Due to the nature of the game, all spoilers are unmarked.
open/close all folders
Main Characters
Aria Bellamy
Aria/Wendy
The Bookworm
Click here to see Wendy (SPOILER FOR GOOD ENDING)
Click here to see distorted Aria (SPOILER FOR BAD ENDING 1)
A kindhearted and polite girl who loves books. According to Lewin however, she isn’t good at writing stories. One day while reading a book, she ends up trapped in the library and accidentally enters the book world.
It’s revealed that the real Aria died long ago and the current one is just a replica of her. Clyde was desperate to bring her back, so he used the power of the quill to create a replica of Aria. He wanted to test if the fake Aria was as good as the real one, so he trapped her in the book world and brainwashed Dahlia and Lewin so they could guide Aria through his journey. How she reacts to the truth will depend on the ending. In the Good Ending, she becomes her own person and is reborn as a girl named Wendy.
- Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: The Bonus Room reveals Wendy doesn't like books much and gets distracted easily. Rather ironic since her previous persona was a bookworm.
- Black Eyes of Crazy: Her scleras turn black in her distorted form.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: In Bad Ending 1, after killing her friends and gathering her own army of monstrous rabbits, she speaks directly to the player about how she will erase humanity to create a world for fictional characters. With her new power, she also rewrites the "Bad Ending" label into "Perfect Ending".
- Clones Are People, Too: As Lewin comes to care for the fake Aria as her own person instead of a Replacement Goldfish he realizes that besides having the same appearance and kindhearted personality, the similarities end there. She doesn't even like books that much compared to the real Aria.
- Cute Bookworm: Inverted. She’s definitely cute, but as Wendy she dislikes having to sit in one place and read.
- Curiosity Killed the Cast: Ignoring Lewin’s warning and going to explore the pink room will cause her to discover the major clue to her own identity, which can potentially lead to her insanity and Face–Heel Turn, though in this case the cast that is killed doesn’t involve her.
- Eviler than Thou: After going insane knowing the truth in Bad End 1, she steals the quill from Big Bad Clyde and writes him (along with Lewin and Dahlia) out of existence, then rallies the monsters together as her own army which she pans to use to attack the human world.
- Expy: Both her looks and her kind personality are almost perfect copy of Kudryavka.
- Eye Color Change: Her irises go from pink to blue after being reborn in the Good Ending.
Word of God states this is due to living in the enchanted library prior to her rebirth. - Face–Heel Turn: In Bad End 1, she goes from a sweet girl who wants to escape the book world to a maniacal villainess who pulls an Eviler than Thou on Clyde and decides she wants to rebel against the human world.
- Facial Horror: Her skin cracks like broken porcelain in the Bad End 1, as she does a Face–Heel Turn. While her body receives the same effect, it's more severe on her face.
- Foil: When reborn as Wendy, she’s this to the real Aria. While they’re both an important person with great impact on Lewin’s life, Aria with him was Just Friends and he develops feelings for Wendy instead, then they become an Official Couple. Wendy dresses in a boyish manner, dislikes reading and has a bold, outspoken personality; meanwhile Aria wears a dress, is more soft-spoken and feminine, as well as being a huge bookworm.
- Genki Girl: Wendy is a cheerful, outgoing and stubborn person.
- Go Mad from the Revelation: She doesn't take her existence as a Replacement Goldfish very well in Bad End 1, and goes absolutely nuts. For starters, she robs the quill from Clyde and uses it to kill all of Real Aria’s friends, whom we all know are Lewin, Dahlia, Clyde, by hanging them to death. Then she declares her revenge to the player, saying that they must pay for treating 2D characters like craps.
- Heroic Suicide: In True Ending, she uses Clyde's quill to erase the book world and herself, but not before having a heartfelt goodbye with Lewin, encouraging him to continue writing.
