The protagonist. Rin and his twin brother Yukio were raised by Father Fujimoto Shiro. Something of a delinquent but with a good heart, he turns out to be the son of Satan.
Adaptation Dye Job: In the manga his hair is pure black, the anime translated that color to blue.
Almighty Janitor: In terms of overall combat he is a lot stronger than his fellow classmates. This is extremely evident when fighting Amaimon — while he easily curbstomped his allies, he had to put a little more effort defeating him.
Made even more obvious when Rin fought Amaimon with his sword drawn, almost defeating the latter if the battle wasn't interrupted. Amaimon, one of the strongest demons in Gehenna that no exorcist will be able to defeat on their own.
Expanded upon and taken Up to Eleven in episode 17, where he utterly trashes Amaimon, who was earlier shown to be casually defeating Shura and Angel - a high class exorcist and the strongest exorcist in the order, respectively.
Anti Anti Christ: He's the son of Satan but he wants to kick his ass.
Character Development: Already in practice. He started out much angrier and discontented than he is now. Although still insecure, he seems to be happier and a bit more easygoing.
Fantastic Arousal: His tail, at least in fanworks. Since this is a shounen-series and less-focused on something like this, it is up to debate whether this is canon or not. Pulling it does result in massive pain and near-incapacitation.
Heroic BSOD: Occurs in chapters 25 and 26 of the manga, where he thinks he's better off dead, can't unsheathe his sword due to lack of confidence, and is sentenced to execution. After a Cool Down Hug from Shiemi, he's a-okay, though!
He Who Fights Monsters: A constant struggle for him as he never wants to become a true monster himself.
Immortality: Type III. He's got the Healing Factor down pat, and the lack of aging can be inferred from the fact that Mephisto Pheles, another Son of Satan, has served the organization for over 200 years yet looks no older than thirty.
Idiot Hero: Especially compared to Yukio, who's also his professor.
Kill It with Fire: His modus operandi when fighting with demons. Recently, he has learned to control it so that it selectively damages creatures(i.e. demons) within its range and leaves normal humans unscathed.
Laser Guided Tykebomb: Is kept alive just to become a weapon to destroy Satan. Inverted since the ones who were raising him were good guys, and most of them had the good sense to be nice to him about it.
In addition, the Greek word for phosphorus, Φωσφόρος , literally means "light-bearer." In Latin, this is "lucem ferre," more commonly shortened to Lucifer.
Superpowered Evil Side: Subverted — he can somewhat control his flames, but the longer he stays with his sword drawn, the more he loses control of himself. As shown in Chapter 14, he can completely stop acting like a human.
Fire becomes blue if it hits high enough temperatures, so it's Truth in Television.
Telepathy: He and Kuro are able to communicate using telepathy. He's able to read Kuro's thoughts, though it remains to be seen how his range of this communication goes with other demons.
In the anime, his hearing of demon's language extends to Ukobach too.
Well Done Son Guy: To Yukio. Ironically, Yukio has always envied his tougher, more confident brother which makes him more susceptible to the dark side.
Rin's younger twin brother, a professor, and a Middle First-Class Exorcist. Very smart and mature, more so than his brother. A calm and a competent teacher.
Big Little Brother: Sort of. He's extremely smart (got the top score in his incoming class), tall, very handsome and a well accomplished Middle First Class Exorcist at 15 years old. Compare him to his older, shorter, less brilliant twin, Rin, who's only an ExWire currently.
Foil: To Rin, he has the brains and maturity, but is missing out on Rin's friendly extroverted personality.
Freak Out: Following an arduous battle with Toudou, Toudou regenerates from pieces on the ground and grabs him with a disembodied hand telling Yukio that his self-loathing is the first step to becoming a demon, and that Yukio's true nature is a demon. Bullets ensue.
Green-Eyed Monster: Towards his older brother and father. In chapter 35, he looked this at seeing Tatsuma praise Rin as "a great man like his father", Fujimoto Shiro.
Summon Magic: Though not having a meister as a Tamer, he summons a group of Naiads to imprison Saburota Toudou in a sphere of water. Unfortunately due to his inexperience, Toudou immediately escapes.
