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1!![[center: [-[[Characters/TengenToppaGurrenLagann Main Character Index]] | '''Main Characters''' ([[Characters/TengenToppaGurrenLagannSimon Simon]]) | [[Characters/TengenToppaGurrenLagannMecha Mecha]] | [[Characters/TengenToppaGurrenLagannAntagonists Antagonists]] | [[Characters/TengenToppaGurrenLagannSecondaryCharacters Secondary Characters]]]]-]
2
3'''Unmarked spoilers ahead, read at your own risk!'''
4----
5[[foldercontrol]]
6
7[[folder:In General]]
8* LocationThemeNaming: Most of the main characters are subject to ThemeNaming based on words for relative location--for Simon, ''shimo'' means "below"; the ''kami'' in Kamina's name means "above"; "Yoko" means "side"; and Nia's name comes from "near".
9[[/folder]]
10
11[[folder:Simon the Digger]]
12!!Simon
13[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/c8003c7e_033a_4f5c_8c96_427ed365ebbe.png]]
14[[caption-width-right:250:[[labelnote:Click here to see him post-Time Skip.]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/e48c54e0_334a_4a64_a494_c0c148547402.png[[/labelnote]]]]
15[[caption-width-right:250:[[labelnote:Click here to see him as an old man.]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/qk5acce.png[[/labelnote]]]]
16!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/TetsuyaKakihara (JP), Creator/YuriLowenthal (EN)\
17'''Old Simon:''' Creator/TakayukiSugo (JP), Creator/TonyOliver (EN)
18
19->''"My drill is the drill that creates the HEAVENS!"''
20
21The main character of the series. Simon is initially a humble miner, digging out tunnels to expand his underground village. Among the many treasures he digs up along the way, he discovers a small mecha (later dubbed the "Lagann"), setting into motion a chain of events that would catapult Simon into the role of the savior of the universe. No kidding.
22-----
23->See [[Characters/TengenToppaGurrenLagannSimon Simon]]
24[[/folder]]
25
26[[folder:Kamina]]
27!!Kamina
28[[quoteright:225:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kamina_gurrenlagann.jpg]]
29!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/KatsuyukiKonishi (JP), Creator/KyleHebert (EN)
30
31->'''''"WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM?!"'''''
32
33Simon's "big brother", a big-mouthed teen who refuses to acknowledge the words "quit" or "surrender" in any form. Through sheer bullheadedness, he manages to steal a mecha of his own (the Gurren) and use it and Simon's Lagann to challenge the rule of the oppressive Beastmen. [[DecoyProtagonist Kamina is tragically killed early in the series,]] but not before kick-starting a revolution and inspiring Simon and all of those around him to realize their true potential.
34-----
35
36* TheAce: He [[InvokedTrope invokes this trope]] and intentionally cultivates this sort of image when in public to inspire Simon and the rest of his allies, even though he's far more restrained in private and admits he's as dependent on Simon as Simon is on him. TheWorfEffect aside it works out fairly well for him, all things considered, until his untimely death.
37* ActionDad: In the HighSchoolAU. Kamina is the closest thing to this for Simon in that verse, much to [[IJustWantToBeNormal Simon's]] and [[MamaBear Yoko's]] chagrin.
38* AllLovingHero: A constant inspiration to others? Check. Never seems to express genuine rage even during combat? Check. Group starts to fall apart when he's gone? Yep.
39* AmazonChaser: He takes an interest in Yoko after seeing her shooting her high powered rifle at a Gunmen.
40* BackFromTheDead:
41** After being killed by Thymilph, he temporarily came back to life to save the day.
42** In Episode 26, [[spoiler: he reappears to save Simon from the LotusEaterMachine and appears before Yoko as well.]]
43* BadassBoast:
44-->"I'm going to tell you something important now, so you better dig the wax out of those huge ears of yours, and listen close! The reputation of Team Gurren echoes far and wide... When they talk about its bad ass leader. The man of indomitable spirit and masculinity... They're talking about '''me!''' ''The Mighty Kamina!''"
45* BadassCape: One taken from his father's skeleton. One part flies off from it, and Simon takes it, using it as a bandanna that he wears around his arm.
46* BadassNormal: Has no access to the signature Spiral Power of the series. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] by the fact that Spiral Power runs on being able to believe in one's self which is something Kamina was never able to do, despite his bravado. WordOfGod stated that, if it weren't for Yoko interfering, he would've won the fight against the Gunmen in episode 1.
47* BashBrothers: With Simon. Kamina could never accomplish anything without Simon's hard work and Spiral Energy, but Simon needed Kamina's bravado and encouragement before he learned to believe in himself.
48* BelligerentSexualTension: With Yoko. They're at each other's throats for most of their relationship, but both felt obviously attracted to each other. Too bad Kamina dies shortly after his first and only kiss with Yoko.
49* TheBerserker: His battle strategy is (almost) always AttackAttackAttack. ''Almost.''
50* BeneathTheMask: It's later revealed that he uses the bravado to toughen up Simon, because he knows that Simon has much more potential than him.
51* BigBrotherInstinct: He's very protective of his younger brother Simon.
52->''"[[CallingYourAttacks HANDS OFF MY BELOVED LITTLE BROTHER PUNCH!!!]]"''
53* BigBrotherMentor: To Simon. While Kamina is loud, boisterous, and arrogant, he's also extremely supportive of Simon. It's Kamina that encourages Simon to "believe in the me that believes in you" and finally find the courage to be a hero.
54* BigEater: If there is ever a huge dinner to be had, expect him and Simon to be happily shoveling down fourth and fifth helpings. He even briefly sports a BalloonBelly in episode 6 thanks to this trope. "A man's stomach knows no limit!"
55* BigGood: TheLeader of the forces of good and the one the enemies are afraid of and focus their plans on. Viral didn't know [[TheHero Simon]] ''existed'' until the attack on Teppelin. Even after his death, his presence is definitely felt and he remains a huge influence on Team Dai-Gurren, making him a GreaterScopeParagon.
56* {{BFS}}: Casually snatches his village chief's ''nodachi'' katana as a weapon of his own. He likes to draw it from its sheath while delivering a speech; in some scenes, the sword will actually be longer as he draws it [[RuleOfCool for no better reason than to lend more dramatic emphasis to his words.]] It ends up being Kamina's grave marker alongside his cape after he dies.
57* BoisterousBruiser: Large, loud and aggressive.
58* BreakoutCharacter: Easily ''the'' most popular and iconic character from the series despite only serving as the DecoyProtagonist and spending most of the series as a PosthumousCharacter.
59* BrokenAce: He may seem to be the best at everything, but it's the contributions of others around him, aka Simon and Kittan, that allows him to success. He sings Simon's praises but other people are blinded by his acts to think he's the one doing it. He later admits he's more troubled about what to do then he lets on, questions himself often, and he is shaken by what happens to his dad. All of these show themselves in his conversation's with Yoko where he reveals Simon moved him forward past these.
60* CallingYourAttacks: Sets the standard for every other member of Team Dai-Gurren.
61* CharacterCatchphrase: For starters we have:
62-->"Yours is the drill that will pierce the heavens!"
63-->"WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM?"
64-->"Kick logic out the window and [[BeyondTheImpossible do the impossible]]. That's how Team Gurren rolls."
65-->"Believe in the me that believes in you."
66* CharacterizationMarchesOn: In the beginning of the series, Kamina was kind of a dick. Often insulting or manhandling his friends and other people he encountered. While his positive traits were there, they were in conflict with his jerky behavior. He mellows out as the show goes on and then after his death, those aspects of his personality were forgotten. From then on, Kamina was held up as a paragon of virtue, confidence and the team's can-do attitude.
67* ChickMagnet: Kittan's sisters fall for him immediately. All three of them. [[spoiler: And then Yoko herself gives him a very affectionate kiss.]]
68* TheChooserOfTheOne: He's well aware that Simon is TheHero of the story, and does everything he can to get his little brother to believe in himself.
69* TheCloudcuckoolanderWasRight: His worldview would be... odd in any other show. However, this is a show that literally runs on pure awesome and manliness, so the universe works exactly how he thinks it does.
70** And the ultimate expression of it: his absolute faith in Simon. Pretty much everyone they meet sees in Simon a ClassicalAntiHero: cowardly, full of self-doubt and a burden. Kamina, from the beginning, sees the person he most loves in the world and who will one day surpass him and touch greatness. It's almost like the universe itself bends to Kamina's will to prove HOW ABSOLUTELY RIGHT he is about Simon.
71* CombatPragmatist: Using a (barely) live animal to distract Viral before attempting to shoot him, surprise attacking with a hidden arrowhead between his knuckles, setting Simon up to attack an enemy from behind, and raining boulders from high ground. The man wasn't shy about attacking from the front ''or'' the back.
72* CoolBigBro:
73** To Simon -- Acting as an encouraging figure who praises Simon for his actions.
74** Also to Nia in the HighschoolAU. Complete with LargeHam quotes from their favorite manly magazine.
75* CoolKidAndLoserFriendship: The cool to Simon's loser. At the start of the series, Kamina is a huge troublemaker and badass, while Simon is a submissive nobody. It's thanks to Kamina's influence that Simon slowly sheds his "loser" status.
76* CoolShades: His most trademark item -- a pair of pointed, red shades.
77* CrutchCharacter: In both the show and ''VideoGame/{{Super Robot Wars Z}}2: Hakai-Hen''. Kamina's massive stats are crucial to keeping Gurren Lagann alive early game.
78* DeadpanSnarker: He is capable of making sarcastic and witty remarks without hamming up as well, like in the first episode:
79-->"Simon, is this the humongous face you were talking about?"
80* DeadPersonConversation: [[spoiler:Near the end of the series, Kamina appears to all the members of the Gurren Brigade and gives them the will to escape from the LotusEaterMachine.]]
81* DeadStarWalking: Big name voice actor, and doesn't survive past the eighth episode.
82* DecompositeCharacter: ''Gurren Lagann'''s [[invoked]]SpiritualSuccessor, ''Anime/KillLaKill'', has two characters, Mako Mankanshoku and Aikuro Mikisugi, who took some of Kamina's character traits. Mako took the role of the loudmouthed best friend and moral support of the protagonist, and Mikisugi took the role of the blue-haired [[TheMentor mentor]] who introduces the protagonist to the real meat of the story.
83* DeconstructedCharacterArchetype: Kamina is a {{deconstruction}} of the StockShonenHero. His bravado is just an act that he uses to inspire his TrueCompanions to greatness, as well as a coping mechanism to deal with his own fear during life-threatening situations. Also, his dumber moments have serious consequences - every time he pulls a HotBlooded stunt, someone (usually Simon or Yoko) tells him that he's risking his life and tries to talk him out of it. All of this leads to him dying in one of the series' most heart-wrenching moments. [[{{Reconstruction}} However]], the positive effect he has on everyone around him is hard to overstate since everything that happens in the series can be traced back to his goal of inspiring humanity to overthrow Lordgenome's oppression.
84* DecoyProtagonist: He seems like the protagonist (or at least the equal lead with Simon) until he dies in episode 8. The awesome part, though? Kamina always knew he was the decoy protagonist. He always put all his faith and hope in Simon. He was [[TheCloudcuckoolanderWasRight absolutely right to do so]].
85* {{Delinquents}}: Was one in Giha. A punk who got beat on by the chief for breaking rules.
86* {{Determinator}}: After getting '''killed''', he got back up, delivered a RousingSpeech and then avenged ''his own death'' before he finally went to rest. And even after that, his spirit/memory returned to knock the Anti-Spiral's plans out of kilter.
87* {{Deuteragonist}}: Goes along with being the DecoyProtagonist. He gets as much or more screen time than Simon, and drives the early plot.
88* DisappearedDad: His father once went into the surface and never came back. Kamina became a WellDoneSonGuy because of it. [[spoiler:And in the second episode, [[TearJerker he finds his old man's skeleton]].]]
89* DyingMomentOfAwesome: Coming BackFromTheDead, giving one last RousingSpeech, and making the debut of the series' SignatureMove on the one who killed him before being KilledOffForReal definitely counts.
90* DynamicEntry: Rather fond of these. And if his entry isn't dynamic enough, he invokes it. In the first episode, when the gunman shows up, Kamina promptly draws his sword and gives a BadassBoast just to make sure he gets it.
91* {{Egopolis}}: Averted. Kamina City is named after his memory long after he dies.
92* {{Expy}}: Of ''Manga/GetterRobo'''s Ryoma Nagare, as his bravado is always resolute, even in the face of overwhelming odds, and his relationship with his father is a complicated one.
93* ExtremeOmnivore: He can apparently stand Nia's cooking in the HighSchoolAU.
94* TheFace: While not the protagonist-in-chief, Kamina's the cast member that brings Dai-Gurren together as a team, inspires them to hijack their own mecha (after his example), and establishes the ideals that the group fights for all the way into the end of the series. After his death, [[LosingTheTeamSpirit the group becomes far more fractured and morose]]... at least until Simon recovers in Episode 11.
95* FaceDeathWithDignity: He doesn't seem the slightest bit bothered whilst dying from blood loss during his final battle.
