Characters from the manga Drifting Dragons.
WARNING: Contains unmarked spoilers.
open/close all folders
Crew of the Quin Zaza
In general
- Badass Crew: You need to be tough, skilled, and resourceful (and lucky) to make a living as a draker. As one of the last independent draking ships still flying, the Quin Zaza's crew certainly qualify.
- Experienced Protagonist: Most of the crew have been doing this job for years, some of them for their whole lives.
- Ensemble Cast: Some crew members get more focus than others but everyone gets opportunities to stand in the spotlight.
- Mildly Military: Draking ships historically adopted uniforms as a way to enforce discipline, the Quin Zaza's crew wear all-blue wool with steel helmets that look like a cross between the French Adrian and German Stahlhelm.
- Only One Name: Everyone on board only goes by their (presumably) first name.
Takita
Voiced by: Sora Amamiya (Japanese), Cassandra Lee Morris (English), Emmylou Homs (French), Itzel Mendoza (Latin Spanish), María del Rosario Aguilar (European Spanish), Leslie-Vanessa Lill (German), Isabella Simi (Portuguese)
Initial Protagonist and viewpoint character, Takita is a rookie/"greenhorn" Draker still learning the ropes of life on board ship.- Badass Adorable: She's petite, bright-eyed and with her hair in pigtails, but Takita is a draker. She's taken on dragons with only a lance, fallen off an airship and survived, and got Vannie to smile!
- Everyone's Baby Sister: The loss of a crew member is always a tragedy, but when Takita gets knocked overboard the rest of the crew react like a member of their own family had died. Getting her back was one of the happiest moments in the series.
- Naïve Newcomer: As the crew's newest and youngest member, Takita has a lot to learn about draking. Fortunately she's a quick study but as the greenhorn she's still stuck with the unpopular jobs like laundry. She's far too practical to be a complete Pollyanna, but her bright, upbeat demeanor tends to bring out the best in the people around her.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: For the most part she's the girly girl in contrast to Vannie's tomboy. She's genuinely and highly emotional compared to Vannie's stoicism. Also while Vannie is a hard drinker and is the 2nd best draker after Mika, Takita spends a good chunk of her work doing laundry. Where she takes on the tomboy role is she's rather uncaring of her looks and hasn't washed her hair in weeks (though she'd like to), Vannie is concerned with her appearance and uses a lot of product to keep up on her face. Also Vannie at times has a refined somberness to her (which Gaga captures in a portrait of her sleeping in the buff) while Takita is often quite rough and tumble.
Mika
Voiced by: Tomoaki Maeno (Japanese), Billy Kametz (English), Alexis Thomassian (French), Ernesto Mascarua (Latin Spanish), Fran Jimenez (European Spanish), Stefan Günther (German), Fabricio Vila Verde (Portuguese)
Lifelong draker and Protagonist. One of the best drakers in the business, although his lackadaisical attitude to anything that's not a dragon or food has earned him quite the reputation as a weirdo.- Big Eater: Mika loves food, especially when it's made with dragon meat, and can put away more than anyone else.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Even among other drakers, Mika is considered an oddball. His skills are second to none, particularly with a lance, a weapon most crews have abandoned in favour of explosive bullets.
- Catchphrase: Almost always has a "Probably" tacked on to the end of his gut feelings.
- Idiot Hero: If he sees a dragon he wants to eat it, danger or reward be damned.
Vannabelle/Vannie
Voiced by: Kana Hanazawa (Japanese), Colleen O'Shaughnessey (English), (French), Betzabe Jara (Latin Spanish), Oscar Torres (European Spanish), Janina Dietz (German), Natalia Alves (Portuguese)
Originally a stowaway, Vannie has established herself as an exceptional draker and level-headed crew member.- The Alcoholic: Vannie's ability to drink men twice her size under the table is legendary. In defiance of the trope, she's usually quite good at knowing her limit but people regularly have to remind her not to drink too quickly.
- Covered with Scars: After being swallowed by a dragon, Vannie is covered from head to toe with acid burns. They last quite a while before starting to fade.
- Dude Magnet: Almost all the guys on the Quin Zaza find her very attractive, and when the crew is out in public there's often some local men trying to date her.
- Eaten Alive: She got better.
- Everyone Can See It: Pretty much the entire ship thinks her and Mika make more than effective hunting combo.
- Mysterious Past: Vannie won't talk about where she's from but the coin she wears around her neck for luck is from a country that collapsed to revolution the same year she turned up on board.
