Characters / Starship Promise

WARNING: May contain untagged spoilers. Browse at your own risk.

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Player Characters

Heroine

Heroine/Protagonist/Main Character ("MC")

• Ambiguous Disorder:
  • Her thoughts and behavior suggest both ADHD and some form of anxiety disorder.
    Protagonist: I know I'm smart in theory. [...] But in reality, at any given minute, ninety percent of my brain's CPU is devoted to anxiety.
  • At one point in Orion's route, she refers to whales as her "special interest", a term used in the autistic community.
• Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: Her chain of thought bounces around like a ball in a pinball machine, lightning-fast but very easily sidetracked onto irrelevant tangents.
• Did I Say That Out Loud: She has a habit of this.
• Distracted by the Sexy: She's distractable in general; being in close proximity to any route's designated love interest almost inevitably sees her struggling to keep herself on task rather than Eating the Eye Candy, even in the midst of life-or-death situations.
• Gadgeteer Genius: She worked as an engineer until people started coming after her, and she's capable of quite a lot of technological wizardry in addition to being a skilled hacker. Antares and Atlas's routes in particular showcase her engineering and inventing skills, and in Jaxon's fourth season she custom-builds him a cybernetic arm.
• Hello, [Insert Name Here]: Her name is set by the player.
• Labcoat of Science and Medicine: She sometimes wears a lab coat.
• Motor Mouth: She tends to ramble when nervous.
• Took a Level in Badass: She learns to use a gun and takes part in firefights.

Alien Heroine

• Private Detective: She is a private investigator.
• Workaholic: In A Cosmic Match, Nav calls her "a workaholic loan-shark PI," and when she gripes over what she could have bought with the money from her last job with him, all the options are tools for work.

The Promise

Orion

Orion Akatsuki: The Captain

• The Captain: The Promise is very definitely not a military vessel, but all of her crew acknowledge Orion as captain and follow his lead.
• Dark and Troubled Past: He's a former Empire officer who deserted after an incident in which he believed that he accidentally killed his childhood friend and fellow officer. Additionally, "Akatsuki" is an assumed name - his real family name is Fairchild.
• Guns Akimbo: He dual wields pistols.
• Stellar Name: Orion the Hunter is one of the most easily identified constellations. Akatsuki, in addition to being the Japanese word for "dawn," is the name of a Japanese space probe tasked to study the atmosphere of Venus.
• Sweet Tooth: Orion is a bit of a chocoholic. His answer to what three things he would want with him if he were stranded on a deserted island includes an infinite supply of chocolate, and in his third season Jaxon successfully bribes him to share an embarrassing story by promising him his favorite brand of chocolate bar.

Jaxon

Jaxon Silva: The Bounty Hunter

• An Arm and a Leg: Jaxon's left arm is blown off by Kreave during his fourth season.
• Artificial Limbs: With the protagonist's help, he acquires a fancy cybernetic arm to replace the lost limb.
• Big Ego, Hidden Depths: He acts with great confidence, but at times it's shown he's more insecure than he lets on.
• Bounty Hunter: A galaxy-renowned bounty hunter.
• Odd Name Out: To date, Jaxon is the only love interest character who doesn't have a Stellar Name. According to the producers, this is simply because they felt like "Jaxon Silva" fit him best as a character.
• Shrouded in Myth: There are a lot of legends floating around about him, mostly exaggerated.
• Too Many Belts: Three belts worn at angles.

Nova

Nova: The Superhuman

• Amazonian Beauty: She's muscular, with defined abs that are bared in her casual outfit.
• Gay Option: Nova is one of the game's possible love interests, and was the only female option until Zhora was added.
• Identity Amnesia: She doesn't remember her life before meeting the crew of the Promise.
• Mystical White Hair: Her silver-white hair contributes to the sense of otherworldliness about her, especially in combination with her dark skin and purple eyes.
• One-Man Army: In her route, she takes on legions of Empire soldiers by herself.
• Only One Name: Unlike the rest of the crew of the Promise, Nova has no surname.
• Psychic Powers: She has powers of empathy and a sense for impending danger.
• Sarcasm-Blind: She sometimes has trouble detecting sarcasm.
• Sci-Fi Bob Haircut
• Statuesque Stunner: She's six feet tall.
• Super-Intelligence: She can read while listening to an audiobook at 3x speed.
• Super-Soldier: She was made for combat.
• Token Super: She's the only member of the crew of the Promise to have extra-human abilities, including super strength and an empathic sense which can alert her to danger or ill intentions from others.

