Ala Rubra
This page is for everyone who is or was a member of Ala Rubra or was a close ally.
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Core Team
General Tropes
- Badass Crew: Princess Arika said she had no fear about all the nations in the Magic World being after Ala Rubra because its warriors were the strongest. And indeed, they never lost a battle in the war.
- Breaking the Fellowship: They all went their separate ways after the great war. Nagi disappeared after the birth of his son, Rakan stayed at the Magical World, Eishun married into the Konoe family and became head of the Kansai Magic Association, Albireo took residence in the ruins beneath Library Island, and Zect's whereabouts are never revealed.
- Early-Bird Cameo: At the end of the Kyoto arc, Negi visits Nagi's old house and finds a picture of all the members of Ala Rubra. Besides Nagi and Eishun, the rest of Ala Rubra are introduced until much later in the manga.
- Famed In-Story: They're celebrities in the Magic World because of their great heroic feats in the great war.
- Hero of Another Story: According to Rakan, Ala Rubra's adventures would need at least three full movies and over fourteen manga volumes to illustrate, but we're never gonna see them because they're not what this series is about.
- Pyrrhic Victory: They defeated the constructs of Cosmo Entelecheia, Nagi destroyed the body of the Lifemaker, and the ritual to erase the Magic World was stopped thanks to Arika ordering her fleet to seal the power of Magic Cancel. However, Arika's Floating Continent fell from the sky as a side effect of Asuna's sealing ritual and although almost all civilians were evacuated, they ended up as refugees or slaves in other nations. Arika got thrown in jail for two years and she was only barely saved by Nagi at her execution. The worst part is Ala Rubra failed to truly stop Cosmo Entelecheia at all because the Lifemaker possessed Zect and went on to create more minions to eventually try and erase the Magic World again. In the end, Ala Rubra only managed to delay their enemies' plans for a couple of decades.
- To Be Lawful or Good: When Arika was going to be executed by the Megalomesembria senate as sentence for the collapse of Ostia and some added false charges, Ala Rubra knew that helping Arika would make the senate persecute them even more than before. However, they still went to rescue Arika because they knew the queen was a good person and deserved happiness with Nagi.
Nagi Springfield
Nagi Springfield
The Thousand Master
Voiced by: Takehito Koyasu (anime, Japanese), Kenichi Suzumura (games, Japanese), Troy Baker (English)
Portrayed by: Hassei Takano
Negi's father who has been missing since he was little. He's said to be quite possibly the most powerful combat mage ever to live.
He has a strong affinity for lightning and has mastered the element's strongest spells. Though his skill in battle is beyond question, he actually isn't all that good at remembering his magic, and often has to read his spell incantations off of a notebook.
- The Ace: He's a world-saving hero and one of the most powerful mages ever seen, as implied by his Thousand Master and Magister Magi titles. Subverted because he's actually a total idiot, a magic school drop-out, and knows like 5-6 spells tops. He's still completely invincible in battle, though.
- Action Dad: The only time his son ever saw him was when Nagi appeared to take on the demon army that destroyed Negi's hometown. And Nagi won all on his own.
- Badass Long Robe: He's hardly ever seen without his wizard robe and everyone calls him one of the mightiest heroes both worlds have ever seen.
- Battle Couple: After marrying Arika, she joined him in the fight against the minions of Cosmo Entelecheia.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: With Arika in his younger days. They bickered all the time, even when confessing their love for each other.
- Big Damn Heroes: He appeared out of nowhere to save Negi from the monsters that attacked his Doomed Hometown before disappearing once again.
- Blow You Away: Wind was one of his primary elements of specialization.
- Broken Pedestal: A minor case with his son Negi, who was quite shocked when he learned that the man who he believed to be a genius magic user who he studied hard to be like was actually a magic school drop out.
- Brought Down to Badass: He leaps into a canyon full of gigantic vicious monsters where magic cannot be used in order to save Arika. He still makes it out unharmed.
- Buxom Beauty Standard: He praised Arika's ample chest and ignored the miniscule Evangeline because he isn't into little girls.
- Chekhov M.I.A.: He disappeared without a trace ten years before the beginning of the series. His son is sure that he's alive somewhere because Nagi rescued him once when he was little. When Negi finally sees him again, he discovers his father has been turned into the puppet of Cosmo Entelechia's leader.
- Chick Magnet: Even ten years after his disappearance, he's still highly popular with the ladies. In a flashback, his friends lampshaded this when Asuna asked him to be her partner.Why the hell are you always that popular with everyone!?
- Chivalrous Pervert: Leaving aside his love for Arika's breasts, he treated her well and saved her plenty of times.
- Complaining About Rescues They Don't Like: After Arika saves him from Secundum, he complains she could have pulled a better Big Damn Heroes.
- Crippling Overspecialization: He was unbeatable in battle, but also too stupid to be useful at anything but fighting. He failed to properly resolve the conflict with Cosmo Entelecheia precisely because the only solution he could bring to the table was beating the crap out of them and beheading their leader. His son has to clean up the mess he left behind by actually addressing the problem of the Magic World being destined to collapse.
- Daddy Had a Good Reason for Abandoning You: He wasn't in the best condition to raise Negi due to having his body possessed by the Physical God leader of his biggest enemies.
- Deconstructed Character Archetype: Of Idiot Hero. Nagi is good at defeating anything in front of him. Unfortunately, that's all he's good at. Turns out that Cosmo Entelecheia ultimately has a noble goal (if not so noble means to achieve said goal), and Nagi never considers that there's a compromise to be made and a reason (namely the impending collapse of the Magic World) they do what they do.
- Determinator: Nagi proclaimed to the Lifemaker that he would never give up even if the world was going to end tomorrow.
- Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Nagi confronted 'The Mage of the Beginning', a wizard of such immense power that they threatened the entire world, created Fate Averruncus, and terrified even Jack 'Crazy Powerful' Rakan... and won, basically just by hitting them really hard. Subverted. After this it's shown that the Lifemaker wasn't truly beaten; they simply possessed Zect and left the battlefield. Nagi ended up possessed himself in the end.
- Disappeared Dad: His son Negi has not even properly met him.
- Dope Slap: To Arika with a headbutt to make her stop complaining about him rescuing her from her execution.
- Doppelgänger Attack: He knew a technique to create illusionary clones of himself in a fight. Rakan asked him if he was some sort of Ninja.
- The Dreaded: Seeing as he's the strongest mage alive, he's naturally this.
- Dropped a Bridge on Him: In the first anime adaptation, he gets absorbed by a black hole.
- Dumb Muscle: What Nagi had in brute force, he lacked in brains.
- Family Theme Naming: Nagi, father of Negi.
- Fatal Flaw: Nagi doesn't think things through and prefers to solve his problems with his extreme magical power. That's all well and good in some situations, but it isn't really helpful when the problem at hand cannot be solved by simply defeating someone.
- Fiery Redhead: Negi got his red hair from his father. Unlike his mild-tempered son, Nagi's personality was fierce as the color of his hair.
- Fire-Forged Friends: In his first meeting with Arika, Nagi thought she was a scary and bossy woman. They seemed to get friendlier with each other after they took out an enemy base together off-panel.
- First-Name Basis: He hates respectful titles and prefers to be called by his name without honorifics and such.
- Flash Step: It's almost teleportation but he can zip around like nobody's business.
- Flight: Like most high-level magic users in this series, he can fly on his own.
- Friendly Rivalry: His rivalry with Jack meant they loved to beat the crap out of each other, yet their comradery is clear.
- Get a Hold of Yourself, Woman!: When in the middle of getting Arika out of Cerberus Canyon, Nagi stops Arika's Heroic Self-Deprecation rant by headbutting her.
- Grand Theft Me: Possessed by the Lifemaker sometime after the war.
- Hates Baths: According to the Drama CD, the hatred for baths is one of the few things Negi has in common with his father.
