Urusei Yatsura - Citizens / Characters

Urusei Yatsura character index
Main | Tomobiki | Citizens | Weirdoes

Assorted characters of Urusei Yatsura.

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Moroboshi Family

Mr. and Mrs. Moroboshi

^{Click here to see them in the 1981 anime}

Ataru's parents.

Both

Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Despite their verbal abuse, both parents are genuinely upset when they think Ataru has died in an early chapter, with the mother even bursting into tears.
- In the 1981 anime, despite occasional bickering, they routinely call each other by affectionate terms and are shown to love each other, in a quiet, non-dramatic sort of way.
Hypocrite: They clearly hate their son, yet demand that he love and respect them.
No Accounting for Taste: Together they have an annoyingly common domestic relationship that is either dull as dirt, or on the rocks.
Perpetual Poverty: Ataru's parents are always struggling to make ends meet, even though Ataru's "wife" is a princess from a highly advanced alien planet (at one point, she casually pays an intergalactic taxi fare which amounts to the value of all the oil on planet Earth). In particular, Ataru's dad regularly worries about how many more payments he needs to make on the house. Not once does the word "foreclosure" ever come up, and at the end of the series he and his family still have their home (despite it being completely destroyed several times).
Shipper with an Agenda: In the movie Only You, Ataru's parents join forces with Lum's parents to force him to marry her officially, all so that they'll get better lives for themselves on the Oni homeworld.
Unnamed Parents: Their names are never revealed.
Wanted a Son Instead: There's a scene where both parents are away reminiscing about their life, and when they start talking about Ataru, both say that they had wanted a girl at the time.
Why Are You Not My Son?: They adore Lum as if she was the daughter they always wished they had. Ataru gets mad when he sees his parents showering Lum with affection way more than they have ever done for him, especially when they say that even if he was born a girl, Lum would definitely still be cuter than him.

Mr. Moroboshi

Voiced by: Kenichi Ogata (JP, original series), Toshio Furukawa (JP, All-Stars), Marc Matney (EN, test dub), Alan Marsh (EN, BBC gag dub), Jerry Winsett (EN, movies 1, 3-6), Larry Robinson (EN, movie 2), Darren Pleavin (EN, Animax), Kregg Dailey (EN, All-Stars )

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ataru_fpc.png

A typical salaryman. Wearing a yukata around the house, he desires a nice and quiet homelife. In the anime his home is frequently destroyed, causing him to lament over the mortgage.

Butt-Monkey: He's often wishing he'd be treated better since he's the sole provider for the family.
Extreme Doormat: He's quiet, timid, and possessing very little dignity. He tries his best to hide his face behind the newspaper during bad situations.
Hypocritical Heartwarming: He once cries out that Ataru may be a fool, but he's their fool.
Salaryman: Ataru's dad works long hours and worries about the mortgage, especially since his house is routinely destroyed.
Useless Bystander Parent: Whenever there's disturbance at home, usually because of his son, he just sits reading his newspaper, hoping the insanity will stop.

Mrs. Moroboshi

Voiced by: Natsumi Sakuma (JP, original series), Keiko Toda (JP, All-Stars), Dorothy Rankin (EN, test dub), Stacey Jefferson (EN, BBC gag dub), Belinda Keller (EN, movies 1, 3-6), Jackie Tantillo (EN, movie 2), Andrea Kwan (EN, Animax), Joanne Bonasso (EN, All-Stars )

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ataru_mpc.png

A typical housewife, who is extremely ashamed of her son.

Abusive Mom: Ataru's mother is the verbally/emotionally abusive type. She's constantly going "I wish I never had him."
Catchphrase Insult: Ataru's mother usually says "We never should have had him!" about Ataru. Sometimes she even tells him to his face. Thankfully it's a case of Early-Installment Weirdness, vanishing from later chapters.
Housewife: Ataru's mother only stays at home, cooks and talks with the neighbors.
Jerkass to One: She's a mean person towards her husband and son, even casually saying she shouldn't have given birth to Ataru. She treats other people much better, such as clearly loving Lum as her own child more than she has been shown to love Ataru.
Mrs. Robinson: She develops a short-lived crush on Rei, who's about the same age as her son, to her husband's despair.
Parental Substitute: Ryuunosuke seeks a maternal figure in Ataru's mother due to the lack of a mother in her family.

Sakura's Family and Associates

Cherry

Sakurambou "Cherry"

Voiced by: Ichirō Nagai (JP, original series), Wataru Takagi (JP, All-Stars), Eric Paisley (EN, test dub + movies 1, 3-6), Larry Robinson (EN, movie 2), John Swasey (EN, All-Stars)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sakuranboupc.png

^{Click here to see him in the 1981 anime}

A wandering monk. Cherry has amazing spiritual powers (or so he claims) and he often predicts doom for Ataru. A notorious glutton and moocher, nobody likes Cherry, but he keeps popping up despite being unwanted.

Bald Mystic: He's a Buddhist monk with a bald head.
Big Eater: His vow apparently doesn't apply to food, as he is exceedingly gluttonous, and often offers his services in exchange for a free meal (or simply blatantly eating other's food despite not planning to help with anything, often eating everything before anyone else can have any). He's even been seen outright stealing food from peoples' houses.
Character Catchphrase: "'Tis fate."
The Friend Nobody Likes: He frequently tags along with the main group and everyone is always annoyed by his presence. Kotatsu Neko and the Principal of Tomobiki High School are the only people who voluntarily socialize with Cherry on the regular — even his niece Sakura regards him as an embarrssment.
Gonk: He looks like an ugly Jizo statue.
Gross-Up Close-Up: A Running Gag related to Cherry is a sudden dramatic close-up of his face, which makes everybody recoil in disgust (or triggers an explosion, in the 1981 anime). People have even weaponized the revulsion he inspires, and Cherry himself has been seen bragging about his ability to make people recoil in such a manner.
Inept Mage: Cherry is legitimately skilled in the mystical arts; he is capable of summoning and banishing Yōkai, creating spiritual barriers, brewing magic potions and even creating magical items, such as the time he created a Power Limiter for Ataru Moroboshi to use on Lum that worked exactly as it was supposed to. However, Cherry also has a lackluster work ethic, is a bit of an overall bumbler, and is more than happy to use others as guinea pigs for his experimental potions, such as his "remove worldy desires" and "awaken inner child" potions, so he often causes problems with his magic, either directly or by forgetting to remember he can use them until after havoc has been wrought.
The Jinx: While Ataru is Born Unlucky, he actually sees Cherry as a living ill omen. Starting from Lum's arrival, some of Ataru's craziest problems tend to be preceded by him running into Cherry.
Meaningful Name: His name Sakurambo can be written with characters that mean "deranged priest", which is an accurate depiction of him.
Miniature Senior Citizens: He's only about two feet tall.
Shared Family Quirks: His niece, Sakura, shares his appetite with him.
Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: For reasons known only to the annoying monk himself, Cherry constantly interferes in Ataru's life and gives him grief for his corrupt personality, base desires and bad luck. He has taken a vested interest in seeing through his downfall. That said, he actually never showed any kind of malice and usually attempts to help the characters he came across (and actually did on very rare occasions). It's just that his attempts to help usually cause even more trouble.
Some Call Me "Tim": Despite many of the cast being aghast at the idea of referring to a gross, nosy geezer as "Cherry", they wind up doing so anyway because it's short and helps distinguish him from his niece (also called Sakura) once she shows up.
Strong Family Resemblance: Cherry's nameless sister, Sakura's mother, looks like Cherry in a dress and a wig. It raises the question of what Sakura's dad must have looked like considering how she turned out.
Theme Naming: Both he and his niece are named after cherries.
"The Reason You Suck" Speech: Delivers one to Mendou of all people after Mendou complains one too many times about Lum being in love with Ataru over him. Cherry delivers him a scathing speech about how hypocritical Mendou is and praises Ataru for at least being honest about his flaws and having unbreakable will and determination, while in contrast Mendou is a weak-willed coward who hides behind his looks and money.
This Is My Name on Foreign: "Sakurambou" is the Japanese word for "Cherry", as he likes to be called.
Verbal Tic: Cherry ends most of his with "-ja", which is pretty stereotypical of old men in Japan.
Visual Pun: The Running Gag of people being so repulsed or startled by his appearance inexplicably causing explosions. He's a Cherry bomb!

