can dl the anime-kraze's (hdtv) at box now. Altho duno if it has the stuff like shinsen put in the end. As for the ending (compiled it from various sources)-
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Ergo Proxy FAQ
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Created by Jey Han
Ok, I've created this FAQ to basically answer the questions that you might not get it through the anime, a lot of stuff are hinted throughout the seemingly "filler" anime but they all actually do serve a purpose (crappy william B episode, boring no-wind episode, absurd QUIZ episode, etc). I didn't actually know that until I understand the story later on. Anyway the section below is written by me myself, and the anime is half open-ended, so different people might have different interpretation.
The stuff I mentioned here will prolly be covered below, with more details, this is merely a small summary that I gather, and some are just what I think, so it could be different from what you think.
The creators mentioned are merely humans, they are advanced humans who left Earth when the earth's environment turned hazardous, it's supported by the fact that on the Quiz episode, the Boomerang space ship that sends human to outer space. And then they, the creators (human in space), created the Proxies, and sent 300 of them down to earth, and used the Proxy to create artificial humans living in a dome (Each Proxy has a dome). The articifial humans are imperfect, cuz they can't reproduce, and so are the Proxies, cuz they are created by the Creator and can be destroyed with Sunlight easily. That's why the anime mentioned about Proxy being 不完全, incomplete. What Raul is trying to do, after discovering these (the fact that they are created by Proxy), is to rebel against this, and make themselves free.
And when Earth begins to regenerate and become habitable, the Creator will return, the Proxies will perish due to sunlight, and the artificial humans will die off due to Proxies dying off, or killed by cogito infected auto reivs. It can be seen that a dome will not last long after the Proxy that governs it left, as you can heard them mentioning the dome slowly dying during the anime because Ergo Proxy, the Proxy that created Romdeau dome, has left. In any case that is what Proxy One trying to rebel against, to fight the Creator, because he doesn't want to accept this fate. And he made Ergo Proxy to do it. In a sense Proxy One and Ergo Proxy are 2 different proxies, but Proxy One manipulated the events, to make Ergo Proxy discover himself and stuff, and to eventually fight the creators.
History of Monad and Ergo can be found below, basically to make it short, Ergo Proxy left Romdeau because he's in love with Monad, and ran away with her to Moscow. Romdeau is not happy with this and so they invaded Moscow and kidnapped Monad, and then Ergo Proxy developed his split personality Vincent Law and escaped, and his memories erased.
This is why after Ergo defeated Proxy One, Monad (Real) came and try to run away once again with Ergo, altho this time Ergo remembered Re-L and he chose to stay back. Monad, unknown to her, flew to the blue sky and got disintegrated, as planned by the Creator.
Proxy has huge meaning in this whole series. Ergo Proxy being the proxy of Proxy One, Proxies being the proxy of the Creator, articifial human being the proxy of the Proxies, auto reivs being the Proxy of artificifial human, Re-L and Real being the proxy of Monad.
The stuff after this is what I gather, so it's not written by me anymore.
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リル = Re-L. She's the first incomplete clone of Monad, the main heroine of the series. Re-L is entirely human, barely any or no proxy amrita at all, and so has dark human hair and not proxy white hair like White Monad. I'm guessing Black Real's genes were filled in using Donov's DNA.
Real is the second clone of Monad, she is genetically closer to Monad, which is why she has white hair, has wings and stuff.
Wow, what a confusing episode. What's the "gods" that Ergo Proxy was talking about?
They are the original humans who have created the Proxies and left. They are seen returning to the planet at the very end.
So if the Proxies completed the mission that was given to then, does that mean that they are no longer useful?
Yes. At the end of their mission, entrusted to them by the Creators, they were supposed to perish in the Pulse of Awekening.
Goal of Proxy One?
Proxy One did not want to die in the Pulse of Awekening and he felt that the Creators were evil because of this. So he decided to destroy their creation and sent Ergo Proxy as the Agent of Death.
And what did Dedalus say about the Armrita cells? Are Proxies afraid of sunlight? It looks like it, cuz when the Monado Real fly past the clouds, she disintergrated like vampire seeing sunlight. But then does that mean that Vincent will also die once he sees sunlight? This ending is pretty confusing, might have to wait for a good sub for this.