Atlas

Atlas Molniya: The Pilot

• Ace Pilot: He outflies Empire and Union ships alike, dodges through asteroids, and handles the Promise with such grace that the protagonist thought it must have been a former scouting ship (it was actually a cargo ship).
• The Alcoholic: Atlas is often noted to be drinking, far moreso than any other member of the cast. His introductory CG in his first season even depicts him with a drink in hand, and he keeps a bottle of whiskey stashed under the pilot's seat of the Promise. It doesn't appear to impede his competence, but he's definitely a heavy drinker.
• Deadpan Snarker: Dry sarcasm appears to be his default setting.
• Functional Addict: His chronic heavy drinking (and the possibility that he self-medicates with more than just alcohol) in no way impairs his skills as a pilot.
• Ineffectual Death Threats: Atlas frequently threatens to throw people out an airlock for any number of minor offenses that he never follows through on.
• Madness Mantra: When the crew are arrested and imprisoned by the Union in his second season, Atlas slips into a PTSD episode and paces the cell endlessly repeating his name, rank, and serial number, until the protagonist manages to bring him out of it.
• Meaningful Name: In Classical Mythology, Atlas is a Titan condemned to support the sky on his shoulders. He's commonly depicted as holding up a globe of the Earth - that is, a man carrying the weight of the world.
• Number Two: Atlas is next in the line of command if Orion isn't around to lead.
• Prematurely Grey-Haired: Atlas is greying at the comparatively young age of 34. On his route, observing that he's younger than she first took him for, the protagonist guesses that the streaks of grey in his hair are the result of either genetics or stress. Either way, it adds to the overall sense that he's a man who's been around the block a few times.
• Shell-Shocked Veteran: Atlas is a former fighter pilot, and whatever prompted his break with the Union was traumatic enough to leave him with lasting emotional scars and a lot of bitterness toward the military he used to serve in. In his first season, he experiences a full-fledged flashback during a space dogfight, with only the player character in any position to try to talk him down before they're both killed.
• Sole Survivor: The space fighter squadron that he led, the Fire Falcons, was completely wiped out save for Atlas himself in a battle that went bad. Atlas came out of the experience with a medal, a case of PTSD, and a serious grudge against the Union.
• Stellar Name: The name "Atlas" is shared by a star in the constellation Taurus and a moon of Saturn. "Molniya," Russian for "lightning," is the name of a type of Soviet military satellite and the orbital pattern associated with them.
• Tsundere: It's rare to see him let his defenses down enough to show the kinder and gentler side of him that he hides under all the prickliness and snark. Towards the end of his first season, he even admits to the protagonist that he's unused to showing or receiving affection.

Comet

Comet

• Ambiguous Gender: It's referred to as 'it', or on the odd occasion, 'him'. Word of God on the matter is that Comet is neither male nor female, and that "Comet is Comet."
• Evil-Detecting Dog: In Orion's season 6, it's suspicious of Orion after his fight with the smoke creature, and avoids him. It's actually the smoke creature impersonating Orion.
• Mama Bear: It unlocks its Super Mode to protect the heroine's child in Jaxon and Nova's routes, and to protect Kaiden in Orion's eighth season.
• Ridiculously Cute Critter: Comet resembles a green alien mouse or chinchilla. It's very expressive and absolutely adorable. In Atlas's first season, Jaxon (perhaps jokingly) tells the protagonist that its scientific name is Viridi rem bellus - Latin for "the green cute."
• Super Mode: In Jaxon's season 6, while on a planet brimming with energy, it's able to transform into a huge, powerful form to defend the pregnant heroine from Empire soldiers.
• Team Pet: The crew (mostly Jaxon) treat it as a pet.
• Trademark Favorite Food: It loves cereal and can be bribed with it.

