Characters from the murder mystery visual novel, Murder by Numbers (2020).
Due to the nature of the game, it's impossible to list tropes for characters without spoiling everything or creating Self-Fulfilling Spoilers; thus, all spoilers will be unmarked ahead. You Have Been Warned!
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Main and Recurring Characters
Honor Mizrahi
An actress for the detective TV show Murder Miss Terri, before she was unceremoniously fired for no clear reason. Shortly after, she met SCOUT, and after witnessing Blake's death, the two end up solving cases together for real.
- Ambiguously Jewish: Mizrahi is a Jewish surname, but the game doesn't go into this at all.
- Awful Wedded Life: What her life with Ryan was like before she divorced him. Honor mentions how although Ryan seemed nice at first, he later reveals himself to be extremely controlling and abusive, forcing Honor to stop seeing her friends and family and even telling her to quit working on the show. It took convincing from K.C. for Honor to realize what's going on and divorce him.
- Deadpan Snarker: Some of her dialogue options have shades of this. For example, in Case 2, when Detective Cross arrives at the crime scene and asks Honor what she's doing, one of her possible answers is that she and SCOUT are measuring the victim for a coffin.
- Disappeared Dad: Her father, a police officer, died while chasing down a suspect.
- Meaningful Name: Can be combined with SCOUT's name to form "scout's honor", a phrase said when you're telling the truth.
- Never a Self-Made Woman: Though Honor passed her audition for Murder Miss Terri on her own merit, Ryan's connections were what landed her the audition in the first place. Becky is quick to point this out whenever she wants to take a jab at Honor.
- Shout-Out: According to the game's director and co-writer Ed Fear
, Honor's surname is a reference to Juli Mizrahi from Xenosaga. - We Used to Be Friends: To Blake Patterson, at least before he fired her from the show. Played with in that Honor still feels mournful upon finding out that he was killed, and even after she's allowed to go home by Det. Cross, she still wants to find the culprit and avenge Blake.
S.C.O.U.T.
Click here to see [SPOILERS]
SCOUT's Assault ModeS.C.O.U.T. (also spelled SCOUT) is a robot. After waking up in a scrap heap with most of his memories gone, he wanders around until he encounters Honor. Mistaking her for an actual detective, he asks her for help in finding out his origins.
- Accidental Pervert: At one point, he took measurements of Honor's body via scan (without her consent) to determine whether or not she would fit through an Air-Vent Passageway. He quickly complies when Honor asks him to delete the data, though.
- Ambiguous Gender: Although he's referred to using male pronouns, SCOUT does not really identify as either male or female (although he still feels hesitant to go into women's restrooms). He discusses this with Roz in Case 3.
- Amnesiac Hero: He woke up in a scrap heap without most of his memories, and part of his journey involves trying to figure out his origins.
- Animal Motifs: As detailed in the artbook, SCOUT's design is partly inspired by axolotls — most noticeably are the antennae on the sides of his head, which resemble axolotl gills. It thematically fits too; the axolotl's neoteny (ie. it perpetually looks like a juvenile even as it continues to age) mirrors SCOUT's young and naïve personality.
- Cassette Futurism: His design aesthetics has elements of this. Of particular is his CRT monitor head, the literal audio cassette player on his body, and him boasting that he has over 200 MB of storage (which was impressive back in the '90s).
- Cannot Tell a Lie: Played very straight in Case 1 due to his naivete and being Literal-Minded, but quickly grown out of thanks restoring his programming and consuming too many detective novels and learning the value of...creative misdirection. He still is prone to blurting inconvenient truths out when he gets excited though.
- Cute Machines: SCOUT is an adorable robot who loves movies and books, and is especially cute when happy or excited. His Assault Mode form, not so much.
- Fun with Acronyms: Played with. According to Jena, S.C.O.U.T. is an abbreviation for something, but she forgets what it is because Tom kept changing it.Jena: SCOUT: Self-Contained... Uh... Operating...? I forget the rest. One of Tom's little jokes.
I swear, it stood for something different every week. - Literal-Minded: As expected from a robot who had lost most of his memories, although he slowly sheds this trait as he learns more about the world. For example, in Case 1, he thinks the phrase "the smoking gun" refers to an actual gun, and when Honor asks him to find a way out of the break room they're locked in, he points towards the locked door.SCOUT: It's very confusing when humans say things that mean other things.
Honor: I'm sure you'll catch on.