Sakura's mother

Voiced by: Marcy Bannor (EN, All-Stars)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sakura_mom.jpg

Sakura's mother and Cherry's sister.

Adaptation Dye-Job: Her kimono is light green in the 1981 anime and brown in the 2022 anime.
Miniature Senior Citizens: She's as old as Cherry, and just as short.
Strong Family Resemblance: She looks identical to her brother Cherry, but with hair.

Tsubame Ozuno

Voiced by: Kazuhiko Inoue (JP, original series), Takahiro Sakurai (JP, All-Stars), Sean P. O'Connell (EN, test dub), Eric Meyers (EN, BBC gag dub), Adam Gibbs (EN, All-Stars)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tsubamepc.png

Sakura's fiance, Tsubame is mellow and somewhat weak-willed in comparison to the assertive, confident and ferocious Sakura. He is also a magician, trained in Western magic but with very little success.

The Ditz: He is indecisive, foolish, and submissive.
Engagement Challenge: He is introduced trying to impress Cherry with his magic so that the old man will approve of Tsubame's engagement to Sakura.
Ethnic Magician: Tsubame is a wizard who practiced black magic in the west. As a result, his magic has a distinctly North American and European flair. In particular, his Summon Magic calls forth creatures from Western pop culture, such as vampires and Frankenstein's Monsters.
Inept Mage: He is not very good with magic.
Magicians Are Wizards: The way he executes his skills make him seem more like a performing magician than a wizard.
Meaningful Name: Tsubame is the Japanese word for "swallow" (bird). Ozuno means "from Oz".
Remember the New Guy?: The 2022 anime skips Tsubame's introduction story and just has him first appear on a date with Sakura. In a later episode, Sakura explains his character profile when the girls ask her about her fiancé.
Satellite Love Interest: Most if not all of his appearances in the series involve Sakura and his engagement to her in one way or another. In terms of characterization, he doesn't have much going aside from being a dunce.

Mendou Family

Ryoko Mendou

Voiced by: Mami Koyama (JP, original series), Marina Inoue (JP, All-Stars), Michele Seidman (EN, movie 3), Toni Barry (EN, BBC gag dub), Alyssa Marek (EN, All-Stars)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ryokopc.png

^{Click here to see her in the 1981 anime}

Shuutaro's younger sister. Ryoko is a spoiled girl whose only amusement seems to be the creation and execution of elaborate plans intended to drive her older brother mad.

Abhorrent Admirer: To Tobimaro. Ryoko is rich, pretty, and says she's in love with Tobimaro, but he's absolutely terrified of her sadistic personality, especially after she traumatized him with her evil pranks during their childhood.
Adaptational Karma: The one time Ryoko's scheming has come back to bite her has been in the 1981 anime's adaptation of the omiai between Shutaro Mendo and Asuka Mizunokoji. In this episode, Ryoko accidentally ends up being placed in the "Octopussy" Powered Armor after she launches an invasion of the Mizunokoji estate... and then she discovers that the Octopussy, the ultimate weapon of the Mendo clan... doesn't have any weaponry or even strength-boosters. So Ryoko is left running in terror as the entire Mizunokoji army promptly starts trying to blow her up due to believing she's a one-woman army.
Adaptation Dye-Job: She has dark brown hair and black eyes in the 1981 anime, dark purple hair and blue eyes in the 2022 anime.
All Girls Like Ponies: Not really in her case, but she does love to show off by riding her "horse", which is just a pair of Kuroko dressed as a horse.
Annoying Younger Sibling: She finds the greatest pleasure in tormenting her brother which is a full time occupation of hers. She knows how overprotective her brother is of her and she likes to use it against him. She'll concoct intricate plots that serve to ultimately infuriate, humiliate, or even kill him. She'll even flirt with Ataru just to see her brother fly off the handle.
Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: She carries herself like a polite and refined lady, even though her true self is a very cruel and malicious sadist.
Character Catchphrase: She frequently states "I hold no grudges" as she is leaving a trail of grenades behind her.
Childhood Friend Romance: Subverted. She claims to have been in love with Tobimaro since they were children, but Tobimaro's only memories of Ryoko are of her torturing him for her own amusement like she does with everyone else.
Clingy Jealous Girl: Subverted. When she hears about Shuutaro's engagement to Asuka, Ryoko claims he has cruelly spurned the devotion of his poor sister and sets out to ruin any opportunity Shuutaro has to get married. However, considering how drama-loving and sadistic Ryoko is, she's likely looking for an excuse to torment him like she usually does.
Crocodile Tears: She often turns on the waterworks and puts on a Wounded Gazelle Gambit to mess with her brother and his friends just to amuse herself. Because of this, it's impossible to tell when she's actually distressed, making it ambiguous if she is genuinely upset with Shingo after she sees him hug Lum in an effort to recharge from her.
Decoy Damsel: She likes pretending to be in danger only to attack her rescuers.
Devil in Plain Sight: No one but Tobimaro and Shuutaro realize her manipulative and cruel nature. The 1980's anime hints Ataru may know as well but just doesn't care due to Ryoko's beauty.
Double Standard: Abuse, Female on Male: In every of her appearances, Ryoko inflicts horrific abuse on males, usually Shuutaro and/or Tobimaro. Said abuse often includes attacking them with lethal weapons, like explosives. If the genders were reversed, it's highly unlikely these scenes could ever be played for comedy.
Drama Queen: She makes everything happens around her looks like a fateful challenge. When bringing boxed lunch to brother, she sits in an ox-cart and goes to journey the town for two whole days. When wanting to hang out with some boys, she makes sure to pick the ones that annoy her brother the most so that it'll be a Star-Crossed Lovers story. The list goes on.
Dude Magnet: Similar to her brother being a Chick Magnet. When they made a contest at her house, they said the winner will get a kiss from Ryoko and all the guys are very excited by the idea (including Ataru, obviously).
Elite Army: Normally the Mooks of the Mendou security forces are a bunch of brain-dead morons. However Ryouko has her Kuroko, these ninja stage hands are extremely skilled and cunning combatants that are loyal only to her. They've even taken down Lum who's normally a walking Mook Horror Show.
Establishing Character Moment: In her introduction, Ryoko drops her handkerchief to lure Ataru in. When he tries to return it, Ryoko comes out of her oxcart disguised as a skeleton to freak everyone out and laughs as everyone in the street runs away.
Face of an Angel, Mind of a Demon: Ryoko is a beautiful young girl in a kimono, but she has a diabolical mind and can't find joy in anything but tormenting people with her pranks.
The Fake Cutie: She acts like a cute and innocent girl, but her favorite hobby is watching people suffer, especially when she's the cause of it.
Faux Affably Evil: The way she acts is almost charming, and it's easy to forget that she's really a devious and twisted Manipulative Bitch.
Formal Characters Use Keigo: She's the daughter of the richest family in the world and her speech pattern in the original Japanese is extremely polite, including the use of the highly formal pronoun "watakushi". This and her kimono make her look like a Yamato Nadeshiko, but she's really a sadist.
Hair Color Dissonance: In the 2022 anime, Ryoko's black hair is given purple highlights.
Hime Cut: She has blunt bangs, cheek-length sidelocks, and long straight hair. Her hairstyle to indicate her position as a high-class lady.
In the Blood: Her personality includes aspects from both her mother and father. Like her dad, she loves pranks (though hers are a lot more mean-spirited dangerous) and from her mom she loves old-fashioned things (though she does like her modern gadgets and firepower).
It Amused Me: She enjoys tormenting her brother and the rest of the show's cast whenever she's bored.
Karma Houdini: Not once is she ever punished for her actions.
Kimono Is Traditional: She often wears an elegant kimono and habitually travels in an oxcart like her mother.
Lack of Empathy: Views other people as her playthings.
Large Ham: She is always escorted by a bunch of kuroko, traditional Japanese stagehands. It reinforces the idea that Ryoko views the world as a big stage play.
Loving Bully: An ambiguous case. She has been pranking and tormenting Tobimaro since childhood and also claims to be in love with him. It's not clear if she's serious about her "love" for him, given her sadistic tendencies. It's likely that she's just lying to tease her brother Shuutaro and Ataru, and if she is genuinely in love with Tobimaro, this is still quite disturbing.
Manipulative Bitch: Whenever she appears, she manipulates and tricks people around her to cause chaos and Amusing Injuries.
Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Her calling her brother as such in front of Asuka is the only reason Mendo's engagement with the latter worked, as Asuka is terrified of male except brothers. She was trying to prevent it when she did it.
Noblewoman's Laugh: She laughs laudly whenever she amuses herself by tormenting her brother and "commoners".
Ojou: She's the daughter of the richest family in the world and acts like a lovely, demure, and well-mannered girl. However, her true self is a sadistic prankster.
Only Sane by Comparison: She's the one member of the Mendou family to not display their obsession with weird honor customs and octopi, though she replaces it with her sadism and pranks.
The Prankster: Ryoko's raison d'être is pranking people, especially her brother and his friends.
Relative Error: Invoked. Ryoko introduces herself as Shuutaro's fiancée to his classmates, intentionally making the girls jealous, but he clears up quickly that Ryoko is his younger sister.
Rich Bitch: A spoiled rich girl who enjoys being cruel to others.
Rich Boredom: She lives in luxury and can be given anything she wants, but this only makes her become bored easily. She constantly wants to entertain herself by causing drama with her pranks.
Sadist: She uses underhanded mischief and devilish practical jokes as a primary source of pleasure.
Self-Proclaimed Love Interest: She likes to declare Tobimaro is her boyfriend just to provoke Shuutaro and Ataru into attacking him, even though Tobimaro hates her for treating him like her plaything.
Shock Value Relationship: She pretends to like guys like Tobimaro and Shingo to get a rise out of her brother, who hates other guys getting near her so much that he tries to kill her possible suitors.
Silk Hiding Steel: She's a refined Ojou who dresses in kimonos and Victorian dresses while dutifully pulling out grenades and voodoo dolls.
The Sociopath: She requires little to no provocation to mess with her brother or anyone else, all the while bemoaning how she had "done all she could" to help her dear older brother.
Soft-Spoken Sadist: She speaks in a soft polite tone expected from an Ojou, even when she's joyfully watching people suffer for her own amusement.
Spoiled Brat: Like her brother Shuutaro, she has a legion of personal servants that obey her every order and uses her infinite wealth to do whatever she wants, but she's less pompous and more sadistic.
Star-Crossed Lovers: Invoked mercilessly upon Tobimaro, as Ryouko claims they are seeing each other against the wishes of their feuding families. Ultimately suberted, as once she gets the chance to "elope" with a tied up Tobimaro, the first thing she does is to put him a trash can in a seedy back alley.
Troll: She finds that causing trouble and watching people squirm is the best form of entertainment to her.
Villains Love Entertainment: She's the closest thing the series has to a recurring villain and her sole motivation for causing mayhem is being entertained.
Yamato Nadeshiko: Subverted. While she is a tradition-oriented and elegant lady who's completely devoted to her brother and later her (forbidden) love, she's also a sadist who enjoys tormenting and torturing the people she "cares" about most.

