Characters / Cells at Work! CODE BLACK

Main Characters

Red Blood Cell/Erythrocyte (AA2153)

Voiced by: Jun'ya Enoki (Japanese), Kyle McCarley (English)

A rookie red blood cell, often often referred to as simply Red Blood Cell or AA2153. Like his mainline counterpart he is tasked in delivering oxygen throughout the body. Only problem is that this body is very much unhealthy.

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• Accidental Pervert: When they first met, he got an up close look at U1196's cleavage when she kills a germ that was sneaking up on him.
• Action Survivor: While lacking of any offensive capabilities biologically, he pretty much survives all the misfortunes happening in the body through sheer determination and a bit of luck.
• Blind Without Them: He can't see very well without his glasses.
• Determinator: Like the mainline's AE3803, he will do EVERYTHING in his power to make sure his deliveries are made. He later suffers a breakdown and loses all hope in his job, but he gets better eventually.
• Driven to Suicide: After AC1677's death, he tries to get the Red Pulp to process him. All he gets is a swift "Reason You Suck" Speech.
• Gender Flip: Of AE3803 from the main series.
• Heroic BSoD: After AC1677's Heroic Sacrifice, to the point where he's unable to work and nearly wishes to be processed. It takes a Cooldown Hug from U1196 to get himself back together.
• Idiot Hair: Has one on the same spot as his counterpart on the main series.
• Jerkass Realization:
  • In "The Liver, Alcohol, and Pride" he ends up yelling at a worker in the liver, accusing her and her colleagues of taking it easy while him and the other red blood cells risk getting killed on the job every day. It takes an older red blood cell dragging him behind the scenes and showing him that the Hepatocytes have been running themselves ragged to detox the red blood cells for him to realize what a massive ass he has been.
  • Has another when confronting the Elder Glomerulus in Kidneys, Kidney Stones and Tears, trying to get her to stop overworking the rest of the glomeruli, then learning from her dying words that glomeruli are unable to be replaced, meaning they cannot afford to have a single one of them slack off.
• Meaningful Name: AA2153 is a hexadecimal color for a purplish shade of red, similar to that of deoxygenated haemoglobin.
• Nice Guy: He's usually very polite and friendly, even in an environment where everyone is rude and short tempered due to stress. The few times he loses his cool serve to indicate just how bleak the situation is, though he usually apologizes when he's crossed a line.
• Rage Against the Heavens: After a whole series worth of a Trauma Conga Line culminating in the death of his Best Friend, he lashes out against the body, smashing the rubble caused from the fruitless attack on the urate crystal with a pipe and later his bare hands, screaming at the host to get his shit together and take better care of himself so the work environment can improve.
• Ship Tease: Like with the main series' Red and White Blood Cell leads, he gets this with U1196, who's he's Implied to have a not-so-subtle crush on, especially early on.
• Survivor's Guilt: Has a heavy case of this during his Heroic BSoD.
• Workaholic: When he gets juniors of his own to depend on him to show them the ropes, he takes on some of their load. Unfortunately, the pressure gets to him after the ringworm incident, prompting AC1677 to show him that it's okay to take some mental time off once in a while.

White Blood Cell/Neutrophil (U1196)

Voiced by: Yōko Hikasa (Japanese), Allegra Clark (English)

A White Blood Cell. Is usually referred to as Neutrophil or U-1196. A tough Action Girl who is tasked in defending the not-so healthy body from numerous diseases and infections.

