Characters / Tiger And Bunny Main Characters

Tiger & Bunny Main Character Index
Main Characters | Sternbild First League Heroes
Sternbild City | Heroes’ Friends & Family | Enemies

As a Unit

Double Chaser Product Placement:

[S2-Part 1] Bandai Namco Pictures, DESCENTE (Japanese sport gear brand), Shachihata (Japanese stationary manufacturer and trading company), EMOTION (Japanese media production company), Japan Post (Japan's national postal service), BEAMS (Japanese multi-lifestyle goods designer and retailer), ADK Marketing Solutions (Japanese marketing service), Panaracer (Specialist manufacturer of bicycle tires and inner tubes), S-High School (One of the branches of Japan's national multi-campus education facility in granting high school degree to students of all ages), Toy's Factory (Japanese talent agency), Anime!Anime! (Japanese ACG news site), Happinet (Entertainment trading company), Japan Action Enterprise (Japanese Stunt Acting agency), EDION (Home appliance seller), SEED (Contact lens manufacturer), LEGS (Entertainment marketing service)

[S2-Part 2] Bandai Namco Pictures, StarFlyer (Japanese Airlines), Hagi no Tsuki (Japanese sweets brand—KASHO SANZEN's custard cream cake series), EMOTION, DIGA (Panasonic's VHS/DVD/Blu-ray recorder series), BicCamera (Japanese online retailer), ADK Marketing Solutions, GDO-Golf Digest Online (Japanese golfing portal site), Zoff (Japanese eye glasses brand), Toy's Factory, Kleenex, Itaindou (Japanese customizable seal brand—TOSYO's ACG themed production branch), Japan Action Enterprise, Matsumoto Kiyoshi Group (Japanese holding company), ELECOM, LEGS

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• 10-Minute Retirement: Both Kotetsu and Barnaby briefly retired from the hero business for one year since The case of Albert Maverick. Kotetsu then came out of retirement by the request of his daughter, with Barnaby following suite due to Barnaby only wanting to work along with Kotetsu.
  • Then, Kotetsu was laid off by force during The Rising as Apollon Media’s CEO Mark Schneider don’t see any benefits of keeping Second League heroes in the market; which Kotetsu took up taxi driving under Poseidon Line to survive until Agnes gained the rights to reinstall Second Leagues back to business.
• Action Duo: Kotetsu and Barnaby have the same powers but the former prefers punching and the latter prefers kicking.
• Bash Brothers: The first hero duo of Sternbild. Though the two only worked together for 2 years as of Season 2, their bonds between each other turned sturdy in 10 months.
  • By the end of Season 1, Barnaby outright states that he considers himself Kotetsu's partner for life.
• Buddy Cop Show: Or Buddy Superhero Show, in this case, with an older, more Hot-Blooded Kotetsu clashing with his younger, more by-the-book partner Barnaby before becoming a more or less an effective team. This type of partnership was even invoked by their superiors, who hired Kotetsu specifically to be Barnaby's foil as part of a marketing gimmick.
• Cool Bike / Cool Sidecar: Wild Tiger and Barnaby each maneuver their individual bikes named “The Lonely Chaser.” Tiger’s Lonely Chaser can turn into sidecar mode to connect to Barnaby's Lonely Chaser to form “The Double Chaser.”
• Foil: They might be partners, and they have identical powers, but they have extremely different philosophies on heroism that slowly start to resemble each other more as they spend time together. Barnaby is young, more focused on points and following rules, while Kotetsu is much more reckless and determined to follow his heart, and he's got a wealth of experience.
• Heroes Fight Barehanded: Titular characters Wild Tiger and Barnaby fights like this. Given this show is about American-style superheroes, it makes sense.
• Instant Armor: Generally averted for the first two styles of their suits, but was later played straight for Style 3 via nanotechnology stored inside their new bracelets. See Transformation Trinket below.
• Like an Old Married Couple: Repeatedly lampshaded and teased by other heroes that for all their bickering and disagreements, Kotetsu and Barnaby have become as close as two people can be, something that neither of them can disagree with.
• Made of Iron: Wild Tiger and Barnaby's Apollon Media hero suits are so durable, high power explosions would surely protect their lives at all cost. Any of the mentioned situations below would make Doc Saito proud.
  • In Season One, half an hour of intense beat-up served to Barnaby by Jake made Barnaby merely falter on his legs. And that was when Barnaby's powers were off.
  • In Season One’s finale, Wild Tiger’s suit just broke off instead of being melted out-and-through after being shot by lasers; which literally saved Kotetsu’s life, big time.
  • Barnaby then took a high power explosion directly onto himself in Season Two, and he's simply taken to the ER instead of the morgue.
  • Wild Tiger was able to take on the flames from the Rosicky-controlled Lunatic to protect Little Aurora and her assistant until Barnaby arrives to the scene.
• Magic Countdown: Kotetsu and Barnaby's Apollon Media hero suits would alert them in the last 5 seconds of their power duration.
• Odd Couple: Kotetsu is laid-back, friendly and emotional, and takes his job of protecting citizens very seriously. Barnaby is somewhat uptight (he relentlessly uses keigo with Kotetsu), reserved, and has little enthusiasm towards the idea of fighting evil.
• Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs: Both Wild Tiger and Barnaby's method of combat. Tiger with his fists and Barnaby with his legs; though Barnaby's just as good with his fists. Notabily used against the villain of S1 Episode 5, and on Season 2's Fugan.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Kotetsu is the energetic, enthusiastic and hammy red, to Barnaby's stoic, Deadpan Snarker blue, though their color-coding does not match their roles. But when it comes to Ouroboros, they switch roles; as Barnaby is much more invested in taking them down and loses his cool
• Remember That You Trust Me: There's a lot of back-and-forth of this nature between Kotetsu and Barnaby.
• Silent Treatment: In the first episode of season 2, Barnaby gives Kotesu this after the latter drank his energy drink, and Kotetsu returns the favor. Of course, that doesn't stop the two from not only remaining professional while taking down a villain but also coming up with a plan without even saying a word.
• Straight Man and Wise Guy: Barnaby's the straight man to Kotetsu's wise guy.
• Strong and Skilled: They are both rather knowledgeable about how best to use their powers and are devastatingly strong.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Barnaby have the exact same powerset as Kotetsu's, coming into the scene young and fresh while Kotetsu's past his prime. When Maverick introduced Barnaby into the public eye, Kotetsu noticeably felt the threat. But it was later revealed to Kotetsu that Barnaby is paired up with him as a Senpai/Kohai duo rather than straight out throwing Kotetsu out of his job.
• Technician Versus Performer: Analytical, and time-sufficient technical Barnaby versus Chronic Hero Syndrome Improv Fu performer Kotetsu. It's subverted in-universe, because Barnaby is the one who's more popular with HeroTV fans, but among the real-world T&B fandom, the trope works in its typical fashion—with the Kotetsu being the more popular of the two.
• Timed Power-Up: Wild Tiger and Barnaby's Good Luck Mode. Which Wild Tiger and Barnaby can activate individually for 10 seconds to visually enhance their single punch or kick as their Finishing Move; though they looked cool, it's actual power enhancement depends on the wielder. Doc Saito placed the gimmicks as part of their gear simply because they look flashy on camera.
• Transformation Trinket: In Season 2, Kotetsu and Barnaby equip their Style 3 hero suits within a Storage Bangle worn on their left wrist.
• Tron Lines: Kotetsu and Barnaby's suits have these which light up whenever they tap into their powers.

Kotetsu T. Kaburagi (Wild Tiger)

<sup>Click to see full body image (S2)

Hero suit (TopMag ver.)

