Chains of Horai
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The Main Party
Rin Rengoku
Played By: GMPC
Class: Sister Lord
Gnosis: Mare
A skilled Mizuno pharmacist, she ventures into Amatsu to investigate a mysterious letter.
- All-Loving Hero: Like her source character, Rin cares about everyone and everybody.
- Animal Motifs: More subtle than the other GM characters, but Cranes; her robes are decorated with crane motifs.
- Chronic Hero Syndrome: She must help those in need, even at cost to herself. This is in fact exploited by Noriaki Kiritani to get her to travel to Kamihama to recruit her for the Resistance.
- Expy: Of Tohru Honda from Fruits Basket; her design and personality take notable cues from her, and her role as an outsider protagonist involved in a curse related to the Eastern Zodiac is very much identical to Tohru's. In terms of moveset, she takes cues from Qiqi and Mona.
- Kindhearted Cat Lover: Loves cats, even wanting to give the Cat in the fairy tale she heard a happy ending. It is what motivates her to assist Yusuke, the current generation's cursed Cat.
- Making a Splash: Bears a Mare Gnosis, granting her power over water.
- The Medic: As a Mizuno pharmacist, her specialty is in healing of all types.
- Nice Girl: Her defining character trait. Rin is insanely kind to a fault, much to Kazuki and Yusuke's chagrin.
- Noodle Incident: Whatever happened in Ibaraki Province that earned Rin her Gnosis. She really, really does not want to talk about it, and shuts down the Kamisato soldiers that ask her about it. Even in her backstory, she refuses to speak about it, leaving herself and the people in Ibaraki as the only people who know how she earned it.
- Silk Hiding Steel: Her response to almost being assassinated twice in one day, being recruited into the Resistance, and being almost arrested by Imperial forces helping the Cursed? To double down and insist on helping anyway.
- Water Is Womanly: The primary Mare Gnosis wielder in the cast is a kindly female healer.
Guren Todoroki
Played By: GMPC
Class: Myrmidon
Gnosis: Flamma
A swordsman from Seito, seeking out his master.
- Animal Motifs: Crocodiles; he's a crocodile Misaki, wears crocodile skins and even lived in a swamp.
- The Big Guy: Towers over the entire party in sheer muscle and height.
- BFS: Todoroki's favoured weapon is a gigantic nodachi.
- Boisterous Bruiser: A loud, proud and big man with a drink for everyone and a story for all.
- Childhood Friends: With Yusuke; they were both trained under (and raised by, in Yusuke's case) Hitoshi Tokiwa.
- Eye Scream: Lost an eye to a Shiryo that tore it out in the same incident he gained a Gnosis.
- Last-Name Basis: Even by the setting's standards, he rarely goes by Guren and prefers to be called Todoroki.
- Little Bit Beastly: A Misaki with crocodile traits.
- Master Swordsman: He and Madoka are different versions of this. He in particular created an entire new sword style to defeat a Shiryo, which earned him his Gnosis.
- Muscles Are Meaningful: A hulking giant of a man, he is portrayed as insanely strong, taking down an entire group of less-skilled swordsmen.
- Never Smile at a Crocodile: Is a Crocodile Misaki and incredibly tough and badass.
- Moveset Clone: Of Diluc from Genshin Impact. As far as can be done in a turn-based strategy game, anyway.
- Playing with Fire: Wields a Flamma Gnosis, granting him power over fire.
- Red Baron: The Dawnfire Blade.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: With Madoka, him as the Red Oni.
- Strong and Skilled: Todoroki both bears immense muscle mass and is Madoka's rival in swordsmanship. He is explicitly seeking out his master, one of the best swordsmen in the Five Kingdoms, to test his mettle against him.
- The Worf Effect: After spending the prologue curbstomping multiple Kiryu swordsmen and Imperial soldiers alike, and being a general boisterous badass, the Empress casually manhandles him to show just how far above the protagonists her power level is.
Yusuke Yamada
Played By: GMPC
Class: Brawler
Gnosis: Glacies
The cursed Cat of the Zodiac, breaking him out of prison is the goal at the beginning of the story.
- An Ice Person: Wielding a Glacies Gnosis, he has power over ice.
- Animal Motifs: Cats, naturally.
- Bare-Fisted Monk: As a Brawler, he prefers to fight with his fists.
- Childhood Friends: With Todoroki; they were both trained under (and raised by, in Yusuke's case) Hitoshi Tokiwa.
