Masami Eiri

Masami Eiri (英利 政美, Eiri Masami) is a character of the anime series Serial Experiments Lain where he plays as the main antagonist.

Personality
Masami believes that the only way for humans to evolve even further and develop even greater abilities is to absolve themselves of their physical and human limitations, and to live as virtual entities—or avatars—in the Wired for eternity.

Story
Masami is the key designer of Protocol 7 which evolved the Wired. While working for Tachibana General Laboratories, he illicitly included codes, his own memory, enabling him to control the whole protocol at will and embedded his own mind and will into the seventh protocol. Because of this, he was fired by Tachibana General Laboratories, and was found dead not long after.

Becoming a conscient entity in the Wired able to distribute information in it, he founded the Knights that would become his worshipers making him a God.

He claims to have been Lain's creator all along, explaining that she is a software in a physical form.

As the Wired started to merge with the real world, Masami has been able to manifest physically to Lain in the real world wanting her to complete the merge and abandon her physical body. He fails as Lain refuses to see him as a god and in result his new physical entity get distorted. He became an abominable floating creature sprouting a prehensile tongue and bizarre fleshy growths all about his misshapen body. Lain then killed him by smashing him by telekinetically throwing all of her hardware and equipment at him.

When Lain reboots the reality, we see Masami one last time grumbling on his way to work for Tachibana, idly threatening to quit. He has a very normal and formal appearance.

Etymology

 * The name Masami means "government" (政) (masa) and "beautiful" (美) (mi).
 * Masami's surname Eiri means "excellent, fine" (英) (ei) and "benefit, advantage" (利) (ri).