Characters / Infinite Stratos

Tropes for individual Infinite Stratos characters go here. Any contributions are appreciated.

Most of the characters are in the same class; first year high school students (10th grade, 15 or 16 years old).

Unmarked spoilers ahead. Highlight at your own risk.

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Students

Ichika Orimura

Voiced by: Kōki Uchiyama (Japanese) and Josh Grelle (English)

The main protagonist and the first ever male able to pilot an Infinite Stratos.

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• Accidental Pervert:
  • In Episode 1, he stumbles onto Houki getting out of the shower. He later comes across her bra hanging from one of her wooden katanas and almost doesn't recognize what it is.
  • After being crushed under Maya's IS, he somehow winds up on top once the dust clears, face down in front of two classes.
  • Several moments with Charlotte post-reveal.
  • Season 2 Episode 2 has him and Tatenashi in a judo match; after getting curbstomped by her for a while, he manages to grab her outfit, but inadvertently pulls it open in the process revealing her ample chest. Cue Pervert Revenge Mode.
• Action Survivor: Considering his subpar training and with the Byakushiki being a Flawed Prototype, Ichika is guaranteed to lose in nearly all his fights. In the rare case he wins, it will be either through sheer luck, outside help or by the skin of his teeth. Even after Taking A Level In Badass, he still needs help from more experienced fighters.
• Affectionate Nickname: Tabane addresses him as "Ikkun".
• Artificial Human: Although the Mosaica Project was officially discontinued, it actually continued in secret, and Ichika was the third product of the experiment. However, something went wrong, and Ichika turned out as not just a superhuman, but as someone that wasn't human altogether...
• Bare-Handed Blade Block: Blocks Houki's wooden katana with this.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Is typically a nice guy who would never hurt others but when Laura started to viciously beat Rin and Cecilia during their fight he charges in full of rage.
• Big Sister Worship: Thinks very highly of his older sister. This naturally gets everyone in his harem to suspect that he's got feelings for her.
• Book Dumb: Very bad when it comes to theoretical application, such as the mechanics of firing an IS-outfitted gun. This is why Chifuyu encourages him to simply stick to close-range combat. This is more of him being generally unfamiliar with anything IS-related than him being dumb.
• Butt-Monkey: Gets beaten up or insulted by his harem and sister, usually for being stupid, on a near regular basis.
• Cast from Hit Points: The main drawback of the Reiraku Byakuya one-off ability is the Byakushiki's low Shield Energy reserves and its limitation to said weapon.
• Character Tics: He has a habit of clenching and relaxing his left hand when anxious (a reference to Shinji Ikari, who had the same habit). His sister has actually taken note of this, and explains that whenever the tic shows up in combat it's a sign that he's about to do something reckless and stupid.
• Chick Magnet: About every girl who interacts with him will fall for him. Not just his harem, but all his other classmates.
• Childhood Friend Romance: There are a couple of girls in his harem that happen to be his childhood friends.
• Class Representative: For Class 1-1. Cecilia originally won it by way of a duel, but later cedes the position to him.
• Classical Anti-Hero: While a good person, Ichika isn't very bright, always jumps into conclusions and gets his ass kicked on a regular basis. His attempts to save his friends usually end with his friends saving him instead.
• Clueless Chick-Magnet: There are at least 5 girls interested in him (with them perceiving his older sister to be a 6th rival) and all the obvious signs of their affections go over his super thick head. However, the light novels suggest and ultimately reveal point-blank that he's not that dense and he's just playing dumb in order to avoid picking one of the girls and all the dangerous consequences that would come with it.
• Crippling Overspecialisation: Played with — the Yukihira Type-2 is his only weapon, leaving Ichika crippled in ranged combat. When he notes this, Chifuyu points out that it'd be extremely hard for the inexperienced Ichika to learn the complex mechanics behind firing an IS-outfitted ranged weapon, advising him to instead perfect his melee skills such that he won't need long-range firepower anymore... just like how Chifuyu won the 1st Mondo Grosso Tournament.
  • Byakushiki Second Shift seems to avert this by giving him a powerful Beam Cannon & Shield combo weapon. However, those new armaments increases his shield energy consumption, so all those extra armaments are disadvantageous in prolonged combats.
• Custom Uniform: Justified since he is the only male who can pilot an IS unit in the all-female academy.
• Determinator: As inept as he can be, you have to give Ichika credit for trying sometimes.
• The Dulcinea Effect: Whenever he sees a cute girl in danger, even if she tried to kill him, Ichika has to save her.
• The Everyman: There is nothing remarkable about him personality-wise. What makes him stand out is what he can do and who is around him.
• Falling into the Cockpit: Averts the usual basics of this trope. During his high school entrance exam, he wandered into a storage room, where he discovered he could operate an IS upon touching one. Come Episode 1, he's already used ISs a few times.
• The Fettered: Ichika never backs down on a promise he makes, and he draws strength from his need to protect his friends and family. Also, his talks with Charles (Charlotte) and Laura about his decision to protect them cause them to fall in love with him.
• First-Name Basis: With everyone in his harem. His new name for Charles after she reveals her true gender is Char.
• First-Person Smartass: In the Light Novel, especially regarding Chifuyu.
  Ichika: Oh my, this voice definitely belongs to Chifuyu-nee. A black knight's song rings in my mind without conditions. On a side note, there’s also another tune in my mind. It's called The Terminator.
• Forced Kiss: After the VT System incident, Laura ends up giving him his First Kiss and declares him to be his "bride." In full view of the entire class.
• Fragile Speedster: Byakkushiki is way faster than any other IS, but it can't take a ton of hits due to its low energy pool.
• Glass Cannon: Byakkushiki can deal a lot of damage, but it can't take a ton of hits due to its low energy pool.
• Happy-Ending Massage: Known to be quite very skilled at giving one, as her sister narrates to the girls. Cecilia kind of had a first-hand experience as to how good he gives them, until Chifuyu pulled up her robe, revealing her Black Bra and Panties.
• Healing Factor: In Volume 12, he shows the ability to recover from serious injuries at a humanly impossible rate. This is due to his status as the third product of the Mosaica Project.
• Heroic Self-Deprecation: Blames himself and his kidnapping for Chifuyu forfeiting her title defense at the 2nd Mondo Grosso Tournament to save him. Obviously, it wasn't but he still thinks so.
• Hidden Depths: The light novels make it clear that he isn't actually Oblivious to Love, or at least not as much as he pretends.
  Charlotte: Sometimes I think you're doing this on purpose.
• House Husband: He basically has the qualities of one, as lampshaded by his sister to his "girlfriends". This makes him a lot more endearing to them, but also allows them to view his sister as their biggest rival, as they tend to see their dynamic not as siblings, but as spouses (as Lampshaded by Cecilia and Charlotte below) with the roles reversed.
  Charlotte: What is up with these two?
  Cecilia: They look like a husband and his wife...
• I Am Not Left-Handed: During his duel with Cecilia, he gets caught by missiles after destroying her drones. After the resulting Smoke Shield clears, it turns out he survived due to his IS upgrading and optimizing itself at the last second. Right then, Cecilia realizes that Ichika had been holding her off with his IS's default settings.
• Insecure Love Interest: He once said to Chifuyu he doesn't have a chance with a girl. Every time he hangs out with a girl, even if its one of them among themselves, he always caught in the misunderstanding in one way or another. Tried with all of their might to threaten, bullying him into leaving with the sharp objects they can find to do him harm. And if that's not enough to satisfy their anger, they deploy their own personal machines holding a contest to see which one of them gets to destroy him first. Due to the girls' wrathful actions and the way they treated him, they make Ichika feel insecure as he's scared if he were to make a move on a girl, the others will go out for his blood.
• I Take Offense to That Last One: In the light novels when he blocks Houki's wooden sword, someone comments that "he's not bad at receiving." He definitely doesn't appreciate that comment.
• Jack of All Stats: The Byakushiki (after its Post-Setsura shift) is armed with a particle cannon, an energy claw, and a force shield, in addition to the Yukihira Type-2.
• A Lady on Each Arm:
  • Ends up between Houki and Cecilia, as they coerced him to escort them to the cafeteria in season 1 episode 6.
  • ... And again between Houki and Charlotte in the Sugar & Honey spin-off manga.
  • In season 2 episode 3, Houki, Cecilia, Charlotte, and Laura all attempt to accompany him on his break during the school festival, resulting in two girls holding each of his arms.
• Laser Blade: Yukihira Type-2 is an upgraded version of the energy blade that once belonged to his sister.
• Likes Older Women: One of the many rumors floating around about him. Some of his interactions with his sister, as well as with other women (Cecilia's maid - Chelsea, and Natasha Flairs to name a few) don't help his case much.
• Marshmallow Hell:
  • During the Long Vacation OVA, where she was pulled underwater by Cecilia in order to hide from Rin and Laura.
  • Subjected to this by Tatenashi in Season 2, who demanded he give her a massage.
• Mid-Season Upgrade: Byakkushiki's second-shift into Setsura.
  • Somewhat downplayed in the second season where all that remained from the second shift was the particle cannon; the rest of his IS reverted back to its first-shift settings in between seasons.
• Mr. Fanservice: A boy who doesn't look too bad on the eyes, frequently seen wearing skin-tight outfits, and is ripped. And if Houki's reaction is any indication, he looks good in a tuxedo.
• Nice Guy: Ichika is brave, honest, quick to forgive, always wants to see the good in people and puts the needs of his friends above his own. This is one of the reasons why the girls fall for him, along with House Husband skills.
• Non-Action Guy: Downplayed. He is not entirely defenseless, it's just that the girls are way better that piloting the IS than him.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: The Light Novel, told from his point of view, reveals that his apparent density is all an act. He’s only pretending to be dense and he’s known about his status as a Chick Magnet all along.
• Oblivious to Love: Out of his harem, he only seems to know of the affections of Charlotte and Laura toward him — after all, the former gave him a naked hug during their time at the hot bath; the latter gave him a kiss and later snuck naked onto his bed. However, it's implied that this is actually a case of Selective Obliviousness for the sake of self-preservation, because his harem is full of Clingy Jealous Girls with violent tendencies and access to Powered Armor. He's probably safer not noticing their feelings than acknowledging them and making a choice.
  • Ultimately Subverted. As it turns out, he’s been aware of how the girls feel towards him since the very beginning and he was only pretending not to notice specifically to protect them from each other's violent jealousy.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • He has two in quick succession when Rin fires off a Wave-Motion Gun at him without his IS suit at point-blank range and when Laura does a Wacky Marriage Proposal on him.
  • When Cecilia almost blows his head off for almost kissing Houki.
• The One Guy: Out of the all-female population of IS users within the Academy.
• One-Hit Kill: The Reiraku Byakuya one-off ability, where the Yukihira Type-2 casts away the IS's shield energy for a shield-nullifying attack, powerful enough to force an opposing IS to activate its Absolute Defense, and thus ending the match in his favor.
• Only Sane Man: The most normal person in a school full of... eccentric individuals. Unfortunately, common sense doesn't seem to exist in the Infinite Stratos universe. He still tries to be sane, God bless him.
• Out-of-Clothes Experience: He experiences this with Houki◊.
• Our Hero Is Dead: This is how volume 6 ended. Due to the long wait between volume 6 and 7, fans assumed that he really did die. Cue Laura's Big Damn Heroes moment at the opening of volume 7.
• Parental Abandonment: He and Chifuyu were abandoned by their parents.
• Polar Opposite Twins: With his twin sister Madoka, who is almost his exact opposite.
• Power Palms: Byakkushiki in season 2 (post-Setsura shift) has one on the left.
• Real Men Wear Pink: As Chifuyu described him, Ichika is great at cooking, house chores, and giving massages. Dude is destined to be the perfect house husband. In the OVA between Seasons 1 and 2, Charlotte even has a brief fantasy about how he'd make an excellent husband.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The red to Chifuyu's blue.
• Running Gag: Every single time he's about to deal a finishing blow, his Byakushiki's energy always seems to run out at the worst possible time.
• Sharp-Dressed Man: When he is late for a dinner with Houki in Volume 7, she is about to blast him for it until she turns around. The sight of him in a tuxedo makes her forget what she was about to say.
• Stock Light-Novel Hero: Deconstructed. Ichika is the only male in the world that can pilot the titular Powered Armor, which means he is the only male in a school dedicated to training IS pilots and gets an Unwanted Harem. He is also a pretty good homemaker, dedicated and passionate about his beliefs and draws strength from his conviction to protect his loved ones. Unfortunately, he isn't very bright, always jumps into conclusions and is guaranteed to lose almost every fight he takes part in because he has no experience or talent piloting an IS. In the rare case he wins, it will be either through sheer luck, outside help or by the skin of his teeth. Even after getting more competent, he still needs help from more experienced fighters. His attempts to save his friends usually end with his friends saving him instead.
• Super Prototype:
  • Ichika's IS core is actually Core 001 — the very first of its kind. Chifuyu claims Tabane put her heart and soul into it as her first creation.
  • The Byakushiki is actually a 4th-generation conceptual prototype. However, as a testbed for new technology and concepts, its full of flaws, making it more of a Flawed Prototype.
• Survival Mantra: Naked girl nearby? Recite pi in your head.
• Thanks for the Mammary:
  • Had a dose of this and Funbag Airbag when Yamada-sensei crash-landed on him in episode 5.
  • Accidentally grabbed onto Charlotte in the second OVA, when they went down the pair pool.
• Took a Level in Badass: In season 2, he finally accumulates enough skill and extra equipment to be able to go toe to toe with Phantom Task, but he still requires aid to actually win his engagements. And the rest of the girls still routinely kick his ass.
• Trash Talk: His argument with Cecilia in the first episode. He even states that England has the worst cuisine in the whole world.
• Turn the Other Cheek: Ichika might not be strong or smart, but holy shit is he forgiving. Attacking for a misunderstanding with other girls? It's okay, he wasn't really hurt. Trying to kill him and his friends? He will save you and earn your affections. Put yourself in danger to take down an out-of-control IS? He will save your life and asks if you're okay.
• Unlucky Everydude: Ichika is very uncomfortable being the only guy in what is essentially an all-girls academy, leading to a number of awkward situations. Nevertheless he's not a complete pushover — especially towards Houki, who even hit him once, but he still got up and didn't let it faze him (and he even was the one who dragged her out to lunch by the hand, rather than the other way around), making him somewhat a subversion. However, he was tossed in harm's way after the reveal of the IS, first being kidnapped before he knew he was an IS pilot and now a target of terrorist attacks because they want his IS core.
• Unwanted Harem: So far, he has gained the affection of almost every single person in the academy, particularly Houki, Cecilia, Rin, Charlotte, Laura, Kanzashi, and (counting the light novels) possibly Tatenashi. Even his friend's little sister Ran is in love with him. Despite all that, he still seems Oblivious to Love, although this is later revealed to be an act.

