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A massive multinational conglomerate owned by the Kiryuin family, with access to immense resources and power. Of the corporations that are part of the conglomerate, the REVOCS Corporation, which controls 90% of the world's apparel market at the start of the show, seems to be the most important, with Ragyo making her office at the REVOCS tower.

Warning: Walking Spoilers left and right!


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    General 
  • Badass Family: Every single Kiryuin has done impressive feats one way or another:
    • The mother, Ragyo, is a genius scientist and head of the largest corporation in the world. She's also imbued with Life Fiber DNA, and is the physically strongest character in the series by far.
    • The father, Soichiro, was also a genius scientist, and helped Ragyo in her experiments to create the perfect human-Life Fiber Hybrid, and he had the balls to start a revolution devoted solely to thwarting her plans. He also managed to hide from his wife for 17 years and created the Scissor Blades and Senketsu, both of which were instrumental in defeating Ragyo.
    • The older biological daughter, Satsuki, is the Absurdly Powerful Student Council President of Honnouji Academy, with an Adaptive Armor and unparalled fighting skills. Her goal is to conquer Japan, as well as to kill her mother and avenge the deaths of her father and little sister.
    • The younger biological daughter, Ryuko, is a Human-Life Fiber Hybrid who grew up to be a feared juvenile delinquent. Years later, she goes on a one-man stand against her older sister to avenger her father's death, not knowing that they're fighting for the same people, or that they're related. Their also the one who saves the Earth from Ragyo and the Life Fibers.
    • The technical third sister, Nui, is a full-on Artificial Humanoid Abomination and one of the most powerful villains in the series, only behind Ragyo. Said character is responsible for the death of Ryuko and Satsuki's father, and said character remains undefeated for a good chunk of the show.
    • Technically, Senketsu is a member of the family and the technical only son, being one of Soichiro's creations, as mentioned above.
  • Big, Screwed-Up Family: Every single member of the Kiryuin family has tried to kill at least one other member of the family. The mother, Ragyo, is an abusive, incestuous molester with a goal to have humanity enslaved and eradicated for the Life Fibers. The father, Soichiro, started a nudism-based terrorist organization to fight his wife, for which she killed him. The first daughter, Satsuki, is a totalitarian dictator Student Council President who plans to literally backstab her mother in revenge for her father and younger sister. The second daughter, Ryuko, was dropped down a garbage chute as an infant, lived, was found by her runaway father who raised her under a secret identity, and grew up to be a Japanese Delinquent. The third daughter, Nui Harime, is a Cute And Psycho Supporter created by the mother using the Primordial Life Fiber as an artificial womb. The only son, Senketsu, is the second human Life Fiber hybrid made by the father specifically for Ryuko to use. The cast never quite concludes that Senketsu is one of the Kiryuin family, though, because unlike Ryuko and Nui, his form is that of Living Clothes.
  • Corporate Conspiracy: They have near-monopoly on the clothes market not just in Japan but the entire world, and are secretly selling clothing containing Life Fibers to their customers.
  • Four-Temperament Ensemble: Fulfills this after Ragyo Mind Rapes Ryuko, adding a fourth member to complete the ensemble. Indeed, too much black bile (melancholy) caused the core three to go into depression:
    • Ragyo is Melancholic. She's the Big Bad of the series and an all-around pompous character whenever she gets her moments. She showcases the negatives more than the positive features, had abnormally high wants when she was testing her own daughters, but when they do fulfill them, she is filled with glee.
    • Nui is Choleric. Co-Dragons with Hououmaru to Ragyo, and the one who gets the most work done initially while Ragyo sits around and controls REVOCS. Showcases the downsides by being a outwardly nice, extremely crazy inside, and even more insane after normal Ryuko cuts off her arms.
    • Hououmaru is Phlegmatic. The person who's able to serve at a moment's notice, and without question. However, she showcases the downsides by being an outwardly cold person. She exemplifies this part of her personality in the OVA by being a Defrosting Ice Queen when she heard of Ragyo's death, and was able to be swayed by Satsuki.
    • Mind Controlled Ryuko is Sanguine. Instead of unable to express her emotions, she says them bluntly, taking them (sometimes literally) to the person she speaks to. Ryuko even kisses Nui, showcasing their love for each other. She balances out the other's negative emotions by being compassionate with them and follows after Ragyo by being WAY over-the-top in battles, but she showcases the negatives by being mind-controlled into finally finding her wants of being with an actual family and comes off as harsh to others.
  • Fiction 500: At the start of the series, the conglomerate basically owns 90% of the world's apparel market with their flagship company REVOCS Corporation. Their wealth is so vast that Satsuki can basically turn a beggar into a millionaire with a snap of her fingers, as long as she feels they earned it.
  • The Heavy: After Satsuki officially betrays them, Ragyo, along with her chief subordinates Nui and Hououmaru, step out of the background and the groups becomes the most pressing antagonistic force to the heroes, directly combating them to spread the Life Fibers across the world.
  • MegaCorp: They have near-monopoly on the clothes market not just in Japan but the entire world. They must have branch offices and daughter companies in pretty much every country in the world.
  • N.G.O. Superpower: Between their financial power stemming from near-complete control of clothes market and access to Life Fiber clothing, they are probably one of the most powerful organizations on the planet. It's quite possible that they are more powerful than most governments. Honnouji, for example, is a Privately Owned Society.
  • The Quisling: For unknown reasons, Ragyo and her minions are aiding the COVERS' invasion of Earth.
  • Sdrawkcab Name: The REVOC part of the name is "cover" spelled backwards. Ragyo openly preaches to her employees that clothing is the evidence of man's original sin by consuming the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, thus learning shame of nakedness and free will. By having near-unprecedented control of the manufacture of clothing, REVOCS practically holds hostage a basic need that prevents that shame and protection from the elements.

    Ragyo Kiryuin 

Ragyo Kiryuin

Voiced by: Romi Park (Japanese), Laura Post (English) Foreign VAs 

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

"La vie est drôle... Life is indeed amusing."

Satsuki's mother, CEO of REVOCS, leader of the Kiryuin Conglomerate, and the head of Honnouji Academy's board of directors.

Her role is fairly minor in the first half of the series until her formal introduction in episode 12, from then more about her is revealed. She plans on enslaving the human race to Life Fibers and has been using REVOCS for this very reason.


