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List of Umineko no Naku Koro ni characters
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The Umineko no Naku Koro ni visual novel series features an extensive cast of characters created and originally illustrated by 07th Expansion's Ryukishi07. The series takes place on the fictional secluded island Rokkenjima in Japan, and the storyline primarily follows the Ushiromiya family during the time period of October 4 and October 5, 1986.
Kinzo, the head of the wealthy Ushiromiya family, owns and resides on Rokkenjima.[1] Kinzo is near death, and eight of his family members arrive on the island for the annual family conference, where the adults plan to discuss how Kinzo's assets will be divided once he is dead. Also on the island are three family members who live there, five of Kinzo's servants, and his personal physician, for a total of 18 people. After the eight family members arrive, a typhoon traps them on the island, and shortly after, strange things start to happen and people start dying.
Ushiromiya family[edit]
Rokkenjima is owned by the wealthy Ushiromiya family and serves as the home of the family head. The family was initially much greater and contained more members until the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake, after which the family was severely crippled, both domestically and financially. The current head, Kinzo, was originally part of a smaller branch of the family, and it fell to him to restore the family's glory. In Umineko, there is a rumor that Kinzo turned to the Golden Witch Beatrice and sold his soul for ¥20 billion worth of gold, allowing the Ushiromiya family to prosper more than it ever had before.
The current members of the Ushiromiya family gather on Rokkenjima every year for their annual family conference. While the youngest members of the family, Kinzo's grandchildren, see it as a chance to bond and have a pleasurable time chatting about their lives, their parents, Kinzo's children, take the opportunity to debate how Kinzo's assets are to be divided after his death. After that comes to pass, the headship will be passed down onto a successor according to a preset hierarchy. As the current head, Kinzo holds the highest rank of all the family members. Following Kinzo are his four children, from oldest to youngest (first son Krauss, first daughter Eva, second son Rudolf, and second daughter Rosa), then his grandchildren in order of their parents' age (Krauss' daughter Jessica, Eva's son George, Rudolf's son Battler, and Rosa's daughter Maria), and finally his children's spouses as they are not blood relatives (Krauss' wife Natsuhi, Eva's husband Hideyoshi, and Rudolf's wife Kyrie). Those born under the name Ushiromiya bear the family crest, the "One-winged Eagle" (片翼の鷲 Katayoku no Washi?), on their clothes, while those outside the family do not.
Kinzo's descendants have a Western naming style. While foreign names are normally written in katakana, the names of Kinzo's children and grandchildren are written using similar-sounding kanji. One exception is Battler (戦人?), which is pronounced Batora (ばとら?) rather than the way the kanji that make up his name would otherwise normally be pronounced, Sento (せんと?).
Family heads[edit]
- Kinzo Ushiromiya (右代宮 金蔵 Ushiromiya Kinzō?)
- Voiced by: Mugihito, Daisuke Ono (young)
- Kinzo is the elderly head of the Ushiromiya family and the owner of Rokkenjima. Throughout the first four games, Kinzo's body frequently turns up burnt in the incinerator of the mansion's underground boiler room as a means to conceal how long he had been dead, and is identified as Kinzo due to his polydactyly, distinguished by having six toes on each foot. In life, Kinzo held his children in contempt, viewing them as vultures ready to feast on his inheritance as soon as he died (or at least when word of his death spread out). He would rarely leave his large study, which contains various commodities such as a bed and bathroom. He was also a rabid practitioner of black magic and the occult, his shelves lined with volumes of grimoires. One of his most prominent obsessions was Beatrice, a witch he is said to have summoned and contracted for ten tons worth of gold.
- In Alliance of the Golden Witch, it was revealed that Kinzo has been dead two years before the family conference, and that Krauss and Natsuhi has been concealing his death to hide the fact that the former has been embezzling money. In reality, there was no "Golden Witch Beatrice", but in fact a young Italian woman whom Kinzo had fallen in love with during World War II named Beatrice Castiglioni, who arrived at Rokkenjima on a submarine containing ten tons of Nazi gold in an attempt to hide it. He teasingly calls her the "Golden Witch" because she was the one who brought the gold to the island. After the war, using the gold as collateral, he managed to rebuild the Ushiromiya family business and earn a lot of money, allowing for him to buy Rokkenjima and secure the spot with the gold forever. He also built a beautiful mansion called Kuwadorian on the island to hide his new mistress away from the prying eyes of his suspicious wife.
- However, when Beatrice Castiglioni died, Kinzo was devastated. He named their illegitimate daughter, Beatrice Ushiromiya, after her, and in a fit of madness later began to think of their daughter as "Beatrice reborn" and began to have incestual relations with her, leading to the birth of Lion Ushiromiya, later known as Sayo Yasuda. Guilt-stricken by his past actions, when he finally meets Sayo again after thinking her dead, he died in 1984, leaving her with the headship and rights to all the gold. As Kinzo was dead two years before the Rokkenjima Mass Murder Incident, his death was never embellished by the message bottle forgeries and hence he dies in the same way in all of them.
- Sayo Yasuda (安田紗代 Yasuda Sayo?)
- Voiced by: Sayaka Ohara (original), Daisuke Ono (End of the Golden Witch), Rie Kugimiya (Ougon Musou Kyoku)
- Sayo, also known as "Yasu" (ヤス), shortened from "Yasuda" (安田), is the true human identity of Beatrice. Her birth name is Lion Ushiromiya, but was given the name Sayo Yasuda by Genji in an effort to hide her real identity. Sayo is a child born from the incest between Kinzo and his daughter Beatrice, making Sayo both Kinzo's child and grandchild. Sayo's sex is kept hidden throughout the game, but later revealed to be assigned male at birth. Her true name was only revealed in Requiem of the Golden Witch, with her only known as "Shannon" and "Kanon" in previous episodes. When Lion was still a baby, the servant carrying "him" was implied to have been pushed off a cliff by Natsuhi, resulting in the servant's death and the mutilation of Lion's abdominal area and sexual organs. Fortunately Genji managed to save "his" life with Nanjo's help, but afterwards Lion was raised as a girl in the Fukuin House under the name "Sayo Yasuda". It was said that Genji had to hide Sayo, who was "now a girl", from another potential incestuous advance by Kinzo.
- Sayo will henceforth be referred to as "female" as that appears to be her most prevalent gender identity. She came back to Rokkenjima employed as a servant under the name "Shannon" at the age of nine, but was passed off as six years old (due to Sayo's frail body) to hide the child's identity from Natsuhi. Most probably due to the cliff incident, it has been revealed that Sayo suffers from Gender Identity Disorder. She has also inherited Kinzo's polydactyly. As she was the only child working on Rokkenjima, and the only one with a single room in contrast to the other mature servants with their trio rooms (as Genji cannot afford Sayo's secret being discovered by her roommates before time), the other servants were often jealous of Sayo and frequently bullied her, calling her names like "Yasu" which she greatly dislikes, and got her into trouble once by stealing her broom and leaving her behind to find it until nighttime.
- Because she has no friends, Sayo created imaginary friends to cope with the pain of being alone and unwanted. As she was a clumsy servant who frequently misplaces things, she felt that she could never live up to the name "Shannon", the perfect servant. Hence, she created her first ever imaginary friend "Shannon", a charming servant who is kind to everyone and has many friends. Whenever she was alone and whenever she was mistreated, she would talk to Shannon and make herself feel better. Eventually, she began to create more and more imaginary friends to cope with her loneliness. When she realized that there was a legend of a witch named Beatrice who lived on Rokkenjima, she starts to have fantasies that this witch was who has been stealing her things and so she created Gaap, a magical witch with powers that can make things disappear. She made friends with Gaap.
- After a few years of working, Sayo has become more proficient in being a servant, but was still frequently teased by new servants for being slow and for being too young. Because she used to misplace her things, Sayo wanted to teach a particular servant named Asune to be more careful with her keys when she carelessly tossed them on the bed, so using a sleight of hand Sayo replaced her key ring with one that is missing a key, creating the illusion that a witch has made Asune's key disappear. The missing key was left in Asune's locker. This baffled Asune and she began to be more careful from then on, in fear of the "witch". While this prank began without malicious intentions, Sayo felt the thrill of having an older girl fear her and believe her to be a witch, and from then on started thinking if she can "become" this witch "Beatrice" and play pranks on the servants. With that, the legend of the witch was strengthened as more and more servants began to believe in her. By creating herself a new, powerful identity, Sayo felt that she can escape her frail existence as a weak young servant with no family.
- When she was 13, she first developed a crush on Battler, who also reciprocated this childlike love. Battler frequently refers to her with the affectionate term "Shannon-chan". They bonded over their love for mystery novels, and Sayo frequently tested Battler to see if he can find out the answers before reaching the solution. Meanwhile, George was jealous of the both of them, but neither of them noticed. Before Battler left the island, he made a promise to take her away from Rokkenjima the next year. Sayo was overwhelmed with joy, and agreed. However, that very year, Asumu died and Rudolf immediately married Kyrie, causing Battler to cut ties with the Ushiromiya family and stop coming to family conferences. In the meantime, Sayo, who was now in middle school, slowly began to notice that her body was different from the other girls. When she realized that her breasts did not grow and her menstruation did not come, she panicked and started to notice that she has a boyish body, one that she sees as neither male nor female. As the years pass, one particular family conference, Kyrie brought with her a stack of letters from Battler, addressed to everyone on the island except for Shannon. This fear grew to a peak, and she sank deeper and deeper into her own fantasy world where she is the powerful, feminine figure "Beatrice", but one day when she was looking at the mirror, she realizes how far away she was from the beautiful woman she dreamed of being, and broke down, shattering the mirror. She laments how shabby she is, without family or friends, forgotten by the boy she loved, with a body that doesn't look at all like a woman, but also not at all like a man. In her pain, she wondered if she could create another identity to escape from it all - and this began her dressing up as the servant "Kanon", wondering if a male role felt more natural to her. As for her love for Battler, she decided to hide it within herself, within "Beatrice" whom she did not show to the public, so that her life as Shannon and Kanon can feel clean and unobstructed to her - not knowing that by her feelings would continue to fester within her. Some time later, when Sayo was 17, she fell in love a second time, this time with George, due to his kindness and gentlemanly nature. But she felt that she lacked the connection that she had with Battler with him, and her love for Battler never truly went away.
- Later that year, in 1984, Sayo managed to solve the epitaph below Beatrice's portrait, which led to her finding the ten tons of gold and the bomb which was strong enough to eliminate almost the entire island except for Kuwadorian. She also found the secret room where Kinzo unceremoniously dumped the bodies of the soldiers from World War II. While in a moment of panic, Genji approached her and revealed to her her true identity - Lion Ushiromiya. There, she found out her true heritage - that she was the child of Kinzo's incestuous advances on his own daughter, and that her body was mutilated in the fall because Natsuhi did not want her. Kinzo then begged her for her forgiveness, and died knowing that he has been forgiven. But this truth was way too cruel for Sayo to accept, and it was all too overwhelming and given to her in such a short time when she was already feeling confused and upset that she broke down completely, crying that Genji should have just let her die back then because there is "no point living in a body like this... a body that isn't even capable of love... [that] isn't a human's life... it's like being furniture".
