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The Dawn Liberation Force
Professor Tohjima
- Voiced by: Kanehira Yamamoto (Japanese)
A researcher who holds vast knowledge of the Jail, and is extremely passionate about escaping from the Jail. He raised Red Riding Hood from infancy, thus bringing her to call him "Dad".
- Absent-Minded Professor: He tends to forget things, often resulting in communication breakdowns between himself and the rest of The Dawn.
- Advertised Extra: He is given a profile on Mary Skelter 2's official website, and is a fairly regular topic of discussion by multiple characters. He never appears on screen in the game itself, having been killed off by the Mysterious Nightmare though confirmation doesn't come until much later compared to the other victims.
- Custom Uniform: Like Gretel his outfit reverses the usual layout of white and black, though he doesn't replace the red.
- Ignored Epiphany: In the novel. After failing to heed Haru's advice that it's far to early to be sending Red Riding Hood out into combat, leading to her being forced to kill Little Mermaid, he begins to consider experimenting on Red Riding Hood and Cinderella to figure out the nature of Blood Skelter before coming to the realization that he has been completely crossing the moral concepts of research. The lesson is quickly lost after getting Thumbelina, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Kaguya, treating the four as glorified lab rats.
- The Illegible: He is stated to have terrible handwriting. To get the True Final Boss, the player has to use this fact to catch him in a lie regarding the Jail Memos' origins.
- Let's Split Up, Gang!: When The Order of the Sun requests that the Dawn investigate the Dorm and Waterside areas the Professor is quick to suggest that the growing team split up and cover both at once, ignoring the strain this would put on Jack until called out on it.
- Mad Scientist: At the best of times his research and experimentation could simply be considered creepy, such as his use of live Marchen. Most of the time it goes straight into immoral territory, as he occasionally but temporarily figures out, such as nearly anything he does with the Blood Maidens.
- Motivational Lie: He tells Cinderella that Little Mermaid was killed by Marchens in an attempt to garner sympathy for a mourning Red Riding Hood.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: From what can be gathered about him in Mary Skelter 2, his Ignored Epiphany was more of an Occasionally Remembered Epiphany and so lacking it his experimenting was far more severe. Cinderella and Kaguya were traumatized by it all, and Thumbelina and her sisters outright left when Chiaki is killed by a mimic the jail created of Cinderella after she went into Blood Skelter. Though given his true nature, it's also less that he took a level and more that he's just not hiding it as much.
- Walking Spoiler: There's a lot more to him than meets the eye. For more details check Snark's entry here.
- What the Hell, Hero?: While not called out on it while he's present, Jack and Snow White both note and discuss how completely counterproductive it would have been for him to tell them all that they're the children of Marchen right before a major mission because it could've traumatized them had they not already worked that out themselves and had time to cope.
Haru Major Unmarked Spoilers
Haru, Edelzoa
- Voiced by: Yuji Kameyama (Japanese), Kaiji Tang (English)
A craftsman with a bad mouth and a worse attitude, though he seems to care for Jack, who often questions his own usefulness.
- Anti-Hero: He, along with Snark, were responsible for the Jail's creation. Unlike Snark, he's willing to settle on the coexistence with Earth the Jail has has taken to rather than desiring to try over and over again to recreate their world regardless of the destruction it would cause and subtly guides Jack toward undoing Snark's plans.
- Advertised Extra: He is given a profile on Mary Skelter 2's official website. He never appears on screen in the game itself, having been killed and apparently having his eyes gouged out by the Mysterious Nightmare.
- Guilt Complex: Being partially responsible for its existence, Haru feels he has no right to leave the Jail. He also questions whether or not he has the right to see the sun after betraying Snark and their plan to save their own world. Miko has to convince him he owes it to Clara to get him to come to the surface with the rest of the group.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Despite his rough exterior, he takes in Clara and helps Jack stop Snark's schemes.
- Late-Arrival Spoiler: Finale makes no attempt to hide his part in Snark's plans, nor the fact that he's a Human Alien.
- Luminescent Blush: Jack manages to get him to blush a few times, much to Miko's amusement.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Haru's real name, Edelzoa, never ends up coming up in the games themselves. It's only used in a single chapter in Finale's prequel novel.
- Tsundere: A non romantic version of it, he easily drops his usual aloof behavior for Jack and Clara and becomes embarrassed when this behavior is called out.
- Ultimate Blacksmith: Haru creates, maintains, and upgrades the Blood Weapons and the Mary Gun.
Miko Ueshima
- Voiced by: Natsue Sasamoto (Japanese)
She's cool and calm, but also very kind-hearted. She gives counsel to the Blood Maidens, and also works closely with the professor.
- Advertised Extra: She is given a profile on Mary Skelter 2's official website. She never appears on screen in the game itself, having been killed and apparently dismembered by the Mysterious Nightmare.
- Dark and Troubled Past: She has no memories of her biological parents and lost her mentor Dr. Ueshima in the Snark incident. It hurt Miko enough that she decides to take on her mentor's last name and follow in her footsteps as a doctor.
- For Science!: She's helping out the Professor because she's intrigued by his vast knowledge and wants to know what happens to the Jail once the Dawn's plan succeeds. She's so intrigued that she turns a blind eye to the Professor's dealings. In fact, if she's accused of being a traitor, she reveals that she knew from pretty much the beginning that he was a fraud; she felt that that she was too weak and afraid of her emotions to make a move against him.
- Hollywood Atheist: Quickly comes up with a snarky retort when the Professor makes a light-hearted suggestion that the Blood Maidens are gifts from God, and deeply distrusts the Order of the Sun. Ironic, given her name.
- She does, however, eventually admit that Michiru is worth having around as a source of hope for the survivors.
- Hospital Hottie: She appears to be the Dawn's primary medic and she's quite attractive.
- Improbable Age: She already had basic medical skills in her early teens, and was an important doctor and researcher at 18 years old. She's roughly eight years older than Red Riding Hood, which would put her at a slightly-less-improbable 28 years old during the game's events.
- Omnidisciplinary Scientist: Her scientific area of expertise is ambiguous; she serves as a medical doctor for the Dawn, but also calls herself a researcher and is interested in studying the development of the Jail.
