History Characters / NowAndThenHereAndThere

* SueDonym: While hiding in the village of Zari Bars, Shu ues the name "Larla" for her to avoid giving away that she is the legendary Lala-Ru who can summon infinite water.

* ThemeNaming: The three main child soldiers have a "bu" sound in their names -- Na''bu''ca, ''Boo'', and Ta''boo''l.

* MotivationalLie: [[spoiler:The child soldiers forced to serve in Hellywood's army are told that they will be able to go home to their villages if they do a good job serving Hellywood. They are never told that every village raided by Hellywood is destroyed after the soldiers finish raiding it.]]

!Children

[[folder:Nabuca]]
!!Nabuca
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/38306.jpg]]
-->'''Voiced by''': Creator/YukaImai (Japanese), Creator/DanGreen (English)

A young soldier in the Hellywood army. He's a restrained person and much less corrupt than many of the older military members but he is determined to help King Hamdo win his war in the hopes of being returned to his village.

* AllForNothing: The most heartbeaking thing about Nabuca is probably [[spoiler: that all the atrocities he committed for Hellywood in exchange for being allowed to go back to his hometown didn't amount to anything. As Tabool pointed out, their village no longer exists and all they have left is where they are now. That and the fact that Tabool doesn't let him go through his HeelRealization and shoots him dead]].
* AntiVillain: Nabuca isn't a cruel person by nature and he's only bitter because of the absolute hell he's been made to live through. Whenever he gets the chance, he prefers to deter people from attacking him and isn't comfortable with killing.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: He was kidnapped as a child and forced to serve as a Hellywood soldier, with the promise that he would be able to return to his home village after the war's end. [[spoiler:And even this promise is a lie; his village was already destroyed and everyone he knew was killed long ago.]]
* DiedInYourArmsTonight: [[spoiler: In Shu's upon returning his wooden sword.]]
* HeelFaceDoorSlam: After prompting by Shu and [[spoiler: Boo's death and defection]] he realizes he is in the wrong. Too bad a few moments later [[spoiler: Tabool shoots and kills him]].
* HonourBeforeReason: Staunchly dedicated to his job as a ChildSoldier and strictly follows the rules.
* IDidWhatIHadToDo: Nabuca is determined to survive the war with Hellywood and return to his home village. To this end he admits to having personally executed his fellow ChildSoldiers when they tried escape and is seen assisting with the army's village raids.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Despite Nabuca's cold exterior, he does care for people and [[spoiler:shoots Shu in the leg]] to keep him out of combat when other soldiers would have killed him.
* TheLastDance: [[spoiler: Bleeding to death after being shot in the tummy by Tabool, he gathers the last of his strength to crawl back to Shu's cell and give him his wooden katana and begs him to go back where he belongs.]]
* PerpetualFrowner: Very serious, but well-meaning. Never once smiles.
* TragicDream: He believes Hamdo's promise that he will be free to return to his village when the war is over, and commits numerous atrocities as a child soldier, just wanting to go back home. [[spoiler:It is a MotivationalLie, and his village was already destroyed after he was taken.]]
* TragicVillain: In the end, all he wanted was getting back to where he belonged. He was simply ForcedIntoEvil and his upstanding nature only made things worse.
* YouCantGoHomeAgain: Realizes too late that [[spoiler: his dearest village has already been destroyed and that he's been lied to since the beginning.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Sara]]
!!Sara Ringwalt
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/2562aa42d11aaac310318ae312eaac32525fa317_hq.jpg]]
-->'''Voiced by''': Azusa Nakao (Japanese), Kayzie Rogers (English)

A young girl from America who was transported to Hellywood with Shu after being mistaken for Lala-Ru. As a girl, she is used as a sex slave instead of a child soldier and suffers at least one brutal rape that shatters her.
----
* AdrenalineMakeover: After her ImportantHaircut, she becomes way more assertive, proactive and serious and wears a practical short tunic and loose trousers instead of her initial long skirt and comfy sweater.

[[folder:Boo]]
!!Boo
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/r012287_001.jpg]]
-->'''Voiced by''': Creator/HirokoKonishi (Japanese), Creator/RachaelLillis (English)

The youngest of the main child soldiers. Boo is a kind young boy but Hamdo's corruption has left him confused about right and wrong. Although he is at first loyal to the king, Shu's points about their nation's cruelty resonates with him.
----
* AdorablyPrecociousChild: A young boy with much more understanding of people than what is expected from a boy his age.
* AmbiguouslyBrown: Very dark skin, unknown ancestry.
* ChildrenAreInnocent: Boo is unaware of the harm Hellywood spreads and just wants to help his friends and return home one day. When Shu points out the cruelty of their nation, Boo is the first to start questioning the orders they're given.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: Like Hamdo's other child soldiers, he was presumably kidnapped from one of the many villages destroyed by Hellywood.
* DiesWideOpen: [[spoiler: His death.]]
* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler: He notices Soon about to shoot Nabuca and steps between them just as she fires the gun, getting killed instead.]]
* TakingTheBullet: [[spoiler: Runs into the path of a bullet meant for Nabuca and is thus killed in his stead.]]

