The Caligula Effect 2 / Characters

This is a list of characters from the game The Caligula Effect 2. For information about characters from the first game, go here.

Beware unmarked spoilers about the first game.

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Second Generation Go-Home Club

In general

Contrasting Sequel Main Character:
- Unlike the first Go-Home Club, whose Dark and Troubled Past became the catalyst of their Catharsis Effect and why they end up in Mobius, a majority of the second generation Go-Home Club members had to activate the catalyst of their Catharsis Effect by remembering their respective failures and mistakes that they regretted in the past and why they were brought to Redo.
- The original Go-Home Club was dead set on returning to the real world regardless of the traumas they suffered from. The second-generation members on the other hand aren't as enthusiastic and only gain the resolution to return thanks to the protagonist being a constant source of inspiration for them.^note
Early-Bird Cameo: When the protagonist enters Redo, players are introduced to a montage of their new life at Tatefushi Academy, showing future members of the Go-Home Club in each segment.
Foil: To the Obbligato Musicians in certain aspects.
- Makina, a middle-school student in real life, fears the prospect of dying after watching his grandmother die. Sasara, a 86-year-old grandmother herself, has long since made peace with her eventual death, and is perhaps a tad too eager to sacrifice herself for youngsters.
- Gin and MU-Kun had aspirations of their own and are members of the workforce. The difference is that while Gin faltered because of his mental health taking a hit due to suppressing his masculine aspects because of societal and familial pressure, MU-kun was little more than the average joe who never went the extra mile.
- Kiriko is a former idol who quit after the lifestyle burnt her out and deprived her of a life of normalcy. Pandora is the opposite, once a die-hard fan of an idol who "betrayed" her when it was revealed he was having an affair with one of his fans.
- Shota and Kranke both made decisions that ended up affecting their life and those around them horribly. Shota's reckless actions in a kidnapping case not only drove away his superiors, but even his own fiance. Kranke's decision to take the surgery that would've fixed her legs and said surgery failing destroyed the Doktor so thoroughly he ended up becoming a Death Seeker.
- Kobato and #QP feel as if they both missed out on "the prime of their youth", though whereas Kobato feels his was wasted his by getting himself stuck in Mobius for five years, #QP never pursued romance until after she graduated and has had little luck in that department.
- Ryuto is a Teen Genius who aspires to be a doctor and feels pressured to succeed via Noblesse Oblige. The Doktor, on the other hand, has become so jaded after Kranke's surgery failed that he can no longer bring himself to practice medicine.
- Niko and Kudan adored their parents, only to make decisions that wound up destroying them in some way. For Iori, it was telling her parents Niko died while they thought she was her sister. For Kudan, it was trying to give a speech to a bunch of reporters to help her father, only for her stuttering to do the exact opposite.
- In regards to familial relationships, Marie had Abusive Parents and her grandfather was a mean old son of a bitch. Because of this, she couldn't bring herself to trust her grandmother, who was a Sheep in Sheep's Clothing. Bluffman, on the other hand,distanced himself from his daughter and genuinely loves her; Redo is more or less proof he does. Regret, however, hates him in his real persona and his Obbligato one for having never expressed any such sentiments.
Legacy Character: χ, having heard stories of the Go-Home Club from Mu and Aria, decides to resurrect the club after the protagonist, Sasara and Gin defeat Machina and names the former as the President of the second-generation Go-Home Club

The Protagonist

Voiced by: Tatsumaru Tachibana (Male), Yo Taichi (Female)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/protagonist_2_catharsis.png

From Left to Right: Male, Female

Weapon: Dual Daggers

A second-year student at Tatefushi Academy senior high school. Leader of the second generation Go-Home Club that aims to escape from the ideal world of Redo. The protagonist was chosen as a partner by the virtuadoll χ, who plans to destroy Redo, and gives her half of their body.

The Ace: They can potentially develop a huge social circle, much like the President of the original Go-Home Club, help their friends combat their respective troubles and come to terms with them and are incredibly skilled in battle.
Affectionate Nickname: After they save #QP from Kobato, she calls them "honeybunny" regardless of gender.
Chick Magnet: Or so Kobato thinks. If the male protagonist decides to get something to eat after they dream of the real world, he runs into Kobato hitting on one of the lunch ladies. He gets angry at first, but notes how he's "got game" and asks him to hook him up with some girls from his class.
Contrasting Sequel Main Character: The president of the previous Go-Home Club wore a white-colored blazer like the other students in Mobius who learned it was not the real world after hearing Kensuke, who was the third-year representative during their first year, being announced as the first-year rep. Their Catharsis Effect took on the form of dual pistols, allowing them to fight enemies in mid-to-long-range combat. They also have the option to betray the Go-Home Club by joining the Musicians. ^noteThough this only applies in Overdose. The current-gen President's uniform is almost completely black and learned of Redo's true nature through χ and her break-in. Their Catharsis takes the form of knives, making them a close-range combatant. They also cannot betray the Go-Home Club at any point as the Obbligato Musicians, particularly Bluffman, consider them a threat thanks to their bond with χ.
Dark Is Not Evil: Their uniform is almost entirely black, but they're a constant source of inspiration and the linchpin of the Go-Home Club.
Flower Motifs: Apple blossoms. Both protagonists have one when it blooms around their shattering glasses when their Catharsis Effect is active. The flower has many general meanings, such as "priority", "preference", and "option". Notably, the fruit has the meanings of "temptation" and "regret" while the tree's meaning is "honor".
- Red camellia. The red camellia seen on the male protagonist's buckle pocket bag have the meanings of "understated splendor", "unassuming grace", and "humble virtue", and camellia has the general meanings of "subtle kindness" and "pride".
- White hibiscus. The white hibiscus flowers on the female protagonist's skirt have the meaning of "captivating beauty", and the hibiscus has the general meanings of "delicate beauty" and "a new love".
The Heart: They become this as the story progresses, becoming the lynchpin of the club and inspiring the other members to face their respective traumas and return to the real world in earnest.
Heroic Mime: Never speaks outside of battles.
The Leader: χ names them the President of the second-generation Go-Home Club.
Multiple-Choice Past: Much like their predecessor, whatever Dark and Troubled Past the protagonist has (or more specifically a regret) is up for the player to decide. Options include them having an Inferiority Superiority Complex who wants to be good at something or better than everyone else, a Noodle Incident they wished never happened, or a Dark Secret that would warrant them erasing anyone who knows of it.
No Name Given: The protagonists, regardless of gender, don't have official canon names, and the players have the opportunity to name them instead.
The Social Expert: Via the Causality Link, though regardless of how many people they befriend outside the Go-Home Club some characters note how they seem to get along with almost everyone.
Tomboyish Ponytail: The female protagonist wears her up in a high ponytail.
Synchronization: In order to enter Redo, χ broke in and had to tether her own being to the protagonists' soul. If they die in Redo, then χ will also die.
Symbiotic Possession: The nature of the Protagonist's Synchronization also allows χ to temporarily take over and control the Protagonist at certain points.

χ

Voiced by: Mayu Mineda

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/x_88.png

Theme Song: SINGI by sasakure.UK

A virtuadoll, who opposes Regret and is trying to destroy the fabricated world of Redo. Feeling she is unable to fight Regret with her power alone, she chooses the protagonist who awakened to reality as her partner and lends them her strength. It seems she cannot fully understand human values as she is a prototype virtuadoll that never officially launched in reality.

Armor-Piercing Question: On the receiving end of one by Machina. When χ rebukes Machina's claims that her actions are causing Redo's inhabitants to suffer and they would be better off returning to the real world, he asks her if she asked the protagonist and Gin to join her. The result is her being left in Stunned Silence.
Machina: You might be-lieve so, but did you ask those two hu-mans for per-mis-sion when you forced them to join your cru-sade?
χ: ...!
Berserk Button: Regret is one for her. See It's Personal below.
Borrowed Catchphrase: Much like Aria, when χ helps unlock a person's Catharsis Effect, she shouts "Are you ready? Go live!" in Gratuitous English.
Brutal Honesty: Since she lacks understanding of human emotions, she tends to be blunt and straight to the point. When awakening the protagonist's Catharsis Effect, she straight up tells them she doesn't care about whatever emotional baggage they might have.
Call-Back: She sings the ending theme for the Good Ending, Cosmo, μ's Leitmotif, as sung by χ instead of her mother. It's one last reminder of their relation and how χ believes, much as her mother does, that Virtuadolls should be there to embrace humans' and alleviate their worries, even though χ doesn't agree with creating virtual worlds to shelter humans from reality.
Character Development: When first introduced, χ makes it clear she doesn't fully understand humans and their troubles, which leads her to make brash decisions without input from others, such as jumping into the protagonist's body and forcing them to go along with her plans without their consent. She also fails to understand why people would want to stay in Redo and not return to the real world. It takes continued interactions with the Go-Home Club, going through their Character Episodes and learning the respective traumas of the Obbligato Musicians for her to grow and understand humans. This comes to a head near the finale, where she chooses to spare Regret upon learning she's actually human with her own troubles, not the virtuadoll imposter she saw her as previously.
Comically Missing the Point: When she makes her appearance, she completely misunderstands why the protagonist might be freaking out after they start seeing some weird light (actually her) pouring out of her chest, χ occasionally coming out from their body or why they might be distressed upon hearing they've more or less been shanghaied into her plans without their consent.
Contrasting Sequel Protagonist: χ sees Regret as an imposter and would rather destroy her and all of Redo whereas Aria had a friendship with μ, χ's predecessor and would try multiple times to convince her to release everyone from Mobius. As χ is an incomplete virtuadoll, she doesn't fully understand human emotions and can often come across as blunt to the point of being a Jerkass without intending to. Aria was sensitive about other people's feelings and did her best not to agitate them too much, including Kotaro (whom she frequently argued with).
Clear My Name: Not her, but why she's in Redo in the first place. When Redo is created and flourished in time, μ was blamed for the sudden return of "Astral Syndrome" by the people in reality (as she caused the incident 5 years ago). χ was incensed as she knew that μ had nothing to do with the current case and decided to go out of her way to destroy Redo and clear μ's name.
Gosh Darn It to Heck!: While she's not above cursing, χ avoids swearing. Case in point, when Machina locks down the railways:
"Son of a flubbering fluba!"
Gratuitous English: χ says "Are you ready? Go live!" when she uses her power to help unlock members of Go-Home Club's Catharsis Effects into battle.
Heroic BSoD: Following her and the President's Hopeless Boss Fight against Regret, she begins to doubt if it's even possible for them to kill her. This is also what causes her to seriously examine the alternative Ryuto offers of killing Marie to escape Redo in place of fighting Regret again.
Hero with Bad Publicity: Not her specifically, but it is why she was never released to the public. After the events from the first game, μ got a lot of flaming and hate from the public in spite of her releasing everyone from Mobius after her defeat. The backlash was so bad that the company that developed her and Aria decided not to release χ.
Honor Thy Parent: Within the first 20 minutes of the game and first five of her introduction, she tells the Protagonist that she's a Virtuadoll and asks them if they've ever heard of μ, her beloved, beautiful, kind mother (her words).
It's Personal: She has some serious beef against Regret. The latter inviting people to Redo caused a resurgence of Astral Syndrome, and immediately afterward everyone pointed fingers at μ. χ, who considers the older virtuadoll her parent for all intents and purposes, took great offense and entered Redo for the purpose of destroying Regret for all the trouble she's causing μ.
- After the final boss fight against Regret, she ultimately decides to forgive and spare her nemesis, as at the end of the day, Regret is a human—-and χ doesn't want to kill a human.
Invisible to Normals: She and her train are otherwise invisible to anyone who does not realize Redo is not the real world.
Kick the Dog: Although her reasons for going along with the idea are perfectly understandable, and she was undergoing a serious Heroic BSoD, her agreeing with Ryuto on the alternative of the Go-Home Club killing Marie to leave Redo comes across as this since Marie has been nothing but helpful...and was at the time in the middle of an extended stay at the hospital.
Leitmotif: SINGI.
New Powers as the Plot Demands: Each time the Go-Home Club defeats a Musician, χ gains a new ability. Some abilities are mundane in nature, such as advanced hearing and picking out certain topics or things of interest, and picking any lock that isn't heavy-duty, or useful in the form of a punch that wipes a person's most recent memories. By far her most useful ability is being able to create a copy of Redo and its inhabitants, which allows players to continue grinding, buy items from the local store, and continue developing their Causality Link with others.
No Social Skills: Due to having never been officially released, she lacks empathy and often belies an inability to read the room. Within the first five minutes of her introduction, she has trouble understanding why the Protagonist is freaking out over being able to hear her voice, going on about being a Virtuadoll and how Redo is a fake world while the Protagonist is running through the subway and into Tatefushi Academy, clearly not having any of it yet. She also has trouble understanding why the Obliggato Musicians aren't receptive to her calling Regret a fake Virtuadoll. It's only thanks to her interactions with the Go-Home Club members that she begins to be able to understand humans. And as it turns out, a Virtuadoll's lack of understanding for humans turns out to be quite important as it is that same lack of understanding that allows them to maintain and endure to endless wishes and thoughts that get piled onto to them by their followers. Regret, being human, meanwhile was nearly crushed by this.
Synchronization: In order to enter Redo, χ broke in and had to tether her own being to the protagonists' soul. If they die in Redo, then χ will also die. For this reason, she claims they and the Protagonist are "Soul Partners". The process is also irreversible, so they're essentially such like this until they return to the real world.
Symbiotic Possession: The nature of the Protagonist's Synchronization also allows χ to temporarily take over and control the Protagonist at certain points, though this appears to be rather limited.
"Where Are They Now?" Epilogue: In the good ending, the Go Home Club members are having a conversation on WIRE, when Ryuto posts the news that χ will soon be officially released as a Virtuadoll.

