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Protagonists

Makoto "Edamame" Edamura

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

Voiced by: Chiaki Kobayashi (Japanese), Alan Lee (English), Diego Becerril (Latin American Spanish)

A 25-year-old Japanese con artist. He's the self-proclaimed "greatest con man in Japan," but in reality, he's mostly a talented amateur. Despite living a life of crime, he's actually a kind, anxious kid who cares deeply about others.

10-Minute Retirement:
- After spending two years in prison, he attempts to reject Laurent's offer to mentor him and instead lead an honest life. He makes it two months before Laurent tricks him into joining his team again with the exact new skillset necessary for their cover.
- It happens again after the second heist, when he tries to make an honest living as an expat in Europe. This time he pulls himself in willingly when he gets the gang minus Laurent together in order to scam a snooty rich guy into buying a random painting for a small fortune, since the family he's staying with is in debt. Laurent and the team turn it into a full-scale con after they find out the painting was actually a lost masterpiece worth millions, and that he's gotten away with selling imitations as the real deal.
Affectionate Nickname: "Edamame," given to him by Laurent and adopted by the rest of the crew. It gets further affection-ified to "little soybean" at a few points. He's not too fond of it, at least at first.
All Asians Know Kung Fu: Invoked. He pretends to be a blackbelt to intimidate people, and he plays along when Salazar's son Tom thinks he's a ninja, just because he's Japanese. In actuality, he's useless in a fight.
All of the Other Reindeer: In his hometown, he was widely distrusted and put down by people due to his association with his father.
Animal Motifs: He's associated with cats, particularly with regards to his relationship with his mother. It's used to draw a dark parallel when Suzaku buys him a tie with cats on it.
Ambiguously Bi: In the manga adaptation. In the anime, he mostly just acts annoyed whenever Laurent starts hitting on him, though he does blush slightly the first time Laurent leans on his shoulder. In the manga, however, he shoves Laurent away, with his face bright red and his speech bubble surrounded by fluttering heart symbols. He continues blushing whenever he's touched in the manga, in a way he doesn't do in the anime.
Asian and Nerdy: Invoked in the first two arcs, where he (as the only East Asian member of the team) is used as crucial smarts who gain the mark's trust. In the first arc he plays a bitter young scientist, in the second he plays a gifted mechanic.
The Atoner: After his first successful job with Laurent, he decides to use his cut to repay all the people he's stolen from in the past and serve time in prison for his crimes.
Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: A platonic version: When he visits his mother's grave and tells her of the events of the past few years, he speaks fondly of all the members of Team Confidence. Yes, even Laurent.
Becoming the Mask: Despite Laurent's warnings, he finds himself growing genuinely attached to Suzaku, falling into the role of surrogate son to her.
Butt-Monkey: Usually left out of the loop on heists, and frequently humiliated or put into danger during them as well.
The Call Knows Where You Live: After the events in LA, Makoto tries to turn over a new leaf by turning himself in and living honestly again. He even manages to land work as a mechanic. The team pulls him back into things by hiring him for what he thinks is legitimate work but is part of a plan to take down a pair of brothers running a rigged biplane race circuit.
Can't Stay Normal: No matter how hard he tries, he always gets drawn back into criminal activity. After the first con (and a stint in prison), Edamura ends up drawn into a new con by Laurent through his connections to a mechanic that took Edamura on after he got out of prison. After the second con, Edamura brought himself back into the game to help a family he was staying with pay off their debts, though it snowballs into a much bigger scheme. And after the third con, he accidentally joins the yakuza while trying to get a normal job. Also a set up by Laurent.
Character Development: At the start of the show, he's shown to be a cocky, self-impressed petty crook who happily goes after easy marks, just because he can. It's over the course of the first arc that he his facade breaks down, he remembers his sense of justice, and he adopts Team Confidence's MO of only conning those who deserve it.
Chekhov's Skill: It's noted early on that, among his other skills, he makes a damn good cup of coffee. His ability to make good coffee eventually helps him get close with mob boss Suzaku, and at the end of the series, he considers opening his own café.
Corrupt the Cutie: In the final arc, he starts to slide into his yakuza persona too well, beginning to act in a cruel and unfeeling manner.
Cowardly Lion: He's damn near useless in a fight, but god damn will he pull through if an act of bravery is needed!
Dead Person Conversation: In the start of the fourth arc, he visits his mother's grave and tells her everything that's happened over the past few years. Despite it all, the way he describes Team Confidence to her suggests that he deeply respects all of them. Even Laurent.
The Engineer: Subverted. After he is released from prison it seems that he has become a trained mechanic capable of working on cars and airplanes. However, Laurent explains that in reality Makoto is still only a novice and was mainly trained to look like he knew what he was doing.
The Heart: He often serves as the crew's moral compass, and is always the first to speak up if he thinks their plan crosses the line in some way.
Hired for Their Looks: It's implied that Abbie believes, at least at first, that this is the real reason Makoto got hired. She complains about having to work with the inexperienced and amateurish Makoto right before complaining about how Laurent "always thinks with the little head between his legs," implying she thinks he hired him because he's attractive.
