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A page detailing the characters from Blame!.
Warning: some spoilers are unmarked!
Main characters
The two protagonists whose journey we follow through the story of the manga.
Killy
Killy
Voiced by: Takahiro Sakurai (2017 movie, Japanese)
The main character of the manga. A mysterious man of few words searching for the Net Terminal Genes that will bring end to the chaos that currently reigns in the City. With his trusty Gravitational Beam Emitter (GBE) and no memory of his past, he keeps travelling through the many levels of the city in order to fullfill his task.
- Adaptational Attractiveness: Given the movie features character designs more similar to Tsutomu Nihei's current art style, he ends looking more handsome than his more scruffy manga counterpart during the Electrofishers arc.
- Adaptational Backstory Change: In the movie he is conclusively confirmed to be a high level safeguard who has decided to protect humans instead of kill them, or at least is confirmed to have the body of a high level safeguard. In the manga he’s said to predate the safeguard and his past is even more elusive
- Adaptational Wimp: In the 2017 movie, is shown he needs to take some kind of injection to properly shoot the beams of his GBE. In the manga, Killy doesn't needs anything like that and can fire his gun without taking any previous measure, using instead the injection to force himself to sleep when he needs to.
- Ambiguously Human: Killy appears like a normal human (or at least as normal as the transhuman races of 'Blame!' can be), but his incredible resistance, stamina and ability to recover to any wound that would kill a normal human easily makes his status as a common human highly questionable. Later in the manga, is heavily impled he's actually a special unit predating the Safeguard with his own personality (like Sanakan) created by the Government Agency to bring peace to the City. In the movie, Sanakan identifies him as a Safeguard too.
- Amnesiac Hero: He’s forgotten most of his past, and himself. The only memory from his early past he still has is his mission.
- Art Evolution: Thanks to the progression of Nihei's art, Killy goes from looking plain to look like a proper Bishōnen.
- Art Shift: In the third edition of Blame! Academy, his reaction to seeing Cibo naked is so bad he suffers a huge case of nosebleed and his face (who was depicted in a "moe" artstyle as a result of Jenitalias and Metajini messing up the setting of the series to the one of a typical highschool romcom series) briefly returns to the one of the original manga just for that instance.
- BFG: His iconic GBE is this. It is a relatively large gun that shoots condensed graviton beams able to cause a great amount of destruction depending on the power Killy applies to the weapon.
- The Comically Serious: While the bleak tone of the manga doesn't allows for many comedic moments, he's portrayed as this in Blame! Academy given the parody style of the work, where Killy remains as stone-faced as he normally is in the main series to the whole ridiculous situations that ensue in the spin-off.
- Dark Is Not Evil: Killy's clothes and hair are completely black, but he's not evil by any means and is only hostile with those who attack him first or with Silicone Beings. He's even showing helping random strangers if he can.
- Demoted to Extra: Very downplayed. While in the source material he's the character we follow through the manga and his goal to get the Net Terminal Genes is the main focus of the story, in the 2017 movie he's more of a Supporting Protagonist that just happens to pass by the level of the megastructure where the Electrofishers live, with the story focusing more on their struggle to survive in the hostile enviroment of the City.
- Dented Iron: Even though he's able to stand a lot of punishment and is able to recover from almost any injury, by the end of the manga he becomes so worn out his body starts falling apart and is forced to replace some of his body parts with sloppy prostheses.
- Determinator: Killy is completely focused in completing his mission to retrieve the Net Terminal Genes, and nothing nor anyone will stop him from accomplishing it, consequences be damned.
- Dull Surprise: Due a combination of Killy's introverted personality and Nihei's old art style not being extremely expressive, he tends to react to many shocking or impactful moments with a expression of tepid surprise.
- The Expy With No Name: In the film he is an expy of the Man with No Name, from the Dollars Trilogy, and the composers even put Wild West instrumentation into his theme. The similarities were already there, the movie simply amplified them.
- Fantastic Racism: A curious case where the main character suffers from this and is not treated as something horrible. While Killy doesn't tends to hold strong emotions towards anything, he absolutely loathes the Silicon Beings, to the point he casually destroys their nurseries or kills members of the species that aren't hostile without hesitation.
- He, however, seems to have gotten over this by the time of Blame! 2, given how he saves Pcell the 8th when she's about to be killed by the Safeguard.
