Characters / Aldnoah.Zero

Character sheet for Aldnoah.Zero. Beware of unmarked spoilers.

Main Characters

Inaho "Nao" Kaizuka

Voiced by: Natsuki Hanae (Japanese), Max Mittelman (English)

An ordinary Earth boy who has an amazing ability to remain calm in dangerous situations. He winds up thrown into the center of the conflict when the civilian caravan he's helping to escape picks up both a girl who knows the truth about the princess's assassination, and the princess herself.

In the first season, he becomes a core member of the Mustang Squad, with his strategies helping win against much more powerful and technologically-advanced Martian Kataphrakts.

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• Affectionate Nickname: His sister calls him "Nao-kun".
• Anyone Can Die: His in-universe attitude: he has no illusions that everyone's going to get out of this alive, and that in war everybody has a target painted on their back. He gets shot in the eye in the finale. The next episode reveals he survived, and 19 months later, he has some kind of Electronic Eye as part of the reconstructive surgery done to replace his eye.
• Awesomeness by Analysis: He quickly figures out an enemy Kataphrakt's abilities and limitations by simple observation and then reviewing video footage.
  • To the point that he's able to take down the Dioscura single-handedly after only a few minutes of fighting it.
• Badass Bookworm: He brings three things to the table as a military asset for Earth - a decent-but-unexceptional aim, Nerves of Steel, and considerable knowledge of physics both basic and advanced. They're all important, but it tends to be the last one that ends up being most lethal.
• Badass Normal: The mecha version. In the first half of the series, Inaho only pilots a basic trainer Kataphrakt and using his wits, manages to defeat several seemingly unstoppable Orbital Knights. So far he's the only Terran who has successfully defeated a Martian Kataphrakt, let alone two or three, and lived to tell about it.
  • Empowered Badass Normal: After surviving getting shot in the head, his left eye is replaced with a robotic eye with a powerful computer in it that he can add his unused brain power to. This lets him pull off extremely long range and difficult shots easily and has made him a Living Lie Detector, amongst other things. In addition, he received the Aldnoah Activation Factor after coming into contact with Princess Asseylum's blood, allowing him to power an Aldnoah Drive.
• Back-to-Back Badasses: a mech variety with Marito in episode 20.
• Benevolent A.I.: His eye computer.^note Though technically its main unit seems to reside in an armpit pouch Inaho carries everywhere with him. While it is straining to use, and overuse brings Inaho headaches and weakness up to loss of consiousness, the AI itself seems to be steadfastly loyal to Inaho himself, rather than anyone who created it, and follows his example in striving to do the right stuff.
• Boom, Headshot!: On the receiving end of one at the end of Episode 12, courtesy of Slaine after he (Inaho) goes for his gun rather than surrendering or talking his way out.
• Cast From Life Span: His new bionic eye gives him incredible analytical abilities. Unfortunately it does seem to strain him if he uses it too much. In episode 21, shortly after their battle against three Martian knights, a brief shot of his eye shows it's become bloodshot. Inko notices something wrong, but he tries to say he's okay.
• Cherry Tapping: He faces off against opponents who have superior Kataphrakts compared to the trainer one he uses. Nevertheless, given enough time to analyze his opponents attacks and discover their weaknesses, he still manages to defeat them with a much weaker unit by attacking tiny weakpoints with his knife or a machine gun barrage that previously had no effect.
• The Chessmaster: Literally plays chess like a master against Magbaredge (although he may have some assistance from his eye), but his various victories against superior opponents come from quick but carefully plotted strategies that take advantage of every strength he has against every weakness his enemies have.
• Child Prodigy: His tactical and observational skills allow him and a small group of friends to defeat one of the Maritan Kataphrackts, something that none of earth's military could manage.
• Cold Sniper: Extremely calm under pressure, and he almost always uses his rifle for single precision shots rather than full-auto. Made more official in Season 2 where he's primarily been shown using a longer rifle for extremely precise, long distance shots.
  • Hell, he even made a shot from orbit. As in from orbit to ground level.
• Combat Pragmatist:
  • His strategic skills manage to get his group away from an attacking Kataphrakt more than once.
  • He tends to win by exploiting gaps in the Martian Kataphrakts' defenses through careful observation, application of physics, and using every dirty tactic in the book. It's the only way he can survive.
  • Many of his tactics amount to 'bait the super powerful Martian Kataphrakt into a vulnerable position to exploit it's weakness'. He is willing to use anything and anyone as bait, including himself.
  • Also, the reason he chooses to keep piloting his technically inferior Sleipnir Kataphrakt instead of upgrading to an Aerion is because the Sleipnir is lighter and faster, and heavier armor is generally useless against Martian weaponry which are almost all a One-Hit Kill anyway.
• Creepy Child: Inaho was apparently considered this, since he didn't cry during Heaven's Fall, and generally stoicism.
• Deadpan Snarker: Comes off this way largely because of his lack of emotions when talking to others.
• Deuteragonist: To Slaine's protagonist in the second season.
• Did Not Get the Girl: Played with. Asseylum marries Krankheim purely out of political need even though her heart and soul clearly stays with Inaho.
• The Dreaded: He becomes one towards the Martians due to his constant victories against seemingly invincible foes who had superior Kataphrakts. Even Slaine becomes fearful of him, and waits until Inaho and the Deucalion has left the Terran space station before launching his attack in episode 16. One of the Martian knights in episode 21 even comments about the "dreaded orange Kataphrakt" when Inaho makes his presence on the battlefield.
• Emotionless Guy: He seems incapable of emoting.
  • Averted in the English dub, which more plays up his Nerves of Steel aspect. All of his spoken lines by Max Mittelman have subtle undercurrents of emotion that get across that Inaho is much more than a simple robot. Instead, he's more focused all the time, even if he might be rattled on the inside.
• Ensign Newbie: In the very first episode, he has to lead the operation against the Nilokeras, despite being a mere cadet, because communications with any possible military base are either jammed or cut-off, and most of his instructors are dead with his older sister, who is also his superior officer, being sidelined by war injury. He does eventually get rank to match his abilities, even becoming a highly decorated officer by the end of the series.
• Establishing Character Moment: His reaction to seeing a missile flying toward him and his friends is to tell them that they should probably get out of there in the exact same tone of voice he was using while reading a supermarket flier about eggs on sale.
• Expy:
  • Of Amuro Ray, with elements of Kamille Bidan, Kira Yamato, Heero Yuy, and Setsuna F Seiei
  • His pragmatism is very similar to Sagara Sousuke, and his ability to win with an underpowered mecha is similar to Chirico Cuvie.
  • Inoha becoming Famed In-Story for piloting his orange Kataphrakt into battle is a clear homage to Char Aznable and his Red Zaku.
  • In the second season, he is compared to Odin, the Norse god of knowledge and battle, rider of Sleipnir, who gave up an eye for the price of knowledge.
• Expospeak: He tends to explain the science behind his victories out loud, supposedly for the benefit of his team-mates, but is mostly for the audience, who will undoubtedly be Wiki Walking all the scientific terms he just spouted.
• Eye Scream: His left eye was shot out by Slaine in Episode 12. Naturally he got better, with a brand new eye to boot.
• Eyepatch of Power: Sports one in Episode 9 of the second half and in the finale.
• Fatal Flaw: His lack of social skills and tendency to act without explaining himself. His friends grumble about it throughout the show, but it doesn't seem like too much of a big deal until it gets him seemingly killed.
• Guile Hero: He relies on his strategic skills rather than the Super Prototypes most other main characters in his position do.
• Improvised Weapon: In his first fight against Vlad, Inaho maneuvers the Martian into position for Inko to smash Vlad with a shipping container hanging from a crane.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: He loves Princess Asseylum, but doesn't fight to get her, letting her marry Klancain.
• Living Lie Detector: Becomes this thanks to his cybernetic eye, which can analyse vocal stress patterns. It's how he can tell that Princess Asseylum is an imposter, and that Inko's making excuses for gaining weight.
• Moe Greene Special: His left eye gets shot out by Slaine in episode 12.
• My Hero, Zero: Picks up the callsign Mustang Zero Zero in Season 2, and his Sleipnir is marked 00.
• Nerves of Steel: Nothing rattles this guy, whether it's missiles flying at him or being locked in mortal combat with enemy Kataphrakts.
• No Social Skills: He has severe difficulty not reverting straight to Brutal Honesty when talking to people, and often fails to grasp the context of questions he's asked (for example, he often interprets 'why did you do X' as 'why did you do X in Y manner' rather than 'why did you do X at all'). More dangerously, he has great difficulty in explaining himself to others, and tends to use actions rather than words to get himself out of tight situations. ** In season 2, he notes that Inko's gained weight, calls her out on stress eating and her excuses, and flusters poor Inko almost to tears. And he has no idea what happened.
  Inaho: I thought with this eye, it'd be easier to read Inko.
  Rayet: That confirms it. You're an idiot.
  Inaho: *scans Rayet with eye* You're telling the truth.
• Not So Stoic: He is phased by the loss of those he considers close, and his first Martian Kataphrakt kill was one out of revenge for his dead friend. He is also disoriented about Asseylum's apparent death in Episode 12. The second OP shows him being much more emotional.
• One-Man Army: This dude has taken out more Vers forces than the rest of the entire United Earth military.
• Parental Abandonment: He lives with his older sister and their parents are nowhere to be found. The show's director confirmed in an interview that their parents died during Heaven's Fall, and Inaho and Yuki had to grow up with the support of other relatives and people close to them.
• Perpetual Frowner: He has this as his default expression.
• Red Baron: Inaho's early victories were all performed in training Kataphracts, which are painted bright orange. By episode 6, the students have been moved into military-grade olive green Kataphracts, but the Vers forces have started keeping an eye out for the bright orange one. Guess who jumps back into a trainer after his standard-issue mech fails to boot. And even in season two, he still prefers to use his trainer unit along with its orange color, and still outperforms his comrades as well as his enemies, all of whom are using arguably better Kataphrakts by this point. ^note The Aerion's main advantage is that it has a tougher frame and more armor; however the lighter Sleipnir is more nimber and has a better thrust to weight ratio, which Inaho considers more crucial, since Versian Kataphrakts have enough firepower to make armor irrelevant.
• Reluctant Warrior: He's stated on a few occasions that he's not fighting out of any desire to, but sitting still doing nothing would be even worse.
• Science Hero: His victories over the Martian Kataphracts rely heavily on his high-level knowledge of various physical phenomena.
• Ship Tease: With Asseylum. The two are shown to grow quite close in the first season; during the last episode, after Asseylum gets shot Inaho has a series of flashbacks which suggests that he actually has fallen in love with her.
  • In Season 2, after Yuki confronts him on his constant putting himself in the line of danger, he says that he's doing it to save Asseylum because she tried to save him in Saazbaum's Landing Castle.
  • Confirmed further in Episode 22, when Inaho passes out after infiltrating Slaine's Landing Castle and eventually making his way to the princess, his cybertronic eye temporarily assumes control of his body and decides to spill out a lot of Inaho's secrets, including the fact that he appears to think of the princess as 'part of himself', since he prioritises her safety and well-being over himself and is always thinking of her.
• Significant Birth Date: His student ID card indicates he was born on December 7, "a day that will live in infamy." Another significant event on December 7 was the launch date for Apollo 17, which triggered the divergence point for this series' Alternate History. Other information◊ revealed indicates that his birthdate was retconned into February 7. The reason why is unknown, especially since the events of the first season were explicitly stated to take place in December 2014. However, both December 7 and February 7 have significance in regards to Pearl Harbour.^note Back in 1932, on Sunday, February 7th, an aviation-minded admiral, Harry Yarnell, "attacked" Pearl Harbor with carrier-based planes during a war game. If the bombs and bullets had been real, the place would've been a wreck… and the opposition were unable to find his fleet for 24 hours, ample time to get away for a real enemy.
• Skewed Priorities:
  • He was more interested in the sale on eggs going on than watching the VERS princess as her convoy drove by, and later when it's attacked.
  • Later, he's more interested in finishing his omelette than evacuating from the Martian invasion.
• The Rival: Feels himself to be that to Slaine, whom he distrusts:
  You are my enemy.
  • Cemented in Season 2; Calm offers to repaint his Sleipnir, but Inaho declines, because he wants Slaine to be able to find him.
• Stat-O-Vision: His new cybernetic eye can display additional information. Including a person's profile and includes a built-in lie detector.
• The Stoic: He's completely unfazed by witnessing the death of one of his best friends. Though he appears to be shocked momentarily, it only lasts for a few seconds before he's back to his calm self.
• The Strategist: His calm analytical demeanor makes him very good at fighting the Martians in spite of the technological disadvantage. So much so that many of the Martian knights, and apparently even Slaine, are quite fearful of the orange kataphrakt any time it shows up on the battlefield.
  • Because there has not been any war for the past 15 years, there are no real combat veterans on both sides. Inaho ability to plan and exploit weaknesses gives him a significant advantage against the arrogant Martian pilots.
• Taking You with Me: Subverted in episode 5. He deliberately goads Vlad into getting close, then nullifies the latter's laser swords using reactive armor to deflect the energy, and gets a firm grasp on Vlad's kataphrakt. He then asks the ship to deliberately list to the side, and falls towards the ocean when Vlad attempts to power up his sword some more, but jettisons out of the mech before both suits fall into the water. Vlad's plasma sword superheats the water and causes a steam explosion, killing him in the process.
• That Makes Me Feel Angry: Confides in Inko the first night of the war that he's not fearless and is uncertain that they will make it out alive, though his tone of voice and facial expressions don't change much.
• Tranquil Fury: He is eerily calm, but it is clear that Okisuke's death has made him angry, best exemplified in what he says right before riddling the interior of the Nilokeras with bullets:"This is for my friend." His calmness gets on his sister's nerves a little bit, and she calls him out on it in episode 11 after he suggests another crazy plan to have Asseylum shut down the landing castle assaulting the Earth HQ. Seeing as how the alternative was that they get wiped out, Yuki reluctantly goes along with his plan.
• Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: According to the novel detailing his past, when Inaho was a small child, he was frequently bullied by other kids, because of how they found his lack of emotional expression creepy. So Inaho got revenge on his bullies by digging holes, luring them to fall into said hole, and then throwing rocks at them, one of said bullies ended up breaking his leg.
• We Cannot Go On Without You: If Inaho dies in battle, not only do the Earth Forces lose a highly-capable pilot, but the Deucalion won't be able to function, due to losing Inaho's Aldnoah Activation Factor.
• When He Smiles: Subverted. The very first time we see a smile creeping across Inaho's lips, it's when he's about to be shot at by Slaine, and it's a cold, bitter, almost malevolent looking one. Coming from someone who otherwise never shows emotion, it's terrifying.

