Main Characters | Heaven | Hell / Niflheim | Nekomi City | Angels and Familiars | Others
Supporting cast characters from Ah! My Goddess.
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Banpei
Banpei is a Buddhist-monk-like robot built by Skuld that resides in the Tarikihongan Temple. His original job was to guard the temple from the demon Mara. Programmed to be extremely territorial, Banpei develops a personality in which he gradually becomes more attached to the inhabitants of the temple that grows into an automatic, independent intelligence.
- Accidental Pervert: The main reason why Sigel doesn't want him close to her is that she finds his devotion to her creepy. It doesn't help that whenever she starts to mellow down, something happens that makes Banpei look like a pervert in Sigel's eyes.
- A.I. Is a Crapshoot: The first Banpei was too aggressive for its own good, an aspect of him which he basically paid for with his life. The second Banpei was both more sociable and less of a stickler.
- Alternate Self: There have actually been two Banpeis proper. The first Banpei was shown to grow extremely aggressive and territorial towards all residents of Tarikihongan except Belldandy; much if not all of that Banpei's sentience was lost when he ran out of battery power. The second Banpei grew out of it when Stringfellow and Velsper are introduced in the manga. This latter version is the one featured in the rest of the story.
- Beware the Nice Ones: The second Banpei is much nicer than the first one, but once Sigel is in danger he will draw a really angry face on himself and go berserk towards the assaulter.
- Crazy-Prepared: Banpei arms himself with every possible weapon and upgrade available as soon as he hears Sigel in distress.
- Cute Machines: As with all of Skuld's inventions, he is cute for a robot.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: He is willing to self-destruct if it means saving Sigel. She isn't having any of that sort of talk, however.
- Just a Machine: Personality-wise, Skuld argues that there is nothing in Banpei's programming that would have led him to fall in love with the automaton who would later be named Sigel. Belldandy proves her wrong.
- King Mook: Leads an army of Mimawaris (essentially mini-Banpeis) against Keima, who literally disarmed the hostile Sigel out of self-defense.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Banpei's development of A.I. that is capable of love can be attributed to his creator, Skuld, who unwittingly uses extremely powerful magic to manufacture her inventions out of thin air, though the world of Ah! My Goddess! happens to have the rule which states that even inanimate objects have their own spirit and drive.
- Meaningful Name:
- Banpei is the Pinyin of Chinese Mandarin for "a good fit" or "to be well matched". Its design is a vague nod to a Buddhist monk motif. It also means "sentinel" in Japanese, fitting Banpei's role as the temple's guardian.
- Mimawari means "patrol" in Japanese.
- Pygmalion Plot: With Sigel. When he begins longing for a more equal partner, he asks Skuld to give Sigel sentience; Skuld makes it happen.
- Pygmalion Snapback: Sigel isn't happy at Banpei's single-sided affections.
- Ridiculously Human Robots: Banpei is very feisty and emotional, even though he doesn't have facial expressions.
- Robot Buddy: Due to Skuld's tinkering, Banpei can have an infinite array of upgrades and functions.
- Surveillance Drone: His original work aside from guarding the temple.
- Talking with Signs / The Voiceless: Invoked, but not with signs proper. Banpei can only communicate with gestures and doesn't have the capacity of speech, so he carries an erasable marker everywhere that he uses to draw facial expressions in his own face.
- Teru-Teru Bōzu: One of the inspirations for Banpei's design.
Sigel
Sigel, Robot-Chan
Voiced by: Rina Hidaka (JP-Drama CD)
An automated greeter girl that Banpei finds while driving by a store, becoming infatuated with her. Sigel initally greeted clients to the store, although Banpei eventually asks Skuld to give her sentience. Skuld forgets to program any friendship or kindness towards Banpei, which makes Sigel extremely wary and callous towards him (not that this prevents Banpei from trying).
- Clockwork Creature: Sigel is very human-like for an automaton.
- Damsel in Distress: Sigel often finds herself in this situation much to her annoyance, as it means that she has to rely in Banpei's rescue.
- Fauxshadowing: After Lind's attempt to repair the damage to the temple near the end of the manga, Sigel is shown to have been inside when it happened, and became so distorted and distraught that she refused to go to Niflheim with the others.
