A list of character sheets for each game in the Little Tail Bronx Shared Universe:
(Work-in-progress!)
Recurring groups and entities
The Caninu and Felineko
Caninu and Felineko are the two dominant species of the Little Tail Bronx world. As the names imply, they are anthropomorphic dog- and cat-like beings.
- Absurdly Huge Population: Inverted. For unknown reasons, their populations number as being relatively low according to the art books— the Shepherd Republic during the era of Solatorobo: Red the Hunter only has 190,000 inhabitants, and Prairie only has about 50,000. By comparison, France's population back when Solatorobo released in 2010/2011 was over sixty million.
- Cat/Dog Dichotomy: The two species have a fair share of contrasts— per Solatorobo: Red the Hunter, Caninu are more group-oriented and proficient with technology, whereas Felineko are more independent and proficient with spell-casting. More personal contrasts so far have included cases like a lawful dog policeman trying to handle a chaotic gang of cat arsonists, an energetic forward-thinking dog paired with a melancholic cat stuck in the past, and a humble farmhand dog paired up with a sharp-tongued city mouse of a cat.
- Dub Name Change: In Japan, they're known as "Inuhito" and "Nekohito", which Tail Concerto localized as "dog-people" and "cat-people" respectively. From Solatorobo: Red the Hunter onward, they've been given the names "Caninu" and "Felineko" in all other territories.
- Either/Or Offspring: If a Caninu and Felineko have children together, those children will be either Caninu or Felineko, rather than any hybrid of both.
- Funny Animal: It's indicated that they tend to be shorter than the average real-world human, but they nevertheless have an upright human-like figure, along with a dog/cat head shape, paw-like hands and— of course— an appropriate tail.
- Human Subspecies: A possible way to interpret them— while they're outwardly biologically distinct from the ancient humans that preceded them, Yurlungur nevertheless describes them as being the "descendants" of humanity, being created from their stored DNA. Likewise, Fuga: Melodies of Steel 2 describes the previous humanity using the specific term "Old World Humans" as opposed to just "Humans", indicating that this trope or something like it is in effect.
Caninu (イヌヒト, Inuhito, lit. "dog-people")
- Crystal Dragon Jesus: The Anju religion seen in Solatorobo: Red the Hunter (and very mildly alluded to in Fuga: Melodies of Steel) is effectively their version of Catholicism, albeit one where birds are treated as psychopomps and the Anjalists thus tend to the forests they live in. That said, one needs to obtain a string of rosary beads in order to enter the holy forest of Samoyede, and lore says they always have a bible on hand and worship in churches on Sundays.
- Stock Femur Bone: They use these in place of cigarettes. They even have different styles of holding them in their mouths, such as "Wild" or "Sexy".
Felineko (ネコヒト, Nekohito, lit. "cat-people")
- Cats Are Magic: It's said that all Felineko have the potential to utilize Nono, though to what degree varies between individuals and breeds, and requires special training in most cases.
- Cat Folk: And like the Caninu, they come in all different shapes and sizes, from domesticated cats to big cats to even saber-toothed cats if the art books are any indication.
- Inconsistent Dub: Both "Felinekos" and "Felineko" by itself are treated as plural terms for the species, in contrast to how "Caninu" is more consistently both singular and plural.
Entities From the Old World (MAJOR SPOILERS UNMARKED!)
The Lost People
Old World Humans
A long-forgotten civilization that created many relics such as the Crystals and the Titano-Machina, with their posthumous influence being felt all across the series. Solatorobo: Red the Hunter reveals the setting to be Earth All Along, and that this ancient civilization was the original human race.
Just as they assumed they were approaching the limits of their technology and evolution, humanity came into contact with Juno, a system of supercomputer-like entities. Humanity coveted Juno technology for their own benefit, and after a period of unforeseen prosperity, different nations began turning on one another with the aim to take Juno's secrets for themselves. Soon, a massive war broke out, bringing the planet to the brink of complete collapse, and its organisms to the brink of extinction. With no other options, Juno— with the formal permission of twelve human researchers— erased humanity from existence and terraformed the planet to purge it of the damage they caused. Despite their destruction, their genetic data and spirits live on in the form of the next generation of humanity that Juno created to replace them— the Caninu and Felineko.
- And Man Grew Proud: If humanity was a more mature civilization when they discovered Juno, or at least shared its data more openly rather than hoarding it for themselves, they might not have sparked a massive war over it, leading to their own destruction.