Houki Shinonono

Voiced by: Yōko Hikasa (Japanese) and Monica Rial (English)

A first-year student at the IS Academy and Ichika's childhood friend, though they have not seen each other for six years. Due to an extreme coincidence, they also end up sharing a dorm room, though Ichika doesn't see any harm in this. Later, Charles Dunois gets paired up with him, but Houki still keeps close contact with her old friend.

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• Almost Kiss: Right at the end of Season 1, Episode 12, she almost succeeds in getting Ichika to kiss her... and then the other girls show up.
• Anime Hair: Has a long ponytail which actually splits into two.
• Armed Legs: Her IS has a pair of retractable energy blades.
• Battle Couple: In the last few episodes with Ichika.
• Beam Spam: Her right-hand katana Amatsuki can fire multiple beams with one slash.
• Breast Expansion: Not only is she the one to point out that her bust is continuously growing, but everyone from her friends to her estranged sister also notice.
• Buxom Beauty Standard: Her large bust is constantly pointed out by other characters, either with admiration or envy.
• Cannot Spit It Out: Implied to have grown out of the trope upon the closing scenes of season 1 episode 12, when she allows Ichika to grope her and almost succeeds in kissing him. By the time of the first OVA, she tries to confess... but he couldn't hear 'cause of the fireworks.
• Charles Atlas Super Power: Can stab through wooden doors with wooden katanas, and can launch Ichika up in the air with a single kick to the gut.
• Childhood Friend Romance: She has known Ichika ever since they're little kids. Although she moved away during their grade school years (due to tight security surrounding her older sister Tabane, chief developer of the IS, and her family), he still remembers a lot about her, and is happy that they're in the same class.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: While initially hostile towards Ichika, when a senior offered to teach him on the IS, she immediately declines the offer for him. She also told him that if she won the championship tournament he will date her, which gossip blew out of proportion into a winner-take-Ichika tourney.
• Cute Bruiser: She trained in kendo prior to the introduction of the IS suits, and her IS suit is melee oriented.
• D-Cup Distress: While showering in the first episode of season 2, she seems to lament that her breasts have gotten bigger. Ichika definitely takes notice of it when she hastily meets him at her door a few moments later.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: Already melted and down the drain by Episode 5.
• Deuteragonist: What sets her apart from the other girls is that she gets by far the most amount of screen time, which cements her status as the female lead. In particular, she knows Ichika the longest, she has one of the strongest mechas, she sings the ending for every episode, she gets the closest to getting him to reciprocate her feelings, and she gets half of an OVA dedicated to her. There are moments where she honestly seems like the main character rather than Ichika, like the aforementioned OVA focusing more on her thoughts than that of everyone else.
• "Do It Yourself" Theme Tune: Her Seiyuu sings the ending for every episode including the OVA.
• Dual Wielding: Aka Tsubaki's katanas.
• From Roommates to Romance: Houki is Ichika's childhood friend with an obvious crush on him and ends up being dorm roommates with Ichika upon his arrival to IS Academy, much to her dismay. Houki is eventually allowed the chance to have her own room and Charles Dunois takes her place as Ichika's roommate, not that she's any happier with this after discovering Charles is actually Charlotte.
• Get A Hold Of Yourself Man:
  • Gives one to Ichika for attempting to face-off with Laura's VT-enabled IS.
  • Ends at the receiving end of this trope from Rin, snapping her out of her Heroic BSoD.
• Happily Married: Her World Purge-influenced fantasy has her living peacefully together with Ichika, including their own dojo for kendo training. What differentiates hers from Laura's however is that, apart from the lack of Fanservice elements (which is surprising, considering her proportions), her imagination actually views Ichika as her equal compared to the superficial image that the other girls have of him.
• Heroic BSoD: Struck with one when Ichika made a Diving Save to shield her from Silver Gospel. Rin reminds her that they can still win, who then proceeds to slap her to her senses.
• Insecure Love Interest: No matter how many times she hurts him, Ichika always forgives her. This makes her question if she even deserves someone as good as him.
• Invulnerable Knuckles: In the seventh episode of the second season, she gets to do a photo shoot & a joint interview with Ichika. She is so excited at the prospect that while in the dressing room of the studio, she starts punching her locker door while psyching herself up mentally. She ends up punching the locker door off its hinges. Meanwhile, her hand is perfectly fine.
• Irony: Her sister created the IS but she doesn't get her own personal IS until the story is well underway. But by the time she got her hands on the Aka Tsubaki, what a monster of an IS it is.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Though dismissive towards Tabane and Ichika, she falls in love with the latter because of his selflessness.
• Katanas Are Just Better: She's a Kendo ace, after all. Also applies after receiving Aka Tsubaki.
• Kiai: As one would expect from a sword practicioner, she can scream while bringing down her sword.
• Kimono Fan Service: Her Miko Fox outfit in Season 2 Episode 5, complete with Cleavage Window. And thanks to her D-Cup Distress, she's rather uncomfortable with it.
• Lightning Bruiser: Akatsubaki.
• Modesty Towel: Ichika catches her in one after he enters their dorm room for the first time.
• Out-of-Clothes Experience: She experiences this with Ichika◊.
• Parental Abandonment: Became part of a protection program which requires constant relocation due to Tabane's critical importance, and has since hated Tabane for affecting her family life and relationship with Ichika.
• Perpetual Frowner:
  Ichika: Can't you at least stop frowning so much?
  Houki: I was born with this face.
• Phlebotinum Battery: Akatsubaki's One-Off ability, Kenran Butou, can regenerate its shield energy as well as that of other IS units.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Also the blue to Tabane's red.
• Serious Business: How she takes cooking.
• She Is All Grown Up: Invoking this trope is the driving force of her character. She actually used to be a bit of a crybaby as a child, and came to love Ichika since he was always there to comfort her. Nowadays she may act like a Tsundere, but she really just want him to notice her and see her as a grown woman. The problem is that her attempts to seem "mature" confuse the hell out of Ichika, and he never really understood girls all that well to begin with.
• Sibling Yin-Yang: With her sister Tabane.
• Super Prototype: Akatsubaki, the first true 4th-generation IS built by Tabane.
• Sword Beam: Her left-hand katana Karaware can fire one of these.
• Took a Level in Badass: After gaining the Akatsubaki. See Unskilled, but Strong sub-entry.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: Ichika admits sometimes Houki can be really scary in the present compared to when they were kids. Over time, Houki admits her time apart from him didn't do her personality any favors; as she believed she used kendo as way to remember him, but upon beating her opponent so hard to the point of making them cry, she admitted she was only indulging in senseless violence. She treats Ichika badly often.
• Tsundere: A rather blatant Harsh Type. She's been in love with Ichika since they were kids, but puts an impressive amount of effort into trying to act like this is not the case.
• Unskilled, but Strong: Akatsubaki is a 4th-generation Super Prototype and the most powerful IS in existence. However, she's not a skilled pilot, so she can only be as powerful as the rest of Ichika's girls.
  • She seemed to have grown out of this trope in season 2: while Tatenashi was conducting a diagnostics test on her, she found out that Houki already qualifies as a Class S IS pilot. The former credits Tabane's involvement for her sister's sudden increase in ranking.
• Unwitting Pawn: Tabane often uses Houki as a pawn to consider herself superior among others.
• Wooden Katanas Are Even Better: Comes with the Kendo ace package. To the point she can pierce through wooden doors like they're nothing. Even Ichika hangs a lampshade on it.

Cecilia Alcott

Voiced by: Yukana (Japanese) and Brittney Karbowski (English)

Official representative of the United Kingdom for the IS Academy. Although tension initially sparked between her and Ichika due to the latter's lack of knowledge about her impressive history, she warms up to him after he almost defeats her in a duel.

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• Attack Drone: Her Blue Tears has four of them, all of which shoot lasers.
• Beam Spam: All but one of the Blue Tears' weapon systems are beam-type weapons. In fact, Blue Tears was designed from the ground up as a test bed for IS-carried beam weapons.
• Black Bra and Panties: Revealed to have a pair during their school trip when Chifuyu pulled up her robe while in the middle of getting a Happy-Ending Massage.
• British Stuffiness: Her vocabulary in the original Japanese version is completely formal in its prefixes, suffixes and idioms; free of slang and other "vulgar" syntax. In other words, vocabulary spoken by stereotypically uptight and overly polite British nobility.
• Cannot Spit It Out: Like Rin, has some trouble expressing her "feelings" for Ichika, despite being a bit of a tease herself.
• Class Representative: She won the duel for the position against Ichika (simply because his IS ran out of shield energy just as he's about to deal the finishing blow), but nevertheless cedes her position to him.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: She hates it when the other girls get close to Ichika, particularly his two childhood friends.
• Covert Pervert: The biggest one in the series. In the World Purge OVA, she had the lewdest dream with Ichika in comparison with the other girls and was the only girl who was completely naked with him (at least Laura was using an appron). To add more insult, Ichika was groping her and she was enjoying it. In Volume 12 she also has a pretty intense wet dream of Ichika taking her virginity, to the point that her roommate complains that her aroused moaning makes it impossible to sleep at night.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Volume 11 reveals that her parents illegally obtained an IS core from Phantom Task to implant into Exia Blankett to treat her heart condition. As this act is considered treason, they were executed.
• Defeat Means Friendship: Inverted — She wins the duel for the Class 1-1 Representative position against Ichika, but starts falling for him afterwards. The fact that she only won due to a technicality and would have lost had he not run out of shield energy makes it just barely inverted.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: While she hated Ichika initially, after nearly beating her in a duel, she became very friendly to him.
• Does Not Like Men: Her father was a spineless sycophant, which frustrated her to no end and colored her interactions with men in general. Apparently Ichika was the first exception she ever met.
• Dull Eyes of Unhappiness: Together with Rin while they were stalking on Ichika and Charlotte holdings hands as they buy swimsuits.
• Formal Characters Use Keigo: Uses "watakushi" when referring to herself and "desu wa" at the end of her sentences to emphasize her nobility.
• Friendly Sniper: Her IS does have a Sniper Rifle as a primary weapon, so this counts.
• Girly Run: She runs like this. Most noticable in the ending.
• Godiva Hair: Episode 9, by way of her Ojou Ringlets.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Young, beautiful, and a prestigious Ojou.
• Hypocritical Humor: When she finds Rin in the infirmary with an unconscious Ichika, she glares and lambasts Rin for visiting him even though the girls agreed not to get alone with Ichika. Rin fires back by pointing out Cecilia was doing exactly the same.
• Laughing Mad: In Episode 12, after witnessing Ichika and Houki's Almost Kiss and nearly blowing off the guy's head in the process.
• Lethal Chef: Shown when she gave Ichika some sandwiches. Her cooking can be described as "looking exactly as depicted in the cookbook, but tastes just like the cookbook". Then again, there's that joke about British culinary skills...
  • Season 2 shows how her lack of common sense is a major cause of her horrendous cooking skills. While teaching her how to cook, Houki, Charlotte and the latter's roommate, Laura, all get sick from her attempts to make the food look better. Later, when Rin to teaches her how to make sweet & sour pork, Cecilia ends up blowing the latter's room up, as upon hearing Rin stating that Chinese cooking is all about "firepower", Cecilia decides to use her IS's laser.
• Megaton Punch: Gives one to Ichika during the Beach Episode.
• Mid-Season Upgrade: There was a mention of a Strike Gunner high-speed package for her personal IS, just before their encounter with the Silver Gospel. It is unknown if she actually made use of it during the last battle...
• Mistress and Servant Boy: In her dream in the World Purge OVA. Ichika was the servant boy who washes her back (and apparently more locations) in the baths.
• Naked Freak-Out: After Ichika saved her in the World Purge OVA. Although this is ironic, since she was enjoying to be completely naked with Ichika in her dream.
• National Stereotypes: She speaks in a very formal manner when she's first introduced. In the anime, a flag of the United Kingdom is shown to symbolize her nationality and her leitmotif is a harpsichord and violin riff. The dub even gives her an upper-class British accent.
• Not Even Bothering with the Accent: Played straight in the original sub, averted in the dub.
• Oh, Crap!: Upon seeing the Silent Zephyrs in episode 4 of season 2. Especially since the Silent Zephyrs was originally known as "Blue Tears Mk. II", basically Cecilia's IS Suit, but better in every way.
• Ojou: Makes a big point of her noble birth and upbringing.
• Ojou Ringlets: Four sets of ringlets to highlight her noble upbringing.
• Parental Abandonment: Her parents died in what was thought to be a train accident.
• Pimped-Out Dress: Her uniform has frills on the edges of her skirt and sleeves.
• Playboy Bunny: Her blue-with-white-ears outfit in Season 2, Episode 5.
• Proper Tights with a Skirt: Seems to wear a pair as part of her Custom Uniform (see above pic).
• Seiza Squirm: Ichika even lampshades it when he sees her discomfort, asking why didn't she sit at a table instead. She refuses to, having won said spot next to him from the other girls in a game they played earlier.
• Shout-Out: The Attack Drones on her personal IS, Blue Tears, is an obvious reference to mechs with similar armaments from the Gundam franchise, particularly the Strike Freedom Gundam, though the mix of that and the sniper rifle weapon would be more akin to the Cherudim Gundam.
• Spell My Name With An S: Some subs misspelled her last name as how it was pronounced in the original: "Olcott".
• Spock Speak: Given her ojou status, she's very well-spoken at all times.
• Those Two Girls: With Rin.
• Tsundere: Arrogant, snobby, haughty, refuses to admit her obvious feelings for Ichika and easily gets jealous when she sees him with other girls.
• Upper-Class Twit: Due to her sheltered life, she does not have as much common sense as her peers.