SCOUT: Catch on to what?
[Honor smirks]
SCOUT: ...that was another one, wasn't it? - Meaningful Name: Can be combined with Honor's name to form "scout's honor", a phrase said when you're telling the truth.
- Non-Human Sidekick: To Honor.
- Robot Antennae: He has multiple sets on the sides of his head which resemble TV aerials.
- Robot Buddy: He's one to Honor.
- Telescoping Robot: SCOUT's Assault Mode not only changes his color palette, but also causes a bunch of sinister-looking robotic limbs and weapons to sprout from his body; far more than could reasonably fit in his small chassis.
- Unusually Uninteresting Sight: Most characters seem relatively unphased by the fact that SCOUT is literally a flying robot. While Honor seems pretty shocked when she first meets him, most other characters do little more than ask what he is, assuming they even acknowledge him at all.
- What Measure Is a Non-Human?: The question of SCOUT's autonomy and sentience is raised repeatedly throughout the story.
K.C. LeBeau
A makeup artist and Honor's best friend. He helped her realize that her ex-husband Ryan was abusive towards her, and what eventually led her to divorce him.
- Camp Gay: He dresses flamboyantly and is very up-front about his sexuality. Unlike many examples of this trope, this aspect of his character is portrayed emphatically and realistically, instead of derisively. Game director and co-writer Ed Fear mentioned that K.C. "was meant to be a tribute to the gay stereotypes that [he knows] are truthful from [his] own experience", and that K.C. "unapologetically owns those stereotypes."
- Gay Best Friend: The gay British K.C. is Honor's only major support before SCOUT enters the picture, and a drag queen bar he helps with makeup in becomes the setting of Case 3.
Becky Call
Honor's co-star on Murder Miss Terri, playing the titular character.
- Achievements in Ignorance: She manages to save Honor, SCOUT, and herself from a raging fire in Case 2...by summoning her experience preparing for a role as a firefighter in a school play. Even she realizes how reckless it was once she says it out loud.
- Alpha Bitch: She's full of herself and constantly dismisses others, although she gradually gets better.
- Defrosting Ice Queen: Becky starts out extremely cold and unappreciative of Honor and everyone else around her, but softens up by the end of Case 2.
- Lonely Rich Kid: Becky's parents don't pay attention to her at all, and a major reason she wants to win a Starshine Award is so they notice her.
- Out of Focus: Despite being depicted prominently in the title sequence, Becky doesn't appear again after the second case. She only gets a quick mention in the ending of the fourth case.
- Punny Name: "Beck and call."
- Skewed Priorities: After Blake was murdered, she's more concerned about showing up late to a party than the fact that her boss has just died.Becky: Just because Blake's dead, doesn't mean my social life has to die too.
Detective Cross
Detective Gerry Cross
A detective at LAPD who somehow seems to always find himself company with Honor and SCOUT.
- Anger Born of Worry: Detective Cross is initially frosty towards Honor, but it's because she reminds him of her father, who died in the line of duty while working with Cross.
- Feeling Their Age: Detective Cross seems to be on the verge of retirement, and repeatedly comments on how much simpler being a police detective used to be.
- Reluctant Retiree: Detective Cross is being strong armed into retirement at the start of the game. Honor and SCOUT manage to get into his good graces by providing much needed manpower for his investigations, as his station is slowly cutting back on the resources available to him in the hope that he eventually caves. By the end of the game he's been promoted to Captain, thanks to his success in solving a string of very high profile cases over the summer of 1996.
- Technologically Blind Elders: Detective Cross has trouble working new technology, with a sole exception being a GPS.
Sharon Mizrahi
Honor's mother.
- Fantasy-Forbidding Mother: She is very vocal in her disapproval of Honor's career as an actress and later detective, and spends most of the game nagging her to give the whole thing up and pursue a more stable career.
- Horrible Judge of Character: Sharon thinks Ryan (Honor's abusive ex-husband) is perfectly nice, and also thinks highly of the arrogant, abusive talk show host Dick Stanford. She also has no idea K.C. is gay and doesn't even get his name right.
- My Beloved Smother: Although she means well, she often becomes overbearing towards Honor, and frequently disagrees with Honor regarding her career and life choices.
Ryan Blackstock
Honor's wealthy ex-husband.
- Hate Sink: Ryan has no redeeming qualities at all and is a textbook abuser, complete with emotional manipulation and false apologies.
