Characters / GUN×SWORD

Important characters in the GUN×SWORD anime, and the tropes they embody.

NOT ALL SPOILERS HERE ARE MARKED YET

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Protagonists

Van

Voiced by Takanori Hoshino (JP), David Vincent (EN)

"DAMN! THAT'S GOOD!"

Main character of the show, and the titular "SWORD". Before the series, Van was going to get married when a man only known as "The Claw" murdered his bride Elena on his wedding day, and now he's going to get his revenge. Along the way, he makes a name for himself as a badass, acquires a ton of nicknames, and more or less goes on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge to avenge the woman he loved.

His primary weapon is a sword which morphs from a cloth on his belt. He can summon an Armor named "Dann of Thursday" when the situation calls for it.

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• Anti-Hero: Type 2. Apathetic towards nearly everything, but pushing him to help when it's needed is very possible.
• Badass in a Nice Suit: Since he began his quest for vengeance, it appears that his tuxedo is the only set of clothes he bothered to bring.
• Badass Longcoat: Swallowtail Tuxedo, actually. Makes him look incredibly dapper.
• Berserk Button: The Claw himself is one for him. Another is touching his own sword.
  Van: *After Michael picks up Dann's sword to kill Van* "THAT'S MIIIINE!"
• Big Eater: Somewhat. He eats with all condiments on after all.
• Bio-Augmentation: In order to properly pilot Dann, he was reconstructed. This gave him his Healing Factor and his unusual durability. He didn't need this to use Earth's technology though.
• BFS: Variable at times, but generally he and his mecha, Dann of Thursday, carry one, and Dann's can split into two. For that matter, Dann transforms into one. And then there's Earth's technology to create a sword that's about the size of Godzilla.
• But Now I Must Go: Naturally, it also involves some Cuing of the Sun. He is Van of the Dawn.
• Can't Hold His Liquor: The man drinks milk because booze does BAD things to him.
• Celibate Hero: Despite having been confessed to and having the potential to get together with several women, Van remains faithful to Elena.
• Character Tic: Rotating his hat before summoning Dann. Justified, as that's the activation.
  • Aside from that, randomly fiddling with his 3D puzzle. Stops once he finally solves it and unlocks Dann's shield powers.
• Chick Magnet/True Companions: These two tend to go hand in hand, as Van seems to unintentionally get attractive women to follow in his wake (despite having no interest, as he's very devoted to his deceased lover), and manages to make friends despite his very personality militating against it. It gets so bad Ray Lundgren blatantly lampshades it.
  Ray: In armor and women... You are quite blessed.
  Van: ... Yeah.
• The Chosen One: Through reasons unknown, Van somehow has the ability to use Earth's technology. He only uses this ability in the final episode, but the same episode also states he had this power even before he was augmented, which was years ago.
• Cool Sword: His sword is incredibly flexible, in both meanings of the word. It's incredibly sharp, it can double as a grappling hook and his belt, and it's also what he uses to pilot Dann. Dann's sword and even Dann itself also count, the former being a Bifurcated Weapon with the ability to split into two swords, and Dann being able to transform into a mecha-sized BFS.
• Crusading Widower: The reason for his journey, and a lot of his actions. Even sadder in that his bride died the day they got married.
• Deadpan Snarker: Sometimes.
• Deflector Shields: When he finally solves the 3D puzzle by realizing his love for Elena means her memory lives within him. This allows him to bring out Dann's true potential.
• Deliberate Injury Gambit: Does this a lot. For instance, he lets Wu's Metsa stab through Dann so that he can hit the armor.
• Determinator: With regard to vengeance; he may be apathetic about other things.
• Don't Think, Feel: How he fights in the final part of the series after his epiphany in episode 16, taking inspiration from Gadved's words to "Empty his head", Priscilla's Motion-Capture Mecha and his love for Elena meaning he has to fight together and as one with Dann instead of controlling it.
• The Drifter: Both during the series and prior to meeting his (ill-fated) future wife.
• Dual Wielding: Dann's sword can split into two, a big main half and a smaller one used for trickery.
• 11th-Hour Superpower: Played with. He only used the power of Earth's technology in the finale, but the scientists comment he had that power even BEFORE he was augmented.
• Empathic Weapon: Dann of Thursday is this to him. He literally CAN'T live without it.
• Enlightenment Superpower: In Episode 16, Van realizing that Elena's memories will always be with him makes him realize that he's not supposed to control, but become one with Dann. This allows him to activate Dann's Deflector Shields.
• Evil Laugh: Manages to let out a rather disturbing one when he finally finds the Claw.
• Healing Factor: When he links with Dann of Thursday he can heal almost all the injuries he sustains. It's necessary for him to enter Dann once a week because he will die if he doesn't, and Dann's functionality would shut down completely without him.
• Heroes Prefer Swords: Both in and out of his Armor. Hell, Dann can literally transform into a giant sword.
• Humongous Mecha: Dann of Thursday.
• I Have Many Names: Van of the Dawn his favorite, Crybaby Van, Nice Guy Van...
• Ink-Suit Actor: He is basically identical to Takanori Hoshino, his Japanese voice actor, to the point he even cosplayed as him once.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: A variation. The biggest reason he is seen as a jerk is because he takes asocial to its maximum level. After losing Elena, he is extremely focused to his quest, becoming extremely apathetic as a result. When push comes to shove however, if anyone thinks of harming his friends or offending the morals he still clearly has, he won't hesitate to jump in and help others while telling off whoever it was that offended them with a Breaking Speech.
• Kiai: CHESTOU!
  • In the English Dub, SEIIIIIYAAAAA!
• Laughing Mad: Upon seeing the Claw fly by him during his fight with Gadved, the normally serious Van lets loose a psychotic cackle that erupts into unhinged howls of glee, screaming about hunting down the target of his vengeance and crushing his skull. This until now unseen level of bloodlust unnerves even the stoic Gadved, who until this point was sure of his victory.
  Van: My journey was not a mistake!
• Lean and Mean: Downplayed. Van has a very slim and slender body and is very willing and capable of kicking your ass if you ask for it, but most of the time he's just apathetic and has No Social Skills, and he even has his own moral code.
• Mr. Fanservice: You can tell by all the Shirtless Scenes.
• Noodle People: He's built like a very tall and lanky beanpole. It seems that the life of a wanderer doesn't give him many opportunities to put meat on his bones.
• Not So Stoic: When he finally talks to Wendy about his love for Elena in episode 16.
  • Also, whenever The Claw is mentioned in his presence, he'll go from laconic to violently angry within a split-second.
  • Also whenever he eats with all the condiments.
• Oblivious to Love: Pricilla is pretty obvious about her feelings, but he still doesn't notice until she confesses.
• The Power of Love: He runs on this, as his love for Elena is what keeps him going. It also helps him defeat both Woo and The Claw later on.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: His main motivation.
• Running Gag:
  • His ever-rotating and ever-growing collection of nicknames.
  • Contrasting this, the fact that he can't remember anyone else's name if they don't interest him. Especially applies to girls, except Priscilla, much to Carmen and Wendy's consternation.
  • Also, "Serve me *insert food here* and all the condiments you have" -> Eats the food -> Yell from the top of his lungs about the taste.
• Samurai Cowboy: His clothes and his weapon, including his mecha, are visually dissonant. He uses a sword and Dann is built like a samurai warrior, but he's dressed up like a cowboy (Complete with longcoat and hat), and when he's not using it his sword is even shaped like a gun handle, wrapped around his waist like a belt.
• Shut Up, Hannibal!: Twice:
  Fasalina: Well this is how the utopia will work... everyone will be happy. Don't you think it's a good idea?
  Van: Shut up! I'm not gonna listen to underlings of the guy who killed Elena!
  • Later...
    The Claw: Van, I really like you.
    Van: *slice*
• Slasher Smile: Van looks a little unhinged when he sees The Claw for the second time.
• Spin to Deflect Stuff: Easily parries bullets with this method, making up for his lack of a sidearm.
• The Stoic: Subverted when eating and when pissed; see also Not So Stoic, above.
• Signature Sound Effect: The ringing of his hat usually means something important is about to happen, or just happened.
• Suddenly Shouting: Every time he eats food he likes, thinks about the Claw, or declares his love for Elena.
• Talk to the Fist: A common solution for many of Van's problems. Including his final one with the Claw.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Every single condiment in history on whatever he's eating. Notably, he usually asks for "the cheapest thing on the menu" along with the condiments, since he won't be able to taste it under all of them.
• Walking the Earth: Due to how enigmatic the Claw is, he really had no good starting point to finding him. So he just started walking until he found a lead.
• Widowed at the Wedding: His bride Elena was killed by the Claw right before they were wed.
• Vague Age: He isn't given an official age, though he looks to be at least 20.

