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General
A prestigious clan that is known to have produced many superior Blazers since the Meiji era, and one of the most distinguished families in Japan.
- Ambiguously Evil: The Kurogane Clan possesses enough influence in the Mage-Knight world where they can partake in the affairs of the Japanese government, and have been doing rather shady affairs to further increase their political power. But how evil they are in their pursuit for political power, besides their abuse of Ikki, is up for air.
- Badass Family: Every member of the Kurogane Clan has been known to be strong Blazers.
- Meaningful Name: Kurogane means "Black Iron", and it shows in their devotion to upholding the status quo.
- Metaphorically True: Their slander of Ikki for being a "disobedient delinquent" in Volume 3 isn't false from "a certain point of view", as Itsuki explicitly did order his 5-year-old second son to not do anything that'll shame the family name, as well as to try to change his position in life by going against the Ranking System.
- Order Versus Chaos: They represent Ordernote to Ikki's Chaosnote .
- Out of Focus: The conflict between them and Ikki was a major focal point in the first three volumes until the story starts to shift into the ongoing political war between the three major Superpowers.
- Proud Warrior Race Guy: Given that many generations of the clan are expected to be strong Blazers.
- Slave to PR: Being one of the most distinguished families of Blazers in Japan, the Kurogane Clan takes great measures into making sure that their image of being able to produce excellent blazers for centuries is upheld, leading to the cold treatment of Ikki and many other unnamed members who lack the magic potential.
- Status Quo Is God: They whole heartily support the Ranking System to Knight Templar levels and will remove anyone trying to change it.
- The Social Darwinist: Their general philosophy is to put great emphasis on power (physical and magical), and anyone who's not born "talented" is regarded as a burden, being ignored by the clan at best and implied to be killed off at the very worst.
Ryoma Kurogane
Voiced by: Kinryu Arimoto (Japanese), Josh Morrison (English)
A legendary Blazer and a WWII veteran hero, Ryoma Kurogane were renowned throughout the world as "Samurai Ryoma".
- Cool Old Guy: He's quite old and very kind to those he meets, with his Establishing Character Moment showing him saving Ikki from despair.
- The Exile: He was half-exiled by his own son for not sharing the Kurogane Clan's hardline traditions.
- Generation Xerox: Like his great-granddaughter, Ryoma also doesn't adhere to the Kurogane Clan's traditions and is quite benevolent to Ikki. The fact that the two both can manipulate water helps as well.
- Good Parents:
- Well great-grandparent, but it still fits. As he was benevolent towards Ikki when the rest of the clan (except Shizuku) ostracized the latter for his weak magic power and supported the boy in his Darkest Hour.
- Deconstructed with his own son, Genma. Despite the high likeliness of him being a swell dad, it didn't stop Genma from growing up to be an Antagonistic Offspring. Then later, a controlling Abusive Dad towards his own son, Itsuki.
- An Ice Person: As a result of his Blazer ability allowing him to manipulate water, it also include the ability to manipulate ice as well.
- Making a Splash: Volume 17 reveals that Ryoma's Blazer ability to manipulate water. Couple with his being a Desperado, he would be hailed as the "Strongest Water User" in Japan.
- The Mentor: He was one to Eldeweiss.
- Old Soldier: He was a legendary Blazer in WWII, and is presumably still so in his old age.
- Posthumous Character: He's long dead by the start of the first volume.
- Screw Destiny: He inspired and encourage this mentality in Ikki, and to Eldeweiss in the past. Volume 17 reveals that he's a Desperado as well.
- White Sheep: Aside from Shizuku, he's also another named Kurogane who was benevolent to Ikki despite the latter's low magic capacity. It also goes further in Volume 18, with the reveal that he didn't share the same strict and twisted ideals and tried to reform the clan's customs, only to get half-exiled by the elders and his own son.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: He encourages Ikki to continue pursuing his dream as a Blazer regardless of their clan's views strength.
Itsuki Kurogane
Voiced by: Show Hayami (Japanese), David Matranga (English)
The head of the Kurogane Clan and the branch chief of the International Federation of Mage Knight-Japan Branch.
- Abusive Dad:
- He has no problems letting his son Ikki be effectively treated as non-existent since the age of five, or be on the receiving end of a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown where if he retaliates, he faces expulsion from school. During the series proper, Ikki the victim of Cold-Blooded Torture — is poisoned, drugged, and suffering from sleep deprivation to the point that he's deathly ill before being thrown into a duel, and being nearly murdered by the family's primary retainer. Itsuki does all this to preserve the ranking system of the Magic Knights of Japan, all the while claiming that he bears no hatred towards his son. It's eventually revealed this is because Itsuki's own father was unloving and cruel towards him as a child, which ends up greatly warping his morality into the strict person he is today.
