gloating: She enjoys gloating over the deaths of the victims of the games, taunting the survivors for being unable to save their murdered friends.
- Giggling Villain: As befitting her name, a lot of her dialogue is peppered with laughter. At one point, she's so consumed with laughter over Trolling the participants that it takes a bit for her to catch her breath and continue her spiel.
- Given Name Reveal: Chapter 3-1B reveals her real name is Emiri Harai.
- Hate Sink: While she is far from the worst Floor Master she is still a horrible and cruel person … especially after she tricks Sara into giving Joe a more painful death.
- Hope Crusher: She loves giving people hope only to take it away it soon after.
- Human All Along: Interesting and early-revealed example, but her bleeding when struck by Kai, especially later contrasted with the Bloodless Carnage of Fake Reko and Ranger, makes it clear she's flesh and blood. Nobody really ever bought that she was a doll because of this early incident, or really seems to entertain it with the others afterwards.
- Punny Name: Sue Miley, the Laughing Doll, referencing her near-constant beaming. (Her Japanese name, Hoemy, uses similar wordplay.) Her real surname can also be pronounced as 'warai' - 'laughing'.
- Sadist: She's a rather unabashed one at that, delightfully doing things to make the cast feel despair in all sorts of ways.
- Troll: She says and does things to upset the cast and get under their nerves for no other reason than she can.
- Verbal Tic: She happens to laugh a lot near the beginning or end of her sentences.
- Villain Reveals the Secret:
- Gleefully takes advantage of how Mishima, Sara and Joe misled Kanna about the nature of their shared First Test to try and shatter her trust in them.
- In her last appearance in 2-2, she invades Gashu's transmission to call him out (and thus alert the cast) on breaking the Main Game's rules, though she gets cut off before she can reveal exactly what he did.
Rio Ranger/Toto Noel
Rio Ranger/Toto Noel
- Adaptational Early Appearance: He appears at the end of Sara and Joe's First Trial to watch them fall down a pit in the manga adaptation, while in the game, he first shows up at the beginning of Chapter 2.
- Alas, Poor Villain: Both Gashu, his father, shooting him and discarding him as trash, and his last moments as Rio Laizer are both portrayed somewhat sympathetically, with Gin admitting he some degree of sadness for him in his last moments.
- Ain't Too Proud to Beg: In Ranger's first sympathetic point, he begs his father, who just shot him, to fix him, claiming to be his masterpiece. Gashu responds by calling him a failure and kicking off his head.
- Arc Villain: Of chapter 2-1.
- Artificial Human: One of two Floor Master dolls that are actually non-human.
- Artificial Family Member: Due to having the same "Father" (even referring to him as such) Ranger is technically the son of Gashu and the brother of Kai. More over, he's clearly a Replacement Goldfish to Gashu's adopted son, Sei.
- Asshole Victim: Ranger spent most of his life being a sadistic, cruel, awful person who did nothing but make people's lives worse, so few tears are shed among the group when his head is blown off by Gashu, especially after unfairly causing the deaths of either Alice or Reko in the room of lies (once the final attraction had already been beaten with no human causalities). However, this is largely because he lacks the capacity to think or experience any positive emotions. When he does get the ability to feel empathy, he's horrified with his actions.
- Berserk Button: 3-1B shows an A.I. copy of Ranger be brought into Maple's amalgamation, where it's revealed that if the Q-Taro urges him to switch sides, he freaks out a bit and gets pissed off as a result.
- Boom, Headshot!: How he ultimately meets his end, though he hangs for a bit longer.
- Character Tic: He uses signs to display certain emotions and mock the survivors of the Death Game, and almost always keeps his mouth obscured.
- Co-Dragons: With Tia Safalin.
- Creepy Crossdresser: Double subverted. The participants are not as bothered about him wearing a skirt as they are about the fact that he got it from a dead girl.
- Desecrating the Dead: Robs the corpses of freshly killed participants of the Death Game and takes a piece of their clothing as his own.
- Eye Color Change: Whenever he's being particularly deranged, his eyes turn into a mix of brown, grey and black.
- Freudian Trio: With the other floor masters, he's the crude and abrasive Id to Tia's Ego and Gashu's Superego.
- Fair-Play Villain: Technically played straight, as his floor allows everyone to survive with no cheating involved, much to his annoyance. Even when he attempts to hide this fact, Tia Safalin steps in and explains what he would refuse to. When he callously decides to no longer play by the rules, Gashu retaliates by shooting him.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Seeing how cruelly Rio Ranger treats humans, Sara comes to the conclusion that he hates them due to envying them. Indeed, his father installed in him a sense of inferiority to humans which drives everything he does.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: Gets pissed off rather easily no matter how he's approached by other people.
- Inferiority Superiority Complex: His whole demeanor towards humans stems from the fact He's envious of them.
- Jerkass: Though none of the floor masters are nice people, Ranger is easily the cruelest of the lot, reveling in it in a way only Miley really comes close to. On one route, he's even the only floor master to actually directly kill somebody, murdering Alice gleefully with his own doll-robot-sister's head if the player chose to push her to her death in the Impression Room.
- Kick the Dog: He needlessly kills Alice for no reason at all in one route after driving him into a rage by saying they killed Reko already, and proceeds to not let Reko go free until after Alice is mortally wounded (and depending if Sara got the bongos for Alice or not, will not be able to reconcile with him.) And in another route, he provides a knife that Doll Reko kills the real Reko with. However, in both these routes, his actions lead to his death soon after.
- Lack of Empathy: While all Floor Masters have some level of this, Ranger's is notable in that he revels in it and is the most explicit about how little he cares for the lives of humans. It's later revealed that his capacity for empathy was removed.
- My God, What Have I Done?: How his last moments are spent once Safalin properly installs a sense of empathy into him.
- Nice Mean And In Between: Due to his personality as a rude, caustic, and unpleasant person, he qualifies as the Mean to Gashu's Nice and Tia's In Between.
- Off with His Head!: Gashu kicks his head off after shooting him.
- Pet the Dog: In the Non-Standard Game Over where Q-taro cashes in all his tokens to buy the ticket to the surface and learns that accepting it would get everyone else killed, Rio offers him a full refund if he changes his mind, acknowledging that it wasn't fair play to hide the consequences of his escape. This only adds another weight in Q-taro's guilty conscience when he reluctantly accepts the offer anyway.
