Characters / GARO

For the characters from the third season, see here.

For characters introduced in the seventh season, see here.

For characters introduced in the first anime, see here.

For characters introduced in the second anime, see here.

For characters introduced in the third anime, see here.

Main Characters

Kouga Saejima (GARO the Golden Knight)

Portrayed by: Ryosei Konishi

The Golden Knight

Kouga is a renowned Makai Knight who inherited the title from his father, Taiga Saejima. His weapon of choice is a longsword. While he is coldly dedicated to his mission at the start of the series, even heartlessly using Kaoru as bait for Horrors, he slowly begins to care for her without ever losing his stoic personality.

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• Action Hero: Considering he fights monsters that prey on humans, this is a given. That being said, he's introduced as an Anti-Hero at first, as he initially uses Kaoru as bait to lure in Horrors.
• BFS: His powerful sword is already big to begin with. Then when he rides his horse, Gouten he can transform it into a insanely huge version of it, ''Zankantou-style'' to take down Horrors the size of houses.
• Everyone Has Standards: Played for Laughs. He really hates bad acting of any kind.
• Good Wears White: Kouga is the franchise's original hero and wears a white Badass Longcoat.
• I Just Want to Be Normal: has shades of this in Makai Senki after he is given the Seal of Destruction and given a limited time to live. He is doing more domestic activities which he would not have been interested in during the first series, mainly revolving around spending time Kaoru.
• In Love with the Mark: Well, not mark per say, but by law, all Makai Knights are to kill whoever is splattered with Horror blood on sight. He doesn't kill Kaoru in order to use her as bait to lure out Horrors, but as the series progresses, he genuinely comes to care about her. Best shown when Kaoru becomes the vessel for Messiah, where he does everything in his power to save her.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's cold and dedicated to his task, and even uses Kaoru as bait to draw out Horrors, but he's nonetheless a caring person behind that rough exterior of his. He does begin to soften up as he spends more time with Kaoru.
• Light Is Good: Kouga wears a white coat and his Garo armor is gold.
• Lonely Rich Kid: Played with. He's the Makai equivalent of an aristocrat but he grew up with nearly no friends (except Jabi and his butler) and spent most of his time as a child training to slay Horrors. However, he did make friends when he was younger at a training camp. He ended up losing all of them thanks to a Horror.
• Married to the Job: He's dedicated to his job as a Makai Knight and will do whatever it takes, even if he has to use someone splattered with Horror's blood as bait to draw them out. He starts to soften up thanks to Kaoru, though. He even marries her at some point.
• Mistaken Identity: Rei believes Kouga to be the one who murdered his fiance and adoptive father, due to the murderer being a Makai Knight bearing a strong resemblance to GARO's own armor and possessing the same fighting style. Although the resemblance in armor is coincidental, Barago using the same fighting style is not. After all, he was trained by Kouga's father.
• Noble Male, Roguish Male: The Noble to Rei's Roguish Male
• No Social Skills: Dear god yes. Having been raised in the lifestyle of a Makai Knight, he knows little to nothing about things the average person would know. Case in point, his first meeting with Kaoru, where he shoves her against a pillar to see if she's the Horror he's after.
• Not So Stoic: One way to get a rise out of Kouga is to harm anyone he cares about.
• Power Limiter: Like all Makai Knights, he has a time limit whenever he dons his armor. He gets another one in Makai Senki, which is arguably worse in that it drastically weakens him every time he dons the armor.
• Sacrificed Basic Skill for Awesome Training: Kouga could kick the ass of any demon that's thrown at him. Just don't ask him to coherently express his feelings, question him on appropriate social interaction, or play poker.
• Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: Kouga is ridiculously wealthy and won't hesitate to use his money in pursuit of his mission. When confronting a Horror that has possessed an actor taking the lead role in a play, he ensures a one-on-one showdown by buying all the tickets.
• Single-Target Sexuality: Even though he has two incredibly beautiful Makai Priests who have shown some sort of interest in him and in a series where there is fanservice abound, Kaoru is the only person Kouga has shown any romantic attraction to. In the short time they were together, he fell for her and is the only woman he ever expressed feelings for when they were separated.
• The Stoic: You'd be hard-pressed to get any kind of emotion out of him, and hardly anything fazes him. By Makai Senki, he's loosened up considerably, which Rei comments on.
• Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Even though he loves Kaoru, he still hasn't quite figured out the mechanics of expressing that affection in way that doesn't make him look like a jerk or incredibly awkward.
• Trauma Conga Line: Dear god, where do we start? As a child, Kouga not only witnesses the traumatic death of his father but also the deaths of his childhood Makai-training camp friends whom he witnessed GET EATEN right before his eyes. As an adult, he is isolated, emotionally repressed, socially awkward, and ruthlessly devoted to a frankly horrific job that will probably end up getting him killed at a young age. Despite all this, he meets the love of his life under horrible circumstances in which she is cursed to die in a hundred days. He literally goes through hell to retrieve her cure, they get a breather, and then they find out that she's actually a gate for the ultimate Horror to pass through. Her trusted mentor is actually the Big Bad who killed his father and who invokes another villain to possess her body. While this is happening, Kouga is getting his ass kicked by Barago, Kodama (during which he nearly became a soulless monster), GULM, Messiah!Kaoru, Messiah, and then Barago's armour KIBA. Come in the second season, he is the one cursed to die this time around, and just as he thinks that's about to be resolved, he gets almost permanently absorbed by the corpse of the demon Ganon to help create Idea, a monstrous robotic weapon designed by a man who wishes him and every other Makai Knight dead simply for being "not good enough" at fighting the Horrors.
• What the Hell, Hero?: In the first season. Rather than kill Kaoru, who by law should be killed after she's splattered with Horror blood, he uses her as bait so he can draw out more Horrors for him to kill. Needless to say, Kaoru is not happy when she learns about this. Even Rei, who at the time was a Jerkass that wanted to kill Kouga due to a case of Mistaken Identity, calls him out on this.

