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Main Characters
Ikoma
Click here to see Ikoma before he transformed into a Kabaneri
Voiced by: Tasuku Hatanaka (Japanese), Robbie Daymond (English), Arturo Castañeda (Latin American Spanish)
The series' main character, a young steam smith living in Aragane, who is untouched by the common terror of Kabane and is trying to devise the tools and techniques to fight them on an equal basis. He and his friend Takumi invented an anti-Kabane weapon, the Tsuranuki Zutsu based on the steam rivet-gun, but using it requires point-blank range, and he is bitten while testing it. He has a special blood-blocking rig, however, that doesn't let the virus affect his brain, and thus becomes a titular Kabaneri.
- Amazing Technicolor Population: After shrugging off a Kabane bite, his skin seems to have become a sickly greenish-gray color. Nobody comments on it though.
- Arm Cannon: After losing his arm, he ties Tsuranuki Zutsu to the stump for the last battle.
- Artificial Limb: Sometime between the series and The Battle of Unato Ikoma has managed to design himself a fully functional mechanical arm.
- Attack! Attack! Attack!: As a mechanic without much training or battle experience, this is his usual battle style.
- Awesomeness by Analysis: He gets results by diligently studying what he sees around him, not by mindlessly fighting everything.
- Badass Bookworm: He uses his inventions in order to combat the Kabane.
- Badass Cape: His outfit is essentially him wearing nothing on the top, covered by a red cloak/cape combo.
- Berserker Tears: After Biba shoots Takumi, Ikoma is dedicated to kill him while crying for his best friend.
- Cassandra Truth: During the Battle of Unato, his concerns about Kabane acting much smarter than usual and his suspicions that someone is controlling them is dismissed and ignored by the Northland Alliance leadership.
- Chronic Hero Syndrome: He just can't let any injustice pass, which bites him in the ass constantly. Justified, as his personal trauma is the main reason he hates to leave the people to their fate.
- Clark Kent Outfit: Under that baggy mechanic uniform Ikoma is ripped.
- Clingy Costume: Of a sort. The pieces of metal he stuck to himself while trying to cure his infection appear to be riveted in place. It's not clear whether he could remove any of them if he tried, but he never does anyway.
- Crazy-Prepared: Not only does he make an anti-Kabane weapon, he also prepares a self-hanging rig in case he's bitten while testing it. Later he has the foresight to carry blood on him at all times after learning about the hunger.
- Dangerous Forbidden Technique: In Episode 11, Ikoma injects himself with the "black blood" stimulant that will apparently kill him in a matter of hours, just to get to Mumei.
- Determinator: Keep failing to make your rivet gun an effective anti-zombie weapon? Keep going. Get bitten by a Kabane and zombify? Screw that! Get thrown off a moving train by people that think you'll zombify them? Follow that train for several miles, protecting it because it's the right thing to do. Get attacked by zombies the whole way, and the train's stuck at a drawbridge? Face-tank that shit and push the lever yourself. Ikoma just will. Not. Give. Up.
- Doomed Hometown: Implied to be subjected to this twice, having came to Aragane from an another overran station.
- Fashionable Asymmetry: His right and left side doesn't match, it even extends to his glasses where one side has a green lens and the other is empty.
- Fearless Fool: Often told this by Takumi, who's much more cautious.
- Genius Bruiser: As a Kabaneri, he can mow through a handful of Kabane using brute strength
- Half-Human Hybrid: Kabaneri are infected humans whose brains weren't affected by the Kabane's virus, and who therefore have the undead bodies of Kabane, but retain their humanity.
- Heroic BSoD: He goes through a brief one after he gets shot and thrown from Kotetsujou by Kurusu.
- Heroic RRoD: After injecting himself with the black blood before the final battle, he apparently has only hours left to live.
- I Let Gwen Stacy Die: Blames himself for the death of his younger sister.
- Instant Expert: Manages to grasp the technique Mumei has been using on him effectively after one afternoon of sparring with her. Justified, as Mumei states in Episode 7 that Kabaneri are very good at imitating people. In the same episode, we see him briefly learning some of Kurusu's techniques.
- It's Personal: While Ikoma was never a fan of Biba when he first heard of him from Mumei, his disgust grew as he saw more and more of Biba. But it reached the breaking point when Biba shot Takumi in the heart.
- Like Brother and Sister: His relationship with Mumei develops into this. Takumi even wonders if Mumei was similar to Ikoma's sister as a result. Mumei's feelings for Ikoma, however, are decidedly unplatonic in nature.
- Knight in Sour Armor: Ikoma wishes for humanity to let go of their fear and unite against the Kabane, but is disgusted with how easy his fellows devolve into paranoia and superstition with Kabane, especially to the point that they'd kill an innocent man, or in Ikoma's case be shot and left for dead after fighting off a Kabane. Hell, even as he went through an army of Kabane to pull the switch that would free the train he was hoping everyone was watching "the man they threw away" and hold their heads in shame for abandoning him. Ikoma is going to save humanity, that doesn't mean he isn't going to call them out for being ungrateful, moronic assholes.
- Locked into Strangeness: All Kabaneri have the glowing steel-caged hearts of Kabane, and he also gets a skunk stripe from the transformation.
- Mad Scientist: Has a bit of this reputation among those who know him.
- My Greatest Failure: Not being able to save his sister from transforming into a Kabane.
