Miyo Takano, originally named Tanashi Miyoko, works as a nurse at the Irie Clinic in Hinamizawa. Her parents died in a childhood train accident, leading to placement in an abusive orphanage. After a failed escape attempt where she witnessed a friend's murder and suffered severe mistreatment, she contacted her father's former professor, Takano Hifumi, who adopted her. Inspired by his name meaning "1-2-3," she adopted the name "Miyo" ("3-4"). He introduced her to his research on Hinamizawa Syndrome and shared his belief that achieving historical recognition could grant godhood, comparing it to Jesus's resurrection through enduring teachings. This concept profoundly shaped Miyo, who vowed to validate his work after his death, seeking to become a goddess alongside him. She received support from Koizumi, Hifumi's former friend who had betrayed him under government pressure. Koizumi provided financial and political backing, enabling her to establish a covert government research group under the Irie Clinic. She commanded an elite counterintelligence unit called the Yamainu, who executed operations related to her goals. Her research focused on proving Hinamizawa Syndrome's existence, particularly the "Queen Carrier" theory involving Furude Rika. To validate this, she orchestrated events triggering the Great Hinamizawa Disaster, requiring Rika's elimination and inducing mass village paranoia. She frequently faked her death during the Watanagashi Festival by planting a stolen corpse, allowing her to operate undetected. Her personality blends calculated menace with unexpected childlike traits. While posing as a friendly nurse, she manipulated villagers by sharing tailored, contradictory occult theories: telling Hōjō Satoko about Oyashiro-sama's oceanic origins, providing Ryūgū Rena with parasite-based conspiracy theories, and fueling Sonozaki Shion's family distrust. She often spoke condescendingly, irritating characters like Maebara Keiichi and Rika. Conversely, she exhibited gleeful enthusiasm when granted access to the Saiguden ritual storehouse, spinning joyfully and offering to wear cat accessories in exchange for entry. Later, colleagues witnessed her meowing and hopping while reviewing photos of torture devices. In *Minagoroshi-hen*, she initially aided Rika by assigning Yamainu bodyguards but later refused to intervene in Hōjō Satoko's abuse due to police scrutiny. Her ultimate fate diverges. In the original *Kai* conclusion, after failing to trigger the disaster, she was ordered to commit suicide and assume blame for the conspiracies. Hanyū offered her godhood for ending her life, but she refused. An alternate resolution occurred in *Saikoroshi-hen*, where an adult Rika (as Frederica Bernkastel) visited Miyo's childhood self on the day of her parents' deaths. Presented with a choice to "live" or "die" (the latter metaphorically linked to joining her parents for a "Child's Meal"), Miyoko chose "death," unknowingly averting the train accident. This erased her traumatic path, preventing her transformation into Takano Miyo. In *Higurashi Gou* and *Sotsu*, altered timelines show her escaping Hinamizawa with Tomitake Jirō after stealing a festival van. She later apologized to Rika for her planned actions, claiming she revealed her intentions to prevent them. She attributed her escape to becoming a witness for subsequent investigations, acknowledging her behavior as uncharacteristic but necessary. Additionally, she appears in the light novel *Kaidan to Odorō, Soshite Anata wa Kaidan de Odoru*, set in the *Saikoroshi-hen* timeline where her parents survived. Retaining her birth name Tanashi Miyoko, she is depicted as a quiet high school student with long black hair and a melancholic demeanor. Her signature laugh and unsettling speech patterns persist, though her childish traits are absent. She is socially isolated, with few acquaintances including a boy named Tom.