History Characters / Akira

* TheHero: The closest thing the manga version of the story has to one. [[spoiler:It is her, not Kaneda or anybody else, who acts as the conduit of the psychic children to fight against Tetsuo. Her own journey reflects this, growing kinder and wiser for it. She succeeds in saving what's left of Neo-Tokyo and the world by merging the explosions of both Akira and Tetsuo with the aid of Lady Miyako to wipe out the threat of psychic powers once and for all.]]

!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/NozomuSasaki (JP), [[VideoGame/LeisureSuitLarry Jan Rabson]] (EN, Streamline dub), Joshua Seth (EN, Animaze dub)[[labelnote:Other Languages]]Genaro Vásquez (LA, first dub), Creator/BenjaminRivera (LA, second dub), Creator/AlbertTrifolSegarra (SP, first and third dubs), Carlos Lladó (SP, second dub), Alexandre Gillet (FR, first and second dub) [[/labelnote]]

* SocialDarwinist: What they are as a society. They have a big "only the strong will survive" mentality. Tetsuo takes weak psychics and gives them one of the pills. If they survive, he inducts them into his bodyguards (not that he needs bodyguards most of the time).

!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/TetsushoGenda (JP)[[labelnote:Other Languages]]Creator/GilbertLevy (FR, first and second dub) [[/labelnote]]

* DisappearedDad: He IS one (assuming his ex and unborn child survived the events of the manga, which is hardly a guarantee).
* {{Expy}}: He is named after and physically based off of the main character of ''[[Anime/{{Gigantor}} Tetsujin 28-go]]'', though their personalities are nothing alike.

!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/MamiKoyama (JP), Lara Cody (EN, Streamline dub), Creator/WendeeLee (EN, Animaze dub)[[labelnote:Other Languages]]Creator/MonicaManjarrez (LA, first dub), Laura Ayala (LA, second dub), Mercedes Diemand-Hartz (SP, first dub), Creator/CarmenAmbros (SP, second dub), Esther Solans (SP, third dub), Barbara Tissier (FR, first and second dub) [[/labelnote]]

!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/TetsushoGenda (JP)[[labelnote:Other Languages]]Gilbert Lévy (FR, first and second dub) [[/labelnote]]

!!!'''Voiced by:''' Tatsuhiko Nakamura (JP), Creator/BarbaraGoodson (EN, Streamline dub), Cody [=MacKenzie=] (EN, Animaze dub)[[labelnote:Other Languages]]Creator/VictorUgarte (LA, first dub), Kalimba Marichal (LA, second dub), Alberto Trifol (SP, first dub), Olga Supervía (SP, second dub), unknown (SP, third dub) Reygine Tessot (FR, first and second dub) [[/labelnote]]

!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/MitsuoIwata (JP), Creator/CamClarke (EN, Streamline dub), Creator/JohnnyYongBosch (EN, Animaze dub), Creator/IrwinDaayan (LA, first and second dubs), Sergio Zamora (SP, first dub), Nacho de Porrata (SP, second dub), Ángel de Gracia (SP, third dub), Mathias Kozlowski (FR, first and second dub)

!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/NozomuSasaki (JP), [[VideoGame/LeisureSuitLarry Jan Rabson]] (EN, Streamline dub), Joshua Seth (EN, Animaze dub), Genaro Vásquez (LA, first dub), Creator/BenjaminRivera (LA, second dub), Creator/AlbertTrifolSegarra (SP, first and third dubs), Carlos Lladó (SP, second dub), Alexandre Gillet (FR, first and second dub)

!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/TakeshiKusao (JP), Creator/BobBergen (EN, Streamline dub), Anthony Pulcini (EN, Animaze dub), Creator/GabrielRamos (LA, first dub), Creator/RicardoMendoza (LA, second dub), José Luis Mediavilla (SP, first dub), Álex de Porrata (SP, second dub), Pablo Sevilla (SP, third dub), Creator/PierreTessier (FR, first and second dub)

!!!'''Voiced by:''' Masaaki Ōkura (JP), Tony Mozdy (EN, Streamline dub), Creator/MichaelLindsay (EN, Animaze dub), Creator/LuisDanielRamirez (LA, first dub), Emmanuel Rivas (LA, second dub), Ángel de Gracia (SP, first dub), Marc Zanni (SP, second dub), Aleix Estadella (SP, third dub), Rodolphe Schacher (FR, first dub), Hervé Grull (FR, second dub)

