This is a summary page for characters from the Princess Knight series and its sequel The Twin Knights. Beware of unmarked spoilers, as well as unmarked trope names that can give the plot away.
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Introduced in the 50s Manga
Sapphire
Voiced by: Yoshiko Ohta (Japanese)
Appearances: 50s Manga | The Twin Knights | 60s Manga | TV Series
The titular protagonist of the series. A princess of either Sapphire in the 50s manga or Silverland in the 60s manga. Born with both male and female hearts due to Tink's mischief, she was Raised as the Opposite Gender to keep the kingdom out of Duke Duralumin's hands.- Adaptational Wimp: Sapphire is nervous yet able to fight after her male heart is removed in the original manga. In the 60s manga, however, she starts out feeling too crippled to fight without her male heart.
- Back from the Dead: Sir Nylon shoots Sapphire with an arrow, killing her three days later. Franz resurrects her with a magical flower from the realm of Venus.
- Cool Mask: As the Phantom Knight, she wears a mask similar to that of Char Aznable from the Gundam series.
- Damsel out of Distress: She is constantly pursued, locked up, and nearly killed at several points, but never gives up on fighting back. When Nylon comes after her during a siege, she single-handedly takes him down in a swordfight. Later, when she's escaping prison with the help of Friebe, she helps Friebe fight off that castle's entire guard. In The Twin Knights, Sapphire passes this on to her daughter, Violetta, telling her when the two are being held hostage, "You can't give in to bad people, no matter how tough things get". In keeping with this trope, she then proceeds to give Violetta extra sword fighting lessons, so her daughter would be better able to handle the upcoming dangers. For the rest of the series, Violetta and her friend, Emerald, find themselves in various dangers and always set about rescuing each other and themselves.
- Dude Looks Like a Lady: When she temporarily loses her female heart and turns into a boy, she looks exactly the same as she did as a girl. Played with in that her biological sex never changes.
- Easy Amnesia: In the 60s manga, she temporarily loses all her memories after she's brought back from the dead.
- Even the Girls Want Her: Her crossdressing earns her a few crushes from oblivious girls, most notably Friebe, who even makes it to the altar with Sapphire before she learns the truth.
- Friend to All Living Things: Sapphire has many cute animal friends.
- Gender Bender: She is female, but has both male and female "hearts". At one point, she loses her female heart and turns into a man.
- Magic Feather: In the 60s manga, the loss of her male heart initially cripples her with fear, but she learns to be just as brave without it when women in the castle begin fighting for their rights.
- Mask Power: During a period when Sapphire is supposed to be imprisoned, she sneaks out a secret passage and dons a mask to be the Phantom Knight, who fights crime and oppression.
- Morphic Resonance: She retains her eyes and long legs in the form of a swan.
- Primary-Color Champion: She wears a blue tunic, yellow hat, and a red cape.
- Raised as the Opposite Gender: She is known as Prince Sapphire because it was the only way to keep the kingdom out of the evil Duke Duralumin's hands.
- Recursive Crossdressing: She sometimes wore a blonde wig and a gown to impersonate a girl with a nebulous relationship to the royalty of Silverland so that she can woo Prince Franz.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: In the 60s manga, she, among other things, heads a kingdom-wide revolution to get the women equal rights.
- Supernaturally-Validated Trans Person: Madame Hell steals Sapphire's female heart, turning her mind into that of a boy. The fortune-tellers summoned by Duke Duralumin all acknowledge that her gender identity has changed.
- Sweet Polly Oliver: She has to pretend to be the crown prince because only men are allowed in the succession for the throne, and if her father hadn't announced her as a boy, the next in line would be Plastic, who was groomed by Duke Duralumin to be a Puppet King.
- Tomboy Princess: She's a Tomboy with a Girly Streak, being born with both male and female hearts because of Tink's mischief. She has to pretend to be the crown prince because only men are allowed in the succession for the throne, and if her father hadn't announced her as a boy, the next in line would be Plastic, who was raised as a future Puppet King for Duke Duralumin. Just to hammer the point home, she actually enjoys the Action Girl perks her male heart gives her so she doesn't want her guardian angel, Tink, to take it from her as God had tasked him.
- Tomboy with a Girly Streak: She's an adventurous Action Girl, but she also enjoys wearing beautiful dresses and wants to marry Prince Franz. Justified because she has both male and female hearts.
- Took a Level in Badass: In the 60s manga, she starts out powerless without her male heart. By the time women in Silverland begin a revolt for their rights, however, she proves a capable opponent of Sir Nylon in combat with only her female heart.
- Trope Codifier: She codified the "princely crossdressing heroine" trope that was later featured in The Rose of Versailles and Revolutionary Girl Utena.
