Characters / Tiger And Bunny Sternbild First League Heroes

Tiger & Bunny Main Character Index
Main Characters | Sternbild First League Heroes
Sternbild City | Heroes’ Friends & Family | Enemies

General

• Bash Brothers: Kotetsu and Barnaby set the new standard for this by Season 2, as all First Leagues are paired up to encourage cooperation between heroes (and their corporate sponsors) instead of competing each other for Reality TV game points. And as expected, friction would come to play due to partnerships needing time to understand each other.
  • Sky High & Fire Emblem: The long-time favorite King of Heroes paired with the hero with the most offense power has created the most efficient and popular pairing of all First Leagues, but they lack open communication with one another.
  • Blue Rose & Golden Ryan: While both are proficient in both entertainment showmanship and superpower skills in their own right, the problem for this duo is their self-centeredness, and miscommunication.
  • Rock Bison & Origami Cyclone: Though the pair are considerate for each other, they are the weakest pairing of all First Leagues in terms of team image, and productivity; leading to their problems in branding themselves creatively.
  • Dragon Kid & Magical Cat: While the pair gets along very well, Magical Cat is controlled by an overbearing Stage Mom. Leading to Magical Cat becoming mentally conflicted on the worst possible timings and often became The Load for Dragon Kid.
  • Mr. BLACK & This Is Thomas: The most problematic of all First Leagues. However, by the time The case of Hugan & Mugan rolled in, Mr. Black was already the first to digest his Humble Pie and learned how to compromise by understanding his place in combat; allowing Thomas to focus on offense while he supports in defense.
• Engineered Heroics: Ultimately downplayed. As it turned out, most of the criminals taken down by the heroes are actually employed by Maverick so that the heroes look good and he can push his NEXT agenda without their knowledge. When this is discovered and Maverick is dead however, the criminals are genuine, as are the heroes.
• Experienced Protagonist:
  • Wild Tiger, Rock Bison, and Fire Emblem are all veterans by the start of Season 1.
  • Sky High, Blue Rose, and overnight-famed Barnaby are young celebrity superheroes, while Origami Cyclone and Dragon Kid are more of the young-and-hardworking heroes in comparison.
  • All First Leagues barring Magical Cat, Mr. BLACK, and He Is Thomas are full of solid experience by the time of Season 2.
• Fire-Forged Friends: Over the course of Season 1 (which spans about two years in-universe), this group of heroes go from being professional colleagues/rivals to genuine friends who protect, support, and trust each other.
• Fire, Ice, Lightning: The Girls' Team follows this dynamic. Fire for Fire Emblem, Ice for Blue Rose, and Lightning for Dragon Kid.
• Friendly Rival: Despite the competitive nature of the show and the fact that the heroes acknowledge that they're indeed rivals, they remain friendly to each other and are willing to collaborate if the situation calls for it. Or when they want to throw a surprise birthday party for someone.
• Multinational Team: While competitors rather than a proper team, based on their naming, the First Leagues run the gamut of Japanese (Kotetsu/Wild Tiger), Hispanic of possible Mexican descent (Antonio/Rock Bison), Russian (Ivan/Origami Cyclone), Chinese (Pao-Lin/Dragon Kid), and ridiculously American (Keith/Sky High).
• Politically Incorrect Hero: A very minor point, as the heroes respect and like Fire Emblem very much, but they consistently refer to him with both masculine or feminine pronouns, not that he seems to mind.
• Punch-Clock Hero: Played straight by being corporate employees and have off-hours in ordinary days. But they avert this in times of emergency, as all superheroes are in the business because they genuinely want to help people; with Sky High pulling night hours patrolling without pay rather than resting.
• Secret Identity: All First Leagues except for Barnaby (and Kotetsu) kept their true identities private.
• Secret Public Identity: Thomas and Ryan uses this format. While Thomas straight out uses his given name as part of his hero name, his own identity is private given his hero suit completely covers his appearance. Ryan is similar to Thomas in that Ryan’s given name is part of his hero name, but his face was revealed upon his debut in Sternbild while in costume. However, Ryan’s full name was not revealed to the public, and therefore is able to live his private life just by wearing sunglasses in public.
• Sensual Spandex: Underneath the armour, Kotetsu, Barnaby, Keith, and Ivan wear form-fitting body suits. Not that we're complaining.
• Serious Business:
  • Kotetsu and Antonio have a boxing match in Drama CD 6. Why? Because Kotetsu supposedly ate Antonio's pudding.
  • And Sky High working so hard to memorize his lines for Barnaby's birthday surprise in Season 1.
• Slave to PR: While this is true to all heroes, it's especially notable in Season 1, where heroes were less interested in saving the day and more interested in racking up popularity and showing off.
  • In particular, Barnaby is enthusiastic about maintaining his public image, while Blue Rose, and Origami Cyclone were known for essentially being branding tools. However, by the end of the first season, they become much more genuinely heroic, and have more freedom to do what they want.
  • Magical Cat became the new marketed idol superhero of Season 2 compared to Blue Rose who has more control of her own image.
  • Through a peek into a day of Kotetsu and Barnaby, it's noted even by Season 2, the superheroes still need to entertain their sponsors, such as attending parties, and go golfing with business titans.
• Superheroes Wear Capes: As of current, only Fire Emblem wears it. Wild Tiger also used to wear one for a whole 10 years of his career, but eventually switched to a modernized suit upon his transfer to Apollon Media.
• True Companions: Over the course of Season 1, all First Leagues became true heroes that depend and trust each other with their lives, Season 2 often has them going to each other for more personal problems instead of superheroics.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Kotetsu and Barnaby up until the first half of Season 1, then the two boys who came into the work force similar to them in Season 2—Subaru and Thomas repeated the custom. But unlike their upperclassmen, the notion of Subaru and Thomas being business partners is strained due to Thomas being socially closed-off, Subaru's hastiness, their immaturity, and their vastly different thought process.

Introduced in Season 1

Karina Lyle (Blue Rose)

<sup>Click to see full body image (S2) 

Click to see her in hero costume (S2)</sup> 

Voiced by: Minako Kotobuki (JP), Kari Wahlgren (EN)
Birthday: May 8
Power: Cryokinesis
Affiliation: Titan Industry
Superhero Sobriquets: "Super Idol of the World of Heroes."
Product Placement:

[S1/M1/M2] Pepsi / Pepsi NEX (zero-calorie Japan-exclusive drink developed by Suntory)

[S2] COOLish (LOTTE’s ice smoothie drink series)

A highschool girl with freezing powers with a passion for music who took the chance to enter the music business by signing up with Titan Industry as an Idol Singer superhero, all the while worked part-time as a pub singer in her private hours. By Season 2, she officially works as a professional superhero.