- Even though Sayo's life has now been turned upside-down, somehow life still goes on and she sank even deeper into depression. She realized, in horror, that her relationship with George cannot continue because George is adamant on having children and a life with a feminine wife. Not to mention, she is actually George's aunt and cousin at the same time. Yet, she cannot bring herself to tell him. Repeatedly, she has nightmares of George screaming at her for tricking him. This became more complicated when Jessica also expressed fondness for the servant Kanon, which led to Sayo realizing that she might reciprocate Jessica's feelings as well. With her feelings so mangled and confused, Sayo begins to think of herself as no different from Kinzo, who raped his own daughter, as she herself has feelings for her own nephews, nieces and cousins. Her self-hatred begins to grow, and her fear to revealing the truth to George made her hate herself even more, eventually culminating in her deciding to commit suicide. She thought of blowing herself up with some of the bombs from Kinzo's secret room such that her body will be dismembered and nobody will ever find out her secret. With that, she decided to test some of the bombs out on the shrine in 1986, leading to its destruction.
- However, that was when she learnt that Battler was coming back this year, a realization that awoke her darker feelings ("Beatrice") within her. Her feelings have been thrown into confusion all over again, and as she sinks deeper and deeper into darkness and depression, she realizes that it was not just her, but the entire Ushiromiya bloodline that needed to be cleansed. Kinzo was the root of all evil, she believed, and he selfishly died and left behind so much unresolved. All of the siblings had money problems and toxic feelings among one another that they were willing to kill each other for the money. While she loved Battler, Jessica, George and Maria, she also felt that all of them are in pain, and in her madness thought that by bringing everyone to the "Golden Land", all their problems will be resolved and everyone will be able to live in happiness, in contentment, in death. As the family head, she felt that it was her responsibility to commit Template:Shinju to clear everything up before she dies. Sayo was already driven to breaking point, and finally she decided to leave everything to fate. She decided that she would begin a "game", in which "Beatrice" will attempt to take everyone to the Golden Land, and that Battler - the one person who loved mystery novels back then, who said that he believed in the "heart" and wished to understand the culprits of all these stories - would be able to stop her, and understand why she had to do what she did. She decided that she would begin a series of closed room murder riddles for Battler to solve, that will only be stopped when someone solves the epitaph, or finds her out and stops her. With that, two days before the final conference, she wrote a series of message bottles depicting the way she will conduct her murders, as well as one final bottle labeled Confessions, and threw them into the sea.
- However, as she never got the chance to commit her mass suicide plan, it was unknown whether or not Sayo truly intended to commit it. During the true events of Rokkenjima, Sayo acted the part of Beatrice and passed a letter to Maria, signifying the start of the game. However, the siblings proved to be much smarter than she expected and quickly solved the epitaph mystery before Sayo could begin her murder mystery, and so Sayo gave in and passed the ownership of the gold, the bomb, and four guns to the siblings. This led to a horrifying fight between the siblings that ended up with Rudolf and Kyrie deciding to kill everyone using the guns, hide everything as an accident using the bomb, and monopolize the cash and gold. Kyrie then shot at Sayo, but she survived and was found by Battler later, who persuaded her to escape with him off the island. Ultimately, however, Sayo could not overcome her guilt and self-loathing, and drowned herself at sea.
Eldest son's family[edit]
- Krauss Ushiromiya (右代宮 蔵臼 Ushiromiya Kurausu?)
- Voiced by: Jūrōta Kosugi
- Kinzo's first child and eldest son. He is the current heir of the Ushiromiya family, and leads the family conference on Kinzo's behalf. He is a real estate investor and plans to turn Rokkenjima into a resort, but has wasted most of his funds due to poor marketing and business decisions. He thus hides Kinzo's death from his younger siblings in an attempt to monopolize Kinzo's fortune. Due to his arrogant and bullying nature, he has made himself something of an enemy to the siblings. His daughter, Jessica, also has little respect for him, particularly due to the pressure he places on her to become (or at least marry) a suitable successor to the Ushiromiya family after him. Despite always swaggering about, Krauss holds genuine remorse for all the troubles he put his family through. He is known to have taken up boxing in his youth, and still possesses quite a bit of skill in that area. Unlike his siblings, he lives on Rokkenjima with his father, wife, and daughter.
- In the various message bottle forgeries written by both Sayo Yasuda and Tohya Hachijo, Krauss has met several brutal ends. In Legend, he was found dead in a rose garden storage room with his face smashed open after being gunned down by Kanon. In Turn, he was found dead in a chapel with his innards split open and stuffed with candy after being killed by Shannon. In Banquet, his throat was slit by Eva. In Alliance, he was also killed with a gun by Shannon. Whereas in the true events of the Rokkenjima Mass Murder Incident, Krauss was killed in a scuffle between the adults after an accidental discharge from Eva Ushiromiya's gun killed his wife, Natsuhi.
- Natsuhi Ushiromiya (右代宮 夏妃 Ushiromiya Natsuhi?)
- Voiced by: Emi Shinohara
- Krauss' wife. Born into a family of Shinto priests, Natsuhi discarded her old life when she married into the Ushiromiya family. She is a very proud woman who holds her new family's name in high regard, and is in charge of managing the family head house and family conferences. However, her efforts are undervalued by her husband, and she is often afflicted with headaches. She holds a bitter rivalry with Eva, who mocks her for not being related to the Ushiromiya family by blood. She is also incredibly strict towards her daughter Jessica, but only out of concern that she becomes an ideal heiress to the Ushiromiya family. In the End of The Golden Witch manga, it is revealed that Natsuhi's father held a high position in one of Ushiromiya Group's rival corporations. It is also revealed that Natsuhi was wagered between Kinzo and her father in their last confrontation, which led to losses in her father's company and made her marry into the Ushiromiya family. Natsuhi is the one who orchestrated the illusion that Kinzo is still alive, believing it to be out of respect for him.
- Before her daughter Jessica was born, Kinzo entrusted to him with his son Lion Ushiromiya, instructing her to raise him as her own. Natsuhi, however, saw this as an insult towards her inability to have children and hence neglected the child, entrusting him to servants instead. The servant carrying the child later died from falling off the cliff. The child later survived, however, though with a horrific abdominal laceration and came back to the island as the servant Shannon (see Sayo Yasuda below). Several theories claim that Natsuhi was actually the one who pushed the servant off the cliff, leading to her death and the child's mutilation.
- In the various message bottle forgeries written by both Sayo Yasuda and Tohya Hachijo, Natsuhi has also died in various different ways. In Legend, she was one of the people who survived for the longest, but died when she confronted Beatrice with her gun, and Beatrice used her magic to redirect her bullet into her own forehead, killing her. Later it was revealed that there was no magic, however, and Natsuhi was simply killed because her gun was a blank while "Beatrice" (Sayo Yasuda) had a loaded gun. In Turn, she, like her husband, was found dead in the chapel after being killed by Shannon. In Banquet, she was also found dead with her husband after being killed by Eva. Finally, in Alliance, she was shot early into the 'game' by Sayo pretending to be "Goldsmith". Whereas in the true events of the Rokkenjima Mass Murder Incident, Natsuhi was killed in an accidental discharge of Eva's gun.
- Jessica Ushiromiya (右代宮 朱志香 Ushiromiya Jeshika?)
- Voiced by: Marina Inoue
- Krauss and Natsuhi's 18-year-old daughter. Although Jessica is the heiress of the Ushiromiya family after her father, she is an energetic and tomboyish young woman who lacks the more refined behavior expected of such a role. Due to her rebellious nature, she is resentful of her parents for the pressures they place on her regarding the family headship, but still shows concern for them. She has a habit of faking asthma attacks as a means of escaping from tense situations. She has a crush on the servant Kanon, which is reciprocated to some extent. She is also proficient in the use of brass knuckles. Unbeknownst to Jessica herself, she is one of the main catalysts of "Beatrice"'s despair due to her insensitivity, although she had not realized it, when in Turn she cried out for "Kanon" to "create a new identity for himself that isn't furniture", because to Kanon, that was just not possible - "he" has already created many identities and none of them have actually worked at helping him reach happiness.
- She has also died in all of the various message bottle forgeries written by Sayo Yasuda and Tohya Hachijo. In Legend, she and the rest of the cousins died mysteriously after finally meeting Beatrice, with her body supposedly "torn apart by demon goats" - which in truth, refers to the explosion of the bomb hidden in the island which killed everyone and destroyed their bodies. In Turn, she was supposedly killed by Beatrice with a stake to the back when she leapt in to protect Kanon - which in truth, was actually Kanon shooting her with a gun and planting a stake in the gunshot wound. In Banquet, she was led to safety by 'Kanon's ghost' after being blinded by Eva's gun, and later died mysteriously. In truth, it was indeed Kanon dressed as Shannon who led her to safety, upon which she died when the bomb went off, destroying the island and killing the both of them. Finally in Alliance, Jessica was killed when fighting the demon butler Ronove - which in truth, was simply just her being shot by Kanon again. Whereas in the true events of the Rokkenjima Mass Murder Incident, Jessica was beaten to death by her aunt Kyrie Ushiromiya.
Eldest daughter's family[edit]
- Eva Ushiromiya (右代宮 絵羽 Ushiromiya Eba?)
- Voiced by: Miki Itō
- Kinzo's second child and eldest daughter. Eva is hostile towards her older brother Krauss out of discontent for her family's patriarchal tradition, which places her in a position inferior to her brother in the family hierarchy, and constantly attempts to upstage him by all means. She rallies her younger siblings against Krauss to try and extort money out of him, though with limited success. She is skilled in various forms of martial arts, and is said to be excellent at cooking.
- Under normal circumstances, Eva would have been out of the family register upon marrying her husband, Hideyoshi, who she convinced to take her family name instead. She gave birth before Krauss and raised her son George strictly so he could become the head of the family. She is also condescending towards Natsuhi for not being related to the Ushiromiya family by blood, and acts cruelly towards Shannon, who she suspects of being George's lover. Despite her insidious personality, however, she treasures her husband and son dearly and fears that they dislike her for using them out of revenge towards her brother.
- Eva is the only known survivor of the Rokkenjima incident, making her the head of the Ushiromiya family and legal guardian of her niece Ange. She is the only person who knows the truth of the Rokkenjima incident, but withholds it from the public, which places her under suspicion as the mastermind of the incident. She also acts cruelly towards Ange, who she had previously loved as her own daughter, due to Ange's persistent accusations of Eva being the murderer which brought her to breaking point. Even so, she does not tell Ange the names of the true culprits, Rudolf and Kyrie, as she knows it will greatly devastate Ange to learn that her own parents were murderers. She dies of heart failure in 1998, but not before passing down the Ushiromiya family headship and inheritance down to Ange, as well as the title of "Beatrice" - a temporary name that refers to the head of the family, originally held by Sayo Yasuda.