Rei Suzumura (ZERO the Silver Fanged Knight)

Portrayed by: Ray Fujita

Rei is a Makai Knight who shirked his responsibilities to pursue a personal vendetta against Kouga, who he believes murdered his lover. He wields two swords that can combine into a single weapon when in his armour. Though he acts friendly and familiar, his true personality is cold and focused.

• Acquired Poison Immunity: As shown in the sixth episode of Makai Senki, it appears that he has an immunity to poison, although it is unclear if the trait is unique to him or if all Makai Knights possess a similar immunity.
• Bifurcated Weapon: The two blades he uses can combine into one dual bladed weapon. Can be used as a Boomerang too.
• Dual Wielding: Wields two powerful short swords skillfully in combat.
• Friendly Rival: What he and Kouga end up as in the end. GARO and the Wailing Dragon's penultimate scene has the two friends joyfully reuniting, and then engaging in a formal duel to settle once for all who's best. It's not shown who won.
• Enigmatic Minion: At first, but he mellows out by the end of the series once the misunderstandings are cleared up.
• Heel–Face Turn: While not evil persay, he starts as an enemy due to a major misunderstanding and the manipulation of the Eastern Watchdogs. After the truth comes to light, he becomes a staunch ally.
• Ineffectual Loner: May have something to do with his Dark and Troubled Past, he mostly try his best to shun contact from anyone after battle. Even if they are friends. Still, he will never hesitate to lend a helping hand when the time comes.
• Meaningful Rename: Formerly Ginga Suzumura, he changed his name to Rei^note Meaning "zero" after the deaths of his lover and adoptive father.
• Parental Substitute: He was the one who trained Raiga in his childhood after Kouga and Kaoru disappeared.
• Perpetual Smiler: And when he stops smiling, it's asskicking time.
• Sweet Tooth: He pretty much survives on sweets. ZERO: Black Blood, he's shown pouring a ridiculous amount of sugar into a cup of coffee.

Kaoru Mitsuki

Portrayed by: Mika Hijii

When she is introduced, she is a struggling young artist whose life becomes entangled with Kouga's after she is caught in the middle of a fight between Kouga and a Horror. In the ensuing battle, she is splashed with the monster's blood and afterwards cursed to die in a hundred days. Kouga initially decides to use her as Horror bait but as they grow closer, he ends up falling for her and is determined to protect her at all costs.