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• Action Girl: A female Neutrophil who kicks much ass.
• Contralto of Strength: Reflecting her experience and seniority in her job, her voice is portrayed as low and serious, especially compared to her two juniors.
• Cooldown Hug: Gives one of these to AA2153 during his Heroic BSoD.
• Eating the Enemy: Being a neutrophil, she's able to eat dead bacteria in order to dispose them from the body. She does this along with her two partners at the beginning of the second episode with some of the bacteria they kill in the epithelial. However, the way they eat the pathogens is akin to that of a wild animal devouring it's prey, horrifying AA2153.
• Fantastic Racism: White Blood Cells suffer this like in the main series, only to a much greater extent. Due to the Crapsack World they live in, civilian and working cells like Red Blood Cells are quick to blame the White Blood Cells for the body's poor condition for not doing their jobs properly. In actuality they are doing their very best, but the body's horrendous condition and the host's poor sense of self-care either makes the existing bacteria worse and invites even worse bacteria to invade, causing massive casualties on the White Blood Cell's end even if they're able to beat them back and win the day. AE1677, AA2153's Best Friend, also displayed this at first, but quickly changed his tune after witnessing their struggles firsthand.
• Gender Flip: Of U1146 from the main series.
• Innocent Fanservice Girl: In an omake, when AA2153 asks where her name tag is, she says it is inside her shirt and starts to open it before an embarrassed AA2153 stops her.
• Lovely Angels: With 1212 and 8787 in the anime and with J-1178 in the second body.
• Master Swordswoman: Instead of being knife fighters, the White Blood Cells in this series all wield Katana-like swords.
• Meaningful Name: To a degree. When reading the "96" part of U1196's name in Japanese by just the first two syllables, 9 is "ku" and 6 is "ro", for kuro to mean "black." Perfectly matching the title and the bleaker nature of the world she exists in.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Briefly has this reaction upon learning that attacking the urate crystal was pointless and only served to harm the body. If it wasn't for AA2153's Rage Against the Heavens, she probably would have delved more on it.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: When she discovers the white blood cell numbers have taken a serious nosedive, she has a notable Oh, Crap! reaction. During the ringworm incident, AA2153 takes note of this and knows the situation is extremely dire.
• Open Shirt Taunt: She, and the rest of the neutrophils from the first body, wear nothing under their uniform tops and leave them open to display their courage (among other things).
• Ship Tease: Like with the main series' Red and White Blood Cell leads, she gets this with AA2153, often looking out for him when she can, him being one of the few non-White Blood Cells she's on friendly terms with, and before their transfer into the second host they have a touching conversation that leaves her blushing.
• Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Most of the time she's cold and professional, but on rare occasions she's allowed to show her natural kindness.
• When She Smiles: U-1196 is usually stoic, serious, or bloodthirsty. When she finds the rare reason and opportunity to smile, however...

Cells from the first body

Circulatory System

Red Blood Cell/Erythrocyte (AC1677)

Voiced by: KENN (Japanese), Jon Allen (English)

• Cowardly Lion: Unlike AA2153, he remains consistently terrified and hesitant about dealing with all the horrors the body goes through, but despite that never fails to come through in the end. That said, the fact he's a cowardly underachiever who can only keep going with AA2153 pushing him forward is something he beats himself up over out of shame, greatly wishing he had the same fear-ignoring will and drive as his friend.
• Eyes Always Shut: Barely a chapter/episode goes by where the majority of his page/screen-time isn't spent with his eyes closed.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: He's one with AA2153, as they've been close friends since the first chapter, have faced numerous tragedies together, and can always count on each other to back the other up, even if AC1677 can be a bit of a Cowardly Lion. Turns into a Tragic Bromance when he sacrifices himself to save AA2153 from stomach acid.
• Ship Tease: Gets this with a female Ordinary Cell who flirts with him as he's helping AA2153 unwind, with hints that he visits and talks to her often. She's later shown crying, likely having learned of his death.
• The Slacker: In contrast with hard worker AA2153. Later used as a positive — it allows him to unwind from the stress the body's constantly in so he can be mentally ready for his next run.
• Unluckily Lucky: He frequently ends up in situations involving either bacteria or the body going haywire, such as him repeatedly delivering ROS oxygen despite the randomized nature of its production, while fate makes it where he continues to survive just to experience even more misfortune, all of which makes AA2153, who also has run-ins with these kinds of things but with less problems overall, look practically Born Lucky by comparison. One particularly bad successive string of terrible luck in a short amount of time causes him to go into an angrily depressive funk against AA2153, needing caffeine just to keep going, though after a wake-up call he realizes that moping over crappy luck and getting angry at his friend isn't going to change anything, only doing his best might. Sadly, the "lucky" part eventually runs out, as he ends up in a crappy situation where the survival of the body requires him to sacrifice himself taking on stomach acid so that AA2153 can live and save the day.