- Punny Name: Rio Ranger = 'Re-arranger'; Toto Noel is a play on 'Put in order/rearrange'. Realizer and Coco Roel ("to gain a heart," basically), what his name becomes when he gains a full set of human emotions, refer to the state of horrified reflection in which he spends his final living moments.
- Ridiculously Human Robots: Rio Ranger is nearly indistinguishable from a human, his eccentricities and Fantastic Racism towards humans being the only real giveaways that he's not.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Red to Tia's Blue, due to being loud, impulsive and chaotic between the two.
- Replacement Goldfish: Implied by Kai's mini episode, and NOT one treated well. Gashu had adopted a second son, Sei, after the death of another member of the organization, who bears a blatant resemblance to Ranger both in appearance and, though less extreme, bad attitude.
- Robbing the Dead: His outfit consists largely of clothes and accessories of people killed over the course of the game, including those who never showed up. His wearing clothing of the deceased isn't just to mock the survivors, it's because he envies them.
- Rummage Sale Reject: Due to, again, his outfit consisting mainly of clothes swiped from those killed off in the game. One video shows him wearing much simpler attire while mocking one of the first eliminated.
- Sadist: Much like Sue Miley, Ranger delights in causing anguish in other people, unlike Sue Miley, he goes much further in his sadistic tendencies. Despite being in the game for much shorter.
- Sir Swearsalot: He has a particularly nasty mouth, taking to calling humans "Bastards" at every possible opportunity.
- Tears of Remorse: Shortly before he deactivates for good, and after the compassion and kindness he was meant to have is restored, he's shown weeping over all the cruel murders he's committed.
- Token Robot: While they're all initially presented as being mechanical Dolls, the other Floor Masters are each revealed to be living humans (though Midori has replaced much of his body with Doll parts), leaving Ranger as the only fully artificial Floor Master.
- Walking Spoiler: Anyone looking at his sprite for a bit will realize he's wearing Joe's hair pin, Mishima's tie and Kai's apron, all of which indicate these three won't get past the first chapter.
- Younger Than They Look: Despite looking and acting like a young adult, it's implied he was only activated shortly before the Death Game started.
- Your Approval Fills Me with Shame: During Hinako's first trial, annoyed that she hasn't struggled or put up any resistance, he shows up to taunt her, just to get some kind of response out of her. Rather than feeling mortified or regretful, she thanks him. This infuriates him to the point that he starts beating her corpse and screaming at her to suffer.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Why Gashu kills him, as he was responsible for the death of one of the participants, which Floor Masters are explicitly not allowed to kill in such a manner.
Tia Safalin/Hannaki
Tia Safalin/Hannaki
Click here to see Michiru Namida
The "Crying Doll" Tia Safalin, Vice Floor Master of the third floor with Rio Ranger. Teary eyed and much more hospitable than her partner, Tia Safalin also runs the medical office, offering her service to help those in physical or psychological distress.
- Bad Liar: When she's encountered again in 3-1B, her statements are easily seen through and puts her in a bit of a Butt-Monkey position.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: She seems rather nice compared to the two other Floor Masters we've seen, and while she isn't the worst of them, it's clear that she's still a rather cruel person who's interested in her own well being rather than anyone else's.
- Co-Dragons: To Gashu Satou, the real master of floor three, with Rio Ranger. The floor masters in general are also, naturally, in this role to whoever is overseeing and running the game.
- Exact Words: Frequently uses this trope, mostly to avoid revealing classified information, but occasionally to throw the survivors a bone, especially since it's shown that remaining silent isn't considered a lie as far as the Floor Master's code is concerned.
- Eye Color Change: Like Ranger, her eyes change color when her sadism is full blown, at which point her eyes become a spiral mix of red and green.
- False Reassurance: Should Kanna be voted for, she attempts to quell everyone's pleas to let Kanna live by saying she won't feel a thing as she experiences her Cruel and Unusual Death, but as it commences it's pretty clear that the poor girl's terrified and feeling plenty of pain.
- Faux Affably Evil: Pretty shamelessly wants the cast to keep playing the Main Games (particularly as it's later stated that her own life depends on the game proceeding properly,) but that doesn't mean she won't be hospitable about it. When questioned on her loyalty on the Kanna death route, though, she makes clear that she is only being hospitable because she was ordered to, by who is heavily implied to have been Gashu. Possibly subverted (who knows?), however, by her part in 3-1. As of the end of the chapter, there isn't a clear menacing reason for why she would aid in disguising Q-Taro's death and ensuring Midori's. She's hard to figure out.
- For Science!: Described as a diehard researcher in Asunaro's recruitment dossier. It's noted that the mere promise of an ideal environment would be enough to convince her to join them.
- Freudian Trio: With the other floor masters, she's the in-between Ego to Ranger's Id and Gashu's Superego.
- Given Name Reveal: Chapter 3-1B reveals her real name is Michiru Namida.
- Human All Along: Like with Miley, though with her this is revealed in a more downplayed fashion, cutting her hand and showing it bleeds to demonstrate the floor's medical facilities.
- The Medic: Runs the medical office in addition to being a Floor Master, offering all her supplies to the participants should they need them.
- Nice Mean And In Between: The In Between for Gashu and Ranger, being generally affable and helpful, but not without her moments of cruelty.
- Pet the Dog:
- Subverted. Her act of helping Sara with her hallucinations can end up with Sara being addicted to the machine that rids her of them, delightfully grinning and wanting her to do exactly as she says from then on. Her offer of wiping away negative memories from Reko/Alice seems nice, but the end result is someone who disregards the loved one's death and is more of a way to have them continue in the Death Game than helping them emotionally; after Alice takes it, even a chapter later Sara is still concerned about the implications. Lastly, her act of giving Rio Laizer his empathy only served to make him feel great regret and remorse for what he's done, dooming him to spending his last moments being absolutely miserable.
- A later example plays it straighter, lending further mystery to her motivations. She's perfectly willing to aid Q-Taro in his Thanatos Gambit, quietly supplying him with a doll double to take up his place as he dies in Keiji's coffin. This plays a critical role in defeating Midori. Before that, when Keiji and co. propose the banquet to her, she's genuinely horrified, warning them that, far from the perfect solution they believe it to be, it's going to be a bloodbath.
- During the debate in Chapter 2 over the fake Reko, she answers a question that helps Sara solve the puzzle even after Ranger gleefully refuses to.
- Punch-Clock Villain: Though she's not necessarily a good person, as seen by many of the other tropes on this page, she's not actively hostile or deceptive towards the characters either, for the most part, and in general her research and work environment seems to be her primary source of loyalty to her role in the game and organization.