Lingyin "Rin" Huang

Voiced by: Asami Shimoda (Japanese) and Hilary Haag (English)

Representative of China for the IS Academy and Class 1-2 Representative.

---

• A-Cup Angst: Never ever say to her face that she's flat-chested. In episode 5 of season 2, she punches the TV screen while watching Charlotte with Ichika, after the screen pauses on Charl's chest. She also angrily accuses him of staring at the other girl's boobs later on after Tatenashi steals her outfit to tease Ichika. The latter only adds fuel to the fire by saying Rin's outfit is a bit tight around the chest. The novels reveal she's actually somewhat jealous of Laura, because Laura has even smaller breasts than her but she isn't bothered by it in the slightest.
• Almost Kiss: She nearly gave one to a sleeping Ichika, till he started to wake up.
• Anime Chinese Girl: Aside from stated nationality, she befits the stereotype of being raised in a family that runs a Chinese restaurant.
• Cannot Spit It Out: Has no problem being playful and energetic towards Ichika, but has problems in the romantic affection bit.
• Catchphrase: "Let's kill him/them!"
• Childhood Friend Romance: She and Ichika were friends since grade school, some time after Houki left. They have fond memories of eating together in her family's restaurant, though it seems that Ichika doesn't remember things quite the same way Rin does...
• Childhood Marriage Promise: She made a promise with Ichika in which she'd treat him to food everyday if she got better at cooking (the implication being that they'd get married). Ichika, ever Oblivious to Love, took her words literally.
• Child Soldier: In episode 1 of season 2, Rin mentions having been given sniper training just like Laura, when at a shooting gallery stand.
• Class Representative: For Class 1-2.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: Houki and Cecilia hate her instantly for being a childhood friend of Ichika, but she also hates it when the other girls get close to him, particularly Houki and Charlotte.
• Cute Bruiser: While she does have cannons with medium-range capabilities, her IS suit is melee-oriented.
• Cute Little Fangs: Especially visible when her smile turns from cute to cruel and murderous.
• Dual Wielding: Her Shenlong's Souten Gagetsu, a pair of swords that can be combined to form a lance-like weapon.
• Dull Eyes of Unhappiness: When slipping into Yandere mode.
• Genki Girl: Upbeat and energetic in disposition; disturbingly enough, even when she is angry enough to want to kill Ichika she is upbeat and happy.
• Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: Gives Houki one of these to snap her out of her Heroic BSoD.
• Girlish Pigtails: She has her hair tied into twin tails.
• Image Song: "Delicious Smile".
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She can be rather blunt and a yandere towards Ichika, but she's one of the good guys.
• Just Friends: With Ichika, who's completely clueless about the implications of the aforementioned Childhood Marriage Promise.
• Mid-Season Upgrade: Gains a couple more Impact Cannons for their counterattack against the Silver Gospel.
• Multiform Balance: Her IS is armed with a pair of Impact Cannons on the shoulder armor and the aforementioned Souten Gangetsu.
• Nephewism: The first manga series showed that she was living with her uncle prior to enrolling in the IS academy, but even he didn't seem to be home very often because of his duties as a People's Liberation Army officer.
• New Transfer Student: A few days right after Ichika, but was introduced to Class 1-2.
• Nom de Mom: Considering her father's family name is Liu, Huang must be her mother's name instead.
• Not Even Bothering with the Accent: Played straight.
• Parental Abandonment: Her parents divorced due to differences, and the restaurant Ichika usually visits had closed down, forcing her to return to China, where she was scouted as an IS pilot. It is revealed in Volume 12 that her father, Liu Yueyin, left his wife and daughter because he was Secretly Dying from cancer and didn't want them to be burdened with taking care of him in the last few years of his life. Ichika figures that his wife had to have known as well and that both kept it a secret from Ling, and he thinks both of them are terribly selfish people.
• Shoulders of Doom: Sort of; the Impact Cannons are positioned slightly above her shoulders
• Shout-Out:
  • Her IS is obviously named after another Gundam of the same name.
  • Meanwhile, the design of the Impact Cannons are derived from the Dygenguar's General Blasters
• Those Two Girls: With Cecilia.
• Token Mini-Moe: The shortest character in Ichika's harem.
• Spell My Name With An S: The first season spelled out her name as "Fan Rinin" on a computer screen. The second season's opening clearly spells it as "Huang Lingyin." The former is the Japanese reading of her name, while the latter is Mandarin.
• Tsundere: She loves Ichika, there's no doubt about that. Yet she seems to have no qualms about hitting Ichika with her IS weapons even when he's unarmed.
• Yandere: Busting through a wall and attempting to kill Ichika after Charlotte admits to her true gender (with most of the school knowing that she and Ichika took a bath together the previous day) counts as this.
  • Then there's this conversation between her and Cecilia while peeping at Ichika and Charlotte going shopping together.
    Rin: Are they holding hands?
    Cecilia: Yes.
    Rin: Ah, then it wasn't an illusion or a daydream.
    [Rin summons her Shenlong's right arm part]
    Rin: Let's kill them!

Charles/Charlotte Dunois

^{Click here to see her real appearance}

Voiced by: Kana Hanazawa (Japanese) and Shannon Emerick (English)

Representative from France and the only other male in the world that can pilot an IS... or at least so it seemed at first. Charles is actually a girl named Charlotte who was sent to spy on Ichika by her father.

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• Ace Custom: Rafale Revive Custom II is actually a heavily modified 2nd-generation mass production IS.
• Affectionate Nickname: Ichika begins calling her Char after the gender reveal, which she quite accepted wholeheartedly.
• Battle Couple: With Ichika. During the duel with Laura they perfectly cooperated, taking advantage of the latter's IS's weakness and capabilities of their own ISs.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Is the kindest, sweetest girl you'll ever meet, with the smile of an angel◊. Just don't piss her off (or cheat on her), lest her smile will turn into that of the Angel of Death◊.
• Bifauxnen: When she was forced to don a male persona, Charlotte can pass for a handsome, if effeminate boy who can set girls swooning with love. To drive the point home, when being requested to work as a waitress at a café, the owner decides to give her a butler outfit instead of a maid costume, stating she looks better in the former, despite being aware that Charlotte's a girl.
• Bishie Sparkle:
  • During her first introduction to the class as Charles.
  • Again when temporarily acting as a waitress in a butler outfit.
• Breakout Character: She is so unbelievably popular among the fans that she is the first character to receive her very own spinoff web-released manga series, IS: Sugar and Honey.
• Catchphrase: "Ichika no ecchi." ("Ichika, you pervert.")
• Clingy Jealous Girl: For all her kindness, she definitely is one, and willing to join the other girls' jealous antics.
• Combat Pragmatist: In Season 1 Episode 8, featuring "Charles" and Ichika VS. Laura and Houki, she quickly shut down Houki, since Laura is enough of an Arrogant Kung-Fu Girl to think she can take on both all by herself. Then she brings out the Hidden Weapons, like a shield-piercing spike and an extra assault rifle, and gives said extra rifle to Ichika, a melee-only combatant, so he can shoot Laura in the back when she's focused on Charles.
• Covert Pervert: A little bit. For example, she changes clothes in the same room as Ichika even when there's really no reason to. To the surprise of absolutely no one, Doujinshi took this and ran with it. At least one doujin written by the author (technically making this semi-canon), involves a... colorful daydream.
• Disappeared Dad: She only got to see her dad for the first time shortly before attending the Academy.
• Even the Girls Want Her: Made all the girls swoon during her first introduction as Charles.
• Everyone Looks Sexier if French: She has her moments, oftentimes with a French-sounding Leitmotif and a dash of Bishie Sparkle...
• Fire-Breathing Diner: Nearly becomes one after trying a piece of pure wasabi. Still, her reaction is really cute.
• From Roommates to Romance: Because she enrolled as a male IS pilot, Charlotte gets paired with Ichika as roommates since they are "both" guys. Ichika later discovers her true gender when he inadvertently walks in on her showering. Upon learning that Charlotte's father and his corporation used her to spy on him, Ichika decides to protect her. She later falls in love with Ichika due to his bravery.
• Fur Bikini: Wore one based on a french poodle in the fifth episode of the second season.
• The Glomp: Laura's Cuteness Proximity when she puts on cat pajamas in season 2 is so strong that Charlotte immediately glomps her.
• Going Commando: In one episode of season 2. Not by choice, mind.
• Gratuitous French: In the dub, she adds French words when she is speaking.
• Guns Akimbo: Can easily pull this off due to the multitude of weapons her IS can carry.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: She has blonde hair and she's the nicest girl of the harem, usually compared to an angel.
• Heroic Bastard: Her backstory as the illegitimate daughter of the president of a French IS manufacturing corporation makes her this.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Laura. They become very close friends and actually get along better with each other than either of them does with their mutual male love interest.
• Hidden Buxom: As Charles, she wears something akin to a girdle to suppress her breasts.
• Hyperspace Arsenal: Her Rafale Revive Custom II isn't nearly as fast or powerful as other personal ISs, but has a massive capacity for weapons and equipment specific for any situation. Normal ISs can carry around two or three different weapons. Rafale Revive II can carry over twenty, and he can also unlock their access for other IS users.
• Image Song: "Mon Chérie, Ma Chérie" and (French for "My Darling, My Darling"), "Sunflower Bouquet".
• I'm Taking Her Home with Me!: So gentle, sweet, cuddly and adorable that this is the reaction she provokes from fans of both sexes, on both sides of the fourth wall.
• Law of Chromatic Superiority: Her Ace Custom IS is Orange, compared to the green on its mass-production derivative, and can carry roughly six times more weapons in its Hyperspace Arsenal compared to the plain vanilla version.
• Leotard of Power: Post-Unsettling Gender-Reveal, a standard female outfit.
• Lovely Angels: With Laura when stopping a bunch of robbers in a restaurant.
• Maurice Chevalier Accent: The English dub has Shannon Emerick use a heavy French accent for Charlotte.
• Missing Mom: Her mother has already passed away before her introduction.
• Mistress and Servant Boy: Inverted. In her dream of the second season OVA, Charlotte was the servant girl while Ichika was the employer who uses his position to do lewd stuff with her.
• The Mole: She was originally sent to gather data on Ichika for her father's company to collect. Of course, once she was found out she may risk imprisonment, but Ichika assures her that her stay at the Academy would at least give her some sort of asylum.
• More Dakka: Rafale Revive Custom II is equipped with around twenty different guns all stored in Hammerspace.
• National Stereotypes: When Charlotte makes her entrance in the anime, her leitmotif is an accordion riff. In the dub, some of her lines are spoken in French and she has a Maurice Chevalier Accent.
• New Transfer Student: Charlotte is introduced while posing as the second "male" IS pilot student who was transferred into Ichika's class. She gets a do-over when she reveals her true gender.
• Nice Girl: Gentle, polite, sweet-tempered and kind to a fault, Charlotte is the only girl of the initial-five harem who is not a violent-tempered, self-centered, emotionally-insincere and domineering Tsundere.
• Noodle Incident: Ichika stripping Charlotte of her panties while trying not to look at her while changing together in their room. The DVD releases rectified it, showing that when Ichika heard her fall to her knees in a very awkward position while changing, he was about to stop her from letting out a scream. Unfortunately, he stumbled as well and accidentally grabbed her panties in the process.
• Not Even Bothering with the Accent: Played straight in the original sub, averted in the dub.
• Oh, Crap!: She is utterly shocked when Ichika discovers her true identity in the bath.
• Only Sane Woman: In addition to being neither a Jerk with a Heart of Gold, a Tsundere, or a Yandere, Charlotte often lampshades Ichika's romance-wise stupidity. Sometimes, it seems that Charlotte is the only girl in the harem who isn't on an around-the-clock quest to get into Ichika's pants.
• Parental Abandonment: The illegitimate child of a French IS company CEO and a country woman, who already died. And the father doesn't care about her one bit.
• Pile Bunker: Her IS has one hidden in its left shield.
  • Doubles as a Shout-Out to the weapon's progenitor: The Alt Eisen's Revolving Stake.
• Playboy Bunny: Got roped into wearing a set in Chapter 11 of the Sugar & Honey spin-off (by Tatenashi, no less.)
• Proper Lady: The sweetest, gentlest and nicest girl of the main cast, who ironically still uses the masculine profile of "boku" even in private with Ichika, the only time it's safe to be a real girl (at least until she finally comes out of her shell at the end of Episode 8). Justified since her father had her memorize the masculine dialogue.
• Quick Draw: Her IS utilizes the Rapid Switch ability to draw out weapons at a faster rate.
• Secretly Selfish: Although she likes Ichika's kindness, it frustrated her that he's nice to everybody. Implying Charlotte wants Ichika to be nice to her and only her while she wants him to be indifferent to everybody else. Similarly to some other girls in the harem, she also wants to have Ichika all to herself.
• Shameless Fanservice Girl: Charlotte has stripped in front of Ichika twice and even joined him in a bath.
• Shipper on Deck: Is actively encouraging Laura to get closer to Ichika. May have something to do with the fact that unlike her, who at least knows her parents, Laura is an Artificial Human who knows next to nothing of such concepts as love or compassion (except maybe that specific "no woman gets left behind" type).
• Shout-Out:
  • After the mass Unsettling Gender-Reveal, Ichika begins calling her Char.
  • She also shares a family name with The Bastard of Orleans, Count of Dunois.
• Shower of Awkward: How Ichika finds out her true gender with a Full-Frontal Assault.
• Sobriquet Sex Switch: Introduced as Charles Dunois, the only other supposed male IS pilot student besides Ichika. She's later revealed to be a girl named Charlotte who had to disguise herself as a boy in order to keep an eye on Ichika.
• Squee: Exhibits this reaction in the first episode of season 2 upon persuading Laura to purr like a cat.
• Stripperiffic: Her "French Poodle" schtick in Season 2, Episode 5, natch.
• Sweet Polly Oliver: Has to pretend to be a boy to spy on Ichika as per her father's orders.
• Tranquil Fury: After Ichika almost kissed Houki: "Ichika, what are you doing?"
• Tsundere: A mild Sweet Type. The only time when her harsh side comes out is when Ichika is being particularly thick or when she gets extremely jealous.
• Weak, but Skilled: Rafale Revive Custom II is a heavily modified 2nd-generation mass production IS. However, her skill allows her to keep up with the rest of the main cast, all of whom use 3rd-generation (4th-generation in Ichika's and Houki's case) prototypes upwards.

