User:Cukie Gherkin/Characters of Gnosia

The video game Gnosia features 15 characters, including the avatar character, who are on a spaceship that has been infected by the Gnosia Plague.

Concept and creation

The cast of Gnosia consists of 15 characters, one of which being the player character, with most attempting to identify which among them are secretly Gnosia in disguise, while the others attempt to remain hidden while they take out the humans day by day. The goal of the humans is to ensure that only humans remain on board, while the Gnosia's goal is to be the majority of life onboard. These characters exist in a persistent time loop, with the player character and Setsu being the only ones aware. In each time loop, each character has a specific role; some are human, while others are Gnosia. For humans, there are various roles, such as Engineer, Guardian Angel, Doctor, and Guard Duty. There are two additional roles: AC Follower, a human who wants the Gnosia to win, and the Bug, whose goal is to erase the universe by making it to the end.

At the beginning of Gnosia's development, the game was not intended to have an emphasis on story or characters, instead meant to be a werewolf simulator, where players are meant to either deduce who the werewolf is or, if they are the werewolf, avoid suspicion while eliminating the humans. The game would have only featured a few of the first characters to appear in Gnosia. The initial justification was that they wanted to make the werewolf portion the main focus, but this changed after finding repeated plays of the game dull. The game's designer, Toru Kawakatsu, alias Mazukare, wanted the game to accentuate the characters' charms, enough that it would sustain the player through multiple playthroughs. The character designs are handled by the artist Kotori. When writing the characters, their art was created, and they were placed into the game, playing it and determining their personalities through the gameplay and outcomes. The story was then written according to their actions in this werewolf game. Scenario writer Shigoto also noted that characters were designed based around the kinds of people they would like to play werewolf with. Mazukare kept a notebook containing various details about the characters, such as their manner of speech or their upbringing, that may not have been reflected in the final scenario. Their methodology for creating characters was learned from the creator of Raging Loop, Amphibian.

Characters

Protagonist

The protagonist is the avatar, which the player controls. They can be given a certain name, astrological sign, and gender, including male, female, or neither. The designers made a point of ensuring that both the player and the player character have the same amount of information in order to make the player able to experience a situation they do not understand.

Setsu

Main article: Setsu

Setsu is a non-binary soldier, and a companion to the player character, both of whom are trapped in a time loop due to an entity called the Silver Key that is seeking to feed on information. They take the lead in the elimination of the Gnosia. They were created to be a fierce and aggressive person who desired justice, but when this was programmed, they found it caused them to be clumsy in discussions. They debated whether to reduce their aggression, but ultimately decided to keep it this way.

SQ

SQ is a woman who is both playful and holds a tendency to lie. It is revealed that, when SQ is the Gnosia, Manon takes over.

Gina

Gina is a kind woman whose words and actions may be perceived as cold. A romantic event involving Gina was, at one point, undiscovered by players, though known to exist.

Raqio

Raqio speaks harshly of others and is known for wearing elaborate costumes and for being extremely logical. Raqio went through extensive playtesting to ensure that they never make a mistake when pointing something out. They are easily disliked, and thus often voted off early on.

Stella

Stella is a kind woman who is in charge of managing the spaceship, LeVi. At some point, it is revealed that Stella and the ship's computer, LeVi, are one in the same.

Shigemichi

Shigemichi has a silver body, having a friendly and sincere personality. He has a tendency of getting put into cold sleep quickly.

Chipie

Chipie is a man who loves cats, wanting to become one himself. He has a cat in his neck, intended to serve as a conduit to help him succeed in this.

Comet

Comet has a wilder sensibility due to her home planet advocating a return to nature. She is cheerful, and more able to detect lies.

Jonas

Jonas is a middle-aged man who dresses in old-fashioned clothing, speaking and acting in incomprehensible ways.

Kukrushka

Kukrushka is a girl who does not communicate verbally, only through body language. She tends to be able to use her cuteness against her opponents. It is later revealed that Kukrushka's true identity is Manan, a woman who held Remnan as a slave and who created SQ to inhabit. Manan comes to inhabit Kukrushka after an ultimatum given by Setsu while inhabiting SQ's body as Gnosia, to have herself put into the lifeless doll that was Kukrushka. She then enters the time loop herself with the Silver Key given to her by Setsu.

Otome

Otome is a beluga whale, having human intelligence and language, who wears a water-filled suit and drives a cart. She has a loving and caring personality.

Sha-Ming

Sha-Ming is a man who prioritizes his own survival and avoids standing out. He tends to be a womanizer. He tends to be less kind to men than women. He was created as a romantic character.

Remnan

Remnan is a man who is shy and quiet, who struggles to look people in the eye. He was created as a romantic character.

Yuriko

Yuriko is a mysterious woman who has mystical abilities. She is both very intimidating, but also very easily disliked by other characters. When the player character is a Bug, she is capable of changing their parameters. Mezukare identified Yuriko's introduction into the story as one of his favorite moments of the game, as it indicated the moment where the game gets serious.

Reception

Dengeki writer Ma-san praised the cast, feeling that they grew on them as they progressed in the game's story.