Characters / Fallen Hero

This is a list of characters appearing in the video game Fallen Hero.

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Sidestep

Sidestep's outfit.

The Player Character of the game. A powerful telepath, they were once a vigilante known as Sidestep. Eventually, they started assisting the Rangers throught their missions and were viewed as a superhero by the public. Then something happened to them during the Heartbreak Incident. Now, they plan on becoming the greatest villain of Los Diablos.

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• Afraid of Doctors: More specifically the consequences of visiting a hospital but their past means they probably have some baggage regarding the doctors themselves. As such, they're practiced at Self-Surgery and, more recently, giving themselves medical attention through their puppet.
• Anti-Villain: You can play them as one, wishing to become a villain but still having standards and sympathetic qualities. Stick to nonlethal combat and noble motivations and characters will start thinking you're actually a full-blown Anti-Hero instead, much to their chagrin.
• Artificial Human: Is a Re-Gene, specifically one of the Infiltrator line that are designed to look like regular humans.
• Astral Projection: Their Body Surf ability has shades of this, since they literally leave their body as an empty shell while they're possessing someone else.
• Ate His Gun: If they try to take Heartbreak down with their gun, they'll start to do this once they fall under Heartbreak's thrall. Fortunately, Ortega manages to intervene before they can actually pull the trigger.
• Becoming the Mask: Depending on how the PC behaves while using their Puppet body, they can begin to wonder if their Puppet's persona is leaking into their own or vice versa.
• Benevolent Boss: They can act this way towards their underlings, and is appreciated by them in turn.
• Body Surf: Literally jumps into the consciousness of the people they control and then jumps back out once they've achieved their goal.
• Byronic Hero: Being very introspective, having conflicting feelings regarding their current path and showing a very cynical outlook towards the world around them thanks to their experiences while harboring quite the Dark and Troubled Past that serves as their main driving force in their road towards villiany makes Sidestep very much this.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: Or guy. Crushing on Ortega can mean Sidestep isn't happy when they pay attention to anyone else. While this is innocent enough when they suspect Ortega might have a new partner, it dips into Yandere territory if you start attacking the press to keep their focus on you alone. Averted if you choose to find Ortega's constant low-grade flirtatiousness endearing instead.
• Clueless Chick-Magnet: Or Dude Magnet. Despite not having a high opinion of themselves or their own body, Sidestep manages to catch the attention of not only Ortega, but also Argent and Herald. With the Puppet they also have Mortum wanting to jump their bones.
• Conflicting Loyalty: Depending on how you play them, despite wishing to become a villain, they may be unable to bring themselves to seriously harm or kill others, especially Ortega.
• Covered with Scars: Their body is littered with scars at the start of the game, though they mention that whoever inflicted them made sure any obviously visible spots (such as their face) were spared. They can easily collect quite a few more over the course of the game, including a deep facial scar inflicted by Lady Argent.
• Dark Secret: They're a Re-Gene, but they keep this a secret since Re-Genes aren't seen as human and they escaped their creators prior to becoming Sidestep, and were captured again following the Heartbreak Incident. If the player chooses, their motivation for being a villain can be either to get revenge on those who experimented them for being a Re-Gene or expose how corrupt the government is.
• De-power: They can claim that they've lost their powers completely after the Heartbreak Incident, knowing that in the wake of them controlling Lady Argent all telepaths will be viewed with suspicion.
• Destination Defenestration: Flashbacks reveal that they were mind controlled into flinging themselves from an apartment window after losing a mental battle with Heartbreak.
• Dislikes the New Guy: Has a bone to pick with Herald, the newest member of the Rangers (and also their direct replacement).
• Driven to Suicide: Played with. Sidestep never wanted to kill themselves. However, during the Heartbreak incident, they were unable to resist the suicide signal and ended up throwing themselves out a window. Despite this, they survived; however, certain choices have it be that Sidestep has always struggled with suicidal thoughts.