- Punny Name: Tia Safalin sounds similar to 'Tears are falling'. Hannaki means 'Half-crying/on the verge of tears'. Namida means 'tears'.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Blue to Ranger's Red, being the more calm, composed, and gently spoken between the two.
- Sadist: In comparison Sue Miley's own unfiltered sadistic glee present when she does most things, this seems rather subdued. But nonetheless, Safalin has her sporadic moments of blatant sadism.
- Sherlock Scan: She can tell Sara's mental state and the status of her hallucinations just by looking at her.
- Slasher Smile: Maybe not surprisingly, she's got one of these despite her fairly kind demeanor.
- Small Role, Big Impact: She's only in 3-1B for a single, short section, but is forced into a gambit with Q-Taro that ultimately causes Midori's death.
- Sole Survivor: Of the three Floor Masters of the third floor, she's the only one that survives.
- Token Good Teammate: Zig-zagged; as of the end of 3-1, her exact motivations and morality are not yet quite clear. She's kind to the cast, attends to their medical and mental needs, and seems to carry out her duties with regret. She also provides Ranger with his kindness and compassion programs so he could realize what he lost before he died, and gives Sara the chip in his head, which contributed to the escape attempt. This is all in stark contrast to Sue Miley, Rio Ranger, or the Reception Doll's behaviors. But in a subversion, if you vote for Kanna, Q-taro attempts to appeal to Safalin's supposed better nature and she sets him straight with a cruel smile that she is their enemy, even if she's acting nice. Even contributing to the escape attempt didn't mean anything in the end since the exit was blocked before the game even started, and she likely knew this. Meanwhile, providing Ranger his kindness and compassion programs only served to leave the newly-formed Rio Laizer a short life and agonizing death in misery and regret. Though then again, if anyone in the cast deserved such an ending...
- Weak-Willed: She frequently just goes along with what people tell her to do, even though as a Vice Floor Master she has the same power as Ranger or Gashu. She's easily pressured by others to do what they want despite her disapproving, though she's still capable of putting her foot down occasionally. She's even capable of acting sadistically and controlling when Sara becomes addicted to Salafin's machine in one bad ending.
- We ARE Struggling Together: She makes it perfectly clear in Kanna's route that she's in the same boat as the rest of the cast, but this is a defied trope, as her role makes it impossible to cooperate with anyone else.
- Would Hurt a Child: Can be the one to deliver Kanna's Cruel and Unusual Death without real concern for her as much as she is concerned for her own life if she doesn't.
Reception Doll
Reception Doll
Click here to see Gashu Satou
The "Reception Doll." Polite and seemingly unflappable, he is not a Floor Master, but rather runs the prize counter of 2-1.
- Abusive Parents: What else could one count putting Kai through something like this? He also seemed to view him extremely poorly due to his refusal to become an assassin. On top of that, there's his treatment of his robotic "son," Ranger, even going so far as to kill him.
- Kai's episode shows that he used to be a LITTLE better, willing to show his sons affection and make them cakes, but even then was still brutal in training Kai and Sei in the ways of assassination. What underlying kindness he had in him, however, was browbeaten out of him by being forced to place them both in a killing game to determine Asunaro's top assassin.
- Affably Evil: He does generally treat the cast politely, even if ultimately he's willing to screw with people's lives for the sake of results he wants. He rigs the second Main Game to guarantee Nao's death, and kills himself rather than being willing to give the cast a break after his trick is revealed. His politeness appears genuine and unfailing throughout every scene he's in, and he's all too happy to get along with the cast when they try to socialize with him, and only stands to make his villainy all the more unsettling.
- Arc Villain: Of Chapter 2 as a whole, particularly 2-2.
- Asshole Victim: Despite not being the worst of the floor masters, no one's especially concerned about his death as much as they are what his death means for the second Main Game...namely, that it has to continue.
- Atrocious Alias: He briefly goes by "Uncle Crabstache" when referred to as such by Gin, Played for Laughs.
- The Bad Guy Wins: He ultimately gets what he wants: For Nao to die and the Death Game to continue, despite not living to see the results. The only way to subvert this is to vote for Nao and get a Non-Standard Game Over that allows Sara and Nao to end the game by winning it together.
- Cheaters Never Prosper: The second Main Game is basically the cast trying to enforce this on him. It then gets cruelly, horribly defied when Gashu shoots himself just to ensure that the cast doesn't get an extra day to live.
- Chekhov's Gunman: During the first half of chapter 2, he's just the creepy guy who runs the prize corner, but of the three characters introduced in 2, he's perhaps the most significant.
- Death by Irony: His suicide mirrors the way he killed his surrogate son; via gunshot wound to the head as penance for breaking the rules of the Death Game.
- Despair Event Horizon: Being forced to put his biological and adoptive sons in the way of certain death, knowing only one would be allowed to survive, utterly broke him. Already a devoted soldier of Asunaro, when this moment came, he lost all vestiges of affection and kindness that were once underlying in his actions, becoming thoroughly, coldly loyal to a cause he was broken into seeing as truly divine. May be why he gained an inclination to become a Hope Crusher. Really, it's quite telling that prior to this moment, he thought about Kai extremely often and, ultimately, frequently acted in what he thought was his best interests, while during the game proper, he never so much as MENTIONS his now-dead son.
- Disc-One Final Boss: Though he reveals his importance to the story late into 2-1, with Kai posthumously warning about the possibility of facing him, he kills himself without a second thought in the second Main Game.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Initially loved Kai in his own more stoic way, but this would come to be subverted after Sei's death. This is implied to be the case to Sei, as he models Rio Ranger's appearance and some mannerisms after his adopted son.
- Even Evil Has Standards: He kills Rio Ranger and relieves him of his duty as floor master when he lets his sadism get the better of him and gets Alice/Reko killed outside of an attraction. Even when he later causes a transgression to get Nao killed for being a loose non-candidate, he still acts within the Main Game's confinements, and willingly pays the penalty for his actions by killing himself when he's caught.
- Evil Is Petty: He kills himself after a long debate purely to rip hope from everyone's eyes.
- Freudian Trio: With the other floor masters, he's the stoic and collected Superego to Tia's Ego and Ranger's Id.
- Given Name Reveal: His real name is Gashu Satou.
- Go Out with a Smile: For an instant before he shoots himself, he's shown with a tiny, creepy smile on his face as he encourages the group to continue the death game in his absence.
