Characters of El-Hazard: The Magnificent World
If your spirit has wings to travel, even across the breadth of a thousand million nights, imagination will guide the way, and the UNMARKED SPOILERS of El-Hazard will always be open to you...
Heroes
Makoto Mizuhara
The main protagonist for the majority of the El-Hazard installments and starts off as a third-year student at Shinonome High School. In both the OVA series and the televised The Wanderers, he ends up being teleported to the titular realm alongside his history teacher and two of his classmates. He is a kind young man and is remarkably bright in all things mechanical, though a little slow on the prospect of romantic attention. By some odd coincidence in the OVA, he is an opposite-sex doppelganger for Princess Fatora, a missing member of the Roshtarian Royal House, and is rather forcibly made to disguise himself as her to keep order within the kingdom. Along the way, Makoto ends up gaining the affection of various girls such as his childhood friend Nanami and Fire Priestess Shayla-Shayla, but remains mostly oblivious to their attempts. He does eventually get together with either the Demon Goddess Ifurita (OVA) or the princess of Roshtaria Rune Venus (The Wanderers).
The ability Makoto gains upon his arrival in El-Hazard is eventually revealed to be the power to awaken lost technology used by the long-gone former civilization of the world, including the mythical superweapon called "the Eye of God".
- The Ace: He was this back in his own world, excelling in academics, physical education, music, art, and pretty much everything, much to Jinnai's chagrin.
- Best for Last: It takes a while, but Makoto learns he has a power that easily tops the others.
- Character Catchphrase: In the dub, at least, he frequently shouted "I'm gonna die!!" whenever put in a perilous or undesirable situation...such as dressing like a princess.
- Chick Magnet: In the OVA continuity, he's got Nanaminote , Shayla Shaylanote , and Ifuritanote all vying for his affections. The Wanderers and Alternative World adds Princess Rune Venus and Qwaool respectively to his harem of would-be girlfriends. Except Makoto is denser than a neutron star when it comes to romance, so he utterly fails to realize that they wanna be with him. Except for OVA Ifurita.
- Contrived Coincidence: He just happens to look exactly like Princess Fatora. Despite being male.
- Cute Kitten: Why is Makoto's armor also a talking cat? Because he's adorable.
- Disguised in Drag: The palace staff dresses him up as Princess Fatora in order to hide the fact that she is still missing.
- Dude Looks Like a Lady: Makoto is a dead ringer for Princess Fatora, which becomes a crucial plot element for the first half of the series.
- Flanderization: His Oblivious to Love tendencies got dialed up in The Alternative World to the point of ridiculousness. Compare to his initial crush on Nanami in the original OVA before he fully understood Ifurita.
- Hidden Depths: He's a great athlete despite his lack of combat skills compared to Fujisawa-sensei. According to his memories, back on Earth, Makoto was apparently a frontman/singer for a school band.
- Identical Stranger: As mentioned, slap a wig on him and stick him in some royal robes and he's a dead ringer for Princess Fatora (though his skin tone is fairer).
- Mindlink Mates: As soon as he touches Ifurita, he comes into mental contact with her thanks to his power, and gains intimate access to all of her memories and emotions, particularly her despair over being a weapon and desire for a better life. After that, he never has eyes for anyone else.
- New Life in Another World Bonus: He gains the ability to interface with the Lost Technology of El-Hazard. Including Ifurita, whom he psychically reprograms into being independent.
- Nice Guy: Always patient for the most part, despite the majority of the cast's quirks, and will go the distance to do the right thing. He has mostly no enmity with Jinnai (at least, in the original continuity) despite having every reason to and tries to talk down the self-proclaimed rival twice. It helps endear Ura to him to the point that the cat would rather stay his pet than go back to Fatora at the end.
- Oblivious to Love: Makoto's characterization in The Alternative World is that he doesn't notice the three girls fighting for his affections.
- Patient Childhood Love Interest: To Nanami, at first in the OVA continuity. Makoto has had a crush on her since middle school. Ironically, she misses her chance to be with him because she was too shy (and stubborn) to admit she liked him back. So Makoto gives up on pursuing a relationship with Nanami and eventually falls in love with Ifurita instead.
- Technopath: Develops this to a very great extent, being able to activate and control El Hazard's ancient technology, even being able to telepathically connect to sapient examples (like Ifurita). From the look of him at the end of the series the The Eye of God took a few years to for his power to crack (being basically a Mechanical Abomination without an AI) but he pulled it off to the point of fine control.
- Touch Telepathy: Makoto is able to communicate with sapient technology (such as Ifurita). Eventually their link grows until they can mentally speak to each other without touching.
Masamichi Fujisawa
A history teacher at Shinonome High School whose main hobby is mountain climbing. He is a caring teacher, if not a little extreme, but has a minor drinking problem and a nicotine addiction. Thrust into El-Hazard alongside three of his students, with one (Jinnai) becoming an enemy, he works alongside the other two (Makoto and Nanami) to try and adapt to their new environment and perhaps find a way back home, though the last bit only (mostly) applies to The Wanderers continuity.
