A list of tropes for the characters who appear in the series.
Protagonists
Introduced in Game Tengoku: The Game Paradise!
A part-time employee working at the You&Me Kamiyoga arcade, she was the first to discover Genius Yamada's attempt to take over the arcade game world. With little time to lose until opening hours and with her salary at risk, she cobbled together some old arcade boards, hacked them together and called upon the game heroes to stop the mad scientist and his schemes. She loves to talk but also tends to get overwhelmed and excited easily.
- Big Good: Since she was the one who called the game heroes together to stop Yamada, she's basically this by default.
- Curtains Match the Window: Both her hair and eyes were at first green in the original version, before the latter were changed to blue onwards.
- "Do It Yourself" Theme Tune: Sings the ending theme of the first game with Selia, "I'm Not Fine", and the opening theme of the second game, "To Your Dream", along with Selia, Miki, and Misato.
- Gamer Chick: Loves to play games, to the extent that she often goes on rambling about them.
- Genki Girl: Especially when she talks about her favorite games, or when she introduces herself to the player."I'm Yuki Ito! I'm very happy to meet you! International shooting fans!"
- Gratuitous English: The aforementioned greeting to the player.
- Ms. Fanservice: Particularly in GUNBare!, which has her decked out in a Playboy bunny outfit.
- Nice Girl
- Playboy Bunny: In the sequel; according to the manga it was made explicitly to her specifications (meaning that no-one else can wear it) and grants her the ability to make all others follow her lead (except for Genius Yamada, who despite his Dirty Old Man tendencies is somehow immune to it).
- Promoted to Playable: In CruisinMix, where she pilots the Tatsujin ship as part of a collaboration with Toaplan.
- Took a Level in Badass: In the Tatsujin DLC of CruisinMix, she becomes Promoted to Playable.
The pilot of Fighter EX from Exerion, Jeynus is a feisty, hot-blooded guy with an easy to read personality who took the fight towards the invading Zorni in defense of the titular planet. The fact that he puts more thought into forward fire-power than anything else on his ship should tell you everything you need to know about him. His ship has a speedy firing rate and considerable power, albeit at the cost of a lack of spread.
- Ace Pilot: No questions asked here, though Z-DYNE does have his doubts.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: In spite of his quirks, he's still shown to be skilled with his Fighter EX.
- Butt-Monkey: Doesn't really get much respect from the others, namely Selia (who tends to get frustrated at his antics) and Z-DYNE (who believes that if he were ever to be his pilot, then chances are that they would only last for seven seconds tops).
- Dirty Old Man: Not to the same extent as Yamadanote , but he is shown to have a disturbing habit of hitting on girls way younger than he is...
- Hot-Blooded: Ooh yeah. Rarely does the game go by without him screaming his lines out.
- Idiot Hero: Cutscenes show that he's not exactly very smart.
- Large Ham: See above.
- Manchild: Seems to be this, if him hopping around with Momoko on his back as a pony in one cutscene is any indication.
The main heroine of Plus Alpha who, alongside her sister Rumy, fought to free seven nations from enemy control in her vehicle Poopera. While she may appear to be the most sane of the heroes, her lack of self-doubt and supreme self-confidence in everything she says and does tends to make the rest of the team fear her. Her plane can be upgraded into a 3-way shot and later a 5-way one, making her a good choice for novices.
- Adaptation Dye-Job: Her hair was originally blue in Plus Alpha and the original arcade game, but everywhere else it's purple.
- "Do It Yourself" Theme Tune: Sings the opening theme of the first game, "With Angel Wings", and the ending theme, "I'm Not Fine", with Yuki Ito. The opening of the second game, "To Your Dream", is sung by her, Yuki, Miki, and Misato.
- Insufferable Genius: She's smart and she knows it.
- Macross Missile Massacre: Her bomb attack has her firing a bunch of rockets at her enemies.
- Ms. Fanservice: Just like Yuki.
- Nerf: Her ship Poopera can no longer change forms like it did in her original game, being restricted to its plane mode to keep things consistent.
The successor to the original mech Expel from Formation-Z, he was created from data gathered from the original prototype and improved upon, with one example being a high-level AI controlling the body as opposed to a pilot. As can be expected from him, he can be needlessly serious at times, but being studious he can learn from his surroundings and adapt to them when necessary. He utilizes fast-firing, lock-on lasers with homing abilities, even if they aren't exactly very strong.