• Empty Shell: Not them personally, but the Puppet was basically a catatonic coma patient they found in a hospital. Throughout the years of using them, the PC has never found any hint of a consciousness in there. Though Ortega claims they were muttering in their sleep...
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Sidestep, even when played as an unrepentant murderous villain, will always show some care towards Ortega and The Rat King.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Sidestep can be played as absolutely refusing to harm civilians, and can even break off a mission to go save some innocent bystanders from a bomb.
• Exact Words: It's possible for them to simultaneously be completely honest and a Consummate Liar by giving just enough details that what they're saying is not untrue but very misleading.
• Eye Scream: Normally, if you simply make Argent hate you as a villain (generally by relying on telepathy or using dirty tricks when she is involved), if Sidestep is captured at the end of book 2, Argent will viciously cut their face, leaving a deep scar. However, if you go a step further and mentally manipulate Argent into killing civilians herself with your powers (which requires you take specific choices through the first two books), in the above mentioned scenario, she'll outright take one of Sidestep's eyes.
• Face–Heel Turn: Once the superhero Sidestep, they're now trying to become the greatest villain of Los Diablos.
• Facial Horror: Lady Argent can give them horrific facial scars during their climatic fight in book 1 and also in the aftermath of the casino heist in book 2, depending on the player's decisions.
• Fallen Hero: Duh, it's the title.
• Formerly Fit: They had a hero's washboard body as Sidestep, but they've let themselves go in the seven years since. They're back in shape by the second game.
• Genre Savvy: Can be played this way; a career spent fighting villains who regularly screw themselves over by giving a Motive Rant and the like has taught Sidestep what not to do. Of course, the player can choose to give one anyway...
• Green-Eyed Monster: It's implied that they're jealous of Herald because of how easy he's had it, and for representing the hero the they were unable to become.
• Gut Feeling: Their puppet has far better instincts than their normal body. This takes a turn for the paranormal once those instincts evolve into brief visions of the future, leading Sidestep to wonder if the puppet is Boosted.
• Hates Being Touched: Thanks to having to hide who they are for so long, Sidestep has developed an aversion to anyone touching their Re-Gene tattoos.
• Hello, [Insert Name Here]: Downplayed. While the player does have to option of choosing their actual name, villain name, as well as the name of their puppet, their superhero name before the start of the story is always Sidestep.
• I Control My Minions Through...: Your choice of fear, loyalty or otherwise if you start a gang.
• Heroes Love Dogs: Of course, "hero" is going to be a pretty unlikely title to have, but Sidestep enjoys being around dogs. They have very happy and uncomplicated thoughts compared to people. They can bond with Steel of all people over dogs.
• I Hate Past Me: They definitely don't like it when their past as Sidestep is brought up. At one point when having a flashback about being injured in a fight versus Psychopathor they'll lament that they were a naive idiot.
  • One of the possible motivations for the museum attack is for the PC to destroy the Sidestep exhibit, outright stating that it’s to symbolically destroy their past self.
  • On the other hand it is played with, as spending time with Herald over the course of book 2 can have the protagonist admit the fact that sometimes they miss being a hero, suggesting it's more of a coping mechanism to distance themselves from their past.
• I Just Want to Be Normal: They hate being a Re-Gene and constantly living under the fear of being caught. When they learn of a regenerator that could possibly heal their Re-Gene tattoos they go for it.
  "I need to be real."
• In the Hood: As shown on the picture above, their Sidestep outfit included a hood.
• Laughing Mad: They tend to start laughing whenever they start getting a power high.
• Legacy Character: You become a twisted one if you take "Anathema" as your villain name. While the protagonist justifies at as letting Anathema metaphorically live on, they know deep down that turning their friend's legacy into a villainous one isn't exactly honoring their memory.
• Manipulative Bastard: Well, the bastard somewhat depends on the player's choices, but regardless the PC is very adept at reading and manipulating others, even without taking their telepathy into account.
• Mark of Shame: View their Re-Gene tattoos as this, to the point of engaging in extensive self harm in an attempt to remove them.
• Motivation Index: There are five possible motivations to choose from in the first game, and can be switched in the second game.
  • You want revenge.
  • You are tired of being stepped on.
  • You want the good life.