In both versions, Fujisawa gains superhuman levels of strength, speed, and endurance when he jumped dimensions...but only when he's sober, much to his displeasure. There's also his accidentally getting betrothed to the water priestess Miz Mishtal after thinking the maiden's servant beast Sansuke was a monster assailing her, of which the man-seeking Miz is all too happy to entertain.
- The Alcoholic: And happily so.
- Battle Aura: After his system runs out of nicotine, Fujisawa's strength reaches the point that an aura (which makes audible, lightsaber-esque sounds) forms around him whenever he uses it.
- Cold Turkeys Are Everywhere: El-Hazard's got alcohol, but no tobacco. Fujisawa, an avid consumer of both, does not get over his cigarette addiction quickly, even trying to smoke a local plant that just makes him sick.
- In a Single Bound: His physical enhancement affects his legs as well.
- Lady and Knight: He sees his relationship with Miz this way, seeking to nobly protect and aid her. It's unclear whether or not his feelings run deeper than this, as he was quite startled when she proposed marriage to him. After this, during the final battle, they lock eyes and she offers to give him a kiss, which he turns down with a smirk, saying it's not the time, which may indicate he's not uncomfortable with the idea.
- Le Parkour: Thanks to his super-agility and -reflexes, he can pull off some impossible wall-running moves.
- Lightning Bruiser: When sober, he's strong and fast enough to handily take on multiple squads of Bugrom at once. And he only gets better when he runs out of cigarettes.
- Mr. Vice Guy: A noble, upstanding gentleman with a strong sense of honor and right and wrong...who drinks like a fish and smokes like a chimney.
- New Life In Anotherworld Bonus: Fujisawa gains greatly enhanced physical abilities, contingent on his body being free of liquor (and for full power, of nicotine).
- Oblivious to Love: He doesn't seem to realize that Miz is in love with him until she proposes.
- Super-Speed: When sober.
- Super-Strength: He has a teeny bit of enhanced strength when drunk, enough to knock a chip or two off of a stone wall without hurting himself. When sober, he has bonafide super strength. When sober and free of nicotine? Well...
- Super-Toughness: What part of 'greatly enhanced physical abilities' passed you by?
Nanami Jinnai
Katsuhiko Jinnai's younger sister and Makoto's best friend from childhood, also a Shinonome High student. Unlike the maniacal Katsuhiko, she's comparably more normal and is a sweet person. That said, she's no charity case and is a shrewd businesswoman, charging even those close to her for making them bentō (boxed lunches). She has grown romantic feelings towards Makoto in the present, but he remains mostly oblivious. As for her brother…they don't get along. At all.
The Jinnais get teleported to El-Hazard alongside Makoto and their history teacher, Fujisawa, with Nanami alone forced to etch out a living as a waitress in the titular realm. Upon reuniting with Makoto, she's forced to come to terms with her unrequited feelings upon seeing his developing bonds with another woman (Ifurita in the OVA and Princess Rune in The Wanderers). Her discovery that Katsuhiko has become a villain (well, officially anyway), doesn't really do anything to change or strain their rivalry. Her ability upon her transport differs between mediums. In the OVA, it's being able to see through the illusions cast by the villainous Phantom Tribe, which helps uncover a major plot. The tv series, however, reveals that she can speak the Bugrom language like Katsuhiko, and for a short while, becomes a much better boss than him.
- High-School Hustler: She believes in the power of money, and looks for any opportunity to earn an extra buck. However, she does seem to believe in earning money rather than cheating people.
- Money Fetish: Nanami doesn't want to spend the money she earns from her restaurant in The Alternative World. She just wants to roll around in it!
- New Life in Another World Bonus:
- In OVA continuity, she gains the ability to see through the illusions of the Phantom Tribe, something no one else can do. It's unclear whether or not this applies to other kinds of illusion, but since the Phantom Tribe seem to be the only people who can use illusion magic, it's probably a moot point.
- In Wanderers, she gains the ability to talk to Bugrom, like her brother, due to the absence of the Phantom Tribe.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: In The Wanderers, her ability to communicate with the Bugrom whilst lacking Jinnai's deluded dreams of conquest means she almost successfully brokers a truce between Roshtaria and the Bugrom. Then she sees a "giant cockroach" and, in a fit of stereotypical girlishness, she panics and crushes it without stopping to think that a small bug of unknown species may have a connection to the giant bug-people she's talking to. Sure enough, it turns out to be a Bugrom infant, so she only strengthens the Bugrom's will to fight Roshtaria.
- Supreme Chef: She's at least good enough to start her own business of making and delivering food in the OVA. In the manga, she arrives a bit earlier than the others and is shown running her own restaurant in about two months after arrival.
- Sibling Rivalry: Unlike Katsuhiko, who believes himself naturally superior to everyone, Nanami is a hard worker. They really get on each other's nerves.
- Unlucky Childhood Friend: Makoto and Nanami started out as friends with a mutual crush that they were too shy to acknowledge, but...
- In the OVA, once Makoto came into mental contact with Ifurita and learned all about her tragic past and sorrow, that's all she wrote. Nanami still remains his friend, though.
- In Wanderers Makoto develops a romantic relationship with that universe's version of Rune Venus, and ditto.