[[folder:Tabool]]
!!Tabool
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/657a57e4637c51284b37cf7c01f2a52e1287690784_full.jpg]]
-->'''Voiced by''': Creator/AkioSuyama (Japanese), Creator/CrispinFreeman (English)

A bitter young soldier who resents the weak and is extremely loyal to King Hamdo. According to Nabuca, he wasn't always as cold but he became callous with his time in Hellywood.

* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: Hates that Nabuca is a better combatant than himself and whines when he feels the latter's victory in their combat practice was "unfair".
* TheBully: Taken to sociopathic extremes. He takes every opportunity to be as nasty as possible to Shu, Sara, and Lala-Ru, and belittles weaker soldiers.
* TheCorruptible: Unbeknownst to everyone, even himself, Tabool always had an evil streak in him. His time in Hellywood made it strive permanently.
* EnfantTerrible: By the end of the series, he's this full time.
* {{Jerkass}}: Tabool has become a hard-hearted young man and disdainful enough to mock and harm anyone he sees as weaker than himself, regularly trying to abuse Shu.
* JerkassHasAPoint: Upon discussing his ambitions with Nabuca, he reveals that he can dream all he wants about going back to his village, [[YouCantGoHomeAgain it's already too late]]. The village has most definitely [[DoomedHometown been nuked to the ground]], like Hamdo intended to do to Zari Bars.
* JerkJock: The closest thing to one in this setting. He's an overconfident hothead who delights in combat and ruthlessly picks on the new meat in his squad.
* JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope: Begins to enjoy war more and more as the show goes on and eventually tells Nabuca he has no intention of ever leaving Hellywood.
* MeaningfulName: "Tabool" can easily be read as "taboo", as in something morally shocking and wrong. And it is ''indeed'' appropriate for a kid who loves killing and torture as much as this boy.
* UsedToBeASweetKid: Nabuca claims that Tabool used to be a good kid until he was corrupted by Hellywood's propaganda.
* VillainousWidowsPeak: The only kid in the Hellywodd Corps to wear this. Aptly so, see above.
* WeCanRuleTogether: He tries to convince Nabuca that they can rule Hellywood together in the future. [[AnyoneCanDie It doesn't end well.]]
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Compared to other characters, his final fate is not shown. While he most likely drowned when Hellywood is flooded, he is not specifically shown to have been killed, but he is not seen again. Unlike Abelia who survived the flooding.
[[/folder]]

!Hellywood
[[folder:Hamdo]]
!!King Hamdo
-->''Look at those losers crawling on all fours! I have to laugh at them! I'm gonna laugh and laugh until I can laugh no more! And then-''I'm gonna shoot them dead!''
[[quoteright:225:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hamdo.jpg]]
-->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/KoujiIshii (Japanese), Dan Olk (English)

The insane ruler of Hellywood and the series' main antagonist. While he preaches of his desire to spread peace across the land, all of his actions show him to be a cruel tyrant who delights in causing pain and only cares about his own gains.
----
* AndThereWasMuchRejoicing: When Hamdo finally dies just about everyone, including his surviving subordinates, are happy to start life a new without him.
* AssholeVictim: Absolutely no one in this show deserved to die more than him.
* AxCrazy: Flies off the handle ''very'' easily and usually in the most violent ways.

!Zari-Bars
[[folder:Sis]]
!!Sis
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/e973633a_1aa3_4f87_b2f4_24bf93dd3a66.jpeg]]
-->'''Voiced by''': Creator/RicaMatsumoto (Japanese), Creator/RachaelLillis (English)
A citizen of Zari-Bars. She looks after and cares for children who were orphaned due to the conflict. She also acts as a counter to Elamba and encourages more peaceful options.

* ApronMatron: An strong-willed and tough-as-nails but nurtuting and responsible older woman of rather robust build.
* HypocriticalHumor: A minor example. Sis generally preaches non-violence and chastises Elamba for his brute methods, but often knocks her kids on the head to scold them.
* HopeSpringsEternal: Much like Shu, Sis believes this too. Even with her dying breath she urges Sara not to give up hope for a better future.
* MajorInjuryUnderreaction: Sort of. Elamba shoots her in the thigh, incapacitating her. While still very much alive she is then shown tortured with ropes, her arms spread out and legs dangling. Her wound is not given time to heal and Sis loses a lot of blood, with this becoming a MortalWoundReveal when Sara sees the amount of blood Sis has lost.
* MamaBear: She pulls a gun on Elamba when he tries taking Lala-Ru away from her.
* ParentalSubstitute: She is this for many of the orphaned children. This includes also taking in Shu and Lala-Rue after their escape from Hellywood.
* TechnicalPacifist: Prefers peaceful conflict resolution but is also quite aware of the fact that you can't always escape violence.
* TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth: Very much so. She was one of the few pacifist characters who genuinely cared for others.

