Nemesis Cast and Characters Guide: Every Crew Member & Alien Explained

This Nemesis cast and characters guide breaks down every playable crew member and alien you'll encounter aboard the doomed ship. Since Nemesis is a board game, the "cast" refers to the six core crew members, five expansion characters, and the hostile Intruder species—not voice actors. Each character offers a unique strategic approach to surviving the ship's horrors while pursuing secret, often conflicting, objectives.

Your choice of character is the first critical decision you'll make. It dictates your starting equipment, your unique skills, and your general aptitude for the tasks ahead, whether that's fighting aliens, repairing the ship, or manipulating your fellow survivors. Understanding each role's strengths and weaknesses is the key to achieving your objective and making it out alive.

01

The Core Crew of the Nemesistag

The base game of Nemesis includes six distinct characters, each representing a classic sci-fi archetype. When setting up, players are typically dealt two random character cards and must choose one, locking the other away for that game. This choice is best informed by the two secret objective cards you've also been dealt (one Corporate, one Personal), as some characters are far better suited to certain tasks than others.

The Soldiertag

• Role: Combat Specialist
• Starting Item: Assault Rifle
• Unique Skills: The Soldier excels at fighting Intruders. His action cards like Full Auto allow him to unload his entire clip for massive damage, while Nerves of Steel lets him ignore a Surprise Attack.
• Strategic Notes: The Soldier is the best pure combatant. If your objective involves killing Intruders or you anticipate a violent playthrough, he's a top-tier choice. However, he has very little utility for technical tasks like repairs or computer actions, making him reliant on others for objective-based play that doesn't involve shooting.

The Scientisttag

• Role: Analyst & Researcher
• Starting Item: Pistol (and a lot of hope)
• Unique Skills: The Scientist's strength lies in knowledge. Her cards often interact with the Laboratory or computers, making it easier to analyze Intruder weaknesses or check ship coordinates.
• Strategic Notes: The Scientist is purpose-built for completing research objectives. She is arguably the weakest character in a direct fight, with a poor starting weapon and few combat cards. A Scientist player must rely on stealth, careful planning, and the protection of other crew members to survive long enough to use her powerful analytical skills.

The Scouttag

• Role: Stealth & Exploration
• Starting Item: Pistol
• Unique Skills: The Scout is a master of movement. Her Reconnaissance card lets her move without making a Noise roll, a huge advantage. Scavenging allows her to search rooms that have already been depleted of items, making her incredibly resourceful.
• Strategic Notes: The Scout is the ultimate lone wolf. Her ability to move quietly and find extra items makes her exceptionally good at completing objectives that require traversing the ship, such as reaching the Engine Rooms or Cockpit. She can handle herself in a fight but truly shines when avoiding them altogether.

The Pilottag

• Role: Ship Systems Expert
• Starting Item: Shotgun
• Unique Skills: The Pilot is unparalleled at controlling the ship itself. Her cards give her unique advantages when in the Cockpit, allowing her to easily check the ship's destination and engine status.
• Strategic Notes: If your objective is to get the ship to Earth, pick the Pilot. Her knowledge of the ship's systems is critical for ensuring you don't accidentally fly to a fiery death. While not as combat-focused as the Soldier, her Shotgun is respectable in a pinch, but her true value is at the ship's helm.

The Captaintag

• Role: Leader & Support
• Starting Item: Revolver
• Unique Skills: The Captain influences other players. His Authority card can force another character to move, which can be used to help an ally or push a rival into danger. His Revolver is powerful, and a special trait lets him keep shooting if he hits.
• Strategic Notes: The Captain thrives in games with high player counts and social deduction. His ability to manipulate the crew is a powerful political tool. However, his Revolver can only be reloaded with a specific action card, making it a finite resource if you don't cycle your deck efficiently.

The Mechanictag

• Role: Repair & Sabotage
• Starting Item: Pistol
• Unique Skills: The Mechanic is the ship's handyman. He excels at repairing broken engines and removing Malfunction markers. He is also the only character who can use the Technical Corridors (vents) to move around the ship unseen.
• Strategic Notes: The Mechanic is the key to keeping the ship from falling apart. His repair skills are essential for fixing the engines—a common objective. His ability to navigate the vents makes him surprisingly mobile and excellent at getting to critical locations without generating Noise.

02

Understanding the Intruder Threattag

The alien antagonists, known as Intruders, are not a monolithic force. They have a life cycle, and the threat you face depends on which stage of that cycle you encounter. Killing them is difficult, and each successful hit requires drawing an Injury card to see if the damage was enough to take it down.

