Eyeshield 21 Ojo White Knights / Characters

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General

Widely regarded as the best high school team in Tokyo, the Ojo White Knights were renowned for their impenetrable defense, which made them the kings of the Tokyo Tournament and perpetual runners-up to the Shinryuji Naga at the Kanto Regional. Following the graduation of most of their best players (the "Golden Generation") a year prior to the event of the series, the White Knights were in a process of rebuilding their strength. They fought the Devil Bats in the second round of the Spring Tokyo Tournament and routed the latter. Despite this, Seijuro Shin, the ace of the Knights, developed an interest in the weak team as he lost a personal battle against Sena during the match.

By the time of the Fall Tokyo Tournament, the team had completed their training on the Balista Formation, which drastically strengthened both their offense and defense. The Devil Bats fought the White Knights once more at the semi-finals of the Kanto Regional, and defeated them after a very tough battle.

Badass Crew: Especially after they Took a Level in Badass.
Battle Cry: "Glory to the Kingdom!!!"
Battle in the Rain: The Devil Bats' rematch against them in the semi-finals of the Kanto Regional.
Color-Coded Characters: Associated with white, they are, unsurprisingly, noble and defensive.
Combination Attack: Both the Everest Pass (which involved Takami and Sakuraba doing a pass at such great height that it is impossible to intercept) and the Sagittarius (which involved Takami and Sakuraba doing the Everest Pass while Shin serves as the latter's guard by tearing through the opponents' defense to open the way) were this. And of course, the Balista Formation.
Curb-Stomp Battle: Did this to the Devil Bats in their first match. Also, they inflicted this on every team they faced in the Fall Tokyo Tournament.
Deuteragonist: Especially early in the series, where they received as much focus as Deimon Devil Bats. They’re also the only other team of which entire roster are named before the databook was released. And to emphasis how much important their rivalry with Deimon is, their rematch in Kanto Regional’s semifinal is the longest match in the entire series, spanning across 22 chapters.
Elite Mooks: The unimportant players are shown giving a hard time to the Huh-huh brothers and Komusubi. Eight of Tokyo's best eleven defense players came from Ojou and only two (Shin and Ootawara) have their entries on this page.
Foil: To the Devil Bats, they placed their emphasis on defense instead of offense. In general, the two teams mirrored each other, with each improvement in the Devil Bats countered by one at the White Knights.
Friendly Rivalry: To the Devil Bats. The teams were on fairly good terms, and off the field, there was little, if any, rancor between them.
Graceful Losers: Notably, this was how the whole team behaved upon their defeat by the Devil Bats at the semi-finals of Kanto.
Knight in Shining Armor: Their primary Motifs.
Light Is Good: They are named the Ojo White Knights, wear white outfits, and all the members are shown to be a Nice Guy or a Jerk with a Heart of Gold at worst. Even their main rivals, the Devil Bats, get along with them quite well.
Planet of Hats: Downplayed, but the Ojo Highschool did seem to have a medieval Europe theme.
The Rival: The White Knights were, as a group, the Devil Bats' main rivals throughout the series, from the Spring Tokyo Tournament all the way to Kanto. Each of the star players had a rivalry with a certain member of the Devil Bats.
Secret Weapon: The Balista Formation - deploying Shin as the lead blocker to blast through the linemen and allowing two powerful offensives with Sakuraba's Everest Pass - became feasible once Shin was trained to play on both offense and defense with full power during the whole game.
Stone Wall: The opposite of the Devil Bats, the White Knights focus on defense at the expense of offense. At the start of the series, this rendered them able to resist almost any offensive play, but struggling to score. Well, until they Took a Level in Badass, that is.
Shoji (To the players): If we can stop our opponents from scoring any point, a single point can win the game! The most important thing in football is defense!
Took a Level in Badass: In the Spring Tournament, they were still recovering from the loss of the Golden Generation. By the Fall Tournament, they had evolved into the best iteration of the White Knights to date.
The Worf Effect: Got hit with it in the Spring Kanto Tournament, where their defeat at the hands of the Shinryuji Naga was used to advertise just how dangerous the latter were.
Worthy Opponents: The White Knights are this to the Devil Bats. Both teams eagerly anticipated their match-ups and awaited rematches after that.

