Characters / Togainu no Chi

This is a list of tropes which applies to the characters of Togainu no Chi. Most of these tropes are from the viewpoint of the visual novel, and some tropes pertaining to the BL aspect of the novel may not be present in other media.

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Main Characters

Akira

Akira (アキラ)

Voiced by: Kosuke Toriumi ^note  Credited as Spoon Sakiware

"My whole life — up until now — I didn't think I cared about anything. It didn't matter to me whether I myself or anyone else died. I was only living because I hadn't died yet, and I had no particular reason to be alive. Or so I thought."

The protagonist of Togainu no Chi. He is the reigning champion of Bl@ster, a series of street brawls, and is known by the moniker "Lost". When he is falsely accused of murder, he faces life imprisonment... until he is approached by a mysterious duo: Emma and Gwen.

In exchange for his freedom, they send him to Toshima, a city ravaged by the Third Division, where he will participate in the game of Igra. Upon arriving, he learns that Igra is completely different from the street brawls of Bl@ster, and in Toshima, it's either kill or be killed.

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• Blessed with Suck: It's soon revealed that Akira was a part of Project Nicole, a genetic engineering program that sought to enhance the natural capabilities of humans and create the perfect soldier. While he was regarded as a failed subject at first, his blood actually contains a substance which serves as the antidote to the Nicole Virus, which can also be found in the drug Rein. This is also the reason he's framed for murder and placed in Igra: Emma wants to use him to lure out Nano, whose blood is the source of Rein.
• Break the Cutie: Akira goes through a lot of crap throughout the story. It starts with him being framed for murder, and it only goes From Bad to Worse when he encounters Keisuke after the latter took Rein and underwent a drastic change in personality.
• Clear My Name: This is the reason behind Akira's participation in Igra. He's been framed for a murder he never committed, and Emma offered to clear his name if he were to take part in the game and win against Il-Re.
• Combat Pragmatist: No matter the route, after Akira learns that his blood can nullify the effects of Rein, he uses this knowledge to his advantage whenever he's attacked and cornered by aggressive Rein users.
• Defiant to the End: When faced with death, Akira will make it clear that he won't go down crying, begging, or even just hanging his head in resignation. He shows this trait best in Shiki's route, where in each of their encounters, Akira refuses to go down without a fight even with the knowledge that he's completely outmatched.
• Despair Event Horizon: Akira is horrified when he accidentally kills Keisuke in Shiki's route, and he's left so broken that he barely attempts to resist when Shiki takes him captive.
• Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: Played with. Before he gets framed and sent to Toshima, Akira has been drifting by without any goals or aspirations, and doesn't take a moment to reflect on what he wants to do with his life. It isn't some time after he participates in Igra that he finds an actual motive to live and fight for another day.
• The Determinator: Another thing that makes Akira strong is his refusal to give up so easily. During his first encounter with Shiki, who is supposedly invincible, he tries to block the other's sword with his knife, and actually succeeds for a while. In Shiki's routes, where they cross paths again, Akira refuses to beg for his life and glares at the man despite having a blade pressed to his neck.
• The Dragon: In one of the Shiki's two bad endings where Shiki takes over Japan and starts his own dictatorship, Akira joins his regime and serves as his adjutant.
• Even the Guys Want Him:
  • Given that he's a pretty man in a set of circumstances that involve a whole hell of a lot of Situational Sexuality, Akira ends up catching the unwanted attention of some men who become interested in having their way with him. He's even attractive enough that should he end up getting caught by either of the Executioners in their bad endings, they opt to violate him rather than just beat and kill him.
  • This trope is especially the case in one of Shiki's bad endings, which Akira uses to his advantage to easily seduce Shiki's underlings whenever Shiki is outdoors.
• Heroic BSoD: He falls into a depressed slump shortly after fighting against the Rein-addled Keisuke. It gets even worse if he accidentally kills him in Shiki's route, to the point that he doesn't resist much when Shiki claims him as his prisoner.
• Heroic RRoD: After fighting Keisuke, who had been empowered with the effects of Rein, Akira struggles just to stay awake. This is especially the case in Keisuke's route, since Keisuke would often wake up while struggling with the painful effects of withdrawal, requiring Akira to hold him in place until he calms down again. The trope also applies in Rin's route, since Rin attempts to kill Akira shortly after the latter's fight with Keisuke, and Akira has to force himself to stay awake for a while longer to watch over Rin in case he gets too violent.
• Hypocrite: Akira proves to be rather self-contradicting, albeit only in the Animated Adaptation. When he saves Rin from Shiki, he tells Rin to forget about killing Shiki because it's not worth it. Later on, Shiki kills Keisuke and Akira tries to kill him. Rin tells him the same thing; although Akira doesn't listen to him and in the finale, he returns to Toshima to settle things with Shiki once and for all.
• I Choose to Stay: Somewhere in his route, Shiki kidnaps Akira, takes him to his apartment, pierces his belly button as a sign of his ownership, and essentially treats him like a Sex Slave. Akira tries to leave a few times, but is unable to. Shiki even takes note of this in the drama CD, where in an internal monologue, he remarks that Akira had every opportunity to escape if he wished.
• The Immodest Orgasm: Even in the consensual sex scenes, Akira has a hard time keeping his voice down in spite of his best efforts, and moans himself hoarse.
• The Immune: Since Akira's blood counteracts the Nicole Virus, he doesn't suffer any reaction when he ingests Nano's blood, which is essentially undiluted Rein. At most, he only feels his skin tingle whenever Nano touches him.
• Informed Ability: Played with. Akira is described early on to be a good fighter, but more often than not, he ends up becoming a Badass in Distress. Then again, there are scenes which show him curb-stomping normal Igra participants, and the only reason he has a bit of a hard time fighting against Takeru and Keisuke later in the game is because they're both doped up on Rein. In Rin's route, even though he's utterly drained from his final fight with Keisuke, he still manages to get the upper hand on Rin, who's no slouch in combat and was a former Bl@ster participant. Ultimately, the only people who Akira really has trouble against are Gunji, Kiriwar, and Shiki.
• It's All My Fault: Akira blames himself for Keisuke having taken Rein. This gets worse in the routes where Keisuke doesn't survive, and his guilt comes to a head in Shiki's route, where he tolerates the treatment Shiki gives him because while he despises what's being done to him, he still believes it's his punishment for failing to save his friend.
• Jerkass Has a Point:
  • Akira repeatedly tells Keisuke that it's not a wise idea for him to join Igra, what with him not knowing how to fight and still failing to realize just exactly what awaits him if he were to stay with Akira in a lawless city that's also an arena to a brutal Blood Sport. Keisuke can't even give a proper counterargument besides the insistent remark that he refuses to go back home.
  • While he goes overboard with his rant, Akira is still not wrong when he points out that Keisuke's not helping things by making himself small whenever he compares himself to Akira, and by refusing to be honest about his thoughts and feelings since Akira can see right through Keisuke's lies.
• Kick the Dog: Even though he raises some fair points, Akira telling off Keisuke in an attempt to make the latter fully realize the gravity of their situation is still the equivalent of kicking a puppy, if only because of Akira's poor choice of words. While he ultimately didn't mean any ill will, Akira does regret his words as soon as they left his mouth, and even Rin thinks that Akira took it too far.
• Lethal Chef: One of the short stories set some time after the events of Motomi's route confirms that Akira has no idea how to cook and is incapable of making a decent meal.
• Like a Son to Me: Played with in Motomi's route, where the older man becomes protective of Akira because he can't help but think what his own son would be like growing up, with him remarking that his son would be about Akira's age if he were still alive. But later on, Motomi starts to see Akira in a different light as his feelings shift from familial to romantic.
• Living Emotional Crutch: If Rin is the chosen love interest, Akira gradually becomes more than just a friend to Rin, who then finds the resolve to look forward to living again. While he still wishes to kill Shiki and avenge his teammates, he no longer has any intention of dying after his quest for revenge is complete, and he doesn't give up searching for Akira for the next five years for them to meet and finally start anew.
• Morality Chain:
  • In Motomi's route, Akira learns of Motomi's real motive for working as an information broker in Toshima, to which he then reminds Motomi that while Nano had taken many lives, he had been the government's lab rat for as long as he can remember and was deprived of both choice and freedom. He then questions if Motomi sees Nano as less of a human and more of a thing, and that however he sees Nano shouldn't be different from how he regards Akira, since both are results of the same experiment. This causes Motomi to reevaluate his mission, and he soon agrees to Akira's plan to at least try and see if they can reason with Nano and have him accompany them to safety.
  • Akira is the only one who can bring out Nano's long-suppressed humanity. Nano has spent all his life as a living weapon, which left him cynical at the idea that he can live as a normal human being, with him remarking a few times that there is no other possibility left for him. In his route, Akira motivates Nano to live for himself by telling him that he can forge his own path, something that Nano eventually takes to heart.
• Morality Pet: While it doesn't take until near the endgame for the man's edges to soften (even if minutely), Akira is the only person who Shiki will deign to show a slightly less colder side to. Not even Rin, Shiki's half-brother managed to receive a similar treatment, especially at present.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Even though Akira raises some valid points when he chews out Keisuke halfway through the common route, he still ends up crossing the line when he lets his anger take over, causing him to say some rather harsh things that he didn't actually mean. His words leave Keisuke gutted, as they feed into the latter's insecurities, causing him to take Rein in the hopes that it would give him the strength needed to finally be helpful to Akira. As expected, however, it ends up causing nothing but harm, and Akira is left feeling both horrified and guilty about the aftermath.
• Not So Above It All: He may be stone-faced and in control of his emotions most of the time, but when with certain people, he can get incited into acting more like his age. Such is the case with Motomi, whose teasing causes Akira to get annoyed despite knowing better.
• Phlebotinum Rebel: Akira is one of the children who was subjected to the experiments under Project Nicole, and his blood was altered to counteract the Nicole Virus present in Rein. Of course, Akira has no plans in letting the military use him for their goals.
• Pretty Boy: Akira is considered uncommonly attractive even In-Universe, and the art style renders him more stereotypically "bishie" than it does the other characters.
• Red Baron: Akira has a famous reputation among Bl@ster fighters due to being an undefeated champion in the game, and is referred to as "Lost" due to his aloof demeanor.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: This only happens in the Animated Adaptation, however; in the finale, Akira intends to kill Shiki to avenge Keisuke's death.
• Romancing the Widow: This trope applies if Akira pursues Motomi, since Motomi used to have a wife.
• Sanity Slippage: The drastic shift of Akira's personality in both of Shiki's bad endings make it obvious to the player that he had jumped off the deep end either out of despair (in the ending where he doesn't feed Shiki his own blood) or as a means to survive (in the ending where he does).
• Screw Destiny: In contrast to Nano, Akira refuses to believe that anyone's life has been decided for them by fate, stating that no matter what he'd resolve to make his own decisions and carve his own path.
• Second Love: To both Rin and Motomi, since Rin's previous crush was killed by Shiki while Motomi's wife died some time after learning of their son's death.
• Sex Slave: He becomes this in Arbitro and Gunji/Kiriwar's endings.
• The Stoic: He is a textbook example of the trope at first. As the story progresses, he starts showing a wider array of emotions, but he still keeps a cool head when he needs to.
• Sugar-and-Ice Personality: By default, Akira acts cold and distant towards everyone. But when it comes down to it, he demonstrates that he truly cares about the people close to him, and surprisingly isn't one to hold onto grudges no matter what would be done to him.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Akira is implied to like omelette rice-flavored Solids. Since omelette rice is usually a kids' favorite, he doesn't like it when people mention it.
• Tragic Keepsake: In Nano's ending, Akira keeps Keisuke's tag after the latter's death.
• Typhoid Mary: Akira's blood is the antidote to — rather than the carrier of — the Nicole Virus and of Rein itself. However, the process of nullifying the virus isn't painless and quick, and in some cases, the results can be fatal.
• Uke: With the exception of Rin's route, where he's the one taking charge instead. Though the short stories imply that after he and Rin reunite, he'll be the one taking it in the relationship, what with Rin's growth spurt.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: He was a bit more sociable, and a whole lot kinder, when he was a child.
• The Vamp: Akira becomes this in one of Shiki's bad endings. Whenever Shiki is out, Akira would go and seduce Shiki's men, knowing full well that they'll be killed for sleeping with him. Even though said men know this rule all too well, they are still unable to resist Akira's seductive charms.
• Weak, but Skilled: Akira stands out as this when compared to Rein users and the unusually high volume of overpowered characters he encounters over the course of the story. Although his physical strength is inferior, he moves fast and strategically reads and analyzes his enemies' movements to find openings and ways to avoid attacks, rather than blindly swinging his weapon around like some of his opponents.
• What the Hell, Hero?: When Keisuke praises Akira for winning a fight against another Igra participant despite being clearly disturbed by the implications behind that victory, Akira loses his temper and calls Keisuke out for seemingly not having a mind of his own outside of his friendship with the former. That being said, he goes overboard with his rant when he tells Keisuke that the sight of him pisses him off.
• Would Hit a Girl: In Motomi's route, Akira would have already whaled on Emma after she confirms that she's been using Akira the entire time had Motomi not held him back.
• You Remind Me of X: Part of the reason why Rin takes a liking to Akira is because he looks a lot like Kazui, his first love.