- Hope Crusher: Successfully does this when he kills himself during the Main Game in Chapter 2-2, as any hope of stopping the Main Game (or getting an extension) is ripped away, and everyone is overcome with despair as they are forced into a Sadistic Choice.
- Human All Along: Despite presenting himself as a Doll, it turns out he's very much human. Being the father of Kai and all, he'd have to be.
- The Man Behind the Man: He's one for Safalin and Ranger, despite it seeming like he was a lackey of theirs.
- Nice Mean And In Between: The Nice compared to Safalin's In Between and Ranger's Mean, seemingly supportive of the cast no matter what they do.
- No Name Given: He's simply known as the Reception Doll, which stands out compared to the other "Dolls" who are all named.
- Not Afraid to Die: He's so detached from life that when faced with leaving the group with a 24-hour window to replay the death game (and giving Nao another chance to live) or committing suicide for cheating, he chooses the latter with no resistance.
- Offing the Offspring: He's noted to be Ranger's dad and referred to as such after he mortally wounds the doll. And he was also indirectly (by "virtue" of being associated with ASU-NARO) complicit in his biological son Kai's suicide.
- Oh, Crap!:
- He pulls a rather jarring one once Sara reveals the statistics papers she was given, it being the only time he breaks out of his seemingly serene behavior. However, it disappears just as quickly as it came when Sara doesn't immediately know what it means.
- He's initially very pleased that Kai and Sei are helping each other grow as assassins, and believes they'll be an effective unit in the field. But when he's told that ASU-NARO isn't looking for a new batch of killers as much as they are looking for a singular right hand, he panics and despairs at the fact the organization would have his sons be pitted against each other in a life-or-death situation.
- Outliving One's Offspring: Kai is dead by the time he even shows up. Even worse, he never even mentions his son, and their shared family name and Kai's own word on his laptop are the only things confirming their relation.
- Spiteful Suicide: When the cast uncovers that Gashu rigged the game, he chooses to kill himself rather than grant them a 24-hour extension to stave off the Main Game.
- The Stoic: His expression rarely ever changes no matter what the circumstances are.
- They Look Like Everyone Else: Compared to the other Floor Masters, the Reception Doll looks rather unassuming and mundane.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: While always a strict father willing to put his young child through Hell to train him to be an assassin for ASU-NARO, it's shown he was doing this because he thought it was for the best for his son. Gashu was willing to do small acts of kindness in order to reward Kai, and his adopted son named Sei. However, being browbeaten into submission by a superior in the organization causes him to be him of any redeeming aspects in favor of cold and fanatical loyalty to the organization at the cost of all else.
- The Un-Smile: His smile is noted to be rather unsettling.
- Walking Spoiler: It's pretty hard to talk about him without revealing his true identity or the role he plays.
- We ARE Struggling Together: Despite being a Floor Master, he too has a collar and is under the threat of death unless he plays the role given to him.
- Yank the Dog's Chain: When it is revealed he cheated in the Main Game and is left with the option of dying or giving a 24-hour extension, he chooses the former as to rip the hope from everyone's eyes.
Midori (3- 1 Spoilers)
The Real Sou Hiyori
- Arc Villain: Of Chapter 3-1.
- Asshole Victim: After spending all of Chapter 3-1 toying with the participants and ruining so many people's lives, his undignified Villainous Breakdown upon being shredded to death by a giant drill is incredibly cathartic.
- Bad Boss: He is technically the boss of the Dummies, but he won't hesitate to kill them if he gets the chance.
- Badass in a Nice Suit: Wears a black suit and also proves to a formidable adversary.
- Blatant Lies: He nearly kills Hayasaka and Gin by reactivating an old trial, and when he shuts it off claims that it was an accident.
- Brilliant, but Lazy: Heavily implied. He sets up traps and anticipates the movements of the others rather well, but he often complains about things taking too long and leaves the Dummies to give exposition instead.
- Bluffing the Murderer: What ultimately leads to his downfall. Midori is very close to winning the Banquet due to cheating and having information Sara and the others do not. He even narrows his choice down Gin's coffin with the unwitting help of the survivors, and had it not been for Sara making a last minute wish, he would have won. However, Q-Taro and Sara manage to get Midori to second guess himself by claiming Keiji tampered with the coffins before the Banquet, which means he ends up wasting another turn and gives Sara the win.
- Canon Name: The name available at default is "Midori".
- Control Freak: Despite seeming to be laid back, Midori is incredibly controlling, either cheating or tricking others to maintain an advantage. He's especially controlling of Shin, whom he not only constantly visited, manipulated, and made uneasy, but keeps an A.I. version of Shin around back when he was timid, shy, and easily pushed around for no other reason than to have someone else he can have at his whims. This is why, despite how flippantly he acts about his life, he is scared shitless if he's in actual danger that he hasn't planned for.
- Creepy Blue Eyes: His are drawn very differently from the rest of the cast's. There's no reflection or depth - just a long gaze.
- Cybernetics Eat Your Soul: Granted, he was already a cruel and sadistic person to begin with, but Chapter 3-1b reveals he replaced most of his body with doll components and gave his human pieces to the Dummies.
- Disc-One Final Boss: Responsible for both the suffering of so many of the characters and for recruiting them for the game in the first place, with the first two chapters gradually revealing more about him, everything seems to be building towards him as a plausible and deeply personal Big Bad for the cast to contend with. The penultimate half-chapter, wherein he also debuts, culminates in his death.
- Dissonant Serenity: He rarely drops his faux-cheery demeanor.
- Early-Bird Cameo: He's shown on Kai's laptop in 2-2, and appears in 3-1.
- Faster Than They Look: Has absurd reflexes in a standoff, much to Keiji and Shin's chagrin.
- Everyone Has Standards: Refuses any canon character's name on the basis that it doesn't really suit him, and he feels it'd upset the original owner of the name. He's also scared shitless of Meister, and if you try to name him "Meister", he isn't nearly as calm about rejecting it as he is other names.
- Evil Is Petty: He still holds a grudge with Alice. However, it's apparently not because he wants revenge for Alice trying to kill him; rather, Midori is mad that, in order to get back at Alice by putting him in the Death Game, he had to give up his spot, which he'd been looking forward to.
- Exact Words: He pulls this constantly, misleading others with half-truths and letting them make their own assumptions, only to later tell them that he never told them what he meant earlier, which often turns a seemingly bad situation for him into a bad situation for Sara and friends.
