- This article describes Zero's identity to the players of the Second Nonary Game. For Zero's true identity, click here. For the Zero from Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward, click here. For the Zero from Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma, click here.
- "Consider this a privilege. You have been chosen. You are going to participate in a game. The Nonary Game. It is a game... where you will put your life on the line."
- — Zero, to Junpei in Apartment 201
Zero was the mastermind behind the Nonary Game in Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors, and behind the Nonary Game: Ambidex Edition in Virtue's Last Reward. According to everyone's stories, Zero kidnapped the nine of them from their homes at exactly midnight by using sleeping gas grenades.
Zero has other incarnations. In Virtue's Last Reward, there is the true Zero Sr. and Zero Jr. / Zero III, their AI. In Zero Time Dilemma, another Zero dressed as a plague doctor appears.
Appearance[]
Zero wore a gas mask with a big trenchcoat and spoke through a voice changer. No other details were available about the mysterious kidnapper.
In Virtue's Last Reward, Zero wears the Free the Soul logo on the trench coat, appearing in the End or Beginning? segment. Zero also appears behind Sigma Klim's car when he is abducted.
Personality[]
Zero was seemingly very sadistic and cruel, placing bombs in the players' bodies, along with the bracelets used for the RED and DEAD, and the puzzles he created for the players. Zero was also very manipulative and intelligent, considering how carefully planned out the whole Nonary Game was, along with all the abductions of the players and how they were able to get Hongou to kill the other executives. During Zero's announcement on the ship, Zero seemed to be very welcoming and caring for the players' well-being, as Zero suggested that the players do not try to regurgitate the bombs inside them.
For the Nonary Game: Ambidex Edition, Zero put Soporil in the players' bracelets, so that they would not suffer a painful death if they violated any of the rules.
Quotes[]
- "Welcome aboard. I welcome you all, from the bottom of my heart, to this, my vessel."
- "Now, it is time. Let our game begin. I wish you all the best of luck."
- "It is hidden, but an exit can be found. Seek a way out... Seek a door that carries a [9]."
- "Game over."
- 'Where there is shadow, there is light. Where there is light, there is shadow. So it goes."
- "No. You misunderstand. You haven't lost. I... have lost."
- "I must punish them. For the innocent lives they sacrificed. This is the only warning they will receive. That innocent souls might be saved, I now state the truth."
Trivia[]
- In all three games, Zero has always participated in their own game, alongside the people they abducted.
- This is especially notable in Zero Time Dilemma, where not only is Zero II present in their Decision Game, but so are both Zero and Zero Sr. albeit this time as abducted participants.
- Kotaro Uchikoshi says that Zero is his favorite character. [1]
- In Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc (Danganronpa is a series often associated with Zero Escape and from the same publishers), the main protagonist, Makoto Naegi, has a red gas mask on the back of his hoodie.[2] This is theorized to be a reference to Zero.