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Protagonists
Tropes that apply to all
- Big Eater: This is justified by the fact that their powers use their bodily energy.
- Despair Event Horizon: As it turns out, all that's really needed to be able to see the Biscuit Hammer was a sense of hopelessness. And opposite to this, they need to have a large sense of hope to be able to see the Blues Drive Monster.
- Fire-Forged Friends: The Beast Knights firmly become this by the time of the final battle. This depresses Samidare to no end because she sees everyone pulling away from her, never realizing until the end that she was part of them the whole time, and that Yuuhi would never let her be alone again no matter what, even in death.
- Moon Rabbit: Defied, along with The Man in the Moon. The Beast Knights are based off of shapes Animus and Anima thought they saw on the moon, since they didn't agree with seeing the shapes as a rabbit or a face.
- Mourning Clothes: Eight of the nine remaining knights individually decide to mourn for Tarou by dressing up in black to the rematch with Boedromion, which serves as a mock funeral for the boy when they're all assembled.
- Personality Powers: The Psychic Powers of Domain Control are really just a generic looking holding field. From there, the Knights revamp it. However, they wish to make it more tailored to their fighting style.
The Princess
Samidare Asahina
Voiced by: Naomi Ozora (Japanese), Ariel Graham, Macy Anne Johnson (young) (English)
Short, skinny, and the most dangerous person on the face of the Earth. Samidare is a 16-year-old girl who was chosen to be Anima's vessel and agent in the current round of the war between the princess and mage. Thanks to Anima's power, she is titanically strong and has the stamina to match. She also has a well-hidden dark side, as she intends on winning the war not to save Earth, but so she can be its destroyer. To that end, she has recruited Yuuhi as her secret "Demon Knight" to help her in her plans of global destruction, including fighting off the other Beast Knights if necessary.
- Action Girl: The most prominent example in the series, several of the early golems were destroyed by her.
- All Girls Like Ponies: As soon as she meets Nagumo and Dance Dark for the first time, Samidare practically leaps to examine the horse with sparkles in her eyes.
- Badass Cape: She rips the curtain off her school's stage to make one.
- Battle Couple: More or less with Yuuhi. They aren't technically dating until the end, but it's clear how they feel about each other.
- Big Bad Ensemble: She forms one with Animus. For most of the series, she works alongside the Beast Knights to stop Animus from destroying the world, but only so she can destroy it herself. Once Animus is taken out of the picture, she takes center stage as the final obstacle the knights have to overcome in order to save the planet.
- Big Bad Friend: What she actually is to the Beast Knights.
- Big Eater: Mostly to help fuel her and Anima's powers until the latter can finally manifest personally.
- Cute Bruiser: Even at the beginning of the series, a single punch from her could kill a person. She only gets stronger.
- If I Can't Have You…: Samidare takes this attitude towards the Earth itself.
- Invulnerable Knuckles: She takes on everything bare-fisted.
- Lady and Knight: The Lady to Yuuhi's Knight.
- Lethal Chef: She's terrible at cooking, but Yuuhi is able to stomach it all only because of his love for her.
- Living on Borrowed Time: Only Anima's presence keeps her from being bedridden. Once Animus is defeated and Anima leaves, she is bound to lose her powers, and die of her disease. In the Distant Finale, she had a successful surgery that saved her from her illness, though it took her eight years of struggling with her disease after Anima left, plus two whole years of recovery before she is completely healthy again.
- Love at First Sight: It's heavily implied that she has loved Yuuhi since they first met.
- Love Redeems: What ultimately prevents her from carrying through with destroying the Earth. Not just her love for Yuuhi, but the bonds she has formed with all of the Beast Knights.
- Muscles Are Meaningless: Only the younger Beast Knights look weaker. But nobody, not even the Godzilla-dwarfing final golem Poseidon, is stronger than her.
- Older Than They Look: Hangetsu, Yuuhi, and their partners are surprised to learn Samidare's 16 years old at her birthday party, given how short and slender she is.
- Panty Fighter: Seriously, she flashes them at least thrice per fight.
- Soap Opera Disease: The details of her illness before she was chosen by Anima are kept intentionally vague, with few symptoms shown other than general weakness and poor stamina.
- Staring Down Cthulhu: She manages to scare Animus whenever they meet.
- Stealth Hi/Bye: Her astounding physical abilities let Samidare pull this off if she feels like it, simply by jumping away when nobody's looking.
- Super-Strength: Something that is hinted to make her scarily unique among previous princesses, who didn't fight in the front lines like she does.
- Superpower Lottery: She's definitely a winner. She starts with impressive physical abilities that only grow, and then begins developing Psychic Powers by drawing more directly from Anima. By the end, she has somehow grown even more powerful than Anima and Animus, a fact hinted to be related to her own latent powers.
- True Companions: She becomes this with the Beast Knights. It's what ultimately contributes to her not destroying the world.
- True Final Boss: What she means to be. Her intention is to blindside the rest of the Beast Knights after they defeat Animus, catching them unawares. In the end, she does manage to become the final threat.
- Villain Protagonist: She wants to destroy the world so that no-one else can have it when she dies.
- Walk on Water: She displays this ability during the trip to the beach.
- Welcome Back, Traitor: After she decides against destroying the Earth, the knights welcome her back with open arms.
- The Worf Effect: Samidare's the strongest of the entire group in physical prowess. If she can't mow down a golem, then that means the fight's serious business.
- Your Days Are Numbered: She suffers from a terminal illness, though you wouldn't know it at first, thanks to Anima's power. She's cured at the end of the series.
Anima
Voiced by: Mao Ichimichi (Japanese), Jessica Peterson, Kristin Sutton (young) (English)
Anima is the mage's mysterious counterpart, a powerful being who provides the power of the Beast Knights and the Princess. Though she is very nearly as mighty as Animus, she prefers to work far more indirectly.
- Big Eater: She shares energy reserves with Samidare, and both of them have some major powers to fuel.
- Big Good: She's the creator of the Beast Knights, is opposing Animus, and created the Blues Drive Monster, a Good Counterpart to the Biscuit Hammer meant to destroy it.
- Bleed 'Em and Weep: She breaks down crying following Animus' death, having delivered the final blow herself.
- Broken Bird: Before the battles commenced, Anima was just a normal, loving little girl who wanted to keep her humanity. Time and experience hardened her heart and made her more stoic and whimsical.
- Buxom Beauty Standard: When she was younger, she said her ideal grown up form would be one with huge boobs. She got her wish.
- Dude, Not Funny!: Yuuhi and Hakudou call her out when she signs her name on Nagumo's artwork.
- Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: A humorous example occurs when she finds out Shimaki and Hakudou got married and she wonders how.
- Hypocrisy Nod: After she mourns Animus' death, she calls herself out for not doing the same thing when Tarou died.
- Impossibly Cool Clothes: Why she chooses to dress like she does is anyone's guess.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: While she comes across as being rude, stoic and aloof, it's shown that she does care about Samidare and the knights, the attendants, the planet, and her brother.
- Meaningful Name: "Anima" is a psychological term from Jung that refers, loosely speaking, to the "feminine side" of a man's personality and consciousness. The Anima in men is twinned with the Animus in women.
- Ms. Fanservice: While her usual outfit covers everything but her head, it is also extremely skin-tight, leaving very little of her figure to the imagination. She also has a habit of popping up in cosplay costumes.
- Not So Stoic: As the final battle winds down, she starts to show more emotions.
- Only One Name: Same deal as Animus.
- Psychic Powers: Considerable on her own, and the source of those given the Beast Knights and the Princess.
- Really 700 Years Old: Her war with Animus has raged across centuries, making her significantly older than she looks.
- Sibling Yin-Yang: Anima and Animus are twin siblings, born with godlike psychic power in the distant future. Animus went mad with power, while Anima has been trying to perform damage control ever since. Where Animus is Affably Evil, Anima is a blunt, rude girl on the side of good. More importantly, Animus considers himself above humanity while Anima thinks of herself as a human being who happens to have strong psychic powers.
- The Stoic: She comes across as being stoic and aloof.
- Tears of Joy: She sheds these when realizes how much the knights care about Samidare. She also sheds these when she and the attendants say their goodbyes.
