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Main Characters
Tari
Voiced by: Celeste Notley-Smith
A Meta Runner with the unique ability to warp her mind into any video game she plays. Waking up with total amnesia in a back alley lab, Tari quickly gets wrapped up in a fight against the evil corporation TAS Corp over her power while seeking to uncover her past. She starts off timid, curious, and hardly a good gamer at all, but as her gaming experience grows, so do her confidence and skill.
- Animal Motifs: Tari is modeled after the bluejay, which comes into play at various points.
- Awesomeness by Analysis: Tari's "Meta Runner vision" gives her the power to analyze her surroundings in-game.
- Brought Down to Normal: Due to the Big Bad's interference in Season 3, Tari loses her Meta Runner vision and has to rely purely on her own skill. She later regains some of her power in "Dead On Arrival" by absorbing part of Lucinia's consciousness.
- Crippling Overspecialization: Her Meta Runner vision gives her incredible analysis powers that give her an edge
- Uniqueness Decay: Throughout Season 3, other Meta Runners are given the same game-warping powers as Tari thanks to the new Big Bad's machinations. By "Global Testfire", every Meta Runner in the world has this ability.
Theo
Voiced by: Robyn Barry-Cotter
The player character of the 3D platformer Ultra Jump Mania. Theo gets dragged into the real world thanks to Tari's powers and, much like her, can enter any other game and throw his own game abilities into the mix. A carefree goofball at heart, he tends to have a very low sense of self-preservation.
- Brought Down to Normal: He can't use any of his game powers in the real world, and his food-based weapons are reduced to ordinary items (e.g., he can't control his coconut shell beyond one throw at a time, and his exploding Banana Mines become normal banana peels).
- Catchphrase: He has a couple: "Crackerjack!" as his Battle Cry, and "Take that, foul beast!" when he takes down an enemy (or at least bonks them in the head with his coconut).
- Expy: Kevin and Luke have admitted that they drew heavily from their moronic version of Mario from SMG4 for his personality. His gameplay abilities also have many parallels with Mario's from his 3D titles, with Theo's coconut being almost identical to Mario's cap mechanics in Super Mario Odyssey.
- Improbable Weapon User: His weapon is half a coconut shell, which operates the same way as Cappy.
- In a Single Bound:
- Leeroy Jenkins:
- Refugee from TV Land: He's a video game character who gets warped out of his game cartrige.
- Troubling Unchildlike Behavior:
- Because Death Is Cheap in his world, he talks quite a lot about death, killing, and being killed without dropping his childish innocence.
- Wrong Genre Savvy: When he first arrives in the real world, he assumes he's still on a wacky E-rated adventure instead of a gritty Cyberpunk drama filled with very real danger.
- Your Days Are Numbered:
Tropes applying to Theo as an Ultra Jump Mania character
- Achievements in Ignorance:
- Alternate Self:
- Book Dumb: He doesn't know how to read, because the Elder Tomato never taught him how, strictly on the grounds that the prophecy never said he had to.
- The Chosen One: According to the Elder Tomato, it is his destiny to save his home as king of all the land.
MD-5
In General
An underground resistance formed for one purpose: to take down TAS Corp and its CEO, Lucks. Initially consisting of only three members, they welcome Tari and Theo into their ranks after saving them from the company, while gaining other allies who become honorary members.
- Animal Motifs: Much like Tari and Belle, the members of MD-5 are all modeled around different types of birds, as specified by their would-be codenames in "Hack and Slash": Masa is a falcon (cunning and noble), Sofia is a canary (bright and cheery), and Lamar is a peacock (a flamboyant show-off).
- La Résistance: They're a small band of heroes whose lives were ruined by TAS Corp's evil, and now fight to rid Silica City of the company.
- Three Plus Two: The trio officially becomes a Five-Man Band after Tari and Theo join.
Masa Shimamoto
Voiced by: Brendan Barry-Cotter
The hard-boiled leader and founder of MD-5. Formerly TAS Corp's star Meta Runner team captain, Masa acted out against Lucks's corrupt practices and was decommissioned for it. While cynical and slow to trust others, he has his heart in the right place and becomes a valued guide for Tari.
- Despair Event Horizon: Season 2 reintroduces him having given up all hope of defeating TAS Corp following Season 1's events, believing MD-5 has lost their hard-earned data, and being unable to do much of anything with his shot-off Meta Runner arm. Learning that Sofia successfully backed up all the data instantly rekindles his desire to fight.