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• Action Girl: Fully evolves into this through the course of Season 1, and is stated to be one of the most powerful heroes according to data gathered by Lunatic.
• Cannot Spit It Out: Is unable to confess her feelings for Kotetsu.
• Catchphrase: "My ice is a little cold, but your crime has been put completely put on hold!"
• Catchphrase Interruptus: In S1 Episodes 4 and 5, Blue Rose was interrupted from reciting her catch phrase, with the former from when the suspect shoots at her, and the latter when Fire Emblem drives up and talks to her after she captures the second suspect. During the second time, it's lampshaded as she berates Fire Emblem not letting her finish.
• Color Character: Blue Rose.
• Combat Stilettos: Part of her ensemble, and Episode 4 highlights how impractical they are.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: Because she sees heroism as a way to an idol career, she's unfriendly and competitive with the other heroes. After Episode 4, she realizes that she likes saving people more than she thought and she starts being more amicable.
• Eating the Eye Candy: Admits to her herself that she's been having quite a bit of trouble keeping her eyes off Kotetsu.
• Even the Girls Want Her: The fifth drama CD hints that Pao-Lin has a crush on her.
• Everyone Can See It: Her crush on Kotetsu. Except him, obviously.
• Faux Action Girl: Deconstructed. She's a conflicted teen trying to live up to her public image as a domineering badass despite her combat abilities, a ridiculously impractical costume, and serious misgivings about her job. She still gets stuff done because she genuinely wants to save people, but it's telling that one of her named, publicized special moves, the 'Cutie Escape', involves ducking and running from whatever criminal menace is trying to reduce her to a smear on the pavement this week. She becomes a more genuine Action Girl later, though.
• Flower Motifs: Blue roses.
  • Her motif is derived from her Product Placement. Suntory (the company that developed Pepsi NEX) also helped develop the first genetically engineered blue rose.
• Freeze Ray: A variant. Ice manipulation is her natural power as a NEXT, but she uses a pair of water guns to focus and direct them (though Blue Rose needs to reload her water guns from time to time – she uses special clips she hides in her suit).
• Glass Cannon: She has rather powerful NEXT abilities, but when your sponsors make you wear that kind of suit into combat, you understandably shrink at the sight of guns. In fact everyone else except the rest of the "girls team" (Fire Emblem and Dragon Kid) wear armoured costumes... and those two can either vaporize or dodge bullets, respectively.
• Gratuitous English: When she does her Catchphrase she says "cold" and "hold" in English... more or less.
• Guns Akimbo: Has two freezing guns strapped to her thighs.
• Hero's First Rescue: A variation in S1 Episode 4, as the burning oil-drilling site rescue didn't inspire Blue Rose into superheroics so much as it convinced her not to give it up.
• Heroic BSoD: Played for Laughs in Episode 9, after learning that Kotetsu is a widower and has a daughter.
• Hot for Teacher: According to the Hero Gossip Book, her first crush was on her kindergarten teacher. Seems older men just do it for her...
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: In Season 2, she eventually decides to let go of her feelings for Kotetsu because if Kotetsu reciprocates, he'll no longer be the man that she loved.
• An Ice Person: She has the ability to create ice and cold.
• Idol Singer: She's seen giving, having given, or preparing for several concerts over the course of the series. She also sings in bars under her real identity in a couple of episodes.
• In the Name of the Moon: Has one as part of her hero persona. She finds it embarrassing.
  Blue Rose: My ice is a little cold, but your crime's been put on hold!
• Knight in Sour Armour: Loathes her outfit, her catchphrase, and her job, but keeps working anyways because it means she gets to save lives.
• Leitmotif: An instrumental version of GO NEXT plays almost anytime she makes an appearance in costume.
• Likes Older Men: Implied, since Kotetsu isn't the first time she's crushed on a guy with more than a few years on her, who is only the latest in a string of crushes going back to her Elementary school teacher.
• Loving a Shadow: In Episode 15 of Season 2, she admits to Ryan that she loves Kotetsu's current self who is a veteran superhero and a loving family man. She's afraid that if Kotetsu reciprocates her feelings, he'll become a different person. Because of this, she decides to spend more time with her hero friends so that she can finally let go of her feelings for Kotetsu.
• Love Epiphany: In Episode 14, she realizes she's in love with Kotetsu when a thief steals the towel he gave her.
• Male Gaze: Applied liberally in Episode 7... and everywhere else.
• Memento MacGuffin: Receives one from Kotetsu, in the form of a towel, in Episode 14.
• Most Common Superpower: Subverted — she uses padding.
• Ms. Fanservice: Her primary selling point both in-universe and out (apart from the singing bit in-universe)... much to her chagrin.
• Navel-Deep Neckline: The neckline of the costume plunges down to her midsection.
• Not Quite Flight: Can use her ice to launch herself from the ground, as seen in Episode 2. Can also can make "ice slides" like Iceman, as seen in Episode 7. She also propels herself up while freezing the water shot from her guns.
• Ordinary High-School Student: Fits the bill in her civilian identity. Her classmates have no idea that she is Blue Rose, and believe that she is running off for a part-time job (which she is).
• Required Secondary Powers: Enhanced cold resistance. Particularly given her costume.
• Romancing The Widower: The latter half of Season 1 Episode 25 shows that she's decided to go for it. She even provided the new picture for the main trope page!
• Romanticized Abuser: Deconstructed — despite the image of a dominatrix being one of her marketing points, poor Karina's a little unnerved when she reads some fan comments in the Drama CD that see her as this:
  Karina: It's weird, but I seem to mess up on everything I do lately. I don't have any motivation any more. So please verbally abuse me!' All right let's... wait, verbally abuse you? Ah, um... thank you for your comment, let's move along.
• Sadist: She's advertised as this by her sponsors, and she occasionally acts domineering when on the job, but in reality, she's anything but.
• Single Woman Seeks Good Man: She develops feelings for Kotetsu, who is the most dedicated to being a hero.
• Sliding Scale of Beauty: A World-Class level, again. She has a huge amount of fans in-series.
• Smitten Teenage Girl: Has a very obvious crush on Kotetsu. So much so she's horrified upon hearing he was married and has a daughter. But Episode 25 proves that she has fully recovered from this initial little setback and is intent on winning Kotetsu's heart. She seems to drop it by Season 2, as she makes no moves or advances on him, but there are hints of some lingering feelings, as she gets a blush when teased about the possibly of being his partner in superheroics.
• Spotlight-Stealing Squad: An in universe example. Blue Rose, as it turns out, doesn't know how to share the spotlight.
  Criminal: Who are you guys!?
  Tiger: You mean us? We're—
  Blue Rose: We're the heroes of this town! [steps on the criminals face] My name is Blue Rose. We keep the peace in Sternbild at all times!
  Tiger: ...What she said.
• Stripperiffic: Another reason why she dislikes frontline superheroing — costumes designed to maximize sex appeal aren't all that great for withstanding bullets.
• Threshold Guardians: Episode 4 is A Day in the Limelight episode about Blue Rose making a decision about quitting her job as a superhero, with various people urging her in both directions. Near the end of the episode, she gets a call from the bar she's been moonlighting at as a singer, and an alert that there's an emergency at the exact same time. She chooses the bar, but seeing her hero friends put their lives at risk on the news brings her back just in time for a Big Damn Heroes moment.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: The Girly Girl to Dragon Kid's Tomboy, because her hero outfit emphasizes her sex appeal, her fighting style matches the Guys Smash, Girls Shoot asethetic, and her civilian guise shows Long Hair Is Feminine.
• Took a Level in Badass: Becomes a much more competent and confident crimefighter over the course of the series.
• Triple Shifter: High school student, superhero, and part-time lounge singer.
• Tsundere: Towards Kotetsu.
  Blue Rose: Did you have a fight with Barnaby or something?
  Kotetsu: No, nothing like that. Are you worried about him?
  Blue Rose: What?! Of course not! [kicks him roughly in the Achilles tendon with the heel of her boot, shoves him off-stage and whispers to herself] Who do you think I'm doing all this for?
• Who Writes This Crap?!: She thinks her catchphrase is stupid, but her corporate sponsor won't let her change it. She complains about this in the first episode.

Keith Goodman (Sky High)

<sup>Click to see full body image (S2) 

Click to see him in hero suit (S2)</sup> 

Voiced by: Go Inoue (JP), Patrick Seitz (EN)
Birthday: November 11
Power: Aerokinesis
Affiliation: Poseidon Line
Superhero Sobriquets: "The Wind Wizard" (current), "The Wind Master" (former)
Product Placement:

[S1] Ustream (American streaming website) / Tamashii Nations (Bandai's subsidiary figure company)

[M1/M2] Ustream / Tamashii Nations / MOVIX / T-Joy (Japanese cinema chain)

[S2] PASSLOGY (Japanese web data protection service) / Tamashii Nations / Sugi Pharmacy / T-Joy / MOVIX

One of the most popular heroes in Sternbild and winner of at least two "King of Heroes" titles. As a result, he always attempts to be the ultimate role model to other heroes, to the point of always seeming to be "in character". He is able to fly with a rocket backpack and has the power to control the wind.

