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Characters in the Gate novel series. All spoilers for Mai Tomita are unmarked.

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JSDF

Youji Itami

First Lieutenant Youji Itami

Voiced by: Jun'ichi Suwabe (Japanese), David Wald (English)

1st Lieutenant, Command of Third Recon Team in the Special Area. Despite being infamously known as an otaku and a slacker, he has a Ranger badge and was even posted in the Special Forces. He was a simple otaku in Japan, about to leave the JSDF as a 2nd Lt., but the Ginza Incident and his actions gave him a promotion to 1st Lt. and a deployment to the Special Area.

Above the Influence: To legendary levels. Despite having a very beautiful elf woman climbing into his bed completely naked for 10 solid nights, he never did anything inappropriate to her, not even in his sleep.
Abusive Parents: His father, that is. His mother was simply driven crazy by the whole family situation and is institutionalized after killing the bastard.
Accidental Marriage: To Lelei. While Itami has not been informed of this, Lelei's clan has a rule that "sleeping with" a man three nights in a row is a de-facto declaration of marriage. Since Itami and Lelei slept in the same bed for three nights, Lelei is convinced he's her husband, and has addressed him as such, when he's out of earshot. Lelei finally makes a formal announcement in episode 19, and Rory is decidedly not pleased.
Adaptational Badass: In the manga, when he punches out Zorzal, he clutches his hand and says that hurt. In the anime, he punches out Zorzal, then takes out a few of his guards without missing a beat.
Adoptive Peer Parent: Tuka comes to view him as her surrogate father, this despite of her being over 100 years older than him.
Amazon Chaser: Rory is his type "personality-wise", which implies that he prefers confident and battle-hungry girls who can jump into melee and win singlehandedly.
Amicable Exes: He is on good terms with his ex-wife Risa; good enough terms that he can stop by unannounced with guests.
Amusing Injuries: First, Rory gives him a black eye after the Battle of Italica, then he gets mauled by the Rose Order of Knights, then he got slapped by Bozes. All these scars stay on him for most of the arcs, and in the manga, all the way to the end of Volume 3 (about 10 chapters).
Badass Boast: Gives one to Zorzal during episode 24, after an unseen shot from a sniper lands in front of the prince.
"We can get to you wherever you are, and we will always be watching. I'll say this again, stop sending assassins after Lelei and hand over Princess Piña. Otherwise, the next bullet goes to your head."
Badass Bystander: The reason he became the "Hero of Ginza" is that he was trying to save Summer Comiket. He just happened to be present when a police officer was attacked by a monster and thus able to funnel the civilians to safety. Being an off-duty JSDF officer, it is safely justified.
Beware the Nice Ones: Overall, he's a pretty laid back, go with the flow, and carefree dude, but you'll see just how terrifying this man can be when he's pushed too far.
Birds of a Feather: He bonded over with both his ex-wife Risa and his Parental Substitute minister Kano over their mutual hobby.
Brilliant, but Lazy: If Itami really wanted to, he could easily be promoted by how skilled he is. He'd rather read doujin and play games though.
Butt-Monkey: Out of all the main characters, he's got it rough. Mostly lets himself be roughed up by various female characters because he is too much a gentleman to bring himself to hit or even retaliate in any way towards a girl.
Celibate Hero: Though not entirely by choice, Itami refuses romantic relationships with any of the members of his Battle Harem, despite them all having various levels of attraction to him. His reasons for doing so are fairly sound; one girl is only 15 years old (Lelei), one is an ax-crazy demigoddess with the body of a 13-year old (Rory), one of them (Tuka) sees him as a surrogate father despite being a century older than him, and the fourth (Yao) is an unwanted slave who coerced his aid through cruel and unsavory means. He did come close to accepting Rory's advances at the Sankai resort, but they were interrupted by a phone call and an enemy attack. When Piña officially throws her hat into the ring in volume 7, he wisely tries to keep his distance due to the major political issues involved.
Character Development: Our first look at Itami is that he's a hardcore slacker and an Otaku who is only doing his job to get money for his hobby, however as time passes, he begins to care more about his friends and the people of Japan.
Chest of Medals: Not medals, but after receiving commendations from groups ranging from the Minister of Defense to any villages damaged by the Flame Dragon, he ends up with hands full of these awards for his deeds.
Chick Magnet: Zigzagged. Girls from the other world typically view him as a powerful, heroic warrior. Japanese women, especially his female soldiers, mainly see him as an overpromoted dork.
Clueless Chick-Magnet: Has a young wizard, a demigoddess, an elf, a night elf, and a knight princess all pining for his affection; still has no clue as to each of their feelings and (in some cases) romantic advances.
Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Everyone will forever remember him as an Otaku and a slacker, but let's not forget that this guy got himself a Ranger badge and is in Special Forces.
Cunning Linguist: Downplayed. While he didn't master the language of the special region near as quickly as Lelei or Cato learned Japanese, he is responsible, in large part, for the publishing of the Alnus guidebook. Word for word, phrase for phrase, Itami, of all people, took careful, diligent notes in his journal for every new item brought up in conversation. This is most prevalent in the Light Novel when Itami and third recon gave warning, and evacuated Coda Village because of the Flame Dragon.
Curtains Match the Windows: Brown hair and eyes.
Cut Himself Shaving: Inverted, after the Battle of Italica and being "mishandled" by Princess Piña's knights, he returns to Alnus and when questioned says he was wounded in action. Yanagida sees through it though.
Dark and Troubled Past: His mother murdered his abusive father, then withdrew from reality, and ultimately tried to commit suicide by setting herself on fire. She's currently confined to a mental institution.
Deadpan Snarker: Probably unintentionally, given his very lax personality, but his response to the Diet on civilian casualties in the Special Area.
Kouhara Mizuki: How did they end up victim to this so-called dragon?
Itami: Well..It's because the dragon was strong.
Do-Anything Soldier: Unlike US or Russia, whch have so many Special Forces units as to have dedicated commands for them, Most Japanese SOFs are basically (at a minimum) one unit in the JSDF branches, that's actually pretty secretive and is being kept well-isolated from the rest of the JSDF for security reasons. This unit's officer should've realistically have no business commanding a generic recon platoon, though it's Hand Waved by the author with his commanding officers basically not liking him very much so they keep him in mundane roles.
The Dreaded: Mixed with Famed In-Story. He's so unassuming and amicable that people from the Special Area routinely mistake him for someone dramatically less capable, influential, and generally threatening. Even he seems unaware of just how influential he is, and 'Itami' rapidly became synonymous with the name of the Man in Green who will either make all your problems disappear or tear your world down around you. Even an Apostle is terrified of his perceived power after her two (immature) flame dragons are slaughtered by the JSDF forces right after Rory boasted of the power Itami wielded (which in turn was shortly after said Apostle had confirmed Itami's kill of a mature flame dragon).
Dude, Where's My Respect?: Basically the embodiment of this trope. Despite having a high enough rank to command a unit (along with being a member of the Rangers and the Special Forces), Itami still gets treated as an otaku by most of the cast, most prominently with Kuribayashi who calls him a dirty otaku and can't believe someone like him holds a Ranger tab.
Dude, Where's My Reward?: Yeah, sure he saved countless citizens in Ginza, but the Summer Comiket is still canceled so no doujin shopping for him.
- He gets a diamond bigger than his head for slaying the Fire Dragon, but since it's so big and so valuable, no one wants to buy it. So it's essentially a giant, shiny, useless rock for him.
- Truly epic and hilarious in episode 24. He goes to try to attend the Comkiet, again, only to be ambushed by Rory, Lelei, and Tuka, and when a crowd approached due to their popularity, he presumably gets arrested, with Risa crying out "what did you do this time?!". Perhaps he should have gone to Italica instead.
Itami: I just wanna buy doujinshi...
Elites Are More Glamorous: Averted. Itami is a trained Ranger and a Special Forces Group commando, but is a slouch.
Embarrassing Nickname: Tuka still calls him 'father', even after she recovered from her delusions.
Empowered Badass Normal: Itami enters into a contract with Rory prior to the assault on the Fire Dragon's lair: in return for claiming his soul for her own when he eventually dies, the contract makes him just a little bit harder to kill.^note This in turn becomes very handy, when said assault soon goes to hell in a handbasket...
Establishing Character Moment: The series opens with Itami playing a game on his phone while on his way to Summer Comiket. When the gate opens and an army from the other side begins attacking, he rushes to defend a bystander and easily wrestles down and kills an enemy soldier. These two incidents provide clear examples of both sides of Itami's character.
Famed In-Story: Dubbed "The Hero of Ginza" by the Japanese press for saving civilians during the attack, resulting in his promotion and assignment to the mission through the Gate. On the other side, he and the rest of the Third Recon Team become known as "The Men in Green" for saving an innocent village from a dragon.
A Father to His Men: To Third Recon Team, which is the reason why he would not enter the Elbe Kingdom to kill the flame dragon.
Forgiveness: Despite his treatment from the Rose-Order of Knights and the complete ability to report it as a breach in the Empire's agreement, he never intended to tell high command about it. Further he does not retaliate in any way against Yao for the fact that she traumatized Tuka, much to Yao's constant confusion.
Genre Savvy: Considering that Isekai is one of his favorite genres; when Rory gives some background on how the gods view the Special Region, he immediately wonders if the gods will continue to tolerate Japan's actions.
Good Is Not Dumb: In episode 21, even though he had no contact with the rest of the JSDF, he was very quick to realize something happened in the Imperial capital that The Empire did not want him to know about. He also set a very effective trap for three would be assassins. In the manga, however (due to it adapting the zombie side-story and inserting it into its rightful place chronologically), he is still in radio range when Zorzal's coup occurs and is informed of such and air-dropped a care package as he and his entourage leave for Rondel.
Good Is Not Nice: Volume 8 goes on to explain that during a training exercise for hostage rescue ops, he's the only agent to not "die" in the attempt. How? He took the "enemy commander" hostage, and started simulating taking off the commander's body parts until the "enemy army" surrendered and handed back the hostage. It becomes a case of "kicked upstairs" becoming a very effective punishment for him.
Good Is Not Soft: Itami is a Nice Guy, but as a soldier he understands he can't afford to be soft.
Hard Work Hardly Works: Subverted in that while he does have a reputation of a slacker, his qualifications are an undeniable proof that Itami does work hard and diligently to fulfill all the requirements to get them, and actually did that more ably an efficiently than most. He just doesn't see the point of going above and beyond of what is actually required of him (unless there's the reason), which leaves him with a bad rap in the workaholic and overachieving Japanese culture that sometimes values expended effort more than getting results.
Has a Type: According to Risa, Tuka is his type appearance-wise, Rory is his type personality-wise and Lelei is the one he most wants to protect. Itami says she scored a triple bullseye.
Intergenerational Friendship: With Defense Minister Kanou, as they've met and bonded when Itami was still a kid and Kanou wasn't even Itami's current age yet.
Loophole Abuse: Does this on a few occasions in order to help others or to achieve a greater good, such as taking all the female enemy combatants with them after the Battle of Italica to avoid them being subjected to being Sex Slaves by the victorious and understandably upset citizens of Italica. Or claiming that he's searching for resources when he goes off on his own to help Yao kill the fire dragon, which was also causing Tuka to suffer from the Five Stages of Grief due to said dragon killing her father when it attacked her village.
Magnetic Hero: As Yanagida notes, unlike most commanders in the JSDF (or the armed forces of a nation), Youji is the only one who can attract people to follow him rather than being assigned soldiers to. He even expresses envy at this. Later on, the Alnus Garrison even decides to help him slay the flame dragon he's after as well.
Marriage of Convenience: He was married to Risa in the past, but the marriage was a matter of convenience, rather than a romantic attraction (or at least that's how it started for her).
Meaningful Name:
- Namesake-wise, Itami, a town in Hyougo Prefecture, is home to the JSDF's Central Army headquarters.
- His surname is also a homonym of the Japanese word for "pain". He's the biggest Butt-Monkey in the series, and gets roughed up on regular occasions.
- His SF codename is "Avenger". He's exactly the same Lethal Joke Character the Avenger is in the visual novel.
Mistaken for Gay: People tend to assume Itami is gay when he gets friendly with other men.
Mistaken for Pedophile: Because Rory is very sexually aggressive towards him, yet looks and often acts like she's 13-years-old, many who aren't aware of her true age, and even a few that are, foist this reaction on Itami, with suitable consequences.
Nice Guy: Across from his otaku hobbies, many who know him in the JSDF force describe him as a laid back, kind, and selfless person. He's also quick to befriend anyone and does not discriminate against anyone in the Special Region.
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Hitting Prince Zorzal in the face and rescuing a Japanese slave during a peaceful talk with the Emperor. There goes the peace negotiations...
Obfuscating Stupidity: He calls himself an otaku first and foremost, always acts clueless and nonchalant of his immediate surroundings and claims has little interest in his job other than to provide funds for his hobbies. However, he is actually a quick-thinking, brave and natural leader who actually inspires confidence in his men; is a Ranger and a former Special Forces officer with many connections to important people on both sides of the gate; a considerate soul who cares for those serving under him and does the right thing regardless of the limitations set on him; and a confirmed badass when the need calls for it.
Oblivious to Love: The only way he can realize a girl is in love with him is by telling him. This is the reason why Risa divorced him; he didn't understand she wasn't with him only for his money anymore.
O.O.C. Is Serious Business: If he's not acting like a clumsy, lovable otaku, you know something very serious is happening.
Otaku: An Anime/Manga type. It leads to many Skewed Priorities during the course of the series.
Parental Substitute: Itami literally plays as Tuka's father to get her over her PTSD. Even after they were able to cure her of that, she decides to still call Itami "Dad" because she got used to it.
Professional Slacker: He adamantly admits this as his role in the JSDF, supporting himself using the "20% of ant workers are slackers" story. Many who knows him don't buy his repeated claims though.
Promotion, Not Punishment: After he goes after the Flame Dragon by himself. A strange example as both punishment and promotion occurs. When he returns to base, he gets a 2-week suspension, a month salary cut, and his leadership in Third Recon Team is revoked. Then General Hazama enters bearing awards from the many groups for his actions. In the end, Itami then becomes reassigned to be in charge of investigating resources in the special area, basically reattaching him back into recon duty.
Replacement Goldfish: Eventually, Tuka starts viewing him as a replacement for her deceased father, going as far as to call him "dad".
The Rival: Yanagida sees him as this, being somewhat butthurt at that Itami seems to come naturally to the things he has to fight for.
Royals Who Actually Do Something: Technically, after being named a noble by the Elbe Kingdom and a Patriarch by the Dark Elves.
Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: A mild version — Defense Minister (and possible future PM) Kanou is his old friend and father figure, having bonded with him over their mutual otaku hobbies, though this connection has become significant only recently.
Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Discussed. Yanagida blatantly accuses him of this and Itami makes it clear he wants to do the right thing.
Screw This, I'm Outta Here: He is noted to be this by the Colonel Ryuuzaki.
Colonel Ryuuzaki: Indeed, Itami is proficient at detecting danger before anyone else. In other words, he is good at running away.
- Though, in the whole series, he is only seen doing this thrice. First was when Yao pointed her sword at him because of a misunderstanding, then he tried after Lelei reveals that the flame dragon may be producing offspring at the moment they are about to attack it. The latest was against Giselle and her two flame dragon pets, which is a very justified move.
- Episode 19 has him try this as well, when he advises fleeing from the unknown assassin, "The Pied Piper." Considering how little they know about the assassin, his MO, and how vulnerable Lelei was at that point, it's a perfectly valid decision.
Skewed Priorities: Several times. Even more so in the anime, where he repeatedly claims that his hobby comes first than his job, despite said job to be protecting a nation.
- Dragons invading Ginza and killing people? The Summer Comiket will be ruined!
- Night Assault versus 300,000 Imperial soldier? I'm in the middle of a DVD here!
- Piña's coronation as Empress and a formal peace treaty between the Empire and Japan? I'm not missing Comiket this time!
Sleep Cute: Is an absolute master at this, especially when he winds up sleeping in the same room as Lelei, the human female teenage mage.
Stereotype Flip: Itami is an Otaku, however the only stereotype he holds on the "Otaku" status is the "slacker" part, he's in the military, he's a ranger, he's freaking Special Forces, and he was married!
Tranquil Fury: A rare occurence with his laidback personality, but the scene with Zorzal and Noriko is a perfect chance to observe Itami when he's well and truly pissed.
Itami: Tomita. Kuribayashi. (cocks his own gun) You may fire at you own discretion.
Unwanted Harem: Due to various circumstances beyond his control, he's stuck with Rory, Lelei, Tuka and now Yao, and eventually even Piña. Risa, his ex, is wildly amused by this, and she approves. (If for no other reason than it gives her inspiration for her Doujin creation process.)
We Do the Impossible: He manages to continuously succeed in whatever tasks he's given, whether its to establish contact with the Empire or to defeat a fire dragon tormenting various lands. This of course shocks and frustrates Kuribayashi to no end when she finds out he's not only a Ranger, but also Special Forces despite his very slack attitude while in uniform.
What Does She See in Him?: Inverted. Itami flat-out asks Rory why she (and the others of his harem) find him attractive. Rory goes through the checklist of physical traits and goes on to dismiss them as passing fancies, but then goes on to explain that Itami's soul is a very rare and priceless treasure for which she has been searching for far, far too long.
Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Itami's scared of heights.

Takeo Kurata

Sergeant Takeo Kurata

Voiced by: Kaito Ishikawa (Japanese), Tyler Galindo (English)

Sergeant, A member of Third Recon Team of the JSDF. An Otaku who likes nekomimis. He is in good terms with Itami and later with Persia from Clan Formal.

Ascended Extra: He has more screen time in the anime than the manga.
Audience Surrogate: His personality can be relatable to any typical manga otaku who found themselves in a magical fantasy world.
Car Fu: Following Piña's rescue, Kurata runs over any Empire soldier dumb enough to attempt to stop their vehicle on foot.
Defiled Forever: Played for humor in the anime after Itami "cuddled" with him to share his hobby.
The Driver: Mostly seen driving vehicles of Third Recon Team.
Interspecies Romance: Has it for Persia.
Otaku: Prefers Cat Girl people but gets extremely excited when they save Tuka because she's a elf.
Tears of Joy: Sheds them at Pina's coronation ceremony. Of course, Kuribayashi teases him about it.

Shino Kuribayashi

Sergeant First Class Shino Kuribayashi

^{Light novel Image}

Voiced by: Maaya Uchida (Japanese), Stephanie Wittels (English)

A member of Third Recon Team of the JSDF, one of the two female members in the team. She is noted for her veteran badge in hand-to-hand combat to excel against the soldier in the Special Area. Doesn't respect Itami as much as the others for his otaku status, which makes her distraught when she learns that Itami is a Ranger and in Special Forces.

Action Girl: She's a soldier so she's very much combat-capable.
Adaptational Attractiveness: If one compares her manga depiction to her anime one, she went from a muscular party girl to a petite, younger-looking one. Although her LN design is more attractive and closer to the anime one.
Amazonian Beauty: In the manga, she shows off really huge and muscular arms, and some of the boys like Itami and Kurata describe her as a muscle-head. She still has a few admirers and fanservice scenes.
Badass Normal: Compared to Rory, she fights nearly equal to her.
Bayonet Ya: Prefers to use a bayonet on her Type 64 rifle as her close-range weapon.
The Berserker: Has shades of this especially when she goes apeshit on the rogue brigands, Zorzal's entourage, and the not-so-charming Prince himself.
Best Her to Bed Her: Volume 8 reveals that she has dated before, but said "dates" inevitably involved going to a martial arts dojo for a "friendly spar" and any boyfriend who failed to beat, or at worst, match her was summarily dumped, on the spot.
Combat Pragmatist:
- When she finds herself locked in melee combat with a much larger, stronger, and skilled, shape-shifter assassin in volume 7, she wins the fight by throwing the damn thing out of the Chinook combat helicopter they're riding in, presumably to its death.
- She's also not afraid to switch to her rifle or pistol when in melee, and in her Back-to-Back Badasses moment with Rory she alternated from Bayonet to Rifle But to pistol to rifle and back several times, only pausing when her bayonet broke, and only stopping the fight when she was pulled out before the 4th Combat Team rained Death from Above.
Even the Girls Want Her: After the Battle of Italica, she has some admirers among the Formal Clan's maids.
Famed In-Story: After her epic beatdown of Zorzal, the Empire starts spreading rumors that she and other Japanese women are as strong as deities.
The Glorious War of Sisterly Rivalry: Has a much cuter (but not very bright) younger sister who works as a TV presenter — it is to her that Shino blurted a monkey wrench of a confession about foreign Special forces trying to kidnap Itami's "guests". They still don't exactly see eye-to-eye.
Hidden Buxom: Due to her military gear it's hard to see but she has a sizable bust.
Hopeless Suitor: Later in the novels, she falls in love with Akira Tomita and asks him to marry her, even though she knows he is in a relationship with Bozes. Even when he refuses, she stays by his side.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Shino may be blood-thirsty and hot-tempered, but she has shown herself to care for her comrades, show disgust at the empire's most deplorable actions, and eventually comes to respect Itami as a leader.
Lack of Empathy: When Itami got captured by the Rose Knights and was tortured back to Italica, she didn't look concerned in the least and even went on to say that since he's an otaku, getting captured by girls might be what he likes. Kurata even lampshades this.
Kurata: Did she really just say that? This cow tit muscle girl for brains?
Leeroy Jenkins: Pulls this off by meleeing the bandits in the Battle of Italica instead of staying undercover with her fellow soldiers.
Military Maverick: The worst offender. She commits several acts that would absolutely get her cashiered from any actual military and imprisoned for quite a while, including but not limited to: insubordination, assaulting a superior officer, pointing a gun at a superior officer, and assaulting a foreign member of government. Even assuming the authorities would overlook that last as a case of had it coming, the others absolutely would not be.
Named After Someone Famous: Shares her surname with Tadamichi Kuribayashi who was the commanding Japanese general of the Battle of Iwo Jima.
Out-of-Character Moment: When she learns that Itami is a Ranger, she freaks out. Then when she learns that Itami is also in Special Forces, she loses touch with reality and bawls.
Pint Sized Power House: She's the shortest compared to the rest of Third Recon, but is perhaps the most ferocious.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: Red oni to her sister, who is a Nervous Wreck in the anime while she herself fearlessly engages the enemy (in melee!).
Single Woman Seeks Good Man: At Sankai, a drunken Shino wants Itami to introduce her to some Special forces people so she could get married. In the episode 24 of the anime she's almost as much disturbed by the various Pair the Spares and Minion Shipping scenes as Shandy (who is extremely jealous).
Slasher Smile: Sports a very disturbing one at the mere thought of getting into hand-to-hand combat. Bonus points if she gets an opportunity to deliver another No-Holds-Barred Beatdown to Prince Zorzal.
Spanner in the Works: Played with. While the Japanese forces, or PSIA in this case, had already apprehended the major powers' agents, the fact that Shino blabbed in front of the reporters about the major powers' illegal operations to abduct some Special Area "guests" definitely gave them a political headache to deal with and forced them to abort their operations.
This Cannot Be!: She has a dramatic reaction after Itami is revealed to be both a Ranger AND a Special Forces (which were modeled after the Delta Force and the Green Berets of the US Military) member. Even in the next scene, she is shown weeping and muttering to herself.