The Empire

Antares

Antares Fairchild: The Empire Captain

• Ambiguous Disorder: His first two seasons depict him with a need for control over himself and the people and things around him that borders on obsession, such that a case can be made that he suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder. It's downplayed increasingly in his later seasons, however.
• Badass Cape: He wears a cape in both uniform and combat armor. It's described as making him look like a dark angel when he descends.
• Bling of War: His uniform practically drips with gleaming gold braid and trim. His combat armor is only a little less ostentatious, and in his sixth season he gets a formal version of it that is completely covered in decorative goldwork which he wears to his wedding.
• Broken Ace: In his first two seasons Antares is portrayed as obsessed with control and almost physically incapable of relaxing. Even once they're lovers, he only very rarely shows the protagonist any hints of emotional intimacy, likely because of the extreme degree of focus and effort he has invested in achieving his high level of skill and status within the Empire. A combination of Character Development and Depending on the Writer moves him away from the trope during his third and fourth seasons.
• The Captain: Antares both holds the rank of Captain within the Galactic Liberation Front and commands his own ship, the crew of which is loyally devoted to him. In his third season he receives a promotion to Vice Admiral, but keeps his ship and command of its crew.
• Cool Shades: When he's not in his combat armor, he wears a red-tinted visor. He claims it's part of the uniform, but its main purpose appears to be to obscure his eyes, making it harder to read his expressions.
• Control Freak: In his first two seasons, less so in later seasons. His attitude is illustrated in his response when the player character asks him why he keeps fish as pets - one of the reasons he gives is that he has total control over their environment, and can thus protect them.
• First-Name Basis: The protagonist starts out addressing him as Captain Fairchild, but he eventually tells her to call him by his first name.
• Four-Star Badass: In his third season, he receives a promotion to Vice Admiral, with no indication that anyone in the Empire expects him to take any less of a front-line role under his new rank.
• Freudian Excuse: Implied, but it isn't hard to draw a direct line from his past as a Street Urchin to his present-day taste for luxuries.
• Laser Blade: His weapon is a red-bladed beam saber, which he uses to very good effect.
• Man of Wealth and Taste: He has a very well-established taste for luxury that borders on the obsessive; everything he owns seems to come with some kind of explanation of how rare, high-quality, and difficult to obtain it is. As one of the love interest options he's the very least of the game's evils, however.
• Parrying Bullets: He can easily parry blaster fire using his beam saber.
• Stellar Name: Antares is the brightest star in the constellation Scorpio, sometimes referred to as "the heart of the scorpion."
• Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Antares is very aloof and self-controlled. Even once he and the protagonist are in an established relationship, he's not inclined to make a lot of overt displays of affection - which makes the rare moments where he does show her a softer side that much sweeter.
• What Beautiful Eyes!: The protagonist never runs out of admiring things to say about Antares's gorgeous blue eyes, even at the beginning of the route when they're hidden behind his helmet's visor and he's in the process of kidnapping her.

Corvus

Officer Corvus

• Number Two: Corvus serves as second-in-command to Antares and is usually the officer in charge of carrying out the latter's orders and minding the bridge when Antares is otherwise occupied.
• Shipper on Deck: He's quick to notice the effect that the protagonist has on Antares during his route and shows restrained but obvious approval. In an optional scene, he tells her that Antares seems happier since she came on board and that he thinks she's exactly what a man like the captain needs - and yes, he means that exactly the way she thinks.
• Stellar Name: The constellation Corvus.

Tyberius Fox

Commodore Tyberius Fox

• Half-Human Hybrid: His appearance is that of a human with dark purple skin. The protagonist thinks he must be part-alien.

Xendalia

Dr. Xendalia

• Abusive Parents: As Nova's creator, she's the closest thing she has to a mother. She treats her as an experiment and not a full person, telling her she's just following her programming and deeming her a failed experiment, yet guilt-trips her (or tries to) for attacking "your own mother" when Nova retaliates, as well as emotionally manipulating her and driving her and the heroine apart by sowing doubts in their minds.
• Evil Genius: The Empire's head scientist, and in charge of some unscrupulous projects.
• Feather Boa Constrictor: She wears some kind of furry slug creature around her shoulders.
• Labcoat of Science and Medicine: She wears a white and black lab coat.
• Older Than They Look: She's at least in her fifties, but the heroine notes that she doesn't look much older than herself.

Beta

Beta

• Heel–Face Turn: Nova finds him adrift after the clone affair and convinces him to help combat the alien threat. He and Gamma remain on good terms with her afterward.
• Long-Haired Pretty Boy: He has long hair worn loosely, and he along with the other superhumans is described as beautiful.
• Super-Soldier: Created by Dr. Xendalia for combat.

Gamma

Gamma

• Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: Beta was the antagonist of Nova's first season, and Gamma of her second season. Where Beta is wild and emotional and a purely physical fighter, Gamma is eerily stoic, with their psychic abilities being the primary challenge in facing them.
• Heel–Face Turn: Nova finds them adrift after the clone affair and convinces them to help combat the alien threat. They and Beta remain on good terms with her afterward.
• Psychic Powers: Gamma is a powerful psychic, able to incapacitate people with their mind alone.
• Super-Soldier: Created by Dr. Xendalia for combat, with a speciality in psychic abilities.

Varul Bazirg

Commodore Varul Bazirg

• Laser Blade: Like Antares', only green. He can also Parry Bullets with it.