Keisuke

Keisuke (ケイスケ)

Voiced by: Tomokazu Sugita ^note  Credited as Nanimusha

"I can't just stand by and watch. I want to be of some use to you. Please... I promise I won't get in your way."

Akira's longtime friend, having lived in the same orphanage at the same age. After learning Akira has been sent to Toshima, he follows Akira with a vague knowledge of the dangers of the city.

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• Because You Were Nice to Me: Keisuke started following Akira starting from the day he had saved him from a group of bullies.
• Boy Next Door: Keisuke is Akira's childhood friend, and this trope is considered the main appeal of his character... at least before he takes Rein and his entire personality turns a complete 180. If he manages to survive the Rein in his blood being neutralized, he goes back to being this trope, but with more self-confidence than before.
• Break the Cutie: Keisuke slowly realizes what's in store for him and Akira when they enter Toshima, but it doesn't take until Akira chewing him out for Keisuke to hit rock bottom. The experience drives him to take Rein, where things then turn From Bad to Worse...
• Cannot Spit It Out: His feelings for Akira go unsaid for years, not that he's particularly good at hiding them, though it's not as if Akira is even aware that Keisuke sees him that way.
• Character Tics: Keisuke tends to scratch his head whenever he gets frustrated.
• Cheated Death, Died Anyway:
  • In Nano's route, Keisuke actually gets to survive the effects of withdrawal from Akira's blood nullifying the Rein in his body. Even then, Keisuke meets his demise when he gets shot while trying to protect Akira from the military's gunfire. The only consolation is that Keisuke dies as himself, not as a crazed murderer.
  • The Animated Adaptation mostly follows Keisuke's route from the visual novel, but includes important scenes from the other routes. This leads to a jarring sequence of events where Keisuke gets addicted to Rein, nearly bites the bullet, barely overcomes his addiction and returns to his normal self (all from his own route), and then is abruptly killed while trying to protect Akira from an unrelated threat (taken from Nano's route).
• Corrupt the Cutie: When Keisuke takes Rein, he unsurprisingly becomes violent and psychopathic, and goes on a bloody rampage while occasionally chasing Akira and threatening to kill him before actually attempting to go through with it.
• Curtains Match the Window: His eyes and hair are the same shade of brown.
• Dogged Nice Guy: Keisuke is nice as much as he is timid, and he's also been desperately in love with Akira for years, tagging after him for even longer. This, in spite of the fact that for most of the time they've known each other, Akira has been completely indifferent towards him, mostly because he doesn't understand exactly why Keisuke is so interested in him in the first place.
• Dying as Yourself: In Nano's ending, Keisuke is ultimately not spared from death. But unlike in the other routes, his personality had gone back to normal, and he uses his final breath to apologize to Akira for everything he had done.
• Fatal Flaw: Keisuke's main flaw is his tendency to never ever think before he acts, and to stubbornly stick by his decision even when warned more than once that the cons far outweigh the pros. Akira had warned Keisuke that he is woefully underprepared for what awaits him if he officially joins Igra, and Motomi advised Keisuke about how he should think things through and how nothing comes out of the desire to protect someone who doesn't even want or need his help. Both times, Keisuke opted to not really take their words into consideration. Had he done that however, and if he especially had not taken Rein in an impulsive attempt to get stronger, he may have had a higher chance of surviving the main plot.
• First Guy Wins: If he's the chosen love interest, given that he's the first to show up in the story. All the more notable since if his route isn't taken, he always dies.
• From Nobody to Nightmare: He starts out as Akira's almost comically ineffectual childhood friend who's clearly harboring an unstated-but-obvious crush on him, but when Akira snaps at him for being The Load, Keisuke decides to take matters into his own hands and ingests some Rein, not knowing that he was biologically engineered for the drug to turn him into a bloodthirsty killing machine.
• Green-Eyed Epiphany: While Keisuke had been aware for some time that his feelings for Akira are more than just platonic, he only fully admits to himself that he's in love with Akira when he sees a woman drape herself over him at a Bl@ster match, notwithstanding Akira's obvious disinterest in her.
• Incompatible Orientation: A flashback that is shown only in his route fills the player in on Keisuke's first and only relationship with a woman. Though not for lack of trying, he can't bring himself to have sex with her, and the entire experience forces him to acknowledge the true extent of his feelings for Akira.
• Insecure Love Interest: He doesn't think highly of himself, which is essentially the entire reason he chooses to take Rein when he can no longer handle his perceived inferiority and his own feelings of being a burden on Akira.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: In his good ending, Keisuke snaps out of his Rein-induced insanity and when he remembers everything he did — including raping Akira — he says he will go away if Akira doesn't want to see him again. Thankfully, Akira doesn't want him to leave.
• Killed Offscreen: In both Motomi and Rin's routes, Keisuke's death is simply confirmed by word of mouth, and the player is left guessing if someone else had managed to kill Keisuke or if he had simply succumbed to the effects of his forced withdrawal from Rein. At most, Motomi mentions rumors of Keisuke walking around while drenched in blood, but no more than that.
• Kill the Cutie: This trope occurs in every route save his own. It doesn't matter who else the player chooses; Keisuke will bite the dust sooner or later. He manages to live for a little longer in Nano's route, but he still ends up being a casualty after Taking the Bullet for Akira.
• The Load: Try as he might, Keisuke isn't able to be of much help to Akira, something that he's painfully aware of. This is part of why he feels inferior to Akira, and also part of why he opts to take Rein in the first place.
• Murderers Are Rapists: Played with. Keisuke starts killing people left and right after taking Rein, though Akira is the only person he sets out to violate. Though he only does so in his route; in the other routes, he decides to just taunt Akira and give him a beating before making his leave.
• My God, What Have I Done?: In his route, after getting the Rein out of his system, he's nothing short of horrified when he remembers that he murdered a lot of people and raped Akira while under the influence. However, after Akira forgives and encourages him, he opts to live and try to atone for what he had done.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Keisuke only decided to take Rein because he's frustrated with his own weaknesses and wants to stop being a burden to Akira. However, his action only brings about the opposite of what he intended. After taking the drug, he wreaks havoc and destruction all around while taunting and harassing Akira the entire time. In the end, he only ends up becoming an even bigger obstacle in Akira's mission.
• Non-Action Guy: For a good portion of the common route, all Keisuke can do is either tag along or sit in the background and do nothing much. That is, until he decides to take Rein.
• Rape as Drama: Inverted. Although he rapes Akira, he later apologizes for his actions and the incident becomes the subject of his nightmares.
• Shrinking Violet: During conversations with other characters, Keisuke usually fades into the background to the point the player can forget he's even there.
• Single-Target Sexuality: In his route, it becomes apparent that he can't see himself being with anyone else but Akira. In the drama CD, Keisuke also reveals in a monologue that Akira is the only person he's ever fallen in love with, and he hasn't experienced the same sort of feelings for any other men, or even women.
• Start of Darkness: Akira's "The Reason You Suck" Speech to Keisuke is what pushes Keisuke over the edge and causes him to take Rein, which changes him for nothing but the worse.
