open/close all folders
Utsugi Detective Agency
Protagonist
The Missing Heir
The Girl Who Stands Behind
Voiced by: Megumi Ogata
- Embarrassing Nickname: He does not like being called Mr. Detective, the nickname given to him by the Ushimitsu High students. Later on he does begrudgingly get used to it, however.
- The Everyman: He’s a mild-mannered youth who’s nondescript in both appearance and professionalism.
- "Eureka!" Moment: In "The Missing Heir", he's the one who realizes that the Ayashiro's, save Azusa, were killed via tobacco that were laced with cyanide.
- Experienced Protagonist: He assisted Utsugi in multiple cases prior to the plot of The Girl Who Stands Behind.
- Finger-Tenting: In The Girl Who Stands Behind, he does this at the end of each chapter, as he mulls over the clues and facts that have been recently uncovered.
- Hello, [Insert Name Here]: While text dialogue will show the protagonist's full name, for gameplay limitations, you won't hear the characters say his name. Promotional material for the Nintendo Switch remake use the name Taro Ninten, however no official Canon Name has been confirmed.
- I Am Who?: Revealed to be the son of Yuri Ayashiro and thus, the heir to the Ayashiro fortune.
- Informed Ability: He's a black belt in karate, but never actually gets to use his skills on anyone.
- Kid Detective: The protagonist became one after being taken in by Utsugi. In The Girl Who Stands Behind especially, it’s noted several times by many of the adults you talk to on how young you are, with at least one of them mistaking you for a student at the high school you’re investigating. He makes it clear that he wants to be seen as a detective and not a ‘kid’, though.
- Named by the Adaptation: He's given the name Naoya Takada in the gamebook adaptation by Futabasha.
- Rejecting the Inheritance: He gives the Ayashiro proof of succession to Kazuto instead of taking it for himself, proudly stating he is Takao and Yuri Toyama's son.
- She Is Not My Girlfriend: The protagonist is repeatedly accused of being Ayumi's boyfriend. While he denies it, there are hints that he does at least harbor some feelings towards her.
- Sole Survivor: By the end of The Missing Heir, he's the last member of the Ayashiro bloodline, as Kanda/Amachi points out before attempting to murder him.
- Straight Man: Often ends up being this for the sillier characters.
Ayumi Tachibana
Voiced by: Yuko Minaguchi
The Missing Heir
The Girl Who Stands Behind
A former student of Ushimitsu High School. Currently an assistant detective.
- Ascended Extra: Several times. She mostly appeared in the chapter ends of The Missing Heir, gained a more prominent and personal role for The Girl Who Stands Behind, then finally became the protagonist of Lost Memories in the Snow.
- Character Development: Done retroactively in The Girl Who Stands Behind, as she wasn't always the Go-Getter Girl that the player is likely to have been acquainted with in other games, and started out emotionally withdrawn until the protagonist came into her life.
- Disappeared Dad: Her father was murdered when he opposed a corrupt family's scandal 18 years prior to the events of Memories in the Snow.
- Dude Magnet: A few NPC students mention that she has many male fans, and that likely includes the protagonist.
- Extremely Protective Child: When her mother is named prime suspect in the murder of the previous mayor, she take matters into her own hands in order to debunk the accusation. However, her mother dies taking a stab wound for Reiko who was revealed to be Ayumi's older sister.
- Familial Reveal: Reiko Nomura was revealed to be her older sister.
- Motherly Side Plait: She bears one of these and true to the trope, she's very protective of her loved ones.
- Promoted to Playable: She becomes the main protagonist of Lost Memories in the Snow.
- Spotting the Thread: After the protagonist realizes that it was Akira who attacked him and gave him amnesia at Unakami Cliff, Ayumi wonders he didn't simply dump his body into the water.
- Supporting Protagonist: Ayumi conducts her own side of the investigations while the protagonist is busy with the majority of them. This eventually led to her gaining own starring role in Lost Memories.
Shunsuke Utsugi
Voiced by: Show Hayami (Satellaview), Riki Kagami (Switch remake)
- Ascended Extra: Shunsuke never appears in The Missing Heir, since he's mentioned to be away on business. The Girl Who Stands Behind gives him a more proper introduction.
