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Yumeko
Yumeko
The Protagonist of the series, a half-human kitsune who was raised by monks in the Silent Winds temple. Sheltered and naïve, she knows little of the outside world, though she has all the wit and mischievous prankster nature you'd expect from a kitsune.
- Almost Kiss: With Tatsumi in Yume-no-Sekai; it's interrupted by her waking up and disappearing from his dream.
- Asian Fox Spirit: A half-kitsune, to be precise.
- Badass Adorable: She's nice and sweet and cute as a button, but she's still a youkai. And the illusions she creates are more than capable of getting enemies killed.
- Blue Blood: She turns out to be the daughter of the Moon Clan daimyo.
- Cloudcuckoolander: Her train of thoughts is frequently odd; she has a lively imagination, and despite her cleverness she is Sarcasm-Blind and will occasionally misunderstand questions or figures of speech.
- Doorstop Baby: She was abandoned at the Silent Winds temple as a baby, together with a note from her mother explaining her name and nature.
- Dream Walker: She discovers she has the ability to visit other people's dreams through Yume-no-Sekai in the second book.
- Everyone Can See It: It's obvious to everyone who knows either of them that she and Tatsumi are in love—everyone, that is, except for the pair themselves.
- Expecting Someone Taller: Frequently ends up on the receiving end as Moon Clan daimyo. Given her age, most people who visit her expect to see an old woman and not a girl who doesn't look a day over sixteen.
- Friend to All Living Things: She's not just nice to humans, but also befriends animals and youkai wherever she goes.
- Guile Hero: While she's never learned how to fight, she uses her wit (and, frequently, her illusions) to get out of trouble.
- Half-Human Hybrid: Half human, half kitsune.
- The Ingenue: Played with. While she is sweet, trusting and innocent, she is also a trickster and excellent at fooling or manipulating people when the situation requires it.
- Little Bit Beastly: Her real, undisguised appearance looks like a normal girl with fox ears and a tail.
- Master of Illusion: Fox magic is illusion magic, and she has perfected it growing up, fooling even the Emperor of Iwagoto himself.
- Mayfly–December Friendship: With all her human friends; being kitsune, she can live pretty much forever, so it's a given that she'll outlive all of them.
- Mayfly–December Romance: With Tatsumi. He has no desire to become immortal, so this is also a given.
- Really 700 Years Old: Averted for most of the story, but played straight in the epilogue. One hundred years have passed since the start of the story, but being kitsune, she still doesn't look a day older.
- Reincarnation Romance: With Tatsumi at the end. He is killed when battling Seigetsu in the Night of the Dragon, but promises to find her again when he is reborn; one hundred years later, in the epilogue, he finally does.
- Sarcasm-Blind: She has a lot of trouble understanding when people are being sarcastic.
- Strong Family Resemblance: She's the spitting image of Tsuki Kiyomi, her mother.
- Supernatural Gold Eyes: Her real form has these. To people who can't see it, her eyes are black.
- Took a Level in Badass: Near the end of the second book, she manages to create an illusion of all her friends, the tengu and herself being slaughtered by Hakaimono, as well as the entire temple itself, to fool the oni.
- The Trickster: She used to play pranks on the monks all the time, in particular on Denga. Even now she frequently considers playing tricks on people she doesn't like.
- What Is This Thing You Call "Love"?: Having grown up only around monks, her only brush with romantic love pre-story was a book she found in the library, about a tragic romance she couldn't relate to. So, when she develops feelings for Tatsumi, she completely and utterly fails to recognize them as what they are.
Kage Tatsumi
Kage Tatsumi
The story's Deuteragonist, better known as the Kage demonslayer—a boy who has been raised to kill demons with a cursed sword from childhood, wielder of Kamigoroshi. As a result of his upbringing (and to protect him from Demonic Possession), he is almost completely emotionless.
- Almost Kiss: With Yumeko in Yume-no-Sekai. She wakes up before he can go through with it.
- Bad Powers, Good People: He wields a demon sword that can destroy even yokai, but he's a genuinely kind person and has maintained some of that kindness even as the demonslayer. At the end he shows kindness and gratitude even to Hakaimono, who is responsible for almost all of his suffering.
