Main Characters | Forest of the Greats | Kouu's Army
Kouu's Army, alternatively known as Sinners, is an organization of Returners who gained the abilities of former villains - those who have launched massacres for political and/or religious reasons as well as those who've caused great wars and famine and even ones that established dictatorships which all fell under their negative talents.
Their initial goal was to be a part of the Forest of the Greats but because Seiya announced how the sinners are meant to be eradicated, they separated themselves and treated as villains due to their talents.
Leaders
Kouu
- Incarnation: Xiang Yu/Kouu the King of TyrrantTalent: Omnireceptacle
Named "King of Returners", Kouu is the leader of an army of 300 Returners against the Forest of the Greats.
Originally he was one of the founding members of the Forest of the Greats, but he ended up killing their leader and was seriously injured by the other members to the point he was believed dead.
He is the reincarnation of Xiang Ji, courtesy name Yu, better known as Xiang Yu, a prominent warlord in the late Qin dynasty.
- The Ace: One of the strongest Returner in existence, with a very OP talent, above average intelligence and expert fighting skills.
- Anti-Villain: Surprisingly, yes. He was a former member of the Forest of the Greats who just wanted Returners with villainous Talents to be accepted into the Forest. Nightingale screwed things up however, so after killing Da Vinci he left and created the Sinners to give those following him a place they belong to. And the whole conflict with the Forest? Not even his fault.
- Badass Boast: Just read the quote above. Not many Returners have the gall to declare themselves "the strongest under heaven".
- Benevolent Boss: Unlike what you would expect, he’s very caring towards his underlings. In return, they’re very loyal to him, and him being gravely injured by the Forest was the reason for them to antagonize our protagonists.
- Evil Former Friend: To the three left founding members of the Forest of the Greats, as Seiya was killed by him. He was once a part of them before being gravely injured and thought as dead, so Neumann and Einstein are visibly terrified when Picasso paints an image resembles him as a prediction.
- Exposition Beam: By extending his aura into a person, Kouu can allow them to see his memories. While intangibly inserts his hand-tentacles thing in Touya's gut, he used this to let Touya see the past he had with the Forest of the Greats.
- Go Out with a Smile: After calmly telling Charlotte to use her talent, which kills both of them, he smiles softly at the end.
- Intangibility: Has the ability to turn intangible at will, allowing attacks to pass through him harmlessly. Of course, Touya's spikes are not exception.
- Invincible Villain: He never gets actually defeated, and died by his own will.
- Pocket Dimension: Black Death Harmony, The Omnireceptacle's barrier technique, is said to be "like a miniature Big Bang". To prepare this, Kouu needs to meditate for a short while. Once his preparations are done the enemy and Kouu are surrounded by a black spherical barrier. On the inside, the enemy appears to be surrounded by infinite darkness, with Kouu appearing as a white phantom that cannot be physically harmed and can depart whenever he wishes. Everything inside this enclosed space is subject to Kouu's will on the molecular level. To put it simply, in here, he can bring you back to nothingness in a blink.
- Reinforce Field: With this ability, in his hand, even a regular wooden branch can become a very effective combat staff.
- Story-Breaker Power: Seriously, the talent to control all creation with his battle aura, become intangible, teleport, reinforce things and insert memory? Not to mention his Black Death Harmony, which entraps everyone in a barrier where he has absolute domination over anything on the molecular level. When he offered to let Touya steal his talent, Touya quickly refused - on a meta point of view, had Touya accepted, the conflict in the story would have been resolved very fast.
- Teleportation: Can teleport over long distances, and can also teleport his followers to him.
- Walking Spoiler: Talking about what kind of person he really is and the history he has with the Forest will be spoilery.
- White Hair, Black Heart: The one who leads Sinners with a spiky white head.
Charlotte Corday
- Incarnation: Marie-Anne Charlotte de Corday d'ArmontTalent: Angel of Assassination; The Virgin of Caen
One of the confidants of Kouu and founding members of Sinners. Charlotte is very attached to Kouu, who helped her get through her thirst for revenge when she awakened her talent.
