Editing Serial Experiments Lain (section)

==Characters==
;{{nihongo|{{visible anchor|Lain Iwakura}}|岩倉 玲音|Iwakura Rein}}
:{{Voiced by|[[Kaori Shimizu (voice actress)|Kaori Shimizu]]|[[Bridget Hoffman]]<ref name="btva">{{cite web |title=Serial Experiments Lain (1999 TV Show) |url=https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/tv-shows/Serial-Experiments-Lain-TV/ |website=Behind The Voice Actors |access-date=31 January 2022 |archive-date=January 31, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220131045752/https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/tv-shows/Serial-Experiments-Lain-TV/ |url-status=live}} A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.</ref>}}
:The title character of the series. Lain is a fourteen-year-old girl who uncovers her true nature through the series. She is first depicted as a shy [[junior high school]] student with few friends or interests. She later grows multiple bolder personalities, both in the physical world and the Wired, and starts making more friends. As the series progresses, she eventually comes to discover that she is, in reality, merely an [[autonomous]], [[sentient]] [[computer program]] in the physical and corporeal form of a human being, designed to sever the invisible barrier between the Wired and the real world. However, the truth of her creation is left ambiguous, particularly as to whether or not she was truly created by Tachibana General Laboratories. In the end, Lain is challenged to accept herself as a ''de facto'' [[goddess]] for the Wired, having become an [[omnipotent]] and [[omnipresent]] virtual being with worshippers of her own, as well as an ability to exist beyond the borders of devices, time, or space.
;{{nihongo|{{visible anchor|Alice Mizuki}}|瑞城 ありす|Mizuki Arisu}}
:{{Voiced by|[[Yōko Asada]]|[[Emilie Brown|Emily Brown]]<ref name="btva"/>}}
:Lain's classmate and only true friend throughout the series. She is very sincere and has no discernible quirks. She is the first to attempt to help Lain socialize; she takes her out to a nightclub. From then on, she tries her best to look after Lain. Alice, along with her two best friends Julie and Reika, were taken by Chiaki Konaka from his previous work, ''Alice in Cyberland''.
;{{nihongo|{{visible anchor|Masami Eiri}}|英利 政美|Eiri Masami}}
:{{Voiced by|[[Shō Hayami]]|[[Kirk Thornton]]<ref name="btva"/>}}
: The key designer of Protocol Seven. While working for Tachibana General Laboratories, he illicitly included codes enabling him to control the whole protocol at will and embedded his own mind and will into the seventh protocol. Because of this, he was fired by Tachibana General Laboratories, and was found dead not long after. He believes that the only way for humans to evolve even further and develop even greater abilities is to absolve themselves of their physical and human limitations, and to live as virtual entities—or [[Avatar (computing)|avatars]]—in the Wired for eternity. He claims to have been Lain's creator all along, but was in truth standing in for another as an [[Acting (law)|acting god]], who was waiting for the Wired to reach its more evolved current state: Lain herself.
;{{nihongo|{{visible anchor|Yasuo Iwakura}}|岩倉 康男|Iwakura Yasuo}}
:{{Voiced by|[[Ryūsuke Ōbayashi]]|Barry Stigler<ref name="btva"/>}}
:Lain and Mika's father. Passionate about computers and electronic communication, he works with Masami Eiri at Tachibana General Laboratories. He subtly pushes Lain, his "youngest daughter", towards the Wired and monitors her development until she becomes more and more aware of herself and of her ''raison d'être''. He eventually leaves Lain, telling her that although he did not enjoy playing house, he genuinely loved and cared for her as a real father would. Despite Yasuo's eagerness to lure Lain into the Wired, he warns her not to get overly involved in it or to confuse it with the real world.
;{{nihongo|{{visible anchor|Miho Iwakura}}|岩倉 美穂|Iwakura Miho}}
:{{Voiced by|[[Rei Igarashi]]|Dari Lallou Mackenzie<ref name="btva"/>}}
:Lain and Mika's mother. Although she dotes on her husband, she is indifferent towards both her kids. She does not show much emotion compared to her husband, but she does share at least one trait; just like her husband, she ends up leaving Lain. She is a computer scientist.