  • '80s Hair: Shown with this during flashbacks.
  • Abusive Parents: She is quite possibly one of the worst parents in anime and manga. She's quite emotionally abusive, but that's not the most horrible part about her—she has No Sense of Personal Space when it comes to her daughter, Satsuki. As in, she molests her repeatedly, probably since she was 5 years old, up to and including groping her and "purifying" her while she was naked and in a bath, and removing her Thong of Shielding (It Makes Sense in Context) by touching her crotch. She also has no qualms about using physical abuse as well, delivering a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown to Satsuki that was probably the first bit of Family-Unfriendly Violence in the series. She saw her newborn daughter, Ryuko Matoi, as little more than a guinea pig, and simply dropped her down the garbage chute when the experiments seemingly failed. The girl actually survived, only to literally have her heart ripped out when they met for the first time. After that, she throws the battered Satsuki into a cage in a torture chamber and repeatedly spanks her in the worst way possible so that Satsuki can be a better Living Battery for her planned superweapon. After that, she brainwashes her other daughter with false memories, sews the superpowered uniform Satsuki wore onto her (It Makes Sense in Context) and has a threesome with her to round it off, before sending her to fight and kill Satsuki and her companions. When Ragyo realizes she's subconsciously hesitating to kill Ryuko due to still having some infinitesimal bit of humanity left within her, she immediately resolves to rid herself of it and goes for the kill.
  • Action Fashionista: She is the powerful CEO of a clothing conglomerate as well as a formidable fighter, and unlike Nui, she is seen wearing multiple different outfits, including the formidable Shinra-Kouketsu for the final confrontation.
  • Action Mom: She is a mother (if not a very good one) and she can and will kick some serious ass, probably best shown when she effortlessly fends off Satsuki and Ryuko (both of whom are Dual Wielding) at the same time without moving from the spot she was standing on.
  • Almighty Mom: Ragyō Kiryūin is a stellar example. No matter how powerful and charismatic her daughter, Satsuki, is, Ragyo is always a full tier above her, overstripping her in both power and authority, the former of which she displays consistently through the latter part of the series. Even when Satsuki rebelled and Ryuko was revealed to be her daughter as well, she has absolutely no problem putting everyone including both her daughters back in their place. The downside is, she's also the villain. And a horrible mother.
  • Ambiguously Bi: It's known that she had children with Soichiro. However, she also molests Satsuki and later Ryuko, so she has engaged in physical relationships with both sexes. What keeps it ambiguous is the fact that it is never made clear if she saw her relationship with Soichiro as anything more than a chance to create offspring to experiment on.
  • Authority Sounds Deep: Ragyo along with Satsuki have noticeably prominent deep voices compared to the rest of the women in the cast, especially when it comes to exercising their authority over others, although they have their share of action as well.
  • Ax-Crazy: Despite her icy demeanor usually catering to the contrary, she occasionally snaps and reveals herself for the deranged psychopath she is. Her beatdown of Satsuki is very indicative of this.
  • Bait the Dog:
    • Ragyo seems to show some care for Nui, Houomaru, and those genuinely loyal to her. But ultimately Ragyo had no hesitation or remorse, even showing sadistic glee, ordering them to sacrifice themselves once it became advantageous for her or they case being useful.
    • Hououmaru interprets Ragyo as being heroic for saving her life as a child. However, the only interest the latter showed towards the former in the scene was her high Life Fiber readings, while displaying complete apathy to the other villagers being slaughtered.
  • Barehanded Blade Block: Her bare fist is sufficient to stop and break a sword as sharp as the Bakuzan.
  • The Baroness: Is the Sexpot type appearance-wise, yet she plays the Rosa Klebb type to the extreme.
  • Batman Can Breathe in Space: In the final battle in space against Ryuko.
  • Batman Gambit: It is implied that she wants Nui to anger Satsuki so she can witness the full extent of Junketsu's power, so she lets her top designer do what she pleases.
  • Berserk Button: Ragyo treats the Primordial Life Fiber like a god and loses her cool temperament when Satsuki first sets foot on it (out of reverence, Ragyo stood on a napkin when riding the Primordial Life Fiber, never letting her feet directly touch it), prompting her to attack her elder daughter immediately.
  • Better to Die than Be Killed: A slightly different example from most. Ryuko, having defeated her and ordered the Life Fibers to self-destruct through the REVOCS satellite, asks her to come back to Earth as a daughter would. Ragyo, in response, tears out her own heart and crushes it in order to die and spread the remaining Life Fibers through space. Before disappearing into nothingness, Ragyo states that the Life Fibers will return to haunt Earth one day. Ryuko simply tells her to stuff it.
  • Big Bad: The real one, as the head of the Kiryuin Conglomerate that controls Japan, and Satsuki's mother and superior who is behind all her actions. She is the one who ordered Nui to kill Isshin/Souichirou, Ryuko's father, and Satsuki has actually been preparing Ryuko, her sister, to help her defeat Ragyo, who wants to feed humanity to the Life Fibers.
  • Big Ol' Eyebrows: We know which side of the family Satsuki got her eyebrows from.
  • Blood Knight: Whenever she gets riled up in a battle, she won't stop putting on a disturbing Slasher Smile, along with her signature Evil Laugh.
  • Body Horror: When she tears her own heart out and shows it to Ryuko, it's unnaturally large and very deformed.
  • Boomerang Bigot: Her goals to enslave humanity to a sentient race of clothes shows a complete disregard of humanity despite being human herself. Granted, her body is so stuffed with Life Fibers that even calling her "human" anymore is a stretch.
  • Camp: The cast's primary source of over-the-top dressing design. It also helps that she's the hammiest villain shown.
  • Cleavage Window: Her clown outfit from episode 17 has one. It's hard to notice on account of her clothing being the same pale white as her skin.
  • Cool Shades: Wore pair of these 20 years ago, while saving a young Hououmaru from getting killed. She gave her shades to Hououmaru.
  • Corrupt Corporate Executive: The head of REVOCS, the world's largest apparel corporation, as well as the conglomerate in general.
  • Creepily Long Arms: When donning Shinra Koukestu, her arms are somehow elongated to near the length of it, which is already around twice as tall as a normal human.
  • Curb-Stomp Battle: Every fight she has properly taken part in resulted in a bloodbath for the opposing side:
    • She delivers a crushing one to Satsuki in episode 18, cementing the dominance she has over her daughter. She even does this with her bare hands, without either a Kamui or a Goku Uniform, whereas Satsuki was wearing Junketsu.
    • In episode 23, she effortlessly outmatches both Ryuko and Satsuki, even when they both employ various forms against her.
    • Even the final battle with Ryuko can count as this. She so absurdly powerful that none of their attacks can get through her defenses and she keeps smacking Ryuko back each time. Ryuko only manages to beat her by letting herself get stabbed then using her now enhance regeneration abilities to absorb her Kamui.
  • Curtains Match the Window: The inner rings of her eyes match her hair color, although latter appearances has her eyes turn red.
  • Dark Action Girl: She's evil, vicious, and brutal, so much so that she is more than capable of beating the crap out of Satsuki.
  • Defiant to the End: Even when ultimately beaten, out of power and given a chance to redeem herself by Ryuko, she steadfastly refuses and decides to kill herself in the end.
  • Diabolical Mastermind: She's even more powerful than her daughter since she runs the most powerful conglomerate in the world that controls Honnouji Academy.
  • Didn't See That Coming: Played with twice through the series:
    • The first time is an inversion; she's pretty confident that Ryuko won't be able to break out of her mind control. But when she does, Ragyo's very pleasantly surprised because it makes her realize that Ryuko is actually her daughter whom she thought was dead.
    • Episode 23 played it straight when Ryuko, whom Ragyo thought was killed by her cutting her in half, survives and proceeds to destroy the Primordial Life Fiber.