Laura Bodewig

^{Click here to see her without the eyepatch}

Voiced by: Marina Inoue (Japanese) and Tiffany Grant (English)

German representative and Captain of its military IS corps Schwarzer Hase ("Black Hares"). Chifuyu used to train her during the former's time in Germany, and initially despised Ichika for being too weak and causing Chifuyu's early retirement.

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• Amazon Brigade: Was the CO of Germany's IS unit Schwarzer Hase ("Black Hares"), whose members wear eyepatches on their left eye.
• Arrogant Kung-Fu Girl: She isn't very fond of the idea of the ISs being used as a form of combat sport, like at the Academy. She really likes to express that opinion in battle as much as allowed.
• Artificial Human: She was grown in a vat and genetically engineered to be the ultimate soldier.
• Awesome, but Impractical: Her Schwarzer Regen's Active Inertia Canceller (AIC) can block any attack, beam-based or not, including a high-powered shot from Rin's Impact Cannons. The catch — it relies on Laura's concentration abilities, making her susceptible to multiple enemies.
  • It may have worked during her match with Cecilia and Rin, as both went long-range... but not so much with Ichika and Charles, who threw her off-guard by combining melee and long-range.
• Badass Arm-Fold: Poses like this after having been shot by one of Cecilia's missiles (and escaping without even a scratch), during her two-on-one impromptu match with Cecilia and Rin.
• Beautiful Dreamer: The sight of her literally dressed as a sleeping kitten is so weapon's-grade cute that Charlotte could not bring herself to wake her up to taste Cecilia's food...
• The Berserker: Her Schwarzer Regen's Valkyrie Trace (VT) System was meant to increase an IS's performance by mimicking previous Mondo Grosso champions (e.g. Chifuyu). However, it went rogue due to Laura's brief mental breakdown upon realizing that Ichika and Charlotte exploited her AIC's weakness and turned the tide of the battle against her. No wonder research, development and application of the VT System is strictly banned. Possibly doubles as a Shout-Out of sorts to the SEED Mode or the Berserker System...
• BFG: Her Schwarzer Regen's rail gun is massive.
• Big Damn Heroes: She rescues Ichika from Lingyin's assault in the classroom, only for her to kiss him shortly afterward.
• Blade Below the Shoulder: Her IS has two energy blades attached to its wrists.
• Blood Knight: Being bred and raised purely for battle, what else is there to expect?
• Bodyguard Crush: After falling in love with Ichika, she decides to become his bodyguard to protect him.
• Child Soldier: Segments of it can be seen in episode 8 of season 1, when she has a Flash Back of her training days back in Germany. She also explicitly states that she's in the German Army's IS corps and more or less asks them for advice, such as what to wear at the beach.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: She is not happy to see her "wife" Almost Kiss another girl. In the first episode for season 2, she invites him out to a pool date, only to get upset at him when he suggests inviting the other girls. Then in episode 2 of season 2, she walks in on Tatenashi forcing Ichika's head down in a Lap Pillow. She immediately summons one of her IS blades, and attempts to attack Tatenashi with it, only for her to deflect it effortlessly with her iron fan.
  Laura: You're not paying enough attention to being my wife!
• Combat Tentacles: Her Schwarzer Regen's wire-guided daggers can function as this.
• The Comically Serious: Because she lacks any social skills a lot of her humor derives from misreading every situation.
• Corner of Woe: Ends up in one in season 2 episode 7, after having been lectured by Chifuyu, and being told that the latter could not accept her as her sister-in-law.
  Laura: Instructor hates me. Instructor hates me. Instructor hates me...
• Cuteness Overload: Totally caught off-guard by a pair of bunny-shaped sweets.
• Cuteness Proximity: Accidentally invokes this when wearing a cat pajama suit. Charlotte, who is also wearing one, ends up hugging her from behind and has her say "nyaa/meow".
• Defeat Means Friendship: Played straight after the VT system incident.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: Initially, she absolutely despised Ichika for being too weak and causing Chifuyu's early retirement. After he saves her from transforming into a dark IS and once she learns Ichika's strength is his freedom to choose and helping those around him, she completely falls in love with him and declares him her "wife".
• Electronic Eye: Her golden left eye which activates the VT system.
• Eyepatch of Power: It covers the golden eye she uses to increase her efficiency with the IS.
• Fangirl: Manages to stand out in a school filled with Chifuyu fangirls.
• Flawed Prototype: Chloe Chronicle refers to her as "incomplete," whatever that means.
• Forceful Kiss: She steals Ichika's First Kiss. While still onboard her IS. In front of the entire class.
• Germanic Depressives: She has the darkest backstory out of all the IS pilots, what with being raised solely for combat at the expense of being taught none of the skills needed to function normally in society.
• Germanic Efficiency: She is raised first and foremost as a warrior, a duty she excels in... ...at the cost of being taught none of the skills essential to being a normal girl, like making friends or understanding the concept of what a marriage is.
• Gratuitous German: In the dub, she peppers her dialogue with German words.
• Happily Married: Her fantasy in the World Purge has her married to Ichika with three children.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Charlotte, whom she even refers to as her "War Buddy". They become very close friends and actually get along better with each other than either of them does with their mutual male love interest.
• Idiot Hair: Has one sticking over her forehead (see above pic).
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: An even bigger one than Houki when she's first introduced. She's considerably hostile towards Ichika when she transfers into the IS Academy. However, after being defeated by Ichika during the first IS Tournament, she eventually falls in love with him and becomes even less of a jerkass. Although she still has some mean moments, she's doing what she can to get closer to him.
• Large Ham: Interestingly, she is probably the biggest ham in the show, second only to Tabane Shinonono. Witness, for instance, her holding up a pair of bloomers in the second season as if they were some kind of priceless treasure.
• Lovely Angels: With Charlotte when stopping a bunch of robbers in a restaurant.
• Love Redeems: So much after her defeat, that she took the initiative and planted a kiss herself.
• Madness Mantra: In Volume 8, the false Ichika in her World Purge fantasy devolves into repeatedly telling her "Do your best" which extends to "Do your best to fight on & kill." The fantasy is hinted to be a coverup for her insecurities in being a living weapon.
• Megaton Punch: Gives one to Ichika (with her IS's right arm deployed) in season 2 episode 6, after Ichika made a favorable comment about her eyes which got her all flustered.
• Mid-Season Upgrade: Her IS gets a long-range artillery set-up for its main cannon (complete with recoil dampers) for their counterattack against the Silver Gospel.
• Mistaken for Gay: At the end of Volume 3 Chapter 1, her Schwarzer Hase teammates were really surprised she was interested in Ichika, because they'd all thought she was hot for Chifuyu.
• Mystical White Hair: She's silver-haired, which hints at her being a genetically engineered Super-Soldier.
• The Napoleon: Among the shortest members of the cast, and originally was quite violent before she softened up.
• National Stereotypes: Laura's first introduced as a very efficient Tyke-Bomb from Germany who isn't familiar with normal girly life. In the dub, some of her lines are spoken in German and she has a German accent.
• New Transfer Student: The day after Charles' introduction in the anime. In the novel, they were introduced at the same time.
• No Social Skills: A side effect of being raised by the military as a Tyke-Bomb. She's unfamiliar to normal girly things such as shopping.
• Not Even Bothering with the Accent: Played straight in the original sub, averted in the dub.
• Parental Abandonment: Raised in a military environment, with no parents in sight.
• Playboy Bunny: Dons a black-with-black-ears, (partly due to her status as the head of the Schwarzer Hase unit, and partly to contrast Cecilia's similar outfit) in Season 2 Episode 5.
• Putting on the Reich: Her pants mostly give this vibe, resembling the jodhpurs common in Nazi uniforms
• Red and Black and Evil All Over: The Schwarzer Regen's color scheme. Only gets subverted upon her defrosting. Doubles as a Shout-Out of sorts to an Ace Pilot who has the sa-TROMBE!
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Her right eye is red and when introduced, she comes across as sinister and definitely darker and edgier than the rest of the cast. She gets better after the tournament.
• Rei Ayanami Expy: Silver-haired, pale-skinned genetically-engineered Artificial Human raised as a Super-Soldier, has a red eye and a golden one she often covers with an Eyepatch of Power, she idolizes her mentor figure who also happens to be the protagonist's older sister and her upbringing left her with No Social Skills. Initially, she antagonizes the main character, but she later opens up and falls in love with him. And finally, for an added bit of irony, she's voiced by Tiffany Grant in the English dub, whose claim to fame is being the original voice of Asuka.
• The Resenter: She resented Ichika for indirectly causing his sister Chifuyu's early retirement. At least until her meltdown.
• Sacrificed Basic Skill for Awesome Training: She was educated with just enough social skills to be able to function as a soldier, which was clearly nowhere near enough to become a normal girl.
• Self-Proclaimed Love Interest: Post-meltdown, she declares that Ichika is her "wife".
  [to Ichika, after having given him a Forceful Kiss]
  Laura: I hereby declare you as my wife! It has been set in stone; I will not accept objections! [Cue a Mass "Oh, Crap!"]
• Serious Business:
  • Swimsuit shopping. She calls Clarissa Harfouch, her second-in-command during her days at the Schwarzer Hase, for advice, and it's freely given. Which makes sense. Bonus points — Clarissa is an Occidental Otaku.
  • Clarissa strikes again in the second season when she advises Laura to pick out an excellent pair of striped panties to flash Ichika with. Cue Laura immediately making finding a pair of hot stripes panties her top priority, to the point where she shoves a striped panties catalogue in Ichika's face and asks which one he likes best.
• Shameless Fanservice Girl: She has no qualms about sneaking into Ichika's bed while naked.
• She Cleans Up Nicely: She laments that she's not attractive to men, as evidenced by Ichika's apparent lack of interest in her. When she's wearing fairly normal clothing, such as her swimsuit in episode 9 of the first season, or a regular dress in episode 1 of season 2, she does look pretty. Some other shoppers in the latter example even take pictures of her and Charlotte after she nearly trips wearing high heels for the first time.
• Skinship Grope: Gives one to Charlotte in the Sugar & Honey web manga due to a dash of A-Cup Angst against her.
• Sleep Cute: She is adorable when sleeping in the cat pajamas Charlotte gave her.
• Spell My Name With An S: While her IS's name is spelled (in the Light Novels and in this site) as Regen^note the correct German term for "rain", the heads-up displays use Roegen instead.
• Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Post-meltdown. She's still very serious, yet she's honest about her feelings for Ichika and pursues him very aggressively.
• Supernatural Gold Eyes: Her yellow/golden left eye is a hyper-sensor package that heightens the nerve processing to the brain at an explosive speed.
• Super-Soldier: She was a test-tube baby originally created as part of Germany's super-soldier project, which aimed to create a perfect combatant.
• Tiny Tyrannical Girl: She's small, short-tempered, bossy and usually kicks or smacks Ichika when she gets angry or jealous.
• Took a Level in Kindness: Her Ax-Crazy tendencies, immense hostility to Ichika, and her No-Holds-Barred Beatdown of two of his friends define her character before the Inter-Class Tournament. However, after being defeated by Ichika during the first IS Tournament, she becomes a Jerk with a Heart of Gold.
• Tsundere: She's ill-tempered, prone to outbursts and overly aggressive, especially when Ichika makes her embarrassed or gets too close to other girls. Despite that, she's one of the most honest and straightforward about her feelings for Ichika among his harem.
• Tyke-Bomb: She was genetically engineered and raised from childhood to fight.
• Wacky Marriage Proposal: Due to having No Social Skills, she just declares Ichika as her "wife". After stealing his first kiss. While still onboard her IS. In front of the entire class.
• Waif-Fu: She may be the shortest among Ichika's harem, but she is also one of the most combat-capable.
• What Beautiful Eyes!: Ichika certainly seems to think so after the second time he gets to see her without her eye patch on. Unfortunately for him, this got her very flustered, to the point that she threw a Megaton Punch on him.
• What Is This Thing You Call "Love"?: She knows next to nothing of such concepts as love or compassion.
• White Hair, Black Heart: Pre-meltdown, she's an Ax-Crazy Tyke Bomb and a Jerkass with white hair.
• Wrestler in All of Us: Puts Ichika in an armbar. While naked in Ichika's bed. And thought he wanted to practice CQC...