Seijuro Shin (進清十郎)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shinseijuuro.jpg

Voiced by: Naoya Gomoto (JP), Crispin Freeman (EN)

The man widely regarded as the best defense player in Japan's highschool league, Shin was a hardworking genius who was always training to improve himself. At 4.4 seconds, Shin used to hold the record of the fastest 40-yard dash, until Sena surpassed him in their first match. Since then, Shin and Sena had seen each other as Worthy Opponent and eagerly looked forward to a rematch on the field.

Position: Linebacker / Fullback / Running Back
Jersey: 40
40-yard dash: 4.4 seconds; later 4.2 seconds
Bench Press: 140 kg (308 lbs)
Height: 175 cm (5' 10")
Weight: 71 kg (156 lbs)
Birthday: July 9
2nd Year Student (Grade 11)

10-Minute Retirement: During the finals of the World Cup, Mr. Don intentionally took down and injured Shin, who then had to briefly retire from the game while Habashira took his place.
Accidental Athlete: At first, Shin wasn't really interested in football and was simply tagging along when Sakuraba was recruited into the White Knights. Coach Shoji, however, noticed his potential and favored him over the taller Sakuraba. A few months of training later, Shin had turned into the ace linebacker he is today.
The Ace: He was the White Knights' best player and Japan's overall best linebacker. Defenders usually have to tackle running backs with their entire bodies to stop them. Shin can stop them with one arm. He also killed a boar during his training using his bare hands.
Alliterative Name: Seijuro Shin.
Always Someone Better: He was defeated by Panther during the finals of the World Cup. Interestingly, the night before that, Sakuraba had mused that maybe Shin had expected this, and that might've been why Shin couldn't answer when asked about what to do in the face of a more naturally gifted opponent.
The Apprentice: The most notable one of Shoji.
Ass-Kicking Pose: His most recurring one was standing and tightening his glove.
Awesomeness by Analysis: He can quickly read offensive plays, allowing him to easily intercept running backs during a run, direct others to intercept a pass, and even shut down a quarterback using a blitz. He can also counter a skill right after seeing it, demonstrated when he shut down Sena after seeing the Devil Bat Ghost just once.
Badass Arm-Fold: Sitting while doing this was one of Shin's recurring poses.
Badass Boast: How do you respond when Mr. Don vowed to "kill" you? Reply that you're eager to take the challenge, of course!
Bash Brothers: With Sakuraba, after the latter's Character Development.
Bruce Lee Clone: Yusuke Murata, the series' artist, described that Shin is "modeled after Bruce Lee and is a cool, handsome character."
Brutal Honesty: Shin wasn't known for being tactful. He spoke honest and insightful opinions.
Sakuraba: Shin, tell me the truth. If I was on the field... would we really have won the game more easily?
Shin (Stoic): ... No, it probably wouldn't have made a difference.
Sakuraba (Shaken): Is that so...
- And this dialogue eventually motivated Sakuraba to Take a Level in Badass.
Challenge Seeker: He said he would go seek out things that pushed his own limits if tomorrow is the end of the world. Much of his crazy training regimens stemmed from his obsession with challenging himself.
Character Tic: Flexing his palm. It's his signature pose.
Charles Atlas Superpower: He trained very hard to become... see Lightning Bruiser below.
Chaste Hero: Is The Hero to his team, and utterly oblivious to anything outside school and football.
Riko: Exactly... what kind of girls do you like?
Shin (While lifting weights): One who's able to take pride as a part of the team.
Random White Knights Player: Shin... That's the requirement for a manager, not a girlfriend...
Comically Missing the Point: He's got quite a few moments of this, mostly due to his preoccupation with training and the resultant obliviousness. Example: when Shin broke his GPS, got lost in the Suicide Forest, and had to cook a wild boar for dinner, he began to feel worried... that just eating meat wouldn't give him all the necessary nutrients.
The Comically Serious: When you put Shin around technology. Or ordinary social situations, for that matter.
Curb-Stomp Battle: Inflicted this on nearly all opponents he had faced (including Sena and Riku) most of the time. But Shin came to the receiving end of this when he faced Panther during the World Cup.
Ditzy Genius: While Shin is smart, widely considered a genius, and extremely well-read about fitness and sports, his ineptitude with machines is quite jarring.
