Main Characters | Defense Force Unit | Kaiju
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Defense Force Unit
Commanders
Isao Shinomiya
- Isao: Precedent? Precedents are meaningless in the name of this nation's defense.
The chief of the Defense Force and Kikoru's father.
- Big Ol' Eyebrows: They look like flames.
- Brutal Honesty: Does not hold back on the truth with Kafka or Kikoru.
- Establishing Character Moment: We first see him in a flashback, undermining Kikoru's accomplishments in school and showing himself as an overbearing father.
- Feeling Their Age: In battle against Kaiju No. 9, he realizes he's gotten weaker since his heyday.
- Fighting from the Inside: Attempted. After being absorbed by No. 9, whats left of his consciousness tries to fight against it but ultimately he simply fades away.
- General Ripper: He's the chief of the Defense Force and wants to exterminate any Kaiju, even if his daughter claims that Kaiju No. 8 is not malevolent. Subverted, to an extent, with him giving Kafka a chance to prove he can control himself and pushing for sparing him after (although his given reasons are pragmatic in nature).
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: Played with. He has a large, V-shaped scar on his forehead that emphasizes his Perpetual Frowner personality and makes him look even more stern than he already is, but Isao is still unambiguously on the side of good.
- "It" Is Dehumanizing: Initially refers to Kafka as 'Kaiju No. 8', due to him no longer being biologically human. Even after he calls Kafka by name, he still calls him a Kaiju. And since, by that point, Kafka's heart has been replaced by a core, Isao is technically right.
- Parents as People: Flashbacks indicate Isao didn't take his wife's death any better than Kikoru did and his pushing Kikoru to be perfect was him trying to prevent her from meeting a similar fate. He regrets not being more of a father to her while fighting Kaiju No. 9.
- Power Fist: Fights using a pair of gauntlets that belonged to Kaiju No. 2. They allow him to create devastating sonic booms for maximum damage.
- Secret Test of Character: Kikoru realizes that Isao is purposely fighting Kafka in his Monster No. 8 form to give him a chance to prove if he could control himself, as he simply could have finished him off while he was a human.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Downplayed. He's incredibly cold, and he can come off as callous in his treatment of his daughter and Kafka, but he genuinely wants to defend humanity and seeks the best possible way to do so.
- You Killed My Father: His hatred of Kaiju comes from the death of his wife.
Keiji Itami
The deputy director who later became chief of the Defense Force after Isao Shinomiya.
- Bald of Authority: Is a high ranking officer with no hair.
- Time to Step Up, Commander: Became the new chief after Isao be came unable to continue his duties.
First Unit
Captain and Vice-Captain
Gen Narumi
The captain of the first division.
- Affectionate Nick Name: Kikoru (privately) refers to him as "Master Moron". After she successfully eliminates Kaiju 15, she has the galls to actually call him that to his face, but instead of offending him, it makes him burst out laughing and prompts him to stop holding back against the Kaiju he's currently fighting.
- Always Someone Better: In the present day, Narumi is a One-Man Army and hands-down the most powerful fighter in the entire Defence Force, right up there with Mina Ashiro, Hoshina and Kikoru. When he was still in training however, no matter how hard he tried, he never managed to impress his master, much to his frustration. Of course, said master was Commander Isao Shinomiya, so it's not like it really was a skill issue on Narumi's part.
- Brilliant, but Lazy: Despite being the captain of the Defense Force's stronger division, Narumi is a lazy bum who would rather spend all his time playing video games and buy online merchandises when he's not fighting monsters.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: He's a shut-in gamer who treats his office like an apartment to decorate with his games and merch. But the end of Chapter 39 shows that when he means business, he can single-handedly take down a Kaiju without breaking a sweat, and he's considered the strongest captain in the Japan Defense Force.
- Exotic Eye Designs: When he gets serious in a fight, his irises form vaguely cross-shaped designs in them which, combined with his hair being spiked up in said state, make him resemble a completely different person than his usual slacker self. It turns out to be a side-effect of his other personal weapon- RT-0001- made from Monster #1's Retina, granting him X-ray vision to easily locate a monster's core in battle.
- Half-Human Hybrid: Chapter 47 reveals that his eyes have been outfitted with RT-0001, Japan's oldest numbers weapon from Monster #1, granting him x-ray vision in combat, and technically making him a partial monster.
Hasegawa Eiji
The vice-captain of the first division.
- Bald Head of Toughness: He is bald and, while we don't see much of it, he must be an impressive fighter for being the vice-captain of the strongest divison.