- Hot-Blooded: He was the type to punch anyone he didn't like in the face before reasoning with them. During battle, he never stopped shouting.
- Human Pack Mule: During an outing, Arika forces him to carry her shopping bags.
- I Cannot Self-Terminate: He asks Negi to come find and kill him, although considering that he's the Lifemaker's current meat-puppet, it's unclear who's really saying it.
- Idiot Hair: Fits since he's an Idiot Hero.
- Idiot Hero: As the polar opposite of his son, Nagi dropped out of magic school, couldn't memorize complicated spells and preferred to punch things instead of thinking things through. Nagi is something of a deconstruction of this concept, as detailed under Fatal Flaw.
- Improbable Age: He won the last Mahora Tournament when he was ten, gathered a team of badasses and became a war hero at thirteen and received the title of Thousand Master at age fifteen.
- In the Hood: He briefly appeared to a little Negi as a mysterious, powerful man in a hooded cloak.
- Incompletely Trained: Despite his reputation as a legendary mage, he's a magic school dropout and doesn't know more than a few spells, even needing a notebook to recite incantations.
- Invincible Hero: Explicitly stated to be completely invincible. Which makes it all the more worrying what could possibly have happened to him to make him disappear...
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Nagi acts cocky and rude, but he's nonetheless a hero who saves people in need.
- Knight in Shining Armor: After Arika named him her knight, Nagi singlehandedly defeated the leader of the evil organization, was awarded as a war hero, and rescued the beautiful princess to marry her.
- Kung-Fu Wizard: Although Western mages have a reputation of being Squishy Wizards, this wasn't the case for Nagi who sucked at casting spells and often won his fights with his fists instead.
- Lady and Knight: He is Arika's official knight and does much to keep her safe, such as busting her out of a dungeon and jumping into a canyon full of man-eating monsters to get her out of there. However, he doesn't like being addressed as such because he's not a knight but a (combat) mage. Given his heroism, he is a White Knight.
- Like Father, Unlike Son: Unlike his smart, studious, hardworking and polite son, Nagi is straightforward, child-like, laid-back and disrespectful.
- Magic Staff: Nagi is the former owner of Negi's flying staff.
- Mundane Solution: After some suitably epic banter between him and Evangeline, Nagi ends the battle before it even begins by catching Eva in a pit trap filled with onions and garlic. Game over.
- Mysterious Protector: When Negi was younger, he viewed Nagi like this, to the point of getting himself in trouble so that his father would come save him.
- Neck Lift: A favorite move of his, having done it against Primum during a Flash Back and when Albireo copied him in his match against Kaede during a tournament. Also, a scene where the real Nagi used this on the last Mook Demon of an army he'd just torn through. He finished it in a Neck Snap.
- Offscreen Moment of Awesome: We aren't allowed to see how he was saved from the Lifemaker and brought back. You'd be forgiven if the final chapter's Hand Wave explanation leaves you happy but confused.
- One-Man Army: He's so powerful that demons actually wonder who the real monster is.
- Opposites Attract: Nagi, a Hot-Blooded Idiot Hero, is married to the stoic, no-nonsense Arika.
- Papa Wolf: He saved Negi from receiving a fatal punch from the demon when his hometown was attacked.
- Present Absence: He went missing ten years before the start of the series. He's only seen in flashbacks expect for the scene in which he's revealed as the current host of the Lifemaker and in the final chapter where he's inexplicably alive and well. Still, Negi's primary motivation for doing just about everything is to be great like his father or trying to find clues about his whereabouts.
- Real Men Eat Meat: He loved meat so much that he only ate the meat of the nabe.
- Red Baron: "Thousand Master"
- Red Is Heroic: His hair is red and he's a hero.
- Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: Gender Inverted. Nagi is a boisterous Fiery Redhead and Arika is a stone-faced princess with no patience for his idiocy.
- Shared Family Quirks: He and his son Negi have almost nothing in common except for a couple of things; both are Chick Magnets and hate taking baths.
- Shock and Awe: Electricity spells were one of his specialties, in particular the Thousand Thunderbolts spell was a favorite of his.
- Shonen Hair: He was the same spiky hairstyle as his son and it suited him better since he was an Idiot Hero unlike Negi.
- Single Tear: It's later revealed he cried a single tear when he had to abandon his son again at the end of their brief meeting.
- Skyward Scream: He seemed to be fond of this back in his Ala Rubra days.
- Smart Ball: He was an Idiot Hero through and through, yet he somehow was the only one who could immediately realize senator McGill had been replaced by Primum in disguise.
- Smug Super: He's quite possibly the most powerful creature in existence, and definitely knows it. When Albireo turned into Nagi during the Tournament Arc, the projection of Nagi bragged to his son about how "(he) can understand (Negi's) feelings of admiration for this young, accomplished, yet super cool genius and undefeatable father who was also a hero".
- Something We Forgot: He was supposed to release Eva at the time of her first graduation, but he completely forgot about it.Nagi: Oh, Eva! You're still cursed? Didn't I come and undo—Eva: Shut up, you idiot. I know you forgot.
- Stock Shōnen Hero: Nagi embodies the archetype in sharp contrast to Negi. Unlike his studious and worrywart son, Nagi was a full-blown Hot-Blooded Idiot Hero Determinator who hated thinking and relied only on his fists and willpower to save the day.
- Supernatural Sealing: Nagi uses the binding curse Infernus Scholasticus to seal away the vampire Evangeline's powers and bind her to Mahora Academy.
- That Man Is Dead: He says this not about himself, but about Arika. After he saves her from being executed, he claims that Queen Arika died and the Arika he's with is just plain ol' Arika.
- Tsundere: In his younger days, he called Arika a "scary, cold-hearted princess" and denied feeling attracted to her. When he drank water of truth, he admitted that he thought Arika was cute when she didn't say or do anything mean.
- Unexplained Recovery: He shows up in the final chapter, free of the Lifemaker's control, with the circumstances of his freedom simply glossed over.
- Unskilled, but Strong: He's this trope when it comes to magic, though he's Strong and Skilled at martial arts. He's an Idiot Hero who only has six spells committed to memory, needing a cheatsheet for the rest, and is also bad at Latin, which is the standard language for the Western school of magic that he practices. Not that any of this has ever been a hindrance to him in battle.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Jack Rakan was Nagi's Best Friend. Their close friendship was openly expressed when they often traded blows and Jack wasted no time in teasing him about his infatuation with Arika.
- When All You Have Is a Hammer…: Nagi's solution to solve things was generally just "punch the enemy in the face". This didn't help solve the political conflict involving Arika and Ostia, nor did it change anything about the Lifemaker, who took control of Nagi's master's body, and continued their plan to destroy the Magical World and thus save it and its people from collapsing and dying. Negi, on the other hand, fares better and presents an alternative way to save everyone.
- World's Strongest Man: His enemies' intel on him: "Invincible. Has no weaknesses."
- You're Not My Type: He used this as the reason why he rejected Evangeline.Evangeline: Why don't you like me?Nagi: Eh, I'm not into little girls.Evangeline: Hey! I'm over 500 years old, you know!Nagi: Well, then, it's because you're an old hag.
Jack Rakan
Jack Rakan
The Thousand Blades
Voiced by: Rikiya Koyama (Drama CD and OAD)
An extremely powerful warrior who's every bit as invincible as Nagi (the one time we saw them fight, it was a draw). He is a very laid-back and seemingly carefree person, loving nothing more in life than cute girls and powerful opponents. He primarily works as a mercenary, charging hilariously overpriced fees for his help, but ended up joining the Ala Rubra and fighting alongside them to save the world.
Though he can use magic, it really isn't his style; he prefers to use swords, fists, and Ki Manipulation. His decades of experience in battle leave him with few to no weaknesses as a fighter, a fact he tries to hide with his goofy attitude and lack of (apparent) strategy.