- Though Eva survived during the true events of the Rokkenjima Mass Murder Incident, she is still portrayed to have died in most of the message bottle forgeries. In Legend, she was found dead in a locked room, after her collaboration with the murderer fell apart. In Turn, she was killed by Shannon in the chapel. In Banquet, she survived until the end after killing Battler. In Alliance, she was also shot by Sayo who was taking up the mantel of "Goldsmith".
- Hideyoshi Ushiromiya (右代宮 秀吉 Ushiromiya Hideyoshi?)
- Voiced by: Masashi Hirose
- Eva's husband. Hideyoshi is a very jovial man whose cheerful nature manages to tone down the tension between the siblings during their various meetings. Having lost his family in World War II, he willingly adopted the name "Ushiromiya" when he married Eva. He is the successful president of a chain of fast food restaurants, but seeks Kinzo's fortune due to people trying to buy all the shares in his company. He speaks with a fake Kansai accent, which he is said to be too embarrassed to use against actual people from the Kansai region of Japan.
- George Ushiromiya (右代宮 譲治 Ushiromiya Jōji?)
- Voiced by: Kenichi Suzumura
- Eva and Hideyoshi's 23-year-old son. He is the oldest of Kinzo's grandchildren, and an exceptional and diligent young adult. He was brought up by Eva specifically with the family headship in mind, works at his father's company as an apprentice, and is a skilled martial artist like his mother. He respects his parents greatly, though he admittedly finds his mother overbearing. He is in love with the servant Shannon and proposes to her, making him her fiancé. Believing that his romance with a servant would be frowned upon by his family, however, he is fully willing and prepared to face the consequences.
- George is admired by everyone in his family, especially his cousins, who view him as their older brother and peacemaker. In his youth, however, he had been jealous of their more independent and impulsive lifestyles, particularly Battler, as unlike him, his mother made him do various things in his youth in order to shape him into the next head. As a result, he put up a more condescending mask towards his cousins, but has since outgrown this inferiority complex to a certain degree.
Second son's family[edit]
- Rudolf Ushiromiya (右代宮 留弗夫 Ushiromiya Rudorufu?)
- Voiced by: Rikiya Koyama
- Rudolf is Kinzo's third child. He was known as a philanderer in his youth and had impregnated his business partner and old girlfriend Kyrie before he married his first wife Asumu. After Asumu's death, he immediately remarried with Kyrie, leading to a falling out with his son Battler (who believed Asumu to have been his mother), who ran away from home to his maternal grandparents for six years. Rudolf is still known to chat up young women from time to time, though this does not seem to disturb Kyrie. He seeks Kinzo's fortune to settle a court case in America. He is an avid lover of Western films and an impressive marksman. Rudolf is believed to know the truth behind Battler's birth, and attempts to tell Battler in Legend of the Golden Witch and End of the Golden Witch, though he is unable to do so. Together with Kyrie, he is culprit who killed everyone during the true events of Rokkenjima before he was killed by Eva in retaliation.
- Kyrie Ushiromiya (右代宮 霧江 Ushiromiya Kirie?)
- Voiced by: Atsuko Tanaka
- Kyrie is Rudolf's second wife. She is also one of Rudolf's business partners, always assisting him in shady dealings and keeping him in line when he gets out of hand. Kyrie and Battler have bonded more as close friends with a sibling-like relationship rather than mother and son. She has a "flip the chessboard" mentality to work out mental problems, and influences Battler in this regard. She had dated Rudolf long before his first wife Asumu, who she envied for marrying Rudolf while she was still going out with him. Asumu and Kyrie became pregnant at the same time, though Kyrie's son was said to have been a stillborn, while Asumu gave birth to her son Battler. Twilight of the Golden Witch finally confirms that Kyrie is indeed Battler's biological mother; Rudolf had been responsible for switching the infants because he wanted to conceal the affair he had with Kyrie during his marriage to Asumu by making it appear as though his mistress's son was the child of his wife. She is heavily implied to be a sociopath, and has no qualms about killing people for the sake of money and her love for Rudolf. The only time she has shown true warm-blooded emotion, apart from her crazed love for Rudolf, is when she realized that Battler was her real son and broke down.
- Kyrie is killed in all the message bottle forgeries, as well as during the true events of the Rokkenjima Incident. In Legend, she was shot by Sayo and her body was shoved in a storage room. In Turn, she was also one of the first to die, also after being shot by Sayo and her stomach split open. In Banquet, however, she was killed by Eva in a scuffle, but not before she kills Hideyoshi in retaliation. Finally in Alliance, she was an accomplice of Sayo but was killed after she planned to double-cross her. During the true events of Rokkenjima, however, she was killed by Eva in self-defense after having killed many people for the sake of the 1 billion yen she has stolen from Sayo.
- Battler Ushiromiya (右代宮 戦人 Ushiromiya Batora?)
- Voiced by: Daisuke Ono
- Battler is Rudolf's 18-year-old son, and the main protagonist of the series. Although stubborn and hotheaded, he is a very compassionate young man. He tends to flirt with young women and has a perpetual fear of "shaky" transportation, thinking he may fall out of a plane or boat depending on the turbulence. Due to his father's remarriage, Battler rebelled and went to live with his maternal grandparents for the next six years, cutting all ties to the Ushiromiya family. After his grandparents' deaths, he returned to his family, though he had not fully reconciled with his father. He is greatly influenced by Kyrie's "flip the chessboard" mindset, which allows him to predict his enemies' thoughts based on the situation at hand. He has a habit of saying Dameda, zenzen dameda (駄目だ、全然駄目だ?, lit. "It's useless, it's all useless") when in a difficult situation. One of the main themes of the series is Battler's disbelief in the existence of witches and magic, which is put to the test when his family and friends are murdered in mysterious ways that seemingly cannot be carried out through human means. Though he is convinced that the culprit is human, he is reluctant to suspect his loved ones as the culprits.
- In most of the message bottle forgeries, Battler survives till the end and was never killed directly. His fate is often him dying in a bomb blast, due to the fact that he is the only person whom Sayo refused to kill directly, hoping that he will be able to solve her mystery before the clock strikes twelve on 6th October and the bomb goes off. In Legend, Turn and Alliance, he died in the bomb blast. The only exception is in Banquet, wherein Eva shoots him with a gun. During the true events of Rokkenjima, he however survives and tries to rescue Sayo, but fails. The end of the series reveals that Battler is a shell of his former self, after he was washed up on shore. The resulting trauma caused him to suffer from amnesia and turned his hair stark white, and he takes on the new name of Tohya Hachijo. The stories of chapter 3–6 are from his recollections of the events narrated to the woman he is living with, Ikuko Hachijo.
- Ange Ushiromiya (右代宮 縁寿 Ushiromiya Enje?)
- Voiced by: Rina Satō
- Ange is Rudolf and Kyrie's six-year-old daughter, and Battler's sister. She could not come to the island in 1986 due to a sickness. After the events of Banquet of the Golden Witch, she is raised by Eva after she returns alive from Rokkenjima, and studies to become the next family head. However, she is put through many hardships, particularly due to Eva's belief that her son George should have been the next head, especially after Eva's genuine desire to raise Ange as though she were her own daughter is poisoned when Bernkastel manipulates a young Ange into rejecting Eva as a surrogate mother. Before her death in 1998, Eva passes down the gold and the title of the Ushiromiya family head down to Ange. Ange decides to try her luck and see if she was really supposed to be alive when her entire family is dead by jumping off a skyscraper, knowing that there is construction going on several floors down and that she might land on a safety net. When she survives, she decides to figure out the truth of Rokkenjima in 1986. Like her brother, she has a habit of saying, "It's useless, it's all useless" during difficult situations. At the end of Alliance of the Golden Witch, the witch version of Ange is violently torn apart when she reveals her true identity to Battler; however, her human self appears to survive and continues to investigate the true circumstances involving Rokkenjima. In Twilight of the Golden Witch, Ange finally attends the family conference of 1986. At the end of the series, it turns out that Battler is telling her a tale in order to hide the truth from her. Ange however refuses to accept anything but the truth despite its sorrowful meaning, and as a result sets in motion the climax of the 8th chapter of the story.
- Asumu Ushiromiya (右代宮 明日夢 Ushiromiya Asumu?)
- Asumu is Rudolf's first wife, who had died six years prior to the start of the series. She never appears directly in the story, but is mentioned frequently in the game's dialogue and tips. She is said by Kyrie to have butted in on her relationship with Rudolf and forced him to marry her. Upon her death, Rudolf immediately remarried with Kyrie, leading Battler to believe that Rudolf had betrayed Asumu and he cut his ties to the Ushiromiya family for the next six years. It is not until Alliance of the Golden Witch that Battler learns that Asumu is not his real mother, but remains unaware of his true parentage. While she is frequently vilified by Kyrie, it is hinted that Asumu was vastly different from how she is described, being a far more gentle woman who was capable of soothing Rudolf's pain, and that he married her not just out of obligation but out of love.
Second daughter's family[edit]
- Rosa Ushiromiya (右代宮 楼座 Ushiromiya Rōza?)
- Voiced by: Ami Koshimizu
- Rosa is Kinzo's fourth child. As the youngest of her siblings, she has the least influence at the family conference. Her husband abandoned her shortly before the birth of her daughter and only child, Maria. Rosa is the president of a small design company, "Anti-Rosa", which has begun to flounder, and thus seeks out Kinzo's inheritance to pay off her co-endorsers. On the surface, Rosa appears to be the most sensible and soothing of all the siblings. However, as a result of being downtrodden by her older siblings in her childhood and forced to endure the pressures of a single mother, she frequently loses control of her emotions and responds violently to her daughter's childish behavior and overenthusiastic approach to the occult. Her relationship with Maria is complicated by how she does not spend enough time with her daughter. Though Maria knows her mother loves and cares for her deeply, she also suspects Rosa resents her and believes that she is the reason why her mother's relationships with men fail. In truth, Rosa had not wanted Maria to become involved in her meetings with Rudolf and Eva to force Krauss to share the inheritance from Kinzo. Her former relationship with Maria's father was once happy, and the two had signed a co-endorsed loan which would later on cause financial problems for him. As a result he left when Rosa became pregnant, saddling her with both Maria and a large debt. Despite the things he's done, Rosa believes that once she has paid off her debt that he will come back to her and become a proper father to Maria, despite his stating he has no intention to.
- Maria Ushiromiya (右代宮 真里亞 Ushiromiya Maria?)
- Voiced by: Yui Horie
- Maria is Rosa's nine-year-old daughter. She has a long-standing habit of uttering "ūū" (うーうー?) whenever excited or upset. She is very honest and naïve, as shown by her tendency to easily believe lies and take jokes very seriously. While she loves her mother, Maria subconsciously resents that Rosa's long and frequent absences have made her lonely and wishes Rosa would spend more time with her. Having no interest in friends or studies, Maria has an extensive knowledge of the occult. There have been instances, usually when Beatrice or the occult is involved, where she acts very creepy, often denoted by her distinct laugh, "kihihihihi" (きひひひひ?), which unnerves anyone who hears it. She believes avidly in Beatrice's existence, and gets mad at anyone who questions it; she even claims to have met and played with Beatrice on multiple occasions. Her interest in the occult and black magic is shared with Kinzo.