Akira Tomita

Sergeant First Class Akira Tomita

Voiced by: Hiroki Yasumoto (Japanese), Ty Mahany (English)

A member of the Third Recon Team of the JSDF. He is a respectable member of the group. Is in a not-so-secret relationship with Bozes.

Big Guy: Probably the largest guy in the Third Recon.
Not So Above It All: Despite his best efforts, he bursts into laughter and joins the others in mocking Itami when he dons traditional Empire garb, saying he looks like a total dork.
One-Steve Limit: Averted, as he shares the given name with Lt. Yanagida.
The Stoic: Most of the time, he's the most calm and levelheaded of the team.
Straight Man: Especially during the trip in Japan, where he had to endure and moderate everyone's antics.

Mari Kurokawa

Sergeant First Class Mari Kurokawa

Voiced by: Satomi Akesaka (Japanese), Allison Sumrall (English)

A member of Third Recon Team of the JSDF, one of the two female members in the team. She is a medic in the team and is often seen aiding the wounded. Though mostly quiet, when she talks, she's known for her sharp tongue.

Ascended Extra: She's given a notably larger role in the anime.
Cool Big Sis: She gives this kind and soothing aura around the refugees. She is a medic, so it is a useful skill.
Even the Girls Want Her: Tuka has a crush on her.
The Medic: Mostly seen patching up wounds or tending to the unconscious.
Motherly Side Plait: The anime shows her with the universal symbol for "caring and maternal woman" by showing a loosely tied braid of hair over her shoulder.
Silly Rabbit, Idealism Is for Kids!: Has been on the receiving end of this multiple times, even from herself. Although it mostly comes from Itami of all people and is a contributing factor to her rather sharp jibes towards him.
Statuesque Stunner: In the novels and manga, she's 190cm tall, making her look very imposing compared to the other characters. In the anime, she's 175cm tall, but still towers over most of the other girls.

Souichirou Kuwahara

Sergeant Major Souichirou Kuwahara

Voiced by: Kanehira Yamamoto (Japanese), Josh Morrison (English)

Sergeant Major, A member of Third Recon Team of the JSDF. Considered the oldest among the squad members at 50 years old.

Drill Sergeant Nasty: Kurata states that he was this in an NCO course.
Number Two: Of Third Recon Team. When Itami steps down from his position as commander, he takes over.
Old Soldier: He isn't a Sergeant Major for nothing. Itami's nickname for him is "old man".

Hitoshi Furuta

Chief Private Hitoshi Furuta

Voiced by: Daiki Hamano (Japanese), Adam Gibbs (English)

A Private JSDF soldier. He's a very good cook.

Minion Shipping: With Tyuule of all people in the original web novel. Episode 24 implies this may have happened off-screen in the anime.
Morality Pet: Becomes this to Tyuule, of all people.
Refuge in Audacity: Tyuule and her "minion" completely write him off as a possible spy because he goes out of his way to get Zorzal's attention, and get close to him, especially concerning his exceptional cooking skills. He then goes right out and tells Tyuule to her face that he might be a spy so he can use her shocked reaction to plant a micro-transmitter, allowing the JSDF to hear her machinations.
The Mole: When he is assigned to work as a chef for the Empire, he uses his position to get information on various Imperial people.
Secret-Keeper: What first gains Tyuule's trust is the fact that he knows how to keep his mouth shut and doesn't go around repeating what she told him after a particularly anguished moment.
Supreme Chef: Used to work in a first-class Japanese restaurant. Even Zorzal has nothing but praise for his cooking.

Akira Yanagida

First Lieutenant Akira Yanagida

Voiced by: Koji Yusa (Japanese), Chris Patton (English)

A JSDF 1st Lieutenant intelligence officer deployed in the Special Area. Serves in a more political spectrum in the Special Area, claiming that the resources that can be found in the Special Area can help Japan reestablish its power on Earth. He's also flabbergasted on how someone like Itami can win the trust of the natives of the Special Region.

Adaptational Attractiveness: While his character design was changed very little from manga to anime (he's already quite handsome in the manga), what did change was his semi-permanent scowl, which gave way to the ironic half-smiles^noteSee the image above. — this alone gave a major boost to Yanagida's looks.
Aggressive Negotiations: When he learns that the King of Elbe is in Arnus, as a patient, and has him over a barrel, he doesn't hesitate to completely extort the good king, often threatening the latter's life in the process. What keeps him from being a Hate Sink is that he's grievously wounded protecting Noriko just in the next paragraph, mere moments later.
Armchair Military: He is Desk Jockey. What do you expect?
Deadpan Snarker: A walking can of sarcasm, usually aimed at Itami.
Desk Jockey: He handles the desk job.
Handicapped Badass: He eventually becomes wheelchair-bound, but proves fully capable of gunning down enemies.
Manipulative Bastard: Goads Yao after her plead for help from the JSDF was rejected to get Itami to help her go after the flame dragon.
No Smoking: Yanagida is an avid smoker in the manga, while in the anime he hasn't lit one cigarette yet.
Patriotic Fervor: Noted as being patriotic by Itami, and negotiates with the king of Elbe to mine underground resources (without specifying what they are to a pre-oil society).
Perpetual Frowner: In the manga, which fits well into his dour and sarcastic personality.
The Resenter: He hates the fact that he had to crawl and scrape his way up to get to his position, yet Itami coasts through life and finds success much more easily.
Unknown Rival: While he sees himself and Itami as rivals, it seems to fly completely over Itami's head.
Very Punchable Man: He is Jerkass who grins whenever he is in position of power or talking about/to Itami. Princess Piña even notes he acts more important than General Hazama.

Kouichirou Hazama

Lt. General Kouichirou Hazama

Voiced by: Hiroshi Yanaka (Japanese), John Gremillion (English)

The commander of the JSDF forces in the Special Area.

Armchair Military: After the establishment of Alnus hill, he is always seen on the base handling politics and negotiations.
Reasonable Authority Figure: Is often exasperated at his subordinates' antics, but nevertheless tries to do right by them.

Earth

President Dirrel

Voiced by: Mitsuaki Hoshino (Japanese)

President of the United States. Views the Special Area as a frontier of untouched resources, untapped environment, and a gene pool of fantasy creatures.

Blackmail: Tries to push the Japanese PM around with a mound of incriminating documents about the corruption in his cabinet, threatening to use them to force its dissolution. The PM gives him a vague answer and just resigns next day, making the whole charade moot.
Break the Haughty: Breaks into hysterics when he learns that the kidnapping gambit failed and his blackmail didn't work.
— Damn Japs!!!
Eagleland: A definite Type 2.
Graceful Loser: Averted. It really says something about the author when the American president is the only one of the three world leaders 'not' to be gracious in defeat after the kidnapping plan fails.
Smug Snake: Acts all haughty and presumptuous around the whole issue, assuming the Japanese to be no more than pawns.
Strawman Political: Unsurprisingly, given the author's right-wing political leanings.
Trumplica: Bears an unmistakable resemblance to Donald Trump in the anime. Interestingly, the anime was made before Trump became president.
Villainous Breakdown: Gets into one after Kuribayashi tells to the press innocently that U.S., Russia, and China are targeting the Special Area's "guests"

President Tou Tokushou

Voiced by: Naomi Kusumi (Japanese)

President of China. Views the Special Area as a solutions for all of China's problems with population control and resources.

Graceful Loser: When the kidnapping plan gets outed by Kuribayashi he just calmly orders to withdraw the remaining agents from Japan.
Spell My Name With An S: See Why Mao Changed His Name.
Strawman Political: His ideas about resettlement of half of the Chinese population to the Special Region correspond more to the Japanese Right's image of what Chinese politics are, rather than to the real thing.
Why Mao Changed His Name: His name is actually the same in both manga/light novels and the anime, 董德愁, though the manga and its translations use the Japanese reading, seen in the caption, while the anime uses the Mandarin pronunciation, which would be Dong Dechou.

Russian Leader

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

The leader of Russia. No name given at the moment. He wants to simply get rid of the Gate so it wouldn't harm Russian economy.

Graceful Loser: When the Russian special forces failed their mission to retrieve the Special Area's "guests", he simply says that Japanese are pretty good while taking a shot.
No Celebrities Were Harmed: In the mange, he looks very much like a younger Vladimir Putin.
No Name Given: Remains nameless throughout the story.
Only Sane Man: Sees his country's stance (to blow up the Gate and be done with it) as this, which is selfish and confrontational from the Japanese point of view, but is actually entirely reasonable from the Russian one.
Strawman Political: Ironically, the least among the Great Powers' leaders: he might be stereotypical and somewhat antagonistic, but so far doesn't display the prejudices that characterise the other leaders.
Villain Respect: After the Japanese government was able to repel the Russian special forces. He just says that they are "not bad".

Risa Aoi

Voiced by: Yoshino Nanjo (Japanese), Chelsea Ryan Mc Curdy (English)

An Otaku in Japan and Itami's ex-wife. She specializes in drawing Yaoi doujins.

Adaptational Attractiveness: Her introduction scene in the anime has her quite cleaned up rather than the insomniac eye-bagged girl from the manga.
Amicable Exes: After breaking up with Itami, she admits that their relationship has actually gotten better than before.
Back for the Finale: In the final episode of the anime, she shows up at Comiket just in time to see Itami and the girls being escorted away by the police.
Birds of a Feather: She and Itami became close because they are both big Otakus.
Exhausted Eyebags: Shows these in the manga from lack of sleep.
Forgot to Pay the Bill: She couldn't pay her cell phone, gas, and is struggling with water, internet, and electric bills.
Gold Digger: She admits she didn't marry Itami because she was in love with him, but because he had a well paid job and could support her. Ever since they got a divorce, she has had to face serious money problems and can barely survive on her own. Ironically, she admits falling in love with Itami after getting a divorce from him.
The Insomniac: First page introducing her shows her drawing her doujinshi all night.
Marriage of Convenience: She outright admits that the only reason they got married was because it just worked out for them due to similar interest and being friends since junior high.
It Meant Something to Me: For Itami, their marriage was always a matter of convenience and he never came to see anything more to it. Risa, on the other hand, admits she did develop feelings for Itami and she divorced him because he couldn't understand how she felt about him.
Otaku: Draws doujins for a living. Specializes in yaoi arts.
Shipper on Deck: Almost to Harem Seeker levels. She not only approves of Itami's Unwanted Harem, she actively celebrates it. Although she's not often in the spotlight, upon every appearance, she's actively doing her best to make sure the girls get closer to Itami. In fact, she was thrilled when introduced to Yao, much to Yao's confusion.
Starving Artist: Limits herself to a diet of soy milk and cereal because of money problems.
Yaoi Fangirl: Specializes in the Yaoi arts and is an enabler in Piña and Bozes' new hobby.

Nanami Kuribayashi

Voiced by: Yurika Kubo (Japanese)

Shino Kuribayashi's sister. She works as a reporter on a news station.

Adaptation Personality Change: In the manga, she's just your average rookie reporter with some down on luck experience in her job. In the anime, she's an absoulute Nervous Wreck who is on the verge of tears most of the time.
Fanservice: This seems to be the main reason why people watch her show in the manga.
The Glorious War of Sisterly Rivalry: A pretty mild example, but Nanami is definitely a Beautiful Sister to Shino's Smart one.
Intrepid Reporter: In the Light Novel, she is sent to the Special Region on a press tour and travels with Itami's group for awhile. When her superiors at the network and the Japanese government suppress her reports, she conspires with Noriko to leak information to the public about the destabilizing effect the Gate is having on both worlds.
Nervous Wreck: She really falls apart in the anime.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: Blue oni to her sister, who is a Tomboy.
Spanner in the Works: When her own news agency tries to suppress the good works of the JSDF and squash her big scoop regarding the rescue of the Ginza captives, as well as the Apocrypha, she goes to Noriko...
Tomboy and Girly Girl: See above, Nanami is an absolutely unambiguous girly girl.

Shigenori Hojo

Voiced by: Yosuke Akimoto (Japanese)

Ex-Prime Minister of Japan when the Gate incident happened.

Motoi Shinzo

Voiced by: Shoto Kashii (Japanese) James Belcher (English)

Ex-Prime Minister of Japan that succeeded Hojo but soon resigned.

Prime Minister Morita

Voiced by:

The Prime Minister of Japan who took power after Motoi Shinzo resigned.

Catchphrase: Tends to say "I know, I know" when he makes a mistake.
Slave to PR: He only agreed to dispatch the JSDF after he's persuaded of the danger posed by Imperial troops towards their embassy. The reason he hesitated is he didn't want criticism over the JSDF's presence in Alnus to be seen as weak.

Tarou Kanou

Minister Tarou Kanou

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

Voiced by: Tetsuo Kanou (Japanese), Steven Finley (English)

Japan's Minister of Defense. He is one of Itami's oldest colleagues and goes by the name "King Taro" on Itami's contacts.

Intergenerational Friendship: Some fifteen to twenty years older than Itami.
Otaku: Anime/Manga type. It is over their mutual hobby he got connected with Itami. He expresses regret that because of his position, he can't just go to a bookstore whenever he wants to.
Parental Substitute: As a much older friend of a troubled kid, he was this to Youji during the toughest period of his life.
Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: When Zorzal's Secret Police starts closing in on the Jade Palace, which holds the Japanese ambassadors in the Empire, he continually pushes for a JSDF interference to protect them despite Morita's refusal, and finally gets it after declaring he'll take all responsibility for anything that happens out of it.
So Proud of You: To Itami on how he developed into a great soldier. This is before he found out that he's actually a Professional Slacker.

Kouji Sugawara

Minister Kouji Sugawara

Voiced by: Kazuyuki Okitsu (Japanese), Jay Hickman (English)

Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs official. Sent to the Special Area as a representative of Japan to coordinate peace talks with the Empire.

Ambadassador: Just see the scene with the Emperor where he delivers his Badass Boast.
"Ass" in Ambassador: Thoroughly averted, as Sugawara is an exceptionally nice and polite man, but don't you ever assume that Good Is Soft in his case. You might get up next day to see your Senate building bombed into rubble just to make a point.
- Then subverted in Episode 20. When Sherry comes seek aid from Suguwara to have her and Marquess Casel granted diplomatic immunity, but rejects them under order to not let in any Imperials as refugees. He changes his mind once Zorzal's Secret Police came to take Sherry away, coming to her aid and even flat out admitting the reason is because she was to be his wife and saves her.
Badass Boast: He warns the Emperor that he doesn't believe in his gods, but the Emperor had better pray to them that all the Japanese citizens the Empire enslaved are safe.
The Chessmaster: Don't let his pleasant disposition fool you, the man is sharp. He might be embarrassed by Sherry's crush on him, for example, but it doesn't mean that he won't exploit it to improve his connections at the court — nothing inappropriate, of course.
Good Is Not Soft: Sugawara before learning of Japanese slaves and Sugawara after are basically two different men.
Got Me Doing It: At one point, he asks Sherry if she is really 500 years old, then complains that Itami's otaku nonsense is rubbing off on him.
Mistaken for Pedophile: Everyone glares at him when the little girl Sherry Thierry reveals she's in love with him, and he desperately tries to explain he has done nothing inappropriate.
Sherry: The love between Sugawara-sama and Sherry is eternal!
Sugawara: We're going to obey the law, okay?
Overranked Soldier: From the diplomatic point of view. Say what you want, but in Japan a man in his early thirties has nowhere near the seniority necessary to be sent as a plenipotentiary to a foreign power. It was obviously done as an exception, because everyone is still confused as hell about the whole situation, and they probably wanted to escape embarrassment to the more senior members of the diplomatic corps is the things go pear-shaped. This is probably done because no one who's powerful enough to have say in the matter would want to be a diplomat to the Special Region due to it being the violent enough place that had the Ginza incident with no political security to ensure their safety.
Reasonable Authority Figure: Initially put up with Japan's demands of 500 million Suwani (as much as Japan's National Budget) from the Empire as reparations, but realizing that the price would not only destroy the Empire's economy, but can also destabilize the Earth's, he changed the reparations to "open to negotiations".
Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: He defies the orders of the Minister of Defense to save Sherry from Zorzal's goons. Fortunately, the Rose Knights follow his lead. Of course, this might've been what his superiors wanted all along, given the Vice-Minister's rather obvious body language.
Shut Up, Hannibal!: Emperor Malto makes the mistake of commenting Japan's Virtue Is Weakness outlook on their own people and that they'd better be careful as it will destroy them. Sugawara was not impressed by the implied threat and tells them not just their country, but their world was built on a history of bloodshed far longer than the Empire's and that they're out of their depth. To top it off, the JSDF bomb their senate building to prove a point to not even think of trying anything.
Tranquil Fury: When they learn that Japanese citizens were taken as slaves, he doesn't raise his voice, but his expression as he confronts the Emperor and Piña about it speaks volumes.

Mizuki Kouhara

Senator Mizuki Kouhara

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mizuki_kohara_0.png

Voiced by: Yukana (Japanese)

A Japanese DIET Senator. She takes every opportunity she gets to castigate the JSDF for its actions.

Adaptational Attractiveness: Her anime version looks younger and more attractive than her manga version.
Obstructive Bureaucrat: She grills Itami and the special area girls about the civilian casualties suffered during the fire dragon attack. She seems intent on trying to use Itami's actions as an excuse to paint the JSDF in a bad light. Unfortunately for her, the girls only speak highly of what Itami and the JSDF did in attempting to minimize the losses. Rory in particular ends up shaming the politician once she figures out what the latter was attempting to do.
Sleazy Politician: She's an opportunist who tries to get Itami and Rory to badmouth the JDF to further her political career.
Wrong Genre Savvy: She sees Rory's young looks and dark clothes with veil and assumes she's a child in mourning and picks her as easy prey for her criticism of the JSDF. Turns out she picked on a very old demigod whose clothes are actually the priestly attire for their worlds' God of the Dead whom she serves, and that Rory proceeds to shut Mizukis' accusations down hard.

Hideyo Komakado

Voiced by: Takuya Kirimoto (Japanese)

A Japanese PSIA (Public Security Intelligence Agency) agent assigned to protect Itami and co. when they return from the Special Area.

*Crack!* "Oh, My Back!": Had this trying to pick up Rory's halberd. Disables him as a bodyguard for the rest of Itami's trip.
The Men in Black: Wears black and is a covert Japanese Agent.
Not So Stoic: When he reveals Itami's also in the Special Forces, Shino (who already had trouble with Itami being a Ranger) runs away crying. Komakado breaks down laughing.

Noriko Mochizuki

Voiced by: Hibiku Yamamura (Japanese), Katelyn Barr (English)

A Japanese citizen kidnapped by the Empire's scouts some time prior to the Ginza incident and subsequently enslaved. She is rescued by Itami and his team during a peace negotiation with the Empire. Her discovery spawned a tense confrontation between Japan and the Empire that demands the return of all Japanese slaves.

Adaptational Modesty: In the manga, she was introduced completely naked except for her chains and collar. In the anime, she is given rags.
Death Seeker: She becomes this when she discovers her family is most likely dead after the Ginza Incident, as they had been putting up papers regarding her disappearance on the day of the incident. When Delilah comes to kill her, she makes no effort to flee or defend herself, only asking that she makes it quick and painless.
Intrepid Reporter: She is shown to be the one managing media relations in episode 21. Unfortunately, the leader of Japan's own reporting agencies who is talking with Noriko is seemingly a sleazy tabloid paparazzi purely out to make a scandal solely for the sake of selling papers, the facts be damned.
Made a Slave: A Sex Slave to be specific.
No Smoking: In the manga, the scene when she finds out her family is dead after the Ginza Incident has her smoking a cigarette. This is exempt in the anime.
Social Media Before Reason: She witnesses this in episode 21. Granted, the guy taking photos is a reporter, but he was far more interested in taking photos of the JSDF "wasting tax payer money" than he was in the fact that they were sitting, at attention, and ready to mobilize at a moment's notice.
Trauma Conga Line: Kidnapped from Tokyo alongside her boyfriend Hiroki. Made a sex slave by Prince Zorzal and subjected to 6 months of rape and beatings. Then, after her rescue by the Third Recon Team, she's told that her parents were killed handing out missing-person fliers in Ginza during the attack, and her apartment burned down in her absence. And she hasn't even found out that Hiroki died in captivity.

Special Area Locals

Tuka Luna Marceau

Voiced by: Hisako Kanemoto (Japanese), Juliet Simmons (English)

An elf living in the Special Area. She was found by Third Recon Team after her village in the forest was razed by a flame dragon and remains as the only survivor of the attack. As an elf, she shows magic and archery ability during battle.