- Hero of Another Story: He's established as an experienced investigator, who later took on several cases with the protagonist himself before they eventually met Ayumi.
- Private Detective: He's the owner of his own detective agency and is one himself, but he takes cases out of altruism rather than profit.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: A responsible adult who takes his cases seriously and is generous in regards to helping people. As a matter of fact, the first thing we see him do is talk his way into getting the protagonist out of trouble with some policemen.
The Missing Heir
Ayashiro Family
Ayashiro Family
A wealthy family descended from feudal lords who ruled Myoujin in the past.
- Clashing Cousins: Cousins once removed, technically, but the siblings' antagonistic behaviour towards the protagonist is this, although none of them were aware of it.
- Dysfunctional Family: Pretty much every member of the family you meet personally is a Jerkass in some way, the three cousins having a heated Sibling Rivalry and being quick to throw each other under the bus, being largely unbothered and more concerned for their own safety and gain when one of their own gets killed, and being quick to take advantage of each other's deaths.
- Horrible Judge of Character: They all sing the praises of the family lawyer Kanda, not knowing he's been planning their downfall for years.
- Locked Out of the Loop: Due to her cutting ties with them, they didn't know that Yuri was dead for the last 17 years.
- Smoking Is Not Cool: Almost all of them smoked, and the ones you meet, save for Kazuto, aren't entirely pleasant. Plus, all but four of themnote are killed via cyanide-laced tobacco.
Kiku Ayashiro
Voiced by: Kiyoko Miyazawa
The late matriarch of the Ayashiro Family and chairwoman of the Ayashiro Corporation.
- Abusive Parents: She was cold towards her step-son Kazuto and never did quite accept him into the family while he was around, which was a factor in Yuri's decision to leave the family. She later regretted her behavior towards him, however.
- The Atoner: Tries to make up for the crimes she and her family with deeds such as making her estranged daughter heir to the household, formally make her step-son a member of the family, and allowing the son of a family that they mistreated to act as their lawyer.
- Contrived Coincidence: The reason Zenzou hires you; he finds it hard to believe that she just so happened the die after announcing her will. Turns out he had every right to be suspicious.
- Desecrating the Dead: It’s revealed at the end of the game that her body was dug out by Kanda and then tossed into the ocean, showing just how deep his contempt is towards the Ayashiro family.
- Kimono Is Traditional: She was born around 1910 and died aged 78. In her photo and flashbacks, she wears a kimono rather than the western clothes worn by the rest of the family.
- Never Found the Body: Her body is dug up and thrown into the ocean by Kanda and Akira to remove evidence of the poisoning.
- Outliving One's Offspring: She never lived to know this, but her daughter Yuri died from the injuries she got from getting burned in an arson a bit less than two decades ago.
- Plot-Triggering Death: It was her sudden death after announcing her will that set the events of the story into motion.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: She meant well, but it was her decision to make Kanda the Ayashiro Corporation's Legal Advisor that brought tragedy to her family.
Tokube Ayashiro
Kiku's late husband and former head of the Ayashiro family.
- All There in the Manual: His name is never mentioned in the game.
- Driven to Suicide: As the villagers will repeatedly tell you, he had driven an entire family to suicide in the past. This family turns out to be the Kandas, with Kyonosuke as the only surviving member, which is why the latter seeks revenge.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Driving the Kanda family to suicide lead to the sole surviving member, Kyonosuke, trying to kill off the entire Ayashiro family.
Kanji Ayashiro
Voiced by: Hiroyuki Kinoshita
CEO of the Ayashiro Corporation. Kiku's nephew and the eldest of the three siblings.
- Be as Unhelpful as Possible: Averted. Compared to his siblings, he's willing to honestly answer all of the protagonist's questions, even showing him the contents of Kiku's will.
- Desecrating the Dead: After being poisoned via a cyanide cigarette, he's stabbed with an heirloom knife to throw off the investigation.
- Fat Bastard: Hardly a pleasant individual, and has quite a bit of girth to him.
- I Have No Son!: Downplayed. He doesn't have the highest opinion of Akira, seeing him as a good for nothing.
- Outliving One's Offspring: He did not know it at the time, but his son Akira was murdered sometime before he was.