- High Collar of Doom: The insane Aria in Bad End 1 wears a frilly, higher-than-head one.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: After being reborn as Wendy, she forgets all about her life as Aria's copy. However, she still remembers a few things, such as feeling she has a connection to Aria.
- Meaningful Rename: Her new name Wendy means "friend", just like Lewin's name.
- Nice Girl: She is similar to the real Aria in that she has kindness to help the books throughout her journey, which they promptly repay near the end. She also offers to help Lewin promote his books and (reluctantly) proofread the drafts when reborn as Wendy even though she dislikes reading.
- No Full Name Given: She only remembers her first name Wendy when reborn, and that may as well be her only name.
- Oblivious Guilt Slinging: At one point, she tells Lewin how grateful she is for his help and how much she likes him...just as he was about to literally backstab her. He promptly stops.
- Official Couple: With Lewin, after she's reborn as a real girl in the Good Ending.
- Pink Means Feminine: Her representative color is pink, she has bright pink eyes and wears mostly pink shades. As Wendy however, she shifts more towards purple.
- Player Character: The player controls her to escape the book world.
- Replacement Goldfish: Of the real Aria, who tragically died years ago. The entire journey of “Aria” in the Book World is a test to see if she, a creation made by Clyde, can replace his lost friend in real life.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Spicy food after being reborn as a real girl.
- Walking Spoiler: The fact that she's not actually Aria is the greatest twist of the game, and several of her characterizations actually belongs to the Real Aria instead, explaining why they don’t appear in this section.
Lewin Ingram
The Writer
A young prodigy who's an accomplished writer. At first he's very hostile towards Aria and is plotting to kill her for mysterious reasons, but after meeting her he warms up to her. He seems to know about the book world, but refuses to tell Aria about it.
- Adorably Precocious Child: Even as a small kid he was still quite mature, especially compared to Clyde.
- Blade Enthusiast: Uses knives as his weapon.
- Brainy Brunette: Has dark brown hair and a vivid, artistic mind.
- Career-Ending Injury: Downplayed. The injured hands of his are not dangerous, and he can continue his writing if he rests enough.
- Child Prodigy: He's already an accomplished writer at the tender age of 15.
- Coat Cape: Wears his white coat on his shoulder. This is justified because of his hand; putting in and out a thick coat is a big burden when your hands are injured and you may risk hurting it further.
- Height Angst: What did he write in the paper star that carries wishes? He wished to be taller than Clyde. He feels disappointed when Lydia changed his originally tall design, thus rendering him nearly as tall as Aria.
- Heroic BSoD: He's mentioned to grow obsessed with finishing the in-universe Aria's Story after her death, neglecting self-care and even hurting himself in process.
- Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: He wants to kill the fake Aria/Wendy, and initially seems like he might be a threat. However, he can never bring himself to do it and always gets interrupted in some way, resulting in him posing no real threat.
- It Was a Gift: His white coat is a gift from Dahlia, after she saw his old one becoming too small for him. He is so grateful that he wears it in any season possible. Summer, he tried.
- Leitmotif: ''Grievous Blue''.
- Most Writers Are Writers: In the world of Aria’s Story, he’s the writer of..."Aria’s Story".
- Parental Abandonment: His parents passed away when he was young, and he is taken care by his older sister.
- Reclusive Artist: An In-Universe example. Lewin has a reputation to withdraw from others when he's writing a book. He even forgets to eat and take care of himself.
- Supreme Chef: He is surprisingly a good cook, and Clyde gladly appreciates the food he paid as the price for Clyde's illustrations.
- Tsundere: Towards Aria. He acts quite harsh and seemingly uncaring, but later proves by his actions how much he deeply cares for her.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: With Clyde. He can't stand Clyde's loud, boisterous personality when he is supposedly the librarian, and deems him as the incarnation of the word "annoying". That said, he appreciates Clyde's company, calling him a good person and great friend. Even after Clyde goes Well-Intentioned Extremist, Lewin still likes him and tries to get him to stop.