- He can arguably be this towards his two favorite children, Ouma and Shizuku, as well. While he's far more lenient with them, mainly due to their having more magic capacity and to make up for the cold treatment he received from his own father in his own twisted way, it ends up backfiring with Ouma being disobedient and leaving the family while Shizuku hates his guts due to his abuse of Ikki. Furthermore, his poor treatment of Ikki for having F-Rank Magic capacity can also be abusive to Ouma and Shizuku by extension, in an unspoken "this is what would happen to you if you weren't born with stronger magic" kind of way.
- Blood Magic: Volume 18 reveals that his Blazer ability is to manipulate blood, but so far, has shown to only use it on himself to create buildings by mixing it with inorganic material.
- Blue-and-Orange Morality: He has a chilling outlook of the world where everyone is born as a "cog" who must follow whatever fate they have in store for them or else they'll suffer consequences, including his own family. Yet, he does seem capable of genuine love for his children, but in a rather twisted way due to his own childhood. He also seems to genuinely believe that people should be given a choice to follow their fate despite his willingness to stack the cards against them.
- The Chain of Harm: His father and the other elders of the family abused him, and he in turn passed on this abuse to Ikki, and arguably Ouma and Shizuku, as he knew nothing else.
- The Comically Serious: He's a textbook example of a cold No-Nonsense Nemesis, but he still has some funny moments while being dead serious. When Ikki rehearses how he'll ask Sirius to let him marry Stella, Itsuki mistakenly thought he was trying to propose to Shizuku. When Stella starts doing the same to Itsuki, the latter brings up Ikki's similar embarrassing moment.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Strongly implied to have this considering how Ikki describes his grandfather, Genma Kurogane, to be a very staunch traditionalist of the Kurogane Clan's philosophy of strength.
- Despotism Justifies the Means: A bizarre combination of this trope and Utopia Justifies the Means. He persecutes Ikki both because he wants to maintain his family's political power and because he believes everyone is a "cog" in the machine and must follow their role, or else. Not to mention that he secretly sent Ouma to help Akatsuki with their plan to separate Japan from the League of Mage-Knight Nations, which will result in Itsuki's faction reclaiming their influence.
- Didn't Think This Through: It says a lot that he told his five-year-old son that "he simply couldn't do anything and shouldn't try" and then cutting off all verbal contact afterward had only led to Ikki believing that his father disowns him and spend 11 miserable years seeking strength in order to make him proud.
- Did You Actually Believe...?:Ikki: If I could win the Seven Stars Sword Art Festival... Then will you acknowledge me?Itsuki: (beat) Is that how it is? I've never been able to figure out why you drifted away from me. But now I finally understand. You thought I didn't acknowledge you because you were weak, am I right?Ikki: ...yeah.Itsuki: Then you made a great mistake. I certainly acknowledge you as my son.
- Double Meaning: The last words he spoke to a five-year-old Ikki, "You can't do anything, so don't try", has two meanings. First, Ikki believes that his father renounced him as his son whereas Itsuki clarifies that he meant that his son cannot become a Blazer or else it would cause the entire system to collapse into chaos and that all he wanted his son to do, is to do nothing. Lastly, on a more heartful note, it can be an incomplete sentence of Itsuki wishing his son to shine brighter than others, regardless of his limits.
- Doting Parent: To both Ouma and Shizuku, as he doesn't seem to mind his oldest son cutting ties with the Clan and never punishing Shizuku for any mistake she could've made or even for her current animosity towards him.
- Double Think: Despite thinking that Ikki won't amount to much due to his rank, he still feels the need to sabotage Ikki's progress to protect the ranking system rather than trust the ranking system to stop Ikki's ascent fairly. Given what's later on revealed about him, this implies that Itsuki's belief in the harmony granted by the ranking system is not absolute.
- Easily Forgiven: Downplayed. Ikki actually considered cutting ties with him before Itsuki invoked I Have No Son! as a compromise. After talking with Sara, Ikki decides to remain Itsuki's son regardless of constant obstruction to his goals from the Kurogane clan.
- Exact Words: As revealed in Volume 3, Itsuki explicitly points out to Ikki that he never said anything of disowning him during their last conversation 11 years ago. He always did acknowledge him as his son, he just never had any expectations for him and that the latter shouldn't try to change his position in life due to his weak magic capacity as it would destroy the harmony granted by the ranking system.