Kreave

Kreave

• Cyborg: More metal than man.

Rhea

Rhea Everleigh

• Childhood Friends: She was friends with Orion and Antares growing up, and they joined the Empire together.
• Identity Amnesia: When we first meet her, she doesn't remember anything about her prior life.
• Reports of My Death Were Greatly Exaggerated: She was presumed dead by Orion and Antares for years. Turns out the Empire saved her.
• Stellar Name: Rhea is a moon of Saturn.

Petros

Commander Petros

• Smug Snake: Petros is unpleasant even in comparison to many of the other officers the Promise crew run afoul of on both sides of the Empire-Union conflict. He takes a visible, cruel pleasure in taunting Atlas over how he killed the rest of Atlas's comrades in the Fire Falcon squadron.

Vespira

Vespira

• Bounty Hunter: She was a bounty hunter along with Jaxon several years prior.
• Do Not Call Me "Paul": She used to hate her full name, going by "Ves" instead.
• Freudian Excuse: It's implied she has deep-seated issues from her upbringing under her father which she projected onto Cassie and used to justify kidnapping her.
• Overlord Jr.: She's the daughter of the emperor.
• Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: In her bounty-hunting days, she got away with her loose relationship with the law by being the princess of the Empire.

Kaiden

Kaiden Callisto

• Child Soldiers: He's a 14-year-old cadet. The Promise crew are surprised that the Empire recruits that young.
• Defector from Decadence: He deserted from the Empire because he knew they were doing terrible things.
• Stellar Name: Callisto is one of the four Galilean moons of Jupiter.

The Union

Tyrian

Lieutenant Tyrian Aquila: The Union Ace

• Affectionate Nickname: He calls the heroine "Firebug," a fond nickname she earned via one too many lab mishaps when they were in school.
• Childhood Friend: Tyrian grew up with the heroine on Olympus 7. In his cameo in Atlas season 3 and in his Perspective Flip special story, he describes her as his oldest friend.
• Childhood Friend Romance: His special story confirms that he has strong feelings for the heroine even though they haven't seen one another in years. His addition as a full love interest allows the heroine to return his feelings and enter into a relationship with him.
• Forgotten Friend, New Foe: Lt. Aquila first appears as one of the Union troops deployed to capture the Promise crew in Atlas's second season. Only after they've taken him hostage in order to make their escape does the heroine recognize him as her childhood friend and classmate.
• Friendship Trinket: His special story reveals that he carries a locket that the heroine gave him as a parting gift when he left to join the Academy.
• He Is All Grown Up: Part of the reason the protagonist takes so long to recognize him is that Tyrian was "gangly and awkward" when he was younger, which is very much not the case now. As her narration observes: "The years have been kind to him, to say the least."
• Long-Haired Pretty Boy: He has long purple hair and what the protagonist's narration describes as one of the most striking faces she's ever seen.
• Meaningful Name: Tyrian purple is a purple dye, and he has purple hair.
• Powered Armor: He's a member of the Union's new mechanized armor division.
• Promoted to Love Interest: He first appeared as a supporting character in Atlas's second season. He was then made the focus of a three-episode special story before receiving his own route in September of 2018.
• Stellar Name: The constellation Aquila the eagle, home to the star Altair.
• To Be Lawful or Good: Tyrian is a loyal Union soldier who believes in the importance of the law. In both Atlas's second season and his own route, he's forced to confront the realization that the Union is not the benevolent and virtuous government he thought he was serving, and to decide whether to continue to abide by its laws or to act in the interests of its citizens. In Atlas season 2, Tyrian resolves this conflict by using the Union's laws for good, working to reform and redeem the system from within.

Evander Sol

Admiral Evander Sol

• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: When he first appears in Orion's second season, Evander comes across as pleasant, helpful, and welcoming toward the protagonist and the Promise crew. The guys - Atlas in particular - have some misgivings, but even Nova's empathic sense doesn't pick up any confirmation of his true nature until after they discover that he's offloaded the Promise without their knowledge and has written all of them except the protagonist and maybe Orion off as expendable inconveniences.
• Ironic Name: "Evander" is the anglicization of a Greek name literally meaning "good man".
• Stellar Name: Sol is the Sun.

Mirra

Admiral Mirra

• Half-Human Hybrid: She mentions struggling in the ranks due to her alien heritage.
• Unexplained Recovery: At the end of Antares's first season, Mirra is sucked into Antares's black-hole-in-a-box. She returns in his fourth season with absolutely no explanation for how she survived.
• Stellar Name: Mira is a star in the constellation Cetus.

