Main Characters of Nekojishi
Liao and his suitors
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Lin Tian-Liao
Liao is a completely average college freshman, aside from his secret love of men and anthropomorphic animals. He enjoys being a part of the dancing team and has a few friends, but he mostly keeps to himself in his free time. The appearance of the three cat spirits turns Liao's life upside down, and the player witnesses his struggles in balancing life, school, and potential romance.
- All-Loving Hero: His compassionate heart, as Guardian Tiger repeatedly points out to him, is Liao’s greatest strength as well as his biggest weakness. His indecisiveness regarding what to do about his situation with the three cats mostly stems from his reluctance to do anything that would break the heart of any of them.
- Featureless Protagonist: A generic, average Asian boy whose eyes are conveniently hidden by his bangs.
- Genre Savvy: He realizes right from the get-go just how difficult managing his Unwanted Harem is going to be.“If manga has taught me anything, this isn’t going to end well.”
- Look Both Ways: If Liao falls for Shu-Chi's manipulations, he dies this way.
- Meaningful Name: The short form, Liao, means "few" or "silent", reflecting his quiet nature. A literal translation of his full name, Lin Tian-Liao, means "double silvervine", with silvervine being Actinidia polygama. Aside from the obvious Pun of "polygama" with the intimate nature of the game, silvervine is known to cause a euphoric response in cats — meaning he might as well be named "double catnip".
- Only Sane Man: As seen by his exasperated reactions to the three spirits' actions.
- Shrinking Violet: In contrast to Shu-Chi, Liao prefers to keep to himself and would much rather stay out of the spotlight.
- The Shut-In: Downplayed; aside from college, he doesn't seem to go outside often. In fact, when accused of becoming a Hikkikomori, his response is "so be it".
- Straight Gay: Liao is a quiet sort and doesn't give off any hints of his true orientation.
'Guardian Tiger' Lin Hu
Click here A Sunny Day Outfit
Lin Hu is one of the guardian tigers protecting the Lin family, specifically the one belonging to the tiger statue Liao brought with him to college. He has watched over Liao since he was a child, and fancies himself Liao's 'childhood sweetheart', despite the fact that Liao only recently became aware of tiger's presence. Lin Hu is protective to a fault, and is reverent of tradition.
Lin Hu's goal is to convince Liao to return to his familial temple and become a jitong/medium.
- Badass Arm-Fold: His default pose, as seen in the image above.
- Badass Bookworm: He does enjoy reading, and several scenes show his affinity for books, frequenting the local bookstore with Liao. One of the loading screen animations is even him reading a book.
- Big Eater: As befitting of a spirit his size he is constantly eager to eat. In the DLC he puts away an entire family bucket of fried chicken.
- The Big Guy: Easily the tallest and most muscular of the three spirits.
- Childhood Friend Romance: Or so he insists, due to him watching over Liao since he was young.
- Half-Truth: He clarifies time and again a god cannot develop feelings over a living person. His actions and dialogue, however, clearly indicate otherwise as he gradually falls over Liao. See I Want My Beloved to Be Happy below. By the time A Sunny Day happens, he completely drops the act and starts acting affectionate towards Liao.
- Heroic Build: Lin Hu is absolutely massive, much to Liao's arousal.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: He falls over Liao, but acknowledges that they can't be together, as that would cause a number of problems in Liao's life due to Lin Hu being only a spirit. Because of this, he urges Liao to find a normal boyfriend and forget about him.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Lin Hu is generally a good guy, but also deeply conservative and harsh towards the other cats, believing Likulau to be an untrustworthy foreigner and Shu-Chi a malicious demon. He's ultimately proven right on both counts - Shu-Chi really does have bad intentions, and Likulau's naivete nearly gets Liao killed.
- The Nicknamer: Despite knowing Likulau and Shu-Chi's names, he refers to them as "aborigine" and "kitten", respectively.