• Stepford Smiler: Keisuke tends to hide his true thoughts and feelings with a smile, no matter how obvious it is that he's putting up a front. This comes to a head later on when when Akira brandishes the tags he got from his first defeated opponent, to which Keisuke only congratulates Akira with a forced smile despite it being clear he's disturbed by what Akira had done in order to win them. This backfires, as Akira calls him out on it.
• Took a Level in Badass: If he survives having the Rein in his body neutralized by Akira, not only does he gain a noticeable increase in physical strength and mental fortitude, he becomes less emotionally dependent on Akira and is able to find the resolve to participate in a fight against multiple enemies and win without breaking much sweat.
• Trademark Favorite Food: He likes the green curry-flavored Solids.
• Unlucky Childhood Friend: He and Akira have been friends since they were children, and if his route isn't taken, he always ends up dead.
• Victorious Childhood Friend: This trope is naturally a given if he's the chosen love interest, since not only does his love for Akira finally get to be reciprocated, his route is the only one where he ultimately survives.
• When All You Have Is a Hammer…: In his good ending, he manages to knock out a group of vengeful Igra participants with nothing more than a wooden beam since there's no other available weapon in sight.
• White Shirt of Death: Keisuke wears a white shirt, and is doomed to die in every other route besides his own.
• Yandere: A flashback shows that Keisuke gets easily jealous of anyone who gets a little too close to Akira, and has struggled with having his feelings towards Akira not being acknowledged for a long time, but he only truly becomes the trope after the effects of Rein render him violently insane. Whether he snaps out of his madness or not depends on which route is taken.

Rin

Rin (リン)

Voiced by: Jun Fukuyama ^note  Credited as Hayato Kiryuuin

Click ^here
to see him after the Time Skip in his ending

"There's no telling when you might die in this city. Doesn't matter whether or not you participate in Igra. In that case, wouldn't you rather have fun?"

A youthful boy who has been participating in Igra long before Akira and Keisuke arrived in Toshima. He helps the pair get acquainted with Toshima and how things run in there when they first enter the city.

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• An Arm and a Leg: In his ending, Rin loses his left leg in his battle with Shiki, though he has it replaced with a prosthetic one.
• Broken Pedestal: He once admired Shiki and wanted nothing more than the man's acknowledgement, though that admiration turned to hatred after Shiki killed his teammates.
• Cain and Abel: Morality-wise, he's the Abel to Shiki's Cain, but in terms of who plans to kill who, the roles are switched. Too bad for him it's not working out so well.
• Camera Fiend: Rin's hobby is taking pictures and even keeps a digital camera on his person. He also occasionally gives some pictures to Motomi to assist the latter in his information-gathering.
• Character Development: Rin is revealed to hide a lot of mental and emotional scars underneath the happy-go-lucky persona he shows others, and ultimately seeks to kill Shiki for tricking him and killing his teammates. But Rin truly wants, even more than revenge, is death, which he believes would finally free him of his guilt. Though in time, Akira and Rin's growing bond allows Rin to have a reason to look forward to living again. While he still sets out to kill Shiki for the sake of finding closure with his past, he promises Akira that they'll see each other again— a promise that he eventually fulfills five years later.
• Cute and Psycho: Rin is very nice and cheerful, and is also a mentally-damaged Death Seeker who will try to kill anyone who gets in the way of his revenge.
• Cute Bruiser: Don't be fooled by his young and fair appearance. Even with his stature, he's more than capable of kicking the asses of men who are much taller and larger than him.
• Death by Adaptation: While his fate is left in ambiguous in any route that isn't either his own or Shiki's, the webcomic explicitly kills him off halfway through the story by having Rin get fatally wounded in his encounter with Shiki (unlike in the visual novel, where Rin survived but was left an emotional mess).
• Death Seeker: He wants to kill Shiki and avenge his friends... or die trying.
• Dual Wielding: Rin fights with a pair of stilettos during combat and is surprisingly deadly with them.
• Dude Looks Like a Lady: The text of the novel states that he is a "girl" until Akira observes him more closely.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: He is extremely friendly and generous to Akira and Keisuke, even trading his own tags for supplies when they are injured. This is eventually subverted when he stabs Akira in the back and takes his tags to face Il-Re, and especially when he's revealed to be the leader of an infamously violent Bl@ster team with a terrible track record.
• He Is All Grown Up: Rin undergoes quite the growth spurt in his good ending, even managing to surpass Akira in terms of height.
• Icy Blue Eyes/Innocent Blue Eyes: Depending on his current state of mind, the look in Rin's eyes can shift between the former and the latter.
• Killed Offscreen: Rin gets killed in Shiki's route, which is confirmed in the scene where Akira observes Shiki tossing away a pair of daggers.
• Mr. Exposition: Rin helps explain to Akira and Keisuke the other details about Igra and the people behind it.
• Locked Out of the Loop: Besides his connection to Shiki, Rin is the only member of the main cast who has no involvement with anything regarding Project Nicole, which also explains why he fades out of the story in every other route that isn't his own.
• Never Be Hurt Again: Being betrayed by Shiki, losing his First Love, as well as being shunned by his surviving teammates had left Rin immensely burdened with both guilt and grief, resulting in him keeping some emotional distance between the people he gets attached to out of the fear that they'll either die on him or turn on him. If he's the love interest, Akira eventually talks him out of this mindset by promising that he'll never betray him.
• No Sense of Personal Space: During his first encounter with Akira and Keisuke, he happily huddles up with them, one on each arm, making the two feel rather uncomfortable.
• Pintsized Powerhouse: He's the shortest and youngest member of the cast, but he can easily defeat several Igra participants. At once. Though Akira and Keisuke never get to witness the fight, they do see him none the worse for wear while surrounded by a group of larger and bulkier fighters, all of whom are knocked out.
• The Power of Trust: This trope plays a huge role in his relationship with Akira, if his route is taken. Beneath that quirky persona of his lies a huge amount of trust issues, since when Akira assures him that he won't turn on him, Rin vehemently tries to cut him off or deny his statements out of fear.
• Red Baron: As the leader of the now-defunct Bl@ster team "Pesca Corsica", Rin's moniker was "Koat".
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Rin wants to kill Shiki for murdering his Bl@ster teammates.
• Stepford Smiler: On the surface, he appears almost suspiciously as a cheerful, upbeat person in a Crapsack World. Later in the story, it is revealed that his friends have been killed by Shiki, who also happens to be his older half-brother, and Rin's reason for participating in Igra is to exact his revenge.
• Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Throughout his route, the two sides become so extreme that Akira begins wondering which is the real Rin.
• Survivor Guilt: Rin is both mentally and emotionally burdened at the memory of Shiki killing his friends, which happened because Shiki emotionally manipulated Rin, allowing Rin to carelessly tell his half-brother where his other teammates were hiding. As a result, Akira and the Power of Trust are needed before Rin can get over his guilt by the end of his route.
• Tragic Keepsake: In his ending, Rin keeps Shiki's sword after killing the latter, then gives it to Akira as proof that he can finally let go of his past and move on with his life.
• Uncanny Family Resemblance: Rin is essentially Shiki with a Palette Swap, as best shown in his good ending, where he's now physically mature after a five-year Time Skip.
• Unstoppable Rage: Whenever he's taken over by his desire for revenge, Rin becomes scarily aggressive and fierce, and his temper can easily be likened to a ticking time bomb.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: With the exception of Shiki's route as well as his own, it's never revealed what becomes of Rin by the end of the game.