- Expy: Of Kyo Sohma, sharing his orange-ish hair, role in the Zodiac and martial arts skills.
- Fiery Redhead: A quick-tempered redhead.
- Leeroy Jenkins: Has a tendency to do this, which scuppers his earlier escape attempt and almost scuppers the one in the prologue.
- Power Stereotype Flip: An ice-wielding character who is also very hot-blooded and quick-tempered. However, in Horai, ice powers are not necessarily associated with calmness, but rather love.
- Ship Tease: With Setsurou and Rin:
- The characters who Rin and Yusuke are based off from Fruits Basket eventually become the Official Couple, and Rin is noticeably attached to Yusuke. Furthermore, he unlocks his Gnosis in defence of Rin, the element of which is usually associated with love in Horai.
- Setsurou is clearly interested in Yusuke, as his own Gnosis is the same element as Yusuke's, and Yusuke reciprocates the friendliness and loyalty Setsurou gives to him.
- Super-Reflexes: While the Cursed all have slightly faster reflexes than normal humans, Yusuke reacts to assassins attacking Rin before anyone else even registers it.
- Tsundere: Mildly, unlike the character he's based on; while clearly displeased with Rin's continued assistance, he doesn't chase her away and is otherwise civil with her. He also is completely dere to Setsurou and Master Tokiwa.
Setsurou Tsubouchi
Played By: SeriousConcentrate
Class: Shinobi
Gnosis: Glacies
Scion of the Yugen Clan and assigned to watch over the Cursed, he assists the Cursed in breaking free.
- An Ice Person: Wielding a Glacies Gnosis, he has power over ice. Unlike Yusuke, he very much conforms to the personality stereotype, both meta-wise and lore-wise.
- Animal Motifs: Snakes, as an snake Misaki.
- Defector from Decadence: Formerly favoured of the Yugen Clan and the Imperial family, he defects out of outrage due to how the Cursed were treated, specifically Yusuke.
- Fuuma Shuriken: His Kogarashi Shuriken manifests as this.
- Highly-Visible Ninja: He specifically runs around in a Yugen clan ceremonial outfit not meant for use outside of the Imperial District as it has the clan symbol on the back of the vest. He also often introduces himself as an heir of the Yugen. In both cases, he does it as an intimidation tactic.
- Last-Name Basis: He refers to everyone except Yusuke (and Traxesa, as he only knows him by the one name) by their last name as a subtle indicator of how close he feels to them.
- Little Bit Beastly: A Misaki with snake traits.
- Ninja: The Yugen are an entire clan of this, and Setsurou as their heir is no different.
- Ship Tease: With Yusuke; he unlocks his Gnosis deciding to help Yusuke flee the Empress, and Glacies is often tied to love of all kinds, whether platonic or romantic.
- Undying Loyalty: To Yusuke and Yusuke specifically.
Madoka Horiuchi
Played By: Chevaleresse
Class: Myrmidon
Gnosis: Fulmen
A wandering swordswoman and traveling partner of Todoroki.
- Animal Motifs: Rabbits, as a rabbit Misaki.
- In the Hood: She never takes her hood off unless around people she's comfortable around.
- Iaijutsu Practitioner: Tenkaji manifests as her cleaving through enemies with a single strike with the power of her Gnosis, sheathing her blade afterwards. Mechanically, she puts all her power into a single strike, sacrificing the chance to double. Her Burst grants her the power to give someone else this ability.
- Little Bit Beastly: Her rabbit ears, which she hides under her hood.
- Master Swordsman: Her and Todoroki are different forms of this, with her focusing on defeating multiple opponents. Her desire to prove her skill despite her size earned her a Gnosis.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: With Todoroki, her as the Blue Oni.
- Pint-Sized Powerhouse: In comparison to Todoroki, Madoka is incredibly short and tiny. It doesn't stop her from being one of the best swordswomen in Horai.
- Red Baron: The Unscarred Sword.
- Shrinking Violet: Despite her skills, is very quiet, shies away from attention outside of combat, and often stutters when she speaks.
- Weak, but Skilled: What she lacks in muscle, she makes up for in sheer skill and speed.
Kazuki Ohara
Played By: RedMageCole
Class: Shinobi
Gnosis: Terra
A mercenary, working as a bodyguard for Rin.