Gin Noto

Voiced by: Aoi Ichikawa

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gin_catharsis.png

Weapon: Crossbow
Theme Song: Swap Out by Police Piccadilly [χ Ver.]
Regret: Gender Essentialism

A second-year student at Tatefushi Academy senior high school and the protagonist’s classmate. A modern high school student who wears the latest fashions, and is driven by excitement and emotion. He is also manly and a good friend. He has a personality that allows him to read the room and be considerate, he has a number of friends both guys and girls.

Affectionate Nickname: Kobato calls him "Ginoto".
Combat Stilettos: Gin wears high-heel black boots into battle when his Catharsis Effect is active.
Flower Motifs: Blue roses. There's one blooming around Gin's shattering glasses when his Catharsis Effect is active. The flower represents desire, love, hope, and the beauty of all things. Additionally, blue roses don't occur naturally, and have to be colored that way through human effort. Blue roses in particular have several meanings pertaining to this, such as "a dream come true", "impossible", "miracle", and "God's blessing". Gin is revealed to be transgender, meaning he's likewise put effort into how he is, and Redo gave him the opportunity to explore a gender different than the one he was assigned at birth.
Foreshadowing: While other Go-Home Club members aren't keen on revealing their pasts, Gin himself is particular about keeping his a secret. He's also determined to make himself seem manly. He also admits to having been interested in "dreamy cute" things a few years ago. If his Catharsis Effect's choice of attire and flower haven't given it away, Gin is transgender.
Great Bow: He wields a crossbow as his Catharsis Effect weapon.
I Surrender, Suckers: After the first boss battle with Machina. Gin, taking note of the train schedule and knowing that there was an incoming train that didn't stop at Okitama Station, told Machina he was coming over to his side, but this was to buy enough time for χ to scream and mask the sound of the incoming train, allowing Gin and the Protagonist to kick Machina onto the tracks, where he gets hit and taken away.
Leitmotif: Swap Out [χ Ver.]
Older Than They Look: He's 25 in real life.
Refusal of the Call: He can see χ and her train, meaning he is aware that Redo is not the real world. χ tries to recruit him into helping the protagonist, but he's content with staying in Redo and continue with his life, though he is willing to offer help to an extent. It's only thanks to Machina's attack on the protagonist that he decides to help out in full, which leads to him awakening his Catharsis Effect.
Sarashi: Rare Male (or rather nonbinary) example. When Gin's Catharsis Effect is active, he wears a golden sarashi on his chest instead of wrapping around the midriff, as a Sarashi on a chest are normally worn by women. It is later revealed that he's transgender.
Shout-Out: When χ demands to know why he would refuse to help her, Gin notes how the other denizens of Redo are content with being ignorant and he would "rather take the blue pill any day."
The Social Expert: According to his profile, Gin is good at socializing with other people and gets along with them.

Sasara Amiki

Voiced by: Sumire Morohoshi

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sasara_catharsis.png

Weapon: Naginata
Theme Song: Eternal Silver by kemu (Horie Shota) [χ Ver.]
Regret: End-of-Life Care

A third-year student at Tatefushi Academy senior high school. A beauty with a gentle personality who always has a grin on her face. She is treated as an airhead whose speech and conduct are often a beat behind those of everyone else. It is difficult to understand what she is thinking, but she has a strong love for the members of the Go-Home Club and shows exceptional dedication when it comes to putting herself at risk to protect her friends.

Beware the Nice Ones: She's generally a nice woman and unfailingly polite, even in the most dangerous of situations. That said, do not piss her off. Case in point, when Kudan shuts down Machina when he attempts to parley with them. It's also worth noting that this is one of the few, if not the only time when Sasara is legitimately angry.
Cloud Cuckoolander: She can act very odd at times, even in situations where the club is in danger.
Death Seeker: Her skills revolve around her Taking the Bullet for her allies. This is because she is at the end of her life, and prefers to die first rather than see people much younger than her pass away. This later becomes a source of conflict between her and the protagonist in the later half of her Character Episode.
Flower Motifs: Red canna lilies. There's some blooming around Sasara's shattering glasses when her Catharsis Effect is active. The flower represents "esteem", "good humored", and "a solid ending". It's also said to have sprung from the blood of Buddha in myth, and even under the hot summer sun it doesn't wither and lives on.
Foil: To Machina. Machina fears death as a result of his grandmother's passing from old age and wants to live forever. Sasara is herself a grandmother who completely disregards her own life because she is nearing the end of her lifespan.
Foreshadowing: There are some hints about Sasara's actual age based on her mannerisms and actions. She can only read Japanese, can't work a smartphone to save her life, almost all of the slang and cultural references that the rest of the cast use completely fly over her head, and many characters, including her own Character Scenarios, comment on the fact that she acts like an old lady at times. As it turns out, she is as old as she acts.
Leitmotif: Eternal Silver [χ Ver.]
Mama Bear: Has these instincts. In the first dungeon, she and Gin catch on pretty quickly that given Machina's mannerisms, he might actually be very young in real life, and she's shown to be upset by the possibility that the Obbligato Musicians are exploiting his fears and lack of better judgment to use him for their agenda. Indeed, when Machina gets deactivated lategame for trying to parley, she's pissed.
My Greatest Failure: Downplayed. Unlike the others, she doesn't have a Dark and Troubled Past or any My Greatest Failure moment that would have landed her in Redo. Sasara speculates the reason she's in Redo at all is that she happened to look through her diary one day and remembered the best and saddest parts of her life, wishing she could live them again.
Nice Guy: Nice Girl in this case. The number of times she gets legitimately angry can be counted on one hand.
Older Than They Look: Like some in the virtual world, she's older than her appearance would suggest. In fact, she's the oldest character in the series, being a whopping 86 years old.

Kiriko Miyasako

Voiced by: Yume Miyamoto

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kiriko_catharsis.png

Weapon: Katana
Theme Song: Alter Garden by Ayase [χ Ver.]
Regret: Burnout Syndrome

A first-year student at Tatefushi Academy senior high school. At first glance, people tend to fear her for her flashy appearance, class absences, and dry personality that does not pander to others, but she is the one with the most common sense in the Go-Home Club. She is highly capable and good for her improvisation, quick wit, and extraordinary courage, but dislikes being relied on and does not put herself out there as much as possible.

Cool Big Sis: Is extremely reliable and much of her screentime shows her helping the other Go-Home Club members with any issues they have, such as Sasara with her cell phone woes or Niko with quiz answers. Eventually, this causes her to snap, as people depending on her and liking her was a major cause of her burnout from her career as an idol. Her character arc settles on her deciding that just being a good, reliable friend for the people she's truly close with is good enough for her.
Cool Sword: Her Catharsis Effect weapon is a katana.
Do Not Call Me "Paul": Does not like being called Momona, her stage name, by the other Go-Home Club members.
Flower Motifs: Fairy primrose. There's some blooming around Kiriko's shattering glasses when her Catharsis Effect is active. Primrose has the general meaning of "youth's beginning, and sorrow" as they bloom in winter and die before seeing summer, while fairy primrose has the meaning of "simple", "love without pretense", and "opening one's fate". Primrose was also notably popular among samurai in the Edo period.
Girly Girl with a Tomboy Streak: Took ballet back when she was younger, likes going through fashion magazines, tries to eat nutritious foods since it's good for her hair and skin, enjoys romance movies, and when asked about what she wanted to do after leaving Redo, she answered with opening a patisserie. If anything, the only tomboyish aspect of her is mainly her personality.
Idol Singer: Her stage name is Momona Kurahashi, and she had been in the industry ever since she was twelve years old. She was famous enough in the real world that the other Go-Home Club members at the time of her recruitment immediately recognize her stage name when Pandora brings it up. Her past life also explains her tomboyish personality and her class absences, as these are manifestations of freedom denied to her when she lived the heavily-regulated life of an idol, under all the heavy-handed auspices of a talent management company that entails.
I Just Want to Be Normal: Although she initially enjoyed being an idol, the lifestyle gradually wore her out as everyone wanted to be friends with "Momona Kurahashi", not Kiriko Miyasako. Although she successfully and safely managed to quit her career as an idol, her reputation still followed her. As much as she hates Redo after learning the truth, she finds a silver lining in that she can live the normal life she wanted and do the things she wanted to do while she was still an idol.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She's cold and standoffish, but she's a genuinely nice girl who will not hesitate to come to her friend's aid if they're in danger. And, although she gets vastly annoyed by it, she does agree to help her friends out when they come asking her for help.
Leitmotif: Alter Garden [χ Ver.]
My Greatest Failure: Her career as an idol, which forced her to sacrifice her adolescent years and forego many life events that a normal teenager or college-aged young adult would have gotten to experience, such as high school or dating, all while working under managers she didn't like. She did her best every day to make other people happy as an idol, and eventually came to wonder what it was all for and whether she'd wasted her life.
Older Than They Look: She's 23 in real life, but 16 in Redo.
Only Sane Man: Her bio mentions having a lot of common sense and Ryuto, The Smart Guy, praises her for this in one of her character episodes.
Kiriko: Hm. So, you're interviewing people at the high school as part of your student council duties. Okay, why me?
Ryuto: You're the only student I know who isn't an utter dimwit. You can come up with something off the cuff, can't you?
Pink Means Feminine: Despite being a tomboy and delinquent, Kiriko wears a bright pink cardigan sweater that matches her shoes. It shows she can be feminine in her own way.
Samurai: Wields a samurai's katana and resembles a ronin with her flashy appearance and defiant personality.

Shota Tsurumaki

Voiced by: Kent Itou

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shota_catharsis.png

Weapon: Sasumata
Theme Song: Simply Praying by Neru [χ Ver.]
Regret: Dirty Harry Syndrome

A third-year student at Tatefushi Academy senior high school. A straight-laced and stubborn member of the discipline committee who values order above all else. He is just and upright, and has a strong sense of responsibility, but can also be unreliable and blindly follows others, such as by immediately proposing a majority vote to avoid making a final decision himself.