- Bald of Authority: He is bald and, as the vice-captain of the first division, he is the one who commands the divison around to let Narumi focus his killing the monsters.
- Cloudcuckoolander's Minder: He gets often annoying by Narumi's unprofessionalism and he is the one who tries to make him behave.
- Rugged Scar: His multiple scars on his face, notably one over his right eye, give him an intimidating appearence.
Other Members
Second Unit
Members of the Second Unit, of the Kanazawa BaseCaptain and Vice-Captain
Jura Igarashi
Captain of the Second Division.
Other Members
Third Unit
Captain and Vice-Captain
Mina Ashiro
See her entry under "Main Characters" on the series' character page
Hoshina Soushiro
Voiced by: Kengo Kawanishi (Japanese), Landon McDonald (English)
Vice Commander to Mina.
- Eyes Always Shut: He is often drawn with his eyes closed to underline his playful nature. He opens them up when he is a serious or shocked, like at the climax of Chapter 19, just before he powers up.
- Blood Knight: Subverted; despite the fact that, as the Defense Force's swords specialist, Hoshina has the most physical, violent fighting style, he's also a stoic tactician. Then Double Subverted as of Chapter 92, when Hoshina finally admits to himself that the reason why he never gave up on using swords (despite being told multiple times that relying on blades is going to get himself killed, to the point even his more skilled brother switched to firearms when he joined the Defense Force) is simply because "swingin' a blade is fun". This realization allows him to fully synchronize with Weapon!Kaiju No. 10 (himself a massive Blood Knight), reaching 100% efficiency with his suit and providing him and No. 10 with a much-needed Heroic Second Wind.
- Heroes Prefer Swords: His generic suit power output (92%) is insufficient for high-caliber weapons, so he sticks to twin katanas. As a result, he can't help much against giant Kaiju, but he can easily take medium and small monsters to pieces.
- Hour of Power: He can only draw out the full power of his suit for a limited amount of time before it overheats. It is implied that all Kaiju Defense Corp Captains and their respective Vice-Captains are like this, and so, to prevent their bodies from suffering so much strain, severe limiters are placed upon the suits they wear and they must request special permission to mission control before proceeding to undo those restrictions so they can fight at full power against the strongest of Kaiju.
- Hunter of Monsters: He's a member of a clan of monster subjugators that can be traced back to the 14th century.
- I Am Not Left-Handed: When facing Kaiju #12 proves difficult to defeat with dual blades, he changes to single sword style iaijutsu which is his older brother's specialty. When that gets upended, he triple wields with him holding two katana in his hands and the third sword being held by Weapon #10's tail as well as using a move he only had theoretically conceived into reality.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He doesn't mince words and can be kind of a dick towards Kafka at times, but he still makes it clear that he does have faith in him and encourages him to give it his all. Kafka himself acknowledged it in Chapter 65, after Hoshina makes it clear that he has a lot of respect for Kafka's selfless decision to out himself as Kaiju 8 to the entire Defense Force in order to save his unit from a yonju bomb, and voices concern about Kafka progressively turning into a Kaiju as a result of his repeated transformations. When Kafka makes it clear that he's going to keep fighting as No. 8 to protect those he cares about no matter the price, Hoshina offers to train him in order to make him a better fighter, both as a human and as No. 8.
- Keeping the Enemy Close: The reason why he took Kafka as a cadet, which is granted because as his Captain's second, Hoshina has the authority to take in under his wing even those who sub-performed during the recruitment process. He noticed that Kafka's vitals vanished when the Kaiju signature of an even stronger entity appeared during the entrance exam, and he's decided to keep a close eye on the man.
- Let's Get Dangerous!: When he confronts Kaiju #8 in Chapter 19, Kafka notes that he's only ever seen Hoshina smiling happily until now, and is shocked by his speed and efficiency in combat. And that's before Hoshina stops holding back.
- Logical Weakness: The entire reason he's poor against larger Kaiju is because his swords don't cut all the way through their bodies, being too short. This ends up being a big problem when a humanoid Kaiju turns into a massive one mid-fight, dwarfing Hoshina himself.
- The Rival: Turns out he's more than a little miffed about Kafka's declared intentions of being by Mina's side, seeing him as The Starscream who wants to take the Vice Commander position from him.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: While it may be a bit early to tell for sure, as of Chapter 74, it appears that Hoshina is developping this kind of relationship with Weapon!Kaiju No. 10 of all things.