Hustler: Worked a number of quick money-making schemes in Japan before Laurent promoted him to the big leagues.
Informed Flaw: Downplayed. It's noted several times that he speaks English with an especially strange accent, and several characters insult him (either directly or indirectly) over his odd-sounding English. The audience does get to hear his accented English in the very first episode, but after that, it switches to Translation Convention and the audience can only hear him speaking in American English—even when his accent is being commented on by others.
Ironic Name: His given name, Makoto, contains the kanji for "truth". Being a con artist certainly gets in the way of that.
Like a Son to Me: In the final arc, Yakuza boss Suzaku begins to see him as a replacement for her son, who ran away from the family. He clearly cares about her too, despite everything, and it's implied that part of the reason he faked his death in front of her was so she wouldn't have to see another son betray her.
Like Father, Unlike Son: Makoto is a despised con artist with a strong sense of morality and justice whilst his father was a well-respected lawyer who tricked illegal minors into trusting him and then sold them overseas.
Loving a Shadow: During the second arc, he develops what appears to be a crush on Abbie and spends a lot of his time being protective of her and trying to get close to her. However, his teammates warn him that she has more going on than it appears. He comes to realize over the course of the arc that there are some things about her he can never truly understand and that it's better to just be there for her. He ends up a better friend to her for it.
Lust Object: While Laurent flirts with all of his teammates, he noticeably favors Makoto. Offhand comments from Abbie and Cynthia (Abbie complaining about having to work with the inexperienced Makoto, then immediately complaining about Laurent's sex-motivated decisions, and Cynthia calling Makoto "[Laurent's] favorite") suggest they believe Laurent's lusting after Makoto, but the show never outright confirms it.
Mandatory Unretirement: After every con, Makoto always attempts to go straight, but he's always roped back in. This is because Laurent's playing the long con, and he's maneuvering Makoto in place to get revenge on Suzaku.
Meaningful Name: His nickname, Edamame. "Edamame" are immature soy beans picked before they're fully ripe, which is fitting with his status as the inexperienced New Meat of the Caper Crew.
Momma's Boy: He loved his mother very much before her passing, and he does not think highly of his father for the way he abandoned her.
Nom de Mom: He uses his mother's family name. While his reasoning is never directly stated, given his father's horribly tarnished reputation, it's not hard to guess why.
Non-Action Guy: He's not much of a fighter, which is fairly realistic since a lot of the time the men he's up against are twice his size and/or have guns.
Notorious Parent: He's the son of a notorious lawyer who used his position to participate in child trafficking. As one might expect, he's rather bitter about it.
Racial Face Blindness: Paroided in universe. He is mistaken for other Asian nationalities for example being mistaken as Chinese by Tom and Korean by his Chinese sushi employer.
Rookie Male, Experienced Female: The Rookie Male to Abigail's Experienced Female. He's the new guy on the team, inexperienced, nervous, and prone to making everything go haywire, and the stoic Abbie is not pleased at having to work with him.
Shipper on Deck: In the third arc, once he realizes that Cynthia and Thomas used to be an item, he's quite clearly gunning for the two of them to patch things up and get back together. They don't get back together, but they do part ways as friends once again.
Sins of the Father: No one wanted to hire him when he was younger due to his father being a notorious criminal. His inability to escape his father's reputation is part of what lead him to resort to conning.
Smart People Wear Glasses: Invoked. Whenever he's playing a "smart" or "sophisticated" role for a con—such as posing as a doctor in the first arc—he dons glasses. They may or may not be Purely Aesthetic Glasses, considering that he's the only member of the team who ever wears specs and sometimes leaves them on when he's not on the job.
Then Let Me Be Evil: Despite the reputation of his father, Makoto tried to live an honest life as a salesman. Unfortunately, the company he worked for committed fraud and nowhere else would hire him due to the criminal charges put on him for his role in it. Eventually, he got so sick of everyone assuming he was a swindler and not giving him a chance that he decided he might as well become a real one.
Trademark Favorite Food: He quite likes his coffee, and is picky about it—he won't drink instant, and he brews it by hand. At the end of the series, Laurent suggests he take this passion to open a cafe. He agrees and starts making plans in the "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue.
Tsurime Eyes: While working for Suzaku, his eyes are drawn narrower and sharper, getting rid of his innocent appearance as his morals become dubious. Luckily, it turns out to just be part of the act and his eyes return to their regular appearance after.
Unabashed B-Movie Fan: Double subverted. When conning Cassano to pay him double for his fake drug, Edamura is seen watching the producer's incredibly lowbrow and cheesy films beforehand to play up his seemingly fake admiration for them in order to butter him up, only to reveal to Laurent and Abbie that he genuinely did enjoy them after the fact.
What the Hell Is That Accent?: In-Universe. He speaks English with an unusual accent that isn't quite Japanese, which Laurent calls a "weird mishmash of dialects." It hints that his father—whom he probably learned English from—had an international, world-touring past.
Wolf in Sheep's Clothing: Downplayed. One of his strengths as a con man is his innocent and sweet demeanor, which he uses to get people to trust him before he cons them. However, he's fundamentally a good person.