    • During the final battle, she never expected Ryuko to intentionally allow herself to be stabbed just to get close enough to absorb Shinra Koketsu.
  • The Dog Bites Back: In episode 17, delivered by none other than Satsuki, as revenge for Soichiro's death.
  • Double Standard: Rape, Female on Female: Averted. None of her sexual abuse towards Satsuki is downplayed or makes her any less of a monster than she already is.
  • Dragon-in-Chief: The Primordial Life Fiber gets no speaking lines and doesn't even seem to do anything without Ragyo willing it to. While it must have some form of consciousness, Ragyo is, for all intents and purposes, the one with the plan.
  • Dual Wielding: In episode 23, she wields two giant needle-like swords made of ultra-hard Life Fibers, which served as the basis for Ryuko's Rending Scissors and Satsuki's Bakuzan.
  • Even Evil Can Be Loved: Both Nui and Houomaru are shown to genuinely care about her and are willing to do anything for her, the latter even tries to avenge her death.
  • Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Played with a couple times:
    • Ragyo says that she didn't kill Satsuki because she has some lingering maternal feelings for her, but Satsuki says this is a lie and that Ragyo just wants to use her to power Shinra Koukestu. Of course, Ragyo doesn't deny this.
    • In their final fight, Ragyo again cites this reason for why Ryuko isn't dead after taking her attacks. This prompts her to declare she'll destroy those feelings.
  • Everything's Better with Rainbows: Though only as a sign of her superiority; she otherwise makes everything worse.
  • Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: During her final fight with Ryuko, she can't fathom why Ryuko would try to save the Earth and live a normal life with her friends and sister rather then ruling over the world. In her own words: "How can you be so boring?!". Though from her tone, it sounds more like "Why won't you obey me?!"
  • Evil Counterpart:
    • She is everything Satsuki is, but so much worse. Their backlights are similar, their arrogance and stubbornness are identical, their powers and abilities bear numerous parallels. In the end, however, Satsuki simply wants to save the world, and has numerous redeeming qualities. Ragyo meanwhile is a Sadist, a tyrant, and an incestuous rapist that wants to feed all humanity to an Eldritch Abomination.
    • She can also be considered one to Sukuyo Mankanshoku. Both of them are mothers whose daughters are in Honnouji. While Sukuyo is a genuinely loving mother who wants what’s best for her children, Ragyo couldn’t care less about her family.
  • Evil Feels Good: If the way she caresses her breasts in Episode 23 while waxing about her unstoppable evil plan and attempting to murder her daughters is any indication.
  • Evil Gloating: She does this anytime she's near victory, constantly reminding her adversaries how worthless and incompetent they are. Unfortunately for her, Ryuko and Satsuki take advantage of this.
  • Evil Is Hammy: On top of being the Big Bad, she's one of the most bombastic characters in the series, to the point where she doesn't even need to be physically onscreen to outham everyone else:
    • One of the earliest examples consists of her making a very grandiose speech about REVOCS' motto, without showing herself to her audience until the speech's very end.
    • The second time is during episode 17, where she makes a really grand entrance in Honnouji Academy, she even states that rulers have to be brilliant as the sun, thus the need to make grandiose entrances is a necessity.
    • Another is when a COVERS projection of her reduces the Elite Four into silence as Ira tries to interrupt her badmouthing on a captured Satsuki.
    • Even her theme is more bombastic than anything else in the series.
  • Evil Laugh: Has a very creepy one during episode 18, before assuming control of ''all'' Honnouji students to use as her pawns. She has another very creepy one at the end of The Stinger in Episode 23.
  • Evil Matriarch: She fills this role for Satsuki and Ryuko.
  • Evilutionary Biologist: Episode 18 reveals that she performed brutal experiments on her daughters with a twisted goal of infusing Life Fibers within human bodies. When Ryuko supposedly dies from the experiments, she casually dumps her as a failed test subject.
  • Excessive Evil Eyeshadow: The only character who always wears noticeable makeup, and just happens to be the evillest.
  • Exotic Eye Designs: While not easily noticeable, her eyes are ringed and multi-colored.
  • The Faceless: Until episode 11.
  • Fashionable Evil: She's the owner and CEO of the largest clothing company on the planet, and the series ultimate Big Bad. She makes it a priority to never dress in anything less than is necessary to ensure all eyes gaze upon her grandiose presence in wonder and awe.
  • Faux Affably Evil: She almost always speak with a calm tone in her voice, even when molesting Satsuki.
  • Feather Motif: Her hair bares semblance to a bird's wings, and her outfit features Fluffy Fashion Feathers.
  • Flight: She can fly even without a Kamui.
  • Fluffy Fashion Feathers: Her main outfit sports these.
  • Foreshadowing: She has seven scars/tattoos that resemble the emblems for the Goku uniforms, which may hint at her immense power and Life Fiber DNA.
  • Good Old Fisticuffs: Her punches literally put Mike Tyson's to shame. Just ask Satsuki.
  • Gratuitous French: "La vie est drôle." ("Life is funny.")
  • Gratuitous German: Her Leitmotif "Blumenkranz" is entirely sung in German, and it also underlines that she's pure evil in Boldface.
  • Greater-Scope Villain: In the first half of the series, she has more of a background presence as she observes the conflict between Ryuko and Satsuki. She controls two of the world's most powerful organizations, is the reason why Satsuki is Honnouji Academy's Student Council President, and indirectly responsible for the death of Isshin Matoi. She does take reigns as primary Big Bad once Satsuki's true intentions are revealed.
  • Greed: As the head of the Kiryuin Conglomerate, which spans all across the world over, Ragyo is inclined to the social, economic, political and relatively speaking day to day livelihood of the ignorant masses the world over. All through the usage of the Primordial Life Fiber, which is all but interwoven into the attire products sold by her corporation's multinational and multi-property owning sporting and manufacturing companies; she practically ran the world. Hell, even after having undone her own daughter's rebellion, ending in the dissolution and integration of her entire student body Task Force into the creation of the Koketsu kamui project on top of having the few pockets of resistance all across the world promoted both by Satsuki as well as Nudist Beach's steadily dwindle to nothing as her COVERS absorb them into their armies. Is this enough for her? Hell, NO! She owns the world, owns the war, owns the high ground. For all intents and purposes, she runs both the landscape as well as battleground of the entire scene and series, and she still wants her other younger daughter whom she initially cast aside as a failure in her demented experiments. She even lampshades it in Episode 19:
    Ragyo: And soon even your little sister will return to me.
  • Green and Mean: Her hair is partly green and "Mean" is putting it lightly as she's a sadistic, abusive tyrant.
  • Guinea Pig Family: She used her own daughters as test subjects in brutal experiments of infusing Life Fibers within human bodies, when they were just babies. She even threw away her second daughter without giving her a name when she thought she died because of said experiments.
  • Half-Human Hybrid: The reason for her superhuman abilities is that her body is interwoven with Life Fibers.
  • Half the Woman She Used to Be: Ryuko and Satsuki bisected her both horizontally and vertically making her more of a one quarter of a woman she used to be. A shame she absorbed the Primordial Life Fiber and regenerated moments later.
  • Hartman Hips: Drawn with very broad hips so show off her age and feminity.
  • Healing Factor: Her bond with the Life Fibers has some benefits. Namely, any wounds dealt to her will very quickly close and as long as a single Life Fiber connects her head to her body, she can survive decapitation.
  • Hijacking Cthulhu: After Nui takes over the Primordial Life Fiber, Ragyo absorbs her. This is subverted as Nui is very eager to help Ragyo.
  • Hoist by Her Own Petard: Twofold. One being that her youngest daughter, whom she considered a failure and threw away like trash, is the one who ultimately thwarts her and two; being all too eager to stab Ryuko in their last battle forgetting that Ryuko's healing factor as well sheer willpower will not only help her survive but it brought her close enough to absorb her kamui and take control of the Primordial Life Fiber, returning the people of Earth to normal and rendering Raygo powerless.
  • Holy Backlight: A rainbow-colored one.
