King of Braves GaoGaiGar | King of Braves GaoGaiGar: FINAL | Betterman | King of Kings: GaoGaiGar VS. Betterman
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Main Cast
Keita Aono
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The main character. A 17 year old student who finds himself piloting the Neuronoid Kakuseijin with Hinoki. While panicky, socially awkward, and caught in circumstances way over his head, Keita manages to show enough courage and wit to survive.
- Action Survivor: When he's not piloting the Neuronoid. Episode 8 is a prime example of this - he spends nearly the entire episode running for his life. (And with good reason too - the majority of that episode takes place in a hospital full of Brainwashed and Crazy nurses with poisoned fingernails!)
- Affectionate Nickname: Hinoki has called him "Kei-chan" since they were kids, and will continue to do so into adulthood.
- Ascended Fanboy: As a military and video game fan, Keita squees every time he sees any high tech device or military units. He also thinks it's cool to be piloting a mecha... until the horrors show up.
- Book Dumb: Outright says that he's at the bottom of his class, but there are plenty of situations showing that he's not unintelligent. At one point, Asami goes so far as to say that he'd make a good scholar.
- Chekhov's Hobby: His interest in military craft proves useful in one episode. In general, he likes the idea of piloting a mode-changing mecha enough that he keeps doing it.
- Childhood Friend Romance: He often played with Hinoki as kids, and they develop a romantic relationship as the show gooes on.
- Chivalrous Pervert: Yeah, he's a teen with girls on his mind, and isn't above ogling. But Keita manages to contain these tendencies and cares about his female companions. It's not his fault when Asami falls on top of him, or that he unintentionally gropes someone, but Keita's not above enjoying it.
- Distressed Dude: The poor guy gets cornered so many times.
- Falling into the Cockpit: It's a Sunrise production - what did you expect?
- Hidden Depths: He may be jittery, geeky, somewhat pervy, and often needs saving. However, Keita shows great bravery, thinks fast, keeps Hinoki from falling into despair, and manages to protect others in danger. It's only when there is no way out that Keita needs to be saved by someone else. And despite some Book Dumb tendencies, Keita is really good at figuring out effective uses of the Synapse Dangeki.
- Nice Guy: Despite his flaws, Keita is generally likable. It helps that he keeps putting his neck on the line for his friends.
- Non-Action Guy: Keita is what you would call... a loaner hero that you use until the real one shows up. At the same time, it doesn't matter what you throw at him, in the Kakuseijin or out of it, he'll keep getting right back up to fight.
- Right Man in the Wrong Place: Why he ends up piloting the Kakuseijin. Also happens outside the mech, such as Episode 8. After discovering the hospital's dark secret, he's the only one that can save Sakura.
- Tears of Fear: Played for laughs - Sometimes during an Oh, Crap! moment, Keita will shift into a silly crying expression before getting a hold of himself.
- Weirdness Magnet: Somehow, someway, he finds himself being confronted by strange monsters or visions. It turns out his Dual-kind capabilities plus the visions are the result of a dura matter transplant when he was younger.
- What the Hell, Hero?:
- Hinoki gets peeved when Keita runs away from a situation, leaving her behind.
- In another episode, Keita does this to Akamatsu and himself after they get separated from Hinoki and Li-chan. Unable to get back to them, a distraught Keita points out how pathetic it is that "the men ran off and left the women behind".
- Wrong Genre Savvy: After entering the Kakuseijin in Episode 1, Keita begins to make assumptions based on Real Robot Mecha Shows. He gradually realizes that he's in Survival Horror where the Kaiju is the real hero.
Hinoki Sai
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Voiced by: Kyoko Hikami (JP), Onalea Gilbertson (EN)
Keita's classmate and co-pilot of the Kakuseijin, as well as his childhood friend. After her parents and brother Mario went missing, she became melancholy and distant. As a Head Diver, she is apparently very good at synthesizing particles for the Synapse Dangeki.
- Anime Hair: Her multicolored bangs. Apparently it runs in her family - flashbacks show that her father and brother had them as well.
- Character Catchphrase: She often says "Because I'm an idiot."note
- Childhood Friend Romance: She has feelings for Keita, whom she used to play with as children.
- Cleavage Window: Some of her outfits fit this trope.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: She's never happy when she's Keita gets too close with other women.
- Defrosting Ice Queen: It takes a while, but being around Keita gradually brings Hinoki out of her depression.