Adaptational Sexuality: In the anime adaptation Tuka’s attraction to women isn’t at all discussed with only a single passing mention of a possible interest in Mari Kurokawa.
Angry Cheek Puff: She has been known to puff out her cheeks in irritation at Itami, particularly when he's paying attention to one of the other girls.
Bitch Slap: She delivers a slap to her father during one of the Gaiden novels when she finds him alive and well, after having went through hell just going through the Five Stages of Grief in order to accept his supposed death, and because he had fathered a child with another woman, making that child her biological half-sibling.
Break the Cutie: Her refusal to accept that her father is dead leads to this and got progressively worse until she personally vanquished the killer.
Cannot Spit It Out: In addition to her attraction to Itami, she has a crush on Mari Kurokawa, but all she can do is blush in her presence.
Child Supplants Parent: One has to wonder just what her relationship with her father was, as the manga clearly illustrates her getting completely naked, and then immediately climbing into Itami's bed when she, during her mental illness, confused him with her father. Even after essentially becoming his adopted daughter, for all intents and purposes, Itami's the only guy she's attracted to. Many cultures really frown on the last part.
Clingy Sleepers: During her PTSD based delusion that Itami was her father, she would strip down and climb into his bed while he was sleeping.
Daddy's Girl: She was very close to her father. His death shocked her so much that she refuses to accept it.
Five Stages of Grief: When she first arrives at the JSDF base on Alnus Hill, Kurokawa tells Itami that Tuka always requests enough food for two people, as well as additional clothing for a man, but never touches the second meal, nor do the clothes get used. While Itami jokes that she might have an imaginary boyfriend, it should be obvious Tuka hasn't accepted her father's death just yet. Yao attempts to force her to face the truth, causing her to think that Itami is her father for a short while.
Friendly Enemy: Towards Yao. As a whole, the relationship between their two races is quite poor. Yao's "stunt" against her only served to make this worse. Still, thanks to Itami, the two of them get along so well, it surprises everyone who makes note of it, including themselves.
Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: A nice and sweet girl with blonde hair.
Heroic BSoD: When coming face to face with the flame dragon who killed her father.
If It's You, It's Okay: Tuka felt she was a lesbian; that is, until she met Itami.
Immortal Immaturity: Since the lifespan of her race is much longer than that of a human, Tuka's personality is that of a teenage girl despite being 165 years old.
I Owe You My Life: She feels grateful and indebted to Itami for saving her life after the flame dragon destroyed her village.
Older Than She Looks: She is 165 years old, but looks (and behaves) like a teenage girl.
Our Elves Are Different: She is a high elf that is superior to usual elves. As such, Tuka has almost endless youth and lifespan.
Parental Substitute: An enforced, messed up variant as Yao put a spell on her which makes her think Itami is her late father. However, after she and the others have slain the fire dragon that killed her father, she still calls Itami "Father" since she got used to it.
Pointy Ears: She has pointy elfish ears.
Really 700 Years Old: Being an elf, Tuka is over a century old despite her appearance.
Sleeps in the Nude: During her PTSD-based delusion of Itami being her father, she slept naked in his bed. Why she feels like sleeping nude with her "father" is okay is never explored, be it a bizarre elvish custom, or something more Squick-ey, we're never told.
Sole Survivor: The only survivor that the Third Recon Team finds in a village that was burned to the ground, and only because she was tossed into the town's well.
Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: For all practical purposes she's a teenager. She hallucinates that Itami is her father. Why is she naked and sharing a bed with him!?

Lelei La Lalena

Voiced by: Nao Tōyama (Japanese), Brittney Karbowski (English)

A 15-year-old human sorceress in the Special Area, the second disciple of Cato the Elder Sage. She quickly learns Japanese from the JSDF and serves as a translator for communications between the JSDF and the Empire in negotiations.

Abduction Is Love: When Lelei realizes she may have to use her magic to close the Gate in order to save both worlds from destruction, she promises the other girls in Itami's party that she'll make sure he stays with them on the Special Region side...even if she has to lock him up to do it, and asks them to help her when the time comes.
Accidental Marriage: To Itami, according to the customs of her people, due to sleeping in the same room for three consecutive nights. Though, Lelei being Lelei, it might not be "accidental" on her part.
Adaptation Dye-Job: She's noted in text as having platinum blond hair, something that is reflected in the artwork for the published full-length novels and the manga. The light novel version's illustration depict her with cyan hair, something that is carried over into the anime.
Affectionate Gesture to the Head: Itami pats her on the head for luck before her presentation, and she really likes it. So much so, that she gets a Luminescent Blush, and it's absolutely adorable.
Alliterative Name: Lelei La Lelena.
Awesomeness by Analysis: She figured out most, if not all, of the way modern weapons work (particularly guns) by examining the corpses of the wyverns shot down by the JSDF, she boosted the power of her magic by studying modern physics and chemistry books, and most importantly, figured out how to rail-gun the many, many swords found in the dragon's nest, turning the dragon into a pincushion (which Tuka then effectively microwaved by striking with magical lightning) simply by seeing Itami place swords on caches of C-4 to use as shrapnel. Good thing she's Itami's ally.
Badass Adorable: She's Moe and a powerful mage.
Black Mage: By the end of the anime, she can fight and defeat giant dragons and ogres using only her magic.
Boxing Lessons for Superman: Reading up on modern physics and chemistry has dramatically increased her efficiency as a mage.
Breast Expansion: After Hardy's "little prank" using her body, and using it to eat eight people's worth of food, Rory notices that her chest is substantially bigger, because Lelei had to stop and repair a hole in the armor.
Character Narrator: In the anime, Lelei acts as the narrator for the story.
Cunning Linguist: One of the first Special Area locals to understand Japanese. She acts as a translator for most conversations between Japan and the Special Area locals.
Curtains Match the Window: Blue hair and eyes.
Demonic Possession: Hardy, not being being satisfied with her willing priestesses, immediately goes and possesses Lelei without her consent.
The Dragonslayer: She earns a reputation in the imperial capital courtesy of the emperor's favor as the only imperial citizen involved in the killing of the fire dragon. There are even rumors that she was the one who dealt the killing blow to said dragon. Of course, she's a nomad, not an imperial citizen, so she's puzzled as to why the glory of being the one who killed the dragon goes to her and not to Itami, who was the real guy responsible for it. And she has the misfortune of being targeted by Zorzal.
The Driver: As noted in episode 18, she is the best of Itami's students when it comes to learning how to drive. In fact, she acts exactly like a normal teenager would when placed behind the wheel as a student. What's more, the light novel specifies that she greatly enjoys driving and the manga shows her doing so a few times. The only reason she doesn't qualify for a license is due to her age. Volume 7 goes on to reveal that she has experience operating construction equipment, like bulldozers, and if given a chance, would happily operate flying vehicles as well. Due to extremely harsh and strict military regulations that even Itami can't bend, she has to settle on watching pilots in action, and mechanics performing maintenance and repairs to slake her curiosity.
Embarrassing Nickname: The Grand Master of the Lindon School calls her Lily.
Flying Broomstick: Deconstructed. Unlike in the anime where Lelei flies by using her staff like a flying broomstick, in the light novel, she specifically points out the problems in riding a broom to Itami and the JSDF.
Get a Hold of Yourself, Woman!: In the Flame Dragon arc, she snaps Tuka out of her Heroic BSoD by talking to her.
The Glorious War of Sisterly Rivalry: Her relationship with her stepsister is apparently less than smooth, in no small part due to her being the smarter one of the pair, which makes Arpeggio green with envy.
Insistent Terminology: Lelei is a Rurudo nomad, not an Imperial citizen, and she wants no part in the Empire's clusterfuckery. This proves to be a problem when Zorzal has her on his "shit list".
Intrigued by Humanity: She's fascinated by Earth's humans and their culture.
Living MacGuffin: There are various parties in the Special Region that want to remove the "living" part for various reasons.
Not So Stoic: Although her expression doesn't change, she attacks her master with magic when he pisses her off. And then she goes all Blood Knight on the Fire Dragon.
Only Sane Woman: She is the most mature and level-headed of all the girls in Itami's Unwanted Harem.
O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
- Against the flame dragon, she suddenly becomes Cute and Psycho, complete with a Slasher Smile.
- When the group meets her stepsister Arpeggio, she breaks out in cold sweat, something that Itami noted.
Power Makes Your Hair Grow: As an aftereffect of being possessed by Hardy, her hair grows long enough to reach her waist.
Precocious Crush: She's 15 years old and she's crushing on a man who is twice her age.
Propaganda Hero: Zorzal tries to make her into one after the fire dragon was slain as she is the only Special Region human who participated in it, despite her insistence that she's a nomad and not an Imperial subject.
Reality Warper: A very small, and highly restricted version. Her "magic" involves deliberately crafting pockets of artificial reality and letting them react with the "true" reality to create the desired effect. Reading up on modern physics and chemistry has made the process far more efficient, and deadly, but using magic still drains her stamina. Volume 7 reveals that "magic" in the Special Region comes from the knowledge of how to manipulate extra-dimensional physics. Lelei even reveals several names for these extra dimensions.
Rei Ayanami Expy: Short blue hair, very stoic and serious personality and a young magician. Even her name sounds similar to Rei.
Rules Lawyer: After Lelei reveals the Three Night Lesson to the group and how it affects her and Itami's relationship, Tuka argues that as she has more right because she slept near Itami at least ten times; Lelei immediately counters that Tuka's mental impairment invalidates her claim.
She Knows Too Much: Hardy catches on to her scientifically-enhanced magical capabilities and warns her that she will pull this trope on her via death by Apostle if Lelei continues to demonstrate these capabilities or tries to pass on her knowledge to others.
Shy Blue-Haired Girl: A serious and reserved blue-haired girl.
Sleep Cute: She's very adept at this, especially when Itami's in the same room.
The Smart Girl: Unquestionably the smartest character among the whole cast.
The Stoic: The expression on her face rarely changes.
Storm of Blades: She levitated all the swords in the fire dragon's nest and using her magic, turned the fire dragon into a pincushion.
Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Underneath her stoic and reserved exterior, she's a nice girl.
Surpassed the Teacher: After she improves her spells by incorporating her new knowledge of physics and chemistry, Cato admits she has exceeded him, which is not noted to be easy.
Teen Genius: An exceptional mage at 15 years old, she's also able to pick up a foreign language through immersion alone, and is able to use and combine her magic together with additional knowledge of modern science and chemistry, allowing her to be considered as a master at such a young age
Tranquil Fury: While battling the Fire Dragon during the second encounter, she seems surprisingly calm compared to the other characters, especially Tuka who turns into The Load during much of the encounter. However, she does show some slight anger when using a Storm of Blades attack on it to avenge all the villagers it killed during its first attack.
Undying Loyalty: She takes her marriage to Itami very seriously. She confesses to Tuka, Rory, and Yao that she has dedicated her life to him and is more than willing to die if need be.
Wise Beyond Her Years: Despite being only 15 years old, Lelei acts as if she's actually been around for thousands of years. This is a sharp contrast to the Immortal Immaturity of Rory who looks and acts like a 13-year-old despite being 961, and Tuka who is 165, but acts like she's 16.

Rory Mercury

Voiced by: Risa Taneda (Japanese), Molly Searcy (English)

A demigod and an apostle for the god Emroy, god of war and death, in the Special Area. She has god-like traits such as super-strength and rapid regeneration.

Absurd Phobia: She's afraid of travelling in metro or anything related to the underground because Hardy, the goddess of the underworld, once tried to force her to marry her and is still trying to do so.
A-Cup Angst: While she doesn’t usually bring it up, her small breasts are a sore spot for her. When she was told about plastic surgery to augment one’s breast size, she is found carving out her own breast implants out of slimes.
The Alcoholic: She drinks the most of the whole cast (except maybe Myuute, who's her usual drinking buddy).
Badass Adorable: Despite her cute appearance, petite frame and frilly Elegant Gothic Lolita style outfit, she's known as "Rory the Reaper" for her deadliness with her giant halberd.
Badass Teacher: There are two notable examples. In the manga, it is revealed that she has rank among the JSDF and is Myuute's direct superior, as well as training her in being an MP at Alnus, not to mention getting her the job. In the anime, episode 19 reveals that she's a teacher in good standing at Rondel, the magic city, and being one of her students is a rare privilege afforded to a very rare few.
BFS: Has a giant Halberd that cleaves right through people.
Blood Knight: As an apostle for a god of death, she kills for a living.
Blood Lust: She loves the scent of blood and really enjoys spilling the blood of her opponents.
Clingy Jealous Girl: She doesn't like to see Itami getting too friendly with other girls.
Complete Immortality: As an apostle of Emroy, she is granted immortality. As well as immunity to aging, she can recover from any wound and will remain alive even if torn to pieces.
Cute and Psycho: Mild version, relatively. She's very bloodthirsty but fairly kind and reasonable to people she doesn't try to kill. Broadly speaking she's seen as a force of good for the common people.
Cutting Through Energy: The anime has her slice through the Flame Dragon's flames with her halberd.
Dark Action Girl: She's brutal and bloodthirsty, dresses in dark clothes and will wreck the battlefield given the chance.
Dark Is Not Evil: She is an Apostle of the god of Death, is bloodthirsty, dresses in dark clothing and wields a giant axe. However, children and ordinary citizens genuinely praise her and are happy to see her.
Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: The light novel has her swat the fire dragon with her halberd. The Dark Elves who witness it all have that reaction. They equate it to an ant delivering an uppercut to an elephant. The anime trumps even that. Her swat sends the dragon through a mountain!
The Driver: Subverted. Although Itami did try to teach her to drive, at her request, she's absolutely horrendous at it. So horrendous, that she nearly ran over just about everybody at Arnus at one point or another, and Itami's superiors, not to mention the chain of command as a whole, have absolutely forbidden her from operating a vehicle.
Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: She's an apostle for the god of death so looking eerie or death-like is certainly appropriate.
Elegant Gothic Lolita: She wears a black frilly gothic dress. Itami even refers to her as the "Gothic lolita". It turns out this is the formal wear of Emroy's disciples.
Empathic Healer: She forms a bond with Youji prior to fighting the Fire Dragon for the second time. This helps a lot as he takes a beating during the fight. When they leave the cave, she is badly beaten, and suffering some Clothing Damage as well due to the damage Youji sustained being transferred to her instead.
Face Death with Dignity: As an apostle for Emroy, she dislikes people who don't follow this trope since it's going to happen to them no matter what eventually.
Fantastic Arousal: During the Battle of Italica, Rory experienced a great deal of arousal as the two sides killed each other (and so did the 3rd Recon group). Lelei explained that her body was serving as a proxy for the battle's dead to reach Emroy, which she experienced as an aphrodisiac.
Fille Fatale: In spite of her true age, she looks like a 13 year old, which is why her attempts to flirt with Itami disturb him so much.
Friend to All Children: Her introduction of slaughtering bandits makes her look scary or even villainous but when the refugee children happily greet her on the road, it cues the audience that she's not an Ax-Crazy killer.
Gender-Blender Name: While "Rory" is a guy's name of Gaelic origin, in this context it is a pun on the Japanese word Loli, which refers to Lolita, Lolita fashion and so on.
Girl with Psycho Weapon: She's a 5-foot nothing demigoddess who wields a giant halberd and is very eager to use it.
Healing Factor: Rory's body regenerates any wound it receives. Even if her body is torn apart, the body parts will heal if they are stuck together. Though if the pieces of her body are separated by long distances, she can be effectively neutralized.
Hime Cut: She has the proper hairstyle and it goes with her Gothic lolita attire in addition to being fairly kind and reasonable but she's a little too psycho and clingy to fully fit the trope.
Immortal Immaturity: Though she can act mature when she has to, she often acts like a child while being over 900 years old.
In a Single Bound: She can easily jump up or down a building.
Kicking Ass in All Her Finery: Her customary clothing as an apostle of Emroy is a black Elegant Gothic Lolita dress with red frills, black stockings supported with garters and red boots. Since Emroy is a god of death, Rory wields a giant halberd as a scythe to slaughter those she views worthy of being punished by death.
Kirk Summation: During the Japanese Senate Diet, she shuts down and humiliates a politician who attempted to blame the JSDF for the refugee lives lost to the Fire Dragon.
Kiss of the Vampire: In the light novel, Rory makes a pact with Itami by biting his arm (with fangs) drawing blood and, by her own words, making him "her familiar."
Little Miss Badass: Rory looks like a petite girl in her early teens, but she can swat full-grown soldiers more easily than flies.
Living Forever Is Awesome: Rory enjoys her immortal life at its fullest. In her long life, she has had many meetings and farewells, but she doesn't feel sad about it.
Love Goddess: Rory wants to become Goddess of Love after ascending.
Mascot: She's featured on the Itarica 3rd Recon unit patch◊ and the Alnus Mercenary Brigade flag◊.
My Biological Clock Is Ticking: Though it's more Spiritual Clock in her case: Rory is 961, and will ascend in 39 years, so she wants to have a meaningful relationship with a man she's interested in right now, not a second wasted. Which is why she always tries to seduce Youji and goes all Clingy Jealous Girl on him.
Names to Run Away from Really Fast: She's known as "Rory the Reaper" for having a big halberd as her main weapon, slaughtering those who offend Emroy and those she views worthy of being punished by death.
One-Handed Zweihänder: She can swing and twirl her giant halberd using one hand as if it weighs nothing.
Only the Chosen May Wield: Her halberd seems to operate on this trope. When someone other than herself tries to wield it it is extremely heavy, however while she held it Itami was able to carry her and it and run away.
Orgasmic Combat: Dead souls are like aphrodisiac to her. Releasing it is done by combat.
Our Gods Are Different: Rory is a 961-year-old demigoddess and an apostle of Emroy. However, she looks like an underage girl in an Elegant Gothic Lolita dress, which In-Universe is an outfit for priestesses.
Punny Name: Rory's name is a pun on the Japanese word Loli, which refers to Lolita, Lolita fashion and so on.
Put the "Laughter" in "Slaughter": She laughs with glee as she fulfills her obligations as the apostle for Emroy.
Really 700 Years Old: She is 961 years-old, yet she has the appearance of a 13-year-old girl.
Red and Black and Evil All Over: Subverted in that she's not evil, but her red and black dress is a formal attire that identifies her as an apostle for the god of death.
Red Eyes, Take Warning: She has red eyes and she's an apostle for the god of death.
Semi-Divine: Rory is a demi-goddess. In her 1000th birthday she will ascend and become a full goddess.
Sense Loss Sadness: Rory states that this is one of the reasons she tries to enjoy herself as much as possible with every waking moment. When she ascends to full godhood, she'll lose both her need for most sensual pleasures and her ability to feel them.
Shipper on Deck: Surprisingly enough. In Chapter 52, she gives Yao a talisman (really just a five-yen coin) that would, supposedly, give her luck in romantic relationships, knowing full well that Yao has her eyes set on Itami.
Showgirl Skirt: In the novel and manga, Rory's dress has a long skirt that splits at the front to reveal her legs. The anime makes her skirt much shorter, turning it into a Minidress of Power.
Stocking Filler: She wears garters to hold up her stockings.
Super-Speed: She can easily outrun the JSDF's vehicles.
Super-Strength: She lifts her halberd like it was as light as a feather, but any normal human would get crushed by its weight. It actually seems to weigh nothing when she wields it, as Itami was able to carry her and the axe while she was holding onto it. She can hit the ground hard enough to shatter it, throw a gun at a man hard enough to send him flying, and knock the Fire Dragon backwards with a hit.
Synchronization: Her contribution to the fight against the Fire Dragon. She can't participate herself, because she can not safely go underground. What she does instead is form a pact with Itami so any injuries he takes are transferred to her far more durable body. She's a mess when she rejoins them, showing just how dangerous a fight for Itami that was.
The Tease: She tried to persuade Itami into getting it on with her during their hot springs trip.
Throwing Your Sword Always Works: Does this with her halberd on a flame dragon to make it trip into the path of an RPG round.
Tsurime Eyes: The animators gave Rory a sharper pair of eyes compared to her manga and light novel versions, to show her violent and confident nature.
Turns Red: Her lips turn from the pink shade to a dark purple color when she's about to go "berserk".
Worf Had the Flu: She lost a fight to Giselle because her contract with Itami caused her to experience his injuries in the middle of it.

Cato El Altestan

Voiced by: Yuichi Nagashima (Japanese), John Swasey (English)

"Cato the Elder Sage" is a magician who took in Lelei and her sister as disciples in magic. He is a fatherly figure for the refugees evacuated to Alnus by Itami. A somewhat childish and a bit perverted old man, he's nevertheless a legendary wizard with a world-wide reputation.

Bunny-Ears Lawyer: He might be immature and lecherous, but he is the top tier wizard with a well-known name.
Cunning Linguist: He is probably one of the few Special Area locals who learned Japanese after Lelei, given he became a teacher in a cross-language study program and authored an official Alnus phrasebook.
Dirty Old Man: Cato spends his second page of introduction wishing Lelei's "curvaceous" sister was around still. Later, he starts ogling his language students.
Famed In-Story: When the people in Lindon Academy learn that Lelei is his student, they immediately drop their initially dismissive attitude entirely in respect to his reputation.
Manchild: In the anime, his introduction is whining and throwing a tantrum on how he needs his books despite an urgent evacuation.
So Proud of You: He's very satisfied with Lelei's progress and writes her a recommendation to take the exam for the Sage title herself.

Myui Formal

Countess Myui Formal

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

The 11 years old Countess Formal and ruler of Italica.

A Child Shall Lead Them: She's 11 and the head of Clan Formal due to her older sisters being bickering, incompetent dingbats.
Puppet Queen: Not in a bad sense, but because she's a minor, the clan itself and Italica as a whole is actually ruled by the Head Maid. this explains her disappearance from the series after her introduction.

Persia

Voiced by: Megumi Han (Japanese)

A Cat Girl house maid from Italica. Kurata has a crush on her.

Adaptation Dye-Job: She has leopard-coloured fur in the manga. In the Light Novel artwork she has caucasian skin and dark hair, and in the anime she has purple hair, ears, and tail.
Because You Were Nice to Me: Her relationship with Kurata is implied to be all about this. When they first were introduced Persia mentioned that most men looked at her with lust or fear; Kurata acted like a schoolboy whose first crush was pleasantly speaking to him.
Cat Girl: Beyond having the ears and tail, she also has a feline-like face instead of one that is more fully human.
Cute Little Fangs: Part of her Cat Girl feature is a pair of fangs.
Interspecies Romance: Her boyfriend, Kurata, is human.
Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique: She and a Warrior Bunny maid do this to the Butler who stole the Formal family's crest that sent Delilah on the False Flag Operation of assassinating Noriko.
Little Bit Beastly: She looks mostly human aside of her cat ears and tail.
Meet Cute: When Kurata introduces himself, he stands at attention and salutes her like an officer is dressing him down. She smiles and giggles in response.
Meido: Is a servant for the Formal Clan, and wears the usual dress+apron+frilly head dress ensemble, just like maids on the other side of the gate.
Mistaken for Cheating: Discussed, when she and another maid were washing Itami before a party, she asks that he not mention any of this to Kurata for fear of this trope. Itami wholeheartedly agrees.
Verbal Tic: -Nya.

Yao Haa Dushi

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/yao_ro_dushi.png

Voiced by: Yōko Hikasa (Japanese), Rachel Landon (English)

A dark elf from Schwarz forest who seeks aid from the JSDF.

