Much like The Stanley Parable, The Beginner's Guide has only a few characters. Given the nature of the game, spoilers are unmarked.
Main Characters
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Player Character
The in-universe protagonist of Coda's games.
- Author Avatar: In several games, particularly Mobius and Island, they represents Coda and give a voice to their thoughts.
- Despair Event Horizon: Gradually begins to cross this starting from Mobius onward, saying that they cannot keep creating and feels drained.
- Featureless Protagonist: Compared to Stanley from The Stanley Parable (who was also featureless but had what little personality given to him), this protagonist has even less barring in a few of the games Coda made like The Machine.
- My Future Self and Me: The final prison game in Pornstars Die Too has them talk to their past self and try to get them out of the prison.
- No Name Given: Never named at any point.
- Supporting Protagonist: They are mostly a blank slate for the player to project themselves onto- the real focus of the story is narrator Davey Wreden and his struggle to understand why his dear friend stopped making games.
- Villain Protagonist: In The Machine, they are a woman who ruthlessly interrogates the titular antagonist before destroying it and its games, with the heavy implication that she is blaming it for something it has little-to-no control over.
- Villain with Good Publicity: In The Machine, she rallies the adoring press with a speech about how she will destroy the Machine for what is heavily implied to be something out of its control.
Davey Wreden
Voiced by: Davey Wreden
The creator of The Stanley Parable. He was friends with Coda, a fellow developer, and compiled Coda's games in hopes of reaching out to him.
- As Himself: The Davey Wreden presented as the narrator is actually a fictionalized version of the real Davey. Said portrayal is of a narcissistic emotional abuser who puts on a front of kindness and wisdom but is actually really insecure and unstable, and a bad friend to Coda.
- Author Avatar: Davey Wreden voices (a fictionalized version of) himself, presenting the collection of games, commenting and giving his interpretations of the games as you progress. He eventually turns out to be a very unflattering variant as a controlling Narcissist who starts off lying to the player about everything and is viciously lambasting himself by the end.
- Autobiographical Role: Subverted; his role as the narrator is initially presented as this, with his account of everything being a true story. However, it is actually a case of As Himself, because this Davey is fictional.
- Big Bad: He is the one who drove Coda away by tampering with his games and being a Toxic Friend Influence.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: While not quite evil, Davey is quite the Narcissist, and in the epilogue, he says that he cannot understand the idea of not being constantly hungry for external validation.Heh, it's strange, but the thought of not being driven by external validation is unthinkable, like I actually cannot conceive of what that would be like!
- Gaslighting: Davey used the fans of his analyses as proxies to accuse Coda of being as fragile as Davey himself.
- Heel Realization: At the end of The Tower, he finally comes to terms with the fact that the destruction of his friendship with Coda was his own doing because he tampered with Coda's games and showed them to others against his wishes:I'm the reason you stopped making games, aren't I? It's because of what I did. I poisoned it for you.
- Inferiority Superiority Complex: He initially presents himself as this wise, all-knowing game developer who can accurately interpret the meaning in all of Coda's games, and basks in the praise people give him. The last two chapters reveal that he is actually an insecure Narcissist who hates himself and looks for praise to drown out those feelings.I don't think I ever told you this, but when I took your work and I was showing it to people, it actually felt... It felt as though I were responsible for something important and valuable. And the people who played them, they treated me like I was important! They really listened and cared about what I had to say. Even though I was showing your work, it was... I felt good about myself. Finally. For a moment, while I had that, I liked myself. [...] Even now the disease is telling me to stop, don't show people what a shitty person you are. They'll hate you.
- Ignored Epiphany: The entire game is one for Davey. After seeming to come to conclusion that he is the reason Coda stopped making games because he kept adding his own interpretations, altering them to fit themes he thought they were supposed to represent, and eventually showing them to the public against Coda's wishes, Davey wishes to apologize to Coda... by taking all of Coda's games, compiling them together, and releasing them for the entire internet along with his commentary on the supposed themes in the hopes that Coda will see it.