- Pet the Dog: He comes across as a kinder man compared to his siblings as he did agree to provide answers to the protagonist and let him know about what was in Kiku's will.
Azusa Kasuga
Voiced by: Atsuko Tanaka
Kiku's niece and the middle child of the three siblings.
- Losing a Shoe in the Struggle: When she struggled with Kanda strangling her to death and failed, one of her slippers came off before her dead body was tossed into the ocean.
- Never Found the Body: Subverted. This was clearly the killer's the intent, throwing her off Unakami Cliff after strangling her, but by a stroke of luck, the body came back to shore and was discovered.
- Properly Paranoid: She becomes increasingly worried after Kanji and Jiro die, speculating that she might be next. She's right.
- Sinister Suffocation: Is strangled to death and thrown off the cliff.
- Too Dumb to Live: She would've lived a lot longer had she not gone off by herself so often. On top of this, according to Kanda, she tried to extort him after finding out he was the murderer... and if he's telling the truth, then as part of this, she would have met him alone... at the top of a huge cliff known for suicides.
Jiro Ayashiro
Voiced by: Kenyū Horiuchi
Managing Director of the Ayashiro Corporation. Kiku's nephew and the youngest of the three siblings.
- Crocodile Tears: When Kanji is discovered dead, he's quick to act distraught and angry, but Azusa easily sees through it, and some employees note that he didn't seem too bothered by it.
- Never Suicide: Kanda framed his death to appear that he hung himself, when in reality he killed him using poisoned tobacco.
Akira Ayashiro
Kanji's son.
- Asshole Victim: Murdered his own grand aunt and attempted to kill the protagonist when he was looking into her murder. This ensures he had it coming when Kanda bludgeoned him to death with the top portion of Kiku's tombstone.
- Bludgeoned to Death: After proving of no more use to Kanda, Akira got struck in the head with the top of Kiku's tombstone before his dead body was stuffed inside the tomb.
- Clashing Cousins: Out of all the Ayahiros, he was the one most murderous towards the protagonist, having tried to off him via tossing him off the cliff.
- Dead All Along: Turns out to have been killed roughly after he killed Kiku and attacked the protagonist.
- Dig Your Own Grave: A variation. He wasn't digging a new grave, but rather helping Kanda open up Kiku's grave. It's just that when they went back to refill it, Kanda killed him and hid his body there.
- Evil Nephew: Great-nephew, technically. He was the one who poisoned Kiku to death and tried to kill the protagonist.
- The Heavy: He's the one who poisoned Kiku, and later attacked the protagonist after Zenzou hires him to look into her death. However, it's at this point that he Outlived His Usefulness.
- Spanner in the Works: His decision to steal an antique after planting the stolen tobacco for Kiku served to Kanda's benefit, as he was able frame Kanji's death on him and throw off the investigation.
- Ungrateful Bastard: Kiku cared for him greatly, seeing him as a grandson, and often gave him money, and he responded by stealing her family's artifacts and later killing her.
- Walking Spoiler: By the time we find out about his role in the protagonist's amnesia, he had walked his last steps back to Kiku's grave where he met his end.
- Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: Upon realizing that he's the one who attacked the protagonist at Unakami Cliff, Ayumi ponders why he threw him into the bushes instead of into the water, which would more likely killed him. Subverted in that that was his intent, but the protagonist was saved by Kanda because he needed him alive.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: After poisoning Kiku, giving the protagonist amnesia, and helping him dump her body, Kanda sees no further use for him and kills him.
Yuri Ayashiro
Voiced by: Megumi Han
Kiku's only daughter.
- Dead All Along: She's been dead for 17 years.
- Good Parents: She shielded her son from the fires that were caused by arsonists, eventually dying from her wounds. She also gave him a different name so that he wouldn't suffer discrimination as the son of a convicted murderer.
- Screw This, I'm Out of Here!: Genshin speculates that eloping with her husband may have also been motivated by escaping Kanda's potential vengeance. A wise decision, but one that ultimately didn't change her fate.
- Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Fell in love with Takao for his kindness.
- Uptown Girl:The Uptown Girl to Takao, which is why her father disapproved of the pairing.