- Face Palm: Sometimes does this during Keita's Epic Fail moments.
- Faux Action Girl: Hinoki gets torched at, almost eaten by worms, attacked by out of control machines, chased by a bipedal elephant type monsters, and survives most of the show's enemies, before finally being turned into a Damsel in Distress near the end of the series. Granted, she has no special abilities or training beyond being a Neuronoid pilot, so it's not like she was much of an Action Girl to begin with.
- Form-Fitting Wardrobe: Pretty much
◊ Hinoki's◊ entire◊wardrobe◊ is snug around her curves. - Go-Go Enslavement: In the final episodes of the series, Hinoki is tazed by Mamon and later wakes up in the Neuronoid wearing her dive suit, to be used as bait to draw Betterman out.
- Heroic Self-Deprecation: Even when she helps save the day, Hinoki still doesn't think too highly of herself. She constantly belittles her own intelligence, as seen with her Catchphrase. Ironically, said phase stems from some of Mario's (affectionate) last words to her. He followed up these words with saying, "If you ever need me, I'll be there."
- Long-Lost Relative: Why does Betterman look like her missing brother? Subverted, Lamia is not her brother, but has his memories and looks.
- Magic Skirt: Surprisingly enough, considering how short it is.
- Male Gaze: Hinoki◊ also◊ gets◊ this◊ a lot◊ from Keita.
- Ms. Fanservice: She's got quite the well-endowed chest, and her outfits are very kind to her figure.
- Parental Abandonment: Her parents and her older brother Mario disappeared while exploring the Ajanta Caves in India. Their disappearance is the root of her emotional problems.
- Tsundere: Can be this way to Keita at times. She ignores him at first, but only to avoid creating suspicion about their jobs. Though Keita upsets her, she doesn't take it out on him.
Shigeru Akamatsu
Voiced by: Chafurin (JP), Dave Pettitt (EN)
The passionate head of Akamatsu Industries, the company which is contracted by Mode Warp to operate the Neuronoids. Somewhat eccentric but a gifted inventor, he created a number of amazing gadgets.
- BFG: Subverted. Akamatsu can wield a massive device that looks like this, but it's really a high tech scanner.
- Casual Danger Dialogue: Is considerably calmer than most while facing mind-blowing weirdness on a weekly basis.
- Cool Board: He can use a rocket-powered skateboard with an automatic jack to allow it to jump in the air.
- Gadgeteer Genius: Has created a number of inventive technologies. Some successful, others not so much.
- Last-Name Basis: Akamatsu is never called anything but Akamatsu or "Boss".
- Like Father, Like Son: He's Liger Shishioh's son, which helps explain his inventing.
- Married to the Job: His focus on the company had its personal cost such as estranging his wife from him.
- Mr. Exposition: Played with. When it's time to explain to Keita how the Neuronoid operates, Akamatsu is too busy to do so, so he hands the job to Li-chan.
- My Little Panzer: Literally. Akamatsu created a line of remote controlled miniature tanks that actually blew up after taking a direct hit. It was a commercial failure, since the "toy" could only be bought by licensed demolition experts.
- One of the Kids: Akamatsu shares the same tastes and interest as Keita.Akamatsu: "Never underestimate the cunning of a full grown boy."
- Papa Wolf: Cares a great deal for those working under him. Especially Sakura, who is revealed to be his daughter in the final episode.
- Psychic Block Defense: The "Barrier Boy" headbands, which are supposed to protect the user from Algernon. Later, the "Laser Head" headbands are developed to prevent full-on psychic attacks.
- Renaissance Man: Capable of designing a large number of inventions (from toys to military weapons), as well as run his own company.
- Tricked-Out Shoes: He created with large springs under them, presumably used to help people jump higher.
Sakura Akamatsu
Voiced by: Junko Iwao (JP), Mariette Sluyter (EN), Mayra Arellano (Latin American Spanish)
A cryptic 15-year-old girl linked to the "Limpid Channel", allowing her to read the minds of beings around her, and to pick up important information. Also a Dual-kind, she can pilot Neuronoids in a pinch. Unfortunately, due to her poor health, she spends much of her time confined to a medical device called the Manage Machine. At the end of the series, she was revealed to be Shigeru's daughter. He agreed to work with Mode Warp so he could use the Manage Machine for her.
- Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: She canonically has ADHD, and requires heavy medication and biofeedback pulses.
