Amnesiac Hero: Part of the premise, Tsuyoshi doesn't have a single clue as to why he's trapped in Shibuya and how Ema has memories of him.
Beware the Quiet Ones: According to Kengo, this is the reason why he was sent to Shibuya. Tsuyoshi was an introverted boy but earned a bad reputation by suffering from Blood Knight tendencies that made him withdraw from society.
Dark Is Not Evil: In direct contrast to Ema's choice for clothing, Tsuyoshi never lets go of his trusty Palhands black jacket, and he's undoubtedly the hero of the story.
Tsuyoshi: How lame. Giving up before trying is the most lame thing. Did you learn that in school?
Fragile Speedster: His combat style focuses on carefully defending himself and dodging attacks to hit the weak spots of his opponents.
Meaningful Name: His name means "strong-willed" and oh boy is he determined to leave Shibuya by any means necessary.
Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Tsuyoshi is significantly shorter than the rest of the cast, but that doesn't stop him from going mano-a-mano with the local gang members.
Tomato in the Mirror: He's actually the reincarnation of Revu, the mysterious individual who wrote the message that instructed him to escape Shibuya in the first place.
Ãœbermensch: Tsuyoshi refuses to obey the flawed rules of Shibuya and wholeheartedly believes that the Shibuya 15 should have the freedom to control their own lives.
Ema
Action Girl: With a combination of sheer skill and the powers granted by her armor, Ema is easily one of the best fighters in Shibuya and the only one who's able to handle Piece.
Arm Cannon: Her armor is upgraded with one of these in the final arc of the show.
Broken Bird: Out of all Shibuya 15, her past is without a doubt the most tragic.
Combat Pragmatist: She will use every ability and weapon at her disposal to win a fight against Piece.
Dark and Troubled Past: Losing her only friend and then her Love Interest to Piece is only the tip of the iceberg. Ema's original self in the real world was a sociopathic murderer whose heinous crime gave the authorities a reason to "treat" delinquents with the virtual Shibuya. Oh, and she was accidentally left comatose for the rest of her life.
Defrosting Ice Queen: Her horrible experiences in Shibuya led to Ema giving up on making friends and isolating herself from others until Revu came along to warm her heart.
Experienced Protagonist: She's been dealing with the gangs of Shibuya and Piece for quite sometime.
Henshin Hero: Ema can only use her powers when the armor is activated.
It's Personal: Ema hates Piece for murdering her loved ones, going out of her way to seek and destroy him if given the chance.
Light Is Good: Ema is associated with white and purity; if her unique snowy jacket wasn't enough, her own armor gives her the appearance of an angel.
Lightning Bruiser: She's just as fast as Tsuyoshi and has a Powered Armor to boot. That being said, fighting multiple opponents at the same time without her armor will inevitably result in her losing.
Straw Nihilist: The authoritarian and unforgiving reality of Shibuya made her develop this mindset, she got better thanks to Revu.
We Used to Be Friends: Ema was close with one of Asagi's past incarnations before she was eventually killed by Piece and came back as a different person.
Palhands
General Tropes
Blood Knight: A requirement to join Palhands, they're always eager to fight and triumph over the other gangs.
Totalitarian Gangsterism: Shibuya becomes even more oppressive under their rule, with Palhands beating up people who don't pay for the safety passage badge.
Unwitting Pawn: They seem to be this for Igaya and Kengo.
We Can Rule Together: "Face.09 Revu" shows that Palhands has successfully assimilated the other gangs into their ranks.
Ryuugo
Ambiguously Bi: He dates Miu for a short period of time but was previously seen seductively touching DJ's face and checking out his... organ, much to the latter's discomfort.
Ambiguous Disorder: Ryuugo's ruthlessness, fits of laughter and exaggerated facial expressions indicate that there's something really, really wrong with him.
Bad Boss: His friends getting killed by Piece means absolutely nothing to him.
Big Bad Wannabe: He's certainly a vicious bastard and the head of the what appears to be a growing gangdom, but at the end of the day he's still one of the Shibuya 15.
