Warning: Tropes names are unspoilered and may imply heavy spoilers. Tread carefully if you haven't beaten the game.
open/close all folders
The Nine Souls
Watase Kasasagi (Type 5: The Investigator)
VA: Tarusuke Shingaki
A man who has lost his memories
√A Side: "Don't worry... I'll save you. You can bet on that."
√B Side: -NO DATA-
The protagonist of √A. He is the captain of the rescue squad dispatched to the incident at "LABO" at the request of the city.
...Or so he's heard, as he's lost his memories due to encountering some sort of trouble.
It appears he had a composed and logical (to put it in a bad way, dry) personality before his amnesia, but naturally, he doesn't remember that.
The story of √A begins with him waking up in LABO. With him and his companions trapped in a desperate crisis without an escape route, he could not have awoken in any worse circumstances. Prepared to do or die, he tries to search for survivors and a way out of LABO, but the situation just gets worse by the moment….
Can he carve a path through this extreme situation? And what of his memories...?
- Accidental Murder: Killed Salyu unintentionally in self-defense in √A Normal End. Combined with having failed to save Ena and Natsuhiko, he straight up crossed Despair Event Horizon after this. He can also accidently kill Jun in a bad ending.
- Amnesiac Hero: Wakes up in √A with no recollection of who or where he is. √B reveals Natsuhiko, in act of self-defense, destroyed Watase's memories after he got infected by Subject N's malice and attempted to kill Natsuhiko and his friends.
- Anger Born of Worry: In one of his memories, he harshly chewed Kazami out after her face got burned when she recklessly tried to rescue a little girl from a burning apartment, before comforting her by stating that he understood where her recklessness came from.
- Angst Coma: In √A Normal End, he is so traumatized at the deaths of all other survivors that he refused to wake up and spent the rest of his life endlessly trapping himself in reliving the nightmare of the incident.
- Angsty Surviving Twin: Had a twin sister named Wataru, who ended up sacrificing her life to save him from a burning hospital.
- The Atoner: He works himself to the bone after learning he was responsible for LABO's situation.
- Ax-Crazy: √B reveals that he was this before his amnesia. He shot Mashiro and Natsuhiko, two high school students, in an active attempt to murder them. √D shows that this is actually subverted; his behavior was due to Subject N infecting him with malice beforehand. He actively tried to avert casualties in the original terrorist plot.
- Birds of a Feather: He and Kazami are very similar in many aspects, which was probably why they fell in love with each other sometime before the story started...and why they also broke up in the end due to being too much alike.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Subject N corrupts his memories to amplify what was originally a minor aversion of Communicators into an extreme hatred of Communicators, causing him to go into a murderous rage against Natsuhiko and his friends.
- Cultured Badass: The Xtend episodes reveal that despite his apparent lack of hobbies, Watase is quite knowledgeable about classical music and literature.
- Death of Personality: Once he regains his memories in √D, it's noted that the amnesiac Watase personality is essentially dead.
- Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: Was like this as a kid. He finally found his calling in inheriting Wataru's dream of becoming a rescue worker.
- Determinator: In √A, he will save everyone regardless of his own condition. On a less positive note, he is also determined to fulfill his duty as a member of "Q", to the point he won't back down on his wager to take Yuuri into their custody unless the True Ending is reached.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: And how. After losing his parents and twin sister Wataru during Great Rokumei City Arson, Watase became an Empty Shell who believed that his sister deserved to live more instead of him, and chose to become a rescue worker to inherit her dreams. During his time as rescue worker, he became close with Kazami and even found happiness with her, but he had to let her go when he became involved with Q's terrorism plot in his quest for personal vendetta to protect her. The terrorism plot - which was supposed to cause no casualties - ended up killing several people when it went haywire thanks to Subject N's malice infection, and afterwards he lost his memory due to Natsuhiko shattering his mind in self-defense once the malice amplified his hatred for Communicators. As the situation got worse, he found everyone turning against him due to Subject N's malice infection and his own amnesia, and nearly got himself killed several times in his desperate attempt to save everyone. Should the True End is reached, however, not only he managed to save everyone with Natsuhiko's help, but he also found conviction to abandon Q and properly atone for his crimes in a way that will also bridge relationship between normal people and Communicators, and he finally gets to live happily with Kazami once again.
- Fantastic Racism: Very slight variation towards Communicators, as the idea of having his mind read made him uncomfortable, though he saw the practical applications of BC and was otherwise perfectly civil with them. However, it was this slight apprehension that allowed Nagisa to warp his heart and memories to turn him into an Ax-Crazy man with severe bloodlust for Communicators. If the True Ending is reached, however, he finally lets go of this - or at least he actively tries to combat it after getting better perspective of Communicators thanks to working together with Natsuhiko, to the point he becomes one of the commissioners for ESP Bureau.
- Half-Identical Twins: Had a twin sister named Wataru, who looked nearly identical to him minus the white streak of hair.
- Happily Married: In the Grand Ending, to Kazami.
- Heel–Face Turn: If the True Ending is reached, learning the full truth from Natsuhiko finally convinced Watase to abandon his mission for Q, and the TIPS unlocked after completing his Xtend episode reveals that he becomes a commissioner for ESP Bureau alongside Ena after serving his time.
- Honor Before Reason: Used constantly in √A. Kazami and Jun are constantly baffled at his complete lack of self-preservation.
- Ideal Hero: The other characters view amnesiac!Watase as pretty much the perfect embodyment of a rescue worker: he's kind, affable, and will risk his life in a heartbeat if it meant saving someone else. By the Grand Ending, Watase hopes he can become closer to that version of himself.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: Inflicted on him by Natsuhiko to protect Mashiro.
- The Many Deaths of You: Burnt to a crisp, exploded, radiation poisoning, cracked head from a fall, skewered after falling onto a spike, crushed by rubble, fatal brain aneurysm, accidentally shot by a gun, four hits to the head with an axe...