The Dreaded: Shin puts the fear of God into anyone who was hit by his Spear Tackle, and some players even refused to carry the ball when they knew he was going to be after them.
Expy: Of Kenshiro and Ryu - being stoic and very obsessed with training and becoming stronger. Shin's resemblance to Kenshiro was Played for Laughs during the Devil Bats vs Aliens match, where Sena collapsed in exhaustion after running at full speed... only to hallucinate and see a Shin who "could probably use 'Hokuto-shinken'".
Foil:
- Shin is the Brilliant and Hardworking to Agon's Brilliant, but Lazy.
- Shin is, much like Yamato, a hardworking genius, but the former is quiet and stoic, while the latter is charismatic and sociable.
Friendly Rivalry: With Sena, after their first match. They aren't really friends, but they greatly respect each other.
Genius Bruiser: Helplessness with technology aside, Shin seems to be very intelligent. An extra material revealed that he has better grades than most characters, and he is very knowledgeable about fitness and sports. On the football field, there were only a few people who could outwit him.
The Gift: Shin us implied to have this, given that Agon treats him as an equal. His backstory showed that Coach Shoji favored Shin over Sakuraba precisely because he had the perfect body type for a linebacker and could become an ace through proper training.
Hates Being Touched: It's not that he hates it he just doesn't know how to respond.
The Hero: To the White Knights. Probably still this on the Silver Knights.
Heroic Build: He is built like Bruce Lee after all.
Honor Before Reason: Shin makes for an honorable opponent. It was shown when he asked Takami to reveal details of the Balista Formation to the Devil Bats during the Ojo Academy school festival, simply to make sure that both teams have shown their hands, aka playing on equal grounds.
Humble Hero: Despite being hailed as a genius, Shin never boasts about his talents. In fact, he is always prepared to ask for advice so that he could further improve himself. This attitude led Riku to teach Shin his running techniques, which enabled the latter to evolve the Spear Tackle to the Trident Tackle. It also contrasts Shin against Agon.
Riko: To start off, please tell me your name, team and your strong points.
Shin (While lifting weights): Shin Seijuro. Ojo White Knights. I am not at the level of being able to list my strong points.
Implacable Man: Shin can and will strike his targets at lightning speed. Trying to stop him from getting to his target is like trying to stop a truck.
Improvised Training: Played for Laughs. Wherever he is, Shin always manages to find objects he could use to work out. Example: In a gag chapter, Shin was handed a NDS. To nobody's surprise, he broke it instantly... and proceeded to use the styluses to do vertical push-ups.
Knight in Shining Armor: Well, all of the White Knights had this as their Motifs, but Shin was the one most frequently associated with images of knights.
The Leader: While Takami had always been the mastermind behind Ojo, everyone looked up to Shin as their on-field leader. And after the Devil Bats beat the White Knights at Kanto, the third-year Takami handed the captain title to Shin, making the latter the new official leader of the Ojo White Knights.
Lightning Bruiser: He's formerly the fastest football player in Japan and after being surpassed by Sena, trained himself to have the same speed as the current fastest. He was also strong enough to lift Kurita with relative ease.
Meaningful Name: "Shin" literally means to advance or to progress.
Mr. Fanservice: If his well-built body and constant shirtless scenes are any indication.
Mundane Utility: As shown in the World Cup arc, the Trident Tackle is also useful in a pillow fight.
Muscle Angst: His constant training came from what he perceived to be bad performance. After the match against the Naga and the Wild Gunmen, he felt ashamed that Sena saw him play poorly (well, he didn't, but he believed so), and decided to train even more than usual.
Nerves of Steel: Went hand-in-hand with his stoic nature. Best demonstrated when he stood between Gaou and Agon to stop their fight, while remaining stoic himself the entire time.
Nice Guy: Despite his poor social skills, Shin is a genuinely kind person.
No Social Skills: Shin speaks in monotone with textbook-level formality and general lack of tact. He also seems to have little awareness of social norms (e.g., he doesn't seem to see anything wrong with walking around shirtless) and no friend at all outside his football team. In one instance, he gave Sakuraba his most powerful tackle simply because the latter wrapped his arm over his shoulder - and it seemed to be what Shin thought was the appropriate response.