- Fembot / Robot Girl: To Banpei's man-bot.
- Hollywood Density: She is light and small enough to stand balanced on Keiichi's head without visible discomfort from him.
- Just Friends: Sigel comes to realize that she doesn't want Banpei to pursue her, but rather to keep each other company.
- The Load: Due to the limited features installed in her by Skuld compared to Banpei, Sigel tends to see herself this way. In the end of the manga, she is left alone in the temple in a state of complete disrepair and she mentions this trope.
- Love Imbues Life: Subverted. This is what Banpei intended when Skuld gave sentience to Sigel, though it didn't turn out the way he wanted; however, Sigel does feel this way towards her main benefactor, Skuld.
- Meaningful Name: Sigel is the name of the runic symbol ᛋ; it is the Anglo-Saxon derivative of the Proto-Germanic word Sowilō, which means "Sun" and "Victory". Belldandy gave it to her because it's "the rune which reveals life".
- Meaningful Rename: Up until her encounter with Dr. Morrow, she was just known as "Robot-Chan"; Belldandy then named her Sigel because she thought that "Robot-Chan" was too belittling.
- Non-Lethal K.O.: Sigel is very fragile in this respect. She is knocked unconscious about every time she appears in the manga, as her body has a mechanism to shut down to preserve basic functions intact. This makes her rely on Banpei or Skuld more than she'd like to.
- Not So Above It All: She avoids Banpei with a passion, but to some degree she does recognize that Banpei is her friend and most loyal companion.
- Pygmalion Plot / Pygmalion Snapback: With Banpei until she was given sentience by Skuld.
- Ridiculously Human Robots: She just might as well be a little girl other than her Rocket Punch. This is the very reason why Dr. Morrow is interested in dissecting her to find out about her components and the nature of her bipedal locomotion (which is his main focus in robotics).
- Rocket Punch: Sigel's signature offensive move; it's her signature move because it's her only move. Predictably, she continuously complains to Skuld about her apparent lack of battle features.
- Rollerblade Good: Sigel's preferred method of locomotion. She has motorized rollers installed on her heels.
- Self-Destruct Mechanism: Subverted. Sigel threatens to self-destruct when Skuld tries to force her to like Banpei; though Skuld argues that it's an empty threat since she didn't install a sequence like that in Sigel, she eventually relents because Sigel is deadpan serious about not being forced. It's also a callback to Rule of Funny, as most if not all of Skuld's inventions do have a self-destruct feature.
- Stubborn Mule: Belldandy calls her out on her disdain towards Banpei, telling her that although keeping a distance is not wrong, there's no reason for her to hate someone that loves her so obviously and is almost entirely devoted to her.
- Torpedo Tits: Subverted, though lampshaded; Sigel really expected to have these on her chest and Skuld promptly tells her that she didn't even remotely think of the possibility of installing those in Sigel. Instead, she has recharging plugs on her chest.
- Tsundere: Harsh as sandpaper towards Banpei when she's given sentience, though she slowly mellows out.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Due to Lind's witless magic, Sigel is left alone in the temple deformed by the wonky spells. This is never addressed again. She did return for the drama CD epilogue though.
Keima & Takano Morisato
Keima voiced by: Houchou Ohtsuka (JP-Drama CD)
Takano voiced by: Naoko Matsui (JP-Drama CD)
Keichi and Megumi's very eccentric parents.
- The Ace: Takano, at playing Mahjong; she is good enough to beat goddesses.
- Action Dad: Regardless of his eccentricities, Keima is the person that instilled the passion for mechanics and motorsports into Keiichi and Megumi.
- Almighty Mom: Takano's obviously the one person keeping Keima from driving everyone else insane.
- Anti-Climactic Parent: The goddesses notice first-hand the dangers of Keima's gynophobia, as he does exactly what Megumi and Keiichi told them he would; Takano, however, is not mentioned beforehand and the goddesses find her to be very doting and charming.
- Badass Biker:
- Keima is a better biker than Keiichi and Megumi combined and has the knowledge to be a highly specialized mechanic; he only sees this as a hobby, as he is a glassblower by trade.