  • You need to show the world the truth.
  • You feel like it's simply inevitable.
• My God, What Have I Done?: A very subtle but poignant moment can occur if Sidestep hurts Ortega too badly during their climactic fight:
  "Every villain. That's you, isn't it? Who put them in this state. Beat them to a bloody pulp. You take a step towards them, and they flinch.That's the hardest blow they have dealt you yet."
• Never Hurt an Innocent: If they decide to use murder as a tool in their arsenal, they can also decide to limit this to their direct enemies and spare any civilians in their path.
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Back in their days as Sidestep, they genuinely wanted to be a hero and use their power to help people. Unfortunately, that brought publicity, which allowed the Special Directive to find them and kidnap them after the Heartbreak Incident.
• Non-Indicative Name: While Sidestep's combat style as a hero did in fact involve a lot of sidestepping, the moniker was specifically chosen because it has absolutely nothing to do with their actual powers or the reason they're so good at dodging (ie, reading their opponents' minds). They wanted everyone to think they were just really good at martial arts, since telepathy is rare and would stand out too much.
• Obfuscating Disability: If they claim to have lost their powers after the Heartbreak Incident.
• Past Experience Nightmare: Sidestep is tormented by these, which hint at their Dark and Troubled Past.
• People Jars: Was created in one. In Book 1 they remember a memory of people looking in at them, and in Book 2 refer to themselves as being decanted rather than born.
• Power Armor: What they spend the majority of Book 1 preparing, gathering the necessary components for Dr. Mortum to build a suit for them, hoping to use it to jumpstart their career as a villain.
• Power High: While Sidestep can suppress it, there's no denying they feel good in their armor.
• Properly Paranoid: They took up the Sidestep alter-ego and avoided getting registered out of fear the Farm might be hunting for them. They were correct.
• Proud Beauty: As the puppet, which is understandable considering being gorgeous was one of the major reasons they chose that body.
• Punny Name: They note that "Sidestep" was a name with a double meaning. To the public, it was a reference to their physical martial arts abilities to avoid enemy attacks rather than face them head on. To them, it allowed them to sidestep the fact that their real ability is telepathy, something they didn't want known by the public.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: They shared this dynamic with Ortega during their hero days, being at least a little more strategic and methodical than Ortega during battle.
• Reluctant Monster: Though you don't have to play Sidestep as this, the game makes it very easy to do so.
• Ridiculously Average Guy: As an Infiltrator Re-gene they specifically created them to be this, as being average means they won't draw attention. They also can try their damned hardest to be as unremarkable as possible as drawing too much publicity is what got them caught by the Special Directive.
• Self-Harm: Implied to have engaged in multiple forms throughout their life, especially in their attempts to remove their Re-Gene tattoos.
• Self-Surgery: Due to their aversion to doctors and hospitals, they did a lot of self-surgery even before the Heartbreak Incident. Now they usually use the puppet to carry out first aid on their unconscious body.
• Telepathy: Their superpower. And it's actually pretty strong; not only are they able to read people's mind, they can also take control of their bodies for a short period of time.
• Thou Shalt Not Kill: Sidestep can take a vow against killing to the point of sacrificing your goals in favor of saving civilians.
• Tragic Villain: Especially if you amplify their sympathetic qualities.
• Tsundere: A Sidestep that's in love with Ortega but still pushing them away usually falls squarely into tsundere territory, especially if the Puppet romances them.
  "I am not crying," you snap, blinking furiously for no reason. "And you are an idiot with no sense, and I don't even have any idea why I should care what happens to you, and yet here I am, and -"
• Villain Protagonist: That's Sidestep, though how villainous is up to you...
• Vitriolic Best Buds: The closer Sidestep and Ortega are, the more they riff on each other.
• Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Regardless of where the player takes their morality, the PC is ultimately a PTSD-ridden, antisocial paranoiac who initially turns to villainy not for greed or power, but because it’s the only way they see to take back control of their life and strike back at those who hurt them.
• Younger Than They Look: They're actually somewhere around 15 years old, but look like they're in their thirties thanks to the Farm accelerating their aging.