The Lizard Knight
Yuuhi Amamiya
Voiced by: Jun'ya Enoki, Kaede Hondo (young) (Japanese), Lee George, Dani Chambers (young) (English)
Yuuhi is a first-year college student who woke up one day to discover a lizard on his bed, who promptly introduced himself as Sir Noi Crezant, the Lizard Knight. Yuuhi is pessimistic and cynical, at best a brooding loner and at worst a cold misanthrope. He hates the world and when Noi offers him the chance to save it, he decides it'd be better to take no chances and sit on the sidelines. That is, until he meets Samidare and she makes him a better offer - don't just save the world, but save it for her so she can destroy it.
- Accidental Pervert: Yuuhi's perversion is never accidental, though he will gleefully feign it, and sometimes he is the target of someone else's accidental pervert moment, which he doesn't mind one bit.
- Awesomeness by Analysis: Even when he becomes a capable martial artist, he never stops thinking and analyzing. The ability to think around others is his greatest strength.
- Calling Your Attacks: Only reluctantly, at much urging from others.
- The Champion: For Samidare, though it takes him a while to be able to live up to the title.
- Character Development: He starts out as a gloomy Straw Nihilist that wants nothing more than to follow Samidare in her path to destroy the world, but he eventually becomes a heroic companion to his fellow knights, and even decides to stop Samidare's plan to destroy the world.
- Chick Magnet: Hiwatari, Hakudou, Samidare, and even Anima all take an interest in him.
- Chivalrous Pervert: There are times that he actually outright states he's about to do something perverted, and usually doesn't deny it when he does.
- Combat Pragmatist: Everything Yuuhi does to improve his abilities is about being better at fighting, not flashier.
- Covert Pervert: Yuuhi feigns being an Accidental Pervert for plausible deniability, including flipping his professor's skirt up with telekinesis and acting like it was the wind. He still gets the (deserved) Pervert Revenge Mode turned on him.
- Dark and Troubled Past: His father was murdered by his partner, and his mother abandoned him. Then his grandfather abused him as a child, forbidding him from forming relationships with other people. All of this results in his current nihilism.
- Genius Bruiser: His greatest strength lay in his big brain. While he does have a better handle on how to use the strength and technique Hangestu gave him, none of it actually fit him until he was able to work with the limitations of himself, the golems, and the surrounding area.
- The Glasses Come Off: Only for practice against the other knights and the fight with Hakudou over who will earn the power of Invisible. He's not really Blind Without 'Em but he keeps them on during golem fights because going without them would still be an impairment.
- Heel–Face Turn: He ultimately decides to stop Samidare from destroying the Earth, which she says she knew he'd do all along.
- Hellish Pupils: This happens at times when Yuuhi is plotting for the princess.
- The Hero: He ultimately grows into this role as the series goes on.
- Inelegant Blubbering: The one and only time he has an ugly cry is near the beginning, when he wishes to heal his grandfather on top of all of the other complex emotions he has for the man. Every other time it's a more subdued case of Manly Tears.
- Lady and Knight: The Knight to Samidare's Lady.
- Magikarp Power: Due to his lack of stamina and skill, Yuuhi's domain control is almost useless but to slow his falls a bit. A year of fighting, training, and exercising later...
- Misanthrope Supreme: Yuuhi was abused by his nihilistic grandfather to the point where he initially wanted Samidare to destroy the world. He grows out of it as he befriends the other Beast Knights.
- Murder Is the Best Solution: While hanging out with a girl that sees him using his power to help a cat, Yuuhi seriously and coldly thinks of the best way of killing her. A freaked-out Noi had to convince him to discard the idea. He also has the same thought about Hangetsu, thinking of him as a Too Powerful to Live threat that could potentially stop Samidare's plan to destroy the Earth, even plotting to use Hangetsu's love interest as a hostage to make it easier to murder him.
- Only Sane Man: Even when secretly plotting to destroy the world.
- Raised by Grandparents: Yuuhi was raised by his grandfather after his parents were gone. He has trust issues because of this.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Blue to Mikazuki's Red.
- Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: With Samidare.
- Scary Shiny Glasses: At times when he's being serious.
- Scars Are Forever: In the fourth episode, Yuuhi receives a thin cut across his forehead when a Golem throws a rock at him with enough force to crack it open. A faint scar remains after the wound closes.
- Single-Target Sexuality: Sami is his one and only almost as soon as he meets her.
- Stealth Hi/Bye: Yuuhi manages to pull it off once against Animus, of all people. This when most of those involved in the war have shown the ability to sense each other.
- Stepford Smiler: He recounts his abusive childhood to Noi with a smile. Noi quickly points out that Yuuhi isn't smiling on the inside.
- Stoic Spectacles: This occasionally happens when he's being stoic.
- Straight Man: To Mikazuki, most often.
- Straw Nihilist: The reason he wants to destroy the world.
- Sucksessor: Mikazuki considers Yuuhi to be this after having fought him the first time. Things change after their rematch.
- Took a Level in Badass: He starts off terribly weak and out of shape, but grows into one of the most capable fighters in the series.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Cup ramen, particularly a specific brand that he has to go to another town to get. Later, he gets in the habit of eating at a ramen restaurant. He tells the other knights he only comes once a week, but they notice that he's there every time they show up.
- Villain Protagonist: Feeling nothing but hatred towards the world, he joins Samidare in her quest to destroy it.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: What he and Mikazuki eventually become.
Noi Crezant
Voiced by: Kenjiro Tsuda (Japanese), Kent Williams (English)
- Clingy MacGuffin: He's used for jokes when he keeps coming back after Yuuhi throws him out of the apartment.
- The Conscience: He's quick to question Yuuhi's goals and motives.
- Deadpan Snarker: During Yuuhi's more villainous moments.
- Mauve Shirt: It's hinted that he has never lived very far in any of the rounds, given that he is the only attendant that doesn't sigh when Anima appears.
- Morality Pet: He tries to be one to Yuuhi. His effectiveness in this role fluctuates depending on when Yuuhi wants to listen to him.
- Not So Above It All: While he is rather straitlaced, there are times when Noi partakes in sillier things. For example, he couldn't help his interest in seeing the panties of one of Yuuhi's figurines.
- Secret-Keeper: Despite his horror at what Samidare and Yuuhi plan to do, he never tells the other knights.
- Super Mode: Yuuhi accidentally turns him into the Invisible during his fight against Samidare.
- Tears of Joy: He sheds these before he says goodbye to Yuuhi.
The Beast Knights
Applying to all
- Calling Your Attacks: Completely unnecessary, but once Nagumo decides to do it, everyone copies him.
- Clingy MacGuffin: Each attendant cannot be separated from their chosen knight for more than a certain distance, after which, they'll reappear right nearby.
- Despair Event Horizon: Since the real condition for seeing the Biscuit Hammer was hitting a point of ultimate despair, all of the knights have hit this sometime in the past.
- Hero Secret Service: The job of the Beast Knights is not only to stop the mage from using the Biscuit Hammer on the world, but also to protect and serve the princess and her master until the end of their mission.
- Invisible to Normals: Like the Biscuit Hammer and the golems, all of the attendants are only able to be seen by those who've been granted the ability to do so or those who were already made aware of their existence. By default, that means all of the chosen humans are the only people able to see them.
- Mentor Mascot: The attendants try to be this, with each having a different level of success.
- Super Mode: Each Beast Knight can be upgraded to one of the three Mystical Beast Knights; Unicorn, Hraesvelgr, or Invisible. The beast becomes larger and more intimidating, while the knight becomes even stronger. We get to see the forms of the Unicorn for the Horse, Hraesvelgr for the Owl and Crow, and Invisible for the Snake and Lizard.
- Synchronization: The attendants and their masters, upon making a pact, are tied to each other until the end of the master's life. This means that they'll also be able to share any pain the master gets, at least early in the series, and disappear when their master dies.
- Talking Animal: All of the attendants fall under this.
- Theme Naming: As Anima reveals to Yuuhi, each attendant is a reference to what she and Animus thought they saw when they looked at the moon. Yuuhi is naturally rather surprised to hear this.
- Weirdness Censor: Apparently, each knight is chosen because they don't have this.