Slaine Troyard

Voiced by: Kensho Ono (Japanese), Zach Aguilar (English)

A young boy who tutors the princess about Earth. He knows so much about it because he was born there. Official material reveals that he and his father defected to Mars about five years prior to the story's beginning.

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• All Love Is Unrequited: Has had feelings for Asseylum for a long time and is shown to get quite mad at the fact that she only has eyes for Inaho over the series.
• All of the Other Reindeer: He is consistently disparaged and abused by Martians for his Terran heritage but is powerless to fight back.
• Anti-Hero: In the second season, he's become more ambitious and morally ambiguous, and is perfectly willing to engage in skullduggery and deception to get what he wants. The funny thing is that he believes that the goals he's trying to accomplish aren't his own. Zig-zagged somewhat because the vision of peace between two planets originally was his, but over time it became Asseylum's wish and his goal changed to 'fulfilling the princess' dream by any means necessary'. It's complicated.
  • The production intends him to be a Lovable Rogue protagonist, though he veers more into Well-Intentioned Extremist, becoming increasingly more bitter as time goes on.
• Apologetic Attacker: In episode 3, when strafing Inko and Calm. By Season 2, this has gone away completely.
• Because You Were Nice to Me: The guy's had a pretty rough life as a Martian subject, so it's unsurprising that he latches onto the few people who treat him moderately decently like a remora in heat:
  • A Flash Back in episode 5 shows when he first lands in Martian territory. He has a large amount of hyperoxygenated fluid in his lungs for Liquid breathing, and coughs violently in an attempt to remove it. A young Asseylum who happened to be nearby at the time, assists him in it with reverse mouth to mouth resuscitation (sucking liquid out, instead of breathing air in). This could also count as a First Kiss.
  • Saazbaum saves his life (or so they both think), treats him with respect whilst he's a prisoner, and finally lets him go to do as he will despite the fact that they both know they're on opposite sides. In return, Slaine rescues him during the Deucalion's assault on his landing castle. However, after Saazbaum shoots Asseylum, he plots revenge and evens the score in season 2.
• Best Served Cold: Does this to people who have treated him like crap, given the opportunity. He shoots Trillram after the latter says he has to kill Asseylum. And though he didn't quite plan for it, he lets the trap he originally set for Inaho in episode 15 do Saazbaum in, citing the latter for shooting Asseylum and putting her in her current condition as a result.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Trillram should not have underestimated him and his dedication to the Princess. Saazbaum should not have taken his rescue at face value.
• Big Bad: By season 2 he starts to grow into this, taking more action against Earth and as well setting up his own plans for Vers. Following his murder of both Saazabaum and Marylcian, Slaine has a good number of Orbital Knights under his control and makes his first coordinated attack against Inaho and the Earth forces, making him the main enemy of the series.
• Bodyguard Crush: His Undying Loyalty for Princess Asseylum can be VERY easily seen as one of these.
• Character Development: Goes from being a Butt-Monkey, Extreme Doormat and The Chew Toy in the first season to a much smoother operator, hinted to have his own motives and goals, in the second season. He proves this by killing Saazabaum and taking leadership afterwards.
• The Chessmaster: Gradually turns into one later in the show, due to having access to new privileges and power as he rises within the VERS ranks. As a result, he achieves more in a few months than the entire VERS Empire failed to do in several decades.
• The Chew Toy: The poor guy can't catch a break. Every time it looks like he's about to achieve something substantial or reunite with the princess, fate never fails to screw him over. Only for the first cour, though: he becomes much more passive-aggressive and capable of standing up for himself in the second cour, and with his accession as Count Slaine Saazbaum Troyard his chew toy days might just be over. Or so you'd think...until the last episode when he's refused a honorable death and forced to pay for his crimes by rotting away in prison for the rest of his life. It seems that in Aldnoah.Zero, everyone gets a happy ending...unless your name is Slaine Troyard.
• Conflicting Loyalty: He's loyal to the Vers family, but he hesitates when he's facing Terrans because he's one of them. Later, he gets into an even more dangerous conflict as he grows to respect and sympathise with Saazbaum despite the fact that he's the ringleader of the plot to assassinate his beloved princess. Initially resolved quite suddenly in Episode 15, though, calling into question whether Slaine really had that conflict in the first place. But by episode 20, Eddelrittuo starts to worry about him after Asseylum wakes up and tries to remember her time on Earth, and with Inaho. She even defended him to Asseylum in episode 23.
• Cruel Mercy: How he views his imprisonment at the end of season 2. He's lost his appetite and even the will to live, and would have preferred to die instead.
• Despair Event Horizon: In the last episode where he's imprisoned for life, he's so far into this after losing Princess Asseylum that he's stopped eating and repeatedly begged Inaho to kill him. Of course, the last shot implies he's at least happy to hear that Asseylum still cared about him enough to have Inaho spare his life.
• Did Not Think This Through: Really. Much of the pain and suffering of the show would not have happened if Slaine would just consider the consequences of his actions. For most of the series, he would only ponder the consequences when they jump up to bite him somewhere sensitive, and he tries to shoot them.
• The Dog Bites Back: He takes a lot of verbal abuse from Trillram in Episode 2 for his hesitation to kill. In the next episode, after Trillram angrily snaps at him to come with him to kill the princess and insults him again, he snatches Trillram's service pistol out of its holster and guns him down on the spot.
  • Saazbaum gets this as well as revenge for shooting Asseylum.
• Distressed Dude: Soon after Inaho shoots him down at the end of Episode 7, Cruhteo picks Slaine up and tortures him. And then after that, Saazbaum's Dioscura barges into Cruhteo's Landing Castle, kills the latter, and abducts Slaine.
• Dude, Where's My Respect?: Despite being seemingly capable, the VERS knights don't seem to value his help very much out of Fantastic Racism. Cruhteo even slaps him for even asking to see combat to avenge Asseylum's death. Ultimately averted in season two: after he becomes a count, he gains the favor of many others. He has been able to amass so much power that he's on his way to becoming the next emperor of Vers. Even Barouchruz, who has contempt for Slaine because of Fantastic Racism and killing Marylcein, acknowledges that nothing can stop his rise to power.
  • Despite being the one to literally solve the assassination plot, he is the one to blame for all of it instead.
• Enemy Mine: Decides to defect to the Earth after finding out of the Martian conspiracy to kill the princess. However, after Asseylum is shot, he ends up working with the VERS Empire instead. And gradually takes control over more and more of it as the second season rolls on.
• Even Evil Has Standards: While he doesn't initially object to the VERS Empire invading Earth, he doesn't take it too well when he learns Princess Asseylum was killed, only to later be found alive. And Trillram wanted her dead to conceal the justification for their invasion.
• Extreme Doormat: He lets people constantly abuse and mock him for his heritage as an earthling, and even participates in the invasion of earth despite wanting peace. The former is a bit distressing because he's very close to the princess, someone with the authority and reason to stop any bullying he may face.
• Exotic Eye Designs: Unlike the other characters Slaine doesn't have any pupils. Unusually enough in the flashback where he first meets Princess Asseylum he is shown having them, it most likely was an animation error.
• Foil: According to his profile, he's this to Inaho. While one controls his emotion and is logical, Slaine is meant to be emotional and intuitive. At least the initial intent seemed to be during conceptualization. In actual execution over the course of the series, though? Because he acts on his emotions rather than thinking things through, he just ends up making things worse.
  • Cemented further in season 2. while Inaho specializes in strategies on the battlefield, Slaine's arc mostly revolves around his rise to political power.
• Freak Out: Saazbaum seemingly killing Princess Asseylum makes him snap. He then repeatedly shoots Saazbaum and executes Inaho. Both Saazbaum and Inaho get better however in Season 2.
• From Nobody to Nightmare: He was an ex-Terran upon arriving on VERS territory, so was viewed with disdain and skepticism about his loyalty. Near the end of the second season, he has more or less attained Big Bad status and likely would have succeeded in conquering Earth were it not for the universe trying to fuck him over as much as possible.
• Framing the Guilty Party: Is hit with this at the end when he's publicly declared as the one behind the assassination and the whole war, even though he was really charged with using extreme methods to end the latter by conquering Earth. Everything became so complicated by the end that it would have been easier for everyone to believe he did all of it instead of some of it.
• Freudian Excuse: His motive for continuing the war is due partly to the mistreatment he suffered at the hands of Martian nobles along with their mistreatment of lower class Martians. And partly because he feels wiping out Earth's forces utterly so they can no longer oppose him is the only way to achieve peace. Never mind that Asseylum would never approve of that, and she attempts to stop him in episode 21 after learning that he's changed for the worse since she last saw him.
• Heel Realization: Realizes this in episode 19 when he begins lying and manipulating Lemrina, forces other knights to swear fealty to him, and begins a new offensive on Earth. Despite this, he recognizes that he's too deep into his Gambit Roulette to turn back, even if Asseylum ends up hating him.
• Going Native: Tries to in Mars, as an immigrant from Earth. It doesn't work out too well largely because most of the Martian knights view him as a lesser being due to his origins on Earth despite being Asseylum's tutor about the planet.
• Happily Adopted: Saazbaum adopts Slaine in episode 15 after some irate Martian knights insult and even attempt to attack Slaine for being a Terran despite him working with the Martians all this time. He immediately tells everyone within shouting distance this, lest someone think that he was just lying. This comes back to bite Saazbaum's behind when Slaine ends up killing him later in the episode, then uses his new father's death to take up his position within the Martian knight's ranks.
• Hated by All: At the end of season 2, both the Terrans and the Martians placed blame for the assassination and the war between Earth and Mars on him, even though he wasn't responsible for the assassination or the initial causes of the war. However, he did help prolong the war as means to fullfilling Asseylum's dream of peace between Earth and Mars in a twisted way. The only two people that still care about him is Asseylum and Inaho.
• The Heart: One of his character descriptions in the official website, as the most kindhearted character at core of the show.
• Heel–Face Turn: Once he finds out about the plot to kill Princess Asseylum, he kills Trillram on the spot, and later helps Inaho against Femianne...
  • Heel–Face Door-Slam: Unfortunately, Inaho shot him down afterwards.
• He Who Fights Monsters: Though he was hoping for a peaceful coexistence with Earth as well just like Asseylum, by the second half of the show it's obvious he's more than willing to wipe out the Terrans if that's the only way to get the fighting to stop. Unfortunately when he explains this to Lemrina in episode 21, she disapproves of it. Then she reveals herself to be the real Asseylum.
• Hope Spot: One happens to him in episode 8, after being subjected to torture by Cruhteo, the latter finally realizes that he was actually trying to be loyal to Princess Asseylum, and orders his men to tend to his wounds. He also vows to get to the bottom of the conspiracy and punish those responsible for starting the war. Unforunately Saazbaum arrives in his Kataphrakt, and kills Cruhteo, while also kidnapping/rescuing a wounded Slaine.
• Indy Ploy: Deconstructed to hell and back. Slaine's actions in season 1 firmly establish what happens when your entire game plan basically boils down to "I've got to get to the princess, no matter what the cost." Siding with Saazbaum does indeed get him to the princess right before Saazbaum shoots her in front of him. While he does snap out of this and actually engage in some long-term planning, and actually considers the consequences of his actions briefly in Season 2, specifically in episodes 15 and 16, when Princess Asseylum wakes up he goes right back to it and shows what happens when the entire game plan is basically nothing more than "I won't let the princess out of my grasp again, even if I have to put her in a cage."
• I Owe You My Life: He feels indebted to the princess and the Vers family for saving him and his father five years ago.
• Improbable Piloting Skills: Pulls off some pretty incredible maneuvers with his sky carrier, including a Pugachev's Cobra followed by a rapid vertical climb. Pretty impressive for a transport plane.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Much like Inaho, Slaine deeply cares about Asseylum and is willing to achieve her dream of bringing peace between Earth and Mars, even if it involves conquering Earth. At the end of the series, he was sentenced to life in prison, but is still glad she is safe and happy.
• Just in Time: In episode 7, he deflects one of the Hellas' fists away from Inaho and crew in the nick of time to save them. Can be considered a Big Damn Heroes moment.
• Kiss of Life: How Asseylum saved him 5 years ago.
• Laser-Guided Karma: Although many fans found his final fate excessive, everyone has to admit that it fits his many crimes perfectly. He smeared Asseylum by using an impostor to provoke and exacerbate the Martian/Earth conflict, so his name gets smeared by charging him with attempting to kill her. He tried to lock Princess Asseylum up in a cage for life while he marries the impostor, Lemrina, so he gets locked up in a cage while the world is told that he's dead. Because he dashed the hopes and dreams of billions, and left Asseylum with no other option than to go with a Bureaucratically Arranged Marriage to end the war, all his hopes and dreams are dashed forever.
• Make It Look Like an Accident: Reports to Cruhteo that Trillram's death was the result of being caught in the meteor bombardment. Since said bombardment would also vaporize the body, his story is airtight... until Saazbaum hears it and happens to be the one person in the world who would know this can't possibly be true. He sees right through his story and immediately investigates when details don't match up.
  • Does it again with Saazbaum. With Slaine taking his position as Count, some of the other counts have raised suspicions as to how he did it.
• My God, What Have I Done?: This realization hits him in full force right after Saazbaum guns down the princess and then smiles at Slaine, congratulating him for saving him.
• Nice Guy: Being a "good person/boy/child" is the basis of his personality. He does take several jumps down the slopes in season two.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:
  • Had Slaine been a bit more honest about Trillram's death by saying that the Terrans found a way around his shield instead of lying to Cruhteo about the manner of Trillram's death by blaming the orbital bombardment, Saazbaum would never have been tipped off, and the report to the Emperor about Asseylum being alive might have been believed.
  • Shooting at Inaho in an attempt to force his way to the princess, when Inaho was acting as a proper bodyguard for Asseylum (while being well aware that Martians were after her), only served to alienate the entire crew of the Deucalion, and place him at Cruhteo's tender mercies.
  • Happens again in the final episode of Season 1 when he saves Count Saazbaum from being killed by Inaho, leading to Saazbaum being able to shoot the Princess right in front of him.
  • Near the end of season 2. He puts Asseylum and Lemrina under house arrest, in the same place, so when UE special forces infiltrate the base to try to assassinate Asseylum because of all the pro-war propaganda that Lemrina was doing disguised as Asseylum, Cruhteo's son comes along and sweeps her away in his ship.
  • Lastly, because he had Lemrina in disguise as Asseylum try to legitimize the Neo-martian Empire by marriage to himself, the real Asseylum had to marry the new Count Cruhteo to stop the war and bring peace and prosperity to both Earth and Mars.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Shooting Inaho, who was attempting to give Asseylum first aid, in the eye while trying to kill him had him replace the eye with a powerful processing computer that made him even deadlier in battle with Martian Kataprhacts, and gave him Aldnoah privilidges by being directly exposed to Asseylum's blood.
• Protagonist Journey to Villain: The first season could be seen as Slaine being conflicted between the two sides before settling on the Vers' side. Following his killing of Saazbaum, it's made apparent Slaine is following his own path to reform Vers, but is still an enemy of Earth. By episode 19/20, Slaine is undisputedly the Big Bad now.
• Save the Villain: He makes a snap decision to save Saazbaum right before Inaho is going to finish him during the battle in Castle Saazbaum. It backfires on him.
• Sniping the Cockpit: He does this to the Herschel, making a very surgical cut in its cockpit which forcibly ejects its pilot into space and allows him to take the machine with minimal damage.
• The Starscream: Episode 13 reveals that at the end of the previous season he told Saazbaum, at gunpoint, that as long as the Princess lives Saazbaum is free to pursue his ambitions. In Episode 15, he happily lets Saazbaum get blown to bits by the trap Slaine had set up earlier, usurping Saazbaum's title as Count.
• Target Spotter: He had to briefly serve as this in the third episode after Trillram's surveillance drones were blinded by smoke and he couldn't see where he was going.
• Trauma Conga Line: Whatever can go wrong for him, will go wrong.
• Undying Loyalty: To Asseylum, to the point where he absolutely will not break under torture if it would endanger her life.
• Wide-Eyed Idealist: Asseylum carries his and his father's prayers of peace. Subverted horribly throughout the show, until he's reached a point where he was willing to destroy the Terrans to bring about the peaceful world the princess wanted, and is reduced to a broken suicidal mess by the time of the last episode.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: In season 2, he wants to bring Asseylum's dreams of peace between Earth and Mars, by prolonging the war and conquering Earth. Needless to say, Asseylum was not happy about it when she found out about his plans.