[[folder:Elamba]]
!!Elamba
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/elamba_rallying.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:This picture says [[HotBlooded just about]] [[RebelLeader everything]] [[TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized you need]] [[LaResistance to know]] [[MurderIsTheBestSolution about]] [[WellIntentionedExtremist him!]]]]
-->'''Voiced by''': Hisoka Yamamoto (Japanese), Scott Rayow (English)
The ruthless leader of a radical faction at Zari-Bars village. He seeks to kill King Hamdo because Hellywood murdered his entire family.

* AlasPoorVillain: Even with all the horrid things he did, Elamba was just as much a victim of Hellywood as Sara and Nabuca. When Hellywood attacks Zari-Bars, he makes one final stand to save the villagers and dies for his efforts, a fighter to the very end.
* AllForNothing: He realizes this in his final moments. Despite trying to use Lala-Ru as a negotiating tactic, all of his men are dead and his village nearly wiped out. Even using Lala-Ru as a hostage at this point is meaningless. He attempts one last heroic stand and is immediately riddled with bullets before he has a chance.
** Even if Zari-Bars were not attacked, his entire plan would fail anyway. Based on false intelligence, Elamba comes to believe that Hellywood soldiers are somehow demoralized and would turn against Hamdo in exchange for Lala Ru. The fact is quite opposite: Hellywood has just scored several of what can be considered "victories", secured strategic manpower and resources, and Hamdo is pretty much the only one obsessed with capturing Lala.
* AntiHero: His methods are often ruthless and risk the lives of his troops, but he is really set on bringing down an evil regime and avenging the innocents who died under it.
* ArcVillain: His increasing ruthlessness and dangerous plan to strike back at Hamdo turns him into the story's biggest threat once the main trio escape Hellywood and reach Zari-Bars. At least until Hellywood comes right to their doorstep.
* BadassesWearBandanas: He dons a grey bandana as he gears up to face Hellywood in the penultimate episode. Doesn't make a lick of difference against their superior firepower.
* BigGuyFatalitySyndrome: He's killed trying to confront Abelia, signifying how his resistance didn't stand a chance against Hellywood.
* DefiantToTheEnd: Even after his efforts prove in vain, Elamba goes down in a hail of bullets as he takes aim at Hellywood one last time.
* EvilCounterpart: For Shu. While both are brash, hot-tempered young fighters determined to stop Hellywood's reign of terror, Shu prioritizes his friends' safety and is more focused on protecting them. Elamba on the other hand is wholly obsessed with revenge, to the point that he's willing to brutalize and kill his fellow villagers to achieve it. This is also reflected in their weapons, with Shu hating guns and wielding his trusty stick, and Elamba always having on hand a semi-automatic rifle.
* EvilSoundsDeep: In the English dub his voice is much deeper to emphasize the ruthless warrior he is and seems to lower as his cruelty becomes more apparent. Comes naturally when you have the same voice as [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003 the Shredder]].
* TheExtremistWasRight: Elamba is a suicidally overconfident asshole but he's absolutely ''right'' that Zari-Bars will never be truly safe as long as Hamdo is alive.
* FreudianExcuse: His entire family was killed by Hellywood soldiers.
* HeartbrokenBadass: He's a ruthless resistance fighter who carries the scars of losing his entire family. You can hear his voice ''break'' as he tells Shu just why he keeps fighting.
* HeWhoFightsMonsters: Big time. His crusade to kill the brutal King Hamdo leads him to commit some pretty heinous acts himself, namely shooting [[spoiler:Sis]] and letting [[spoiler:her]] slowly bleed to death. When the village doctor flat out tells him that he's become no better than Hamdo, Elamba shoots him dead.
* {{Hypocrite}}: He makes a big deal about how fighting Hellywood is necessary to keep the people of Zari-Bars safe. Except he doesn't really seem to give a shit if he endangers them, [[ItsAllAboutMe as long as he gets to take revenge on Hamdo.]]
* JerkassHasAPoint: When Shu asks him why he can't just live peacefully, Elamba angrily tells him it's impossible for him to find peace as long as Hamdo still wages war.
* LaResistance: Subverted. He poses as this but is merely out for revenge over anything else.
* PyrrhicVictory: Elamba planned to use Lala-Ru as a means to kill Hamdo and topple Hellywood. In a roundabout way, he got just what he wanted, albeit after throwing away the lives of many of his own people, including himself in the process.
* RebelLeader: Elamba is the leader of the rebel force out to topple King Hamdo. This being the kind of show it is, he's still no friend to the heroes.
* TheBigGuy: He's a burly,aggressive man in charge of the ongoing battle against Hellywood. Then he shoots Sis and devolves into TheBrute.
* TokenEvilTeammate: Out of all the characters opposing Hellywood he is by far the most bloodthirsty and vicious. But he plunges headfirst into this when he shoots Sis to use her as bait and kills the doctor for telling him off.