- Entertainingly Wrong: Masa correctly suspects Lucks of hiding the details surrounding Lucinia's disappearance, but wrongly concludes that Lucks murdered her and is covering up his tracks. In reality, it was Sheridan to blame for her death, and even then, she's Only Mostly Dead; Lucks selfishly hid her survival as a final trump card to escape punishment.
- Et Tu, Brute?:
- He was deeply stung when his trusted teammate Belle took Lucks's side during Lucinia's disappearance, writing Masa off as a lunatic for hacking into their boss's private server for evidence of Lucinia's murder, much less accusing Lucks of killing one of his best Meta Runners. It's for this reason he initially rejects her offer to help when she finally turns against Lucks in "Heart to Heart", fearing she'll just let him down again until Tari convinces him to give her another chance.
- He starts off Season 2 feeling betrayed by Tari and Theo following the events of "Shutdown": the former for her involvement in Lucinia's death and the latter for being used as TASCorp's spy. However, he sets his grudges aside to save them after a short talk with Lamar, and later shows no hard feelings to Tari when they finally reunite in "Heart to Heart", implying Masa isn't as bitter towards the two as he lets on.
- Fake Arm Disarm: He suffers this in "Shutdown" when Lucks shoots his Meta Runner arm off at the elbow joint. He's forced to rely on a single-handed controller until he gets a replacement arm in "Transfer Student".
- Gave Up Too Soon:
- Laser-Guided Karma: In "Unreal Engines", he secretly bugs Marco's cybernetic arms to sabotage their match and win himself a new Meta Runner arm. In "Fatal Error", it's shown that his unfairly won arm was bugged the exact same way by Sheridan, who takes control of it to shoot Lucks and frame Masa.
Sofia Porter
Voiced by: Hayley Nelson
MD-5's resident tech genius who provides the team with arm upgrades and TAS Corp intel. Sofia is chipper, energetic, and just a little nutty, but all of that hides a burning desire to bring TAS Corp to justice.
- Break the Comedian: Sofia is the embodiment of a Genki Girl, but becomes quiet, submissive, and emotionally destroyed in "Shutdown" after Lucks shoots off Masa's arm in his Sadistic Choice for her, followed minutes later by Belle showing her how Lucinia died. Fortunately, she pulls herself back together by Season 2.
- Defector from Decadence: She used to be a part of Marco's low-tier gaming ring, but left because she couldn't stand harvesting Meta Runner arms from the losers.
- A Friend in Need:
- Genki Girl: Sofia is a "little ball of chaos", in Masa's words.
- Heroic BSoD: She goes into one in "Shutdown" after Belle exposes Tari for her involvement in Lucinia's death. However, Sofia shakes it off after Tari turns herself over to TAS Corp for her friends' safety.
- Morality Pet: Downplayed regarding Marco, who's a gruff Jerkass rather than a villain, but she's nevertheless the only member of MD-5 he's on friendly terms with, on account of their shared history.
- Sad Clown: Despite being one of the most comedic characters in the series, she's also one of the most deeply affected by TAS Corp's actions, since she lost her sister and only family to them.
- Sadistic Choice:
Lamar Williams
Voiced by: Anthony Sardinha
A hardcore anime otaku and Meta Runner who works with MD-5. Lamar is as laid-back and friendly as they come, but often butts heads with his team' crazier ideas.
- Big Damn Heroes:
- He busts Tari out of TAS Corp's holding van in "Sequence Break", which is also how she meets him and gets taken to MD-5's hideout.
- A Friend in Need: Lamar is the most vocal in defending Tari from accusations of her role in Lucinia's fate, at first insisting that Tari must have been framed, and later concluding that none of it matters since she sacrificed her freedom for MD-5's.
- I Have Many Names: He has at least four online screen names: Animeking20, OtakuPrince, xXBodyPillowBossXx, and Ecchi_Emperor92. This is a plot point in Season 2, since it makes him tricky to identify when Tari tries looking for him in Pocket Gakusei.
- Mysterious Past: His past is the most vague of all MD-5 members, as he simply says in "Aimbot" that TAS Corp ruined his life before MD-5 found him. Season 3 downplays this by shedding light on how he became a Meta Runner—he started out content to remain a casual gamer, but TAS Corp's evil motivated him to join MD-5 and get his arm so he could put his skills to better use—but still nothing specifically on what TAS Corp did to him.
- Otaku: He is obsessed with anime—particularly hot anime girls—and is not afraid to show it, ranging from decals of them on his car to body pillows of them that he introduces to anyone he meets.
