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Characters / Darkbolt

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This page describes the many characters of the webcomic Darkbolt.

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The Heroes and Allies

    The Main Cast 

Naoko Yamino

Host of Darkbolt, the Demon of Darkness. Naoko is the comic's reluctant but iron-willed heroine and the leader of the Demon hosts. She is specifically chosen by Dakuu because she's a shy and meek bookworm who he thinks will be powerless to resist Darkbolt's will. That doesn't work out too well for them.
  • I Just Want to Be Normal: She starts out largely fighting just so that the Tenma will leave her to return to a normal life.
  • I Will Wait for You: Subverted. Naoko is waiting to meet Fushi and to begin their romance rather than for him to return.
  • Jekyll & Hyde: It's repeatedly Lampshaded that Naoko is almost a completely different person when transformed for battle, becoming almost implacable and ruthless.
  • Meaningful Name: "Yamino" means "of the darkness" or "dark."
  • Power Nullifier: Naoko can shut off Ikkou's ability to draw on the Orb.
  • Shrinking Violet: At first, but this fades through Adrenaline Makeover. The biggest step away from this comes during the climax of "Song" when she realizes that with Darkbolt's power, she has no reason to fear anything again.
  • Technical Pacifist: At the start of the series, she couldn't even watch her friend's martial arts tournament and wondered why people liked that sort of thing. Even later, she repeatedly expresses weariness at all the fighting before finally becoming a Martial Pacifist who trains in the sword with Yun.
  • Wide-Eyed Idealist: Young Naoko tends to blindly trust people who want peaceful resolutions.

Mariko Ikusa

Host of the Demon of War. A high school friend of Naoko and Yun. She is a tough tomboy with great talent in martial arts and sports. She eventually hooks up with Yun.
  • Badass Normal: At first. She manages to kick around a freshly revived Darkbolt for a page or two before he gets more serious. After he craters her into a wall, and she lives through it, he considers her a good host for War.
  • Blood Knight: Does come to love a good fight almost as much as War.
  • Cute Bruiser: Tomboy to Naoko's girly-girl. Red oni to Yun's blue.
  • Summon Magic: War Wolves.
  • Talk to the Fist: Versus Tatsuya.
    "What? I though you said you weren't gonna waste any time talking!"
  • The Worf Effect: Happens more often over time. Mari's almost as reckless as Ikkou but not as close in sheer destructive power.

Yun Shino

Host of the Demon of Death. A high school friend of Naoko, Mariko, and Ikkou. He spends much of his time training in kenjutsu and spirituality at a local temple. Yun is has a calm and wise demeanor that hides a lot of turmoil over his relationship with his distant parents. He eventually hooks up with Mariko.
  • Abusive Dad: Yun's father manages in the first scene you see him to insult Yun and Mariko's hair and the genders they imply and tells him to take his time getting home from a trip and not to bother him if he gets into trouble.
  • Badass Normal: Just like Mariko, he managed to get some good cuts in on Darkbolt before he got serious. This also impressed him enough to consider Yun for Death.
  • Cool Sword: The Holy Sword of Order.
  • Elemental Powers: Death, ghosts, darkness, and crows are his main theme.
  • The Grim Reaper: Yun's "Death Soul" attack summons this with a Soul Cutting Sinister Scythe.
  • Meaningful Name: "Shino" can mean "of death" or "Death's."
  • Necromancer: He's got power over Death. Being a good guy he mostly uses this for instant-kills, exorcisms, and resurrection.
  • Parental Abandonment: His father is rarely home, and his mother's not much better according to him.
  • Shipper on Deck: Yun prodded Ikkou to ask out Naoko because he's friends with both.
  • Spider-Sense: Even before bonding with Death, Yun could sense the presence of the Demons and later shows that he can track them.
  • Summon Magic: Can summon crows.

Ikkou Zenkai

Host of the Demon of Destruction. He is introduced as a friend of Yun who has a crush on Naoko but can't work up the courage to ask her out. Hot-headed and reckless, he becomes the host of Destruction when he gets caught up in a fight between Naoko and General Dakuu. Unfortunately, he's unable to control Destruction, who takes over his body for the first arc.

