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Main Characters
Kuniko Hojo
Kuniko Hojo
Voiced by: Mikako Takahashi (Japanese), Lindsay Seidel (English)
The heroine of the series, a young girl raised by the resistance group Metal Age to become their new leader. She does not necessarily want to, however, but she does want everyone to be able to live happily in Atlas. For this reason, she tries to sneak into Atlas with her friends and eventually leads the war against the Atlas elite.
- Adaptation Dye-Job
- Affectionate Nickname: Kuniko is affectionately known to the residents of Duomo as "Kuni-chan".
- BFS: In the final battle, Kuniko uses a boomerang that is several times larger than she is.
- Clones Are People, Too: She is a clone of Jimmu (Himiko in the anime).
- Divine Parentage: Allegedly, both her and Mikuni are children of God according to a prophecy Hiruko made twelve generations ago.
- Improbable Weapon User: She uses a boomerang.
- Long-Lost Relative: Kuniko and Mikuni are technically sisters.
- Magic Skirt: There are many comments about her underwear, and she gets an almost undetectable Panty Shot in the finale.
- Meaningful Name: All three protagonists have a kanji in their name that means something like "country" or "nation", for Kuniko it's this one 國.
- Mundane Made Awesome: Cutting the cannon of a tank with a frickin' boomerang.
- Not Drawn to Scale: Apparently the writers either couldn't agree on a uniform size for Kuniko's boomerang, or she has a Hyperspace Arsenal of boomerangs ranging in size from pocketknives to claymores.
- Older Than They Look: Kuniko's 18 as the series begins, though her height and lack of assets make her seem maybe half that.
- Precision-Guided Boomerang: Kuniko's weapon of choice is the boomerang. Naturally, this leads to a lot of this trope.
- Reluctant Hero: Initially, she does not look forward to becoming the Rebel Leader of Metal Age. She does grow into it in time.
Mikuni
Mikuni
Voiced by: Yui Ariga (Japanese), Apphia Yu (English)
A pale little girl with great psychic power raised by Atlas. She is tended to by Sayko.
- Brought Down to Normal: Miiko removes Mikuni's powers (and her illness) in the final episode.
- Creepy Child: Her first appearance has her painfully contort and kill a handmaiden for lying to her. Between this and her pale skin, white hair, and monochromatic eyes, she comes across as this.
- Divine Parentage: Allegedly, both her and Kuniko are children of God according to a prophecy Hiruko made twelve generations ago.
- Disproportionate Retribution: She habitually puts liars to death.
- Living Lie Detector: And in her case, anyone who lies to her is instantly killed, though apparently she doesn't do it on purpose.
- Long-Lost Relative: Kuniko and Mikuni are technically sisters.
- Magical Eye: She habitually puts liars to death by some unexplained ability to manipulate and crush the offender's body, this comes from the Mirror oy Yata, lodged in one of her eyes.
- Meaningful Name: All three protagonists have a kanji in their name that means something like "country" or "nation", for Mikuni it's this one 邦.
- Mystical White Hair
- Obliviously Evil: She regularly kills her handmaidens in painful ways with her psychic powers for lying to her, but it is indicated that she is not necessarily a psycho so much as she just does not know any better, having been raised by the unscrupulous Atlas Corporation.
- Royal "We": Lady Mikuni speaks like this, reflecting her high status within Atlas.
- Unhand Them, Villain!: Mikuni orders Ryoko to let Sayoko go as they're going up the elevator near the end. Guess how well that goes.
Kunihito Kusanagi
Kunihito Kusanagi
Voiced by: Makoto Ishii (Japanese), Austin Tindle (English)
A military officer who works for Atlas Corporation under Leon's lead. He is much less violent than the Atlas elite, but comes into contact with Kuniko and her group, who are trying to sneak into Atlas. Despite this, he does take a liking to Kuniko later on.
- Alliterative Name: Kunihito Kusanagi
- Heroic Lineage: He is a distant descendant of Jimmu (Himiko in the anime).
- Meaningful Name: All three protagonists have a kanji in their name that means something like "country" or "nation", for Kunihito it's this one 国.
Duomo
A city surrounded by deadly jungles where the main characters live. Duomo is home both for citizens and for the headquarters of the Anti-Government organization Metal-Age. It is eventually destroyed during the burning of Tokyo to eradicate the Daedulus. Momoko
Momoko
Voiced by: Joji Nakata (Japanese), Kent Williams (English)
A trans woman with a flamboyant personality.
- Camp Gay
- Fan Disservice: Admit it, the idea of a sexy looking female with Joji Nakata's voice is just downright off-putting...
- Larynx Dissonance: She is a hot woman, voiced Joji fucking Nakata.
- Too Kinky to Torture: Momoko isn’t exactly enjoying it, but she refuses to let Sayoko have her fun torturing her, so she refuses to show a reaction beyond contempt.
- Weapon Specialization: Momoko's signature weapon is a whip, which she mostly uses to tie people up or disarm them.
Nagiko Hojo
Nagiko Hojo
Voiced by: Hisako Kyoda (Japanese), Linda Leonard (English)
Kuniko's grandmother, the head of Metal Age.