- Rebellious Princess: She is in fact Vannabelle Nova Lani, the royal princess of Arena, who escaped her country during the revoltion because life in a castle was so suffocating.
- Rescue Arc: She took off without letting everyone know because the civil war in her country demanded her to take responsability. Neither she nor the drakers are happy to hear that.
- The Stoic: It's rare for Vannie to express much more than a raised eyebrow.
- When She Smiles
Jiro
Voiced by: Soma Saito (Japaneses), Johnny Yong Bosch (English)
Son of a draker following in his father's footsteps, Jiro badly wants draking to be as respected a profession as it once was.- Important Haircut: Gets his overgrown mop trimmed by Katja before the Queen Zaza departs from Quon as a last goodbye. This seems to be a sign of growth into adulthood after falling in love with a woman.
- Pride: Jiro has a lot of pride wrapped up in his family's background in draking and gets very prickly around people who badmouth drakers or around other drakers who don't measure up to his high standards.
- Spell My Name With An S: It's "Jiro" in the Kodansha translation, "Giraud" in the Polygon adaptation.
Gibbs
Voiced by: Jun'ichi Suwabe (Japanese), Keith Silverstein (English), Stephane Forreau (French), Raúl Solo (Latin Spanish), Antonio Llano (European Spanish), Ole Pfennig (German), Guilherme Briggs (Portuguese)
Leader of the draking crew and business partner with Crocco.- Large and in Charge: Tallest and physically most imposing member of the crew, also lead draker. His size comes in handy when he needs to manhandle a dragon or unruly crewmember.
- Team Dad: He might be in charge of the draking crew and enforces pretty strict discipline, but he comes off as more paternal than as a commanding officer.
Niko
Voiced by: Takahiro Sakurai (Japanese), Todd Haberkorn (English), Adrien Larmande (French), Oscar Garibay (Latin Spanish), Javier Abengózar (European Spanish), Pascal Breuer (German), Nando Sierpe (Portuguese)
Veteran draker, crack shot, and Gibbs' second lance. Where there's trouble he'll be right there, looking out for his friends.- Face of a Thug: Between his Hidden Eyes and sharp, angular features, Nico looks like the kind of guy who'd stab you in a back alley. Actually a pretty nice guy.
- Hidden Eyes: His eyes are constantly hidden in the shadows created by a bandana covering almost the entire top of his face.
Crocco
Voiced by: Tomokazu Seki (Japanese), Jake Green (English), Gilduin Tissier (French), Oscar Flores (Latin Spanish), Ricky Delgado (European Spanish), Dominik Auer (German), Ricardo Telles (Portuguese)
Acting Captain of the Queen Zaza, Crocco dislikes being simply the captain and feels it doesn't matter as long as the job gets done. He spends most of his time with Capella on the bridge piloting the ship.- Good Smoking, Evil Smoking: The only member of the crew who smokes, usually a slightly mangled cigarette which complements his blue-collar attitude. Remarkably, he never smokes when under stress.
- The Captain: Owner/operator of the Quin Zaza, everything that's not directly related to draking falls under his authority.
Capella
Voiced by: Rie Kugimiya (Japanese), Christine Marie Cabanos (English), Marie Nonnenmacher (French), Paola Echeverría (Latin Spanish), Marta Agota (European Spanish), Alexandra Schenke (German), Amanda Manso (Portuguese)
Helmswoman of the Quin Zaza- Handicapped Badass: Downplayed, there's something too seriously off about her. But Crocco does mention that she's a very good pilot despite her near-sightedness.
- Statuesque Stunner: Capella is quite the looker and very tall, only a few hairs shorter than Gibbs.
Lee
Voiced by: Hiroo Sasaki (Japanese), Kyle McCarley (English), Guillaume Bourboulon (French), Rafael Pacheco (Latin Spanish), Jaime Roca (European Spanish), Hubertus von Lerchenfeld (German), Alexandre Maguolo (Portuguese)
Ship's accountant and bookkeeper.- Captain Ersatz: Bears a strong resemblance to Mr. Prospector from Martian Successor Nadesico, and even has the same job.
- Card Sharp: A former gambler, Lee can make dice land exactly how he wants, every time. It's not a skill he's proud of.
- Dark and Troubled Past: He used to be a terrible embarrassment to his family before cleaning up his act.
- Professional Gambler: Before he cleaned up, Lee used to win and lose huge sums of money gambling, much to the chagrin of his banking family.
