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Main Cast
Atsushi Ren / Nero
- Big "SHUT UP!": Ren starts yelling this at Quartz when Quartz is taunting him.
- Children Forced to Kill: Thirteen year old, dragged to Lower Hell, and forced into a kill or be killed tournament, purely on a promise to go home, and the alternatives are all worse!
- Driven to Suicide: Averted in that him falling from the school roof was purely accidental, but it looks this way to everyone else.
- Fish out of Water: Due to being a human Trapped in Another World full of demons and other creatures.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Blonde, and genuinely a pretty nice person.
- Head Desk: Ren begins banging his head on the wall in Chapter 6 out of anxiety and frustration at participating in his first major fight.
- In-Series Nickname: Has to be called Nero because names are extensions of the soul. If he uses his real name, he might get stuck in Hell or fall prey to a demon.
- He also gets called the Forfeit King due to immediately forfeiting many matches when the tournament begins.
- Internal Reveal: Tells Sorian that Lord Devil's been playing him like a puppet and is directly responsible for kidnapping him to Lower Hell.
- It Gets Easier: He seems to be going down this path, considering it's implied that he's been very aggro about attacking the other competitors after killing Quartz.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Zigzagged. Rescues Sorian from the tree-trap, and although she does grow to genuinely like him, and protects him, she also puts him through literal Training from Hell.
- Ordinary Middle School Student
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The blue to Sorian's red. Oddly enough, many of his signature items (the Hell Kitchen backpack, his weapons) are red.
- There's No Place Like Home: Wants more than anything to get back home.
- School Uniforms are the New Black: Ren is only shown in his school uniform.
Sorian Pafhelo
- Action Girl: In spades.
- Badass in Distress: When Ren first comes across her, she's stuck hanging upside-down, ensnared by some sort of tree trap.
- Calling Your Attacks: She likes to do this."Sorian bomb!"
"Sorian slam!" - Death Glare: She's great at looking threatening when she wants to.
- Handicapped Badass: Downplayed, as at Chapter 35. Even with a broken arm and no seel manipulation, she's still punching through waves of beasts.
- Ki Manipulation: Her clan specializes in the manipulation of seel in combat, so naturally she has this ability.
- Proud Warrior Race Girl: Trying to prove the Pafhelo clan is the strongest in Hell.
- Red Baron: Gets called Sorian the Ripper for her ruthlessness during the tournament.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The red to Ren's blue. Oddly enough, she wears a lot of blue.
- Sarashi: Has bandages around her midriff up to her chest. She also binds her arms, legs and neck.
- Twin Tails
Lord Devil
- Affably Evil / Faux Affably Evil: It's hard to tell which of the two he is. On the one hand, he's full of cheer, and despite being one of the highest authorities in Hell, he often comes across as a goofball. On the other hand, he turns out to be at the very least involved in Ren's abduction, lied to him about being dead, and when Ren works it all out and gets rebellious, proceeds to Mind Rape him to keep him in line.
- Even Evil Has Standards: He happily mentions that he has no conscience, but when he sees the state of the pre-ban humans in Puantacca, he is visibly disgusted, not only by the obvious mistreatment, but by the fact that his best option is to send them to Higher Hell, which is founded on human suffering.
- For the Evulz: He does what he does the way he does purely for his own amusement.
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: Has a vertical scar under his left eye.
- Horned Humanoid
- Large and in Charge: He's easily twice the height of many characters.
- Not Me This Time: Surprisingly innocent for the Obvious Rule Patch in Puantacca.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: He abandons his post during the Grand Folds so he can talk to Ren. How does he avoid being noticed? By wearing a hooded jacket and sunglasses. Both Ramia and Ren recognize him immediately.
- Perpetual Smiler: Always wears a quiet, pleasant smile.
- Pointy Ears
Ramia
- Beleaguered Assistant: Sure, Lord Devil is the lord of Hell for a good reason, but Ramia often has to deal with his off-the-wall and seemingly random decisions, as well as his casual handling of serious situations.
- Hime Cut
- Horned Humanoid
- Pointy Ears
- Power Floats: Always hovers a few inches off the floor.
Hell Tournament Competitors
Quartz
- Ax-Crazy: Absolutely slaughters the group that was tailing him and Ren, and watches Saffron's fight against Sorian with a grin.
- Bait the Dog: He's introduced as a suspiciously pleasant demon, who saves Ren from falling to his death. His pleasantness quickly dissipates when the two meet the pack of demons hunting Ren, and he kills all but one for ignoring him. He then attempts to goad Ren into killing the last, at which point it's revealed that he only teamed up with Ren to work out his capabilities for the upcoming tournament.
