Dororo (2019) / Characters

Dororo Main Character Index
Main Characters | Demons | Human Antagonists | Other Characters | 2019 Anime

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Main Characters

Hyakkimaru

Voiced by: Hiroki Suzuki (JPN), Adam Gibbs (ENG)

Portrayed by: Hiroki Suzuki

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

Adaptational Attractiveness: The 2019 anime makes Hyakkimaru much younger looking and far less muscular. The intention was to make him look "cuter" for this version.
Adaptational Wimp: Slightly. He lacks the Crazy-Prepared ability set of the original manga where he had things like an explosive in his fake nose and acid spray in his kneecaps, as well as the mild psychic abilities he had to communicate alongside his Psychic Link with Dororo. He's still a force to be reckoned with, however.
Affectionate Nickname: Called aniki (which can be roughly translated as "brother" or "bro") by Dororo during their travels.
Age Lift: Despite his younger and less muscular looks, he's older in the 2019 anime — sixteen years old, while his manga counterpart is fourteen.
Ambiguous Gender: Since he only sees soul energy, he can't discern between men and women and only goes by the good or bad colors of the soul. This is only really the case in the 2019 anime; in other adaptations and in the manga, he can somehow tell boy from girl (except for Dororo) even before he gets his sight back.
Attack! Attack! Attack!: He won't stop until his target is killed, disregarding anything that might happen to him or to those around him as long as no one is in immediate danger. Jukai wonders if this isn't because he can't feel pain, and therefore isn't averse to it. Eventually, this crosses over into Fearless Fool territory as he gets more of his parts back, as his injuries end up becoming more debilitating for him. This comes back to bite him in the butt hard when he rushes to fight the Arijigoku (antlion demon) while injured twice. The first time he gets his real foot bitten off. The second time, he ends up leaving Mio and the kids undefended.
The Berserker: Particularly at first where he cannot feel pain where he will attack non-stop until he has killed his target due to him having little concern for his safety and his inability to feel pain or any kind of damage he takes. Even when he starts to retain attributes of his body he still uses this plan of attack, quite possibly due to him only knowing how to fight this way, but it is played straight later on when he finds out Mio and the children were slaughtered (and Dororo nearly becoming another fatality) by samurais he unleashes all of his rage and butchers the ones responsible for their deaths and from now he uses his anger to fuel his ability to fight to the point where he's willing to let it control which leads him on the path of revenge on his father and him possibly becoming a demon himself.
Berserker Tears: Hyakkimaru does not take the death of Mio well in any of the adaptations. In the 2019 anime he also briefly sheds tears as he delivers the killing blow to the Arijigoku.
Big Brother Instinct: He slowly starts to gain one for Dororo who he looks after especially when a fight with a demon breaks out. When Dororo's life seems to be in danger, Hyakkimaru goes almost feral like in response.
Blind Seer: While he has no eyes, he does have the ability to see souls, which helps him get by despite the absence of every other sense.
Blind Weaponmaster: With the weapons as part of his body, no less.
The Corruption: The boy's soul is mostly white, but streaks of red are always present and threaten to get larger if he doesn't get placed in check.
Determinator: No matter what, he always has the strength to persevere. Kagemitsu Daigo muses to himself in "Dororo and Hyakkimaru" that this was why the twelve demons wanted his body so badly — they were drawn to that strength.
Detect Evil: Like with Biwamaru, he can sense the energy of others and can tell what is edible, good/neutral, and evil.
Disabled in the Adaptation: This series removes the telepathic abilities his manga counterpart has to bypass his lack of ears and vocal cords. Thus, he starts the series off as entirely deaf and mute while his manga counterpart can at least communicate verbally.
Disability Superpower: His lack of a central nervous system while piloting his prosthetic body actually gives him an edge in battle, as he feels no pain, making him an unhesitating killing machine. While it's only mentioned in a few adaptations, this one also explores what happens to that fighting ability once he gets back these senses, among other problems.
Dual Wielding: In "The Story of the Demons", Hyakkimaru gains both of his arms back and plays this trope straight by using his wraps to cover his hands to hold onto both of his blades since they don't have handles. And since he has his real arms back, Tahomaru notes that Hyakkimaru's reach is longer as a result.
Earn Your Happy Ending: He goes from hell and back since he was born, losing his body parts, attracting demons since childhood, losing his first love, brother, mother and adoptive father but he is able to fully regain his body, make peace with his brother and mother before they die and successfully resist becoming a demon himself. He ends the series wandering alone to discover what it means to be human but it's implied that he meets an adult Dororo later on.
Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: He starts out as one. His stoic face and pale skin (once that comes back to him) are indicators of something wrong with him, and makes him look less than human.
Feel No Pain: As a side effect of having a prosthetic body, Hyakkimaru can survive sword cuts and stabs without so much as flinching. In the remake at least, his sense of pain was one of the things taken from him. He gets it back after killing Bandai in "The Story of Bandai". Jukai notes that since Hyakkimaru doesn't feel pain, he fights without fear and picks fights without any consideration. He keeps that trait even when regaining his ability to feel pain.
Friend to All Children: Even before he regained some of his senses back, he seems to have a soft spot for kids as he nonchalantly saved one who almost fell off the side of the road. He looks after Dororo as a kind of surrogate brother for most of the story and cared for Mio and the other orphaned kids.
Handicapped Badass: He spends most of the story without a lot of what makes him human, but he makes up for it in his ability to sense demons.
He Who Fights Monsters: Biwamaru warns Dororo that Hyakkimaru might become the same as the demons he fights. Dororo actually leaves Hyakkimaru after calling him the same as the demons he fights in "The Story of the Scene from Hell".
Hellish Pupils: Hyakkimaru and Dororo have the same dark red eyes, but Hyakkimaru's eyes alternate between having slit demonic pupils when he is fighting and round human pupils when calm or emotional.
Hiding the Handicap: Averted unlike other adaptations, since he's so isolated from the rest of the world that he can't even begin to hide his disabilities.
It's All About Me: Due to the reveal that his own father took away his body parts in a deal with the demons, Hyakkimaru spitefully refuses to think about the consequences killing demons will have on others. This attitude actually disgusts Dororo enough in "The Story of the Scene from Hell" that she leaves him. This continues until "Dororo and Hyakkimaru" when he spares his little brother upon realizing Tahomaru is not that different from him.
Lightning Bruiser: He's very agile and outclasses many demons with his speed. He also packs quite the punch.
Magic Is a Monster Magnet: Has a tendency to draw ghouls and demons to him, hence why Jukai saw it necessary to teach him how to fight.
Meaningful Name: Hyakkimaru's name 百鬼丸 contains the Kanji for "hundred demons." Since his mother Nui did not have enough time with her son to give him a name, when she learns of it years later, she comments that it captures the hell he has lived through all his life.
Navel-Deep Neckline: Under his Badass Cape his shirt has a v-neckline that reaches his stomach. He starts much more covered up than how he's designed in the manga, but he loses the Badass Cape and scarf after several episodes, rendering him just as exposed as his earlier counterparts.
No Sense of Personal Space: Growing up deaf, blind, and mute, Hyakkimaru doesn't have a lot of options for communication. So when he does reach out to others, it's usually by touch—whether his theoretical conversation partner is comfortable with it or not.
No Social Skills: Growing up deaf, mute, blind, and largely isolated from people didn't exactly do much for his communication skills, verbal and nonverbal. After regaining most of his senses back and learning the bare-bones of vocabulary he becomes curious of the world and often approaches it with a childlike wonder. In "The Story of Bandai", Dororo has to stop him from eating fish raw right off his sword arm. He steps in the fireplace with his own leg, burns it and tries again after wondering how that happened for a moment. Later, Dororo covers his newly regained ears with a piece of cloth and ties it with a bow on the top. When Mio asks him to speak, he closes his mouth and sticks fingers in his ears in refusal.
Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: When he gets his voice back, he tends to stammer his words out, since he's never been able to talk before. He gets better as time goes on.
Revenge Before Reason: This is his response when he's questioned if he plans on continuing to kill demons to get his body back and are the lives of others really worth it.
Roaring Rampage of Revenge: When Mio and the children are killed by a group of samurai who assumed she was a spy and are about to kill Dororo for being with them, Hyakkimaru returns to find them slaughtered and goes berserk and brutally killing the ones responsible.
Sacrificed Basic Skill for Awesome Training: Hyakkimaru is ridiculously skilled at killing demons due to Jukai's training and experience but due to his disabilities he has no social skills or even understanding of the world around him before he met Dororo.
Sanity Slippage: Over the course of his journey he has been increasingly losing his cool while becoming more vengeful and violent towards those who have wronged him in his past to where he is downright obsessed with murdering demons and attacking those who get in his way.
Samurai Ponytail: A messy one that hints at his heritage.
Screaming Warrior: Downplayed in the anime but he's gained this status once he got his voice back, baying with grief during his Extreme Mêlée Revenge against Mio's killers and doing so to call for Dororo during the Nokosaregumo fight. It might be in part because he hasn't quite gotten the hang of articulating words yet.
Sleeps with Both Eyes Open: Having lived most of his life without eyelids, Hyakkimaru hasn't gotten into the habit of closing them while he sleeps. Luckily, he doesn't have real eyes to bear the damage.
The Speechless: Even after regaining his voice at the end of "The Story of the Moriko Song, Part 1", he's reluctant to use it, as he finds the sound of his own voice unpleasant—and only knows about four words. He starts to speak more by "The Story of the Blank-faced Buddha".
The Stoic: He remains stone-faced for most of the time even after getting his facial skin back in "The Story of Daigo".
Suddenly Voiced: His first words aren't all that great, considering his was reeling from his first love's death:
"Mi...o..."
Terse Talker: Hyakkimaru gradually becomes one. Even after he starts getting the hang of speaking, he often drops nouns, only uses simple present tense, and tends to resort to sentence fragments when speaking about direct or indirect objects he can't omit entirely. Eventually he grows out of this as time progresses.
Unstoppable Rage: While generally quiet there are a few situations that bring him to a blinding rage:
- In "The Story of the Moriko Song, Part 2", after coming back to see Mio and the kids she was taking care of being murdered, he loses it and slaughters the samurai responsible. He nearly loses it when the samurai responsible for her murder appears in front of him in "The Story of Banmon, Part 2".
- He explodes in rage when he realizes that Sabame is just like his father and is obsessed with killing all the demons he can find in "The Story of the Scene from Hell".
- He screams in fury when he realizes that his arms and eyes have been transplanted on to his brother and his attendants. To highlight this, his aura is blood red, indicating he is very close to becoming a demon.
Villain Protagonist: Averted as all he wants is to reclaim his body due to his Archnemesis Dad benefitting from the demons feasting on him. Though he is viewed this way by Daigo's people as retaining these attributes threaten their existence through a lack of rain for their crops thus causing starvation and sickness.
Walking the Earth: In the final episode, he leaves Dororo to understand what it means to be human, though it's heavily implied they reunite in the future.
When He Smiles: Whenever Hyakkimaru smiles, it's absolutely heartwarming. Even in the finale after Hyakkimaru gets his eyesight back, he looks down to see Dororo for the first time, smiling gently and calling her beautiful.
Wild Child: His lack of senses made it difficult to communicate with what little human contact he had growing up. Not only does he have No Social Skills, he doesn't even have language. And yet Jukai manages to not only give him his name, but even taught him how to write it on the ground so he can introduce himself.
Wonder Child: He was always this, but it's even more exaggerated in this version. Jukai discovers him while on the verge of a Despair Event Horizon in a manner implying that the Buddha brought them together.
Would Hit a Girl: In contrast to his manga counterpart, this Hyakkimaru has less reservations about killing women, given the second monster we saw disguised itself as a woman, but that can be justified as he can't see or distinguish between male and female soul energy.