Wendy Garret

Voiced by Houko Kuwashima (JP), Stephanie Sheh (EN)

"Van, you're horrible!"

Van's main traveling companion. She's an orphan with a strong sense of loyalty to her kidnapped brother: she'll risk anything to get him back. However, she is also deeply concerned with right and wrong, and is willing to put her sense of ethics above her emotions when necessary.

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• Action Survivor: She's pretty resourceful when need be.
• All Love Is Unrequited Similar to the other girls she falls for Van, who only loves Elena and shows no romantic interest in anyone else.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: She gets jealous whenever Van shows interest in other girls, but towards the end she doesn't bother to get in the way of anyone who goes after him. In the ultimate show of maturity, she subverts this in the finale by letting him go when he feels he needs to.
• Determinator: It doesn't matter that she has no powers or any particular abilities. She will find a way to do whatever she needs.
• Girlish Pigtails: Notable because in the scenes when she has her hair down, she frequently looks older.
• Hairstyle Inertia: A flashback shows that when she was a small child, she wore the same pigtails as when she was a teen. This continue all the way to adulthood.
• The Heart: She's the character who most cares about helping others in need, even if she hardly knows them.
• Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Van towers over her. A sketch in the artbook really brings this home. Even after Wendy is grown up, the top of her head is still a little below shoulder height to Van when they stand together.
• Hopeless Suitor: For Van, who still loves his wife.
• Just a Kid: Many treat her as one early on. She is often told to stay out of danger for this reason, much to her chagrin.
• Kid Sidekick: She's no good at fighting, but she's smarter and more grounded than Van, so she sometimes steers him the right direction.
• Modesty Shorts: When hiking across the world its a good idea to wear these.
• Morality Pet: Hence, the quote above. She manages to temper Van's Jerkassedness somewhat.
• Nostalgic Narrator: The Framing Device for the show is Wendy telling her story to a journalist, and every On the Next segment is her summarizing the events of the next episode to him.
• One Bullet Left: An exaggerated example. She only has one shot in her brother's revolver for basically the entire series. You KNOW it's going to be used at some point. Ironically, or perhaps very fittingly, she uses that one shot on her brother in the finale.
• Plucky Girl: She has her Damsel in Distress moments, but most of the time she's optimistic and determined.
• Precocious Crush: She's only 13 while Van appears to be somewhere in his 20s.
• Revolvers Are Just Better: Her gun, which she inherited from her brother. She brings it out often, but never uses it since it only has the one shot until the finale.
• Super Not-Drowning Skills: Despite being The Team Normal, she's the only one among the girls who knows how to swim.
• Tagalong Kid: But for good reason! This is her role as part of the Five-Man Band, but when she's traveling alone with Van, she functions more as a Kid Sidekick.
• The Team Normal: Everyone else on the team is either super smart, super strong, has special training or can pilot mechs. Wendy has none of these things, other than knowledge of everyday skills and the same resolve as each and every one of them.
• Tsundere: A type B. She's usually a sweet, innocent girl, but Van frequently brings out her irritable side.
• Wise Beyond Their Years: Justified in that she and her brother have been living on their own for years. Best shown in the finale when her travels through the world and the experiences she had allow her to verbally destroy all of her brother's arguments in support of the Claw with ease.