Mr. Mendou

Voiced by: Mugihito (JP, original series), Kazuhiko Inoue (JP, All-Stars), Jay Hickman (EN, All-Stars)

The very proud and dignified head of the Mendou conglomerate.

Beneath the Mask: He often hides his true nature behind an air of seriousness, but the truth is he's a bit of a flake and a jokester.
Manchild: Despite being an adult, he's silly and childish prankster.
Shared Family Quirks: Ryoko seems to get much of her troublemaking tendencies from him.
Strong Family Resemblance: Before Art Evolution, Shuutaro's father was his son with a mustache.
Teasing Parent: He likes to prank his son by exploiting his claustrophobia. His daughter takes after his prankster habits, but she's way more sadistic about it.
Unnamed Parent: He's never referred to as anything other than (Shuutaro Mendou's) father.

Mrs. Mendou

Voiced by: Akiko Tsuboi (JP, original series), Kikuko Inoue (JP, All-Stars), Carli Mosier (EN, All-Stars)

The mother of Shuutaro and Ryoko. She's old fashioned and refuses to use modern conveniences.

Accidental Proposal: Lum's mom misinterprets Shuutaro's mom throwing a glove at her as a marriage proposal when it was actually a request for a duel.
Born in the Wrong Century: Her hair and clothing look like something from the Edwardian era (but without the hat).
Family Eye Resemblance: In the 2022 anime, she has blue eyes like her children.
Good Old Ways: She's very old fashioned and a firm believer in Older Is Better. For one example, she travels exclusively by ox cart. Cars are too "novel" for her.
High-Class Fan: She's a high-class lady who carries a feather hand fan with her.
Mistaken for Gay: Due to her lack of knowledge of Japanese language and culture, Lum's mom thought Shuutaro's mom wanted to marry her when she was in fact picking a fight with her.
The Voiceless: When she appears, instead of talking directly, she whispers to her servant's or son's ear and lets them do the talking for her.
Unnamed Parent: She's only known as "Shuutaro Mendou's mother".

Mizunokoji Family

Tobimaro Mizunokoji

Voiced by: Bin Shimada (JP, original series), Yūki Kaji (JP, All-Stars), Scott Whiteside (EN, movie 4), David Jarvis (EN, BBC gag dub), James Marler (EN, All-Stars)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tobimaropc.png

^{Click here to see him in the 1981 anime}

The son of the second richest family in Japan and Mendou's rival. Although he and Mendou were childhood friends, they had a falling out concerning a long-standing baseball rivalry, even though neither is any good at baseball-—Ton can't pitch and Mendou cannot swing, and so Ton returns to settle the score.

Affectionate Nickname: Even though they're supposed to be rivals, Mendou calls Tobimaro by the childish nickname "Ton-chan" and the latter calls the former "Shu-chan" in return.
Animals Hate Him: A recurring gag in the manga is his service animals, such as his donkey, attacking him.
Athletically Challenged: He can't even hit or catch a ball to save his life. All his self-inflicted Training from Hell was only good for making him able to eat baseballs. The only thing he has shown some athletic talent for is being smart enough to recruit players who are actually good at the game... true, his team was a pro Little League team, but they were still a way better choice than Mendo's idiots, who had spent an entire year learning to recognize baseball paraphenalia and no time at all learning how to play it.
Barbarian Long Hair: His hair is long to show he's lived in the wilderness.
Big Brother Instinct: He comes to care deeply and become protective of his sister Asuka.
Bodyguard Babes: He's often flanked by a squad of lovely female bodyguards.
Butt-Monkey: Animals Hate Him, his Training from Hell was worthless, his sister is always accidentally injuring him, his mom thinks he's a screw up, and his rival's sister dedicates her time to torturing him which everyone blames him for. He honestly surpasses Ataru in how bad things happen to him.
Deconstructive Parody: His entire character is meant to be a parody of the "starry-eyed" heroes from 60s and 70s sports manga, particularly the star of Kyojin No Hoshi, but he's actually terrible at sports, putting himself through Training from Hell only made him so hungry that he had to eat baseballs to survive, his rival doesn't take his challenges seriously and his rival's sister ruins his games for fun.
Detrimental Determination: His obsession with beating Mendou at baseball drove him to live at the mountains for years for a self-inflicted Training from Hell. Not only did he end up starving to the point of eating baseballs just to survive, he still sucks at baseball despite his efforts. Also, him continuing to challenge Mendou only gives Ryoko the perfect chance to torture him over and over again.
Exotic Eye Designs: His eyes have star-shaped pupils, a parody of a popular sports manga motif at the time.
Extreme Omnivore: He can eat baseballs and ceramic plates and bowls. In fact, baseballs are something of his Trademark Favorite Food, as a side-effect of his bungled Training from Hell; he instinctively tries to catch and eat any baseball thrown around him.
Fatal Attractor: The only girls who have expressed romantic attraction to him are a sadistic Ojou who constantly tries to kill him and his own younger sister, who can break his bones with a hug. It's no wonder he wants nothing to do with women.
He-Man Woman Hater: He has a certain mistrust and dislike of women, which stems from his childhood with his rival's sadistic sister Ryoko.
Hilariously Abusive Childhood: He was traumatized for life because he was one of Ryoko's favorite victims for her sadistic pranks.
Hot-Blooded: He declares his determination to beat Mendou at baseball, with flame imagery in the background.
Hot Blooded Sideburns: Since he's a parody of Hot-Blooded heroes from 80s manga and anime, he has large earlocks.
Meaningful Name: Mizunokuji is a play on the real-life Mizuno sporting goods company which is known best for their baseball equipment.
Muscles Are Meaningful: Inverted. He's drawn rather skinny, especially in the 2022 adaptation, to emphasize his lack of actual physical ability in spite of his deranged training regime.
Noble Bigot: Despite his dislike of women, he tries to be a good brother to Asuka, is respectful to his mom, and doesn't abuse his female underlings.
Nosebleed: Seeing his lovely kid sister naked caused him to lose 1/3 of his blood supply out of his nose.
No Sympathy: No one gives him any sympathy or aid about his torture at Ryoko's hand. The Guys, especially Mendo, beat him up for seducing Ryoko; the girls think it's romantic.
Only Sane Man: Tends to be only person to be fully aware of Ryoko's evil nature, and that her "love" for him is just her preferred method of torturing him.
Samurai Ponytail: He's descended from Japanese nobility and dresses like a samurai, complete with a ponytail.
Trademark Favorite Food: Baseballs. Due to years of spending long periods of time with nothing to eat but baseballs, he's become prone to instinctively eating any of them he can get his hands on.
Tragic Bigot: He can't stand women because of a lifetime of torture at Ryoko's hands.
Training from Hell: Parodied. He spends extensive periods of time out in the remote wilderness, training in the arts of baseball, surviving on whatever he could hunt or forage for himself... but his training regimes never cause him to get any stronger, faster, more athletic or more skilled, and he's so bad at hunting or foraging that he was forced to eat baseballs to survive.
Unknown Rival: He is Shuutaro Mendou's childhood rival who is obsessed with beating him at baseball, but he's actually terrible at baseball and Mendou only seriously tries to fight him when he thinks Tobimaro is dating his sister.