  • Humanoid Abomination: While she was once a human woman, she happily threw her humanity away and is now a loyal servant of the Primordial Life Fiber, as well as its primary agent in brewing a plan to absorb all humans with the power of Life Fibers.
  • Hypocrite: She repeatedly tells both Satsuki and Ryuko that they should be respectful towards their mother. However, she herself is shown to have no respect for either of them, as she had put the former through horrendous abuse and callously threw the latter in the trash when she was only a few months old.
  • I Have No Daughter!: In a way. Episode 18 reveals she discarded her second daughter (Ryuko) like she was garbage when she was an infant.
  • I Have You Now, My Pretty: A female-on-female example in which she does this to her own daughter. After defeating her, she has hangs Satsuki in a cage by her arms, naked. As Ragyo taunts her defeated daughter, she runs her hands up and down Satsuki's back and between her legs, and spanks her ass repeatedly.
  • Impossible Hourglass Figure: Her appearance in episode 13 really accentuates it.
  • In the Back: Satsuki runs her through in episode 17 while she is distracted by Ryuko.
  • In the Blood: Satsuki apparently takes after her a lot, from having their own Holy Backlight, to their habit of delivering Evil Overlord speeches. Her younger daughter, Ryuko, also inherits the highlights in her hair.
  • Invincible Villain: In pure physical strength, speed and durability, she bypasses everyone else in the series and she hardly ever wears a Kamui. The only reason she loses is due to the constant amount of gloating she does which Ryuko and Satsuki use to their advantage.
  • Irony: With all of her speeches about how any creature that goes against its instincts is doomed to die soon in relation of humans refusing to wear clothes, her eventual defeat stems from her defiance of her own instincts as a human being (survival) and as a mother.
  • It's All About Me: Ragyo cares for no but herself and more then happy to trample over anyone, even her own family, if it's to gain more wealth and power. And yes while she did spare Rei as a child back in the past and is shown caring for her and Nui, it's only because they're useful pawns to her schemes and nothing more. Rei was a desperate child when Ragyo came upon her and she only took her on because of her high energy to life fibers as well as taking advantage of the girl's poor upbringing to convince her her plan to subjugate humanity was a good option. And Nui, well she was "birthed" from an artificial womb using Ragyo's life fibers, so Nui's essentially just a clone of her, only much crazier. Once the heroes start getting the advantage in the final fight, Ragyo had no problem ordering her to sacrifice her to complete her plan.
  • Jet Pack: Shinra Koketsu has rocket thrusters to help Ragyo launch into space.
  • Kinky Spanking: A sexual sadist through and through, Ragyo gives one to a bound Satsuki, to demonstrate the power she has over her daughter.
  • Knight of Cerebus: Unlike Nui, there's barely a scrap of comedy to be found in this character past her camp demeanor.
  • Lack of Empathy: In fact, she all but outright rejects such a concept.
  • Leitmotif: "Blumenkranz",note  a soaring, powerful song, at times eerily soft; with Ominous German Chanting and lyrics calling the world cruel, and asking why the listener would cry over the singer throwing away dead flowers. Which probably has something to do with Ragyo abandoning Ryuko as an infant. The last few episodes give her another leitmotif, "Tabun LASTBOSS", which is an oppressive mix of rock and orchestra.
  • Les Collaborateurs: Is ultimately a servant of COVERS, the will of the Primordial Life Fiber.
  • Light Is Not Good: She emits her own Holy Backlight; in fact she one-ups Satsuki with a rainbow one. She's also the Big Bad and the worst mother in anime history. This is taken even further in episode 23 when she wears the Shinra Kouketsu which gives us a Shinto goddess-like look. She also owns hundreds of all-white outfits.
  • Lightning Bruiser: Even without a Kamui she kicked Satsuki's ass, and outmatches both Ryuko and Satsuki at the same time using their full power.
  • Luke, I Am Your Father: Or rather, Ryuko, I Am Your Mother.
  • Manipulative Bitch: In episode 20, she taunts Ryuko to come to Honnouji Academy and fulfill her desire for revenge against her and Nui, confident she will do just that. This was so she can capture her to be brainwashed, which she succeeds.
  • Master of Threads: Shinra-Koketsu is a Kamui (an article of clothing made of Life Fibers that grants the wearer powers) created by Nui Harime and the brainwashed Honnoji Academy Sewing Club to be worn by the series Big Bad Ragyo Kiryuin. It grants her the power to control Life Fibers and uniforms made out of them, allowing her to immobilize anyone wearing a Goku uniform and, with the help of her own satellite system, initiate The End of the World as We Know It by activating all Life Fibers on the planet.
  • Mind Rape: Does this as part of her brainwashing Ryuko, with disturbing undertones of an actual rape.
  • Misanthrope Supreme: Ragyo threw her humanity away and is contemptuous of normal humans, seeking to exterminate them in service to the Life Fibres. This is emphasized in her Leitmotif, "Blumenkrauz", which compares the weak (i.e. all humans) to "withered flowers" that must be removed.
  • Monster Clown: She presents herself as this in episode 17. Either that or she's channelling Kefka or Ultimecia.
  • More Teeth than the Osmond Family: She doesn't normally have these, but when fighting all out in the last episode, she develops a shark-like teeth arrangement during Slasher Smile displays.
  • Mouth of Sauron: A given, seeing as how she's the highest ranking follower of the Primordial Life Fiber and it never speaks itself.
  • Ms. Fanservice: Ragyo is a very shapely woman who is either seen in very revealing dresses or outright nude.
  • Navel-Deep Neckline: Her favorite outfits tend to show off her breasts by having plunging necklines, making her overall appearance more appealing.
  • Never My Fault: When Ryuko gets pissed at her due to her life being considered a lie the whole time after The Reveal that Ryuko was a Life-Fiber Human Hybrid, Ragyo says that was Soichiro's doing, despite the fact that what she did to Ryuko as a newborn was what made Soichiro never tell Ryuko the truth in the first place.
  • Nigh-Invulnerable: Her connection with the Primordial Life Fiber allows her to survive practically anything, from getting impaled In the Back by Satsuki to a full-on decapitation.
  • Nightmare Fuel Station Attendant: When she shows up the first time, you know she's creepy to the core. She only gets worse.
  • No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Ragyo delivers an absolutely brutal one to Satsuki. This is especially jarring given that the latter never lost a single fight until episode 18.
  • No Sense of Personal Space: Ragyo isn't afraid to touch her daughter in a rather intimate manner while she compliments her wearing Junketsu, or when bathing her in herbs to enhance her connection with Kamui.
  • Noblewoman's Laugh: Given her status as the director of this world's largest corporation, she dishes them out without fail when hamming it up.
  • Nonchalant Dodge: She barely tilted her head to the side to dodge a missile shot at her.
  • Off with Her Head!: In episode 18, Satsuki decapitates her. It's subverted however; because of the Life Fibers inside of Ragyo, her decipitated body is able to sock Satsuki in the face before picking up her head, which has a Life Fiber attached.
  • Older Than She Looks: Doesn't look all that much older than Satsuki (who's a teenager) in some shots, despite probably being in her forties or fifties.
  • Ominous Latin Chanting: "Blumenkranz", sung in German, roughly transcribed and translated:
    "Diese Welt ist grausam, es ist traurig aber wahr."
    "This world is cruel, it's sad but true."
  • Orcus On Her Throne: She doesn't meddle in her daughter's affairs regarding Ryuko and taking over Japan, essentially letting her do what she pleases and only providing her with indirect support via the materials needed to construct Goku Uniforms or military equipment. Her reason for doing so is because she believes youth should settle their own affairs. When she does go into battle, she shows that her title as the REVOCS president isn't just for show.
  • Parental Incest: She opens Satsuki's chakra points via molestation in a bath, and later caresses her crotch to Megaton Punch her. In episode 21, she has what looks like a threesome with Nui and Ryuko, complete with plenty of groping, although that could've been one of the false memories implanted into Ryuko's mind, when Ragyo brainwashed her into her service.
