This page lists the characters of the Visual Novel, Riddle Joker, and the tropes associated with them.
All spoilers are UNMARKED. Proceed at your own risk.
This character sheet uses Eastern naming convention (surname first) for the Japanese characters.
open/close all folders
Main Characters
Arihara Satoru
- Voiced by: Takuya Eguchi (drama CD)
His astral ability allows him to manipulate the neurons in his brain, which can grant him an eidetic memory, augment his six senses, and increase his physical strength.
- Big Damn Heroes: Satoru has a habit of swooping in to help others, although sometimes he's the one that needs saving.
- Bratty Half-Pint: He was one as a child, lashing out and getting into fights due to his resentment for being picked on for being an Astral. Thanks to Ryuunosuke he grew out of it.
- First-Name Basis: Nanami usually refers to him as "Satoru-kun," only rarely calling him "Onii-chan."
- Friendless Background: As a child Satoru had no friends due to being outed as an Astral (and the bad attitude he developed as a result). Later as a teenager he was too focused on his work for the SFD to make friends.
- Happily Adopted: Satoru never knew his biological parents and is quite content with his adoptive father Ryuunosuke.
- The Masquerade Will Kill Your Dating Life: A source of considerable angst on Mayu, Hazuki and Chisaki's routes, as Satoru hates the idea of lying to the woman he loves. Not as much of an issue on Ayase's route, as by then she's already somewhat aware of his profession, and not an issue at all on Nanami's route, as she works with him.
- Open Mouth, Insert Foot: Satoru has a habit of saying the one thing most likely to annoy whoever he's talking to.
- Parental Abandonment: His birth parents left him at an orphanage. He suspects they didn't want an Astral child.
- Suddenly Voiced: Satoru is usually left unvoiced, as is normal for Visual Novel protagonists. Then in Hazuki's flashback to him saving her as a child he gets a voice actor. This is doubly odd as the same scene was shown earlier from Satoru's perception with him unvoiced as usual.
- Teen Superspy: A more grounded version than usual. He is an agent of the SFD but his missions are mostly small scale affairs, such as bringing in low level criminals, rather than save-the-world stuff.
- To Be Lawful or Good: Satoru struggles with balancing the professional requirements of being a secret agent and his own desire to help others. He generally chooses good.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Ryuunosuke chews him out for revealing the organization in Mayu's route. Thought he did it to sympathize with Mayu, Ryuunosuke wasn't pleased when he reports to him about it.
- Uninhibited Muscle Power: How his physical enhancements work. This is somewhat realistically portrayed, as it ups his strength but not to Super-Strength levels and if used for anything other than a short period it does nasty damage to him. The fact that Nanami has Healing Hands is pretty much the only reason he can use it regularly.
Mitsukasa Ayase
- Voiced by: Atsumi Tanezaki
On the surface, Ayase is the perfect student council president, being diligent, composed and dignified. However, this is but a mask, and in actuality Ayase is moody, short tempered, and pads her chest.
Her astral ability allows her to levitate objects.
- A-Cup Angst: She has a huge complex over her small chest, which is why she regularly utilizes pads.
- Beneath the Mask: She is all sweetness and light to most but she has a rather harsh personality underneath. She plays the good girl as part of her efforts to improve the image of Astrals in society. That said she can be genuinely very sweet to those she's grown close to.
- Cuteness Proximity: Any time she sees a cat, she can't help but want to affectionately pet it. Unfortunately, the heavy breathing and dark aura she gives off any time she approaches one scares them away.
- Daddy's Girl: She is devoted to her father and his goals.
- Forgot About His Powers: At several points she does not use her Astral power at times when it would really come in handy. This is picked up on by Satoru and Ayase claims she froze up under pressure. The real reason is that her power comes from a Super Serum that wears off after a while.
- Gravity Master: She can mess with the effects of gravity on objects and people.
- Heroic Bastard: She is the result of an affair between her mother and a married man, namely Principal Ise Atsunori.
- Super Serum: Ayase is not actually a natural Astral but is rather taking a drug that temporarily induces superpowers.
Arihara Nanami
- Voiced by: Mai Ishihara
Nanami is quite reserved and shy, though becomes quite friendly and talkative once she's warmed up to a person. She's a pretty big otaku, though she tries to not let it show.
Her astral ability accelerates a person's natural healing factor.