The Dog Knight
Hangetsu Shinonome
Voiced by: Shuhei Iwase, Anna Kitamoto (young) (Japanese), Matt Shipman, Samantha Herek (young) (English)
Also known as "Kamikaze" (Divine Wind) or "Fuujin," Hangetsu is a master martial artist and the second Knight to appear. He is 28 and the first of three sons, though his youngest brother is never seen. He is confident, direct, friendly, and essentially everything Yuuhi is not.
- Aloof Big Brother: A mild example towards Mikazuki.
- Ascended Fanboy: He grew up watching Tokusatsu shows, even makes "ally of justice" business cards.
- Badass Boast: "GENIUS! It's a limitless number of approvals! It's instinct telling you 'It's been decided! I will throw 1000 lucky punches! I am awesome!'" He goes on for a few pages like that during his fight with Yuuhi.
- Bequeathed Power: As we learn posthumously, his wish to Ludo was to pass down his fighting prowess and techniques to Yuuhi.
- Cynicism Catalyst: The real reason he stopped striving to be a "hero of justice" is because he felt he had no right to be one when his beloved childhood dog Noko died saving a child from an incoming car. Hangetsu, like any normal child, was frozen stiff and didn't know what to do; his inaction made him feel like he had a hand in Noko's sacrifice.
- Don't Think, Feel: His fighting style requires him to give into his self confidence rather than focusing on technique.
- Famous Ancestor: In the last chapter, it's revealed Hisame and Hangetsu are the ancestors of Anima and Animus.
- Heroic Sacrifice: He pushes Yuuhi out of the way to save his life.
- Jousting Lance: Doesn't actually wield one, but names his special attack "Houtengeki" after an ancient military polearm.
- Killed Off for Real: He the first of the Beast Knights to die. While we do get to see him later on, it's his dream self from just before the battle with Elaphebolion.
- Large Ham: He can slip into this at times.
- Lightning Bruiser: He's ridiculously agile, almost impossible to hit, and his domain is the strongest among the Beast Knights, with the exception of the Mythical Beast Knights.
- Love at First Sight: For Hisame, though it's not returned right away.
- Mentor Occupational Hazard: He's one of the first people able to regularly train with Samidare and Yuuhi, and one that ultimately kickstarts Yuuhi's emotional development as well as giving him the foundation for his fighting style. Of course, he dies sometime before the plot really kicks off.
- My Card: Has two, one for odd jobs and the other as "an ally of justice". He sometimes gets them mixed up.
- Red Baron: He's known as "Fuujin" in the criminal/delinquent underworld.
- Sacrificial Lion: While he has major repercussions on other characters after he dies, ultimately he was only present for the first couple of volumes before his death was used to show Animus isn't totally kidding around. Yuuhi describes his death as the curtains of their story closing on the prologue.
- Star-Crossed Lovers: With Hisame. They have an attraction to each other and they do get together in one timeline, but most of the time it gets severed due to the Biscuit Hammer dropping or one or the other's death comes in the way. Even in the main timeline, they're ultimately separated by his death.
- Threshold Guardians: His dream self plays this for Yuuhi before the rematch with Maimakterion. Anima used him to test how strong Yuuhi became, in addition to giving him the means to end the conflict and allowing him to see Hangetsu one final time.
Ludo Shubarie
Voiced by: Shouya Ishige (Japanese), Christopher Wehkamp (English)
Hangetsu's partner, a dog who's much more reserved, quicker to criticize and slower to trust than his "master". Hangetsu prefers to call the him "Noko" after his childhood pet, who was also his closest friend.
- Dying Message: "Beware the Owl", hinting at Taiyou's treachery.
- Evil-Detecting Dog: He's quick to notice Yuuhi has less than noble intentions for joining the battle to save the world.
- Identical Stranger: As we see in some pictures, Ludo looks an awful lot like a darker version of Noko. It's little wonder why Hangetsu projects him onto Ludo, much as it annoys him.
- Insistent Terminology: He really hates that Hangetsu insists on calling him Noko.
- My Instincts Are Showing: Much to his embarrassment, he catches a stick that had been thrown aside by Hangetsu.
- Undying Loyalty: To Hangetsu, as expected of a dog.
The Crow Knight
Mikazuki Shinonome
Voiced by: Gen Satō (Japanese), Clifford Chapin, Kristin Paybe (young) (English)
Mikazuki is the second Shinonome son, and second only to Hangetsu in their family's martial arts style. He gets along well with others, much like his brother, but mostly through acting clownish and cheery, always prepared to be the life of the party. This friendly outer persona hides a near-insane bloodlust and battle hunger that comes out whenever he thinks he's found a worthy opponent.
- Badass in a Nice Suit: When doing work for the mafia.
- Blood Knight: To the point that Mikazuki initially attacks the other Beast Knights until the golems become dangerous enough to keep him satisfied. There's a reason why he used to be called "The Berserker".
- Chick Magnet: At college, he regularly gets the attention of the female population for being a good-looking and charismatic individual, bordering on Big Man on Campus status.
- Devil in Plain Sight: Blatantly set up as one, but then it's gradually subverted. He's actually a really great guy when he's not trying to coerce someone into being his new sparring partner.
- Heroic Comedic Sociopath: While he's normally friendly and outgoing, he becomes a Blood Knight once he's obsessed with fighting.
- Hidden Depths: Mikazuki is exactly as he seems, but he's also surprisingly good with kids.
- Hot-Blooded: He's always in the mood to rumble, and having a good time with the others.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He doesn't actually try to kill anyone and he's actually quite friendly when his fighting fix has been satisfied. He's even a perfect gentleman around Yukimachi and Subaru, even though others are convinced he'd do something sinister. Furthermore, he used his wish to feed a starving child in India.
- Large Ham: He becomes this thanks to his Blood Knight tendencies.
- Lightning Bruiser: He's incredibly strong and fast, specially after figuring out how to use his domain to create footholds in midair, giving him increased mobility.
- Love at First Punch: To contrast him with Hangetsu falling in Love at First Sight with Hisame. He claims that he has fallen in love with Samidare after she knocks him down, but while he seems to have a thing for her afterwards, he never really acts on it, other than betting a date with her with Yuuhi at one point.
- Maybe Ever After: With Subaru. Even Yuuhi can't make heads or tails of their relationship in the epilogue.
- Oblivious to Love: He doesn't seem to notice Subaru's crush on him until possibly the last chapter.
- Red Baron: He used to be known as "The Berserker" in his delinquent days.
- Replacement Goldfish: All but stated Yuuhi is this to him to some degree, in regards to his brother.
- The Rival: To Yuuhi, given he received all of Hangetsu's techniques; Mikazuki wants to surpass his brother, and uses Yuuhi to do so.
- Scars Are Forever: The scar on his forehead from his fight with Nagumo is still there ten years later.
- Sibling Yin-Yang: While Hangetsu is a strong, experienced technical fighter and a laid-back guy, Mikazuki is a wild child through and through who had a natural gift for brawling.
- Slasher Smile: Composed of nothing but canines, somehow.
- Strong Family Resemblance: It's not very apparent in the main story, but the epilogue shows he grows to look quite a bit like Hangetsu in the future. He even grows out his hair to make a ponytail.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: What he and Yuuhi become by the end.
- Worthy Opponent: He's desperate to find one, to the point that he'll even attack the other knights if he thinks they'll give a good fight. He settles for Yuuhi once the latter became his equal in battle.
Muu
Voiced by: Atsuko Tanaka (Japanese), Monica Rial (English)
Mikazuki's partner, the Crow Knight. Muu is every bit the boisterous Mikazuki's opposite, refusing to speak and answering everything with a cold, sharp glare.
- Bilingual Bonus: "Mu" is a Greek letter and also the romanization of a Japanese kana character. It's also the pronunciation of a Japanese term meaning, loosely, "nothing" or a lack, which goes well with Muu's lack of characterization (silence and refusal to react) as a form of characterization. The name could also be a reference to Muninn, one of Odin's ravens.
- Gender Reveal: The one time the crow speaks in front of anyone, which is also the last time, Muu is revealed to have a woman's voice.
- Samus Is a Girl: Muu turns out to be a female crow.
- Super Mode: Anima transforms her into the Hresvelgr for one last battle against Yuuhi and Noi.