She is the reincarnation of Marie-Anne Charlotte de Corday d'Armont, a figure of the French Revolution famous for her assassination of Jean-Paul Marat.
- Brutal Honesty: In their first meeting, she bluntly said she couldn’t believe Kouu because he had the face of a criminal. Kouu could only reply with "Don’t be so cruel".
- Emotionless Girl: She doesn’t have much of an expression throughout the story, even keeps the straight face still when stabbing herself. It’s subverted however, since she’s Not So Stoic and visibly panicked upon seeing a deadly injured Kouu.
- Face Death with Dignity: When Kouu commands her to, she doesn’t even hesitate to place the knife on her neck and kill herself, and does all of that with the same peaceful expression.
- Facial Markings: Has strange marks under her eyes.
- Nigh-Invulnerability: The Virgin of Caen enables this to both her and her designated victim. If she hasn’t set a target for her first talent, she cannot be harmed in any way. If she has set a target, then the target cannot be killed by anything other than Angel of Assassination. Charlotte used this talent to help Kouu survive a mortal wound for years.
- Shrinking Violet: Hitler was angry with her in their first meeting because she kept fidgeting around and she hid behind Kouu's back when he said so.
- Suicide Attack: Angel of Assassination, a talent to kill a person without fail, works like this. Charlotte can cause a designated target to receive the same wounds that she gets, and if she dies, the target will also surely die. She can target someone even in the other side of the planet as long as she knows their name.
- Together in Death: With Kouu, since their life are linked together and she must die to kill him.
- Undying Loyalty: To Kouu. So much that she can exchange her life to kill anyone that hurt him.
- Victoria's Secret Compartment: Hides a knife near her heart area inside her robe.
- Winged Humanoid: In her Returner form, she has wings and a Holy Halo, befitting her angel motif as "The Angel of Assassination".
Nostradamus
- Incarnation: NostradamusTalent: The Great Prophecy
An onlooker who acts as the counselor of the Sinners, and the leader of a Returner army mainly composed of Sinners.
He is the reincarnation of Michel de Nostredame, also known as Nostradamus, the famous French physician and seer who published a large collection of prophecies.
- Plague Doctor: His design is definitely one, with the unmistakable beak mask and the usual get-up.
- Rewriting Reality: Additional to the prophecy, Nostradamus' talent also let him change the future by overwriting or adding to the contents of the tome. He has canceled Caesar's death at Haito's hands multiple times by simply crossing out the lines describing it before meeting his restriction, and gotten released unharmed from an armed army. Even when Itsuki ripped his right arm off the damage completely disappeared the next instant. However, his power is mentioned to have several rules/restrictions, not everything is allowed.
- Seers: The Great Prophecy allows him to see the future in the tome of prophecy he carries, with a 70% chance of success. He can also consult it to understand how something happened (for example, he consulted his tome to see the trick Touya had used to dodge an attack from Kouu).
Five Generals
Adolf Hitler
- Incarnation: Adolf HitlerTalent: Master Mind
One of Kouu's Five Generals. Hitler mostly acts as a duo with Pol Pot, since they’re not a fighter.
They’re the reincarnation of, of course, the infamous German dictator Adolf Hitler.
- Ambiguous Gender: Are they a girl or a boy? It’s very hard to tell at first glance with that petite body, semi-long hair and androgynous face, and the variety of translations doesn’t help. The creator just left it unknown. They/them pronoun is used in this case.
- Brains and Brawn: The Brain to Pol Pot‘s Brawn.
- Death Seeker: They didn't choose to be Hitler's reincarnation, and are actually seeking death in battle out of fear that he will influence them somehow.
- The Empath: Hitler's talent makes them able to understand the hearts of those in their line of sight.
- Non-Action Guy: Claims to have no means of fighting, which is why they rely on Pol Pot.
