Characters / Bungo Stray Dogs: Dead Apple

Bungo Stray Dogs Main Character Index
Armed Detective Agency | Port Mafia (Chuuya Nakahara) | The Guild | Rats In The House Of The Dead | Government and Gaiden | Hunting Dogs | Decay of the Angel | Dead Apple | Others | Beast

This page is only for Dead Apple. Note that many of the examples listed on the main character page also apply to the characters here.

Beware of major spoilers!^note This page assumes you've read the original series in all its entirety, so tread with caution.

Protagonists

Main Group

• Badass Crew: A bunch of people who routinely go against powerful magical foes. One is a member of an infamous mafia, and two are part of an Agency feared far and wide.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Kyouka and Atsushi are, in normal circumstances, friendly and cheerful. But if you mess with their group, be you a normal person or a magically-empowered Ability User, don't think you're getting off light.
• Freudian Trio:
  • Atsushi is the Id, being impulsive and his Ability, the tiger, acts out of instinct. He defeats his Ability through pure strength.
  • Akutagawa is the Superego, relying on the most logical path to take as being Atsushi's opposite. He defeats his Ability through trickery.
  • Kyouka is the Ego, being The Heart of sorts of the group. She defeats her Ability through a combination of tricking it first and then shattering its red gem.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Not having character development and interactions as a trio, the three are much quicker to get on each other's nerves and devolve into arguing. But, at the end, they fight Singularity in perfect synchronization.

Nakajima Atsushi

Voiced by: Yūto Uemura (Japanese), Max Mittelman (English)

Come, Tiger!

During the events of Dead Apple, he and Kyouka meet up with Akutagawa when they attempt to get their magic powers back, to disastrous results. Bonding with the group and never feeling accepted deep inside anyway, he takes the longest into getting it back.

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• Badass Boast: 'That's not an Ability. That's ME!!'
• Big Good: As by being part of the Agency. However, he and Kyouka are the ones who does the most out of all members in the entire movie.
• Electric Torture: Underwent this when still at the orphanage. It was instigated by Tatsuhiko in order to force his Ability out. It Went Horribly Right.
• Hero Protagonist: The intro animation says 'protagonist of the story' and he fights for good.
• Living Emotional Crutch: To himself in a strange way. It drags him down and is the reason why his Ability does not return until the moment he finally makes peace with his past.
• The Protagonist: He's a proper main star with Kyouka having a sort of Mentor Role this time, as most of the film's focus is either shared or divided between the two with Atsushi's story arc getting slightly more screen time. Ultimately, Atsushi is the The Hero who saves the day.
• Supernatural Gold Eyes: As a tiger.
• Took a Level in Badass: What happens when he is no longer held back by emotional issues? Come on, go ask Singularity...

Akutagawa Ryuunosuke

Voiced by: Kensho Ono (Japanese), Brian Beacock (English)

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Once one of Dazai's most promising students due to Akutagawa's thirst for power and prestige although a rift was formed between the two eventually. Feeling he wasn't getting what he wanted with Dazai, he became bent on killing Atsushi. Through manipulation and fear, he established himself as the Rabid Dog of the Mafia. However, when his power is seperated from him, he is forced to work together with his enemies.

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• Competition Freak: He doesn't exactly like losing.
• Crash-Into Hello: The very first thing he does in the movie is pushing away Demon Snow by crashing into the scene◊, probably because Rashoumon threw him there.
• Deadpan Snarker: Has a few moments like this.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Although initially giving off a smug air of superiority in front of Atsushi, it's later made pretty clear he actually resents Atsushi because he got everything Akutagawa was denied.
• Jerkass: He's prideful, arrogant, and acts stuck up and rude towards the two he's forced to work together with.
• Kick the Dog: He pulls off this trope a few times in the movie, ranging from bullying Atsushi to pushing Kyouka to murder him right in front of Atsushi.
• Transformation Sequence: He enters the final battle by shouting ' Rashoumon ... Demonic... Armor!'. This move is easily the most elaborate example of this trope, and although we get to see it halfway through, it still focuses on each part seperately, intersected by calligraphy of the phrase.
• Villainous Rescue: Appears attacking Demon Snow. Apparently, the characters have a common enemy now.

Izumi Kyouka

Voiced by: Sumire Morohoshi (Japanese), Cherami Leigh (English)

some caption text

• Dark and Troubled Past: The second longest to gain her Ability back, the movie explitly touches on this.

Other Protagonists

Nakahara Chuuya

Voiced by: Kissho Taniyama (Japanese), Nicholas Roye (English)

Do you know when the time has come to chicken out? Right. There is no such time.

