Character Introductions#

The cast of NieR:Automata revolves around two camps: the YoRHa force and the machine lifeforms. The three playable androids — 2B, 9S and A2 — form the player’s operating core, support Pods 042 and 153 handle combat support, the Commander and the Bunker operators form the rear command network, and the machine lifeform camp contributes Pascal, Adam and Eve, Emil and other major figures of differing stances. This page compiles each character’s officially published model, role, combat style and voice cast, plus the trophies and ending triggers tied to characters — for story mapping and trophy planning alike.

The Three Playable Characters at a Glance#

The three share one leveling and chip system but differ sharply in combat role: 2B is fully balanced, 9S relies on hacking and intel, and A2 is a high-risk high-reward melee specialist. For loadout ideas, see Combat System and Chip System.

2B: YoRHa No.2 Type B#

2B is the YoRHa force’s all-purpose combat android, formally “YoRHa No.2 Type B”, and the protagonist you control throughout the first playthrough. Her best-known visual trait is that combat visor — her eyes are almost always hidden behind the lens, her full face rarely shown, and it has become one of the game’s most recognizable character designs.

In combat, 2B is a melee expert across every weapon type. The game offers four weapon types — small swords, large swords, spears and combat bracers — with mid-combo switching allowed, and 2B commands all four; ranged fire comes from her accompanying Pod, and running melee combos and Pod fire in parallel produces a layered output rhythm.

In temperament, 2B presents a calm, restrained soldier’s face, obeying orders absolutely and rarely showing emotion. Her true mission and inner world are among the story’s most important threads, gradually revealed late in the main line.

9S: YoRHa No.9 Type S#

9S’s formal designation is “YoRHa No.9 Type S”, a scanner and reconnaissance specialist. Unlike 2B, combat is not his strength — his value lies in hacking and information: he can hack distant enemies, entering a bullet-hell style mini-game where destroying the enemy core completes a ranged kill, and he can also read enemy archives and unlock sealed facilities and chests.

Hacking is 9S’s signature system. The trophy A Scanner’s Power demands 100 hack kills — proof enough of its standing; the trophy Not That I Mind… asks for 1 hour of play as 9S in a certain state, a playful trophy built around him. Full hacking rules are on the Hacking System page.

In temperament, 9S is emotionally rich, gentle and endlessly curious about the world. That emotion brings him closer to “human” than any other YoRHa member, and pushes him toward the story’s heaviest fate. For his hacking growth path and side-quest intel tips, see the Side Quests page.

A2: The Second Unit of YoRHa No.2 Type A#

A2’s formal designation is “the second unit of YoRHa No.2 Type A” — an early-production attack prototype never formally deployed, designed purely for close combat. Less known than 2B or 9S, taciturn and used to working alone, she only joins the player’s control late in the story — the trophy Treacherous Blade unlocks exactly on first controlling her.

One clarification: A2 is not a mass-production twin of 2B, nor anything like an “E-type”. Her only official name is “the second unit of YoRHa No.2 Type A”; sharing the “YoRHa No.2” number sequence with 2B is a coincidence of the model system, and the two are entirely different machines in setting.

A2’s signature mechanic is berserk mode: entering it drains her own life continuously in exchange for a major attack boost — the classic trade of life for damage. The mechanic carries its own counting trophy — The Power of Hate demands 50 berserk kills. Because health constantly bleeds in berserk, timing the activation and planning the exit decide this playstyle’s ceiling.

The Pods: Units 042 and 153#

Every playable character has a dedicated Pod: Pod 042 partners with 2B and Pod 153 with 9S. The two units have distinct voices and roles — the “fifth and sixth protagonists” running through the game.

The Pod mechanics in brief:

• Each Pod carries at most 3 program skills; the skill mix defines your ranged fire and support direction.
• Collected materials upgrade Pod attack, fire rate and more, and unlock charge attacks.
• Pod programs are their own collection line: Weapons Maniac requires every Pod program, and Pod Hunter requires finding every Pod.
• In Ending E, the two Pods defy orders together — one of the heaviest scenes in the entire ending system.

The full Pod program list and upgrade routes are on the Pod System page.

The YoRHa Camp and Other Support Characters#

The Commander is the YoRHa force’s supreme commander and the Bunker is her command hub; the bronze trophy Resuscitated Body triggers there — gazing into space from your bunk.

Devola and Popola are twin androids who travel with the party late in the main line. Joke ending S triggers by abandoning Devola and Popola and walking on alone in the Tower arc — one of the endings players least want to trigger.

Characters of the Machine Lifeform Camp#

The machine lifeforms are the YoRHa force’s battlefield opponents, yet the game deliberately gives this camp a face entirely unlike “the enemy”. Core figures:

Pascal#

Pascal founded a pacifist machine village, insisting on teaching his villagers and their children to stay away from war. The fates of his village and its children form one of the story’s heaviest late-game nodes: the trophy list carries one named after him (Farewell, Pascal); joke ending M triggers by not saving Pascal’s village, N by killing every machine in the village, R by attacking villagers as A2, and Z by killing Pascal on sight as A2. Four joke endings anchored on one character — measure of his weight in the story.

Adam and Eve#

Adam and Eve are the humanoid individuals the machine camp fields in the main story, named after the biblical first humans, and they are the significant opponents 2B and 9S face in the main line. Their entrance pushes the question “do machine lifeforms have humanity” from background lore onto center stage.

Emil#

Emil is a machine lifeform with deep roots in the series’ previous entry, running shops worldwide as a merchant — and doubling as a special elite you can challenge in the desert: the gold trophy Naughty Children requires defeating him, and the bronze Come Take a Look! requires first using his shop. His shop and backstory unfold further on the Secrets page.

Character-Related Trophy Index#

The table below gathers trophies that directly reference characters, for collection cross-checking:

Wait! Don’t Kill Me! is the easiest to misread: it counts killing friendly machine lifeforms (like the individuals in the peaceful village), not generic combat kills — farming battlefield grunts toward “kill 10 machine lifeforms” does nothing.

At the other end of the trophy system, the gold Transcendent Being requires unlocking every ending — the game has 26 endings, many triggered by character choices; the character-to-ending mapping is in the Endings Guide, and the full walkthrough of all 48 trophies is in Achievements & Trophies.

Official Setting vs. Fan Setting: The Boundary#

When compiling character data, several points deserve special care:

• The officials never published birthdays, heights, blood types or ages for any character; such figures in fan communities are fan creation, and this page does not collect them — treat any “official profile” of that sort you see elsewhere with suspicion.
• “YoRHa” is the original romanization endorsed by producer Yoko Taro. This site uses YoRHa throughout, not phonetic variants.
• This site consistently writes “Emil”, not the older mixed spellings.
• A2’s identity is only ever “the second unit of YoRHa No.2 Type A”; any claim that she is a mass-production model of 2B or bears another alias is not official setting.

Further Reading#

• Story Analysis — each character’s arc and key choices in the main story
• Endings Guide — how character choices map to the 26 endings
• Achievements & Trophies — unlock conditions for all 48 trophies
• Hacking System — the complete rules of 9S’s hacking playstyle
• Pod System — Pod program collection and upgrade routes
• Combat System — the combo, dodge and chip framework shared by all three characters