History HistoricalDomainCharacter / AnimeAndManga

* Most of the cast of ''Anime/LeChevalierDEon''.
* Most of the cast of ''Manga/{{Drifters}}''.

* Most of the cast of ''Manga/TheRoseOfVersailles''.

* ''Manga/RedRiver1995'' is based on actual Turkish history, including ''The Manly Deeds of Suppiluliuma'' and ''The Ten Year Annals of Mursili II''. Both of those books were written by the actual Mursili II, who is Prince Kail in the story. Protagonist Yuri Suzuki is mostly believed to be a CompositeCharacter of multiple, influential women, including Prince Kail's legal wife.
* Creator/AleisterCrowley appears as a character in ''Literature/ACertainMagicalIndex''. Of course, the real Aleister Crowley wasn't nearly so... [[DudeLooksLikeALady pretty]].
** Aiwass also makes an appearance as an otherworldly being who is also Crowley's mentor. "Aiwass" was the name of the voice that the real Crowley claimed to have heard in dreams that dictated the Book of the Law to him.

* Most of the cast of ''Manga/TheRoseOfVersailles''.

* Most of the cast of ''Manga/BungoStrayDogs''.
* ''Anime/ReadOrDie'' has several characters who are actually clones of historical ones, such as Beethoven and Mata Hari.
* ''Anime/TheVisionOfEscaflowne'' has [[spoiler: UsefulNotes/IsaacNewton as the BigBad]].

* The ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' saga uses [[{{Expy}} expies]] of historical characters instead: e.g. Char Aznable (AKA: "The Red Comet") is an expy of Manfred von Richthofen (AKA: the RedBaron), Andrew Waltfeld is an expy of UsefulNotes/ErwinRommel (the original MagnificentBastard), etc. Things get complicated when later series start featuring expies of expies of historical people...
* ''Anime/ParisNoIsabelle'' has Léon Gambetta and Adolphe Thiers, though the latter goes through such a HistoricalVillainUpgrade that he's the anime's BigBad.
* ''Anime/LaSeineNoHoshi'' has Marie Antoinette and several of the French aristocracy, who serve as the main heroine's Arch-Nemesis.

* Many of the characters in ''Manga/VinlandSaga'' are actually historic people, among them Leif Erickson, Canute, and Sweyn, and ''possibly'' even the Jomsvikings, although it's difficult to tell if the Jomsvikings are just myth or if there was an original kernel of truth that was later built upon and exaggerated in tales. ([[spoiler:Technically even main character Thorfinn "Karlsefni" is one too, there really was a Thorfinn "Karlsefni" Thórdarson who was an explorer associated with Leif Erickson, although much of the life of the fictional version is entirely made up.]]) There was also an actual ''Thorkell the Tall'' who fought for the English and joined Canute, but it's not known if he was really a giant who could kill a hundred men with his bare hands.
* ''VisualNovel/SteinsGate'' uses a rather strange example in the form of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Titor John Titor]], a forum poster back in 2000 and 2001 who claimed to be a time traveler - Only this time, Okarin's discovery of time travel changed the arrival date to 2010, [[BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy the claims (though slightly different this time around) are true]], and [[spoiler:her real name is [[SamusIsAGirl Suzuha Amane]]]].
* While not the only anime set in the Bakumatsu period (and thus all characters are HistoricalDomainCharacter), ''Manga/{{Gintama}}'' is one of the few that completely reinvent/exagerate character traits (e.g. Saigo Takamori is a transvestite, Hijikata Toshizo is crazed about Mayonnaise, and Kondō Isami is a stalking gorilla). Also mixed in people that are far more legendary, such as Kintaro and Hyubei, and you have a crack manga.