Asseylum Vers Allusia

Voiced by: Sora Amamiya (Japanese), Erika Harlacher (English)

The princess of the Vers empire, who does not subscribe to her religion's belief that Terrans are inferior primitives. Instead, she pushes for peace between the two, but unknowingly becomes the catalyst for a new interplanetary war.

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• Action Survivor: Killed in the first episode by a missile strike from a terrorist group. Except it was a body double, and the real princess was hiding as a tourist when the fighting breaks out.
• All-Loving Heroine: Despite everything that happens to her throughout the series, she never stops trying to help and save everyone.
• Assassin Out Classin: Survives three attempts on her life, first by terrorists, then survives Saazbaum's gunshot wounds, and finally is saved from Terran special ops soldiers by Klancain.
• Badass Adorable: Despite her cute appearance, there is no denying the fact that she's a competent fighter herself. She's perfectly capable of flipping and body pressing someone her size or bigger with little effort. In Episode 3, she volunteers to be the standing gunner in the counteroffensive against Trillram and manages to not only expertly handle a grenade launcher in her first experience with live combat, but also buys the group the time they need by singlehandedly driving Trillram back with sheer force of will and charisma. When she does use a pistol (pointing it at Slaine), her grip demonstrates she knows exactly how to handle it.
• Break the Cutie: In addition to her assassination being the justification for the VERS knights to invade Earth, she is constantly reminded that it's her fault, whether directly with people blaming her for the war, or indirectly when she overhears people talking about how they lost friends and loved ones due to this conflict. You can almost hear something inside of her snapping after she broadcasts a message that she's alive and orders the Martians to cease hostilities in episode 10/11, only to then wonder why the Earth HQ is under assault shortly after sending out said message.
• Bureaucratically Arranged Marriage: Despite her feelings for Inaho, she marries Klaincain who's a last minute character out of political necessity to end the war.
• Cassandra Truth: Finally gets her chance in episode 10 to try and stop the war. She broadcasts an announcement that she's alive and well, and orders a cessation of hostilities from the Martians. Unfortunately the Martians operating the moon base that receives the signal is loyal to the knights, and Saazbaum tells Slaine her message will go unheard by them.
• Convenient Coma: In Season 2. She wakes up in Episode 19, however.
• Expy: Of Sayla Mass, with elements of Relena Darlian, Lacus Clyne, and Marina Ismail thrown in.
• Freeze-Frame Bonus: One can see that unlike Inaho, who gets shot clean through the head, Asseylum's head is only grazed by Saazbaum's bullet, so it is not unlikely she merely passed out from the shock.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Asseylum has long, blonde hair (when not disguised), is shown to be rather naive and innocent, is one of the few non-racist Martians we've seen, and is doing what she can to end the Earth-Mars war and achieve peaceful relations with Earth. We even see her showing enough purity of spirit that she forgives Rayet for trying to kill her and then apologizes for the role her visit to Earth played in Rayet's suffering in episode ten.
• In the Back: Saazbaum shoots her in the back at the end of Episode 12.
• It's All My Fault: She feels this as the war was sparked off thanks to the assassination attempt and wonders if it would have better off if she'd never gone to Earth in the first place. Despite that, she does accept the blame anytime someone angrily confronts her about it, though this has the odd effect of dissipating their anger at her, or causes confusion in the case of Rayet.
• King Incognito: After the war starts she pretends to be an ordinary tourist caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.
• Love Hurts: Despite being in love with Inaho she in order to end the war is forced to marry Klaincain while whom she is amiable and friendly to, is not in love with.
• Naive Every Girl: Has a rather optimistic attitude about wanting to patch up relations between Earth and Mars. Unfortunately terrorists attack her convoy, and the Martian knights use this as a justification to restart hostilities. She quickly learns that War Is Hell.
• Never Found the Body: The ending narrative of season one states that "the whereabouts of Princess Royal Asseylum Vers Allusia... are still unknown".
• Nice Girl: She wants peace between the Martians and the Terrans, and does not view Terrans as inferior beings.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Many people, both Terran and Martian, point out that had Princess Asseylum never come to Earth in the first place, the Martians never would have had a pretext in invade. Asseylum hears these words while in disguise, and takes it rather hard.
• Not Even Bothering with the Accent: When she is disguised as a Scandinavian tourist, she doesn't even speak in an accent.
• Not Quite Dead:
  • Episode one lead us to believe she was assassinated by high-ranking members of the Martian government to get an excuse for a war, but it turned out to be a body double. She'd fallen ill because of the change in gravity.
  • Happens again in Episode 10, when after being choked out, she was still able to be revived within the crucial handful of minutes that passed before truly dying.
  • A third time occurs in Episode 12. A recent press conference concerning the build-up to the second season shows that it doesn't take◊. In Episode 13, we find out the "Asseylum" who appears giving speeches is another Martian princess using a holographic disguise to stir up anti-Earth sentiment on Mars. The real Asseylum is being kept on the Moon base in a medically induced coma in a liquid-suspension tank.
• Parental Abandonment: You'd never know this from watching the show, but the series timeline on the website tells us her father, second emperor of Vers, died while commanding his armies on the Moon when it exploded in 1999, and a post-season 1 interview with the show's director reveals her mother also died shortly after giving birth to her. Season 2 eventually tells the viewers her father's fate but is silent as to her mother.
• Please Kill Me if It Satisfies You: She literally walks right up to Rayet's gun and kneels before her after Rayet reveals who she really is. The sheer contradiction of her attitude towards Rayet confounds her so much that she ends up not going through with it, though not before she fires a few shots which hits the ground around Asseylum.
• Pretty Princess Powerhouse: She's a princess with long blonde hair, a beautiful and fancy dress and jewelry. Add in her pacifism, and it can be a real shocker how handy she is with several varieties of fire arms such as pistols and grenade launchers.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: Not only is she actively seeking to end the war as quickly as possible, her bloodline allows her to power the Aldnoah-based flying battleship the team found in the secret base at Tanegashima.
• Ship Tease: She is confirmed to have feelings for Inaho over the series.
• Star-Crossed Lovers: With Inaho.
• They Died Because of You: She is constantly reminded of this by several people, even though she was just as much a pawn in the VERS knight's plans to invade Earth. She attempts to fix things up, but faces potential stiff opposition from both sides, as well as the chance that no one may believe her.
• Too Good for This Sinful Earth: What several of the VERS knights felt about her after the (failed) assassination. Cruhteo in particular, regrets being unable to have her reconsider going to Earth on a goodwill mission, which may have prevented her death in the first place. Others, such as Trillram and Saazbaum, would prefer that she stay dead so they can continue using her death as an excuse to attack Earth.
• Transformation Sequence: She does one in Episode 3 to reveal she's still quite alive to Trillram, as well as to buy Inaho some time for his plan.
• Tritagonist: The show's heroine, and the most important character after Inaho and Slaine.
• Wide-Eyed Idealist: One of the most idealistic characters in the series. Hence why she was determined to go to Earth despite the threats on her life.

United Earth Army

Rayet Areash

Voiced by: Sachika Misawa (Japanese), Cristina Valenzuela (English)

A Martian girl who grew up on Earth as a sleeper agent. Her father attempted to kill the princess in order to please his superiors, but is killed to keep it secret. Rayet is then forced to run from Trillram's Kataphrakt, and is saved in time by Yuki Kaizuka, subsequently travelling along with the other refugees.

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• Action Survivor: Becomes one thanks to the start of the war, and Trillram killing her father in front of her, along with attempting to assassinate her as well. She's also nearly killed off during the Martian attack on the Terran headquarters, but the Martian Kataphrakt attacking her suddenly leaves the area after Saazbaum calls for him.
• Bash Brothers: With Inko. They fight together quite a bit during the second half of the show.
• Boomerang Bigot / You Are What You Hate: Despite being the daughter of a Martian, she has decided that all Martians are her enemy after her father's murder. Everybody else around her is not privy to this and thinks she's just a random Earth civilian.
• Deep Cover Agent: She's a Martian placed on Earth for years with her father. However, her father's murder by Trillram for simply doing what the Martians ordered him to do, to kill Asseylum, causes her to change her loyalties completely towards the Terrans. She ends up assisting in killing some of the Martian knights.
• Dull Eyes of Unhappiness: She displays some in episode 9 after reliving the death of her father after Yuki puts Trillram's kataphrakt in her training simulation when she requested a more difficult challenge.
• Easily Forgiven: Well, Inaho and Asseylum certainly forgave her quite quickly for attempting to murder Asseylum. The military, though, thought differently and placed her in solitary confinement until Saazbaum's attack on UE HQ inadvertently freed her. By the time episode 13 starts about 19 months later, she is once again serving in the military alongside Inko and Inaho.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Absolutely hates Asseylum because of how pampered and sweet she appears to be. Despite being a Martian, and the cause of the current war which indirectly led to the death of her father, Asseylum seems popular and accepted by the Terrans around her. This causes Rayet to go briefly mad, and strangles Asseylum in the shower in episode 9. Asseylum's apologies in episode 10 after said attack only further confuses her, leading her to attempt suicide until Inaho stops her.
• Harmful to Minors: Witnesses her father murdered in front of her eyes by Trillram.
• Heel–Face Turn: She already does this in episode 3 when she helps take out Trillram, but it's really cemented in episode 11, when she pilots a Kataphrakt to help defend Asseylum in getting to her destination. By the time of episode 13, she seems to have more or less fully integrated herself into the Deucalion's crew.
• He Knows Too Much: She's a top priority target for Trillram, and consequently Saazbaum, as she's the only survivor of the Martian sleeper cell on Earth that knows the true circumstances of the princess's assassination.
• Hypocrite: She blames the princess for everything she's gone through and the war, when both she and her father were perfectly in power to prevent all of it, and are more responsible for the latter as well.
• I Know Mortal Kombat: She claims to have no Kataphrakt training in episode 9, yet is really good at piloting one during simulations. She claims it's due to having played video games.
• Interrupted Suicide: Once Asseylum began genuinely apologizing for her loss and showing true sympathy for her, the conflicting feelings were too much for Rayet to handle and she puts the gun to her head. But Inaho quickly disarms her by locking the slide back on her pistol, rendering it unable to fire.
• Liar Revealed: After Asseylum more or less identifies her as her assailant, Rayet steals Magbaredge's gun and launches into a Motive Rant that ends up spilling her true identity and who she and her father were.
• Little Miss Bad Ass: She proves to be a very competent soldier.
• Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: The murder of her father completely turns her loyalties around. She has now elected to fight with the Earth forces against Mars.
• My God, What Have I Done?: During a bout of insanity in Episode 9, she chokes Asseylum, mostly out of jealousy at how the latter seems so calm and somewhat happy during this war, and also presumably because of her philosophy that "all Martians are the enemy". In contrast, she lost her father, who was a Mars loyalist and was killed for it after he finished his mission. She does immediately snap out of it and regrets what she's done however.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: In Episode 9, her attempted murder of Asseylum causes the Deucalion to lose power and crash due to the princess being the one who powers the Aldnoah drive. However, Inaho is able to revive the princess quickly with the help of a defibrillator and some CPR.
• Shower of Angst: Has on in Episode 9, before she tries to kill Asseylum.
• Stellar Name: Rayet and her father, Wolf Areash, were presumably named for Wolf-Rayet stars.
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are: She hates Martians with a passion after her father is killed by Trillram. And she gradually starts to resent Asseylum, who seems to have it easy compared to what she suffered through, and several times even comes to hate herself for these things. Fortunately Inaho helps her out, and tells her to stop beating herself up.