Motomi

Motomi (源泉)

Voiced by: Kazuya Ichijō

"What do you want to protect? A person, a thing, or you yourself? Wanting to protect something is important, but it's pointless if you do it for your own satisfaction."

An older man living in Toshima as an information broker.

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• Affectionate Gesture to the Head: In Motomi's first appearance, he gives Akira, Keisuke and Rin a good pat on the head as a friendly gesture. In both his and Rin's routes, Motomi continues doing the same thing to Akira to show his concern for the younger man.
• Beware the Silly Ones: Upon first glance, Motomi doesn't seem all that threatening, what with his relaxed and oftentimes teasing demeanor. Even then, just because he's not inclined to violence doesn't mean he's afraid of resorting to it when worse comes to worst.
• Big Damn Heroes: In Rin's route, Motomi arrives just in time to help Akira and Rin escape from the Palace by bombing the arena, creating a distraction that's loud and chaotic enough for them to slip by unnoticed.
• Brainy Brunette: He's an information broker, which means that he knows plenty of things that many others are willing to pay money for. He also used to work in pharmaceutics, and that aside, he's also proven to be intelligent enough to have been selected by ENED as one of their researchers. He's also sharp enough to correctly deduce that Akira is a result of Project Nicole and that Emma contacted Akira and sent him to lure out Nano simply from seeing Akira's communicator and from hearing what Akira had told him about other Rein users having an allergic reaction to his blood.
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: While he's not that eccentric, his laid-back personality can often belie the fact that nothing slips past him. There's also how luck is almost always on his side due to his ability to keep calm and to always think three steps ahead. He is an information broker, after all.
• Cool Old Guy: Motomi is a textbook example of the trope. He's the oldest of the main cast, and while he's no fighter, his information-gathering skills and his ability to keep a good head on his shoulders even when under pressure is what allows him to survive in almost every route.
• Curtains Match the Window: Similar to Keisuke, Motomi's hair and eyes have the same dark brown color.
• Defector from Decadence: Motomi used to work for ENED, though he had no idea that the organization was dabbling in human experimentation. He only learns of the truth the hard way after Nano escaped, which resulted in the death of Motomi's son. Ever since then, Motomi made it his mission to find Nano and put him down to ensure that the government cannot continue their experimentations and cause any more unnecessary bloodshed.
• Hero Antagonist
• Hidden Depths: Motomi's ending reveals that he has some skill in drawing. While he's no master, his sketches are decent enough that Akira thinks Motomi should use them in some of his articles.
• Hyper-Awareness: Motomi possesses a sharp eye and can notice even the smallest of details and make an at least semi-correct conclusion from his observations. Likewise, he's also proved to be adept at reading people.
• Ignored Expert: Motomi warns Keisuke about the dangers of taking Rein, how joining Igra on a whim won't do any good for anyone let alone himself, how there's no point in wanting to protect someone who doesn't want to be protected in the first place, and that nothing will come from forcing his feelings on someone else. All these words of wisdom go in one ear and out the other for Keisuke, and in every other route that isn't his own, the younger man ends up paying the price for it.
• Intrepid Reporter: In the aftermath of his ending, Motomi uses his newfound job as a journalist as an opportunity to uncover and expose everything about ENED and RABBIT. This gets him in danger a few times, since even with Project Nicole being discontinued, there still are existing members of both companies that are determined to keep their dirty secrets hidden.
• Knowledge Broker: Motomi states he is an information broker, but the player rarely sees him giving information other than common knowledge about Igra to the protagonists. This is until the player takes his route, where he has an audience with Arbitro and uses previously unknown information to interrogate him. Likewise, he reveals even more information to Akira about Project Nicole, and it comes complete with the romantic subtext.
• The Medic: Before coming to Toshima, Motomi used to work at a pharmaceuticals company, then worked as both a mercenary and a medic during the Third Division.
• Mr. Exposition: In his route, Motomi takes both Arbitro and Emma's place in telling Akira everything about ENED, Project Nicole, and how Akira's blood is modified to counteract the Nicole Virus.
• Must Have Nicotine: Motomi is practically a chain smoker, and is almost always seen with a cigarette in his mouth.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Motomi was only one of the rank-and-file researchers who had no idea about ENED's top-secret experiments, particularly the ones involving Project Nicole, but the fact that he was involved at all still leaves him both guilt-stricken and horrified, especially since it indirectly resulted in his son and wife's deaths.
• My Greatest Failure: Motomi considers his (albeit unwitting) participation in ENED's experiments to be his gravest mistake. In his mind, had he never agreed to work for the organization, neither his son nor his wife would have met tragic ends.
• Nerves of Steel: Whether he's casually talking to the Executioners or confronting Arbitro even with a dozen men training their guns on him, Motomi shows zero fear whatsoever and doesn't flinch or sweat at any threat thrown his way.
• Non-Action Guy: He chooses to be an information broker instead of participating in Igra. However, he still keeps a handgun for self-defense.
• Not So Above It All: In spite of his age, he's still prone to acting a bit childish whenever he's caught off-guard.
• Only Sane Man: He's the only person in the main cast who isn't obsessive, craves killing, mentally wounded from past events (at least not unhealthily so), or apathetic towards things which should be important to them, which further cements his status as the Cool Old Guy. He's also generally one of the most level-headed and stable Nitro+CHiRAL love interests.
• Outliving One's Offspring: His son was killed by Nano when the latter escaped from ENED.
• Papa Wolf: Part of the reason why Motomi informed ENED about Arbitro's fetishes was because he imagined — and feared — the scenario of Arbitro mutilating his own son.
• Perma-Stubble: Motomi's face is a bit unshaven, further accentuating his overall scruffy appearance. This is all the more noticeable since everyone else seems to be well-shaved.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Subverted. Even though Nano is responsible for his son's death and indirectly for his wife's, Motomi doesn't want to kill Nano for revenge. Rather, he wants to do it in order to stop the spread of Rein.
• Seen It All: Being the oldest of the main cast, practically nothing fazes him, giving the impression that he's already witnessed plenty of the horrors that mankind has to offer before, during and after the Third Division. Given that Motomi once fought in a war and used to be a scientist at ENED, this would be more than correct.
• The Smart Guy: Motomi is extremely knowledgeable about both Igra and the people controlling it. He used to work as a researcher in ENED, and thus has access to information he can use as leads to investigate further.
• The Stool Pigeon: Motomi was the one who got Arbitro fired from ENED after finding out about his perverse hobbies, and this is the reason why Arbitro has a seething hatred towards him.
• The Tease: If Motomi is the chosen love interest, he's shown to often take delight in poking fun at Akira because of how easily the other gets worked up and flustered.
• Throw the Dog a Bone: He's still confirmed to get a happy ending in Rin's route, with the epilogue confirming that he fulfills his dream of becoming a journalist (which also happens in his own route) and is traveling the world while still keeping in touch with Akira once in a while.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: While he's confirmed to survive all the way to the end in his, Rin's and Nano's routes, his fate is left unknown in both Keisuke and Shiki's routes.

Shiki

Shiki (シキ)

Voiced by: Hikaru Midorikawa

"Emotions are merely an obstacle. All you need is your own strength, perfectly honed. And nothing else."

A powerful and feared man who mysteriously appears in front of Igra participants and kills them.