- Abusive Parents: Her birth parents were nasty pieces of work. They resented her for being an Astral so she tried to help her dad in his work, becoming a skilled programmer and hacker in the process. Her parents responded by still treating her like dirt but now exploiting her skills for criminal endeavours. When they were caught they threw Nanami under the bus and claimed she did it all herself. Thankfully after that Ryuunosuke adopted her and things got a lot better.
- Big Brother Attraction: She has developed a crush on Satoru. On most routes it stays as a broadly harmless crush, on her own route it blossoms into love (that is reciprocated).
- Chuunibyou: Usually prefaces the usage of her ability with an unnecessary incantation:Nanami: I call upon thee, divine ruler of the mysteries of nature. Bestow upon these hands thy holy radiance. O merciful Mother Earth, give me the power to create miracles and cleanse this child of his wounds. Heal!
- Happily Adopted: Nanami is well rid of her Abusive Parents and adores her adoptive family.
- Healing Hands: Her astral ability, which speeds upon a person's healing factor, allowing them to quickly recover from injuries.
- Mission Control: Serves as one to Satoru.
- Not Blood Siblings: She and Satoru are only siblings because of Ryuunosuke adopting the two of them.
- Supreme Chef: No-one tries Nanami's cooking without commenting on how great it is.
- Techno Wizard: The role she fills on missions when no-one needs healing.
- Teen Superspy: Similar to Satoru, though she usually occupies a Voice with an Internet Connection role.
Shikibe Mayu
- Voiced by: Mai Goto
Mayu is usually quite calm and composed, though beneath the surface she's quite childlike, attention-seeking, and does not like being reminded of her age. She's quite fond of coffee, and has a knack for making it.
Her astral ability suspends the astrons within a given object, effectively locking it in place and making it maintain its current state.
- Cool Big Sis: She wants to adopt this role to the others, especially Satoru, but loses it on her route as she falls for him.
- First-Name Basis: She insists that Satoru refer to her by her first name early on, leading him to calling her "Mayu-sempai."
- Forgotten First Meeting: Mayu and Satoru were at the same orphanage as children but Satoru barely remembered her, as she used to keep quiet and avoid attention at the time.
- Guilt Complex: She blames herself for Kotori's accident and for not helping Satoru during his troubled childhood at the orphanage.
- Improbable Age: She is three years older than Satoru and still a student. This is intentional; she's carefully avoided getting enough credits to graduate so she can keep her promise to graduate with Kotori once she recovers.
- Living Emotional Crutch: Kotori was one to Mayu though she's had to move past this since Kotori's been in a coma.
Nijouin Hazuki
- Voiced by: Eri Sendai
Hazuki greatly looks up to her father, who is a police officer, and she dreams of following in his footsteps. She's a fairly big stickler for rules and proper behavior, but she's still usually a bright and friendly person. Though she exudes an aura appropriate for a prim and proper Yamato Nadeshiko, she has a habit of accidentally blurting out perverted thoughts.
Hazuki's astral ability allows her to manipulate water.
- Big Damn Heroes: After having been rescued by Satoru early in her route after encountering a hostile individual whose ability counters hers she returns the favour and rescues him from a foe that his ability can't handle.
- Covert Pervert: Hazuki generally tries to present herself as a proper lady but when sexual topics come up she shows a familiarity with them...while claiming she has no idea what everyone is talking about.
- Daddy's Girl: She practically worships her police chief father.
- Fangirl: Is a huge fan of historical dramas and maintains a sizeable DVD collection of them.
- She's also rather fond of Chinonosuke, the local fish mascot.
- Forgotten First Meeting: When they were both children Satoru used his powers to rescue her from three adults that were bullying her for being an Astral. Downplayed, in that both of them remember the incident but neither recognise each other upon meeting again.
- Insecure Love Interest: During her route, she finds out Satoru saved her when they were kids, and being saved by him again, she begins to fall in love with him. But she becomes plagued by her own insecurities because she's afraid that Satoru might reject her (never mind that he himself has other issues, and thinks being in a relationship with her could endanger them both). Once Ryuunosuke gave him the okay to date anyone, he tries to give her his answer, which forces him to chase after her and does a Wall Pin of Love just so she doesn't run away. Once he confesses to her, they start dating]].
- Making a Splash: She can control water with her mind.
Mibu Chisaki
- Voiced by: Akane Fujita
Unlike many of Kikka Academy's students, Chisaki does not have an astral ability.
- A-Cup Angst: She's less obsessed with it than Ayase but her lack of bust development does bother her, particularly since making friends with the similarly aged but much greater endowed Nanami.
