Innocent characters are defined as bystanders that are not necessarily involved in the game's objective. The uninvolved characters must be visibly vulnerable to the attacks by either being permanently injured or killed. If the game actively encourages the killing of defenseless characters, this aspect must always be confirmed with "Yes." This also includes any mass killings of innocent characters, such as where groups of characters are killed or injured at random for no apparent reason and deals with themes such as the killing of pedestrians on the street, shoppers in a shopping arcade, or children in a school.
These actions occur "without consequences" when the perpetrator is able to commit them without penalty or drawback. These actions occur "with consequences" when something negative occurs to the perpetrator (e.g., the game restarts after shooting a civilian, police arrest a character after the character drives through and kills a crowd of bystanders).
Video examples