Tatenashi Sarashiki, born Katana Sarashiki

Voiced by: Chiwa Saitō (Japanese) and Jessica Calvello (English)

Russian Cadet Representative to the IS Academy and currently the strongest IS user in the Academy, warranting her the position of Student Council President. She's the pilot of the third-generation IS, Mysterious Lady.

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• The Ace: Good at pretty much anything she does on screen.
• Ancient Order of Protectors: The Sarashiki family are the Good Counterpart to Phantom Task, and have been around for a similar amount of time.
• Asskicking Leads to Leadership: She is one of the better, if not the best, IS pilots at the school. So much so that she delivered a Curb-Stomp Battle to Autumn when the latter attacked Ichika.
• Badass Adorable: Compared to Houki, Cecilia, Rin and Laura, Tatenashi is a bright, cheerful and infectiously likable ray of sunshine.
• BFG: She used a long-range cannon in the last episode of Season 2 to take out the airborne Squall, breaking the latter's helmet in the process.
• Big Sister Instinct: Despite taking many hits from unmanned IS units, she still manages to protect Kanzashi from their attack.
• Bodyguard Crush: For Ichika, unto whom she was temporarily assigned to protect after the Silver Gospel incident.
• But Not Too Foreign: Subverted: her name is written in kanji instead of katakana. The light novels outright confirm in Volume 12 that she is fully Japanese but simply has Russian citizenship.
• Cast from Hit Points: Her IS's one-off ability, Lance of Mysteltainn works similarly to Reiraku Byakuya, in which the water-based nanomachines gets concentrated towards the tip of her lance for a sudden offensive boost, in exchange for a decrease in overall defense.
• Charles Atlas Superpower: Stopped Laura's Laser Blade with a paper fan.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: She becomes this in Volume 9 after Ichika saved her during the World Purge incident.
• Cool Big Sis: Affectionately caring and kind, Tatenashi wants nothing more than for her juniors to have a fun and happy childhood; something (much to her regret) she failed to give to her own little sister.
• Drill Sergeant Nasty: Puts Ichika into heavy training to shape him up, leaving him exhausted afterwards.
• Genki Girl: Very energetic and cheerful.
• Good Bad Girl: In stark contrast to every other girl in this franchise, Tatenashi is completely frank and comfortable with her sexuality, knows and openly-acknowledges that she is cute-and-sexy while enjoying every second of it. While she enjoys getting a rise out of chaste Sour Prudes like Ichika and Houki, she is ultimately too good-natured and kind to go beyond anything more than harmless teasing.
• Green-Eyed Monster: In episode 8 of season 2, she admits to Ichika that she's a little jealous of his relationship with his sister Chifuyu. When Ichika wonders what she means, due to Chifuyu's constant sternness with him, Tatenashi tells him that it means she's at least looking out for him, unlike her own relationship with her sister Kanzashi.
• Happy-Ending Massage: Invokes one from Ichika in Season 2, much to his displeasure.
• Jousting Lance: Her IS's primary weapon.
• Lemony Narrator: Her narration of the Cinderella play in episode 3 of season 2, especially when Ichika tries to give his crown to Charlotte, only to have Tatenashi remotely shock him while claiming his own doubts are doing it due to the love of his country. She told the girls without telling him that whoever gets his crown would get to be his roommate. Hence why he tried to just give it to Charlotte before Tatenashi stepped in.
• Lovable Sex Maniac: Stops just short of the "sex" part, and only just barely. See Good Bad Girl above for more details.
• Marshmallow Hell: While she's shorter than Ichika, she's subjected him to this a few times.
• Naked Apron: When she first moves into Ichika's room. At least she was wearing a swimsuit under it, if a skimpy one.
• Nanomachines: Mysterious Lady's special feature; it uses nanomachines to control (or in some instances, weaponize) water. It even works on water vapor, as Autumn's Arachne found out the hard way.
• Nerves of Steel: Never loses that winning smile or her happy-and-cheerful dispositon, even when bound by spider-web and thrown across a room with enough force to dent steel lockers. Except for the time when she got badly injured by the Golem drones in episode 9 of season 2 and when she got shot by a Navy SEAL during the World Purge incident.
• Nice Girl: Flaws aside, she's definitely a cheerful and kind girl, her kindness which her sister, Kanzashi also shares.
• Paper Fan of Doom: Carries a small fan with her at all times, which can apparently stop Laser Blades.
• Proper Tights with a Skirt: Wears a pair like Cecilia (See pic above.)
• Red Baron: Squall identifies her as the "Impenetrable Mist of Moscow."
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: The best pilot in the academy, who happens to have piercing red eyes.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The red to her sister's blue, with Tatenashi being the passionate pilot.
• Screw the Rules, I Make Them!: Used her position to become Ichika's new roommate. She also abuses this power to allow another girl to move in with him on the condition that they can take his crown during a play. Needless to say, every single one of the girls tries very hard to get it. And she conveniently neglected to tell Ichika...
• Sensual Slavs: Subverted since she's a Russian citizen without actually being ethnically Russian. She even reminds Ichika in Volume 12 that she's full-blooded Japanese and only "Russian on paper." Plays the "sensual" part straight towards him, though.
• Shameless Fanservice Girl: She likes to tease Ichika - a lot. In the OVA for season 2, she even pouts that she wants him to do lewd things to her like he apparently was doing with the other girls in the virtual reality simulations they were all stuck in. According to her sister Kanzashi who was monitoring all of that.
• Sibling Yin-Yang: She's an extroverted Genki Girl, while her sister Kanzashi is an introverted Shrinking Violet.
• Skinship Grope: Gives one to Houki in season 2, when she requested her to be her partner in the Tag Tournament
• Student Council President: Comes with the perks of being the strongest IS pilot in the Academy.
• Talking with Signs: Frequently snaps her fan open which (somehow) displays words that always suit the situation. Does it out of coolness.
• They Call Him "Sword": Her real name is Katana Sarashiki.
• Troll: Part of her teasing act is to goad a reaction out of Ichika or his harem. There's also baiting the entire school to steal the crown that he is wearing in hopes of being his roommate, only to take the crown and deem herself the winner.

Kanzashi Sarashiki

Voiced by: Suzuko Mimori (Japanese) and Kira Vincent-Davis (English)

Tatenashi's younger sister, and Japan's official IS cadet representative. She is a quiet, socially withdrawn girl who prefers to immerse herself in her IS and anime.

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• Can't Catch Up: She tries to work on her own IS suit without help, but is unable to do it. She ends up reluctantly accepting help from Ichika and several of the other girls, but finds out that him being nice to her was simply because Tatenashi wanted to secretly help her build her suit. She doesn't take the revelation well when she overhears her sister talking to Ichika about it in episode 8 of season 2.
• Custom Uniform: Looks more or less like the normal IS uniform, the only difference being the floral borders on the skirt edges and the unique-looking "side pods" (see pic above).
• Defrosting Ice Queen: She is hostile towards Ichika at first, due to her IS unit being put on hold while one was built for him first, and refuses to be his partner for the tag-team tournament in season 2. However, due to his persistence, and saving her when her IS suit malfunctions during a test, she begins to reluctantly accept his help.
• Hackette: She's good with computers and bypassing security systems, as shown in the second season finale and the World Purge OVA.
• Hikkikomori: She's socially awkward, watches Sentai anime meant for people half her age and is generally not good with people.
• Macross Missile Massacre: Her Uchigane Type-2 's Mountain Storm, which launches a heapload of missiles.
• Mission Control: During the World Purge incident when the girls had to enter the Academy's computer system.
• Nice Girl: If you get past her taciturn front, you find out that she also shares her sister's kindness and empathy for everyone.
• Not So Above It All: In the OVA for season 2, she attempts to kiss Ichika while his mind was trapped in the virtual world. After the other girls pull her off, she says they would've never came to a conclusion, so she decided to just try it out.
• Otaku: She's a fan of Sentai anime, as shown when she watches an episode under the covers of her bed.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The blue to her sister's red, Kanzashi being the logical one.
• Rei Ayanami Expy: Red eyes, short aquamarine hair, shy and quiet personality, eventually warms up to the main character and falls in love with him.
• Relative Button: For all her angst against her sister, Kanzashi loses it when she sees her sister lying defeated in episode 9 of season 2 by the unmanned IS suit. While it does enable her to defeat one of them, she used up all her energy, and another unmanned suit has easily taken care of Ichika, and throws him around while she watches helplessly.
• Rescue Romance: She really starts warming up to Ichika after he saves her from crashing after her IS malfunctions.
• Shy Blue-Haired Girl: She has aquamarine hair like her sister, but unlike her Kanzashi is shy and reserved.
• Sibling Rivalry: She doesn't really get along with her older sister, to the point that when Tatenashi asks Ichika to be Kanzashi's tag-team partner to better protect her, she asks him to make no mention of her. She seems to get over this at the end of episode 9 of season 2, when Tatenashi tells her that she never looked at her sister that way, and always respected her abilities, and nearly died protecting her earlier.
• Sibling Yin-Yang: With Tatenashi. She's the quiet, shy one as opposed to Tatenashi's Genki Girl.
• Wave-Motion Gun: Her IS has a couple of particle cannons mounted on her waist.

Honne Nohotoke

Voiced by: Mai Kadowaki (Japanese) and Monica Passley (English)

Honne is a frequently sleepy girl usually dressed in a hooded pajamas. She's a recurring side character whose name was only revealed in the fifth light novel volume.

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• Hidden Buxom: Is noted in Volume 10 to have the body of a supermodel. Plenty of the girls are surprised to just see how stacked Honne really is underneath all the baggy and too-big-for-her clothing she likes to wear.
• Mascot: Is essentially the one for Class 1-1.
• Meido: She and her older sister are both revealed to be under Tatenashi's service.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: In the early volumes of the light novels Ichika calls her "Noho-hon", or in English "Anyhow-san". Turns out this actually was a play off her real name, that she took as endearing. He did this before knowing that her name was actually "Nohotoke". The J-Novel club translation goes with "Miss Casual."
• The Nicknamer: She calls Ichika 'Orimu' instead of 'Orimura-kun'.
• Recurring Extra: With the rest of her three-girl posse.
• Sleepyhead: She is usually depicted as sleepy and/or slow moving, and wears her pajamas on a nigh-constant basis.
• Those Two Guys: With two other unnamed girls in both the anime and light novels.
• Wrench Wench: She turns out to be one of the mechanics who helps fix Kanzashi's IS suit in season 2 episode 8.

Teachers

Chifuyu Orimura

Voiced by: Megumi Toyoguchi (Japanese) and Luci Christian (English)

Ichika's 24-year-old sister and herself a retired IS ace, as well as head teacher of IS Academy's Class 1-1, where Ichika, Houki, Cecilia, Charles and Laura are placed. She gained popularity for her skill by using just a single katana with which she won the 1st Mondo Grosso Tournament. She disappeared after forfeiting her title defense at the 2nd Mondo Grosso to save the kidnapped Ichika. During her hiatus, she went to Germany to train IS pilots (one of which was Laura) as repayment for the German army's contribution to her rescue of Ichika. After she returned, she became an instructor at ISA.

