Afin
The first character you meet.
Newman/male
Ranger
Light beige/yellow hair
Afin & your character, when you start the game, are new entries into the ARKS ranks. You’re put down onto Naberius for a test against the native wild life. He’s a pleasant character, though inexperienced and afraid of the various enemies. As you move on through the game, it appears he’s looking for something or someone.
It is revealed that he is looking for his sister, who disappeared 10 years ago or so, in the first big "Falz War". Nobody, not even him, has very good memories of that time. (Meaning memory tampering) Xion tampered with everyone's memories from the time. His sister ends up being Yucretia, and she is a failed/incomplete falz-apprentice. It is his persistance & good will that eventually saves her.

Zeno
Human/male
Hunter
Middling beige/red/burgundy hair/Dark burgundy eyes
Zeno and Echo are bickering friends. Echo annoys him by being late, wandering or running off, and will sometimes verbally pester him too. Zeno seems to really feel he has to protect Echo from something. He hints that he’s somehow obligated /forced to be hunter class, though his natural disposition was for ranger.
This pays off for him, when his secret plan nets him a legendary gunblade weapon, which is good for rangers and hunters alike. He eventually ends up having to join the Council of 6. He is trained by Maria of the council, so he can come back stronger, and not as a ranger.
It is hinted that Zeno was on the failed Gettemhart/Melrondia mission AS a ranger who was "too far from the action" to step in and save Melrondia, so she died. Ranger is his natural class, but because he was 'too far', he forces himself to be hunter to be closer & (he thinks) able to save others better. Him being unable to save her has also gotten him Gettemhart's eternal hatred as well. He is able to use this hate to distract Gettemelder falz at a point as well.

Echo
Newman/female
Force
Beige/tan hair
Echo and Zeno are bickering friends. Even though she’ll bother him, Echo cares about Zeno. She has a fear of heights, and somewhat low self esteem. (One of her phrases is “boosted (shifta) this is all I’m really good at”) Although she bothers and nags him, she cares about him and wants to be useful. She doesn't understand his need to protect her, but instead wants to keep him safe.
Zeno's disappearance causes her to become a hunter in his stead. Her strange obsession with 'becoming a replacement' for a person continues oddly onward & often hinders her.

Lisa
Cast/female
Ranger
Black/white/silver/primarily black solid piece hair/Red eyes
Lisa is the rather crazy representative of the Ranger class.
Lisa really wants to be a murderer. It's apparently her ambition in 'life'. Shooting animals and darkers is fine, but she pines to shoot humans, newmen or (probably) casts. She talks about herself in third person sometimes, is obsessed with guns “they’re soft to the touch!” , likes to torture animals “their death should be as painful, as painful, as painful as possible!” (made possible because not all guns are 1 shot 1 kill so she is likely shooting the legs off of wolves=gulfs and things—she tells you this directly) , and she looks fairly crazy as well.
She hates being snuck up on, but will sneak up on others or talk about sniping them. She eventually spins a tale relating to the creation of certain CASTs, which is that when super-photon-sensative children are dying of their sensitivity, their brains are extracted and set into CAST bodies but they don't remember anything. (So, the child dies and the brain is just a CPU of photon-sensing for the body because humans ARE their personality/memories/tendancies/habits/instincts/collective experience and all that gets wiped out) Lisa claims that she was a super special snowflake girl before it 'died' and became 'Lisa'. No one ever finds out if this is true. Remember: She's crazy!