- The Voiceless: Until the end.
The Horse Knight
Souichirou Nagumo
Voiced by: Tetsu Inada (Japanese), Marcus D. Stimac (English)
Nagumo is a middle-aged former police detective. He is also a potent close combatant, infamous for a "hundred kick" flurry of blows used to overwhelm an opponent. As a former detective, he brings a much-needed sense of order and experience to the knights, helping turn them into a coherent unit instead of just a group of random fighters with their own eclectic styles. He is also fiercely protective of the younger Knights, considering them just children who shouldn't be fighting.
- Amicable Exes: He is separated but not yet divorced from his wife, and they seem to get on at least politely, if not very closely.
- Badass Longcoat: He's always seen wearing a gray longcoat.
- Character Development: At first, he wanted to keep the younger knights away from the battlefield, but grows to respect them as fellow warriors who are in their right to fight for their future.
- Defusing the Tyke-Bomb: After hearing from Yuuhi that Ludo told him to beware the Owl Knight, Nagumo takes it upon himself to research Taiyou, just in case. While he doesn't find anything incriminating, he learns Taiyou doesn't have the best home life and often eats out by himself, so he decides to take him out to eat ramen, helping Taiyou learn that food tastes better when around friends. Unbeknownst to Nagumo, he actually planted the seeds for Taiyou's eventual Heel–Face Turn.
- Extremity Extremist: He fights primarily with kicks.
- Hidden Depths: He's got a rather good sense of artistic skill, as shown in Chapter 48.
- Large Ham: He becomes one during some of the fights.
- Last-Name Basis: As friendly as everyone gets, nobody really refers to Nagumo by his given name. Except Mikazuki, of course, who calls him "Sou-chan."
- The Leader: He leads the knights in and out of battle, and is often the one the others seek for advice.
- Lightning Bruiser: Once he gains the power of a Mythical Beast Knight.
- Mundane Utility: A throwaway line in the last chapter reveals he used his wish to win the lottery.
- Papa Wolf: He is very protective of the younger knights.
- Police Are Useless: He retired from the force due to dissatisfaction with corruption and the feeling that he could no longer live up to his son's view of him as an "ally of justice." Also the whole "invisible horse warning about the end of the world" thing, which notably the police wouldn't be able to help with anyway.
- Real Men Wear Pink: It's very easy to miss, but every time any of the knights go out to have coffee or a meal together at a nearby family restaurant, Nagumo gets a very fancy, rather "girly" parfait.
- Team Dad: Nagumo's presence provides the knights with order and stability.
Dance Dark
Voiced by: Kentarou Kumagai (Japanese), Michael Stimac (English)
Nagumo's partner, the Horse Knight, who complements Nagumo with a similarly serious mien. Dance does what he can to advise and help Nagumo, though there's one line he won't cross— no rides, no way.
- Berserk Button: He doesn't like to be ridden. Well, as long as you're a man, anyway. He does get over it to let Nagumo ride during the final battle, and also for some of the other companions when they're called to leave.
- Super Mode: Anima chooses him to become the Unicorn.
- Unicorn: He doesn't start out as one, but Anima grants him the ability to become one when she turns him and Nagumo into a Mythical Beast Knight.
The Snake Knight
Yayoi Hakudou
Voiced by: Aya Suzaki (Japanese), Natalie Hoover (English)
Hakudou is a young woman in her early 20s who hides a terrible secret: she still likes anime and manga, and likes to cosplay as a hobby. She is gentle and kind in manner, tall and pretty, and in many ways prime material as an ideal Japanese housewife. Just one who also practices swordplay on a regular basis and could probably thump most men she comes across. Many of the Beast Knights look up to her, and trust her combat abilities implicitly.
- Action Girl: She's one of the better warriors among the knights, as she often fights the golems head on.
- Affectionate Nickname: Shea calls her "Yaako".
- The Anti-Nihilist: She's of the mind that, since everyone dies eventually, people should make the most of their lives and die without regrets.
- The Big Guy: She's by far one of the most consistent hard hitters of the team, and with her strength enhanced by becoming a Mythical Beast Knight, she becomes even more invaluable to the team.
- Closet Geek: And she's mortified when this is found out, thinking she'll never get married. Naturally, no one pays it much mind, and her marriage doubts subside by the epilogue after marrying Shimaki.
- Cool Big Sis: She serves as this for Samidare and Hanako as she's willing to help them and give them advice.
- Cosplay Otaku Girl She's into cosplay, though she's embarrassed when this is found out.
- Exact Eavesdropping: She happens to overhear Samidare and Yuuhi talking about their plan to destroy the world during their trip to the beach.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Once Yuuhi declares his love for Samidare during the final battle, Hakudou decides to end her pursuit of him.
- Innocently Insensitive: Upon learning of Samidare's illness, she recalls an instance soon after Tarou's death in which she told Samidare about a friend of hers who lost her little brother and wished she could have died with him, but eventually got married and found happiness. At the time, Hakudou told her the story in a discreet attempt to dissuade Samidare from destroying the world, by showing her that one can still find happiness despite losing loved ones. As such, she realizes that Samidare could have interpreted it as everyone will eventually move on after her impending death.
- Jumped at the Call: She does not miss a single beat to agree to Shea's plea to save the world, and asks for her wish just as quickly.
- Lady of War: Especially after she becomes a Mythical Beast Knight.
- Let Them Die Happy: Invoked as Hakudou's wish was that her family would die with smiles on their faces, regardless of the circumstances.
- Male Gaze: She tends to "bounce around" considerably in a fight, though only Nagumo and Dance take notice of it.
- Pair the Spares: She eventually gets into a relationship with Shimaki.
- Rescue Romance: She falls for Yuuhi after he rescues her from a golem.
- Secret Secret-Keeper: She learned fairly early on that Yuuhi and Samidare planned to destroy the world, but doesn't mention it to the others. She eventually confronts Yuuhi about it, making her just a normal Secret-Keeper.
- Team Mom: She acts as this for the younger members.
Shea Moon
Voiced by: Hyo-sei (Japanese), Morgan Garrett (English)
Shea Moon, the Snake Knight, is far more open and forward than Hakudou, as he tries to encourage her to be open with her hobbies and share them with others, especially a certain bespectacled young college student who ends up catching her eye.
- Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Hakudou finds her something of an embarrassing mother figure. She certainly acts like one, with her constant prodding to get her and Yuuhi together.
- Shipper on Deck: Shea tries and fails to get Hakudou and Yuuhi together.
The Mouse Knight
Tarou Kusakabe
Voiced by: Shun'ichi Toki, Hana Tamegai (young) (Japanese), Tristan Bonner, Hannah Alyea (young) (English)
Tarou knows where he's going in life. He's worked hard at learning to cook and intends on heading to a vocational school once he graduates high school, inspired by the café that his neighbor Hanako's family once ran. He's not the bravest of the knights, nor even the most capable, but as one of the kindest he makes friends easily with the others. He agrees to fight for the sake of protecting Hanako, who was also recruited. He also not-so-secretly loves Hanako but is afraid of changing their relationship.
- Childhood Friend Romance: With Hanako. It's a rather unlucky variant.
- Dying Declaration of Love: As soon as he gets impaled by Boedromion, he immediately spits out his confession to Hanako before he dies.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: He had intended to distract Boedromion with his Aragami, but when Hanako was put into the golem's way, he decided to take the brunt of the attack in an attempt to save her.
- Loved by All: Everybody takes his death the hardest due to how beloved he was. This is acknowledged by Anima after Hanako defeats Boedromion.
- Mundane Utility: He uses domain control to cut vegetables.
- Non-Action Guy: He's always a bit of a crybaby and coward, and while he attempts to learn some of the others' basic moves, he fumbles them more often than not.
- Playing with Fire: He learns to use his domain to ignite the alcohol he carries in a bottle.
- Sacrificial Lion: While Hangetsu acted as the wake up call for Yuuhi and friends to get together, Tarou's death was played up as the loss of innocence and a dear friend to the group, fully cementing the danger they must face in the last leg of the story.
- Senseless Sacrifice: As Kil points out, he didn't actually need to take the bullet for Hanako, since his wish would have saved her anyway.
