This character sheet currently focuses on the OVA, Giant Robo: The Day The Earth Stood Still. Unless noted, characters and tropes are associated with that series.
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The Experts of Justice
Daisaku Kusama
Tokusatsu version
Manga version
Actor: Mitsunobu Kaneko (Tokusatsu)
Voiced by: Kappei Yamaguchi (Japanese), Catherine Byers (English, tokusatsu), Keven Leenote , Joshua Sethnote , Paul Stephennote (English), Michelle Newman (English; NYAV Post dub)Foreign V As
The young boy who commands Giant Robo, and the youngest Expert of Justice.- Badass Normal: The only main character without either actual superpowers or stock Charles Atlas Superpower.
- Composite Character: Of Daisaku Kusama from the manga, Koichi Yamano from Babel II, and Shotaro Kaneda from Tetsujin 28-Go. His haircut and character model are based off of Koichi, while his clothing is taken from Shotaro.
- Dub Name Change: "Johnny Sokko" in the dub of the original Tokusatsu series.
- Falling into the Cockpit: Forced to command Giant Robo after his father's death. In the toku, he was given the watch to control Robo from a mad scientist betraying Big Fire.
- Kid With The Remote Control: "The greatest robot on the planet, Giant Robo, commanded solely by one young man: Daisaku Kusama!" Across all incarnations of the series, one of the Trope Codifiers.
- Orphan's Plot Trinket: The wristwatch used to command Giant Robo.
Giant Robo
Tokusatsu version
Manga version
- Voiced in foreign dubs by: Hector Estrada (Latin American Spanish)
The Titular Mecha. Was originally Built by Big Fire as a weapon for world domination. Fortunately, he ended up in the hands of Daisaku Kusama.
- Do-Anything Robot: Giant Robo is loaded with an astounding number and variety of weapons throughout its body, including multiple cannons and a large missile launcher in its Jet Pack.
- Empathic Weapon: It is hinted throughout the series that Giant Robo has some degree of sentience.
- Played Straight in the live action show, where Robo achieves a conscience after Daisaku cries on his AI Module in a Despair Event Horizon in Episode 20.
- Finger Firearms: His signature attack in the tokusatsu is a barrage of missiles he launches from his fingers.
- Megaton Punch: The possible Trope Namer, in the toku he uses this attack to punch his enemies into oblivion.
- Top-Heavy Guy: Giant Robo was redesigned for the OVA with a barrel chest almost three times as wide as his head, along with Shoulders of Doom beyond that. (The Tetsujin 28 parody from the Ginrei OVA parodied this, being so top-heavy that he couldn't do anything more than stand without leaving his Jet Pack idling constantly.)
Ginrei
Voiced by: Sumi Shimamoto (Japanese), Debra Jean Rogers (English), Eva Christensen (English) (NYAV Post dub)Foreign V As
A beautiful, capable agent of the Experts of Justice.- Action Girl: A deadly shot with a Hand Cannon.
- Anime Chinese Girl: Half-Chinese, at any rate. And guns are more her speed than kung fu anyway.
- Cast From HP: Her powers use her life-force, with more being expended depending upon how much power she uses. Ultimately, it kills her..
- Cool Big Sis: Quickly bonds with Daisaku as a protector and mentor.
- Expy: Of Ginsuzu
◊ from Sononawa 101. - Mad Scientist's Beautiful Daughter: She is secretly Farmele von Fogler, the daughter of the doctor who the world blamed for the original Tragedy of Bashtarle, now trying to put her past behind her. Her struggle with her father's legacy is a significant plot element.
- Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: She has greenish black hair and very light skin.
- Samus Is a Girl: In the first episode, she is introduced as the Badass Longcoat Iron Mask when fighting Q-Boss. She ditches the disguise and doesn't wear it again for the rest of the anime.
- Sexy Slit Dress: Her trademark white Qipao shows off her long legs.
- Space Master: Once she starts using her powers freely, she demonstrates powers in this vein, well beyond simple teleportation.
- Teleportation: Both she and Genya have this power, which they used to escape ground zero at Bashtalle along with Professor Go and Doctor Von Fogler.
- Teleportation Sickness: The flaw of her teleportation ability is that it weakens her the more that it's used. At the end of the series, after performing a Mass Teleportation, parts of her body are slowly disappearing one by one.
- Victoria's Secret Compartment: She provides the page's image. In the Ginrei Special spin-off she pulls a whole bazooka out of her cleavage.
Chief Chujo
Voiced by: Iemasa Kayumi (Japanese), Lee West, Sparky Thorntonnote (English), John Campbell (English) (NYAV Post dub)Foreign V As
The commander of the IPO and leader of the Experts of Justice.- Asskicking Leads to Leadership: He's one of the Big Nine, the good counterparts to the Magnificent Ten.
- A Father to His Men: Willing to use his Dangerous Forbidden Technique, which is strongly implied to be fatal, to fight Lord Alberto and cover the retreat from the Peking IPO base.