- Assuming Nekomi is in the vicinity of Tokyo, he traveled almost 900mi on his motorcycle just to see Keiichi and his vehicle is still pristine.
- Berserk Button: Keima has two completely different ones. The first, being touched by women other than Takano is an irrational one that sends him amok; the second, being called "dad" by either Keiichi or Megumi is a rational one that earns their kids an admonishment from him.
- Cloud Cuckoo Lander: Keima's gynophobia is so out of control that he should be institutionalized. His son and daughter are very afraid of what he can do when he is off the rails.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Keima might be a glassblower and a gearhead, but he is also a very good fighter, having (unintentionally) disabled Sigel.
- Doting Parent: To Megumi, though Takano and Keima eventually come to Nekomi to find how Keiichi is doing on his own.
- Friendship Trinket: Keima sculpts extremely intricate glass pendants with the shape of feathers to give to the goddesses as a token of appreciation and parting gift. They inadvertently show their true nature as goddesses to him and Takano.
- Happily Married: They're a happy couple despite their eccentric behavior.
- Hippie Parents: The reason behind their eccentric behavior towards their kids.
- Hyper-Awareness: Takano is the first one that realizes that there is something supernatural about Keiichi's girlfriend and their companions.
- If It's You, It's OK: Takano argues that Keima lets her close because they love each other.
- Insistent Terminology: Keima does not like that his kids call him "dad"; as a matter of fact, he has insisted most of his life that they must always call him Keima and his wife Takano.
- Like Father, Like Son: Regarding motorcycles. According to Takano, it's the one thing that Keima and Keiichi have in common and it's the tenet of their relationship.
- Mad Artist: Keima is a superb and extremely detailed glassblower who is dangerously afraid of women.
- Older Than They Look: Keima looks at the very least twenty years older than Takano; she also doesn't seem one day older than Keiichi himself.
- Open-Minded Parent: They have to be, once they realize their son is dating a goddess.
- Parental Favoritism: Keima and Takano dote on their daughter Megumi with money and sustenance, while they leave Keiichi to fend for himself through his own devices. Keima, however, argues that he did this because he expects no less from his own son.
- Playful Cat Smile: Takano is almost never seen without a mischievous cat smile, which helps to illustrate her eccentric nature. This is a trait inherited by Megumi.
- Plot Hole: When Keima first meets Urd, Skuld, and Peorth, the last one is floating in mid air; justified in him being too afraid of women to even notice something like that.
- Single-Target Sexuality: Keima only lets his wife physically touch him. He is very, very afraid of other women until he meets the Norns.
- So Proud of You: A very understated example. Chihiro discovers that Keima regards Keiichi in this way when inquiring into the true reasons for his visit, despite his outward appearence of aloof disinterest.Chihiro: So you were worrying about him?
Keima: Worrying? No way. He's my son. - Tough Love: Keima and Takano leave Keiichi to his own devices and no sustenance like they did with Megumi.
The Lorelei
A Lorelei leader
A race of mermaid-like sea creatures that show up at a Beach Episode in the manga.- Attack Backfire: Skuld tries to attack one of them with an overpowered water pistol. As a creature bound to water, the Lorelei brushes it off without effort.
- Bizarre Alien Reproduction: They come close to the shore to sing for their mermen in order to have their "Love Festival". They use a MacGuffin called a "Whale's Tear" for said purpose, although one of the Lorelei spilled its contents into the water and it ended up seeping into Keiichi's ear when he was underwater. This makes him able to hear their beckoning song, hence the Lorelei think Keiichi is a merman.
- Hidden Elf Village: The Lorelei are not often seen because the Whale's Egg's contents do not reach humans very easily.
- Honey Trap: The Lorelei mermen have to be lured through song... except they end up lured by the goddesses' song instead of the one from the Lorelei women.
- Hunk: Played for Laughs. The Lorelei mermen are shown to be hunky bro-like individuals where their mates are shown to be dainty and delicate females.
- Our Mermaids Are Different: They are more a mixture of mermaids, fairies and elves than mermaids proper. They also have wing-like appendages and as Keiichi notices, they're transparent underwater.