- Broken Bird: He has had to deal with a demon on his mind since childhood, constantly had to fear being possessed, was made to kill at the Kage's command from a very young age, and was abused for showing emotion or weakness, and has become very cold and stoic as a result of all these things.
- Childhood Friends: With Ayame, until he was chosen as the demonslayer and had to drop all attachments.
- Child Soldiers: He's only seventeen and has been the demonslayer for years.
- Covered in Scars: While patching him up after a fight, Yumeko discovers his entire torso is full of scars from countless battles.
- Dark and Troubled Past: He has been through a lot, as detailed under Broken Bird above. But flashbacks indicate that his life wasn't exactly rosy even before becoming the demonslayer—being commanded to kill his beloved puppy to prove his loyalty to his clan, for example.
- Deadpan Snarker: Develops a dry sense of humor in the third book due to Hakaimono's influence.
- Deal with the Devil: He agrees to merge souls with Hakaimono so the latter's power can let him survive an otherwise fatal injury and the two of them can go on to defeat Genno.
- Death Seeker: Becomes one after being possessed by Hakaimono. He begs Yumeko to kill him so the oni will be forced back into Kamigoroshi and can't rain destruction over the land.
- Defrosting Ice Queen: He starts to open up as Yumeko gets past his stoic exterior. With disastrous consequences.
- Everyone Can See It: People keep commenting how obvious he and Yumeko are, but the two of them are denser than a wall of bricks.
- Friendless Background: By force, rather than by choice. Having people he cares about is a liability, so at the beginning of the story he hasn't had any friends in many years.
- Green-Eyed Monster: He doesn't take it well when Okame or Daisuke are too friendly with Yumeko, though he doesn't fully understand why.
- Horrifying Hero: When merged with Hakaimono. Even at his calmest he has telltale horns growing from his forehead, and people are understandably terrified.
- Incorruptible Pure Pureness: The story suggests that, despite all the blood on his hands, he is actually this. It is mentioned that only the very pure of heart can resist Hakaimono's corruption, and he was in fact selected as a demonslayer for being pure. When he does get possessed by Hakaimono, it's purely due to letting his guard down, and when he merges souls with him he only does it for Yumeko. In the third book he encounters the sacred Kirin, which only shows itself to the pure of heart; while it tells him it's only there for Yumeko (as he is merged with Hakaimono at that time), the fact does remain that it showed itself to him regardless of his condition.
- I Owe You My Life: He says as much to Yumeko after she saves him from the wind witch.
- No Sense of Humor: Initially. Yumeko later comments that the old Tatsumi (pre-Character Development) barely cracked a smile.
- Not So Above It All: Even he can't hide his amusement about Yumeko's first ever hangover.
- Older Than They Look: According to Lady Hanshou, who initially mistakes him for fourteen. She does admit everyone looks young to her, but a later comment from Hakaimono does indicate he isn't very tall for his age.
- Put on a Bus: He's absent for most of the second book due to Hakaimono taking over his body.
- Reincarnation Romance: With Yumeko. After being killed by Seigetsu, he promises Yumeko to find her again when he is reborn.
- The Stoic: Justified. Emotions would leave him vulnerable to possession from Hakaimono, so he was trained to be completely emotionless from childhood.
- Not So Stoic: After growing closer with Yumeko. It doesn't go over well.
- Straight Man and Wise Guy: The serious Straight Man to Okame's witty, snarky Wise Guy.
- Sympathetic Sentient Weapon: He is treated (and views himself) as the weapon of the Kage, killing as they command him to, and has been indoctrinated to think he is replaceable and his life is worth nothing.
- Taking You with Me: After Seigetsu fatally wounds him, he takes him off guard by stabbing the kitsune to death through his own body.
- Technicolor Eyes: Purple. If they're natural or a result of wielding the purple-glowing Kamigoroshi has yet to be explained. They're still purple when he shows up reincarnated in the epilogue, hinting that the color is indeed natural.
- Tyke Bomb: He was brought up to be the demonslayer from childhood.