  • Parental Substitute: While it's unknown if Nui is in anyway related to Ragyo, the two consider each other mother and daughter. Their relationship is also all but stated to be sexual, so given Ragyo's inclinations towards her biological daughter (and later daughters) this can be further used as proof of a familial like bond.
  • Pedo Hunt: The first time we see Ragyo onscreen, she is shown groping and feeling up Satsuki. In Ragyo's next appearance, she is shown outright molesting the latter in the bath, establishing how villainous she truly is.
  • People Puppets: She can use Life Fibers to brainwash other people into becoming mindless soldiers for her, a process she calls Mental Refitting.note  Ryuko managing to shake off the Refitting is what clues Ragyo in to her identity.
  • Power Glows: Her radiance is so bright that her personal assistant needs sunglasses to look at her.
  • Power Nullifier: One of Shinra Kouketsu's Absolute Submission's functions is to shut down Life Fiber uniforms and incapacitate anyone wearing them. Though Senketsu eventually realizes that he's the only Life Fiber uniform who's not affected, nor is the Life Fiber-infused Ryuko.
  • Professor Guinea Pig: In addition to her daughters, she has clearly done plenty of experimentation on herself as well. Her back is Covered with Scars that are very likely the result of her infusing Life Fibers into her body, and when we see her heart, it's horrifically bloated and deformed. Even Nui's heart was not as monstrous, despite her being outright incubated in the Primordial Life Fiber.
  • Psycho Lesbian: Possibly a Depraved Bisexual, since whether or not she was sexually interested in her ex-husband is debated amongst fans but regardless of which actually describes her sexuality, she engages in some really creepy behavior with Satsuki and later Ryuko.
  • Purple Is Powerful: She's the biggest powerhouse in the series and some of her hair is purple.
  • Rank Scales with Asskicking: Ragyo is not only the CEO of REVOCS, she is, bar none, the most powerful character in the series, being able to fight and outmatch both her daughters at once, something which is established in episode 18, where she lays the most violent smackdown in the entire series on Satsuki, despite having been betrayed and backstabbed beforehand.
  • Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: Her molestation of her daughter Satsuki was used to establish that, unlike near everything else in the comedic and over-the-top series, Ragyo's evilness is played 100% seriously.
  • "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Gives Satsuki one in the middle of beating her senseless:
    Ragyo: Wearing Junketsu in this battle was a terrible mistake, but of course, you wouldn't even be able to stand before me if not for its power!
  • Redemption Rejection: Ryuko offers her a chance to start over if she comes quietly after finally beating her. Ragyo just laughs in her face and kills herself instead.
  • The Reveal: Episode 18 hands out a big one: she is Ryuko's birth mother, making Ryuko and Satsuki sisters.
  • Sadist: She's at her happiest when she physically or sexually abuses someone.
  • Satanic Archetype: Originally a human, Ragyo casted away her own humanity and sided with the Life Fibers, and her goal is to have humanity enslaved and eradicated in favor of the Life Fibers. Further adding to her Satanic traits are her strong connections with the light, much like Lucifer.
  • Scars are Forever: She has scars on her back that look like Goku Uniform stars, despite having a Healing Factor strong enough to pull her dissected body back together.
  • Self-Disposing Villain: By the end of the series, she gives neither Ryuko or Nudist Beach the chance to kill her, instead ripping her own heart and crushing it, with the promise that the Life Fibers will be back to haunt Earth.
  • Shadow Archetype: She represents everything Satsuki could have turned into with a few cosmetic differences. She Who Fights Monsters plays a role in this, but numerous characters point out how Satsuki's various methods were nearly identical to Ragyo's, despite their diametric opposite motivations.
  • Sinister Shades: Wore a pair when she was younger.
  • Slasher Smile: Her icy façade is just that. When the action gets going, Ragyo shows how much she enjoys hurting people with a sadistic grin.
  • The Social Darwinist: She shares the same dog-eat-dog "pigs in clothing" ideology as Satsuki. Where they differ is that while Satsuki thinks that humans are more than just livestock and can aspire to greatness through ambition, determination and vision, Ragyo holds the idea that Life Fibers are the Ultimate Life Form and that all other life in the universe (especially humans) are mere livestock to be sacrificed to them.
  • The Sociopath: She shows multiple signs of sociopathy, possessing an extreme sense of self worth and ego and a total lack of concern about her offspring to the point of sexually abusing her elder daughter Satsuki and literally throwing her younger daughter Ryuko away in the trash when the latter was an infant. She also ordered the death of her husband, casually sacrifices her employees and innocent bystanders to further her goals, and outright rejects the concept of having empathy for anyone else. Her Leitmotif "Blumenkranz" outlines her thought process by comparing people to flowers, in which they will be immediately disposed of once they serve their purpose.
  • Statuesque Stunner: Even taller than Satsuki.
  • Stupid Evil: When her newborn second daughter seemingly died from Ragyo's attempts to implant Life Fibers into her body, Ragyo immediately deemed the experiment a failure before dumping her down a garbage chute. As it was, if she had waited a bit longer or tried to revive the baby herself, she would have seen that the experiment was actually a success. But since she did neither of those things, her husband turned against her and raised their daughter himself, who he named Ryuko.
  • Super-Strength: She is able to inflict serious damage on Satsuki, even wearing Junketsu, with nothing but her bare fists. And this is without wearing a Kamui or a Goku Uniform.
  • Theme Naming: The "ra" in her name means "gauze", a type of thin silk.
  • This Cannot Be!: After Ryuko, along with the combined effort of everyone aboard the Naked Sun, destroys the Primordial Life Fiber, she's left in utter disbelief before snarling back that their resistance is still futile. Likely just trying to save face so as not to give Ryuko satisfaction of her defeat.
  • Transhuman Treachery: Her family has been protecting the Primordial Life Fiber and became powerful because of it. She sold off humanity to be consumed by them, and in the final battle scolds herself for letting whatever suppressed traces of humanity she has left to cause her to hold back from killing her daughter.
  • Vague Age: It's impossible to tell how old Ragyo is as she's appeared the same in virtually every flashback, aside from her various hairstyles. Further complicating the issue is that her experimentation with Life Fibers has transformed her into a nigh-immortal being with insane regenerative powers which probably cancels out her aging altogether.
  • Villainous Incest: Even before we get to know how much of a monster this woman is, her habit of getting disturbingly touchy-feely with own daughter makes it clear she's someone to watch out for.
  • Virgin in a White Dress: Majorly inverted; Ragyo wears mostly white but is an older, sexually predatory woman, though she talks big about the purifying aspects of fashion conformity.
  • Walking Spoiler: Once she takes the center stage in the second part of the series, bombshell after bombshell after bombshell follow suit. The biggest one is that she is Ryuko's mother, thus making Ryuko and Satsuki sisters.
  • White Hair, Black Heart: She can sacrifice the lives of countless innocents and feel perfectly content. Ragyo ultimately serves as an adversary to both Ryuko and Satsuki, cementing her as a major antagonist. And thanks to her Life Fiber DNA, she literally has a black heart.
  • You Talk Too Much!: She does love to hear herself talk and a good chunk of her dialogue is always sprouting off how powerful she is or how futile the heroes efforts are. By the final battle, Ryuko is yelling at her to shut up.
  • Woman Behind the Woman: Her being one of the directors of the school is one of the reasons why Satsuki is able to have her Absurdly Powerful Student Council.
  • World's Best Warrior: Ragyo is far and away the most powerful character in the series, with and without the use of a Kamui. Her feats include beating up a fully powered Satsuki with her bare hands, tearing out Ryuko's heart with minimal effort, fighting both of them at once, winning, and finally having such a powerful psychic hold that she can immobilize an entire stadium of humans.
  • Would Hurt a Child: Is putting it mildly. She coolly discards her newborn daughter like a piece of trash the moment she finds out that the experiments aren't going as planned.