Dororo

Voiced by: Rio Suzuki (JPN), Chaney Moore (ENG)

Portrayed by: Rie Kitahara

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

Adaptational Attractiveness: The character design in the anime makes the kid look more conventionally cute instead of scrappy.
Adaptational Nice Guy: She is far kinder and more worldly than in the manga, most of his reckless and Hot-Blooded tendencies removed. She not only stays with Hyakkimaru out of curiosity rather than trying to take his sword but also he often acts as a genuine caretaker for her companion, who struggles with anything other than demon-slaying.
Adaptation Personality Change: In the original manga, Dororo wants a sword for survival and Hates Baths. In the 2019 anime, she hates swords and willingly bathes. Rather than insisting on being a boy when told otherwise, she blushes and asks Hyakkimaru if he understands what the nun has told him about her true sex.
Ambiguous Gender: Since she's still a child, Dororo appears to others as a young boy, but later on it's revealed that she's actually a girl.
Badass and Child Duo: The Child to Hyakkimaru's Badass, at least in the tellings that keep Dororo a child. The kid is not without spunk, however.
Big Brother Worship: After seeing Hyakkimaru in action, Dororo usually serves as his hype-man when they go demon hunting. Over time he does genuinely come to see Hyakkimaru becoming a good person and praises Hyakkimaru when they can.
Broken Pedestal: Hyakkimaru's increasingly obsession with killing all demons without regard for the consequences actually disgusts Dororo so much that she leaves him in "The Story of the Scene from Hell".
The Caretaker:
- Being blind, deaf and lacking in social skills, Hyakkimaru can't fully take care of himself outside of hunting, so when Dororo joins him the kid basically acts as his eyes and ears, often feeding him and keeping him out of danger as well. A far cry from the Protectorate Dororo was in the original.
- In #19 she has an argument with Hyakkimaru over why he shouldn't be randomly grabbing people's faces to greet them and it sounds exactly like a parent scolding their child. It even ends with Because I say so.
Character Title: The one and only.
A Child Shall Lead Them: It's implied that Dororo ends up running her father's gang for a while until she gets older and meets up with Hyakkimaru some years later as a teen.
Clingy Jealous Girl: Dororo can come off like this when other travelers take a special interest in Hyakkimaru, especially girls. Made a little funnier when it's revealed Dororo really is a girl.
Combat Pragmatist: Because they lived on the streets, Dororo isn't afraid to hit, scratch, bite or throw things at people who threaten them.
Distressed Dude: Or more accurately Damsel in Distress though her kidnappers didn't know so. At the end of "The Story of the Scene from Hell", Dororo gets kidnapped by Itachi and his men to search for the treasure that her parents had hidden.
Establishing Character Moment: Dororo's first scene has him trying to sell goods from a group of bandits that she stole from, before easily outmaneuvering them and running away. Later, she comes across a hungry dog, and while Dororo does warm up to the creature, she tells them that he can't give it food or how else will it learn how to survive? This highlights Dororo's thievery skills, love for money, but also that she does have a warm heart deep down and only wants to survive in this hard world.
Living Emotional Crutch: As Hyakkimaru is emotionally stunted and on the borderline between human and demon in this version, Dororo represents the latter's humanity and connection to the outside world.
Made of Iron: Dororo can take one hell of a beating, and then walk it off like a boss.
Momma's Boy: Like most children her age, Dororo deeply loves her mother. It helps that she died early keeping her alive. Generally Dororo lowers her guard if he meets people that resemble her mother.
Morality Chain: She is there to make sure Hyakkimaru doesn't become the same as the demons he fights. Hyakkimaru even acknowledges Dororo as his tie to being human.
Never Learned to Read: She's rather impoverished and never had the opportunity to learn. We regularly see her asking other people what certain plaques say throughout the story.
Only Friend: Dororo is Hyakkimaru's first and only friend he ever made since he doesn't have many friends close to his age and he lacks social skills.
Please, Don't Leave Me: In "The Story of the Mercilessness" Dororo catches an illness, a kind nun lets Dororo sleep in her monastery. She wakes up as Hyakkimaru is out getting water and freaks out that Hyakkimaru left while Dororo was sleeping.
Pragmatic Hero: Dororo spends the early part of the series trying to sell Hyakkimaru's demon slaying as a service as after all they have to eat. This stops after Dororo's finds her parents' treasure.
Raised as the Opposite Gender: Unlike in the manga, Dororo knew she was a girl the entire time, but was still raised as a boy and doesn't want anyone to find out the truth.
Shameful Strip: Itachi and his men forcefully strip down Dororo naked to find the map somewhere on Dororo's body only to discover her true sex and the missing half of the map. This leaves Dororo ashamed and disgusted after Itachi and his men sees her body.
She Is All Grown Up: The last moments of "Dororo and Hyakkimaru" show a teenage Dororo.
Street Urchin: Her Establishing Character Moment shows them living on the streets and trying to swindle people to buy their goods.
Strong Family Resemblance: To her mother, especially noticeable when she is a teenager in the epilogue, sporting her hair in the same way and wearing a similar outfit.
Supporting Protagonist: Dororo serves as the heart of the story and primary nurturer of Hyakkimaru's morality.
Tagalong Kid: Dororo simply tags along without Hyakkimaru's say-so.
Treasure Map: The tattoo on Dororo's back reveals that it is a map to treasure, drawn on her back by her parents.
Unsettling Gender-Reveal: Averted, as the creators have gone to say they're not trying to hide Dororo's sex and gender this time around, and Hyakkimaru is informed of the truth by a nun taking care of her when she is sick. However, Dororo is worried about this and asks Hyakkimaru if he was told anything, to which he doesn't answer. While Itachi's band of thieves in "The Story of Shiranui" are just merely surprised to find out Dororo was a girl the entire time when they strip her naked to find the map tattooed onto her back.
Wise Beyond Their Years: Despite being a young child, Dororo actually has some good wisdom to share to others and serves as the Voice of Reason to Hyakkimaru.