Inko Amifumi

Voiced by: Mikako Komatsu (Japanese), Erica Mendez (English)

The local Student Council President, she is a cheerful girl who quickly takes charge of a group of evacuating refugees when the war begins.

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• Badass Adorable: Even though she's just a student she's a capable pilot and does really well in battle usually. She still gets flustered quite easily and still manages to be upbeat and innocent during battle (witness her child-like amazement at the Hellas's flight mode).
• Bash Brothers: Fights alongside Rayet quite a bit, especially in the second half of the show.
• Chekhov's Skill: One of the first things we see her doing is Kataphrakt training on a heavy anti-materiel sniper rifle. This rifle is used to destroy the section of the bridge the Nilokeras is standing on in episode 3.
• Childhood Friends: With Inaho.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: Shows hints of this. During simulation training in episode 9, Yuki casually mentions how Inaho seems to enjoy talking to Asseylum and this garners a strong reaction from Inko, who immediately asks to end the session before running off to talk to Inaho.
• Drives Like Crazy: Though it was kind of forced on her due to the APC she was in being pursued by Trillram.
• Genki Girl: Even during wartime, she stays optimistic around her friends.
• Hopeless Suitor: Its very clear she has feelings for Inaho, however he only has eyes for Asseylum. She find it very frustrating and eventually calls him out on it.
• Selective Obliviousness: Utilizes this in episode 17 when she reports to HQ that there's nothing going on in her sector after the base goes on alert due to a prisoner escape. However, she says that as she's watching Inaho and Rayet release Mazuurek from prison, and is wondering why they're doing it, since neither one of them told her of the escape plan.
• Student Council President: She tries to order Inaho and some of the other boys to help them out with the parade for Princess Asseylem after finding out they're very short-staffed for the event.
• Target Spotter: She briefly serves as this for Inaho during the battle against Femieanne.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: The tomboy to Nina's girly girl, being athletic and sporting short hair.
• War Is Glorious: After Captain Magbaredge says that the things Inaho has pulled off would make him worthy of a medal if he were an enlisted soldier, her reaction is basically "Earning medals in combat? That's so cool!" Lt. Marito, however, is quick to dispel any such notions.
• Weight Woe: Inaho mentions she's gotten slightly heavier in episode 14. His monotone responses to her replies only makes things worse, and Rayet even calls him an idiot after seeing Inko angrily run off. And in episode 17, she, along with Nina and Kaoru, are shocked to find out Rayet has never been on a diet, yet maintains a very slim figure.

Calm Craftman

Voiced by: Taishi Murata (Japanese), Bryce Papenbrook (English)

A student from the Shin-awara high school. He's a foreigner who notes that Japan is in a lot better shape than the country he came from. In side materials for the series, this was stated to be Canada.

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• The Engineer: After being drafted into the UFE, he was quite disappointed to be assigned as a mechanic, as his Kataphrakt piloting scores were too low to justify giving him an Areion.
  • By Season 2, he's effectively settled into being one of the Deucalion's senior mechanics.
• Hidden Depths: He's surprisingly knowledgeable about Norse Mythology in Episode 14.
• Ironic Name: He's actually the most Hot-Blooded and prone to rashness of the main group. It becomes a Meaningful Name after he settles down and begins taking pride in his work as a mechanic.
• Luminescent Blush: When Craft learned that Martians are on-board the Deucalion, he angrily search the ship to find them. However, when he found out that one of the Martian is a beautiful, kind and apologetic princess, he couldn't help blushing like a red lobster, as Inko and Nina were quick to point out.
• Non-Action Guy: Early in the series, Calm took an active role to help Inaho in the battlefield. However, once he's officially conscripted into the army, he's relegated to mechanic duties because of his grades. While he was disappointed at first, he got used to it and even became pretty good at his job.
• Revenge: After Shin-awara is leveled by an orbital bombardment, he starts burning for revenge against the Martians. Subverted somewhat when he meets Asseylum face-to-face.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Averted; he did consider deserting the UE army after the Battle of Novostal'sk, but opted not to as he figured it would be dishonoring Okojo's death.

Nina Klein

Voiced by: Ai Kakuma (Japanese), Christine Marie Cabanos (English)

Another student at Shin-awara high school, she is also a foreigner and from the same country as Calm.

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• Ascended Extra: She starts getting more scenes in the show's second half. Case in point, she had more dialogue in Episode 13 alone than she did for the entirety of Episodes 1-12.
• Badass Driver: She's the primary helmsman of the Deucalion and flies Inaho into battle in Episode 21.
• Bridge Bunny: Part of the bridge crew for the Wadatsumi and later the Deucalion, and definitely the cutest one to boot.
• Girlish Pigtails: How she does up her hair. Even after formally enlisting.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: The girly girl to Inko's tomboy, being fashion-conscious and with long girlish pigtails, as opposed to the athletic Inko's short hair.
  • In Season 2, she reports to the bridge of the Deucalion in her school uniform instead of her assigned UFE Class Cs, because the school uniform was cuter.

Okisuke "Okojo" Mikuni

Voiced by: Yoshitaka Yamaya (Japanese), Bobby Thong (English)

A friendly joker who everyone likes, although he doesn't seem to be doing too well grade-wise in his courses.

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• Keet: Upbeat and enthusiastic in everything he does.
• Sacrificial Lamb: The first named character to die in the series, and to a rather gruesome demonstration of Trillram's void barrier.
• Senseless Sacrifice: He dies trying to save Yuki. However, even without his help, Yuki makes it out just fine.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: He disappears quickly from the story, as he gets atomized when he loses grip of Inaho's hand and falls towards the pursuing Trillram's mech.

Yuki Kaizuka

Voiced by: Sayaka Ohara (Japanese), Erica Lindbeck (English)

Inaho's older sister and a Warrant Officer in the UE Army. She serves in Lt. Marito's platoon and is also an instructor for the students during their Kataphrakt training courses.

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• Artificial Limbs: Downplayed; after she injures her left arm in combat against the Nilokeras, Dr. Yagarai fastens an exoskeletal arm brace for her after they link up with Captain Magbaredge. He also indicates that if she'll be making heavy use of her arm, she'll need to be on painkillers or else it'll hurt real bad.
• Commander Contrarian: Turns into this when Inaho comes up with his crazy idea to assault Castle Saazbaum via a HALO drop. She's the one calling him insane and bringing up all the problems that could happen with this plan. To no one's surprise, she's wrong, of course.
• Cool Big Sis: She tries to be this to Inaho, but she isn't completely sucessful in that regard.
• Heavy Sleeper: She complains to Inaho about him letting her sleep in in the first episode. He then reminds her that he did wake her up repeatedly, but she brushed him off. He then comments that she may be able to make it to work on time if she runs out of the house immediately... all while she's still in pajamas and barely touched the food he just made.
• Promotion to Parent: For Inaho, considering their real parents are deceased, and she fusses and worries about his well-being constantly. That said, it does seem that Inaho does a better job of taking care of her than she does him.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: She allows a surprisingly amount of freedom to her students, and later while she tries to stop Inaho from attacking Trillram, she ends up letting him do it due to what she told him before about acting on his guts and instinct more.
• Sergeant Rock: To her students, particularly to Inko when she follows her into battle.
• Shipper on Deck: She really wants her little brother to get close with the Princess.
• Team Mom: She's one of the instructors for Inaho and his friends, and serves as as a kind of mother figure for them. After she is WIA and unable to pilot a Kataphrakt, Inaho tells her she needs to reassure the civilian refugees and keep their morale up.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: With her own brother, ironically. She allows a pretty wide degree of freedom for his actions, considering he is a conscripted soldier in the United Forces of Earth, but even Yuki has her limits, and she will yell at him if she feels his battle plans are getting too crazy. She continues this even in the second season, where Inaho clearly outranks her.

Koichiro Marito

Voiced by: Kazuya Nakai (Japanese), Matthew Mercer (English)

A Lieutenant in the United Earth Army, he participated in the war against Vers 15 years ago. The scars of that conflict still weigh on him. Along with Yuki, he also serves as a Kataphrakt instructor for the students.

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• Action Survivor: He survived in the first conflict in 1999, although it left him embittered as a result. He also manages to survive Trillram's attack on his mecha in episode 2 due to only getting cut in half, but the top half where he was piloting manages to fall away before it can get vaporized by the Kataphrakt's attack.
• A Father to His Men: He refers to his students as his children, which really gets Darzana's attention until he clarifies that he means students.
• Back-to-Back Badasses: a mech variety with Inaho in episode 20
• Cassandra Truth: He's tried to tell people about what he saw 15 years ago, but the UE government's coverup is so effective that nobody believes him. Even a fellow lieutenant in his platoon derisively refers to him as a "fraud."
• Drowning My Sorrows: He seems to be a regular patron at his local bar, drinking to avoid dealing with the horrors he witnessed during the 1999 war. In addition, he keeps a flask of alcohol in his shirt pocket wherever he goes. Doctor Yagarai repeatedly lectures him on his alcoholism.
• Government Conspiracy:
  • He encountered a Martian Kataphrakt on Tanegashima island during the war 15 years ago and came face-to-face with the terrifying power of Aldnoah. This is in direct contrast to what the United Earth government told its citizens that no Martians ever made it to Earth's surface (per the show's website); they took great pains to cover up just how outmatched Earth was against Mars.
  • It's also revealed that the coverup was also due to the government having found the remains of the Martian Kataprakt and then using the island as a secret base to build an experimental battleship based off of its technology.
• Libation for the Dead: While the Wadatsumi is sailing through Tanegashima, he tosses a bottle of alcohol into the ocean in remembrance of the team he lost, then pulls the flask out of his pocket to indulge in a drink with Yagarai and Magbaredge.
• Mercy Kill: He shot and killed Humeray at his request, as he was trapped in his tank and was burning alive. This is really what caused his PTSD.
• My Greatest Failure: The death of his friend John Humeray in 1999 haunts him immensely.
• Passed-Over Promotion: Due to the Cassandra Truth he told in his report, he was Reassigned to Antarctica and stalled in his career at just an O-3 in his mid-thirties,^note the Russian military has a rather succinct name for such a situation — "A Captain of Fifteen", meaning that the officer served 15 years as a Captain and is unlike to advance any more (because the standard officer contract was 25 years in the Soviet Union), almost exactly describing Lt. Marito's position. though his PTSD and alcoholism also made its impact.
• Reassigned to Antarctica: Rather to Shin-awara, after his Tanegashima Report.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: He deliberately gives orders to another squad not under his command when they run into Trillram attempting to kill Rayet, whom they assumed was a civilian at the time. While the squad's commander objects, his orders ultimately end up saving her by distracting Trillram long enough for Yuki to rescue her.
• Shell-Shocked Veteran: He saw action in the 1999 war on Tanegashima Island, and he did not come out of it unscathed. Right before he and his platoon engage the Nilokeras Kataphrakt in Shin-awara, his right hand is visibly shaking. The effects of this trauma start to manifest themselves more strongly as the conflict wears on, such as in episode 5 when he attempts to get in a kataphrakt to engage against Vlad, but shakes so uncontrollably and suffers blurred vision that he's unable to go out there. Though fortunately for him that ends up saving his life as Vlad made quick work of the soldiers who did attempt to engage him, and Inaho takes care of him shortly afterwards.
• Sole Survivor: His whole tank platoon was wiped out in 1999 except for him.
• They Died Because of You: In episode 6, Captain Magbaredge blames Lt. Marito for the death of her brother during the battle of Tanegashima, who also happened to be his best friend. This hits him rather hard, particularly as she essentially says her brother was murdered by him, adding to his Survivor Guilt. Episode 9 reveals she wasn't entirely wrong. He did kill his friend, although it was a Mercy Kill, as the tank they were in caught on fire. Humeray's leg was pinned inside, and was burning alive, so he asked Marito to kill him. Marito ends up shooting his friend to relieve his suffering.
• Veteran Instructor: Along with Yuki, he supervises the students in their live-fire Kataphrakt training drills.
• War Is Hell: As he succinctly puts it to Inko:
  "Honor's essentially the only thing you can be rewarded for in war. Dying for fame isn't really so bad. Surviving to live a wretched life afterward is terrible as well."

