Here are examples of characters in Saint Young Men.
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Main Characters
Jesus
Voiced by: Mirai Moriyama
Jesus is fun-loving and painfully earnest, but also a bit spacey and a somewhat careless with money. A great fan of Japanese dramas, he runs a blog dedicated to reviewing these shows. He has quite a lot of followers.
- Bloody Hilarious: His stigmata acts up when he gets stressed out, leading him to bleed from the forehead at inconvenient moments. Always Played for Laughs.
- Catchphrase: Tends to shout "Exotic Japan!" whenever he sees something uniquely Japanese that interests him.
- Cloudcuckoolander: This is a man that got so excited about Santa Claus that he forgot his own birthday on Christmas Eve.
- Happily Adopted: He and Joseph truly think of one another as father and son even though they know God conceived him. However when Jesus grew up and began to doubt if he really was God's son, Joseph became anxious and buried himself in his work. Despite this he still cared for him and Mary.
- Heal It with Blood: As in the Bible, Jesus's blood has healing properties.
- Looks Like Jesus: Inverted. According to a high school girl, Jesus looks a lot like Johnny Depp.
- Making a Splash: Accidentally parts the water at the swimming pool when trying to swim.
- Occidental Otaku: He's notably more interested in Japanese culture than Buddha is.
- Pals with Buddha
- Pastimes Prove Personality: He has a TV-show Review Blog that he started because people following it reminds him of when he was a prophet and his apostles started literally following him.
- Power Incontinence: Small miracles pop up whenever he's too happy or excited. His head also starts bleeding (from his crown of thorns) when he does something self-sacrificing. It makes keeping a low profile a bit difficult.
- Something Only They Would Say: Apparently the way he proved that he really had come back to life was by boning a fish with such precision that only the man raised by the great carpenter Joseph could do it.
- Super Drowning Skills: The reason Jesus walked on water? He can't swim. At all. He can't open his eyes underwater either; trying caused his stigmata to start bleeding.
Buddha
Voiced by: Gen Hoshino
The more level-headed of the duo, Buddha tends to be more responsible and frugal than Jesus, although he has his moments. Buddha has a bad habit of glowing whenever he says or does something too virtuous, and has somehow become the rival of a gang of school boys
- Blank White Eyes: Usually gets these when freaked out or stressed.
- Compressed Hair: His hair is so long that it fills the entire screen. Good thing it's usually kept under control.
- Friend to All Living Things: Cats and birds gather around their apartment, to the displeasure of the landlady. If given a chance, the animals will climb all over Buddha, using him as a perch.
- Sometimes taken to absolutely ridiculous extremes. If Buddha comments that he's hungry, animals will show up at his door, matches in paw/claw, ready to sacrifice themselves for him.
- Fun T-Shirt: Silk-screens the shirts that he and Jesus wears. He doesn't want Jesus to find out that he's responsible for the shirts though.
- Not So Above It All: While Buddha is usually the more responsible one, he can get really worked up at times (usually when a sale is involved).
- Only Known by Their Nickname: He's rarely called Siddharta.
- Pals with Jesus
- Parents as People: He has a somewhat awkward relationship with his son Rahula, having been forced to cut him off emotionally in order to truly achieve Nirvana. However he does still see him and cares for him, probably since he can't be "de-enlightened" again and showing affection doesn't put him at risk.
- Power Incontinence: Frequently creates small miracles by accident. His halo comes out whenever he says or does anything too virtuous, creating a blinding glow.
- Pungeon Master: An accidental example. He doesn't try to make puns, but he frequently does, to Jesus' amusement.
- Straight Man
Civilians
Matsuda-san
The landlady of Matsuda Heights, the apartment complex where Jesus and Buddha are staying for their vacation. A crabby busybody, Matsuda-san rules Matsuda Heights with a stern glare and a list of rules printed on the fence.
- Apron Matron: At sixty years of age, Matsuda-san is still a force to be reckoned with. She watches over her tenants like a hawk, sternly enforcing her nine (later ten) rules. That said, while strict, she is also rather kind to her tenants. She regularly brings cooked meals to the two saints and often checks up on them.