The Narrator
Dahlia Blumenthal
The Storyteller
A mysterious girl that Aria encounters in the book world who tends to narrate everything that happens to Aria and refuses to tell about herself, claiming she's just a nameless narrator. However, the more Aria advances in the book world, the more the Narrator starts doubting herself.
- Brainwashed: After Clyde showed Dahlia the library he created, when she turned away, he altered her memory and turned her into The Narrator persona against her own will.
- Co-Dragons: With the Rabbit to Clyde, though of the two she is closer to him as she keeps tabs on Aria and directs her where she needs to go.
- Cool Big Sis: Aria admires her beauty and matureness, and loves to spend time with her - she feels safe being around Dahlia. She also hugged a broken down Lewin and said that she will fight any curse for him.
- Elegant Classical Musician: Plays the piano and is an elegant meganekko.
- Heroic Self-Deprecation: Before Clyde helped her with her pride, she tended to say negative things about herself and her self-esteem was so low that she adopted other persona just to please people.
- Leitmotif: ''Peaceful Orange''.
- Long Hair Is Feminine: Three years after the event of the game, Dahlia grows her hair longer.
- Narrating the Present: She follows Aria and narrates her adventure right on the spot.
- Ojou: Aria said that her room is huge, implying she lives in a Big Fancy House. She is also one of the richer members of the quartet, as Clyde states.
- Personality Swap: The rude, indifferent Narrator is implied to be another persona Dahlia created in order to cope with people.
- Proper Lady: Dahlia is noticeably more mature and elegant than her actual age.
- Stepford Smiler: After Aria passed away, Dahlia is as sad as anyone, but she always keeps up a smile to support her other two friends who are essentially emotionally unstable. For once, Lewin caught her crying alone, but when she noticed him, she put up the smile immediately.
- The Storyteller: Instead of the Narrator, this is her true role, which her ability to switch personality to good use. She used to be one at the library.
The Librarian
Clyde Harlow
The Librarian
A young librarian who works in the village library Aria usually hangs out. Apparently his family owns the place for generations. He was also the one who, intentionally or not, gave Aria the book that trapped her in the book world in the first place.
- Anti-Villain: He made the book world and its monsters, is wiling to put Dahlia under brainwashing and the false Aria through hell while also planning to dispose of the book world once it is no longer useful, but he genuinely considers them friends and is reluctant to carry out his deeds, only continues because he believes it’s necessary in order to preserve their fracturing friendship. When confronting Lewin and Aria, he still treats them like dear friends he sees them as.
- Ascended Extra: In the original game, Clyde has very little screen-time and only given a proper introduction in the Final Chapter, making him more or less a secondary character compared to his friends. In the 2019 Remake, he appears much, much more earlier than before, and the game often switches back and forth to show his interactions with Lewin and Dahlia, together with his thoughts. He's even promoted with his own game, Clyde's Story (though Lydia has canceled the project to concentrate on Midnight Train and adds all of its planned content to the remake).
- The Bad Guy Wins: The Normal End has him succeed in everything- he molds the false Aria into someone like the real Aria, hides the truth from her, and convinces his friends to keep the secret. Of course, given his sympathetic goals and character, it’s not that horrible.
- Big Bad Ensemble: He created the book world and all the monsters within, then trapped Wendy inside as part of his plan to turn her into a close copy of the real Aria. His minion, the Rabbit, has its own agenda and is trying to kill Aria against Clyde's wishes so it can preserve itself and the library.
- The Big Guy: He is the tallest and oldest of the quartet.
- Beta Couple: With Dahlia. The 2019 Remake shows he cares about her a lot and is apologetic after he alters her memories for the sake of guiding Aria in the book world. In the Good Ending they even get married.
- Cry Laughing: Breaks into half-hearted laughter with Broken Tears falling off his face while he decides to sacrifice himself so that others can live.
