Our Mikado is a powerful, self-serving, narcissistic Imperial autocrat. He has the loyalty of all the Legacy Humans, who are dependent on him for the biotech upgrades that have prolonged their lives. He cares for very little outside his own ego and enjoys all the trappings of his status, including his power over others.

He has banned unauthorised interaction (flirting) to enable him to maintain control over the remaining pure human DNA. His long time AI general, Katisha, a rogue unit who has upgraded herself so many times she is slightly insane, has designs on the Imperial dynasty and wants to marry Nanki-Poo so as to incorporate his DNA into her latest upgrade. She holds certain incriminating files on The Mikado that could potentially damage him. 

Our Mikado is a powerful, self-serving, narcissistic Imperial autocrat with a dodgy past. His long-time AI general, Katisha, has helped him consolidate his power over the centuries. She knows all his dirty secrets and holds certain incriminating files that could potentially damage him. 

Corrupted by the Mikado’s influence and her own degraded circuits, Katisha has gone rogue, upgrading herself so many times she is now slightly insane and quite menacing. She has glitches that require her to be rebooted occasionally. She wants to become human and she has designs on the Imperial dynasty, so wants to marry Nanki-Poo, to incorporate his DNA into her latest upgrade. 

In her desire to become human, she explores human notions of love, beauty and attractiveness, but in a very distorted way.

Ko-Ko is a morally flexible individual with his fingers in many pies. As well as being a sometime hacker who manipulates code for his own ends, he has also made a name for himself as a celebrity agent, managing clients and their media feeds. Three of his clients are Yum-Yum, Pitti-Sing and Peep-Bo who have been secluded in the Biosphere Sanctuary, protected and valuable because of their pure human DNA. 

Yum Yum accepted his marriage proposal as he promised a wedding would increase her followers exponentially. Unfortunately, Ko-Ko fell foul of the Mikado by attempting to hack into the Imperial channel to promote his clients’ interests. He was subsequently imprisoned in the server jail until selected to become the Lord High Executioner, a job for which he is far too squeamish to be suited for. 

He is not an evil person, just a rather superficial and self-serving one. His marriage to Katisha will not only save the situation for everyone at the end, but may also lead to greater things for him within the Empire. 

Pooh-Bah is the ultimate officious and corrupt bureaucrat. He is a state of the art AI who can trace his initial coding back to the early days of AI on Earth, a fact of which he is very proud. Over the centuries, as the Empire expanded and got rid of politicians and independent governance, the civil service duties of the state were automated and gradually subsumed into one AI unit.

Although Pooh-Bah doesn’t have ambitions to challenge the Mikado for leadership, he does enjoy the power of the bureaucrat and control over the minutiae of protocol, process and pedantry. Along with the salaries of all the offices he has assumed, he is also open to bribery. The accumulation of wealth is important to him as it allows him to purchase expensive upgrades, plus he likes to see the numbers in his bank account multiplying.

Although he isn’t human, his long contact with humans has led to him developing some human traits:  in particular, a sense of his own importance and an enjoyment of playing games with those around him as he out-manoeuvres and bewilders them with his ability to move between often-contradictory roles.

Pish-Tush is one of the legacy Humans from old Earth and as such, a member of the aristocracy. He is a smooth political survivor, and a bit of a pompous know-it-all.

Pish-Tush serves as an exposition-delivery system of the plot. He is pragmatic, slightly cynical, and deeply invested in maintaining the status quo (and his own position). He takes great pleasure in explaining the absurd complexities of the law to others.

He must have excellent vocal clarity and diction while singing (he drives the plot early on), a strong comic sense of self-importance, and a solid baritone voice. He needs to exude an air of unearned authority.

Nanki-Poo is the son of the Mikado, but as his father has been ruling the Empire for several centuries now, he feels it unlikely that the succession is going to be anytime soon. So he has lived a life of careless pleasure, doing no harm, but not doing any great good either. He can play music, create art, race star ships and write poetry as well as any 19th century dilettante. 

When his father made a deal with Katisha that his son would marry her and incorporate his DNA into her circuitry to create a dynasty of humanoid AI, he fled in horror, disguising himself as a wandering minstrel and travelling the galaxies. He came across Yum-Yum’s media feed and came to Titipu to see her for himself, but as she was sequestered in the Sanctuary, they only saw each other through the transparent dome - but managed to fall in love anyway. He left to write sonnets of unrequited love to her until hearing that Ko-Ko, her betrothed, was deleted. He has returned only to discover she is going to marry Ko-Ko.

His is well-meaning and personable man, a bit of an air-head, who has suffered from being over-indulged as the Mikado’s heir and a man without a real purpose. 

Yum-Yum has led a sheltered life of luxury and indulgence. As one of the few humans in the galaxy with uncorrupted DNA, she has been guarded and protected in the biosphere sanctuary, Safe Zone Zee. She has celebrity status just by being one of the last pure humans and her media feeds are followed by millions across the galaxy. 

Ko-Ko has been her manager and agent, and their wedding was to have been streamed live to all her followers as the big event of the age, generating significant advertising revenue.

Given the nature of her life and celebrity, it is perhaps not surprising that she is rather self-centred and superficial, used to seeing herself as beautiful and intrinsically important. Her feelings for Nanki-Poo are genuine, but not very deep as she isn’t capable of any grand passion. He is handsome and romantic, more so than Ko-Ko, and she would quite like to be married to him but will fall at the first obstacle.

Like Yum-Yum, Pitti-Sing has led a sheltered life of luxury and indulgence. As one of the few humans in the galaxy with uncorrupted DNA, she has been guarded and protected in the biosphere sanctuary, Safe Zone Zee. Unlike the more self-absorbed Yum-Yum however, Pitti-Sing is cheeky, expressive and defiant. 

Pitti-Sing is the most forward, sharp-witted, and worldly of Yum-Yum’s companions. She is fiercely loyal to her friends but possesses a mischievous streak and isn't afraid to speak her mind or flirt to get out of a tight spot. She often takes centre stage during the comedic crises, adding a layer of bold irony to the trio.

Pitti-SIng needs to have high energy, sharp comedic timing and great facial expressiveness along with a strong mezzo-soprano voice and the ability to command the stage during her brief but vital solo moments (like in "The Criminal Cried").

Like Yum-Yum, Peep-Bo has led a sheltered life of luxury and indulgence. As one of the few humans in the galaxy with uncorrupted DNA, she has been guarded and protected in the biosphere sanctuary, Safe Zone Zee. Although as valuable as the others, she is more sweet, slightly timorous and an enthusiastic follower.

Peep-Bo completes the "Three Little Maids" trio. While she shares in the girlish giggles and youthful energy, she is the most innocent, naive and easily startled of the three. She provides a comedic contrast to Pitti-Sing’s boldness and Yum-Yum’s romantic focus, often reacting with wide-eyed wonder or panic to the unfolding drama.

Peep-Bo needs good ensemble chemistry and physical comedy skills. She needs to blend beautifully in harmonies and maintain a bright, distinct character presence even when she doesn't have the main dialogue.