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• The Ace: A handsome All-American Face (whether or not Sternbild is anywhere near America) and current "King of Heroes". He avoids this trope's more insufferable traits, however, and comes across as a Nice Guy and even a bit of a ditz.
  • It's even pointed out by Agnes that these traits are part of his popularity.
• Always Someone Better: Overshadows Kotetsu so much that even criminals would rather be arrested by him.
• Badass Longcoat: His costume resembles an officer's greatcoat.
• Bash Brothers: By the time of The Rising he's shown to start being one with both Antonio and Ivan, becoming something of a Team Dad to the two. Notably, the three work together to fight Richard Max during the last act. In season 2 he develops this with Fire Emblem, as they team up for the Hero Duo program.
• Beware the Nice Ones: A Nice Guy through and through, though it'd be a bad idea to piss him off.
• Bishie Sparkle: Nathan teaches Keith how to generate them in order to impress a girl he likes.
• Blow You Away: Enough control for harmless yet painful wind blasts, deadly Razor Wind or even an explosion of supercompressed oxygen.
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: According to Agnes, his goofiness and non-sequiturs are part of his charm.
• Catchphrase: "Arigatou! Soshite, arigatou!" ("Thanks! And thanks again!") Kotetsu and Agnes comment on how Camp it is directly in front of him. He also uses his code name as one in various situations.
  • He also uses "Today my maximum wind speed is off the charts!" in big confrontations.
• Chaste Hero: Becomes incredibly nervous trying something as simple as holding a girl's hand.
• Cloudcuckoolander: He's been described by others as an airhead.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Understandably, as expected of the former "King of Heroes".
• Dating Catwoman: Keith becomes smitten with a quiet women he meets in the park, unaware that she's a malfunctioning android that goes berserk in the presence of heroes.
• Department of Redundancy Department:
  • He has the habit of repeating himself and again, he has the habit of repeating himself!
  • His dog is named John. In season 2, he gets a second dog named John John.
• The Ditz: Keith is not a very smart man.
• Does Not Like Spam: He dislikes celery and had to pinch his nose to drink the smoothies Fire Emblem made him.
• Dogged Nice Guy: To be fair he fell for a Deceptively Human Robot Girl. Not like she could return his feelings anyway.
• Dork Knight: Much more Knight than Dork, and there's Dork to spare.
• Evil-Detecting Dog: Episode 15, however, shows that his dog, John is also this.
• Fastball Special: With Rock Bison during the Rising.
• Foil: To Tiger. Both are idealistic heroes who want to do good but Keith has more success in the world of corporate heroism.
• Heroes Love Dogs: He uses his spare time to walk around his dogs, John and Johnjohn.
• Hidden Depths: The Rising reveals that while he may be Endearingly Dorky and loved by the masses for it, he feels a bit insecure about that people laugh at his genuine statements and emotions.
• Innocent Blue Eyes: A rather pure and kind hearted person with piercing blue eyes.
• ISO-Standard Urban Groceries: Keith's groceries in S1 Episode 15 had not one, but two protruding baguettes, and the greens of some carrots. There's an apple in there that he gives away as well, but it's not visible.
• Jet Pack: Sky High uses his NEXT powers to levitate, not fly – he needs his jet-pack to control his movements in the air.
• Kindhearted Simpleton: Agnes lampshades it by saying it's part of his appeal.
• Large Ham: He always makes a grand entrance with very big gestures and shouts his own sobriquet as his finishing move.
• Love at First Sight: He falls in love with a girl he meets at the park. It doesn't end well for him.
• Meaningful Name: Keith Goodman.
• Nice Guy: He is kind-hearted without a single bad thing to say about everyone else.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: When meeting Kaede for the first time in S1 Episode 22, Sky High good-naturedly puts his hand on her shoulder. In doing so, Sky High ends up transferring his NEXT power to her, making her lose the memory-manipulation ability she got from Maverick—meaning Barnaby's true memories couldn't be restored. Justified, since no-one, not even Kaede nor her dad knew about this setback until then.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: A blonde version of Tom Cruise, absolutely distinguishable with his smile.
• Not Quite Flight: His powers only allow him to levitate, he needs a Jet Pack to actually move around.
• Pet the Dog: In an event where he and Fire Emblem are presented as the best hero duo, he invited Tiger and Bunny to join, as he felt they were more deserving of the title.
• Razor Wind: Uses this against the Teddy Bear piloted mechas in Episode 10.
• Second Place Is for Losers: This fact brings some criticism from people in the streets and his boss, but it is his need to be a role model that made him lose confidence in his abilities as a superhero.
• Stuff Blowing Up: One of his most powerful attacks involves firing balls of hyper-compressed oxygen at the enemy, with predictable results.
• Virginity Makes You Stupid: Turns out he's a regular visitor of a Host Club — because he thinks it's just a regular cafe.
  "Why, you ask? It's because this place has the most delicious lemonade in the city!"
• Warts and All: Season 2 reveals that he intentionally hides his flaws so that people will like him, which causes friction with Fire Emblem, who wishes he would open up more. He learns to stop hiding his flaws so that they can work together to be a better team.
• Workaholic: He does patrolling all night even when there's no crime to speak off. No wonder he has so many points.

Nathan Seymore (Fire Emblem)

<sup>Click to see full body image (S2) 

Click to see them in hero suit (S2)</sup> 

Voiced by: Kenjiro Tsuda (JP), John Eric Bentley (EN)
Birthday: March 25
Power: Pyrokinesis
Affiliation: Helios Energy
Superhero Sobriquets: "The Bourgeois Open Flame Broil."
Product Placement:

[S1] FMV (Fujitsu's PC brand) / Animate (Japanese anime/game/manga retailer)

[M1/M2] Animate / Domino's Pizza

[S2] Animate / Aqua Clara (Japanese water provider) / Atsugi (Japanese lingerie brand)

An effeminate warrior with control over fire who often casually hits on the male heroes. Along with having a really outrageous appearance, Nathan is also shown to be very intelligent and observant. Nathan's company, Helios Energy, is self-owned, which also serves as his affiliate as a superhero.

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• The Ace: In Season 2, Nathan’s new partnership with Sky High has let them shine just as brightly as he does, and they're on course to be crowned The Kings of Buddy Heroes along with Sky High through their combined efforts. His business is booming, his superheroic feats are spectacular, and he’s the beloved Team Mom of the entire Sternbild hero community.
• Agent Peacock: Both Nathan's hero costume and civvies are impossible to overlook.
• All of the Other Reindeer: It is revealed in the Rising that Nathan's sexuality and self-identity caused a lot of alienation from others early in life, including from Nathan's parents.
• Ambiguous Gender Identity: Statements have been made in both directions as to whether Nathan is or is not some way non-binary (including agender or bigender).
• Animal Motif: The phoenix.
• Bash Brothers: Nathan teams up with Sky High in season 2.
• Berserk Button: Don't touch Nathan's car.
  "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING TO MY CAR, ASSHOLE?!"
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: An incredibly flamboyant superhero who also works as a (presumably rather successful) corporate CEO.
• Camp Gay: In the second season Nathan refers to himself as a gay man.
• Campy Combat: Has electric pink hair, effeminate mannerisms, and likes to hit on male heroes. Despite this, Nathan is a superhero known as Fire Emblem who can unleash fire in flashy, flamboyant poses.
• Color-Coded Secret Identity: Pink and Red.
• Cool Big Sis: Nathan is built on this trope, right down to the name (or, as it's pronounced in Japanese, "Nee-San").
• Cool Car: Appears to have several, though the one Nathan uses whilst superheroing is by far the coolest.
• Corporate-Sponsored Superhero: Unique among the core cast of heroes, Nathan is his own boss.
• Dark and Troubled Past: The Rising reveals that Nathan had a lot of trouble in his past before becoming a hero. His youth was heavily hinted to be nothing but harassments and ostracizing by other boys in their school, ridiculed in public, was disowned by parents. Luckily, Nathan has gotten to move on from this trauma.
• Force Field: Can create one with NEXT fire abilities powerful enough to vaporize bullets upon contact.
• Gayngst: The Rising gives some insight into some of the homophobia Nathan had to endure when younger. Surprising considering Japan's usual relegation of such Camp Gay-esque characters to Butt-Monkey status outside of Yaoi Genre works.
• Heroic BSoD: Suffers this for quite some time in The Rising due to being forced to confront old traumas by Johnny Wong.
• Hidden Depths: Besides being a sympathetic Team Mom, in Episode 7 Nathan is shown to be a good thinker and one who's not beyond having serious moments. It's also hinted in the show (and later confirmed by Word of God) that the Always Camp tendencies are at least partially affected. Also, despite being far from the best Hero according to the rankings, Nathan is still the most successful person on the team outside of HeroTV, being the CEO of several successful businesses.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: Looks a lot like Dennis Rodman, and is possible one for Ru Paul as well.
• No Sense of Personal Space: Likes to troll male colleagues this way.
• Non-Idle Rich: Nathan both runs his own company and is its representative hero.
• Older Than They Look: It's difficult to tell due to how well he takes care of himself, but Nathan is from the same older generation of heroes as Kotetsu and Antonio.
• Overshadowed by Awesome: Lunatic has the same powers as Nathan does, but Lunatic's powers are considerably more versatile. Nathan is also one of the lower-ranking NEXT in the HeroTV lists, which might have something to do with the fact that "shoot fire from your hands" is a power that's rather short on harmless (or at least non-lethal) uses for a job that's strictly Thou Shalt Not Kill. During the test in Episode 6, Kotetsu comments that - needing to prove their innocence - Nathan is being a lot more aggressive than usual with these NEXT powers, to the point that the building is at risk of collapse.
  • Even applies in-universe as public surveys done by the Hero TV people show an increased interest in Lunatic over the heroes.
• Platonic Life-Partners: Fire Emblem and Sky High are made partners when Hero TV establishes the Buddy System.
• Playing with Fire: Has the ability to create and direct fire.
• The Pollyanna: Nathan always manages to see the bright side of things, even in dire situations.
• Punny Name: At least in Japanese. "Nathan" is pronounced the same as "nee-san", meaning "Older sister", and a slang term for certain kinds of Camp Gay men in Japan.
• Required Secondary Powers: Enhanced heat resistance, seeing as Nathan can project building-melting fireballs without burning off an arm in the process.
• Shout-Out: Nathan's character design looks suspiciously similar to some of the crazier outfits and hairstyles of Dennis Rodman. Nathan's outfit is also a direct one to the type of outfits worn by the heroes of Science Ninja Team Gatchaman.
  • Nathan is also not the first Always Camp in anime with that name.
• Stealth Pun: Nathan in Japanese is pronounced as "Neisan" which rhymes with "neesan", meaning "older sister" or "Miss".
  • Nathan is an effeminate man with flaming superpowers.
• Superheroes Wear Capes: Wears a long cape with a flame motif.
• Team Mom: Happy to lend a sympathetic ear to other heroes' problems. In Rising, Dragon Kid says she admires Nathan because of both his strength and compassionate nature. Hearing this actually breaks Nathan out of a Heroic BSoD.
• Throw the Dog a Bone: After being outclassed by Lunatic and his popularity being on the lower end of things in Season 1, Season 2 states that Nathan’s partnership with Sky High has caused both to rocket in popularity even more, with Fire Emblem in particular getting more of a spotlight than Sky High.
• Took a Level in Badass: While Nathan was competent enough in Season 1, he was firmly a low/mid-ranked hero, stuck with a power that wasn't an ideal fit for superheroics and given little opportunity to really shine. Teaming up with the on-again, off-again King of Heroes, Sky High, in Season 2 brought out the best in him, letting him show off creative power use, impeccable teamwork, and rock-solid fundamental workplace skills. Nathan is now just as much of The Ace as his partner.
• Trans Equals Hypersexual: Nathan was assigned male at birth and dresses very flamboyantly and sexily (even wearing high heels), and could definitely be seen as being "exotic", uses female Japanese Pronouns,^note (though there are also cisgender homosexuals who do this as well—see "lavender linguistics") and self-describes as "one of the girls". Word of God states that Nathan considers themself to be "gender-free". Also, in the 6th Drama CD Nathan files a request to Yuri Petrov for a gender-neutral locker room. They act seductively towards men as well.
• Triple Shifter: Superhero and CEO who runs additional side businesses as a hobby.
• Twofer Token Minority: Black (even more of a minority in Japan than America) and gay.
• Vocal Dissonance: Nathan usually speaks in falsetto, but when pissed off you can hear his voice drop a few octaves.
• Watch the Paint Job: Poor Nathan's car was shot to hell in Episode 6. Nathan was understandably upset.
• Where Everybody Knows Your Flame: Owns a gay bar. In fact it's the one that sponsors Nathan's career as a hero.
• The Worf Effect: The downside of becoming The Ace in Season 2 alongside Sky High is that while Nathan is allowed to be incredibly competent, he tends to be just as swiftly removed from play as he is whenever a stronger villain shows up.