- Token Mini-Moe: She is significantly smaller than the rest of Satoru's friends.
- Unlockable Content: Chisaki has a short bonus route for herself but you cannot take the options that get on that route until you've complete at least one other character's route.
Supporting Characters
Suou Kyouhei
- Voiced by: Shizuka Ishigami
- Big Eater: Despite his slim frame he eats enough that he should be roughly spherical.
- Dude Looks Like a Lady: Kyouhei has very feminine features and is often mistaken for a girl. He's developed a bit of a complex over it.
- Invisibility: His Astral ability, which only comes up in Ayase's route. He normally keeps it hidden and pretends he's a regular human, in order to act as Principal's Ise's information-gatherer.
- Teen Superspy: Rather surprisingly on Ayase's route he is revealed to be in a similar position to Satoru and Nanami, though in his case working for Principal Ise.
- Was It All a Lie?: When it's revealed that he was watching Satoru for the Principal he worries that Satoru won't want to be friends anymore due to believing this. However Satoru just confirms that they were friends before Kyouhei was assigned to watch him and let's it go.
Kakimoto Kaori
- Voiced by: Kei Mizusawa
- Big Bad: She's the antagonist of Ayase's route.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: She plays the role of an attentive and supportive teacher but really despises her students and has her own agenda at the school.
- Hypocrite: She hates Astrals for having powers but is willing to take drug to induce powers in herself.
- Karma Houdini: On any route other than Ayase's her crimes never come to light, though she is still left adrift after her agency is forcibly disbanded.
- The Mole: In Ayase's route she turns out to be a plant from the anti-astron faction sent to spy on and sabotage the school.
- Playing with Fire: On Ayase's route, when she steals the drug that grants Astral powers, she gains heat manipulation and thermal senses.
- Would Hurt a Child: She is quite prepared to drug her students to cause their powers to go out of control, quite possibly leading to their own deaths and that of others.
Arihara Ryuunosuke
- Voiced by: Toshiyuki Morikawa
Ryuunosuke is a member of the SFD, and though both of his children joined, he was strongly against them doing so. He acts as mission control during the duo's infiltration of Kikka Academy.
- Badass Normal: He's not an Astral himself but can keep up with and often exceed his Astral agents.
- Benevolent Boss: He's remarkably understanding and forgiving for the head of a secret agency, though in fairness the employees we mostly see him interact with are also his kids.
- Blasting It Out of Their Hands: He gets the opportunity to demonstrate this skill on opposing agents on several versions of the Astral Fair conclusion.
- Good Parents: Big time. Both Satoru and Nanami had had utterly miserable childhoods before he adopted them and had become very troubled children. Ryuunosuke took them on and patiently and lovingly looked after them, making them into the broadly well adjusted teenagers they are now.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: He's a generally easy going guy and quite forgiving of Satoru skirting the edge of what is acceptable for a secret agent so when, on Mayu's route, he gets genuinely angry at him for exposing the organisation you know that Satoru has really pushed it this time.
- Open-Minded Parent: In Nanami's route, Ryuunosuke takes no issue with his two adopted children becoming a couple, even remarking that he'd known about Nanami's crush on Satoru for years.
Ise Atsunori
- Voiced by: Kazuya Ichijou
- Face of a Thug: He has a very intimidating aspect but, while he makes some questionable decisions, he is generally a decent guy.
- Good Parents: Despite the awkward circumstances of his collapsed marriage and having a child via an affair he has been a great father to both of his daughters.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: He wants to prevent a panic over the Astral control loss issue and find a cure for those affected (especially his daughter). Unfortunately the only method he has found is to abduct the afflicted and place them in medically induced comas.
Ise Kotori
- Voiced by: Hyosei
- Cool Big Sis: Figuratively to Mayu and literally to Ayase.
- Blow You Away: She has the power to control the wind.
- Human Popsicle: Kotori is kept in a pod in a medically induced coma until a cure can be found for her power control loss.
- Power Incontinence: She lost control of her power, causing constant hurricane level winds around her, and had to be sedated to stop it. This was, however, inflicted upon her by a drug.
- Troll: On Mayu's route after being infused with Satoru's astrons to restore her control she acts like this has caused her to fall in love with him. She's just pretending to wind up Mayu.
- Uncertain Doom: On routes other than Ayase and Mayu's it's unclear if she's ever cured.
- Walking Spoiler: Her very existence spoils part of Ayase and Mayu's routes.
