This list covers the tropes for characters in the Japanese film and TV series adaptations of The Ring. For their tropes as described in the books, go here. For tropes related to the American film adaptations, go here.
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Introduced in Ring: Kanzenban
Kazuyuki Asakawa
Kazuyuki Asakawa
- Played By: Katsunori Takahashi (Ring: Kanzenban), Toshiro Yanagiba (Ring: The Final Chapter)
The protagonist of the 1995 TV film Ring as well as Ring: The Final Chapter. Kazuyuki is a Tokyo-based journalist who investigates the death of his niece Tomoko and three other teenagers, discovering the cursed videotape's existence and seeks to end its curse. At first he is a workaholic but when his wife and daughter watch the tape, he is determined to move mountains to save them. In The Final Chapter, he is Yoichi's father.
- Badass Normal: Very determined to solve the mystery of the videotape, particularly when his wife and son watch it.
- Chekhov's Gun: The copy of the tape Kazuyuki made for Ryuji. He tries to use it to save his family.
- Heroic BSoD: After his family watch the tape, Ryuji dies and realising the enormity of the virus' power.
- Intrepid Reporter: Goes to great lengths to uncover the truth behind the videotape.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Kazuyuki finds Sadako's body and it gives it to her family and everything looks fine. That is until Ryuji dies of a heart attack, revealing the Ring Virus is still active and can only be stopped by copying the tape.
- Papa Wolf: A good single parent to Yoichi in the TV series.
- Salaryman: A bit focused on his work and dislikes certain aspects of being a father.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: As part of Sadako's plan to spread the tape.
Ryuji Takayama
Ryuji Takayama
- Played By: Hiroyuki Sanada (Ring and Ring 2), Yoshio Harada (Ring: Kazenban), Tomoyo Nagase (Ring: The Final Chapter)
An associate of Kazuyuki. A mathematician, philosophy university teacher, and former medical student, Ryuji is an eccentric but intelligent man who aids Kazuyuki in investigating the origins of the cursed videotape. His character alters between different continuities. In the film series, he is Reiko Asakawa's ex-husband and Yoichi's father, being calm, thoughtful but just as cognitive as his novel counterpart, and has Psychic Powers. In Ring: The Final Chapter, he is a calm but creepy individual who has to care for his half-sister Mai Takano.
- The Ace: Very smart and a genius in intuition, mathematics, and medicine.
- Ax-Crazy: His TV counterpart is, particularly if anyone messes with Mai.
- Back from the Dead: After dying, Ryuji is resurrected by Sadako and reappears as his adult self a few months after Ando makes his deal with Sadako. In Loop, it is revealed protagonist Kaoru Futami is the resurrected Ryuji. Extracted from the Loop computer system as a baby, he was raised as a normal person until the Metastatic Human Cancer infects his father, prompting him to return to Loop to counterattact the Ring Virus, the cancer's real form.
- Bat Deduction: Realises the tape must be copied to escape the curse.
- Celibate Eccentric Genius: To an extent. Ryuji has a relationship of sorts with his assistant/student Mai, and claims to have raped three women, though he has no proof of it other than stories.
- Cool Teacher: Mai is affectionate towards him because of his kindness and encouragement.
- Cloud Cuckoolander: His novel counterpart is pretty nuts.
- Killed Off for Real: Dies of a heart attack in Ring after failing to copy the tape. Also dies in all other incarnations of the story, most iconically in the 1998 film where Sadako crawls out of his TV and kills him via a Death Glare.
- Legacy Character: In the TV series, Ryuji is Sadako's child and is meant to spread her virus.
- Mentor Occupational Hazard: Meets his end at the end of the novel by the virus, though in the film it is directly by Sadako's hand.
- Papa Wolf: To Yoichi, films only. Though very distant and broody, Ryuji expresses concern for his son even when not a part of life.
- The Philosopher: Prone to philosophising about life in the novels, along with his own apparent crimes as a rapist.
- Psychic Link: His TV incarnation has one with Mai. Kind of. He carries Sadako's virus, and Mai is the key to unleashing it, and she will always know where he is.
- Psychic Powers: Has a form of ESP in the films, able to sense spirits or bad omens.
- Punch-Clock Hero: Claims to have raped several girls in the books.
- Sacrificial Lion: Killed by the curse to prove it hasn't been stopped.
- The Stoic: Very calm and focused in the films and only gets riled up if things get desperate. His counterpart is the Ring television series is pretty stoic too, albeit in a creepy term.
- Straw Nihilist: Makes quips about wanting the world to end. Ends up playing a part in its "evolution" by helping spread Sadako's virus.
- Unreliable Narrator: In the books Mai's insight regarding his relationships and his autopsy revealing he had a very small penis cast doubt on whether he'd ever actually raped anyone or if he made it all up.
- Working with the Ex: He works with his ex-wife Reiko in the film to solve the videotape's mystery. They get on very well, using honorifics, with plenty of Ship Tease accompanying them.
Sadako Yamamura
Sadako Yamamura
While alive in Ring 0
- Played By: Rie Inõ (Ring and Ring 2), Hinako Saeki (Rasen), Ayane Miura (Ring: Kazenban), Tae Kimura (Ring: The Final Chapter and Rasen TV series), Yuki Nakama (Ring 0), Ai Hashimoto (Sadako 3D and Sadako 3D 2), Elly Nanami (Sadako vs. Kayako), Himeka Himejima (Sadako)
The central character, Big Bad, and definitive Stringy-Haired Ghost Girl. Sadako was a teenage girl with Psychic Powers, had a pretty miserable childhood, and was then chucked down a well to her death. Years on, her spirit haunts a videotape which contains a curse that will kill whoever watches it within seven days unless they copy it and show it to someone else. Sadako's character, backstory, and powers vary between each different continuity, but all maintain her desire to get revenge on the world through the videotape, and by other means.
- Achilles' Heel: Sadako's tape is both her strength and weakness. Her curse can only spread if someone copies the tape and shows it to someone else, though the deaths of those who do watch it may inspire others to investigate the tape - and that actually happens. She bypasses this in the Sadako films, creating a suicide video that instantly kills those who watch it.
