SC’s F5 Character Ranking
Althea Agnes- Easily the best character from this game and to me, probably my favourite F character ever. Althea was funny, well written and pure. Even when she attempted to kill I really felt bad for her and I felt even worse seeing her realise that she couldn't save her grandpa. It was even better seeing her try to atone and put in the effort during trials. I also liked how she provided the more human reactions to all the bad things that happened in-game, and her backstory was pretty great too. My biggest criticism is that her attempted murder didn’t have too much of an effect on the cast afterwards but that’s more on the others than her. Overall, fantastic character. Had a lot of fun with her and my FTE with her is one of my personal highlights of the game even despite its rather chaotic ending. Doot really played her well and I’m glad she was given a chance to survive because she really deserved it.
Elijah Miller- I didn’t initially suspect I would be putting Eli this high, but here we are. Eli was a pretty cool guy and was one of the more helpful people in the trials. I was a little sceptical of him in the beginning given his talent and his dry, snarkier personality but he really grew on me through the game, especially in chapter 4. Guy was dedicated and also had some of the more humane reactions to a lot of things in-game. I liked the Ryan subplot as well as how it was handled. It gave a good closure to his character overall, and it was also an interesting moment for Evelyn to react to which also helped a lot. He did play the straight man role really well and could have been good protagonist material had he survived, though his motive was also an interesting antithesis to his character. Not sure I would put him above Anissa or Simon but he was definitely good as a character in his own right.
Nicos Agne- And right after Eli we have the other chapter 4 killer here! Nicos was a pretty funny guy who I wish I’d gotten to know better. He was cool and humorous and provided a lot of levity in the cast. He could have survived the game and I wouldn't have minded but I’m happy with his role as Hoshiko's killer. His motive was good and explained his actions well. Wish I learnt more about him but he’s my second favourite Pancakes character for sure (behind Ryuji). Never dipped too low for me either unlike other characters.
Vic Terry- It says a lot about the cast that Vic is this high even despite killing in chapter 1. Still, guy was pretty cool. I liked his simplistic talent as well as his silly pun name. He really felt like an F1 character in that regard and worked very well, leading to some of the more amusing moments in chapter 1. His motive was also really good and the murder being an accident really fit him. His backstory was also a good twist which made use of the futuristic setting rather well. Biggest complaint about him though would be his typing style, which really did bug me a lot and got on my nerves a bit, but he still does deserve to be this high. It did help him a lot that he died early on so we had mostly positive memories of him, though.
Evelyn Dø, alias Eve- Yeah, seriously. Your eyes aren’t fooling you, Eve is indeed in my top 5! She was still a good character in her own right though. I really liked how she wasn't first victim but played up to be that way. Her mannerisms and style of speech were also quite amusing and fit her well as the Monokuma figure of the game. The only reason she isn't even higher is because she was deliberately subdued in the later chapters to prevent her outshining the other students. Though even with that she still places this high, which speaks for itself.
Hoshiko Izumi (played by the GMs)- No I'm not kidding, you guys will get no bullshit from me! I absolutely loved how you guys wrote her in her trial and her post-trial. She was quiet as hell but well-meaning with great motives, and felt like a pretty complete character despite how little we actually know about her. Well, not that little, but still, it kills me that Mecha was inactive again after making such a unique character concept with the twins thing but whatever.
Marshall Keyes- Marshall was an interesting character who contributed a lot to the group dynamic. He definitely made an impact on me and had meaningful interactions and relationships with a good deal of the characters. His personality was good and I appreciate the difference he made overall. So why is he so low then? Mainly because of the way he died. I did appreciate the steroids twist a lot and it explained his behaviour very well, plus the fact that he destroyed Eve’s physical form was also good. In the end though it still felt too anticlimactic that he had to go out in an event like that and the lack of reaction to his death also felt underwhelming. Perhaps if he had gotten a more involved role, I would have preferred it but now it’s too late for much more, so ultimately he stays here.
