History Characters / TheTwelveKingdoms

* AbusiveParents

* [[spoiler:TraumaInducedAmnesia]]: [[spoiler:The reason why he can't remember his stay in the Twelve Kingdoms. He was attacked by a treacherous general, resulting in his ''kirin'' horn – the source of his power – being cut off. He managed to escape back to Japan before the physical trauma wiped out his memory. Feeding a kirin meat, as his father insists on, doesn't help.]]
* [[spoiler:TraumaCongaLine]]

* ExtremeDoormat [[AdrenalineMakeover -->]] ActionGirl and TheWomanWearingTheQueenlyMask [[CharacterDevelopment -->]] TheHighQueen

* OverprotectiveDad: He kept his daughter Shoukei completely sheltered and shielded from all the hardships that Hou went through. [[BreakTheHaughty Wow, did that fuch the girl over once he was executed.]]

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Thanks to being a badass general before being chosen as king of Tai.

* PoisonousFriend: [[spoiler:Kouya appears to be one to his mentor and leader, Atsuyu. He murders dissidents regularly (like Ribi's best friend, the girl who helps Enki escape from Atsuyu's manse) and claims to have "exiled" them when Atsuyu asks. It's subverted, as Atsuyu is actually a ManipulativeBastard who abuses Kouya's extreme loyalty to get away with atrocities while keeping his own hands clean.]]
* PsychoSidekick: Kouya could also be considered this in regard to Atsuyu, [[spoiler:if Atsuyu wasn't evil himself.]]

* PoisonousFriend: Worth noting that in the original novel (where she didn't follow Youko to the other world), Yuka has ''zero'' respect for Youko and gladly badmouths her to the press after her disappearance.

* DarkSkinnedRedhead: A plot point, since people back in Japan thought she was dying her hair and saw it as a form of rebellion.

* DarkSkinnedBlond

* BrattyHalfPint: Even with her competence, she's still a young girl at heart and sometimes exhibits rather childish behavior, like kicking off her NiceShoes while discussing things with Kyouki.

* BladeOnAStick
* BoisterousBruiser
* TheBigGuy

* PromotionToParent: Apparently, for Sekki.
* LaResistance
* RebelLeader
* SleevesAreForWimps

* {{Bishonen}}
* LaResistance
* TheSmartGuy

* OddFriendship: With Youko and Shoukei, not to mention Enki.
* PlatonicLifePartners: With Youko, ShipTease notwithstanding.

* TheSmartGuy

* TakingTheBullet: [[spoiler:One from her king, in the anime. Also a bit of ICannotSelfTerminate, as she had ''[[IllGirl shitsudou]]'' thanks to his actions.]]

* IllGirl: She already was in the last stages of ''shitsudou'' when Chuutatsu died.

* IllGirl: When the previous King Shishou [[spoiler:(Chuukin's adoptive son)]] governed ineffectually, she got ''shitsudou''. The King then [[HeroicSacrifice renounced to the throne and killed himself]], which let her get better and choose [[spoiler:his mother]] Chuukin as the new sovereign.

* IllBoy: [[spoiler:After Joukaku went nuts, he was stricken with ''shitsudou'' – the fatal illness that affects kirin when their rulers reign poorly.]]

* IllBoy: Due to an old head injury, he gets severe headaches and later loses his sight.

The following is a list of all the characters in ''Literature/TheTwelveKingdoms''. Given that there are '''[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin twelve kingdoms]]''' it's not a shock that over time the cast grows [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters quite large]].

* NoNameGiven: Even in the novels, he never receives a name; this is particularly noticeable in a series with LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters and which normally names even the most minor among them. The King of Kou gets no name despite being the main villain of the entire first plot arc.

* AmbitionisEvil: [[spoiler:His belief that he could be a better king than Shouryuu, in a world where kings are ''divinely appointed'', inevitably leads to this, involving him JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope in pursuit of it.]]