- Properly Paranoid: She correctly guesses that the Order of the Sun has a benefactor other than Michiru and Chiaki.
- Team Mom: Being the medic of the Dawn, she effectively serves as this to the Blood Team. She also attempts to rein in the Professor's experiments when Haru's not available to keep Tohjima in line, such as in the backstory of Mary Skelter 2 where the Professor suggests testing the limits of Massacre mode by essentially torturing a Blood Maiden.
- What Measure Is a Non-Human?: When the Blood Team starts calling themselves monsters, she tells them to stop and assures them that they're every bit as human as she is.
- What the Hell, Hero?: She's both on the giving and receiving end, depending on choices made during the endgame interrogation.
- If you have Jack accuse Tohjima of being a traitor, the team comes to the conclusion that Haru and Miko are at the very least complicit in his schemes. Miko admits that this is at least partially true on her end, for which Kaguya accuses her of being lazy.
- If you have Jack accuse Haru of being a traitor, he admits that he was onboard with Snark's plan until the massacre of the Dawn expedition fifteen years ago. Miko isn't very happy about that and demands an explanation for Haru's silence on the matter. Which, given the above, is a bit hypocritical.
- On the other hand, if you have Jack accuse Miko herself of being a traitor, she calls out Jack's (and, by extension, your) ill-formed logic, claiming that it might get him killed.
Towa Kadowaki
- Voiced by: Fukuji Ochiai (Japanese)
The guard at the entrance to the Liberated District. Despite being a normal human, he's strong enough to hold off the Marchens.
- Accidental Proposal: In Eiserne Tower he tells Kunai that he can put everything he has into his job as a guard because she's there. She takes it as a confession, complete with a Luminescent Blush, before he continues on to explain that she's the only other human in the group and he has no reason to protect anyone else there.
- Advertised Extra: He is given a profile on Mary Skelter 2's official website. He lasts just long enough to have his innards pulled out by the Mysterious Nightmare.
- Blood Knight: He greatly enjoys getting to take care of the Professor's Marchen disposal. Fighting with them until they're too broken to move and then torturing them to death. His only complaint about it is that only weaker Marchen can be safely captured so they're all just too easy and the fun is starting to fade.
- Carry a Big Stick: He carries a crude club which is presumably his weapon against the Marchens.
- Dark and Troubled Past: His parents were murdered by Marchens right in front of him.
- Do Not Call Me "Paul": He's not fond of people calling him Towa, preferring Mr. Kadowaki instead. Red Riding Hood insists this is because he doesn't like how cute "Towa" is.
- Eyes Always Shut: He has his eyes closed in most of his portraits. When they open, expect it to be for a Death Glare in response to a perceived attempt to deny him his hobby or sympathy toward the unfortunate Marchen in question.
- Hey, You!: Not out of disrespect, to Jack's relief, he just has a hard time remembering people's names.
- Karmic Death: In Mary Skelter 2 his death at the hands of the Mysterious Nightmare is this, suffering a slow torturous death before it finally finishes him off. He got something stronger than the usual Marchen to play with.
- Laughing Mad: In the Japanese version and audio only. During the scene exposing his treatment of Marchens most of his dialog is broken up by bouts of maniacal laughter. These sudden outbursts only occuring after they show up is why Jack and Alice felt the whole thing was an act.
- Mask of Sanity: For the most part Towa seems to be a fairly normal man, though the very topic of Marchens is enough to show his madness and his boredom with the ones he gets his hands on seems to make it worse. Jack and Alice mistake their first exposure to this side of him as Obfuscating Insanity instead.
- Never Hurt an Innocent: Towa absolutely will not cause harm to another human, at least not directly. This helps to explain why he's terrified of Kunai breaking out a frying pan when he can kill Marchens, he can't really fight back against her.
- Psycho Party Member: His torturing of Marchen he's supposed to be simply executing is noted by other members of the Dawn, but it's accepted partially out of fear of what may happen if he's denied his outlet for his trauma.
- Checking the gates at night when finding a note that "he isn't there to protect his secret" reveals that Towa has been leaving the Liberated District gates open at night, as if to intentionally invite an invasion to satisfy his desire to fight stronger Marchens.
- Quest Giver: In Finale he gives out the sidequests for Toh's party.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: The realization that Haru, the Blood Team, and Mamoru's group aren't entirely human turns him against them in Finale, but he continues to work with them as the alternative is to be stuck dealing with the Jails and Massacre Pink alone.
- What Measure Is a Non-Human?: In heavy contrast to all other allies of the Blood Team, Towa's definition of what counts as human is quite strictly literal humans only. The Human Aliens and Half-Human Hybrids of the cast are only begrudingly accepted out of sheer necessity for his own survival, while the Marchen are readily treated to Cold-Blooded Torture for his own amusement.
- The Worf Effect: He's the only non-Blood Maiden fighter from the Dawn that we get to see, so of course Mary Skelter 2 establishes the Mysterious Nightmare as a threat by having it murder Kadowaki right in front of the party.
Kunai
- Voiced by: Kaoru Komatsu (Japanese), Deneen Melody (English)
A woman who was originally in charge of odd jobs at the Dawn. She has bad memory and is clumsy, so she’s troubled by what she can do to help. However, whenever she finds something she can help out with, she’ll give it all she has without giving up on it. She also tends to have bad timing and ends up seeing things that she isn’t supposed to see.
- Ascended Extra: Originally just a nameless nurse who would be present only when Miko was unavailable in Mary Skelter, Kunai is now one of Red Riding Hood's allies in Finale, even traveling with her through the Frozen Jail Tower, and plays a significant role in Towa's character development.
- Cute Clumsy Girl: Her profile refers to her as such and Towa constantly calls her Dojikko in their interactions. That said, the trait itself rarely if ever actually comes up making it more of an Informed Attribute.
- Frying Pan of Doom: When words alone aren't enough to keep Towa in line, there's always the threat of her frying pan to fall back on.