- No Name Given: Initially, he doesn't have a name, and is simply referred to as "Guardian Tiger". Revealed to be justified; as he explains to Randolph and Liao, names are given to guardian tigers for significant feats or accomplishments, and he doesn't want to receive a name for the sake of having one.
- Papa Wolf: Deconstructed; he's extremely protective of Liao, and is distrustful and argumentative with the other two spirits (especially Likulau) as a result.
- Soul Jar: His tiger statue. In one of Likulau's bad endings, it gets damaged, seemingly killing him.
- Spirit Advisor: Lin Hu quickly develops into a spiritual father-figure for Liao.
- Tsundere: He does not love Liao, and whatever dirty thoughts Liao have in his head are not because of his constant flirting.
- Guardian Entity: Literally a Guardian Tiger, He especially becomes like this after fusing with Liao
'Clouded Leopard' Likulau
Click here A Sunny Day Outfit
Likulau is the spirit of the clouded leopard that has guided the people of Wutai to safety and fortune for generations. He is responsible for increasing Liao's spiritual power, allowing him to see spirits and gods. Being of the Rukai people, he doesn't speak Mandarin well, but he is dedicated and completely earnest. In spite of his cold expression and awkward manner, he is very considerate.
Likulau's goal is to bring Liao to his tribe so that he can act as an oracle.
- Accidental Murder: What his bad ending essentially amounts to; He takes away Liao's spirit power, completely unaware that doing so will kill the boy.
- Can't Hold His Liquor: He glomps Liao and promptly passes out after binging on millet wine.
- Crowd Pleaser: A Sunny Day confirms that Likulau is an out-and-out people-pleaser. he enjoys being in the spotlight and making people happy.
- Emotionless Guy: His default expression is blank and intense, and he doesn't typically act emotional.
- Instant Expert: He quickly learns how to dance perfectly, much to Liao's surprise.
- In the Hood: Both for his default outfit and the one seen in A Sunny Day.
- In-Universe Nickname: Shu-Chi eventually starts calling him "Kulau".
- Meaningful Name: From the Rukai word (also romanized as rikulau) for his species.
- Nice Guy: Likulau is very considerate and selfless. The often does thoughtful favors without being asked.
- No Social Skills: Occasionally, such as one instance where he helps Liao with a test by telling him answers from his classmates' papers, not realizing how that'd be considered cheating.
- Not So Stoic: Notably, Likulau's cold façade breaks a few times. He admits to being deeply scared for his people, and in his ending branch he breaks down crying after Liao runs away.
- Shock and Awe: He has electricity-based powers, as seen when he attacks Liao for his spiritual power in desperation.
- The Stoic: Always wears the same blank expression.
- Terse Talker: Justified, due to his poor Mandarin.
- Troubled, but Cute: Kulau is probably the most broken up about his situation out of the three suitors, but he mostly manages to put it aside for Liao's sake.
'Leopard Cat' Shu-Chi Senpai
Click here 'Leopard Cat' Form
Click here A Sunny Day Outfit
Leopard Cat is a tiger god that has possessed the body of Liao's senpai Yan Shu-Chi. According to the spirit, he and Shu-Chi are basically synthesized into one personality, memories and all, and he can be treated like the real Yan Shu-Chi. His homosexuality is an open secret, and he pursues Liao relentlessly. Being the only one of Liao's suitors with a physical body, he is eager to take him out on actual dates to woo him.
Senpai's goal is to get Liao to help rejuvenate his small, rural temple and save its spirits, including himself.
- Becoming the Mask: In his True Ending, once his true nature is revealed, he claims to only have seen Liao as food the whole time, but in the end he comes to realize that he really did like Liao and genuinely wants to become his boyfriend.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: The main reason Leopard Cat fell in love with Liao was because Liao was the first and only person to care about him. Showing him Mercy after finding out his true nature causes him to break into tears asking "How could anyone be nice to a monster like me!"