- Cool Shades: Never seen without his shades despite the dark lighting forever present in the show. Just serves to make him look even more badass.
Professor Go
Voiced by: Masashi Ebara (Japanese), Steve Bulen (English), Kevin T. Collins (English) (NYAV Post dub)Foreign V As
Scientist and Strategist of the IPO.- Combat Hand Fan: Uses huge war fans, mainly for defense. In the first OVA episode, his "Iron Fan" technique blocks an attack from Lord Alberto.
- Eyes Always Closed: Go's eyes are almost always shut. Almost — in the first OVA episode, he briefly opens them while Suddenly Shouting that "the Shizuma Drive is perfect - it has to be" when Chief Chujo first mentions the similarity of the Paris blackout to the Tragedy of Bashtarle.
- My Greatest Failure: Was a lab assistant during the Tragedy of Bashtarle.
Tetsugyu
Voiced by: Shōzō Iizuka (Japanese), Steve Blum (English), Sean Schemmel (English) (NYAV Post dub)Foreign V As
A hulking warrior who uses axes on chains.- The Big Guy: Physically the largest member of the main (human) heroes.
- Boisterous Bruiser: Loud, often obnoxious; he fights hard and drinks heavily.
- Expy: Of the version of "Iron Ox" Li Kui from Yokoyama's adaptation of Water Margin.
- The Resenter: Tetsugyu makes no secret that he resents Daisaku - not only for winning more of Ginrei's affections, but for getting to play the hero over himself and the other IPO agents working on the Shizuma case. He reveals that he helped Daisaku free Giant Robo to join the operation at Shanghai just to see the look on his face after failing. He does, and realizes that it's just like the expression that a 12-year old Tetsugyu had after killing his own father, a BF agent.
- The Worf Effect: Has an unfortunate tendency to be either curbstomped or Overshadowed by Awesome. The most blatant example would be when he's unceremoniously crushed after his dramatic Declaration of Protection towards Daisaku.
Dojin Issei
Voiced by: Takeshi Aono (Japanese), Dougary Grant (English), Mike Pollock (English) (NYAV Post dub)Foreign V As
A Buddhist Monk who uses Taoist magic to subdue and confuse his foes.- Expy: Of Gongsun Shen from Water Margin, particularly Yokoyama's manga adaptation.
- Paper Talisman: Issei is able to use talismans to produce a variety of magic effects, including Voluntary Shapeshifting and being a Master of Illusion.
- Warrior Monk: Issei is a Buddhist monk who wields both magic and a sword to battle his enemies.
Taisou
Voiced by: Norio Wakamoto (Japanese), Steve Areno (English), Marc Thompson (English) (NYAV Post dub)Foreign V As
One of the Big Nine of the Experts, he can charge his fists with energy to attack with incredible power.- Big Brother Mentor: Tetsugyu still calls him "big brother", and he's formed a similar bond with Daisaku.
- Expy: Of Dai Zong from Water Margin, particularly Yokoyama's manga adaptation.
- Happily Married: With Youshi.
- Mentor Occupational Hazard: He willingly takes a fatal blow from Alberto in the fourth episode to buy time for the others to escape. His sacrifice motivates character development for Daisaku, Tetsugyu, and even Lord Alberto.
- Shock and Awe: Taisou's powers are vaguely electrical. At one point while an IPO base is under the effect of an Anti-Shizuma drive, Taisou uses himself as a backup power supply to bring Mission Control online temporarily.
- Worthy Opponent: He and Shocking Alberto view each other as this.
Youshi
Voiced by: Kazue Komiya (Japanese), Carol Fein, Melissa Williamsonnote (English), Erica Schroeder (English) (NYAV Post dub)Foreign V As
The wife of Taisou, and a fierce warrior in her own right.- Action Girl: She is a tough warrior like her husband.
- Amazing Technicolor Population: Has blue skin for whatever reason.
- Gender Flip: Of Yang Zhi, a male character in Water Margin and Yokoyama's manga.
- Shameless Fanservice Girl: During Ginrei The Mighty, she threatens to strip after Dope Slapping Taisou for leering at the Ginrei Robo's gigantic panties.
- Telescoping Staff: Youshi wields a staff that can extend at her will.
Big Fire / The BF Organization
Genya
Voiced by: Shinji Ogawa (Japanese), Steve Blum (English), Dan Green (English) (NYAV Post dub)Foreign V As
A young, driven newcomer to the BF organization, who has been given command of the operation to use the Anti-Shizuma drives and the rebuild Monster Sphere to conquer the world.- Big Bad: He becomes the main antagonist of the OVA halfway through.
- Cain and Abel: Turns out he is Ginrei's brother.
- Daddy's Little Villain: His motivation is to fulfill the last wish of his father, the infamous Dr. Fogler, to "stop Shizuma." At the end of the OVA series, he has a breakdown after learning that he'd horribly misunderstood his father's intentions.
- Evil Counterpart: To Daisaku. He also inherited the dangerous and poorly-understood legacy of their dying father's creations. Genya actually bonds with the boy when they're trapped on a mountain.