Io
Duman/female
Braver
Beige/black markings/Slate blue hair/1 yellow eye 1 blue eye
The token Duman who turns up when they added the class to the game. She has to be 'non plot related' when she starts out / you first meet her because the class was added later on to the game, but people were still allowed to be "starting out". She calls your character "Senpai" which means 'upper classman' because she just joined Arks. She tells you how to recognize a duman, which is boys have 1 horn, girls 2 horns, eyes of different colors (hers are slatey-blue-gray and the other is orange with a pattern in it...likely the blue gray eye is the natural one, as her hair is also this color) and a pattern on their skin.
Io uses male movements
Her gesture set & fighting moves are all for the male characters. She also uses the male format of "I" when speaking. Japanese uses "Female I" and "Male I" where most other languages don't have a distinction. They're also regarded as female=a little more formal / male=a little more casual. These connotations & extra meanings ARE NOT translated in a dialogue with her. As you can read here, it's taking a paragraph of reading to get the point across. There was no way for any translator to fit an entire explanation into a few lines of original text to make the conversation make any sense. Early in the game, your character encounters Io, and questions her use of the word "I" for herself (she's using male I) *Which CAN be out of character...for your character! It's rude! Are you rude? If you are, that's fine but if not, the scene is Out of Character (OOC) and uncomfortable because you are an upperclassmen asking inappropriate questions of a subordinate member of the organization.* Why is she like this? No other character has this as a trait, and nobody ever explains it.

Marlu
Human/female
Force
Beige/pale pink hair in a bowl cut
Marlu is the quiet, somewhat anti-social representative of the force class. She “…” a lot before speaking, speaks very quietly, and thinks quite highly of the force class, while dumping on hunters. Her prefered techniques are light based. She starts off disliking Ohza a lot (though she doesn't say his name) as he's loud and always rushing into things, which isn't the force way at all.
Eventually, she learns the value of both ways of fighting: hunter and force. Then, she gets a slightly hidden crush on Ohza, but won't tell him she likes him.

Ohza
Human/male
Hunter
Beige/forest green hair in a ponytail / dark eyes
Ohza is the outspoken representative of the hunter class. He’s bold, and not afraid to tell you which class to choose (hunter) while dumping on forces.
Eventually, Marlu will get to like him, and he will understand the value of both hunter & force fighting. However, because Marlu won't tell Ohza she likes him, he doesn't understand what's going on with her.

Gettemhart
Human/male
Hunter/Fighter?
Beige/gray to white hair
Gettemhart is openly antagonistic. He is the abuser in an abusive relationship with his ‘sidekick’ Melphonsia. He does not like anyone, merely seeming to tolerate Melphonsia the force. He calls her "Sina" and "Sheena", never her real name. He is obsessed with strength and fighting, sometimes going into berserk rages and wrecking areas. (Seen on Lilipa) He will always dislike your character, hoping it will become stronger so he can challenge you some day to a fight to the death. He is also drawn to “The Mask Man”, who he sees as a very strong fighter and really desires to go against. He threatens you about withholding info about this character. He verbally abuses and neglects Melphonsia, calling her "Sheena" instead of her real name as well. He hates lilipans, beliving they will become infected, so exterminating them is his choice of solution.
His obsession with power eventually leads to his corruption by Dark Falz Elder. It leads him to seek more power by unsealing it from the ruins on Naberius. He's gullible, and does so, which lets it take over his body/infect him. His will is then suppressed & the evil entity changes his look, and controls his body from then on. He can occaisionally have a word in edgewise with it, as his will is powerful.

Melphonsia
Newman/female
Force/Techer?
Beige/pale green hair, large hat, hidden blue eyes
Melphonsia is generally quiet and sad. She is abused by Gettemhart. She follows him, but stays out of his way. He is very rude to her at all times, snapping at her and commanding her around. If she is injured, he neglects her on purpose. She feels she is unworthy of him or his attention. She blames herself for something that happened in his past that’s made him mean like this. She usually appears to warn you of his presence.
It is revealed that because of noobish Melphonsias' actions long ago, that Gettemhart had to save her from danger. In doing so, he wasn't there to protect another girl. This is a girl she was jealous of. Because he could not protect the girl, it died, thus turning Gettemhart mean (with regret, grieving, etc) & making Melphonsia blame herself for the death. She allows the abuse beliving she deserves it for her jealousy and rash actions. Eventually Gettemhart tries to sacrifice her (blood sacrifice) to awaken Falz Elder by punching her with his knuckle weapon while she hosts the magic Clarissa wand.