——
- The Ace: In-Universe, he's good at literally everything.Jack: Not [being able to do x] would be a weakness, and I have none.
- Achievements in Ignorance: Lampshaded but deliberately and thoroughly subverted. Rakan appears to just do whatever without realizing or caring whether it's impossible. However, upon examination he's actually very well-versed in magic theory and when he seems to be ignoring the rules he's actually carefully pulling off all necessary conditions to achieve his goals.
- Awesomeness by Analysis: After seeing Negi's superior speed, he is able to predict where Negi will be.
- Battle Aura: A fierce one that sometimes results in Chunky Updraft.
- Berserk Button: Played for Laughs when Negi asks him to become an Idiot Hero like him and his father. Jack doesn't take it kindly being called a genius idiot and Dope Slaps Negi.
- Best Friend: Out of Ala Rubra, Nagi's closest comrade and brother-in-arms was Rakan.
- Beware the Silly Ones: Doesn't mind fooling around with anyone (may they be the Ala Rubra, Ala Alba, or even Fate's female companions), whether in combat or not.
- Beyond the Impossible: He knows the rules of magic but chooses to ignore them. To be fair, he tries to give a reasonable explanation about some of his "impossible" feats. This is later subverted with Negi's research. He's actually an expert in magical theory and knows the loopholes to just about any "absolute". He even knows enough strategy to take precautions against likely tactics for someone like him, such as gaining physical contact before a battle begins, all the while making it look like he's just a perverted idiot whose first reaction to cute enemies is to steal their panties. Moral being, never assume anything Rakan does is meaningless idiocy.
- BFS: His artifact can turn into very large blades, ranging from long daggers to skyscraper-sized. One of his giant-summoned-sword-based attacks is called the "Zankanken", possibly a pun on the Shinmeiryuu technique "Zanganken", or "Rock-cutting Sword". It means "Warship-cutting Sword"... which has the same meaning as SANGER ZONVOLT's ZANKANTOU.
- The Big Guy: He was the largest muscle of Ala Rubra and a shining example of the Boisterous Bruiser type.
- Blood Knight: Likes fighting a lot, and is absurdly good at it. During his reminiscing of the Magical War, he had expressed a desire that everyone in the world besides his team were his enemies at the time so he could've fought everyone without restraint
- Boisterous Bruiser: The picture here is one of the few times he looks that serious.
- Bystander Syndrome: He's completely unconcerned about the reappearance of Cosmo Entelechia and just leaves it all to Negi. Doesn't really affect him, right? Later steps forward and tries to take on Fate on his own. Doesn't go very well.
- Calling Your Attacks: He loves calling out attack names, most of which he makes up on the spot.
- Chick Magnet: While not quite as popular as Nagi, he still has a legion of fangirls. Theodora is very obviously in love with him and Beatrix is a secret fan of his.
- Chivalrous Pervert: He fights on several occasions by stealing his opponents panties and flipping their skirts. His mind also appears to be eternally in the gutter. Yet he does this to avoid actually harming them physically (such as Fate's Adorable Evil Minions). After the timeskip; he's apparently mentoring Paio... in panty-stealing techniques.
- Chunky Updraft: He does that the first time he gets anything close to serious.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Rakan comes off as a goof, seemingly clueless... And then he unleashes his fighting ability, which eclipses most of the characters in the story. It's slightly subverted because Rakan simply pretends to be an oaf.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: If he's involved in a fight and the opponent isn't also absurdly powerful, chances are it'll end up being this.
- Defeat Means Friendship: His first bout with Nagi (when he was still pursuing them as a freelance bounty hunter) ended in a Draw, although he acted as if he was defeated note . He nonethess joined him and the rest of Ala Rubra afterwards.
- Dirty Old Man: Remember, he created a couple of techniques for rapid-stealing panites and forcing Marilyn Maneuvers on his female opponents. AND he mentored Paio II, too...Rakan: Creating a tempest whirling at speeds of a hundred kilometers per hour around the target, whilst the target herself feels nothing but the soft touch of a gentle breeze! Truly the ultimate wind technique for granting the dreams of men!!
- Ditzy Genius: He's an experienced fighter, a master of magical theory, learns new techniques instantly, can use magic he's not suited for at a price, is a fairly good tactician and is also a genuine airhead. He's smart and powerful and doesn't need to bother acting tough anymore.
- The Dreaded: Seeing as he's basically the World's Strongest Man, opponents tend to wet their pants at the sight of him.
- Dumb Muscle: Very much subverted. He seems like a brainless man but even his perversions have actual practicality to them.
- Expy: Rakan is very physically similar to Sol Badguy from Guilty Gear, though their personalities are somewhat different.
- Field of Blades: When he summons Ho Heroes Meta Chilion Prosopon, his artifact manifests as several BFSs stabbed into the ground.
- Finishing Move: Parodied. Negi and Rakan discuss the necessity of having a good finishing move and even creates several ones for absolutely no reason than style. They are mocked — or would be, if they weren't so terrifying effective.
- Friendly Rivalry: His friendship with Nagi was based on being eternal rivals.
- Gag Penis: The censorship of it is... quite extensive.
- Game-Breaker: An In-Universe example. Jack Rakan is so ridiculously powerful, some of the older characters even say he's a "broken game character". A short and hard to read exchange between Rakan and Chamo illustrates the point perfectly.Chamo: This isn't physically possible...Rakan: Make up for it with guts.
- Genius Bruiser: In his own words, he's more experienced than smart. Any sufficiently advanced knowledge is indistinguishable from intelligence.
- Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: The first time he willed himself back into existence was solely for the purpose of smacking Negi upside the head.
- The Giant: Arguably the tallest in the Ala Rubra; Eishun is only as high as his shoulders.
- Hard Work Hardly Works: An explicit aversion. While it certainly took him longer and he had to work harder to get there, he's still a fighter on par with Nagi.
- Heroic Resolve: He takes a ton of damage during his fight with Negi, including a blow that's essentially his own attack, and then impaled with a magical spear... and he still gets up.
- Heroic Willpower: After being erased from existence, he willed himself back. Repeat: he was erased from existence, and he temporarily forced himself back through sheer force of will. Twice! To Rakan, being erased from existence is like being Put on a Bus.
- Hidden Depths:
- On being capable of Mind Reading: "Nothing's impossible for me!"
- On being a surprisingly talented artist: "I have no weak points."
- Hot-Blooded: Frequently acts like a Large Ham, typically doesn't bother with philosophy in favor of just punching the other guy in the face...
- How Much More Can He Take?: So much so that a few of his nicknames actually amount to "how the heck is he still alive!?". In his fight against Negi, they thought he died multiple times, only for him to come back laughing.
- Hunk: Basically an over-the-top parody of the trope.
- Idiot Hero: Not as stupid as Nagi, but he admits he's not much of a schemer compared to Gateau and Albireo. Rather than being unable to plan like Nagi, he actually seems like a reasonable intelligent person who chooses not to think about things.
- I Have Many Names: Rakan has his own collection of nicknames and all of them are awesome: "The Thousand Blades", "The Man Who Cannot Die", "The Immortal Fool", "That Damn Guy Who You Can Stab With Swords All You Like And It Won't Do A Thing, Dammit!"
- Implacable Man: While he instinctively repositions himself so that most attacks don't hit him properly and glance off instead, he had shown insane levels of tolerance for pain and damage even of the Reality Warper variety that even the other
Game Breakers snark about it. Probably a tick from when he was a non-world badass slave. - Impossible Theft: He steals girls' panties while they are wearing them, and without them even noticing.
- Indy Ploy: How he likes to operate.
- The Juggernaut: There are around 3 beings in the entire verse that can destroy him. That's including elder dragons, armies and Gods. He plows through everything else, including dimensional traps that are theoretically impossible to escape from.