- Blessed with Suck: The Limpid Channel basically makes it impossible for her to live without Manage Machine treatment on a daily basis. (And that's in addition to really bad ADHD and a frail constitution.)
- Cool Chair: The Manage Machine. The thing looks like a cyberpunk throne, and has a pair of goggles for some reason (probably to keep visual stimuli to a minimum). It is used to keep her mental state in check, against the stress of a 24/7 connection to the Limpid Channel.
- Cloudcuckoolander: Justified; she had ADHD.
- Creepy Child: She's fifteen, but she's still damn good at pulling this off when the plot calls for it. Her monologues and speeches in the episodes and episode preview doesn't make this any less chilling.
- Disability Immunity: Either due to her condition, powers, or that's she's pumped full of meds, Sakura is the only one unaffected by Prof. Umezaki's pheromone attack.
- Improbable Hairstyle: Her twintails appear to be growing out of a single central point at the top of her head. (As her hair looks normal when she lets it down, it's probably done up using the same tech as Mikoto.)
- Missing Mom: Her mother walked out after becoming fed up with Akamatsu being Married to the Job.
- Naked First Impression: During her introductory scene in the pilot episode, Sakura is wearing a semi-transparent green gown. She wears this whenever she has to sit in the Manage Machine.
- Nightmare Fuel Station Attendant: Particularly in the next episode introductions, but occasionally during episodes as well.
- Psychic Radar: Her access to the Limpid Channel allows her to play this role - with it, she's capable of detecting if someone's in trouble, providing information on Betterman, and allowing Betterman to know when it's time to act. Her advice does tend to be either simple and direct ("it's coming!"), or specific yet so utterly disconnected from context as to be useless.
- Waif Prophet: Near as we can tell, though, her physical frailness and Limpid Channel ability are unrelated. And while her predictions tend to be vague, she can filter them out well enough to provide consistently useful information (thus averting Cassandra Truth).
Asami Miyako
Voiced by: Houko Kuwashima (JP), Meredith Taylor-Parry (EN), Martha Ceceña (Latin American Spanish)
A young, level-headed bio-medical engineer and investigator, providing explanations to the various phenomenon the protagonists encounter. Working for ModeWarp, she acts as the company liaison to Akamatsu Industries. She has dedicated her life to investigating and ending Algernon.
- Adventurer Outfit: Asami dons Safari Apparel during the India expedition. It contrasts with the rest of the team, most of which just dress casually or wear Akamatsu uniforms.
- Cute Clumsy Girl: Downplayed - Asami is pretty competent. But she does end up slipping at times... often on Keita's face.
- Determinator: In regards to finding a cure for the Algernon virus.Asami: "I will never give up. Even if I were to be the last person left alive."
- Ms. Exposition: Provides scientific and historical background to the gang when needed.
- Not So Above It All: Miyako seems like the last person to make any mistakes, crack a joke, or have any fun. But we do see instances in which these do happen. When a picture of a Christmas Party is shown, a jolly-looking Asami is wearing a goofy fake mustache and red nose.
- Shy Blue-Haired Girl: Asami's hair a dark-greenish blue color, and she's quiet, reserved, analytical, and, while kind, she's not very outgoing.
- The Spock: The most calm and logical person in the group. If she does show any fear or anger, there's typically a good reason why.
- Technobabble: She provides a good percentage of this throughout the series.
- Unwitting Pawn: In the final episode, it's revealed that she is in fact a carrier of the Algernon virus, due to being part of the scientific team involved in Yakusugi's ill-fated Dive Inspection - the one that released Kankel into the world. Asami does not take this revelation well.
Kaede Kurenai
Voiced by: Yuko Minaguchi (JP), Colleen Blackmore (EN)
A cheerful, if subdued, young woman who co-pilots the Neuronoid Tyran. In addition to being a dual-kind, she has psychic abilities that allow her to read electro-magnetic impulses. Kaede also has a close relationship with her co-pilot Shou.
- Alliterative Name: Kaede Kurenai.
- Battle Couple: She usually pilots the Tyran alongside Shou.
- Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: Her dynamic with Shou. She's very gentle and supportive of him.
- Cleavage Window: Her outfits that don't reach Navel-Deep Neckline levels will often leave an opening.
- Ms. Fanservice: A beautiful woman with a very large chest and plenty of outfits to show it off.
- Navel-Deep Neckline: Some of her outfits, and her concept art features, having a deep neckline that goes past her navel.
- Nice Girl: A very sweet and caring person.