Soma Yagarai

Voiced by: Kosuke Toriumi (Japanese), Ethan Murray (English)

A doctor who happens to know Marito, he is part of the group of refugees evacuating Shin-awara.

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• The Medic: He takes on these kinds of duties after the war starts, including fastening a sling for Yuki's injured left arm (later upgraded to an exoskeletal arm brace) and commandeering the sick bay on the Wadatsumi and then the Deucalion.
• Team Dad: Once Yuki Kaizuka is back in action as a Kataphrakt pilot, he essentially takes over the leadership role for the civilian refugees.
• There Are No Therapists: Technically true as he's not a therapist by trade, but averted otherwise as he is trying to help Marito with his past trauma.

Darzana Magbaredge

Voiced by: Ai Kayano (Japanese), Julie Ann Taylor (English)

A captain in the UE military, she commands the amphibious assault ship Wadatsumi of the Fourth Escort Fleet.

Upon the discovery of the battleship Deucalion on Tanegashima, she becomes its commander by default, and remains its skipper through both seasons.

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• The Captain: She personally led the rescue mission to Shin-awara, which was a surprise to Marito as he thought he and his hand-picked crew were on their own for it.
• Conscription: Once war is formally declared by the Vers Empire on Earth, the first thing she does is conscript everyone on the Wadatsumi who has some form of military training into the United Earth military.
• Mildly Military: She was oddly okay with Nina wearing her school uniform on the bridge in Episode 13. It may have had something to do with the Martian Kataphrakt about to close in on them at the moment.
• Ramming Always Works: Does this a lot after getting the Deucalion including doing so againt Femieanne.
  • In Episode 11, while the Deucalion attempts to launch Princess Asseylum on Saazbaum's Landing Castle via HALO jump, Saazbaum himself shows up with his Dioscura, dealing severe damage to the ship. Unable to maintain altitude, a phased Magbaredge orders the logical course of action: crash the Deucalion into the castle. It works, and it creates a large breach in the Landing Castle.
  • Rams it through the ruins of a city when trying to extract the crews Kataphrakt platoons from a assault by three powerful Orbital Knights at the same time.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: While she was ready to abandon Yuki Kaizuka due to the fact that the chances of finding a single soldier in radio-jammed hostile territory being too slim, as soon as Marito told her there were civilians also trapped in the combat zone, she immediately authorized him to put together a rescue party.
• Smart People Play Chess: She was able to keep up with Inaho in a chess game in Episode 15, even moreso given that the game was being played mentally without being displayed on a screen until the end.
• You Killed My Father: "Magbaredge" is her adopted family's name. Her birth name is Humeray, and her brother John was Marito's best friend in his tank platoon. She believes Marito killed her brother in 1999, and she's actually completely right - the only bit of information she's missing is the motivation and circumstances. She eventually gets the whole story when she views records of Marito's counseling sessions.

Kaoru Mizusaki

Voiced by: Yu Shimamura (Japanese), Trina Loo (English)

Magbaredge's executive officer on the Wadatsumi.

Upon the discovery and activation of the battleship Deucalion, she remains at Magbaredge's side as her aide, and serves in the capacity through both seasons.

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• The Comically Serious: All the time, which probably is one of the main reasons for her being perpetually dateless.
• Commanding Coolness: Magbaredge introduces her as a "Shousa", equivalent to a Lieutenant Commander.
• Number Two: In charge of things on the ship when her boss isn't around.

The VERS Empire

Cruhteo

Voiced by: Show Hayami (Japanese), Lex Lang (English)

The stern patriarch of Castle Cruhteo, at the beginning of the series he is hosting the Princess of Vers before she heads over to Earth. He is the pilot of the Tharsis Kataphrakt.

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• Character Development: He goes through a bit in episode 8 when he realizes he had been wrong about Slaine being a spy. He even proposes an alliance with Earth forces to retrieve the Princess, showing that his Fantastic Racism may have abated a bit. Sadly, Saazbaum doesn't see it that way.
• Classy Cane: Being a noble, he carries around a cane. His happens to double as a Sword Cane variation, as it contains a hidden whip.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Cruhteo seems entirely fine with milking the princess' death for all its strategic worth, but after torturing Slaine for treason and subsequently realizing that the "filthy Terran" has been the only one trying to investigate the conspiracy amongst the Orbital Knights to assassinate the princess, Cruhteo decides his loyalty to the royal family is more important than their military conquests, orders Slaine treated medically, and means to call for a ceasefire. Too bad Saazbaum kills him almost immediately after this.
• Expy: While Gen was brought in to pen three episodes, one can't help but compare him to Takatora, who was also an acting leader who has no idea of how his allies are planning behind his back, no matter how obvious they are, with him getting killed off once he clues in to what's going on.
• Fantastic Racism: He has a very low opinion of Slaine, who is an Earth-born human, even though he appreciates the fact that Slaine is Asseylum's tutor.
• Heel–Face Door-Slam: He is killed by Saazbaum as soon as he learns the truth about the Princess and realizes Slaine was his ally, not his enemy.
• My God, What Have I Done?: He has a mild one once he realizes that Slaine was able to hold out under torture in order to protect the princess.
  Forgive me, Slaine. You have proven your loyalty a thousand times over.
• Never Speak Ill of the Dead: Slaine doesn't criticize Count Cruhteo at all while discussing him with Klancain despite the crappy treatment he received, and later the torture. He merely says that without the Count, he would not have been the person he is right now.
• Pet the Dog: He seems to genuinely care about Asseylum's safety, and all evidence indicates that he was not part of the conspiracy to assassinate the princess. He also seems to regret not being able to stop her from going to Earth on a goodwill mission, which later ends up killing her (not really) and becoming the justification for the VERS Empire to invade Earth.
• Torture Always Works: He acknowledges such methods are archaic and barbaric, but they still get results.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: He's completely oblivious to it, but him passing on to Saazbaum Slaine's story of Trillram dying in the meteor bombardment clues Saazbaum in that something is really wrong with that story.
• Whip of Dominance: Cruhteo's Classy Cane has a whip hidden in it, fitting his strict but seemingly civilized appearance that hides his vile supremacist views and ruthless personality.

Saazbaum

Voiced by: Tōru Ōkawa (Japanese), Kirk Thornton (English)

A high-ranking Vers official and the mastermind behind the conspiracy to frame Earth for the Princess' assassination. He pilots the Dioscuria Kataphrakt.

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• All Your Powers Combined/Final-Exam Boss: The Dioscuria displays a wide array of abilities during the final battle, including the Nilokeras's forcefield, a Laser Blade like the Argyre, and a Rocket Punch like the Hellas. This means that their strengths stack with each other, but so do their weaknesses - for instance, the Rocket Punch is a devastating ranged anti-armour attack, but creates two new and obvious weak spots in the forcefield so the Dioscuria can launch and control its arms.
• Battle Couple: He and his fiancee were the only two Orbital Knights sent to Earth as scouts 15 years ago.
• Big Bad: He's the mastermind behind the plot to assassinate Princess Asseylum, using her death as an excuse to send the VERS Empire into a war against Earth.
• Big Bad Wannabe: An interesting example in that he starts off as the real deal. Unfortunately for him, he taught Slaine a little too well for his own good.
• Blade Below the Shoulder: Unlike the Argyre, which holds in its hands the hilts of its beam swords, the Dioscuria emits its Laser Blade directly from the palm of its hand.
• The Chessmaster: He makes the VERS Emperor dance like a puppet, and always seems to stay ahead of every attempt to uncover his deception. The racism of the VERS towards the Earth works in his favor here.
• Combining Mecha: The Dioscura's full stature is actually made up of Saazbaum's command mech and two smaller drones. When up against Inaho, he calls the drone back to combine with his Kataphrakt, gaining all the abilities displayed by the previously defeated Nilokeras, Argyre and Hellas.
• Corrupt Politician: Initially appears to be this, instigating a war for his own self-advancement, but it turns out that his motives are far more principled and personal than simple greed and lust for power.
• Determinator: In the final battle of Season 1, he keeps fighting even after he is gravely injured, his mech heavily damaged and it's functions disabled, to the point where he even survives Slaine shooting him four times in a rage.
• Disk-One Final Boss: He's initially the show's principle antagonist, masterminding Asseylum's attempted assassination and thereby kick-starting the Martians' invasion of earth. Ultimately, however, he is betrayed and killed by Slain in Season 2.
• Disproportionate Retribution: He blames the royal family for the death of the woman he loved and is jealous of the earthling's resources and culture, so he attempts to assassinate an innocent teenage girl and launches a war that causes the deaths of millions.
• Drone Deployer: The major reason why his machine is so big is because it can detach parts of its arms and legs to form up as Kataphrakt drones that operate autonomously.
• Even Evil Has Standards:
  • He seriously disapproved of Cruhteo's torture methods in Episode 8, and told him to stop more than once. Cruhteo not listening to him led him to leave his Landing Castle and attack Castle Cruhteo.
  • He also greatly respects Slaine's father because Slaine's dad saved him when he was stranded on Earth during Heaven's Fall.
• Expy: Saazbaum is suspiciously similar to Treize Khushrenada, what with the whole honorable Anti-Villain Manipulative Bastard Chessmaster thing going on. They even look vaguely alike with their hair swept back, blue/violet eyes and fancy uniform.
• Face Death with Dignity: Mixed with a little bit of Defiant to the End. When Slaine riddles him with bullets, he just smiles and taps his own forehead in a 'you missed a bit' gesture.
  • In Episode 15, when he realises he's pretty much doomed to a trap Slaine setup a fair bit of time in advance, he again smiles, and says approvingly, "Not too shabby."
• Fantastic Racism: A subversion, seeing his interactions with Slaine paint him in a different from the other Orbital Knights: he seems to be fully aware that the VERS Empire is not really superior to Earth - if anything, he admits it is inferior due to never having developed a culture of its own because of its lack of natural resources. One of his reasons for causing the war is to provide VERS with said resources.
• Final Exam Finale: Since the Dioscuria uses the abilities displayed previously by the other Kataphrakts, it allows Inaho to exploit those same Logical Weaknesses again.
• Freudian Excuse: While he's certainly the most aggressive of the VERS knights regarding attacking Earth, he tells Slaine his motive in episode 9.The second Emperor of Mars declared war on Earth the first time around, prompting the knights to go with him. Unfortunately Saazbaum was seriously wounded during the Heaven's Fall incident that shattered the moon. It was only because of Slaine's father that saved him, although his fiancee was killed during that war. As a result, he vowed to punish the Emperor by attempting to kill the royal family line via Asseylum's assassination, and continuing the war as a result. Whether he's telling the truth or lying to Slaine is another matter though.
• General Ripper: He has absolutely zero qualms about launching an orbital bombardment and raze an entire city to kill one kid who knows about the conspiracy. What's worse, Trillram warns him that he would also hit the landing castle of Count Cruhteo, who would consider this as an attack against him. Saazbaum doesn't seem to give a damn - thankfully for him, Cruhteo doesn't seem to know that he was the one responsible for the bombardment.
• Green-Eyed Monster: He is extremely jealous of how Earth has a far more vibrant culture, better food, and vaster history than Vers does. It doesn't help that due to economic sanctions, Earth is partially responsible for the mess Mars is in.
• Hypocrite His entire motivation for waging war against Earth is that the woman he loved died in Heaven's Fall, which he blames the Royal Family for. You'd have to wonder just how many countless good people lost their loved ones and family members thanks to his bid for power and revenge plot.
  • There's also his racism. He makes it clear that he understands how the teachings of Terrans being inherently inferior is likely something the Emperor made up to divert dissent about the poor Martian quality of life away from him, but he still resents the people of earth out of jealousy. Despite having a fraction of their technological capabilities, average or even crummy earth foods would be considered rare delicacies on Mars, and earth also has a much more vibrant culture.
• I Owe You My Life: This is his reason for assaulting Castle Cruhteo when under the impression that Slaine was about to be murdered. Slaine's dad saved his life during Heaven's Fall. After he hands the Tharsis to Slaine, he considers his debt paid off.
  • This is also why he elevates Slaine to the position of knight, and later his heir; Slaine deliberately shot him and then gave him the option of bleeding out, or helping Slaine get medical treatment for Asseylum, and by extension himself. Saazbaum actually appears to approve of Slaine's deviousness in getting him to owe his life to Slaine a second time.
• I Want Them Alive!: Once Slaine is confirmed to be a traitor, Saazbaum instructs Cruhteo to capture him alive, the reason of which is not obvious at first. It's because Slaine's father saved him in the past, and when he thinks Cruhteo is about to kill Slaine via extended torture, Saazbaum gets out in his Kataphrakt and attacks Castle Cruhteo by himself.
• Karma Houdini: Despite everything he's done, he receives no sort of punishment or retribution for his part in attacking Asseylum. Slaine does shoot him, but then goes to save his life on the condition that he doesn't hurt Asseylum anymore and even serves under him. And though the Emperor was told that Asseylum was assassinated, it doesn't seem to bother him at all when he finds out she's still alive, and he doesn't even question Saazbaum about said conflicting report.
  • Finally gets his comeuppance in Episode 15, courtesy of a trap laid by Slaine, with some unknowing assistance from Inaho.
• Laser Blade: His Kataphrakt has two of them, just like Vlad's Argyre. Unlike the Argyre, it has plenty of other tricks up its sleeve as well.
• Living Is More than Surviving: The biggest problem he sees with the lack of natural resources on Mars: the populace is too focused on simply having enough food and water to make it through each day that there is complete cultural stagnation.
• Manipulative Bastard: He's got the Emperor wrapped around his finger and convinces him the Princess is dead and that Slaine is an Earth spy feeding him lies in order to have him issue a formal declaration of war against Earth. He also tells Slaine he was behind the assassination in episode 9, but gives his reasoning for it. See his Freudian Excuse for further info.
• Macross Missile Massacre: The Dioscuria has an impressive array of missiles in its shoulders, apparently modelled on the main weaponry of the Landing Castles.
• Master of All: His Dioscuria, averting the Crippling Overspecialisation of most Orbital Knights' Kataphrakts. Its flight-mode gives it unmatched mobility, its thick armour and stealth functionality give it solid survivability, and its shoulder-mounted missile banks and pair of plasma swords make it deadly at all ranges. It can also detach parts of its own armor to use as drones. The final battle between Saazbaum and Inaho also showcases all of the abilities displayed by the previously defeated Kataphrakhts; the Nilokeras' negation barrier, the Argyre's beam sabre, and the Transforming Mecha/Attack Drone capacities of the Hellas.
  • Logical Weakness: However, it also inherits all of the same weaknesses of those Kataphrakhts, along with a few new ones due to the combination of those abilities (such as needing to deactivate the negation barrier in order to launch the Attack Drone arms.
  • Flaw Exploitation: Inaho exploits every last one of the Dioscura's flaws in the final fight.
• Meaningful Name: His mecha. On top of having "oscur" in the name, it also refers to the Dioscuri (Castor and Pollux), who among other things are Greek gods of horsemanship. Earth Kataphrakts are usually named after mythological horses. Though it's more likely the Kataphrakt is named after the Dioscuria albedo feature on Mars.
• Motive Rant: As he's fighting Inaho in episode 12, he continuously yells out "You will never understand..." while listing off his grievances that he earlier admitted knew Earth had nothing to do with, but which he still uses as a justification for the outright murder of millions. Of course, Inaho's gone through everything Saazbaum's yelling out during Heaven's fall, the following food riots, and his pre-army training that paints Vers as Always Chaotic Evil, and yet Inaho's never had the need nor the desire to go and drop asteroids on cities while laughing like a loon.
• Noble Demon: Even though he's warmongering and treacherous, Saazbaum has a sense of honor and seems to genuinely think that VERS will be all the better if Earth is conquered. Slaine comes to respect him for this.
• Non-Action Big Bad: Subverted - he was one of the few Orbital Knights that elected to stay in space and bide his time rather than charging in to slaughter Earthlings for honour and glory, but it was less because of a lack of personal ability and more because he was waiting for an opening. As it turns out, he's a superb pilot flying one of the Empire's most dangerous Kataphrakts.
• No-Nonsense Nemesis: He is by far the most dangerous Vers pilot. Not only is his Kataphrakt insanely powerful, but in stark contrast to all the other Orbital Knights, Saazbaum does not show off, brag about his machine's abilities, or underestimate his enemies: he hits hard, he hits fast, and he does it without a word or a wasted second. Another significant factor is that he is the only Knight who has live combat experience from the previous war and came very close to death during that time, so he has no delusions of his own invincibility.
• Obviously Evil: He clearly looks like a villain, and his comments in the first episode (about how they would go to war with Earth should the princess die) just beats it over the viewers' head.
• Pull the Thread: After hearing the strange story of Trillram supposedly dying in a meteor shower, he sends an agent down to the ruins of Shin-awara city to investigate and finds evidence that this is definitely not true.
• Rank Scales with Asskicking: He's the leader of the pro-war conspiracy within the Vers Empire, and their deadliest warrior. Of course, Orbital Knights are expected to be capable fighters in order to justify their position, but Saazbaum just goes beyond.
• Red and Black and Evil All Over: Of course the Dioscuria would have this color scheme.
• Samurai: The Dioscuria looks very much like a classic shogun warlord of the Meiji era.
• Shame If Something Happened: States this to Cruhteo regarding Asseylum in episode 1. In a rare twist, he's not threatening him, but rather reassuring him of the consequences if the Earthlings were to hurt or kill her. It's his hand in said assassination attempt that qualifies for this trope, however.
• Spikes of Villainy: You can see the guy went to great lengths to make his Kataphrakt as terrifying as possible.
• The Farmer and the Viper: Slaine saves his life when Inaho overpowers him. In return, Saazbaum shows up to ruin Slaine's reunion with the princess and shoots her before his very eyes.
• Transforming Mecha: His Kataphrakt can switch modes into a Space Plane capable of traveling in orbit and in atmosphere.
• Villain Has a Point: Despite being the orchestrator of an apocalyptic war, he openly admits to Slaine that he is aware of how stupid returning to a feudal system of government was. He also feels that the Emperor did this and made everyone hate earth as a means of consolidating his power, a sentiment many viewers had expressed right after the first episode.
• Villainous Valour: He's honourable (though not quite in the same way as his fellow Orbital Knights), determined, and capable of retaining some measure of his dignity and ideals even when everything's going horribly wrong. Best exemplified in his last scene in Season One - see Face Death with Dignity above.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: According to him, one of his reasons for launching the war is that Earth has access to much greater natural resources than Mars, and he believes that by conquering Earth he would genuinely and vastly improve the lives of VERS citizens. His other reason for launching the war, however, is much more personal...
• Worf Effect: He's killed off rather quickly in episode 15, showing how much more cunning Slaine has become.

