Prisoner 849

Prisoner 849 is the otherwise unnamed human heroine of Unreal. It is assumed that her first name is Gina due to the name of the default character model of Unreal. In both Unreal and Return to Na Pali, though, the player is able to choose a character other than the default. In Unreal, changing the character only affects the character seen when the player dies and some sounds, while in Return to Na Pali, the intermission voice changes according to the character's gender. It is unknown to what extent that game has been accepted into Unreal canon, however the default male character's name in Return to Na Pali is Carter.

Background
It is never revealed why Prisoner 849 is under incarceration. The game's background story reveals her actions on board the ship before the actual events of Unreal, up to when she wakes up in her cell from the collision of the UMS Vortex Rikers on Na Pali. This is where the actual game starts.

After the events of Unreal, which lead up to Prisoner 849 killing the Skaarj Queen, she manages to escape and is picked up by the UMS Bodega Bay, and then re-sent down to the surface to attempt to recover Data Cores from the UMS Prometheus in Operation Talon Hunter. When she succeeds, she learns moments before being attacked that she is to be executed, an attempt which she narrowly avoids. When she attempts to escape several days later, the Bodega Bay fires on her craft, which dodges the missile, and it hits the Bodega Bay, causing its own self-destruction.

After the events of Return to Na Pali, Prisoner 849's location is unknown. It is presumed she is drifting in space. No further information has been heard of her or relating to her since.

In a cinematic in Unreal Championship 2, one of the Skaarj explains that they attacked Humans, starting the Human-Skaarj War. The interview explains that while the Skaarj have no particular grudge against humans, the killing of the Skaarj Queen maintains a healthy antagonism toward humans on the Skaarj's part. In Unreal Tournament 2004, the cinematics of the assault level AS-Mothership also reveal that the events of Unreal are the cause of the Human-Skaarj war: "First contact with the Skaarj came during the recovery of the prison transporter Vortex Rikers on Na Pali."

- AS-Mothership cinematic

The effects of the Queen's death on Na Pali are never really made clear. The implication by way of Nali writings was that a Messiah would descend from the stars and defeat the Sky Demons, or Skaarj, that had taken over the planet. However, as of Unreal Championship 2, which takes place well into the Tournament time frame, the Nali appear to still be subjugated by the Skaarj. In Return to Na Pali, Prisoner 849 presumes that another Skaarj Mothership landed on Na Pali after the Queen's death: "After a leap of faith, I'm pausing to record a log entry. I'm still shaken after running into the Skaarj and their filthy minions. I guess I thought I'd seen the last of them when I killed the Skaarj Queen on the MotherShip - it seems like an eternity ago. Is there another colony nearby? Where are they coming from? This is like a recurring nightmare!"

- Log of Prisoner 849

Given the penchant Unreal games have of possessing, at best, bitter-sweet endings, it is not entirely unlikely that the Nali were simply overly hopeful in regards to the effect that Prisoner 849's actions would have on the Skaarj occupation of their planet.