Who is the mysterious Programmer of Angel Beats?


**The Programmer is an unknown student from the anime _Angel Beats_.** He is
revealed to exist when Yuri, the leader of the SSS,

> decides to get to the root of what is causing malevolent creatures known as
> Shadows to manifest in the World.

**The Programmer is widely credited with having created:**

  * the Angel Player program
  * The AI
  * The Shadows

It is likely that he created the Angel Player program, as it existed before
Kanade Tachibana entered the Afterlife.

It's almost certain that the AI was made by the Programmer, when he states
that he is _"simply obeying the rules"_ when asked what he is doing with the
computers from PC Room 1.

[![The AI telling Yuri that he "simply obeys the
rules"](https://i.stack.imgur.com/PLFiR.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/PLFiR.jpg)

Once love began to take hold in the World, after

> Yui disappeared,

The AI would have activated the Shadow program, **also manufactured by the
Programmer,** to begin wiping out the SSS, Guild, and NPCs.

Now, the Programmer's background is one of mystery. It's a long story, so I'm
going to take a leaf out of the [Wikia's
book](http://angelbeats.wikia.com/wiki/The_Programmer) here (with some minor
edits).

> The Programmer's real name is unknown. But like Otonashi, he was never
> supposed to have entered the Afterlife, but somehow ended up there anyway.
>
> During his time in the Afterlife School, he fell in love with an unnamed
> girl who disappeared when her regret was fulfilled. Unwilling or unable to
> accept that, he decided to wait for her to return, which from the Afterlife
> School rules would require her to:
>
>   * Die during her teenage years (13 to 17 or so for a 4 year gap)
>   * Have a heavy regret
>

>
> **If the girl lived an average of 85 years and reincarnated each time, there
> would be a 4/85 (teenage years)*9.83/1000(Japan death rate )*1%(Ad hoc
> chance of heavy regret)=~0.0004% every reincarnation. Each failure to hit
> this chance would lead to 85 years of waiting. A 10% chance to see her again
> would require 2.125 million years.**
>
> _The above calculations do not consider that the majority of the death rate
> is actually from the elderly rather than from teenagers._
>
> As expected, the amount stunned Yuri, due to the massive time required to be
> spent waiting. The AI explained that The Programmer lost his grip on sanity
> after waiting so long, and decided to create a program to turn himself into
> an NPC.
>
> As The Programmer felt that people who had resolved their sadness should not
> clutter the Afterlife School (much like patients should be discharged when
> they are cured rather than staying in the hospital), he created a program
> that kept track of the amount of love in the Afterlife School world. **When
> the amount of love exceeded a certain amount, a "cleaning" program would be
> activated where NPCs would be changed into Shadows, which would in turn
> target humans and forcibly change them into NPCs, thus resetting the world
> into one where no humans existed.**

_(formatting mine)_

# So, who is the Programmer?

### Theories are welcome if they're backed up with facts.




## Here are a few possible candidates.

### 1\. Yuzuru Otonashi

[![Otonashi](https://i.stack.imgur.com/fxDpK.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/fxDpK.jpg)

The [Programmer's](http://angelbeats.wikia.com/wiki/The_Programmer) details
match those of [Yuzuru
Otonashi's](http://angelbeats.wikia.com/wiki/Yuzuru_Otonashi) with striking
similarities. Let's not forget that alongside the original ending of Angel
Beats, Key issued another epilogue, aptly titled "Another Epilogue". In this,
the main focus is another person that's arrived in the Afterlife, and he is
surrounded by quiet, obedient NPCs. After challenging the reality of the
Afterlife School, he is talked to by the Student Council President,

> The Otonashi in an alternate timeline, who hasn't moved on yet,

and he is told that if he has any questions about the world that they both
live in that he should come down to the Student Council room. However, as

> Otonashi heads back to the Student Council room, a girl can be heard saying,
> "There's a rumor that he's waiting for someone."

So therefore, it's entirely possible that

> Otonashi is waiting for Kanade, and that this timestream somehow loops.
> Otonashi goes crazy waiting for Kanade, who has a infinitesimally small
> chance of reappearing in the Afterlife, but still, better than zero.

He turns himself into an NPC to be able to withstand the long wait, and
creates the AI, or the "AI" to be able to maintain the requirements of the
Afterlife, not allowing love to manifest, possibly therefore saving future
arrivals from the pain that he has been exposed to. This may be why he creates
[Angelplayer](http://angelbeats.wikia.com/wiki/Angel_Player), because he knows
that if Kanade reappears, then she'll know how to use it, any maybe program it
to move him back from his NPC state. The members of the SSS arrive after this,
then, at the time of Episode 1, the timestream loops, causing

> Otonashi to revert back from an NPC.

Forgetting everything that's happened to him, the events continue their course
the same way they did before –

> causing the timeline to repeat over and over and over.