The Palace
Alielle Relryle
A servant to the Royal Family of Roshtaria. The diminutive Alielle, while mainly pleasant and knowledgeable, is a raging nymphomaniac who will get fealsy with any pretty lady that she meets, particularly Nanami and Shayla-Shayla. She is Princess Fatora's consort and worships the ground the horny lady walks on in spite of her many many flaws. That doesn't stop Alielle from sneaking the occasional feel, however, which Fatora mostly doesn't seem to mind.
In The Wanderers, Alielle is (presumably) younger than fifteen years old and her nymphomania is almost nonexistent, though it is alluded to every now and then. She is also presented as a mere servant to the royal house as Fatora does not exist there.
- Adaptational Nice Girl: She was never a bad or "evil" character in the OVA to begin with but in The Wanderers and the manga, Alielle is noticeably less perverted and mischievous than her first incarnation. Tellingly, Princess Fatora is Adapted Out in both.
- Hot Consort: She's Fatora's concubine. Her parents are totally okay with this, as it means a steady job and an education.
- Half-Identical Twins: With her brother Parnassus. Identical enough to weird Fatora out.
- Has a Type: The women she's been attracted to have strong wills and confident personalities in common.
- Innocent Fanservice Girl: While the "Innocent" part is questionable, she walks around barefooted and wearing a very small white dress that barely hides anything, yet she doesn't care and neither purposely tries to draw everyone's attention to her.
- If It's You, It's Okay: Although very much a lesbian, she's so Fatora-mad that she'll get pretty personal with Makoto when he's disguised as the princess.
- Lovable Sex Maniac: She's a genuinely nice and polite girl, but no woman is ever safe when she's around them.
- Ms. Vice Girl: Intelligent, cheerful, brave, and a really great friend. Oh, also a raging lady-nymphomaniac.
- My Master, Right or Wrong: She's unfailingly loyal to Fatora. Unfortunately, that means that she's willing to go along with Fatora's more unethical schemes, even if she'd never do anything a girl didn't want on her own initiative.
- Non-Action Girl: Although the intro shows her fighting with a hooked sword, she never enters combat once in the whole series.
- Positive Friend Influence: The series makes clear that without Alielle's presence, Fatora's behavior would be much worse than what it already is.
- Reactive Continuous Scream: Her reaction to discovering that "Fatora's" packing a little something extra in her pants is to scream, which startles Makoto into screaming.
- Stripperiffic: Alielle owns a perfectly normal set of clothes, but she prefers to spend most of her time wearing just some small thong panties and a very short poncho-like dress that leaves her sides completely exposed from her shoulders to her (bare) feet.
- Unsettling Gender-Reveal: Alielle was so happy to see that Fatora had returned from her captors, and was in the process of "welcoming her home" when she reached down "Fatora's" pants and found a few accessories that standard-issue ladies don't come with.
Princess Rune Venus
She's the crown princess and the monarch of El-Hazard, residing in the capital city of Roshtaria. The OVA continuity shows Rune as a wise and patient ruler of twenty-four years who is nevertheless struggling to maintain stability within her own court due to the attacks made by the Bugrom Empire. Not helping matters is the disappearance of her younger sister Fatora and her upcoming marriage to Galus, with who she does not have a genuine attraction. The sudden arrival of Makoto and friends in her world leads Rune to discover that the boy bears an uncanny resemblance to Fatora, to which she requests (more like forces) him to impersonate the missing princess so that pandemonium won't take root in the capital. Little does Rune suspect that the Bugrom are the least of her worries...
In The Wanderers, Rune is seventeen years of age and is the only Roshtarian princess around. The Bugrom Empire is still a threat to her kingdom and she struggles with maintaining her rule over the land. Her encounter with Makoto leads to a romantic attraction (in place of Ifurita, who is also changed from the original story) which is slowly reciprocated over time.
In both continuities, Rune (alongside Fatora in the OVA) is able to operate El-Hazard's greatest superweapon "The Eye of God" due to her royal blood, though Makoto's late-awakened powers also gives him limited access to the weapon.
- Age Lift: In the Wanderers and the manga, she's about 17, rather than 24.
- Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: In Wanderers, she's Makoto's love interest rather than Ifurita. In the original OVA, she and Makoto didn't have much interaction or much of a personal relationship.
- Altar Diplomacy: With Prince Galus, whom she believes to be another human ruler. Neither Schtalubaugh nor Londs trust Galus, and even she says she's only interested in marriage for the alliance.
- Composite Character: The manga version of Rune combines traits of both her OVA role and her Wanderers incarnation, physically resembling what she looked like in Wanderers while also having romantic feelings for Makoto, while also largely playing a similar role to what she had in the original OVA as the manga's plot also closely followed the first installment with some minor differences here and there.
- Nice Girl: Although she has no romantic interest in Galus, she still chides Londs and Schtalubaugh for their mistrust of a man who's been nothing but kind and charming to her.
- Princesses Rule: We see no evidence of there presently being a king or queen of Roshtaria.