Kyoya Okamura- I really got excited by the idea of Kyoya at the start of the game, mainly because of the hilarious gimmick and talent. But it wore out by chapter 1 and it lost its charm, leaving Kyoya as a character who was...alright, I guess? I appreciated how genuinely empathetic he was and how nice he was but I feel we got to learn surprisingly little about the boy himself before he died. And if the way Marshall died was anticlimactic, Kyoya’s was even worse. It worked as a motive for Eli to kill but for Kyoya, it just felt awkward and unfitting, contrasted with the pretty badass ending Hoshiko got. I also thought he didn’t make use of being ‘seen’ in chapter 3 as well as I would have like him to. I did like the slight backstory reveal at the end of the chapter 4 trial but at that point it didn't feel enough to make him really feel complete, which soured him a lot for me. Probably my least favourite JM character, honestly.
Olivia Watson, alias Skylar Culver- Skylar was an interesting character for me. I really liked her a lot at the start of the game. She had a fun personality, could be witty but could also act like a jerk sometimes. Her talent was pretty fun too for an F game. Unfortunately, as the game went on I grew to like her much less, even flat out disliking her at a lot of points. I thought that her posts got more laconic and annoying to read, even though they still had that creative flair to them; and she just became more and more of a jerk, to the point where it just seemed to be a weird flanderization of her character more than anything else. That said though, her role as the mastermind in the end was good and she definitely benefited from the role the most out of all the survivors. It did explain her jerkiness quite well and she did put up a good confrontation in the end. That said, I still would have preferred if she just didn't act like a jerk anyway, because she could be pretty brash about it and it felt very unsubtle. Her post in chapter 4 literally celebrating student deaths felt a little too over the top, for example. I also feel kind of sad that the twist also meant that ‘Skylar’ really was just a façade, which to me took away from the character a bit. That said though, she’s still one of the better characters, at least among the final cast. It’s really hard to put into words how I feel about her at the end though, because my feelings sort of went all over the place regarding her. Ultimately I think this is an appropriate position for her- she’s high enough mainly for creativity in concept and personality but low enough because of a few glaring flaws which worsen her in comparison to the above characters.
Nana Izumi- Nana was also a strange case for me, because I didn't really like her for a good deal of the game. I thought her talent as well as her personality seemed quite onenote and bland; and her naïveté, while amusing at times, didn't really do much for me. Then chapter 4 came with her sister’s death and while I appreciated what it did for her character, it felt pitifully little. Mainly because their relationship didn't really feel that natural for me. I’ll concede that none of this was on Nana, but it still dampened her character development for me. That being said, I enjoyed the look at how she was coping with surviving all alone in the final chapter and how absolutely drained and miserable she was while still trying to normalise herself. It was pretty interesting and made me appreciate her character more. I can see why people like her but for me, it didn't really change that she was mostly just sort of the same for the first four chapters, which ultimately did damage her for me. She’s still fine character-wise but it did feel mildly disappointing to me seeing her stay the same a lot. Honestly speaking, she’s probably my least favourite, maybe second least favourite Franzise character (after Ohishi) at this point.
Nina Smith- After letting it sit for a while, Nina is alright as a character to me. Not really that great but she definitely didn't piss me off as badly as say, Bud or Shirly at least. Was decently active and memorable and was surprisingly helpful in trials considering her personality. Her being the chapter 2 killer was definitely a pleasant surprise and was well timed. I was glad she didn't overstay her welcome like a good deal of the characters did. Still could be a far too edgey and way over the top with some of her posts to the point where I stopped taking her seriously as a character, which was pretty damaging. Definitely not the worst of Lone’s characters, at least.