Hero suit: Style 1 (S1/M1)

Hero suit: Style 2 (M2)

Hero suit: Style 3 (S2)</sup>

Voiced by: Hiroaki Hirata (JP), Wally Wingert (EN)
Birthday: August 14
Power: Hundred Power (Hour of Power variant—Increases physical abilities one-hundredfold for five minutes per hour. Drops to one minute per hour by the end of Season 1.)
Affiliation: TopMag (former) / Apollon Media (current)
Superhero Sobriquets: "The Crusher of Justice."
Product Placement:

[S1] S.H. Figurarts (Japanese toy line) / Softbank (Japanese media company)

[M1] S.H. Figurarts / Softbank / FamilyMart (Japanese convenience store franchise)

[M2] S.H. Figurarts / Softbank / LOTTE (South Korean multinational conglomerate corporation)

[S2] Lawson (Japanese convenience store franchise) / Imagination Works (Tamashii Nation’s figurine branch) / Pac-Man (40th anniversay franchise celebration) / Kinto (Toyota’s car subscription service) / Asadaame (Japanese food and drug manufacturer)

The primary protagonist, and a veteran superhero past his prime who needs to deal with his low popularity in a growing demand for showmanship in the superhero business. On short notice, his old company, TopMag has been bought down by Apollon Media; forcing him to become Barnaby's superhero partner against his will.