Roll Londs
He's the head chamberlain of the royal house of Roshtaria and sees to most of the day-to-day goings-on of the palace. Grateful to the recently-arrived Makoto and Fujisawa for saving Princess Rune from a Bugrom attack, Londs invites the two back to the capital. He is also the primary force, alongside Rune herself, who makes Makoto impersonate the missing Princess Fatora due to his strong resemblance to the lost girl. Along the way, he does his best to support his ruler's decisions while also aiding Makoto's guise to keep up appearances...until the villainous Phantom Tribe exposes the ruse.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: He does not make any appearances in El-Hazard 2 or The Alternative World.
- Flat Character: Aside from being the chief servant of the royal family, there's not much else to him. It's likely why he doesn't appear in the original continuity again after the first OVA series.
- Right for the Wrong Reasons: He and Schtalubaugh dislike Prince Galus because they found his manner smarmy and duplicitous. If they only knew...
Dr. Schtalubaugh
The dean of the royal science academy of Roshtaria and an advisor to its royal court, Dr. Schtalubaugh is immediately fascinated by the arrival of Makoto and company in El-Hazard. He isn't exactly a major player in the series but does provide the protagonists with useful knowledge of his world which does come in handy. In the OVA continuity, while unable to come up with a solution to get him and his friends back to Earth, he does help to unlock Makoto's new ability, namely to awaken old technology of ancient El-Hazard, long thought lost to time, including the Eye of God.
In The Wanderers, Schtalubaugh's position of dean is excluded and he is merely a royal advisor, though his scientific knowledge does help him bond with Makoto and works toward the same result.
- Cool Old Guy: A wise doctor who provides the protagonists with information on their new surroundings and helps Makoto, albeit through some stern wording, discover his new ability.
- Right for the Wrong Reasons: He and Londs dislike Prince Galus because they find his manner suspicious. What they didn't know was that he was a Prince of the Shadow Tribe.
Ura the Armor Cat
A cat native to El-Hazard who functions as a protective vest. He is Princess Fatora's pet in the OVA and helps Makoto to disguise himself as the lustful princess until she is recovered. Later Ura becomes Makoto's permanent companion after it's revealed that Fatora would constantly abuse the cat for any perceived shortcoming or transgression against her.
In The Wanderers, Ura starts out as a jungle cat and encounters the main cast during an incident with them hunting a wild dog that had been harassing some forest-dwelling villagers. Upon his being healed by Makoto and Rune, Ura joins the main group and fulfills his purpose the same as in the OVA.
- Badass Adorable: He's a feline bodyguard, who can race down a sheer cliff face faster than a guy can fall, grab that guy with his mouth and then run straight back up.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: Technically, he's Fatora's cat, but she's such a rancid bi—uh, b-bad lady, that he comes to prefer the kind Makoto and joins him for good.
- Bulletproof Vest: He's the cutest flak jacket you'll ever wear.
- Made of Iron: He tanks a blast from Ifurita's keystaff strong enough to destroy a village. It knocks him out of the fight, but he's not seriously injured.
- The Nose Knows: He's got a strong sense of smell.
- Super-Strength: Strong enough to shove full-grown people a fair distance away. Not bad for a person, incredible for a cat his size. He also ran down a cliff face, braced himself and caught a falling Makoto without being budged by the force.
- Super-Speed: When Makoto was thrown off a sheer cliff face, Ura ran down the cliff, outpaced the falling Makoto and caught him.
- Talking Animal: He can manage names and simple sentences (e.g. "It's my job." or "Makoto, bones okay?").
- Voluntary Shapeshifting: He can wrap himself entirely around a person like a vest. Bones don't seem to be an issue.
- Wall Crawl: Thanks to his natural strength and sharp claws, which can dig into solid stone.
- Wolverine Claws: As a cat, he's got a lot of sharp points. His claws are tough enough to penetrate stone.
Princess Fatora Venus
- Adapted Out: She does not exist in The Wanderers or the manga, despite being an important character in the OVA who first served as a template for Makoto to imitate her role in the original and becoming an Ascended Extra in subsequent OVA installments.
- Ascended Extra: She served as a Damsel in Distress for the majority of the first series and only had real lines near the end. She comes back in the second OVA and The Alternative World with more screen time and becomes more important than her sister, who was the major player in the original.
- Bait the Dog: Introduced as the Phantom Tribe's captive and initially appeared to be a kind princess as with Rune...but soon after her rescue revealed herself to be a haughty lustful-can't-take-no-for-an-answer Spoiled Brat that frequently makes things worse for anybody she's involved with (except maybe Alielle).
- Bed Trick: Well, kiss trick, anyway. She dresses as Makoto in an attempt to seduce Nanami (who sees right through her) and Shayla-Shayla (who doesn't).
- Damsel in Distress: Spent much of the first OVA as a prisoner of the Shadow Tribe.
- Disguised in Drag: She's not above dressing like Makoto if it means being able to steal a kiss from Shayla-Shayla.
- Distracted by the Sexy: Frequently, Fatora will forget all about a desperate situation or issue if she sees a pretty woman. It nearly led to disastrous consequences twice.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: Except for her lover/student Alielle and elder sister Rune, everybody in the cast mostly treats her with eye-rolls at best and irritation at worst.
- Handsome Lech: She's beautiful. She's rich. And given her personality, that's all she's got going for her. Alielle loves her, but no other girl can stand her.