- The Nicknamer: Names the Tyran "the Blue Rabbit", and gives Hinoki and Sakura the affectionate names of "Hino-ppi" and "Cherry". Akamatsu is actually confused by this at one point.
- Perpetual Smiler: Downplayed. Kaede often has a smile on her face, but when things get serious or dangerous, her expression does change.
- Psychic Powers: Her ability to read electro-magnetic impulses. The Superhuman Federation takes a particular interest in her due to this.
- The Tease: While she's in a relationship with Shou, she enjoys flirting with Keita quite a bit, as it's quite fun to watch Keita's brain turn off.
Shou Yanagi
Voiced by:: Shin-ichiro Miki (JP), Jonathan Love (EN)
The composed and capable 24-year-old co-pilot of the Tyran. He also possesses psychic capabilities, such as precognition. In a relationship with Kaede. Though often collected, Shou does suffer from trauma at times.
- Battle Couple: He pilots the Tyran alongside Kaede.
- Big Damn Heroes: To Asami, when she's a captive of Dr. Umezaki and is about to be forced under mind-control. Yanagi literally shows up Just in Time.
- Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: His dynamic with Kaede. Shou's more vulnerable side comes out only when he's alone with her.
- Heroic BSoD: Has one when he has visions of his dead brother Kei, and results in him being down for two episodes.
- I Let Gwen Stacy Die: Feels that his younger brother Kei's death is his fault.
- The Lancer: What Keita lacks as The Hero, Shou has. He has the intellect, experience, composure, special powers, training, fitness and fearlessness that an ideal hero should have.
- Last-Name Basis: Addressed as Yanagi by almost everyone. Only Kaede calls him by his given name due to her being his lover.
- Psychic Powers: To a lesser extent than Sakura or Kaede, but useful at times such as hypnotizing insect swarms. These powers are also why he sees certain visions.
Supporting Characters
Ritsuko "Ri-chan" Fuchu
Voiced by: Tomoko Kawakami (JP), Christy Greene (EN)
A laid-back employee of Akamatsu Industries, she operates the vehicles that transports the Neuronoids. Understandably, she's a bit perturbed by all the unnatural events surrounding her.
- Custom Uniform of Sexy: Unlike other employees, Li-chan wears some tight-fitting red pants.
- The Driver: Plays the role, but does a bit more than that.
- The Lad-ette: Downplayed. Unlike most of the main female characters, she wears an Akamatsu uniform on duty. She also drinks beer and is often seen with a nicotine rod in her mouth.
- Oral Fixation: Again, the nicotine rod.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Subverted. She does quit her job after a particuarly harrowing experience in one episode, but she returns after realizing that she felt safer with the rest of the team.
- The Team Normal: Has no notable superpowers, but still manages to help out.
Yamajii
Voiced by: Takehito Koyasu (JP), Ben Jeffrey (EN)
Another Akamatsu Industries employee, he helps the Boss in the Command Carrier with any technical data.
- Mr. Exposition: He's the one who deciphers the technobabble for Ri-Chan.
Kazuho "Heichin" Heichi
Voiced by: Houko Kuwashima (JP)
An Akamatsu Industries technician, working alongside Yamajii and Ri-Chan.
- Big Bad Friend: He's truly responsible for the early attacks in the series.
- The Engineer: Akamatsu even comments that his talents as a technician was exemplary.
- Scary Shiny Glasses: His square-shaped glasses shine ominously in every appearance, as a clue that something isn't right with him.
- Secretly Dying: It turns out that he's infected with Algernon, something the viewers or even anyone in-universe knew about.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Has a full-on case of Algernon since before the series began, which is discovered six episodes into the series, then dies later on.
Cactus Prickle
Voiced by: Hiroki Takahashi (JP), Mark Gatha (EN)
The original co-pilot of the Kakuseijin that worked with Hinoki. During the Bottom World investigation, he becomes infected with Algernon and abandons the Neuronoid. He dies shortly after.- The Faceless: Almost all of Cactus's appearance obscure his face in shadow, even in well-lighted areas. His face is shown exactly once in the last episode - he appears alongside the other survivors of the ill-fated Dive Inspection during the Officer's exposition of the event.
- First-Episode Twist: He dies. And then he gets mentioned several times afterwards such as being pals with Heichin.
- Posthumous Character: Makes an appearance in another episode during a dream sequence.
- Punny Name: Oddly enough.