Trillram

Voiced by: Takahiro Sakurai (Japanese), Todd Haberkorn (English)

A count of the Vers Empire who is part of Saazbaum's clan but has been living on Cruhteo's Landing Castle for some time. He pilots the Nilokeras Kataphrakt, a unit equipped with a barrier that absorbs anything that comes in contact with it. He's one of the Martians privy to the conspiracy to assassinate the princess.

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• Achilles' Heel: Just like Achilles himself, the Nilokeras has one tiny part of its body that is not shielded and ends up being the key to its destruction.
• Asshole Victim: By the end of Episode 3. Was it really wise to yell that it was your plan to kill the princess all along at her most loyal supporter whom you abused almost whole your screentime?
• Blood Knight: He loves being in battle and killing people.
• Crazy-Prepared: Not him, but his mech's dev team. The Nilokeras's barrier absorbs everything, including light, which should, theoretically, make the exposed bits incredibly easy to spot and target (because they're the only bits that aren't eye-hurtingly black). However, those exposed bits also contain holographic projectors which superimpose an image of the mech above the barrier when it activates, making the dividing line between protected and unprotected areas far less obvious.
• Deadly Force Field: The Nilokeras Kataphrakt that Trillram pilots uses its impenetrable forcefield both defensively and offensively. It's ability to essentially disintegrate anything that comes into contact with the field can also be used to allow it to instantly destroy anything by grappling with it.
• Dead Star Walking: Being a character voiced by Takahiro Sakurai, Trillram formally appears for all of two episodes before kicking the bucket at the hands of an angry Slaine.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Balks at the idea of using orbital bombardment solely to kill Rayet Areash, as it would also damage if not destroy Count Cruhteo's Castle.
• For the Evulz: Done several times in episode 2.
  • When he's being airdropped, he deliberately flies into the path of one of the pilots that ejected to kill him, for no other reason than he wanted to kill people, even if they weren't posing a threat to him any longer.
  • Later he toys with the squad Marito and Yuki are with, and takes his time killing them one by one. He even wonders if Marito's last ditch knife attack is heroic or suicidal idiocy.
  • While pursuing Rayet and the other main characters, Okisuke attempts to rescue Yuki out of the mech after they seemingly lost Trillram. Unfortunately he shows back up, and Okisuke loses his balance and nearly flies off, though Inaho catches his hand. As they desperately try to hold on, Trillram utters a villainous Bond One-Liner {"Need a hand?"}, and stomps hard nearby, causing Inaho to lose his grip. Okisuke then falls back towards Trillram's mecha and vaporizes in front of Inaho.
• Implacable Man: He was way too obsessed with wanting to kill Rayet. Considering he was nigh-invulnerable at the time, he probably should have finished her off before dealing with those pesky Earth forces attempting to pelt him with bullets.
• The Juggernaut: His Nilokeras Kataphrakt has a force field that disintegrates anything it touches, rendering conventional weapons useless against him. It's able to literally walk through bridges and buildings as if they weren't even there.
• Laser-Guided Karma: Slaine kills him when he realizes that he partook in the attempted assassination of the princess.
• Logical Weakness: Inaho figures out that the Nilokeras's force field cannot possibly cover the whole body and it needs to have gaps in order to allow the mecha to walk and communicate with the outside world, so he submerges it in water to find them which gives him the opening needed to destroy the machine's interior.
• Made of Indestructium: The Nilokeras was still largely intact after a meteor bombardment, as seen in Episode 4.
• Manipulative Bastard: Asks Cruhteo for permission to enter the battlefield so he can plant the Vers flag at the spot of Asseylum's assassination. In reality, he's going out to kill the deep-cover Martian agents who did the deed so he can destroy all evidence of the False Flag Operation.
• Mighty Glacier: His Kataphrakt was a lumbering beast compared to the other ones seen briefly, but it didn't matter since his Deflector Shields vaporized anything or anyone dumb enough to attack it.
• Oh, Crap!: Has this look after Inaho figures out how to get around his mecha's shields.
• A Real Man Is a Killer: Mocks Slaine for his hesitation to open fire on the F-22 squadron engaging them and promises to show him "the joys of the battlefield."
• Sink the Lifeboats: Deliberately steers the aerial ship transporting his Kataphrakt into the path of an ejecting enemy pilot.
• Smug Snake: While in the safety of his Kataphrakt shields.
• Villainous Breakdown: His smug demeanor starts cracking after Inaho and friends blind his surveillance drones with smokescreens and chase off Slaine's airship. The breakdown comes into full effect after Asseylum reveals she's still alive.
• Warmup Boss: He's the first major antagonist that Inaho and the other Terrans face off against.
• Younger Than They Look: Character data shows Trillram is only 25. He looks at least a decade older.

Vlad

Voiced by: Hiroki Yasumoto (Japanese), Patrick Seitz (English)

A noble from Castle Cruhteo, he pilots the Argyre Kataphrakt, a melee-oriented unit armed with two plasma blades.

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• Achilles' Heel: The Argyre's blades can cut through nearly anything, but reactive armor disperses them temporarily - enough time for Inaho to grapple the enemy Kataphrakt. Also, the extreme heat emanating from the swords means that submersion into water is a big no no...
• Aerith and Bob: Among the Martians, this guy is the only one who has a name you could expect to find in the real world.
• Blood Knight: Not as much of a maniac as Trillram, but he does seem to be enjoying himself in battle.
• Calling Your Attacks: Not attacks per se, but he was awfully fond of reading aloud the startup sequence for his energy sword.
• Coup de Grâce: In episode 2, finishes off a UE Kataphrakt by stabbing it while it is helpless on the ground.
• Crippling Overspecialisation: Possibly even moreso than Trillram, since his mecha still has no ranged attacks (short of throwing its weapon at the enemy) nor does it have the impenetrable defenses of the Nilokeras.
• Dual Wielding: Brings along a second plasma sword when he attacks the Wadatsumi.
• Evil Sounds Deep: Has the deepest voice in the entire cast so far.
• Glass Cannon: While his beam sword can destroy practically anything it touches, his mech is rather fragile and must deflect or dodge every attack that comes at it.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: When Inaho's Kataphrakt grabs the Argyre's arms and immobilizes them, Vlad increases the power output to his beam swords until they become so hot the convection begins melting Inaho's Kataphrakt. Unfortunately for Vlad, once the Wadatsumi intentionally lists to the side and he falls into the ocean, the superheated beams end up causing a massive steam explosion that obliterates him.
• Honor Before Reason: In episode 5, even though there's supposed to be a cease-fire between Earth and Vers, he goes after the Wadatsumi so he can "avenge his fallen honor."
• I Am Not Left-Handed: He prefers fighting with only one blade, but when he gets serious, he can draw another.
• Implacable Man: Much like Trillram with Rayet, he chases after Inaho, wanting to kill him to restore his lost honor after the latter managed to survive their first encounter. Unfortunately for him by that point Inaho has learned enough about his suit's abilities to exploit its weakness.
• Hot Blade / Laser Blade: The plasma emanating from his beam sword is so hot that it can detonate explosive ordnance prematurely before it can harm his machine. It also melts the tips of regular ammunition, reducing their penetrating power and aerodynamics.
• Katanas Are Just Better: The Earth forces identify his sword as a katana.
• Not Worth Killing: He says that Inaho and co. are not worth his time, though it should be noted that he says that after they've already escaped, so it's probably more of an excuse than anything. He does chase after them in the next episode, and this time wants to finish the job.
  • Averted in the dub, where he instead says We Will Meet Again.
• Parrying Bullets: He is able to deflect gunfire with his laser sword.
• Samurai: To a T. His mecha is armed with beam katanas and he puts Honor Before Reason.
• Throwing Your Sword Always Works: Throws his katana right at the bridge of landing craft #1, and then again at one of the Wadatsumi's deck guns.