- Humans Are Flawed: The Caninu and Felineko who know of humanity (at least those that don't covet the technology they left behind for selfish reasons) seem to be generally sympathetic toward their precursors over how they were done in by the technology that they tried and failed to fully master.
- Precursors: To the Caninu and Felineko. Yurlungur outright refers to the two new races as "descendants of humanity".
Their Lost Works
Titano-Machina (ティタノマキナ, Titanomakina)
Introduced in Tail Concerto and explored in Solatorobo: Red the Hunter, Titano-Machina are massive unmanned entities that were said to be created by an ancient civilization— old humanity— as weapons of war, but ended up ravaging their planet to near-destruction. Legends of their existence still persist in the new world, however, and quite a few Caninu and Felineko have been eager to reawaken them and use their power for their own.
- Always Chaotic Evil: When under someone's control, a Titano-Machina is about as good or evil as its master (though usually the latter). When left to its own devices, a Titano-Machina will most likely begin destroying anything in its path, as evidenced by how the Iron Giant began a ravenous attack on Prairia the moment it woke up, and how Lares' rampage would've eventually destroyed the world.
- Fantastic Nuke: How the Titano-Machina were used by humanity is blatantly reminiscent of the nuclear arms race experienced in our world, as shown by how multiple nations wanted to hoard as much of their power for themselves, and how they ended up nearly destroying the planet's biosphere with their ability to decimate entire regions on a massive scale. Ironically, it's said in-universe that actual nuclear fuels and weapons were phased out once Juno and its Crystal manufacturing data came along, the lesson being that humanity collectively learned nothing from their previous arms race.
- Freudian Trio: The Titano-Machina as a whole play the role of Id in the trinity between them, hybrids and Juno. While hybrids are used to manage Titano-Machina and Juno is used to create them, Titano-Machina themselves are destructive when left to their own devices.
- Kaiju: Lares alone has an upright height of about five kilometers, and the Vanargand is implicitly even bigger than that.
- Killer Robot: Man-made monsters made of nanometal, and designed for the express purpose of wiping entire cities off the map. For extra emphasis on the "killer" part, the art books claim that due to their presence, the Third World War had a high death toll of 250 million within the span of just three months.
- Mechanical Abomination: They're robotic, towering giants the size of entire cities that are completely alien in design, and boast enough destructive power that they are preceded by legends and stories telling of how seeing them means The End Is Nigh. The most one can usually do to combat them is to seal them away, but this is far from a permanent solution— hence why the Paladins were formed to ensure safety across generations.
- Mechanical Monster: Their appearances have some variations to them depending on their source nation and Juno, but the Titano-Machina we've seen so far tend to take design elements from animals or mythological creatures— the Iron Giant's head looks very shark- or lizard-like, Lares and Lemures are incredibly draconic in appearance, and the Vanargand looks like a six-legged sauropod dinosaur mixed with a beetle shell.
- Meaningful Name: Aside from effectively being another way to say "big robot", the phrase "Titano-Machina" is likely a Punny Name based on "Titanomachy", a war told of in Classical Mythology where the Titans (older gods) and Olympians (newer gods) battled for ten years over which side would rule over the universe, with the Olympians eventually winning and the Titans being banished deep into the abyss of Tartarus. With this in mind, a possible interpretation is that the "Titano-Machina" name is also meant to refer to how their war indirectly resulted in the end of an "old world" and the birth of a "new" one, along with how the Titano-Machina themselves were sealed into the ground during the Reset. However, it is worth noting that some of the original Titans of mythology were set free after some time…
- Zerg Rush: The art books for Solatorobo mention this as being the modus operandi for Titano-Machina created by Numbers Class Juno— while they aren't as individually powerful as their Ace- or Arts-created counterparts, they still have their usefulness in that they can overwhelm their enemies through their sheer numbers.
Hybrids (ハイブリッド, Haiburiddo)
Introduced in Solatorobo: Red the Hunter, hybrids are artificial beings with the power to interface with Juno or Juno-like technology, typically designed to pilot the Titano-Machina or similar creations. The most notable examples include Solatorobo's main protagonist Red Savarin and antagonists Baion, Nero and Blanck, along with Fuga: Melodies of Steel 2 antagonist Jihl.