• Damsel in Distress: In the first series, hardly an episode passes where nothing is trying to eat/kill/rape/abduct Kaoru. Justified though, as in the first half, the Horror blood she'd been dosed with made her a very appealing meal to Horrors. In the later half, it's because she's a key part of Messiah's master plan.
• The Dulcinea Effect: Subverted at first. Kouga is a knight and Kaoru is a Damsel in Distress but it isn't romantic interest that has him sticking around after he rescues her but because he's using her as a lure for more Horrors. Gradually played straight since he ends up falling in love with her and becomes increasingly unwilling to put her in danger.
• Hero's Muse: Even when she's not around, Kaoru is never far from Kouga's thoughts and usually serves as inspiration to him in his fight against Horrors.
• Hotter and Sexier: Whenever she is possessed by Messiah.
• Lady and Knight: With a twist where the Lady (Kaoru) thinks that her Knight (Kouga) wants to protect her from the demons that keep trying to eat her. In reality, he was using her to attract more demons in order to kill them. They play this trope straight once he falls in love with her.
• Lethal Chef: Oh yes. Very much so. Gonza and Kouga treat Kaoru's cooking as a great emergency.
• Light Feminine and Dark Feminine: She's the cute, bubbly, pastel-colored Girl Next Door in the Garo universe and stands in stark contrast to the sexual and corrupt female Horrors and darkly beautiful Makai Priestesses like Jabi and Rekka.
• Official Couple: She married Kouga and have a son.
• Plucky Girl: Gets attacked by Horrors on a daily basis and still manages to stay rather upbeat.
• The Pollyanna: Kaoru is almost aggressively determined to be this no matter what hardship she goes through since she realizes that she has no control when it comes to Makai matters and the best she can do is put up a facade of unwavering optimism. Even after she finds out that Kouga is dying she refuses to allow anyone see her despair and only breaks down once she is alone.
• Trauma Conga Line: Starts off the series as a struggling artist and then she gets splashed by demon blood and is condemned to die in a hundred days, is attacked on what almost appears to be a daily basis by demons and occasionally Rei, finds out the guy she was falling in love with not only knew that she had very little time to live and was keeping it a secret but actually kept her alive for the sole purpose of using her as monster bait, betrayed by Rei in order to get to Kouga, and then narrowly escaped her death sentence at the last second. But just when things were starting to look up, she finds out her mentor had actually manipulated her into becoming the Big Bad, she gets kidnapped once again, becomes possessed by the Mother of all Horrors and is forced to fight her friends. Of course, everything worked out for her in the end. Of the first series that is. Flash forward to the second series and this time around her boyfriend is the one that's dying. Girl cannot get a break.
• Unwitting Pawn: She wasn't simply being used by Barago, who manipulated her ever since she was a child to become Messiah's host but also by Kouga, who initially only spared her life to use her as Horror bait. Although the latter later came to regret his actions. The former as well but for very different reasons.

Gonza Kurahashi

Portrayed by: Yukijiro Hotaru

The loyal butler to the Saejima family, Gonza has faithfully served Taiga for years, and takes care of Kouga after the latter dies. He is less of a servant, and more of an uncle of sorts to Kouga. While he cannot fight at all, he does his best to take care of the house and Kouga's needs, supporting him at home so he can fight horrors.

• Achievements in Ignorance: Once managed to pick up a Makai Sword to defend Kouga. The moment he was reminded it was a Makai Sword (which only Makai Knights can wield after Training from Hell), down fell the sword.
• Narrator: Introduces the stories for each episode of Makai Retsuden.
• Parental Substitute: To Kouga. Gonza in many ways fulfils the role of a surrogate father of sorts to Kouga, giving him gentle advice. And while Kouga may not always agree with Gonza, he will listen. After Kouga and Kaoru disappear before Makai no Hana, he fulfills this role again for Raiga.
• Shipper on Deck: Is very supportive and encouraging of Kouga and Kaoru's relationship.

Zaruba

Portrayed by: Hironobu Kageyama (voice)

A Madou Ring usually inherited by GARO the Golden Knight, being present in all entries of the franchize.

• Deadpan Snarker: He makes witty comments.
• Mentor Archetype: Serves as a mentor to anyone who dons the Garo Armor.
• Token Heroic Orc: Has been mentioned to be a pacified Horror sealed within the Madou Ring, hence his deal with his holder to shave off a day of their life once a month.

Jabi

Portrayed by: Yasue Sato

A skilled Makai Priest, and childhood friend to Kouga. She has a sharp tongue and a no-nonsense attitude. She also has a small crush on Kouga.

• A Day in the Limelight: With Rekka in "The Tougen Flute"
• Back from the Dead: She is resurrected during Beast of the Midnight Sun thanks to Kouga.
• Bash Brothers: With Rekka, after Makai Senki and throughout The Tougen Flute.
• Cool Big Sis: Meets Rekka in Makai Senki, and immediately became this to her. The Tougen Flute shows that she's become Rekka's mentor and partner.
• Sacrificial Lion: Is the first member of the heroes to be killed in the first series. Luckily, she gets better.

Horrors

• As Long as There Is Evil: While they can killed, Horrors can never be fully destroyed and are instead reconstituted over time. It has been mention many times that Horrors would continue to attack humans as long as they darkness in their hearts.
• Demonic Possession: Horrors are capable of taking over host bodies, either taking control or forming a symbiosis. Either way, it has been stated to be impossible to separate a Horror from its host with a Makai Knight tasked to kill both to ensure the Horror is dispatched.
• Eldritch Abomination: Demonic creatures from another plan of existence.
• Evolutionary Levels: Horrors grow stronger the more human they consume, some Horrors turning to cannibalism for quicker results.
• Fusion Dance: Some Horrors can merge into larger monsters.
• The Goomba: Inga Horrors, the basic level Horrors that are drawn to a person's inner darkness and possess them with some assuming a personalized form.
• Reincarnation: As Horrors cannot die, they can reconstitute over time. As revealed in' 'Kami No Kiba'', Horrors that revive after being killed lose all memory of their previous life.
• Was Once a Man: The vast majority of Horrors were once humans possessed by Inga Horrors, who devour them from the inside until only their inner darkness remains.
• Yōkai: GARO: Crimson Moon reveals that Horrors that appeared during Japan's Heian Era inspired the myths of Yokai.