In General

• Action Dad: Kotetsu is by far the only known Sternbild superhero who's a parent.
  • In S1 Episode 17, he goes out to search for his daughter Kaede when she's late coming home during a bad storm and rescues her from a collapsing shrine.
• All a Part of the Job: He is the sort of hero who approaches the work as something that it's own reward. He couldnt' care less about points.
• Ambiguously Bi: Was deeply in love with his wife Tomoe, but he and Barnaby practically act like a married couple themselves. Well before that, he had no problem playfully banter-flirting with Nathan, and seemed a bit put out when Nathan acted like that hadn't happened mere minutes later.
• Animal Motif: The tiger, of course.
• Animal-Themed Superbeing: Again, the tiger.
• Ascended Fanboy: Of Mr. Legend, Sternbild's first superhero.
• Berserk Button: Show some disregard for human life—be it murder or speaking ill of the dead—and he'll make you pay dearly.
  • As of The Rising, people understating everything Barnaby's been through and continues to have to cope with every day, in order to justify killing in revenge - "Isn't he a lot happier ever since the man who killed his family died?" - seems to be another way to piss Kotetsu off. He got mad enough to punch a hole in a concrete wall.
• Big Brother Mentor: Plays this role where Karina, Ivan, Pao-Lin and (eventually) Barnaby are concerned.
  • In The Rising we see this is his relationship with The Second League heroes.
• Boxing Lessons for Superman: Even without using his Hundred Power, the combination of being in physical shape good enough to make professional athletes look lethargic, years of crime fighting experience, and very efficient wires that allow him to Building Swing means Kotetsu is pretty badass in his normal state. At the end of Season 1, he's mostly this, as his power has dwindled to only a minute an hour.
• Brought Down to Badass: He's still quite competent even with the gradual loss of his powers.
• Building Swing: Wild Tiger can use his wires from his suit this way.
• Bullet Time: With his powers active, he can move fast enough to step around bullets.
• Bumbling Dad: He tries his best to bond with and support Kaede, but he often makes mistakes.
• Butt-Monkey: He gets very little respect in-universe. Kids kick him and reject his card, he doesn't get credit for supporting Barnaby, and he tends to get flung into walls and other hard surfaces a lot. This turns around in season 2, however. Even Lloyds was being nice to him. Still gets injured quite often, though.
• The Cape: Aspires to be the kind of "truth and justice" sort of hero, albeit with questionable success.
• Chest Insignia: On his original costume it was his original company's name, TopMag, and although not on his chest but on his mask, a W with a T in it. He also has a small tiger insignia on his belt buckle on his original costume; his current suit has the same small tiger insignia on the chest.
• Chronic Hero Syndrome: He actively seeks opportunities to be a hero whenever the chance arrives.
• Clark Kenting: Kotetsu's means of hiding his identity out of his Powered Armor is to throw a Domino Mask in with his Limited Wardrobe.
• Color-Coded Secret Identity: Green, Black, and White.
• Comes Great Responsibility: Adheres to this ideal, which is why he didn't use his powers in his fight against Antonio when they first met.
  Antonio: I just want to know one thing — Why did you hide that you were a NEXT? You could have used those powers against me.
  Kotetsu: Because I only want to use my powers to save people.
• The Confidant: Eventually becomes the only person Barnaby seems to be comfortable with, or even capable of, confiding in. The three younger heroes, Pao-Lin, Ivan and Karina also seem to be more open with him than with the other heroes. Ironically though, Kotetsu himself appears to have issues with confiding in others.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: For a bumbling klutz with a near-endless supply of bad ideas, he's a surprisingly competent hero and one of the best of the Sternbild crowd at fighting unpowered.
• Crusading Widower: His wife Tomoe passed away from an illness five years prior to the beginning of the series.
• Destructive Savior: Due to the nature of his powers, Kotetsu's heroics are infamous for causing extensive damage to properties.
  • Parodied in an early episode of Season 1, where one of Barnaby's fans is handed a pen, something she will treasure forever, which Kotetsu knocks out of her hand right into traffic
• Determinator: Kotetsu won't stop until justice is served.
  • S1 Episode 13: Kotetsu uses his "Hundred Power" to heal superficial wounds, but the internal injuries are still pretty bad. He still fights through the pain to help Barnaby against Jake.
  • S1 epilogue: Kotetsu comes out of retirement despite his Hundred Power dwindling down to 60 seconds, saying he plans to keep being a hero even if he loses it completely because he's there to help people.
• Didn't Think This Through: His Fatal Flaw. Kotetsu doesn't think things through and acts impulsively, which often costs him points and causes him to cause much destruction in collateral when he saves people or performs heroics. Thankfully, he seems to put more thought into his actions as time goes on.
• Doesn't Like Guns: Specifically he won't use one if there are people around, including criminals, that could get caught in the crossfire. However, as demonstrated when the heroes were fighting Ouroboros mechs, he's got no problem using one of the disabled mech's guns to take them out once he discovers they are unmanned.
• Domino Mask: As a superhero who prefers the Good Old Ways of holding a Secret Identity, Kotetsu wears one while on duty, whether he's in his hero suit or not; even when superhero fans straight out recognizes him with his mask off since The case of Maverick, Kotetsu would still put on his mask when asked for photo shoots.
• Dork Knight: He's an idealistic hero and a Bumbling Dad in one.
• Doting Parent: To Kaede, doubling as Parents as People. He loves talking to her on the phone and tries to make up for his absence with presents, but she'd rather have him keep his promises.
• Everybody Knew Already: Since The case of Maverick, Wild Tiger fans understands through-and-through the man behind the suit and Domino Mask is named Kotetsu T. Kaburagi, and straight out calls him by his given name rooting for him when they see Tiger in action, especially the kids; leading to the Running Gag of Wild Tiger trying hard to defy his fans to not call him by his real name while on hero duty.
• Experienced Protagonist: The series starts off with Kotetsu as the famous superhero Wild Tiger.
• Expressive Mask: The domino mask moves with his eyebrows.
• Fatal Flaw: Kotetsu has a noted habit of lying and/or keeping secrets in a misguided attempt to not worry people. Aside from that, he has moments where he can be terrible at communication in general such as how he may fumble over his own words when backed into a corner.
• A Friend in Need: He'd never abandon someone in need.
• Friend to All Children: He likes kids and he opts to talk to the NEXT boy in Episode 2 rather than arresting him. Sadly, not all kids think that Tiger is that cool.
• Gadget Watches: In civilian clothing, he has one that also serves as a Grappling-Hook Pistol.
• Giving Someone the Pointer Finger: His default heroic pose is dramatic pointing.
• Grappling-Hook Pistol: Has them in both his original TopMag and Apollon Media suit.
• The Heart: His attitude towards heroing inspires the others, most notably Origami Cyclone, to do better.
• Hot-Blooded: Passion is his highest stat — literally◊.
• Humble Hero: While he complains every so often about the distinct lack of attention given to him as a hero compared to the others, at his core he's very much an example. He's not going to ever let unpopularity stop him from helping others.
  "I'm a hero because I want to save people. Isn't that enough? It really doesn't matter if anyone acknowledges me or not."
• Idiot Hero: Most of the public see him as this because of his goofy image on camera.
• Improv Fu: Wild Tiger's true strength as a superhero comes down to his on-the-spot improvisation based on his combat enviroment; which includes who the opponent is, which hero allies are capable within range, and what does his enviroment have that he can use to turn the tides.
  • In S2.E1's case of robber Andre Hederman, Tiger breached Andre's nullifying power by tricking Andre that Tiger was going to throw his helmet towards him in full Hundred-Power strength as offense; only to throw the helmet off course to let Barnaby kick the helmet from Andre's blind spot to knock him out.
  • On S2's case of Hugan and Mugan, Tiger led the plan to breach Hugan's Attack Reflector by framing Hugan into believing Thomas was controlling Tiger's hands to grab Hugan, only to be caught off guard into realizing Thomas was actually preparing to throw Barnaby out as a human baseball to wack Hugan's hands into injuring Fugan himself.
• Ineffectual Loner: He's not a loner because he hates other people; he's a loner because he is almost totally incapable of cooperation unless forced into it. If someone says "go right" he will go left, damn the circumstances and damn the consequences. The consequences have a tendency of damning him right back, hence why he's considered an unpopular, ineffective fool despite having the strongest sense of justice of all the heroes.
• Irony: Despite claiming that a hero's work is never done, he's actually taking it easier than Sky High, who is the only hero to work during the day, and patrol at night without pay.
• The Klutz: Only Kotetsu could accidentally kick a pen into a highway right in front of a passing car while trying to pick it up.
• The Last DJ: A staunch proponent of good old-fashioned super-heroics in an age of ad-funded glitz.
• Lightning Bruiser: Only when his Hundred Power is activated.
• Limited Wardrobe: According to the movie Kotetsu owns several copies of his favorite outfit coordination.
• Living Emotional Crutch: He gradually becomes this to Barnaby throughout the series, while the two bicker often and have their disagreements, Kotetsu has helped Barnaby grow more heroic and heal from both his mental and emotional wounds. It gets to the point that when Kotetsu is apparently dying Barnaby is the most distraught he's ever been in the series.
• Made of Iron: He is very resilient, even without his powers.
• Ma'am Shock: Not fond of being reminded that he's "old" by the standards of the superhero business.
• Mirror Character:
  • In the first few episodes, Kotetsu is mirrored by the NEXT kid causing havoc in Sternbild, a young boy whose powers developed suddenly and whose friends turned on him immediately after, believing his powers made him a freak who could only hurt people. Kotetsu uses this connection between them to take on the role of the famous hero, Mr. Legend, who inspired him to become a hero, and lets the kid help save him.
  • Turns out, Kotetsu has a bit more in common with Mr. Legend than he'd like, after he begins losing his NEXT powers and his hero career is thrown into jeopardy. While Kotetsu never ranked as highly as Mr. Legend did, as part of the team with Barnaby, he was an absolute star with attention all over him. Fortunately, Kotetsu managed to avoid turning into abusive, unlike his idol.
• Mysterious Middle Initial: What makes it even more mysterious is the fact that it's the only English letter in his entire name.
• Nice Guy: A friendly, happy fellow with a strong sense of justice and wants what's best for those around him.
• The Nicknamer: Kotetsu tends to give people nicknames based on their various attributes to remember people; especially when he isn’t familiar with that person.
  • Revealed in Drama CD, Tomoe wore glasses back in high school, where Kotetsu nicknamed her “Glasses Honor Student” before they became friends.
  • Kotetsu then gave the name “Bunny” for Barnaby based on Barnaby’s given name initial, his hero suit design, and his penchant of using kicks as his main combat method. Since Kotetsu is the only person who calls Barnaby by this nickname, the nickname became the key Trigger Phrase to snap Barnaby back from his Laser-Guided Amnesia.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: Kotetsu's tactic as his Improv Fu is to lure his opponent into thinking he is doing something stupid in order to let their guard down.
  • S1 Episode 13: Out of all the heroes, he's the only one who manages to figure out Jake's second superpower, and manages to pull off a Batman Gambit to defeat Jake.
  • The manga one-shot shows that he actively encourages his reputation as an incompetent fool on occasion (i.e., telling everyone he was late to work because of a hangover when he was actually rushing a woman to the hospital). It's explained that he does it keep people from bothering with him (and thus not worry about him).
• Non-Powered Costumed Hero: Eventually, Kotetsu decides that he's going to be one of these once his powers run out completely.
• Oblivious to Love: Completely — at least when it comes to Karina. And not just her, Word of God is he's like this with everyone attracted to him — even his own seiyuu isn't sure how he managed to reproduce.
  Karina: Um, Tiger... I'm uh... I'll treasure this forever, all right!
  [Karina runs off, blushing to the roots of her hair]
  Kotetsu: ...That was weird.
• Older Sidekick: He's being billed as this in-series.
• Older Than They Look: Doesn't look much older than Barnaby but is probably actually over a decade older than him and pushing forty by Season 2.
• One of the Kids: Less mature than Barnaby despite being several years his senior, to the point of arguing with kids who don't like his trading cards.
• Overshadowed by Awesome: Far cooler than your average non-superpowered person. Unfortunately for him, he's not being compared to normal people most of the time.
• Papa Wolf: You hurt his daughter, he will make every effort to arrest you.
• The Paragon: He loves helping others and helps the other heroes become better heroes.
• Parents as People: Kotetsu is a single father who loves his daughter dearly but due to his job, he can't spend as much time as he wants with her. Because he loves her and wants to have a better relationship with her, he's prone to making well-meaning but rash promises which he often turns out to be unable to keep.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: A big part of his unpopularity is because he genuinely cares more about being a hero and doing the right thing than he does about promoting his sponsor.
• Smarter Than They Look: Played with. He is legitimately goofy and prone to making mistakes, but he's also quite clever and is key in defeats of many villains, which he defeats by using his brains and brawn.
• Super-Speed: Thanks to his Hundred Power, which gives him one hundred times the speed of a normal man.
• Superheroes Wear Capes: His original costume.
• Team Dad: As one of the older Heroes, he tries to act as the senior of the crew and shows an almost fatherly concern for the younger members. However, his success in this department is debatable at best. He even tries to makes sure that Barnaby eats properly, much to the latter's annoyance.
  • Though he was more successful when Ivan blamed himself for his friend Edward's descent into villainy.
• There Was a Door: Kotetsu takes the most direct route when someone's life is at stake, walls be damned.
• Thou Shalt Not Kill: Kotetsu's philosophy is to bring criminals to justice alive, and make them pay by lawful means; and is the main philosophy conflict between Lunatic's Black-and-White Insanity.
• Throw the Dog a Bone:
  • There are times when he does get recognition — the students at the Hero Academy, for instance, worship the ground he walks on.
  • In Season 2, he's given considerably more respect both on and off the job.
  • In a way, Kotetsu's powers only limiting their decrease to only about a minute is him being thrown a bone by life, as it means that even though he'll struggle with only having a fifth of the time he used to, he can continue to be a hero as long as possible.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Mayonnaise... on everything. According to Anju, a disproportionate number of his meals consist of fried rice. He likes it enough that he's never bothered to learn how to cook anything else.
• Vague Age: Any questions about Kotetsu's actual age are met with vague or contradictory answers by the staff and creators. The only confirmed, consistent information is that he's somewhere in his thirties.
• Waistcoat of Style: His casual clothes are a nice vest.
• Wide-Eyed Idealist: Less concerned with sponsorship money, more concerned with saving people. Naturally, this is not a good attitude to have in Sternbild.
• Workaholic: Lloyds actually has to order him to use some of his vacation days. Of course, considering what happens when he does...
• Worthy Opponent: It seems like Lunatic views Kotetsu as one. He promises to watch out for him in the future. He even does some research into Tiger's background at the end of S1 Episode 8.