Other Members
Haruichi Izumo
Voiced by: Keisuke Koumoto (Japanese), Howard Wang (English)
A top-class graduate of Tokyo Subjugation University and heir of Izumo Tech, a company that makes anti-monster weapons.- Flat Character: Just like Aoi, he gets significantly less "screen time" than other recruits such as Reno or Iharu, and lacks development as a result.
- Nice Guy: He used his wealth to throw a big, expensive feast to celebrate Reno and Iharu's return from the hospital following their encounter with Number 9. How expensive ? It involved wagyu beef of such quality that it literally surpassed what is actually possible in Real Life.
- Non-Idle Rich: He's the heir to the anti-monster weapon manufacturer company Izumo Tech and a member of the Defense Force.
Iharu Furuhashi
Voiced by: Yūki Shin (Japanese), Ben Stegmair (English)
A super talented top graduate of Hachiouji Subjugation High School.
- Death or Glory Attack: As revealed in Chapter 102, he can't draw much power out of his suit, averaging in the low 20%. However, he has a unusual brain structure that allows him to draw short bursts of massive power out of his suit (going as high as a whopping 88%, which is noted to be Commander-class power level), meaning that, while he is weak compared to other recruits, he can turn the tide in battle by exploiting those bursts of power to unleash an absolutely devastating attack at the right time.
- Delinquent Hair: His hair is a spiky pompadour.
- Hero-Worshipper: He looks up to Ashiro, who saved him in middle school, and is trying to follow in her footsteps.
- Manly Tears: He cries when Kaiju nº 9 is about to kill Ichikawa, desperately praying that something saves him despite the fact that Kaiju #9's finger gun is aimed for Iharu and not Ichikawa.Furuhashi: Please God. No. I don't care if it's a demon or a devil. Leno... Please save my friend.
- The Rival: He very quickly becomes one to Ichikawa as they butt heads. But with Ichikawa keeping to himself, not to mention keeping Kafka's Kaiju secret just between them and Shinomiya, said rivalry is mostly one-sided.
- Scary Teeth: He inexplicably has pointy teeth. Nobody ever comments on it or even draws attention to it.
- Unknown Rival: They might butt heads but more often than not, Ichikawa is too busy trying to make sure Kafka doesn't accidentally out himself as Kaiju No. 8 to notice Furuhashi's attempts at competition.
- Shotguns Are Just Better: As of Chapter 102, his weapon of choice is revealed to be a pump-action shotgun.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: In Chapter 67, as Kafka is voicing his concerns that his teammates would see him as a threat and an enemy after he outed himself as Kaiju #8 in front of the whole base, Furuhashi chimes in to point out that, while Kafka's Kaiju powers are indeed terrifying, it doesn't magically erases the fact that he's been fighting on their side this whole time and put himself in danger to save them all from the Yonju bomb, to say nothing of the fact that Kafka had already saved Iharu and Reno's life earlier during their first encounter with Number 9. Iharu then proceeds to chew Kafka out for even considering the idea that his own friends would see him as an enemy in the first place.
Aoi Kaguragi
Voiced by: Shunsuke Takeuchi (Japanese), Jonah Scott (English)
- Ambiguously Brown: He has darker skin than the other members. It isn't explained whether it is a tan or if it is natural.
- Flat Character: Just like Haruichi, he gets significantly less "screen time" than other recruits such as Reno or Iharu, and lacks development as a result.
- Hunk: As expected of a former military man, he is in tip-top shape, and one look at his torso quickly ends the other male recruits' comparison of their muscles, with Furuhashi and Ichikawa calling themselves "beansprout boys" compared to him.
Hakua Igarashi
The little sister of Jura Igarashi.
Nakanoshima
A platoon leader.
- All Women Are Lustful: Is attracted to Haruichi and Aoi for their looks and seriously considers putting them in her platoon for primarily that reason.
Bakko
Mina's pet tiger.
- The Four Gods: It is styled and named after Byakko/Báihǔ, the white tiger.
- Great White Feline
- Healing Factor: It can quickly heal itself and grow lost limbs if lost. #9 describes it as having "failed to become a monster" .
Fourth Unit
Members of the Second Unit, of the Matsumoto BaseCaptain and Vice-Captain
Jugo Ogata
The captain of the fourth division.
- My Greatest Failure: Encouraging his friend Hikari to use the No. 4 weapon, leading to her death while fighting No. 6, is something he deeply regrets. This leads to him having reservations about using Numbers weapons.