Tink/Choppy
Voiced by: (Japanese)
Appearances: 50s Manga | 60s Manga | TV Series
An angel sent by God to retrieve Sapphire's male heart as atonement for his mischief.- Dub Name Change: His name is Choppy in the English translation of the anime.
- Really 700 Years Old: He looks like a little kid, but since he's an angel, it's safe to assume he's much older.
Prince Franz Charming
Voiced by: (Japanese)
Appearances: 50s Manga | 60s Manga | TV Series
The prince of a neighboring kingdom note . He is tricked by Nylon into fighting Sapphire with a poisoned sword, leading to his arrest for the assassination of Sapphire's father.- I Have No Son!: He grudgingly agrees to marry Hecate for Madame hell to save his beloved Sapphire from execution. He is immediately disowned by his uncle for his engagement to a demon.
- Likes Clark Kent, Hates Superman: He loves Sapphire's female disguise but hates Prince Sapphire due to a misunderstanding.
- Missing Mom: He was raised by his uncle since the death of his mother.
- Nephewism: He was raised by his uncle since the death of his mother.
- Only One Name: Averted. Prince Franz Charming is the sole exception to this rule in the series.
The King
Voiced by: Kyōji Kobayashi (Japanese)
Appearances: 50s Manga | 60s Manga | TV Series
The father of Sapphire.- Forgot I Could Change the Rules: In the anime, he finally wants to change the law to allow Sapphire to succeed him, but is, by apparently complete coincidence, kidnapped by the villains, who have gotten tired of waiting for Sapphire to slip up and reveal she's actually a girl. Had he thought of changing the law earlier, his tomboyish daughter would've not been dragged through all of the political complications afflicting her life due to the original law of succession and it would have put a definite moratorium on Duke Duralumin's nefarious schemes to take over the kingdom.
The Queen
Voiced by: Noriko Shindō (Japanese)
Appearances: 50s Manga | 60s Manga | TV Series
The mother of Sapphire.- Be Careful What You Wish For: She is so sad at how her daughter must be Raised as the Opposite Gender that she wishes she can tell everyone about the secret. She gets her wish when Nylon drugs her into revealing the secret in public, leading to her and her daughter's arrest for treason.
- Keeping Secrets Sucks: She is so sad at how her daughter must be Raised as the Opposite Gender that she wishes she can tell everyone about the secret.
Duke Duralumin
Voiced by: Masashi Amenomori (Japanese)
Appearances: 50s Manga | 60s Manga | TV Series
The King's relative who plans to rule from behind the scenes through the kingship of Plastic.- Be Careful What You Wish For: In the 50s manga, Duralumin asks Tink to make his son wise. Plastic matures so much that he defies Duralumin.
- Driven to Suicide: In the 60s manga, Duralumin kills himself as atonement for his crimes after Sir Nylon mortally wounds not only the intended target, Sapphire, but also his son, Plastic.
- Dub Name Change: His name is Duralmon in the Right Stuf release.
- Spell My Name With An S: He is known as Duke Duralumin, Duralmon, Jeralmin, or Duke of Duralumin.
Plastic
Voiced by: Chie Kitagawa (Japanese)
Appearances: 50s Manga | 60s Manga | TV Series
The mentally disabled son of Duke Duralumin.- Inadequate Inheritor: His father promotes him for the throne in Sapphire's place, seeking to rule from behind the scenes.
- Took a Level in Badass: He starts out as dimwitted brat who pees himself in his first appearance after laughing to hard, causing him to bawl his eyes out. Duralumin wants to make him king so that he can exert control through him. After a couple of chapters, Plastic begins acting his age, defies his father, and installs rules that grants more rights to women because he believes it to be just.
Sir Nylon
Voiced by: Gorō Naya (Japanese)
Appearances: 50s Manga | 60s Manga | TV Series
- The Chew Toy: His constant misfortune gets more amusing.
- The Dog Bites Back: In the anime, he finally snaps from the abuse and kills his boss, ruling Silverland for a very brief time as a drooling madman and puppet of Mr. X.
Mephisto/Satan
Voiced by: Ryūsuke Shiomi, Gorō Naya (Pilot) (Japanese)
Appearances: 50s Manga | TV Series
The father of Hecate in the 50s manga and the TV series. He desires, among other things, to steal Sapphire's female heart in order to turn his tomboyish daughter into a lady. In his earthly form, he possesses powerful magic and Nigh-Invulnerability, but is deathly afraid of angels, retreating whenever Tink blows his horn and occasionally turning him into a Butt-Monkey.- Big Red Devil: Cloaked in red.
- Dub Name Change: He is called Satan in the Dub.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Greatly loves his daughter and wants to make her happy.