- Nail 'Em: His weapon of choice is really just a souped-up tool for driving rivets and spikes. However, he uses it in the fashion of a typical Pile Bunker melee weapon by putting the muzzle against the Kabane's heart and firing.
- Named Weapons: His rivet gun is called Tsuranuki Zutsu.
- Nice Guy: Ikoma is a pretty decent fellow.
- Oblivious to Love: Utterly fails to pick up on Mumei's very obvious developing attraction towards him in the Battle of Unato. It takes Mumei kissing him outright for him to get something resembling a clue.
- Our Vampires Are Different: Actually closer to a Dhampyr. Kabaneri don't need regular food, and can simply drink the blood of others. Mumei doesn't inform him of this, and Episode 3 ends with him going in to bite Ayame.
- Power Limiter: Mumei thinks the collar around his neck is one. Unlike any other Kabaneri though, he never removes or releases it, even when fighting. He does in the penultimate episode.
- The Power of Hate: He saves the citizens in the second episode, not because of some altruistic aspiration, but because he wants to spite them because they're saved by a "monster."
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Red to Kurusu's Blue. Lampshaded in Episode 6 with Ikoma's red cloak during their back-to-back moment.
- The Rival: Ikoma is constantly being contrasted and brought into conflict with Kurusu.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: When Biba killed Takumi, he wanted to exact revenge on Biba.
- Say My Name: BIBA!
- Super-Reflexes: As a Kabaneri, his reflexes are increased tremendously.
- Super-Strength: Comes part and the parcel for the Kabaneri. Compared to a human as a Kabaneri, Ikoma's strength is greatly increased. He is able to hold and bend a pipe with his bare hands, as well as return it to its proper place effortlessly.
- Surrounded by Idiots: Ikoma suffers from this constantly. Ikoma has great ideas about fighting the Kabane and treats it like a scientist would, but he is always ignored at best and treated as a menace at worse because of his commoner background, along with the people's crippling paranoia and superstition of the Kabane.
- Tragic Bromance: Takumi takes the bullet for Ikoma in Episode 10. Ikoma does not take it well.
- Tragic Keepsake: The ordinary green stone(s) found by the river became memento from his deceased sister.
- Two Guys and a Girl: See above.
- Unskilled, but Strong: He lacks combat training but makes up for it with his brute strength.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Seems to be developing this dynamic with Kurusu. They are more than happy to let their fists do the talking but work very well together in a way that suggest that they actually trust each other a lot.
- Walking Shirtless Scene: After being bitten he often wears only his boots, his pants and the red cloak courtesy of Takumi. Mumei even lampshades this in Episode 7.
- What You Are in the Dark: Ikoma's thrown off the Kotetsujou in the second episode. His response? Save it anyway cause it'll spite them! (and still is a right thing to do).
Mumei
Click here to see Mumei as a fused colony
Voiced by: Sayaka Senbongi (Japanese), Janice Kawaye (English), Susana Moreno (Latin American Spanish)
A mysterious Kabaneri girl traveling through Aragane to her brother at another station, who got entangled into the whole hoopla. She was forced to join the crew after Aragane got overran with Kabane and the monk who was her handler/bodyguard was bitten and committed suicide. Her brothernote apparently has a lot of influence, given the respect she was met with by the bushi of Aragane, and she can slaughter Kabane by the dozen as well.
- Action Girl: She fights Kabanes with her dual guns, knives, and hand-to-hand combat.
- Aloof Ally: As of Episode 3 is not on the best terms with other passengers but will fight Kabane if needed. Gets better later, though.
- Armed Legs: She debuts as a fighter showing off geta sandals with blades in their teeth.
- Badass Adorable: Her combat prowess notwithstanding, Mumei is just plainly cute.
- Blush Sticker: A more natural variant.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: When she started to rebel against Biba, he brainwashed her so she would be fully compliant.
- Broken Pedestal: She looked up to Biba as an older brother for saving her life, but Episode 9 more or less killed any respect she had for him.
- Child Soldier: Is implied to be not the only one among the Hunters.
- Conflicting Loyalties: Between the people on the Kotetsujou and Biba. But later becomes subverted by Episode 10 when she chooses the Kotetsujou.
- Curtains Match the Windows: Brown hair and brown eyes.
- Dance Battler: Unlike Ikoma, who simply tanks his opponents, Mumei is best describing as waltzing around them.
- Due to the Dead: Covered Biba's body with his coat and some flowers after killing him
- Friend to All Children: Very fond of children and likes to play with them. Also seems to be deeply affected by the fact, that the Kabane woman she killed was pregnant.
- Girlish Pigtails: She wears her hair this way when she isn't fighting.
- Guns Akimbo: Armed with two steam-powered Sawed-Off Shotguns, apparently powerful enough to pierce the Kabane heart cages.
- Half-Human Hybrid: Just like Ikoma she is half-Kabane, half-human. Except the way how she became one was through surgical means, versus Ikoma being bitten by a Kabane.
- Handy Feet: In the movie, when put in a difficult position, she fires her rifle using her toes through her tabi sock.
- Improbable Age: Able to do amazing things, like fight the Kabane, while being only 12.
- In a Single Bound: Is capable of impressive leaps.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Although she is rather detached and even ill-mannered towards others, she does have a good heart. Mumei also has a soft spot for children as well.
- Kick Chick: Incorporates kicks when fighting, thanks to her combat style.
- Lady of War: Always stylish and elegant both in battle and out of it.
- Leg Focus: Many scenes of Episode 1 tend to focus on her legs, the same goes for the opening.