- And I Must Scream: We learn that Sadako survived in the well for seven days before dying. In Ring 2, Sadako is revealed to have survived in the well for a good three decades by sheer will, and only died a short time before Reiko found the tape.
- Alas, Poor Villain: Usually invoked once per installment, when her backstory is taken into account.
- Back from the Dead: Sadako's entire plan was to be reborn, since she had a premonition of her return before she died and made the cursed videotape and subsequent Ring Virus to achieve her goal. She succeeds and proceeds to spread her curse through Asakawa's journal as a published novel, and then through a film adaptation.
- Tries to achieve this in Sadako 3D 2, impregnating Akane after invading her body, but Akane keeps Sadako at bay, allowing her child Nagi to be born. Takanori has to keep mother and daughter apart otherwise Sadako could escape.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Sadako was a sweet girl and very kind when she was alive. Subverted in Ring 0, where Sadako had split into two girls due to her powers, one being innocent and kind but had no control of her powers, and a Superpowered Evil Side.
- Big Bad: Of the whole franchise, though this is subverted in the Rasen TV series.
- Biomanipulation: Sadako creates the Ring Virus this way, mutating a smallpox strand her rapist gave her, to the point she reworked it to cause heart failure, and impregnate women with her own DNA to come back from the dead.
- Blessed with Suck: Her powers brought Sadako and her loved ones a lot of grief.
- Break the Cutie: By the end of Ring 0, she is well and truly broken.
- Brown Note: The videotape in all of its forms.
- The Chessmaster: Her primary goal is to inflict suffering on the world. However, she will forego this for the sake of a more immedate goal.
- In the 1998 Japanese Ring Movie, she deploys the Towel Man to reveal to Reiko how to beat her curse. By doing this she gives up a victim, Yoichi, but is guaranteed a new one in his place. Furthermore, Reiko is a reporter and she knows that she will spread the story, and thus bring in new victims. Had Sadako simply taken Yoichi, the curse would have stopped and she would have had to wait until another group stumbled on the tape.
- In the book Spiral she actually grants Ando a reprieve from death in return for his assistance and non-interference in her resurrection plan.
- The Comically Serious: Not in the films, but in her mostly background appearances in the ads leading up to the launch of Paramount+. It's not entirely clear how she joined the various other expeditioners, but she actually celebrates in the final ad by swaying along to "Sweet Victory" (much to the confusion of Beavis and Butt-Head).
- Her shenanigans in ad campaigns for the movies also tends to the silly, from opening a baseball game with
Kayako to starting a Youtube channel.
- Her shenanigans in ad campaigns for the movies also tends to the silly, from opening a baseball game with
- Creepy Child: Sadako as a child in the film series. Not to mention Sadako's evil twin in Ring 0.
- Death Glare: A literal one; it's how she kills her victims in the films. Doubles as a Deadly Gaze.
- Divine Parentage: In the films, it is heavily implied that Sadako's father is some kind of water deity, who gave Shizuko her psychic powers.
- Doomed by Canon: Ring 0 from beginning to end is this for Sadako.
- Driven to Suicide: Throws herself off a building in the Rasen TV series upon learning she was being manipulated by Rikuta, unwilling to be mistreated again.
- Ethereal White Dress: A Stringy-Haired Ghost Girl who wears a white dress in most incarnations of the story.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Sadako's TV incarnation tries to get Mitsuo Ando's wife to stab him to death for causing their son's own demise, but it ends up leading to the couple to make peace when Ando apologises. Sadako is so shocked that she can't understand why they cast aside their hatred.
- The Faceless: We never see Sadako's post-dead face in the original trilogy, for it is hidden under hair. We glimpse her insane glare, which is enough to kill people.
- Fetus Terrible: In Coffin the Sky, Mai unwillingly gives birth to a reborn Sadako who grows at a phenomenal rate and can escape a roof ventilation shaft like an adult.
- Fingore: Sadako broke off her fingernails and tips while trying to get out of the well, so we always see her with nail-less fingers.
- The Fourth Wall Will Not Protect You: In-universe example, but did have some impact on the real world. Sadako's iconic crawl out of the television to kill Ryuji. Apparently, some Japanese audiences were so terrified that they did not turn on their televisions for weeks.
- Guest Fighter: Appears in Dead by Daylight as a new Killer called "The Onryō".
- Haunted Technology: Her cursed videotape.
- A recorded piece of audio acts as a precursor to the videotape in Lemonheart and Ring 0.
- The Rasen television series put the video onto a CD.
- Sadako 3D saw the creation of a new suicide video that was online. Computers, laptops and phones were haunted in the sequel.
- Healing Hands: Shown to heal an old man's disability in Ring 0. Sadly, this is the only good thing she does with her powers.
- Hermaphrodite: Just about the only part of Sadako's backstory not adapted in some form beyond the original TV movie. Sadako is a hermaphrodite, discovered by Nagao Jotaro, prompting him to throw her down the well.
- Hope Spot/Yank the Dog's Chain: The ending of Ring 0 — Sadako is thrown down the well by her dad, but suddenly awakens in a bed with her boyfriend Toyama standing over her, telling her that it's all a dream. Sadako reaches for him, then we jump cut to Sadako back in the well. Sadako realises what is going on and can only scream in despair as Dr. Ikuma seals her in.
- I Am a Monster: Pre-death in the film series.
- Becomes this in the television series.
- Intersex Tribulations: Sadako has Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome, an intersex condition that means she cannot give birth because she has XY chromosomes. This revelation tragically leads her plunge down the well in the novels. In Spiral, the reborn Sadako gains the ability to give birth, making her, as she puts it, "A complete hermaphrodite."
- Love Triangle: Gets in one with Hiroshi Toyama and his girlfriend Etsuko in Ring 0.
- Marionette Motion: Walks in a pretty freaky manner as a ghost. Her unnatural style was performed by Sadako's first actress, kabuki star Rie Inou who walked backwards with the scene then reversed.