- I Just Want to Be You: Davey envies the 'self' that Coda expresses through his games, and tries to co-opt it as much as he can.
- Know-Nothing Know-It-All: Throughout the story, he tries to make himself look like this super-wise game developer who can accurately interpret all of Coda’s games and, through his interpretations, paint a picture of what kind of person Coda is. By the end, it becomes apparent that Davey has no idea what he is talking about, wildly misinterprets the contents of the games, and outright edits several of the games to force them to fit his interpretations.
- Narcissist: His whole reason for betraying Coda the way he did- altering his games and showing them to people without his permission- is that he wants to feel important and like a good person for ‘saving’ Coda. In the epilogue, he flat-out says that he literally cannot comprehend not needing external validation.
- Obliviously Evil: The end reveals that all this time, Davey thought he was helping Coda by doing things like trying to convince him to make the games more playable, modifying them, releasing them to others and telling those people about Coda's supposed depression, when in reality all this was accomplishing was poisoning the gamemaking hobby more and more for Coda, ultimately dissuading him from making more games (or at least showing them to Davey).
- Psychological Projection: Outside validation is the only thinkable goal for Davey as an artist, and he assumes it's the same for Coda. In addition, the depression, loneliness, and self-hatred that he attributes to Coda and claims that Coda is showing through their games is actually Davey's own feelings that he projects onto Coda, leading him to force everything in the games to fit his narrative.
- Toxic Friend Influence: He's fully aware of it and wants to make amends, but he doesn't seem to understand why he's such a bad influence, and Coda doesn't want amends. He just wants Davey out of the picture.
- Tragic Villain: It's ambiguous whether Davey is as empty as he believes he is, or whether he's just too afraid to look. His ideas imply that some potential to be a truly good person is there, even if it was expressed in the worst possible way.
- Troubled Abuser: He emotionally abused Coda when they were friends, pushing his interpretations on Coda's games, editing them to fit those interpretations, and going behind Coda's back to show others Coda's games, something that explicitly hurts Coda. Davey does this because he needs external validation to stave off his self-hatred.
- Unreliable Narrator: Davey lets slip near the end of the game that he added an ending to the housecleaning game, which he had earlier presented as an intentional part of the game's message; this immediately calls the actual content of all of Coda's games into question, a suspicion that is more directly confirmed with Coda's message that reveals that the running symbol of the lampposts was at least partially Davey's invention. It also calls into question the stories he tells about meeting and befriending Coda outside the games, and how much he can be trusted to tell the truth about that.
- Villainous Breakdown: At the end of The Tower, after realizing he was the one who drove Coda away with his emotional abuse, he has a long breakdown on recording that lasts through the Epilogue.I'm the reason that you stopped making games, aren't I? It's because of what I did. I poisoned it for you. I don't think I ever told you this, but when I took your work and I was showing it to people, it actually felt... It felt as though I were responsible for something important and valuable. And the people who played them, they treated me like I was important! They really listened and cared about what I had to say. Even though I was showing your work, it was... I felt good about myself. Finally. For a moment, while I had that, I liked myself. And then you stopped, and I didn't have anything left to show people. And I just had to be with myself. And as soon as that happened there was no feeling at all. Nothing. Less than nothing. What does that mean? I'm afraid that I did something really stupid because I don't like myself.
That's why I'm releasing this collection of your work, is because I haven't been able to find any other way to reach you. I've tried everything. And... so a part of me has hope, that if I put this compilation out into the world, and if I put my name on it, that maybe enough people will play it so that it will find its way to you, so that I can tell you that...I'm sorry. I know I screwed up. If I apologize to you truly and deeply, will you start making games again? Please, I need to feel okay with myself again, and I always felt okay as long as I had your work to see myself in. I mean, is something wrong with me? Because I know I did an awful thing, and I'm doing it again right now, I'm showing people your work, but I can't stop myself from doing it, that's how badly I need to feel something again, like I'm an addict. There has to be something wrong with me! Can I apologize? What if I tell you I was wrong, will that work, will that fix it? I-I don't know! I don't think it will, but there's nothing else that I can do! Just tell me what you want! I'm...I'm sorry. I'm sorry! Please start making games again, please help me, please give me some of whatever it is that makes you complete, I want whatever that wholeness that you just summoned out of nothing and put into your work, you were complete in some way that I never was. I want- I want to know how to be a good person, I want to know how not to hate myself. Please! I'm fading. And all I want is to know that I'm going to be okay.