- Sound-Only Death: Maybe, assuming that's him laughing in the first episode. (We can't tell what exactly happens to him, just that he is killed mid-laugh and Keita was close enough to have a pretty good idea what happened...)
- Take Our Word for It: Despite never seeing Cactus, or his fate, several of the characters are affected by his death.
- Unwitting Pawn: Just like the other survivors, he was responsible for releasing Kankel into the world when the Dive Inspection went wrong.
Tsuguo "Ushii" Ushiyama
Voiced by: Hiroaki Ishikawa (JP)
Keita's classmate and friend, who shares his interests in technology, the military, and girls. He's also Sueo's Big brother.
- Otaku: Military and technology fan.
- Satellite Character: His entire character is pretty much defined by his interactions with Keita.
Officer
Voiced by: Naoki Bandou (JP)
The head of ModeWarp, and the superior Asami reports to.- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": As far as anyone knows, his name is "Officer".
- Unwitting Pawn: Like Asami, Mamon, Umezaki, and Hinoki's father, it's revealed that he was part of the scientific team involved in Yakusugi's ill-fated Dive Inspection — the one that released Kankel into the world. His involvement caused him to become a carrier of the Algernon virus.
Chandi
Voiced by: Houko Kuwashima (JP), Onalea Gilbertson (EN)
A mysterious girl met by Keita in India, always smiling. She is accompanied by Puleto, a lizard-like creature. She communicates only through telepathy using the Limpid Channel. Capable of great strength and speed, she saves Keita on several occasions.
- Badass Adorable: She's an adorable-looking young girl, but if you're her enemy, you will get your ass kicked.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: She helps Keita out because she likes him. Why she likes him isn't entirely clear, but it's implied she simply finds him amusing.
- Last of Her Kind: Due to the other D-Type Hunters slaughtering each other to single out the most powerful one.
- Living Weapon
- Sort of. While Puleto functions as powered armor for her, it can also take the form of a huge lizard.
- Mysterious Protector: To Keita.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: "Chandi" is a nickname that Keita gives her, based on a story he heard from his guide in India - we never find out her real name. She likely doesn't have a real name anyway, considering she's a clone.
- Perpetual Smiler: Always chipper, always with a tiny smile on her face.
- Powered Armor: "Puleto" is a D-Type hunter armor. When not being worn, it can take the form of a large lizard.
- Self-Made Orphan: She kills Prof. Umezaki during the battle at BPL.
- Tyke-Bomb: She is a creation of Dr. Umezaki, making her his daughter. She is also the last of the D-Type Hunters, a series of superhuman clones.
Yakusugi
Voiced by: Yusaku Yara (JP), David Kelly (EN)
A mystifying Buddhist priest who provides unexpected aid to the heroes. Even at in his old age (possibly 120 years old), he has managed to reach the peak of human abilities. He is amazingly fast, strong, and has powerful spiritual capabilities.
- Badass Preacher: Even at over a hundred years old, he is at the peak of physical, mental, and spiritual capabilities. He ends up saving the heroes - even Betterman!
- Big Damn Heroes: He saves Keita and Hinoki on multiple occasions.
- Chekhov's Gunman: His remarkable capabilities made him a suitable candidate for the Dive Inspection, a project to create the perfect human. It backfired horribly - as a result he became tainted with Kankel, and thus he turns out to be the one Betterman must ultimately defeat.
Bettermen (Somniums)
A form of primate recorded since BCE. Formally named as "Somniums," they are capable of transforming from one form into another by consuming the seeds of the Animus Flower. Along with the ability to metamorphosis, they have access to the Limpid Channel. Humans termed them as "Bettermen" for their nature to evolve. In General
- Benevolent Abomination: Despite their otherworldly, often terrifying nature, they're genuinely heroic and firmly on humanity's side.
- Creepy Good: They're otherworldly creatures that can turn into Kaiju, have monstrous teeth, and technically eat people's remains. However, they're the good guys and genuinely trying to protect humanity.
- Finishing Move: Each of their combat forms have move to finish off their enemy. It's justified, as their attacks up until that point analyze the target and prepare their 'Psycho' attack to that specific enemy. Not only does this let them kill with one last attack, it also allows them to only kill the thing they want dead and nothing else.
- Friendly Fire Proof: Their Finishing Moves are all tuned specifically to kill the target over the course of the battle. As such, they can fire massive area of effect attacks without worrying about harming allies.
- Humanoid Abomination: They look human, but are clearly not, possess the power to turn into monstrous creatures, feed on humans technically, and are generally otherworldly.
