Eric

Personality

«Not much phases me. I’m just not that type. You could’ve been a Martian for all I care.»

— Mira discovering Sean is a robot

Mira discussing the congruent intricacies of metempsychosis in relation to memories.

Mira is assertive when it comes to her opinions, and Eric is often persuaded by her, such as when he changes his coin color guess. She thinks of herself as dull and clumsy. She hardly shows emotions, which can make her seem unnaturally calm during the Decision Game. She is even friendly to Sean, possibly because she knows his role in the Decision Game and the truth of his existence, and defends Sean from Eric’s constant blaming and berating.

Mira enjoying feeling Eric’s heart after ripping it out of his corpse.

In reality, Mira is unable to fully grasp the nature of emotions. Ever since she was a child, she was always perceived as «callous» and «unfeeling» by others. She has a warped sense when it comes to the source of emotions; her mother explained when she was young that emotions come from a person’s heart. Mira took this phrase literally as a child and developed a fascination with the human heart.

When she was formed in her mother’s womb, the genes that formed her brain cortex governing emotions never formed correctly, resulting in emotional and empathetic impairment. Nonetheless, she is shown to be a skilled actor and mimic, able to observe how others use emotions and reproduce them for her own gains.

Zero Time Dilemma Full Gameplay Walkthrough — Q Team Triangle Mira’s Dead

Mira wins the Decision Game.

When Eric is shot in the heart by Sean, Mira is more upset by the fact that his heart has been damaged by the crossbow arrow rather than Eric being in pain and suffering, showing where her priorities lie.

She views humans, especially men, as pathetic and uninteresting «naive helpless weaklings» who are «amusing creatures simply there to be exploited.»

Her motivation, according to her, for becoming the «Heart Ripper» is a quest for another beautiful heart that will cause her to feel emotions, just like the heart of her first victim.

Trivia

Portrait.

• As revealed in the development notes, one of the challenges of Eric’s design was making him look like he belongs to the world of Zero Escape, which has an anime art style. Eric has overtly Caucasian features, and the art designers were concerned that Eric would look too realistic and out-of-place. Whether or not the developers succeeded is up the player.
• The developers were also interested in asymmetrical expressions, such as having one half of his face smiling while the other emotionless, as his mother told him to always smile.

Zero Time Dilemma Full Gameplay Walkthrough — Q Team Triangle Mira’s Dead

Eric dies with a smile.

• When Eric dies trying to saving Mira, he has a smile plastered on his face.
• Eric’s status screen icon depicts him as a baby with a pacifier. This is a reference to some of his behavior, which may be perceived as «childish», as he comes off as a manchild at times.
• Eric dies in every major ending except the CQD endings.
• Eric’s X-Passes are Lake, Fool, Poor, Ice and Love.
  • Lake — What he was forced to dump Chris in.
  • Fool — Eric is rather oblivious and blindly forgiving to Mira throughout the game, and he is also rather impulsive.
  • Poor — Eric is the subject of much misery in both the backstory and events of the game.
  • Ice — He worked at an ice cream shop.
  • Love — What he considers himself to have with Mira, even though Mira cannot reciprocate the same feelings back to him (excluding the true ending where they become engaged, as the X-Passes were made before then). Like many people, love is probably something that Eric strongly desires to have, although he apparently has a lack of love in his life, especially after mother’s death, his father’s transformation into a madman, and brother’s death.

Zero Time Dilemma

Carlos is the leader of Team C alongside Junpei Tenmyouji and Akane Kurashiki. As such, Carlos handles certain decisions and responsibilities that can affect Junpei’s and Akane’s fates. Carlos is trapped in Ward C in the Underground Shelter.

When Junpei and Akane disagree and argue, Carlos tries to act as the middle-ground for their conflicts, mitigating their disputes and acts as the voice of reason in the Decision Game created by Zero II. This usually results in Carlos being an awkward third wheel. Carlos realizes his sister’s life is on the line, and it is up to the player to decide how to compromise between Junpei and Akane and who to sacrifice when the going gets rough.

Branching timelines

Carlos is revealed to be able to tap into the morphogenetic field, allowing him to SHIFT. It is revealed after the Ambidex Game in the Power Room that Carlos is able to subconsciously SHIFT during moments of great danger. His abilities fully awoke when his home was ablaze and it is thanks to this ability that he was able to rescue Maria in the first place. Afterwards, Carlos continued to subconsciously access the morphogenetic field during his rescues, allowing him to avoid situations that would lead to his death as well as rescue all of the potential victims.