Carul Mendoza/Carmen 99

Voiced by Kikuko Inoue (JP), Michelle Ruff (EN)

"Remember, I'm Carmen 99!"

An information broker who has known Van for a long time, and who happens to be one of his few friends (whether Van openly admits it or not). She originally was a neutral element in his life, but when her life is ruined by the same guy who murdered Van's wife-to-be, things become personal.

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• Action Girl: She doesn't have an Armor, so she isn't as flashy as other Action Girls, but she did beat Fasalina in a fight.
• All Love Is Unrequited Similar to the other girls she falls for Van, who only loves Elena and shows no romantic interest in anyone else.
• Ambiguously Brown: Of the "vaguely Hispanic" hue.
• Anti-Hero: While she's nowhere as cruel as Ray, she can be so apathetic at times that she makes Van look altruistic. While she won't kill people just because they have something she wants, she will not hesitate to screw them over and her only reaction to overhearing how Pricilla is fighting in an Armor tournament for the sake of the orphans she's taking care of is to roll her eyes.
• Badass Normal: She doesn't have an Armor, but is just as capable as everyone else on the team.
• Big-Breast Pride: She is very proud of her chest. The 99 in her name refers to her bust measurements.
• The Smart Guy: Occasionally. Being the more worldly of Van's two female companions, and also being a professional information broker, tends to help.
• Cool Big Sis: She somewhat assumes this role when it comes to Wendy and, to a lesser extent, Pricilla.
• Deadpan Snarker: Almost everything she says. If there's something weird going on, she'll be the one to snark about it. If Van or Ray is getting to into their vengeance, she'll snark about it. If Wendy starts acting altruistic, she'll snark about it. If it exists, she'll snark about it.
• Hopeless Suitor: For Van, who still loves his wife.
• I Lied: Jokingly tells Wendy she's in love with Van. Given who she is, it may or may not be true. Turns out it was.
• Impossibly Cool Clothes: Her usual attire would be cool were it not for the fact that wearing it would challenge one's modesty or just be somewhat frustrating to put on.
• Insistent Terminology: She doesn't allow just anyone to call her Carul. ^note  That name is only intended for the closest friends of hers. For everyone else she's Carmen99 or just Carmen.
• Killer Yoyo: It has blades that come out of it.
• Meaningful Name: Carmen 99. The 99 refers to her bust size in centimeters.
• Ms. Fanservice: She's got a pretty face, a body with a generous amount of curves, and an outfit that leaves little to the imagination.
• Stripperific: Her usual pants accentuate her hips and legs by the most direct method possible - literally showing them off.
• The Tease: A variation. She teases Wendy by saying she's in love with Van. Though by the end, it isn't teasing.

Ray Lundgren

Voiced by Takahiro Sakurai (JP), Liam O'Brien (EN)

"When you're out for revenge, humanity just gets in the way!"

The titular "GUN". Ray, like Van, witnessed his wife being murdered by the Claw, and took to avenging her death. Unlike Van, however, he is willing to do anything to kill the Claw, even taking the lives of innocents who get in the way.

His primary weapon is a gun. His armor, Volkain, is a modified mining armor, which just like Ray himself also uses guns.