Melrondia
Newman/female
?/?
Beige/pale green hair
Melrondia is Melphonsia's older sister. She was in love with Gettemhart. When noobish Melphonsia went on a mission she shouldn't have, it got dangerous and Gettemhart had to save Melphonsia. Because no one was there to save Melrondia, she died on the mission. Ever after, Melphonsia blamed herself & tried to take her place at Gettemhart's side. She had loved him as well, and was secretly jealous of her own sister. However, the sister's death turned Gettemhart both mean and crazy. This suited Melphonsia just fine as she felt she needed to be miserable and abused at all times for her earlier mistakes. Gettemhart was always 'happy' to oblige--as he is a daily reminder that her sister is gone, and of who's fault that is.

Klotho
Human/male
?
Beige/burgundy to red cornrow, space cowboy hat
Klotho is the NPC who dispenses well-paying orders to do “Time Attack Quests”. He also appears in various areas on the planet. He has an aversion to various extreme weather. If it’s too cold, he complains, if it’s too hot, he complains more. He seems very relaxed and passive, but he has a sharp mind, as evidenced when he figures out unnatural weather on Naberius, how the native wild life there used to be friendly until darker influence, and how seemingly ‘dumb’ darkers manage to show up in so many places, often somewhat strategically placed.
*Klotho is named after one of the 3 “Fates” , these mythical witches are usually female, and one myth has them sharing 1 eyeball between the three of them since they are blind. The other two are Atropo & Lachesis. Lachesis is a counter attendant, but that one is female. The naming scheme for him doesn't seem to be relevent to anything, just like the characters named after mathemeticians (Fourier, Girard) have nothing to do with math, he has nothing to do with myth.

Azanami
Human/female
Braver
Beige/reddish-brown hair
Azanami is the creator of the Braver class. She’s interesting to meet, because she explains how she researched each bow & katana skill, put them together, and went before the Arks board. Classes/skill disks/etc are very hard to “start a new one” but she was hard-working enough to get it done. She’s cheerful and confident. She may have a crush on Ohza, but uses it as fuel to meddle in the Ohza / Marlu relationship and try to get them together. She's a big meddler and seems to enjoy gossip as well. She recruits the shy Io to help her champion for the Braver class.

Aki
Human/female
?
Beige/black hair
Aki is a researcher, who  clearly loves field work. She is a scientist and obsessed with the Dragonkin. She bullies her somewhat meek assistant Light into coming along on her missions. She is very headstrong, and will always do just whatever she wants, even if others tell her no, or there is danger. She gets very absorbed in her work, to the point of ignoring others, ignoring orders or even forgetting about things she just said. She's pushy but eccentric in a way. Not a particularly pleasant character. She really wants to communicate with and ask Dragonkin questions, and chases after Ko-Liu specifically.

It is later revealed that Aki has done several quite inhumane things to the sentient people alien Dragonkin race. She's partially responsible for the artificial dragon (so, kind of like a zombie lab monster) Hadred the Chrome Dragon. She's super guilty about the fact & that the quest for her knowledge led to suffering. She becomes somewhat suicidal, but is talked down out of it by Quna.

Light
Newman/male
?
Beige/black hair
Light is Aki’s assistant. He has a quieter personality, and is often afraid of situations. She generally bullies him into going along with her plans, sometimes against his better judgment. He’s usually chasing after her in protest, warning uselessly of danger.
Light is actually a secret SPY from the VOID organization. He was assigned as her assistant to keep an eye on her. Aki realizes this early on, and that's why she's rude to him as often as possible. She knows he can't quit or be fired, and she resents being watched so she makes him miserable on purpose. As he learns more about her research, he regrets his spying ways.