!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/MamiKoyama (JP), Lara Cody (EN, Streamline dub), Creator/WendeeLee (EN, Animaze dub), Creator/MonicaManjarrez (LA, first dub), Laura Ayala (LA, second dub), Mercedes Diemand-Hartz (SP, first dub), Creator/CarmenAmbros (SP, second dub), Esther Solans (SP, third dub), Barbara Tissier (FR, first and second dub)

!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/TetsushoGenda (JP), Gilbert Lévy (FR, first and second dub)

!!!'''Voiced by:''' Taro Ishida (JP), Tony Mozdy (EN, Streamline dub), Creator/JamiesonPrice (EN, Animaze dub), Ricardo Brust (LA, first dub), Mario Sauret (LA, second dub), José Luis Sansalvador (SP, first dub), Ramón Rocabayera (SP, second dub), Juan Carlos Gustems (SP, third dub), Creator/PierreHatet (FR, first and second dub)

!!!'''Voiced by:''' Mizuho Suzuki (JP), Lewis Arquette (EN, Streamline Dub), Simon Prescott (EN, Animaze Dub), Pierre Baton (FR, first and second dub)

!!!'''Voiced by:''' Sachie Ito (JP), Melora Harte (EN, Streamline dub), Creator/SandyFox (EN, Animaze dub), [[Creator/IsabelMartinon Isabel Martiñón]] (LA, first dub), Creator/RossyAguirre (LA, second dub), Lola Oria (SP, first dub), Mayte Supervía (SP, second dub), Paula Ribó (SP, third dub), Alexandra Garijo (FR, first and second dub)

!!!'''Voiced by:''' Tatsuhiko Nakamura (JP), Creator/BarbaraGoodson (EN, Streamline dub), Cody [=MacKenzie=] (EN, Animaze dub), Creator/VictorUgarte (LA, first dub), Kalimba Marichal (LA, second dub), Alberto Trifol (SP, first dub), Olga Supervía (SP, second dub), unknown (SP, third dub) Reygine Tessot (FR, first and second dub)

!!!'''Voiced by:''' Kazuhiro Kando (JP), Creator/BobBergen (EN, Streamline dub), Love Santini (LA, second dub), unknown (SP, first dub), Ana Romano (SP, second dub), José Antonio Torrabadella (SP, third dub), Creator/EmmanuelGarijo (FR, first and second dub)

!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/YurikoFuchizaki (JP), Creator/BarbaraGoodson (EN, Streamline dub), [[Creator/MichelleRuff Georgette Rose]] (EN, Animaze dub), Carola Vázquez (LA, first dub), Aurora Ferrándiz (SP, first dub), Berta Cortés (SP, second dub), Creator/NuriaTrifol (SP, third dub), Valérie Siclay (FR, first and second dub)

!!!'''Voiced by:''' Koichi Kitamura (JP), [[Creator/SteveKramer Drew Thomas]] (EN, Streamline dub), William Frederick (EN, Animaze dub), Alejandro Illescas (LA, first dub), Abel Rocha (LA, second dub), Jean-Claude Sachot (FR, first dub), Pascale Jacquemont (FR, second dub)

!!!'''Voiced by:''' Hiroshi Otake (JP), Tony Mozdy (EN, Streamline dub), Ray Michaels (EN, Animaze dub), Victor Mares (LA, second dub), Hervé Bellon (FR, first and second dub)

* [[EmotionlessGirl Emotionless Boy]]: For most of the manga [[spoiler: until the very end]].

* StockholmSyndrome: In the manga, Kaori comes to feel sympathy towards Tetsuo, despite the fact he forcibly recruited her and tried to turn her into a sex slave.
** AMatchMadeInStockholm: Compare it with Tetsuo's LimaSyndrome towards her.

* TheAtoner: In the later part of the manga, after he sees first hand what his evil plans have done to the nation he swore to protect.

* BloodKnight: While he is the OnlySaneMan of the military, Shikishima does not hesitate to enjoy a good fight, as being a soldier is the one thing he can do best. In the latter half of the manga, after his organization is gone and he is isolated from the rest of the military due to Neo Tokyo's destruction, he engages in numerous battles himself.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: [[AdaptationalHeroism More apparent in the movie]] where he's shown to be kind to the Espers, and genuinely cares the citizens of Neo Tokyo. He becomes this in the manga after the TimeSkip after [[spoiler:Akira destroys Neo Tokyo]].