- Maria is, arguably, the only true human friend of "Beatrice" - Sayo Yasuda. Because the both of them suffer from painful, abused lives, they chose to retreat into a "magical universe" of witches in which they can feel powerful and happy, which they call "Mariage Sorcerie". In turn, Maria also considers Sayo as her one true friend, and refuses to call her any other name that "Beatrice" because it will break the illusion of the happier magical world which they share together. Hence, in all the universes before the murders occur, where Sayo dressed as either Kanon or Shannon passes an umbrella and a letter to Maria, Maria would only tell everyone that "Beatrice sent it" - with the exception of Alliance, where Sayo presents herself as the "family head" - hence Maria referred to her as Kinzo - rather than Beatrice.
Other Ushiromiyas[edit]
- Lion Ushiromiya (右代宮 理御 Ushiromiya Rion?)
- Voiced by: Ayako Kawasumi
- Lion is a member of the Ushiromiya family who exists only within the alternate world shown in Requiem of the Golden Witch as a result of Natsuhi deciding to keep the baby Kinzo offered her. As the first child of Krauss and Natsuhi in this world, Lion is the heir to the Ushiromiya family and well liked by the rest of the family, including Kinzo, in part because of Lion's softspoken nature and good-mannered upbringing. Lion is in fact Kinzo's biological child together with his daughter Beatrice. Lion becomes Willard H. Wright's partner during his investigation of Beatrice's death, becoming close with him and even leading to a running gag in which Lion would pinch Will's buttocks whenever Will acts in a disrespectful manner (though Will threatens to pinch Lion's buttocks during the battle with Bernkastel). Lion is given an androgynous appearance out of uncertainty for the baby's assigned sex.
- In a world where Lion was not accepted by Natsuhi, he would have become Sayo Yasuda (see below) and eventually, Beatrice.
- Beatrice Ushiromiya (右代宮 ベアトリーチェ Ushiromiya Beatorīche?)
- Voiced by: Sayaka Ohara
- Beatrice (often referred to as Kuwadorian Beatrice) was the daughter of Kinzo and Beatrice Castiglioni, named after her mother due to Kinzo believing that their daughter was her reincarnation. She lived in the hidden mansion of Kuwadorian where she was raised by Kumasawa. As she grew older, her appearance was strikingly similar to that of her dead mother. Kinzo did not see her as his daughter, and poured his affection onto her, resulting in the birth of Sayo/Lion. Kuwadorian Beatrice later met her death when Rosa chanced upon the mansion and took her outside, where she fell off a cliff and died. Her circumstances behind her death haunted Rosa, whose violent reactions to Maria's interest in the occult is a result of associating magic with Beatrice's death. She is the basis of the legend of the Golden Witch and is the model for the portrait in the main hall.
The Ushiromiya head house is tended to by multiple servants. While there are more, only five servants are on duty at the time of the murders on Rokkenjima. A majority of the servants were raised in an orphanage owned by Kinzo. When on duty, these servants utilize pseudonyms, consisting of the kanji 音 as a suffix. It is suggested that these servants are actually furniture created by Kinzo's hands through magic, and are permitted to bear the One-Winged Eagle on their uniforms. The other servants and staff members are normal people hired by Krauss and Natsuhi.
- Shannon (紗音 Shanon?)
- Voiced by: Rie Kugimiya
- Shannon is a young maid of Kinzo's mansion. Her real name is Sayo (紗代?). As Sayo Yasuda's original persona, Shannon is the persona that retains her real name. She has a habit of making mistakes and blunders when she is nervous, despite being an extremely talented and hardworking servant. She thinks of Kanon as her younger brother, and like him, she feels she is inferior to humans, as she is only furniture. Although it appears earlier in the game that by "furniture", she means her status as a servant, in reality it reveals to her mutilated body and her fear that she is undeserving of love because she cannot make love. Despite this, she falls in love with George, which leads to Sayo's descent into madness. She is one of the characters who remembers Battler the most before his return, quoting his embarrassing speeches and even asking Rudolf about him every year, which foreshadows that Sayo is actually in love with Battler. "Shannon" is actually one of the personas of Sayo Yasuda, the real identity of Beatrice, and also the true head of the family after Kinzo's death in 1984.
- Kanon (嘉音?)
- Voiced by: Yū Kobayashi
- Kanon is a young servant of Kinzo's mansion. His real name is Yoshiya (嘉哉?) - which is revealed later to be a false name given by Genji. Kanon is in fact the same person as Shannon, also known as Sayo Yasuda. He is a serious and fervent servant, carrying out his master's orders thoroughly. He is a bit frail and antisocial. He considers Shannon as an older sister and highly disapproves of her feelings for George, as he believes she should not feel love as she is only furniture. Hypocritically though, he has feelings for Jessica, which he tries to hide from even himself, because he thinks of himself as "furniture", rather than a human being, due to his mutilated body. However, it is shown that he still deeply wishes to become a human being, and hopes to do so when he reaches the Golden Land - which means death. "Kanon" is actually one of the personas of Sayo Yasuda, the real identity of Beatrice, and also the true head of the family after Kinzo's death in 1984.
- Genji Ronoue (呂ノ上 源次 Ronoue Genji?)
- Voiced by: Masato Funaki
- Genji is the head butler of Kinzo's mansion. He is said by Beatrice to be the first furniture Kinzo ever created, and is the person Kinzo trusts the most. Sayo's "fantasy-interpreatation" of Genji is the demon Ronove. While it is shown very briefly, Genji is very skilled with knives. He is one of the people who discovered and raised Sayo as a child. After Kinzo's death, he dedicated his entire life and soul to the new family head, Sayo, to repent for the pain and anguish that he has caused her. He is one of the main accomplices of Sayo and probably the only one who is consistently fully aware throughout the message bottle universes that she is planning a murder-suicide, in contrast to those like Kumasawa who believed it was all just a game. He also participated in some of the murders in a few of the universes under Sayo's orders, and his victims are usually killed with a knife compared to Sayo's gun.
- Toshiro Gohda (郷田 俊朗 Gōda Toshirō?)
- Voiced by: Hitoshi Bifu
- Gohda is the head cook of Kinzo's mansion. Unlike the other servants in the mansion, he had been hired by Krauss and Natsuhi. Due to this, his rank is very low. He is extremely proud of his culinary skills. He was previously employed at a hotel, and due to his experience, he is ostentatious and looks down upon Shannon and Kanon. However, while this seems apparent at first glance, he is actually quite concerned for them, and is very reliable when it counts. Due to Sayo's personal dislike for him, he is frequently killed first in the message bottle forgeries.
- Chiyo Kumasawa (熊沢 チヨ Kumasawa Chiyo?)
- Voiced by: Yasuko Hatori
- Kumasawa is a part-time worker who assists with domestic chores in Kinzo's mansion. She often shirks her responsibilities and likes to tell stories and jokes, especially outrageous ones involving mackerel. While seemingly unassuming, she is revealed to have cared for a young Sayo and taught her all about mysteries and "magic". She is the main inspiration for Sayo's childhood imaginary motherly figure, Virgilia. In Confessions, Sayo has stated explicitly that she considered Kumasawa the mother she never had. Kumasawa is one of the consistent accomplices of Sayo throughout the message bottle forgeries, though it is heavily implied that she thought that the deaths were not real.
Other humans[edit]
- Terumasa Nanjo (南條 輝正 Nanjō Terumasa?)
- Voiced by: Akihiko Ishizumi
- Nanjo is Kinzo's personal physician and close friend. He is also Kinzo's opponent in chess. He is one of the few people Kinzo, who has grown fanatical in his suspicions, opens his heart to. He has a bighearted disposition, and has come to the island for a long time, never getting upset by Kinzo's hot temper. He owned a clinic on Niijima, the island closest to Rokkenjima, but he resigned in favor of his son Masayuki. In the past he helped Kinzo conceal the original Beatrice, and later on would both discover and aid in hiding Sayo, fearful of Kinzo committing the same sin on her. Nanjo is one of the consistent accomplices of Sayo throughout the message bottle forgeries, though he is not as loyal as Genji. In Legend, he helped Sayo fake her death as "Kanon" by proclaiming that he was dead when he was only covered with fake blood. Similarly, in Banquet, he also gives a false death proclamation for Shannon and Kanon, which allows Sayo to move freely around the island when everyone else thought she was dead.
- Erika Furudo (古戸 ヱリカ Furudo Erika?)
- Voiced by: Natsuko Kuwatani
- Erika is a young detective introduced in End of the Golden Witch. A blue-haired girl estimated to be around the age of a middle school student, she is characterized as being highly intelligent and possessing an excellent memory. She acts very polite in public, and shows an extreme interest in puzzles and mysteries. In truth, she is ruthless and cunning, and only solves mysteries to boast her superiority towards those who execute them. She does, however, possess a serious inferiority complex, and is prone to breaking down emotionally whenever things do not go her way.
- Erika had been presumed lost at sea after falling off of a boat near Rokkenjima around the time of the murders. By the time public interest about Erika's fate arose, she was written into the stories of End and Dawn of the Golden Witch as having washed up on the shores of Rokkenjima and being taken in by the Ushiromiya family as a guest. In reality, Erika was already dead by the time she washed up upon the shore. From a magical perspective, Erika was a piece added to the game board by Bernkastel, created in her (and Lambda's) own likeness, to serve as the game's detective and investigate the murders presented in the core arcs, interacting with characters from the meta-world to formulate her theories.
World of 1998[edit]
- Juza Amakusa (天草 十三 Amakusa Jūza?)
- Voiced by: Kōji Yusa
- Amakusa is a hot-blooded and open young man who cannot stand boredom and is hired by Okonogi as Ange's bodyguard. He stands by Ange's side despite being originally hired by Eva, who grew to resent Ange. Due to his talkative nature, Eva fired him before her death. He is skilled at operating many weapons. The events of Dawn of the Golden Witch suggest his loyalties lie more with Okonogi than with Ange. Though he is fond of Ange as an acquaintance, he showed no mercy when Okonogi ordered him to kill Ange when she went to Rokkenjima in 1998. In the Trick ending of Twilight of the Golden Witch, Ange figures out his plan and shoots him before he could kill her.
- Tetsuro Okonogi (小此木 鉄郎 Okonogi Tetsurō?)
- Voiced by: Jurota Kosugi (anime), Ken Narita (PS3)
- Okonogi is the president of a company who has ties with Rudolf's and Hideyoshi's companies. Ange goes to question him about everything he knows of the Rokkenjima murders, despite suspecting that he may betray her. Although he had been hired by the Sumadera family to stall Ange and allow them to take control of her wealth, he proves himself to be Ange's fundamental ally in the end and allows her to escape, hiring Amakusa to protect her. He influences Ange greatly in her battle against Beatrice, particularly his belief that truth can only be obtained through love. He is identical in appearance to the Higurashi no Naku Koro ni character Okonogi, though their personalities differ slightly.
- Kasumi Sumadera (須磨寺 霞 Sumadera Kasumi?)