Antonio Lopez (Rock Bison)

<sup>Click to see full body image (S2) 

Click to see him in hero suit (S2)</sup> 

Voiced by: Taiten Kusunoki (JP), Travis Willingham (EN, Season 1),Aaron LaPlante (EN, Season 2)
Birthday: December 3
Power: Invulnerability
Affiliation: Kronos Foods
Superhero Sobriquets: "The Bull Tank of the West Coast."
Product Placement:

[S1] Gyu-Kaku (Japanese barbecue restaurant chain)

[M1] Gyu-Kaku / Nissin Food's Futomen Doudou: Hybrid (Nissin Food's instant noodle series)

[M2] Sukiya (Japanese restaurant chain) / Nissin Food's Futomen Doudou

[S2] KARATEZ (aka. Karaoke no Tetsujin. Japanese Karaoke chain) / Nozaki’s (Japanese canned food brand.) / Buffalo (electronics brand) / YOSTAR (mobile game company) / Shinshu Aburaya Seiemon (Japanese food brand) / Iris Ohyama (Japanese multi-lifestyle goods manufacturer)

A friend of Kotetsu’s since they were teenagers. His power is his strong, resilient skin and superior strength. He has a bull-themed suit.

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• The Alcoholic: Frequently shown either at a bar or wanting to get a drink in his freetime, probably due to his struggles as a hero.
• Animal Motif: Bulls, obviously.
• Animal-Themed Superbeing: Bull, as mentioned.
• Awesome, but Impractical: The spikes all over his costume serve little purpose other than looking cool and getting stuck in things, something he lampshades.
• Bash Brothers: In season 2 when he teams up with Origami Cyclone.
• The Big Guy: Though ironically this doesn't mean he's the strongest one.
• Borrowed Catch Phrase: In The Rising he borrows Blue Rose's catchphrase (and Sky High's pose) in an attempt to stay relevant. Mario says it's "just embarrassing" in his commentary.
• Butt-Monkey: Shares the job with his long-time buddy, Kotetsu, and even takes up his place as lowest-ranked hero (not counting Origami Cyclone) post-Time Skip.
• Carpet of Virility: A type 1 example,
• Delinquents: In the Drama CD, he used to be one until he met Kotetsu who he judged a Worthy Opponent and is now his drinking buddy.
• Expy: Of Shunji Nagira, from another Sunrise series, Witch Hunter Robin.
• Human Cannonball: His bosses literally fire him to action!
• Innocently Insensitive: Mixed with Alcohol-Induced Idiocy, in season 2, Antonio jokes that Ivan's hero name, Origami Cyclone, doesn't really fit since Ivan is more of a soft breeze (with how he moves in and out of the background). It hurts Ivan as the name is related to how he first used his NEXT powers to help people. Antonio is devastated when he finds out the truth and spends the second half of the episode trying to make things right to his partner.
• Iron Butt Monkey: His powers make him ideal for the Butt-Monkey job. Poor guy.
• Let's Meet the Meat: A variation — he has a bull motif to his costume and his main advertiser is a chain of barbecue restaurants.
• Mighty Glacier: He's incredibly tough, but also very slow, making it easy for villains to simply just run away if he's preoccupied. Fortunately, in Season 2, he's given some boots to help mitigate this factor.
• Nigh-Invulnerability: His main ability.
• Out of Focus: Out of all the heroes, Antonio is the least expanded on in all of Season 1 and the first half of Season 2, it's not even shown his motivation for being a hero, or how he met Kotetsu and formed a friendship with him.
• Overshadowed by Awesome: His ability is one of the broadest of the main heroes, and is the only one that is constantly active. And while it seems like his abilities are fantastic, he's treated as a Butt-Monkey mostly because Kotetsu and Barnaby have much more potent versions of his abilities, even if they're limited.
• Powered Armour: Given his Nigh-Invulnerability, though, may be more about boosting his strength than his durability. It later on gives him some hover boots to boost his mobility.
• Real Men Wear Pink: Enjoys sewing in his spare time.
• Super-Strength: Tiger and Barnaby are stronger when charged up, but he's still able to lift an armored car over his head. Might not be an explicit power of his, though - see the Powered Armour entry above.
• Team Dad: Properly becomes this for the new heroes of Season 2, he attempts to teach them valuable advice, attempts to cheer them up when they're upset about something, and even prioritizes their safety when Fugan and Mugan come around.
• Testosterone Poisoning: In the Drama CD he goes into a long speech about MANLINESS.
• This Is a Drill: Has two fully-functional ones mounted on his shoulders. Rarely actually uses them, due to both their impractical location and the non-lethal nature of superheroics in Sternbild.
• Throw the Dog a Bone: Season 2 shows a lot more usefulness of his abilities rather than focusing on how Awesome, but Impractical his suit is (which actually becomes more practical), allowing him to get time to shine as a hero more often and play Team Dad to the new heroes of the season.
• Unusual Eyebrows: The fiery kind.
• Walking Shirtless Scene: His shirt gets absolutely shredded in Season 2, leaving his body exposed from the hips up.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Director's notes revealed his acrophobia. Whether or not it's due to his company's ideas of transporting him to action has yet to be shown.

Ivan Karelin (Origami Cyclone)

<sup>Click to see full body image (S2) 

Click to see him in hero suit (S2)</sup> 

Voiced by: Nobuhiko Okamoto (JP), Michael Sinterniklaas (EN)
Birthday: September 19
Power: Shapeshifting
Affiliation: Hesperides Finance
Superhero Sobriquets: "The Master of Disguise."
Product Placement:

[S1] .ANIME (Anime goods website) / Livedoor (Japanese blogging service) / NamuChara Ouendan (of Namco) / Takasu Clinic (Beauty clinic)

[M1] Bandai Visual Club / NamuChara Ouendan / Takasu Clinic / MiniMini (Japanese housing service)

[M2] Bandai Visual Club / Namja Town (Namco's Namco Parks amusement park section) / DMM (Japanese ACG online retailer) / Oedo Onsen (Japanese hot springs chain)

[S2] Namco / Bandai Shokugan (Bandai’s gacha department) / Sanko-Seika (Japanese snack manufacturer) / A-ON Store (Anime goods retailer) / Don Quijote (Japan’s Tax-free goods retailer) / O~ii O-chya (Itoen’s tea drink series) / OLFA (Japanese cutting tools manufacturer) / Sunshine City (Attraction site in Tokyo)

A Japanophile in a samurai and ninja themed costume who initially engages himself more in advertising than in actual crime-fighting.

