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    "Gearless" Joe/Junk Dog/Nomad 

"Gearless" Joe/Junk Dog/"Nomad"

Voiced by: Yoshimasa Hosoya (Japanese), Kaiji Tang (English), Arturo Cataño (Latin American Spanish)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gearless_joe_anime.png
They don't make tombstones for stray dogs.

A man with no real name past his ring name, he scraped off a living by throwing fights in the underground Megalo Box matches... a fact which frustrated him to no end, which he expressed in destructive behavior.


  • Adaptational Nice Guy: Junk Dog is a Yabuki Joe analog from Champion Joe, but needless to say, while he shares many of his attributes, he lacks the original's sexism and general nasty attitude. This is also exemplified in their respective Animal Motifs: Joe was associated with bulls due to his anger issues, while Junk Dog is associated with stray dogs.
  • Addled Addict: Picks up a painkiller addiction sometime during the Time Skip between the first season and the second. The painkillers are shown to give him the shakes and affects his boxing ability.
  • Ambiguous Disorder: He has shown signs that he is emotionally unstable, as he often nearly drives his motorcycle off a cliff due to the mental struggles he has due to the frustration of throwing fights and being looked down upon by others.
  • "Angry Black Man" Stereotype: While whether or not he is black isn't clear, he's at least coded black — he sports a large, almost afro-like hairstyle, has darker skin than most of the characters and is from a crime-infested ghetto fond of rap. He also hates authority and the Shirato corporation, especially Yukiko when he thinks she's taking pity on him. He grows out of it eventually, with his disdain for the Shirato corporation and Yukiko being dropped after a few episodes.
  • Animal Motifs: He embodies the toughness, ferocity, and freedom of a stray dog: he's an amazing boxer, but he also tends to disobey Nanbu's orders to throw a fight.
  • The Atoner: Nomad's story in season 2 is mostly made up of him realizing how he's messed up in the years since season 1 and trying to make up for his neglect.
  • Badass Biker: Joe drives (recklessly) a sweet motorcycle at extremely high speeds to get around. He often crashes said bike.
  • Badass Normal: His "Gearless" gimmick on the way to Megalonia. He has to contend with boxers with vastly enhanced strength and speed with nothing but his own power, durability, and determination. In Megalonia, he tries fighting with Gear on, but it breaks down during the fight. He still manages to defeat Glen Burroughs without it, proving that he's really that tough.
  • Beard of Sorrow: By the start of season 2, Joe is at his lowest, back to fighting in underground rings for money after having won the championship in the previous season. He's also addicted to painkillers. Suitably, he has a rather full beard. Incidentally, it also helps him hide his identity as Nomad, since Gearless Joe is an international icon. He shaves it off after deciding to help Chief, indicating his Character Development.
  • Berserk Button: He absolutely hates fixed fights and taking dives for other's benefits which drives him to rebel against the underground ring and leave it behind.
  • Blood Knight: His defining trait is his love for a good fight. In fact, his drive to fight Yuri boils down to him wanting to see if he'd survive the challenge.
    • It becomes problematic in his fight with Mac when he goes back to his old ways, purposefully taking hits for the thrill of the fight like he did in his prime, despite the much greater danger that poses to him by that point. It takes Sachio throwing in the towel to save him from possible injury.
  • Charles Atlas Superpower: Joe withstands punches from boxers not only above his weight, but also having their punches immensely enhanced by machinery, with zero protection and somehow still stands.
  • Color Motif: Associated with the colour red, both in his red boxing gloves, red after-trails on his eyes and fists, and his tendency to bleed all over the place.
  • Counter-Attack: Joe's trademark is to get in one good shot while the opponent is attacking him, which is what wins him most of his matches.
  • Covered with Scars: Has several scars on his whole body. Makes sense, given how he's a boxer fighting against enemies with super-powered punches.
    • He gets even more scars in the second season, due to returning to the underground scene again after the events of season 1.
  • Death Seeker: A recurring element of his characterization is that Joe has a self-destructive streak partly brought about by self-loathing. In the first season this is mostly seen in how he seems to get off on the pain of boxing and crashing his bike deliberately, but he seems to grow out of it as he finds his place in Megalonia. However, in season 2, Nanbu basically spells it out that Joe (or "Nomad") wants to kill himself with extra steps for what happened five years ago.
  • Determinator: As Nanbu points out, Junk Dog will not give up. In season 2, Liu points out that during his exile, Nomad gave up on life but still didn't give up boxing.
  • Distinguishing Mark: While he's Covered with Scars, the one most featured is the J-shaped one on his left cheek that he receives from Yuri at the start of the series.
  • Drives Like Crazy: He puts himself in real danger through reckless driving to cool off from fixed matches. Once he fights Yuri for real, he finds that doesn't do it for him any more.
  • Dub Name Change: In the Latin American Spanish dub, he is named as "Perro Callejero" (literally, "Street/Stray Dog"). Likewise, "Gearless" Joe is translated as "Joe el Limpio" (Joe The Clean One) as in the sense he is clean of any kind of Gear.
  • Freak Out: During his fight with Shark Samejima. After a single blow from his opponent lays him out flat, he succumbs to fear for the first time and ends up on the ropes for the majority of the fight.
  • From Nobody to Nightmare: He was almost literally a nobody (no social security number and apparently not even a name) in the world of underground boxing before blazing through the Megalonia championship to earn himself a spot as one of the most promising fighters of the championship.
  • Foil:
    • To Yuri. Both are very good boxers who have the talent to become the best at what they do and do not care about many other economic or business affairs thus being marked as rebellious only caring about finding a strong opponent with the heart of a fighter and having the thrill of a good fight. As much as they are similar in terms of personality they do have their differences as Yuri is very cordial and proper, but Joe is often times rough around the edges and has a bit of a temper when angered though he's also nice around others. However their main differences are mostly their fighting capabilities, as Joe had never really been formally trained and relying on his own natural skill he had probably learned from the countless underground matches that are fit to beat street brawlers. Whereas Yuri is seen in a boxing gym in his past where he's probably had been perfectly trained and groomed with his skill to defeat other boxers who have similar attributes as he does. Joe is also seen as the underdog as he doesn't fight using gear as it is basically a piece of scrap metal that doesn't really do him any good when it comes to real matches. Yuri on the other hand is seen as the top dog with his highly advanced gear to where it had to be implanted into his arms and causes him to basically do many incredible abilities that normal boxers cannot do.
    • He could also be considered one to Aragaki as both of them are heavily scarred fighters with a very tan skin tone as well as having similar voice tones with similar green jackets and they both have been trained by Coach Nanbu, meaning they have the same training methods engraved into their fighting style but still being very different as Joe is gearless and Aragaki has a very light gear which makes him a bit stronger than Joe. However both reacting to Nanbu's actions are completely different, Aragaki acted as if Nanbu betrayed him when the latter thought he had died during a war which was highly irrational but understandable since Nanbu was the only person he thought who cared for him and seeks to take his vengeance out on his top fighter for it, though he later drops this attitude as he realizes that it wasn't his fault. Though when it comes to Joe actually being betrayed by Nanbu who went behind his back to save his skin from Fujimaki who was going to profit off of Joe's loss in his next fight which was planned to be rigged, but in this situation Joe is very upset and goes back to his old ways of riding his motorcycle toward a cliff and this time it seems he's screaming in frustration seemingly doing it on purpose. It's only when Nanbu sacrificed his other eye and told Joe to when the fight he respected him again.
  • Heroic RRoD:
    • After his match with Sachio in Nomad, his old painkiller addiction catches up to him and causes him to collapse.
    • He ends up collapsing again during his match with Mac after an uppercut nearly gets him. Thankfully, Sachio helps him get back up by getting him to re-focus.
  • A Hero to His Hometown: The people from the ghetto he lived in are shown to absolutely worship him (getting tattoos and making rap songs based on him) once he makes a name for himself in Megalo Boxing.
  • Homeless Hero: He appears to just crash by in the houses of friends and supporters. Notably, when Megalonia starts, he sleeps in Nanbu's trailer.
  • Hot-Blooded: He is very enthusiastic where boxing is concerned, as shown when he gets excited whenever he's faced with an opportunity to fight. He is also very open about his emotions and isn't afraid to express them when he feels it's necessary. He also becomes necessarily hot-headed whenever someone makes him angry by pushing any of his buttons.
  • Important Haircut: For his match against Mac, he cuts his overgrown hair back to the style it was in the first season.
    • He also shaves his beard in episode 3, signifying his change in mindset and character.
  • I Shall Taunt You: Good at bluffs and button-pressing, as he demonstrates against Aragaki and Mikio.
  • Jobber: Before deciding to rebel and fight for himself, his role was to provide convincing but rigged matches that he'd always lose.
  • Leitmotif: A kickass synthetic beat that also serves as the show's main theme. This is also his entrance music as a professional boxer (as shown here), making it a In-Universe case as well.
  • Lightning Bruiser: His boxing style consists of a combination of using his lightning speed to dodge and counter with extremely powerful punches, though he's also extremely resilient.
  • Living Legend: Becomes one at the end of season 1, and is one throughout season 2. He's even referenced as such throughout season 2, being called "The Legendary Boxer" and "Legend".
  • Made of Iron: Joe regularly suffers wounds brutal enough to cripple most real life boxers but keeps on going by sheer force of will. By Season 2, this lifestyle has begun to [[take its toll, with Nomad suffering from headaches and nausea and having become addicted to painkillers. It's revealed near the end that he's starting to develop Punch Drunk Syndrome, forcing him to pick between final retirement or the likelihood of a death in the ring.
  • Meaningful Name:
    • His actual name, Junk Dog. This symbolizes his nature for being a stray dog with nowhere to go and his will to fight to survive. It could also represent his gear that he wears as it's been compared to a piece of scrap metal.
    • Joe as a character comes to represent the average man and those not in power, against the wealthy and influential, such as Fujimaki and Yukiko.
    • "Gearless" often represents his ability to fight in the ring without the usage of gear or any technological advancements.
  • Meaningful Rename:
    • He changes his name to Joe as a representation of being your average "joe" joining a tournament only meant for the best and defeats any obstacles in his path proving even a normal boxer can take out those with overpowered gear. This further proves his "Gearless" gimmick where he fights without the usage of gear and manages to win.
    • In the second season, his boxing name becomes "Nomad", a wandering boxer with a Mysterious Past who wanders from ring to ring and fighting in fair fights until the local bookmakers get enough of his winning streak.
  • Memetic Badass: In-Universe, Joe quickly gains traction as being the only Gearless boxer. This combined with his Working-Class Hero image due to coming from the slums makes him into something of a living legend with others from the ghetto.
  • Not Afraid to Die: Similarly to a certain famous anime character with the same hairdo, Junk Dog is defined by his complete nonchalance towards death and being hurt. His entrance video on Megalonia calls him "Fearless!".
  • Rebellious Spirit: Part of his main animal motif of a stray dog is that he rejects all norms placed on him by simply being frustrated from being quiet and doing what he's told. Which causes him to go on his journey to fight Yuri.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: He is the rebellious and hot blooded red oni to Yuri's demeaning and stoic blue oni. Especially when the two have two Color Motifs on the opposite of the color spectrum.
  • Retired Badass: Joe retires after his match with Yuri, leaving the title of champion vacant.
  • Shout-Out: His name, "Gearless" Joe, is more than likely a direct allusion to "Shoeless" Joe Jackson, a legendary baseball player.
  • Spared by the Adaptation: He doesn't die in the iconic manner his counterpart does, living after his fight with Yuri.
    • Joe also lives at the end of season 2, not dying like his counterpart.
  • Tall, Dark, and Handsome: I mean, just look at him. 5'11", tan skin with black hair, and good looking to boot.
  • Underestimating Badassery: Back in the underground boxing, everyone thought he was just a regular Jobber until he flipped the script and decided to start winning. When he's in Megalonia, most opponents tend to underestimate him because he doesn't use Gear.
  • Weak, but Skilled: As a Megalo Boxer, "Gearless" Joe being... well, Gearless, means he can't rely on a Power Fist to aid his strength and makes him dependent on his own heavy slugging blows to deal damage as well as his combinations being relied on counters and swift parrying. On the plus side, he has incredible stamina from drawing out (fixed) boxing matches and doesn't have to wait on the Gear's response time when attacking or blocking.
  • Working-Class Hero: In contrast to most other Boxers we meet in the series, Joe comes from the absolute gutter (to the point he doesn't even have a social security number or even a real name). His ring entrance video even refers to him as "The Man from Wilderness".
  • Work Off the Debt: Joe is indebted to the Mob (much like Nanbu) in a vicious cycle (i.e the only way to pay off previous debt is by getting more in-debt).
  • Worthy Opponent: Considers Yuri one almost from the get-go and spends the entire show trying to earn the same distinction from him. He also expresses similar thoughts against Aragaki and considers it a shame he didn't get to legitimately KO him.