Ikkou's hot-temper leads him to frequently get into trouble or cause trouble for others. He is, however, absolutely dedicated to Naoko. Eventually, he is forced to give up on Naoko and begins seeing Shiori after she becomes human and after he is convinced to give up the Orb of Destruction. Unable to accept being on the sidelines, he eventually bonds with the Orb of Chaos and rejoins the main cast.

  • Knight Templar: Ikkou takes a very hard line with the Tenma and isn't all that careful about collateral damage.
  • The Load: Spends a good chunk of the series mind-controlled by immensely powerful enemies on more than one occasion. When he's not, he's often hot-tempered, impulsive, and reckless in combat, and he possesses a dangerous mix of immersive destructive power and of a lack of concern for collateral damage when angry. More than one unnecessary fight starts or almost starts thanks to him.
  • Meaningful Name: "Zenkai" can mean "complete destruction." "Ikkou" can mean "absolutely, completely, totally."
  • Villain Teleportation: Subverted in that he retains these powers from Destruction after regaining control of himself.
  • What the Hell, Hero?: Wow. So much.
    • Accidentally destroying all life on Earth as he broke Destruction's control.
    • Killing Onchi just as she (unknown to him) broke through her Tenma conditioning and became an innocent again.
    • Picking a fight with the Knight of the Holy Order and later pissing off the Angel of Order.
    • Blows up Mt. Fuji just to injure the Knight of the Holy Order.
    • Eventually, this pattern of behavior makes the rest of the main cast cut him out of the loop and then later abandon him after he gives up his powers and no longer needs to be sat on to keep out of trouble. Ouch.

Fushi Yoriyama

The Phoenix Samurai and host of the Angel of Life. Naoko's future husband. First appears as a grown man who doesn't realize he's travelled back in time. He plays a critical role in "From the Ashes," and eventually joins the cast again later as a teenager.
  • Foreshadowing: His time in "From the Ashes" is a virtual fountain of foreshadowing for the plot of Requiem, which was published 10-11 years later.
  • Futureshadowing:
    • Dear Lord, did we really read a scene on pp. 257-260 from pp. 2400-2403?
    • Also, look at all the future character designs and semi-spoilers in Fushi's memories on p. 350.
  • It Makes Sense in Context: His early dialog with and reactions to Naoko and Ikkou, and they only get even more confusing over the course of the comic until you finally catch up with where he left.
  • Knight Templar:
    • Fushi was more than willing to murder a helpless Tenma captive before Yun and Mariko walked in on him.
    • Later he, cold-bloodedly sacrifices Bumper to ensure Destruction dies.
  • Meaningful Name: "Fushi" can mean "eternal life."

    Other Allies 

Shiori Murasaki

A mysterious, purple-haired transfer student in Naoko's class. She and her brother seem strangely interested in Naoko and Ikkou and keep a distant watch over critical events. She is a Time Elemental sent on a mission with her brother to retrieve the Orb of Destruction from Ikkou. Eventually she becomes human after a Heroic Sacrifice and decides to find happiness on Earth. She eventually falls in love with Ikkou and is handed control of the Genji Corporation.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: She gives her life to give Ikkou more time to charge up an attack. Thankfully, she gets better.
  • Humanity Ensues: Yun can't bring all of her back when she dies, and so she becomes human. She is absolutely delighted with it.
  • Humans Through Alien Eyes: She has a lot of adjusting to do to life as a human and is very appreciative of many of the little things people take for granted.
  • Meaningful Name: "Murasaki" means "purple," like her hair. Her Time Elemental name is "Shichiji" or "seven o'clock."
  • Rescue Romance: With Ikkou. She'd been keeping an eye on him, but you get the sense that things really clicked when he caught her falling into the void in Elysium. Later reversed when Ikkou realizes she's literally the kind of girl who would give her life for you.
  • Shrinking Violet: Subverted. It's a false front that comes from a mixture of no prior human contact, a mission that requires distance, and fate-bound life that doesn't offer room for happiness. Her modeling / public striptease for Ikkou at the talent show should put to rest any question of whether that's really who she is.
  • Unexpected Inheritance: Tatsuya gives her Satsuo's control of the Genji Corporation before leaving to perform his atonement as some compensation for her death at his hands.
  • You Can't Fight Fate: Zig-zagged. She is initially far more fatalistic that Johji until Chou tells her that she will find happiness on Earth.