- Kamehame Hadoken: Rakan Impact.
- Large Ham: One of the biggest in the manga.
- Let's Get Dangerous!: When he gets serious, you'll notice.
- Lightning Bruiser: He's not as fast as Negi in his lightning form, but if he can predict where Negi is going to be, he can easily keep up with Negi. When he starts to get serious, he beats Negi's Raiten Taisou form, both in strength and speed, to a pulp. Negi finally overwhelms Rakan's speed and predictions with his second lightning form, Raiten Sousou, though.
- Lovable Sex Maniac: Rakan has no issues about stealing panties off Fate's minions and in general being a Dirty Old Man, and the fans love him for it (the characters consider them sexual harassments).
- Made of Iron: The vast majority of attacks used on him when he is being serious have little to no effect despite the fact that he's primarily a swordsman, not a magenote and thus isn't using a barrier.
- Meaningful Name: As if being Jack wasn't enough, his last name Rakan
is the Japanese term for an Arhat. A Buddhist concept (akin to a saint) referring to a perfected person of miraculous power that has achieved enlightenment. - Memetic Badass: An In-Universe example, resulting of his exploits with Ala Rubra, his mercenary work before that, and his status as the World's Strongest Man.
- Miser Advisor: Happily acts as a mentor, but charges insane prices for his services.
- Morph Weapon: His artifact named Ho Heroes Meta Chilion Prosopon (The Hero with a Thousand Faces) can, in his words, transform into "any shape imaginable", from multiple weapons of any kind to armor (which can act as replacement prosthetic limbs if need be).
- Mr. Fanservice: If you're a Bara Genre fan, then absolutely.
- Named After Somebody Famous: In keeping with Kurt Gödel, his name may be a reference to Jacques Lacan, psychoanalyst and philosopher. The two names would be identical in katakana.
- The Nose Knows: He and Chamo locate an enemy in an enormous barrier dimension by tracing the scent of her panties which Rakan stole earlier.
- No Shirt, Long Jacket: He wears a jacket but no shirt.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: Initially he seems little more than Dumb Muscle for Ala Rubra, but he's actually quite clever in battle.
- Obi-Wan Moment. Two, in fact, as after the first one, he wills himself back into existence to Bright Slap Negi.
- Oblivious to Love: Maybe. It's not made clear if he realizes Princess Theodora is in love with him or not. For his part, he still sees her as just a kid.
- Odd Friendship: He gets along surprisingly well with Chisame considering that he is a walking incarnation of everything she doesn't like about fantasy worlds.
- Old Master: He becomes Negi's teacher. After all his time as a mercenary and what not, he has a lot more skill, experience and magical knowledge than the little kid.
- Old Soldier: He's got to be at least sixty or so. Twenty years as a gladiator plus time spent as a mercenary plus the twenty year time span after the war. He could even be in his seventies or older. However, as a member of the Hellas race, he's apparently not really that old for his race.
- Older Than He Looks: He's at least sixty, but looks younger than that.
- Panty Thief: He's a master at stealing panties, to the point of using this as a fighting move. His modus operandi when dealing with cute girls is taking their underwear so they lose the will to fight.
- Pec Flex: At one point, he even uses it to completely shatter a Pocket Dimension.
- Pensieve Flashback: Rakan reveals a kind of technology that can read memories and turn them into a film reel, since Raken hates talking. This helped the drama considerably.
- Person of Mass Destruction: Best seen in his fight with Negi during the tournament in the Magic World. And he was just mostly playing around.
- Power Copying: He has copied Eishun's Zanmaken: Ni no Tachi (Personally renamed for Setsuna as "In-Celebration-Of-My-First-Kiss-With-Ojou-Sama Special"), Gateau's Muonken (Rakan For-The-Hell-Of-It Right Hand Punch looks pretty similar), Albireo's Gravity magic (Great Dimension Breaker), and even Evangeline's Magia Erebea. Though it turns out the last one was a bad idea since he's entirely incompatible with it.
- Power Fist: Summons one in his final fight against Fate Averruncus, soon pinning Fate to the ground with it and then hammering him into a crater with a piston-powered strike. Then, he disintegrates.
- Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs: He can punch dozens of times in an instant.
- Red Baron: He has quite a few nicknames, but the most notable one is "The Thousand Blades".
- The Rival: He was Nagi's greatest rival in their younger days.
- Rule of Cool: It is portrayed at first as though this is how he operates entirely, but it actually turns out to be a subversion. He's extremely knowledgeable thanks to a life of battling the strongest beings in existence for over 60 years and is in fact a master if lazy tactician. The rest of the time it's either Rule of Funny or him being so strong that, like the other top 5, the normal rules just don't apply anymore.
- Screw Destiny: When told it is physically impossible to win a fight against someone wielding the same power as the god who created him.Heh. "Illusions"? "Puppets"? Heheh, screw that crap!!
- Self-Made Man: He was a war slave who became a gladiator and fought his way up to freedom and then to most powerful in the world, and he did it all on hard work.
- Shameless Fanservice Guy: When he and Chisame stumble across each other when they're taking a Waterfall Shower, Rakan just laughs it off, doesn't even try to cover himself up, and casually starts a conversation while Chisame is freaking out.
- Shipper on Deck:
- Like everyone else, he ships Konoka/Setsuna and makes a special move in honor of their First Kiss.
- He also ships Negi/Chisame.
- Judging from flashbacks, he was the very first to ship Nagi/Arika 20 years ago.
- Shirtless Scene: He has had his moments, particularly during his Gladiator battle with Negi.
- Showy Invincible Hero: Check one of his title, "That Damn Guy You Can Stab With Swords All You Like And It Won't Do A Thing, Damnit" and see how he's loving it.
- Sky Surfing: On a giant sword flying at Mach 2.
- Smarter Than You Look: Negi and about everyone gets the impression that Rakan is just an Idiot Hero who wins his fights through sheer idiocy and ridiculous willpower. That's wrong and Rakan hates to be written off as an idiot; he's a hard-working man who gained his strength through years of experience and determination. That happy-go-lucky attitude is born from the fact that he's been involved in brutal, life-or-death combat for over forty years, so he can afford to act goofy because there is honestly nothing that poses a serious threat to him at this point. His actual intellect is shown off fully in the magical world tournament: Negi develops a technique that literally let him turn into lightning, increasing his speed to unbelievable levels. And it takes Rakan exactly one observation of said move to analyze it, find all the flaws, and devise counter-techniques which allow him to effortlessly and utterly kick the crap out of 'invincible thunder god Negi'.
- Spiky Hair: He has wild spiky hair.
- Storm of Blades: His artifact can transform into any type of weapon(s), though Jack's favorite is a large collection of BFSs that he launches at his opponent.
- Strong and Skilled: Rakan is often assumed to just be a big musclehead, relying on pure strength and durability to win his fights. That is true to a certain extent, as his raw power is usually more than enough for him to beat most opponents. However, if he does meet someone who can stand up to his strength, that's when he suddenly reveals that he's been Obfuscating Stupidity. Surviving more than 60 years of continuous battles has made him experienced as well as tough, and there's almost nothing that can catch him off-guard anymore. Even up against a ridiculously complex and rare ability like turning yourself into lightning, that Negi himself invented solely to defeat him, Jack sees through it instantly and comes up with a countermeasure in no time.
- Take Our Word for It: His account of the war is rather... lacking in detail."And, well, a whole bunch of things happened after that—before we knew it, we all became friends. And then, well...a whole buncha stuff happened after that. The war ended, and here we are now...and, uh...the end."
- Testosterone Poisoning: The manly comedy in Negima was saved up for him.
- Unexplained Recovery: He gets written out of existence and comes back... TWICE! How? Because he wanted to, that's why. Though he handwaves the second one by claiming he had help from Asuna's power.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: With Nagi. They had lots of fun exchanging good punches and Rakan loved to tease Nagi about his crush on Arika.