Season One

• Ass-Kicking Pose: Kotetsu's pose◊ in Episode 21 is impressive enough to warrant a Triple Take.
• Batman Gambit: Gives Barnaby an ultrasonic grenade to counter Jake's "super-hearing". Turns out it was a flash bang, and by not telling Barnaby, he managed to get around Jake's telepathy.
• Bathtub Bonding: Kotetsu suggests this to his daughter in S1 Episode 17. It gets her creeped out and more than a little angry.
• Big Heroic Run: In Episode 14. It didn't exactly go as planned, thanks to his powers deciding to fluctuate at the time.
• Bitch Slap: Kotetsu in S1 Episode 19 does this on an impulse as a reaction to emotionally-unstable Barnaby's harsh words toward him, which were in turn a reaction to Kotetsu hiding the real reason behind his decision of retirement. Kotetsu would do it again in S1 Episode 23 with the intention to make Barnaby remember the above incident. An action rather lacking in foresight as both times it only infuriates Barnaby and doesn't improve the situation.
• Break Out the Museum Piece: In Episode 21, he receives his original costume from Ben and wears it when he calls out the heroes at the end.
• Broken Pedestal: When he discovers that Mr. Legend started to lose his powers at the end of his career, and that HeroTV started to fix arrests so that he would continue to earn publicity. Imagine if he knew the depths to which his role model fell...
• Cannot Spit It Out:
  • Kotetsu's unwillingness to admit that his powers are declining causes a lot of easily avoidable misunderstandings with Barnaby.
  • Similarly, revealing his identity to his daughter would probably have improved their relationship significantly. This is one of his major flaws.
• Clear My Name: Made all the more difficult by the fact that he just got unpersoned.
• Coat, Hat, Mask: In his main civilian outfit during Season One.
• The Cobbler's Children Have No Shoes: In Season One, as Kotetsu is struggling with his deteriorating NEXT powers, and hiding his superhero job from his daughter, Kotetsu often found himself late to rescue his daughter when needed; which would cost his relationship with his daughter in a long run.
• Disney Death: At the end of episode 24. He even gives an Almost Dead Guy speech.
• Dude, Where's My Respect?: Pre-Time Skip, at least. This becomes glaringly obvious in Episode 13, when all the citizens of Sternbild (including the other heroes, who knew full well the role Kotetsu played in their victory) praise Barnaby for saving the day... ignoring Kotetsu completely. Lampshaded when Barnaby notices Kotetsu's expression and teases him for wanting praise.
  • Post-Time Skip he's risen to fourth-place in the Hero Rankings, gets treated nicer by Alexander, and is even getting along with Barnaby.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Sky High more or less being the ultimate embodiment of Kotetsu's superhero philosophies (i.e. prioritising protecting the innocent and getting the job done as fast as possible over corporate grandstanding) doesn't prevent the man from being jealous of the high flyer's success.
• Healing Factor: Played with in Episode 13. His natural healing rate is one of the physical attributes affected by his powers, but even if you increase your regenerative speed by a hundredfold, there's only so much you can do in five minutes (for anyone who wants to do the math, that means he can get a maximum of eight hours and twenty minutes' worth of healing per use of his Hundred Power, which any doctor will tell you isn't very much at all). True to form, it doesn't enable him to fully recover from his injuries as much as it lets him get out of bed without collapsing.
• Hypocrite: A point of contention between him and Barnaby in Episode 12 is that, despite being the more vocal person about teamwork and very insistent about trust, it's Kotetsu who ultimately doesn't trust Barnaby when the chips are down, something that seriously wounds him when he previously gave his full trust to the former.
• Jobless Parent Drama: In the second half of Season 1, Kotetsu is diagnosed with a rare, progressive condition of losing his NEXT powers as he ages, which stresses him of job loss; especially dire since he’s a single parent with a daughter to raise.
• My God, What Have I Done?: In Season 1, Kotetsu, after breaking the trust Barnaby had in him by not offering him the same courtesy during an important mission.
  Kotetsu: You're right about that. I kept trying to convince him we were a team—but in the end, I was the one who didn't trust him.
• My Suit Is Also Super: In S1 Episode 2, the maker of Wild Tiger's new suit showed Kotetsu side by side comparison tests of both the new and old. The new one was shown to be fireproof, chainsaw-proof, and can expand better than the old one.
• Post-Victory Collapse: Kotetsu makes a point of casually getting dressed and waltzing out of his hospital room after (partially) healing his wounds with his Hundred Power. The moment he's out of sight of the other heroes, he nearly collapses in pain.
• Pronouncing My Name for You: When Kotetsu is first hired by Apollon Media, Mr. Lloyds says he can see how his name is spelled but asks how it's pronounced, which Kotsetsu then explains.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: When his powers start going haywire in Episode 14.
• Reports of My Death Were Greatly Exaggerated: Kotetsu in the series finale. Turned out he just fainted, and the reason his life signs stopped transmitting was because his suit (which contained the transmitter) was destroyed.
• Retirony: Narrowly averted. Turns out that blast from H-01's gun only broke his armor. It was still pretty close ... and believable enough that everyone fell for it.
• Sarcasm Mode: Slips into this every so often, particularly in the English dub:
  Barnaby: So...nice view!
  Kotetsu: Oh, yeah, it's breathtaking.
• Saying Sound Effects Out Loud: "Badabadabadabadabadabada..."◊
  • Meeeep. Meee-meeeep. Meep. Meep. Meep.◊
  • BYAAAAA BYUUUUU BYAAAAAAA
• Shirtless Scene: Quite a few...
  • In Episode 9, with his shoulder bandaged, holding a wine glass. In Barnaby's flat.
  • Another in Episode 13, in a hospital, with bandages.
  • Episode 25 (and the end of Ep. 24), he takes a hit that destroys most of his armor and produces a tear in the suit he wears under it, conspicuously revealing his abs.
• Supporting Protagonist: Downplayed. Although he still has his own arc in Season One, the crux of the plot is Barnaby seeking justice for his deceased parents and moving past his Broken Ace tendencies. Kotetsu is really there to help Barnaby achieve those goals and help him grow.
• Tears of Joy: Cries them in Episode 23 when Barnaby finally remembers him.
• They're Called "Personal Issues" for a Reason: Once he learns of Barnaby's past, he makes a point about not prying into the whys and wherefores. This is not due to coldness, but because he knows (possibly from personal experience) that some things are best left as someone's own cross to carry.
• Unflinching Walk: In Episode 17.
• The Unmasking: The case of Albert Maverick labels Kotetsu as The Most Wanted, with his face and full name on the news 24/7. Then Kotetsu went from suspect-to-superhero revelation live on HeroTV via Clothing Damage from battle. As much as Kotetsu doesn’t acknowledge his true identity to the public after Maverick’s case, his fans has already implanted his face and name in their hearts on that instant.
• Unperson: Finds himself as one in Episode 20, thanks to the villain being able to erase memories.
• Warrior Therapist: When the show started, three heroes among the eight didn't believe much in themselves and/or in heroism as a value. Kotetsu made sure it didn't continue. The final episode shows how his actions and words changed them: before, they were working separately, except when Hero TV asked them to work together; at the end, they willingly cooperate to catch criminals, barely thinking of fame, ranks and points.
• "Well Done, Dad!" Guy: One of his main wishes is that his daughter thinks he is cool. She eventually does.
• When You Coming Home, Dad?: Kotetsu’s relationship with his daughter often suffers because of his commitment to his job.
• Yank the Dog's Chain: He finally starts getting some respect from his partner, climbs up in the rankings and the population doesn't consider him a joke anymore, then he starts losing his powers. Ultimately, however, while his powers will eventually fade to nothing, the degeneration stops at about a minute for some time, meaning he will continue to be a hero for much longer than initially believed.
• You Didn't Ask: Just about everyone who isn't Antonio is amazed to discover Kotetsu has a preteen daughter, especially Karina. Kotetsu just kinda forgot that he never actually told anyone.