Base-Breaking Character: An In-Universe example. Shota's handling of a kidnapping case was widely disputed among the public, debating the legality and morality of his decision to fire a warning shot that turned lethal when it ricocheted.
Blindfolded Vision: Shota wears a blindfold when his Catharsis Effect is active. He is still a capable fighter when fighting his opponents without using his eyes.
By-the-Book Cop: He's a member of Tatefushi's Disciplinary Committee and he will make sure the rules are followed down to the letter. His Establishing Character Moment even has him hound Kiriko about her blonde hair, which he states is against school regulations. Ironically, he was a police officer in the real world with a penchant for rushing into danger. The reason he became hellbent on following the rules was when he accidentally killed a man.
Chained by Fashion: When Shota's Catharsis Effect is active, he wears black chains on his arms and waist which reflects how he is bound to follow other people instead of making his own decisions.
Comically Missing the Point: When he catches up to the Go-Home Club in Pandora's dungeon, instead of noticing the fact that there's something completely off about how there are stakes and flowers growing out their chests or they're facing off against a woman trying to kill them, his first action is to gawk at the blatant violation of dress code and possessing of dangerous weaponry.
Cowboy Cop: He used to be this. He was a police officer with a promising career ahead of him and had a bad habit of rushing into things regardless of the consequences. He made the impulsive decision to fire a warning shot at a kidnapper's feet, only for the bullet to bounce off the ground and shoot the kidnapper in the head, destroying his career in the process.
Disney Death: His first awakening in Pandora's garden is interrupted when Pandora has her plants throw him into a canal. He ends up being completely fine, and χ successfully awakens his Catharsis Effect then.
The Ditherer: In his Character Scenarios, he has a lot of trouble picking something and asks the protagonist on what he should pick. In the first Scenario, he had trouble choosing what kind of juice he wanted. His indecision is due to how one of his impulsive actions killed a kidnapper without actually meaning to and ruined his career as a promising police officer.
Flower Motifs: Holly flowers. There's one blooming around Shota's shattering glasses when his Catharsis Effect is active. The flower has the meanings of "cautiousness", "prescience", and "protection".
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He is super strict about following the rules and hounds Kiriko because he believes her hair is dyed. He even goes so far as to chase her down while school is still going to drag her back when he learns she's skipping. As it turns out, though, the reason he's giving her such a hard time is that he wants her to live up to her full potential instead of wasting it.
Leitmotif: Only Praying [χ Ver.]
My Greatest Failure: He views his Cowboy Cop tendencies in the past to be this, especially when he received a call about a man kidnapping a child. He attempted to fire a warning shot at the perp's feet to spook him, but the bullet bounced off the ground and shot the kidnapper in the head. This led not only his career going down in flames, but his personal information being doxxed, his fiance leaving him and his superiors distancing themselves from him.
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: When Shota confronted a man holding a child hostage, he fired a warning shot at the perp's feet, which ricocheted and shot the man in the head. While the child was unharmed, the whole debacle ruined Shota's career as a promising police officer groomed by his superiors and even got doxxed, leading to his fiance leaving him. Small wonder he landed in Redo.
Older Than They Look: His true age is 30.
Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: A deconstruction. While he is hellbent on ensuring rules and regulations are followed to a T, he used to be a Cowboy Cop he rushed headlong into danger without a moment's hesitation. Unfortunately, this led to him making a disastrous decision where his warning shot ricocheted and killed a man holding a child hostage, leading to his career going down the drain.
Taking the Bullet: When Pandora attempts to take out Kiriko with one of her plants, Shota jumps into the line of fire and is ensnared by the plant instead.
To Be Lawful or Good: The crux of his Character Episode near the end. Shota agonizes over how he accidentally killed a kidnapper because his warning shot ricocheted and struck the man in the head. Although the protagonist and χ tell him he saved somebody's life, Shota refutes that he still got someone killed and should never be condoned for it. He does eventually come to terms with his mistake and is happy he was able to save someone, which is further reinforced when the boy from his earlier Character Episodes thanks him for saving his life.

Kobato Kazamatsuri

Voiced by: Yūto Uemura

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kobato_catharsis.png

Weapon: Morningstar
Theme Song: Q-Ai Senorita by Kairiki Bear [χ Ver.]
Regret: Apathy

A third-year student at Tatefushi Academy senior high school. As his appearance suggests, he is a frivolous young man and school celebrity. He has an unshakable personality and will shamelessly say he does what he does for the sake of popularity, which earned him both consistent support from the guys and vigilance from the girls. He is proactive and inquisitive when it comes to his amusement, and refuses to do anything unpleasant. He is not very cooperative with the group.

Ascended Extra: In a way. He went from being an unknown background character in Mobius in the prequel to being an active protagonist in Redo. His final character episode really lampshades this.
Kobato: Time for the lowly NPC to shine in the spotlight! With this battle, I'm gonna take my rightful place as protag.
Awesome, but Impractical: Kobato's fighting style allows him to dish out huge chunks of damage and has a large attack radius on top of that. By the time you get him, he's also one of the few characters that can just straight-up launch an enemy without the need for Counter skills, especially useful for the unstoppable charge attacks that would otherwise need to be shielded against or dodged, or getting enemies especially vulnerable or out of the way while you focus on everyone else. The downside is that his skills have a ludicrously long cooldown and he's very inaccurate on top of that. Time your attacks right, though, and support him with the likes of Shota debuffing the enemy's evasion, and he can be devastating.
Berserk Button:
- He utterly despises virtuadolls, and χ is no exception. He spent five years of his life, from age 16 to 21, in Mobius, and deeply resents the experience, feeling that he wasted his high school and university years, the prime of his youth, there. He hates μ for creating it in the first place, resents χ for being μ's "daughter", and his wasted years in Mobius led to his hatred of virtuadolls—-a hatred further exacerbated when Regret dragged him into Redo.
- He hates it when someone pries into his past, specifically about what he wants to do in the future. #QP ends up hitting it when she has him go along with her speed dating plan, asking him about his plans for the future and whether he has a job.
Blood Knight: As he soon discovers in his Character Episode following his awakening, he really enjoys beating the shit out of Digiheads and finds it awfully therapeutic.
Casanova Wannabe: Consistently fails in all his on-screen attempts to pick up girls or get their WIRE ID numbers. There's also the fact that his pick-up lines are incredibly cheesy.
Chained by Fashion: His Morningstar and spiked collar are connected via a long gold chain.
Character Development: He starts off as being something of a lech, hitting on any pretty girl that catches his eye; a trait that doesn't vanish even after he gains his Catharsis Effect. Upon awakening to his memories of the real world, he develops one hell of a temper and lashes out at χ for the smallest of reasons. Progressing through his Character Episode and the main story has him soften up around the virtuadoll, enough so that, although he says he still hates her somewhat, he does like her enough to promise her he'll represent her anger and demolishes Regret when he faces her. It's also worth noting that, up until Chapter 7, he never once called χ by name.
Chekhov's Gun: After the boss fight with #QP, he is on the verge of bashing her head in with his Morningstar, to the point where the Protagonist has to step in and block him from doing so. Kudan later uses footage of this incident during her propaganda broadcast painting a target on the Go-Home Club members' backs.
Defeat Means Playable: In MU-kun's dungeon. By defeating Kobato after he becomes a Digihead due to being consumed with negative emotions and χ unlocking his Catharsis Effect, he becomes a playable party member.
Exotic Weapon Supremacy: Kobato's Catharsis Effect weapon is an immensely modified version of a morningstar except it has a long chain that is attached to the collar around his neck.
Face–Monster Turn: He turns into a Digihead for a brief period, but the Go-Home Club smacks some sense into him and χ unlocks his Catharsis Effect immediately afterward.
Fish out of Temporal Water: In his Bond Episodes, he reveals he spent five years in Mobius. He was 16 when he went in and 21 when he came out.
Flower Motifs: Scabiosa caucasica, or a pincushion flower. There's one on his left jacket sleeve and one blooming around Kobato's shattering glasses when his Catharsis Effect is active. The flower has the meanings of "unfortunate love" and "I lost everything." Kobato indeed is unlucky in love through out the entire game. And after spending five years of his life in Mobius previously, he essentially lost out on living through his high school and college years, which he considered to be the prime of his life.
Jerkass to One: He's generally a nice guy to everyone, and especially a flirt towards girls...except for χ. This is because she's a virtuadoll on top of being μ's "daughter", who he especially hates for dragging him into Mobius and wasting five years of his life inside it. He does treat her better later on though.
Leitmotif: Q-Ai Senorita [χ Ver.]
Mechanically Unusual Fighter: His Dive to the Heart happens far earlier than the others, starting on his third Character Episode.
Mood-Swinger: He's generally a nice guy, albeit a massive flirt who makes passes on every cute girl he meets, but once his Berserk Button is pushed, he'll start screaming and raging and swinging his Catharsis Effect around with extreme prejudice.
My Greatest Failure: Having spent his high school and university years in Mobius, so that he was 21 when he finally got to leave. Moreover, having spent five years in Mobius, he was severely physically enfeebled in the real world once he finally woke up, and as an adult who didn't even have a high school diploma, his career prospects were dire. After his Catharsis Effect awakens, he becomes even more upset over having been dragged into another virtual world and works with the Go-Home Club so they can all get out.
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: His attempt to bash #QP's head in with his morningstar backfires horribly when Kudan uses edited footage of the attempt as part of her propaganda campaign to make the Go-Home Club public enemy number one in Redo.
The Nicknamer: Nicknames most of the other Go-Home Club members. For example, he calls Marie "Mari-Mari" and Shota “Slow-ta”.
Older Than They Look: He was 21 by the time the original Go-Home Club freed everyone from Mobius. His real age is given as 27 in his profile.
Powerful, but Inaccurate: His play style in a nutshell. Sports amazing attack and incredible splash damage, but his accuracy is crap. When he hits, he hits, but get used to planning ahead when he misses.
Refusal of the Call: After the Go-Home Club defeats MU-kun, they offer him a spot, only for him to refuse. He rejects subsequent attempts with great annoyance. The reason he's so stubborn is because he wants to enjoy his newfound high school life, which was deprived of him seeing as how he was stuck in Mobius for five years when he was 16. He only grudgingly joins the club after the battle with #QP.
Ridiculously Average Guy: A source of insecurity for him, and he feels that this is how he was during his time in Mobius and in reality. By the end of his character arc, he comes to appreciate χ for awakening his Catharsis Effect, thus giving him the opportunity to be a protagonist for once in his life.
Took a Level in Jerkass: After he gains his Catharsis Effect and regains his memories of the real world, he starts acting a lot more rudely and develops one hell of a temper, not to mention an attitude towards χ. He has plenty of reason to be pissed off when he gets stuck in yet another virtual world and wastes away more years of his life. He dials his anger back as his Character Episode progresses.
Too Kinky to Torture: When he finds out Kiriko is an idol in reality, she puts him in a chokehold to keep him from asking any more questions. This is Gin's observation.
Gin: But it looks like all bets are off now! How will Kobato, the Persistent Playboy, respond to her chokehold!?
Kobato: ...
Gin: He looks...ecstatic.
Would Hit a Girl: With a vengeance against #QP. It bites him, and by extension the Go-Home Club, in the ass when Kudan uses footage of the event to turn the club into public enemy number one.

Ryuto Tsukishima

Voiced by: Kōki Uchiyama

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ryuto_catharsis.png

Weapon: Main-gauche
Theme Song: Designed desires by Nulut [χ Ver.]
Regret: Noblesse Oblige

A third-year student at Tatefushi Academy junior high school and the student body president there. He has wisdom and knowledge beyond his years, so much so that the other students call him a boy genius. Since he is even-keeled and does things at his own pace, he tends to come off as cold at first glance, but is really not a bad person. He often clashes with others for saying things without sugarcoating, but they are often statements said considering the interests of the group.