- Big Good: As the head of Metal Age, she leads their resistance against the ruthless Atlas Corporation, and guides Kuniko to become the next leader.
- Follow in My Footsteps: She expects Kuniko to become the next leader of Metal Age though Kuniko does not want to be.
- Karma Houdini: Nagiko and Tarsian created a system of child sacrifice. Nobody really seems to mind (though Nagiko is exiled when Kuniko finds out about her status).
- New Media Are Evil: She disagrees with using the internet for information, and gets her knowledge from the many books she has.
- Rebel Leader: She is the leader of Metal Age, and is raising Kuniko to become the next leader.
Yuri Gamagori
Yuri Gamagori
Voiced by: Sachika Misawa (Japanese), Megan Emerick (English)
Kuniko's ordinary friend who longs to meet a nice guy and get married.
- The Pollyanna: She always tries to see the bright side of life.
- Shed the Family Name: Part of the reason why she really wants to get married, is so she can free herself from her family name.
- Smitten Teenage Girl: She is very interested in boys and dates many guys.
- Those Two Girls: With Tomoka.
Tomoka Yamazaki
Tomoka Yamazaki
Voiced by: Yurie Yamashita (Japanese), Tia Ballard (English)
Kuniko’s friend who goes to all-girls high school, a girl-next-door type with slightly gloomy air.
- Girl Next Door
- Hidden Depths: As revealed in the prison arc, Tomoka knows a bit more about the situation than what her status has half of Those Two Guys implies.
- Those Two Girls: With Yuri.
Takehiko
Takehiko
Voiced by: Kenyuu Horiuchi (Japanese), Bryan Massey (English)
- Anyone Can Die
- Badasses Wear Bandanas
- Broken Pedestal: He strongly believes in the construction of Atlas, but this belief was shattered when he found out that his younger sister Yasuko was kidnapped by Atlas and used as a sacrifice with other children in the city's construction.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: He often seems reckless but is unfailingly dependable.
- Disney Death: Though he pulls a Taking You with Me on Soichiro in the final episode.
- Driven to Suicide: Subverted. He kills himself by jumping into a storm drain. He however reappears towards the end.
- Face–Heel Turn: After losing almost all hope that things will get better, he resorts to trying to murder Kuniko to stop Atlas.
Atlas Corporation
Ryoko Naruse
Ryoko Naruse
Voiced by: Rei Igarashi (Japanese), Jennifer Seman (English)
The head of Atlas and the antagonist of the series. She rose to power by monopolizing carbon, and has become the de-facto dictator of Japan. She uses her private army to oppress the common folk and keep them outside the prosperous Atlas Tower.
- Armor-Piercing Question: In the beginning of episode 20, several politicians angrily demand Ryoko Naruse resign from her position as Prime Minister, as her tyrannical leadership has run Japan into the ground. She responds by asking which of them is willing to take up the country’s woes in her place, which shuts them up.
- The Baroness: A combination of the two versions. She's a beautiful seductive woman who happens to be ice cold and ruthless.
- Big Bad: President of Atlas Corporation and (eventual) Prime Minister of Japan, is the tyrant responsible for the oppression inflicted by the elite of the Atlas Tower onto the village dwellers, forcing them to live in the harsh jungles outside while she and her men live comfortably in Atlas. While she is technically an advisor of Lord Hiruko, it is not him, but her who is the prime enemy of Kuniko Hojo and Metal Age. It is later revealed that she is also the human interface of Zeus, who plots to Kill All Humans and revive Himiko so she can rule over a new world.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: She runs the Atlas Corporation, which is responsible for monopolizing carbon and building a paradise in the ruined Japan only to keep most people out in the jungle. Through her, Atlas takes control of and oppresses the Japanese people.
- Dragon-in-Chief: She uses her position as president of Atlas Corp to gain control of Japan, and while Lord Hiruko is the official ruler of Atlas, and the Prime Minister officially runs Japan, both of them are basically her figureheads, something she makes clear when she later takes the position of Prime Minister for herself.
- Evil Overlord: She rules Japan with an iron fist, killing anyone who opposes her or tries to enter Atlas.
- Facial Markings: She has a few both on her face and torso.
- Iron Lady: She is not royalty, but essentially runs Japan, and is cold and domineering.
- Kick the Dog: Near the end, she decides to, for seemingly no reason other than sadistic amusement, psychologically break Karin by revealing that she's been posing as Karin's parents, who were Dead All Along, the entire time.
- Kill All Humans: She hijacks MEDUSA and has it try to cause a nuclear apocalypse to wipe out humanity so she can create a new world to rule.
- President Evil: She becomes Prime Minister of Japan halfway through, without there even being an election, and proceeds to become even more tyrannical than she was before, killing many innocents and eventually trying to destroy humanity.
- Robotic Reveal: She's a human interface of Zeus, who plots to Kill All Humans and revive Himiko so she can rule over a new world.
- Sadist: She not only manipulates Karin Ishida by pretending to be her dead parents, but then gleefully reveals the truth in the cruelest way possible, just to break her, for seemingly no reason.