- Little Miss Badass: If her age and skills are to be any indication.
- Magic Skirt: She wears an extremely short yukata in the first episode, and her battle getup in the second one has an arguably even shorter armored skirt, but we never see anything inappropriate despite her fighting style. She wears shorts with her armor, though.
- My God, What Have I Done?: How she regards her actions for Biba in Episode 9 when her actions allow Biba to destroy a peaceful station.
- Mysterious Waif: Little is known about her so far.
- No Social Skills: She has absolutely no tact when talking to people and does not understand that aspects of being Kabaneri that are mundane to her will be quite shocking to normal humans, as evidenced in Episode 3 when she casually just asks for blood for her meal. It completely escapes her why everyone reacts negatively to this.
- Off with His Head!: Does this to Kabane pretty regularly.
- One-Woman Army: Contemptuously destroys a whole horde of Kabane in just under two minutes.
- One-Winged Angel: She is turned into a fused colony by Biba towards the end of the series. Unlike Horobi, she recovers with Ikoma's help.
- Power Limiter: Explains that her neck ribbon and Ikoma's collar work as one. Turns out that all Kabaneri have some kind of neck restraint that works this way.
- Precocious Crush: On Ikoma. While the age difference is only of six years, she is not a teenager yet while he is almost a legal adult.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: It's implied that her yet-unknown brother wields a lot of influence, and she's not above using it sometimes. Her "brother" has been revealed to be Biba, the leader of an elite Kabane execution team known as the Hunters and is also the son of the Shogun.
- Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Finds herself falling for the heroic Ikoma during the Battle of Unato after he helps her out of several dire situations.
- Somebody Named "Nobody": "Mumei" technically means "Nameless". She eventually remembers her original name (Hozumi), but still prefers the one Biba has given her. She declares her real name when she finally kills Biba.
- Waif-Fu: She's a tiny and petite girl who dances around her opponents with lots of pirouettes, leaps, and high kicks.
- Wise Beyond Their Years: She possess a contemptuously nonchalant attitude few twelve-year-olds may brag about, and she apparently already does secret missions for her brother at this age. However, being twelve years old, she is prone to stupid and prideful decisions.
- Younger than She Looks: Officially, she's just twelve, despite looking easily fourteen or fifteen by the series' overall art style.
Kotetsujou
Ayame Yomokawa
Voiced by: Maaya Uchida (Japanese), Veronica Taylor (English), Carla Castañeda (Latin American Spanish)
Daughter of the Aragane's feudal overlord, she's a serious and diligent girl who is forced to lead the Aragane refugees.
- Badass Adorable: While not to Mumei's extent, she is a Silk Hiding Steel leader willing to take up a Steam Bow to defend her people.
- Character Development: Starting in Episode 3, Ayame is getting a better handling on how to be a leader.
- Curtains Match the Windows: Dark blue eyes and dark blue hair.
- Morality Pet: To Kurusu. Though cold and pragmatic in nature, he does seem to display genuine affection toward Ayame, even if he tempers it with his usual stern facade. It's being hinted that he has feelings for her.
- Nice Girl: Ayame is shown to have a mature and soft-spoken personality.
- Only One Name: Aversion. She is one of the few characters in the show with a proper surname, due to being from a noble family.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Unlike her father, who was a classic asshole, and rule-bound and inflexible Kurusu, Ayame is much more reasonable and understanding person, and is arguably the best thing that could happen to Aragane on that night. Also one of the few people not prejudiced against Kabaneri and ready to hear them out. Even after she was attacked by a hungry Ikoma.
- Ship Tease: With Ikoma. She blushes after he explains why he let her stab him without fighting back, and even after he jumps her when hungry, she lets it go immediately and keeps him from being harmed further. Afterwards she's constantly vouching for him when almost no one else will.
- Silk Hiding Steel: Soft-spoken and refined lady brave enough to stab Kabaneri with nothing more than a little knife when men that came with her just watch her helplessly.
- Yamato Nadeshiko: As befitting a feudal princess.
- You Are in Command Now: Has to take the reins of the Kotetsujou after her father was infected.
- Zombie Advocate: Tries her best to make other understand that Kabaneri are not mindless monsters ready to kill.
Kurusu
Voiced by: Toshiki Masuda (Japanese), Jamieson Price (English), Christian Strempler (Latin American Spanish)
Ayane's stern and rules-bound bodyguard, a young bushi who took an immediate dislike to Ikoma and tried to get him out of his sight whatever means necessary, but was forced to work together with him for the Kotetsujou's survival.
- Badass Normal:
- He takes out various amount of normal Kabane with his swordsmanship.
- Later doubles his badass cred by escaping a Kabane infested station (by motorcycle) and almost catching up to the Kokujou, with a reluctant Mad Scientist in tow.
- Blind Obedience: Follows the word of Kensho and Ayame infallibly.
- Bodyguard Crush: Heavily implied for Ayame, and that his wish is to marry her.
- Character Development: Debuts in Episode 1 as a Jerkass stickler for the rules that gets a bone to pick with Ikoma. By Episode 6 has become, if not Ikoma's friend, his trusted comrade, double teaming a horde of Kabane and sharing some lighthearted banter with him.
- Everything's Better with Samurai: The main bushi of the cast (aside from Kibito) and, while a jerk, he's a complete Badass Normal.
- Flash Step: In Episode 4 there is a scene where shadows cross the screen for less than a second in rapid succession, he is supposed to be near the front of the train getting his katana, when the last shadow passes he's just there right next to Ayame and Kibito.