Senior Red Blood Cell/Erythrocyte (AD6614)

Voiced by: Yuuki Sanpei (Japanese), Patrick Seitz (English)

• Cool Old Guy: He was quite a cheery, determined, and overall helpfully supportive mentor to AA2153, even if it was maintained by a Determined Defeatist attitude. He also backed up that attitude by being a true Red Blood Cell to the end, readily and willingly sacrificing his life to guarantee the body's survival.
• Die Laughing: His final moments were spent laughing in a maniacally determined way as he tries to deliver his oxygen before succumbing to carbon monoxide poisoning.
• Eyes Always Closed: His eyes are normally closed. It helps hide his Dull Eyes of Unhappiness.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Lets himself be exposed to carbon monoxide so that AA2153 can deliver his oxygen through a safer direction.
• Stepford Smiler: Keeps a smile on his face by suppressing his emotions in order to fulfill his job.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: He only appears in the first episode/chapter, and dies at the very end.

Kohai Red Blood Cell/Erythrocyte (NC8429)

• Blush Stickers: This is what characterizes him the most.
• Contrasting Sequel Main Character: Of the main series Kohai. Whereas Main Kohai was rather stoic, professional and was fairly certain in her job, this Kohai is eager, friendly, and nearly succumbs to the Despair Event Horizon, but manages to pull through.

Senpai Red Blood Cell/Erythrocyte (BD7599)

• Heroic Sacrifice: Uses his oxygen to lure the Cancer Cell back to the lung, despite knowing he will be extirpated and will die along with the organ, but he's fine with that.
• Nice Guy: Unlike the other more senior RBC, he's quite friendly and helpful of both AA2153 and AC1677.

Platelet Leader

Voiced by: Yurika Kubo (Japanese), Lizzie Freeman (English)

• Canon Foreigner: She's completely original to the anime adaptation, since the manga lacked a Platelet Leader due to the platelet group as a whole being Demoted to Extra. That status being reversed in the anime also meant adding a new leader to act as their representative.
• Contrasting Sequel Main Character: To the main series Platelet Leader. While main series Leader is friendly, understanding, and has an air of innocence despite her duty as leader, this Leader is rather harsh, unfriendly and doesn't act like a child. Also, while main series leader has long, light brown hair, CODE BLACK leader has short, black hair.
• Delinquent: Despite looking like a young girl, she talks and acts this way due to the harsh conditions of the body.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: While mostly rough towards other cells, she expresses some occasional niceness towards them, such as muttering under her breath appreciation for AA2153 saving his friend.

Immune System

White Blood Cell duo/Neutrophil (U1212 and U8787)

Voiced by: Yumi Uchiyama (1212) and Lynn (8787) (Japanese), Tiana Camacho (1212) and Lizzie Freeman (8787) (English)

• Ascended Extra: Have more lines and a bigger role in the anime than in the manga.
• Curtains Match the Windows: Like most White Blood Cells, their eyes match their hair color.
• The Nicknamer: They nickname AA2153 'Glasses', since that's his most outstanding feature.
• Those Two Guys: They're 1196's companions and they're almost always seen together.

White Blood Cell Captain

Voiced by: Shizuka Itō (Japanese) and Wendee Lee (English)

• A Mother to Her Men: She's shown to deeply care about the WBCs under her and doesn't want them to lose their lives meaninglessly, even if it's their duty.
• Dual Wielding: Unlike the other White Blood Cells, she wielded two swords.
• Eyepatch of Power: Wears an eyepatch over her left eye.
• Handicapped Badass: Being missing an eye doesn't make her any less efficient fighting bacteria.
• Killed Offscreen: She is last seen alive running into battle against the Gonococci. Then next scene she is shown among the fallen during the funeral.
• Mentor Occupational Hazard: She was 1196's mentor and she dies fighting the Gonococci infection.
• Purple Is Powerful: The anime gives her purple hair and eyes, and she's a total badass.
• Scars Are Forever: Even with the eyepatch she has a scar running across her face, most likely from a previous battle.