Not So Above It All: For a character that is supposed to be taken very seriously, Shin surely provided a lot of comical moments. For example, when Sakuraba and Shin returned to the Ojo Highschool after the Devil Bats vs Cupids game, Sakuraba got the impression that Shin was covering for him by taking the blame for not recording the Bats' victory over the Cupids... then he saw Shin deny knowing what happened to the busted camera.
One-Hit KO: The Trident Tackle in a nutshell.
Only Friend: Sakuraba. Though Shin isn't that open about his emotions, Sakuraba is the closest person to him. Shin first decided to join American Football tryouts to follow Sakuraba and the two have great cooperation on-field once Sakuraba starts taking things seriously.
Picky Eater: Shin eats a balanced diet, so he doesn’t like to eat too much meat and junk foods.
The Quiet One: He only spoke when he thought he had something worth saying. And even then, he tended to use as few words as possible.
The Rival: To Sena. The first and the biggest.
Running Gags: Several. His catastrophic ineptitude with machines, his ability to find some ways to work out wherever he is, and that whenever he showed up, it s always in one of two poses: either sitting with his arms crossed, or standing while tightening his gloves.
Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: The Manly Man to Sakuraba's Sensitive Guy.
Ship Tease: He had some minor ones with Wakana.
Shirtless Scene: Loads. Shoji even called him out on it in a gag chapter.
Signature Moves: The Spear Tackle: it's a simple arm thrust to the opponent's body but because of Shin's power and speed, he can easily knock the wind out of anybody he hits. This also causes the opponents to fumble the ball most of the time, allowing Shin an opportunity to score. Because of how powerful the hit is coupled with Shin's relentlessness when pursuing the opposing ball carrier, most players refuse to carry the ball whenever Shin takes to the field. This eventually evolved to the Dual Spear Tackle; a two-handed thrust that also takes advantage of Shin's reach to counter Sena's Devil Bat Ghost. Finally, upon learning Riku's Rodeo Drive, Shin perfects his signature move by adding a sudden burst of speed to the thrust, which was christened the Trident Tackle. With this, Shin can effectively incapacitate most opponents with one strike. Even Agon, who's comparable to Shin in terms of physical strength and resilency, admits he would likely be taken out if he got hit by Shin's new technique. The only one who has been able to resist it is Yamato
Skewed Priorities: To Shin, training is just more important than everything else. As mentioned, when he got lost in the Suicide Forest and had to cook a boar for dinner, he's still more concerned about getting all the nutrients he needed for building muscles than his own safety.
The Stoic: It wasn't because of any effort on his part. It's just his natural state.
Straight Man: This is natural considering Shin's stoic personality. It was most apparent when he's around Ootawara and (to a lesser extent) Sakuraba.
Testosterone Poisoning: He often drifted into this with his crazy training regimens.
Took a Level in Badass: His initial 40-yard dash time was 4.4 seconds, which was, at that time, the fastest one in Japan. After personally witnessing Sena achieve the "speed of light pace" - a 4.2-second 40-yard dash - he subjected himself to Training from Hell. Came Kanto's semi-finals, he had achieved speed on par with Sena and developed the Trident Tackle]].
Training from Hell: He gets bonus points for having a habit of imposing this on himself.
Troperiffic: His list is just slightly shorter than Mr. Don's.
Unstoppable Force Meets Immovable Object: What happens when Shin's strongest tackle that stops players dead on track meets the unstoppable Caesar's Charge? Yamato was finally stopped... but only after pushing Shin back for one yard while being tackled.
Walking Techbane: Whenever a machine or an electronic device is put into Shin's hands, he will most likely turn it into scraps within a few seconds.
When He Smiles: It was easy to miss, but Shin did smile when the Devil Bats beat the White Knights at Kanto's semi-finals thanks to Sena surpassing Shin during the last play. That was one of the few instances where Shin expressed emotions.
Worthy Opponent: Shin and Sena viewed each other as this. To a lesser extent, Agon and Panther also seemed to see Shin in the same way.

