History Characters / SerialExperimentsLain

* AmbiguousSituation: It can only be speculated why [[spoiler:she is targeted by and tortured by the Knights]]. Whether they consider her a potential threat to their plan, they [[StuffedIntoTheFridge simply want find a way to distress Lain]], or some other reason is the cause, it isn't expanded on.

* RetGone: In the anime she rewrites reality so that Eiri never conceives his plan to assimilate reality into the Wired and removes all traces of herself from the physical world. By the end the only two people who seem to have any memory of Lain's existence are her father, Taro, and Alice, and even then it is closer them having the ''feeling'' of forgetting someone they once knew rather than a true recollection of who she is.

* RetGone: In the anime she rewrites reality so that Eiri never conceives his plan to assimilate reality into the Wired and removes all traces of herself from the physical world. By the end the only two people who seem to have any memory of Lain's existence are her father and Alice, and even then it is closer them having the ''feeling'' of forgetting someone they once knew rather than a true recollection of who she is.

* AndroidsArePeopleToo: Despite Lain's main personality being "software" created in the Wired implanted into an artificial body, what she wants for herself is little more than to be loved by her family and friends the way a normal fourteen year old girl is.

* FromNobodyToNightmare: Eiri presumably started off as ordinary, overworked programmer before his interactions with the Wired transformed him into [[HumanoidAbomination whatever he is now]]. After Lain hits the ResetButton, Eiri is set back to his "nobody" status; without the Wired, Eiri is nothing but a grumbling, clock-punching office drone.

* LikesOlderMen: She's shown dressing herself in her school uniform at at older man's apartment in Layer 4, suggesting they were having sex.

* WeHardlyKnewYe: [[spoiler:She essentially dies in Layer 4, leaving her an EmptyShell for the rest of the series.]]

* IAmNotYourFather: Subverted. Lain doesn't have a biological father, however Yasuo ''does'' somewhat see her as his child. He seems rather somber about leaving Lain in Layer 11, but knows it has to be done. [[spoiler:He even comforts her in the end of the series when Lain finally achieves Godhood.]]

* PhysicalGod: When the real world and The Wired merge. Not that it stops him from dying after absorbing too much matter.

* UndeadBarefooter: He's a ghost who appears in an unshod and half-clothed state. Being barefoot might be a sort of evil reflection of Lain's virtual avatar trait - or atually vice versa, as given that ''he'' created Lain.

* {{Kidanova}}: Myu-Myu has a hopeless crush on him and he manages to get Lain to agree to go on a date with him (to grill him for information, but still).

* MistakenForTerrorist: PlayedForDrama. Lain begins to suspect [[TheMole he might be one of the Knights]] and accepts his date just to trap him in her HackerLair and threaten his life.

* UnwittingPawn: He spilled soda on Mika's sleeve which made her vulnerable to a cyberattack by the Knights, but doesn't seem to have done so knowing what they were going to do to her.

* HopeSpot: She gets through to Lain, thinking she can finally help her, and then Lain starts talking to God.

* PrecociousCrush: With her teacher.

* IAmNotYourFather: Lain doesn't have a biological father, however he ''does'' somewhat see her as one. He seems rather somber about leaving Lain in Layer 11, but knows it has to be done. He even comforts her in the end of the series when Lain finally achieves Godhood.

* SoProudOfYou: Yasuo visits Lain for one last time to tell her that despite the fact that even though she was just an experiment, he truly thought of her as his daughter.

* DullEyesOfUnhappiness: Gains this over the couse of the series as she gets more and more connected to The Wired.

* HeroicBSOD: She has a couple, the first being when [[spoiler:Evil Lain]] tells her that she exposed her on the Wired, and upon finding out the truth about Lain and the Wired.

* ParentalNeglect: Miho is completely unconcerned about the well being of her youngest daughter Lain. She flat out even says how is Lain alive during the events of Layer 2.

* AmbiguouslyEvil: Their morality is up in the air. They oppose the Knights and go to lethal extremes to take them down but unlike the Knights they're never shown to attack innocent people. As the series progresses, they're portrayed more as [[AntiHero anti-heroes.]] They believe in a world not controlled by "gods" digital or otherwise [[spoiler:but their boss does and he betrays them.]]

* OnlySaneMan: Karl immediately pegs Lain as dangerous and doesn't want to let her roam around freely. [[spoiler:Unfortunately for Karl, his boss is working with "God" and demands he let her go even though it goes contrary to his stated goals.]]

* OlderThanTheyLook: Despite being fourteen Lain can pass off as a grade school child.

* SplitPersonalities: A major plot point in the series focuses on Lain's split personalities. There are three "Lains": The Lain that exists in the "Real World" who is introverted and child-like, Lain when she is on The Wired who is assertive and inquisitive and the Evil!Lain who presents Lain's archetypal Shadow being malicious, violent and extremely sadistic (and it's implied to be working for the Knights).

* {{Yandere}}: Evil!Lain displays this towards Alice and casually stalks her by manifesting in her room to watch her masturbate.

* EmptyShell: Her mind is trapped in the Wired, leaving her body capable of only repeating a dial-tone.
* JerkAss: She's so apathetic towards her sister she ignores Lain seemingly standing in the middle of traffic, doing nothing to help.

* MindRape: By the Knights of the Eastern Calculus.

* OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent: She doesn't seem to know what is really going on. That's probably why the Knights MindRape her, in order to help destroy Lain's family life.

* DrivenToSuicide: Lain doxxes the organization and with their identities going public all of the Knights either commit suicide or are killed by the Men in Black and made to look like they committed suicide.

'''All spoilers on this page are UNMARKED.'''

[[folder:Lain Iwakura]]

!!Lain Iwakura ('''UNMARKED SPOILERS''')

[[folder:The God of the Wired]]

!!Lain Iwakura

* GoMadFromTheRevelation: Alice is unable to comprehend the events that involve Lain's divinity, culminating in her losing it when she sees Eiri's attempt at physical manifestation (also due to how horrific it is).
* HeroicBSOD: She has a couple, the first being when Evil!Lain tells her that she exposed her on the Wired, and upon finding out the truth about Lain and the Wired.

* NiceGuy: Despite being a bit subdued, he does care for Lain and even encourages her interests in computers. Even when it's revealed he's not Lain's father, he still treats her like one in the final Layer, even comforting her.
%% ZCE ParentalNeglect: Towards Mika.

* TechnoWizard: He is adept at using the Wired. That's probably why he got the job of being Lain's "father".

* ResentfulGuardian: She seems to legitimately hate Lain going so far as to refuse to interact with her for more than a few seconds. It is later revealed this is because Lain is an omnipresent "program" that was placed into the Iwakura's care.

* DespairEventHorizon: After her MindRape and imprisonment in the Wired.

* AmbiguouslyEvil: Their morality is up in the air. They oppose the Knights and go to lethal extremes to take them down but unlike the Knights they're never shown to attack innocent people. They believe in a world not controlled by "gods" digital or otherwise but their boss does and he betrays them.

* NoNameGiven: Their boss says they have no names though he calls the taller one Karl. They are credited as Karl Haushofer (the tall one) and Lin Sui-Xi (the short one).