History Characters / Akira

* BadassMustache: As shown by his folder image, he has a mustache and is the head of the Neo-Tokyo government.

* TheSociopath: Reads like a checklist for Antisocial Personality Disorder.

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

[[folder:Tetsuo's Aide]]

[[folder:'Eggman']]

[[folder:'Birdman']]

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sakaki_akira_12_56_large.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:Sakaki]]

* YoungerThanTheyLook: She's actually in her 40s-50s in the current storyline. She aged faster because of [[spoiler: the drugs she took in the experiments]].

* ArtificialLimbs: He loses an arm to the KillSat then telekinetically builds himself a robotic one out of pieces of scrap metal.

* DiesDifferentlyInAdaptation: [[spoiler:In the manga, she's merely shot. In the film, she's crushed ''on-screen'' by Tetsuo when his mutation goes out of control.]] She lives long enough to [[Squick start drowning in her own blood.]]

* DiesDifferentlyInAdaptation: [[spoiler:In the manga, she's merely shot. In the film, she's crushed ''on-screen'' by Tetsuo when his mutation goes out of control.]]

!!!'''Voiced by:''' Masaaki Ōkura (JP), Tony Mozdy (EN, Streamline dub), Michael Lindsay (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)

* CharacterizationMarchesOn: At the beginning of the manga he's a complete dick, but becomes a little more tolerable by the end.

* JapaneseDelinquent: He fights, does drugs and runs a biker gang. And he's still in high school.

* LastNameBasis: Always goes by Kaneda.

* SupportingProtagonist: In the movie.

* {{Expy}}: He is named after and physically based off of the main character of Tetsujin 28-go, though their personalities are nothing alike.

* LastNameBasis: His full name is Colonel Shikishima, but he's referred to by rank.

* DiesDifferentlyInAdaptation: In the manga, [[spoiler:he tries killing Akira but kills Takashi instead, and his verbal outburst allows Colonel Shikishima's men to hear him and shoot him dead through the wall of a ramshackle house he was hiding behind]]. In the anime, [[spoiler:he dies of a sudden heartattack while trying to escape arrest by Shikishima's loyalist forces]].

The most powerful of all the psychic children, who had a SuperpowerMeltdown that ended up destroying Tokyo.

* PsychicChildren: A former member of the Espers,; cryogenics allowed him to stay young while the Espers themselves had their bodies aged prematurely from drugs and experimentation.

[[folder:Kaisuke / "Kai"]]

* AdaptationalComicRelief: Mostly plays this role in the anime.
* AmbiguouslyGay: Glomps Kaneda when he sees him again.

* AdaptationalHeroism: While he's by no means perfect in the movie, many of Kaneda's nastier traits from the manga are suspiciously absent. While his jokester personality is still in the film, him laughing off his pregnant girlfriend's concerns as well as constant jokes on Kei are cut from the movie to make him a much more likable protagonist in a short runtime.
* AffectionatePickpocket: See AdaptationalHeroism above, but he tricks Kei into thinking he wants to [[spoiler: sexually assault her, but in reality he's just grabbing the key to the room so he can search for his bike.]]

* BadassNormal: [[spoiler:Kaneda was taking on a fully powered Tetsuo with a laser gun and ''winning.'' He actually would've pulled off killing him, something even the entire military was failing at at that point, but the gun ran out of energy.]]
* BigEater: Lampshaded by Kei at oen point:

Kaneda's childhood friend, and a member of the Capsules. Despite his friendship with Kaneda, he suffers from an inferiority complex and deeply resents Kaneda. Following a motorcycle accident involving an escaped Takashi, he awakens to strong psychic powers beyond his dreams, and quickly goes on a rampage against a world he believes had wronged him.

* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: [[spoiler:Implied to be Tetsuo's fate in the end of the anime film, as his enormous psychic abilities led to him being the god of a new universe.]]

* IJustWantToHaveFriends: [[spoiler:In Tetsuo's MentalWorld, Kaneda stumbles upon a scene of a younger Tetsuo, alone in a courtyard. When Tetsuo begins running away, Kaneda calls out, "All I wanted was to be your friend," and Tetsuo turns back and smiles. Note that all this is after Kaneda discovers a memory of Tetsuo and Kaneda first becoming friends in their orphanage, implying that Tetsuo had seen himself as so inferior to Kaneda, that he had never truly ''seen themselves as friends'']].

* ParentalAbandonment: [[spoiler: He did have parents, once upon a time, but it's implied they dumped him in an daycare orphanage and never came back for him. No wonder he became so screwed up later in life]].

* PowerMakesYourHairGrow: During the story, his hair becomes longer and more spiky. Inverted when he becomes a [[BodyHorror huge flesh blob.]]

* BulletCatch: Tetsuo manages to stop not a bullet, ''but a freaking tank shell'' with his psychokinesis.

* VillainProtagonist: While Kaneda is the "good guy" of the story, Tetsuo drives the plot far more, and ultimately focuses around the development of his powers and his descent into villainy.

* ActionSurvivor: He manages to survive the entire manga, ''and'' in the movie, is one of the four main survivors. (The other three being Kaneda, Kei, and the Colonel) Perhaps most impressively he somehow survives Tetsuo's wrath after witnessing the murder of Yamagata.

* TheLancer: He's Kaneda's right hand man in the Capsule gang, and much more HotBlooded and aggressive than his leader.

--> '''Yamagata:''' I can't control my indigestion!
* NothingIsScarier: In the movie, his death was never shown onscreen, and Kai did not explain how he died either, though judging from Kai's shaken behavior, it's implied that he died pretty horribly. In the manga, Tetsuo psychically explodes his head when he tries to shoot him.

* 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]].

