List of Hyperdimension Neptunia characters
"Hyperdimension Neptunia" is a video game series developed by Idea Factory and Compile Heart that features a wide array of fictional characters originally created by Naoko Mizuno and designed by Tsunako and Minamitsu. The original game centers around Neptune, one of four goddesses who adventures in a world where she can recruit other characters to form a party. Some of the supporting characters are playable depending on the title and also whether it is a remake or an option as downloadable content. Some characters also start as antagonists, and there are a regular set of  villains. Most characters are based on and named after the video game consoles, video game developer companies or publishers. The characters have been commented on by game reviewers who had mixed feelings about their designs, personalities and voice acting. Conception and development. Naoko Mizuno, the creator of the "Hyperdimension Neptunia" series described the origins of the game and its characters: "First and foremost, I realized there were no games on the market that actually dealt with or parodied the game industry itself. The second thing is that, at the time, characters that changed—that took on different forms—were really  popular, but there were none that were cute girls." She developed Neptune as a parody of the game industry with the fictional scenario where Sega was still attempting to reach the top of the console business. In looking back at the games, Mizuno said that she would have like to have had the characters fully voiced, but that the editing in of new scenes and content made that impossible. Executive producer Norihisa Kochiwa said that character designer Tsunako had developed some designs but had run into complications. The company considered partnering with another company but it did not work out . At the end of 2009, Tsunako had changed up the character designs and color scheme so they fit within the world's setting. Kochiwa said "Had that collaboration been realized then Neptunia would have never been born." Director Shingo Onodera said that "the game was originally supposed to be about 3 princess sisters and a main character. I came in right around when that project was halted and turned into Neptunia." Mizuno created a new group of main characters for "Mk2" in response to the moe subculture trend, especially the concept of the younger sister. "The younger sister characters, like  Nepgear, are still inexperienced, and not fully grown compared to their older sisters. One of the reasons behind creating such heroines was that I wanted to depict the younger sisters’ adorable efforts to grow strong and mature enough to save their older sisters and Gamindustri." She also noted there are no male main characters in the series: "I say this because I know; I'm a woman myself. It's so much fun to have private girl talks and have some girl time without boys around." The character design was done by Tsunako, with another designer named Minamitsu joining the  team starting with "Victory". Minamitsu had been working on some other otome games, but regards "Victory" as her first major title. Kochiwa has remarked that working on "Neptunia" not only from the art and game system aspects, has affected Compile Heart's other titles. Tsunako said "Victory" was a turning point for the franchise as it helped solidify the relationships among the sisters. The anime adaptation contributed to the "Neptunia" character design and development as it presented the characters from a different perspective. Tsunako said "the animators did a great job so as a designer I feel like I was  able to learn from them as well." Onodera said "Being able to observe and learn how people from a different industry handled things like direction, script-writing, building tension, plus visualizing characters and their personalities helped me to see what was lacking in the original Neptunia." Onodera also credits the anime and "Mk2" for inspiring them to do the "Re;Birth" versions. In deciding what maker characters to include, the team worked with Compile Heart and their relations with other companies. The inclusion of Tekken allowed for more characters to cross over from other franchises such as "Millionaire Arthur" and "God  Eater". Main protagonists. The main protagonists are goddesses that represent consoles or portable hardware brands in the video game industry. Their normal interacting form is that of a girl, but during combat, they can transform into a more powerful "HDD Mode" of themselves. Four CPUs. The Console Patron Unit (CPU) is a goddess character in the world of Gamindustri, each of whom is named after a video game system and is charge of a domain. Director Shingo Onodera said that in creating the scenario for the first game, the three goddesses had lacked something in their personalities so they gave  each of them a gimmick. CPU Candidates. Each of the nations in "Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2" has representatives of the goddesses called CPU Candidates, which turn out to be their younger sisters. Their item counterparts are portable handhelds in contrast to the home console references of the goddesses. Of the goddesses, Vert does not have a younger sister, while Blanc has twin younger sisters. Antagonists. In the anime, her name is . Four Felons. The Four Felons are members of the Arfoire Syndicate of International Crime (ASIC) who were created from the people's faith in the deity Arfoire. They debuted in  Mk2. Each Felon is given the title CFW, which in the Japanese version stands for Custom firmware, which is an altered version of the original software inside a video game console. In the English version, CFW stands for Criminal of the Free World. Some of the Felons make appearances in the anime adaptation. Reception. Jack Devries of IGN described the characters as "Imagine the console wars between SEGA, Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony, but an actual war, with each console personified by a big-breasted, scantily clad battle goddess." He wrote that the game has "some well done 3D character models , the dungeons they run around in are all dull, boring hallways." GameSpot in reviewing the first game, described the characters as "hypersexualized young girls", "key characters amount to little more than disturbing dolls wielding such weapons as a giant syringe," and regarding two of the characters IF and Compa "they're almost completely devoid of personality, existing only as depressing stereotypes of vapid, sexy cuteness." Simon Parkin of Eurogamer disliked the game's plain sexism and innuendo: the "characters make lewd comments with all the awkwardness of a children's TV presenter telling a dirty joke." Matthew Razak of Destructoid  found the characters "devolve into no more than slightly veiled references to cultural gaming cliches.", and while the actual game was disappointing, he praised the voice acting, writing that despite having bad puns, the delivery was done well. Heidi Kemps of GamesRadar wrote that the main characters "come from the school of modern moe" and that the secondary characters were "just presented as generic blank silhouettes." Kallie Plagge of IGN, in reviewing "Re;Birth1", found the game missed chances to use their characters to satirize the game industry and that the characters would repeatedly point out each other's obvious attributes  such as "tsundere". In reviewing "Mk2", Matthew Bennett, associate editor of "Electronic Gaming Monthly" critiqued Nepgear's character "Instead of four powerful and beautiful heroines we’re left with one pre-pubescent girl who’s suffering from a severe case of schizophrenia, never quite sure if she’s saving the world, or writing a Dear Diary entry." and also the characters' 3D modeling, which "on paper sounds like a fantastic upgrade, but though offering more emotion, just look out of place against the 2D backgrounds." Idea Factory business developer Damien Urvois, in promoting the "Re;Birth" version of "Neptunia" said that  Nowadays, the demand for moé is quite high overseas, so, we must quickly release the main titles. Executive producer Norihisa Kochiwa said "I think the reason why the series has lasted so long and is loved so much is due to the characters."