10 NieR: Automata Characters Who Feel Completely Different After a Second Playthrough

NieR: Automata is a truly exceptional open-world action game. While the gameplay is great, it’s the story that really makes the game memorable. The narrative focuses on the characters – both Androids and Machines – and their difficult journeys and struggles.

Automata intentionally has you replay key events multiple times, each time seeing things from a different character’s point of view. This slowly unveils more of the story and why each character acts the way they do. Big secrets start coming to light early on, but you won’t fully understand the impact of 2B, 9S, and A2’s stories until you’ve completed all the main routes. If you start a new game after that (and you really should!), you’ll gain a much deeper understanding of everything that happened and why.

Major spoilers for NieR: Automata!

10. 2B

The Reluctant Executioner

At first, 2B seems distant and unemotional, especially with 9S. She often tells him that YoRHa androids aren’t meant to feel or show emotions, and tries to keep him focused on their mission. While she might appear rude, that’s not the case at all. 2B is actually a very compassionate person, and it’s precisely her kindness that causes her so much suffering.

The designation “No. 2 Type B,” or “Battler,” isn’t 2B’s true classification. She’s actually a “Type E,” meaning “Executioner.” Although she can function as a standard combat unit, her primary directive is to eliminate her partner, the scanner unit 9S, if he discovers the truth about YoRHa. 2B has carried out this order multiple times with 9S, which explains her emotional state at the beginning of the game after the Black Box event – it was another instance of being forced to end their connection to fulfill her mission.

Honestly, it’s heartbreaking when 2B is always telling 9S to stay focused and keeps her distance. I get now that she’s trying to protect him and herself. She knows she’ll eventually have to destroy him, and she’s desperately trying to manage his curiosity and her own feelings so it won’t be so painful. But it never works, you know? He always figures things out, and it always hurts her just as much.

9. 9S

The Cat Curiosity Killed

9S, often called Nines by those who know him, is a scanner unit for YoRHa. Instead of fighting directly, he specializes in hacking and gathering information from machines. This requires a curious and creative mind – a trait built into all scanner units. However, it’s precisely this curiosity that often leads 9S into trouble.

So, like I’ve said before, 9S keeps hacking into YoRHa’s systems and finding out the real deal about the Council of Humanity and how this whole war is just a proxy fight. It messes him up every time, honestly. And then 2B has to… well, she resets him, wipes his memory clean. But no matter what, he always ends up figuring it out again. Seriously, that guy’s curiosity is going to be the death of him… or, you know, his repeated deaths.

This unfortunate pattern mirrors the larger, repeating struggle between the Androids and Machines. It feels inevitable, and despite 9S’s efforts to change things, the same events keep happening again and again.

8. A2

Searching for a Purpose

A2 is an older YoRHa combat Android who left the organization sometime in the past. She now fights Machines independently and sometimes interferes with YoRHa’s work. When she first meets 2B and 9S, she comes across as even colder and more ruthless than 2B, and warns them to be suspicious of YoRHa command.

Additional information reveals that A2, initially known as “No. 2,” was among the first YoRHa Androids sent to fight the Machines. She was part of a test group that was intentionally designed to fail. A2 discovered this after being the sole survivor of a mission where her entire team was destroyed, which led her to abandon her orders and operate independently.

A2 doesn’t hold any personal grudges against the YoRHa androids, but she strongly objects to the endless, destructive conflict orchestrated by Command and allowed to continue by the world. Despite her tough exterior, she’s actually a compassionate person, which is why she inevitably gets drawn into the final battle at the tower. Because she had long severed her connection to the Network, she manages to survive the Logic Virus. It’s a reminder that even when you try to avoid getting involved in the world’s problems, sometimes you have to fight for what you believe in.

7. Commander White

The Puppet Commander

Commander White effectively leads YoRHa, giving orders to all its units from the Bunker. She directs 2B and 9S on their missions, claiming to act on behalf of the surviving humans on the Moon. However, this is a fabrication – there are no humans left on the Moon, and Commander White knows it.

Commander White, being one of the original YoRHa units, is determined to maintain the false reality they’ve created, no matter the cost. She hates sending soldiers to fight and die for a lie, but she believes revealing the truth—that humanity is already extinct—would be far more devastating. So, she’s decided to carry this difficult secret alone.

Like many others caught in this tragic situation, the Commander’s determination didn’t matter in the end. She was unaware of a hidden flaw in the YoRHa system that would inevitably infect everyone with the Logic Virus. Instead of fighting her fate after becoming infected, she sends 2B and 9S away from the Bunker as it’s destroyed, choosing to face her end with it.

6. Simone

The Desperate Admirer

Simone is a memorable boss in the game, fought by 2B and 9S within the ruins of an old amusement park. When you first encounter her, she appears to be a dangerous enemy, attacking with static and controlling destroyed Androids. However, there’s a reason behind her aggressive behavior.

Simone started out as a simple, unremarkable Machine, but she admired the Machine thinker Jean-Paul. Hoping to impress him, she searched through old human records, trying to learn things that would make her appealing – things like style and talents like singing and dancing. Despite all her efforts to improve herself, Jean-Paul didn’t seem to notice.