    Junketsu 

Junketsu

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bf034ef639808bb038da733a29af84e2.png
The Kamui Soichiro presented to Satsuki when she was a little girl. Satsuki retrieved it from its confinement to test it against Ryuko.
  • Ambiguous Gender: Assuming all Kamui have a gender, Junketsu's is unknown since it never speaks, aside from screaming when Ryuko ripped it off of her.
  • Ax-Crazy: Is far more violent and savage than Senketsu, even attempting to kill Satsuki when she first put it on. As it turns out, this is normal Life Fiber behavior. Senketsu is the "abnormal" one.
  • Black Eyes of Crazy: Its sclera turn black when it bonds to Satsuki. It's more accentuated with Ragyo and later Ryuko, though.
  • Bling of War: Junketsu looks less like a Sailor Fuku and more like a full-blown military uniform laced with gold silk brocade. Soichiro even called it Satsuki's "wedding dress".
  • Blood Magic: Like all Kamui, it feeds off its host's blood. Satsuki awakens it by slicing her hand and dripping blood onto it as an offering.
    Satsuki: Take my blood, Junketsu. It is the eternal vow between you and I, the crimson thread of our covenant.
  • Chainmail Bikini: Leaves most of Satsuki's body exposed, but grants her inhuman durability nevertheless. Turns out to be intentional on Satsuki's part. By limiting the surface Junketsu covers, Satsuki was able to resist its attempt at controlling her.
  • Death Cry Echo: Lets out a faint, echoing scream once Ryuko breaks free from its control by ripping it off to shreds, although it survives and is sewed back together, along with some of Ryuko's blood and Senketsu's Life Fibers.
  • Evil Counterpart: To Senketsu, first being worn by Ryuko's rival, Satsuki.
  • Evil Weapon: Compared to Senketsu, Junketsu is untamed, and constantly trying to consume Satsuki if not for her overpowering will.
  • Frilly Upgrade: Inverted; similar to Senketsu Senjin, its Zenkan form is covered in blades.
  • Heel–Face Turn: Of a sort: its urges to devour Satsuki get suppressed after being injected with a mix of Ryuko and Satsuki's blood and Senketsu's Life Fibers.
  • Grappling-Hook Pistol: One of its shoulder fins can be fired to this effect.
  • Jet Pack: Junketsu Senpu, acquired by Junketsu after it was infused with some of Senketsu's Life Fibers.
  • Leotard of Power: When Ryuko wore it.
  • Light Is Not Good: In contrast to Senketsu. This is possibly subverted after the infusions, where it could be letting Satsuki control it better.
  • Lotus-Eater Machine: Junketsu had been altered by Nui to be one to brainwash Ryuko.
  • Meaningful Name: "Junketsu" means "purity". Since this Kamui is openly evil, the name could easily be ironic, but it is not. Life Fibers in their natural state are hostile, parasitic aliens and Junketsu is made of 100% Life Fibers. It contrasts Senketsu who, though also a 100% Life Fiber outfit, has been genetically modified with human DNA, Ryuko's to be more specific, to make him an ally of humanity rather than an enemy. This makes Senketsu "impure" in a sense, while Junketsu is "pure" alright. Pure evil.
  • Pinned to the Wall: After Ryuko rips it off her own skin, the eye of Junketsu is shown trying to drag itself away. Satsuki pins it to the floor with a blade.
  • Power at a Price: Like Senketsu, Junketsu requires blood to activate. Unlike Senketsu, it's actively trying to consume the user and is putting an enormous strain on their body.
  • Pretty Butterflies: Junketsu resembles a butterfly when Ragyo puts it on.
  • Puppeteer Parasite: Influences Ryuko while she's wearing it, making her more bloodthirsty and vicious.
  • Pure Is Not Good: Even its name means pure, but good it is not.
  • Redemption Promotion: Possibly. Getting sewn back up with some of Senketsu's Life Fibers and injected with Ryuko's blood seems to have tamed it, but definitely made it more powerful.
  • Screw This, I'm Out of Here!: Attempts to throw itself off the ship when Ryuko breaks its influence over her and shreds it. Satsuki pins it to the deck.
  • Sealed Evil in a Can: Was locked away by Ragyo until Satsuki awoke it.
  • Shoulders of Doom: In its armored form, Junketsu sports two massive spikes as pauldrons.
  • Stripperiffic: Its transformed form covers even less skin than Senketsu does. Averted when bonded to Ryuko, where it covers significantly more skin.
  • Symbiotic Possession: Has this dynamic with Satsuki due to her dominating its bloodlust with her will.
  • Virgin in a White Dress: Played with. Junketsu is referred to as Satstuki's wedding dress, and its white color evokes the traditional associations of white with wedding dresses and virginity. But the way Junketsu sometimes forces itself upon its wearers has implications of rape and loss of innocence.
  • The Voiceless: Unlike Senketsu, Junketsu never speaks or otherwise vocalizes. Until Ryuko rips it off from herself, then you can hear a faint scream coming from it.

    Rei Hououmaru 

Rei Hououmaru

Voiced by: Ayumi Fujimura (Japanese), Cristina Valenzuela (English) Foreign VAs 

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/4351fe178c2519e9c013bbc5c1066331.png

"You're a scamp of the highest order, Ma'am."

Ragyo's secretary and assistant.