• The Ace: The reason why he was sent to deal with the giant dragon is because of his Dangerous Forbidden Technique.
• Ascended Extra: In a way. He's not exactly an Ensemble Dark Horse since the authors have confirmed a lot of work went into his design in order to make him popular, but fans were nonetheless very excited to having his role confirmed as 'main'.
• Dangerous Forbidden Technique: He invokes Corruption onscreen twice. Interestingly, in the intro, he is seen doing this without shouting: 'Oh Grantors of Dark Disgrace, You need not wake me again'.
• Fairytale Motifs: Similar to Dazai's Snow White imagery, Chuuya takes on the role of the prince. He fights a massive dragon to save Yokohama and rescue a comatose Dazai (who was previously in a castle-resembling tower), though Chuuya punches him awake in lieu of kissing him.
• Revenge: Chuuya killed Shibusawa as retaliation for taking the lives of six of his friends during the Dragon's Head Conflict. In the present, Chuuya nearly inflicts this on Ango for having a hand in Shibusawa's involvement in the conflict, but ultimately spares him, understanding that Ango didn’t have the power to do anything about it at the time.
• Say My Name: Within minutes of entering Corruption (in order to defeat the dragon), he utters Dazai's name in a blood-curdling shriek. The effect is both nightmarish and tragic.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: He has...issues working with Ango, to say the least.
• You Are Number 6: Initially referred to with a codename, 'A5158'. It is implied that this is his actual name. Almost confirmed in Storm Bringer, as the last few digits represent where he was held in the lab. Of course, if he's not a clone, this isn't really his name.

Antagonists

The Triumvirate

• Evil Is Deathly Cold: While none of them actually have ice powers, this is their aesthetic, by dressing in white, wintery clothing and the building is decorated in icy colors. This might be because dragons are often persumed to be cold-blooded creatures, while tigers are warm-blooded creatures.
• Faux Affably Evil: All three of them.
• Leitmotif: Everytime they appear, an opera track plays. Translating the lyrics of said tracks, emphazises how lonely Shibusawa is.
• Symbol Motif Clothing: Some sort of diamond. Fyodor wears it on his cape, Dazai wears it as a pin, and Shibusawa has a necklace. It is very similar to the odal-rune, frequently used by neo-fascistical movements and extreme rightists.

Shibusawa Tatsuhiko

澁澤龍彦 - ドラコニア・ルーム

Voiced by: Kazuya Nakai (Japanese), Xander Mobus (English)

Literary references: He is named after the Japanese author Shibusawa Tatsuo, who wrote under the pen name of Shibusawa Tatsuhiko.

The cause of the Dragon's Head Conflict from years ago. Seemingly killed back then, he reappears once again...for better or for worse.

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• Animal Motifs: Dragons. His name contains the character for dragon, his power name references them, he decorates his tower with images of them, and his Ability manifests itself as such at some point.
• Ambiguously Human: He looks human...ish. But his power revived him without memories, his Ability transforms into a dragon once, after that he transforms into Singularity, who can say what he really is?
• Cartoonish Supervillainy: Well...more than you'd expect it to.
  • Tatsuhiko's power deprives Ability users of...well, their Ability.
  • He already has kicked the dog that was Chuuya, by boasting about killing his comrades.
  • His plans are foiled by Atsushi, who is younger than him.
  • He has had two plots in order to archieve his goal, both of which failed.
  • His entire gimmick is to be the Dragon to Atsushi's Tiger.
  • He hates Goodness.
  • Instead of joining a political party, he forms his own Triumvirate with Fyodor and Dazai.
  • He also, ultimately, did not succeed.
• Came Back Wrong: The first time he died, was by Chuuya's hands. He got revived without memories. The second time he died, was by Atsushi's hands. He got revived without memories. The third time he died, was by Fyodor's hands. He got revived with memories.
• Dragons Up the Yin Yang: Well, he is named after a Japanese author, or rather, almost all of his iterations of him are.
• Evil Sounds Deep: Has quite a deep voice.
• Humanoid Abomination: Heavily implied to be this.
• Kick the Dog: He is known to be the cause of the Dragon's Head Conflict, leaving many kids homeless and killing their parents. He then languidly informed Chuuya that his comrades killed themselves. His second appearance had him almost taking over the world.
• Mystical White Hair: His power has been causing trouble all over the world.
• Orcus on His Throne: He rarely leaves his Evil Tower of Ominousness.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: He's a terrifying villain with red eyes.
• Shown Their Work: Harukawa35 went to the real life Tatsuhiko's wife while developing him...which must've been interesting.
• Sorcerous Overlord: Certainly has the aesthetic down.
• Tiger Versus Dragon: The dragon to Atsushi's tiger.
• Tome of Eldritch Lore: The real Tatsuhiko wrote them, eventually becoming some sort of expert on occultism, medieval demonology and eroticism. This served as the primary inspiration for his role as a villain.
• Voluntary Shapeshifting: His Ability transforms into a giant dragon. Chuuya needed to activate Corruption to defeat it. Furthermore, later on, he returns into another dragon-like form.
• White Hair, Black Heart: Has white hair, and is the main antagonist for the biggest part of the movie.