Messiah

The Ultimate Horror. Despite all her power, she is trapped in the Makai and can only enter the Human Realm if summoned.

• Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: She's a giant naked woman.
• Bishōnen Line: She starts at the final stage, taking the form of a beautiful, almost naked human woman.
• Bullying a Dragon: Jinga finds out the hard way.
• The Corrupter: She manipulated Barago.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: She kills Jinga for picking a fight with her.
• Greater-Scope Villain: She IS the MOTHER OF ALL HORRORS with a majority of her offspring being Big Bads in various entries of the franchise.
• Humanoid Abomination: Resembles a giant, naked woman covered in tattoos that turn into weapons or portals for multiple arms to surge from.
• Light Is Not Good: She is a white-skinned woman.
• Mook Maker: Automatically creates lesser Horrors from her footprints
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: She killed Barago once he finished preparations for her arrival to the human world.

Ganon

Portrayed by: Shinnosuke Ikehata

A powerful Horror known as the "Fang of Messiah" that appears in "Makai Senki", whose corpse holds great power and is used by The Man In The Red Mask as the lynchpin of his plan.

• Early-Bird Cameo: Ganon's existence was hinted at in KIBA.
• Humanoid Abomination: Like Messiah, Ganon's "true" form is human-like.
• Man Behind the Man: Subverted. Unlike Messiah, Ganon had no grand scheme and did nothing to manipulate Sigma; she was dead after all. It just so happened that Sigma's malice was enough to trigger a resurrection, and once awakened Ganon did what any Horror would do.
• Not Quite Dead: Despite assumptions, Ganon is not dead and came back to life by accident.
• Sealed Evil in a Can: Not so much "sealed" as "dead". Until Sigma's malice powers her resurrection.

Ring

Portrayed by: Thane Camus

A powerful Horror that is the antagonist of "Zero Blood"

• Affably Evil: Always polite and charming to everyone he sees, even Makai Knights. But he's running a cult where one out of fifty humans are sacrificed to Horrors.
• Anti-Villain: Assuming Ring's intent on using Human Sacrifice to broker peace between Makai Knights and Horrors was genuine, he fits the bill.
• Blueand Orange Morality: It's obvious that Ring's trying to do some good.....through Human Sacrifice Bread and Circuses that exploit the desparate. Unfortunately, he not only carries a very clear bias toward the people he's supposedly trying to save, but he knows so little about how Human self-preservation works that he's essentially blurred selfishness and self-preservation together; seeing only in terms of what others can give.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Ring. Bans Horrors from eating Humans without permission and doesn't take kindly to manipulators.
• Eye Scream: Rei stabs Ring in the eyes before finishing him off.
• Human Sacrifice: Ring wants certain Humans to become this to Horrors so that Horror attacks will dwindle; possibly stifling tensions between Knights and Horrors.
• Moral Myopia: Despite preaching about how self-serving Humans can be, Ring has no issues manipulating the downtrodden into becoming cattle, using desperate members of his "community" to attack Rei, and is fine with exploiting Iyu for her healing song to keep himself in check. He tries justifying it, but nobody's really buying it.
• The Needs of the Many: Ring's mentality concerning the Human Sacrifice he enforces on the Community. Sacrificing some of the population would somewhat safeguard the majority.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: Resembles David Bowie.
• Sharp-Dressed Man: Always seen wearing a three piece suit.
• Utopia Justifies the Means: Ring's grand plan. If some Humans give themselves over as Horror sacrifices, the majority of the population won't have to fear Horror attacks; and the Makai and Madou realms can stop fighting. Since this involves Human Sacrifice, the Makai Knights aren't okay with it.

Eyrith

Portrayed by: Momoko Kuroki

A powerful Horror known as the "Year of Messiah" that appears in "The Makai Flower", who was freed from Ady Slate by Eiji Busujima.

• Botanical Abomination: Her usual form.
• Humanoid Abomination: Like Messiah, Eyrith's final form is a pale naked woman.
• Time Master: She displaced Kouga, Kaoru, Rian and Rekka within time.
• Sealed Evil in a Can: She was sealed away with the Ady Slate, which were created from nine Horrors.
• Sore Loser: Being defeated by Raiga, Eyrith used her power to revived Zaji in an attempt to kill of the Saezima line in a final attempt to win.