- Psycho Ex: Does he. After Honor divorced him, he decided to get back at her by blackmailing her boss and threatening him to fire her. He also paid the Starshine Awards committee to disqualify Murder Miss Terri from the nominations. He does all this just to get Honor back under his control.
- Privilege Makes You Evil: He's the heir to the Blackstock fortune, but mostly uses it to make Honor's life difficult after their divorce.
- The Teetotaler: He swears off whiskey, being revolted by even its smell; the reason is that it reminds him of the time he accidentally crashed his father's yacht while being absolutely wasted.
Other characters
Introduced in Case 1
Blake Patterson
Honor's friend and former boss at Gridmoore Studios. He is the case's victim, killed by a blow to the head.
- Blackmail: On the receiving end of it. He was threatened by his killer because they have photos of him having an affair, and the deal involves him firing Honor from Murder Miss Terri or risk having the photos leak to the public. He decided to call the cops, and the killer struck him on the head in a panic.
- Bludgeoned to Death: Blake was killed by being struck on the head with an award.
- We Used to Be Friends: To Honor, at least before he fired her from the show.
Bill Clubb
- All There in the Manual: His surname is never mentioned in-game; it is only revealed in the game's artbook.
- Fat Idiot: He has a large build and is also really clumsy. He constantly forgets that he was supposed to catch kids spraying graffiti on the studios' walls, and when asked by Honor to retrieve footage from the CCTV, he breaks apart the entire machine, not knowing that it has an eject button.
John Redfern
John Redfern, AKA "ShowMaster66"
A huge fan of Murder Miss Terri, who visits Gridmoore Studios at a particularly unlucky time.
- Frame-Up: He was framed for the murder of Blake; the killer had put the murder weapon (an award statue) inside his bag without him realizing.
- Loony Fan: He's obsessed with Murder Miss Terri, and is also a rather off-putting person, being easily angered at people dismissing his favorite show. Later, he keeps chasing Becky to read poetry that he's written for her. It is also revealed that he had written death threats to the studio because he thought the last season of Miss Terri went downhill, and secretly sneaked in a tape recorder into Blake's office.
- Misplaced Retribution: He was accused of being Blake's killer and arrested, with the hate mail he sent and the tape recorder he had snuck in serving as evidence. However, although he did sent death threats and snuck into the studio, he didn't kill Blake, and was actually framed by the real culprit.
- Opaque Nerd Glasses: He wears a pair with square spirals on its lenses, completely obscuring his eyes.
- Straw Misogynist: Has shades of this, especially after Becky repeatedly avoids him and seeing Tully constantly flirting with all the women in the studios.John: Why do women always go for meat-heads like him when there are good guys like me just waiting to be given a chance?
Honor: Gee, I don't know. Maybe if you respected them as people instead of acting like they owe you something? That'd be a good start.
John: Oh, sure. And what would you know about it?!
Tully
Tully, AKA Frank Pritchell
A handyman. According to him, he was temporarily hired by the studio to do some contractor work.
- Accidental Murder: After his attempt to blackmail Blake went south, the two got into a tussle and he accidentally killed Blake by hitting his head with an award.
- Blackmail Backfire: Tully tried to blackmail Blake with pictures of him cheating on his wife to make him fire Honor. When Blake tried to call the cops, Tully panicked and whacked him in the head with a trophy.
- Casanova Wannabe: He constantly flirts with all the women in the studio, even in the crime scene. Said women really do not appreciate it; Honor even asks SCOUT if he has a cattle prod attachment to use against him.
- Disney Villain Death: He died from a fall off of his apartment building. It's initially believed to be a suicide, but you later find out Jack Larsen murdered him.
- Dumb Muscle: He seems to be somewhat airheaded. He does not realize when he stepped in a crime scene, and he knows about Murder Miss Terri, but doesn't recognize that Honor played a character in the show. However, it turns out he had most likely been playing dumb instead.
- Never Suicide: By the time that the police surrounds Frank's apartment, he was already found dead; the police found a suicide note, and concluded that he had jumped off the building out of guilt for what he had done. However, Honor still had questions (namely, why Frank specifically requested Blake to remove Honor from Miss Terri), and was not satisfied with the police's conclusion. Much later in the story, it was revealed that Frank was an employee of Lethe Security, and he was murdered to remove any connections between him and the company, after his blackmail attempt went wrong.
- Punny Name: Tully is a handyman who often works with tools. Played with in that Tully is just an alias; his real name is Frank Pritchell.