- Entertainingly Wrong: She makes a number of assumptions about Buddha and Jesus, most of which are not exactly correct (although they are a lot more plausible than the truth, to be fair).
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She may be strict, orderly, and crabby, but she cares about Jesus and Buddha. She regularly brings cooked meals and often checks up on them.
Daisuke
The leader of a gang of boys that regularly torments Buddha.
- Bratty Half-Pint: He regularly torments Buddha by poking him in the forehead, causing Buddha to fear him and hide his forehead in the kid's presence.
- The Dreaded: Buddha hides his forehead whenever this kid is in sight.
- Finger Poke of Doom: Enjoys poking Buddha on the spot on his forehead.
- The Rival: Has declared Buddha his rival, to the latter's dismay.
- Wrong Genre Savvy: He seems to think (or at least likes to pretend) that he's the protagonist of a Shōnen series with Buddha as his rival. He's really just a Bratty Half-Pint kid who's in a Slice of Life Fantastic Comedy.
Ryuji/"Yakuza Guy"
A local Yakuza member who Jesus befriends.
- Birds of a Feather: How he ends up befriending Jesus. Because of Jesus's Exact Words (being persecuted and crucified by authorities, and "got out" three days later), he comes up with the wrong conclusion that the stigmata-handed guy sitting next to him in the sauna that day must be the untouchable son of a very powerful Yakuza crime boss who'd do anything to keep his only child out of danger.
- Comically Missing the Point: He sees Jesus' stigmata and thinks they are wounds from being a criminal. He is technically right.
- Delinquent Hair: As befitting a member of the Yakuza, his hair is styled into a pompadour.
- Doting Parent: To his young daughter Aiko.
- Happily Married: To Shizuko, who's just as rough and possibly even tougher than him.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's a member of the Yakuza and he's a criminal, so naturally his presence is very off-putting to normal citizens. But he's a devoted family man who loves his wife and young daughter, and he's quite friendly with Jesus who he thinks is the powerful and untouchable son of an equally powerful crime boss.
- Tattooed Crook: He's a member of the Yakuza, so naturally he has a tattoo decorating his body - in his case, it's a tattoo of a Buddha. Ironically and hilariously, Jesus thinks that him having a tattoo of the Buddha (who's his best friend and sitting right next to him) is a sign of a holy and pious man.
- Yakuza: Duh.
Archangels
Michael
Leader of the archangels, who seems to look up to his brother's rebellion more than he should.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: While not always the brightest, Micheal is very kind and gracious to everyone, and is of course blond.
Uriel
One of the archangels who is very stoic and very silent. Could probably kill you.
- The Brute: It's specifically Uriel who's summoned when Jesus' "emergency beacon" goes off.
- The Comically Serious: It's pretty much his role among the archangels. His first appearance has him condemning wasabi for putting Jesus in pain in complete and utter seriousness.
- Flaming Sword: Has this. Appearently it is the one used to seal Eden.
Demons
Mara
Demon who tried to tempt Buddha under the Bodhi tree. Very lonely.
- Gender Bender: Nakamura has gone on record saying she took a lot of her inspiration for Saint Young Men from Osamu Tezuka's Buddha. In that version, Mara is portrayed as a seductive female figure while Nakamura changed him to a guy for better character dynamic.
- Snake People: Mara is usually seen with his lower body being that of a snake, again similar to how Mara was in Osamu Tezuka's Buddha.
- Sustained Misunderstanding: In Chapter 32, Mara interprets something he says in Japanese as "When you eat with the devil, even the hotpot doesn't taste good..." This causes him to cry and run out of Buddha and Jesus's apartment. This is because the Japanese word for "devil" and "scum on a hotpot" are the same. (Aku.)
- Tsundere: Constantly texts Buddha despite always calling him "stupid!" and fretting over what emoji's to use when he texts him.
Lucifer
A demon who was the former head of the archangels. Has a thing for glam rock and soccer.
- Berserk Button: Firmly believes he wasn't in the wrong (re: his conflict with Michael); saying otherwise, or that he as the older brother should apologize, and he'll go off.
- Biblical Bad Guy: Literally.
- Cain and Abel: Lucifer makes a direct comparison to him and Mike in the manga.