Haruto Sakuraba

Voiced by: Mamoru Miyano (JP)< Tony Oliver (EN)

A Bishōnen model with a large number of Fan Girls. He's hyped up to be Oujou's ace, but really isn't anything special. Suffers from a lot of Heroic Self-Deprecation early on, but eventually decides to Take a Level in Badass, quit being a model, and start training seriously.

Position: Wide Receiver / Cornerback

Jersey: 18
40 yard dash: 5.0 seconds; later 4.86 seconds
Bench Press: 50 kg; later 75 kg
Height: 186 cm (6' 1")
Weight: Unknown
Birthday: March 2nd
2nd Year Student (Grade 11)

Attractive Bent-Gender: He looks really good as a Meido.
Bash Brothers: With Shin and Takami, after going through some Character Development.
Becoming the Mask: At the beginning, he's marketed as Ojo's ace player despite his mediocre talent, which gives him a lot of confidence issues. Once he gets over these, he works himself hard until he truly becomes one of Ojo's ace players.
Butt-Monkey: A rather mild example, but he does put up with a lot of (unintentional) comical injuries from Ootawara, and Shin on some occasions. His rival is Monta, after all...
Can't Catch Up: Does angst over an understandable inferiority complex for a bit before Takami assures him just how much he, and the team overall, needs him.
Chick Magnet: He has an army of fangirls.
Determinator: Not too apparent at first, but Shoji noted that Sakuraba never stopped chasing after Shin, the gifted, hardworking player who left all others behind.
Even the Guys Want Him: Once he becomes a genuine ace.
"What a crowd. I even hear some deep manly voices."
- Shinryuuji Naga's transvestite, Sanzo, is one of his fans.
Fake Ultimate Hero: At the beginning the press tries to make him pass for The Ace of the team, while he's just a regular player. He eventually grows out of this, though.
Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: On the receiving end when he starts freaking out about not being able to live to people's expectations and his own, Takami tries to comfort him but after he says he shouldn't have joined in the first place and wasted his time, Takami just punched him.
Groupie Brigade: As a former model, he has a pretty big one.
Heroic BSoD: Sakuraba (still in his Fake Ultimate Hero phase) goes through one when he realizes that no matter how hard he trains, he'll never be as good as Shin. His friend Takami reacted violently to that, having gone through the exact same thing when he dealt with a childhood injury that kept him from keeping pace with the rest of the team.
Heroic Self-Deprecation: Suffers from this a lot initially, as a backlash for the groundless praise he receives even when he does nothing good in a game.
Important Haircut: To show he quit being a model and started taking American football seriously, he crewcut at the beginning of the fall season after finally quitting his contract with Jari Productions to focus on football. This move ends up cutting away at his massive fanbase until only the real fans (all three of them) are left. Ironically, he signs with Jari Productions again soon after.
Instant Fan Club: His fangirls. The first game between Deimon and Ojou was covered extensively by the media solely because of his fame. Only three remain after he changes his look. Once they get to the Kanto tournament, they're all back.
The Lancer: Once he accepts he's not going to become The Ace of the team, he becomes this to Shin.
Odd Friendship: With Shin. They shared the same locker at Ojo and have been hanging out together ever since.
Pretty Boy: Well, he does work as a part-time as a model after all. He intentionally Subverts it when he shaves his head and grows a stubble to make it clear to the public he's going to be a full-time athlete.
The Resenter: What pushed him into modeling.
Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: The Sensitive Guy to Shin's Manly Man.
Straight Man: He shares this role with Takami, especially when Ootawara is around.
Stupid Sexy Flanders: When he wears a maid outfit, Kurita and Sena become a little disturbed by how well it suits him.
The Rival: To Monta, once Sakuraba becomes an actual star player.
Took a Level in Badass: The only thing he had going as a football player was his height, which was ideal for his position as a wide receiver. He trained and practiced hard until he had the skills and stamina to match.
Worthy Opponent: Acknowledged as such by Monta after he takes his level in badass and becomes one of the best receivers (and makeshift cornerbacks) in Tokyo.
Monta: Sakuraba is amazing. It was do or die to the very end.

