"The main menu. Pay attention." - ???
??? is a mysterious being that only shows up at the start of a New Game, when you save, if you (somehow) lose to the first enemy of the game, or once you reach a New Game+. ??? also shows up to describe the ending of something, or flatout tell you that you're a moron.
??? describes itself as a disembodied voice, solely here to introduce you to the game.
It's unknown if ??? is a being that's from this universe, a character in the game, or someone (or something) else, for that matter.
The only thing ??? does is ask what gender you wish to play as, along with if you want new or updated graphics, along with giving a small comment on whatever gender you chose.
During a NG+, ??? says "Welcome back," or "just welcome". Apparently it varies how much a person remembers. Like in a regular new game, ??? will ask what gender you want and what graphics you want.
??? also warns you that what you did in the last timeline is gonna affect the current one - for better or for worse.
It's unknown exactly how much ??? knows about the world, but it seems as if ??? knows a lot about timelines.
Do note that there's unnamed characters that's called ??? as well. This is due to them having no set name at that scene. Do NOT link them to this page, unless it is in fact ??? talking.
If you intentionally lose the intro battle, ??? will become increasingly angry at you. In order, ??? will say:
???: Seriously? Quit fooling around.
???: I know you're doing this on purpose. Cut it out.
???: Now you're just doing it to annoy me. Last warning.
???: Alright fine. If you want to be dead that badly then go for it.
??? shows up during the Heroic Route if you decided to push past Julia and went into the Library. In that case, ??? acts like the voice of reason - or just plain out common sense. ??? warns you that Drape is too powerful for you. Two of the people present in the library are teachers and one of the people in there has the Protagonist's body. Eventually, ??? will just bring up Julia's spell menu, saying it's basically pointless and that you should escape.
Not heeding this warning causes a game over to happen, after which you're sent back to the hallway.
Trivia
- As of version 0.42, ??? explains how the Save System works. Prior to that, it was Val.
- Some fans speculate that ??? is God, given how there's three ? and God is three letters long.
- Despite this, Changer (the creator) has stated that religion is not really a thing in this world, making the claim unlikely.