96* FakeUltimateHero: Played straight and subverted. Whilst he ''is'' a passionate hero who wants to liberate humanity, by his own admission to Yoko, he's never able to accomplish anything without help from Simon. In the end, he died way before the final fight. He's good enough to hang a lampshade on it, as he constantly sings Simon's praises and at the same time, it was thanks to his courage and belief that the heroes prevailed at the end and he was courageous and inspirational to his dying breath.
97* FamedInStory: He's constantly mentioned as a paragon of heroism, up to and including the final battle.
98* FamilyOfChoice: He and Simon aren't related, but treat each other like brothers regardless.
99* FearlessFool: Subverted upon revealing his HiddenDepths, but this doesn't stop him from being too brave for his own good.
100* FinalSpeech: Even after he's technically already dead, he gives Simon a speech to believe in himself. It's only after killing his opponent with the Giga Drill Break that he actually expires.
101* ForegoneConclusion: In the ActionPrologue, the person leading has the same voice actor as Simon, so clearly Kamina wasn't going to be TheHero forever. He bites the dust in episode 8.
102* FountainOfMemes: In RealLife ''and'' in-universe; Team (Dai-)Gurren's name(s), catchphrases, flag, and overall style - not to mention every set of ArcWords - all originated from him.
103* FriendToAllChildren: It helps that he acts like one of them.
104* GangstaStyle: Played for laughs during the first GrandTheftPrototype of the series: holds his pistol ''upside down'' AND ''whacks the same to open the Gunmen's hatch doors.''
105* GetAHoldOfYourselfMan: He delivers Simon a good punch in the face to make him concentrate in battle and forget about his recent heartbreak. Unfortunately, having to snap Simon out of it lead to Kamina being fatally wounded.
106-->''LET'S SEE YOU GRIT THOSE TEETH!''
107* AGoodWayToDie: The smile on his face is proof enough. Kamina left the Dai-Gurren brigade in the hands of his beloved brother. This was a good thing.
108* GoOutWithASmile: He dies with a satisfied smile on his face.
109* GratuitousEnglish: ORE-WO-DARE-DA-TO-OMOTTE-YAGARU-KI~CK!!
110* GuileHero: In many ways, he doesn't outfight the enemy, but his confidence is the thing that inspires Simon to kick the enemy's ass.
111* HandsomeLech: In the first episode, he cannot stop hitting on Yoko...until he realizes she's a ''pit chick.'' Then he starts up again the moment Yoko covers up her gorgeous features... and ''then'' decides that he wants to gaze at her [[DoubleEntendre twin peaks]] in episode six.
112* TheHeart: A really weird, boisterous example of it, but one nonetheless. Kamina is always being inspirational and supportive of his allies, ''especially'' Simon, he is the glue that holds the Dai-Gurren Brigade together. His death is the Dai-Gurren Brigade's first true tragedy and moment of lost hope... [[HesBack but then Simon picks up where his brother left off]].
113* TheHero: Fits everything from HeroicSpirit to noble goal to wearing red to winning battles.
114* TheHeroDies: Kamina never comes back, but Simon carries on his legacy. And even then, [[spoiler:he manages to show up from Heaven itself to coach Simon on to the FinalBattle!]]
115* HeroesPreferSwords: He wields a [[KatanasAreJustBetter nodachi]]. Interestingly, it's not a weapon he gained out of virtue or strength, or heritage; he basically stole it from the village leader in the middle of the confusion in episode 1.
116* HiddenDepths: At face value, it's easy to see Kamina as an arrogant, completely fearless [[TheBerserker Berserker]] ...until it's revealed that Kamina is always at LEAST ''as'' scared as anyone else during a fight, and his "invincible superhero" persona is basically a mask he puts on so that Simon won't be afraid. He's only ever able to act tough because of his deep faith in Simon, and his knowledge that his "blood brother" will always pull through in the end. He also mentions that he "wants kids to be able to look up at the sky without a care in the world" -- he's not interested in revolution for the sheer hot-blooded thrill of it, but genuinely wants to make the world a safe and happy place to live in, and will do whatever it takes to achieve that.
117* HopeBringer: Kamina is the one who inspires humanity to fight against the Beastmen for their freedom and create the first real LaResistance.
118* HotBlooded: Always doing ''something'' and often that something is outrageous.
119* HumongousMecha: [[spoiler: When he's reincarnated as the Super Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. Humongous is an understatement, as this form dwarfs galaxies. Pure awesome indeed.]]
120* {{Hunk}}: His well-built, constantly exposed body seems to be deliberately designed to contrast with Simon's childlike look.
121* HypocriticalHumor: He stops hitting on Yoko when he learns she was born underground, even though he was as well.
122* IdiotHero: Even despite the HiddenDepths, he's still a king-sized idiot. Of particular note is his "plan" to combine Gurren and Lagann (which worked, but not in the way he intended ''at all''), and the HotSpringsEpisode, where he spends the entire time trying to see the girls naked (without saving them first).
123* ImageSong: "Break Through The Dream" (shared with Simon)
124* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: Thymilph rams his Alkai Blade through Guren's armor plating, goring Kamina ''extremely'' deep into the left side of his chest and even heart. This injury causes so much blood loss and internal damage, it turns fatal. By far the series' most divine {{Tearjerker}}. [[{{Determinator}} Not that it stops him]] [[DyingMomentOfAwesome from avenging his own death.]]
125* IndyPloy: He makes up his battle plans on the fly, and ''never'' tells his allies what he's thinking. There's one notable exception; see UnspokenPlanGuarantee.
126* InsistentTerminology: Insists that members of Team Gurren (especially Simon) call him [[UsefulNotes/JapaneseSiblingTerminology "Aniki"]], or "Bro" in the dub.
127* InspirationalMartyr: Kamina dies as his team is attempting to capture the Dai-Gurran. Their morale is crushed, so he comes BackFromTheDead to inspire his team to continue fighting. His dream of all children being able to look up without fear is the dream that drives everyone to save humanity. After his death, flashbacks and {{Dead Person Conversation}}s allow him to remain an inspiration to his team.
128* InTheNameOfTheMoon: VERY fond of giving speeches before, during, and after battle.
129* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Rough and loudmouthed on the surface, but he loves his friends and his dream is to make life better for humans.
130* JugglingLoadedGuns: He almost shoots his own genitals off while attempting to use a gun. Granted, the poor guy had never seen a handgun before in his life--and inadvertently learned how to pistol-whip a Gunmen's door open.
131* JumpedAtTheCall: When a Gunmen dropped into Giha Village, he was the only person not running in terror.
132* LargeAndInCharge: He's not ''actually'' the tallest member of the Great Gurren Brigade, but still tall for his age, as well as very muscular and generally quite physically imposing.
133* LargeHam: He's an extremely passionate person who is totally uncompromising in how he views the world, leading to lots of heroic pronouncements.
134* TheLeader: He's so charismatic he builds a personality cult with minimum effort.
135* LeeroyJenkins: {{Lampshaded}} by the man himself when he admits he'd be dead if it wasn't for Simon's calming influence. [[DecoyProtagonist He's right.]]
136* LanternJawOfJustice: With all the charisma and heroism that comes with it.
137* LikeAnOldMarriedCouple: Since Yoko's backstory in the HighSchoolAU manga was changed to being ChildhoodFriends with him and Simon, the two have clearly different ways on how Simon should be influenced as he grows up.
138* MadeOfIron: He's able to survive 20+ metre drops and launch himself onto the deck of a ship at high velocity without any broken bones or bruises. Even after sustaining fatal wounds, he's still able to hold a lengthy conversation and pilot a mech with a gaping hole in his chest.
139* MagneticHero: A strange example. While it was Kittan that actually recruited everyone, it was Kamina who inspired him to do so and the others to join.
140* ManicPixieDreamGuy: Acts like one for his shy bro Simon. He's zany, wacky, ballsy, and encourages Simon toward the CallToAdventure, setting the series into motion. Sadly, he ends up dying in order to move the plot along. Simon is left in a depressive state until he meets Nia.
141* ManlyMan:
142** A tall, muscular and shirtless man who wields a sword in a revolution. ''And'' a full-throttle badass who faces off against gigantic Gunmen without batting an eyelash! ''And'' with the most extreme HotBlooded attitude to boot! Kamina is a true example for all manly men.
143** In the HighSchoolAU manga, Kamina gets all his ideas for him and Simon from Soul Of A Man magazine which features a ripped sailor on its cover. Humorously, Nia turns out to be a huge fan of this magazine as well.
144* ManlyTears: He breaks down in tears when he finds his father's skeleton in the desert.
145* TheMcCoy: Of the initial three, the one relying most on emotion and guts.
146* MeaningfulName: "Kami" means "god". [[spoiler:And guess who the Super Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (the most powerful... machine? entity? in the show, short of the [[RealityWarper literally godlike]] Super Granzeboma) looks like?]]
147* MentorOccupationalHazard: He serves as Simon's BigBrotherMentor until he dies.
148* MessianicArchetype: With a foot firmly in the old meaning of Messiah, AProtagonistShallLeadThem, a human who would inspire, unite its people, teach them and after he dies, leaves an ever lasting legacy, not a [[InvincibleHero super badass]]. He does this to the T, to the point that its a fact that without him, the entire Team Gurren would have been [[spoiler: doomed to the same path of destruction and stagnation as countless others (Including [[FallenHero LordGenome]] and Kamina's own father)]]. Plus, [[spoiler:he returns from the dead to save them all from the LotusEaterMachine]]. Appropriately, the word "kami", from his name, means god.
149* MilesToGoBeforeISleep: Despite being mortally wounded, he refuses to die until Simon is safe and in control of Dai-Gunzan. The second that Thymilph has been defeated, he says a quick goodbye and drops dead from blood loss.
150* MrFanservice: Rippling muscles, shirtless at all times, outrageously handsome... he's the pinnacle of it! That sound you hear when ever he walks on screen? It's the horde of fangirls ([[EvenTheGuysWantHim and boys]]). He also wears a pretty clingy speedo in the HighSchoolAU during the beach chapter.
151* MutualKill: A delayed reaction with Thymilph, thanks to a fatal but not immediately fatal wound.
152* NoIndoorVoice: [[WorldOfHam Like nearly everyone else in the series]], but he takes the cake. You know all those (many) catchphrases? He shouts ''all'' of them.
153* NormallyIWouldBeDeadNow: He came back to life long enough to kill a general and give final words to Simon.
154* NotTooDeadToSaveTheDay: His spirit pulls Simon back from the DespairEventHorizon and allows him to defeat the Anti-Spirals.
155* ObiWanMoment:
156-->"Listen Simon, never forget. Just believe in yourself. Not in the Simon that I believe in... Not in the Kamina that you believe in... Have faith in the Simon, who believes in you..."
157* OnlySaneMan: Inverted. He's the only member of Team Gurren obviously lacking in sanity, but also the only one who believes in Simon's abilities for a long time. And yet... Kamina's sane, alright; he just ''ignores'' fear.
158* PaperTiger: A rare heroic example. He talks a big game, is incredibly imposing-looking and is revered as an InvincibleHero by everyone around him. In reality, while he ''is'' probably humanity's strongest fighter during the earliest parts of the series, he's barely an ant when compared to the beast men's top brass, and most of his biggest victories are the result of Simon's limitless spiral energy saving the day at the last minute. Despite this, the unbelievable amount of hype he surrounds himself with is critical to inspiring the rest of humanity to gain the courage to join his cause and rise up against the beast men.
159* ParentalSubstitute: The HighSchoolAU manga shows that him and Yoko have clearly different ideas of how Simon should be influenced, with Kamina driving Simon to be manly and badass.
160* PosthumousCharacter: He's mentioned in almost every episode after his death, and appears in several flashbacks and dream sequences.
161* PostVictoryCollapse: The dying kind. He seems to be his usual self after he's ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice, but he can only last so long before he dies.
162* PresentAbsence: Gets killed off only eight episodes in, but everything else accomplished in the rest of the series is largely accomplished thanks to the fighting spirit he inspired in the rest of the main characters.
163* RebuiltPedestal: Kamina acted as a LivingEmotionalCrutch of sorts towards Simon, but after he dies Simon realizes the meaning of his words and truly takes them to heart.
164* RedEyesTakeWarning: A variation. He's ''far'' from evil, but he can definitely be dangerous -- furthermore, because of his hot-headed, reckless personality, fire is both a recurring motif in his characterization (see his flame-decorated BadassCape for one of many examples) and a [[StuffBlowingUp common result]] of [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill his actions]]; red is a colour traditionally associated with fire. His eye colour also serves to underline his RedOniBlueOni dynamic with Simon.
165* RedOniBlueOni: The red to Simon's blue -- Kamina is red-clad, red-eyed and tan where Simon is blue-clad, blue-eyed and pale, and is a big dreamer who specializes in encouraging people and cheering them up, and is reckless, outgoing and not terribly bright, where Simon is a practical hard worker who is relatively sensible, fairly shy, and intelligent.
166* RousingSpeech: He's a ''master'' of this trope. It's his role in the team to inspire others with manly words. All the heavy lifting is done by Simon.