- Our Vampires Are Different: Potentially immortal, capable of transformation, flight, and with incredibly strong forms , and they technically feed on people. This aspect is even lampshaded in the show, when a student talks about Vampires being able to take the form of a fog. Betterman Nebula's supersonic attacks create fog.
- Telepathy: All Bettermen communicate this way.
Lamia
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Voiced by: Takehito Koyasu (JP), Jonathan Love (EN)
The titular Betterman of the series, saving the protagonists on several occasions. He is capable of eating the seeds of the Animus flower to transform into much more powerful fighting forms. Mysterious and vigilant, Lamia's default form is that of a humanoid male, with long hair. He also bears more than a passing resemblance to Hinoki's brother, Mario.
- Anti-Regeneration: Ortus can reprogram enemy cells, and uses this ability to remove Kankel's Healing Factor, allowing him to rip Kankel apart and kill him.
- Cool Shades: When in humanoid form. He also must have a secret stash of them, as he keeps tossing his shades every transformation.
- EMP: Nebula can create this effect using sound and light waves, destroying any unshielded electronics.
- From a Single Cell: It's implied Ortus' Healing Factor is equal to Kankel's, and thus can regenerate from anything.
- Gender-Blender Name: Played With. 'Lamia' was derived from Classical Mythology about a child-eating snake-woman monster (or amongst Humongous Mecha fandom, a Super Robot Wars heroine). Lamia here is a man, but that was because being a Somnium, he was a Shapeshifter whose default form just happened to be a man.
- Greater-Scope Paragon: Of GaoGaiGar FINAL.
- Hair Color Spoiler: He shares the same tri-colored shock as Hinoki. Is it her brother? No - Lamia only looks that way because he ate the Animus seed that sprouted from Mario. In the process, Lamia gained his memories, as well as some of his physical attributes.
- Healing Factor: Ortus has unlimited regeneration rivalling Kankel's. As such, Kankel's Touch of Death doesn't work because he can regenerate faster than Kankel can degenerate his cells.
- Holding Back the Phlebotinum: Despite how powerful his Forte form is, Lamia doesn't use it unless it's absolutely necessary. This is due to the fact that seeds containing the Forte power can only be acquired from Algeron carriers. Additionally, it takes the combined power of multiple Forte seeds at once for Lamia to transform into Ortus.
- Horn Attack: "Psycho Glory" ends with Forte extending a bone saber into his foe's weak spot.
- Last of His Kind: He's the only remaining Somnium at the end of the series, after the others are destroyed by Kankel. Subverted in the sequel, which revealed that there were still others.
- Mysterious Protector: To Hinoki but his reasons may not be entirely altruistic.
- Necessarily Evil: His protecting Hinoki primarily because she can create a flower that can ensure his kind's continued existence and help defeat Kankel seems horrible on the surface, but his kind are humanity's protectors and it's established mankind will perish if they go extinct. Kankel is also such a massive threat to everything that the Godzilla Threshold has been passed. It's made clear Lamia is only doing this because he absolutely has to, and he's a genuinely heroic guy who's trying to save everyone.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: After removing Kankel's Healing Factor, Lamia doesn't use a Finishing Move to instantly kill it, but rather brutally rips it apart with his bare hands.
- Ominous Fog: Nebula can also generate these with ultrasonic waves. Asami hypothesizes that this is as one reason why eyewitness accounts of Betterman is so rare.
- Only I Can Kill Him: Ortus is the only thing that can kill Kankel, as the form's Healing Factor makes it one of the only things that can survive Kankel's Touch of Death, and its ability to rewrite enemy cells allows him to remove Kankel's own Healing Factor so it can be destroyed.
- Power Crystal: Has one on his chest, which he uses to unleash "pectofolex" - light which can heal allies or hinder enemies.
- Razor Wings: Aqua's fins can cut through flesh.
- Super-Scream: Nebula's main attack "Psycho Voice", which is capable of targeting only specific enemies without damaging anything nearby.
- Super Spit: Aqua's "Psycho Fluid", which destroys the cells of it's target, while making sure friendly units are unharmed.
- Swiss-Army Hero: If he needs to fight, he can take on several forms:
- Nebula is a Jack of All Stats, capable of flight and the common battle form.
- Aqua is faster than even Nebula (going over 1000 km. per hour) and is a destructive Lightning Bruiser. The only downside is that it can only be used in the ocean.