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: At some point in the story, he gets a small scar in the left side of his mouth that doesn't detours his attractiveness. It becomes one of his most distinctive traits and he's portrayed with the scar in most of the official material of the manga.
- Healing Factor: To a ridiculous degree. Killy seems to be able to regenerate wounds that would kill anyone else (even the tougher residents of the City). The range of his regenerative powers goes from being able to reattach removed limbs to recover of being blasted away by a nuclear beam and being melted by it (though it took him 14 years to heal himself from that) or being shot in the head.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Downplayed. Killy is not as much of a jerk as he is distant and cold, but even he has his moments of compassion, and if he can help the random strangers he finds though his journey, he will comply (such as in the movie, where he gives food to the Electrofishers not so long after meeting them, without asking anything in exchange).
- Law of Inverse Recoil: While Killy normally doesn't have problems firing the GBE, when he uses the advanced form of the weapon (Level 2 or superior), the recoil he suffers is so great that it can even damage or even remove his arm entirely.
- Meaningful Name: Killy's name is written with kanji (霧亥, kiri-i) that could be interpreted as "a boar in the fog": dangerous, hard to stop, hard to see coming, doesn't know where it's going.
- Mercy Kill: Does this to a woman that was bound to a cloning machine (implied for a very long period of time) in the 36th chapter of the manga. Considering the woman was suffering a living Hell, creating clones akin to wild animals non-stop, Killy likely did this to put the poor woman out of her misery.
- Mysterious Past: In spite of being the main character of the story, no details about his past or backstory are revealed through the run of the manga. The closest thing the audience gets to a glimpse of his past are some brief visions he has while he regenerates from the wounds he suffered after receiving the energy blast of the Level 9 Safeguard that are implied to be events from his previous life. Other than that, his background remains a complete mystery, even to him.
- Not So Stoic: Even the normally stoic and emontionless Killy has moments where he let's some emotion slip, such as mourning dead people or putting some out of their misery in an act of mercy. Especially evident in the first chapters, where Killy is shown to be more expressive and concerned about the people he meets in his journey.
- Likewise, he's shown to be able to show arrogance (like when he mockingly tells Genitalias and Metajini that he was the one who destroyed the Silicon Life nursery) and feels some enjoyement in causing destruction (he shows some joy using his Gravitational Beam Emitter on what remains of the unofficial megastructure after being regenerated from the injuries Level 9 Safeguard Cibo inflicted to him).
- Older Than He Looks: Looks at least in his twenties, but he's in truth older than that. Way older than that.
- One-Man Army: Thanks to his ridiculously powerful GBE he can take out dozens of enemies with relatively ease.
- Pretty Boy: In the movie and in the recent style of Nihei, Killy appears as a serious pretty boy. Is implied he's attractive enough to make Zuru develop a crush on him, even.
- The Quiet One: Killy only talks while necessary and prefers to act rather than engage in conversations. The number of dialogues he has through a chapter varies from two or three lines to zero.
- The Stoic: While he has moments where he breaks character, he nonetheless remains as an unexpressive, emotionless, cold individual through the manga.
- Time Abyss: Nihei stated in an interview Killy is at least 3000 years old, and the reason why he doesn't have memories or seems to forgot about some of the abilities of his body (like the one that allows him to scan individuals to properly identify them) are the result of his age taking its toll on him. Additional dialogue implies he even predates the Safeguard.
- Wave-Motion Gun: The GBE he carries is a pistol that has energy beams as its main ammo. It's level of destruction depends of the power Killy decides to use from the weapon, as it never seems to run out of ammo. Its power it's so great that at minimum its able to cause a 70 km long beam that leaves a huge explosion behind. We never get to see the maximum power of the weapon, but the
author of the manga said that, if it would be shoot from the surface of the Earth, it would have devastating changes in the atmosphere and climate of the planet. - The Voiceless: The short web animation from 2003 turns his silent nature to the extreme, to the point he has no dialogue in any of the seven episodes of the anime despite being the main character.
Cibo
Cibo
Voiced by: Asuka Aizawa (2003 web animation), Kana Hanazawa (2017 movie, Japanese)
The former head scientist of the Bio Electric Corporation of the Capitol. After failing to access to the Netsphere in an experiment that ended destroying the facilities where she worked, she was imprisoned in the sewers of the Capitol as a punishment for her failure, where she's found by Killy an underterminated time later and, after being freed by him and defeating the president of the Corporation, becomes his closest and most prominent ally through his journey.