- When All You Have Is a Hammer…: His solution to almost any problem is to hit it with a big enough sword. Or dozens of them. Or flexing his muscles and being awesome. And when everything else fail, PUNCH IT REALLY HARD.
- World's Strongest Man: As Nagi's rival, when Nagi vanished the title more or less passed to him. Technically, though, there are at least two fighters better than him (Evangeline and the Lifemaker) and several who are his equal like Eishun or Albireo. By the end of the story, he says that at the very least he couldn't kill Negi due to his immense Healing Factor.
Albireo Imma
Albireo Imma
Ku:nel Sanders
Voiced by: Daisuke Ono (Drama CD and OAD, Japanese) and Masahito Yabe (games, Japanese)
A powerful mage who is proficient with both gravity and healing magic in addition to his being a skilled unarmed combatant. At some point, he becomes a Minister Magi to Nagi and is revealed to have several more contracts in the past, all of which are dead. The fact that his pactio with Nagi remains active serves as a proof that the Thousand Master is indeed still alive, though Albireo himself doesn't know where he is.
He is currently living underneath Library Island at Mahora.
- Apologetic Attacker: "Ku:nel Sanders" in the Tournament Arc apologizes for using overpowered tactics and cheap tricks (that would be downright cheating if there were any rules) in battle. He's sorry for beating you up, but he just has to reach the final match.
- Badass Long Robe: He's never seen without his mage robe and is one of Nagi's strongest companions who came first place in the Tournament Arc.
- Cheshire Cat Grin: The picture here is one of the very few times he doesn't have one.
- Combat Medic: His combat abilities are quite high and he seems to have played the role of healing mage for Ala Rubra.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Utterly trashing Kotarō during the Tournament Arc.
- Curtains Match the Window: The OVAs show that he has dark blue hair and eyes.
- Ditto Fighter: His Artifact allows him to copy anyone he's met.
- Do Not Call Me "Paul": He straight-up refuses to answer to the name Albireo. He would prefer to be called "Ku:nel Sanders", thank you very much.
- Energy Ball: Ku:Nel Sanders uses giant orbs of gravity magic during his fight with Kaede.
- Eyes Always Shut: His eyes are usually shut.
- Faking the Dead: He was presumed dead ten years ago. Even Takamichi didn't know where he was, though he suspected he was probably still alive.
- The Gadfly: He gets enormous pleasure out of making Evangeline look like an idiot.
- Gravity Master: He has shown himself to be a master of gravity.
- Handsome Lech: Straddles the line between this and Lovable Sex Maniac. He's handsome enough to have little difficulty with women, but most turn away due to his 'subtly directly subtle' technique - he'd have you believe he's a Chivalrous Pervert, but he'll smile a smile you know you can't trust, act politely as he can deceive, then do something perverted enough to surprise even Chamo.
- Healing Hands: He knows healing magic. In a group shot comparing Ala Rubra and Ala Alba, he appears to have occupied the same position as Konoka, Ala Alba's healer.
- Hot Librarian: He's a very attractive man and has the occupation of librarian in the Mahora Library Island.
- Humanshifting: His Artifact lets him do this, although to a deeper extent than usual. He can assume the appearance, personality, memories, and abilities of anyone he knows. There is a catch that keeps this from being ridiculously overpowered: if he uses it to assume the form of someone more powerful than himself like Nagi, It Only Works Once, and only for a few minutes.
- In-Series Nickname: Eva calls him "Ero-Nasubi/Perverted Eggplant" on occasion.
- In the Hood: He keeps his face hidden with a hooded cloak for the majority of the Tournament Arc.
- Kung-Fu Wizard: While by himself he's more focused on magic power, he can use his Artifact to turn into someone better suited for physical combat like Nagi.
- Lovable Sex Maniac: He's always ready with a plaster smile and eyes closed to hide his true intentions, he is able to spout an irritatingly bad joke even while being strangled. And like the trope dictates, he's not shy about outright lechery.
- Magic Librarian: Albireo is registered as a librarian in the Mahora Library Island and he's a highly powerful mage.
- The Mind Is a Plaything of the Body: His Artifact allows him to become the person he transforms into: all the memories, actions, personality traits and instincts he observes of them are recorded into his many books (he has one for every person he's met). While he's subconsciously aware of his own presence, his body acts completely as the person would, so much that the person themself is essentially speaking. He's able to take over when he needs to, but for the most part the consciousness he imitates is in the driver's seat.
- The Older Immortal: Implied. It's never made clear how old he is, but he states that he's "the oldest one present" at a gathering that included the old Headmaster Konoe, Evangeline (around 600 years old), and the Lifemaker (2,600 years old).
- Older Than He Looks: It's implied early on that Albireo isn't as young as his physical appearance suggests. It's hinted he might even be Really 700 Years Old.
- Paper Talisman: A variation. He uses a special book mark to activate his Artifact thanks to the sheer size of his library of names.
- Projected Man: The body he uses to participate in the Mahora Martial Arts Tournament is not the real one, but a projection while his real body is hiding somewhere else.
- Red Mage: He does both healing magic and gravity magic which makes him basically the only character in the series so far apart from Anya and Sextum who can do both.
- Sarcasm Failure: The man with the perpetual Cheshire Cat Grin who never stopped acting with a strong whimsey reached a point of utter horror as the Magic world was about to come to an end. Telepathically, Princess Arika made sure to tell him to stop being a defeatist fool. This was the only time he ever seemed without his usual joking demeanor (and with his eyes widened).
- Shipper on Deck: He likes to tease Eva about the possibility that she has feelings for Negi, although he just loves messing with her in general.
- Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: Albireo visibly takes delight in tormenting and playing mindgames with Evangeline and is labeled as one of the two of the vampire's natural enemies, the other being her big crush Nagi. He's even bold enough to call the Dark Evangel 'Kitty'.
- The Smart Guy: According to Rakan, Albireo is the smartest of the Ala Rubra warriors. It's also mentioned he helped Arika and Theodora with strategic planning during the war.
- Spell My Name With An S: Colonel? Kūneru? Kunel? Everyone has their idea.
- Stellar Name: Albireo is the traditional name for the double star Beta Cygni; which is two stars held in a constant orbit by their gravity. This alludes both to the character's use of gravity magic, as well as his ability to create a 2nd physical projection of himself.
- Too Awesome to Use: His Artifact can briefly make him as powerful as the Thousand Master or any other person that he's met, but if the person is stronger than him it only lasts ten minutes; beyond that, he can duplicate the personality and memories of that person as well, basically becoming them at the moment he 'acquired' their story, but this only works briefly and can never be used again for that person. He uses the power of Nagi, the world's most powerful mage and an unstoppable warrior... To allow Negi ten minutes of knowing what his dad is like.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: With Eva, from which he derives endless entertainment over.
Eishun Konoe (nee Aoyama)
Eishun Konoe
Current Head, Kansai Magic Association
Voiced by: Masaki Terasoma (anime, Japanese), Toshiyuki Morikawa (Drama CD, Japanese), and Chuck Huber (English)
A master of the Shinmeiryuu style, Eishun is currently the head of the Kansai Magic Association. He's also Konoka's father, and by extension Headmaster Konoemon's son-in-law. Before marrying into the Konoe family, he was part of the Aoyama clan (relation to Motoko and Tsuruko is unknown).
- Beware the Nice Ones: He's a pretty calm and good-natured man. However, don't forget he's still a Shinmeiryuu master and he seriously does not like to have his food wasted.
- Butt-Monkey: His teammates never listened to him and Rakan defeated him embarrassingly easily by exploiting his weakness to seduction. Even his own daughter calls him pathetic.
