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Mephisto Pheles
Voiced by: Hiroshi Kamiya (Japanese) and Sam Riegel (English)
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.
- Adaptation Dye-Job: He has blue eyes in the manga, like all of the Demon Kings, and green eyes in the anime.
- Agent Peacock: Has flamboyant tastes and can effortlessly restrain Rin and Amaimon.
- Anti-Anti-Christ: He's a demon and one of Satan's kin, who's convinced that "peace is the disorder in which people can coexist", loves the human world, and only wants to protect it in a way any sane human can consider reasonable.
- Beware the Silly Ones: He's pretty friendly and personable most of the time. Even if he comes off as creepy, he rarely ever says a harsh word to anyone and is always very polite. Furthermore, he's an Otaku who loves to dress in hilariously flamboyant fashions while also going on Large Ham speeches about various things and making a spectacle of himself. His room is filled with plushies and fandom merchandise. He's the third most powerful demon in the Gehenna hierarchy - after Satan and Lucifer. And he is also Samael, master of time and space, able to restrain Amaimon and Rin at the same time if he has to, without breaking a sweat. His rage has only come close to being triggered once and it was by Shura, when she tried to interrogate him. She immediately knew to back off.Mephisto: [threatening] Being at the mercy of greater beings like this should be just fine... for worm-like beings like yourselves.
- Big Good: Zig-Zagged. While he isn't the highest-ranking member of the Order and runs on the same Blue-and-Orange Morality that his demonic brethren live by, Mephisto is the superior that Ren and the others answer too and he makes it plainly clear that he fights for humanity (even if he does it for his own self-interest).
- Body Horror: His body is breaking down, similar to Lucifer's, only at a slower rate.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Very Camp and a large ham but a high ranking exorcist, dean of a prestigious school the size of a city, and one of the strongest demon kings of Gehenna.
- Camp Straight: He's definitely camp and he's commented in the manga that he shares Rin's preference for women of the "devilish" type.
- The Chessmaster: It's a blend of all three tropes. Depending on who he's really working for (other than himself), Mephisto is shaping up to be one or more of these. Pity the guys on the other side. He openly admits that he sees them as chess pieces and was behind most of their trials.
- Demon Lords and Archdevils: He's Samael the King of Time and Space, third most powerful among the demons in hell.
- Devil in Plain Sight: While he certainly is a son of Satan, he's also one of the good guys right now. Technically, at least. See For the Lulz below. Turns out all the exorcists know who he really is, except Rin.
- Eccentric Mentor: He's older than most of the other characters and knows more than he lets on most of the time, yet he usually acts like comic relief because of his eccentric personality and fashion sense.
- Everyone Has Standards: He's a demon prone to being shady and a Troll, but he allowed Rin and Yukio, the son of Satan, to live like humans while the rest of the True Cross Order wanted them dead from before their birth. When the twins were born, Mephisto arranged for Shiro to use the Kurikara to seal Rin's demon heart instead of killing him. The Paladin from the time suggested that they should put Rin's body in a permanent state of destruction since they couldn't destoy his heart, but Mephisto pointed out Rin is still half human and subjecting him to a Fate Worse than Death would only turn him into another Satan or Lucifer. Instead, he chose to let Shiro raise the twins to make them "good weapons", but still capable of compassion and following human morals.
- Familiar: Anime only he has Ukobach, a demon who cooks food for Rin and Yukio. In both anime and manga he has one that is disguised as his umbrella
◊ most of the time. It's currently unknown if Belial counts as this. - 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.
- The Hedonist: Since every demon's original state is nothing but abstract spirit devoid of a body or conscience, he describes the sudden ability to feel and comprehend pleasurable sensations in a human body as both overwhelming and addicting. He is a massive Otaku that collects a variety of merchandise, dresses and surrounds himself in bright and gaudy colors that clashes with his more straight-laced subordinates, gorges himself on cheap junk-food, is implied to be a pervert and will Poke the Poodle just to see how people react. The only reason why he helped form True Cross Academy is because he enjoys Earthly pleasure far too much to see the world destroyed.
- Hellish Pupils: To make him seem untrustworthy and show that he's a demon.
- Idiot Hair: As seen here◊. It's hidden under the hat.
- I Have Many Names: He's also known as Loki, Watari Garasu, Raven, and Trickster.
- The Insomniac: The tankobon claims he has one hour of sleep a night.
- Intrigued by Humanity: While he's a demon, he's fascinated by human entertainment, especially the Japanese media as he's a bonafide otaku.
- It Amused Me: Pretty much his modus operandi for doing anything, including living in the human world to start with. His reason for being the leader of the side that wants to take down his dad is because he's bored and because humans are entertaining.
- Kid with the Leash: Mephisto essentially has a tight leash on Amaimon at all times. He basically calls out his younger brother to "train" Rin or some other errand. When Amaimon is about to go apeshit on Rin, Mephisto traps Amaimon inside his magic clock so Rin doesn't get killed.
- Large Ham: Loud clothes, loud voice, and has an entire amusement park named after him.
- Lethal Chef: Anime only he used his cooking to threaten/encourage Rin and Yukio to make up with Ukobach.
- Meaningful Name: He's named after the demon in the archetypal Deal with the Devil German tale of Faust.
- Mephistopheles: He's named after the famous demon, and goes by "Johann Faust V". While this is not his true demon name, it is the name he is known by on Earth and he intentionally plays on it by giving Rin and the others various bargains that are always rather tricky and dangerous.
- Mood-Swinger: Goes from silly and casual to deadly serious and back again.
- More than Just a Teacher: Mephisto Pheles is the headmaster of a school training exorcists... and also a incredibly high-ranking demon himself.
- Morphic Resonance: No matter what he turns into he keeps his primarily white color scheme and has a pink polka dotted scarf around his neck. His bug form even has a mini version of his human form's top hat.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: The original Samael is variably speculated to be an angel, a demon, The Grim Reaper, Satan, or the Demiurge; his only constant trait is his capacity for both good and evil. That's right, even the other character he's based on is a huge enigma.
