open/close all folders
Princess Pretty Cures
Haruka Haruno (Cure Flora)
Voiced by: Yu Shimamura
Click here to see her as a civilian
Our energetic main character. She was picked on as a kid for wanting to become a princess, but after a chance meeting with Prince Kanata, her dream to become a princess was reinforced. Years later, she attends Noble Academy, hopefully taking another step towards achieving her dream, when she encounters Puff and Aroma, who have fled from the Hope Kingdom seeking the Princess Pretty Cures. After a villain named Close makes a Zetsuborg out of her roommate's dream, Haruka decides to fight back and becomes Cure Flora in the process.
- Alliterative Name: Haruka Haruno. Also doubles as a Repetitive Name.
- Badass Adorable: Just like other Cures before her, she's an adorably upbeat schoolgirl who regularly fights against evil.
- Beauty, Brains, and Brawn: The brawn to Minami's brains and Kirara's beauty. It's in her Plucky Girl status in her quest to become a princess despite being a bud.
- Berserk Button: In her first fight, she caught a Zetsuborg trying to stomp on a flower and promptly landed a very powerful hit that sent it flying backwards and also knocked Close down in the process.
- Big Ol' Eyebrows: Her eyebrows are rather thick.
- Brought Down to Normal:
- Her key set is stolen by Lock and his copies in episode 28. She gets her key back by Episode 30.
- In episode 38, she despaired so hard when Kanata told her to stop chasing after her dream, she depowered instantly and couldn't transform again.
- Bully Magnet: When she was young, she was often bullied for her desire to be a princess. One of said bullies even said she should go see a shrink years after the events in question.
- Butt-Monkey: Whether comical or serious, Haruka is constantly reminded of how unlike a princess she is.
- Character Catchphrase:
- "Suteki sugiru!" (Too amazing!)
- She also has a tendency to refer to things as being "mankai" (in full bloom).
- Childhood Friend Romance: Haruka and Kanata are hinted to have this starting to go on.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: The youngest-looking, most naive and certainly least mature of the heroines who gets very easily excited over trivial stuff. Most likely also the most powerful.
- Cute Clumsy Girl: While she's endearing and upbeat about her dream to be a princess, she's also clumsy and reckless.
- Damned by Faint Praise: Yuuki does this to her at the end of episode 7, and she isn't pleased about it.
- De-power: She has to give up her key in the last episode.
- Determinator: She absolutely refuses to let a sprained ankle put any sort of damper on her ballet-related aspirations, which is more than can be said for most ballerinas in fiction.
- Deconstructed when her refusal to give up making a dress on her own affects her daily studies, and even further when doubling the hard work by making dress and focusing on her daily studies ends up severely affecting her health. Reconstructed soon after, as doubling her hard work actually makes her successful in making her own dress.
- This also bites back at her hard in Episode 38, when her refusal to give up in order to achieve her nigh-impossible dream makes her despair even bigger when someone actually manages to get her to lose hope. In fact, she despairs so hard that it’s enough to fuel Zetsuborgs made from an entire city’s citizens into life. Way to make the situation better, Kanata.
- Dull Eyes of Unhappiness : Has these in Episodes 38 and 39, after Kanata says a few words too much.
- Flower Motifs: Practically an embodiment. Her family name is written with the character for "spring," she wears a flower clip, is the Princess of Flowers, is referred to as a bud, etc.
- Genki Girl: Just like other pink leads before her, Haruka is bubbly and upbeat, especially about her dream to be a princess.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: In her Cure form, she has long flowing blonde hair and is a kind heroic Cure who never gives up.
- Heroic BSoD : Gets put into one in Episode 38. To stop her fight with Close, Kanata tells Haruka to forget about her dream because she will never become a true princess, she will just get hurt. Haruka breaks down and runs away.
- I Just Want to Be Special: Her dream is to become a princess.
- Instant Expert: Haruka starts off at the beginning barely knowing anything, but is shown to be an incredibly fast learner, mastering skills such as ballet, tennis, and violin within the length of an episode. This is typically shown in a sequence of days, of which such episodes typically span a few.
- Late for School: Early in the season, she's clumsy and is often late for her boarding school.
- Manic Pixie Dream Girl: An unusual example in that she is mainly this towards herself, rather than towards somebody else (although that last part remains to be seen).
- Meaningful Name: See "Flower Motifs," above.
- Petal Power: Cure Flora's Floral Tourbillon is a storm of flower petals.
- Pink Heroine: As it's traditional for Pretty Cure protagonists, Cure Flora is an energetic Cure leader decked out in pink.
- Pink Means Feminine: Subverted. Despite being the pink Cure and having pink in her casual outfit, she's the least feminine of the Cures, due to being clumsy in her words and actions. Of course, since she's trying to become a princess, she may end up playing this trope straight sometime in the future.
- Princesses Prefer Pink: Appropriately for the season's theme, she wants to be a princess and is the pink Cure of her group.
- Princess Phase: She has dreamed of being a princess since childhood, and it got her teased.
- Psychosomatic Superpower Outage: Due to falling in despair after Kanata told her to give up her dream to be a princess, she lost her ability to transform in Cure Flora.
- Repetitive Name: Haruka Haruno. It doesn't go unnoticed by Kirara.
- Ridiculously Average Guy: Has no special qualities or status in comparison to her fellow Precure, but makes up for it with her determination.
- She Cleans Up Nicely: As her former bully found out, as he was stunned at how beautiful she is in Episode 9.
- Smarter Than You Look: Haruka appears to be overly hyperactive and clumsy, but her grades are actually better than you might think, as the only time she is shown to get bad grades is when she loses focus, as shown in Episode 8. Topping all of this is her hard-working and fast-learning nature.
- Something about a Rose: Her first power upgrade is the Rose Dress-up Key.
- Stage Fright: This is Haruka's main problem in Pretty Cure All Stars: Spring Carnival - she sings perfectly on her own, but in front of a crowd, it's a bunch of warbles (though not as bad as Mana).
- Talking the Monster to Death: In the final episode, she defeats Close by pointing out that as long as there is despair, there are dreams. Close concedes the point and disappears.
- Tareme Eyes: Notably, she's the only Cure in this show who has these eyes. They go with her kindness and naivete.
- Tempting Fate: Just as she's berating herself for lying about seeing a raccoon dog, Puff shows up unexpectedly and somehow she confuses Puff for one.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl:
- Tomboy to Minami's girly girl. Downplayed, as while Haruka represents strength and is gung-ho about playing tennis, the latter is because she considers it a sport fit for a princess.
- Girly girl to Momoka's tomboy, as she's into flowers and also good at cooking, whereas Momoka is a rebellious little girl who doesn't get along with her during Family Day and even refuses to wear the ribbon Kirara tries to put on her.
- Town Girls: The butch to Minami's femme and Kirara's neither. She represents strength.
- Tutu Fancy: Her Cure Flora costume resembles a mini-dressed ballgown, but is a tripping hazard as it has a huge ribbon that reaches almost to her feet, as well as boots with flaps coming out from both sides.
- Wide-Eyed Idealist: Is this for much of the series, as she often preaches about the importance of dreams, believes that it is the best thing that one could do, and that it will always trump despair— even when a dream can cause large insecurities in one's self like the case with Towa. This eventually comes back at her hard in Episode 38 when her overly optimistic views regarding dreams (as well as her determination to chase her nigh-unapproachable desire to become a princess) caused her to be reduced into a hollow husk when Kanata tells her to stop following her dream, since the bigger the dream, the bigger the despair will become when one actually loses hope on it. By the end of the series, this trope becomes downplayed as she acknowledges that dreams and despair are basically two sides of the same coin.
- Worf Had the Flu: She sprains her foot right before her second battle, hampering her fighting and requiring Mermaid to save the day.
- You Remind Me of X: Haruka reminded Prince Kanata of his little sister when they met as children.
Minami Kaido (Cure Mermaid)
Voiced by: Masumi Asano
Click here to see her as a civilian
"Princess of the crystal clear seas! Cure Mermaid!"
The student council president of Noble Academy, known throughout the school for her beauty, elegance, and her caring nature towards others. She befriends Haruka after the latter asks her to teach her ballet, and later witnesses Haruka's transformation into Cure Flora when she fights a Zetsuborg. When Haruka's sprained ankle leave her at a disadvantage, Minami's desire to protect her grants her the ability to transform into Cure Mermaid and defeat the Zetsuborg.
- The Ace: On top of being Student Council President and the most popular girl at Noble Academy, Minami is an A student, ballet dancer, athletic, and the daughter of a CEO.
- Aloof Dark-Haired Girl: Subverted. She appears distant with her peers, is tall, and has dark turquoise hair. Turns out, she's friendly and the only reason she had no friends at first was because other students avoided her.
- Astonishingly Appropriate Appearance: Cure Mermaid has blue hair that looks like water.