- Everyone Has Standards:
- Itsuki really doesn't like the way he treats his middle son, but continues to obstruct Ikki's advances as a Blazer to keep the order of the ranking system intact (which is also hinted to be not absolute).
- On a humorous note, he clearly doesn't approve of incest when he thought Ikki was asking for his sister's hand in marriage.
- He may be willing to use peer pressure, harassment, and even torture to "encourage" Blazers into accepting their role (horrible as it is), apparently, directly forcing them and/or robbing them of their autonomy (i.e. mind control, etc.) is a line he won't cross. Given how he was indoctrinated to uphold the Kurogane traditions before he could even think for himself and what he's capable of in Volume 18, it's possibly true.
- On that note, despite his sabotage of Ikki's Blazer career, not once did he ever voice his disapproval of his son's growing relationship with Stella despite the immense gap in their magic capacity (though he and the clan did pressure the news to run a smear campaign about their relationship). Considering his implied Awful Wedded Life and Arranged Marriage with his own wife, it's possible that even Itsuki wouldn't go so far as to destroy something truly genuine.
- Evil Sounds Deep: Although "evil" is rather debatable, he's voiced by Show Hayami in the anime.
- Freudian Excuse: His own father and the elders indoctrinated him into fully adopting the clan's hardline stance. Thus, he knows no other way of life than continuing his family's traditions.
- Foil: To Stella's father, Sirius Vermillion. Sirius is emotional to a fault and only initially discourages Stella from becoming a Blazer out of concern for her safety. In contrast, Itsuki is coldly rational and wants to end his son's career as a Blazer to protect the clan's reputation and the ranking system, regardless if it means letting the Ethics Committee break Ikki.
- Hates Their Parent: Implied. Given Ikki's description of what kind of man Genma was and the fact that Itsuki has never mentioned his own father beyond certain circumstances.
- Hero Antagonist: "Hero" is really stretching it, but if he wasn't so hell-bent on upholding his family's twisted ideals, then Itsuki would be a straight example. Regardless of his constant obstructions to his son Ikki, Itsuki's goal of keeping the status quo is rooted in creating peace and harmony for the people of Japan.
- I Am What I Am: As he tells Ikki in Volume 7, his whole life has been dictated since birth to fulfill his duties to the Kurogane Clan's traditions and thus, he literally knows no other way of life aside from that. Because of that, he can never recognize Ikki for his accomplishments and that viewpoint won't ever change. All before asking him if he really wants a father like that?
- I Have No Son!: Subverted as Ikki believes this was the case throughout most of his life; it's only until their conversation in Volume 3 that Itsuki reveals he never hated him, he just didn't hold any great expectations for Ikki. It's later played straight as he realizes that there's no way to hide Ikki's existence now that the latter is in the festival, so the best compromise he could come up with is disowning his own son in exchange for the clan no longer antagonizing him. Unlike most examples, he asks Ikki for his decision on this matter.
- Individuality Is Illegal: While he admits that Ikki's accomplishments in the selection battles are impressive, he still wants to sink his son's Blazer career because underdog successes go against the social order.
- Irony: He seems to be against directly raising his hand against his children, even Ikki, as a result of his own abusive past, but he has no problems with using indirect methods by hiring proxies to do the job for him. Whether or not this makes him cowardly or him trying to be somewhat better than his own father is up to the reader.
- Knight Templar: He firmly believes in the Ranking system bringing the stability of Japan obstructs Ikki from continuing his career or he will cause lower-ranked Blazers to become conceited and ruin it. Though it's downplayed given what is later found out about him.
- Lack of Empathy: He honestly doesn't seem to understand why Ikki and other people consider him a cruel father. After meeting his father in the Ethic Committee's prison, Ikki notes that Itsuki is more apathetic than hateful. Downplayed in Volume 7, where Itsuki is revealed to secretly regret some of his actions and would rather support his son if he wasn't tied down to the Kurogane Clan's doctrine.
- The Man Behind the Man: Kirihara would have never assaulted Ikki, the teachers would have never made Ikki repeat another year and the smear campaign against Ikki would never have happened if Itsuki hadn't let them.
- Manchild: A subtle example. Given what is later found out about him, it's heavily implied that, despite his professionalism, he never really outgrew or got over the trauma inflicted onto him by his father and the clan elders. Also, whenever he seems to interact with Ikki, the latter notices that his father tends to be clumsy with his words.
- Meaningful Name: His given name means "rock, crag, or boulder", which correlates to his strict upbringing to fully embrace his family's twisted ideals.