- Faking the Dead: Turns out Alice accidentally shoving his head through a pole didn’t even really phase him.
- Fair-Play Villain: Subverted. He loves to come off as someone who is giving the cast a fair chance in his "game" with them, but in reality he's a Control Freak who rigs things in his favor. The most blatant example is with Maple, who is actually supposed to be hunting him like other Obstructors do with the Dummies, but he instead brainwashed her to be in love with him, ensuring she would never hurt him or pursue him (although he has to give up his ID card while she is infatuated with him).
- Fatal Flaw: His fear of death. The game is nominally supposed to be as fair as possible, but any time events start shifting in a way that might not lead to Midori being the winner, he can't help himself from trying to turn the tides back in his favor. Eventually Sara realizes this and is able to exploit it against him.
- Faux Affably Evil: He acts like an old friend to everyone he meets, especially Shin. Granted, they actually were old friends.
- Green and Mean: His default name is "Midori", which means "green", and he has bright green hair. As for the "mean" part, he's one of the nastiest characters in the game.
- Hated by All: There's not a single person in-game that likes him, just about everyone comments on how awful and despicable of a person he is.
- Hello, [Insert Name Here]: He asks Sara to give him a new name at the beginning of Chapter 3. The default is "Midori." He does refuse to share a name with anybody in the rest of the cast (or be renamed to his old name, for that matter), though, telling you to "pick another" if you try.
- Human All Along: Played With. He's not a doll of Sou Hiyori, he is Sou, but his body is modified so heavily that he is more machine than man.
- Identical Stranger: Well, not quite identical, but he sure does bear a strong resemblance to his impostor, Shin Tsukimi.
- I Lied: Much better at it than Shin, being able to manipulate both the former and Keiji into doing what he wants before his death. It's a trait he keeps after his revival.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: How Alice “killed” him years ago... With his memories blocked of noticing that, even with a pole through his eye, he was still alive. This scene, uniquely shown on his survival route, provides foreshadowing well ahead of the Banquet that he’s more machine than man and the game considers him as much.
- Improperly Paranoid: Weaponized by Sara against him. Upon realizing the game was not rigged as he thought (the coffins that were non-marked were supposed to be all red, only to find one was blue), he starts to believe that Keiji tampered with the coffins beforehand; Sara then exploits his doubts and makes him question his own logic enough that he completely changes his final answer.
- In Love with Your Carnage: He's visibly blushing when he discusses with Sara her true nature which he observed in the death game simulations.
- It's Personal: Though he wants to kill everyone in the Death Game, (especially Shin), he absolutely loathes Alice.
- Kick the Dog: He kills the A.I. version of Shin when he helps the survivors a bit too much, despite being a harmless program that he himself created. He later does it again via causing Maple to go through Body Horror in the name of "love".
- Lack of Empathy: Has completely no regard for anyone beyond himself.
- Leitmotif: Has one of his own, fittingly titled "Madman."
- Manipulative Bastard: And quite the cheerful one at that. Notable in his past involvement with Shin, who he manipulated into getting close to him back in high school, in order to steal his information for the Death Game. It's explicitly stated he enjoyed seeing his fear and horror at these actions. Quite unsurprisingly, Shin reacts as if he's about to be sick upon seeing his later return as an AI. He also disguised himself as a police officer and joined the force, where he deliberately misled Keiji into thinking an unarmed criminal had a gun. Keiji shot the criminal dead, but found out too late that the man he had killed was his childhood hero.
- Master of Disguise: He's able to disguise himself as a high school student and a policeman to successfully manipulate both Sou and Keiji respectively despite neither going to that school or being on the force. 3-1B shows that he also disguised himself as a nurse, a teacher and an ice cream vendor, and could have very well many more disguises under his belt.
- Meaningful Rename: He needs a new name because Shin took up his name. Downplayed with the default option, 'Midori', which simply means green. It can be Played for Laughs if the player chooses anything from a Double Entendre to something downright ridiculous.
- Near-Villain Victory: He comes very close to winning the Banquet. It's only due to Sara, Q-Taro, and Mai all out-gambitting him that he actually loses.
- Nightmare Face: Gives a truly horrifying one when he tells Sara to revert to her "true", darkly manipulative nature.
- Not Afraid to Die: Subverted. He's able to maintain this impression at first because he's planned out most of the events of the game so well that he believes he doesn't have to be afraid since he isn't in danger of losing. When confronted with a threat to his life that he hasn't planned for, such as Maple's dying attempt to kill him or one of the coffins seemingly holding different contents than it should, he panics. Sara catches on to this after the Maple fight and exploits it during the Banquet. When it's finally his turn to die, he's just as terrified as every other character who's died thus far has been.
- One-Steve Limit: Invoked. He refuses to accept any of the players' names as his own.
- Only Friend: Heavily hinted to be Shin's only friend during his time in high school, which is an ultimately horrifying thought considering how awful Sou is.
- Perpetual Smiler: Most of his sprites have his creepy grin, and he is most commonly seen wearing it.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: Briefly seen in flashback trying to pressure Gin into agreeing to have his autism cured. Of course, given that he doesn't have any issue with Gin instead using his wish for his mother, it's possible that he only brought the issue up in order to get him to sign the consent form.
- Posthumous Character: Alice swears left and right that he killed him, and certainly has been in prison over it for years, but Kai's laptop notes that he's extremely significant to the game in some way he doesn't know. He comes back - albeit as a doll - in 3-1. Subverted; this is the real Midori, and he’s just heavily altered his body to basically be another doll.
- Psychopathic Manchild: Despite seemingly friendly, he's quite homicidal and acts quite childish, insisting on playing games, hiding, and then consistently complaining about how bored he is waiting for the others to find him.
- Sadist: He revels in making people suffer, whether it's emotionally or physically.
- The Sociopath: A manipulative sadist who plays with people's lives like toys without a shred of remorse to be seen. He never thinks twice about his cruelty and performs it with a smile on his face, all for his amusement. He is easily the cruelest of the Floor Masters.
- Talking the Monster to Death: Downplayed. When Midori finds the cast inside his personal IT room, he pulls a gun on them and threatens to kill four of them. Sara has the option to ask him if he'll really be satisfied by simple violence, which uncharacteristically unnerves him enough to stop.
- Tom the Dark Lord: His default name is "Midori", which is literally just "green" in Japanese. While not exceedingly common, it is a rather plain name to be given for the absolute monster that he is. This also applies to his real name, Sou, which is a rather simple name. The player can invoke this if they so choose, even literally.