Macrophage

Voiced by: Hekiru Shiina (Japanese), Suzie Yeung (English)

• Eyes Always Shut: Her eyes always appear this way, and they go from serene to murderous depending on the situation.
• Meido: Like the Macrophages from the main series, she dresses like a maid.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: There has only been a single time in her career where she has subverted her Eyes Always Shut image: when she entered a state of despair at the body failing due to a heart attack.
• Reflexive Response: She's been fighting so many germs that when AA-2153 accidentally makes some noise, her first reaction is to almost cleave him before realizing what's happening.
• Stepford Smiler: AA-2153 notices that despite keeping a professional smile, he can tell she's exhausted at all the germs she's had to kill.

Other Cells

Liver Cell / Hepatocyte

Voiced by: Sarah Emi Bridcutt (Japanese), Lauren Landa (English)

• Rose-Haired Sweetie: She's pink haired and is a very nice and self-sacrificial Cell.
• Stepford Smiler: She and the other Liver Cells continue to attend and detoxify with a smile on their faces despite knowing the continuous consumption of alcohol could kill them.

Kupffer Cell

• I'm a Humanitarian: Apoptosis is shown as a Kupffer Cell eating a dead Red Blood Cell. While it's treated as a dirty little secret about the liver, AA2153 isn't upset by it in the least—in a place where Anyone Can Die, it's lucky to die of old age.
• Sultry Belly Dancer: She and other Kupffer cells are represented as exotic (in both senses of the word) dancing girls.
• The Voiceless: She's never shown speaking at all.

Chief Stomach Cell

Voiced by: Takashi Narumi (Japanese), John Eric Bentley (English)

• Grumpy Old Man: He used to be much friendlier, but years of bad eating habits have made him cynical and uninterested in even learning the names of the RBC that deliver oxygen.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: While very jaded and much harsher than he was when the RBC training video was filmed, he does still express himself to be glad that AA2153 breaks out of his Heroic BSoD.

Hair Follicle Stem Cell

• Mistaken Identity: Due to the stress the body is currently suffering, the Killer T Cells mistake them for Cancer cells and attack them, causing hair loss.
• Nice Guy: They're all pretty nice and understanding Cells.
• Self-Duplication: There are many of them that look alike.

Brain Cell

Voiced by: Daisuke Hirakawa (Japanese), J. Michael Tatum (English)

• Ascended Extra: Plays a far bigger role in the anime than the manga.
• Composite Character: The anime combines him with the Brain Cell Commander from the second host.
• Mission Control: Being a Brain Cell, it's his job to coordinate what happens in the body.
• Oh, Crap!: A pretty understandable reaction whenever the body suffers from a dangerous condition.

Sertoli Cell

Voiced by: Riho Sugiyama (Japanese), Dawn M. Bennett (English)

• The Caretaker: Naturally, given the cells she is based on. It's her job to look after the Spermatogonia to make sure they develop into proper sperm cells.
• Change the Uncomfortable Subject: When the sperm cells ask one of the Sertoli cells if they'll ever meet the ovum, she just responds that the Red Blood Cells are doing their best to prepare the body. Justified, given the reproductive process is a crapshoot as to whether or not it will result in an offspring being created, especially given their male host and the state of his health.

Sperm Cells

• All There in the Manual: Their actual designs under the pods they pilot wasn't revealed until the artist released concept art of them a while after.
• Ambiguous Situation: Completely justified and discussed by the Red Blood Cells. Once they leave the body, there's no telling what will happen to them since they operate independently from the rest of the cells, though given how the host is soon attacked by gonorrhea shortly after, it's safe to assume none of them even got close to completing their goal. Averted in Lady, where we see them fulfill their purpose of fertilizing the ovum twice.
• Cheerful Child: Downplayed. They act cheerful, but they also know their journey is anything but easy.
• Depending on the Writer: Justified. In CODE BLACK, they act cheery yet concerned with their design under the pods being that of tuxedos. In Lady the sperm act more mature and take on the appearance of Bishōnen regal knights. All of this can be explained easily by the nature of two different male hosts.
• The Ghost: In the second body, the sperm cells are mentioned, but never seen, due to him opting to get a vasectomy.
• Sperm as People: Natch. Concept art and Lady even showed them what they look like underneath their pods.