- White Sheep: Yuri is the only member of her family that's universally beloved by the locals, for her grace and beauty, even after she eloped with her lover decades ago.
Kazuto Ayashiro
Voiced by: Shinji Kawada
Yuri's half-brother.
- Big Damn Heroes: He comes in at just the last moment to pin down Kanda after he had cornered the protagonist and was just about to kill him.
- Chekhov's Gunman: He was the businessman the protagonist met in Yatsuka that left in a hurry.
Yuri's Child
Yuri Ayashiro's missing son.
- Kill and Replace: The protagonist and Ayumi fear that the murderer might have killed the child and, after claiming the symbol of the successor, replaced him with a body double who would do his bidding.
- Unwitting Pawn: It's speculated that the Big Bad, assuming they haven't killed and replaced him, might be manipulating the child into giving them power over the Ayashiro Corporation. Those suspicions turn out to be true, as Kanda, under the guise of the friendly Amachi, had gained the trust of the protagonist and was using him to locate the symbol of the successor.
- Walking Spoiler: Turns out, the character you're playing as is Yuri's son.
Other Characters
Amachi
Voiced by: Tomokazu Sugita
The man who found the protagonist at the start of the game.
- Big Bad Friend: Seemingly a friend, he is really Kanda who sought to claim the Ayashiro's assets after all of them get exterminated, including the protagonist.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Amachi is presented from the beginning as a Good Samaritan who rescued you from your fall. However he's actually Kanda, the conniving lawyer who is behind every death in the game.
- Evil All Along: Seemingly a saviour, he really only wanted the protagonist alive so he can claim the Ayashiro family assets with no one else to inherit it.
- Walking Spoiler: He was really Kanda, the one walking around and killing off the Ayashiro family.
Zenzou Tanabe
Voiced by: Ben Hiura
The Ayashiro family's butler.
- Despair Event Horizon: Nearly crosses this after Azusa's murder and learning of Yuri's death years ago, but the protagonist is able to stop him by threatening to stop investigating, saying he can't work for someone who's given up.
- Undying Loyalty: In spite of their shady past and their general Jerkass behaviour, he's nothing but loyal to the Ayashiros, and grieves heavily when each of them are killed.
- Trauma Conga Line: This poor guy has the displeasure of every member of the family he loyally served turning up dead, even being the one to discover two of their bodies.
Akane Yamazaki
Voiced by: Erika Ishitobi
The Ayashiro family's housekeeper.
- The Atoner: After confessing to her supposed part in Kiku's death, she vows to repay her sins by being useful to the Ayashiro family.
- It's All My Fault: Feels responsible for Kiku’s death, as she knew that she continued smoking but didn’t have the heart to stop her, which she felt led to her heart failure. Kumada tries to reassure her, as a medical professional, that that wouldn’t have been enough to kill her, and he's right.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Everyone notes that she was a lot more cheerful before Kiku's death, and so are naturally concerned about her new, withdrawn demeanor.
- Shrinking Violet: Akane became withdrawn ever since Kiku's death, so she tries to avoid giving any information.
Genshin
Voiced by: Ikkyu Juku
Chief priest of the Kagura Temple and an old friend of Kiku.
- Berserk Button: He flies into a rage if you decide to get near the Ayashiro Family's tomb, since he sees this as desecration. At one point, you have to select it twice in a row, so that you can make him slip up about some trace of blood no longer being on the tomb.
- Desecrating the Dead: Absolutely against this, showing increasing ire for the villagers desire to dig up Kiku's grave when they believe to have seen her corpse walking around. He does make an exception when the protagonist and Kumada claim to need to examine her body for signs of cyanide poisoning.
- Oh, Crap!: He freaks out when he accidentally reveals he found that Kiku’s tombstone had a bloodstain on it before Kanji was murdered.
Dr. Kumada
Voiced by: Hiroshi Iwasaki
Myoujin Village's local doctor and the Ayashiro family physician.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: He's an odd fellow with delusions of being a Great Detective and has a thing for beautiful woman, but he's still a skilled physician and is trustworthy enough to be the Ayashiro's personal physician and for the police to allow him help with their autopsies for the Ayashiros.