- The Needs of the Many: As a staunch supporter of the ranking system, he'll always serve the collective rather than the individuals.
- Nothing Personal: He has no hatred for Ikki nor does he doubt his fidelity to the Kurogane Clan, but unfortunately has to reject and obstruct him from being a Blazer due to his own duties and upbringing.
- Parental Favoritism: Played for Drama. In contrast to his poor treatment of Ikki, he practically dotes on his youngest daughter and never punishes her for anything, and he still reaches out to his firstborn son despite the latter's disobedience and the fact that he had cut ties with the clan. However, when combined with his overall worldview, this favoritism is rather twisted and doesn't come without strings.
- Parental Neglect: To the point where it's borderline Parental Abandonment with Ikki. Itsuki will do everything he can to ignore his son and make sure that no one outside the family ever makes the connection between them. When that doesn't work, he will actively keep him down and "libel" him in the news. All of this... just to preserve a broken system that even he seems to not have much faith in other than being indoctrinated to support it and knowing nothing else to do with his life.
- Parents as People: While it doesn't fully absolve Itsuki of his emotional abuse and the heinous actions he took to suppressed him beforehand given that he's a grown man, Ikki realizes by Volume 7 that his father is nonetheless a person who's been indoctrinated with the twisted ideals of the Kurogane Clan without being able to make his own choices in life.
- Pet the Dog: Even though he plans to sink his son from being a Blazer, Itsuki at least gave his son a "choice" to quit to prevent any further harassment.
- Shadow Archetype: He's a good look at what Ikki could become if he never had met and been inspired by Ryoma, and unlike Itsuki, Ikki's low position would've led to him killing himself long ago or be forever stashed away in the household to avoid embarrassing the family.
- So Proud of You: It's subtle, but if his comment on how a "big person" Ikki had become is the closet thing that Itsuki had ever genuinely shown as a father who's proud of his son.
- Red Baron: He's known as "Iron Blood", which is fitting considering his strict personality and Blazer ability.
- The Social Darwinist: His Knight Templar justifications seem like this on the surface, but this is subverted because his ideology only accounts for the ranking system rather than overall strength, unlike Kurono Shinguji's current system, thus causing him to oppose Ikki despite his strength.
- The Social Expert: Deconstructed. He's capable of playing the political game and can interact with others in a logical, professional manner, but his harsh upbringing has stunted his ability to properly interact with others as individuals, leading to him being seen as a very cold and heartless person.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: Implied. Just as the indoctrination from his own father was what led Itsuki into being the man he is today, likely, he was also motivated into making Genma proud at the expense of his own individuality. Safe to say, it only hurt him more in the long run given Genma's cold behavior and extreme beliefs.
- Would Hurt a Child: Not directly, but if push comes to shove, he will resort to this to preserve the harmony that the ranking system upholds.
The Matriarch of the Kurogane Clan
The wife of Itsuki Kurogane and the mother of Ouma, Ikki, and Shizuku Kurogane.
- Abusive Mom: Much like her husband, she treated Ikki as non-existent after he became 5 years old. But how bad she is with this remains unclear given the Ambiguous Situation below.
- Ambiguous Situation: Though the aforementioned trope is rather... unclear. While Itsuki used to persecute Ikki, even if he ultimately did end up having a change of heart and even before indicating he may have preferred Ikki to stop being a Blazer partly because he didn't want him to die, Shizuku loathes her father yet she returns home when her mother sends a letter. Considering she hated Itsuki for discriminating against Ikki if their mother indeed treated Ikki like that, Shizuku would likely not care. It was also stated that Itsuki made her write that letter, with Shizuku's clear anger making it clear it wasn't the first time, so it may be possible that she is actually a better parent but just can't resist the will of the Kurogane's much less change their treatment of her son. Ikki himself also seems to primarily focus his feelings about being discriminated against on his father.
- Arranged Marriage: Implied. When some light is shed on Itsuki's Dark and Troubled Past and how Genma is described to be a Control Freak, then her marriage with Itsuki may have been one out of political ties and the misery that comes with it (both of which is very common in Japanese culture).
- Awful Wedded Life: While not much is known about her marriage with Itsuki, it's heavily implied in the anime that it's not good at all.
- The Ghost: She was mentioned by her children but has not made a single appearance in the series.
- Satellite Character: Her only role in the entire series is a passing mention that revolves around the varying characterization of her husband and children.
- Unnamed Parent: Her name is never revealed, aside from possibly taking on the Kurogane surname.