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• Ace Pilot: She won the first world-wide tournament for IS pilots, and was the runner-up in the 2nd (only because she didn't show up for the match). Yet years later, she is still regarded as the best.
• Aloof Big Sister: To Ichika, especially at the school where she doesn't believe in showing him favoritism despite him being the only male amongst an entire school of female pilots. The fact that she's a world class pilot and he didn't have any sort of preliminary training beforehand doesn't help either.
  • Subverted once in a while when she sees Ichika in real danger and she can't do anything about it. Usually she becomes even colder and more aloof but she'll do things like pour salt instead of sugar into her coffee or sport Death Glares at no one in particular.
• Aloof Dark-Haired Girl: She's tall, raven-haired and the resident Drill Sergeant Nasty who's also admired by most of her students in the academy. She also hates being teased.
• Asskicking Leads to Leadership: She won the first world-wide IS Tournament handily as Japan's Representative and is revered as one of, if not the best, IS pilot of all time. She is now a prominent teacher at the Infinite Stratos Academy and prior to that, she was Germany's official IS instructor to their special IS squad for a year. When it comes to matters pertaining to the IS, even other instructors will take notes from her.
  • She invokes the opposite on her students, who didn't think much of her co-instructor Maya Yamada, who was also a Representative Candidate in her day. She had Cecilia and Rin (both personal IS users) fight Yamada 2-on-1 despite being in an inferior 2nd Gen IS. They lose badly due to Yamada controlling the flow of the fight the entire time, causing them to lose track of each other and ending up colliding long enough for her to take them both out with a grenade.
    Chifuyu: Now you all know what your instructors are capable of. Knowing that, show them the proper respect.
• Badass Normal: First on-screen act she performs is wielding a BFS made for an IS unit by itself and stops Laura's energy blade with ease. However, there are growing hints that Chifuyu may be more than what she let's on.
• Badass Teacher: She is a teacher at IS Academy, and is a badass to boot.
• Big Sister Instinct:
  • Her little brother is kidnapped!? Screw the Mondo Grosso title defense, time to save Ichika!
  • While it gives him no small amount of grief, she enrolled him into IS Academy to keep the storm of corporate and government recruiters off his back and where she can keep an eye on him. She also assigns him a high-level bodyguard when she thinks that someone will attempt to steal his IS' core - turns out that she was right. From the hints from her talks with Maya, she would have preferred to do it herself if not for her lack of an IS.
  • Also has hints of My Brother Is Off Limits — she's fully aware of Ichika's Unwanted Harem and their affections towards him, but she's making it clear she's not simply letting them have their way with him.
• Can't Believe I Said That: In the OVA, to her horror, she realizes the implications of telling Ichika's harem that if they want to be with him, they'd have to go through her.
• Combat Stilettos: Her cybernetic battle suit has these. She even kicks the pilot of the Fang Quake with them in the face. Ouch.
• Cool Big Sis: In the eyes of her students, she is sometimes seen with this dynamic with Ichika. Its obvious to everyone that Ichika thinks the world of her. Not to the viewpoint of the latter's harem, though...
• Deadpan Snarker: She can lay down the snark with the best of them, something that Ichika picks up from her.
  Chifuyu: It's really quite a sight to see so many idiots gathered here every year. Are they all coming just for my class? [cue Fangirl Squeeing]
• Designer Babies: In Volume 12, it is discovered that Chifuyu is the first successful test subject for Project Mosaica, a twisted experiment to create the ultimate human.
• Dope Slap: Does this to Ichika regularly and even to the other students of her class if they annoy her enough. Granted she uses an attendance book but still...
• Drill Sergeant Nasty: She's very tough on her students.
• Even the Girls Want Her:
  • Almost all of the girls in her class, and the school (save for Houki, Cecilia, and Ichika -at least until he saw her lingerie-like bikini; Charlotte sort-of lampshaded this...) admire her.
  • This extends to a lot of people. When she finally freed a captured enemy IS pilot, the pilot hesitated to leave and even gave Chifuyu her personal contact number!
• Famed In-Story: From screaming fangirls to rogue IS pilots, everyone knows who Chifuyu Orimura is, either by name or by title.
• The Gadfly:
  • Despite her very professional demeanor while at school, she actually likes to tease her brother and people she knows. It is rare, but she is not as 'ice queen' as she was when she was younger and will occasionally tease her students as well. She did this with Cecilia, peeking at her 'erotic underwear' and attempted to do this with the girls by saying she wouldn't give up Ichika to them but they misinterpreted her meaning.
  • Also later on, when Ichika is given the task of taking his female classmate's measurements, she hands him a piece of cloth to use as a wrap over his eyes. He then discovered he can actually see through the fabric...
  • If Chifuyu gets genuinely drunk, she will start to mercilessly troll the people around her as the main girls found out at the cost of their fragile egos for a night.
• Genius Bruiser: While not at Tabane levels, one must assume that if she is able to correctly analyze and predict her opponent's equipment and purpose, their weapon aim and trajectory paths while keeping up the pressure on them using only a single melee blade, that she also a genius-level fighter. The info dump she hands to Ichika about the factors that can go into an IS shooting battle has him slumped over in less than 15 seconds.
• Good Is Not Soft: She is teaching pragmatic combat applications and techniques to a bunch of highschool girls... She has no qualms with putting them through life-threatening situations to get them to learn quickly as they are training to become test pilots, elite bodyguards and/or military personnel. Also, she is not afraid to bend/break even her own rules to do what's right.
• Harem Nanny: In the anime, more or less... her duty as dorm warden makes sure she keeps Ichika's harem from going wild on her younger brother, for the most part.
• Hot Teacher: She is widely regarded as being very beautiful and has received nothing but compliments about her model-like figure. Even her own brother is not immune to her charms.
• It Runs in the Family: Piloting an IS seems to be in the blood of an Orimura. Just ask Ichika. Or Madoka.
• It's Personal: What her motivation for killing Tabane becomes when the latter is willing to hurt Ichika for scientific reasons towards the end of the series.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Despite being the resident Drill Sergeant Nasty in her brother's class, Chifuyu cares deeply about her students.
• Katanas Are Just Better: She's grown up learning Japanese sword-play from the Shinomono. Her IS used the Yukihira Type-1 to win the first Mondo Grosso. She also has about 6 to 8 custom-made katana which she used in Vol. 8 and the World Purge OVA to fight a model similar to Fang Quake, a mid to top-tier I.S., on foot.
  • Subverted at first when her katana all break against the Fang Quake with no damage... and then it turns out that they can explode.
• Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: While Chifuyu is an in-universe badass and is working full-time to support both herself and Ichika, she's unable to cook or clean, so Ichika takes care of the house and meals when they are home. Lampshaded to hell and back when his harem comes to visit and they see the Orimura siblings in their natural state.
  Charlotte: What is up with these two?
  Cecilia: They look a lot like a husband and his wife.
• Married to the Job: Ichika outright asks her in Volume 3 when she plans to get a boyfriend. Her answer is that she'll start looking once she's sure Ichika can provide for himself. Ichika then admits to himself that she is indeed responsible for covering 90% of their living expenses, so he can't really refute that.
• Meido: Roped into wearing one (presumably by Yamada-sensei) for Ichika's birthday in Volume 4.
• No-Sell: After Laura smugly suggests they should kiss Ichika while he's unconscious to wake him out of the World Purge cyber-trance, the girls start squabbling over who gets to kiss him. Rin ends up launching a flying kick at Charlotte, who ducks out of the way... right as the door behind her opens and Chifuyu walks through - Rin crumples against Chifuyu, who doesn't budge an inch. The smile she gave Rin terrifies not only her but also the other girls in the room.
• Not So Stoic: Small cracks will appear in her usually calm demeanor, particularly when she's around Ichika.
• Odd Friendship: The stern and aloof Chifuyu is somehow friends with the bubbly and zany Tabane. Downplayed in that not only does Chifuyu have little tolerance for Tabane when she acts too crazy, but as the story goes on, Tabane's darker side starts putting their friendship to the test. Ultimately, the two become enemies when Tabane is revealed to be the Big Bad of the story.
• Onee-sama: Most said girls (particularly her fangirls) refer to her as this.
• Parental Abandonment: She and Ichika were abandoned by their parents for reasons unkown. They have taken care of each other since then.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: She's very sound in judgment and is willing to listen to her students, even Ichika.
• Red Baron: She has two nicknames but only one of them is publicly known: Brunhilde, which she got for winning the 1st Mondo Grosso; the other, Shirokishi aka The White Knight, would most likely cause a major international incident if known.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Blue to both Ichika's and Tabane's red.
• Retired Badass: While she's teaching now, that doesn't make her any less capable a fighter and her presence still commands awe and respect from everyone around her.
• Sacrificed Basic Skill for Awesome Training: Hinted by some of Ichika's inner monologues that Chifuyu doesn't really cook or clean so he does it for her, even her laundry. He's known to lay out clothes for her to wear and she has no qualms asking him on clothing choices for her.
• Surrounded by Idiots: Most of the time, she impiles that feels this way as she views people around her as idiots.
• Stern Teacher: She is a no-nonsense teacher who is willing to give Dope Slaps if you annoy her enough. That includes you, Ichika.
• The Stoic: Most events don't seem to impact her much.
• Teachers Out of School: She sits all five members of Ichika's harem down during the beach field trip in season 1 to more or less grill them on why they're all so interested in Ichika. Meanwhile, she's chugging down can after can of beer while doing so. The novels spell out the girls' shock perfectly.
  This person in front of them now is completely different from the lawful and ridiculously strict 'Orimura-sensei', causing the girls to be dumbstruck, especially Laura, who continued to blink her eyes like mad as if she couldn't believe what she just saw.
  "Stop giving me that weird look! I'm an ordinary person, of course I would drink beer! Do I look like I drink machine oil?"
• They Call Me MISTER Tibbs!: She demands that the students call her Miss Orimura on school grounds else they'll get dope slapped.
• Tsundere: She has shades of this for Ichika, which has been vaguely hinted at in Season 1 but is clearly seen in Season 2. In episode 4 of the latter season, after she tells Yamada that she had Tatenashi become Ichika's roommate due to an unspecified threat against him, the latter asks if she wanted to have been in that position instead. Chifuyu develops a Luminescent Blush, then denies wanting to protect her brother herself.
  • There's also the matter of her dressing up as a maid for his birthday and the non-stop blush she sported through the entire thing, even more after he teases her a bit afterward.
• When All You Have Is a Hammer…:
  • Chifuyu won the first Mondo Grosso with nothing but her Yukihira... and now she's attempting to pass on her techniques and skill set to Ichika.
  • She'll also make judicious use of her attendance book for administering corporal punishment.
• World's Best Warrior: She is the first person to obtain the title 'Brunhilde' - the strongest IS pilot - and years after her retirement, is still regarded as the top of the top. Her reasoning for taking on an IS on foot during the World Purge incident was that she wanted to test herself against them.

Maya Yamada

Voiced by: Noriko Shitaya (Japanese) and Cynthia Martinez (English)

Sub-teacher of Class 1-1 and herself a former national candidate whose skill never waned even after years on the sidelines.

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• Badass Adorable: Bright, sweet, cuddly and one of the deadliest warriors of her generation.
• Bespectacled Cutie: On top of being bespectacled, she possesses the adorable clumsiness characteristic of her stereotype.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: An airheaded, ditzy teacher, right? Well, yes... but she's also a former national candidate with impressive piloting skills (notwithstanding her self-inflicted crash landing that gave Ichika a handful and faceful of her chest), as shown when she manhandles Cecilia and Rin at the same time with an inferior suit.
• Curtains Match the Window: Green hair and eyes.
• The Cutie: Her cheerful and sweet demeanor is more fitting of a grade-schooler half her age. Even her students find her to be cute!
• Friendly Sniper: Her IS is mainly a sniper type and is colored green ala Lockon Stratos' mechs.
• Fun with Palindromes: Her name in Japanese form (Ya-Ma-Da Ma-Ya) is completely symmetrical; spelt backwards, her name is still "Ya-Ma-Da Ma-Ya." Lampshaded by Ichika's monologues.
• Gatling Good: Chapter 8 of the light novels has her piloting the Quad Phalanx◊ - a Turret-like Mecha Expansion Pack for the Rafale Revive with four Gatling Guns. Doubles as a Shout-Out of sorts to the OVA version of Gundam Heavyarms.
• Genius Ditz: Don't let her bubbly and airheaded behavior fool you. She is a teacher of high-tech warriors for a very good reason.
• Hot for Student:
  • Apparently, she enjoyed the experience of Ichika getting a handful and faceful of her ample bosom.
  • During the class meeting for the school festival, she seems to be quite game with the "Pocky with Ichika" idea, much to his dissent.
• Kawaiiko: Her behavior and appearance would indicate a bright and cheerful middle-school teenager were it not for her vocation as a teacher.
• Nice Girl: Has a disposition warm as a sunny afternoon and a winning smile that can stop wars (not to mention traffic)
• Older Than She Looks: So bright, sweet and adorable she looks younger than her 15 year old students. Heck, in the first episode when she gets embarrassed in front of her class, the entire class Squees.
• Retired Badass: Was a former Cadet Representative during her student days.
• Sensei-chan: Is more of a cheerful and adorable big sister to her students than an authority-figure proper.

Others

Tabane Shinonono

Voiced by: Yukari Tamura (Japanese) and Allison Keith (English)

Houki's older sister and inventor of the IS suits.