Laurent Thierry

Voiced by: Jun'ichi Suwabe (Japanese), Aaron Phillips (English), Stefano Paganini (English, JP Episode 1 only), José Gilberto Vilchis (Latin American Spanish)

An expert con artist, he leads an international ring of confidence men who target villainous people. Charming and flirtatious, fond of both beautiful women and handsome men, and sharp as a tack, he always has a plan up his sleeve.

All Gays are Promiscuous: Implied—he's bisexual, and an incessant flirt. Abbie, at least, insinuates that he's always after sex, but he's never actually shown with any lovers.^note
Becoming the Mask: He warns Makoto not to let his "con personality" overtake his true self, and cryptically alludes to it being "too late" for him personally. He never elaborates on what happened to him. However, in flashbacks, he's shown to be a much nicer, more awkward person—even going by the nickname "Laurie" instead of the more formal "Laurent"—and who notably wanted to escape the criminal life. After his lover Dorothy died, he became a completely different person—implying that his current persona is a mask he created to cope.
Brief Accent Imitation: He's fond of greeting people with Spanish phrases in a bad Spanish accent. He also sometimes slips into a French accent (such as saying "Non, non, non"), but that's more of a reminder that, Translation Convention aside, he's always speaking English with a French accent. The audience just isn't hearing it all the time.
The Chessmaster: He's quite good at creating elaborate plots to trick rich assholes out of their ill-gotten gains. He's not beyond manipulating his own coworkers, either.
Con Man: How he explains his work to Edamame in the second episode.
The Corrupter: He sets up various schemes to draw Edamura into his con jobs. The first time, Edamura was a low level conman to begin with, so it wasn't that much of a change. But the second time, Edamura had just gotten out of a self inflicted 2 year stint in prison and was attempting to go straight before being manipulated into another con of Laurent's. Laurent tries to convince Edamura that being a conman is in his blood. And in season 2, even after Edamura has a heart to heart with him about how he doesn't want to lose who he is through criminal activity, Laurent subtly sets him up to get a job at an establishment that turns out to be human traffickers for another con.
Cunning Linguist: He has a way with languages, being fluent in at least three shown on screen and implied to know more. In fact, his childhood dream was to be a diplomat.
Crusading Widower: His ultimate goal over the entire series was to get revenge on the yakuza members who murdered his lover Dorothy.
Cynicism Catalyst: He Used to Be a Sweet Kid who just wanted to leave the criminal life, get married to his girlfriend, and settle down. Then he watched a mobster gun her down.
Establishing Character Moment: As Makoto angrily shakes him by the collar, he chucklingly tells him to go easy, because "this shirt's expensive."
The Friend Nobody Likes: He's a manipulative jerk who has no problem with screwing with his "friends" just as much as he does with his enemies. The rest of the main cast doesn't exactly appreciate it.
The Gadfly: Freely admits that he enjoys messing with his compatriots just for fun.
Gentleman Thief: Suave, charming and a con artist chasing the thrill of making millions out of awful people.
Gentleman Snarker: He delivers cutting remarks in the same suave tone he says everything else.
Handsome Lech: His compatriots have limited patience with his flirty nature: Abbie complains about him constantly "thinking with the little head between his legs" and refuses to play along with his teasing, while Makoto tends to react very peevishly whenever Laurent starts getting affectionate with him. However, he's not entirely un-chivalrous: He never takes it further than teasing, and Cynthia is shown to tease him right back.
Hawaiian-Shirted Tourist: He first shows up pretending to be a tourist, in a bright pink Hawaiian shirt with purple flowers. He often wears the shirt when he's not working, as well, in fitting with his deceptively laid-back attitude.
Informed Flaw:
- Downplayed. Abbie frequently complains about his inability to control his sexual urges but on-screen he is nothing but a Consummate Professional. At the same time, he's also the member of the group most comfortable with sex, casually having a conversation with Abbie while naked in Singapore, and later complaining when Edamame keeps the group from listening in on the target having sex while in London.
In-Series Nickname: Known as "the blond bastard" to his compatriots.
Insult of Endearment: Despite his reputation for being The Friend Nobody Likes, Cynthia (and occasionally even Makoto) call him "the blond bastard" downright affectionately from time to time.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's a con man who manipulates and deceives everyone around him, including his friends and coworkers. He does, however, stick to stealing only from those who deserve it, and he may or may not be trying to help his friends get over their pasts in each arc.
Karmic Thief: His only targets unpleasant people; his targets include a Hollywood producer who's actually a member of the Mafia and an American Businessman who sexually harassed his female employees and fired them if they rejected his advances. Laurent even covers a bill that Makoto had conned an innocent bystander into paying since the bystander was polite and didn't deserve it.
Lovable Rogue: A career con artist whose favored marks are awful people.
Manipulative Bastard: An expert at manipulating people and getting them exactly where he wants them. Best demonstrated with Makoto Edamura who he conned into becoming his apprentice and by the time he revealed how he did it, Makoto was in too deep to back out. It's also implied that he set off the events of the London scam by getting Edamura into the right place at the right time so that Cynthia could resolve her past issues with her old boyfriend. Cynthia summarily points out that this tendency of his is why he's so unpopular.
Mistaken Nationality: It's revealed in a flashback that he actually comes from Brussels in Belgium, not France. Presumably, he allows people to think he's French because that has more mystique than being Belgian does.
Mooching Master: He happily manipulates Makoto into position for his various con games, and will take advantage of the kid whenever necessary. However, he does seem to truly care about lackeys, Makoto included, deep down.
Nice Mean And In Between: The In-Between to Cynthia's Nice and Abbie's Mean. He's a Jerk with a Heart of Gold who is unafraid to manipulate and mess with his teammates, but who seems to genuinely care about them deep down.
No Sense of Personal Space: He's rather touchy-feely with Makoto, which Makoto gets rather frustrated by.
Outgrowing the Childish Name: He went by "Laurie" when he was younger. In fact, he continued going by "Laurie" until Dorothy's death.
Playful Cat Smile: In the manga adaptation, he's usually depicted with a cat smile in his more devious moments.
Shameless Fanservice Guy: In the second arc, Abbie walks in on him while he's in the shower. He cheerfully starts chatting with her while naked and even invites her to join him.
Sharp-Dressed Man: Rocks a suit. It's even noted that, when he and Edamame are putting on suits before meeting Cassano, he looks genuinely cool while Edamame more resembles "geek chic."
Stepford Snarker: Flashbacks show he used to be a lot sweeter and more vulnerable, even as a con man, before the death of his lover Dorothy. The final arc shows how deeply he's still hurting because of it.
The Tease: Flirts shamelessly with his underlings, his overlings, and even a few of the Victims Of The Week.
Tragic Keepsake: He wears the ring of his deceased lover, Dorothy, on a necklace. In the final episode, he throws it in the ocean to show that he's moved on.
Used to Be a Sweet Kid: His childhood dream was to become a diplomat, but his mother's death got in the way of his studies. He turned to card sharking and later conning after his family lost everything.
Urban Legend Love Life: Despite Abbie's accusations that he's constantly sex-motivated and his ceaseless flirting, he's never actually shown with any lovers other than Dorothy.