Awesome by Analysis: He figured out that Redo is a fake world all on his own through the scientific method. Just observing time and spatial errors when traveling in Redo and taking note of his bad dreams made him theorize that it was a virtual world, and he took χ's presence as validation of his theory. Observing the lack of coordination between #QP and Machina during the school festival also clues him in immediately that the Obbligato Musicians aren’t necessarily on the same page.
Curtains Match the Window: He has light gold hair that matches his eyes.
Deadpan Snarker: Extremely blunt and full of witty quips, much to χ's consternation in their interactions. He's capable of tact, but often declines to exercise it with the other Go-Home Club members. When it comes to someone he really dislikes, however, he holds nothing back—see his interactions with Doktor.
Dual Wielding: His Catharsis Effect weapon is a main-gauche, a French dagger usually used to parry attacks in conjunction with a full-sized sword. His other weapon is a goblet, from which he pours a mysterious golden liquid that forms the basis of his debuff attacks and his Overdose skill.
Flower Motifs: White dianthus. There's some blooming around Ryuto's shattering glasses when his Catharsis Effect is active. The flower represents "adroitness" and "talent", and has another meaning in western floriography with "boldness". Notably, the genus name itself means "flower of Zeus", who was known as an omnipotent god with the power to do anything.
I Just Want to Be Normal: Implied. The whole reason he entered Redo at all is that he regretted his choice to enroll at a college prep school, essentially locking him out of other, more meaningful life paths. Also, as χ started near the start of the game, everyone's appearance in Redo is based on their "ideal version" of themselves and, unlike Mobius where everyone was in high school, some of Redo's residents look like adults. The fact that Ryuto's "ideal self" is how he actually is in real life and not older looking speaks volumes.
Insufferable Genius: He's incredibly intelligent and will be the first to let you know it, to the point that several of the Go-Home Club members are reluctant to let him join because they're put off by this trait of his. As a pointer, when he begins noticing the discrepancies in Redo, his next step is to theorize that Redo is a fake world instead of seriously entertaining the notion that he's lost his mind, because he thinks the latter prospect is nigh-impossible, statistically speaking.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: While he may have an egoistic streak and be very impatient, he still has the Go-Home Club members' best interests and ultimate objective at heart.
Just a Kid: Doesn't like being treated this way, but often is due to being the youngest of the cast. Niko and Kiriko, the next two youngest members of the Go-Home Club, are fond of appointing themselves his older sisters, for one.
Kick the Dog: He's the one who suggested killing Marie following the President's total loss against Regret in their first encounter, as destroying the micro-Mobius within Marie would destroy Redo as well. When the other Go-Home Club members react with horror, he nonchalantly reminds them that their goal is to return to reality, and that killing Marie would be the easiest means to that end.
Leitmotif: Designed desires [χ Ver.]
My Greatest Failure: His decision to enroll at the college prep school. Although it sounds mundane, Ryuto realized that by enrolling at the university, he essentially locked himself out of other, possibly more meaningful choices. Not helping matters as how he was raised to be an intellectual by his wealthy family, and his belief that his immense privilege and intelligence left him no room for failure and an obligation to give back to the world, putting further pressure on him. There's a reason he looks like a middle schooler in Redo.
Older Than They Look: Subverted. His status as a Teen Genius would have you believe he's older than his appearance lets on, but he actually is a middle-school student in real life.
Noblesse Oblige: A core belief of his as seen in his Character Episodes. He's the heir to a wealthy family and is unbelievably intelligent, and thus he believes that his immense privilege and ability confer on him an obligation to give back commensurately to the world. It also causes him to put immense pressure on himself, as he believes that due to his status and ability, he has no room for failure and no one to blame but himself in the event he does fail; he shows signs that he's cracking under his self-imposed pressure after his Dive to the Heart. That having been said, he learns to chill out by the end of his Character Episode and embrace the prime of his youth.
Not So Above It All: While he's mostly serious, he's not above joking around. Case in point, after they defeat Doktor in the Tower of Epimetheus, Kobato and Ryuto have this conversation:
Kobato: How's about you and me go to a mixer once you get your M.D., pipsqueak? Rich guys are a magnet for hot babes.
Ryuto: Are you certain? There would be none left once they start fawning over me. Unless you enjoy going home alone?
Kobato: Pfft... Little twerp... I'll let you off easy this time.
Teen Genius: The only middle schooler among the main cast, and he's referred to as a boy genius. He's the second-to-last playable character to be recruited, but he figured out that Redo is a fake world all on his own, was able to see χ talking to the President and Sasara, and crashes a Go-Home Club meeting requesting to join so that he can return to the real world—all before he even activates his Catharsis Effect. He's also exactly as young as he appears in Redo, compared to the Go-Home Club members who are in their 20s or older in real life.
The Smart Guy: Aside from just being a genius child prodigy, he takes lead in strategising and organizing for the Go-Home Club upon joining.

Niko Komamura

Niko Komamura/Iori Komamura

Voiced by: Hiyori Kouno

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/niko_catharsis.png

Weapon: Chakram
Theme Song: Miss Conductor by Tsumiki [χ Ver.]
Regret: Cain Complex

A first-year student at Tatefushi Academy senior high school. A bright and simple-minded girl. The optimistic type with a glow in her eyes who will interact with anyone and everyone with the goal of having more and more friends. Despite her proactiveness, she is not very skillful or good at contemplating or theorizing difficult things, and often goes in circles.

Becoming the Mask: Iori passed herself off as Niko when her parents ignored her after her sister passed away. Once she arrived in Redo, she honestly believed she was Niko and Iori died, though that illusion fades when she remembers the real world and awakens to her Catharsis Effect. She still tries to act like her sister, but the protagonist sees right through her, much to her annoyance and grief. At the end of the Character Episode, she continues to use her "Niko" persona, but states she'll be herself once they return to reality in the hopes of mending her broken relationship with her parents.
Berserk Button: She really hates it when someone sees through her disguise as Niko, dropping the Genki Girl act entirely and adopting a more harrowed and cold expression.
Be Yourself: The crux of her Character Episode after her Dive to the Heart. Iori despises herself so much she'd much rather pretend to be Niko, who she states is far more liked than herself and has everything Iori wishes she had. It takes the protagonist and χ pointing out that her Catharsis Effect is Iori's and hers alone to kickstart her Character Development and dropping the Niko guise.
Combat Medic: Niko's best role is as a support for the party, since she has numerous skills specifically for buffing the entire party at once, granting SP regeneration so more offense-oriented characters can extend their assaults, and most of her combat skills have very long wind-ups and cooldowns that require someone else to set up an opponent to be vulnerable or for Niko to do so for someone else, especially through her mine laying skills that launch enemies. Her Overdose skill is also a full party revive and heal. That being said, with the right set-up she makes an excellent secondary damage-focused character.
Cool Mask: Niko gains a mask made from black arms covering her mouth with her Catharsis Effect. A Foreshadowing that she is living the life of someone else.
Difficult, but Awesome: Many of Niko's skills have long pauses between the start-up and the actual attack. On the other hand, her attacks can hit multiple targets in a straight line, can inflict debuffs on the enemy, and with the right late-game stigmas, ability synergies, and complementing skills from the rest of the party, Niko can utterly destroy opponents as good as your most offensive-oriented characters like Kiriko.
Empty Eyes: When Iori drops her Niko act, her eyes lose any and all luster she had, matching her otherwise disturbing portraits as if to reflect how utterly broken she was from remembering her sister's death.
Expy: Red-haired and outgoing? Has a twin sister that was killed in an accident? Deliberately impersonating that dead sibling? Are we talking about Iori or Sumire?
Flower Motifs: Soft windflowers. There's some blooming around Niko's shattering glasses when her Catharsis Effect is active. The flower has the meanings of "friendship", "cooperation", and "I'll never leave you". The meanings come from the fact that two flowers tend to bloom on one stem, a hint that "Niko" is actually a twin, and in reality the older sister, Iori.
Freak Out: The trigger of her Catharsis Effect. The moment she remembers she's not Niko and her sister is dead causes her to scream in horror and dismay.
Friend-or-Idol Decision: In Chapter 6, Niko is one of the few who advocates for killing Marie to return to the real world, though she makes it clear she despises herself for wanting to go down that route. This later becomes a source of grief and angst for her during Chapter 7, where she doesn't understand why the Go-Home Club isn't angry at her.
Genki Girl: She is incredibly cheerful and outgoing. In reality, though, Iori isn't as vibrant and describes herself as more of a recluse.
Green-Eyed Monster: Iori never outright says it, but it's implied that she greatly envied her sister for hogging all their parent's attention and being loved by everyone around her. When her sister died in an accident, Iori secretly hoped their parents would give her the same affection they did with Niko. They did, but not in the way she hoped.
Identical Twins: She has a twin sister named Iori who died years ago. In reality, Niko was the one who died and "Niko" is actually Iori posing as her sister, even in Redo. This made it easy for her to pretend to be Niko.
Leitmotif: Miss Conductor [χ Ver.]
My Greatest Failure: When Niko died, Iori hoped her parents would love her as much as they had her sister, only for them to act like Iori was the one who died and not Niko, mistaking Iori for her sister. When Iori convinced them Niko was dead, they completely snapped. As a result, Iori deeply regrets trying to convince them her sister was dead and wished she did act as Niko, leading to her arrival in Redo and subsequently passing herself off as her twin sister.
O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Whenever the normally bright and cheery Niko stops being bright and cheery, her voice drops significantly, and the light in her eyes goes out, you know something dark and messed up is happening. This is foreshadowing that "Niko" is all an act, and Iori simply can't be bothered or cannot continue keeping the act up.
Replacement Goldfish: After Niko died, her parents started acting like Iori was her sister, as if Iori was the one who died. Iori's attempts to convince them otherwise caused them to snap, so she pretended to be Niko for their sake.
Rings of Death: Her Catharsis Effect weapon is a chakram.
Shout-Out: After a few times seeing χ's Skeleton χ power in action, she claims that "all those other phantom thieves got nothin' on [χ]".
The Un Favourite: In truth, "Niko" is actually Iori Komamura and Niko is her twin sister, who was the better loved between the two. When Niko died, their parents mistook Iori for Niko and believed Iori was the one who died.
Walking Spoiler: Story-wise, not so much, but the white-outed spoilers should give you an indication that there is a lot more to Niko than you'd expect.

Marie Amabuki (Unmarked Spoilers)

Marie Amabuki

Voiced by: Mai Fuchigami

Weapon: Dual Pistols, Bombs
Theme Song: xxxx/xx/xx by cosMo [χ Ver.], Cosmo Dancer by YM (Wicked)
Regret: Singularity Point

A second-year student at Tatefushi Academy senior high school and the protagonist’s classmate. A kind-hearted and helpful beauty with good grades and a no-nonsense demeanor. She is a model honor student, relied upon by the other students to the point that she was selected to become the Tatefushi Academy Student Council President in her second year. She cares for the protagonist however possible.

See Wicked's folder for more information about her in The Caligula Effect.