- Berserk Button: Don't ignore him.
- Body to Jewel / Gemstone Assault: Encases his arms in crystal during his battle with Ren.
- Dishing Out Dirt: Uses rock/crystal powers in combat.
- Dumb Muscle / Leeroy Jenkins: Oh so subverted, though he's good at playing the role. He fakes a care free, devil may care attitude when he first meets Ren, but he actually engineered their meeting so as to get some knowledge on his upcoming competitors. During their fight, he gives off an overbearing arrogance to taunt Ren, but Ren quickly realises that he's trying to get him to make the first move in their fight and do something stupid. When Ren tries to taunt him back, he refuses to take the bait, and eventually tries to box in and crush Ren with his rock powers from a safe distance. If it hadn't been for the Hell's Kitchen, and a sliver of an opportunity for Ren, he would have won their fight and lived.
- Do Not Call Me "Paul": The author confirmed on Tumblr that Quartz is actually a nickname and that he hates his real name.Saffron: Quartz is actually just his nickname. His real name is Pra-
(Quartz lifts Saff up and puts him in a trash can) - Horned Humanoid: He has quartz horns.
- Off with His Head!
- Only Known by Their Nickname: He goes by the family nickname, Quartz, which anyone in his family can use, but he banned everyone from doing so due to his hatred of his real name, Prasiolite. Hematite is less than impressed by this.
- Pet the Dog: Subverted with Ren, who he saves only in an effort to work out his and Sorian's weaknesses. Played straight with Saffron, who regards him as his Only Friend, and he certainly seems fond of the blood demon himself.
- Pointy Ears
- Significant Name: Quartz is a rock demon.
- There's No Kill like Overkill: Terraforms the entire fighting arena in an attempt to kill Ren.
Saffron
- Berserk Button: Don't call him Saff if you're not his friend.
- Beware the Nice Ones: He comes across as a total softie at first, given that he needed Sorian's help in getting down from a rock cliff. But Sorian never once underestimates him due to his nature as a blood demon, and during her fight against him, attempts to straight up kill him to avert the potential threat he poses to Ren, at which point he starts fighting back and giving as good as she gives. After Quartz's passing, he gives Ramia an unbelievably hard time in subduing him.
- Bloody Murder: Can manipulate his blood into Combat Tentacles in battle.
- Cheerful Child
- Curb-Stomp Battle: On the receiving end, courtesy of Sorian. At least, until he starts using his blood demon powers...
- Foil: He's basically a demon counterpart to Ren. They have similarly shy personalities and their character designs are even similar.
- Hidden Depths: He's actually an outcast of his own kind, and Quartz, a rock demon, took him in as a child, and practically raised him as a brother. Hence why the two are as thick as thieves.
- In-Series Nickname: Quartz calls him Saff.
- Secret-Keeper: He ends up being one of the few people in the know of Ren actually being a human.
Firenze
A forest demon and a competitor in Hell Tournament.
- Embarrassing Nickname: "Flower prince."
- Green Thumb: His main fightingstyle involves utilizing a large assortment of deadly plants to either tire out his enemies or kill them.
- Secret-Keeper: He's one of the few people that knows that Ren is a human
- Ship Tease: Constantly shipped with Ren. In fact, "April Fools" omake updates have him and Ren married and sometimes even adopting demon children, and it's so seamless, the audience is fooled up until the next page is blank with the words "APRIL FOOLS" on it.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: With Gaou, the kangaroo beast-man. They fight near constantly, and until he met Nero, was the closest thing he had to a genuine friend.
Gaou
A contestant introduced arguing with Firenze.
- Beast Man: Antropormorphic kangaroo.
- Honor Before Reason: Foolishly lost his only chance at victory with Spinne by asking the latter to walk away.
- Ludicrous Gibs: How he dies.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: With Firenze. The two argue constantly, but prior to Nero was the former's Only Friend.
Spinne
Another competitor in Hell Tournament.
- Animal Motifs: Spiders.
- Hidden Agenda Villain: They take their true motives to the grave. In fact, they kill themself when someone manages to corner them and tries to find out.
- People Puppets: One of their abilities is using their strings to control people.
- Razor Floss: Their main method of combat is a web of razor-sharp strings.
Gato
Another competitor in Hell Tournament, who gives Sorian a hard time.
- Attack! Attack! Attack!: Summons all of her remaining monsters in a desperate attempt to kill Sorian.