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: In the movie, she shoots a soldier to save Kaneda, and completely freezes up afterwards. It's implied that she's never killed before.

* 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 witnessing the citizens of Neo-Tokyo staging an uprising]].

* UnwittingPawn: Pretty much anyone who follows him becomes this, [[spoiler:as he's working to fulfil Nezu's agenda]].

* BadassNormal: [[spoiler:Arguably even more than Kanaeda becuase he knocks Tetsuo on his arse using a normal handgun.]]

* TookALevelInBadass: After the {{time skip}} in the manga. Before, he's a very angry EliteMook who spends his whole time shouting conflicting orders. After, he's a much more thoughtful and outright heroic character who shows that he's a very badass fighter who's not to be messed with as time goes on, leading up to him attempting to take out Tetsuo head on.

* ForScience: His constant motivation for everything he does in the Esper program. He’s genuinely fascinated by Akira and the Espers in general, and dedicates his life to studying them.

* 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.]]

* WaifProphet: She's a precognitive, and both the Colonel and her fellow Espers rely on her visions, but she is bedridden and constantly hooked up to life support.

** In one of the last chapters its explained that awakening shredded his personality and that the same could happen to Tetsuo.

* CreepyChild: Can come across as this due to his blank facial expressions, his lack of speech and emotional reaction to external stimuli. Oh, and he's one of the most powerful psychics in the manga.

* DyingAsYourself: [[spoiler: In the final book of the manga, Akira is shot by Ryu. Subverted in that he doesn't die, but he manages to recognize Masaru and Kiyoko long enough to stop Tetsuo and ascend to a higher plan of existence with his friends]].

* PsychicChildren: A former member of the Espers, except cryogenics allowed him to stay young while the Espers themselves had their bodies aged prematurely from drugs and experimentation.

* 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]].

* TheStoic[=/=]TheUnfettered: Willing to stop Tetsuo in the later half of the manga by whatever means necessary. Barely emotes.

* TheBrute: The ape man psychic is barely coherent when he takes a pill. He uses straight brute force.

* UnskilledButStrong: What most of the psychics in the empire are. Their training is substandard and incomplete. They tend to be as dangerous to themselves and their allies as they are to their enemies. They are seen being overpowered by the weaker, but better trained psychics under Miyako's control.

* GambitPileup: Engaged in one with the military. Basically she can't directly expose the truth about their experiments because it would cost her the cult she built around herself and they can't expose her as a fraud without publicly acknowledging their own misdeeds, all while they both try to undermine each other behind the scenes.
* GodGuise[=/=]ScamReligion: A somewhat more benevolent example than most. She uses the powers she got from the government's experiments to convince people she's a MessianicArchetype in order to gain followers to help her bring down the sadistic military industrial complex that ruined her life. She does seem to genuinely care about her followers, doing all she can to help people after the city is destroyed and even seems to believe some of her own hype, as she considers her powers and those of the other psychics to be a manifestation of some greater mystical force that the military simply blundered into discovering.

One of the Espers, designated "Number 26". A meek and gentle boy, he has psychokinesis, and is notably of better health compared to the polio-suffering Masaru and the bed-ridden Kiyoko. He plays an unwitting role in Tetsuo's psychic awakening and descent into madness.

One of the Espers, designated "Number 27". Like Takashi, he has psychokinesis, and is the most serious of the three. He suffers from polio, and is confined to a special wheelchair that can float.

* TheStoic: Downplayed, as he does emote, but he's more serious-looking compared to the other Espers.

!Great Tokyo Empire
[[folder:General]]
* AdaptedOut: They were left out of the anime in its entirety. This is due to the manga not being finished yet at the time of its production.
* TheBrute: The ape man psychic is barely coherent when he takes a pill. He uses straight brute force.
** To a lesser extent, the glasses-wearing psychic called 'The Eggman' has little control of his power and, thus, is as much a danger to his comrades as to his enemies.
* DrugsAreBad: Let's just say that Tetsuo has killed a lot of people by forcing them to take the pills to induce psychic powers. Mostly it's the potency. At one point, it's stated that one grain of the pill has five times the potency of a bag of the variety that's sold on the street (the bag looks to have about 30 pills).
* EvilIsPetty: Tend to party to mass killings and suicidal attacks over petty acts of revenge.
* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: Some members have tried to rape Kei, though this seems to be happening everywhere. Tetsuo also had girls kidnapped and gives them a weakened form of one of his pills. They have sex high out of their minds, but according to Tetuso's Aide, most of them die from the pill.
* 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).
** At one point, Tetsuo has food served with a handful of pills thrown into the food. It's hinted that he is trying to either eliminate weak inhabitants while trying to get some psychics for his retinue out of it.
* UnskilledButStrong: What most of the psychics in the empire are. Their training is substandard and incomplete. They tend to be as dangerous to themselves and their allies as they are to their enemies. They are seen being overpowered by the weaker, but better trained psychics under Miyako's control.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tetsuo's Aide]]

* DelinquentHair: Wears a pompadour. While he's not a delinquent, he's allied with the Great Tokyo Empire, which he uses as a front to gather more power for himself.
* GeneralFailure: He acts as the empire's front and viceroy. But he also goes behind Tetsuo's back to capture the psychic children, and throws good men away in fights and [[NeverMyFault blames others when things go wrong]].
* MouthOfSauron: He acts like this, speaking for Akira and Tetsuo on their behalf.
* 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.

[[folder:'Eggman']]

* PsychicPowers: He gained psychic powers after taking Tetsuo's drugs. However, his training is substandard and incomplete, so he tends to be as dangerous to themselves and their allies as they are to their enemies.
* UnskilledButStrong: Because his psychic training is substandard and incomplete, he tends to be as dangerous to themselves and their allies as they are to their enemies.