- My Sibling Will Live Through Me: He became a rescue worker to inherit the dream of his late sister Wataru.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Big time. It is safe to say that the researchers who oversaw Subject N indeed deserved their deaths, but had he, Hiyama, and Dojima not tried to take Subject N away, they wouldn't have been infected by her malice that caused the murder spree and especially later throughout the game.
- Official Couple: In the Grand Ending, with Kazami.
- The Paragon Always Rebels: One of the best rescue workers - if not THE best - of Sirius, and he is also a terrorist.
- Perma-Stubble: Although not very apparent in his regular sprites, he has it.
- Survivor Guilt: Felt this way after Wataru died, as she was the one full of life and dreams of the future, while he had been a lazy boy with no goals at all.
- Tomato in the Mirror: Was one of the terrorists responsible for the incident.
- Unreliable Narrator: The prologue to √A mentions Watase falling victim to a twisted "monster" before his amnesia. Come around to that moment in √B, and it's shown that the "monster" was a high schooler who Watase had nearly killed and was acting in self-defense. The twisted perception was likely the result of Natsuhiko's own powers or his malice infection by Subject N.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Even though his main motive is revenge, the terrorism plot is intended to expose Rokumei City's wrongdoings.
- Working with the Ex: He and Kazami were previously dating before they broke up sometime prior the start of the story. The breakup was deliberately invoked by him so Kazami wouldn't suffer from heartbreak should the terrorism plot bore consequences.
Natsuhiko Tenkawa (Type 7: The Enthusiast)
VA: Mitsuhiro Ichiki
A boy bound to the past
√A Side: -NO DATA-
√B Side: "Self-righteousness just leads to danger."
The protagonist of √B. A high schooler living in Rokumei City who's quiet and hates standing out in any way. He is by no means emotionless, but he rarely shows any passionate emotions.
He is the one who is there in body, but not in spirit, as he always seems to be gazing somewhere far off. He tends to simply stick to his daily routine. He is very sensitive and quite perceptive of others' emotions. He gets very tired of being a part of groups, and is often alone. His mother, Miyoko Tenkawa, is a renowned scientist who is so busy at work that she rarely comes home. Therefore, Natsuhiko essentially lives alone.
It a seems that as a child, he was rather cheerful and mischievous, the opposite of his current self... He somehow gets trapped in LABO on September 16.
- Angst Coma: Natsuhiko fell into this nine years prior to the story upon hearing Yuuri's death.
- Big Damn Kiss: with Mashiro near the end of √B.
- Character Death: In √A Normal End, due to the amnesiac Watase arriving too late to save him.
- Determinator: And how. Survives nearly bleeding out for an incredible amount of time given his size and build, even regardless of the fact that his heavy use of Senses Sympathy indirectly slowed his blood loss. He fights through both immense physical and mental pain to be able to escape with everyone.
- Heroic Sacrifice:
- In two Normal Ends of √D, he offered to stay behind to hack into Brain Cell along with Watase and Ukita (Salvation of the Root) or Yuuri and Kazami (Protected by the Bird-of-Paradise) to allow the rest of the survivors to go through the bulkhead, although it turns into Hesitant Sacrifice in the former due to his fear of death. He survived in the latter thanks to Kazami's final act of Heroic Sacrifice, but died in the former.
- A (likely) non-lethal version in Good End AFTER of √D, he offered to take Yuuri's place as hostage Communicator for "Q".
- Innocently Insensitive: An unfortunate flaw of Natsuhiko. As a result of closing off himself from everyone since Yuuri's death, he often falls into this. Most notable examples include stating his discomfort about having his mind read despite the fact that Mashiro secretly hides her empathy ability so not to alienate him from her and his distrust towards Salyu for apparently hiding things when she is just not good with people. To be fair, he does regret his insensitivity and apologizes for it when he learns the full truth.
- Like Brother and Sister: After being Yuuri's guardian for all these years he can't see her as anything other than a sister-figure and admits to having no attraction to her. This only seems to apply to his phantom Yuuri; his relationship with the real Yuuri is a lot less clear.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Doubles with Jerkass Realization, several times throughout the story:
- Upon accidentally activating his Senses Sympathy when confronting Mashiro for keeping Yuuri's death secret and having used her empathy on him all the time to keep up the act, Natsuhiko saw nine years worth of Mashiro's own suffering since Yuuri's death and how desperate she is to keep him from breaking. Once he learnt the full truth, he broke down in tears and repeatedly apologized to Mashiro.
- When he learned how harsh Salyu's life has been that resulted in her communication difficulties note , he regretted distrusting her simply because he disagreed with how his mother just took her in without so much of consulting him.
- Upon learning why his mother threw her entire life into worknote and sent Mashiro and Salyu to live with him insteadnote , he regretted for never bothering to understand her mother.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: At least thrice.
- When Watase's memories threatened to resurface - particularly his specific memory of his hatred towards Communicators, a panicked Natsuhiko used BC to create illusion of him finding Yuuri's dead body to distract him. Unfortunately, this leads Ukita and Jun to be overtaken by Subject N's malice and turn against him when they began to suspect him since no one else saw Yuuri's body and the security camera showing he did not stay in the room where he supposedly found Yuuri dead.
- While he was honestly trying to save her life, putting Mashiro in the lift and destroying the control panel just left her trapped and bleeding out where nobody could get to her.
- While he had not much choice on the matter, using his BC ability to protect himself from malice-infected Watase in Area N ultimately caused problems at the end of √D. Because his unconscious body constantly used BC on Watase for hours, it caused the WX particles in Area N to go haywire, and ended up causing the Brain Cell computer to readjust the lockdown lift time into after the bomb set by Watase was set to go off.