- The Beastmaster.
- Evil Gloating: Taunts a Seel disabled Sorian that she'll be known as a Pathosian slayer. This is a fundamentally bad idea as it triggers the summon of Sorian's elder sister.
Mallum
- Bad with the Bone: His sword's handle is a large bone.
- BFS: His afformentioned weapon of choice.
- Gentle Giant: He's huge, muscular and terrifyingly strong, on the other hand he's also friendly, almost permanently smiling and is an overall pleasant guy. When he's not killing people, that is.
- Nice Guy: Big time.
Hematite (SPOILERS)
A demon created by Saffron, Ramia, Lord Devil and Nero in order to 'recreate' Quartz after Nero killed him. He now makes up half of Team Sal-Eim with Saffron, and acts a bodyguard for Nero. He's eventually properly Hematite after learning Quartz was just a nickname. Hematite will be used on this page for clarity.
- A Day in the Limelight: Chapter fifty-three focuses on Hematite and is mainly told from his perspective.
- Back from the Dead: Subverted. Quartz was never really revived, Hematite is just a demon created in Quartz's image with... most of his personality. It's revealed Hematite isn't even a demon or alive, but a puppet made by Lord Devil that emanates Hell Kitchen Seel.
- Becoming the Mask: Hematite starts off working as a spy for Lord Devil, well aware of his role as a puppet and merely pretending to be Saff's brother. However, he eventually gains genuine attachment for the blood demon and Quartz's parents, who properly accept him into their family despite being aware their son is dead.
- Big Brother Instinct: While it's probably an act on his part, Hematite is seen trying to hold back Sorian from attacking Saffron for pulling blood snakes out of his nose. Later he dives after Saffron when the latter is pulled underwater by mermaids despite being almost unable to swim.
- Born of Magic: Quartz never actually came back from the dead. Hematite was created from some of the real Quartz's remains and Nero's Seel. Lord Devil did some tampering, so Hematite is also his puppet
- Came Back Wrong: Played with. Ramia states that Hematite will never be the Quartz Saffron knew, and it only gets more complicated from there. Lord Devil then gets involved in the resurrection, making Hematite loyal to him to act as a spy. Later, Hematite admits he's not even really a demon, nor is he alive. He's actually a type of puppet powered by Hell's Kitchen.
- Deadpan Snarker: Especially towards Sorian.
- Dishing Out Dirt: Like the old Quartz, this one fights using crystals, though instead uses hematite rather than prasiolite. He can also cover his arms in crystals to attack and claw at his opponents.
- I Hate Past Me: Sort of. He's not really Quartz, only a puppet that resembles him, but he decides the original Quartz was a complete jerk for banning all his relatives from using the family nickname.
- Kick the Dog: He repeatedly offers to murder people for Lord Devil, and not long after his 'birth', casually asked if he was supposed to kill all of Nero's friends.
- Modified Clone: Quartz was only loyal to Saffron, having a brotherly relationship with him, and had colourless horns. Hematite has blood red horns and is secretly working for Lord Devil.
- Replacement Goldfish: Hematite was made in order to keep a grief-stricken Saffron from killing Nero. He's not actually the original Quartz Back from the Dead. Quartz and Saffron's parents actually are well aware he's not their son, but accept him into their family anyhow, even giving him his own name.
- The Mole: He actually is a puppet made by Lord Devil. As such, he spies on Nero and his friends.
- Resurrected for a Job: Ramia needed a way to pacify Saffron as the latter's grief over Quartz's death made him a threat to Nero, and Ramia didn’t want to have to kill him as that would go against her family's code, so Quartz needed to be brought back. He was also revived to act as a bodyguard for Nero in order to help his chances as surviving the tournament. Lord Devil also made him in order to spy on Nero and his friends. Subverted since Hematite is only a copy of Quartz, who never came back to life.
- Past-Life Memories: Subverted. Hematite does not have memories the memories from his previous incarnation, but has been informed of what he needs to know and has aspects of the original Quartz's personality. He's shown exhibiting similar body language and facial expressions, however.
- Pet the Dog: While he is a spy for Lord Devil, Hematite hangs out with Nero and his friends and is a lot nicer to them than the original was.
- Secret-Keeper: Along with Saffron, Firenze, Sorian, Ramia and Lord Devil, Hematite knows Nero is a human.
- Shipper on Deck: It's implied he ships Nero with Firenze, as per his reaction while eavesdropping on a very poorly worded conversation between the two.Firenze, while talking to Nero: It's... b-because you're... I'm— I'm...!Quartz: Woah, is this really happening?!