- Cloud Cuckoo Lander: Doctor Kumada is fairly straitlaced most of the time, but under the right circumstances, he becomes much sillier, showing a great enthusiasm for being a "Great Detective" and taking off like a shot, much to the chagrin of his nurse, as well as being easily excited by the prospect of a beautiful woman.
- Dirty Old Man: It's evident that despite his age, he's rather infatuated with Yuri and often blushes when she's brought up. It's evident this doesn't apply to just her though, seeing as he drags the protagonist to Umanaki Cliff upon hearing of Yukiko.
- Hopeless Suitor: Both of the women he's interested in already have lovers. Doubly bad in Yuri's case, since she's actually been dead for 17 years.
Kyonosuke Kanda
Ayashiro Corporation's chief legal advisor.
- Big Bad: He instigated the events of the game in order for all the Ayashiros to die ending with the protagonist so he can claim the Ayashiro assets personally.
- Big Bad Friend: To Kiku and the Ayashiros, but he plotted to have all the remaining members offed out of contempt and claim their assets.
- Can't Kill You, Still Need You: The reason he saved the protagonist from drowning in the ocean is because as Yuri's child, he's the only one with the talisman needed to find the symbol of the successor.
- Evil Counterpart: To the protagonist, both being individuals who lost their parents due to the actions of wealthy and influential individuals, with Kanda's parents being Driven to Suicide while the protagonist killed the son of a wealthy man in self-defense, but got sent to prison while Yuri, his mother, suffered harassment that culminated in the arson that took her life. However, whereas the protagonist never gets the chance to pursue vengeance, and doesn't seem to consider it even after learning the truth, Kanda has spent his life pursuing revenge against the Ayashiro clan.
- Foil: To the second game's Big Bad, Tatsuya Hibino.
- They seek murderous revenge against the members of a notorious and wealthy family who had wronged the people close to them. But whereas the murdered Kanedas had actively ruined the livelihoods of others, only Tokube was truly to blame for the Kanda's deaths. Every Ayashiro he targeted was either on good terms with him (Kiku, Kanji, Jiro, Azusa, Akira) or had no fault in what had happened (the protagonist).
- Hibino manages to kill all of the known members of the Kaneda family. Kanda is stopped from killing the protagonist by Kazuto Ayashiro.
- While Kanda's murders are premeditated and he himself makes an effort to cover them up, Hibino's are all heat of the moment killings, with him leaving the crime scenes behind untampered and Urabe being the one to hide the bodies for him.
- Both of them end up outliving their accomplices, who get framed for crimes they committed. The difference is that Urabe committed suicide near the end of the story and wrote a fake confession letter, Akira is killed early on by Kanda who needed to get rid of a loose end.
- Family Extermination: Both on the giving and receiving end.
- On the receiving end, he turns out to be the surviving child of the family which had committed suicide due to Kiku's late husband.
- On the giving end, he wants to exterminate every living Ayashiro as revenge. He almost succeeds, managing to take the lives of five Ayashiros in total, before being stopped from killing the protagonist by Kazuto.
- Greed: His final objective is to seize the Ayashiros' fortune for himself, as a mark of just how far he Jumped Off The Slippery Slope.
- Jack the Ripoff: He got the idea to poison the Ayashiro's tobacco from a case he previously worked.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Akira, who aided Kanda in killing Kiku and disposing of her body in the ocean, ended up getting Bludgeoned to Death by Kanda who was in no favor of pawns that move by themselves and needed the protagonist alive as Akria nearly killed him.
Reiko Ishino
Voiced by: Ayano Yamamoto
The office manager for Kanda Law Offices.
- Undying Loyalty: To Kanda, being incredulous at the possibility that he killed the Ayashiros. It takes her attempt to call the police on the Protagonist backfiring with them ordering her to cooperate for him to hand over the file.
Motoko Yamamoto
Voiced by: Izumi Sawada
- Miss Exposition: After the protagonist learns that he's Yuri's son, she explains the circumstances that split them apart in full.
- Strong Family Resemblance: The reason the protagonist feels he knows her is because she bears a heavy resemblance to her mother, Sawako Yamamoto, who practically raised him.
Takao Toyama
Yuri's husband and the protagonist's father.