- It's All About Me: Is pathologically incapable of seeing that the world does not revolve around her and libido, leading to all kinds of mischief and grievances that otherwise could've been less bad if not altogether avoidable.
- Jerkass: One might think the fact that she doesn't want to see Roshtaria fall would give her a little gold in her heart, but she went and risked the kingdom because of a hot demon goddess.
- Lipstick Lesbian: The poster girl of the trope for '90s anime series alongside Sailor Neptune.
- The Millstone: After helping to open the Eye of God in the original OVA, Fatora would never fail to disappoint by causing problems big (the whole Kalia incident) or small (enabling Alielle's less savory traits) due to her lust for any half-decent looking gal within a five-mile radius.
- Narcissist: Thinks very highly of herself. Unfortunately, at least one person (Alielle) agrees with her.
- Not Good with Rejection: Always tries to perve on hot girls (especially Nanami and Shayla) despite them clearly being disgusted by her jerkish attitude. Unfortunately, this only exacerbates her desire to be with them.
- Toxic Friend Influence: While Alielle is a good influence on her, the reverse is true for her on Alielle. Whenever she's around, Alielle turns into a Yes-Man and enthusiastically joins her in her attempts to get laid. And while Alielle by herself is a Nice Girl and is enthusiastic but not aggressive in her advances, Fatora...isn't, and is.
- Ungrateful Bitch: Her reaction to learning that Makoto was forced to impersonate her in order to keep the kingdom running smoothly was to tell him that a lowlife like him must have been happy to get the chance to pretend to be royalty.
- Well, Excuse Me, Princess!: A negative subversion; Fatora is definitely haughty and quick to look down on most people, and most of the cast do argue with her a lot whenever she insists on her way. However, it's quickly made apparent that she is an insufferable Royal Brat who mostly can't see the larger consequences of causing pervy mischief.
The Priestesses of Muldoon
Common Tropes
- Amplifier Artifact: Each Priestess has a device called a Lamp, which they may activate in order to enhance their natural elemental creation/manipulation abilities.
Shayla-Shayla
- All Love Is Unrequited: Makoto doesn't even notice her deeper feelings for him.
- Drowning My Sorrows: After learning that Makoto was in love with Ifurita, she becomes Mr. Fujisawa's drinking buddy, until he learns she's only 19 and cuts her off.
- Fiery Redhead: In all senses of the phrase, being both hot-tempered and capable of wielding flame.
- Hot-Blooded: Perhaps unsurprising, given her affinity.
- Naked First Impression:
- Makoto in his Fatora guise and his companions sought to get the Priestesses' help, but they'd sojourned to the Springs of Arliman, so his first encounter with Shayla was when she was bathing with the other Priestesses. When his real identity and gender were revealed, Shayla got a little... blasty.
- In Wanderers, Makoto, Fujisawa and Alielle first meet her while she's draped in a carpet wandering and passing out near her shrine, after losing her money, clothes and Fire Lamp in gambling against Jinnai.
- Elemental Personalities: She has fire-based powers that intensify to match her disposition — as she becomes angrier or more excited, her flames also become brighter and hotter.
- Playing with Fire: She's the Priestess of Fire.
- Rescue Romance: Although she started out hating Makoto, she began falling in love with him after he selflessly risked his life to save hers.
Miz Mishtal
- All Love Is Unrequited: Possibly. Fujisawa is shown to care deeply for her, but in more of a Lady and Knight sense, and is quite shocked when she proposes to him.
- Exact Words: When she was injured, a worried Fujisawa told her he'd do anything she wanted. To his shock, she immediately proposes.
- Love at First Sight: Her first view of Fujisawa was when he was demonstrating his Super-Strength, and she was fascinated by this handsome, powerful man. When it turned out he was a teacher, which (in El-Hazard at least) means a steady job with good pay, she was over the moon.
- Ma'am Shock: In Wanderers, any comment that insinuates that she's an old woman makes her angry.
- Making a Splash: She's the Priestess of Water.
- Old Maid: At 29, she's starting to get worried about marriage.
- Rescue Romance: Technically speaking? She was taking a bath when the monstrous-looking attendant splashed her with water that was way too cold. Fujisawa heard her scream from a distance, thought she was being attacked and rushed over at Super-Speed to hit the attendant so hard the creature went flying. Miz decided to let the misinterpretation stand.
Afura Mann
- Badass Bookworm: In Wanderers, she has a huge amount of books, to the point she needs a new building to keep them.
- Blow You Away: She's the Priestess of Wind.
- Deadpan Snarker: What little we get of her characterization indicates that she has a sharp tongue.
- Friendly Rivalry: With Shayla in Wanderers, since they studied together to become priestesses.
- Not So Above It All: She's not above petty bickering with Shayla-Shayla, however.
- Out of Focus: Compared to Miz and Shayla, she doesn't get a lot of attention.
- Punny Name: With a little bit of overlap with Ironic Name. Her name is a play on "After A Man". The irony is that of the three Priestesses, she's the only one to not get a male love interest and isn't shown being interested in any man in particular. The closest she gets to having physical interactions with a man is a manga-exclusive scene where Makoto accidentally lands on her in a manner that looks sexual and she gets angry and retaliates violently.