According to Daedalus, the Proxies will not surive the sunlight returning to the planet. How that works exactly - I don't know. Something about Amrita cells.
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Well, the whole story of "Ergo Proxy" is quite literally about Ergo Proxy's attempt to become human. The system that the original humans (the Creators) have left in place is very artificial and automated. It relies heavily of a hierarchical system of dependancies between various levels of the societal machine.
On top of that machine are the 300 proxies left to govern and repopulate the Earth. Their commands are transfered to the Regents, who in turns controls the Autoreiv, who in turn control the post-humans.
That's where the whole term "proxy" comes about. The Proxies are "proxies", or agents (dairinin) for the original human. The regent is the proxy for the Proxy. The autoreiv are proxies for the regent. The humans are proxies for the autoreiv. Everyone is just a new level nside a vast system of control.
That's the kind of mindset that everyone has: you have to act through a agent, or act as an agent for someone yourself. Proxy One chose Ergo Proxy as his "Agent of Death", his emissary to complete the mission that Proxy One himself was unable to do because of the hierarchical mindset with which he was created by the original humans.
The story of "Ergo Proxy", thus, is Ergo Proxy's attempt to break through that whole mindset. Not just to be independant or to make his own decisions, but in fact to shatter the whole proxy hierarchy. Instead of relegating a task to some other proxy, Ergo decided to participate. Instead of chosing an agent of his own, Ergo decided to do the task himself.
That's the symbolism of his travels with Re-l and Pino. Ergo Proxy set a task of finding his memory for himself and decided to do it on his own, instead of relying on a proxy. This is counter to the system that the Creators have set up and in fact this is the way of the Creators themselves. Ergo Proxy returns to basic human roots.
So the reason why he chose Re-l instead of Real was because he still wanted to participate, he still wanted to continue the journey and act on his own, rather than submit himself to his fated life with Monad. Lovers connected through time is very romantic, but it's not a decision that Vincent (the personality through which Ergo broke the hierarchical mindset) would make.
Instead of following his proxy fate with Monad, Ergo decides to follow his human life with Re-l. Being Vincent is now more important for Ergo than to be a Proxy, because it allows him to participate and life a human life, instead of following someone else's mission. And since Vincent loves Re-l, then it is more than natural for Ergo to chose to come back to Re-l.
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Will Pino Survive? - Ergo Proxy Ep.23 The Final Episode
Ergo Proxy Episode 23 The Agents/代理人/deus ex machina
The only blog left to witness the end of time!
Written by Dai Sato (of course)
Sorry for the lateness of this posting. However this is a complicated episode and I am not sure whether I am getting everything right. The last episode does tie in all different threads through out the entire series. Before watching the last episode, I rewatched episode 22 and realized that I have missed out several important points on repeat viewing.
Real's Truth
I am going to recap back from episode 22 Shackles/bilbul. Real returned to Romdeau and found out that grandpa was strangled to death by Vincent/Ergo. With grandpa (Donov Mayer, or the representative, regent) dead, the stone statures were released from their oath of silence. They told Real that Ergo was indeed the creator of Romdeau Dome city as well as dozens of citizens. The rests were replicated by the WombSys. However, Ergo was an incomplete god and created incomplete failures. In despair, he entrusted everything to a man named Donov Mayer, and left the place to join with Monad Proxy of Mosco. The regent yearned for the love of god and fell into despair for being abandoned. Out of melancholy, he ordered the invasion of Mosco as revenge. However, Monad remained unconscious (eyes closed) and in this way deprived Romdeau the light (sunlight) and the light no longer shined upon the land. It was ironic that during all this time, Ergo returned as Vincent, with all his memories wiped out, but the regent was not aware of this.
Everything was planned all along. Vincent was a virtual personality created so Ergo could forget about everything. Real wondered whether she was created with the purpose of killing Ergo, or was she created by grandpa as a bait for Proxies. It was Donov Mayer's wish to meet the Creators. If that was the case, Real could not helped it but felt attracted to Vincent at least unconsciously. There was also a strong connection between Real and the second Real (White Real) created from Monad Proxy back in Ep 10. The white Real (Daedalus' Real) referred Black Real as another of her self, the person to remind Vincent of Monad.