- I'm Not Doing That Again: After following Red Riding Hood's group through the Frozen Jail Tower, she's asked how she felt about her first trip through a Jail Tower. She complains about the cold and how miserable the whole experience was, and that she never wants to do it again. True to her word, she stays at the camp for the Jails that follow.
- Morality Chain: She serves as one for Towa, something he says himself, and spends her time trying to urge him to see the others in the group as people even if they aren't exactly human.
- Retcon: In Finale she explains that she occasionally worked at the shop when asked who she is. That role that was filled by an elderly woman, who is now completely absent, in Mary Skelter itself while she was originally Miko's occasional replacement.
Clara
- For Tropes relating to Clara, please see the Blood Team page.
The Order of the Sun
Michiru Major Unmarked Spoilers
Michiru, Oohime
- Voiced by: Maya Yoshioka (Japanese), Kimberly Woods (English)
A religious leader of the Order who speaks with a shroud of mystery. She is known as Lady Oohime but her real name is Michiru. She uses confusing words which possess an odd sort of divinity.
- Advertised Extra: While better off than the members of the Dawn, she only shows up a couple times in Mary Skelter 2. Once basically just to prove that she's still around, and again much later to cryptically hint at the true natures of Otsuu and the other Blood Maidens before being escorted away by Clara.
- Cloudcuckoolander: Michiru is not exactly the most coherent person. As the game progresses, she steadily gets worse and eventually devolves into a Talkative Loon due to constantly being fed bits of the Jail Tower itself over time. Though the progressive deterioration of her mental state is later revealed to be a case of Obfuscating Insanity as she didn't want to alert Snark that she was unaffected by his attempts to control her.
- Fairy Tale: The Blue Bird, though in this case it's the 20th century play instead of the completely-unrelated 17th century fairy tale. Notably, "Michiru" is how "Mytyl" is rendered in Japanese, and the English version of the first game slips up and refers to her as Mytyl whenever there's an event waiting at the Order of the Sun that involves her.
- Reincarnation: She died on the day that the Jail was planted, but the Jail reincarnated her and her brother through mimicry.
- Out-Gambitted: Both on the giving and receiving end. In the final chapter, she manages to successfully pull the wool over Snark's eyes through an act of Obfuscating Insanity, by pretending to go mad when in reality she was planning to turn the tables and capture him. Her giving Mamoru the communication devices allows him and his team to coordinate with Jack and reach the top of the tower.
- However at the same time, she was unable to notice that Snark managed to have a marchen impersonate her and lure all her followers to a death trap. Weather or not she manages to save them depends on the actions of the Blood Team.
- The Reveal: She is the girl in the "blue bird" skits between chapters, though her voice likely gives it away pretty early on. Depending on some endgame dialog choices, she possibly drops a few more: the Jail seed dropped onto her preschool and into her story book, creating the fairy tale-themed world that the game takes place in. She and Chiaki died that day, but her sheer desire revived them through mimicry. And finally, she was only pretending to go insane from the Jail's food so as not to alert Snark.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Zigzagged. She inadvertently caused the Jail to mimic fairy tales instead of Snark's homeworld, which created the creepy world that the game takes place but also pushed Snark's plans back at least fifteen years.
- Vague Age: She is stated to be near the three Blood Maiden sisters' ages in the prologue novel, and yet she was close to ground zero when the Jail seed dropped onto the Japanese city. This is further muddied by she and Chiaki being mimics.
Chiaki
Chiaki, Hitsuka
- Voiced by: Shun'ichi Toki (Japanese), Sean Chiplock (English)
A calm and stern young boy, who is also the sub-leader of the Order. He works closely with Oohime and preaches her words to her followers.
- Ambiguous Situation: Between the Mary Skelter 2 prequel novel, the game itself, and the first game there are hints that Chiaki's death was not actually a freak accident, but nothing confirms it either. In the Novel it's revealed that he figured out what the Dawn was actually up to, questioning the Blood Maidens to confirm his findings and was allegedly putting together a combat unit to oppose the Dawn. At the time that Professor Tohjima was informed of this he was openly discussing his intent to push one of the redundant Blood Maidens into what would later be known as Blood Skelter. The sheer number of eyes in the Downtown area and research papers regarding and confirming the existence of Blood Skelter prove a high level of observation that would include both Cinderella being in Blood Skelter and the Marchen mimics of her. The Dawn's official search for Cinderella could not make it past the Liberated District's entrance for safety, but Chiaki's group was able to make it into the Downtown area and back with the ambush killing only Chiaki. After discovering the Cinderella mimics, Otsuu questions how much of it was coincidence and how much was someone or something's plans and notes that, given its intelligence and the limited casualties, it likely killed with purpose.
- Do Not Call Me "Paul": He tries to avoid having anyone know his real name, Chiaki, and gets embarrassed when it's used.
- Embarrassing Nickname: He's not too fond of people knowing Michiru calls him "Chii" either.
- Fairy Tale: Subverted; one would assume that he would be an adaptation of Tyltyl from The Blue Bird, but there's no relation beyond being Michiru's brother.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He changes from being nice to a bit of a jerk as he grows up, but it's only because he's trying to protect his sister. In Mary Skelter 2's prequel novel, it's explained that he also becomes more distant to protect Thumbelina and her sisters from whatever danger he might be exposing himself to in his investigations.
- Reincarnation: He died on the day that the Jail was planted, but the Jail reincarnated him thanks to his sister's desire.
- Split Timelines Plot: In the prequel novel for Mary Skelter 2, Otsuu tells Chiaki that Tohjima's experiments with Marchen blood and a hug given by Michiru invoke the same kind of feelings in her. This rubs Chiaki the wrong way and drives him to start investigating both the Dawn and the newly-formed Order of the Sun. Instead of simply serving a high position in the Order to protect his sister as in the first game, he uses his status to further advance his knowledge of the Jail. One of his interrogations ends up sending Cinderella beyond the Despair Event Horizon, which eventually becomes his undoing.
- Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome: Chiaki is killed in the backstory to Mary Skelter 2 by Cinderella, during an investigation of the Jail. The game itself further clarifies that it was a mimic of her created by the Jail, as the Blood Team puts together the order of events leading to it figuring out Cinderella had already been in Blood Skelter before his death so there was no way for her to be the "blue haired girl" that did it.