Yoshi
Voiced by: Kazuhiko Inoue (Japanese), Christopher Corey Smith (English), Bruno Magne (French), Jesús Cortés (Latin Spanish), José María Rueda (European Spanish), Sebastian Griegel (German), Leonardo Martins (Portuguese)
Ship's cook, Yoshi has a remarkably broad repertoire of dishes and cooking styles, provided he can find the ingredients, that is.- Nice Guy: Yoshi is very nice and sweet to everyone on board, even going above and beyond with Vannie to get Takita something sweet when she is sick.
- Team Chef: He's the ship's cook. He is quite skilled at it, and when asked, he actually enjoys the thrill of cooking for a crew with short supplies and rare ingredients.
Soraya
Voiced by: Yūto Uemura (Japanese), Bryce Papenbrook (English), Tom Trouffier (French), Javier Olguín (Latin Spanish), Joel Gómez Jiménez (European Spanish), Leonard Rosemann (German), Yuri Tupper (Portuguese)
Faye
Voiced by: Makoto Furukawa (Japanese), Tony Azzolino (English), Maxime Baudoin (French), Nacho Cordoba (Latin Spanish), Juan Enrique Palacios Fernández (European Spanish), Felix Auer (German), Leonardo Santhos (Portuguese)
Badakin
Voiced by: Takashi Matsuyama (Japanese), Jonah Scott (English), Guillaume Desmarchelier (French), Bernardo Ezeta (Latin Spanish), Gerhard Jilka (German)
Berko
Voiced by: Kosuke Toriumi (Japanese), Doug Erholtz (English), Gilbert Levy (French), Esteban Desco (Latin Spanish), Juanjo Barriga (European Spanish), Gerd Meyer (German), Paulo Bernardo (Portuguese)
Gaga
Voiced by: Kentaro Kumagai (Japanese), Kaiji Tang (English), Ludovic Baugin (French), Hector Mena (Latin Spanish), Miguel Angel Muro (European Spanish), Alexander Wohnhaas (German), Francisco Junior (Portuguese)
- Hidden Depths: Gaga possesses a Photographic Memory, and is an adept artist.
- The Big Guy
Oken
Voiced by: Shunsuke Takeuchi (Japanese), Alejandro Saab (English), David Gozlan (French), Alan Bravo (Latin Spanish), Nestor Moreno (European Spanish), Leonard Hohm (German), Airam Pinheiro (Portuguese)
Doug
- Mr. Fixit: Doug's been in the business of keeping airships aloft for longer than most of the crew have been alive. By now he can tell the integrity of the ship's frame by sound.
- Secret Art: Doug knows a technique of giving the Quin Zaza's engine a boost by spraying water into the air inlet with his mouth. While water injection is hardly groundbreaking tech, for Doug to control the water so precisely with only his lips and breath is quite the achievement.
Mayne
Voiced by: Chinatsu Akasaki (Japanese), Reba Buhr (English), Fanny Bloc (French), Analiz Sanchez (Latin Spanish), Cristina Peña (European Spanish), Anja Taborsky (German), Carol Groetas (Portuguese)
Assistant engineer also maintains the Quin Zaza's heavy weapons.- Black Bead Eyes: Mayne's eyes are so far unique across the whole series. This makes her easy to spot, even in a crowd.
- Tiny Tyrannical Girl: Downplayed. She's one of the shortest members of the crew and also one of the bosses. Given how often she orders everyone around in the boiler room, it'd be easy to assume she was the chief engineer.
- Wrench Wench
Hiro
Voiced by: Jun'ya Enoki (Japanese), Daman Mills (English), Brandon Montor (Latin Spanish), Luis Miguel Cajal (European Spanish), Benjamin Levent Krause (German), Erick Bouglex (Portuguese)
Assistant engineerOther characters
Katja
Voiced by: Ayane Sakura (Japanese), Kayli Mills (English)
- First Love: She's this for Jiro, to the point of him asking her to run away with him and likely he's her first love.
- Indentured Servitude: She mentioned to Jiro that she was sold to the tavern.
- Hooker with a Heart of Gold: She's not taking customers - yet - but the principle is the same.
- Rescue Romance: Jiro first met her when he confronted the jerkass draker who was trying to take Katja by force.
Ascella
Voiced by: Maaya Sakamoto (Japanese), Cristina Valenzuela (English)
Brno
Cujo