Rogio
Human/male
?
Beige/grayish brown wavy hair
Rogio is a scholar NPC who will request your help. He’s doing climate research & darker research about Naberius. Because it’s dangerous, he’s not allowed to go there, but he can send you on missions. With him, you’re introduced to the strangeness of the fact that Naberius goes lush forest/tiny cave/glacial ice and snow fields. He knows these 2 climate zones don’t belong right next to each other, and so will do the research. He also notices that sometimes, some darkers are apparently looking for something.
Rogio's research leads him into trouble. Assassins try to kill him, so he's forced to retreat into the mines under Lilipa as a type of safe house after Quna warns him.

Ulc
Newman/female
Middling beige/dark brown hair/Brown eyes
Ulc is Theodore’s’ friend. She wanted to join the Arks really badly, but had no talent in any of the classes or skills. She is very disappointed, but vows to try to get into a non-combat position with the organization instead. She laments that poor, shy, unwilling Theodore got into the Arks instead. She worries about him a lot, fearing he won’t do well or will go into danger. She is finally able to get a clerical/office position with the Arks.
This position in clerical area gets her murdered via Luther's sabotage efforts during a darker raid on a civilian part of the city ship. The darkers, in their attempt to find a weapon Zeig the weapon-smith was fixing (After you steal all the pieces out from under Mask Man) are allowed to murder Ulc on purpose to trigger Theodore to go crazy & begin aiding Luther. Only by shifting time is Ulc saved from her fate, where she is able to heal Theodore. She moves on to become Xiao's assistant in helping to rebuild the ARKS.

Theodore
Newman/male ---> Duman Male
Force
Beige/Yellow hair/
Theodore is a shy, skittish person. He has a very tall black hat, and the standard human-male/force outfit, in black. He’s afraid of combat, afraid of the monsters, and seemingly doesn’t want to be anywhere he shows up. He’s easily startled too. You can generally find him trying to avoid having to attack anything. He likely has a secret crush on Ulc.
Theodore is driven over the edge by Ulc's precieved death. This allows him to be manipulated by Luther, who somehow knew he had "great potential" for technics & was able to give him even more power. However, Luther does something to him, turning him into a Duman in the process. He serves Luther loyally until Ulc is able to return to him.

Reda
Newman/male
?
Beige w/freckles/light lavender hair
Reda is a bit of a fraidy-cat character. He’ll fight if he’s sure his side will win. He’s quick to cheer himself and others on after a win. If there’s a sign of trouble he doesn’t want to face, he’ll run off. His feats include accidentally spying on The Mask Man, being chased off by Quna, and passing along rumors.

Patty & Tea
Newman/female
Force & ?
Beige/light & dark brown hair/blue eyes
These newman sisters fancy themselves “info brokers”…though you are their only client at first. Who doesn’t actually pay. Mostly probably because Patty is a goof. Patty is hyperactive, forgetful, a day-dreamer, friendly, outgoing, and quite enthusiastic. Tea is reserved, easily-annoyed (especially by Patty), knowledgeable, and has somewhat of a temper. Together, they bumble around (sometimes directly into you) and dispense important information such as “What is the Council of Six?”
As they continue on, they eventually aquire more clients & retrieve more helpful information. They continue to bicker though, as Patty will usually set Tea off, ask dumb things, say puns, or try to be lazy.

Huey
Human/male
Hunter
Beige/navy-blue short hair/red eyes
Huey is a very loud character. He enjoys yelling, dramatic entrances, attempting to be heroic, trying to be popular, and things he considers cool. He rushes headlong into any situation, and likes to try to save people…whether or not they need saving. Despite being somewhat goofy or a bit of a social failure, he’s good at heart.
He's tasked with trying to 'normalize' Claris Claes, so he works with her often. His favorite weapons are wired lances.