Supporting Characters

Biwamaru

Voiced by: Mutsumi Sasaki (JPN), James Belcher (ENG)

Portrayed by: Atsunori Akatsuka

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

Blind Weaponmaster: He's a master swordsman despite being completely blind.
Cool Old Guy: Definitely elderly, but he can still take down demons with a single swing of his sword.
Detect Evil: Being blind doesn't stop him from detecting the energy of beings, especially demons.
Handicapped Badass: He's blind, but he's still capable of killing demons with one slice.
Hidden Weapons: His biwa holds a blade.
Master Swordsman: Despite his age, he is a very skilled swordsman.
Mysterious Past: We never do learn anything about his past besides that he's from the samurai class in the final episode. It definitely explains his skill with a blade and might even explain his blindness.
Named by the Adaptation: He is only known as the Biwa Minstrel in the original manga, but "Dororo and Hyakkimaru" gives his name as Biwamaru.
Nice Guy: He cares about the well being of Dororo and Hyakkimaru.
Single-Stroke Battle: In the manga, he demonstrates to Hyakkimaru how to fight by slicing a fly in half. In the first episode, a demon challenges Biwa-Hoshi and is dealt with similarly.
Wrecked Weapon: He broke the blade of his sword when moving a boulder to save Dororo from drowning. The handle is still attachable to the biwa, but the blade is currently broken and unusable.

Jukai

Voiced by: Akio Ōtsuka (JPN), Ty Mahany (ENG)

Portrayed by: Koichi Kojima

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

Adaptation Expansion: In the 2019 anime his character is greatly expanded upon, having worked under a samurai until he was so horrified he threw himself into the sea out of despair.
Adaptational Villainy: In the manga, all that is said of Jukai is that he's a doctor. In contrast, this series gives Jukai a backstory where he used to work for a brutal warlord and was responsible for the crucifixion of would-be rebels.
The Atoner: How he feels after being rescued by a foreign ship, opening a free clinic in a village afterwards. He committed his life to helping others affected by the war and crafting prosthetic limbs. Even after he became a vagabond he traveled battlefields using his prosthetics as a token to the bodies who were mutilated.
Bungled Suicide: After having enough of working for the warlord, he threw himself off a cliff hoping to die. He not only survived the fall but was rescued by a foreign ship.
Death by Adaptation: He's alive in the original manga but in the anime, he decides to die with Nui and Tahomaru while Daigo Castle burns down around them.
Due to the Dead: He spends most of his time now wandering battlefields and fitting the corpses with his prostheses so they're presentable.
Death Seeker: He became so lost and fatalistic that demons didn't notice him because he lost the will to live. After he reunites with Hyakkimaru, when a dying demon nips his leg after they previously ignored him, he's actually overjoyed that they regard him as human again.
Heroic BSoD: His apprentice Kaname leaving in disgust when he discovered Jukai's history essentially broke him and he spent the day wandering in a daze. He only broke out of it when he found Hyakkimaru.
My God, What Have I Done?:
- After seeing a woman get mercilessly cut down by his lord for simply begging to not have her husband crucified, Jukai has this reaction and tries to commit suicide by throwing himself off a cliff in the flashback of "The Story of Jukai".
- He has another one after realizing he taught Hyakkimaru only how to kill and wonders if he just repeated his past mistakes.
Parental Substitute: The closest thing Hyakkimaru has to an actually good father. He found baby Hyakkimaru, gave him his name, and raised him. Hyakkimaru even says he's his "mother," which Jukai is both moved and amused by.
Reformed, but Rejected: All of his apprentice's goodwill towards him dries up when he learns of Jukai's past. Even after being talked down from killing Jukai on the spot, the boy refuses to forgive him and casts aside his prosthetic leg before walking away for good.
Tears of Joy: After reuniting with Hyakkimaru, this is his reaction after Hyakkimaru calls him his mother. It Makes Sense in Context.

Lady Nui

Voiced by: Chie Nakamura (JPN), Patricia Duran (ENG)

Portrayed by: Cecile Daigo

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

Broken Bird: Seeing her first son become skinless, eyeless and limbless right after his birth and then her husband taking him away to die away from her, essentially broke her. Despite her land being prosperous and having a second son, she spends her days praying in depression.
Death by Adaptation: Survives in the original manga but chooses to die with Tahomaru in the final episode.
Driven to Suicide: In "The Story of Banmon, Part 2", after meeting a grown up Hyakkimaru, she begs for his forgiveness for the horrible things they did to him and the fact that they still need the demons to survive. But she attempts suicide so he isn't the only one to suffer. She survives the attempt but is bedridden in the process.
Heroic Self-Deprecation: She feels that's powerless and can't do anything to help Hyakkimaru or Tahomaru despite being their mother.
Lady Macbeth: She's an inversion. She's not ambitious at all and in fact is regretful over what they did to Hyakkimaru, openly admitting that they deserve punishment for their actions and calling out her husband for doing all this for his ambition.
Nice Girl: Nui is a gentle and kind person. When she gave birth to Hyakkimaru and saw what happened to his body, she happily accepted him as her son. She is also shown to be protective of Dororo when she rescues him in "The Story of Nui" and tends to the wounds of the injured villagers in the episode.
Outliving One's Offspring: She lived it when her firstborn son was born skinless, eyeless and limbless and told that he doesn't have much time to live. Ultimately subverted when she learns that he survived in spite of the harrowing circumstances surrounding his birth.
Parental Neglect: Due to her regret over what happened to Hyakkimaru, it seems she never really spent a lot of time looking after Tahomaru.
Together in Death: In the 2019 anime, she decides to die with her son, Tahomaru in the burning castle falls around them.
Unwanted Spouse: Downplayed. She's aware her husband will never love her and only married her so she can give birth to an heir. Nui's relationship with him seems neutral after he took away her firstborn son from her.

Tahomaru

Voiced by: Shoya Chiba (JPN), Blake Jackson (ENG)