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• Action Girl: She claims that the only one who could match her physically is the resident badass Chifuyu.
• Adaptational Heroism: She is only a nasty Jerkass in the original novels. The anime on the other hand, opts to omit such unpleasantries, making her a completely sweet and goofy character instead.
• Animal-Eared Headband: She wears a headband with a pair of robotic rabbit ears.
• Badass Adorable: Casually beats down all 3 members of Phantom Task, including "M" in her Silent Zephyrus, on foot. She let slip that the only one who could stand up to her is Chifuyu.
• Beware the Silly Ones: When several members of Phantom Task attempt to attack her in episode 10 of season 2, she largely keeps her Genki Girl persona. However, at one point, her face does change from a cheerful one to a much more serious look as she proceeds to dismantle Madoka's IS while the latter is still wearing it. Ironically, the only one who treats her like she's the biggest threat in any room she's in is Chifuyu.
• Big Bad: Tabane is the true antagonist of the series — she created the Infinite Stratos which upended the social order of the world, launched a massive nuclear attack just to prove their capabilities, and has been manipulating all major parties of the story simply for her own personal agenda.
• Big Eater: She eats everything Chloe cooks for her, even if it's burnt or reduced to goo. In the restaurant, she was chowing down on spare ribs, wine, and soup in episode 10, and still wanted cake after that. In the novel, she also wanted to order hamburgers, curry, & Chinese cold noodles.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Beneath her upbeat personality, Tabane is a callous, insensitive manipulator.
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: She sports mechanical bunny ears on her head that are quite "expressive". To add to the pun, her first major appearance in the series involves arriving in a... Giant Mechanical Carrot. Her bunny motif also serves as a Shout-Out since Yukari Tamura voiced a bunny (albeit a stuffed one) in another harem anime.
• The Chessmaster: Implied. She gives a mixed reaction to Chifuyu's hypothesis that it'd take a considerable intellect to hack twelve nations' computers simultaneously to fire over 2000 ICBMs at a helpless East Asian country only to save it with the introduction of a hyper-advanced exoskeleton-weapons system, confirms having rigged Silver Gospel so as to facilitate Houki's debut as a proper IS fighter, but denies setting up Ichika to become the first male IS pilot.
• Cloudcuckoolander: Despite (or probably because of) being the infamous inventor of the IS suits, she is very weird.
• Cool Big Sis: To Houki, though Houki doesn't particularly agree.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Goofy eccentric scientist? Check. Extremely powerful fighter who can single-handedly defeat an IS with her bare hands? Check.
• Curtains Match the Window: Pink hair and eyes.
• Dynamic Entry: Apparently her favorite method of crashing a party, but usually with a lot of noise (which subverts this trope's surprise element). One of her attempts was pacified by Chifuyu, with just one hand.
• Evil All Along: She's not nearly as well-intentioned as she appears, since the whole series is a result of her actions as the Big Bad.
• Expecting Someone Taller: Judging from the girls' reactions when they first meet her, they did not expect the genius scientist who created the IS tech and the goofy, bunny ears-wearing Genki Girl standing before them were one and the same.
• Extreme Omnivore: In the novel she ate the poisoned dishes and didn't feel a thing.
• Final Boss: Towards the end of the series, Tabane becomes the main threat to Ichika and his friends.
• Game Changer: This is a woman who invented a technology that changed the very nature of warfare and power dynamics between the genders.
• Genki Girl: Always bright, always sunny and happy, always immature.
• The Hedonist: Tabane seems to enjoy doing things just for fun, even at the cost of the endangerment of others. She has admitted that she only cares for her sister and the Orimura siblings, but is dismissive of everyone else at best and quite a bitch at worst. One has to wonder how Chifuyu managed to put up with her for as long as she has. Chifuyu does eventually turn against her when Tabane makes it clear that she is willing to hurt Ichika For Science!.
• Hyperspace Arsenal: Summoning a missile launcher out of nowhere counts. Justified, since the ISs are built with this trope in mind.
• I'm Taking Her Home with Me!: She says this to Madoka after she sees the latter's uncanny resemblance to Chifuyu. Interestingly, while she refused to provide IS suits for Phantom Task, she was more than willing to make one for Madoka, who is part of said group.
• Incoming Ham: Her Dynamic Entries may qualify.
• Insufferable Genius: Loves to remind people that she is a genius.
• Jerkass: Big time.
  • She loves her sister, Chifuyu, and Ichika, but she couldn't care less about anyone else. When some of the girls complain that she's giving Houki (a mid-ranked pilot) the most advanced IS on the planet, her response is "Life's not fair. Get over it."
    Cecilia: I'm honored to meet so renowned a person! If you don't mind, would you take a look at my IS?
    Tabane: [in an ice-cold tone] Huh? Who the hell are you? I don't know any blondes. I was having such a fun reunion with Chi-chan and Ik-kun, and you just had to go and ruin it, huh? Get out of my face.
    Cecilia: Uh... um...
    Tabane: Shut up and go away.
  • Incredibly enough, the above exchange is noted to be an improvement in her social skills. Ordinarily, unless your last name is "Orimura" or "Shinonono", Tabane simply does not acknowledge your existence. At least she's actually responding to Cecilia above.
  • The Volume 7 epilogue reveals that she is the one who keeps sending the unmanned Golem I.S. drones to attack the Academy! And it is solely so she can obtain real-world battle data about Houki. Never mind that she puts dozens of students' lives in real danger. The anime also reveals this in its final episode, minus the gathering data on Houki bit. That actually might make her more of a jerk since it seems like she did it solely because It Amused Me.
• Kawaiiko: Much older than most, but nevertheless extremely cute.
• Kick the Dog:
  • Sending the unmanned Golem I.S. drones to attack the Academy, putting the students' live in real danger, just to obtain real-world battle data about Houki.
  • Gets even worse in Volume 11, when she shows no regret when Ichika is seemingly killed by Excalibur, and even goes as far as to mock Chifuyu by telling her that it is her fault for not intervening sooner. And in Volume 12, when she reveals the truth about Ichika and Chifuyu's origin as Artificial Humans, calling Ichika a monster and gleefully driving him to despair.
• Lack of Empathy: She doesn't care of anyone who's last name is not Shinonono or Orimura. And even then, she mostly considers Houki and the Orimura siblings as tools through which show her superiority to the world.
• Large Ham: Much like Midori Sugiura, another beloved role of her actress Yukari Tamura, Tabane's brain is permanently stuck in the loud, theatrical and melodramatic world of a Power Rangers episode.
• Let's Get Dangerous!: She could tell her soup was spiked with a tranquilizer seemingly by just glancing at it (in the novel, she drank all the poisoned soup but it didn't affect her). She then made all 3 members of Phantom Task her bitch in less than 3 minutes. One of them had a handgun and one of them was in an IS. Tabane was armed with... a butter knife and fork. All this while still being the complete goofball she is, never losing that winning smile. She also tells them the only person capable of matching her speed and skills is Chifuyu.
• Mad Scientist: Oh she's smart, yes. Connected to the world of reality and maturity? Not so much.
• Nerves of Steel: When three of the Phantom Task members attack her, she never loses her composure or her Genki Girl persona, and absolutely floors all three of them with little more than a butter knife, a fork, and a couple of swift kicks.
• The Nicknamer: She refers to Chifuyu as "Chi-chan," and Ichika as "Ik-kun." She also calls Madoka Orimura "Madocchi," while Chloe Chronicle is "Ku-chan." The only person she calls properly by name is Houki.
• No Indoor Voice: She's either on shouting mode or laughing mode, no exceptions.
• Older Than She Looks: She invented the entire IS technology system over 10 years ago, and somehow still looks like an extremely cute girl who has just entered her twenties...
• One of the Kids: She's quite childish compared to Houki, much to her and Chifuyu's chagrin. You could easily mistake her for Houki's younger sister.
• Parental Abandonment: Due to her invention of the ISs in the first place.
• Perpetual Smiler: In contrast to Houki.
• Playful Hacker: Chifuyu hypothesizes that she may caused Silver Gospel's rampage just to help Houki's debut as a personal IS user. The pilot of the Silver Gospel has quite the bone to pick with her.
• Pop-Cultured Badass: At the end of Volume 2 of the novels, her phone's custom ringtone for Chifuyu turns out to be the theme song to The Godfather. Another custom ringtone on her phone ( which is for calls from Houki) is a music track from the Japanese film The Yakuza Wives.
• Psychopathic Womanchild: She looks and acts far younger than her actual age and tends to view the world as if it were a Super Sentai show. She's also a massive prick to anyone who's last name is not Shinonono or Orimura and doesn't care about anyone's well-being whenever she does her stunts.
• Rapid-Fire Typing: While adjusting her sister's new suit. With a holographic keyboard, no less.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Red to both Chifuyu's and Houki's blue.
• Shout-Out: In the anime, she makes a dramatic pointing pose reserved for a manly rousing speech, just to introduce her sister's own IS. The corresponding dialogue in the English dub sort of highlights this:
  Tabane: Now everyone, LOOK UP TO THE HEAVENS!
• Sibling Yin-Yang: Whereas Houki is more serious, Tabane is very energetic.
• Smug Super: She looks down on pretty much everyone else, because she actually is superior to pretty much everyone else.
• The Sociopath: Tabane has the limited emotional affect, need for stimulation, Lack of Empathy, pathological lying and manipulation abilities, lack of shame or fear, and a highly questionable conscience.
• Stealth Hi/Bye: On occasion.
• Ultimate Lifeform: Tabane is considered the ultimate human and is naturally perfect. In fact, this is why Project Mosaica was abandoned: because it turned out that Tabane, who was born naturally, was already better than any Artificial Human the scientists could create.
• The Woman Behind the Man: Ichika and his fellow classmates would never have been made I.S. pilots if she didn't let them.
• Womanchild: She most certainly doesn't act her age. Given her position as the Big Bad of the story and all the crap she puts Ichika and his classmates through For Science! and for her own amusement, she also counts as a Psychopathic Womanchild.

Dan Gotanda

Voiced by: Makoto Yasumura (Japanese) and Chris Ayres (English)

Ichika's friend from back in middle school up until the time he transfers to IS Academy.

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• Bromantic Foil: To Ichika.
• Big Brother Instinct: During the OVA, he ended up freaking out, desperately asking people at the festival where his sister is since Ran ditched him to hang out with Ichika.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Ichika, and their friendship never seems to have waned long after the latter transfers to the IS Academy.
• My Sister Is Off-Limits: In the second manga adaptation, his sister Ran makes it really, really clear she's totally into Ichika and that she's going to try and apply to get into the IS Academy next year, hints which of course completely fly over his head. In response, Dan grabs Ichika and growls at him, "You'd better get yourself a girlfriend... as in, RIGHT AWAY!"
• Ship Tease: In the novels, Volume 5 first hints that Utsuho Nohotoke (a.k.a. the older sister of Honne, the Sleepyhead girl with the long sleeves) may have a bit of a crush on him.

Ran Gotanda

Voiced by: Noriko Obata (Japanese) and Luci Christian (English)

Dan's younger sister and a third-year junior high schoolgirl.

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• A-Cup Angst: Though in a subversion, she's actually got a decent bust. It still is played straight in the OVA, since her brother freaked out at the festival, asking people if they've seen a flat-chested, red-haired girl around.
• Demoted to Extra: She actually appears quite frequently in the novels, making almost one appearance per volume, but the anime limited her screentime to only a few minutes in a single episode and the season 1 OVA.
• Family Theme Naming: Her name is Ran and her brother is named Dan.
• Fiery Redhead: Quick to anger at meaningless banter.
• Flat Character: She is Dan's younger sister and has a crush on Ichika. That's all you need to know about her.
• She Cleans Up Nicely: She only resorts to this whenever Ichika shows up.
• Ship Tease: Her limited screentime in the anime hinted that she may have feelings for Ichika. Her extended appearances in the novels make it very obvious.
• Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Falls in love with Ichika just because he is handsome and polite to her.
• Unkempt Beauty: Her usual getup at home.

Clarissa Harfouch

Voiced by: Kei Mizusawa (Japanese), Shannon Emerick (English)

Laura's second-in-command (and current acting commander) in the Schwarzer Hase IS unit. Laura tends to call her for advice when it comes to trying to attract Ichika's attention.

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• Ascended Extra: While she only had one appearance in the novels, she got another chance to shine in the anime-original episode 18.
• Cloudcuckoolander: She really thinks real relationships are just like anime & manga. Worse, she has watched so much "censored" late-night-anime she thinks that Anime Laws of Physics, such as censorship camera angles to hide the absence of panties, applies in real life as well.
• Cool Big Sis: At 22, she's the oldest member of her unit, and all the other girls look up to her.
• Eyepatch of Power: Like the rest of her unit.
• Occidental Otaku: A big fan of Shoujo anime & manga, which gives her a rather... odd view of how to approach romantic relationships. She's not the only one either; apparently her teammates are all rabid cosplayers and otakus as well, because not only do they dress in the style of the SS with Zettai Ryouiki, they even use the impossibly cliché line "As expected of..." after she gave Laura some great advice.
• Putting on the Reich: Her and her teammates are dressed in the style of the SS, complete with the caps and red armbands.
• Shipper on Deck: Certainly seems to be one for Ichika/Laura, if her ready willingness to provide advice to Laura is any indication. Though how much that advice helps is... questionable.

Natasha Fairs

Light Novel-only Official Representative to the IS Academy from America. She is the pilot of the Silver Gospel, an IS co-built with Israel.

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• Adapted Out: In the anime, although her IS is the one the characters fight at the end of season 1, she's nowhere to be seen in season 2.
• I Call It "Vera": Calls her IS "Kid."
• I Owe You My Life: Kisses Ichika on the cheek — in the presence of the rest of his Unwanted Harem, no less — in gratitude for stopping her Silver Gospel's rampage.
• Mama Bear: She treats her IS like her own child.
• This Is Unforgivable!: She tells Chifuyu that she will find the person who tampered with her IS & get revenge.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Natasha gets all four of her limbs broken when M attacks the military base she is stationed in to steal the Silver Gospel in Volume 6. When her teammate Iris Calling shows up in her IS in the nick of time and snatches her out of M's grasp, she promptly throws Natasha aside to fight more effectively. Natasha's response is to make a very irritated, "Can't you see I'm injured?!" Iris then promises she'll hit M back for the damage caused. Natasha seems more annoyed than anything that Iris is Comically Missing the Point.

Chloe Chronicle

Voiced by: Ayane Sakura

A mysterious white-haired girl who first shows up with Tabane in the Volume 7 epilogue.