167* SacrificialLion: Part and parcel of his role as DecoyProtagonist is a plot critical death scene.
168* {{Sarashi}}: [[WalkingShirtlessScene The most upper clothing the man ever wears.]] Except [[spoiler: that one time in the LotusEaterMachine, but that was a fake.]]
169* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: Manly Man to Simon's Sensitive Guy.
170* ShonenHair: He has the spiky hair of the typical StockShonenHero.
171* SmarterThanYouLook: He's smarter than you might guess, despite being a HotBlooded IdiotHero. Almost every time he went into battle he had a plan (Well, unless you count his CombiningMecha idea. [[CrazyEnoughToWork It really shouldn't have worked, but it just did.)]] and it probably takes a certain amount of brainpower to come up with and remember all the {{Rousing Speech}}es.
172* SorryToInterrupt: Catches Simon with his face in Yoko's breasts and Nia on his side in the beginning of the second chapter in the HighSchoolAU. Kamina thinks Simon is having a threesome and congratulates him on his manliness before storming off.
173* SparedByTheAdaptation: In the HighSchoolAU manga he doesn't die.
174* StealthMentor: A lot of his IdiotHero moments are really attempts to get Simon to man up.
175* StepfordSmiler: It is eventually revealed after his death, in a flashback to a conversation he had with Yoko, that he's as scared as everyone else, but he can talk a big game because he can always count on Simon to back it up.
176* StockShonenHero: He's boisterous, HotBlooded, a [[FearlessFool fearless]] IdiotHero and a {{Determinator}} who never lets anything keep him down for long. He might be an idiot, but his fighting spirit and charisma are just so great that he's able to inspire even the timid Simon to accomplish great feats and almost single-handedly set the foundations for Team Dai-Gurren. He also has the typical spiky ShonenHair that goes with the trope and is a BigEater.
177* TakeAMomentToCatchYourDeath: He breaks Simon out of a neurotic crisis. Breathes. Gets hit by an energy blast, being fatally wounded.
178* TakeUpMySword: Kamina spends his last moments telling Simon how awesome he is, before the two combine one last time to finish the first of the Four Generals. Ironically, the figurative meaning of this trope goes into full effect, but the literal meaning is [[InvertedTrope Inverted]]: Kamina's actual sword is used to mark his grave.
179* TestosteronePoisoning: He tries to take on a HumongousMecha with only a sword [[note]][[WordOfGod A fight that he would have won]][[/note]] and often needs to be saved from his own actions.
180* ThereWasADoor: In the HighSchoolAU manga, Kamina just loves to burst into Simon's apartment through the window, floor and/or wall instead of simply using the door.
181* ThisIsADrill: Although this is usually Simon's territory, Kamina uses drills quite often when combined with Lagann. In fact, Kamina uses his last moments to invent Gurren Lagann's finishing move, the Giga Drill Break.
182* AThreesomeIsHot: He thinks Simon is having a threesome in the HighSchoolAU after storming into his room. He proceeds to congratulate him before running off.
183* TookALevelInBadass: He may have already been awesome, but remember how he got his ass kicked the first time he tried to face Viral with just the Gurren? The second time they fight without Simon and the Lagann getting involved, though, he's able to easily hold his own.
184-->'''Viral:''' "What the? How did he get so good so fast?"
185* ToxicFriendInfluence: Yoko in the HighSchoolAU accuses Kamina of being this to Simon, with his antics sorta backing up such a conclusion.
186* TragicHero: His dad dies and then so does he. Even worse, following his father's fearless, HotBlooded attitude towards life is what gets him killed.
187* TragicKeepsake: After burying the skeleton of his dead father, Kamina holds onto the cape and wears it so that a part of his dad can travel the world with him and fufill his dream in spirit. Tragically, Kamina himself dies and the cape becomes part of a grave marker, tied around his ''nodachi'' stabbed into the ground.
188* TransformationNameAnnouncement: VERY fond of announcing himself.
189* TriangleShades: Practically the TropeCodifier in anime. They're also [[MemeticMutation photoshopped onto everyone]].
190* {{Ubermensch}}: A charasmatic and passionate man who challenges conventional ways of thinking and gathers followers.
191* TheUnchosenOne: Fully aware that while humanity needs a hero, he is ''not'' that man. He's fine with it, and devotes his time to making humanity's hero realize his worth.
192* UndyingLoyalty: There is no word to describe just how much [[BigBrotherInstinct Kamina loves his little brother Simon]]. Kamina loves Simon more than Simon loves himself. From the very first time they're on screen in the series, Kamina does absolutely nothing but praise, encourage and support Simon, constantly talking to everyone about Simon's bravery and infinite potential. More than his badassery, more than his [[HotBlood hot-bloodedness]], more than his [[IdiotHero his lack of foresight]], more than [[TheParagon his inspirational ability]], Kamina's love for Simon is his defining trait. Practically everyone in the series thinks Kamina's crazy to put so much faith in Simon, [[TheCloudcuckoolanderWasRight but time proves that Kamina was ABSOLUTELY RIGHT]].
193** It's to the point that Kamina comes back to help Simon and the Dai-Gurren Brigade escape the [[LotusEaterMachine Anti-Spiral Labyrinth]]. Yes, Kamina's so goddamn loyal to Simon that he doesn't abandon him '''even when he's dead'''. His body may be gone, BUT HIS LOYALTY IS NOT.
194* TheUnfettered: There really isn't anything he ''won't'' do, except give up or desert his friends--Leeron excluded.
195* UnspokenPlanGuarantee: His secret plan to combine Gurren & Lagann worked better than anyone could have expected. His meticulously-detailed plan to steal Dai-Gunzan wound up getting him killed. This was his one time flying solo, without Simon watching his back. And he pulls a LeeroyJenkins to get to Simon and give him a fist-sized dose of encouragement. Seriously, you couldn't have given the inspirational speech via the radio? Sure, it lacks style points, but it helps keep you alive.
196* WalkingShirtlessScene: About literally 100% of the time.
197* WalkingSpoiler: Kamina is not the main character of the series. By the end of episode 8, he's dead.
198* WeakButSkilled: While Kamina was not a bad fighter, he was far beneath the level of the generals and the strongest warriors of the series. Also, he possessed the lowest level of Spiral power of the entire Team but he supplied himself with sound strategy, his allies help and pure raw determination. However, Kamina still ranks above Viral, who has ''no'' Spiral Power at all.
199* WellDoneSonGuy: As a child, Kamina was too scared to go to the surface with his father, and the regret he felt over this led to him becoming a HotBlooded {{Determinator}}.
200* WhatBeautifulEyes: His pretty ''eyelashes'', specifically, always feature prominently both in depictions of him and in the Black Siblings' gushing about him.
201* TheWorfEffect: He's a strange use of this trope. His fighting skill is inversely proportional to his oratory skills; he gets on the losing end of a fight, and then inspires Simon to turn the tables. He's fully aware of this, and it is why he tries to inspire Simon. In other words, he's not a typical case where he losses a fight to prove the villain's danger level, but more like training wheels for real hero.
202* WorthyOpponent: To Viral (and Thymilph, to a lesser extent). To the point that, when Viral hears that Kamina's dead, he actually gets [[VillainousBSOD briefly shell-shocked]].
203* WrongGenreSavvy: He fails to recognize the GenreShift that came with Thymilph and the Dai-Gunzan's entrance. When the show's tone suddenly became DarkerAndEdgier, jumping out of the Gurren during the biggest battle to yet occur in the series was a situation that [[HotBlooded hot blood]] couldn't save him from.
204[[/folder]]
205
206[[folder:Yoko Littner]]
207[[quoteright:225:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/yoko_gurrenlagann.jpg]]
208[[caption-width-right:270:[[labelnote:Click here to see her post-Time Skip.]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/yoko_adult.png[[/labelnote]]]]
209
210->Voiced by: Creator/MarinaInoue (JP), Creator/MichelleRuff (EN)
211
212->''"It can be a real pain being as tough as I am!"''
213
214Bursting onto the scene in the first episode, Yoko Littner fills out the role of central female in the series. She hauls around a huge sniper rifle that can take down a HumongousMecha in one shot, and dresses in a...er...[[{{Stripperiffic}} interesting]] fashion. In spite of her apparent designation as walking fanservice, she gets some pretty good development as a character as well, going from a FieryRedhead {{Tsundere}} to a strong, cheerful CoolBigSis.
215-----
216* ActionDressRip: While posing as Yomako, one of the kids gets stuck in a tree. To save him, Yoko ''shreds'' her dress with a crisp ''RIP'' and scales up the tree with the freedom to stretch her legs. However, Yoko was well-prepared and had another one ready to wear the next day.
217* ActionGirl: To an awesome extent. She's the only member of the team who doesn't ''need'' a giant robot to murderlate giant robots.
218* AgeInappropriateDress: When you consider she's still a teenager at the first half of the series, her {{Stripperific}} outfit seems more than a bit outlandish. Yoko tries to [[JustifiedTrope justify]] it by claiming it allows her to move quicker.
219* BadassAdorable: She's a kind, levelheaded and very cute teenage girl/young woman who can go toe-to-toe with Gunmen without having to pilot one of her own, even [[CurbStompBattle curb-stomping]] two of them during her stint as a teacher.
220* BadassCape: During the assault on the Anti-Spiral she wears a cape, much like Simon does and like Kamina used to. [[MsFanservice Interestingly]], her cape is made in such a way as to showcase both [[SexyBacklessOutfit her back]] and her nice, ahem, posterior.
221* BadassTeacher: In fact so badass she saves one of her students from two ganmen using only a hoverbike and her sniper rifle, while giving them one hell of a scorning. [[spoiler:In the DistantFinale, it's revealed she went back to the island to work as a teacher.]]
222* BarelyThereSwimwear: Inverted; the crew is disappointed to find that her swimwear actually covers ''more'' than her usual outfit.
223* BelligerentSexualTension: For the first few episodes, Yoko and Kamina are constantly at each other's throats until their first and only kiss.
224%%* {{BFG}}: [[spoiler:''Sniper'' {{BFG}}s.]]
225* BigEater: Not to the same degree as Kamina or Simon, but she eats more than she looks like she does to be able to carry her rifle and be active in combat. Dayakka looks at a normal meal for her and assumes she's eating herself sick.
226* BoobBasedGag: Her boobs are a source of humor, mostly when Boota sneaks in between them.
227* BuxomBeautyStandard: Simon, Kamina and Kittan find her attractive because of her impressive breasts. Her cup size seems to have grown in the HighSchoolAU manga.
228* CartwrightCurse: The two guys she kisses kick the bucket soon after. [[JustifiedTrope Though to be fair]], Kamina more than once said "[[HarsherInHindsight if it weren't for Simon, I'd be long dead by now]]", while [[spoiler:Kittan]] kissed her ''knowing'' beforehand that he would die, and even apologizes for that. [[spoiler: Although Kamina lives in the HighSchoolAU even after they've kissed.]] So the two guys really only had themselves to blame, not destiny.
229* ChestBlaster: [[spoiler:The missiles come complete with ''movable jaws'', to boot.]]
230* ChildhoodFriends: Her backstory is changed in the HighSchoolAU to be this with Simon along with Kamina.
231* ClarkKenting: As Yomako, she wears a pair of glasses (much like the TropeNamer) and wears her hair down.
232* ClingyJealousGirl: Was hesitant about Nia due to her getting close to Simon. The two quickly became good friends however.
233* CombatHaircomb: She uses two needles that serve as her hairpins to stab Adiane's scorpion tail.
234* CoolBigSis: To Simon and all the other children, in a sense. Simon interprets it as romantic love, to catastrophic consequences.
235* DecompositeCharacter: In a SpiritualAntithesis sense, both Yoko and Viral embody traits of [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Asuka Langley Soryu]]. Yoko is the FieryRedhead {{Tsundere}} forced to put up with trauma in her life, while Viral is the AcePilot StockShonenRival who provides a constant, abrasive presence and rivalry for the hero.
236* DudeMagnet: [[HopelessSuitor Simon]], [[BoisterousBruiser Kamina]], [[spoiler:[[HotBlooded Kittan]]]], and other men have find her attractive.
237* EmpoweredBadassNormal: She doesn't get her own Gunmen for a long time, since she doesn't need one thanks to preferring to fight with her rifle. She pilots Dayakaiser late in the series.
238* FashionableAsymmetry: Wears one normal fingerless glove and one elbow-length one.
239* FieryRedhead: While generally sweet and level-headed, she can get quite passionate, and her bright red hair reflects this.
240* FightsLikeANormal: While she has access to Spiral Energy like all humans, it's nothing compared to the likes of Simon or Kittan. However, she remains a formidable presence in Team Dai-Gurren from the very beginning thanks to her trustee {{BFG}}, and is the only character in the series to have destroyed Gunmen without one of her own.
241* FireForgedFriends: After a rough start, she forms a sisterly bond with Nia thanks to them connecting during the battle against Adiane.
242* FriendlySniper: The only character to defeat a Gunmen without her own. She doesn't get her own Gunman until after the seven year timeskip but she has a high record of kills and is without a doubt one the deadliest snipers in the series.. It's a good thing she's friendly.