Abigail Jones

Abigail "Abbie" Jones

Voiced by: Natsumi Fujiwara (Japanese), Kausar Mohammed (English), Cynthia Chong (Latin American Spanish)

A taciturn Iraq War veteran who acts as Laurent's second-in-command despite being a self-proclaimed lone wolf. Unfriendly and quick to anger, she is nonetheless an excellent actor who uses her good looks to her advantage.

Action Girl: A skilled martial artist.
Adaptational Hairstyle Change: The manga adaptation replaces her Boyish Short Hair with a long ponytail.
Ax-Crazy: In combat, she can get carried away, and she often has a frenzied look in her eyes and sometimes even dons a Slasher Smile. It's been shown even when a job requires her to lose a fight, she has difficulty not losing control and going all out.
Big Eater: Shovels food into her face like it's her final meal when she gets the chance.
Boyish Short Hair: She's shorter, more tomboyish, and more athletic than Cynthia, and fittingly has close-cropped black hair.
Brief Accent Imitation: During the first scheme, while posing as one of Cassano's bimbos, she speaks with a vaguely Hispanic accent, possibly to pose as a Spicy Latina.
Child Soldier: She lost her parents to a bombing as a child in 2003, and couldn't have been much older when she signed up to fight for Iraq against the Western military.
Character Tics: She has a tendency to respond to any orders, or friendly words, with her middle finger.
Dainty Little Ballet Dancers: Downplayed. Abbie was a champion ballet dancer as a child, and what we see of her performances shows that she was indeed cute and dressed in frilly clothing. However, the physically taxing training that comes with that granted her the impressive physical abilities she has today.
Dark and Troubled Past: As a child she was a gold medalist ballet dancer who lost her parents in the 2003 bombing of Baghdad. She later became a Child Soldier until she was badly injured by a grenade during combat.
Death Seeker: Laurent outright admits that Abigail isn't really a Con Man like the rest of the team and is probably only involved in their dangerous lives because she hopes it'll get her killed someday. She may have gotten it under control after the second heist, as she's not as angry and less aloof.
Establishing Character Moment: Steps out of a pool in a bikini and promptly goes Laughing Mad pretending to get high after taking some fake drugs.
Expository Hairstyle Change: Lets her hair grow out before the Snow of London arc, which helps show that she's calmed down. She cuts her hair short again when things start getting serious in the fourth arc.
Fan Disservice: Her bikini-clad introduction is undercut by her trying out a fake drug and pretending to be high with Laughing Mad freaky facial expressions and wild uncanny movements, all the while still wearing her swimsuit, removing a lot of the titillation in the process.
Flipping the Bird: Her favorite gesture, which she uses in response to just about everyone.
Honey Trap: Part of her role during the group's schemes. She's a beautiful young woman who often plays dumb to gain information from their target.
Jerkass: She's fairly abusive toward Edamame during the L.A. scam, talking down to him regarding his inexperience and understanding of their job despite him only being there because Laurent tricked him, and knocking him out after the scam is over rather than explain then and there that her and Laurent's deaths were faked, and Pola was their contact Cynthia all along. This continues into the Singapore arc where she demands Edamame do a test flight with her despite his admitted fear of heights before casually dropping him in the ocean after parachuting out.
Kick Chick: Has extremely strong legs and isn't afraid to use them. Makes sense for a former ballet dancer.
Ms. Fanservice: The first outfit she wears is a red bikini that leaves little to the imagination.
- Also part of her role in the group, with many schemes depending upon her beauty to get close to their targets and learn sensitive information.
Nice Mean And In Between: The Mean to Cynthia's Nice and Laurent's In-Between. She's aggressive and cold, and unafraid to be rude to others.
Obfuscating Stupidity: In the first scheme, she pretends to be one of the many bimbos who hang around Eddie Cassano.
Perpetual Frowner: Given her cold personality and dark past as a former Iraqi child soldier during the War on Terror, she can usually be seen with a frown on her face, that is when she's out of character.
Playing Drunk: Abbie pulls off a rather over the top display of unbridled joy and gymnastics when taking Sakura Magic (which is just some Japanese candy) to sell the fictitious drug's existence to Cassano.
Racial Face Blindness: Apparently can't tell the difference between Japanese and Taiwanese people.
Rookie Male, Experienced Female: The Experienced Female to Makoto's Rookie Male. She pulls off incredible displays of acting, acrobatics, and violence when necessary, and she doesn't like having to babysit the green Edamame.
Show Some Leg: Laurent will deploy Abbie as the sexy distraction if Cynthia isn't already filling this role.
Tomboy and Girly Girl: The hardened Tsundere, Action Girl tomboy to Cynthia's Femme Fatale, Team Mom girly girl.
Took a Level in Kindness: While it would still be hard to call her warm, Singapore seemed to let her resolve some of her issues. By the time of the London scam, she is able to go from meeting Edamame at the airport to getting dinner with him with no worse than maybe a few snide remarks, and only hit him once after he directly insulted her.
Tragic Keepsake: Her bent golden ballet medal.
Tsundere: Is very hostile towards her partners in crime and often tells Edamura to "go die" but does seem to hold genuine care about their wellbeing beneath her tough exterior walls.
You Killed My Father: She has an extremely negative reaction when she realizes Lewis Mueller was in the military, as he was likely one of the pilots who bombed Baghdad in 2003, which resulted in her parents' deaths.

Cynthia Moore (Spoilers)

Cynthia Moore

Voiced by: Mie Sonozaki (Japanese), Laura Post (English)

Another of Laurent's associates, a former stage actress. She projects an air of authority that means she often takes a leadership role during cons, as well as taking advantage of her feminine charms. Off-con, she's a kind and understanding person who looks out for her teammates.