- Toxic Friend Influence: Heavily implied with Shin, as the latter looks ill whenever he sees or talks about him but has undeniably picked up some habits of manipulation and lying from him.
- The Unreveal: Just how much of Midori is human? 3-1 has no answers to give, but he has donated his hands to Mai, and other parts to the other Dummies.
- Villain Ball: He has the option to just kill the survivors when he has them at gunpoint, which would have saved him a bit of trouble, but Sara's words make him decide that the practical option wouldn't be satisfying or entertaining enough to continue.
- Troll: He messes with just about everyone if only for the very fact he enjoys doing it.
- Villainous Breakdown: When faced with the reality that he’s about to truly die, he loses all composure.
- Walking Spoiler: It's hard to talk about him without revealing he's been brought back to life.
- Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?:
- Turns out he has access to a gun, and threatens to use it on the survivors when he finds them in an area they're not supposed to be. Sara however, convinces him not to do as such.
- Despite being the target for the Murderer game, there's not much action done on trying to kill him even when they have him outnumbered. Lampshaded when Kurumada complains that attacking him right after he announced his game would be the best time, though it's justified that he leaves before his words can be registered. Later it's revealed that he's strong enough to easily handle the humans, and has a rocket punch (which stops both Reko's/Alice's and Sara's attempt to kill him respectively. It's then explained that only Maple could destroy Midori.
- Would Hurt a Child: In addition to roping multiple children into a Deadly Game, he directly murders the girl posing as Hinako in an exceptionally gruesome manner with a giant drill.
Meister
Meister
The Room Master of the 1st floor's Blue Room. A talking painting that goes by the name of 'Meister'. In order to acquire Miley's arm, he forces the five people stuck in his room to play Russian Roulette. He's to the point with his rules, but somewhat impatient.
- Affably Evil: In comparison to every Floor Master, he's virtually a saint. He forces five of the participants into a game of Russian Roulette and is a bit too eager about it, but otherwise acts decently and doesn't try anything extra cruel against the participants. Even when he comes back for a much nastier variant two full chapters later, he still keeps up this streak, playing the game in a very forthright manner, saying up-front he has no intent to cheat the cast. He even rules in their favor when Sara takes advantage of the consent form she signed earlier to force Midori to change his coffin selection, even though it could easily be argued that doing so is allowing Sara to change the game's outcome.
- Back for the Finale: Disappears from after his brief appearance in 1-1 to the very tail-end of the penultimate chapter of the game.
- Bandaged Face: The only part of his face not covered in bandages is his mouth.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Just a portrait and basically a tutorial enemy in 1-1. It's ambiguous if he even exists, and he's quickly forgotten, only to turn up in-person at the tail end of chapter 3-1 to run an even bigger, deadlier variant on his previous Russian Roulette game. Here, it becomes downright undeniable something is up with him.
- The Dreaded: He is one of two people Midori fears.
- Horrifying the Horror: He's fairly nice compared to the Floor Masters, but you have to be pretty damn terrifying if a monster like Sou Hiyori is afraid of you.
- More than Meets the Eye: When trying to name Midori after someone you already met (sans Mishima and Shin), he smiles and gives a quip before asking you to pick again. Try naming him Meister? He'll drop the routine, frown and just ask Sara to pick again. This is the Midori whose rap sheet includes getting Keiji to kill his childhood hero and tormenting Shin as his 'friend'. Just what did Meister do to earn such a response? It's also worth noting that when he shows up in person, his build, two of his poses, and his general fashion sense, are nearly identical to Sara's father's brief appearance.
- Russian Roulette: Forces Sara, Joe, Kai, Q-Taro and Keiji to go through a variation of it if they want Miley's arm. Everyone can survive it, and ensuring so keeps you away from a Game Over. Then he has Gin, Midori, and all the remaining dolls put into another, larger-scale version two chapters later. This one proves much deadlier, with Gin and possibly one doll the only ones who can leave it alive.
- Starter Villain: He's encountered before any of the Floor Masters, and serves as a "lesser" version of them in a way. He oversees the part of the first chapter that contains the game's first debate section, and unlike later ones it's possible for it to be done with no casualties. His second appearance at the Banquet, meanwhile, facilitates what is, if you’ve been playing well throughout 3-1 and have plenty of living dolls reach that point, the single deadliest event in the entire game.
- Warm-Up Boss: His antics serve as a way to introduce the player to more of the debate portions of the game.
The Gimmicks
General Tropes
Dolls of the Candidates
"I don't know... Hiyori... might not think of me or you... as anything more than gimmicks..."
Coined by Maple, these are creations given one simple purpose for the death game. That purpose can range from mere distractions, antagonizing humans of any kind or serving as digital sources of information. Whether they're good or evil, a minor role in a killing game is all that they're made to be and would never amount to anything greater.- Appeal to Inherent Nature: In contrast to the Dummies who stubbornly cling to hope of greater meaning, the "gimmicks" choose to let their status define them or never get the choice at all thanks to their programming.
- Bloodless Carnage: Due to their status as non-human tools, none of them can bleed when destroyed.
- Senseless Sacrifice: Either from killing survivors or being destroyed themselves, all instances of murder on either side amounts to nothing in the story. It usually ends in an abrupt game over or they're going to be destroyed anyway in spite of fighting for a chance to live. On the other side, the AI or doll's death is usually nothing more than a pointless demise because of ASU-NARO pitting them up against humans.
A.I.
Artificial Intelligence
A tempered Mishima AI
Digital recreations of people made by the organization. Their primary usage was to undergo test trials of the death game. They have shown the ability to aid or hinder the participants depending on their programming.
- He Knows Too Much: The poor Shin AI suffers this fate, being tormented and eventually destroyed for telling too much information to the participants. His choice to help is what gave them all a fighting chance against Midori.
Attraction Dolls
The Attraction Dolls
Memory Dance
"This is the Memory Dance Attraction! Can you correctly memorize and copy my choreography!?" (4-Koma Chapter: Choreographer)
Click here to see all the dolls in-game
Dolls encountered in attraction rooms on the third floor. Their sole purpose is to challenge and outright murder participants if they fail. Stay on Target, Hide and Seek, Runaway Minecart, Spirit Shutter, Quick Draw, Fly Swatter, Charge Card Battle, Arm-Wrestling and Memory Dance are the events these dolls are made for. The survivors are forced to defeat them at their own game in order to win clear chips as those are required to survive the subgame.