* OnlySaneMan: The movie can give this impression of him, given that he is dealing with heavily corrupt politicians on one side and researchers who [[ForScience don't seem willing to balance the potential benefits of their research against the demonstrably severe risks.]] He's trying to run the research program while also trying to minimize the risk to the surrounding city and the world.

* WellIntentionedExtremist: He's willing to do anything to protect his country, including [[spoiler:starting/participating in a secret project that uses psychic children as political/military weapons, and using a government-owned laser satellite to kill a psychic teenager. He also overthrows the government in a military coup right before Neo Tokyo's destruction]].

* SharpDressedMan: In contrast to the majority of the Great Tokyo Empire citizens, who are poor and wear raggedy clothes, he's dressed in a clean suit.

The rat-faced parliament member, who's in charge of a terrorist resistance movement against The Great Tokyo Empire

* AmbiguouslyBrown: He appears to be of African descent.

The rat-faced parliament member, who's in charge of a terrorist resistance movement against the The Great Tokyo Empire

* {{Determinator}}: Throughout the story, and especially in the final battle with Tetsuo.

* SupportingProtagonist: In the movie; he is not nearly as developed as is Tetsuo or Kei.

* RedOniBlueOni: Red to Kaneda's blue.

* ActionSurvivor: He manages to survive the entire manga, ''and'' in the movie, is one of the four main survivors alongside Kaneda, Kei, and the Colonel. Perhaps most impressively he somehow survives Tetsuo's wrath after witnessing the murder of Yamagata.
* AdaptationalComicRelief: His role is mostly relegated to comic relief outside of the opening bike scene.

* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: Sensitive Guy to Yamagata's Manly Man, and after Yamagata's demise, Sensitive Guy to Kaneda's Manly Man.

* VikingFuneral: Yamagata gets the bosozoku version of this in the animé, with Kaneda deliberately crashing his bike.

A young member of the Neo-Tokyo Resistance whom Kaneda has taken a shining to.

* WillingChanneler: What her power is. She can serve as a spiritual conduit for the Espers, allowing her to use their PsychicPowers and do things the Espers themselves cannot. In the manga, it is shown more explicitly; at one point, she had to cleanse herself in a ritual bath to get rid of all physical and mental impurities before using her powers.

* DiesDifferentlyInAdaptation: In the manga, [[spoiler:he's crushed to death by falling debris after he shoots Akira while the boy's in the middle of using his psychic powers]]. In the anime, [[spoiler:he's shot by Nezu on the mistaken assumption that he ratted him out to loyalist government forces. He slowly bleeds to death and finally dies after choking Nezu with psychic powers while witnessing the citizens of Neo-Tokyo staging an uprising]].

* WouldHurtAChild: [[spoiler: In the final book of the manga, he shoots Akira to prevent an impending psychic explosion that would have been powerful enough to destroy the world. Though it was clear that he was ''very'' reluctant in doing the act]].

The militant leader of the Neo-Tokyo Government.

A scientist working for Colonel Shikishima.

* EinsteinHair

* SkewedPriorities: In the film, the Doctor doesn’t seem to care about the damage or the human cost of Tetsuo’s rampage, instead focusing on Tetsuo’s brain patterns and data. [[spoiler: This is ultimately what gets him killed in the anime--he stays in the mobile lab reading the data for so long that he doesn’t think to get himself or his lab away from the stadium, and the debris from the blast causes the lab to collapse on itself, crushing him in the process.]]

* AfraidOfBlood: In the anime, the three are terrified when Tetsuo accidentally cuts himself on a shard of glass, causing him to bleed. [[spoiler:It actually foils their attempt to assassinate him]].

** Masaru has polio and is confined to a floating wheelchair.

* OlderThanTheyLook: Played with. Due to the drugs [[spoiler:and the experiments]], the Espers aged prematurely, so they look pretty old and wizened. Chronologically, since they were children when the original Tokyo was destroyed, their ages are possibly around late-30s.

* TwoGuysAndAGirl: The Espers consist of a trio consisting of two boys and a girl. But since they're children, their relationship is platonic.

* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence [[spoiler:In the anime. The big explosion that left that massive crater was caused by him ascending into an energy form. In the manga, he also does this with the Espers, though the process is less confusing.]]
* BerserkerTears: [[spoiler: Sheds these as he destroys Neo-Tokyo after witnessing Takashi's death]].

* PsychicLink: [[spoiler: With the Espers, which leads to Neo-Tokyo's destruction when he "feels" Takashi being killed by Nezu. Then later on he establishes one with Tetsuo near the end]].