- Chef of Iron: He's both a powerful Shinmeiryuu swordsman and the Team Chef for his band of invincible idiots. And Heaven help them if they don't eat it all.
- Covered with Scars: He has scars all over his body as proof of his status as a veteran warrior.
- Dad the Veteran: He fought in the Great War of the Magic World twenty years ago and is the only member of Ala Rubra who married and raised his child (Nagi did marry, but went missing when his son was born).
- Distracted by the Sexy: His weakness is seduction. In fact, Rakan easily knocks him out by having him distracted with some sexy naked ladies.
- Functional Magic: As part of his Shinmeiryuu sword style, Eishun knows Onmyōdō techniques.
- Implausible Fencing Powers: Being a swordsman of the Shinmeiryuu style, Eishun was able to effortlessly cut off a large portion of a cliff.
- Ki Manipulation: As a Shinmeiryuu swordsman, Eishun is specialized in ki techniques.
- Lost Food Grievance: If you waste his food, Eishun will try to kill you.
- Meaningful Name: His name written in Kanji is a direct Japanese pronounciation of the Chinese Kung Fu Style Wing Chung, in spite of not yet showing any expertise in said martial-art.
- Retired Badass: After marrying into the Konoe family, he's focused on his duties as leader of the Kansai Magic Association and is never seen wielding a sword anymore. The Ala Rubra flashbacks show he was badass during his days as a soldier, as long as his opponent didn't distract him with something erotic.
- Scars Are Forever: Has a scar on his upper body, presumably from his Ala Rubra days.
- Stupid Sexy Flanders: Nagi and Rakan apparently could not take a look at Eishun's face in the hot springs due to the fact that they have described him as attractive.
- Team Chef: Handled the cooking for the Ala Rubra team.
- Took the Wife's Name: He's from the Aoyama clan, but took up his wife's surname upon marrying into the Konoe family because it is older and more prestigious than his own.
Filius Zect
Filius Zect
Voiced by: Jun Fukuyama (Drama CD, Japanese)
A calm and collected warrior excelling in unarmed combat and counter magic.
- Badass Adorable: Despite being as small and cute-looking as Negi, Zect is as much of a badass as everyone else in Ala Rubra and Nagi apparently learned from him.
- Barrier Warrior: He can create multiple magic barriers, although they're useless against the Lifemaker.
- Blush Sticker: He has permanent, cute-looking blush-marks on his cheeks.
- Did Not Die That Way: He's credited as killed in action at Ala Rubra's battle against Cosmo Entelecheia twenty years ago. Actually, his body was possessed by the Lifemaker.
- Grand Theft Me: Body snatched by the Lifemaker twenty years ago.
- In-Series Nickname: Nagi addresses Zect as "Oshisou", which means the same as "sensei" (i.e. teacher, master in the master/journeyman sense), but is more old-fashioned.
- Mentor Archetype: He was Nagi's mentor.
- Mystical White Hair: He has silver hair and is the most enigmatic member of Ala Rubra. That he's confirmed to be centuries old adds to the mystical factor.
- Out of Focus: He's by far the least known of Ala Rubra members with next to no information about who he was.
- Posthumous Character: Like Gateau, Zect died at some point in the backstory and all his appearances in the story are through Ala Rubra's flashbacks/movies.
- The Quiet One: In what little we see of him, he never says more than a few words.
- Really 700 Years Old: He looks like a kid, but the author states Zect is a couple of centuries old.
- Retcon: His first appearance in the group photo of Ala Rubra at Nagi's old house shows him with a different hairstyle than the one he has for most of the Ala Rubra flashback, where his hair looks similar to Nagi's and Negi's. This is Hand Waved with the narration stating Princess Theodora cut his hair some time before the climactic battle with Cosmo Entelecheia.
- Token Mini-Moe: Appearance-wise, he's a cute little boy in a group of crazy powerful grown men. He's probably the oldest of them except for maybe Albireo, though.
- Vocal Dissonance: Due to his childlike body, Jun Fukuyama's voice was an unexpected choice for him in the Drama CD.
Allies in the Great War
Arika Anarkhia Entheofushia
Arika Anarkhia Entheofushia
Queen of Calamity
Voiced by: Megumi Hayashibara (Drama CD, Japanese)
The last queen of the Vespertatia Kingdom of Ostia. Before she ascended to the throne, she asked Ala Rubra to work for her to end the war and save the world from Cosmo Entelecheia. Twenty years later, she's a well-known criminal blamed for causing her own country to fall from the sky. However, the circumstances that lead to it were more complicated than the public knows.
It's later confirmed that she was Nagi's wife and Negi's mother.
- Ambiguously Absent Parent: It's never explained why Arika couldn't raise Negi or if she's even still alive. What became of her isn't officially confirmed, but she's almost certainly dead since no one mentions her whereabouts in the present, not even in the epilogue.
- Antiquated Linguistics: She speaks in an archaic Japanese dialect.
- Battle Couple: With Nagi. After they get married, Arika joins Ala Rubra and fights the minions of Cosmo Entelecheia alongside her husband.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: With Nagi. Whenever they talk to each other, he says something rude or perverted and Arika slaps him. It's still obvious they like each other.
- Big Damn Heroes:
- When Cosmo Entelecheia finish their doomsday ritual and Ala Rubra think everything is lost, Arika shows up leading The Cavalry.
- In Fate's flashback, Arika saves Nagi when he's nearly beaten by Secundum.
- Big Good: During the Great War, Arika is the authoritative figure commanding Ala Rubra as they fight to save the Magic World from Cosmo Entelecheia.
- Bitch Slap: A Running Gag with Arika is her leaving a slap mark on Nagi's face whenever he said or did something stupid.
- Buxom Beauty Standard: Nagi was rather pleased with Arika's ample breast size. When they met again for the first time in two years, Nagi was quick to happily point out her chest grew bigger, much to her annoyance.
- Cannot Spit It Out: It's obvious from early on she has a thing for Nagi but really, really has a difficult time admitting it to him.
- The Chains of Commanding: At the end of the war, Arika needed to sacrifice her own kingdom as the price to save the Magic World from being erased. With her leadership, the Ostian population successfully evacuated with a miraculously low percentage of casualties. That still wasn't enough to bring Arika any consolation for her sacrifice.
- Chronic Hero Syndrome: During the collapse of Ostia, Arika gave absolute orders to save every last civilian and evacuate them to safety. She also personally went to the slums to protect the defenseless civilians from the falling rocks.
- Cleavage Window: Her white dress has an opening that shows off her cleavage.
- Damsel in Distress: The Megalomesembrian Senate take her prisoner and sentence her to death. Their plan is ruined when Nagi jumps into a canyon full of monsters to rescue Arika.
- D-Cup Distress: She gets annoyed when Nagi makes a perverted comment on her breasts getting bigger.
- Death Faked for You: Nagi saves her from the Megalomesembrian Senate, but in a way that makes it look like the execution succeeds so Arika can be free to run away with him.
- Defrosting Ice Queen: When first introduced, she's very standoffish and seemingly emotionless. At the end of the war, she has fallen in love with Nagi and can show emotions around him.
- Demoted to Satellite Love Interest: In the first part of the Ala Rubra saga, Arika is a very influential authority figure and Ala Rubra's most valuable ally in the war. In the second part, Arika becomes a Damsel in Distress so Nagi can pull off a heroic rescue and ask her to marry him. The story never bothers to explain what becomes of her after that; we only know she gives birth to Nagi's son and then disappears.
- Does Not Know How to Say "Thanks": She's both too prideful and too socially awkward to say even a simple "thank you" to Nagi when he saves her life.
- Don't Call Me "Sir": She tells Nagi to stop calling her "Princess" after she isn't one anymore, but he still calls her that to tease her.
- Double Standard: Abuse, Female on Male: Whenever Nagi annoys her, she slaps, punches and blasts him with her magic.
