❖ Young Boy

A beautiful disaster of a man.

A protagonist who doesn't rise from the ashes, but instead keeps burning until there's nothing left. However, one can build on top of an empty space.

Nier is the culmination of everything he has ever experienced in his life which actually spans across two different timelines with two different bodies. The majority of his character is developed in the Replicant timeline 🡕.

As the protagonist that you play as, Nier is the one to have started it all and the one to have ended it all... and "Nier" isn't even his name for he doesn't have a canon name. The fandom adopted the name for him after the series title and Yoko Taro, the creative director, just accepted it. But officially, he's referred to words or titles such as "man" or "protagonist".

As a young boy, Nier had always cared for his younger sister, Yonah. In both timelines, Yonah was ill and the only family Nier had left since the siblings had lost both of their parents. The two struggled with resources and survivability until an opportunity suddenly arises which changes the course of their fates.

He raised and cared for his sister on his own in the village. Due to her illness, Nier had to take care of everything- the house, food, their farm, and more. They lived a life of poverty with Nier taking any job that could be handed out to him, no matter how menial or small. On top of everything, Nier desperately needed medicine for his sister. Most of his time and funds would be spent providing for her and ensuring her safety.

Given that Yonah is his only family and was dealing with a grave illness, Nier has developed a worrying attachment to his younger sibling. He always has to know where Yonah is going. If she was leaving the house, he had to be with her at all times. If Yonah coughs, even a little bit, it meant time to go back home.

The two bonded with Devola and Popola who were like older sisters to them. The two sisters would help Nier find jobs around the village.

"I never knew Shades were so similar to people..."

One day, Popola had offered Nier a dangerous task: to kill Shades which are the enemies in the world. Nier was only 15 years old at the time but was more than happy to do the job since it also meant a huge money reward. He could afford medicine for Yonah and more.

*The events that played out afterwards 🡕 would change him and his perception of the world. All actions that proceed from this point onwards will set the course for the Replicant timeline and the development of Nier as a character.

[ *Protagonist story "Red and Black". Link content warning for child sexual abuse. ]

❖ Young Man

"But you saved us. If it wasn't for you, we'd all be dead. We owe you. It's all right. Really. Don't look back."

His sister has been kidnapped by the "Shadowlord", presumed leader of the Shades. Luckily, Nier has met three friends along his journey: Grimoire Weiss, Kaine, and Emil. Together, along with Devola and Popola, are on a quest to save Yonah and uncover the truth about world.

Some fans don't like Nier as an adult as he became hellbent on killing every Shade he could find. Yonah lives "rent free in his head" and she is the only person that he could ever want in his arms right now.

Some people say that Nier is a man who is blinded by his goals. His hyperfixation on saving his sister has turned the protagonist into bitter and impatient man. To Nier, the Shades were the reason for all of his problems. The reason why people couldn't have a normal life, the reason why people were dying, the reason why Yonah was sick, and the reason why Yonah was kidnapped. At this point, it didn't matter what the Shades were doing... or who the Shades could be. All that mattered now is that every Shade needed to be wiped off the planet.

While it's true that Nier's blindness is a huge problem, I'd rather say that Nier is a very... "human" character. I don't even like using the term "morally grey".

Nier only had so much information to go off of and when everyone was finally told the truth, it was too much to process at once. His friend and love interest, Kaine, already knew the truth but couldn't bear the weight of it on her own. Let alone Nier.

Perhaps Nier is a character shaped by those around him, but are we not just algamations of the outside world? Our minds picking and choosing what external information works for us and what doesn't? As you get further into the game, you find out that everyone has made their choice and there's no going back.

❖ The World-Ender

"Yonah. All I brought you was pain. Years of painful, lingering memories. I couldn't do it. I couldn't rescue you. I'm so sorry. I failed. Your brother failed."

The Shadowlord would be destroyed and the world that once plagued Nier and his loved ones would be long gone.

In truth, the Shadowlord was Nier from the Modern timeline who was on a desperate search for his sister, Yonah following the failure of the Gestalt Project 🡕.

The fight was symbolic of Nier's entire character. Both Niers have gone through their own hells and wanted nothing more but to protect their sister. However, only one Nier was allowed to exist.

He is a combination of traits both desirable and distasteful. A man with a deep care for those he loves and protects, a bit naïve or dumb in little ways, accepting and loving of Kaine despite her being both a half-Shade and intersex, multi-talented, and is always supportive of those around him.

On the other hand, he's clearly traumatized by past events, prone to angry or frustrated outbursts, impatient, discriminatory against the Shades, doesn't care who gets in his way only if they get out of his way, tends to carry other people's responsibilities on his shoulders, says some shit sometimes, and is self-sacrificial to a horrible fault. It was his own sacrifice that lead to both the beginning and the end of NieR Replicant.

Nier isn't the type of character who's going to open up about what's going on with his mind and very briefly mentions his parents to Grimoire Weiss while discussing his mother's diary.

He had a couple mental breakdowns in the story- one where Weiss had to calm him down and another where Kaine beat him out of frustration after the sacrifices their friends have made while on their way to the Shadowlord.

He also seems to count his blessings and holds onto anything that that gives him even the tiniest degree of hope, optimism, and normalcy.