Cells from the second body

Immune System

Little White Blood Cell/Neutrophil (J1178)

• Fire-Forged Friends: At first she couldn't help but disagree with U1196 and her way of doing things, but after seeing her truly care about her comrades, she starts seeing her as an older sister.
• Girlish Pigtails: Characterized by this style.
• Heroic BSoD: Suffers from this after almost horribly dying during a bacterial infection on the mouth, being near catatonic for several chapters until she's snapped out of it by DA4901.
• Little Miss Badass: She's much shorter than White Blood Cell, but just as equally skilled.
• Lovely Angels: Develops this dynamic with U1196, fighting germs side by side.
• She's Back: Finally snaps from her BSOD thanks to DA4901, arriving just in time to help the immune system fight off the Staphylococcus aureus invasion resulting from the body's lobectomy.

Regulatory T Cell

• Adaptational Early Appearance: She's first seen at the second body in the manga, but debuts in the anime at the first body.
• Contrasting Sequel Main Character: To the main series Regulatory T Cell. While main series RT Cell is stoic, blonde haired arranged in twin drills and completely professional, she's more open about her emotions, has dark hair and is arranged in a long side braid, but is equally loyal to Helper T Cell.
• Motherly Sideplait: Her hair is arranged in a side braid and she's usually more compassionate than Helper T Cell.

Naive Killer T Cell

• Contrasting Sequel Main C Haracter: To the main series Naive Killer T, being an eager rookie who thinks highly of himself despite never facing an infected Cell before. Facing a Cancer Cell for the first time sobers him very quickly.

Circulatory System

Red Blood Cell/Erythrocyte (SS104)

• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Impaled from behind by a cancer cell that was trying to get their oxygen.
• Youthful Freckles: Characterized by their freckles and ponytail.

Red Blood Cell/Erythrocyte (DA4901)

• The Ace: QJ0076 describes him as this from the time they were erythroblasts, and he displays both impressive knowledge of the body's functions as well as leadership skills.
• Broken Ace: Unfortunately, he quickly becomes cynical and indifferent due to the body's poor health, and is broken completely after QJ0076 dies and he accidentally damages the retina.
• Calling the Old Man Out: Does this to Cardiomyocyte when the latter berates the younger cells for giving up, pointing out that all of the younger cells including DA4901 have never known anything besides a damaged body that seems hell-bent on destroying itself while they work themselves to death trying to save it.
• The Cynic: He apparently became this while still young, having only known a damaged body that never improved, and he later outright calls the body broken, saying that there's no point in expecting things to improve because the body itself wants to die.
• Death Seeker: When the heart stops after the body overdoses, DA4901 says that he's relieved, as the body's death means that he'll no longer have to labor pointlessly in a terrible environment.
• Defiant to the End: During the chemotherapy session, he ends up getting surrounded by cancer cells while trying to deliver oxygen to the immune cells, and he defiantly proclaims that he believes the body will survive just as a bomb lands and kills him and all of the cancer cells.
• Heroic BSoD: After the incident in the retina, he's all but catatonic and SS104 has to half-carry him out.
• It's All My Fault: He was the one who created a new blood vessal to get oxygen to the retina, accidentally risking the host's vision and resulting in the death of many of the RBCs who followed him during the resulting retinal photocoagulation.
• Restored My Faith in Humanity: Once he sees evidence that the body is doing its best to recover from its suicide attempt, DA4901 begins to grow out of his cynical phase and regains some of his idealism, helping talk White Blood Cell Girl out of her Heroic BSoD.
• Took a Level in Cynic: The death of QJ0076 and the growing dependence of the body to external sources turned him completely apathetic at his working situation.

Red Blood Cell/Erythrocyte (QJ0076)

• Big Eater: He plays it off as this when the body starts producing extra glucose and he ends up eating more than his friends, but he's actually doing it so the others don't have to.
• Big Guy Fatality Syndrome: He's the tallest of the RBC, and he's the first one to die.
• Gentle Giant: The biggest of the RBC, he's also the most even-tempered and looks out for others.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Consumes most of his companions' excess glucose so they don't suffer from Glycation and burn to death.
• Man on Fire: He becomes glycated and bursts into flames, though unlike the others we see, he remains aware and capable of speech. He continues to consume glucose while burning, strengthening the flames, and is reduced to a burned-out husk.
• Ship Tease: Has some with Glomerulus, though his death prevents it from developing further.
• Zombie Infectee: Glycated Red Blood Cells are depicted as charred zombies, and at one point Q0076 notices that his arm has started to smoke, indicating that he's at risk of glycation.