    Nanbu 

Gansaku Nanbu

Voiced by: Shirou Saitou (Japanese), Jason Marnocha (English), Humberto Vélez (Latin American Spanish)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nanbu_gansaku_anime.png
I'll show you exactly what we frauds can do!

Junk Dog's trainer, fixer and longtime partner, who arranges the fights Junk Dog fights in and takes marching orders concerning their outcome.


  • Accent Adaptation: In the Latin American Spanish dub, he speaks with a very thick Mexico City accent, in a way to depict his lower-class origins.
  • Adaptational Nice Guy: He's essentially Danpei from Tomorrow's Joe, but without the rep of alcoholism and abusiveness towards his charges in the boxing league. The ease with which he's able to enter Joe into the official rankings suggests he still has rep in the boxing world and the only person with ill will towards him is Aragaki.
  • Adaptational Villainy: On the flip side he's also a more selfish and morally grey person who uses Junk Dog/Joe for his own ends and has to be forced into taking their game to the pro level. He ultimately redeems himself, but at the cost of his remaining eye.
  • Animal Motifs: Fujimaki likens him to a scorpion and even tells him the story in episode 10.
  • Character Development: His arc involves regaining faith in boxing (and subsequently, in himself and in Joe) after having hit rock bottom.
  • Despair Event Horizon: When we first meet him, he's a drunk fraud who rigs fights. But we later see he used to be a fairly prosperous coach, before his prized pupil seemingly died in a battle. It's strongly implied one thing led to the other. Luckily, Joe snaps him out of it over the course of the show.
  • Eyepatch of Power: Like Danpei, he is missing an eye, but he's still a good boxing coach and able to give Joe practice in the ring.
  • Eye Scream: Lost an eye to settle a debt to Fukimaki. He ends up gouging out the other one himself in order to allow Joe to fight for real instead of throwing the match.
  • Handicapped Badass: It's actually very surprising that he still manages to be highly effective boxing coach with an eye missing, given that this would take away his depth perception (a crucial factor in boxing). Even going completely blind doesn't stop him from hearing Joe isn't distributing his weight properly and calling him out on it.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: It's a running point of discussion if Nanbu would sacrifice himself for Joe or if he's just in it for himself. Ultimately, he rips out his own eye (becoming completely blind) just to save Joe.
  • Failed a Spot Check: Apparently never noticed that his former star pupil was currently sitting in the top 20 boxing rankings. Sachio calls him out on it in episode 5.
  • Fatal Flaw: His carefulness and tendency to give up. He ends up butting heads with Joe repeatedly over when to fold them, considering the latter's Determinator attitude. This leads him to punch out Joe in episode 7, causing him to forfeit his match rather than risk having Joe's forged ID found out.
  • Guile Hero: Nanbu is highly cunning and perceptive when both when it comes to boxing strategy and when it comes to actual PR and social relations.
  • Heel Realization: Much of Nanbu's character growth comes through realizing he's wronged people and trying to make what amends he can for it. He manages to somewhat mend fences with Aragaki, and ultimately sacrifices himself to let Joe off the hook.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He may act grumpy and overbearing towards his charges, but he's also shown to care genuinely about them.
  • The Mentor: To Joe, obviously, and previously to Aragaki.
  • My Greatest Failure: When he believed Aragaki had died in the war, Nanbu fell into a deep depression and closed his gym. Realizing that Aragaki was alive all this time and he never tried to find out makes Nanbu feel deeply guilty about it.
  • Retired Badass: It's strongly implied Nanbu used to be a boxer just like his Tomorrow's Joe counterpart, and he clearly still has enough athleticism to be one Hell of a trainer. Best shown when he is able to fight and take down several of Fujimaki's bodyguards (who are far younger and fitter than him).
  • Sir Swearsalot: He is especially more foul-mouthed in the Latin American Spanish dub, when he swears at any chance he had.
  • The Social Expert: He has shown a ability to read everyone around him like a book, being able to masterfully play the PR game to get Joe to the top rankings and also easily play on Yukio's emotions when the time comes.
  • Spirit Advisor: In the second season he serves as this for Nomad, giving voice to Nomad's inner self-loathing and survivor's guilt.
  • Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome: Died of Cancer in the years between season one and two. The circumstances of his death, and Joe attempting to raise money for his treatment, ultimately led to the circumstances that tore Team Nowhere apart.
  • The Strategist: As Joe's cornerman, he is often analyzing the fight strategically and suggests tactical choices to Joe.
  • Team Dad: For Team Nowhere.

    Sachio 

Sachio

Voiced by: Michiyo Murase (Japanese), Erica Mendez (English, young) Clifford Chapin (English, old), Leslie Gil (Latin American Spanish, young), Ricardo Mendoza Jr. (Latin American Spanish, old)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sachio_anime.png
I'm not some kid who can't pull his own weight...

A street kid and leader of a small gang of orphans, who is also a Megalo Boxing fan. He is hired by Joe and Nanbu as assistant coach for the team.