A former Ill Girl who loves gardening and all nature. Good-natured and sweet. Demonstrates extensive knowledge of plants. Used to be seen only in a kimono.
Character Development: Goes from a Shrinking Violet barely able to go to school without shaking uncontrollably. To a Plucky Girl, who with her powerful familar is able to fight with the best of them.
Comically Missing the Point/Insult Backfire: When Izumo laments that she can't believe she has friends like her, who's "as shameless as a weed", she thinks it's a pep talk and vows to become "as strong as a weed".
Innocent Flower Girl: Sorta subverted since she's not sick anymore and she's starting to get over her shyness, but she's still kind and she still has plenty of knowledge on plants, flowers and the like. And she also lives at a herbs/plant shop.
Luminescent Blush: In the manga, Shiemi blushes in almost every panel she's in.
Nice Girl: She really likes being helpful to others.
No Social Skills: In the manga, she thought that Rin not telling her that he was the son of Satan meant that she wasn't a good trustworthy friend. Needless to say, she took it pretty personally.
No Sense of Personal Space: Given everything else here, it should be obvious that Shiemi often ends up like this, much to Rin's confusion and Izumo's chagrin.
Squishy Wizard: Without her familiar, she's pretty defenseless.
Stepford Smiler: Shows signs of being this, she's very optimistic and always wants to help out her friends but she hides her sadness when she can't do anything.
Child of the Head Priest of the Cursed Temple Satan destroyed 16 years ago. Bon is trying to acquire the title of Meister in both Aria and Dragoon. Also wants to kill Satan.
Hidden Depths: Rin immediately assumes that Bon's nothing but an angry brute. Turns out he's very smart, hardworking, and loves cleaning and meditation, not to mention he's an eloquent reciter.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: While rather rude and blunt to those around her, she's also a genuinely good girl. She encourages Shiemi (in her own way) when the latter has given up and is the first to defend Rin (and for a while, the only one to stand by his side) when it's revealed that he's the son of Satan and all his other friends are uneasy around him.
The other of the Kyoto trio. He's a short priest with a shaved head and a timid nature. Good at reciting scripture, though not nearly at the level that Bon can.
Chairman of the True Cross Academy who, after Fujimoto died, was ordered to kill Rin. However, he accepted Rin's proposal in becoming an Exorcist and entered him into True Cross Academy. Can turn into a dog. He's also another Son of Satan, making him Rin's half-brother.
Devil in Plain Sight: He may be a subversion though. After all, while he certainly is a son of Satan, he was also close friends with Fujimoto and is one of the good guys right now. Technically, at least. See For the Evulz below.
Eccentric Mentor: If Mephisto really is on the side of the Exorcists, then he is this. Older than most of other characters? Check. Knows more than he lets on most of the time? Check. Usually acts like comic relief? Check. Eccentric? Double check. Cares not for what others may think? Considering his fashion sense, probably check. Acts like a mentor/protector/guide? Check, to his students and school. More powerful than he shows? Considering he was able to drag a berserker Rin around while calmly sheathing his sword and pleasantly talking to someone, that would most likely be a check*
He hasn't been in a legitimate fight yet, though, so it's yet to be confirmed
. Seems to prefer letting his students solve problems by themselves? Mostly check, with him making a few nudges here and there. He seems to fit this trope very well but then, if he's not on the side he claims to be on, he may be a subversion.
Familiar: Has two different ones so far. One is Ukobach, a demon who, as shown in the anime, cooks food for Rin and Yukio. The other is apparently disguised as his umbrella◊ most of the time.
For the Evulz: (Or is it for the goodz?) His reason for being the leader of the side that wants to take down his dad is because he's bored.
Gratuitous German: While it is the correct usage, he gratuitously uses "eins, zwei, drei" occasionally, which simply means "one, two, three". He has also used two spells called "Kuchen Cuckoo House" (kuchen being the German word for "cake", used in other languages to describe various other sweets) and "Das Stärkste Gefängnis", meaning "the Strongest Prison". This is possibly justified in that his namesake originates from German folklore.