- Evil Plan:
- In the manga, he plans to turn his daughter into a lady by making her drink Sapphire's female heart.
- In the anime, he plans to turn his daughter into a witch by making her drink Sapphire's male heart.
- Unholy Matrimony: In the anime, he and Madame Hell plan to turn their daughter into a witch by implanting Sapphire's male heart in her.
Hecate/Zenda
Voiced by: Miyoko Shōji, Fuyumi Shiraishi, Reiko Mutō, and Yōko Kuri (Japanese)
Appearances: 50s Manga | 60s Manga | TV Series
The daughter of a demon who frequently rebels against her parent's plans and helps out the people that her parent is victimizing. Her appearance, personality, and parentage varies depending on the versions: she is the daughter of Mephisto in the 50s manga, Madame Hell in the 60s manga, or both in the anime.- Adaptational Backstory Change: In the 50s manga, she is the daughter of Mephisto, a devil who wants to make her more ladylike by implanting Sapphire's female heart in her. In the 60s manga, she was created by Madame Hell, a Wicked Witch who plans to rule behind the scenes by engaging her to Prince Franz and to make her more ladylike by implanting Sapphire's female heart in her. In the anime, she is the only daughter of Mephisto and Madame Hell.
- Anti Anti Christ: She is the daughter of a devil who frequently rebels against her parent's plans and helps out the people that her parent is victimizing.
- Bad Is Good and Good Is Bad: While not truly evil, she was raised by a devil and has some very disturbing ideas of what constitutes harmless fun.
- Born of Magic: In the 60s manga, Madame Hell literally made her using magic to rule a kingdom through having her marry a prince.
- Can't Live Without You: In the 60s manga, Madame Hell literally made her using magic, meaning Hecate will die if her mother does.
- Child Marriage Veto: Madame Hell plans to rule Goldland by marrying Hecate off to Prince Franz. Hecate herself, however, prefers freedom.
- Dub Name Change: From Hecate to Zenda in the dub.
- Morphic Resonance: She retains her eyes and hairstyle in the forms of a cat and a snake.
- Rebellious Princess: In the 60s manga, she's the princess of Hell and she frequently rebels against her mother's plans and helps out the people that her mother is victimizing.
- Tomboy with a Girly Streak: In the 60s manga, she is wild and prefers wearing pants rather than fancy yet restrictive dresses, much to her mother's displeasure. She also has assertive yet feminine speech patterns in the Japanese version and wears a bow on her Tomboyish Ponytail.
- Voluntary Shapeshifting: In the 60s manga, she can change into a variety of animals and creatures with various potions.
- You Don't Look Like You: In the 50s manga, Hecate wears her hair in a weird hairstyle that looks like the head of a mouse. However, in the 60s manga and the anime, she wears her blonde hair in a high ponytail.
Gammer
Voiced by: Shūichirō Moriyama (Japanese)
Appearances: 50s Manga | 60s Manga | TV Series
The warden of the prison tower Sapphire and her mother are locked up in.- Heel–Face Turn: He starts off as more and more of a Jerkass and eventually is pushed by Duralumin to eliminate Sapphire and her mother. During the struggle that follows, however, he plummets down the stairs. When they tend to his wounds, essentially saving his life, he finally has a change of heart. Which he demonstrates by taking down an assassin, who was aiming for Gammer's former targets, with a knife throw, saving their lives. When appearing later on, he is serving at the queen's side.
God
Appearances: 50s Manga | 60s Manga | TV Series
Tink's father.- God Is Good: He gives Tink a chance to redeem himself and helps the heroes with Divine Intervention every once in awhile.
- Grandpa God: He is an old, bearded man with white hair and robes.
Introduced in The Twin Knights
Princess Violetta
Appearances: The Twin Knights
The daughter of Sapphire.- Raised as the Opposite Gender: To try to convince the kingdom that Prince Daisy had been safely found, Franz ordered Violetta to alternate between living as a girl and a boy. Unfortunately, the Big Bad does catch on that the "prince" is never around when the princess is.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: She sets out to find her long-lost twin brother to free her parents from prison and stop the usurpers taking over the kingdom.
- Wholesome Crossdresser: She is forced to crossdress like her mother to convince the kingdom that her brother, Prince Daisy, is still around. Sapphire, who doesn't fondly remember her days of living as a boy, is immensely sorry to subject her daughter to the same fate, though Violetta holds up pretty well.
Introduced in the 60s Manga
Madame Hell
Voiced by: Ryōko Shima, Ryōko Kinomiya (Japanese)
Appearances: 60s Manga | TV Series
Hecate's mother.- Canon Foreigner: She is not seen in the 50s manga.