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• Aloof Big Brother: To Rin, with the aloof part being a huge understatement. Even long before he betrayed Rin's trust, in spite of the latter's admiration of him, Shiki never bothered to give his younger brother any form of acknowledgement.
• Badass Longcoat: Shiki wears a black longcoat of pure leather, which accents his mysterious and imposing status as an unbeatable fighter regarded with fear by all.
• Cain and Abel: Morality-wise, he's the Cain to Rin's Abel, but in terms of who plans to kill who, the roles are switched. Though he becomes the Cain once more when he kills Rin in his route.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Fight him, and expect it to be extremely one-sided. Even though Akira was able to hold his ground for a while, he was eventually overpowered. Rin couldn't lay a scratch on him either. The only one who could hold out against Shiki in a fair fight, and even turn the tides, is Nano.
• The Dreaded: His presence makes almost everyone who sees him run in fear. Not that he would let them leave alive...
• Drunk with Power: Should Shiki choose to drink Nano's blood (which leads to both of his bad endings), he becomes determined to attain more power and subsequently takes control over Japan as a tyrannical dictator.
• Empty Shell: In his good ending, Shiki manages to kill Nano without drinking the latter's blood. But right after he fells Nano, Shiki is struck with the realization that he has nothing left to live or fight for, and becomes catatonic as a result. However, the drama CD hints that he's slowly waking up.
• Even Evil Has Standards: While it's probably more out of personal taste than a sense of morality, even Shiki is disgusted by the "modifications" Arbitro makes to the boys in his collections.
• Final Boss: Shiki has this status In-Universe, since he is none other than Il-Re, who has to be defeated to win Igra.
• I Love You Because I Can't Control You: If he's the chosen love interest, with each time he and Akira cross paths, he shows fascination towards Akira's unwillingness to surrender to him. He even tells Akira outright that he's intrigued at Akira's defiance and stubborn will, and while he likes toying with Akira, he's not all that interested in actually breaking Akira since he enjoys it much more when Akira puts up a fight against him.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: In his good ending, Shiki guides Akira through an underground passageway that leads to the outskirts of Toshima, to which he then tells Akira to go where he wants since he knows that it's only a matter of time until he becomes an Empty Shell as a result of losing his one drive for living. Even then, Akira decides to stay by Shiki's side and look after him until he regains himself once more.
• Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: Even if he had any slightly sympathetic traits, one can count the total number of them with only one hand.
• Katanas Are Just Better: Shiki's weapon of choice is a long katana, and he's frequently shown slicing Igra participants with hardly any effort, whether they're armed or not, or even whether or not they're empowered by the effects of Rein.
• Killed Offscreen:
  • Rin finally gets to settle his score with Shiki in his ending, even carrying his katana as a Tragic Keepsake.
  • It's also hinted that he dies in Nano's route, as shown in one scene where Akira sees Nano tossing aside a bloodied katana, and Shiki is the only character who wields such a weapon.
• Lima Syndrome: In his route, he starts to harbor an attachment to Akira after having taken the latter as his captive for some time. Proof that he has begun to see Akira as more than a plaything is shown in both his bad endings, where he declares his intention to keep Akira at his side no matter what and never takes anyone else as his partner or his plaything. And in his good ending, Shiki shows Akira one rare act of selfless compassion by leading him to safety when civil war finally breaks out in Toshima.
• Pet the Dog: He shows a more human side in his good ending, bittersweet it may be.
  • When Arbitro attempts to drain Nano's blood dry, Shiki stops the man from doing so and gives Nano the closest thing to a proper burial.
  • Shiki shows Akira the way out of Toshima and tells him to go wherever he likes, with no ulterior motive or expectation whatsoever. He even goes as far as trying to, in his own way, comfort Akira when the latter starts brooding about his blood.
• Red and Black and Evil All Over: He's easily distinguishable due to his red eyes and being completely clad in black, and while the extent of how evil he is can be debatable, he's definitely not one of the good guys.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: One of Shiki's most defining features is his blood red eyes, which stand out from his color scheme, and everyone In-Universe unanimously agrees that they'd be extremely lucky to never cross paths with him.
• Secret Character: His route is only unlocked after the player has completed Rin's route. In turn, Shiki's route needs to be completed for the player to access Nano's ending.
• Vengeance Feels Empty: In his good ending, Shiki chooses not to drink Nano's blood. But after killing him, Shiki loses the will to live since most of his life, he was focused solely on defeating Nano. From then on, he becomes unresponsive to everything and everyone.
• Violently Protective Girlfriend: Gender-inverted. In a sense, the trope still applies to Shiki, since he still is one of Akira's love interests. In the climax of his route, when Akira is left at the mercy of either Emma and Gwen or Arbitro and the Executioners, Shiki immediately makes his presence known by killing the former two in a single stroke and quickly pulling Akira away from the Executioners' grip. Then when Arbitro threatens to have Akira killed in the good ending, Shiki responds by pointing his sword at the man's throat and warning him to back off.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: While Shiki's death is confirmed in Rin and Nano's routes, whatever becomes of him in Keisuke and Motomi's routes is never revealed.

Nano

Nano (ナノ)

Voiced by: Takumi Yamazaki ^note  Credited as Prof. Shiryuu

"I do not know what you mean when you speak of possibilities. The path I must take, everything I must do, has been laid out before me from the very start."

A mysterious man who is being pursued by Emma and Gwen.

