The various characters of Shining Tears X Wind
Souma Akizuki
He is an athletic student who, along with Kureha, was transported to the dream continent, End Earth. Souma was in love with Kureha and was sometimes annoyed at Kiriya for not noticing her feelings for him. He then confessed his love for her, which apparently was not mutual, shortly before being transported to the other world.
After seeing Kureha presumably die, he was able to pull out a legendary sword from Kureha's body. Souma turned out to be a 'Soul Blader', which is a person that can form a sword from the heart of a person he shares emotions with. Unlike Kureha, Souma would rather stay in End Earth, as he believes that it is the right place for him and since he thinks that he can be "together" with Kureha.
After going through several battles and meeting Zero, Souma begins to change and realizes his mistakes when he fought with Kiriya over Kureha. He matures and begins to accept his responsibility of ending the war, something that impresses his peers when they meet him again after he left the group. Eventually, Souma gets over his feelings for Kureha and begins to develop romantic feelings for Mao who reciprocates.
In the end, Souma chooses to stay in End Earth with Mao and the Weiss Ritter, saying good bye to his old friends who return to the old world.
- Affectionate Gesture to the Head: Tends to do this to Mao every so often, which she dislikes since its a form of disrespect for a subordinate to be treating his superior like a cat.
- Always Someone Better: Kiriya was this to him on some level. Souma was jealous that Kureha only had eyes for him and despised him because of it. Turns out however that it was mainly because Kiriya wasn't noticing Kureha's feelings and was hurting her which is why he always got annoyed with him.
- Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: At the beginning of the series, Souma goes around thinking all he has to do is wield a sword and can cut through anything that opposes him, even his friends. He develops past this and becomes more humble.
- The Atoner: After continuously letting his feelings for Kureha cloud his judgment that caused Kureha to be kidnapped, Souma leaves the group to evaluate himself and make up for what hes done.
- Badass Normal: Just like his other friends, Souma is a normal human being that was destined to become a Soul Blader. Even still, being a Soul Blader doesn't necessarily make him strong, he was that even before he knew what a Soul Blader was. This was shown when he was beating the crap out of the Beastman that came to Elde with simple punches and kicks, a feat that impressed Mao.
- Badass Pacifist: Once he mellows out, gets over his pride issues, and meets Zero (along with inheriting his will), Souma becomes dead set on ending the war between the countries. Unlike Trihartand Kiriya however, he plans on doing it with peace and resolve rather than just needless fighting.
- Battle Couple: With Mao near the end of the series.
- Beware the Silly Ones: Souma may act goofy and carefree but there's no denying that when he gets serious, hes definitely a threat to watch out for.
- Big Damn Heroes: Pulls off an epic one in Episode 7 to stop Kiriya and Trihart from fighting each other.
- Cannot Spit It Out: Averted. He actually does tell the object of his affections how he feels about her during the first episode, its just a shame that she only has eyes for his dense best friend.
- The Charmer: This is downplayed but still present if you really look for it. Hes able to sway almost everyone he meets to his side, such as Lazarus, Ryuuna, Blanc Neige, Elwyn, and even Zero himself. It helps that he becomes level headed and knows what hes talking about to convince people to his side. When he asks to join the Weiss Ritter as a member, they all instantly vote him to become their substitute leader until Mao returns.
- Chick Magnet: More than half of the Weiss Ritter are females and are all hinted to have some level of feelings for him. Seena even comments on this, noting that most of the new friends that Souma has made are females which is something that doesn't surprise her.
- Character Development: Out of all the characters in the series, Souma goes through the most prominent change and is a completely different person by the end of the story. In the beginning, he was a cocky, arrogant, and jealous guy who wanted to win Kureha's affections. After being somewhat turned down (they were interrupted) he gets transported to End Earth and ends up being tricked to fight for the wrong side. Despite the fact that there was more proof against Shumari's acts, Souma refused to believe his friends and didn't hesitate to fight with Kiriya. These actions end up getting Kureha kidnapped and Souma leaves to reevaluate himself and understands that hes been acting like a jerk the whole time.
