Umineko: When They Cry/Characters/Meta

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


The characters of the Meta-World are those who have the privilege to fight the Game Master in order to figure out the truth. Other characters who can ascend to this level are the pieces introduced to the game board by the witches.

Major spoilers for the Core Arcs ahead.


Erika Furudo

The Witch of Truth

Voiced by: Natsuko Kuwatani

"...Without love, it cannot be seen? ...Hah. That's backwards. Because of love, you end up seeing things that don't even exist."

A cute young detective who happens to wash up on the shore of an island with an impending murder mystery. She calls herself an "Intellectual Rapist". She is the piece set by Bernkastel on the board of Rokkenjima. It turns out that she was never in the island in the first place. She did wash up on the island, but she was apparently dead, and her accident was forgotten due to the "Rokkenjima Explosion Accident".

At the end of Episode 5, she was named the "Witch of Truth" by Bernkastel, but was stripped of the title shortly after by Battler, who had ascended to Endless Sorcerer.


Willard H. Wright

Wizard-hunting Wright, Wright of the Twenty Wedges

Voiced by: Hiroki Takahashi

"We are Inquisitors of Heresy. Felling evil witches is our job. However, we must not risk hurting the innocent. We must not suspect them...!"

The detective of EP7. He is the former head of the SSVD, the 8th District Repentance Agency. He is first mentioned in EP5 in the TIPS, where he is referred to as "Wizard-hunting Wright". He has since then resigned from his post. He is called to Rokkenjima by Bernkastel in order to solve Beatrice's murder.

  • The Ace: And how.
  • Always Someone Better: He is this to Dlanor, being not only competent at using his own rules, but also a mighty detective himself. Adding that he has twice the amount of rules she has to that result...Subverted that when they do meet, she seems to regard him with respect and a hint of admiration.
  • Back-to-Back Badasses: with Dlanor in the Last Stand.
  • Badass Longcoat
  • Berserk Button: Do not, DO NOT insult the mystery genre. You'll get HEADBUTTED TO DEATH IF YOU DO.
  • Brought Down to Badass: In EP8, he and Dlanor face a gigantic goat who nullifies their rules. As they are both without any power to face the goat, he proceeds to do the next logical thing and defeat him with a HEADBUTT because that's what he does.
  • But Thou Must!: He initially attempts to refuse to play along with Bernkastel's game; she promptly responds by trapping he and everyone else on the island until he cooperates.
  • Catch Phrase: "Don't think too hard about it. You'll get a headache."
  • Chekhov's Gunman: He got a mention in the TIPS section of EP5.
  • Cool Sword: Will's Weapon of Choice, which he uses to separate truth from fiction. Often portrayed as a BFS in fanart, though it isn't made clear in the games just how big the sword is.
    • The Play Station 3 port depicts it as a narrow-bladed, one-edged sword.
    • Now that he's in Ougon Musoukyoku CROSS his sword is quite clearly a one-handed sword of realistically sensible size.
  • Deadpan Snarker
  • Determinator Loses an arm fighting Bern, still thinks he has a chance of winning and saving Lion. Made it all the more surprising by the fact that he does win and save Lion in EP8.
  • Establishing Character Moment: His introduction has him kicking down doors to rescue an innocent maid from a sham trial run by his own SSVD. Talk about leaving a first impression.
  • Eyes of Gold
  • Facing the Bullets One-Liner

It's about time someone trimmed your claws! My name is Willard H. Wright, this will be the last time I will draw my sword!