- Voiced by: Atsuko Tanaka (anime), Sumi Shimamoto (PS3)
- Kasumi is the daughter of the struggling Sumadera family, and Kyrie's younger sister. Since Kyrie was the original heiress to the Sumadera family, Kasumi spent her life like a spoiled princess. However, since Kyrie cut all ties to her family when she married into the Ushiromiya family, Kasumi was forced to take up the responsibility as the Sumadera heiress. Kasumi thus blames Kyrie for all the pressures she must now face, and loathes everything about her, including her daughter Ange. She is much more open and charitable than Kyrie, though not even that can mask her malicious envy. In 1998, Kasumi participates in a feud within the Sumadera family over who will control the vast wealth Ange holds as the head of the Ushiromiya family, hunting down Ange in the additional hopes that killing her will finally alleviate some of her hatred towards the deceased Kyrie. She confronts Ange on Rokkenjima where she taunts her for her belief in magic and destroys her most precious keepsake, her cousin Maria's diary. She is then mysteriously killed, which is shown in a magical perspective by the Stakes of Purgatory after she challenges Ange to show her magic, but later revealed to have been Amakusa sniping her and her guards from a distance, before killing Ange as well.
- Masayuki Nanjo (南條 雅行 Nanjō Masayuki?)
- Voiced by: Akihiko Ishizumi
- Masayuki is the son of Terumasa Nanjo who succeeded his father as head physician of a clinic on Niijima. Due to his family's sensitivity to Terumasa's death, Masayuki is resentful of the media for its rather flippant depiction of the murder incident on Rokkenjima, and prefers to keep quiet about it. He is interrogated by Ange during her own investigation of the incident, and only opens up to her as a fellow victim who lost her family.
- Sabakichi Kumasawa (熊沢 鯖吉 Kumasawa Sabakichi?)
- Voiced by: Hideyuki Umezu
- Sabakichi is one of Chiyo Kumasawa's sons who works as a fisherman on Niijima. Like his mother, he is bighearted and carefree. Sabakichi is one of the relatives of the Rokkenjima murder incident's victims who Ange interrogates during her investigation.
- Ootsuki (大月 Ōtsuki?)
- Voiced by: Takayuki Kondō
- Ootsuki is the foremost Japanese member of the Witch Hunt, an international organization of occult enthusiasts dedicated to researching the tragedy on Rokkenjima from a magical perspective. However, their presence and activities are less than welcome by the surviving members of the victims on Rokkenjima, since they stirred up the tabloids in an unpleasant light. The name of this organization was borrowed from the English fan translation group for the game, also called "Witch Hunt".[2]
- Kawabata (川畑?)
- Voiced by: Daisuke Matsuoka
- Kawabata is the captain of a high-speed boat that sends the Ushiromiya family to Rokkenjima back and forth. After the murder incident on Rokkenjima, Kawabata held himself partially responsible for being unable to pick up the family sooner, in spite of the typhoon that otherwise prevented him from doing so. In 1998, he agrees to bring Ange to Rokkenjima in the hopes of finding closure. It is through him that Ange finds that Sakutaro, Maria's close companion, is not a unique stuffed toy.
- Ikuko Hachijo (八城 幾子 Hachijō Ikuko?)
- Voiced by: Michiko Neya
- Introduced in Dawn of the Golden Witch under the name Toya Hachijo (八城 十八 Hachijō Tōya?), Ikuko is a mystery novelist who fabricated stories about the Rokkenjima murders based on the contradicting stories of Legend and Turn of the Golden Witch, which were written in notebook fragments found in two separate wine bottles after the tragedy occurred. She is, by the concept of her nature, the "Endless Witch" of 1998. By Dawn of the Golden Witch, she has fabricated the stories of Banquet, Alliance, and End of the Golden Witch, and has finished the manuscript of Dawn, which she has Ange read. It is suggested that her meeting with Ange takes place during Ange's voyage to Rokkenjima in Alliance of the Golden Witch, though Ange seems to have no recollection of their meeting afterward. In Twilight of the Golden Witch she is revealed to have rescued Battler, who suffered from amnesia after surviving the Rokkenjima incident, writing and publishing mystery novels together under the shared pen name "Toya Hachijo." With the exception of Toya and Eva, Ikuko is the only person who knows the truth of what happened on Rokkenjima as well as Sayo's miserable life, as she was the one who found Sayo's final message bottle, Confessions of the Golden Witch, and hid it from public view because she did not want to see the public disgrace her tragic story.
- Toya Hachijo (八城 十八 Hachijō Tōya?)
- "Toya Hachijo" is the name given to Battler Ushiromiya after he is found alive by Ikuko Hachijo after the Rokkenjima incident. He suffers from amnesia and remembers nothing about himself other than that he was 18 years old at the time of his rescue (hence the name "Toya," which is written using the same kanji as the number eighteen). He lives together with Ikuko and helps her with the planning and direction of her novels, which she publishes under his name. He began to recover his memories as Battler upon hearing of the Rokkenjima incident from Ikuko but, being of an entirely different personality, developed a personality disorder out of fear that his old personality will overtake him. He is known to have attempted suicide because of this, which has confined him to a wheelchair. He is responsible for writing most of the events portrayed in the series, which is his way of coping with his memories. After the events of the story, he finally reaches the truth and lets go of his memories as Battler with no regrets, allowing for "Battler" to finally die and reunite with Sayo.
World of 1944[edit]
- Beatrice Castiglioni (ベアトリーチェ・カスティリオーニ Beatorīche Casutiriōni?)
- Voiced by: Sayaka Ohara
- Beatrice is Kinzo's lover, the daughter of an Italian Social Republic official, and mother of the Beatrice who would later become the basis of the legend of the Golden Witch. She is called Bice (ビーチェ Bīche?) for short. She went to Rokkenjima, which hid a secret Japanese base at the time, together with her father in the Navy, who died on the voyage. The submarine she was on contained ten tons of gold. Beatrice and a young Kinzo were the only ones who could speak English on that island and acted as interpreters to allow Italian and Japanese soldiers to communicate. Eventually they fell in love with each other. After the war, Beatrice began living in the Kuwadorian mansion on Rokkenjima with Kinzo where they had a daughter, but died shortly after giving birth. Struck mad with grief, Kinzo named their daughter after her mother after concluding she was her reincarnation due to the striking resemblance she bore to her.
Witches and sorcerers[edit]
In the world of Umineko no Naku Koro ni, witches are beings who hold powers that allow them to surpass human limitations, and are able to use that power freely. The term "witch" generally refers to females, while males are generally defined as "sorcerers". All witches were either once humans who learned how to use magic, or manifested from human emotions. Humans who can use magic but are unable to use it to its fullest potential are referred to as magicians.
Witches are classified by the types of magic they are able to use. The most recurring type of magic in Umineko is Endless Magic, which grants witches the power to break and repair anything infinitely, including human lives. Witches with this ability, such as Beatrice, are known as Endless Witches and are greatly respected, though they often lose their concept of life and death entirely and are easily corrupted. Even with this power, Endless Witches and all other witches of a lower class are very limited beings, as they are bound to certain territories and unable to use their powers outside of them. Witches who gain the ability to move into other territories called "Fragments" (カケラ Kakera?), such as Bernkastel and Lambdadelta, are known as Voyagers, to whom few other witches can compare, though their sense of worth is often deterred, and they are even at the risk of losing their souls on their voyages, which they often hope will be endless. Witches of an even higher order are Creators, beings who hold the ability to create something from nothing. Voyagers are said to become Creators at the ends of their journeys, which they fear for unknown reasons.
It is later revealed that, however, magic doesn't actually exist, and that "witches" are a term to refer to people who can perform tricks that others cannot explain through human means (anti-magic toxin) and thus are accepted to have "magic".
- Beatrice (ベアトリーチェ Beatorīche?)
- Voiced by: Sayaka Ohara
- Beatrice is the Golden and Endless Witch, and the primary antagonist of the series for the first four games. She is affectionately referred to as "Beato" (ベアト?) starting in Banquet of the Golden Witch. She first appears in the "Tea Party" of Legend of the Golden Witch, where she confronts Battler over his refusal to accept that his friends and family were killed by magic, and challenges him to a game in which he must prove otherwise from Turn of the Golden Witch onward. A witch who has lived for over a thousand years, she is said to appear as a cloud of golden butterflies, and has the power to summon higher demons among the 72 pillars to serve her. It is said that humans can summon her to have their wishes granted in exchange for compensation, though she often acts whimsically. She is the one rumored to have given Kinzo ten tons of gold and served under him as the alchemic advisor to the Ushiromiya family. There are also rumors of a woman named Beatrice who was kept by Kinzo as a mistress in a hidden mansion on Rokkenjima called Kuwadorian until her death in 1967.
- Beatrice's true identity is that of a human who wishes to hide the truth of Rokkenjima from Battler in a desperate attempt for him to understand her heart. Her real identity is Shannon and Kanon, servants of the Ushiromiya family, and the illegitimate child of Kinzo and Beatrice Ushiromiya. Her real name is Sayo Yasuda. She is in love with Battler, but she also loves George and Jessica, yet she believes she is incapable of love due to her mutilated body and the circumstances of her birth. In her conceptualization of "Beatrice", Sayo borrowed ideas from the lives of her mother, Beatrice Ushiromiya, and her grandmother, Beatrice Castiglioni as well, hence giving the witch Beatrice the appearance of having been alive since World War II.
- Bernkastel (ベルンカステル Berunkasuteru?)
- Voiced by: Yukari Tamura
- Bernkastel is a witch known as the Witch of Miracles. It is said she resides in a world where concepts such as fate and probability can be visualized. She comes to Beatrice's game to ease her boredom. She assists the player by giving some hints around the workings of the game. Her "Magic of Miracles" allows her to reset a desperate situation as long as the probability of a favorable situation is not equal to zero. She wants to defeat Beatrice, regardless of the means used for this objective. Throughout Umineko no Naku Koro ni, she maintains an icy and aloof calm personality in most situations, though by the end of Alliance of the Golden Witch and throughout Umineko no Naku Koro ni Chiru, she is shown to be just as impish and playfully cruel as Lambdadelta, if not more. Featherine declares her to be the Game Master for Requiem of the Golden Witch. In the 8th Game, Twilight of the Golden Witch, she abducts the little Ange and makes her turn against Battler in order to get The Single Truth. She ends up defeated after a duel with Battler and Ange at the end and is shown leaving the Fragment in the opposite direction as Lambdadelta. Her weapon of choice is attacking using her cat minions, or a scythe that's able to separate miracles and fantasy from reality.
- Lambdadelta (ラムダデルタ Ramudaderuta?)