243* FriendToAllChildren: Just ask the adoring children at her school.
244* GeniusBruiser: Wields an impressive {{BFG}} and becomes a teacher post-timeskip.
245* GlassCannon: She wields a {{BFG}} that can harm Gunmen (and outright ''destroy'' smaller ones) and her {{stripperiffic}} outfit lets her stay mobile in combat, but most of her battles leave her exposed and outside the safety of a Gunmen cockpit.
246* GodivaHair: In the movie, her hair covers her naked breasts during a suitably epic battle against Adiane.
247%%* GunsAkimbo: Combined with FiringOneHanded with ''{{BFG}}s'', no less.
248* TheGunslinger: Her weapon is a sniper rifle that can take out Gunmen.
249* HasAType: She has a thing for {{Boisterous Bruiser}}s Kamina and later [[spoiler:Kittan]]. The latter one at the very least has the decency not to promise her the world before [[spoiler:he sacrifices himself]], as he points out.
250* HeartbrokenBadass: The two men who could have given her a romance died in battle, yet Yoko manages to press on and fight to defend humanity with all she's got.
251* HellBentForLeather: Even under her professional teacher outfit post-timeskip, Yoko's still wearing her leather bra and matching hotpants. Her typical outfit also consists of leather boots, which upgrade into thigh high boots later in the series and often paired with a red leather jacket.
252* {{Herald}}: It's her entrance that starts Kamina and Simon's adventure.
253* HotTeacher: As Miss Yomako, she looks damn good in her teacher's clothes.
254* HumongousMecha: She serves as Dayakkaiser's gunner pre-timeskip. Post-timeskip, she takes over as its pilot and then gets the [[spoiler: Yoko M Tank]], but most notably [[spoiler:the ''Lagann-hen''-exclusive "Tengen Toppa Yoko W Tank" - which highly resembles Yoko in her pre time-skip look]]
255* HypocriticalHumor: When she complains about the Black Siblings' "absurd outfits" in the BeachEpisode. And then in the HighSchoolAU manga, she berates Simon for sleeping next to Nia with revealing clothing, when she has her iconic outfit on.
256* ImageSong: "Trust", "S.t.a.r.S.", the latter of which has its own music video in ''Parallel Works''.
257* ImpossibleHourglassFigure: Possesses a large pair of breasts, as well as wide hips, thick thighs and a big butt, even as a teenager. Becomes even more apparent post-timeskip as her already voluptuous body continues to grow, giving her altogether an even more womanly look.
258* InformedDeformity: According to Kamina, Yoko is somewhat bottom heavy and he's often making derogatory comments about her butt and thighs. Suffice to say, we don't really get to see any of this.
259* JerkassBall: Yoko grabs it firmly, like most of Team Dai-Gurren, when she loses faith in Simon during his depression over Kamina's death. It took Simon regaining the will to live and fight (with Nia's help) for her to drop the ball and start believing in him again.
260* TheKirk: She's the one saddled with balancing Kamina's {{Hot Blooded}}ness with Simon's ShrinkingViolet.
261* LastKiss: With Kamina [[spoiler:and Kittan]]. In Kamina's case, both had no idea that it would be their only kiss before his death. [[spoiler:With Kittan, he stole a kiss from Yoko before knowingly going to his death to save the team.]]
262* LikeAnOldMarriedCouple: In the HighSchoolAU, she and Kamina treat Simon like a child with different ideas on how he should turn out, much to Simon's displeasure.
263* MamaBear:
264** Do NOT threaten her friends or students.
265---> "School's out. You FAIL!"
266** She's very protective of Simon in the HighSchoolAU manga, and considers Kamina's recklessness a bad influence.
267* MarshmallowHell: Does this to Simon and Boota. In the HighSchoolAU manga, she does this to Simon for 3 whole pages and again after waking him up in the beginning of the next volume.
268* MoreDakka: [[spoiler:No less than a '''pair''' of proportionally-sized [[SniperRifle sniper "rifles"]] ("cannons" would be more appropriate) on ''each'' [[ShoulderCannon shoulder]], complementing the '''even bigger''' pair of {{BFG}}s mentioned above.]]
269* MoreThanJustATeacher: Spends several years using a pseudonym working as a teacher on a small, remote island.
270* TheMourningAfter: She never gave up her love for Kamina. She became a teacher partly because of him. The ending of the show implies that she stayed single for the rest of her days, so she probably never got over Kamina's death enough to look for a new love.
271* MsFanservice: Yoko's outfit consists of nothing more than a bikini top, short shorts, and stockings, and her chest is a frequent source of humor throughout the show. This is further accentuated in the music video for "Pieces of Sweet Stars", which depicts her in a number of sequences styled after pinup posters.
272* MyBelovedSmother: Frequently acts like this to Simon in the HighSchoolAU. Coupled with a literal smother in the beginning of the story that goes on for 3 pages.
273* NeverGotToSayGoodbye: To Kamina. He died in battle with an unfulfilled promise to her. [[spoiler:They did get to meet again though, in an LotusEaterMachine. By the word of the creators, their meeting was arranged "to reunite two people in the place that has separated them."]]
274* NiceGirl: When she's not showing her {{Tsundere}} side.
275* {{Ninja}}: Takes the role of one in one of the ''Parallel Works'' videos.
276* OvershadowedByAwesome: Didn't get many opportunities to be useful when Kamina was around, but boy did this change later on.
277* OutOfFocus: Following the TimeSkip, Yoko's screen presence decreases dramatically. While some of this is intentional on her part since she actively avoided settling down in Kamina city and went off to continue her adventuorus lifestye before becoming a schoolteacher, it becomes noticeable later on. Once she returns to the story proper, Yoko is much less prominent than before and mostly just serves as [[MsFanservice eye-candy]] [[spoiler: at least until Kittan's sacrifice.]]
278* ParentalSubstitute: Her backstory in the HighSchoolAU changes her history to be childhood friends with Simon, with both her and Kamina trying to raise Simon in their own image. Yoko takes the role of MamaBear, decrying Kamina's reckless behavior.
279* PluckyGirl: Not as plucky as Nia, but Yoko has an unbreakable willpower just like any other Spiral warrior.
280* RedheadsAreRavishing: Yoko is a redhead with a big bosom and prefers to go around in [[{{Stripperiffic}} little clothing]] for mobility in combat. Many men, such as Simon, Kamina and Kittan, have expressed strong attraction to her, and she is also contrasted with the [[HairOfGoldHeartOfGold sweet and demure blonde]] Nia.
281* RetiredBadass: Post-Time Skip, before the Anti-Spirals' attack. [[spoiler:She becomes one again in the DistantFinale.]]
282* SailorFuku: Her uniform in the HighSchoolAU.
283* ScarfOfAsskicking: Considering that underground is cold, you would think she would use something more than a scarf.
284* ScaryShinyGlasses: When Gunmen attack the school she's teaching at, she gets these as she goes to get her combat gear.
285* ShipperOnDeck: After getting closer to Nia, Yoko began to ship her and Simon.
286* {{Shorttank}}: Female lead in a {{Shonen}} series, wears a {{Fanservice}}-y outfit including a skin-tight pair of short shorts, hot-headed and feisty attitude, one awesome badass markswoman. While Yoko is very well-known for her tomboyish ActionGirl vibes and she admits she "doesn't know much about girly stuff", she's well-mannered, sweet and polite, especially compared to the crew of extremely manly men that she travels with.
287* ShowerOfAngst: The episode after Kamina dies, Yoko goes to the shower to cry.
288* SignatureHeadgear: She always has a skull hairpin in her hair. This fits her personality as someone who is both cute eye candy and a no-nonsense, badass fighter. The skull is iconic enough that it has appeared in shoutouts to the show in other media, such as the visual skull motif of [[Anime/KillLaKill Nonon Jakuzure]], whose character design is similar to Yoko's.
289* SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan: The man she fell for, Kamina, was a HotBlooded man with a strong sense of justice.
290* SmallGirlBigGun: Played with; Yoko herself isn't that much of a little girl despite just being a teen, but her signature rifle definitely trumps her in size.
291* SniperRifle: [[AKA47 Modelled after the]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barrett_M82 Barrett M82]] '''[[{{BFG}} anti-materiel]]''' [[{{BFG}} rifle]].
292* SpellMyNameWithAnS: An interesting case. Yoko no doubt has a common Japanese name as her given name, meaning that typing it as "Youko" is how it's supposed to be despite it being only romanized in katakana; however, it's actually an extended-dash "o" vowel instead of an extra "u" vowel, though it's still an extended vowel that's often ignored regardless.
293* {{Stripperiffic}}: Her justification for this is that she doesn't want her clothing to impede her mobility in combat. Notably, when she isn't in a combat situation, she dresses fairly modestly.
294** Hilariously, when she puts on a swimsuit in the BeachEpisode, it actually covers ''more'' than her normal outfit. Although her bikini in the HighSchoolAU is actually MORE revealing than her normal outfit.
295** Before the TimeSkip, she always wears the same outfit regardless of whether or not she is in combat. She does, however, uphold a more covering outfit after the TimeSkip, partially due to her occupation as a schoolteacher.
296* TakeUpMySword: An interesting version. She never once says she did it for him, but Kamina did state he wanted to teach the younger generation about the source when it was all over. Yoko took that to heart and decided to become a teacher to do just that.
297* TerritorialSmurfette: Yoko has some difficulty dealing with Nia when she joins Team Dai-Gurren, more because her {{Moe}}-ness wins over the guys than because of her being the BigBad's daughter. Back then, she considered Nia dead weight: they were fighting a rebellion, and Nia had no combat skills. Then Nia won Yoko over via showing her SilkHidingSteel side, specially via not blinking when Yoko released her from a monster via shooting said monster when it was holding Nia hostage, and later said she totally trusted Yoko to not fail a shot that could have potentially killed her. It was sealed when Nia asked Yoko to give her an ImportantHaircut (as she lost a bit of hair in the rescue process) and Yoko did so without any problems.
298* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Being a skimpily dressed gunwoman, Yoko is the Tomboy to the modestly dressed ex-princess/chef Nia's Girly Girl.
299* TomboyishPonytail: She's very unladylike compared to Nia and she wears her hair in a long ponytail.
300* TomboyWithAGirlyStreak: She's a master shooter, dresses immodestly and admits she doesn't know about much girly stuff, but is very good with children and she eventually becomes a teacher.
301* {{Tritagonist}}: She's arguably the most prominent character after Simon due to Kamina spending most of the series as a PosthumousCharacter, but she never takes the role of {{Deuteragonist}}, which is shuffled between several other characters.
302* {{Tsundere}}: Sweet (Dere) type. Yoko is very nice, friendly and logical, but when her teammates (especially Kamina) annoy her or otherwise act rashly, she shows a short-tempered, violent and condescending side.
303* UnknownRival: To Nia for Nia's first three episodes before the two become [=BFFs=]. Happens again in the HighSchoolAU once Nia transfers and becomes popular.
304* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Her kissing Kamina while completely unaware of Simon's feelings for her at the time, more or less leads to a spiral of events that causes Kamina to die.
305* VirtuousCharacterCopy: Of [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Asuka Langley Soryu]], on various counts:
306** Both are the MsFanservice FieryRedhead of their respective {{Power Trio}}s and have {{Tsundere}} tendencies toward a member of the group, and wear easily-identifiable hair decorations.
307** Both characters are also most prominent in episodes (Asuka's debut episode in her case) where the MonsterOfTheWeek is a SeaMonster with MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily.
308** Both of them are also devastated at the loss of [[spoiler:their crush]], but Yoko manages to get herself together and move on, while Asuka crosses the DespairEventHorizon (though she was already suffering one hell of a TraumaCongaLine) as a result.
309** Asuka's entire identity is tied to her superior skill and pride in piloting her personal Eva Unit-02. Yoko's most notable skill is her ability to fight Gunmen ''without'' using one herself (and piloting Gurren proves harmful to her when she [[AwesomeButImpractical tries to fire shots from its mouth]]), and only gets a personal Gunmen towards the end of the series.
310** What's interesting about this is that Yoko was voiced by Creator/TiffanyGrant, Asuka's English VA, in [[https://youtu.be/-_rkqk7rwbE?t=1m38s the original ADV dub]], and a few official materials exist depicting [[http://myfigurecollection.net/item/20344 Asuka in]] [[http://xpearse.tumblr.com/post/116850713259/neon-genesis-evangelion-ayanami-raising-project Yoko's outfit]].
311* WalkingSwimsuitScene: She walks around in a bikini top and hot pants. Ironically, the one time she puts on an ''actual'' swimsuit for the BeachEpisode, it's actually ''less'' revealing than her usual outfit.
312* WolverinePublicity: In terms of merchandise; much like fellow Gainax MsFanservice characters [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Rei and Asuka]], more figures are available of her than the other main characters (and she's also the only one available in [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nendoroid Nendoroid]] [[http://www.goodsmile.info/en/product/2040/Nendoroid+Yoko.html form]]).