C-END: 1

After Carlos discovers his ability to SHIFT and realizes Akane and Junpei also have this ability, the group sees a hologram of Zero in the Transporter Room who tells them that he is dead in the current timeline; but if they meet him at one where he is alive and they are dead in order to meet him, he will answer their questions. They are then attacked by a QCD-controlled robot. Carlos helps Akane and Junpei escape to the C-END: 1 timeline by transporter, leaving Carlos behind to fend off the robot.

There, a recording of Zero in the Lounge tells Akane and Junpei that they have arrived at the timeline where Radical-6 is released, to Akane’s dismay. Zero tells them that he is, in fact, Brother, the leader of Free the Soul, and he plans to release Radical-6 and kill 6 billion people because he foresaw that in the future, a terrorist will detonate a nuclear bomb and kill all 8 billion people. Since he does not know who the terrorist is, he cannot stop him directly, but by killing 6 billion he has a 75% chance of killing the terrorist and saving 2 billion. He invites Akane to a meeting of Free the Soul on April 12, 2029 where she will learn more about them, and tells them that he has a little sister they know well (i.e. Phi). Zero also gives her the Free the Soul robes.

Zero Time Dilemma — Carlos Fail

Carlos’s error in judgement prevents him from stopping Radical-6.

Carlos, who was left behind, temporarily SHIFTs to the timeline after he killed Akane with the axe, in order to give himself time to think. After he returns, he SHIFTs to the timeline where C team presses the button, then uses the transporter to send himself 10 months back. 10 months later, he breaks the X-Door open in the C-END: 1 timeline, freeing Akane and Junpei. Akane lashes at Carlos for not stopping Zero and unknowingly allowing the Radical-6 pandemic to happen. Finally, she resolves to restart the AB Project and prevent the release of Radical-6. Junpei offers to help her, but she instead tells him he must forget everything that has happened, and stabs him with her disconnected bracelet. It is unknown what happens to Carlos after they leave, such as if he survives the Radical-6 apocalypse.

CQD-END: 2

After deciding to SHIFT into the history where everyone was spared from the Decision Game by winning the coin toss, Delta explains his true motives for the Decision Game; to ensure that he and Phi are born and to see if those participating in the game will help to stop Free the Soul, and also to stop an even more deadly religious fanatic.

Carlos aims at Delta with an uncertain fate.

Delta hands Carlos a revolver and tells him that he has the choice to either shoot him since only they know of the murders that occurred in the other multiple timelines of the game or let him go. Carlos’ choice is unknown.

In the post game Carlos files, it is revealed Maria heals from her syndrome. Soon after, Carlos received an invitation for Junpei and Akane’s wedding. However, there’s still a radical terrorist who plans to kill all of humanity and Carlos offered to help Junpei and Akane find this fanatic. It is unknown he joins Crash Keys as a result.

Installments

The Zero Escape series is a trilogy that consists of 3 games:

• Zero Escape: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors. Originally released in 2009 in Japan for the DS, later released in 2010 internationally. Often abbreviated as 999.
• Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward. Released in 2012 for 3DS and PlayStation Vita. Often abbreviated as VLR.
• Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma. Released in 2016 for 3DS, Vita and PC. Later released in 2017 for PS4. Often abbreviated as ZTD.

In 2014, an iOS port of 999 was released that featured higher resolution images and a and higher resolution graphics.

In 2017, a bundle package entitled Zero Escape: The Nonary Games (often abbreviated TNG) was released for PC, PS4 and Vita. This bundle contains a remaster of 999 that has high-definition graphics and voice acting (neither of the previous versions of 999 had voice acting). TNG also contained a port of Virtue’s Last Reward that is almost entirely unchanged. (See the article on TNG for more details on the changes.)

Personality

«You will all be DEAD, DEAD, DEAD!»

— Zero III, to the players in the anime

Zero III in the anime.

Zero III is sadistic, psychopathic and sardonic. He enjoys instilling as much despair as possible into the players. Zero is very excited and enthusiastic about the Nonary Game, and he is loyal to his creators and obeys them faithfully. Zero tends to hide crucial information that can put the players’ lives in jeopardy. He enjoys ridiculing the players by cracking jokes and provoking them, but wants to communicate with them to improve his speaking skills. He can get very sarcastic at times.

Zero has a tendency to say the following at the end of his conversations:

• Have a nice trace!
• Have a nice tragedy!
• Have a nice traitor!
• Have a nice trap!
• Have a nice trauma!
• Have a nice trick!
• Have a nice trouble!
• Have a nice trumpet!
• Have a nice trust!