Portrayed by: Shotaro Arisawa

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

Adaptational Heroism: Although Tahomaru is a one-shot character in the original manga, he's shown ordering the execution of civilians and wants to kill Hyakkimaru just for annoying him. In the 2019 anime, he is shown to care deeply for the well-being of his people and only decides to kill Hyakkimaru after his father convinces him that doing so would ensure the continued survival and prosperity of his land.
Ascended Extra: He ends up being one of the last people Hyakkimaru fights in the series, but in the original manga, he's a one-shot character. The 2019 anime uplifts him to main character status.
Anti-Villain: He stands against Hyakkimaru because he feels only the demons can protect his people.
Always Someone Better: Since the two met Hyakkimaru has been this to him. In "The Story of Tahomaru" despite spending the episode preparing to kill a giant crab monster with an entire village's help, he fails with Hyogo almost dying as a result and then Hyakkimaru arrives and instantly kills the monster with a single strike. Each time they fight one on one, Hyakkimaru has the advantage that slowly starts to grate on Tahomaru.
Ax-Crazy: He grows to be more ruthless and severely more unhinged when he's on the hunt for his brother Hyakkimaru as he's borderline obsessed with murdering him in cold blood, casting away whatever little morality he has left.
Blood Knight: As shown he is way too eager to go to war as he's the first to take up the offer to fight against an opposing kingdom but when he discovers he has a brother and realizes that he is the cause for his land being damaged he grows an unhealthy obsession of killing him and in every situation that comes across he almost always settles it with a fight.
Broken Pedestal: He learns everything that Daigo did to Hyakkimaru in "The Story of Banmon, Part 2" and is very disgusted by both his parents for their actions. He still stands with his father regardless.
Dies Differently in Adaptation: After fighting Hyakkkimaru on his home turf, he gives up his extra eyes and bleeds out in his mother's lap.
Demonic Possession: In the final episode, Asura attempts to take over Tahomaru's body after he lost to Hyakkimaru to finish the deal. Tahomaru is able to resist before Hyakkimaru finishes Asura for good.
Extra Eyes: Tahomaru was given Hyakkimaru's eyes after he acts as a proxy for Asura.
Eye Scream: Hyakkimaru cuts Tahomaru in the right eye, most likely a nod to the fact that Tahomaru has his right eye always closed in the original manga.
Eyes Do Not Belong There: When he makes a pact with the last demon in the Hall of Hell, he not only regains the eye that Hyakkimaru previously wounded, but grows another one from a sword wound on his forehead.
Foil: He's Hyakkimaru's exact opposite. Hyakkimaru grew up with nothing, not even his body but he was raised lovingly by Jukai and trained by experience due to demons being naturally attracted to him. Tahomaru grew up as the heir of a prosperous land with an able body but was never the main focus of his parents' love and was sheltered from a young age. As the series continue they both become more and more demonic for different reasons as Hyakkimaru's drive to regain his body causes him to refuse to think of the consequences and Tahomaru's sympathetic reasons give way to his hatred and pride.
The Heavy: While his father is the Big Bad, Tahomaru gets more screentime, and is Hyakkimaru's most persistent foe.
Heel–Face Turn: In "Dororo and Hyakkimaru", after losing to Hyakkimaru but his older brother sparing his life, he relents and gives back Hyakkimaru's eyes. He even calls Hyakkimaru aniue, a respectful word for one's older brother, again in worry for him.
Hero Antagonist: He ultimately is trying to do what's best for his people by helping them live in prosperity, but Hyakkimaru's existence gets in the way of that.
Hero-Worshipper: "The Story of Tahomaru" shows that he looks up to his father, Daigo thinking he's the cause for their land's current prosperity. He is, but not for the reason Tahomaru thinks.
Horrible Judge of Character: Believes that his father Daigo is a good person and continues to trust and believe his lies that he sacrificed Hyakkimaru for the land's well-being, not knowing Daigo just did it for power.
Hot-Blooded: Tahomaru was once a very passionate and driven young man who had aspiring hopes inheriting his father's land along with his childlike rambunctious behavior. Though later on as he grows older he retained this until his first battle with Hyakkimaru where he starts to give in to anger and now lets his temper guide him to be an extremely aggressive individual with a violent streak.
Hypocrite: After standing against Hyakkimaru, he calls his older brother a demon and such. It get ridiculous by "The Story of Nui" when he makes a pact with the final demon Asura, gaining Hyakkimaru's eyes thus having three eyes.
Meaningful Name: His name 多宝丸 contains the kanji for "many treasures," which lets the audience know exactly how his father views him in comparison to Hyakkimaru.
Motive Decay: He first fights Hyakkimaru to retain the remaining prosperity of his home but after getting beaten by him and having his pride wounded, he starts letting his anger get the best of him, eventually going so far as to act on Asura's behalf to kill Hyakkimaru and complete the unbreakable pact between Daigo and the demons..
Narcissist: Believes that he's doing good for the land of Daigo by attempting to kill Hyakkimaru, but he's only doing it because his ego was bruised for being scarred by him and only thinks of himself and his own needs instead of what other people actually desire, especially his brother.
The Needs of the Many: Tahomaru decides to fight against Hyakkimaru despite knowing and being disgusted by what his father did to Hyakkimaru because he can't risk his country suffering.
Never My Fault: After his two closet friends die and Hyakkimaru continuing to lose his sanity due to everyone turning on him, Tahomaru refuses to accept any fault as his pursuit of Hyakkimaru caused Mutsu and Hyogo to die and Hyakkimaru losing it.
Reasonable Authority Figure: "The Story of Tahomaru" has him helping a small village in his land and working to kill the monster that was infesting their water simply because he felt it was his responsibility to protect his people.
Secretly Selfish: He keeps saying that he needs to kill Hyakkimaru to protect his land but "The Story of Breaking the Cycle of Suffering" makes it explicit that he mostly wants revenge for being defeated and scarred by him.
Single Tear: He sheds a single tear after Mutsu and Hyogo's deaths.
Super-Persistent Predator: When he obsessively tries to kill his brother due to his existence causing ruin in Daigo's land. It becomes so unhealthy that he doesn't even consider his brother even human. But by the end he accepts his brother as human and helps him kill the final demon.
Took a Level in Jerkass: He becomes much more cold-hearted after both his mother's attempted suicide and quick defeat at Hyakkimaru's hands.
The Unfavorite: He feels this way for both his parents as he states in "The Story of the Moriko Song, Part 2". He can tell his mother loves someone else more than him, while he can tell his father values his ambition more than he values him as a person. "Dororo and Hyakkimaru" reveals that Asura calling Hyakkimaru Daigo's heir and the fact that Nui was too busy mourning his abandoned brother made him feel like second to Hyakkimaru and that his brother was stealing everything from him.
Together in Death: This version of his death has him perish with Nui as their castle burns around them.
Unstoppable Rage: Basically anytime he meets Hyakkimaru in combat as he starts to lose his mind and goes berserk whenever the two clash. Played straight when both of the brothers are in this state up until their final battle where they are both enraged to the point of disregarding their humanity and giving into their anger to fight each other.
"Well Done, Son" Guy: Even before he found out he had an older brother, Tahomaru was constantly trying to please his mother (who was still in mourning after Hyakkimaru was taken away).

Mutsu and Hyogo

Voiced by: Mariko Munakata [JPN]; Elissa Cuellar [ENG] (Mutsu), Ken'ichirou Matsuda [JPN]; Andrew Love [ENG] (Hyogo)

Mutsu

Hyogo

A Brother–Sister Team in service of Tahomaru.

Ambiguous Gender: It's hard to tell whether Mutsu is a feminine looking and sounding young man or a cross-dressing woman with a deep voice. She's confirmed to be the latter when Hyogo calls her aneue, an archaic word for older sister.
An Arm and a Leg: Mutsu loses her right arm and Hyogo his left one in "The Story of Breaking the Cycle of Suffering" while fighting Hyakkimaru. Mutsu loses her left arm in "The Story of the Demons" while fighting Midoro.
Artificial Limbs: Mutsu and Hyogo are given Hyakkimaru's arms after becoming Asura's proxy.
Bifauxnen: Mutsu has Boyish Short Hair and dresses in masculine clothing, but she has delicate features and a deep voice in an androgynous manner. The audience learns her gender when Hyogo calls her aneue, an archaic word for older sister.
Big Little Brother: Hyogo is taller than his older sister, Mutsu, since their childhood.
Boyish Short Hair: Mutsu is androgynous and a capable archeress. She keeps her hair at the base of the neck.
Brother–Sister Team: They are a sister and brother who work together under Tahomaru.
Canon Foreigner: They never appear in the original manga; their presence serves to humanize Tahomaru.
Contralto of Strength: Mutsu, a tough Lady of War, has the deepest and most mature voice out of the female characters.
Cool Sword: Hyogo's main weapon is a sword.
Crossdresser: Mutsu dresses in men's clothing but how Hyogo calls her "older sister" as if it's normal implies that her gender is not a secret.
Dark and Troubled Past: Their parents were murdered in front of them by soldiers of the Asakura clan and they were locked up in a cage with other prisoners and left to rot. Everyone else had died by the time Daigo's soldiers got to the prison. Before Daigo rescued them, Hyogo bit on his arm and Mutsu threatened him with a sharpened bone.
Hairstyle Inertia: Mutsu has the same short hair with a ponytail since childhood.
Happily Adopted: They were happily adopted by Daigo after their parents were killed.
Heroic Sacrifice: Mutsu attempts to sacrifice herself to Asura so that the demon will continue to uphold the pact since she's already dying of the plague anyway. This fails since the pact can only be satisfied with Hyakkimaru's body.
Killed Off for Real: Mutsu was fatally wounded and killed by Midoro.
Lady of War: Mutsu is a demure and graceful master of archery. She's confirmed to be a woman when Hyogo calls her aneue, an archaic word for older sister.
Male Might, Female Finesse: Mutsu uses a bow, which requires precision and steadiness to use, while Hyogo is more about brute strength.
Morality Pet: Tahomaru continues to care for them even after he develops an unhealthy obssession with killing his abandoned brother Hyakkimaru.
Off with His Head!: Midoro kills Hyogo by biting his head off.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: Mutsu is very focused and calm, using a weapon that requires precision and steadiness. On the other hand, Tahomaru is very passionate and Hyogo, while still mostly stoic, is more hesitant and specializes more in brute strength.
Sarashi: Mutsu wears a sarashi around the chest up to the shoulders.
Secretly Dying: Mutsu contracts the deadly plague late in the series. When Hyakkimaru looks at them with his soul sight, he even perceives Mutsu's aura as much fainter than that of Hyogo and Tahomaru, implying that she's on the verge of death.
Tomboyish Ponytail: Mutsu is androgynous and a capable archeress. She wears her hair up in a tight ponytail.
Tomboyish Voice: Mutsu is androgynous and a capable archeress. She has a voice so deep that it can easily pass as a feminine-sounding young man.
Tomboyness Upgrade: Mutsu is androgynous and a capable archeress. A flashback reveals that she used to dress femininely before Daigo rescued her and Hyogo.
Undying Loyalty: To Tahomaru because Daigo saved them and they were raised alongside Tahomaru.

Demons

Deiki

Deiki is a demon made of mud and trash. It attempts to devour Dororo, only to be interrupted and slain by Hyakkimaru.