- Berserk Button: Making him fail his contracts, such as the assassination attempts made by the Hiruma Clan on Rin.
- Consummate Professional: As snarky as he is, make no mistake; once he makes a contract, he will complete it.
- Cloud Cuckoo Landers Minder: Acts as this to Rin, whose kindness might get her into trouble.
- Dishing Out Dirt: With a Terra Gnosis, he has power over rock.
- Geo Effects: His Gnosis Burst, Fury of Crumbling Stones, lets him summon pillars that cover allies and damage enemies standing on them.
- Loveable Rogue: A witty, mouthy mercenary nonetheless working for the good guys.
Daisuke Kubo
Played By: kj1225
Class: Myrmidon
Gnosis: Ferrum
- Blood Magic: A unique manifestation of Ferrum, which is otherwise closer to Extra-ore-dinary; Daisuke is able to use the iron in his blood to attack enemies.
Chidori and Chikara Kaneko
Played By: Sirus
Class: Tactician
Gnosis: Aura
- Blow You Away: Their Gnosis, Aura.
- Wonder Twin Powers: One of the rare wielders of a single Gnosis divided between two people.
Haru Yorusaki
Played By: mastermepp
Class: Hunter
Gnosis: Nox
- Dark Is Not Evil: A non-antagonistic Nox Gnosis holder, but an ally of the protagonists.
Takeru Eisuke
Played By: Praefectus Screptum
Class: Sentry
Gnosis: Nox
- Dark Is Not Evil: A non-antagonistic Nox Gnosis holder, but an ally of the protagonists.
- Expy: Of Galaxy Slayer Zed.
Taiga Tenjuu / Traxesa
Played By: Aurorix
Class: Mage
Gnosis: Aura
The cursed Tiger of the Zodiac.
- Bash Brothers: With Kazuki, an old friend of his from his mercenary days.
- Blow You Away: His Gnosis and preferred magic.
- Punny Name: Taiga Tenju, the cursed tiger of the Zodiac.
Homura Torajirou
Played By: Caellath
Class: Brawler
Gnosis: Terra
- Animal Motifs: Tigers.
- Punny Name: Torajirou, a tiger Misaki.
- Put on a Bus: His player dropped out and was replaced with Sakurako.
Kaori Tsunomaki
Played By: ctsun
Class: Conjurer
Gnosis: Lignum
The cursed Sheep of the Zodiac.
- Country Mouse: She's from a fairly remote rural village and hence missed everything relating to the palace and the Cursed and now she is very much out of her depths as those events take centre stage.
- Forced Sleep: What her abilities essentially circle around.
- Deep Sleep: She inflicts sleep that is far harder to wake than normal.
- Innocent Bystander: She would dearly love to be one but alas, she is caught along as the story goes...
- Meaningful Name: Her surname (角巻) refers to the curly horns on a sheep. Her given name (香) refers to the Fog of Doom that acts as the source of her sleep powers.
Miyako Tanigawa
Played By: IcyTea31
Class: Pioneer
Gnosis: Fulmen
The cursed Rat of the Zodiac.
- Alternate Character Reading: Her name in kanji is written as 宮子. The kanji 子, while here read as 'ko', can also be read as 'ne', in which form it is used as the symbol of the Zodiac Rat.
- The Engineer: As a Pioneer, she extends the defense provided by terrain to adjacent squares.
- Expy: Miyako's mentor, Mr. Erasmus, is an expy of Bacchus, Kiryu's mentor in Yakuza 0.
- Genius Bruiser: She is one of the strongest in the party in terms of raw might, yet still faces problems highly analytically and thinks well on her feet.
- Shock and Awe: Her Gnosis allows her to channel lightning through her weapon and blind her enemies with an aura of plasma.
- Street Urchin: After running away from the temple which served as her home, she had to live several years on the streets of Kamihama.
Alice
- Enemy Scan: Provides the party with a clairvoyance spell to know enemies' exact stats.
The Cursed
All of the Cursed
- Animorphism: All of them transform into animals when physically exhausted.
- Alliterative Name: The vast majority of the Cursed have these, with only Miyako and Kaori lacking one.
- The Chosen Many: They are this even among Gnosis wielders, unnaturally inclined towards earning a Gnosis, with many Cursed in a single generation often bearing Gnoses.