A young girl taken to be a slave to Tetsuo, later on becoming his MoralityPet.

!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/TakeshiKusao (JP), Creator/BobBergen (EN, Streamline dub), Anthony Pulcini (EN, Animaze dub), Creator/GabrielRamos (LA, first dub), Creator/RicardoMendoza (LA, second dub), José Luis Mediavilla (SP, first dub), Álex de Porrata (SP, second dub), Pablo Sevilla (SP, third dub), Pierre Tessier (FR, first and second dub)

* AmbiguousDisorder: His behavior in the manga heavily resembles nonverbal autism, but it is never given an official explanation. In one of the last chapters, it's explained that awakening shredded his personality and that the same could happen to Tetsuo.

* VillainousBreakdown: [[spoiler:After Kaori is shot to death in the manga, Tetsuo goes on a massive RoaringRampageOfRevenge]].

* BaldHeadOfToughness: Joker is the BaldBlackLeaderGuy of a tough biker gang and he's MadeOfIron, as he's capable of shrugging off a 100+ kilometer per hour crash and taking a bike tire to the face.

* WhosLaughingNow: To Kaneda.

* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Naturally.

%%* JapaneseDelinquents:

* SuperpowerMeltdown:

* AmbiguousDisorder: His behavior in the manga heavily resembles nonverbal autism, but it is never given an official explanation.
** In one of the last chapters, it's explained that awakening shredded his personality and that the same could happen to Tetsuo.
* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence [[spoiler: In the anime. The big explosion that left that massive crater was caused by him ascending into an energy form. In the manga, he also does this with the Espers, though the process is less confusing.]]

* DeadAllAlong[=/=]PosthumousCharacter: [[spoiler:By thirty years in the movie. Subsequent resurrections notwithstanding.]]

* UnstablePoweredChild: [[spoiler:Akira was given so much power, he caused a powerful explosion that all but destroyed Tokyo. So naturally, the government and military thought it was a good idea to try again when they found Tetsuo after he'd had a run-in with psychic child Tadashi. Tetsuo is driven mad by the power, and becomes, in the end, an amorphous blob-like thing that was absorbing anything it came in contact with, organic or not. And then, Akira came back...]]

* TheSociopath: Reads like a checklist for Antisocial Personality Disorder: little to no empathy towards other people, lack of consideration of the consenquences of his actions, and having a god-complex mixing in with his reckless and maniacal behavior.

* SuperpowerMeltdown

* StrappedToAnOperatingTable: [[spoiler: This was how Akira was initially found by his friend Masaru in the anime when the latter wandered off and found him on an operating table connected to various machinery]].

* TrueCompanions: [[spoiler: As it turns out, all psychic children consider each other this. Including Akira]].
* UnstablePoweredChild: [[spoiler:Akira was given so much power, he caused a powerful explosion that all but destroyed Tokyo. So naturally, the government and military thought it was a good idea to try again when they found Tetsuro after he'd had a run-in with psychic child Tadashi. Tetsuro is driven made by the power, and becomes, in the end, an amorphous blob-like thing that was absorbing anything it came in contact with, organic or not. And then, Akira came back...]]

* ExtraordinarilyEmpoweredGirl: [[spoiler:While she shows traces of this in TheMovie, it's never explained why the espers chose her out of all the other people in Neo Tokyo. The manga explains that she herself has powers, but her powers are that of a medium]].

* AfraidOfBlood: In the anime, the three are so terrified when Tetsuo accidentally cuts himself on a shard of glass [[spoiler:that it foils their attempt to assassinate him]].

* IllGirl:
** Kiyoko is bedridden and has weaker health than the others. It's because of this that Takashi and Masaru are very protective of her.
** Masaru has polio and is confined to a wheelchair.

* MysticalWhiteHair: Kiyoko and Takashi both have white hair, and they're young, wizened children with psychic powers.

** YoungerThanTheyLook: [[spoiler:Because of what happened to Akira, they all took drugs to to make sure the psychic explosion doesn't happen to them, which had the effect of aging them faster (while stunting their growths, weirdly enough). Chronologically, they're in their 40s]].

* {{Teleportation}}: To make up for her poor physical health, she has the ability to teleport. [[spoiler:This saves the main characters from being killed during Akira's destruction of Neo-Tokyo in the manga]].

* DeathGlare: He tends to show a distrustful glare, especially when [[IllGirl Kiyoko]]'s safety is threatened.
* HandicappedBadass: Fighting an angry psychic teenager who is wholly more powerful than he is despite not being able to walk takes a lot of balls.