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Flashbacks reveal that he was once a nice, if earnest, child who stayed up day and night to save an orphaned puppy and just wanted to do the best for his clan. Then he became the demonslayer—cue truckloads of Break the Cutie.
- What Is This Thing You Call "Love"?: According to Hakaimono, he does recognize he feels something for Yumeko and that she's important to him, but fails to understand what it is.
- Yank the Dog's Chain: He gets his first ever taste of kindness, love and being treated like a human being with Yumeko…and that leads to his Demonic Possession by Hakaimono.
Hino Okame
Hino Okame
A wandering Rōnin Yumeko and Tatsumi run into on the road, and who decides to accompany them. He is sarcastic, snarky and loves sake too much, but he is also loyal to a fault and an excellent shot with his bow.
- The Alcoholic: He never goes far without his sake and complains when he has to.
- Animal Motifs: A dog. He refers to himself as a "honorless ronin dog," but the dog imagery is also used in a positive light—Yumeko recounts a story of stray dogs defending perfect strangers to the death because they threw a crumb at them and not a stone when she first helps him, and in a later prophecy he is referred to as Daisuke's dog that will follow him unto death.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: The reason he saves Yumeko from bandits and starts following her around is that she showed him basic kindness.
- Beta Couple: With Daisuke.
- Boke and Tsukkomi Routine: The irresponsible boke to Reika's straight-laced tsukkomi.
- Bullying a Dragon: He knows full well that Tatsumi wields a demon-possessed blade, has No Sense of Humor, and has no problem with cutting down anything that gets in his way. What does he do? Try to annoy him.
- Cowardly Lion: He's vocally afraid of the horrors the group has to face, but follows his friends into them anyway.
- Dark and Troubled Past: One that has yet to be revealed, but something certainly happened to make him fall from grace and become a ronin, and he doesn't like to talk about it. It's hinted to have something to do with his clan's failed siege of Hakumei Castle, though.
- Deadpan Snarker: The group's main source of sarcasm and witty comments.
- Drowning My Sorrows: He has a tendency to drown fears, bad memories and trauma in sake. Likely a reason for his alcoholism.
- First-Name Basis: He initially calls Daisuke by his last name, but switches to his first name after their Relationship Upgrade.
- Improbable Aiming Skills: Yumeko notes that he has never missed what he shot at.
- Noble Male, Roguish Male: With Daisuke; he is a rogue in the literal sense of the word, drinks, gambles, and has a lot of attitude to contrast with Daisuke's gentlemanly elegance.
- No Sense of Direction: He brags about knowing a shortcut into Sun Clan lands, then proceeds to get Yumeko and Tatsumi horribly lost, to the point where Yumeko needs to tell him which way is north.
- Samurai Ponytail: Played with. He does wear his hair in a ponytail, but he's not a samurai anymore, though he does occasionally pose as one.
- Short Range Guy, Long Range Guy: The long-range archer to Tatsumi's and especially Daisuke's short-range swordsman.
- Star-Crossed Lovers: With Daisuke; with the latter being a noble and related to the emperor himself, and Okame being considered less than human as a ronin, a lot of heads would roll if anyone found out about their relationship—including Okame's own.
- Straight Man and Wise Guy: The witty Wise Guy to Tatsumi's stoic, serious Straight Man.
- Together in Death: With Daisuke; they die together, depart to Meido together, and later say goodbye to Yumeko together.
- Treacherous Spirit Chase: While walking the Path of Shadows, he bumps into the image of his deceased brother, Yasuo, who he claims to have betrayed. He is so distraught that he nearly follows it into Meido out of Survivor Guilt, but Yumeko and Daisuke jump in and stop him just in time.
- Undying Loyalty: To Yumeko after she gives him a coin. Also to Daisuke, later on.
Taiyo Daisuke
Taiyo Daisuke
A young nobleman of the Sun Clan, kinsman to the Emperor of Iwagoto himself. Though as refined and well-mannered as any noble could hope to be, he disagrees with the nobility's prejudices and way of life. He is also an excellent swordsman.
- Beta Couple: With Okame.
- Blood Knight: He loves a good swordfighting challenge and is excited to face dangerous, possibly deadly opponents. To the point where he went around the country as Oni no Mikoto, challenging strangers to duels just for kicks.