- Hate at First Sight: He openly admits his disgust for Ikoma in Episode 2.
- Honor Before Reason: Downplayed, but Kurusu is prepared to give his life in service to Ayame and the Yomokawa family. In his defense, the situation necessitated someone go out into a horde of Kabane to save everyone else.
- Jerk Jock: A Fantasy Counterpart to this trope, a little too comfortable with the power his Samurai status gives him. It's very fortunate that, harsh as he may be, he sees fit to blindly follow the rules and is unfailingly loyal to the more reasonable Ayame, otherwise he'd be downright villainous.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He is usually somber and honest, vehemently upholding his code of honor and duty as a bushi.
- Kick the Dog: His Establishing Character Moment has him viciously knock Ikoma to the ground for attempting to stop the Aragane bushi from executing an innocent man.
- Knight Templar: For Kurusu, the rules aren't just mean to an end, but an end in and of themselves.
- Luminescent Blush: Episode 7 shows that when away from the Kabane he is very prone to these around Ayame. Very.
- Negated Moment of Awesome: Ikoma demonstrates the ability to copy one of his moves thanks to a Kabaneri ability and he responds by using a different move to beat him while claiming that doesn't mean he can beat him. Mumei calls his response very childish, deflating him.
- Pet the Dog: He's one of the first people to volunteer to give Ikoma blood at the end of Episode 4.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Blue to Ikoma's Red. Lampshaded in Episode 5 with Kurusu's blue clothes during their back-to-back moment.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Seems to be developing this dynamic with Ikoma. They are more than happy to let their fists do the talking but work very well together in a way that suggest that they actually trust each other a lot.
- Younger Than They Look: His official age is 17, just like Ikoma. You'd be forgiven for thinking he was at least in his mid-late 20s.
Kibito
Voiced by: Kensuke Satou (Japanese), Kyle Hebert (English), Irwin Daayán (Latin American Spanish)
Another Aragane soldier and Kurusu's friend who is, in contrast, an open and friendly guy who treats everyone around him with respect and believes that the rules exist to make life easier for the people, not for their own sake.
- The Big Guy: A large, jolly fighter.
- "Eureka!" Moment: It takes a while, but when he sees Ikoma taking on the Kabane in close quarters, and recalls that Kurusu is a trained swordsman, he comes up with a strategy: "Kurusu, get your Katana."
- Gentle Giant: Easily the most kind and compassionate bushi around.
- Meaningful Name: Kibito likely comes from tsukibito, which means "attendant" in Japanese. The word samurai is believed to mean the same thing.
- Nice Guy: Kibito is shown to be not only rational but quite sympathetic to most people, empathizing with the Kabaneri's plight and willing to trust and work alongside them after witnessing their efforts to protect the passengers of the Kotetsujou, keeping a mostly positive and relatively upbeat attitude towards the whole situation.
- Papa Wolf: He is quite protective of his brothers in arms, not thinking twice before jumping into a hail of gunfire to drag Kurusu's wounded body away from a Wazatori swordsman himself.
- Younger Than They Look: Judging for his appearance, he might be perfectly in his thirties or even fourties, but promotional materials reveal he is 19, just two years older than Ikoma and Kurusu.
Takumi
Voiced by: Yūki Kaji (Japanese), Ben Diskin (English), Miguel Angel Ruiz (Latin American Spanish)
Ikoma's friend and another steam smith who worked on the anti-Kabane gun together with him. Unlike his fearless friend, however, he's a much more cautious and worldly person, and tries to keep Ikoma out of his self-destructive obsessive episodes.
- BFG: He gets the honor of firing the Type 48 cannon after it's mounted to the Kotetsujou.
- Brainy Brunette: A brown-haired steam smith.
- Character Death: He dies after saving Ikoma's life.
- Cowardly Lion: Is not a fan of fighting the Kabane, but will when push comes to shove.
- Crazy-Prepared: He took care to don a full ashigaru armor before running through the zombie-infested city to Ikoma.
- Curtains Match the Windows: Brown hair and brown eyes.
- My Greatest Failure: He deeply regrets his inaction when the people of the Kotetsujou turned on Ikoma.
- Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Ran through a Kabane infested city to rescue his friend.
- Taking the Bullet: Towards the end of Episode 10, he took a fatal bullet to the heart, meant for Ikoma.
- True Companions: Ikoma's best friend, trusting him even after he admits to having been infected by a Kabane, and leaving the safety of the Kotetsujo to save him.
- Undying Loyalty: Towards Ikoma. Having unwavering faith in him, Takumi is willing to stand up for Ikoma, even when he was outcast as a Kabane. When they were fighting together, Takumi gave support to Ikoma, believing in him to be capable of saving people in the Kotetsujou. As Ikoma became a kabaneri, in order to sate his hunger, Takumi offered his own blood. Furthered in Episode 10 when he took a bullet and died for Ikoma.
Kajika
Voiced by: Kanae Oki (Japanese), Colleen O'Shaughnessey (English), Jessica Angeles (Latin American Spanish)
Yet another train mechanic and friend of Ikoma and Takumi, she considers herself not nearly as brave as the boys, and thus mostly keeps away from the action, mainly riding herd over the civilian refugees, thanks to her Cool Big Sis personality.
- Brainy Brunette: Kajika has brown hair and is a trained steam smith.
- Cool Big Sis: She's one to the children and Mumei.