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• Because You Were Nice to Me: The reason why Nano is attached to Akira is because he's the only one who showed any kindness towards him in the past and treated him like a human being.
• Beneath Notice: Even though his appearance by itself stands out, his quiet personality also allows him to blend in with the crowd so well that no one around him seems to notice he's even there. And even in more open spaces, he can seemingly appear and disappear before anyone realizes it, much like how a ghost would.
• Charles Atlas Superpower: He's capable of effortlessly holding a man and strangling him with one hand despite his scrawny physique. This is because he is the product of Project Nicole, which intended to create the ultimate soldier, and he's the only test subject to show 100% compatibility with the Nicole Virus.
• Cloudcuckoolander: Spending most of his time in a lab caused him to have a very limited knowledge on basic living. For instance, he survives on eating tree bark, and in an attempt to eat a Solid, he forgets to remove the wrapper first.
• The Corrupter: He's the one who convinced Takeru to take Rein.
• Covered with Scars: His body and arms are full of ghastly scars, which is telling of the years he spent as a test subject for ENED.
• Creepy Monotone: Nano talks in a blank tone, and his manner of speech is overall slow and unhurried. In Shiki's route, he does talk at a somewhat faster pace with more emotion in his voice. Likewise, both his tone and his speech become more animated in his own ending.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: He doesn't look like much of a threat at first glance, which makes it more surprising when it's revealed just how dangerous he actually is.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: No one has any chance of winning against him, not even Shiki. The only reason he even dies in Shiki's route is because he lets it happen.
• Dork in a Sweater: Zigzagged. Nano wears a brown cardigan, but he's nowhere near as harmless as he seems. Even then, when he's around Akira and is in a situation where neither of them is endangered, Nano shows a clueless and strangely innocent side.
• Dye or Die: In his ending, he dyes his hair black to blend in better, since he and Akira have become fugitives and are on the run from the military.
• Emotionless Guy: This is explained by the manipulation of his genetic features in Project Nicole, which resulted in the suppression of his emotions, allowing him to become invincible as per the goal of the project.
• Empty Eyes: Almost every route has Akira observe that Nano's eyes are often devoid of light, which reflects how he's also devoid of emotion. In his own route, Shiki also comments that there is nothing that he can find whenever he'd look into Nano's eyes.
• The Fatalist: Nano's history as a Living Weapon and a guinea pig for the government had stripped him of anything resembling choice or free will, leaving him with the broken belief that everything is inevitable and predestined. He has a "what was is what will be" point of view and believes that he cannot choose his own fate or break free of his current predicament, which reflects his detachment from his humanity.
• A God I Am Not: Invoked; when Shiki accuses Nano of being so arrogant that he sees himself as a god, Nano denies the accusation by saying that none of their actions — including his own — matter in the grand scheme of things.
  Nano: My individual actions do not have the power to change a single thing. None of it adds up to more than a scant fistful of sand, no more than dust in the wind.
• Humans Are Bastards: Nano possesses such a belief, stating that humans bring about their own destruction time and again as a result of their own hubris and greed. Though to be fair, he says that he doesn't consider himself an exception.
• Hyper-Awareness: His amplified physical capabilities also leaves him with senses far sharper than that of the average human, allowing him to sense the presence of any human even from a far distance.
• The Immune: While Nano carries the Nicole Virus in his blood, he doesn't suffer any adverse reaction when he tastes Akira's blood, which counteracts the virus circulating through his own body. Similarly, nothing happens to Akira when he tastes a few drops of Nano's blood.. At most, both only feel an electrifying sensation run through their skin whenever they come in physical contact.
• In a Single Bound: Nano's physical capabilities are enhanced to the point that he can jump great distances and even withstand falling from a great height without fear of suffering any potential injuries.
• I Shall Taunt You: He would throw a few Armor Piercing Questions, Hannibal Lectures, and Breaking Speeches at Shiki whenever they cross paths.
• Knew It All Along: At the climax of his route, he reveals that he always recognized Akira as the same boy who approached him years ago, and the only thing he didn't know about until later in the game was that Akira's blood carried the cure for the Nicole Virus.
• Lack of Empathy: The cold environment that Nano spent most of his life in has left him almost completely incapable of feeling compassion or even understanding why others would feel sorrow. In the aftermath of his ending, this trope is gradually subverted. While he still has yet to fully grasp the concept of every different emotion, he nevertheless has taken his first steps to understanding what it feels like to cherish someone and to show concern for them.
• Living Weapon: Nano was used by the CFC's government as a One-Man Army to sic on their enemies before and during the Third Division. He is even referred to as such a few times In-Universe. This is refers to his brutal strength and unparalleled battle skill, but it's also a nod to how he's been conditioned for years to fight and kill for others, and was never given the chance to think for himself.
• Misery Poker: Regardless of the outcome, in their final confrontation, Nano tells Shiki that he can never hope to beat him no matter how he tries because Nano had to undergo all kinds of suffering to attain the strength he has now, whereas Shiki had never gone through such similar tribulations, even with everything that Shiki had done and witnessed throughout the war.
• Non-Specifically Foreign: His light brown hair and blue eyes is a clear sign that he's not of Japanese origins, or at least not fully. Akira even remarks on how foreign he looks.
• No Sense of Personal Space: There are times when he can suddenly be clingy, and really clingy at that; though this is only reserved for Akira.
• One-Man Army: Being a Living Weapon and the most successful result of a human experimentation project geared toward creating human super-soldiers, it's only a given that Nano can face against an entire battalion and come out as the victor with nary a scratch on him.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: Both Nano and Nicole Premier are only his code names, and while he does reveal his real name to Akira at the end of his route, the scene fades to the credits before the player can hear him say it. Even then, the short stories have Akira still call Nano by his code name since he feels that Nano's real name is too sacred to just use so casually.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
  • There's one memorable instance in Shiki's route where Nano laughs, and it's quite creepy. Though what's creepy isn't with how Nano is laughing, but with the fact that he's laughing.
  • What makes Motomi finally back down from killing Nano in the latter's route is when Nano takes the initiative to protect Akira and tell Motomi to not get in their way]]. It's especially the newfound resolve that's palpable in Nano's words and expression which leaves Motomi stunned.
• Out of Focus: Even before his route is unlocked, Nano still plays an important role in the other routes... except for Rin's, that is, since he doesn't appear again after the scene where he finds Takeru's corpse.
• Phlebotinum Rebel: Nano was experimented on by ENED for years in order to create the perfect human Super-Soldier, and was oftentimes deployed into war. One day, however, he suddenly broke free and escaped the laboratory, and is now currently lurking around Toshima.
• Purple Is Powerful: Nano has pale blue eyes that occasionally glow purple, which is an indicator of both his mysterious nature and how he's a lot stronger than he first appears to be.
• Rage Breaking Point: What incited Nano into escaping from the facility was when he heard some scientists talk about how they've partly made great progress with researching his vitals thanks to his interactions with Emma. Brought to despair and anger out of the belief that the only human connection he had whilst in the laboratory was no more than a farce, he broke free of his confines and killed everyone in the facility during his escape.
• Secret Character: He's the final love interest, and can only be pursued once the player has gone through everyone else's routes.
• Single-Target Sexuality: Given how Akira is the only person who ever treated Nano like a human being without any compulsion from outside forces (unlike Emma, who also genuinely cared for Nano but was also working under ENED's orders), Nano cannot see himself desiring or caring for anyone else but Akira. One of the short stories in the novel even says as such.
• The Stoic: Nano shows little to no emotion both in his expression and in his speech.
• Sugar-and-Ice Personality: By default, he's mysterious, emotionless and apathetic; but he shows a softer and slightly more expressive side whenever Akira is concerned.
• Super-Speed: Enhanced strength aside, Nano can also move really fast to the point that he's even thought to be teleporting.
• Super-Strength: He's strong enough to lift a fully-grown man with only one hand and toss heavy objects at other people with ease.
• These Hands Have Killed: Near the end of his route, Nano takes the first step to regaining his long-lost humanity by acknowledging how many lives he had taken when he was still the government's living weapon and even after he had escaped ENED's clutches.
• Thou Shalt Not Kill: Nano makes the vow to never take another human life at the end of his route, and carves cross-shaped wounds on the back of his hands as an eternal reminder.
  • One of the short stories goes into more detail on how Nano gave himself the aforementioned scars. Whilst fleeing from the government's men, Nano is forced to fight against a group of soldiers when he and Akira are cornered. While he makes sure to not kill them, his attacks are still devastating enough to leave debilitating injuries. Nano notices that this bothers Akira— to which he then promises to neither kill nor hurt anyone else.
• Tragic Keepsake: Akira's knife, which Nano had given to him years ago, originally belonged to Nano's father. It is the only memento of his family that Nano got to bring with him when he was taken away by the government.
• Typhoid Mary: Nano is Nicole Premier, whose blood is the carrier of the Nicole Virus and the source of Rein.
• When He Smiles: At the end of his route, Akira is left speechless when Nano — for the very first time in his life — shows the younger man a gentle smile upon being asked about his real name.
• Wild Card: A lot of the characters, both on the moral and the immoral side, are after Nano for their own respective reasons, which partly explains why Nano acts on his own. And while some of Nano's actions result in Akira nearly losing his life (even if it is not necessarily what Nano intended), Nano never once becomes Akira's enemy and will even opt to aid the man when needed in some routes.
• Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Being used as a lab rat and subjected to all kinds of experiments in order to push his mental and physical capacities past their limits for as long as he can remember makes it clear to anyone who knows even that much about Nano can only begin to imagine how much he suffered and why it has deeply affected him so. This doesn't stop the government from trying to capture him to make use of him, and his lamentation over his situation is why Nano allows his blood to be distributed around even beyond the streets of Toshima.
  Nano: I scorned those who flocked toward my blood. I thought: "If you want it, I will give you as much as you like. Drown in it, and destroy yourselves." ...And I hoped I would be destroyed with them.

Yukihito

Yukihito (ユキヒト)

Voiced by: Hiroshi Kamiya

"You're quite defenseless to enter an anonymous place all by yourself like this. Have you ever considered all the dangers that might be awaiting you here?"

A character exclusive only to Togainu no Chi: True Blood. He once participated in Bl@ster, the same as Akira. He seeks to take down the Japanese government, which is also his reason for joining Igra.

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• Artists Are Attractive: He likes to draw and is also good-looking.
• Best Friend: He is close friends with Touya, the leader of their group.
• Canon Foreigner: He appears only in Togainu no Chi: True Blood, the PS2 port of the original game. However, he becomes a Canon Immigrant in the CHiRAL Night 10th Anniversary event, where he meets Mizuki, who shares the same status as him. Both of them have their own route in an Updated Re Release of the game, where there's additional cutscenes and CGs but with the catch of the sexual and gory content being toned down. However, Mizuki already appeared in the original game while Yukihito is a new character who appears only in the Video Game Remake.
• Cope by Creating: His drawing is actually his way of coping with the nightmares he would have from being experimented on when he was a child.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Like Akira, Nano and Keisuke, Yukihito is yet another of the test subjects for Project Nicole. Unlike most other children, who were subjected to Laser-Guided Amnesia before being "released", Yukihito remembers everything about his time as a lab rat.
• Fiery Redhead: Averted, he's actually quite calm and calculated.
• Meaningful Name: His name is Yukihito, which means "snow person", which matches his calm personality.
• The Not-Love Interest: While he naturally has his own route in True Blood, no romance develops between him and Akira. While there are hints of a Ship Tease here and there, the route ends with them being more like Platonic Life-Partners. That being said, a bonus scene from the CHIRAL Night 5th Anniversary concert has Yukihito admitting that he's starting to have feelings for Akira, leaving the hint that they may undergo a Relationship Upgrade in the future.

Supporting Characters

Vischio

Arbitro

Arbitro (アルビトロ)

Voiced by: Kousuke Okano ^note  Credited as Masaru Hishi

A high-up of the drug syndicate Vischio, which is responsible for distributing Rein.