Boris

Boris "Call me Bo" is a Modded mercenary who earns a living by offering his services as a driver to various criminal groups in the criminal underground. As such, they are a possible henchman candidate that Sidestep can choose to recruit.

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• Badass Driver: True to his word, Boris is quite skilled when it comes to driving all sorts of vehicles.
• Cowardly Lion: He tends to be quite apprehensive when it comes to any kind of direct conflict, but since his skillset concentrate on being a getaway driver with little in the way of combat training, its quite justified.

Rosie

Ortega

Ricardo/Julia Ortega is a longtime member and previous Marshal of the Rangers. They were partners with Sidestep when they were still working as Sidestep, being their closest friend.

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• Age Insecurity: They hide it well, but they are very concerned about their growing age since that means they will not be able to remain in the hero business. Any dialouge option where Sidestep talks about their age will almost always result in a relationship decrease.
• Blood Knight: Very downplayed, as while they can be seen smiling in battle and clearly enjoy the fights, they are a hero first and will act accordingly.
• Canon Name: Their last name is always Ortega, their first name changes depending on gender, being either Ricardo or Julia.
• The Charmer: Is incredibly outgoing and flirty.
• Closet Key: If both Ortega and Sidestep are the same gender (or Sidestep is genderqueer) and were in a relationship in the past, Ortega explicitly states in a flashback that they've never been in a relationship with anyone but a woman/man before.
• Cyborg: As a Mod they have various mechanical implants, including the ones that allows them to weaponise the abnormal electrical activity produced by their epilepsy.
• Dashing Hispanic: Charming, good-looking, and a Casanova.
• Dating Catwoman: If they enter into a relationship with Sidestep. Since Ortega is still a superhero, while Sidestep is heading down the path of villainy. Though Ortega isn't aware of this.
• Disability Immunity: Their epilepsy makes them immune to all forms of mental manipulation.
• Entertainingly Wrong: In their investigation into Hollow Ground, Ortega came to the not-unwarranted but totally erroneous conclusion that you're the White Sheep of Hollow Ground's crime family, who tried to break away from your relatives by becoming a hero and who's now being pressured back into the game.
  • Related to the above, if you go to the meeting with Hollow Ground as yourself and remain in your body, Ortega sees your Re-Gene tattoos and comes to the conclusion that you were created to look like Sidestep for whatever reason. Though it's clear that they are partially just in denial since the reveal that you are a Re-Gene comes at the same time as the reveal that you are a villain.
• A Friend in Need: No matter how much you try to push them away, Ortega knows Sidestep needs some emotional support and is always help, whether you want it or not.
• Gayngst: Downplayed, but if the puppet is their Closet Key they admit to still getting used to dating someone of the same gender and wonder what the press will say.
• Healthcare Motivation: A possible epilogue slide for Rebirth will show that Ortega isn't still in the hero game entirely for the love of it—they still owe a lot of money on their mods (and accrue more costs every time they get beat up and need repairs), and if they're not in the Rangers they're on the hook for all of it.