- Not Quite Dead: In √A Good Ending, the amnesiac Watase arrived in time to save Natsuhiko and allowed him to perform successful CPR on his dying body, thus saving him. In √C, this is revealed due to his bodily functions slowing down as a result of his BC power is still active after he erased Watase's memory in self-defense.
- Oblivious to Love: He's the only one who can't notice the glaringly obvious fact that Mashiro and Yuuri are in love with him.
- Parental Abandonment: His father died when Natsuhiko was five, and his mother almost never comes home from work. While Natsuhiko is mostly self-sufficient, he relies on Mashiro to cook meals for him and Yuuri.
- Through the Eyes of Madness: It turns out that the "Yuuri" who appears throughout √B is not actually there, and is only a delusion his mind made to keep himself sane after her death. To others, it appears as though he's simply talking to himself.
- Took a Level in Badass: More like three levels in span of one week. In the beginning, Natsuhiko cannot even use telepathy despite his Rank S aptitude no matter how hard he tries. By the ending, not only has he mastered Senses Sympathy, he also ultimately managed to resist and defeat the malice from a natural Rank-S communicator several levels above him.
- Trauma-Induced Amnesia: He lost his memory of the fact that Yuuri had died 9 years ago after the LABO fire, although as it turned out later in √D, his memory was actually intentionally erased by Yuuri, who was alive all along as a test subject of LABO.
- Tsundere: Natsuhiko gets even more curt than usual when he's trying to hide his bashfulness. Mashiro outright calls him a tsundere.
- Unwanted Harem: A Played for Laughs case. By the True Ending, Mashiro, Yuuri, and Salyu all harbor romantic feelings for him. Although the end of Root B has him having Big Damn Kiss with Mashiro and seemingly chose her in the end, Salyu's Love Confession to him basically has him responding that he loves all three, prompting her to beat him senseless. How their relationship progresses afterwards is ambiguous.
- When You Coming Home, Mom?: As a result of Miyoko throwing her whole life into work, Natsuhiko rarely sees his mother at home, resulting in his resentment for her over the years. Needless to say, when he learned the truth on why she spent most of her time at work, he doesn't take it well.
Keiji Ukita (Type 1: The Reformer)
VA: Tōru Ōkawa
A perfectionist and an honest researcher
√A Side: "Go ahead and laugh. It may be a fragile justice. But it's my choice."
√B Side: "But no matter what happens... promise me you kids won't put yourselves in danger."
Natsuhiko’s neighbor who works as a researcher at the research institute LABO, as something along the lines of an assistant manager. He seems like an inflexible old man, but he’s brimming with a sense of justice, and is an honest man who can be depended upon as long as injustice is not at play.
He got trapped in LABO after the explosion on September 16 when he failed to evacuate in time. It seems he feels a sense of responsibility for the incident as a member of the facility’s staff.
- Ax-Crazy: In the √A Normal End, he kills Ena and Jun with the gun before murdering Kazami with the engine cutter.
- Butt-Monkey: Seemed to get his fair share of bad luck throughout the game, such as being knocked down by Watase before he lost his memories and getting locked in the surveillance room.
- Character Death: Died by a falling debris in √A Normal Ending after previously killing Jun, Ena, and Kazami.
- Defector from Decadence: Teamed up with Q because he couldn't stand the human experimentation going on in LABO.
- The Extremist Was Right: Although his and Watase's terrorism plot had not gone as intended thanks to the deaths that occurred, in the True Ending it was also their actions that ultimately became the trigger for a more moral BC experiment after the LABO incident.
- For Science!: Averted. He joins Q because he can't tolerate LABO doing human experimentation.
- He Knows Too Much: For a while before the game began, Ukita was put under surveillance and was constantly followed by unfamiliar cars as a result of digging too much into LABO and Rokumei City's dark secrets. The "accident" he got involved in days before the LABO incident took place was actually engineered to throw his pursuers off the track by making it look like he was also targeted by Q.
- Heel–Face Turn: While he is not necessarily an antagonist, in the True Ending he turned himself in alongside Watase to be tried for the terrorism.
- Never My Fault: After his carefully crafted plan comes crashing down around him, he rationalizes it was Watase's fault for messing up or sabotaging him. N heavily feeds this idea, and Ukita starts taking responsibility for his actions once he's freed from her malice.
- Sanity Slippage: Towards the end of √A, which as revealed in √D was due to Subject N infecting him with malice.
- Thou Shalt Not Kill: Ukita is a staunch pacifist. Even his terrorist plot is tailored to ensure there's no casualities, and he's horrified when things go wrong. When Ukita's mental N claims his murderous rampage is a natural extension of his personality, Natsuhiko points out that Ukita would never kill without her manipulations, which she admits.
- Unreliable Narrator: While he is right about Rokumei City contributed to Communicators' suffering despite the goal of its establishment (even more so for the test subjects trapped in LABO), Ukita was wrong in his narrative on PRC scientists were merely using Subject A as lab rat. In truth, the scientists involved deeply cared for her and were trying to cure her N-ification symptoms, and it was the anti-BC protests and actions those ultimately drove her over the edge.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Like Watase, he meant well in his involvement with terrorism plot for exposing Rokumei City's wrongdoings, although unlike the more revenge-driven Watase, he wishes more to save the test subjects of LABO.
- Younger Than They Look: Despite his grey hair, he's only 35 years old.
Mashiro Toba (Type 2: The Helper)
VA: Asami Imai
A devoted childhood friend
√A Side: -NO DATA-
√B Side: "Well, if our voices couldn't reach him, why not directly appeal to his heart, if you catch my drift?"
Natsuhiko's childhood friend and neighbor. In √B, she is like Natsuhiko's own personal wife, albeit not actually married, in how she constantly takes care of him. Cooking is her specialty, though it's rough.
She's not just kind and gentle to Natsuhiko, but to others as well, and so is relied on by many others. On the other hand, she's bad at relying on others, and as such, has a bad habit of not telling her worries to others.