She first appears in the series under the guise of Pola Dickens, an FBI agent trying to capture Laurent. Initially, the audience is lead to believe that she's the show's primary antagonist, until she reveals herself to be a member of the team in Episode 5.

Amicable Exes: With Thomas by the end of the Snow of London arc.
Buxom Beauty Standard: During Singapore Sky, she distracts the crew of an unfortunate pilot with her ample cleavage.
Cynicism Catalyst: Seeing the love of her life lose faith in his art and turn to forgery at the behest of James Coleman played a big role in turning her from a hopeful young actress into a bitter con woman.
Femme Fatale: She's a beautiful con woman who's not afraid to ruin your life if you've wronged her.
Fiery Redhead: She is not usually the temperamental type. If you happen to be the man who corrupted her boyfriend and incited her Cynicism Catalyst, however, let's just say that the results aren't pretty.
Informed Flaw: When Cynthia tries to get closed to and seduce Sam Ibrahim, which eventually fails, he makes many notions to her being a hag including her having an abundance of wrinkles (as well as mentioning he would only date a woman 20 years old and younger of which the audience isn't given any minimum). Due to the way she is drawn there isn't a wrinkle on her in and out of makeup.
Iron Lady: In her Pola Dickens persona, she behaves in an extremely cold and no-nonsense way, to show she won't let her subordinates boss her around.
Lady Drunk: She likes to drink her wine by the bottle. Her alcoholism gets worse during the Snow of London arc, as she's forced to face the heartbreak of her past.
Ms. Fanservice: Cynthia is very beautiful, and the show will use Male Gaze to represent men's attraction to her within the story.
The Muse: She was the muse to an aspiring French painter named Thomas, who painted a whole collection of her.
Nice Mean And In Between: The Nice to Abbie's Mean and Laurent's In-Between. She's nice and understanding and tends towards looking out for the others.
Older Than They Look: She's in her early forties, but looks very youthful. The only person who seems to truly notice her age is Sam Ibrahim, who's a Straw Misogynist and behaves very hatefully towards her for trying to seduce him.
The One That Got Away: She's this to Thomas, and truth be told she never got over him, either.
Show Some Leg: A frequent strategy of hers. She distracts the team of a rival pilot in Singapore Sky with her legs and chest.
Sixth Ranger: Of a sort. While she was technically part of Laurent's team from the beginning, both Makoto and the audience are initially lead to believe that she's an antagonist. She only interacts with Makoto, under the guise of trying to get him to sell out Laurent. However, once she reveals her true colors, she changes up the team dynamic by acting as a cool Team Mom and interacting more directly with the others, acting like a new addition from a storytelling standpoint if not a technical one.
Starving Artist: At one point, she was an aspiring actress living in a run down apartment with her boyfriend Thomas. In hindsight, those were probably the happiest days of her life.
Sympathetic Inspector Antagonist: She starts off playing the role of Pola Dickens, an FBI agent hot on Laurent's trail. Of course, it's all an act, and the two are good friends.
Team Mom: She's the nicest and most supportive member of the team, and she tries her best to be kind to the other members.
Tomboy and Girly Girl: The Femme Fatale, Team Mom girly girl to Abby's hardened Tsundere, Action Girl tomboy.

Shi-won Kim

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

Voiced by: Kujira (Japanese), Karen Huie (English)

The oldest member of Laurent's associates; an elderly Korean confidence woman who's been in the game for decades. Loud, boisterous, and courageous, she's not to be underestimated.

Acrofatic: Despite both her age and her size, she can be surprisingly athletic when the situation calls for it.
Big Fun: She's a rotund older woman, and she has an ebullient attitude.
Cool Old Lady: Smokes, drinks, dyes her hair, wears leather jackets, and is generally the life of the party.
Honey Trap: Was a master of these, and taught Dorothy everything she knows about them.
Meaningful Appearance: She has one above her lip, in fitting with her characterization as a former maneater.
Never Mess with Granny: She's a deft hand with firearms, and is surprisingly athletic when the situation calls for it.
I Was Quite a Looker: She's a former master of seduction, implying that she was quite attractive in her younger years.
Those Two Guys: She and Kudo provide a support role in Laurent's schemes, providing backup while rarely taking the front lines.

Kudo

Voiced by: Yōhei Tadano (Japanese), Mike Pollock (English)

A middle-aged huckster who starts out as Makoto's partner. However, he's later revealed to be one of Laurent's crew. He has an untrustworthy demeanor that tends to give away the fact that he's a con man—but then again, that can have its advantages...

A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing: His initial partnership with Makoto was just a cover to get him into Laurent's crew.
Disappeared Dad: The last episode reveals that he has an estranged daughter who he is forbidden from seeing.
Intergenerational Friendship: He begins the show as Makoto's partner, and the two seem to be good friends even outside of their con work.
Miniature Senior Citizens: He's not that old, but he's the shortest member of the crew.
No Full Name Given: The only name ever given for him is just Kudo.
Those Two Guys: He and Kim Shi-won provide a support role in Laurent's schemes, providing backup while rarely taking the front lines.

Arc-Specific Characters

Los Angeles Connection

Eddie Cassano

Voiced by: Atsushi Ono (Japanese), Fred Tatasciore (English), José Luis Orozco (Latin American Spanish)

A drug kingpin and Hollywood movie producer whom Laurent tries to sell a fake drug called "Sakura Magic."