Other Body Systems

Brain Cell Commander

Glomerulus

Voiced by: Miyuri Shimabukuro (Japanese)

• Adaptational Early Appearance: She and the kidneys debut in sixth episode of the anime, while in the manga they aren't seen until the second body.
• Miko: She and the other Glomerulus are dressed this way.
• Nice Girl: She's a kind and friendly cell.
• You Are in Command Now: After her senior is killed during a bacteria attack, she becomes the lead cell of her kidney.

Beta Cell

• Despair Event Horizon: Most of them suffer from this at the impossible demands of the body. While AA-2153 manages to get to them and motivate them to continue working, in the end most of them hang themselves, leaving the body unable to produce insulin on its own.
• Driven to Suicide: Most of them commit suicide due to the excess of stress and worsening conditions.
• Sole Survivor: Only one of them doesn't kill himself like the rest of his comrades, but the body can no longer produce insulin on his own, causing Type-2 diabetes.

Lung Cell (K9999)

• Early-Bird Cameo: We first see him in Chapter 17 as an undifferentiated cell in the lungs who's incredibly impresed by AC1677, who carried oxygen to the lungs through the bronchial arteries and kept the cells there alive until more oxygen could arrive. He reappears in Chapter 33, on the verge of becoming a full-fledged lung cell.
• Expy: His short hair, mutated arm, wearing of a makeshift tattered cape and desire to Put Them All Out of My Misery is clearly based upon Tetsuo Shima from AKIRA, and by extension harkens back to a certain other K9999 who also took heavy inspiration from Tetsuo.
• Shout-Out Theme Naming: His designation is the exact same as K9999 from The King of Fighters 2001. Which makes sense, considering that both characters are mentally unstable Captain Ersatzes of Tetsuo Shima with a Lovecraftian Superpower.
• Then Let Me Be Evil: At the end of chapter 39, after not being completely extirpated from the body, he reforms and decides that since the body tried to get rid of him, he'll destroy the body.
• Tragic Villain: He only wanted to continue serving his job at the lungs, only to end up becoming a Cancer Cell, is almost completely extirpated, now hellbent on killing the body that tried to get rid of him.
• Virtuous Character Copy: A downplayed example of his namesake — both of them are Tetsuo Shima Captain Ersatzes with artificial origins, who take on an antagonistic role and suffer from horrific mutations. But while the K9999 of KOF is a complete asshole willing to try and kill members of his own team simply out of spite towards authority, the K9999 of C@W started off as a fairly idealistic young man content to help the body, and it's made clear that even though his goals are far more dangerous in scope, he had no real say over his own villainy.
• Wide-Eyed Idealist: All of the other native cells are, at best, resigned to an inevitable decline, but his attitude is optimistic and he's eager to become a full lung cell and helping the body acquire oxygen. Unfortunately, this doesn't last.

Neuron

• Idol Singer: Sympathetic Neurons look like idols and they increase the vitality of the body with their songs.

Foreign bodies

Gonococcus

Specifically Neisseria gonnorrhea, a sexually-transmitted bacteria that causes inflammation of the genital region and, if left untreated, may even lead to sterility.