- Smug Snake: Despite being a junior member of the BF Society, he enjoys pulling rank as the leader of the Still Earth operation over Lord Alberto.
Lord Alberto "The Shockwave" / "Shocking Alberto"
Voiced by: Yosuke Akimoto (Japanese), Anthony Santacrose (English), Lex Woutas (English) (NYAV Post dub)Foreign V As
One of the Magnificent Ten of the BF organization, Lord Alberto grudgingly works with Genya to obtain the final Anti-Shizuma drive needed for the "Still Earth" operation.- Badass in a Nice Suit: Lord Alberto is always impeccably dressed in suit and tie.
- Cigar Chomper: Alberto always has a cigar in his mouth even when fighting.
- Composite Character: He is based on both his original Mars manga counterpart, and Sally's Father, since Sunny the Magician (an Expy of Sally) is the daughter of Alberto.
- Enemy Mine: Teams up with Daisaku and Giant Robo against Genya in the last episode.
- The Heavy: Genya's in charge of the Still Earth Operation, and has the most ties to the plot, but Lord Alberto is the man who attacks and almost destroys an IPO base singlehandedly.
- Meaningful Name: He's called the Shockwave and he can project destructive energy waves from his hands.
- Named by the Adaptation: His Mars manga counterpart was nameless.
- Worthy Opponent: He and Taisou view each other as this.
Ivan
Voiced by: Yasuyoshi Hara (Japanese), Gary Michaels (English), Wayne Grayson (English) (NYAV Post dub)Foreign V As
The loyal servant of Lord Alberto.- Bald of Evil: A villainous henchman with no hair.
- Berserk Button: He gets enraged when someone mocks his master Alberto.
- Cool Car: Drives a car that transforms into the giant robot "Uranus"
- Doomed Hometown: As he explains to Daisaku, he was from Bashtarle before it was destroyed, so he's all for the plan to destroy the Shizuma drives.
- Named by the Adaptation: His Mars manga counterpart was nameless.
Ko-Enshaku
- Ambiguously Human: Seriously, is this guy even human to begin with?
- Establishing Character Moment: He's introduced by stopping Ivan from attacking Genya.
- Malevolent Masked Men: He's never seen without his creepy mask.
Other
Doctor Franken von Fogler
"In ancient times, man rubbed sticks together to create fire. Then he slaughtered the whale and battled one another for oil. After that came the atomic age. In every chapter of our history, we danced with danger. But now it will be different. For the first time in our existence, we will be delivered from fear!! Finally, we will escape the prison of our delusions, and the Beautiful Night will embrace us all!"
Voiced by: Koichi Chiba (Japanese), Tom Charles (English), Zachary Alexander (English) (NYAV Post dub)Foreign V As
One of the team of scientists who created the revolutionary Shizuma Drive, he was thought to have died after causing an infamous accident during its development. Now, as the other creators of the Drive are found dead, his form can be seen promising revenge on them and on the world...
- First-Episode Resurrection: Murasame discovers the doctor, thought to be long-dead, in a cathedral bell tower in Paris next to the corpses of three of his former teammates. Subverted — Von Fogler was Dead All Along, and Genya was in disguise to better carry out his will.
- Mad Scientist: Introduced as the man who caused the destruction of Bashtarle and a worldwide disaster, because of his experiments with the prototype Shizuma Drive.
- New Era Speech: During the first flashback to the Tragedy of Bashtarle, he delivers an example so memorable it's made into the prologue of the second episode.
- Spell My Name With An S: "von Fogler" or "von Vogler," depending on the translation.
Professor Shizuma
"Daisaku, I envy you and Robo! All my strength and courage have left me! But no matter my fate, I cannot let the Tragedy of Bashtarle be repeated!"
Voiced by: Kazuo Harada (Japanese), Dan Martin (English, Animage dub), Mike Pollock (English, NYAV Post dub)Foreign V As
The leader of the team of scientists that created what came to be known as the Shizuma Drive. The OVA begins with him being pursued by Big Fire agents and rescued by Giant Robo, while carrying a mysterious attache case that is a key to the "Still Earth Operation".
- The Atoner: From his first scene onward, it's clear that he's running from his own mistakes as much as the BF Society. For good reason — ever since causing the Tragedy of Bashtarle through his arrogance and blaming von Fogler for the disaster, he'd been taking the credit for the Shizuma Drive until realizing what Big Fire was planning.
- Fake Ultimate Hero: Shizuma and the other surviving members of the Bashtarle team have been glorified as heroes for creating a functional Shizuma Drive, while successfully blaming Doctor von Fogler for the Tragedy they caused.
- Harbinger of Impending Doom: The first hint the Experts of Justice have of the Still Earth Operation is the mission to protect Shizuma and the attache case — and Shizuma's ranting after being recovered.
- MacGuffin Escort Mission: The first two episodes of the OVA series revolve around the Experts of Justice protecting Shizuma and the modified Shizuma sample in the attache case.