• Honey Trap: If Ortega and your puppet are dating and they bail you out of a botched meeting with Hollow Ground, Ortega admits to initially approaching the puppet because they suspected you were the new villain's second in command. Sidestep's a bit miffed at being the one played for once.
• If It's You, It's Okay: If Ortega and Sidestep are the same gender and were in a relationship in the past, it's implied that Sidestep was the only same-sex partner they've ever had.
• Immune to Mind Control: Due to being epileptic. This actually saved their life during the Heartbreak Incident.
• Important Haircut: A female Ortega had long hair she kept in a braid. At some point following the Heartbreak incident, she cut it short. A conversation in the second game reveals she struggled to tie it again due to a mix of lapsing on her epilepsy medication and grief tied to Sidestep tying the braid for her, leading her to cut it.
• Knight in Sour Armor: They'd actually entered a 10-Minute Retirement after Sidestep's "death", coming back largely because there was that much need for them.
• The Lancer: They're unofficially the Ranger's right-hand man/woman behind Steel. They balance out his hard-headed professionalism with easy-going warmth.
• Likes Clark Kent, Hates Superman: Can happen to them in one of the ending variations of Rebirth - they're in love with the now civilian Sidestep, but view Sidestep's new villain persona as their nemesis.
• Logical Weakness: Being an epileptic, they're weak to anything which can manage to induce a seizure. Thus the fact that they suffer from epilepsy at all is a very closely guarded secret.
• My Greatest Failure: The Heartbreak Incident, to the point of passing leadership to Steel and (temporarily) quitting the Rangers.
• Nice Guy: Is a pretty friendly and outgoing individual. Considering that they managed to befriend - or even romance - Sidestep, who never lets their walls down, that says a lot.
• Oblivious to Love: If Ortega is male, Steel will have had a crush on him for some time... but due to Steel keeping his personal life completely separate from his work life, he has never brought it up and Ortega fails to pick up on any behavioral cues.
• Only Friend: Even if the player chose to not have them be very close in the past, Ortega was the closest thing Sidestep ever had to a friend.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Shared this dynamic with Sidestep pre-Heartbreak, with them being the brazen and direct Red to the mysterious and tactical Sidestep's Blue.
• Shock and Awe: Their main offensive power.
• Smarter Than You Look: Even as friends, Sidestep doesn't consider Ortega overburdened with the gift of intelligence. In truth, Ortega has been suspicious of a connection between Sidestep and Hollow Ground since they met seven years ago and has been trying to protect you from the press. Likewise, Ortega approached the puppet suspecting they had criminal connections before you even debuted as a villain and quickly began to suspect Sidestep is the new criminal in town.
• Sympathy for the Villain: Another possible ending variation is that Sidestep's villain monologue leaves them quite sympathetic towards their cause.
• 10-Minute Retirement: They quit the Rangers and superhero work after the Heartbreak Incident but rejoined them by the next year, albeit no longer as Marshal.
• Time-Passage Beard: A male Ortega has grown a mustache in the seven year gap between the Heartbreak Incident and the present day.
• That One Case: Ortega has been obsessively pursuing Hollow Ground ever since they killed Marshal Hood, who Ortega was close with. This has been going on for 13 years by the start of the game.
• Undying Loyalty: To Sidestep.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: You can expect most positive dialog options to have a lot of riffing.