Season Two

• Bridal Carry: Kotetsu's method of rescue—which was somehow inherited from Barnaby from the previous season.
  • Episode 6: Used on Magical Cat.
  • Episode 7: Used on Kaede.
  • Episode 20: Used on Barnaby.
• Brought Down to Normal: In episode 25, Gregory's inflicted Power Incontinence causes Kotetsu to burn through the last remnants of his Hundred Power, effectively making him a normal human.
• Take Up My Sword: Non-lethal example. Upon the notion of Barnaby's hero suit being destroyed by a berserk Audun, Kotetsu determined the best solution was to toss over his Hero Suit Storage Bangle for Barnaby to wear Wild Tiger’s hero suit to keep fighting; since Kotetsu’s NEXT powers officially ran out and is no longer able to perform his league hero duties on the spot.

Barnaby Brooks, Jr.

<sup>Click to see full body image (S2)

Hero suit: Style 1 (S1/M1)

Hero suit: Style 2 (M2)

Hero suit: Style 3 (S2)</sup>

Voiced by: Masakazu Morita (JP), Yuri Lowenthal (EN)
Birthday: October 31
Power: Hundred Power (Hour of Power variant—Increases physical abilities one-hundredfold for five minutes per hour.)
Affiliation: Apollon Media
Superhero Sobriquets: "The Super Scion of the Aristocracy."
Product Placement:

[S1/M1/M2] Bandai / Amazon / Crusade (Bandai's trading card game)

[S2] Bandai / XFLAG (mobile game company) / Monster Strike (XFLAG’s flagship game) / TANITA (Japanese electronics company) / Battle Spirits (Trading card game brand)

The Deuteragonist of the series. Entering the business purely for sake of superhero marketing purpose, Barnaby is a confident, yet asocial young superhero who doesn’t mind his true identity being known to the public. Taking to account of Barnaby’s shared superpower characteristics with Wild Tiger, Apollon Media assigned Barnaby with Wild Tiger for the new season; branding them as "the first-ever Senior/Junior superhero partnership team" in hopes they would attract the superhero fanbase into rooting for Apollon Media’s sponsored heroes.