- Nightmare Face: We only see a glimpse of her ghostly face in Ring, but it is enough to kill someone.
- In Ring 2, forensic specialists rebuild Sadako's face using a clay model for her burial. When they take photos of it, the flash produces a brief inhuman appearance. Sadako's ghost then appears with her clay head in the film's finale.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Sadako is based on one Sadako Takahashi, a Japanese woman said to have developed psychic powers and was a test subject for Dr. Tomokichi Fukurai, who Dr. Ikuma is based on.
- Parental Abandonment: Sadako's mother Shizuko commits suicide from depression.
- Prehensile Hair: In Sadako 3D, Sadako takes a page out of Kayako's book and uses her hair to attack others.
- Psychic Powers: Sadako pretty much has displayed the entire variety of powers listed on the trope's page. Her most notably power is psychography (or "nensha") which she used to create the videotape. In the novels, she is able to alter the genetics of human biology and mutate a smallpox strand with her DNA into a virus able to cause tumours, heart attacks, and impregnate women with said DNA to ensure that she can be resurrected, as well as create clones of the dead. This healing factor is briefly demonstrated in Ring 0, where she mends a disabled man's legs.
- Rape as Backstory: In the novels, the Korean film, the radio series, and all television adaptations. Sadako is sexually assaulted by Dr. Nagao (or her half-brother in the Korean film), who discovers she is a hermaphrodite and chucks her down the well.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: After fusing with her evil twin in Ring 0, Sadako goes on a silent walk of death through the woods, killing all of her tormentors, but accidentally kills her own boyfriend too.
- She's a Man in Japan: See the Hermaphrodite section above.
- Spooky Photographs: A side-effect of watching the tape, victims have blurred faces.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: Thrown down a well to die, leading to her rise as a vengeful ghost.
- Shrinking Violet: In Ring 0, she is very shy and quiet, and only opens up to Toyama.
- Star-Crossed Lovers: Sadako and Toyama. Sadly Doomed by Canon.
- Start of Darkness: Thrown down a well leads to her becoming a vengeful ghost.
- Stringy-Haired Ghost Girl: Trope Codifier. A spooky, skinny pale ghost with long, messy dark hair.
- Superpowered Evil Side: In the films, Sadako split into identical twins after murdering a man. One remained the size of a child and displays malicious or at least mischievous intent. They fuse into one by the end of Ring 0.
- Thrown Down a Well: The most notable example in fiction. In every continuity, Sadako has been tossed down a well and left to die, commonly by her father Dr. Ikuma, or rapist Jotaro Nagao.
- Trauma Conga Line: In the films, she is abandoned at birth, kills a journalist, her mother commits suicide, her out-of-control powers lead to several deaths, and she is the victim of a Witch Hunt, murders all of her tormentors including her harmless boyfriend, is thrown down a well by her father, and survives down there for thirty years by sheer will.
- Undead Barefooter: She goes around shoeless in all her incarnations.
- The Virus: The Ring Virus in the novels, a mutated strand of smallpox which can lead to heart attacks or impregnation in female victims (but only if they have sex while infected). The cursed videotape is intended to spread like a virus, being copied and passed onto another person to escape death.
- Window Love: Confesses to Toyama through a sound booth's screen in one of the loveliest moments of the film series.
- Xanatos Gambit: Sadako's plan in the novels and Rasen goes pretty much as she hoped, also backed up by the visions she had of the successful outcome.
Kenzo Yoshino
Kenzo Yoshino
- Played By: Yutaka Matsushige (Ring, Spiral), Shigeyuki Nakamura (Ring: Kanzenban), Kotomi Kyono (Ring: The Final Chapter)
A journalist friend of Reiko. He cameos in the first film but has a prominent role in Spiral. In the TV adaptation, his role is genderflipped into that of Akiko Yoshino.
- Death by Adaptation: In Spiral, he falls victim to the ring virus, unlike in the book where he survives.
- Demoted to Extra: Has one scene cameo in the 1998 film, but gained a supporting role in the retconned Rasen film.
- Gender Flip: In Ring: The Final Chapter.
- The Heart: Akiko for Kazuyuki.
- Ship Tease: Akiko and Kazuyuki. Akiko often serves as a motherly figure for Yoichi.
- Shrinking Violet: Akiko, though she becomes more confident and open.
Shizuko Yamamura
Shizuko Yamamura
- Played By: Masako (theatrical films), Kyoko Donowaki (Ring: Kanzenban)
Sadako's mother. Gaining Psychic Powers via supernatural means, Shizuko had an affair with Heihachiro Ikuma and gave birth to Sadako. After a botched public demonstration of her powers, Shizuko became depressed and eventually was Driven to Suicide.
- Blessed with Suck: Her powers gave her severe headaches, couldn't be proven to exist in front of a crowd of skeptical reporters and ultimately led to her lover's career being ruined and Shizuko left to return to her home with their daughter.
- Broken Bird: Didn't have the easiest of lives. Dead son, superpowered daughter, and humiliated by the press lead to her suicide. Implied in Ring 0 that she also went nuts because her daughter's powers exceeded her own.
- Disastrous Demonstration: Her attempt to display her powers to the public and the press failed. Made worse in the films, where a journalist accused her of faking her powers, only to be killed by an angry Sadako. This has severe consequences for Sadako in Ring 0.
- Driven to Suicide: Grew depressed and threw herself into Mount Mihara on the date that she correctly predicted would be its eruption. In the novels, it was due to the botched public demonstration of her powers and the loss of her second child. The films had her go mad after Sadako killed a man by sheer will and then split into two twins.
- Expy: Shizuko is based on Chizuko Mifune, a woman who claimed to have foresight. Dr. Tomokichi Fukurai, a university psychology professor, studied her and exposed her to the public. She was branded a fraud, which shook Chizuko so much that she committed suicide via poison.
- Mirror Scare: The film's cursed videotape has Shizuko brushing her hair in front of a mirror, which Sadako telekinetically moves around as a prank. In Ring 2, Mai witnesses a live demonstration of this, before Shizuko acknowledges her presence and gives her a haunting Death Glare before the mirror explodes.