- Voiced by: Fuyuka Ōura
- Lambdadelta is another witch who fought Bernkastel in a "game" in the past. This is later revealed in supplementary tips that she actually aided Takano, but other than the fact that they look similar they do not share any other connection. She is quite childish and holds a grudge against Bernkastel for finally beating her in their last game, although she actually cares for her. She is also known as the "Witch of the Absolute" and was the "Most Powerful Witch in the Universe" before she lost to Bernkastel. She is the most powerful witch next to Bernkastel, and is feared by most other witches, including Beatrice. Her "Magic of Certainty" allows her to kill anyone without fail as an absolute result, which bends the basic rule of magic in Umineko, which requires a risk. Like Bernkastel, she is a Voyager. She wishes for Battler and Beatrice to fight against each other for eternity as part of a larger plot to have Bernkastel lose against her, and even attempts to sway Ange-Beatrice to have the games continue indefinitely. Despite all this, in the end she turns out to be the truly on Battler's side, and tries to aid him during Twilight of the Golden Witch. During her fight with Bernkastel, her weapon of choice were pieces of candies and sweets that could move at bullet speed and can explode upon contact.
- Publius Virgilia Maro (ワルギリア Warugiria?)
- Voiced by: Kikuko Inoue
- Virgilia was the previous Endless Witch before Beatrice, and was also her teacher. Her new name (having passed her old one to her student) comes from the Divine Comedy character Virgil, who guides Dante through Hell and Purgatory to Beatrice, who is his guide through Heaven. She is a silver-haired witch with great powers, despite surrendering most of them to Beatrice with the title of the "Endless Witch". She assists Battler during Banquet of the Golden Witch, helping him to come up with theories to counter the claims that Beatrice sets forth, though it is revealed in the end that her allegiances lie entirely with Beatrice, having worked with and secretly assisted her throughout the game in an effort to make Battler accept the existence of witches. However, she ends up becoming Battler's ally once again in End of the Golden Witch when Battler becomes the Endless Sorcerer. She is a dangerous opponent, as she can beat Beatrice in combat if not for a surprise attack. She is also somewhat bumbling as well. She is actually a fantastical manifestation of the elderly servant Chiyo Kumasawa, in the way that Sayo saw her as a child.
- Eva-Beatrice (エヴァ・ベアトリーチェ Eva Beatorīche?)
- Voiced by: Miki Itō
- Eva-Beatrice is a witch who resides within Eva's heart. She represents all of Eva's dark desires from her childhood, including her greed for the Ushiromiya family inheritance; as such, she has the appearance of Eva as a young girl. She first appears in Banquet of the Golden Witch, where she helps Eva solve the riddle of Beatrice's epitaph, leading to her discovery of Kinzo's hidden gold and her inheritance of the Ushiromiya family. As stipulated in the epitaph, Eva inherits the name "Beatrice" and is granted the titles of Golden and Endless Witch, with Lambdadelta as her guardian. Eva-Beatrice is described by Ange as a "black witch", meaning she manipulates others through anger and hatred. In many ways, she is even crueler than the original Beatrice, using her Endless Magic to "play" with her victims by killing them in bizarre ways (drowning in a sea of jelly, crushing under a mountain of cake) before resurrecting them and killing them again, repeating the cycle until she tires. She is very mocking of others, repeatedly taunting them by saying, Heso demo kande shinjaebā? (ヘソでも噛んで死んじゃえばぁ??, lit. "Why don't you just give up and die?"). While she appears to have been destroyed when Beatrice apparently denies the existence of witches using the Red Truth at the end of Banquet of the Golden Witch, Eva-Beatrice lingers around those possessing strong anger and hatred and reappears as long as the real Eva continues to have profound negative feelings in her heart.
- Ange-Beatrice (エンジェ・ベアトリーチェ Enje Beatorīche?)
- Voiced by: Rina Satō
- Ange-Beatrice is the witch form of Ange Ushiromiya, and one of the successors to the name "Beatrice". She inherited the titles of Golden and Endless Witch from Eva on her deathbed in 1998 following the events of Banquet of the Golden Witch and, with Bernkastel's blessing, is the last witch of her time period. Like her brother Battler, she denies witches and has a strong magical resistance. However, she also accepts the possibility that magic and witches exist, which allows her to use magic and summon furniture, particularly the Seven Stakes of Purgatory, making her a formidable threat to witches and other magical beings. In opposition to "black witches" like Eva-Beatrice, Ange strives to use "white magic" to bring happiness through love, hoping to succeed where Maria was unable to before succumbing to "black magic." She also awakens as the "Witch of Resurrection", allowing her to resurrect humans and furniture using any vessel. She uses her Magic of Resurrection once with Sakutaro, Maria's beloved stuffed animal and best friend who was made and ultimately destroyed by Rosa, and uses it to bring Sakutaro back to life for Maria, a feat Beatrice was ultimately unable to do. This is revealed to be because contrary to belief, Sakutaro was one of a kind and only an endless witch can do that, since Beatrice was not given that power only Ange can revive Sakutaro into Maria's world.
- Ange becomes Battler's ally in the meta-world throughout Alliance of the Golden Witch, hoping to expose the truth on the Rokkenjima murders and free her family from Beatrice's clutches. She is forbidden to reveal her identity as Battler's sister to him, however, prompting her to utilize the alias Gretel (jokingly suggested by Battler to be a possible reference to the fairy tale Hansel and Gretel). She and Battler both acknowledge that she is not to be granted too much trust as an ally, considering how Beatrice manipulated and deceived Battler in Banquet of the Golden Witch. As a result, Ange participates in Battler and Beatrice's game as a third party, observing the other two from afar and providing tips to Battler regarding how to solve the mystery, all the while allowing Battler to consider whether or not to follow those tips. She is also responsible for the change in the flow of the game, leading to Battler being granted the ability to use the blue truth against Beatrice's red truth. However, it is revealed by Lambdadelta that Ange is no more than another piece Bernkastel threw into the game to prevent Beatrice from winning, and that if she were to succeed in saving her family, they would return to her past self in 1986 and not her current self in 1998.
- When Beatrice loses interest in the game and abandons it by deeming Battler unqualified to be Kinzo's grandson and thus her opponent, causing Battler to question his own identity and fade from existence, Ange intervenes by overruling Beatrice's theory of Battler's lineage, which gradually begins to restore Battler. However, it is only until Ange reveals her identity to him that she is able to completely revive him. Having violated the rule of keeping her identity a secret, Ange is violently torn to pieces and killed. Her death ultimately motivates Battler into winning the game and freeing his family throughout the rest of the series. However, Ange-Beatrice later returns in Dawn of the Golden Witch as Featherine's "reader" of the sixth round of the witches' game. In the last game, Twilight of the Golden Witch, she returns to her witch-self after the meeting with Bernkastel and Featherine, and accomplishes obtaining The Single Truth of what happened on Rokkenjima in those two days. Upon knowing its contents, she doesn't accept them as truth and she's destroyed and released to the sea of Fragments, before being revived by Beatrice. She then tags along with the group against Bernkastel, and she's able to defeat her at the end, awakening as the true "Witch of Resurrection".
- Maria (マリア?)
- Voiced by: Yui Horie
- Maria is the witch form of Maria Ushiromiya, having become Beatrice's apprentice after giving a soul to Sakutaro. By succeeding in doing this feat, she is a potential Creator: a witch with an even higher rank than Bernkastel and Lambdadelta, and treated by Beatrice as her equal. Known by the title of "Witch of Origins", she is able to create something from nothing. It is revealed in Alliance of the Golden Witch that she is affiliated with the Mariage Sorcière, an alliance of witches she and Beatrice are exclusive members of. She is also the witch teacher of Ange, despite the fact that they did not see each other as Ange was banished from Mariage Sorcière.
- Goldsmith (ゴールドスミス Gōrudosumisu?)
- Voiced by: Mugihito
- Goldsmith is the magician form of Kinzo and is shown to be the main antagonist of Alliance of the Golden Witch. Though he has the same perseverance as Kinzo, he is in perfect health instead of at death's throes, and is an extremely powerful summoner, being able to summon and keep the three Chiesters, Ronove, Gaap and Virgilia within the same call of time. Goldsmith's name is an allusion to the first game, where Battler jokingly calls him Goldsmith, since "Kinzo" literally means a gold warehouse, and Battler wanted Kinzo to join in with the Western-naming.
- It is later revealed that "Goldsmith" is simply a representation of the "family head", and although he supposedly looks like Kinzo in the narrative, he actually represents Sayo Yasuda, whom in Alliance of the Golden Witch presented herself as the Ushiromiya family head rather than the witch Beatrice.
- Erika Furudo (古戸 ヱリカ Furudo Erika?)
- Voiced by: Natsuko Kuwatani
- Erika is the "Witch of Truth", and the witch form of Erika Furudo. At the end of End of the Golden Witch, Erika is named the temporary "Witch of Truth" and Territory Landlord by Bernkastel after her investigation of the murders in the game pins Natsuhi as the culprit and completely denies the existence of Beatrice. However, she loses the latter of the two titles to Battler, who destroys her theory and forces her to come up with another one that rivals his own. She is Battler's opponent in End and Dawn of the Golden Witch, hoping to kill him and expose the truth about witches. Her weapon of choice during debates of red and blue truth is a blue sickle. She manages to take advantage of a logic error in Battler's game in Dawn of the Golden Witch, becoming the true "Witch of Truth". However, at the climax she is defeated by Beatrice and Battler, and is ultimately erased out of existence. Unlike Battler and Maria, Erika was still officially referred to as Erika Furudo rather than just by her first name after she gained the rank of a witch.
- Battler (バトラ Batora?)
- Voiced by: Daisuke Ono
- Battler is the Endless Sorcerer, and the sorcerer form of Battler Ushiromiya. At the end of End of the Golden Witch, Battler is named the "Endless Sorcerer" and "Golden Sorcerer" by Lambdadelta after he inherits Beatrice's power and becomes the new Game Master. With assistance from Beatrice's furniture, he uses the standpoint that he himself is the mastermind behind the game's murders to battle Erika's theory that Natsuhi is the culprit. In Dawn of the Golden Witch, he grows increasingly obsessed with reviving Beatrice, but proves to be unsuccessful when his efforts produce a much tamer Beatrice, who is childish, naïve and lacks the original's memories. He attempts to demonstrate his understanding of the game in Dawn of the Golden Witch, but ends up inadvertently producing a logic error Erika takes advantage of, and forfeits himself to her entirely. However, alongside the newly awakened Beatrice, he manages to ultimately defeat Erika by winning the game. Since he knows the truth behind the game board, he is able to use the gold truth.
- Featherine Augustus Aurora (フェザリーヌ・アウグストゥス・アウローラ Fezarīnu Augusutusu Aurōra?)
- Voiced by: Michiko Neya
- Featherine is the witch form of Ikuko Hachijo, though technically are not the same entity, and the "Witch of the Theater". She is said to have been the Game Master for countless other games in the past, though she has long-forgotten them. She possesses a crescent-shaped device which floats around her head, serving as a memory aid which maintains traits such as her name, appearance and personality. She has Ange read the story of Dawn of the Golden Witch and challenges her to find the truth about it. She is familiar with Bernkastel, and appoints her the Game Master for Requiem of the Golden Witch.
