They are the child unwillingly summoned into an unfamiliar dying World and tasked with saving it by returning the sun to the Tower at its core. To succeed and return home Niko requires help and companionship of the world's God, the player. Niko's actions are influenced by the player even when they do not realize it. Niko is a child with blue hair with three "whiskers" jutting out from the sides, large yellow catlike eyes, and tan skin/fur. They wear a brown overcoat extending over their arms, a long light blue scarf, a brown hat with catlike ears, and grayish-purple bottoms that appear to be leggings. Due to having many features and similarities to a cat, other characters often confuse Niko for one, which they consistently and repeatedly deny. Niko is a very kind and caring kid. Being the messiah that the prophecy had foretold, they become determined to reach the Tower and bring the sun back to it in order to save the World, even despite various other people stating that the sun won't stop the World from dying. Niko is also helpful, which is shown when they repair the Rowbot at the dock in the Barrens, and volunteer to find Alula and return her to Calamus in the Glen. Upon reaching the Refuge, they begin to express indecisiveness, as seen where they have trouble choosing whether to bring back the World's sun but lose their only chance to return home, or to shatter the lightbulb, destroying the World instantly and have them return home. Niko also tends to be curious. They often turn to the Player to ask questions, most of them regarding information about the Player. Niko has a hidden tendency to do arson hinted at in the Remake when interacting with a jar of alcohol in the Glen Village if Alula is following. It's not really explored in-game or is important to the story. It has started during development with an inside joke and concept art about Niko burning down the locked starting house basement door with a Molotov cocktail to unlock it. In the Remake Niko mentions they are afraid of ladders whenever they examine one. During the development Niko climbing ladders mechanic was worked on but ultimately cancelled likely due to Niko realistically being unable to climb with the sun in hands. Before being summoned into the World by unknown means, Niko lived on their home world, a world similar to Earth in most aspects (but not Earth) and a place where cat-people like Niko are a commonplace. Niko lived in a small village, with around fifty residents. The village is surrounded by a wheat field, which appears as the setting in most of Niko's dreams. The tallest buildings, like an assembly hall/clock tower, are only two stories tall. There is a well in the middle of the village. Niko's village is a tight-knit community where people help each other and share things. Niko's oversized coat was likely previously used by an older kid who doesn't need it anymore. There are also a few regular non-human cats to protect the village from vermin. Niko lived with their mother. Because of their mom, Niko's second favorite food is pancakes and their favorite food is the pancakes made by her, who grinds hazelnuts into the batter. Niko haven’t seen enough of their father to mention him. They also like waffles, french toasts, regular toasts, biscuits, hash browns, sausage patties, scrambled eggs, and "anything you can put syrup on".