- Crime of Self-Defense: Tragically Invoked. While he, Yuri and the protagonist were living in Yatsuka, he happened upon two thugs beating on some poor guy, and stepped in to help him. One of them came at him with a knife and he ended up stabbing him in the struggle. Everyone assumed that he would get off since it was self-defense, but the thug he killed was actually the son of an influential figure, who influenced the trial so he'd be convicted and sent to prison, where he died.
- Like Father, Like Son: Like his son the protagonist, he had a strong sense of justice.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: He tried to help a guy being beaten up by two thugs, only to be convicted of the Crime Of Self Defence, and for his family to get harassed endlessly, culminating in an arson that killed his wife and was covered up by the spiteful father of his victim.
- Strong Family Resemblance: Looks just like an older version of the protagonist in flashback depictions.
The Girl Who Stands Behind
Ushimitsu High Faculty
Tatsuya Hibino
Voiced by: Shin-ichiro Miki
An English teacher at Ushimitsu high school. He was Yoko Kojima's homeroom teacher, and seems greatly disturbed by her death.- Despair Event Horizon: Yoko's death affects him greatly and practically leaves him with a permanent Thousand-Yard Stare,and this was already long after Shinobu's death already threw the already unstable Hibino well over the edge.
- Go Mad from the Revelation: Yoko telling him that she knows he was the one who killed Shinobu Asakawa causes him to absolutely snap.
- Hot Teacher: Hibino is quite pleasing on the eyes. He’s also thought to be “cute” by one of the female students you talk to in the beginning.
- I Have Many Names: Tatsuya Hibino, Tatsuya Uchida, Tatsuya Urabe.
- Villain Has a Point: While killing Yoko and trying to kill the main duo was a horrible thing to do, he was not wrong about how disgraceful the Kanedas were to the school and the town.
Tetsuji Komada
Voiced by: Michitaka Kobayashi
- Troll: At one point he locks you in the art room with him with the clear intent to kill you. Turns out the room wasn't locked and he was just messing with you.
Hisako Hayama
Voiced by: Yuu Kobayashi
A biology teacher at Ushimitsu high school. She is also a graduate of the school and was reportedly the first person to encounter "The Girl Who Stands Behind".- Ghost Story: "The Girl Who Stands Behind" rumor began when Hayama was leaving school late one night and saw a bloody figure of a young girl in a classroom window, staring down at her. What she actually saw was a bloody Shinobu Asakawa.
- Trauma Button: She does not like to talk about "The Girl Who Stands Behind".
Tadashi Urabe
Voiced by: Akio Ōtsuka
The principal of Ushimitsu High School. He is greatly respected by both teachers and students as a fair and committed educator. He remains calm in the wake of Yoko's murder, but feels guilty that he was unable to protect his students.
- Accidental Murder: Urabe accidentally hit Shinobu with his car when she was escaping from the scene of Genjiro's murder, killing her.
- All for Nothing: His False Confession and his Suicide for Others' Happiness were almost immediately invalidated as Hibino quickly reveals that Urabe lied and that he's the real killer.
- False Confession: In order to protect Hibino, Urabe claims he was Genjiro's partner-in-crime and killed him and both Shinobu and Yoko too.
- Fatal Flaw: His desire to protect Hibino. 15 years ago, when Hibino called Urabe and said that he was planning to kill Genjiro, Urabe sped over in his car to try and stop the boy from ruining his life by committing murder. Not only did he arrive too late, but he also accidentally hit and killed Shinobu, another of his students. 15 years later, when Hibino strangled Yoko to death, Urabe stepped in and disposed of the girl's body to try and protect Hibino once again. The shame and guilt over what he'd done ultimately caused Urabe to commit suicide, but not before crafting a fake confession to try and keep Hibino safe one last time.
- I Am Your Father: He is Tatsuya Hibino's real Father, who gave him up for adoption to the Uchida's after the death of his wife.
- My God, What Have I Done?: He is absolutely horrified over his Accidental Murder of Shinobu.
- Parental Substitute: Was an old friend of Hibino's father and looked after him when after the latter's death. Later subverted as The Stinger reveals he is in fact Hibino's biological father.