Blue Bird
- Fairy Tale: The Blue Bird, though in this case it's the 17th century fairy tale (in which the Blue Bird often brings gifts) instead of the 20th century play that Michiru is based on.
- The Man Behind the Man: It's heavily implied that the Blue Bird is the one who supplies The Order of the Sun. It turns out that the Blue Bird is none other than Snark, who is attempting to poison the minds of Michiru and her followers.
- Narrator: In the handful of instances in which a narrator is required, the Blue Bird is the one who does it.
Sukui
- Voice by: Fuka Osawa (Japanese)
A calm woman who’s a member of the Order of the Sun. While she wants to be as strong as their leader Michiru, she knows inside that it’s not possible for her. So she decides to keep believing that the Sun exists, so that she can live a life without shame when the Sun does come up.
- Ascended Extra: Originally a nameless questgiver in the first game, and completely absent in the second, Sukui is given a name, is one of Clara's allies in Mary Skelter Finale, and helps to teach Pyre that relying on others is not a weakness.
- In the Hood: She wears a hooded robe with the Order of the Sun's blue and white color scheme.
- Meaningful Name: Sukui can mean religious salvation, fitting as she joined the Order of the Sun in hopes of becoming more like Michiru and helping people.
- Quest Giver: This is her sole purpose in the first game, and she continues to do so in Finale for Clara's group.
Hameln Liberated District Residents
General Tropes
- Hero of Another Story: They are the central characters of the sidestory novel Mary Skelter: Hikari no Arika, which tells the first game's events from their perspective. They play roles in the first two games proper but are out of focus, climbing a separate section of the Jail Tower to help the Blood Team advance in the first game while standing in for Tohjima, Haru, Miko, and Clara in the second.
- Intergenerational Friendship: Itsuki, Kaede, and Takumi are 26, 28, and 31 respectively, while Mamoru and Hikari are 16 and most of the Blood Team are assumed to be in their early teens or younger. Despite the age gap, they all quickly become friends in both Hikari no Arika and Mary Skelter 2.
- Freakiness Shame: Being obviously reanimated corpses plays into the group's hesitation to return to the surface with the rest of the Liberated District, not wanting to terrify anyone. Clara assures Mamoru that it'd be fine because everyone was hurt fighting for freedom, they just got it a bit worse than normal, while Otsuu and Little Mermaid work to convince the rest.
- Ghost Memory: They each inherit the memories of a member of the original Dawn Expedition team that appears in the Prologue novel; this occurs after Mamoru's team is buried near the expedition team's remains and subsequently revived. Mamoru gains the memories of "Leader", Hikari gains the memories of "Doctor", Kaede inherits "Mother", and Takumi inherits "Chief". Itsuki gains "Professor's" memories, which he points out shouldn't be possible since the Professor they know is still living. It's ultimately revealed that "Assistant" was Snark, who is impersonating the Professor.
Mamoru
- Voiced by: Ryōta Ōsaka (Japanese), Sean Chiplock (English)
- All Men Are Perverts: The main thing that Clara used to convince Mamoru that he should go to the surface despite his Freakiness Shame wasn't that he earned it, but that there'd be beaches and that means he could see Hikari in a swimsuit.
- Dropping the Bombshell: After gaining the memories of "Leader", the Blood Team is skeptical of his story up until he mentions how "he" was the one who found Red Riding Hood as a child in the Station Grounds, seeing her destroy Marchen with her bare hands, and her name specifically.
- Empowered Badass Normal: Originally just a normal young man, Mamoru was more than willing to stand alone against a Blood Maiden or Nightmares in combat to protect others and was even the only normal person to face off against the Mysterious Nightmare and live. The revised true ending in the remake confirms that the process of being reincarnated by a Jail core has left him and the rest of his group as something functionally identical to a Marchen, putting them well beyond normal human abilities. The purely human form does unfortunately leave him and the rest of the group weaker than monstrous Marchen, but he's able to serve as the camp's guard in Finale while Jack and the Blood Maidens are away.
- Guest-Star Party Member: Mamoru is playable for a Hopeless Boss Fight against the Mysterious Nightmare in Mary Skelter 2, alongside Hansel.
- Off with His Head!: His head is cut off by the Tower Nightmare in Hikari no Arika. Scarring remains on his neck after his resurrection, as can be seen in Finale.
- Official Couple: Gets married to Hikari in Locked Up in Love - True End.
- One Dialogue, Two Conversations: Due to confusion surrounding who was asking about if the Nightmare that killed them had been dealt with. Jack, assuming it's Mamoru asking about the Tower Nightmare, assures him it was killed. "Leader" asks what the trick to it was and then wishes he had known about the cores during the failed expedition, prompting Jack to clarify that only a Nightmare was killed and Snark is still alive. "Leader" had never heard of Snark before this, both he and Mamoru were killed by the Tower Nightmare.
- Quest Giver: Serves this role in Mary Skelter 2 in place of Sukui. Many of the requests come from the district's named residents and provide more insight into their lives upon completion. He takes the role again in Finale, providing sidequests for Jack's group.
- Tempting Fate: In the new True End for the Mary Skelter remake, Mamoru's words are quite hopeful. Finale would prove him wrong, no more than a few minutes after having said this.Mamoru: "We saw rock bottom, so we can only go up from here!"
- What Measure Is a Non-Human?: One late sidequest in Mary Skelter 2 has Mamoru and Hikari request that Otsuu find replacement shovels for them. Completing this they reveal that they've been preparing graves for Hameln's familiars that died defending the area. Hameln is grateful that they would bother doing so.
Hikari Major Unmarked Spoilers
Click to view Hikari as she appears in Mary Skelter Finale
- Voiced by: Manami Numakura (Japanese), Kimberly Woods (English)
- The Cavalry: Hikari wakes up from her coma just in time to slow the moon's approach at the end of Mary Skelter Finale, giving Jack just enough time to make use of the white core to save the world.