[[folder:'Birdman']]

* BlindSeer: He wears a blindfold over his eyes, though it's unknown whether he's truly blind like Miyako or not. He also possesses some form of clairvoyance or remote-viewing befitting his position as the Tokyo Empire's surveillance psychic.
* MouthOfSauron: A more literal example. He tracks all movement inside the empire's borders and announces to all within as to the presence and thoughts of intruders.

[[folder:Kaori]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kaori001.jpg]]
!!!'''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)

[[folder:Akira]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/akira001.jpg]]
----
* AmbiguousDisorder: His behavior in the manga heavily resembles nonverbal autism, but it is never given an official explanation.
** In one of the last chapters its 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.]]
* BerserkerTears: [[spoiler: Sheds these as he destroys Neo-Tokyo after witnessing Takashi's death]].
* BewareTheQuietOnes: He's a small kid who doesn't talk much, but he was the one who obliterated the original Tokyo all by himself. [[spoiler: And he does it again to Neo-Tokyo after Takashi is shot dead in front of him]].
* BreakTheCutie: [[spoiler: Witnesses Takashi being brutally shot in the head by Nezu shortly after being released from cryogenic sleep. Being connected to the Espers via a PsychicLink didn't help matters, either]].
* BrainInAJar: Only in the movie. [[spoiler:And only temporarily]].
* CreepyChild: Can come across as this due to his blank facial expressions, his lack of speech and emotional reaction to external stimuli. Oh, and he's one of the most powerful psychics in the manga.
* DeadAllAlong[=/=]PosthumousCharacter: [[spoiler:By thirty years in the movie. Subsequent resurrections notwithstanding.]]
* DyingAsYourself: [[spoiler: In the final book of the manga, Akira is shot by Ryu. Subverted in that he doesn't die, but he manages to recognize Masaru and Kiyoko long enough to stop Tetsuo and ascend to a higher plan of existence with his friends]].
* [[EmotionlessGirl Emotionless Boy]]: For most of the manga [[spoiler: until the very end]].
* GodEmperor: In the manga, Tetsuo takes advantage of Akira's resurrection from cryostasis and declares the Great Tokyo Empire which worships him as a god. Subverted, since Akira doesn't really care about ruling and lets [[ShadowDictator Tetsuo]] run the cult of personality.
* GoneHorriblyRight: [[spoiler: Akira was created by the Japanese government as a project to create psychic children to use as military/political weapons. They succeeded, but he grew beyond their control and were forced to seal him underground]].
* HolyBackLight: [[spoiler: How he comes back in the anime]].
* HumanPopsicle: In the manga, he is placed into cryogenic storage while still alive. Tetsuo later thaws him out.
* NeurodiversityIsSupernatural: In the manga, he can barely speak or do anything by himself (Kaori has to feed him), but he's still the most powerful psychic in existence. However, it was never explained whether or not he was like that before the government experimented on his brain.
* PersonOfMassDestruction: Do we need to explain what he did to the original Tokyo?
* PsychicChildren: A former member of the Espers, except cryogenics allowed him to stay young while the Espers themselves had their bodies aged prematurely from drugs and experimentation.
* 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]].
* SchrodingersCast: [[spoiler:Alive throughout the manga, but DeadAllAlong in the movie (though he gets better.)]]
* SealedEvilInACan: Although he's not so much "evil" as he is an autistic and emotionally broken child with enormous psychic powers.
* SecondaryCharacterTitle: The anime and manga are named after him, but he's not the protagonist.
* 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]].
* RealityWarper: The only one capable of stopping Tetsuo's EldritchAbomination form by teleporting him to another dimension, destroying Neo-Tokyo in the process.
* TheStoic[=/=]TheUnfettered: Willing to stop Tetsuo in the later half of the manga by whatever means necessary. Barely emotes.
* TheyWouldCutYouUp: [[spoiler:In the movie they ''did'' after he died. However, he fails to stay cut up.]]
* TrueCompanions: [[spoiler: As it turns out, all psychic children consider each other this. Including Akira]].
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: [[spoiler:Akira was created as part of a secret government project to create psychic children that can be used as military/political weapons, but when he grew too powerful he was cryogenically sealed underground and forgotten until Tetsuo found him. Then after emerging into the outside world, the first thing Akira saw was an old friend, Takashi being brutally shot dead in front of him, causing Akira to single-handedly destroy Neo-Tokyo in a rage. For most of the manga he was sought by factions led by Lady Miyako and the Neo-Tokyo Empire, and used by Tetsuo to gather a massive cult following among Neo-Tokyo's survivors. Kid's got a ''really'' hard life]].
[[/folder]]

* EldritchAbomination: The sheer amount of BodyHorror caused by his SuperpowerMeltdown at the end turns him into one that consumes anything it touches. [[spoiler:The only thing that could stop him was Akira's resurrection and the subsequent birth of a new universe, which definitely adds Eldritch points.]]

* UnwittingPawn: Pretty much anyone who follows him becomes this, [[spoiler:as he's working to fulfil Nezu's agenda]].

* 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 witnessing the citizens of Neo-Tokyo staging an uprising]].

[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kaneda_4.jpg]]

->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)

* BigEater
--> '''Kei:''' "Is eating all you do?"

->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)

* DeconstructedCharacterArchetype: Of the superhero. His story plays out much like an origin story in how he develops supernatural abilities that he has to learn how to control, and he even dons a cape. But being an already bitter teenager who's taken to delinquency, he does not use his powers to help anyone, but to lash out at everyone who's ever wronged him in his mind. When Neo-Tokyo is destroyed, Tetsuo then uses his powers to rule over a faction of survivors with impunity.