Asuka Mizunokoji

Voiced by: Sumi Shimamoto (JP, original series), Mao Ichimichi (JP, All Stars)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/asukapc.png

^{Click here to see her in the 1981 anime}

Tobimaro's sister. The very beautiful and petite girl was isolated, according to the Mizonokuji family's tradition, from any and all males from the moment of her birth until the age of 16, at which time an omiai will be held for her to get married. As such, even her brother was unaware of her existence until then. Thanks to her daily training and the genetics she inherited from her mother, she is insanely strong. Nevertheless she is extremely timid and deathly afraid of males, in part because the first one she ever met was Ataru Moroboshi.

24-Hour Armor: Asuka likes to wear a tank-like suit of armor because it makes her feel safe.
Adaptation Dye-Job: Her leggings are green in the 1981 anime, but they're fuchsia in the 2022 anime.
Always Someone Better: As mighty as Asuka is, she's puny compared to her mom who easily beats her and chains her to Ataru.
And Call Him "George": Being loved by Asuka is perhaps more dangerous than scaring her, because one hug from her can crush a man's spine.
Beautiful All Along: Asuka doesn't look very attractive at first because of the bulky suit of armor she's wearing at the time. After Lum accidentally destroys the armor, we see how beautiful she actually is.
Big Brother Attraction: Shortly after meeting her older brother Tobimaro, Asuka develops a crush on him, to the great dismay of both Tobimaro and their mother. However, it's Played With in that Asuka's isolated upbringing and poor understanding of the world prevent her from actually comprehending the concept of Brother–Sister Incest and the taboo that comes with it. Since she was told "big brothers" are a "special kind of men" who are very nice, Asuka seems to assume that all men are scary with the exception of "big brothers," blood-related or not.
Chainmail Bikini: In her second appearance, her mother gives Asuka a much more "feminine" suit of armor, compared to the rounded, hulking suit she wore in her debut. It's fully enclosing, and does have a similar "Medieval Knight" style helmet, but its shaped more like a full-body leotard. However, it lacks the traditional exaggerated breast and buttock curves of most "boobplate" armors.
Character Catchphrase: She yells "EEEEK! A MAN!!" whenever she sees a man.
Charles Atlas Superpower: She's superhumanly strong and fast after being training by her female private soldiers from birth.
Comically Missing the Point: In one story arc involving Asuka, Lum leads her to a tank so she can leave the premises without any men getting too close to her. Asuka thanks Lums, saying it's exactly what she needs… before tearing the tank apart bare-handed and bending the ensuing scrap metal into a makeshift suit of body armor.
Cute Bruiser: She's a very cute and dainty young girl, but she has the strength of an elephant and she can easily send men flying by merely pushing them.
Does Not Like Men: Being kept isolated from men according to family tradition, with bungled explanations as to what men are, combined with her first exposure to a man being the Lovable Sex Maniac Ataru Moroboshi, means that Asuka is absolutely terrified of men. As in, she starts screaming when she sees one, before trying to throw things at (or beat up) the unlucky man who caught her eye. Unfortunately, she also inherited her mother's super-strength, so she can cause tremendous pain to any man whom she attacks. Of course, that's the lesser evil, as her brother Tobimaro can testify: being classified as a "big brother" (which to her means "a special kind of man who's just like you", and is the one exception to her "men are scary!" mentality), combined with the fact that Asuka developed a crush on him, means rib-crushing, literally-back-breaking hugs.
Early-Bird Cameo: In the 2022 anime, Asuka's silhouette is briefly seen at the start of Episode 18.
Entertainingly Wrong: She thinks Ryuunosuke is a "big brother" because the latter wears a sarashi that matched her actual brother Tobimaro's.
Exotic Eye Designs: Her eyes have star-shaped pupils, like her brother and mother.
Family Eye Resemblance: She has the same starry eyes as Tobimaro. This is how he figures out she's his sister despite never having met her before.
Formal Characters Use Keigo: Similar to Ryoko, Asuka always speaks in keigo because of her status as an Ojou.
Has a Type: She only likes big brothers because she thinks they're the only kind of men who aren't scary. She warms up to Mendou (her fiancé due to a family agreement) because she heard Ryoko refer to him as "Onii-sama".
Hime Cut: She's a girl from a highly traditional family, which is symbolized by her parted blunt bangs, chin length sidelocks, and long straight hair worn in a ponytail.
Incest-ant Admirer: Tobimaro is squicked out by Asuka's crush on him, getting extremely uncomfortable with her frequent attempts to bathe and sleep together with him. Unfortunately, since Asuka doesn't even understand why Brother–Sister Incest is wrong, he can't really do anything to stop her inappropriate displays of affection.
The Ingenue: She was completely sheltered for the first 16 years of her life, resulting in her being so naive and innocent that she gets a crush on her own older brother because she doesn't even understand what incest is and why it's taboo.
Long-Lost Relative: Because her mother raised her in complete isolation, even her own brother didn't know of her existence and Asuka doesn't really understand what a brother is, resulting in her Big Brother Attraction.
Lovable Coward: Even she admits how gutless she is, but she's such a sweetie that most people she encounter just feel protective towards her and convince themselves it's merely timidness and outgrowth of her phobia of men. She does occasionally get a moment where she gets the backbone to talk back to her mother.
Megaton Punch: In this case, it's a hard shove but the effect still means normal people achieve a long flight time.
No Social Skills: Being kept in absolute isolation with a bunch of well-meaning but bungling maid-servants all her life means that what Asuka knows about interacting with the real world would probably fit on a handcard.
Perfectly Arranged Marriage: With Mendou. Their parents want them to get married, but Asuka is too afraid of men to be willing to go through with it at first. She warms up to the idea of marrying Mendou after she finds out he's a "big brother" like Tobimaro.
Samus Is a Girl: Asuka tends to wear a bulky armor, so it comes as a surprise when she's revealed to be a pretty and petite girl. In fact, Asuka is actually mistaken for a boy when she tries to talk to some girls whilst wearing the armor suit with its helmet on.
Sensual Spandex: Underneath her armor, she's dressed in a gymnastic leotard that perfectly fits her figure.
Sent Into Hiding: From the moment she was born, Asuka was hidden away within the Mizunokoji estate. Only her parents and a few female servants knew of her existence; even her own brother was kept in the dark. Her mother arranged Asuka to be raised this way because family traditions dictated that Asuka was to be raised without contact with all men, including Asuka's father and brother, until she turned sixteen.
Sheltered Aristocrat: She was kept isolated from the outside world her entire life to avoid contact with any and all males, according to the Mizonokuji family's tradition. As a result, she's very naive and develops an extreme fear of men because of Ataru.
Shrinking Violet: Due to being brought up in total isolation from humanity, Asuka is extremely shy and timid. If she weren't super-strong, she wouldn't be anywhere near as dangerous as she is.
Single Woman Seeks Good Man: She found Ataru and Mendou terrifying and disgusting because they kept chasing after her and making unwanted advances at her, giving her a very bad impression on the male gender. On the other hand, she develops a crush on Tobimaro because he's quick to jump to her defense and tries to protect her even though she's much stronger than he is. The problem here is that Tobimaro is her older brother and Asuka is too naive to get why she shouldn't have romantic feelings for him.
Strong Family Resemblance: She looks like her mother, but younger and with a different hairstyle.
Super-Strength: With the exception of her mother and possibly Shinobu or Kotatsu-neko, she's the single strongest character in the series physically.
The Ugly Guy's Hot Daughter: Her father has Henohenomoheji for a face. Thankfully, Asuka inherited her mother's good looks... although even her mom has a few facial issues.