Evelyn Rosemary Scythe- And now we get to my own character. I know you're probably going to think I’m a narcissist for ranking my own character this, but I’m going to subvert that by saying the opposite. Overall, I feel kind of unsatisfied with Evelyn and I definitely concede there were some missed opportunities with her. This is mostly on me and not really on the GMs. She was pretty generic and blended in more compared to previous characters but also didn’t have too much group chemistry with the other characters. Also didn't have too many shining moments and I wish I took more advantage of the prosopagnosia thing than I had. I did like the relationships with the characters she bonded with and I liked how she became more emotional and amiable as the game went on, plus the fact she was helpful in the last two trials was nice, but she definitely felt too bland and so-so for her character to really work well. Overall, I’d probably put her in the lower half when ranking my characters- not as great as Terry or James or even Cox (though I know most people would probably put her above Cox) but at least she’s not Chisami? I can definitely understand if people rank her much lower than I did though, since she didn’t really do that much for a good portion of the game.
Gawain Hall, alias ADAM- Adam was surprisingly alright. Pleasant, amicable and really helpful during trials as well! I liked the twist that he was Siri’s brother, though ultimately that didn't change much. Still, he was sort of bland and generic, but ironically he might be my second favourite Kachu character behind Silas.
Takumi Tsukuyomi, alias Honda- Honda is extremely weird to talk about for me. In a way, he’s sort of my guilty pleasure of the game. Not that he’s bad or anything. His concept was pretty interesting to me and I liked his talent. His personality was very pleasant at times and he could be pretty amusing too. He also had mostly positive relationships with the rest of the cast, which was nice (though I feel his relationship with Skylar didn't feel expanded upon that well in-thread). There was also just something...really nice about his posts that resonated with me for some reason, leading me to like him a lot more than I expected to. That said, he still did have a lot of his own problems. He could be passive and a little unhelpful at times during the trials and his DL posts were mostly just adequate. I also kind of found it weird that he smoked cigarettes and used modern swears, since that was a weird contrast with his talent, and his backstory seemed surprisingly edgey for him. Still doesn’t really make me like him less. If anything, even though he’s ranked this low, he’s actually my second most ‘liked’ survivor behind Althea, subjectively speaking. He was just enjoyable to me in a strange way. Definitely Salem/Joker’s best character by far, though that’s not saying much. I can understand if some others rank him lower than I did, though I was reasonably close to putting him above Adam.
Nick Anderson- Nick was pretty unmemorable as a character overall. I did appreciate his role as a teacher and thought it made for an interesting dynamic, but sadly I don't think it really got used to its full potential. He was pretty bland and generic as a character to me as well, to the point where I even forgot he existed in chapter 2. He was also pretty passive which definitely did not help him stand out at all within the cast, and his writing style just felt out of place in an F game. I liked his post trial originally, but in revisiting it...bleh. I have nothing against “thank you friends” post trials as they’ve been termed now, but it just felt too generic and silly for me to swallow, especially since it was coming from someone who didn't have much chemistry with the rest of the cast as well. I did appreciate his passing down of the torch to Marshall at least, and their rivalry in-thread was interesting. The most I really have to say for him is that he died pretty early on and got a semi-decent sendoff, so at least he never outstayed his welcome in comparison to some of the other characters.
Rose Péchard- Rose was a pretty gigantic anticlimax as a character. I thought she was good initially in the first chapter and had a fun, unique personality (though even then she wasn’t that high); and her role in chapter 2 was also pretty good and out there. The fact that she was willing to desecrate Vic’s corpse to protect herself was stupid but felt in-character for her. And then...chapter 3. She didn’t do much but I thought her dying was a good move at the time. And then...she didn’t. This not only made the cast feel pretty bloated, but also felt pointless for Rose’s character, mainly because F took zero advantage of it to develop her character further. And so instead, she just stood by the sidelines doing pretty much doing jack squat, and I forgot she even existed on multiple occasions. The fact that she didn't even do anything useful in trials also was ultimately to her disadvantage and her passivity alone pretty much made her one of the worst survivors just by default. At least had she stayed dead during chapter 3, I would have placed her three or four spots higher. I can see why F wanted to live longer than chapter 3 for once, but I think he definitely should have had a better plan for developing Rose beyond that, because she felt like a big waste of a character by the endgame.