Dr. Mortum

A scientist Sidestep is paying to build their new armor.

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• Affably Evil: Knowingly creates weapons and equipment for villains, but is nonetheless unfailingly polite and professional.
• Black and Nerdy: A highly talented scientist black scientist.
• Everything Sounds Sexier in French: Speaks with a French accent and injects Gratuitous French into their speech. Though it's stated that no one knows their actual country of origin, so it may just be an affectation.
• Mad Scientist: Well, less "mad" and more "amoral", they are willing to ignore ethical concerns and do contract work for villains.
• Mysterious Past: While their past as a villain is well known, pretty much everything else is kept top secret. A few scenes in Retribution would hint they may have Farm knowledge.
• Retired Monster: Used to be a full time villain, but retired after a falling out with a colleague to instead do contract R&D for other villains.
• She Cleans Up Nicely: If you invite them to the Museum as your date.

Steel

Wei Chen, also known as Steel, is a longtime member and current Marshal of the Rangers. He and Sidestep never got along.

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• Being Personal Isn't Professional: Not that he's much more social outside of work. But his strict adherence to this rule is why Sidestep is so surprised when they see him walking his dog, as well as why he's never acted at all on his crush on a male Ortega.
• Cyborg: Is a Mod like Ortega, with at least two Artificial Limbs. However he has many more implants and mechanical parts than Ortega.
• Entertainingly Wrong: If he opens up a little, he'll explain one of his reasons for being suspicious of Sidestep originally is that he immediately clocked them as having professional training, but also not being military. He figured they must have been private security or intelligence before becoming Sidestep, and given their sudden proximity to Ortega, might also be a spy. This is almost right, except for the spy part, but it's not like he has any way of knowing that Sidestep was trained by the Farm.
• Gayngst: Not currently, but in his past. His parents disowned him for his sexuality, which left him not only alone and feeling like he'd failed to be a good son, but also homeless, with basically no good choices but to join the military.
• Heroes Love Dogs: He was in a program that provided therapy dogs to military personnel. He now has a dog named Spoon. In case he runs out of them.
• Jerkass: Downplayed, but he was kind of an asshole to Sidestep when they were working with the Rangers. Even after they turn out to be alive and helping the Rangers, Steel makes sure this isn't their home. But considering Properly Paranoid below, he is somewhat justified in his behavior.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Also downplayed, but he is a hero who cares for civilian lives, behaves civilly enough, and expresses to Sidestep that, despite the bad blood between them, he is relieved they survived. You can even start to mend things between you in Retribution, should you so choose.
• Jerkass Realization: If you keep a friendly relationship with him he comes to admit he may have treated you unfairly. While he may have had good reasons to be suspicious of Sidestep, it doesn't change the fact that they were a reliable and useful teammate, something he's definitely come to miss.
• The Lost Lenore: He lost his first love in the same battle he lost his hands.
• Mighty Glacier: Due to his heavy implants and metal armor, he is notably very heavy and slow, and has difficulty going up stairs. He also can't use most elevators in full armor.
• Out of Character Is Serious Business: He refuses to believe that Hollow Ground is real. No matter how much evidence he is given, he is deadset on it all being not true. He realizes that there is something wrong about this, and if he is very close to Sidestep, he will ask them to probe his mind. It turns out that another psychic had altered his mind to make it impossible to accept that Hollow Ground is real. Upon removing the tampering, he immediately accepts the truth about the crimelord.
• Promoted to Love Interest: He's a romance option in the second game, although the author is debating whether his romance will be gender-locked to male Sidesteps or a case of It's Okay If It's You for non-binary Sidesteps.
• Properly Paranoid: Flashbacks reveal he was openly suspicious of Sidestep while they were working with the Rangers, and is still distrustful of them in the present day. Considering Sidestep is implied to have ties with some rather unsavory characters and is currently going down the path of outright villainy, his concern is more than a little justified.
  • The second game reveals that he'd actually searched for Sidestep in the wake of the Heartbreak Incident, and found more than a few pieces that didn't fit the puzzle, but his duties meant he couldn't investigate further.
• Secret Secret-Keeper: He is aware that Sidestep is a Re-Gene. While looking into Sidestep's apparent death after the Heartbreak incident, he is shown "proof" via photos of Sidestep's autopsy. Said "autopsy" actually being another surgery the Farm was subjecting them to. Though these photos caused him to end his investigation at the time, he saw the tattoos that all Re-Genes have and kept that to himself ever since.
• The Stoic: He's a very taciturn individual, in part because of his military background.
• Straight Gay: He identifies as gay, but due to his keeping his work life and personal life carefully separated, his sexuality isn't at all apparent.

Herald

Herald is the newest member of the Rangers. Despite his seemingly amicable personality, Sidestep shows a distaste towards him.