- Forte is a giant hulk capable of finding a foe's weak point, and striking at it to cause it to shatter into dust.
- Ortus is a Super Form that requires multiple seeds of Forte. It lets him to use Psycho Birth, which revives and regenerates cells, and can rewrite enemies' cells to remove abilities, making it the only way to defeat Kankel for good.
Seeme
Voiced by: Tomoko Kawakami (JP), M.J. McCann (EN), Mariana Gomez (Latin American Spanish)
Often accompanying Lamia, Seeme is a strange yellow bird-like creature. She serves as his confidant, while helping him keep on eye on Hinoki. It's implied that, just as Lamia had eaten the seed of the Animus flower that sprouted from Mario, Seeme took the seed from the flower of Hinoki's mom.
- Big Damn Heroes: Her first appearance as Lume, in which she saves our heroes and an incapacitated Lamia from Dr. Umezaki.
- EMP: Lume's main attacks are electromagnetic waves.
- Heroic Sacrifice: In her Lume form, she jumps in front of Lamia to take a hit from Kankel, and is killed instantly.
- Metamorphosis Monster: Even more so than other Bettermen. She transforms from a yellow birdlike creature into a glowing humanoid energy being.
- Sidekick: To Lamia. When things get bad for him, Seeme can also transform into Betterman Lume.
- The Smurfette Principle: The only female Betterman that appears in the series.
- Voluntary Shapeshifting: She occasionally takes the form of a yellow deer-like creature. And then of course there's her Lume form...
Bodaiju
Voiced by: Kazuki Yao (JP)
An arrogant Somnium who confronts Lamia over his priorities and taboo actions. He appears as a dark skinned monk, and transforms into Betterman Turba.
- Blow You Away: Turba's main power involves wind-based attacks, such as Razor Wind. He can also create "psycho calm" - an attack that compresses air to create a vacuum.
- Fashionable Asymmetry: One sleeve of his monk's robe is shorter than the other.
- Let's You and Him Fight: He decides to pick a fight with Lamia over breaking a Somnium taboo. They do get over it only for Bodaiju to die shortly afterward.
- Power Crystal: Like Lamia, he has one in his chest. His is capable of countering "pectofolex".
- Warrior Monk: Or at least looks like one.
Lord Pakila (Pachira)
Voiced by: Kazuhiro Nakata (JP)
Leader of the Somniums, appearing as an elderly man with long white robes. He has premonition capabilities.
- The Leader: He is the current king of the Somniums.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: He only appears on screen for around three episodes before Kankel kills him.
Antagonists
Professor Umezaki
Voiced by: Osamu Ichikawa (JP), Steve Olson (EN)
The head of BPL, a major research facility trying to find future food resources. However, it turns out he was conducting unethical experiments, and creating an army of biological horrors. He dies in the confrontation with the Protagonists and Bettermen. Sadly, Umezaki was himself a victim of Algernon.
- Abusive Parents: The guy considers the D-Type Hunters his children, but puts them through live fire exercises to make them stronger.
- Big Bad: He serves as the main antagonist for the first 14 episodes.
- Big Creepy-Crawlies: His "Carrier Ants". While not as huge as a other examples (they're about the size of a table), but they're still larger than they should be. And his swarms could combine into something appearing like these.
- Body Horror: The things he does to people...
- Crazy-Prepared: The guy has several monsters to take down the heroes, and several backup plans in case those failed. He might have won if Betterman Lume didn't show up.
- Disc-One Final Boss: He's responsible for most of the monsters the heroes face for the first part of the series, but is defeated in episode 14.
- Evil Former Friend: Was a good friend of Hinoki's parents. When he heard they disappeared, the Professor went to Ajanta to aid in the investigation efforts.
- Evilutionary Biologist: Bonus points for actually being part of the Biotech field.
- Literal Surveillance Bug: Designed an insect-camera cyborg, allowing him to survey the battle at BPL.
- Madness Mantra: Begins to utter repeatedly that he will save "7 billion!" people. It's a hint that's he's infected with Algernon.
- Mad Scientist Laboratory: The Biotechnology Provision Laboratory, a massive research facility (several huge domes, an airport, even an artificial lake). Since BPL has such vast resources and technology, Asami goes there to help in her investigations. She discovers more than she bargained for.
- Mind-Control Device: Umezaki created his own Puppeteer Parasites! By shoving them into people's mouths, he took control of the human personnel of BPL.