- Cursed with Awesome: A slightly more straightforward case than the source material; the Cursed have some level of control over their transformations, do not transform upon being hugged by the opposite gender unlike the Sohmas, and are significantly more likely to gain a Gnosis than the average person. However, their trigger to transform is more common (physical and mental exhaustion), and they are unable to disobey the Empress, as Tomoe attempts to.
- Eastern Zodiac: The Cursed all have animal forms drawn from this.
- Expy: Collectively, of the Sohma family from Fruits Basket, although some don't map one-to-one with the Sohmas (for instance, Miyako, Taiga, Kensuke, Tomoe and Kaori's counterparts are completely different characters.)
- Geas: The Cursed cannot disobey orders given by the Cursed God. While they can try to find loopholes, the order must always be completed in some way.
- Involuntary Shapeshifting: Physical and mental exhaustion can force the Cursed to take their animal forms.
- Psychic Radar: Up to a certain range, the Cursed can sense each other's presence. As they get closer, they can sense exact locations and eventually which of the Cursed they are.
- Reincarnation: Not the Cursed themselves, but the Zodiac spirits inhabiting them.
- Shrouded in Myth: The Cursed are this to anyone else in Horai, except other Cursed and the Imperial family.
Empress Genmyo/Yukito Yamauchi
Empress of Amatsu and the cursed God of the Zodiac.- Big Bad: Her Summoning Decree and obsession with collecting the Zodiac animals drives the entire game's events.
- Driving Question: What drove the benevolent Princess Yukito to become the harsh, abusive Empress?
- The Emperor: Ruler of Amatsu and hegemon of the Five Kingdoms.
- Expy: Of Akito Sohma, right down to the boyish name, abusive nature and role as God. She also posseses traits of the Raiden Shogun, as a purple-clad, elegant warrior with near-godly power who can disable the protagonists' powers. The flashbacks show her to also have similar traits to Raiden Ei, as a kindhearted, benevolent warrior. Like Ei, it's heavily implied something horrible happened to the Yukito of the past to turn her into the cold Empress she currently is.
- Lady of War: A skilled warrior in her own right, she defeated Yusuke off-screen prior to the game's events while the rest of the team escaped. She also easily fends off Todoroki and the rest of the party when she combats them herself during Chapter 1.
- Master Swordsman: One of the most skilled warriors in Amatsu, even being able to use Madoka's own techniques against her.
- Power Nullifier: The Imperial Seal allows the Empress to negate the effects of any Gnosis, as seen when she negates Todoroki's Dawnfire Blade.
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid: It's heavily implied she was this, as she is shown in a flashback to be genuinely dedicated to breaking the Curse with Goro.
Tomoe Todayama
The cursed Boar of the Zodiac, and a general in the Imperial Army.- A Mother to Her Men: She appears to know her men's names individually, and shows concern when the Empress sends them against Gnosis-wielding opponents. This trait allows her to turn on the Empress.
- Badass Normal: Although Tomoe lacks a Gnosis, she is fully capable of fighting Gnosis wielders, as Madoka finds out to her chagrin.
- Conflicting Loyalty: Between the (Curse-enforced) loyalty to the Empress, and her loyalty to her men.
- Heel–Face Turn: She wasn't much of a Heel to begin with, but the moment Miyako and Madoka give her and her men an out, she takes it and sides with the Cursed.
- Lady of War: An elegant, lance-wielding general, who fights on the frontlines with her men and is reputed to be one of the best fighters in all of the Five Kingdoms.
Hisao Hosokawa
The cursed Rooster of the Zodiac, and scion of the Hosokawa Clan.- Animal Motif: Two; roosters and sparrows, as befits the Rooster of the Zodiac.
- Badass Normal: Like Tomoe, he lacks a Gnosis, but is fully capable of defeating Gnosis wielders.
- Expy: Of Kureno Sohma; his design takes notable cues from Kureno's and he shares his Zodiac animal and loyalty to the God of the Zodiac.
- I Gave My Word: It's implied he made a promise to the Empress about something, but it's clearly enough for him to call out Tomoe on even thinking of betraying her.
- Master Swordsman: A skilled swordsman and an equal fighter to Tomoe. He also rivals Daisuke and Madoka, only narrowly losing to the latter.
- My Master, Right or Wrong: He gave his word to serve the Empress, and refuses to budge despite clear misgivings about her actions. It's why he and Tomoe come into conflict, as Tomoe is loyal to her men, not the Empress.