- Blue Blood: He's nobility, related to the Emperor of Iwagoto himself.
- Dude Looks Like a Lady: He is noted by both Suki and Tatsumi to have feminine features.
- Challenge Seeker: Always on the lookout for someone worthy of a duel.
- Cultured Warrior: A nobleman with all the education that comes with it, as well as an excellent swordsman.
- Heroic Sacrifice: His desired way to go is to fall in a glorious battle against a powerful opponent. In the last book, he gets his wish when battling Rasetsu.
- Idle Rich: Lampshaded by himself; he states that he has several older brothers who already take care of all the family's responsibilities, leaving him with no duties and free to pursue his own agendas.
- Long-Haired Pretty Boy: His hair is long and usually left to flow freely, and it only makes him more beautiful.
- Mystical White Hair: A common feature among the Taiyo, adding to his ethereal beauty.
- Nice to the Waiter: He treats commoners like Yumeko, Suki or Reika and even ronin like Okame as equals, something rarely seen in people of his status.
- Noble Male, Roguish Male: With Okame. He is polite, cultured and graceful to contrast with Okame's rough manners and lifestyle.
- The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: This is how he feels about Tatsumi—he considers him a Worthy Opponent and can't wait to duel him, and doesn't want either of them to be killed by someone else until the duel finally takes place.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: He joins Yumeko's quest and winds up helping save the Empire.
- Short Range Guy, Long Range Guy: The short-range swordsman to Okame's long-range archer.
- Together in Death: With Okame. They die together, depart to Meido together, and are later seen side by side in the afterlife.
Reika
Reika
The head miko at the Hayate shrine. Straight-laced and serious, she is the common sense of the group, as well as the only one able to see Yumeko's real form. She fights using ofuda and the help of her komainu, Chu.
- Abusive Parents: Her mother was verbally abusive and tried to pressure her into marrying a rich samurai for her own gains, guilt-tripping her for choosing to be a miko instead.
- Boke and Tsukkomi Routine: The tsukkomi to Okame's boke.
- Canine Companion: Chu, her komainu, follows her everywhere and is tasked with protecting her.
- Cloudcuckoolander's Minder: To Yumeko and Okame both. She's the only member of the group who keeps them both from pulling reckless stunts and getting into trouble.
- Heroic Sacrifice: She gives her life holding up a barrier to protect Tsuki Kiyomi from the orochi.
- The Medic: She's the group's healer and in charge of patching them up after battles.
- Not So Above It All: She may be serious and mature, but that still doesn't stop her from teasing or playfully messing with Okame on occasion.
- Only Sane Man: Especially during Tatsumi's absence. With Yumeko and Okame's knack for recklessness and finding trouble, as well as Daisuke's tendency to let them get away with everything, she is the only one trying to keep the group out of messes.
- Paper Talisman: Her way of fighting is by using ofuda.
Mura Suki
Mura Suki
The daughter of a flute-maker who was sent to the Imperial palace as a maid to Lady Satomi. After the latter uses her as a sacrifice for her blood magic, she remains in the world as a ghost.
- Ball of Light Transformation: Her default form as a ghost is a small glowing sphere.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: The reason for her crush on Daisuke is that he was kind to her despite their difference in rank.
- Cute Ghost Girl: While she spends a lot of time in her glowing sphere form, she can also assume her old human form as a ghost, which is that of a teenage girl.
- Friendly Ghost: A nice, if shy person who looks out for Daisuke and his companions and tries to protect them.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: How she feels towards Daisuke when seeing him with Okame. Instead of jealousy, she is just glad he found someone who makes him happy.
- Love at First Sight: She fell in love with Daisuke after meeting him once.
- Shrinking Violet: Very shy, and rarely speaks.
Hakaimono
Hakaimono
The First Oni of Jigoku. For the past thousand years he has been trapped inside the sword Kamigoroshi while trying to find a way out and plotting revenge on the Shadow Clan.
- Demonic Possession: His constant goal.