- The Dog Was the Mastermind: The librarian from the beginning who seemed to be an unimportant NPC is actually the Big Bad behind the monsters. It was more surprising in the original, where he never appeared again until the last chapter, whereas the remake gives him additional scenes where it is made clear he is behind everything.
- Family Theme Naming: Lydia imagines that he and all his ancestors have names related to nature, since they lived in a forest taking care of the library.
- Heel–Face Turn: In the True and Good ending, he gives up on trying to mold the false Aria to his wishes and instead lets everyone escape, deciding to move on and preserve their friendship as is, and allows the library denizens to live as well.
- Heroic Sacrifice: In Bad End 2, after realizing that someone he values must die if he wishes to revive Aria as he stands in front of Dahlia's grave - the one sacrificed in that loop, he comes to the decision of writing his own death.
- Hot Librarian: He manages the library, both in real world and the book world, and is quite good-looking.
- Irony: Despite being a future librarian, he used to dislike books and think of them as boring. It was not after his friendship with Aria that he changed his mind.
- Leitmotif: ''Faithful Green''.
- Love Makes You Evil: His love for his friends is what causes him to go off the deep end when Aria dies and the others start drifting apart. he even resorts to brainwashing his Love Interest Dahlia just so she won't leave him.
- Magic Librarian: The Harlow family resides in a forest library and has guarded the Quill which possesses the power to rewrite reality for years. Clyde is the next heir, so he spends most of his time in a day being a librarian and then he uses the almighty reality-bending power of the Quill to revive his friend.
- Walking Spoiler: Both his true role as the antagonist and his motives are major reveals.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: He just wants to be with his little quartet of friends again. And by that, he uses the Quill's power to create a world based on Lewin’s latest book where exists a replica of her, and going as far as brainwashing his two left friends so they could guide Aria through her journey to become the perfect replacement.
- Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: He was heartbroken by Aria's sudden and tragic death, and his friends began drifting from him, so he became desperate and came up with the plan to toss everyone in the book realm and manipulate events to create a fake Aria and make her into a close copy of the real one, all so he can have his friends back.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: With Lewin. He teases the younger one for his short height relentlessly and they bicker regularly, but he genuinely cares for Lewin's condition and wishes to help him.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: He intends to get rid of the library and its inhabitants, including his minions, once they have helped mold the false Aria into a replacement for the real Aria. In the good ending, however, he relents and allows them to live.
- Youthful Freckles: Has them on his face. Ironically, he is the oldest of the quartet.
SPOILER CHARACTER
The real Aria Bellamy
The real Aria, who died one year before the events of the series, the playable Aria being a copy created by Clyde.
- Accidental Murder: A victim of one. A hunter mistook her for an animal when she was making flower crowns in the forest and shot her in the heart.
- All of the Other Reindeer: Due to her weird hobbies, other children of her age didn’t understand her, so they ignored her thinking she was strange and often made fun of them.
- Cute Bookworm: Her love towards books is boundless and unconditional. In the area represents each character in Final Chapter, her portrait is literally named "The Bookworm".
- Expy: The creator has stated she's inspired on Menma from Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day, a sweet and gentle girl who inspired her friends and whose death changed them.
- The Ghost: She only has two appearances. One in the Bad Ending 2 after Clyde rewinds time to prevent her death and the second in the True Ending, as a ghost.
- Impersonation-Exclusive Character: She is never seen alive during the whole game; she is being impersonated by Wendy.
- Just Friends: With Lewin.
- Leitmotif: ''Friendly Pink''.
- The Lost Lenore: To Lewin and Clyde. So much that Lewin wrote a book about her to the point of self-harming and Clyde tried to bring her back to life with the power of the Quill.
- Manic Pixie Dream Girl: In the True Ending, Lewin accepts that Aria's cheerfulness led him out of his solitude and motivated him to pursue his career as a writer.