Ascended Extra: It's just a random ghoul in the original manga, but one of the twelve demon gods here.
Blob Monster: It is a demon made up of mud and trash assorted together.
Starter Villain: It is there to highlight Hyakkimaru's skill at demonslaying, as well as to display his transition back to humanity after defeating it.

Bandai

The lizard demon with the tail that can take on the appearance of a beautiful woman. Disguised as a disabled woman, it has taken over a village.

Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: It appears as a benevolent figure but is really a monster that preys on outsiders who come to its village.
Killed Mid-Sentence: After Bandai transforms, she tries to do some Evil Gloating, but Hyakkimaru interrupts her with a sword to the head.

Nihiru

A demonic sword that thirsts for blood. It takes over the body and soul of its owner in order to quench its endless thirst.

Clingy MacGuffin: It will not leave its owner until someone knocks it out of its owner's hands or destroys it.
Evil Weapon: Has no problem controlling its owner to kill.
Hungry Weapon: As said above, it thirsts for blood and will compel its owner to kill in order to satisfy that thirst.
Meaningful Name: Its name in Japanese (似蛭) means leech-like. Fitting as it relies on its host to kill. It's also sometimes translated as "Nihil" for the oblivion it brings.
More than Mind Control: To Tanosuke. Even when he is freed from the possession, he tries to get it back so he can murder people again.

Ariijigoku

The demon resembling a gigantic antlion that has taken up residence in a remote area of Daigo's lands.

Antlion Monster: With its own Pit Trap to boot.
Canon Foreigner: It only appears in the 2019 anime.
Wake-Up Call Boss: To Hyakkimaru. It is the first demon in the show that manages to grievously wound Hyakkimaru and Hyakkimaru has to take time to recover and think of a strategy to beat it.

Nokosaregumo

The gigantic centipede demon that terrorizes a village, demanding they periodically offer up a bride for it to eat lest it wipes out the entire village.

A Head at Each End: Has another head at the end of its tail.
Creepy Centipedes: It is a Ōmukade, a large centipede demon from Japanese folklore.
Dark Is Evil: Due to its weakness to sunlight, it can only operate under dark areas. During the day, it counteracts this by shedding its skins to create the area of darkness around it.
Human Sacrifice: It threatens to devour the entire village unless they periodically offer a bride for it.
Meaningful Name: Its name means "forsaken cloud," since the darkness it creates around itself appears from a distance like a lone black cloud separate from the others in the sky.
Weakened by the Light: Sunlight hurts it so it can only freely move around inside the dark smoke it exhumes.

Kyubi

The demon that possesses the Banmon at the boundary of Daigo's lands. Initially appearing as numerous fox spirits, they can combine to become a large fox with nine tails.

Asian Fox Spirit: It is a sinister Youkai in the shape of fox.
Me's a Crowd: It can divide itself into multiple fox spirits.

Hakumenfudo

The statue of Buddha that is possessed by an evil spirit. It uses Okaka to bring living sacrifices so it can steal their faces.

BFS: The sword it carries as a Buddha statue is absolutely enormous. Fortunately, its swings are very slow as a result, allowing Hyakkimaru to dodge them with ease.
Face Stealer: Particularly grisly version in this version, as it does so by slicing an unfortunate victim's face off.
Hoist by His Own Petard: The statue accidentally destroys itself by slamming its sword into its own face trying to hit Hyakkimaru.
Mind over Matter: It can manipulate objects, such as the ropes around it, to a limited degree.

Maimai-onba

Voiced by: Ayano Hamaguchi (JPN)

One of the twelve demons that made a contract with Kagemitsu Daigo. She married Sabame so her offspring can prosper.

Insect Queen: As the mother of her brood.
Large and in Charge: She is significantly bigger than her children.
Kill It with Fire: How Hyakkimaru slays her in all versions.
Moth Menace: Her demon form is a gigantic moth.
Mystical White Hair: She has long white hair in her human form.
Unholy Matrimony: Actually became Sabame's wife in exchange for letting his lands prosper.

Jiromaru and Saburomaru

Two huge sharks under the command of Shiranui. They are ruthless, relentless beings, which never hesitate to devour their victims after being given the command by their master to do so.

Eye Scream: Jiromaru loses an eye from Hyakkimaru during their fight.
Fusion Dance: Jiromaru devours Saburomaru's corpse and mutates into a giant white shark demon with horns and legs.
Good Eyes, Evil Eyes: Jiromaru's eyes turn black with yellow iris when it gets angry.
One-Winged Angel: Jiromaru can transform into even more monstrous form, turning all white and growing legs.
Pet the Dog: The only human they don't devour is Shiranui.
Threatening Shark: A pair of gigantic sharks that can easily overwhelm a group of bandits.

Nue

A giant demon towering over any human. Befitting its nature as a chimera-like demon from the Japanese folklore, it has the face of a monkey, the body of a tiger, and the tail with the front half of a snake. It preys on those who pass by the mountain it inhabits in.

Fusion Dance: Once its face gets sliced in half, it devours Saburota in its last attempt to destroy Hyakkimaru.
Mix-and-Match Critters: Has body parts of multiple animals.
One-Winged Angel: After devouring Saburota, it grows wings within its body and its sliced half of the face is restored by the upper body of the samurai.
Red Eyes, Take Warning: Has menacing red eyes inside its black eye holes.
Two-Faced: As the result of Hyakkimaru's slicing its face in half, its restored form becomes this.

Asura

The last of the twelve demons that made a contract with Kagemitsu Daigo.

Canon Foreigner: It only appears in the 2019 anime.
Eldritch Abomination: The form it takes in the finale is of a bizarre, twisted...thing checkered with crystalline structures.
Final Boss: He acts as this in the for the heroes due to being the last demon standing and having Hyakkimaru's eyes and arms. He also shares a more personal connection to Hyakkimaru—the only reason the boy is still alive is because Asura failed to take his head.
Fusion Dance: Of a sort as it bequeaths Hyakkimaru's arms to Hyogo and Mutsu while giving his eyes to Tahomaru.

Human Antagonists

Kagemitsu Daigo

Voiced by: Naoya Uchida (JPN), David Wald (ENG)