* VillainousBSOD: [[spoiler: After Kaori is shot to death in the manga, Tetsuo goes on a massive RoaringRampageOfRevenge]].
* VillainBall: He could easily kill Kaneda in ''all'' of their confrontations, but doesn't. While it's hinted at first that he wants to humiliate and toy with him, [[spoiler:the final book of the manga implies that in the end, he simply never wanted to kill him in the first place, but hated being in his shadow all the time]].

[[folder:Kei]]
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kei_8.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:250:''"What if there were some mistake and the progression went wrong, and something like an amoeba were given power like a human?"'']]
->Voiced by: Creator/MamiKoyama (JP), Lara Cody (EN, Streamline dub), Creator/WendeeLee (EN, Animaze dub), Mónica Manjarrez (LA, first dub), Laura Ayala (LA, second dub), Mercedes Diemand-Hartz (SP, first dub), Creator/CarmenAmbros (SP, second dub), Esther Solans (SP, third dub)

* ActionGirl: Shown when she fights Tetsuo.
* BadassLongcoat: As seen in the image, she sometimes wears an outfit consisting of a somewhat short light-colored longcoat over a darker-colored jumpsuit.
* CharacterDevelopment: Begins the manga as a hardened militant who has no problem killing to achieve her group's objectives. As the story progresses, she turns away from violence and tries to spare lives when she can.
* 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]].
* LaResistance: A member of this.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: In the movie, she shoots a soldier to save Kaneda, and completely freezes up afterwards. It's implied that she's never killed before.
* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent: Her Streamline voice actress's British accent is retained for this role, most notably visible in the line "You be careful, too!"
* PowersViaPossession: By allowing the Espers to possess her, Kei is able to use all their powers.
* 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.

[[folder:Colonel Shikishima]]
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/colshikishima001.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:250:''"My job isn't to believe or disbelieve. It is to act or not act!"'']]
->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)

-->''"Maybe we weren’t meant to meddle with that ultimate power... But we have no choice but to grasp that power. Grasp that power, and learn to control it."''

* ActionSurvivor: In TheMovie, he is one of the only four survivors that are shown. He also survives everything in the manga, though not unscathed.
* 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.
* BadassMustache
* BadassNormal: [[spoiler:Arguably even more than Kanaeda becuase he knocks Tetsuo on his arse using a normal handgun.]]
* 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.
* ColonelBadass: In the anime, he tries taking on a rampaging Tetsuo [[spoiler:after the guy underwent insane amounts of BodyHorror]], and turns out to be the only person in Neo-Tokyo's government not to be heavily corrupt. In the manga, he survives [[spoiler:Akira's destruction of Neo-Tokyo]] and once he sees the consequences of his actions, he starts owning up like a man and becomes a valuable ally to Kaneda and friends. There's a reason why he has the word "Colonel" in his name.
* LastNameBasis: His full name is Colonel Shikishima, but he's referred to by rank.
* 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.
* PapaWolf: To the Espers, and also to Kaori in the movie. Because Tetsuo was advancing on her, he was the only one aside from Kaneda to score a hit with his gun.
* TookALevelInBadass: After the {{time skip}} in the manga. Before, he's a very angry EliteMook who spends his whole time shouting conflicting orders. After, he's a much more thoughtful and outright heroic character who shows that he's a very badass fighter who's not to be messed with as time goes on, leading up to him attempting to take out Tetsuo head on.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: He's willing to do anything to protect his country, including [[spoiler: starting 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]].
* WhatTheHellHero: He delivers one to Onishi upon realizing the doctor hadn't terminated Tetsuo as soon as his power started to go out of control, yelling at him and throwing him against the wall of his mobile lab.

[[folder:Doctor Onishi]]
* [[spoiler:DeathByIrony]]: [[spoiler: In both versions of the story, the Doctor spends his career studying the mysteries of Akira, only to be present for and indirectly killed by Akira’s reawakening. In the anime, the debris from Akira’s singularity hits the Doctor’s mobile lab and crushes him inside it, while in the manga, he freezes to death when Tetsuo opens Akira’s cryogenic chamber.]]
* EinsteinHair
* ForScience: His constant motivation for everything he does in the Esper program. He’s genuinely fascinated by Akira and the Espers in general, and dedicates his life to studying them.
* GoneHorriblyRight: It was his idea to unlock Tetsuo’s psychic powers in the first place after noticing how similar Tetsuo’s brain pattern was to Akira’s. Onishi hoped that studying Tetsuo would help to explain Akira’s power. [[spoiler: In the anime, this eventually means hanging around long enough to see Tetsuo’s brain patterns go off the charts and recognize the Espers’ creation of a new universe just before the blast kills him and destroys all his lab equipment.]]
* MadScientist: He’s focused on studying the Espers and unlocking the secrets of the universe through them, to the point of never stopping to consider the ethical ramifications.
* NumberTwo: To the Colonel, who employs Onishi as his head researcher and science advisor.
* 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.]]

