A pact (契約 keiyaku) is the partnership between two Players during the Reapers' Game in The World Ends with You. It is a vital part of the rule set for Shibuya's Reapers' Game. To form a pact, players can either agree to accept it verbally, as well as hold each other's hands, and they will become partners in the Reapers' Game.
Symbolized by the Puck in battles, the pact is not simply an agreement; it is a binding force between two Players, and its benefits are vital to their survival in the Game. These benefits include the ability to activate psychs and the prevention of unwanted battles with Noise (except those set upon them by Reapers and Taboo Noise). A Player whose partner is erased has seven minutes to make a new pact before being erased him or herself. As any nearby Player will probably already have a partner, erasure is almost certain.
Harrier Reapers may form a pact with another Harrier, and a Puck will travel between them in battle, but often, they will fight alone, presumably making a "pact" with their own shadow, hence why they are not consumed by regular noise and granting them a shadow doppelganger to help them fight.
Story[]
Neku has 3 possible partners: Shiki, Joshua or Beat (depending on the week).
Pacts can also be formed with certain objects, such as Beat with Rhyme's pin.
Additionally, Harrier Reapers may also form pacts with unpartnered Players, as Beat did with Neku. Previously when Beat was a Player, he was also able to form a pact with Rhyme's pin which housed her Soul after her erasure. This is uncommon for Players to do.
A pact is required to activate any psych abilities and protect the Players from unwanted Noise encounters. Without a pact, Neku cannot deal any damage and his only option is to escape from battle. The only exception is Draco Cantus, where Neku fights alone. Upon dealing enough damage, the player can 'reform' a pact with a released partner, giving him a Light Puck. Upon releasing all 3 partners, Neku forms a 4-person (five-person if Rhyme is counted) pact, allowing him to unleash a powerful attack reminiscent of the Reaper Symbol.
Trivia[]
- No indication is made in-game about the exact requirements for pact formation. However, when Neku formed pacts with Shiki and Beat, both Players explicitly stated that they wished to engage in a pact on Day 1 of their respective games. Neku's pact with Joshua, however, breaks this convention; Neku is surprised by the formation of a pact and offered no consent.
- Two of the non-canon adaptations of the original game have further defined how pacts are formed:
- In the manga adaption of the original game, a pact between Players is said to be established by holding hands (as Neku and Shiki did in the first chapter of the manga).
- The validity of this is debatable as other kinds of pact (with pins/objects, with own's shadow, etc.) are certainly not viable through holding hands- such as how Beat made a pact with Rhyme's pin.
- In The Animation, pacts can be performed through two players having any sort of physical interaction like holding hands or grabbing another's shoulder for several seconds.
- In the manga adaption of the original game, a pact between Players is said to be established by holding hands (as Neku and Shiki did in the first chapter of the manga).
- Pacts are not a feature in the rule set for Shinjuku's Reapers' Game. As such, the concept of pacts are removed in NEO: The World Ends with You in favor of a team system where members join via the Reaper Networking Service.