Otaku: According to the character profiles in the tankobon, he enjoys movies, manga, anime, video games, music, toys, and subcultures.
Public Domain Character: In the anime continuity, at least, where it's made explicit that he is the very same Mephistopheles who contracted with Faust in the original folktale. In the manga, this remains to be seen.
26-year-old badass Upper First Class Exorcist swordswoman. Rather busty and favours wearing very little clothing. Has long red hair and acts a bit childish. Also an instructor.
Badass: An Upper First-Class exorcist trained personally by Father Fujimoto. She basically kicks ass every time she draws her sword. Even Mephisto takes her seriously when she starts to (perhaps unknowingly) mess with his plans a little. For Mephisto, this is definitely saying something as he doesn't seem to take things seriously 98% of the time.
Bottle Fairy: She even drinks on the job, if presented with the opportunity.
Brilliant, but Lazy: She avoided promotions to be near Fujimoto, who she also considered as her father; however she really is that lazy and that gifted, which infuriates Yukio to no end.
Captain Ersatz: Yoko from Gurren Lagann. Red hair in a ponytail, long weapon strapped to her back, bikini and booty shorts uniform, tough attitude, big boobs & big boots.? C'mon.
Christmas Cake: She introduces herself to her class as eighteen and constantly interrupts Yukio whenever he tries to tell everyone that she's really twenty-six years old.
Demonic Possession: Well, he tries but fails, due to the number of people who can perfectly house his full power being limited to less than five people.
Jerkass: How he treated Rin on their first meeting, while possessing Fujimoto.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: However, the Anime plays with it, stating because no one can house his flames, he can't stay in Assiah and has little understanding of life. When he fell in love with Yuri, and she was sentenced to death, he caused the Blue Night in an attempt to save her. Then again, they didn't make an attempt to gloss over all the deaths he's caused.
Mephisto's younger brother and the second son of Satan, known as the "Earth King". He seems rather detached and childish and doesn't care much about Rin, preferring to go tour Japan.
Badass: He's a special kind. "I murdered so many of his brethren, so he'll cooperate". He also fights Berserk!Rin pretty well while carrying Shiemi on one shoulder. He has a reputation of being pretty much impossible for any exorcist to beat.
Berserk Button: A good way to get him serious or into a fight is to laugh at him. So don't laugh at him. Ever.
Demonic Possession: Technically, for a demon to stay in Assiah aside from being born, they have to do this. An Omake stated he's possessing some poor guy...or hamster in the anime.
Dissonant Serenity: The whole time he's fighting Rin and the others, he seems...calm. Amused. He also lets out a cheerful "yaaaay" when Rin unsheathes Kurikara.
Adoptive father of Rin and Yukio, Badass Preacher, and a member of the True Cross Order. Rather eccentric. A loving father. Former Paladin. Now deceased.
Death by Origin Story: In the first chapter, Satan uses Demonic Possession and takes over his body to tell Rin that he's the son of Satan. He fights him off but doesn't manage to live.
A cat sith who used to be the guardian deity of some local silk farmers. Was forgotten by people as the times changed, going berserk, but Fujimoto was able to tame him and make him his familiar. Later became Rin's familiar after he calmed Kuro from the rage of hearing about Fujimoto's death.
A former exorcist, now demon. He revived the IK and forced Karura to possess him for the sake of power. His reasons for turning traitor are yet unknown, and likely related to his jealousy of and attempts to catch up with his father and siblings.
Affably Evil: He is always very polite, even when he betrays both the exorcists and Mamushi. In fact, he arguably became even more polite after he revealed himself to be evil.
Batman Gambit: Pulls one off by obtaining both demon eyes through a bit of manipulation and trickery, then using them to deliberately awaken the Impure King. He knew that this would cause Tatsuma to show up and try to defeat the Impure King using his familiar Kurara. This weakened Tatsuma, allowing Toudou to kill him (who was saved by a revived Karura) and force Karura to possess Toudo himself. It had all gone according to plan.