Asshole Victim: As you would expect from one of Laurent's marks. He's conned out of all his money by bribing an FBI agent who turns out to be Cynthia in disguise. He is then arrested by the real FBI and goes to jail when Salazar turns in evidence against him as part of a plea bargain.
Batter Up!: Viciously beats his own lawyer with a baseball bat at a fancy party he's hosting because he suspects him to have betrayed his organization.
Berserk Button: Although his movies are mostly a legal front for him, he does take legitimate offense when people criticize his movies.
Casting Couch: Implied to be the case with many of the women he sleeps with.
Corrupt Corporate Executive: Uses his producer role as a front to deal drugs, and has the LAPD in his pocket.
Date Rape: He uses drugs on young women to make them "more willing" to have sex with him. Yeah, he's that kind of asshole.
The Don: He's a drug kingpin who produces movies partially as a front, and partially out of genuine love of moviemaking.
Doing It for the Art: In-Universe but Played With. While he unashamedly uses his position as a producer as a cover for his drug empire, deep down inside he genuinely loves the crappy movies he makes, making it possibly his one and only redeeming quality. If Edamame wasn't conning him, the two might've genuinely bonded over that shared love.
Dirty Old Man: Eddie uses his connections to get young women to have sex with him, and he sometimes also gets them high to make them more willing.
Every Man Has His Price: He's used this on the police so often that he thinks he can buy his way out of any run-in he has with the law, up to and including the FBI. Turns out that's what the crew was expecting, and they use this to con him out of all of his money before letting him hand himself over to the actual authorities.
Faux Affably Evil: He's rather kind and charitable to those who are loyal to him, but he'll drop his mask of civility if he believes he's been screwed.
Hate Sink: As is the case with all of the marks. He's a corrupt film producer/mob boss who runs a drug empire, preys on young women, and bribes the police to get away with it.
I Gave My Word The final arc reveals that he at least prioritizes business over things like revenge, which he can't actually profit from. If Makoto makes him an offer, even if it means he's not allowed to kill Laurent, he'll still keep his end of the bargain.
A Lady on Each Arm: He loves to surround himself with beautiful women wherever he goes. Too bad for him that he chose Abby to fill that role.
The Mafia: He's a drug kingpin with ties to organized crime and an Italian last name.
Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: Has the LAPD in his pocket, and has no problem with bribing everybody he needs to stay out of prison.
Took the Bad Film Seriously: In-Universe. Despite most people seeing the Razzie series as corny B-movies that he only produced as a front, Cassano loves the movies he produces.

Detective Anderson

A detective with the LAPD. Thoroughly corrupt, he's taken multiple bribes from Eddie Cassano to keep Eddie out of jail.

Bratty Food Demand: His Establishing Character Moment is him yelling at a fast food worker because he hates pickles and doesn't want any on his burger.
Dirty Cop: An awful human being who willingly takes big bribes to keep a drug dealer out of prison.
Establishing Character Moment: He goes to get lunch for his squad at In-N-Out, and completely berates the poor worker at the window over the mere possibility that there might be pickles on his burger.
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: One of the reasons he's taken such big bribes is so he can afford to send his daughter to a nice university abroad.
Evil Is Petty: He's a racist jerk who is rude to service workers and throws food at his subordinates when he doesn't get his way.

Salazar

Voiced by: Ryota Takeuchi (Japanese), Alain Mesa (English)

Eddie Cassano's bodyguard, who has previous ties to the mob.

Because You Were Nice to Me: Because Makoto tried to save him when the FBI raided Cassano's drug plant, he saves Makoto from being beaten up by Cassano and punches his former boss in the face.
Disneyland Dad: His son Tom is in foster care, and Salazar can only see him on weekends. During the visit we see, he takes Tom to an amusement park.
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He's not quite evil, in no small part because he tries to be better for his son.
Evil Parents Want Good Kids: Once again, not evil, but he most certainly does not want his son to get caught up in his criminal activities.
Hitman with a Heart: He's the bodyguard to a Hollywood drug kingpin who has a less-than-savory past himself, but Makoto is genuinely touched by how much Salazar loves his son and tries to argue on his behalf to the FBI. It's implied he gets off pretty easily as the crew leave him with crucial evidence against Cassano.
Punch-Clock Villain: He knows Makoto is planning something against Cassano, but doesn't act on it because his job is just to protect Cassano against physical threats.
Reformed Criminal: Thanks to the crew handing him evidence that he can use to stay out of jail, Salazar manages to leave crime and start a new life with his son.

Tom

Voiced by: Atsumi Tanezaki (Japanese), Griffin Robert Faulkner (English)

Salazar's son.

Adorably Precocious Child: Innocent, happy-go-lucky and loves his dad.
Morality Pet: For his father, Salazar.

Pola Dickens (MAJOR CASE 1 SPOILERS)

See Cynthia Moore's entry for tropes relating to her Pola Dickens persona.

Singapore Sky

Sam Ibrahim

Voiced by: Fuminori Komatsu (Japanese), Abe Martell (English), Gerardo Reyero (Latin American Spanish)

A disinherited Middle Eastern prince who funds a secretly rigged airplane race in Singapore.

Ephebophile: He is only attracted to girls that are 20 or under. Cynthia believes him to be a pedophile, as a result.
Fat Bastard: When Sam tries to "blend in" at the underground gambling ring, his disguise is a a pot bellid man with large cheeks.
Fixing the Game: Rigs his own airplane races to favor his brother. Laurent uses this to build a fake gambling ring that places bets on his races, tricking Sam into thinking he can bet insane amounts of money at no risk of losing it.
The Gambling Addict: He becomes obsessed with getting into a casino that bets on his races since the races are rigged.
Jerkass: Unlike some of the other marks, Sam doesn't even pretend to be a good person.
Not Distracted by the Sexy: Unfortunately for Cynthia, her seduction tactics won't work on Sam, as his ephebophilia makes him find her advances revolting.
Paper-Thin Disguise: In general, he appears in public wearing a traditional Arabic thawb and keffiyeh. When playing in Laurent's casino while escorted by Edamura, he changes to a simple tourist outfit of a t-shirt and shorts with a baseball cap, but other than a fake gut and stuffing something in his cheeks, changes nothing about himself. Zig-zagged in that everyone in the casino is in on the con and knows it's him anyway.
Smug Snake: He acts like everyone around him is beneath him, especially women. The crew uses his inflated ego to convince him to "cleverly" bet all his money at a fake underground gambling ring.
Straw Misogynist: Has a very low opinion of women, considering any female over twenty to be a "hag" and he constantly dismisses Cynthia's intelligence. Of course, the team outdoes him.