- Bare Midriffs Are Feminine: She's the most traditionally feminine of the Princess Pretty Cures and her magical girl outfit shows off the midriff to align with her mermaid theme.
- Beauty, Brains, and Brawn: The brains to Haruka's brawn and Kirara's beauty. She's considered a model student; it must be assumed her intellect is a factor.
- Big Sister Mentor: Towards Haruka, in regards to academics and ballet.
- Blue Means Smart One: Minami is a Student Council President with a blue color scheme in her Cure attire. She gets good grades and is the daughter of a wealthy CEO (although she wishes to work as a veterinarian for marine life instead).
- Brought Down to Normal: Her key set is stolen by Lock and his copies in episode 28. She gets better by Episode 30.
- Conflicting Loyalty: A non-lethal variant. After Episode 36, Minami is torn between wanting to join the ranks of her family and wanting to become a marine biologist. Her indecisiveness actually causes her powers as Cure Mermaid to wane in Episode 44, and it's only when she's set her mind onto one dream that she is able to get back on her feet and fight. She chooses the latter.
- Consummate Professional: Suscribes to this to begin with, although she is not nearly as strict as some of the other authorities at the school.
- Curtains Match the Window: Downplayed, as Minami's blue eyes are just similar to her turquoise hair color. In her Cure form, the eye color is closer to the dark blue part of her hair.
- Dainty Little Ballet Dancers: She's known for her elegance and ballet is said to be one of her strong points in episode 1.
- Dance Battler: Specifically, ballet. Cure Mermaid is shown to incoorperate ballet moves in her fighting style. It's also slightly reminiscent to Cure White's battle style.
- De-power: She has to give up her key in the last episode.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: Her transformation includes a pose that shows her in front of a giant opened seashell. Planning to usurp the title
of World's Most Beautiful Woman, Minami? - Elemental Hair Composition: As Cure Mermaid, her hair turns ocean blue, worn in a curled ponytail reminiscent of flowing water with a dark ombre.
- Even the Girls Want Her: Due to being the Student Council President. And if Episode 9 is any indication, she's also a Dude Magnet.
- High-Class Gloves: Wear a pair during a dinner party in Episode 9.
- An Ice Person: Her first power upgrade is the Ice Dress-up Key.
- Lady of War: Admired by the school for her elegance, and the ballet movements used in her attacks give them a sense of gracefulness.
- Lonely Rich Kid: A light example, before meeting Haruka. All of the other girls in the academy were afraid of approaching her, as she seemed like in a different league compared to them.
- Making a Splash: Her finisher Mermaid Ripple is a water cyclone.
- Onee-sama: A beautiful and gracefull second year student and Student Council President whom almost every female student is fawning over.
- Proper Tights with a Skirt: With her school uniform and winter clothes, and also in The Movie if her character profile is to be believed.
- School Idol: She is admired by all the other students for her elegance and leadership, to the point where some call her the school's "princess".
- Student Council President: Of Noble Academy, making her the fifth Student Council President Cure of the franchise.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: Girly girl to Haruka's tomboy. Downplayed on Haruka's end, but Minami is quite clearly more feminine and represents grace.
- Took a Level in Cheerfulness: Discussed in-universe, where Minami's friends notice that she's more lenient and prone to smile than she was prior to the beginning of the show, which isn't a bad thing as they wanted her to loosen up for a while. Undoubtedly, this was due to Haruka's influence.
- Town Girls: The femme to Haruka's butch and Kirara's neither. She represents grace.
- True Blue Femininity: A tradition among blue Cures, she is the most graceful one of the team.
- Water Is Womanly: Cure Mermaid with power over water as well as a caring, elegant girl famed as the school's "princess".
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Episode 9 reveals that she has a childhood fear of ghosts.
Kirara Amanogawa (Cure Twinkle)
Voiced by: Hibiku Yamamura
Click here to see her as a civilian
"Princess of the twinkling stars! Cure Twinkle!"
An up-and-coming fashion model who attends Noble Academy. When she unknowingly comes in possession of a Princess Perfume, Haruka and Minami approach her to retrieve it, hoping that Kirara would become the third Princess Pretty Cure. Kirara gives back the perfume without joining, but when a Zetsuborg attacks her fashion show, Kirara doesn't think twice about transforming and becoming Cure Twinkle. She initially refuses to join due to complications with work, but after Haruka helps her, Kirara returns the favor by joining the team.
- 20% More Awesome: In episode 5 she says she gave 100% in an audition, and then she muses that with Haruka's help it was really 120%. At the end of the episode, she says she'll balance work and being a Pretty Cure by putting in 200%.
- Awesome by Analysis: Upon her first battle as cure Twinkle, she already knew how to use her Elegant Mode without asistance from Pafu or Aroma after she watched Haruka and Minami use it.
- Barrier Warrior: Her "Full Moon Humming" conjures a round shield in the shape of a full moon to protect herself. She can also shoot it as a projectile.
- Beauty, Brains, and Brawn: The beauty to Haruka's brawn and Minami's brains.
- Brought Down to Normal: Her key set is stolen by Lock and his copies in episode 28. She gets better by Episode 30.
- But Now I Must Go: Having agreed to work in Paris, Kirara says good-bye to Haruka and Minami at the end of the series.
- Character Tic: It's downplayed, but promotional material, her transformation sequence, and the endings have her winking at the audience more often than her fellow Cures. It is likely meant as a pun on her name, Cure Twinkle.
- Combat Pragmatist: In her debut episode, before she gets her powers, she at first seems to confront the Monster of the Week head-on, only to quickly dodge over to some heavy construction equipment to attack with.
- De-power: She has to give up her key in the last episode.
- The Fashionista: She's an active model who's described as being very fashionable.
- Friend-or-Idol Decision: Episode 42 gives Kirara a chance to go model at a worldwide fashion show, but a Zetsuborg ends up appearing on her way to her flight. While Flora, Mermaid, and Scarlet insist on letting her board the plane, she ultimately turns back and misses her flight to save a dream inspired from her own. In the end, she doesn't seem entirely satisfied with her decision.
- Fuuma Shuriken: Her favorite method of using her... stars. Her finishing move includes one.
- Heroic BSoD: Downplayed, but still present in Episode 43. As a result of the above Friend-or-Idol Decision, Kirara suspends her career as a model for the time being so she can concentrate on being a Pretty Cure. It takes the combined efforts of her friends and most of the school to knock her out of it.
- Hidden Depths: Aside of modeling, Kirara seems to know how to make tea, play basketball and is good (if not so much as Minami) at playing the violin.
- I Just Want to Have Friends: Episode 5 implies that Kirara finally decides to be a Precure because she wants to be closer friends with Haruka. It's highly implied due to her busy schedule, Haruka and Minami were her first real friends.
- Luminescent Blush: She exhibits this in Episode 8 after Haruka thanks her for her help. Puff specifically notices this.
- Lunacy: Her first power upgrade is the Luna Dress-up Key.
- Meaningful Name: "Amanogawa" is written with characters meaning "heaven/sky" and "river". It happens to be the Japanese name for the Milky Way Galaxy, showing her connection with stars.
- The Nicknamer: She calls Haruka "Haru-Haru" and Minami "Minamin". Later, she calls Yui "Yuiyui" and Towa "Towachi".
- Nom de Mom: Amanogawa is her mother's surname.
- Non-Uniform Uniform: All the Cures are shown wearing their ballet tunics in their respective theme colors when they're shown at it, but Kirara takes this one step further by wearing a gold sash around her own tunic.
- Refusal of the Call: Kirara is very quick to return the Princess Perfume twice in her introduction episode, the second time even after she transformed and defeated the Monster of the Week.
- Shipper on Deck: She always grins meaningfully when Haruka and Kanata share quite romantic moments.
- Star Power: Cure Twinkle's main power is conjuring huge stars to use as projectiles.
- Sugar-and-Ice Personality: A mild example. She starts out rather indifferent towards Haruka and Minami (which clearly makes her somewhat rude in their eyes), but she warms up considerably to them after they properly befriend her.
- Town Girls: The neither to Haruka's butch and Minami's femme. She represents beauty and is quite business-like, perhaps even moreso than Minami.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Donuts.
- Tsurime Eyes: Her eyes are sharper than Minami's and Haruka's, reflecting her rather eccentric personality and sharp tongue.
- Wacky Parent, Serious Child: Kirara thinks she and her mother Stella are this. In episode 17, however, she realizes that while Stella may act more laid-back and spontaneous, she is just as dedicated to being a model.
- Workaholic: Very busy for a 13 year old, and it's why she refuses to become a Cure at first. It's also the main plot of episode 5, where Haruka experiences what a day is like in Kirara's life.
Cure Scarlet (Spoilers)
Princess Hope Delight Towa/Towa Akagi/Twilight (Cure Scarlet)
Voiced by: Miyuki Sawashiro
Click here to see her as a civilian
"Princess of crimson flames! Cure Scarlet!"