- Curtains Match the Window: Kajika has matching brown hair and eyes.
- Defiant to the End: She is perfectly prepared to die just to disobey Biba's Hunters.
- Friend to All Children: She looks after the orphaned children and she enjoys them as much as they enjoy her.
- Mama Bear: She takes it upon herself to watch over and take care of a group of children who've been separated from their parents in the scramble to escape from Aragane.
- Nice Girl: She is shown to be friendly and on good terms with the other steam smiths.
- Shipper on Deck: Silently cheers when she witnesses Mumei and Ikoma kiss in the Battle of Unato.
- Team Mom: A soft-spoken girl who acts as a surrogate mother to the orphan children.
- Wrench Wench: She's a mechanic like Ikoma and Takumi.
Sukari
Voiced by: Ryōta Ōsaka (Japanese), Tom Gibis (English), Raymundo Armijo (Latin American Spanish)
Yet another of Kotetsujou's mechanics (there's a lot of them on the crew), a handsome and somewhat smug lad who just got thrown into the same car with Takumi and Kajika when the fearful refugees sorta rebelled, but still carried his weight faithfully.
- Aloof Ally: He doesn't even try to hide that he'd got no intention of joining the heroes voluntarily, but still pulls his weight regardless.
- Cruel to Be Kind: In Episode 7, he outright tells a kid there were no survivors on the train his dad worked on, reasoning that it would be far crueler to let him live with the false hope of seeing a father who'd never come home. His own dad disappeared on another Hayajiro, and it bothers him to this day how no one was ever able to tell him the truth.
- Deadpan Snarker: Likes to shoot down the pathos regularly.
- Dude Looks Like a Lady: Decidedly feminine in appearance and manners.
- Fake Defector: Episode 10 makes it look like he defected to Biba's side when he really was a mole for Ikoma.
- Insufferable Genius: Quite arrogant and smug, though a good mechanic and a decent fighter.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Yes, he snarks all the time, but he does care.
- The Reliable One: Gets the job done.
- Ship Tease: With Yukina of all people. And it seems the creators themselves encourage it
!
Suzuki
Voiced by: Maxwell Powers (Japanese), Elijah Ungvary (English, S1), Jake Green (English. Battle of Unato), Miguel Angel Leal (Latin American Spanish)
The train's chief mechanic, a guy with the awesome 'do like the early 19th century British wigs and strong English accent, he provides an expert management of his team and a lot of (probably unintentional) comedy.
- Awesome Aussie: Australian-born Elijah Ungvary voices the character with his natural accent.
- But Not Too Foreign: For everything said about him with his tropes, his name is a very Japanese name Suzuki.
- Gratuitous English: Peppers his speech with English words and phrases, and has a heavy accent courtesy of American-born Maxwell Powers. It's averted in the English dub.
- Memetic Hair: It's the first thing that the people see in him.
- Stoic Spectacles: Is hardly ever seen without his standard issue mechanic's specs.
- Phenotype Stereotype: A dark blond guy with the strong chin (and a dimple).
- Quirky Curls: Must spend a significant time with the curling iron.
Yukina
Voiced by: Mariya Ise (Japanese), Abby Trott (English), Valentina Souza (Latin American Spanish)
Kotetsujou's Assistant Engineer, forced by the circumstances to head the train's crew similarly to Ayame. A stoic and taciturn girl, who, despite her apprentice status, controls the Kotetsujou competently and efficiently.
- Badass Driver: A necessary trait for a Hayajiro Engineer.
- Clark Kent Outfit: Surprisingly, underneath those engineer robes lies a well muscled body.
- Nerves of Steel: Calmly controls the Kotetsujou as Aragane station crumbles around her, despite being a lowly apprentice.
- The Quiet One: Professional and stern, she seldom starts or even engages in conversation, speaking in single phrases and getting right to the point.
- Ship Tease: One that's supported by Wit Studio themselves, no less! Made doubly hilarious regarding below mentioned scene, but Episode 7 with its Tanabata shenanigans starts to lay the innuendos rather heavily, despite Yukina and Sukari just barely tolerating each other before.
- The Stoic: A woman of few words and Nerves of Steel.
- Student/Teacher Romance: Misses her teacher, the previous engineer of the Kotetsujou, dearly. Sukari insinuates that it's because of this trope. She shoves him in the gut.
Hunters
Biba Amatori
Voiced by: Mamoru Miyano (Japanese), Roger Craig Smith (English)
Leader of Hunters, the Shogun's eldest son and Mumei's adoptive brother. He's implied to be involved in some conspiracy around the Shogunate.
- The Ace: Insanely skilled fighter, former leader of 400,000 men at age 12, pioneer in using Kabane as technology and weapons of mass destruction, the man's got it all.
- And Then What?: Invoked by himself in the final episode. After successfully getting revenge on his father and ensuring the total destruction of the capital city Kongokaku, he overlooks the carnage and muses to himself, "Now what shall I do next, I wonder?" The fact that he literally had no plans on what to do afterward probably contributed heavily to his deciding to stick around and wait for Ikoma to come and kill him.
- Big Bad: The Greatest contender of the title so far, willing to use pretty questionable methods for the reason of wanting to stick it to his father.
- Broken Ace: Biba has unbelievable amounts of father issues, which created him into a very morally questionable man.
- Calling the Old Man Out: His greatest desire.
- Character Death: He is killed by Mumei in the Grand Finale.