- Otaku: According to the character profiles in the tankobon, he enjoys movies, manga, anime, video games, music, toys, and subcultures. He admits it in chapter 39, and seems to be outright proud of it.
- 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.
- Rank Scales with Asskicking: He's 3rd highest ranking of all demon in terms of strength and one of the Eight Demon Kings. He's right below Lucifer in terms of strength in the Gehenna Hierarchy. He is also an Honorary Knight which, in exorcist rankings, is two ranks below Paladin, and, in fact, holds greater authority than them. It's possible he'd be higher too, were it not for his heritage.
- Really 700 Years Old: His human host still looks to be in his thirties, but he has been working with the exorcists for 200 years and is older than Amaimon who is over 1000 years old.
- Reality Warper: Amongst others, he was shown to be able to transform into a dog, pull a clock out of his hat (in which he was able to hide/entrap Amaimon), transport Rin's and his own conscious to Gehenna, and he also made the Exorcist shop inaccessable by physical means. As it turned out, he's the King of Time and Space.
- Ripple-Proof Memory: As the demon lord of time, he can remember anything from any point in his history, such as knowing who Rin is and why he is in the past after future Mephisto sends Rin to the past. And apparently he can even remember alternate timelines, when Rin asks him why he isn't sending Yukio back to learn about their origin, since Yukio was the one who was obsessed about it, Mephisto implies he tried that, but it didn't end well.
- Sharp-Dressed Man: When he isn't wearing his silliest outfit (the one with the tights and the puffy pants,) he's this and has worn both a simple white suit and a striped, but still snazzy, one. It seems to depend on his mood and the occasion.
- Sink or Swim Mentor: He acts like a guide to his exorcist students, although he seems to prefer letting them solve problems by themselves.
- Smart People Play Chess: All There in the Manual, and somewhat implied in-universe, that he's good at chess. he's very smart indeed. Also uses chess metaphors when talking about his plans.
- Space Master: As the Demon King of Time and Space, he has this ability. It only came up a few times so far, like when he trapped Ammaimon in his hat, or when he transported Rin's and his own soul to Gehenna.
- Stealth Pun: His animal forms seem based on these: He turns into a dog in order to seem more like "Man's best friend" and he turns into a literal version of an Incredibly Obvious Bug to try and spy on his students For the Lulz.
- Super-Power Meltdown: Subverted. As the King of Time and Space he is able to stop his body from going through the cycle of death and rebirth that plagues all other demon kings. However, when he has to focus his powers on something besides himself, such as a Gehenna Gate in Russia, his body begins to degenerate like Lucifer's, though at a slower rate.
- Tareme Eyes: Like his brother, Amaimon, it's an unusual case of an ambiguously-aligned, adult man having them.
- Time Master: He is the Demon Lord of Time, thus giving him this ability and more.
- His power of time is so complete that he is aware of people from all points of his life at any point in his life. When he sends Rin back to the past to learn about his and Yukio's origin, past Mephisto is perfectly aware of who Rin is and why he's there, as though he was the Mephisto of present time.
- His power over time also helps him slow the degredation of his body down greatly. Like other demon lords, his power is too great to be held in a physical body forever. However, as he is able to control the flow of time in localized areas, he is able to make his body last much longer than other demon lords are able to. Notably, once he starts having to focus his powers upon hellgates that the Illuminati are opening to delay an invasion of demons, his body begins to degrade much faster since he doesn't have any power left to spend on himself.
- Time Stands Still: One of his powers he can use. It is seen used to stop the slowly expanding artificially created Gehenna Gate. Unfortunately this will last four to five months at best.
- Trickster Mentor: He teaches Rin, even though his methods are somewhat harsh, he can be straight forward when he feels like it.
- Virtuous Character Copy: He's essentially a good counterpart of the Millennium Earl from D.Gray-Man, another dark shonen about exorcists. Much like him, Mephisto dresses in a gentleman/buffoon fashion complete with top hat and ornated umbrella, behaves goofily, looks vaguely like the Earl's human form, has the Deal with the Devil as a character theme, and is secretly associated with demons and a supernatural being himself. The difference is that the Millennium Earl is his series' Big Bad while Mephisto is the closest thing to a Big Good his series has, despite his shady behavior.
- Voluntary Shapeshifting: He can turn into things like a dog and a bug to help him go around more freely and to spy on people respectively.
- The Wonka: He wears brightly-colored clothes (including a cloak, top hat and umbrella), is eccentric in his methods, appearance and mannerisms, yet is still able to run a city, a theme-park named after him, an elite boarding school, an exorcist-training academy, the entire Japanese wing of an international Demon Slaying organization and a massive secret laboratory with peak efficiency. Even his Kuchens Kuckucksuhr spell — a giant cuckoo-clock made of candy and gingerbread — brings to mind the trope-namer.
Yukio Okumura
Voiced by: Jun Fukuyama (Japanese, teenager), Ayumi Fujimura (Japanese, child) and Johnny Yong Bosch (English, teenager), Stephanie Sheh (English, child)
Rin's younger twin brother, teacher, and a Middle First-Class Exorcist. Described as a genius. Polite, calm and mature on the surface. He's got issues.
He is the focus of the Spin-Off series Salaryman Exorcist The Sorrows Of Yukio Okumura.
- Adaptational Heroism: Yukio turns his back on Rin in both the manga and first anime, but his betrayal in the first anime is motivated by a desire to save Rin by turning them both human and he is quick to sacrifice himself in Rin's place. His betrayal in the manga is motivated by his desire for power and he shoots Rin in the face for getting in his way.
- Affectionate Nickname: Is fondly called "Yuki-chan" ("Yuki" in the dub) by Shiemi.
- Always Second Best: Despite his higher rank, Yukio feels this way towards Rin and Shiro because he believes they are better people than he is.
- Ancestral Name: His mother Yuri once called Shiro a Yukiotoko (Yeti). Yukio was named after Shiro in a roundabout way because Yuri wanted her son to be "warm and strong" like his adoptive father.
- Badass Bookworm: Very intelligent, top of his class, the main teacher for the cast, and very adept at kicking ass.
- Bastard Understudy: Yukio turns on Lucifer after the demon gives him weapons and knowledge.