Adaptational Villainy: In-universe. Shandy's account of the battle with the Fire Dragon plays down or ignores Yao's heroic accomplishments and deeds while playing up her more "objectionable" actions in securing Itami's aid. Yao clearly cries Tears of Remorse upon having that account shame her family name.
Born Unlucky: It's even lampshaded, repeatedly.
Cartwright Curse: As a part of the whole Born Unlucky shtick, Yao was infamous among the elves of the Schwarz forest for her atrocious luck with men. One her boyfriend was stolen by her BFF, another died in an accident, and when she was finally getting married once, her fiance died the day before it.
Casual Kink: She fantasizes about Itami "punishing" her after the stunt she pulls on Tuka to force him to go face the Fire Dragon.
Distracted by the Sexy: She invokes this on some of Zorzal's castle guards in episode 24. (They just barely manage to avoid Boom, Headshot! from 3rd Recon.)
The Ditz: Whenever she encounters any modern tech. Almost running over Rory while learning to drive, fumbling with the rocket launcher (though she wasn't alone in that) during the Fire Dragon arc, dropping Itami's rifle, loaded with a rifle grenade, on a minotaur butt-first, while trying to switch it from safe to semi-auto^note… Her rotten luck knows no end. Noticeably, she's shown to be marginally better than her race, as a whole, in this regard. She's the only one who used the Panzerfaust, aka "The Rod Of Steel," correctly in the fight with the fire dragon, managing to cripple its leg, was systematically trying to understand a very unfamiliar weapon in the labyrinth, until it slipped from her hands, and although she had a minor mishap with Rory, is actually able to manage a modern vehicle, which is understandably rare for the people of the Special Region. The only one better than her is Lelei.
The Driver: Despite her initial mishap with Rory, she is sufficiently proficient with a modern vehicle that she can qualify for a license in Japan.
Ethical Slut: The light novel notes that she has 300 years of experience using her body for the sake of advancing the needs of her people. She is well aware of the effect her race's traditional "bondage armor" has on human men.
Friendly Enemy: With Tuka. Numerous characters have lampshaded this. Even without the whole Flame Dragon arc, their two races do not get along well, at all. Yet, thanks to Itami, Tuka and Yao have an unprecedented level of civility towards one another. This baffles just about everyone who comments on it, including themselves.
Happiness in Slavery: Officially, she's Itami's slave as payment for fighting (and killing) the fire dragon on behalf of the dark elves, as noted by Yao herself in chapter 54 of the manga. Itami's superiors point out that slavery is illegal in Japan when mentioning her, and command him to be very careful in how he treats her. Still, she shows no signs of distress while in Itami's service, and is quite obviously treated very well. In addition to her medical, spiritual, and nutritional needs being met, she's even being taught how to drive, and she's quite skilled at it.^note Though she treats herself as a slave around Itami, Itami himself sees this more as a burden than an actual utility.
Heroic BSoD: When the JSDF refuses to grant her request. She gets better with a little goading from Yanagida.
Heroic Sacrifice: In a different spin on the concept, Yao is fully aware that her mission involves offering her body or her life if necessary to buy the aid that the dark elves require.
I Did What I Had to Do: She nonchalantly and coldly tells Tuka that her father died from the fire dragon's attack, something everyone else around her had avoided talking about so far. After Itami chews her out about it, she says that she was attempting to get the JSDF to eliminate the dragon, and was getting absolutely nowhere with her normal attempts at asking for help. Though he doesn't really like the method, Itami does end up helping out in order to help Tuka move on, along with getting rid of the dragon for Yao and her people.
I Just Want to Have Friends: She very much wants to join Itami in his adventures, both to repay her perceived debt to him, and because she envies the closeness and loyalty he shares with Lelei, Tuka, and Rory.
Innocent Fanservice Girl: Despite being an Ethical Slut, she truly does not understand the issue of wearing nothing but a bra and panties while in the same room as Itami. Justified considering the Bondage Armor she normally wears.
I Owe You My Life: The primary reason Yao is insistent on staying by Itami is that he's saved her life on several occasions, after her deliberate efforts to aggravate Tuka's mental illness.
The Klutz: Her unluckiness is exaggerated during the Labyrinth arc. She can't seem to walk two feet without triggering a death trap, tree branches snap under her when climbing, and she manages to screw up Itami's plan to kill the Minotaur by dropping her gun on its head.
Language Barrier: Tries to get the JSDF to help her, they don't speak the same language.
Manipulative Bitch: Continues to prod Tuka with the fact her father is dead in order to force Itami to have to go slay the flame dragon.
Meaningful Rename: She changes her middle name after the dragon is dealt with to indicate the shift in her patron deity from Haa (Hardy), to Ro (Rory).
Mistaken for Prostitute: Twice. She kicks the ass of the first potential john and then makes the second one run away crying by claiming he had a Teeny Weenie. The anime has multiple people treating her like this.
Morton's Fork: After pleading her case with "The Men In Green" and finding out that they won't come to the aid of her people for fear of risking war with Elbe by bringing the massive army required for the task, she's left with two options, watch her people disappear down the gullet of a flying, fire-breathing tank, or force the aid of one of the "Men In Green" and risk earning their righteous wrath. She chose the latter. Fortunately, she wound up becoming his servant as opposed to something worse.
Mystical White Hair: A dark elf with white hair.
Really 700 Years Old: She is well over 300-years-old.
Significant White Hair, Dark Skin: To show she's a dark elf, she has dark skin and silver hair.
Undying Loyalty: Combined with a bit of Anguished Declaration of Love. In chapter 52, she insists that her place is by Itami's side, for better or worse.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: Yao is shown to be a righteous and decent person in general. However her sheer desperation to save her people lead her to do some very morally shady things. Notably she only resorts to them only after all other avenues have been exhausted and she had a Heroic BSoD while teetering on the Despair Event Horizon, as her entire civilization/species was being annihilated.

Myuute Luna Sires

Voiced by: Lynn (Japanese)

A mage soldier who fought in the Battle of Italica as a marauder, using wind magic to deflect arrows. She was captured as a prisoner of war after the JSDF intervened. She shows up later at Alnus Hill after the JSDF release her from prison, where she finds work with the Military Police.

The Alcoholic: Whenever she's off-duty, the first place to look for her is the PX pub, surrounded by the beer mugs and, probably, Rory.
Blow You Away: She can generate gusts that cause arrows to miss.
Heel–Face Turn: Is introduced in episode 4 helping the bandits lay siege to Italica (and all that entails). By the time episode 12 comes around, she's somehow managed to join the military police working for the JSDF, as a trusted officer, and is doing a very good job.
Little Bit Beastly: Has some animal traits like bird's legs and the talons on her feet.
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: In the anime, she inadvertently gives Yao the idea to go after Itami's friends to coerce his aid.
Officer O'Hara: Something of a Fantasy Counterpart to the trope, being the immigrant (and of a looked down to race at that) police officer.
Our Sirens Are Different: She is a bird-type siren. Her singing can make a man crash his car.
Trading Bars for Stripes: Originally was a Bandit Wind Mage that had participated in the attack on Italica who ended up captured by the JSDF. Afterwards, when the refugee settlement grows larger, she becomes an MP working alongside Rory Mercury in maintaining peace and civility with the denizens and transients.

Delilah

Voiced by: Aina Kusuda (Japanese)

A bunny servant from Italica working at a bar in Alnus.

Adaptational Modesty: In the manga, her uniform makes her resemble a tavern wench and exposes a great amount of cleavage. In the anime, her uniform looks more professional and only exposes a little bit of cleavage. In the manga, right before she receives a letter telling her to kill Noriko, she takes a nap while naked. In the anime version of the scene, she only takes off her shoes before hopping into bed.
Apologetic Attacker: She apologizes to Noriko before attempting to kill her and apologizes for stabbing Lt. Yanagida.
Artificial Limbs: Downplayed. She makes note that her hip had to be surgically replaced with a titanium implant after Yanigida shot her, repeatedly, at point blank range, while he was protecting Noriko.
The Atoner: After she survives her battle with Yanagida, she becomes a guide for the JSDF Special Forces teams fighting Zorzal.
Berserk Button: She is enraged when Noriko says she is like Tyuule.
Best Her to Bed Her: Falls for Yanagida while they recover from each other's attacks.
Dark and Troubled Past: A member of the Warrior Bunnies, she fought against the Empire when they invaded. After learning of Tyuule's supposed betrayal of the kingdom, she escaped as a refugee and lived as a traveler until finding employment at Italica. She was assigned to Alnus to spy on the JSDF for the Formal Clan.
Dramatic Irony: Reluctantly accepts an assignment to assassinate Noriko, thinking it came from the Formal Clan, when it really came from Tyuule, the person she hates the most.
Establishing Character Moment: Her first scene was in the Alnus bar serving guests quite energetically, even peering in at some guest's gossips as she delivers meals. One guy tries to grab her butt, and she kicks him, not just "kick" him, she literally knocks him across the room, yelling at him never to come back as "her ass isn't that cheap". Then Itami comes up and comments how much it costs to touch it, she runs away flustered.
The Mole: She's House Formal's spy within Alnus village, ordered to study the Japanese and learn their intentions in the Special Region, until she receives falsified orders to kill a Japanese refugee.
Revenge: Despite her new job and improving lifestyle, she swears that she will not die until she kills Tyuule for her supposed betrayal.
Slasher Smile: When describing (jokingly) on a new drink she made, its also a hint that she may not be exactly what she looks on the outside.
Sleeps in the Nude: In the manga version, Delilah takes a nap in the nude and the viewers get a nice look at her breasts and her...*ahem* "fluffy bunnytail at the front".
Trapped in Another World: She becomes the only Gateworlder to end up in Japan when the Gate closes.
Undying Loyalty:
- To the Formal Clan for taking her in and accepting her.
- She pledges to take care of Yanagida for the rest of her life, as penance for almost killing him.

Tyuule

Voiced by: Ami Koshimizu (Japanese), Maggie Flecknoe (English)

The previous queen of the warrior bunnies who became Zorzal's slave after they were defeated by the Empire.

Adaptational Modesty: In the manga, she is naked or very scantily clad in most of her scenes. In the anime, she was naked in her rape scene but with the camera not focused on anything inappropriate, and wears rags in other scenes.
Adaptational Villainy: While justifyingly unpleasant in the light novel, her anime counterpart comes across as far more vicious. Not just because viewers don't see the full extent of her abuse and Rape as Backstory, but because she's perceived as turning Zorzal into a bad guy, including his penchant for rejecting reality, as opposed to having to endure his pre-existing delusions, and learning to feed his ego just to save herself and her people. What's worse, in the light novel, Tyuule didn't order the attempted assassination of Noriko nor the poisoning of the Emperor, to restart war with Japan, and discredit Piña. Zorzal did. As his slave, Tyuule had no choice but to obey, even if she didn't want to. Also, Tyuule never actually instructed Rufrus to implement the Oprichnina legislation in the Senate. She only had the document in hand, once, when the Senate returned it to Zorzal pointing out its flaws. It was Zorzal's own carelessness that caused it to go through, unchanged.
Because You Were Nice to Me: Furuta praising her competence, reliability, inherent dignity, and treating her like the rare and priceless treasure she truly is, and openly saying so (where Zorzal could not hear), as opposed to Zorzal who treats her as a trophy, on a good day, or more commonly, as a toy he can break and then throw away, causes her to become utterly smitten with Furuta, constantly blushing like a school-girl when alone with him, and actively seeking him out at every opportunity.
Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Acts as a submissive and kind around Zorzal, but in reality she loathes him and is plotting to manipulate him to cause the complete destruction of the Empire. Justified considering how much she suffered in their hands.
Breaking Speech: At the end of volume 8, finding herself surrounded by soldiers intending to gang-rape her, at Zorzal's orders, with Zorzal himself boasting of deliberately leaving evidence of his wrong-doing concerning the Warrior Bunnies where she can find it, just so she would be enraged to the point that she'd come at him with a weapon, and he'd have the satisfaction of beating her down, she finally tells him, to his face, precisely how pathetic he truly is, up to and including deriding his "vaulted" sexual prowess, or lack there-of. This goes on to actually intimidate her would-be rapists. Zorzal responds by promising to gang-rape her with ten times the number of soldiers, once Italica is sacked.
Broken Bird: She once was the queen of the Kingdom of the Warrior Bunnies. She initially believed that she gave herself up to the prince to save her people, though she later found out that Zorzal still destroyed her land despite accepting her offer. She hates the Prince and his kind and, in the manga/anime, hopes to cause the annihilation of the Empire by attempting to frame them for the death of one of Japan's citizens, and then plotting the assassination of the Emperor, in the hopes that total war will ensue between the JSDF and the Empire.
Can't Act Perverted Toward a Love Interest: In the light novel, when Borhaus and Furuta go to check on her after Zorzal ordered her to be gang-raped by his soldiers, they instead find that she used her sexual prowess to dominate all her would-be rapists and is actually torturing the last one by giving him repeated Forced Orgasms. When she notices Borhaus, she acts nonchalant about her nudity or what he saw her doing but when she notices Furuta she immediately has a Naked Freak-Out and is shamed that he saw her do such a shameful act, screaming at him to not look at her.
The Chains of Commanding: She invokes this on Zorzal in episode 23 to keep him glued to the throne, and prevent him from running away like the Dirty Coward he is when facing the overwhelming might of the rightfully pissed off JSDF.
Complexity Addiction: Could be seen this way due to Tyuule's way of taking her revenge against the Empire and Zorzal in such a roundabout way, especially in the anime. It would have been far easier to have simply ask for sanctuary with the JSDF as they had done with many refugees, similar to how Yao asked for their assistance against the flame dragon. Instead, she didn't and actually defended Zorzal from Itami after having been on the receiving end of a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown, giving the JSDF the impression she's a blindly loyal servant to an irredeemable asshole and therefore doesn't deserve any sympathy.
Death by Adaptation: In the original web novels, she chooses to be with Furuta instead of fully pursuing her revenge against Zorzal. In the published version, she instead chooses to take revenge against Zorzal, which results in a Mutual Kill. Which route the manga will go for is still in the air. As of February 2016, it is at the beginnings of the Rondel arc, which is nowhere near that point. The anime hasn't even touched this, as it didn't cover the volume in which this event happens.
Does Not Like Men: Justified. She is the Sex Slave of a particularly violent and depraved rapist. Her one "minion" is, from all appearances, some type of debased orc shape-shifter that gets aroused from licking her wounds, and there isn't a single Imperial citizen, male or female, that doesn't project their justified hatred of Zorzal unto her, blaming her "stuck-up" personality as the cause. However Furata is the exception as she blushes like a schoolgirl around him.
Et Tu, Brute?: She's shocked when Bouro, her minion, sides with Zorzal in Volume 8. She's even more shocked when she learns he was the one behind all of Zorzal's schemes to destroy the Warrior Bunny kingdom in the first place.
Evil Chancellor: Takes this role when Zorzal becomes Emperor.
Evil Gloating: She just can't resist getting a few barbs in at Piña when the latter gets subjected to the slave treatment.
Fan Disservice: Tyuule is often nude, buxom, and also has a "bunnytail at the front". Unfortunately she's covered in bruises, bite marks, and scratches no thanks to Zorzal.
Freudian Excuse: After everything Zorzal has done to her, it's really hard to blame her for wanting to destroy the Empire that ruined her life.
Lady Macbeth: She constantly feeds Zorzal's ego and encourages him to take the throne, knowing that he's incompetent and will doom the Empire, which is exactly what she wants.
Little Bit Beastly: Like all the Warrior Bunnies, she's got rabbit features.
Manipulative Bitch: She manipulated Zorzal into Becoming the Mask by feeding his ego and ambition.
Mystical White Hair: A bunny girl from a magic world with white hair.
Omnicidal Maniac: Her plan is to provoke the JSDF into wiping out everyone in the Special Region; the Imperials, her former kingdom, and all the innocents in between.
Non-Protagonist Resolver: Tyuule killed Zorzal instead of Itami and the girls, who were too busy killing the Arachnids at that time.
The Quisling: Played With. She actually performed a Heroic Sacrifice when she gave herself up as a slave in order to save her people. But due to Zorzal's and Bouro's schemes, her people were destroyed anyway and the lie was spread she only surrendered to save herself, causing her own people see her as this.
Rape as Backstory: She has been repeatedly raped by Zorzal.
The Resenter:
- She grew to despise her own people thanks to them hating her despite her giving herself up for them, unaware of the fact that they hate her due to Zorzal and Bouro spreading the lie that she only gave herself up to save her own skin.
- The anime shows her being highly resentful of the fact that Noriko was rescued by her people while she's still stuck with Zorzal because her people hate her thanks to Zorzal's lies.
Revenge Before Reason: In the light novel, she has the chance to have a normal life with Furuta but chose vengeance by attempting to kill Zorzal herself and ends up in a Mutual Kill.
Revenge by Proxy: Played with. While she clearly, and rightly hates Zorzal, she's not averse to taking out her grudge on his relatives, even if she knows they had nothing to do with her predicament, or even knowing that it won't bother the true target(s) of her rage in the slightest.
Sex Goddess: Her incredible stamina is part of why she's Zorzal's favorite Sex Slave. In the light novel, it's actually revealed she was merely pretending to be a broken and submissive Sex Slave to manipulate Zorzal by feeding his ego. When Zorzal tries to punish her by having soldiers gang-rape her, she actually turns the table and ends up giving them so much pleasure they all pass out in exhaustion, and then she tortures and interrogates the last one by giving him repeated Forced Orgasms.
Sex Slave: She sold herself as Zorzal's sex toy in exchange that the Empire wouldn't destroy her kingdom. Let's say she didn't take it well when she found out they destroyed her kingdom anyway. But in order to enact her revenge, she played the part of a submissive slave to Zorzal so she would become his favorite slave to manipulate him.
Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Her attraction towards Furuta is attributed to how straightforward and honest he is, as opposed to the constant plotting that happens within the Imperial Palace during Zorzal's reign.
The Starscream: She becomes one of Zorzal's top councilors, but is actually planning his downfall by encouraging to fight an unwinnable war.
Vengeance Feels Empty: During Zorzal's exodus from the capital in the anime, Tyuule notices that despite Zorzal's humiliation and thus the Empire's destruction (A new form Imperial government forms under Princess Piña as Crown Princess), she notices that she can't stop crying nor does she find the revenge she sought satisfying.
Vindicated by History: In-Universe, albeit posthumously after Zorzal's demise.
White Hair, Black Heart: Zorzal has quite effectively eaten whatever mercy and compassion she once had, just for laughs.
Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: She certainly wants to destroy the entirety of the Special region, just to make her suffering stop. She finds out to her regret, that even succeeding doesn't make the pain go away in episode 24.
You Said You Would Let Them Go: Offered to surrender her kingdom in exchange for the Empire not raping and pillaging it to the ground. They do it anyway, and blame her for it to the survivors.

Bouro

Leader of the Haryo tribe and a supposed ally of Tyuule.

False Flag Operation: The one behind the forged Italica letter.
False Friend: Presents himself as Tyuule only ally for his own benefit and has no actual loyalty to her. He's also the one who gave Zorzal the idea to destroy the Warrior Bunny tribe in the first place.
Hoist by His Own Petard: He helped Tyuule with gaining influence with Zorzal, but that ended up backfiring when she gained far more influence than he imagined, and she easily persuaded Zorzal into killing him when she learned of his role in the destruction of her tribe.
Karma Houdini: In the web novels. Averted in the published novels, where Tyuule manipulate Zorzal into killing him.
Lecherous Licking: Tyuule's "payment" for his service is allowing him to lick her leg.
Perverted Pig: He's a pig-like hybrid that's often drive by his lust.

Giselle

Voiced by: Ayane Sakura (Japanese), Kira Vincent-Davis (English)

Draconian demigod and apostle to Hardy, god of the underworld. She considers herself a rival to Rory.

Adaptational Modesty: Her anime incarnation is much more elegantly dressed (read: her outfit is not in tatters) than her manga or light novel version, though she still basically wears just a thong and some faint reference to a dress.
Adaptational Villainy: Other incarnations of the franchise have her waking the Flame Dragon under Hardy's orders. In the anime, she does it on her own initiative purely for the sake of breeding dragon hatch-lings to use against Rory.
Big Eater: In Volume 7, while dining with Itami and his group, she eats enough rations to feed eight people, and she's still hungry. This is justified by the fact that she was literally starving while waiting for Itami's group at Kunamnui, due to being sent there by Hardy without any supplies and told to "live off the land" right next to a Fog of Doom.
Blood Knight: She loves combat way more than she should. She was outright thrilled when Rory told her Itami slew the flame dragon because she wanted to fight, and kill, someone that strong.
The Cavalry: At the end, she brings in a flock of wyverns to hold off the massive insect horde due to an accidental gate opening caused by the Chinese destroying the gate. Rory, among others, wonders where those wyverns came from.
Cute Monster Girl: She's cute alright, but she definitely emphasizes the Monster part.
Draconic Humanoid: She has dragon wings coming from her back.
Early-Bird Cameo: Hinted at in earlier chapters and a 4-koma.
Elegant Gothic Lolita: In the manga she wears clothing similar to Rory, but it is white and in tatters.
Lack of Empathy: To anything else that's not her patron god Hardy.
Oh, Crap!: When she sees the JSDF utterly demolish her pet dragons. Even though she sees them as nothing more than pawns, she is rightfully apprehensive of the JSDF firepower.
Screw This, I'm Outta Here: The light novel has her fleeing from Rory after witnessing the full might of the JSDF and presuming it's Itami's own power. In the manga, her fate is uncertain. The anime has her sneak away almost without comment when the JSDF shows up in force and blows her pet dragons to pieces, with Rory coming after her.
Sinister Scythe: Carries a massive scythe into battle.
Slasher Smile: She sports a particularly nasty one when had the advantage against Rory, Itami, and co. When the JSDF showed up in force, it vanished.
Stripperific: Her (tattered) clothing barely covers her.
Took a Level in Kindness: After working for a while at Alnus cafe in order to repay her overeating debt and getting to spend some time with other people she mellows out a lot and becomes more compassionate.
Virtue Is Weakness: She specifically condemns Rory for making Itami her familiar/servant. Because having compassion for others is a weakness. She would greatly regret this stance once the JSDF shows up in force and starts blasting the dragon's nest with modern high-yield weapons.
The Woman Behind the Man: She is responsible for waking the flame dragon.

Arpeggio El Lalena

Voiced by: Ayahi Takagaki (Japanese), Emily Neves (English)

Lelei's stepsister and student at the Lindon School.