All There in the Manual: The circumstances behind how she ended up with a micro-Mobius inside her and how she came to have amnesia are fully laid out in the novel Caligula EPISODE: Marie Mizuguchi ~Kanojo no mita Sekai~. After the events of the first game, she came to terms with her Lack of Empathy being tied to her Dark and Troubled Past and had a proper Heel–Face Turn, but was afraid to return to reality from the guilt of her own actions and her own emotional trauma. μ created a micro-Mobius for her and wiped her memories in the hopes of allowing her to live an ordinary high school life while she was hospitalized.
Amnesiacs are Innocent: In Mobius, Marie, as Wicked, was a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing and easily one of the most sadistic members of the Ostinato Musicians who had zero qualms about Thorn's plan to destroy the real world. In Redo and suffering from amnesia, Marie is a kind and helpful girl who helps the protagonist and the Go-Home Club whenever possible.
Amnesiac Dissonance: Because Wicked's Start of Darkness came from her Dark and Troubled Past, "Wicked" is Marie when she has to deal with that past and the burden of remembering it, whereas "Marie Amabuki" is Marie when she gets to live a normal school life. In Marie's Character Episodes, she learns about her past identity as Wicked and gets to see Wicked's perspective of the world through her dreams, but when she begins to worry that she might be a fake Split Personality as a result who'll be erased when they return to the real world, the protagonist and χ help her realize that she and Wicked are still the same person, and "Marie Amabuki" is simply the result of Wicked wanting to have lived a happy life without the baggage of having been pushed over the Despair Event Horizon. "Wicked" returns in full force in the Bad Ending when the protagonist initially tries to kill her as "Marie Amabuki", but given her words having nuances of Death Seeker, it's implied she would have preferred the amnesia.
Amnesiac Hero: It doesn't come up until later in the game, but Marie reveals that she doesn't have any memories of her life prior to coming to Redo. In the Bad Ending, Wicked speculates μ locked away her memories to try and suppress her traumatic life in the real world.
Becoming the Mask: "Marie Amabuki" is the kind honor student Wicked pretended to be in the last game, as a result of not carrying the trauma of her Dark and Troubled Past.
Blood Knight: When Wicked resurfaces and engages the Go-Home Club, she's clearly having the time of her life.
"Aah... Now that's what I call a fight. I'm having the time of my life!"
Crutch Character: When she joins, she's at a fairly high level compared to the rest of the Go-Home Club members recruited at the time. However, extended leaves of absence from the party mean it's likely she'll be badly underleveled by the home stretch.
Curtains Match the Window: She has light brown hair that matches her eyes.
Death Seeker: Marie's Wicked personality implies this, calling herself a "shitstain of a life" and a "miserable wretch" when provoking the Go-Home Club to kill her, and saying that she's feeling relief in being killed by them. "Marie Amabuki" is notably not this, implying that she's much happier when she doesn't have the weight of trauma from her Dark and Troubled Past on her.
Do Not Go Gentle: How Marie dies in the Bad Ending. After she gets her memories and identity back as Wicked, she decides that, rather than go out with a whimper and let the Go-Home Club kill her, she'll go down swinging.
Dying Declaration of Love: Of the platonic sort. In the Bad Ending, as she lays dying, Marie (who regained her identity as Wicked moments prior) admits she genuinely likes the Go-Home Club and says she had a great time with them.
Expository Hairstyle Change: As Marie Mizuguchi, she wears a braid ponytail, and as Wicked, she has messy long hair. After she becomes an amnesiac and gains a new identity as Marie Amabuki, she wears low pigtails.
Face–Heel Turn: In the Bad Ending, despite agreeing to die so the Go-Home Club can destroy Redo without having to confront Regret, Marie turns on them when the attempt suddenly causes her to regain her memories as Wicked.
Final Boss: In the Bad Ending.
Flower Motifs: Snowflake flowers. There's one blooming around Marie's shattering glasses when her Catharsis Effect is active. The flower represents hope and comfort. Despite its cute appearance, some places speculate that bringing the flower home will invite death or misfortune. So another meaning for the flower would be "I wish for your death", which is the main issue Marie dealt with from her real family in reality.
Foil: To Bluffman in regards to familial relationships. Marie distanced herself from her grandmother, a genuinely kind woman, because she couldn't trust her when Marie's grandfather was far worse than her own Abusive Parents. Bluffman has a distant relationship with his hikkemori daughter, and while he does genuinely love her, Regret resents him because he never tried to connect with her.
Foreshadowing: There are subtle hints about Marie's actual identity well before players catch on.
- The catalyst for Marie unlocking her Catharsis Effect isn't remembering the real world. Rather, she feels as if she's heard of the Go-Home Club before. This clues players in on that she may have been in Mobius, which is later all but confirmed when the Doktor states she's carrying a Micro Mobius inside her, given to her by μ, which is only possible if Marie was a resident in Mobius.
- Marie's Catharsis Effect takes on the form of twin pistols and grenades. The President of the original Go-Home Club wielded dual pistols, and Wicked was the only person in Mobius who used explosives.
- Her flower represents hope and rebirth, though the latter is especially meaningful given the contrast between her past self as Wicked and her current self as Marie Amabuki.
- Her Leitmotif is shared with Bluffman, one of the Obbligato Musicians. While this can easily be overlooked since the other Go-Home Club members' share leitmotifs with the other musicians, Bluffman's leitmotif was composed by Cosmo, i.e. the composer of Thorn's own song, hinting at Marie's previous affiliation with the Ostinato Musicians.
- Marie mentions several times that her hobbies are playing the piano and composing music, skills that just happen to be right at home for a former Musician.
- The final nail in the coffin is during Chapter 6 when Marie somehow corrupts Tatefushi University and warps it considerably. Upon entering the hospital, one of the monitors comes online and the Go-Home Club are treated to what sounds like Marie ranting about something in a manner that is eerily similar to Wicked. It isn't until they're halfway through the hospital that Doktor confirms Marie's identity after listening to another monitor, having been in the same hospital Marie was staying at prior to the events of the first game.
Grenade Spam: Seems to also be a part of her Catharsis Effect. Which makes sense, considering what her previous weapons of choice were in Mobius.
Guns Akimbo: Wields a pair of pistols as her Catharsis Effect weapon. She continues to wield the pistols when she regains her former personality as Wicked.
Happily Adopted: Marie states she was adopted at some point in her life. Ryuto speculates that Marie entered Redo because of her wish to be adopted in order to escape a horrible home life. This is eventually confirmed when her former identity as Marie Mizuguchi is revealed; Redo made it so that she was adopted by another family at an early age, hence the name change to Amabuki, thus changing the entire course of her life by allowing her to grow up without a Dark and Troubled Past and in a significantly more well-adjusted manner.
Heroic Sacrifice: She attempts to do this by allowing the Go-Home Club to kill her and destroy the micro-Mobius inside her, which in turn will destroy Redo. It doesn't go as planned, however, as if the protagonist through the attempt only succeeds in causing Marie's Wicked persona to resurface and fight the Go-Home Club to the death.
Hidden Depths: Given that she was once the sociopathic Mad Bomber Wicked, the fact that she is in Redo at all, amnesia or no, implies there is a lot more to her Took a Level in Kindness than there seems.
I Die Free: Wicked's stated reason for aggravating everyone into a fight to kill her in the Bad Ending is to die "exactly the way I wanted to," since she considers herself finally having been able to properly enjoy herself and have "fun" the way she wanted, and admits that she had fun with the Go-Home Club in light of the rest of her life being horrible in comparison.
I Hate Past Me: Should the protagonist elect not to kill her and choose to fight Regret, Marie's later Character Episodes have her start dreaming about her former life as Wicked. Marie makes it very clear that she's disgusted by how hateful her former self was and just as terrified of the prospect of returning to her former life. It's to the point that she's convinced μ didn't give her a Micro Mobius and sealed off her memories to give her a shot at happiness, but rather to keep Wicked locked away from the rest of the world.
Leitmotif: xxxx/xx/xx [χ Ver.], Cosmo Dancer (Wicked) in the Downer Ending.
Living MacGuffin: She's referred to as the Singularity Point by Bluffman and the Doktor. The reason for this becomes clear later in the story when it's revealed she has a micro-Mobius inside her, which Redo is based on.
Kick the Dog: Upon learning that she's carrying a Micro Mobius that serves as the foundation of Redo, Ryuto states that they can return to the real world by killing Marie rather than fight Regret. χ, who is reeling from a Heroic BSoD after having suffered a Curb-Stomp Battle at Regret's hands earlier, considers the idea. Although Marie herself is willing to go along with it, it's still a dick move.
Mercy Kill Arrangement: At the pivotal point in a late-game dungeon, when Ryuto explains to her that Redo is based off a micro-Mobius that μ had created for her and that if she dies, then so too will Redo be destroyed, she requests that the Protagonist kill her so that Redo can be destroyed and everyone can return to reality. If the Protagonist accepts, they stab her and she reawakens as Wicked, leading to her fighting the Go-Home Club for the hell of it before she dies, thus becoming the Final Boss of the Bad Ending; otherwise, the plot will continue, with the Go-Home Club, Marie in tow, being transported back to town.
Mercy Kill: Some of the Go-Home Club consider this when they learn of her circumstances in the real world as Marie is paralyzed from the waist down and bedridden for the remainder of her life.
My God, What Have I Done?: In her Character Episode, if the President chooses not to kill her, she remembers having been Wicked of the Ostinato Musicians. Unlike in the Bad Ending, where regaining her memories has her reverted to her former personality, Marie is horrified to learn what she did in Mobius and back in the real world.
Older Than They Look: She was already in high school in real life in the prequel, which took place five years ago; thus, by definition, she has to be in her early 20s in the real world.
Reality Warper: To a certain extent. The Obbligato Musicians wanted to keep their distance and ensure Marie didn't undergo any form of anomaly due to the Micro-Mobius within her affecting Redo. When Marie suffers a Freak Out from being in a hospital examination room and possibly remembering her former life, she subconsciously starts to warp Tatefushi University and even create imitation Digiheads.
Reformed, but Not Tamed: Even after reverting to her Wicked personality in the Bad Ending, Marie isn't evil per se; she makes no attempt to inflict emotional horror or infighting in the same way she would in the first game and fully intends to have the Go-Home Club kill her the same way her Marie Amabuki personality did, admitting that she had a happy time with them in Redo. Given that the novel centered on her established that she'd already made a Heel–Face Turn by that point, the implication that she goes out with violence because of her traumatic background means that it's the only thing she really knows.
Shaking Her Hair Loose: When reverting back to Wicked, Marie's pigtails come undone and her hair becomes unkempt, not unlike what she used to have in Mobius.
The Singularity: She's referred to as such by Bluffman and Doktor, as Bluffman and Regret had based Redo off of a micro-Mobius μ had created for her. If she dies, then so too will Redo be destroyed.
Slasher Smile: She begins sporting a manic grin in the bad ending as she awakens once again as Wicked.
Took a Level in Kindness: As Wicked, Marie was a bomb-throwing sociopath who took great pleasure in watching friends turn against each other and willingly went along with Thorn's plans to destroy the real world even though it would cause the deaths of everyone in Mobius. After becoming amnesiac, she's more or less the unofficial Team Mom of the group and cares about her fellow club members, especially the protagonist. In her Character Episode, should the Protagonist decline to kill her, she regains her knowledge of having been Wicked and of being comatose in the real world and is horrified by her memories of what she was in Mobius, and even in the Bad Ending when she fully reverts to her Wicked personality before dying, she makes no attempt at manipulating anyone and simply insists on having one last fight before she dies.
Villain Respect: When she returns to being Wicked, Marie doesn't treat the Go-Home Club like she would their predecessors. If anything, she's downright ecstatic that if she's gonna die, it'll be at their hands. That being said, she wants to make them work for it rather than just let them kill her.
"Where Are They Now?" Epilogue: As it was previously established that she's been hospitalized since before the events of the game, Marie is absent when the end credit scenes roll.

Regret and the Obbligato Musicians

In general

Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: Unlike their Ostinato counterparts from Mobius, who suffered from various traumas and issues in the real world, the Obbligato Musicians' reasons for being in Redo stems from the troubles of the decisions they made in life and other regrets. The Ostinato Musicians also suffer two losses in the form of Shadow Knife and Thorn (though Shadow Knife survives in Overdose's Musician Route), while the Obbligato Musicians lose three. Lastly, most of the Obbligato Musicians are not very close to each other, preferring to go about their own activities while not paying much attention to their colleagues, and sometimes are more than willing to double-cross each other. Although the same could be said about the Ostinato Musicians, Thorn's tight leash on them and having them work together if the need arose meant they were aware what each member was up to. Thorn also made sure there was no in-fighting among the group and kept them within the loop to a certain extent. Near the tail end of the game, Bluffman opts to kill Kudan and inadverdently kills Pandora when destroying a chunk of Redo, believing the Obbligato Musicians have served their purpose. Thorn opts to brainwash members of the Ostinato Musicians that want to return to reality, while those who want to stay in Mobius in spite of knowing of Thorn's plans remain unbrainwashed and continue to follow her of their own free-will.
Meaningful Name: "Obbligato" refers to an instrumental part, typically distinctive in effect, which is integral to a piece of music and should not be omitted in performance.
Recurring Boss: Most of them are fought multiple times during the course of the story.
Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: It quickly becomes clear that, although the group has rallied under Regret, they have next to no synergy with each other. Some members are content with going about their own business while ignoring their fellow Musicians, and others are purposely kept in the dark when they fail at their respective tasks. #QP, for example, sees the other Musicians not as her comrades or friends, but as business partners she puts up with. Special mentions go to Pandora, who rarely if ever interacts with the other Obbligato Musicians and MU-kun, who after his defeat is kept in the dark about Bluffman's future plans.

Regret (Unmarked Spoilers)

Regret/Sayoko Hitomi

Voiced by: Arisa Kori

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/regret.png

A mysterious virtuadoll that suddenly appeared to the world. Her origin and details are unknown, but her mysteriousness proved effective as she rose to fame and gained overwhelming popularity on video streaming websites with her mystical singing voice. With the power of that popularity, she created Redo, an ideal world without regrets, and has imprisoned those suffering in the real world in her virtual world.

In reality, she isn't actually a virtuadoll, but a sugar and spice human woman. Her real name is Sayoko Hitomi.