[[folder:Akira]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/akira001.jpg]]
* AmbiguousDisorder: His behavior in the manga heavily resembles nonverbal autism, but it is never given an official explanation.
** In one of the last chapters its 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.]]
* BerserkerTears: [[spoiler: Sheds these as he destroys Neo-Tokyo after witnessing Takashi's death]].
* BewareTheQuietOnes: He's a small kid who doesn't talk much, but he was the one who obliterated the original Tokyo all by himself. [[spoiler: And he does it again to Neo-Tokyo after Takashi is shot dead in front of him]].
* BreakTheCutie: [[spoiler: Witnesses Takashi being brutally shot in the head by Nezu shortly after being released from cryogenic sleep. Being connected to the Espers via a PsychicLink didn't help matters, either]].
* BrainInAJar: Only in the movie. [[spoiler:And only temporarily]].
* CreepyChild: Can come across as this due to his blank facial expressions, his lack of speech and emotional reaction to external stimuli. Oh, and he's one of the most powerful psychics in the manga.
* DeadAllAlong[=/=]PosthumousCharacter: [[spoiler:By thirty years in the movie. Subsequent resurrections notwithstanding.]]
* DyingAsYourself: [[spoiler: In the final book of the manga, Akira is shot by Ryu. Subverted in that he doesn't die, but he manages to recognize Masaru and Kiyoko long enough to stop Tetsuo and ascend to a higher plan of existence with his friends]].
* [[EmotionlessGirl Emotionless Boy]]: For most of the manga [[spoiler: until the very end]].
* GodEmperor: In the manga, Tetsuo takes advantage of Akira's resurrection from cryostasis and declares the Great Tokyo Empire which worships him as a god. Subverted, since Akira doesn't really care about ruling and lets [[ShadowDictator Tetsuo]] run the cult of personality.
* GoneHorriblyRight: [[spoiler: Akira was created by the Japanese government as a project to create psychic children to use as military/political weapons. They succeeded, but he grew beyond their control and were forced to seal him underground]].
* HolyBackLight: [[spoiler: How he comes back in the anime]].
* HumanPopsicle: In the manga, he is placed into cryogenic storage while still alive. Tetsuo later thaws him out.
* NeurodiversityIsSupernatural: In the manga, he can barely speak or do anything by himself (Kaori has to feed him), but he's still the most powerful psychic in existence. However, it was never explained whether or not he was like that before the government experimented on his brain.
* PersonOfMassDestruction: Do we need to explain what he did to the original Tokyo?
* PsychicChildren: A former member of the Espers, except cryogenics allowed him to stay young while the Espers themselves had their bodies aged prematurely from drugs and experimentation.
* 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]].
* SchrodingersCast: [[spoiler:Alive throughout the manga, but DeadAllAlong in the movie (though he gets better.)]]
* SealedEvilInACan: Although he's not so much "evil" as he is an autistic and emotionally broken child with enormous psychic powers.
* SecondaryCharacterTitle: The anime and manga are named after him, but he's not the protagonist.
* 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]].
* RealityWarper: The only one capable of stopping Tetsuo's EldritchAbomination form by teleporting him to another dimension, destroying Neo-Tokyo in the process.
* TheStoic[=/=]TheUnfettered: Willing to stop Tetsuo in the later half of the manga by whatever means necessary. Barely emotes.
* TheyWouldCutYouUp: [[spoiler:In the movie they ''did'' after he died. However, he fails to stay cut up.]]
* TrueCompanions: [[spoiler: As it turns out, all psychic children consider each other this. Including Akira]].
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: [[spoiler:Akira was created as part of a secret government project to create psychic children that can be used as military/political weapons, but when he grew too powerful he was cryogenically sealed underground and forgotten until Tetsuo found him. Then after emerging into the outside world, the first thing Akira saw was an old friend, Takashi being brutally shot dead in front of him, causing Akira to single-handedly destroy Neo-Tokyo in a rage. For most of the manga he was sought by factions led by Lady Miyako and the Neo-Tokyo Empire, and used by Tetsuo to gather a massive cult following among Neo-Tokyo's survivors. Kid's got a ''really'' hard life]].

[[folder:Kiyoko, Takashi and Masaru]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kiyoko001.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Kiyoko]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/takashi001.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Takashi]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/masaru_no_27.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Masaru]]
->Kiyoko is 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)
->Takashi is 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)
->Masaru is 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)

* AnimalMotifs: Kiyoko is represented by a rabbit because she is physically weaker than her friends and relies on them to protect her. Takashi is represented by a bear because of his generally pacifistic nature, but he will reveal his claws if he has no other choice.
* ApologeticAttacker: [[spoiler:Takashi uses his PsychicPowers to pretty much ''blow up'' a girl named Mozu, but it's clear that he saw it as the only alternative and apologizes to her before ''and'' after doing so.]]
* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: [[spoiler: Possibly what happens to the Espers in the manga]].
* BerserkButton: Harming and/or threatening Kiyoko is this for the Espers.

* GirlishPigtails: Kiyoko has braids, actually. Although she is far from youthful.
* HandicappedBadass: Masaru. Fighting an angry psychic teenager who is wholly more powerful than he is despite not being able to walk takes a lot of balls.
* HarmfulToMinors: In both the manga and the animated film, Takashi watched a member of the resistance be viciously gunned down by riot police. You can guess what happens next...
** [[spoiler: It is revealed later on in the manga that before the original Tokyo's destruction, the Espers were subjected to a series of horrible experiments by the government in order for their psychic powers to develop and grow, so they can be used as weapons]].
* IllGirl: Kiyoko is bedridden and has weaker health than the others. Masaru has polio and is confined to a wheelchair.
* MassTeleportation: [[spoiler: During Akira's destruction of Neo-Tokyo, Kiyoko was able to amass an unusually large amount of energy to teleport a large group of people (including most of the main characters) to a safer place]].
* MeaningfulName: Kiyoko, when spelled with the kanji 聖子, means "holy child", which fits in with her psychic powers and ability to see the future.

