Dramatical Murder

Gameplay

Plot

Setting

Characters

Main characters

• Aoba Seragaki is the primary protagonist of the game. He is 23 years old, and works part-time at a junk shop called Hum-Drum Junk, and lives with his grandmother, Tae. Aoba has a special ability called Scrap, which allows him to mix his consciousness with other people's through his voice and use it to control them, though he can also destroy them and leave the victims in a comatose-like state. Aoba has a caring, honest, and open-minded personality, but is noted by Ren to have a short temper. Inside of Aoba lies another personality that represents Scrap, who usually comes out whenever Aoba is emotionally distressed. The "other Aoba" desires chaos and destruction, and has shown to be sadistic and masochistic. That's why he is Aoba's desire. In Aoba's teenage years, the “other Aoba” was a prominent Rhyme player known by the alias Sly Blue.
• Ren is Aoba's Allmate, who resembles a dark blue Japanese Spitz. He takes a human form in Rhyme. Ren has a mature, patient, and pragmatic demeanor. Despite being an older Allmate model, Aoba considers Ren to be his important partner and cherishes him like family. Originally, Ren was a part of Aoba's consciousness that was created to keep the balance between Aoba and his other personality that wishes for destruction. That's why he is Aoba's restraint. He is voiced by Ryōta Takeuchi.
• Koujaku is Aoba's childhood friend, and the leader of a Ribsteez group named Benishigure. He is 27 years old, has many tattoos and scars on his body, and works as a hairdresser. Koujaku is compassionate and strong-willed, and he cares deeply for his loved ones. He was the illegitimate son of a yakuza leader and was the only heir, causing him and his mother to leave Midorijima when he was young. After undergoing a painful tattooing process, Koujaku was taken over by his tattoos' special effects and mindlessly killed his family. Despite his dark past, he retains a positive and gentle personality. Koujaku is a bit of a womanizer, and is incredibly popular with girls.
• Noiz, real name Wilhelm, is an information broker for Rhyme, a skilled hacker, and the founder of his Rhyme group, Ruff Rabbit. He is the youngest main character at 19 years old. Since he was a child, Noiz suffers from CIPA, causing him to accidentally hurt others. His wealthy parents regarded him as a disgrace and imprisoned him in his room for years until he ran away from his home in Germany. Due to this, Noiz is apathetic to the world around him and bases everything on cold logic, though he can be immature. His inability to feel pain also causes him to be reckless, and he eventually turns to playing Rhyme aggressively in order to feel the illusion of pain. His body is covered with many piercings.
• Mink is the leader of Scratch, a Ribsteez group of former prison inmates. Mink hails from a Native American tribe that grew special herbs that affect a human's body odor to give them a sense of peace. Toue, who mistook the purpose of the plant's effect as mind manipulation, slaughtered Mink's tribe, his family and friends, along with burning down his village in his attempts to obtain them, and Mink was captured along with several survivors and brought to Midorijima to be experimented on. Mink broke out and began plotting his revenge on Toue for his people's massacre. As a result, Mink emotionally hardened and distanced himself from personal attachments. He has a stoic, ruthless, controlling personality, constantly using violence as a means to reach his goal. Despite his rough exterior, he does have integrity and a gentle side he rarely shows.
• Clear is an android that previously served under Toue as a prototype for Scrap before being discarded. Clear was saved by a man who was in charge of the disposal, who treated Clear like a son until he died. Clear addresses this man as his grandfather and speaks about him fondly to Aoba. He refers to Aoba as his "Master", whom he is always eager to please. Although cheerful, polite, and kind, Clear is childish and his eccentric antics cause others not to take him seriously and be annoyed by him. He is almost always seen holding his vinyl umbrella and owns two masks to hide his face, one is a black gas mask and the other is a mask depicting a traditional Japanese woman, though he wears it as a joke. Clear enjoys singing, and can often be heard singing a song called the "Jellyfish Song". He is voiced by Masatomo Nakazawa.