- Certain aspects of her appearance, particularly her dress and memory aid, vaguely resemble the clothes and horns possessed by Hanyū from Higurashi no Naku Koro ni. Parts of her name also allude to Hanyū—when roughly translated, the two kanji that make up Hanyū's name (羽入?) translate to "feather" (羽 hane?) and "in" (入 iri?) which, when put together, more or less make up her first name "Featherine"; in addition, the first two katakana shared by her middle and last names, "Au" (アウ?), are also used by Hanyū as a catchphrase, "auau" (あぅあぅ?). She also tends to call human characters a 'child of man' rather than their actual names, Hanyū also refers to humans in this way. While a polarizing figure during most of her appearances, she is akin to being a main antagonist, having been responsible for Bernkastel's creation and training, as well as being far more powerful than both her and Lambdadelta, as well as actively trying to re-write the story for her own gain, regardless of the truth and everyone else.
The term "furniture" (家具 kagu?) in Umineko is used to refer to those who serve others, similar to that of a servant, except those termed furniture are summoned or created by a magician or witch. The number and type of furniture summoned at one time depends on the summoner's skill. The term is also used as a form of dehumanization. In addition to special powers, such as transformation and barriers, most furniture have the ability to conjure a magical ornate blade of light from one of their hands for offensive purposes.
The term "furniture" was actually created by Sayo Yasuda when she believes that by having a mutilated, sexless body, she is less than human and hence used the term to refer to herself. As "Beatrice", she hence uses the term to refer to her imaginary less-than-human subordinates.
Great Demons[edit]
The Great Demons of the 72 Pillars are the highest ranking earls of Hell, based on the 72 Demons from The Lesser Key of Solomon. Unlike normal furniture, demons are not created by witches or sorcerers, but are contracted to do their bidding. Due to their nobility in Hell, the 72 demons are well respected in the society of witches.
- Ronove (ロノウェ Ronowe?)
- Voiced by: Tomokazu Sugita
- Ronove is the 27th highest ranking earl of hell named after the demon of the same name. Ronove serves as Beatrice's (and later, Battler's) butler and head furniture. He often serves black tea and cookies to Beatrice and her guests. Nonchalant, he often bears a mysterious smile that is hard to interpret, even for his master. Even though he is bound by contract with Beatrice, he does not hesitate to state facts to tease her. He shares a link with Genji Ronoue, similar to the one held by Virgilia and Chiyo Kumasawa.Like Virgilia, Ronove is an allusion to the way Sayo saw Genji as a child. In Alliance of the Golden Witch, he engages Jessica in combat, where he utilizes barriers for both offense and defense, generating strong ones to both deflect attacks and launch enemies backwards. He can also use a special barrier that returns damage back to the attacker.
- Gaap (ガァプ Gāpu?)
- Voiced by: Yuki Kaida
- Gaap is the 33rd highest ranking earl of hell named after the demon of the same name. She is a curly-haired woman who wears a red dress and a hat with a pink bow. Quite flamboyant, Gaap loves to tease people and gives people random nicknames by shortening their names ("Riiche" for Beatrice, "Lia" for Virgilia, etc.). She is one of Beatrice's friends, though she is greatly disliked by Virgilia. She draws power from the Abyss to summon holes that can lead anywhere, although there are limits. In battle, particularly against George in Alliance of the Golden Witch, she uses a combination of these portals and various kicks that stab with her sharp heels, overwhelming her opponent and keeping them from moving as they emerge from the portal in mid-air. Sayo had originally created Gaap as an explanation for Sayo's own clumsiness and the pranks the young servant pulled on others, before developing the idea of becoming a witch, relegating Gaap to the role of the witch's friend.
- Zepar (ゼパル Zeparu?)
- Voiced by: Mitsuki Saiga
- Zepar is the 16th highest ranking earl of hell, named after the demon of the same name, and is Furfur's twin. Despite having the appearance of a girl with long, light-blue hair and a darkly colored dress, Zepar might be male since Furfur is said to be of a different gender. Zepar appears alongside Furfur when summoned by those who seek romance, and has the power to seduce humans. Zepar can also grant unlimited defensive power and even brief immortality to those who contract them.
- Furfur (フルフル Furufuru?)
- Voiced by: Eri Sendai
- Furfur is the 34th highest ranking earl of hell, named after the demon of the same name, and is Zepar's twin. Despite having the appearance of a girl with mid-length, red hair and a brightly colored dress, Furfur might be male since Zepar is said to be of a different gender. Furfur appears in unison with Zepar when summoned, and has the power to cultivate emotions. Furfur can also grant an inexhaustible offensive power to those who contract them. Zepar and Furfur are created as a representation of Sayo's confusion and pain over her gender and her desire for love.
Stakes of Purgatory[edit]
The Seven Stakes of Purgatory (煉獄の七杭 Rengoku no Shichikui?), also known as the Seven Sisters of Purgatory (煉獄の七姉妹 Rengoku no Nana Shimai?), are the weapons which are said to be controlled by Beatrice. There are seven of them, named after the corresponding demons of the seven deadly sins, and each one can gain power from said sin. The Stakes of Purgatory are described as being inescapable. Only powerful mages can control the Stakes of Purgatory, but they cannot hurt any who have not committed the sins, or have strong magical resistance. The Stakes can take on a human form and their true form, a powerful stake.
While in human form, they rely on their blades of light for offense, switching to stake form to dodge attacks and get in their opponent's blind spot. As for their stake form, while smaller, they are many times faster and can kill by impalement. They can also bounce off walls and anything blocking their way, able to attack from any angle. However, in human form, they are far from invincible, and can still be injured or even killed if shot by guns. In Turn of the Golden Witch, the Stakes of Purgatory first appeared in human form, taking the shape of young girls, each with a different personality, but all have red irises. They can be distinguished through hair styles and colors. They are used in order to accomplish Beatrice's epitaph, but they are also Ange's friends during her school years.
In End of the Golden Witch, it is revealed that the stakes are in fact inauthentic models possessed by Kinzo. Furthermore, their human forms are based on the servants who worked on Rokkenjima between 1980 and 1986 - Runon, Renon, Sanon, Ruon, Berune, Asune and Manon. As these servants have hurt and bullied Sayo in the past, as "Beatrice" she recreates her servants in their image.
- Lucifer (ルシファー Rushifā?)
- Voiced by: Yuka Saitō
- Representing the fallen angel Lucifer and the corresponding sin of pride, she is the eldest among all the Stakes of Purgatory and acts as their leader. Lucifer is based on the servant Ruon (瑠音?). She is extremely insecure, knowing herself to be the most inferior to her sisters, and fears what they would do if they found out. As such, she acts arrogant and conceited to keep her weaknesses from being discovered. Despite that, she takes pleasure in surrendering on her own accord. Lucifer's appearance is a girl with long, straight black hair. Her appearance is based on the servant Runon.
- Leviathan (レヴィアタン Reviatan?)
- Voiced by: Madoka Yonezawa
- Representing the demon Leviathan and the corresponding sin of envy, she is the second eldest of the Stakes of Purgatory, and the self-fashioned representative of the younger sisters to Lucifer. Leviathan is based on the servant Renon (恋音?). By nature, she is a jealous, selfish crybaby who will do anything to win. Her otherwise brutal personality allows her to easily pinpoint the weaknesses of others. Unfortunately for her, she is clumsy at everything she does and always comes out last at everything she and her sisters do together. Leviathan's appearance is a girl with wavy, middle-length green hair. Her appearance is based on the servant Renon.
- Satan (サタン?)
- Voiced by: Yōko Hikasa
- Representing the demon Satan and the corresponding sin of wrath, she is the third eldest of the Stakes of Purgatory, based on the servant Sanon (玲音?). She is easily angered and speaks with scornful inflection, making her the most feared out of the sisters, including by the sisters themselves. Since people are too afraid to talk back at her, she often becomes lonely. She often tries to intentionally anger her sisters so they can be angry with her, but to no avail. Satan's appearance is a girl with short, curly pale hair. Her appearance is based on the servant Sanon.
- Belphegor (ベルフェゴール Berufegōru?)
- Voiced by: Seiko Yoshida
- Representing the demon Belphegor and the corresponding sin of sloth, she is the middle child of the Stakes of Purgatory, based on the servant Reinon (礼音?). She is hard-working and sensible, but only so that her master can become a lazy pig and fall all the harder.In terms of her motives, Belphegor can be said to be the most demonic of all her sisters. Her serious nature makes her the most trusted of her sisters, but she is not used to being treated with kindness. Belphegor's appearance is a girl with long dark hair in a ponytail. Her appearance is based on the servant Ruon.
- Mammon (マモン Mamon?)
- Voiced by: Ayano Niina
- Representing the demon Mammon and the corresponding sin of greed, she is the third youngest of the Stakes of Purgatory, based on the servant Manon (眞音?). She is extremely greedy and, with her ability to act quickly, will do anything to get what she wants, often leading her to start conflicts between her sisters. Unlike the other Stakes, however, she is the most honest emotionally. Mammon's appearance is a girl with long brown hair. In Alliance of the Golden Witch, she is Ange's best friend. Her appearance is based on the servant Manon.
- Beelzebub (ベルゼブブ Beruzebubu?)
- Voiced by: Yuri Yamaoka
- Representing the demon Beelzebub and the corresponding sin of gluttony, she is the second youngest of the Stakes of Purgatory, based on the servant Berune (鐘音?). She is a gourmet, and is willing to use even her own flesh if it is used to make a delicious meal. Due to her connection to food, she is widely known among other enthusiasts. She serves as a calming influence among the sisters. She has a competitive streak with Mammon to see who will get something first. Beelzebub's appearance is a girl with short, curly, blonde hair in two drill pony tails. Her appearance is based on the servant Berune.
- Asmodeus (アスモデウス Asumodeusu?)
- Voiced by: Aki Toyosaki
- Representing the demon Asmodeus and the corresponding sin of lust, she is the youngest of the Stakes of Purgatory, based on the servant Asune (明日音?). She wants to fall in love, and is willing to sacrifice her life for the sake of it. Due to her young age, she is treated affectionately by everyone, but is not taken seriously among the sisters. This makes her wish all the harder for her knight in shining armor to arrive and help her be accepted as an adult, though such a thing is nothing more than a delusion. Asmodeus' appearance is a girl with long, blonde, straight hair in two pony tails. Her appearance is based on the servant Asune.
The Chiester Sisters Imperial Guard Corps (シエスタ姉妹近衛兵 Shiesuta Shimai Konoehei?) are bunny-girl weapons who can only be summoned by witches and sorcerers with a substantial amount of summoning skills. They are also called "Siesta" as a result a mistranslation. They attack using bows and arrows of light that fire potent beams of light which kill instantly on impact; the lone exception being Battler due to his invincible anti-magic shield. In End of the Golden Witch it is revealed that whoever is the Game Master is also immune. It is said that there is no escape from the Chiesters' attacks, and they can even locate targets from far parts of the island and retrieve the corpses of whom they have killed; despite this, the Chiesters appear to be far from fearless, being terrified away twice when it appeared that their attacks had been useless against both Beatrice and Battler in Banquet of the Golden Witch. They have red eyes, bunny ears, and elaborate military-styled outfits.