313* YoungerThanSheLooks: She's supposed to be ''around the same age group as Simon'' pre-TimeSkip.
314[[/folder]]
315
316[[folder:Nia Teppelin]]
317[[quoteright:225:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nia_gurrenlagann.jpg]]
318[[caption-width-right:240:[[labelnote:Click here to see her post-Time Skip.]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nia_teppelin_9.png[[/labelnote]]]]
319
320->Voiced by: Creator/YukariFukui (JP), Creator/HyndenWalch (child), Creator/BridgetHoffman (adult) (EN)
321
322->''"Hail, fellow well met!"''
323
324After a particularly traumatic event in his life, Simon stumbles across a box that the drill he recovered from the mines can open. When opened, out of it pops a young, naive girl with pastel blue and yellow hair: Nia. She turns out to be the daughter of Lordgenome, and is thus the princess of the Beastmen. She develops into Simon's LoveInterest.
325-----
326* ActionGirl: There's a few occasions where she joins the battle and co-pilots the Gurren Lagann with Simon.
327* AdaptationalEarlyAppearance: In the manga, she first appears after the team's first battle against Viral, in which she visits her father to ask him a question.
328* AllLovingHeroine: Her presence is very kind, helpful, and inspiring for the Dai Gurren Brigade.
329* AlienPrincess: She is Lordgenome's daughter, but he disowned her when she was a child.
330* AndIMustScream: During her time as the Anti-Spiral Messanger, she was fully aware of what was going on but completely unable to do anything to stop herself. This is shown with flashbacks to her talks with Simon.
331* ApocalypseMaiden: She was programmed to be the Anti-Spiral's messenger when the population reaches 1 million.
332* ArtificialHuman: Nia holds Anti-Spiral reprogramming inside her genetic code. Nobody but Lordgenome knows it, not even ''Nia herself.''
333* BadassAdorable: She is ''completely fearless'', insanely strong, and she's very, very adorable.
334* BattleCouple: With Simon. She co-pilots the Gurren Lagann to deliver the killing blow to the BigBad in the final battle. In the HighSchoolAU, she wastes no time becoming one with Simon once Viral appears, much to Simon's [[IJustWantToBeNormal confusion and hesitation.]]
335* BecauseDestinySaysSo: A lot of her views in the HighSchoolAU are based off her belief in destiny after Simon saves her.
336* BedmateReveal: Is revealed to have slept next to Simon in the beginning of the second chapter of the HighSchoolAU, much to Simon's shock.
337* BeneathTheMask: Nia acts fearless at the mercy of a captor, but as soon as Simon arrives to save her, she melts and lets loose her tears. The worst is when [[spoiler: she overcomes the brainwashing of the Anti-Spiral and desperately asks Simon if he's going to save her, ready to cry]].
338* BluntMetaphorsTrauma: Back in her younger days. Even cuter in the dub where she's voiced by Creator/HyndenWalch. There's still traces of it when she's older. She ended up saying no when Simon [[spoiler: asked her to marry him]] until Kiyoh and Kiyal explained what he meant.
339* BroodingBoyGentleGirl: With Simon. After [[spoiler:Kamina's death]], Simon goes into a ''deep'' depression. Not speaking or cooperating with anyone and pushing himself too much. When Nia joined, she helped calm his anger which helped to further his emotional growth.
340* CloseCallHaircut: Yoko's shaky aim as she tries to shoot Nia free from Adiane causes her to slice up Nia's locks twice. Nia later asks her to fix it, although Yoko isn't too savvy on haircuts. It grows back even longer after the time-skip.
341* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: It's a little hard for others to understand her at times, or her to understand others. At first this is due to her [[ShelteredAristocrat sheltered up-bringing]] but it's quite clear she isn't all there in the head when even after 7 years in the outside world she still surprises everyone with her quirky misunderstandings.
342* CreepyMonotone: As the Anti-Spiral Messenger, her tender voice becomes cold and emotionless like a machine's.
343* CriticalExistenceFailure: [[spoiler:Her DNA is reprogrammed to make her into an Anti-Spiral. When the source of this DNA information is destroyed, she begins to disappear.]]
344* CrucifiedHeroShot: [[spoiler:During her captivity time in the hands of the Anti-Spirals.]]
345* CuteLittleFangs: Although she doesn't have them in the series, they have shown up in [[http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=post&s=view&id=297728 official]] [[http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=post&s=view&id=117152 art]].
346* TheCutie: She's an extremely sweet and innocent princess. How can she not be lovable?
347* DefiantCaptive: Nia will tell you she's not going to die. To your face. While you're shoving a pistol into her forehead. Or about to snap her in half with your claws. Or about to dematerialize her. She may not be able to fight you, but she will tell you to fuck off (very politely), because Simon's on his way, and that's a wave of pain you don't want to happen.
348* {{Deuteragonist}}: After [[spoiler:Kamina's death]], she is the character who gets most focus after Simon in most of the episodes.
349* DiedInYourArmsTonight: [[spoiler:Right after she finally marries Simon, Nia disappears in his arms.]]
350* DisappearsIntoLight: [[spoiler:Nia's body fades away just after completing the marriage ceremony with Simon.]]
351* DudeMagnet: When she first came aboard the team, most of them were enraptured by her.
352* DyingDeclarationOfLove: [[spoiler:Her final words are "I love you, Simon" as she disappears in his arms right at their wedding.]]
353* EarthyBarefootCharacter: Introduced shoeless in her pod, possibly because she was plucked from her bed while sleeping. She is delighted once she plants her bare feet on the ground and squishes through the cold mud. But Simon knows this innocent girl will not fare well without any shoes in the dirty, rough terrain he found her in, so he lends his boots to her and goes without for a while.
354** Nia is later given proper shoes - a pair of fancy heels to go with her princess regalia - on the Dai-Gunzan, but Simon doesn't reclaim his shoes right away, [[spoiler:since he's still wallowing about Kamina's recent death too badly to get a grip on reality and fully acknowledge things happening around him.]]
355* EvilCostumeSwitch: When acting as the Anti-Spiral Messenger, her pink dress is replaced by a black skintight bodysuit with red circuit lines and asymmetrical turquoise highlights.
356* EvilKnockoff: [[spoiler:Pilots the Chouginga Anti-Gurren Lagann in ''VideoGame/{{Super Robot Wars Z}}2: Saisei-Hen''.]]
357* ExoticEyeDesigns: She has cross-shaped pupils, at that, providing the trope image. Further proof that she's an alien, if you even needed more.
358* FaceHeelTurn: When the Anti-Spiral's Human Extermination System activates, Nia is turned into the messenger of the Anti-Spirals against her will and becomes an enemy to Simon. However, Simon figures out she was actually testing him before he faced the Anti-Spirals.
359* FallenPrincess: For a princess who was thrown away by her own father, Nia adapts to her situation very well.
360* FantasticRacism: [[spoiler:Lordgenome didn't discard her because she is a human as we're led to assume; he discarded her because she is an Anti-Spiral. Her gaining sentience and getting too curious is a reminder of what he fought for and lost]].
361* FireForgedFriends: With Yoko, to which they see each other as sisters.
362* FlamingHair: In a way, her hair acts somewhat like a flame at times. For instance, when wind blows, it will flow in the wind like a flickering flame, and if you pay attention small parts will fly off and disappear like small bits of flame.
363* FlowersOfFemininity: When first introduced, Nia is wearing a large pink flower ornament. Coupled with the rest of her pastel color scheme, tender beauty, and the fact that she's an otherworldy PrincessClassic, it helps to cement Nia as very feminine, especially compared to the tomboyish and outgoing Yoko.
364* {{Foil}}: Whereas Kamina took to toughening up Simon, who didn't take his words to heart until his death, Nia supported him by calming him down his anger, which led to Simon understanding Kamina. Kamina was reckless, and Nia is a pacifist. Kamina instantly inspired everyone, and everybody loved him, but Nia had to gain everyone's trust before she could become TheHeart. The art style for [[http://i.imgur.com/2QkYa2B.jpg Kamina's eyecatch]] is sharp and gritty, while [[http://i.imgur.com/aA47CI0.jpg Nia's eyecatch]] is soft and bright. Kamina piloted Gurren, while Nia always stayed with Simon in Lagann. [[spoiler:Both also have two of the most [[TearJerker heart-wrenching]] deaths in the series]], but while Simon [[spoiler:took Kamina's death horribly]], he [[spoiler:takes Nia's with great maturity]].
365* FourthDateMarriage: If it could even be called THAT in the HighSchoolAU. As she believes Simon saving her was a sign of destiny and the two fought off Viral with a Husband-Wife Gattai, she states that she has to start living with Simon, much to his bewilderment.
366* GiftedlyBad: She doesn't realize that the food she cooks is pretty much lethal to anyone who isn't Simon and Boota.
367* GirlyGirlWithATomboyStreak: In the HighSchoolAU manga, despite being girly, her favorite magazine is in the same manly brand that Kamina loves as well.
368* GodivaHair: In the second movie, during her torture by the hands of the Anti-Spirals, she's stark naked with only her hair covering her naughty bits.
369* AGoodWayToDie: [[spoiler: She dies surrounded by her friends and looking into the eyes of her beloved husband with [[GoOutWithASmile a smile on her face]].]]
370* GoOutWithASmile: [[spoiler: At the end of her wedding with Simon, Nia is finally satisfied with her life and allows herself to die, smiling happily at her beloved Simon.]]
371* GratuitousPrincess: Oddly, she is still called a Princess in the HighSchoolAU despite her role changing to that of the Principal's daughter.
372* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: She's a kind-hearted person whose hair can be easily described as "gold-colored", even though her hair has pastel blue coloring mixed in. In the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86ZVXfs9cPc Parallel Works video "The sense of wonder"]] she is depicted with completely blonde hair.
373* HeadTurningBeauty: When she's shown in her swimsuit, a bunch of the male characters get {{Nosebleed}}s.
374* TheHeart: Nia puts the heart back into Simon and the entire brigade after they lost it due to Kamina's death. If she had never appeared, they probably would have fallen into despair.
375* HerBoyfriendsJacket: In the final battle once she's freed from the Anti-Spiral, she wears Simon's jacket after she loses her clothing.
376* HereditaryHairstyle: She probably got her AnimeHair from her dad.
377* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:She takes as active a part in the final battle against the Anti-Spiral as the rest of Team Dai-Gurren and helps Simon land the killing blow, even knowing that when the Anti-Spiral dies, so does she.]]
378* HeroicWillpower: Nia is so plucky that she [[spoiler:keeps herself alive for a week after the Anti-Spiral's demise]] out of ''sheer willpower'', just so she can marry Simon. Examined further in the second movie: [[spoiler: Nia's arm suddenly begins to ''fade away'' as she writes a diary for Simon, and then forces the arm to regenerate ''on the spot.'' One wonders if she really is gone for good...]]
379* HotBlooded: [[NeutralFemale She may not fight]], but she completely outdoes half the cast in terms of sheer [[HotBlooded determination]]. And when she [[TheMovie DOES fight]], ''[[LadyOfWar holy crap]]''. In the HighSchoolAU manga, she has a {HotBlooded moment alongside Kamina and ''manages to equal him in it!''
380* ImportantHaircut: Nia's hair is cut by two bullets from Yoko's sniper rifle the episode after she decides to shun her previous life. Unlike many cases, this time the accidental cut doesn't give a clean cut at all, and she has Yoko clean it up, showing that they finally trust each other.
381** The circumstances are a bit different in the manga. Nia cuts off her own hair after [[spoiler: her elder sister Straea, the leader of the Beauty Village, dies protecting her; she leaves her hair on Strae's grave so that they'll always be together.]] However, her cutting was a bit choppy, so she still asks Yoko to tidy up her hair.
382* IncorruptiblePurePureness: Nia is a fount of joy and innocence in the world of the series. It's no wonder Simon loves her so passionately. Her FaceHeelTurn, in fact, was because she was programmed to be a ManchurianAgent by the Anti-Spiral, not because of true malice. In fact, [[ThePowerOfLove it's her love for Simon]] that snaps her out of it.
383* InnocentlyInsensitive: She's completely oblivious to any kind of negative mood, which isn't a good thing when one of the cast members has just died. The very worst case of this is when Simon proposes to her and she ''turns him down with a cheerful "No, way!"'' Kiyoh and Kiyal make her realize this accidental mistake and she quickly decides otherwise.
384* InsaneTrollLogic: In the HighSchoolAU, her motivation for using the Husband-Wife Gaitta technique on Viral comes from a manly man's magazine. Oddly enough it works.
385* IsThisWhatAngerFeelsLike: "Are you aware of who exactly I am?!"
386* KirkSummation: Gives one to Adiane in episode 10. Is then promptly met with a ShutUpKirk.
387* LadyOfWar: Becomes one in ''Lagann-hen'' by [[spoiler:commanding her own mecha Tengen Toppa Solvernia, the most elegant-looking and gracefully fighting mecha in the series.]]
388* LastKiss: [[spoiler:She shares her one and only onscreen kiss with Simon at their wedding before her body dissolves into random data bits.]]