  Supporting characters

• Mizuki is the leader of the Ribsteez team Dry Juice, owner of a tattoo shop called Black Needle and he is 26 years old. Mizuki and Aoba met and became friends when Aoba was a teenager in high school. Mizuki has a cool and friendly personality, and he treats his team members as family. Despite being the leaders of different Ribsteez teams, he is also good friends with Koujaku; he also has an unknown Allmate who takes the form of a white stoat. He is voiced by. In the English dub of the anime, he is voiced by Adam Gibbs.
• Tae is the grandmother of Aoba, whom she often scolds but deeply cares for. Years prior to the series, she worked as a neuroscientist for Toue, but quit upon learning that her research was being used for illegal experimentation. As a pharmacist, she prescribes medicine for Aoba to ease his headaches. She is voiced by. In the English dub of the anime, she is voiced by Marcy Bannor.
• Nine is Aoba's adoptive father and Haruka's husband. Mysterious and quite whimsical, he was once Toue's experiment subject and apparently hears "voices" of things. He travels frequently as a result and came across Aoba during one of his journeys, and could sense Aoba was special. Nine and Haruka left Aoba with Tae to go on another journey when he was a child, and they have not been heard from since then. He is voiced by Eiji Takemoto.
• Haruka is Aoba's adoptive mother and Nine's wife. She and Tae are distant relatives; the latter took her in after she ran away from her abusive parents. Despite her terrible childhood, Haruka's love for Nine and her family makes her a cheerful and kind person. Nine and Haruka left Aoba with Tae to go on another journey when he was a child, and they have not been heard from since then. She is voiced by Emi Motoi.
• Tatsuo Toue is the owner of Platinum Jail, and the main antagonist of the game. Toue is loved by the citizens of Platinum Jail, but is despised by the citizens in the Old Residential District. Ostensibly, he is known as a calm and idealistic man who desires peace and happiness for mankind. However, he is truly a manipulative and self-righteous individual, justifying his horrendous crimes to achieve his goals by claiming it was for the greater good. He is also a fatalist, and merely sees life, including his own, as a game. He is voiced by Tadahisa Saizen. In the English dub of the anime, he is voiced by John Gremillion.
• Virus and Trip are acquaintances of Aoba who work for the yakuza and leaders of the group, Morphine. They are often mistaken for twins due to their similar appearances. They became Aoba's "fans" after witnessing him play Rhyme in the past and will occasionally act as allies to him. In actuality, they are two-faced, and are simply looking out for their own self-interests. They are voiced by Junji Majima and, respectively. In the English dub of the anime, they are both voiced by Doug Hammond and Blake Shepard.
• Sei is Aoba's older twin brother that is held captive by Toue. He also has the ability of Scrap, but the power lies in his eyes. Sei wishes for Aoba to kill him in order to be released from his suffering after years of being subjected to Toue's experiments, which resulted in Sei becoming sickly and on the verge of death by the beginning of the game. Initially appearing as emotionless, Sei is soft-spoken and kind, and he cares deeply for his brother Aoba and Ren, wishing for their happiness. In spite of Toue's horrifying experiments to his being, Sei states that he does not resent Toue for all that he is done, but does feel responsible to stop him from causing more harm. He is voiced by Yūichi Iguchi. In the English dub of the anime, he is voiced by Clint Bickham.
• Takahashi is an assistant of Toue. He is voiced by Kishio Daisuke. In the English dub of the anime, he is voiced by Scotty Fults.
• Yoshie is the owner of Delivery Works, a local courier shop. She takes rumors very seriously, such as all the exaggerated talk about Scratch and the Northern District. When Aoba could not remember what TV drama Yoshie was ranting to him about, she got incredibly upset and began to fawn over one of the actors in it, much to Aoba's discomfort. Despite this, she is shown to be very kind but also unaware that she makes Aoba uncomfortable most of the time with her bantering. She also seems to be interested in younger men, as a poster is hung in her workplace, reading that only young men should apply, and she is overly-affectionate towards Aoba. She is voiced by Satosaki Ume. In the English dub version, she is voiced by Allison Sumrall.
• Haga is the owner of the Junk Shop Mediocrity where Aoba works. He is a kind and considerate man, only losing his temper when being called "baldy" by Kio, Nao, and Mio. His Allmate is Bonjin-kun. He is voiced by Eiichirou Tokumoto. In the English dub of the anime, he is voiced by Rutherford Cravens.
• are three elementary school-age kids that are often seen hanging around the junk shop that Aoba works at. Kio is voiced by Saki Umesato in the Japanese dub and Kalin Coates in the English dub. Mio is voiced by Emi Motoi in the Japanese dub and Jane Cash in the English dub. Nao is voiced by Megumi Matsumoto in the Japanese dub and Cayla Coats in the English dub.
• Akushima is the head of the corrupted Midorijima police, and is usually seen giving orders to other officers. He has a very loud exterior, almost never lowering his voice and always yelling to get his point across. In addition, he has a habit of elongating his words for no apparent reason, much like Trip. He takes great pleasure in arresting people who participate in Rhyme or those he sees as terrorists in his eyes. He enforces taking violent and drastic measures to capture criminals, usually not caring whether they are dead or alive. Trip and Virus seem to be familiar with Akushima and his police force due to being in the yakuza, hinting they may have had past encounters. He is voiced by Yasunori Masutani. In the English dub he is voiced by Mark Laskowski.
• Alphas are androids created by Toue to control people by playing the "Dye Music". They are usually seen wearing solid white masks. Two of them, share exactly the same appearance as their "brother" Clear. The two androids are voiced by Hiroshi Okamoto and Kaito Ishikawa respectively. In the English dub, the two androids are both voiced by Greg Ayres.
• Ryuuhou is a sadistic tattoo artist, who has a connection to Koujaku's past. It is implied that he has been working as one for many years. His work is admired by many aspiring tattooists, often being highly detailed and containing smooth, intricate patterns. Underneath his warm smile, Ryuuhou is shown to be very manipulative and sadistic, drugging Aoba and nearly forcing him into getting tattooed. He enjoys seeing others writhe in pain under him, lovingly going on about how much more beautiful a person becomes after being touched by his needle. His love and obsession towards body art takes a disturbing turn when Koujaku's own tattoos begin to flourish and take control of his mind and anger. The sight of his art turning Koujaku into a monster puts Ryuuhou into such a state of ecstasy that he welcomes his death with open arms, barely choking out how good it feels to be killed by his own creation. He is voiced by Akira Sasanuma. In the English dub he is voiced by Chris Patton.
• Theodore, commonly known as Theo for short, is Noiz's younger brother who appears exclusively in DRAMAtical Murder Drama CD Vol. 4 – Noiz, though he was mentioned by Noiz in the first DRAMAtical Murder game and its sequel DRAMAtical Murder: re:connect. Born two years after Noiz, Theo loves him deeply and was the only one in their family who tried to reach out to Noiz during their childhood. However, as Noiz was imprisoned in his room to prevent him from accidentally harming those around him, their parents forbid Theo from having contact with his older brother, much to both of their dismay. As such, Noiz does not resent his brother and treats him with kindness. After Noiz ran away to Japan, his family spent years searching for him while their father trained Theo to become the successor to their family company, and Theo was delighted to take his brother on as his assistant after Noiz's return. Theo bears a striking resemblance to Noiz to the point that Aoba mistakes him for the latter twice. As he was pampered by their parents as a child, Theo is bright, honest, polite, and hard-working, though he tends to get nervous easily. He is voiced by Sōma Saitō.