Johji Murasaki

Shiori's older brother who keeps a similar mysterious watch over the main characters but is more notable for his quiet hostility towards Ikkou. He is a Time Elemental, sent on a mission before the series starts to retrieve Destruction from Ikkou.
  • Chekhov's Skill: The Phantom Zone he fights Ikkou in later lets Ikkou use Golden Crash against a villain without fear of wiping out the city or planet.
  • Hypocrite: Shiori accuses him of being one over his interest in Naoko and in changing his fate while denigrating her own interest in humanity.
  • Jerkass: He mellows some over time, but he never becomes "nice" by any definition. Lampshaded at one point when he wears a shirt that says "Jerk" on it.
  • Knight Templar Big Brother: Subverted and defied. Johji doesn't care about Shiori's love life in particular; he's just smothering and controlling in general. ..To the point of spying on her thoughts. Semi-justified since he's as much her superior on a mission as her brother. Shiori repeatedly tells him to mind his own business.
  • Lonely Together: Johji tries to convince Naoko to let him have a chance for this reason. It's subverted in that Johji doesn't actually care about Naoko; he just wants to Screw Destiny.
  • Meaningful Name: "Murasaki" means "purple," like his forelocks. His Time Elemental name is "Juuji" or "ten o'clock."
  • You Can't Fight Fate: Zig-zagged. He tries to court Naoko primarily to prove that he can Screw Destiny and maybe find happiness. He's told by Chou that "not everything" can be changed.

Hana

Hana is Mariko's girly-girl friend. She's dating Katsu. Later, she is revealed to have the "ultimate human soul."

Chou

The Phoenix Samurai's phoenix companion. Chou has a number of magical powers including the ability to turn into a sword. Stays with Naoko after Fushi returns to the future.
  • Retroactive Precognition: Chou can show people things to come from his memories.
  • Stable Time Loop: Chou is eternally part of the loop between Fushi's first appearance in "After the Ashes" and his departure to the past in "Requiem."
  • Speaks Fluent Animal: Inverted. Chou speaks entirely in squawks, and everyone can understand him. Except the reader.

Antagonists and Neutral Characters by Arc

Antagonists are divvied up by the arc they first make a significant contribution to the plot in. Antagonists who pull a Heel–Face Turn should be listed below.

    Arc 1: "Darkbolt" 

Queen Yasha

  • Even Evil Has Loved Ones: She seems to genuinely care for Sensha. Doesn't stop her from trying to choke her to death, though she sheds tears while doing so.

General Dakuu

The first major villain of the series. He wants to unleash the Demons in the hopes that they will help him overthrow Queen Yasha in gratitude for her release. Unfortunately, after failing repeatedly with the first three Demons, he succeeds with Destruction only to end up killed by him. A decade of real world time later, he returns in "Requiem" as the main villain.
  • Chekhov's Skill:
    • White Crusher shows up a bit later in Dolands' hands.
    • Control over the Void. It's how he brings back all the fallen Tenma.
  • The Dragon: The Dragon Ascendant in "Requiem"
  • Enemy Mine: Against Destruction. Ends poorly for him in the long run.

Crystal and Stem

Two monsters that serve Dakuu. They lack Tenma marks, but seem to be revived with the other loyal Tenma just fine. Crystal is a woman made of crystal. Stem is a plant-monster girl.
  • Garden of Evil: Naoko makes the mistake of teleporting the two of them to a park to be away from people.
  • Mad Artist: Crystal considers turning people into statues "art."
  • Taken for Granite: Crystal can turn people into crystal to use as hostages against Naoko.

Sensha

Yasha's Enigmatic Minion and virtual daughter who is aware of Dakuu's ambitions and loves to taunt him over his failures. Sensha's own motives are a mystery for the first and much of the second story arcs. It turns out that she's been planning to overthrow Yasha and free the galaxy of the Tenma's rule. She eventually becomes the leader of the reformed Tenma and a major ally to the main characters.
  • Prophetic Fallacy: Yasha knows that Sensha is fated to bring great change to the Tenma. She does.
  • Really 700 Years Old: Zig-zagged. She thinks she's 200. She was actually born 10,000 years ago and brought as a baby to the time she thinks she's from and raised by Yasha.