[[folder:Soon]]
!!Soon
[[quoteright:225:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/0875d012_50ce_42d3_9968_ee4f78f99eaa.jpeg]]
-->'''Voiced by''': Creator/AyakaSaitou (Japanese), Creator/KerryWilliams (English)
A young girl living in Zari-Bars.

* DeathOfAChild: After she shoots and kills Boo, Nabuca reflexively shoots and kills her in response.

-->'''Voiced by''': Akio Suyama (Japanese), Creator/CrispinFreeman (English)

* BadassNormal: He's a regular kid from present day Japan who once whisked off to the dying Earth, finds himself going toe to toe with trained soldiers(a few of whom drive Mechas), ruthless freedom fighters, and mutant wildlife, while doing his damndest to protect what is essentially a water goddess. He doesn't win every fight, but he definitely holds his own and survives certain death multiple times over.

* HiddenDepths: Shu has splendid reading lips skills, being able to decipher Lalaru's name, and realizing easily her needing help by doing this.
** Speaking of which, Shu is one of the very very few Japanese people in anime capable of pronouncing "L" without difficulty. He is the only character that calls "Lalaru" how it sounds and not "Rararu". It's even more impressive having in mind he is a kid and that in 1999 (the release date of the anime) globalization through the internet was in its infancy.

* ChildByRape: Her rape leads to [[spoiler:pregnancy.]]

* InkSuitActor: A coincidental(?) instance. He bares an eerie resemblance to his [[Creator/CrispinFreeman english voice actor.]]

* AndThereWasMuchRejoicing:When Hamdo finally dies just about everyone, including his surviving subordinates, are happy to start life a new without him.
* AssholeVictim: Absolutely noone in this show deserved to die more than him.

* {{Jerkass}}: Understatement of the ''century''. Hamdo is verbally and physically abusive towards everyone around him, being a petty, self-important shitbag who's prone to gloating and mocking like a schoolyard bully. The man is a genocidal dictator who uses ChildSoldiers and {{SexSlave}}s, did you really expect him to be a ''pleasant person?''

* VillainHasAPoint: His use of the photon missile (which [[WaveMotionGun shoots a ray]]), [[UnfriendlyFire while costing his own troop dearly]], is super effective. It eliminates the enemy's giant vessel, which proves to be capable of long-range attack and impervious to common firepower, from a safe distance in a single swoop, in contrast to the infantry and MiniMecha who get pinned down almost immediately. As he said, more soldiers die charging would simply not solve the problem. It is the decision to send out foot soldiers to intercept in the first place that is questionable.

* {{Jerkass}}: Understatement of the ''century''. Hamdo is verbally and physically abusive towards everyone around him, being a petty, self-important shitbag whose prone to gloating and mocking like a schoolyard bully. The man is a genocidal dictator who uses ChildSoldiers and {{SexSlave}}s, did you really expect him to be a ''pleasant person?''

%% Zero Context Example entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Please add context to the entries before uncommenting them.

* BadassBaritone / EvilSoundsDeep: In the english dub his voice is much deeper to emphasize the ruthless warrior he is and seems to lower as his cruelty becomes more apparent. Comes naturally when you have the same voice as [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003 the Shredder.]]

* TheExtremistWasRight: Elamba is a suicidally overconfident asshole but he's absolutely ''right'' that Zari-Bars will never be truly safe as long as Hamdo is alive.

* HeWhoFightsMonsters: Big time. His crusade to kill the brutal King Hamdo leads him to commit some pretty heinous acts himself, namely shooting [[spoiler: Sis]] and letting [[spoiler:her]] slowly bleed to death. When the village doctor flat out tells him that he's become no better than Hamdo, Elamba shoots him dead.

* KickTheDog: Personally orders to find and execute the soldier who ran away during the [[spoiler:Hellywood launch]].

** JerkassHasAPoint: Upon discussing his ambitions with Nabuca, he reveals that he can dream all he wants about going back to his village, [[YouCantGoHomeAgain it's already too late]]. The village has most definitely [[DoomedHometown been nuked to the ground]], like Hamdo intended to do to Zari Bars.

* DarkAndTroubledPast: He was kidnapped as a child and forced to serve as a Hellywood soldier, with the promise that he would be able to return to his home village after the war's end. [[spoiler:It's a lie; his village was already destroyed and everyone he knew was killed long ago.]]