Claris Claes-
Newman/Female
Force
Beige/Reddish hair/ red eyes
Claris Claes is a member of the Council of Six. She is also unpleasant. She's very powerful, with fire as her prefered technic, but she loves just blowing-up/fire-bombing everything to get her way. She doesn't like anyone she feels is 'beneath her' calling them 'peon', and this likely includes everyone (even you) She does not see the point of teamwork, because she has always been enough to win against anything she goes against. She doesn't see the point of politeness or courtesy or even friendlyness because being nice to people is also pointless, since she is all she needs. She loves yelling, lording over others, being admired, praising herself, fire, destruction & getting her way.
She is not invincible, however, as she can get lost easily, is not patient, and sometimes has trouble figuring things out. Once her other side is revealed, if something truly frightens her in a scary situation, she becomes like a 6 year old child, crying, wailing, and incapable of doing anything useful. She's bizzarly mentally not that stable & how she got onto the council is a complete mystery. Later, as the story progresses, she figures out how to be social a little bit more, calms down, and acts nicer.

Apprentice Woman

Luther
Newman/Male
?
Beige/White Hair, blue eyes, teardrop facial tattoos
Luther's ACTUAL look is unknown. The body you see him using ISNT HIS. Luther is an entity that can posess people & take over their bodies. He is a "Photoner", an ancient race of human-looking alien people. When his original body presumably died, he got the ability to take over others' and has been doing so ever since. Each time a body gets old or dies, he abandons it and posesses someone else, like a demon.
He has a degree of time bending powers, not as great or accurate as Xion or Xiao's. His secret manipulations of time led to Ulc's death, on purpose, to antagonize Theodore into becoming his minion. He has a degree of control over several Council of 6 members, especially Regius. His goal is to posess Xion, and gain 'infinite knowledge' and 'omniscience'.
His biggest enemy is boredom, as he's lived very many years. He wishes the universe and all people to be his play things for experiments. He is over confident, loves to brag, and can sometimes manifest energy about his hands to kill people. He succeedes in killing Xion.

Xion
Human looking woman
Entity
Beige & fizzy blue skin/ Black hair in a bun / slate gray eyes
Xion is the character who gives out all the "Matter Boards" for you to get direction & do things. She can manipulate time itself, sending you backward & forward to achieve objectives. She speaks often in a confusing manner to throw Luther off the trail, as he may be listening to her at any time.

Xion appears human, because that is how she chooses to manifest. She looks like the first Photoner she saw, and since those look human, so does she. Xion is actually a living ocean, literally water that became self aware atop a planet. She was an observer of the universe around her. (how does a body of water see?) She could do calculations, and thought she knew everything. The planet, being sentient, was also lonely.
One day, the Photoner race either crashed a ship or a probe into her. (Being a planet, you can't avoid such things as you orbit your star) She was able to communicate with the Photoners, and not be lonely. She taught them about photons, but like every race to ever exist, they were fallible too.Some were good, others not so much. She asked them to cover her in armor (so, armoring a whole planet) and give her a way to move. (So, turning a planet into a giant space ship) This way, she and the Photoners could explore the universe together. Eventually some of them decided to merge with her (melt into the ocean), others died, and one got left over that did neither: Luther.
Xion & Luther palled around for (many years) with him questing to know ever-more, and her obliging with her info as he learned. However, she precieved him as greedy and lazy and counting on her too much, so she stopped telling him things. He went kind of nuts and became more evil. This set him on his quest to take over ARKS & then absorb her.
Xion gets captured by Luther, and he does absorb her. She manages to break free of him only long enough to die on purpose so he can't gain her knowledge. What's left of her is absorbed by Xiao.

Xiao
Human looking young boy
Entity
Beige skin / dark blue short hair / very long thin ponytail / fizzy sweater
Xiao appears human because that's how he chooses to manifest. He's likely to be a creation of Xion, perhaps an incomplete clone of her. He becomes the new matter-board-giver, as he has figured out how to make them, and that they can still be of use in his plan to defeat the darkers once and for all.