Arranged Marriage: Curiously enough, she is part of one. Although they haven't gone through with it, she is, or was, arranged to be married to an astronomer, an elf by the name of Flat. Although he genuinely loves her, she's completely clueless.
Curves in All the Right Places: Let's just say Cato wasn't wrong when he called her "curvaceous" in Chapter 4. Even Itami thinks so.
Early-Bird Cameo: Mentioned as far back as Chapter 4. Has now only made an appearance in Chapter 53.
The Glorious War of Sisterly Rivalry: Is "somewhat" jealous of her younger stepsister's accolades. Becomes an actual war in episode 19 with Lelei and herself launching magical attacks at each other in an official magic duel mediated by Rory. It almost gets Lelei killed when an assassin with a crossbow tries to shoot her.
Green-Eyed Monster: She's clearly envious of Lelei being an obviously more successful of the pair, going as far as to list all her beef with it:
- Lelei is already applying for a Sage title, while she still struggles with a doctorate,
- She already has a man,^note while Arpeggio remains dateless,
- She associates with the rich and famous,^note while her sister suffers from Perpetual Poverty, etc.
Hidden Heart of Gold: While she was understandably upset at Lelei, to the point that they ended up dueling, she still gives her sister a replacement outfit for her thesis, after accidentally ruining the one Lelei wore. When Mimoza starts mentioning that it was the outfit Arpeggio was intending to wear when she applied to be a Sage, she tries to hush her teacher about it.
Idiot Hair: Her manga incarnation has a traditional single lock on the top of her head, while in the anime she has numerous cowlicks all over her hair.
In-Series Nickname: Lelei and Mimoza tend to call her Alfe.
Ludd Was Right: Her main source of income at Rondel is actually copying books, so when Lelei starts to wax poetical about the printing press and how it will change their society, Arpeggio could only break into histerics because of the inevitable loss of her livelihood.
Nervous Wreck: Compared to the stoic Lelei.
Oblivious to Love: Despite being Allegedly Dateless, she has a love interest, a long-suffering elf by the name of Flat, who continuously vies for her affection.
Perpetual Poverty: How she manages to stay in Lindon School is a mystery known only to the gods. She moonlights as a book copyist, but it's clearly a less than adequate income.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: The red to Lelei's blue.
This Cannot Be!: Her reaction is absolute shock and disbelief that Itami's crew, especially Lelei, were directly responsible for killing a flame dragon.

Mimoza La Mell

Voiced by: Fumi Hirano (Japanese), Marcy Bannor (English)

A teacher, mage, and great sage at Lindon school.

The Ditz: She's quite scatter-brained, to say the least.
I Was Quite a Looker: She was a student of Rory Mercury about 50 years ago. For obvious reasons, when they meet again in the present, Rory doesn't recognize her at first, then the two joke about how old she had gotten. Her younger self is briefly shown in a flashback in the manga.
Ms. Exposition: She explains the nature of the gate. It is apparently a divine intervention that allows different worlds to collide. People from the other end would cross the gate and end up in the Special region as it is now. However, after some time, the gate would close and seal the portal between the worlds for good until its next opening.

Flat El Coda

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/40_0.jpg

An Elf and long-suffering love interest (his side only) of Arpeggio El Lalena.

Adapted Out: He does not appear in the anime adaptation.
Arranged Marriage: Originally with Arpeggio. They have not gone through with it.
Hopeless Suitor: He's constantly vying for Arpeggio's affections. She's clueless.
Ironic Name: His name is "Flat" and he's a Flat Character.
Mr. Exposition: He explains several things regarding Rondel and the very unpopular science of Astronomy in the Special Region. Notably, the mere concept that the world is curved, proven by astronomers actually going out and taking measurements caused the peasantry to form a mob with torches and pitchforks to storm Rondel, due to the fear that simply knowing this would cause people to somehow start uncontrollably falling off the edge. It only gets worse when Rondel can't hide the fact that The Special Region isn't actually the center of their solar system.
Perpetual Poverty: Even worse than Arpeggio because Astronomy isn't just an unpopular science, like alchemy, but is outright hated by the natives of The Special Region due to a combination of ignorance and Insane Troll Logic, not to mention flying in the face of many a Bandwagon Fallacy.
Throw the Dog a Bone: Discussed; Lelei tries to tell Arpeggio to just settle down with Flat if she's so worried about being an Old Maid, Arpeggio is flummoxed as to why she would do that.

Empire

In General

The Empire: The Saderan Empire, or the Empire as it is simply called, controls almost all of the continent of Falmart.
Badass Army: The Empire has the most powerful army on the continent and uses it to assert its control over its subjugated lands and vassal kingdoms. It was thought to be invincible until they went to war with Japan and their army was unable to fight effectively against the JSDF because of the large technological gap and the Empire's difficulty to adapt against it.
Enemy Civil War: The Empire falls into a civil war following Zorzal's Coup and the escape from the capital of the emperor and the partisans of peace with Japan led by princess Piña, dividing the Empire between those loyal to Zorzal and those loyal to princess Piña and the emperor.
Graceful Loser: The Empire is willing to give Japan the win (though for pragmatic reasons in Malt's case) and would've done it sooner if it weren't for Zorzal's pig-headed attempts to one-up the JSDF, prolonging the war and nearly destroying it as a result.
Vestigial Empire: In the Light novels, after the Imperial Civil War, the Saderan Empire has become a shadow of its former self, they lose control over their vassals, their military power is severely crippled and they have lost a majority of their territories.

Malt Sol Augustus

Voiced by: Atsushi Ono (Japanese), Jason Douglas (English)

The emperor of the Empire in the Special Area.

0% Approval Rating: Nobody in the special region likes this guy. Piña only pays him respect out of filial duty, and his two, on-screen sons, Diabo and Zorzal, don't even show that much. Everybody else only pays tribute because he has the authority to send an army after them. Of note, nobody mourns his passing.
Abusive Dad: His treatment of children may be "passable" by the standards of Rome under Julius Caesar, or Nero, but just about anywhere else would seriously frown on it. To wit, he beats and tortures Zorzal's older brother in front of him, to death, and forces him to watch. As if that wasn't traumatic enough, he compounds it by then treating Zorzal as if the boy can do whatever he wishes, whenever he wishes without ever worrying about the consequences, as long as he behaves like an idiotic, sadistic hedonist, with the caveat that should he ever get "too smart" he'll meet his older brother's fate. Diabo, on the other hand, was groomed to be a Chess Master with a Complexity Addiction by constantly being sent to "negotiate" with the vassal countries, knowing full well their citizens hate his guts, and with good reason, and lastly, everything Malt did in regards to Piña was to make Piña "go away" and not bother him any more, up to and including sending her and her entire Knight Order of the Rose to scout Alnus, knowing full well that she would be killed in the event of even the slightest confrontation. Only the gods know what he did to child number 4 but considering that this person is not even mentioned (and Zorzal's dead older brother is named), we can presume the ultimate fate was exile, enslavement, or both.
Accidental Truth: Remember how the populace believed he was being punished by the gods after the Senate got blown up by the JSDF? Turns out that Hardy had been punishing him from the very moment she opened the portal at Alnus. Hardy tells Itami and Rory that she opened the Gate to find a country stronger than the Empire to teach them a bit of humility and get their heavy foot off of all the other races of the Special Region.
Adaptational Heroism: In the anime. See Heel Realization.
Asshole Victim: Even if Zorzal's testimony in the anime is untrue, Malt's final fate in chapter 48 of the Manga is long overdue.
Bad Boss: After the Empire forces he ordered to invade Japan failed he calls up the Empire's allies to launch an attack on the Gate. Its really just an excuse to have his so-called allies wiped out so they won't be able to challenge him.
The Caligula: The first chapter of the light novel paints him as this. Not only did he ignore his senator's warnings about sending scouts before attacking Japan, he also completely avoids responsibility for his mistake in thinking Japan was "weak and spineless" because the invading army managed to capture "a handful of prisoners," and it's revealed that the entire Empire, from the highest noble to the lowliest peasant only pays tribute to him because of the threat of arms from the military, of which 60% was wiped out when Japan retaliated and took control of Alnus Hill. Despite that putting his throne in a very perilous position, he still acts as if nothing's wrong, and continues to live in luxury, at the expense of everyone else.
As a bonus, in chapter 2, when his senators correctly deduce that the war is not going well, yet the Emperor still arrogantly thinks that it is, simply because Japan is wisely spending its time entrenching at Alnus Hill, (and sending scouts), instead of attacking rashly, he schemes to have those senators charged with treason and "removed." Not to mention that his response to a "salt the earth" policy is to simply deduce that "cancelling a parade or two will be enough" to make it all better. Still, because he, at least, could be (somewhat) reasoned with, and generally follows Pragmatic Villainy, he'd probably better characterized as Tiberius to Zorzal's Caligula.
- Zorzal suspects that once Malt abdicates he'll choose his successor solely based on how easy it will be to manipulate them. As Diabo points out this is a very short-sighted approach as once Malt dies it will leave the throne in the hands of somebody entirely unsuited to ruling on their own.
Do Not Taunt Cthulhu: Chapter 39 of the manga expounds on his Virtue Is Weakness stance regarding Japan's treatment of its citizens. He specifically goads an already enraged Sugawara by telling him that while he recognizes Japan's military might (after seeing Kuribayashi in action), he still thinks Japan's citizens are completely helpless, and boasts that The Empire won't fight the army, instead targeting the civilians to kill, rape and enslave, and Japan won't be able to stop it. Hoping to cower Sugawara, and Japan into peace talks. When word travels up the chain of command, the Prime Minister orders two phantoms to give the Empire a "wake up call" involving flying with full use of afterburners just over the tops of the buildings and blowing up the senate. The populace understandably believes that the gods are angry because Malt began to act like he was one.
Fantastic Racism: He clearly has a dislike of non-humans, if not non-imperial citizens in general judging by his treatment of the allied nations.
- Outside of the anime, when he learns of the identity of the flame dragon's killers, he ignored the others because they were either an apostle, the enemy, or non-humans^Identities, so he gives all the credit to Lelei, the only human that is from the Special Area. While he's right in a weird way (Lelei did deal the deathblow and saved the others), he's still being massively racist. To make this even more jarring, in the manga, at least, the very previous scene, when he was addressing Marcus, he specifically mentioned that he would reward the hero(es) who slew the Flame dragon, regardless of race or background, even if one or more heroes were enemies.
- The anime downplays this trope and adds nuance to it with some commentary. He acknowledges the entire group for their heroic actions without insult (merely stating their identities with a bit of wariness at their strength), but strikingly remarks of "the other races" when he hears of Tuka and Yao being involved. He only offers the reward upon learning of the dragon being slain in the first place, right in front of the imperial audience and the Japanese ambassadors, and thus his sincere gladness and sudden reward for the sole Imperial citizen, Lelei, leads to the Japanese ambassadors remarking that they too would be similarly proud and reward their brave countryman.
Heel–Face Turn: In episode 24, he officially recognizes that Piña is the best possible candidate to run the Empire, sides with Japan and the pro-peace faction, and condemns Zorzal's ways, as well as his own previous bad behavior before stepping down and handing Piña the throne.
Heel Realization: Episode 2 of the second season has him clearly showing regret for his arrogance in thinking that Japan was easy prey, provoking them into war by attacking them, rejecting peace negotiations, and being a party to kidnapping Japanese citizens, and further enraging the Japanese diplomat with his disdain for Japan's "no one left behind" policy when he's sitting in the rubble of what used to be the Senate building, being berated by angry Senators.
A Lighter Shade of Black: He's this to his son Zorzal. As bad as Malt was, his (failed) assassination allows Zorzal to take the Imperial throne in his place, and proves to be much worse.
Nerves of Steel: When the earthquake sent everyone in his kingdom into a panic and outright frenzy, he calmly greets Piña from his bed, gets dressed, and surveys her actions, including bringing foreign ambassadors and soldiers into his castle, with his usual deadpan stare. When Itami and Kuribayashi knock down Zorzal and his entourage, he doesn't bat an eye. When Kuribayashi starts killing the guards and beating Zorzal to a pulp, causing every Empire citizen (save him) to cringe, his reaction is only to stand up from his throne, assess the scene, and sit back down without ever raising his voice, before giving his Virtue Is Weakness threat. Say what you will about his character, his nerves have never been in question.
Offing the Offspring: The anime has him beat and torture Zorzal's older brother to death "for being too smart" along with him being an offspring of the previous emperor.
Orcus on His Throne: In the light novel, he never fully recovers from Tyuule's poisoning, and is basically bedridden, yet he's still the one running things in Italica.
Pet the Dog: More or less. While he does let the JSDF delegation leave his palace unharmed and with a rescued slave after a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown on his son, it has more to do with the fact that trying to restrain them would have left them unharmed and a lot of dead Imperials.
- Played straight in the scene where Malt praises Piña for being the first to reach him after the earthquake, and taking immediate decisive action while everybody else was literally shaking like jelly, as well as being able to justify each and every decision with clear, perfectly sound tactical thinking, including her invitation to Itami, Sugawara and their group because they all had extensive experience with "earth shakes" and could provide practical advice despite being from an enemy country.
- Played mostly straight when he learns that Lelei, an Imperial Citizen, was part of the group responsible for killing the Fire Dragon: he tells Piña to invite her to the Capital so he can reward her for her efforts, and shares a smile with his daughter at the prospect of an Imperial Citizen helping slay such a monster. There's a small amount of racist undertones to his actions, but everyone at the party, save Zorzal's group, notes that he's genuinely filled with patriotic pride when he praises Lelei's accomplishment.
Redemption Equals Affliction: The price he pays for no longer being a royal dick is that he's ill to the point of being bedridden.
Virtue Is Weakness: His stance on Japan caring about every citizen and refusing to sacrifice or abandon any of them. He makes the mistake of subtly saying that he'll have his armies attack Japan's unarmed helpless citizens due to this trope. The JSDF drops a bomb that blows up their senate building in response as a warning that they're more than capable of blowing him and his precious empire out of existence before he could even try to carry out his threat.
We Have Reserves: This seems to be his overall strategy as he is quite dismissive of losing over 100,000 soldiers of the Empire and its allies.
Would Hurt a Child: Season 2 of the anime expands on why Zorzal, the second prince, is the Crown Prince. When Malt took the throne, at a time before Diabo was born, he beat and tortured Zorzal's older half-brother (same mother, different father) to death "for being too smart" and Zorzal was Forced to Watch.
Wrong Genre Savvy: Chapter 39 of the manga has Malt describe how on the rare occasions when the Empire encounters other nations with a superior military might, the Empire would "face those nations drunk on their power" by attacking the citizens, not the army, until the enemy nation surrendered. He even had an imagine spot of Japan hoisting a Malt statue on top of the Senate building, because he would force Japan's surrender during peace negotiations. He did not even begin to consider that Suguwara, and Japan would view that as a challenge, and he had the ignominy of being woken the next morning by the the afterburners of a pair of Japanese Phantoms to watch the Senate building bombed to rubble with the citizens believing he had angered the gods by claiming to be one.

Piña Co Lada

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pia_co_lada.png

Voiced by: Haruka Tomatsu (Japanese), Jessica Boone (English)

Princess of the royal family in the Special Area. The fifth child of Emperor Malt and a concubine. She grew up establishing the Rose-Order of Knights, a predominantly female knight group. After her encounter with the JSDF at Italica, she became a mediator for peace negotiations between Japan and the Empire.

Action Girl: Very much so. Not only is she more than willing to take to the battlefield, when she rides in the Chinook helicopter over the clouds in volume 7, she pleads for Itami to take her sky-diving, which he does, much to her delight, (by letting her tag along with professionals) in Volume 8. Tuka, Rory, and Lelei join her. Yao is reluctant due to her bad luck.
Adaptational Heroism: Her anime, manga, and published novel counterparts are also less antagonistic than her original web novel incarnation, where she was an antagonist that tried to have Lelei assassinated.
Adaptational Modesty: In the anime, she wore her armor instead of a toga in her first scene, and her formal dress is less revealing.
Adaptational Nice Girl: Her anime counterpart is a lot nicer and less belligerent that her manga counterpart. In the manga, when she questions Dulan about the JSDF, she harshly threatens him into talking. In the anime, she asks him politely and expresses concern for his injuries, in the light novel, she even admits that he has just cause to be angry towards the empire, and there's nothing she can do to placate him. In the anime, she is horrified when she sees Zorzal mistreating Noriko and simply hangs her head in sorrow when Itami and Kuribayashi attack him for it, while in the manga, she didn't bat an eye at Noriko's mistreatment and was bewildered about why Itami and Kuribayashi were attacking Zorzal over a slave.
Ain't Too Proud to Beg: She discusses the possibility of groveling before the JSDF and surrendering should they decide to take over the city of Italica after saving it from brigands, knowing that they are the Empire's enemies. She says that her knights, or any army the empire has, will only be crushed before such an overwhelming destructive force. Fortunately, she didn't have to do so, even after some of her knights treated Itami in a less than humane way due to miscommunication, and was fearful that the JSDF would use it as an excuse to declare war.
Aren't You Going to Ravish Me?: When she goes to Diabo for aid against Zorzal, and Diabo asks for her hand in marriage in exchange, she is heartbroken to learn that it was just a distraction so he could escape the capital, and abandon her.
Piña: "Am I not even worth bedding, nii-sama?"
Awesomeness by Analysis: Although it's not prevalent in the anime or manga versions, she has a keen mind second only to Lelei. She narrowly avoids Wrong Genre Savvy when she asks if the entirety of the JSDF army are mages because the rifles look like staves. When Lelei honestly shares her analysis of how "guns" work, Piña immediately saw through the tactics being employed by the JSDF soldiers being trained in urban warfare. Although most of her peers would laugh at the JSDF crawling along the ground, especially her father, Malt, and doubly so for Zorzal, she realized that not just the weapons but the tactics of the JSDF are vastly superior to what the Empire fields in battle, and that the Empire has no way to counter them. Further, in all iterations, except perhaps the original web novel, despite lacking intimate knowledge of politics either in Japan specifically, or the world beyond the gate as a whole, she was able to field a very sound, and surprisingly accurate theory regarding the reason why she and "guests" from the special region were being targeted when Shino angrily pressed the point. Further, the light novel version has her clearly see through Sugawara's diplomatic traps and pitfalls while engaging Senator Cicero, while Cicero himself was completely unaware, though her position as intermediary prevented her from acting on it.
Be Careful What You Wish For: Piña started the Rose Order of Knights consisting of herself and several daughters of nobles. She’s displeased about how she and her knights are used as nothing more than honor guards and other roles purely for decoration. Piña demanded that she and her order get a more active military role, so she gets assigned to scouting out Alnus Hill currently being occupied by the JSDF. Before that, Piña and her allies get roped in a battle against marauders at Italica, the second attack had her at a loss of what to do. Her first real battle happens and they nearly get overrun, proving firsthand that War Is Hell. Had it not been for the JSDF, the outcome would have been horrible, and it’s doubtful her knights would’ve made any difference since they had arrived late.
Braids of Action: She keeps her hair braided when she's leading her Knight order.
Category Traitor: Zorzal accuses her of treason because her Rose Knights dared to protect the Jade Palace according to the official Empire treaty when his Oprichnina tried to "arrest" and possibly kill both Sherry and Marquess Casel without charge or proof when they were granted asylum. This despite being locked up in Tyuule's old cell with absolutely no contact with the outside world.
The Chains of Commanding: As Malt's third child, and a woman at that, Piña felt that her leading her Rose Order of Knights was about as much leeway as she would be given being the leader of anything and even then they were used for ceremonial purposes anyway. Come time when she is named Crown Princess with all the authority and responsibility has her running away from the sheer stress of it all.
Charles Atlas Super Power: When she begins to actively resist being dragged off to the slave chambers in episode 22, it takes three strong men force her along, and when they try to shut the door on her, she is able to match them despite them pulling on the handle, pulling back with all their weight, while she grabs the lower part of the door itself lying on the floor.
Cleavage Window: Rather prominent in her armor's design in the anime.
Comically Missing the Point: Shortly after the earthquake, Emperor Malt was impressed by the fact that Piña, of all his children, was the first to reach him, and check upon his well being, as well as the fact that she took immediate and decisive action while just about everyone else was quivering like jelly. When he turns and praises her for this, she takes his metaphors a bit too literally.
Emperor Malt: You've shed your skin.
Piña: I am still wearing my skin, and it is quite intact.
- Anime version.
  Emperor Malt: You've become a bloody good character!
  Piña: Huh? I'm not bleeding anywhere.
- Anime dub version.
  Emperor Malt: You've certainly grown!
  Piña: I don't think I've gotten any taller recently.
The Comically Serious: Her earnest attitude is always milked for laughs in the more lighthearted segments, and especially when discussing "art" with Bozes or Risa.
Curtains Match the Window: Dark red hair and eyes.
Dark Horse Victory: Anime only territory, Malt officially steps down as Emperor and crowns Piña Empress at Italica, and officially declares Zorzal a full-blown traitor.
Daughter Of A Whore: An offspring of a concubine with Emperor Malt.
Despair Event Horizon: She breaks down in tears, falling into deep depression after Diabo abandoned her.
Ensign Newbie: She's the leader of the Rose Order of Knights, but she has never led any forces into battle before.
Go Through Me: Jumps in front of Diabo's chariot to try to stop him from going to the other nations to raise an army against Zorzal. He simply goes around her.
Heroic Bastard: In the manga, during the scene where Itami rescues Noriko, Zorzal makes a point of decrying her for her illegitimate birth when she tries (and fails) to get Zorzal to stand down in the face of the vastly superior JSDF weapons and skill. While Zorzal represents the worst traits of the Empire, Piña clearly embodies the best.
Hoist by His Own Petard: The very first soldiers she frees as part of the peace process between Japan and The Empire wind up becoming generals in Zorzal's army in episode 19, and do their best to see that peace between the Empire and Japan becomes an absolute impossibility, this despite being on the receiving end of Japan's military might and being fully aware of how ultimately futile war with Japan is, purely to spite Piña, their benefactor.
- What's worse, the light novel specifies that the literature she brought back from Japan is what inspires Zorzal to found the Oprichnina.
Honey Trap: Not her, personally, but she has tried, on several occasions, to have one of her most trusted subordinates outright seduce Itami to bring him to her side. First was Bozes who suffered a near terminal Honor Before Reason episode, and the second, on-screen, is Shandy who blew whatever chance she may have had by trying to kill Lelei in the service of the Pied Piper.
I Gave My Word: Has this attitude to an agreement with the JSDF to ensure safety for Third Recon Team's return to base. She was not thrilled when her own knights showed up with a tortured Itami.
Ignored Expert: Thoroughly and soundly averted. In the light novel, much as the senators wanted to disbelieve Piña's testimony regarding her experiences with Japan as being "too fantastical," none of them dared after seeing first hand what Japan's weapons can do. In the anime, some senators do voice objections to Japan's international policy regarding prisoners of war, ie, that Japan does not sell its enemies into slavery, but are quick to accede to Piña when she points out that Japan does indeed expect prisoners to be treated "humanely" and points out the rubble of the Senate building as a result of what happens when they are not.
- Played completely straight when Zorzal names himself regent, and clamps down on the "defeatist" pro-peace senators and their families.
Insult Backfire: When she angrily condemns the utterly despicable, and ultimately suicidal "strategy" the three generals advise Zorzal to use by stating, point blank, that having the three of them freed from Japanese custody was a mistake, they turn, smile, and thank her for the "compliment."
Know When to Fold 'Em: After seeing the strength of Japan's military, she realized the only way for her people to survive is to make peace with Japan instead of fighting it. Too bad most of her peers think this approach is cowardice instead of wisdom even if it is what keeps them alive and not filled with hot lead.
Laughing Mad: In episode 24, when brought before Zorzal, in chains, accused of treason because her Knight Order dared to defend the Jade Palace in accordance with the Empire's own treaty, she outright laughed at the sheer idiocy of Zorzal and his three stooges.
Made a Slave: If the title of episode 22 is to be believed (as well as the stinger of episode 21) then Piña is not just arrested but enslaved by Zorzal at the end of episode 21. She's even shown wearing chains. Episode 22 takes it a step further. Zorzal has her locked up in Tyuule's room at the end of the episode, wearing the same rags Tyuule used to. One can only hope Itami gets to her first, before Zorzal makes her go through everything else Tyulle went through.
Modesty Shorts: Wears a pair under her miniskirt as part of her regular outfit in the anime.
No Indoor Voice: As a child, she had trouble keeping her voice down.
Not So Above It All:
- While figuring out what to do after her knight order mistreated Itami, she drew faces of Bozes and Panache and doodled on them while writing down her own thoughts. She rips up her work though before anyone could find out.
- The earthquake in episode 13 scares the hell out of her, though she tries to put on a brave face for her subordinates. She begs Itami and Sugawara (who are used to earthquakes and are unafraid) to stay by her side in the aftermath.
Perpetual Frowner: Her peers note that she is serious all the time and hardly ever gives a real smile.
Politically-Active Princess: Is mostly involved with diplomacy with Japan and the peace arrangements between the Empire and Japan.
Politically Incorrect Hero: She's undoubtedly a good guy, but since she's been raised on the Empire's values, she has trouble wrapping her head around the concept of slavery being wrong. She also had trouble understanding why Itami and the others got so angry when they found out Noriko was Zorzal's slave until the Senate building gets bombed to rubble and she fully realizes Lelei's words: The Empire didn't just step on a griffon's tail, it stole its cubs too.
Punny Name: Yes, really. Some translations have added a "Not Making This Up" Disclaimer when her name is mentioned. The story does try to justify it with other names with a similar style and a few other Special Area residents are also named like alcoholic drinks (e.g. Beefeater, Shandy, Sherry, Malt, and Mimoza).
Rape as Drama: Repeatedly. In addition to her fears at Italica, she testifies that Zorzal once climbed into her bed and tried to "convince himself" that he's as virile as the "heroes" he admires, and again when she was in chains, imprisoned by the Oprichnina.
Rebellious Princess: Known to be a troublemaker.
Redeeming Replacement: To Emperor Malt and Zorzal of course, being open-minded, wise, and competent enough to run the Empire (or what's left of it following Zorzal's coup and the civil war) despite her lack of experience. This also extends to her Rose Knights, who did a much better job at being professional military officers than Zorzal's men. It also helps that they were the first Imperial soldiers to act chummy with the JSDF.
Reluctant Ruler: She emphatically does not want to take over the Empire and become Empress. Part of her primary reason for hanging out with Itami, and going to Japan, is that this gives her a convenient excuse to avoid the position. Ironically, this is the second thing that makes her the best possible candidate for the job (the rest of her family being assholes is the first).
Rescue Romance: In the light novel, when she insists on traveling with Itami to Kunapnui in volume 7, chapter 2, she makes explicitly clear that she holds romantic feelings for him because he rescued her from Zorzal, after she was abandoned by Diabo. Leilei, Tuka, Rory, and Yao are all clearly not pleased.
Royals Who Actually Do Something: Actually leads the defenders in Italica, on the front lines, as well as negotiating with Japan, personally, and the reason she was in Italica? She was scouting out Alnus Hill and the JSDF, a task that she excelled in.
Shameful Strip: Implied in Episode 22 of anime: after Helm, Mudra, and Kurasta gave her a slave rag and a black chain next shot we see her is her being dragged off to slave chamber, clad only in the slave rags and chains- meaning she might had to strip naked in front of them before putting on the rags. Helm, Mudra and Kurasta clearly have no objections in humiliating her before her imprisonment.
Shower of Angst: Although she's in a bath, not a shower (as The Empire doesn't have running water), she does this in episode 20 over her utter helplessness at stopping either Zorzal or Diabo from running The Empire into the ground, due to their sheer idiocy, and dooming the citizens, not to mention watching all her efforts at peace negotiations with Japan go up in smoke. This is also heavily prevalent in the opening of the anime's second season, which wisely combines it with Troubled Fetal Position (so she can sit naked a bathtub full of water and still not show off anything inappropriate).
Skewed Priorities: One of the reasons she decides to mediate the negotiations between the Empire and Japan is to establish a steady supply of japanese "art".
The So-Called Coward: Her brother, Zorzal, openly accuses her of "cowardice" in chapter 48 of the manga, and his "generals" call her "a defeatist" in episode 24 of the anime. The former is because she rescued his soldiers through diplomacy rather than through military conquest, and the latter was because she outright laughed at their Insane Troll Logic and sheer idiocy in thinking that she, despite being isolated in the castle, and later locked in a cell with absolutely no contact with the outside world, was in complete control of the actions of the Rose Order of Knights, and since the knights withdrew from the vast numerical superiority of imperial troops, they must be hiding something.
The Strategist: She briefly plays this role during the defense of Italica. Of note is that Itami and third recon specifically point out that inexperienced or not, every aspect of her battle-plan from troop position to barricade and fortification is perfectly sound, and even a far more seasoned veteran would have a hard time doing something better, given the resources at hand. She even had reinforcements en route. Unfortunately, they would not have arrived in time to do any good, and both Itami and Piña knew that, so Itami called in reinforcements of his own.
Tomboy Princess: She started to "play knights" with other noble females at age 10. They eventually became the Rose Order of the Knights.
Unexpected Successor: To Malt, at the surprise of everyone, including herself. Under normal circumstances, being both a woman and an illegitimate child would disqualify her without question. The circumstances are clearly not normal, however. Zorzal is an Inadequate Inheritor directly responsible for Malt's poisoning and threatening Empire citizens. Diabo ran away. So Emperor Malt put the crown on her head, firmly against her wishes.
When She Smiles: During the rare times she gives a real smile, her peers note that she looks much more beautiful. At one point, two nobles who were wary of her immediately tried to court her after she smiled.
Wise Beyond Their Years: Combined with Child Prodigy and A Child Shall Lead Them. The light novel specifically mentions that she founded the Rose Order of Knights at age 10 simply because women could not get military training. Emperor Malt decided to humor her by giving her an old, abandoned building she could use as a base, and a few knight bodyguards. This would prove to be one of his very few good decisions, as everyone who trained at that knight order would go on to become model empire citizens at whatever profession they undertook, regardless of gender or background, even if they only "played" with Piña for three days. When the nobles who allowed their children to go there saw this, they began to actively support her, of their own volition, and recommended their friends and neighbors to send their children too. The one who benefited most, however, is Piña herself as she became an excellent soldier, diplomat, and skilled, if inexperienced commander able to take immediate decisive action in times of crisis, and stand by her decisions, right or wrong. She might even have made a fine empress, but sadly, this was not meant to be. At least for now.
Yaoi Fangirl: Develops an appreciation for Japanese "art". The prequel manga reveals that while a child in training, she would sometimes fantasize about Grey and the other male knights kissing each other and stuff.