* [[Manga/RecordOfRagnarok Record of Ragnarok]] uses numerous figures from history and mythology for their cast of characters notably, UsefulNotes/LuBu, UsefulNotes/SasakiKojiro, UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper, Raiden Tameemon, UsefulNotes/QinShiHuangdi, UsefulNotes/NikolaTesla, Leonidas I, UsefulNotes/GrigoriRasputin, {{UsefulNotes/Nostradamus}}, UsefulNotes/SimoHayha; and Soji Okita.

* In the 1970s, Toei made ''Ikkyuu-san'', an anime based on the (possibly fictionalized) earlier Zen Buddhist monk (according to Website/ThatOtherWiki) Ikkyuu.[[note]]which ran until 1982[[/note]].
** They also made an anime based on the earlier life of Tokugawa Ieyasu.
* ''Manga/MugenNoGunkanYamato'', being a HistoricalFiction manga, has many real-life admirals from both sides of the Pacific War.
* The entire ''[[Franchise/{{Nasuverse}} Fate]]'' franchise runs off this. The servants are based on various historical figures ([[UsefulNotes/{{Nero}} Nero Caesar]], [[UsefulNotes/ThreeKingdomsShuWeiWu Zhuge Liang]], [[UsefulNotes/VladTheImpaler Vlad the Impaler]]), mythical figures ([[Myth/CelticMythology Cú Chulainn]], [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Hercules]], [[{{Oni}} Shuten-Douji]]), or fictional characters who are in the public domain ([[Literature/{{Frankenstein}} Frankenstein's Monster]], JekyllAndHyde, and [[Literature/AlicesAdventuresInWonderland Alice]]).

* ''Manga/MoriartyThePatriot'' introduces UsefulNotes/BillyTheKid.
* ''Manga/YaBoyKongming'' (AKA ''Paripi Koumei'') is a FishOutOfWater comedy about Zhuge Liang, 3rd century Chinese strategist featured in ''Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms'', getting reincarnated in 21st century Japan and becoming the manager of Eiko Tsumiki, an up-and-coming musician.

* [[Manga/RecordOfRagnarok Record of Ragnarok]] uses numerous figures from history and mythology for their cast of characters notably, UsefulNotes/LüBu, UsefulNotes/SasakiKojiro, UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper, Raiden Tameemon, UsefulNotes/QinShiHuang, IsefulNotes/NikolaTesla, Leonidas I, UsefulNotes/GrigoriRasputin, {{UsedulNotes/Nostradamus}}, UsefulNotes/SimoHäyä and Soji Okita.

* Creator/AleisterCrowley appears as a character in ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex''. Of course, the real Aleister Crowley wasn't nearly so... [[DudeLooksLikeALady pretty]].

* In the 1970s, Toei made ''Ikkyuu-san'', an anime based on the (possibly fictionalized) earlier Zen Buddhist monk (according to Wiki/ThatOtherWiki) Ikkyuu.[[note]]which ran until 1982[[/note]].

* Many of the characters in ''Manga/VinlandSaga'' are actually historic people, among them Canute and Sweyn, and possibly even the Jomsvikings. There was also an actual ''Thorkell the Tall'' who fought for the English and joined Canute, but it's not known if he was really a giant who could kill a hundred men with his bare hands.

* ''Ya Boi Kongming!'' (AKA ''Paripi Koumei'') is a FishOutOfWater comedy about Zhuge Liang, 3rd century Chinese strategist featured in ''Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms'', getting reincarnated in 21st century Japan and becoming the manager of Eiko, an up-and-coming musician.