389* LastOfHerKind: She was the last Princess and daughter of the Spiral King out of countless he discarded before her. [[spoiler:She was also the last Anti-Spiral probe along said Princesses]].
390* LethalChef: Her cooking tastes anything ''but'' good... unless you're Simon or Boota.
391* LiteralMinded: She rejected Simon when he asked her for marriage because he wanted to become "one with her" and two people can't be physically merged...
392* TheLostLenore: [[spoiler:To Simon. One of the main reasons he gives up the Gurren Lagann at the end is because, along passing the torch to the next generation, Simon loses Nia. Though he is accepting of her death, it doesn't hurt him any less]].
393* LoveAtFirstSight: With Simon in the HighSchoolAU after he saves her and she takes it as a sign of destiny.
394* MarkedChange: When [[spoiler:her hidden identity as the Anti-Spiral's messenger awakens]], red markings appear all over her body.
395* ManchurianAgent: She becomes the agent of the Anti-Spirals when the population reaches 1 million. Her actions are completely against her will, but she still has some conscience left.
396* ManicPixieDreamGirl: If Simon haven't met her, he probably would have never got over his depression over Kamina's death. Her sunny disposition and pluckiness help Simon believe in himself again and regain the will to go on.
397** She continues this role again in the HighSchoolAU, appearing right after Simon tempts fate by just wanting a normal day.
398* MeaningfulName:
399** Coincidentally and interestingly enough, in addition to coming from "near" as mentioned under LocationThemeNaming above, her name is also a Welsh variant of ''Niamh'', which means "bright" or "radiant", two terms that could easily be used to describe [[HairOfGoldHeartOfGold her appearance]] and [[PluckyGirl her]] [[IncorruptiblePurePureness personality]]. It's also worth noting that the name ''Niamh'' comes from [[Myth/CelticMythology the Irish goddess Niamh Chinn Oir]]. [[note]]Whose name means "Niamh of the Golden Hair". The goddess in question was also known among the Welsh as Nia Ben Aur, which pretty much has the same meaning.[[/note]] Which may also make Nia's name a ShoutOut to said goddess.
400** Her name is also a Swahili name that means "purpose". Which is fitting considering [[ApocalypseMaiden her eventual fate as the Anti-Spirals' messenger]], i.e. her ultimate purpose in life. It could also refer to [[TheHeart the fact that she motivates Simon and the rest of Team Dai-Gurren to overcome impossible odds]], i.e. she helps give Team Dai-Gurren a purpose to fight and win against the Beastmen.
401** [[spoiler:Her mecha in TheMovie, the Tengen Toppa Sovernia, combines her name with Sovern, symbolizing her independence from the Anti-Spirals that once controlled her.]]
402* MsFanservice: Not so much as Yoko, but still counts. Especially after the time-skip, she goes from being an adorably-cute litlle princess to being an incredibly gorgeous and sexy {{Bishoujo}}.
403* MysticalWaif: A mysterious girl found abandoned in a box and soon becomes the main character's love interest. She then is revealed to be related to the BigBad and hidden origins that become plot-relevant later on.
404* NaiveEverygirl: She's the embodiment of an extremely idealistic fairy tale heroine trapped in a SuperRobot show.
405* NeutralFemale: Though subverted at least three times, and even when not it's because she has no other option rather than she can fight but refuses to.
406* NiceGirl: Always trusting and supportive of others, and she boosts the team's morale just as well as Kamina.
407* NoOntologicalInertia: [[spoiler:She dies because the Anti-Spirals are destroyed.]]
408* NoSocialSkills: Having been raised in isolation for her entire life until she was literally put in a box and left on a landfill, Nia has no contact at all with the outside world until she is found by Simon. Her attempts to adjust to life on the outside charm even the baddest of badasses in Team Dai-Gurren.
409* OfficialCouple: She becomes Simon's girlfriend over the time skip and ultimately his wife.
410* OneTrueLove: Nia serves to be the real love of Simon's life.
411* PluckyGirl: She may not be able to fight, but in terms of sheer [[HotBlooded hot-blooded determination]], she can hold her own against any of the men. Be it pointing a gun at her, having her in mecha's claws, or being about to dematerialize her, ''nothing'' is going to break her down.
412* ThePollyanna: It's not that she's unaffected or oblivious to trouble, but her sheer faith in Simon to drill through it is so strong, even her forceful transformation into a ManchurianAgent is a minor inconvenience in comparison.
413* PowerOfTrust: Her great amount of faith in people is what allows the team to win some of the biggest clinchers in the series. She helps Simon out of his HeroicBSOD, allows Yoko to get a free shot on Adiane, and even when [[spoiler:she's in another dimension]], she ''knows'' that Simon would [[spoiler:find her]]. She's even fine with [[spoiler:dying]], because she knows Simon will save the universe.
414* PrincessClassic: Pretty, innocent, caring; she hits almost all the points of a fairy tale princess except [[PluckyGirl shy]]. [[spoiler:Sadly, she doesn't get her HappilyEverAfter with her "prince" as she ends up dying right at their wedding.]]
415* PrettyPrincessPowerhouse: Although she becomes a LadyOfWar after she isn't a princess anymore, she demonstrated tremendous strength of will before then and joins Simon in Gurren Lagan. Her personal mech is also the most elegant and graceful of the bunch.
416* PrincessesPreferPink: She's the princess of the Beastmen and she always wears a pink dress.
417* PsychoSupporter: Not actually one, but this is how Simon views Nia at first in the HighSchoolAU after immediately charging with him into a battle with Viral and declaring Simon won't be beaten.
418* RedEyesTakeWarning: When [[spoiler:she becomes the Anti-Spiral's messenger]], her eyes glow red while she [[spoiler:announces the extermination of the human race]].
419* RescueIntroduction: Simon first meets Nia when he saves her from dying abandoned inside a box.
420* RescueRomance: Simon saved her and gave her a new home after her father abandoned her to die inside a box. Later, Simon is able to help her when she learns her father tossed her out and gave her a new reason for being. Nia falls in love with Simon for these reasons.
421* TheReveal: The daughter of Spiral King Lordgenome and [[spoiler:messenger of the Anti-Spirals.]]
422* ScrewDestiny: [[spoiler:She puts all her willpower into defying her role as the Anti-Spiral messenger and firmly believes Simon will save her and the entire universe.]]
423* SecondLove: For Simon. The first was Yoko until he found out she favored Kamina the hard way.
424* ShelteredAristocrat: She was raised in isolation for her entire life and is amazed by the outside world.
425* ShoutOut: The second half of the plot pretty make her a walking shout out to [[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsCompact2 Einst Alfimi and Excellen Browning]]. Approaches ActorAllusion, since like [[{{Manga/Mahoromatic}} Mahoro]], [[spoiler:Nia gets cursed with a limited life span after The Anti Spiral bites it]].
426* SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan: Nia falls for the kind, brave, and inspiring [[AllLovingHero Simon]].
427* SpannerInTheWorks: [[spoiler:For both Lordgenome and the Anti-Spiral, as she becomes TheHeart of Team Gurren]].
428* SparedByTheAdaptation: In ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsX'', [[Anime/NadiaTheSecretOfBlueWater Nadia]] is able to use the Blue Water to turn her into a full human, lengthening her lifespan and allowing her to survive the Anti-Spiral's destruction.
429* SplitPersonality: In the HighSchoolAU manga, Nia develops one as a child, due to her FriendlessBackground. Her other self is a {{Tsundere}} IceQueen who, of course, quickly [[DefrostingIceQueen defrosts]] when faced with Simon's LoveConfession. She and the normal Nia end up sharing Simon, being able to more or less switch between personalities at will.
430* SpoiledSweet: She's a princess and before he abandoned her, her father gave her anything she wanted. Yet she's one of the sweetest girls you will ever meet.
431* StarCrossedLovers: With Simon given that she's secretly an Anti-Spiral messenger programed to exterminate his species. [[spoiler:They do manage to defeat the Anti-Spiral and get married... only for Nia to disappear right at the altar.]]
432* StealthMentor: Her actions as a Messenger were intended to strengthen the Team before facing the true enemy.
433* StrongFamilyResemblance: We see in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1e2CiFbmQEg the 8th Parallel Works video]] that her father used to basically be a male version of Nia. Seriously.
434* TaremeEyes: Normally, she has rounded eyes that reflect her soft and gentle nature.
435* TeamChef: She becomes the Dai Gurren Brigade's cook in order to be more useful. Unfortunately, [[LethalChef her cooking is terrible]], but nobody wants to hurt her feelings so they don't complain at all. Bizarrely, [[OnlyOneWhoLikesSpam Simon and Boota genuinely enjoy her food.]]
436* TechnicolorEyes: Has opal blue eyes with pink flower-shaped crosses for pupils... and they look ''adorable!''
437* TenderTears: When sweet little Nia breaks down into tears, you feel broken up inside. And God help you if Simon sees you're responsible for her sobs.
438* ThereAreNoCoincidences: After Simon saves her in the HighSchoolAU, she's convinced that destiny is at work.
439* ThroughHisStomach: After the time skip, she's shown to make Simon's lunch.
440* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Girly Girl to Yoko's Tomboy because she acts much more feminine, wears dresses instead of....something less, and contributes by cooking instead of fighting.
441* TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth: Simply one of the kindest and most pure-hearted characters in the entire cast. [[spoiler:She dies in the final episode because destroying the Anti-Spirals meant her death too.]]
442* TransferStudentUniforms: In the HighSchoolAU, her uniform doesn't match up to the other ones the girls wear to signal her as the NewTransferStudent.
443* VirtuousCharacterCopy: To [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Rei Ayanami]]. Both are blue-haired {{Mysterious Waif}}s who become one of the protagonist's {{Love Interest}}s, while also being seen as a rival by the redhead. They also have some sort of familial relationship with a major antagonist, [[spoiler:and [[ArtificialHuman are not actual humans]]]]. As a result, Nia seems like a stereotypical ReiAyanamiExpy, except that she is [[PluckyGirl extremely outgoing]] and [[LivingEmotionalCrutch helps Simon come out of his shell]], as opposed to Rei, who [[DefrostingIceQueen starts off emotionless but grows attached to Shinji]]. Additionally, [[spoiler:Nia is left helpless at the hands of her creator in the second half, while Rei learns to oppose hers in the end, and while Rei causes [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt the th]][[AssimilationPlot ird Impact]] because Shinji wanted her to, Nia lets herself die because she wants Simon to save everyone else.]]
444* XOnAStick: [[spoiler:The Solvernia has a drill on a stick.]]
445* YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre: Not knowing [[spoiler:Kamina]] well enough to be particularly upset about his death, she tries to convince Simon that he's not as worthless as he thinks he is, citing him rescuing her, and suggests that he'd be better off not trying to emulate [[spoiler:Kamina]]. Yoko brushes her off as insensitive, but Simon eventually takes Nia's words to heart.
446[[/folder]]
447
448[[folder:Boota]]
449[[quoteright:225:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Gurren_Lagann_-_Boota_9181.jpg]]
450->Voiced by: Creator/ShizukaIto (JP), Creator/JulieAnnTaylor (EN)
451
452-> ''"Bui!"''
453
454A palm-sized pigmole from the village that Simon and Kamina grew up in. While he may be small, he's a motivating force for the team when push comes to shove.
455-----
456* CoolShades: Yes, the ''TeamPet'' has shades.
457%%* {{Determinator}}
458* EatTheDog: In episode 4. Simon and Kamina are starving from getting nothing to eat, so Boota does the most disturbing thing possible and [[spoiler: ''bites on his own tail and rips off his hindquarters!!!'']] Fortunately, he's healed by the next episode. [[spoiler: You can HandWave it due to his innate [[HealingFactor Spiral Power.]]]]
459* HumanityEnsues: Later, it turns out Boota is a wellspring of Spiral Energy, and he uses that power to imagine himself into a humanoid body--but only temporarily.
460* MarshmallowHell: He has a noticable love of riding in Yoko's cleavage.
461* MeaningfulName: "Buta" means "pig", and "buu" is Japanese for "oink".
462* NonHumanSidekick: He's Simon's beloved pet and companion on his travels.
463* NotAllowedToGrowUp: He never seems to grow, not even during the TimeSkip.
464* OnlyOneWhoLikesSpam: Like Simon, Boota can eat [[LethalChef Nia's cooking]] and enjoy it even though everyone else finds it disgusting.
465* ParrotPetPosition: He's frequently seen riding on Simon's shoulder.
466* RidiculouslyCuteCritter: He's a small furry creature perfect for hugging.
467* SpectacularSpinning: [[spoiler:Boota is a source of Spiral Power.]]
468* TeamPet: He's Simon's cute and small pet pigmole that tags along the Dai Gurren Brigade in their adventures.
469[[/folder]]
470
471[[folder:Viral]]
472[[quoteright:225:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/viral_gurrenlagann.jpg]]
473->Voiced by: Creator/NobuyukiHiyama (JP), Creator/SamRiegel (EN)
474
475->''"I'll tell you two things: First, any human on the surface will be completely annihilated by our Human Eradication Army. Second, that is my dinner — give it back!"''