Bozes Co Palesti

Voiced by: Yumi Uchiyama (Japanese), Patricia Duran (English)

A member of Piña's Rose-Order of Knights and the second daughter of Marquis Palesti. Has a thing for Tomita.

Adaptational Modesty: In the manga, her nightgown is see-through. In the anime, it is not.
Babies Ever After: Her moonlighting liaisons with Tomita eventually gets her pregnant with their daughter Mai.
Bitch Slap: She slaps Itami after she goes to his bedroom in a nightgown only to be ignored by him.
Dull Surprise: Bozes is rather unsurprised at the possibility of being pregnant, which is justified considering just how much she and Tomita have gone night crawling.
Easily Forgiven: For all her wrongdoings and mistreatment of Itami, she isn't given a severe punishment and is only rebuked by the Princess (who also threw a cup at her head in frustration). Subverted when it turns out that cup hit her on the head, and caused her to bleed, giving her a small scar.
Honey Trap: Piña sends her to seduce Itami to make him forget the small mishap of being inhumanely treated due to miscommunication. She says that as a daughter of a noble, she has been trained in such matters.
Honor Before Reason: She was ignored by Itami and, despite knowing that he's an important figure, she still slaps him.
Idiot Ball: The first incident can understandably be brushed aside since she and her unit had no idea about the peace treaty. The second incident.... not so much. Despite knowing how important it was to treat Itami and his men (but especially Itami) with respect and safety, she ends up slapping him because he along with everyone else in the room was ignoring her when she prepared herself to sleep with him. The Princess' reaction to finding out about this is priceless.
Ignore the Fanservice: She shows up at Itami's room in a nightgown to seduce him, on Piña's orders. Unfortunately, Itami and the squad are in the middle of an impromtu mixer with the House Formal maids and completely ignore her. She's so humiliated, she hits Itami with a Bitch Slap.
Karma Houdini: Reconstructed. After assaulting Itami in a breach of peace, she gets lambasted by Piña and humiliatingly forced into a Honey Trap plot, only to assault Itami again in frustration when it fails. A terrified Piña drags her before JSDF to help beg for forgiveness, but neither either they or Itami are remotely interested in pressing charges, meaning Bozes suffers no retaliation, but her and Piña's pitiful attempts at setting it aside were All for Nothing.
Leeroy Jenkins: After the JSDF break the siege at the Jade Palace, she rushes off alone to free Princess Piña from prison. She fails, due to the large number of guards blocking her way, and is almost killed in the attempt.
Mugging the Monster: Because she was not aware of the peace treaty, she treated Itami and his soldiers like common enemies and even tortured him on their way back to Italica. Keep in mind, this was just after a squadron of attack helicopters had slaughtered the army besieging Italica. Luckily for everyone involved, Itami and his squad were the peaceful, understanding sorts who realized that it was simply a case of bad communication and didn't report it.
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:
- Due to her and her fellow unit not knowing about the peace agreement between the JSDF and Italica, they disrespect and even torture Itami when they cross paths during their return to Alnus. Naturally, the princess was not pleased that the treaty was violated so soon and harshly rebuked her. Thankfully, Itami and the JSDF understand that it was a legitimate misunderstanding, much to Piña's relief as she was worried that the JSDF would immediately attack them and since she has already witnessed their power, she knew her forces wouldn't have a chance in hell. Note: It's lampshaded that The Empire, under her father, often uses the tiniest treaty violations as an excuse to wage war on the violators, and her council in Italica specifically worries that the JSDF would emulate this tactic.
- Mere hours after that takes place, Piña orders Bozes to sleep with Itami to not only apologize for her mistreatment earlier but to also get Itami to fall for her, therefore making him an ally. Unfortunately, Piña never expected Bozes to injure Itami once again after the former was being ignored (she is the daughter of a Duke, the idea of someone of her status being ignored is unthinkable in their world). This sends the Princess into a state of no hope as she worries that Itami will report back to his superiors about his mistreatment and begins to plot how to get Itami on her side.
Oh, Crap!: Has this reaction when Yanagida tells Piña that he was aware on how Itami got his scars (See Nice Job Breaking It, Hero).
Ojou Ringlets: Itami first identifies her as "drillhair".
Undying Loyalty: To Piña. If need be, she will die protecting her princess.
Wacky Cravings: The first sign Bozes is pregnant? Craving sour candies.
Yaoi Fangirl: Develops an appreciation for Japanese "art". The prequel manga reveals that while a child in training, she would sometimes fantasize about Grey and the other male knights kissing each other and stuff.

Hamilton Uno Ror

Voiced by: Ikumi Hayama (Japanese), Shanae'a Moore (English)

Princess Piña's page who is two years younger than her.

Adaptational Curves: She is flat-chested in the manga, but not in the anime.
Butt-Monkey: She finds herself in this embarrassing situations many times because of Piña.
Cloudcuckoolander's Minder: She tried to be this to Piña, especially in her spin-off manga, but Piña's authority overrules everything she tries to say.
Covert Pervert: Implied by Piña, as she says that Hamilton's the only one with a fiance and would know about the JSDF's "Rod of Steel".

Beefeater E Caty

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/60568.jpg

Voiced by: Mutsumi Tamura (Japanese)

Another of Piña's knights, as well as the first to be recruited to the order.

Bridal Carry: Ends up on the receiving end of this from Col. Kengun, as his unit saves her and Bozes from the pursuing imperials, and is visibly pleased with the experience.
Cool Big Sis: She often plays this role among the Knights, and to Sherry.
Curtains Match the Windows: Brown hair and eyes.
Likes Older Men: Is implied to be a "fathercon" in the novels and just helps in her attraction to Kengun.
Minion Shipping: She's not immune to this. In Episode 24, she's paired up with Colonel Kengun after he rescued her.
Number Two: Becomes this to Bozes after the latter becomes an effective head to the Order when Piña gets arrested and Grey is off at Rondel with Itami.
Punny Name: Just like Piña, she's named after a drink.
Rescue Romance: Is on the receiving end.
Shipper on Deck: Fully supports Sugawara+Sherry.

Grey Co Aldo

Voiced by: Itaru Yamamoto (Japanese), Rob Mungle (English)

An imperial knight assigned under Princess Piña.

Adaptational Attractiveness: A bald, fat and not particularly attractive old man in the original novels and manga, he's been turned into a gracefully aged eye-candy in the anime.
Amusing Injuries: Whenever he (accidentally) angers the princess (or actually be around her for the matter of fact) in the spin-off manga, Piña leaves a few marks on him.
Assassin Outclassin': Combined with Big Damn Heroes in episode 19. He defeats a crossbow wielding assassin going after Lelei, right before she gets shot in the head.
Big Damn Heroes: In Episode 19, Grey saves Lelei from an assassin by ramming him with his sword.
Drill Sergeant Nasty: He has led the Rose Order's training from the very beginning, and by Piña's own request didn't pull any punches.
Dynamic Entry: Makes one in Episode 19 by ramming an assassin with his sword.
Eye Scream: Falls victim to this by Piña in her spin-off.
I Was Quite a Looker: From Piña's spin-off manga, he was skinny and had hair. Quite a change as the spin-off only took place about 10 years before the original series. He really let himself go.
Knighting: Some time before the story starts, but Grey once mentioned that he was knighted for his battlefield achievements.
Knight in Shining Armor: Made Imperial Knight before the JSDF came to the world. When fighting at the Battle of Italica, Piña says that his safety was never in doubt.
Murder Is the Best Solution: Actually justified. When it comes to protecting Lelei, he ran a sword through an assassin's chest. To protect Piña, he's perfectly willing to kill Zorzal.
Number Two: To Piña, in fact if not necessarily in theory.
Old Retainer: Watches over Piña and her order from its very inception.

Zorzal El Caesar

Voiced by: Katsuyuki Konishi (Japanese), Kregg Dailey (English)

Prince of the Royal family in the Empire. Second son to the emperor. He is extremely vain and arrogant, often thinking of himself and his own benefits.