- Beneath the Mask: Underneath his cool & collected exterior, Yukio is emotionally volatile. He has a temper perhaps even worse than Rin's, is traumatized from the way he was raised, and has a deep well of self hatred that eventually consumes him.
- Betty and Veronica: The reliable and gentlemanly "Betty" to Rin's rebellious and troublesome "Veronica" for Shiemi's "Archie". Or so it starts.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Appears nice but is a very effective and ruthless exorcist. Has a serious temper like Rin but lacks Rin's laid-back demeanor and has difficulty managing his stress. Many characters remark how scary he looks when he's pissed. Drops the "nice" part after his Face–Heel Turn.
- Big Brother Worship: Has always looked up to Rin, but with envy. Ties into his TheCorruptible status.
- Big Little Brother: He's taller than his older twin brother Rin, making Yukio the most mature-looking of the two.
- Bishie Sparkle: On occasion though mostly as jokes or imagine spots.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Downplayed. Despite Yukio making a show of being a polite, mature, and considerate Nice Guy, he has something of a condescending attitude towards Rin and can lose his temper under stress.
- Bluff Worked Too Well: His mask of the perfect student and exorcist has prevented others from understanding him and his struggles. His bluff against Hachirou was taken very seriously.
- Book Smart: He managed to be the top scorer for all the students entering the True Cross Academy.
- Bookworm: He loved to read and study as a kid.
- Broken Ace: He's a prodigy, excelling in school and his profession. However, he hates himself for being weak, both physically (frail and sickly as a child) and mentally (resents his brother and father for his training to become an exorcist despite knowing it was his choice).
- Bully Magnet: Yukio was often bullied and beaten up by other kids as a child.
- Byronic Hero: Yukio embodies the archetype. He's very intelligent, skilled, charismatic and calculating. He's also incredibly self-absorbed, melancholic, emotionally conflicted, self-critical and self-destructive. Yukio is constantly dwelling on his angst over feeling unloved by his adoptive father and living in the shadow of his "special" brother. He gradually isolates himself from everyone as he focuses on seeking power and his actions become increasingly vicious.
- Cain and Abel: Played with. He looks like the good son of the pair, as a polite student and successful exorcist, but was pointing his guns at his brother by the third episode/second chapter. They settle into a Vitriolic Best Buds relationship until Yukio shoots Rin and switches sides, and declaring he will become stronger than his brother. Once with the Illuminati he accepts weapons and information that would let him fight Rin more effectively. That said, he knew simply shooting Rin with regular bullets wouldn't kill him and doesn't seem to want Rin dead so much as he wants to force an acknowledgment of his own strength.
- Cassandra Truth: To get Hachiro to believe him in Chapter 77, Yukio points his gun at Rin saying "sorry, brother, but I want to be strong" and "I don't need your help anymore". When Rin yells that Yukio won't shoot, Yukio shoots Rin in the head and chest. It turns out Yukio used nutrient bullets so Rin could quickly recover and stab Hachiro, so Rin forgives Yukio. Fastforward to Chapter 96. Yukio decides to defect to the Illuminati. Rin tries to stop him, and Yukio says the same words and shoots Rin in the same spots. Rin initially thinks they're nutrient bullets but when the bleeding doesn't stop, he realizes that they're real and that Yukio was telling the truth all along.
- Child Soldier: He started training to be an exorcist when he was seven years old.
- Clueless Chick-Magnet: He gets a lot of attention from women In-Universe, but he's usually too wrapped up in his studies to realize what their romantic overtures mean. Not that he cares.
- The Comically Serious: At times, due to his tendency to be as serious as possible. This comes out way more in extra materials like the Salaryman Exorcist spinoff and the Question Corners. At the same time, he does like gag manga.
- Compulsive Liar: Yukio has a tendency to lie even when it puts him at a disadvantage out of a need to hide perceived weakness.
- The Corruptible: Toudou taunts Yukio by saying his self-loathing makes him more likely to become a demon.
- Crazy-Prepared: Chapter 8 establishes he has a surprisingly hefty stash of spare glasses, and that's not even getting into the amount of bullets he carries. The length of the conflict in Inari is underscored when he runs out of bullets.
- Dead Guy Junior: Shiro gave Yukio and Rin the surname Okumura in honor of the retired exorcist who found Yuri in a junkyard and raised her until he was killed by Satan.
- Deadpan Snarker: He shows shades of wisecracking, although it's more prominent in the English dub of the first anime courtesy of Alex von David's script and Johnny Yong Bosch's performance. Took a level in snark since defecting, best seen in how he challenges Lucifer to kill him and promptly goes "I knew it, you can't do it, too bad" after Lucifer fails.
- Declaration of Protection: Became an exorcist because Shiro offered him training so he could protect Rin, and swears on his father's grave that he'll protect his older brother. However, since Rin is physically stronger than him and their enemies more powerful, Yukio cannot live up to this. Eventually Yukio gives up, believing that even if Rin was caged for his own protection, Rin would just break the cage to help others.
- Demonic Possession: In the anime, by his father, because he is the only vessel that won't blow up immediately. In the manga, only his left eye is possessed by Satan. According to the Illuminati Yukio himself is not a good candidate for full possession. Time will tell if that's a lie.
- Determinator: Even more so than his brother it turns out. He's gone to extreme lengths to protect his family, with not so great results when he failed.
- Did You Just Scam Cthulhu?:
- Yukio tricks Hachiro into removing Shura's contract that ends her life at 30. Yukio did this by offering to persuade Shura into having a child with him, killing her after she turns 30, and founding an organization to carry this on after he dies. All in exchange for Hachiro's regenerative powers and demon sword. He guns Rin down and talks about how he desires power, which impresses Hachiro. Hachiro proceeds to remove Shura's contract, but before he can transfer it to Yukio, Yukio calls out to Rin, who stabs Hachiro through the gut and congratulates Yukio on the ruse.