- Adaptational Attractiveness: Though she isn't ugly per se in the manga, like Killy, as a result of being animated using Nihei's recent art style, she looks prettier and more beautiful in the movie.
- Adaptational Backstory Change: Very Downplayed. Cibo's backstory in the 2017 movie is the same she has in the manga, just with the location where she did the experiment to access to the Netsphere changing from the Capitol to a facility near the place where the Electrofishers live. This was made so she could appear in the movie, since the arc of the Electrofishers (the one the movie loosely adapts) happens after her official debut in the manga.
- Adaptational Jerkass: Downplayed. Cibo in the manga is a compassionate character who will try to help whoever she comes across if they are in need. Her movie counterpart, on the other hand, even if ultimately is also a benevolent character, is aloof, secretive and snarky, and at some points even can come as untrustworthy.
- Adaptational Personality Change: Downplayed. Though her personality in the movie is similar to the one she has in the manga, she seems more secretive of her intentions, making her look suspicious at times.
- Adaptational Wimp: In the movie, less emphasis is put in her combat abilities and more on her scientist knowledge, being less involved in action of what she does in the manga.
- Adapted Out: She's absent from the two short CGI OVAs from 2007.
- And I Must Scream: Her fate after failing the experiment to access the Netsphere is this. She was imprisoned in the sewers of the Capitol and impaled with tubes and other pointy things so she couldn't escape, and condemned to rot for the remaining of her life, all while being fully conscious. Her state when she first met Killy is so bad she's reduced to a decomposing torso with only her hair remaining. She thankfully gets better once Killy rescues her and she creates her new, iconic body, however.
- Badass Bookworm: Though not as much of a fighter as Killy, her knowledge proves to be very useful to save the day and she herself is not afraid of getting into the action (in her first appearance she even saves Killy when he was about to be taken by the guards of the Bio Electric Corporation).
- Back from the Dead: Cheating on death is a normal part of the life of Cibo. Despite being killed (directly or in surroundings of the Netsphere) multiple times, she somehow always manages to get back on track in one way or another, from making a new body for herself to stealing other bodies given the chance. Until the end of the series, that's it.
- Death of Personality: After she enters the Netsphere and transforms into the Level 9 Safeguard, her personality is destroyed and she's left as a child-like Empty Shell.
- Demoted to Extra:
- After having the Level 9 Safeguard downloaded into her actual body, she's reduced to a child-like state and basically becomes a plot device, with Sanakan taking the role of second main character in her place.
- In the movie, though her role is still important, she's portrayed as an enigmatic character helping Killy and the Electrofishers (that get ascended to main characters in turn) rather than as the second protagonist of the series, with Zuru fulfilling more the role of the heroine.
- Deuteragonist: As the other main character of the story, she's the second most important character after Killy, and her actions move forward the story as much as the ones of Killy.
- Dies Differently in Adaptation: In the manga, she's killed after being caught in the explosion of Killy's GBE gun with the attack of the High-Level Exterminator Safeguard. In the 2003 web animation, she's apparently killed by the Silicon Being Metajini in the second episode. Given the dubious continuity of the web animation and that the girl with the dog of the second chapter of the manga is also Cibo here, if she died or not here is questionable.
- Fashionable Asymmetry: In the 2017 movie, her whole body is black colored, except for her right arm, that is white instead.
- Grand Theft Me: A rare heroic example. She manages to avoid her own death by taking the body of another character twice:
- The first time was by taking Sanakan's body after the end of the Electrofishers arc, where, taking advantage of Sanakan's weakened state after overloading the vehicle used by her Safeguard squad, she proceeds to get her body and remains in it for at least 10 years thanks to the influence of Toha Heavy Industries nullifying the presence of Sanakan. She manages to get some of her abilities, like the capacity to summon wings.
- The second time happens in Toha Heavy Industries where, after the main AI of the company breaks the no-aggression treatment between Toha and the Safeguard, Sanakan starts to regain the control of her body, forcing Cibo to search for a new one under the threat of being erased altogether. She finally ends hosting the body of her alternate self from the parallel dimension inside Toha, who died before she could made it to the present, and ends using it until Davine Lu Linvega downloads the Level 9 Safeguard inside alternate Cibo's body in the following arc, which ends destroying once again her vessel body.