The princess of the Hope Kingdom. Originally, she opposed the Cures as the "Princess of Despair" and daughter of Dyspear, Twilight, but through the efforts of the Cures and Prince Kanata, she returns to normal, performs a Heel–Face Turn, and becomes Cure Scarlet.
- The Atoner: A large part of Towa's character is her determination to save her family and kingdom, and make amends for her actions as Twilight.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Towa is very soft-spoken and polite, and it's honestly pretty hard to make her angry. However, when you do piss her off, you better help yourself because she is going to do everything in her power to take you down. Best shown in Episode 40, where she discovers that Dyspear has made her kingdom into a total wasteland. Towa snaps and beats the Zetsuborg in front of her in an Unstoppable Rage. She only calms down thanks to the beatdown the Zetsuborg gave back to her and a consoling from her friends and Kuroro.
- Big Brother Worship: She has a very strong attachment to Kanata, perhaps best shown in Episode 40 where she goes full-on little sister mode.
- Broken Ace: What she lacks in social graces, she makes up for by being skilled in a variety of areas, such as dance, music, and academics. On the other hand, the guilt she suffered due to her times as Twilight really took a toll on her, before she eventually gets better.
- But Now I Must Go: Because the link between the Hope Kingdom and the human world is disappearing after the final battle, Towa has to say good-bye to Haruka and the rest of her friends. But unlike with Setsuna in Fresh, who could teleport any time she wanted to visit her friends, there doesn't seem to be a way for Towa to communicate with her fellow Cures.
- The Comically Serious: Towa is one of the more serious Cures of the group, yet she does have her own funny moments— some of them including her facing them with a completely straight and serious attitude. Best examples are whenever she shows her Fish out of Water trait.
- Determinator: This girl is committed to bringing down the evil that possessed her, and that's not gonna happen without a fight.
- Elegant Classical Musician: She's an expert violinist, having been taught since childhood. She didn't stop playing even after she became Twilight, and she certainly won't be stopping anytime soon.
- Evil Redhead: Inverted in that she does have red hair - just not when she was Twilight.
- Family Theme Naming: Towa is the Japanese word for "forever," and her brother, Kanata's name is Japanese for "yonder."
- Fashionable Asymmetry: Her Pretty Cure outfit has a long sash that goes down one side. Averted in her Elegant Mode.
- Fiery Redhead: She is technically one in the literal sense, but she can only control fire in her Cure form (which has pink hair), and her personality is anything but fiery.
- Fire-Forged Friends: With Haruka, and just about literally.
- Fish out of Water: Given that she's a sheltered princess with no experience of the outside world, shenanigans inevitably occur as she attempts to get used to her new life. It definitely takes her a while to get accustomed to Earth.
- Formal Characters Use Keigo: As expected of a princess, she's polite to whomever she speaks to. However, she's also very, very formal at all times, even with her close friends/fellow Cures.
- Genre Savvy: She is the only one who's wary of the new student Kurosu in Episode 38, who's really Close in disguise. In the movie, she senses that there's something wrong in the Pumpkin Kingdom and ends up outsmarting the villain when he tries to capture her.
- Good Colors, Evil Colors: She has blue fire as Twilight, while she has red fire as Cure Scarlet.
- High-Heel–Face Turn: From Twilight to Cure Scarlet.
- Hope Bringer: Towa served as this to her family and all of the Hope Kingdom; it's also why Dyspear kidnapped her specifically.
- I Choose to Stay: Unlike Cures Passion and Beat before her, Scarlet joins the team subsequently after her first transformation and does not run away and angst over her actions. However, it's heartwrenchingly subverted in the final episode where she does end up having to go back to the Hope Kingdom.
- It's Personal: She has a personal vendetta against Dyspear for taking over the Hope Kingdom and became a victim of the Dys Dark queen's manipulations in the past.
- Leeroy Jenkins: In episode 40, due to being consumed by her rage against Dyspear for what she did to Hope Kingdom, she lunges herself to recklessly attack her, despite her teammates' protests.
- Leitmotif: Expect to hear lots of violin whenever she's the star of a scene. She specifically has two in the official soundtrack: one for Towa and one for Cure Scarlet.
- Luminescent Blush: In Episode 28, admitting that she doesn't know how to swim results in this appearing on her face. She also displays this when with Kanata in Episode 40.
- Magic Music: The Scarlett violin, of course.
- Meaningful Name: The surname she's given means "red castle". Red is the color associated with her, and castles are obviously part of the whole princess theme (especially since Towa is the only main character who's an actual princess by birth).
- Musical Assassin: Performs her standard finishers with the Scarlett Violin.
- Mythical Motifs: Her Dress Up Key is based on The Phoenix. It's quite fitting, given that Cure Scarlet rose up from the defeat of Towa's past self, Twilight.
- New Transfer Student: In Episode 24.
- No Social Skills: If her introduction to her class wasn't any indication. To be fair, it's pretty justified since she doesn't remember being around anyone or any place where they were emphasized, since she was essentially Raised by Orcs in the interval. She's also not from the same planet.
- Odd Friendship: Shy, formal, alien princess and atoner Towa, and bitingly irreverent and practical Kirara share a room and become close.
- Only One Name: Like a lot of royalty, Towa doesn't have a family name to use. The Noble Academy principal suggests she should use "Akagi" to blend in.
- Out of the Inferno: While falling from tree of despair, she first burns in the blue flames she used as Twilight, but when she decides to take responsibility for her past actions and go forward to fulfill her dream of becoming a Grand Princess, the flames turn red, purify her Princess Perfume and keys, and allow her to transform into Cure Scarlet for the first time.
- Pale Females, Dark Males: An example of this with her brother Kanata. She has significantly lighter skin than Kanata, although their parents invert this trope. They'd be an example of Light Girl, Dark Boy if they were human.
- Perpetual Frowner: At first, justified due to her backstory. She gets better.
- Playing with Fire: To differentiate herself from her past life, she uses red fire, unlike her previous blue (as Twilight) and black (as the Black Princess).
- Pointy Ears: While rarely seen since they're covered by her hair, she does have these ears. They're more visible when she's Cure Scarlet and back when she was still Twilight. Apparently they run in the family (and to a greater extent, everyone else in the Hope Kingdom), as her parents have them too.
- Princesses Prefer Pink: She has pink hair as Cure Scarlet and wears a lot of reddish-pink as Towa. Also, she likes wearing white and red together, which probably counts.
- Proper Tights with a Skirt: Averted for the most part, though played straight with her outfit in episode 46. On a side note, she was still wearing tights while she had to make do with her Twilight costume for a couple of episodes following her Heel–Face Turn.
- Sixth Ranger: The fourth to join the Princess Pretty Cures.
- Spell My Name With An S: TV Asashi's webpage spells her Cure name as "Cure Scarlet". The official Toei Go! Princess Pretty Cure webpage spells it as "Cure Scarlett".
- Also in regards to her full name. Is it "Hope Delight Towa" or "Hope Daylight Towa"? While most Wikis say the former, some English translations say the latter.
- Super Drowning Skills: She can't swim, much to her dismay and embarrassment.
- Tears of Joy: Upon finding Kanata in Episode 35, she sheds these. However, once she learns he has amnesia, it quickly devolves into tears of sadness. It's later played straight to its fullest when Kanata's memory returns in Episode 40 and the two siblings are truly reunited for the first time in years. In the last episode, Towa is finally reunited with her real parents and cries these again.
- Technicolor Eyes: The red eyes are fairly normal by the show's colorful standards. Purple pupils on the other hand are very much one of a kind.
- This Is Unforgivable!: Said almost word-for-word when she sees just how much Dyspear's forest has enveloped the Hope Kingdom.
- Took a Level in Cheerfulness: Her mood wasn't really in the best condition after she was freed from her brainwashing, due to her inability to forgive herself for what she has done as Twilight. Over the time however, she becomes livelier and open regarding her emotions after the much-needed consolation from her friends.
- Tranquil Fury: When she sees the state of the Hope Kingdom in Episode 40, she silently swears that she will make Dyspear pay.
- Unstoppable Rage: Once Dyspear shows herself through a Zetsuborg, Towa completely loses it. It takes a beatdown from the Zetsuborg and a talk with Kuroro to finally calm her down.
- Virgin in a White Dress: Her first casual outfit is predominantly white, keeping in line with her initial innocence and lack of knowledge of the Cures' world. Once she becomes more accustomed to her new environment, she switches to Red Is Heroic.
- When She Smiles: She's been told that she's a lot cuter when she smiles.
Tropes exclusive to Towa as Twilight
- Always Someone Better: How she sees herself to the Cures. Even Cure Flora admits this during their battle in Episode 18.