- Become a Real Boy: One cutscene has him express a desire to act more human, asking someone to teach him. Unfortunately, said someone happens to be Momoko. Cue Z-DYNE acting like a little girl, much to Jeynus' confusion and Selia's annoyance.
- The Comically Serious: Much of the humor surrounding him comes from him treating comedic moments in a serious manner.
- Homing Lasers: His main attack, which consists of firing a laser that locks onto the nearest enemy. When upgraded a bunch, it can split off into smaller lasers to attack other foes.
- Humongous Mecha: Pretty obvious considering that he's a robot. Even in the Saturn version's cutscenes where everyone else is Super-Deformed, he still manages to tower over them all.
- Transforming Mecha: Has the ability to transform between robot and jet modes at will, although since he can still fly in the former mode it's kind of a moot point.
Pig is, well... a pig. Specifically, he's the main star of Buta-san. Well aware of the risk of ending up in a butcher's shop, he lives his life as if every day could very well be his last, and as such has opted to take things into his own trotters, heading out to battle with an arsenal of bombs at his disposal. Despite his adorable appearance, he has been through countless battles and has even worked as a bomb expert in a spec-ops squad. His bombs are powerful, though they do tend to be hampered by his slow firing speed.
- Badass Adorable: Resembles a cute little pig, and can hold his own against Yamada and his forces.
- Cartoon Bomb: His main weapon of choice.
- Casanova Wannabe: He has a tendency to call the other female characters “Baby”, and even hits on Selia in one cutscene:"Baby...I’ll leave half of my cardboard box free for you tonight. If you’re feeling lonely, I’ll keep you warm."
- A Dog Named "Dog": In his case, a pig named... "Pig".
- Glass Cannon: He packs the most punch out of all the characters, but he’s just as vulnerable as they are.
- Half-Dressed Cartoon Animal: Wears polka-dot shorts and nothing else.
- I Believe I Can Fly: Unlike the other characters, his game of origin isn't a shoot-em-up. It doesn't stop him from being able to fly, logic be damned.
- Misunderstood Loner with a Heart of Gold: While he has quite the rough exterior, he isn't without a soft side; when Misato wakes up and comes to see him in the bonus cutscene, he has a heartfelt talk with her about her sister and mother.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: Seemingly, having been through multiple battles and always living his days as if they were his last. Also, in the cutscene after stage 6, he freaks out and thinks the cans the group are sitting on are land minesnote , and when Z-DYNE says that he can save only one of them should they explode, Pig wishes not to be chosen as he somberly remarks "I won't watch any more of my allies die."
- Throw Down the Bomblet: His charge attack has him throw out several bombs at once.
- Vocal Dissonance: Despite resembling a cute cartoon pig in a polka-dot diaper, he speaks in a deep, manly voice. Then again, you'd have to be pretty tough yourself to use bombs as your only weapon.
The main heroine of Momoko 120%, Momoko is a fifth grader who was forced to fight her way out of a burning school while avoiding monsters from the Land of Fire, growing older with every stage cleared. In spite of her childishness and lack of responsibility, her Momoko Bomber technique is probably the strongest out of the main characters' bomb attacks.
- Badass Adorable: Cute as a button, and still capable of taking on Yamada's forces and winning!
- Cheerful Child
- I Believe I Can Fly: Like Pig, she's shown to be capable of flight with no problems in spite of not coming from a shoot-em-up.
- Lethal Chef: In the first OVA, she's shown to be really bad at cooking. In fact, the only one who can even stomach her food without any problems is Pig. Then again, it does come in useful in defeating Yamada's robot...
- Put on a Bus: She's noticeably absent in GUNBare!, where Sakura takes her place.
- Token Mini-Moe: Of the original 5-man roster, at least until Misato and Sakura came along.
A pair of sisters who pilot the Genesis-3 from Field Combat, Miki is a girl who possesses a hidden mean streak at odds with her appearance while Misato is the ill-fortuned younger sister who tends to be the former's designated whipping girl. While their craft is pretty lacking in terms of firepower, Miki has faith that their reinforcements will be able to back them up.
Tropes for both sisters:
- Attack Drone: To make up for their craft's short range, two soldiers/tanks/helicopters appear alongside them to shoot at anyone too far away to get at.
