Characters / Ninja Slayer

---

Ninja Slayer & Allies

Kenji Fujikido / Ninja Slayer

^{Click to see him unmasked.}

Voiced by: Toshiyuki Morikawa (JP), Christopher Sabat (EN)

Once an ordinary, middle-class family man, Kenji Fujikido had the misfortune of finding new employment inside the godforsaken city of Neo-Saitama, where its ruling elite crime lord, Laomoto Khan, was in the process of eliminating the very company that Kenji now worked at, together with its entire labor force. Slain alongside his wife and child soon after they'd settled in... he returns from the grave after bonding with ninja soul, Naraku Ninja. Combining their hatred and lust for revenge, the duo become collectively known as Ninja Slayer, "The Machine of Vengeance," and bane of all evil doers.

---

• The Ace: Far and away the strongest, most reliable hero in-series. There are only a handful of others who could feasibly rival his prowess, namely Dragon Gendoso and Silver Karasu... both of whom soon perish. For the most part, his position as "top dog" among the good guys is largely secured. But there's a hidden vulnerability behind that mask...
• Anti-Hero: Spends most of his time mercilessly slaughtering ninjas left and right. He even steals a pack of sushi in the first episode! Nevertheless, he's still an all-around decent person underneath.
• Badass Biker: After claiming Iron Otome from the now-deceased Basilisk, Slayer decides to keep the bike for himself, still riding it as of Episode 21.
• Badass Longcoat: He wears an old-fashioned brown trenchcoat as part of his civilian guise.
• Berserk Button: Plenty of them.
  • Just the mere sight of a Soukai-affiliate is enough to set him off, especially if it's Darkninja. He tends to go ballistic right after giving his customary polite greeting.
  • Harming noncombatants (especially children) in front of him will instantly net you a one-way ticket to the afterlife, as Flickshot of Ikki Uchikowashi found out the hard way. For their transgressions, him and his entire squad ends up massacred.
  • He also hates domestic abusers, as seen from Episode 19.
• The Berserker: He becomes this whenever Naraku Ninja takes over.
• Big Damn Heroes: Many times. A lot of surviving characters owe their lives to him in some way or another, including all 3 heroines.
• Bishōnen Line: Played With in the ONA's final episode, as his final form is simply that of his more generic-looking manga/light novel design.
• Blessed with Suck: Zigzags between this and Cursed with Awesome, depending on the situation. Normally it's the latter since, most of the time, Naraku appears content to just sit back and watch Fujikido do everything as he pleases. But when their viewpoints clash (and Naraku's malicious nature rears its ugly head) it becomes the former. Finally settles into Cursed with Awesome once the two souls truly unite as one... and Ninja Slayer achieves "perfect form."
• Blood Knight: An anti-heroic case. Even in his normal "Fujikido" persona, Slayer seems really into blood-spilling.
• Broken Ace: On the outside, Slayer-san looks almost unstoppable, but underneath his steely-eyed demeanor lies a crippled shell of a man, struggling to find meaningful purpose in a life filled with bloodshed and perpetual loneliness.
• Byronic Hero: Seems to fill-up most of the requirements: he's a brooding, lonely man with an undeterred passion to reach his goals, draws people close to him through charisma and reliability, and loses others under tragic circumstances. He never bends to the will of a higher power, even the very "thing" that grants him his supernatural abilities. Ninja Slayer, above all, operates under his own set of rules and moral ethics — other opinions be damned.
• Catchphrase: He occasionally changes up the "YEEART!"s with "WASSHOI!" and "Carnage!" There's also "Ninjas shall perish!" changed to "Death is the only way out for ninjas!" in the English dub.
• Classy Cravat: Part of his civilian outfit. He seems to have a taste for old fashion wear.
• The Comically Serious: Thanks to his love of bombastic entrances and non-stop, hammy kiais, Slayer comes across as this despite trying his damn hardest to maintain a stone face. It helps that he lives in a world where the concept of "subtlety" is next to nonexistent.
• Cool Bike: He ends up keeping Basilisk's motorcycle, "Iron Otome," after defeating its previous owner. Doubles as a functional Battle Trophy.
• Cool Mask: It even has his name on it.
• Cosmic Plaything: Goes hand in hand with No Good Deed Goes Unpunished. Whenever he tries to do something out of the goodness in his heart, i.e., find purpose that's not motivated by revenge, it almost always comes back to bite him. Going down the list:
  • Helps repel the attack on the Dragon Dojo, but also accidentally distracts his master long enough for Hugeshuriken to poison him.
  • Works with Nancy to help achieve her dreams of seeing a brighter Neo-Saitama, making her a target of every villain who uncovers their connection.
  • Finds an antidote for his master, only to inadvertently lead Darkninja into Gendoso's location, and the old man gets killed shortly after being cured.
  • Tries to honor his master's final request to safeguard his granddaughter; she rejects him and turns out to have joined a clan of evil ninjas.
  • Helps his neighbor fend off her abusive boyfriend and stays the night with her in case he comes back; Trufflehog breaks into his apartment while he's away and discovers his planned assault on Khan. This ultimately leads to Nancy's capture by The Coup and later by the Big Bad, himself.
  • After a hard-fought battle, finally does away with the Big Bad come Season 1's finale, not only for revenge, but his belief that Laomoto Khan's death would usher an improvement throughout Neo-Saitama. It only creates the opposite: an Evil Power Vacuum which spreads like wildfire amongst the other bad guys, leaving the city in an even worse state of misery. Slayer-san just can't catch a break...
• Crusading Widower: Always carries the memories of his beloved wife and son with him to battle. He will never forget that fateful day when Darkninja came and tore their lives apart. Never.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Slayer's got a knack for delivering these, especially after Episode 11, once he learned the proper way to draw power from his ninja soul.
• Cut the Fuse: He can move so fast that he's able to disarm multiple bombs in a split second.
• Deadpan Snarker: The man just loves verbally abusing his foes.
• Death Glare: It's practically his default expression. Made all the more terrifying when his eyes start glowing red◊.
• Divide and Conquer: Even he finds great difficulty when facing multiple ninjas at once (most evidently seen in Episode 19). Good thing he's trained in other ninjutsu strategies.
• The Dreaded: As the series go on, it slowly grows evident that many within the Soukai have become downright terrified of Slayer. Later ninjas put heavy emphasis on caution when faced against him, as opposed to the beginning where they'd behave far more arrogantly.
  • In Episode 18, glancing at his mere presence was enough to convince both rioters and police to back away in fear.
• 11th-Hour Superpower: Achieves "perfect form" in the climatic moments of his match with Khan, near the end of Season 1.
• Enemy Within: Naraku Ninja, at his worst.
• Establishing Character Moment: The entire first episode serves as his. As the dying Fujikido hears sounds of mockery, he begins ranting that "Ninjas shall perish!" Within seconds he transforms, brutally slaying one of two ninjas in the vicinity, Scatter, before shifting his attention towards Offender, the guy who mocked him earlier. Cue his very first "DOMO!" followed by another lightning-fast assault before ending things with a decapitating scissor kick to Offender's skull. The last few moments show Fujikido quietly reflecting on his actions, then reiterating said vow to destroy all ninjas. And thus, the titular Ninja Slayer is born.
• Expy: He looks like a red Ryu Hayabusa with a couple of character traits from Ragna the Bloodedge, Batman, Kratos, and The Bride thrown into the mix. Being motivated by his family's deaths and using undead powers also brings to mind Scorpion. Naraku Ninja's unleashed form bears more than a passing resemblance to Venom.
• Fatal Flaw: Wrath. It doesn't take much to arouse his anger. If left unsuppressed, this makes him vulnerable to possession by his Enemy Within, who in turn, triggers Slayer's berserker rage and having him attack both foe and friend, alike.
• First-Episode Resurrection
• Flash Step: Can outrun the full blast radius of a carpet bomb while carrying the injured on his back.
• Friend to All Children: He's fiercely protective of children, likely stemmed from the regret of having failed his own son. This trait is what provokes him to renounce his allegiance with the Ikki Uchikowashi, seeing their cruelty towards the innocent (including small kids). Could also be the main reason for why he chose to spare Yamoto despite heavy goading from Naraku Ninja.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: Only during his brief time with the Ikki Uchikowashi. Regardless of their value for his great strength, it's quite obvious that the rebels only see him as a chaotic brute (except maybe Amnesia), owing to their Holier Than Thou outlook. Ironically, they're the ones who end up falling low in Slayer's eyes in light of their heinous methodology.
• From Nobody to Nightmare: The man goes from normal salaryman to a nigh-unstoppable killing machine; determined to make the Syndicate pay for all their crimes. Over the first couple of episodes, hardly a soul even knows who he is. Then he rapidly makes a name for himself by massacring several top ranked Soukaiya. And now, he's considered enemy number #1 in Laomoto Khan's list, with dozens of Syndicate dogs cowering at the mere sight of him.
• Gratuitous Ninja: A more accurate description for him would be "superhero with a ninja motif." He's got the stereotypical look and weaponry, but always uses the direct, loudest approach when handling problems.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: To say he's got anger issues would be quite an understatement.
• He Who Fights Monsters: This is Slayer's greatest fear; to be so consumed by bloodlust & rage that he ends up no different than his sworn enemies.
• Heroic BSoD: At one point, he contemplates suicide after realizing he'd almost killed his own allies (Gendoso and Yukano) in blind anger.
  • Briefly suffers another one in Episode 23, when being haunted by a phantom credited as the "Resentful Voice." The ghost shows him nightmarish visions representing his failures and guilt from having killed so many ninjas.
• Heroic Build: The man is seriously ripped underneath his signature red garb.
• Heroes Fight Barehanded: Downplayed. While he's not afraid to mix it up with shuriken and rope darts, Ninja Slayer does the majority of his battles with karate alone.
• Heroic Self-Deprecation: It's subtle, but he very rarely gets upset when others admonish his actions or say something discursively insulting to his face. He just stays silent, as if in quiet agreement.
• Hot-Blooded: An unusual example in that he also mixes traits of The Stoic. Which behavior he leans on depends whether he's in a fighting mood, or just staying attentive.
• Hunter of His Own Kind: The red shinobi who hunts down other shinobi (and the likes). His name is Ninja Slayer, after all.
• Hyperspace Arsenal: He has several ninja tools at his disposal, including limitless shurikens and a grappling rope, all which he summons by will. Like the rest of his suit, they're supernatural in nature.
• Hypocritical Humor: Mocks Sonic Boom for being a Highly-Visible Ninja, even though he's quite flashy himself. He also critics Hugeshuriken for utilizing poison, despite this being a standard ninja tactic. Slayer, in fact, later uses toxin against Notorious.
• Immune to Bullets: Anything less than a grenade launcher or concentrated firepower, he just shrugs off.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Kills many of his foes by impaling them through the torso with his hand.
• Incoming Ham: Every time. And he almost always finishes with a big damn explosion from outta nowhere. Because why not?
• Invulnerable Knuckles: He can fight enemies armed with blades barehanded.
• It's Personal: Laomoto Khan and Darkninja are directly responsible for ruining his life. Nothing will stop him from seeing to it that these bastards suffer his violent retribution.
• I Will Find You: Slayer goes on a lengthy search for Yukano following the events of Episode 11 — where the two of them got separated during Darkninja's ambush. He finally locates her by Episode 15, only to become dejected with the knowledge that, while alive and well, she no longer remembers, nor cares to go back with him.
• A Lighter Shade of Grey: He's a far cry from an Ideal Hero. But compared to all the other factions warring for control over the city (all of whom are different shades of black), this revenge driven, mass-murdering Anti-Hero is the best thing to a genuine "savior" that a Wretched Hive like Neo-Saitama can hope to get.
• Leitmotif: "Naraku Within." This kick-ass track also doubles as his personal Theme Music Power-Up.
• Lightning Bruiser: Comes with the territory of being a super ninja.
• Mad Eye: His right morphs into one during "perfect fusion." Ironically enough, this is the form where he's arguably at his most stable, since both him and his Enemy Within now peacefully co-exist as a single entity.
• Made of Iron: Where to begin? He gets battered, poisoned, put through a hellacious beatdown, then takes a direct missile hit all in one day. And somehow he still survives, albeit by the skin of his teeth.
• Mundane Made Awesome: Apparently, moves such as "Somersault Kick" and "Body Check" are powerful dark karate arts.
  • Defeats Beholder's gaze by moonwalking. "This is the world of true ninjas!"
• Murderous Thighs: Defeats Gatekeeper by grabbing him between his thighs and flipping him over, headfirst.
• Neck Lift: Does this to Flickshot while slowly choking him to death. It's also one of his favored intimidation/interrogation tactics.
• Never Hurt an Innocent: One of his strictest moral codes. He immediately turns against the Ikki Uchikowashi upon witnessing them terrorize hapless civilians.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: On paper, the "Straight for the Commander approach" he and Nancy devised together sounded like a good idea... except it wasn't. Khan's reign of fear was the only thing keeping every other criminal scum at bay, and with him gone, Neo-Saitama has become more dangerous than ever.
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Annihilates four Elite Mook-class Soukaiya off-screen, then another four later, with the Soukai Six Gates.
• Off with His Head!: His favorite finishing maneuver seems to be a head-splitting drill kick to the opponent's skull.
• One-Man Army: Can wipe out legions of mooks all by himself. Even Laomoto admits that Ninja Slayer, alone, poses just as much a threat as the entire Dragon Dojo (if not more so).
  • Ikki Uchikowashi's Answerer outright claims that Slayer's addition can double the strength of their army.
  • The "Neo-Saitama in Flames" arc really pulls out all the stops to showcase his One-Man Army nature.
• One-Winged Angel: The end of Episode 24 sees Naraku Ninja take full control of Slayer's battered body, resulting in a much more demonic look, and an extreme (if temporary) power boost.
• Paper-Thin Disguise: Dresses as Arson's driver, but still wears his crimson mask. Justified, since the former didn't yet know of his existence. Most of Slayer's other guises from there on out keep his mask exposed. Funny thing is, they still work even after he evolves into the Soukaiya's public enemy #1.
• The Password Is Always "Swordfish": His computer password, as it turns out, is just one of his regularly heard of catchphrases ("Death is the only way out for ninjas!"). The Soukaiya correctly guess it on the first try when one of their own infiltrates his hideout...
• Post-Victory Collapse: Following his grueling match against Laomoto Kahn, which ended in Khan's defeat.
• The Power of Hate: The innate source of Naraku's power. When in the brink of defeat, Slayer sometimes draws on his undying hatred of Darkninja (and the likes) in order to will himself back into the fight... with renewed aggression.
• Pre-Mortem One-Liner: Right before delivering the killing blow, he almost always demands his enemy to "recite [their] death haiku."
• Protagonist Title: Goes without saying.
• Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs: One of his regularly used attacks when engaging a strong-enough enemy (that is, one that can keep up with him). A Pummel Duel is almost inevitable in these scenarios.
• Red Baron: He's earned a few. "The Machine of Vengeance," "Bane of Soukaiya," and counting.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: A sign that he's either pissed, intent on killing someone, or siphoning Naraku's power to activate Super Mode.
• Red Is Heroic: Comes in two different shades. (Bright) crimson normally, and (dark) maroon when in "perfect fusion" form.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Slayer's normal persona acts as the "blue oni" to the much more vengeful (and aggressive) Naraku Ninja's "red." He can also be called the "red" to Nancy Lee's "blue," seeing how rough he is in comparison to his even-tempered lady friend.
• Revenge: His primary motivation, post-resurrection. The sad thing is, he also feels this as the only thing he's got left to live for.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: "Ninjas shall perish!"
• Scarf Of Ass Kicking: One that can grow to absurd lengths, at that. So awesome, in fact, that it once defied physics by allowing at least 3 dozen birds to come perch on it◊.
• Secret-Identity Identity: When laying low in public, he goes by the pseudonym "Ichirou Morita."
• Silly Walk: His 'body-bending' trek across the bamboo forest looked like this. Actually done as means of avoiding the many hidden traps within. Viewed from the naked eye, however...
• Stealth Hi/Bye: Loves to pull this off on Nancy. He amps it up by Episode 21, somehow still vanishing into thin air despite the Yakuza clones surrounding him from all sides.
• Storming the Castle: The premise of Episode 21. He heads straight into the Soukaiya's heavily guarded main headquarters on a one-man rescue mission to save Nancy Lee.
• Superpowered Evil Side: Ninja Slayer gets stronger the more he lets Naraku Ninja take over, but the latter doesn't distinguish between good and evil ninjas like Slayer does.
• Superpower Lottery: Bad burden aside, he definitely won the jackpot in terms of powers.
• Supernatural Gold Eyes: When he goes One-Winged Angel in Episode 24.
• Super-Strength: Who needs a sword when you've got fists and legs that can penetrate through metal?
• Symbiotic Possession: Subverted. Unlike most ninja souls, Naraku constantly wrestles for dominance over Ninja Slayer's body. Later played straight after both Fujikido and Naraku learn to accept one another, realizing that they are at their strongest when working in unison.
• Tall, Dark, and Handsome: As seen from the rare occasion he unmasks◊.
• A Taste of Defeat: Slayer finally meets his limits in Episode 20. Exhausted from multiple sustained battles and weakened by poison, he finds himself in no condition to fight Darkninja (who quickly makes short work of him), let alone Laomoto Khan. The episode ends on a grim Cliffhanger with his very life at stake... until The Stinger, that is.
• Tears of Blood: Usually when Ninja Slayer has to hold back Naraku Ninja from going too far.
• To Be Lawful or Good: When dealing with Amnesia/Yukano, she states bluntly to his face that she'll support the Ikki Uchikowashi all the way through their darkest deeds, including murder of the innocent. Thus, she now sits firmly in the "evil ninja" category, making it very difficult for Slayer to figure out what to do with her given his promise to honor Master Gendoso's dying wish.
• Transformation Sequence: In the first episode, when Fujikido Kenji becomes Ninja Slayer.
• Warrior Poet: Slayer isn't really the type to go on hate-filled tirades when confronting someone. Instead he channels his inner versifier, making clever use of idiomatic expressions to get his point across. The narrator even praises him for it!
• What Have I Done: Often the aftermath of being possessed by Naraku Ninja.
• Worf Had the Flu: His steadily worsening condition from both poison and numerous injuries were the main contributing factors that led to his humiliating defeat at the end of Episode 20.
• Would Hit a Girl: He's an equal opportunity asskicker and will snuff out evil kunoichis as he would any other ninja (demonstrated in Episode 24).
• Yank the Dog's Chain: After defeating Khan, Ninja Slayer collapses to find himself awaking the next day inside Maria Agata's home, who assures him that everything is alright. With his mission completed, Slayer stares peacefully into the horizon, contemplates about moving on with his life... and then he wakes up for real. That experience was All Just a Dream. In truth, his work is far from done.
• You Will Not Evade Me: Sometimes uses his grappling rope this way.

Nancy Lee

Voiced by: Chiwa Saitō (JP), Trina Nishimura (EN)

A journalist who teams up with Ninja Slayer for mutual benefit, and in the process, more or less becomes his de facto sidekick.