476
477Originally Vice Commander in the Human Annihilation Army, Eastern Unit, First District; Viral is the first real villain the heroes face in their quest to defeat the Beastmen. He develops an incredibly intense rivalry with Kamina almost immediately, which he later transfers to Simon. Initially appearing to be cruel and vicious, he gradually reveals himself to be a surprisingly noble man.
478-----
479* AcePilot: He can't produce Spiral Power (despite being pretty damn HotBlooded), but what keeps Viral in the game and makes him a valuable copilot to Simon is his classical training and skill in the cockpit.
480* AntagonistInMourning: When he learns Kamina has died.
481* AntiVillain: The Noble variant. He's just a loyal soldier for the Spiral King and is doing his job. While he tends to be a bit of a jerk, he's simply trying to maintain honor and stay useful to the Beastman Empire. Later he becomes a [[spoiler: KnightInSourArmor when he joins Team Dai-Gurren]].
482* BashBrothers: Following his HeelFaceTurn, he becomes this with Simon. The two make a superb team as co-pilots of Gurren Lagann.
483* BeastMan: He's part shark and cat and human.
484* BloodKnight: By simple virtue of his facial expressions in combat.
485* BeautyIsNeverTarnished: Viral is a shark-cat Beastman covered in scars, gets beat up regularly in fights, and still has a large following of fans who think he's hot.
486* BeyondTheImpossible: [[spoiler: While ambiguous in series, the movies directly confirm Viral is HotBlooded enough to create Spiral Energy despite that being a specifically stated impossibility. Beastmen were biologically engineered to be incapable of this.]]
487* BoringButPractical: He can't use Spiral energy and his Gunmen lacks much in the way of large scale armaments, but Viral is still a threat due pure piloting skills. Enkidu possess the smoothest movements of any mech in the series, taking the advantage in his first fight with Kamina through nothing more than good footwork.
488* BlessedWithSuck: After he goes to Lordgenome asking for the power to beat the heroes, Lordgenome grants him immortality. Unfortunately, Viral finds out [[CurbStompBattle at his expense]] that his immortality was not meant to make him stand up to Spiral users but to make him the eternal witness of Lordgenome's victory and messenger to spread the futility of standing up against him. And then Lordgenome dies instead, leaving Viral alone in the world, without a purpose and unable to put an end to his suffering.
489* ButtMonkey: After his intial defeat he gets a lot of abuse from the heroes and villains alike. He gets better after his HeelFaceTurn.
490* CantCatchUp: Lordgenome tells him as much. "No beastman can stand against a human who has mastered the power of the Spiral." In the movie, it's [[spoiler:subverted, where he himself gains the ability to use Spiral Power.]]
491* CatsAreMean: Subverted--he's {{just following orders}}.
492* CharClone: Viral is what this trope lives for. He's a blonde ace pilot that becomes TheRival for TheHero. He has a sense of honor that distinguishes him from {{Card Carrying Villain}}s. Eventually {{Heel Face Turn}}s.
493* ConvenientlyCellmates: With Simon in the future.
494* CurtainsMatchTheWindow: Pale blond hair, yellow eyes.
495* CuteLittleFangs: When he's happy. Not so much when he isn't...
496* DecompositeCharacter: In a SpiritualAntithesis sense, both Yoko and Viral embody traits of [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Asuka Langley Soryu]]. Yoko is the FieryRedhead {{Tsundere}} forced to put up with trauma in her life, while Viral is the AcePilot StockShonenRival who provides a constant, abrasive presence and rivalry for the hero.
497* {{Determinator}}: No matter how many times he gets beaten, no matter how many of his superiors are killed, he ''just won't give up''.
498* TheDragon: He isn't the Dragon to the Big Bad at first, but rather to every other general.
499* DoomMagnet: Every person he's assigned to guard dies. [[spoiler:Except Simon.]]
500* FangsAreEvil: At least until he becomes Gurren's pilot, at which point his fangs become far more pronounced- because he's now smiling ear to ear.
501* GoodScarsEvilScars: His shirtless scene in Gurren's cockpit shows that he has scars in a similar pattern to Kamina's tattoos.
502* HeelFaceTurn: Ultimately triggered by the combined turmoil of the following: his losing streak to Gurren Lagann, the death of Adiane, the fact he's always the only one left alive in a fight against Team Dai-Gurren, the power of immortality making it harder to die so much as end up alone and nowhere, the futility of resisting Kamina City's government, getting sent to prison, and finally, noticing that Simon is finally an equal he would rather willingly serve beside as a friend than waste his time warring with him.
503* HiddenDepths: Has a deep-seated sense of honor and a [[spoiler: secret crush on Adiane.]] More so, his innermost desire was [[spoiler: wanting to get married to a Beastman girl he once loved, have a child, and live a normal life as a family together. This may not seem ''that'' meaningful, until you find out in the show that despite having secondary sexual characteristics, Beastmen are neuter - Viral ''can't'' have a child in that fashion, no matter how much he may want to.]]
504* HonorBeforeReason: He has shades of this, but not quite to the same extent as Kamina. He will ''not'' attack a defenseless opponent, he will ''not'' resort to underhanded tactics such as taking hostages, but if a battle is not going in his favor he may occasionally run away.
505* HotBlooded: In Episode 22, he even manages to be more hotblooded than [[HumbleHero Simon]]. He ends up being so loud that you can barely hear Simon.
506---> Viral: "Doutou gattai! Arc Gurren Lagann! Uoooowaaaaahhhh!!!"
507* IJustWantToBeNormal: [[spoiler:Viral's greatest dream is to have a family... but as a Beastman, he can't reproduce, and being immortal, he'd outlive any family he had.]]
508* {{Immortality}}: Granted to him by Lordgenome near the end of the first half when he grows curious about the true nature of the Spiral. Lordgenome decides to make him his messenger through all time to denounce hope, but instead, Lordgenome is defeated and Viral is left living forever without a purpose--until he joins Team Dai-Gurren.
509* IncomingHam: In the GrandFinale on Simon's behalf when the Gurren is getting tied down by the Anti-Spiral's attacks.
510--> '''"SIMON!! GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"'''
511* IneffectualSympatheticVillain: After his debut battle, things go rapidly downhill. Kamina even asks [[BreakingTheFourthWall "is he still in this show?"]] and refers to him as cannon fodder before swatting him aside. Subverted soon enough when he helps to kill Kamina and then remains a significant threat until the battle for Teppelin.
512* TheLancer: After his HeelFaceTurn, when he becomes Gurren's pilot and Simon's fighting partner.
513* LeanAndMean: He's leaner than the hunkier Kamina and (post-timeskip) Simon, and spends much of the series as a villain.
514* {{Leitmotif}}: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyRK2GI_T7I "Nikopol"]].
515* LetsFightLikeGentlemen: Catches Team Gurren quite literally with their pants down, but lets them get dressed and Kamina get in Gurren before attacking.
516* MeaningfulName: In contrast to the Four Supreme Generals being named after DNA base pairs, he's named after "virus". Like a virus, he cannot grow because he's immortal; he cannot produce (spiral) energy [[spoiler: supposedly]] and cannot reproduce in the sense of traditional procreation because he's a beastman. (Viruses are said to replicate, not reproduce.)
517** His mech's name is Enkidu, after the mighty Beast-man who is the {{deuteragonist}} in ''Literature/TheEpicOfGilgamesh''.
518* MisanthropeSupreme: Was this at first, especially in his introduction episode.
519* MonsterKnight: Vicious looks? Check. Fierce fighter? Well... Mostly check. An honorable warrior down to his core? Check.
520* MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily: He is a shark-cat-man, and the "shark" part manifests primarily through his teeth. That's what gives him his signature SlasherSmile.
521* MrFanservice: Spends a considerable amount of his time in prison wearing only a tiny towel.
522* MultiArmedAndDangerous: His Gunmen Enkidudu and [[spoiler:Tengen Toppa Enki Dulga.]]
523* NobleDemon: Allowing the enemies who have proven to be far stronger time to suit up when a sneak attack would be far more pragmatic? Definitely a case of HonorBeforeReason.
524* OvershadowedByAwesome: He's a truly talented pilot, but his lack of spiral energy leaves him completely outpaced by Simon and Kamina fairly early on.
525* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: Gets one form Adiane in episode 10.
526* RedemptionPromotion: Went from ButtMonkey of half the Beastmen Generals to Pilot of Gurren. [[spoiler: 20 years afterward, he's turned sincerely warm-hearted and commands the crew of Super Galaxy Gurren Lagann as they prepare to attend the Galactic Spiral Peace Conference.]]
527* TheRemnant: A sympathetic version post-TimeSkip before his HeelFaceTurn.
528* TheRival: To Kamina, before his BadassDecay. To Simon, after.
529* RivalsTeamUp: He eventually becomes co-pilot to the Gurren Lagann.
530* ScarfOfAsskicking: Post-timeskip.
531* ScaryTeeth: All thanks to being part shark.
532* ShirtlessScene: He gets a few post-timeskip.
533* SignificantAnagram: [[TheRival Guess what Viral's name spells when the letters are rearranged]]. [[JustifiedTrope That might be why it's spelled that way when it's pronounced "virile".]]
534* SixthRanger: Eventually
535* SlasherSmile: As an enemy, but promptly done away with after his HeelFaceTurn- it's now a good-natured smile.
536%%* StepfordSmiler
537* StockShonenRival: An abrasive AcePilot, Viral starts the series as a recurring antagonist with a personal grudge against Kamina and later Simon, becoming TheRival to both. Throughout the series, he gets VillainDecay, but performs a HeelFaceTurn when an even greater threat shows up. To drive the point home, his name is an anagram of "rival".
538* TheStoic: Takes on this personality after being beaten down so much by Kamina, and later, Simon. Post-TimeSkip, he's an absolute stoic as a result of tepid and futile battles against the government. Fortunately, it starts wearing off with his HeelFaceTurn, and it's gone altogether in [[spoiler:the DistantFinale]].
539* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools A rare positive example]]--Viral's post-timeskip outfit is based on an unused character design for Kamina, and he fully embraces this when he becomes Gurren's pilot.
540* TearsOfRemorse: After Adiane dies and he ends up ashore, he falls to his knees in a brokenhearted heap of tears, punching the ground in frustration that [[AFatherToHisMen Thymilph's]] Lover, [[FailureKnight another]] member of the four generals, ''and'' his [[FanPreferredCouple (possible)]] [[BodyguardCrush crush]] has been killed and he couldn't save her, [[TraumaCongaLine just like what happened to General Thymilph]].
541* TookALevelInBadass: After taking over as Gurren's pilot. So, so, much.
542* TookALevelInKindness: His will slowly broke over the course of seven years, weakening his hot-blooded tendencies. When he decided to pull a HeelFaceTurn, he turned much more pleasant and hopeful. [[spoiler:By the DistantFinale, his fury is a thing of the past and he's now a benevolent and caring man.]]
543* TragicDream: His time in the LotusEaterMachine shows that his greatest desire is [[spoiler:to have a family]], which due to his engineered nature is impossible.
544* VillainousBreakdown: Has a minor one when he realizes [[WorthyOpponent Kamina]] had been DeadAllAlong and it was really [[JustAKid Simon]] kicking his ass in majority of their encounters.
545* VillainDecay: This happens to him almost immidiately after his first appearance. He keeps getting his ass kicked again and again by the heroes as the series progresses. This eventually leads to his HeelFaceTurn and RedemptionPromotion.
546* WakeUpCallBoss: The first pilot of a two-headed Ganmen in the series, he gives Simon and Kamina a monster of a beatdown in their first encounter, proving that their having mecha of their own to fight back against the oppression will be nowhere near enough. Ultimately he is the reason for the creation of the [[spoiler:Gurren-Lagann]] in the first place, and heralds the first time the MainCharacters access Spiral power.
547* WeakButSkilled: He was made so he couldn't make Spiral Energy, but he is a significantly better pilot (at the beginning) than either Kamina or Simon. It doesn't save him when the two learn to tap into the power of the Spiral, though, and as they grow in skill as well he just CantCatchUp. But in the second part, he becomes a valuable copilot to Simon anyways thanks to his classical Ganmen pilot training.
548* WorthyOpponent: To Kamina. [[IneffectualSympatheticVillain Not so much]] to Simon, but Simon sees him as a valuable ally after the TimeSkip.
549[[/folder]]
550
551[[folder:Rossiu]]
552[[quoteright:225:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rossiu_gurrenlagann.jpg]]
553[[caption-width-right:225:[[labelnote:Click here to see him post-Time Skip.]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/32812_0.jpg[[/labelnote]]]]
554[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see him as an old man.]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bda5sgg.jpg[[/labelnote]]]]
555->Voiced by: Creator/MitsukiSaiga (JP), Creator/JohnnyYongBosch (EN), Creator/MichaelMcConnohie (EN, epilogue)
556
557A boy from the underground village of Adai, which worshiped gunmen as gods. Due to the limited resources available to its people underground, Rossiu's village would hold raffles to exile some of its members after its population became too large to sustain. When Gimmy and Darry are chosen the leave the village, Rossiu decides to go with them in order to see the outside world, joining Team Gurren in the process. Rossiu has a curious and inquisitive nature, often as a result of being sheltered for most of his life by Father Magin in Addai Village, having listened to spiritual preachings that were meant to keep him at ease. His innocence begins to slip away over time, though. After some unfortunate events, he is forced to take Kamina's place as Gurren's pilot.