Mamoru Akaza
Voiced by: Tōru Ōkawa (Japanese), James Belcher (English)
The head of the branch family and Ethics Committee chairman.- Ambition Is Evil: Akaza is motivated only by personal political power and prestige.
- Ax-Crazy: He goes insane using his axe after he suffers a Villainous Breakdown.
- Despotism Justifies the Means: All the despicable things he does in the story? Purely so he can become Japan's Prime Minister. He doesn't have a goal or agenda, he just wants the power of the position.
- Dirty Old Man: In the light novel, he makes lecherous comments to both Kurono and Nene in volume 3.
- The Dragon: He serves as Itsuki's second-in-command.
- Fat Bastard: He's overweight and is a malicious person.
- Faux Affably Evil: He tries to come off as a Cool Old Guy, but the Hagun student council can tell that he's faking it.
- Gonk: He's rather fat and ugly.
- Hate Sink: Unlike Itsuki, he has no sympathetic moments whatsoever and he's very directly involved in one of the darkest arcs in the series. He also doesn't get any cool moments like other villains due to focusing on being a sleazy bureaucrat rather than a fighter.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: The smear campaign he leads against Ikki comes back to bite him, and the "ethics" committee when Sirius Vermillion finds out just what they forced him to go through before his duel. The mere mention of the King's "disapproval" forces it all to go public.
- Kangaroo Court: He leads one against Ikki, which also involves slipping him debilitating drugs to make him look worse and to sabotage his tournament matches.
- Knight of Cerebus: In the earliest volumes, he's one of the most horrifying villains not for his combat ability but for his political influence and willingness to abuse it, as shown in the Ethics Committee's witch hunt against Ikki. By organizing a Kangaroo Court and setting up Ikki to be rejected by Itsuki, Akaza comes far closer to breaking the protagonist than Kirihara and the other antagonists.
- Laser-Guided Karma: His attempt to end Ikki's career as a Blazer causes him to lose his own job when he fails.
- An Offer You Can't Refuse: He makes Ikki duel Toka as his next tournament opponent, knowing that if Ikki refuses, Sirius will see him as a coward.
- Red Baron: Is known as "The Red Tanuki."
- Red and Black and Evil All Over: He wears a red and black suit and is a villain.
- Smear Campaign: The media already knew of Ikki and Stella's relationship and wasn't going to go too far with it, but Akaza and the ethics committee pressured them to portray it as a full-blown scandal.
- Villainous Breakdown: Once his plans fail, he becomes Ax-Crazy and unsuccessfully tries to kill Ikki out of desperation.
- The Worf Effect: Gets easily taken out by Stella when he tries to kill Ikki, just to show how outclassed he is in an actual battle due to preferring to manipulate events behind the scenes.
Genma Kurogane
The previous head of the Kurogane Clan, and the son of Ryoma Kurogane and the father of Itsuki Kurogane.
- Abusive Parents: If you thought Itsuki's treatment of Ikki was bad, then Genma was even worse as to how Ikki describes his grandfather's extreme views of the Kurogane Clan's traditions. Due to this kind of upbringing, Itsuki's view of familial love and his sense of right and wrong is greatly warped as shown in his treatment of his own children in the current time.
- Antagonistic Offspring: He half-exiled his own father, Ryoma, for not sharing the family's hardline traditions.
- Genius Bruiser: Not only was he a powerful warrior amongst the Kurogane Clan, but Volume 18 reveals that he's capable of building a special prison cell called "Coctyus" to imprison the founder of a dangerous religious group called Tendoushuu.
- Greater-Scope Villain: In a way, he can be seen as responsible for the hardships and abuse that Ikki suffers from the Kurogane Clan.
- The Ghost: He doesn't make an appearance in the light novels and is likely deceased.
- Hated by All: Besides the previous elders who supported him due to similar beliefs and maybe Ryoma, who he had half-exiled for trying to reform the Kurogane Clan's twisted traditions, nobody in the current generation of the Kurogane Clan seems to have any love for Genma personally due to his extremism and abuse and only obeyed and respected him out of fidelity and fear. Even his son doesn't seem to have any care for him to the point of never mentioning the man at all except out of very, very rare moments, according to Ikki.
- Proud Warrior Race Guy: As the previous Head of the Kurogane Clan, Genma is this and is implied to be quite extreme when enforcing the other members to follow the family tradition, including his own son.
- Walking Spoiler: It's hard to talk more about him besides revealing the fact that he's the one whose indirectly responsible for the Honor-Related Abuse that Ikki had to suffer through at the beginning of the series.
