The game's protagonist, and the younger twin sister of Mayu. She has a cheerful, lively personality. Slight though it may be, she possesses a sixth sense, and by touching or holding hands with Mayu - whose sixth sense is powerful - she is capable of sharing the visions or residual thoughts of ghosts that her sister sees. Mayu once fell from a cliff when they were on their way home from a mountain stream filled with memories for the two that they often used to play at when they were little, leaving her right leg disabled. Mio feels extreme guilt about what happened to Mayu, and always worries about and takes care of her.
Upon visiting the area for the first time in years after hearing from Mayu that the stream is to be flooded by a dam, Mayu is lured into the forest by a crimson butterfly. Chasing after her, Mio finds herself wandering into the "Lost Village".
In order to escape from the village alongside Mayu, Mio confronts the tragedy that befell Minakami Village long ago, the Camera Obscura - a device that can "capture images of impossible beings" - in hand.
Behind the Story
The girls' clothes are part of a limited series by Farfalla x Farfalla, a casual clothing brand owned by a fictional company that manufactures ballet practise wear. The brand is a favourite of the sisters, Mio having taken up ballet after becoming bothered by the fact that she had begun to put on a little weight.
The game's other protagonist, and Mio's older twin sister. In contrast to the cheerful Mio, she has a quiet and reserved personality.
The injury she sustained to her right leg as a child still causes her issues to this day. Unable to run very well, Mayu routinely relies on Mio's help.
Though the sisters usually get on well, both girls are loath to touch on the events of their childhood that resulted in Mayu's leg injury.
She has a powerful sixth sense, and is capable of seeing the forms of spirits that are invisible to Mio. She also has the characteristics of a spirit medium by nature, making her prone to spiritual interference, at times even becoming possessed and roaming about whether or not she herself wishes to.
Upon visiting the mountain stream filled with memories for her and Mio, Mayu heads for Minakami Village, guided by a crimson butterfly.
There, Mayu becomes aware of the hidden feelings that lie deep within her heart.
Behind the Story
Mio and Mayu's surname, Amakura (天倉), was originally spelt differently (天座) in early data about the characters' backgrounds, but was changed as it was judged to be too hard to read. The idea to have a pair of twins with differing personalities is based on a pair of twins related to the game's director.
Daughter of Kurosawa family head Ryokan, and younger twin sister of Yae.
She and her sister Yae were selected to be the Twin Shrine Maidens serving as the sacrifice in the Crimson Sacrifice Ritual, a ritual to subdue the Hellish Abyss - the gate to hell - that lies beneath Minakami Village.
In order to be with Yae forever, she made up her mind to flee from the village, only to fall from the mountain path along the way and be taken back to the village all by herself.
As she waited, despairing, for Yae, who had not come back, Sae was forced to go through with the Crimson Sacrifice Ritual. However, the incomplete ritual triggered the Repentance, imprisoning the village within eternal night and turning it into the "Lost Village".
Having returned from the Hellish Abyss, Sae, accompanied by the kusabi - who had also returned alongside her - set about slaughtering the villagers, laughing all the while. Now a vengeful spirit, she waits on and on within Minakami Village, where dawn still has not broken, for Yae to come back to her.
Daughter of Kurosawa family head Ryokan, and older twin sister of Sae. In contrast to the reserved Sae, she has a lively and cheerful personality.
Alongside Sae, she was selected as one of the Twin Shrine Maidens to take part in the Crimson Sacrifice Ritual, but, unable to accept the idea of killing her sister with her own two hands, the pair fled Minakami Village together.
However, she became separated from Sae along the way, and by the time she had retraced her steps, the village had already been disappeared by the Repentance.
The shock of losing both her birthplace and her beloved sister at the same time tore her heart apart, causing her to lose her memories.
Even now, her powerful emotions in that moment linger at the entrance to the village.
Behind the Story
In modern times, the child born first is the elder sibling. The customary order prior to the Meiji era, however, was the opposite, making Sae, born first, the younger sister, and Yae, born after her, the elder. This is also why it is Sae who possesses Mayu, and Yae who possesses Mio.
A boy confined within Minakami Village's storehouse. The older twin brother of Mutsuki Tachibana. Chitose Tachibana is his younger sister.
The year before Yae and Sae were chosen to be Twin Shrine Maidens, he served as one of the Twin Acolytes in the Crimson Sacrifice Ritual, but the ritual failed as his feelings towards Mutsuki were too strong. The mental anguish of killing his own brother turned his hair white.
Not wanting to let sisters Yae and Sae become the next victims, he led their escape, leaving them in the hands of his friend Ryozo Munakata after the fact. Afterwards, he was captured by the villagers and imprisoned within the storehouse.
Itsuki's younger twin brother.