- Dragged Off to Hell: A rare case where this is a happy ending for the character. Yumeko's wish says that all beings of Jigoku are to be sent back there, which breaks the curse binding Hakaimono to the Kamigaroshi. Hakaimono is overjoyed and grateful, even though he tries to hide it to some extent.
- Enemy Mine: Attempts to pull one with Genno, but it ends with Tatsumi almost dying, and himself almost re-sealed into the sword. After that he teams up with Tatsumi to get revenge on Genno.
- Heel–Face Turn: After Genno's betrayal, he joins sides with Yumeko and her companions and continues aiding them even after Genno's defeat.
- Humanity Is Infectious: While originally a being of pure evil, one thousand years of dealing closely with humans have left their mark on him. He catches himself showing mercy on a yokai that annoyed him, and later on he gets fully infected by Tatsumi's feelings due to merging souls with him. He hates it.
- Hidden Heart of Gold: Later on, likely due to the above. He always has an excuse for every nice thing he does for the heroes, though how honest he's being and how much he actually cares is anyone's guess.
- It's Personal:
- He has a personal grudge against the Shadow Clan, in particular Lady Hanshou, for causing his current sealed-away state and using him as a weapon.
- Later on, he swears revenge against Genno for breaking their deal and literally stabbing him in the back.
- I Was Just Passing Through: Whenever he does the heroes a favor, he has an excuse for why his actions are actually benefitting him.
- A Lighter Shade of Black: He may be evil, being an oni, but he's not half as bad as the series' other villains. All he wants to do is escape his sword prison and get his revenge on the clan that forced him into it in the first place, and he's capable of mercy (among other things).
- Oni: The most powerful one in all of Jigoku, to boot.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: Sealed away in a sword and unable to get out unless he possesses its bearer.
- Token Evil Teammate: After joining the heroes' side.
- Villain Protagonist: The events of Book Two are as much his story as Yumeko's.
Genno, The Master Of Demons
Genno, The Master of Demons
An evil sorcerer who once commanded an army of demons that very nearly overran the Empire. He was defeated, but returns as an evil ghost to wish himself back to life and continue his rule.
- Big Bad Wannabe: While he's pretty close to legitimately claiming the title of Big Bad, he's ultimately subservient to the demon king O-Hakumon and little more than an Unwitting Pawn to Seigetsu.
- Deal with the Devil: A rare case of this mostly working out, given that he had a whole army of demons at his disposal even before striking his bargain with O-Hakumon.
- Dragged Off to Hell: Destroying his skull severs his bond to the living world. Fully dead, he's no longer able to wish upon the dragon and thus failed in O-Hakumon's eyes, leading him to return to Jigoku for an eternity of torture.
- Sorcerous Overlord: He commands a truly massive army of demons despite being completely human himself.
- Soul Jar: His skull is enchanted to keep his ghost bound to the world of the living.
Seigetsu
Seigetsu
A mysterious stranger with his own agendas who keeps aiding Yumeko's quest from a distance. Suki winds up joining him on his travels after the first book.
- Asian Fox Spirit: Not just any kitsune, but the legendary Ninetail.
- Bed Trick: He impersonated (and presumably murdered) Kiyomi-sama's husband before impregnating her with Yumeko.
- The Chessmaster: Or, in his own words, shogi player. He is always manipulating the fight for the scrolls from a distance to influence things in his favor. It later turns out that everything that happened in the story was entirely his doing.
- Disappeared Dad: To Yumeko. He's the one who left her on the Silent Winds Temple's doorstep.
- Greater-Scope Villain: He plotted everything, right down to Genno's return and Jigoku's invasion of the Tsuki islands, to try and usurp the Kami Dragon's power.
- A God Am I: Declares himself one after stealing the Harbinger's power jewel. However, it doesn't last long.
- Luke, I Am Your Father: He turns out to be Yumeko's father.
- Mystical White Hair: It's very long and snowy white.
- Playing Possum: Fools Yumeko and Tatsumi into thinking they killed him, only to catch them off guard and tear his hand through Tatsumi's chest.
- Really 700 Years Old: As the ninetailed kitsune, he is thousands of years old.
- Supernatural Gold Eyes: A hint at his true nature.
- Walking Spoiler: Almost everything about him is a major spoiler.