Nier might not be the most digestible protagonist for some people but I think it's because he's one of the most blatant characters in concept. Truthfully, Nier was no different from eveybody else in the story, especially when considering the circumstances.

❖ My Thoughts

"You don't get to decide who lives and who dies. She has a life! She has meaning and worth, and we're going to save her! Everyone has something to live For. Even Kainé... Even Yonah."

With Nier, it's basically like falling in love in-reverse... if that makes any sense. I resonated with Nier because of his negative traits, not just his positive ones. Overall, I have a gravitation towards controversial characters and Nier rubs me the wrong way in the right way. Yoko Taro and his team did a fantastic job creating a "perfectly flawed" character.

He isn't the most controversial character in the DrakeNieR world (in my opinion) but he's messed up just enough (and in a realistic fashion) to throw people off and that's what I love about him. He's not a man who completely "flies off the handle" so to speak, but is a man who wasn't raised in a good environment and who grew up way too fast. When he was given the opportunity to drop it all, he did (Ending E). "Perfectly flawed" is my favorite term for him.

But it has taken some time to explore this "right way" feeling that I have with Nier. Unfortunately, the rest of Replicant's story is found in the novelizations of the game and in drama CDs. When you play through Replicant, you are only playing a sliver of the whole story. This writing style is intentional and works for the ideas that the developers were going for. However, it did leave me feeling like all of the characters were underdeveloped (Kaine probably being the worst example in presentation).

As I learned more about Nier and his past, he ended up becoming a character who I could potentially explore my own traumas with. I don't think I've done that before... at least not directly. There was always a disconnect between myself and my past. I was mostly blissfully unaware of my own traumatic feelings until he came around.

I'm not sure if I'm 1:1 to Nier (maybe... lol) but there are many aspects of his past and his personality that I can relate to and understand. At least through him, I've learned that many of us are victims of circumstance. That life is situational. There isn't any reason for why things happened the way they did, only that it happened and there's nothing you can do about it. As for the traumas Nier has experienced (Kaine and Emil as well), you're not always going to come out "on top" or "rising above it all". I believe more often than not, trauma causes a person years of pain, grief, and changes their mental outlook on life.

I other traits that I probably share with Nier is being a worry wart or constantly worrying about others. I also learned that sometimes I go into "big brother / dad" mode with friends and I start nagging a little lol. I understand the feeling of being under pressure, used, and holding a lot of weight on one's shoulders. As well as pushing people away so that they don't get wrapped up into my own problems and keeping emotions inside as to not be a burden to others.

Sometimes when I think about the negative side of me, I think about Nier. He (and the whole game) serves as a reminder of what it means to be a "good person" or to have "good values"- that is, there's no inherent "good" in a person. However, that doesn't necessarily make a person "bad" either. Like I mentioned previously, everybody was a victim of circumstance. Everybody made their own choices because it's what they believed was right for themselves.

(Really, I want to avoid words like "good" and "bad" when talking about Replicant but I had to provide an example for my line of thinking.)

The only thing about Nier was that he was the one wielding the blade. And you were the player who had a preconceived notion about what it means to be a protagonist in a story.

At the end of it all, all that was left was the definition of "choice". There is no blame and there's no forgiveness. I also don't want you to think that I'm in defense of him or anyone in the game either. Whether Nier was fully aware of what has transpired or not, it's from here that everybody starts over.

That's why I call him a "beautiful disaster of a man". Nier is gorgeous and tall, with white long hair and a wonderful voice. There is something striking about his odd, cyclical story and I like things that go in a cycle.

Nier is a very interesting character with a concept that's fun to analyze and pick apart. Yet, he is best understood as a whole rather than his parts.

❖ More Things

⮞ I headcanon him with ADHD or some sort of neurodiverency. ADHD runs in my family too and I have yet to be tested for it. But something about NieR games causes me to hyperfixate and want to go through everything super fast lol. It fits the mood of Brother Nier. He also has a tendency to forget important details and lose track of what's in front of him.

⮞ He might be a bit of a clutz judging by Grimoire Weiss's comments whenever Nier falls into water or sand.

⮞ I also headcanon him with even more trauma and flinches at whoever or whatever touches his hair. He might struggle with repulsion or get reactionary if I really want to go far with it. It's old, but I wrote some fanfiction about it if you really want to read it.

⮞ Canonically, Nier doesn't have a defined sexuality. Some fans just call him "Kaine-sexual".

⮞ He accidentally shares the same birthday as Yoko Taro (June 6th) despite that not being Taro's intention.

⮞ The story NPCs you meet in the game, such as the King of Facade and the brothers at the Junk Heap, are representations of Nier's inner mind.

⮞ In the Japanese version of the game (Replicant), Nier and Yonah are siblings. In the Western version of the game (Gestalt), Nier and Yonah are father and daughter.

⮞ -points to artwork above- Okay, but I love it when Nier has an eyepatch on... It's a nice reference to Dad Nier and... it looks great on him. ❤

Gestalt /gəˈʃtɑlt/ German for "placed", "put together". English translation is "pattern", "form", or "shape". Gestalt Psychology emphasizes that "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts" and explains the concept of perception and illusion.