---

• Action Girl: She's occasionally handy with a gun, and in the cyber-world, able to pull off maneuvers even Ninja Slayer might find difficult. That said, she leans closer to Faux Action Girl more often than not. Despite her tenacity and spy-like image, Nancy is very prone to subjugation. Even in the virtual world, where her fighting skills are more-or-less on par with Slayer's, she still depends on him a lot. It fact, many of the characters have to keep reminding her that she's just a journalist, not an agent or a warrior.
• Badass Normal: Sorta, but most of the time... she gets points for trying. Compared to the other heroes, Nancy doesn't have any supernatural powers (like Slayer and Yamoto), nor formal training (like Dragon Gendoso and Yukano). Only thing she's got going for her is the cybernetic implant inside her brain, allowing for some nifty tricks while in cyberspace. Besides expert-hacking abilities, Nancy is, for the most part, just your average gal.
  • The ONA has, unfortunately, left out much of her genuinely badass moments from the original light novels. One cut episode would've featured Nancy gunning down multiple Yakuza clones all by herself.
• Barbie Doll Anatomy: Surprisingly subverted, given Studio Trigger's previous work. Nancy has yet to be seen naked, but her outfit's so skin-tight that some... details... do "pop out" from time to time. Played straight in the fantasies of "Laomoto's Voice".
• Big Damn Heroes: In the closing moments of Season 1, she actually gets to save Ninja Slayer for a change, arriving on time to inject him with ZBR adrenaline before he dies from exhaustion.
• Bound and Gagged: She's been gagged only twice so far. But as for being "bounded," this happens quite a lot, with some rather "interesting" knot-tying.
• Boobs-and-Butt Pose: In some promotional artwork, and occasionally the show as well. Here's exhibit A◊ and exhibit B◊.
• Butt-Monkey: Not exactly played for laughs, either. Poor woman carries the unfortunate luck of running into sexual harassment (in one form or another) like there's no tomorrow. The implication even gets less subtle as the episodes go on.
  • Harassment aside — she's been poisoned, splashed with boiling water, and even tortured via strangulation. Needless to say, life's not good to her...
• Buxom Beauty Standard: Although not as big as Yukano's, a couple of characters have noticed and even comment on her sizable melons.
• Catchphrase: "Take this!"
• Chronic Hero Syndrome: For someone who's just a journalist, Nancy sure likes getting mixed up in this whole hero business thing — whether it's doing her best to expose the city's criminal activities for the world to hear, or just helping her newfound partner with his vigilantism. Her activities often end with mixed results, but gradually pay off over time.
• Clothing Damage: Pictured through the mind of "Laomoto's Voice" and his sick fantasies, detailing the various methods Khan might use to torture Nancy. Thankfully, he was wrong.
• Combat and Support: Whenever the two are working together, she plays the part of "Support" to Ninja Slayer's "Combat" by way of providing Mission Control among other technological assistance. Half the time, at least.
• Combat Stilettos: Wears high heeled leather boots at all times. Helps put the extra hurt in her kicks.
• Cool Bike: It's nothing special, but her sports bike does look pretty slick on its own.
• Crazy-Prepared: She keeps ZBR adrenaline on her person, coming in handy when she uses it to save Ninja Slayer's life during the Season 1 finale.
• Damsel in Distress: Almost on a daily basis...
• Dark Is Not Evil: Predominately wears black clothing, but is by no means evil.
• Determinator: By far the least physically capable of the good guys and even in cyberspace finds herself in great danger. Her strong will, nonetheless, makes Ninja Slayer pause and wonder if there's more he can live for besides revenge.
• Deuteragonist: Arguably so, being the second-most featured hero and the one closest involved with the titular protagonist's journey.
• Dirty Harriet: She did masquerade one time as a prostitute to try & gain easy access to a Syndicate facility. Worked a little too well, in fact.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: Comes up a lot thanks to the (many) unpleasant situations she stumbles into. But one notable example's from her debut episode. After Cockatrice's snake injects her with venom and she falls down, look closely as that thing stretches its head, reaching for her groin area...
  • In Episode 12, she gets accidentally sprayed with hot water whilst tied up, causing her to drip all over "certain places."
• Dude Magnet: It's just too bad for her that these "dudes" are mostly creeps and rapists.
• Establishing Character Moment: The first half of Episode 7. Nancy is introduced driving towards one of the most dangerous sections of Neo-Saitama, despite all warnings, just to confirm an associate's lead. Upon arrival, she is soon assaulted by villain-of-the-week, Cockatrice, resulting in the first of many "suggestive" situations that Nancy would find herself in. After Ninja Slayer kills Cockatrice, he advices Nancy to leave the city. She refuses, stating the importance of her investigation and thus, affirming her most defining traits: persistence & determination.
• Everyone Loves Blondes: Oh yes! Totally her case, in-story. But alas, in a place like Neo-Saitama, you do NOT want to be the center of attention.
• Expy:
  • Seems to be the series equivalent of Irene Lew, matching Ninja Slayer's Ryu Hayabusa.
  • She looks like a cyberpunk replica of Kasuga from Sengoku Basara, complete with blonde hair and formfitting, black bodysuit with a Navel-Deep Neckline.
  • Like Inferno Cop's Ariel Suzuki, she seems to take inspiration from the 1987 version of April O'Neil, but in this case in terms of role: a reporter with a "slimming" outfit who befriends a vigilante ninja, becomes his most prominent ally, and dives into lots of peril.
• Fan Disservice: Nancy's attractive, but the "things" she gets subjected or forced into can range from Squick-ish to borderline H-levels of nauseating due to how twisted the villains can be.
• Fatal Flaw: Her tenacity, which doubles as her greatest strength. Even knowing that she isn't best equipped to take on the Syndicate doesn't stop her from trying. No matter how painfully clear it looks that she's way in over her head.
• Femme Fatale Spy: Subverted. While her character design was obviously based on this, some fans are actually surprised to find out she's just a reporter with a knack for unintended "results."
• Form-Fitting Wardrobe: Her clothing of choice is a skintight leather/spandex black bodysuit, leaving little to the imagination.
• Going Commando: Taking into consideration all the stuff described in "Stripperific," it's safe to assume that Nancy is buck naked under her leathers. The close-ups in Episode 12 really sell it. It's probably subverted while she was disguised as an oiran (high-class prostitute) in Episode 9, depending on if the beads that went into her loincloth were some type of skimpy lingerie, or just plain decoration.
• Gorgeous Gaijin: Fits all the criteria, lives in Japan, Americanized name, blonde hair & blue eyes... plenty of sex appeal. Though her exact origins remains unknown, her ethnicity is confirmed as Caucasian/White.
• Gratuitous English: Even in the Japanese version, the character occasionally reverts to her native tongue... with expected results.
• Handguns: Carries her trusty pistol at all times.
• Hartman Hips: Sometimes exaggerated◊ on "certain angles."
• Heroic Seductress: Played straight only twice so far. First, amidst her brief "oiran girl" stint. Second, during Episode 10 when she uses herself as bait to lure in Sawatari, knowing he'd do the predictable (and stupid). The rest of the time sees this trope's physical aspect deconstructed, instead.
• Hollywood Hacking: Had a back-alley doctor implant cybernetics into her brain, allowing her to directly link her consciousness to the web. As a result, she has free range movement (via avatar), can bypass network security, retrieve information much more easily, and exponentially increased typing speed.
• In Harm's Way: All the time, "thanks" to a combination of her own traits. For one, she's an Intrepid Reporter with a bad case of Chronic Hero Syndrome; a sexy blonde bombshell in a city filled with depraved criminals; has limited means of self-defense; and to top it all, holds friendship with the guy who happens to be #1 on the Syndicate's hit list.
• Intrepid Reporter: Damn crazy chick oughta be thankful she's got one helluva bodyguard watching her back while investigating.
• Kick Chick: Only in the cyber-world, where her skills in hand-to-hand combat are (somewhat) on par with Ninja Slayer.
• Leotard of Power: Forms a piece of her Spy Catsuit. How else is she gonna show off that nice ass?
• The Load: Admitted by none other than Nancy, herself. She tries to make up for it by staying out of Slayer's way and helping him from the sidelines as she should, growing more competent over time until finally subverting this trope by the end of Season 1.
• Loincloth: As part of her "oiran girl" guise. Pretty much the only thing covering her lower body throughout the charade.
• Lust Object: Is this for a majority of her enemies. Notable ones include Survivors' Dojo's Forest Sawatari (who wants her as his bride) and Soukaiya's resident hacker, Daedalus, who (together with his clones) actually tries raping the poor woman.
• Male Gaze: Gets frequently bound◊ and tied◊ in suggestive poses. Like a lot. Not to mention, the camera loves focusing on her "assets."
• Ms. Fanservice: See all these tropes on her entry? Without question, Ms. Lee is the undisputed "Queen of Fan Service" in-show.
• Mission Control: Nancy finds her niche by competently guiding Ninja Slayer throughout the second half of the "Neo-Saitama in Flames" arc, settling into that role from then on.
• Navel-Deep Neckline: Whenever her bodysuit's left unzipped, it goes below her navel. Here's a better view◊.
• Nipple and Dimed: Check the links next to Male Gaze and Boobs-and-Butt Pose (exhibit B).
• One-Steve Limit: With Dr. "Lee" Araki. Fan speculation thought the two might be related, but Word of God confirms that this is not the case.
• Phenotype Stereotype: Blonde hair + bright blue eyes + token Caucasian in a land full of Japanese? Check on all accounts.
• Punny Name: In Japanese, "Nan Shiri" means "nice ass."
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Her dynamic with Ninja Slayer paints them blue and red, respectively. She's a calm, even-tempered woman who meticulously plans out her next steps; Slayer prefers the straight-up, violent approach to every problem.
• Reluctant Fanservice Girl: Excluding her wardrobe of choice and occasional willingness to get risky, most, if not ALL of Nancy's risque scenes are done without her consent.
• Running Gag: Slayer's habit of performing vanishing acts on Nancy, to the point where one might wonder if he's doing it on purpose. His "Stealth Hi"s often scare the crap out of her, while the "Stealth Bye"s just leave her both confused and annoyed.
• So Beautiful, It's a Curse: She's very easy on the eyes. Unfortunately, Nancy also lives in Neo-Saitama, making her an easy walking target for its many, many vile scumbags. To wit, she's had one creep try claiming her as his trophy "bride." Another goes straight for attempted gang-rape!
• Screaming Woman: She yells out a lot when tied up or captured, at times sounding like something else, entirely.
• Sdrawkcab Alias: Her online username, "YCNAN," is just "NANCY" spelled backwards.
• Shout-Out: Her manner of clothing, Hollywood Hacking method of directly connecting her brain to a computer, in addition to gaining martial art skills once inside cyber-world, fits someone's description from The Matrix.
• Sidekick: She's the "April O'Neil" to Ninja Slayer's "superhero ninja" whether they both realize it or not. Though Slayer is reluctant to keep involving Nancy with his vigilante work for her own good, she insists on staying the course with him through thick and thin.
• "Silly Me" Gesture: In Episode 23, she posts a pixel image◊ of herself doing this after hacking into the Syndicate's security network (and sabotaging Hellkite's fans). Can also be seen as her variation of the "Troll Face."
• Snakes Are Sexy: One memorable scene in her debut episode has Nancy coiled up and "grouped" by a serpent.
• Spy Catsuit: Complete with Leotard of Power and a long zipper that ends just slightly above her groin..
• Stripperific: The catsuit's very form fitting, exposing her thighs and a good portion of her butt. Unzipping it also reveals she doesn't wear anything underneath. Then there's that one time she wore an oiran dress◊. Think the suit's bad enough? This one practically screamed "Go-Go Enslavement!"
• Token White: Among the heroes. It's not a stretch to assume that most of the cast is Japanese (with few exceptions like Sword Dancer), given the location, names, and physical descriptions. Nancy is ethnically Caucasian, made more obvious by the fact that she's the only one to have blonde hair, blue eyes and occasional English phrases.
• Undying Loyalty: Towards Ninja Slayer. She remains adamantly supportive of him no matter how many times her own life gets put through the wringer, gradually earning his utmost trust and good faith.
• Vapor Wear: See her profile pic? Evidently not wearing a bra under that bodysuit. Same goes for her oiran getup.
• Victoria's Secret Compartment: With a nice, long, slow zip down of her suit.
• Weak, but Skilled: What she lacks in fighting talent (outside the cyber-world), she makes up for with great skills at hacking and information gathering.
• Wide-Eyed Idealist: In spite of her physical limitations and the fact that she's just a mere journalist, Nancy really wants to make a difference in Neo-Saitama.

Dragon Gendoso / Roshi Ninja

Voiced by: Yousuke Akimoto (JP), Greg Dulcie (EN)

The Grandmaster of Dragon Dojo and the last real ninja in Japan. He takes the wandering Ninja Slayer under his wing, adopting him as an honorary member of his clan.

---

• Badass Normal: The old man's on the same (if not greater) level as Ninja Slayer in terms of power, despite not possessing his own ninja soul. His strength came from years of experience and intense training.
• Cool Old Guy: A stern and wise old ninja with a bold, fearless attitude. His students certainly look up to him.
• Dying Moment of Awesome: His poison-ravaged body was already near death's door by the time Darkninja attacked. Still didn't stop the old coot from giving everything he got into one last battle.
• Flash Step: Amazingly, he can keep up with Ninja Slayer in spite of his old age.
• Heroic Sacrifice: When the Soukaiya launches a surprise attack inside their bamboo forest home, an ailing Gendoso musters his remaining strength to help Slayer take on Darkninja, knowing his student couldn't handle it alone at that point. He dies as a result.
• Hero of Another Story: He was the Soukaiya's primary bane... long before a certain "Machine of Vengeance" came into the picture.
• Hyperspace Arsenal: Gendoso is just as "supplied" as his protege, even without having a ninja soul to grant him otherworldly abilities.
• In the Back: This is how Hugeshuriken incapacitates him via poison dart. He's been bed-ridden ever since.
• Last Request: "Look after Yukano." Also his final, parting words...
• The Mentor: Both Ninja Slayer's and Yukano's teacher.
• Mentor Occupational Hazard: Gendoso was the very first named hero to die.
• More Dakka: With shurikens. He teaches Ninja Slayer the value of Death by a Thousand Cuts this way.
• Ninja: Rightfully called the only true ninja left. Gendoso earned his abilities from following the traditional ways of old, whereas all the "modern ninjas" gain them through otherworldly spirits and/or scientific augmentations.
• Obi-Wan Moment: Immediately after he dies, Gendoso uses his spirit essence to teach Fujikido the correct way of drawing out his ninja soul's power.
• Old Master: One of the elder residents of Neo-Saitama also happens to be a highly skilled ninja. Time hasn't slowed down Gendoso one bit; he remains as swift and deadly as any other ninja in their prime.
• Papa Wolf: Strongly protective of his granddaughter.
• Purple Is Powerful: His regular ninja uniform.
• Sacrificial Lion: The first major good guy to become a casualty.
• Spirit Advisor: Even after death, he continues to exist within the spiritual world, guiding Slayer during times of great need.
• Worf Had the Flu: He wasn't in the best condition when he fought Darkninja, having just recovered from severe poisoning. This weakened state led to his untimely death.

Dragon Yukano

^{Click to view her secondary costume.}

Voiced by: Risa Taneda (JP), Bryn Apprill (EN)

Gendoso's granddaughter, a young kunoichi who takes a liking to Ninja Slayer. She becomes one of his few, cherished friends after starting his new life as a vigilante, and helps him with his ninjutsu training. At some point, she loses all her memories and starts going by the alias, "Amnesia."

---

• Adaptation Dye-Job: Her hair is a grayish shade of purple in the anime. In the light novels/manga, she's raven-haired.
• Amnesiac Hero: She somehow loses all her memories, somewhere between her absence from Episode 11 to 15. She still vaguely remembers being called "Yukano," but nothing else.
• Back for the Finale: Makes a cameo at the end of Season 1, readying herself for the chaos to come.
• Badass Normal: Like her grandpa, she's a non-empowered human; nevertheless capable enough to destroy a Motoryab. Training with the Ikki Uchikowashi has also helped her gain impressive skills with the bow & arrow (but still pales in comparison to more seasoned ninjas).
• Boobs-and-Butt Pose: Taken to almost ridiculous levels in one of the official artworks◊. Oh, that poor back...
• Buxom Beauty Standard: Her bust is ample◊, as proclaimed by the narrator.
• Catchphrase: Almost exclusively favors soft "Kieee!"s in place of loud "YEEART!"s.
• Character Tics: The Amnesia persona often does a Rebel Relaxation stance.
• Curtains Match the Window: Grayish purple eyes to match with the hair.
• Dark Action Girl: Any doubts about her being otherwise goes out the window, following her actions in Episode 18.
• Distaff Counterpart: Can be seen as one for Ninja Slayer. Both had training under the same master, wear similar attires including a red Scarf of Asskicking, have lost family members to Darkninja and a significant other to the Soukaiya. Then she doubles as his second Evil Counterpart after her Face–Heel Turn.
• Dude Magnet: She's quite a hit with the male population, which her Amnesia persona exploits to her advantage.
• Evil Costume Switch: Hard to tell at first glance, but the ensuing episodes make this case tragically clear.
• Evil Counterpart: After her Face–Heel Turn, she can be seen as this for her brother-disciple, Ninja Slayer. To a lesser extent, she can also be called one for Nancy Lee, since both are Badass Normal Action Girls who use the art of charm to achieve their desired goals.
• Expy: Her second outfit as Amnesia makes Yukano look like a near-exact copy of Taki from the Soul Series. More so in the light novels, given the art style and her hair color. Her "Maname" disguise also seems directly inspired by Rize Kamishiro of Tokyo Ghoul, from her outward image to the way she meets/seduces an unassuming college student.
• Face–Heel Turn: Beginning with her "rebirth" into Amnesia, her status as an antagonist is fully cemented by Episode 18.
• Fanservice Pack: Outfit-wise, switching from a fairly modest garb to one that shamelessly flaunts her sex appeal. Guess which costume is heavily featured in merchandise...
• Fatal Flaw: Her Undying Loyalty. Yukano's devotion to the Dragon Dojo spurred her to fight adversaries clearly stronger than she was. And as "Amnesia," she turns into a loyal pawn of the Ikki Uchikowashi, despite clear evidence of their less than noble ways.
• Faux Action Girl: When the Dragon Dojo is attacked, she's taken out of the fight fairly quickly. After becoming Amnesia, she shows more signs of competence, but still requires saving when things go dire.
• Femme Fatale: Amnesia takes advantage of her feminine charm to try and sway more people into joining the red army's cause.
• Form-Fitting Wardrobe: Again, her second outfit.
• Going Commando: Yet again, her second outfit. Pay close attention to her hip◊, and the woman has obviously skipped her undies in favor of see-through fishnet leggings.
• Kick the Dog: Proving how far this once-earnest heroine has fallen, she murders a harmless college protester just to start a riot.
• Love at First Sight: With Rapture after he rescued her.
• Male Gaze: Apart from the aforementioned "ample bust," see Boobs-and-Butt Pose and Vapor Wear.
• Meaningful Rename: It can't get anymore self-explanatory than "Amnesia."
• Ms. Fanservice: Nowhere near Nancy's level, but between her cute face and the fact that she sports the largest bust size of all three main girls, she counts. Played straight as Amnesia.
• My Master, Right or Wrong: As "Amnesia," she turns against Ninja Slayer after he makes it explicit that he'll stand against Ikki Uchikowashi. It seems that, in addition to memory loss, Yukano has also become a blind follower of the rebel army.
• Perpetual Frowner: Once again, as Amnesia, mirroring her darker shift in attitude. It even shows on her profile images, changing from a sweet smile to a sour scowl.
• Raised by Grandparents: According to the narrator, she's been orphaned at a young age, and was raised primarily by her grandfather.
• Rescue Romance: After her memory loss and subsequent adoption of a new identity, she started a relationship with the ninja, Rapture. It didn't last.
• Scarf of Asskicking: Much like Ninja Slayer's.
• The Smurfette Principle: She's the only known female member of the Dragon Dojo and later the Ikki Uchikowashi, as Amnesia.
• Sole Survivor: With her grandfather's death, she is the last living member of the Dragon Dojo clan.
• Stripperific: Doesn't start out this way. But after losing her memories and adopting the moniker "Amnesia," she switches to a more "daring" getup, nicely complemented by a pair of (butt-baring) fishnet leggings.
• That Woman Is Dead: Having no recollection of her past self, Yukano turns down Slayer's offer of going back with him once he finds her, choosing to stay with her newly adopted clan as her "Amnesia" persona. She reiterates this claim in Episode 18, but in a much darker variation.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: Post-memory loss; no doubt "thanks" to Buster Tetsuo and his wicked cult's influence.
• The Ugly Guy's Hot Daughter: Dragon Gendoso has not aged gracefully, but whoever his grandchild's parents were, at least one of them had to be a looker for Yukano to have grown up so beautiful.
• Undying Loyalty: To the Dragon Dojo, and more importantly, her beloved grandpa. She never left his side up until his dying day. This trope later takes a dark turn once her amnesic self becomes part of the Ikki Uchikowashi, an extremist group of ninja communists/terrorists.
• Vapor Wear: Her current red costume has all the trappings of one, especially when viewed from the backside◊.
• Walking Spoiler:Thanks to certain developments, namely her amnesia and ensuing change of identity, as well as her Face–Heel Turn.