### 2\. Tachibana Kanade

[![Kanade](https://i.stack.imgur.com/NRuxi.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/NRuxi.png)

[Tachibana Kanade](http://angelbeats.wikia.com/wiki/Kanade_Tachibana) was one
of the first people to appear in the Afterlife World, and also the only person
who is able to use Angelplayer without help. Because she has this ability, she
may be the one who programmed it. However, she has never expressed any
recollection in creating the program.

### 3\. Takeyama

[![Takeyama](https://i.stack.imgur.com/n0cgq.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/n0cgq.jpg)

[Takeyama](http://angelbeats.wikia.com/wiki/Takeyama) is great with computers.
His behavior throughout the anime is somewhat mysterious, as he constantly
refers to himself as "Christ", suggesting that he has some great power in the
Afterlife World. He is the most logical choice because of his skill with
computers, and his ability to interface with Angelplayer. However, he does
require English translators to use the program.

### 4\. ???

[!["You wouldn't know, even if I told
you."](https://i.stack.imgur.com/eo6qN.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/eo6qN.jpg)

The AI tells [Yuri](http://angelbeats.wikia.com/wiki/Yuri_Nakamura) that the
Programmer existed before the SSS appeared, and turned himself into an NPC.
The AI also tells Yuri that she wouldn't know the Programmer even if the AI
were to say it. This, logically, means that the Programmer cannot be a member
of the SSS, Guild, or Kanade, as Yuri knows all of these people. Or, the AI
could just have been made to respond that way to protect the Programmer.
Perhaps we may never know...




## Here are a few possible candidates.

### 1\. Yuzuru Otonashi

[![Otonashi](https://i.stack.imgur.com/fxDpK.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/fxDpK.jpg)

The [Programmer's](http://angelbeats.wikia.com/wiki/The_Programmer) details
match those of [Yuzuru
Otonashi's](http://angelbeats.wikia.com/wiki/Yuzuru_Otonashi) with striking
similarities. Let's not forget that alongside the original ending of Angel
Beats, Key issued another epilogue, aptly titled "Another Epilogue". In this,
the main focus is another person that's arrived in the Afterlife, and he is
surrounded by quiet, obedient NPCs. After challenging the reality of the
Afterlife School, he is talked to by the Student Council President,

> The Otonashi in an alternate timeline, who hasn't moved on yet,

and he is told that if he has any questions about the world that they both
live in that he should come down to the Student Council room. However, as

> Otonashi heads back to the Student Council room, a girl can be heard saying,
> "There's a rumor that he's waiting for someone."

So therefore, it's entirely possible that

> Otonashi is waiting for Kanade, and that this timestream somehow loops.
> Otonashi goes crazy waiting for Kanade, who has a infinitesimally small
> chance of reappearing in the Afterlife, but still, better than zero.

He turns himself into an NPC to be able to withstand the long wait, and
creates the AI, or the "AI" to be able to maintain the requirements of the
Afterlife, not allowing love to manifest, possibly therefore saving future
arrivals from the pain that he has been exposed to. This may be why he creates
[Angelplayer](http://angelbeats.wikia.com/wiki/Angel_Player), because he knows
that if Kanade reappears, then she'll know how to use it, any maybe program it
to move him back from his NPC state. The members of the SSS arrive after this,
then, at the time of Episode 1, the timestream loops, causing

> Otonashi to revert back from an NPC.

Forgetting everything that's happened to him, the events continue their course
the same way they did before –

> causing the timeline to repeat over and over and over.

### 2\. Tachibana Kanade

[![Kanade](https://i.stack.imgur.com/NRuxi.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/NRuxi.png)

[Tachibana Kanade](http://angelbeats.wikia.com/wiki/Kanade_Tachibana) was one
of the first people to appear in the Afterlife World, and also the only person
who is able to use Angelplayer without help. Because she has this ability, she
may be the one who programmed it. However, she has never expressed any
recollection in creating the program.

### 3\. Takeyama

[![Takeyama](https://i.stack.imgur.com/n0cgq.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/n0cgq.jpg)

[Takeyama](http://angelbeats.wikia.com/wiki/Takeyama) is great with computers.
His behavior throughout the anime is somewhat mysterious, as he constantly
refers to himself as "Christ", suggesting that he has some great power in the
Afterlife World. He is the most logical choice because of his skill with
computers, and his ability to interface with Angelplayer. However, he does
require English translators to use the program.

### 4\. ???

[!["You wouldn't know, even if I told
you."](https://i.stack.imgur.com/eo6qN.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/eo6qN.jpg)

The AI tells [Yuri](http://angelbeats.wikia.com/wiki/Yuri_Nakamura) that the
Programmer existed before the SSS appeared, and turned himself into an NPC.
The AI also tells Yuri that she wouldn't know the Programmer even if the AI
were to say it. This, logically, means that the Programmer cannot be a member
of the SSS, Guild, or Kanade, as Yuri knows all of these people. Or, the AI
could just have been made to respond that way to protect the Programmer.
Perhaps we may never know...