Portrayed by: Mitsuru Karahashi

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

Abusive Parents: Even after sacrificing Hyakkimaru, he still treats him with contempt.
Adaptational Nice Guy: Downplayed. Daigo doesn't deliberately sacrifice his son for his deal with the demons; he merely says he'll give them anything, resulting in them targeting the newest addition to his family. His motivation for the deal is not much changed however: he says he can't bear being the forgotten lord of a struggling region.
All for Nothing: By the end of the series due to Daigo's contract with the demons being nullified, everything he worked for is now gone. His lands are devastated, his people hate him, his army suffered heavy losses, and his wife and heir are dead. Hyakkimaru doesn't even give him the satisfaction of death, instead telling him to live on as a human. To rub it in further, Daigo admits prosperity might have come naturally had he been patient and accepted Hyakkimaru as his heir.
Archnemesis Dad: He offered up "anything" for power, in spite of being told that making a pact with demons was a bad idea. And once he learns that Hyakkimaru is alive, he becomes dedicated to killing him.
Asshole Victim: In the final episode, he dies from the side-effect of the pact he made from the demons as he's bleeding out and considering everything that he did to Hyakkimaru, his death was well deserved.
Ambition Is Evil: On the one hand, he was looking out for his lands and people...but on the other hand, he only really did it to boost his own prestige.
Big Bad: He's the main antagonist of the series.
Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: He presents himself as a kind and wise lord to his people thus why he's a Universally Beloved Leader by his land, even lying that the current prosperity is because he slayed the demons instead of making a deal with them. But underneath all that is a narcissist that cares more about his ambitions than others.
Cruel Mercy: Hyakkimaru spares his life and tells him to live as a human. However, considering that Daigo's army had been decimated by the forces of Asakura, his lands devastated because of the demons' blessing being forfeit, as well as his wife and heir dead, Daigo now has nothing.
Deal with the Devil: The show started when Daigo made a deal with the twelve demons to save his land.
Death by Adaptation: He remains a Karma Houdini in the manga, while here, he suffers a Karmic Death.
Death Seeker: In "Dororo and Hyakkimaru" after Tahomaru and Nui are gone, his land ravaged by war and poor weather conditions, he awaits Hyakkimaru in the Hall of Demons. He says things meant to obviously enrage his son such as he will do another deal or he should have strangled Hyakkimaru as a baby as he leaves a sword next to Hyakkimaru. He's shocked that Hyakkimaru spared him.
Dirty Coward: Rather than just leave Hyakkimaru alone or attempt to take him back, he tries to murder him because of a prophecy that he will be killed by him. He makes him murder attempt dirty by kidnapping Dororo and using her as a hostage rather than facing Hyakkimaru himself and always makes sure he's a distance away from him to avoid death.
Establishing Character Moment: This comes when he finds out that the twelve demons took his firstborn son's body parts as payment for their service. Instead of feeling pity for their son's predicament, he expresses joy knowing the demons agreed to his deal and starts laughing maniacally, cementing just how selfish he is.
Hate Sink: The story more or less does a good job at showing what an irredeemable scumbag Daigo is. He is responsible for his son Hyakkimaru's predicament, still treats him with contempt and has no doubts or regrets about the deal, in contrast to Nui and Tahomaru.
He-Man Woman Hater: He looks down on women, believing they are nothing more than a tool to give birth to offspring and they should be obedient with no free will of their own. He doesn't love his wife at all and he only married her so she can produce a son for him.
I Have No Son!: Only considers Tahomaru as his son and heir, and Hyakkimaru as a menace.
Irony: Daigo's pact with the demons ultimately lead to the definitive destruction of both his land and kingdom but the irony stems from the fact that, had he not made a deal with the demons in the first place and had raised Hyakkimaru as his true successor. Hyakkimaru would have brought about a greater prosperity than the demons could ever promise to bring.
Lack of Empathy: It takes an extremely cold-blooded person to sacrifice their own children out of selfish greed.
Laser-Guided Karma: He sacrifices Hyakkimaru to the demons to save his starving land and in the last episode, after Hyakkimaru kills all the demons, his land is once again struggling but with the added bonus that he lost Nui and Tahomaru. Now he's left to live with the realization that if he wasn't so hasty, the prosperity that he wanted could have come from Hyakkimaru's rule.
Marriage of Convenience: He doesn't love Nui and he only married her so she produce a heir for him.
Narcissist: In "The Story of the Demons", he refuses to back down as his deal with the demons starts to backfire as he can't accept that he was wrong.
Never My Fault: Subverted in "Dororo and Hyakkimaru" when he and Hyakkimaru meet. At the start, he refuses to say his deal was wrong and that the only fault was that he didn't kill Hyakkimaru as a baby right away. But after Hyakkimaru spares him, he's left to wonder that if he had never made that deal and let Hyakkimaru rule, maybe the prosperity he wanted would have come naturally.
Non-Action Big Bad: Daigo's deal set the series in motion but he rarely confronts Hyakkimaru directly. Most of the time, it's the demons or Tahomaru that fights Hyakkimaru as he's busy dealing with other things.
Powered by a Forsaken Child: His rise to the top is the result of sacrificing his first baby son to demons.
Secretly Selfish: While he'll defend his deal was the only way to save his land, Nui and Tahomaru can see that it was at least partly out of his own ambition.
The Sociopath: He is more than happy to sacrifice his own son for power, treats his own people like crap and overall shows zero remorse for his actions.
Tears of Blood: In the last episode, the blood from his head wounds fall into his eyes as he cries after finally realizing his mistake.
Villain with Good Publicity: In the 2019 anime, he's loved by his people for making their lands so rich and prosperous.
"X" Marks the Hero: Subverted. The cross mark on his forehead was given to him by the demons.

Tanosuke

Voiced by: Hiroki Takahashi (JPN), Joe Daniels (ENG)

Portrayed by: Tatsuya Kageyama

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

Blood Knight: He's a bloodthirsty killer who enjoys ending innocent lives under the influence of the demonic sword Nihiru.
Death Seeker: He wants to be killed by someone stronger than him since the sins he committed five years ago under the influence of Nihil, killing soldiers and innocent lives, can't be forgiven. He gets his wish by dying at Hyakkimaru's hands.
Dies Differently in Adaptation: He is killed by Hyakkimaru instead of killing himself to satisfy Nihiru. The slash that cuts him down also breaks Nihiru as well.
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Despite being a serial killer, the only people he doesn't kill with or without the influence of Nihil are his family. In this version, he decides not to kill his sister since she is the only family he has left and folds one last paper crane for her before setting off to retrieve the demon sword.
Sanity Slippage: Wielding Nihiru has driven him to madness thanks to his need to satisfy the sword's bloodlust. Even after Hyakkimaru temporarily frees him from the sword's influence by disarming him, he still wants to wield it instead of reconciling with his sister and going back home with her.

Itachi

Voiced by: Setsuji Satoh (JPN), Greg Cote (ENG)

Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: He betrayed Dororo's father Hibukuro by crippling him and sided with the authorities.
Desecrating the Dead: He really shows how despicable he can be when he reveals he found half of Hibukuro's treasure map by digging up Ojiya's grave.
Dies Wide Open: He dies, with his eyes wide open after he saw the treasure one last time. Dororo gently closes them after he saved her life from Shiranui's suicide attack.
Even Evil Has Standards: He's horrified that Shiranui fed an innocent village to his sharks and feels a little bit bad after stripping Dororo, but only because she was actually a girl. And later on regrets digging up Ojiya's grave for her half of the map.
Father to His Men: Part of the reason he beat Shiranui to near death is because Shiranui's actions caused the death of half of his men.
Greed: He's very focused on money and will betray others to get it. This is one of the reasons why he betrayed Dororo's father, Hibukuro in the first place.
Heroic Sacrifice: He used the last of his strength to shield Dororo from a landslide caused by Shiranui.
Laser-Guided Karma: He betrayed Hibukuro by leading him to a trap by the samurai, years later Itachi was betrayed by becoming bait and left to die by those same samurai.
Last Request: He asks Dororo to take him to see the treasure before he succumbs to his wounds.
Kick The Son Of A Bitch: He and his men brutally beat Shiranui, who by all appearances is a psychopath that fed innocent people to sharks.
Morality Pet: He is generally fond of Dororo and tends to show the better parts of himself in his interactions with the kid.

Okaka

Voiced by: Ayumi Fujimura (JPN), Molly Searcy (ENG)

A young lady who lived in a small cottage which Dororo and Hyakkimaru encountered along their journey. She initially appeared to be a kind, compassionate individual, allowing the two to stay in her cottage for shelter. However, she was, in truth, the spirit of a Buddha Statue carver who lived a very long time ago. She was resurrected by a vengeful spirit that resides within the stone Fudo Buddha statue which she carved in her previous life, to find the perfect face for it.

Gender Bender: She was originally a man when she was alive until the spirit of a Buddha resurrected her as a spirit and turn her into a woman.
Heel–Face Door-Slam: As she was about to let Hyakkimaru go after a change of heart thanks to Dororo, she was killed by by the Fudo statue with the blade it carried.
Identity Impersonator: She is capable of shape-shifting her face to impersonate other people.
Logical Weakness: Her power to imitate faces hits a snag when confronting Hyakkimaru as he's blind and has never seen anyone's face, so she has nothing to draw upon.
Wouldn't Hurt a Child: She doesn't kill children since she spares Dororo's life for being used as a sacrifice to give Fudo statue a face because Dororo's face is too young and innocent.

Sabame

Voiced by: Koji Yusa (JPN), Jay Hickman (ENG)

The landlord of a mountain village that appears in "The Story of Sabame" and "The Story of the Scene from Hell". In the 2019 anime, he willingly formed the contract with the demoness Maimai-onba, providing her brood with food and shelter in exchange for their protection of his mountain village.

Adaptational Villainy: In the original, he was a victim of hypnosis by Maimai-onba and had little to no control over his own actions. In contrast, the 2019 anime made him a willing participant in razing the temple and offering orphans to the moth demoness and her brood.
Ambiguously Evil: Because his deal with Maimai-onba was made with a genuine desire to protect his land and people, Hyakkimaru has difficulty determining if he's evil or not as only the very edges of his soul have flecks of red in them.
Blatant Lies: In "The Story of Sabame", he says Jishō Nun was a cruel woman who abused the orphans she looked after and a Bolt of Divine Retribution killed her and the kids. Dororo and Hyakkimaru realize he's lying right away as they found oil at the burnt temple. He actually killed her so he could feed her orphans to Maimai-onba's children.
Deal with the Devil: He made a deal with one of the same demons that Daigo also made a deal with to protect his land.
Death by Adaptation: He's alive in the manga, but in this series, he kills himself after the Maimai-onba's children destroyed the village.
Despair Event Horizon: After his village was burned to the ground and his villagers started fighting among themselves.
Driven to Suicide: He commits suicide after his village and their rice storage are destroyed.
Fish Eyes: Has a creepy, unfocused bug-eyed stare, which Dororo comments on.
Foil: Acts as one for Daigo as they both made a Deal with the Devil to make their land prosper. The only real difference is Sabame is more sincere in his desire to protect his land while everyone can tell that Daigo did so primarily out of ambition.
I Did What I Had to Do: How he justifies his deal, regular murder of travelers and murder of Jishō Nun and the orphans she looked after. His village is everything to him.
Laser-Guided Karma: He burned down Jishō Nun's temple to feed Maimai-onba's children to protect his village. Years later those same children accidentally burn down his village.
Would Harm a Child: He's perfectly fine feeding Dororo and the orphans Jishō Nun looked after to Maimai-onba's children.