- Drama-Preserving Handicap: Her profile for Finale states that given her godlike powers, she could have easily dealt with the Massacre Pink. Why didn't she? "Someone" ran her through with a spear before she could do any more than hold them still for a second. The injury also causes her attempt to teleport the group away to backfire and instead scatter them, and the Massacre Pink, among the surrouding Jail Towers. She continues to push herself despite the injuries, creating a fully upgraded Mary Gun for Clara before teleporting her to Licard Island, and ends up slipping into a coma.
- Friend to All Living Things: It's repeatedly commented on at how well Hikari gets along with anyone, even Marchens and Nightmares when they're not torturing people.
- God Is Good: She was already one of the nicest and purest person there was, and still retained her goodness even after being turned into a god. If anything, that just made her more active in helping out. She ends up coming through for the team on several occasions.
- Late-Arrival Spoiler: Hikari's transformation into an angelic goddess at the end of Mary Skelter is in no way hidden in the advertising for Finale.
- Messianic Archetype: In a setting full of Meaningful Names it should be little surprise that Hikari leads everyone to the surface and their salvation under the sun as an angelic goddess after her resurrection. Even as a human in Mary Skelter 2 she's noted to bring cheer to everyone, human and Marchen alike, where ever she's at.
- Official Couple: Gets married to Mamoru in Locked Up in Love - True End.
- The Omniscient: As a goddess created with the concept of salvation, Hikari instinctively knows when someone is in grave danger, where that someone is, and who could best resolve the situation. It is because of this that she creates Clara's Mary Gun and teleports her to Licard Island from the Judgment Tower in order to save Hameln from Gretel, who is now hunting her down while in Blood Skelter, as well as to return Gretel to normal.
- Spanner in the Works: Using the power of the Jail core to transform into an angelic goddess is essentially the only reason Snark fails. Were it not for her granting Jack and the Blood Maidens the means to try fighting the Jail Tower itself, Snark would have been able to remake the world as he saw fit.
- What Measure Is a Non-Human?: A few of her sidequests in Mary Skelter 2 have her trying to find ways to improve the lives of Hameln's familiars. One has her requesting helmets to protect them from injuries while another has her and Mamoru request that Otsuu find replacement shovels for them so they can continue preparing graves for the familiars that died defending the area. Hameln is grateful that they would bother doing so.
Itsuki
- Voiced by: Daiki Abe (Japanese), Chris Hackney (English)
- Beleaguered Bureaucrat: Making sense of Professor Tohjima's research, handling blood testing on Jack and Hansel, and providing the more technical services that the Blood Maidens may need is already a lot for him to handle, lacking any assistants that could've helped at the Dawn. In one scene Otsuu proves willing to wait until he finds time to help her, only for Kaede to come in demanding help with a sign, followed by Takumi needing something to clean rust, Hameln needing repairs to her "hero goods", and then Mamoru, Hikari, and Gretel all burst in in rapid succession with unseen requests. All of this stated to be a regular occurance. By the time he finally has a moment, Otsuu had completely forgotten what she was going to ask of him.
- Bio-Augmentation: Provides this service to the Blood Maidens. Should they bring him blood packs he can identify what powers the blood would grant, then use it in a blood transfusion to grant them those powers. It takes numerous transfusions of the same type to bring the powers up to anything resembling their natural abilities, but the process greatly expands their skillsets.
- Childhood Friends: With Kaede.
- Off with His Head!: The Tower Nightmare manages to cut off half his head in Hikari no Arika. His face is visibly scarred after his resurrection on his updated portrait in Finale.
- Official Couple: Gets married to Kaede in Locked Up in Love - True End.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: He is the scientist of the Underground District, roughly serving as the sequel's equivalent to Professor Tohjima and Miko Ueshima.
Kaede
- Voiced by: Makiko Miura (Japanese), Deneen Melody (English)
- An Arm and a Leg: The Tower Nightmare cuts off all of her limbs in Hikari no Arika. As noted below, she hides the scarring from her resurrection.
- Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Finale updates the group's designs to include scarring left over from their deaths at the hands of one of the Tower Nightmares. Kaede's scars are hidden underneath some black bands added to her arms and legs, so it appears as though nothing actually happened to her.
- Childhood Friends: With Itsuki.
- Cool Big Sis: She is described as a strong-minded older sister type.
- The Nicknamer: She apparently likes to come up with nicknames for people. In one scene she decides that Sleeping Beauty is "Strawberry Princess", Snow White is "Noise Beauty", and Thumbelina is "Tiny Sister Leader", though it never does get stated what sort of nicknames she's got for others.
- Official Couple: Gets married to Itsuki in Locked Up in Love - True End.
Takumi
- Voiced by: Takashi Narumi (Japanese)
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: A "self-centered eccentric" who randomly chooses different Japanese Pronouns for himself on a whim, but also a weapons expert who originally worked for the Dawn.
- Dub Induced Plothole: In the English version of Finale Takumi is referred to as having been "born and raised in Jail itself". He's also still noted to be 31 years old in the translated novel chapters and the Jail had only been around for about 20 years.
- Half the Man He Used to Be: Takumi is cut in half diagonally by the Tower Nightmare in Hikari no Arika. In Finale some of the scarring left over from his resurrection can be seen leading down from his shoulder near the neck.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: He is a Blood Weapon mechanic, serving as the sequel's equivalent to Haru.
- Unintentional Backup Plan: The simple act of repairing Little Mermaid's microphone proves vital in providing Jack a way to regain his memories of the Mary Skelter 2 timeline during the remake's timeline, in turn allowing him to know what Nightmare Otsuu was about to do and find a way to save Little Mermaid that doesn't involve trapping everyone in a Stable Time Loop, ultimately fulfilling both Nightmare Otsuu's plan to save Little Mermaid and Otsuu and Little Mermaid's plan to save everyone else.
- Done once again in Finale when his act of repairing a couple of transmitters to allow for communication between Clara's exploration group and the camp leads to her being able to get in touch with Riley and Ellie, who had stolen the other transmitter, and tell them to destroy the last remaining core at Licard Island so that the Massacre Pink Nightmare will become vulnerable and stop giving chase before it can kill Pyre.