558
559Following the aftermath of the battle and a time skip, Rossiu is now Simon's advisor as he runs the government in Kamina City. However, the arrival of the Anti-Spiral and the panic of the public turn him into a WellIntentionedExtremist willing to sacrifice everything in order to preserve humanity.
560-----
561* AllForNothing: [[spoiler: His post timeskip plans to have Simon arrested, take his place as leader and evacuate the Earth with as many people possible, while they may have been well intentioned, was ultimately the ''wrong'' choice. By leaving so many people on Earth, not even half the amount he hoped to take with him, and unknowingly leading the ship to a fleet of the Anti-Spiral mechs, the dread and fear of the passengers negatively affected the ship's engines. Furthermore, it turns out the Gunmen, the very mechas he ordered to be scrapped, were far more effective in fighting off the Mugann than his army of Grapearls. It took Simon leading the charge in Gurren Lagann to ultimately save everyone, making Rossiu realize his betrayal was not only pointless, but counterproductive.]]
562* AntiVillain: [[spoiler:Post timeskip, at first. He imposes several restrictions on humanity thanks to Lordgenome's warning about the Anti-Spiral, and the guilt of everything he's doing is crushing him. However, once it's clear that the Anti-Spiral has been playing him for a fool, Rossiu changes his mind.]]
563* ArmorPiercingQuestion: Kittan, furious over Rossiu's plan to [[spoiler:evacuate the Earth and let everyone who's left behind die]], insists that they could TakeAThirdOption and just [[spoiler:destroy the moon]]. Rossiu then asks a question about the price of failure that leaves Kittan for a moment, then asks him a question about leadership that forces him to concede the argument.
564-->'''Rossiu''': If we fail, [[spoiler:humanity truly will go extinct]]! Tell me... are you able to bear that responsibility? ''(Kittan goes silent)'' [...]A leader's role is not to fight. A leader's role is to make the hard decisions. Do you think I'm wrong?\
565'''Kittan''' No. No, you're not wrong... but that don't mean I gotta like it!
566* BeingGoodSucks: [[spoiler: Everything he does post-timeskip for the continued survival of humanity weighs on his heart ''heavily'' worst of all being forced to sentence Simon, someone he respects ''immensely'', to death. Once it becomes clear to him that he'd only been playing into the Anti-Spiral's hands the realization that every horrible thing he'd done to save humanity had been ''AllForNothing'' [[DrivenToSuicide drives him to try and end it all due to the weight of his guilt.]]]]
567* BigOlEyebrows: Rossiu has thick, black eyebrows.
568* BreakTheHaughty: Seemingly invoked but ultimately subverted. [[spoiler:For several episodes after the timeskip he appears to be the controlling force of the government with Simon as a figurehead, and he criticizes Simon's recklessness while justifying that his extreme and morally-ambiguous actions are necessary, including sentencing Simon to death. However he was ''really'' broken up and unhappy about doing what he was doing and wasn't at all proud of it. He just did a good job of concealing it from others. Thus, Rossiu broke himself, but he wasn't as haughty as it seemed at first.]]
569* BrokenBird: Learning that his own faith was a sham, perhaps even a prank concocted by someone who was bored, really snapped him to bits. It tore down his faith so badly that he began to lack faith in others, and refused to trust their ability to protect others. So he decided to take matters into his own hands by assuming control of Kamina City's government. Until he realized that he had gone too far.
570* ButtMonkey: In the first arc.
571* TheChainsOfCommanding: [[spoiler: His own extreme actions take a toll on him ''severely'', culminating in his AttemptedSuicide.]]
572* {{Deuteragonist}}: Of episodes 17-19 and episode 23.
573* DidntThinkThisThrough: [[spoiler:His plan to get as many people off the planet with the Arc Gurren failed for two reasons. 1) The Anti-Spirals are ''aliens'', as in from another planet. meaning they are capable of space travel. 2) They don't care about the Earth, only wiping out humanity from the universe.]]
574* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:Defied. After he realizes that everything he's done to protect humanity has been playing into the Anti-Spiral's hands. However, Simon gives Rossiu a MegatonPunch to the face and a RousingSpeech which snaps him out of it.]]
575* EasilyForgiven: Despite his WellIntentionedExtremist actions, everyone thinks that he did the smart thing and most of them, Simon especially, don't blame him and isn't mad at him. However, he feels that becoming a KarmaHoudini was something he did not deserve and opted for self-punishment until Simon gave a direct punch to snap him out of it.
576%% ZCE * EvilChancellor: More of a WellIntentionedExtremist Chancellor.
577* {{Foil}}: Shares a number of similarities with Simon, which makes them an effective team, but the differences between the two are great enough to create countless problems during the show's second half.
578* ForeheadOfDoom: Noted by Kamina. Levels out after the time skip.
579* {{Foreshadowing}}: When he pilots Gurren in the HotSpringsEpisode, foreshadowing [[spoiler:his stint as Gurren's pilot after Kamina's death]]. Not to mention the rather sinister shots predicting his ObstructiveBureaucrat stint.
580* GeneralFailure: As a peace time administrator, it's obvious he is the one running the government. But as soon as the war against the Anti-Spirals starts, his plans began failing against the Anti-Spiral, anticipating the logical movements.
581* HeroicBSOD: [[spoiler:Post timeskip. The realization that his actions to try and save the world, including sentencing Simon to die, triggered one on its own. Then when Simon and company came back and saved the world by acting in a manner he condemned, thereby proving that not only were Rossiu's actions futile but also plain ''wrong'', it just got worse. This lead to him [[DrivenToSuicide trying to commit suicide]], though Simon stopped him.]]
582* HeIsAllGrownUp: Post-timeskip Rossiu is a TallDarkAndHandsome {{Bishonen}} in contrast to the goofy looking "forehead boy" he was before.
583* IDidWhatIHadToDo: PlayedWith. He initially viewed his actions in the timeskip as such, but the guilt and consequences just ate him up.
584* InSeriesNickname: "Forehead Boy," Kamina's nickname for him. Stuck to him ever since.
585* InterruptedSuicide: [[spoiler:After his HeroicBSOD, he tries to kill himself, but with Kinon's help, Simon stops him.]]
586* JerkassHasAPoint: He does a number of morally questionable things after the TimeSkip, and his plans often fail to achieve their intended purpose. Despite that, Kittan, one of Rossiu's harshest critics, has to concede he's not wrong to assert that leaders must make hard decisions, especially with the fate of humanity at stake.
587* JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope: [[spoiler:After TheReveal following full-scale panicking all over the city, he becomes a WellIntentionedExtremist and commits questionable moral actions over the course of the second arc until the others snap him out of it.]]
588* KickTheDog: Brings up Kamina to Simon after he was arrested and basically saying his death was a necessity was ''really'' scummy.
589* TheLancer: To Simon. See TheReliableOne and UndyingLoyalty for more information.
590* LikesOlderWomen: It's never really mentioned, but Kinon is at least a few years older than he is.
591* LocationThemeNaming: Rossiu comes from "ushiro", or "back". He represents the characters who don't believe in blindly charging forwards and [[spoiler:is ultimately shackled by his origins]].
592* LukeIMightBeYourFather: The relationship between Rossiu and Father Magin is never addressed entirely within the show; though it is heavily implied that Magin might indeed be Rossius' father [[spoiler:especially during the [[WhereAreTheyNow Epilogue]] which shows a much-older Rossiu who looks and sounds much like Father Magin.]]
593* MissingMom: Father Magin made his mother leave Addai Village so its capacity would stay at 50, allowing them to survive.
594* MrFanservice: Similar to Simon's case, he gets much hotter and less goofy-looking after the timeskip.
595* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: After sentencing Simon to prison, Rossiu went to a secluded room and immediately broke down in tears as he absolutely regretted actually committing such an act. See HeroicBSOD.
596* NamedAfterSomebodyFamous: He was named after the Swiss philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who believed it was the duty of rulers to uphold peace and prosperity for all of his or her people.
597* NonActionGuy: He pilots Gurren Lagann with Simon for awhile, but when we meet him after the timeskip he's become this.
598* NonchalantDodge: When his composure is level, he can defend himself easily. [[spoiler:He effortlessly dodges Kittan's attacks as he tries to take out his frustration on him. However, it's all an act to hide his suffering. He doesn't even try to dodge an attack when despair takes root. Instead, he looks on in absolute terror at Gurren Lagann as it flies toward him, so stunned he doesn't realize Simon has leapt out of the cockpit until taking a sharp punch to the cheek that he never saw coming.]]
599* NotSoStoic: He's always calm, cool and collected while in public, but TheChainsOfCommanding tear him apart in private, best evidenced in episode 23 when [[spoiler:he's DrivenToSuicide for his deposing of Simon and willingness to sacrificed most of humanity to preserve the rest]].
600* OfficialCouple: With Kinon.
601* OnlySaneMan: [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]]. While his approach is merely only poked fun at, but still appreciated pre-timeskip, it got worse after it as his logical and sensical approach was expected by [[spoiler: the Anti-Spiral]] and thus easily countered. He also became somewhat cynical due to the experiences of his own past.
602* PetTheDog: Even years after they'd seen each other, Rossiu still reached out to Yoko to get her to join the exodus on the Arc-Gurren.
603* RedOniBlueOni: The blue to Simon's red - he is more intellectually-driven and professional compared to Simon.
604* TheReliableOne: Calm and level-headed, it was unsurprising he ended up as Simon's right hand man post-timeskip as he's the only one who really knows what he's doing. In addition, he's also the only one to actively help Simon during his DarkestHour and the only one (outside the twins, possibly Leeron and of course Nia) to keep believing in him during the whole ordeal. See UndyingLoyalty below for more info.
605* RousseauWasRight: [[{{Pun}} Heh.]] But seriously. Rossiu is a prime example of his phonetic namesake's philosophy that everyone is born with an inclination towards good, especially as a child. [[spoiler: Even at his darkest moments he's only trying to save as many people as he can and isn't acting out of malice but out of fear and desperation. He starts leaning back towards how he was as a child after being saved from his AttemptedSuicide by Kinon and Simon.]]
606* ShootTheDog: [[spoiler:What he does in the second half with regards to Simon is this in his mind.]]
607* SlipknotPonytail: [[spoiler:During his attempted suicide, his hair falls around his face when Simon punches him.]]
608* TheSpock: Insists on emotion and reason as the tools to lead and govern.
609* TookALevelInBadass: Compare the panicky ButtMonkey from the first half of the series to the unflappable world leader he becomes after the timeskip. He easily dodges a barrage of Kittan's punches, something pre-timeskip Rossiu wouldn't have a chance of doing.
610* TookALevelInJerkass: Post timeskip. Rossiu has become more distant in finding out the truth of Lordgenome's actions. It gets worse when he becomes cold-hearted and ruthless in the pursuit to keep humanity alive.
611* TheoryTunnelVision: Following TheReveal and the impending ColonyDrop, Rossiu fully condemns all actions he deems unneeded for the sake of humanity's survival. While he may have acted out in the best interests, his oversight of the numerous problems that he failed to anticipate almost led to the end until Simon and everyone else managed to prevail through it all.
612* UndyingLoyalty: When Simon was [[spoiler:grieving after Kamina's death]], Rossiu was the only one openly concerned about him the entire time. Back [[spoiler: when Lagann no longer works for Simon and resulting in Simon finally voicing his loss of direction and helplessness, he attempts to go and comfort Simon]], although he's stopped by Yoko and his own doubt of what he can do. His belief in Simon never wavered, even when others including ''Yoko'' stopped believing in Simon. In fact, the main reason [[spoiler: he piloted Gurren (outside of prior experience) was out of concern for Simon's well-being, which if Simon's tone is any indication when he questioned this, meant that Simon was surprised that someone still cared for him beyond what he could contribute to the team. The only other people on board who still believed in him were the twins, Nia (though her case is unique) and possibly Leeron, but Rossiu was the one who was active in remaining in Simon's side.]] This makes his behavior during the first few episodes after the timeskip all the more painful seeing how things have gotten since.
613* WeHaveBecomeComplacent: In the TimeSkip, he notes how humanity has become self-centered after forgoing their time living underground and have been taking their new lives in too much stride. It's when he struck by a DefiantStoneThrow that he realizes how far badly they've become.
614* WeUsedToBeFriends: He and Simon remain good friends until the TheReveal in the TimeSkip prompted Rossiu to commit drastic measures against Simon. They do manage to patch up things up by the end.
615* WellIntentionedExtremist: Becomes one after the time skip.
616* WrongGenreSavvy: As humanity's primary strategic planner, most of his decisions would be fairly reasonable in the real world. However, he lives in a universe where a sufficient amount of HeroicWillpower is capable of ''breaking the laws of physics''.
617[[/folder]]

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