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Voiced by: Akira Ishida (Japanese), Ray Chase (English)

Don't you know? Crime and Punishment are close friends...

• A God Am I: Has quite the god complex.
• Complexity Addiction: Well, manipulation addiction at least. Fyodor indulges in his Manipulative Bastard tendencies at just about any given occasion, whether or not it actually furthered his scheme.
• Et Tu, Brute?: Betrays Shibusawa and kills him a third time.
• It's All About Me: Or rather, it's all about what I want in his case.
• Manipulative Bastard: Perhaps more-so than any other villain in the franchise. Fyodor's plans always involve some degree of manipulation, whether aimed at the Agency or the things they are trying to protect.
• Pretty in Mink: The only one of the Triumvirate to have it. It ties in nicely to the way he regards himself as being.
• The Star Scream: Becomes this.
• Would Hurt a Child: Taken to disturbing levels at times.

Dazai Osamu

Voiced by: Mamoru Miyano (Japanese), Kaiji Tang (English)

That was a somewhat violent way to wake up Snow White.

• Deadpan Snarker:
  Fyodor: This town is full of rats.
  Dazai: Meeeeoooww.
• Disney Death: Suffers one, though on a definately not Disney-manner when he is stabbed with a poison-laced dagger.
• Distressed Dude: He ends up in the chaos Fyodor causes, and Chuuya has to save him.
• Fairytale Motifs: Snow White. He references the fairy tale in a flashback, later on suffers a Disney Death (caused by poison, nonetheless!) and outright calls himself Snow White when Chuuya saves him. The 'bubble' around him when Chuuya has to save him looks a lot like a glass coffin. His hair seems almost black in some scenes, wears white clothing (which makes it look like he has a pale skin), and his eyes are that of a brown-borderline-red. There are seven other Ability users in the Agency (Atsushi, Kyouka, Tanizaki, Kunikida, Kenji, Fukuzawa, Yosano).
• Immune to Fate: Well. Tatsuhiko's Ability seals every other Ability into a red crystal. When Dazai dies, this happens, but because No Longer Human nullifies everything that has to do with Abilities...Reality gets a bit unstable, so to say. When Dazai is saved, he also casts this on Chuuya.

Other antagonists

The Abilities

• Achilles' Heel: The red gem on their body. As long as the gem isn't damaged, their bodies can take all kinds of punishment and they will still recover. But, should the gem be destroyed, they disappear and fuse back with their owner. The latter may take time depending on several factors.
• Always Chaotic Evil: All of them try to kill their owner.
• Ax-Crazy: As they are a result of Tatsuhiko's power, they try to kill their owner mindlessly.
• Creepy Doll: Shades of this.
• The Heartless: Their aesthetic, with black skin and monochrome eyes and all.
• Humanoid Abomination: Most of them look like their owner with black skin, monochrome eyes, and a red gem.
• Immune to Bullets: As long as none of them hit their red gem.
• Pronoun Trouble: We insist on using 'it' to refer to them individually.
• The Speechless: Almost all of them. Atsushi's tiger only roars, which is kind of predictable since it is a tiger. The only on-screen line said by any of them is from Elise, which is 'I love you, Rintarou!', and Fukuzawa's ability All Men Are Created Equal.
• Turned Against Their Masters: What gave birth to them.

Singularity (Spoilers)

A form of Shibusawa born from the merge of two Abilities. Fyodor combined Shibu's skull with the Ability to gather all Abilities, which is the antithesis of Shibusawa's Ability. This caused a singularity to be born.

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• Draconic Humanoid: Is one.
• Horns of Villainy: It has a single glowing horn sprouting from the top of its brow, an echo of the red gems on the Abilities that were mostly placed on their foreheads.
• Incoming Ham: Upon its initial transformation.
• Nigh-Invulnerable: It cannot be destroyed by any mundane Ability user save for Atsushi.
• No Name Given: Technically. The closest thing to a name it has (and as such, the one we use), is 'Singularity'.
  • Meaningful Name: A technological singularity is stated to be 'a hypothetical point in the future when technological growth becomes uncontrollable and irreversible, resulting in unfathomable changes to human civilization'. Singularity was artificially created by Fyodor, and is near-undefeateble.
• One-Winged Angel: It absorbed two kinds of magic, starting the climatic fight of Dead Apple.
• Paint It Black: Its clothes are nearly identical to Shibusawa's, except that the white color has become a dark grey and robes have become tattered (possible echoing several works in which ghosts wear the same clothes as when they were alive, but tattered). Its skin also has darkened to a light grey.
• Person of Mass Destruction: Potentially the biggest example yet.
• Shadow Archetype: To Atsushi. At the climax, Shibusawa even undergoes a similar Painful Transformation into its own Ability, Singularity, who desires to be at peace, paralleling Atsushi's previous desire to kill Shibusawa when he was young. Atsushi even lampshades the parallels himself as he gets his own Super Mode and stops it.