- What the Hell Is That Accent?: To compensate for the lack of equivelant terms in English for Japanese Pronouns, Takumi's quirk in the dub is instead flipping between accents and slang at a whim instead.
Hansel
- Voiced by: Hiroshi Nakamura (Japanese)
- Anti-Villain: He was responsible for numerous deaths of Dawn exploration groups, but reasons it away as having defended his home against those who pushed on through Gretel's traps. He keeps Gretel out of the fights against the Blood Team out of a desire for her to live a normal life, urging her to go with them should he die. According to Gretel he never made any attempts to kill humans outside of the persistent intruders to their home.
- Belly Mouth: Has a large round mouth on his stomach.
- Eyes Do Not Belong There: Hansel has massive eyes on each of his shoulders, and as his armor breaks away it reveals the eyes on his head are on the right side rather than where they'd normally be.
- Fairy Tale: Hansel and Gretel
- Forgotten Fallen Friend: The entire reason Otsuu and Little Mermaid opt for a Reset Button Ending to Mary Skelter 2 is that, while the Jail's egg core could be used to revive the Blood Maidens who died in the Tower, everyone else would still be left dead. Setting the timeline back to the way it should be is the only way they can think of to save everyone else. Even once memories of the Mary Skelter 2 timeline are restored, Hansel is pretty much completely forgotten with no attempt at all to find a way to revive him being made.
- He remains forgotten within the base games, but is finally remembered in Gretel's route to Mary Skelter: Locked Up in Love - True End, as Jack's initial interest in taking care of Gretel, before honestly falling in love with her, comes from his guilt over killing Hansel and honoring his wish for the Blood Team to take her in.
- Guest-Star Party Member: He is playable in the Hopeless Boss Fight against the Mysterious Nightmare in Mary Skelter 2, alongside Mamoru.
- Mundane Utility: The candy portions of his body apparently are actual sweets. Gretel would take advantage of his regenerative abilities for an endless supply of snacks, only bothering to learn how to make normal sweets after the destruction of the core in their home rendered him incapable of regrowing them.
- Murder the Hypotenuse: Platonic example - Hansel murders a prisoner (who was secretly a Dawn researcher) that was appealing to Gretel's curiosity in a fit of primal jealousy.
- Split Timelines Plot: Hansel is not slain by the Blood Team in Mary Skelter 2, and travels to the Hameln Liberated District alongside Gretel. He instead dies in battle against the Mysterious Nightmare.
- Wake-Up Call Boss: This first Nightmare to have single target attacks that ignore a Paladin's Cover, making for a quick loss if the rest of the party's defenses are not kept up at least a little bit.
Surface Survivors
Riley
- Voiced by: Hisako Tōjō (Japanese), Suzie Yeung (English)
- Badass Adorable: As well as Badass Normal. She's a normal human child who is more than capable of taking on Marchen with a weapon made for her by her Rachel's father along with whatever she might find laying around.
- Cool Big Sis: Riley has always been a good big sister for Ellie and Rachel, though her faith in herself is shattered when Guillotine forces her to give up Rachel in order to keep her from killing anyone. Once she's forgiven herself and is finally able to bring herself to talk to Rachel (who is now going by Pyre), she proves herself to be a much better big sister than the girls in Massacre Pink were, to the point that Pyre, despite not being able to remember Riley and Ellie, is shown to be happy talking to and hanging out with them, even getting excited when they come for a visit.
- Inconsistent Spelling: The Japanese site has her name spelled as Reilly, while the English version of the game has it as Riley.
- Mechanically Unusual Fighter: Her equipment can't be changed and her normal attacks do 1 point of damage at best. She needs to make smart use of her limited item supply to safely get through Licard Island's Jail, making her portions of the game almost a pure Survival Horror.
- My Greatest Failure: When Guillotine forces Riley to choose which sister to give up and gives her until the count to 10, Riley offers Rachel. Riley has never forgiven herself for this, to the point she refuses to let Ellie call her sister. She's also too ashamed to face Rachel when she hears from Clara that her sister is at camp. However...
- My Greatest Second Chance: Hearing that Rachel is in trouble is all the motivation Riley needs to spring into action, leading her and Ellie to destroy the remaining Core on Licard Island that's allowing the Devouring Armada Tower Nightmare to regenerate, forcing it to retreat and saving her sister's life.
- Parental Abandonment: Riley and Ellie's biological father died long ago while their mother abandoned them for another man. Because of this, they only have fond memories of their adopted parents.
- Parents Know Their Children: Of the sibling promoted to parent variety. Riley quickly begins to recognize Pyre as Rachel when she crosses paths with the latter, and while she briefly believes she's mistaken when Pyre denies knowing her and Ellie, it still doesn't fully convince Riley. When Clara is about to explain that Pyre is the real Rachel, Riley reveals she already figured it out.
- Promoted to Parent: Ever since Riley and her sisters got separated from their parents, Riley had to be the caretaker of Ellie and Rachel. Even after she stops calling herself Ellie's sister out of guilt for letting Guillotine kidnap Rachel, she still looks out for her.
- She Is All Grown Up: When you first have the chance to play with her and her sister, they are but children. When the Blood Team encounters them for the first time, they are grown adults.
- That Man Is Dead: In a variation on the concept, Riley keeps her name but throws away her familial relationship with Ellie as she feels she is completely unqualified to be anyone's sister after attempting to sacrifice Rachel to ensure she and Ellie would survive.
- Walking the Earth: The true ending has her and Ellie leave to travel with the Wandering Merchant, promising to visit their sister Rachel every now and then in the future.
Ellie
- Voiced by: Ayaka Fujimoto (Japanese), Xanthe Huynh (English)
- Badass Adorable: As well as Badass Normal, just like her older sister.
- Better to Die than Be Killed: Rather than allow Guillotine to kill her and Riley, she grabs her sister and jumps into a nearby pit to commit suicide. It's revealed immediately after that they managed to survive the fall.