She’s very active in contrast to Natsuhiko and and tries to take him around to all sorts of places, but that’s because she’s hoping it’ll make Natsuhiko go back to his old self. She somehow gets trapped in LABO on September 16.
- Childhood Friends: With Natsuhiko and Yuuri.
- Everyone Can See It: Her crush on Natsuhiko is blatantly obvious to everyone not named "Natsuhiko."
- Feminine Women Can Cook: Her Otaku tendencies aside, Mashiro is very girly and is a Supreme Chef.
- Love Martyr: Natsuhiko clearly cares for her, but due to his PTSD that results in him seeing hallucinations of Yuuri all the time, he takes her devotion for granted and rarely understands why she would go so far to take care of him and even presenting herself as worse Communicator than she actually is around her. It takes Natsuhiko accidentally activating Senses Sympathy when confronting her and seeing her memories through the past nine years since Yuuri's death for him to realize how much he had taken Mashiro for granted.
- My Greatest Failure: She is horribly weighed down by her failure to stop Natsuhiko and Yuuri from going to LABO nine years ago, which resulted inYuuri's death in the following accident.
- The Nicknamer: Is well known for giving people nicknames, almost on the spot. She's the one who gave Louise her nickname "Salyu".
- Otaku: Is a huge fan of manga and anime to the point she actively recites lines from them, and the game (Natsuhiko, at least) seems to see it as a rather embarrassing trait.
- Psychic Powers: Has the strongest in the group. Or so it seems at first.
- The Rival: Funnily enough, she used to be one for Natsuhiko as children.
- Secret-Keeper: Has been keeping the secret of Yuuri's death from Natsuhiko for nine years. You can see her cover for this throughout √B.
- Team Mom: Despite her own problems, Mashiro is otherwise the most well-adjusted of the group, giving encouragements for Natsuhiko, Yuuri, and Salyu, helping them to deal with their issues and put them into the right track, and cooking for them.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: In her childhood, she was the Tomboy to Yuuri's Girly Girl. When she grew older, though, she let herself become more girly.
- Willfully Weak: She conceals the fact that she has empathy ability, likely so she can stay with Natsuhiko (and Salyu) and because she doesn't want Natsuhiko to resent her due to the fact that he is uncomfortable with having his thoughts read.
Ena Tsubakiyama (Type 3: The Achiever)
VA: Megumi Toyoguchi
An aggressive and intelligent teacher
√A Side: "Don't be an idiot! If there's traces of a fire, that's all the more reason we should all be searching."
√B Side: "As a teacher, there's no way I can approve of students putting themselves in danger, can I?"
An egotistical and quirky teacher at Natsuhiko's school. She's quick-witted, an eloquent speaker, and a model when it comes to taking proactive action, so she's highly trusted by her peers.
She's still inexperienced as a teacher, but her passion attracts the students and draws out their motivation. However, she's too aggressive, and has a flaw of occasionally being willing to do anything to achieve her goals...
She somehow gets trapped in LABO on September 16. She doesn’t appear very compatible with the rescue squad, as she’s not all that cooperative with them and clashes with their opinions many times.
- Becoming the Mask:While she started teaching as part of her mission, she comes to genuinely love her students. Her superiors are pretty open that getting her to open her heart again was the real goal of the mission.
- Character Death: √A Normal End, courtesy of Ukita.
- Forehead of Doom: Her hair is parted to show off a lot of her forehead.
- Hot Teacher: Not exactly hard on the eyes, and it doesn't go unnoticed by her students.
- In the Blood: Ena followed her father's footsteps as government official dedicated to protect Communicators.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Ena is abrasive and plenty of times her recklessness puts other survivors in danger, but she genuinely cares for her students and even as a government official, she wishes nothing but the best to ensure the well-being of Communicators.
- Like Parent, Like Spouse: She's aware that her deep admiration for her father has morphed into a bit a father complex and that she'd like a man with his same good heart and unwaivering faith in others. Amnesiac Watase hits very close to that ideal.
- The Mole: She is not actually a teacher; rather, she is a commissioner from ESP Bureau investigating the secrets of LABO along with Kuroda and Higa.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: As it turns out, her hysterical behavior in the beginning of √A is just an act. She knows far more about the situation in LABO than she lets on.
- Sole Survivor: The only one of the ESP Bureau commissioners to survive in the True End.
Louise Yui Sannomiya AKA "Salyu" (Type 4: The Individualist)
VA: Kei Shindo
A noble yet mysterious girl
√A Side: "Don't come any closer."
√B Side: "I was sent here to protect you, after all."
Half-Japanese, half-French. "Yui" is her middle name, while "Louise" is her first name. "Salyu" is her nickname. A young yet bright genius who skipped two grades. She has a difficult to approach air about her that contains a mystique far removed from normal people. She is of very few words, and her expression rarely changes.
She's not oppressive, but nor does she attempt to make any friends of her own. Despite that, she appears actively conscious of Natsuhiko. She constantly carries a ferret mascot-type robot called "Alice".
She transfers into Natsuhiko and Masher’s high school early on in √B. It appears she’s a distant relative of Natsuhiko’s, as she moves into Natsuhiko’s house after she transferred. She somehow gets trapped in LABO on September 16. Furthermore, she runs away from the rescue squad after they find her and try to save her. A mysterious girl indeed.
- The Ace: She's a master of just about everything.
- Broken Ace: She acquired her skills at the cost of any ability to interact normally with others. And also being locked in a research facility for the first 13 years of her life repeatedly having other people's memories copied into her brain.
- But Not Too Foreign: She is French-Japanese.
- Declaration of Protection: Towards Natsuhiko since it is the role Miyoko gave to her, and she really takes it seriously regardless of the consequences.
- Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: When she was promptly "discarded" as test subject due to her BC ineptitude and the fact that Subject N had been N-ified (thus leaving no more Communicators for the memory transfer experiment), she became so at loss that she begged Miyoko for a new role in her life.
- Did You Think I Can't Feel?: She's gutted when Natsuhiko scolds her for not caring about Mashiro when she's actually just bad at showing it. When she confesses just how bad she is with people, Natsuhiko apologizes.
- Instant Expert: Both played straight and averted. She acquired her knowledge and skills by having them psychically copied into her brain, but her backstory makes it clear that she actually did have to train her body extensively to be able to use them. Fortunately or unfortunately, she had little else to do.
- Lack of Empathy: Through no fault of her own. Between her upbringing and her deteriorating brain due to the tests performed by LABO upon her, she is incapable of understanding nuances and human emotions and she needs Alice to interpret them for her most of the time. At least Mashiro and Natsuhiko are helping her to overcome this.
- Like Brother and Sister: With Natsuhiko and Mashiro, even more so due to the fact that Miyoko more or less adopted her. However, by the True End, she confessed having fallen in love with Natsuhiko, although whether it will go anywhere or not remains to be seen.
- Little Miss Badass: Her absurd martial arts skills make her the muscle for Natsuhiko's group, despite being the youngest and by far the smallest.
- Lonely Rich Kid: When she was living in France. However, this is just a part of her Fake Memories.
- Not Brainwashed: Unlike the rest of the survivors who had fallen into madness and begin to kill each other, Salyu was not infected by Subject N despite her constant aggression. Rather, it was simply a byproduct of extreme distrust towards everyone who is not Natsuhiko and Mashiro (and later, Yuuri) after all the chaos that ensued.
- No Social Skills: As a result of a defect in her brain from the constant experiments in LABO, she has trouble reading moods and nuances which results in this. She warms considerably around Tenkawa family, but the rest...not so much.
- Poor Communication Kills: While her constant running away and assault attack towards Watase is pretty much justified considering him being a terrorist and had previously shot her and her friends, it also leads to troubles in the long run such as nearly getting other characters killed for either trying to search for her, or sowing seeds of distrust towards other characters that makes them easier to succumb to Nagisa's malice.
- Robot Buddy: Her ARMS, which Mashiro named as Alice. Its default function is to help her reading expressions and emotions of others, but it also serves as mini-computer that she can use for other purposes.
- Teen Genius: She knows a ridiculous amount of stuff as a result of the Training from Hell her parents put her through. Actually, it's because it was all copied into her brain as a test subject.
- Undying Loyalty: To Miyoko and Natsuhiko, and Mashiro to slightly lesser extent.
- Worth Living For: While her past was terrible, the time she spent with Natsuhiko, Mashiro, and Miyoko finally gave her hope for the future. It's why she's the only character to pointedly refuse to stay behind to open the bulkheads.
Kazami Tachibana (Type 6: The Loyalist)
VA: Rina Sato
A cool and collected partner
√A Side: "Our mission is to ensure that everyone gets out of here in one piece."
√B Side: "Understood. Please stand back; it's too dangerous."
Lieutenant of the rescue squad team. She is a capable officer who has helped out her captain up until now. With Captain Kasasagi having lost his memories due to unforeseen trouble, she takes up the role of captain in his place.
She is a superb squad member, and the first female rescue worker in Rokumei City history. So far, female rescue workers have been very rare due to stamina issues, but with her special skills such as her knowledge/handling of equipment, Kazami rose out above all the other candidates and was appointed as the first female rescue squad worker.
Even in an extreme situation like that of √A, she never loses her composure and remains a woman with an iron core.
- Action Girl: Her physical strength on her profile is listed as High, and considering Watase's amnesia, she's easily the most competent rescue worker out of the survivors.
- Anger Born of Worry: She's furious whenever Watase risks his life for the group. While she claims it's out of a professional duty to not create more victims, and there's clearly some truth to that, it's also very obvious that's she's worried about him even before you learn she's in love with him.
- Cool Big Sis: Flasbacks to her past show that she was this for Jun as well as her actual little sister Nagisa.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Much like Watase, the True Ending is pretty much a big case of this for her. Kazami lost her parents at very young age and had to become breadwinner to support both herself and her little sister Nagisa, and she was happy with their lives despite their hardships. However, her happiness was taken away when Q bombarded the apartment they lived in and (apparently) killed Nagisa, leaving her an Empty Shell until Jun snapped her out of it and she became a rescue worker to atone for her failure. She eventually got involved with Watase and even seemed to be happy during their time together, and even after they broke up, she continued to look up to him. When the LABO incident occurred, however, things went downhill for her - culminating in her finding her sister Nagisa only for her to be dead, and learning the very same man she still looks up to is a terrorist that indirectly caused her sister's death. With Natsuhiko's help, however, she is ultimately able to say proper goodbye to her sister after being purged of the malice, and should the True End be reached, she is able to find happiness with Watase once again.
- Happily Married: In the Grand Ending, to Watase.
- Heroic BSoD: She briefly entered this after Nagisa's death, repressing her memory of her little sister's death and constantly searching for her aimlessly. It took Jun declaring that she would become her new sister to snap her out of it.
- Heroic Sacrifice: In Root D Normal Ending 3, she shields Natsuhiko and Yuuri's bodies with her own to prevent them from being crushed to death.
- Instant Expert: Played With. After awakening as S-rank Communicator, she managed to read back into Natsuhiko and Yuuri's mind when they used Senses Sympathy on her and even managed to let out strong telepathy that could have wrecked everyone's brains. However, she is unable to use Senses Sympathy yet, which gives Natsuhiko and Yuuri the edge needed to properly purge Subject N's malice from her mind once and all.
- Never Hurt an Innocent: Even insane with malice, Kazami never hurts anyone other than Watase and Ukita, the two terrorists responsible for LABO's condition.
- Official Couple: In the Grand Ending, with Watase.