* MysticalWhiteHair: Kiyoko and Takashi.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Takashi being out on the road all by himself directly led to Tetsuo's motorcycle accident, which later led to Tetsuo's psychic powers emerging along with a series of events that ultimately resulted in Neo-Tokyo being utterly demolished. [[SarcasmMode Thanks a lot, Takashi]].
* NeverGrewUp: Implied to have been a result of the government's experiments and all the drugs they have to take. However, while they stayed children, their bodies aged prematurely, so they look unnaturally old.
* OhCrap: Takashi's reaction in the manga [[spoiler:when he meets Tetsuo again sometime after the motorcycle accident]].
* ParentalAbandonment: [[spoiler: The Espers were possibly orphans and government wards, as there were no mentions of their parents]].
* PinkIsFeminine: In the anime, Kiyoko is seen wearing pink clothes. She even sleeps in a pink bed, surrounded by various toys and dolls.
* ProperLady: Kiyoko had shades of this in the anime [[spoiler: in the Espers' flashback before she became the physically ill girl who was constantly confined to her bed]].
* PsychicChildren: [[spoiler: They, including their Akira, were part of a secret government project that sought to develop psychic powers in children so they can be used as military/political weapons]].
* PsychicLink: All three are mentally connected to Akira. [[spoiler:When Takashi is shot in the head by Nezumi, the surviving Espers scream in pain as they felt their friend dying in front of them. When Akira is later shot by Ryu toward the end of the manga, both Masaru and Kiyoko sense his pain and teleport to his side]].
* SacrificialLion: [[spoiler:Takashi, who gets shot in the head by Nezumi (who was aiming for Akira.) And right when he had found Akira and was happily going to him! This completely causes an horrified Akira to fall in despair and fully release his powers, '''taking almost all of Neo Tokyo with him'''.]]
* SleepyHead: Kiyoko, due to being physically weaker and bedridden from the drugs and experiments. Using her psychic powers tend to tire her out for long periods of time.
* SparedByTheAdaptation: [[spoiler:Takashi, in the movie.]]
* StrappedToAnOperatingTable: [[spoiler: Masaru found his friend Akira like this in the anime during the Espers' flashback. Then later, all of the Espers were subjected to this to develop their budding psychic powers]].
* SuperpowerMeltdown: In the manga, Takashi's psychic powers get out of control without the steady supply of drugs he needs to suppress them. It's possible that any Esper can have this happen to them if they stop taking drugs.
* {{Teleportation}}: Kiyoko has the ability to teleport. [[spoiler: This saves the main characters from being killed during Akira's destruction of Neo-Tokyo in the manga]].
* TrueCompanions: Due to being psychics, the Espers have a deeper understanding of each other than anyone else. [[spoiler: It's what allowed them to endure horrible experiments at the hands of the Japanese government pre-AKIRA]].
* TwoGuysAndAGirl: But since they're children, their relationship is platonic.
* WaifProphet: All of them, but especially Kiyoko who is bedridden and constantly hooked up to life support.

* YoungerThanTheyLook: Due to the drugs and the experiments, the Espers aged prematurely, so they look like they're between their late-40's and early-50's.

[[folder:Kaori]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kaori001.jpg]]
->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)

* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: In the manga, even if Tetsuo is cruel towards her, they allow each other to sleep on their laps [[spoiler:and Tetsuo loses control over his power after Kaori dies.]]
* BreakTheCutie: She's a sweet girl, and she gets put through some truly awful experiences [[spoiler:before ultimately being killed.]]
* CruelAndUnusualDeath: [[spoiler:In the movie. During Tetsuo's mutation he accidentally crushes her, ''and we see everything.'']]
* DiesDifferentlyInAdaptation: [[spoiler:In the manga, she's merely shot. In the film, she's crushed by Tetsuo when his mutation goes out of control.]]
* FanDisservice: She has at least a scene in both the anime and manga where she's naked, it involves her getting sexually assaulted by gang bikers and forced to be Tetsuo's sex slave.
* LivingEmotionalCrutch: In the manga, she is Tetsuo's closest confidante and the one he turns to when he needs to be consoled. When she [[spoiler:is shot to death in an attempted coup, Tetsuo's grief leads to his losing his grip on the power completely.]]
* LoveMartyr: Even if Tetsuo shouts some verbal insults at her and tries to force her into sex slavery, she stays loyal to him.
* MoralityChain: She's one of the few people Tetsuo cares for. [[spoiler:In the manga, he goes ''apeshit'' when she is killed.]]
* SexSlave: Tetsuo originally came across her when he had his flunkies going rounding up good-looking girls in his territory, so he could force them to participate in an orgy with him.
* ShrinkingViolet: Moreso in the anime, where she's really shy and doesn't talk to anyone besides Tetsuo.
* 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.
* TokenGoodTeammate: To the Great Tokyo Empire.

[[folder:Lady Miyako]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/miyakoanime001.jpg]]
->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)