Mrs. Mizunokuji

Voiced by: Yukiko Nashiwa (JP, original series), Kotono Mitsuishi (JP, All Stars)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mizunokoji_mpc.png

One of the heads of the Mizunokuji sporting goods empire, and mother of Tobimaro and Asuka. She is even more powerful than Asuka, and has the power to do the "angry big-head" technique.

Abusive Parents: She forcibly isolated her daughter Asuka from the world in the name of tradition and blames Tobimaro for Asuka's attraction to him, usually by beating him with a hammer. She also threatens to torture and even kill Tobimaro as motivation for Asuka to try and conquer her androphobia.
Berserk Button: Watching Asuka making improper incestous advances towards Tobimaro causes their mother to throw them out of the room in a rage.
Beware the Nice Ones: She seems like a nice enough woman, but is a lunatic in her own right, has Super-Strength, and isn't afraid to express her feelings violently.
Demon Head: Her "Angry Big-Head" Technique, which she uses frequently enough that it almost feels like a Call-Forward to Soun Tendo of Ranma ½.
Exotic Eye Designs: She has star-shaped pupils in her eyes, like her children.
Family Eye Resemblance: Tobimaro and Asuka get their star-shaped pupils from their mother.
Has a Type: She likes her men Gonky, specifically in variants of the Henohenomoheji gag. When she sees Ryuunosuke for the first time, she mentions that while the "boy" has a very manly presence, he's not very handsome and then a comic panel shows what she considers handsome.
Kimono Is Traditional: She's a highly traditional woman who always dresses in a kimono.
Never My Fault: She blames Tobimaro for Asuka's inappropriate behavior around him, yet she refuses to acknowledge it's mostly her fault that Asuka ended up so sheltered and terrified of men that now her own brother is the only man Asuka feels safe to be around.
Perpetual Smiler: Her facial expression never changes from a slight smile, no matter what she's thinking or how she's feeling. It's a Running Gag that she has to constantly clarify how she actually feels to others in the manga.
Prim and Proper Bun: She wears her hair in a bun and usually acts like a Proper Lady when she isn't angry.
Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: She looks beautiful, while her husband has a face literally made up of a bunch of kanji scribbles.
Unnamed Parent: As with pretty much every parent in the series, she's never addressed by her personal name.
Yamato Nadeshiko: She's a gentle-looking mother wearing a kimono, is dedicated to upholding the family traditions, and can be very strict to her children who fear her anger. She's also somewhat of a parody because her facial expression never changes from a pleasant smile, not even when she's angry.

Mr. Mizunokuji

Voiced by: Issei Futamata (JP, original series), Toshiharu Sakurai (JP, All Stars)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mizunokoji_fpc.png

The other head of the Mizunokuji sporting goods empire, and father of Tobimaro and Asuka.

Henohenomoheji: He has hiragana characters on his face instead of actual facial features.
Took the Wife's Name: He married into the Mizunokuji family and is unfamiliar with all the Mizunokuji customs, such as him not allowed to see his daughter until she's 15.
Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: Mrs. Mizunokuji is presented as a gorgeous woman. Mr. Mizunokuji, on the other hand, has a face literally made up of a bunch of kanji scribbles.
Unnamed Parent: His given name is never revealed.

Fujinami Family

Mr. Fujinami

Voiced by: Masahiro Anzai (JP), Tōru Ōkawa (JP, OVA 12), Shigeru Chiba (JP, All-Stars), Langley McArol (EN, movies)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ryunosuke_dadpc.png

Ryuunosuke's father. His family ran a small seaside teashop for generations, and he seeks an heir to continue the business after he dies. However, he believes that only a man can run it and his late wife Masako left him only a daughter. Not one to let that get in his way, he proceeded to raise her as a boy and succeeded in making her a man among men, if only she were a man. He also is inspired almost entirely by the sea. If he gets too motivated, he shouts "I LOVE THE SEA!!", which is accompanied by a massive tidal wave regardless of his location.