In General

• The Aloner: Initially, Barnaby spends time away from the heroes as he sees no real point in socializing with them due to being somewhat dismissive of them and seems much more content to be by himself than anything else. But even when Barnaby grows to be friendlier and part of their True Companions, he still doesn't do much socializing unless it's within their communal gym. There is one exception to this however—Kotetsu, who he'll accept most offers from to spend time with and occasionally approach.
• Ambiguously Bi: Word of God is that Barnaby's first love was a girl in his youth, but in the show proper, he acts like an old married couple with Kotetsu which is lampshaded by many characters, and most of the positive changes in his life comes from Kotetsu, who becomes someone Barnaby wants to actively spend time with.
• Angst? What Angst?: Seemingly pointed out in-universe, but ultimately subverted. While Barnaby seems relatively well-adjusted, for a guy who recently discovered his father figure and sponsor, Albert Maverick, murdered his parents, mind-raped him twice into forgetting about it, murdered his foster mother, brainwashed him and the rest of the heroes into believing Kotetsu was the one responsible, and manipulated him for his entire life so he'd become a hero to push his own NEXTagenda. It's stated in The Rising that Barnaby is still dealing with the trauma of his past despite all outward appearances. It's just that he has Kotetsu by his side to help him work through everything and has managed to grow a lot since they first became partners.
• Animal Motif: Nicknamed by Kotetsu, he's a "bunny". Saito digs the nickname, and placed a rabbit emblem on his super-suit, to Barnaby's chagrin. His lack of typical 'bunny-like' behaviour is even lampshaded in S1 Episode 3 following their Wire Dilemma.
  Barnaby: I'm still not looking for a partner. And if I were, it wouldn't be you.
  Kotetsu: For a bunny, you're not very cute.
• Anime Hair: Those elaborate curls would be impossible in real life without a perm—but Barnaby has had them practically since birth, and his mother's hairstyle is much the same.
• Ascetic Aesthetic: Barnaby's apartment. Sweet mercy, Barnaby's apartment. The place is starkly designed, echoingly huge, and almost completely devoid of furniture and decorations, to the point where he seems to use a single ergonomic chair for all his sitting and sleeping needs. Side Bunny at least confirms that it does have a separate rooms including a bedroom and closet. By Season 2 his apartment is now filled with plants that he spends his free time caring for and talking to.
• Beneath the Mask: Actually has two masks; The Charming ace facade he exposes to the general public and the Jerkass Ice King that the other heroes see—both of which conceal his Broken Bird/Broken Ace tendencies.
• Berserk Button: Becomes uncharacteristically emotional and violent when Ouroboros comes into the picture.
  • Hurting Kotetsu becomes this in Season 2, which throws him into a blind rage. Or that's what he wants people to think during his fight against Mugan and Fugan to trick Fugan into absorbing more power than he can handle.
• Blind Without 'Em: He doesn't wear glasses on the job, but it's explained that his hundred power and hero suit both help augment his vision.
• Breaking Old Trends: The first known superhero in Sternbild to not conceal his identity, much to the surprise of Kotetsu.
• Broken Ace: A good looking, talented hero who's famous and wealthy, but with a Dark and Troubled Past.
• Character Development: To cement his Defrosting Ice King status. He initially takes to superheroing as just a job so he can eventually find the person who killed his parents as part of his plan of revenge, even refusing to give the job his all until the cameras are on the scene. As such, he's very cold and distant to other heroes, and especially dismissive towards Kotetsu. However, over the course of the story, he grows to be genuine about wanting to be a hero and saving people, finds respect in other heroes and especially Kotetsu, which he forms an incredibly tight bond with.
• The Charmer: Has no issues with the fangirls he attracts.
  Kotetsu: Don't you get tired of doing that?
  Barnaby: Not really. It's part of our job.
• Celibate Hero: He might be The Charmer in public, but there are no women in his private life.
• Color-Coded Secret Identity: Doesn't actually have a secret identity, but his casual clothes are color-coded nonetheless.
• Comically Serious: Kotetsu's bumbling antics are often complimented by Barnaby's attempts to be The Only Sane Man.
• Compassionate Critic: To Kotetsu.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Witnessed his parents' death in front of his eyes, and has spent a good 20 years brooding over this.
• Does Not Like Spam: Picks the pickles out of everything. Kotetsu nags him for skipping out on the vinegar.
• Embarrassing Nickname: Kotetsu named him "Bunny," to Barnaby's initial embarrassment.
  • By S1 Episode 5, he has given up on complaining about it, but he absolutely will NOT stand for being called "Bunny-chan." As time goes by, noticeable since The case of Maverick, Barnaby came to fully embrace this "Bunny" nickname as his Affectionate Nickname.
  • Unbeknownst to Barnaby, the "Bunny" nickname became the Trigger Phrase to pull him out of his Laser-Guided Amnesia embedded in part of his Fake Memories.
• Emotions Versus Stoicism: Keeps to the stoic end for the first part of the series, but eventually winds up much closer to the emotional end.
• Epiphany Therapy:
  • His attitude at the end of S1 Episode 13 and for the entirety of S1 Eps. 14 -16 seem to point to him having undergone this; and, by consequence, Motive Decay. But from S1 Ep. 18 onwards, it becomes obvious that this is not the case.
  • The Rising brings up the trope and ultimately subverts it; several characters seem to think that Barnaby's just fine ever since the man who killed his parents died and try use this to justify killing in revenge, but Kotetsu rather angrily points out that they have no idea what he's been through and that he still deals with his past every single day, and Barnaby himself says that he wouldn't be so okay if he didn't have Kotetsu's unyielding support. He hasn't been magically un-trauma'd, he just has actual help with coping.
• Exposition Victim: In Episode 19.
• Expy: Barnaby puts up a facade of being a charming playboy wearing a suit of armor who is actually a Broken Ace seeking justice for his deceased parents and is a Defrosting Ice King. Basically he has Batman's backstory, Iron Man's suit of armor, and a mix between their personalities.
• Extremity Extremist: His fighting style focuses around kick styles, though he will occasionally throw in a punches when needed.
• Formal Characters Use Keigo: He uses keigo almost constantly — even during the more colourful arguments with Kotetsu. It emphasizes his primmed upbringing, as well as his aloofness. The Japanese original script took it further by having Barnaby use Japanese Honorifics, especially the usage of "senpai" towards Ivan and Edward Keddy to signify his respect and acknowledgement that the two of them are his seniors hailing from The Hero Academy before him.
• Frames of Reference: The lenses are hexagonal, but he has a number of characteristics associated with rectangular glasses; a stoic facade, Sugar-and-Ice Personality and Tsurime.
• Friendless Background: For 20 years he has completely rejected the idea of having an actual personal life or any relationships, choosing instead to devote himself to revenge. Word Of God says that Kotetsu is quite literally the first human being he's made a significant connection with since the age of four. In Season 2, this is subverted, as we see the one friend he had at the age of four: his neighbor from across the street.
• Frozen Face: According to Word Of God: "Barnaby's current ability to fake friendly looks and behaviour is the result of much work — as a teenager he was practically expressionless".
• Genius Bruiser: He's one of the strongest heroes and also one of the smartest.
• Glass Cannon: To a degree due to his light armour, which is supposed to suit his fighting style.
• Hair Flip: One of the many ways◊ he pleases his fangirls.
• Hairstyle Inertia: Has retained the same golden curls at approximately the same length since childhood, as official art depicting him at various ages prove.
• Harmful to Minors: His parents were murdered right in front of his eyes when he was a child.
• Hell-Bent for Leather: A very literal example. It's just the jacket, not the pants (and red instead of the typical black) — but boy, does he love it!
• Hereditary Hairstyle: He inherited his mother's wavy blonde hair.
• In-Series Nickname: Although Kotetsu is the only person who actually refers to him by the abovementioned moniker, hilariously enough it makes up half the title
• Ineffectual Loner: A little anomalous in that he isn't an Anti-Hero but is still very much an example of this trope. He eventually opens up a little, but only to Kotetsu. As far as anyone else is concerned, he is still this even by series end.
• Intelligence Equals Isolation: Implied to have happened to him while at the Hero Academy; since Kotetsu is the first and only friend he's managed to make during the past 20 years, he obviously had no-one close to him during his school-going days.
• It's Personal: His vendetta against Ouroboros and its affiliates.
• Jump Jet Pack: Part of his suit that gives him short boosts of speed and some pretty impressive jumps.
• Just in Time: Played for Laughs regarding his Unwanted and Embarrassing rescues of Kotetsu.
• Men Can't Keep House: Completely averts this and takes it to the other extreme. Not only is his apartment meticulously clean and litter-free, but he barely even has any furniture in it.
• Mirror Character:
  • In Tiger & Bunny: The Rising, he has a mirror in Andrew Scott, another young man whose parents were killed and company destroyed by someone he desperately wants revenge on, emphasizing how Barnaby has finally managed to move past that emotional stage of his life.
  • And then there is Golden Ryan, who has some of the most frustrating traits of both Barnaby and Kotetsu mixed into one, an older, experienced hero who still cares about points and ratings the way Barnaby did when he first started—and a trait of his that has been softened considerably after time with Kotetsu.
• Mr. Fanservice: As far as Apollon Media and HeroTV are concerned, youth and handsomeness are his major selling points.
• Mysterious Past: Word Of God confirms that most of his current memories are a product of Maverick's psychological manipulations. So even Barnaby himself probably doesn't know exactly what his life was like before the series started.
• Neat Freak: He keeps his apartment meticulously tidy.
• Nobody Touches the Hair: His reaction to being hugged by Kotetsu in Episode 23...though it was more out of embarrassment than anything.
• No Sense of Humor: Hanging around Kotetsu all day and not so much as cracking a smile once is a skill only Barnaby has mastered.
• No Social Skills: He's not very good at talking to people in Season 1, as he either brushes them off or outright ignores them. Even as he gradually gets kinder and more open, Season 2 shows he's content staying home with his plants rather than attempting to be social with anyone else.
• The Not-Love Interest: Barnaby shows up in Kotetsu's life at a critical point in the latter's career and fits into so many "love interest stereotypes" (Troubled, but Cute, Broken Bird, Defrosting Ice King, Sugar and Ice). He bears some suspicious parallels to the widower hero's late wife and was mentored by the show's Big Bad) that the writer/artist for the manga adaptation has even joked about him being the show's 'heroine'. The creators' fondness for teasing their "wonderful relationship" doesn't help.
• Pastimes Prove Personality: His one and only hobby is listening to opera, which is often associated with an affluent family background, 'snobbish' personality and being 'intellectual'. This ultimately serves as a sort of deconstruction, as opera music is also a direct trigger for his PTSD, so much so that even directly talking about liking opera as a hobby has him becoming distracted with flashbacks to the night his parents were shot. It's entirely possible that his interests being narrowed down to exclusively something that will remind him of his trauma is yet another facet of Maverick's manipulation. While it outwardly contributes to his public facade, it also betrays how hollow his life is outside of things that drive his single-minded pursuit of revenge.
  • In season 2, Barnaby is shown to have filled his once-empty apartment with plants that he dotes on and even talks to. It's an entirely new hobby, befitting his more patient and nurturing aspirations following his character development, while still being something he can enjoy in solitude.
• Purely Aesthetic Glasses: Averted. Some fans (and even his own seiyuu) tend to assume this because Barnaby never wears glasses when fighting; but comments from the staff and info from the Hero Gossip Book indicate that while his eyesight is poor, glasses aren't necessary when in superhero suit because the helmet compensates for any vision problems.
• Rookie Red Ranger: A subversion, since he joined the HeroTV superheroes for entirely personal reasons that had nothing to do with helping people. Post-timeskip he becomes much more enthusiastic about his job (if only because of his wish to be a better partner to Kotetsu).
• Sacrificed Basic Skill for Awesome Training: He's been focused on becoming a superhero for four-fifths of his life, and as a result has developed a very odd personality; he knows exactly how to behave in public in order to inspire awe and boost popularity, but flounders badly when it comes to personal relationships. Throw in the "absolute trust or complete mistrust, nothing in-between" bit and you've got a guy with a very weird form of No Social Skills.
• Secret Identity: Notably Averted. As opposed to other heroes who operate under a heroic pseudonym and wear helmets or masks to coneal their civilian identities, Barnaby operates under his full name and has no problem showing his face to the general public while on the job.
• Smart People Build Robots: Word of God has it that he would've gone on to become a robotics engineer had his parents not been killed.
• Strong Family Resemblance: Bears a striking likeness to his mother.
• Sugar-and-Ice Personality: The public actually sees more of the "sugar" than the "ice," although it's just for publicity.
• The One That Got Away: According to the character questionnaire A 100 Questions, his first and only crush was on a girl he met at the Hero Academy; but he was convinced that his feelings were unrequited and never attempted to pursue a relationship with her.
• The Unfettered: Strives to be this, with questionable success.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: He was a happy, affectionate and friendly child prior to his parents' deaths.