- Animal Motifs: Butterflies. Coupled with the black flames of her transformation, they're meant to symbolize death eventually replaced by the phoenix motif of "rebirth" that she gains as Cure Scarlet.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: More than anything, little Towa wanted to be a Grand Princess. Dyspear brainwashed her into a Black Princess of Despair.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: She briefly taught Haruka how to play the violin.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Dyspear brainwashed her heart, dreams, and memories, raising her as her daughter.
- Cool Mask: Introduced wearing a gold Domino Mask.
- After she uses the now darkened Princess Perfume, she wears another one, which resembles the one that Dyspear uses.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Gives one to the Cures in Episode 18. It backfires on her.
- Daddy's Little Villain: The mother variant. She is Dyspear's daughter. Until it turns out, she's not. Dyspear kidnapped her from her brother, Kanata.
- Dark Is Evil: Her overall dress is black and red. Even the horse she owes is darker than Kanata's.
- Dark Magical Girl: Becomes one in Episode 20 using the Princess Perfume. This is the first time that this has happened in the franchise.
- Deadly Upgrade: The evil Princess Perfume is made by Dyspear to drain her energy.
- Deal with the Devil: She unwittingly accepted Dyspear's offer to help her become a Grand Princess.
- The Dragon: Being Dyspear's daughter, she is this.
- Elegant Classical Musician: She is playing her violin most of the time.
- She learned this from her older brother, Kanata, as revealed in Episode 19 and 20.
- Even Evil Has Standards: She dislikes the fact that Shut doesn't Know When to Fold 'Em and makes no attempt to hide her disappointment.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Simply refuses to believe Cure Flora's speech of everyone being a princess in their own way. She only believes that a princess is a one of a kind.
- Evil Counterpart: To the Princess PreCure, with her own evil version of their catchphrase. By episode 20, she even has her own keys and perfume and becomes the first antagonist in the entire franchise to have a Dark Magical Girl transformation.
- Evil Mentor: She briefly teaches Haruka how to play the violin. She admits later it was For the Evulz, because she considers Haruka an unworthy and fake princess.
- The Evil Princess: Twilight is described as the "Princess of Despair".
- Face–Monster Turn: Towa was brainwashed by Dyspear into thinking she was her daughter.
- Family Theme Naming: Twilight's real name is Towa, the Japanese word for "forever," and her brother, Kanata's name is Japanese for "yonder."
- Foreshadowing: There are several hints that she is Kanata's sister before it's revealed They both play the violin, revealed in Episode 13. Episode 16 has Twilight being envious of Minami and her brother.
- Good Colors, Evil Colors: She has blue fire as Twilight, while she has red fire as Cure Scarlet.
- Green-Eyed Monster: She's noticeably irritated upon seeing Minami's bond with her older brother.
- In Episode 17, she's crossed about Kirara and Stella as well.
- Hope Crusher: Right down to her title as the Princess of Despair.
- Hypocrite: For someone who told Shut down for not accepting his losses, she herself can't admit to her own loss as well.
- It Amused Me: Tells Cure Flora that she taught her how to play the violin because "she was just messing with her."
- Kick the Dog: ALL THE TIME. In her debut episode, she toys with Haruka. In the next episode, she has Shut turn her family into a Zetsuborg. She targets Minami's brother in Episode 16 solely because of their bond. She nearly burns up Haruka's picture book in Episode 18 in an attempt to disheart her.
- Kubrick Stare: Gives Haruka one when they first meet.
- Light Feminine and Dark Feminine: The dark to Cure Flora's light, at least at first.
- Long-Lost Relative: She's Towa, Kanata's sister.
- Mind-Control Eyes: She's been brainwashed by Dyspear. At the end of Episode 20, her red eyes lose their shine due to her having the powers of the black Perfume.
- Obviously Evil: Puff is immediately frightened of her and even Minami and Kirara notices something "off" about her. And then there's her ears.
- One-Winged Angel: During her final battle, she gains one, courtesy of Dyspear.
- Playing with Fire: She uses blue fire. Her fire turns black when she uses the Black Perfume to transform.
- Proper Tights with a Skirt: Nothing less from someone who believes herself to be the only true princess in the entire series. Oddly enough, her Cure Scarlet costume doesn't incorporate this.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Played with. It's their natural colour.
- She-Fu: She fights very gracefully in episode 18, if these two gifs◊ have anything to show◊.
- Sore Loser: She still refuses to accept Cure Flora even after they defeat her. It's ironic given that few episodes earlier she was annoyed at Shut for exactly the same reason. In this case, though, it would seem she thought she could handle it by herself in episode 18, whereas previous episodes had her playing straight lady to Shut and Lock's (especially Shut's) jokers.
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Once upon a time, there used to be a beautiful princess named Towa who wanted to be a true princess. Now, she's the princess of despair, Twilight.
- Villainous Breakdown: A relatively minor example in Episode 18. See Sore Loser above.
- White Hair, Black Heart: She has grey hair but is in the villains' side and considers dreams something foolish that must be destroyed.
- Would Harm a Senior: One of her episode 18 victims is Mochizuki-sensei.
- Would Hurt a Child: One of her episode 18 victims is Yui Nanase.
Hope Kingdom
Pafu
Voiced by: Nao Tōyama
Click here to see her human form
A poodle-like mascot who approaches and guides the Cures. She and Aroma were given the Princess Perfumes to search for the Princess Pretty Cures to save the Hope Kingdom from Dys Dark's clutches.
- Badass Adorable: She is this frequently, but points go to Episode 26 where she uses a bug net to fend off a Zetsubug.
- Big Little Sister: To Aroma, but only in their fairy forms. In her human form, she's a lot shorter than him.
- But Now I Must Go: Has to return to the Hope Kingdom for good at the end of the final episode, with no real way to come back to the real world. She can't resist crying.
- A Day in the Limelight: Episode 15 (her first and rather unsuccessful attempt at passing an exam for royal maid) and 26 where she and Aroma finally pass the exam thanks to their determination to keep an ill Towa safe from a Zetsubug.
- Evil-Detecting Dog: In Episode 13, she knew that Twilight was up to no good. She was right.
- Girlish Pigtails: In her human form, her ears become these.
- The Klutz: Has a tendency to stumble over her own ears... mane... whatever, even though she can fly. She mostly gets over it at the end of the season - she still trips while serving tea in the palace but catches the tray immediately.
- Pokémon Speak: When pretending to be a normal dog, all she says is "Puff". Nobody comments on that.
- Precious Puppy: In her fairy form, and she's certainly cute.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: Invoked in-universe by Haruka in episode 3 in order to garner the other students' sympathy.
- Spell My Name With An S: Puff, Pafu, Perf, Puph, Paphu, Paphoux, Purrpf, Pāwhu, Perffh, Páibh, Peáibh, Peamhaibh... the possibilities are endless.
- Verbal Tic: "Pafu~"
- Verbal Tic Name: And it's her name, too.
- Voluntary Shapeshifting: Gains this in the final episode.
Aroma
Voiced by: Shiho Kokido
Click here to see his human form
A parrot-like mascot and Pafu's older brother who also guides the Pretty Cure in their battle against Dys Dark.
- All Take and No Give: It seems this is the main reason why Miss Siamour never passed him from the butler exam; he's too selfish and has little regard for his charges' wellbeing, caring only about good PR as royalty. He demands too much from Haruka without understanding her situation (insisting on her having a meal in an expensive restaurant when Haruka obviously can't pay for it) and blames her when he failed to prioritize things in his schedule (making Haruka have a large breakfast when she's already late for school). It's only when he realizes this that Miss Siamour gives him another chance for the exam. And it's only when he and Puff prove themselves to be loyal servants in both ups and downs that Miss Siamour passes them for the exam.
- Big Brother Instinct: Towards Puff. Not that he is more capable in combat, but it's the thought that counts.
- But Now I Must Go: Has to return to the Hope Kingdom for good at the end of the final episode, with no real way to come back to the real world. It's clear that the girls have grown on him over the series, as he is sad about leaving as well.
- Butt-Monkey: Aroma seems to be on the receiving end of a lot of abuse... being chased by baby ducks and rolled around like a ball by Puff being two examples.
- A Day in the Limelight: Episode 15 (Aroma attempt to pass an exam for royal butler) and 26 where he and Puff finally pass thanks to their determination to keep an ill Towa safe from Zetsubug.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Despite his behavior towards Haruka, as Episode 15 shows, he wants her to become the best princess.
- Verbal Tic: “-roma!"
- Verbal Tic Name: It's also in his name.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Of sorts with Haruka.
- Voluntary Shapeshifting: Gains this in the final episode.
Prince Hope Grand Kanata
Voiced by: Shinnosuke Tachibana
A kind-hearted prince hailing from the Hope Kingdom who first approached Haruka to motivate her to follow her dream. He later joins her and her Pretty Cure allies in their battle against Dys Dark.
- Ambiguously Brown: Which paired with his dressing style makes him eerily similar to another mysterious prince. Episode 40 reveals that Kanata inherited his darker skin from his mother.