Real felt in despair. Like Vincent, she could not choose to be born. Her heart was crushed to pieces and the only person supporting her was gone (Vincent). The stone statures reminded her while that might be the truth (destruction, the end) for the rest of Romdeau, she still had more truth to find out for herself and no one could do it for her. Like Donov Mayer, all the time she yearned for love from her grandpa, but she sensed none of it.
She remembered that everytime she saw Ergo, she sensed something besides fear, and this sense was getting stronger. Ergo returned to the Regent's chamber and Real decided to test out whether Ergo wanted Real to kill him or not. She pointed the gun at him and asked him whether he had all the memories back. Ergo told Real to shoot him if that was her wish. She dropped the gun and declared that she did not wish to act according to the wishes of the others. There was the truth, a message left behind in Mosco, 2 pendants. How many times had this shadow appeared before in front of both Real and Vincent. Vincent with double personality was indeed the ultimate cloak of invisibility for this being. She challenged this being to come out from the shadow.
This being was Proxy One. "Well done ! Real 124C41" said Proxy One. At this moment she became the one to forsee for one. Next was Ergo/Vincent's turn to find out his truth. Proxy One said she had already done her part. At this time, Daedalus mind-controlled by Proxy One initiated the the self destruct sequence of Romdeau. Real returned to the ground level to see what she can do. She said she had to do what she had to do, and she would not run away from reality no matter how harsh the future would be. She made Vincent to promise that he would return.
Against all odds she escaped from the collapsing dome. The bridge she was crossing suddenly collapsed and she found herself hanging over flammes with no where else to go. At this crucial moment, Pino was flying in on board the Centzon holding out her hand. Real said symbolically "I believe." and jumped....
The Truth about the Statures and Donov Mayer
Vincent entrusted Donov Mayer and the talking statures (the Central Administration Bureau AI network) to take care of Romdeau. They sworn to keep the secret that Vincent was the one who created Romdeau. That is why Donov remained mute for the entire series. After his death the statures were able to tell the truth. As their last words, they quoted Michelangelo's words, the one who created the original statures.
Caro m' è 'l sonno,
e più l'esser di sasso,
Mentre che 'l danno e la vergogna dura:
Non veder, non sentir, m' è gran ventura;
Però non mi destar, deh! parla basso
"It was their fortune to be in silence, whilst crime and shame continues. Wake us not until the end."
The Truth about Daedalus and Raul
Proxy One admitted that he manipulated both Daedalus and Raul. That was why they have been acting strangely lately. Raul had been seeing illusion of Ergo Proxy taunting him that Raul was destined to be the looser. This drove him to despair. He launched the Rapture missile and later initiated the ADW project which ended up killing 90% of the Romdeau population.
Daedalus was driven by Proxy One to initiate the self destruct sequence of Romdeau, just as the Proxies were driven by the Pulse of Awakening.
Like Real wishing for love from her grandpa all along, Daedalus longed for love from Real. The story implied that the Black Real was created at least partly from Monad by Daedalus under Donov Mayer's orders. As she was created from Monad, she was destined to be attracted to Vincent, and eventually left Daedalus. In Episode 10, Daedalus created the second Real (White Real) from Monad, a full Monad clone.
Liberated Kristeva
Kristeva found Raul dead, holding to Pino's picture. She decided that her new mission was to protect Pino and got Pino safely out of Romdeau together with her harmonica. He was probably infected at this time. It wasn't stated. But all the Autorave seemed to be affected by this time judgin from the red eyes.
Citizens, Immigrants and Autoraves
Most of the Autorave were infected by this time. Like gods exterminating human and proxies because they were no longer needed, the humans were on the streets hunting down the remaining Autoraves. Only less than 10% of population survived after the ADW project. Many of them were leaving the dome.
The Malice of the Creators - Terraforming Earth
Thousands of years ago, there lived the original humans. As episode 15 suggested, earth was destroyed due to the destruction of the methane hydrate layer, killing 85% of all living things. The original humans left the planet on board interstellar migration ships. Earth was left behind to regenerate itself. To help earth to regenerate, they initiated the Proxy Project. 300 proxies were released on earth. Each proxy created their own dome city and a sample of replicated humans. However, these humans were far from complete. Unlike the original humans, they were unable to procreate. WombSys was needed to replicate the population.
When the regeneration was complete, the pulse of awakening was initiated where by the proxies would undergo physical changes (Pulse of Awakening). This was supposed to end with the extermination of all Proxies and recreated humans, so that earth would once become a clean slate for the original humans (the Creators) to resettle.
