Cave Story/Characters
Main Characters
Mister Traveler/Quote
An amnesiac who awakes in a small cave in the depths of a strange island.
- Accidental Pervert: He can optionally find Curly's panties in a hidden passage of the Colons' house in the Sand Zone. And no, they don't do anything.
- They have a purpose in the Plus edition: they unlock Curly as a playable character.
- Amnesiac Dissonance: Subverted.
- Amnesiac Hero
- Heroic Albino
- Heroic Mime
- Hyperspace Arsenal: He can carry vast amounts of weaponry, various keys he doesn't even need, various devices that are built onto his weapons, jars, food and badges, and at the end of the day, still have enough to fit panties and lipstick in it too.
- Nice Hat
- Only One Name
- Red and Black Keep Back: Double Subverted: you start of with everyone thinking you were a battle robot and "Mimiga-butcher", but later on, you learn that you were sent to destroy the Demon Crown rather than the Mimigas.
- Ridiculously-Human Robots: As we learn from Professor Booster despite his human-like limitations.
- Scarf of Asskicking
- Theme Naming: Quote is programmerese for the " symbol.
Curly Brace
A mysterious young woman who seems to know a bit about our hero.
- Action Girl
- Contractual Boss Immunity: Aside from preventing drowning, her bubble tank also grants immunity to otherwise overpowered missiles.
- Gameplay Ally Immortality: During the segment in the Labyrinth, where she fights alongside the protagonist, she is completely invincible. She can even walk through spikes.
- Guest Star Party Member: During the second half of the Labyrinth.
- Heroic Sacrifice: After the battle with the Core, she gives you her bubble-tank and drowns in your place, unless you ignore injured Booster and pick up a tow-rop in the chamber.
- Let's You and Him Fight: Attacks the player character almost immediately after he meets her.
- Theme Naming: Programmers call "{}" curly braces.
Sue Sakamoto
A firey young girl being pursued by the Doctor's henchmen.
- Baleful Polymorph: Got shapeshifted into a mimiga thanks to Misery.
- Damsel in Distress: On several occasions.
- Demonic Possession: By the Doctor in the final battle. Fortunately, it's temporary.
- Faux Action Girl: Just as she encounters a frenzied mimiga, she brags about how she defeated Kazuma in a fight (which isn't saying much). Cue No-Holds-Barred Beatdown.
- Tsundere: First time you meet her, she gets rather annoyed if you say you wanted to save her (and annoyed if you say no), but she eventually softens.
- X Marks the Hero
- You Gotta Have Blue Hair: Her true hair is green.
King
The leader of the Mimiga village, and Toroko's brother-figure.
- The Ace
- Big Brother Instinct: Towards Toroko.
- Cool Sword: And he passes it onto your hands after taking a fatal blow from The Doctor.
- Heroes Prefer Swords
- I'll Kill You!: Utters this to Doctor when he meets him.
- Sacrificial Lion
Balrog
A strange—if happy-go-lucky—monster under the command of the Doctor
- Bait and Switch Boss: After turning the power on in Grasstown, the robot Malco prepares to attack you. Then Balrog shows up and crushes him, commencing a boss fight.
- Baleful Polymorph: On the third encounter with him.
- Boisterous Bruiser
- The Brute
- Bullfight Boss: The first fight with him.
- Catch Phrase: Huzzah! (or "Oh yeah!" in commercial English versions).
- The Cavalry: In the good ending.
- Defeat Means Friendship: Eventually.
- Incoming Ham: Huzzah!
- Macross Missile Massacre: During the final encounter with him. Quite appropriately, you get an upgrade to rocket launcher after the battle.
- Recurring Boss: Fought four times throughout the first half of the game.
- Skippable Boss: The first fight with Balrog can be skipped by answering "no" when he asks if you're going to fight him.
Misery
A young witch under the command of the Doctor.
- The Dragon
- Dark Magical Girl: Unwilling works for the Big Bad and can Heel Face Turn. However, since the protagonist is a Heroic Mime, there's not much to foil.
- Demonic Possession: Is possessed by the Doctor.
- Evil Albino
- Names to Run Away From Really Fast
- The Starscream: Heavily implied to have been one for her uncle Ballos.
- Villain Teleportation
- You Gotta Have Blue Hair: She has blue hair on her sprites and green hair on portraits.
The Doctor/Dr. Fuyuhiko Date
The cruel tyrant of the island. Formerly the research group's medic, he discovered the Demon Crown and went mad with power.
- Big Bad
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": His real name is subtly revealed on the way to True Final Boss.
- Evil Genius
- Four Eyes, Zero Soul
- Morally-Ambiguous Doctorate
- Scary Shiny Glasses
- Sequential Boss
- Superpower Meltdown: Pays off in the end.
- Take Over the World: His ultimate goal.
- Villain Teleportation
Important Characters
Toroko
A young Mimiga and Sue's friend.
- Blush Sticker: Two permanent ones.
- Sacrificial Lamb/Sacrificial Lion
- Tragic Monster: Happens due to being force-fed demonic flowers.
Kazuma Sakamoto
Sue's older brother.
- Butt Monkey: He is mostly seen trapped in a warehouse whining, and his younger sister Sue beats the crap out of him often.
- Dude in Distress: He's first met locked up inside a Grasstown shelter.
- Pointless Band-Aid
- You Gotta Have Blue Hair: Has green hair.
Jenka
An old lady who lives in the Sand Zone. She has five lost puppies, and requests that the hero find them for her.
- Chekhov's Gunman: She is Ballos' sister, and the one who sealed him away after he went out of control. She is also Misery's mother.
Itoh
A cowardly engineer transformed into a Mimiga.
- Baleful Polymorph: Transformed into a Mimiga by Misery.