- Barrier Warrior: He's capable of conjuring up rainbow-colored barriers with his staff. More than once he's helped the Cures because of this.
- Be Yourself: What he told Haruka in her backstory. Dramatically subverted in episode 38, but restored in the following episode.
- Big Brother Instinct: When he reunites with Twilight, his instinct is to try to approach her, even after she almost kills him right afterwards. His initial dream was even ensuring that she is saved, which sadly enough left him de-powered and with amnesia once he fulfilled it with his Heroic Sacrifice against Dyspear.
- Big Damn Heroes: He saves Haruka from two rabbit Zetsuborgs. In episode 39, he recovers his powers just as the Cures are about to get blasted by Close.
- Big Good: He is the leader (and from what we can see, the only member apart from Puff and Aroma) of La Résistance against Dyspear's government, Puff and Aroma's superior and the one who actively sought out the Princess Precures, which makes him essentially this. Justified since the king and queen are imprisoned in the despair cages.
- But Now I Must Go: Has to return to the Hope Kingdom for good at the end of the final episode, with no real way to come back to the real world. He does get one last moment with Haruka before he leaves, though.
- Childhood Friend Romance: He and Haruka are hinted to develop romantic feelings for each other.
- Cool Big Bro: Kanata is indubitably a cool guy, and he has younger sister who would be around Haruka's age. That little sister turns out to be Twilight.
- Cruel to Be Kind: Subverted: This is what Kanata thinks he's doing for Haruka in episode 38; by telling her that she will never become a true princess, completely breaking her heart, he only hopes she will stop battling DysDark and getting hurt. In reality, all it did was drive Haruka into so much despair that not only did it cost her the ability to transform, Close took the opportunity to use said despair to spread the vines across town, trapping most of the people in despair cages and causing a massive Zetsuborg outbreak. When Close himself ‘thanks’ Kanata by revealing what his attempt at protecting Haruka had caused, he is understandably guilt stricken and runs after Haruka to apologize.
- Despair Event Horizon: When Towa went missing, he lost all hope until he met Haruka. Then he reunites with Towa, who is now the Princess of Despair, Twilight.
- Elegant Classical Musician: Miss Shamour mentions that he is one. He later proves the rumors correct, being skilled as Towa at playing the violin, if not moreso.
- Heroic Sacrifice: He stays behind to hold off infuriated Dyspear and allow Towa and the cures to escape from Hope Kingdom. The last we see of him is his staff breaking down and the door to Hope Kingdom exploding in white light. He survived although he lost his powers and his memories.
- Identity Amnesia: When Towa and Haruka find him in episode 35, he doesn't even remember his own name. Nishikido mentions he found an injured Kanata at the beach and since Kanata didn't know who he was or where he came from, he let him stay and work in the violin workshop. He gets his memories and his powers back in episode 39 with him theorizing that the loss came from fulfilling his old dream, reuniting and saving Towa, but now managed to regain them by attaining a new dream, protecting Haruka's smile.
- Love Epiphany: Most likely towards Haruka in episode 39 with his new dream being protecting her smile.
- Manly Tears: He's so moved seeing Towa finally reunited with their parents, he doesn't even try to hide from nearby Flora the fact that he's crying.
- Mr. Exposition: He is the person on the good guys' team with the most knowledge about the setting, so he is this naturally.
- My God, What Have I Done?: After hearing Close's Evil Gloating about what's happening, he realizes that he is the one brought Haruka into despair and caused the uncontrollable growth of despair vines after saying her that she'll never become a princess and starts to blame himself after watching the Pretty Cure's hometown covering in vines. After he sees Haruka, he apologizes and cries like a little boy in front of her. Since Haruka is a kind person, he is easily forgiven.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Twice. He told little Towa that she can't become a grand princess which leads her to accepting Dyspair offer at helping her become one. In episode 38, he sees Flora fighting with Close and to stop the fight, he tells Flora to forget about her dream to become a princess because she can never achieve it and she will just get hurt. This results in Haruka going into Heroic BSoD and the uncontrollable growth of the despair vines.
- Non-Action Guy: AVERTED, which is very rare in the franchise. Kanata is not afraid to participate in battle and proves himself to be very useful.
- One-Steve Limit: His name is a little off from Kanade.
- Prince Charming: He's kind, humble, polite, and incredibly good-looking. Yeah, he fits this trope to a T.
- Put on a Bus: His fate after he stays behind to destroy the door to earth is unknown and he hasn't been mentioned ever since Cure Scarlet's first transformation.
- The Bus Came Back: A silhouette resembling Kanata is seen at the end of episode 31. In episode 35, he is found in Nishikido's violin workshop. With severe amnesia. Fortunately he recovers in episode 39.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: He is the prince of the Hope Kingdom, who is the Big Good of the season, leads La Résistance against Dyspair, and has powers to help the Cures in the battle. Especially since his parents were imprisoned and his sister was brainwashed. Even after the threat of Dyspair is dealt with, he continues to patrol the kingdom for new threats.
- She Is All Grown Up: Both him and Haruka, if that sequence during the opening is any proof.
- Sixth Ranger: Generally if he's there when the Precure get into a fight, he'll be out helping.
- Tears of Joy: When both king and queen regain their consciousness in episode 50. And he doesn't even hide them from nearby Flora.
- White Stallion: In episode 19, he is seen riding a white horse named Wish.
Miss Siamour
Voiced by: Mayumi Shintani
A Siamese cat mascot who emerges from the Princess Lesson Pad to teach the Cures social royal etiquette.
- The Ace: We have yet to see something she cannot do.
- But Now I Must Go: Has to return to the Hope Kingdom for good at the end of the final episode, with no real way to come back to the real world.
- Cats Are Magic: Explicitly compared to a cat.
- Dance Battler: When she squares off against Shut in Episode 33, she moves with grace, similar to a ballet dancer.
- A Day in the Limelight: Episode 33 revolves around her especially.
- Elegant Classical Musician: Well, she was the one who taught Kanata and Towa.
- Gratuitous English: Oh boy. Nearly every sentence she says is peppered with English words. Thing is, she uses them in place of Japanese words, so it's hilariously grammatically incorrect.
- Meaningful Name:
- Think "siamese cat."
- It also sounds like "Chamois" leather, fitting with the mascots' fashion naming theme.
- Spell My Name With An S: Initially translated as Shamour.
Kuroro
Voiced by: Yuki Kaida
A calico cat mascot.
- Brainwashed: Episode 31 shows that he was a fairy who had been transformed to do Dyspear's bidding. Later on it's revealed the real Lock was actually the costume.
- Cute Kitten: He resembles a light yellow one.
- Heel–Face Turn: After being released from Lock's control, Haruka and the others take him back to Noble Academy.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: Episode 33 states that he doesn't remember about his time as Lock.
- Shrinking Violet: He's rather shy.
Noble Academy
Girl's Dorm
Yui Nanase
Voiced by: Haruka Yoshimura
Haruka's roommate and fellow classmate who dreams of becoming a children's book author.
- Acquired Poison Immunity: She got drained so often that when she got her dream stolen for the last time, she actually breaks her despair cage on her own and proceeds to give Rousing Speech to others so they can break out themselves.
- Badass Normal: By the end of the series, Yui has been attacked for her dreams five times, but in the lead-up to the finale, she breaks out of her cage by herself and proceeds to help the rest of the Noble Academy students break out of theirs as well.
- A Day in the Limelight: Episode 41 is entirely centered around her. Prior to this, she gets some spotlight in the episodes where a Zetsuborg is created from her dreams and in Episodes 10 and 11 where she learns of the Cures' identities.
- Designated Victim: The poor girl was attacked five times during the season.
- Friend to All Children: Implied, given that her dream is to become a children's book author.
- Girlish Pigtails: Long, braided ones.
- Heroic Willpower: She almost breaks out of the despair cage through sheer willpower! In Episode 48, she successfully breaks out of her own despair cage before freeing the rest of the trapped students.
- Muggle Best Friend: For Haruka and the other Cures.
- Nice Girl: Very friendly and soft-spoken.
- One-Steve Limit: Averted; there was previously a Yui in Smile PreCure!.
- Secret-Keeper: Learns about the Pretty Cure in episode 10 and keeps their magical identities secret. In episode 48, she is forced to explain the whole situation after Dyspear attacks Noble Academy.
- Took a Level in Badass: With each time a Zetsuborg is created from her dreams, she is able to resist the urge to give in and let the villains use her dream, though her resistance proved futile in the end. However, in Episode 41, she manages to weaken her Zetsuborg from the inside enough for the girls to quickly finish it off. In episode 48, not only does she manage to break out of her own despair cage, she helps free all other students who were trapped as well. Even Close is stunned by that.
Reiko Kisaragi
Voiced by: Risa Mizuno
The supervisor of the girl's dorm at Noble Academy. She is very strict and by-the-book.