- After the Illuminati offers him two pistols that are imbued with anti-demon power and tell him that he is a fireproof human that cannot be possessed with a mashou in his eyes from Satan, he asks Lucifer to confirm the reason he wanted him in the Illuminati. As soon as Lucifer says that Yukio is merely a window for Satan, Yukio intentionally triggers the Morinas Contract he was forced to sign fifty chapters before. Since Shima relayed a message from the Contract's author saying that it can be used as a weapon, the Morinas Contract summons two of the strongest Azazel kin demons to protect Yukio. Yukio immediately tells them to destroy the Illuminati's airship. He mocks Lucifer for ever thinking that he'd seriously join them, saying he always planned to strike back after he got what he wanted.
- Die or Fly: Deliberately tries to invoke this trope in order to understand his power by putting himself into increasingly dangerous scenarios. He starts with attempting to drown himself, which fails. Then he walking off of a multistory building, but blacks out and wakes up unharmed with fire around him. Frustrated, he points a gun at his head and demands whatever is causing it to "show itself". He's interrupted by a phone call before he can shoot.
- Don't You Dare Pity Me!: Rin and Shiemi repeatedly try to tell Yukio they are worried about him because they can tell he's going through something and won't talk about it. Unfortunately, Yukio takes their offers of help as them looking down on him as weak, which causes him to push them away more.
- Embarrassing Nickname: Shura calls him "four-eyed chicken". It later gets upgraded to "four-eyed lady killer".
- Empowered Badass Normal: In Chapter 30 (& Episode 23 of the first anime), Yukio shows signs he's inherited something from his demon heritage. In the anime, he ends up becoming a demon like Rin. In the manga, it's more complicated. His apparent "powers" (namely his eyes turning Satan-shaped and blue that channel flames) are Satan manifesting in his eyes, predominantly his left eye, to prevent Yukio from dying. However, the Illuminati later tells him that he is resistant to any fire, whether black, blue or red, allowing him to wield certain dangerous weapons normal humans can't.
- Fake Defector: He makes it look like he's defected from the True Cross Order and followed Shima to the Illuminati, but his real plan was to trick Lucifer and destroy Illuminati from the inside after deciding that the True Cross Order couldn't be trusted to get the job done.
- Foil:
- To Rin: The brains to Rin's brawn. His colder and pessimistic attitude contrasts with Rin's friendly and optimistic outlook.
- To Ryuji: Both high-achieving students on scholarship at True Cross Academy. However, when faced with difficulty on achieving their goals, Bon talked to his friends for help and eventually decided to become Lightning's apprentice to learn what it's like to work for someone, while Yukio pushed people away and intentionally put himself into fatal situations to understand his power.
- To Toudou: Both exorcists with family history in the profession who felt inferior to said family. Both eventually turned traitor and defected from the Order. However, Yukio ultimately rejected the Illuminati.
- First Friend: To Shiemi. Before she met Rin and joined cram school, she only interacted with her grandmother and Yukio who was her tutor.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The responsible to Rin's foolish because he is a good student who prefers logical choices over emotional choices. However, Yukio is the one who's the more mentally fragile while Rin is the one able to cook and play homemaker.
- 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 and screaming ensue.
- Many chapters later he finally manages to bring out the power in his eye and has another one of these in the form of tracking down Mephisto, demanding answers, and aiming his gun at him when he didn't get them.
- To some degree chapters 92-93 overall. He finds out his adopted dad's history and reacts violently by chucking the computer at a tree. He goes to Shiemi to calm down but blows up at her when she inadvertently says the wrong thing. He then flees her house and shoots himself, leading to the above further Freak Out.
- Goofy Print Underwear: In the Spin-Off he reveals that he has boxers with cats all over it.
- Green-Eyed Monster: He envies Rin's demon powers, especially his regenerative healing.
- Guile Hero: Since he's often at a physical disadvantage, Yukio uses his wits and trickery to outfox physically stronger opponents.
- Guns Akimbo: Since he's ambidexterious this happens at times like the anime trailer shows.
- The Gunslinger: As a Dragoon Meister, he uses guns.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: He tries to hide it, but when he's provoked, he gets angry fast — and is willing to use his guns.
- Happily Adopted: Until Fujimoto died, he was just as happy with the situation as Rin. Later Played With as it turns out Yukio has a lot of issues from the exorcist training Shiro gave him and feels like he was The Un-Favourite.
- Heroic Bastard: Like his brother, Yukio's parents are Satan and his human lover. Although he's more of an Anti-Hero than his brother, Yukio is ultimately a good person despite his major emotional issues.
- Heroic BSoD: When he learned about Shiro's true origins and the shock, together with his long term stress and exhaustion, set him on a downward spiral.
- He Who Fights Monsters: His Broken Ace feelings and self-loathing can easily turn him into the very thing he fights. Lampshaded by Mephisto as he quotes the saying while observing Yukio and Rin. This is picking up steam as he defects to the Illuminati and arms himself with weapons known to erode the wielder's mind, with only their guarantee that he's immune.
- Hidden Depths: Reads Jump Square every month and even likes gag manga, of all things.
- His Own Worst Enemy: About all of Yukio's problems come from his feelings of inferiority towards Rin and his unwillingness to talk about his issues with anyone because he would see it as a sign of weakness.
- Hot Wings: In the anime following his possession by Satan.
- Human-Demon Hybrid: Like his twin Rin, Yukio is the son of the demon Satan and the human Yuri Egin. However, he was too sickly to receive any demonic power.
- I Cannot Self-Terminate: Because of Satan infesting his left eye, Yukio can't die no matter how much he wants to kill himself. Since he sees no other way to escape Satan's possession, Yukio tries to force Rin to kill him, but Rin refuses and reconciles with Yukio instead.
- I Hate Past Me: Yukio hated how he was a "sniveling crybaby".
- I Just Want to Be Badass: Yukio is obsessed with obtaining strength and power so no one can call him weak and he can prove he's superior to Rin.
- Immune to Fire: He's immune to Rin's blue flames, along with all kinds of fire from both the human and demon worlds.
- Improbable Age: He is the Exwires' teacher and Rin's younger twin brother. Deconstructed since the effects this would have on a real person is shown.
- Interrupted Suicide: After reading Lightning's files, Yukio teetered extremely close to a breakdown until Shiemi revealed that Rin was worried about him. He then fully broke down, pushing Shiemi and running away before aiming his gun at his head and pulling the trigger. However, Satan disintegrated the bullet and mocked him for trying to kill himself.