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• Attention Whore: Enforced. Since his NEXT powers are completely unsuited to the flashy superheroics that HeroTV demands, he's reduced to being a walking billboard photobombing HeroTV events. He eventually grows out of this, and uses his shapeshifting to blend in with criminals and subdue them before they know what happened.
• Bash Brothers: He teams up with Rock Bison in season 2.
• Beneath the Mask: An awkward, shy boy when not in costume.
• Berserk Button: Season 2 reveals that he's really defensive about his name, even going into Tranquil Fury when Bison (jokingly) insults it when drunk.
• Big Ol' Eyebrows: Has really thick and prominent eyebrows.
• Blessed with Suck: Sure, shapeshifting sounds like a cool power but, if your job is to fight criminals on reality TV and you don’t gain the powers or strength of those you become, it's very hard to use this effectively. Fortunately, he learns to make up for it by being a major Combat Pragmatist.
• Combat Pragmatist: Grows to make up for his lack of offensive power by playing dirty, something he has mixed feelings about.
• Dork Knight: He's awkward and shy but he's determined to be a useful hero.
• Dub-Induced Plot Hole: A big part of him is being more in advertising than crime fighting at first. The sponsor logos being removed in the Netflix version is particularly problematic in this case, as it makes him appearing to be recognized by the media for that reason make no sense as he no longer has his sponsors visible to show off. Even when ads return in Season 2 and the movies, he's moved past being seen in the background.
• Fights Like a Normal: Due to his ability being situational in combat, he resorts to fighting through sneak attacks, his shuriken and his katana.
• Formal Characters Use Keigo: Invoked. As Origami Cyclone he speaks like a stereotypical samurai complete with the appropriate Japanese Pronouns and sentence enders, de gozaru.
• Fuuma Shuriken: In costume has one on his back, but seems to be purely aesthetic. Though as it turns out when he uses it to escape Rotwang's cell in Episode 24 and to fight in Episode 25, it's actually an Absurdly Sharp Blade.
• Glory Hound: Takes this to its logical (though fairly harmless) extreme. He's always in the thick of the action, but never for one moment longer than is necessary for the media to recognize his presence. As a result, his catalogue of actual heroic deeds is near-vanishingly small (HeroTV even calls him "Hidden Hero"). Episode 8 reveals that it's due to his lack of confidence in his abilities to accomplish anything, at least not until Kotetsu inspires him to make the effort.
• Heroic Self-Deprecation: He thinks his power is worthless for saving people and hates himself for the incident with Edward in where he hesitated to take action.
• Highly-Visible Ninja: Yes, a ninja-themed hero whose main purpose is advertising. Curiously enough, he has a power that makes him very hard to spot indeed.
• The Infiltration: He does this to find the Ouroboros hideout.
• I Will Wait for You: Vows to wait for Edward to consummate his prison time and fix their broken friendship.
• It's All My Fault: Back when he was still in training, Ivan hesitated to help Edward stop a hostage situation, which led to the latter accidentally killing the hostage and destroying any chance of a superhero career before it even started.
• Let's Get Dangerous!: In the finale. Notably, he stopped Maverick from escaping while everyone else was busy with Kotetsu not being dead.
• Logical Weakness: He can become others but can't use their abilities. This is useful for disguises but not for combat since he only has the strength of a normal human being, and occasionally must up against superpowered criminals.
• Master of Disguise: Thanks to his powers, he's got a bit of a head start on other examples of the trope.
• McNinja: A Russian ninja operating in Not-Manhattan.
• Non-Action Guy: Even when he starts applying his power. Most of his work is either undercover or in rescuing, though later episodes show him engaging and holding his own in hand to hand combat.
• Non-Indicative Name: You wouldn't think a guy called Origami Cyclone would be a Russian whose superpower is shapeshifting. It would be a Meaningful Name, as Origami Cyclone comes from him shifting into his teacher to calm his classmates during a hurricane. As such, it holds a lot of meaning to him.
• Not So Harmless: Lunatic measures the heroes by threat level. Origami Cyclone is in his top three alongside Blue Rose and Barnaby.
• Occidental Otaku: His living quarters are modeled after traditional Japanese architecture.
• Saying Sound Effects Out Loud: Occasionally makes Audible Sharpness noises.
• Shrinking Violet: Of all things, this is his personality under the costume.
• Situational Sociability: Ivan is much hammier as Origami Cyclone to hide the insecurities he feels about being a hero when out of costume.
• Stealth Hi/Bye: Uses his hero status almost exclusively for photobombing purposes initially.
• Stealth Expert: Once he starts to become a hero more actively, he's surprisingly good at tricking his enemies and surprising them at the last minute.
• Took a Level in Badass:
  • While he wasn't able to earn enough points at the end of the HeroTV season to dig himself out of last place, it's implied that he's continued to be more confident and active in his superhero work after Episode 8. Compare him simply popping up in the background in the beginning of the series to his parts in the final battle.
  • By the time of the second movie, he's doing his best to become more efficient in battle to help support the other heroes, which is shown when he ends up being instrumental in helping Rock Bison and Sky High take down Richard Max.
  • Season 2 has him using his ability to not only disguise himself on the battlefield, but to distract and misdirect villains into thinking they're fighting another hero.
• This Looks Like a Job for Aquaman: He's the lowest ranked hero on HERO TV but has the ability to shapeshift. The problem is that his power is completely useless in a television show where he has to catch and jail crooks and thugs. By the time Jake Martinez terrorized Sternbild City, it's the perfect time to use his power into good use. Though he did get captured and tortured by Martinez, he began to deploy other skills to fight. Eventually, he grows out of this trope and proves more creative uses of his power and making use of weaponry.
• Threshold Guardians: In Episode 8, the return of a vengeful former friend forces Ivan to confront his feelings of inadequacy as a Hero which his theatrics hide. After a pep talk from Kotetsu, he manages to put his powers to good use and resolves to be a real Hero.
• Troubled, but Cute: Has shades of this.
• Unusual Eyebrows: Has eyebrows that sweep upward.
• Voice Changeling: Ivan can perfectly mimic the voice of whomever he's transformed into, but is also capable of switching to his own voice even without changing back.
  • In a manga chapter, after accidentally getting Keith photographed in costume without his helmet, Ivan shapeshifts into him while using his own voice to make an announcement. Everyone recognizes the voice as Origami Cyclone's, and believes that it was Origami wearing the wrong costume rather than Sky High himself, and thus causing the public to lose interest as Ivan is not very popular.
• Voluntary Shapeshifting: His superpower is the ability to copy the appearance of any individual he has touched. As shown in Episode 21, he can also blend into the wall.
• Walking Armory: Once he's decided to be serious about being a hero, he starts using a katana, his fuuma shuriken and his usual shuriken all at his disposal.
• What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?: Feels this way about his power. By the later episodes and the second movie, he's shown to have grown out of this and has begun using his powers more creatively, such as using them to blend in with his surroundings at one point to sneak up on and capture a criminal.

Pao-Lin Huang (Dragon Kid)

<sup>Click to see full body image (S2) 

Click to see her in hero costume (S2)</sup> 

Voiced by: Mariya Ise (JP), Laura Bailey (EN, Season 1), Cassandra Lee Morris (EN, Season 2)
Birthday: April 29
Power: Fulgurkinesis
Affiliation: Odysseus Communication
Superhero Sobriquets: "The Lighting Bolt Kung-Fu Master."
Product Placement:

[S1] Calbee (Japanese food company) / DMM

[M1/M2] Calbee / DAM (Japanese karaoke chain)

[S2] Ichiran Ramen (Ramen restaurant chain) / Jyagariko (Calbee’s snack series)

A young Kung-Fu fighter armed with a staff and able to produce lightning. Tomboyish by nature, she has a good heart and is often willing to help someone out if need be. She has a vaguely Chinese-styled uniform.

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• The Ace: It's not explicitly noted, but Pao-Lin is one of the youngest professional heroes, and the most skilled by a long shot in her age group. To put it in perspective, she's been proficient with her powers at the age of 13 back in Season 1, compared to Lara and Subaru, who are currently 14 and 17 respectively in age, frequently struggle with their powers; all the while Pao-Lin is also shown to have expanded her electrical abilities, as shown in The Rising, something no other hero has been shown to do.
• Action Girl: A top notch hero on par with her colleagues and the only female hero who fights in close combat.
• Ambiguously Gay: Although there are no hints of it in the actual series, it's strongly implied in one of the Drama CDs that she has a crush on Karina/Blue Rose.
• Animal Motif: Eastern dragons.
• Animal-Themed Superbeing: Dragons.