0% Approval Rating: Akusho residents really loathe this jackass. The Imperial commoners also want to express their disapproval but are unable to due to the eyes and ears of Zorzal's "Oprichnina".
Adaptational Nice Guy: The anime version in comparison to his portrayal in other medium. He's a still despicable villain in the anime, he appears a bit nicer due to toning down his actions and is given a Freudian Excuse.
Adaptation Dye-Job: In the light novel artwork he has long white hair, but in the manga and anime he has shorter blonde hair.
Antagonistic Offspring: In all incarnations, Zorzal loathes his father, Malt, especially after the latter backs off from a suicidal pro-war stance against Japan, if for no other reason than to buy time to gather intel and form counter-measures to Japan's overwhelming martial superiority. The light novel ramps this up, however, by having him both present and specifically order Tyuule and her "contacts" to both attempt assassinating Noriko, and poison Emperor Malt, not only so he can take the throne, but that he can claim the glory he thinks he deserves by warring against and conquering Japan, or die trying at any rate.
Arch-Enemy: He has made a lot of enemies over the course of the story but nobody hate him more than the JSDF, Lelei (in the manga), Piña, and especially Tyuule.
Artistic License – Military: In-universe. Zorzal is absolutely confounded upon finding out that the chain of command does not allow him to punish his troops any way he sees fit, and that a military tribunal is not a Kangaroo Court where he can summarily decide guilt or innocence beforehand, and was utterly annoyed that Piña kept "nagging" him regarding proper procedure. Once he finished setting up lackeys in key strategic government positions, he decided to "fix" that.
Asshole Victim: Weep not for this nasty piece of work when he gets beaten to a bloody pulp by Kuribayashi or shanked by Tyuule.
Be Careful What You Wish For: After holding Piña hostage, Zorzal began bragging about how invincible he believes himself to be, and because he has a giant armored troll under his employ, he believes the JSDF stand no chance against him. He taunts for the JSDF to come and try to face him as he'll wipe them out. Cue Rory busting open the door with Itami and Lelei in tow, then proceeds to kill said giant troll.
Becoming the Mask: According to Diabo, Zorzal's image as a self-absorbed hedonist was intentionally created to hide the fact that he's actually pretty smart. Unfortunately, also according to Diabo, Zorzal played the role a little too well and it's more a part of him than he's probably aware.
Big Bad: He's one of the main antagonists of the original series and a Big Bad Wannabe at the same time, being a vile, despicable, sex-crazed Dirty Coward of a prince and a gigantic thorn on the heroes' side who instigated the destruction of Tyuule's tribe, formed a coup d'etat against his own family, and nearly destroyed the Empire in an attempt to win the war against the JSDF and its allies. Ironically, Itami and the girls met him a few times, and it was Tyuule who killed him instead of them.
Big Eater: Lampshaded. Two "hamburgers" large enough to require two hands to hold are not enough to sate his appetite. Furata, being well aware of this, prepared several more in reserve, to warm up while he's eating the first two, so Zorzal would eat them fresh. Zorzal does not spare any compliments for Furata's foresight.
Bullying a Dragon: Okay Zorzal, you just seen your entourage gutted like pigs in a slaughterhouse and royal guards turn into ground chuck with weapons far beyond your ken and YOU'RE STILL TALKING SHIT?!
- When he assumes the throne, he does everything in his power to completely destroy any chance of peace with Japan despite the fact Japan can easily wipe their entire kingdom off the map.
The Caligula: He's a terrible ruler whose suicidal war against Japan ends up destroying his own empire.
Coitus Uninterruptus: See his Establishing Character Moment. Zorzal doesn't bother to stop when he receives Count Marcus with some important news, only sending Tyuule off because he is bored with her.
Corrupted Character Copy: He's a worse version of Gilgamesh from Fate. They're both blond and highly arrogant within positions of power (Zorzal being a prince of the Empire and Gilgamesh being the king of Uruk), but while Gilgamesh is able to back up his arrogance, Zorzal acts like he's the best there is but easily folds if the odds are against him. Both prefer to act upon their own terms and have taken on the role as antagonists, but while Gilgamesh has shown himself to be a Jerk with a Heart of Gold in other media as well as mature from his days as a tyrant, Zorzal is consistently a villain and dies a fate befitting of how much of a shitstain he is.
Cut Himself Shaving: Uses the "fell down the stairs" to explain his post-beating appearance.
Deliberate Values Dissonance: In the anime, he has a rare moment of clarity, after his beating he finds himself wishing he'd been "nicer" to Noriko. Tyuule then invokes this trope by telling him that he did a good thing by saving Noriko from being shared by many men, and giving her the "honor" of being chosen by him. Naturally, Noriko and the audience don't share Tyuule's view of the situation. (Then again, Tyuule probably doesn't believe it herself, and was most likely trying to goad Zorzal into making further mistakes.)
Dirty Coward: Talks a big game when he's got numbers on his side, but pit him against a technologically advanced opponent who's also better versed in combat and decimates those numbers, he crumbles easily.
Equal-Opportunity Evil: Another way for him to revel in his jackassery. Marcus tells him it's unbecoming of the heir prince to sexually engage half-beasts. Zorzal cheerfully explains that he considers himself an "enlightened gentleman" and sees Fantastic Racism as idiotic arguments that stop him from doing whatever he wants to anybody he wants.
Establishing Character Moment: Prince Zorzal is introduced brutally raping the rabbit woman Tyuule, the queen of her people, who gave herself up to him in exchange for saving her people... which, unbeknownst to her, has been destroyed years before and the Prince lies as if it is still around.
Evil Gloating: In episode 22, he has Tyuule deliver a "message" to Piña before the Preatorian guard locks her in Tyuule's old room. "You lose." It's considerably worse in the light novel at the end of volume 8.
Evil Is Hammy: His speech when he takes over as Emperor looked pretty hammy on the manga. But the anime really puts his bombastic ways into overdrive, and really drives the ham beyond the horizon line.
False Flag Operation: He accepts the "advice" of his generals to do a primitive two prong version of this in episode 19. Have orcs and goblins attack towns near Alnus, posing as bandits, and have imperial soldiers impersonating JSDF while attacking empire citizens. While he does recognize the vastly superior military might of the JSDF, he utterly fails to grasp the vastly superior logistics, communications, intelligence gathering, forensics, and tactical ability that the JSDF can bring to bear. As such, this "unethical" tactic may work for one or two battles but is ultimately self-destructive as the JSDF will very quickly find a way to counter it, and provide solid proof of the empire's wrongdoing. To wit, by the midpoint of episode 20, the JSDF is already well aware that Zorzal's running a guerilla war against them, and they don't hesitate to tell visiting armed powers about it.
Fan Disservice: His muscular physique would normally be nice to look at...if it weren't for the fact that he was a vile rapist.
Fingore: Courtesy of Kuribayashi. We get an upfront view of how his fingers are not bending the way they should, in the manga. The anime avoids this completely.
For the Evulz: He tells Tyuule in volume 8 that he deliberately broke his word regarding the Warrior Bunnies, and left evidence of his wrongdoing just to torment Tyuule, expecting her to become enraged and come at him so he could have the satisfaction of beating her down. When that fails to have the desired effect, he not only beats his other slaves to death in a rage, he arranges to have Tyuule gang raped right in front of Italica, just to break her mind.
Freudian Excuse: The anime, and manga gives him one. As a small child, he was forced to watch his older half-brother beaten and tortured to death by Malt, his own father.
General Ripper: He is so bent on trying to defeat Japan that he will take any means to do so. Since he knows he can't win a direct fight, he happily takes the advice to have orc and goblin armies attack the towns near Alnus, having his troops disguised as JSDF attacking empire citizens, and even arranging for shape-shifting creatures to infiltrate the human population, much like the Faceless.
Godhood Seeker: In episode 24, he mentions that when he defeats the JSDF, he will become "the ultimate being." Rory found this highly amusing, especially when Itami proved just how wrong he is.
Harmful to Minors: His own father beat and tortured his half-brother to death in front of him.
Hate Sink: He has no redeeming qualities and exists to show the Empire's worst traits.
He-Man Woman Hater: The only thing he likes about women is enslaving and raping them. Even his own sister, Piña is not safe.
Heroic Build: While he's the exact opposite of a hero, he has an Adonis-like physique, plus, in the manga and light novels, he towers over even the 6'3'' Mari Kurokawa.
Heroic Wannabe: As mentioned by several characters, including himself, all his heinous behavior is because he's emulating "heroes" he admires from Empire history, further enforced by books brought from Earth, and he wants to be, or at least be recognized as a "hero."
Hoist by His Own Petard: His accepting of the "brilliant" strategy put forth by Helm and placing Oprichkni "morale officers" in charge of his armed forces ultimately does far more harm to his army than the JSDF's righteous fury. Not only do the Oprichkniks force the soldiers to engage in utterly pointless suicidal charges against the JSDF's heavy armor, once the morale breaks completely, the soldiers have nowhere to run, as the very civilians they've been raping, pillaging, and plundering turn their undying hatred upon them, chase them down and hack them to pieces. To add insult to injury, soldiers surrendering and being taken captive is actually the one thing that manages to slow down the JSDF advance, even slightly. Of course, Zorzal doesn't care about any of that.
Honor Before Reason: He saw first hand how powerful the Japanese forces are (thanks to Kuribayashi), yet believes the Empire would still win the fight and turns down notions for negotiations.
Hypocrite: His establishing character moment has him linking the well being of Tyuule's people to her "ability to satisfy him" so that she's compelled to humiliate herself and let him rape and abuse her, but when he hears that Japan has imperial nobles as prisoners and is negotiating their release with certain senators, he calls the Japanese "cowards." Worse, he condemns the "pro-peace" senators, and has them arrested, for not wanting war "because they lost a few battles," but when he's actually getting a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown, personally, he begs for mercy.
I Can Still Fight!: When his guards did not want to go into combat with Rory, and after his pet ogre was summarily executed by Lelei and Rory, he goes to challenge Itami directly... until a sniper goes and shows him how easy it would be to shatter Zorzal's delusions of godhood, permanently.
Ignorant of His Own Ignorance:
- He spent so much time and effort supposedly pretending to be an idiotic hedonist Inadequate Inheritor that he completely neglected to actually watch and learn how the Empire government works, despite living in the palace and being in near-constant proximity to the Emperor. After the events of chapter 48 of the manga, volume 5, chapter 2, of the light novel, and episode 13 of the anime, he basically spends all his time simply acting as if the Empire runs according to how he imagines it should, completely ignoring or lashing out at anything or anyone that dares so much as question this view.
- Also, since the vast majority of his sexual experience with women, if not his only experience, is with his Sex Slave harem, who can not refuse, object, complain, or leave, until after he's disposed of them, has led him to conclude that he's a walking Sex God. He very briefly snaps out of this mindset after his encounter with Kuryiabashi, until he, once again, decides to sexually assault Tyuule, in Diabo's presence.
- The ultimate form in which this manifests is through his completely unwavering pro-war stance against Japan. While most of the "pro-war" faction in The Empire holds this view, because they have a 600-year history of being able to outfight, outnumber, or both, any and all opposition has made them grow haughty, most can realize that this clearly does not apply to Japan, especially after having Japan's vastly superior might demonstrated to them, even Malt. Zorzal's unique in this because despite his constant defeats and beatdowns, he still insists that he can and will win, and everyone who disagrees is merely a "cowardly defeatist" because he has overcome defeats before, by using very underhanded means, just ask Tyuule.
Ignored Epiphany: When the JSDF's politically motivated shackles fall away, and they fight back against his atrocities in earnest, tearing through all his plans, fortifications, and vaulted "invincible" defenses like paper, he very briefly realizes just how correct the Pro-peace faction is, and how wrong he was to call them "defeatists" and cowards. Once he hears the praises of the Pro-war senators, who may only be cheering him because of the Oprichnina, he immediately goes back to thinking he's unstoppable.
I Know You Know I Know: At the end of Volume 8, it's revealed that he deliberately left evidence of his wrongdoing regarding the Warrior Bunnies in places where Tyuule would find it, so he could utterly break her. Then he has the gall to get angry when he learns that she betrays him.
I Lied: The man's word is quite meaningless. In addition to his treatment of the Warrior Bunnies, and Tyuule, he disregards Imperial treaties the moment they go against his wishes, enslaved Piña after telling her he had no intention of arresting her, and hired "The Pied Piper" to assassinate Lelei after publicly proclaiming that he wanted to reward her for being party to slaying the Fire Dragon.
- In the manga, he never intended to spare the pacifist senators or their families, he and his "loyal" Oprichniks only rounded them up for the sake of making a public Kangaroo Court show trial and then executing them. Any senator that was killed for "resisting" was all due to the Oprichniks themselves storming their homes, killing the residents and then declaring them "guilty" afterwards.
I'm a Humanitarian: While it's not known if he actually enjoys Human Resources, one of the things he does to his Sex Slaves is take bites out of their bodies. Those bandages on Noriko's face? They're to cover bite wounds. Tyuule has the distinct displeasure of being bitten everywhere on her body, on a near-nightly basis, for over three years. And Zorzal thinks he can trust everything she says because she always praises his ego. It makes it all the more satisfying to see Kuribayashi deliver karmic justice by knocking Zorzal's teeth out.
I Meant to Do That: While omitted from the manga and anime adaptations, the real reason The Oprichnina became a Reign of Terror is a combination of Zorzal's deliberate shake-up of the Senate to disable the checks and balances of the Empire's government for his own benefit and his carelessness in drafting the original legislation. The legislation was duly submitted and returned to him after having its flaws pointed out, but because Zorzal couldn't be bothered to properly shelve it, and eat his lunch in the proper lunch room, he wound up re-submitting it, unchanged. With the Senate's chaotic situation, and the Senators fearing house arrest for defying him, it became law, at which point Zorzal, rather than admit his error, began acting as if that was his intention all along.
Inadequate Inheritor: Sure, his father can be a dick, but he at least can be reasoned with, which is hardly an observation that can be made on Zorzal. Unsurprisingly, Malt didn't even try to hide his reservations about his son, and despite later deciding not to act on them, it eventually led to him being poisoned by Tyuule, who bet on Zorzal usurping the position of his bedridden father, installing himself as a regent, and running the Empire into the ground. Which he promptly did.
Inferiority Superiority Complex: Not that it excuses him in the slightest, but Piña testifies that he's scared of even attempting to court or woo any woman of noble birth because he is certain he'd be rejected, harshly, if anyone he goes after can say "no." So he ends up venting his lusts on women who can't say no, namely sex slaves he owns and prostitutes, then hating himself for resorting to sex-slaves and prostitutes, takes his self-loathing out on them too. Tyuule preys on this by constantly praising him or feeding his ego, thus gaining his trust.
Insane Troll Logic: We're talking 31 flavors of balls-to-the-wall batshit insane. Zorzal firmly believes that Japan is the enemy that The Empire will not submit to and he will use every means necessary to win.
I Reject Your Reality: Piña points out in volume 3 that Zorzal's always believed that everything in the world runs according to his will. The sun rises and sets on his schedule, the seasons pass according to his mood, and if he says The Empire will easily defeat Japan, then the Empire will defeat Japan. She also points out that he responds with violence when this mindset is proven false. In fact, he has a long history of "making the truth his enemy." According to Piña, this even predates Tyuule.
Ironic Name: His middle name El is supposed to represent one of the twin gods of study and knowledge, Elange. Zorzal is hardly a paragon of brilliance. Although he certainly thinks he is.
It's All About Me: He's developed a massive Glory Hound complex, and eventually declares he'll kill his father and Lelei for, respectively, not praising him and stealing his thunder.
I Was Beaten by a Girl: He is so humiliated by Shino Kuribayashi kicking his ass that he lies about it to everyone, including himself.
Jerkass: An incredibly self-centered, arrogant and petty asshole.
Jerkass Has a Point: His actions in chapter 49, after the poisoning of his father, Malt are perfectly valid, and there's not a single country in fiction or reality that does not do what he did when a senior member of government is assassinated, or an attempt at assassination is made. However, the heavy-handed way in which he does it only serves to lay the seeds for his, and the Empire's complete destruction. Which is the way Tyuule wants it.
Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: Unlike his father, one of his only redeeming qualities is that he cares about and praises the Empire's soldiers. Some of them were touched that he knew them by name... only for his thoughts to reveal it's all a way of getting them to praise him so he can feed his massive ego. In the anime, he's only a "father to his men" to those who worship his ego. Everyone else gets to know how it feels to have their families held hostage by the Oprichnina. Even when he is a "father" to his troops, he's an abusive one.
Knight Templar: Zorzal's "arrest" of the Pro-peace senators is due to "bribery" from Japan, and further, Zorzal plans to put an end to the practice in the palace court as well... but he completely fails to realize that the gifts brought to him by various merchants, nobles, etc. as part of the price of being granted an audience is what the royal family lives on, and the senate lives by the same practice, always receiving gifts from the ambassadors that seek an audience with them, and it's an aspect of Empire law going all the way back to the founding. So he goes and dumps them in a pile, like trash, right in front of the visiting merchants and nobles who were granted an audience.
Laser-Guided Karma: For his rape and brutalization of Tyuule and Noriko, Zorzal himself is brutalized by Kuribayashi. His entire war effort against Japan is also a continuous Humiliation Conga to him.
Last Disrespects: The rest of his family has nothing but utter contempt for him at the end of the civil war and he's forever remembered as the worst, most evil, sadistic, and delusional egomaniac of a dictator the Empire has to offer. To add more insult to injury, his dead body is simply burned to ashes by cremation instead of being buried in a decorated funeral. Lampshaded by Piña, who sarcastically quips that the only good thing Zorzal ever did is to make the Empire realize how much their arrogance and glory-seeking habits are slowly killing them as a nation.
Leaning on the Fourth Wall: He specifically calls Furata a "minor character" in the light novel.
Lima Syndrome: While he still regularly rapes and beats Tyuule, he starts confiding in her and listens to her when she starts encouraging his ambition. He also starts prancing her around in elegant outfits and treating her as a trophy, but this is arguably much better treatment than what he originally planned for her. Of course, this all comes to an end when he feels "betrayed" because Tyuule wasn't stupid enough to just charge him in a rage after finding the proof of his oathbreaking that he intentionally wanted her to find at the end of volume 8.
Lousy Lovers Are Losers: He's a huge egomaniac and since the vast majority of his sexual experience with women, is with his Sex Slave harem, who can not refuse, object, complain, or leave, until after he's tired of them. This has led him to (wrongly) conclude that he's a Sex God, especially when Tyuule starts manipulating him and made herself his favorite Sex Slave. When she's exposed, she derisively tells him to his "vaulted" sexual prowess is nonexistent and he actually has incredibly poor sexual stamina, even when he's not being a rapist.
Make an Example of Them: After his death, Piña and the Legitimate Imperials used him as an example of what a noble should never become: an incompetent, conceited, and warmongering maniac who would put his own pride above all else and his continuous abuse of power could bring a nation to its doom.
Miles Gloriosus: He will gladly boast that he's the best thing since sliced bread, regardless of attribute or situation, and genuinely believes that any task or accomplishment that is not done in his name, including slaying a mature fire dragon, of which the head alone fills the entire throne room, is a simple task that does not deserve praise. Yet, when he actually faces a challenge, he falls apart like wet tissue paper.
Misplaced Retribution: When he's enraged that Tyuule isn't acting the way he thought she would after he deliberately let her find out about him breaking his word regarding the Warrior Bunnies, he boasts about beating several of his slaves to death, men, women, children and then prepares a ring of soldiers to have Tyuule gang-raped.
Moral Myopia: He calls anyone and everyone that wants a peaceful coexistence with Japan a coward, and believes it. Even if said person specifically mentions that it's purely for the sake of buying time. Yet, he is the first one to run, hide, and beg for mercy when the battle doesn't go his way, hides behind hostages, thinks attacking unarmed civilians among his own citizens is a "brilliant" idea, and lastly sends assassins after any, and every Imperial Citizen who is able to accomplish things he can't even dream of, like slaying a Flame Dragon, but utterly fails to see how any of that is cowardly.
Murder Is the Best Solution: He has absolutely no qualms about arresting, torturing, or especially killing anyone and everyone who doesn't worship his god, the almighty Ego of Zorzal. Unfortunately, even those who do worship at this altar may find their flesh being offered up as a sacred sacrifice. Just ask Noriko, Tyuule, or any one of his slaves and followers.
Naked on Arrival: His first appearance in the anime is coming out of his bed, naked from the waist up just after he raped Tyuule. He also doesn't bother getting dressed when talking to his servant for the rest of the scene.
The Neider Meyer: He believes the soldiers under his command serve one purpose and one purpose only, to give him as much glory as possible. Anything that doesn't fall into that role deserves harsh punishment, delivered unto the soldier's families and loved ones.
Never My Fault: Fused with Insane Troll Logic. Think Zorzal is nasty when he doesn't get his way? He's worse when he gets exactly what he asks for. At the very beginning of Volume 5 in the light novel, he makes a very public showing that the soldiers returned from Japanese captivity are more important than the peace ceremony, disrupting the entire process, and deliberately shirks his duties to go greet them in person, and by name. He is then shocked and outraged that the Emperor "ignores him" by cancelling the events with his name on them so he can spend time with the troops, as he said he wanted. Finding out about the slaying of the Flame Dragon only made this worse!
- In Volume 7, the reader learns that this mentality is actively enforced by law, at the hands of the Oprichnina.
  Godasen: I see. So the burden of failure must fall on the man at the scene?
  Oprichnik Dulles: Yes. That is so. That is why we Oprichni are here. [Dulles nodded, his belief shining in his eyes as he said so].
Obfuscating Stupidity: According to Diabo, Zorzal originally used the image of an idiotic hedonist to hide the fact that he's actually pretty smart. But thanks to Tyuule, Zorzal got too much into the role. In the light novel, he lampshades this himself, talking to Diabo. He chose to play the role of a feckless idiot to claim the throne because he suspects his father, Emperor Malt, intends to become a Shadow Dictator after stepping down and is looking for a Puppet King. Granted, this wouldn't be out of character for Malt, but unfortunately, Zorzal isn't anywhere near as smart as he thinks he is.
Oh, Crap!: Reacts like this when the JSDF start to actively take measures against him and his minions.
Omnicidal Maniac: He committed mass genocide on Tyuule's tribe and nearly caused the Empire's downfall during his campaign against the JSDF and the Legitimate Imperials, though the latter part is actually the result of his incompetence as a leader. Everyone, even his own allies, accused him as this anyway.
Once Done, Never Forgotten: Being beaten to a bloody pulp on the floor of the senate by Kuribayashi. Word spreads throughout the Imperial court, though everyone is careful to avoid mocking him in person.
Prince Charmless: A sorry excuse of a prince who lacks humility, good manners, and especially common sense.
Psychopathic Manchild: In addition to all his other negative traits, he lacks any form of maturity or discipline. In episode 23, the moment he recovers from his Villainous BSoD, he yells "Shut up!" to his three generals, and turns to Tyuule only because she's using his own Glory Hound complex against him.
Reign of Terror: What he ultimately sets up in chapter four of volume 5 of the light novel, using "The Oprichnina."
Revenge Before Reason: Spends the last part of his appearance promising to get his revenge, precisely because he's completely outclassed.
Rousing Speech: Comes just shy of being a New Era Speech. He gives a truly glorious one to the imperial army in episode 19. While the soldiers and nobles cheered him on, it is clear that the average citizens, especially the women and children, are terrified because they know full well what's coming. In the manga it is even more pronounced, as he delivered this speech to the Senate instead, where most of the Senators were visibly displeased, and when his heralds tried to proclaim it before the populace they were stoned half to death.
Self-Serving Memory: In the anime, he genuinely believes that he let Kuribayashi and Itami beat him without resistance because he was afraid that Emperor Malt would "purge" him otherwise. His flashback neglects the fact that he brutalized Noriko in front of Itami, sent the praetorian guard (or what raw recruits were acting as replacements) to attack the ambassador and Itami's group, threatened the entirety of Japan being burned to the ground, and actually took a swing at Kuribayashi before his well-deserved No-Holds-Barred Beatdown.
Serial Rapist: He just loves to force himself on Sex Slaves for no reason other than his own sick amusement or stress relief.
Shameless Fanservice Guy: After raping Tyuule the first time on screen, he deliberately makes Count Marcus uncomfortable by not bothering to dress and flaunting his manly abs and package. He does it again, sexually assaulting Tyuule in front of Diabo, even before his Kuribayashi inflicted injuries have had any kind of chance to heal.
Slavery Is a Special Kind of Evil: Combined with Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil. Tyuule, Noriko, and only the gods know how many other slaves taken captive both "legally" and "illegally" he "played with" then went and sold, or otherwise disposed of when he got bored, angry, or both.
Smug Snake: Thinks he's a hot topic in a golden cup when he's really cold diarrhea in a rusty chamber pot.
Teeny Weenie: According to Tyuule, he's rather unimpressive and she publicly mocks him for it when he confronts her after discovering her true intentions.
Teeth Flying: Again, courtesy of Kuribayashi. Not so smug when you're missing a few molars eh, Zorzal?
This Is Unforgivable!: When Zorzal learns that someone other than himself is getting praise for an accomplishment, especially when this praise coincidentally overshadows him, he dubs it an unforgivable sin, and seethes with jealous fury.
Too Dumb to Live: Still believes that the Empire can beat the JSDF despite getting the shit kicked out of him, repeatedly, not to mention actually seeing, and being in the wreckage that was once the senate building, and witnessing the destruction happen. As if that wasn't enough, he also has a bad habit of trusting the advice of a woman who has every reason to want him dead over the advice of his loyal soldiers.
Tyrant Takes the Helm: After Malt is poisoned on Tyuule's orders and until their Mutual Kill.
Ungrateful Bastard: His first, and public, response to having his soldiers returned, unharmed, as a peace gesture from Japan, thanks in large part to Piña's efforts, is to praise his men, and congratulate them on their return. As soon as he's alone with them; however, his first words to them are to seek "revenge against their honor" upon Japan, and to kill Piña "for cowardice" because she wisely advises against war with the vastly superior Japanese army that has technology far beyond anything the Empire can even begin to understand.
Unwitting Pawn: He's been played like a fiddle by just about everybody.
A Villain Named "Z__rg": With a name like Zorzal, nothing good ever happens.
Villainous Breakdown: He loses what little sanity he had in episode 24 when Itami, Lelei and Rory calmly waltz right into the throne room, seize Piña away from her captors, boldly declaring the intent to rescue her, demand that Zorzal stop sending assassins after Lelei, kill Zorzal's pet giant Ogre with ease and show him just how easy it would be for them to kill him by having a sniper put a bullet hole in the floor right in front of him with the promise that the next time he acts out, the bullet will go into his head instead. Zorzal would spend the rest of episode having auditory hallucinations of gunshots, coming for him as he flees the city, and yelling at his three "generals" to shut their mouths.
Villainous BSoD: He has an epic one in episode 23 when he sees the JSDF paratroopers. Not only is he paralyzed in terror, unable to hear the cries of his three "generals," Tyuule has to remind him that The Empire is watching, and invokes his own bloated ego to keep him from running away, and hiding in a hole somewhere. One has to wonder how he's going to handle Itami literally gunning for him in episode 24. It makes him go completely insane.
Villains Out Shopping: One of the few scenes where he isn't being an absolute nightmare of a person is where he crashes the banquet and samples a bit of Japan's cooking. After taking one bite, cue a Smash Cut to one of his saddlebags, revealing he had taken a bunch more for later, and later shows up personally to give his compliments to the chef. Even then, he takes food out of the hands of children in the light novel, and he believes he's being nice.
We Have Reserves: He doesn't just have this mindset for his troops. He has this mindset concerning the empire's citizens, in its entirety, even going so far as to order his Secret Police to burn the homes of people who rightfully don't want war with Japan. Worse, we find out in episode 22 that the entire Imperial army is loathe to follow his orders because he has the Oprichnina threatening the soldiers' families if they fail to carry out any task he orders them to do, even suicidal ones.
Would Hit a Girl: Zorzal is sadistically abusive to his female slaves. When he tries this on Kuribayashi, she effortlessly knocks him down before mounting and savagely punching his face in to a bloody pulp.
You Have Failed Me: The senator in charge of the Oprichnina units is so convinced that Zorzal has this policy that he preemptively executed the commander of the Oprichnina squadron who was routed by the Order of Rose Knights when he tried to force himself into the Jade Palace, chasing a 12-year-old girl.
You Wouldn't Shoot Me: Thinks in his mind that a gun pointed at him wouldn't hurt him despite seeing his goons and soldiers shot down.

Diabo

Voiced by: Yuichiro Umehara (Japanese)

Third child in the royal family.

Ambition Is Evil: Or at least suicidally stupid when combined with Complexity Addiction. No matter how Panache tries to dissuade him, he builds up a massive Gambit Roulette pitting Zorzal and Piña against each other as well as allying himself with China to swoop in and take control after everyone else has wiped themselves out, completely certain that he will be victorious. He completely blinds himself to all the consequences of it going wrong, or the price he'd have to pay even if everything went perfectly right.
And Now You Must Marry Me: In the light novel, when Piña comes to him for aid against Zorzal, Diabo promises to aid her, in exchange for her hand in marriage, turns out to be subverted when while she's steeling herself, bathing, and getting ready for the act, he runs away, taking only the clothes on his back and what little he can carry, having given everything else he owns away to his loyal retainers telling them to flee the capital as well.
Brother–Sister Incest: Discussed and Defied. In the light novel, Piña points out this is precisely what would happen if she were to marry him. Astonishingly, he agrees. Turns out, he was horrified when she accepted because he seriously underestimated the level of her desperation. He effectively abandons her on the altar as he flees the capital.
The Chessmaster: Between Zorzal's boorish directness and Piña's earnest attitude, Diabo is most given to scheming and plotting among the Imperial princelings.
Complexity Addiction: Piña has noticed for a long time that the schemes Diabo makes are always overly complicated and intricate, especially when simpler and more direct approaches are far more effective, available or easier to implement.
Middle Child Syndrome: In terms of ascending the throne. Zorzal has been given priority in heir to the throne as the oldest son of the siblings, while Piña also has a chance if she allies with Japan and overthrows his rule, leaving Diabo almost no chance at all to ascend to the throne unless he allies himself with another country beyond the Gate...
Screw This, I'm Outta Here: When Zorzal takes the throne, he immediately escapes from the capital to find a way to ally with foreign countries to take him down. He eventually does find help from the Chinese.
Spared by the Adaptation: In the web novel, he is killed when a rogue Chinese agent decides to blow up the gate, with Diabo being caught in the blast. In the published version, he is nowhere near the gate when it's blown up, but he is forced to repent for his sins when his scheme is discovered by the residents of Alnus. He does manage to regain their favour by working for them, and eventually ends up being the governor of Alnus.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: While he is correct that Zorzal's mad ambition needs to be stopped in episode 19, the method he chooses to do so is fraught with peril. He takes off on a chariot to rally the armies of all the other countries in the Special Region to remove Zorzal by force. Piña points out that doing so will all but ensure that imperial citizens will be captured and enslaved, and the Empire will fall, but Diabo nearly runs her over because he thinks the Empire is already doomed anyway.