Season One

• Aloof Ally: The only apparent reason he joined HeroTV is for employment. Even after his true motives are revealed, it still wasn't heroic instinct that led him to the job. While he eventually grows to be much kinder and heroic, he still doesn't make it a point to spend time with any heroes off-duty sans Kotetsu unless he's dragged into it.
• Because You Were Nice to Me: By Season 1's end he stays on as a hero simply because he wants to continue being Kotetsu's partner.
• Best Served Cold: Elaborated upon by Maverick in Episode 11 while explaining Barnaby's past to the general public.
• Bridal Carry: Barnaby's preferred method of rescue. Barnaby noticeably lampshades this in Ep. 10.
  • Episodes 1, 10, and 25: Used on Kotetsu.
  • Episode 2: Used on Kaede.
  • Episode 4: Used on Blue Rose.
  • Episode 9: Used on Agnes.
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Har har. But for a guy who professes no interest in heroics and won't socialize with his co-workers, he is incredibly effective at his job.
• Bystander Syndrome: The reason he views superheroing as "just a job". But he's no bystander when things get serious.
• Chest Insignia: In Episode 5 he gets a rabbit-shaped one on the left side of his suit.
• Collateral Damage: Suffers from this quite a bit in the latter half of the series. Samantha's death and his subsequent capture and Mind Rape at Maverick's hands are more catalysts for Kotetsu to become involved with the Big Bad than anything else.
• Cool Car: Is seen driving a Honda NSX in Episode 15 (and yes, it's red).
• Defrosting Ice King: From Episode 8 onwards, he slowly grows to be fond of and trust Kotetsu.
• Determinator: Not a healthy one, as his twenty-year obsession with revenge on Ouroboros can attest to.
• Deuteragonist: His backstory lines up with—and overtakes—the climax in both halves of the show, and a lot is devoted to his Defrosting Ice King character development.
• Distressed Dude: Picks up the Distress Ball in Episode 19, and continues to carry it throughout Ep. 20.
• Facepalm: Can't help but do this in Episode 5 following Kotetsu's attempt to retrieve a pen for one of his fans.
• Faint in Shock: Barnaby faints in S1 Episode 19, as he's been plagued by recurring nightmares about his parents' death (which he thought he'd begun to put behind him after seemingly finding their killer). When trying to discuss his fears with Kotetsu, Barnaby breaks down in tears and then passes out (probably exacerbated by exhaustion and lack of food, as he hasn't been able to eat or sleep due to the nightmares).
• Fake Memories: Maverick tweaked his memories quite a bit in order to give himself an alibi, among other things. Word of God reveals that his memory has been edited beyond the extent shown in canon.
• Falling into His Arms: How Barnaby usually saves Kotetsu.
• Fatal Flaw: His single-minded obsession with revenge has completely isolated him from the world, ridding him of the friendly, cheerful personality he had as a child and constantly hindering his usually calm and calculative behavior.
  • Actually lampshaded in Episode 22;
  Maverick: Your wild emotions are your only flaw.
• Five Stages of Grief: Seems to be going through a combination of stages 2 & 4, with stage 4 being far more prominent. He never quite gets to stage 5, despite wavering towards it every now and again.
  • Kind of does 2, 3, and 4 all at once for Kotetsu's supposed death in Episode 24; yelling at him and saying he's not the kind of person to give up, crying hysterically, and bargaining when he says Kotetsu can't die because he hasn't eaten Barnaby's fried rice yet.
• Flashback Nightmare: Frequently has nightmares about his parents' murder.
• Glory Hound: Pretty much everyone (both in-universe and out) considered him to be one for the first few episodes. But later events subvert this completely. Barnaby has no aversion to publicity or the fans, but he doesn't care about them one bit. Superheroics is simply "just a job" in his eyes. Fortunately, he grows to adopt Kotetsu's views of being a hero as more important than the fame or glory.
• Good is Not Nice: He's polite to everyone other than Kotetsu and is very obliging to his in-series fans...but proves that 'polite', 'nice' and 'good' don't necessarily have to co-exist. However, he does become a truly nice person to Kotetsu and the rest of the heroes as the series progresses.
• Good Is Old-Fashioned: Or rather, Being Selfless Is Old-Fashioned. Sports this attitude quite a bit earlier on in the series. Like in Episode 3;
  Barnaby: Then evacuate. I'll handle this by myself.
  Kotetsu: Idiot! I'm not so cold-hearted that I'd leave my partner behind and escape on my own.
  [Barnaby gives Kotetsu a sideways glance]
  Kotetsu: What!?
  Barnaby: As always, you're so old-fashioned.
• Grave-Marking Scene: Subverted. After visiting his parents' grave in Episode 25, he apologizes for not having come to see them in a while.
• Hates Small Talk: Unless it's for an interview.
• Heartbroken Badass: Barnaby saw his parents murdered in front of his eyes, believed throughout his life that Jake Martinez was responsible for the murder of his parents even though he wasn't. And then later on, his nanny that has been taking care him since his parents death was killed off and ended up fighting his close colleague thinking he was responsible for the murder of his nanny. And on top of that, he later finds out that the grandfather type figure that he sees as his role model since his parents' death was responsible for his parents' deaths, his nanny's deaths, and pulling the strings in regards to Ouroboros. This guy really can't take a break in his life.
• Heroic Blue Screen of Death: Experiences one after discovering that Jake wasn't his parents' killer. Realizing that he's back to square one and is now unable to trust his own memories, he begins to doubt his functionality as a hero. This leads to...
• Heroic Red Ring of Death: Suffers one in Episode 19 that also overlaps with Emotional Fainting.
• Heroic Safe Mode: Tries to go into this in Episodes 12-13.
• Hey, You!: Spent thirteen episodes calling Kotetsu "old man".
• Hidden Depths: Most people tend to dislike him at first — a Glory Hounding, Jerkass Ice King and in-universe Chick Magnet who exists simply to upstage, annoy and insult Kotetsu...that's his role, right? But then we find out that he's not a Glory Hound, the Jerkassery is simply a facade to hide his true personality; he's a more a Broken Ace than an actual Ace, is definitely not in the superhero scene for the women, and is actually an Ice and Sugar King who eventually begins Defrosting in earnest.
• Hidden Heart of Gold: In the earlier episodes, though as he warms up, his kindness becomes readily apparent to anyone who gets to know him.
• If You Kill Him, You Will Be Just Like Him!: Experiences a classic example of this towards the end of Episode 13, when he was on the verge of killing Jake. But due to Kotetsu's influence he chooses the typical option.
• I Miss Mom: One of those rare occasions where someone says this about both their parents. "I miss you...Mom, Dad!" (Episode 25)
• I Was Just Passing Through: Tends to fall into this when it involves Kotetsu; following him into a collapsing offshore drilling rig because he "wanted to score more hero points", responding to Kotetsu's call for help and claiming that he was there for entirely unrelated (and unspecified) reasons, etc.
• I Work Alone: For the first 8 episodes he steadfastly stands by this.
• Last Episode, New Character: In-series example. Barnaby decides to make his superhero debut on HeroTV's last episode of the season in order to make a strong impression.
• Leave Me Alone!: In the earlier episodes, this is his response to Kotetsu's well-meaning queries.
• "Leave Your Quest" Test: Faces one in Episode 10.
• Memento Macguffin: The sash Kotetsu was wearing in Episode 8 is still with him as of Ep.12. Word Of God states that he keeps it in his company locker as a good-luck charm.
• Mood-Swinger: As he starts to open up (and his backstory is revealed) he keeps on swinging between troubled, angry, and vulnerable.
• Mundane Luxury: Becoming "someone who's worthy of Kotetsu's trust" and being a good partner to him is pretty much all Barnaby wants by series end.
• My Greatest Second Chance: To avenge his parents by having Maverick (and Ouroboros) brought to justice—though as of Season One, he failed.
• No Sympathy: Can be rather insensitive at times. But he grows out of this by Season Two.
• Not Bad: His reaction to Kotetsu's locating the bomb in Episode 3, to the latter's annoyance and indignation.
  Barnaby: How did you know the bomb was here?
  Kotetsu: You saw that repairman too, right? He looked too clean to have been oiling the cables. Plus this building is brand-new; how could something be malfunctioning already?
  Barnaby: I see. That's not bad, for someone like you.
  Kotetsu: What's with the condescending tone!?
• Not So Stoic: Played very straight and provides much of the drama in the series.
  • Any mention of Ouroboros, his parents' murderer, or his parents themselves, makes him very unstable emotionally. In Episode 19 we see him crying on several different occasions due to these very reasons. He weeps openly when he learns about his maid's death in episode 20 as well.
  • And Kotetsu's supposed impending death in Episode 24 leads to his stoic facade completely breaking down for a few minutes preceding the closing credits.
• Not So Above It All: When Kotetsu, Barnaby and Ivan visit the Hero Academy where the latter two went to train their NEXT powers, Barnaby seems to enjoy the praise the principle is lavishing on him, and when he confuses Kotetsu asking the principle about what Ivan was like back in school for Kotetsu asking what he was like back in school, he looks genuinely slightly disappointed when Kotetsu sets him straight.
• One-Woman Wail: The ominous theme that plays during his flashbacks and whenever he's in danger.
• The Pawn: Maverick raised Barnaby with the purpose of making him a superhero manipulated for Ouroboros' capitalization.
• Pet the Dog: When he saves Kaede in Episode 2 (even though there are no witnesses other than Kotetsu and no cameras pointed at him), it's the first indicator that he may be indifferent, but he's not heartless.
• Pose of Supplication: Shortly before his Heroic RRoD in Episode 19.
• Quizzical Tilt: During the Porn Stash/The Internet Is for Porn confusion in Episode 3.
• Rage Against the Reflection: Smashes the mirror he's looking into in Episode 12 after being mocked and all but defeated by Jake.
• Rescue Introduction: Enters the first episode when he catches Kotetsu mid-fall.
• Revenge: The primary motivation behind everything he's done since his parents' deaths.
• Revenge Before Reason: Subverts this (episodes 11-13), plays it straight (Eps. 21-23), and then averts it (Eps. 24-25).
• Sanity Slippage: The results of learning that Jake was not really his parents' killer nearly destroyed him.
• School Idol: According to Episode 8, he was one during his days at Hero Academy.
  Principle Massini: I don't know if you knew it at the time, but the whole school looked up to you! You even had a fan club, and that's never happened before! They all wore glasses in the same style as yours.
  Barnaby: Stop, please. You're embarrassing me.
• Ship Tease: With Agnes. When he saved her from one of the kidnappers in Episode 9, the way he was holding her, looking right into her eyes and inquiring after her well-being, would have been enough to set even unseasoned shippers off. But the pairing was never so much as hinted at again.
• Shirtless Scene: Gets a LOT of these.
• Significant Name Shift: Barnaby finally starts calling Kotetsu by his given name instead of "Old Man" after they wrap up dealing with Jake Martinez to show his trust and faith in his partner.
• Silly Rabbit, Idealism Is for Kids!: Often says this to Kotetsu in the earlier episodes...despite being the younger of the two.
• Single-Issue Psychology: Subverted. It's heavily implied that his current asocial tendencies and unusual personality is the product of not one but two factors; while witnessing his parents' murder is the more overtly stated and obvious one, Maverick's toying around with his mind apparently affected him quite a bit.
• Skilled, but Naive: His inexperience is sometimes rather obvious, despite him being very skilled in the technical aspects of combat.
• Sliding Scale of Beauty: According to his in-series fans (and Nathan), he's the's on World-Class level.
• Soulless Bedroom: His apartment is very empty in the first season, showing that he hasn't really developed any hobbies in the years following his parents' murder. By Season 2, he seems to have started taking care of plants.
• Stepford Snarker: He gets sarcastic about heroics generally and is particularly cutting when he's upset.
• Stoic Spectacles: Subverted. Though the 'stoic' part holds true for some time into the series, it eventually becomes obvious that this was merely a facade.
• Straw Vulcan: Considering the overall mood of the series and the fact that Kotetsu is the protagonist, it's hardly surprising that he ends up with this role.
• Tears of Remorse: In episode 13, when he was about to give up on the fight with Jake.
• Tender Tears: Cries these in Episodes 20, 24, and 25.
• There Are No Therapists: He shows several signs (frequent nightmares and faulty recollections of his parents' murder scene, extreme social withdrawal, emotional irregularity, blunted affect ^note See the "Frozen Face" entry, above etc.) that suggest he's suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. But apparently no-one ever bothered to help the poor guy overcome his problems. Somewhat justified considering what his trusted mentor and guardian turned out to be like, but still...
• This Is Unforgivable!: Says it several times; in Episode 20 when he learns of Samantha's murder, in Ep. 23 after Maverick informs them of his kidnapping the other heroes and Kaede, and again in Ep. 25 upon believing that Kotetsu is dead.
• Tranquil Fury: For a majority of the time when he was fighting Jake.
• Trauma-Induced Amnesia: For twenty years, he was incapable of recalling the face of his parents' killer. Later on, it's revealed that his memories were in fact altered to hide the murderer's true identity, thus counting as a subversion.
• Troubled Backstory Flashback: Repeatedly, the viewers are shown the scene of his parents' murder in multiple episodes, which all culminate in Barnaby remembering that Jake killed them. This is a deliberate misdirect, as while this is what the audience and the heroes believe to be the truth, it's not.
• Twisted Christmas: His parents were killed on Christmas, while he was out with the housekeeper buying them presents no less.
• Vengeance Feels Empty: Subverted when Barnaby takes revenge on Jake Martinez for killing his parents. Instead of feeling empty, he now feels free to live life for himself. Double Subverted when it turns out that Jake wasn't responsible. Barnaby has a Heroic BSoD when he finds out.
• Waking Up Elsewhere: In Episode 20.
• Was It Really Worth It?: Averted regarding his revenge against Jake. Rather than feeling lost or despondent without his motivation since childhood, he finally feels free to enjoy life and find meaning in being a hero for its own sake.
  • Episode 18 proves that it might not be a good idea to base your happiness on exacting revenge after all; because everything might just go tumbling back when you realize you've actually failed at it. He ponders the same question halfway through Episode 25.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: He's not very fond of fire due to the circumstances of his parents' death. In Episode 9 he has a panic attack seeing Kotetsu playing with a taser in a burning building.
• You Killed My Father: Subverted since he's not the one who kills Maverick.