- Jerkass Realization: After getting seriously injured in Aomori, Yukio thinks about how the people around him care for each other, and how he's so obsessed with himself that he can't see anyone else. Even though he says he can't go on like this, he does not change.
- When he gets to the Illuminati he doubles down on it, even calling himself evil.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Though he pretends otherwise, this is what Yukio actually is underneath his masks. Pity his significant emotional issues are getting in the way.
- Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: As the manga progresses, Yukio's actions and methods become more and more extreme and highly questionable. This comes to a head when he points a gun at Suguro's head after overhearing he and Lightning were involved in the death of one of the monks that worked for Fujimoto. Not long after that, Yukio defects from the Order and appears to join the Illuminati, shooting Rin when he tries to stop him. Then it's subverted when it's revealed Yukio never had the intention of truly joining Illuminati and his real plan was to trick Lucifer and destroy his base.
- Locked Out of the Loop: He knows it, and it doesn't end well. He becomes increasingly desperate for information about his and Rin's origins, to the point of threatening Ryuji for it. Ironically, finally gaining access to some new information like he's wanted for so long sent him into a downward spiral to his Despair Event Horizon. It turns out Mephisto deliberately kept him in the dark for reasons only known to him. When Mephisto sends Rin to the past to learn about their origin, Rin asks why he didn't send Yukio instead since Yukio was the one who was obsessed about learning the truth, and Mephisto implies that he tried sending Yukio back in another timeline, but it only made things worse.
- Keeping Secrets Sucks: Keeping secrets from his brother for so long has taken an enormous toll on Yukio's ability to open up to others, especially Rin, and set the stage for his later emotional collapse.
- Mature Younger Sibling: Despite being the younger brother of the Okumura twins, Yukio is already smart enough to be the teacher of his older twin brother Rin's class and an experienced exorcist. Subverted and Deconstructed as he's not as mature as he acts, being ultimately still an unsure teenager underneath it all and his emotional stability isn't any better than Rin's.
- Meaningful Name: Yukio means "Snowman". It shows his more cool-headed and smart approach to things, as well as his fragile mental state.
- Minored In Ass Kicking: Much to his older brother's surprise, he is a formidable gunman in addition to his academic studies. He's also shown to know formal martial arts.
- Muggle Born of Mages: Yukio is also a Human-Demon Hybrid son of Satan, but unlike his brother Rin, he never showed demonic powers. Illuminati's research confirms that Yukio lacks any natural demonic traits, but sharing the womb with Rin made him Immune to Fire.
- Mutual Envy: Rin envies Yukio because he's smarter and more experienced than him and Yukio got to be personally trained by their father while Rin was kept in the dark. Unknowingly to Rin, Yukio is way more jealous of him. Yukio had to go through arduous exorcist training from a very young age while Rin was allowed to have a relatively normal life until their father died. He also envies his brother's braver and confident personality, as well as Rin's raw power and healing.
- Near-Rape Experience: Hachiro forces Shura through Mind Manipulation into nearly doing this to him in Chapter 77, but thankfully Rin intervened.
- No Social Skills: Not as bad as Rin but Yukio doesn't understand most ordinary social norms, like texting ahead when you are going to be late and what reaction he should make in regards to a prank.
- Oblivious Younger Sibling: Inverted. As they were growing up, Yukio never told Rin that he was training to be an exorcist. Admittedly, this was originally probably because Shiro told Yukio not to tell Rin anything, but he's continued to some degree even after it ceased to be an issue. For example, he never informed Rin that Mephisto is a demon despite it being common knowledge among exorcists.
- Overworked Sleep: Yukio is spotted nodding off in a chair more than once.
- Pay Evil unto Evil: Yukio considers himself evil and deliberately targets the Illuminati.
- Polar Opposite Twins: With Rin. Yukio is as responsible, intelligent, and well mannered while Rin is childish (at first glance), Book Dumb, and rude. However, it's Yukio who's more of a Jerkass while Rin is ridiculously sweet.
- Pragmatic Hero: He can and will do morally grey and extreme things to defeat evil, including pretending to turn on his allies without letting them know it's an act for the sake of making it all the more convincing.
- Properly Paranoid: He always suspected there was more to his and Rin's story than what he was told, and he was right. He was also concerned about Shiro's struggle with Satan, which Shiro refused to come clean about.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The blue to Rin's red being more controlled and cautious. Reversed when he does his Face–Heel Turn as he's much more unstable than his brother.
- The Resenter: Towards Rin because he feels like Rin was given a more privileged life and that his position as the "only" one able to "protect" Rin, and all the extra work and stress that comes with it, is unfair. Comes to a head in chapter 96 where Yukio says "you were the perfect one", after finally airing his resentment and belief that Shiro didn't love him like he did Rin.
- Sanity Slippage: Yukio acts increasingly erratic as the series progresses, doing things like walking off a building to intentionally invoke Die or Fly, pointing a gun to his own head for the same reason, and covertly attempting to take Hachiro's power. Things come to a head in a series of chapters where, in an attempt to learn more about where he and Rin came from, he points a gun at Bon, actually gets results from Lightning but falls into despair from what he finds, blows up at Shiemi, attempts to kill himself (and fails due to Satan), demands answers from Mephisto (who refuses to tell him anything), and points a gun at Mephisto from backstage during a televised press conference. Culminates with Yukio defecting to the Illuminati after shooting Rin repeatedly. It's later revealed Yukio didn't really join the Illuminati and was secretly working to destroy their base from inside. However, he's still suicidal, but since Satan won't allow him to kill himself because he's a potential body host, Yukio tries to force Rin to kill him until Rin talks him out of it.
- Scary Shiny Glasses: Whenever he wants to be imposing.
- Scholarship Student: Mentioned only at the beginning, but Yukio had to get into True Cross Academy via this due to having a poor background.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Supernatural Powers!: Soon after confirming he is effectively unkillable due to Satan occupying his eye, he uses that and Lightning's Morinas contract to annihilate the Illuminati's base because he had no use for them. And because he could.