- Took a Level in Kindness: After being saved by Pafu and the Cures she began showing a nicer side and began warming up to more students especially Haruka.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: While she keeps it a secret, the main reason she's against keeping Pafu at the dorm is because she's scared of dogs. She gets over it.
Seira Azuma
Voiced by: Yui Hashimoto
The student council president of Noble Academy.
- Boyish Short Hair: Her hair is in a short, boyish pixie cut.
- Genki Girl: She's brimming with energy.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: She's the energetic Tomboy to Ayano's girly girl.
Ayaka Nishimine
Voiced by: Ayano Niina
The student council treasurer of Noble Academy.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: She's the flouncy Girly Girl to Seira's tomboy.
Shirogane
Voiced by: Keiko Aki
The mysterious head of the female dorms.
- Eyes Always Shut: Easy.
- No Full Name Given: She's never called anything but Shirogane-san.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Encourages independence among the dorm residents, and agrees to shelter Pafu in the dorms as long as everybody agrees to it.
Ranko Ichijo
Voiced by: Sayuri Yahagi
An up-and-coming idol and Kirara's self-proclaimed rival.
- Determinator: What ultimately gains her Kirara's attention.
- Girlish Pigtails: Adding to her childish appearance, she has poofy, curly pigtails.
- Older Than They Look: She looks like a elementary schooler, but is apparently a third-year, much to the Cure's shock.
Male Students
Yuuki Aihara
Voiced by: Atsushi Abe, Yuko Gibe (child)
One of Haruka's former bullies and a member of the tennis team.
- Took a Level in Kindness: While he still doesn't think highly of Haruka's dream, he does admit that she could achieve it. In a few hundred years.
Shuu Imagawa & Naoto Koshiba
Voiced by: Atsushi Tamaru (Shuu), Taishi Murata (Naoto)
Representatives of Noble Academy's male dorm and membesr of the student council, who are often seen together.
- One-Steve Limit: Naoto's name is one letter off from Naoko.
- Those Two Guys: They are usually seen together.
Family Members
Momoka Haruno
Voiced by: Ayumi Matsuura
Haruka's little sister.
- Sour Outside, Sad Inside: When she's first introduced, she acts aloof and rude to Haruka and her friends. Later, It's revealed that deep down, she was very sad after Haruka left home for boarding school.
Moe Haruno
Voiced by: Yuko Gibu
Haruka's mother.
- Only Sane Woman: Compared to Ibuki's tendency to sob over anything, Haruka's manic energy, and Momoka's abandonment issues, Moe seems to be the most well-put-together of the Haruno family.
Ibuki Haruno
Voiced by: Yasunori Matsumoto
Haruka's father.
- Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: During Family Day, he brings a basket of dorayaki with Haruka's face on it and proceeds to give it to everyone that he meets.
Wataru Kaido
Voiced by: Kazuyuki Okitsu
Minami's older brother.
- Meaningful Name: Fitting for someone with a marine-based job, his name sounds like "water".
Stella Amanogawa
Voiced by: Sayaka Ohara
Kirara's mother, a world famous model and Noble Academy alma mater.
- Stealth Mentor: Serves as one to Kirara in episode 17.
Other
Bauanne Baurollo
Voiced by: Takumi Yamazaki
A famous and eccentric fashion designer who has worked with Kirara's mother.
- Gratuitous English: Peppers his speech with it.
Kyoko Tachi
Voiced by: Mayumi Sako
Kirara's agent.
Nishikido-san
Voiced by: Saka Osamu
- Good Samaritan: He took in an amnesiac Kanata after finding him injured on the beach.
Yume Mochizuki
Voiced by: Toshiko Sawada
The author of Haruka's favorite book, "The Princess of Flowers", and Noble Academy's headmistress.
- Noodle Incident: Why she never wrote a proper ending to "The Princess of Flowers". She realized that the readers had come up with their own endings and decided to leave the story unfinished.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: When she figures out Towa is homeless, she gives her a place to stay at the dorms - under the condition that she become a student.
Dys Dark
The main antagonists of the series. They're a group of dark entities that invaded Hope Kingdom and Earth is their next target. Their goal is to spread despair around the world. In General
- Despair Event Horizon: Their entire goal is to spread despair throughout the world.
- Enemy Civil War: It's relatively minor at first, but the main trio of Dys Dark generals really aren't the most cooperative with each other. By the end of the season, only Stop and Freeze remained truly outside any of their discourse, albeit likely for unsurprising reasons.
- Terrible Trio: Close, Shut, and Lock are often called the "Three Musketeers."
- Three Plus Two: The main trio of Dys Dark generals are joined by Stop and Freeze later into the season, and technically, it's a one plus three situation thanks to it also being the same moment when Close is revived, and Lock was the first between them to be defeated for good, besides Twilight.
Dyspear
Voiced by: Yoshiko Sakakibara
- Abusive Parents: Even if she's not really Towa's mom, she raised her to believe she was. In Episode 21, she makes Towa use the Princess Perfume, knowing she'll eventually use up all her life energy. She even tells Kanata that "Twilight" has been useless.
- Anthropomorphic Personification: She is created from the despair from the people of Hope Kingdom, making her one for despair, and eventually why Haruka decided not to obliterate her within Close: you cannot kill the concept of 'despair', best you can do is to stay strong and rebuke it everytime it rears its ugly head.
- Bad Boss: Hello? She had the evil Perfume drain Twilight's energy?
- Big Bad: Of the series. And unlike some previous Big Bads in Pretty Cure, she retains this position for the entirety of the show.
- Break Them by Talking: Uses this on Towa in episode 22, claiming Towa is the only one responsible for the destruction of Hope Kingdom and heavily implies that she killed Kanata while helping her escape from Dys Dark. It backfires on her rather spectacularly.
- The Chessmaster: She lured Towa to the forest of despair specifically because she knew the princess is the source of hope for her people. Without Towa, the kingdom quickly fell into despair which gave Dyspear enough power to conquer Hope Kingdom. She also seems to be fully expecting that the cures will free Hope Kingdom from her influence and leaves for Earth while the Cures fight with Close. And even after she is defeated by the Cures, fusing with Close caused her will to live on within him, so she technically isn't dead yet.
- Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: To Joker from Smile Pre Cure. Both of them want to spread despair and like to use psychological manipulation to break their enemies down mentally. While Joker was actively a part of Pierrot who wants to drive all worlds to Bad Ends and drives his enemies mentally broken to make them incapable of fighting back, Dyspear was born from humanity's despair and wants to use despair as a weapon to crush the dreams of anyone she encounters. Joker dresses in multiple colours including purple and is a powerful villain, while Dyspear dresses in black and red. In contrast to Joker who serves as the Dragon-in-Chief to the Big Bad Pierrot, Dyspear is the Big Bad for the entirety of the series before her to-be Dragon Their Feet Close fused with her for the final time. And unlike Joker, Dyspear can remove her brainwashed victim's memories and implant Fake Memories onto them.
- Cool Mask: Part of her outfit.
- Create Your Own Hero: She molds the keys for Twilight in order to defeat the Pretty Cures. When Twilight gets purified and become Towa, her molded keys turned into Dress Up Keys and results in Towa transforming into Cure Scarlet in the process.
- Devour the Dragon: Does this to Close in the final episodes. Close welcomes it, and not only survives, but becomes Dyspear's successor.
- Disc-One Final Boss: She's the penultimate enemy that the Go! team faces, despite being the Big Bad of the series. Close is the Final Boss, on the other hand.
- Exact Words:
- She promised little Towa that she will help her become a perfect princess. But she didn't mention it means brainwashing Towa into thinking Dyspear is her mother and she is the sole heir to the throne of Dys Dark.
- After being driven out of Hope Kingdom, she vows to never set foot in it again, and she keeps her word. That doesn't mean she won't target the Earth, though...
- For the Evulz: She was planning to cast Towa aside after conquering Hope Kingdom as she was no longer needed. But then decided that turning princess of hope into princess of despair would be "much more interesting"
- Graceful Loser: After Flora revives the Flower Castle, Dyspear congratulates the cures and declares she'll leave Hope Kingdom alone now. But she didn't mention she already has a plan B...
- Hero Killer: She gives Towa the impression that she murdered Kanata. He's actually alive.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Tried to make Towa fall into despair by claiming that she is the one to blame for the destruction of Hope Kingdom and the disappearance of Prince Kanata because if Towa didn't go into the forest of despair, everything would have been fine. However, it backfires on her when Towa decides to amend for her "sins" by becoming a Grand Princess and saving her kingdom. As a result, Towa's keys and Princess Perfume are purified and she transforms into Cure Scarlet.
- Hope Crusher: As someone who steals dreams and is out to drown the universe in despair, it's the simplest way to describe Dyspear.
- Horned Humanoid: Coming from the sides of her head.