!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/MitsuoIwata (JP), Creator/CamClarke (EN, Streamline dub), Creator/JohnnyYongBosch (EN, Animaze dub), Creator/IrwinDaayan (LA, first and second dubs), Sergio Zamora (SP, first dub), Nacho de Porrata (SP, second dub), Ángel de Gracia (SP, third dub)

!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/NozomuSasaki (JP), [[VideoGame/LeisureSuitLarry Jan Rabson]] (EN, Streamline dub), Joshua Seth (EN, Animaze dub), Genaro Vásquez (LA, first dub), Creator/BenjaminRivera (LA, second dub), Creator/AlbertTrifolSegarra (SP, first and third dubs), Carlos Lladó (SP, second dub)

!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/TakeshiKusao (JP), Creator/BobBergen (EN, Streamline dub), Anthony Pulcini (EN, Animaze dub), Creator/GabrielRamos (LA, first dub), Creator/RicardoMendoza (LA, second dub), José Luis Mediavilla (SP, first dub), Álex de Porrata (SP, second dub), Pablo Sevilla (SP, third dub)

!!!'''Voiced by:''' Masaaki Ōkura (JP), Tony Mozdy (EN, Streamline dub), Creator/MichaelLindsay (EN, Animaze dub), Creator/LuisDanielRamirez (LA, first dub), Emmanuel Rivas (LA, second dub), Ángel de Gracia (SP, first dub), Marc Zanni (SP, second dub), Aleix Estadella (SP, third dub)

!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/MamiKoyama (JP), Lara Cody (EN, Streamline dub), Creator/WendeeLee (EN, Animaze dub), Creator/MonicaManjarrez (LA, first dub), Laura Ayala (LA, second dub), Mercedes Diemand-Hartz (SP, first dub), Creator/CarmenAmbros (SP, second dub), Esther Solans (SP, third dub)

!!!'''Voiced by:''' Taro Ishida (JP), Tony Mozdy (EN, Streamline dub), Creator/JamiesonPrice (EN, Animaze dub), Ricardo Brust (LA, first dub), Mario Sauret (LA, second dub), José Luis Sansalvador (SP, first dub), Ramón Rocabayera (SP, second dub), Juan Carlos Gustems (SP, third dub)

!!!'''Voiced by:''' Mizuho Suzuki (JP), Lewis Arquette (EN, Streamline Dub), Simon Prescott (EN, Animaze Dub)

!!!'''Voiced by:''' Sachie Ito (JP), Melora Harte (EN, Streamline dub), Creator/SandyFox (EN, Animaze dub), [[Creator/IsabelMartinon Isabel Martiñón]] (LA, first dub), Creator/RossyAguirre (LA, second dub), Lola Oria (SP, first dub), Mayte Supervía (SP, second dub), Paula Ribó (SP, third dub)

!!!'''Voiced by:''' Tatsuhiko Nakamura (JP), Creator/BarbaraGoodson (EN, Streamline dub), Cody [=MacKenzie=] (EN, Animaze dub), Creator/VictorUgarte (LA, first dub), Kalimba Marichal (LA, second dub), Alberto Trifol (SP, first dub), Olga Supervía (SP, second dub), unknown (SP, third dub)

!!!'''Voiced by:''' Kazuhiro Kando (JP), Creator/BobBergen (EN, Streamline dub), Love Santini (LA, second dub), unknown (SP, first dub), Ana Romano (SP, second dub), José Antonio Torrabadella (SP, third dub)

!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/YurikoFuchizaki (JP), Creator/BarbaraGoodson (EN, Streamline dub), [[Creator/MichelleRuff Georgette Rose]] (EN, Animaze dub), Carola Vázquez (LA, first dub), Aurora Ferrándiz (SP, first dub), Berta Cortés (SP, second dub), Creator/NuriaTrifol (SP, third dub)

!!!'''Voiced by:''' Koichi Kitamura (JP), [[Creator/SteveKramer Drew Thomas]] (EN, Streamline dub), William Frederick (EN, Animaze dub), Alejandro Illescas (LA, first dub), Abel Rocha (LA, second dub)

!!!'''Voiced by:''' Hiroshi Otake (JP), Tony Mozdy (EN, Streamline dub), Ray Michaels (EN, Animaze dub), Victor Mares (LA, second dub)

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: While probably coincidental, she seems to play a very similar role to Mother Abagail in ''Literature/TheStand''.