Azhda

Azhda Tir

A scientist who the heroine's parents know.

• Non-Mammalian Hair: He's a humanoid alien with crocodile-like skin and green hair.
• Spell My Name With An S: His name is spelled Azhda in Jaxon season 2, but Azdha in Nova season 2 and Antares season 4.

Vyrnas

Vice-Admiral Vyrnas

• The Stoic: He is abnormally stoic, almost never changing his expression or tone of voice. He turns out to be a Ridiculously Human Robot.
• The Un-Smile: When he does smile, the heroine describes it as "unsettling".
  MC: (It's like when a regular person puts on a clown mask—so happy it's creepy!)

Kora

Kora Thale

One of Tyrian's squadmates.

• Butch Lesbian: She has short hair, is a soldier, and is exclusively into women.
• The Nicknamer: She almost exclusively calls Tyrian "Ace", and the heroine "Lady Ace".

Other

Zhora

Zhora Leonis / Polaris: The Outlaw

• Arms Dealer: She sells Empire-grade weaponry to ordinary citizens, capitalizing on the mass fear of the smoke creatures.
• Promoted to Love Interest: Zhora first appeared in Nova's fifth season and received her own route in June 2019.
• Statuesque Stunner: She's 5'9".
• Stellar Name: "Leonis" is a name designating stars in the constellation Leo, and "Polaris" is the proper name of the North Star.

Quinn

Quinn

• Broken Pedestal: Jaxon idolized him growing up, but learns in his third season that his friend has become a ruthless pirate.
• Space Pirate: Along with his crew.
• Walking Shirtless Scene: His chest and abs are constantly bared.

The smoke aliens

The Smoke Aliens / The Evil Force / The Evil

• Fog of Doom: The smoke creatures appear as black clouds that move across the surface of a planet, engulfing all life.
• Horde of Alien Locusts: They move from planet to planet, consuming all life and then moving on.
• Planet Eater: The smoke creatures suck the life out of the planets they consume, leaving them barren.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: They evolve to the point where they have glowing red eyes in the midst of their dark, swirling masses. In Orion's route, when the smoke creature impersonating him reveals itself, "Orion's" eyes go solid red.
• Weakened by the Light: They are repelled by bright light.

Silva family

Arya Silva

Jaxon's mother.

• Where Did We Go Wrong?: She does not approve of Jaxon's decision to live the dangerous life of a bounty hunter, and it's a source of conflict between them. She ends up coming around after he saves her from an Empire incursion and she realizes he keeps other people of the galaxy safe from them as well.

Cassiopeia (Cassie)

Jaxon and the heroine's daughter.

• Curious as a Monkey: She inherited her mother's interest in machinery and is often trying to take things apart.
• A Mistake Is Born: Her mother's pregnancy with her was unintended. While it caused some initial apprehension for her parents when they first found out, they ended up fully accepting the idea of having a child and looking forward to it.
• Stellar Name: Cassiopeia is a constellation.

Jaxon's father

• The Ghost: He's never seen onscreen, always being either conveniently out when Jaxon is seen visiting home, or just offscreen during video calls.

Rayla

Rayla

• Does Not Know His Own Strength: She sometimes breaks things by accident because of her strength.
• Designer Babies: She was created from a combination of the heroine and Nova's DNA.
• Meaningful Name: Her parents named her Rayla because she arrived in a burst of light and was their hope for the future.
• Psychic Powers: She has Nova's psychic powers.
• Younger Than They Look: At five months old, she has the body and mind of a sixteen-year-old.

Wyst

Wyst Pochny

• Shipper on Deck: She finds Zhora's whole situation with the heroine in her route hilarious and spares no expenses in teasing Zhora about it, but genuinely does think they're cute together.

Jessa

Jessa Flexand: The Bartender

• Ascended Extra: She first appeared across various routes as a recurring unnamed minor character who usually served as a bartender. With the release of Zhora's route, she was given a name and a more prominent supporting role. A Cosmic Match promoted her to the role of love interest, and she later got her own route.
• Green-Skinned Space Babe: She's a beautiful blue alien woman.
• Promoted to Love Interest: After first being introduced as a minor/supporting character, she got her own short in A Cosmic Match in which she plays the role of love interest, and later got a full route.

Nav

Nav Hexan: The Scoundrel

• Badass Biker: He does atmobike street racing.
• Bounty Hunter: He is a bounty hunter, hunting down and capturing criminals to turn them in for rewards.
• Green-Skinned Space Babe: A handsome blue-skinned alien with orange markings and sparkly purple hair.
• Lovable Rogue: He often charms his way through situations.

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