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• Adaptational Modesty: Their appearance in the anime is considerably toned down from the manga, with the cell-wall armour they sport looking much less phallic and more like football gear. That said, they still have the penis-esque heads once the armour is stripped away, so while their appearance is toned down, the suggestive aspect is not completely removed.
• Breaking Speech: One of them tries to deliver one to the Neutrophils, claiming they're not that different in that they're also hated and ostracized by the other cells. Thankfully, Erythrocyte's intervention in the nick of time makes it sound hollow.
• Catchphrase: "Lonely."
• Combat Tentacles: With snake-like heads at their tip. In addition to direct strikes, they are also used to restrain the Neutrophils (who, in this body, are all beautiful girls) in a rather suggestive fashion.
• Elite Mooks: One of the most serious infections seen anywhere in the Cells At Work franchise. Their rapid reproduction rate and hard cell wall makes them more than a match for an already weakened body, and a Hopeless Boss Fight for the White Blood Cells without external treatment.
• Heavily Armored Mook: Their cell wall is tougher than that of most bacteria, and half the reason they're so hard to put down without treatment.
• Hero Killer: Due to their intense Elite Mook nature, they're the first type of bacteria (one which would be followed by more to come) that have fully demonstrated the capacity to brutally slaughter numerous White Blood Cells. It outright takes what is basically Divine Intervention from the perspective of the cells for them to be dealt with, and not before receiving heavy casualties.
• Kryptonite Factor: Penicillin inhibits their cell wall generation, making them much weaker and allowing the Neutrophils to finally overwhelm them.
• Multiple Head Case: They are depicted as a phallic-looking Humanoid Abomination, with four tentacles that end in even-more-phallic heads with sideways-opening mouths. While the main head is a gloating Card-Carrying Villain, the four smaller heads just slither around the female White Blood Cells moaning "we're so lonely...". Ugh.
• Zerg Rush: The other reason they're hard to deal with. Their reproduction is so rapid that the organism's immune system cannot keep up.

Other

The Narrator

Voiced by: Kenjiro Tsuda (Japanese), Jason Marnocha (English)

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• Baritone of Strength: Both his Japanese and English voices are very deep and bassy.
• The Comically Serious: Due to how clinically and professionally he describes biological processes, it can be rather humorous hearing him speak about things like morning wood as if it's a deeply serious condition.
• Distaff Counterpart: He's male in comparison to the main series' female narrator.
• The Stoic: Unlike the female narrator, who always keeps a tone of cheerful serenity, he describes everything in a deadly serious and clinical manner, signifying how at any moment the host body could fail.

The Host Bodies

The two owners of the bodies the cells reside in. Unlike the one from the main series, who's generally of average health if with a bad habit of getting sick, these individuals have a very poor sense of self-care that ultimately harms the cells.

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• The Alcoholic: The first body is shown to be an extremely heavy drinker, to the point that the Hepatocyte Cells are overworked as a result. The second body isn't as bad, but still uses alcohol as a way to drown out his problems.
• Anti-Villain: While it's painfully clear that the way they're treating their bodies is very bad for themselves and the cells that keep the body running, the manga also makes a fair bit of point that the hosts themselves do operate in very stressful environments, likely due to work, and a lot of the neglect and overindulgences they maintain are heavily implied to be a result of said stress. Considering that the second host even attempts to take their own life, it makes it pretty clear that the hosts themselves live in just as miserable conditions as the cells that inhabit them, likely too from conditions outside of their own control.
• Ambiguous Gender: Averted here. Unlike the main series host which plays this straight, representing the general biology for both genders, both hosts are quite blatantly male. One first-body arc revolved around him getting an erection before receiving an STD from the resulting sex, and one second-body arc deals with the effects of testosterone and the practical redundancy of the prostate following a vasectomy.
• Composite Character: As a result of being a Pragmatic Adaptation mixing and matching content from each host, the anime adaptation ends up combining both of them into a singular host with double the health problems. This is later subverted in the final episode, since while many of the problems affecting the second host body have been transferred to the first, said host remains a separate entity and is still in a worse state than the first, as shown by The Stinger, in which the protagonists do still do get blood transfused into him.
• His Own Worst Enemy: As well as the cells. Unlike the main series body, who's instances of illnesses could be chalked up as bad luck, most of these bodies' health problems are largely self-inflicted due to their poor lifestyles.
• Jerkass Gods: Downplayed. It's hard to tell if the hosts are genuinely malicious, seeing as we never meet them, but the poor sense of care for their bodies are the root cause for all the problems in the setting, subjecting the cells to overwork, and causing numerous deaths among them due to being victimised by the bacteria that invade each body.
• Jerkass Realization: After suffering a heart attack, it's implied the first host starts taking much better care of himself, leading to the cells living much happier lives. Unfortunately for some of them, such as AA2153, U1196, and NC8429, the first host ends up donating his blood to a second, much worse host body, meaning their misfortunes aren't over yet.
  • For the second body, it takes a failed suicide attempt to convince them to start taking their health more seriously.

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