- Parents Know Their Children: Possibly, albeit sibling version. Despite the drastic changes, it is likely that she knew from the very beginning that the girl the group found near the cargo lift was her sister Nagisa, though it was not until late into √D that she confirmed it.
- Promotion to Parent: She served as her sister's maternal figure after their parents' death.
- Psychic Powers: She is stated to be a Communicator but her aptitude as one is low. Her aptitude eventually goes to up to S-Rank as a result of being exposed to the WX particles.
- Sanity Slippage: Towards the tail end of √A, as a result of Subject N infecting her with malice.
- Undying Loyalty: It's in her Enneagram type. Her Sanity Slippage is likely a twisted version of this, since she is so hellbent on killing Watase in order to preserve his good name and so the public will know him as someone who dies as hero instead of terrorist. At least until she learned about Nagisa, after which it becomes simple revenge towards him (and Ukita) for indirectly causing her death.
- Working with the Ex: She and Watase were dating before he broke up with her prior to the start of the story.
- Yandere: Once the Sanity Slippage kicks in, she tries to murder Watase so that the truth about him being a terrorist is lost, and the world thinks he's simply a rescue worker who died in the line of duty.
- Your Days Are Numbered: Possibly. Her TIPS entry after completing her Xtend episodes noted that after awakening as an S-rank Communicator, she is possibly also in danger of dying an early death. However, Kazami does not seem to fear it, instead choosing to cherish her happiness with Watase while she can.
Jun Moribe (Type 8: The Challenger)
VA: Akane Tomonaga
A fiery buddy
√A Side: "Don'tcha know, Captain? They call that the buddy system."
√B Side: "I always wanted to be the 'hero' who saves people instead of the 'heroine' who needs to be saved."
A rookie rescue worker. She's still a greenhorn, but no one can surpass her when it comes to passion.
She admires heroes of justice who defeated the strong and protected the weak, so she wants to become one. Having becoming an elite firefighter and rescue worker at her young age shows that she has outstanding talent, much like Kazami.
She is incredibly dexterous. Her nimble fingers allow her to free people trapped in machinery and untangle any mess of rope or cable during a mission when seconds count. Though it clashes with her image, she’s taken up knitting as a hobby to improve her dexterity skills.
- Abusive Parents: Her father ignored her and her mother because he wanted a son, while her mother is also not much of a presence in her life.
- Action Girl: Her physical strength on her profile is listed as High, and she proves her mettle as a top-class rescue worker time and time again.
- Chainsaw Good: The end of √A sees her chasing people around with an engine cutter. Unfortunately, in the √A Normal End, it doesn't turn out too well for her.
- Cool Big Sis: Kazami acted as this for her even though they aren't related and Jun herself tries to act like this for the trio of Natsuhiko, Mashiro and Louise.
- Genki Girl: Upbeat, even when she's trapped in a burning nuclear facility undergoing a meltdown.
- Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Despite her petite build, Jun is still a rescue worker who had undergone rigorous training to earn the place, and her physical capabilities are no joke in the few times she is able to show it.
- Sanity Slippage: Towards the end of √A. √D reveals that this was due to Subject N infecting her with malice.
- Tomboy: Has a foul mouth and likes rock music. It's noted that she began acting this way as a child because her father wanted a son.
Yuuri Kotono (Type 9: The Peacemaker)
VA: Kaori Nazuka
A girl who doesn't belong anywhere
√A Side: "I don't know what to believe anymore..."
√B Side: "Hey, what about you? Do you think you could keep a promise for 100 years?"
Natsuhiko's childhood friend. In √B, she lives at Natsuhiko's house for some reason. She's bad at household chores, so she's no help on that front.
In all truth... she is quiet and of few words, so she almost never talks to anyone. She eats dinner with Natsuhiko, and listens to what he has to say without talking back, and she's always on his side. But her presence is very comforting to Natsuhiko, and is precious to him.
She somehow gets trapped in LABO on September 16. In √A, she is rescued shortly after the start of the game. She keeps her silence and barely speaks to anyone, so no one can tell what she’s thinking. On top of that, she has bad reflexes and no stamina, so she’s mostly a burden.
- Abusive Parents: When they were still alive, her parents constantly argued. Her father even said that he wished Yuuri was aborted while she was in earshot.
- All-Loving Hero: Yuuri does not want to see other people fighting each other, does not judge others, and has a caring personality. There is a reason why she is referred as "The Peacemaker".
- Dead All Along: Died in the LABO fire nine years ago. The "Yuuri" seen throughout √B is just Natsuhiko's delusion of her. However, this turns out to be subverted upon revelation that her death was faked, and she was instead taken to LABO as a test subject.
- Everyone Can See It: One look at her and Natsuhiko is all it takes for the others to suspect their relationship is a bit stronger than "just friends."
- Girlish Pigtails: Yuuri's hairstyle, and it also represents her generally more childlike nature despite being two years older than Natsuhiko.
- Hikikomori: Due to being caught in an incident nine years ago, she's terrified of going outside and stays in Natsuhiko's home all day. Though that turns out to be Natsuhiko's PTSD making an excuse for her not to go out in public, where the illusion would more easily shattered, and unconsciously regretting taking her to LABO.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Played with. She considers erasing Natsuhiko's memories of her or get out of his life permanently because she feels she's the only thing that's standing in the way of Mashiro starting a relationship with Natsuhiko, thinking he'd be happier with Mashiro. However, Natsuhiko is very much against both options, and not to mention that Xtend Episode also reveals that Mashiro would be very much against the idea, as no matter who Natsuhiko chooses, she wouldn't want it to come at the cost of her friendship with Yuuri.
- Martyr Without a Cause: Likely due to her incredibly low self-worth, Yuuri will often jump into opportunity to sacrifice herself if she thinks it will make others safe or happy, even if what followed afterwards is not necessarily right. Natsuhiko called her out on this at one point.