  • Adaptational Expansion: In a way. In Champion Joe, Sachi and the street kids served the purpose of showing Jerkass Joe's nicer side as his Morality Pet, but were still secondary characters, filler episodes notwithstanding. Sachio, on the other hand, is the third member of Team Nowhere, making him also a Composite Character, taking Nishi's role.
  • The Artful Dodger: Seems to have no problems being a street rat.
  • Be Careful What You Wish For: After Nanbu's death, Sachio, blaming Joe for not being there when he died, told Joe at the funeral to leave and never come back, which in his guilt, Joe did. It's Implied when he reveals this to the others that he considers it My Greatest Faliure.
  • Because You Were Nice to Me: Starts hanging around Team Nowhere after Joe steps in to save him from a drug dealer.
  • Berserk Button: Stay away from his hat, because it contains a photo of his family.
  • Broken Pedestal: In season 2, Joe abandoning Team Nowhere has made Sachio and the other orphans despise him. Sachio ends up beating up Nomad when he returns to the city.
  • But Now I Must Go: At the end of NOMAD, he leaves so he can learn more skills and become a mechanic.
  • Composite Character: Sachio is Sachi, the most relevant of the street kids who follow Joe around, combined with Nishi, the third member of Joe's group in Champion Joe.
  • Curb-Stomp Battle: Suffers these a lot in NOMAD in his failing Megalo Boxing career, but his most prominent would have to be against Joe as part of a bet about whether Joe would leave for good or whether Sachio would leave the ring, where Joe beats him with ease and scores a TKO in moments.
  • Defeat Means Friendship: Downplayed. After the above-mentioned Curb-Stomp Battle, he states that he doesn't and may never forgive Joe fighting Liu and leaving five years ago, but he's at least willing to try and reconcile and act as his cornerman for his match against Mac, even showing concern for his safety by stating that if the match looks like it's going south he'll throw in the towel, no exceptions.
  • Didn't Think This Through: A problem that presents itself in Nomad. It's revealed that at Nanbu's funeral, he told an already guilt-ridden Joe to leave and never come back, which Joe ended up doing. In the present, this is a recurring issue of his, with him persisting in working as a Megalo Boxer despite his clear disadvantage in strength and skill, and just generally doing things without considering the consequences, such as when he attacked one of Fujimaki's goons after he comes onto Oicha and insults him, leading to them stealing the deed to Bonjiri's restaurant and wrecking it in retaliation.
  • The Engineer: Like his father, he's evidently a skilled gear engineer, but is at most able to give Joe, who fights Gearless, information about his opponent's gear. After he quits being a Megalo Boxer, he is able to put his skills to use modifying Chief's gear to suit Joe's build and style.
  • Gender Flip: To Sachi.
  • The Heart: His main skill is in getting Nanbu and Joe to cooperate by not being afraid to call both of them out on their crap.
  • Know When to Fold 'Em: He throws in the towel in the middle of Joe's match with Mac.
  • Mouthy Kid: Just like Nanbu, Sachio is also especially foul-mouthed in the Latin American Spanish dub, which is especially unusual there.note 
  • My Greatest Failure: Despite his Jerkass behaviour towards Joe, he does actually feel guilty for pushing him into leaving at Nanbu's funeral. The others note that this is possibly why he took up Megalo Boxing in the first place; he didn't want to cause anyone else to leave, so he tried to become like Joe and provide for everyone.
  • Never My Fault In Nomad, he's arguably the most aggressive and vindictive of Joe, outright assaulting him and responding caustically to any of Joe's attempts to reconcile, despite the fact that he's arguably just as responsible for Joe leaving after Nanbu's death. He falls back into this even after confessing to the others that he told him to leave, which Santa pokes fun at him for.
  • "Not So Different" Remark: Has a minor breakdown over the fact that he's just been using Joe for revenge much as Nanbu has been using him to clear his debts. He gets over it in time to tell Joe to stop trying to match-fix.
  • Revenge: The Shirato corporation stole his father's designs and killed him. He sees helping Joe win Megalonia and humiliate the corporation as a way of getting revenge.
  • Spanner in the Works: Fujimaki might have pulled off his gambit in episode 11 if Sachio hadn't showed up and encouraged Joe to win his match.
  • Street Urchin: At first, but he wasn't this. He used to be from a wealthy family until the Shirato Corporation stole his father's Megalobox designs and had him killed.
  • Tagalong Kid: To Team Nowhere, though he turns out to be a skilled motivator and surprisingly knowledgeable about Megalo Boxing.
  • Took a Level in Badass: Episode 9 of Nomad cuts him a break and shows him winning a match, with implications that he's been getting better and better.

Shirato Corporation

    Yuri 

Yuri

Voiced by: Hiroki Yasumoto (Japanese), Lex Lang (English), Jose Arenas (Latin American Spanish)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/yuri_anime.png
I'll grant that request of yours... And show you real Megalo Boxing.

The Shirato Group's champion Megalo boxer. Currently rated first in the ranking system, and therefore the favourite to win the four-man Megalonia tournament.


  • The Ace: Lays out Junk Dog in less than three minutes in their first match, and is repeatedly touted as the finest boxer in the tournament, which he lives up to when he, while barely functioning due to removing his gear, fights Joe again and it is clearly the toughest fight of Joe's life.
  • Animal Motifs: While Joe is likened to stray dogs, Yuri is likened to a pure-breed silver dog he owns. Much like a purebred, he's been groomed to be the best Megalo Boxer ever, and he's also obedient to the will of the Shirato corporation just like a well-trained dog. Yet, as his dog shows in the second episode in a subtle bit of Foreshadowing, even a trained dog can want the freedom to exert themselves, which Yuri proves when he fights Junk Dog without his Gear on his personal terms.
  • Awesomeness by Analysis: He's able to read Junk Dog instantly, basically letting him see through all of the latter's moves. He's able to tell Joe is in a fixed match in episode 11 just from seeing the first round.
  • Blood Knight: Like Joe, in the end what he wants the most is a good fight. When Pepe Iglesias actually managed to land a punch on him, Yuri's reaction is to smile.
  • Body Horror: After having his Gear removed for his match with Joe, his arms and shoulders are covered in raw pink tissue where his Gear interfaced with his body.
  • Boring, but Practical: One of his nicknames is "Mr. Classic", and his fighting style is considered orthodox by Megalonia's commentators. Considering he's undefeated, this doesn't lessen his effectiveness any.
  • Brought Down to Badass: After using Shirato's integrated Gear for most of the series, he elects to have it surgically removed so he can fight Joe on equal footing. He is no less skilled a boxer without his Gear, and his final fight with Joe is a match for the ages.
  • Color Motif: Purple. It's the color of his eyes, his boxing gloves and his prosthetics glow purple.
  • The Champion: Yuri (aside from being an actual undisputed champion in boxing terms) stands as the champion for Yukiko, dedicating himself entirely to her and her objectives.
  • Cyborg: Uses a Shirato top-of-the-line integrated gear built into his arms and shoulders. The very reason for Megalonia is so essentially so he can show off and be an exhibition for the technology.
  • Defeat Means Friendship: In the epilogue, it's shown that he and Joe have become friends in the year since the championship fight.
    • In season 2, Yuri ends up becoming Nomad's coach for his final match, though he makes it clear he's mostly doing it because Liu asked him to.
  • Expy: Out of all the characters, he is the most similar to his inspiration, being a clear analog of Toru Rikishii from Champion Joe, with the only differences being him being foreign instead of Japanese, and never considered a criminal (as Rikishii and Joe met in jail). He shares the character acting too, and exactly like Rikishii he handicaps himself before his fight against Joe.
  • Foil: Despite his cold and aloof demeanor in contrast to Joe's more scrappy behavior, they're ultimately very similar. Joe is from the ghetto and has to work with what little he has and against his environment, which he still is proud of nonetheless. Yuri is upper class and is handed help all the time, but he holds no attachment to any of it, only to Yukiko herself. In their final fight, Joe has taken on the hopes and dreams of everyone who's helped him along the way, from the ghetto to the veterans, while Yuri has abandoned everything from the upper class, from Yukiko to even the name of the company itself on his clothes.
  • Grin of Audacity: It's very rare, but he cracks an almost-imperceptible grin in moments of some semblance of tension to him, usually when facing Joe.
  • Handicapped Badass: In real life, physically punishing sports such as boxing can leave athletes with lifelong physical health problems. His second fight with Joe leaves him physically disabled and confined to a wheelchair.
  • Honor Before Reason: He becomes so obsessed with finally fighting a worthy opponent that he sacrifices his career, his physical comfort, and his mobility.
  • Kubrick Stare: Does this when he gets serious, complete with camera close-up.
  • I Owe You My Life: It hasn't been explained in-depth what he means by it, but he tells Joe his loyalty to Yukiko stems from her "saving his life" when he needed it most. While recuperating, Yuri admits to Yukiko that she gave him a reason to live.
  • Leitmotif: An In-Universe and out of universe one. He has a bone-chilling heavily synthetic song that is used for dramatic scenes featuring him and in his entrance video during boxing matches.
  • Let's Get Dangerous!: Both with Joe and Pepe Iglesias, he at first plays the fight more calmly. When his opponent lands a solid hit or comes close to it, Yuri suddenly switches into high-gear and proceeds to unleash Hell.
  • Lightning Bruiser: He has no real 'gimmick' to his boxing besides being just plain good in every category. He's able to win matches with the first blow that lands, blocks blows from both Joe and Pepe with little reaction, and that's on the off-chance someone gets through his guard in the first place.
  • Macho Masochism: After having his Gear removed, Yuri is in excruciating pain for days. He refuses the painkiller that Mikio offers because, by his logic, if he can't handle his post-surgery pain, he won't be able to handle the pain of fighting Joe.
  • Made of Iron: Even de-Geared and suffering from an autoimmune reaction to his surgery, he goes 13 rounds with Joe and survives. Subverted in that the ordeal leaves him physically disabled.
  • My Greatest Failure: In season 2, He admits to feeling some measure of guilt for letting Liu fight Joe five years ago, feeling that he pretty much forced Joe to fight after he was leaving the world behind.
  • No Celebrities Were Harmed: He was likely based partly on boxing heavyweight legend Wladimir Klitshiko. Besides a remarkable physical resemblance, both are cold, cerebral boxers noted for their more stoic behavior and ability to deliver sudden K.Os who reign as undisputed champions.
  • Purple Is Powerful: Yuri's Color Motif is purple, from his boxing gloves to his eyes, as befitting of his Red Baron "King of Kings" as boxing royalty.
  • The Quiet One: While he does talk (usually with Joe or Yukiko), he's still rather terse and laconic.
  • Red Baron: His ring name is "King of Kings", though it's never used outside of official announcements.
  • The Rival: To Junk Dog, though somewhat one-sided at first as Yuri starts out at number one and Junk Dog can't even enter the Megalobox rankings due to a lack of citizenship, but Yuri starts to respect him once he sees him in action. He's also a rival to "Ace" Murata, who seeks to prove his type of Gear is better than Yuri's.
  • Signature Move: His right hook, which is lampshaded in the flashback he meets Yukiko. It scores him a victory by KO against Junk Dog and Pepe, but Joe survives it in their final match.
  • Spared by the Adaptation: Unlike Rikishii, he lives after his fight with Joe, but is left crippled.
  • The Stoic: He's never shown to lose his temper or even get upset during the show, much like Yukiko. At best, you'll see him smirk in particularly dramatic moments.
  • Undying Loyalty: He is loyal to a fault to his master Yukiko. Subverted in the end when he chooses to de-Gear after Yukiko has fulfilled her contract, seeing a proper match against Joe as more important.
  • Worf Had the Flu: It's pretty clear that the act of removing his gear heavily affected his second fight with Joe, given that he can barely stand and it ends up crippling him. It's unclear if Joe would have won if Yuri had been given time to recover.
  • Worthy Opponent: Despite calling Junk Dog a "stray" in their first encounter he seems genuinely happy that Joe went to all that effort for a proper rematch.
    Yuri: The man who taught me Megalo Boxing told me something. "If you're lucky enough to run into a fighter in your generation whom you want to win against, from the bottom of your heart, consider yourself blessed. If you ever find someone like that, never let him out of your sight." I've finally met the opponent he was talking about.
  • You Remind Me of X: It's Implied that he took on Liu because he reminded him of Joe. It's seemingly confirmed when Liu requests Yuri to support Joe in his match with Mac, causing Yuri to flashback to his first meetings with the both of them.