He served as one of the Twin Acolytes in the Crimson Sacrifice Ritual the year before Yae and Sae were chosen as Twin Shrine Maidens. Accepting that he was to be sacrificed, he made a promise with Itsuki to protect Yae and Sae, but Itsuki cared so strongly for his brother that their ritual failed.
Unable to become a crimson butterfly, Mutsuki was interred within the Hellish Abyss.
Behind the Story
The story of Crimson Butterfly is based on a dream the director had one night. In the dream, it was a woman with long white hair resembling Mio inside the storehouse. Though this character was changed to be male instead, partly due to the director having it pointed out to him that all of the twins were female, her image was inherited by a character called Kureha.
Itsuki and Mutsuki's little sister.
She was born with poor eyesight and, perhaps due to spending much of her time indoors, has porcelain skin. Fearful of strangers from a young age, she dislikes interacting with anyone outside of her family. When she is anxious about something, she hides inside closets.
On the day of the Repentance, she died after being swallowed by the darkness within a closet.
The bell she always carries on her person was given to her by her brother Itsuki so that if Chitose, with her bad eyes, became separated from her family, they could easily find her again.
Yae and Sae's father, the head priest of the Crimson Sacrifice Ritual, who was in charge of the running of Minakami Village. He himself was the elder of a pair of twins, having once killed his younger brother in a past Crimson Sacrifice Ritual.
In order to subdue the Hellish Abyss, he attempted to make his own daughters into Twin Shrine Maidens for the Crimson Sacrifice Ritual. Forcibly pushing ahead with an incomplete version of the ritual using Sae alone triggered the Repentance, the greatest taboo of all, resulting in the village's destruction.
A folklorist who toured the country studying regional traditions. The person responsible for bringing the Camera Obscura into the village.
After taking an interest in folklore regarding the "gate to hell" passed down in Minakami Village, he visited the place along with his assistant, Ryozo Munakata.
Despite being invited to the Kurosawa House as an "Outsider" and receiving warm hospitality there, during the course of his investigation, he came to realise that this was not merely a friendly reception.
Even after sending his assistant Munakata away without him, he remained in the village, continuing his investigation and closing in on the gate to hell. Ultimately, however, he was made into a living sacrifice known as a "kusabi" as part of the Shadow Ritual, a substitute for the Crimson Sacrifice Ritual.
A down-to-earth young man and aspiring folklorist who served as the assistant of Seijiro Makabe.
He had made visits to Minakami Village since he was young, brought along by his peddler father, and was childhood friends with twins Itsuki and Mutsuki and Yae and Sae. He accompanied Makabe on his investigation after receiving a letter from Itsuki, asking him to take Yae and Sae away from the village on the day of the festival.
The elder twin sister of Azami Kiryu.
One of the two girls who served as Twin Shrine Maidens in a past Crimson Sacrifice Ritual, before Yae and Sae's ritual was performed.
In her grief following the ritual, she became convinced that the doll made for her by her father Yoshitatsu was the real Azami.
The elaborately crafted doll eventually came to house a malicious spirit within, and Akane, seduced by its words, lost her human heart, even murdering her very own father.
The younger twin sister of Akane Kiryu.
She fulfilled her role as a Twin Shrine Maiden in a past Crimson Sacrifice Ritual, becoming a crimson butterfly.
Now a Remaining, Akane clung to a doll made as a substitute for her. The sight of Akane at the mercy of its evil intentions causes her pain, and she wishes to somehow restore her sister's heart.
Behind the Story
With no memories and nowhere to return to, Yae was taken in by and ultimately married to Ryozo. The couple, who later relocated to Himuro Mansion, were blessed with a daughter, their story continuing into the first game in the Fatal Frame series.
The head of the Kiryu family, and father of Akane and Azami.
Born into the lineage that created the mechanisms of Minakami Village, the Kiryu house is full of Japanese dolls he made himself.
In order to comfort Akane, stricken with grief over having lost her sister in the Crimson Sacrifice Ritual, he created a life-sized doll in Azami's image. However, before he knew it, a malicious spirit had come to dwell within the doll, turning it into a "manikin".
Realising his mistake, Yoshitatsu attempted to return the manikin to its resting place within the abyss once more, only for it to manipulate Akane into killing him.
A life-sized doll made in the image of Azami Kiryu.
Though the doll was created in remembrance in order to console Akane after losing Azami, it became possessed by a malicious spirit, transforming into a "manikin" that tempted the girl. Each night, it roams the Kiryu house, though where it is headed is shrouded in mystery.
Behind the Story
Since it is difficult to tell the Kiryus' Azami and Akane and the manikin apart based on their appearances alone, this time around, Azami's ghost is accompanied by a crimson butterfly. Since Azami became a crimson butterfly in the Crimson Sacrifice Ritual, perhaps you could say that the butterfly is her main body.