Simone grew increasingly desperate, to the point where she even believed a silly story that eating an Android would grant her eternal beauty. This extreme behavior clearly shows that Machines are much more intelligent and self-aware than anyone realized.

5. Pascal

Pacifism Over All

Pascal leads a village of Machines hidden in the forest. When androids 2B and 9S arrive, he quickly signals their peaceful intentions by waving white flags. Pascal is unique among the Machines in the game – he’s very thoughtful and well-spoken, and strongly believes in peace between Machines and Androids, actively teaching his village about non-violence.

As shown in the Automata anime, Pascal wasn’t always the philosophical machine he is now. He started as a standard soldier, but as he developed a personality, he noticed his fellow machines were constantly being destroyed. This made him fear for his own life and the loss of those he cared about. Because of this, he began teaching villagers about fear, believing it was the most effective way to protect them and help them survive.

Pascal’s strict commitment to non-violence falls apart when the village is attacked by the Logic Virus, causing everyone to turn on each other. He desperately tries to protect a small group, even resorting to fighting alongside A2, but tragically discovers they’ve all committed suicide, overwhelmed by the very fear he’d tried to instill in them. This highlights a crucial point: while pacifism is admirable, living in constant fear isn’t a sustainable way to live.

4. Adam

A Scholar Without a Framework

Okay, so I was totally blown away when 2B and 9S stumbled upon a bunch of Machines in the desert. Things got crazy fast – they all clumped together and formed this weird cocoon, and out of it came Adam, a new Machine that looked almost human! At first, he wasn’t very bright, but he learns so quickly. It wasn’t long before he was acting and thinking almost exactly like an Android, though what he really wanted was to be just like a person. It was a really cool, but also kinda sad, moment.

As I explore this world, I’ve become really fixated on the remnants of the old human civilization, especially the Bible. It’s kind of a weird obsession, honestly. I’ve ended up dressing like… well, like someone from those stories, and I eat a lot of apples. I even started leaving deactivated Androids posed like crucifixions in my city. It’s like I’m trying to soak up all the information, but I don’t actually understand any of it. I’m just mimicking the symbols without getting the point.

Adam was fascinated by humans and desperately wanted to understand them, which drove his search for the rumored human colony on the Moon. He disconnected from the network before his final battle with 2B because he was curious about how humans experience the fear of death, though he didn’t fully grasp that death is frightening precisely because it’s permanent.

3. Eve

A Newborn Grasping for Purpose

Okay, so during the fight with Adam in the desert, after we finally hurt him badly, things got weird. He just started making copies of himself – basically, a nearly perfect robot twin he called Eve. He instantly treated Eve like a brother, and Eve seemed totally okay with just following Adam’s orders. It was a really strange scene, honestly.

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Eve is very different from his brother, Adam. While Adam is focused on the war and himself, Eve doesn’t really care about either. He simply looks up to Adam and enjoys spending time with him, readily agreeing to Adam’s plans as a way to hang out. He’s quite innocent and eager to please, completing his studies mostly because Adam promises they’ll have fun together afterward.

It’s crazy, but Eve actually ends up feeling more connected to humans than Adam ever did. When 2B finally took Adam down, he just completely lost it – he was furious because Eve was the only one he cared about. Seriously, his grief was so intense it spread through the entire machine network, and that actually gave the Androids a real advantage in the war after he was defeated. It was a turning point, honestly.

2. Emil

The Last Man Standing

While exploring an abandoned mall, 2B and 9S encounter Emil – a strange, rolling head that isn’t a machine or an android. This Emil is the same one who fought with the hero and Kaine in the original NieR game, but now he’s lost his memory and cheerfully welcomes shoppers as a shopkeeper.

As Emil searches for Lunar Tears, he slowly remembers his past. He recalls when aliens first attacked Earth, and how he bravely stepped forward to defend it, using powerful magic against both the aliens and their machines. He even made countless copies of himself, effectively creating an entire army – the Emil we know isn’t the original, but just one of these duplicates.

Once Emil remembers everything, he isn’t upset about being a clone or that his original self’s efforts felt pointless. What truly saddens him is that his friends are gone. Despite this, he’s determined to stay strong, believing Nier and Kaine wouldn’t want him to dwell on it and become depressed.

1. Pods 042 and 153

The Silent Vigils

2B and 9S each have a Pod companion – 042 supports 2B, and 153 supports 9S. These Pods help with combat, provide supplies, and make sure the Androids stick to their mission guidelines. They don’t initially have strong personalities, as it’s not necessary for their function, but they begin to develop them as the story progresses.

Throughout the story, the personalities of Pods 042 and 153 are influenced by the emotional choices of 2B, 9S, and A2, particularly as the situation becomes more critical. 042 often offers practical, though unemotional, advice to 2B, but she typically trusts her instincts instead. 153, on the other hand, grows worried about 9S and attempts, unsuccessfully, to curb his inquisitive nature, much like 2B does.

Ultimately, both Pods were designed to carry out their mission and delete all data related to YoRHa. But after developing emotions, 042 and 153 realize something doesn’t add up: if the YoRHa order is to destroy all YoRHa information, then the order itself is pointless. This realization frees them to choose their own path. It’s always possible to escape a repeating pattern, and it often just takes a small moment of understanding to do so.

2026-05-01 21:46