- Huge Schoolgirl: Coming from the tall race of humans that inhabit the Capitol, she possesses a very considerable height, dwarfing Killy (who is average in stature) and the Electrofishers (that are a race of short humans).
- She however stops being this after getting her body destroyed in the climax of the Electrofishers arc, where she takes Sanakan's child body and ends up being shorter than Killy... Then plays it straight when she gains the body of her alternate self in Toha Heavy Industries arc, only to be reduced to a very small humanoid after the Level 9 Safeguard is transferred to her current body during the incident of the unofficial megastructure.
- Iconic Sequel Character: Despite being one of the most important and recognizable characters of the manga, she doesn't appear until the second arc of the series (the whole second volume of the manga), with the first volume consisting in Killy traveling aimlessly through the City in search of the Net Terminal Genes.
- The movie averts this and her backstory is changed so she can meet Killy and the Electrofishers in the level of the City where the latter reside.
- Killed Off for Real: Though she managed to dodge death multiple times through the story, her luck runs out in the last arc and is killed for good along with Sanakan by the High-Level Exterminator Safeguard in the penultimate chapter.
- Mystical White Hair: Her white hair enhances her mystery and stands out when put next to the black haired Killy. Interestingly enough, she possessed a body with black hair back when she worked for the Bio Electric Corporation.
- Off with His Head!: In the second episode of the web anime, she's swiftly decapitated by Metajini. Of course, considering the weird continuity of the web animation, it's not sure if she dies for good here or not.
- Person of Mass Destruction: As a Level 9 Safeguard, she's able to create huge blasts of energy able to wipe out entire megastructures of a single attack.
- Spared By Adaptation: In the movie, she decides to remain with the Electrofishers and doesn't stays with Killy, ending alive (as a robotic arm, however) rather than dying at the hands of the High-Level Exterminator Safeguard like in the manga.
Safeguard
A security program originally tasked with protecting the stability of the City and their inhabitants. However, due a series of circumstances, the outdated protocols of the Safeguard and the lost of the Net Terminal Genes used to keep them in check made them turn against the humans of the City, eliminating anything or anyone they consider a threat. They are one of the primary antagonistic groups of Blame!.
In General
General tropes
- A.I. Is a Crapshoot: The Safeguard was originally a benevolent program created with the intention to protect the humans of the City. However, after the ancestors of the Silicon Beings corrupted the Net Terminal Genes all humans had with an unknown infection, they went rogue and started to kill anyone who didn't possessed the genes, that is roughly all of the human population of the City.
- Bald of Evil: Except for intelligent units such as Sanakan or Dhomochevsky, the average Safeguard lacks any kind of hair. Most noticeable with the Exterminators.
- Big Bad Ensemble: Along with the Silicon Beings, they are the biggest threats of the manga and, though they display similar goals, they're not quite the same (the Safeguard are exerting the role they were programmed for, while the Silicon Beings want to get rid of humans in order to eliminate any threat for their existence in the City), and, in some instances, they tend to fight each other.
- Dark Is Evil: While the more common Exterminators are white-colored, some other special Safeguard units are depicted with pitch-black bodies.
- Evil Versus Evil: While they generally ignore each other, at times both the Safeguard and the Silicon Beings end clashing with each other in brutal battles that can last centuries.
- Gone Horribly Right: Technically, the Safeguard program was made in order to eliminate anything considered a non-citizen of the City (basically anyone who doesn't possesses the Net Terminal Genes). However, after the humans of the City lost these genes, they were declared non-citizens and thus pursued and killed by the Safeguard, so, in practice, the Safeguard are basically following the orders given to them by their creators.
- Kill All Humans: Or rather, "Kill All Humans who don't have the Net Terminal Genes". Since the Safeguard is programmed to obey only humans who possesses those genes, someone with them should in theory stop their rampage in the City. Problem is, no human residing in the City has them, so they will indiscriminatingly kill anything in sight until someone manages to find the Net Terminal Genes.
- Omnicidal Maniac: Due their programming, their main goal is to kill any individual without Net Terminal Genes to ensure to safety of the inhabitants of the City. But, since the City became an anarchic place that keeps growing non-stop and with no one to stop it's expansion or govern it properly, they are basically killer machines that wipe out any "threat" indiscriminately.