Per Solatorobo supplementary material and implications from the Fuga games, there are two main types of hybrids: the "full" or "original" hybrids like Baion that were created by Juno directly, and the weaker "pseudo-hybrids" such as Red or Jihl that were created through other means. The generation of pseudo-hybrids that Red comes from also have a special ability known as "Trance", a Super Mode that grants them a boost in power strong enough to allow them to control the Titano-Machina or Juno, along with shifting from a Caninu or Felineko base form to one that resembles an Old World human.
- Artificial Human: They're beings created for the purpose of controlling Juno, Titano-Machina or similar technology.
- Born as an Adult: Baion himself is said by the Solatorobo art books to look about fifty years old, and most evidence points to him being created just at or before he was cryogenically frozen. Downplayed with Red, Nero and Blanck— while it's not outright stated, they were created at the biological age of around eight and aged normally from that point on. In-game reports for the second Fuga game indicate that Jihl and the other hybrids created by Crusade were born at an adolescent age, with Jihl himself looking about fourteen by the time he was put into suspended animation.
- Dub Name Change: The Japanese version of Fuga: Melodies of Steel 2 uses the term jinzōningen (人造人間) to describe what hybrids are; while this term indeed has a literal meaning of "artificial human", it can refer to any kind of humanoid with an artificial makeup or origin, and thus lacks a direct English equivalent despite typically being translated as "android" or "cyborg". On the same game's initial release, the French version translated the term as l'être synthétique ("synthetic being"), with other translations going with "android" (European Spanish) or "cyborg" (English; all mentions of this were changed to "android" in a later patch).
- Freudian Trio: While individual members have spread the entire spectrum, hybrids as a whole are meant to play the role of Ego between the Titano-Machina and Juno. While the Titano-Machina are relentless killing machines when left to their own devices, hybrids are meant to consciously control and operate them. Likewise, hybrids are seemingly also meant to make in-the-moment decisions so that they can act in ways that Juno cannot by itself.
- Organic Technology: It's possible that their makeup may be this, comparable to that of the Replicants from Blade Runner. While the second Fuga game intends to refer to them as "androids", both it and Solatorobo show that hybrids are not simply humanlike robots with AI, either— hybrids have to use biological energy energy to power and operate machines, Merveille donated some of her purely organic cells in creating Red, and Jihl is shown eating food in one illustration. While the exact physical makeup of a hybrid has never been fully explored in any installment to date, it can be surmised that it may be a bio-mechanical one that has elements of both cell tissue and nanometal (since hybrids are meant to interface with Juno or Juno-derived technology). This may be why "hybrid" is used as a technical term for these beings, as whatever cybernetic and organic elements they have are too integrated with one other for even "cyborg" to be a completely adequate description.
- Robot Master: While it's been shown that Titano-Machina are capable of acting autonomously, hybrids are designed to control them and regulate their abilities. The same applies to the hybrids meant to handle Juno themselves.
- Super Mode: The Caninu- or Felineko-based pseudo-hybrids created by Baion and Merveille have access to a power known as "Trance", which allows them to assume a human form and gain a substantial increase in power as a result. Baion also gains an altered appearance when fought as the Final Boss, and the Japanese art books imply that full hybrids are able to access Trance (or something similar to it) once an Order is given to them from their respective Juno, considering how Orders are intended to release the limiters on a hybrid's capabilities. However, Jihl is a pseudo-hybrid without a Trance form to speak of, likely due to how he wasn't created to operate any Juno or Titano-Machina.
- Super-Toughness: It's heavily implied that the reason Red survived the Rite of Forfeit in Solatorobo was due to his hybrid physiology, and the art books confirm this point— as Red was a pseudo-hybrid created to activate Titano-Machina in the first place, having his energy used to awaken Lares would merely be a variation of this same process. Played for Drama with Jihl, who was able to survive having his bio-energy sacrificed to the Soul Cannon over and over again due to his hybrid physiology. Even if his body managed the ordeal, his psyche didn't.
Their Lost Rulers
Juno (ジュノ, Juno)
Introduced in Solatorobo: Red the Hunter, the "Hyper Information Convergence" Juno is a collective information system composed of fifty-three machines/supercomputers of unknown origin, and the source of the Titano-Machina. Some presume they may be alien technology, while others have assumed them to be the divine will of the Earth realized.
