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The Kushinada Maidens
Momiji Fujimiya
Voiced by: Megumi Hayashibara (Japanese), Amanda Winn-Lee (English, TV series), Monica Rial (English, OVA series), María Fernanda Morales (Latin American Spanish)
- A-Cup Angst: Momiji is teased about it constantly in the series until she grows a pair in the OAV, though there is this exchange from episode 2 while she and Kusanagi are trying to escape from Orochi:Kusanagi: Hold on tight, Momiji!
Momiji: Okay! (She squeezes Kusanagi)
Kusanagi: Wooah, didn't notice those before.
Momiji: Didn't notice what before?
Kusanagi: There's a nice body under that sailor suit. B-Cup, am I right? Let's go!
Momiji: PERVERRRRT!!! - Always Identical Twins: Averted, Momiji and Kaede bear little physical resemblance.
- Apocalypse Maiden: If she dies, she'll emit an energy wave that will seal away the all the Aragami in Japan for centuries. Thanks to the experiments performed on her sister, Kaede, however, the Aragami have found a way around this. Besides this, no one in the modern age is particularly jazzed about killing a sixteen-year-old girl.
- Barrier Maiden: In theory her blood could be used to create a ward against the Aragami, as her mother does so.
- Body Guard Crush: With Kusanagi.
- Hidden Depths: In one alternate universe the Idol Singer contest she was entered into without her knowledge wasn't interrupted by an Aragami attack, and she went on to be a smash hit in the industry thanks to her singing and acting skills (just like her voice actor).
- Human Sacrifice: Used both for drama and humor. One of Momiji's nicknames is actually titled 'The Sacrifice'.
- Ms. Fanservice: She has many and many Panty Shot scenes during the series.
- Plucky Girl: One of Momiji's best qualities is her determination and stubbornness.
- Polar Opposite Twins: Momiji's Genki Girl personality in comparison to Kaede's The Ojou.
- Psychic Powers: In the past the Kushinadas were powerful psychics, however over time their powers degraded into the Apocalypse Maiden powers outlined above. Though who knows what the power of science can accomplish?
- Reckless Gun Usage: Koume lectures Momiji about this more than once
- Separated at Birth: From her twin sister Kaede.
- Tagalong Kid: Averted, she specifically states early on in the series that she does not want to be this
Kaede Kunikida
Voiced by: Mitsuki Yayoi (Japanese), Amanda Winn-Lee (English), Elsa Covián (Latin American Spanish)
- Always Identical Twins: averted, Momiji and Kaede bear little physical resemblence.
- Apocalypse Maiden: Like her sister.
- Barrier Maiden: Thanks to her more developed powers she can do this.
- Batman Gambit: Lord Susano-Oh and herself using Murakumo's hatred of humans to their advantage, before getting rid of him.
- Body Guard Crush: On Kusanagi.
- Broken Bird: Very, VERY bitter and depressed since Kunikida and the other members of the T.A.C tended to see her only as Kushinada and not as the human girl she yearned to be.
- Dub Pronunciation Change: Her name is supposed to be pronounced "Kah-eh-deh", but with this being a 90's anime dub and ADV's own spotty track record with name pronunciation in their dubs, her name is pronounced "Katie" in the dub. note
- Lady and Knight: With Kusanagi at first.
- The Lost Lenore: Believed to be dead, and her loss strongly impacts everyone who knew her.
- My Death Is Just the Beginning: How the series begins.
- The Ojou: Kaede was adoringly known for her calm, graceful demeanor. This is in stark contrast to her sister, Momiji.
- Polar Opposite Twins: Momiji's Genki Girl personality in comparison to Kaede's The Ojou.
- Redemption Equals Death: or in this case, going dormant with a god
- Separated at Birth: From Momiji
- Team Pet: Before the start of the series
- Troubled Backstory Flashback: We get to see an experiment performed on her at one point, and it's not exactly comfortable.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Wants to restore the balance of nature that mankind has destroyed. Too bad it involves killing a lot of people and turning a lot of others into plants.
The T.A.C.
Daitetsu Kunikida
- Age-Gap Romance: After some dithering, he hooks up with the fifteen-years younger Takeuchi.
- Father to His Men: And specially to his adopted daughters he's sworn to protect.
- May–December Romance: Develops one with Ryouko by the end of the series.
- Oblivious to Love: He seems not to notice Takeuchi's feelings for him, but he actually thinks she'd be better off with someone younger.
- Patriotic Fervor: He really loves Japan. One of the Omakes has him going on and on about it.
- Praetorian Guard: Secondary sources indicate that he used to be a ranking member of the IGH, who provide personal security for the Royal Family of Japan. He's still got high-level connections, too.