TAS Corp
In General
- Egopolis: In Season 3, the company gets taken over by a new CEO and is rebranded as "Sheridan Corp", or "SHER Corp" for short.
- Evil, Inc.: On the surface, TAS Corp seems like an ordinary video game company that manufactures performance-enhancing tools, namely the Meta Runner arm. Behind the scenes, however,
- Spell My Name With An S: In-universe, the company name is spelled as "TAS Corp", "TASCorp", or "TAS-Corp". Most official descriptions and closed captions go with "TAS Corp".
Top Brass
Derek Lucks
Voiced by: David J.G. Doyle
The cruel and unscrupulous CEO of TAS Corp.
- Believing Their Own Lies: As part of her "The Reason You Suck" Speech to Lucks in Season 2, Belle declares that he's lied and manipulated others for so long that he's convinced himself he isn't a monster. This is in direct response to Lucks telling her and MD-5 that he was keeping Lucinia alive all along, when he only revealed the truth after over a year to worm his way out of trouble.
- Big Bad: He's in charge of the biggest gaming corporation in Silica City, and is responsible for pretty much everything the other characters have gone through. However, he's killed at the end of Season 2 by Sheridan, who takes over the role for Season 3.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive:
- Slave to PR: Being such a Villain with Good Publicity, he does his damnedest to keep his monstrous conspiracies from reaching the media, knowing that just a single one would ruin him. MD-5 manages to use this against him in Season 2 when he's hosting a heavily publicized tournament, keeping him trapped on his public pedestal as they carry out their own plans.
- Spell My Name With An S: The first trailer's official description spells his name as "Lux", but it's consistently written in-universe and in the credits
- Villain with Good Publicity:
Meta Runners
Belle Fontiere
Voiced by: Jessica Fallico
The number one Meta Runner at TAS Corp, and Lucks's right-hand woman. She harbors a certain rivalry with Tari, which only intensifies when Belle uncovers a connection between her and a deeply personal loss. Feisty and stubborn, she nevertheless fights for what she believes is right, even if it's alienated her from everyone she cares about.
Evelyn Claythorne
Voiced by: Elsie Lovelock
The newest member of TAS Corp's main Meta Runner lineup. Evelyn's cutesy outward appearance barely hides an obsessive craving for attention and a truly venomous streak towards others, especially Tari, whom she sees as a threat to her chance at the spotlight.
- Big "NO!": Does this in "Soft Lock" after Tari beats her in Hidden Heroes while taken over by a fragment of Lucinia's consciousness.
- Depraved Dwarf: Her Skybreakers avatar is an elvish dwarf who's roughly the same size as Theo, but is just as vicious as she usually is.
- Evil Brit: She
- Freudian Excuse: Her need for attention stems from being The Un Favourite of her family, which also feeds into her hatred of Tari, who seemingly had the silver spoon shoved into her mouth as soon as she joined TAS Corp despite enduring the same nightmarish expectations as Evelyn.
- Hidden Depths: Despite being a Spoiled Brat who gives off the impression that she bought her way to the top thanks to her family's influence, she actually worked hard to get where she is, going through the same physically and mentally demanding experiences as any other Meta Runner at TAS Corp, just to fulfill her dream of being adored by legions of fans.
- Mini-Mecha: She pilots a jumbo-sized suit of armor in Skybreakers to account for her lack of size.
- One-Winged Angel: For her final battle with Tari in Season 2, Evelyn takes on the avatar of the "Glitchemoth", a Kaiju-sized Digital Abomination made up of various monster parts and humanoid limbs within Theo's corrupted Ultra Jump Mania cartridge.
- Psycho Knife Nut: She becomes one in Season 3 when she's supplied with a special knife designed specifically to harm and kill Tari, and is positively giddy at the idea.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning:
- The Resenter: She absolutely despises Tari for getting thrust into the spotlight purely based on the edge her game-warping gives her over other players, whereas Evelyn herself toiled endlessly just to reach the same level of adoration.
- Villain Has a Point: Although she's driven by resentment towards Tari, Evelyn isn't wrong in her assessment that Tari relies too heavily on her Meta Runner vision to gain any real skill, and that the strategies it gives her are repetitive to the point of predictability.
Elite Squad
Belle's assigned team of Meta Runners during the Tempest tournament.
- Elite Four: Downplayed. They're the toughest foes MD-5 encounters in Tempest, each jumping in with A-tier spells that instantly decimate any less skilled player. In the real world, only Belle has the skill to be considered one of TAS Corp's elite; the rest are nowhere near her level.