Annabella Hale- Annabella was pretty bad as a character. I felt nothing about her during the first two chapters and barely even remembered she was a character at all. Her passiveness combined with her antisocial personality made for a pretty bad fit for the cast. Then chapter 3 happened and made her even worse by taking her away from her dolls. Instead of using this to further her character more, she just kept rambling on about her dolls non-stop, which was repetitive as hell as well as extremely irritating in general. Felt very unpleasant to even try to talk to. Then chapter 4 happened and with Kyoya’s death, she finally managed to exhibit a little something most well-adjusted humans happen to possess called “emotion”. And while this was a sight for sore eyes and I liked her emotional breakdown followed by her change in attitude the next awkward cafeteria scene, it also was just a case of too little too late. Because it took four chapters for her to reach this point, which meant tolerating her till then and even then she hardly really made use of it in the following DL and trial. So overall, she ranged from bland to just unpleasant for me and was definitely a pretty horrible character. That said, I at least appreciate the attempt at developing her character, even as late as it was, though it didn't end up mattering that much in the end.
Siri Hall- Well, after letting more time sit, Siri still does nothing for me. I even went back and reread her chapter 1 posts to see if I was missing anything else to her, but nope. The problem I have with her was really that she died too soon. I know Jirou was busy and wasn’t actually planning to live longer but even still, it just felt too sudden and left a sour taste in my mouth, especially since I felt like I never got to properly know her. I’m not sure if I would have liked her more had she lived longer, but I’d have at least appreciated it more. I guess she was kind of nice, and the scene where she got drunk was kind of amusing, but it was hard to really get much from. Even her being Gawain’s sister didn't really change much for me. I think it might have just been her typing style which put me off. This is also why I generally don't like making first victims who aren't played by the GMs (or someone who’s not really in the game). It makes for a huge shock at first, sure, but once that subsides it kind of just hits you that you barely even knew them. And with the amount of subs who didn’t even get to do anything at all, it can feel pretty disappointing for someone like Siri to just come and go, as it feels like a waste of a character slot. Apparently she is more popular with the others though, so I might just be alone in this opinion altogether. Still, I definitely think it’s more effective in the long run to let more “serious” players in rather than wasting a slot on someone who won’t even really get a chance to develop their character.
Taylor Fournier- Taylor is easily the worst of the actual characters for me. Even though he wasn't actually a survivor himself, he pretty much epitomises the worst traits of the other F5 survivors. Those being his bland character concept, his passivity, his antisocial personality (which was especially prevalent at the start of the game) and just not really doing anything interesting at all. Personality wise his lack of socialising with the others, especially early-game, hurt him severely and he pretty much was like just a quieter/more vulgar/less charismatic version of Bryan in that regard. Him being the Ultimate ??? also didn't help matters and just made him blend in more, making him feel kind of like nothing. Even his talent reveal did nothing for me and he just sort of continued being boring afterwards anyway, albeit slightly nicer I guess? His post trial in chapter 5 was also sort of the same and changed very little of how I thought of him. As a character, he’s definitely one of the biggest disappointments of the game to me. Not quite as bland as Liza, I suppose, but by god does he come close in a lot of respects.
Hoshiko Izumi (played by Mecha)- Well, you guys probably all saw this one coming. Yup, last place goes to the biggest non-character since Rina and Liza, Hoshiko! At least the way Mecha played her, which is to say not at all. I think the reason Hoshiko is so infamous now isn’t because of her inactivity alone. We’ve had several others before who were also way too inactive. And in some ways, Hoshiko is actually better than them. Her talent was nice and I liked the idea of the twins thing in theory. Some other character stuff like her sleepiness, her bag and her love of her sister were pretty neat as well, and as previously mentioned I did actually really appreciate her role in chapter 4. But you know what really makes Hoshiko worse than all of the other inactives? She lived for four chapters. At least with the other inactives, you could say they all did get offed early on, like chapter 1 and 2, maybe 3 at most. But Hoshiko lived for 4, literally 4 goddamn chapters! And she barely even posted in any of those four chapters, about as much as some people have in a single chapter! Like even by chapter 3, she made a grand total of one post. This was also another reason I didn’t like chapter 3 not killing everyone, because it felt like such an absolute waste of time. She barely had any in-thread chemistry with her own sister, leaving poor Franzise all on her own! And since Nana couldn’t do much about it, she also suffered for her sister’s inactivity. The subs must have felt even worse. I know I would be pretty pissed seeing someone live for that long without even doing anything. She felt like an absolute waste of a character slot and I’m heavily disappointed Mecha just gave up like that halfway through. One could easily argue that she is the worst F game character, and honestly? I would be easily inclined to agree.