Characters Introduced in GARO (TV) and KIBA

Barago

Portrayed by: Kenichi Kobayashi (True Form), Masaki Kyomoto (Karune Ryuzaki), Voiced by: Mizuho Yoshida (KIBA Gaiden)

The main antagonist of the first series of GARO. Barago is known as the Black Fang, a fallen Makai Knight who was granted the forbidden power of KIBA the Dark Knight. This allowed him to surpass the 99.9 second time limit on his armour, and to consume Horrors to increase his own powers. His goal is to achieve ultimate power by absorbing one thousand Horrors, with the final one being the Ultimate Horror, Messiah.

• Big Bad Wannabe: He's The Heavy of the series, but was ultimately a pawn of Messiah and is killed once she no longer needed him. But becomes the Final Boss due to the Kiba armor taking over his body.
• Badass in a Nice Suit: As Ryuzaki.
• Beyond Redemption: At Messiah's urging as he was about to summon her, Barago engages in a mental Duel to the Death with the personification of dwindling light and extinguishes it.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: As Ryuzaki, he lulled Kaori into trusting him.
• Evil Counterpart: To Kouga, both having mentored by Taiga with similar fighting styles and lost a mother at a young age.
• Evil Is Not a Toy: Bet you never thought you were gonna end up being eaten by the mother of all Horrors you just resurrected yourself, eh Barago??
• Evil Makes You Monstrous: Played straight. As Barago absorbs more Horrors, his armour becomes dark and twisted.
• From Nobody to Nightmare: Started off as the child of an untitled Makai Knight and a Makai Priestess, losing both at a young age to Horrors, only to become the Manipulative Bastard behind every horrible event in the first season.
• He Who Fights Monsters: He's a Fallen Hero who loses his humanity with each Horror he devoured.
• Immortality Seeker: His goal from devouring a thousand Horrors.
• Manipulative Bastard: Nearly every tragedy that befalls Kouga, Kaoru and Rei in the first season can be traced back to him
• Red Right Hand: The "Mark of Death" scar that Taiga inflicted on his face.
• Something about a Rose: in one scene in KIBA, he has a rose appear in one of his attacks. Given that his name is Barago, this could be as a pun.
• Start of Darkness: His desparation for power attracted Messiah, who insticed him to learn forbidden spells and acquire the KIBA Armor.
• Unwitting Pawn: To Messiah, who played him like a fiddle to resurrect herself and then devoured him without a second thought.

The Eastern Watchdogs

Portrayed and Voiced by: Keaki Watanabe and Fumiko Inoue (Keiru), Anri Okamoto and Michiko Kawana (Beru), Yukina Kashiwa and Akemi Sato (Rose)

The three young girls who act as Kouga's superiors in the first series of GARO. Named Keiru, Beru and Rose, they are ancient Makai Priestesses who almost seem to share a single mind. As Watchdogs, their main role is to give execution orders to Kouga when a powerful Horror is detected, and perform the Makai Purification ritual on Kouga's sword. They are secretly working to revive Messiah.

• Creepy Child: They appear child-like, but are actually Really 700 Years Old.
• Dragon with an Agenda: Seems to be The Dragon to BARAGO, but is actually the one manipulating him.
• Fusion Dance: In the final act of GARO, all three of them merge their spirits into the host body of a young woman, calling the resulting form "GULM".
• Literal Split Personality: Have been mentioned to be original a single Watchdog, but becoming a spirit that splintered into three bodies.
• Meaningful Name: Keiru, Beru, and Rose are a pun on "Cerberus", hinting their true nature.

Kodama

Portrayed by: Mark Musashi

The mute butler who serves the Eastern Watchdogs.

• Battle Butler: he can go toe to toe with Kouga and Rei in terms of combat prowess.

Characters Introduced in Movies/Specials

Tsubasa Yamagatana (DAN the Midnight Sun Knight)

Portrayed by: Shouma Yamamoto

By the book Makai Knight. Believing emotions would only get in the way on the job, at first at least. Big brother to Rin.

• Armor-Piercing Question: Gets a deep one from Kouga about his belief that he needs to discard his emotions in order to become strong.
  Kouga: Makai Knights fight for those who must be protected. Tsubasa... Who is the one you must protect?
  Tsubasa: Who...
  Kouga: ...must you protect? It's the person you feel more for than anyone else. Remembering that face... Someone you'd give your life in battle to protect. Rin loves you. That's why she wanted to protect you. That's why she faced Legules. Isn't Rin the one you should be protecting?!
• By-the-Book Cop: Believing emotions would only get in his way in his job/battles. He gets better after getting called out by both Kouga & Rei when his little sister was in danger.

Rin Yamagatana

Portrayed by: Yuzumi Shibamoto

• Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: Tried standing against Legules when he was about to get to the Phosphorus Arrow. This girl, for the record, was an apprentice.