- Missing Mom: The bonus video in the Saturn version reveals that both sisters' mother vanished some time ago. Apparently, it causes even the downright bitchy Miki a great deal of distress, to the point of crying in her sleep.
- Sibling Team: Both sisters pilot the Genesis-3, though Miki initially flies solo until beating Misato in the karaoke stage, who joins her for the rest of the game. She also mentions that she had to do most of the work while Misato was away, giving the implication that the former makes the latter do all the work.
Miki's tropes:
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Miki always puts on an air of a prim and proper schoolgirl, but beneath that exterior lies a downright unpleasant person.
- Jerkass: Not a very nice person, to say the least.
- Token Evil Teammate: To the rest of the playable characters.
Misato's tropes:
- Butt-Monkey: Poor Misato always bears the brunt of her sister's abuse, almost to the point of being The Chew Toy.
- Lone Wolf Boss: In the Saturn version's karaoke level. She's got nothing to do with Yamada; she just wanted to try her hand at karaoke but her sister wouldn't let her.
- Nice Girl: Unlike her older sister, Misato is quite kind, and treats everyone else respectfully.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: If the player decides to listen through her whole song, then Misato will gratefully wave to them for their kindness.
Introduced in GUNBare!
- Badass Adorable: Like Momoko before her, she's an adorable young girl who actually takes on Yamada's robot in the second OVA. And wins!!
- Big Eater: In the second short, her powers rely entirely on having a full tummy, and she ends up devouring the entire contents of the group's fridge (which Miki had triple-locked to keep her from it) in just a few bites in order to defeat Yamada.
- Original Generation: She was originally made for GUNBare!.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: To Momoko, down to even having the same moveset as her.
The main heroine of City Connection, Clarice is a young girl who travels the world's highways in her ClariceCar in search of her ideal man. Her car possesses a wide firing range and mid-level power, making it a good choice for beginners.
- Adaptation Dye-Job: Her hair was changed from light-blue to blonde in GUNBare!, while her car was changed from orange to green. CruisinMix reverts both of them back to their original colours.
- Flying Car: Her ClariceCar can now fly in order to keep up with the others.
- Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Her main motivation in life.
- Small Name, Big Ego: Not to the same extent as Yamada, but she still tends to call herself "the original Jaleco heroine" even though both City Connection and Jaleco are admittedly pretty obscure to the average gamer.
- Spell My Name With An S: She's noticeably called "Claris" in GUNBare!.
- You Don't Look Like You: Her appearance in GUNBare! is completely different from her original 1985 incarnationnote , to the extent that the site for CruisinMix outright treats the former as a separate character. Presumably, this was done to differentiate her from Miki and Selia who both have similar hair styles and colours.
Introduced in CruisinMix
The main representive of Jaleco's series of baseball games, Homura is a rookie baseball player who joined the team "J CLUB" in the first draft. He's usually a cheeky Yankee-style guy with a big mouth, but also tends to be dominated by biorhythms (whatever they are) and when in doubt suddenly changes to an utterly depressed downer. His main shot, while lacking in terms of range, allows him to hit his enemies' bullets and send them right back at them.
- Batter Up!: As befitting his status as a baseball player, he's armed with a bat and he isn't afraid to use it.
- Heroic BSoD: In the Data Mode, he falls into a slump when he starts listing the flaws his games had, with even Yuki unable to shake him out of it.
- Hot-Blooded: Almost rivals Jeynus in sheer hamminess.
- I Believe I Can Fly: Like Pig and Momoko, Homura can still fly despite not coming from a shoot-em-up.
- Large Ham: Damn straight.
- Mechanically Unusual Fighter: His main shot is a short-range shockwave that doesn't go pretty far even when fully upgraded. To compensate, he can hit enemy bullets with his bat and send them right back at them.
- Mood-Swinger: Tends to go from Hot-Blooded to utterly depressed at the drop of a hat.
Antagonists
Introduced in Game Tengoku: The Game Paradise!
A Mad Scientist who desires to take over the game world, and by extension the real world, via his brainwashed Genius Army and mechs in order to create his own personal "Game Paradise". Though he claims to be an evil super genius scientist, "evil super pervert scientist" would probably be a more apt title for him considering his personal tastes.