• Bash Brothers: Or rather, Bash Sisters. She teams up with a new hero, Magical Cat in season 2.
• Big Eater: The scenes where we see her eating show that she can eat a large amount of food in one sitting.
• Bruce Lee Clone: Chinese martial artist? Check. Yellow jumpsuit? Check. Dragon theme? Check.
• Chest Insignia: An eastern dragon.
• Chinese Girl: She doesn't have an accent, but her hero costume is all about this.
• Color-Coded Eyes: Green eyes to signify exoticism (what with being Chinese and all) as well as her rather spirited, active personality.
• Comically Missing the Point:
  Fire Emblem: Let's show them our Girl Power!
  Blue Rose: One of us doesn't fit that theme!
  Dragon Kid: I'm sorry. It's because I'm a tomboy, isn't it?
• Combo Platter Powers: She's got the ability to shoot lightning at will, move incredibly fast, and later shape her lightning however she wants.
• Friend to All Children: She really comes to care for the Mayor's baby son, despite being reluctant at first.
• Girliness Upgrade: Actually subverted. In the end of the first season, she is shown with her parents wearing a dress. But by the time of the movie, she is even more tomboyish with her hair cut much shorter and wearing a suit at a ceremony.
• Hydro-Electro Combo: In season 2 when she teams up with the water wielding Magical Cat.
• Kill Stealer: Has a habit of leaping in at the last moment to steal another hero's arrest, though it seems to be unintentional. She gets called out on it by Blue Rose.
• Lightning Bruiser: She's so fast she can literally outrun cars due to her NEXT ability being one of the most flexible, and she's able to also pack quite a punch.
• Little Miss Badass: The youngest member of HeroTV, but on the same level as everyone else.
• Mukokuseki: Unusual case considering the series is usually pretty good about averting it. She's Chinese, but has blond hair and green eyes, and it appears to be natural given her parents' appearance.
• Shock and Awe: She has the power to generate electricity.
• Shooting Superman: In Episode 9, the villains of the week attempt to use a taser on her. Given her powers, it doesn't end well for them.
• Short Tank: Gets this design for The Rising, with a side helping of Lady Looks Like a Dude due to her shortened hair and flat chest.
• Shout-Out: She wears a yellow jumpsuit with black stripes on the side (although some viewers may mistake it for a shout out to another film that referenced it).
  • Also, her costume resembles G Gundam's Dragon Gundam.
• Something Person: Dragon Kid
• Tomboy: Naturally this way, and according to Word of God, she's an aversion of the tendency for tomboys to outgrow it.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: The Tomboy to Blue Rose's Girly Girl, because her hero outfit is much less feminine, her fighting style matches the Guys Smash, Girls Shoot aesthetic, and she has Boyish Short Hair. In season 2 she keeps the dynamic with Magical Cat.
• Tomboy with a Girly Streak: Despite being a Tomboy, she is very effective as a babysitter for the baby and gets into it with Nathan and Karina to help Keith get a date.
• Took a Level in Badass: She aims to accomplish becoming a better hero in the Rising. She succeeds.
• X-Ray Sparks: A side effect of Dragon Kid's powers against a criminal with a clown makeup at the beginning of S1 Episode 9.

Introduced in Tiger & Bunny: The Rising

Ryan Goldsmith (Golden Ryan)

<sup>Click to see full body image (S2) 

Click to see him in hero suit (S2)</sup> 

Voiced by: Yūichi Nakamura (JP), Henry Dittman (EN)
Birthday: June 19
Power: Gravity Control
Affiliation: Apollon Media [Movie], Titan Industry [S2]
Superhero Sobriquets: "The Wandering Prince of Gravity."
Product Placement:

[M2] BANPRESTO / DARTSLIVE (Japanese Darts gaming manufacturer and game promoter) / TANITA

[S2] Bandai / Premium Bandai / Ichiban Kuji (Bandai’s anime lottery goods series)/ eyecity (Japanese contact lenses brand) / DARTSLIVE

A rookie hero transferred to Sternbild City to take up a lucrative contract with Apollon Media’s new management. He’s paired up with Barnaby to help promote the latter's return to the First League hero set and to act as a replacement for the retiring Kotetsu. Despite his massive ego and penchant for overblown bravado, he proves to be an exceptionally competent and driven crime fighter.

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• Animal Motifs: Griffins, complimenting the mascot of Apollo Media. Based on Season Two's English script, Titan Industry leased Golden Ryan's hero suit from Apollon Media to let Ryan continue to wear this suit.
• Ascended Extra: A younger version of him can be seen on a billboard advertising "Gravity" before his proper appearance in the Rising.
• Attention Whore: He spends a lot of time and effort trying to make sure people are paying attention to himself instead of other heroes. In The Rising, he even goes so far as to use his powers in ways that will hit other heroes just to ensure that he gets credited for something.
• Audience Surrogate: As the hero who debuts in between Seasons 1 and 2, Ryan is the perfect character to serve as bridge between old Season 1 audiences and new viewers who were just introduced to Tiger & Bunny through Season 2; holding the rights to ask questions to his peers about anything he missed out, and to give the newbie heroes a shove when they touch on past events that are not their concern. Such as stopping Subaru from asking sensitive topics regarding Barnaby, hearing about Kotetsu’s daughter Kaede for the first time while all heroes before him met her in person already,^note Though the truth is, Ryan did met Kaede since The Rising; justified as he was simply full of himself and overlooked Kaede as a civilian Barnaby saved in Justice Day. and Agnes‘ weight gain.
• Bling of War: His hero costume.
• The Bus Came Back: Ryan left Sternbild at the end of The Rising to work in another city, then comes back to Sternbild half a year later signing up with Titan Industry to team up with Blue Rose on Season 2.
• But Now I Must Go: He leaves Sternbild City at the end of The Rising. Partially due to getting better offers elsewhere, and also because he doesn't want to break up the partnership between Kotetsu and Barnaby. Ultimately, he does return on Season 2.
• Charlie Brown from Outta Town: The other heroes briefly believe that he's Kotetsu operating under a new alias.
• Catchphrase: Not something promoted as such by his sponsors, but he's a fan of saying "Kiss my boots".
• The Dandy: And in this franchise, that's saying something.
• Destructive Savior: His powers don't allow a lack of collateral damage due to how his powers work in an area rather than on an individual basis, therefore it's likely even heroes would get caught in the crossfire.
• The Gadfly: He certainly enjoys pushing Barnaby's buttons; it's almost like Kotetsu never left.
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: He has some nasty looking scars all along his back that were obtained between The Rising and Season 2.
• Gravity Master: Over a given area. Its most common use is to incapacitate anyone caught in it through sheer crushing pressure, and Ryan has enough power to break through any degree of Super-Toughness and enough control to keep it effective but non-lethal on any target.
• Heroic BSoD: On a mission in between The Rising and Season two, Ryan had an entire building collapse on him with no other colleagues willing to help him; and was outright left to die. Ryan was lucky to be rescued and rehabilitate, but he was traumatized ever since; always finds himself scared of losing the friends he trusts. What’s worse is that he is stuck with deep physical scars from that mission on his back to continue to haunt him about it.
• I Am Not Left-Handed: He can extend and reshape his gravity field. It doesn't completely negate his power's weaknesses, but it's useful for giving a nasty surprise to anyone who thinks they've figured him out.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: In his debut movie, Ryan reflects a lot of Barnaby's early traits by being somewhat self centered and uncaring about cooperation with heroes outside of Barnaby. He's similarly dismissive of Kotetsu and has no real care of what other heroes think of him. However, it's shown he can be rather selfless, as he's willing to put himself in harm's way to save the day without any benefit in it for him, and he's willing to let Kotetsu and Barnaby take the spotlight and leaves to another city rather than try to make things about him. Season 2 continues this trend, as while he still has a big ego and can be overbearing, he truly is protective of Blue Rose and values their partnership.
• Logical Weakness: His power is basically to pin things down in an immediate area of effect right in front of him, but it requires him to stay stationary to make use of it, which means anyone mobile enough or able to control things outside his area of effect are perfectly capable of rendering him out of the fight. However, he can stretch his field, which allows him to have a bit more range, if at the cost of reducing the width of it.
• Mighty Glacier: His power leaves him completely stationary while he's using it and has a rather middling area of effect, but if it catches you, you're done.
• Mirror Character: He has some of the most frustrating traits of both Barnaby and Kotetsu mixed into one, an older, experienced hero who still cares about points and ratings the way Barnaby did when he first started—and a trait of his that has been softened considerably after time with Kotetsu.
• No Sympathy: He has no pity to give when it came to the heroes attacked in Oldhabi. Because those very heroes were the ones who left him for dead.
• Palette Swap: His mask is basically a golden version of Wild Tiger's minus the mohawk and with wings attached. This is hardly surprising, given that Saito also designed his suit. His hairstyle is also a blonde and neater version of Kotetsu's.
• Punny Name: Ryan is a homonym for Lion, which his suit and icon heavily resemble.
• Secret-Keeper: He keeps Karina's feelings for Kotetsu to himself after she confesses about it.
• Smug Super: Ryan's complete and total self absorption is justified for all the power he has at his disposal.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: A new superhero working for Apollon media with a similar hero suit design to Wild Tiger's, who he is replacing. Ryan himself doesn't really like being compared to his predecessor and would rather people judge him by his own merits.
• Trauma Button: In Oldhabi, the city he worked in once he left Sternbild, Gregory Sunshine caused him to lose control of his powers and he was seriously injured when a building collapsed on top of him. The other heroes he was working with refused to help him, as they only saw him as competition. After that incident, Ryan gets paranoid whenever he presumed his relationships turn wobbly with the people he trusts; opting to leave the city as soon as he confirms them to be true.
• With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility: While this is the moral standard to all superheroes, Ryan showcased an example as he dealt with Fugan and Mugan. Anyone who has been under the effects of his gravity powers can tell you, with full effort, his powers could easily crush anything into dust. On his first round with Fugan and Mugan, had not Blue Rose told him to hit the breaks, Ryan would’ve killed Fugan and Mugan on the spot.