Makoto Ootawara

Voiced by: Kenji Nomura (JP), Patrick Seitz (EN)

A cheerful buffoon who is Ojo's strongest lineman. He considers himself to be Kurita's rival. Has the unfortunate tendency to forget to wear pants. Despite appearances (and his lack of brains), it's actually he who is the team's captain.

Position: Defensive Lineman
Jersey: 60
40 yard dash: 5.4 seconds
Bench Press: 130 kg; 145 kg by the end
3rd Year Student (Grade 12)

Beware the Nice Ones: When Ojo's chances at the Christmas Bowl are vanishing, he gets pretty intense, he even broke Sena's nose by accident during Ojo's last offense.
The Big Guy: The Ojo's strongest lineman and biggest player.
Boisterous Bruiser: Ootawara is always seen sporting the same dopey smile in pretty much every situation. He doesn't seem to know how not to have a great time.
Born Lucky: Since Ojo is an elevator school without the need for entrance exams, several students have complained since because of this rule someone as stupid as Otawara had gotten into Ojo.
Determinator: Toward the end of the game, he realizes that Ojo is in danger of losing to the Devil-Bats in the Kanto semifinals, and thus costing himself and Takami their last chance at the Christmas Bowl. He proceeds to completely lose his mind and bulldoze his way through first Kurita, and then most of Deimon's line.
Dumb Muscle: The poster boy of this trope. As Shoji, the White Knight's coach puts it, Ootawara is plain stupid, and even he admits it freely.
"[Ikari]'s got muscle for brains. That's better than me, I've got no brains at all!"
- He can rival resident idiot Taki in stupidity. At one point the two are given the question, "The man who invented the light bulb was..." Ootowara answered "Smart", while Taki answered "Me". Though to be fair to Ootawara, it's not like his answer is actually wrong.
Dumb Jock: Why yes there is a sports merit scholarship to get into Ojou without passing the entrance exam. They regret it.
Dumbass Has a Point: Sometimes (often causing shock in his teammate). He’s also the one to suggest that Takami and Sakuraba are the only ones who can break through Tatanka’s pass block because they’re tall and can jump higher than him.
Fan Disservice: His tendency to forget to wear pants, as well as him farting. Also when he had to dress as Meido during the school festival’s open training as a punishment for losing the quiz game earlier.
Flanderization: He was markedly less stupid in his first appearance than he became later. His habit of forgetting to wear his pants also eventually evolved into him becoming Mizumachi's streaking buddy.
Friendly Rivalry: With Kurita.
Gasshole:Shamelessly blasting farts in public is one of his the many bad habits. And the one that he does the most often.
Genius Ditz: He's the real captain of Ojo, and when he wants, he can be a very good captain. He's really at most Book Dumb with a little lack of common sense. Whenever he's serious about football, he will give good advice and be a much more approachable guy.
Gonk: He has a very strange physique, especially at the beginning.
Idiots Cannot Catch Colds: He's the only one on the entire team to never miss a practice. Shin comes at a close second, only because he broke the ticket machine at an airport.
Implacable Man: Only when it comes to the local sumo wrestling tournament, of which he is the champion for seven consecutive years. He only lost this year because he forgot to wear mawashi (which is the sumo wrestling’s equivalent of fundoshi).
Jack of All Stats: Among the linemen, bordering on Master of All; he's arguably the most well-rounded lineman in the series. Ootawara may not be the strongest lineman, but he's still strong enough to at least match Kurita when he's desperate, tall enough to smack down Sena's Devil Bat Dive, much heavier than the tall but comparatively lightweight linemen of the Poseidons, and startlingly fast for a man his size. Really, his only drawback is his incredible stupidity.
Banba: Height plus weight plus speed and power... Kyoshin and Shinryuji didn't have anyone like Otawara. He's an absolute tank!
Lightning Bruiser: By the Fall Tournament he had developed a level of speed that is freaking ridiculous for someone his size. This lets him compete with the physically stronger Kurita. Of course, it took him a while to understand that.
Naked People Are Funny: Later on he goes from forgetting to wear pants, to parading around stark naked just because he can.
Nice Guy: In spite of how crude he can be, he's a nice guy at heart.
The Rival:
- To Kurita as strongest lineman before Gaou takes his role.
- Briefly also to Taki..because are both two idiots!.
Supporting Leader: Shin may be the team's ace, and Takami may call all the shots, but it's actually Otawara who's the team captain, which is why he leads them in their pre-battle ritual.
Otawara: We swear on the pride of the knighthood that we will be victorious. Thus we did not come to do battle with our opponent. We came to defeat them.
White Knights: GLORY ON THE KINGDOM!
Worthy Opponent: To Kurita, with the two being quite friendly off the field.