;{{nihongo|{{visible anchor|Mika Iwakura}}|岩倉 美香|Iwakura Mika}}
:{{Voiced by|[[Ayako Kawasumi]]|[[Patricia Ja Lee]]<ref name="btva"/>}}
:Lain's older sister, an apathetic sixteen-year-old high school student. She seems to enjoy mocking Lain's behavior and interests. Mika is considered by ''Anime Revolution'' to be the only normal member of Lain's family:<ref>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070323032932/http://www.anime-revolution.com/anime/sel-character-profiles|archive-date=March 23, 2007|url=http://www.anime-revolution.com/anime/sel-character-profiles|title=[SEL] Character Profiles|work=Anime Revolution|access-date=December 30, 2006}}</ref> she sees her boyfriend in [[love hotel]]s, is on a diet, and shops in [[Shibuya]] regularly. At a certain point in the series, she becomes heavily traumatized by violent and relentless hallucinations; while Lain begins freely delving into the Wired. Mika is taken there by her proximity to Lain, and she gets stuck between the real world and the Wired.<ref name="otakon">{{cite web|url=http://www.cjas.org/~leng/o2klain.htm|title=Otakon Lain Panel Discussion with Yasuyuki Ueda and Yoshitoshi Abe|access-date=September 16, 2006|date=August 5, 2000|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061026065237/http://www.cjas.org/~leng/o2klain.htm|archive-date=October 26, 2006|url-status=live}}</ref>
;{{nihongo|{{visible anchor|Taro}}|タロウ|Tarō}}
:{{Voiced by|Keito Takimoto|[[Brianne Siddall]]<ref name="btva"/>}}
:A young boy of about Lain's age. He occasionally works for the Knights to bring forth "the one truth". Despite this, he has not yet been made a member, and knows nothing of their true intentions. Taro loves [[virtual reality]] games and hangs out all day at Cyberia with his friends, Myu-Myu and Masayuki. He uses special technology, such as custom Handi Navi and video goggles. Taro takes pride in his internet anonymity, and he asks Lain for a date with her Wired self in exchange for information.
;{{visible anchor|Office Worker}}
:{{Voiced by|Eiichirō Suzuki}}
:A top executive from Tachibana General Laboratories. He has a personal agenda, which he carries out with the help of the Men in Black. He looks forward to the arrival of a real God through the Wired, and is the man behind the Knights' mass assassination. There are many things he does not know about Lain, but he would rather ask questions about her than disclose his agenda.
;{{visible anchor|Men in Black}}
:{{nihongo|Karl Haushoffer|カール・ハウスホッファ|Kāru Hausuhoffa}}, {{voiced by|[[Jouji Nakata]]|[[Jamieson Price]]}}
:Lin Suixi ({{zh|c=林随錫|p=Lín Suíxī}}), {{voiced by|[[Takumi Yamazaki]]|[[Bob Buchholz]]}}
:The Men in Black work for the Office Worker in tracking down and murdering all of the members of the Knights. They are not told the true plan, but they know that Masami Eiri is somehow involved, despite having been "killed". They see no need for an almighty, all-powerful God—let alone Lain—in the Wired.
;{{nihongo|{{visible anchor|Chisa Yomoda}}|四方田 千砂|Yomoda Chisa}}
:{{Voiced by|Sumi Mutoh|[[Lia Sargent]]<ref name="btva"/>}}
:A teenage girl who committed suicide at the beginning of the series. After her death, she e-mails Lain, Julie, and a few other kids, stating that she is still alive in the Wired, ultimately leading to almost every event that occurs within the anime. After the reset by Lain in the final episode, Chisa is given her physical body back and the opportunity to live again, taking Lain's place in her former friend group.
;{{nihongo|{{visible anchor|Reika Yamamoto}}|山本 麗華|Yamamoto Reika}}
:{{Voiced by|[[Chiharu Tezuka]]|[[Lenore Zann]]<ref name="btva"/>}}
:One of Alice's friends from school. She does not seem to care for Lain, since she harasses her quite a lot. She is more serious than Julie, and also somewhat meaner.
;{{nihongo|{{visible anchor|Julie Kato}}|加藤 樹莉|Katō Juri}}
:{{Voiced by|Manabi Mizuno|Gracie Moore<ref name="btva"/>}}
:Another friend of Alice. She also harasses Lain, but not as severely as Reika does. She is sometimes insensitive to other people's feelings.
;{{nihongo|{{visible anchor|Masayuki}}|マサユキ}}
:{{Voiced by|Sora Fujima|[[Dorothy Elias-Fahn]]}}
:Taro's best friend. He is usually seen hanging out with Taro and Myu-Myu.
;{{nihongo|{{visible anchor|Myu-Myu}}|ミューミュウ|Myūmyuu}}
:{{Voiced by|Yuki Yamamoto|[[Sandy Fox]]}}
:A young girl who hangs out with Taro and Masayuki at Cyberia Café. She has feelings for Taro, and gets jealous when he flirts with Lain.
;{{visible anchor|Narrator}}
:{{Voiced by|[[Takashi Taniguchi]]|[[Paul St. Peter]]}}