    Yukiko 

Yukiko Shirato

Voiced by: Nanako Mori (Japanese), Erika Harlacher (English), Claudia Contreras (Latin American Spanish)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/yukiko_shirato_anime.png
Who is the true champion? That will be revealed in the ring of Megalonia.

CEO of the Shirato Group, who runs the Megalobox system and organized the Megalonia tournament, and also manufactures the Gears used by many of its boxers.


  • Affectionate Nickname: Yuri calls her "owner", which she doesn't seem to mind.
  • And the Adventure Continues: The Stinger reveals she re-starts Megalonia in search of a new champion after Joe and Yuri's retirements. Come season 2, it's become popular enough to keep going without Shirato backing.
  • Foil: In season 2, to Sakuma. Yukiko is practical-minded and mostly concerned with keeping Shirato afloat financially, but she has clear limits on what she's willing to do and insists on trying to stay above-board. Sakuma, by contrast, is a visionary with a goal to use his technology to better the world, and in the process takes several ethical shortcuts and refuses to consider the downsides to his technology.
  • But Now I Must Go: After exposing Sakuma and getting her company the rights to BES, she resigns from her position and hands it to her second-in-command.
  • Friend to All Children: Despite her cold CEO persona she's shown to be very open and friendly to children, including Sachio.
  • Honest Corporate Executive: Yukiko is ruthless in her business, but she seems to abhor foul play of any kind — when she learns that research for her Gear was attained illegally and through violence, leaving an orphaned Sachio behind, she has the people responsible "dealt with". She also sees Gear as the way to the future and wants to be a part of making a better tomorrow but is against the idea that it is purely a weapon.
  • Ice Queen: She is very cold and detached with people when business dealings are concerned. However, when it comes to her personal life, she's actually a lot warmer than most would think.
  • I Have No Son!: Disowns both Yuri and Mikio in episode 12 by telling them they're no longer part of Shirato, though it's done in a way that makes clear it's not done out of malice, but respect, given that Mikio already gave up his claim when he lost to Joe and Yuri actively wanted to fight on his own.
  • Iron Lady: She runs a tight ship in her company, letting no one stand in her way.
  • Noble Demon: Brutal in her CEO dealings and has very limited interest in using her technology to better the world, but still has a integrity of her own. Despite having created Gear for a military contract, by season 2 she now limits her company's dealings to Gear for civilian, sport or medical use.
  • Non-Idle Rich: Yukiko is a very active businesswoman and inventor.
  • Pet the Dog: She comforts Yuri while he is in excruciating pain after having his Gear removed. She touches his head and hand and offers to take him back "home" to Shirato to have his Gear reattached. She's also very openly affectionate with any children, even Sachio, who does not make it easy for her.
  • The Proud Elite: Extremely proud of her company, and her main drive is to enhance that company's status.
  • Rich Bitch: Downplayed but still present. While Yukiko is not a bad person, she is still very classist and sneering towards the poor.
  • Screw the Rules, I Make Them!: Quotes the trope name more or less verbatim (if more politely) in episode 8 when she decides on the fly to let Joe have a shot at fighting Mikio.
  • Secret-Keeper: She discovers Joe's ID is faked in the penultimate episode, but decides not to do anything about it.
  • The Stoic: She is cold and hardly emotes, having the attitude of a proper businesswoman. The military officials even comment that she doesn't even flinch when they try to surprise her with the news that Yuri is fighting in Megalonia without his gear and seemingly try to use this as a bargaining chip.
  • The Spock: She views Megalonia as a PR stunt for Shirato Gear and genuinely can't understand Joe and Yuri's Blood Knight natures. Thus, Yuri removing his Gear or Joe fighting his way to the finals with a forged ID with no financial motive are actions that make no sense to her.
  • You Have Failed Me: In something of a Pet the Dog moment, when Yukiko discovers the 'irregularities' behind Sachio's father and his subsequent death she orders everyone associated with the project 'dealt with'.
  • You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: A relatively non-malicious example but Yukiko decides to cut off ties with Yuri after he has his gear removed. The entire reason Yukiko held the Megalonia tournament in the first place was to market the utility of the gears and since she was still able to successfully sell them, she decided not to pull the plug on the now gearless final match.

    Mikio 

Mikio Shirato

Voiced by: Tatsuhisa Suzuki (Japanese), Robbie Daymond (English), Carlos Luyando (Latin American Spanish)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mikio_shirato_anime.png
Megalonia is no place for stray dogs.

Yukiko's brother and current rival for the leadership of the Shirato Group. Also a professional boxer in the Megalobox system, where he is ranked eighth.


  • Ace Custom: Boxes using a custom-built Gear with an experimental AI called "Ace" inside, which he improves on after every match.
  • Achilles' Heel: Mikio relies on "Ace" to the degree that he's practically one with his AI. Joe exploits this by refusing to take a stance during round 4, leaving "Ace" with no input and forcing Mikio to take over.
  • A.I. Breaker: When Joe drops his guard and stops reacting, "Ace" is left so confused that it's unable to function, becoming an impediment rather than an asset.
  • Animal Motifs: Notable as the main aversion, being the only boxer in the story who is not associated with an animal. After all, he's not a real boxer at all, but an Engineer.
  • Awesomeness by Analysis: The crux of his boxing style: "Ace" predicts the opposition's moves and lets him respond a millisecond faster than other Gear-using boxers could.
  • Badass Bookworm: He's a brilliant engineer first and a professional boxer second.
  • Cain and Abel: While both him and his sister are very ruthless, Mikio is by the most malevolent.
  • Cassandra Truth: In season 2, Mikio is the first person to notice the potentially harmful side-effects of BES and publishes an editorial on it in a scientific magazine. While Yukiko and, eventually, Mac's family believes him, he's otherwise dismissed as a crackpot or driven by envy and ignored.
  • Determinator: All qualities aside, he is extremely driven in his goals, which is where he finds common ground with Joe.
  • Evil Counterpart: If his sister is a brilliant, ruthless and aloof businesswoman with a moral backbone, Mikio is all that except almost completely amoral.
  • The Engineer: Developed his own Gear and constantly improves on it.
  • Fatal Flaw: His overconfidence and over-reliance in his own technology is his central problem. When he finally realizes that he has to make his own decision with his final attack, Joe sees through it.
  • Foil:
    • He's shown to be one to Yuri: Mikio emphasises the 'Gear' in 'Gear-equipped boxer', while Yuri emphasises the 'boxer'. To Yuri, the Gear is a tool to aid the boxer and what counts is that the one wearing is 'the real deal', while to Mikio the Gear is a part of the boxer, including in decision-making.
    • Serves as another to Joe. Whereas Joe has no Gear at all and gets by purely on his own skill, earned everything he has and would have it no other way, and cares very little about class (his hate for the upper class goes away after about three episodes), Mikio heavily relies on AI to fight for him and was handed almost everything he has — the one thing he didn't get, the Shirato corporation itself, is something he feels wholly entitled to and being passed over for it he sees as a slight against him, and is the most classist character in the entire series.
  • Fragile Speedster: Due his A.I predicting the movements of his opponents, he's effectively untouchable and hits flurries of punches with impunity as a result, but he doesn't pack a particularly strong punch or show any particular resilience. Indeed, all it takes is one well-placed uppercut by Joe and he's down for good.
  • Graceful Loser: For all of his Smug Snake demeanor, he actually takes his loss to Joe really gracefully.
  • Heel–Face Turn:
    • Returns in episode 12, where he helps Yuri and even establishes something of a rapport with him. In his own words, he's 'slowly rebuilding'.
    • He shows up in season two as the first person to notice what the implants are doing to Mac. Even when Yukiko mentions how his thesis on the flaws of BES may serve to embarrass him more than anything, he admits to not caring since he learned what happens when he lets his pride get the better on him after his match with Joe.
  • Hidden Depths: While we first see his character as a cold-hearted and ruthless man, we eventually learn more about what makes him tick and his own sense of morality like a legitimate desire to win.
  • Important Haircut: After losing to Joe and leaving Shirato, the next time we see him, his hair is noticeably shorter and his personality has changed to be a lot more mellow and humble.
  • It's Personal: While he has business motivations for wanting to defeat Yuri, as it would demonstrate his gear as being superior and thus encourage the Shirato board to give him the CEO position, right before his fight with Joe, we learn taht there's another reason — he feels betrayed that Yuri chose Yukiko over him.
  • Powers Do the Fighting: His gear does the fighting for him. Of course, his high-end gear and its AI are the product of his own genius, so the point can be argued.
  • The Proud Elite: Wealthy, haughty, cold and dismissive of others.
  • Red Baron: His ring name is "The Fighting Engineer". He's often called "Ace" as well (the name of his AI).
  • The Resenter: Is driven almost entirely by resentment over his sister's success in Shirato outweighing his and being passed over for the position of CEO.
  • The Rival: To Yukiko. His AI-equipped Gear was proposed as an alternative to Yukiko's integrated model, and he was the other main candidate to become CEO of the Shirato Group. By proxy, he also rivals Yuri since both of them are boxers claiming to have "the perfect Gear".
  • Smug Snake: Smug and dismissive of those who oppose him, and not below using methods like blackmail to climb the rankings.
  • The Unfavorite: He was passed over for the leadership of Shirato (which instead went to his sister), causing his resentment.
  • The Unfettered: Mikio wants to succeed, and he doesn't care if he has to stoop very low or even go against his own sister if he has to.
  • We Used to Be Friends: Heavily implied to have been close with Yuri. We see him and Yuri almost get into a fight when he feels betrayed that Yuri chose Yukiko over him, and he's the first person Yuri goes to when wanting to have his gear removed, and Mikio helps him with this despite having absolutely no reason to.
  • Weaksauce Weakness: How do you defeat an AI that can learn and counter all of your moves? By doing absolutely nothing for several rounds, giving it no input to analyze and effectively turning the extremely advanced Gear into a hunk of metal weighing Mikio down.
  • Weak, but Skilled: Mikio's entire strategy is relying on ACE to make sure he is unable to be hit. With it, he is a very skilled fighter who can counteract any attack thrown at him. However, it only takes one good hit to the jaw from a rather weakened Joe to knock him out entirely, winning Joe the match.