- Humanoid Abomination: In her monologue in episode 21, Dyspear all but states that she had no physical form until there was enough despair in the Hope Kingdom to feed on.
- Knight of Cerebus: While she comes across as a generic doomsday villain at first, the times where she is active outside of her throne room really push her to this trope, a stark contrast to previous big bads that try to justify why they are evil or are evil because they are just evil. Her brand of evil is much more personal, especially in episode 40.
- Meaningful Name: It’s pronounced the same as "despair".
- Navel-Deep Neckline: She has a plunging neckline, which reveals a keyhole in the middle of her chest.
- Offing the Offspring: She does this to Twilight with the evil Perfume. To make matters worse, Twilight's not even her daughter!
- Orcus on His Throne: Zig-zagged. The first half of the series has her doing so. But in Episode 22, she leaves for once in an attempt to bring Towa back to her side. She's back on her throne afterwards until Episode 29, although that may or may not have been a projectile of her attacking the Cures. she's playing the trope straight again until episode 48 when as she attacks Noble Academy as counter for destroying her castle in Hope Kingdom.
- Sinister Silhouettes: First appeared as a giant shadow in the title sequence. She makes her first real appearance in episode 6.
- The Stoic: From what we've even so far, she hasn't displayed any sort of emotions visually-
- Not So Stoic: When she is set ablaze by Cure Scarlet, she screams her old name before retreating.
- Time Master: In Episode 22, she temporarily stops time to talk to Towa.
- Walking Wasteland: It's showing how monstrous she is when all of the flowers and plants die as she walks by them. Even the sky and ocean turn dark.
- Wicked Witch: Described as the Witch of Despair.
- You Have Failed Me:
- She threatens this to Close at the start of episode 9. He proceeds to spend that episode and the next two trying his hardest to destroy Pretty Cure.
- In episode 21, she reveals that allowing Twilight to use the fourth Princess Perfume is this, as she fully expects the power to drain the life energy of it's user. Near the end of the series, she kicks Shut out of Dys Dark for his failures.
Twilight
The daughter of Dyspear and adversary of the Pretty Cures, see her page for more details.
Close
Voiced by: Mitsuaki Madono
A strict, short-tempered and headstrong member of Dys Dark's Three Musketeers and the first general to fight the Princess Pretty Cure.
- Anime Hair: Look to the right and try to say otherwise.
- Arch-Enemy: The personal nemesis of Cure Flora. In the end, they are more like Worthy Opponent(s).
- As Long as There Is Evil: In the final episode he explains that as long as there is despair, Dys Dark will return. Haruka later points out that as long as there is despair, there will be dreams, which makes Close give up fighting.
- Back from the Dead: Makes a return in Episode 31.
- Berserk Button: Nothing infuriates him as much as Flora ruining his plans.
- Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: The Brunette to Shut's Blonde and Lock's Redhead.
- The Brute: Basically serves as this.
- Came Back Strong: A few arcs after his first defeat, he takes several more in badass.
- The Dragon: From Episode 31 onwards.
- Dragon Their Feet: He's the final enemy Cure Flora faces in the final episode. But he leaves not long afterwards.
- Determinator: Starting in episode 9. Being threatened by your boss can do that to you, as previous Starter Villains can attest. He comes Back from the Dead in Episode 31, where it's shown that not even death is going to stop him.
- Devour the Dragon: Does this to Stop and Freeze in the finale. Helps they're literally in a dragon-like form at that point.
- Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Which, combined with the tropes below essentially make him a villainous version of a Perky Goth.
- Excessive Evil Eyeshadow: Close has red markings around his eyes, which glow when he looks into a person's dream.
- Fangs Are Evil: A very obvious set of them.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: Starts off as the laughing stock of Dys Dark to the point of dying. But suddenly, he's the most dangerous of the villains and has become The Dragon to Dyspear. Also becomes the last enemy of the series.
- Giant Flyer: His final form.
- Guyliner: Has bright red markings around his eyes that allows him to see through people's dreams.
- Jerkass Has a Point: While he did take advantage of the opportunity it gave, he was ultimately right on how it was Kanata’s attempt of trying to protect Haruka by telling she will never achieve her dream was what drove her into despair, not her struggling to achieve said dream like Kanata believed.
- Kill It with Ice: Downplayed in that in his first death, a portion of the finishing move came from Cure Mermaid's Ice Key.
- Knight of Cerebus: When he returns, things become way more difficult for the cures
- Large Ham: Par for the course of Precure villains. His voice actor apparently has a lot of fun voicing him.
- Laughably Evil: Almost to the point of being a Card-Carrying Villain. Definitely no longer the case when he returns.
- More Teeth than the Osmond Family: Shark-like teeth.
- No Brows: Once he returns he loses his eyebrows, which is a little uncanny.
- No Indoor Voice: He screams most of his sentences. This gets downplayed when he comes back in Episode 31.
- Not Quite Dead: As it turned out, he survived the Pretty Cure's finishing move.
- One-Winged Angel: Twice in episode 11.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: He appears in episode 38 as Kurosu, the new noble Academy student and tries to befriend and then separate the precures. Towa is the only one who is wary of him.
- Post-Final Boss: Upon absorbing Dyspear's remains, he becomes the last enemy the Pretty Cures face in the last episode, but unlike the battle against Dyspear, which has the entire team fighting against her, his fight is only against Cure Flora, who keeps parring and blocking his attacks, while making him give up the will to fight by pointing out that despair and dreams are both part of the same coin.
- Power Gives You Wings/Winged Humanoid: His first One-Winged Angel form.
- Put on the Bus: Was thought to be gone for good in #11 until he reappeared a few story arcs later.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Once he returns? Oh yes.
- Spikes of Villainy: A big part of his design, whether it's on his clothes or on his head.
- Starter Villain: He is the first villain the Precures face and the first to be killed. However, he's not the first to be down for the count.
- Starter Villain Stays: Eventually revealed to have survived, he's the first and Final Boss after Dyspear is finished.
- Took a Level in Badass: In Episode 11, he becomes more of a challenge to the Cures after he receives a power buff from Dyspear. He then takes an even bigger level when he comes back in Episode 31, where doesn't even flinch as he bodies the Cures.
- Undying Loyalty: For Dyspear.
- Walking Spoiler: He becomes this after his early death and his eventual return which also leads into the bigger role he plays for the rest of the series.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Killed in Episode 11. Subverted when he returns.
Shut
Voiced by: Satoshi Hino
A pompous and narcisstic but timid general of Dys Dark and the second of the Three Musketeers to confront the Pretty Cure.
- Big Damn Heroes: In episode 48, where he blocks an attack from Close that was meant for the Cures.
- Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: The Blonde to Close's Brunette and Lock's Redhead.
- The Brute: Essentially becomes this after Close is defeated, and even when he comes back.
- Camp Straight: He is very effeminate but he fell in love with Twilight the exact moment he saw her.
- Cats Are Mean: His One-Winged Angel is a monstrous cat.
- Determinator: After Close dies.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: After facing abuse, defeat and humiliation during his time in Dys Dark, he finally sees the true meaning of beauty from Shamour, casts his lot with the heroes during their final battle with Dyspear, and gets to start anew in Yumegahama with Lock accompanying him.
- Excessive Evil Eyeshadow: Shut wears blue eyeshadow around his eyes, which glow when he looks into a person's dream.
- Fangs Are Evil: He wastes no time displaying his shark teeth.
- Green-Eyed Monster: He is not amused when Lock is more successful getting in Twilight's good graces than him.
- Guyliner: Like Close, he has a pair with supernatural properties; they glow when he needs to see through peoples' dreams.
- Heel–Face Turn: In episode 48, just in time for a Big Damn Heroes moment.
- Ignored Enamored Underling: Shut is enchanted by Princess Twilight, but she sees him merely as one of her subjects.
- Inter-Service Rivalry:
- Close and Shut... really don't like each other. In Episode 3 they came just short of fighting each other instead of the Cures.
- After Close's gone, he develops a new rivalry with Lock, especially when it comes to winning over Twilight. Not that Lock cares.
- Love at First Sight: Fell in love with Twilight the second she walks in.
- More Teeth than the Osmond Family
- Parasol of Prettiness: Which he quickly discards.
- Scarf of Asskicking: He wears Lock like one during the ending sequence.
- Sore Loser: Doesn't take his losses very well. Twilight calls him out on this. Most noticeable in Episode 19, he throws his umbrella and leaves.
- Suck My Rose: Always carries a rose with him. In episode 20, he uses it to barrage Cure Mermaid with its petals.
- Sympathy for the Devil: In episode 46, the Cures, Towa especially, cannot help but feel pity when they see just how far Shut has fallen. They battle his One-Winged Angel form not to defeat him, but just to cool his rage.
- The Dog Bites Back : Punches Close in the face in episode 48. Close is so stunned he doesn't even defend.