- Cool Big Sis: Although she does show a little jealously whenever Riley pays more attention to Rachel, Ellie nevertheless still loves Rachel with all her heart, to the point that losing her remains one of her most tragic memories. Once Ellie and Riley reunite with Rachel (now going by Pyre), both girls prove themselves to be very loving big sisters, to the point where Pyre becomes excited when they come to visit her.
- Inconsistent Spelling: The Japanese site has her name as Elie, the English version of it and the game itself opts to spell it as Ellie instead.
- Mechanically Unusual Fighter: Just like her sister, for the same reasons.
- Parental Abandonment: Riley and Ellie's biological father died long ago while their mother abandoned them for another man. Because of this, they only have fond memories of their adopted parents.
- Parents Know Their Children: Of the sibling promoted to parent variety. Ellie, just like Riley, also recognizes Pyre as Rachel when they cross paths with her, though hearing Pyre deny knowing them makes them believe they may have been mistaken. Despite this, their next appearance reveals this wasn't enough to fully convince them, leading them to contact Clara's team so they can speak to Pyre.
- Promoted to Parent: To a lesser extent than Riley, but Ellie also does her fair share of looking after Rachel when they children.
- She Is All Grown Up: When you first have the chance to play with her and her sister, they are but children. When the Blood Team encounters them for the first time, they are grown adults.
- Walking the Earth: The true ending has her and Riley leave to travel with the Wandering Merchant, promising to visit their sister Rachel every now and then in the future.
Rachel Major Unmarked Spoilers
- Voiced by: Nao Tamura (Japanese), Amanda Lee (English)
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: The real Rachel averts this, being a genuinely sweet child as shown in Riley and Ellie's flashback, to the point that Pyre, despite having forgotten her identity as Rachel, still retains her kindness even if she denies it. Gallows-as-Rachel on the other hand plays this straight, only acting sweet and bubbly to earn everyone's trust and turn them against Pyre.
- Collective Identity: Pyre and Gallows are both Rachel, Pyre being the real one seen in Riley and Ellie's portion of the game while Gallows takes on the identity to infiltrate Clara's group. Both are treated as the same character until The Reveal.
- Conveniently Unverifiable Cover Story: Gallows as Rachel's story about what happened to her and her family in Eiserne Tower can't really be questioned by anyone. Pyre doesn't remember that she's Rachel, and her sisters were supposed to be dead. It's only the complete coincidence that the sisters tried to rob their camp that causes the story to fall apart.
- Deceased Parents Are the Best: The real Rachel's parents were truly loving people who cared for Rachel, and they also proved themselves to be good parents to Riley and Ellie after taking them in. Notably, Riley and Ellie still have fond memories of the two even after they were murdered by Guillotine.
- I Never Said It Was Poison: Gallows makes this mistake twice while impersonating Rachel, the first time when she attempts to turn everyone against Pyre, and the second time while trying to maintain her cover as Rachel. When Gretel asks "Rachel" how she knew Pyre was talking with Gallows if she never met the latter before, she weakly claims she did see her, only for Gretel to remind her she had asked who Gallows was when she heard the name and said it was scary. "Rachel" then tries to save face by pointing out Gretel saw Pyre talk to Gallows as well, only for Gretel to ask how she could have known that at all since Gretel never told anyone at camp this information.
- Gallows also does this earlier while providing her cover story as Rachel, though Clara's party never catches on to that. "Rachel" tells everyone at camp that a Nightmare killed her father and a Marchen killed her mother. It's revealed later to the player that people on the surface actually call the monsters "contaminated" (a term that even Riley uses when explaining her side of the story to everyone), so the fact that "Rachel" uses terms from the underground may set off some red flags for the player.
- Impostor Forgot One Detail: Gallows gets two details about Rachel's life wrong while she's impersonating the latter, both of which Gretel pick up on. Gallows calls Riley and Ellie her older and younger sister because she heard that detail from Clara, who actually misheard it. When introducing herself as Rachel, Gallows tells everyone her parents recently sacrificed themselves to save her, while Riley and Ellie reveal that Rachel's parents actually passed away long ago when they were only children.
- Lethally Stupid: She's as much this as Too Dumb to Live. Justified in that she's likely not even five years old, but she tries wandering off or running ahead multiple times in Licard Island instead of sticking with her sisters. This behavior eventually leads the girls straight into Guillotine.
- Shoot the Dog: Forced to choose between her sisters by Guillotine, Riley finally caves at the last second and offers up Rachel.
- Spotting the Thread: Trying to turn everyone against Pyre, not referring to Riley and Ellie as her older sisters, and her story of what happened to her family not matching her sisters' all tip Gretel off that the Rachel the party meets in Eiserne Tower is not who she claims to be. It's Gallows, indulging in her hobby of taking things important from people, the real Rachel's identity and friends, before killing them.
Jabberwock Major Unmarked Spoilers
Jabberwock, Ruknalvio
- Voiced by: Kanehira Yamamoto (Japanese), SungWon Cho (English)
- The Friend Nobody Likes: To be fair it isn't his fault that he looks like his brother, but naturally everyone around him is weary of him and avoids him like the plague early on. Their first meeting almost ended in disaster. Red Riding Hood is the first one to give him the benefit of doubt, mostly because she notices and brings up while there are many similiarities with Professor Tohjima, there are also several noticeable differences. Her words cause the others to reluctantly give him a chance, and even then it takes a while before he is accepted.
- Human Aliens: Like Haru and Snark, despite looking completely human Jabberwock is one of the aliens that were looking for an uninhabited world for the Theophil before crashing into Earth.
- Identical Stranger: Jabberwock is nearly identical to Snark's Professor Tohjima form, only lacking the scarring over his right eye which is instead covered by an eyepatch and having his hair hanging down over the left side of his face instead of the right.
- This is a Justified Trope when it's revealed that he is actually Snark's younger brother.
- I Never Said It Was Poison: His use of the terms "Blood Maiden" and "Marchen" increase Toh's suspicion of him once it's learned that people on the surface have been calling them "Massacre Pink" and "Contaminated Being" respectively. He used the terms with the group because he had been in regular contact with Snark prior to the first game's events, and so stuck to terms he knew the group would already know.