- After meeting Zero and fighting alongside his new friends, Souma begins to see more clearly and tries to be a Mediator between the warring countries. Souma outgrows his immature past self and matures into a charismatic and level headed leader, something which Kureha and Seena notice and are pleased by.Kureha: Souma-kun... you've really changed. You've grown up
- After meeting Zero and fighting alongside his new friends, Souma begins to see more clearly and tries to be a Mediator between the warring countries. Souma outgrows his immature past self and matures into a charismatic and level headed leader, something which Kureha and Seena notice and are pleased by.
- The Chosen One: Along with Kiriya and Trihart, he is a Soul Blader that is able to connect his heart with others and draw their "Soul" into the form of a sword.
- It goes even further when Zero chooses Souma to becomes the guardian of End Earth in his place.
- I Choose to Stay: Before returning back home with his friends, Souma has a change of heart and decides to stay in End Earth with the Weiss Ritter and help rid the world of the Chaos Gates.
- Idiot Hero: Knows he's one and fully embraces it, Elwyn is flabbergasted at his response when being called an idiot.Souma: Whats so bad about being an idiot? Being an idiot is good, why don't you become one too?
- Inadequate Inheritor: Doesn't believe he's a worthy successor to Zero but he's dead wrong.
- Instant Expert: Despite never being stated to be a swordsman, Souma is able to use a sword at the master level.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Knowing that Kureha's heart would break if he and Kiriya continued to fight, he gives up his Soul Blade to him and pushes Kureha towards him, accepting that Kureha doesn't belong to him.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Even at the beginning of the series, Souma wasn't necessarily a bad guy. He just let his pride and jealously control his actions and took them out on Kiriya. After he matures into a fine leader, he still holds shades of this but has lost all of his previous hostility towards Kiriya and considers him a true friend.
- The Hero: Kiriya might be the hero of the game, but Souma is without a doubt the hero of the show.
- Heroes Prefer Swords: Each person Souma draws from has a different ability that is tied with their Soul Blade:
- Shock and Awe: In Episode 5, he draws from Elwynn and can use a Lightning Sword.
- Light The Way: In Episode 4, he draws from Ryuuna and can use her Holy Sword.
- Dual Wielding: Briefly did this with both swords.
- An Ice Person: In Episode 6, he draws from Blanc Neige and can use her Frost Sword.
- BFS: In Episode 9, he draws from Lazarus and can use his Jade Sword.
- Playing with Fire: In Episode 10, he draws from Mao and can use her Blaze Sword.
- Infinity +1 Sword: During the final episode, he draws from Kiriya and can use his Holy Grail.
- The Leader: Becomes the temporary leader of the Weiss Ritter in Mao's absence by the majority vote. After Mao returns, even though Souma is no longer the leader he is basically the face of the Weiss Ritter and Mao even listens to his orders despite her superiority over him.
- Magnetic Hero: See The Charmer above.
- Martial Pacifist: Can kick ass and still preach about not wanting to fight.
- Mr.Fanservice: When he's not wearing that revealing coat outfit that highlights his masculine chest, he gets a shirtless scene with Zero where he is being wiped off.
- Ship Tease : With Mao.
Kiriya Kaito
The cherry blossom of their college transports him and Seena to End Earth right after Souma and Kureha, taking the entire building as well. He becomes the knight for an independent mercenary group called the 'Luminous Knights', which is started by Seena.
Like Souma, Kiriya is also a Soul Blader, who uses Seena's "heart" as a sword. Kiriya is completely oblivious to Kureha's and Seena's feelings for him, the latter being one of his childhood friends. He later forms a close bond with an elf named Xecty, who is later revealed to be an artificial recreation of the Elven Queen. Until Xecty's death, he was confident in his mission to have Saionji admit defeat.
Since the start of the war, his attitude shifted from his shy and quiet self, to a rash and emotional state, who sees that fighting is the only way to win (the complete opposite to Souma's change of behavior).