- Ship Tease: With Shiemi to begin with. Increasingly gets teased with Shura in later chapters.
- Shrinking Violet: When he was a kid, he was not as assertive as he is now and it still shows up sometimes. In fact, his inability to open up to others that comes from this is the source of the majority of his problems.
- Sibling Triangle: Both Yukio and his brother Rin have shown attraction towards Shiemi. Rin thought Shiemi liked Yukio, but she actually only sees Yukio as a close friend and she's in love with Rin.
- Sickly Child Grew Up Strong: Yukio was very weak and fragile as a child. Thanks to Shiro's training, he grew up into a very strong and capable exorcist at the young age of 15.
- Slasher Smile: He has this expression on a Jump SQ cover.
- Smart People Wear Glasses: One of the most book-smart members of the cast and has worn glasses since he was very small.
- Socially Awkward Hero: Is an exorcist prodigy and a very skillful Dragoon and Doctor, but didn't really develop friendships and is still enough of a Shrinking Violet that he tends to fumble in regards to more casual social situations. Deconstructed as this in part leads to his Sanity Slippage and Face–Heel Turn as he doesn't understand he can rely on others to help him.
- Sore Loser: Yukio's Fatal Flaw. He hates being second, especially to Rin. Linked to his status as The Resenter.
- Specs of Awesome: He is an effective exorcist and a professor with glasses.
- Stepford Smiler: He hides his resentment and jealousy towards Rin very well. However, during the series he starts losing his ability to hide that something's wrong, as Rin and Shiemi feel that he's hiding something big. After Yukio launches into maniacal laughter in a conversation with Rin and acts as if nothing happened, Rin feels "something is wrong".
- Stoic Spectacles: The bespectacled Yukio has a much better control over his emotions than his brother, however, unlike many cases this turns out to be a bad thing, as repressing your feelings makes it easier for demons to take advantage of them than if you wear your heart on your sleeve. Shura even tells Yukio that he is far more likely to be possessed by demons than Rin.
- 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. He uses the Naiads again on himself in an attempt to trigger his eye change but is unable to sustain the summon before he gets exhausted or knocked out.
- Took a Level in Badass: He had the nickname "Crybaby" when he was younger for a reason, now not so much.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: As the manga goes on, Yukio gradually loses himself to his feelings of inferiority, anger and envy towards Rin, eventually dropping his Nice Guy act altogether.
- Touched by Vorlons: Unlike Rin, Yukio really doesn't have any supernatural powers from birth. However, when he was just a newborn, a bit of Rin's blue fire got inside his left eye and this makes his eye a window through which Satan can spy Assiah. As a side effect, Yukio's body is nearly unkillable because Satan defends it as a potential vessel.
- Trauma Conga Line: Already reeling from learning about the Order's human experimentation in Section 13 and not coming closer to what he really wanted to know, Yukio finds himself at Shiemi's house. He starts to confide in her how he feels alone, but when she says Rin is worried about him, Yukio yells and slams her on the floor. Immediately horrified at what he's done, he runs away and shoots himself in the head — only to find he can't as the bullet burns, his eyes turn blue, and a voice mocks him for trying to kill himself. This all happened in just one chapter. He tracks down Mephisto to demand answers, is rebuffed in a particularly dickish manner, gets blamed for Mephisto being shot because he had his gun out when it happened, is arrested and outed as his eyes turn Satan-y blue, and ends up in a cell to stew in his thoughts with Satan for company.
- Triple Shifter: He juggles being a top level Scholarship Student at a prestigious school with being a full-time exorcist and a teacher at the exorcist cram school. Extras tell us he averages 4 hours of sleep per night.
- Tsundere: Familiar version. Very conflicted about Rin, but also loves him. As of his defection, he's apparently decided he hates and envies his brother too much to love him anymore.
- The Un-Favourite: He feels like he was this to Shiro, at least. Yukio takes the fact that Shiro kept Rin in the dark about the world of exorcists as proof that Shiro only loved Rin as a son while he considered Yukio a mere tool to be trained to protect Rin.
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Compared to his present-day self, Yukio used to be much more emotionally open and happy. Unfortunately Yukio views his younger self with disgust for being a weak crybaby.
- Villain Takes an Interest: Toudou has an unhealthy interest in him. Lucifer has taken an interest in Yukio as well, and is willing to awaken his dormant powers to "save" him. Later revealed that Satan can possess his left eye.
- Weak, but Skilled: Yukio was born with a weaker and smaller body than his brother Rin, which kept him from inheriting Satan's demonic powers. He became a full-fledged exorcist as a teenager through training from Shiro.
- Wham Line:
- Just give me your flames won't you!note
- I don't need you anymore.note
- Wreathed in Flames: When possessed by Satan in the anime, the blue flames surround him.
- You Are What You Hate: He's heavily implied to fear the manifestation of demon traits in himself despite the envy he feels over Rin's powers, regularly having himself tested for any sign of his demon blood getting stronger. He was actually thrilled when the Illuminati confirmed he was as human as he'd always been told he was.
Shura Kirigakure
Voiced by: Rina Sato (Japanese) and Wendee Lee (English)
27-year-old Upper First Class Exorcist swordsman. Prefers wearing clothing that does little to hide her incredibly curvy figure. Has long red hair and acts a bit childish. Also an instructor.
- Accidental Celebrity One of her missions is recorded and makes her internet famous.
- Action Girl: The only female that fights in person instead of relying on her familiars.
- Age Insecurity: She introduces herself to the class claiming to be eighteen years old and constantly interrupts Yukio when he tries to tell everyone that she's actually twenty-seven. Played for Laughs at first, but it takes a dark turn when it turns out she's bound to die at the age of thirty due to a demonic pact her ancestress made with a powerful immortal demon.
- All Amazons Want Hercules: As a child, she saw Shiro seriously injure an immortal snake god without any help. She immediately asked him to marry her, saying the women of her family want strong men.
- Ancestral Weapon: Her demon sword. It was passed down from mother to child through the ages by Hachiro.