- She Is Not My Girlfriend: While he clearly loves Hanako, he denies it whenever he's teased about their relationship.
- Supreme Chef: Everything he cooks in noted as being nothing short of excellent.
- Taking the Bullet: He tries to block Hanako from the Boedromion's lance, though he simply went through them both.
Lance Lumiere
Voiced by: Kazutomi Yamamoto (Japanese), Rachel Glass (English)
Lance Lumiere, the Mouse Knight, complements Tarou quite well - if only as one coward trying to bolster the spirits of another. It's unfortunate for Lance that his partner is so close to the Mantis Knight's partner, as Lance and Kil hate each other deeply.
- Cowardly Lion: Admits to be this, but has higher morals than Kil and the encouragement to Tarou to match.
- Irony: Possibly a coincidence as it relies on an English pun, but Tarou dies on the Boedromion's lance, and wouldn't have if Lance hadn't drawn him into the war. Either way, a "Lance" is directly and indirectly responsible for Tarou's death.
- Try Not to Die: His parting words to Kil are equally made of encouragement and scorn, asking them to stay alive if only because he wouldn't stand seeing them in life or in death.
The Mantis Knight
Hanako Sorano
Voiced by: Chinatsu Hirose (Japanese), Dani Chambers (English)
Hanako is an intelligent, talented high school student, and Tarou's next-door neighbor and classmate. They've been together as long as they can remember, and even though they are the same age, she has always been his "responsible older sister." She keeps her own counsel and resists being drawn into the close camaraderie of the other knights.
- Beware the Nice Ones: She used her wish to kill a criminal, and reacted with only mild interest when it actually worked.
- Childhood Friend Romance: With Tarou, of the unlucky variety.
- Girlish Pigtails: She wore her hair like this in the beginning, but she eventually lets her hair down following Tarou's death. This later turns into an Important Haircut right before the rematch with Boedromion.
- An Ice Person: This is her main method of fighting.
- Insecure Love Interest: At first, she had gotten used to protecting Tarou and being looked up to. However, as they grew up, Tarou found a sense of purpose and a goal to work towards while Hanako was stuck as the studious student. Deep inside she didn't want to be left behind by Tarou, but she rarely showed that externally.
- It's Personal: While the entire group takes Tarou's death hard, no one takes it as badly as Hanako does, her being his childhood friend and all. When she collects herself, she specifically seeks out Animus to request an all or nothing duel against Boedromion, which he happily obliges.
- Karma Houdini Warranty: Rather literally, as her wish was to kill a criminal. The consequence of wishing for someone's death is to take the burden of their karma upon yourself, making you more likely to suffer an unpleasant end as a result. Tarou dies to save her, both by diving in front of the blow and using his wish to heal her when that proves fruitless.
- Mundane Utility: She used domain control to cool water during summer, and went further to devise her ice attacks.
- Pervert Revenge Mode: She slaps Tarou after he sees her undressing in her room.
- Protectorate: For Tarou. He used his one wish on protecting her, and his only stake in the conflict is making sure Hanako comes out of it unscathed.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Against Boedromion during the group's rematch against it, complete with Berserker Tears.
- Shipper on Deck: Late in the series, she learns of Hakudou's crush on Yuuhi and encourages her to act on it.
- Smart People Wear Glasses: She's studious and serious, and has often had to help Tarou study as well.
- Stepford Smiler: Due to how reserve she is, she displays this, much to Tarou's frustration.
- The Stoic: She very rarely emotes, although she wears a painted smile most of the time. When Tarou dies, she begins to crack under the stress of losing him, culminating in the aforementioned Roaring Rampage of Revenge.
- Taking Up the Mantle: Following Boedromion's defeat, she decides to become a chef herself.
- Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: When she was first recruited, Hanako attempted to use her one wish on defeating the mage, thinking it was valid enough. Kil and Lance have to set the record straight afterwards.
Kil Sonne
Voiced by: Ruriko Aoki (Japanese), Kasi Hollowell (English)
Hanako's partner the Mantis Knight, who is harsh and cold with an overdeveloped sense of martial pride. He doesn't get long well with Lance, as their ideologies are on opposite ends.
- Blood Knight: He encourages Hanako to become a warrior.
- Social Darwinist: In most runs, allegedly. They're not focused on long enough for us to know the true extent of their philosophy, though.
- The Unfettered: He has no qualms about putting his life or his human masters' lives in danger. What's more, his partners have all consistently shared this trait with him.
The Cat Knight
Hyou Shimaki
Voiced by: Yoshitsugu Matsuoka (Japanese), Travis Mullenix (English)
Shimaki is a genial man in his late 20s who values knowledge and the joy learning brings him. He's heavyset and tall, with a smile almost perpetually on his face. He's an old friend of Samidare's sister, Hisame, and knew her before Hisame and her mother moved to France. He is a natural teacher, urging others to learn and think critically, and come to their own conclusions.
- Badass Bookworm: He's not a direct fighter, but don't think you can take him down easily.
- Beware the Quiet Ones: Yuuhi acknowledges him as the most dangerous of the knights, to the point that once he turns on the other knights, he makes sure to take Shimaki out first.
- Eyes Always Shut: The number of times he opens them can be counted in one hand.
- Geek Physiques: Of the fat variant.
- Heroic RRoD: Shimaki pushes himself beyond his limits in the final battle, and his hair turns gray after summoning his 13th Golem.
- Hidden Depths: The reason why he wants the Akashic Records is to be able to enrich humanity with its knowledge and make life better on Earth.
- Improvised Golems: His wish was for the ability to conjure golems similar to Animus, since he doesn't have any real fighting ability.
- Pair the Spares: He eventually gets into a relationship with Hakudou.
- Secret-Keeper: He keeps Taiyou's treachery a secret from the others, hoping he would side with them in the end. His faith is rewarded.
- Smart People Wear Glasses: He's already a quick thinker as is, and his original wish was to get even smarter by using the Akashic Records to become all-knowing.
- Theme Naming: His earliest golems are named after the days of the week in German, starting with Sunday for the very first.
Coo Ritter
Voiced by: Nagisa Kategawa (Japanese), Megan Shipman (English)
Shimaki's partner, the Cat Knight. A polite black cat that likes to help and encourage Shimaki wherever he can, but knows when to stop pushing.
- Cats Are Snarkers: Averted, since Coo is a polite sort.
- Dark Is Not Evil: While Coo is a black cat, he's one of the more polite Beast Knights.
The Turtle Knight
Yukimachi Tsukishiro
Voiced by: Moeha Nochimoto (Japanese), Corinne Sudberg (English)
Yukimachi is a sweet and friendly girl in middle school with her classmate and best friend Subaru. She is slight and unimposing, but with an eager and outgoing personality that gives her a presence on par with the older knights. She and Subaru were informally apprenticed to the Master after meeting him in a park, and he focused Yukimachi's education on martial arts. When pressed, she is also ridiculously Hot-Blooded.
- Beware the Quiet Ones: She's a pretty amiable girl, but when she's fired up she can get pretty aggressive.
- Brains and Brawn: The Brawn to Subaru's Brain. She is the more physically oriented of the pair, and the one who takes the lead when the situation gets dire.
- Eyes Always Shut: Though she opens them much more frequently than Shimaki.
- Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: She punches Taiyou in the face when they are hiding from Puanepsion, chiding him for lacking a will to live and asking him to make up one.
- Little Miss Badass: She's actually rather skilled in martial arts thanks to her Master's training. She keeps training even after his death.
- Long-Range Fighter: She and Subaru rely on using their domain from a distance in battle.
- Official Couple: With Taiyou in the epilogue.
- Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Alongside Subaru, they have some of the most powerful defensive and offensive capabilities among the knights.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Red Oni to Subaru's Blue.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: Yukimachi is much more energetic and physical than Subaru, and when the Master ended up mentoring them, he helped teach Yukimachi some basic martial arts while testing Subaru with strategy games. She's also much more boisterous and Hot-Blooded of the pair.
- Unstoppable Force Meets Immovable Object: With Subaru.
- Wonder Twin Powers: In order for their powers to activate, Subaru and Yukimachi need to be holding hands. They can also hold hands with other people in order to use their holding fields for attack, so long as they're in both ends of the chain.