- The Smart Guy: She seems to be the most book-smart of the Priestesses from what we see of her.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: She and Shayla-Shayla. They do agree on a few points, however, like shopping. An episode of Wanderers explores it more in-depth, as they studied together to become priestesses and became rivals since they were kids.
Demon Gods
Ifurita
Ifurita II voiced by: Maria Kawamura (JP); Debra Jean Rogers (EN, credited as Debbie DeRosa) Other voice actors
Wanderers Ifurita voiced by: Miwa Matsumoto (JP, dormant) and Yuri Amano (JP, awakened); Julie Ann Taylor (EN, dormant; credited as Julie Pickering) and Mari Devon (EN, awakened; credited as Jane Alan)
- Amplifier Artifact: Ifurita's Power Key Staff acts as a means of recharging her via a winding, a medium to focus her power through, and forced her to obey whoever wound her up. Makoto's Technopathy allowed him to deactivate that last bit, much to her joy.
- Broken Bird: From the moment she was created, Ifurita has been forced to obey a succession of people who used her incredible power to commit ungodly amounts of destruction and slaughter against her will.
- Death Seeker: After a lifetime of being made to commit atrocities at the hands of power-hungry masters, Ifurita outright states that she would welcome death. Thankfully Makoto provides a better alternative.
- Defrosting Ice Queen: Thanks to Makoto deactivating the programming that was suppressing her emotions, her original cold-heartedness becomes replaced with regret at the things her users have made her do.
- The Dreaded: Even 500 years later, people fear a Demon God's power...rightly so.
- Fake Memories: A positive example: As she's flying into the Eye of God to stop it from destroying El-Hazard, Makoto, uncertain if he'll ever see her again, uses their telepathic link to share the memories of his lifetime with her, allowing her to take part in his life. Ifurita is truly grateful for this gift.
- Flight: One of her abilities.
- Formerly Fit: 500 years in stasis have left her somewhat weaker than in her heyday. She's still able to create a surge of water that floods the entire Bugrom Complex, but it exhausts her afterward. Yes, the amazing level of power she shows over the series is her when she's out of shape.
- Instant Allegiance Artifact: Played with. Demon Gods are programmed to follow the orders of whoever winds them. This doesn't mean she has to like it, however, and she's overjoyed when Makoto uses his power to program this trait out of her. She celebrates by socking Katsuhiko Jinnai in the face.
- Lost Technology: The civilization which created Demon Gods also wiped themselves out with Demon Gods.
- Person of Mass Destruction: Three blasts of Ifurita's power staff are enough to destroy a city.
- Phlebotinum Dependence: Demon gods like powered by a mainspring which needs to be periodically wound with their Power Key Staves, particularly after they exert a great deal of energy.
- Power Copying: Ifurita's preferred M.O. is to analyze an enemy's attack, copy it, and then turn it against the user at a far greater level of power than they can handle. She was, for example, able to easily overcome Shayla-Shayla's fire shields with her own fire.
- Technopath: After the Phantom Tribe's interference sends the Eye of God into a seemingly unstoppable overdrive, Ifurita says she can interface with it to fix it, but she has to fly inside, with no idea what will happen to her.
Villains
Katsuhiko Jinnai
Makoto's arch rival and the supreme ruler of Shinonome High School…or so he'd have you believe. Katsuhiko Jinnai starts out as a maniacal wannabe getting ousted from his position as student council president when his embezzlement of school funds is exposed, albeit unwillingly, by Makoto (Jinnai was detested by everyone at school anyway). Despite knowing the former since childhood, alongside his younger sister Nanami (who is in love with him), Jinnai can't stand Makoto who seemingly excels at everything with Jinnai unable to catch up. Jinnai's fall from so-called-grace proves to be the last straw to the point he confronts Makoto and tries to sabotage his self-proclaimed rival.
It's soon after that Jinnai and Makoto, plus Nanami and Fujisawa, a history teacher, get teleported to the mystical realm of El-Hazard. There he is separated from the rest and is found by the Bugrom, a supposedly evil race of humanoid insects whose main purpose is to destroy and conquer the new land. They need a new leader (aside from their Queen Diva) and with Jinnai having been deposed from his position and delocated from his reality…you see where this is going? Now free to become a full-on evildoer, Jinnai joins the Bugrom Empire and leads his new army across El-Hazard determined to reign over his new world, and has no qualms about killing Makoto should push come to shove. As for Nanami? Well, they’ve always bickered a lot and that hasn’t really changed. Seriously.
Like his former classmates and teacher, Jinnai also gained a unique ability when he entered the titular realm. He has the power to communicate with and understand the Bugrom which the rest of El-Hazard's populace thought utterly impossible. Jinnai's command manages to seriously raise the bugs' competence to the point that they nearly succeed in their goal, but various circumstances cause them to fall short. Out in the field, he is joined by a small squadron of six Bugrom (one of each main type) who function as his main lackeys for the entirety of the series.