- Barbie Doll Anatomy: Averted in chapter 68 and zig-zagged in chapter 78. In chapter 68, the lower half of one of her nipples is visible under her towel. In chapter 78, no nipple is visible when Shura gives Shiro a Marshmallow Hell, but a few pages later a panel showing her topless from the side shows the slight outline of a nipple.
- Big Sister Instinct: When she gave her report to Mephisto after the incident in Aomori she loses her cool when she yells about what happened to Yukio and Rin and demands to know if it was all part of Mephisto's plan. When he doesn't give her an answer she throws her sword at him, leaving a slice at his cheek. And she looks enraged.Shura: Honestly, I don't care about what happens to the Order or the world! But if anything happens to them... next time I'll impale your face.
- Book Dumb: While nowhere near as much as Rin, she does show some shades of this, shown when neither she nor Rin could read a cursive written letter.
- Boyish Short Hair: When she was a kid, she had short hair and was quite boyish to the point Shiro initially mistook her for a boy. During the battle with Hachiro, she cuts her hair short again, which fits her character as The Lad-ette.
- Brilliant, but Lazy: She avoided promotions to be near Fujimoto, but she really is that lazy and that gifted, which infuriates Yukio to no end.
- Brought Down to Badass: After being freed of Hachiro, she has lost the power she gained from the contract and her Demon Sword became just a normal blade... but she is still quite capable of throwing said blade right through somebody's head if need be and retains her sword skills.
- That said, she willingly took a rank demotion since she is currently less powerful than she used to be.
- Mephisto ignores her demotion request and she unwillingly shows he was right to do so by successfully leading a unit to contain a powerful enemy demon despite minimal information available. She was even able to defeat it herself with some help from Lightning.
- Buxom Beauty Standard: She has the biggest bust size out of the female characters and is depicted as attractive because of it.
- Character Development: Now that her curse is broken and she knows she's going to live past 30 she's trying to act more responsible and beginning to show all kinds of new sides, like talking about finding a life partner and finally telling the twins her one story about their mother.
- Claimed by the Supernatural: The tattoos on her chest and belly are the engraved mark of the contract her ancestor made with the Orochi Hachiro, making it extremely difficult to cancel or even alter the contract. The worst part is that said contract will kill her when she turns 30.
- Cool Sword: Her Demon Sword. She inherited it from her ancestor who made a pact with a demon to get the sword in exchange for cursing her decendants with a short lifespan.
- She still has it after Hachiro's defeat, which is said to be rare for weapons of that type. Mephisto mentions many demons would want to possess the blade and later while fighting a cyclops Lightning has one of his more powerful familiars fill it with ice magic.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Her childish antics and tendency for getting drunk hides an incredible exorcist and an extremely sharp woman. She's one of the few people to make Mephisto take something serious.
- Curtains Match the Window: Red-violet eyes to go with her fiery red hair.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Heavily implied in the one flashback of her past we see. She claims that Shiro "saved her" in fact. Turns out she's doomed to die at thirty, when little killed a lot of people in ignorance, and before she met Shiro she didn't have a name of her own other than her surname. Oh and she's supposed to give birth to a child before she dies as per the contract with the immortal demon Hachiro her ancestor made.
- A Day in the Limelight: The Aomori Story Arc has the Okumura brothers sent on a mission to help Shura deal with Hachiro, a demon that has a major connection to her past.
- Fiery Redhead: Feisty and aggressive woman with mainly red hair.
- Gamer Chick: While pretending to be a student she was rarely seen NOT playing one of her video games.
- Hard-Drinking Party Girl: She even drinks on the job, if presented with the opportunity.
- Healing Factor: Shura heals rather fast for a human. This is because of her ancestor's contract and when she's close to the demon Hachiro, she heals even quicker.
- Hereditary Hairstyle: Her ancestor Tatsuko had the same multi-colored hair styled in a Tomboyish Ponytail as her.
- Hidden Buxom: While as Yamada, she somehow managed to suppress her impressive breasts.
- Identical Ancestor: She looks just like her ancestor Tatsuko because all of Tatsuko's decendants are cursed to look just like her (though there is some minor difference in coloring).
- Ignore the Fanservice: In the Toplessness from the Back shot neither Yukio or Rin are concerned about her state of dress.
- Important Haircut: At the end of the Aomori arc, she cuts her hair freeing herself from Hachiro - both literally and figuratively.
- Interrupted Suicide: Shura attempts to kill herself twice in Chapter 77 to resolve things. Yukio and Hachiro stop her the first and second time respectively.
- The Lad-ette: Rude, childish, aggressive, and a hard drinker.
- Mandatory Motherhood: Shura's ancestor Tatsuko made a pact with the demon Hachiro to give Tatsuko and her decendants power in exchange for dying when they turn 30. The pact also requires that Tatsuko's decendants give birth to a child before they die so that the pact will continue. Shura refuses to have a child to oppose Hachiro, and with help from Rin and Yukio, she's freed from her contract with him so Hachiro can't force her to bear children.
- Meaningful Name: Shura means "bloodshed" or "carnage", kiri means "mist" and gakure means "to hide/be hidden". So her name is basically "Carnage Hidden by the Mist". Gets a bit lame when it turns out Shiro just named her that because she was considered an Ashura by those who reported her as a demon when he went to deal with the "Baba Yaga" case of her hometown.
- Ms. Fanservice: She has big breasts and wear skimpy clothing that shows off a lot of skin.
- Mundane Utility: In the OVA, she uses her Hammerspace tattoo to get a beer.
- Near-Rape Experience: Hachiro forces Shura through Mind Manipulation into making a baby with Yukio, but thankfully Rin intervened.
- Never Given a Name: She was raised from early childhood by the Orochi Hachiro to be a Replacement Goldfish of her ancestor; therefore, he never bothered to give her a name of her own since to him she's Tatsuko. When Shiro asked her for her name, she only told him her surname and had no given name. Shiro then named her Shura.
- Ninja: Let's see: Japanese themes, emphasis on stealth, only uses weapons which she can easily conceal. Her ancestor Tatsuko was a member of the Iga ninja clan who later started her own.
- One of the Kids: One of the childish exorcists seen which helps her get along well with her students.