He gives each of the players a condescending nickname:

• Sigma — Siggy (perhaps a reference to Ziggy Stardust, alter ego of David Bowie)
• Phi —  Phido (perhaps a reference to «Fido», a common dog name. Phi is female, so it could be Zero’s way of calling Phi a female dog, also known as a «bitch»)
• Alice — Alas (a word that is an expression of grief, pity, or concern)
• Clover — Cleaver (a possible reference to the Axe ending of 999 and how Clover «cleaves» people with an axe)
• Tenmyouji — Tenmyoldy (a reference to his age)
• Quark — Quirk (a word which refers to «weird behavior»)
• Luna — Moony (could be a reference to how Luna lives on the Moon, although the word «moony» is used to refer to someone who is dreamy and unaware of their surroundings, often because they are in love. It might also be because «Luna» is the Latin word for Moon)
• Dio — B.O. (body odor)
• K — Potassium (K is the periodic table’s symbol for potassium)

Quotes

• «It… it wasn’t me…» (first words)
• «Eric! Calm down!»
• «Oh, I know! I think it’s called «moe»! Akane is so cute!»
• «If just one more person dies… One more… Just one more…»
• «I’m really sorry…» (shooting Delta)
• «What…? What are you doing?!» (to Mira when she begins goring Eric)
• «W-Wait a minute… What makes you think that was all a joke…? It was such a sad story! He just told us he’s been holding in this painful past the whole time… How is that a joke?!» (to Mira after she laughs)
• «What…? No… Mira… Why did you… Wh-What’s wrong with you, Mira… Stop… Stop this…!» (being stabbed by Mira)
• «I can’t go… I can’t leave him behind, sorry!» (running back to either Gab, Delta or both)
• «I gotta be the world’s happiest kid!» (HAPPY END)
• «AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!» (when his head falls off)
• «YOU MONSTER!» (to Delta for killing Gab)

Pantry

After you choose C-Team’s Suspicion fragment, you must escape the pantry.

Seek a Way Out

There is a shelf to the left of a cardboard box. Open the sliding door at the
bottom of this shelf and take the bottle of iodine solution.

On the wall, there is a poster with instructions for making gelatin.

To the
left of this poster, there is another shelf with sliding doors at the bottom.
Open the left sliding door to get the gelatin powder.

There is a box above where you got the gelatin powder. Get the round part
from inside.

Then equip the iodine solution and use it on the circles in the box.
Letters will appear. Make a note of these letters.

To the left of this shelf, there is a refrigerator with glass doors. There is a
button panel on the left. The code is from the potatoes, going from left to
right. It is Down, Up, Down, Left, Left, Right.

After pressing the buttons in the correct sequence, the left door opens.
Take the doll.

Go back, then touch the device above the handcuffed arm. You can tap each face
of the dodecahedron to rotate the face. You can rotate the whole dodecahedron
as well. You need to match up all the fruits and
shapes. There is only one leaf on the puzzle, so match up the two halves of
the leaf first. Then just match up the other fruits next to the leaf, and
the rest of the puzzle is easy.

Once you solve it, you get the gelatin mold.

Now go back and touch the panel on the right of the refrigerator. The code
is from the potatoes, going from right to left.
It is Right, Left, Left, Down, Up, Down.

After pressing the buttons in the correct sequence, the right door opens.
Get the bottle of water, and get the instructions from the middle shelf.
They say that you should warm up the doll.

After you open both refrigerator doors, the message appears «LEFT hand +
DOLL = ?»

Go into your inventory and select the gelatin mold, then choose Combine.
Drag the water onto the mold to pour the water in. Combine the gelatin powder
with the mold.

Next, go to the red machine, equip your round part, and touch the circular
hole at the top of the person shape to put the round part there. Select
the mold & water & powder in your inventory, and go back so you can see
the whole red machine.
Then touch the oven to put the mold in. Choose COOL and you will get the
gelatin.

Put the gelatin into the person-shaped hole below the round part that you put
into the hole. A drawer opens below. Step back, then touch the drawer to get
the small key.

Equip the blue doll, tap the oven, choose WARM, and the doll will turn red
with numbers on it.

Use the small key to unlock the handcuffs on the arms. You will get the
right arm for your inventory, but the left arm will just rotate down. The number
on it is upside-down. Make a note of it. Remember that 2 and 5 are the same
whether they are upside-down or not.

The message on the refrigerator doors said to add the number from the left
hand to the number from the doll, so do that. The doll says 1234
and the left hand says 625 (when read upside-down) so the total is 1859.