Koki Yamoto

Voiced by: Sora Amamiya (JP), Monica Rial (EN)

A well-meaning, but troubled young student who finds herself bonded to Shi Ninja after one fateful event.

---

• Achilles' Heel: As revealed in Episode 13, Yamoto cannot use Psychic Powers in enclosed spaces without running the risk of hurting herself with her own attacks.
• Action Girl: A strong contender for toughest female in the series, especially when you compare her to Yukano and Nancy Lee, both of whom come across more as Faux Action Girls.
• Ambiguously Gay: Quite a lot of subtext with her best friend, Asari.
• Back for the Finale: Pops up once again just before Season 1 wraps, in the middle of a stand-off against Yakuza clones.
• Badass Adorable: A petite high schooler who can slice it up with the rest of them super ninja types. Even her "YEEART!"s are cute!
• Berserk Button: Anything that reminds her of her past will make her very upset.
• Bully Hunter: Apparently, she was one before life took a turn for the worse.
• Blood Knight: When first obtaining her ninja abilities from Shi Ninja, which may actually be the latter's influence and not her own. Further downplayed later on, as her story arc makes it evident that she's only out to defend herself.
• But Now I Must Go: She leaves her friends to keep them out of danger.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Sonic Boom accuses her of being a "Parent Killer," while talking about origami with her friend stirs up bad memories. Details surrounding that point in her history are kept vague, but she appears to be wrought with guilt for whatever she did, despite refusing to talk about them.
• Death Glare: She sends a bone-chilling one◊ in Episode 3 towards a group of would-be rapists.
• Doom Magnet: Forced to leave her old life behind after coming to terms with this harsh reality, never looking back.
• Establishing Character Moment: Being strangled by a thug on your debut episode doesn't exactly make for a strong impression. But in the next instant, Yamoto taps into Shi Ninja's powers, slaughters both her and her best friend's would-be defilers, and then lastly, gently comforts said friend from the emotional trauma. The last act shows Yamoto to be a warm, empathic soul.
• Eye Colour Change: Her blue eyes turn purple when activating her ninja powers.
• Fastball Special: She had Genocide throw her during their fight against Manticore.
• Glass Cannon: She can dish out powerful attacks, but also goes down from just a few hits.
• Having a Blast: Her origami projectiles explode on impact.
• Hero of Another Story: Nearly all of her appearances follow her own separate journey from Ninja Slayer, with their paths only crossing once so far.
• Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Their one-time team up sees Koki playing the tiny girl to Genocide's huge guy. Genocide even teases her with nicknames based on her size, like "half-pint" or "small fry." Same goes with pretty much every other heroic male character she's ever interacted with, including Slayer himself.
• Innocent Blue Eyes: A darker shade of blue compared to Nancy's, symbolizing her youth and lack of experience with the outside world.
• Joshikousei: Started out as a normal, pretty schoolgirl until her fateful encounter with Shi Ninja. Notably, she keeps certain parts of her uniform long after venturing into her fugitive lifestyle.
• Just a Kid: Most of the bad guys pass Yamoto off as a young girl due to her age, before the ensuing beatdown.
• Katanas Are Just Better: Eventually gains a short katana, bestowed upon her by Silver Karasu.
• Kid Hero: She's still in high school with an estimated age of around 14-15 years old, making her the youngest hero in-series. Some fans even claim that she looks younger than a high schooler, especially if one compares her to Studio TRIGGER's other action school girls.
• Leitmotif: Both "A Girl From Kyoto Republic" and "The Girl Awakens."
• Little Miss Badass: One of the youngest among the cast, yet already kicks ass.
• Male Gaze: The only one to consistently avert this treatment among the girls. Even in the Darker and Edgier manga adaptation, the series goes the extra length in keeping Yamoto's modesty, like her Shower Scene only panning up to her lower thighs. Makes sense that a minor isn't gonna be played for Fanservice like the fully-grown Yukano and Nancy Lee. Still, it does come as somewhat of a weird choice, given Studio TRIGGER's track record with other teenage girls.
• Morality Pet: For Silver Karasu. He even betrays his own contract by turning against the very assassins he's supposed to work with, just to defend her.
• Odd Friendship: Some of whom include a ruthless hitman and a 7-foot tall, chain & buzz saw-wielding zombie.
• No Place for Me There: When asked by her mentor why she doesn't just move out of the city, she admits that she's got nowhere else left to go.
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome: According to Nutcracker, she killed multiple Soukaiya ninjas, including an unseen one named Bicorn, during her absence between Episodes 4 to 13.
• Paper Master: Yamoto uses origami to fight.
• Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Shows remarkable feats of strength despite her petite frame.
• Purple Is Powerful: Koki's Innocent Blue Eyes change to match her scarf's bright purple color, which magically manifests upon activating her ninja soul's powers.
• Pseudo-Romantic Friendship: With her classmate, Asari, judging from how they part ways before Koki formally assumes her nomadic ninja lifestyle. She visits Asari on a bright night and they hold hands while pressing their foreheads next to each other before Yamoto bids farewell. This scene can be interpreted as romantic, but otherwise there's nothing else to it.
• Psychic Powers: Gifted with both psychokinesis and the ability to create psychic energy.
• Reluctant Warrior: Unlike Slayer, Yamoto's only trying to survive. Each on-screen kill she makes is borne out of self-defense rather than genuine malice on her part.
• Running Gag: Characters, for one reason or another, seem to overlook that she's still a minor, such as Karasu asking if she smokes before quickly backtracking, or Genocide's apparent offer of alcohol.
• Sailor Fuku: Her signature outfit. She still wears one even though she no longer attends high school.
• Scarf Of Ass Kicking: It's made out of purple psychic energy. She only summons it whenever she's ready for battle.
• Scenery Censor: Only in the manga adaptation, often used to cover any Panty Shots during Yamoto's fights. Pretty odd since, aside from her, the manga doesn't shy away from nudity.
• Self-Made Orphan: According to Sonic Boom's gathered intel, she murdered her own parents after supposedly giving in to her "killing instincts." It's currently unknown if this accusation holds true, as Koki herself refuses to divulge anything about her past.
• Silk Hiding Steel: Demure, socially-awkward, and naive to an extent. But when push comes to shove, watch out! This young kunoichi-in-training knows her way with a sword, and then some.
• Slasher Smile: Due to Shi Ninja's influence.
• Stronger Than They Look: Appearance and demeanor-wise, Yamoto's one of the more passive, innocent-looking types. She still kicks surprising amount of ass thanks to Shi Ninja.
• Super-Strength: Capable of overpowering a grown man.
• Tender Tears: She's quite the sensitive crybaby, even during mundane moments.
• Tragic Keepsake: Both her katana, given to her by the now deceased Silver Karasu, and an empty cigarette box of her sensei's favorite brand.
• Unskilled, but Strong: While certainly endowed with both Super-Strength and Psychic Powers, she still doesn't have the experience, nor the training, to properly control them. This is noted by Silver Karasu. Subverted later on, thanks to his tutelage.
• When She Smiles: Usually keeps a neutral expression, but on those tender moments when she does smile, it's quite cute (so long as it's not the slasher type).

Other Supporting Cast

Kagi Tanaka / Silver Karasu

Voiced by: Keiji Fujiwara (JP), Brandon Potter (EN)

A ninja who also doubles as a "cyber-tsujigiri" (fancy term for "bounty hunter & weapons tester"), employed by the "Smiling Old Man." Recently diagnosed with a fatal illness that's heavily implied to be some type of cancer, he's expected to die within a few months. He saves Koki Yamoto from an attacking Soukaiya ninja and later takes her under his tutelage.

---

• The Atoner: All but outright states this to be his main reason for helping Yamoto. After a lifetime of amorality & selfishness, Tanaka wants to spend his few remaining days doing good for a change. In the dub version, he claims otherwise, but the tone of his voice suggests he's just trying hard not to admit it outright.
• Badass Longcoat: Wears a white/silver one both as "Kagi Tanaka" and in his "Silver Karasu" persona.
• Big Damn Heroes: He saves Yamoto from Nutcracker. Although he's more of an Anti-Hero at best, if not downright Anti-Villain.
• Creepy Souvenir: His boss has him take pictures of his victims after killing them.
• Cold Sniper: Zigzags between this and Hitman with a Heart. But in the last few days of his life, he settles for the latter.
• Deadpan Snarker: Loves to deliver these in full monotone.
  Karasu: Soukai ninjas are always so thick headed./I'll push extra hard.
  (kills Nutcracker by stabbing him in the head)
  Karasu: I've gone mad. My days are numbered, you see.
  (when being confronted for his betrayal)
• Death Seeker: Realizing that his time's up, he attempts to goad his student, Yamoto, into killing him via duel to the death. Ultimately, she cannot, so he dies succumbing to his disease.
• Expy: As Silver Karasu, Tanaka bears strong resemblance to Marvel Comic's Moon Knight.
• Face Death with Dignity: He kills two assailants sent after Yamoto, ensuring her safety for the time being. Then he challenges her to a duel, in hopes of dying by the sword at his student's hand. But seeing as she cannot bring herself to slay her own teacher, he resigns to his fate; quietly laying down until his ailing body, at last, draws its final breath.
• Good Smoking, Evil Smoking: Wherever his moral compass may tip, he sure loves to smoke.
• Handguns: One of the firearms he was testing out. They shoot out energy, but run out of ammo pretty fast. He didn't seem to find them all that reliable.
• Heel Realization: He already became aware of that fact long ago, but simply chose to ignore his conscience and went along with his day-to-day amoral activities with nary a complaint. Then comes the moment when he suddenly finds himself running on short time, and Karasu, perhaps in desperation, at last does what he previously never gave a serious thought to: a genuine act of altruism.
• Highly-Visible Ninja: Karasu merits an allusion for wearing all-bright getup, despite claiming that he "wants" to do missions as covertly as possible.
• Hired Guns: He was hired by the Syndicate to kill Yamoto. Unfortunately for them, they didn't count on the outcome that he'd develop a soft spot for her, instead.
• Iaijutsu Practitioner: Always keeps his sword sheathed until he spots an opening, then strikes with great precision.
• Incurable Cough of Death: Just another tell-tale sign that he's living on borrowed time.
• In the Back: Does this to Nutcracker, before stabbing his head for the killing blow.
• Jack of All Trades: In terms of weaponry. He's skilled in all forms of firearms, but believes a simple sword is the most reliable of all.
• Karmic Death: Invoked. He believes it's divine punishment that he suffers an agonizing, premature demise for all the innocent lives he's taken.
• Katanas Are Just Better: He admits that he finds his own sword more useful than any of the weapons loaned to him for testing.
• Kick the Dog: Kagi Tanaka is not a nice man, as he himself (shamefully) admits. Should an Innocent Bystander happen to walk by and catch him doing his dirty work, he's not above killing them either just to protect his identity.
• Kick The Son Of A Bitch: His standard modus operandi, using criminals and other low-lives as guinea pigs when testing out weapons.
• Light Is Not Good: The man clads himself in white/silver. Even if not completely evil, his Shoot the Dog moments prove that he's not all that good, either.
• The Mentor: Takes Yamoto under his wing so that she can receive some much-needed training in physical self-defense.
• Mentor Occupational Hazard: Poor health finally does him in at the end of his second (and last) episode.
• Parental Substitute: Briefly for Yamoto. Throughout their time together, he acts like an aloof father-figure: distant but caring, scolding her for staying up so late. His girlfriend even lampshades it by jokingly asking if the girl's his "trophy" from a previous one-night stand.
• Pet the Dog: Looking at the way he treats Yamoto and his girlfriend, if only because the thought of dying has given him new perspective on things.
• Properly Paranoid: So secretive of his job, that he won't hesitate to eliminate any witnesses. He does spare Yamoto, but likely because he killed Nutcacker as Kagi Tanaka, not as Silver Karasu.
• Redemption Equals Death: Subverted. He fully acknowledges how a few good deeds won't make up for all the sins he's amassed over the years, and dies acquiescent to the idea that he's bound straight for Hell.
• Smoking Is Cool: The guy really loves his cigarettes.
• Tested on Humans: Part of his job requires him to test his employer's latest weaponry products on live humans.
• The Unfettered: At first, he doesn't seem all that bothered about the amoral nature of his job even at the prospect of dying, but it is heavily implied that he's just in denial. He fully comes to terms with the weight of his sins by the end of Episode 14.
• Your Days Are Numbered: Thanks to his illness, he's only got a few months left to live. He succumbs soon after.

Genocide

"Exterminate!"

Voiced by: Kazuhiko Inoue (JP), David Wald (EN)

One of Yoroshisan's escaped bio-ninja experiments, currently seeking refuge inside an abandoned church.

---

• Back for the Finale: Returns during Season 1's closing moments, having a drink at the same restaurant Shigaki's in.
• Badass Longcoat: Over his Badass Priest Robe.
• Badass Preacher: It's heavily implied that he was once a priest at the very church he now resides in, before Dr. Lee's experimentation. Yet he denies this when asked by Yamoto, either forgetting or just not wanting to remember his past.
• Blood-Splattered Warrior: His stained coat & robe tell stories of numerous past battles.
• Catchphrase: Almost entirely forgoes the "YEEART!"s in favor of his own battle cry, "Exterminate!"
• Chain Pain: He wields the variable-length type on each arm, both attached with razor-sharp buzz saws.
• Creepy Good: Sure, he looks like something straight out of a Gothic Horror flick and could very well eviscerate you if he so wishes, but don't be fooled - he's not a bad guy.
• Dark Is Not Evil: A monstrous visage and a penchant for wearing all-black doesn't erase the fact that he's a good person (just not someone you'd ever wanna piss off).
• Due to the Dead: His very first scene shows him in the middle of giving proper burial to a recently deceased old woman, hinted as someone he knew in life.
• Easy Amnesia: According to him, since his brain is half-rotted, he apparently suffers from short-term memory loss. He even doubts that he'd be able to remember Yamoto if they ever meet again.
• Expy: Of Alexander Anderson from Hellsing. Similar sense of fashion, Slasher Smile, the looks of a Badass Preacher, Frankenstein's Monster motif, and being a near indestructible Monstrous Humanoid.
• Frankenstein's Monster: Genocide's origin fits the classical archetype to a tee.
• Frozen Face: His jaw is stuck permanently in a disturbing, wide grin.
• Gentle Giant: Despite his imposing frame, he's actually a pretty nice guy... just so long as you don't provoke him into a fight.
• Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: During their episode together, Genocide was the huge guy to Yamoto's tiny girl.
• Impossibly Cool Weapon: Chains that apparently grow to any length + working buzz saws at each end. It's basically Chainsaw Good, but with his own personal flavor.
• Made of Iron: Barely flinches after taking on multiple gunfire and quill shots. Justified, since he's a 7-foot tall, undead creature.
• Monstrous Humanoid: His physical appearance can best be described as a freakishly tall, mutated zombie-thing. An unwilling victim of Dr. Lee's insanity.
• More Teeth than the Osmond Family: And they are very nasty-looking molars.
• Mummy: Wraps himself in bandages to cover up his rotting flesh, giving him the appearance of one.
• Mysterious Past: He was able to recognize Shi Ninja from within Yamoto, but that's it. The connection between these two (if any) is yet to be explained, as well as everything else about him.
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast: "Genocide" may as well read like a warning sign to any fool who'd try picking fights with a zombie preacher.
• Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: Ninja and zombie.
• Slasher Smile: Unintentional, but he doesn't have a choice.
• Wild Hair: Somehow, his long grey locks have survived his undead mutation, messy but otherwise fully intact.

Shigaki

Voiced by: Hiroki Touchi (JP), Robert McCollum (EN)

An ex-factory worker and aspiring ink-wash painter who lost his right hand to a malfunctioning tofu press, now replaced by a vintage cybernetic battle gauntlet. He and dozens of former coworkers have banded together in the slums of Neo-Saitama, sometime after a mass layoff had left them nearly penniless and dependent on charity.

---

• Action Survivor: Shigaki's surprisingly tough as nails for an untrained, washed-up painter. That being said, without his Power Fist he's basically reduced to nothing. It took a healthy dose of gravity and sheer dumb luck for him to have even survived battling against Ninja Slayer.
• Artificial Limbs: His right hand is a Power Fist, albeit an outdated one. It ends up destroyed after a fight with Slayer.
• Back for the Finale: After a long period of absence, he returns for the Season 1 finale, alive and well, sitting right across Genocide.
• Badass Normal: Easily the strongest guy amongst Beholder's gathered army of rioters, able to plow through several mooks all by himself as well as being the only one to climb the highest floor of the well guarded facility. He even manages to hold his own against an enraged Ninja Slayer and lives (though not without a stroke of good luck).
• Crazy Homeless People: He temporary becomes one along with his fellow tramps due to drinking "high grade water" laced with a powerful adrenaline drug that removes all of a person's inhibitions.
• Combat and Support: Forced to be the "Combat" to Beholder's "Support" once the latter turns his body into a "human marionette".
• Destination Defenestration: He gets thrown off a building (courtesy of Ninja Slayer) near the end of Episode 5, but survives thanks to landing on a huge stack of boxes that break his fall.
• Disposable Vagrant: He and many others fall victim to the Soukaiya's plot to exploit the poor by turning them into cannon fodder. To elaborate, one of Laomoto Khan's ninjas poses as a "humanitarian worker" giving them free clean water... that secretly contain Psycho Serum meant to push their adrenaline levels past Rage Breaking Point. All the gathered individuals happen to hold deep animosity towards the same tofu making company that Khan wants removed — thus, hundreds of "fresh recruits" now more than willing to shed blood for him, Shigaki included. What The Don probably didn't saw coming was this lowly vagrant not only regaining his senses in the end, but actually living to tell the tale.
• Exact Words: After he finally reaches the topmost floor of the tofu maker's HQ and comes face-to-face with the CEOs accountable for his miserable lot, Shigaki promises to "let them leave the building" once he's done roughing them up a little. And so he does... by punching them so hard that they're sent crashing through a wall, plunging all the way down to their deaths right outside the premises.
• Forced into Evil: Hunger and desperation, as well as personal grudge against the corrupt company that maimed him led Shigaki to participate in a mass riot aimed at said company's HQ, which also involved looting and armed robbery. Thankfully, he seems to have gotten out of it after surviving his encounter with Ninja Slayer.
• Freudian Excuse: The man lost his hand to a defective tofu press. But rather than their promised compensation of a good cybernetic replacement, his bosses essentially screw him over by grafting an outdated gauntlet in its stead. Not only is the thing freakishly big, making his everyday life difficult, it also costs a lot just for maintenance, leaving him destitute. Soon afterwards, he's laid off and left homeless. He only joins Beholder's rally in a desperate bid to seek justice (as well as being drugged at the time).
• Good Old Fisticuffs: Shigaki lacks any formal martial arts training, but he's a strong brawler, amplified by that rusty prosthetic fist of his.
• Megaton Punch: His Power Fist may be old, worn, and junky... but DAMN does it pack a mean right hook!
• Non-Standard Character Design: Noticeably drawn more realistically◊ than the rest of the cast.
• Oh, Crap!: When he finds out that Beholder is part of the Soukai Syndicate, the look on his face instantly reads, "My God, I screwed up big time!"
• Perpetual Poverty: The maintenance costs for his right hand suck up his daily income.
• Starving Artist: Life went downhill for him after his accident and subsequent loss of a day job. He's barely scraping by to make ends meet as an ink-wash painter, made only worse by his prosthetic arm's need for regular maintenance.
• What Measure Is a Mook?: At the end of the day, Shigaki's just a broke, desperate nobody who had the misfortune of getting himself (unwittingly) embroiled inside the Syndicate's nasty doings, along with countless others. But Ninja Slayer doesn't know this... so he receives no mercy like any other Soukai dog.
• Wild Hair: Long and unkempt. Poor fella can't even afford a decent haircut, let alone trim himself properly because of his arm.