Rekka

Portrayed by: Mary Matsuyama

A hot-headed Makai Priest. She resents the fact that she was denied the opportunity to become a Makai Knight because of her gender, and trained herself to actively hunt Horrors on her own. However, her lack of discipline and furious determination often results in civilian casualties.

• Bash Brothers: Teams up with Jabi after the events of Makai Senki, and throughout The Tougen Flute.

Elda

Portrayed by: Leah Dizon

A former Makai Guide who was betrayed and fatally wounded by two Makai Knights while looking for the corpse of Ganon. She is rescued by Barago, who was also looking for Ganon's corpse, and vows to serve him.

• Chekhov's Gunman: She's the one who directed Barago to target Kaoru.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: Expresses jealously toward Kaoru for having Barago's attention.
• Gratuitous English: How she tells her story of first meeting Barago to Kaoru, with Japanese subtitles a la the intro to the series proper.
• Start of Darkness: She and her fiance Shinji were murdered by Makai Knights before they were killed by Barago, who offers Elda a second chance at life.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Her fate after Barago's death is a mystery.

Characters Introduced in ZERO: Black Blood

Yuna

Portrayed by: Riria

• Disappeared Dad: Her father was killed by Ring, and her mother fell off a bridge and disappeared before the events of the movie.

Kain

Portrayed by: Naoki Takeshi

• The Alcoholic: Always seen drinking. He's mostly functional instead of drunk, but it's a fine line between the two.
• Improbable Weapon User: Fights with an umbrella rather than the brush that most Makai Priests use.

Characters Introduced in Makai Senki

Leo Fudou

Portrayed by: Ozuno Nakamura

A genius Makai Priest who becomes the support for Kouga in Makai Senki. He is responsible for a number of inventions, such as the mechanical Gouryuu that can allow Makai Priests to seal weaker Horrors without the need for a Makai Knight. Despite his achievements, he conducts himself with great humility and poise. He is secretly a Makai Knight as well, whose title is LORD the Flash Knight.

• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: He doesn't act like an idiot but his shyness makes some people around him think of him less. Especially some of his Jerkass Makai Priest superiors. That's why they tend to forget that he's very dangerous in combat. Not to mention that he's secretly a skilled swordsman & a powerful Makai Knight.
• Hidden Depths: Revealed to be a skilled swordsman despite being a Makai Priest. He can also transform into a Makai Knight. His title is LORD the Flash Knight

Wataru Shijima (BARON the Thunder Knight)

Portrayed by: Kenji Matsuda

A Drill Sergeant Nasty instructor to Makai Knights in training, as well as a Makai Knight serving the Senate.

• Drill Sergeant Nasty: ''Famed'' in the Makai community as a relentless & demanding instructor of troubled Makai Knights in training. But he does genuinely cares about his charges/students. He was also Kouga's instructor when he was young.
• Face–Heel Turn: Against his will, due to the effects of the Brand of Destruction.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Despite his gruff demeanor, he actually cares deeply for his students. He considers the bloodline of a student's Makai Knight family to be of no importance, instead focusing on if the person in question has the strength to protect others, and that one should try their best, even though chances might be slim.
• Sinister Scimitar: When donning the BARON armor, he wields a scimitar in combat.

The Man in the Red Mask (Sigma Fudou)

Portrayed by: Ozuno Nakamura

The main antagonist of Makai Senki. The Man In The Red Mask is a rogue Makai Priest who is attempting to destroy the Makai Knights, believing that they are unneeded and that Makai Priests should be solely responsible for dealing with Horrors. To this end, he brands as many Makai Knights as possible with the Brand of Destruction, develops anti-Horror technology such as humanoid Gouryuu, and attempts to sway Makai Priests to his side. In addition to his incredible magical prowess and intellect, he is also a skilled swordsman and fighter. His true identity is Sigma Fudou, Leo's identical twin brother.

• Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: While Barago was a former Makai Knight whose great power let him rival Garo, Sigma was a former Makai Priest who was denied the path of a knight in favor of Leo. Barago is a difficult opponent both due to skill and sheer raw brutaity, while Sigma relies moreso on his intellect, using various mystical and technological means over raw power. Barago was little more than a power-hungry monster who ate Horrors and humans to become the ultimate being, while Sigma was a Well-Intentioned Extremist who was willing to sacrifice countless human lives to the Idea in order to ensure humanity would always be safe from the threat of Horrors.
• Evil Is Not a Toy: He gets absorbed by Ganon after drawing from her power one too many times. Y'know, GARO villains really should be forced to watch previous series and take notes.
• Evil Twin: Can summon a dark version of the GARO armour, known as JAAKU. There's a more literal example, in him being the twin brother of Leo. It seems that it is not limited to the GARO armour as he briefly copied Leo's armor in Episode 20.
• Human Resources: He has no issue with killing and experimenting on humans to achieve his goals. His familiar Gigi was originally a human woman whom he murdered, and he plans to fuel Edea with the lives of "sinful" humans.
• The Unfavorite: The reason for his Start of Darkness, after Leo was chosen to inherit the title of RŌDO despite Sigma's superiority in combat and magic.
• Utopia Justifies the Means: He wishes to sacrifice "sinful" humans to Edea as its fuel. If anything, he sees it as a benefit, ridding the world of "pointless" humans while protecting the rest.