- Anti-Hero: Not at first anyway but the war between Pillius, Baelgard, and Seiran has definitely turned him into one. Kiriya was a gentle, reasonable, and friendly person when he first arrived in End Earth, trying to resolve his fight against Souma and Trihart without conflict. However, his personality begins to shift as he witnesses the pain that is caused by Baelgard and he starts to become more aggressive, not hesitating to take down his former friends if they stand in his way and believes the only solution to stopping the war is through violence. The temporary death of Zechti snaps Kiriya out of this mindset and he starts to understand that Souma was right, violence wasn't the answer.
- Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: Downplayed but still evident after his character changes for the worse. He seems to be eager to take down Baelgard and Trihart, even if it means using his sword to slay them.
- Badass Normal: Like the rest of the Soul Bladers, he just an average human boy that was destined to save the world.
- Chick Magnet: Kureha is in love with him, Seena is hinted to have feelings for him, and Zechti fell in love with him after only knowing him for less than a day. The dude's got a pretty good record.
- The Chosen One
- Foil: To Souma. Hes not only more mature and level headed than Souma (in the beginning), he also has the affections of Souma's love interest and everyone seemed to just like Kiriya better than Souma.
- Eventually however, as Kiriya's character becomes worse as he becomes brash and aggressive, Souma (his foil counterpart) becomes much more humble and rational, attributes that Kiriya had at the start.
- Heartbroken Badass: Zechti's death really took its toll on him, though considering he didn't really know her all that much and his last encounter before her death was him punching her in the face, it really raises the question as to how Kiriya can feel this much guilt over her death.
- Heroic BSoD: After witnessing Zechti give her life to protect Kiriya.
- Hypocrite: He claims that he wants to put an end to the violence and the war between the countries by stopping Trihart/Saionji. How is he a hypocrite? Well, his methods to this problem include basically pointing his sword at anyone who goes against him in battle. Wait... isn't that basically the exact same thing Baelgard is doing in their plans to save the world? When you look at it this way, you can really see this trope fits. Souma even lampshades this down below.
- If You Kill Him, You Will Be Just Like Him!: Souma put it best when he stops Kiriya from hurting Hiruda.Souma: From my perspective, what you're doing is no different from what Trihart is doing.
- Master Swordsman
- My God, What Have I Done?:
- Not So Above It All:
- Oblivious to Love:
- Out-of-Character Moment:
- The Power of Love:
- Ship Tease :
- Took a Level in Jerkass: As time goes on, the war escalating, and Xechty's death, he becomes more of a jerk.
- Violence is the Only Option:
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy:
- Would Hit a Girl:
- What an Idiot
Haruto Saionji
Like Souma and Kiriya, he is also a Soul Blader, and chooses to draw swords from Baelgard's four guardians, which includes Reia Hiruda. Seeing Soul Bladers as "chosen ones," he offers Kiriya and Souma to join him in his crusade. Saionji plans to conquer all of End Earth, under the pretense that he is actually "saving" it from darkness. His plans, however, were thwarted by Killrain's release of dark energy.
After Hiruda reverts back to her normal self, Hiruda attempts to rescue Saionji when he is linked to the dark tower, with his life in danger. It is then that Saionji realizes her true feelings for him, and in return, he seems to develop feelings for her also, resulting in him being able to draw his Holy Grail from her heart.
- Anti-Villain:
- Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy:
- Badass Normal:
- The Chosen One
- Heroic BSoD:
- Heel–Face Turn:
- Hypocrite:
- I Did What I Had to Do:
- Instant Expert:
- Jerkass:
- Master Swordsman
- Nerd Glasses:
- Official Couple:
- Oh, Crap!:
- The Power of Love:
- Ship Tease :
- Violence is the Only Option:
Reia Hiruda
Her alter ego prefers the darkside, and even betrays Saionji by siding with Killrain after he takes over the dark elven army. She often does experiments on many elves, turning them into mindless soldiers for Baelgard. Her dark soul blade is called Mythical Beast Sword Mysteltain. Destroying the evil personality's soul blade is the only way to bring back the original Reia Hiruda.
She decides to stay in End Earth, together with Saionji, Xecty, and Jin-Crow in Baelgard, to restore the forest back to its former glory.