- Missing Mom: For Sadako after her suicide.
- Parental Abandonment: Kills herself and abandons Sadako in the process.
- Posthumous Character: Been dead for at least thirty years by the time the story kicks off. Averted in the TV series.
- Psychic Powers: Gains the power of foresight after picking up a statue of Japanese figure of folklore En no Ozuno. In the films, it is implied Shizuko had her powers at birth, but gave birth to Sadako through paranormal means.
- Sanity Slippage: Spends hours attending to her hair in front of a mirror, looking quite mad.
Doctor Heihachiro Ikuma
Heihachiro Ikuma
- Played By: Daisuke Ban (theatrical films), Koji Shimizu (Ring: Kanzenban)
- Deadly Doctor: Subverted. In Ring 0, he cared for the Sadako twins, but drugged the evil one and kept her locked away. The good twin was allowed to live a normal life but her powers caused her to be the victim of a Witch Hunt. After the twins reunite and kill numerous people, Dr. Ikuma realises he must protect the world from Sadako and throws her down a well, much to his regret.
- Disastrous Demonstration: Arranged Shizuko's public demonstration of her powers. It didn't go very well, leading to her suicide.
- Expy: Dr. Ikuma is based on Dr. Fukurai, a real life Deadly Doctor, who tried to prove the existence of psychic powers. It took the deaths of two women for him to call it quits.
- Meditating Under a Waterfall: Sat under waterfalls to try to gain psychic powers but it only gave him tuberculosis.
- Necessary Evil: Threw Sadako down the well in the film canon to prevent her from killing others.
- Offing the Offspring: Films only. With great reluctance, he threw his own daughter down the family well to stop her evil from hurting others.
- Papa Wolf: To Sadako, but tragically subverted in Ring 0.
- Posthumous Character: Died of tuberculosis in the novels, and is confirmed dead in the films.
- The Professor: Was a professor in Tokyo University.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: His choice in casting Sadako down the well.
Tomoko Oishi & Her Friends
Tomoko Oishi, Shuichi Iwata, Haruko Tsuji, and Takehiko Nomi
- Tomoko played By: Yuko Takeuchi (Ring), Akiko Hinagita (''Ring: Kanzenban)
Takehiko played By: Takashi Takayama
Four high school students who go on a trip to the Izu Pacific Land Resort. There, they stumble across Sadako's curse, which is recorded onto a videotape and they watch it. A week later, the four all die of heart attacks, kicking off Asakawa's investigation.
- Came Back Wrong: In the film, Tomoko comes back as an unseen ghost and allegedly told Yoichi to watch the cursed videotape. Ryuji theorises she became Sadako's minion ("She isn't Tomoko anymore.")
- Don't Go in the Woods: Subverted. Tomoko and friends go to a relatively popular camp ground. It is inside their cabin where they find terror.
- Innocent Bystander: Find and watch the videotape by happenstance and die unaware of the rules to escape death.
- Ordinary High-School Student: All four of them.
- Our Ghosts Are Different: In the film, Tomoko's ghost is manipulated by Sadako into convincing Yoichi to watch the tape. As Ryuji puts it, "She isn't Tomoko anymore."
- Out with a Bang: Tsuji and Nomi were parking when they both died.
- Peek-a-Boo Corpse: In the film, Tomoko's mother Yoshimi found her corpse in her bedroom closet, her face frozen in a scream. Tsuji's corpse also springs out of a locked car when police try to get her out.
- Sacrificial Lamb: Killed off to kick off the plot.
- Their First Time: Tomoko and Iwata.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: They record the cursed videotape and are Sadako's first victims.
- Victim of the Week: A fitting trope, since they die a week after watching the tape.
Mai Takano
Mai Takano
- Played By: Miki Nakatani (theatrical films), Maha Hamada (Ring: Kanzenban), Akiko Yada (TV series)
Ryuji's student and possible girlfriend. She has a major expansion in Spiral, being an emotional woman but very fond of Ryuji. Experiences a pretty horrible And I Must Scream moment in the novels. She is the main protagonist of Ring 2. In Ring: The Final Chapter, she is a troubled girl who is Ryuji's half-sister.
- A Death in the Limelight: The jist of Coffin in the Sky.
- And I Must Scream: Used by Sadako as an incubator for her resurrection. She is trapped in the ventilation shaft on her apartment roof, unable to move as Sadako gives birth to herself and leaves Mai to die.
- Ascended Extra: Has a relatively minor role in the first novel and film, but gets a major boost to a protagonist in the sequels.
- Heroic BSoD: After finding Ryuji's corpse.
- Living MacGuffin: In Ring: The Final Chapter, Mai carries both the cure for the curse in her blood but also the trigger that activates it.
- Mysterious Informant: Mai becomes this in the Rasen TV series.
- Mystical Pregnancy: Sadako impregnates her with herself.
- Promotion to Parent: Becomes Yoichi's guardian in Ring 2 after his parents both die.
- Psychic Link: Shares one with Ryuji in Ring: The Final Chapter.
- Spared by the Adaptation: Survives the events of Ring 2, unlike in Spiral and its adaptations.
Takashi Yamamura
Takashi Yamamura
- Played By: Yoichi Numata (theatrical films), Tadayoshi Ueda (Ring: Kanzenban)
Shizuko's cousin and Sadako's uncle. A fisherman and inkeeper living on Oshima, Takashi has a minor role in the novels. In the films, he was the instigator of Sadako's doom, and became a bitter, guilt-ridden man in his later years.
- Ascended Extra: Films only. In the novel, he has a minor role and cared for Sadako. In the films, he is a bitter old man who describes her as the devil, when it was his opportunistic nature that damned his family.
- The Atoner: Expresses great regret for what happened to Shizuko and Sadako, sending the latter's body out to sea in an attempt to appease her spirit.
- Character Development: Takashi is haunted by the memory of Sadako, but also has great guilt for playing a part in the fates of her and Shizuko. Upon being forced to admit Sadako existed, he ends up taking Reiko and Ryuji to the mainland to appease Sadako. In the second film, when he learns Sadako was alive in the well for years, he takes possession of her body and performs a burial at sea.