- Unscaled Merfolk: They don't appear to have scaly fish skin.
Chieko Honda
Voiced by: Chieko Honda (JP); Wendee Lee (EN)
Chieko Honda is a Shinnentai (a physical manifestation of unfulfilled willpower) residing in a pre-war mansion that the Motor Club reserved for vacation. She is the first Shinnentai to be introduced in the manga.
- Dead All Along: Chieko died not long after Hotarunosuke left the mansion in the 1930s.
- Fighting Spirit: She's a manifestation of will that haunts the mansion with the sole drive to meet Hotarunosuke again.
- Ghostly Goals: She has lingered in the mansion since the 1930s on the promise that Hotarunosuke Morisato would give her a drive around the lake in his motorcycle. This is decades after both died.
- Haunted House: She's the manifestation of will haunting it.
- House Fey: She maintained the Honda Inn for sixty years after her death.
- Irony: When she introduces herself, she states that she is the temporary caretaker. According to Belldandy, she had never seen a Shinnentai that lasted as long as she did.
- Named After Somebody Famous: Named after the voice actor Chieko Honda. Amusingly her namesake went to voice the character in the TV series.
- Our Ghosts Are Different: She is not properly a ghost, but a physical manifestation of the desire left by an unfulfilled promise. She is physical and she is more than aware that she's been dead a long time.
- Poltergeist: Unlike a ghost, Chieko's Shinnentai is a physical entity.
- Theme Naming: Much like other human characters in canon, she is also named after the car and motorcycle manufacturer Honda.
- Tulpa: She is a physical manifestation of unfulfilled willpower.
Hotarunosuke Morisato
a.k.a. Hotaru-no-Suke Morisato
Keiichi's nearly-identical grandfather, presumably from Keima's side.
- Due to the Dead: Keeping respect towards him and Chieko, Keiichi refuses to appropriate Hotarunosuke's motorcycle, even when it's a classic. Also, while he did free Chieko's Shinnentai, Hotarunosuke did not fulfill his promise after all and he'd need the motorcycle to do so.
- Like Father, Like Son: And grandson too; Hotarunosuke was an avid motorcycle enthusiast just like Keima and Keiichi.
- The One That Got Away: For each other. Chieko and Hotarunosuke seemed to be in love, but it all withered away when she died. The manifestation of her will to meet him again lingered in the mansion for more than sixty years.
- Posthumous Character: He has been dead for decades.
- The Promise: As Keiichi explained to Chieko, Hotarunosuke did not fulfill his promise of taking her for a motorcycle ride precisely because she died.
- Secretly Wealthy: A Brough Superior motorcycle (as it's stated in the footnotes) was five times more expensive than what an average Japanese person would have earned in a year in the 1930s. Hotarunosuke would have had to be very affluent to own one.
- Strong Family Resemblance: Keiichi is identical to him verbatim, enough to fool the spirit of a maid he met before the war.
The Ninja Clan
Kodama, Mistress of Confusion
Lightning Hikari
Sheringan* , The Peeping Tomboy
From bottom to top: Kodama, Hikari, Sheringan
A group of diminutive ninjas created by Mara out of lab mice.- Apple of Discord: Kodama turns Urd and Skuld against each other by hitting them where they hurt the most.
- Cute Bruiser: They kick ass and they are at the most six inches tall. They are also remarkably dangerous.
- Gratuitous Ninja: They're cute, funny, deadpan, and they turn the temple upside down with their wars of attrition.
- Honey Trap: Kodama hypnotizes and tries to seduce Keiichi in order to be caught by Belldandy in fraganti. The only problem is that Keiichi realizes pretty fast that Kodama looks Super-Deformed, making her plan backfire.
- Lemony Narrator: As a way of self-referencing and criticizing his own work, Kosuke Fujishima makes Kodama refer to Keiichi and Belldandy's relationship as "at kindergarten level".
- Melodrama: Everything surrounding them consists of loyalty struggles and their duty as ninjas, almost at a Kabuki theater level; Mara did base their personalities on a film she had just watched.
- Ninja: Other than being half-a-foot tall, they fill the trope wholeheartedly.
- Rule of Funny: By the way they act, they could have just stepped out of a Toshiro Mifune film.