Ichiro Takami

Voiced by: Kenji Hamada

Ojo's quarterback, Takami is Hiruma's intellectual equal. He has a leg wound that keeps him from running fast, but he makes up for it with his height and the accuracy of his passes.

Position: Quarterback
Jersey: 3
40 yard dash: 6.0 seconds
Bench Press: 85 kg
Height: 192 cm (6'4")
3rd Year Student (Grade 12)

Awesome by Analysis: Is physically average, but has a sharp mind.
Bash Brothers: With Sakuraba, he waited for so long a player like him since with their height they can become aces instead of average players.
Beware the Nice Ones: He's a Nice Guy, but during a game he'll do anything to win. Even Hiruma deeply respects him for this.
Comically Serious: He once lost his cool because Ootawara said something that made sense. And also tried to stop Ikari to attack Onihei when he called Ootawara an idiot by shouting: You know it's true.
The Chessmaster: He's every bit Hiruma's intellectual equal.
Crippling Overspecialization: Justified. Unlike other quarterbacks that can run and dodge, Takami can only rely on his high passes and his intellect during plays (see Handicapped Badass below). Many thought this made him an inferior quarterback since scrambling is an important criterion of a modern football quarterback.
Determinator: He managed to become the regular quarterback despite his average skills and an old injury that prevented him from physically improving enough.
Good Counterpart: Is one to Hiruma and Marco.
Handicapped Badass: It's not that Takami lacks the talent to be a runner, he literally can't run thanks to a leg injury. Thus, he makes up for it in other ways.
Improbable Aiming Skills: He specializes in making accurate and reliable passes.
The Leader: A levelheaded mastermind leader for Ojo. Not actually the team captain, though, as he's not the charismatic sort.
No Celebrities Were Harmed: As a tall, efficient, and accurate QB who can't scramble to save his life, Takami may be based on Peyton Manning.
Not So Above It All: An omake revealed that he once suggested the White Knights draw pants on Ootawara to avoid more accidental arrests of the latter. It failed because no one wanted to draw on a naked Ootawara.
O.O.C. Is Serious Business: An angry Takami will make even socially inept Shin realize something is wrong, played for laughs when he goes dark Takami.
Picky Eater: During the Deimon-Ojou rematch, he and Hiruma are compared about in various things, including who’s the pickier eater. Takami won.
The Rival: To Hiruma. When the Devil Bats and the White Knights met in a restaurant they became the scariest table due to Hiruma trying to get info and Takami avoiding the subject in dark Takami mode.
Scary Shiny Glasses: When he's in "Dark Takami" mode.
The Smart Guy: To the White Knights.
Smart People Wear Glasses: Which become Scary Shiny Glasses whenever he's planning something.
Stoic Spectacles: He learned to hide his emotions really well while becoming a Chessmaster.
Straight Man: He shares this role with Sakuraba.
The Strategist: He's this for Ojo. He likes to use good and reliable plays rather than Hiruma's crazy schemes.
Weak, but Skilled: Not as much as Yukimitsu, but he's still not a very flashy player.
Worthy Opponent: To Hiruma. He's one of the few players Hiruma knows he can't easily fool.