Abusive Dad: He is a terrible father figure — not only is he undoubtedly the worst father in the series, but even in the broader pantheon of Rumiko Takahashi fathers, he stands as one of the all-time worst.
- Physical Abuse: He routinely beats his daughter in knock-down, drag-out fights, both with his fists and by bludgeoning her with whatever furniture he can get — and though she gives as good as she gets, his greater cunning and willingness to stoop to any depths means he usually wins. He also regularly starves her, either because he's done so poorly that they have no money for food, or simply because he'd rather eat the food himself.
- Emotional Abuse: He loves to torment Ryuunosuke by offering her female clothing as part of either rigged deals or promises that he never intends to keep. He also enjoys deceiving her, such as when he tells her that eating chocolate given to her by a girl on Valentine's Day will turn her into a boy, or the many times he deceived her about various good foods being nasty or poisonous so he could hog them for himself. On the rare occasion Ryuunosuke manages to get her hands on female clothing, he always steals it from her and destroys it.
- Financial Abuse: He refuses to give Ryuunosuke any pocket money, partially because of his stinginess, but mostly because he doesn't want her to be able to buy girlish clothing or accessories behind his back.
Amazingly Embarrassing Parent: As if every terrible thing he did to make his daughter's life miserable wasn't enough, he's actually no better when he's trying to be loving and supporting, since he acts like a lunatic and shouts at the top of his lungs, even when discussing embarrassing things.
Archnemesis Dad: He is quite insistent on treating his daughter like a man, down to subjecting her to violent fisticuffs and paralyzing poisons on a regular basis, and would only let her act feminine over his dead body. Ryuunosuke hates her father. Then again, it's Played for Laughs.
Believing Their Own Lies:
- He insists that Ryuunosuke's breasts are just "temporary swellings" that will go down if she wears "his special bandages".
- He also insists that Ryuunosuke's crossdressing fiancé Nagisa is just a "late-blooming" flat-chested girl.
Big Entrance: In the anime, becomes prone to entering a scene by riding a wave wherever he may be regardless of logic or physics. This trait is completely absent from the manga.
Boyfriend-Blocking Dad: Zig-Zagged. He frightens off any boys Ryuunosuke acts interested in, but encourages girls who are attracted to her. He also set her up in an Arranged Marriage with a male-to-female crossdresser, as he doesn't really care who marries Ryuunosuke as long as he can keep pretending she's a guy.
Character Catchphrase: The anime eventually gives him the catchphrase "I LOVE THE SEA!!!" Ironically, he says this once in the manga, during the "fake Matsutake mushrooms" story, although the Viz release (correctly) translates the kanji on his shirt as "I ♥︎ The Sea" and his cafe's name as "I Love The Sea Cafe".
Combat Pragmatist: He shamelessly uses dirty tricks to get ahead in a fight.
Detrimental Determination:
- He insists on keeping his seaside cafe open all year long, even during winter when the freezing cold keeps all the customers away. His refusal to find another income only left him and Ryuunosuke in poverty, and eventually resulted in them being forced to take a job running the Tomobiki High school store after they tore the cafe down in a brawl.
- His efforts to make Ryuunosuke into a manly man have essentially destroyed his relationship with his daughter.
Flanderization: In the manga, there is a single panel in the "fake Matsutake mushrooms" story where he is depicted posing whilst shouting "I love the sea!", causing water to spurt around behind him. This never happens in any other part of the manga. The 1981 anime took this one time gag and eventually began to ran with it. Starting with a shot of Mr. Fujinami and Ryuunosuke having waves spring out of nowhere in a parody of dramatic backdrops in the "Miss Tomobiki High" adaptation, he eventually grew into a tendency to both ride waves out of nowhere and to summon water from nowhere. He also began to increasingly shout "I love the sea!" as a catchphrase.
Follow in My Footsteps: His family has proudly run a seaside teashop for three generations. He has decided Ryuunosuke will be his successor, even though she has made absolutely clear she doesn't want that. This is one of many sources of conflict between them.
Hate Sink: A horribly abusive man who beats and misgenders his daughter, and has no self-awareness or redeeming qualities other than humor.
Hidden Depths:
- He still misses Masako, Ryuunosuke's mom, and talks about remarriage brings that out in him.
- Data File 15 in Volume 7 of the Viz 2-in-1 manga suggests that part of the reason he forces his daughter into a "son" role instead of just preparing her daughter's husband to take over the business is because he didn't know how to cope with raising a daughter all on his own, especially when puberty would hit.
Incompetence, Inc.: He's established to be a very poor businessman, thanks to a combination of strange ideas (like thinking a beach cafe on a deserted island 4 miles offshore is prime real estate), stinginess, and bad customer skills. In one chapter, it's established he owes years of back-payments on wholesale food and rental taxes. The 1981 anime also shows that he's horrible at managing money in its adaptation of the first story where he rents out a beach cafe; his insistence on opening as soon as possible means he has to spend much of his precious savings getting to the tropical parts of the country where it's now legal to open up for business, and he also spends money like water along the way.
I Reject Your Reality:
- Mr. Fujinami is so obsessed with the idea that he has a strong, manly son that he will outright reject and deny any attempts to make him see that his "son" is physically female. These include insisting that Ryuunosuke partake in male Physical Education classrooms, which even Onsen-Mark points out is a terrible idea given what hornballs the boys at Tomobiki High are, trying to force her to wear men's swimwear, and encouraging girls to date her. He does know that Ryuunosuke's a girl, but he's adamant that if he ignores it hard enough, reality will comply.
- Similarly, he refuses to accept that his "daughter-in-law" Nagisa Shiowatari is a boy.
Irony: When Ataru and Lum tried to "help" the father and daughter make peace by chaining them up so they couldn't fight, the Fujinamis instead tore themselves free, causing their beach cafe to collapse in the process.
It's All About Me: He is only concerned with his own feelings and wants and disregards others, including his daughter's. This includes raising her as a boy because he wanted a son, refusing to talk about her mother because it's difficult for him, lying to her countless times during her childhood about food being poison so he can eat it himself, etc.
Jerkass: A complete asshole who doesn't care about anyone but himself. He spends his time making life impossible for his daughter just because he doesn't want to accept she's a girl.
Jerkass Has a Point: When Ryuunosuke refused to kiss Nagisa, he points out Nagisa's soul will never be able to pass on until she does. As such Ryuunosuke would essentially be damning Nagisa for all of eternity.
Making a Splash: The anime treats his ability to summon waves as a genuine superpower of his. It's also implied to be genetic as both his daughter and alien bee son are shown doing it.
Moral Myopia: He's very quick to complain about others using dirty tricks on him, when he himself is shown to never keep promises he makes (especially to Ryuunosuke), and always find a way to weasel out of his debts.
Never My Fault: He very rarely if ever accepts his own fault in things going wrong. In his introductory story, Ryuunosuke punches him in the face twice for hitting her first, and both times he demands to know why she'd hit him instead of somebody else.
Perpetual Frowner: He's always frowning.
Pragmatic Villainy: He allows Ryuunosuke to participate in a Beauty Contest because he plans to use the prize money to rebuild his seaside teashop.
Real Men Cook: Cooked for his restaurant for years before they went out of business.
Real Men Wear Pink: Despite his stern believe in stereotypical gender roles, he's the one who has taken up the motherly duties around the house (i.e cooking, cleaning, etc). He even goes to the extent of crossdressing like an old-fashioned Japanese matron.
Running Gag: In the manga, he has a similar propensity to sudden closeups that make the other cast members react with revulsion as Cherry. This also carries over to the 1981 anime, but it eventually develops him into having a propensity to summon water from nowhere, or make a wave-based Big Entrance, as other, more unique gags.
Serious Business: In-universe, manliness and running the beach cafe. Unlike other, saner proprietors, Mr. Fujinami keeps his cafe open all year around, even during the winter when the beaches pile high with snow. In fact his Establishing Character Moment involves him cursing at the sea for not staying warm, pleasant and inviting like it is in summer all year around, which is quite surprising given his catchphrase.
Shipper on Deck: He's generally in favor of anytime that it seems like Ryuunosuke is taking a romantic interest in girls, even though it's never what it looks like. Initially, he seems to particularly favor Ryuunosuke getting together with Shinobu, even going so far as to abduct Shinobu when their school throws a costume party so he can force her into a wedding dress and Ryuunosuke into a tuxedo. After Nagisa enters the series, he switches to supporting the Arranged Marriage.
Small Name, Big Ego: He is such an egomaniac that he proclaims that the ocean needs his beach cafe as badly as he needs the ocean to run it.
Strange Minds Think Alike: One of the reasons why he and Mr. Shiowatari are good friends is that they share equally poor business sense and the same delusions about their children's gender.
Unnamed Parent: His actual name is never given in the series, as with all of the parents.
Unreliable Expositor: When Ryuunosuke tries to get him to tell her what her mother was like, she still doesn't learn anything because her father keeps changing the story about her mother as he tells it, even changing her name midway multiple times.
Wanted a Son Instead: He wanted Ryuunosuke to be a boy... so he deludes himself into thinking she is one, and tries to literally beat Ryuunosuke into humoring him.
Who's Your Daddy?: A rare male example and Played for Laughs. He explains that after Masako left their lives, to try and ease his loneliness by forgetting her, he had many different photos taken of himself, the baby Ryuunosuke and female customers of the cafe who agreed to pose as the mother for the shot. As a result, he ended up succeeding so well that he no longer remembers what Masako Fujinami actually looks like.

Masako Fujinami

Ryuunosuke's mother, about whom little is known. Her husband claims in chapter 251 that he met her whilst they were both working at an amusement park, with Masako playing the role of a superhero in a performance theater to pay her way through college, with him playing the role of the supervillain she would battle. Lum checked these facts with an alien lie detector, which registered them as true statements, so this is all we know about her canonically.

Ambiguously Absent Parent: It's unclear what happened to Masako, since the only source of information is Ryuunosuke's father, an incorrigible liar of dubious sanity. It's generally presumed she died, but Mr. Fujinami ends chapter 176, where Masako is first mentioned, by going on a TV show where families seek out missing family members and begging Masako to come home, with Ryuunosuke admitting she suspected her mother ran away from her father. In the 1981 anime, Ryuunosuke also hints on other occasions that she believes her mother ran out on her father.
The Faceless: It's never revealed what she looked like, and in fact even her husband no longer remembers; he had so many women pose for family photos with himself and baby Ryuunosuke that he doesn't know which of those photos (if any) shows the real Masako anymore.
I Have Many Names: Originally, her name was yet another of the ambiguous things about her; when the topic of Ryuunosuke's mother comes up in the 176th chapter, "Trickle of Memories", Mr. Fujinami gives four different names for his wife: Yukie, Yoko, Kayoko, and Masako. This last one seems to have been the one Rumiko Takahashi decided to canonize, as it is the name used to refer to her in all subsequent chapters.
Missing Mom: Ryuunosuke has no memory of her mother because she has been raised by her father alone ever since she can remember.
Parental Abandonment: Possibly. Ryuunosuke suspects her mother ran away from Mr. Fujinami, but what truly happened to her is never confirmed.

Others

Soban

Voiced by: Kaneta Kimotsuki (JP, original series), Tomokazu Seki (JP, All-Stars)

A gang leader of Butsumetsu High School who has enormous lips. He is often seen chasing Shinobu.