- Soulless Shell: Lord Devil explains that Hematite does not have a soul, instead having the seel of a Sentient Power (implied to be the Hell Kitchen) inside him. However, unlike most examples, he has independence, but is forced to follow Lord Devil's orders or else he will be severed from the seel sustaining him.
- Super Drowning Skills: When Sorian angrily chucks Hematite into a pool, he instantly starts drowning since as a technical rock demon, he sinks like a, well... rock. He dives after Saffron to save him from some mermaids despite the risk. This is what makes Quartz's father welcome him into the family.
Others
Ibias
A representative of the Neutral Council and the one who commentates the Hell Tournament matches.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: He's often made to look like either a bumbling fool or an ineffectual Beleaguered Bureaucrat. He's also unfailingly polite and amiable. When a tram gets attacked by a giant merfolk that could swallow it whole, Ibias calmly takes off his helmet and obliterates the creature
with one enormous Eye Beam, leaving everyone else speechless and slightly terrified.- Later, when he confronts Spinne about being a rogue, he starts out being as civil and non-threatening as he can be given the circumstances (certainly far more so than anyone else would have been), but when the other party responds by killing the nearby guards even though they posed no threat, Ibias starts crackling with rage, marches right up to them — effortlessly dodging all of their threads along the way — Neck Lifts them, and makes the following Badass Boast:Ibias: Surrender. Don't underestimate me, contestant Spinne. You're not the first rogue I've hunted down.
- Later, when he confronts Spinne about being a rogue, he starts out being as civil and non-threatening as he can be given the circumstances (certainly far more so than anyone else would have been), but when the other party responds by
- Nice Guy: He's very polite and friendly to everybody, especially the contestants. He's really only ever antagonistic towards people who are stirring up trouble or flouting tournament rules in a big way, such as Chief Amiha implementing the illegal No Mercy rule. He's even nice to Spinne when he confronts them about being a rogue.
- One-Way Visor: Wears an electronic looking one, which displays different things depending on his mood (like an exclamation point when he's surprised).
Celas Pafhelo
- BFS: Wields an impressive sword that's almost half her height.
- In a Single Bound: Able to exit the arena through a hole in the ceiling by leaping upwards.
- Ki Manipulation: As expected of one from the Pafhelo Clan.
- Sarashi: Like Sorian.
- Statuesque Stunner: Sorian hardly reaches her waist!
Endou Yuu
- Punny Name: Endou Yuu, as in, "end of you." Yuu is the last person Ren sees before he ends up in Hell.
Metatron
The representative chosen from the Angel Fold.
- Berserk Button: Don't mess with his rest, unless you want a Flechette Storm of weaponized feathers coming your way.
- Four Eyes, Zero Soul: Wears glasses, and is a major jerk.
- Lack of Empathy: Cares not a whit about the contest or its participants. He's only interested in making sure he's not implicated in any cheating or suspicious rule changes.
- Our Angels Are Different: Wings so massive, it's a miracle he can walk, and the wings are black.
- Seven Deadly Sins: Sloth. So much so, Lord Devil is shocked to see him awake.
- Winged Humanoid: Has wings at least twice as wide as he is tall.
Chief Amiha
The demon in charge of Puantacca, the most prosperous district in Lower Hell.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: When her corruption is exposed, she runs and hides behind Lord Devil, begging him to spare her from Ibias, who has rightly condemned her to death. Lord Devil does, and gives her a Fate Worse than Death, by sending her to Higher Hell, as a prisoner.
- Faux Affably Evil: Even more corrupt than Lord Devil, and superficially cheerful and polite.
- Large and in Charge: A giant and in charge of the Puantacca district.
- Loophole Abuse: Exploits a loophole in the law banning the hunting of humans by using People Farms of humans that were captured before the law was written. Initially dismissive, Lord Devil, of all people, is utterly disgusted when he sees said farms in person.
- No Fair Cheating: Her arbitrary changing of the tournament rules was highly illegal, and was poorly thought out, getting exposed almost immediately.
- Obvious Rule Patch: Turns her part of the tournament into a genuine death-match by instituting the "No Mercy" rule, where neither contestant can surrender and must kill their opponent, once the battle starts, blaming "the higher ups."
- An Offer You Can't Refuse: Several times she goads the contestants into doing her errands, but especially to Firenze, whom she tries to compel to kill Nero in their match, by making the entire arena a death-trap.