- Undying Loyalty: To the Empress, and it's implied it goes beyond the enforced bounds of the Curse.
Goro Gamou
The cursed Dog of the Zodiac, and leader of the Gamou Clan.- Expy: Of Shigure Sohma; his design takes notable cues from Shigure's and he shares Shigure's Zodiac animal. He also shares Shigure's antagonism towards the Rooster, although likely for different reasons.
- Old Flame: It's heavily implied Yukito was this to him, given his clear feelings for her in flashbacks.
- Scars Are Forever: Has a noticeable scar on his cheek that he does not have in flashbacks.
Kodai Kobayakawa
The cursed Dragon of the Zodiac, and Imperial physician.- Expy: Of Hatori Sohma; his design takes cues from him and he serves as Yukito's personal doctor, just as Hatori serves as the personal doctor to the Sohma family.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: Like Hatori, he has the power to impose this on anyone he wishes, which the Empress tasks him with doing should they capture the protagonists.
Momo Mitsui
The cursed Rabbit of the Zodiac and a wandering bard.- Beware the Silly Ones: Despite her lighthearted exterior, she is the only Cursed who was successfully captured by the Empress to break out on her own, fleeing the palace gliding on a kite. The others either planned their escapes together or, in Kensuke's case, were liberated by a direct invasion of the Palace.
- Expy: She's effectively a female Momiji Sohma meets Venti.
- Genki Girl: A cheerful, lighthearted girl from the outset.
- Wrong Context Magic: Momo is an incredibly powerful Aura Mahou Gnosis-wielder.... Except her Gnosis is fake. The source of her power is unknown but heavily implied to be stronger than that of the Imperial Seal.
Hiroyuki Honda
The cursed Ox of the Zodiac, a former general of the Imperial Army. He disappeared ten years prior to the events of the story. He may or may not have broken free of the Curse, as upon meeting him, the Cursed cannot sense that he is one of them.- Animal Motifs: Bulls and oxen.
- Boisterous Bruiser: A loud, boisterous old man.
- Cool Old Guy: A veteran soldier and member of La Résistance....and huge fan of the protagonists.
- Doting Parent: Grandparent, anyway. His love for his granddaughter sets him free from the Curse.
- The Knights Who Say "Squee!": He all but squees when he meets Madoka, Todoroki and Daisuke, immediately agreeing to duel Madoka.
- The Mentor: Was this to Tomoe; both of them use variations on the same Brave Art.
- Old Soldier: Retired from the army ten years ago, only to rejoin. During his time, he trained multiple personages, such as Tomoe and Sarutobi Tokiwa, younger brother of Hitoshi.
- Red Baron: The Great Bull of Amatsu, The Thunder Spear and The Defender of Miyashita Pass.
- Retired Badass: Until shortly before the game's events, he was retired.
Kensuke Kamisato
The cursed Snake of the Zodiac, and heir to the Kamisato Clan.- Expy: The inverse of Momo; he's effectively a male Kamisato Ayaka. He even shares his surname with her.
- La Résistance: One of the leaders thereof.
Others
Noriaki Kiritani
The elusive leader of the Resistance. The prologue ends with the reveal that he is one of the Cursed.- Big Good: Leader of La Résistance and largest opponent of the Empress next to the Kamisato Clan.
- The Faceless: His physical appearance is unknown, and the few times he has shown up, he wears full-body concealing robes and a kitsune mask. He may well be one of the Cursed, however.
- First-Episode Twist: The prologue reveals that he is one of the Cursed.
- The Ghost: The Cursed of the Resistance rarely see him, likely because they would work out that he was one of the Cursed.
- Rebel Leader: Leader of the Sangonomiya Resistance and ally to the main cast.
Hitoshi Tokiwa
Younger brother to Sarutobi Tokiwa and master of Tokiwa martial arts.- Badass Normal: Skilled enough to fight Gnosis wielders and Shiryo without a Gnosis of his own.
- The Dreaded: The Tokiwa name is feared across the land as master fighters, and the Imperial guards fighting the protagonists noticeably take pause when they realise Yusuke was trained by a Tokiwa.
- The Ghost: Despite his influence on Todoroki and Yusuke's backstories, he has yet to be seen.
- Parental Substitute: To Yusuke (and Todoroki, to an extent), raising Yusuke and training both.
- Master Swordsman: Even moreso than Todoroki and Madoka; both of them wish to find and challenge Hitoshi to a fight.