• Eggs: Found in the Nest. Harmless on their own, but destroying them is often a key objective. If left alone, they can hatch.
• Larva: The weakest form. They have only one health and are easy to kill, but their attack can implant an embryo in your character, leading to a very bad end if not treated in the Surgery Room.
• Creeper: A more developed form that is much tougher than a Larva. They are stealthy and can be surprisingly deadly.
• Adult: The most common form of Intruder you'll encounter. They are tough, dangerous, and have a variety of brutal attacks. There are eight Adult miniatures in the core game.
• Breeder: A larger, more formidable Intruder. When determining their health, you draw two Injury cards instead of one, making them significantly harder to kill.
• Queen: The apex predator. The Queen is the single most dangerous enemy in the game, with immense health and devastating attacks. Encountering her is often a death sentence without serious preparation and firepower.

03

Who Are the Expansion Characters?tag

Several expansions add new characters to the roster, offering new strategic possibilities. The Aftermath expansion is the most significant, adding five new roles that can be swapped with their core-box counterparts of the same color (e.g., the CEO can replace the Captain).

• The CEO (Blue): A corporate bigwig who starts the game knowing one of the other players' Corporate objectives. He fights using a support robot and is focused on manipulation and information control.
• The Android (Green): A synthetic being who cannot be infected by Larvae. The Android is forced to pursue a Corporate objective and has unique rules for healing, relying on Self-Repair instead of medical items.
• The Psychologist (White): A support character who can manipulate the mental state of the crew, helping them draw cards or forcing them to perform actions with her Would You Kindly card.
• The Bounty Hunter (Purple): A lone operator who comes with a canine companion, Leica. The dog can be sent to adjacent rooms to explore or search, providing a massive utility advantage.
• The Convict (Red): A tough brawler who excels at melee combat. He starts with one hand in cuffs and must find a key to unlock his full potential. His abilities focus on aggressive, close-quarters action.

04

What Are Corporate Objectives?tag

Your character is more than just a set of skills; they are a person with a secret agenda. At the start of the game, each player receives two Objective cards: one Personal and one Corporate. When the first Intruder appears on the board, every player must secretly choose one of these two objectives to keep and discard the other. This is a defining moment of the game.

• Personal Objectives are typically aligned with survival and straightforward cooperation. Examples include "Get the ship to Earth" or "Ensure Character X survives." These goals encourage teamwork.
• Corporate Objectives are often selfish, dangerous, and treacherous. They might require you to ensure another player dies ("Eliminate Player 4"), destroy the ship ("Destroy the Nest" and escape), or be the sole survivor. These goals are the source of the game's paranoia and backstabbing.

The tension between not knowing who is a friend and who is a foe is the heart of Nemesis. A player seemingly helping you repair an engine might be secretly planning to lock you in the room with an Intruder to satisfy their "Sole Survivor" objective. You must always watch what other players are doing, not just what they're saying.

05

Frequently Asked Questionstag

Who is the best character in Nemesis?tag

There's no single "best" character, as it depends heavily on your objective and playstyle. However, for pure survivability and combat effectiveness, the Soldier is often considered the most straightforward and powerful. For objective completion and stealth, the Scout is a top-tier choice due to her superior mobility and resourcefulness.

Are there voice actors in the Nemesis board game?tag

No. Nemesis is a tabletop board game, not a video game. The term "cast" refers to the playable characters represented by miniatures and character boards. There are no spoken lines or voice actors involved.

How many characters are in the Nemesis core box?tag

There are six playable characters in the core box: the Soldier, Scientist, Scout, Pilot, Captain, and Mechanic.

What's the difference between Personal and Corporate objectives?tag

Personal objectives usually promote survival and cooperation (e.g., get the ship to Earth). Corporate objectives are often selfish and may require you to betray other players, sabotage the ship, or ensure another character dies to win.

06

Final Transmissiontag

Choosing a character in Nemesis is about more than picking a miniature; it's about choosing your story. Will you be the heroic Soldier, clearing a path for your crew? The paranoid Scout, sticking to the shadows? Or the treacherous CEO, willing to sacrifice everyone for the company's bottom line? The genius of the game lies in how these roles collide. No two sessions are the same because the human element—the hidden agendas, the fragile alliances, and the inevitable betrayals—is the most dangerous monster on the ship.