Abhorrent Admirer: The disgusting Soban nearly always charges at Shinobu yelling "Shinobu, I love you!" but is always met with a punch to the face.
The Alleged Boss: Given his considerable stupidity and one-track mind, it's usually up to his underlings to direct him when they're trying to intimidate people.
Arc Villain: He's the antagonist of the "Valiant Duel" arc, due to Lum having to fight him to bolster the spirits of a bystander he tried to bully.
Bullfight Boss: In the "Valiant Duel" arc, he loses the fight when Ataru lures him into charging into a deep pit that he dug in the ground.
The Bully: He's the boss of a group of high-school delinquents.
Character Catchphrase: Whenever he appears, he comes running towards Shinobu and yelling "SHINOBU, I LOVE YOU-UUUUUUUUUUUU!!".
Dumb Muscle: He is enormously strong, but he's also a complete idiot, with even his own followers admitting he's dumb and gross.
Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Played with. Whilst Soban is a real Japanese name, it's also a homonym; in Japanese Delinquents, a banchou so powerful he controls multiple gangs complete with subordinate banchous, usually across multiple schools, is called a "soban", which means something like "boss of bosses".
Foe-Tossing Charge: In his fight with Lum during one story arc, his primary mode of attack is to just charge wildly at the Oni in a bid to run her over.
Gonk: He's enormously fat, completely bald save for three little strands of hair, has tiny little eyes always concealed behind round sunglasses, and has enormous lips that frame massive square teeth. In the manga, it even looks like there are crabs crawling around inside his mouth. His followers even admit that they've never had the courage to fight him themselves because they're too grossed out by the prospect of touching him.
Hopeless Suitor: He's in love with Shinobu, but he's got a snowball's chance on the sun due to his ugly appearance & simple-mindedness, not to mention Shinobu's lack of interest in punks.
Incoming Ham: He usually charges into a scene while bellowing about how much he loves Shinobu.
Mad Love: Shinobu makes absolutely clear that she wants nothing to do with him, but no matter how many times she punches him, he just won't take no for an answer.
Made of Iron: During the "Valiant Duel" arc, he takes several Megaton Punches from Lum while the latter had her otherwise-regular strength bolstered by alien steroids. He's sent sprawling each time, but is back up on his feet in seconds. His underlings note that a combination of natural bulk, resistance to pain, and being so stupid that he forgets about injury soon after taking it makes him practically indestructible.
No Indoor Voice: He doesn't seem capable of speaking at a volume that isn't "Scream-At-Top-Of-Lungs".
Rejection Affection: He repeatedly proclaims his love for Shinobu, only to be rejected and punched hard. Nothing stops him from trying again.
Replacement Flat Character: Came along midway through the manga once Ataru and Shinobu's relationship had largely improved, contrasting the more playful and borderline wholesome way Ataru comes to flirt with her with Soban's own extremely rude and lecherous charges reminiscent of how the former used to act. This is also showcased in how Shinobu reacts to both. Ataru's less aggressive, jokey teasing might get a jovial open-palmed shove from Shinobu. Soban invariably always gets a full knuckle sandwich for his crude saliciousness.
Stalker Shrine: He keeps a giant picture of Shinobu on his wall.
Stalker with a Crush: He sends his underlings to stalk and take pictures of Shinobu. Most of his appearances have him coming out of nowhere to charge at a terrified Shinobu while yelling how much he loves her.
Stout Strength: His massive girth doesn't stop him from being alarmingly strong.

Shingo

Voiced by: Tōru Furuya (JP, original series), Nobunaga Shimazaki (JP, All-Stars)

Grandson of the ninja bodyguard of Mr. Mendou, Shingo was lost in the Mendou family's "Electric Jungle" when he was young and grew up there all alone, saving only a television set, which he came to believe was his grandfather due to the sporadically useful life lessons he learned from its constant broadcasts. Discovered by accident when he left the jungle in search of a girlfriend, he was reunited with his eccentric grandfather. He was subsequently trained in the arts of ninjitsu and then reluctantly assigned to the role of Mendou's ninja guardian.

He debuted in chapter 301 of the manga, which was adapted into episode 192 of the anime, and later reappeared as Mendo's guardian in chapter 309, which was adapted into the 6th OAV "The Electric Household Guard". He also made several other appearances in the manga.

Abhorrent Admirer:
- Lum tolerated his clumsy courtship in an effort to make Ataru jealous until she realized his immunity to electricity meant she was in legitimate danger.
- Ryuunosuke is outraged when Shingo tries to propose to her, although the hamfisted way in which he tries to propose doesn't exactly help his case.
Acquired Poison Immunity: A childhood growing up in the Electric Jungle, where he was constantly exposed to raw voltage, has made him immune to electrocution, in an elemental variation of this trope.
And Now You Must Marry Me: He takes Lum to the Electric Jungle and refuses to allow her to leave, intending to force her to become his wife. Although she can easily escape, Lum plays along to make Ataru worry about her, until Shingo manages to capture her for real and Ataru goes to rescue her.
Antiquated Linguistics: He speaks an archaic dialect of Japanese, due to spending most of his life watching Edo period dramas on TV.
Beleaguered Assistant: He points things out when his boss Shuutaro gives him stupid orders, like sending Shingo to look for Ryoko when Shingo doesn't actually know who Ryoko is or what she looks like.
Best Her to Bed Her: When trying to court Ryuunosuke, he does so by attempting to beat her into submission so he can forcibly place a "traditional family heirloom" hairpin in her hair as a symbol of their engagement.
Bunny-Ears Lawyer: He's a very competent ninja, with incredible speed, strength, agility and skills. But he couldn't give a flip about his job, actively disrespects (or even dislikes) his boss, and would rather lay around watching TV.
Casanova Wannabe: None of the girls he's fallen in love with have truly reciprocated his feelings.
Damage Reduction: He's completely impervious to electricity.
Feed It with Fire: He actually gets stronger, faster, tougher and healthier by absorbing electricity.
Highly-Visible Ninja: After becoming a ninja, he's supposed to remain hidden until needed and protect his master without being seen. The problem is he often comes out of hiding to hit on pretty girls.
Hilariously Abusive Childhood: He was abandoned in a jungle full of electrified trees and electricity-shooting animals as a small child by his senile grandfather, who took him there and then forgot him.
In Love with Love: He only wants a girlfriend. Any girl will do for him as long as she's cute.
Love at First Punch: He falls in love with Ryuunosuke after battling with her in chapter 323 of the manga.
Love at First Sight:
- He falls in love with Lum on first seeing her.
- In his debut story as Mendo's bodyguard, he falls in love with Ryoko upon seeing her and tries to court her.
Never Learned to Read: He's illiterate because he lived in a jungle since he was a small child, preventing him from getting any formal education.
The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: After leaving the Electric Jungle, Shingo is supposed to be Shutaro Mendou's ninja bodyguard. However, Shingo genuinely doesn't care about the job and would rather be watching TV or going on a date.
Raised by Grandparents: Subverted. His parents seem to have died when he was very young, leaving him to be raied by his grandfather. Unfortunately, his grandfather lost him in the Electric Jungle, leaving him to be Raised by Wolves.
Raised by Wolves: Because Shingo's grandfather is senile, he lost Shingo in the Electric Jungle when Shingo was young, leaving Shingo to raise himself with nothing but his native wits and the "advice" of a television set, which he mistakenly believed was his grandfather.
Saw "Star Wars" Twenty-Seven Times: Shingo's first and foremost love is watching television. Even after becoming a ninja bodyguard, he tends to abandon his role so he can watch TV. He even learns an attack from it that actually lets him beat Ryuunosuke Fujinami twice.
Self-Proclaimed Love Interest: He calls Lum his wife immediately after their first meeting, even though she clearly detests him and only tries to put up with him to make Ataru jealous.
Serial Romeo: Shingo basically falls in love with any girl he has the slightest interaction with that day.
Wild Child: Having had to rear himself all alone in a jungle full of electrified trees and lightning-throwing animals since he was young has left Shingo with very poor social skills and lackluster education at best.

Saizo

Voiced by: Koichi Kitamura (JP, original series), Kappei Yamaguchi (JP, All-Stars)

An old man who works as a gardener on the Mendou estate and Shingo's grandfather.

Gruesome Grandfather: When reunited with his grandson Shingo, he tends to attack him for not being suitably respectful to Shuutaro Mendou.
Scatterbrained Senior: He's so senile that he forgot his own grandson Shingo at the Electric Jungle for years and keeps mistaking Shuutaro Mendou for Shingo, even when Shingo is right in front of him.