- Adaptational Badass: Jinnai in the OVA has many moments of brilliance but at the end of the day, he's ultimately overshadowed by more powerful and credible threats like Galus, Kalia, Arjah, and Dall. In The Wanderers, most of those antagonists don't exist and as a result, Jinnai's status as a villain manages to rise much higher, with Makoto even acknowledging Jinnai as an enemy and the two of them eventually have a sword duel in a climactic confrontation. OVA Jinnai eventually underwent Diminishing Villain Threat and ended his tenure in the series being forced to copulate with Diva.
- Always Second Best: Why he hated Makoto at school.
- Arch-Enemy: Toward Makoto. It's basically one-sided. Makoto doesn't like him, but he also doesn't hate him.
- Big Bad Wannabe: On a sliding scale, he's the type of antagonist who, given his planning and impressive accomplishments, could legitimately be the Big Bad of the story if he wasn't overshadowed by more powerful, resourceful, and threatening villains like Galus, Kalia, Arjah, and Dall. And ultimately, despite being given control over the Bugrom and taking their competency and powers to another level, Queen Diva quickly showed Jinnai at the end of the series that his power is little more than a loan from her and that she can take it back anytime she wants when she decides it's time for her and Jinnai to mate and replenish the Bugrom race.
- Black Comedy Rape: In the final episode of The Alternative World, Queen Diva decides she wants to mate with Jinnai, and won't take "no" for an answer. Jinnai is dragged towards her literally kicking and screaming. And it's all played for laughs, with an added inference of Laser-Guided Karma, as Jinnai was the one who originally ordered her to "replenish the Bugrom race".
- Card-Carrying Villain: In the Wanderers continuity, Jinnai is evil and proud of it! OVA Jinnai doesn't call himself "evil"; he's more interested in "conquest" and "killing Makoto."
- The Chessmaster: Especially in the original OVA, he is a rather capable politician and leader despite coming across as a complete buffoon. While his plans appear amateurish and simple-minded to the viewer, they usually work quite well. To add to that, he apparently launches a number of military campaigns that result in quick and easy conquests with an army that had utterly failed to be effective for centuries before his arrival. While the viewers don't get to learn much about what exactly he's doing, he apparently makes an excellent tactician, and this is why he comes so close to conquering El-Hazard.
- The Chosen One: The Bugrom regard Jinnai as this. Considering he single-handedly turned them into an effective fighting force and damn near took over El-Hazard, this may be justified.
- Fat Bastard: He turns into a massive Gonk at one point after being fattened up as cattle by a species of white-colored faux-Bugrom in The Alternative World.
- Freudian Excuse: The Wanderers continuity provides a brief glimpse of Jinnai's childhood, which shows he's repeatedly been upstaged by Makoto at everything. Further, Makoto never realized Jinnai was trying to compete with him, nor did he notice how his overwhelming popularity left Jinnai out in the proverbial cold with no friends. Even his sister, Nanami, preferred to spend her time with Makoto, while constantly ignoring her brother. It finally became too much and literally drove Jinnai insane with jealousy.
- A God Am I: He refers to himself this way in the second OVA. He is so Tempting Fate.
- Hidden Depths: Interestingly enough, he actually exhibits a strong paternal instinct for his subordinates at times. He shows this in different ways depending on what continuity of El-Hazard it is, but it actually seems to be a genuine quality of his...
- In the first OVA, he is generally respectful of his Bugrom soldiers, only insulting them for doing something genuinely bone-headed and making a point of memorizing the names he gives them. He even seems keen on accompanying them into battle on some occasions, when he really never had to, though this may be to more properly direct them. It still involves risking his own neck alongside theirs, which is rare for any sort of general, let alone one so megalomaniacal. All this makes him seem like a Father to His Men. He even dresses up in the style of a Bugrom in the second OVA for presumably no other reason than to strengthen camaraderie with them!
- While he lacks the above attitude in the Wanderers continuity, Jinnai acts more paternal toward Ifurita, especially near the end when she's unconscious and he doesn't have to worry about acting like a Drill Sergeant Nasty. He picks her up and carries her off as if she's his daughter.
- The Kid with the Leash: Until Makoto frees Ifurita from being forced to obey whoever winds her.
- Laughably Evil: He's the kind of villain who has moments where he can be really funny and get humiliated in hilarious ways. And he has an equal measure of moments where he's still a highly competent villain whose scheming and quick thinking establish him as a credible threat.
- Manipulative Bastard: Jinnai never lets an opportunity to grab power slip by.
- Narcissist: He believes himself naturally superior to everyone else.
- New Life in Another World Bonus: Jinnai gets the ability to communicate with the Bugrom, all of whom (even the Queen) seem to automatically hold a great deal of respect for him (apparently another aspect of his power). His strategic abilities may possibly be another bonus, as his schemes didn't work out so well on Earth.
- Pet the Dog: In Wanderers, Jinnai has one at the end where he helps save El Hazard and shows he really cares for Ifurita.
- The Resenter: As mentioned, he believes himself superior, and so Makoto Mizuhara's talents and abilities drive him right up the wall. The fact that Makoto actually works hard and doesn't expect to be automatically good at things (unlike himself) has no relevance, of course.
- Rival Turned Evil: Well, he was always evil, it's just that in El Hazard he became professionally evil.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: Jinnai bribes his way to victory in the student elections by promising certain clubs extra funds in the budget.