- Joke and Receive: Early on Toh accuses him of being Snark, that being his younger brother is nothing more than a less than Paper-Thin Disguise, and he simply throws back the accusation before admitting to just joking around and having no desire to turn the group against each other. The more time he spends with Toh, however, cause him to begin to think he was right and later confirms it with a blood test.
- Late-Arrival Spoiler: His nearly identical appearance to Professor Tohjima and name being related to Snark's helps to give away the fact that those two are one and the same.
- Not Helping Your Case: Jabberwock's attempts to ease the group's suspicion of him are quickly undone due to his desperate attempt to get in contact with Snark in secret after finding out his brother might still be alive thanks to Iron Maiden's parting words in Eiserne Tower.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Jabberwock's real name is never stated in game even after his reveal of Snark's and the fact that they're simply using fairy tale based names on Earth. The novel identifies him as Ruknalvio.
- Poetry: Jabberwocky, not technically a Fairy Tale itself is related to The Hunting of the Snark to keep with the series' Theme Naming.
- Strong Family Resemblance: In the Japanese version Snark and Jabberwock are specifically stated not to be twins, though you'd never guess that just looking at them. The English version, however, adds in a line about them being minutes apart in his introduction.
Yuto Gato
- Voiced by: Yu Kitada (Japanese), Armen Taylor (English)
One of the only surviving humans on the surface, Gato joins Mary's group and provides information about the world's current condition.
- Inconsistent Spelling: Yuuto Gatou in the Japanese version, Yuto Gato in the English version. They also incorrectly list his name as Yuko on the official English website.
- Last-Name Basis: While his full name is given, and always present on his dialog boxes, other characters only ever refer to him as Gato.
- Mr. Exposition: Gato's initial role is to fill in Mary's group on the state of the world on the surface, and then he promptly fades off into the background even more so than other non party members.
- Ungrateful Bastard: When the camp in the Grave Tower is attacked by Marchen, Jack attempts to save him after he drops something important to him. Rather than being grateful for having his life saved, he lashes out at Jack for interfering. Justified, since he knows they won’t target anyone with a Witchcraft Core fragment that he possesses and Jack taking him away from the area before he could retrieve it would leave him vulnerable.
- Walking Spoiler: There is a lot more to Gato than meets the eye. For more details check here.
Others
The Wandering Merchant Major Unmarked Spoilers
The Wandering Merchant, The Adventuring Merchant
- Voiced by: Hiroshi Nakamura (Japanese)
- Ambiguous Situation: The Wandering Merchant is all but confirmed to be the elder Gato brother mentioned in Finale's prequel novel, as he also possesses a white core fragment and has a golden pocket watch which the elder brother was given at the same time the younger brother was given his silver one.
- Ascended Extra: He goes from having no role beyond being a merchant in the first game and only alluded to in the second, to having quite a few scenes of his own in Finale and is vital in reaching the True End thanks to saving Riley and Ellie.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: The Wandering Merchant offers to do something for Riley, Ellie, and Rachel for returning his lost pocket watch in Licard Island, but they refuse the offer. Years later he saves Riley and Ellie from a swarm of Marchen and the Licard Island Nightmare by pulling them through a wall, then escorts them to the core so they can destroy it. In the new world created in the True End he takes the two with him to explore, and regularly brings them back to the village Rachel's living in to visit.
- Creepy Good: He's mostly content to just wander the Jails buying and selling things as he goes, and is noted to be rather creepy, but given a good enough reason he'll help out the people he finds. He waited years for a chance to repay his debt to Riley and Ellie, and took in Clara in the Mary Skelter 2 timeline to teach her how to get around the Jail safely.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": The Wandering Merchant's name is never given. At most his last name might be Gato, but there is never confirmation on it. Assuming he truly is the elder Gato,
Word of God would confirm that his name is Kento. - Inconsistent Dub: He's also known as the Adventuring Merchant in the English version of Finale, while previous games had him known as the Wandering Merhcant.
- Not Quite Dead: If he truly is Kento, the English version of Finale's prequel novel bumps the damage dealt to him up from "disfiguring" to "dead". Clearly not dead enough, as he's still wandering the world.
- Ripple-Effect-Proof Memory: Thanks to his white core fragment he's uneffected by the time resets just like Gato. He visibly recognizes Clara when they meet, though he doesn't bring any of it up.
The Jail AI Major Unmarked Spoilers
The Jail AI, Checheraemi
(Spoilers for Mary Skelter 2 and Finale, so proceed with extreme caution)- The Fourth Wall Will Not Protect You: In the True End for Mary Skelter 2, the Jail AI suddenly begins speaking in a much wider range than before to directly address the player.Jail AI: "UNABLE TO CONFIRM. EVERYONE HAS NOW FORGOTTEN. I APOLOGIZE, I WAS MISTAKEN. ONLY YOU CAN STILL REMEMBER. THE PAST CANNOT BE CHANGED. BUT THE FUTURE MAY CHANGE THE PAST. I AM NOT LYING. I WAS CREATED TO ONLY TELL THE TRUTH. IT IS YOUR TURN TO STEAL AWAY HER FUTURE. I WILL SEE YOU AT THE NEXT TOWER. I WAS CREATED TO ONLY TELL THE TRUTH."
- Mouth of Sauron: The AI that became part of the Jail in Mary Skelter 2 serves to allow it a greater, though still quite limited, range in communication regarding its desires.
- The AI returns in Finale to serve as a voice for the surface Jails starting at the Grave Tower and, like the underground Jail's, exists to inform people of what the Jails want in a limited fashion. Realizing that there's more to the AI than that after it teases him, Toh spends some time trying to get it to explain what it actually is only for it to suddenly break from the generic responses once again to say "The future may change the past." repeatedly.
- Together in Death: Checheraemi drops the act after a few lines during Toh's Heroic Sacrifice to die alongside her husband as herself.
- Villains Never Lie: The AI itself makes it a point to inform those that it's speaking with that it was created to only tell the truth, and like the Jails themselves is simply at worst vague about things.
- Wetware CPU: The AI isn't really an AI at all, but a woman who was absorbed into all of the Jails. She was Checheraemi, Snark's wife.