* [[spoiler:AmbitionisEvil]]
* [[spoiler:BitchInSheepsClothing]]
* [[spoiler:DeathByIrony: He manipulated Kouya into killing people with his demon, so he could gather power and usurp Shoryuu. When he is finally unmasked and snaps, ''Enki's shirei'' deals him a fatal injury, so Shoryuu has to MercyKill him.]]
* [[spoiler:EvilMentor: To Kouya.]]
* [[spoiler:EvilRedhead]]

* [[spoiler:SmugSnake]]

* [[spoiler:VillainousBreakdown: When his rebellion collapses he immediately lashes out at his advisers, placing all the blame on them. It culminates in him trying to backstab Shoryuu and instead being fatally wounded by Kouya.]]

* TranslatorMicrobes: Avoided. Not being a sen-nin means that, when spirited away, Suzu couldn't understand the language of the kingdoms until she was taken in by Riyo. That's actually the reason why she put up with Riyo's abuse; in return for her service, she had Suzu's name added to the heavenly roster. One of her favorite taunts for Suzu was that she was free to quit at any time, but would lose her senninhood and therefore her ability to communicate, which after ''years'' of experiencing just that [[AdultFear was Suzu's greatest fear]].

* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: With the exception of incredibly rare black Kirin, all Kirin have golden hair. Furthermore, while the Twelve Kingdoms have [[YouGottaHaveBlueHair an incredible variety of hair colors]], this color only occurs in Kirin. It can't be dyed, either. And of course all Kirin are creatures of limitless compassion.

* RedEyesTakeWarning: Lampshaded, then averted. Taiki is initially afraid of Gyousou because of the man's red eyes. In reality, Gyousou is a pretty nice guy, and his red eyes are not a mark of anything evil; it's just all part of the Twelve Kingdoms' [[{{TechnicolorEyes}} technicoloring]] [[{{YouGottaHaveBlueHair}} scheme]].

* WholesomeCrossdresser: When Youko first meets him in the novels, he's dressed as a woman. It's unclear if he always dresses this way or not.

* OurGodsAreDifferent: While she is worshiped as a goddess by much of humanity, the same is true of the emperors and many other figures who are merely immortals; it is unclear if or ''how'' Gyokuyo differs, aside from occupying a position in the CelestialBureaucracy that gives her access to other, more definitive deities. At one point she references the existence of a Register of Divinities (corrisponding to and separate from the Register of Immortals that records emperors and their servants), but doesn't make it clear which register she's actually on.

* [[spoiler:StuffedIntoTheFridge]]

* NotSoDifferent: [[spoiler:In the anime, one of his aims in life is to find out if the Heavens exist. Later it is shown that Youko has the same dilemma.]]

* NotSoDifferent: In the novels, [[spoiler:Seishuu points out that she and Suzu are not actually that different - they're both lonely and embittered, and have let that bitterness turn them into such unpleasant people that it drives off anyone who might actually be able to relate to them.]]

* TheUnfought: In the novels, Youko never even comes face to face to him and only sees him once in a vision using her sword; aside from that, the closest she gets to him is hearing his voice via a bird. The anime added a more direct confrontation with him.

* HonestAdvisor: [[spoiler:For all her flaws, Chuukin notes that she actually served this role to the king, rather than just being a mistress, and that things only started to really go downhill after she was exiled.]]

** In the novel, [[spoiler:rather than ''just'' criticize her as she does in the anime, Chuukin notes that Riyo was actually one of the few people who was willing to tell the king that he was doing the wrong thing, and that he only really started to go downhill after she was effectively exiled from the court, implying that the real reason her status was left untouched for so long was because of this history.]]

* RichBitch: This is the reason she lives in her own estate far from the royal palace; everyone else just wanted to be rid of her. [[spoiler:Deconstructed in the anime; while she's still a a JerkAss, Chuukin says that the reason she was exiled was because her acerbic tongue meant she was one of the few people who was willing to tell the king that he was on the wrong path. Also, it turns out she's not actually ''rich'', at least by the standards of immortals, since she has almost no income, just her immortality and the gifts that were given to her.]]

A youjyuu hunter who assists Shushou on her ''shouzan'' to cross the Yellow Sea to Mt. Hou and become Empress.

[[/folder]

* DeadlyEuphemism: In the novels, since a ruler cannot resign and live, "abdication" is used as a euphemism for suicide. Since no such abdications are ever shown directly, is unclear whether they have to physically kill themselves or whether declaring their abdication is sufficient to cause them to drop dead on its own.