Dulan

Voiced by: Masuo Amada (Japanese), Marty Fleck (English)

The king of Elbe, Dulan was part of the second wave of forces sent by the Empire to recapture Alnus hill from the JSDF "invaders". Needless to say, his forces were annihilated, and when Piña found him, he was a crippled shell of a man waiting for his death, either from the Empire or his own people.

An Arm and a Leg: What the Battle of Alnus Hill cost him.
Artificial Limbs: Got his arm and leg back when interned in a JSDF hospital.
Defiant to the End: When all his men were killed at the Battle of Alnus Hill, his final act before getting hit by an explosive was to shout "Bastards!" and fire an arrow in the JSDF's direction. He lived.
Disease Bleach: Originally had black hair but upon seeing and barely surviving the devastation caused by the JSDF...
Eyepatch of Power: Over his left eye, likely a result of a previous battle that took his eye.
Genre Savvy: See He Knows Too Much, also during the Battle of Alnus Hill he realizes that the JSDF could attack in a very large sight radius, so he orders a night raid and for the troops to continually be on the move rather than march in unified formations to spread them out. Sadly the tactical and technological gap was too far for Dulan to cross.
The Good King: Unlike Malt or Zorzal, he's a genuine Father to His Men, fights by their side on the front lines, and doesn't give a crap about rank and title when with his troops outside live combat, treating his subordinates like equals.
Heel–Face Turn: After what happened on Alnus hill, he decides to ally Elbe with Japan.
He Knows Too Much: Realizing that the Emperor has intentionally sent out the Allied nation's army to be killed in the Battle of Alnus Hill, he determined that it wouldn't be long before the Empire sends out an agent to kill him.
Inadequate Inheritor: Suspects that in his own sons, fearing that they'll throw his kingdom into a civil war over the throne after believing that he's dead, which is yet another reason to his alliance with the JSDF.
Laughing Mad: Upon seing his men annihilated on Alnus hill, he holds it together just long enough to send a final arrow at the JSDF, then breaks down in hysterical laughter, standing in place cackling until he's pasted by a mortar.
"The Reason You Suck" Speech: After being threatened by Piña to having his kingdom razed to the ground, Dulan delivers a speech that the Empire deserves to fall for provoking an unknown and extremely dangerous enemy like the JSDF.
Royals Who Actually Do Something: He led his own army to battle on Alnus hill.

Count Marcus

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

Voiced by: Ryou Sugisaki (Japanese), Andrew Love (English)

Internal Minister of the Empire. He is Emperor's Malt's trusted retainer, but isn't above some scheming behind his back.

Dragon with an Agenda: We can't tell exactly what his agenda is, but he's constantly pitting Zorzal and Malt against each other, by feeding their egos. Malt is well aware of this, Zorzal, not so much.
Everyone Has Standards: He does not approve of the way Zorzal treats his "toys," especially Tyuule, though he does nothing about it, seeing as Zorzal is the crown prince.
Oh, Crap!: Mixed with My God, What Have I Done? when Zorzal takes the throne, and immediately stops listening to his input, steamrolling over his many legally required objections to Zorzal's actions and attitude.

Marquess Casel

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/casel_gate_anime_5.jpg

Voiced by: Tomisaburou Horikoshi (Japanese)

The leader of the Imperial Senate and an important member of the pro-peace faction of the Empire

Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: She delivers a slap to Sherry to stop her from running into her burning home seeking her parents in episode 20.
Know When to Fold 'Em: Combined with Heroic Sacrifice. Surrenders himself to the Oprichnina without resistance in episode 20, if for no other reason than to buy time for Sherri to go to Sugawara, though the Rose Knights later rout the Oprichniks and release him.
Parental Substitute: Combined with Loophole Abuse. With the apparent death of Sherri's parents, he's legally Sherry's guardian in episode 21. He uses this not only to seek asylum in the Jade Palace, but to remind Sugawara to be on his best behavior, as now he's officially the "father in law."
"The Reason You Suck" Speech: Delivers a couple of these to Emperor Malt. The first of note is when he condemns Malt for sending troops in to attack Japan without using scouts of any kind, and rightfully bemoaning the loss of 60% of the Imperial army. Malt shrugs that off as effectively "crying over spilled milk." The second, far more noteworthy, is when he rails Malt over Japan's response to learning that Japanese citizens were kidnapped and sold into slavery by The Empire before the war even began, which is apparently a crime even by Imperial standards, (going purely by the shocked response of the senate) and since Malt couldn't even begin to defend either himself or the criminal acts of his son, Zorzal, Piña was called forth to testify, and (at least in the light novel) she would go on to terrify the entirety of the Senate with the marvels and wonders of the land named "Japan" and the full breadth of the might she witnessed first hand.

Cicero La Moltose

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

Voiced by: Susamu Akagi (Japanese)

An Imperial aristocrat who wields power among the senate. He is aligned with the pro-war faction.

At Least I Admit It: In Volume 7, Cicero, along with his fellow rescued senators, bemoan Zorzal's rule, and the "strategy" he's using to wage war with Japan. Not entirely because he's cowardly killing off loyal, unarmed Empire citizens, but because he's lying about it, and trying to shift the blame to others by his clumsy attempts to frame the JSDF. Even then, this is for pragmatic as opposed to moral reasons because even should Zorzal win, he'd have to run the entire Empire with a reign of terror, constantly suppressing the truth, whereas in previous engagements, the Empire soldiers would openly declare their conduct, good, bad, or ugly, so the citizens could trust their word.
Know When to Fold 'Em: After having Japan's modern weapons demonstrated to him, and several other "pro-war" senators who were willing to listen to reason, even going so far as to actually use those weapons on a make-shift range, and seeing what they do to targets, he was very quick to decide that taking on Japan in battle is a very bad idea.
Man of Wealth and Taste: He was very quick to understand Japan's level of technological achievement when he laid eyes on Sugawara's gifts of fine clothing, wine, and ornate silverware.
Officer and a Gentleman: He might be an opposition, but this is precisely the reason Sugawara tries to win him towards the Japanese side.
Reasonable Authority Figure: Despite being on the "pro-war" faction, wanting to drive Japan off Alnus Hill using military force, he is still open to negotiations with their diplomats. Even more so when his nephew is among the list of those who were captured in Japan and being offered freedom in exchange for The Empire's goodwill.

Zorzal's three generals: Helm, Mudra, and Kurasta.

Three of the army prisoners that were freed by Piña as part of the peace process. She would come to regret choosing their three names, among the 10 that she was allowed.

Aristocrats Are Evil: At least one member of this trio, Helm, is the son of a noble, and he's the point-man for the extremely distasteful "strategy" presented to Zorzal.
Bullying a Dragon: Any single member of the Rose Order of Knights could have easily taken on and beaten all three of them at once, doubly so for the Princess. They insult the order as a whole, and the Princess herself, in particular, at every opportunity. It's only because Piña was not in a position where she could throttle them that they got away with it.
Easy Impersonation: They believe that just because they were prisoners in Japan, they can easily match the JSDF's uniforms, mannerisms, and behavior so as to frame them for Imperial wrongdoing and ruin Japan's reputation. By the start of Volume 7, the JSDF is not only able to spot this ploy a mile away, they're able to provide hard evidence, irrefutable even to the very "bleeding heart" anti-military press.
Eyes Always Shut: In childhood, Helm kept his eyes closed all the time except when he became serious in battle. He lost this habit with many good qualities. when he has grown up.
Fallen Hero: The prequel manga shows that Helm was one of the first peoples to join the Rose Order of Knights and was nice, serious and only non-perverted of the boys. He also had great respect for Piña for her skill in battle and was more than willing to risk his life to save commoners without any order. When he appears in the main storyline, he Took a Level in Jerkass, happily suggests slaughtering imperial subjects, and has no respect for his former commander.
False Flag Operation: Part of their "countermeasure" for Japan's overwhelming military might is a two-pronged attack on civilians, first using conscripted demi-humans disguised as bandits to attack civilian establishments, and second, having human imperial troops disguised as merchants and refugees, both infiltrate Arnus and take hostages to prevent counter-attacks while trying to make the JSDF look at fault.
Honor Before Reason: For a certain measure of "honor." Despite facing the JSDF head-on, and knowing a fight with Japan, a fight they provoked, is completely unwinnable, they want to fight anyway, even if that means employing highly unethical and underhanded means.
Implausible Deniability: Their tactic relies heavily upon thinking that Japan would not be able to prove conscripted Demi-humans posing as bandits are actually working under Imperial decree. This completely falls apart by the start of Volume 7, as nobody even among the "loyal" citizens believes it, only kept from acting due to Zorzal's secret police.
Insane Troll Logic: They want to "avenge their honor" upon Japan, by acting very dishonorably. Namely attacking Empire citizens and trying to frame the JSDF for it.
Miles Gloriosus: They are just as boastful, smug, and incompetent as Zorzal, and fold even more easily when challenged directly.
Rage Against the Mentor: The light novel reveals that Kurasta was in the Rose Order of Knights, trained by Piña personally, and had previously acted in a noble, just, and upright manner, but was quick to throw it all away after a single defeat against an enemy (Japan) that he provoked.
Smug Snake: They believe themselves vastly superior to Princess Piña on every level, and make no attempt to hide their contempt for her.
Sustained Misunderstanding: Due to a mix of Culture Clash and Language Barrier. The Manga makes clear that during their time in Japan's captivity, they dreaded their next day would be their last, since this is usually the fate of any Imperial Soldier that's captured on the battlefield and not sold into slavery, if not outright marked for ransom. Since Japan couldn't speak their native language at the time, there was no way to correct this interpretation.
Those Two Guys: They always appear together.
Undying Loyalty: Sadly, to Zorzal because of his one Pet the Dog moment where, from their perspective, he greeted them by name and washed away the ignominy of being captured in battle. Unfortunately, even though Zorzal believes his kindness is genuine, he only did it to hear them praise his bloated ego.
Ungrateful Bastard: In return for Piña's efforts to gain their freedom, they seek to spite her at every opportunity, starting with the attempt to make peace between The Empire and Japan an outright impossibility, despite facing a sample of Japan's might first hand.
Virtue Is Weakness: Every single one of them believes that acting honorably, in a just and upright manner is a luxury, and are quick to throw it away when they're facing a vastly superior opponent. Granted, this would make sense if Japan was a vicious war-mongering country that wanted conquest above all else, but considering that Japan would prefer peaceful co-existence with the Empire, and seeks only to redress the Empire's wrongdoing, their extreme position is only likely to doom their people. Not that they care.
War Is Glorious: They all consider anyone who wants peace a "defeatist" at best, and a traitor at worst, despite knowing full well that war with Japan is the ultimate exercise in futility.

General Rufrus

The lead officer in charge of Zorzal's Oprichnina.

Dragon-in-Chief: He runs the Oprichnina, and answers directly to Zorzal, or Zorzal's chosen representative, often Tyuule.
It's All About Me: Innocent people might get killed because of Zorzal's mad schemes? Soldiers under his command have an all-time low morale because of Zorzal's paranoia? Screw that, Rufus's glory and position are all that matters.
You Have Failed Me: He preemptively kills any leading member of the Oprichnina who fails to carry out Zorzal's wishes to prevent Zorzal being mad at himself.

Sherry Nol Thierry

Voiced by: Rina Hidaka (Japanese), Luci Christian (English)

Daughter of the Thierry nobles, who are close to Marquis Casel, leader of the Senate.

Armor-Piercing Question: Fires these off like bullets out of a machine gun to get Piña out of her funk and on the imperial throne.
Beware the Nice Ones: She's generally a sweet, sensitive child, but she has a bottomless well of cunning and cruelty to draw from when her anger is roused, and she's exceptionally patient in channeling her rage in the most productive way towards her intended target. Zorzal made a grievous mistake in sending the Oprichnina after her household. Sherry is both willing and able to manipulate whole nations to see that he answers for it.
- This can also be interpreted as Values Dissonance. While Sugawara openly states that in Japan a twelve-year-old girl isn't considered a woman yet, it was established pretty early that in the Empire sex and marriage are treated rather openly, and are seen as a perfectly acceptable bargaining tools not only in politics, but even in a day-to-day business, so while they also find this age a bit too young for consummating, it is an entirely acceptable age for planning a dynastic marriage, for example, which is an attitude Sherry herself seems to agree to with much enthusiasm.
Deceased Parents Are the Best: The manga expands a bit on what happened when the Oprichnina came calling. They used a battering ram to smash their way into Sherry's home, summarily declared everyone inside guilty, and butchered them all, including unarmed maids, without pause or hesitation, until they reached her parents, at which point, they threatened to "interrogate" ie rape until the point of mind-break her so she'd turn over Marquis Carcel for summary execution. Sherry's parents started the fire themselves to take as many of the Kobold heads with them as they could, knowing that if they surrendered, their fate would have been worse than death by being burned alive, while making sure Sherry escaped.
Determinator: There's no way in hell Sugawara could avoid her when she turns 16. This is a girl who knows what she wants and how to get it.
Dissonant Serenity: She is eerily calm when "negotiating" with Japanese ambassadors, the Pro-peace senators, or even princess Piña herself. All of them find themselves terrified of her for this.
Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: Was on the receiving end of this when she watched her family's mansion burn, thanks to the acts of Zorzal's men.
Girlish Pigtails: Illustrations for the light novel and the anime give her a character design with a pigtail hairstyle that makes her look cute and childish.
Guile Hero: Even though she's only 12 years old, Zorzal made a great mistake in making her his enemy. Not only can she play with the big boys, she can play the big boys.
Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: She's given a shade of blonde hair in the anime and manga, perfect for a sweet young girl of noble birth.
Innocent Innuendo: She continually spouts out statements about how Sugawara meets with her and their "private lessons" (really him teaching her Japanese), because Children Are Innocent.
Nerves of Steel: Sherry entered the Jade palace, through the front gate, in a perfectly calm and rational manner despite being chased by Zorzal's "cleaners," and, generally, keeps her cool through the whole ordeal, aside fom a single tearful impulse in the beginning.
No Sense of Personal Space: Sherry can become a bit clingy at times, which only adds to the pressure on poor Sugawara.
Parental Abandonment: Her parents are presumably killed by Zorzal's Secret Police who invade their house to arrest them for treason.
- What's all sad about this is how, against all expectations, Zorzal actually kept his word, in that any pro-peace senator that simply surrendered without a fight was treated civilly and merely detained (until they were rescued by the JSDF later, that is), at least in the anime.
Precocious Crush: She has a crush on Sugawara who is old enough to be her father. He doesn't take her promise to marry him seriously, but her love declarations cause problematic misunderstandings for him.
Slasher Smile: She bears a particularly chilling one when she's teling Piña exactly just how badly she wants revenge on Zorzal for the loss of her family, lands, and estate.
Smarter Than You Look: She's clingy and a bit naive since she's only twelve, but the man who trades some of her pearls for some food can see that she's going to be quite intelligent as she gets older after she successfully haggles the price of the food to a few pearls rather than the entire thing bracelet, lest his wife gets too greedy and demands a necklace, and consequently even more pearls on it.
Token Mini-Moe: One of the youngest characters in the series.
Wise Beyond Their Years: She may be innocent, but she rightfully points out that the peace talks between Japan and the Empire will not go anywhere unless the people truly get to know each other instead of tiptoeing around issues.

Shandy Gaff Marea

Voiced by: Rumi Ōkubo (Japanese), Shelby Blocker (English)

An imperial noble that is part of the Rose Order of the Knights.

Blinded by the Light: In Episode 21, she suffers this from Itami's flash grenade, despite Itami repeatedly telling her not to open her eyes.
Celeb Crush: She loves famous people, such as Itami.
Early-Bird Cameo: She was mentioned in chapter 25, but not formally introduced until chapter 48.
Easily Forgiven: Apparently, no one but Panache holds her attempted assassination of Lelei against her.
Forgiven, but Not Forgotten: When she complained about all the Minion Shipping in episode 24, and how none of it included her, Panache reminds her that she was an agent of the Pied Piper.
Punny Name: Like Piña, she is named after a cocktail.
Single Woman Seeks Good Man: She wants to be romanced by a heroic JSDF soldier like Itami, and loudly complains that she's still single in the final episode.
Unreliable Expositor: She wrote a report regarding Alnus, however she made Tuka a male.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: Was willing to kill Lelei to gain Zorzal's favor to save Piña.

Deities

Hardy

Goddess of the Special Region's Underworld.

Abhorrent Admirer: To Rory. She's the only entity that makes Rory feel terrified to the point that the latter can't even travel in metro because going to the underground reminds her of Hardy's attempts to marry her.
Bad Boss: She sends Giselle out on a job far away, where there is a Fog of Doom, and likely to be no form of game or sustenance and has her wait there for Itami, while telling Itami, who is completely in the dark, "there's no rush," without giving her any supplies. If Giselle wasn't immortal, she likely would have died from starvation, or exposure to the elements.
Beauty Is Bad: Played straight with extreme prejudice. Itami notes that her avatar is impeccably gorgeous, but the best interpretation of her behavior is that she's Obliviously Evil.
Big Eater: When Hardy possesses a mortal shell, she goes out of her way to thoroughly enjoy every form of sensual pleasure she can, and this includes food, so while in Leilei's body she orders a meal big enough to easily feed eight people with food to spare, and eats it.
Break the Haughty: The primary reason she uses to justify opening the gate this time around, although she doesn't deny that she enjoyed throwing the Special Region into chaos in the process.
Demonic Possession: How Hardy communicates with her followers. Unfortunately the host is more often than not killed in the process.
Depraved Bisexual: All she cares about is satisfying her sensual pleasures, the gender of her partner does not matter. She's also completely and unrepentantly hostile to the innocent victims of her actions.
Entitled to Have You: Towards Rory, or any Lust Object that catches her interest, and she doesn't take "no" for an answer.
Everybody Hates Hades: Rory can't stand her, and Yao's not far behind especially after Hardy's complete lack of interest concerning Giselle's "stunt" with the Flame Dragon. After she possesses Lelei's body against her will, and all her manipulations afterwards, she's gained the universal loathing of all the main characters, including Itami.
The Gods Must Be Lazy: Couldn't be bothered to deal with the revenants Itami, Rory and Yao had to kill by themselves.
It Amused Me: Hardy's main reason for opening the Gate.
It's All About Me: All Hardy cares about is her pleasure and satisfaction. If that means sacrificing the lives of her followers en masse, so be it.
Jerkass God: Through sheer apathy and indifference, Hardy is directly responsible for most of the problems in the special region, and completely ignores the pleas of her followers when her actions lead to their deaths, en masse, refusing to even explain herself.
Jerkass Has a Point: Turns out she was right trying to send the JSDF back into the Gate as soon as possible. When the Gate stays open too long, the dimensional barriers of the world start breaking down allowing the Arachnids, inter-dimensional parasites, into the Special Region. These beings are so dangerous, even Rory and Giselle have a hard time putting them down.
Manipulative Bitch: She never comes right out and says what she wants, only once her machinations have completely played out, does she explain her intentions, and sometimes, not even then.
A Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Read: On her appearance, she reads Itami's mind and is immediately offended because he suspects that her beautiful form is not genuine.
Never My Fault: She completely refuses to accept responsibility for the Flame Dragon's rampage despite clearly admitting her involvement in waking it and being fully aware of the consequences.
An Offer You Can't Refuse: If Hardy "requests" something, the other party had best be prepared to deliver, otherwise she will give "divine visions" to assassins to make it easier for their work.
Stalker with a Crush: Has been stalking poor Rory for 2 centuries.
Troll: When Yao politely refuses her extremely aggressive sexual advances, and Itami politely refuses to order Yao to become her bed partner, she goes on to deliberately provoke Yao into an Unstoppable Rage so that Yao would strike at her while in Leilei's body. It's so bad, Itami has to yell at Rory and Tuka to help restrain Yao.
The Vamp: While in Leilei's body, she tries to outright seduce Itami. Itami, to his credit, is very quick to pick up the implications, and does his best to politely refuse.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: She claims that this time she opened the Gate was because The Empire needed a serious spanking, to get the rest of the races in the Special Region out from under its heel, and the waking of the Flame Dragon was to drive the JSDF off Alnus so the Gate could be closed again before The End of the World as We Know It.
Xanatos Gambit: Whenever Hardy does something, she always manipulates circumstances to be in her favor.
You Have Failed Me: Giselle testifies that after Itami and the JSDF killed both the mature Flame Dragon and the hatchlings, and she was driven away, Hardy, knowing Giselle is immortal, had her tortured instead.

Emroy

God/Goddess of Judgment, Theft, Madness, and War, Rory's patron.

Above Good and Evil: Despite being the god of judgment, Emroy does not care about the human concepts of good or evil, in any way, shape, or form. The only criteria Emroy uses to judge people is if they're willing to live, or more importantly die, by their own core principles, regardless of the odds or situation. According to Rory, Emroy would especially have interest in Itami, Who gladly embraces the otaku culture without caring about the social stigma, and sticks by his guns.
Everybody Hates Hades: Subverted in the "war god" variation. Despite being a god of war, Emroy tends to be viewed quite favorably by the people of the Special Region, and Rory is universally respected, most seeing her as a force of good.
Face Death with Dignity: Emroy's teachings specifically mentions this as one of, if not the greatest virtue among the faithful, and that this is a large criteria by which Emroy judges souls.
Mad God: Well it is Emroy's schtick.

Other

Mai Tomita (UNMARKED SPOILERS)

Newborn daughter of Akira Tomita and Bozes Co Palesti.

Babies Make Everything Better: Everyone goes squee over her.
But Not Too Foreign: Half Japanese, Half Imperial.
Child of Two Worlds: Father is from Earth, Mother is a Gateworlder.

Characters / Gate

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