- Cowardly Lion
Professor Booster
The former research party's technician.
- Jet Pack: He gives one to you over the course of the game.
- The Professor: Of course.
- Violation of Common Sense: There is a point where he falls and gets major injuries. Ignore him completely, and he will come back alive and well with an improved Booster 2.0.
Momorin Sakamoto
The mother of Sue and Kazuma.
Ballos
Once Jenka's kind and loving brother, now a mad sorcerer trapped in the depths of the island.
- Ambidextrous Sprite: Averted. His eyes keep proper colours no matter what direction he faces.
- And I Must Scream
- Being Tortured Makes You Evil
- Bonus Boss
- Evil Is Burning Hot
- Hate Plague
- I Cannot Self-Terminate: The last thing he says to you before his death is "Now kill me... or I... shall kill you."
- Mismatched Eyes: One is stark-red while the other is stark-white.
- Sequential Boss
- True Final Boss
- Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds
Bosses
Igor
A frenzied Mimiga. He kidnaps Sue in the Egg Corridor. It is implied he was the caretaker of the Dragon Eggs, as the 3DS version reveals the ID Card is his.
- Degraded Boss: Reappears on The Balcony as a slightly stronger regular enemy, jumping higher and firing off more projectiles. Whether it's actually him, or just another frenzied Mimiga that looks and acts like him is up for debate.
Omega
A robotic monster that lives in the Sand Zone. Prior to its appearance, Misery was going to fight the hero. Upon noticing him about to rise from the sand, she leaves dealing with the hero to him.
- Bait and Switch Boss: Misery's the bait, Omega's the switch.
Pooh Black
A "ghost" that haunts an old clinic in the labyrinth.
- Kaizo Trap: After killing him, it is still possible to take damage and even die if you touch his remaining bubbles.
- Palette Swap: Of Balrog, for the most part. There are subtle differences between Balrog's sprite and Pooh Black's.
- Spell My Name with an "S": His name is sometimes spelled "Puu Black".
Monster X
A large "X" shaped tank that appears in the Labyrinth. Upon defeating it, the player can see who was driving it: A cat.
- Bullfight Boss
- Cores and Turrets Boss
- Cute Kitten: The cat is there purely for humour value.
- Meaningful Name: It is shaped like an X.
The Core
A large, multi-segmented monster that lives in the center of the island. Its power keeps the island floating in the air. If it is destroyed, the island will fall.
- Climax Boss
- Disc One Final Boss
- Load-Bearing Boss
- Underwater Boss Battle: Can raise the water level in the chamber in an attempt to make you drown.
Ironhead
A masked fish that lurks in the Waterway.
- The Cameo: Ironhead is a character from one of Studio Pixel's earlier games.
- Flawless Victory: Defeat him without getting hurt and you will get an Alien Badge and see a bunch of squid swim across the screen.
- Giant Space Flea From Nowhere
- Underwater Boss Battle
- Unexpected Shmup Level: During the battle with him.
The Sisters
A pair of dragons that attack the hero if he decides to pick up the missile upgrade in the destroyed Egg Corridor.
- Bonus Boss: The only reason to fight them is to get a rocket ammunition which is purely optional.
- Dual Boss
- Empty Room Until the Trap
- Skippable Boss
Ma Pignon
A mischievous mushroom that lives in Mimiga Village's graveyard. He gives the hero the Mushroom Badge if he saves Curly and tells him about her amnesia. The badge itself does nothing: the actual cure is Ma Pignon himself. However, he won't go down without a fight.
- Bonus Boss: Required in order to get the best ending.
- Jerkass
- Let's Meet the Meat
The Red Demon (a.k.a. The Red Ogre)
A red monster that appears in Last Cave (Hidden).
- Bonus Boss
- Palette Swap: Of the generic enemy Droll.
Heavy Press
A giant Press. It appears as a boss in Sacred Grounds.
- Kaizo Trap: Heavy Press falls through the floor after being killed. The punishment for standing underneath him when he does so is instant death. That is, unless you abuse Mercy Invincibility via one of his minions.
- King Mook
- Stationary Boss
G-Clone
A mysterious machine within the Wind Fortress that produces clones of Curly.
- AI Breaker: The Mooks it spawns won't attack you when you stand on the block at the very left.
- Bonus Boss: Boss of the Wind Fortress.
- Mook Maker: Curly clones, to be precise.
Other
Jack
Mimiga Village's second-in-command. He guards the entryway to the graveyard.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: The last time he can be seen is in a Plantation prison. He disappears completely without a word thereafter.
Santa
A resident of Grasstown. He lost his key, so he asks the hero to find it for him.
- Malevolent Architecture: His house comes complete with a spike-trap you can fall into for no other reason than to warn players.
- One Mario Limit: Averted.
- Schmuck Bait: Said spike-trap comes with a very obvious warning.
Watch out! Deathtrap to your left! One touch means instant death!
- Stealth Pun: A necessary bomb ingredient, charcoal, its found in his house.
Chaco
A resident of Grasstown. The fireplace in her house contains a passageway that leads to the second half of Grasstown.
- Event Flag: To pass through the fireplace, you need a jellyfish juice. Said jellyfish juice comes from a giant jellyfish that appears only when you try to pass through the fireplace.
- Optional Sexual Encounter: Sleep in her bed after she mentions jellyfish juice, and the hero will wake up with her sleeping next to him. He obtains her lipstick, which is useless outside of getting 100% Completion.
Malco
A robot that oversees the power room in Grasstown. He helps break Kazuma out of a house.
- MacGyvering: He can make a bomb out of a charcoal, a gum and jellyfish juice.
- Robo Speak: In the fan-translation, he SPEAKS IN ALL-CAPS ALL THE TIME.
- Tin Can Robot