Kureha Touka
Fortunately, she was revealed to be unscathed after Souma pulled out a sword from her body, the Spirit Sword Snow Moon Flower (霊剣 雪月華, Ryōken Setsu Getsu Ka). After Kiriya and Souma's fight, she joins Kiriya and the other Luminous Knights. Kiriya can also draw a sword from her, the Spirit Sword Blazing Sunlight (霊剣 日輪烈光, Ryōken Nishirin Rekkō).
She is in love with Kiriya but is never able to convey her feelings to him.
- Cannot Spit It Out:
- Demoted to Extra:
- Flat Character:
- The Load:
- Miko:
- Romantic False Lead: She's one of Kiriya's Love Interest but as far as the anime is concerned, she's not.
- Shipper on Deck:
- Shrinking Violet:
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy:
Seena Kanon
Upon their arrival, Seena and Kiriya form an independent mercenary group called the Luminous Knights; with Seena as the leader. She lets Kiriya use her heart as a sword only to allow him to fight, the Gun Sword Blade Cannon. She is more outspoken than Kureha and is the voice of reason for Kiriya when he begins to act impulsive and rash.
Like Kureha, Seena has feelings for Kiriya but these are only hinted at and never explored beyond platonic friendship.
Zero
It seems he went to Elde to find someone able to replace him as the Guardian of End Earth. He later chooses Souma, and after meeting him between worlds, states that he now 'entrusts' the world to him. He was shown to have still possessed the Twin Dragon Rings, but gave Souma one of the rings, telling him to use it to see the true world.
He keeps running from Mao, as some time before, he unwillingly killed Ryuna (she impaled herself upon his sword) in order to destroy Zeroboros, who lived inside her, but instead it possessed him, making him sprout black wings form his back.
During that altercation he also killed Lazarus. It was Mao's calling that made him fight Zeroboros' possession, turning one of the black wings white, thus leaving a piece of Xion's soul. He later accepted himself as no longer a human, and revived Ryuna and Lazarus using the capsules in the Sea Dragon King Ruins.
- Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: From a regular human who has the twin dragon rings into someone who watches over the balance.
- The Atoner: Part of the reason why he becomes the guy watching over the balance of the world is because he accidentally kills Ryuna and Lazarus.
- Big Damn Heroes: Saves Souma from getting iced alongside a lot of people.
- Big Good: The former hero of Shining Tears who now ascends as the angel.
- The Chosen One: At first. Now, he's The Chooser of the One.
- Comically Missing the Point:
- Demonic Possession: Possessed by Zeroboros after taking it from Ryuna.
- Good Wings, Evil Wings: First gains two black wings because he was going out of control but then Mao comes by and that snaps him back to his sanity, gaining white wings.
- Guardian Angel:
- Heroic BSoD: Killing both Lazarus and Ryuna sent him over the edge. Then Mao's scream did snap him back but the guilt of killing his two teammates forces him to leave.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Had to leave Weissritter after the shock of what he did.
- The Leader: Formerly of Weissritter.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Accidentally killing Lazarus and Ryuna after the he was possessed by Zeroboros.
- My Greatest Failure: Killing both Lazarus and Ryuna after absorbing Zeroboros in his body.
- Secret Character: He can be unlocked as an optional character in Shining Wind and he still has some of his old moves from Shining Tears like Thousand Thrust, Gravity Slash, and Thunder Blade.
- Ship Tease: At first with Mao, though he could be shipped by anyone in his game.
- The Stoic: In contrast to Xion who emotes quite a lot, Zero doesn't emote as much.
- That Man Is Dead: As far as he's concerned, Xion is dead.
- Back from the Dead: This is his second time he's been back from the dead.
- Death Is Cheap: Considering he's died twice already, it already applies to him.
Blanc Neige
Like Elwyn, her past is shrouded in mystery and is never fully explored. She eventually joined the Weiss Reiter and fought along with her comrades to end the war. When the group disbanded, she went her on way and eventually met Souma who she didn't think highly of at first until he showed her his compassion and determination.