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• Alliterative Name
• Artificial Human: Chifuyu thinks she may be the "biological" component of an I.S.
• Clone Angst: Chifuyu asks why she doesn't want to meet her little sister Laura. Chloe counters by saying Laura isn't a sister but is "an incomplete me."
• The Cracker: She was the one responsible for the World Purge hacking incident. Chifuyu goes to confront her after the crisis, which spooks Chloe enough for her to open her eyes and reveal she can project illusions in reality.
• Damsel in Distress: In the novel version of the restaurant scene, Autumn took Chloe hostage to use her as a bargaining chip against Tabane. It didn't take.
• Eyes Always Shut: Probably why she's so bad at cooking. It's also to cover up her mismatched eyes.
• Lethal Chef: She burns bread when trying to prepare it, and tends to melt down other things she cooks. Despite this, Tabane still eats everything she serves her.
• Magical Eye: Revealing her golden eye allows her to project illusions.
• Master of Illusion: She's able to project illusions.
• Mystical White Hair: She has white hair and she's very mysterious and shares a connection with Laura.
• Shared Unusual Trait: Like Laura, she has a golden eye. Unlike Laura, it's on the right side.
• Sword Cane: In the OVA, her cane has a sword in it. Chifuyu told her not to even try pulling it out.
• Undying Loyalty: Tabane did something that saved her in the past, and for this she has pledged her complete loyalty to her.

Phantom Task

Group as a whole

A secret organization introduced in Season 2. They have been known for stealing prototype IS units from other countries, and are now zeroing in on Ichika and his IS.

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• Ancient Conspiracy: Not as ancient as most conspiracies, but the German army's best intelligence regarding them indicates Phantom Task was created sometime around the end of World War II, and that they have been active for at least 50 years.
• Grand Theft Prototype: Their supposed modus operandi, although the purpose for the same is not clear (apart from using the same stolen suits for their own.)
• Hidden Agenda Villain: Their endgame has not been revealed yet, but according to Rain, they want to "destroy this corrupt world".
• Meaningful Name: The kanji for their name roughly translates to "Fallen Nation Textile Industries". They may have started as either a German or Japanese corporation providing civilian aid in the wake of the postwar Allied occupation.
• Nebulous Evil Organisation: Their specialty is in hijacking I.S. suits, but the "why" is a mystery.
• N.G.O. Superpower: They are able to penetrate the security of multiple military bases around the world with very little effort and know about I.S. suits & weapons that don't even officially exist.
• Oddly Small Organization: The anime & novels have only shown us three members of their group. In Volume 6 of the novels, the German army's intelligence indicates there is at least a Board of Directors & a Specialist group that comprises Phantom Task.
• Realpolitik: The real reason why they have been able to keep stealing I.S. cores without any true backlash and stay hidden from public knowledge. As there is only a limited number of I.S. cores in existence, any country that announces they have lost one will immediately be at a disadvantage relative to other I.S.-equipped countries, which means that the thefts are never officially reported. In addition, the fact that a lone agent is able to compromise military security and single-handedly steal an I.S. is probably a big embarrassment for every targeted country's military, which provides further incentive to downplay the losses. The fact that the thefts are always conducted with zero fatalities likely means that the group is regarded as a lower-level threat than, say, terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda.
• Secret War: They've been fighting the Sarashiki family for decades behind the shadows of international politics.
• Would Hurt a Child: They were the ones (according to Autumn) who kidnapped Ichika during the second Mondo Grosso tournament.

M

Voiced by: Ai Kayano (Japanese) and Luci Christian (English)

A member of the secret organization Phantom Task and pilot of the experimental IS, Silent Zephyrs. She actually looks like a younger Chifuyu who blames Ichika for stealing her life, but later reveals that she only wants to kill Chifuyu.

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• Always Second Best: Because her abilities were inferior to those of Chifuyu, the scientists of the Mosaica Project deemed her a failure. She blames Chifuyu for this, and is obsessed with besting her to prove her worth.
• Animal Motif: Silent Zephyrs has a silhouette of a butterfly, particularly during flight. Kurokishi takes this even further, looking very much like a black swallowtail butterfly. It even has a pair of antennae on its head that look just like a real butterfly's.
• Artificial Human: Madoka is the second product of the Mosaica Project, with the first being Chifuyu. However, she was discarded as a failure because her abilities, while impressive, could not measure up to Chifuyu's.
• Attack Drone: Being a prototype based on Cecilia's Blue Tears, her IS has about 6 of these.
• Ax-Crazy: She's just a bit too Trigger-Happy.
• Beneath the Mask: She puts on an Emotionless Girl facade, but the truth is that she is boiling with rage underneath her cool exterior. She just knows how to manage her emotions well. Mentioning the Orimuras is the best way to really press her Berserk Button.
• BFG: Her IS's primary weapon, Star Breaker.
• Black Knight: Madoka actually fits this trope pretty well, being an antagonist wearing black who has a grudge against The Hero, is The Dragon to the Big Bad, and her identity is completely shrouded in mystery. The name of her second I.S. also translates to this.
• Blood Knight: She loves fighting, as shown in the final episode when she starts laughing maniacally while blasting away at Ichika.
• Cain and Abel: To both Ichika and Chifuyu, as she's their long lost sister who wants to kill them.
• The Dragon: Squall relies on her a lot more than Autumn. Probably because even though Madoka has her own issues, her head is screwed on a lot tighter than Autumn's.
• Evil Doppelgänger: Dead ringer for Chifuyu when she was younger. Goes even further since her new I.S. is Kurokishi (Black Knight) in contrast to Chifuyu's Shirokishi (White Knight) that she used in the incident of its namesake ten years ago.
• Explosive Leash: The novels reveal that whenever she raids a military base to steal an I.S., she has strict orders from Squall to never kill even a single person. If she does, the Nanomachines in her head will fry her brain.
• Grand Theft Prototype: Steals the Silent Zephyrs from England, which she then uses personally afterwards.
• Hero Killer: M is an extremely dangerous opponent, and every time she gets on the battlefield, the going gets really tough. In her debut, she easily blasts her way through an American military base, defeats Natasha by breaking her arms and legs, and only retreats in front of Iris because she wasn't sure she could handle reinforcements. Later, she easily handles most of the I.S. Academy girls and in Volume 12 she near-fatally stabs Ichika.
• Impossible Thief:
  • She and Phantom Task specialize in stealing IS units from around the world. These are classified corporate and governmental items with dedicated security teams and IS guarding them - and they still manage to steal them.
  • She takes the art to nigh badass levels when she breaks into a base to steal a highly classified IS alone. The anime showed her raiding a British military base to steal the Silent Zephyrs. She does it again in the novels when she raids an American base in the Pacific Northwest to steal the Silver Gospel, but is unsuccessful this time.
• Know When to Fold 'Em: Her raid on the American base is cut short when Iris Calling appears in the Fang Quake I.S. Even though Madoka is sure her Silent Zephyrs could probably beat it in a one-on-one match, she also knows time wasted fighting it is time for more reinforcements to arrive, so she wisely retreats. She also does not object when Squall orders a retreat in the final episode of the anime.
• Long-Lost Relative: She is supposedly a twin of Ichika's even though she has the exactly same face as Chifuyu.
• Memento MacGuffin: She keeps a locket that is quite valuable to her. In the final episode, we get a glance of it open from an oblique angle, and for whatever bizarre reason, it's a picture of Ichika in it.
• Mid-Season Upgrade: Her new I.S., Kurokishi, debuts in the second-to-last episode, presumably built by Tabane.
• Nerves of Steel: She's completely unfazed in the novels during one of Autumn's temper tantrums when she pins her to a wall and holds a knife to her eye after the failed attempt to steal the Byakushiki at the Cinderella play. Later, after her unauthorized assassination attempt on Ichika after his birthday party, Squall is the one unhappy with her and slams her against the ceiling with her I.S. Like before, Madoka barely reacts.
• One-Letter Name: She's often referred to as "M". Her real name is later revealed to be Madoka Orimura.
• Out of the Inferno: Just when it seems like the girls have landed a decisive blow on her in the finale... it turns out it barely affected her.
• Pint-Sized Powerhouse: She's roughly about the same height as Laura.
• Polar Opposite Twins: Definitely the dark to her twin brother Ichika's light.
• Purple Is the New Black: The color scheme of both her IS Units.
• Removing the Rival: Sees Ichika as the one who stole her place in the world. And she almost did it the first time that they meet if it wasn't for Laura. Later flipped around when the object of her hatred turns out to not be Ichika, but Chifuyu. She even cuts her own face simply because it looks like Chifuyu's.
• Spell My Name With An S: While the Light Novel Translations and this TV Tropes page list her IS as "Silent Zephyrs", the Anime (and apparently the CHOCO volume reprint) used "Silent Zephyrus".
• Unwitting Pawn: Everything Madoka did to Ichika and Chifuyu was allowed to happen by Tabane Shinonono.
• The Worf Effect: Her Silent Zephyrs suit, which for most of the season is extremely overpowered and outmatches everyone at the I.S. academy, is effortlessly torn to shreds by Tabane Shinonono with her bare hands.

Reiko "Autumn" Makigami

Voiced by: Yuka Nishigaki (Japanese) and Shelley Calene-Black (English)

A member of Phantom Task who pilots the monstrous IS Arachne. She was tasked to steal the Byakushiki unit from Ichika during the school festival.

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• Ax-Crazy: After she "saves" Ichika from the Cinderella play, she develops this look on her face.
• *Click* Hello: To Tabane in season 2 episode 10. She gets kicked across the room in response.
• Honey Trap: Attempts this with Ichika by posing as 'Reiko Makigami'. Luckily, a classmate bails him out.
• Grand Theft Prototype: Attempts this with the Byakushiki unit. Luckily a certain Student Council President was tasked to protect him from the get-go.
• Monster Threat Expiration She gets taken down with almost pathetic ease by Houki & Cecilia in the finale (and for most of the fight, Houki & Cecilia weren't even concerned with her, they were trying to get back to the train). After the strong performance she put on in episode 4, one would be forgiven for expecting more from her.
• Psycho for Hire: Once she drops her pretense and brings out her IS, her psycho side is on full display.
• Psycho Lesbian: In the novels, she becomes timid and giddy around Squall, and sees herself as her lover. All it takes for Squall to calm her down is to call her "lover," though it's unclear whether Squall really returns her feelings or is merely telling her what she wants to hear to control her.
• Spared by the Adaptation:
  • In the novel version of the episode 10 scene where Phantom Task tries to blackmail Tabane, Autumn was holding a knife to a hostage's throat. Tabane frees the hostage, breaks Autumn's arm, and stabs her in the lung with her own knife. We're not told if she gets up from that or not. While Autumn appears in the final 2 episodes of season 2, these are anime-original material. It's quite possible she might be dead in the novels continuity unless Volume 9 is released and she turns up again.
  • Seems the anime may have followed suit. It's not clear if she survives Cecilia's shot in the final episode, making her survival an open question much like it was in the novel.
• Spider People: Invokes this with her IS Arachne, which was built in the shape of a spider and has the pilot connected to where the thorax would be located. Combined with her psychotic personality and the fact that she would have succeeded if not for Tatenashi's interference, she was certainly making Spiders Are Scary true for Ichika.

Squall

Voiced by: Fumi Hirano (Japanese) and Carli Mosier (English)

A member of Phantom Task, and pilot of the IS Golden Dawn. She is currently in direct command of M and Autumn.

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• An Offer You Can't Refuse: Tried to rope Tabane into working for Phantom Task in episode 10. Tabane turned out to be quite capable of refusing... but fortunately for Squall, she didn't.
• Beware My Stinger Tail: Golden Dawn has a long segmented pincer that clearly evokes this trope.
• Big Bad: The main antagonist for season 2.
• Dramatic Irony: In Volume 7, Ichika is supposed to have dinner with Houki in a high-class restaurant using the vouchers he got for the interview/photoshoot. But he can't go in without a tuxedo. Seeing his dilemma, a beautiful woman appears and introduces herself as Ms. Meusel, and buys him a tuxedo as well as a bouquet of roses for Houki before sending him on his way. Before he leaves, she reveals her full name to him, and wishes "Orimura Ichika-kun" luck. Ichika wonders briefly how she knows his name but then dismisses it. (this scene didn't get animated). In season 2 episode 11, she graciously offers to take Ichika & Houki's picture. In both circumstances, nobody knows who she really is, only seeing her as a friendly stranger.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: By all indications, Squall genuinely seems to love Autumn. Additionally, she appears to have a normal loving aunt-niece relationship with her niece Rain Meusal AKA Daryl Casey.
• The Family That Slays Together: She's the aunt of Daryl Casey, the IS Representative Candidate for the United States, whose real name is Rain Meusel. And as it turns out, Rain is a deep cover member of Phantom Task.
• Family Theme Naming: Squall and her niece Rain are both named after terms relating to storms.
• First-Name Basis: Her last name Meusel was only revealed in the novels. It's a spoiler for the scene it comes up in.
• Navel-Deep Neckline: Her wardrobe never misses a chance to show off her proportions with plunging necklines that go down to her waist. Even when she wears a bathrobe, it ends up with this look.
• Pragmatic Villainy: She always places Madoka under non-lethal limitations when attacking military bases because if even a single soldier dies in these raids, it would trigger a much harsher response from the world's military forces against Phantom Task.
• Spectacular Spinning: The arms of Golden Dawn can spin extremely fast to form a kind of shield.
• Sphere of Destruction: Golden Dawn is capable of generating one of these.
• Tampering with Food and Drink: She spiked Tabane's soup with a sedative at their dinner, but Tabane caught on. It wasn't clear if she touched it in the anime, but in the novel version of that scene, she drank all the soup but wasn't affected by it.
• Wham Line: The reveal of her last name is this in Volume 7.
• With Friends Like These...: Autumn & M do not like each other, which means she has to more or less play referee when they get violent.

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