- Token Good Teammate: When compared to Dyspear and Lock. He isn't as insane as they are, at least for now anyways. Even after Lock's abrupt Heel–Face Turn, he is still the least to worry about compared to Close, Stop, Freeze, and Dyspear.
- Trauma Conga Line: For practically the entire season, no less.
- Verbal Tic: "-nomi!" Some subtitles make it so that he uses "naught" in most of his sentences.
- Visual Kei: An "Elegant Gothic Aristocrat" type
Lock
Voiced by: Yuki Kaida
Click here to see his older form
Another of Dys Dark's generals who is cold-hearted and the third member of the Three Musketeers to butt heads with the Pretty Cure.
- Big Bad Wannabe: Reveals his plan to become the king of DysDark and wanting to overthrow Dyspear. It was so close...
- Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: The Redhead to Close's Brunette and Shut's Blonde.
- Evil Genius: Again, the closest to this for the group, thanks to his genre savviness.
- Evil Redhead: He has red hair. Or rather, Kuroro's hair is red.
- Expressive Accessory: The eyes on his hood act as such, seeing as his actual eyes are covered by his bangs. Justified as it's his real form.
- Eyes Out of Sight: His eyes are always hidden by his hair.
- Fangs Are Evil: Just like the others, he has some prominent fangs, as does his hood. Though, to be fair, Kuroro having them would make sense due to being a cat.
- Genre Savvy: Manages to steal the Dress Up Keys from the Precure while they weren't paying attention to prevent them from fighting back.
- Graceful Loser: After his initial Zetsuborg is purified, he simply bids farewell to the Cures before retreating.
- Heel–Face Turn: In Episode 49, He actually does pull a Heel–Face Turn and joins forces with Kuroro to stop Dyspear.
- In the Hood: His outfit or rather Lock's default form.
- Kids Are Cruel: Is a young boy and part of the organization that wants to spread misery and despair to Earth. Subverted since he's just a sentient wardrobe while Kuroro is a fairy.
- Me's a Crowd: Episode 28 reveals that he has two different colored clones of himself.
- Mood Dissonance: Lock is always easy-going and slightly bored, not matter the situation.
- One-Winged Angel/Scaled Up: Like Close before him, he becomes a dragon frog monster in order to defeat the Cures.
- Overnight Age-Up: When Dyspear leaves him charge of Dys Dark for the time being, he takes advantage of it by changing his appearance to an older version of himself.
- Punch-Clock Villain: Subverted. At first, he always assumed a bored expression even when he summoned a Zetsuborg. But then Dyspear left him in charge...
- Scarf of Asskicking: This is the last form Lock takes on, wrapped around Shut's neck.
- The Shadow Knows: His first appearance in the opening hints at this.
- Shrinking Violet: As Kuroro; he's remorseful over his past mistakes and shy and anti-social.
- Sinister Silhouettes: Sports a rather demonic one in Episode 28.
- Tagalong Kid: Subverted. Lock is the youngest of the three musketeers, but is recognized as his own agent.
- Verbal Tic: Some subtitles make him end most of his sentences with "'kay."
- Would Hit a Girl: Has no qualms about kicking Twinkle in Episode 20. In Episode 23, be proceeds to beat up Cure Scarlet.
- Young and in Charge: Dyspear temporarily leaves him in charge when she leaves to the forest to heal her body. Subverted when he changes his age to an older man.
Zetsuborgs
Voiced by: Takayuki Nakatsukasa
- Cyber Cyclops: The lights in their padlocks make them out to be this. This gets averted with later variations of the Zetsuborgs who have two padlocks, but is played straight again with the Metsuborgs.
- Elite Mook: The Metsuborgs.
- Faceless Goons: Zetsuborgs have a padlock that completely obscures the face of any possible forms that could have a face in most circumstances.
- The Four Gods: The four Metsuborgs seen reference these.
- In chronological order: Lion, dragon, turtle, butterfly, with the latter likely being a stand in for the bird. Funny enough, the dragon is actually yellow, matching Huánglóng's description rather than Qīnglóng.
- Monster of the Week: The requisite ones for this season.
- Mid-Season Upgrade: Four times, no less.
- First were the red Zetsuborgs with purple eyes, from a combination of Twilight's Dress Up Key and Shut or Lock summoning a Zetsuborg.
- Then came the horned Zetsuborgs with yellow eyes, courtesy of Lock once he temporarily takes over. Shut also summons this variation once.
- Then came the double-padlocked Zetsuborgs with green eyes, introduced with Stop and Freeze, which Shut also starts to summon.
- Lastly are the Metsuborgs, with a more curved shape and horns in the style of Dyspear's, which she can summon on the fly.
- Pokémon Speak: Like most Precure monsters in the franchise.
- Punny Name: "Zetsuborg" is a pun on the Japanese word "zetsubō" (meaning "despair").
- Recurring Boss: Yui's Zetsuborg, pictured above, is brought out three times.
Stop & Freeze
Voiced by: Shiori Izawa and Miyako Ito
"Come play with us."
Two new generals of Dyspear introduced mid-season. They can also summon Zetsuborgs, just like the first three generals.- Alice Allusion: While they may not fit the complete criteria, both of them are said to be references to the White Rabbit or March Hare & the Dormouse.
- Ambiguous Gender: Their completely covered up appearences and in-betweenish voices makes it hard to nail down what gender they are. It seems likely however that Stop was meant to be more feminine while Freeze is more masculine, as the former has a higher pitched voice while the latter has a somewhat deeper voice and shorts.
- Ambiguous Robots: Episode 31 seemed to imply that they're Zetsuborgs with more intelligence, but nothing else was stated about that.
- Ass-Kicking Pose: Exaggerated to the next infinity, where almost all of their screentime has them making outrageous poses together. Heck, when they were first born they were in separate poses.
- Brother–Sister Team: Possibly.
- Co-Dragons: Both of them are this to Close.
- The Comically Serious: They can border on this sometimes. Despite acting serious and monotone, they often find themselves in more comical situations than their companions, such as going out on a mission to obtain makeup because Shut said it'd make them invincible. There's also the ridiculous poses they make at literally every given moment when they're not completely still.
- Coordinated Clothes: They both wear nearly identical armor.
- Creepy Children: They’re both born midway through the season, and have child-like voices.
- Creepy Monotone: It's generally only their volume that raises, but never their tone.
- Creepy Twins: Downplayed, but still there.
- Cyber Cyclopes: Possibly, given the ambiguity of what they look like under the helmets.
- Diving Kick: They like to do this a lot when they have to fight.
- Dual Boss: Every time they're fought, they're together.
- Eye Beams: One of their attacks is shooting green lasers from their visors.
- The Faceless: Their faces are never shown through their helmets, if they even have any.
- Finishing Each Other's Sentences: They wasted no time in demonstrating this. Especially when they summon a Zetsuborg.
- Flat Characters: Borderline no characterization for the both of them whatsoever. Then again, this may have been
intentional. - Killer Rabbit: Stop invokes this with their helmet design’s pointed ears.
- Kill It with Fire: Averted, they completely No-Sell an attack from Cure Scarlet.
- Laser-Guided Tyke-Bombs: Born midepisode by Close once he returns.
- Literal-Minded: They genuinely believed what Shut said about makeup being able to make them invincible.
- Masculine Lines, Feminine Curves: Inverted, possibly. Stop is more feminine but has the helmet with more edges, in contrast to Freeze's smoother helmet despite being more masculine.
- More Teeth than the Osmond Family: In both of their One-Winged Angel forms.
- No-Nonsense Nemeses: No jokes coming from or involving them, and they take their roles seriously, hilarious posing aside.
- One Winged Angels: Notable in that they have two. First, they're towering plant-like pillars with only their visors and teeth visible from holes in the pillars, and later during the final battle with Close, they become massive snakes.
- Pint-Sized Powerhouses: They're both barely any taller than the Pretty Cure, yet seem to be the best hand-to-hand combatants amongst the Dys Dark generals.
- Plant People: Implied to be this, given they are born from seeds and grow out of flowers, and how their first set of One-Winged Angel forms are towers made of vines.
- Sickly Green Glow: They were the first Dys Dark generals to start using the Zetsuborgs with green eyes, while accompanied with a green background during their summoning. Their visors also glow green from time to time.
- Sinister Silhouettes: While all of the Dys Dark generals somewhat get these, Stop & Freeze’s are actually pitch black when they first appear, save for their “eyes” which glow green.
- Sixth Rangers: Both of them join Dys Dark three fifths into the season.
- Snakes Are Sinister: Their monster forms in the final battle.
- Tertiary Sexual Characteristics: Again, possibly. Freeze has shorts, Stop doesn't.
- You Dirty Rat!: Freeze, meanwhile, has a more mouse-like helmet design with it’s circular ears.
- What Happened to the Rabbit & Mouse?: They're last seen fusing with Close and becoming markings under his eyes, and are never seen or heard of again, nor implicated if they're dead or not.