Femieanne

Voiced by: Yuki Kaida (Japanese), Carrie Keranen (English)

A female Orbital Knight. She pilots the Hellas Kataphrakt, which attacks by firing its own six arms at enemies.

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• Achilles' Heel: The engines mounted on her mech lack the molecular armor that make the rest of the machine invincible, and the fists can be damaged when they open their fingers.
• Armor of Invincibility: Her rocket fists are literally hardened to a single molecule and cannot be scratched, only knocked off-course. But should they open their fingers, their molecular armor collapses.
• The Baroness: She is attractive and has a bit of a sadistic streak, as well as a large ego. Fittingly enough, her mecha has a spider theme.
  Femianne: Entering my territory without so much as a 'by your leave?' Such atrocious manners. I must rake you over the coals. Rather hot ones.
• Berserk Button: Destroying her Kataphrakt's fists really sets her off.
• Character Tics: She is seen twirling her hair around her finger.
• Crippling Overspecialization: Aside from its fists, the Hellas has no other weapons, which render it vulnerable to close-up attacks. Unfortunately for our protagonists, the Hellas has an alternate mode that is much faster.
• Flunky Boss: The Hellas' flying fists can apparently be steered. They act more like melee-oriented minions than actual "projectiles".
• Giant Spider: Her mecha has six arms and two legs - eight limbs in all, giving it the appearance of a humanoid spider.
• I Call It "Vera": She named her mech's fists. All six of them, after demons from the Ars Goetia.
• Lightning Bruiser: The Hellas in flight mode is incredibly fast and maneuverable thanks to having six engines. It even survives the Deucalion ramming it, though a sniper round quickly destroys it after.
• Long-Range Fighter: In contrast to the previous two Orbital Knights, Femieanne hangs back far from the battlefield and lets her flying fists do the fighting.
• Made of Indestructium: The Hellas' fists are tough enough to easily penetrate military-grade armor and shrug off impacts from any and all weapons. Thankfully, they can at least be knocked off course. The main body of the mech itself is also absurdly strong, to the point that it took a head-on collision from an enormous flying battleship at top speed and was still largely intact. Though this apparently caused enough damage to the frame that it could be destroyed with a single high-explosive sniper shot.
• Multi-Armed and Dangerous: Six arms, and they're all flying at you.
• Ramming Always Works: After she loses her fists and converts her Kataphrakt into flight mode, she moves to ram Slaine's sky carrier, and then the bridge of the reverse-engineered Martian battleship once it appears. Its molecular armor would have allowed it to emerge unscathed if not for the fact that her engines get shot out and she ends up getting run over by the battleship instead.
• Rocket Punch: This mecha specializes in firing out its fists at the enemies. Unusually for this trope, they can actually be controlled and act more like drones than actual projectiles.
• Transforming Mecha: The Hellas can convert itself into a flying platform with six engines.

Eddelrittuo

Voiced by: Inori Minase (Japanese), Sandy Fox (English)

Princess Asseylum's handmaid.

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• Chekhov's Gunman: Mazurek correctly identifies her as having been with Asseylum while on Earth, though she tries to deny it. After he mentions Inaho's name however, Eddelrittuo is unable to deny it any further. He then gives her the pendent Inaho gave to him to give to the real Asseylum, which triggers a Flash Back of when she lost it after being shot by Saazbaum back in episode 12.
• Easily Forgiven: Despite having spent a lot of time with Terrans and even assisted them, she still seems to be in her position of being Asseylum's caretaker after rejoining the Martians, and no one bats an eye about that.
• Fantastic Racism: She seems to be a lot more contemptuous towards Earth residents than the Princess herself.
• Little Miss Badass: Claims to be able to pilot a Kataphrakt. Whether or not this is true, she seemed perfectly willing to go off and fight, if only the adults would let her. She then proves to be very competent in Episode 11 by driving a car through a war zone while being shot at with bullets and later a missile.
• Maid and Maiden: The maid to Asseylum's maiden. She is a very rare example (perhaps the only example) of the maid being younger than the maiden, and a child on top of that.
• Not Allowed to Grow Up: In Season 2 she keeps the same design despite 19 months having passed between seasons.
• Running Gag: The number of times she almost accidentally revealed the princess's identity reaches comical levels.
• Serious Business: People showing proper manners and forms of address toward the princess are a really big deal for her.
• Token Mini-Moe: The youngest character of the cast

Rayregalia Vers Rayvers

Voiced by: Shinji Ogawa (Japanese), Michael McConnohie (credited as Geoffrey Chalmers) (English)

The initial leader of the colonization effort to Mars, he spearheaded the creation of a separate Martian cultural identity by calling for independence from Earth. His efforts bore fruit when the Holy Vers Empire named after him was founded in 1985 with himself as emperor. His rule ended in 1997 due to health problems, and he was succeeded by his son Gilzeria. After Gilzeria was killed in action during the Heaven's Fall disaster in 1999, he has re-ascended to the throne. He is Asseylum's grandfather.

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• The Emperor: The founder of the Holy Vers Empire. In an unusual case of this trope, his reign ended, but then his son died and he had to be put back on the throne as Asseylum was still an infant at the time.
• Emperor Scientist: The first survey team that crossed the Hypergate to explore Mars in 1975 was made up almost entirely of scientists and researchers, and he was their leader.
• Expy: His background evokes the Big Bad of The Vision of Escaflowne, Emperor Dornkirk/an alternate-universe Isaac Newton. His political position is about as significant (and ultimately as powerless) as Zeon Deikun and Degwin Zabi. As for his position as the aging leader of a renegade Martian fraction... well, he got that from Ezelcant. To wit, his son Gilzeria even seems to be a combination of Gihren and Garma Zabi.
• Founder of the Kingdom: He was the leader of Mars' colonization effort, and thanks to the power of the Aldnoah, built an empire which claimed independence from Earth.
• Horrible Judge of Character: Is suspicious of Slaine, who has close ties to Asseylum, and places his trust in Saazbaum instead, who claims Slaine is a spy. While it could be justified as Slaine was from Earth, and Saazbaum has been a Martian for quite some time, what makes him fit this trope is the fact that shortly after talking with Slaine, he immediately orders hostilities to restart instead of doing the fact finding mission he ordered initially. And in the latter half of the show, he doesn't question Saazbaum on why Asseylum suddenly shows up again despite having been murdered.
• Jerkass Has a Point: He was the one who started calling for Martian independence from Earth in 1982, two years after large-scale immigration began to Mars. The notes on this timeline in 1982 indicate that he began to resent Earth because the Martian Immigration Program, the world authority that was supposed to regulate travel to Mars, did not offer any assistance to the new settlers on how they could adapt to life on Mars and more or less left them on their own. The MIP's indifference to the hardships the colonists faced was a major factor in the Martian independence movement gaining major steam and becoming violent in 1983.
• King on His Deathbed: He is an emperor and he is dying.
• Outliving One's Offspring: His son was killed in Heaven's Fall.
• Projected Man: Due to health issues and the onset of old age, he uses holographic imagery to project himself in the throne room while staying in his bed.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: In episode 5 he orders his forces to halt their attacks and orders a fact finding mission to see what really happened to Asseylum. He correctly suspects that the Terrans likely wouldn't have deliberately killed her off knowing it would start a war, but can't rule out that maybe a fringe group of Terran terrorists did it to provoke a war. Unfortunately, Saazbaum makes it sound like the latter, and tricks the emperor into thinking that Slaine is a Terran spy trying to send out misleading rumors, particularly that Asseylum is still alive.
• Soap Opera Disease: When we first see him in Episode 5, he's confined to bed, very exhausted, and is putting up a facade of being a healthy ruler by way of holograms. In Episode 14, his health has taken a drastic turn for the worse. He is now permanently hooked up to a respirator, has to have some kind of force field isolating his bed, and is barely conscious to the point that when he receives a report that his granddaughter is alive (in complete contrast to his earlier belief that she was dead), he more or less just nods and accepts it unthinkingly.
• Superpowerful Genetics: When he first discovered the Aldnoah, they recognized him as their creator and burned their activation processes into his very genes, giving him supreme authority over them. All of his descendants share this power, and he can give a limited amount of the Aldnoah's powers to others in exchange for their loyalty.
• 10-Minute Retirement: Abdicated in 1997, back to work by 1999.
• Unwitting Pawn: Saazbaum has him controlled pretty well and convinced him his granddaughter is dead and Slaine is a spy. Saazbaum reveals in episode 9 it was because of the second emperor, his son Gilzeria, going to war against Earth fifteen years prior, which forced him to also fight for his lord. Unfortunately he was nearly killed in the Heaven's Fall incident, and he lost his fiance. Hence why he attempted to assassinate Asseylum to "punish" the emperor and wipe out the Mars royal family line: even though Gilzeria died on the Moon, Rayregalia is still part of Saazbaum's revenge scheme.
• When He Smiles: He shows a very pleasant smile in a picture on the official website together with Slaine and Asseylum as kids. Within the span of his actual appearances, however, he's constantly frowning due to all the drama going around his empire.

Orlane

Voiced by: Mamiko Noto (Japanese), Mela Lee (English)

A Martian Viscountess and the pilot of the Deucalion Kataphrakt, which controls gravity. She is responsible for wiping out Marito's platoon. The remains of her mecha would eventually be converted by Earth forces into a flying battleship prototype. She was also Saazbaum's fiancee, and perished in the aftermath of the Hypergate's destruction, leading to Saazbaum's grudge against the royals.

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• Achilles' Heel: Zigzagged Trope - unlike the other Martian Kataphracts, the Deucalion has no innate drawbacks that go with its powers, which give it incredible versatility. However, it appears that those powers are also the only way it can move, so when the completely unexpected scenario of the Hypergate exploding occurs and causes gravitational flux that disables her machine, she’s unable to escape before Debris rains down upon her.
• Death by Origin Story: She is only seen in flashbacks. Her death motivates Saazbaum into getting revenge and kicking the series forward.
• Gravity Master: Her mecha can manipulate gravity, which turns out to be a very versatile ability: it can float and deflect projectiles fired at it because of this.
• Hime Cut: Her preferred hairstyle because she is a Visountess of (apparently) Japanese heritage.
• Invincible Villain: The Deucalion was flat out beyond the capabilities of anything Earth could’ve mustered during the first VERS War, having access to a Story-Breaker Power that has no real drawbacks. The only reason it went down was because its powers went haywire during the Heaven’s Fall.
• I Will Only Slow You Down: She tells Saazbaum to escape without her when the Hypergate explodes and the space-time distortion waves disable her anti-gravity flight.
• Logical Weakness: Uniquely amongst the Martian Kataphracts shown in Season 1, Defied — the Deucalion's Gravity Master powers have no obvious downsides, which allowed it to practically steam-roll through the forces sent to oppose it. It was only destroyed when it suffered a mechanical failure during the Heaven's Fall that left it vulnerable to lunar debris.
• Mind over Matter: Her primary offensive tactic is to lift enemies in the air using anti-gravity, then slam them into the ground.
• Phlebotinum Breakdown: The Moon's destruction caused all manner of unstable gravitic fluctuations across the Earth, which disabled her Kataphrakt's anti-gravity engines and left her trapped on the island while giant chunks of lunar rock were raining down.
• Tripod Terror: Likely as a Shout-Out to The War of the Worlds, her Kataphract was tripedal.

Lemrina Vers Envers

Voiced by: Shiina Natsukawa (Japanese), Kira Buckland (English)

Introduced in Season 2. Another princess of Mars who is working with Slaine and Saazbaum by disguising herself as Asseylum, thanks to holographic illusions. While disguised, she sends messages to drum up Martian support for Saazbaum's cause. She is an illegitimate daughter of Emperor Gilzeria, making her Asseylum's half-sister.

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• Bastard Bastard: An illegitimate daughter of the throne and heavily resentful of her sister.
• Body Double - El Cid Ploy: Lemina disguises herself as her comatose half-sister in order to make radio broadcasts to the Martians, telling them to attack Earth.
• Bodyguard Crush: She seems to have developed one on Slaine, if the kiss on the lips that she gave him is an indication. Taken further when she announces she's going to marry him at the end of Episode 18 after he defeats Marylcian in a duel.
• Delicate and Sickly: She's confined to a wheelchair but seemingly isn't completely paraplegic as she can walk in low gravity.
• The Glorious War of Sisterly Rivalry: Lemrina (Smart Sister) resents Asseylum (Pretty Sister) since she is an illegitimate child while Asseylum is the "official" Martian Princess, and seeks to replace her as she works with Saazbaum and Slaine as Asseylum's Body Double.
• Green-Eyed Monster: While she has some respect for Asseylum, she also holds some resentment towards her sister, as the latter is very well known, gets to enjoy life somewhat and see things for herself. Meanwhile Lemrina's existence is minimized to the point that only a few Martians are even aware of her existence, and she's largely restricted to a wheelchair.
• Hidden Backup Princess: She appears to be this, largely unknown to Vers society and confined to the Moon base just in case the Vers military needs someone who can activate Aldnoah in a pinch.
• Pull the Thread: In a conversation with Slaine in episode 21, she asks how her sister's condition is. Slaine tells her Asseylum is still in critical condition, and that they should leave it to the medical staff. However this is after she sees with her own eyes that Asseylum is no longer in her chamber, proving that he's been lying to her.
• Remember the New Guy?: There was no indication there was another Martian princess before Season 2; this is justified in story by Lemrina being a royal bastard and needing a wheelchair. It's later revealed that she's a tightly kept secret, with only a very small number of personnel on the Moon base even knowing of her existence.
• Replacement Goldfish: Lemrina is taught by Slaine about Earth and even has Eddelritou as an assistant, just like Asseylum once was. But it's heavily deconstructed as Lemrina is actively trying to replace the beloved Asseylum in people's lives, along with Slaine's.
• The Resenter:
  • Towards her older sister. By episode 20, she really starts to get bitter towards Asseylum, due to Slaine's obsession with her. She also starts to suspect he's just using her for her power and authority to get closer to Asseylum as well.
  • She eventually begins to feel this way about Slaine as well, due to him not spending much time with her, his obsession with Asseylum, making her continually act in her sister's place, and the runaround answers he keeps giving her when she tries to ask things more specific than "how goes the war?" As a result of this, she tells Asseylum everything she knows that's happened since her coma, along with Slaine having turned into a completely different person.
• Sick Bed Slaying: Narrowly subverted. She goes to her sister's unconscious body and starts turning off the life support while telling her how how she (Asseylum) will be replaced. Lemrina backs out at the last minute and restores the life support, stating that while Asseylum is a puppet, she's also her sister. In episode 19, she wonders if her doing this caused Asseylum's condition to change. Slaine claims her condition changed, implying it's for the worse, when in fact it's the opposite.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Unlike other major characters, we never see her in the final moments of the show. The last scene we saw of her is when she left the Lunar Base.