Maria Agata

Voiced by: Yūko Gotō (JP), Caitlin Glass (EN)

A poor young woman from the city slums. She becomes Ninja Slayer's neighbor after he secretly moves into the same run-down apartment block she and her abusive boyfriend, Daigo, are staying in.

---

• Because You Were Nice to Me: Helps the critically wounded Slayer back to his feet upon finding him in a dark alleyway, in return for his earlier act of kindness.
• Beauty Is Never Tarnished: She somehow looks relatively unscathed just moments after taking a beating. In the next shot, some of her facial bruises are even "healed."
• Domestic Abuse: The poor recipient of her boyfriend's daily beatdowns, until "Morita" (Slayer's citizen alter ego) lets the bastard have a taste of his own medicine before dropping him off a window.
• Girl Next Door: An ordinary, likable woman who just happens to live in the apartment next to Ninja Slayer's.
• Rescue Romance: One-sided on her part. She takes an immediate liking to "Morita" after he saves her from her abusive boyfriend.

Soukai Syndicate a.k.a. The Soukaiya

In General

"Swear your allegiance... or DIE!"

The reigning crime organization and unofficial "rulers" of Neo-Saitama, borne from a single man's ambitions. Equal parts scheming and callous, they have quietly taken over the region's largest medical, agriculture, and technology industries... giving rise to the oligarchical, neon-washed dystopian city as it is known today.

---

• Clone Army: The Yakuza mooks, which make up their highest-numbered grunts.
• Corporate Samurai: These "ninjas" actually fit this description more than their so-called namesake, with varying gimmicks & power sets depending on what Syndicate branch they originate from - be it Omura Industries, or Yoroshisan Pharmaceuticals.
• Decapitated Army: What becomes of them after Laomoto Khan's untimely death in Season 1.
• Elite Army: It only takes ONE Soukai ninja to cause a multitude of carnage and destruction, and they are spread all over Khan's vast domain.
• Elite Mooks: The "Soukai Six Gates," Khan's handpicked and most loyal task force, whose primary job is to act as guardians/gatekeepers of the Syndicate's HQ. According to Beholder, the original six consist of Sonic Boom, Hugeshuriken, Earthquake, Hellkite, Bandit, and Daedalus. Anytime a member dies, a new one gets added into the roster.
• Enemy Civil War: During the events of Episodes 19-20.
• Evil Versus Evil: The price of being "top faction." Both the Survivors' Dojo and Ikki Uchikowashi are openly gnawing at their spot, with more hiding in the shadows.
• Hired Guns: They aren't above seeking outside help from the likes of bounty hunters (Sword Dancer), or cyber-tsujigiri (Silver Karasu).
• Join or Die: Anything (or anyone) that catches the Soukaiya's eyes will be theirs, or suffer the consequences!
• Killer Robot: Another specialty of the Omura Industries branch.
• MegaCorp: The Syndicate's public cover is that of a series of commercial businesses based around Neo-Saitama. Ruthlessly monopolistic, they'll either absorb or crush any would-be startup who wants a fair piece of the city's resources. Main corporate branches include Omura Industries (their cybernetics & weapons manufacturer, which fronts as a construction & sushi company), and Yoroshisan Pharmaceuticals (responsible for creating their mass-produced Yakuza foot soldiers, as well as bio-mutant ninjas).
• Normal Fish in a Tiny Pond: Make no mistake, most of their members are bonafide badass ninjas who can kick just about any ordinary foe's ass and make it look easy. The few times we see members face off against people that aren't Ninja Slayer and co, they handily dominate. Examples include Arson casually dispatching a group of criminal thugs, Explosive manhandling Rapture with ease and Prominence easily dealing with Flickshot. It's just their rotten luck that Ninja Slayer is leagues above almost everyone else.
• Overshadowed by Awesome: They are a legion of powerful ninjas with varying forms of skills and abilities that render nearly everyone of them a threat that most normal foes would struggle to overcome. Unfortunately for them, their common enemies also happen to be among the most powerful individuals out there, which results in them looking like regular cannon fodder.
• Smug Snake: A recurring trait among its members.
• The Syndicate: Natch. It says so right up there!
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Most of the Soukai ninjas don't really get along with each other, barring a few like Hugeshuriken and Earthquake. Evidenced by cases of backstabbing, glory-hogging, and sometimes even flat out team killing.

Laomoto Khan / Demolition Ninja

Voiced by: Masane Tsukayama (JP), Bill Jenkins (EN)

The Godfather of the Soukai Syndicate. As “Emperor” of Neo-Saitama, he's got the crime underworld in his thumb.

---

• Ain't Too Proud to Beg: Before his imminent defeat, Khan tries to negotiate one last time with Ninja Slayer, offering him whatever he desires in exchange for leniency. Slayer's response? "I want your life."
• Asskicking Leads to Leadership: The only way to secure an army of super-powered psychos' near-undivided loyalty... is to be the biggest, toughest monster of them all. Khan does not disappoint.
• Badass Cape: His armored form comes with one. In purple, no less.
• Bad Boss: The man gets a kick out of bullying the suits who work for him, complete with apparent We Have Reserves-approach as far as his ninjas are concerned. While he does want Slayer dead for killing them, it seems to be drawn out of hurt pride (and to keep his "untouchable" image), more than anything else. He's also not above persecuting said ninjas if they ever fail him in any way. Case in point, repeatedly stomping Hellkite beneath his foot.
• Better the Devil You Know: There's no denying that Khan is an evil tyrant who caused all sorts of misery to others. And yet, he's also the closest thing to an authority figure this city has to offer, keeping its criminal underworld in check. No surprise then, that within minutes after his death, everything goes to hell.
• Big Bad: Of Season 1. His death at the end subsequently turns him into a Disk-One Final Boss.
• Big Eater: He's almost always seen eating tuna sushi from within his suite.
• Bling of War: When he wants to settle a score, Khan suits himself up in gold-crusted samurai armor, summoned using psychokinesis.
• Body Guard Babes: Carries his own "harem" of scantily-clad kunoichis.
• By the Hair: How he grabs the captured Nancy Lee before locking the rest of her in his giant hand.
• But for Me, It Was Tuesday: Lampshaded by his nemesis. When Khan asks what motivates his vendetta, Slayer simply responds, "I am nothing more than one of the worms that you stepped on."
• Card-Carrying Villain: He even uses an actual card as a parrying weapon.
• The Chessmaster: He begins to show signs of this come Episode 19. Not only does he figure out (and effectively counter) Slayer and Nancy Lee's planned attack, he's also fully aware that some of his ninjas are conspiring against him.
• Combat Pragmatist: Best summed up by this quote: "Combat is just like business. There's no place for romance. The nastier party always wins."
• Corporate Samurai: He's a Corrupt Corporate Executive who happens to dress like an armor-clad samurai as Demolition Ninja.
• Corrupt Corporate Executive: According to his business card, he is the CEO of Nekosogi Fund. It's likely just a front for his public image.
• Corrupt Politician: Not yet, but he has the ambition to be. Episode 21 reveals that Khan is currently running for governor. His death, however, ultimately puts a stop to those plans.
• Crazy-Prepared: He kind of has to be a step ahead of everybody else, taking into account his long list of enemies.
  • Even though he knows Ninja Slayer is just one man, he's quick to realize just how dangerous the latter can be. Heck, he has an air force drop carpet bombs in an attempt to kill just two men (Slayer and his master, Gendoso). Doesn't work, but it serves to show some of the extremities Khan's willing to sink into towards vanquishing his enemies.
  • He's also smart enough to make sure his "business partners" receive cloned mooks that turn out pathetically weaker than his own ninjas, effectively curbing any potential uprisings.
  • Episodes 19 and 20 demonstrate that he's not a man to be trifled with, having already caught awareness of both Ninja Slayer and The Coup's plans to assassinate him for some time. He deals with both problems in due order.
  • Episode 21 shows just how Crazy-Prepared Khan is when it comes to intruders, having poured millions of funds into his HQ's security and turning the whole place into a Death Course.
• Deadly Gaze: It would appear that one of his seven ninja souls originally belonged to Beholder, thus giving him the same ability. History repeats itself when Slayer counters it the exact same way he did last time, by moonwalking.
• Dirty Old Man: Likes surrounding himself with geisha-esque courtesans for "company."
  • In Episode 21, "Laomoto's Voice" even suggests that Khan's probably doing some... "unsavory" things to the captured Nancy Lee. But in this case, it was a false guess.
• The Dreaded: He makes grown men pee in their pants whenever he shows anger, and for good reason.
• Dual Wielding: With two king-sized katanas! They manifest upon his transformation into "Demolition Ninja."
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Episode 22 affirms that Khan is the father to an unspecified number of children.
• Everyone Calls Them Barkeep: According to Word of God, Khan never really bothers (nor cares) to know the names of most of his underlings. He just calls them by whatever company brand they work for. For example, he refers to Kinjima as "Omura-san."
• Evil Gloating: But of course! Whether it be trampling the competition or putting some "worm" in its place, Laomoto-san knows how to have a good time.
• Evil Is Petty: Casually dispatches a subordinate for pissing on his floor.
• Evil Laugh: A very jolly one. "Ho, ho, ho!"
• Evil Old Folks: He certainly looks old, albeit retaining a robust, brutish physique.
• Evil Versus Evil: Not only does he have Slayer to contend with, but also the ambitious types who wish to usurp his place as “Emperor” of the city. This includes a good chunk of his own men.
• Fatal Flaw: A combination of Pride and Greed. Arguably, his problems never would've escalated if only he'd paid serious attention to his enemies from day one. Yet Khan opted to play the "long game," hurling minion after minion into the fire (each of whom contains but a fraction of his strength), just so he can focus on stockpiling his already vast empire. He realizes too late that this was a very bad move on his part.
• Faux Affably Evil: Keeps a cool, welcoming demeanor at all times... even when making it point blank obvious that he revels in your suffering.
• Glowing Eyes of Doom: Complete with Monochromatic Eyes. A sinister combo.
• God-Emperor: Self-proclaimed. He even wears purple and gold (which in some cultures represents royalty) as Demolition Ninja, and has a huge god complex thanks to his attained power.
• Godhood Seeker: His supreme goal in life. Khan wants to absorb as many ninja souls as his body can handle and become "a god among ninjas."
• Hulking Out: After his armor gets destroyed, Khan resorts to "pumping up" his already gargantuan body, granting him access to even more supernatural powers than before.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: How he meets his end. Khan falls several stories below after Ninja Slayer knocks him off the rooftop, landing on top of a statue's sword. In a bit of poetic irony, it's the same statue bearing his "Demolition Ninja" visage.
• Improbable Weapon User: With a business card. It looks silly at first glance, until one stops to realize that it's actually made from the same material as Khan's faceplate: rock solid gold. And to any man not Laomoto's size, that's the equivalent of a Roman legionnaire's shield◊.
  • The kicker? It's not even Khan's actual fighting weapon. He just likes to add insult to injury by toying around with his foes.
• Large and in Charge: Towers above every other known member of his criminal empire, with the probable exception of Earthquake.
• Leitmotif: The appropriately titled "Godfather of Soukaiya"; dark and foreboding, which suits him perfectly.
• Light Is Not Good: Wears white suits as part of his corporate image, and a very evil man to boot.
• Lightning Bruiser: Don't let that massive size fool you. Khan handily matches Ninja Slayer's own speed (even outpacing him) while decked out in heavy armor. And he only gets faster upon shedding it — jumping & spinning all over the place like there's no such thing as the "law of gravity."
• Magic Missile Storm: His ultimate technique, "Hissatsu Waza," is an all-powerful Ki variant, one that vaporizes even the most resilient of foes into nothingness. Nakaru actually concedes that it'll take Slayer's entire strength just to withstand a single projectile.
• Many Spirits Inside of One: It's revealed in Episode 24 that Khan has a grand total of 7 ninja souls inhabiting his body, each with its own unique abilities, giving him a wide range of different ninja powers.
• Malevolent Masked Man: Technically applies to every other faceplate-wearing bad guy, but The Don deserves special mention. His mask is always drawn in such intricate, nightmarish detail; so much that with each close-up view of Khan's face... he resembles more demon than man.
• No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Mercilessly subjects Slayer to one for the majority of their duel in Episode 24, pounding him into a bloody pulp. Naraku Ninja later tries to return the favor, but only temporarily.
• Obviously Evil: Hell, just look at his picture! Between the glowing blank-white eyes, ogre-like frame and golden Tengu mask that always conceals his face, it's safe to say that Laomoto-san wears his job well.
• Orcus on His Throne: Besides staring and barking orders from his penthouse suite, Khan doesn't really seem to do much active evil work. That is, until he gets serious...
• Power Armor: As Demolition Ninja.
• Pragmatic Villainy: It might seem odd that Khan would rather take a backseat from all the action instead of constantly showing off his great power, but that is because he's NOT that kind of Big Bad. He has an image to keep, and it would undoubtedly look bad for his governor candidacy if he were out there, caught personally committing crimes against the people.
  • Further elaborated in Episode 24. Khan goes by the creed that "time is money," meaning he doesn't see the point in personally wiping out every single "maggot" who'd dare oppose him when he could, instead, concentrate on amassing more wealth as well as his upcoming campaign. The whole reason he formed his Elite Army in the first place was so that he wouldn't have to take part in any dirty work himself.
• Psychic Powers: One of his many ninja souls grants him the power of psychokinesis.
• Razor-Sharp Hand: Seen from Episode 2. After witnessing both Cloud Buster and his scientist's demise, the furious Khan instantly slices his TV monitor in half with a mere swipe of his hand. An early hint of his power.
• Shadow Dictator: His unofficial title, "Emperor," says it all: Khan virtually rules Neo-Saitama, including local businesses and even the police force.
• The Social Darwinist: His aloof dismissal of Ninja Slayer's retorts leaves no room for doubt as to where his life philosophy rests on: "I guess a worm crawling around the ground can't understand the thoughts of an eagle," with Slayer being the "worm" and himself as the "eagle."
• Superpower Lottery: The main benefit of having 7 ninja souls inhabiting his body, which makes Khan one of the most powerful villains to roam the world of Ninja Slayer.
• Super-Strength: Given his colossal frame, this is to be expected. Having seven different ninja souls empowering his physical body also helps.
• Tin Tyrant: As "Demolition Ninja," his golden armored Super Mode alter ego.
• Throwing Your Sword Always Works: And they should, since he uses psychokinesis to retain full control over them even at a great distance.
• Villain Ball: In hindsight, it was a bad idea to waste all that manpower and resources by toying around with Slayer for so long. Khan admits he should've taken him more seriously from the get-go.
• Villain with Good Publicity: As far as the good people of Neo-Saitama knows, Khan is a wealthy businessman and CEO currently running for governor, not the Shadow Dictator behind the city's criminal underworld.
• World's Strongest Man: Proudly declares himself this, being not only gifted with raw physical strength... but also the combined forces of 7 ninja souls, at once!

Fujio Katakura / Darkninja

Voiced by: Show Hayami (JP), Chris Ryan (English)

Khan's right-hand man and the one most directly at fault for the murder of Ninja Slayer's family. Next to Laomoto himself, he is the Soukaiya's most dangerous, effective personnel.

---

• The Ace: Bar none, the most powerful ninja under Khan's employ; able to complete every mission given to him... until now.
• Arch-Enemy: Murdering both Ninja Slayer's family and master has firmly cemented him as the hero's most personal adversary.
• Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: "Allow me to show you the way a true ninja fights." It should be noted that, in his eyes, Ninja Slayer is but a "third-stringer."
• Bad Boss: The man gruesomely butchers two grunts for the mere act of checking over him while he's in a foul mood.
• Broken Faceplate: A powerful strike from Slayer (Episode 22) cracks his helmet open, exposing the upper left side of his face.
• The Dragon: To Khan, whom he greatly reveres in stark contrast to his utter disdain for what appears to be every other human life.
• Deus Exit Machina: His 3rd rematch with Slayer ends in a no-contest thanks to the sudden appearance of Masters Crane and Tortoise, who then proceed to teleport him away into god-knows-where. This removes him for the rest of the season.
• Evil Counterpart: To Ninja Slayer. He even greets the exact same way the former does, explosion and all.
• Flash Step: Easily matches Slayer's speed, even outpacing him at times.
• Hero Killer: Dragon Gendoso's.
• Iaijutsu Practitioner: His sword techniques are all centered on utilizing swift, lethal slashes to neutralize his victims.
• It's Personal: Not at first. But after Ninja Slayer savagely beats him to within an inch of his life, Darkninja's pride is shattered. Their hatred then turns mutual.
• It's Personal with the Dragon: Khan may be the leader of the Syndicate, but Darkninja is much more involved in causing all the suffering that Ninja Slayer has to endure. No matter who the (current) Big Bad is, he will always be the core target of Slayer's hatred.
• Katanas Are Just Better: Beppin, his weapon of choice.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Ironically, had he not murdered Fujikido Kenji's family and left the guy for dead, then Ninja Slayer, greatest threat to all within the Soukai, would've never been created.
• No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: In his first fight against Slayer, he ended up the recipient. The roles are reversed come their rematch.
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Alluded to have met, and eradicated, his own share of would-be usurpers behind the scenes.
• The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Episode 21 ends with him plunging Beppin into Forest Sawatari's back, just so he can have the battle against Slayer all to himself.
• Plot Armor: Apparently the case in-story, as revealed in Episode 12. Master Tortoise tells him of a prophesy that he will not die until he completes some kind of "greater destiny." And true to form, despite being #1 on Ninja Slayer's "must kill" list, he survives the outcome of Season 1.
• Purple Is Powerful: The color of his armor symbolizes his potent might. This is anime-exclusive, however. His light novel/manga counterpart is a textbook example of Evil Wears Black.
• Sore Loser: See Tranquil Fury below.
• Team Killer: Dispatches fellow Syndicate ninja, Beholder, before the latter cracks under threat.
• Tranquil Fury: Episode 12. At the start, he seems oddly calm after recovering from his grievous injuries at Slayer's hands. Things quickly become crystal clear that he's NOT taking defeat well. First he kills the men sent to check up on him. Then he heads towards a docked boat, for no other reason than wanting to blow it up because he suddenly feels like it. Which he does.
• White Hair, Black Heart: He's a cold, merciless killer with ashen hair.
• Would Hit a Girl: Fuyuko can attest to that...
• Would Hurt a Child: ...and Tochinoki for that one.