- Morality Pet: To Natsuhiko. In √D, she serves as his voice of reason and basically the only one preventing him from unnecessarily butting heads with Watase.
- Mysterious Waif: Often makes cryptic prophecies to Natsuhiko throughout √B. And once you know she was Dead All Along, her appearance in √A becomes much more mysterious.
- Nice Girl: Yuuri is sweet, kind, and polite towards everyone, despite her shyness.
- Shipper on Deck: She ships Natsuhiko and Mashiro despite her own feelings towards him, though she does ultimately decide to throw her hat in the ring fight for Natsuhiko's love fair and square.
- Shrinking Violet: Quite meek, especially when Watase interacts with her.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: She's the quiet and elegant girly-girl to Mashiro's tomboy.
Additional Characters
Miyoko Tenkawa
VA: Sayaka Ohara
Natsuhiko’s mother, and a top researcher at LABO. Due to her position, she rarely returns home, leaving Natsuhiko to essentially grow up by himself. On the occasions when they do meet, she comes off as a strict workaholic, and has a strained relationship with her son.
- Absurdly Youthful Mother: Gave birth to Natsuhiko when she was 20.
- Brainy Brunette: Has dark hair and is one of the leading physicists in her field.
- Love Martyr: She throws her life into work all for the sake of finding a cure for Communicators' short lifespan (and especially her own son, who probably won't live past his 30s as a Rank S Communicator), and as such she seems to accept the fact that Natsuhiko resents her for not being there for him.
- Mama Bear: Has shades of this. She is not pleased upon learning that Natsuhiko and Yuuri would be taken away, and even after Yuuri went to LABO willingly, she did her best to ensure she is treated as humanly as possible.
- Motherly Scientist: She acts as Parental Substitute for Yuuri and Salyu during their time as test subjects of LABO, and her reasoning for throwing so much into work is because she wants to find a way to extend lifespan of Communicators - her own son included.
- Oblivious to Love: She's the only non-Natsuhiko character in the story who doesn't realize Mashiro's head over heels in love with Natsuhiko despite knowing her for nearly a decade. Mashiro jokes Natsuhiko inhereted his denseness from her.
- Parental Neglect: Rarely comes home, and when she does she acts rather distant and cold to Natsuhiko. Turns out to be subverted. The reason she stays at LABO and never comes home is because she’s desperate to find a way to extend the lifespan of S-Rank Communicators, and by extension her own son’s. She also treats Yuuri and Yui as if they were her own children and is the defining reason they don’t turn out like Subject N.
- Parental Substitute: Ironically, despite being distant from her son, she serves as this for Yuuri and Salyu to the point she seems closer to them.
- Strong Family Resemblance: To the point where Natsuhiko looks like a male version of her.
- Workaholic: She spends most of her time in LABO and is rarely home, which contributes to her strained relationship with her son.
Seiji Dojima
One of the other squad members of Sirius's Team A, who is paired up with Hiyama at the beginning of the rescue operation and splits up from Kazami and Jun.
- The Faceless: Due to wearing the full protection suit. The closest we get is a distant look of his face, but with no features drawn.
- Hot-Blooded: Said to be one of the more impulsive ones of Team A, along with Jun.
- Red Shirt: Is found dead in a room with his limbs broken and splayed out everywhere, along with two researchers filled with bullet wounds. The TIPS reveal that Kuroda and Higa, both skilled in martial arts, killed him in hand-to-hand combat, but not before Dojima shot them umpteenth times.
- Stay in the Kitchen: The TIPS state that due to his girlfriend dying in the Great Rokumei City Arson, he believed a woman's place was at home, not on the frontlines. Thus, he silently disapproved of Kazami and Jun working in the team.
- Would Hurt a Child: He was the one who shot Salyu.
Kazuki Hiyama
One of the other squad members of Sirius's Team A, who is paired up with Dojima at the beginning of the rescue operation and splits up from Kazami and Jun.
- The Faceless: Due to wearing the full protection suit. All we see is the back of his head.
- Red Shirt: His body is discovered in Area 4, with his legs broken and burned to a crisp. The TIPS reveal that Higa broke his legs, and after trying to escape, he succumbed to the flames.
Spoiler Characters
"Third Man"
An omnipresent "spirit", so to say, created from WX particles that became the key of the experiment that was about to be conducted by Yuuri and Miyoko during the day of the LABO incident.
- Big Damn Heroes: In the Good and True Endings of Root D, "it" brings the leftover information needed by the survivors so all of them can escape the facility.
- Energy Being: As "it" is created from WX particles, the "Third Man" has no physical form and exists more as a bundle of information.
- Narrator All A Long: Xtend episode reveals that "it" is truly the main viewpoint character as "it" sees the LABO incident through Watase and Natsukiko's eyes and influencing them.
Subject A / Alice Enflamme
A French woman and the first S-Rank Communicator found in the world. She was invited to Rokumei City to escape persecution in her hometown, but she was eventually N-ified and caused the Great Rokumei City Arson. She was then confined in LABO, where she died a year afterwards.
- Abusive Parents: Her parents only cared about swindling money out of the followers of religious cult they formed based on her and not caring about her in the slightest.
- Death by Childbirth: Technically "Death During Postpartum", but she died after giving birth to Subject Y, aka Salyu.
- Nice Girl: During her lucid moments, she was an otherwise gentle and kind girl who managed to warm the hearts of researchers involved with her.
- Punny Name: The woman whose house was burned down and caused the Great Rokumei City Arson has the last name "Enflamme".
- Sanity Slippage: As a result of her gradual N-ification, she slowly lost control over herself and her own malice.
- Strong Family Resemblance: Looks almost identical to her daughter, Salyu.