Affably Evil: She is unfailingly polite to everyone, even to χ who makes it very clear in their first meeting she wants to destroy her.
Anti-Villain: Assuming Bluffman isn't blowing smoke, Regret's virtual world only drags people who yearn for it instead of scooping up anyone with any sort of trauma like with Mobius. Regret herself isn't even happy about being a messianic figure and wants nothing more than to be free from her role.
Attention Whore: Sayoko posed as a virtuadoll for this purpose, enjoying the love and affection she received from her fanbase. This doesn't carry over when she becomes the "goddess" of Redo, having grown tired of everyone's expectations of her and is desperate to leave her station as Regret.
Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: μ was a well-known virtuadoll who created Mobius upon discovering how humans were suffering in the real world soon after she gained sentience, and would later be manipulated by Thorn into fulfilling her wish to destroy the real world. Regret is a regular girl who gained popularity by covering μ's songs and masqueraded as a virtuadoll at the behest of Bluffman (in truth her father), who created Redo and propped her on a pedestal as a deity-like figure for the purpose of giving her happiness. μ continuously absorbed the negative emotions of the people of Mobius in a misguided attempt to alleviate their burdens and had to be purged of those emotions in a fight as she could not be reasoned with otherwise. Regret is fought because her power goes out of control and begs the Go-Home Club to beat her.
Curb-Stomp Battle: The protagonist's first battle with her ends up being a Hopeless Boss Fight in that, no matter what they do, Regret will beat them in under a minute.
Dramatic Irony: She notes that her father was such a workaholic that he was practically never at home and they never talked. What she didn't know however that the one who was constantly working to support her music career and constantly interacted with was in fact the very same father she disparaged. In other words, they were next to each other the entire time.
Extreme Doormat: A lot of her problems ultimately come down to the fact that she never spoke up against Bluffman and just let him dictate her life.
Final Boss: The last one to be fought on the good ending route.
Foil: She ends up being one to Kiriko of all people. Kiriko was a former idol who became heavily burned out from her lifestyle and desperately wanted to leave it behind when it deprived her of the things she wanted out of her high school life. Sayoko became Regret as a result of being an Attention Whore who enjoyed the love she got from her fans online before coming to despise her newfound role when Bluffman propped her on a pedestal.
Foreshadowing: When the protagonist first meets Regret at the start of the game, they notice she seems sad and is surprised they noticed; the first hint that she's not exactly thrilled about her position. Later in the game, she's also seen observing the Go-Home Club and knew who they were well before Bluffman or any of her Musicians did, but said nothing, implying she has her own agenda for them, which is proven when she asks the protagonist to join her. Eventually, it's revealed Regret despises the pedestal Bluffman propped her on and wants to the Go-Home Club to destroy Redo, and by extension herself, to be free from it.
Hates Their Parent: Zigzagged. While she is ebulliently happy when the Go-Home Club delivers the news that Bluffman has died, and elaborates on her distaste for him and her resentment of having to play the roles of a virtuadoll and a goddess, she never knew his true identity. One can only guess how she would have reacted to the news had she known Bluffman was her father all this time.
"Hell, Yes!" Moment: Upon finding out about Bluffman's death, rather than any kind of breakdown, she instead lets out a huge "Hell Yeah!" of pure catharsis as she is no longer under his constant control.
Hidden Agenda Villain: Late into the game, Bluffman wonders why in spite of being caught by the Musicians on a few occasions, they have no footage of the Go-Home Club. Regret has been erasing any footage pertaining to their activities and even saves the protagonist and Sasara from the Doktor's poison. Her reasons for doing so are revealed when they finally confront her after Bluffman's death.
Holy Halo: Regret has one, which floats around above her head and makes her resemble an angel.
Hopeless Boss Fight: This is how the first battle against her goes in the hospital. By this point in the game, the president is severely lacking in firepower and is all by themselves. Regret is Level 50, regains a ludicrous amount of health almost every minute, and her attacks deal a disgusting amount of damage—enough to one-shot the protagonist regardless of their defenses. Even if the protagonist is over-leveled or on New Game Plus, the game treats the battle as if Regret kicked the crap out of them anyway.
It's All About Me: She has no interest in the fact she and Bluffman had been toying with tons of people's lives, outright says she doesn't actually care about other people's problems and tells them to fix it themselves; she'd even wanted to kill the Go-Home Club at first because she'd thought they'd expose her, only to help them when it turned out they had a chance at defeating the Musicians. Her pleas to the Go-Home Club to help her have her constantly painting herself as a victim and claiming she'd been "blackmailed" by Bluffman (very unlikely to be the case, since Bluffman had only done all of it intending to make her happy, so it's more likely she simply didn't have the guts to argue back). The end result is that about half of the Go-Home Club considers her complaints to be a pathetic sob story that doesn't justify toying with their lives.
Like Father, Like Daughter: She has terrible social skills just like her father and she speculates it is something she inherited from him.
Mercy Kill Arrangement: At the end of the Good Ending, per her request, the Protagonist agrees to kill her. But just as the Protagonist is about to stab her, they get blasted through the abdomen by lasers and other heavy artillery that she has no control over, thus forcing the Go-Home Club to fight her anyway.
My Greatest Failure: Living a hopeless life, her parents divorcing, her father being poor at communicating his feelings and being a NEET at the age of 20. Sayoko also blamed herself for her parents divorcing.
Never My Fault: Most of her situation comes from her refusal to accept responsibility for anything going wrong and blaming other people for all of her problems. She fully blamed her father for her problem with having No Social Skills, considering it his fault that she inherited them from him, and while she had several points wondering if maybe she should do something about the fact her life was falling apart, she continued blaming it on everything around her and letting others on the Internet validate her through her victim complex. Eventually, when her true nature is revealed at the end of the game, she calls herself a victim and goes on a tirade about how much she's been suffering, with little to say or apologize about the fact she'd technically been complicit in Bluffman's actions of forcing everyone into a virtual world for her own gain. This results in the Go-Home Club having very mixed feelings about her, since while kinder ones like Sasara advocate for having sympathy for her, other members aren't as enthused at having been played for fools by what amounted to a father and daughter having really bad family issues.
Not So Stoic: Regret talks in a very formal manner and shows no emotion for most of the game, except for the very end of the Good Ending route. When the Go-Home Club reaches her and informs her that Bluffman was swallowed up by the Metaverse-Es, her first reaction is to exclaim "Hell YEAH!" Her speech pattern becomes much more casual, and she pointedly begs them for help, spilling out all sorts of details about her family and her upbringing. When χ declares her intent to kill her, she reacts by agreeing and begging the Go-Home Club to do it, end Redo, and return everyone to reality. For emphasis, after being told of Bluffman's fate, she is never again portrayed using her neutral expression. Finally, during her back-to-back boss fights, she completely loses it, having been driven mad by the voices of citizens calling out for her.
Perky Goth: Regret has the appearance of an average goth girl dressed in dark clothes, gray lipstick, and a choker, but she seems to be soft-spoken and has a kind personality. This only applies to her Regret persona, though; when she's not putting up an act, Sayoko is a lot more upbeat.
Poor Communication Kills: Due to her being a shut-in, Sayoko never tried to make an attempt to communicate with her father, and her mother's attempts to make her socialize didn't help matters. As a result, she didn’t know that it was her father who facilitated her astronomic rise to stardom. She also never found out Bluffman was her father in the course of the game, and eventually never found out that he died in Redo. All of that could have been averted if they both tried to communicate with each other.
Ridiculously Human Robot: χ eventually surmises that Regret isn't a virtuadoll like her, but actually a human. When she confronts Bluffman, he confirms that Regret is human and then some.
Rule of Three: She is fought a grand total of three times; once during Chapter 5 where she delivers a Curb-Stomp Battle to the protagonist and χ and twice in Chapter 8 back-to-back.
Strike Me Down: She's practically screaming this at the Go-Home club in the good ending when she's fought as the final boss due to the lingering emotions of everyone swallowed by the Metaverse-Es forcing her to fight back against the Go-Home Club.
Synthetic Voice Actor: Subverted. While virtuadolls all fulfill this role, being sentient vocaloids in all but name, Regret is merely posing as one and is a regular girl.
The Unfought: In the Bad Ending, as her status as Final Boss is usurped by Wicked, who the Go-Home Club chooses to kill as an alternative due to the micro-Mobius inside her body and with it Redo.
Unrobotic Reveal: Initially made out to be a virtuadoll like χ, she is eventually revealed to just be a regular human forced into a role by Bluffman.
Villainous Rescue: Had she not purged the poison Doktor administered to the protagonist and Sasara when she did, odds are they would have died and the Go-Home Club would be in grave danger.
Walking Armory: When she loses control of her powers, she ends up turning into this, sporting heavy weaponry with enough firepower to give the Go-Home Club pause.
We Can Rule Together: When she meets the protagonist for the first time, she asks them to join her Obbligato Musicians. This later gets zigzagged when she later reveals she didn't offer them to join her to become a lackey and protect Redo but to screw Bluffman over and free her from the position he put her in.
Worthy Opponent: At first, Regret didn't think too much of the Go-Home Club and agreed with Bluffman's suggestion that they should be eliminated as soon as possible. It wasn't until the group started defeating the Obbligato Musicians one after another that she wanted them to come and kill her. She even goes so far as to delete any footage of them to keep them under Bluffman's radar and asks Machina to deliver a message for them to come to her.

Machina

Voiced by: Shun'ichi Toki

Weapon: Blasters

Theme Song: Eternal Silver [Regret Ver.] by kemu (Horie Shota)

An android Musician who wished for a machine body from Regret. He is extremely loyal to Regret, and treats her orders as absolute. He never fails to patrol Redo to maintain public order.

His real identity is Makina Inui, a regular 15-year-old middle schooler.

Berserk Button: Insulting Regret or his metal body is a good way to piss him off as he screams at X when she does both.
Black Eyes of Crazy: Machina has black sclerae as a sign he's not human and is one of the antagonists of the Obbligato Musicians.
Cyborg: Machina's avatar appears to be a cyborg instead of a normal human. He has blasters, boosters that let him fly, and he's noted to be especially heavy to lift. Kudan also installs spyware on his body that lets her see where he is at all times, and his body also has a function that allows them to shut him down from afar.
Despair Event Horizon: His grandmother's passing from old age, which is the origin for his extreme Mortality Phobia. It certainly didn't help that his parents were unequipped to help him cope, leading to his coming to Redo so that he could have a immortal robot body that can't die of old age or sickness.
Disney Death: After saving the Protagonist, Kiriko and Niko from Digiheads in the subway after Kudan goes on TV to declare all the Go-Home Club members public enemy no. 1 of Redo, he attempts to parley with them. Unfortunately for him, Kudan knows exactly what's going on, and punishes him by deactivating him, with his last words being "I don't want to die!" before he shuts down, much to the outrage of Kiriko and Niko. Eventually, at great effort, Gin, Kobato and Shota bring his deactivated body to the control room where the rest of the Go-Home Club has congregated, and Sasara shares in the outrage while Kobato demands Ryuto find a way to revive him. He ends up turning back on on his own, however, and meets the Go-Home Club again in the last dungeon after Kudan's real death at the hands of Bluffman.
Face Death with Dignity: He's the last character you'd think would conform to this. Indeed, when Kudan deactivates him late-game, his reaction is to beg and plead for mercy, thinking he's about to die.
Foil: Machina is a middle-school student who wound up in Redo due to his fear of dying and gained an immortal body thanks to Regret. Sasara is an 86-year-old woman who happened to wind up in Redo when she found her diary and idly wished to relive her younger years, resulting in her looking like a teenager again.
Leitmotif: Eternal Silver [Regret Ver.]
Made a Slave: He revives but is under the complete control of Kudan after she deactivates him for trying to parley with the Go-Home Club. Upon Kudan's death, he is freed from her control, and the first thing he does thereafter is swoop in to save #QP, too, from falling to her death from a very high floor of the Tower of Epimetheus.
Mortality Phobia: His main reason for coming to Redo, where he could be given an immortal body. His character arc revolves around learning that living paralyzed by a fear of death is no way to live.
Nice Job Fixing It, Villain:
- Had Machina told Bluffman he found χ and the protagonist instead of trying to apprehend them himself, odds are the Go-Home Club would likely have never been founded and Bluffman's plan would continue without a hitch.
- When he goes to Tatefushi Academy during the School Festival, he unintentionally causes Niko to undergo an "awakening", leading her to join the Go-Home Club sometime afterwards.
Real Name as an Alias: "Machina" is pronounced exactly the same as his actual first name, "Makina".
Redemption Equals Life: Due to him having his own morals and willpower (thanks to the influence of the Go-Home Club and his Foil Amiki), he was able to survive Bluffman’s attacks when he decided that his underlings were disposable.
Robo Speak: Speaks like this for the most part, unless he's particularly angry. In Japanese, this is rendered by using katakana where he would otherwise use hiragana (a common way of rendering this), while in English it's rendered by hyphenating every syllable in his dialogue. He drops it during his first boss fight, during his Disney Death at the hands of Kudan, and for good when he comes back in the Tower of Epimetheus. His speech pattern also hints that he is a lot younger than he looks.
Spotting the Thread: He's the first to realize that Regret's goals and Bluffman's are different from one another, implied to have figured out that she was intentionally erasing any and all video footage of the Go-Home Club. This may also be why Regret asked him to deliver a message to the Go-Home Club during the school festival.
Undying Loyalty: To Regret, who he feels saved him by giving him the immortal body he wanted in Redo. This is implied to be the reason why Regret entrusted him with delivering her message to the Go-Home Club, as the other Musicians obeyed Bluffman.

