Patema

Patema comes from a world that is completely underground. It is an interweaving web of industrialization. In a world where nearly every building is producing black smoke, there are bound to be some environmental repercussions. The citizens are under constant threat of being exposed to hazardous fumes. Safety gear and protective masks are everyday attire. Some sections are even blocked off entirely to the general public for being too dangerous to enter.

Despite living in such a dangerous environment, Patema shows no fear or caution and is exploratory to a fault. She frequently enters the "danger zone" without telling anybody. Her risk-taker personality eventually puts her in harm's way. She has to fight off a mysterious man who hangs from the ceiling inside the danger zone. The altercation causes her to fall down a hole that resides in the danger zone's heart.

Her exploratory nature also carries over to her dreams. She has heard stories of the "other world" since she was a child and has always wanted to find and explore it, although forbidden by her society for what reason she does not know. She copes by drawing pictures of what she thinks the other world looks like.

Patema is a kind person, but she is skeptical of people when she first meets them. After she falls through the hole, she awakes in the alternate world of Aiga. Her dream has come true, but her perception of gravity is reversed. She immediately clings to a fence so she doesn't drift into the depths of the sky. The first person she encounters is Age, who she gets snippy with for not helping her immediately. Afterward, Age brings her inside a building so she can hang from the ceiling. Even though he has done nothing wrong, Patema starts to yell at Age and says she doesn't trust him.

However, once Patema warms up to somebody, she tends to be exceptionally attached to them. After Age explains to her that he does not intend to cause her any harm, she begins to trust him. Then, when Age has to leave to go to class, she cries for him not to leave her and to promise that he will return. These qualities of Patema culminate in a climactic scene halfway through the film where she risks her own life to push Age out of the line of a flying bullet. Patema also has a tendency to be a bit of a "princess," as Age refers to her. She complains to Age that the building she is staying in is claustrophobic. Age then responds by asking her if she needs to be pampered and have everything perfect. She quickly answers, "yes!"

In Aiga, Patema is looked down on by everyone except Age. The citizens of Aiga have a prejudice against "inverts." Security soldiers employed by Aiga's government find out the she is residing with Age. They then come to take her captive and imprison her.