Azusa Matsudaira
Voiced by: Yoshiko Sakakibara (Japanese), Sharon Shawnessey (English), Rocío Garcel (Latin American Spanish)
- For Science!: While she cares for Momiji, she overall has this attitude in regards to studying her and the Aragami.
- Married to the Job: Causes her divorce and is presumably also the reason why she does not have custody of her child
- Science Hero: She is the team's badass biochemist
- Self-Deprecation: She calls herself a bad wife and a worse mother, but both her ex and her son seem to love her.
- The Smart Guy: Trades off with Yaegashi in this role depending on the episode.
- Workaholic: Will sometimes work herself to physical exhaustion
Ryouko Takeuchi
Voiced by: Ai Orikasa (Japanese), Marcy Rae (English), Circe Luna (Latin American Spanish)
- The Ace: Is known to be a great sharpshooter
- The Gunslinger: Carries large caliber guns (usually 10mm) even during her off hours, and has much better aim than the TAC's weapons specialist
- Ignored Enamored Underling: She's in love with Kunikida, and he seems unaware at first, but when it comes up, he gently tries to encourage her to find a younger guy for her own sake. They're married by the epilogue.
- Improbable Aiming Skills: Her aiming skills are so good she manages to embarrass Koume in one of the omakes when they practice at a shooting range
- The Lancer: She's Kunikida's second-in-command.
- Likes Older Men: Kunikida's forty to her twenty-five.
Koume Sakaguchi
Voiced by: Kotono Mitsuishi (Japanese), Tiffany Grant (English), Mónica Villaseñor (Latin American Spanish)
- Action Girl: The TAC relies on her to embody this trope when they're out in the field. She does not disappoint.
- The Big Guy: The female version of this, she is the TAC's muscle.
- Bulletproof Vest: Has been known to sport one of these on occasion
- Cool Big Sis: Momiji tends to see Koume as this
- Girls with Guns: She is the weapons specialist of the TAC.
- Hard-Drinking Party Girl: Koume knows how to throw down when she's off the clock.
- More Dakka: Her personal motto is, "If you have bullets, keep shooting!"
- Nerds Are Sexy: Despite what she says to the rest of her co-workers.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: When she tearfully admits to Yaegashi that she's utterly terrified of losing to the Big Bad at the end of the series, you know things are looking very bad for the protagonists
- Pet the Dog: Koume has a soft spot for puppies.
- Real Women Don't Wear Dresses: In the main series, she's the only female in the TAC not to wear a skirt. This changes in the OAV sequel.
- Small Girl, Big Gun: Quite literally. She loves to haul around bazookas, rocket launchers, and semi-automatic weapons
- Trigger-Happy: Her aim is about 50/50, so she will usually make up for it by shelling the entire vicinity.
- Weakness Turns Her On:
- The first boy she had a crush on was slim, and while he first she scoffed at how weak he looked, she slowly found herself falling for him...but by the time she had the courage to confess, he was taken.
- In Yaegashi's case it helped that she had several occasions to see his inner strength and courage.
Yoshiki Yaegashi
Voiced by: Yuji Ueda (Japanese), Kurt Stoll (English), Benjamín Rivera (Latin American Spanish)
- Because You Were Nice to Me: He developed a short-lived crush on Momiji as a result of her efforts to boost his confidence.
- Chivalrous Pervert: He created his own computer game where he tries to guess what panties Momiji is wearing everyday. However, he really cares for Momiji.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Gives up on Momiji once he sees how much she loves Kusanagi. But he gets Koume in the end, however.
- Nerds Are Virgins: Until the OAV that is
- Rapid-Fire Typing: He's the computer scientist of the group.
- Salaryman: Feels like this is his fate at the start of the series when he is transferred against his will to the TAC.
- Science Hero: He is the team's computer scientist.
- The Smart Guy: Trades off with Matsudaira in this role depending on the episode.
- They Call Me MISTER Tibbs!: Gets really irritated in the beginning of the series when his new colleagues don't add the honorific "Mr." to the end of his name and tries on more than one occasion to correct them.
- Took a Level in Badass: Goes from a cowardly techno-geek to a hardened member of the team, ready to take on Susano-Oh himself.
Sakura Yamazaki
Voiced by: Sakiko Tamagawa (Japanese), Allison Keith (English), Isabel Martiñón (Latin American Spanish)
- But Not Too Foreign: Born in Japan to Japanese parents but brought to America as a child by the CIA after her mother dies fighting an aragami
- Gratuitous English: Since she was raised in America, but her Japanese VA is clearly struggling with it.
- Idol Singer: She wants to be one of these, and she has the chops for it, but avenging her mother comes first.
- Malaproper: In the original Japanese, since she left the country as a child, her Japanese isn't all that great, for example, she calls Momiji "orifice girl" when she means "sacrifice girl". Unfortunately, this is Lost in Translation.