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• The Baby of the Bunch: He was born in 1996. As the game is set in 2020, this makes him only 24 years old. Moreover, he's the newest addition to the Rangers, and according to Malin Ryden has been active as a superhero for only two years.
• Butt-Monkey: The player can engage in many a dog-kicking with him, if they choose.
• Closet Key: A male Sidestep can act as this.
• Crush Blush: He's rather prone to this when in close contact with Sidestep - though even the PC can be confused about whether it's this or Hero Worship.
• Dogged Nice Guy: He constantly fawns over Argent, who seems annoyed by him at best. He can also be this way to you, which confuses you.
• The Face: The second game reveals him as this, as he's got a natural charm and charisma that makes him great at dealing with the press, especially compared to Ortega, Steel, and Lady Argent.
• Flying Brick: His powerset in a nutshell.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: What the Ranger's publicity department is trying to portray him as. Sidestep is notably ticked off by this goody two shoes persona, especially when they realize he's actually like that.
• Hero-Worshipper: Ortega can reveal that Sidestep is his favorite superhero.
  • This is reaffirmed if you give him the time of day in the second game, as he exclaims how he used to watch you on TV.
• Hidden Depths: Turns out, Herald is a surprisingly well versed art aficionado.
• Leeroy Jenkins: If people are in trouble, Herald will rush in regardless of if he has backup.
• Likes Older Women: Lady Argent is a few years older than him; so is Sidestep. If Sidestep is male, it becomes a case of Likes Older Men.
• Love Martyr: Despite how much they bend over, Argent isn’t interested.
• Nice Guy: Besides Ortega, he's the most accepting Ranger towards the PC and wants to help them with their (apparent) issues. His unwarranted kindness is one of the things that Sidestep finds annoying about him.
• Official Couple: Sidestep notes that he and Argent are a couple. However it is also a publicity thing and while Herald is definitely head over heels for Argent, she doesn’t reciprocate. By book 2, they have publicly broken up.
• Pretty Boy: He's a good-looking young man with curly blonde hair.
• Promoted to Love Interest: Starting in the second game.
• Sheep in Sheep's Clothing: While Sidestep initially believes his blithe heroism has to be some sort of act, the more they probe his mind the more they see he genuinely is a perpetually bright Ideal Hero.
• Sitcom Archnemesis: He initially serves as this for Sidestep. Of all the active major heroes, Herald is the one that pisses Sidestep off the most even though by all accounts Herald is a really good guy. It is heavily implied that Sidestep assumes that Herald isn't fully on the up and up, as who can be so perfectly good and kind? If you take the opportunity to get to know Herald in Book 2, it becomes clear that he is the genuine article, something that surprises Sidestep which can lead to them becoming friends and possibly in love.
• Superpower Lottery: Not only did he beat the odds by not suffering a gruesome death after taking the Boost drug, but he lucked out with getting a set of powers perfectly suited for hero work.

Lady Argent

A superhero who joined the Rangers sometime after Sidestep's 'death'. She's the least press-conscious of the team.

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• The Berserker: She has a very aggressive fighting style. The PC can take advantage of this, turning her lack of care against her.
• Blood Knight: Some of the few times she shows happiness is fighting. She seems thrilled at the thought of fighting Sidestep’s villain persona.
  • It is also her Fatal Flaw, as Sidestep notes she can be too focused on the current fighting to notice manipulations around her, allowing her to outmaneuvered.
• Body Horror: She was an early victim of the Nanosurge, with nanovores eating her skin and flesh away. However, she bonded with them and they are the source of her powers, acting as protection in lieu of normal human skin.
• Chrome Champion: Her skin is made of a silvery alloy.
• Exotic Eye Designs: If you successfully ambush her in the sewers during the climax, you can see that she has three pupils in each eye, instead of one, hinting that she may not be fully human.
• Extra-ore-dinary: Her body is coated an incredibly hard metal that she's able to manipulate to some degree, such as growing metal claws from her hands.
• Ice Queen: Oh, so much. She barely shows emotions when not fighting and flat out tells Sidestep she doesn't have a high opinion of them.
  • On the other hand, she's pretty interested in Los Diablos' newest villain.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Abrasive, obssesed with fighting and cold to everyone around her she may be, but at the end of the day she does care for civilian lives, as her reaction to Sidestep killing civilians during the bridge fight in book 2 proves.
• Made of Iron: Quite literally, as her skin is made up of a seemingly indestructible metal. Played with, as despite her incredible durability, she can still feel every hit she takes, something the PC learns the hard way after possessing her and getting into a fight with Herald.
• Official Couple: Sidestep notes that she and Herald are a couple. That said it seems to be a publicity thing, and she clearly isn’t interested in Herald. The second game confirms this, as the pair broke up in the wake of the Museum bombing.
• Police Brutality: Technically not a police officer but still a police keeping arm of the US government, anyway: If Sidestep chooses to go to the meeting with Hollow Ground as themself, when they are hospitalized in the aftermath, if Argent has negative feelings towards their villain persona, she will deeply cut the side of their face. If she's truly angry, she'll mangle their eye in the process. In the epilogue, Steel will severely chew her out, stating he'd fire her if the team weren't as low on manpower as they are.
• Promoted to Love Interest: Starting in the second game.
• Slap-Slap-Kiss: This is how her romance path goes. Notably, the first kiss can actually happen in the middle of a fight, when she shapeshifts her sword-arm into a tentacle to hold Sidestep in place and plants a kiss on their helmet.
• Worthy Opponent: She'll come to view Sidestep's villain persona as a worthy rival if you fight her without relying on telepathy.