The Great Chain of Despair - Proxies
As the name suggested, Proxies are simply agents, proxies, representatives for the creators, just as Donov Mayer acting as proxy to Ergo Proxy, the statures (the Administration Bureau) acting as proxies to Donov Mayer, Raul acting as proxy to the statures, Autoraves acting as proxies to humans, immigrants acting as proxy to citizens. They all hoped for love and recognition from their creators, but only to be thrusted with the despair of being abandoned.
The creators in turn abandoned the created out of despair as the creator saw that the their creations were doomed to fail.
And hence came the revenge and destruction from the created, like Donov Mayer ordered the invasion of Mosco. It was ironic that Proxies were given the mind, the heart to feel, so they would experienced being worshipped, being loved, being betrayed and being thrusted into despair from their own failed creations. Proxies were gods in the eyes of those created by Proxies, just as the Creators were gods in the eyes of Proxies.
However in the newly regenerated earth, there is no place for Proxies. As Daedalus said, they would not survive under the sunlight because of the Amrita cells. Thus the head Proxy, Proxy One was in deep despair. He had once launched Rapture missile killing all human on earth (second destruction) to run away from despair (Episode 3).
Proxy One's Revenge
Proxy One decided on a plan of revenge againt the Creator. He needed a protoge, a proxy to carry out his revenge, therefore an Ergo Proxy to survive and carry on the resistance as the returning Creators. He chose Ergo Proxy/Vincent, the creator of Romdeau. Proxy One was the one that talked about revenge against the Creators in Episode 1. In a way Vincent became the hier, the shadow or even the son of Proxy One. Vincent's boss described Vincent as generally lousy person but he could do the job. This prodigal son had a tendency to run away from anything and hide behind Monad. Symbolically, Monad is like a cross between a doting mother and a doting girlfriend to Vincent. Proxy One had to make a man out of Vincent. He must let Vincent to take on a journey with Real. Proxy One was arranging that meeting (omiai, an arranged marriage) and wrote those letters "Awakening" in Real's bathroom.
I am you . You are me.
This is the message he had been sending to Ergo Proxy. The physical appearance of Proxies probably mean very little about who they are as they can change from one form to another at will. The appearance of proxies takes on a symbolic meaning reflecting their state of mind, like Vincent in closed eye form in the beginning, Vincent with eyes open, Proxy with mask, Proxy without mask etc.
Rather than about who they actually were once, the message "I am you, you are me" reflects about the action they take, the role they play in the world. Ergo fell into despair and entrusted everything to Donov (just as Proxy One to Ergo Proxy), and joined with Monad.
This jeopardized Proxy One's plan for the first time. On top of this Ergo created the virtual personality Vincent so he could forget about everything. In this sense, Ergo Proxy is Proxy One, and Proxy One is Ergo Proxy, Ergo was shadowing what Proxy One was doing before. Ergo became the imposter, the afterimage, or the Kagemusha of Proxy One.
The Journey to Redemption
But then Vincent went on a journey with Real and Pino, something Proxy One had not done before. He saw the world in his own eyes (not through proxy) and learnt about living with others (Episode 14, Episode 16). Even though Ergo Proxy is Proxy One, and Proxy One is Ergo Proxy, Vincent Law is not Proxy One! This was Vincent's first realization.
Time is Running Out
At the beginning of Episode 23 , time was running out. The clock in the shopping mall stopped. Proxy One grew tired of waiting. He had to beat Ergo/Vincent back to his senses as he had a habit of running away from anything. Unfortunately, history was repeating itself again. Monad turned up to take Ergo/Vincent away like the last time.
The Story of Monad
There once was Monad Proxy, Proxy number 13 from Mosco. She fell in love with Vincent/Ergo Proxy and did not want him to continue to suffer under the hands of the Creators. She wanted to release him from Proxy One. So Ergo left Romdeau. Romdeau invaded Mosco and destroyed the dome. Monad was captured, Ergo ran away and assumed the identity of Vincent Law, hiding in Romdeau. Monad fell into coma and deprived the people of Romdeau the light. Daedalus was assigned to revive Monad. Black Real was probably a partial clone from Monad. Daedalus made a full Monad clone (white Real) later (Episode 10). When White Real became complete or fully grown, she became Monad. This Real once again left Daedalus in search of Vincent. Daedalus was disheartened and let himself to be hit by a lump of debris.