Igari Juuzou

Portayed by: Kohei Otomo

A terminally ill samurai in search of a worthy opponent to end his life in honorable battle. After killing another samurai that was possessed by a Horror, he strikes a deal with the Horror in order to cure him of his disease. However, the healing process takes up several hundred years, causing him to awake in modern day Japan, where he encounters Rei fighting a Horror and brands him as his worthy opponent.

• Anti-Villain: He is only a villain by being too fixated on fighting Rei to the death. But despite being a villain, he possesses many heroic and honorable qualities. For example, when the Horror possessing him tells him to kill innocent people, so it can feed in their blood and thus sustain Juuzou's eternal life, Juuzou resists this urge and cuts open his own body, telling the horror to feed on his own blood, as killing innocents is not the honorable thing to do.
• Badass Normal: Probably the greatest of the series. While a Makai Knight usually needs to employ exceptional fighting skills gained by receiving Training from Hell at a young age and even magic equipment to defeat a horror, Juuzou manages to defeat one with just his regular samurai training and sword. And that is before he is possessed by one.
• Death Seeker: His primary motivation. He knew he was dying from disease, but wanted to find a worthy opponent to die by the sword, instead of a dishonorable death by disease.
• Demonic Possession: Inverted. He is the only character in the whole franchise to be in complete control after being possessed. Juuzou manages to take advantage over all the perks of being taken over by a Horror, while the Horror is powerless to stop him.
• Instant Expert: He masters Soul Metal in a matter of seconds, while this takes years to master for a regular Makai Knight.
• Rip Van Winkle: In order to cure Juuzou from his disease, the Horror puts his body to sleep for several hundred years. Once he wakes up, the first thing he sees is a modern airplane flying over him.
• Worthy Opponent: Sees Rei as one to himself. In the end, Rei acknowledges Juuzou to be one as well.
• You Could Have Used Your Powers for Good!: Rei tells Juuzou he should have been a Makai Knight with his skills. Juuzou replies that he is not interested.

Characters Introduced in Makai no Hana

Raiga Saejima

Portrayed by: Masei Nakayama

Son of Kouga and Kaoru, and latest inheritor to the title of GARO. While serious about training and very dedicated to his job just like his father, he also inherited his mother's softer side; he is much friendlier and one of the few Makai Knights that smiles.

• Contrasting Sequel Main Character: He's pretty much a balance between his father Kouga and Ryuga. Like his father, he shares his strong sense of justice, duty and responsibility as a Makai Knight. Like Ryuga, Raiga is warm and friendly to most people and smiles often.
• Freudian Trio: Ego, levelheaded and dutiful. Calm and sociable but still never let emotion take him over.
• Hidden Depths: For his very affable and personable demeanor, Raiga seems to be dealing with living up to "the responsibility he was entrusted with" as the holder of the title of GARO, as implied by his conversation with a former chime-merchant-turned-Horror he knew in his childhood (Ep. 6). As Take Up My Sword suggests below, there's a lot more to this.
• Knight in Shining Armor: Literally and figuratively; Raiga appears to be an idealistic chivalrous nice guy who gladly fights Horrors because it's the right thing to do.
• Knight in Sour Armor: The finale reveals that the above is partially an act, and Raiga has a good amount of Sour mixed with his Shining. He doesn't really want to be a Makai Knight, and would rather have had a normal childhood with loving parents - but he can't turn away from being Garo because it's his obligation, and because at the end of the day, people need to be protected from Horrors, and it's the right thing to do.
• Nice Guy:
  • He's a lot livelier than Kouga but not abrasive like Ryuga. He's so nice that it blunts his Knight in Sour Armor tenancies significantly.
  • Throughout Episode 2, he is visibly displeased anytime someone refers to Mayuri as an object, insisting firmly that she is human.
• Parental Abandonment: Aside from Gonza and Zaruba, he is alone at home, and no mention of his parents. Episode 7 hints that Kouga and Kaoru may have been caught in the middle of a climactic battle just as Raiga was training to become a Makai Knight himself, which explains why they are nowhere to be found at the moment. This is confirmed in the Finale, when Eris spreads opens portals through time and space to allow her Horrors passage to Earth, and Raiga realises that Eris is responsible for the disappearance of his parents.
• Smug Smiler: Gave a pretty sly grin towards a Horror's reaction towards learning that he was the golden knight.
  Raiga: Surprised?
• Take Up My Sword: Episode 7 suggests that he was entrusted the title of GARO by the Tower of Heroic Spirits (which houses all the spirits of previous bearers of the title of GARO) as per Kouga and Kaoru's will, who are supposedly still "fighting in another world". This apparently informs his actions and duties. As such, while he would prefer not to be Garo, he can't and won't abandon his purpose.
• Unorthodox Sheathing: He is especially fond of catching the sheathe mid-air as dramatically as possible.