Clark Ibrahim

Voiced by: Chikahiro Kobayashi (Japanese), Ariyan Kassam (English), Eduardo Garza (Latin American Spanish)

Sam's brother, an ace pilot and current champion of the Pathfinder Air Race.

Ace Pilot: Played With. Clark is a genuinely good pilot, but his status as the unbeaten ace of the Pathfinder Air Race is not legitimate, because the races are rigged.
Chivalrous Pervert: His Establishing Character Moment involves him coyly flirting with girls in a pool and offering to share himself "equally among them", to which they happily accept.
Friendly Enemy: Although he willingly participates in rigged airplane races, he's a nice guy who gives his all in every race and bitterly regrets his brother's actions.
Millionaire Playboy: Clark has wealth, status, charisma and is often surrounded by women.
Mr. Fanservice: Clark is handsome and has a well-toned body, and he's frequently shown swimming around his pool in a Speedo.
Nice Guy: Later turns out to be this. The worst thing he's done is go along with his brother's rigging of the races and continue to flirt with Abigail after she didn't show interest.
Ordered to Cheat: Downplayed. He does go along with his brother's rigged races mostly willingly, but he also takes his sport seriously and wants to test himself in real races.
Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Encouraged Lewis to fly against him for real in their races which caused Sam to ensure Lewis' loss by sabotaging his plane.
Worthy Opponent: Clark sees Lewis as this, and regrets that he would never get the chance to race him legitimately after Lewis's Career-Ending Injury.

Lewis Mueller

Lewis "Mad Bull" Mueller

Voiced by: Kenji Nomura (Japanese), Neil Kaplan (English)

A former racer in the Pathfinder Air Race. He was previously a soldier.

Ace Pilot: An amazing pilot and Clark's greatest rival.
Career-Ending Injury: His plane broke down in the middle of a race and he was badly burned and stuck in a wheelchair afterwards.
Death Seeker: After the accident robbed him of his ability to fly, he struggles to find a reason to keep living. He gets better by the end of the arc.
Facial Horror: His face was horrifically burned in the crash.
Friendly Rivalry: Had one with Clark. It was their shared desire to compete in a fair race that wasn't rigged which caused Lewis to cross Sam.
Heel: Lewis played this role for Clark to make the races more exciting, being marketed as the surly villain to Clark's charismatic hero.
Just Following Orders: Tells Abby that his role in the military as a pilot was this. Although this may have been in order to goad her into killing him. See Death Seeker.
Pet the Dog: Whilst he may be brash and short-tempered he also used to donate all the proceeds of his piloting races to humanitarian causes.
Red Baron: Has the moniker of "Mad Bull" when he's racing.
Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: Lewis is badly scarred with a Face of a Thug, while Isabella is a beautiful bombshell of a woman.
Worthy Opponent: He was Clark's destined rival, and Clark deeply regrets his accident as they would never get to race legitimately afterwards.

Isabella Mueller

Voiced by: Mayumi Sako (Japanese), Lipica Shah (English)

Lewis Mueller's wife who cares for him since his injury.

Foolish Husband, Responsible Wife: Keeps a calm and level-head when talking to Team Confidence whilst her husband is much more abrasive.
Happily Married: A fairly realistic version. It's shown that her husband's injury has in fact put a strain on their relationship, especially as he's suffered mentally as well as physically. However, she also clearly loves him and wants to help him through his troubles.
Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: Lewis is badly scarred with a Face of a Thug, while Isabella is a beautiful bombshell of a woman.

Snow of London

James Coleman

Voiced by: Yoshito Yasuhara (Japanese), Trevor Devall (English), Moisés Palacios (Latin American Spanish)

An art auctioneer and critic who uses his status and relationship with a wealthy woman to accrue a personal collection of art.

Asshole Victim: Like every other target, James loses everything when the crew convinces him to buy back an expensive painting for millions right after they gave his lover and financial backer evidence that he was just using her.
Caustic Critic: He won't stop at criticizing art, either – he's introduced to us as he throws a fit about improperly prepared sushi.
The Corrupter: He plays this role for Thomas, convincing him to abandon his dreams as an artist by offering him lots of money to make forgeries.
Dirty Old Man: He's not above leveraging his connections to get the women working under him to have sex with him. He also shamelessly attempts to hit on Abigail, despite the fact that she's much younger than him and is working as his employee.
Evil Brit: British and the con target of the third major arc.
Hypocrite: He boldly enjoys the pomp and circus that comes with his actions, but when he sees other rich people doing the same thing but spending more money than he thinks the art is worth and being a bit more flamboyant he becomes disgusted. He acts disgruntled at these cultureless hoarders, while seemingly forgetting he has an entire room of such paintings, and he doesn't even pay for them out of his own pocket.
Hate Sink: He's a creep and a snob who feels no guilt whatsoever in manipulating others to acquire money and famous paintings before tossing them aside.
Laser-Guided Karma: He is ruined when the same woman he planned to toss aside once she was no longer useful for him beats him to the punch, withdrawing her financial support right after he bought a painting for hundreds of millions of dollars that he'd intended for her to pay.
Manipulative Bastard: He manipulates Thomas, Farrah Brown, and probably many others on his quest to enlarge his private collection of paintings.
Riches to Rags: He's countless millions of dollars in debt thanks to the con.
Red Baron: "007 of the art world," which isn't super scary unless you're a scam artist trying to pass off a counterfeit painting to him.
You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: He fully intends to dump Farrah once she no longer has the money to buy him more paintings.