- Seeing Through Another's Eyes: Using Master Mind, they’re able to share senses with any living creature who is in contact with a Hakenkreuz symbol, a talent they hide by covering the crosses the Kouu army uses with stickers symbolizing his eye and claiming that Master Mind grants them omniscience to explain the detailed knowledge on his opponents that they have gained in advance. When active, a Hakenkrauz is visible in one of their eyes.
Pol Pot
- Incarnation: Pol PotTalent: Fruit of Corruption
One of Kouu's Five Generals. A silent person, Pol Pot acts as the bodyguard, pseudo-butler of Adolf Hitler.
- Ambiguously Brown
- Battle Butler: Serves as one to Hitler.
- Black Eyes of Crazy
- Brains and Brawn: The Brawn to Hitler’s Brain.
- The Quiet One: He rarely talks.
- Walking Wasteland
Gaius Julius Caesar
- Incarnation: Julius CaesarTalent: Pygmalion; The Hero's Testament
Introduced as a member of the Forest of the Greats, but is actually a spy of Sinners. Unlike most members of Kouu's army, Caesar is a reincarnation of a "Great", which allowed him to infiltrate the Forest's advance team. He’s one of the Sinners’ founding members and the strongest of Kouu's Five Generals.
- Casanova Wannabe:
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Acts like a carefree womanizer who is no more than the Butt-Monkey for Haito and Jūbei to punch for some laughs, is actually The Mole of Sinners and a very, very dangerous opponent.
- False Friend: To members of the Forest of the Greats, particularly Haito and Jūbei, who are his teammates in the advance team.
- Instant Armor: His second talent, aside from weapons, also lets him summon a suit of armor, a large tower shield, and an armored horse.
- Instant Expert: Even when the weapon didn’t exist in Ancient Rome, or actually never exists (physically) at all, he can still use them at the highest level of proficiency.
- Multi-Melee Master: Caesar mainly sticks to melee weapons including longsword, zweihander, swept hilt rapier and main gauche combo, shotel, sword breaker, executioner sword, lance, sword and dagger, great hammer, etc.
- The Mole:
- Spontaneous Weapon Creation: Caesar's second talent The Hero's Testament allows him to summon/create any existing weapon by creating dices that, when left to fall in the ground, summon the weapon.
- Weaksauce Weakness: His talents left him with a weakness towards women; he can be charmed by any and all sorts of women.
Hans Ulrich Rudel
- Incarnation: Hans Ulrich RudelTalent: Phoenix
One of Kouu's Five Generals. Unlike most members of Kouu's army, Hans is not a Sinner, he's a Great who has joined forces with Kouu for the chance to fight against other Greats.
He’s the reincarnation of Hans-Ulrich Rudel, a Luftwaffe military aviator during World War II, a ground-attack pilot credited with the destruction of 519 tanks, as well as a number of ships.
- Badass Cape
- BFG: As a pilot of a bomber aircraft, Hans wields a heavy machine gun only an airplane would have.
- Evil Counterpart: To Hiroshi Funasaka. They’re both Great-type Returners with military role, and their Talents both involve stamina-based Nigh-Invulnerability and summoning military weapons.
- More Dakka: Aside from the BFG, he can also summon multiple 250kg bombs that he shoots towards the enemy in an attack he calls "Jericho's Trumpet".
- No-Sell: Hans' talent counteracts any external influence with an equivalent reaction force, allowing him to nullify any type of external attack, thus acquiring an "immortal" immutable body. However, like Hiroshi's regeneration, Hans' talent depends on his stamina. If his stamina runs out he will start to receive damage.
Carlos Norman Hatchcock/White Feather
- Incarnation: Carlos Norman HatchcockTalent: Green Hell
One of Kouu's Five Generals. Unlike most members of Kouu’s army, Carlos is not a Sinner, he's a Great who has joined forces with Kouu for the chance to fight against other Greats.