Laomoto Chiba

Voiced by: Rica Matsumoto (JP), Colleen Clinkenbeard (EN)

One of Khan's many sons.

---

• Bratty Half-Pint: The environment he lives in isn't setting a good influence. Barely a grade schooler and already threatening strangers with death? Chiba is more bark than bite (at the moment), but the tiny tyrant may be well on his way to following dad's footsteps.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: Well, he did keep Nancy locked up in a cage... behind his closet. Not to mention, having enough audacity to claim "ownership" of her as his personal "piece of property."
• First-Name Basis: Refers to Darkninja by his real name, "Fujio."
• Massive Numbered Siblings: Too many to count, according to Nancy.
• Overlord Jr.: Son of the dreaded Laomoto Khan, but more bratty than outright evil.
• Precocious Crush: Towards Nancy, maybe? He was pretty upset when Ninja Slayer came to take her away, even claiming that she now "belonged" to him.
• Spoiled Brat: Gives off this impression. Haughty, temperamental, and just plain rude upon first meeting. He seems pretty harmless, otherwise.

Dr. Lee Araki

Voiced by: Shigeru Chiba (JP), Brad Venable (EN)

The insane head of Yoroshisan Pharmaceuticals and chief-scientist of the Soukai Syndicate.

---

• All There in the Script: His full name is credited as "Dr. Lee Araki," which is the correct Western order, according to Word of God.
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Extremely hyperactive to the point of balls out, over-the-top madness, even by World of Ham standards! But make no mistake, this man is one of Soukaiya's most dangerous, vital personnel (arguably their third most, directly behind Laomoto Khan and Darkninja), thanks to his unholy craft of producing legions of cloned mooks and nightmarish bio-ninja freaks.
• Dirty Old Man: Straight-up humps his female assistant whenever the "mood" strikes him.
• Evil Is Hammy: One of the hammiest ones in-universe, and that's saying A LOT.
• The Evil Genius: He serves this role to Laomoto's Big Bad and Darkninja's The Dragon.
• Evil Old Folks: Dr. Lee is a creepy, decrepit-looking bastard with a horribly twisted mind.
• Expy: He clearly takes inspiration from fellow anime mad scientists, most noticeably The Doktor from Hellsing and Mayuri Kurotsuchi from Bleach.
• Foreshadowing: Gets name-dropped a couple of times, but does not make his full, proper appearance until Episode 17. Even so, the scope of his impact can already be felt early on, marking him one of the Syndicate's biggest key figures. His numerous creations, the Yakuza clones and bio-ninjas (including the entire Survivors' Dojo faction), have caused trouble for our heroes since the very beginning of the series.
• Four Eyes, Zero Soul: A morally depraved "genius" down to his very core. Those glasses are just part and parcel for his line of work.
• Laughably Evil: Batshit crazy as he is, the old nut-job's still got genuine moments of hilarity.
• Mad Scientist: He fits the description to the letter.
• Nightmare Fetishist: To be expected, given this guy's profession. And it REALLY shows anytime he gets too excited, using Fubuki to "relieve tension" right after going over Genocide's combat data.
• No Indoor Voice: The good doctor doesn't talk; he SCREAMS every word he says!
• One-Steve Limit: Subverted. He shares the same "Lee" as Nancy, except his happens to be his first name.
• Scary Shiny Glasses: Standard apparel for your standard mad professor.
• Slasher Smile: His default expression.
• Xanatos Gambit: When dealing with his runaway bio-ninjas, such as Genocide. Either the Syndicate recaptures them and he gets his experiment back or, in case the pursuer fails, he learns valuable battle data on said ninja. It's a win-win for him regardless of the outcome.

Fubuki Nahata

Voiced by: Yuko Mizutani (JP), Heather Walker (EN)

Dr. Lee's sexy nurse assistant.

---

• Birds of a Feather: There's a lot of similarities between her and Dr. Lee, including blood-splattered clothing and insanity.
• Cute and Psycho: Once you get past the bloodstains, she is actually pretty cute. Too bad she's just as crazy as the man she works for.
• Hartman Hips: She got the curves, alright.
• The Igor: A rare female example, except she lacks any of the grotesque physical features, instead looking like your typical Hospital Hottie (with an extra dose of Squick).
• Luminescent Blush: For some reason, she's always seen blushing.
• Naughty Nurse Outfit: She likes her dress pink, skimpy... and bloody.
• Nightmare Fetishist: Arguably even more so than her boss, since she actually feels orgasmic bliss just from watching the carnage onscreen.
• Perky Female Minion: Fubuki tempers her creepy fetishes with her fun-loving demeanor.
• Shameless Fanservice Girl: She always has that "Undress me!" look to her and even appears to enjoy Dr. Lee's lewd advances.

Arson

Voiced by: Yoji Ueda (JP), Chuck Huber (EN)

A gangster-like ninja who fights using flaming fists.

---

• Elemental Punch: With fire, courtesy of his Katon-jitsu technique.
• Family-Unfriendly Death: In the anime, his death was so over-the-top that it went straight to comical. In the manga, however, Slayer executes him by literally tearing him to pieces with his bare hand, with every graphic detail shown.
• Playing with Fire: His fist lights on fire as part of his inferno-style Katon-jitsu.
• Sharp-Dressed Man: Garish green choice of color aside, this guy knows how to look the part of a high-class criminal.
• Starter Villain: In the manga, with the events of Episode 1 later shown through flashbacks.
• Torso with a View: After Ninja Slayer punches a hole through him.
• Weaksauce Weakness: "Whoops! Katon-jitsu is useless unless it connects!"
• Who Are You?: His first spoken words to Slayer.

Cloud Buster

"INDUSTRYYYY!"

Voiced by: Tooru Sakurai (JP), Tyson Rinehart (EN)

A ninja housed inside one of Omura Industries' flying blimps. Sent to terminate Ninja Slayer.

---

• Bald of Evil: Complete with permanent Cross-Popping Veins, no less.
• Blade Below the Shoulder: In both arms. They're attached directly to his gauntlets.
• Catchphrase: Notable for not just limiting himself to "YEEART!"s. He also adds "INDUSTRY!"s for extra juicy flavor.
• Corporate Samurai: Most of the Soukaiya fits this category, but Cloud Buster earns unique notice for being a walking/flying advertisement for Omura Industries: sporting their latest weaponry as well as constantly yelling clear reference to the company.
• In Name Only: Doesn't even bear the slightest resemblance to a ninja, looking far more like some kind of cyborg Super-Soldier. He even lacks any of the "stock Hollywood ninja skills," instead relying on raw power and technology from Omura Industries.
• Jet Pack: His power armor's equipped with jets that allow him to hover and attack from the air.
• No Indoor Voice: In a work that's packed full of this type, he still stands out because of the sheer PASSION he oozes with every word coming from his mouth.
• Power Armor: His "ninja" gimmick, so to speak, is that of a heavily-armored, futuristic soldier.
• Shock and Awe: Cloud Buster's armor is equipped with electric coils that serve as a defense mechanism, shocking anyone who gets too close for comfort.
• Shout-Out: He seems to be wearing a scouter from Dragon Ball.
• Wake-Up Call Boss: The first enemy that requires Naraku Ninja's intervention.

Kinjima

Voiced by: Taisuke Nishimura (JP), Anthony Bowling (EN)

A scientist/pilot from Omura Industries. He accompanies Cloud Buster as his one-man support team.

---

• Bring My Brown Pants: Wets himself dry after seeing Laomoto Khan angry at him. He wets himself drier (and then some) once Ninja Slayer successfully barges into his blimp and is mere inches away from reaching him...
• Butt-Monkey: Unlike Nancy, he's totally Played for Laughs.
• Cool Airship: His counter-ninja war blimp prototype, the Bubujima, which is disguised as a sushi advertising blimp.
• Four Eyes, Zero Soul: Again, Played for Laughs. He's about as frightening as Mr. Smee.
• Gory Discretion Shot: His death at the hands of Ninja Slayer isn't shown onscreen, but it had to be gruesome since his blood sprays all over his computer monitor.
• Oh, Crap!: Sums up every single one of Kinjima's reactions to anything.
• Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: Lampshaded by Khan. The poor fool keeps missing Slayer with almost every shot, only hitting him with Cloud Buster's help. His excuse is that the war blimp's just a prototype.
• Nerd in Evil's Helmet: He's really bad at hiding his nerdiness, not helped by his equally-nerdy astronaut helm.
• Nervous Wreck: Not a single moment goes by when he isn't panicking his lungs off.
• Non-Action Guy: Outside of... "decent" piloting skills, he obviously has zero fighting ability.
• Suspiciously Specific Denial: Everything his war blimp says goes around like "this is not a trap" or "this blimp is for advertising, and is not at all fishy."

Offender

Voiced by: Daisuke Egawa (JP), Duncan Brannan (EN)

An ape-like ninja, sent alongside Scatter to "clean up" any survivors from Darkninja's killing spree.

---

• Creepily Long Arms: Due to his simian-like shape.
• Dual Wielding: He uses knives.
• Fatal Flaw: His sadism. If only he'd done his job without opting to keep "that one guy" alive for his own later amusement, then Ninja Slayer would never have come into existence.
• Off with His Head!: The very first individual to suffer this fate at the hands of Slayer.
• Sadist: Enjoys peeling off faces.
• Starter Villain: With Scatter.
• Tear Off Your Face: What he's about to do to Fujikido Kenji under official orders.
• What the Hell Are You?: Cue "Domo, I am Ninja Slayer" for the first time.

Scatter

Voiced by: Takahiro Mizushima (JP), Todd Haberkorn (EN)

A robot-like ninja. He works with Offender as part of the "clean up crew."

---

• Ridiculously Human Robots: He doesn't act particularly robot-like and can puke a ridiculous amount.
• Sadist: Of the voyeuristic sort. He was really looking forward to watching Offender flay that one survivor they found.
• Scarf of Asskicking: Wears a light blue one. He's no asskicker, tho.
• Starter Villain: Ninja Slayer's very first victim.
• Vomit Indiscretion Shot: Every drop of disgusting fluid in full, nauseating view...
• Waterfall Puke: An icky stream of yellow-green bile.

Myrmidon

Voiced by: Yoshimitsu Shimoyama (JP), Mike McFarland (EN)

An ant-like ninja. One of Ninja Slayer's earliest victims.

---

• Big Creepy-Crawlies: He's a giant mutant-ninja ant.
• Cool Bike: Briefly seen riding one just before launching his (futile) assault on Slayer.
• Expy: An obvious parody of Kamen Rider, particularity the earliest ones from the Showa era.
• Off with His Head!: The second on Ninja Slayer's list.
• Scarf of Asskicking: It looks pretty snazzy, but he's not much of a threat.
• Starter Villain: And the first one to actually try putting up a fight against Ninja Slayer. Keyword being "try."
• We Hardly Knew Ye: Like Offender and Scatter before him, he exists mainly to serve as cannon fodder and establish how powerful the newly-resurrected Kenji Fujikido has become.

Sonic Boom

Voiced by: Takaya Kuroda (JP), J. Michael Tatum (EN)

The first of the Soukai Six Gates to be introduced. He tries to forcibly recruit Shogo and Yamoto.

---

• Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: Sonic Boom never stops bragging about his self-perceived "greatness" in martial arts, taunting any "puny weakling" he meets while pummeling them to a bloody pulp. All that changes once he comes face-to-face with Ninja Slayer, who brutalizes him in kind before his much deserved death.
• Barbaric Bully: He may be a fully grown man, but he acts like that neighborhood punk who thinks he can push around all those smaller than him without suffering any consequences, beating people up like a savage animal. Then he runs into a much bigger fish, and before he knows it, his smug, fragile ego comes crashing down faster than he can say "YEEART!"
• Delinquent Hair: A pompadour so grand it'd make Space☆Dandy jealous.
• The Dreaded: He seems to have garnered an infamous reputation among other ninjas for his bullish antics and ruthlessness. Even after being long gone, his name's still recognized by the likes of Silver Karasu.
• Full-Body Disguise: He assumes a completely different appearance when out scouting, but rips the disguise once he confronts his targets.
• Highly-Visible Ninja: Though he's hardly the only one guilty of this, Ninja Slayer does ridicule him for his flashy "fashion" sense.
• Ki Manipulation: He can create sonic booms by charging up his Ki, hence his name.
• Pummel Duel: Engages Slayer to a rapid fistfight halfway into their duel. It ends in Sonic Boom's loss.
• Punch Parry: He tries to block Ninja Slayer's charged haymaker with his reinforced gauntlets, only to wound his arm while Slayer remains unscathed. From there, it finally dawns on Sonic Boom that he's seriously way out of his league.
• Would Hit a Girl: Proving that he doesn't "discriminate" when it comes to gender, Sonic Boom gave then-fledgling ninja Koki Yamoto such a hellish beatdown when she dared to try standing up to him, even while she was already prone and barely able to defend herself. She would've surely died had it not been for the fortunate coincidence of their fight taking place near Ninja Slayer's location.

Shogo Maguchi / Suicide

Voiced by: Satoshi Hino (JP), Austin Tindle (EN)

A ex-student forcibly enlisted into the Soukaiya by Sonic Boom. He used to go to the same school as Koki Yamoto, living in quiet isolation from the rest of his peers while enduring his classmates' daily bullying. One day, he finally had enough and tried to end his life by jumping off the highest school building, only to land headfirst onto an unassuming Yamoto and causing both of them to suffer near-death experiences... which, in turn, led to their respective ninja souls taking possession of their bodies. As a Syndicate recruit, Shogo is given the (appropriate) codename of "Suicide," having bonded with the soul called Punk Ninja.

---

• Afro Asskicker: He's a reasonably competent ninja with an afro hairstyle.
• The Atoner: Feels bad for his accidental role in getting Koki Yamoto possessed by Shi Ninja, because it means he's virtually responsible for ruining her normal life. He tries to make up for it by doing what he can to spare her from sharing his fate as a Soukaiya.
• Bungled Suicide: Some time ago, he tried to jump off the school roof only to land on Yamoto, nearly killing them both. This, in turn, caused them to gain ninja souls.
• Cool Shades: He's never seen without his funky sunglasses.
• Crime of Self-Defense: He was arrested for beating up a gang of bullies, despite only intending to defend himself. Turns out that Sonic Boom orchestrated the whole affair in order to isolate him for recruitment.
• Death Seeker: Initially, though he eventually finds a new purpose in life by seeking to tear down the Soukaiya, along with protecting Yamoto from his mistakes.
• Energy Absorption: His main power allows him to absorb other ninjas' Ki for use as his own.
• Forced into Evil: He became a ninja against his will, then eventually got "conscripted" into the Soukaiya.
• Friendless Background: Apparently, he's never made any friends in school, unlike Yamoto. It's heavily implied that he was Driven to Suicide because of this, along with all the bullying he received regularly.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Shogo holds off Sonic Boom long enough for Yamoto and her friends to get away. The credits indicate that he survived, since his image isn't greyed out like those who are certainly dead.
• Sir Swears-a-Lot: Has a penchant for saying "Buddha fuck!" in English.
• Tattooed Crook: Shogo has a number of tribal tattoos etched around his upper body.
• Token Good Teammate: Out of everyone in this long list of Syndicate goons, he's the only recruit to have any redeemable qualities.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: His failed attempt at self-destruction brought about a chain of events that started in Yamoto's own ninja soul possession and ending with the Syndicate marking her for death. Later on, he tries to make amends by defending her from Sonic Boom... with disastrous results.
• Walking Shirtless Scene: Not all the time, but he spends most of his scenes without a shirt on.
• Who's Laughing Now?: Suffice it to say, Shogo's former tormentors had one helluva rude awakening the moment he came back as a ninja and kicked their collective assess. But it's also a subversion since he never really wanted to seek revenge on them; poor fools kinda just forced his hand.
• The Worf Effect: Shogo's a capable fighter on his own right, but proves no match for Sonic Boom as a testament of the latter's power and superiority.
• Took a Level in Badass: From geeky, scrawny-built pushover to a not-so scrawny ninja of considerable strength and skill. Not bad.
• Younger Than They Look: He might not look it, but he's actually around the same age as Koki Yamoto and was, in fact, one of her schoolmates.

Hugeshuriken

Voiced by: Tsubasa Yonaga (JP), Justin Cook (EN)

One of the Soukai Six Gates. He attacks the Dragon Dojo with Earthquake and Hellkite.

---

• Affectionate Nickname: He simply calls his fighting parner Earthquake "Earth". In exchange he nicknames Hugeshuriken "Huge".
• Big Guy, Little Guy: Hugeshuriken's no dwarf, but he might as well be when standing next to his gargantuan pal, Earthquake.
• Dirty Coward: When the odds are stacked against him, totally not above shooting someone In the Back. Also doubles as a Taking You with Me.
• Dreadlock Warrior: He's not much of a "warrior," but he does have dreadlocks.
• Exactly What It Says on the Tin: He's a ninja carrying a huge shuriken. Yeah.
• Glory Hound: Hugeshuriken loves inflating his own ego by taking dibs on every target he sees. He really doesn't like it when others like Hellkite or even his own partner Earthquake try to outshine him.
• Killed Offscreen: He was last seen collapsing inside the Dragon Dojo just before the carpet bomb went off. Credits confirm that he died at the time of the blast.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The "red oni" to Earthquake's "blue." He's a sadistic hothead while his big buddy is a Punch-Clock Villain at worst.
• Sadist: Greatly enjoys applying the torture method of breaking people's fingers, one by one.
• Small Role, Big Impact: He only lasts for one episode, but his act of poisoning Gendoso triggers the events of Episodes 7 through 11, ultimately leading to the old man's death at Darkninja's hand and Yukano's loss of memory.
• Talk to the Fist: Barely lets Gendoso introduce himself before attacking.
• Torture Technician: The finger breaking wasn't even the good part, apparently.

Earthquake

Voiced by: Hiroshi Shirokuma (JP), Chris Rager (EN)

One of the Soukai Six Gates. He participates in the attack on the Dragon Dojo.

---

• Affably Evil: Played for laughs. Apparently, he strictly follows traffic laws even at the price of being stuck, despite nothing stopping him from simply running down every vehicle in front. Later, he "humbly presents" his intention to wreck the Dragon Dojo before Gendoso, like a schoolboy asking permission from an elder.
• Affectionate Nickname: He simply calls his fighting parner Hugeshuriken "Huge". In exchange he nicknames Earthquake "Earth".
• Badass Biker: Rides around on a Harley as large as himself.
• Big Guy, Little Guy: He's a mountain-sized man while his partner is of average human height.
• Death by a Thousand Cuts: Ninja Slayer and Gendoso manage to severely weaken Earthquake by throwing barrage after barrage of shuriken at his massive body until he's reduced to a bloody mass. Slayer then lands the coup de grâce by beheading him.
• Giant Mook: Physically-speaking, he just might be the only one even bigger than the Big Bad. He'd be called The Brute if he wasn't so hastily disposed of.
• Mighty Glacier: Packs all the muscle, but none of the speed/agility required for dodging fast-thrown projectiles. This leads to his downfall.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The "blue oni" to Hugeshuriken's "red." Earthquake comes across as a polite, down-to-earth man despite technically working for the bad guys. His pal, on the other hand, is a borderline-psychotic Card-Carrying Villain.