Pandora

Voiced by: Tomoyo Kurosawa

Weapon: Staff

Theme Song: Alter Garden [Regret Ver.] by Ayase

A cool, calm, and collected Musician woman who speaks very little. She is an artisinal musician who loves to spend her time surrounded by flowers, working silently to make music in the depths of her favorite garden. Her workroom in the garden depths is an insular space sealed off from the outside world.

Her real identity is Yuuko Hakozaki, a 24-year old university student.

Green Thumb: Pandora demonstrates her ability to manipulate plant life to a certain degree, such as attempting to snatch up Kiriko with a monstrous plant. Fittingly, her base of operations is a public garden.
Hypocrite: She despises idols, yet she's working for Regret, an idol in all but name.
Killed Offscreen: When Bluffman executes his plan to destroy Redo and recreate it, the Metaverse-Es swallows the city and everyone inside, including Pandora who purposely kept herself Locked Out of the Loop. Thankfully, her death doesn't stick.
Leitmotif: Alter Garden [Regret Ver.]
Locked Out of the Loop: She prefers staying alone making her own music rather than actively following the Obbligato Musician’s activities. This, of course, means she has no idea what Bluffman is planning or the specifics of the situation regarding the "Singularity". Unfortunately, this also leaves her unaware of Bluffman's ploy to destroy Redo and rebuild it from the ground up, leaving her to be swallowed up by the Metaverse-Es.
Loving a Shadow: Her entire yearslong, unhealthy parasocial relationship with the actor Hikaru Hanamaki, who she projected hardcore onto and ended up being very disappointed by when it turned out he actually wasn't all that great of a person; see My Greatest Failure.
My Greatest Failure: She considers hers to be the parasocial relationship she was in with Hikaru Hanamaki, an actor; she invested all her time, money and energy in him. She later came to the realization that she had projected so much onto him and that he wasn't really the man she loved so much. It's also what drives her animosity towards Kiriko, who was a popular idol, Momona Kurahashi, in real life; out of all idols, it was Kiriko in particular who had a romantic line with Hanamaki in a movie she had watched over a thousand times.
No-Nonsense Nemesis: She interrupts Shota's initial Catharsis Effect awakening by chucking him into a river before his Transformation Sequence finishes.

MU-kun

Voiced by: Taku Yashiro

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/muukun.png

Weapon: Chakram

Theme Song: Swap Out [Regret Ver.] by Police Piccadilly

A Musician with an eccentric appearance and flashy hair. With his sense for music and fashion, and unconventional and exorbitant conduct that make up his “space communication” character setting, he steals the hearts of young as the most popular musician.

His real identity is Mutsuwo Ienaga, an ordinary 25-year old salaryman. In the real world, Souichirou Hitomi, Bluffman's real identity, was his section chief.

Abhorrent Admirer: He's an avid fan of a certain musician known only in Mobius, that musician being none other than Thorn. He loves her music so much he becomes absolutely livid upon learning Bluffman isn't Thorn and was using her music for his own gain.
Butt-Monkey: It's really hard not to feel sorry for the poor guy. It'd be one thing if he got flak for losing against the Go-Home Club, but his defeat puts him through a Humiliation Conga with the other Musicians and Bluffman excluding him from important matters regarding Marie Amabuki. He's desperate to prove himself not just Regret, but Bluffman in particular.
The Dog Bites Back: After being kept in the dark of the Obbligato’s motivations, finding out Bluffman is not his idol Thorn/Asuka Natsume but instead his real-life section chief sends him to a Rage Breaking Point. He stabs Bluffman, and then stabs him several more times after the latter insults him for his gullibility and his lack of artistic talent.
Exotic Eye Designs: MU-kun has eyes with yellow, star-shaped pupils.
Humiliation Conga: Goes through this during and after his boss battle. After he loses his cool when Gin skewers him, he then fights the Go-Home Club, and is defeated. He then tries to telephone Bluffman as a trump card, but before Bluffman picks up, he gets knocked out cold by a punch from χ. Finally, when he reconvenes with the Obbligato Musicians and says he has a list of his art event's attendees (with the Go-Home Club's membership somewhere on it), Bluffman and Doktor exclude him from a meeting where the rest of the Musicians discuss Marie, the singularity, as punishment for losing to the Go-Home Club.
Iconic Outfit: MU-kun wears an astronaut-like jacket top which is associated with his interest in and love of astronomy. It make him look like an astronaut.
Leitmotif: Swap Out [Regret Ver.]
Locked Out of the Loop: Has no idea what the other Obbligato musicians are doing or planning. This is his punishment for being defeated by the Go-Home Club in his dungeon. After the Go-Home Club defeats Bluffman, finding out that Bluffman has been deceiving him from the beginning and stealing Thorn’s music has made him extremely furious.
Patient Zero: He, Mutsuwo Ienaga, was the first person to be invited to the world of Redo, and was duped into coming to this new virtual world because he thought that he was being invited in by Asuka Natsume, Thorn's real identity. Learning that Bluffman is not in fact Natsume but instead his manager from the real world, and that he was using all the Obbligato musicians for his daughter, Sayoko, drives him into a murderous rage against Bluffman.
Rage Breaking Point: He was already plenty pissed when he learned Bluffman was using him from the very beginning, even before Redo was created. What really makes him snap is the reveal that Bluffman is not actually Asuka Natsume, and furthermore, that he's been using Thorn's music for his own agenda.
Terrible Artist: His dungeon is an art exhibit in a planetarium, where all the works are his own. Although most of the attendees love his work, the Go-Home Club members all think his art is mediocre at best, and that it would be received as such if the rest of the attendees weren't brainwashed.

#QP

#QP/Cocoa Yamamoto

Voiced by: Inori Minase

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/qp_0.png

Weapon: Polem

Theme Song: Q-Ai Senorita [Regret Ver.] by Kairiki Bear

An Obbligato Musician, second-year student at Tatefushi Academy senior high school, and the protagonist’s classmate. The fact that she is a Obbligato musician is a secret and she attends school everyday. She is a beauty that has a tendency to seek romance, and there is almost never a time that she does not have a man by her side. The reason she hides the fact that she is a musician is because she thinks the elaborate title is unattractive. Her real name is Cocoa Yamamoto, a 29-year old dental assistant.

Blush Sticker: She has permanent blush stickers.
Book Ends: She fails to get Kobato to defect from the Go-Home Club while she temporarily turns Tatefushi Academy into a dungeon. In the endgame, he manages to get her to leave Kudan and defect from the Obbligato Musicians at the Tower of Epimetheus, telling her that they're both unremarkable, like generic NPCs for most of their lives, and that she and the Go-Home Club both want to return to reality.
Girlish Pigtails: She has long black pigtails.
Leitmotif: Q-Ai Senorita [Regret Ver.]
Heel–Face Turn: Although she was never truly antagonistic to begin with, having joined the Obbligato Musicians and entered Redo solely to find a spouse, she was still considered an enemy to the Go-Home Club (though it should be pointed out that the only reason she fights the Go-Home Club at all is because she unintentionally pressed Kobato's Berserk Button). Getting whatever negativity beaten out of her by their Catharsis Effect and the protagonist saving her from being killed by Kobato leads to her somewhat aligning with them before joining in full when Kobato gives her a pep talk.
Meaningful Name: Her real first name is written 恋々愛, which is essentially just "love" three times.
Mundane Utility: Is effectively using Redo as a Dating Service to find a husband.
My Greatest Failure: Subverted. Unlike virtually everyone else in Redo, she has no Dark and Troubled Past, no serious troubles or an event that shook her whole life. Her main regret is that by age 29, all her friends got married and she never did, and she feels that she missed her chance. She thus aims to use Redo to find an ideal husband to return to the real world with.
Not in This for Your Revolution: She says outright that she doesn't care about Regret's new world, and that she's only looking for a husband to return to the real world with.
Odd Name Out: She's the only one of the Musicians to not write her name with kanji or katakana, and her name also includes a hashtag which none of the others do.
Rescue Romance: To varying degrees depending on the protagonist's gender. After they save her from Kobato after she's defeated, she develops enough of an interest in them to pull a Heel–Face Turn. With the male protagonist, she's much more straightforward in her affections, whereas with the female protagonist, while she admits to being interested, she wants to start off as close friends for the time being.
Redemption Equals Life: Abandoning Kudan at the Tower of Epimetheus narrowly saves her life when Bluffman elects to get rid of Kudan once his plans near fruition. She falls off a balcony after walking backward in shock, but Machina flies in to save her from falling to her death.
True Love is Exceptional: Unlike the rest of the Musicians, her ultimate goal is to return to reality; she's just in Redo to find the perfect husband to bring back with her.

Doktor

Doktor/Kirihito Guuji

Voiced by: Kazuki Katō

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/doctor_47.png

Weapon: Dual Daggers

Theme Song: Designed desires [Regret Ver.] by Nulut

A Musician who works as a doctor at the Tatefushi University Hospital on the outskirts of Okitama City, and is always pushing Kranke around in her wheelchair. He has a cool and blunt personality, but is devoted entirely to his contributions to Redo and actively works on musical activities. Other than Kranke, he prefers not to interact with the other musicians.

His real name is Kirihito Guuji.

Deadly Doctor: Is a physician and is very willing to kill to defend Redo, but he takes it to a whole other level. When taking Kranke to the Tatefushi Academy school festival, he uses it as a pretext to release a bug into the school, causing a localized epidemic to force students—and thus any potential Go-Home Club members—to come to the hospital where he works. He then sees all the patients who fell ill due to the disease that he unleashed, treating the ones who are still brainwashed and lethally poisoning the two Go-Home Club members he had caught: the Protagonist and Sasara.
Death Seeker: According to Kranke, he'd been wanting to kill himself ever since the failure of her operation, but couldn't bring himself to do so because he still needed to take care of her. This is one of the reasons Kranke pretends to still be unable to walk in Redo, because if it weren't for that, she believed he might have gone ahead and felt "free" to kill himself then.
Dub Name Change: In the Japanese dub, his name is Doctor. Doktor is German for doctor, to match Kranke being German for female sick person.
Empty Eyes: He is the only character so far shown without any pupils. Failing Kranke’s surgery really destroyed his soul…
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He's known Maria Ideguchi for fifteen years and came to be deeply invested in her life, which is why the failed surgery crushed him so much. When Ryuto confronts him on coming to Redo to undo the damage instead of continuing to treat other patients and save lives in the real world to him, a gross violation of the Hippocratic Oath, he retorts that he'd rather have Kranke be able to walk again than save even one other life in the real world.
The Farmer and the Viper: In Chapter 6, Marie somehow corrupts Tatefushi University Hospital and warps it, forcing the Go-Home Club and the Doktor to work together in order to save Marie and Kranke. Begrudging as he is, the Doktor is nonetheless thankful for their assistance...and promptly tries to kill them again to prevent them from potentially killing Marie and destroying Redo.
Hypocrite: Ryuto accuses him of being one, acting as a doctor yet breaking the Hippocratic Oath by neglecting anyone in need of his help in the real world and letting a single failure weigh him down. For his part, Doktor acknowledges this, but really couldn't give a damn.
Leitmotif: Designed desires [Regret Ver.]
Meaningful Name: His real last name is written 宮司, which means "chief [Shinto] priest".
My Greatest Failure: He was the surgeon in charge of Kranke's surgery that would have given her the ability to walk again. The surgery's failure crushed poor Doktor's soul. His wish in Redo was for Kranke to be able to walk again, only to be dismayed when she still remained disabled.
Tattooed Crook: Has a tattoo of a dragon on his forehead.

Kranke

Kranke/Maria Ideguchi

Voiced by: Yūki Takada

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kranke.png

Weapon: Morningstar, Wheelchair

Theme Song: Simply Praying [Regret Ver.] by Neru

An Obbligato Musician, and a third-year student at Tatefushi Academy senior high school. She is unable to walk due to a leg injury and is pushed around in a wheelchair by Doktor. Kranke's thoughts are hard to grasp since she tends to act like her mind is not present, and she always has a faint smile on her face. Many are drawn to her music and the world it weaves, which is dark beyond her fragile impression.

Her real name is Maria Ideguchi.