- We Have Reserves: Justified in this case. Since they can generate an unlimited amount of soldiers no matter how many die, they have no problem sending entire armies to their demise. Is not like they will care after all.
Sanakan
Sanakan
Voiced by: Saori Hayami (2017 movie, Japanese)
A high level Safeguard with her own (subdued) personality and appearance. Being summoned as a result of Killy and Cibo reaching the level where Toha Heavy Industries was situated, she first met the main characters by disguising herself as an innocent child, following them to the residence of the Electrofishers until she shows her true colors and reveals herself as a Safeguard after Killy identifies her properly. Afterwards she becomes a major character through the series.
- Arc Villain: Of the Electrofishers arc, where she appears as the commander of the Safeguard unit attacking the level of the megastructure where Toha Heavy Industries resides (that is where the Electrofishers live).
- Adaptational Attractiveness: Possibly the character hit by this the most in the movie. Compared to her somber manga counterpart, the Sanakan of the movie displays bigger, more expressive eyes and has a robotic body instead of the biomechanical one the manga version has, making her looking prettier and cleaner.
- Adaptational Villainy: As a result from being made more expressive in the 2017 movie, she seems to revel more in the carnage she creates, while in the manga her reactions are more downplayed.
- Adaptational Wimp: In the movie, she lacks some of the abilities she displays in the manga, such as the capacity to turn people into Safeguard Exterminators or the power to create wings to fly.
- Adapted Out:
- Despite being an important character in the manga, she doesn't appears in any of the seven episodes of the web animation.
- Her child form doesn't appears in the movie, being replaced instead by Sanakan taking Tae's form after killing her in the factory where Cibo guided Killy and the Electrofishers to get food.
- Big Bad: Since the 2017 movie only adapts the Electrofishers arc, she ends being the main antagonist of the film, being also the only non-mook Safeguard to appear in the movie.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Takes the form of a harmless little girl to trick Killy, Cibo and the Electrofishers to take her to the home of the latter. When Killy discovers her guise, she then proceeds to massacre the Electrofishers and wreak havoc on the place.
- BFG: Like Killy, she also possesses a Gravitational Beam Emitter, though hers takes the shape of a rifle and is attacked to her right arm.
- Dark Action Girl: She's cold, ruthless, calculative and very destructive, being one of the toughest opponents Killy faces through the series. She upgrades to a normal Action Girl after her Heel–Face Turn, however.
- Dark Is Evil: Contrasting Killy, Sanakan's body is completely dark colored, she has black hair, and is as merciless as the rest of her Safeguard brethren. Becomes Dark Is Not Evil after being (presumably) reprogramed by the Authority to help Killy in his quest.
- Dies Differently in Adaptation: In the manga, she's killed after being caught in the explosion of Killy's GBE gun with the attack of the High-Level Exterminator Safeguard. In the movie, she's killed by Killy after being shot by the beam of his Gravitational Beam Emitter, in a way that reminds of her first death in the Toha Heavy Industries arc.
- Facial Markings: Her Safeguard form displays two vertical stripe-shaped black marks that extend from her eyes to the rest of her cheeks. Noticeably, she lacks them in both of her human forms.
- Heel–Face Turn: Some time later after her apparent demise in Toha Heavy Industries, she's reprogrammed by the Government Agency to aid Killy in his misison to discover the Net Terminal Genes, being also tasked to protect Cibo (who now carries the genes neccesary to stop the growth of the city after her trasnformation into a Level 9 Safeguard). She becomes less violent and more prone to dialogue in this state, but she's still a capable and relentless soldier when the situation needs her to be.
- Killed Off for Real: Like Cibo, she doesn't survive the final battle against the High-Level Exterminator Safeguard, and ends up killed for good in the penultimate chapter.
- Not So Stoic: While normally she's as emotionless as Killy, she tends to give some smug smiles from time to time. Her movie counterpart is initially shown as stoic as in the manga, but quickly reveals a more expressive and sadistic side.
- Power Gives You Wings: One of her most notable abilities is the one to alter her body so she can unfold a pair of gigantic butterfly wings, which allow her to fly and have a better range to shoot.
- Recurring Boss: Before becoming an ally of Killy, she fought him three times through the manga until her apparent destruction in Toha Heavy Industries. Given the usual expiration date of the antagonists of the series, this is impressive.
- Walking Spoiler: Given that she doesn't appears in the movie until the climax, knowing of her existence before watching the film spoils the surprise that there are intelligent Safeguards, as well as giving clues of Killy's true nature.