Hellkite

Voiced by: Wataru Takagi (JP), Ian Ferguson (EN)

One of the Soukai Six Gates. After an early-episode cameo, he returns much later as a guard trying to stop Ninja Slayer's siege on the Syndicate's HQ.

---

• Destination Defenestration: Slayer knocks him out a widow at the end of their fight, but manages to survive thanks to his kite.
• Early-Bird Cameo: First appears in Episode 6, but neither gets any lines nor even a proper introduction. He then just vanishes without a trace... until Episode 23, where he finally plays a central role.
• Flight: He roams around the skies on a giant mechanical kite.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Brags about the Home Field Advantage he has over Ninja Slayer, that is until Nancy hacks into his arena's ventilation system and turns his own fans against him.
• Home Field Advantage: His arena is specifically designed to allow him maximum control over his kite's flight pattern, using the surrounding fans within.
• Long-Range Fighter: Fires bamboo spears at his targets while utilizing the power of Flight to stay out of harm's reach.
• No Body Left Behind: Laomoto's Hissatsu Waza ends up disintegrating him instead of its actual target, Ninja Slayer.
• Shock and Awe: Later assists Laomoto Khan himself with lightning-based projectiles.
• Sole Survivor: Of the first shown Soukai Six Gates, and the last to die in its final roster.
• Taking You with Me: Tries this on Slayer, holding him down just as Khan's about to fire his Hissatsu Waza. It doesn't work out.
• Undying Loyalty: No amount of mistreatment would ever deter Hellkite from loyally serving The Don to the bitter end. He gladly sacrifices his life to try and kill Ninja Slayer, and like Gatekeeper, speaks nothing but praise for Khan before his demise.

Bandit

Voiced by: Jun Hirose (JP), David Trosko (EN)

Shortest-lived member of the Soukai Six Gates. Ninja Slayer tracks him down for interrogation due to his knowledge regarding his colleague Beholder's activities.

---

• Better to Die than Be Killed: He opts to self-destruct rather than disclose knowledge of the Syndicate's many secrets.
• Didn't Think This Through: Related to the above. He still leaves behind a note, making his loyal sacrifice all in vain.
• Eye Scream: Slayer plants a shuriken into one of his eyes when he tries to resist. He doesn't even bother to get back up after that, choosing to commit suicide instead of enduring more torture.
• Ninja: Compared to most of his fellow Soukaiya peers, Bandit actually looks the part. He's also not a fighter, but more of a secret liaison between members, something most historical ninjas were actually trained to do rather than the badass shadow warriors they would come to be known as in modern popular culture.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: Belongs to the Soukai Six, yet he bites it in the very scene he's introduced in.

Beholder

Voiced by: Masaki Terasoma (JP), Major Attaway (EN)

A telepathic ninja tasked by Laomoto to destroy a million-dollar tofu company after they've refused to join the Syndicate. He enlists many impoverished citizens (whom the company wronged) in order to help complete his job, and along the way, scout potential new recruits.

---

• Deadly Gaze: His kanashibari-jitsu can put people into a hypnotic state just by making eye contact. Used with his bare eyes, it can kill.
• Evil Cripple: Wheelchair-bound, manipulative bastard.
• Killed Mid-Sentence: By Darkninja once Ninja Slayer starts interrogating him.
• Manipulative Bastard: Gets the poor to attack Sekaiesan Tofu by lying and drugging all who are present into an unstoppable rage.
• People Puppets: Another kanashibari-jitsu specialty. Since he himself cannot fight, he uses others to handle all the bleeding for him. Ask what happens to Shigaki.
• Sinister Shades: He's an evil man whose mere gaze forces any person who looks him in the eye to obey his every command, kept sealed behind his glasses until a time comes for him to use it.
• Weaksauce Weakness: Ninja Slayer defeats his kanashibari-jitsu by moonwalking. "No person has eyes in their back!"

Cockatrice

Voiced by: Nobuaki Kanemitsu (JP), Cris George (EN)

A Yoroshisan Bio-Ninja ordered to assassinate Nancy Lee and her associates.

---

• An Arm and a Leg: Both of his arms end up sliced off.
• Animorphism: His serpentine parts became the way they are thanks to a certain Dr. Lee.
• The Beast Master: Controls two (attached) snakes on each arm: one smaller, and the other a giant monstrosity.
• Body Horror: His bandaged limbs are live serpents!
• Monstrous Humanoid: He has snake-like eyes, plus a lower body that's definitely not human.
• Staircase Tumble: As soon as Ninja Slayer cuts off his arms, he falls down several flights of stairs in the process.

Daedalus

Voiced by: Eiji Miyashita (JP), Josh Grelle (EN)

A computer hacker who is in charge of the Syndicate's cyber network security.

---

• Abhorrent Admirer: "Number 2" for Nancy. He's even worse than the other guy, which says a lot.
• Attempted Rape: On Nancy, again. Also a weird case since he wasn't even touching her real body, just her look-alike computer avatar. But he was so into it that one has to wonder if he even noticed the difference (or care).
• Cyclops: Daedalus only has one creepily large, yellow eye.
• Double Entendre: "I really will catch you, and direct-connect my LAN."
• Evil Counterpart: One for Nancy Lee, in terms of Hollywood Hacking and being Weak, but Skilled.
• Fatal Flaw: Lust, much like Sawatari. And in this case, to the point of taking priority over his actual job. The dude's so intent on "fulfilling" his own libido that he completely misses Ninja Slayer logging in, and you know how that song and dance goes.
• Hollywood Hacking: Much like Nancy, though in this case, he's essentially a living anti-virus program, guarding the Soukaiya's cyber network from any outside interference.
• Me's a Crowd: He can create and control an army of avatars while connected to the cyber-world.
• Mind Rape: Technically-speaking, since everything he does to Nancy happens in the cyber-world while her mind's directly uploaded to it.
• Nerd in Evil's Helmet: Lampshaded. Nancy outright calls him a "basement dweller" in the English dub.
• Noodle People: Looks more like a burnt matchstick than a man.
• No Social Skills: He honestly thinks the best way to win a girl's heart is to try asking her to stay in the cyber-world and become his sex toy.
• Not Good with Rejection: Once Nancy makes it perfectly clear that she wants nothing to do with him, he goes horn-mad and tries violating her.
• Oblivious to Hints: It takes a good series of kicks and blunt rebukes before "I'm NOT interested!" finally sinks into this dude's noodle.
• Shout-Out: Seeing as how Nancy appears to be channeling The Matrix, Daedalus's own cloning ability can be considered a nod to Agent Smith, the films' antagonist.
• Sound-Only Death: The screen cuts just before Nancy shoots his last clone, only leaving the sound of a gunshot. One brief glimpse of his real-world body later proves that he really is dead.
• Stalker with a Crush: He makes Sawatari's crush look tame in comparison.
• Villainous Crush: Refers to Nancy as "my electronic bride."
• Weak, but Skilled: On his own, Daedalus is actually rather weak and can be dispatched in seconds. Nonetheless, his formidable computer-hacking expertise, plus ability to create multiple copies of himself, make for quite a dangerous foe.

Lobster & Dr. Nakata / Lobster 2

Lobster 2 (Human Form)

(Lobster 1) Voiced by: Kenjiro Tsuda (JP), Chris Guerrero (EN)

(Lobster 2) Voiced by: Shin-ichiro Miki (JP), Chris Guerrero (EN)

A Yoroshisan Bio-Ninja who also happens to be a man-sized lobster. Once the original gets destroyed, his creator, Dr. Nakata, immediately proceeds to take his place.

---

• All There in the Script: "Lobster 2" is credited as "Nakata" in the closing credits.
• Animorphism: Dr. Nakata ends up transforming himself into a lobster monster just like his creation.
• Avenging the Villain: Lobster 2 (Dr. Nakata) tries to get revenge on Ninja Slayer for destroying his "beloved" creature.
• Body Horror: Lobster 2 grows a mutated arm using the original's leftover Power Pincer.
• Dirty Old Man: Lobster 2/Nakata is one, evidenced by the way he comments on Nancy's body, even describing her screams as "quite pleasing." Then there's his method for tying her up...
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: A twisted variant. The mad doctor claims to have loved his creation as if Lobster was his own son.
• Eye Scream: Slayer throws shurikens into both of his eyes before cooking him alive.
• Giant Enemy Crab: Or 'lobster' in this case.
• Irony: Likes boiling people alive as a form of torture. It's the same thing that gets him killed. Twice.
• Not Quite Dead: Even after he's reduced to nothing but a Power Pincer, his maker confirms that Lobster yet "lives" in some form... until said pincher is boiled.
• Power Pincers: Really big ones which he apparently uses to communicate.
• Villainous Legacy: After Ninja Slayer literally cooks him alive, Lobster's creator promises to avenge him. The man then goes so far as to transform himself into Lobster 2, using the original's remaining pincer.

Nutcracker

Voiced by: Shinnosuke Ogami (JP), Jeremy Inman (EN)

A ninja with a mechanical mouth sent to terminate Koki Yamoto.

---

• Crazy-Prepared: He was savvy enough to gather data from Yamoto's fighting style and past battle record, formulating counter measures before making his move. He then ambushes her in an enclosed space where she cannot properly utilize her psychic/origami powers, almost killing her off, too, had Silver Karasu not step in.
• Delinquent Hair: He sports the classic punk mohawk.
• In the Back: Courtesy of Silver Karasu, who finishes him with a knife to the head.
• Motor Mouth: Figuratively and literally speaking. He talks a lot for a guy stuck with a painful-looking machinery as his replacement jawline.
• Would Hit a Girl: Alongside Would Hurt a Child. Just ask Yamoto.

Third Eye

Voiced by: Makoto Furukawa (JP), Gregory Lush (EN)

A ninja who has the ability to track anyone with a ninja soul. Teaming up with Sword Dancer, he targets Koki Yamoto.

---

• Death by Irony: Sends his partner to certain death so that he can claim the prize on Yamoto's head all for himself. But when it becomes evident that he's no match for her solo, he starts yelling for Silver Karasu to come back him up, only for the latter to do the opposite and finish him off, instead.
• Glory Hound: His reason for baiting Sword Dancer to head straight into Silver Karasu's location (whom he thought was Ninja Slayer at the time), knowing Dancer would most certainly get killed; leaving him to claim sole credit for Yamoto's assassination. This ends up biting him back HARD.
• Power Nullifier: The machinery on his shoulder has the ability to cancel out one's Psychic Powers, including Yamoto's.
• Scarily Competent Tracker: So long as the target has a ninja soul, he's on the chase.
• This Cannot Be!: More or less says this after Yamoto defeats him.

Sword Dancer

Voiced by: Kousuke Takaguchi (JP), Brian Witkowicz (EN)

A tribesman-like bounty hunter tasked alongside Third Eye to eliminate Koki Yamoto.

---

• Bald of Evil: Not a single strand of hair under that feathery mask.
• Bounty Hunter: Not an actual Syndicate member - just someone they hired to assist Third Eye.
• Cool Mask: Wears a big tribal mask, later destroyed by Silver Karasu.
• Dual Wielding: He brandishes two swords in battle.
• McNinja: Judging from appearance, he's a native-born South African.
• Jive Turkey: His English VA gave him this accent.
• Off with His Head!: By the sword of Silver Karasu.
• Scary Black Man: An intimidating blade-for-hire who hails from the African continent.
• Spin Attack: His strongest attack involves him spinning around like a top.

Explosive

Voiced by: Masuo Amada (JP), Matt Thurston (EN)

Another ninja from Omura Industries, sent to wipe out every village on the outskirts of Neo-Saitama for construction purposes.

---

• Acrofatic: He can move surprisingly fast considering how bloated he is.
• Ain't Too Proud to Beg: Crosses with Villains Want Mercy. Trapped under the weight of his destroyed Motoryab, he pleads Ninja Slayer to come help him before a nearby bomb detonates. Slayer simply walks away.
• Fat Bastard: Explosive is a crazed lunatic with a spherical-shaped girth.
• Having a Blast: His preferred weapons are bandolier explosives, hence his name.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: He ends up getting killed by the very same bombs he loves to chuck people with, and at the same time, crushed by one of his own support robots. Also doubles as a Karmic Death.
• Mad Bomber: The man takes special delight in causing widespread havoc with his arsenal of explosives.
• Slasher Smile: Thanks to his mask, he always looks as if he's giving off a creepy Halloween grin.
• Why Am I Ticking?: His favorite method of executing victims involves strapping bombs to their bodies, with only 3 seconds before detonation. Slayer later returns the favor.

Prominence

Voiced by: Jun Fukushima (JP), Garret Storms (EN)

A Six Gates member with a fireman motif. He guards the Shinkansen, Galaxy — a valuable transport train belonging to the Syndicate.

---

• Badass Longcoat: Worn and shabby.
• Bullet Catch: Grabs Flickshot's rapid-firing marbles with ease.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: On the receiving end once Ninja Slayer enters the fray, who kicks his ass without trouble. And when he tries to attack again, the latter plants a swift kick to his neck, snapping it instantly.
• Four-Fingered Hands: Justified, since his organic hands have been replaced with cybernetic ones, designed to shoot flames out of each finger.
• Neck Snap: Thanks to a kick in the head from Slayer.
• Normal Fish Ina Tiny Pond: Out of all the ninja shown, he probably demonstrated this best. Ninja Slayer beat him without too much difficulty, and yet if he hadn't been there Prominence would have single-handily beaten Flickshot AND his whole squad.
• Playing with Fire: His metallic fingers are actually built-in flamethrowers.
• Verbal Tic: In the English dub, he has an odd habit of talking in Added Alliterative Appeal.
• Villain Has a Point: Mocked Ninja Slayer for siding with the Ikki Uchikowashi, referring to them as nothing but self-glorified communists. In hindsight, he wasn't wrong.

Grenadier

Voiced by: Kaito Ishikawa (JP), Ian Sinclair (EN)

A ninja sent out to capture the escaped Genocide, as well as eliminate Yamoto.

---

• Badass Longcoat: A little on the short side, but still counts.
• Fragile Speedster: He's very quick on his feet; able to dodge barrage after barrage of attacks thrown at him by Manticore, Genocide and Yamoto. But the second Genocide catches him off guard, he's finished.
• Having a Blast: His throwing stars explode on impact.
• There Is No Kill Like Overkill: Sliced up into pieces by Genocide.
• Warm-Up Boss: He was really just the appetizer for Yamoto and Genocide until the more dangerous main course, Manticore, showed up.

Manticore

Voiced by: Kenta Miyake (JP), Phil Parsons (EN)

A hulking chimera monster created by Dr. Lee's assistant, Fubuki, meant to dispatch or recapture Genocide.

---

• An Arm and a Leg: Yamoto severs both of his arms.
• The Berserker: Of the worst kind. Manticore's sole purpose is to hunt down targets and destroy everything that stands even a remote chance of getting in his way. See Team Killer below.
• Hulk Speak: He carries just enough intelligence to have the ability of speech, but only barely.
• Off with His Head!: Genocide kills him by sawing his head clean off.
• Monstrous Humanoid: The end result of mixing human, lion, gorilla and porcupine DNA to form one frightening specimen.
• Primal Stance: Always moves on all fours, thanks to the gorilla DNA used to shape his overall body structure.
• Spike Shooter: He can shoot out massive amounts of quills from his porcupine-like tail.
• Super-Strength: Manticore can smash through walls and throw heavy objects like they're made of paper.
• Team Killer: He will maul and attack anyone, including the very people who are supposed to be his allies. At the end of the day, he's just a savage, near-mindless brute.

Basilisk

Voiced by: Ryōtarō Okiayu (JP), Ray Hurd (EN)

An reptilian ninja with lofty ambitions. He and his co-conspirator, Warlock, have plans to overthrow Khan's rule.

---

• Animal Motifs: Take a guess which.
• Badass Biker: He's actually more effective with it than with his sword.
• Big Bad Wannabe: Despite a good showing in physical prowess, his and Warlock's plans were doomed from the get-go.
• Cool Bike: Which he named "Iron Otome"; described to have unparalleled driving potential, such as going up walls at 90 degrees angle. Slayer later hijacks it for his own use.
• Cool Sword: Fittingly, his weapon of choice is a serpentine blade.
• Deadly Gaze: Capable of paralyzing his victims, and with enough concentration, even turn them into stone.
• Defiant to the End: Even after Slayer fatally wounds him, he refuses to go down without a fight.
• Drives Like Crazy: And vertically, too!
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Twice at the same time, in fact. Slayer reflects Basilisk's eyes beams back at him, using the latter's own bike mirrors. Petrification ensues.
• I Regret Nothing: His reason for refusing his death haiku.
• The Leader: Along with his partner, the two are leading The Coup against Khan.
• Neck Lift: Strangles Nancy to near death, just because he felt like it.
• Poisoned Weapons: His shurikens are all coated with deadly venom.
• Precision-Guided Boomerang: They're also uniquely-designed to have this effect.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Bloodshot ones, indicating his vile nature.
• Reptiles Are Abhorrent: He's a treacherous snake in every sense of the word.
• Sadist: He could've simply went for a quick kill, but Basilisk wanted to take his swell time with Nancy Lee when he had her at his mercy, slowly choking her to death via asphyxiation. Ironically enough, this ended up saving her life when the villain's partner, Warlock, decided midway that Nancy's better off as live bait for their planned attack on Ninja Slayer.
• Sissy Villain: Downplayed, but listen to his mega-girly kias. This guy could give Vega a run for his money.
• The Starscream: Plotted with Warlock to become the new leaders of the Syndicate by getting rid of the old ones. They overestimated themselves.
• Taken for Granite: His main power, as well as his final fate.
• Tennis Boss: Sort of. He met his demise when Ninja Slayer turned his own attack against him via motorcycle mirrors, but by that point he was bleeding to death, anyway. In effect, this was more of a Taking You with Me that backfired horribly.
• Would Hit a Girl: And savors every moment of it, too. Just ask poor Nancy.

Warlock & Trufflehog

Warlock

Trufflehog

(As Trufflehog) Voiced by: Toshiharu Sakurai (JP), Brad Jackson (EN)

(As Warlock) Voiced by: Hikaru Midorikawa (JP), Newton Pittman (EN)

Basilisk's partner in crime. He seems to be the "brains" behind the plot to overthrow the Syndicate's current leadership, so that he and Basilisk can take over. Makes use of a lowly grunt named Trufflehog as his on-the-field "body."

---

• Asshole Victim: Torn apart by both Darkninja and Gatekeeper, and nobody shed a tear.
• Big Bad Wannabe: Out of all the "wannabes," his downfall comes as the most pathetic. He doesn't even last two episodes!
• Body Snatcher: Basilisk's partner isn't really the warthog, but rather some sickly-looking, emaciated ninja. He even states that it's just a temporary body.
• Cool Shades: As the warthog.
• Delinquent Hair: Trufflehog's mohawk.
• Expy: An anthropomorphic warthog sporting a mohawk and techno-sunglasses... Bebop, is that you?
• Genre Blindness: He thought using Truffehog would be enough to guarantee his true form's safety. But the Syndicate, being what it is, uncovers his secret location faster than he'd even imagine, and Warlock pays the ultimate price.
• Half the Man He Used to Be: This is how Darkninja dispatches his "Trufflehog" body after Laomoto discovers his and Basilisk's treachery.
• The Leader: Along with Basilisk, the two are leading The Coup against Khan. It all soon comes crashing down.
• Levitating Lotus Position: This is what Warlock looks like he is doing. In reality, he's just being supported by a large figure stand.
• Non-Action Guy: One look at his real frame alone should explain why.
• The Nose Knows: His tracking skills are all thanks to his pig snout's excellent sense of smell.
• Nothing but Skin and Bones: His true body is very emaciated.
• Off with His Head!: After tracking him down to his hideout, Gatekeeper disposes of the traitorous Warlock's real body by yanking his head clear off his neck.
• Out-Gambitted: It never even occurred to him that Khan had already figured him out until it was too late.
• Pig Man: Trufflehog is a former human spliced with swine DNA, hence his appearance.
• Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: The moment his little plan reaches The Don's ears, Laomoto sends out Gatekeeper to personally execute Warlock.
• Scarily Competent Tracker: Trufflehog can sniff out any traces of ninja soul activity, enabling him to find Slayer's then current hideout. This, in turn, led to Basilisk's abduction of Nancy Lee.
• The Starscream: He and Basilisk were planning to take over the Syndicate by assassinating Khan, only to fail miserably.