Evil Feels Good: He implies this much while talking to Yukio. Said to Yukio almost verbatim as "it's nice to be a demon".
Hannibal Lecture: Gives one and more on a regular basis to Yukio.
First one: after revealing himself as an exorcist fallen to a demon, he mentioned he was always in the shadow of his father and brothers, and he never could voice his doubts about his path. It rattles Yukio, but Yukio decides that he is not Saburota, but himself.
Second one: In their next confrontation, Saburota says that Yukio's father and brother are what have defined his paths in life and that he had no real choice in his path, leading him to despise his brother for having no idea what agony he went through. Yukio admits that he does love and hate his brother, but above all else he hates himself the most.
THIRD one: Following his discovery of Yukio's blue eyes (after almost killing the kid) and after Yukio thought Saburota was destroyed, Saburota regenerates and comments that self-loathing is the first step to becoming a demon and that Yukio's true nature is that of a demon. Yukio has had enough of Toudou by this point.
Obfuscating Incompetence: He was first seen as an Upper Second Class exorcist with a timid personality who provided some exposition about an incident involving one of the demon eyes. He seemed like an incompetent, but reasonably brave and decent, guy. And then it turns out it was all an act. He had in fact already turned traitor and only exposed himelf as The Mole in the chapter in which he was introduced. He has since shown considerable competence and cunning. He is now one to watch out for.
Start of Darkness: He described his. He wanted to be like his father and brother, but was discontent with living a life he felt was shaped by others. Ultimately he became a demon and is working for his own goals.
The newly appointed Paladin. Angel follows the orders of the Vatican to a T. He'll do so even knowing full well that his actions are immoral in the eyes of others. Very little is known about his past.
Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Shura calls him "a saint on the outside and a devil on the inside". He's also shown shades of a sadistic personality.
Curb-Stomp Battle: Both on the delivering and receiving ends. He easily manages to subdue both Rin and Shura, but when Amaimon went into an Unstoppable Rage, he was almost immediately knocked out.
Fantastic Racism: In the anime, "for the kin of Satan, just being alive is a sin!"
In the manga, referring to Mephisto, "his kind specializes in deceit!"
Honor Before Reason: As of episode 24, he's admitted to realizing that the Vatican is going in the wrong direction, but he refuses to betray them and will still follow his orders.
Lawful Stupid: Arthur will follow the orders of his superiors, without question, even knowing that they may obstruct some people's good intentions.
So far only seen in the anime, he is grandfather to Rin and Yukio. First seen during the Blue Night in episode one and having lost his daughter, Rin and Yukio's mother to a witch hunt that was nothing more than a political stunt by the Grigori in order to gain power, he has good reasons for his prejudice against all things demon, as well as some ill will towards members of the True Cross Order.
Church Militant: The True Cross Order was always this, but after he's appointed as the new Pope he brings it up to eleven by allowing "holy weapons" that are basically enchanted sub-machine guns to be used by high school students.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: VERY extreme. Even willing to kill his own grandson through an extremely painful magical/religious ritual in order to "win the war against Gehena."
Yuri Egin
The mother of Rin and Yukio, who died shortly after giving birth to them. In the Anime, she was regarded as the "Witch of the Forest", living with demons and being possessed willingly by Satan. Her father ordered her Burned at the stake, which resulted in the Blue Night.
A cat sith who used to be the guardian deity of some local silk farmers. Was forgotten by people as the times changed, going berserk, but Fujimoto was able to tame him and make him his familiar. Later became Rin's familiar after he calmed Kuro from the rage of hearing about Fujimoto's death.
The newly appointed Paladin. Angel follows the orders of the Vatican to a T. He'll do so even knowing full well that his actions are immoral in the eyes of others. Very little is known about his past.
So far only seen in the anime, he is grandfather to Rin and Yukio. First seen during the Blue Night in episode one and having lost his daughter, Rin and Yukio's mother to a witch hunt that was nothing more than a political stunt by the Grigori in order to gain power, he has good reasons for his prejudice against all things demon, as well as some ill will towards members of the True Cross Order.