- Tragic Monster: Like Subject N, it was not her fault that she became what she was and her following N-ification that caused the Great Rokumei City Arson. Being constantly forced to use Senses Sympathy by her parents and the persecution that later followed her upon her discovery as Communicator did that.
Wataru Kasasagi
Watase's twin sister, who died after saving her twin brother during Great Rokumei City Arson when the hospital the latter was in was burning down.- Genki Girl: In contrast to her brooding twin brother, Wataru is very energetic.
- Half-Identical Twins: With Watase.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Gave up her life to save Watase from being crushed under a collapsing hospital.
Jin Tsubakiyama
Ena's father. A commissioner of ESP Bureau in charge of Communicator A, he died protecting her from a knife attack.- Cooldown Hug: Gave one to Alice in his final moments as he was dying from stab wound during Great Rokumei City Arson, which was also done to administer sedative to her to stop her from spreading further malice.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Died protecting Alice from a knife attack during Great Rokumei City Arson.
- Posthumous Character: Jin was long dead, but his work and ideals became the foundation of Ena's actions throughout the game.
Eishi Azumi
A researcher in Parapsychology Research Center of Rokumei City and one of the researchers involved with Alice Enflamme. He was the one who pushed the establishment of LABO and the creator of AD anti-radiation drug, and was also implied to be the father of Louise Yui Sannomiya.- The Heart: In a way, he served as this for LABO during its early days. LABO was initially established as isolation facility for helping N-ified Communicators, but after its death, the facility began experimenting on Communicators regardless of their N-ification status - even going so far to employ Security Section 6 to keep iron grip on various potential test subjects.
- Make It Look Like an Accident: Implied. His TIPS entry noted that he died in an accident shortly after he got kicked out of the research team, but it remains doubtful on whether his death was simple accident or not.
- The Scapegoat: As the one in charge of Alice, the blame for Great Rokumei City Arson was pushed to Azumi.
Juro Sonezaki
The leader of Q, a prominent anti-BC group that was responsible for many major events of the story.- Fantastic Racism: He is a top member of Q and makes his hatred for BC and Communicators very vocal from time to time. In fact, Alice's rapid descent to N-ification can be traced back to him as he was the one who arranged the anti-BC demonstration in front of PRC years prior after which her N-ification symptoms significantly worsened.
- Greater-Scope Villain: Sonezaki is responsible for many events those happened in the story, though he is never directly confronted.
- The Ghost: Despite his direct involvement in the story, we never actually get to see him on-screen in the game.
Subject N / Nagisa Tachibana
VA: Shimizu Ai
A mysterious white-haired girl who appears dead in front of the cargo lift in Area 6. She is Kazami Tachibana's younger sister, whose death was faked nine years ago so that she could be taken to LABO for experimentation. After reading 351 people's minds, she became N-ified and lost her individuality, turning her into little more than an incarnation of pure malice.
- Cheerful Child: As a kid. But with all the years she spent confined in LABO, she eventually turned into...
- Creepy Child: As Subject N, she really pulls no punches at throwing Hannibal Lectures and coercing people with her malice, and that's not even getting to her Nightmare Face.
- The Corrupter: Revealed to be the one responsible for Watase, Ukita, Jun, and Kazami's Sanity Slippage and Ax-Crazy behavior. She corrupts people's memories using Senses Sympathy and fills them with malice to turn them into murderous, hate-filled people.
- Dying as Yourself: In a sense: while her physical body died in its maliceful self, the fragment of her in Kazami fades in the form of her uncorrupted self.
- Emotionless Girl: From the brief dialogue we heard during her time as Subject N and before her N-ification, she has monotone and dull voice.
- Flower Motif: Her Senses Sympathy memory alterations are marked with the scent of rosemary, the flower of remembrance- fitting, as the scent of rosemaries allows her to remember Kazami.
- Locked into Strangeness: As Nagisa, she had reddish hair similar to her sister Kazami. As Subject N, however, she has white hair, likely from the experiments done to her.
- Loss of Identity: As a result for N-ification, she could no longer remember which memory of hers that formed her original self.
- Many Spirits Inside of One: She qualifies in a way due to the 351 (and her own) memories hosted within her body, and the fact that she can mimic her victims' personality in its vicious form when confronted by Natsuhiko.
- Nightmare Face: When she is not putting up dull and lifeless expression, she puts up this instead while spreading her malice, with bulging eyes and Slasher Smile.
- Not Quite Dead: She hasn't been fully dead when the group found her, but because her BC power is active at that time, her body functions are severely slowed down that the lack of response when Kazami and Jun tried to perform CPR on her makes it understandable to mistake her for having already died. Unfortunately, because her consciousness is still there despite her body having stopped moving by the time the group found her, it still allows her to corrupt the survivors with her malice.
- Older Than They Look: Despite her short stature, she's actually the same age as Natsuhiko and Mashiro.
- Posthumous Character: While fragments of her appear in the minds of people she’s corrupted, her own body is (mostly) dead when Watase’s group comes across her.
- Psychic Powers: She's a S-rank communicator and, unlike Natsuhiko and Yuuri, her aptitude seems to be natural.
- Spirit Advisor: Unlike her other victims whom she relentlessly gives Hannibal Lecture in their minds without actually showing herself, she directly makes appearance in front of Kazami from time to time while trying to corrupt her, thus making her a malicious version of this.
- Tragic Monster: It was not Nagisa's fault that she turned into N-ified Communicator with nothing but instinct to spread malice, but she cannot and will not stop. Her presence had to be purged from the malice-filled memories of her victims.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: The reason Natsuhiko and Yuuri were trapped in LABO's lower levels nine years prior to the story? That was because then-captured Nagisa attempted to escape the facility, causing Case N to be declared and blockaded the basement levels of LABO.
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Nagisa used to be a girl who loved her older sister and best friend dearly. Unfortunately, years of experimentation at LABO broke her permanently and turned her into a monster who instinctively warps the minds of those around her.