Wired, Beehive, Albatross & Ten Count

(Wired) Voiced by: Yasumichi Kushida (JP), Ian Moore (EN)

(Beehive) Voiced by: Shinya Hamazoe (JP), Ben Ambroso (EN)

(Albatross) Voiced by: Takuya Masumoto (JP), Micah Solusod (EN)

(Ten Count) Voiced by: Hironori Saitō (JP), Will Short (EN)

Four Elite Mook ninjas who ambush Ninja Slayer upon his failed assassination attempt on Laomoto Khan. Wired has power over magnetism; Beehive's armed with a gatling gun; Albatross performs super jump attacks with his spring-heeled feet; and Ten Count uses... boxing skills. They're all part of The Coup.

---

Wired

Tropes associated with Wired:

• Giant Mook: The tallest and most heavily-built of the four.
• Killed Offscreen: Slayer leads him and three of his cohorts into a pitch-black alley, where they're rapidly slaughtered behind the cover of darkness.
• Magnetism Manipulation: Using his armor. It's made entirely of magnetic alloy.
• Power Armor: Wears a highly advanced suit of armor that contains magnetic properties, giving him not just strong protection, but offensive powers as well.

Beehive

Tropes associated with Beehive:

• Gatling Good: His main weapon, attached firmly to his tank-like body.
• Killed Offscreen: Judging by his screams, it sounded painful.
• No Indoor Voice: Easily the most loud-mouthed of the four.
• No Nonsense Villain: Opens fire on Slayer before he can finish his return greeting.

Albatross

Tropes associated with Albatross:

• Determinator: Even when backed to a corner, knowing fully well that he's a dead man, Albatross still tries to get one last shot before going down.
• In a Single Bound: His legs have been cybernetically altered to give him the power of long jumps.
• Killed Offscreen: It's safe to assume that he expired as soon as Slayer was done brutally interrogating him about Nancy's whereabouts.
• No Nonsense Villain: Same as Beehive, only he doesn't even allow Slayer the chance to greet back. He arrives, introduces himself, then immediately goes for the kill.
• Off with His Head!: Revealed to have joined Ninja Slayer's list of beheaded baddies the last time he "shows up."

Ten Count

Tropes associated with Ten Count:

• Boxing Battler: He doesn't have any other "unique" traits besides using boxing gloves in battle.
• Cool Helmet: For a subjective value of "cool." He wears a metal helmet designed to resemble that of a boxer's protective headgear.
• Killed Offscreen: Same as Wired and Beehive. They never saw it coming.

Gatekeeper

Voiced by: Hiroshi Ito (JP), Jeremy Schwartz (EN)

Eldest and founding member of the Soukai Six Gates, also acting as their leader. Gatekeeper is the only one among his colleagues to have steadily kept himself alive since its original incarnation many years ago, long before Ninja Slayer's time. His first on-screen act is to execute the traitorous Warlock. Later, he meets Ninja Slayer face-to-face as the final guardian of Khan's tower HQ.

---

• Affably Evil: Cordial, honorable, and A Father to His Men. He's a pretty decent guy for a Syndicate assassin.
• Battle Aura: They form around his tonfas.
• Face Death with Dignity: Unlike most ninjas who either died in deficiency or expressing fear, Gatekeeper calmly accepts his defeat and recites the death haiku before Slayer beheads him.
• A Father to His Men: In a surprising aversion to the usual Soukaiya, Gatekeeper expresses deep concern for the lives of his fellow ninjas. He mourns all who've died in battle against Slayer.
• Off with His Head!: Delivers a gruesome one to Warlock. He later meets the same fate, like plenty of Ninja Slayer's victims.
• Old Soldier: One of Khan's most loyal, senior enforcers. He's been around since the founding of the Six Gates, and the last of its original members.
• Purple Is Powerful: His military fatigues are covered in purple camouflage.
• Spectacular Spinning: His strongest defensive maneuver invokes spinning his tonfas around.
• Undying Loyalty: Towards Khan. Part of his death haiku involved praising his boss.
• Villain Respect: Despite Gatekeeper's open distaste for him, subtle gestures indicate that he may have felt some degree of respect towards Slayer.

"Laomoto's Voice"

Voiced by: Yutaka Aoyama (JP), Phil Parsons (EN)

A Syndicate representative who greets Ninja Slayer upon his arrival in Khan's HQ, offering him the chance to swear allegiance to The Don in exchange for Nancy Lee's safety.

---

• All Men Are Perverts: The guy has some twisted imagination as to what Khan might be doing with Nancy's captured body. The English dub somehow succeeds in making him even more vulgar and creepy.
• Creepy Long Fingers: Look at the size of those things...
• Double Entendre: Habitually delivers these, especially in the English dub.
• Elevator Escape: Thwarted. He tries to hightail it into the elevator after Ninja Slayer wipes out his goons. Slayer catches up to him and sarcastically asks the man "what floor would you like?" as the doors close on them both.
• Flunky Boss: Has by far the largest horde of Yakuza clones at his command. But outside of quick reflexes, the guy himself doesn't possess any real fighting ability.
• Join or Die: Orders Ninja Slayer to join the Syndicate for Nancy's sake. Naturally, Slayer takes a third option.
• Lean and Mean: He's a skinny, deplorable man of grotesque tastes.
• Malevolent Masked Man: A gold domino mask.
• Mistaken for Romance: He seems to believe that Slayer and Nancy's relationship is romantic in nature.
• Non-Action Guy: Lets his mooks do all the fighting.
• No Name Given: Introduces himself as The Don's mouthpiece, and nothing else.
• Off with His Head!: Chalk up yet another one for Ninja Slayer's book.
• Reused Character Design: He's basically a palette swapped Arson with a different head and exaggeratedly long fingers.
• Sissy Villain: Campy as can be, this fella.
• Smug Smiler: To go along with Smug Snake.

Devilfish, Razoredge, Waterboard & Armadillo

Voiced by: N/A

More Six Gates members. They all die (not quite) offscreen.

---

• Bit Character: All of them. They were introduced just to fill-in four empty spots within the Soukai Six, and serve as cannon fodder to Slayer's wrath.
• Expy: Devilfish has the same mechanical tentacles as Doctor Octopus.
• Killed Offscreen: Narrowly averted, but they might as well have been since they each had only one or two seconds of screen time...

Spider

Voiced by: Kenji Yanagisawa (JP), Jeff Johnson (EN)

A wall-crawling ninja. He guards the innermost sanctum of the Soukaiya HQ, together with Khan's oiran-kunoichis.

---

• All There in the Script: Never even had time for an introduction, but still credited as "Spider."
• Bit Character: Doesn't get anymore "bit" than this one.
• Combat and Support: He uses his webs to help maneuver the kunoichis around whilst staying out of harm's way (until Ninja Slayer blows his cover).
• Expy: Of Spider-Man, obviously. His character model even mimics the iconic web-shooting hand gesture, plus his Invisibility Cloak might be a Shout-Out to the Miles Morales version's Spider-Camouflage.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Slayer notices the string webs attached to the back of Khan's oirans, using them to pinpoint his location.
• Invisibility Cloak: Useful in theory. Too bad his webs weren't included.
• Rubber Man: Able to do a 'stretch punch', his only known means of offense.
• Squishy Wizard: Blessed with a couple of unique abilities, but one good kick to the face and he's finished.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: The absolute shortest of them all! Less than a minute of screen time.

Khan's Oirans

(Oiran A) Voiced by: Kaede Yuasa (JP), Felecia Angelle (EN)

(Oiran B) Voiced by: Lynn (JP), Leah Clark (EN)

Four beautiful, seemingly-harmless courtesans who actually double as Laomoto's personal bodyguards.

---

• Bodyguard Babes: All four of them are assigned to protect the big man himself, not that he needs it.
• Bodyguarding a Badass: They're obviously nowhere near as dangerous as their master, but he keeps them around anyway because The Don apparently likes being surrounded by pretty, scantily-clad girls.
• Combat and Support: Combat to Spider's support, since he's literally supporting their air movements with his semi-invisible webs.
• Death by Irony: Blown to pieces by their own explosive warheads.
• Depending on the Artist: Their character designs look noticeably different in-between earlier episodes and their last appearance.
• Hidden Weapons: These girls are somehow able to conceal the likes of a rocket-propelled grenade launcher despite their revealing outfits.
• Impossibly-Low Neckline: As one can see from their profile image. How on earth are they able to keep those kimonos on, anyway?
• In a Single Bound: To the naked eye, they seem agile and can jump at great lengths. But in reality, Spider's just lending them a hand (or 'web' to be precise).
• Male Gaze: Camera pans on a few "sensual" shots just before they attack Ninja Slayer.
• No Name Given: The ones with spoken lines are simply dubbed "Oiran A" and "Oiran B."
• Palette Swap: Each girl shares the exact same design, but with different-colored eyes and kimono dresses.
• Shameless Fanservice Girl: It's part of their job, after all.
• Silk Hiding Steel: Sais, daggers, and then some...
• Stripperiffic: They only wear skimpy kimonos and lingerie.
• Victoria's Secret Compartment: Up to Hammerspace levels. They hide swords between their cleavages and loaded RPGs... "elsewhere."

Survivors' Dojo

In General

A small band of Yoroshisan Bio-Ninja test subjects gone rogue. They stir up trouble for the Soukaiya in hopes of making a name for themselves.

---

• Badass Crew: Their greatest asset is the fact that they are able to fight as a team, contrary to Syndicate ninjas' usual modus operandi. Together, they've pressed Ninja Slayer into a stalemate, arguably even coming close to beating him if Nancy Lee hadn't helped. This forces Slayer to rely on 'divide & conquer' strategies, slowly picking off the Survivors one by one throughout the series.
• Evil Versus Evil: A bunch of deranged ninjas vowing to oppose an even bigger bunch of deranged ninjas... To be fair, the Survivors are A Lighter Shade of Black in this melee.
• Oddly Small Organization: A fact that they're very much aware of, hence the group's continued search for willing individuals to add to their cause.
• Villainous Friendship: Unlike the Soukaiya, these guys actually seem to care for one another, as shown by Frogman's timely rescue of his teammates. Forest also expresses concern for Notorious when he begins to show signs of withdrawal from bio-deficiency.

Forest Sawatari

Voiced by: Toshihiko Seki (JP), Jarrod Greene (EN)

A Japanese-American Vietnam War veteran (or so he thinks) who somehow ended up as one of Dr. Lee's many ill-made creations. Upon defecting, he forms the Survivors with his three clan brothers.

---

• Abhorrent Admirer: Nancy's most stubborn and most persistent.
• All There in the Script: Character bio labels him the "official leader" of the Survivors. Tellingly, he's not a very good one... actually more prone to going off on his own than lead.
• Back-to-Back Badasses: With Ninja Slayer in Episode 21, but only out of necessity.
• Big Bad Wannabe: It says a lot when his own "Number Two" sneers at his leadership capabilities. Although reasonably skilled, he nearly always ends up embarrassing himself in some way, surviving only through dumb luck.
• Bizarre Human Biology: On top of being a living Human Pincushion, Forest's heart is located on the right side, presumably caused by either mutation or having been born with situs inverses. His condition ends up saving his life from Darkninja's surprise attack.
• The Captain: More of a "nickname" than anything else, but also (probably) a nod to Forest's rank during the war.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: For all his shortcomings, Episode 21 proves that he really can shine if he keeps his act together, standing toe-to-toe against Slayer and demonstrating bits of Genre Savvy from his years of experience. He only gets taken out of the equation thanks to a sneak attack from Darkninja.
• Disney Villain Death: Not quite. He looked like a goner in Episode 21 after Darkninja knocked him down an elevator shaft, but the credits (as always) don't keep the suspense lingering. He survived the fall.
• Distracted by the Sexy: In Episode 10, Ninja Slayer gets the drop on him while he's busy staring down Nancy's boobies.
• Dual Wielding: Besides his signature bamboo-spear, he also wields a pair of blades (sticking out of his body) as sub-weapons.
• Enemy Mine: You'd think this would be the case, except "Captain" Forest here blew it on their first encounter. Thanks to his Fatal Flaw, any chance the Survivors had of forming an alliance with Ninja Slayer right then and there took a resounding nosedive. Double-subverted as this finally gets played straight in Episode 21, when Slayer (reluctantly) teams up with Sawatari to get rid of the Soukaiya's Motor Dokuros.
• Fatal Flaw: Lust. His desire for a certain blonde often gets him into trouble. First, he derails his chance of striking a "no fight" deal with Slayer by loudly proclaiming Nancy as his "bride." Then there's the above incident described in Distracted by the Sexy.
• Human Pincushion: Stabs himself with his own swords when not using them in combat. Apparently, this is his preferred sheathing method...
• In the Back: Darkninja stabs him with a sword in Episode 21, mortally wounding (but not outright killing) Sawatari, so that the former can have the pleasure of fighting Ninja Slayer himself.
• Iron Butt-Monkey: Dude suffers one humiliating defeat after another, yet somehow he's still kicking. This says a lot about him since most villains don't even survive one encounter with "The Machine of Vengeance."
• Know When to Fold 'Em: Runs off after Notorious gets killed, realizing he stands no chance against Ninja Slayer on his own.
• The Leader: He technically calls the shots in this faction. But in practice, he's quite incompetent. Frogman even describes him as "pathetic."
• Let's Get Dangerous!: When push comes to shove and the situation really calls for it, he can be a surprisingly formidable foe in his own way. See Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass above.
• Leitmotif: Named after his faction, "Survivors' Dojo."
• Old Soldier: Subverted. It's later established in the manga and light novels that Forest Sawatari isn't really a war vet. He's simply housing the ninja soul of a slain soldier from Vietnam, whose influence is clouding his mind into making him think he experienced those events himself.
• Poisoned Weapons: He coats his arrows with animal venom for lethal effect.
• Shell-Shocked Veteran: Half the time, he hallucinates about still being in Vietnam... even though these memories aren't actually his own.
• Shout-Out: Might be unintentional, but he's a Vietnam War veteran (or at least one who thinks he is) named "Forest" who's got an unhealthy crush on a blonde-haired woman. Kinda sounds like Forrest Gump, doesn't it?
• The Straight and Arrow Path: In an age where modern "ninjas" have assimilated to Steampunk technology, Forest sticks with his good ol' longbow.
• Villainous Crush: He shamelessly lusts after Nancy like a caveman in heat.
• Weaponized Headgear: Forest can throw his "straw" hat like a chakram. The edges are actually made of sharpened metal.
• Wooden Spears Are Even Better: It's made out of Bio-Bamboo, which is apparently stronger than steel.

Frogman

Voiced by: Hiroki Gotou (JP), Mark Fickert (EN)

The Survivors' second-in-command. He's a lot wiser than Sawatari.

---

• Affably Evil: He's surprisingly rather polite, even respectful, towards Slayer when they first meet.
• Animorphism: Dr. Lee's experiments turned him into a half-man, half-frog mutant.
• Big Damn Heroes: Villainous variant. He saves both Sawatari and Notorious in the nick of time, just before the finishing blow lands on these two hotheads. It's also where the group first encounters Ninja Slayer.
• Body Horror: His entire lower half's been grotesquely mutated into a giant frog monster, complete with its own head.
• Hypercompetent Sidekick: His very first line is to call Forest a "pathetic leader," and the shoe fits. It's actually pretty easy to mistake Frogman for being the true guy in charge of the Survivors, since he keeps a tight, no-nonsense focus on the group's objectives... unlike his error-prone, unstable "boss."
• Know When to Fold 'Em: He's more successful at convincing Ninja Slayer to agree to a temporary truce than Sawatari did, reasoning in the middle of their fight that both Slayer and the Survivors have nothing to gain from continuing to antagonize each other (at least for the time being). Slayer doesn't reply, but Frogman takes it as a "yes" and proceeds to do the one thing any smart ninja should do when being confronted by "The Machine of Vengeance." Run like hell.
• Number Two: Instinctively took command after Sawatari's ill-fated "decisions" led to his humiliating defeat. The rest were more than happy to obey.
• Overly-Long Tongue: His frog half's able to extend its giant monstrous tongue to attack or grab things with.
• Two Beings, One Body: Invoked by his design, but it remains to be seen if the 'other head' has a mind of its own.

Notorious

Voiced by: Shota Yamamoto (JP), Bryan Massey (EN)

The group's resident muscle. He wades into battles with child-like enthusiasm.

---

• Blood Knight: When there's an enemy to be fought, he's always eager to draw the first blood.
• Big Guy Fatality Syndrome: The Survivors' most physically-imposing member ends up being their first casualty.
• The Brute: Clearly the biggest and most muscular member of his clan.
• Dual Wielding: Holds a sword on each hand.
• Fatal Flaw: Pride. He's extremely proud of his bio-enhancements, looking for any opportunity to test them out. Ironically, they end up turning into his own weakness once Ninja Slayer uses chemical-laced throwing stars that instantly spread out and infect his system.
• Ignore the Fanservice: Admits to having no real interest in Nancy, unlike Sawatari.
• Manchild: As stated above, his excitement over fighting is practically like that of a ten-year-old boy's.
• Motor Mouth: Befitting his appearance, Notorious has a vocal delivery that wouldn't feel out of place in pro-wrestling. Lampshaded by Sawatari.
• Multi-Armed and Dangerous: He's got 4 muscle-bound arms.
• Off with His Head!: How he gets killed by Ninja Slayer.
• Totally Radical: In the English dub, he talks like this.

Disturbed

Voiced by: Yūichi Iguchi (JP), Joel McDonald (EN)

---

• Blob Monster: Made of liquid metal.
• Expy: Of the T-1000 from Terminator 2: Judgment Day.
• Intangible Man: Naturally, since he's a shapeshifting Blob Monster.
• More Teeth than the Osmond Family: His 'default' form sprouts rows of shark-like teeth.
• Shapeshifter Weapon: He can morph his arms into blades.

Ikki Uchikowashi

In General

An underground militant group of red-clad ninjas. Their main goal is to overthrow the Soukaiya's corrupt hold over Neo-Saitama, just so they can instill ruthless communism in its place.

---

• Dirty Communists: This faction in a nutshell.
• Evil Versus Evil: When it comes down to it, there really isn't much difference between the Red Army and that of Khan's Syndicate, apart from the former's heavy case of Holier Than Thou.
• Foil: The organization as a whole to Ninja Slayer. Both share the goal of destroying the Syndicate and help the "common people." But whereas Slayer recognizes his flaws and tries to be a better man than his enemies, these guys actively engage in plunder, harassment and murder of the innocent, blinded by their own self-righteousness. Slayer even lampshades this during his put-down speech to Flickshot.
• Knight Templar: All of them, bar none. They're the type to kill first and reflect on their actions later (if at all), under the pretense of a "noble" cause that's not even all that good to begin with.
• La Résistance: What they want to be perceived as. In reality, they are more closer to that of a communistic cult, filled with terrorism overtones.
• Red Scare: In sharp contrast to Ninja Slayer's Red Is Heroic.
• The Revolution Will Not Be Civilized: And they give absolutely NO CRAP at how many innocent lives they "need" to sacrifice for their "noble purge."
• Right for the Wrong Reasons: True to their word, the order does, indeed, abhor the Soukaiya's corrupt existence. But that hatred stems more from the enemy's capitalistic ways of governing Neo-Saitama, and less because they are evil people that prey on citizen welfare.
• Smug Snake: Just like the Syndicate. However, while some of the Soukaiya can (and do) back up their smack talk, none from Ikki Uchikowashi has (thus far) been able to deliver. Rapture got pulverized by Explosive without breaking a sweat, and Flickshot looked fairly outmatched against Prominence. There may be more competent warriors inside Tetsuo's deck, but at the moment, it remains to be seen.