Humanity in the late twentieth century discovered Juno and used the data within it to achieve two major breakthroughs: energy crystals that could be used as a perfectly clean power source, and nanotechnology that could be used for numerous applications. Unfortunately, not every nation was able to keep pace with these rapid technological advancements, nor did they have equal access to Juno technology. As a result, a great war broke out with the Titano-Machina, leading to the near-destruction of all life. With permission from a group of researchers, the Juno "reset" life on the planet, removing the threat of humanity and replacing them with the Caninu and Felineko, while also suspending the planet's land into the sky as Floating Continents. Afterwards, each of the Juno vanished into separate dimensions, waiting until the day when the planet's new humanity would be advanced enough to be contacted.
While "Juno" is the collective name for all the Juno, the Solatorobo art books and in-game reports in Fuga: Melodies of Steel reveal that individual Juno are divided into three major categories: Ace Class Juno, the five original Juno that humanity discovered and the ones with the most data; the sixteen Arts Class Juno humanity replicated from the Ace; and the thirty-two Numbers Class Juno humanity replicated from the Arts. These Juno are also divided into "suits" (a la playing cards) depending on their Juno of origin. For instance, the Juno within Tartaros is a grade J Art that corresponds to the "jack of hearts" card, while the Juno in the Futzu Tower is an Ace that corresponds to the "joker" card.
- Ancient Astronauts: If one subscribes to the "technology from another world" theory. Per Solatorobo supplementary material, many powerful ancient figures made use of the original five Juno terminals, and it's said that the followers of Jesus Christ (yes, really) interpreted these terminals as the holy relics.
- Alien Non-Interference Clause: While Yurlungur is fine with visitors every once in a while and the Futzu Tower is filled with information about the ancient humans, the other implicit reason for the Cloud Sea's existence is to keep Juno away from the Caninu and Felineko until their civilization has matured enough, to prevent a repeat of them abusing Juno like humanity did.
- Ambiguous Situation: It's left completely unknown as to where Juno came from or just what it is, with many believing it to either be ancient alien technology or a metaphysical manifestation of the planet's will, with there being evidence to support either interpretation.
- Anthropomorphic Personification: If one subscribes to the "divine will of the Earth" theory. Likewise, Juno themselves have developed AI-like physical avatars that take the forms of human women (Yurlungur is an example of one of these, and Jeanne is a "pseudo-Juno" AI based on them) as a way for them to communicate with humans directly. Only some Juno have developed these personalities, however— Tartaros' Juno lacks a personality avatar since it never needed to interact with humans in the way that Yurlungur did.
- Clarke's Third Law: In spite of the many developments Juno allowed them, even the Old World humans were never fully able to comprehend Juno itself. While Juno is ostensibly technological rather than magical, the very ability of their nanometal to shift form and function according to the user's desires (as shown with how Felineko can use it for performing spells, along with how they were able to terraform the whole planet and give it a new biome in the first place) firmly places them into this category.
- Freudian Trio: Very much play the role of Superego between themselves and their two main creations. While the Titano-Machina are Killer Robots and hybrids are sapient control operators for them, Juno is an information system that contains data and gives orders for hybrids to follow, being unable to carry out certain protocols by itself.
- God Is Inept: They're technological marvels beyond any description, holding power that's able to alter the environment at a moment's notice… and as Red himself points out in Solatorobo, it's thanks to their presence that humanity turned on itself. The art books also describe their recreation of the world as being "half-baked" in a way, theorizing that this was a result of them (or at least Yurlungur specifically) picking up on humanity's own irrationalities. It's especially evidenced through the actions and motivations of Baion— a being created directly by Juno and believing its will to be absolute— that as much as humanity could not truly understand the nature of Juno, the inverse is just as apparent.
- Meaningful Name: Juno ("Hera" to the Greeks) was the queen of the gods in Classical Mythology and the wife of Jupiter, which is possibly meant to emphasize that Juno itself is the most powerful (meta)physical force in the setting of Little Tail Bronx. To a lesser degree, Juno was also viewed as a protector of women that represented all aspects of female life, such as marriage, childbirth or family, and it's often believed her name is derived from the Latin word iuventas, meaning "youth". The art books clarify that all Juno who develop personalities will appear as young human women, not just Yurlungur.