- Wave-Motion Gun: Her Gravitational Beam Emitter also has the ability to shoot energy beams, and her ones are as destructive as the ones of Killy.
Dhomochevsky
Dhomochevsky
A provisional Safeguard that aids Killy and Cibo in their quest, Dhomochevsky, along with his partner Iko, were created in response to Davine Lu Linvega’s hostile takeover of the Unofficial Megastructure level. Due to the level’s emergency system being shut down by the Silicon Life, the duo were left without backup and forced to face the gang of cyborgs themselves.
- An Arm and a Leg: Loses his left arm and a good chunk of his body while fighting Pcell.
- Arc Hero: Of the Unofficial Megastructure story arc, having more exposition than any other ally and sharing a lot of screentime with Killy and Cibo. The fight against Davine is more personal from his side and he stops being a major character once the arc is over.
- Eye Scream: His left eye was impaled by Schiff.
- Off with His Head!: Ultimately dies this way, courtesy of Cibo's Level 9 Safeguard form.
- Sealed Evil in a Duel: Him and Iko have been fighting Davine's gang for at least 250 years before they meet Killy and Cibo, stopping her from accessing the Netsphere.
- Token Good Teammate: He's a Special Safeguard; the type that is not hostile to humans. This may be due to the fact that he and Iko were essentially stranded in base reality with no backup when the safeguard system on their level was disabled by silicon creatures shortly after their programs were initiated.
Iko
Iko
Dhomochevsky's partner, an ethereal safeguard.
- Ambiguous Situation: How she lost her body is never stated, but it can be assumed it was fighting Davine's gang.
- Senseless Sacrifice: She enters Dhomochevsky's mangled body to give him enough energy so he can move and take care of Cibo's Level 9 Safeguard form. As expected, he ends up being killed anyways.
- Support Party Member: Due to her status as a non-physical being, Iko can't fight enemies directly. She does, however, provide assistance to Dhomochevsky in the form of predicting enemy attacks, hacking into machinery and healing him.
- Virtual Ghost: Wasn't always this way, as Dhomochevsky's flashback shows. She seems to have gradually lost her body as she took damage and/or used her own energy to heal her partner while fighting the silicon creatures.Â
Exterminators
Exterminators
A subset of the Safeguard composed of an army of androgynous machines tasked with killing anything that comes close to the levels between megastructures or just anyone without the Net Terminal Genes. They are the most common type of Safeguard.
- Elite Mook: They have their own version of this in the form of the High-Level Exterminator, that is incredibly powerful and can level up entire megastructures by itself.
- Light Is Not Good: They are predominantly white, and are machines that kill everything in sight.
- Mook: They are the most common type of Safeguard seen in the series, and are relatively easy to deal with... if you are Killy, at least.
- Normal Fish in a Tiny Pond: Humans that deal with them consider them fearsome and demonic enemies, but in truth they are about the weakest form of Safeguard, with more powerful and terrifying ones roaming the City. Normally, this is because those humans are so insignificant that the intervention of Safeguards of higher levels is simply not needed, with them only appearing in special cases.
- Zerg Rush: Their usual method of attack is by overwhelming the enemy with sheer numbers. Since Safeguards of higher levels can replace them easily, it doesn't matters if they die in the process.
Silicon Life
In General
- Big Bad Ensemble: Along with the Safeguard, they're the most prominent antagonistic faction in the series.
- Cyborg: Their creation involved organic tissue in the first place and they have human features, despite their name stating that they are artificial in nature and most of them having robotic implants.
- Dark Is Evil: They generally have black bodies, dress in black clothes and/or look generally grotesque, and they tend to be the most evil faction in the series.
- Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: All of them seem to have white faces in contrast to their otherwise pitch black bodies.
- Evil vs. Evil: Safeguards will kill and stop silicon beings no matter the cost. If the Safeguard is in the way of a silicon being's objective, they can get into fights that last for centuries.
Ivy
Ivy
The leader of the group of Cyborgs responsible for killing off the human populace of Toha Heavy Industries.
- All for Nothing: Spent centuries trying to destroy Mensab's cave only to finally get killed by Seu, not only failing his mission but also letting them escape to safety.
- Arc Villain: Of the Toha Heavy Industries story arc.