Thomas Meyer

Voiced by: Daisuke Hirakawa (Japanese), Eric Tiede (English)

A skilled painter. Cynthia's ex-boyfriend from her time in France.

Amicable Exes: In the end, he and Cynthia do not get back together. They do, however, manage to find closure and part on amicable terms.
The Atoner: He spent all of the money he got from forgery buying back the counterfeit paintings he made, and now wants to help take down the crook who first put him up to it.
Fond Memories That Could Have Been: He dumped his fiancee when she confronted him about his turn to forgery, and has regretted that decision ever since his belated realization that she was right.
Jaded Washout: He tossed aside the woman he loved and his integrity as an artist to make a quick buck, and boy does he regret it.
Master Forger: His skill was so good that Coleman used him to create counterfeit paintings of lost masterpieces, which he would then pass off as legitimate.
My God, What Have I Done?: He was fully on board with Coleman's plan to create forgeries of lost paintings until he saw one of his forgeries in a museum, being copied by a child. Guilt suddenly flooded him and he dedicated the remaining years to buying back his fake paintings.
Starving Artist: When they were young he and Cynthia lived in a run down apartment subsisting on beans while they both tried to succeed as a painter and as an actress, respectively.
The One That Got Away: For Cynthia. It's clear from how she kept his sketch of an engagement ring all this time, and her strong reaction to James Coleman, that she hasn't gotten over how things ended. After the case, the two are implied to part on amicable terms.

Wizard of Far East (MAJOR SPOILERS)

Dorothy

Voiced by: Yuka Komatsu (Japanese), Laura Stahl (English)

The former leader of the confidence gang. She recruited a young, down-on-his-luck card shark named Laurent Thierry to her band of conmen in a similar fashion to the way he would later recruit Makoto Edamura—by posing as a victim of one of his attacks while actually scouting him.

Laurent would later fall in love with her, and asked her to marry him so that they could both go straight. However, she wanted to pull off One Last Job first. Unfortunately, she was found out and murdered, and Laurent swore to avenge her murder.

The Ace: She was leader of the gang for a reason—she's an incredibly skilled actress, very good at Honey Traps, and unflinchingly brave.
Early-Bird Cameo: She shows up in the outro in silhouette form. The pink undertones in her hair make it unmistakably her, but her shadowed face means the audience can't tell anything about her from just the outro.
Doorstop Baby: She was left on the doorstep of a church as a baby, and was raised there.
The Lost Lenore: Laurent was madly in love with her, and when he saw her get gunned down in front of him, it drove him to a years-long act of revenge.
Not Quite Dead: Even though she was shot off a boat and never returned, she somehow miraculously survived and turned up in Taiwan. Albeit with her memories gone and her remembering her various fake identities in lieu of her actual one.
One Last Job: Although she agreed to marry Laurent and go straight with him, she wanted to try conning the Suzaku Group first. Unfortunately, that lead to her death.
Only One Name: The only name she ever gives is "Dorothy." Given that she was an orphan raised entirely in foster care, she likely only has the one.
Orphan's Plot Trinket: Her ring, which was left with her when she was left at the door of a church. It later becomes Laurent's Tragic Keepsake.

Seiji Ozaki

Voiced by: Shunsuke Sakuya (Japanese), Kirk Thornton (English)

Makoto's father, a former defense attorney arrested for child trafficking. He's actually a legendary confidence man known as "The Wizard," who specializes in languages. He, along with Dorothy and Shi-won, was one of the original members of the gang—though it's implied that he's still pulling strings for them behind the scenes.

Fall Guy: He willingly took a fall to help conceal Team Confidence's actions.
Good All Along: As it turns out, he did not actually traffic children. In fact this was all part of an elaborate heist to rescue them, set up by Laurent.
Hate Sink: From the beginning of the show, he is set up to be this, considering how he abused his powers as a lawyer to traffic kids, and tarnished Makoto's reputation. This is however subverted big time. Turns out this was part of a heist that went awry, and he was actually planning on rescuing those kids.
In-Series Nickname: Is repeatedly called "Oz" by the rest of the confidence gang.
It Runs in the Family: He was a member of Team Confidence before his son was, and it's possible he recruited him to the team via Laurent. It's left unclear how much of the revenge scheme against Liu Xiao was his idea and how much was Laurent's.
The Man Behind the Man: It's implied that he masterminded a fair portion of the revenge scheme against Liu Xiao and Suzaku, and may or may not have been pulling more strings than those.
Taking the Heat: He made himself a visible target for law enforcement and got himself arrested so that the rest of Team Confidence's actions wouldn't be noticed.

Akemi Suzaku

Voiced by: Gara Takashima (Japanese), Sachiyo K. (English)

The head of the Suzaku Company and organized crime group.

The Baroness: The Rosa Klebb version, though she doesn't really show any sadistic tendencies; she's all business.
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: She seems to genuinely care for Makoto, viewing him as a surrogate son.
Iron Lady: Has the loyalty and respect of her subordinates (though the only one we see with any lines is Ishigami).
Like a Son to Me: She favors Makoto because he reminds her of her estranged son.
The Queenpin: She's led the Suzaku crime group since her husband died.
Silk Hiding Steel: She projects a calm, graceful air, but is very powerful and unflappable.
Would Hurt a Child: Her yakuza group is involved in human trafficking of children from third-world countries.
Yamato Nadeshiko: Always wears a formal kimono and is certainly not a pushover.

Characters / Great Pretender

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