And that brings us to the end of my ranking! It took me far too long to write, but it’s finally done with! I definitely did have a lot to say in the end though, so let me end with a writeup on the cast as a whole.
If I had to sort these characters into tiers, Althea would be in S-Tier for sure. Then Eli till Hoshiko played by the GMs would be in A-Tier; Marshall till Skylar would be in B-Tier; Nana till Nick would be in C-Tier; and then Rose till Taylor would be in D-Tier. Hoshiko played by Mecha would be in a special ‘Meme-Tier’ just because of how long she lasted despite not doing anything. Marshall and Kyoya are admittedly somewhat borderline on A/B-Tier as well but ultimately I felt it was more appropriate to move them down to B-Tier. Same thing goes with Nana being in B-Tier, since I felt there was a considerable difference between her and Nina but she did feel more C-Tier than B-Tier.
As you can tell, a lot of these characters ended up somewhere in C/D Tier, with an abnormally small number of characters ending up in A-Tier. This pretty much is an accurate representation on how I feel about the F5 cast. Far too many characters were extremely bland and generic in personality (and I’ll admit I was also a part of the problem in a sense) and just felt entirely forgettable.
The survivors also happened to be mostly people who emphasised these problems especially, making them perhaps my least favourite set of survivors in an F game yet. I had a huge problem also really liking a lot of them and the general passivity only worsened things for me. In a sense, it might be about as bad as F2’s cast, which even though it had its bad eggs, its good characters were really good. For the most part here, my feelings towards a majority of the characters were primarily indifference and apathy, which is even worse than normal dislike. The fact that I wasn’t really able to get the cast at all really did hinder my enjoyment this game by a lot.
I’ve already mentioned it several times now but the chapter 3 “gimmick” of nobody actually dying was by far the biggest drawback for the cast. It really sucked that nobody died at all and felt meaningless, especially since everybody mostly forgot that it even happened next chapter and hardly even referenced it, which sucked a lot. It also just made the cast feel super bloated more than anything and the fact that the people who were roaming around the jungle were the exact people who were enjoying themselves in the carnival felt stale. It was an ambitious idea but it hindered more than it did help. And despite how many people died in chapter 4, the remaining cast still were too high in number, which was pretty sucky, especially since almost all the “great” characters died just leaving behind the C and D-Tiers. It just wasn’t impressive at all.
I think some blame for this also does fall onto the length of the game itself. It is by far the longest forum game I’ve participated in at a whopping three months, and I’m sure it’s the same for most other people as well. I’m sure others have had other stuff happening for them which they didn’t expect to take place during the game, and for some that would mean this game needs to go on the backburner. So in a sense, it’s actually not too surprising how many people were inactive during the latter part of the game especially. Though that doesn’t excuse some people who never really posted anyway, be it in trials or DL.
Ultimately, my cast ranking for each F game goes like this:
F4> F3> F1> F5> F2
I don’t think that this cast has quite the same bad quality to it as F2’s despite what I said, but they were still pretty poor nevertheless, not even holding a candle to F1’s cast in that regard. F3 and F4 are still pretty close to me but F4’s is slightly higher due to more consistency and such.
But yeah, that concludes my writeup. I wrote a lot more than I even expected to and was very critical in a lot of areas about the cast. I don’t think it had anything to really do with the sci-fi theme for the most part, some characters were bad regardless. I do appreciate the more ambitious ideas this game though, and I can only hope we all manage to build off from it in the future for F6, whenever that will be. Thank you all for reading this huge thing, and I hope that you all got something from this. For now… See you all around.
~SC