More. More more more. More love, more praise, more people telling me that I'm good, always more more more... It's like a disease. Solution, solution, solution. I guess if someone had told me ahead of time that he just really enjoyed making prison games, maybe I wouldn't have thought he was so desperate? I wouldn't have told so many people that he was depressed. Maybe he just likes making prisons. Even now the disease is telling me to stop, but don't show people what a shitty person you are. They'll hate you. If I knew that my life depended on finding something to be driven by other than validation... What would that even be? Heh, it's strange, but the thought of not being driven by external validation is unthinkable, like I actually cannot conceive of what that would be like! What now? I think I need to go. And...I'm sorry, because I know that I said I would be here and I would walk you through this, but. I'm starting to feel like I have a lot of work to do. I have a lot that I need to make up for. And so I'm... ...just going to... Okay. - Villain Protagonist: Davey is basically the actual protagonist as the story is told through his lens, and a narcissist who obsessively alters and attempts to show his "friend's" work without their consent and violates their privacy. He's not a monster, but he's deeply flawed.
- Villain with Good Publicity: Davey is a very respected game developer who is praised for his interpretations of his friend Coda's games. However, not only are his interpretations wrong, but he himself is a Toxic Friend Influence whose emotional abuse of Coda is the reason why the latter quit game development.
Coda
The developer of the various games played. Though considered reclusive and introverted, he befriended Davey Wreden and, according to Davey, was warm and kind. However, he mysteriously stopped marking games, and Davey hasn't seen him since.
- Ambiguous Gender: Davey refers to Coda with male pronouns, but the fact that we never actually see or hear Coda combined with the fact that Davey is a horribly Unreliable Narrator make it questionable if even that is true. The protagonist of the games is female, female figures show up repeatedly, and the only voiced dialogue in any of the games comes from a female voice, adding credibility to the possibility that Coda is female. It is also possible to interpret them as trans.
- The Ghost: Coda's games are the central focus of the game, but the player never sees or hears from him, and only know what Davey tells them. The closest we get are a series of messages addressed to Davey at the end of The Tower.
- Hero Antagonist: Coda is essentially the antagonist of the story, both as the programmer of all the obstacles and the one who pushes Davey away. However, Davey is a Villain Protagonist and Toxic Friend Influence who tampered with Coda's games, then showed them to people against his will, and then stole them to sell them on Steam, so Coda's antagonism is understandable.
- Meaningful Name:
- A "coda" is a summation or conclusion, often by prolonging, like the coda to a piece of music or the linguistic syllable coda after a vowel. It exists to conclude, but it also drags things out.
- In addition, the Coda is a sign for the player of the music to turn back. The final song of the game is titled "Turn Back", and seems to be about Coda trying to get Davey to go away from this toxic relationship. (To a lesser extent, the penultimate track of the game is even named "D.C. Al Coda", the full name for the symbol.)
- It's also nearly homophonous to "coder".
NPCs within Coda's games
Listen/Speak (Prisoners)
Two trios of NPCs in two separate rooms near the end of Down. They are trapped inside and ask the player how to escape.
- Nightmare Fetishist: Downplayed; one of them, if asked if he wants to solve the puzzle to escape the prison, says that he actually finds the creepy dark space in between the puzzle doors to be more interesting than escaping.
Clean (Housecleaner)
An NPC who owns the titular house in the House game. He asks you to help him clean the house.
- Deep South: He greets you by saying he is “glad as all heck” you showed up and is generally written as though he has a southern accent.