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• Berserk Button:
  • Arbitro is quick to get irked whenever someone mocks his tastes. Similarly, he also doesn't take it well whenever anyone tarnishes or destroys his furniture, which Motomi fearlessly exploits whilst interrogating Arbitro.
  • The very sight of Motomi immediately makes Arbitro lose all composure. This is because Motomi got Arbitro fired from ENED when he discovered the latter's hobby of mutilating young boys.
• Blackmail: In True Blood, Arbitro kidnaps Touya's teammates in order to force him to surrender Akira. Unfortunately for Arbitro, while Touya does hand over Akira to him, it's only so that he and Yukihito can rescue Akira later.
• Bring My Brown Pants: In one of Shiki's bad endings, Arbitro wets himself as Shiki slowly goes in for the kill.
• Depraved Homosexual: Arbitro doesn't hide the fact that he's into only men. He also counts as a cross between a pedophile and an ephebophile, since he takes interest particularly in prepubescent boys, but he also shows interest in men of a slightly older age if they still look youthful enough for his tastes.
• Evil Makeover: Believe it or not, Arbitro didn't always look so garish. According to Motomi, he used to have short, black hair, wore glasses, and sported a lab coat while he worked at ENED.
• Faux Affably Evil: He is extraordinarily polite and invites Akira to dinner, offering him some bread... laced with drugs.
• Freudian Excuse: His parents' neglect of him in favor of gathering other young children to rape and abuse left Arbitro wanting his own collection of "dolls" to play with.
• Impossibly Tacky Clothes: Akira's first impression of him is how bad his taste in clothing is. Many other characters also point out that his sense of style is rather crude and garish.
• Mr. Exposition:
  • In-Universe, Arbitro serves this role to all new participants of Igra, since he's the one who gives them their starting tags and explains to them the rules of Igra.
  • In Keisuke's route, Arbitro tells Akira that his blood carries the anti-Nicole Virus, which explains why any Rein users who drink Akira's blood have violent seizures shortly afterwards.
• Nightmare Fuel Station Attendant: Arbitro's gaudy tastes are reflected in both his clothing and all the furniture and statues he owns in the Palace, and no one has anything complimentary to say about it, often remarking how it gives them the creeps. The narration even goes so far as to call Arbitro the "king of kitsch".
• Off with His Head!: After gaining an increase in both power and insanity in his bad endings, Shiki beheads Arbitro in a single strike.
• Out of Focus: Putting aside the events from the common route, Arbitro doesn't make any additional appearances in Nano's route.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: In Keisuke's route, he and his men make themselves scarce after Nano causes chaos around Toshima by distributing undiluted Rein, with Arbitro noting that the civil war is also close at hand and he has no plans staying around and waiting for the bombs to start dropping on the city. Likewise, he also flees with his men near the climax of Motomi's route.
• Sissy Villain: Arbitro helps run Vischio and has many sadistic fixations. He also swishes about in a feather boa, has a very flashy and tacky sense of style, collects statues of naked young boys, and is oftentimes flamboyant and theatrical with the way he acts.
• Uncertain Doom: Given that Arbitro is still in the arena when Motomi sets off the explosives he had rigged in the place, whether the man made it out alive or not is left in the air, especially since both the CFC and Nikkouren finally decide to openly go at war right in Toshima itself the day after.

The Executioners

Gunji (グンジ) and Kiriwar (キリヲ)

Gunji voiced by: Kissho Taniyama ^note  Credited as Kazuya Sugisaki
Kiriwar voiced by: Katsuyuki Konishi ^note  Credited as Bakuhatsu Fuji

Gunji (left), Kiriwar (right)

Gunji and Kiriwar are men men hired by Arbitro to enforce the rules of Igra, often through violent means. They are somewhat irresponsible and use whatever they can as an excuse to kill people randomly for fun.

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• Ax-Crazy: Their penchant for violence, as well as their lack of brains, makes it very palpable that there's nothing screwed right in their heads.
• Beware the Silly Ones: They may not have much in the way of smarts, but they are still as every bit as dangerous as the others warn them to be.
• The Big Guy: When taking into account the confirmed heights of every single character in all Nitro+CHiRAL games, it's both Gunji and Kiriwar who come out as the tallest of the lot, standing at an impressive height of 195 and 200 cm, respectively. This helps enhance their intimidating status as the Executioners.
• But for Me, It Was Tuesday: Igra participants make a big deal of how they randomly kill people for fun. However, the Executioners themselves shrug it off and pay no mind to it, since their hunts are no more than just fun games for them.
• Cleanup Crew: Besides killing any rule-breakers, the Executioners are also in charge of disposing any corpses littering the streets of Toshima.
• The Dreaded: The Executioners have free rein to kill any Igra participant whether said participant actually broke the rules or not. They're also sadistic, strong and difficult to shake off, so it's only expected that everyone would be wary of the duo.
• Dumb Muscle: They are extremely strong fighters, able to kill a standard Igra participant with hardly any effort. However, Gunji is dimwitted and has the mentality of a five year-old, and Kiriwar confuses cats with dogs.
• I Call It "Vera": Kiriwar refers to his pipe as "Mitsuko."
• I'm a Humanitarian: Kiriwar is implied to indulge in the human flesh in a certain way in his bad ending, with him mentioning to Akira how human meat can taste especially delicious under specific conditions.
• Laughing Mad: Gunji can really sound psychotic at times when he lets loose with laughter.
• Murderers Are Rapists: They mostly murder for fun, but every once in the while, they help themselves with anyone who's unlucky enough to be their victim if said victim happens to appeal to their tastes.
• The Nicknamer: Gunji has nicknames for practically everyone; "Ji-ji" (old man) for Kiriwar, "Papa" for Arbitro, and "Shikitty" for Shiki. However, the best example of this trope is when he starts calling Akira "Neko-chan" (which means kitty or kitten).
• Pipe Pain: Kiriwar's weapon of choice is a pipe, which he uses to bash in the skulls of either rule-breakers or anyone else he feels like killing.
• Psychopathic Manchild: They're erratic and speak with childish mannerisms... while beating the living daylights out of anyone they encounter. Gunji qualifies for the trope more than Kiriwar does, with him often talking almost exactly the way a child would.
• Super-Persistent Predator: Once they've set their eyes on a victim, they won't stop chasing after said victim, ever. If they give up, it's only so that they can have fun going after the unfortunate guy some other day.
• Wolverine Claws: Gunji fights with a pair of long-bladed gauntlets which he uses to slice and carve his victims.

Kau

Kau (狗)

Voiced by: N/A

A heavily mutilated boy who Arbitro keeps as a pet.

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• Eye Scream: Part of Kau's body modifications involved the removal of his eyeballs, hence why he wears a blindfold.
• Happiness in Slavery: Arbitro's very careful and thorough conditioning have made Kau lose all sense of humanity, with the only thing left being his unconditional devotion to his owner.
• Malevolent Mutilation: Aside from having his eyes removed, there's the large criss-cross scar across his chest, and piercings covering his torso. Arbitro also removed his vocal chords and his eyes purely for his sense of aesthetics.
• The Nose Knows: Kau has a very sharp sense of smell, and is often brought around by the Executioners to detect any rule-breakers, particularly those who are carrying a suspicious set of tags.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: It's unlikely that Kau is his real name, given that Kau (狗) means "dog" in Japanese, which ties a little too well with what Arbitro had made of him.
• Running on All Fours: The kind of training Kau had undergone left him behaving exactly like a dog, all the way to how he would move around.
• Stripperific: He wears black skin-tight leather gear that evokes the image of latex outfits used for BDSM.
• The Voiceless: Besides some breathing noises, Kau doesn't speak since Arbitro had taken away his larynx.

Igra Participants

Takeru

Takeru (猛)

Voiced by: Hideki Ogihara ^note  Credited as Takezou Koike

"Guys like you would never understand. Drifting aimlessly wherever the wind takes you. You don't have a care in the world, huh? Bet you never thought there might be people who'd give anything for a taste of what you threw away."

He is also a player in Igra. His main goal is to defeat Il-Re and use the prize money to save his family from poverty.

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• Big Brother Instinct: The reason Takeru joined Igra was to win the prize money and ensure a better life for his little sister, Yukari. Although they aren't related by blood, this does nothing to change the fact that they deeply care for each other.
• Cruel and Unusual Death: A Rein-crazed Keisuke kills Takeru by barehandedly crushing his skull into a bloody pulp.
• Delinquent Hair: His hair is spiky and dyed blue, but a flashback shows that it wasn't always spiky and his hair color was originally brown. Said flashback also covers the night that he left for Toshima, which meant that Takeru got into his current get-up some time after joining Igra.
• Eyepatch of Power: He wears an eyepatch over his right eye, and he gives Akira trouble a few times throughout the common route, before and after taking Rein.
• Honey Trap: He often resorts to seducing unwitting men to get their tags.
• Memento MacGuffin: His cross necklace is from his sister, Yukari.
• Motive Decay: He joined Igra in order to earn money that would make him and his foster family set for life. As time goes on, he loses sight of his original goal, especially after taking Rein, to which then his goal changes to both taking over Vischio and killing Akira, who he developed an Irrational Hatred for.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: He wants payback against Il-Re, the supposed circulator of Rein, the drug which he holds responsible for the degradation of his family, especially his mother. He loses sight of his goal, however, when he takes Rein himself and becomes both bloodthirsty and power-hungry.
• Sacrificial Lion: He is a powerful fighter, able to go toe-to-toe with Akira, and was a former Bl@ster fighter who had accumulated a win streak prior to quitting and joining Igra. He survives in Toshima on his own, unlike others who are part of a small gang who tend to look out for each other. Despite this, he is convinced to take a dosage of pure and undiluted Rein, only to have it painfully neutralized by Akira's blood. In his weakened state, he is promptly killed by a Rein-addled Keisuke. This is the first major indicator that Toshima is dangerous for reasons other than Igra.