Ron Yue
Voiced by: Katsuji Mori (Japanese), Greg Dulcie (English)
The Turtle Knight. A laid-back turtle that lets Yukimachi take the lead.
- Shrinking Violet: He is very meek and shy.
The Rooster Knight
Subaru Hoshikawa
Voiced by: Chihaya Yoshitake (Japanese), Trisha Mellon (English)
Subaru is a gentle and quiet girl in middle school with her best friend and classmate Yukimachi. Subaru is short, skinny, and reserved with a shock of bright red hair that stands out, and she is by far the more sensitive and easily embarrassed of the two. She and Yukimachi were taken under the Master's wing as young children, and he focused Subaru's education on strategy.
- Brains and Brawn: The Brains to Yukimachi's Brawn. Subaru is noted as the smarter of the pair, and the one who comes up with their strategies.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Downplayed since she never makes a big deal out of it, but she is clearly bothered whenever Mikazuki shows interest in Samidare.
- Long-Range Fighter: She and Yukimachi rely on using their domain from a distance in battle.
- Pint-Sized Powerhouse: She's one of the most versatile knights when alongside Yukimachi.
- Precocious Crush: She has one on Mikazuki, a college student, while she's a middle schooler. Her case is pretty much Love at First Sight. In the epilogue, her status with Mikazuki is up in the air.
- Protectorate: Yukimachi's. Subaru has always been on the weaker side and Yukimachi usually comes to her aid. Every scene of them facing injury also has Yukimachi immediately jump in front of Subaru to protect her.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Blue to Yukimachi's Red.
- The Smart Girl: Nagumo acknowledges her as one of the smarter knights. She's the one who comes up with a Combination Attack using the domains of all remaining knights, which allows them to defeat the final and most powerful golem in just a few hits.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: Subaru looks a little more like the tomboy type, especially with her short and messy hair, but she's really the girly girl of the pair with Yukimachi.
- Unstoppable Force Meets Immovable Object: She creates the Strongest Spear and Invincible Shield with Yukimachi.
- Wonder Twin Powers: In order for their powers to activate, Subaru and Yukimachi need to be holding hands. They can also hold hands with other people in order to use their holding fields for attack, so long as they're on both ends of the chain.
Lee Soliel
Voiced by: Mitsuo Iwata (Japanese), Wyatt Baker (English)
Subaru's partner, the Rooster Knight. An opinionated and noisy rooster that rides around on her head. Lee has a protective father's attitude when it comes to Subaru, which mostly manages to embarrass the girl whenever he speaks up (which is often).
- Boyfriend-Blocking Dad: He acts like one with Subaru. In particular, he very much disapproves of Mikazuki, and doesn't mind voicing said disapproval in front of him, much to Subaru's consternation.
- Innocently Insensitive: He often makes oblivious opinions to his partner, Subaru.
- Motor Mouth: He talks constantly compared to his slower ally.
The Swordfish Knight
Inatika Akitani / "The Master"
Voiced by: Kazuhiro Yamaji, Haruki Ishiya (young) (Japanese), R. Bruce Elliott, Ben Balmaceda (young) (English)
Wise, kind, brilliant, humble, and with a flair for the dramatic, the Master is too cool for this or any other narrative. Seriously, this guy was awesome. He lived for over 500 years, knew everything and could do almost anything, but never let it go to his head. You wish that old guy who spent all afternoon in your hometown's park was this amazing.
- Akashic Records: He gained access to them in his youth, though the precognition he got as a result of that access cuts out right in the middle of the war, a month or so before he dies.
- Bequeathed Power: The reason why he was so weak during the last few years of his life was because he had unknowingly given his power to Subaru and Yukimachi, allowing them much more precise control over their domains.
- Brought Down to Badass: Around eight years before he died, Inatika fully lost his ability to access future knowledge, and his other powers had been waning up until his death day. That doesn't mean he lost the ability to kick major ass though, as his final fight shows.
- Cool Old Guy: He spends his final years as an aged weirdo in the park, but he's still pretty sharp and battle hardened.
- A Death in the Limelight: He never gets a chance to really interact with the rest of the cast, but he does earn a two part story where he goes over his life and students.
- Do Not Go Gentle: It takes some convincing by Zan, but he's able to show Subaru and Yukimachi how to fight in a real battle by making a dent in Skirophorion. Mind you, this is while he's already impaled, bleeding, and running on fumes himself:
- Foreseeing My Death: His knowledge from the Akashic Records only goes as far as his death over five hundred years since he first gained immortality. He spends a good chunk of his life dispassionate about mortality since he knows when he's going to die, but as the day grew closer he started expressing some fear.
- Humble Hero: "Compared to what I learned from my pupils, omniscience appeared pointless. Over the past 500 years, I have learned that I'm not an omniscient god, but rather a clueless human."
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Shot with multiple barbs in the back by Skirophorion. It wasn't enough to kill him just yet.
- Mentor Occupational Hazard: A case where he knows beforehand who his final students will be and when he'll die. He gets to go down swinging, at least.
- Not Quite Dead: While he got fatally injured, he was able to assist in taking out an enemy, give multiple final speeches, and at least see his disciples off before passing on. Even to the end, he was a tough old geezer.
- Old Master: Naturally, given his centuries of experience.
- The Omniscient: Thanks to his access to the Akashic Records, though the knowledge and power never had quite the same impact as actually experiencing things.
- Posthumous Character: By the time we get to learn anything about him, he's been long since killed by Skirophorion. He at least had the sense to write about his life's story in a novel he passed to Yuuhi.
- Proportional Aging: While he did discover his immortality in his childhood, he aged at a slower rate than most as the centuries raced on. He was still fairly young looking when his first student died of old age, but only managed to become an old man many years after that.
- Psychic Powers: More than anyone except perhaps Anima and Animus, gained when he was 5 years old.
- Really 700 Years Old: Born in 1492, at the beginning of the eight-year Meiou period of Japanese history.
- Red Baron: "The Master".
- Reincarnation: Near the end of the series, it's implied that he's Animus' reincarnation, making up for his karma of having repeatedly destroyed the Earth.
- Sdrawkcab Name: A palindrome and definitely a pseudonym.
Zan Amaru
Voiced by: Tetsuei Sumiya (Japanese), Justin Briner (English)
The Swordfish Knight, a worrisome and large floating swordfish.
- Dare to Be Badass: He convinces Inatika to at least die standing, giving Subaru and Yukimachi some hope against future enemies. Those words were all it took for Inatika to really give Skirophorion hell.
- Flying Seafood Special: One of the most unusual of the attendants for being a floating, giant swordfish that's able to sustain itself without water.
- Posthumous Character: Like his master, he died before getting the chance to unite with the other Beast Knights.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: As aforementioned, he died before he got the chance to unite with the other knights.
The Owl Knight
Taiyou Akane
Voiced by: Mutsumi Tamura (Japanese), Suzanne DeCarma (English)
Taiyou is a young boy late in elementary school or early in middle school. He is the quietest, most withdrawn member of the knights, whose body language and facial expressions have "don't talk to me" written all over them. He is estranged from his family, and has no friends.
- Big Brother Worship: Taiyou's baby brother, Makoto, eventually comes to adore him when he enters childhood.
- Love at First Punch: Yukimachi punching him and grabbing him by the collar to get him out of his funk during a desperate situation was the start of him developing feelings for her.
- Magic Is Mental: While his power can "heal" by resetting to a point where the body never took damage, Taiyou can still be affected mentally since his mind does not reset to match.
- Missing Mom: His birth mother died five years before the story starts.
- The Mole: He's the only Beast Knight who's willing to work with Animus, observing them from a distance and reporting back to him.
- Non-Action Guy: He very rarely steps in to fight before becoming a passive member of the team as a White Mage. The one time he did fight, during the Puanepsion arc, was one where he had his hand forced.
- Official Couple: With Yukimachi.
- Only Friend: Neither will really admit it, but he functions as this for Maimakterion.
- Parental Neglect: Taiyou's father avoids him because the child reminds him too much of his dead wife. Meanwhile, Taiyou's stepmother just doesn't know how to relate to him at all and eventually gave up trying. The extra comic reveals that he and his stepmother at least reached out to each other, and enjoy a pleasant relationship.