Introduced in Season 2

General

• Kid Hero: All of them are teenagers with Lara being the youngest at 14 years-old.
• Naïve Newcomer: All of them are new to Sternbild's hero scene with Thomas and Lara being new to heroing in general. All of them try to stand out among the cast but their inexperience and youth really shows when contrasted against the much more experienced old cast.
• New Meat: All three of them are rookies. Lara and Thomas are fresh debuts, with Subaru being wee-slightly experienced than Lara and Thomas in the Hero business, but is still a new hero to work in Sternbild.
• Well-Trained, but Inexperienced: What their issues boil down to. All of them have powerful abilities that they can use well but their inexperience in the field causes them no shortage of problems. Lara get's scared easily which makes her powers go out, Subaru is too hot-headed to focus his shields or time them right, while Thomas has a lot of emotional baggage that keeps him from cooperating with others. Time will tell when they grow out of them.

Lara Tchaikoskaya (Magical Cat)

<sup>Click to see full body image (S2) 

Click to see her in hero costume (S2)</sup> 

Voiced by: Tomori Kusunoki (JP), Corina Boettger (EN)
Birthday: July 16
Power: Water Manipulation
Affiliation: Odysseus Communication
Superhero Sobriquets: "The Enchanted Frenzied Feline."
Product Placement: OIOI Marui Group (Japanese fashion retailer) / LINE Manga (LINE’s webcomic site)

A 14-year-old young NEXT who is marketed as an idol superhero, and is partnered with Dragon Kid.

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• The Baby of the Bunch: Downplayed but very much present. She is the youngest hero as of Season 2 and unlike her buddy Dragon Kid who was the youngest in Season 1 she is babied much more by her colleagues. Justified since unlike her buddy she acts her age both off and on the field while Pao-Lin was extremely efficient and professional on the field with her immaturity only showing in her off hours.
• Calling the Old Woman Out:
  • Tells her mother to shut up when she gleefully tells Lara that it's a good thing Pao-Lin got defeated and frozen because Lara can now take the spotlight herself and that it was karma at work. Lara quickly leaves when she realized what she's done, though.
  • Does it again at the end of Part 2 where she tells her mother that her and Kid are buddies and that they aren't anything like her and Pamela, walking out on her right after.
• Children Forced to Kill: Ends up fatally wounding Mugan in an attempt to protect Thomas, which clearly shocks her to the core.
• Foil: To her partner, Dragon Kid; particularly to Dragon’s character during Season One. Both are much younger than their fellow heroes, but are immature in different ways. Dragon Kid, aged 13 back in Season One, was very confident and already on par with her colleagues in terms of combat skills, and only lagged behind in emotional maturity which led to her being distant towards her parents; because she felt like they didn't understand her. Lara on the other hand, handles social etiquette well for a 14-year-old, but lags behind in combat experience and self-confidence; and is obliged to her mother's expectations and demands which ends up nearly killing her when her mother pushes her to pursue criminals even though she was terrified which Lara knows triggers her Power Incontinence.
• Heart Is an Awesome Power: Magical Cat's ability to shoot water from her hands doesn't sound impressive but she more than makes up for it by using it as a conductor for Dragon Kid's electrical abilities and she's capable of conjuring blasts as powerful as fire hoses.
• Hydro-Electro Combo: In season 2 when she teams up with the electricity wielding Dragon Kid.
• Irony: She's a hydrokinetic with a cat theme, even though Cats Hate Water.
• Magical Girl Warrior: Her costume has this trope covered. She even incorporates a cutesy sceptre in her attacks.
• Making a Splash: She has the power to generate water.
• Nice Girl: Far and away the most pleasant and outgoing of the heroes with the possible exception of Kotetsu.
• Power Incontinence: Downplayed. She has her powers under control most of the time but episode 6 reveals that she can't use them properly when she's nervous or scared which is a problem when she has to use them when criminals are shooting at her. Seemingly grows out of it by the end of episode 13 after finding an encouraging note Pao-Lin hid in a charm she made for her and finally gaining the courage to use her abilities at full power in a fight.
• Rose-Haired Sweetie: Her hair and eyes are lavender and she's one of the nicest heroes.
• Stage Mom: Her mother, a bitter ex-athlete, pushes her to be a more popular hero even at the expense of her safety, telling her to treat Dragon Kid as a rival instead of a partner.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: The Girly Girl to Dragon Kid's Tomboy.
• Water Is Womanly: She has water powers and is sweet and girly.

Subaru Sengoku (Mr. BLACK)

<sup>Click to see full body image (S2) 

Click to see him in hero suit (S2)</sup> 

Voiced by: Shoya Chiba (JP), Robbie Daymond (EN)
Birthday: January 17
Power: Barrier
Affiliation: Jungle
Superhero Sobriquets: "The Man in Black." (Not the trope.)
Product Placement: S.H.Figuarts

A new hero to Sternbild who was transferred from Panjani City, where his hero name was formerly “Hello Goodbye.” His current partner is He Is Thomas.

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• Attention Whore: Derived from his stress to rack up HeroTV crime-fighting points and impress his agency, Subaru is prone to ignore mission control commands and charge head-on into battle grounds in attempt to compete against other First Leagues for the spotlight; which includes competing side-by-side against his partner, Thomas.
• Barrier Warrior: He has the power to generate barriers.
• Berserk Button: He's absolutely seething when people don't match up to his expectations of what heroes should be; and hearing Thomas' reason for entering the hero business was enough for Subaru to blow up. To be fair, that's Subaru's own flaw in hotheadedness for not understanding Thomas' full story.
• Disappointed by the Motive: Being a hero for any reason other than to protect people instantly gets you on his bad side.
• Everyone Has Standards: Though Subaru doesn't see eye-to-eye with Thomas, but as a dutiful "sempai," Subaru is as concerned as every other First Leagues about Thomas' mental state as more red flags showed up.
• Hotblooded: Comes with being the Stock Shōnen Hero. Played with in that he is so hotblooded that it actually causes problems since his powers don't work if he's not focused; which includes being angry.
  • This characteristic is also Subaru's communication fog; barricading the thought processes between his coworkers and himself. Thomas seemed to have grasp it by taking physical actions in stopping Subaru from bugging him when he needs to focus on social media info gathering to track down Pao-Lin and Ivan as they were abducted by Hugan and Mugan.
• Humble Pie: Thanks to Subaru's Leeroy Jenkins method of a slip up from S2.E2's Case of Urvano Velon, he received an open lecture by Kotetsu in front of all First Leagues; which led to his embarrassment and immediately apologizes to everyone for placing Ivan into danger. Since then, Subaru grew to become more well-rounded in terms of being aware of his combat limits, and perform to whatever he can achieve; if he's unable to perform, he would immediately send distress calls to upperclassmen heroes and mission control.
• Inelegant Blubbering: Goes through this in S2.E16 out of joy from seeing siblings Thomas and Ruby reunite after years apart.
• Innocently Insensitive: Subaru’s genuinely a nice guy, and aims to be a great hero, but he's prone to throw his opinions straightforward without understanding the other person’s side of the story; such as asking for Barnaby’s explanation as to why he remains the hero business after getting his revenge. This led to Ryan stepping in to give Subaru some stern verbal discipline.
• Irony: He's a Hotblooded hero who performs best when he's focused on his powers with his Humble Pie digested.
• Meaningful Name: Subaru's surname, Sengoku is pronounced in Japanese as "warring states". This references both his aggressiveness, and his relationship with Thomas. His official kanji spelling however, is written as “celestial stone (仙石).”
• Mirror Character: To Kotetsu, as he starts Season 2 struggling to earn points and stuck teaming up with a supposedly more effective and profitable partner. He also voices his contempt at the ratings and profits focused angle of Sternbild's hero business, in the same way Kotetsu refuses to let those aspects get in the way of helping others. The difference is that Subaru lacks Kotetsu's maturity and patience, making him come off as short-sighted and foolish instead.
• Power Incontinence: Not as bad as Lara, but his barriers are noted to falter if he's not focused or worked up about something.
• Power Stereotype Flip: The hot-blooded Stock Shōnen Hero who loves to charge into fights without a plan has a power that can't be used offensively, should be used as support to protect his allies and needs focus to use properly.
• Stock Shōnen Hero: A young, Japanese-esque man with spiky hair and a Hot-Blooded personality. He even wears a red vest in civilian clothes.
• Strawman Has a Point: An in-universe take. He takes a staunch stance about how much he disapproves of the hero work in Sternbild, irritated that they are treated like celebrities rather than traditional heroes and therefore it devalues what they're doing. While he's wrong about how heroic the other heroes are, his points are not argued against, as his CEO doesn't dispute the claims.

