The Legacy of Despair is host to a large assortment of characters. While a large-scale Killing Game can have a wide, diverse set of unique characters, sometimes, they fall out of the narrative for the worse. While this was a minor issue in the first work, A New Hope, since many of the canonical characters have been well-engrossed and familiarized to most of the readers. it becomes very prominent in later works.
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Final Horizon
- Hayate. He is the de facto protagonist of the series, as well as a gauge of how the readers know the cast better. It is later revealed that he has been affected by his Split Personality, Mr. Psycho. It could have been better foreshadowed, but thanks to a reader poll, which voted for his death, he's executed anyway. The real problem arises after his execution, wherein it's revealed that he survived his own execution thanks to Mr. Psycho's intervention, followed with the revelation that said Split Personality has superpowers, all of which were handled with poor foreshadowing. It's been noted that this alone broke Willing Suspension of Disbelief. Had all of this been handled in a better manner, such as showing him coming to terms with Psycho, along with the slow revelation of his powers, then it wouldn't be that much of an issue and would have provided a strong character arc for a very compelling protagonist, however, the pacing of the story bogged everything down.
- Ichiro. Being the first victim where he wasn't given that much of a background, it's probably not too hard to see...until it's revealed that he hid his identity as Jacob Johnstone as well as a delve into his past...and that's it. Even if there is some semblance of said backstory, said backstory didn't factor into his actions prior to his death. The fact that many first victims gave a bit more prominence in part due to Free Time Events all the more makes him feel unlikely to stand out, other than the fact that it introduces Ringo's mindset.
- Rei. Interesting background? Check. Suffering from a serious mental disorder? Check. Revealed to have a hidden talent that never gets utilized? Check. The entire revelation of her background and the nature of her real talent was left hidden instead, which may frustrate the readers. The fact that she dies as the second culprit without that much of an immersive backstory laced through other events would have at least made her a compelling character, but nope, she's Stuffed in the Fridge and causes Hikaru to degenerate into an angsty teen typical of the situation.
- Hikaru. His OCD isn't shown that much, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. As much as it enthralls, many people weren't just given enough of his backstory, as to why he chose to be an Event Coordinator or the bigger context behind the event that changed him. Upon Rei's death, he degrades in personality until he pretty much becomes an embittered character. That would've been okay...if it wasn't done A LOT in the previous entry note He would've made a more interesting character with a bigger mindset, but the narrative didn't provide enough, much to people who liked the character.
Sea of Tranquility
- In general, Sea of Tranquility's worse pacing is what ultimately leads to this. Many characters weren't given proper time to be fleshed out throughout the story. More or less, the overall immersion of the narrative is broken largely due to such underdeveloped characters.
- Mikhail. He possesses quite a weird background (being a Taoist hailing from a European country), and is part of the students who are artificial humans. Not helping was the incident he mentioned in his past with regards to his actions never being revealed at all. It would have rocked him somewhat to hear more about him, especially with what he did prior to the Killing Game, but it's simply shrugged off.
- Miyaki. While she does fit the traditional Genki Girl stereotype, one could have at least pondered more about her with regards to her lifestyle. Not helping this was the fact that she had many connections with the previous students from Class 80 present in the space station, which would have given her more insight. The lack of better-paced narrative segments, or anything that might equate to Free Time Events, didn't help with understanding her character at all.
- Rene. He fits the antagonist bill and is the first one executed, though again, the lack of any Free Time Event-esque interactions with him only makes his background a bit more confusing. Though his status as an antagonist is somewhat murky, he's possible one of the more two-dimensional antagonists presented. In fact, despite his cynical nature, he thinks about going home for the last time, which, instead of giving proper sympathy, is shrugged off, harming the nature of the story.
Kuma Kuma Land
House of Horrors
Railway of Despair