- Person of Holding: She pulls out her sword from the tattoo located just above her bosom. She can also pull it out from her stomach.
- Pining After Protagonist's Parent: She used to have a crush on Shiro, the adoptive father Rin and Yukio, but he only treated her like a child and was never receptive to her advances.
- Please, Don't Leave Me: Shiro abruptly dropped her in an orphanage as a child. While there did turn out to be reasons, she never knew them and was always hurt by his abandonment.
- Power Tattoo: The tattoo on her chest and belly is proof of her contract with Hachiro and grants her the ability to wield her demon sword, as well as using her own body as a Hammerspace to keep said sword.
- Precision F-Strike: Multiple times in Episode 24, but the last one stands out the most.Yukio (possessed): Is that all you've got!?Shura: Well, I've got this for you!
- Precocious Crush: When she was a child, she wanted to marry Shiro, who was old enough to be her father. There are hints she still held something of a crush on him even into the present.
- Raised by Orcs: She was raised by the demon Hachirotaro until Shiro "rescued" her.
- Razor Wind: Her Serpent Fang attack launches multiple wind blades from her sword.
- Really Gets Around: Implied to be this way when she was in her teens/early 20s. Shiro says he heard that she's been throwing herself at a lot of men and that she needs to respect herself more. Justified since Hachiro taught her that her only role, like all those in her bloodline, is to conceive a child and die at the age of 30.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Her red eyes are matched with a violent streak.
- Redheads Are Ravishing: Shura is a buxom redhead wearing very revealing clothing.
- Replacement Goldfish: The snake god Hachiro was in love with her ancestor, Tatsuko. Since he wanted Tatsuko to be with him forever and never grow old, Hachiro placed a curse on Tatsuko's bloodline so all her descendants look like her and don't live past thirty. Shura tells him several times she and Tatsuko are different people, but Hachiro refuses to accept it and keeps calling her Tatsuko.
- Samus Is a Girl: She pretended to be a boy before she had to step in and rescue Rin.
- Sexy Mentor: To Rin, lectures on controlling his flames while not wearing a top. Not that he notices.
- Shameless Fanservice Girl: She doesn't mind showing her body to everyone included her student.
- Ship Tease: With Mephisto, and increasingly with Yukio of all people.
- Speech-Bubble Censoring: Used in chapter 78 to cover her nipples in some panels where she's topless except for one panel that shows her from the side, with a slight outline of nipple visible.
- Stripperific: She wears a very revealing bikini top, along with tiny shorts.
- Sympathy for the Devil: She feels sorry for the snake god Hachiro since he deludes himself into thinking his beloved Tatsuko still lives in her descendants. Shura understands he's very desperate to force her to have a child because he's so lonely and bored of immortality.
- The Tease: She was like this towards Shiro in her teenage years. During a flashback, during a conversation with Shiro, she takes her top off and shoves her bare breasts in his face.
- Tomboyish Ponytail: The most tomboyish female thus far is the one with the ponytail.
- Toplessness from the Back: When Rin is trying to practice controlling his blue demon flames, Shura's top gets burned off, but she's depicted from the back to not show her naked breasts.
- Walking Swimsuit Scene: Her standard outfit almost resembles a bikini at times, with the very small "bra" she has on top. Not much difference from the top from the actual bikini she wears once.
- Your Days Are Numbered: Her family is cursed to die when they turn 30 because of a pact her ancestor made with a demon.
Igor Neuhaus
Voiced by: Ryōtarō Okiayu (Japanese) and Patrick Seitz (English)
A survivor of the blue night who acts as the students first tamer teacher.
- BFG: He rejoins the rest of the cast wielding an Armumahel flame powered grenade launcher that instantly vaporized a room full of zombie chimeras.
- Big Damn Heroes: Saves the group Lightning was leading to capture Drac from a horde of zombie chimeras by suddenly arriving with the super weapon he'd just completed.
- The Bus Came Back: After becoming absent for over 70 chapters, he's found by Lightning in the course of the investigation into Section 13, working on something in the remains of Asylum that Mephisto had hidden in a separate timeline. He later appears briefly to report to Mephisto "It's complete". He came back again as of ch 112, now armed with the BFG he was working on.
- Crusading Widower: After his wife and son were killed by Satan, he has been trying to avenge them.
- Eyepatch of Power: He lost his left eye when Satan tried to take over his body, so he now wears an eyepatch to cover his missing eye.
- Heel Realization: When Rin begs him to not involve innocents, he realizes his quest for revenge was wrong.
- Improbable Weapon User: Wields what may first appear to be a standard BFS is actually a giant compass, to make summoning circles.
- Mad Scientist: He turns out to have been developing a major new weapon against demons. He was also revealed to have been employed at Section 13 in some capacity during the time travel arc.
- Misplaced Retribution: It's understandable that he hates Satan for almost possessing his body and burning his family to death. However, it isn't right that he tries taking it out on Satan's son Rin who had nothing to do with the death of his family.
- Necromancer: His field of expertise is Zombies and Ghouls, with it being mentioned he's the leading expert.
- Outliving One's Offspring: His son was killed by Satan's blue flames along his wife in the Blue Night.
- Summon Magic: He's a Tamer, with contracts to Ghouls and Naberius.
- Survivor's Guilt: A combination of this and knowing that while possessed by Satan on the Blue Night he killed his family is the reason for his desire for revenge on Satan and those related to him.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: He's quickly introduced, tries to kill Rin, then just as quickly disappears. In the manga he's revealed to have been holed up in a hidden lab this entire time working on a super secret weapon for Mephisto called the Devil*Punisher.
Kaoru Tsubaki
Voiced by: Kazuhiro Oguro (Japanese), Doug Erholtz (English)
A weird teacher who will abandon his students in the middle of class because he received a phone call from his apparent girlfriend.
- Gonk: While more subtle than most his design (especially his face) can appear rather odd when compared to the rest of the cast.
- Sickening Sweethearts: Assumedly with the woman who called him, since it sounded like he was calling her "Kitty" as a petname.
- Taking the Bullet: In the Anime Only, he blocks and takes an attack from Satan to protect his students. He survives.