- Driven to Suicide: Drowns himself in Ring 2 to try to stop Sadako.
- Commits suicide in Ring: The Final Chapter or at least implied when Kazuyuki finds a letter from him stating he has taken Shizuko's body to the volcano and won't be seen again.
- Evil Uncle: By no means evil, but he thought Sadako was a monster.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Takashi sacrifices himself to Sadako to end her rage, drowning in a swimming pool.
- Redemption Equals Death: Attempts to stop his niece's wrath by sacrificing himself for causing her such pain.
- Suspiciously Specific Denial: Pretends not to know Sadako, mainly because of how horrifying she was to Takashi.
- Tears of Remorse: In Ring: Kanzenban, Takashi cries when Kazuyuki hands him Sadako's corpse.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Films only. Takashi suggested putting Shizuko on display to the press, kicking off the chain of events that led to Sadako's imprisonment in the well.
Introduced in Ring
Reiko Asakawa
Reiko Asakawa
Have you heard about what kind of video it is?
- Played By: Nanako Matsushima
The female equivalent for Kazuyuki, Reiko fulfils the same role as he does in Ring, investigating rumours of a cursed videotape following the death of her niece Tomoko. A modern Japanese career woman, she often leaves her son Yoichi home alone, and is Ryuji's ex-wife.
- Awesomeness by Analysis: Very observant and notices small details in things, which helps in her job as a journalist and investigating the cursed videotape.
- Badass Normal: Willing to go to great lengths to protect her son.
- Broken Bird: By the second film, three dead family members and her son's powers boosted by Sadako has made her a very different woman then she was in the first.
- Chekhov's Gun: The copy of the tape she makes for Ryuji.
- Gender Flip: The female equivalent of Kazuyuki.
- Heroic BSoD: In an ongoing state of this trope in Ring 2 following the deaths of Ryuji and her father.
- Intrepid Reporter: Pursues the rumours of a cursed videotape at first as a simple news piece, but it becomes personal when Reiko finds a connection to Tomoko's death.
- Lurid Tales of Doom: The rumours of the cursed videotape are this to Reiko but she still handles it in a professional manner. Turns out the rumours are real.
- Mama Bear: Cares very deeply for Yoichi, and also shows motherly concern towards Sadako.
- Married to the Job: Type 1. Reiko is very focused on her job, often leaving Yoichi alone to fend for himself. It has shades of parental neglect at times. In one scene, Reiko answers a call from Yoichi while researching newspapers with Ryuji and tells Yoichi he will be fine alone for a little while longer before hanging up. Ryuji, who has no role in his son's life, looks visibly uncomfortable with his ex's actions. He promptly tells her to spend some time with Yoichi whilst she can.
- Necessary Evil: Forced to ask her father to watch the tape in order to save Yoichi's life.
- The Stoic: Becomes this in Ring 2, completely altering her appearance too, going from lively and curious to reserved and grouchy.
- Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome: Killed in both sequels. In the retconned Rasen, she dies off-screen in a car crash. In Ring 2, Reiko is hit by a truck.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: As part of Sadako's plan to spread the tape.
- Working with the Ex: Teams up with Ryuji to investigate the videotape. Both have a very good relationship despite being divorced, and there is still some love between them. Reiko even tells a policeman that she is Ryuji's wife, though that was to get into his apartment.
Yoichi Asakawa
Yoichi Asakawa
- Played By: Rikiya Otaka (films), Yuta Fukagawa (TV series)
Son of Reiko and Ryuji, Yoichi is young and innocent but experiences a lot of hardships in his life. He possesses Psychic Powers like his father.
- Break the Cutie: Suffers quite a lot, losing four family members to Sadako's wrath, but comes out of it surprisingly well.
- Cannot Tell a Lie: Is very honest and always tells the truth, even if he is cryptic about it. He knows falling into the well will lead to his and Mai's escape from Sadako.
- Children Are Innocent: Definitely the most purehearted of characters in the film series.
- Creepy Child: Yoichi is innocent through and through, but there is something a little creepy about him and how he silently reacts to everything even when his own family members are dying.
- Cute Mute: Doesn't talk much but is quite adorable.
- Demonic Possession: Subverted. Implied to be haunted by Sadako's anger, boosting his powers,
- Guest Fighter: Appears in Dead by Daylight as a Survivor, but in his adult years.
- Psychic Powers: Presumably inherited from his father, Yoichi is able to sense supernatural auras and talk to ghosts. In Ring 2, his powers are boosted by Sadako, allowing him to project his voice through other people, and further exhibiting astral projection, telepathy, and even pull a Psychic Strangle on a police officer. The condition of his powers are unknown after Ryuji's ghost absorbs his anger and grief.
- The Stoic: Yoichi remains quite calm and unemotional throughout the films. He expresses Tranquil Fury after Reiko is hit by a truck, taking his fury out on the police officer who played a hand in her death but is calmed down by Mai.
Koichi Asakawa
Koichi Asakawa
- Played By: Katsumi Muramatsu
Reiko's elderly father who has a close relationship with his grandson Yoichi.
- Cool Old Guy: Very spry for his age and very selfless. Agrees to watch the cursed videotape to save Yoichi and performs a Heroic Sacrifice to ensure Sadako can no longer harm others.
- Fishing for Sole: Has trouble catching fish when Yoichi and Reiko visit him.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Does not copy the video but instead destroyed it to stop Sadako. Becomes a Senseless Sacrifice when Koichi's ghost tells Reiko that Yoichi has been possessed by Sadako.
- Jacob Marley Apparel: Wearing the clothes he died in.
- Our Ghosts Are Different: Appears as a ghost when Reiko dies, trapped in a monochromatic version of a Tokyo street alongside Sadako's other victims.
- Papa Wolf: To his children and grandchildren, even willing to give his life for Yoichi.
Masami Kurahashi
Masami Kurahashi
- Played By: Hitomi Sato (Ring, Ring 2), Rie Tomosaka (Sadako)
Tomoko's best friend who tells her the rumours of the cursed videotape. It turns out to be true and Masami witnesses Tomoko's death, driving her mad and being institutionalised.