Mayuri

Portrayed by: Natsumi Ishibashi

A girl with the unique ability to seal away the Horrors that came from the Makai Flower

• Emotionless Girl: As she's not a normal human, she doesn't show much emotion yet.
• Icy Blue Eyes: She has unusual, aqua blue eyes to symbolize her unique state of being. Namely that she isn't a normal human, she's a Madou Tool for sealing Horrors.
• Sealed Good in a Can: She was locked in a coffin and covered in bandages.

CROW the Phantom Knight

Portrayed by: Atom Mizuishi

CROW is a Makai Knight who is serving in the White region and is sent to assist Raiga, as the museum where the slate was unraveled is within his jurisdiction. CROW is actually his Makai Knight title, not his real name, which he chooses not to reveal.

• Aloof Ally: He has a rather cold and detached attitude toward both Raiga and Mayuri, but respects Raiga for his standing and authority.
• Animal Motifs: His armor's default form, which differs than most Knights, as the helmet's design is based on a bird instead of the usual wolf based one. It is later shown that the helmet can open up and transforms into a wolf based one.
• Flight: The first Makai Knight explicitly shown to be able to fly, he can sprout his wings when he needs to but he sacrifices twenty seconds of use of his armor to summon them.
• Freudian Trio: Seems to be Superego, but later shown His Id tendencies of being brash and having Black-and-White Morality about Mayuri.
• Ninja: Has elements of this. He often moves stealthily and consider himself as somebody who lives in the shadows, much like how a ninja is. He also carries a Ninjatō sword, which is a sword often used by Ninjas in modern portrayal. Lastly, he uses a throwing weapon called Enzan, which is very similar to a shuriken.
• No Name Given: CROW is not his name, it's his title. According to Orva, a knight who lives in the shadows like him does not need a name.
• Tracking Device: Enzan acts like this, allowing his Mado Tool partner Orva to track down a Horror that has been stabbed by it or he can insert Orva into the Enzan and throw it as far as possible allowing Orva to locate the Horror.
• Withholding Their Name: He chooses not to reveal his name and is only known by his Makai Knight title.

Bikuu

Portrayed by: Sayaka Akimoto

A very talented Makai Priestess under the Shadowfolk, known as the Darkness Hunter. Unlike other Makai Priests, instead of fighting Horrors, her duty is to inspect the souls of fellow Knights and Priests and cut down the souls of those who have fallen to darkness and become possessed by Horrors.

• All of the Other Reindeer: Due to her job as a Darkness Hunter, she is often treated as an outcast by most, as stated by Crow.
  Raiga: Though we're in the same profession, they don't fight Horrors...
  Crow: Yes. That's why everyone hates them.
• I Work Alone: Crow has said that Bikuu does not work with anyone because "they trust no one and no one trusts them". Despite this, however, she does agree to assist Raiga and the others in defeating the Horror Ratel, who has possessed a fallen Makai knight.
• Mirrors Reflect Everything: She used a mirror during her battle against Ratel. She also uses it as a Tracking Device to find Ratel after marking him with an ofuda-like Makai scroll/talisman.
• Sacred Bow and Arrows: She used a bow and arrow attack to hit Ratel's weak spot (which she knew because she had inflicted it on her brother, Izumo, who Ratel possessed, during training.)
• Speed Blitz: Implied during Raiga's portion of Bikuu's test of character. The two enter combat stances and stare each other down. No attacks are shown on-screen nor do either of them move. However, Raiga passes, with Bikuu impressed that she was unable to disarm him.
• Strength Equals Worthiness: Before allowing the group to assist her in defeating Ratel, Bikuu first tests Crow and Raiga of their strength.
  Bikuu: Then try to defeat me.
• Telepathy: Bikuu has an ability known as the Heart Invasion Technique, which allows her to see the darkness within one's heart. Quite literally.
• Unable to Cry: Not even a single tear was shed from her after the loss of her younger brother, Izumo, when he fell to darkness and became possessed by Ratel.
  Mayuri: Bikuu, are you okay with that?
  Bikuu: Should I answer that as a Priest, or as a sister? I am a Makai Priest, my brother is a Makai Knight. That is all.