- Chekhov's Gun: The belt holding the collar of his outfit is actually his Power Limiter hidden in plain sight, and he removes it before his final battle with Ikoma. In the same episode, he was seen to have one dose of White Blood for emergencies, which he later used to save Ikoma.
- Child Soldier: When he was 12, he was the commander of a 400,000-strong army to destroy the Kabane.
- Crazy-Prepared:
- He was able to foil Ikoma's revolt in Episode 10 by switching out the keys that one of his men carried.
- He also carries a vial of White Blood for emergencies in which he needs to stop Fused Kabane Colonies. He uses it to revert Ikoma back to normal after their fight ends.
- Daddy Issues: Unbelievable amounts of this for justified reasons. Even worse once a brief scene of him riding with his father as a child is shown after murdering his father, showing that despite everything he did to get back at his father, he still cared about him.
- Death Seeker: Heavily implied in the last part of his arc and all but stated during his final duel with Ikoma, which looks rather like an extended Suicide by Cop.
- Disproportionate Retribution: His father has tried to kill him twice. His response to kill everyone in his way and others that pose no threat to him. Once he succeeds he proceeds to kill everyone in the capital for no reason, and tries to raze it to the ground. And then he kills his father for good measure.
- Empowered Badass Normal: Turns outs he's also a Kabaneri, probably another artificial one.
- Expy: He looks a lot like Asch.
- Evil Versus Evil: Biba and his father are both villains out to kill each other.
- Faux Affably Evil: While he's very polite, he'll do anything to have his revenge.
- Foil: He's one for Ikoma. Their current personalities are both the result of a childhood trauma; while Ikoma became The Atoner for his cowardness and decided to never give up, Biba grew bitter becoming focused on revenge on his father. They both have conducted extensive research on the Kabane but with complete opposite endgoals: while Ikoma focused on their weaknesses and developed weapons to destroy them, Biba instead focused on how to use the Kabane themselves to create Kabaneri and then a Fused Colony. Their social standings are also pretty much the at opposite ends of the spectrum at the start of the series: while Biba has been disowned he is loved by the people and has an entire army loyal to him, Ikoma only had two friends at the start of the series and was seen as weird for his research, which only got worse when Ikoma became a Kabaneri.
- Freudian Excuse: His hatred of his father is traced back to years ago when his father first tried to murder him. It didn't become full blown homicidal hatred until ten years ago when Biba was only 12 years old, he was the commander of a force sent by his father to destroy the Kabane. At first they did well till supplies were cut off, eventually leading to their defeat as the Kabane surrounded them.
- Gunblade: His weapon of choice is a Kabane-fused sabre with a pistol built into it.
- Half-Human Hybrid: When Ikoma blows his left arm off in their final duel, Biba's exposed chest shows that he has the telltale glowing heart of a Kabaneri.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: How Mumei kills him in the Grand Finale.
- Knight Templar: He's willing to let innocent people be killed by the Kabane, if it means advancing his goal.
- Noble Demon: He still cares for Mumei in his own way, and uses the last remaining vial of the "white blood" antidote to inject it into Ikoma during ther duel, as Ikoma, high on a "black blood" stimulant that turns Kabaneri into Fused Colonies, wouldn't survive otherwise.
- Pet the Dog: He gave Ikoma the white blood cell stimulant in the finale, even though he had no reason to.
- The Social Darwinist: Maintains that those unwilling to fight for their survival are unneeded and unworthy of life, which is what made Ikoma dislike him.
- Soft-Spoken Sadist: Vary rarely does he raise his voice, even when committing several atrocities.
- Sole Survivor: Of the 400,000 men he lead ten years ago he was the sole person to survive.
- The Unfavorite: He said that the Shogun officially disowned him, for reasons yet unstated.
- The Unfettered: He doesn't stop for anything.
- Uriah Gambit: The Shogun tried to get rid of him sending him on an expedition and then withdrawing supplies when he was only twelve.
- Villain with Good Publicity: Biba is well-loved by the population, despite being a murderous Single-Issue Wonk willing to do anything to get revenge on his father.
- We Can Rule Together: He offers Ikoma to join him. Of course this being right after he shot Takumi, Ikoma doesn't even consider it.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: At least officially, as his goals is liberation of the Hi-no-Moto from the kabane. He's willing to use human experimentation and Child Soldiers for that. Subverted horribly when it becomes apparent he only really cares about revenge.
- Worthy Opponent: Downplayed, but he seems to see Ikoma as one at times. Most obviously seen in their final battle where he gave Ikoma the white blood, right before demanding he get up and keep fighting.
Sahari
Voiced by: Takanori Hoshino (Japanese), Spike Spencer (English)
Biba's strategist and right hand man.
- The Dragon: Uryuu might be Biba's Captain, but Sahari is the one who oversees and implements all of Biba's plans.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Courtesy of Ikoma's rivet gun.
- Made of Iron: Manages to survive his locomotive being catapulted into the air and exploded with only a minor head wound.
- The Strategist
- Undying Loyalty: To Biba.
- Vehicular Assault: Attempts to kill Ikoma by ramming him with a train in the final episode. It doesn't go as planned.
- Villainous Breakdown: Slowly loses his composure as Ikoma and Kurusu butcher their way through the Kabane and his soldiers in the final episode.
Uryuu
Voiced by: Kaito Ishikawa (Japanese), Chris Niosi (English)
The Captain of the Hunters and one of Biba's most prominent subordinates.