- Gender-Equal Ensemble: Counting Belle, they consist of two men and two women.
- Hero Killer: They're all meant to be this, but only one of them manages to take out Theo when he takes a shot for Tari. The rest (sans Belle) take a good deal of skill and teamwork from MD-5 to beat.
- Malevolent Masked Men: Each member's Tempest avatar wears an intimidating mask.
- No Name Given: None of them except Belle have their names mentioned.
- The Voiceless: They don't utter a single word, which adds to their intimidation factor.
Others
James Sheridan
Voiced by: Anthony Sardinha
A scientist from TAS Corp's R&D department, and a figure from Tari's past. Sheridan was working on a top-secret gaming project known as "Project Blue", but was presumed dead after an experiment gone horribly wrong.
Bo
Voiced by: Elsie Lovelock
TAS Corp's company mascot.
- The Cameo: She appears on billboards everywhere
- Living Program:
- Mascot
Citizens of Silica City
Marco
Voiced by: Jason Marnocha
The king of the Rustworks, an underground gaming arena where the social rejects of Silica City wager whatever they have left to stay on top. He has a distaste for Meta Runner tech, instead using an pair of extra mechanical arms to play with two controllers at once, making him a master of co-op games.
- Ascended Extra: In Season 2, he only makes two appearances: once as MD-5's opponent in "Unreal Engines", and again in the last scene of "Fatal Error" before the credits. In Season 3, he's a major Guest-Star Party Member for MD-5.
- Awesome Backpack: He wears a mechanical backpack that gives him an extra pair of limbs, giving him the advantage of two players over one.
- Big Damn Heroes: Downplayed. He comes to MD-5's rescue when they're on the run from the police at the end of Season 2...so he can lock them up himself by the start of Season 3.
- A Father to His Men: While he's unsympathetic towards many, he still has the best interests of his men at heart. This is demonstrated in "Overload", where he sets out to destroy Sheridan's server to free everybody warped into it after his Skybreakers character gets killed.
- Fire-Forged Friends: Downplayed with Tari. He starts off just as dismissive of her as other TAS Runners because she did nothing to earn her arm and social status as far as he's concerned, and he patronizes her inherent lack of gaming skill once she's deprived of her Meta Runner vision. However, she eventually earns his respect after her sharp thinking and ability to learn under pressure gets them out of trouble with a new ship in "Dead On Arrival".
- Guest-Star Party Member: He temporarily teams up with MD-5 in "Skybreakers" (the episode and the game) after Lamar tells him it's his best shot at settling the score with Masa. Sure enough, Marco stops taking orders from them after Masa enters the game as one of Evelyn's brainwashed teammates.
- Hates Rich People:
- It's Personal:
- Multi-Armed and Dangerous:
Bot Boys
Voiced by: Kevin Lerdwichagul, Luke Lerdwichagul
Tiny robot assistants who can be found all over Silica City.
- Beastly Bloodsports: Parodied with two Bot Boys seen in "Hard Reset",
- Beware the Silly Ones:
- The Chew Toy:
- Creator Cameo: Most of the Bot Boys are voiced by series co-creator Kevin Lerdwichagul, with a few in Season 2 voiced by his brother and other co-creator, Luke/SMG4.
- Funny Robot: Their main purpose in the series is to provide comic relief.
- I Can't Feel My Legs!: Said by one Bot Boy who demonstrates a forward-folding chair to Tari.
- Number Two:
- Sycophantic Servant: Evelyn's Cabin Boy in Skybreakers is constantly bossed around by her, but hangs on her every word all the same.
Game Characters
Ultra Jump Mania
Elder Tomato
Voiced by: David J.G. Doyle
Crab King
- Fake Crossover: He makes a non-canon appearance in the Pilot of Sunset Paradise, where he helps Meggy carry her luggage.
Facepalms
The most common enemy characters.
- Mooks:
- No-Sell: As weak as they are, they are immune to any form of realistic, non-comical violence. Tari learns this the hard way when she tries punching one.
- Punny Name: They're palm trees with faces.
- When Trees Attack: These walking, grunting trees are the basic enemies of Ultra Jump Mania.
- Zerg Rush: A large number of them swarm Tari and Theo in "Out of Bounds".
Pocket Gakusei
Kizuna AI
Voiced by: Herself
Yes, that Kizuna AI, who shows up in Pocket Gakusei as a tutorial guide.
- Bilingual Dialogue: AI speaks exclusively in Japanese to the English-speaking Tari, who can understand her back thanks to a universal translator.