The Quisling: Ryuugo is in contact with the overseer of Shibuya, working for him is what gave Ryuugo and the Palhands the advantage that was needed to overpower the other gangs.
Smug Snake: Not as bright as he thinks he is, Ryuugo relies a bit too much on the safety of position as student president.
Take Over the City: His only goal in life is to dominate the crime within the entire district.
Elegant Gothic Lolita: Her preference for dark and gothic clothing goes hand-in-hand with the Palhands despite looking out of place.
Establishing Character Moment: Miu's introduction has her revealing to have been responsible for mutilating the hand of one of Piece's victims and attaching the skin to a cellphone.
Evil Doppelgänger: Miu is the evil reincarnation and polar opposite of her predecessor, Asagi.
For the Evulz: Miu doesn't seem to care for long-term plans, sowing discord for fun and watching fights is the only thing that she does.
Genki Girl: The most energetic, quirky and hyperactive character of the show, surpassing even her boyfriend, which is saying something.
Hate Sink: Moreso than Ryuugo himself; Miu is sadistic, manipulative and most of all, cruel to not only her enemies but also her own gang.
In Love with Your Carnage: Miu is the only gang member who likes watching Piece doing what he does best.
The Starscream: She's Ryuugo's second-in-command and her sense of loyalty is... doubtful, to say the least.
Decoy Protagonist: Tsuyoshi spends the first two episodes believing he's Shouta before finally remembering his real name.
Legacy Character: Shouta is not a single person but rather an identity that was integrated into the computer system, there have been three Shoutas: Tsuyoshi, BM and another member of Bunkamu.
New Meat: A member of Palhands describes him as a "gofer" and their "lowest underling".
Lovegen
General Tropes
A Lighter Shade of Black: Sure, they're still participating in a turf war, but Lovegen is the only gang that's not hostile towards Tsuyoshi, at least not under Nami's leadership.
Amazon Brigade: Lovegen only recruits females and they can kick your ass, they do accept boys as an auxiliary force though.
Benevolent Boss: Asagi immediately tries to search for Chiko (not knowing that she's batshit crazy) when she's kidnapped by Palhands.
Fake Memories: Her parents are definitely not hospitalized in Yoyogiuehara.
Love Triangle: Asagi loves Tsuyoshi and interferes with Ema's need to have her romantic partner back to her despite knowing that Tsuyoshi is the reincarnation of her boyfriend.
Native Guide: She's the one who explains the basics of the turf war, its participants and their respective territories to Tsuyoshi.
Femme Fatale: Nami seduces rival gangsters and then drugs them to make her victims euphoric enough to commit suicide.
Loophole Abuse: Nami tricks the system by choosing an articulate modus operandi to dispose of her targets, too bad it only works twice.
Mauve Shirt: She appears in a total of three episodes but her crimes and well-deserved demise are what made Tsuyoshi question the moral ambiguity of Piece.
Tyrant Takes the Helm: Nami assumes leadership of Lovegen after Asagi is marked for death by Piece and quickly becomes just as bad as Ryuugo.
Chiko
Ax-Crazy: Ryuugo, Nami, and not even Miu can hold a candle to her in this aspect.
Damsel in Distress: Saving her from Palhands is the focus of "Face.01 Fifteens".
Psycho Party Member: Hard to believe that one of the craziest characters in the show hangs out with Asagi's Lovegen, the sanest gang in Shibuya.
Self-Harm: She initially extracted blood from own arm and collected it in bottles for consumption, and then Chiko began craving for the blood of others...
Starter Villain: Chiko is the first real threat that Tsuyoshi has to face, unfortunately for her she also happened to be a Sacrificial Lamb.
Haru
Fake Memories: Shares the same past as Asagi, she even has her family picture!
Small Role, Big Impact: Asagi finding out about their shared histories is what drove her to escape Shibuya, which culminated with her death.