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• Aloof Big Brother: For most of the series, anyway.
• Anti-Hero: For most of the series, he's a Nominal Hero who doesn't care who he hurts in his quest for vengeance. Even if you aren't his enemy, he's still prone to unnecessary cruelty.
• Caped Mecha: His Volkain is the only Armor that wears a cape, and instead of getting in his way, it actually neutralizes the energy beams mounted on the Original Seven Armors.
• Comforting Comforter: He places one on Joshua when he falls asleep while he repaired Volkain. It's one of the first indications we have that Ray hasn't completely given up his humanity.
• Crusading Widower: His motivation for almost everything he does in the series.
• Dying Dream: As he dies, he dreams of waking up in a rocking chair on the porch of a beach house, his wife hanging laundry and asking what he was dreaming about.
• The Gunslinger: At first it looks like he prefers trick shots but his favorite gun and his Armor are better suited for flinging great quantities of lead.
• Handicapped Badass: He gets blinded in one eye around the series midpoint.
• Harmless Electrocution: Downplayed. Carossa's final attack before getting shot down resulted in Ray getting tossed around and electrocuted in the cockpit, impairing his vision.
• Hidden Supplies: In addition to his machine-pistol, Ray has guns in his boot-heels. Or rather, the heels of his boots are guns.
• He Who Fights Monsters: Just look at his character quote. He gets better about it.
• Identical Stranger: An odd inversion. He's a nearly perfect opposite to Van - one has a Western aesthetic, the other Eastern, one is black-haired, the other is blonde, one uses a sword that looks like a gun, the other uses a gun that looks like a sword, one is followed by a girl, the other by a boy, one has a skilled and elegant fighting style while the other sprays and prays, one has a blue and white robot that comes down from space, the other has a red and black robot that comes from underground. There's no reason or explanation for why the two parallel each other so much.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: When it comes to Josh. He's a genuine Jerkass to everyone else, but his treatment of Josh is nothing but an act to keep him away.
• Kick the Dog: He has several moments, but one that stands out is when Yukiko gives him a Get A Hold Of Yourself Man slap, his response is to call her a bitch and draw his gun. It's quite likely that if Josh hadn't stopped him, he would have shot her, even though she was obviously concerned about him and just trying to help
• Knight Templar Big Brother: He acts all aloof, but it's just a façade to keep his brother away. In reality, if you so much as think of hurting Joshua, he'll viciously murder you.
• Macross Missile Massacre: As befitting Ray's love of dakka, he can fire a large number of missiles all at once, and often uses them at close range.
• More Dakka: Believes in this whole-heartedly — his favored tactic is to throw as many bullets at his enemy as possible. Volkain is more than prepared for this strategy. Hell, some of the bigger guns have smaller guns attached to them.
• Mr. Fanservice: Just look at the man.
• Nominal Hero: As detailed under Anti-Hero and Sociopathic Hero, this guy is as brutal as the enemies he fights.
• Perpetual Frowner: When he isn't frothing with rage. It makes him look hollow and dead inside.
• The Rival: To Van.
• Samurai Cowboy: Just like Van, his aesthetic contrasts with his weapon and his mecha's designs, preferring guns both on-foot and in Volkain while dressing like a samurai.
• Shadow Archetype: Again, to Van.
• Shut Up, Hannibal!: He delivers an armor-piercing one to Fasalina, given her backstory and her complex about it:
  Fasalina: "Then why not part with this idiocy?" (By idiocy, she means the series' True Companions)
  Ray: "Big talk, coming from The Claw's whore."
  • He gives her another one later in the same episode:
    Fasalina: "You fight only for vengeance, but we fight for the sole reason of protecting our comrade's dream. And those who live to protect are always stronger."
    Ray: "Just a bunch of knights in shining armor, aren't you? Well, let me tell you something. I had a dream once too: to live a peaceful life with the woman I loved. A modest one, I know, but he tore it to pieces because we wouldn't go along with his lunacy."
    Fasalina: "Our comrade's dream is for all of humanity."
    Ray: "AND WE THROW OUT OUR OWN? What did you think... what did you imagine we would do... when our dreams were taken away?"
• Slasher Smile: Gets a few of them in Episodes 12 and 13.
• Sociopathic Hero: For most of the series, he places absolutely no value on human life. Upon being convinced that Carossa and Melissa wouldn't give him any information, he shoots them with a simple, "Very well, I guess I won't be getting anything out of them. Delete." After killing Melissa, he notes, "Alright, that's one of them down." He gets better by the end, though.
• Spectacular Spinning: His armor, Volkain, has a transport vehicle that travels underground by digging tunnels with a massive drill, and it often makes its entrance by burrowing up from the ground, in contrast to the falling Dann. It destroys most of a train station in Episode 13.
• Straight Edge Evil: He makes a point to not drink alcohol, although he does take water in a traditional sake cup.
• Surrounded by Idiots: His reactions to fighting with Pricilla and The El Dora Five at his side. He even evokes the trope by name.
• Wave-Motion Gun: Volkain's massive energy rifle.
• Would Hurt a Child: He killed both Melissa and Carossa without a second thought.
• Would Hit a Girl: His introductory episode has him shoot two women separately before he drills a hole clean through their Armor, causing it to blow up with both of them inside. One of those women was his employer.
  • In the same episode, he also fires at Wendy, and later threatens her again to keep Van from attacking him.
  • Would Kill a Young, Preteen Girl: Even though she was the pilot of an Original Seven armour and an enemy, the fact that he didn't even hesitate to murder Melissa shows just how cold and ruthless he's become.
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are: He delivers an understated one to Joshua that overlaps a bit with Heroic Self-Deprecation. When the latter comments that he was always too cowardly to pursue vengeance like Ray had, Ray corrects his brother, telling him that his own revenge trip was nothing but an attempt to run away from his own pain, and that the only coward there was Ray, not Joshua.

Joshua Lundgren

Voiced by Junko Noda (JP), Yuri Lowenthal (EN)

Ray's younger brother, who joins up with Van and Wendy in order to hopefully convince his brother to abandon his quest for revenge

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• Accidental Pervert: On numerous occasions, with him never learning from previous incidents.
• Big Brother Instinct: Inverted. Joshua is the younger one, and he despairs over the coldness of his big brother Ray.
• Ditzy Genius: He's a brilliant engineer who can fix anything in the world, but he lacks common sense and sometimes tact.
• Dogged Nice Guy: Semi self-inflicted. He's a very nice kid, but his innocent naivete tends to backfire around less patient people and makes them disdain him.
• Dumb Blonde: He's kind of clueless.
• Hypocrite: Although he preaches to Ray about not seeking revenge on The Claw, when Ray ends up getting gunned down by The Claw's men, Joshua becomes enraged and determined to stop The Claw's plans to avenge Ray's death.
• The Engineer: He used to visit the Development Lab and picked up a lot of tech skills. He is capable of fixing pretty much anything, lays out the mechanism behind the rampaging dragon Armor, and cuts off Birthday's power source with hacking.
• Nice Guy: In contrast to his brother.
• Running Gag: "You don't have a lot of friends do you?"
• Sole Survivor: After his big brother Ray dies, he is left without his parents or his brother and with no other family members.
• The Smart Guy: He knows a lot about technology, including armor, explosives, and aeronautics. He doesn't know a lot else.
• Stupid Good: He's as straight an arrow as they come, but he's even worse than Van when it comes to anything outside his focus as a mechanic, including anything involving women.
• Too Dumb to Live: Seriously comes off as this. Lampshaded by various characters.
• Took a Level in Badass: At the end.
• Wouldn't Hit a Girl: He's very respectful of women, his Accidental Pervert moments notwithstanding.

Priscilla

Voiced by Saeko Chiba (JP), Carrie Savage (EN)

An Armor pilot with a bit of an Idol Singer theme. First encountered by Van and the others in an armor tournament where she was fighting to earn enough prize money to save her orphanage. Due to some intimate interactions with Van, she falls for him, and eventually comes back in the finale.

