Befitting its status as a Darker and Edgier Spiritual Successor to Guilty Gear and it also having a penchant for Deconstructed Character Archetype, this series loves this trope.
- Jin Kisaragi is this for Ky Kiske. Both are blonde Bishōnen deuteragonists who wear blue, have a rivalry with the Dark Is Not Evil red-wearing transforming One-Handed Zweihänder-wielding protagonist, and are the figureheads of their respective governments (United Kingdoms of Illyria for Ky, NOL for Jin). But whereas Ky is an all-around Nice Guy and potentially a Knight in Shining Armor and Ideal Hero, Jin is a selfish, sociopathic, nihilistic jerkass and Smug Snake bordering on Villain Protagonist who cares very little for people other than himself. While Ky prefers to have things settled peacefully (even if it comes at his detriment) unless his hand is forced, Jin often loses it and goes Ax-Crazy (particularly when near Ragna or Noel). Even Ky's loving relationship with a nonhuman MacGuffin Girl known as Dizzy stands in stark contrast with Jin's hateful and abusive relationship with Dizzy's counterpart Noel Vermillion.
- Litchi Faye-Ling is one to Kyoko Minazuki, being very much a walking carbon copy of her (as highlighted in the game's Shout-Out page) but she's played far more for drama and saddled with much more baggage than the character she's based on, being Secretly Dying from Boundary corruption and having a love interest who has been turned into an Eldritch Abomination by said Boundary corruption and is ultimately very much a Failure Hero.
- Bang Shishigami is a much more flawed take on Naruto Uzumaki (even being a walking pastiche to him), as both are Hot-Blooded Idiot Hero loud-mouthed highly-visible ninjas with even a one-sided rivalry with a character who's an Unwitting Pawn of a snake-themed villain. However, while Naruto would become respected by others early on in the series after showing what he's capable of (and pretty much so), Bang is pretty much a No-Respect Guy who's also frequently Wrong Genre Savvy and most people see him as an annoying showoff and is kind of a weakling in contrast to Naruto being towards the high end of the power scale. Ironically his Character Development steers him on a path similar to the character he's based on.
- Nu-13
- She's this for Rei Ayanami, who she clearly takes cues from. Both are clones of a relative from the protagonist (Saya for Nu, Yui Ikari for Rei), were designed to be part of the creation of an Eldritch Abomination, have a blue and white Color Motif, were created by a Mad Scientist Archnemesis Dad to the Kid Hero (Gendo for Rei, Relius for Nu), and were made as tyke bombs for their respective big bads. However, once Rei Ayanami defrosts she's shown to be ultimately kind-hearted (if not necessarily the nicest at times) whilst Nu-13 is shown to be a batshit insane yandere and off the rocker underneath her emotionless exterior. Additionally, Nu's relationship with Ragna comes across as being toxic compared to Rei's relationship with Shinji. In short, she’s realistically what someone who’s lived Rei’s life would be in a more cynical world.
- She's also a darker take on Yubel from Yu-Gi-Oh! GX. Both were driven into insanity by torture and came to believe that love is pain, thus gaining the desire to inflict pain upon their series' respective protagonists to show their love. However, while Yubel's reasons for doing so were motivated out of a promise made in a past life and Undying Loyalty, Nu does it because that's her twisted perception of how relationships are supposed to work. Their goals for said relationships also start off similarly but have different outcomes. Yubel is willing to cause The End of the World as We Know It just to have Jaden/Judai all to themself. Nu wants the same thing, but she legitimately hates the world she lives in and wants Ragna to join her in destroying it by fusing with him to become the Black Beast.
- Tsubaki Yayoi is this to Ky Kiske (primarily his earlier characterization from The Missing Link to XX). Both wear light-colored outfits, have connections with light, are after the main character to hunt them down, and have a Black-and-White Morality view. However, Ky's worldview gets humbled thanks to Justice's defeat and meeting Dizzy and evolves to have a more nuanced perspective and sheds away his whole trying to hunt down Sol Badguy, whereas Tsubaki's worldview teetered on Black-and-White Insanity and it gets expoited by the villains into inducing a Face–Heel Turn on her, and even after becoming face again, she never shed away her view that Ragna is evil and irredeemable and needs to be hunted down at all costs (even as he becomes more morally upright).
- Platinum the Trinity
- She is this to May. Both are kid fighter characters with a kawaiiko aesthetic and a precocious adoration for a clearly older mentor figure (Jubei for Platinum, Johnny for May) and wield a weapon larger than themselves, but whilst May is a Fun Personified Genki Girl, Platinum is an obnoxious Bratty Half-Pint jerkass who's often talking shit about others (Ragna in particular).
- With her design, naming style, and use of a magic wand, she bears more than a passing resemblance to many Magical Girl protagonists, but as a character she bears the closest resemblance to Usagi Tsukino, shown by their hairstyle, outfit, and most damningly, having a name associated with the moon (Tsukino has the Kanji for Moon and she's called Sailor Moon whilst one of Platinum's personalities is Luna (who is also the main personality in question for this example and the above example)). However, Usagi is an All-Loving Heroine Nice Girl whilst Platinum is an obnoxious jerkass who also basically flanderizes Usagi's worst attributes, making Platinum resembling a dark parody of the Pretty Guardian.
- Makoto Nanaya is a much more flawed take on Squirrel Girl, who she clearly takes cues from. Both are Ambiguously Bi squirrel-themed Little Bit Beastly Fun Personified hyperactive girls who originate in a dark, Dysfunction Junction-filled world and stand as a stark contrast with everything else in their respective worlds. Except, while Squirrel Girl is a borderline Invincible Hero and people easily get along well with her, Makoto is what amounts to a Normal Fish in a Tiny Pond, being capable against B-tier fodder like Taokaka, Bullet and Tager when the plot requires it but useless against top billers like Ragna and the villains, and has serious trust issues due to being seriously looked down on by everyone else due to her being a Beastkin, which is best showcased in her Bad Ending in Continuum Shift, where it's shown that, deep down, Makoto doesn't trust her two closest friends Noel and Tsubaki either, and she's just waiting for them to reject her like everyone else.
- Azrael is this for Akuma. Both are dark-skinned blood knights who are world's strongest men to the extent of being persons of mass destruction, are looking for the strongest characters to fight and want their opponents to give it all in the fight, and are ultimately tertiary antagonists in relation to the main villains of main story. However, whereas Akuma is Strong and Skilled (though Weak, but Skilled when compared to M. Bison), Azrael is Unskilled, but Strong. Also Akuma purposefully holds back his power whilst Azrael has a Power Limiter applied to him because he's so powerful he could very easily kill someone. Azrael acts as a deconstruction of Akuma, with his willingness to fight strong opponents making him an easy sell for the bigger villains to take advantage of and being used against him by the heroes to take advantage of.
- Hibiki Kohaku is this for Levi Ackerman. Aside from the obvious appearance and choice of weapons, as well as being the most loyal subordinate to their respective superiors (Erwin Smith for Levi, Kagura Mutsuki for Hibiki), that's where the similarities end. Levi was originally far more unscrupulous and he was originally going to kill Erwin before becoming his most loyal subordinate whereas Hibiki is revealed to be far more dangerous and unhinged to the extend that he's willing to kill his superior Kagura to become the ultimate killing machine.