Took a Level in Jerkass: Her Palhands counterpart is strangely similar to Nami in personality and mannerisms.
Bunkamu
General Tropes
Abandoned Warehouse: They occupied a warehouse and made it their base of operations.
General Failure: DJ is far from a competent leader, which is likely one of the reasons why his gang is the weakest of the three.
Not-So-Harmless Villain: Who could have guessed that DJ, of all people, would be the one to take down Ryuugo himself.
Sweet Tooth: DJ is nothing without his lollipops, to the extent that he seriously thinks he can use them as a form of payment.
Verbal Tic: Has a habit of saying "Yo" a lot, something that manages to annoy Kengo.
BM
Co-Dragons: With his own Bunkamu partner; fittingly, both of them would later become Palhands' newest Shoutas, still working under DJ.
We Hardly Knew Ye: He and his partner end up falling to their deaths after separate encounters with Nami, their reincarnations do appear a few episodes later though.
Ax-Crazy: Behind the fragile Mask of Sanity lies a diabolical madman with delusions of power.
Big Bad: As the chairman of the group that's responsible for "treating" the characters, Igaya is the real mastermind behind the events of the show.
Creepy Monotone: His way of speaking, the psychopath never raises his voice even when he's threatening other people.
Control Freak: Igaya is obsessed with the control that he has over the virtual Shibuya and does everything to maintain the status quo.
Evil Is Petty: He's all but stated to have murdered Professor Otomo for getting in his way, and when the Shibuya 15 finally revolt against him, Igaya tries to "punish" them himself for the breakdown of his academy.
The Ludovico Technique: His way of "treatment" is nothing but an extreme form of this; Igaya forces his subjects to experience a cycle of violence, death and rebirth to make them more obedient to social norms.
Mood-Swinger: He goes from angry to gleefully insane in the span of a few seconds.
Not So Stoic: The ice-cold Igaya finally loses his composure when Ema succeeds in recovering the memories of her classmates, growling at the TV and suddenly breaking into a fit of laughter.
Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: He is ostensibly trapping teenagers in Shibuya to make them functioning members of society, except for the fact that he's worse than all of them combined.
Psychopathic Manchild: His defining character trait and what he tries to hide from others, Igaya is a childishly spiteful man who sees the virtual Shibuya as his own personal playground.
Shadow Dictator: Igaya lords over the virtual world but rarely appears in person.
Kengo
Affably Evil: He lets Asagi, Ema and Tsuyoshi eat, work off debts and rest in his tattoo parlor/restaurant despite keeping them in the virtual Shibuya.
Easily Forgiven: His acts as The Dragon are immediately forgotten after the Shibuya 15 regain their memories.
Mysterious Informant: Serves as Tsuyoshi's cryptic advisor throughout his journey.
Obfuscating Insanity: He infiltrated Shibuya and stayed under the radar by acting like a crazy homeless guy.
Token Good Teammate: He was one of the people behind the creation of the virtual world but came to disapprove of Igaya's methods.
The Original Ema
Axes at School: The show implies that she brought a combat knife and a revolver to her school and committed one of Japan's worst massacres in modern history.
Cop Killer: Flashbacks show her shooting at the officers who tried to arrest her.
Even Evil Can Be Loved: Her therapist, Professor Otomo, genuinely sympathized with her despite the things that she did; he accidentally placed her in coma and, in a desperate attempt to fix his mistake, transferred her consciouness to Shibuya so she could have a chance at life.
Face of an Angel, Mind of a Demon: Ema's angelic nature is nowhere to be seen here, the original Ema was a violent sociopath who didn't even care about the lives that she took.
Greater-Scope Villain: Her heinous crime was inadvertently the reason why the virtual world of Shibuya had to be created as a way of treating delinquents like her.
Kubrick Stare: How we are finally introduced to her.
Posthumous Character: In a strange way, yes. The Ema that we see is only the consciouness that was separated from her by Professor Otomo, her real comatose body is kept hidden in a "special room" somewhere in the academy.