- Rōnin: By the time of the epilogue, Taiyou tried and failed his college exams, so he took a year off and started working at Hanako's restaurant. Funnily enough, it was his sadness over this that led him to be forced to confess to Yukimachi.
- Straw Nihilist: Because his mother died, he's had to live with his new stepmother and baby stepbrother, both of which have really made him negative. He starts slowly slipping out of this mindset after he gains a genuine friend network in the knights.
- Time Master: Animus granted him the ability to control time within his domain to a limited extent, which he originally used to turn golems back into clay and eventually uses to reset his allies' bodies to before they took damage.
- Took a Level in Kindness: He becomes a lot more cheerful and upbeat in the epilogue.
- White Mage: He becomes this after learning he can "heal" with his powers.
Loki Helios
Voiced by: Manabu Muraji (Japanese), Martin Cervantes (English)
The Owl Knight, a jaded and cynical bird who has grown completely sick of the war over its many iterations.
- The Corrupter: Ultimately subverted. While he did encourage Taiyou to side with Animus, it was out of a desire to stop seeing his partners die in front of him, since they always end up dying to Animus and his golems. He is more than willing to support Taiyou when the latter decides to fight for his companions.
- Heroic Neutral: As he puts it, he's on neither Anima or Animus' side because he's on his master's side.
- I Fight for the Strongest Side!: After tiring over multiple losses against the Mage, Loki wants to be on the side that guarantees him a win, convincing Taiyou to do the same. However, that's not how he actually feels. Whatever path makes his master the most satisfied is the one he'll encourage.
- Meaningful Name: He's named after Loki, the Norse god of mischief and a known backstabber. Along with his Master, Loki the Owl is working for Animus. He also picked up at least two masters who switched sides.
- My God, What Have I Done?: When realizing Taiyou is starting to have doubts about destroying the world, Loki tells him that he doesn't have to actually follow Animus like he told him to do, and he will support him nonetheless. He then breaks down crying, realizing that it is only natural that a kid such as himself would desire a future.
- Ominous Owl: He seemed be on Animus' side, and thus The Mole, but it turns out that he is loyal to his master only.
Antagonists
The Mage and the Golems
Animus
Voiced by: Toshiyuki Toyonaga (PV), Tatsumaru Tachibana (anime), Hitomi Ueda (anime, young) (Japanese), Alex Mai, Kristen McGuire (young) (English)
A strange, whimsical figure, the mage Animus is also the Earth's greatest enemy. He is a being of unspeakable power, a self-described God of Destruction here to annihilate the world via the Biscuit Hammer. Despite his affable nature, he is still extremely cold-blooded and one would be a fool to think any friendly overtures were anything of the sort.
- Affably Evil: He's actually rather calm and laid back, often seen playing video games or relaxing with a book, and will regularly descend to Earth to simply chat to the knights.
- Ax-Crazy: In the final battle.
- Big Bad Ensemble: With Samidare, as the two of them intend to destroy the world for their own selfish reasons. Animus provides most of the conflict in the series, but is ultimately taken out with time to spare, after which Samidare takes over as the sole Big Bad.
- Curiosity Is a Crapshoot: The reason he wants to destroy the world is so that he can see the beginning of the universe and know everything.
- Final Boss: He's the last big challenge everyone has to face once the twelve golems have been defeated.
- A God Am I: He had been struggling with the idea for a long time when he was younger, but when the man who wanted to adopt him and Anima praised their godlike abilities, this set Animus firmly on the idea that he's beyond human.
- I Just Want to Be Special: Even though he knows how dangerous his powers could become, he still insisted on keeping them against Anima's wishes because he wouldn't feel "unique" without them. He says it ties into his sense of self.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: A combination of the knights' teamwork and Samidare destroying the Biscuit Hammer puts a stop to his plans, and he is finally put down when Anima impales him with a halberd.
- Limited Wardrobe: Played for Drama; ever since the wars started, Animus has only ever worn the one thing. It's symbolic of his mind's failure to mature past the 9-year-old little boy who wanted to see what would happen if he smashed the Earth apart.
- Meaningful Name: "Animus" is a reference to Karl Jung's theory of "Animus and Anima", Animus being the masculine self of the body.
- Only One Name: Like his sister.
- Physical God: Animus' A God Am I shtick isn't just hot air. Due to his powers, he's far older than most mortals, can breathe in space, create anything he wants, and has full control over his powers.
- Prefers Going Barefoot: He never wears socks or shoes at any point. Instead, he just going with the outfit he's always ever worn - his pajamas.
- Psychic Powers: He's shy on precognition or fine control, but otherwise he can pull whatever trick he seems to feel like out of his hat, and then some.
- Psychopathic Manchild: As soon as anything starts going against his plans in some way, he doesn't find amusing. He's still essentially the 9-year-old child he was when his powers first manifested, and his motivation starts becoming clear if you've ever known a kid his age who constantly breaks all his toys just because he can. The Biscuit Hammer, his ultimate world shattering weapon, is also nothing more than an enlarged toy hammer inspired by the one he had when he was a kid.
- Reincarnation: It's implied near the end of the series that he'll reincarnate into Akitani Inatika when he finally dies, making up for his karma of having repeatedly destroyed the Earth.
- Self-Made Orphan: He was the one that blew up the space station his family was on. He had meant to test out his psychic abilities, but he miscalculated and blew a hole in the station, leading to his parents being sucked out to the depths of outer space.
- Sibling Yin-Yang: Where Animus is Affably Evil, Anima is a blunt, rude girl on the side of good. More importantly, Animus considers himself above humanity while Anima thinks of herself as a human being who happens to have strong psychic powers.
- Slouch of Villainy: Animus' posture is horrendous.
- Stealth Hi/Bye: Given his impressive powers, which include teleportation, this is probably the least of Animus' tricks.
- Villainous Breakdown: Once he loses his pawn in the Owl Knight, he loses it and becomes a flaming Living Shadow. Seeing this compared to his usually casual attitude, it's disturbing to say the least.
- We Can Rule Together: Done at least twice - with Shimaki (it fails) and Taiyou (it succeeds... at least until he has a Heel–Face Turn.)
- Worf Had the Flu: The only reason the Beast Knights were able to prove a challenge against him during the last battle is that he was focusing most of his powers in a barrier to keep Samidare away from the battlefield. Even then, Samidare repeatedly hitting the barrier kept breaking his focus and allowed the knights to land some hits.
The Golems
The golems are Animus' minions and his equivalent to the Beast Knights. Where the knights are granted roughly comparable powers and the ability to work together, the golems are (usually) sent out alone one after the other, as it takes Animus time to prepare the more powerful ones. Even so, the weakest are nothing to laugh at when the knights themselves are still just learning and at their most vulnerable.The golems are: Gamelion the 1st, Anthesterion the 2nd, Elaphebolion the 3rd, Mounichion the 4th, Thargelion the 5th, Skirophorion the 6th, Hekatombaion the 7th, Metageitnion the 8th, Boedromion the 9th, Puanepsion the 10th, Maimakterion the 11th, and Poseideon the 12th.
- Duel Boss: Boedromion becomes this for Hanako, on her own request to Animus.
- Monstrosity Equals Weakness: As you go up the ranks of powers in the golems, you notice that they become more powerful the more humanoid they appear. The eleventh and twelfth, Maimakterion and Poseidon, are the most humanoid of all.
- Sorting Algorithm of Evil: Noted by how many eyes each golem has, barring the exceptions of Puanepsion the 10th, and Maimakterion the 11th outside of his natural form. As well, when the golems appear, the burst of their bloodlust sensed by the Knights is visually represented by a giant blade sticking out of the ground where the golem emerges. As the golems grow stronger, the blades grow into larger, sharper and more deadly-looking weapons.
- Theme Naming: After the Attic months, starting with the first month of winter. We only directly get the names of a few golems, starting with Hekatombaion the seventh (the first month of summer, and also the first month of the Attic year).
Puanepsion
The 10th golem, taking the form of a a small one-eyed lump with arms and legs. Its power is to clone itself, with each batch of clones stronger than the last.- Came Back Strong: The one that survives, however, is generally weaker since it needs to break to receive the powerup.