- Broken Bird: Witnessing Tomoko's murder and a ghost come out of a television sends Masami into the deep end, winding up institutionalised with a severe phobia of televisions and developing psychic powers. Her psychic torture in Ring 2 only makes things worse. She returns twenty years later in Sadako (2019) as an unhinged Stepford Smiler, still haunted by the past. Her reunion with Sadako shatters whatever recovery she had gone through, leaving her a terrified, broken woman.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Tomoko.
- Innocent Bystander / Mauve Shirt: Merely a witness to Sadako's first kill, Masami is influenced by her powers and develops thoughtography powers. She plays a supporting role in Ring 2, being used as a mouthpiece by Yoichi to contact Mai. Reappears again years later in Sadako (2019), though her status as a Mauve Shirt has a warranty.
- Playing with Syringes: Masami is used as a test subject by Dr. Kawajiri to remove Sadako's psychic energy and transfer it to a blank videotape. It works at first only for Masami to fall unconscious from the trauma.
- The Pollyanna: Comes off as this until Tomoko's death. Evolves into Stepford Smiler territory in Sadako (2019).
- Psychic Powers: Develops thoughtography which causes trouble for her and others. Dr. Kawajiri attempts to exorcise her powers but it fails.
- Room Full of Crazy: When Masami approaches a television in the hospital, it nearly summons Sadako, causing all of the mental patients present to freak out.
- Stepford Smiler: Appears as this in Sadako (2019), trying to uphold her chirpy personality from her youth, but is passive-aggressive and looking for affection, turning violent when denied it.
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Unexpected Character: A much older Masami appears in Sadako (2019), having spent years in hospital, remaining emotionally unstable. Though having a ghost of her former perky personality, she takes rejection hard when in search of an emotional connection, leading her to assaulting Mayu Akikawa. This leads to a reunion with Sadako, who has tormented her for two decades, with the expected results.
Okazaki
Okazaki
- Played By: Yurei Yanagi
An intern working alongside Reiko. He has a minor role in the first film but becomes the wouldbe deuteragonist in the sequel, teaming up with Mai to find Reiko, but his own curiosity about the videotape leads him to A Fate Worse Than Death.
- A Fate Worse Than Death: Ends up in psychiatric care with Kanae's laughing ghost tormenting him.
- Ascended Extra: Only has two scenes in Ring, but becomes a supporting protagonist for the first half of the sequel.
- Asshole Victim: A non-fatal example. His actions make him this.
- Dirty Coward: In Ring 2, he agrees to watch the videotape to save Kanae's life but chickens out and locks his copy in his draw. This comes back to literally haunt him later on.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Okazaki's cowardice proves to be his undoing when he fails to keep his promise and watch the tape. Kanae comes back from the dead as a ghost to torment him forever.
- I Gave My Word: Promised Kanae he would watch the videotape for her sake. He doesn't.
- Intrepid Reporter: A milder version than Reiko, and when it gets too much for him, he quits.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Chickening out of watching a copy of the videotape leads to Kanae's death. He is then haunted by her ghost and is institutionalised.
- Sequel Hook: His copy of tape is still locked in his office desk.
The Towel Man
Towel Man
An enigmatic character who appears on the cursed videotape, Towel Man wears a cloth over his face and points enigmatically offscreen. He materialises during Ring, pointing out things of significance to Reiko.- Enigmatic Minion: His purpose seems to be foreshadowing or pointing out things to those who have watched the tape. He alerts Reiko to Yoichi watching the tape, and then again to Ryuji's copy.
- The Faceless: Wears a cloth or towel, hiding his face. There is speculation he is either Ryuji Takayama (since he wears Ryuji's clothes) or Hiroshi Toyama, considering Sadako enslaves the ghosts of her victims.
- Rule of Symbolism: Believed to represent Sadako's biological father when he appears in Ring 0.
Introduced in Spiral
Mitsuo Ando
Mitsuo Ando
- Played By: Koichi Sato (films), Goro Kishitani (series)
The protagonist of Spiral (referred to as Rasen in adaptations), Mitsuo Ando is a lonely man grieving his son's death, traumatized by the accident and blaming himself for it and for his wife's emotional condition. Because of that he lost the desire to live, he has suicidal tendencies, but is not brave enough to commit suicide. He is also very intelligent and curious, and a very good person who wants to do the right thing, but is easily tempted by beautiful women.
- Classical Anti-Hero: Ando works as a pathologist, his son drowned, and hates himself for not minding Takanori properly.
- Cool Teacher: His counterpart in the Rasen series. He's so beloved by his students that some of them seek him out for help and support long after they graduated.
- The Coroner: Performs the autopsy on Ryuji's corpse, kicking off Spiral's story.
- Deal with the Devil: Ando agrees to spread Sadako's virus in exchange for resurrecting Takanori. He rejects the offer twice in the TV series, leading Takanori's death a second time, and then his own.
- Driven to Suicide: Tried this but was too afraid to.
- Guilt Complex: For Takanori's death. Explored on a deeper level in the TV series, including the relationship with his hosptialised wife.
- Killed Off for Real: TV only. Performs a Heroic Sacrifice to prevent the spreading of the cursed video. However, he is revived by his loved ones as a clone, but expires quickly after due to the short lifespan of Sadako's clones without medication.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Has sex with Mai, leading to the resurrection of Sadako, who kills Mai while being reborn.
Miyashita
Miyashita
- Played By: Shingo Tsurumi
A supporting character in Spiral. Miyashita is Mitsuo Ando's co-worker at the pathology department and also his friend. He is a smart person, down to Earth, scientifically oriented and disbelieves in the paranormal. In the TV series, Miyashita is replaced by a female character Rieko Miyashita. Rieko is a very hardworking microbiologist, scientifically oriented, and a loyal friend to Asakawa.
- Agent Scully: Disbelieves in the curse and the paranormal until he is dragged into it himself.
