WARNING: Unmarked spoilers ahead, please self-advise. Based on how the work is choreographed, various tropes here contain major plot spoilers!
Matoi Sumeragi
A 14-year old middle-school student who recently moved to Kamaya City with her father, Shingo. Matoi is a girl who wants nothing more than to live a low-key, normal human lifestyle with a complete family and to be "a good wife for her future husband." But an incident involving the temple she part-times in bounds her with an unknown "higher-dimensional being" (god), and turns her into some form of "exorcist;" giving her the ability to see spirits and becoming the research subject to those involved with the war between spiritual dimensions.
- A-Cup Angst: She has a mild breakdown upon sharing her clothes with Clarus and learning that the bra she lent is too small for the latter. It comes back again when they're at the beach and she sees both Clarus and Luciela in their swimsuits.
- Calling Parents by Their Name: Matoi calls her father by his first name, Shingo. Both Yuma and Haruka comment on how odd that is.
- Clothing Damage: Running Gag. Every time Matoi changes out of her Regalia, she ends up naked, to her profound embarrassment. Worst case for her, her clothing will never restore back for her. Leaving Matoi the only option to constantly fill her wardrobe with second-hand cheap clothing to wear on a normal day basis if she resolves to do her exorcist duty seriously.
- I Just Want to Be Normal: Matoi's goal in life. But her life gave her other plans.
- Perpetual Frowner: Ever since she became an exorcist, she lives her days full of gloom and embarrassment. Mainly because of her Clothing Damage issue is becoming the center of attention.
- Power Makes Your Hair Grow: Matoi's hair grew longer and became physically slightly older than her age after she transformed. Which is why her dad couldn't recognize her and thought she was her mother whenever he saw her in that form.
- Raised by Grandparents: After Matoi's mother disappeared, she was mainly brought up by her father's parents, and just recently moved back with her father to live with him again.
- Secret Identity: She tries to keep her identity as an exorcist girl secret.
- Strong Family Resemblance: When transformed, Matoi looks identical to her missing mother.
- Yamato Nadeshiko: The ideal characteristic that Matoi aspires to be. She's polite and nice to people but doesn't want any attention for herself. She also strives to become "a lovely bride" in her future.
Yuma Kusanagi
A highly energetic 13-year old junior schoolmate of Matoi hailing from the Tenman Shrine Kusanagi Clan, and became close friends with Matoi due to The Sumeragis being tenants within her family's property. Yuma is a Magical Girl Otaku who can see spirits since she was a toddler, and greatly aspires to follow her ancestors' footsteps in becoming an exorcist priestess (superhero.) An evil possession incident involving her shrine made her attempt to summon a goddess for help, but that goddess bounded to her friend Matoi instead, which made her envious of Matoi becoming the "superhero" of her dreams. Therefore, Yuma vows to not only do all she can to help Matoi achieve "superhero greatness," but also desperately trying to find ways to make herself become an exorcist in her own right. She finally became one by episode 6.
- Attention Whore: Yuma's wants attention, fame, and power; the total opposite of what Matoi wants in life. She doesn't even care of exposing Matoi and herself as superheros, went as far as managing blogs and tweets just to promote their superhero selves.
- Familiar: She has two: Kuu, a female kitsune, and Kai, a male Tanuki.
- Genki Girl: Not even life-threatening danger puts a damper on Yuma's energy.
- Girlish Pigtails: Sports a cute pair.
- Hostile Show Takeover / Leaning on the Fourth Wall: The moment she became a potential exorcist in episode 5 was so exciting for her, Yuma literally celebrates in the beginning of episode 6 breaking the fourth wall to gush to the audience, then changes the show's title to "Yuma the Sacred Slayer" and inserts pictures of herself all over the opening sequence.
- Hotblooded: She's full of reckless energy.
- The Nicknamer: She calls Matoi by "Toi-chan," and Clarus "Ku-chan" despite giving her spirit fox the same name. note
- Third-Person Person: Yuma refers to herself as such, even giving herself the Affectionate Nickname, "Yumachin."
Clarus Tonitrus
An Exorcist working under The Anti-Creed of Fatima. Clarus is known for her immense attack power. Due to being trained as an exorcist since early childhood, she follows orders of her Anti-Creed to the fullest, and doesn't know how to socialize with anyone else besides those within her Anti-Creed affiliation.