Season Two

• Career-Ending Injury: The injuries from the fight against Fugan and Mugan have left chronic damage to his right leg, which acts out in pain when he uses his powers.
• Caring Gardener: In Season Two, his new warmer, gentler disposition is established by his once minimalist apartment being covered in plants he lovingly cares for.
• Discard and Draw: When his hero suit is destroyed in the fight against Audun, he gets back into the fight after Kotetsu passes him the device for his hero suit instead.
• Hypocritical Humor: In episode 6, he scolds Kotetsu for getting Lara a lollypop as a welcome back gift when she recovers from a field injury, saying she is too old for it. After Lara and Pao-lin abruptly leaves, it turns out Barnaby also brought a lollypop for her.
• Ma'am Shock: Doesn't take it too well when the newer teenage heroes call him "old man", much to the delight of Kotetsu.
• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Despite having his questions answered about who killed his parents, fighting against the man who had taken away everything from him, and ultimately help find some form of peace, in Season 2, Barnaby fully admits he hasn't gotten over the experience, and is unsure if he ever will.
• Took a Level in Kindness: Well on his way halfway through the first season, to be sure, but he's fully levelled up by the second season. Apart from the occasional petty spat with Kotetsu, he's shown to be friendly and earnest with his colleagues, happy to offer support where he can, and he regards Kotetsu with entirely unguarded fondness.