Dark Action Girl: Downplayed in the action part, but like Kudan, Kranke is a member of the Obbligato Musicians and is Doktor's partner. As it turns out, though, in Redo, she is capable of fighting and she isn't actually disabled at all.
Dual Boss: She's fought alongside her wheelchair, which has its own health meter and can move on its own to ram into the party.
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: She cares deeply about the Doktor, thus it comes as no surprise that, when the Go-Home Club hurts him in front of her, she's understandably pissed. Enough so that she stands up from her wheelchair to fight them herself.
Evil Cripple: Kranke is unable to walk due to a leg injury, and is pushed around in a wheelchair by Doktor. She is also one of the antagonist members of Obbligato Musician. It's zigzagged with the reveal that, while is unable to walk in the real world, she has no such disability in Redo because the Doktor wished for it. She refused to walk even in Redo because she feared Doktor would leave her or even kill himself if she weren’t.
Gratuitous German: Kranke means (female) sick person in German.
Leitmotif: Simply Praying [Regret Ver.]
Münchausen Syndrome: She could walk in Redo, but chose to cover it up out of fear the Doktor would leave her, although in this case "leave her" also happens to mean "potentially killing himself".
My Greatest Failure: She considers having taken the operation that could have allowed her to walk a mistake; she didn't mind being unable to walk if the Doktor was with her, but taking the operation broke his spirit.
Older Than They Look: She's a high schooler in Redo, but was 25 in real life at the time she came to Redo.
Throwing Off the Disability: While she's still unable to walk in the real world, in Redo, she stands up from her wheelchair after the Go-Home Club hurts Doktor in front of her in order to fight them. She only does so when Doctor collapses because she didn’t want him to know that she actually could walk, because she believed he might leave her by killing himself if she didn't, whereas in her mind, she didn't mind whether she could walk or not as long as he was with her.
Yandere: Heavily zigzagged. Kranke is very much in love with the Doktor, so much so in fact that hurting him in front of her is a good way to piss her off. She pretended to still be disabled in Redo, even though the Doktor's wish was for her to walk again, so he would stay with her, because she was convinced he wouldn't give her the same attention if she weren't disabled. On the other hand, the alternative was that, since the Doktor was a Death Seeker, he might have gone ahead and killed himself if it weren't for her actions giving him a reason to stick around; however, Kranke herself sees this as a selfish and clingy move because she's preventing him from following his wish to kill himself, to the point where after she's defeated, she even asks the Go-Home Club to kill her if they kill the Doktor so they can be Together in Death.

Kudan

Voiced by: Mariya Ise

Weapon: Dual Pistols

Theme Song: Miss Conductor [Regret Ver.] by Tsumiki

An Obbligato Musician, and a promotion and agitation specialist. She lies like she breathes and toys with the hearts of others. She is in charge of persuasive propaganda and public relations on behalf of Regret, who does not talk much. She often quotes wise figures from history, manga, and anime.

Her real identity is Yuu Ushizawa, a college student and the daughter of a famous politician.

Badass Longcoat: Wears a big coat over her Tatefushi Academy uniform.
Borrowed Catchphrase: Quotes a lot from manga, movies and history books. To compensate for her speech impediment in real life.
Curtains Match the Window: She has dark pink hair that matches her eyes.
Disney Villain Death: She's absorbed into the Metaverse-Es and falls through the fall and down into the abyss below. Thankfully, her death doesn't stick.
Evil Redhead: She has red hair, and she's one of the most dangerous Obbligato Musicians the Go-Home Club has to face if they want a crack at Regret.
Leitmotif: Miss Conductor [Regret Ver.]
Meaningful Name: 'Kudan' is the name of a bull-like yokai. Her real name, Yuu Ushizawa, contains the sound that means 'bull', "ushi"
My Greatest Failure: Her speech impediment left her unable to support her father’s failing political career. When a media crew cornered her after she got out of school, she had a speech all prepped in her head, but only ended spouting gibberish, hurting her father's career even more.
Pet the Dog: Saves Niko from being crushed by a falling billboard, despite the fact that letting a member of the Go-Home Club escape alive would place her at a disadvantage.
Smoking Is Cool: She has a habit of smoking on occasion.
The Chessmaster Subverted. Whilst she's extremely adept at manipulating the public, the Go-Home Club, and the other Obliggato musicians alike, she's still at the mercy of Bluffman's plans.
We Can Rule Together: Kudan asks the Go-Home Club to join them rather than fight, having grown rather fond of them for their determination and capabilities. They bluntly refuse.
Would Hurt a Child: She gloats about doing this when she deactivates Machina lategame for trying to parley with the Protagonist, Kiriko, Niko, and χ, noting that Machina is a child in real life and that to deactivate his Cyborg body is to functionally kill him.
Xanatos Gambit: Kudan orchestrated one hell of a plan to help boost Regret's popularity to the point the citizens start worshipping her as a legitimate goddess. She broadcasts her battle with the Go-Home Club when they confront her at the top of Amore. If she won, the Go-Home Club would be finished and Regret would continue to go unopposed, and if she lost, people would wallow and despair and look for Regret for salvation and guidance. Regardless of whether she won or lost, she would succeed in turning Regret into a god-like figure.
You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Just as Bluffman's plan is seemingly about to come to fruition, a black ball of ooze from the Metaverse-Es falls on Kudan and swallows her up. Kudan herself realizes it's no coincidence it happened and Bluffman aimed to get rid of her and #QP once they fulfilled their goals
You Remind Me of X: When she's defeated by the Go-Home Club and pushes Niko before she can be crushed by a falling billboard, she muses on how she's remarkably similar to her father for her honesty and beliefs.

Bluffman (Unmarked Spoilers)

Bluffman

Voiced by: Takehito Koyasu

Weapon: Katana

Theme Song: xxxx/xx/xx [Regret Ver.] by cosMo

The leader of the Obbligato Musicians. A man of many mysteries who hides his face behind a mask. He is always at Regret’s side and plays a managerial role, acting as the ringleader who assembles the musicians in her place. He is said to be such a senior composer that even the new generation Obbligato Musicians acknowledge his superiority. His principle of conduct is to make Regret an absolute being, and he always maintains that Regret is superior to the virtuadolls of the past.

His real identity is Souichirou Hitomi, a 45 year-old systems engineer and Regret’s father.

Bad Boss: Even aside from his willingness to betray and kill off the other Musicians, he's especially gratuitously cold toward MU-kun, who was his subordinate in real life as well.
Broken Pedestal: Prior to The Reveal, for all MU-kun's complaints against him, he holds nothing but vast respect for Bluffman and eagerly wants to prove himself. This is because he believes Bluffman is Thorn, an Ostinato Musician whose songs he greatly enjoys. The second he learns that Bluffman is not Thorn, but is in fact his boss from the real world and is using Thorn's music for his own ends, he flies off the handle.
Bullying the Dragon: After MU-kun, his real life subordinate who figured out his true identity as soon as he screamed his daughter's real name, fatally stabs him once, he decides to goad MU-kun for being enough of a sucker to think that he had been invited to Redo by Thorn/Asuka Natsume, and mocks him for his lack of artistic talent. This further aggravates MU-kun—who is armed and has clearly snapped—into stabbing him several more times to finish the job.
Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: Thorn subtly manipulates μ by having her absorb the negative energy of Mobius' inhabitants to fulfill her desire of destroying reality. Bluffman props Regret on a pedestal and has her act like some sort of god-like figure for the people of Redo. Thorn initially wanted to use Mobius as a way to live with Ichika, and when that failed, decided to destroy the real world, using μ to that end. Bluffman created Redo and made his daughter into Regret for the purpose of giving her happiness. In regards to how they dealt with their subordinates, Thorn initially threatened to send them back to the real world when they failed before closing off the only exit to the real world and turned most of the Ostinato Musicians Brainwashed and Crazy. Bluffman would rather just kill them off when he feels they're either no longer needed or they turn against him and become detrimental to his plans.
Cool Mask: His face is hidden behind a golden mask.
Dark Is Evil: He is one of the primary antagonists clad in black and leader of the Obbligato Musicians.
Femme Fatalons: He wears golden claw rings over each of his fingers.
Leitmotif: xxxx/xx/xx [Regret Ver.]. It stands for YYYY/MM/DD, and is rendered as その日^notetranslates to "that day" in English when sung aloud, signifying Redo's theme of erasing its denizens' regrets. Or not; it's eventually revealed that he stole the song from Thorn, so although he presumably chose it because the theme was fitting, the song's lyrics, which speak of the composer’s grief over not being able to meet his end with a certain someone and his inability to forgive “that coward” (probably Shogo), were probably originally written about Asuka's regrets over being unable to prevent Ichika's death.
Love Makes You Evil: His motivation for creating the world of Redo and having his hikkikomori daughter serve as its "Virtuadoll" deity figure, where she is revered and beloved by all its inhabitants. Unfortunately, that happens to also involve manipulating others, trapping people in a virtual world, and ignoring the fact said daughter is crumbling under the pressure.
Luke, I Am Your Father: He reveals to the Go-Home Club that he's not only Regret's most devoted servant, but also her father.
Meaningful Name: A "bluff" is a form of lie used to convince someone they are about to do something or are capable of it. Fittingly, Bluffman uses various deceptions to keep the Obbligato Musicians and the Go-Home Club in check. One of his many deceptions is his manipulation of MU-kun, making him believe he was invited to Redo by his idol Thorn in order to use him as a pawn.
Musical Spoiler: His Leitmotif is written by Cosmo, the only songwriter involved in The Caligula Effect to return for the sequel. Cosmo wrote Distorted♰Happiness, the Leitmotif for Thorn, and this is no coincidence—it signifies that in-universe Bluffman has been using Thorn's music for his agenda.
No Social Skills: His secret file reveals that he had always had terrible skills in dealing with other people. His wife initially accepted him for who he was and acted the the lynchpin for the whole family. However when she left for reasons unknown, Bluffman found that he had no idea of how to actually interact with his daughter now that he was her sole caretaker. This lack of social knowhow ultimately lead to Regret becoming a shut-in and Bluffman to create the whole plan around Redo to try and mend their relationship, never realizing he made things worse.
Parental Neglect: Subverted. He never talked much to Regret, only giving her the money to live however she wants. In reality, though, he's been working on a project, that being Redo, in order to find a way to give her happiness, even if she's unaware of his role in it all.
Poor Communication Kills: If he and Regret actually took a moment to talk to each other, odds are likely none of the game's plot would have happened. He never bothered to tell Regret that he, as Bluffman, was her father, and so she never finds out her father died in Redo. More importantly, Regret herself didn't even like Bluffman or how he propped her up on a pedestal and cheers when she learns he was swallowed by the Metaverse-Es.
"The Reason You Suck" Speech: He delivers a poignant brutal one to χ after she knocks out MU-kun when the latter attempts to call him, telling her that unlike with Mobius, people came to Redo out of their own free will and how imperfect she and her fellow virtuadolls are. To kick her down further, Bluffman states that the reason why Regret is perfect is that she actually understands the people living in her virtual world, whereas χ and μ cannot. That last one hurts the former deeply.
Red Herring: Throughout the game, there are hints that Bluffman may, in fact, be Thorn (i.e. Asuka Natsume), the ringleader of the Ostinato Musicians. First, Pandora states Bluffman possesses intricate knowledge of Mobius, which he should only have if he was there himself. There's also his Leitmotif, which is composed by Cosmo, the same songwriter who wrote Thorn's signature song Distorted♰Happiness—this is even commented on by MU-kun who claims Bluffman is a very well-known Doll-P who composed songs for μ. The trailers also focus on lines from him about succeeding "this time" and that he's doing what he does out of The Power of Love, which would suggest Asuka trying to pull the same stunt as before out of his love for Ichika; his image song also sounds suspiciously like what Asuka would write in regret over Ichika's death and his inability to stop it. In actuality, Bluffman is MU-kun's boss in the real world and broke into Asuka Natsume's home and is simply using Thorn's music and fame from Mobius as a means to manipulate MU-kun, who is her biggest fan; Bluffman doesn't know a thing about music himself, and the image song being a description of Ichika's death is presumably because the song was stolen from Thorn's archives.
Uncertain Doom: Although it's implied he was killed after being repeatedly stabbed by MU-kun, his death never happens on-screen and is swallowed up by the Metaverse-Es alongside MU-kun.
The Unfought: In the Bad Ending; otherwise the Go-Home Club must fight him in order to reach Redo.
Workaholic: Regret describes him as having been this in reality, a typical Japanese salaryman completely dedicated to his career and never talking to her. She thus doesn't know whether he actually loved her, with Redo ending up being his big project to try and express his love for her. Bluffman's secret file reveals that the reason for this was that he had such terrible social skills that he viewed his work as the only way to support his daughter and act as a father, not realizing that it left her without him in her life.

Characters / The Caligula Effect 2

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