- Naked First Impression: How she introduces herself the first time she meets Kunikida.
- Self-Made Orphan: Ultimately she has to destroy the Aragami her mother fused with, as the elder Yamazaki is rapidly losing control of its instincts.
- Summon Magic: She can summon Shikigami.
Susano-oh and his entourage
Lord Susano-oh
- Anti-Villain: He was basically created by powerful psychics of the Kushinada line to give humanity a focal point to worship so that the Kushinada clan could use the power of their faith to feed their natural psychic abilities and aid them by growing food (apparently turning people into edible plants if necessary). Kaede wants to use his power to wipe out humanity, but it's show that he can give life as well as take it.
- Physical God: When reborn as a human baby.
Murakumo Yagami
Voiced by: Joji Nakata (Japanese), Aaron Krohn (English), Salvador Delgado (Latin American Spanish)
- Big Bad: Plans to use the Aragami against humanity.
- The Big Guy: With eight mitama, he's as powerful as an Aragami can get. His fights with Kusanagi are depressingly one-sided as a result.
- Kaiju: In his monstrous form he's roughly the size of a group of skyscrapers.
- Plant Person: Aragami are plant-based creatures that take over organic bodies.
- Wrong Genre Savvy: He thinks he's there to help the Aragami's god, Susano-O destroy/subjugate humankind and lead the Aragami into dominance over the earth. He's right about the first part, but he's in the dark about Kaede's real plans, and even the nature of the Aragami and Susano-O.
The Aragami
- Attack Its Weak Point: No matter what monstrous form they've altered their host body into, their true self is the mitama, which is relatively easily destroyed.
- Big Creepy-Crawlies: When they take over arthropods, this is the result.
- Man-Eating Plant: The Aragami can eat humans.
- The Mind Is A Play Thing Of The Body: Weaker Aragami are influenced by the instincts of the body they inhabit.
Others
Mamoru Kusanagi
Voiced by: Kazuhiko Inoue (Japanese), Jason Lee (English, TV series), Matt Kelly (English, OVA series), Ricardo Mendoza (Latin American Spanish)
- Anti-Hero: Starts out willing to kill Momiji at first, and continues working independently in his search for Kaede.
- Dark and Troubled Past: His parents were murdered and he was empowered and compelled by their killer, Orochi, to become the bodyguard for newborn Kaede Kunikida. This was at the grand old age of three.
- Half-Human Hybrid: Not born as one, but made so when he was a toddler.
- Hero of Another Story: He spent his life devoted to protecting Kaede from people who wanted to kidnap/sacrifice her to stop the Aragami early. There must have been countless incidents and adventures where he intervened, not to mention his own interactions with her from a distance.
- I'll Kill You!: Repeatedly says this to Momiji at first, since he feels killing her would release him from the obligation implanted in him by Orochi to protect her. He decides he'd rather kill Orochi in the end.
- In a Single Bound: Upgraded to Flight after he gets the eighth mitama.
- Lady and Knight: Kaede and Kusanagi's relationship, before she ran away. It continued somewhat with Momiji.
- Lightning Bruiser: Having received 7/8ths of one of the most powerful Aragmi's strength, he's decidedly superhuman.
- The Lost Lenore: The loss of Kaede Kunikida—the lady his life literally revolved around—left him very troubled and upset, unable to fully forgive the TAC for dropping the ball with her and unable to move on from his grief, until Momiji came into his life.
- Mindlink Mates: With Momiji, who has Orochi's eighth mitama in her chest.
- More than Mind Control: From the time he was a toddler, he was ordered to secretly protect Kaede Kunikida. While at least partially a compulsion on Orochi's part, Kusanagi grew to love Kaede as he watched over her.
- Physical God: He starts out powerful, but after Obtaining the eighth mitama, he's slugging Kaiju into skyscrapers.
- Plant Person: Implanted with the seven mitama/seeds of the Aragami Orochi, he's part plant.
- Tall, Dark, and Handsome: He's taller than Momiji, has a pretty grim backstory, and isn't half bad looking at least according to Sakura and Momiji.
- Walking Shirtless Scene: After he sprouts armor plates, shirts become a bit problematic.
- Wolverine Claws: He can pop large scythe-like plant-blades from his wrists.
Momiji's grandmother
Voiced by: Terue Nunami (Japanese), Sharon Shawnessey (English), Rocío Garcel (Latin American Spanish)
- Cool Old Lady: In one omake, this grandmother is shown to go to a nightclub and tear up the dance floor, catching the eye of a young guy.
Shunichi Sugishita
Voiced by: Keiichi Nanba (Japanese), Matt Greenfield (English), Eduardo Garza (Latin American Spanish)
- New Old Flame: Used to constantly flirt and ask out Ryoko when they worked together on the police force