    Arc 2: "From the Ashes" 

Lang

A member of Sensha's Quirky Miniboss Squad in "From the Ashes."
  • Blow You Away: Wind Tunnel and Maelstrom.
  • Butt-Monkey: At the receiving end of Tempus' unwanted advances and generally the most comic relief in the fight with the main characters.
  • Tsundere: Maybe. Shippers would probably make a lot of out of him blushing while dropping Tempus after Tempus gushes over him saving him.

Tempus

The last member of Sensha's Quirky Miniboss Squad in "From the Ashes."
  • Camp Gay: Extremely flirty with Lang and pretty much beats down Ikkou with slaps.
  • Meaningful Name: "Tempus" is Latin for "time."

Gleya

Leader of the third team of Tenma sent by Yasha after the protagonists to discover both what happened to Sensha and where the Orb of Life is.

Shiya

A member of Gleya's search team. She plays the most passive role, trying to observe while avoiding conflict. She is in contact with Onchi's mind when she breaks her Tenma conditioning and is the only member of the team to survive contact with the party to bring back news of Sensha's betrayal to Yasha.
  • Meaningful Name; "Shiya" sounds like the romanization of "seer." It also can mean "field of vision" or "outlook."
  • Stripperific: Her dress covers little of her front torso other than the minimum essentials of her breasts.

Onchi

Another member of Gleya's team. She's is a recent Tenma inductee who wants to prove herself. However, she's taken an odd interest in the way the people of Earth live. Along with Shiya, she's on the team following Ikkou when Fushi jumps them.
  • Meaningful Name: "Onchi" can mean "tone deaf."
  • The Power of Rock: Seeing a girl singing on TV started the chain of memories that broke her brainwashing.
  • Stripperific: She pretty much wears nothing but black cups (with no straps) for her breasts and black belts as panties.

Kansha

The last female member of Gleya's team. Her powers are based on paper talismans. She is capture and then let go by Yun. She later appears in the fight with Yasha as the source behind the effect that is blocking their demon powers and is swiftly killed.
  • Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Genuinely doesn't understand that Yun has no intention of killing her after he captured her.
  • Meaningful Name: Maybe. "Kansha" means "thanks," but that really doesn't fit the character.
  • Stripperiffic: You remember Shiya's dress? Now have something similar floating and inch or two away from the body with huge floating epaulettes. Oh the magic of "camera" angles. (Are we seeing a pattern for this team?)

Kakko

The token male member of Gleya's team. A flirt who hits on Gleya much to her irritation and spends much of his time watching the heroes watching pretty girls instead. He meets Naoko and, like Shiya, tries the non-violent approach, only this time with a more receptive audience.
  • In the Back: Once Shiya discovers that humans can break Tenma conditioning, he decides to shoot Naoko in the back.
  • Meaningful Name: "Kakko ii" means "attractive" or "stylish."

    Arc 3: Spirit Sanctuary 

Yun's Grandfather

Priest of the Holy Sanctuary. Yun's grandfather is the misguided main antagonist of the third major arc. After receiving a letter from Yun in which Yun poured out his worries over becoming the host of Death and of Death's increasing grip on his soul, Yun's grandfather calls upon the aid of angels to save Yun's soul, knowing that it will most likely mean Yun's death.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: Subverted, twice. He gives his soul to call upon a powerful angelic warrior to fight the demons, but this cements his last action as an antagonist and not a hero, and it turns out to be a Disney Death anyway.
  • Sinister Minister: Subverted. He's the "bad guy" of a Crystal Dragon Jesus church that's trying to kill the main characters, but he's unequivocally a good guy who just doesn't have all the facts.
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist: He thinks Death and the other Demons will claim the souls of Yun and his friends and imprison them within their own bodies while wreaking havoc and terror on the universe. His motives are to Mercy Kill Yun before that can happen or after if it's too late.

The Seven Holy Cherubs

The second angelic force called to attack the heroes. They are a group of Super-Deformed angels created to act as direct servants of the Angels, and they seem to regard them as their parents. The names we know are:
  • Tenkou - Male with blue hair and feathered silver wings. The Leader
  • Seidou - Male with bronze skin and metallic wings. Capable of reflecting attacks.
  • Tetsu - Male with lack hair, grey skin, black-feathered wings. Most hostile to the heroes.
  • Kongou - Female with purple hair, blue-silver feathered wings, and floating crystals. Known as "The Diamond Truth" and Cannot Tell a Lie or be lied to.