- Berserk Button: Played for Laughs; don't mistake him for a common house cat or demean his small stature.
- Big Bad: Everything bad that happens in the story is due to his manipulations, and he kills Liao's best friend before even making his first appearance in the story.
- Break the Haughty: Senpai's first visit to Shu-Chi's homophobic family ends up being a very sobering experience for him.
- Camp Gay: A lithe dancer who flits about and has no problem flirting with guys in broad daylight. This chafes with Liao, who is securely in the closet.
- The Charmer: Even though he comes on strong at times, Liao still falls for his charms.
- Dead All Along: The True Endings reveal that he ate Shu-Chi's soul the very day that Liao awakened to his spiritual powers, and has spent the entire game simply inhabiting the Empty Shell Shu-Chi's body had become.
- Don't You Dare Pity Me!: In the True Endings he bemoans Liao's pity, saying that he has no need for sympathy.
- Easily Forgiven: Following his defeat, Liao forces him to pretend he's the human whose soul he absorbed. But that's hardly a punishment, as the Leopard Cat is clearly enjoying it and uses that against Liao to become his official boyfriend. Oh... did we mention he turns into a half-god and is accepted with open arms by the other ones?
- Somewhat justified, in the end. Until the Golden Ending, Leopard Cat is entirely Sha Chi — negative chi with a focus on death. That's why he all but demands to be killed, even as he tries to kill Liao. Lin Hu forces his positive Sheng Chi into Leopard Cat (by possessing Liao for a powerful kiss), leaving him balanced — and suddenly able to feel emotions properly, including guilt over killing the body's original inhabitant.
- Guyliner: This seems to be a natural feature of his, but it gives the appearance of green eyeliner.
- Heel–Face Door-Slam: On his dedicated route, he starts to genuinely warm up to Liao and regret that his nature prevents him from forming deeper relationships...and then Liao gets run over by a car anyway. Shu-Chi tearfully resigns himself to the situation and takes Liao's soul just as he would on his bad route.
- Keet: The most energetic and excitable of the three spirits.
- Manipulative Bastard: His chirpy, flirty personality is just a con to get Liao to lower his guard and spend time alone with him, which would allow Leopard Cat to eat his soul. He starts Becoming the Mask on several routes.
- The Nicknamer: Refers to Lin Hu and Likulau as "old man" and "Kulau", respectively.
- Performance Artist: He's an extremely talented dancer.
- The Social Expert: Shu-Chi's a social butterfly, especially compared to Liao.
- Street Smart: He knows the best spots to visit, and how to do so on the cheap.
- The Tease: He's constantly teasing Liao. When Liao is overwhelmed with arousal in the hot spring, Shu-Chi says, with a devilish grin:"What's wrong? Are you having difficulty with something?"
- Third-Person Person: Inverted; he usually refers to Liao in the third person.
- The Twink: In personality and appearance. He's almost a head shorter that Liao.
Other spirits and deities
Randolph
A benevolent Yaoguai possessing the body of an artist student. Upon meeting Liao, he is fearful of his three guardian spirits, but he soon befriends them and becomes a valuable resource on the spiritual world.
- Emotion Eater: As a yaoguai, he consumes chi in the form of emotions, particularly from the criticism or admiration of his followers. In other words, he literally eats fan mail.
- Mr. Exposition: He usually gives information on yaoguai and their society.
- Starving Artist: Downplayed, judging from his comments on being an artist.
Ragoo Laront
An eccentric Earth God who appears before Liao and his guardians in the mountains. He has a mischievous side and teases Liao a bit before advising him on how he ought to handle his harem situation.
- The Gadfly: Absolutely loves messing with Liao.
- Improvised Clothes: His mesh top is in reality some rockfall netting that got wrapped around the base of his tree.
- Our Dragons Are Different: As he explains, his appearance is due to his tree being struck by lightning, giving it a dragon-like appearance.