Go to the number panel next to the door and enter that number. There is a
place for a hand print.

Select the right arm in your inventory and put it into the oven, and choose
WARM. Then use the right arm on the hand panel next to the door.
This will end the room escape puzzle.

Trivia

• The first syllable of Kubota (窪) is a Japanese homonym with one of the possible reading for nine (九), which can also be pronounced as ‘ku’ (e.g. 九月, read Kugatsu, meaning ‘the 9th month’ or ‘September’).
• While Akane wanted revenge, it is unknown if Akane intended for Kubota to die. Kubota did have a bomb in him, but this doesn’t necessarily mean he was intended to die. Akane’s fevers occur when she is closer to being incinerated in the past, and she has one after Kubota’s death, implying his death goes against her mission. The Nonary Game was also apparently built in such a way that no one had to die and everyone could escape through Door 9. Akane weeps after Kubota dies, but it is unknown how much of her feelings are real. The ambiguity of this also adds to Akane’s moral ambiguity.

• The digital root of everyone’s age (excluding Kubota): Ace (50) + Snake (24) + Santa (24) + Clover (18) + Junpei (21) + June (21) + Seven (45) + Lotus (40) = 243 = 2 + 4 + 3 = 9. Because of the symbolism, he may be 45 years old, as the digital root of 45 is also 9.

Kubota placing his hand on the RED, which does not appear in the game.

Kubota’s hand is never seen pressing against the RED’s scanner in the final version of the game. However, it does appear in the trailer, along with everyone else’s hands.

While Kubota is alive, the textbox that appears when he speaks always displays his name as «???», despite Junpei seemingly giving him the initial nickname of «bird’s nest». By contrast, all the other players (with the exception of Lotus’s opening lines), are identified by their initial nicknames (Lion, Prince, Silver, etc…) until the codenames are agreed upon. The Safe Ending flashback does, however, identify Kubota as «9th Man» when he speaks during that scene.

In both the Japanese and American character ranking polls, Kubota is #9, which makes him the least popular character. This is coincidental with his bracelet number.

Kubota is Kinu Nishimura’s, the character’s designer, favorite character.

He is one of three characters to die regardless of the ending in 999, the other two being Nagisa Nijisaki and Kagechika Musashidou.

Kubota enjoys progressive metal music.

Uchikoshi once said that Kubota and Musashidou were lovers, albeit jokingly.

In Zero Escape: The Nonary Games, his nervous sprite was modified so that he is looking to his left, likely so he makes more eye contact with Clover before he holds her at knifepoint.

In Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma, he is symbolized by a bomb on the slot machine in the Rec Room.