- Undying Loyalty: Many have this to him, but he himself has it towards Hibino, to the point of hiding both Shinobu and Yoko's bodies and killing himself after making a False Confession to their murders.
Toshio Tazaki
Voiced by: Taiten Kusunoki
A janitor working at Ushimitsu high school. He is usually quite calm and normal, but is regarded as an oddball because of his quick temper.- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Despite his present abrasiveness, it's pointed out by some people that he's actually kind, deep down. You actually get to see this later on.
- Red Herring: Early on he draws heavy suspicion to the point where Ayumi decides to confront him after drugging the protagonist, but it comes out that he's innocent.
- Took a Level in Kindness: After a certain plot point, he becomes much nicer and willing to cooperate with your investigation.
- Undying Loyalty: To Urabe, to the point where the main reason for his erratic behavior during the case is because the investigation could lead to The Reveal of Urabe having lied about being Tazaki's alibi when Shinobu disappeared which could lead to Urabe becoming a suspect in Yoko's murder.
Ushimitsu High Students
Yoko Kojima
Voiced by: Manaka Iwami
A first-year student at Ushimitsu high school, and also a member of the school's detective club, along with her best friend, Ayumi. She was investigating the school's horror mystery of the "Girl Who Stands Behind" when she was murdered.- Amateur Sleuth: Ran the detective club with Ayumi, and was a good enough sleuth to solve a 15 year old murder.
- Due to the Dead: Becomes borderline obsessed with solving Shinobu Asakawa's disappearance. It's heavily hinted it;'s because she's possessed by Shinobu's spirit.
- Heroic Host: Many speculate that she is carrying Shinobu's soul.
- Identical Stranger: Bears a great resemblance to the late Shinobu Asakawa, later revealed to be a case of Strong Family Resemblance, as the two girls were cousins.
- Practically Different Generations: She is Shinobu Asakawa's cousin, but is 15 years younger than her.
- Too Dumb to Live: Directly confronting a murderer in a private location goes about as well as you'd expect.
Shinobu Asakawa
Voiced by: Kana Ichinose
- Never Found the Body: She vanished without a trace 15 years ago, her disappearance was the origin of "The Girl Who Stands Behind" rumor. Her body is finally found behind the mirror in the school hallway in the game's conclusion.
- Peek-a-Boo Corpse: Shinobu's corpse is revealed this way when Hibino attempts to attack the protagonist and Ayumi and misses, hitting the mirror instead... resulting in the skeleton landing directly on him.
- She Knows Too Much: Her being a witness to Genjiro Kaneda's murder ultimately leads to her death.
- Time-Delayed Death: Okay, so this is an odd one. She seemingly died when Urabe accidentally ran her over, but according to Hibino, she was only knocked out and he finished her off by smashing her over the head with a vase. However, her eventual autopsy doesn't reveal any head trauma which means Hibino must've been lying and she really did die when Urabe ran her over. Except it's made very clear the moment she woke up from her "death" was when Hayama saw her bloody image, which led to the Girl Who Stands Behind rumor in the first place, which means it must've happened...but, again the autopsy...we'll just leave it at a definitive "We don't know".
- Unfinished Business: Some speculate her soul possessed the body of Yoko Kojima, to finally solve her murder.
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Was a sweet and kind girl, until she met Goro Kaneda.
Hitomi Kawai
Voiced by: Rikiya Koyama
- Gender-Blender Name: The big, ugly Japanese Delinquent who tries to act tough and intimidating towards you is named Hitomi, a typically feminine name. Even the protagonist is baffled when he finds this out.
Other Characters
The Girl Who Stands Behind
- Our Ghosts Are Different: Implied to not so much be a ghost itself, but Shinobu's spirit possessing Yoko's body.
- Urban Legend: The titular Girl Who Stands Behind, a ghost who is said to haunt the local high school. Yoko's investigation into the story behind the ghost is what ultimately led to her murder.
Genjiro Kaneda
A local pub owner and swindler who lived near Ushimitsu high school. He tricked many locals out of their money, and was murdered 15 years ago just as the police began an investigation on his fraudulent activities
- Asshole Victim: Kaneda is described by the investigator at the police agency as a “master con-artist”, having swindled peoples’ livelihoods and (in the case of Uchida) forced them to declare bankruptcy if they couldn't pay him back. His body had been left with multiple, savage stab wounds, signifying the murderer’s genuine hatred for the man.