- Chippendales Dancers: He's always shown wearing an open-vest-style Chippendale outfit, complete with a pink feather boa.
- Deadpan Snarker: Very snarky, especially to Jesus.
- The Devil Is a Loser: He doesn't seem to have that good of a work ethic, or even be that powerful.
- Eyes Out of Sight: His bangs are always obscuring his eyes, maybe with good reason...
- Hopeless with Tech: When he wins a Macbook Air in the Halloween chapter, he assumes he can play soccer with it. He thinks the use of it is pointless, much to the duress of Jesus.
- Inelegant Blubbering: Does this when Jesus brings up how Michael is worried about him.
- Prophet Eyes: In a sketch released by Nakamura, he is shown with whited-out eyes. Their purpose isn't known.
- Satan Is Good: Despite being a huge Troll, after he leaves it's revealed he actually brought a dessert for Jesus and Buddha. In the Halloween Chapter, he's genuinely sympathetic towards them both when he thinks they got sent to hell.
- The Tease: While not always out-right sexual, he seems to enjoy teasing other characters on multiple occasions. In the Halloween chapter, he says to Jack "If you leave him with me, I'll bite him a lot!" while smirking. Jack is surprisingly okay with this.
Jesus's Disciples
Peter
One of the disciples who is very brash, but overall, pretty nice. Seems to get angry pretty easily though.
- Berserk Button: Don't diss God or he will mess you up. It's not surprising, since he's based on one of Jesus's fiercely devoted followers in Biblical lore.
- Fiery Redhead: While not always angry, he's definitely brash and excitable.
Andrew
A disciple who constantly can be seen with his brother Peter. Likes to play Demon Hunter, an in-universe MMO.
- Eyes Out of Sight: Andrew's bangs seem to always cover his eyes.
Judas
Disciple famous for betraying Jesus. Now he just seems to have a death wish, or at least is constantly gloomy..
- And I Must Scream: After his death, God sent him to the deepest pit in hell where he was used as a literal chewtoy by Lucifer. Fortunately, Jesus ended up forgiving him and he was released.
- Biblical Bad Guy: Well, literally. Though he seems to be forgiven by Jesus this time around.
- Cool and Unusual Punishment: One of the things that brought him solace when he was in hell was being able to chew off dry bits of his lips. To stop this, Lucifer put expensive lip balm on them. Buddha is a bit confused by this, believing Lucifer to have done a nice thing by keeping Judas from harming himself.
- Easily Forgiven: Played with: Even after two thousand years, God has not forgive Judas for his betrayal of Jesus. However, Jesus did and as such he was released from hell. Buddha also couldn't believe that Jesus would forgive Judas for his treachery.
- The Eeyore: Judas constantly puts himself down, and is always apologizing for everything. This would make sense, as the Biblical Judas was later overcome with guilt over betraying Jesus for money, and hanged himself shortly after.
Other Characters
God
The creator of the heavens and the earth, and Jesus's birth father.
- Divine Birds: When He is not in flashbacks, He shows up in the form of a dove like how He did on Jesus's baptism. However, in the Halloween chapter, He takes the shape of a crow as a "costume".
- Doting Parent: Whenever He visits Jesus He refers to Him as "My beloved son" or "My cute child".
- God Is Good: He seems to be an all around nice man who truly loves His son and all of His creation. However...
- Good Is Not Soft: He still put His son through a torturous death. Strangely enough Jesus thinks that the most cruel thing God did was bring Him back to life, since it became so awkward after everyone was so shaken by Him dying in the first place. Also, He punished Judas by sending him into the deepest pit of hell after his death and still hasn't forgiven Judas over two thousand years later.
- Grandpa God: His humanoid form.
Jack o' Lantern
Criminal famous for wearing a jack o' lantern on his head, shows up in the halloween chapter. In other chapters he still hangs out with Lucifer.
- Berserk Button: Don't mess up his entrance. Just don't.
- Shrinking Violet: Implied, given his reaction to being seen or recognized without his usual pumpkin-head.
Zeus
Godhead of the Olympic/Greek pantheon. Still up to his old tricks in the modern age.
- Shapeshifting Seducer: He shapeshifts to a normal black cat and tries to get hitched to Joan of Arc.