Her respect and admiration for Souma grows to the point of nominating him as the temporary leader of the Weiss Ritter, a notion which all of her comrades pleasantly accept. Her sould blade is the Ice Snow Sword Glass-Diamond (氷雪剣 グラスディアマンドHyōsetsuken Gurasu Diamando?).
Like the other girls of the group, it is hinted that Blanc Neige has some small feelings for Souma.
Zechti Ein
During a duel with Kiriya, an earthquake causes the two to fall into a cavern. Kiriya talks with Xecty and tells her the importance of hope and believing in your self, forming a close bond with her. Later, during the fight between Kiriya and Saionji, she gets in the middle and is stabbed by Saionji, sacrificing her life in order to stop the war. She explains to him that she did it in order to give hope to the world, and that Kiriya is her hope.
Her spirit then joins the wind, as a way to protect both. She is later revived by one of the pods from the Sea Dragon King Ruins, and joins the Luminous Knights. She also becomes the priestess of Astraea's Tower of the Wind. Her soul blade is called Sword of Emperors Excelion (剣帝 エクセリオン Kentei Ekuserion?). She also contains Kiriya's Holy Grail, being drawn from her Kiriya's Ultimate Soul Blade (究極心剣 Kyūkyoku Shinken?).She decides to stay together with Saionji, Hiruda, and Jin-Crow in Baelgard, to restore the forest back to its former glory.
Killrain
He's shown to possess immense dark energy, as shown after Xecty's death, when he released said energy as a powerful blast, which covered nearly all of Liberia in an icy blizzard. His anger prompted him to blame all living souls, and after controlling the dark elven army of Baelgard, he plans to destroy everything.
Only after Souma, Kiriya, and Saionji use the combined powers of their Holy Grails, that his soul is liberated. Together with his sister Celestia, he decides to stay behind and be sealed in the other dimension.His soul blade is called Demon Gun Sword Gallatin (魔砲剣 ガラティン Mahōken Garatin?), a giant sword able to shoot laser beams. Unlike the others, Killrain himself transforms into a giant sword, rather than having the sword drawn from within him.
Zeed
One of Baelgard's four guardians. Also an immortal due to a contract with his demon sword. He is in fact Philias' late prince, Leon, now under the control of his demon sword.His soul blade is called Holy Armor Sword Balmunc (聖鎧剣 バルムンク Seigaiken Barumunku?), and the sword and armor are similar to the ones used by Leon. He was later defeated by Souma, resulting in Leon's spirit becoming free from the demon sword's control.
Rouen
Shumari
Raihi
Basou
Enu
Kouryu
Hyoun
One of Seiran's five generals. He was ordered to watch over Houmei. He is unofficially considered part of the Luminous Knights due to his involvement with Houmei who is revealed to be his older sister. He has fallen in love with human girls, particularly Kureha and Seena, but he has to keep these feelings to himself due to Houmei's intervention. In the last episode, he becomes the king of Seiran.Houmei
Clalaclan Philias
Caris Philias
Raidel
Priest of Seiran.Jin-Crow
He gives Kiriya the location of the ancient weapons, and later escorts Kiriya's group to Bestia. In the past, he, Killrain, and Leon, Clalaclan's older brother, swore peace to the countries, but then Shumari's plot ruined their plans. He decides to become Xecty's protector. Together with Saionji, Hiruda, and Xecty, they are busy restoring the forest back to its former glory.
The Eternal Forest's Chanting
She is a mysterious elven girl who spoke to Kiriya through dreams. She is later revealed to be the spirit of Celestia, the elven queen of Astraea, whose cells were used to create Xecty. With her help, Xecty becomes the priestess of Astraea's Tower of the Wind.She decides to be with her brother, the soul of the liberated Killrain, and they are sealed together in the other dimension.
Lassi
A strange little fellow who guided Souma and Elwyn through an icy blizzard. He guided the group to Celestia through a secret opening in the forest to the north of Philias. There, he is revealed to be the Spirit King of the Wind.
He has an affinity towards elves who can strangely understand him. After Celestia, he joins Xecty in Baelgard, to restore the forest to its former glory.