- Breakout Character: The Memory Dance Girl received plenty of popularity for her cute design and infamous status as the most difficult attraction game, cementing her as a standout character from Chapter 2-1. She's the only one featured in official artwork with the main cast and is the only doll to have dialogue in the comics.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: If the participants fail their attractions this is what happens to them, usually by the dolls themselves.
The Double (Chapter 2- 1 Spoilers)
Doll Reko
The doll that replaces Reko in the Room of Lies. Her memories are up to date, but her personality is three years behind the real Reko, as a result she's significantly less kind to people and more selfish. She initially believes herself to be the real deal, though as evidence builds against that, her emotional state quickly becomes unstable...
- Ain't Too Proud to Beg: When it becomes clear that she is a doll and sacrificing her is seemingly the only way to pass the final attraction, the doll has a Freak Out and starts hysterically pleading with Sara and Nao not to kill her. She can either succeed or fail depending on the player's choice.
- Anti-Hero: When she briefly joins the group, she's as invested in surviving and saving the others as her human counterpart was, which makes sense since she's a near-perfect copy of her. Despite this, she's notably far more mean, selfish, and quick to lose hope when the chips are down, which ticks the others to her not being the real Reko. She falls into a greyer area when directly faced with death, as she becomes willing to threaten her friends and Kill and Replace the real Reko.
- Asshole Victim: Downplayed in the route where she's spared and then pitied against the real Reko by Rio Ranger, and she promptly earns herself the contempt of her team when she threatens Nao and Sara if the former doesn't choose to save her, and again when she kills her real self in a misguided attempt to survive. Because of these selfishly desperate actions coming right before her execution, her death is easily glossed over in favor of the human Reko's, though that doesn't make her predicament any less tragic.
- Clone Angst: No matter how the moments of her life are spent after realizing she's a copy of the living Reko, they're horrible experiences for her.
- Failure Is the Only Option: There's no way for her to survive the events of 2-1. Even if you choose to let her live, she dies in the very next scene.
- The Farmer and the Viper: If you choose to spare her life, she'll kill the real Reko in the very next scene (though this does indirectly prevent Alice's death).
- For Want Of A Nail: She is the nail in the end of chapter 2-1. If killed, her head will be recovered shockingly quickly by Ranger and used as a bomb to murder Alice on the spot. If either spared or not definitively caught, Alice will live on and be able to divulge more of what he knows about the overall plot, but Doll Reko herself will stab her original self.
- Hidden Depths: She shows a much more insecure side of Reko's character, wondering even before learning the truth about herself if people hate her and seeming afraid of the prospect.
- I Just Want to Have Friends: By all indications. She's not as confident as the real Reko, so she's much more insecure about her friendships with Sara and Nao. When they out her as a doll, she desperately tries to appeal to their friendship so that they spare her.
- It's All About Me: She isn't just meaner than the real Reko, she's also far more selfish. Sara points out that she likely kept all the clear chips from the room of lies for herself, and when it comes to choosing her own survival vs. that of someone else, she's quick to resort to murder to save herself.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Less there than her present self, but this is still Reko Yabusame, minus three years of Character Development. Even if she's more selfish now than she would become later, she shows the capacity to do better things for people on occasion and definitely could have become kinder had she ever had the chance.
- Kick the Dog: Alice wasn't wrong about Reko being cruel to everyone back then:
- Destroying the "precious bongos" Alice worked hard to give to her and then insulting him immediately afterwards.
- Threatening to kill Nao and Sara if they pick the real Reko to survive instead of her, and then killing the real Reko when it doesn't work.
- Kill and Replace: Subverted two times.
- Ranger really wants everyone to think this happened, but the real one is still alive, at least throughout the sub game.
- Upon Ranger informing her that only one Reko (of Nao's choosing) will make it to the main game, and knowing that Nao will never pick her for being a clone, doll Reko picks up Kai's knife and fatally stabs her human counterpart, thinking that this will allow her to live on as the only Reko. Ranger then reminds her that said choice was up to Nao, so clone Reko dies anyway.
- Killed Off for Real: The designated way to win the final attraction in Chapter 2-1 with no (human) causalities relies on the two players trapped in the Impression Room (Sara and Nao) outing her as a doll and throwing her down a pit full of spikes to save the loser (Gin) from being sacrificed, which is what happens in the path where you choose to sacrifice her. However, you can choose to spare her instead, and everyone will survive regardless thanks to Q-Taro's late intervention, whereupon a new "game" will start at the room of lies where Nao has to choose one Reko to live to the second main game. Nao will inevitably choose the real Reko, which will seal the doll's fate even after she stabs the former in a rushed attempt at Kill and Replace. In said path, the doll Reko will briefly question Rio Ranger ever intended for her to live seconds before her head explodes.
- Killing Your Alternate Self: If her head isn't used to blow a hole in Alice's body, then she'll end up fatally stabbing the human Reko.
- Knight in Sour Armor: When trapped in the "Impression Room" with Gin's life on the line, it only takes a few minutes of not finding any clues as to what to do for her to give up and declare that Gin is done for, which is the final straw for Nao to bring up her jarring character change, as the current Reko would've never given up.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Reko suddenly starting to act a lot crueler to the people around her is taken as a pretty huge red flag by the lot of them.
- Taking You with Me: If she's spared and then pit against the real Reko by Ranger, she threatens to kill Sara and Nao if they don't choose to save her, though this only serves to cement Nao's choice. She eventually goes with killing her real self instead out of a misguided attempt to live as the only Reko.
- Talking the Monster to Death: Played With. Desperate to live, Doll Reko threatens to kill Nao and Sara if she's not chosen as the Reko to save. Nao successfully talks her out of her threat by pointing out she'd never kill her friends, but she immediately kills the human Reko instead out of despair and fear.
- Ungrateful Bitch: She really is relieved and grateful if Sara and Nao choose to spare her. However, this doesn't stop her from threatening to kill them the next time her life is on the line.
- Walking Spoiler: For The Reveal of 2-1, and in general that the organization behind the game is able to deploy Ridiculously Human Robot doubles so quality even they might not know their true natures.
- What Measure Is a Non-Human?: The game makes no attempt to sugarcoat it; its artificial intelligence-based characters are completely alive, sapient, and aware. Doll Reko, already showing a much more insecure personality than her human self, naturally takes really poorly to the idea that her life is valued less than that of the human characters'. The others do, for their credit, consider her a real human being, Alice especially should he survive, and her idea sets the stage for the concept playing out even more later on.
