Characters / Eastern Mind: The Lost Souls of Tong-Nou

This is the character sheet for the video game Eastern Mind: The Lost Souls of Tong-Nou.

The protagonist, Rin

Rin

Rin as he appears in the opening of the game

The protagonist of the game. Rin woke up one morning to find out that his soul had mysteriously disappeared, stolen by the living island of Tong-Nou. Receiving a temporary soul from his friend, and an amulet and furoshiki from a white snake, Rin then sets out to the island of Tong-Nou to retrieve original soul.

• Determinator: Seemingly nothing will stop Rin from his quest to retrieve his original soul.
• Featureless Protagonist: Aside from the opening, we know nothing about Rin.
• Have a Nice Death: To be expected, as this game has many ways to die.
• Heroic Mime: Downplayed, as he doesn't speak aloud, but his thoughts are displayed clearly. It's also implied he is talking, but it's never shown.
• The Many Deaths of You: Rin needs to die multiple times and live out 9 different lives to unravel the mystery of the Island of Tong-Nou and the whereabouts of his missing soul. He can burn, be murdered, explode via eating too much, get crushed by a wall, and even by sex.
• Power Glows: At the end of the game when Rin retrieves his original soul, the soul has been purified, causing it and himself to emit a shining golden light
• The Soulless: Zig-Zagged. Although he loses his real soul, Rin receives a temporary soul that he can use until he finds his real one.
• The Woobie: Poor Rin gets his soul stolen at the beginning of the game, and has to venture through the utter insanity that is the island of Tong-Nou, and die multiple times if he wants to retrieve his soul.

Rin's Reincarnations

Tropes that apply to all of Rin's reincarnations.

• Gonk: Just like every other character in this game, all of Rin's reincarnations qualify for this trope.
• Meaningful Name: All but a few of the reincarnation names, including Rin's, are part of the Kuji-in

Kai

Kai is one of the many reincarnations Rin goes through in his journey through Tong-Nou. Born in Shi-chieng, his life's purpose is to put out a special candle.

• Casual Kink: The Tong-Nou Illustrated Guide casually refers to his fetish for fire.
• Dying Candle: The candle he goes across Tong Nou to put out turns out to be his.
• Fiery Stoic: Despite his appearance, he's not a very passionate person.
• Ordered to Die: The candle he was told to put out ends up being his own, ending his own life
• Playing with Fire: He likes fire a lot.

Gyou

A literal firefly that traverses the skies of Shi-chieng. One of Rin's short-lived reincarnations.

• Lighting Bug: Also doubles as a flame source.
• Fearless Fool: Is said and has been shown to do dangerous stunts that cause him to crash.
• Flaming Hair: Well, as much hair as an insect can have
• Lazy Bum: His entry in the illustrated guide implies this.
• Playing with Fire: Like Kai, he possesses flames on his body.
• Weak to Fire: Despite his head seemingly being immune, his body isn't. This is winds up being his downfall
• We Hardly Knew Ye: Is one of the many short lives in the game.

Sha

The musician of Yui-Wang and one of Rin's reincarnation. The only person in the entirty of Tong-Nou that can play the four instruments that he is required to play.

• Intelligence Equals Isolation: Stated to prefer be alone in his room (due to King-Gyou's tone-deaf singing), and is a talented musican.
• Magical Flutist: One of his instruments of choice is the Flute of Water
• Magic Music: The four instruments in his possession are stated to bring discipline to Tong-Nou.
• The Chosen One: Sha's character profile describes him as this, as he is the only one can play the four mystical instruments.
• The Poorly Chosen One: The game makes it possible to give King-Gyou the instruments, despite the game advising you to do otherwise.

Zen

A blue octopus that works as the guard for Mon-chien. Enjoys watching the flow of the river, but laments the fact that he is frozen alive.

• Funny Octopus: Is one of the more comedic lives.
• Harmless Freezing: Although he can only move his head, he seems alright for frozen cephlopod.
• Monster in the Ice:
• Temporal Paradox: Dies after sounding an intruder alarm...and either Rin or one of his reincarnations is that intruder, so somehow their reincarnations happen concurrently.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: It only takes a few moments before Zen meets his demise.

Jin

The faithful servant of King-Gyou. Loves gold just as much as his master, and is just as greedy. Or at least that's what the Tong-Nou illustrated book states.

• Chrome Champion: Is made of bronze.
• Gold–Silver–Copper Standard: A subtle example of this. King-Gyou is made of gold, while Jin, his servant, is made of bronze.
• Greed: Just like King-Gyou, Jin loves gold above all else, except for maybe the King himself.
• Loves Only Gold: So much so that he admires King-Gyou for his body of gold and hates his own for being made of bronze.
• Professional Butt-Kisser: Jin's life purpose is to be this.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: Exaggerated. He's dead before getting out of the menu.

Retsu

An ordinary ant living by Mingke-shu, The Tree of Life.

• Ant Assault: Is thrown at Moku-Gyou in order to make him sneeze
• Insect Gender-Bender: Is a worker ant, but is staed to be male.
• Temporal Paradox: Retsu is the ant that Byou throws at Moku-Gyou in order to get his Eyeball of Dreaming, meaning that their reincarnations somehow happen concurrently.

Tou

Tou is a green creature born in Ming-ken whose duty is to record all the new life born into Tong-nou.

• Appearance Angst: Can't stand his ringed body.
• Casual Kink: Is into mechanical apparatus, if the illustrated book is to be believed.

Byou

Byou is a mechanic who's ordered to replace the Eyeball of Dreaming, belonging to the king of Mon-Chien.

• Chameleon Camouflage: The leaves on his body allow him to do this with trees.
• Fantastic Racism: He's the only one in Mon-Chien to have leaves, and gets bullied for it as a result.

The Kings

King-Gyou

The king of the Land of Desire. A greedy but amiable person, he has the ability to turn human desires into material goods.

• Greed: Is apparently so greedy that it turned his body into gold.
• Hidden Depths: His love for music is second only to his love of gold and gems.
• Irony: He hates people that are tone-deaf, despite being tone-deaf himself.

Ka-Gyou

The king of the Land of Time. Rules over time and fate within Tong-Nou.

• Combo Platter Powers: Also can manipulate fire in addition to fate and time.

Sui-Gyou

The king of the Land of Dreaming. Has the draining job of providing the residents of Tong-Nou with dreams.

Moku-Gyou

The king of the Land of Life. Controls life and death within Tong-Nou, and is allergic to ants.

• Fantastic Racism: Hates Fang-Shing for no particular reason.
• Jerkass Gods: Is the least pleasant of the four main kings. Saying as much since they buried the true king alive.
• Symbiotic Possession: The bird-like creature on his head is apparently his symbiotic partner.

SPOILER CHARACTER

Tou-Gyou

The original king of Tong-Nou as a whole. He was usurped and killed by the other four kings some time before the events of the game.

• He Was Right There All Along: The faces in the ground and on walls that speak to Rin or his reincarnations are eventually revealed to be manifestations of him.
• Rightful King Returns: The game ends upon Rin reviving him.
• Walking Spoiler: His existence is kept a complete mystery until near the very end of the game.