Lain Iwakura

Lain Iwakura (岩倉 玲音 ) is the titular character of Serial Experiments Lain.

She is a sentient computer program designed to sever the barrier between the material world and the wired, introduced as a shy Japanese girl in middle school at the beginning of the series.

Story
After receiving an e-mail from Chisa Yomoda who had committed suicide, Lain discovers the virtual world of The Wired. Throughout the series, Lain is subjected to hallucinations by the Knights in order to make her lose her sense of self and attempt to find solace in the Wired, in order to fulfill the Knights' prophecy of the arrival of the goddess of the Wired.

Personality
Lain is quiet and doesn't talk much, which leads to her being a bit of a social outcast. She often hallucinates and sees things that aren’t real.

At one point she thinks steam is coming out of her hands, in an interview director Chiaki J. Konaka said that this means that she's mentally ill.

Alice
Alice is the first to attempt to help Lain socialise by taking her to a nightclub, and from this point always tries to protect and take care of her.

Chisa
Chisa went to the same school as Lain and both are in the same class level. After her suicide, Chisa sent mail to all her school including Lain. Lain responded to the mail and started to chat with Chisa about the Wired. This chat launched Lain's interest to the Wired. After the chat, Chisa appeared to Lain two times but disappeared each time before having a conversation with her.

Mika
At first, Mika seems to be judgmental and rude toward her younger sister, Lain. After a while Mika seems to care and show more interest and became obsessed, leading to her downfall of later on losing her sanity.

Trivia

 * She was designed to look like her Japanese voice actress Kaori Shimizu.