The new Monad flew to the fake blue sky throne room where Ergo and Proxy were. They were in the middle of fighting. For the second time Monad took Ergo away by asking Ergo to close his all-seeing sacred eyes. She told Vincent to not listen to anyone anymore, forget about everyone, everything. She showed him the sky. The sun was returning to earth, a sign of regeneration. Then Vincent saw with his eyes the human Real back on earth. She was escaping from the collapsing dome, and had to blast off an infected Autorave to get pass it. Vincent was now facing 2 futures for the second time, one to spend time with Monad in god like existence, forgeting about everyone he knew on earth, the other one to fulfill his promise to Real to return to earth. Ergo lost his mask (symbolism of his avoidance) and returned to his Vincent face. He said he could no longer continue to forget about everything. This was Vincent's second realization. He returned Monad's pendant (13) to her the way he returned the gun to Real, and gently touched her cheek just like he did with Real at the end of Episode 20. He bid farewell to Monad.
Monad flew off on her own. Back on earth the dying Daedalus was trying to tell her not to. As she flew higher, she could hear the Creators (in spaceships) calling to her, telling her about the "plan", the "receptacle" and the future Vincent had chosen for himself. Monad feared about that future for being so cold, dark and unknown. As she flew higher, she was burnt into ashes in sunlight as in the legend of Icarus.
It's Vincent's Turn
Proxy One was not surprised that he chose a different path this time. Vincent Law was the shadow of Proxy One, and now the one that defeated Proxy One, and released himself from the curse of the Pulse of Awakening. He has become the liberation of the incomplete humans. This time Proxy One approved Vinent's choice of woman, the one to forsee for one (124C41) future, for she is now Vincent's reality. The sun is returning to the land and Proxy One and the other proxies will not survive. He passed on his own pendant to his heir Vincent and let himself burnt in sunlight, with the satisfaction knowing that the fact that Vincent lives on will be his revenge against the Creators. (Note: the confrontation between Proxy One and Vincent parallels with the confrontation between Vincent and Kazukisu.)
What is the Future Vincent has Chosen?
The sun is returning to earth. After thousands of years, the original humans (the Creators) are returning in their spaceships. Vincent will face this new reality with Real and other handful of survivors. Their battle against the Creators has just begun. This is the reality Monad feared about. The last scene showed Vincent standing in the midst of ruins of Romdeau. In the background, there were the Creator's advanced landing party spaceships. They do look a bit like Cyclon Raiders in the new Battlestar Galactica.
Vincent signs off "I am Ergo Proxy, the Agent of Death." holding his Proxy One pendant.
Hoody the Liar was Right All Along
All Hoody's lies tell the truth after all. Vincent is now the freedom fighter on board the Centzon fighting agains the Creators (old humans). The citizen are leaving the dome city to form a new commune, and there will be the final struggle. In episode one Vincent's old boss told Vincent to redeem himself, which he did after 23 episodes later.
Will There Be Ergo Proxy 2?
This sets out a nice premise for season 2. Perhaps it will be a more action orientated show, at least in theory. In reality, the producers of the show took a lot of risk. Some of them worked and some of them back fired (like the WOWOW misleading promotion campaign). They would probably lucky if they don't loose a lot of money. This is not the type of show to make if the primary objective is to make money. A lot of people suggested that they may consider OVA. These days OVA seems to be a dated concept, considering there are many ways to distribute a show, like TV, PPV channel, streaming video extra.
Fantasy Preview
If there is going to be an episode 24, this will be my fantasy preview:
Episode 24 - The Attack of the Creators/coming soon
Pino and the other resistance fighters head to Smile Land to enlist the support of Will B. Good to fight against the Creators... Vincent and Real heads to Ophelia dome to stock pile cans of beans.
FAQ
What messages did Proxy One give Vincent to tell him to wake up?
"Awakening" in Real's bathroom that leads him to travel with Real
The pendant marked "1" he left behind in Mosco - In the beginning, Vincent carried the pendant marked 13, Monad's pendant. This symbolises forgetting. Proxy One left him his own pendant marked "1", symbolising that he should face the reality and be "One". When Monad took Ergo from Proxy One, she left the pendant "1" behind. When Vincent decided to return, he returned Monad's pendant and received Proxy One 's pendant.