* In ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'', there are some examples:
** Guts: UsefulNotes/GotzVonBerlichingen (1480–1562), a German knight, was the leader of a band of mercenary soldiers and attained the reputation as a Robin Hood figure. In 1504, his right arm was struck by enemy cannon fire and a prosthetic iron arm was developed to replace it. Guts' iron arm, in his original character concept, is very similar to Götz's iron arm kept in the Nüremberg Museum ([[ArmCannon minus the cannon and repeater crossbow attachment]]). However, [[WordOfGod Miura stated in an interview]] that he created Guts independently and that he did not find out about von Berlichingen until after several volumes of the manga had been published, so this appears to be a coincidence.
** Emperor Gaiseric: The Emperor Gaiseric alluded to in volume 10 was based on the actual King Genseric who ruled the Vandals' kingdom in Europe in the 5th century. He was famed as a brilliant general who was seen as a threat even to the Roman Empire. In the manga, Gaiseric is said to have created a vast empire, similar to the Romans, that was destroyed by God's wrath. He banded together his small tribe and brought them great fame as a kingdom that exercised its authority in the Mediterranean region.
*** [[spoiler:It is hinted that Emperor Gaiseric survived his fallen empire in the form of the Skull Knight, a recurring character who aids Guts and stands in opposition to the God Hand]].
** Emperor Ganishka: The Emperor Ganishka, working as Griffith's enemy in Berserk, was based on King Kanishka, who ruled over the actual Kushan Empire, a vast empire in India and Central Asia during the 2nd century. He was also a profound Buddhist and adorned his empire with its respective figures and promoted it vigorously. Like his real-life counterpart, Ganishka also decorates his palace with famous Buddhist and Hindu figures, but has demonized them to suit his nature.
** Mozgus appears to be based on Ivan the Terrible, due to his daily routine of slamming his face into the ground during prayer and his biblical methods of execution.

* ''Manga/AnatoliaStory'' is based on actual Turkish history, including ''The Manly Deeds of Suppiluliuma'' and ''The Ten Year Annals of Mursili II''. Both of those books were written by the actual Mursili II, who is Prince Kail in the story. Protagonist Yuri Suzuki is mostly believed to be a CompositeCharacter of multiple, influential women, including Prince Kail's legal wife.

* VisualNovel/SteinsGate uses a rather strange example in the form of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Titor John Titor]], a forum poster back in 2000 and 2001 who claimed to be a time traveler - Only this time, Okarin's discovery of time travel changed the arrival date to 2010, [[BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy the claims (though slightly different this time around) are true]], and [[spoiler:her real name is [[SamusIsAGirl Suzuha Amane]]]].

* In ''{{Manga/Berserk}}'', there are some examples:

* Most of the cast of ''[[{{Manga/Drifters}} Drifters]]''.

* ''Webcomic/AxisPowersHetalia'' has several brief appearances of historical characters, often as the bosses of the nations.

* The Franchise/{{Gundam}} saga uses [[{{Expy}} expies]] of historical characters instead: e.g. Char Aznable (AKA: "The Red Comet") is an expy of Manfred von Richthofen (AKA: the RedBaron), Andrew Waltfeld is an expy of UsefulNotes/ErwinRommel (the original MagnificentBastard), etc. Things get complicated when later series start featuring expies of expies of historical people...

* Most of the cast of ''Manga/RoseOfVersailles''.

** A subset of this is {{shipping}} said historical characters with the nations they rule over. America[=/=] UsefulNotes/Barack Obama, Prussia[=/=]UsefulNotes/FrederickTheGreat, France[=/=]UsefulNotes/JoanOfArc and England[=/=]UsefulNotes/ElizabethI are... ''quite'' popular among fanworkers.

* The Franchise/{{Gundam}} saga uses [[{{Expy}} expies]] of historical characters instead: e.g. Char Aznable (AKA: "The Red Comet") is an expy of Manfred von Richthofen (AKA: The UsefulNotes/TheRedBaron), Andrew Waltfeld is an expy of UsefulNotes/ErwinRommel (the original MagnificentBastard), etc. Things get complicated when later series start featuring expies of expies of historical people...
* Many of the Characters in ''Manga/VinlandSaga'' are actually historic people, among them Canute and Sweyn, and possibly even the Jomsvikings. There was also an actuall ''Thorkell the Tall'' who fought for the English and joined Canute, but it's not known if he was really a giant who could kill a hundred men with his bare hands.