Daigo Ikari

Voiced by: Eiji Takemoto (JP)

Also known as the notorious "prison chain", Ikari is a delinquent who tends to go completely berserk whenever anyone speaks badly of Ojo (or he thinks they did). He's so out of control, his teammates have to tie him up with chains to prevent him from attacking people.

Position: Defensive Lineman
Jersey: 66
Bench Press: 120 kg
1st Year Student (Grade 10)
Nickname: Prison Chain Ikari

Berserk Button: Insulting Ojo in any way. Whether or not he actually did.
Chained by Fashion: It's to restrain him from attacking people but given his nickname he seems to also wear them for fashion, the match against Deimon shows that he could have broken the chains at any point.
Delinquent: He probably doesn't want to be one, but his Hair-Trigger Temper constantly gets him into fights.
Dumb Muscle: Almost as dumb as Ootawara.
Hair-Trigger Temper: He instantly attacks whoever he believes is insulting his teammates.
Painting the Medium: His thought bubbles are arrows containing short phrases pointing towards his opponent du jour.
Patriotic Fervor: Is ridiculously loyal to Ojo.
Put on a Bus: He doesn't appear much after Deimon vs Teikoku match and doesn't join the test for Japanese All-Star for World Tournament arc.
Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs: His style as a linemen.
The Rival: He and Deimon lineman Juumonji develop into rivals over the course of their Kanto semifinals match. He also has a brief moment fighting Cerberus.
The Sixth Ranger: Ikari didn't join the White Knights until midway through the story. Even after that, he never got to play (he kept getting himself sent off for causing trouble) until the White Knights' very final game against Deimon, meaning after all the build-up he only played in one game.
Unnecessary Roughness: Even for this series it's outright ridiculous- his defensive style is simply punching the crap outta people, and he tried wailing on Sena because he did not hear the whistle after Sena went out of bounds.

Gunpei Shoji

Voiced by: Tetsuo Komura

The coach of the Ojo White Knights.

The Ace: During his years in university, he had been an ace player for his football team, along with Deimon's trainer Doburoku. Together, they were known at the Twin Japanese Blades.
Big Ol Eye Brows: He has big, spiky, white eyebrows.
Chick Magnet: In his youth, he was apparently also popular with women.
The Comically Serious: He looks like a stern coach but drop a Non Sequitur here and there such as saying Moe when he sees Sakuraba in maid outfit. He was friends with Doburoku for a reason.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Strict and firm as hell, but still fair.
My Greatest Failure: Being unable to land the final touchdown in his high school days due to lack of height. This is why he waited so long for tall players like Takami and Sakuraba.
Stern Teacher: His notes from students says that under all that strictness, you can find more strictness.
Training from Hell: He pushed his athletes to the limit and make them take trip all over the world to train themselves in especially harsh conditions. Given his bad experience from the death march he was not so engaged about it but Shin convinced him that they'll take it. Ojou's defense come from his intense training.
- Notably, he tried this during his attempt at the Death March in High School. He failed, as every other member of the team quit except for Doboroku, who was crippled instead.

Characters / Eyeshield 21 Ojo White Knights

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Characters / Eyeshield 21 Ojo White Knights

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