Rin

Rin, as they appear in the prologue of Eastern Mind

Rin (リン) is the protagonist of Eastern Mind: The Lost Souls of Tong-Nou and its sequel, Chu-Teng.

Personality

Rin has no listed entry in neither the Tong-Nou Illustrated Book nor the Chu-Teng Tablet, leaving their personality widely unknown. Much of Rin's backstory and personality is shrouded in mystery, including aspects such as their gender; the game instead uses Rin's name to refer to them.

In both games, Rin is only seen in a chalk-like art style in the prologue. In Eastern Mind, Rin is portrayed as perpetually frowning, only smiling once in the prologue, with an empty hole in their chest. In Chu-Teng, they are smiling instead, with a red Magatama in their chest, presumably representing their soul.

Very few pieces of in-game text are written from Rin's perspective, and mostly happen to be in immediate reaction to in-game events, such as immediate reactions to death. A select few lines exist outside this circumstance, which mostly paint Rin as a fairly light-hearted character; one line in particular in the tunnel to Mon-chien has Rin make an odd remark after witnessing Zen dead in the ice.

Eastern Mind

Mission (Eastern Mind)

Rin's mission is to get their soul back from Tong-nou.

Walkthrough (Eastern Mind)

Rin must reincarnate as all 8 characters to acquire their Nameplates, then use the nameplates to remove the stamp seal on the gate of the Central Mountain Tong-nou. They must also collect the five Magatamas and later the five Katana Gems. After going up the stairs of the mountain, they must enter Par-fang, use the Katana powered with all five gems to release their soul, and place the Magatama into it.

Chu-Teng

Mission (Chu-Teng)

Rin must reconstruct the face of Nanshu and protect Chu-teng from darkness.

Character

Rin's name comes from the 臨 (to face, to confront, power) kanji, a part of the Kuji, a series of nine japanese syllables whose symbols are used for ritual or meditation purposes.