- Blood Knight: He clearly enjoys fighting. Notably he notices Toha is falling apart and everyone inside will die, but prefers to continue his duel with Seu.
- Cool Sword: Like Seu, he uses one as his main weapon. His is a foldable one that can extend up to three times its size.
- Evil Counterpart: To Seu. Both are warriors that fight to protect their races, but while Ivy plans to kill all humans to do so, Seu just wants to defend his people and Mensab from their attacks. Both are swordfighters, but Ivy uses a black, cleaver-like sword, while Seu uses a shiny, more traditional one. Ivy's whole cyborg body is black and he only covers his mouth, while Seu uses a light armor that covers his whole body.
- Dreadlock Warrior: His hairstyle seems to be a mohawk of dreadlocks, and he definitely kicks ass.
- Off with His Head!: Seu ends up bisecting his head in two, finally killing him.
- Proud Warrior Race Guy: Takes pride in fighting for his race, intending to kill all humans so silicon life can continue living in peace.
- The Rival: To Seu. It's stated that Ivy had no trouble slaughtering the humans of Toha in the previous caves, but he found his match in Seu and Mensab. He seems eager to settle their rivalry in their final encounter.
Maeve
Maeve
Ivy's partner.
- Arm Cannon: She has a pair of weapons for arms, one of which projects a long spike, and the other shoots three dark ribbons of an unknown material.
- The Dragon: To Ivy.
- Dragon Their Feet: Shortly outlives Ivy before being killed by Killy.
- Half the Man He Used to Be: Seu cuts her in half during their fight. Luckily for her, it was her cyborg body, so Ivy could save her.
- One-Winged Angel: Takes control of Alernate Cibo's body, becoming a deformed but powerful cyborg.
Davine Lu Linvega
Davine
We're not exactly clear on what this thing's pronouns are supposed to be, but yours are about to be were/was.
A gigantic and monstrous silicon creature that wants to access the Netsphere.
- Ambiguous Gender: Davine's gender is never stated. In the *Master Edition* he is refered to as male, but *Blame! Academy* portrays her as female.
- Alas, Poor Villain: She reveals her reason for trying to access the Netsphere in her final moments: out of sheer curiosity. Even The Administration shows pity for her fate.
- All for Nothing: Spent centuries trying to access the Netsphere and when they're literal steps away from doing so, they end up being killed by Dhomochevsky.
- Arc Villain: Of the Unofficial Megastructure story arc.
- Arch-Enemy: To Dhomochevsky and Iko, obviously. The whole reason they were deployed for was to prevent Davine and thei gang from taking over the level and accessing the Netsphere, and their fight has been going on for centuries.
- Didn't Think This Through: While security to access the Netsphere is lesser in the unofficial level, she made a big mistake in underestimating The Administration's power to stop her. Her connection speed is heavily slowed, and by the time she's about to reach the Netsphere, all her henchmen have been defeated, leaving her open for Dhomochevsky's final attack.
- Overly Long Name: In a series where most characters have Only One Name, Davine having both a middle and last name stands out, possibly to make him seem more refined compared to other characters in a mostly techno-primitive setting.
- Sealed Evil in a Duel: Dhomochevsky and Iko were deployed as a response to his takeover of the Unofficial Megastructure level in his search for Netsphere access. However, as neither side had enough resources to defeat the other, they reached a stalemate that went on for centuries.
- Skull for a Head: Unlike the other Silicon Lives, who have more or less human-like faces, hers appears to be nothing but a bone white helmet resembling the upper half of a human skull sitting atop an articulated, mechanical neck. It's possible that if he ever had any organic parts they've long since discarded them.
- Token Good Teammate: Sort of. Unlike other silicon life, she isn't interested in killing humans for her own survival and doesn't seem to take physical matters on her own hands. The only reason they're fighting Dhomochevsky and Iko is because they're in the way and actively trying to kill them (Which is obviously Justified). And as seen in her final moments, the only reason she wanted to access the Netsphere was out of sheer curiosity of what it was like.
- Your Tradition Is Not Mine: Unlike any other silicon life seen in the series, Davine and her underlings are not concerned with humanity's survival in the slightest. Instead, she wants to access the Netsphere for her own reasons.
Pcell
Pcell
A member of Davine's gang.
- Ambiguous Situation: Her relationship with Dhomochevsky is never explained. He hesitates to kill her when he has the chance, so it may be that they had some sort of connection in the past.