The remaining three are a female cherub in a green dress with monarch butterfly wings, a tanned female with blond hair and golden wings, and a blue-skinned male with silver hair and wings that are blurred in constant motion, like a hummingbird.

All of the Cherubs meet the following tropes:

  • Immortality Begins at Twenty: Averted. Befitting their child-like appearance, they call the angels of Order and Love "Mommy" and generally act like loving children towards them.
  • Parental Abandonment: Tetsu is the angriest about it, but none of have heard from the Angels in millennia.

    Arc 4: Elysium 

Satsuo Genji

Head of the Genji Corporation, which makes its debut at the end of the prior chapter covering up the appearance of the Angel of Order. Satsuo is in need of help to deal with his brother, who is the antagonist of this arc. Initially he approaches the Time Elementals, unaware of the Demons.

Tatsuya Genji

An archaeologist who has been studying ancient relics relating to the Demons and Angels. Tatsuya has discovered Elysium, where the Angel of Love sleeps, and is stealing divine power from her. He is also responsible for the other Angels being unable to return to our plane of reality.—-

Lie

One of Tatsuya's servants. His powers are tied to deception, seduction, and betrayal.
  • Bluff the Impostor: Ikkou spots the fake Naoko when she throws herself at him. That's what he would want, but it's not what he can have.

Mask

One of Tatsuya's servants. His powers are more physical and related to darkness, restraint, and teleportation.

Cosmic Forces

    The Demons 
The ancient, primordial spirits / gods of evil that spawned all the ills of the universe. They have been sealed away in orbs for 10,000 or more years before the start of the series, with the exception of Evil, which has been Yasha's partner for an unknown period of time.

Darkbolt, Demon of Darkness

  • Affably Evil: Once the pecking order is sorted out, anyway. He eventually becomes a reluctant ally to Naoko and eventually seems to have feelings for her.
  • Emotion Eater: Darkbolt thrives off of pain, fear, and despair.
  • Humanoid Alien: He's an art-deco-esque panther-man made of shadow.
  • Humans Through Alien Eyes: Mostly comes up when Darkbolt criticizes Naoko for her self-doubts and emotional weaknesses.
  • Noble Demon: Once beaten, he forms a reluctant and uneasy partnership with Naoko.
  • Smug Snake: Even at his nicest, he looks down on all other creatures as his inferiors.
  • Trickster Mentor: He slowly works on Naoko's insecurities — mostly through mockery and derision.

War

  • Blood Knight: It's the demon of WAR. Bloodlust is its reason for existence.
  • Humanoid Alien: A blood-covered, red werewolf with a bladed tail.
  • Noble Demon: Willingly submits to Mariko out of loyalty to Darkbolt.

Death

Destruction

  • Intelligent Gerbil: Unlike most of the rest of the Demons, Destruction isn't humanoid so much as a bus-sized, nasty, apatosaurus-like lizard. Mentally, he's pretty human-like, though.
  • The Starscream: Has wanted to overthrow Darkbolt for millennia, and so he recognizes Dakuu's regicidal ambitions instantly.
  • You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Almost does this to Dakuu after he reveals where Yasha is. Decides to spare him to see if he really has outlived said usefulness or not.

Evil

  • Master of Illusion: Violet Web causes her enemies to think all their allies have been replaced with monsters out to kill them.
  • The Starscream: Wanted to kill Darkbolt and take control of the other demons. However, she seems less eager than Destruction, because she and Yasha only continuously suggest that they don't need Naoko alive rather than directly order her death.

Chaos

    The Angels 
The Angels are the forces of creation that made all things good in the universe. They once guarded the Earth but retreated from the universe once the Demons were sealed away.

Life

  • Samurai: Wears the same armor and uses a similar sword to Fushi but adds a helmet.
  • Sealed Good in a Can: Sealed 10,000 years ago by Darkbolt.
  • Stable Time Loop: With Fushi and using his power in concert with himself to revive the Earth.

Order

  • Knight Templar: Zig-zagged. In "Spirit Sanctuary," she's the voice of reason holding back her agents from attacking the humans who imprison the Demons within themselves. In "Elysium," she takes a far harder line with the villain than everyone else present, and she collectively punishes the heroes for standing up to her judgment by refusing to aid them or the Earth in the future.

Love

Peace

  • Actual Pacifist: Probably, given his sphere of influence. He definitely tries to avoid conflict with the heroes.

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