* [[AFatherToHisMen A Mother To Her Followers]]: She deeply cares for her followers and anyone under her protection. [[spoiler:When Sakaki is mortally wounded by the Colonel's soldiers, Miyako senses her death and screams the girl's name. She grieves her loss for the rest of the manga]].
* BigGood: In the manga, she leads the group of survivors not under Tetsuo's rule, and is largely the figure the more sympathetic characters rally under in opposing him.
* BlindSeer: She possesses [[MySignificanceSenseIsTingling clairvoyance]], which is similar to Kiyoko's precognition, except it allows her to sense everything that happens around her in the present day and also compensates for her blindness.
* DemotedToExtra: In the film, she's just a religious zealot who only has three scenes before [[spoiler:being killed off]].
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: While probably coincidental, she seems to play a very similar role to Mother Abagail in ''Literature/TheStand''.
** Then again, the book does seem to have a decent following in Japan. Creator/NaokiUrasawa is also a fan.
* GambitPileup: Engaged in one with the military. Basically she can't directly expose the truth about their experiments because it would cost her the cult she built around herself and they can't expose her as a fraud without publicly acknowledging their own misdeeds, all while they both try to undermine each other behind the scenes.
* GodGuise[=/=]ScamReligion: A somewhat more benevolent example than most. She uses the powers she got from the government's experiments to convince people she's a MessianicArchetype in order to gain followers to help her bring down the sadistic military industrial complex that ruined her life. She does seem to genuinely care about her followers, doing all she can to help people after the city is destroyed and even seems to believe some of her own hype, as she considers her powers and those of the other psychics to be a manifestation of some greater mystical force that the military simply blundered into discovering.
* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler: She goes to battle a mutated Tetsuo with a couple of her most powerful followers so Kiyoko and Masaru can be protected, despite Tetsuo being way more powerful than all of them combined]].
* LettingHerHairDown: [[spoiler: Does this in the last volume as she prepares to battle a mutated Tetsuo]].
* MentorArchetype: Assists Kei in [[spoiler:honing her skills as a medium]].
* ParentalFavoritism: It is implied that although she loves all her followers, Sakaki has a special place in her heart. [[spoiler: When Sakaki is killed, Miyako spends the rest of the manga grieving her death]].
* ParentalSubstitute: Is possibly this to Mozu, Miki, and Sakaki, who were likely orphans taken in by her church.
* ProphetEyes: Has milky, butted eyes to visually represent her blindness. Also possesses clairvoyance, which allows her to sense present-day events as they happen around her.
* PsychicLink: [[spoiler: Turns out she had one with the Espers. She was able to sense Takashi's death after he was shot by Nezu, and later when Akira is shot by Ryu in the manga, she and the surviving Espers can sense it]].
* TeamMom
* TechnicalPacifist: Miyako and her empowered monks try to repel an invasion of the temple by Empire soldiers non-lethally.

[[folder:Sakaki, Mozu and Miki]]
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sakaki_akira_12_56_large.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:Sakaki]]
[[quoteright:130:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mozu_akira_32163.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:130:Mozu]]
* AloofDarkHairedGirl: Miki looks older than the other three girls and acts very aloof.
* KillItWithFire: Mozu tries to take out Takashi with this. It didn't work as he turned out to be more powerful than her.
* LeanAndMean: Miki is noticeably thinner than the other girls, but she's not really mean, as she has a close friendships with Mozu and Sakaki. She's just ruthless and very dedicated to bringing Akira to Lady Miyako.
* ParentalSubstitute: All three girls possibly see Lady Miyako as this, especially Sakaki. [[spoiler: When Sakaki is fatally shot by Colonel Shikishima's men, she imagines Miyako welcoming her with open arms before she dies.]]
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: [[spoiler:Sakaki]] goes absolutely apeshit when she sees [[spoiler:Takashi]] a while after [[spoiler:he kills Mozu in front of her.]]
-->'[[spoiler:'''Sakaki''']]: "YOU KILLED [[spoiler: MOZU]]! I'LL KILL YOU!"
* TrueCompanions: They see each other as such. [[spoiler:Miki calls out to Sakaki and Mozu when she's shot to death to cover their escape, and later Sakaki is '''horrified''' when Mozu dies.]]
* UndyingLoyalty: The three girls are totally devoted to their leaderess, Miyako, [[IOweYouMyLife who took them into her group and gave them something to live for]].

[[folder:Chiyoko]]
[[quoteright:289:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/chiyoko_001.jpg]]
* AdaptedOut: Sadly, she does not appear at all in the movie.
* BrawnHilda: However, she's not very ugly.
* MamaBear: Never EVER touch anyone in her protectorate. Like Kei. [[spoiler:Or the psychic children.]]
* VasquezAlwaysDies: [[spoiler: Averted. She's wounded and feverish for a large chunk of the story, but ultimately survives.]]

[[folder:Joker]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/joker001.jpg]]
* AdaptationalJerkass: Downplayed in the movie. Unlike the manga, Joker never goes through a HeelFaceTurn in the movie, largely due to his reduced role (he appears only in a single scene at the start, and he's last seen getting the hell out of Dodge when the fuzz shows up).
* AmbiguouslyBrown: He appears to be of African descent.
* DemotedToExtra: In TheMovie, we only see him in the very beginning.
* EnemyMine: He and Kaneda form an alliance to fight against Tetsuo's "empire."
* HeelFaceTurn: In the manga, he helps fight against Tetsuo.
* MonsterClown: Averted in the manga where he becomes pretty friendly, as well as a valuable ally in the battle against Tetsuo towards the end.
* ScaryBlackMan: Sort of. His face is pretty Asian-looking, but he has very dark skin.

[[folder:Nezu]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nezu001.jpg]]
->Voiced by: Hiroshi Otake (JP), Tony Mozdy (EN, Streamline dub), Ray Michaels (EN, Animaze dub), Victor Mares (LA, second dub)

* AnimalMotifs: The rat. His overbite and facial features are shaped similar to a rat's, and he displays [[YouDirtyRat treacherous behavior that a rat in fiction would display]]. Lady Miyako explicitly calls him a rat, but also refers to him as a "mouse" at one point.
* DemotedToExtra: The entire plot point involving him [[spoiler: killing Takashi]] is discarded and he's essentially just another corrupt politician that [[spoiler: the Colonel is after in the end]].
* {{Irony}}: [[spoiler:In the movie, he fatally shoots Ryu, but Ryu outlives him by about a minute thanks to a sudden heart attack.]]
* MeaningfulName: His name means "rat" in Japanese.
* TheMole: In the movie, Nezu is the anti-government group's spy in the Executive Council, but [[DoubleAgent he's perfectly willing to stab both sides in the back.]]
** DoubleReverseQuadrupleAgent: In the manga, he's allied to Lady Miyako and her aides in addition to his allegiances above, but the truth is he's playing all sides in order to grab power for himself, so when Akira is thrown into the mix he tries to kidnap the kid so he can use him for political leverage.
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: In the manga. [[spoiler: He tries to shoot and kill Akira but winds up accidentally shooting Takashi in the head, which causes Akira to have a ''massive'' FreakOut and destroy Neo Tokyo, reducing it to a post-apocalyptic wasteland ruled by two different factions.]]