Shiranui

Voiced by: Ryuichi Kijima (JPN), Josh Grelle (ENG)

Adaptational Attractiveness: Downplayed. He is drawn slightly more attractively than his manga counterpart, though he's now missing his right arm, some of his teeth, and has scars on most of his body.
An Arm and a Leg: According to him, Shiranui fed his right arm to his two shark demons, Saburomaru and Jiromaru, in order to save them from starvation.
Boomerang Bigot: He looks down on all humans as weak, helpless and disgusting, despite being one himself.
Covered with Scars: This version gives him several scars on his chest, arm and legs. He has large flame-like scar on his right side where his right arm used to be.
Dark and Troubled Past: In the manga, Shiranui mentions his parents died in the war when he was young. The 2019 anime, on the other hand, has him live alone on the desert island with his mother until she died of starvation. This is one of the reasons why he resents humanity for being weak and worthless.
Dies Differently in Adaptation: He was killed by Hyakkimaru in the manga, but in the 2019 anime, he commits suicide by setting off the bombs to create a landslide in an attempt to kill everyone. Shiranui's lifeless corpse was last seen on shore.
Disabled in the Adaptation: In the original manga, he was able-bodied, while here he fed his right arm to the starving two shark demons and he doesn't regret it.
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He may be a psychopath, but he really loves and cares for Jiromaru and Saburomaru deeply. He thinks of them as his own family. Shiranui becomes devastated when he finds Saburomaru's corpse after Itachi and his men killed him.
Eviler than Thou: Itachi's a piece of work but even he comes off as reasonable compared to Shiranui.
Freudian Excuse: His flashback showing how he was orphaned, his growing up in war-torn Japan, as well as his speech about admiring his sharks' strength and feeling safe as long as he was with them, makes it easier to understand why he turned out the way he did.
I'm a Humanitarian: It's implied that he's a cannibal when one of the demon sharks gives him a severed arm and he says he will eat later.
Misanthrope Supreme: He proclaims that he hates humanity and thinks of humans nothing more than demon food to feed to his two demon sharks, Jiromaru and Saburomaru.
Obviously Evil: Between the deranged look in his eyes, his missing arm and being covered with scars, Dororo can immediately tell that Shiranui is bad news.
Parental Abandonment: In his new backstory, his mother died of starvation when he was a child.
Roaring Rampage of Revenge: After Itachi and his men killed Saburomaru, Shiranui orders his remaining shark demon, Jiromaru, to kill them all. After Jiromaru himself is killed, Shiranui tries to get revenge for both of them through a Suicide Attack.
Suicide Attack: He uses explosives to cause a landslide in a last-ditch attempt to get revenge for his sharks, killing himself in the process.
Ungrateful Bastard: He orders Jiromaru to kill Dororo, even though the latter spared him from being killed by Itachi and his men.
Would Harm a Child: He has no problem feeding babies and children to his two shark demons. He didn't hesitate to order Jiromaru to kill Dororo even though the latter saved his life from Itachi and his men.

Saburota

Voiced by: Yūichi Nakamura (JPN), Jeremy Gee (ENG)

Portrayed by: Kento

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

A man whom Dororo and Hyakkimaru encounters in the mountain during "The Story of the Nue". Initially appearing helpful to the duo as he leads them to the place in the mountain where Nue frequents, he reveals his intention to feed them to the demon once Hyakkimaru starts fighting Nue. In the past, Nue devoured his mother right in front of him and he ran for his life instead of protecting her. As it effortlessly crushed his fellow villagers who offered to help him get revenge, he instead convinced himself that there is nothing one can do against such monster and submitted himself to it, luring travelers into its territory so it can devour them.

Curtains Match the Window: Both his hair and eyes are brown.
Dirty Coward: Unwilling to admit his cowardice, he led other people to their deaths in order to persuade himself that no man can fight off the Nue.
Disease Bleach: His hair was originally brown until he fed himself to a Nue and his hair turned white.
Fusion Dance: He feeds himself to the Nue in a last bid to destroy Hyakkimaru. Doubles as Driven to Suicide.
Scars Are Forever: He has a scar marks on his chest after being slashed by a Nue.
Used to Be a Sweet Kid: He was once a dutiful son who carried his mother over a mountain to see a doctor and hoped to provide better life for her with his sword.
Villainous Breakdown: As Hyakkimaru gains the upper hand against the Nue, he breaks down as his reasoning for abandoning his mother and others to the Nue had become invalidated.

Other Humans

Kaname

Voiced by: Kōhei Amasaki (JPN), Antonio Lasanta (ENG)

Jukai's former disciple. He left his master after knowing that Jukai used to work for Lord Shiba.

Artificial Limbs: He had a prosthetic leg given by Jukai until he found out about his past. After that, he discards his prosthetic leg and replaces it with a wooden walking stick.
Canon Foreigner: He's one of the characters who never appear in the original manga and only appears in the 2019 anime.
You Killed My Father: After he found about Jukai's history, he develops a strong hatred toward him and wanted revenge on him for killing his father. However, he couldn't bring himself to kill him so instead he left him.
What Happened to the Mouse?: It's unknown what happened to him after he left Jukai, but it's heavily implied he told Jukai's customers about his past.

Osushi

Voiced by: Marina Inoue (JPN), Avery Smithhart (ENG)

Adaptation Deviation: Unlike in the manga, she has short hair because she had to cut her long hair she used to had five years ago in order to survive as a peddler.
Ain't Too Proud to Beg: She begged Hyakkimaru to spare her brother's life even though he can't be saved or reasoning with, but he doesn't listen her and kills him.
Memento MacGuffin: She kept an origami crane made by her brother, Tanosuke, since the day he was sent to war five years ago. However, after her brother's death, this ends up as a Tragic Keepsake.

Mio

Voiced by: Nana Mizuki (JPN), Luci Christian (ENG)

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

A girl who takes care of war orphans in an abandoned temple. Unlike in the manga, Hyakkimaru meets her in the present.

Adaptational Job Change: This series makes her a prostitute instead of just a beggar, adding a new layer of tragedy to her tale.
Cool Big Sis: The children that she cares for view her as a very loving big sister.
Cope by Creating: She sings so that she doesn't feel sadness even when she's selling her body.
Cynicism Catalyst: She's murdered by soldiers who mistake her for a spy, which triggers Hyakkimaru into an Unstopabble Rage.
Defiled Forever: Mio reveals that she feels dirty for selling her body every night, even thinking her soul is dirty. Shortly after Mio voices her concerns, however, the scene cuts to Biwamaru's perspective showing her soul to be spotless. Dororo also tells Mio that his mother refused to take up sex work even though it led to her starving to death, and that Mio is just as admirable as her. This scene takes on a different meaning when it's revealed Dororo is a girl; Mio is perhaps a cautionary tale of what it might take for her to survive war.
Lie Back and Think of England: Mio sings to herself and daydreams about rice paddies to get through her job.
Love at First Note: Her songs are very beautiful and Hyakkimaru first meets her by following the sound of her singing. Mio's songs are the only sounds that can calm Hyakkimaru (and from Biwamaru's perspective, even keep his inner demons at bay) after getting his ears back.
Hooker with a Heart of Gold: To get money to sustain herself and the children she takes care of, she sells herself to soldiers at night as a job.
Not What It Looks Like: She sells herself to multiple enemy camps, which leads to one of them thinking she's a spy.
Nice Girl: She's a very sweet and kind person. When Hyakkimaru is attracted to her singing and follows the sound to her, she realizes that he's blind, but doesn't act in fear and is very friendly towards him in their first meeting. She also decides to let him, Dororo, and Biwa-Hoshi stay in her home.
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Her decision to sell her services to both sides of the war leads to them thinking she is a spy and slaughtering her and the orphans she look after.
Too Good for This Sinful Earth: She's one of the most kind-hearted and selfless characters in the story. And her kindness is repaid with her being killed, with Dororo almost getting executed as well when she tries to get close.
Tragic Dream: She wanted to grow a large rice paddy so that she and the children would no longer starve. And she had just purchased seeds the day they were all killed.
Workaholic: The kids comment that she works too much, and even after working all night, Mio will refuse to rest if she sees someone (like Hyakkimaru) hurt or in need.

Hibukuro and Ojiya

Voiced by: Kenta Miyake (Hibukuro), Ayumi Fujimura (Ojiya) (JPN), Josh Morrison (Hibukuro), Melissa Engler (Ojiya) (ENG)

Dororo's deceased parents. They led a gang of bandits who rob samurai.