- Lame Pun Reaction: Inverted; if you make a pun, he reacts with approval:Clean: Everyone knows lonesome hands make lousy homes!
Player Character: (option 2) And lousy homes make... home-loners!
Clean: HA! Something tells me you're gonna be fun to do this job with. - Nice Guy: He is incredibly welcoming to the player, bonds with them over chores, engages in friendly conversation, and is generally the nicest character in the game.
Talk (Professor)
An NPC in Items You Love at Members-Only Prices who seeks to teach his students how to be perfect.
- The Alcoholic: Implied by one of his thoughts:Drinking isn't hurting my life.
- Captain Oblivious: It takes him a while in his lecture to notice the giant vortex sucking up everything and making everyone scream in terror.
- Hidden Depths: When the perspective flips to him, he gets option trees, but only the gold-colored option that advances the speech will be spoken. The grey options show off his miscellaneous thoughts and opinions, some of which are rather telling (“being alone must be awful”, “drinking isn't hurting my life”, “what if I'm not a good teacher...”)
- Inferiority Superiority Complex: Throughout the lecture, he acts as a bombastic Know-Nothing Know-It-All who is confident that he has the answers to how to become perfect. When you switch to his perspectives, two of his various thoughts are “Thank goodness all of you perceive me as wise and intelligent!” and “What if I'm not a good teacher...”
- Know-Nothing Know-It-All: He gives a lecture/motivational speech about how to become perfect. While he does give good advice in that one should not torture themselves finding the best way and instead seek what is easy and natural, he fails to really elaborate on this and just gives a bunch of Non Answers while speaking in a pretentious tone.
- The Perfectionist: He not only believes that perfection is achievable, but gives a lecture on how to become perfect.
Director
An unseen voice who directs the player in the Theatre game.
- Allegorical Character: The Director represents Davey continuously forcing his own expectations onto Coda and their work. As the scenario of the "play" is a party, they may also represent Davey attempting to force Coda to be social against their will.
- Ambiguous Gender: Since we never actually see them, it is hard to tell what gender they have.
- No Name Given: They are never referred to by any name.
- Prima Donna Director: They insist on a performance that is exactly accurate to what they envision and berate you for any deviation- and no matter what you say, they will find something wrong with it.You're messing it all up again! You'll freak her out if the conversation gets that personal that quickly! Do you not realize how important this was for me? I'll never get another opportunity like this again. Everything was riding on this!
- The Voice: The Director never appears physically, only their disembodied voice.
Island Voice
A voice the player encounters in the Island game.
- Ambiguous Gender: Due to them being The Voice.
- Fairy Companion: Act as this, helping the protagonist find the Machine and navigate the titular island.
- No Name Given: They are never referred to by any name.
- The Voice: They only interact as a voice and are never seen physically.
The Machine
A square machine that is responsible for making the game worlds. It shares the name of Coda with the developer.
- Antagonist Title: The Machine, the game where it is fought, is named after it.
- Author Avatar: It is named Coda after the creator of the games. These is also a lot of subtext implying that the game is an allegory for Davey betraying Coda by showing his games to others against his permission.
- Ambiguously Evil: While the protagonist accuses it of intentionally hurting her and the people, it never actually speaks or fights back.
- Big Bad: The In-Universe one, as it is responsible for the destruction of the game worlds... or so it seems.
- Deus est Machina: It is the creator of the game worlds.
- Disc-One Final Boss: It is built up in Chapter 15 as the ultimate threat to the game world, but the game implies that it is just breaking down because it was forced to keep making games. The real Big Bad is Davey, who was the one who ruined game-making for Coda (who the Machine represents).
- The Quiet One: It only has one line; at the end of its game, it asks the protagonist to lower her weapon, which falls on deaf ears.
- The Scapegoat: It is implied that the protagonist is blaming the Machine for the games being ruined when it is actually the press and protagonist demanding it continue making games that resulted in it burning out.
- Zero-Effort Boss: It never fights back or resists as you destroy its games and finally gun it down.