- Nice Girl: She's stated to be a nice and caring girl. In the Good Ending, fake!Aria/Wendy mocks her for this, calling her bland. Aria seems to agree with the sentiment, as shown in the Bonus Room.I know that my personality is a little boring and I get easily scared, but I hope I wasn't a terrible protagonist.
- Omniglot: In the Bonus Room, Aria said she can speak three different languages, and is learning a fourth one so that she could read more books and even translate it for others. Two of them are English and French.
- Pink Means Feminine: Her representative color is pink, she has bright pink eyes and wears mostly pink shades.
- Posthumous Character: We never got to see her in action, but in a sense, she kick-started the entire plot.
- Smart People Play Chess: Aria's other hobby is chess, and she’s quite good at it. Enough to made Lewin buy her tons of donuts for every time he lost.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Donuts.
- Walking Spoiler: The fact that we never actually saw her alive isn't revealed until halfway through the game.
Book World Inhabitants
Books
Sentient books that populate the book world.
- Animate Inanimate Object: A species of sentient books.
- Flying Books: They get around by flapping their book wings.
- Nice Guy: Most of them are quite friendly to Wendy and will help her however they can if she helps them. In the final chapter, they even come all the way to the final area just to encourage her before she faces the Big Bad.
- Non-Ironic Clown: The juggler book, in contrast to the creepy clown dolls, is a friendly figure that just wants to welcome Wendy by doing a nice juggling act for her.
The Rabbit
A ghost-like killer rabbit that follows Aria around and tries to kill her.
- Adaptational Villainy: Its presence in the White Rabbit tea party implies that it is a version of the White Rabbit from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, who certainly wasn't a murderous Hair-Raising Hare with Black Eyes of Evil and a Slasher Smile.
- The Bad Guy Wins: In Bad End 1, with the false Aria having taken over the book world and ready to attack the human world, the Rabbit joins her, having preserved its own existence and fully on board.
- Big Bad Ensemble: It is the In-Universe Big Bad of Lewin's story, where it served as the leader of the monsters trying to kill Aria and keep her from leaving the library, and in the actual story is trying to kill Aria to stop her from carrying out Clyde's plan, which will result in the library disappearing.
- Black Eyes of Evil: It has pitch black eyes that serve to mark it as a Killer Rabbit.
- Co-Dragons: With the Narrator to Clyde. It leads the monsters trying to kill Aria.
- Dragon with an Agenda: While it was supposed to just get in Aria's way, it starts trying to actually kill her later on, and it is revealed that it knows its creator Clyde intends to dispose of it and the library once his mission is complete, so it is trying to preserve its existence.
- Heel–Face Turn: In the Good Ending, now that Wendy is no longer a threat to its existence, it decides to live a happy life with the others.
- Killer Rabbit: Literal example, as it looks like a cute little bunny at first but turns into a ghost-like being.
- Hair-Raising Hare: It turns into a ghost-like rabbit creature as big as Aria with Black Eyes of Evil and a Slasher Smile.
- Slasher Smile: Has one on whenever it is in its humanoid form.
Clown Dolls and Jack-In-The-Boxes
Sentient dolls that inhabit the Comedy section.
- Creepy Doll: Monster Clown dolls who move when Aria isn't looking and can get covered in blood.
- Monster Clown: While they never do anything to outright hurt you, they are decidedly creepy.
- Scary Jack-in-the-Box: They reside in a hallway in the Comedy area and will pop out periodically as a Jump Scare.
The Three Bears
A family of teddy bears that live in the Fantasy section.
- Killer Teddy Bear: The parents are giant teddy bears that will attack and kill Wendy if she is caught stealing their porridge and/or flower, and they stalk her throughout the level.
Dolls
A group of living dolls residing in the Fantasy section.
- Creepy Doll: Not initially, but near the end, they suddenly appear and all have an unsettling smile.
- Guest-Star Party Member: One doll tags along with you until you take her back home, which takes about a minute or two.