Megalo City Veterans' Association

    Aragaki 

Tatsumi Leonard Aragaki

Voiced by: Makoto Tamura (Japanese), Greg Chun (English), Arturo Mercado Jr. (Latin American Spanish)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aragaki_anime.png
It's time for you to pay your portion of the debt for the things I've lost.

Once Nanbu's star boxing student, Aragaki went off to war and lost both of his legs below the knee in an IED blast. When he returned to Megalo city and found Nanbu's gym shuttered, he felt abandoned by the teacher who assumed he was dead and never tried to confirm it. Aragaki started boxing for a veteran's association using leg prosthetics. He is ranked seventeenth in the Megalobox ranking.


  • Achilles' Heel: His issues with Nanbu leaves him very conflicted and open to psychological attack by Joe. Also, his legs are about to give out on him, meaning he can't keep boxing for much longer.
  • Artificial Limbs: Wears metal prosthetics below his knees to replace his lost legs.
  • Animal Motifs: Butterflies, as seen below. His boxing style involves a lot of the 'float like a butterfly' aspect of boxing.
  • Butterfly of Death and Rebirth: Hallucinated one as he lay dying from the IED, and later had one tattooed on his chest as a reminder.
  • Career-Ending Injury: Subverted. He lost his legs, but was able to keep boxing thanks to leg prostetics. Double subverted, as it is revealed boxing is too much stress on the prostetics and he risks permanently being unable to walk if he keeps it up.
  • Composite Character: Of two Tomorrow's Joe characters, combining Danpei's former student (and source of My Greatest Failure) with one of Joe's opponents. Ultimately he's more a foil to both, however.
  • Defeat Means Friendship: Holds no ill will towards Joe or Nanbu after forfeiting, and is seen cheering Joe's victory over Mikio with the rest of his team. We even see that during the years between season 1 and season 2, he became a member of Team Nowhere.
  • Good Scars, Evil Scars: Half his face is scar tissue, and he's presented as a conflicted person.
  • Handicapped Badass: Ranked seventeenth despite his handicap, and considered a good shot for the fourth slot of Megalonia.
  • Foil: Serves as one to Kim Yong-bi from Tomorrow's Joe. Both are skilled boxers and Shell Shocked Veterans whose lives were ruined by war, but Kim is a Jerkass The Stoic who looks down at boxing as a game after his wartime experiences, while Aragaki is a decent man consumed by revenge whose life was literally saved by being able to box again. Kim gets a karmic defeat courtesy of his Joe, while Aragaki manages to let go of his grudges and willingly forfeits.
  • Game-Breaking Injury: His legs give in halfway through round 4, which would have made him unable to continue even if he hadn't willingly forfeited. When Nanbu meets him after the match, the rims of his prosthetics are covered in blood.
  • Graceful Loser: Forfeits the match after the fourth round, because he's been able to work out his issues and his legs were giving out anyway.
  • Lightning Bruiser: He's as fast as Joe and almost as good at taking hits, with incredible reach and dexterity. His main weakness is that the prosthetics limit the weight and power of his Gear, making him only about as strong as a non-geared boxer. And also that his knees are about to give out on him because of the strain boxing puts on his legs.
  • Pet the Dog: In Nomad, he was ready to kick Joe's ass when he saw him again, but held off upon noticing that someone (Sachio) got to him first.
  • Pocket Protector: A somewhat dark example. Nanbu gave him a (losing) gambling ticket before he shipped out (Nanbu had hoped to win money for a farewell dinner with it), joking that maybe it would stop a bullet. The ticket fell out of Aragaki's jacket as he was about to kill himself, causing him to break down and be unable to go through with it.
  • Red Baron: His ring name is "Stayin' Alive", which like Yuri's is only used in In-Universe promotional material.
  • Revenge by Proxy: Tries to get revenge on Nanbu by pulverizing his student in the ring. Joe has to point out to him that he's actually fighting him, not Nanbu.
  • Shell-Shocked Veteran: Still suffers nightmares. Being able to box seems to be his main way of coping.

    Miyagi 

Miyagi

Voiced by: Youhei Tadano (Japanese), Jake Eberle (English), Armando Rendiz (Latin American Spanish)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/miyagi_anime_9.png
You need to leave the past in the past.

A war veteran and the main trainer in the veterans association. Most notably, he coaches Aragaki.


  • Artificial Limbs: His right hand is robotic, with the implication he lost it in a war.
  • Cool Old Guy: Genuinely cares about his student and is not afraid to call him on his outbursts. It's implied he helps train war veterans as boxers as a way of lowering suicide rates.
  • Foil: Like Aragaki is a foil to Kim-Jong Bi, Miyagi is a foil to the Colonel who trains Kim. Instead of pushing Kim over the edge by focusing on winning, Miyagi guides Aragaki into retiring with grace.
  • No Celebrities Were Harmed: Has an uncanny resemblance to Jacques Costeau of all people, complete with a woollen hat.
  • What the Hell, Hero?: Gives a very subdued one to Nanbu when he tells him a single phone call to confirm Aragaki's death could have avoided all the sorrow the two have been through since.

Megaloboxers (season one)

    Burroughs 

Glen "Bloody Lion" Burroughs

Voiced by: Matt P (Japanese), Paul St. Peter (English), Enrique Cervantes (Latin American Spanish)note 

An American Megaloboxer, third in the rankings and the third boxer picked to fight in Megalonia.


  • Animal Motifs: Obviously, lions. Fitting the association, he has the ferocious power of a lion and the pride associated with "the kings of the jungle".
  • Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: He's a highly talented boxer, but also very cocky and treats everyone with some disdain.
  • Badass Boast: "I will smash you into junk, together with your sleazy gear." True to his word, his punches quickly start shattering Joe's gear.
  • The Berserker: Burroughs batters his opponents with neverending violence but relatively little strategy (which makes him prey for Joe's counter-punching).
  • The Brute: You don't get a nickname like "Bloody Lion" for being soft. Burroughs honors his cognomen by being brute strength personified in and out of the ring.
  • Color Motif: Most of his character is associated with yellow or gold, resembling a lion's mane.
  • Eagleland: He enters the ring on the back of a monster truck, for Pete's sake.
  • Hot-Blooded: Burroughs is quite aggressive both in fighting style and personality.
  • Hot Blooded Sideburns: Has a distinctive pair of sideburns and is by far the most aggressive fighter in Megalonia.
  • Leitmotif: His theme (as shown in his ring entrance video) is a brutal guitar riff alongside bestial howls and roars, suiting his violent nature.
  • Mighty Glacier: He's a heavyweight, which is considered a handicap in Megalo boxing because Power Fists lets lighter, faster boxers punch way above their weight class. In his bout against Joe, he seems to No-Sell most punches Joe throw his way, while he clobbers him strongly enough to shatter steel, but Joe is clearly far quicker and more agile.
  • Muscles Are Meaningful: Burroughs is clearly muscled enough to be a heavyweight fighter and has the strength to match.
  • Overshadowed by Awesome: The announcement of his entry into Megalonia gets overshadowed by Joe's latest victory, and the story treats him mostly as a side character at best. He's also never shown as a serious danger to Joe, with Fujimaki's desire to fix the match being treated as the real obstacle of their fight.
  • Phenotype Stereotype: Blond, blue-eyed and towers over the other boxers.
  • Red Baron: His ring name is "Bloody Lion" for his offensive fighting style.
  • Smug Super: Big, almost absurdly strong, and also quite arrogant.

    Iglesias 

Pepe "Spider" Iglesias

Voiced by: Alejandro Saab (English), Beto Castillo (Latin American Spanish)

A Mexican Megaloboxer, second in the rankings and the second dead-lock for the Megalonia after Yuri. He's matched against Yuri in the semi-finals.