- The Coroner: Works as a coroner alongside Ando.
- Gender Flip: In the TV series.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Ando.
- The Medic: Rieko is a microbiologist but knows how to treat people too.
- Necessarily Evil: Aids Ando is spreading the Ring Virus in order to save his friend and himself after handling Asakawa's cursed journal.
Takanori Ando
Takanori Ando
- Played By: Ryuichi Sugahara (Spiral), Koji Seto (Sadako 3D, Sadako 3D 2)
Akane's boyfriend who is a graphics designer. He is the protagonist of the fifth novel S, and is the son of Mitsuo Ando.
- Back from the Dead: In Spiral, he is the resurrected child of Mitsuo Ando.
- Badass Normal: Stops Akane from killing herself as a child, rescues her from Sadako, and takes a severe beating in Sadako 3D 2 to protect his daughter Nagi.
- Disappeared Dad: To Nagi in Sadako 3D 2. The film makes it look like he resents her for Akane's "death", though it turns out to be quite the opposite.
- Distressed Dude: Taken prisoner by Sadako to lure Akane.
- Papa Wolf: Becomes this for Nagi.
- Understanding Boyfriend: Completely okay with Akane's powers. As a child, she rescued fellow students from a psychopath but he was the only one who was grateful, stopping Akane from commiting suicide. He becomes her Secret-Keeper.
Introduced in Ring 2
Kanae Sawaguchi
Kanae Sawaguchi
- Played By: Kyoko Fukuda
A high school student who is curious about the cursed videotape, meeting Okazaki and obtains a copy for him, only to watch it first.
- Came Back Wrong: Kanae dies by Sadako's hand, but her wrath against Okazaki causes her to return as a laughing Stringy-Haired Ghost Girl to torment Okazaki.
- Curiosity Killed the Cast: Kanae's curiosity gets the better of her and she watches the videotape. Okazaki promises to watch the copy, only to chicken out, leading to Kanae's death.
- Innocent Bystander: The most blatant example in the series alongside Tomoko and Yoichi.
- Nightmare Face: Her face after she dies. And her face as a ghost.
- Ordinary High-School Student: Of high school age, but foolish enough to watch the cursed videotape.
- Red Shirt: Just another victim of the tape. Though in this case, she comes back as a vengeful ghost.
Ishi Kawajiri
Ishi Kawajiri
- Played By: Fumiyo Kuhinata
A parapsychologist treating Masami after her hospitalisation, Dr. Kawajiri believes the psychic energy created from the videotape can be neutralised via an energy transfer and would like to prove his theories. He is old friends with Ryuji.
- Driven to Suicide: Throws himself into a swimming pool carrying electrical equipment, once he is driven insane by Sadako's psychic energy and visions of the afterlife.
- Energy Absorption: Non-superpower example. The intended purpose of his experiments, to absorb psychic energy and make it harmless by exposing it to a neutralising component.
- For Science!: His main goal for trying to tame Sadako's influence.
- Labcoat of Science and Medicine: He wears it throughout the film.
- Mad Scientist: Believed to be this by his colleagues at the university. Turns out he might be judging by his arrogant need to prove his theories work.
- Playing with Syringes: His methods to remove the psychic energy from Masami and Yoichi falls into this trope even though Kawajiri's intentions are good. Both are strapped to chairs and asked to feed their energy through a monitor into a secondary container (i.e. a blank videotape and swimming pool). Masami's test ends with her falling unconscious, so Dr. Kawajiri introduces water as a neutralising factor for Sadako's energy. That doesn't go very well either.
- Sanity Slippage: A bit a kook to begin with, Kawajiri believes in ghosts, the afterlife, and psychic powers. Turns out he was right the whole time once he gets involved in Sadako's affairs. When he tries to exorcise Sadako from Yoichi's mind, it opens a doorway into the afterlife. Kawajiri goes mad from this, throwing himself into an electrified pool.
Keiji Omuta
Keiji Omuta
- Played By: Kenjiro Ishimaru
A police officer investigating the deaths of Ryuji and Reiko's father.
- Agent Scully: He has a hard time believing in the powers of Shizuko and Sadako, and calls Yoichi a monster after being struck by a psychic attack.
- By-the-Book Cop: Just an ordinary cop who is horrified by the supernatural horrors around him.
- Hello Again, Officer: A subverted non-funny one where Mai meets Omuta at the hospital after his previous visit to her apartment to discuss Ryuji's death.
- The Inspector: Investigating the mysterious deaths of Ryuji and Reiko's father, leading him into the plot of Ring 2.
- Psychic Strangle: Choked telepathically by Yoichi after Reiko is hit by a truck.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: A relatively fair cop but he has his limits, forcing Mai to reveal where Reiko and Yoichi are hiding when Kanae turns up dead. He also separates Reiko and Yoichi to interview the former, only to invoke Yoichi's psychic wrath.
- You Monster!: Subverted. Omuta calls Yoichi a monster after witnessing his psychic powers. Reiko, realising Yoichi could end up like Sadako, flees with him.
Introduced in Ring 0: Birthday
Akiko Miyaji
Akiko Miyaji
- Played By: Yoshiko Tanaka
The antagonist of Ring 0, Akiko is a journalist tracking down Sadako to avenge her husband, the journalist who Sadako murdered during her mother's fateful press demonstration.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Acts polite and friendly but just Beneath the Mask is her true vengeful demeanour. She has traits of a Well-Intentioned Extremist, believing Sadako is a monster who should be destroyed.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Her desire to avenge her dead husband is her driving motivation and nothing will stop her.
- Driven to Suicide: Shoots herself rather than be killed by Sadako.
- Intrepid Reporter: Uses this is a guise to shroud her intent of revenge.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Unintentionally reunites the twin Sadakos, who become one, and go on their own Roaring Rampage of Revenge.
- Oh, Crap!: Has one when she realises she has united the two Sadakos as one and coming for her.
- Revenge: Wishes to avenge her late husband after Sadako murdered him.
- The Stoic: Remains calm and controlled when manipulating others and watching Sadako suffer. When Sadako is beaten to death, she calmly retorts "I wanted to do that."