Nagisa Shiowatari

Voiced by: Mitsuki Yayoi (JP, original series), Ayumu Murase (JP, All-Stars)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nagisapc.png

A guy who was raised as a girl. He is introduced as a ghost because he and his father died as a result of overeating sea urchin and sweet bean-flavored kakigori. Long ago he was engaged to Ryuunosuke through their parents, and fell in love with her upon meeting her. Debuts in manga chapter #341, which was adapted into OVA #5, and only reappears in chapters #349-350.

Abhorrent Admirer: Ryuunosuke finds Nagisa's gender-blurring dress and mannerisms to be creepy as all hell, thinks he's a gluttonous layabout, and she's especially put off by the way Nagisa loves to constantly touch her despite her protests. Downplayed when Ryuunosuke felt guilty after telling Nagisa off and apologized.
Arranged Marriage: Nagisa's father and Ryuunosuke's father agreed that they would make their children marry each other. Nagisa falls for Ryuunosuke right away, but Ryuunosuke doesn't want to marry Nagisa, not even after learning Nagisa is a guy.
Back from the Dead: Nagisa gets a new flesh-and-blood body by drinking the tear of the giant sea urchin.
Big Eater: He's a huge glutton, and even having literally eaten himself to death hasn't changed that fact. It's actually one of the reasons that Ryuunosuke doesn't like him very much; he's constantly snacking and puts way large serves at meal times, straining the Fujinami's food budget. To put things into context, Mr. Shiowatari died from overeating after consuming his 98th serve of kakigori in a row... Nagisa managed to eat his 166th serving before dying.
Camp Straight: He acts and dresses like a woman, but falls hard for Ryuunosuke while being aware that she's a woman.
Charles Atlas Superpower: He became super strong from participating in the annual beach sumo wrestling competitions, which he won every year. Even Ryuunosuke cannot compete with him.
Cordon Bleugh Chef: Suggested that he and his father invent a signature dish to make their seaside restaraunt more popular... and the dish they came up with was kakigori (shaved ice) flavored with sweet beans and sea urchin. The idea visibly repulses Ataru, Mendo, and Shinobu.
Crazy Jealous Guy: The only thing that can actually upset him is other men flirting with Ryuunosuke. Nagisa has even clung to Ryuunosuke's arm whilst eyeing Ataru in a cautious manner.
Creepy Crossdresser: Ryuunosuke is deeply unsettled by Nagisa's choice of feminine attire and wishes he'd act like a man.
Cute Ghost Girl: In his first appearance, Nagisa was a ghost and appeared to be a cute young girl. After coming back to life, Nagisa is revealed to be a guy.
Death by Gluttony: Literally ate himself to death a year before his debut in the series.
Dude Looks Like a Lady: Since he looks so feminine, everyone thought he was a cute girl until he showed his bare chest to Ryuunosuke. Ataru and Mendou did notice there was something strange about Nagisa because neither of them felt any attraction to him.
Effeminate Voice: He's a crossdresser who was Raised as the Opposite Gender and is voiced by a woman in his OVA debute to make his Unsettling Gender-Reveal all the more surprising. In the anime remake, he's voiced by Ayumu Murase, who can do a very femenine-sounding voice.
Foil: To Ryuunosuke. They are both the children of men who owned tea shops who raised them to be the opposite gender for business related reasons (a woman for the male Nagisa and a man for the female Ryuunosuke). Both are also very skilled in martial arts. Those, however, are where the similarities end. Unlike Ryuunosuke, who hates her father and wants to be more like a girl, Nagisa and his father had a good relationship and Nagisa enjoys his "female" status, or at least he doesn't seem to care about asserting his masculinity the way Ryuunosuke does her feminity. That is why Ryuunosuke can't stand him.
Foreshadowing: His true gender was anticipated by Ataru and Mendou not trying to grope or woo him, and is revealed after they both realized this.
Gender-Blender Name: Nagisa is a name which is often given to girls, but boys have this name, too. Makes sense since his father wanted a daughter and raised Nagisa as such.
Girly Bruiser: Played with, Nagisa is extremely feminine and girly even when punching through a wall, but Nagisa is also a male character that was raised as a girl.
Glacier Waif: Despite a skinny boy whom was raised as a girl, Nagisa is a champion Sumo wrestler whom is very good at grappling and throwing his non-existent weight around.
House Husband: Because he acts so much like a Yamato Nadeshiko, despite being male, he seems content to take the role of the "wife" after marrying Ryuunosuke. When he moves into the Fujinami household, he's shown taking over as the cook.
Long-Haired Pretty Boy: To make him look even more like a girl, Nagisa has long hair tied back in a ponytail.
Love at First Sight: Towards Ryuunosuke. He even claims on their first meeting that he cannot pass on to the afterlife without receiving a kiss from Ryuunosuke.
Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: Nagisa is the Feminine Boy to Ryuunosuke's Masculine Girl. He's a hyper-feminine guy who dresses like a woman and she's a hyper-masculine girl who is forced to dress like a man by her father. That said, despite the crossdressing and demure mannerisms, Nagisa does have some masculine traits; he's gluttonous, has frequent implicitly erotic dreams about Ryuunosuke, sleeps deep and late, and has enough "macho pride" that he's uncomfortable with fighting a girl. When he overhears that Ryuunosuke likes "forceful guys", he also hints he's willing to act that way if it'd make her happier.
Muscles Are Meaningless: Nagisa is slenderly built and effeminate looking, allowing him to easily pass for a girl in his usual dress. He's also the only person explicitly shown to be stronger than Ryuunosuke, to the point he can restrain her without even trying.
No Sense of Personal Space: Nagisa is extremely physically affectionate, and his exaggerated "touchy-feely" nature is one of the things that alienates others — especially his fiancee, who receives the bulk of his attention.
Raised as the Opposite Gender: Similar to Ryuunosuke's case, Nagisa's father raised him as a girl because he wanted a daughter. Nagisa seems to be more comfortable with his upbringing than Ryuunosuke, though.
Satellite Love Interest: He's introduced extremely late into the series — in the manga, he doesn't appear until chapter 341; the manga ends at chapter 366 — and only has two appearances; his debut and a single two-parter story just before the series ends called "One Night's Battle". In both appearances, his story revolves entirely around his relationship with Ryuunosuke and his desire for her to accept him as her fiance. He's almost completely absent from the 1981 animated series, apart from the single OVA adapting his debut story and some cameos in subsequent movies and OVAs.
Silk Hiding Steel: With his very feminine manners, no one though he could win a fight against Ryuunosuke, which he did in seconds. In an earlier scuffle before their duel, he effortlessly blocks Ryuunosuke's attacks, then slings her over his shoulders and carries her home.
Sumo Wrestling: Nagisa is a champion sumo wrestler despite his very skinny physique!
There Was a Door: When Ryuunosuke locks him out of the Fujinami household during the "One Night's Battle" arc, Nagisa simply punches a hole through the nearby door.
Undead Barefooter: As a ghost, Nagisa is barefoot.
Unsettling Gender-Reveal: He reveals he's a man by showing off his bare chest to Ryuunosuke.
Unwanted Spouse: Nagisa is Ryuunosuke's fiancé because the latter's father made a deal with the former's father. While Nagisa has the hots for his fiancée, Ryuunosuke loathes Nagisa and only tries to get away from him.
Weaksauce Weakness: Despite being alive again, the One Night's Battle arc shows that he flees in terror if touched with a ghost-repelling/exorcising ofuda charm. It's implied to be largely psychosomatic, though Ryuunosuke does keep him trapped in a closet by sealing it with another ofuda at the arc's end.
Wholesome Crossdresser: Nagisa dresses in women's clothing and acts in a very feminine manner mostly because his father raised him as a woman, in counterpoint to Ryuunosuke's father. Nagisa is also one of the more pleasant characters of the cast.
Wouldn't Hit a Girl: When Ryuunosuke challenges him to a duel in "One Night's Battle", he protests repeatedly that he doesn't want to fight, dodging her attacks until he spots an opening, then grabbing her by the waist and squeezing her into submission. When Ryuunosuke denounces his treatment of her as "humilating", a morose Nagisa asks her bluntly if she would enjoy hitting a girl that she had a crush on.

Characters / Urusei Yatsura - Citizens

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