- Bald of Evil: Genjiro had no strand of hair on his head in life and was such a scummy con artist and loan shark, he drove Teruhiko Uchida to suicide after taking away his factory.
- Con Man: A ruthless thug who had no problem taking every single penny from someone.
- Dies Wide Open: Artwork for the second half of the Famicom version shows him with open eyes right after he was stabbed to death repeatedly.
- Greater-Scope Villain: While the man himself has no direct influence on the story, it was his nefarious crimes which drove Tatsuya Uchida to murder him which ultimately led to the domino chain of events that set off the plot.
- Hate Sink: When Genjiro was still alive, he ran a bar to function as a front for his Loan Shark activities, leading to multiple people's lives being ruined with Teruhiko being agitated enough to commit suicide from losing his factory to Kaneda. He made so many enemies who were rightfully mad with him that by the time he dies from repeated stabbings, we have no reason to mourn scum like him.
- Small Role, Big Impact: Yoko wouldn't have been killed if she didn't look into Shinobu's disappearance. Shinobu wouldn't have been killed if she wasn't a witness to Genjiro's murder, and Genjiro wouldn't have been murdered if he wasn't such a sack of human garbage.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Scamming a factory out of its owner's hands and driving him to suicide were what caused Hibino to go on a series of murder in the story's events.
Goro Kaneda
Voiced by: Takahiro Yoshino
Genjiro Kaneda's son. He inherited his father's fortune after his death, and lives off the money instead of finding a job.
- Asshole Victim: Nary anyone feels any pity when he's murdered.
- Blood from the Mouth: When his dead body was found, blood was seen dripping from his mouth thanks to being stabbed repeatedly.
- Chick Magnet: Goro was quite popular with the ladies at Ushimitsu High School, often taking them to his father’s snack stand and his mansion for parties.
- Dastardly Whiplash: His attire is modern, but his small, beady eyes and slightly curled mustache practically say "louse". While his secret activities are never explicitly shown, they definitely seem to be petty seeing as he blackmailed Urabe just so that he can regain money and continue partying without a care in the world.
- Dies Wide Open: When his dead body was discovered, he's seen with open eyes, a detail made more apparent in the Nintendo Switch remake thanks to enhanced graphics.
- Idle Rich: Has turned into this after his father's passing and claiming of the vast inheritance. He spends his days hosting parties filled with attractive women.
- Riches to Rags: By the time Yoko was murdered, he completely expended his father's fortune and was able to regain his luck by extorting Urabe...until these actions lead to Hibino tracking him down and fatally stabbing him.
Lost Memories in the Snow
Toshie Tachibana
The mother of Ayumi Tachibana who ends up being labeled the prime suspect in the murder of the previous mayor.
- Alliterative Name: Both her first and last names start with a T.
- Familial Reveal: It later turns out that Reiko was her first child, making her Ayumi's sister as well.
- Taking the Bullet: Takes a knife wound from Sakuma when he attempts to stab Reiko, who was her first daughter, to death.
Reiko Nomura
Ayumi's friend who is two years older and a graduate.
- Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: While she had killed several corrupt members of a family, she is different from Hibino or Kanda in that she does not make an attempt to kill the main character, in this instance her sister Ayumi. It was Chief Sakuma who makes the stabbing attempt on the protagonist. As an additional contrast to Hibino, her mother was murdered protecting her from being stabbed by Sakuma as opposed to Tadashi committing suicide by being the one to stab himself. As another contrast, as opposed to having strangled one of her victims to death as Kanda or Hibino, she nearly was the one strangled to death.
- Distaff Counterpart: Essentially a female counterpart to Tatsuya Hibino. Given up by her real parent to another family and subsequently both adopted parents die by the time of the present, then killed at least three people with them including members of a family they have despised and was displeased to see who had been their real parent be a murder suspect despite being the murderer, said parent makes effort to cover up evidence of their child's crimes, and ultimately witness their parent get stabbed.
- Familial Reveal: It later turns out that Toshie was her real mother, making her Ayumi's sister as well.