[[folder:Kaisuke / "Kai"]]
[[quoteright:323:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kaisuke001.jpg]]
->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)

* ActionSurvivor: He manages to survive the entire manga, ''and'' in the movie, is one of the four main survivors. (The other three being Kaneda, Kei, and the Colonel) Perhaps most impressively he somehow survives Tetsuo's wrath after witnessing the murder of Yamagata.
* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: Sensitive Guy to Yamagata's Manly Man, and after Yamagata's demise, Sensitive Guy to Kaneda's Manly Man.
* SharpDressedMan: He's more cleanly dressed than his fellow Capsule gangsters, including wearing a tie with his outfit.
* ShorterMeansSmarter: He's perhaps the only gang member shorter than Tetsuo, but is no slouch on his bike and manages to pull out of some pretty dangerous scraps when shit hits the fan.

[[folder:Yamagata]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/yamagata001.jpg]]
->Voiced by: Masaaki Ōkura (JP), Tony Mozdy (EN, Streamline dub), Michael Lindsay (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)

* BackForTheFinale: His spirit appears driving alongside Kaneda as he rides off in the final chapter of the manga.
* BigGuy: The tallest and seemingly most muscular member of the Capsules, and [[BloodKnight usually the most eager to throw down]].
* CoolBike: This is pretty much a given; it may not be as impressive as Kaneda's but his lowrider still stands out among the rest in his gang's lineup. After Yamagata is killed, Kaneda destroys it as a final sendoff to his friend.
* KillHimAlready: In the Manga. Having seen the monster Tetsuo has become, Yamagata shouts at Kaneda to shoot Tetsuo as he crawls out of the warehouse. Kaneda can't bring himself to do it. Yamagata manages to get the gun but Tetsuo explodes his head first. Understanding that Tetsuo has changed, with the dead Yamagata still holding the gun, Kaneda uses it to shoot him.
* TheLancer: He's Kaneda's right hand man in the Capsule gang, and much more HotBlooded and aggressive than his leader.
* {{Malaproper}}: Has trouble with big words. He still uses them to try to look smart.
--> '''Yamagata:''' I can't control my indigestion!
* NothingIsScarier: In the movie, his death was never shown onscreen, and Kai did not explain how he died either. In the Manga, Tetsuo explodes his head when he tries to shoot him.
* PipePain: Weapon of choice.
* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: Manly Man to Kai's Sensitive Guy.
* VikingFuneral: Yamagata gets the bosozoku version of this in the animé, with Kaneda deliberately crashing his bike.
--> '''Kaneda:''' I'm gonna send Yamagata his wheels...

[[folder:Ryu]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ryu001.jpg]]
* DrowningMySorrows: In the manga, he does this to cope with the deaths of his friends.
* LibationForTheDead: Ryu pours out his flask for a fallen comrade at the scene of his death.
* LovableCoward: In the manga, he jokes that he'll be right behind you running into danger and just ahead of you running ''from'' it. This is probably just self deprecation, because he shows plenty of courage.
* 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]].
* UnwittingPawn: Pretty much anyone who follows him becomes this, [[spoiler: as he's working to fulfil Nezu's agenda]].

[[folder:Great Tokyo Empire Inhabitants]]
Members of Neo-Tokyo who either serve Akira either out of fear, patriotic fervor, or in the mistaken belief that Akira had saved them from the Neo-Tokyo explosion.

* DrugsAreBad: Let's just say that Tetsuo has killed a lot of people by forcing them to take the pills to induce psychic powers. Mostly it's the potency. At one point, it's stated that one grain of the pill has five times the potency of a bag of the variety that's sold on the street (the bag looks to have about 30 pills).
* EvilIsPetty: Tend to party to mass killings and suicidal attacks over petty acts of revenge.
* GeneralFailure: The sharp dressed man who acts as the empire's front an and viceroy. He goes behind Tetsuo's back to capture the psychic children. He often throws good men away in fights and blames others when things go wrong.
* MouthOfSauron: The sharp dressed man acts like this, speaking for Akira and Tetsuo. More literally, the farseer, the man covered in eyes, tracks all movement inside the empire's borders and announces to all within as to the presence and thoughts of intruders.
* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: Some members have tried to rape Kei. Though this seems to be happening every where.
** Tetsuo has girls kidnapped and has them take a weakened form of one of his pills. They have sex high out of their minds, but according to the sharp dressed man, most of them die from the pill.
* 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).
** At one point, Tetsuo has food served with a handful of pills thrown into the food. It's hinted that he is trying to either eliminate weak inhabitants while trying to get some psychics for his retinue out of it.
* TheBrute: The ape man psychic is barely coherent when he takes a pill. He uses straight brute force.
** To a lesser extent, the psychic with the glasses has little control of his power and, thus, is as much a danger to his comrades as to his enemies.
* UnskilledButStrong: What most of the psychics in the empire are. Their training is substandard and incomplete. They tend to be as dangerous to themselves and their allies as they are to their enemies. They are seen being overpowered by the weaker, but better trained psychics under Miyako's control.

* AdaptationalJerkass: Downplayed in the movie. Unlike the manga, Joker never goes through a HeelFaceTurn in the movie.
* AmbiguouslyBrown: He appears to be of african descent.