Hollow Ground

A supervillain who controls Los Diablos's underground—figuratively and literally.

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• Affably Evil: They are quite polite and friendly to you, and appear to be genuinely pleased with your agreement, as long as you follow the terms of their invitation and aren't openly rude.
• Didn't See That Coming: They're openly flabbergasted if you turn down their offer to work together since their telepathy should be making you pliable.
• Dishing Out Dirt: Hollow Ground claims their powers are the reason there hasn't been another Big One, and that they use small localized earthquakes to punish those who displease them.
• Mind Control: Should you arrive at the meeting as yourself, and have a good enough grasp of subtle manipulations, you will realize that Hollow Ground is trying to implant a command in your mind to force you to trust them.
• Resemblance Reveal: When you meet Hollow Ground, who notoriously doesn't like to let people see their face, you will realize they look unsettlingly like you. Since you were grown in a vat by the Special Directive, there are a couple of reasons why this might be, all of which would be a huge deal if they turned out to be true.
• Wicked Cultured: Wears a very dapper suit and has fine taste in drinks.

The Handyman

An unaffiliated vigilante. Friends with Lady Argent.

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• Badass Normal: If a hero hunter, your analysis of him is that he is neither boosted nor modded, relying only on enhanced weaponry.
• Gadgeteer Genius: His hero identity is based on this, of course, and in the epilogue we are shown that he built his wife a much more maneuverable wheelchair with hidden weapons as a wedding gift.

Captain Blaze

The leader of the Guardians, a rivalling hero team of the Los Diablos Rangers.

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• Achilles' Heel: He has a bad leg after it almost got severed by the Slasher. Sidestep can exploit this if they fight him.

• Ambiguously Bi: Herald suspects that he and Chen were a thing.

• Berserk Button: Downplayed. He strongly dislikes Ortega. While won’t fly into a rage, being mocked as a lesser hero than them noticeably ticks him off.

• Failed a Spot Check: If Sidestep plays their cards right, they can choose to avoid a hit from Blaze and let a civilian take it instead, much to his horror and shock. More empathetic Sidesteps can choose to take the hit and be spared for it, with Blaze himself admitting to this trope, ashamed.

• Glory Seeker: It’s no secret that Captain Blaze likes the fame and attention that comes with being a hero: especially from the ladies. If an infamous thief!Sidestep gets cornered into a fight with him, he says he’s been looking forward to the chance to take them down.

• Hidden Depths: Though Sidestep can dislike him on the grounds that he's a loud and brash glory hog, Blaze is willing to hear out Sidestep if they’re an anarchist, or isn't as bad a villain as they seem if they're a hero hunter.

• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: One of his deaths involves getting thrown out the window by Sidestep and speared by a flagpole.

• Interrupted Suicide: Blaze stops Sidestep from potentially committing suicide by saving them with the Rat King’s help.

• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Rude as he is, he genuinely cares about saving lives. As seen with his horror when he can accidentally kill a civilian when fighting Sidestep.

• The Leader: Is the leader of the Guardians.

• Playing with Fire: Downplayed. Blaze isn’t seen making fire exactly, but his heat manipulation can superheat the environment he’s in and set things on fire.

• Properly Paranoid: If the puppet is dating Ortega, he warns them that they aren’t as nice as they seem. It’s later revealed that Ortega had gotten close to the puppet out of suspicion they were working for the villain.

• Stupid Good: He genuinely cares about saving lives, but he can also tackle Hunter and Anarchist Sidesteps out the window with no plan to save himself from the fall, even if Sidestep is relatively harmless as a villain. Sidestep comments on how little tactical sense it made.

• Suicide by Cop: Defied. Sidestep can attempt this with him, but Blaze saves them with no shortage of urging (and help) from the Rat King.