The message "Those who are divided must be one" - to be whole one, or to be the One, or to become Proxy One, to pick pendant "1", to carry on what he started
Did Proxy One influence Hoody? Hoody was like a father figure for Vincent for a time.
What are the descriptions of Proxy One back in Episode 15?
Likes to wear black - he wears dark red
Scarey looking eyes - they have the all seeing sacred eye
Young-looking outward appearance - gods don't age
Resistant to cold - gods are resistant to cold
Shy - All proxies live in solitude
Worries about Vincent - Vincent is his ticket for his revenge
Does not talk much - not much to talk about, no friends
Cries a lot - from all the pain and horror
Looks like Double Dealing - he deals with the Creators above and humans and proxies below
The sole winner - last one to die
Naked under the blue sky - he was naked in Episode 1 in his throne room with fake blue sky. Why?
What were questions during the last round of quiz in Episode 15?
All the answers from the last round of quiz are keywords regarding to the plot of the show from Episode 16 onwards.
What kind of god is Ra, which possesses the same sacred eyes as ours?
Sun - The return of the Sun to earth
What is Beethoven's 5th symphony commonly called?
Fate - Proxies' fate
Failure - Failed creation of proxies, the created failing the creators, the creators failing the created, and thus sons and fathers
Shizm - Vincent's Internal split
Evasion (Vincent's wrong answer) - What Vincent does all the time
Contract - his promise to others, to Real
Stand in Person - Monad, Another Real Mayer
Amnesia - What Vincent does best
Awakening - Obvious
Struggle/Battle - Real battle is about to begin with the Creators
Enjoyment - We guarantee you filler episodes
Understanding - How much work, how far do you have to go to understand? You have to do it yourself
Labyrinth - Daedalus' Labyrinth (Research Centre), Romdeau as Labyrinth, the Creator's plan as Labyrinth
What happened really to Vincent's memories? What was he doing before?
He didn't find out. But that was not the most important thing as it seemed to be.
What is ADW Project?
It's still not very clear. It could be a form of "predation", "pruning", that is to wipe out 90% of all the population genetically not viable to survive in the new world (unable to survive outside, unable to procreate). ADW stands for "Aus der Wickel" which is not quite correct German. Shouldn't it be "Aus dem Wickel" (compress?).
Why can't the story be told in a more straight forward simple linear way?
It may be possible, but will it be as effective and will it stick? It's a story about relationship between the created and the creators, parents and children, procreation vs predation. Proxy One could have told Vincent all he needed to know right from Episode One. The chances are it would make much sense to him at that point. It took 23 baffling episodes of seemingly random fillers, death of 90% of the population for Vincent to make the transition himself.
Before and After
The Winners
The Creators Before - Who?
The Creators After - We will see.
Vincent Law Before - Clumsy mechanic with a minor talent for sarcasm, looser
Vincent Law After - Part-time god, part-time resistance fighter, winner
Real Mayer Before - Bored stiff sheltered girl "Mou ii"
Real Mayer After - The one to forsee for one "Shinjiru!"
Pino Before - Cute "Mate, mate!"
Pino After - Even more cuter "Kore mo mitsuketekuretanda!"
Kristeva Before - Raul's Entourage
Kristeva After - Got a new job, probably with pay cut
The Loosers
Iggy Before - Real's Entourage
Iggy After - Died protecting Real from explosion
Raul Creed Before - Elite Citizen, Winner, "Utsukushii"
Raul Creed After - Failed humans to be discarded as looser, died falling onto broken glass, "Utsukushikunai"
Daedalus Yumeno Before - Obsessive Genius
Daedalus Yumeno After - Dead Obsessive Genius
Donov & the Stone Statures Before - Depressed
Donov & the Stone Statures After - Dead and depressed
Proxy One Before - Naked under the blue sky
Proxy One After - Toasted in Sunlight, but succeeded making Vincent a man
Monad Before - Ugly monster escaped from the lab
Monad After - Pretty with wings thanks to Daedalus, Died of Icarus Syndrome
Fate Unknown
Vincent's old boss - did he get out?
Real's old hikkikomori boss - probably dead, staying in his office till the end