- Cooperation Gambit: Offers to tell Ayame about Biba's planned escape route in exchange for a place on the Kotetsujou.
- Easily Forgiven: Thoroughly averted. While he and the other surviving Hunters manage to bargain their way onto the Kotetsujou at the end of the series, the other passengers make it very clear that they still think he's a scumbag.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: The only one of Biba's followers to show even the slightest hint of remorse for all the atrocities the Hunters commit. Not that it stops him taking part in them.
- Sole Survivor: The only named member of the Hunters who survives to the end of the series.
- Stab the Scorpion: After hassling Kurusu when the latter won't hand over his sword, Uryuu draws his knife and seemingly attacks Ayame. Turns out he was actually aiming at a poisonous spider on the wall. As this is his very first scene it goes to show that, while not exactly a nice guy, he does have some good in him.
Horobi
Click here to see Horobi as a fused colony
Voiced by: Aya Endo (Japanese), Cissy Jones (English)
A quiet woman who acts as one of Biba's bodyguards. Later revealed to be another Kabaneri.
- Action Girl
- Collared by Fashion: Like all Kabaneri. Hers, however, is obviously designed to serve as a power limiter, leading to-
- Cool Mask: Her restraining collar unfolds into a mask when it's released.
- Dying as Yourself: When she regains her sanity and stops herself from stabbing Biba at the last moment, she smiles over it before Biba callously skewers her with his blade. Considering she would have died anyway due to the black blood, it could be thought of as a Mercy Kill.
- Go Out with a Smile: Coming face-to-face with Biba as she is about to kill him frees her from the murderous mania induced by the black blood, and she smiles over seeing her master one last time before he promptly pierces her with his blade.
- Half-Human Hybrid: Like Ikoma and Mumei, she's a Kabaneri.
- Heroic Willpower: 'Heroic' might be pushing it a little, but she manages to regain enough sanity to stop herself from killing Biba after the black blood mutates her.
- One-Winged Angel: Becomes a Fused Colony after Biba injects her with the black blood.
- Super-Soldier: Is implied to have deliberately been turned into a Kabaneri for this reason.
- Undying Loyalty: Willingly acts as a guinea pig for the black blood, which transforms her into a Fused Colony. She openly acknowledges earlier that she is going to die as a result of this, but doesn't seem to object.
- Unusual Eyebrows: Her eyebrows are shaped like arrows.
Enoku
Voiced by: Kenichiro Masuda (Japanese), Aaron LaPlante (English)
An old man who is introduced as one of the few survivors at Yashiro station. After a conversation with Mumei he is revealed to be a Hunter formerly known as Biba's 'Ear'.
- An Arm and a Leg: His right leg is missing from the knee down.
- Breaking Speech: Delivers one to Mumei, noting that her time on board the Kotetsujou has blunted her killer instinct.
- Eyepatch of Power
- Noodle Incident: The events that caused Biba to cast him out of the Hunters are never elaborated upon.
- Old Soldier
- Undying Loyalty: Ultimately subverted. Enoku is determined to aid Biba even after being discarded by him, going so far as to infiltrate the Shogun's forces and offering to assassinate Biba in order to discover who among them wants him dead. When Biba rejects him despite this he decides to carry out the hit anyway.
Unato
Kageyuki
Voiced by: Shin-ichiro Miki (Japanese), Kyle McCarley (English), Carlo Vázquez (Latin American Spanish)
Once the feudal Lord of Unato, when he was bitten by a Kabane and turned into a Kabaneri, his men turned on him, accidentally killing his daughter. Turning the entire castle of Unato into a hive of Kabane, he intends to get vengeance on those who betrayed him.
- Big Bad: The main antagonist of the Battle of Unato, although his daughter is the one controlling the Kabane.
- Cold Sniper: He's a deadly accurate sniper, and is utterly ruthless.
- Despair Event Horizon: The betrayal of his men and the death of his daughter made him snap.
- Dying as Yourself: As he lays dying, he regains some of his sanity and remembers what he told to his daughter.
- Fallen Hero: Once a wise lord who loved his daughter and defended his people, lost everything and became its biggest threat.
- Half-Human Hybrid: Much like Ikoma, he was bitten by a Kabane and managed to retain his humanity.
- Hidden Villain: His survival is unknown for most of the movie.
- Not So Similar: As Mumei notes while fighting him, he has long forsaken his humanity, unlike she and Ikoma, who still have reasons to live.
- White Hair, Black Heart: His hair turned white, and now he wants death for all of humanity.
Miyuki
Voiced by: Rikako Aida (Japanese), Abby Trott (English), Danann Huicochea (Latin American Spanish)
The daughter of Kageyuki, who died trying to defend her father from paranoid soldiers.
- The Dragon: Technically she's this for her father, being the one who controls the Kabane.
- Dragon Their Feet: After her father is fatally injured, she awakens as a Fused Colony and tries to destroy the Kotetsujou one last time.
- Morality Chain: As soon as she died, her father turned into a monster.
- White Hair, Black Heart: Like her father, her hair turned white after becoming a Kabane, and she's a threat to all of humanity.
Northland Alliance
Kuroji
Voiced by: Hideaki Tezuka (Japanese), Keith Silverstein (English), Pedro D'Aguillón Jr. (Latin American Spanish)
- Armchair Military: He clearly prefers being within the safety of his armored train than at the front lines, all with the intention of taking credit over the achievements of the people of Kotetsujou and Unato.
- Defiant to the End: Even as Kabane infest his train and are about to devour him, he still tries to fight back.