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• Action Girl: Pilots her own Armor made specifically for dueling, and joins the plot in the middle of a tournament that she had a good chance of winning.
• All Love Is Unrequited Similar to the other girls she falls for Van, who only loves Elena and shows no romantic interest in anyone else.
• Apologetic Attacker: In the armor fighting tournament, she would apologize to each of her opponents before she kicked their asses.
• Charles Atlas Superpower: Van and the rest of the Seven have Bio-Augmentation to explain their powers. What's Priscilla's excuses for being able to jump twenty feet in the air and be as flexible as a cat?
• Badass Adorable: Cute as a button, but she's incredibly agile and can easily kick your ass.
• Dance Battler: What her Armor fighting style amounts to.
• Dogged Nice Girl: She's not giving up on Van.
• Falling into His Arms: This, coupled with Van being not so different from her, is the basis of her feelings for him.
• Fragile Speedster: Brownie's full battle mode, which barely has protection but is incredibly fast. Lampshaded by Priscilla herself when Van manages to land a stab on her armor.
  Priscilla: Darn, I should've added more protective gear!
• Genki Girl: She is always energetic.
• Hopeless Suitor: For Van, who still loves his wife.
• Intergenerational Friendship: Yukiko aside, she's arguably the one closest to the El Dora V.
• Motion-Capture Mecha: Brownie is controlled by the movements made by her piloting suit.
• Nice Girl: She even has trouble with hurting opponents in an Armor fighting tournament.
• The Pollyanna: Despite struggling to make ends meet, she always remains cheerful and optimistic. Becomes less so when Van helps solve her problems, and becomes genuinely much happier.
• Running Gag: Inverted. Her name is one of the very few Van actually remembers, much to Wendy and Carmen's consternation.
• Spell My Name With An S: "Pricilla" or "Priscilla"? Both the dub and the original Japanese go with "Pricilla."

The El Dorado Five

Nero, Jose, Bario, and Carlos

Nero voiced by Masaharu Sato (JP), Michael Sorich (EN)

Jose voiced by Motomu Kiyokawa (JP), Michael Forest (EN)

Bario voiced by Katsuhisa Houki (JP), Harry Molloy (EN)

Carlos voiced by Takashi Taguchi (JP), Bin Shimada (Super Robot Wars), William Frederick Knight (EN)

A quartet (formerly quintet) of walking shout-outs to the days of themed combining super-robots. They were content to wait around in their town's cantina, tired and forgotten by the younger generation, until Van stumbled along one day and showed them that there are still people with the spirit of heroes and, more importantly, people who need heroes.

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• The Alcoholic: Except Carlos, who's generally too asleep to drink much, all of them drink so much that they're essentially dependent on alcohol.
• Boisterous Bruiser: All of them, even Bario and Carlos.
• Calling Your Attacks: Constantly. Priscilla even tells them their lead-in is a smidge long.
• Captain Ersatz: The El Dora V is very unashamedly based on GaoGaiGar. In Super Robot Wars K, it even gets to use its own variation of "Hell and Heaven."
• Captain Ethnic: They are so Mexican, it's even reflected in their music.
• Character Catchphrase: AAADIIOOOOS!!! AAAAMIIIIGOOOOO!!! Doubles as a Pre-Mortem One-Liner.
• Cool Old Guy: All of them.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: 4 old men who seem to be nothing but worthless, washed out old fools who cling to the past. In battle, they become an extremely devastating fighting force, despite using an extremely outdated machine and often being drunk.
• Dashing Hispanic: All of them, played to different flavors.
• Decon-Recon Switch: They first appear as examples of how a career as hot-blooded pilots to a giant mecha don't have long term benefits once the peace is won, and their boasts about past glories either annoy or embarrass the people around them. But then when danger reemerges, they demonstrate that they are still fearless, noble, badass heroes.
• Dirty Old Man: Most of them do have funny ideas about the young folks and Van's love life, but Carlos is notable for actually hitting on Priscilla, a girl DECADES his junior.
• Dude, Where's My Respect?: At first it seems like the townsfolk don't appreciate their local retired heroes, but it turns out that's mostly the younger folks' opinion. The sheriff in particular is kind of torn about having to regularly arrest his childhood heroes for drunk and disorderly conduct. Justified in that they haven't been heroes for years, and in between they spend most of their time drunk, and averted at the end of episode 3 when they save the town.
• 11th-Hour Superpower: Nero, Jose, and Bario view Carlos as this, even declaring that he'll give them an extra boost when they most need it. They're right, and when he wakes up in the final battle, the El Dora Soul gets a massive power boost because he, having actually read the manual for their upgraded armor, was the only one who was aware of the backup power supply Bucchi had installed and proceeded to promptly activate it.
• Five-Man Band: Despite their original Heart having died of old age. Her granddaughter Yukiko covers for her in spirit, motivating the others to keep fighting the good fight. To clarify:
  • The Leader: Nero. While he doesn't explicitly lead the team, he is the first to charge headlong into battle, and his plane forms the head of the El Dorado.
  • The Lancer: Jose, picking Nero up after the latter's assault inevitably fails. As typical of mecha anime, he was the aloof pretty boy in his younger days.
  • The Big Guy: Bario, as noted by the picture of his younger self, and being the tallest of the group.
  • The Smart Guy: Carlos is likely the smallest yet smartest of them all, considering the computer skills he displayed in the penultimate episode, and also being the only one smart enough to read the manual.
  • The Heart: Chizuru before her death, now her granddaughter Yukiko occupies the role in spirit, although she does not pilot with them.
• For Great Justice: Being Super Robot hero Expies, it comes with the territory.
• Gratuitous Spanish: The vast majority of their attacks, such as BOMBARDIER!!! and their victory cry AAADIIOOOOS!!! AAAAMIIIIGOOOOO!!!
• Hot-Blooded: Being living references to Combining Mecha shows, this was an absolute necessity.
• Jumped at the Call: When they realized the world still needed heroes, they jumped at the opportunity and raced off to find Van.
  • They're all in their sixties or maybe even seventies, Carlos spends almost all his time asleep, and all of them, but especially Nero, can barely function without alcohol. Their armour, even when it gets upgraded, is about twenty years out of date. Doesn't matter to them. As long as there exists something that threatens innocent people, they'll fight it with everything they have.
• Large Ham: While Bario is usually The Stoic, and Carlos is always asleep, put them together and each one of them produces an extraordinary amount of ham.
• Leitmotif: "El Dorado V", an up-tempo theme with hints of mariachi influences.
• Nice Guy: The straightest example in the series with the possible exception of Joshua. Seriously, they put their lives on the line for a town full of people who treat them like crap because it's the right thing to do.
• Old Superhero: All five of them, to the point where one passed away from old age before the story even began.
• Older Than They Look: They do look old, but they look nowhere near as old as they should, Nero in particular. For reference, the rather old Town Sheriff mentioned that they are his childhood heroes, meaning they were already established badasses when the sheriff was a young child. For further reference, Chizuru, Yukiko's grandmother, died at the age of sixty-five, and going by the old picture of the team, the rest of them are of comparable age. Given how we don't know how long ago she died, they could even be in their seventies.
  • Given they mention it's been 65 years since they started piloting, and assuming they started at the typical super robot hero team ages of 16-18, they would indeed put them in their mid to late seventies.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Bario is/was the hot-blooded leader of the team, Jose is the cool second-in-command. After decades of adventures they ''still' come to blows over the smallest of slights.
• Shipper on Deck: They ship Priscilla with Van. Unfortunately, he leaves before they can do anything on that front, with Carlos offering himself as a consolation prize. Priscilla isn't pleased.
• Skilled, but Naive: Their speech to Buchi shows they see him as this, and all of them treat Van like this. Turns out, they were spot on both times.
• Sleepy Head: Carlos: With the exception of three episodes, he's asleep for the entire series.
• The Stoic: Bario, who, for the most part, does nothing but read a book.
• They Were Quite The Lookers: Their aged selves are not that bad. Their younger selves? Gorgeous. Especially Jose.