- Dude Magnet: Nagi, Rakan, and Godel all have a thing for her.
- Emotionless Girl: Due to her very confined upbringing, Arika has an extremely difficult time properly expressing her emotions.
- Emotionally Tongue-Tied: When Nagi pushed her to admit her love for him, she struggled to say something deeper than "I do not dislike you". Justified because her upbringing left her emotionally stunted and unable to communicate her feelings openly.
- Everyone Loves Blondes: Arika is a beauty with long blonde hair. Nagi makes her his wife, Gödel is pining after her to this day and Rakan admits he fell for her a little too. A good percentage of her subjects also adore her despite her being blamed for the destruction of their kingdom.
- Expository Pronoun: When she was still a princess, Arika used "watashi" to refer herself. After she became queen, she started calling herself "warawa" (which is considered more regal) to befit her new position.
- Face Death with Dignity: On the day of her execution, Arika solemnly walked the plank and quietly accepted her death as she jumped into a canyon to be devoured by monsters. Luckily for her, Nagi arrived to rescue her.
- Fallen Princess: She's the princess of the Magic World's oldest royal family, but to save her world, she causes her kingdom to be destroyed. A government conspiracy turns her into a scapegoat, resulting in her being held prisoner and almost executed.
- Family Eye Resemblance: She shares her heterochromia with Asuna (one blue eye and one green eye), and while their exact relation isn't made clear, they do come from the same bloodline.
- Fire-Forged Friends: She and Nagi didn't like each other at all until they worked together to destroy an enemy headquarters, which made them develop a thing for each other.
- Forgotten Fallen Friend: By the time of the epilogue after everything is solved, nobody seems to bother remembering Arika since no one mentions her anymore, not even her husband and son.
- Freudian Excuse: She was raised in a very stifling and dark environment filled to the brim with plotting politicians and insidious royalty. As Nagi says, it's no wonder she grew up into a "noh-faced, cold-blooded princess" with that kind of upbringing.
- Good Wears White: One of her dresses is completely white and her sole goal was saving her world as well as protecting the lives of her subjects in every way she could.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: She's a beautiful and benevolent princess with golden hair.
- Hand Blast: When she's especially angry at Nagi, she fires magic beams from her hands to attack him.
- Hero with Bad Publicity: Arika saves the Magic World from being erased by Cosmo Entelecheia's ritual, but she has to doom her Floating Continent to collapse in exchange. Afterwards, Arika is arrested by the Megalomesembria senate and she's framed as a conspirator working for Cosmo Entelecheia to cause the war and destroy her own kingdom, which gets her called "Queen of Calamity". A good amount of her subjects still think highly of her, but no one can clear her name.
- Heroic Self-Deprecation: Despite her heroic intentions and succeeding to evacuate the majority of civilians from Ostia, Arika still hates herself for letting her kingdom be destroyed and leaving her subjects homeless. During her execution, Arika believed that dying was the only good thing she could do, but Nagi convinced otherwise.
- The High Queen: Contrary to her "Queen of Calamity" fame, Arika is a benevolent queen. She rules over Ostia for only a day before its collapse, but she does everything in her power to safely evacuate her subjects. Despite the senate framing her as a war criminal, most of the surviving Ostian population still holds Arika in high regard.
- Hime Cut: She has blunt bangs, hip-length sidelocks, and knee-length straight hair. This illustrates her royal status perfectly.
- Humanizing Tears: After Nagi saved from her execution and kissed her, Arika's stoic façade breaks as she starts shedding tears.
- I "Uh" You, Too: After Nagi confessed his love for her, Arika only responded with "I do not dislike you". He got a proper answer after a little more prodding.
- Impoverished Patrician: Arika's royal status and prestige are reduced to nothing with the fall of her Floating Continent, leaving her and her subjects as homeless refugees.
- In the Hood: During her introduction, she wears a hood to keep her profile low.
- In Vino Veritas: A variation in Ala Rubra Drama CD. When she eats nabe made with water of truth, Arika's cold and closed off personality does a 180 and she becomes cheerful and honest about how much she cherishes Ala Rubra.
- Informed Kindness: The Ostian people who personally knew her, like Tosaka, describe Arika as a kind person, even comparing her to an angel. However, her interactions with Nagi and other Ala Rubra members depict her as a cold and violent Tsundere.
- Insecure Love Interest: Arika doesn't believe she has the right to accept Nagi's love due to her being (former) royalty and a war criminal. When she tries to reject his confession, however, Nagi persuades her to live with him as a normal person and promises to help her atone for her past. This is enough for Arika to agree to marry him.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She's rude and unfriendly to the members of Ala Rubra, especially Nagi. Despite her harshness and lack of social skills, Arika is a good and heroic person.
- Lady and Knight: Arika is the Bright Lady, benevolent and kind (except to Nagi), and doing her best to end the war. She has White Knight Nagi keeping her safe while she does so.
- Maternally Challenged: Her interactions with Negi in his Lotus-Eater Machine scream this, being completely awkward when interacting with her own son, even wondering if patting him on the head is a good idea. Whether or not the true Arika would've reacted this way is unknown.
- Megaton Punch: She sends Nagi flying with a punch when he comments on her breasts growing bigger.
- Missing Mom: Negi at least knows who his father is, but he never heard anything about Arika until the Ala Rubra backstory is revealed and he gets a confirmation that Arika was his mother.
- Modest Royalty: Despite being royalty, she wears fairly simple dresses.
- My Greatest Failure: She's wracked with guilt over causing the collapse of her Floating Continent as the price she had to pay to save the Magic World from Asuna's Anti-Magic.
- Mysterious Parent: Negi doesn't know anything about his absent mother before the Magic World arc, where he finds out she's a magical queen and an infamous criminal who destroyed her own Floating Continent.
- Nerves of Steel: Arika never loses her cool even in the most dreadful situations.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: By taking the blame of the war and the destruction of Ostia for Asuna, Arika has enabled the Cosmo Entelecheia to continue their plans and has caused the Senate to view Negi as an enemy.
- No-Sell: Implied to be unaffected by Anti-Magic, as she was able to use her magic to protect the civilians in Ostia when the city collapsed due to the magic block in the area.
- No Social Skills: Because of her sheltered upbringing, Arika is very blunt and doesn't know how to handle strong emotions. This is exaggerated in Negi's Lotus-Eater Machine where Arika has no idea of how to have a casual conversation with her own son.
- Not Afraid to Die: When she's made jump into a canyon full of man-eating monsters, Arika feels no fear to die.
- Not So Stoic: She's The Stoic through and through, until she's alone with Nagi and she reveals a wide range of emotions.
- Oblivious to Love: Because of her social ineptitude, Arika doesn't understand why Nagi goes so far to save her until he shouts out his love for her, all while berating her for being so dense. Her son takes after her in romantic cluelessness.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Ala Rubra and their allies save the Magic World, but Nagi knows something has to be very wrong for the stoic and harsh Arika to hug him out of nowhere. And he's right; the price to save the world is the collapse of Arika's Floating Continent.
- Opposites Attract: Arika is The Stoic and Nagi is Hot-Blooded. Despite how much their personalities crash, the two fall in love and get married.
- Overly Long Name: Her full name is Arika Anarkhia Entheofushia. It's not as long as Asuna's real name, but still counts.
- Patricide: Towards the end of the war, Arika assassinates her own father after he's exposed as a Cosmo Entelechia puppet.
- Pervert Revenge Mode: Whenever Nagi says something perverted, she decks him.
- Please, Don't Leave Me: When Nagi tries to leave once his job as her knight is done, Arika sheds a Single Tear and hugs Nagi from behind as she asks him to stay with her a little longer.
- Politically-Active Princess: She acted as an arbitrator between the empire and the confederation to try to put an end to the war. However, she failed and had to request Ala Rubra's help.