- Fantastic Racism: While he doesn't show it as openly as his men, he clearly distrusts Kabaneri and sees them as barely different from Kabane.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Played With. On one hand, Ikoma was indeed acting far more aggressive than usual and giving signs that he was acting like a Kabane, but on the other hand it was clear he was just looking for an excuse to either lock or kill Ikoma for whatever reason.
- Smoking Is Cool: Always seen with a classy pipe.
- Underestimating Badassery: Ignoring Ikoma and Ayame's concerns that the Kabane were acting much smarter than usual proved to be a fatal miscalculation.
Mogari
Voiced by: Volcano Ota (Japanese), Kyle Hebert (English), Gustavo Melgarejo (Latin American Spanish)
- Frontline General: While he doesn't like the situation, he fights alongside his men to clear the path of Kabane for the Kotetsujou.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: While brusque and not particularly likable, unlike Kuroji, who is only a Jerkass, he decides to fight to help Ayame and the Kotetsujou to clear the path from Kabane.
- Screw This, I'm Out of Here!: He and his men try to leave after Kuroji gets killed, but after some harsh words from Ayame, he mans up and returns to the fray.
Kabane
Kabane
Undead monsters that prey on the living, the Kabane are an ever-present threat to the humans living inside the stations.
- Achilles' Heel: The only reliable way to kill a Kabane is to destroy the heart or cut off the head. Unfortunately their hearts are protected by heavy metal meshes and their steel bones make decapitation almost impossible for all but the most skilled swordsmen.
- Attack! Attack! Attack!: Their standard method is to run at the nearest human and chow down.
- Evil Evolves: Kabane are noted to be very good at imitating humans, which leads to some evolving into the more advanced variants listed below.
- Hate Plague: In the movie Ikoma speculates that the reason Kabane are so violent is because the virus acts as a catalyst for negative emotions, causing them to go on hate and grief-fueled rampages. In extreme cases the effect can spill over and affect nearby humans and Kabaneri as well.
- Horror Hunger: The Kabane are driven by an insatiable hunger for human blood.
- It Can Think: Most Kabane seem to possess at least a low level of cunning. One standout example is the one Ikoma lured to his workshop in the first episode; instead of blundering in through the door it climbs onto the roof and ambushes him from above.
- Made of Iron: Kabane have steel bones and armour-plated hearts, making them immune to most conventional weaponry.
- Plague Zombie: Anyone bitten by a Kabane will eventually turn into one. Being injected with their fluids is another way to get infected.
- Super-Strength: Blows from a Kabane can shatter timber and dent even solid steel bulkheads.
- Volcanic Veins: The infection has caused their veins to glow bright red, which emits steam and remains visible even after the metal from their bodies are reforged into weapons.
- Zombie Gait: Averted. Kabane are fast enough to chase down fleeing civilians without much trouble.
Wazatori
The elites among the horde, Wazatori are Kabane who have survived enough encounters with humans to have learned proper fighting techniques. Coupled with their inhuman strength and endless stamina, this makes them some of the deadliest foes a Bushi or Hunter can expect to face.
- Degraded Boss: The first Wazatori zombie in the series lasts for an entire episode before it's eventually killed. They're far less of a threat in their subsequent reappearances.
- The Dreaded: The Wazatori that attacks the Kotetsujou quickly establishes itself as the most deadly and relentless Kabane in its group.
- Elite Zombie: Of the Smart Zombie variety.
- It Can Think: To an even greater degree than regular Kabane. Wazatori have an instinctive grasp of their chosen combat discipline, with enough intelligence to do things like block attacks and execute tactical withdrawals if the battle turns against them.
- Lightning Bruiser: Regular Kabane are already many times faster, stronger and more durable than average humans. Add the techniques and instincts of a master swordsman or boxer to that and you have a monster that can shred its way through dozens of Bushi with little effort.
Fused Colony
Click here to see what lies inside the colony's heart
.When the Kotetsujou stops at the ruined Yashiro Station, the terrified survivors claim that a 'black smoke' destroyed their home. This shadowy entity is later confirmed to be a Fused Colony, an amalgamation of thousands of individual Kabane capable of destroying entire stations on their own.
- The Assimilator: Colonies aren't picky about what they absorb. Kabane, humans, even corpses are all the same to them. This can be a good thing, since it's possible to use a pile of dead bodies to distract one.
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: They are gigantic amalgamations of Kabane.
- Body of Bodies: Fused Colonies are made up of thousands if not tens of thousands of Kabane meshed together into a single gigantic being.
- Hive Queen: Each colony is controlled by a Nue, a special female Kabane whose heart cage has expanded into thorny growths that can assimilate other flesh. The Nue is the heart and brain of the colony, and killing them causes the entire thing to melt.
- The Juggernaut: Fully grown colonies are strong enough to destroy entire stations on their own, durable enough to stand up to canon fire and fast enough to keep up with a speeding train. It takes a direct hit to their heart area to even slow them down, and even then they'll quickly recover unless the Nue inside is killed.
- Mook Maker: Combined with Detachment Combat and Asteroids Monster. Attacking a Fused Colony invariably dislodges dozens of Kabane, who promptly get up and attack whoever knocked them off.
- One-Winged Angel: It is later revealed that Fused Colonies are the result of injecting female Kabaneri with a stimulant known as the black blood. Only female Kabaneri can become colonies; males simply gain a brief power boost before losing their minds and dying.