  • Animal Motifs: Spiders, evidently. The commentators explain (just as he's showing us) that Pepe fights with flexible movements and using unexpected angles to trap his opponents, thus being likened to a "spider's web".
  • Badass Boast: "¡Te voy a matar, campeón!" ("I'm gonna kill you, champion!"), to Yuri. Yuri proves him very wrong.
  • Calacas: Uses Mexican sugar skulls/Calacas prominently in the shoulder pads of his Gear. He uses them even more extensively in his entrance, in which he walks to the ring with a Calaca mask followed by a Calaca parade.
  • Cheshire Cat Grin: Pepe smirks like he knows something you don't.
  • Curb Stomp Cushion: He's defeated early in the second round of his bout with Yuri after a powerful hook. However, beforehand, he did manage to put Yuri on the ropes and land a solid punch on him.
  • Dance Battler: Uses long reach and a high-energy fighting style to leave his opponents guessing.
  • Dashing Hispanic: He's very suave and witty.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Has a bit of fun and snark at Joe and Yuri.
  • Dreadlock Warrior: Wears his dreadlocks in a bun, and is quite a fearsome boxer.
  • Fragile Speedster: Relies on not being hit in the first place, as Yuri demonstrates.
  • Gratuitous Spanish: Speaks entirely in (surprisingly accurate) Spanish.
  • Leitmotif: Like all other fighters, he has his own theme (shown in his entrance music video) in the form of a snazzy trumpet number that perfectly represents him.
  • Masked Luchador: He's a boxer, not a luchador, but he pays homage to the Mexican luchador by wearing a luchador-like outfit (namely a mask) in his entrance to the ring (he removes it for the fight).
  • Misplaced Accent: Despite being evidently Mexican, he has a Spanish accent. For obvious reasons, this was fixed in the Latin American Spanish dub, as it was done in Mexico.
  • No Celebrities Were Harmed: Pepe is probably inspired by MMA legend Anderson "Spider" Silva. Besides sharing a nickname, both are dark-skinned Latino (Silva is Brazilian while Pepe is Mexican) fighters known for a Dance Battler style to dodge everything and then destroy their opponents with unpredictable attacks from odd angles.
  • Perpetual Smiler: Always sporting a cocky grin. The only moment he's not smiling is when Yuri knocks him out cold.
  • Phenotype Stereotype: Notably the only dark-skinned character of the main cast and the only Latino.
  • Red Baron: His ring name is "Spider" for his flexibility and tendency to attack from unexpected angles.
  • Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs: His fighting style relies on lightning-fast jabs and punches.
  • Sharp-Dressed Man: Outside of the ring Pepe is shown wearing a very dapper suit. He also wears a very nice coat in his ring entrance.
  • Sneaky Spider: His fighting style relies on tricking and misleading his opponents, and his showboating personality lends itself nicely to that. And he has a spider theme.
  • The Worf Effect: Despite being the second-ranked boxer he's defeated by KO in the second round just to show off how badass Yuri is, and his defeat is little more than a subplot of the episode he appears in.

    Samejima 

Shark "Maneater" Samejima

Voiced by: Shinnosuke Ogami (Japanese), Tommy Modano (English), Ismael Verástegui (Latin American Spanish)

A professional Megaloboxer ranked 186th in the Megalobox rankings, way below his actual skill level due to fighting dirty. Joe's first opponent in the Megaloboxing rankings.


  • Animal Motifs: Sharks, in case it wasn't obvious from his name.
    • On a less (internationally) obvious note, Samejima (鮫島) is also an actual Japanese surname, literally meaning "shark island".
  • The Cameo: Shows up in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment on a televised match in Nomad, still a professional megaloboxer.
  • Dick Dastardly Stops to Cheat: The reason for his low ranking is that he constantly uses illegal blows even when he could win fairly, causing him to often be forced to forfeit matches. He even gets one unsportsmanlike shot in at Joe during their match.
  • Glass Cannon: Spends three rounds pounding on Joe before the latter manages to get over his fear, at which point Samejima goes down to a single counter.
  • Hair-Trigger Temper: Extremely short-tempered and spends the entire match on the offensive. Joe's usage of lighthearted footwork in the third round triggers this hard enough for him to attack recklessly and leave him wide open.
  • Starter Villain: He's essentially a way for Joe to cut his teeth on fighting gearless in a professional setting.

The Casa

    Chief 

"Chief"

Voiced by: Miou Tanaka (Japanese), Chris Guerrero (English), Ulises Maynardo Zavala (Spanish)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/chief3_nomad_anime.png
This is to survive. There's nothing embarrasing about surviving.

A wandering musician and Megaloboxer fighting in unranked matches outside of the City. Used to be a former pro boxer and is the unofficial leader of a group of illegal immigrants called "The Casa". Nomad's first opponent in the second season.


  • Animal Motifs: Hummingbirds, which he has painted on the shoulders of his Gear. Nomad sees them move during their opening match, and keeps the painted ones on after he inherits the Gear as a memento of Chief.
  • Berserk Button: It's downplayed due to his easygoing nature, but Chief gets genuinely angry when people are openly racist to his face.
  • Cavalier Competitor: He gets on Nomad's nerves for being so chipper and cavalier about the fight.
  • Cool Old Guy: His age is never stated outright, but he's at least a generation older than Nomad and his hair is starting to go grey.
  • Dreadlock Warrior: Wears dreadlocks and is a skilled boxer, at least for an unranked provincial.
  • Drink-Based Characterization: Shows off his tough guy credentials by ordering rum spiced with Tabasco sauce.
  • Face: Part of his boxing gimmick is engaging with the audience and sweet-talking them between rounds, making them more eager to bet on him.
  • Fake Ultimate Hero: His story about being a former pro megaloboxer is a lie he cooked up to drum up interest in betting. He actually has no formal training in the sport at all, which makes it even more impressive that he's able to compete in it at his age.
  • Foil: To Nomad. Both are formerly pro Megaloboxers who wander from ring to ring, only to dominate them and move on once the audience and bookmakers have had enough. He's also referred to as "the real deal", which was a recurring comment about Joe in the first season. Unlike Nomad who insists on fighting fair, Chief has no problems with being a Jobber and is more concerned with sending the crowd home happy and himself rich.
  • Gratuitous Spanish: Sings in Spanish during his day job as a singer. He also gives a Call-Back to season 1 and Spider by telling Nomad "let's end this, champion" in Spanish shortly before taking a dive.
  • Outliving One's Offspring: His son pre-deceased him, having died during their immigration to Japan.
  • Parental Substitute: To Mio.
  • Peaceful in Death: He passes peacefully in his sleep after winning a regional megalobox tournament, giving the immigrants the money they need to buy the property they've settled on.
  • Stone Wall: He's bigger and heavier than Nomad and probably a Heavyweight, but very light on his feet and able to counter or lean with most of Nomad's intended finishing blows. While his punches are powerful, he lacks the stamina to go on the offense for very long and relies on tiring out his opponents.
  • Tragic Keepsake: His Gear is a sympathetic version, being a memento of his dead son who helped design it and a reminder of why he keeps boxing.
  • Twofer Token Minority: Chief is obviously mexican, but judging by his nickname, darker skin tone and clothing, he is likely also Native-American (a very common mix in Mexico).
  • Victory by Endurance: His boxing strategy when he's not jobbing is to focus on defence and let his opponents wear themselves out on his guard. His Gear is optimized for blocking, and he eventually wins the regional championship in this way once Nomad reminds him to keep his head cool.
  • Wasteland Elder: A very downplayed example, he's 'leader' of a small community of immigrants in the low double digits at most, and is mostly just their spokesperson to the locals.

    Mara 

Mara

Voiced by: Nikray Farahnaz (Japanese), Jalitza Delgado (English), Rosalba Sotelo (Spanish)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/marla_nomad_anime.png
"Only do bad deeds for good." Words from back home. Don't forget them.

A mechanic and Mio's mother, and another important member of the Casa. She runs a garage in their community and ends up fixing Nomad's bike after her son steals it.


  • Apology Gift: Offers Nomad basically all of her money as recompense for the Gear her son stole. Nomad refuses, stating the Gear was a piece of wreck anyway.
  • Back for the Finale: Both she and Mio make a Continuity Cameo watching the match between Joe and Mac.
  • Parents as People: Not opposed to smacking her son, but always willing to give him another chance. Given Mio's age and behaviour it's not presented as abusive.
  • Platonic Life-Partners: With Chief. The two are essentially family, without the romance.
  • Spell My Name With An S: It's either "Mara" or "Marla", with the former being written down on the front of her garage and the official subtitles using the latter.
  • Struggling Single Mother: Mio is a handful, to say the least, and being an immigrant in a relatively xenophobic local community isn't helping things.
  • Wrench Wench: A skilled mechanic of both Gear and vehicles, she operates a well-stocked garage on her own.

    Mio 

Mio

Voiced by: Yumi Hino (Japanese), Kevin Thelwell (English), Emilio Angeles (Spanish)

Mara's teenage son. A general brat and troublemaker, his attempts to befriend the local kids leads him to turn his back on the Casa and his community in order to fit in. Brings Nomad into contact with the Casa by stealing his bike.


  • Back for the Finale: Both he and Mara make Continuity Cameo watching the match between Joe and Mac.
  • Disappeared Dad: His dad is either missing of dead, and while Chief tries to be a part-time surrogate father it only annoys Mio.
  • Teens Are Monsters: More 'sullen and rebellious' than outright monstrous, but his attempts to fit in leads him to do a number of unkind things like ratting out Joe and aiding in writing racist grafitti against the Casa.