- Dark Magical Girl: Compared to Matoi and Yuma, she's far more serious and willing to fight.
- Expy: Of Fate Testarossa of the Lyrical Nanoha franchise, in terms of being a stoic, blonde, dark magical girl using voice assistant technology to summon her deity. Interestingly enough, she wears a sidebraid to her left, paying tribute to Nanoha.
- Informed Attractiveness: Clarus easily garners the attention of all Japanese civilians just by tagging along with Matoi around town, much to Matoi's despair.
- The Stoic: She hasn't smiled since her former partner was subjected to a Fate Worse than Death by the Creed Killer.
Cariot
A clergyman working under Vatican City's Anti-Creed of Fatima, and is the superior to Clarus. He works particularly close to Clarus, taking care of her daily routines and personally watch over her missions due to her unstable mentality.
- Accidental Pervert: Being a foreigner without any knowledge of Japanese culture, Cariot innocently booked a "Love Motel" for Clarus and himself to stay temporarily thinking it was just like any other regular hotel, and asks Luciela and Yuma to come over to trade information. Only to be served a slap from Luciela for no reason. After learning the type of location where he booked, he immediately kneels on spot to confess his sins to God asking for repentance.
- Badass Normal: Has no special abilities, but he's still a good fighter.
- Church Militant: He's a devout clergyman who battles Nights.
- Expy: Of Hikitsu from the Fushigi Yuugi franchise, albeit without any supernatural powers. Bonus points for them sharing the same voice actor.
- Long-Haired Pretty Boy: Fits this appearance-wise, although he's not very androgynous.
- The Stoic: Not as stoic as his subordinate, but he's still counts in that category.
Haruka Luciela
A investigator working for the Department of Anomalous Crimes Chemistry Division, IATO. Luciela claimed to be called in to aid the investigation of the abnormalities within Kamaya City, and was assigned into Shingo's police department. She quickly noticed the linkage between Matoi's sudden exorcist powers and The Tenman Shrine, and deliberately made close contact with Matoi and Yuma in order to submerge herself further into researching the multi-dimensional battle between spirits.
- Cool Shades: Rarely seen without them.
- Ms. Fanservice: She's a very attractive woman who walks around in an extremely low-cut top, which tends to draw a lot of attention.
Takuto Kusanagi
Yuma's father.
- Delinquent Hair: He sports an over-the-top pompadour, which is absolutely rare for priests.
Chika Kusanagi
Yuma's mother.
- Yamato Nadeshiko: She definitely looks the part, and she's much calmer compared to her husband.
Seigen Kusanagi
The patriarch of The Kusanagi Clan and Yuma's grandfather. A powerful exorcist in his own right, he secretly looks over his granddaughter's potential to succeed his line, and is also aware of her friend, Matoi becoming a power exorcist.
- Cool Old Guy: He tries to come across as reasonable to the other exorcists.
Yayoi Amane
A longtime friend of Matoi's parents, Shingo and Shiori, and a full-time miko serving the Tenkai Shrine. Yayoi is her temple's active exorcist, and is more than willing to give Matoi and Yuma guidance in the field.
- Brought Down to Normal: She's fought Nights for so long that her Higher-Dimensional Being is too damaged in the present. While she can still transform and battle, it's clear that her days as an Exorcist are numbered. And if she doesn't quit while she's ahead, the next fight could be fatal.
- Cool Big Sis: To both Matoi and Yuma for her experience as an exorcist.
- Hidden Buxom: Hard to tell when she's in her kimono, but her Exorcist Regalia and her casual dress show that she has an ample bosom. Azumi says it's a good feature that'll ensure she lands a husband someday.
Azumi Azuma
The Head Priestess and owner of The Tenkai Shrine, Azumi is an adorable old lady who doesn't hide her fondness for pretty boys and teenage trends. She's an old friend of The Kusanagis and is very much aware of Yuma and Matoi being exorcists.
- Alliterative Name: Azumi Azuma.
- They Call Me MISTER Tibbs!: Regardless of her age, this lady insisted people to call her "Azu-chin," extreme to the point where if you don't address her with that Affectionate Nickname, she will never respond to you!
- Woman Child: Doesn't let her age get in the way of acting immature at times.
