Aida lives near the slums in TaiPing-Lin with her younger brother, Matt. Abandoned by their single mother when they were young, Aida grew up to be very self-sufficient and resourceful. She works in the Purple Blossom Court, a high-class Chinese nightclub, as a waitress and puts bread on the table while struggling to keep her attendance satisfactory in a public school. Aida's sole purpose in life is to put Matt through college so he can make a good life for himself. She harps and nags him incessantly, threatening him with emotional blackmail. Other than that, she has no life and friends, except for a few casual acquaintances.

Jemima Lai is the embarassingly rude girl who is in possession of Naomi Miller's Gorge Fusion fighter, Dusteena Sleigh. She is exceptionally gifted at picking fights with people twice her size and offending everyone within shouting distance. The only person Jem is nice to is Matt, mainly because of their common love-hate relationship with high-tech games. She is also notoriously indecent, always strutting around the house nonchalantly in her underwear, chain-smoking. She often appears troubled and depressed, emotionally-unbalanced and quick to anger. For some reason, Jemima's hands are always in gloves, or bandages.

Matt studies in an expensive private school, with Aida paying the tuition bills through her nose. He is intelligent but lazy, addicted to a creature-rearing game called HoloWarriors. Matt is often more willing to hang out at the Harlot with kids much younger than himself, than to pick up a book. He understands and feels guilty for causing his sister's money struggles but he cannot help but blame her for his unhappiness and stress. At the same time, Matt remains very emotionally attached to Aida, just as she is to him. Like any adolescent boy, he is easily embarrased by any display of affection. He is the only person who could bond with Jemima in the very beginning.

San cleans toilets and is the unofficial bouncer in an arcade called the Harlot. Blessed with a ridiculous amount of good looks, he is constantly badgered by girls. Unfortunately for his admirers, San is strangely unaffected by female attention and is known to be excessively sarcastic and rude when it comes to interacting with the opposite sex. His closest buds are Azman and Rudi the mongrel. San also rides a girly second-hand bike, plays Gorge Fusion with a fighter named Basil White and is handy with arcade electronics. Despite his lowly position in the arcade, San works diligently, constantly needing to prove himself.

Azman and San share a colourful history of getting into fights and run-ins with the law in their teens. Azman ends up as the bookie for the Harlot, taking bets for all arcade-held tournies and events. Unlike San, he loves girls, has quite a reputation as a lech and worries a lot about San's sexuality. He also holds more wins in their weekly Chinese Chess matches where they play for beers and (imaginary) girls. When he's not busy with Andrea, Azman is either itching for a fight or counting his commissions from bets. He tries very hard to be good, but it's undeniable that he has all the makings of a gangboy.

Andrea is Azman's most serious girlfriend to date. She has big hair and a big chest, and is manipulative, sly and slutty to boot. Seems that she has also set her sights on San, and is boldly pursuing him behind Azman's back. Is there anything good underneath all the bitchiness? What's Azman to her? God knows.

Madame Kwan is the cheongsam-garbed manager of the Harlot, a large arcade located near the outskirts of town. She is one of the Gorge Fusion Champions of the arcade, but usually does not fight in tournaments. Her Gorge Fusion fighter, Qie Foong, is a fighter imported from the obsolete and older version of GF, not unlike Dusty. Kwan is one of the best fighters in the story but she participates only in matches when formally challenged. She is revered, yet despised, and is known as 'That Cold Bitch'. Kwan harbours a great dislike for San.

Elijah Youn is one of the Harlot Seniors and Kwan's right hand man. He has a Gorge Fusion fighter, Rezzo. Elijah has had several brush-ins with the TaiPing-Lin as an ex-member who abandoned his gang to seek protection under Madame Kwan. He unofficially leads the Harlot GF Champions, which also consists of Louie and Lazul. The fastest way to piss off Elijah is by messing with his cap or insulting Madame Kwan in front of him.