ROSCO

    Mac 

Rosario "Mac Time" Mac

Voiced by: Atsushi Miyauchi (Japanese), Christopher Wehkamp (English), Gerardo Vásquez (Spanish)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mac2_nomad_anime.png
I feel like I'm dreaming. I can't believe I'm really here.

The challenger and rival of Liu for title of current champion of Megalonia. A formerly-retired boxer, he re-entered the ring after being rendered paraplegic and subsequently regaining use of his limbs using experimental, Gear-based technology called BES.


  • Beard of Sorrow: Grows one during his drunken Heroic BSoD. He shaves it off before his match with Joe.
  • Career-Ending Injury: Mac was shot in the spine, seemingly ending his career, before highly advanced experimental cybernetics enabled him to walk again. The injury still looms over him.
  • Dark and Troubled Past: Involved in gang violence, became a failing megaloboxer, retired from boxing, became a cop, became paralyzed from the neck-down in a shoot-out. Quite the past Mac had before the story begins.
  • Deuteragonist: Of the latter half of season 2. His character, struggles and relationships are given just as much focus as Joe's.
  • Drowning My Sorrows: After learning the truth about BES and the circumstances of him getting it, he's shown wandering the streets with a whisky bottle.
  • Early-Bird Cameo: He's the point of view character for the first two minutes of Nomad, where he decides to retire from Megaloboxing after watching Joe beat Yuri.
  • Emotional Regression: Use of BES causes him to occasionally devolve to a childlike state.
  • Good Scars, Evil Scars: Has a good scar on his left cheek, which makes him look rugged. He apparently got it rescuing people from a burning building.
  • Heroic Second Wind: The source of his nickname. Mac tends to win comeback victories, recovering from a bad spot before defeating his opponent dramatically. This period is called the "Mac Time". "Mac Time" is actually due to BES moving his body unconsciously, disconnecting his body from his brain and moving by instinct.
  • Heroic Willpower: In his final match with Joe, he's able to avoid entering Mac Time and still match Joe as if he did enter it, out of love for his family.
  • Hot-Blooded: In the past, Mac was an incredibly ill-tempered fighter. He even had the appropriate sideburns as a visual cue. After recovering from his paralysis he gained a much better grip on his emotions, however, and the sideburns were shaved off.
  • Humble Hero: He's incredibly humble and self-effacing both in public and when speaking to his sponsor, almost refusing to believe his luck.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Implied to have been one, being an overly aggressive megalo boxer, but was also Happily Married and being willing to put his life on the line to rescue civilians. These days, he's more a proper Nice Guy.
  • "Not So Different" Remark: Sakuma claims that he and Joe are this when recounting how Mac told him he left the ring because he saw Joe as "the real deal", stating they're both in the same position now. This prompts Mac to challenge Joe.
    • In a darker version, Mac's post-championship trajectory takes him down a similar path as Joe had, making him take an ill-advised exhibition match over the objections of his family.
  • Parents as People: The times he's shown with his son show him as rather loving and doting, with him even stating in an interview that he got back into Megalo Boxing to impress him. However, his use of the BES system, and its side effects, begins alienating his son.
  • Punched Across the Room: When he makes a comeback against Liu, he's able to punch him from one side of the ring to the other.
  • Red Baron: Called "Mac Time" due to his ability to get in the zone.
  • Took a Level in Badass: From a forgettable, mediocre boxer nobody cared about with a middling resumé full of losses to a fearsome, unbeaten title challenger after he came back from retirement.
  • Took a Level in Kindness: Along with becoming a much better boxer, he also become less aggressive and less prone to attacking his opponents while they're down.
  • Twofer Token Minority: Heavily implied to come from the same culture as Chief, and is shown to have one of Chief's favourite stories in book form in his home.
  • Working-Class Hero: He's a former police officer and has a strong following due to coming back from nothing to reach the top. One of his nicknames is "The Public Hero".

    Sakuma 

Ryugo Sakuma

Voiced by: Chikahiro Kobayashi (Japanese), Tyler Walker (English)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sakuma_nomad_anime.png
Mac is the light of hope. So many people who are waiting in the darkness is waiting for BES to become available.

The CEO of ROSCO, a medical company that implements technologies in the use of curing people of varying illnesses and disabilities. He developed the BES device that helped Mac regain his mobility and allowed him to re-enter the ring.


  • An Offer You Can't Refuse: It's revealed that when he proposed the BES treatment for Mac, Maya was reluctant to accept on account of the fact that he could have recovered anyway with enough physical therapy. However, he then offered to provide a doner to put Miguel through life-saving surgery, and that pretty much sealed the deal.
  • Graceful Loser: He's not all that bothered when Yukiko outplays and and gets him to relinquish BES to her company to keep it going.
  • Hero-Worshipper: Towards Mac, being a Fan Boy of his own boxer.
  • Honest Corporate Executive: He's hardly suspected of any form of foul play, and his company is dedicated to curing people of varying physical disabilities. Subverted over time, as Sakuma makes an increasing number of ethically questionable decisions to promote BES and his company.
  • Just Think of the Potential!: His BES technology has the possibility to change the world even more than Gear has, and Sakuma is deeply personally invested in making it available and accessible to everyone who needs it.
  • Laser-Guided Karma: When the truth of him falsfiying BES' data is revealed, he's arrested.
  • Leonine Contract: He had Mac's wife Maya sign Mac up to be the test case for BES while Mac was unconscious, by offering their son a fast-track to a necessary surgery. Even if BES did allow him to walk again, Mac is less than pleased at the circumstances.
  • Manchild: He certainly knows when to act to professional, but when watching Mac's match against Liu, he acts like a little kid watching a superhero show, getting excited when he gets the advantage and panicking and telling him to get up when he gets knocked down. He even lets out an excited "Yahoo" when he wins, and later dances excitedly after reading an article detailing his win.
  • Passive Aggressive Combat: Begins engaging in this with Yukiko as their goals begin to diverge late in season 2.
  • Pet the Dog: He gave Mac the ability to walk again with his latest invention. As he confides to Yukiko, he wasn't exactly expecting anything in return for this.
    • When Mac's family visits him in regards to Mac's behavioural relapses, he does what he can to advise them and even offers to hold off a meeting he had scheduled if it meant providing more help. Subverted in that Sakuma very subtly shifts the conversation towards Mac's wife being the one ultimately responsible for taking care of him, and not himself.
  • Tech Bro: Sakuma's a eccentric tech magnate developing highly controversial brain chip technology while talking a big deal about his faith in its revolutionary potential for mankind, and engages in highly unethical actions to sell his vision of a better future.
  • Villainous Breakdown: Starts having one when Yukiko threatens to expose the flaw with BES, but this gets Subverted when she makes an offer that would allow BES' development to continue; just relinquish it's rights to her company. He accepts.
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist: He gets progressively shadier in his practices and methods, even trying to cover the side-effects of BES and puts Mac at risk by wanting him to have his match with Joe despite how much quicker his brain is getting affected, but it does seem that it's born from him wanting to improve the world with his tech.

Megaloboxers (season two)

    Liu 

Edison Liu

Voiced by: Masaya Fukunishi (Japanese), Aaron Roberts (English)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/liu2_nomad_anime.png
After all this time, I'm still stuck chasing your shadow.

Current reigning Megalobox champion. The only man to beat "Gearless" Joe, in the five-years interim between seasons one and 2. Yuri's protege and pride and joy.


  • The Ace: A "real deal" cut from the same cloth as Yuri (particularly Yuri) and Joe when it comes to boxing. His record as unbeaten champ is even longer than Yuri's. He dominates the second and third rounds of the match against Mac and had the latter on the ropes when "Mac Time" kicked in.
  • Anime Hair: His hair is green and drawn during matches as a top knot with an undercut.
  • Back for the Finale: He's shown watching the match between Joe and Mac from his hospital room.
  • Blood Knight: Like teacher, like student. Liu shares both Yuri and Joe's love of competition.
  • Defeating the Undefeatable: He was the first person to definitively defeat "Gearless" Joe in the Time Skip between seasons one and two. Though Joe was not in a fit state to fight at the time, leaving Liu unsatisfied by the match. He ends up on the receiving end of this trope at the hands of Mac in episode 8.
  • Determinator: Even after he's nearly crippled and told he might not be able to Megalo Box again after his match with Mac, he's determined to eventually get back into the ring and have his rematch with Joe.
  • Foil: To Mac. Liu is young, brash, arrogant and driven by his love for competition and the sport, and has been Yuri's student for his entire Megaloboxing career. Mac is old, humble, driven by a desire to prove the technology that allowed him to walk again and was a failed megaloboxer with a very mixed record before his comeback. Liu is the "Real Deal", while Mac's skills are (unknowingly) enhanced by his implants.
  • Friendly Rivalry: He becomes one with Joe after their sparring match, saying that he hopes to challenge him again one day but is willing to Joe sort through his current issues before then.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's quick to anger and very blunt, but ultimately driven by a genuine love of the sport.
  • Lightning Bruiser: Seemingly just as fast and just as powerful as Yuri before him.
  • "Not So Different" Remark: To Joe in season one, which is practically lampshaded in episode 7. He's incredibly arrogant, prideful and quick to anger, but also driven by a desire to find his proper opponent.
  • Overshadowed by Awesome: He is driven by this trope In-Universe. No matter how well he does, and despite having an objectively stronger boxing record, the legend of "Gearless" Joe keeps overshadowing him.
  • Red Baron: Liu lacks one. The media discusses in episode 7 ascribing him his mentor's old moniker: "The King of Kings".
  • Spell My Name With An S: The Megalobox supplemental material vaccilates between "Liu" and "Ryu", though it's consistently "Liu" in the anime proper.
  • Superior Successor: He has surpassed Yuri's unbeaten record, leading to the media to dub him Yuri's (his mentor) superior. Liu and Yuri themselves dodge the question of whether or not he's better than Yuri was in his prime.
  • Tactical Rock–Paper–Scissors: Liu is an out-boxer, which gives him an advantage over sluggers like Joe and Mac. He even plans against Mac Time, but unfortunately he couldn't predict that it would allow Mac to keep fighting while unconscious.
  • Worthy Opponent: Despite having already beaten Joe, he is still obsessed with him as "the real deal". His motivation is to get a second shot at Joe when he is at his strongest, to definitively prove he can surpass him fair and square.