Harklight

Voiced by: Daisuke Hirakawa (Japanese), Ben Pronsky (English)

Slaine's personal servant, after his promotion to an Orbital Knight.

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• My Master, Right or Wrong: He is so loyal to Slaine that he refuses the last order given to him to abandon the moonbase and stop fighting per Asseylum's orders.
• Rags to Royalty: In Episode 19, Slaine gives him the Herschel, the Kataphrakt of Marylcian — who was killed by Slaine in the previous episode — as a gift for his undying loyalty. He puts the machine to good use.
• Secret-Keeper: He's one of a handful of personnel on the Moon base who is aware of Lemrina's existence, and goes to great pains to make sure she stays a secret.
• Undying Loyalty: Respects Slaine immensely, and seems to be his sole confidant in his plan to kill Saazbaum. Even after Asseylum makes her surprise announcement to end hostilities, he along with several other Martians, instead go out in a blaze of glory in a last ditch attack against the Deucalion.

Yacoym

Voiced by: Katsuyuki Okitsu

A VERS Baron introduced in the second season premiere. He pilots the Elysium Kataphrakt.

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• An Ice Person: It seems like this at first, but not really: his machine's reverse entropy field is actually collecting the kinetic energy caused by motion and storing it in a pocket dimension. The freezing is just a byproduct of that, explaining why the United Earth's squad's de-icing machines were useless.
• Glass Cannon: The Elysium can project a seemingly impassable field that rapidly freezes opponents and ammo within a one kilometer radius... and that's it. Aside from that, it's slow, not very mobile, has very low defenses and no means of attack or defense.
• Graceful Loser: He compliments Inaho right before the latter kills him.
• Harmless Freezing: Averted.
• Oh, Crap!: He reacts this way as Inaho starts to close the distance.
• Starter Villain: For Season 2.

Mazurek

Voiced by: Toshiyuki Toyonaga (Japanese), Robbie Daymond (English)

A Versian Knight holding a position in North Africa, Mazurek is a reluctant participant in the Orbital Knights' invasion. Although he is duty-bound to aid in the attack on Earth, he'd be happier learning to live with the Terrans in his landing castle's territory instead of conquering and oppressing them.

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• Adorkable: He's young, handsome, at times endearingly naive, and, most important, not as blatantly evil as most other Martians, which makes him an Ensemble Dark Horse.
• Blow You Away: His Kataphrakt utilizes this attack to deflect any incoming attack headed his way. Unfortunately for him, while it's great for stopping attacks on someone fighting him on level ground, it doesn't protect him against a vertical attack launched from above.
• Crippling Overspecialization: His Kataphrakt is unbeatable when confronted on ground and it causes enemies to pass out from lack of oxygen. Of course creating a giant funnel overhead means that someone in the sky can easily hit him.
• Logical Weakness: Mazurek's Sirenum uses spheres to manipulate gravity, allowing it to generate a tornado for offense and defense. This leaves it vulnerable to attacks from directly above it, meaning that once Narito and Yuki mark it as a target for the Deucalion, it goes down in two hits.
• Pull the Thread: He manages to get an audience with Princess Asseylum, and relates his story of having been captured to her, and asking about her time on Earth. She tells him about her time there, and paints it in a negative light. This contradicts everything Inaho told him about Asseylum, proving him right when he claimed this Asseylum is an imposter. He then conveniently manages to have his ship break down near Slaine's landing castle shortly after Slaine left, manages to find Eddelrittuo, and find the place the real Asseylum is at.
• Punch-Clock Villain: He doesn't really have any interest in attacking Earth, nor does he feel any hatred towards Earthlings. In fact, he greatly respects Earth and its culture and would rather not fight at all unless specifically ordered to.
• Token Good Teammate: He laments having to attack Earth, and doesn't want to burn it to the ground like some of the more radical knights. After Inaho finds out his loyalty lies with Asseylum, and like her, wanted a peaceful relationship with Earth, he helps Mazuurek escape prison to become The Mole to find where she's at, and to help Inaho find out what Slaine's motives are.

Selnakis

Voiced by: Hiromichi Tezuka

An Orbital Knight who was one of the first to attack earth when war was declared. His castle landed in New Orleans, USA, and was the one to destroy the undersea communication cables. He pilots the Martian Kataphrakt Solis.

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• A God Am I: He's quite emphatic about the powers of his Kataphrakt.
  —Count Selnakis: Bow down before the might of the gods.
• Establishing Character Moment: For the Orbital Knights. His first act on earth is to easy destroy the Terran resistance, while monologuing about his superiority.
• Fantastic Racism: To the Terrans.
  —Count Selnakis: "Stupid Primitives"
• Frickin' Laser Beams: His Kataphrakt's power is a high powered laser mounted on the head.
• Hollywood Science: Averted: The laser the Kataphrakt Solis uses is very realistic. It is impossible to dodge, has no apparent recoil, and can only fire in a straight line. The last one is how they defeat it.
• Homing Lasers: Averted: Soli's beams can only fire in a straight line. This means that the Deucalion can use it's artillery to bombard them over the horizon.
• Logical Weakness: Selnakis' Solis uses laser cannons that can hit anything he can see, but being lasers, they can't hit targets over the horizon. He's ultimately done in by artillery shells that he can't retaliate against.
• Stoic Spectacles: Selnakis is one of the more unemotional knights.

Marylcian

Voiced by: Susumu Chiba (Japanese), Derek Stephen Prince (English)

One of the VERS knights introduced in season 2 who holds great contempt for Slaine.

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• All Your Base Are Belong to Us: He attempts this when challenging Slaine in combat for the right to be the caretaker of the moon base and Princess Asseylum. However, he loses, and all of his assets, such as his landing castle and Kataphrakt, are then transferred to Slaine, inverting the trope.
• Asshole Victim: Considering his combative attitude towards Slaine, he could be considered one, even in light of everything Slaine had done to help out the VERS Empire.
• Attack Drone: The Herschel deploys a large number of remote-controlled laser cannons.
• Beam Spam: His drones fire a lot of these. Even Slaine's Tharsis has difficulty evading them due to the sheer number of shots being fired.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Subverted when he fights Slaine. At first, it seems like he is going to destroy Slaine with his mech's massive amount of weaponry that even the Tharsis can't predict, but Slaine manages to trick him into entering an area that makes him waste most of his weapons. Immediately after, Slaine kills him almost instantly.
• Death In All Directions: His main plan to defeat the Tharsis's future sight ability is to hit it from all around at once, negating his enemy's advantage. Unfortunately for him, Slaine quickly found a way to trap his drones in a one-way tunnel and destroy them altogether.
• Fantastic Racism: Shares this trait with all other racist Martians.
• Law of Chromatic Superiority: Marylcian's Herschel is virtually all-red, and with its Attack Drones is far more similar structurally to the Sazabi than Slaine's own Tharsis. This is definitively subverted, however, since Marylcian is not the Char archetype of this series.
• Logical Weakness: The Herschel's drones allow it to attack from multiple directions at once, which makes it a hard counter for the Tharsis, as being able to see the future is useless if you can't focus. However, this means that the Herschel needs to have enough room for its drones to maneuver to capitalize on this strength. Once Slaine lures him into a tunnel, the drones become sitting ducks, and after Slaine cuts them down, Marylcian only has one gun to defend himself with.
• Thrown Out the Airlock: Slaine cuts his cockpit open by beheading the Herschel, causing Marylcian to lose his air and die of asphyxiation, floating limply out of the Herschel's cockpit.
• Ungrateful Bastard: Some random Terran schlub saved Count Saazbaum, defeated many of our enemies, took out an entire spacebase on his own, and got adopted into the VERS knight ranks after repeatedly proving his loyalty to the VERS Empire? Sounds like I need to challenge him in combat and show him his place!

Barouhcruz

Voiced by: Ryota Takeuchi (Japanese), Kaiji Tang (English)

Introduced with Marylcian, another knight who cares little for Slaine's Earthborn heritage. He pilots the Octantis Kataphrakt.

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• Killer Yo-Yo: His Kataphrakt uses a pair of razor-sharp spinning discs on wires.
• Number Two: Was this to Marylcian, at least until the latter died.
• Professional Butt-Kisser: Almost as soon as Marylcian bit the dust, he wasted no time in sucking up to get into Slaine's good graces and his rising power.
• Spin to Deflect Stuff: His yo-yos can also block shots by spinning really fast.

Sebring

Voiced by: Ryuuichi Kijima (Japanese), David Vincent (English)

A VERS Knight and pilot of the Elektris.

• Logical Weakness: Electrical attacks are only effective if the opponent has opposite charge compared to you and is grounded. Inaho defeats him by attacking from above and impaling the Elektris with a capable, allowing him to equalize their charges. Only then does he open fire, meaning his bullets won't be deflected.
• Shock and Awe: The Elektris attacks via emitting electricity. This effectively allows him to deflect attacks from all directions and creates an "Instant Death" Radius around him. However, it's useless against opponents who are not grounded, making an aerial attack the best way to defeat him. And if hi all opponent has an equal charge to him, his attacks will have no effect

Raffia

Voiced by: Hitomi Nabatame (Japanese), Amanda Céline Miller (English)

A VERS Baroness and member of the kataphract trio that attacks the Deucalion. She pilots the Scandia.

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• Boring, but Practical: Explosive arrows are rather mundane compared to other Martians' arsenal, but they get job done admirably.
• Combining Mecha: Briefly combines with the Elektris during the assault on the Deucalion. This makes it even harder to fight, as the Elektris' attacks remove smoke from the air, rendering both kataphracts invisible and invincible.
• Crazy-Prepared: Not only does her kataphract have both perfect camouflage and a perfectly silent weapons system, it even has the ability to dock with another kataphract that can eliminate one of its other weaknesses. The only reason it loses is because Inaho figured out how to exploit the traits of the pilots in order to work around their kataphracts' powers.
• Glass Cannon: Her kataphract hits incredibly hard, but in order to maintain its stealth, it has no armor and is very weak should its stealth system be broken
• Invisibility: Her Scandia is almost perfectly invisible optically and is completely invisible to sensors. However, it is vulnerable to smoke, which will cause Visible Invisibility.

Orga

Voiced by: Kenta Miyake

One of the three VERS knights that worked together during the later half of the series. He pilots the Ortygia Kataphrakt.

• Logical Weakness: Averted - Orga is one of the very few Knights to have a power with no weaknesses brought on by the nature of said power, making him something of a Game-Breaker for his faction. Tellingly, he only loses due to the Earth forces pulling out one of their few special weapons and having Inaho slave all their Kataphracts to his command and using a concentrated burst of fire to take out all of Prga's clones at once.
• Me's a Crowd: And HOW!! Orga's Kataphrakt is able to create duplicates of itself infinitely. Inaho and the others initially thought that only way to destroy them was to destroy the original. But as it turns out, that wasn't the case. The Ortygia uses quantum teleportation to make the duplicates, which basically means that every single Ortygia is the "real" one. The only way to stop them was to destroy every single one, at once!!

Keteratesse

Voiced by: Kotaro Matsumaru

One of the first Orbital Knights to attack Earth at the start of the series, he landed in Beijing. He pilots the Geryon Kataphrakt.

• Combat Tentacles: Made of electricity no less.

Klancain *spoiler heavy*

Voiced by: Ryōta Ōsaka (Japanese), Vic Mignogna (English)

A VERS knight introduced in Episode 21 as a visitor from the Vers homeworld. He is the son of Count Cruhteo, and has assumed his father's position during the timeskip.

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• Do Not Call Me "Paul": He'd rather have everyone refer to him as Klancain as he finds it awkward to be called by his surname, which results in "Count Cruhteo".
• Generation Xerox: Like his father, Klancain is loyal the Emperor, and by extension Asseylum. So he questions what Slaine is trying to do when they meet, especially regarding Asseylum's wishes of creating a new empire on the moon.
• Last Episode, New Character: Comes out of nowhere in Episode 21 and proceeds to become the husband of Princess Asseylum by Episode 24 after the entire season's development between her and the other main characters.
• My Master, Right or Wrong: Is very loyal to the VERS emperor. When he sees his father's Tharsis Kataphrakt, he clenches his fist briefly, probably at the thought that it's being misused by Slaine.
• Nice Guy: An amicable young man, unlike his haughty father.
• Remember the New Guy?: There was no hint Cruhteo had a son until Klancain appeared. Also, he's fairly close to being a Last Episode, New Character.