  • Avenging the Villain: In the OVA, Hououmaru tries to avenge Ragyo and to a lesser extent, Nui.
  • Badass in a Nice Suit: Unusually, she combines a business suit and tie with shorts.
  • Badass Normal: Doesn't wear a Goku Uniform, but is able to stand against the Elite Four anyway.
  • Big Damn Heroes: A villainous variant; she rescues a now armless Nui via helicopter when it's clear the Grand Couturier would get overwhelmed by Nudist Beach, but the latter's none too happy about it.
  • Black Girl Dies First: Subverted. She's black and the only villain to survive.
  • Clothing Combat: The sleeves of her suit can be extended to act like whips.
  • Co-Dragons: With Nui, though unlike the former, she follows Ragyo's will to the letter. While Nui provides a penultimate battle for the heroes before Ragyo can be faced, Hououmaru is used by Ragyo to create Absolute Submission, which must be deactivated before Ragyo can be stopped.
  • The Comically Serious: She's completely serious and unfazed as she speaks to Nui, whose High-Pressure Blood is spurting point-blank into her face. She's also cool with being absorbed into Shinra Kouketsu.
  • Cool Shades: She puts on a pair of green shades in Ragyo's presence, even if the latter only appears in a low-definition video message behind her and there should be no risk of getting blinded by her Holy Backlight. These shades were given to her by Ragyo when she was saved 20 years ago and became Ragyo's ward. In her final gambit to kill Satsuki, they wind up cracking and ultimately broken when Hououmaru is offered to come help make the world a better place. This symbolizes the last of Ragyo's will has fallen and Hououmaru can make her own choices without her.
  • Dark and Troubled Past: She is originally from an African village of people with high resistance to Life Fibers, but were being wiped out in a civil war. Ragyo saved her.
  • Devour the Dragon: Almost a literal example, as in episode 23, Ragyo has the Shinra Kouketsu absorb her to power it up.
  • Dragon Ascendant: Hououmaru is the Big Bad of the OVA, attacking Honnouji Academy and taking over its secret defense system, hoping to kill the heroes so she can avenge Ragyo's death.
  • Faux Action Girl: There are a few times when it looks like she will join the fray, being depicted as a possibly powerful fighter, but nothing really comes of it. At the end of episode 23, she is absorbed into Shinra Kouketsu, eliminating any chance of her fighting in the last episode. This is subverted in episode 25.
  • Heel–Face Turn: After Ryuko defeats her giant robot, Satsuki convinces Hououmaru to come work for her and help make the world a better place.
  • Hypocrite: Hououmaru despises abuse of the weak by the strong. As such, it's not a coincidence that her Black Constructs are built on memories of Satsuki and the Elite Four's iron-fisted rule of Honnouji Academy. However, she conveniently glances over the fact that her beloved boss, Ragyo, is and was without a doubt the most powerful person on the planet and the most horrifying abuser of human rights.
  • I Owe You My Life: Ragyo saved her life as a child and Hououmaru swore loyalty to the former as a result.
  • It's Personal with the Dragon: Inverted. Not only is she The Dragon, but Episode 25 has Satsuki as her main target when it was Ryuko who defeated Ragyo and should have been considered the bigger threat.
  • Jerkass Has a Point: Regardless of their goals and reasons for doing so, the whole reason Hououmaru's able to create evil clones of Satsuki and the Elite Four is due to all the suffering and fear they imposed on the no-star students which can't be erased with a simple Heel–Face Turn.
  • Light Is Not Good: Barring her dark skin tone, she's constantly clad in white clothes save in episode 25, and is Ragyo's direct subordinate. Fits with the series' overall color-coding of "White/light = bad, black = good".
  • Meaningful Name: "Hou-ou" is the Japanese name for the fenghuang, which supposedly has rainbow-colored plumage. Very fitting, since Ragyo gave her this name after she saved Hououmaru from her Doomed Hometown.
  • Memento MacGuffin: She received her glasses from Ragyo after being saved by the latter.
  • Misanthrope Supreme: Having seen humanity at its worst during her country's civil war, Hououmaru's whole motivation for serving and later avenging Ragyo has shades of an It Is Beyond Saving attitude towards humanity.
  • Nerves of Steel: Keeps a thoroughly straight face as Nui verbally lashes out at her, even getting sprayed in the face by a geyser of blood stemming from where Nui's arms used to be.
  • Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: In her haste to save Nui, she deploys a large number of COVERS which Nudist Beach easily defeats, gaining both allies and Life Fibers necessary to produce a large number of Goku Uniforms.
  • No-Sell: She doesn't seem to have taken any damage from the attacks she suffered from a rebelling Satsuki, one of which sent her flying to a wall.
  • Not-So-Harmless Villain: While certainly more combat-capable than the average human being, she's much less a threat than Nui as evidenced by how easily the Elite Four and Junketsu-wearing Satsuki threw her around in comparison. Come episode 25, she finally gets to show off her badass credentials, creating the Black Elite Four and Satsuki out of the remaining Life Fibers and taking control of the Academy's DEFCON system.
  • Overshadowed by Awesome: When she finally gets to fight, even though she is capable of superhuman feats, she is constantly being thrown around by either the Elite Four or Satsuki wearing Junketsu.
  • Post-Climax Confrontation: She's far less of a threat than Ragyo and her taking up the mantle as the lead villainess serves as a way to tie together loose plot threads as opposed to maintaining the Sorting Algorithm of Evil.
  • Put Them All Out of My Misery: The OVA implies that this, along with Undying Loyalty, may be one of the factors why she went along with her boss' plan for world destruction; the world sucks, might as well blow it up. Satsuki eventually persuades her to help make the world a better place instead.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Blue Oni to Nui's Red as Co-Dragons to Ragyo. Nui is highly impulsive, prone to Villainous Breakdowns when things don't go her way and tends to ignore Ragyo's orders as much as possible, while Hououmaru is always calm, collected and completely loyal to Ragyo.
  • Red Shirt: She considers herself one, stating that her life means nothing in the grand scheme of Ragyo's plans. Bonus points for Nui soaking Rei in her blood before the latter makes her statement. This is subverted in that she's the only villain who doesn't die.
  • Sleeves Are for Wimps: Her new attire in episode 25 noticeably lacks sleeves, appearing as some sort of military outfit. Also, this is the episode where she shows that she's a Not-So-Harmless Villain after all.
  • Stoic Spectacles: While she's not always wearing them, they're used to great effect as Hououmaru keeps a completely straight face even as she's sprayed by High-Pressure Blood, courtesy of Nui, whose arms had been cut off permanently by Ryuko.
  • Super-Speed: Manages to free Ragyo from her cross and take her in the middle of Satsuki's forces in the time it takes for Satsuki to swing her sword in order to stop her from rescuing Ragyo in the first place.
  • Tareme Eyes: She has round eyes, a clue that she isn't as evil as she seems.
  • Token Minority: Rei is the only black character amongst the cast and the only character to explicitly shown to not be from Japan by birth.
  • Undying Loyalty: Because Ragyo saved her life when she was a child, Hououmaru's loyalty to Ragyo knows no bounds, and she obeys her every command without question. She even sacrifices herself to power Ragyo's Absolute Submission field, with the implication that her total obedience to her boss makes it work.
  • Villain Has a Point: Her Avenging the Villain has her call out Satsuki and the Elite Four that there's lots of evil in the world they're unaware of and their being Good All Along doesn't absolve them of all the cruelty they inflicted during that time, which they acknowledge and resolve to make amends for.
  • Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: She endured such trauma in her childhood that she ultimately decided that mankind deserved to be sacrificed to the Life Fibers.
  • You Shall Not Pass!: Almost word for word to the Elite Four at the end of episode 18. It helps that they were already backed into a corner by Nui's clones when she said it.

    Soichiro Kiryuin 

Soichiro Kiryuin

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/f1fcd774affbd4b98eb1bcde403828be.png
"This will be your wedding dress."

Satsuki's father and Ragyo's husband, a scientist who married into the Kiryuin family and the one who entrusted Junketsu to Satsuki. However, after he found out about the true nature of the Life Fibers, he secretly rebelled against Ragyo.


  • '80s Hair: He has a 'do that makes Mike Score's haircut look dignified.
  • Arc Words: In Soichiro's first appearance, the first thing he said is, "This will be your wedding dress," to a five-year-old Satsuki while looking at Junketsu, words she keenly remembers. The significance is revealed when it's finished: "But when you put it on, you will become a slave to clothing." These words were the spark that forever changed Satsuki from a cheerful, innocent little girl into a hardened warrior determined to bring down COVERS and her mother, Ragyo.
  • Defector from Decadence: Upon realizing that Ragyo is a cold, heartless shrew who essentially used their children for experimentation and didn't give a damn when their youngest daughter (seemingly) died as a result of said experimentation, he turns against her full force and aims to take her and the Life Fibers down. To this effect, he faked his death and became Isshin Matoi.
  • The Faceless: We first see him in episode 3 when he showed Junketsu to Satsuki, but didn't see his full face until episode 18.
  • Faking the Dead: Satsuki thought he died after Kuroido targeted and destroyed his car, but he survived by covering himself with Life Fibers. Sometime after he escaped, he had surgery to drastically alter his appearance to become Isshin Matoi.
  • Guinea Pig Family: What kind of parent cuts open his newborn daughter, stuffs her full of Life Fibers and then performs experiments on her? Although this seemed to be mostly Ragyo's idea and Soichiro turned against her after this, feeling that they both went too far.
  • Non-Standard Character Design: His '80s Hair gives him a more "old-school anime" look than the other characters. This can be seen as a clue that he and another character with an old-fashioned character design, Isshin Matoi, are one and the same.
  • Posthumous Character: Satsuki's father died quite sometime before the series began. It's also revealed that he is actually Isshin Matoi, making Satsuki and Ryuko sisters.
  • Take Up My Sword: Entrusts Satsuki to continue his plan to kill Ragyo and destroy the Primordial Life Fiber. He likely attempted to do the same with Ryuko before she ran outside to find the killer, Nui.
  • Two Aliases, One Character: Isshin Matoi and Soichiro Kiryuin are one and the same.
  • Walking Spoiler: Episode 19 reveals who he really is, as well his relevance to the story's main plot.
  • You Monster!: Had this attitude towards Ragyo after she casually disposed of their daughter, Ryuko.