Adaptational Attractiveness: In the manga, Hibukuro looks like a shaved gorilla and Ojiya has a rather birdlike appearance. They're both much more attractive here.
Ain't Too Proud to Beg: Ojiya would do anything to keep Dororo alive, even beg Itachi for help.
Cycle of Revenge: Hibukuro created his bandit group out of revenge from being pushed around by the samurai and was later killed by one of his past victims of his bandit group.
Dies Differently in Adaptation: Ojiya died in a field of spider lilies instead of a snow field. Hibukuro is killed by a samurai who recognizes him, as opposed to his Too Dumb to Live death in the manga where he just attacks them.
Good Parents: They both loved Dororo and despite being down on their luck later on, they focused on keeping him alive.
It's Personal: Hibukuro deeply loathed samurai, creating a bandit group made solely of disgruntled farmers just to raid them.
Posthumous Character: Both of them are dead by the start of the story and we only see them by flashbacks.
Robbing the Dead: After being betrayed by Itachi, Hibukuro and Ojiya are forced to loot corpses on battlefields for food to survive.
Taking You with Me: After Hibukuro is fatally stabbed, he grabs his murderer and gives him a bear hug so the blade pierces him too.
"This is how you use a spear!"
Treasure Map: Hibukuro tattooed his wife's back the first half of the map before his death and the second half on Dororo's back on Ojiya's request.

Okowa

Voiced by: Yume Miyamoto (JPN), Jad Saxton (ENG)

The daughter of Munetsuna and also the second love interest of Hyakkimaru after Mio.

Canon Foreigner: She's one of the characters who only appear in the 2019 anime.
Happily Married: She marries a young man from her village after Amanojaku was sealed away again.
In Love with Love: Okowa is very quick to get married to a boy she just met. Her neighbors are being compelled to insult her, so it makes sense she'd leap at the chance to be with the first person who doesn't.
Love at First Sight: She fell in love with Hyakkimaru at first sight after Hyyakimaru touched her forehead with his. She thought it was a sign of affection even though they just met.
Second Love: Okowa is Hyakkimaru's second love interest after Mio's death. However, this ends up as a Romantic False Lead since it was a misunderstanding caused by an Amanojaku that makes everyone say the opposite of what they mean. It also means that Hyakkimaru wasn't into her—or not that into her. She takes this in stride, however.

Munetsuna

Voiced by: Kazuhiro Yamaji (JPN), Jason Douglas (ENG)

The father of Okowa and is known as the best swordmaker in the land. He is the one who sharpened and fixed up Hyakkimaru's arm blades. Although he makes a living by making swords, he has expressed discontent with the products he has made and wishes that he would make a sword for peace and not bloodshed.

Badass Normal: He manages to knockdown down an Amanojaku without any efforts.
Canon Foreigner: He's one of the characters who never appear in the original manga and only appears in the 2019 anime.

Spirits

Kanekozou

Voiced by: Tamura Kinto (JPN), Kyle Jones (ENG)

The spirit of a traveler who became the first victim of Bandai. He seeks to lead strangers to a hidden stash of gold.

Iconic Item: He carries a pilgrim's bell on his right hand.
One-Word Vocabulary: "Yarou ka?" translated as "You want?"

Jisho Nun Ghost

Voiced by: Harumi Ueda (JPN)

The spirit of a deceased nun and a minor character who once ran an orphanage in the mountains. Some time ago, she, along with the orphans and the orphanage, burned down in a fire caused by Sabame after discovering that the landlord had made a pact with Maimai-onba to keep the land prosperous by sacrificing travelers and animals to feed the demoness and her offspring.

Dark Is Not Evil: She's undeniably creepy, but means no harm.

Jorogumo

Voiced by: Yoko Kaida (JPN)

A ghoul taking the form of a giant spider with the ability to shapeshift into a beautiful woman. Hyakkimaru attacks her, but she manages to escape and ends up falling in love with Yajiro, a human from the neighboring village. Unlike other ghouls, she does not kill humans, instead nonlethally feeding on their spiritual energy. She is also known as "Ohagi", the name Yajiro gave her.

All Webbed Up: She is called the Jorogumo Silk Spider for a good reason.
Dark Is Not Evil: She is a ghoul with the appearance of a horrific, monstrous spider, but she is also one of the most reasonable characters in the series and genuinely nicer than many humans.
Defrosting Ice Queen: She initially sees Yajiro as a snack and treats him with haughtiness and arrogance, but as he continues to care for her, starts developing genuine feelings towards him and treating him with more kindness, eventually falling in love with him.
Earn Your Happy Ending: Thanks to her connection with Yajiro, she manages to escape the despotically ruled village with him and is spared by Hyakkimaru, who realizes she is no longer a threat.
Emotion Eater: It's implied she gains the most energy from those who are in the grips of lust, hence her name, translating to "prostitute spider".
Energy Absorption: Instead of eating people, she eats men's spiritual energy, leaving them temporarily tired and drained, but alive.
Foreshadowing: Perceptive members of the audience may realize that something is up with her when she leaves Hyakkimaru completely incapacitated in her webs... then proceeds to flee instead of taking the opportunity to devour both him and Dororo.
Hypercompetent Sidekick: Despite being a mere ghoul rather than a full demon, she gives Hyakkimaru a run for his money thanks to her webs. Had she been the murderous type of ghoul, she could have killed both Hyakkimaru and Dororo with little trouble while the former was All Webbed Up, thankfully, she is not overtly hostile to humanity.
Line-of-Sight Name: Hagi means "bush clover". Yajiro found her in a bush clover patch.
Pragmatic Villainy: How she rationalizes feeding on humans' spiritual energy instead of their flesh:
"Humans are precious prey."
Rescue Romance: She falls in love with Yajiro after he starts nursing her back to health following Hyakkimaru's attempt to kill her.
Spider People: Her true form has a humanoid upper body growing out of a spider abdomen.
Token Heroic Orc: Despite being a ghoul with a red soul, she does not kill humans at all and is capable of compassion and even love. This makes her the only ghoul in the series who is eventually spared by Hyakkimaru.
Tsundere: Towards Yajiro. She first speaks to him in a very arrogant and condescending manner, but warms up to him quickly.

Yokai Kozo

Voiced by: Ikue Otani (JPN), Kalin Coates (ENG)

The benevolent spirit vessel that houses the deceased children who once lived in an orphanage in the mountains. Some time ago, they, along with the nun, and the orphanage itself, burned down in a fire by Sabame after they discovered the landlord made a pact with Maimai-onba to keep the land prosperous by sacrificing people to feed the demoness and her offspring. Since then, the orphans who were sacrificed came together and created this spiritual form.

Anthropomorphic Personification: They are the personification of all the deceased children who were eaten by Maimai-onba's children.
Because You Were Nice to Me: They decides to save Dororo from Maimai-onba's children because he was nice to them.

Midoro

A flaming horse Hyakkimaru rides. She was once a normal horse and had a foal. She was blown up by Daigo's men and later revived by possessed armors, becoming a powerful flaming steed to help Hyakkimaru.

Adaptational Heroism: In the 1969 manga and anime, she was possessed by one of the forty eight demons that took Hyakkimaru's body parts, but in the 2019 anime, she is a revived horse that decides to help Hyakkimaru fight against Daigo's men.
Back from the Dead: She was revived by possessed armour, and becomes a powerful flaming steed to assist Hyakkimaru take his revenge.
Black Eyes of Crazy: Of the "yellow iris, black sclera" variant (previously she had innocent black eyes). She's not insane, but monumentally pissed off.
Cool Horse: Can devastate an entire army all on her own.
Dark Is Not Evil: She may be a demonic horse revived by the unresolved grudges of spirits, but she's only attacking the soldiers of Daigo's army. It's also clear she has a heart as despite being mortally wounded by Hyogo and Mutsu, her last act is to lovingly nuzzle her foal before dying.
Hellish Horse: A heroic example. She might be a demon horse, but she remains very loyal to Hyakkimaru.
Hoist by His Own Petard: She was used as a suicide bomb to take out Hyakkimaru. All it accomplished was giving him a badass demon horse that proceeds to tear through Daigo's army.
Killed Off for Real: She was killed by Mutsu and Hyogo.
Laser-Guided Karma: The one inflicting this as she burns to death with the man who blew her up with bombs.
Mama Bear: Her source of anger is being taken away from her child.
Playing with Fire: She can breath fire and create a fiery tornado.
Undying Loyalty: To Hyakkimaru.
Why Am I Ticking?: She was loaded with explosives by Daigo's men and sent charging at Hyakkimaru in an attempt to kill him. She died in the explosion, but Came Back Strong.

Characters / Dororo (2019)

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