A geological surveyor who visited to survey the former Minakami Village and the surrounding region in conjunction with the construction of a dam.
He wandered into Minakami Village prior to Mio and Mayu's arrival, and went missing.
Even after straying into the village he continued his survey, searching for a way to escape, keeping detailed records of the information he gleaned from it.
Despite reuniting with his girlfriend Miyako, who had come to look for him, within the village, he was slaughtered by the "Man of Ropes" upon entering the Kurosawa House to investigate it, transforming into a vengeful spirit and attacking Miyako.
The girlfriend of Masumi Makimura. She wandered into Minakami Village while searching for Masumi, who had gone missing while conducting a survey for the construction of a dam.
As she roamed the village amidst its unending night, Miyako, sensing a tragedy from long ago, struggled to stay awake and present. Though she managed to reunite with Masumi, her mind hazy, he set off to look for a way to escape the village in order to save her.
She was later strangled to death by Masumi's hand, after he returned in the form of a vengeful spirit.
The priests of Kureha Shrine, who performed ceremonies - such as the Crimson Sacrifice Ritual and the Shadow Ritual - related to the Hellish Abyss. As doing so brought them into close proximity with the abyss, a "place that must not be seen", they hung cloths over their faces as blindfolds.
They died upon being engulfed by the darkness of the Repentance after the ritual failed following Yae's escape.
Even now, as vengeful spirits, they eagerly await the return of the runaway twins.
Those who performed tasks related to the rituals within the Deep Path or cemetery.
In order to prevent them from looking directly at the forbidden abyss, they had their eyes sewn shut and wore blindfolds.
They are sensitive to sound, and will react to even the faintest of footsteps.
It is said that wrongdoers and any who violated village law by attempting to look into the abyss would be made into Mourners.
Behind the Story
Though he doesn't appear in the main story, Mayu and Mio's father, Misao Amakura, was a descendant of Kunihiko Aso, the inventor of the Camera Obscura. When Mayu fell from the cliff, he joined the search party and went out to look for her, but was never seen again. Perhaps he, too, wandered into Minakami Village.
Villagers who perished after being swallowed by the darkness that overflowed from the abyss during the Repentance.
Engulfed by the darkness, their bodies have dissolved, and they no longer know who they originally were.
Even now, as vengeful spirits, they loiter motionless about the village.
They have lost all sense of self and are incapable of speech, instead letting out pained-sounding moans and cries, clinging to any living humans they find.
On the night of the Repentance, the villagers who had taken shelter in the Great Hall were slaughtered by the kusabi and Sae, who had returned from the Hellish Abyss, becoming vengeful spirits.
Their bodies sliced to ribbons from head to toe, they continue to roam Minakami Village even now, tormented by pain.
In life, this pair were tasked with keeping watch over the "Outsiders", Seijiro Makabe and Ryozo Munakata.
A woman who wandered into Minakami Village before Mio and Mayu. After diving into Tomonaki Pond in an attempt to escape from the spirits roaming the village, she initially washed up at the ukishima, but was seized by countless hands and pulled down to the pond's depths.
Even now, as a vengeful spirit, she continues to drift through the icy pond, trying to drag any who approach its bank into the water.
The ghost of a woman who attempted to escape the Repentance by hiding in a box.
Unable to withstand her terror within the box, she tried to get out, but its lid would no longer open and she perished there, taken by the darkness.
After turning into a vengeful spirit, she appears opening the box she had been shut inside.
Residents of Minakami Village who were transformed into vengeful spirits after being engulfed by darkness from the Repentance that occurred due to the ritual's failure. In life, they were charged with searching for the Twin Shrine Maidens who had fled the village.
Even as ghosts, they continue to search for the twins, and when Mio and Mayu wander into the village they pursue them relentlessly, believing them to be the escaped shrine maidens.
The man carrying a torch acts as a leader of sorts, illuminating the area as they search.
The ghost of a woman who died after leaping from the second floor of the Kiryu House in a panic as she fled the darkness of the Repentance.
The impact of her fall twisted the joints of her limbs, and now she writhes about on her back.
She continuously repeats the moment she fell to her death, her screams, a mixture of pain and terror, incessant even to this day.
The ghost of a woman who threw herself from the Heavenly Bridge connecting the Tachibana and Kiryu houses in order to escape the calamity of the Repentance befalling the village.
Her neck has been contorted to an unnatural angle by the impact of her fall, but she doesn't understand what has happened to her.
Even while seized with agony, she continues to roam in search of help.
The ghosts of children who lived in Minakami Village.
As they were in the middle of a game of tag with their friends, the Repentance occurred and they were swallowed by the darkness, perishing.
Unaware that they have died and become ghosts, they continue their game of tag even now.