Others

     Abuhachi 

Voiced by: Mutsumi Sasaki (Japanese), Kirk Thornton (English),

A mechanic and owner of a roadside store, who Joe often went to for gear repairs at the start of the series.


  • Cool Old Guy: He's one of the people who genuinely gets along with Junk Dog, and serves as a supporting voice even when Nanbu was using him.
  • The Engineer: Junk Dog often went to him for repairs, whether it be his gear or his bike. He also helps modify Chief's gear to better suit Joe for his match against Mac.
  • Intergenerational Friendship: With Junk Dog. It's Implied that he bets on him often despite the fact he was forced to fight rigged matches against his favour often.
    • After taking her on as an The Apprentice, he gets one with Oicho, glad he gets to pass his skills onto someone else before he dies.
  • Mr. Vice Guy: A Cool Old Guy who Junk Dog got along with, who also happened to bet on underground boxing matches.

     Santa, Bonjiri and Oicho 

Santa Voiced by: Momoko Taneichi (Japanese, young), Noriaki Kanze (Japanese, old), Morgan Berry (English, young), Josh Grelle (English, old)

Bonjiri Voiced by: Reimi (Japanese, young), Fukushi Ochiai (Japanese, old), Laila Berzins (English, young), Dallas Reid (English, old)

Oicho Voiced by: Ami Naito (Japanese, young), Mitsuho Kanbe (Japanese, old), Michelle Ruff (English)

A trio of street urchins who hang out with Sachio, serving as his friends and companions. While little more than background characters in season 1, they become more important in season 2, Nomad.


  • Ascended Extra: They are little more than background characters and soundboards for Sachio in season 1, but become marginally more important to the plot in Nomad.
  • Easily Forgiven: Averted. When Joe returns, the only one of them and Sachio who could be seen as this is Bonjiri, and even then he's rather awkward about it until Joe gets the deed to his restaurant back and Sachio admits to his role in him leaving. Santa's next to do so, and that's only because his attempt at writing an article about him sparring with Liu left an impression on him and prompted him to give him a chance. Oicho takes the longest of the three to do so, showing up in time help him, Bonjiri, Santa and Aragaki stop the gym he was rebuilding from collapsing in a typhoon, and even then she's somewhat prickly.
  • The Engineer: Oicho is being mentored as one by Abuhachi, even helping him and Sachio modify Chief's gear for Joe.
  • Everyone Has Standards: Bonjiri restrains Santa for trying to sneak into the hospital where Liu is being treated in episode 8 of Nomad, stating there are some lines one shouldn't cross.
  • Lady Looks Like a Dude: You'd be forgiven for thinking Oicho was also a boy when she was younger, or even until episode 6 of Nomad where a thug tries hitting on her.
  • Hypocrite: In Nomad, after Joe gets the deed to Bonjiri's restaurant back by taking part in a fixed boxing match for Fujimaki, Oicho accuses Joe of doing things without consulting them like always, such as when he up and left after Nanbu's death. That being said, she and others hardly give Sachio grief for doing the same, with the whole mess having only started because Sachio impulsively assaulted one of Fujimaki's men, and insists, along with Santa, on putting the blame on Joe after Sachio reveals his role in Joe leaving, that being blaming him to Nanbu's death and telling him to leave and never come back at the funeral.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Santa in Nomad. He's become a reporter, and the others feel like he'll do anything, even stab them in the back, if it means making a quick buck. However, along with Bonjiri, he's one of the quickest to want to bury the hatchet with Joe for leaving, writing a flattering article about him after spying on his sparring match with Liu instead of making him looking like an idiot like Sachio and Oicho wanted, and even reserving seats for him and the others at the match between Liu and Mac with Joe there.
  • The Resenter: In the present, they resent Joe for abandoning them after Nanbu's death. Even after Sachio reveals that he's the one who told him to leave, Oicho and Santa seem insistent on putting the blame on Joe.
  • The Unfettered: Santa is evidently this in regards to reporting, trying to break into Liu's hospital room to interview him after his loss to Mac.
  • Ungrateful Bastard: Aside from Bonjiri, the restaurant owner who's more conflicted than hateful of Joe, they and Sachio are quick to give Joe crap for taking part in a fixed boxing match, which they know he hated doing, to get the deed to Bonjiri's restaurant back.
  • She Is All Grown Up: In Nomad, they have all grown up and gotten jobs, Oicho working as an Apprentice for Abuhachi, Santa becoming a reporter, and Bonjiri opening a resturant.

    Fujimaki 

Fujimaki

Voiced by: Hiroyuki Kinoshita (Japanese), Jamieson Price (English), Humberto Solórzano (Latin American Spanish)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fujimaki_anime.png
A stray dog remains a stray dog, and a scorpion remains a scorpion.

A mob boss that runs the fixed matches Junk Dog fights in. He becomes the unofficial 'sponsor' of Joe and Nanbu's shot at Megalonia by providing them the fake ID needed to enter the tournament in return for their winnings.


  • Adaptational Villainy: He is Goromaki Gondo analog from Champion Joe. While Gondo was a Neighbourhood Friendly Gangster, Fujimaki lacks the "friendly" part, being a firm manipulator.
  • Awesomeness by Analysis: Like his inspiration, he's very good at reading fights without being a fighter. He's able to tell that Joe is intentionally tanking hits from Burroughs to spite Nanbu's advice.
  • Deal with the Devil:
    • In season 2, he offers Joe the deed to Bonjiri's restaurant in return for "Gearless" Joe making a comeback and taking a dive in his ring. Joe, having gone through Character Development thanks to Chief, goes through with it.
    • Later in the same season, he offers Sachio an unspecified amount of money in advance (essentially "whatever sum you ask for"), in return for the latter doing fixed matches in his ring exclusively for the rest of his career. Subverted, as Fujimaki wasn't making the offer seriously; he gave it to egg on Sachio and to illustrate that Sachio isn't good enough to be a pro megaloboxer.
  • Evil Tastes Good: He's fond of cooking and discusses fine dining as an analogy for what he's really talking about.
  • Fatal Flaw: In season one, he doesn't believe in Character Development, believing that people essentially never change. This causes him to ignore Joe's drive to actually win and Nanbu's Hidden Heart of Gold. Season two shows he's very much grown past it, as both his main gambits there hinge on the people involved having changed from earlier.
  • I'm a Humanitarian: He implies not-so-very-subtly that he has people who failed him boiled down and used for soup stock.
  • It Amused Me: Combined with Evil Has a Bad Sense of Humor. He lets Joe and Nanbu off the hook at the price of an eyeball because he finds the irony of Nanbu blinding himself because he wanted to see Joe reach his full potential hilarious.
  • The Mob Boss Is Scarier: Nanbu is terrified of him, to the degree that he'll do almost anything to avoid getting on his bad side.
  • Pet the Dog: In honour of Nanbu, he eggs both Sachio and Joe into having a match with high stakes, that being whether Joe leaves or Sachio steps out of the ring for good, knowing that Joe would win and Sachio would be forced to quit an occupation he clearly wasn't suited for. After the fact, he pours a drink for himself and Nanbu.
  • The Stoic: Always very calm and collected and never gets openly angry about anything.
  • Tattooed Crook: He has a huge sleeve tattoo depicting a snake.
  • Wicked Cultured: Enjoys cooking and fine clothing.
  • Villain Respect: He toasts Nanbu while watching the final match between Joe and Yuri, addressing him as 'Coach Nanbu' without his usual derisive tone and admitting that Nanbu managed to turn a fraud into the real deal.

    Potemkin 

Higachi Potemkin

Voiced by: Hisao Egawa (Japanese), Chris Tergliafera (English), Dan Osorio (Latin American Spanish)

A former Megalo Boxer turned security guard for a seedy pawn shop.


  • Decomposite Character: He is Nishi without the Character Development, as his role as the third member of the group is taken by Sachio.
  • Expy: Of Nishi from Tomorrow's Joe, taking a similar appereance. However, his role as the third member of the group is taken by Sachio, avoiding a change of heart in his character.
  • Mighty Glacier: His gear packs a devastating punch, especially due to not being subject to official Megalo Box regulations allowing it to have metal gloves. The downside is that the engine takes time to wind up for each punch, allowing Joe to notice which side is spinning up and easily dodge and counter.
  • Unskilled, but Strong: His Gear isn't limited by regulation standards and hits harder than anything in a ring, but his technique and footwork are practically non-existent.
  • Would Hurt a Child: Applies the Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique to Sachio after he steals the Shirato prototype Gear.

     Hakeem 

Voiced by: Volcano Ota (Japanese), Ray Hurd (English)

Mac's old partner on the force.


  • Black Best Friend: He was Mac's old partner on the force, and they evidently got along.
  • Nice Guy: When his new partner acts hostile to Mac under the assumption he's drunk driver or carjacker, Hakeem, not knowing it's Mac, quickly steps him to advise the rookie to be more respectful, since they all live in the same town and therefore should all get along.
  • You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Inadvertently. When Mac's at his lowest point after having learned the truth of BES and how he became it's first test subject, it's him who gets him out of his funk.
  • Support Party Member: Serves as Mac's cornerman in his match against Joe.

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