- Monster Progenitor: With some additional human ingenuity, Titano-Machina were directly produced by them as weapons. The amount of Titano-Machina a Juno can create depends on its class, however: an Ace Class Juno can only create a single powerful Titano-Machina (such as the German-owned one that the Vanargand was created from), an Arts Class Juno can produce two strong Titano-Machina (like how Tartaros created Lares and Lemures) and a Numbers Class Juno can produce as many Titano-Machina units as its assigned number. Likewise, they can also produce hybrids to act as control operators for them (such as Baion for Tartaros) or their Titano-Machina (such as the original Nero and Blanck prior to the Reset).
- Outside-Context Problem: A major reason why they caused humanity to collapse— despite some alleged cases of them shaping history beforehand, Juno technology was so advanced that the human race was unable to properly understand it, and the fact that many nations hoarded Juno technology for themselves led to entire economies being destabilized when Crystals supplanted fossil fuels and nuclear energy.
- Precursor Killers: An unusual Suicide by Cop example. As the Titano-Machina were destroying the planet's biosphere, the Juno (via Yurlungur) suggested the "Reset" command to a group of researchers to give the planet a chance to recover without humanity or the Titano-Machina. The researchers accepted this proposal, and Juno erased humanity while terraforming the planet.
- Riddle for the Ages: Many. Are they a form of alien technology that made its way to Earth, or the Earth's divine will made real? If it's the former, how did they arrive on Earth, and who originally created them? What impact did they have on the planet's history before they were properly studied and discovered in the modern age? Why were there already legends on fifty-three of them existing back when only five of them did? Why did the "Australian Ace" Juno already possess a "Reset" command before humans discovered it?
- Starfish Robots: The symbol used to represent Juno looks like a stick figure with two sets of arms or a plant with two branches. Juno are said by the art books to be composed of a "main column" (akin to a torso or stem), two pairs of "sub-columns" protruding upward from it (akin to arms or branches), a pair of "rhizoids" protruding downward from it (akin to legs or roots) and a knob-shaped "ridge" protruding from its center (akin to a head, flower bud or tree crown). Said "ridge" is also an interface that can shift its appearance into a physical AI-like avatar resembling a human woman, as seen with Yurlungur. This is the simplified version, however.
- While the characters in-universe refer to Tartaros itself as a Juno for simplicity's sake, it's revealed to merely be a "shell" for the true Juno within. The art books outright confirm that Tartaros originally had a more human-accessible appearance similar to the Futzu Tower, and that it only took on its current form as an abstract giant orb once the Reset happened.
- The Juno within Tartaros takes on the form of a jellyfish-like creature, with its "hood" able to open like a flower bud. The chamber inside reveals what appears to be an orb floating above two extended branches. The art books clarify that this inner structure— named "Ariane"— is the interface for Tartaros' Juno, but that it never developed a personality like Yurlungur due to it not needing to communicate with humans. Solatorobo itself already refers to the chamber as "Ariane's Chamber", and it can be viewed as an equivalent to Mirrirmina in the Futzu Tower.
Mamoru-kun
The cast of Mamoru-kun, an online safety awareness program CyberConnect2 created for their local government in Fukuoka. Taking place in the country of Nippon during the same time period as Tail Concerto and Solatorobo: Red the Hunter, the program focuses on the day-to-day lives of Mamoru, his friends and family as they help ensure safety in their community.
Mamoru
From the children's safety and disaster preparedness game Mamoru-kun. Makes an appearance in Solatorobo: Red the Hunter.
- Follow in My Footsteps: Inverted, as Mamoru wants to be as much like his father as possible, even though his dad worries about it.
- Meaningful Name: "Mamoru" is one of the ways of saying "To protect or defend" in Japanese.
- Mythology Gag: Mamoru was originally going to be the hero of Tail Capriccio, a conceived sequel to Tail Concerto.
- Public Service Announcement: Mamoru's job is teaching this stuff, and quests involving him feature real-life safety and disaster preparation tips.
- This Is No Time to Panic: In a DLC quest, Mamoru tries to calm a bunch of civilians with this phrase. He is a rescue worker after all.
Mamoru's Father
From the children's safety and disaster preparedness game Mamoru-kun. Makes an appearance in Solatorobo: Red the Hunter.
- All There in the Manual: According to the short story "Hospitality at Nippon," his real name is actually Tasuku Yashima.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Aside from being Mamoru's dad, he is only known as 'Rescue Worker' throughout the game.
- Follow in My Footsteps: Inverted, as Mamoru wants to be as much like his father as possible, and his father likes the idea, but worries about his son's safety anyway.