Antagonists

The Claw

Voiced by Kenyū Horiuchi (JP), Kirk Thornton (EN)

A... very nice, affable old man who is a Friend to All Living Things, polite, soft-spoken and loves everyone... except that he's the Big Bad. While his motives may seem good, his final goal is morally problematic. His charisma is one of his main strengths: he gathered a lot of followers by merely 'helping' them. However, he has also committed his share of murders, namely Van's bride Elena and Ray's wife Shino, which marked him as the ultimate target of their bloody revenge.

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• Affably Evil: And how. He's so polite, you almost forget that he kills anyone who gets in his way. Could be Faux Affably Evil, depending on whether or not you think it's actually an accident when he kills someone.
• Ambiguous Situation: Just how much of anything that comes out of his mouth can be trusted? Is he actually dying? Is he genuine about his altruistic motives, or does he just want power? Does he legitimately kill people on accident because he doesn't understand his own strength and the danger his clawed prosthetic poses, or is that just his excuse to kill with impunity? Is he even genuinely who he says he is? Given how much he avoids giving information, down to his own name, it's next to impossible to know for sure.
• An Arm and a Leg: A flashback reveals that his arm was shot off when he tried to stop his companions from fighting.
• And Call Him "George": He has a habit of killing people because of this, although it's ambiguous the degree to which it's accidental versus accidentally-on-purpose.
• Assimilation Plot: His ultimate plan. His Armor, Birthday, will copy his mind (destroying his brain in the process) and use it to overwrite the minds of all other humans on the planet. With everyone in full agreement, all war and strife will end for good.
• Big Bad: Causes, intentionally or not, the driving need to see him dead in every protagonist of the series, usually through his minions or bizarre habit of possibly accidentally killing people.
• But for Me, It Was Tuesday: He has no memory of killing Ray's wife, at least at first. It's an interesting case in that it helps spur Ray's Character Development; the previously self-absorbed, determined avenger only starts to turn a new leaf once he realizes just how insignificant his suffering was in the Claw's long list of crimes and murders. Or rather, it seems to be the first time Ray lets himself realize that he and Shino are far from the only casualties of the Claw's grand plan.
• Charm Person: He always seems to know what to do to sway people to his incredibly destructive cause. For reference, Michael was supposed to have been his prisoner, but the Claw managed to convince him to become his loyal right-hand man.
• Cool Old Guy: An evil version of this.
• Death Is Cheap: One way how he justifies his crueler actions is that in the long term, he'll be able to bring back everyone he killed using the forgotten technology from Earth.
• The Evils of Free Will: He doesn't view free will in a positive way, given that his plan to save the world is to make it so everyone has exactly the same mind.
• Friend to All Living Things: In his insane way.
• Half the Man He Used to Be: His eventual fate at the hands of Van.
• Heroic Sacrifice: How he views his role in his plan. Activating Birthday and triggering the Assimilation Plot will wipe out his brain, killing him. He's Secretly Dying anyway, so he views giving his life to finally bring peace to the world as a worthy way to go.
• Heroic Willpower: An absolutely twisted example. He has the absolute resolve of going through with his plan even if it kills him, but this gives him tunnel vision and causes him to fail to understand that the pain and horror he inflicts on others can't be brushed off. When Van and his friends wind up totaling his Assimilation Plot, he also resolves to start again and keep himself alive so the plan can continue despite the fact that he's possibly dying and Van isn't going to let him live one way or another.
• Hypocrite: Wendy calls him one. Stating how he preaches about love and friendship but then kills anyone in his way.
• Incurable Cough of Death: He's possibly dying and it shows.
• Insane Troll Logic: The various ways that he downplays and justifies his crimes can often fall into this. For instance, him explaining to Ray that his murder of the latter's wife wasn't such a big deal because "she still lives on in your heart, doesn't she?" The only reason Ray doesn't immediately fill him full of holes and explain to him that his missing organs aren't such a big deal because they, too, still live on in his heart is because he doesn't have his gun.
• Lack of Empathy: While he himself would claim otherwise, The Claw actually only shows shallow empathy towards other people. While he claims to see the big picture in saving humanity from itself he remains completely oblivious to the smaller awful pictures he's created along the way, even seeming genuinely surprised that Ray and Van won't even think of joining him despite his lofty seemingly benevolent goals because to get there he murdered their wives.
• No Name Given: He's only called 'Clawed Man' or 'Comrade'. According to the Super Robot Wars series, his real name is Ku Krying Kru—Wu's father. It is actually mentioned very briefly once by Wu when he first introduces himself to Van.
• Obliviously Evil: He doesn't even realize when he has bear-hugged one of his own minions to death by slashing their back out until it's too late.
• Omnicidal Maniac: His overall plan involves two stages (1) using the technology of Earth to reconstruct the planet into a paradise (2) join his mind with that of every human in the world to form a mass consciousness. The problem is, the first step would result in exterminating all life on the planet and, given his questionable sanity, it's doubtful that Earth's technology would really allow him to revive everyone he killed.
• Really 700 Years Old: He looks in his late eighties. He was one of the original colonists, making him at least five hundred years old.
• Smug Snake: An arguably unintentional version. He just doesn't seem to grasp the idea that people might be mad at him for killing their loved ones because his Love Freak mentality causes him to consider them not really dead as their memory lives on. This in turn causes the two people who want him dead the most to view him as an arrogant bastard they just want to kill more. Even right before Van slices him in half, he seems convinced he can turn Van to his side.
• Villain Ball: Grabs it when Michael offers to help Wu kill Van and he refuses him.
• Villainous Breakdown: When Van takes control of Earth's technology and effectively derails the Claw's plan to reconstruct the entire planet, the last of his sanity goes out the window and he begins laughing hysterically at the joy of starting the whole plan over again.
• Villain with Good Publicity: At least among his followers. The majority of them are completely dedicated to him due to the Claw promising them that their new life in the world he will create will be better than anything they can imagine.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: At least, that's one interpretation.