Shingo Sumeragi
Matoi's father and an investigative police sergeant affiliated within the Violent Crimes Division of Kamaya City Police Station. Due to an unknown incident in the past, his wife went missing, leaving him with their only daughter, Matoi. Due to Shingo's hectic work schedules, Matoi was mainly brought up by his parents, which further distanced his relationship with Matoi, making her feel unrelated to him to the point that she generally calls Shingo by his name as opposed to "Dad." He officially brought Matoi back to live with him when he took the notification to transfer to Kamaya City, and rented a house within the Kusanagi property. He is unaware of his daughter becoming an exorcist due to her age being altered when she transforms.
- Alliterative Name: Both he and his wife have alliterative names, but the funny thing is their daughter doesn't.
- Anger Born of Worry: He doesn't know that his daughter is fighting otherworldly entities. But Shingo catches Matoi now and then near a crime scene caused by the Nights, and thinks she's trying to get a closer look at what's going on, which upsets him.
- Expy: Of Kotetsu T. Kaburagi from Tiger & Bunny.
- Married to the Job: He has shades of this.
- Parents as People: He tries his best to be a good father—and for the most part, he is—but is still adjusting to having his daughter living with him again. Coupled with his police work and his own grief over his wife disappearing, he has his own issues to get through.
Hideo "Pochi" Tezuka
Shingo's subordinate in his department.
- The Chew Toy: He takes a lot of humorous punishment.
- Lovable Sex Maniac: He can't hide is horniness towards blonde ladies with dynamite bodies, but since he can't reach them, he's categorized more as a Chivalrous Pervert.
Shiori Sumeragi
Mother of Matoi and wife of Shingo. She was an exorcist born within the Kusanagi Clan who went missing from her mission in sealing a broken dimension ten years prior the current story line.
- Alliterative Name: Both her and her husband, Shingo have alliterative names, but their daughter doesn't.
- Buxom Beauty Standard: According to Shingo, and from what pictures we see of her, she had an impressive chest. The main clue to Shingo that the transformed Matoi is actually not his missing wife (despite looking almost the same in her transformed state) is that Shiori's chest was bigger than Matoi's.
- Missing Mom: Matoi's mother has "disappeared". It's not clear whether she's missing or dead, but her instructions to Shingo to look after Matoi "until I get back" seem to imply the former.
- The Lost Lenore: To her husband, who still grieves her loss and suffers a mental breakdown when he realizes their daughter is an exorcist girl like Shiori was and might suffer the same fate as her.
Flors Oriens
Clarus' former exorcist partner of the Anti-Creed of Fatima. She's shown to be a girl with immense sympathy towards others, and is willing to believe in the good of all people; including the Nights she fought against. The Creed-Killer took advantage of this character of hers to put her into eternal unconsciousness.
- All-Loving Hero: She even had sympathy for Nights.
- Too Good for This Sinful Earth: The kindest character thus far, currently in a coma.
Higher-Dimensional Beings
Kuu the Kitsune and Kai the Tanuki
Two adorable familiars in the form of a kitsune (fox) and a tanuki (Japanese-raccoon dog) who encountered Yuma when she was young. But Yuma's grandfather, Seigen sealed them within Yuma to prevent chaos to their human realm. Clarus accidentally breaks the seal when she tests Yuma's capability for Divine Union. After solving their misunderstandings with Yuma, Kuu and Kai are willing to aid Yuma in exorcism. Kuu is an open-minded strong female responsible in providing Yuma her attack skills, while Kai is a very timid male responsible in giving Yuma defense skills.
Tropes related to Kuu
- Colour-Coded for Your Convenience: The warm color spectrum: red, pink, yellow, and orange.
- Tomboy with a Girly Streak: Given Kai being way too shy, as much as a legit girl she is, she pretty much has no choice but to be tough in order to protect him.
Tropes related to Kai
- Colour-Coded for Your Convenience: The cool color spectrum: green, lime green, blue, and white.
- Cowardly Lion: This poor boy shivers over anything. But when he does puts his mind into achieving something, he rocks!
- Nervous Wreck: Poor Kai, he can't stop shivering!
- Shrinking Violet: He a very nervous little tanuki.
Phegor
A powerful Creed Killer whom Clarus has sworn revenge against.
Saphirus
A female Night who can control ice.
Ludos
A male Night who can control fire.
Set
The leader of the Nights, who seeks to unify all the dimensions.