- The Sociopath: She shows little concern about everyone or everything except her plans and herself.
- Villain in a White Suit: A rare female example. She is the ruthless Corrupt Corporate Executive of the Atlas Corporation who essentially rules Japan as a dictator and is almost always seen in her white suit.
Soichiro Hata
Soichiro Hata
Voiced by: Daisuke Hirakawa (Japanese), Todd Haberkorn (English)
Shogo Kudo
Shogo Kudo
Voiced by: Takahiro Sakurai (Japanese), J. Michael Tatum (English)
- Long-Lost Relative: Sayoko and Shogo (half-siblings).
Reon Imaki
Reon Imaki
Voiced by: Yūichi Nakamura (Japanese), Jason Douglas (English)
- Spell My Name With An S: Reon/Leon
Shion Imaki
Shion Imaki
Voiced by: Jun Fukuyama (Japanese), Micah Solusod (English)
- Butt-Monkey: Poor, poor Shion.
- The Igor: To Ryoko.
- Romanticized Abuse: He has a severe form of traumatic bonding.
- Spell My Name With An S: Shion/Sion
- Too Kinky to Torture: He's a bit of a masochist.
- The Unfavorite: This is why Shion always stood by Ryoko — ignored in favor of his brother Reon in the past, she was the only one who paid attention to him (abusive as it was).
Moon Palace
Miiko
Miiko
Voiced by: Hōchū Ōtsuka (Japanese), Randy Pearlman (English)
- Heroic Sacrifice: Miiko — taken over by Hiruko — shields Mikuni and Sayoko from the Neo Akihabara bombing.
- Prone to Tears: She tends to cry a lot.
- Spell My Name With An S: Miiko or Mi-ko.
Sayoko
Sayoko
Voiced by: Rie Ishizuka (Japanese), Anastasia Muñoz (English)
- Long-Lost Relative: Sayoko and Shogo (half-siblings).
- Mad Scientist: She also experiments on people to her delight.
- Sadist: She watches in delight as Mikuni sees through the lies of people and puts them to death.
Ishida Finance
Karin Ishida
Karin Ishida
Voiced by: Yuka Iguchi (Japanese), Jad Saxton (English)
- Companion Cube: Karin's teddy bear, Pudding.
- Freak Out: Upon learning that her parents have been dead for years.
- Playful Hacker: Enjoys manipulating the world economy through the carbon-credit market.
Klaris Lutz
Klaris Lutz
Voiced by: Kumiko Watanabe (Japanese), Trina Nishimura (English)
- Money Fetish: She loves money and hates being poor.
Zhang
Sergei Talsian
Sergei Talsian
Voiced by: Hidetori Nakamura (Japanese), Bill Jenkins (English)
- Cool Shades
- Karma Houdini: Nagiko and Tarsian created a system of child sacrifice. Nobody really seems to mind (though Nagiko is exiled when Kuniko finds out about her status).
MEDUSA
MEDUSA
Voiced by: Tetsuya Kakihara (Japanese), Joel McDonald (English)
- Empty Quiver: MEDUSA hacks into every country on Earth and attempts to fire every single nuclear missile in the world at the same time, but is stopped by Karin.
- Sleep-Mode Size: Until Karin lets him loose, MEDUSA looks like a Super-Deformed snake.
Akihabara
A group of elderly Otaku brokers who reside in the Black Market of Akihabara. Old Man Army
Old Man Army
Voiced by: Fumihiko Tachiki (Japanese), R. Bruce Elliott (English)
- Toothy Issue: He has missing teeth.
Old Man Camera
Old Man Camera
Voiced by: Mitsuo Iwata (Japanese), Jerry Russell (English)
- Camera Fiend: He carries a camera around with him all the time, snapping pictures whenever he can get the chance.
- Cosplay Otaku Guy
- Otaku
Old Man Loli
Old Man Loli
Voiced by: Chafurin (Japanese), Charlie Campbell (English)
- Animal-Eared Headband: Cat-eared headband.
- Cosplay Otaku Guy
- Dude Looks Like a Lady: He wears girly clothes.
- Otaku
Others
Canary
Canary
Voiced by: Miyu Irino (Japanese), Justin Pate (English)
- Spell My Name With An S: Canary/Kanaria
Hiruko/Lord of Atlas
Hiruko/Lord of Atlas
Voiced by: Tomoko Kaneda (Japanese), Heather Walker (English)
- Face Stealer: He takes a form by consuming a host body.
- Glowing Eyes: He has a strange glow in his left eye.
- Heel–Face Turn: At the end of the series, he is freed from the tower and shown ascending with Miiko and the children to Heaven.
- Possession Burnout: The body he uses often breaks down after a short while, requiring the use of new vessels to maintain his spirit before it dissipates permanently.
- Powered by a Forsaken Child: For Atlas not to be destroyed, Hiruko must be in his room in Atlas. And for this to happen, he needs to take over the body of a maiden, which will end up eventually being destroyed.
- Puppet King: He's the Lord of Atlas, but Ryoko is pretty much the real ruler, while he just sits in his chamber and lets her do as she pleases. He's more of a living execution method than anything else.