Michael Garret

Voiced by Soichiro Hoshi (JP), Johnny Yong Bosch (EN)

Wendy's brother. At first kidnapped against his will by The Claw, he is later charmed with The Claw's methods and faithfully served him, abandoning his sister. He also strikes a relationship with Fasalina and goes a bit more on the extreme side later on. He is later selected as the pilot of Saudade of Sunday and spends his life protecting The Claw.

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• Aloof Big Brother: He wasn't at first, but that can possibly be chalked up to the Claw's bad influence.
• The Dragon: The one of Claw's new Original Seven team to almost never be seen far from him, and acts solely at his behest.
• Hypocrite: He asks Wendy what she knows about the world. Wendy calls him out on that, stating she has actually traveled the world where he only knows about the world from what he has been told by The Claw. His reply that that's all he needs to know is woefully inadequate.
• It's Personal: Michael hates Van because Van killed Gadved, and (Michael thinks) kidnapped Wendy. Van, on his part, blames Michael for abandoning Wendy.
• Karma Houdini: According to the Drama CD, he and Fasalina survived and left to start a new life together.
• Knight Templar: He genuinely thinks of himself as a hero who is doing the right thing, no matter how horrible it might be.
• Only a Flesh Wound: Subverted when he collapses from blood loss after being shot in the arm.
• Sex as Rite-of-Passage: Seems to be proven completely during Michael and Fasalina's intense sex scene, but is subverted in a later episode, which explicitly refers to him as a "boy" in contrast to Van, who is both a man and a virgin.
• Stockholm Syndrome: Overlaps with Lima Syndrome in regards to him and Fasalina.
• The Power of Love: Subverted, as his relationship with Fasalina was one of the main reasons he stayed with The Claw. Their intense sexual encounter pretty much closed the deal.

Fasalina

Voiced by Masayo Kurata (JP), Karen Strassman (EN)

A blank-eyed beautiful woman who was formerly a pole dancer & prostitute that came to hate her own unclean body... Until The Claw rescued her and promised her a new world where she and her unclean body could be cleansed. Cool-headed, polite,& soft-spoken, she is sort of The Claw's second in command. She grows interested in Michael. She's also Carmen 99's arch-enemy, as she is responsible of the death of Carmen's friend, her hometown's destruction and her fall from grace. She pilots the Dahlia of Wednesday.

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• Affably Evil: Quite polite and never raises her voice, though this might be more out of apathy than anything else.
• Aloof Dark-Haired Girl: She's a rather interesting subversion of this trope since she definitely has the look, but she's not really aloof. She's actually very kind, polite, and outgoing...despite being one of the villains, that is.
• The Atoner: Very subverted. She does indeed want to atone for what she views as her past sins as a prostitute, but the way she goes about trying to do so by siding with the Big Bad and helping to further his decidedly evil plan isn't the most moral way to do so.
• Berserk Button: There's nothing that can actually make her angry, but calling her a whore comes close.
• Broken Bird: Quite beautiful. Quite polite. Quite possibly suffering from an internalized Madonna-Whore Complex.
• Close-Call Haircut: Carmen gave her one in the final episode.
• Combat Sadomasochist: She moans erotically while both giving and receiving damage with her mecha in battle.
• Combat Tentacles: In keeping with the general plant motif, the Dahlia of Wednesday comes complete with vines.
• Cool Big Sis: Evil version to the younger of Claw's special pilots.
• Dance Battler: While in her mecha, she controls it by dancing on a pole.
• Dark Action Girl: Not afraid to jump in her mech to get things down, and manages to put up quite a fight... for the evil side, unfortunately.
• Dissonant Serenity: She manages to keep her calm, kind, and polite demeanor even while blatantly revealing The Claw's evil plans to the heroes.
• The Dragon: More or less serves as The Claw's second in command in conjunction with Michael.
• Dull Eyes of Unhappiness: Her eyes always look like this. They're constantly empty and dead looking. This is likely because of her past and her status as a Broken Bird desperately looking to redeem herself. The only time her eyes really show life and have the lighting and shading that resemble the eyes of your typical anime female more is when she shows concern for Michael when he collapses from blood loss after being shot in the arm and right before the giant boulder falls on them (if you believe it actually fell on them, that is).
• Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: While she is extremely beautiful, her face also has an eerie look to it. Namely, her eyes.
• Evil Counterpart: To Carmen 99.
• Flower Motifs: Invoked. She calls the Dahlia's ink attack 'sweet nectar' and claims that if Van keeps thrusting at her, he'll scatter her petals.
• Godiva Hair: Her hair covers a decent portion of her chest.
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: She has a huge scar running entirely down her backside due to having to be implanted with the necessary equipment to be able to pilot her mecha.
• Hooker with a Heart of Gold: A very rare villainous example.
• Karma Houdini: According to the Drama CD, she and Michael survived and left to start a new life together.
• Ms. Fanservice: She looks even bustier than Carmen, and her outfit exposes her cleavage and navel.