Thomas Taurus (He Is Thomas)

<sup>Click to see full body image (S2) 

Click to see him in hero suit (S2)</sup> 

Voiced by: Nobunaga Shimazaki (JP), Josh Keaton (EN)
Birthday: February 8
Power: Psychokinesis (With limitations.)
Affiliation: Jungle
Superhero Sobriquets: "The Hero Shining in White Light."
Product Placement: TEMPSTAFF (Japanese business employment service)

A rookie freshly graduated from Sternbild’s Hero Academy and is paired with Mr. BLACK.

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• The Aloner: Much like Barnaby, he's often doing his own thing and has little interest in cooperating with. Though unlike Barnaby, this has less to do with feeling a sense of superiority and more to do with his rampant trust issues.
• Broken Ace: He's noted to have broken all of the records Barnaby set (without using his powers) in Sternbild's Hero Academy, but he's got a Dark and Troubled Past and severe trust issues.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Lost his parents at age 9, was sent to an orphanage and had trouble getting adopted because he was a NEXT, almost got separated from his little sister only to watch her get shot in the leg when he fought off some thugs who harassed her and then got separated from her for good after she lost all use of her left leg. Not to mention that he still didn't get adopted after that and had to provide for himself to even put himself through Hero school.
• Defrosting Ice King: He ices everyone out because of his numerous trust issues—part of his character development is learning how to trust the other heroes, Subaru in particular. He does eventually learn to work with Subaru, especially after Subaru helps him reunite with Ruby, something that Thomas is deeply touched by.
• Fan Nickname: In-universe, his fans usually calls him by the acronym of his hero name—“HIT.” Which interestingly echoes Thomas’ method of combat—throwing things at criminals.
• Heart Is an Awesome Power: Being able to lift with your mind what you can lift with your bare hands is indeed an extremely limiting power, but Thomas is proficient at it enough to be very effective in capturing villains.
• In the Hood: Thomas' civvies and workout clothes both have hoods. They are symbolic of how closed off he is.
• Mind over Matter: He has the power to move objects with his mind. But the catch is he can only move objects with the weights his hands could handle per object. Yes, ONLY the muscles of his bare hands could handle. Therefore, Thomas is always seen training his grip with one-or-two blue squishy balls, along with arm-focused weight training in his off-hours. Those trainings paid off with Thomas being able to single-handily lift-and-toss a hero-suited Barnaby to wack Hugan’s hands in order to make Hugan inflict damage towards himself.
• Mirror Character:
  • To Barnaby: Has the same background of being orphaned at a young age, went through The Hero Academy to become a professional hero, and is socially closed off from colleagues. Even his hero name uses his real name, similar to Barnaby. All heroes who’ve met and worked with Thomas can see he’s the new “Barnaby of the old days.” Which the actual Barnaby also can see his past self in Thomas as well, and was more than willing to mentor Thomas. The difference is that while Barnaby actually attempted to give his trust to the first person he felt earned it, Thomas is choosing not to trust anyone.
  • To Yuri Petrov / Lunatic: Can easily resort to violence towards villains post arrest in order to bring forth justice. His Post-Robbery Trauma gave the couple who targets him for robbery a terrifying knock-out, but as to whether the robbers survived is currently unclear. Only time would tell if Thomas were to become a new version of Lunatic, but it looks like his hero colleagues saved his mentality as of S2 episode 13.
• Mr. Fanservice: He works out in almost every episode, and even gets a shower scene where his very, very toned body gets a focus shot.
• Never Be Hurt Again: The last time he put his trust into someone was to accept the kindness and hospitality from a middle-aged couple, only to become a victim of robbery. This is the falling domino that closed him off socially; as he see no other but himself to be trusted, and vows to act on his own sense of justice from then on.
• Poor Communication Kills: He doesn't really care about the fans and never reads his fan mail, which backfired when it turns out his long lost sister Ruby was sending him letters, and instead she has to go through Subaru who is able to successfully reunite them.
• Pretty Boy: His company plays him up as being a handsome and wealthy idol - while he is very much attractive, he also was raised in foster care and only started making money when he became a hero.
• The Stoic: Combined with The Quiet One. He rarely shows emotions if he even talks at all and even then it's usually single word sentences in a flat tone.
• Trauma Button: A quick glance at scenarios similar to his past, especially the scenes that remind him of thugs assaulting his sister would instantly break Thomas’ temperament and lash out continuous raw violence towards villains post arrest.
• Troubled, but Cute: Very handsome and athletic, but also harboring deep trust issues and a frigid personality (initially).
• When He Smiles: He normally has a disinterested scowl on his face. When someone makes him genuinely happy (such as his sister or Subaru), he lights up the room.

Past Heroes

Mr. Legend

Voiced by: Jurota Kosugi (JP), Kyle Hebert (EN)\\

Power: Hundred Power (increases physical abilities one-hundredfold for five minutes)

Sternbild's first and most famous superhero. He was the one who inspired Kotetsu to accept his powers and use them to fight for justice as Wild Tiger.

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• The Ace: The first and most famous superhero.
• Acrofatic: Despite being a bit portly he was still an effective hero because of his Hundred Power.
• Alcoholic Parent: After he started to lose his powers he started drinking.
• Broken Ace: Originally the original and most famous of heroes, as his powers began to decline he developed a drinking problem, and began abusing his wife and son.
• Broken Pedestal: How Kotetsu saw him after learning how he became a Fake Ultimate Hero late in his career.
• Brought Down to Normal: As he got older he lost his Hundred Power.
• The Cape: He directly inspired Kotetsu's The Cape attitude.
• Cool Old Guy: He was a superhero even when he got over the hill, even if it some of it was faked.
• Domestic Abuse: Mr. Legend fell hard when he lost his powers, and combined with his drinking, he started hitting his wife. He also hit his son when he tried to stop Legend. That didn't work out so well for him.
• Fake Ultimate Hero: Once he started to lose his powers, some of his arrests were staged by HeroTV and in consequence his mythical record wasn't really such.
• Fallen Hero: From the first and the best to an alcoholic domestic abuser.
• Foil: To Kotetsu. Both were older heroes who seemed to value their family and eventually began losing their powers. While Kotetsu ultimately resolved to be one anyway, regardless of his lack of powers and was a loving (if absent) dad for Kaede, Legend became a violent domestic abuser who couldn't accept what was happening.
• The Hero's Idol: Kotetsu was inspired as a kid by Mr. Legend to become a hero and convinced his powers could save people instead of just making him a freak.
• Heroic Build: Averted, not that he actually needed it.
• Immune to Bullets: He walks right through a hail of bullets to take down the guy firing them.
• Mirror Character: Turns out, Kotetsu has a bit more in common with Mr. Legend than he'd like, after he begins losing his NEXT powers and his hero career is thrown into jeopardy. While Kotetsu never ranked as highly as Mr. Legend did, as part of the team with Barnaby, he was an absolute star with attention all over him. Fortunately, Kotetsu managed to avoid turning into an abusive alcoholic, unlike his idol.
• Old Superhero: An unusual variation — rather than being a young, athletic hero who since retired and let himself go, Mr. Legend performed many of his heroics whilst an overweight middle-aged man... and was no less effective for it. Well, until his powers started fading, at which point his heroics were staged.
• Patricide: The victim of this.
• Posthumous Character: He's been dead for years by the time of the main events of the series.
• Stout Strength: Thanks to his Hundred Power, he lacks a Heroic Build, but is considered one of the greatest heroes of all time.
• Superheroes Wear Capes: He wore a cape as part of his Mr Legend costume.