- Anime Hair: This guy has one of the weirdest hairdos ever conceived by anime artists.
- Bad Boss: Tends to berate his underlings for their failures in the anime shorts. In fact, one drawing shows him having bashed them into unconsciousness with a bat while trying to smash a watermelon while blindfolded.
- Big Bad: The main villain of the series as a whole.
- Dirty Old Man: ABSOLUTELY. If Yuki calling him "Professor Pervert" doesn't drive it home, then him romping around in nothing but an open lab coat probably will. And that's not even getting into what he did with Kato and Nakamura...
- Full-Frontal Assault: Disturbingly, he wears no underwear beneath his lab coat, which tends to be left open most of the time. Thank goodness for Censor Shadow...
- Game-Over Man: Should the player lose all their lives in the original version and not continue, then his face will appear on all the screens in the arcade, laughing his head off.
- It's All About Me: His idea of a "Game Paradise", as shown in the Saturn version? An industry where he, and only he, is the star of all genres. Kato and Nakamura are both rightfully horrified by what they see.
- Hell, when the Yamada Virus breaks out, he even admits that since it's an extension of his personality, it probably won't be all bad when it infects all the computers in the world. Cue Kato and Nakamura bemoaning the end of the world.
- Large and in Charge: He’s quite a tall fellow, towering Yuki and his henchwomen when around them.
- Large Ham: He's his dialogue is often loud and exuberant, especially in the boss battles.
- Laughably Evil: Despite being an evil prick, he sure is downright goofy.
- Mad Scientist: As if his lab coat didn't tip you off.
- Malevolent Mugshot: As a testament to his ego, all the mechs and devices that Yamada has under his control sport his yellow triangular glasses.
- Small Name, Big Ego: As if his first name didn't tip you off, Yamada has an utterly huge ego to go with his smarts, though the other characters don't seem to think much of him.
- Triangular Shades: Yamada’s signature accessory. It appears in more places than just on his face (see Malevolent Mugshot above).
- Vague Age: The official site lists his age as "unknown".
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Subverted! Near the end of the Saturn version, he makes an impassionate speech about how game publishers tend to leave beloved video game characters in the dirt all in the name of profit, and he intends to change that system into a proper "Game Paradise" where game devs are able to make their own games without having to rely on the publishers. His ideal paradise, however? Well, see above...
A pair of high school girls who were captured and brainwashed by Genius Yamada into working for him, respectively known as Helpers 1 and 2, though they don't really seem to be very good at their jobs (Kato in particular doesn't really know anything about games other than sticker printers, while Nakamura isn't really a big fan of ghost stories).
Tropes for both girls:
- Brainwashed: Both girls were brainwashed by Yamada into working for him. That being said, they aren't above questioning his tactics or his ideals (which usually turns out bad for them).
- Minion with an F in Evil: The two may be devoted to Yamada, but they aren't that great at the whole "evil minion" thing.
- Terrible Trio: Both form a gender-inverted version with Yamada, especially in the first OVA.
Kato's tropes:
- Curtains Match the Window: Both her eyes and hair share the same colour.
Nakamura's tropes:
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: She clearly does not like ghost stories, or ghosts in general. Heck, she even mentions having an encounter with one in one cutscene in the Saturn version. Turns out that was actually just Yamada wandering around rambling nonsense.
- Cat Girl: Indeed.
- The Ditz: She's not exactly very smart herself. Even Kato and Nakamura (who admittedly aren't very smart themselves) don't seem to think much of her after her defeat.
- I Shall Taunt You: She will occasionally stop to stick her tongue out at you during her fight, which is generally not a good idea for her since it leaves her weak spot (the bell around her neck) exposed.
- Mega Neko: Obviously.
Introduced in GUNBare!
- Apologetic Attacker: In the boss fight with her in Stage 5, after she unleashes a twin laser attack, she immediately apologizes while holding her facenote in her hands and involuntarily firing more twin lasers.
- Beleaguered Assistant: She’s treated rather poorly, perhaps even moreso than Kato and Nakamura.
- French Maid
- Shrinking Violet: She's very soft-spoken and shy.
- Little Bit Beastly: She's half raccoon dog, so she's got the tail and ears of one.
- Team Pet: Plays this role to Yamada and Francoise in the second OVA.