- Seppuku: Kodama decides to take her own life when she fails her mission, only to be stopped by Belldandy and convinced that she shouldn't waste her life like that.
- Shapeshifting: Kodama can impersonate Urd and Skuld to the point of fooling Keiichi.
- The Stool Pigeon: The first thing Sheringan tells her fellow ninjas is that she is going to tell on them to Mara.
- Theme Naming: All three of them are named after Shinkansen trains.
- Turncoat:
- Hikari initially does not leave Mara's side, attempting to kill Keiichi once more before being stopped by Kodama.
- At the end of their arc, the entire clan collectively defects from Mara's service.
- Vitriolic Best Friends: Kodama and Hikari were best friends from when they were still mice.
Eri & Tasuga
Eri (front) and Tasuga (back)
Childhood friends and former school classmates of Chihiro from her seaside hometown. Eri runs a jetski and snowmobile shop while Tasuga runs a motorcycle shop.
- All Behaviorism Is Pavlovian: Eri complains about Chihiro and Keiichi's need for a start signal to begin racing, arguing that they must have been racehorses in a previous life.
- Commonality Connection: Tasuga is every bit a gearhead as Chihiro is.
- Not So Above It All: Eri was unwilling to surrender a snowmobile Chihiro wanted for parts until, just like everyone else, she was asked by Belldandy.
- Old Friends: They've known Chihiro since before she attended NIT.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Chihiro is confronted with having to pay the whole bill to Eri and Tasuga, so Eri makes Belldandy convince Chihiro; when Chihiro brushes off the haze, she tries to escape, only to be trapped in her own conceit and literally trapped in Skuld's folding motorcycle.
- You Owe Me: Chihiro dragged everyone to the coastal town to build their dream machines but tries to play hooky on paying Eri and Tasuga. She unwittingly jumps on Skuld's motorcycle, which traps her in its folding feature.
The Ghost Motorcycle
The Ghost Motorcycle racing Megumi at the Inoku-Radai Circuit
The second shinnentai introduced in the story. It used to be a motorcycle built and used by Chihiro, but was dropped down a seaside cliff in an accident. It haunts the oft-visited Inoku-Radai circuit that leads to NIT.
- Fighting Spirit: It's a manifestation of the will of a motorcycle that Chihiro built and dropped off a cliff in an accident.
- Ghostly Goals: It wants nothing more than to race again and be ridden.
- Not So Above It All: Its desire to ride is overridden by its elation at finding someone to compete with it. It first competed with Megumi, who lost to it, and this almost cost her her life as the ghost led her to the cliff where it was dropped years before; it later is defeated by Keiichi, and this prompts it to lead him and Belldandy to its whereabouts.
- Our Ghosts Are Different: It is not properly a ghost, but a physical manifestation of the desire left by an unfulfilled promise. It wasn't an actual living being in the first place (it's a motorcycle), but its purpose was unfulfilled anyway because of the accident.
- Tulpa: It's a physical manifestation of a motorcycle that went unridden.
The Machiners
A race of sentient robot-like creatures that start frequenting Chihiro's shop to be repaired by Keiichi during off-hours.
- Ambiguous Robots: They are very much mechanical beings that live beyond the scope of humanity. They are alive, but it's left to the imagination how much of a "robot" race they are.
- Cute Machines: They are at the most, dog-sized and come in all sorts of shapes and forms.
- Insistent Terminology: They keep referring to Keiichi as Belldandy's servant; however, they do not do this out of malice.
- Mechanical Lifeforms: They are not properly robots, but rather living beings that happen to be made of metal.
- Not So Above It All: They express a sincere admiration for the amount of detail-oriented work Keiichi dedicates to their maintenance. In turn, they start to come to him in crowds.
- Remote Body: The first machiner introduced to Keiichi is the landing train of a considerably larger flying device that is flying circles around Nekomi, being unable to land.
- Ridiculously Human Robots: Invoked; they are not human-like in appearance, but they are very contrarian and feisty.
- Technology Porn: Keiichi is floored by the beauty, exquisiteness and filigree of the Machiner's parts; however, his contemplation is confused with perversion by the Machiner.