Buster Tetsuo

Voiced by: Katsuyuki Konishi (JP), Wyn Delano (EN)

The enigmatic leader of the rebel forces, hailed as a "great man" by all who adhere to him.

---

• Back for the Finale: Makes a cameo at the end of Season 1 alongside Amnesia, watching the city burn. He was most likely the culprit behind it, having made his move now that his biggest competition was gone.
• Badass Cape: Tattered and ripped, but that's probably just part of the appeal. It does look pretty cool, all things considered.
• Bad Boss: He seemed more impressed than rattled at the news of Ninja Slayer's total annihilation of Flickshot and his platoon.
• Beard of Evil: His civilian form rocks a devilish goatee.
• Big Bad Wannabe: His own cunning notwithstanding, the goons he puts forward don't exactly have the most impressive track records. As of now, every single one of his men have been curb stomped by either a Soukaiya or Ninja Slayer. Even their most prominent recruit, Amnesia, would've surely died by now if it wasn't for Slayer's vow to safeguard Yukano.
• Hidden in Plain Sight: Tetsuo's rather nondescript features allow him to seamlessly blend in with the local populace under broad daylight, just like actual, historical ninjas did.
• The Leader: Of the Ikki Uchikowashi.
• Manipulative Bastard: Between his ability to gather fanatical supporters and orchestrating mass rallies, it's safe to say that this guy is one cerebral reprobate.
• Mirror Character: For what was seen of him so far, he's largely the same as Laomoto Khan, just with different political views.
• Wearing a Flag on Your Head: Attached on his back are two flags bearing the "Ikki Uchikowashi" banner.

Answerer

Voiced by: Naomi Kusumi (JP), Michael Johnson (EN)

One of the rebellion's higher-ranked officers. He welcomes Ninja Slayer into the army in hopes of gaining a powerful ally out of him. It doesn't work out.

---

• Noble Bigot: He points out Ninja Slayer's unparalleled strength, while at the same time denouncing him for choosing a life of "aimless mayhem."
• Eyes Always Shut: Probably meant to symbolize his affable, but illusive nature in regards to his organization's true motives.
• Hypocrite: Calls out Ninja Slayer for his chaotic deeds, yet failing to acknowledge the fact that the rebels are capable of far, far worse.

Flickshot

Voiced by: Hiroaki Iwanaga (JP), John Burgmeier (EN)

A rebel army field commander. He leads the assault on the Shinkansen, Galaxy.

---

• Be Careful What You Wish For: Tells Ninja Slayer that he needs to show more ruthlessness against those who oppose him. The latter does just that, by slaughtering Flickshot's entire unit before turning on the former himself, breaking his neck.
• Bullying a Dragon: Oh sure, go try and kill the guy who just curb-stomped that Soukaiya ninja you couldn't even take out a minute ago. See how that works out for ya...
• Finger Firearms: On all ten of his fingers.
• Kick the Dog: Orders his troops to begin terrorizing innocent passengers as soon as they're done looting the train, just to "send a message." This action ends up costing him his life.
• Motor Mouth: Constantly belittles his opponents while ranting about how "great" the revolution supposedly is. Ninja Slayer chokes him out just to shut him up, gives him a well-put rebuttal, then silences him for good by crushing his throat.
• Neck Snap: This is how Ninja Slayer executes him after receiving his well-earned "The Reason You Suck" Speech.
• Sadist: He takes a little too much pleasure in verbally abusing a frightened and harmless kindergarten teacher.
• Small Name, Big Ego: Even after witnessing Ninja Slayer's strength first-hand, Flickshot continues to act smug. He prematurely judges Slayer's defensive stance during their battle as a sign of weakness, gloating at his own "superiority." In reality, Slayer was just biding his time, waiting for the last civilian to evacuate before proceeding to slaughter every red platoon on sight, saving Flickshot for last.
• Too Dumb to Live: See Bullying a Dragon and Small Name, Big Ego.
• Would Hurt a Child: Likewise, his squadron. They have absolutely no qualms at murdering helpless kindergartners in the name of "revolution." This pushes Ninja Slayer's Berserk Button to the limits, resulting in Flickshot and team's deaths.

Amnesia

One of the order's newer recruits (also Rapture's girlfriend). Her true identity is, in fact, none other than Yukano, post memory loss. See her entry for details.

---

• Walking Spoiler: There really isn't anything to say about this kunoichi without revealing the fact that she's Yukano.

Jotunn

Voiced by: Tarō Kiuchi (JP), Marcus D. Stimac (EN)

A rebel army field operative. He tries to stop Ninja Slayer from interfering in Buster Tetsuo's organized rally.

---

• Avenging the Villain: Wants to destroy Ninja Slayer for killing Flickshot.
• Comically Missing the Point: He mistakes Slayer for a Stalker with a Crush after seeing him try to convince Amnesia into leaving the organization.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Slayer finishes him off with just one piercing punch to the gut. The latter wasn't even all that interested in dealing with him, being far more concerned with Amnesia/Yukano.
• Fog of Doom: He can summon this to help him blind opponents, not that it helped against Slayer.
• Giant Mook: Larger and rounder than your average ninja, that's for sure. But he's a total pushover.
• Small Name, Big Ego: Much like Flickshot. He talks big, but goes down even faster than his fallen comrade.

Rapture

Voiced by: Masakazu Nishida (JP), Michael Jones (EN)

The rebels' first shown member. He arrives in Tottoriville to try & stop local Syndicate activity on the surrounding areas. He's also Amnesia's boyfriend.

---

• Fake Ultimate Hero: Handsome, strong, has a hot girlfriend, and seems poised to become savior of his village. He swiftly falls prey to Explosive — leaving the true hero, Ninja Slayer, to come save the day in his place. And to top it off, his affiliated faction isn't even all that "heroic."
• Failure Hero: Despite being touted as his village's strongest fighter, he spends his limited screen time getting curb stomped by Explosive. Even his Heroic Sacrifice ends up feeling moot with the revelation that Ninja Slayer could've likely solved the whole situation, had he just waited a second. The English dub even makes fun of how pathetic he is, with a few characters expressing doubt over his "skills." Rapture himself admits he wishes he could've done something more useful than a "kind of cool" death.
• Flat Character: Basically amounts to nothing but a one-shot plot device, meant to give Yukano an excuse for not returning to Slayer's side. No more, no less.
• Foil: He looks kind of like a younger Ninja Slayer, including the red outfit, but minus the mask and a (much) shorter scarf. Oh, and seriously lacking in the badass department.
• Heroic Sacrifice: After realizing that he has a time bomb strapped to his chest, he leaps high enough to make sure that both Slayer and Amnesia are out of the blast radius before it (and he) explodes. But this trope doesn't play out as smoothly as it seems on the surface. See Senseless Sacrifice below.
• Killed to Uphold the Masquerade: Story-wise, he's the only character who might've known how Yukano lost her memories. Naturally, he gets killed off before he can divulge any information to Ninja Slayer.
• The Lost Lenore: For Amnesia/Yukano.
• Red Shirt: More or less introduced just to fulfill this role. Bonus points for wearing all red.
• Rescue Romance: Became Amnesia's guy sometime after he saved and took her into his care.
• Satellite Love Interest: For Amnesia. He doesn't last more than a few minutes before the big "KABLOOEY!" chunks him in for good. Not even a speck of characterization to speak of, besides the obvious.
• Senseless Sacrifice: His last act of heroism doesn't sound so impressive when you realize that Ninja Slayer, who's fast enough to defuse multiple bombs in less than a second, could've handled the problem with ease. But Rapture instantly jumped off before any help could be offered, so... Whoops.
• Small Role, Big Impact: The only reason Amnesia/Yukano is even part of the Ikki Uchikowashi is because of him.
• Sacrificial Lamb: Out of all the heroic ninjas introduced, he dies the fastest... and the easiest.
• Scarf of Asskicking: The smallest one so far. Might've been a foreshadowing of his short lifespan.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: He had like, what, five minutes of screen time (and even less dialogue) before being blown to smithereens.

Other Villains

Master Tortoise & Master Crane

Tortoise

Crane

Voiced by: Ryūsei Nakao (JP), Randy Pearlman (EN)

Two mysterious, odd-looking mechanical creatures who claim to be following the "will of destiny." Tortoise sees into the "future" whereas Crane recalls the "past." They serve the mysterious, shadowy entity known only by the name of "Katsu Wanso."

---

• Animal Mecha: Very unusual ones. Their designs are derived from "shishi-mai," traditional Japanese lion dance puppets.
• Because Destiny Says So: Their reason for saving Darkninja, eventually whisking him off in Episode 22 to go resurrect their own master, Katsu Wanso.
• Creepy Twins: It's anybody's guess if they actually are siblings, but they sure give off the vibe.
• Evil Minions: Whatever these two are, they are servants of evil.
• More Dakka: Their robotic fingers each contain loads-and-loads of homing shurikens that paralyze on impact, which they fire like a machine gun.
• Non-Indicative Name: Needless to say, they look nothing like their animal namesakes.
• Palette Swap: Of each other. One is red & yellow while the other is green & purple, but they otherwise look exactly the same.

Minor Characters

Fuyuko & Tochinoki

Fuyuko

Tochinoki

(Fuyuko) Voiced by: Sayaka Ohara (JP), Morgan Garrett (EN)

(Tochinoki) Voiced by: Daiki Yamashita (JP), Lara Woodhull (EN)

Ninja Slayer/Kenji Fujikido's deceased wife and son.

---

• Death by Irony: Tochinoki adored ninjas; Fuyuko believed that they no longer exist. A chance encounter with a real live one ended up sealing their fates.
• Death by Origin Story: Theirs are the main driving force behind Ninja Slayer's continued rise as "The Machine of Vengeance."
• Death of a Child: Tochinoki was much younger than Yamoto by the time of his death.
• Disposable Woman: Along with her son, Fuyuko's only role is to provide her husband's tragic backstory. Nothing else is known about her other than being a devoted, loving housewife back when she was still alive.
• Fan Boy: Tochinoki was a big fan of ninjas, which is darkly ironic... for so many reasons.
• The Lost Lenore: Fuyuko (again) to Ninja Slayer.
• Posthumous Character: Both were murdered by Darkninja under Laomoto Khan's orders shortly before the very beginning of the story.
• Small Role, Big Impact: Only briefly seen through a few flashbacks, as well as Slayer's old pictures of them. Still, it was their deaths that kick-started one humble man's journey from "zero" to unorthodox "hero" of Neo-Saitama.

Tomihide Sugawarano

Voiced by: Ikuya Sawaki (JP), Bill Flynn (EN)

A kindly, if somewhat-mysterious old man. He encounters Ninja Slayer amidst a period of contemplation.

---

• Ambiguously Human: He somehow remains alive even when reduced to nothing but his severed head...
• Cool Old Guy: A seemingly unassuming old fella who can dispense simple, yet profound advice to one who needs it — even if that person happens to be a super-powered, anti-heroic Blood Knight.
• Cruel and Unusual Death: Doesn't get anymore cruel and unusual than having your beloved son turned-evil-ninja shoot your still talking detached head.
• Demoted to Extra: He would've played a larger supporting role in the anime if not for its removal of the "Deadmoon on the Redsky" arc. During that particular storyline, he was to have helped Ninja Slayer on his search for Yukano, only to meet his tragic death at the hands of his own son.
• Estranged Soap Family: His son ran away soon after the death of his wife and they've never met again. They seem to eventually establish a distant yet pleasant relationship, at least until the revelation that the son had been corrupted into becoming an evil ninja, now going by the name "Deadmoon."
• Eyes Always Shut: Symbolizing his aged wisdom.
• Off with His Head!: For details not yet known, somewhere along the road his body gets mortally injured. The old man then requests Ninja Slayer to remove his head, so that he may continue helping him on his journey.
• Perpetual Smiler: A warm and gentle sort.

Asari

Voiced by: Hisako Kanemoto (JP), Alexis Tipton (EN)

Yamoto's best friend and classmate.

---

• Ambiguously Gay: Has a lot of subtext with her best friend, Yamoto.
• Break the Cutie: She's just a simple, sweet schoolgirl who almost became a victim of sexual violence. Then later, she has to say goodbye to her best friend, with the likelihood of never seeing each other again.
• Fan Disservice: The poor girl's introduction sees her mere seconds away from defilement; face bloodied and with most of her bruised skin exposed. Lucky for her, Yamoto was able to save the day.
• In Harm's Way: Yamoto realizes that Asari will be always be this if she chooses to stay with her friends, so she chooses to leave Asari behind to protect her.
• Joshikousei: Same as her friend, Koki.
• Muggle Best Friend: She becomes one after Yamoto's transformation into a ninja soul bearer.
• Satellite Character: Other than the fact that she's Yamoto's best friend, there really isn't anything left to say about Asari. Even her name's close to nonexistent save for a "blink and you'll miss it" moment on the bus ride to school, where she and Yamoto greet one another.
• Tender Tears: Cries at the thought of her best friend being bullied, unaware that Yamoto was a Bully Hunter.

Nonako

Voiced by: Kaori Nazuka (JP), Colleen Clinkenbeard (EN)

Kagi Tanaka/Silver Karasu's girlfriend.

---

• The Confidant: Serves as one for her morally troubled boyfriend, encouraging him to repent and turn over a new leaf while he still has time.
• Ms. Fanservice: She spends all her screen time completely naked in Episode 13.
• Naked on Arrival: Not surprising, given that she's introduced right after a "nightly rendezvous" with Tanaka.
• Put on a Bus: She presumably decides to heed her boyfriend's advice, moving out of the city towards the resort bay they were originally planning to visit together.
• Satellite Love Interest: Besides her role of being Karasu's girl, there's nothing else to say about Nonako.
• Smoking Is Cool: Something she and her man have in common.
• The Unfettered: Apparently, she pays no mind to the fact that her boyfriend's a hitman. She even takes news of his terminal illness rather well, although there is room for interpretation.

Naraki

Voiced by: Yoshiaki Hasegawa (JP), Aaron Dismuke (EN)

An unassuming college student who takes part in a protest rally against the city's corrupt rule, just to impress a girl named Maname (who was actually Amnesia in disguise).

---

• Becoming the Mask: A subverted example. He only went along with Maname's invitation to try and win her favor. But once he sees through her group's true colors, he ends up running a legitimate and peaceful protest group, far from the abhorrent methods she hoped to instill within him.
• Break the Cutie: Episode 18 tries to do this to the poor boy. He finds himself caught in the middle of a violent riot he wanted no real part in - then between two angry ninjas - only for the girl of his dreams to reveal the cold truth that she was just using him and the other protesters, leaving him in tears. He gets better in the end, mentally stronger and with more conviction.
• The Dulcinea Effect: He barely even knew "Maname," yet seemed all too eager to do good by her. In his defense, Naraki had no idea just how deep he was really getting into.
• The Everyman: A normal guy stuck in a Crapsack World of Badass? It's amazing how he turned out pretty well.
• The Fettered: Despite Amnesia's best efforts to turn Naraki into a willing "martyr" for her faction's cause, the young man instead grows more determined to forge his own path, having seen the Ikki Uchikowashi for what they truly represent: chaos and corruption.
• Naïve Newcomer: Judging from his overall outlook at the beginning, he seemed to be completely new to the goings on around Neo-Saitama...
• Ordinary High-School Student: College example. He's got nothing remarkable going for him except his own little slice of courage and refusal to fall into corruption or despair when faced with harsh reality.
• Youthful Freckles: Most likely to symbolize his innocent nature.

Daigo

Voiced by: Junichi Goto (JP), David Matranga (EN)

Maria's abusive (former) live-in boyfriend whom Ninja Slayer chases out of the building.

---

• Bring My Brown Pants: Pisses himself dry while being held on a very precarious position.
• Destination Defenestration: A non-lethal example. Ninja Slayer drops him knowing the garbage below would break his fall, just to hammer the point home that he'd better not come back... or else.
• Domestic Abuse: He's not even ashamed about it, loudly screaming expletives for the whole neighborhood to hear while pounding on his girlfriend. Too bad for him, one of those neighbors happens to be a very pissed off vigilante...
• Laser-Guided Karma: Shortly after he's made a punching bag out of Maria, he in turn gets the snot beaten out of him, then dropped several feet off a window before landing on some trash pile. A fitting "reward" for your average Domestic Abuser.
• No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Daigo's introduction sees him in the middle of beating up a helpless Maria as she begs for mercy. This attracts the nearby Slayer's attention, who storms into their apartment and promptly subjects Daigo to an even worse trouncing before unceremoniously kicking him out of the premises. The lout's never seen again afterwards.

Smith

Voiced by: Takeshi Ohba (JP), Rick Keeling (EN)

One of the local thugs. He leads his own small band of smugglers while stationed at the docks of Neo-Saitama Bay.

---

• Chekhov's Gunman: Episode 2 starts with him being coerced by Arson into signing up with the Soukaiya. He returns near the end, now forced to help Ninja Slayer.
• Only Sane Man: One the few individuals to have enough common sense to move out of Neo-Saitama after witnessing just how dangerous the resident ninjas can be.
• Prematurely Bald: The stress of city life must've done a number on this small-time crook.
• Put on a Bus: After his run-in with both Arson and Slayer, he decides to relocate to Osuka and become a monk.
• Scare 'Em Straight: Played for Laughs. It takes a single Death Glare from Slayer to convince Smith into giving up the life of crime and atone for his sins by entering the monastery.
• Scary Black Man: He looks big and intimidating... but unfortunately for Smith, the ninjas residing in Neo-Saitama are way scarier.
• Tears of Fear: After meeting Ninja Slayer's gaze, he's reduced to a whimpering mess.

Jose

Voiced by: Hironori Saito (JP), Ian Sinclair (EN)

One of Nancy's close contacts. His influence on her allowed the Tanuki mystery to be solved.

---

• Distressed Dude: Gets captured off-screen by the Soukai Syndicate.
• Everything's Better with Samurai: His cyber-world avatar takes the form of one, decked out in full armor.
• The Voice: He can be heard a couple of times when talking to Nancy on the phone, but never makes an actual appearance.

Wei Taragi

Voiced by: N/A

Another contact of Nancy's who, with his dying effort, posthumously leads her and Ninja Slayer into investigating "Tanuki" in order to find a cure for Gendoso.

---

• Couldn't Find a Pen: Left his final message to Nancy using his own blood.
• Dying Clue: "Tanuki," the only word his dying self could muster enough strength to write.
• Posthumous Character: Never seen alive, only glimpsed briefly as a bloodied corpse.

The Narrator

Voiced by: Kent Williams (EN)

The voice that introduces all this nonsense.

---

• Large Ham: Whenever things start getting intense or just plain weird, he uses his otherwise mild-sounding voice to sprout all kinds of ridiculous commentary.
• Lemony Narrator: Besides his tendency for bizarre delivery, he regularly snarks and throws shade at all the craziness happening around.