Introduced in Case 2
Dick Stanford
A famous TV personality, and former host of the talk show Backtalk. He is the case's victim, initially believed to be killed by strangulation, but later found to have died from being poisoned with a neurotoxin.
- Asshole Victim: Before being murdered, Dick Stanford was known to be a terrible person behind the scenes, being abusive to his co-worker Kathleen and constantly berating Bobby for replacing him as Backtalk's host.
- A Dick in Name: His name is Dick and he's a jerk to his colleagues in the show business. Lampshaded by K.C.Honor: I don't get it. We met Dick backstage and he was a complete jackass.
K.C.: At least he was living up to his name. - Did Not Die That Way: The player is initially led to believe that the killer strangled Dick to death by hand, but the medical examiner discovers it was actually a neurotoxin that did him in.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: The artbook mentions that Dick's design was inspired by classic talk show hosts such as Johnny Carson and Dick Cavett.
- Straw Misogynist: He always found a way to talk backhandedly towards women every other sentence. When presenting the Starshine Award winner for Best Actress, Dick congratulates the nominees for managing to remember their lines, and when Becky gets angry over the fact that she didn't win, Dick mentions how it's "someone's time of the month." Kathleen also later revealed that she had to put up with so much when co-hosting Dick's talkshow, since he loathed having a woman co-host and only had Kathleen on board because his network insisted.
- Tempting Fate: When presenting the Starshine Awards, Dick boldly proclaims to his fans that even though he's retired, "Dick Stanford is not dead yet!" Shortly after, Dick was found dead in his dressing room.
Bobby Price
An up-and-coming celebrity. He took over hosting Backtalk from Dick Stanford, which earns him ire from the latter.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: According to the official artbook, his design was inspired by various real-life '90s celebrities such as Arsenio Hall and Will Smith.
- Sinister Suffocation: He attempts to murder Dick Stanford by strangling him. However, this is subverted because Dick was already dead by the time Bobby got his hands on him.
Kathleen Cartwright
Dick's former co-host in the talk show Backtalk.
- Alliterative Name: Kathleen Cartwright.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Working with Dick Standford for twenty years was hard and degrading as she had to put up with his abuse and hear others talk about how wonderful he is, and when she tried to tell under an assumed name details of the abuse, his lawyers put a stop to it, leading her to murder him. At the same time, she constantly goes out of her way to cover herself by throwing Bobby under the bus. She gave Bobby the poisoned make-up in order to have him stuck with the murder weapon because he wanted a present to give to Becky (which could have led to Becky's death if she used it), tells Ryan the reasons why the killer had to be Bobby after the police decided he wasn't the murderer, and when Honor asks about the name "Alex Costa", she replies that Alex is Bobby's mother's name (in addition to choosing a name with an obvious connection to Bobby, Alex COSTa and Bobby PRICE). In addition, she embarrassed Dick Standford by giving him a poison in public that would make him look drunk while also putting (Bobby's) hip flask in his dressing room to make him look worse (in addition to tying Bobby to the crime scene by using his hipflask and later answering a question about the hipflask by saying that Bobby had drinking problems). In reality, Dick Standford was a teetotaler for forty years. She did suffer abuse and attempt a non-lethal way of resolving her issues, but almost every step of the way she used
- Fanservice Extra: Kathleen was hired for Backtalk starting with its second season solely to "attract more viewers". Though she did refuse to wear the more skimpy outfits the producers tried to stuff her in.
- Fiery Cover Up: She attempted to burn down the awards venue to cover her tracks.
Introduced in Case 3
Fran Tasia
Fran Tasia/Edwin Tinker
K.C.'s drag mother, and the current owner of the drag bar, Magellan's.
- Accidental Murder: She accidentally ran over Oliver Laurel while trying to commit insurance fraud in order to repay her loans. When she is found out, she admits that she didn't know Oliver was there.
- Drag Queen: ...do we really need to elaborate here?
- I Didn't Mean to Kill Him: She pleads to K.C. that her killing Oliver was an accident.
- Insurance Fraud: What Fran was trying to do by crashing the parade float into the front of the bar, as she was drowning in debt. Sadly, she didn't see Oliver Laurel sleeping on the ground outside the bar, and she ended up running him over.
Roz Mosis
One of the drag queens at Magellan's. As it turns out, unlike most drag queens, she's actually female at birth.
- Drag Queen: Of the cis woman variety.