- Witch Hunt: Invokes one after the theatre troupe beats the good Sadako to death, and leads them to Dr. Ikuma's house to kill the evil twin.
Introduced in Sadako 3D
Akane Ayukawa
Akane Ayukawa
- Played By: Satomi Ishihara
The protagonist of Sadako 3D, and deuteragonist of S. A teacher who possesses Psychic Powers, Akane encounters Sadako after hearing of a video online that drives viewers to commit suicide.
- Cool Teacher: Very popular among her students and motherly towards them.
- Dark and Troubled Past: As a child, she saved fellow students from a knife-wielding psychopath with her powers but she was ousted by the others as a result. She contemplated suicide until saved by Takanori, the only person grateful for saving him.
- Demonic Possession: Becomes a target for Sadako to possess.
- Driven to Suicide: Nearly throws herself off as a roof as a child, but is convinced by Takanori to keep living.
- Expy: Of Reiko in terms of character role, but also of Sadako had she been loved rather than hated.
- Legacy Character: In the novels, Akane is the daughter of a woman who carries the Ring Virus in her, making her both a reincarnation of Sadako, but also Sadako's granddaughter.
- Make Me Wanna Shout: The basis of her Psychic Powers, Akane can release a sonic scream when terrified that is able to repel Sadako.
- Mama Bear: Towards her students and her own daughter Nagi.
- Posthumous Character: Takanori claims she died giving birth to Nagi. This is a lie, Akane is actually in a comatose state beneath a hospital, forced into this to prevent Sadako from escaping her body.
- Screaming Woman: Does a lot of screaming in the movie, though it helps she has a sonic scream as a psychic ability.
- Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome: Said to have died during childbirth but actually alive. Akane is then actually killed by a crazed policeman.
Seiji Kashiwada
Seiji Kashiwada
- Played By: Yisuke Yamamoto
The main antagonist of Sadako 3D. An internet artist who posts a video online showing his suicide. He is actually in league with Sadako, intending to resurrect her and get his own personal revenge on the world. In the novel S, Kashiwada is another alias for Ryuji Takayama.
- Affably Evil: Very charismatic and polite to Fuko when she visits him in prison.
- Brown Note: His suicide video.
- Character Death: He is hung at the end of Sadako 3D 2.
- The Chessmaster: His goal is to resurrect Sadako, spreading his cursed suicide video online to find a host for his undead friend. The plan expands to resurrecting her anew as a baby, which was Nagi's purpose until Akane intervened. However, it seems Kashiwada left other roads for Sadako to return as implied at the end of Sadako 3D 2, with other girls being possessed or actually being Sadako.
- The Dragon: To Sadako.
- Driven to Suicide: He records his apparent suicide live, but it turns out to be fake, actually a new weapon for Sadako to use for her resurrection.
- Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Of the Japanese male variety.
- Freudian Excuse: His career as an artist was destroyed by plagarism accusations. This was enough for him to team up with Sadako.
- Lack of Empathy: Shows not a twinge of guilt for killing his victims.
- Mad Artist: As evidenced by what hides behind his apartment's wallpaper.
- Psycho Supporter: His desire for revenge led him to team up with Sadako, though he seems to be pretty nutty and fanboyish to support her regardless.
- Room Full of Crazy: His apartment seems normal until Detective Koiso discovers the wallpaper is made of sleeping moths, and the walls are covered in drawings and scribbles about Sadako's resurrection.
- Serial Killer: Murdered several woman and dressed them up to resemble Sadako, before chucking them down the well as offerings and potential hosts to Sadako.
- Small Role, Big Impact: His "suicide" kicks off the events of Sadako 3D and its sequel.
- Stalker with a Crush: Subverted. Kashiwada sends letters to Nagi, but Takanori hid them from her. Kashiwada tells Fuko that he is a "fan" of Nagi.
- Villain in a White Suit: A Serial Killer who wears a distinctive white suit in his suicide video.
Introduced in Sadako 3D 2
Fuko Ando
Fuko Ando
- Played By: Miori Takimoto
The protagonist of Sadako 3D 2. Takanori's younger sister who becomes the guardian of his daughter Nagi.
- Badass Normal: Risks life and limb to protect Nagi.
- Bath Suicide: Her mother died from this.
- Break the Cutie: A bit of a fragile flower, which stems from witnessing her body committing a Bath Suicide. She goes through a lot of trauma in the film but all to protect Nagi.
- Heroic BSoD: When Akane is shot dead before Nagi's eyes.
- Mama Bear: Perhaps the best motherly character in the entire franchise. She is extremely dedicated to caring for Nagi despite her niece's grumpy attitude and anti-social demeanour. While she is admittedly afraid of Nagi, she still sticks by her.
- Parental Substitute: To Nagi.
- The Power of Love: Rescues Nagi from Sadako using this trope.
- Promotion to Parent: She is the parental guardian of Nagi since her brother doesn't want to care for her.
Nagi Ando
Nagi Ando
- Played By: Kokoro Hirasawa
The daughter of Akane and Takanori introduced in Sadako 3D 2. She comes off as a quiet Creepy Child who always seems to be around when someone dies. Meant to serve as a host for Sadako to be reborn in, but her parents had other ideas.
- Blessed with Suck: Has an ability to see how people will die, and was meant to be a host for a reborn Sadako.
- Children Are Innocent: Nagi is actually innocent, never killing anyone, and is sad that everyone is scared of her.
- Creepy Child: Nagi is very quiet and stares a lot. She resembles a young Sadako.
- Demonic Possession: Meant to be a host for a reborn Sadako, but her mother averted that.
- Enfante Terrible: Believed to be by those around her since she is always around people who die or commit suicide. Turns out she is guiltless in the whole thing.
- Four Is Death: Nagi is around four to five years old, and can see how people will die.
- Nightmare Fuel Coloring Book: Nagi draws nightmarish drawings of those she sees will die, usually on black card with very sharp pens.
- Psychic Powers: Presumably inherited from Akane and possible Sadako, Nagi is able to see how a person will die.