- Student Council President: Albeit one about to be impeached after his vote-buying plot was discovered.
- Sharp-Dressed Man: For someone who's pretty much never seen out of his school uniform, Jinnai keeps it pretty neat.
- Smug Snake: Jinnai's smugness and arrogance is one of his most defining traits, despite his less than stellar track record for competence.
- The Strategist: Prior to his arrival the Bugrom army was a laughingstock, whose only method was Attack! Attack! Attack!. Once he's in command, they become a force to be reckoned with—he even unlocks a new physical potential within them (e.g. The Super Bugrom)!
- Villain Decay: In the OVAs, he begins as a brilliant foe and a legitimate threat to El Hazard, even if Galus proves to be a greater evil. But in the second OVA his forces are destroyed, preventing him from another campaign of conquest, and he ends up in direct competition to Kalia, who is Eviler than Thou and he just can't measure up. In The Alternative World, he's more of a joke than a serious threat.
- Villain: Exit, Stage Left: All the time.
- Young Conqueror: Though his actual pre-existing skillset and the mediocre success rate would relegate him to the level of would-be conqueror—until he's in El-Hazard.
In General
- Bee People: Played with. The Bugrom being a race of humanoid bugs with a Cute Monster Girl queen in Diva suggests this trope, but it's never explicitly confirmed that they are eusocial. At the end of The Alternative World, Jinnai declares that Diva should start breeding a new generation of Bugrom warriors after their forces are decimated, but it's unclear if this is actually her biological role or if Jinnai was just being an jerk and making assumptions. It is worth noting that the proposed sequel series, The Dual World, would feature Diva and Jinnai having a single daughter.
- Insectoid Aliens: Most of the Bugrom seen are clearly beetle-like, but stand upright on two well-developed hindlegs with a fundamentally bipedal posture. Their forces are seen to include more bestial-looking giant bugs, but it's unclear if this is some kind of subspecies or simply a domesticated animal.
- The Man Behind the Monsters: Twice-over. When introduced, the Bugrom are ruled by the vastly more human-looking Queen Diva. Howeer, she then voluntarily defers her power to Jinnai, believing him to be a prophesied great general sent by the Bugrom's deities to lead their race to victory. However, The Alternative World does show that ultimately she does retain control over the Bugrom, even if they defer to Jinnai's leadership in battle, as she is able to order them to force Jinnai to let her mate with him despite his protests.
Queen Diva
- Accidental Marriage: A charitable interpretation of her final scenes in The Alternative World; after Jinnai tells her that she needs to start breeding a replacement Bugrom army, she decides that this is a proposal and accepts him as her mate, even though he insists on, from her perspective, playing hard to get.
- Cute Monster Girl: Aside from some Extra Eyes, cute little antennae, and wings that look almost more like a rather exotic cape, Diva could pass for a very attractive human woman.
- Double Standard Rape: Female on Male: In her and Jinnai's very last scene in The Alternative World, she declares she's going to breed with Jinnai, and has some of her Bugrom bodily drag the protesting Jinnai towards her bed, even as Jinnai screams at the prospect. This is played for laughs.
- Extra Eyes: Those dots on her forehead are compound eyes.
- Statuesque Stunner: She's 5'10" and very beautiful.
- Strange Minds Think Alike: In their first meeting in The Wanderers continuity, Diva is presented as more like a female Jinnai in personality, being flamboyant, loud, boastful and Card Carrying Evil.
- The Stoic: In the OVA continuity and The Alternative World, she is usually very cool-headed, calm and collected. The Alternative World takes it to the extent that even her final scene in the series, when she's trying to seduce Jinnai, she still acts quite cold. By contrast, the versions in The Wanderers and the manga are more expressive and emotional.
In General
- Amazing Technicolor Population: They have blue skin, which they use their power to hide among natives.
- Anti-Villain: They didn't ask for their ancestors to be brought into El-Hazard, and they sure didn't ask for their race to be subjected to centuries of racism. So it's perfectly understandable that they'd want to go back to their origin world. The "villain" part comes in because they don't care one jot about the sheer destruction the Eye of God will wreak on El-Hazard with no one able to properly control it as long as there's a chance to go home.
- Fantastic Racism: The Shadow Tribe are outcasts in El-Hazard.
- Master of Illusion: The Shadow Tribe are so good at illusions that they can knock people out by convincing them they're drowning.
- Racial Remnant: The present-day Phantom Tribe is descended from a large group of people who were inadvertently teleported into El-Hazard from another world centuries ago during the Holy Wars when the Eye of God was last activated.
Individuals
Prince Galus
- Adapted Out: He's a major villain in the first OVA but isn't included in The Wanderers and Jinnai mostly fills up his role in the TV series as the most prominent villain.
- Crippling Overspecialization: He knows his way around a knife, but he's clearly heavily dependent on using illusions to confuse his opponent. Once Nanami Jinnai enters the equation, his fight with Makoto is all but lost.
- Depraved Homosexual: He's a cold-blooded torturer who's implied to be in a relationship with Nahato, his male assistant. Nahato is about eleven.
- Master of Illusion: Like all members of the Phantom Tribe.