Crispin Hakewell
- Expy: According to the artbook, he's visually designed to be similar to Goro Majima from the Yakuza games.
- Gonk: He has a gaunt, lanky build, with bulging eyes, a sharp nose, and a row of just-as-sharp teeth. His design very much contrasts those of every other character introduced thus far.
- Loan Shark: What he turns out to be.
Oliver Laurel
A newer resident of Magellan's found dead from being run over by the stolen parade float.
- Gory Discretion Shot: The game noticeably doesn't have a dramatic zoom in on his body like the other victims of the game. Presumably this is because showing a man run over by a parade float would have been much... messier.
- Shout-Out: His name comes from comedy duo Laurel and Hardy, borrowing the surname of the former and the given name of the latter.
Introduced in Case 4
Eirin Kino
An eccentric movie director.
- Doom Magnet: Eirin Kino has this reputation, due to something suspicious always managing to go down on the sets of her movies. Part of the reason that her brother Ray is at Honor and Cross's throats is because he's worried that their investigation will only add fuel to the rumor fire.
- For the Evulz: Why Eirin Kino breaks the law: she can, so she does. Honor compares her to a domestic cat - a cat that is provided with all the food it can ever want, but still insists on killing birds.
- Punny Name: "Kino" is slang for sophisticated cinema, which she specializes in; while "Eirin" sounds like "airing" — as in a film airing.
Ray Kino
A defense attorney and Eirin's brother. Infamous for always getting away with any charges the police pinned on him and his sister.
- Amoral Attorney: Ray Kino is a defense attorney by trade and knows every trick in the book to ensure the police can't investigate his eccentric sister Eirin. Lampshaded by Cross after he does realize a loophole, saying attorneys usually find those only when it helps them, as this clears his current murder accusation.
- Cloudcuckoolander's Minder: For his sister Eirin. As he is also a lawyer, this extends to getting his sister acquitted for crimes she very definitely did commit.
Lori Becker
A security guard employed under Lethe. Killed by being shot in the chest.
- Body In A Bread Box: Her body was found in one of the lifeboats, as the killer tried to set it out to sea.
- Instant Death Bullet: The gunshot that killed her.
Clyde Musselmann
Clyde Musselmann, AKA Hyde Musselmann
The temporary captain of the Anemone, taking over the yacht after the regular captain called in sick.
- Punny Name: He's a large, muscular man, whose surname sounds similar to "muscle man."
- Sue Donym: His real name is Hyde Musselmann. When boarding the Anemone as a temporary captain, he was asked his name — he accidentally says "Hyde", but quickly corrects himself by saying it's Clyde instead.
Mal Cruz
The actual captain of the Anemone. Thought to have called in absent, he's actually locked inside the yacht's storage room. He is later killed via suffocation in his hospital room.
- Punny Name: He's a captain manning a cruise ship — namely the Kinos' yacht. His first name is also another word for bad, which... yeah, would describe the cruise in a nutshell.
- Vorpal Pillow: He's on the receiving end of this in the hospital he gets taken to.
Others
Jena al-Jazaria
One of the engineers who worked on the SCOUT project.
- All There in the Manual: Her surname is never mentioned in-game; it is only revealed in the game's artbook.
- Named After Somebody Famous: She is most likely named after Ismail al-Jazari, a 12th century engineer and inventor who wrote a book on 50 mechanical devices and how to construct them, and is regarded as the "father of robotics".
- Scary Shiny Glasses: She's seen briefly with a shine on her glasses in the opening animation.
Tom Schmidt
One of the engineers who worked on the SCOUT project.
- Big Fun: He was on the heavier side, and he liked to crack jokes to lighten the mood in his lab.
- Posthumous Character: He was long dead before the story begins, being accidentally shot by SCOUT while the latter was in Assault Mode. His only appearances are in flashbacks and the unlockable SCOUT's Memories.
Jack Larsen
The CEO of Lethe Security.
- Big Bad: He used to be involved in the project that created SCOUT and was the one that moved the project into turning SCOUT into a military weapon. He also turns out to be behind the murders of Lori and Frank.
- Meaningful Name:
- He hijacked the SCOUT project in order to add military arsenal to SCOUT. His surname also sounds similar to "larceny", which is the act of illegally taking someone's property.
- His company's name, Lethe Security. "Lethe" is an old English word which can mean "oblivion", "deception", and even "death", but also forgetfulness, a.k.a the loss of SCOUT's memories.