- Co-Dragons: With Schiff and Blon to Davine, although she seems to engage less in combat than them, rather informing the rest of the gang on the changes of the level and Dhomochevsky's moves.
Toha Heavy Industries
A massive edifice or possibly vehicle separate from the megastructure. It is inhabited by humans known only as the Planters, and is the origin of the splinter group, the Electrofishers. It is controlled by a Central AI, and has a collective of thirteen other A.I.s; one controlling each cave. Originated in a parallel universe similar to but distinct from this one.
Mensab
Maiserv
An artificial intelligence that defends Toha Heavy Industries' Cave 8.
- A.I. Is a Crapshoot: According to the fairies, she went rogue and sealed off the eighth cave after a silicon life attack that killed every human inside. In reality, she's been fighting off the silicon life who've destroyed every other cave to protect the few remanining humans.
- Benevolent A.I.: Everything she did was with the intention of protecting her cave from silicon life attacks.
- Mask of Sanity: Tries to act benevolent and motherly, but sometimes her face glitches and shows her true wrinkled, tired face. After centuries of fighting the silicon life, who can blame her.
- Teleportation: Her "Forwarding" ability is this, being used by her whenever Seu and her have to retreat.
Seu
Seu
A planter that serves as Mensab's bodyguard and the 8th Cave's protector.
- An Arm and a Leg: Loses his left arm during his final fight with Ivy.
- The Dragon: To Mensab.
- Badass Cape: As part of his armor.
- Cool Sword: A massive, traditional looking one.
- Knight in Shining Armor: In a world where most characters are evil genocidal cyborgs, anti-heroic guard robots and mysteryous A.I.s, Seu is just an honorable warrior wearing an armor and using a sword to defend his lady and his people.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: Loses his memory each time he's healed by Mensab. He needs to be reminded of who he is and what he's doing, and it's clearly taking a toll on his health.
- The Rival: Him and Ivy became fierce rivals at some point, though it's debatable how two-sided this is, since Seu loses his memory each time he's healed.
The Past
Musubi Susono
Musubi
A police officer working on a case of kidnappings with her partner Kloser, before The City's expansion.
- Action Girl: Granted.
- Arc Hero: Of the prequel.
- Badass Normal: She can keep up with The Order and Cyborgs, and unlike Killy she is a normal human instead of a Safeguard. At first.
- Uncertain Doom: We never know what happened to her, it can be assumed she died due to her situation, but given the sheer vastness of The City it is hard to tell.
The Order
The Order
A human cult that existed before the expansion of the city. They are responsible for creating the first silicon beings.
- Greater-Scope Villain: They created the first silicon beings and caused the creation of The City.
Other characters
Government Agency
Goverment Agency
Voiced by: Tatsunori Arakawa (2003 web animation), Aki Toyosaki (2017 movie, Japanese)
Government Agency symbol
An agent
Also known as the Authority, the Governing Authority, or the Administration depending on the translation. Another program similar in nature to the Safeguard, but with different and conflicting goals and more benign in nature. Their main goal is to stop the chaotic growth of the city, employing Killy's services in order to fulfill this by retrieving the Net Terminal Genes, assisting him over the course of the story in the form of agents created by the program.
- Ambiguous Gender: It's not clear what they are exactly, with the 2003 anime using a male voice actor to voice one of them, while the movie uses a female one. Given they aren't biological beings, is possible they don't even have gender to begin with.
- Big Good: They are the main benevolent figure of the manga and the benefactors of Killy through his journey, helping him multiple times throught it.
- Facial Markings: All of the agents are always seen with the symbol of the Agency carved in their foreheads.
- Heroic Sacrifice: The first agent that appears in the megastructure above the capitol stays fighting the Safeguard patrolling that level in order for Killy and Cibo to advance to the next level.
- In the Hood: The agent that confronts Davine Lu Linvega when she attempts to access the Netsphere wears a robe that covers their entire body except for their face.
- Mr. Exposition: In addition of aiding Killy and Cibo, they also tend to give them explanation about the mechanism of the City and the Netsphere.
- Spared By Adaptation: Unlike in the manga, the agent in the movie who helps Cibo to stop Sanakan and her army of Safeguard units isn't killed by Safeguards infiltrating the Netsphere.
- The Stoic: Just like most of the characters from the manga, they barely emote during their appearances.