It is hinted that they are connected to Maria in many different ways: Maria owns a set of ceramic musician rabbit toys said to wear uniforms resembling theirs; they bear a cross-shaped crest on their left arms, which resembles the last character in Maria's name, "a" (亞?); and they are highly protective of Maria when she is around and willing to carry out her orders, such as during the Tea Party of Banquet of the Golden Witch. The only known witches and sorcerers who have been able to summon the Chiesters are Eva-Beatrice, Goldsmith, and Erika Furudo. Beatrice can also summon them, but she has only done so in the Beatrice's White Day tips. Their true master is referred to as Pendragon, or the "Dragon King", who is only mentioned by name. Their true form is the rabbit figures that Maria once owned. The name "Chiester" is a corruption of Winchester, a rifle that is in Kinzo's possession. As most of the victims of the "Chiesters" turn out to simply have been shot by Kinzo's guns, this name is strangely appropriate.
- Chiester 410 (シエスタ410 Shiesuta Yonichimaru?)
- Voiced by: Eri Kitamura
- Chiester 410 is named after the .410 Winchester shotgun. Chiester 410 wears a blue uniform and has short teal hair. Unlike Chiester 45, 410 has a childish, silly smile on her face most of the time. Her duty is the main sniper using the information from Chiester 45.
- Chiester 45 (シエスタ45 Shiesuta Yonjūgo?)
- Voiced by: Mariko Mizuno
- Chiester 45 is named after the .45 Winchester rifle. Chiester 45 wears a red uniform and has long pink hair tied in two ponytails. She has a nervous look most of the time and she is also somewhat hesitant. Her duty is battle control, information gathering and data mining, trajectory calculating and sending it to Chiester 410.
- Chiester 00 (シエスタ00 Shiesuta Daburu Ō?)
- Voiced by: Shion Hirota
- Chiester 00 is named after the "00 buck" shotgun load. Chiester 00 wears a black uniform and has long blonde hair. She has an eyepatch over her right eye, and her left bunny-ear has a scar. As the leader of the summoned Chiesters, she is very composed and serious in her work, though in general besides her work she is a kind-hearted and gentle. She is also known for going full force in battle, and lost her eye for it. She is in charge of guard and recon.
- Chiester 556 (シエスタ556 Shiesuta Gogoroku?)
- Chiester 556 is named after the 5.56x45mm NATO rifle cartridge. Chiester 556 wears a purple uniform and has short black hair. She is dead, after supposedly having been killed by a "Black Witch" revealed to be Rosa, since she ended up breaking one of Maria's toy rabbits during a fight with Maria. She was in charge of firing support and guard. In life, she is said to have been teased by the other Chiesters, but only out of love for her.
Eiserne Jungfrau[edit]
Eiserne Jungfrau (アイゼルネ・ユングフラウ Aizerune Yungufurau?) is a clergy introduced in End of the Golden Witch. Its name literally means "Iron Maiden" in German. It is a redemption enforcement agency supervised by the Great Court of Heaven, tasked with carrying out interrogations and executions of those who have committed heresy, particularly witches. It is made up of seven Inquisitors, led by Archbishop Dlanor A. Knox, and several other Assistant Inquisitors. Eiserne Jungfrau boasts a great number of spectacular achievements in witch-hunting, and is extremely well known among other agencies.
Inquisitors are armed with two kinds of weapons: the Red Key and the Blue Key. These weapons do not cause physical damage, but instead attack concepts. The Red Key is used to deny the existence of concepts, particularly the concept of witches, and cannot be blocked, avoided, or stalled. The Blue Key is used to cause concepts to waver and create self-doubt in the intended target, though it can be defended against. The Keys take different shapes depending on the Inquisitors who wield them. In heresy trials, the Eiserne Jungfrauen enforce a set of ten commandments created by Dlanor A. Knox's father known as "Knox's Decalogue".
- Dlanor A. Knox (ドラノール・A・ノックス Doranōru A Nokkusu?)
- Voiced by: Miyuki Sawashiro
- Dlanor is Chief Inquisitor of Eiserne Jungfrau and a first-class archbishop, popularly known as "Dlanor of the Ten Wedges" and "Death Sentence Dlanor". She is named after Ronald Knox, and even upholds Knox's Decalogue during her debates. She has the appearance of a young girl with lavender hair and yellow eyes, and wears a uniform similar to that of a cleric. The ends of her sentences are written in katakana as a form of honorific; the part written in katakana is usually "desu" (normally spelled "です"), yielding "デス", the Japanese transliteration of the English word "death". She is cold towards witches and takes her duties very seriously. Despite her duties as a witch-hunter, however, she is old friends with Virgilia (she classifies Virgilia as one of the "good witches").
- Her main weapons are her Red Key and Blue Key, which take the forms of a longsword and shortsword, respectively. She is only dispatched by the Great Court as a last resort after a case is vigorously inspected; in other words, to have Dlanor sent is the equivalent of receiving a death sentence, hence the nickname "Death Sentence Dlanor". Her father created Knox's Decalogue and was a legendary Inquisitor, but broke his own commandments and was interrogated and executed by Dlanor herself, who stopped aging physically and mentally afterward for mysterious reasons.
- Cornelia (コーネリア Kōneria?)
- Voiced by: Risa Asaki
- Cornelia is an aide in Eiserne Jungfrau, and a third-class priest. She wears a cleric-like uniform and appears as a girl with red eyes and bobbed brown hair decorated with yellow ribbons. She has a strong sense of justice, but despite her cold exterior shared by her comrades, she is quite hot-blooded in nature.
- Gertrude (ガートルード Gātorūdo?)
- Voiced by: Shizuka Itō
- Gertrude is a senior aide in Eiserne Jungfrau, and a first-class priest. She wears a uniform similar to Cornelia's, and appears as a girl with red eyes and long blonde hair. Like her comrades, she appears extremely deadpan when on duty, but is actually a very charitable character well liked by her juniors. She was offered a position as an Inquisitor like Dlanor, but she kindly refused.
SSVD is another famous redemption agency supervised by the Great Court of Heaven, formally introduced in Requiem of the Golden Witch. Its name is an abbreviation of mystery fiction writer S. S. Van Dine. Inquisitors from SSVD are generally more rigid and fundamentalistic in their jurisdiction than Eiserne Jungfrau, and their conservative values garner both criticism for being outdated and praise for preserving their original intentions.
- Willard H. Wright (ウィラード・H・ライト Wirādo H Raito?)
- Voiced by: Hiroki Takahashi
- Willard is a former first-class archbishop and Chief Inquisitor of SSVD, called Will (ウィル Wiru?) for short. He is named after Willard Wright and enforces Van Dine's Commandments. A young ace inquisitor once feared by witches for his cold and ruthless tactics, he gained the nicknames "Wright of the Twenty Wedges" and "Wizard-Hunting Wright". Over time, however, he grew malcontent with SSVD's brutal standards and resigned from his position. Although he appears gruff and quick to anger, he is genuinely good-hearted and opts to be as lenient as possible during his investigations. In Requiem of the Golden Witch, he is forced by Bernkastel to investigate the death of Beatrice and becomes close with Lion Ushiromiya, which eventually leads him to turn against Bernkastel.
- Sakutaro (さくたろう Sakutarō?)
- Voiced by: Minori Chihara
- Sakutaro is a stuffed lion doll handmade by Rosa and given to Maria for her birthday. He became Maria's furniture when she gave him a soul through magic. His name was originally intended to be "Sakura" (さくら?, based on a veiled reference to Cardcaptor Sakura), but since "Sakura" is traditionally a female name, Maria derived from it and added the male suffix tarō (たろう?). In reality, Sakutaro is a normal stuffed animal who Maria simply imagines to be alive, viewing him as one of her most beloved friends. His vessel takes the shape of a simple lion cub, while his human form has the appearance of a young boy with blond hair, red eyes, an orange cap with pointed ears, and an oversized yellow jacket; he wears a red muffler given to him by Maria in both of his forms. He is innocent and shy, and often utters the phrase uryū (うりゅー?).
- He is incredibly popular among the Sisters of Purgatory, who never waste an opportunity to pounce and cuddle him all at once, much to his dismay. As furniture under a witch of Mariage Sorcière, he serves as a non-aggressive diplomat with the ability to produce barriers and negate magical attacks to protect Maria, though his defensive powers pale in comparison to more experienced furniture. In Alliance of the Golden Witch, Sakutaro is torn apart by Rosa in a fight with Maria and believed to be impossible for Beatrice to resurrect due to Rosa's refusal to accept him afterward. However, because he is not the only stuffed animal of his kind, he still appears before Ange, who revives him by giving Maria another Sakutaro. In Dawn of the Golden Witch, Sakutaro assists Maria against Erika when the two argue over a trivial magic trick, and manages to arrange a truce. He later defends Maria against Kanon when he attempts to kill her, only to be disintegrated by Shannon's own shield, though he is restored in the end.
- Clair Vaux Bernardus (クレル・ヴォーブ・ベルナルドゥス Kureru Vōbu Berunarudusu?)
- Voiced by: Sayaka Ohara
- Clair is the original form of Sayo's Beatrice, who is made to match the image of a ghost that haunts Rokkenjima with a pure white dress and contrasting personality. The embodiment of the rules of the witches' game and Beatrice's role, she was created by Bernkastel to be the "reader" of the seventh game, Requiem of the Golden Witch, similar to the role that Ange held during Dawn of the Golden Witch. Clair appears in the meta-world narrating the events of Sayo's past, but lacks any agency to effect the circumstances, serving only as a tool for Bernkastel to act out the seventh game. Her name is a reference to Bernard of Clairvaux, who appeared in Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy as Dante's guide through Empyrean Heaven.
- Goat Butlers (山羊の従者 Yagi no Jūsha?)
- The Goat Butlers are low-level furniture that serve under Beatrice. They commonly appear as largely built men with goat heads and glowing red eyes, similar to a minotaur; there are also females among them, but are difficult to distinguish. Although faithful to their master, they are lumbering and simple-minded creatures that often misinterpret orders similar to the manner an animal would than a human, and are inferior to most other furniture. However, they pose more than a threat to average humans with their superhuman strength, extremely high resilience to otherwise lethal blows and wounds (save for a gunshot to the head, their weak point), and taste for human flesh. They are seemingly endless in number, allowing an inexhaustible supply of them to be summoned. Their main weapon is a purple blade of light extending from their hands. They do not seem to have any personalities, though this is briefly contradicted to humorous effect in Alliance of the Golden Witch when, during a fight with Krauss, the thoughts of one such goat depict it as having been an underdog who eventually won the respect of its peers. The heads are later revealed to be masks, and there are revealed to be female goat-heads as well later on.
- ^ 「うみねこのなく頃に」作品紹介 [Umineko no Naku Koro ni Work Introduction] (in Japanese). Retrieved June 29, 2007.
- ^ "【うみねこEP4対談】現段階で碑文の謎は、解けるといえば解けます" [Umineko EP4 Discussion: The Epitaph Riddle is Now Solvable] (in Japanese). March 11, 2009. Retrieved July 7, 2009.
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