Quotes

• «CARLOS, YOU ASSHOLE! You got it wrong!» (Carlos incorrectly guesses the coin flip)
• «WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT STUPID THING ON YOUR HEAD?!» (about Sean’s helmet)
• «SHUT THE HELL UP, YOU FUCKING BRAT!» (to Sean)
• «Wh-What? Watch where you’re staring!» (concerned Sean is staring at Mira’s breasts)
• «I always mustered up my best smile for customers, even the boring regulars I was getting tired of seeing. I still offered the most delicious ice cream to them. I really, truly love ice cream.»
• «That’s just it. completely normal. A kind mom, a clumsy dad, and an annoying little brother…»
• «Mom always told us to ‘never forget to smile’. She’d never hurt a bug… Not even if a line of ants crossed her path… She was that kind and gentle. She was incredible, and when we lost her, that’s when Dad changed.»
• «‘Don’t cry. Don’t get mad. You better always smile’ was what Dad liked to say. But unlike Mom, he was never not angry with us… Eventually I figured out how to smile regardless of what was going on. Just smiling day in and day out. No fun. Not happy. I’d be made fun of…or yelled at… And no matter the pain, no matter how bad it was, I never raised my voice. I just kept smiling. I didn’t stop even after Dad fell ill and died…»
• «So I guess the two smiles — one taught by my mom and one forced by my dad — got kind of mixed up, and the result is what I pasted on my face.»
• «The worst part of me still came to the front after we got trapped here.»
• «It’s not MY FAULT!»
• «Mira… where is she!?»
• «Mira… Mira is my angel!»
• «Damn brat! Stop bullshitting me!» (to Sean)
• «What was that…? Did I just hear you say «yes»…? SIX PEOPLE DIED! And you…! Ah, I get it now. So that’s it…»
• «You killed Mira! You killed her! YOU KILLED HER!» (to Sean)
• «Then tell me who did it… Tell me the killer’s name! 20 seconds… That’s all I’m giving you. You better tell me the truth. I don’t like liars. Now, tell me. Who killed Mira…? 19… 18… 17…»
• «You’re not making any fucking sense!» (if you say something random when saying who killed Mira in the Pod Room)
• «Hmm… I see… Zero… I guess that’s true, in an overall sort of way… But you’re the one who did it PERSONALLY!» (if you claim that Zero killed Mira in the Pod Room)
• «Me? I… killed Mira…?» (if you claim that Mira was killed by Eric)
• «The dog… killed… Mira? Uh huh… And how’d he do that?» (if you claim that Mira was killed by Gab)
• «Huh. You’re saying she took her own life? By strangling herself?! Don’t fuck with me!» (if you claim Mira killed herself)
• «»I don’t know who the hell that is!» (if you claim Delta killed Mira)
• «FUCK!» (if Sean doesn’t answer who killed Mira)
• «Everything just seemed so bright after I met her. I couldn’t help but think every day was great. I was going to propose. I scraped together all my money and bought an engagement ring. And then… Then… Why… Why did this have to happen…?» (Eric weeping)
• «You bastard… You’re fucking with me, aren’t you!»
• «Stop running your goddamn mouth!» (before killing Sean)
• «What the hell… Are you screwing with me? That’s not funny!» (claiming Gab is Zero)
• «Me…? So you’re saying I’m Zero…? You fucking brat!» (claiming Eric is Zero)
• «What…? How dare you- You dare insult my angel? My Mira…? Shut the hell up!» (claiming Mira is Zero)
• «Oh? and your evidence?…Yeah. Tell me what makes you say that….Don’t tell me, you randomly picked a name?…Bastard… I’m not gonna fall for it.» (claiming Carlos, Junpei, Akane, or Phi is Zero)
• «Ah, I knew it was you… DIE!» (claiming Sean is Zero)
• «Ah, screw it, I’ll just kill all of you!» (killing everyone with a shotgun)
• «I’m coming to you, Mira.» (suiciding with a shotgun to his head)
• «Calm down…? CALM DOWN…? My girlfriend’s been MURDERED! HOW the HELL am I going to CALM DOWN?!»
• «Cut it out! I’m so SICK of this SHIT!»
• «As long as you can face life with a smile, happiness will come to you.»
• «Smiles… looks better on…you.» (Eric’s last words to Mira in Q-END 1)
• «A, because I think you’re adorable. B, because you are so beautiful! C, because you’re very cute! D, because you’re my darling! E, because you make me excited…! F, because you’re like a feather in my arms…» (to Mira for each key part found in the Study)
• «Let’s go, Mira! Let’s get out of here and build a happy home and wonderful future together!»

Personality

Carlos restraining Junpei from pressing the Decontamination Room’s button.

Carlos is generally kind and considerate. He is hot-blooded and has a strong sense of justice, as well as a desire to save people, and is able to do so as a firefighter, putting his life and safety on the line to protect and rescue. He also cares deeply for his sister, and will go to any lengths to protect her. In the Decontamination Room, he supports trusting the other players even with his life on the line.

Carlos feels strongly when it comes to the concept of «regret», saying that people should say what they want to say while they’re alive, as people live in a world where anyone can die at any moment. Due to being a firefighter, he’s surrounded by death and people in danger. It is implied he regrets not being with his sister more.

There are certain points where he is shown to be slightly hotheaded and make quick decisions without thinking about the consequences, showing he is a risk taker. At one point, he even risks his life by ordering Eric to kill him with a shotgun because he is confident in his SHIFTing abilities.

Due to being a playable character, some of Carlos’ actions can be determined by the player, leaving to varying interpretations of who he is (such as blaming himself or Akane for Junpei’s murder, or choosing to ally/betray Junpei in the Decision Game). It is also unknown if he was willing to kill Delta in the final scene of the game.

2027

The players of the 2nd Nonary Game.

November 1, 2027 — Events of Zero Escape: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors, the Second Nonary Game. Alice gets a tip that those responsible for her father’s kidnapping may be hiding in the Nevada desert. Akane and her organization kidnap the participants of the Nonary Game. They play the game and Junpei saves young Akane in the incinerator, nine years in the past. Afterward, Akane and Aoi go on the run. Alice joins Clover and the others, but they don’t catch Akane and Aoi. Junpei begins searching for Akane himself.

Clover, Light, Ennea, and Nona join the SOIS.