- Deal with the Devil: She offers Prince Franz a deal to save his beloved Sapphire from execution in exchange for marrying her daughter, Hecate. Franz grudgingly accepts, but Hecate thwarts her Evil Matriarch's plan once again.
- Morphic Resonance: She retains her eyes when she impersonates the flaxen-haired maiden, differentiating from Sapphire who is the real one.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Her manga version shares some similarities with Mephisto. Both are the parents of Hecate. Both plan to turn her into a Proper Lady with Sapphire's female heart.
- Truly Single Parent: She created her daughter, Hecate, using magic in the 60s manga,
- Unholy Matrimony: In the anime, she and Mephisto plan to turn their daughter into a witch by making her drink Sapphire's male heart.
- Wanted a Gender-Conforming Child: She plans to turn her artificial daughter, Hecate, into a Proper Lady with Sapphire's female heart, displeased that Hecate is a wild and free-spirited tomboy. This is because she wants to marry Hecate to Prince Franz so that she can rule his kingdom from behind the scenes.
- Weredragon: At one point, she transforms from a humanoid demon into a huge black dragon.
- Wicked Witch: She is a demon and a witch who plans to turn her daughter, Hecate, into a Proper Lady with Sapphire's female heart.
Captain Blood
Voiced by: Hirohisa Toda, Taiichirō Hirokawa (Japanese)
Appearances: 60s Manga | TV Series
A pirate.- Bag of Kidnapping: In episode 48 of the anime, he does this to Princess Sapphire after knocking her out, to hand her over to the X-Union for reward money.
- Heroic Sacrifice: He retrieves a potion to save Sapphire's life at the cost of his own life. Although it turns out he brought it back just a few moments too late.
- Long-Lost Relative: Prince Franz's uncle reveals that Captain Blood is Heinrich, the long-lost brother of Franz.
Venus
Voiced by: Reiko Mutō (Japanese)
Appearances: 60s Manga | TV Series
The goddess of beauty, love and life.- Canon Foreigner: She only appears in the 60s manga and the TV series.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: She is so jealous of the love Franz has for Sapphire that she is willing to do anything to have him for herself.
- Forced Transformation: In the 60s manga, her attempt to turn Sapphire into a pig backfires as divine punishment.
Eros
Voiced by: Masako Ikeda (Japanese)
Appearances: 60s Manga | TV Series
Venus's horse.- Canon Foreigner: She only appears in the 60s manga.
- Punch-Clock Villain: She often disapproves of Venus's jealousy-motivated plots and alternates between following orders because it's her job and secretly sabotaging Venus's plans while hoping that Venus won't find out.
Marquis Oolong
Appearances: 60s Manga
- Obfuscating Stupidity: He feigns stupidity so that if any of his underlings plot to overthrow him, they'll be less covert about it and he'll be able to root them out.
Friebe
Appearances: 60s Manga
Marquis Oolong's younger sister.- Canon Foreigner: She only appears in the 60s manga.
- Laughing Mad: When she finds out that the brave knight she plans on marrying is Princess Sapphire in disguise, she bursts out laughing and shouts "That's too perfect!" She pulls herself together and agrees to help the princess escape her pursuers.
- Tomboy with a Girly Streak: She loves running around as a lady knight, but ultimately dreams of marrying a great warrior.
Introduced in the TV Series
Mr. X
Mr. X
Voiced by: Osamu Kobayashi (Japanese)
Appearances: TV Series
The Big Bad in the anime.- Big Bad: In the anime he makes several attempts to conquer Silverland, and Duralumin and Nylon act as The Quisling for him. He's also the Final Boss of the anime.
- Canon Foreigner: Is unique to the anime, and never appears in any of the mangas.
- The Dictatorship: He's the supreme ruler of the proto-fascist X-Union, in contrast to the medieval kings and queens ruling the other neighboring kingdoms.
- Eviler than Thou: Even Mephisto pales in comparison in terms of sheer evil.
- Knight of Cerebus: Unlike the series' other villains, he's not comedic or goofy in any way and the threat he poses is played entirely straight. In the series finale he even kills Sapphire's parents.
- Made of Iron: In the series finale a fencing saber just crumples against his armor, an Excalibur-level magic axe to the chest just staggers him, and even a bolt of lightning from God himself powerful enough to vaporize metal just knocks him out for a minute. It takes having an entire castle dropped on top of him to finally get rid of him.
- Space-Filling Empire: The X-Union is huge compared to any of the medieval kingdoms.
- Tin Tyrant: He's a huge Large and in Charge figure clad entirely in red armor, which also makes him The Faceless. Visually and personality-wise he has numerous similarities with Darth Vader, whom he predates by over a decade.