- Posthumous Character: She's all but stated to be dead. Everything known about her comes from flashbacks and statements made by people who knew her.
- Pretty Princess Powerhouse: Don't let her royal heritage fool you, she's more than capable of defending herself and has even saved Nagi on the odd occasion.
- Princess Classic: Arika is a beautiful blonde princess who wears white or pink dresses. She wishes for peace in her world, cares about her subjects and is loved by them in return. Despite putting up a façade of being cold, she's pure-hearted and utterly selfless. She falls in love with her powerful knight and they get married after he saves her life. However, her mysterious absence from her son's life implies she doesn't live Happily Ever After.
- Princesses Prefer Pink: She was a beautiful princess and one of her two outfits is a pink dress.
- Red Baron: She's called "Queen of Calamity" for being the main perpetrator behind the destruction of her own kingdom.
- Rei Ayanami Expy: Arika is stoic among her boisterous allies (save for when Nagi is involved), keeper of a Secret Legacy, has No Social Skills, and becomes Nagi's Love Interest by the end of the flashback. She also has light-colored hair and heterochromia. Fittingly, she's voiced by Rei's voice actress.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: Arika is the princess of a kingdom caught in the crossfire of The Empire and The Federation. Instead of staying comfortable inside a castle, she takes an active part in ending the war and helps save the world. Also, in the process of Ostia's collapse, Arika organizes the evacuation of the civilians and directly protects the people of the slums.
- Royalty Superpower: Arika is said to possess the Royal Magic exclusive to the Ostian royal bloodline. It's never specified what it can do, but it makes Nagi feel a lot of pain.
- Saved by Canon: As Chisame points out, the audience goes into the Ala Rubra flashback already knowing Arika marries Nagi and gives birth to Negi. Therefore, it's to be expected that Nagi saves her from being executed by the Megalomesembria senate as this happens years before Negi is born. However, whether she dies after Negi's birth is still unconfirmed.
- Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: Gender Inverted. Nagi is a boisterous Fiery Redhead and Arika is a stone-faced princess with no patience for his idiocy.
- Semi-Divine: Arika is descended from the Lifemaker who is treated as a Physical God in the setting.
- Sexy Backless Outfit: During imprisonment, she wears a backless dress.
- Sexy Slit Dress: Her white dress has a slit up to her knees.
- Shared Family Quirks: Just like her son, Arika can't realize when someone is in love with her unless they confess, to Nagi's annoyance.
- Shared Unusual Trait: Arika and Asuna are the only known princesses of the old Ostia kingdom. They're also the only characters in the series who have heterochromia with one of their eyes being blue and the other green.
- Sheltered Aristocrat: She has spent her whole life confined in the royal palace. She doesn't even know what ice cream or a date are until Nagi shows her.
- Silent Scapegoat: The Megalomesembria senate makes up that Arika worked for Cosmo Entelecheia to instigate the Great War and destroy her own kingdom. Feeling guilty for the destruction of Ostia, Arika accepts to be accused and executed. Nagi is able to save her life, but not her reputation.
- Sixth Ranger: She allied herself with Ala Rubra in the middle of the war. After her fake execution, she officially joined them to help them deal with the remaining members of Cosmo Entelecheia.
- The Stoic: She's stone-faced and rarely expresses her emotions openly. Her interactions with Nagi prove that she's Not So Stoic.
- Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Arika acts dignified, emotionless and distant. Over time, she reveals her warmer side to Nagi.
- Tough Leader Façade: Arika shuts off all emotion to fit the position of a solemn princess who only thinks about saving the world and protecting her subjects, no matter the cost. She only lets her guard down around Nagi.
- Tsundere: Harsh type. Arika is aloof, no-nonsense and violent. Although she loves Nagi, she can't bring herself to openly admit her feelings for him. When Nagi professes his love for her, all Arika can say to him at first is "I do not dislike you" while blushing furiously.
- Tsurime Eyes: Her eyes slant upwards and she's characterized as a serious, strong-willed Tsundere.
- Twice Shy: Funnily enough, she has a rare familial version with Negi in the latter's Lotus-Eater Machine. They become overly shy around each other and get very flustered from having a simple conversation. Nagi gets annoyed at seeing them act this way when a mother and her son should be more affectionate.
- Universally Beloved Leader: Arika is beloved by the people of Ostia. Only a handful of them resent her for the destruction of their country.Tosaka: Back when she was a princess before the war, Arika-sama used to associate with the common people without any regard for her position. And everyone loved her for it. I was lucky enough to see her up close myself, just the once. I remember wondering if this is what angels are like.
- Unusual Eyebrows: Her eyebrows are kinked at the beginning.
- Unwanted Rescue: When Nagi arrived to rescue her from her execution, she demanded him to leave her to die. Nagi refused because he came to save her whether she liked it or not.
- Uptight Loves Wild: Arika is very reserved and coolheaded because her royal upbringing required her to be in control of her emotions at all times and never lower her guard around others. She loves Nagi, who is an energetic and impulsive Stock Shōnen Hero.
- Uptown Girl: She was a princess who fell in love with Nagi, a common mage who she made into her knight. However, they married after she wasn't royalty anymore.
- The Usurper: A heroic example. She assassinated her father, who was a Puppet King under the control of Cosmo Entelechia, in order to seize control of the government of Ostia and point them in the proper direction. Unfortunately, the Megalomesembria senate used her actions against her and framed her as a criminal.
- Well, Excuse Me, Princess!: She looked down on Nagi's idiocy and bossed him around because being royalty gave her the authority to do so. If he tried to talk back to her, he got a slap to the face from her.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: It's never revealed what happened to her after Negi's birth, although it's safe to assume that she either disappeared or died under unknown circumstances.
- When She Smiles: Konoka comments Arika looked nice when she accepted Nagi's marriage proposal with a smile.
- White Sheep: Apparently, the royalty of Vespertatia was either corrupted or manipulated by Cosmo Entelecheia. Arika was the one exception, seeking to save her world from being destroyed by Cosmo Entelecheia's machinations.
Gateau Kagura Vanderburg
Gateau Kagura Vanderburg
Voiced by: Keiji Fujiwara (Drama CD, Japanese)
Takamichi's master and a soldier from Megalomesembria who allied himself with Ala Rubra during the great war. He's deceased by the time of the present, having died from an injury in front of his student and Asuna.
- Last Request: Before he died, he asked Takamichi to erase Asuna's memories, so that she would forget him and his death, as he only wanted her to have a normal life without being burdened by painful memories.
- Mentor Archetype: He taught Takamichi about the powerful fighting techniques that later made him famous, mainly iaiken and kanka.
- One Last Smoke: He asked his student for one last cigarette before he passed away from a still unexplained injury.
- Only Sane Man: Flashbacks portray him as the levelheaded one when working with the eccentric Ala Rubra.
- Perma-Stubble: He was notable for his 5 o'clock shadow. Takamichi takes after him in this regard.
- Posthumous Character: He was killed somehow at some point between the end of the war and Asuna's arrival at Mahora Academy. He only shows up in Asuna's flashbacks and the Ala Rubra backstory movies.
- Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs: He knew the iaiken, a battle move that allowed him to deliver powerful punches faster than the human can see, and passed it down to his pupil Takamichi.
- Satellite Character: All really known about Gateau is that he's Takamichi's teacher and his death has left a big impact on his student and Asuna. Other than that, there's no information about Gateau himself.
- Smoking Is Cool: He was rarely seen without a cigarette in his mouth. His pupil picked up the habit from him.
- Specs of Awesome: Like his student later in life, Gateau wore glasses and was a strong fighter.
- Yin-Yang Bomb: The kanka technique combines magic with ki, which normally isn't possible. We don't really see Gateau use it, but Takamichi and Asuna learned the technique from him.
Takamichi Takahata
- See Other characters.
Theodora
Kurt Gödel