 * Navel-Deep Neckline: Her outfit has a deep neckline that reaches her stomach.

• Orgasmic Combat: She, uh, really gets into her duel with Van. Complete with blush and innuendo.
• Pet the Dog: Played semi-straight, albeit a little late. If she wasn't so broken, she wouldn't be nearly as messed up,& she did genuinely try to be The Heart of the antagonist team (even the Jerkass Tyke-Bomb Carossa had a soft spot for her), even truly falling for Michael at one point.
• Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: Her dead eyes aren't enough of an issue to keep Michael from being attracted to her.
• Shadow Archetype: To Carmen 99.
• Slut-Shaming: Internalized; she believes that she has to 'atone' for selling her body and that bringing the Claw's dream to fruition is the only way to do so.

Carossa & Melissa

Carossa voiced by Makiko Ohmoto (JP), Sterling Beaumon (EN)

Melissa voiced by Chiwa Saitō (JP), Megan Harvey (EN)

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• Big Brother Instinct: Played utterly straight in Carossa's case.
• Creepy Children: Sometimes, usually when piloting their giant death machine.
• Emotionless Girl: Melissa borders on this most of the time.
• Enfante Terrible: They're definitely pre-teens, but also co-pilot a mech that can wipe out entire towns by itself.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Melissa dies trying to save Carossa in a later battle. Sadly, it doesn't work.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: The jerk part is subverted with Carossa, who just wants to protect his sister Melissa. It's mostly a way of projecting his massive insecurities, and both Fasalina and his sister managed to get his softer side to show.
• Killed Off for Real: Both of them are killed by Ray. And it's heartbreaking.
• Knight Templar Big Brother: Carossa is definitely one of these, due to his overprotective nature of his younger twin sister Melissa. This is taken to extremes when she saves his life and dies during the same battle.
• Punch-Clock Villain: When not working for the bad guys, these kids aren't all that different from the average brother/sister dynamic you'd see at their ages.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: After Melissa sacrifices herself for Carossa, he attempts one of these to avenge her. Unfortunately, he didn't have a chance of success and is killed shortly afterward.
• Senseless Sacrifice: Unfortunately, Melissa's death to save Carossa's life is all in vain when Carossa dies shortly afterwards trying to avenge her.
• Shrinking Violet: Melissa is very shy.
• Sibling Yin-Yang: A fairly common case of brash, loud brother and shy, demure sister, but both still pilot one of the Original Seven.
• Together in Death: The ruins of Armors are shown to be holding hands at the end.
• Twincest: Not often played up due to their age, but they lick each others tears.

William Will Wu

Voiced by Mitsuaki Madono (JP), Dameon Clarke (EN)

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• Alliterative Name: A family trait, judging by his father's original name.
• Axe-Crazy: He's obviously had to contend with conflicting ideas of right and wrong while working for the Claw, and the mental toll of making it all fit together has turned him quite bloodthirsty when the facade cracks.
• Berserk Button: Because his castle is a symbol of his mother to him, he really hates it when other people touch it.
• Fan Disservice: His Shirtless Scene shows off his muscle definition...except it happens when he angsts over his Mommy Issues under his mother's picture. And he is later shown to be lying on it while shirtless.
• Killed Off for Real: Shares a similar fate to Gadved, though with Van elated rather than supremely pissed off.
• Madness Mantra: "I didn't want to, but I did..."
• Momma's Boy: Apparently had a close connection to his mother, which unfortunately didn't quite compare to his connection to his father.
• Mommy Issues: Has developed somewhat of a complex around his mother due to trying to come to terms with him having to kill her and the Claw's justifications for doing so.
• The Power of Love: Well, he claims that discarding his love for his mother made him stronger. If so, it didn't do him much good.
• Royal Rapier: In direct contrast to Dann's machete straight blade, his Original Seven uses this.
• Sword Beam: Wu's Metsa is capable of doing this.
• The Stoic: Obviously took cues from Gadved in that he doesn't speak much...
  • Not So Stoic: ... Until his trauma and emotions get away from him

Gadved

Voiced by Kazuhiko Kishino (JP), Shinpachi Tsuji (Super Robot Wars), Dan Woren (EN)

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• Affably Evil: Quite possibly the 'sanest' the Dysfunction Junction group could get, other than Michael.
• Badass Preacher: Was a pastor for a church, and piloting Diablo of Monday, before he started preaching for the Claw instead of God.
• Broken Pedestal: For Van, considering he's the direct reason his wife is dead.
• Expy: Seems to be one for Tekkaman Axe/Goddard. Both are muscular former mentors to the hero who turned evil, both fight with axes, and their respective fighting things (mecha and biotech power armor) have a moss green-ish tint.
• Face–Heel Turn: Was once a normal, if badass, pastor at a church before the Claw sunk his philosophy into him.
• Killed Off for Real: As dead as can be, after his mech got torn apart by an enraged Van.
• Only Sane Man: As close as you could get in the Claw's organization anyways.
• The Big Guy: Stands several heads taller than almost every other Original Seven pilot aside from maybe Van and Wu, who are merely slightly shorter, on top of being built like a brick wall.

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