Satsuki-chan
Voiced by: Amber Lee Connors
A character from the dating sim Nova Explorers who appears in Pocket Gakusei as part of a promotional crossover.
- Advertised Extra: Despite appearing prominently in Season 2's trailer and opening, and in the thumbnail of "Transfer Student", she's a minor character who shows up in all of two scenes in that season, with Tari's side quest of getting to Lamar through her happening in a Falling-in-Love Montage during that episode's credits.
- Chekhov's Gunman: She first appears on a body pillow as one of Lamar's "side chicks" in "Game Plan". Tari remembers this factoid when she enters Pocket Gakusei in "Transfer Student", giving her the idea to contact MD-5 through her.
- Everyone Is Bi: This being a Dating Sim for gamers of any sex, Satsuki-chan doesn't distinguish between male and female players when it comes to their relationship.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: When her Love Confession gets turned down, she gives players options to tell her or describe who they really love so she can help get them together.
- Noodle Incident: Her dialogue goes into an elaborate and upsetting backstory involving "nine space gems" and a Luke, I Am Your Father moment with the "evil Nova-Lord", but Tari's haste to get through it all means we don't get to see any more than that.
- Player Punch: In-universe, her brokenhearted reaction to getting her Love Confession turned down is this for Tari, who wasn't all that invested in the game to begin with.
- Production Foreshadowing: Not Satsuki-chan herself, but rather her home game, Nova Explorers, which was mentioned in SMG4's Anime Arc as a manga series created by Axol before Meta Runner was released.
- Relationship Values: This being a Dating Sim, Tari is required to go on dates with Satsuki-chan to fill their relationship meter and trigger a "heart to heart" (i.e., a Love Confession) event.
- Voice Grunting: Her voiced dialogue consists entirely of speechless grunts.
Skybreakers
Petey
Voiced by: Brendan Blaber
An overenthusiastic robot pirate who serves as the tutorial guide for newcomers. His model and voice are recycled with other guides and shopkeepers in the game.Tropes applying to Petey
- Big Damn Heroes: He comes to Tari's rescue when Evelyn attacks her, providing just enough cover for Tari to escape from the level.
- Closed Circle: His programming forbids him from leaving his domain level, Shipwreck Swamp, and the game's rules keep players stuck with him until they clear it.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: He seems like an annoying character who's only good for barking
- Funny Robot: He's a short, goofy pirate robot
- Incoming Ham: As he ever so loves to announce to players, "WELCOME TO SKYYYBREAKEEERS!"
- Large Ham:
- Mr. Exposition: Being a tutorial guide, he fulfills the role of explaining the basics of Skybreakers to Tari as much as the audience.
- Skewed Priorities: Subverted. He seems more concerned with putting Tari through a Forced Tutorial instead of letting her go to help her friends, but as he points out, the tutorial level is a Closed Circle that is genuinely impossible for her to leave until she learns the basics, which are also vital to her survival.
- Unwanted Assistance: He's an in-universe Annoying Video Game Helper to Tari, who finds his advice a pain to deal with. When he reveals he can communicate with her remotely from Shipwreck Swamp, she shuts off his dialog box.
Tropes applying to other guides
- Asset Actor: They're all recolors of Petey due to in-universe budget restraints, but act as distinct characters.
- Color-Coded for Your Convenience: To distinguish them from Petey, who wears red, the Dockmaster wears dark green while the Fashionmaster wears yellow.
- Death Seeker: Played for Laughs with the Dockmaster, who desperately wants to be put out of his misery since he's stuck in a non-PvP zone.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Unlike Petey, the other guides don't have any known names beyond their in-game roles like "Dockmaster" and "Fashionmaster".
- I Die Free: Subverted when Evelyn's rule-breaking hack allows the Dockmaster to finally experience the "sweet release of death", only to respawn immediately, much to his disappointment.
Angler
An elite boss that dwells within the dungeon of Scrapbeard's Fortress.
- Mix-and-Match Critters: It has the face and lure of an angler fish mixed with the body of an eel.
Spoiler Characters
Lucinia
Lucinia Porter
Voiced by: Amber Lee Connors
The Mastermind
Dr. James Sheridan
Voiced by: Anthony Sardinha
Tari's creator and the scientist behind Project Blue. Presumed to have died in the lab explosion together with Lucinia, Sheridan survived with horrible burns at the cost of his sanity. He has since lurked behind the scenes, using Tari in an elaborate plan of revenge against Lucks so he may force his twisted vision onto the world.
"Project Blue" A.I.