    Mitsuzo Soroi 

Mitsuzo Soroi

Voiced by: Akio Nojima (Japanese), Doug Stone (English) Foreign VAs 

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

"Do try not to overexert yourself, Milady."

Satsuki's loyal butler and Shirou Iori's uncle.


  • Black Eyes of Evil: Subverted. Even though Soroi's eyes are perpetually black, he is easily one of the kindest and nicest characters in the cast.
  • Charles Atlas Superpower: At one point, he carries around eight to ten people on his back with very little difficulty.
  • Cool Old Guy: He's a friendly man and Satsuki has absolute faith and trust in him.
  • Evil Wears Black: A subversion. While his outfit has black, he's anything but evil.
  • The Jeeves: Fits this to a T: he's always polite and unquestioning, and always ready to pour his master a spot of tea.
  • My Master, Right or Wrong: He's the only one of Satsuki's servants who doesn't object to her stealing and wearing Junketsu against her mother's position. He even participates in Satsuki's rebellion against her mother.
  • Parental Substitute: Is really more of a surrogate grandpa than butler to Satsuki, he was with her since she was five, and is the only person Satsuki seems to feel relaxed and happy around. He's far better than her only living parent, too.
  • The Stoic: Always calm and courteous, regardless of the situation.
  • Super-Strength: When he and Iori are escaping from the Kiryuin manor he's able to carry his nephew and several other wounded on his back without any difficulty.

    Takiji Kuroido 

Takiji Kuroido

Voiced by: Kousei Hirota (Japanese), John Snydernote  (English)

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

"Even if you are the young lady of the house, I cannot allow such willful behavior."

The steward of the Kiryuin family who heads the family's manor when Ragyo is absent.


  • Bound and Gagged: How Soroi and his group dispose of him during the rebellion.
  • Evil Wears Black: His outfit incoporates black and he's a Fat Bastard.
  • Fat Bastard: He's quite portly, and he attempted to kill Soichiro under Ragyo's order, muttering "He was a stupid man" before driving away.
  • Good Smoking, Evil Smoking: A picture of him from the anime's official site has him smoking a cigar.
  • Killed Off for Real: In all probability, given that he was still absorbed by the Primordial Life Fiber when the heroes kill it.
  • Light Is Not Good: Wears some white and is a Fat Bastard.
  • No Badass to His Valet: He tries to exercise this authority to Satsuki, but gets promptly dismissed.
  • Say My Name: Utters Ragyo's name as he gets absorbed by the Primordial Life Fiber.
  • Sycophantic Servant: His devotion to Ragyo and COVERS is disturbing to say the least. He eagerly requests to be absorbed into the Primordial Life Fiber.

    COVERS 

COVERS

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/8e44cd2b21a9c53e989c614e96d14c9e.png
Beings created from the Primordial Life Fiber. They resemble white business suits and eat people to power up.
  • And I Must Scream: Each COVERS sports a round, emaciated face where their necktie is supposed to be, upon absorbing their victim, and can be heard whimpering. Taken to the next level when the Combat-types make their appearance, possessing a very high number of those faces in the chest and forearms.
  • Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: The gargantuan Combat-types, which are big enough to match the Naked Sun in size.
  • Elite Mooks: Ragyo's stand-ins for the Goku Uniform students.
  • Knight of Cerebus: Once they make their appearance to assist Ragyo against Satsuki's rebellion, things suddenly go downhill for the entire cast, and the series is subsequently marked with a darker tone after a timeskip during which the COVERS have started to enslave the human population.
  • Starfish Aliens: They take the form of white business suits. Or rather, clothing takes the form of them.
  • Walking Spoiler: They appear as soon as Satsuki thinks her plan succeeded and turn the tables around very quickly in Ragyo's favor during episode 18.
  • You Will Be Assimilated: They swallow people into their bodies and use them as energy sources.
  • Your Size May Vary: It seems their size vary depending on the people they've absorbed. The one that took in Mako was huge and almost matched Gamagoori for size. Multiple giant COVERS containing dozens of people attack the Naked Sun in the series' penultimate episodes.

    Primordial Life Fiber (Spoilers) 

Primordial Life Fiber

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/primordial_life_fiber_ep_16.jpg

The source of all Life Fibers on Earth, this mysterious lifeform crashed onto Earth thousands of years ago and laid dormant until its discovery by the Kiryuin family, who safeguarded it in exchange for becoming its servants. Ragyo intends to take things a step further by awakening the Primordial Life Fiber and sacrificing the rest of humanity to the Life Fibers.


  • Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: It's large enough to potentially swallow the Naked Sun.
  • Eldritch Abomination: A massive space-travelling glowing orange entity made of Life Fibers, with powers that break the laws of physics. It and its spawn can mind-control and parasitize lesser beings into worshipping it, can forcibly evolve creatures, and grants people superpowers. It's seemingly killed when Ryuko and the Naked Sun rip through its core, although the Naked Sun itself loses nearly the entire flight deck and the Primordial Life Fiber simply reforms into an amorphous mass.
  • Generic Doomsday Villain: Justified considering that the series has Ragyo and Nui who shows much more personality than it and are the true focused villains of the story but the Primordial Life Fiber doesn't have any speaking roles nor is it intelligent. It just wants to destroy the planet.
  • Greater-Scope Villain: Being the source of all Life Fibers on Earth, this is a given, as Ragyo herself is shown to be more or less a servant to this creature.
  • I Am a Humanitarian: Absorbs Takiji Kuroido and the rest of the Kiryuin staff to awaken, and later tries to swallow the Naked Sun.
  • Macross Missile Massacre: Capable of launching missile-like bundles of Life Fibers that explode on contact.
  • Magic Meteor: The Applied Phlebotinum it produces literally made mankind the dominant species on the planet.
  • More Teeth than the Osmond Family: It has an immense, four-jawed mouth lined with hundreds - if not thousands - of sharp teeth, complete with blood-red phlegmings.
  • Mother of a Thousand Young: It's the source of every Life Fiber on Earth. In a more literal sense, Nui was incubated in a womb formed directly from the Primordial Life Fiber, technically making it her mother.
  • Not Quite Dead: Despite having its core pierced by the combined efforts of Ryuko and the Naked Sun and left to crash offscreen, it still comes back for the finale, where Ragyo orders Nui to give herself to the Primordial Life Fiber and power up Shinra Kouketsu even further.
  • Physical God: Ragyo regards it as a sacred entity, and is enraged when Satsuki sets foot on its surface.
  • Planet Eater: Satsuki reveals that once all of the humans have been assimilated by the COVERS, the Life Fibers will use the planet as an energy source before detonating it and scattering themselves throughout the universe again.
  • Power Glows: It glows a bright orange.
  • Time Abyss: If crashing into Earth millions of years ago and accelerating humanity's growth is any indication, it's possible it lived for even longer than that.
  • Walking Spoiler: Is a major antagonist, being the origin of the alien lifeforms known as Life Fibers.

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