Tomoyuki

Tomoyuki (トモユキ)

Voiced by: Yuichi Nakamura

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• Fiery Redhead: His orange hair color is artificial rather than natural, but it does well to complement his crass and rather unpleasant personality.
• Jerkass: He "greets" Rin by being derisive and harsh with his words, and he doesn't take kindly to Akira even when the latter has done nothing to offend him.
• We Used to Be Friends: Both Tomoyuki and Rin were in the same Bl@ster team, though their relationship irreparably soured after plenty of their teammates were killed by Shiki.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: He's last mentioned to have been leaking information to Arbitro about Akira and Rin's whereabouts, but Tomoyuki's fate after Motomi bombs the Palace and both sides of Japan finally go at war with each other in Toshima is left for the audience to guess.

Touya

Touya (トウヤ)

Voiced by: Kentarō Itō

Another exclusive character from Togainu no Chi: True Blood. Yukihito's friend and leader of their group.

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• Best Friend: His close friend is Yukihito.
• Canon Foreigner: Like Yukihito, he only appears in True Blood.
• Heroic Sacrifice: In Yukihito's route, he stays behind to give Yukihito and Akira time to escape from the Executioners. He survives, though he sustained many injuries.

Miscellaneous

Emma

Emma (エマ)

Voiced by: Asako Dodo ^note  Credited as Kaori Okuda

"We aren't responsible for maintaining law and order, but rather, for eliminating those who would disturb it."

A mysterious woman who approaches Akira, offering him freedom from prison in exchange for his participation in Igra.

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• Apologetic Attacker: Emma is not all too happy about having to shoot Gwen dead when he opposes her attempts to put down Nano and Akira. In Keisuke's route, Akira sees her muttering something akin to an apology, although he's unsure if he's only seeing things.
• An Arm and a Leg: She's missing her lower left arm, since Nano tore it off when he escaped from ENED.
• Chekhov's Gunman: She appears in the beginning of the story to release Akira from jail. Later, she re-appears, revealing that she knows about Nicole Premier, Akira's capability of neutralizing Rein and is out to kill Nano, whose blood is the source of Rein.
• Evil Redhead: While she's established to be shady and not entirely to be trusted early on, the climax of most routes reveal what her endgame really is, and it doesn't exactly favor either Akira, Keisuke or Nano. That being said, her true intentions makes her qualify more as an antagonist than a villain.
• Femme Fatale: Emma is beautiful as much as she is mysterious, manipulative and deadly.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: In every other route that isn't Shiki's or Rin's, Nano always ends up killing her by driving his bare hand through her chest.
• Lady in Red: Besides the fact that she has striking red hair, she's never seen without her red coat.
• Mercy Kill: She attempts to kill Nano, but only because she knows that the other option would be to give him back to the military, who will experiment on him again. Of course, he kills her before she gets the chance.
• Mr. Exposition: Gender-inverted. In Keisuke, Shiki and Nano's routes, she's the one who explains to Akira (and to the player) about Project Nicole and how both Akira and Nano are connected to it.
• Out of Focus: Both she and Gwen are completely absent in Rin's route, which is also the only route where Akira doesn't get to learn about Project Nicole and everything and everyone involved with it. Their absence is also partly explained by Akira tossing aside his communicator halfway through the plot, so it only makes sense that they wouldn't be able to locate him by the time the CFC's military forces decide to set foot in Toshima.
• Revolvers Are Just Better: She brandishes a revolver when she reappears in the climax of certain routes and reveals the role she truly plays in the plot.
• Significant Green-Eyed Redhead: Emma has red hair and blue-green eyes, and is one of the characters outside of the main cast who remains relevant to the plot in almost every route, with only Rin's route being the exception.
• The Smurfette Principle: She's the sole prominent female character among the cast who plays a major role in the story, since Yukari is a character who appears only in a flashback to provide more depth to Takeru's character.
• Spy Catsuit: This is what she's wearing underneath her trademark red coat, which emphasizes the fact that she works for a secret organization.
• Treacherous Quest Giver: She sends Akira to Toshima to challenge Il-Re, promising him a clean slate if he succeeds. In truth, Il-Re doesn't matter to her; she's using Akira to lure Nano out of hiding, and she's planning to kill them both. She's also the one who framed Akira to begin with.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Unlike the organization she's working for or the entirety of Vischio, Emma wants Nano dead to ensure that he won't suffer the agony of being experimented on for a second time.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Neither she nor Gwen shows up in Rin's route, leaving their fates unknown since it's left unconfirmed if they manage to find Nano or not.

Gwen

Gwen (グエン)

Voiced by: Takuo Kawamura ^note  Credited as Kikutarou Namerikawa

Emma's right-hand man.

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• Et Tu, Brute?: Emma will shoot Gwen near the end of several routes if he tries to stop her from betraying their mission. It's only in Shiki's route that she doesn't get to pull the trigger on him... because Shiki kills them both instead.
• Expy: He looks like the splitting image of Phoenix Wright. It helps that he's one of the more rational characters in the game, even if he's working for the wrong side.
• Mr. Exposition: When he and Emma first make their appearance, he explains to Akira (and by extension, the player) the basic rules of Igra.
• My Country, Right or Wrong: He is loyal to the CFC, first and foremost, to the point that he will stop Emma from trying to kill Nano and Akira since the government wants them alive, and he becomes shocked when Emma states their country is already a lost cause.
• Only Sane Man: He's the only character outside the main cast to be reasonable and clear-headed, even when taking into consideration that he's working for a corrupt government.
• Out of Focus: Both he and Emma are completely absent in Rin's route, which is also the only route where Akira doesn't get to learn about Project Nicole and everything and everyone involved with it. Their absence is also partly explained by Akira tossing aside his communicator halfway through the plot, so it only makes sense that they wouldn't be able to locate him by the time the CFC's military forces decide to set foot in Toshima.
• The Stoic: He doesn't talk unless he has to, and when he does, he speaks in a very professional manner. His composure only cracks when he learns that Emma plans to kill rather than retrieve both subjects of Project Nicole.
• Uncertain Doom: In Motomi's route, Emma still shoots Gwen — albeit non-fatally — to keep him from getting in her way. By the time Nano kills Emma and Motomi and Akira run to evade the military, Gwen is still breathing. But given that Toshima gets dragged into the civil war shortly afterwards, it's unlikely that Gwen survives, especially with the reports that none of the forces from the CFC had managed to leave the city alive.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Neither he nor Emma shows up in Rin's route, leaving their fates unknown since it's left unconfirmed if they manage to find Nano or not.

Yukari

Yukari (由香里)

Voiced by: Nozomi Sasaki

Takeru's younger adoptive sister.

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• Children Are Innocent: She's young and has yet to grasp how harsh the world she and her family live in. When she's told that her mother was sent to the hospital (when in truth, she was sent to a correctional facility reserved for drug addicts and the like), she believed it without question.
• I Will Wait for You: The night Takeru left, she tells him that she'll be waiting for him to come home. Alas, this never comes to be, as Takeru is fated to meet a grisly end no matter which route the player ends up in.
• Morality Pet: Takeru only participated in Igra to get the money needed to provide for her and for their parents, given that they're destitute and the prize money from Bl@ster matches isn't enough to make ends meet. When Takeru first ambushes Akira but ends up dropping both his tag and his cross, Takeru prioritizes retrieving the cross as it's a keepsake from Yukari.
• Nice Girl: She's a sweet and loving young child. When Takeru says he's leaving and going to Igra so he can win the prize money to support their family, she wishes him the best. And in Takeru's Dying Dream, she tells him that she doesn't need lots of toys and clothes to be happy and only wants him to be with her.

Kazui

Kazui (カズイ)

Voiced by: Daisuke Hirakawa

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• First Love: Kazui was Rin's first crush, although Rin never got to confess his feelings to Kazui until it was too late.
• The Lost Lenore: Shiki had tricked Rin into revealing his teammates' hideout, and proceeded to slaughter everyone there— with Kazui being one of the casualties. The entire incident had left Rin guilt-stricken, and is also why he's so determined to kill Shiki.
• Number Two: He is called as such by Tomoyuki, which meant that Kazui was the second-in-command of Rin's team.
• Token Good Teammate

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