- Mind Hive: Managed to set one up, using technology to control his minions from a central nexus.
- The Swarm: Several of them - worms, wasps, beetles, large ants, and even mind controlling parasites!
- Telepathy: Gains access to the Limpid Channel, likely through some sort of biotech.
- Unwitting Pawn: Like Asami, Mamon, the Officer, and Hinoki's father, it's revealed that he was part of the scientific team involved in Yakusugi's ill-fated Dive Inspection - the one that released Kankel into the world. His involvement caused him to become a carrier of the Algernon virus.
- The Worm That Walks: Professor Umezaki has his insect swarms form into three large monsters. As if their size wasn't enough, these monsters can break up into individual swarms and reform when need be.
Mugito Mamon
Voiced by: Mugihito (JP), Doug McKeag (EN)
The leader of the Superhuman Federation, a group of powerful psychics. Mamon himself has powerful Dowsing abilities. Using those powers, he hopes to bring about a perfect human. Lamia defeats him during the climatic battle.
- Affably Evil: For all the horrible things he does, he remains a very jolly fellow, and it doesn't appear to be an act.
- Big Bad: After Umezaki is killed, Mamon takes over as the main antagonist.
- Body Horror: After losing the first Brahman summon to Pachira, Mamon‘s second attempt at summons fails when Kaede‘s unborn child instinctively protects the mother by disrupting the ritual. Even though the summons failed, Mamon (using himself as the conduit), gains the ability to turn himself into a Brahman creature. His appearance looks like an advance origami design, but the skin of the creature turns out to be similar to that of the urinary bladder.
- Disc-One Final Boss: After he's defeated, there's still Kankel to deal with.
- Elaborate Underground Base: The Superhuman Headquarters. While there is an above ground structure, the most of it is the "geofront" is subterranean. And it’s elaborate - with a spiral rail instead of an elevator to transport people, a brain scanner to only allow psychics to enter, and a number of traps along the way.
- Eyes Always Shut: Subverted, they DO open during some of his particularly creepy moments.
- One-Winged Angel: He gains the ability to transform into Brahman.
- Perpetual Smiler: That grin never seems to leave his face.
- Unwitting Pawn: Like Asami, Umezaki, the Officer, and Hinoki's father, it's revealed that he was a carrier of the Algernon virus, due to being part of the scientific team involved in Yakusugi's ill-fated Dive Inspection - the one that released Kankel into the world.
Kankel (UNMARKED SPOILERS)
The main antagonist of the series which the Bettermen are ultimately trying to defeat.
- Big Bad: Kankel is the true villain of the series and it coming into being is the reason everything is happening.
- Combat Tentacles: It has no skeletal structure to speak of and can use its limbs as tentacles in combat.
- Curbstomp Battle: Pretty much everyone it fights up until Ortus ends up easily defeated.
- From a Single Cell: Kankel has a nigh unlimited Healing Factor. Even Pakila pretty much imploding it into nothingness failed to kill it. Ortus only manages to kill it by disabling Kankel's regenerative abilities before ripping it apart.
- Good Thing You Can Heal: It's a good thing for Kankel it has an absurd Healing Factor, as it doesn't seem very durable otherwise and often ends up taking a decent amount of otherwise fatal damage. It's just impossible to meaningfully damage, as it will just regenerate even by being imploded into nothingness. Once Ortus disables its regeneration, he has no real problem ripping it to pieces and killing it.
- Kryptonite Factor: The only thing other than Ortus capable of harming and driving away Kankel is Linker Gel, which it can't process and while it can't kill it, burns away at its body on contact and drive it away.
- Off with His Head!: After stripping Kankel of its Healing Factor, Ortus finishes his beatdown by ripping Kankel's head off and killing it.
- Touch of Death: Kankel can degenerate the cells of anything it touches rapidly, reducing them to little more than a puddle of goo in seconds. Ortus is the only thing that can survive it, as his Healing Factor means he heals faster than Kankel can degenerate his cells.
- Unskilled, but Strong: Kankel has borderline no fighting skills, but given it's nigh impossible to meaningfully damage and possesses a Touch of Death and plenty of raw power, it really doesn't need skill. When Ortus proves able to shrug off its cell generating touch, its fighting style relies mostly on brute force. Once Ortus strips it of its powers, he has no problem ripping it to pieces while its helpless to do anything about it.
- The Worf Effect: It easily kills Bodaiju and Pakila, establishing how huge of a threat it is.