Carlos Norman Hathcock II was a United States Marine Corps (USMC) sniper with a service record of 93 confirmed kills. His talent "White Feather" was actually the nickname given to Hathcock by the North Vietnamese Army (NVA).
- Bird People: An interesting variation; while his whole upper body has been covered in feathers and his left arm is now basically a wing with claws, he still retains the humanoid right arm and lower body.
- Evil Counterpart: To Simo Häyhä. Both are military snipers whose Talents basically work the same way.
- Fashionable Asymmetry: He only wears his jacket on the right side of his torso, where he still has his human arm.
- Pocket Dimension: Carlos is able to drag his target to his own pocket dimension, just like Simo Hayha. His pocket dimension is a seemingly endless green jungle. Time flows faster in the pocket dimension than in the outside, allowing Carlos and his opponent to have a one-on-one duel without outside interferences.
Members
Charles Joseph Whitman
- Incarnation: Charles Joseph WhitmanTalent: A Shooting as Precise as Clockwork
A Returner member of Kouu's army.
- Improbable Aiming Skills: A Shooting as Precise as Clockwork raises Whitman's accuracy by synchronizing with a clock. If he shoots while the clock's second hand strikes 12, Whitman's shot will be 100% accurate. Whitman can use real clocks, but he can also make images of clocks appear behind him as support if no clocks are available.
Andrei Romanovich Chikatilo
- Incarnation: Andrei Romanovich ChikatiloTalent: The Red Ripper
A Returner member of Kouu's army.
- Absurdly Sharp Claws: Andrei's talent allows him to bisect anything that touches his claws, ignoring material hardness.
- Creepy Long Fingers: His entire hands are replaced by the long claws.
Albert Henry DeSalvo
- Incarnation: Albert Henry DeSalvoTalent: Strangler
A Returner member of Kouu's army.
Albert Henry DeSalvo was a criminal in Boston, Massachusetts, who confessed to being the "Boston Strangler", the murderer of thirteen women in the Boston area from 1962 to 1964.
- Super-Strength: His talent gives him large arms/hands and incredible superhuman strength, manifesting in a grip that can crush even stone with ease. Additionally, Albert appears to be able to slightly enlarge his arms and hands for increased reach.
- Tiny-Headed Behemoth: His head is just a small black ball with two dots for eyes when compared to his body.
- Top-Heavy Guy: The upper body already looks wider than the below, but his giant arms turn the perception up to eleven.
James Hickok
- Incarnation: James HickokTalent: The Cards of the Dead/Dead Man's Hand
A Returner member of Kouu's army.
He’s the reincarnation of James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok, also "J.B. Hickok", for his signature name was a folk character of the American Old West, known for his variety of skills.
- The Gunslinger: As per Hickok’s reputation, he is given expert quick draw techniques.
- The Worf Effect: He has very excellent marksmanship that can headshot many Returners easily. The man’s luck is just bad when his opponent that day, Schrodinger, can manipulate probability and render all things about speed and accuracy meaningless.
Okada Izo
- Incarnation: Okada IzoTalent: Slayer
A Returner member of Kouu's army.
He’s the reincarnation of Okada Izo, a Japanese samurai of the late Edo period, feared as one of the four most notable assassins of the Bakumatsu period.
- The Faceless: His face is obscured by the hat all the time.
- Master Swordsman: Of course he will be. Though it’s unknown if this is his actual Talent, or just a part of his existence.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Even by the standard of this series. We don’t even know what the heck his Talent can do!
Vlad III Dracula
- Incarnation: Vlad the ImpalerTalent: Lord Impaler
One of the Returner members of Kouu's army, and the first Returner to have his power stolen by Touya Senji.
He’s the reincarnation of Vlad the Impaler, a prince of Wallachia who became infamous for his love of impaling as a method of execution.
- Ominous Opera Cape: He’s Dracula after all.
- Spikes of Doom: Vlad III is able to mold nearby surfaces like earth and trees into spikes to pierce enemies. He can also use these spikes as a shield.