- From a Single Cell: As long as one copy of Puanepsion remains intact, it can keep making new clones for the heroes to beat. It's for this reason why Animus decides to place one golem in the one place no one would dare to look— Taiyou's house.
- Killed Off for Real: It's finally destroyed for good when Taiyou finds the hidden copy in his house.
- Self-Duplication: Can generate an infinite number of clones.
- Sorting Algorithm of Evil: At first a seeming subversion, until it applies Came Back Strong. The clones go from being easily beatable by the knights, to the point where the knights barely survive a battle with them.
Maimakterion
Voiced by: Junko Minagawa (Japanese), Sarah Roach (English)
- Blood Knight: He desires to fight the Cat Knight's strongest creations, and gives a Slasher Smile once ones show up that are strong enough.
- Body Horror: Whenever shapeshifting in and out of a new form, or altering an existing form.
- Bookworm: He picks up a habit of reading books Taiyou brings to him, especially manga. When he dies, he had piles of books left without a reader.
- Eyes Do Not Belong There: In his natural form, Maimakterion has 11 eyes, and they tend to hang around for a bit on random places of the body when he assumes a new form.
- Voluntary Shapeshifter: His major power.
- What Measure Is a Non-Human?: He begins to ask these questions eventually.
Unrelated
The Asahina Family
Hisame Asahina
Voiced by: Azusa Tadokoro (Japanese), Monica Rial (English)
Hisame is Samidare's older sister, and at 27 years old the two have an 11 year gap between them. They get along well now, but that gap - made worse by Samidare's illness - was once nearly insurmountable. Hisame is a professor at a local university, where she also teaches a physics class for Yuuhi and is Mikazuki's academic advisor. She's not very fond of Yuuhi, thanks to his gloomy nature and his increasing closeness to Samidare, though she's not privy to the real nature of their relationship.
- Cool Big Sis: Hisame became this to Samidare after coming back from France, and she tries to be one for Yuuhi after begrudgingly accepting him into the household. As the story becomes more concerned with the fight and less with their personal lives, Hisame fades to the background, while Hakudou and Anima pick up a bit of the slack in her place.
- Cool Teacher: Yuuhi notes how her youth and beauty makes her well-regarded among the student body.
- Famous Ancestor: In the last chapter, it's revealed Hisame and Hangetsu are the ancestors of Anima and Animus.
- Hot Teacher: A beautiful professor in her late twenties. Hangetsu, in particular, is head over heels as soon as he meets her.
- My Sister Is Off-Limits: She's very wary of Yuuhi around Samidare, at first. After she gets to know him better, she still finds him suspect (not entirely without reason), but her protectiveness lessens.
- Out of Focus: In the latter half of the series.
- Pervert Revenge Mode: She does this twice to Yuuhi after he catches her in an embarrassing situation.
- Promotion to Parent: With their mother in France doing medical work and their father off at all times doing work for his novels, Hisame was the only one left to take care of Samidare.
- Smart People Wear Glasses: Being a college professor at her age should attest to that.
- Stern Teacher: From what little we actually see of her teaching, she seems to be a pretty harsh professor in Yuuhi's college.
- Strong Family Resemblance: She looks an awful lot like Haruko, save for the eye bags and shorter hair her mother has.
- Supreme Chef: Being the only consistent adult in the Asahina household, Hisame had to pick up a few traits to take care of Samidare. This includes making food for the house, which apparently is fantastic.
- Sweet Tooth: Hangetsu bribes this little detail out of Samidare and then uses it to help break the ice with Hisame by giving her a fancy, expensive cheesecake.
Shigure Asahina
Voiced by: Rintarou Nishi (Japanese), Ben Phillips (English)
Shigure is Samidare and Hisame's father. He's also a published author of action novels, with a sizable series under his belt. He stayed in Japan to raise Samidare for most of her life, but now travels extensively to research and find inspiration for his writing.
- Disappeared Dad: He watched over and raised Samidare in Japan until Hisame returned, then picked up and resumed traveling for his novels.
- Most Writers Are Writers: Yuuhi's favorite author, of an 11-volume action series.
- Pen Name: He publishes under the name Semishigure.
Haruko Asahina
Voiced by: Akiko Hiramatsu (Japanese), Victoria Vitti (English)
Haruko is Samidare and Hisame's mother. She's an accomplished and famous doctor, and threw all her energies into solving her second daughter's illness. Unfortunately, the best research opportunities were in a hospital in France, forcing her to live apart from Samidare and her husband, estranging mother and daughter as a result.
- Missing Mom: As a famous and highly-skilled doctor, when she isn't busy with researching a cure for Samidare's Soap Opera Disease, she's busy with other patients. She visits when she can, but given her hospital is in France, that's not often.
- Smart People Wear Glasses: As is common for this series.
- Tears of Joy: She sheds these when she and Samidare finally reunite just before she heads back to France.
Other Characters
Yuuhi's Grandfather
Voiced by: Hiroshi Naka (Japanese), Bryan Massey (English)
Yuuhi's grandfather is the spectre that haunts Yuuhi's nightmares. He was once a happy, caring man whose world fell apart when his son, Yuuhi's father, was murdered by his corrupt partner in the police, and Yuuhi's mother simply disappeared. Left to raise the eight-year-old Yuuhi but scarred by paranoia and loss, he became psychologically and emotionally abusive in a twisted attempt to "protect" his young grandson from the dangers of the world.
- Control Freak: After Yuuhi's father was murdered, he became completely paranoid, which he took out on Yuuhi in an absolutely nightmarish way. Yuuhi shows several signs of what might be PTSD at the start as a result.
- Dead Person Conversation: He has one with Yuuhi in the endgame, briefly talking about the circumstances of his death and then welcoming him back into the Amamiya household before leaving. It's kept ambiguous whether or not Yuuhi actually talked to him or if it was just an illusion Anima made up.
- Easily Forgiven: Subverted. Despite the grandfather feeling legitimate remorse over what he did to Yuuhi, the boy is understandably pissed when he asks for forgiveness, and it takes at least half a year before he's finally able to do so.
- Gruesome Grandparent: "Make no enemies, they'll stab you in the back. Make no friends, they'll stab you in the heart. Including you, including me, all men are trash." This was repeated to a young and impressionable Yuuhi three times a day for over ten years, sometimes while Yuuhi was bound in chains.
- Look Both Ways: How he finally dies. He was caught off guard by an oncoming truck, considering cars don't pass his street often.
- No Name Given: His name is never revealed.
Hiwatari
A girl attending the same college as Yuuhi and Mikazuki.- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: She just stops appearing roughly around the time summer vacation starts, as Yuuhi had no reason to be around college at the time. However, she doesn't reappear even when it ends. Her sister had better luck in that regard.
- Only One Name: Neither her, nor her sister, are given a first name.
Kanamari
Kanamari is a homeless man in late middle-age or early seniority who lives near the river. He's cynical and gruff, and also deeply depressed. He is also incredibly insightful, but his cynicism mars the usefulness of his advice and makes him unwilling to face his own demons.- Disappeared Dad: To his daughter.
- Only One Name: He's only referred to by his last name.
- Riches to Rags: He claims to have once been well-off and worldly, having traveled, written a book, and run a business that eventually collapsed.
- The Tramp: He lives in the bushes and weeds near the river, offers swordfighting lessons to Yayoi for cheap, and also has some questionable contacts that Nagumo takes advantage of.
- Weirdness Censor: It's strongly implied he may not have one, and that he can see the Biscuit Hammer. He is extremely perceptive, at the least.
- Wisdom from the Gutter: He's diluted with a hefty dose of stubborn pride and depression.
Detective Hiwatari
Voiced by: Miyu Terashima (Japanese), Marianne Bray (English)
Detective Hiwatari is Nagumo's former partner in the police, now left behind by his resignation. She and Nagumo were a capable duo, as she had periodic psychic flashes that warned of various crimes, allowing them to prevent some rather than just clean up afterward. She has a younger sister, also only known by their family name, who is a classmate of Yuuhi's at university.
- Comedic Shotacon: She keeps a photo of Nagumo's son with her at all times, and gets quite the Nosebleed over him.
- Only One Name: Neither she nor her sister are given a first name.
- Seers: She has a weak and random precognition ability, good enough to at least let her catch criminals in the act.