  • The Fettered: In spite of his irritability, Will is probably the most unabashed example of Neutral Good in the series.
  • Great Detective: The smartest character in the series by far.
  • Grumpy Bear
  • Handicapped Badass: One of the most widely accepted theories about his duel against Bern is that he didn't use all of his twenty wedges, as Umineko clearly violates some and he refused to destroy the gameboard, as it would be the same as denying Lion a happy ending. This makes him unusually weak from a meta-perspective, as he doesn't have access to any reds the other detectives have, and can only use around 3 or 4 rules from his arsenal. This makes him understanding the truth being Shkanon and the four games, something that even Erika couldn't do, that much more impressive. The heartwarming part comes from him putting that handicap on himself.
  • Heel Face Turn: His profile states that he used to be utterly cold-hearted, cruel, and ruthless in his job as a witch-hunter, but something happened that drastically changed his attitude, sending him into a disillusioned downward spiral until he resigned from the court of heaven altogether.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: Barely averted in that he survives while succeeding at doing what he tried to sacrifice himself for.
  • Hidden Heart of Gold: He's got a gruff demeanor, but he's actually an incredibly good person, becoming disgusted with his own inquisition agency for their brutality, being incredibly kind to Rosa, and eventually turning against Bernkastel for Lion's sake. Not exactly what you'd expect from the guy who banned love from his detective novels. Or the guy who was brought in by a Complete Monster (Bernkastel).
  • Kindhearted Cat Lover: Dotes on his pet cat, Diana, to the point of referring to her as his girlfriend.
  • Only Known by Their Nickname: Referred to almost exclusively as Will by both the characters and the narrative.
  • Rage Against the Author: He eventually explains that his reason for quitting the SSVD was due to becoming sick of dealing with nothing but tragic mysteries, which seems to partially fuel his [[spoiler:impassioned defiance of the idea that a happy ending is impossible for Beatrice.
  • Retirony: Subverted by EP8.
  • Retired Badass: Pointed out in his description.
  • Unwitting Pawn: Was driven by understanding and compassion when he agreed to put down the last traces of the witch Beatrice in the form of Clair. This is, of course, exactly what Bernkastel was counting on.


Lion Ushiromiya

Voiced by: Ayako Kawasumi

"I'm the embodiment of the one hope held by the Beatrices of a million worlds... So, even at times like this, I have to be everyone's hope. I'm not giving up on this game yet."

A version of the man from 19 years ago, as in the baby Natsuhi was given by Kinzo, who exists in alternate universes where they weren't thrown of a cliff and where he grew up to be the future successor to the Ushiromiya family instead. Lion teams up with Willard H. Wright in his investigation of Beatrice's death.

  • The Ace: To the point where George notes that Lion tends to come across as a little too perfect sometimes.
  • Ambiguous Gender: Very intentionally; The narration refers to them very gender-neutrally, they have an androgynous appearance, and nobody seems to know what their gender actually is.
    • Bishonen/Bifauxnen
    • Lampshade Hanging: Even Will doesn't know what it is, and it's one of the mysteries that he's supposed to solve. When he actually asks Lion, he doesn't get a straight answer.
  • Break the Cutie
  • But Not Too Foreign: Lion is of mostly Japanese heritage, but has some Italian blood due to being Beatrice Castiglioni's grandchild.
  • Deadpan Snarker: When around Will, who's also quite the snarker.
  • Determinator: Has definitely become this by the end of the EP7 Tea Party.

"I'll definitely survive...and so will you...!"

  • Etiquette Nazi: Woe betide anyone who doesn't act politely enough in front of Lion's relatives.
  • For Want of a Nail: As previously stated, Lion is Natsuhi's first child if s/he wasn't thrown off the cliff. Bernkastel actually states that the probability of that was 1/2578917. It's also interesting to note that in the world where he exists Beatrice, the epitaph, Shannon and Kanon do not exist, Battler does not go back to the island, and the murders do not occur.
    • Not so much on that last one, as Bernkastel takes great delight in revealing...though the reasons are completely different this time.
  • Happily Adopted
  • Heroic Bastard: Lion, like Yasu, is the child of Kinzo and Beatrice II, Kinzo's daughter.
  • Running Gag: Has quite the reputation as a butt-pincher in the Ushiromiya family, and winds up doing this to Will whenever he gets out of hand.
  • Spell My Name with an "S": Is referred to as Lion, Leon, or even Lyon. But Word of God says that Lion is the correct spelling.
  • Student Council President: Was this in middle school and high school, according to George.
  • The Watson: Will H. Wright calls him/her this.


Black Battler

Voiced by: Daisuke Ono

"Battler Ushiromiya. That's supposed to be my name. I've been called that many times... I guess it's obvious, since it is my name. But me and the Battler Ushiromiya I know... sad to say, we're pretty different."

A version of Battler that appears only in the All There in the Manual short story "Forgery no.XXX" and the Fighting Game Ougon Musoukyoku Cross. He represents the idea that Battler is responsible for the Rokkenjima murders.

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