- Yank the Dog's Chain: She was never meant to last past the Final Attraction, and even if she does and kills her human self out of a desire to live, she's killed moments later.
- Your Head A-Splode: Unlike the humans', the dummies' collars do explode, and hers does.
- Her decapitated head explodes on to Alice and kills him if you choose to kill her.
- This will also be her fate after stabbing the real Reko if she's spared, as Nao's choice to save the real Reko still held up even after the latter's death.
Obstructors
The Obstructors
Maple
Maple 2. 0
Dolls that are scattered around the fourth floor of the Death Game's facility who are meant to, as their name suggests, impede the participants. Unlike the prior dolls, they aren't meant to harm humans, primarily targeting other dolls. The cast is forced to cooperate and try to stop them all the same. There are only three discovered Obstructors: A Mummy fought in the Graveyard, a Book Horde in the Library and one known as Maple found in the Discussion Room.
- Ascended Extra: In Chapter 3-1A, Maple was truthfully barely a character, only occasionally speaking as she pressured Sara and Ranmaru into drinking tea and talking about their feelings for one scene. In Chapter 3-1B, she not only becomes a much bigger threat, her character is fleshed out significantly.
- Attack Its Weak Point: After burning its bandages, a bright red jewel is revealed to be the Mummy's weak spot.
- Ax-Crazy: Through reasons ranging from sadistic glee (like the Mummy) to insane anger ( Maple) to presumably hunger (Book Horde), all they want to do is kill one of the participants and can't be reasoned with. The only way the cast can proceed safely is either destroying them or figuring out the puzzle to pacify them in time.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Maple is the nicest of the lot and the most humane, only really wanting to talk with anyone who enters her room. According to a guide in-game, she is also the strongest of them. When Sara and Ranmaru make her angry, she becomes very violent.
- Body Horror: Poor Maple. After Midori's done with her, her head is removed and her arms become spindly wires with razors on them. In place of a head she has four monitors that crudely taunt others or beg for mercy.
- Breakout Character: Applies heavily to Maple, not only is she the only Obstructor given a proper role in the story but she's the only one to receive significant characterization. She's associated with the main cast and marketed heavily alongside them.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: Deliverers of such ends. The Mummy stuffs Anzu into a coffin and has it crush her alive while the Book Horde eats away at Hayasaka. Maple can be this as well during both fights against her, as she can kill both Kurumada and Mai by impaling them with her spines. However, in Kurumada's case, his death from his injury is delayed until the banquet, and even then, this only happens if the cast fails to pacify her during their first fight against her.
- Defeat Means Friendship: Inverted. The guide to defeating Maple encourages befriending her as a way to defeat her.
- Demoted to Extra: In Chapter 3-1B, despite them being built up as monsters that the group would have to worry about, no more Obstructors are introduced for the rest of the Murderer Game.
- The Dreaded: Maple's not only the most powerful Obstructor, she's also the one that everyone fears. Even Midori runs away from her when she regains her freedom.
- Entertainingly Wrong: Maple claims that the banquet is a way everyone survives the Murderer Game, but Tia Safalin and Meister both show that this is very much far from the truth.
- Evil Laugh: The Mummy has one when it's not beaten in time, killing Anzu.
- Foreshadowing: During the first two fights, the only victims that can be killed are Anzu and Hayasaka, both of whom are Dolls. Maple later reveals that the Obstructors are meant to kill anyone besides the human survivors.
- Chapter 3-1B brings more foreshadowing: During the first fight with Maple, Kurumada sustains a heavy wound that makes it clear that he's a Doll. If you fail the game to reset Ranmaru's collar, they'll die during the second fight with Maple, as will Mai (who will also be fully exposed as a Doll) if you fail to defeat her. The only one who can't be killed before the banquet? Hinako.
- Hero Killer: Potentially. Both Hayasaka and Anzu can be killed during the fight with the Book Horde and Mummy respectively. Later on Maple can kill both Kurumada and Mai.
- I'm a Humanitarian: Err, well, Dollitarian. The Book Horde's method of killing Hayasaka.
- The Juggernaut: Maple can be injured, but she can't truly be slowed down until she wastes her battery due to a certain action, otherwise, nothing even phazes her.
- Meaningful Name: Maple, who wears a pancake hat with maple syrup running down it.
- Mini-Boss: All of them act as this for chapter three and proceeding means facing them.
- Mood-Swinger: Maple's fight involves her switching between anger, sadness, and joy.
- Reluctant Psycho: Maple has no desire to hunt or hurt the human survivors or the Dummies, but she is forced to do so twice because of Midori's mechinations. At the very least, she attempts to pay Midori back for the second time she's used as his weapon.
- Self-Duplication: The Book Horde keeps multiplying until there are enough of them to devour a whole person.
- Shock and Awe: The Mummy starts off being electrified. Disabling the electricity requires destroying its armor.
- Taking You with Me: Maple attempts to do this on Midori once she gains enough of her free will. It fails.
- Token Good Teammate: Maple. Unlike the others, she is perfectly content with just staying in the Discussion Room and talking with the participants about their feelings instead of attacking them. This goes away if you make her angry. It's later revealed that, as the Obstructor who was supposed to kill Midori, Maple was technically supposed to be on the survivors' side.
- Yandere: Maple is this toward Midori. When Sara and Ranmaru take his ID card from her, she gets very angry. Keiji, Q-taro and Mai later learn that he was her target to kill, but he implemented a program to make her fall in love with him, preventing her from doing so.
Past Criminals
Memorandum
The Memorandum Man
- Ambiguous Situation: About his feelings for the leader girl in his Death Game. Were they romantic or did he just appreciate her qualities so much that he held the same standard towards other women he dated?
- Despair Event Horizon: Has this after the death of the leader girl during his game's third victim conference. It got to the point he couldn't really love any other woman since they couldn't fill the void she left.
- Hero of Another Story: Subverted. He gives an account of his participation in the Death Game, but it's clear that while he did live, he wasn't the hero of it. Instead that went to a school girl who was eerily similar to Sara. However... he also reveals it didn't end well for her.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: His personality is similar to that of Sou Hiyori's, with a few variations.
Shinobu Gokujo
Shinobu Gokujo
A founder of the very first Death Game, it was designed entirely as a slaughter between various criminal groups. Having found the idea of such a game tasteless, he abruptly vanished through a secret exit. He hoped to rebuild the Yakuza anew with whoever that happened to find his secret message.
