Characters / Sword Gai

Main Characters

Gai Ogata

Voiced by: Yūto Uemura (Japanese), Khoi Dao (English)

• Artificial Limbs: After getting his right arm sliced off by a possessed Sayaka, Amon uses the Shiryu to make him a new arm.
• Bash Brothers: Eventually becomes this with Seiya.
• Black Knight: His Busoma form looks like a black armor
• Classical Anti-Hero: Gai is the main protagonist but doesn't behave like a typical hero. Most of the "good" that he does is really just him being at war with himself at the time. Only towards the end does he embrace the "hero" part when he decides to finally protect Sayaka.
• Dark and Troubled Past: His father was killed by a priest possessed by Shiryu, then his mother found herself possessed by that same blade and when she was unable to part from the sword, she hung herself. And all that before he was born.
• Driven to Suicide: Cuts off his artificial arm and jumps off a building. Luckily Kazumo was there to take him to the Gabi and save his life.
• Foil: To Shin, the owner of the second Shiryu. Not only he has black hair to Shin's white, their personalities are opposites. Gai is aloof and not very social, while Shin is friendly and makes friends fast.
• Hidden Heart of Gold: While he may be aloof and generally cold, he has shown he truly cares about Sayaka and really appreciates Amon for adopting him.
• Morph Weapon: His arm changes into blade form whenever he's angry.
• Not Quite Dead: While he apparently committed suicide, he was actually saved by the Gabi.
• Single Tear: Sheds one when he's forced to kill Shin.
• Superpowered Evil Side: Shiryu has constantly tried to corrupt him ever since he was a child. It succeeds a couple of times but Sayaka has always managed to bring him back.
• Tall, Dark, and Handsome: Has black hair and is a looker.

Seiya Ichijo

Voiced by: Yuichiro Umehara (Japanese), Billy Kametz (English)

• Big Brother Mentor: Takes this role towards Gai, who knows very little about the cursed weapons.
• Bruiser with a Soft Center: He actually cries after hearing the tragic story of the Shiryu, to Kigetsu's surprise.
• Drives Like Crazy: He's clearly out of practice and his luxury car gets pretty banged up.
• Hard Light: Chakram manifest as disks of light.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Lets himself be stabbed in the chest and transformed into a Busoma to save Gai from the same fate.
• Mr. Fanservice: With his body and looks, he fits.
• Older Than They Look: Based on Kei's looks, it's very likely if it wasn't because of the Cold Sleep he would be in his sixties.
• Sacrificial Lion: After being Gai's mentor and basically deuteragonist from the first part of the anime, Gai is forced to kill him at the beginning of Part 2.
• Star-Crossed Lovers: He became a Chrysalid before he could ask his girlfriend Kei to marry him, and by the time they meet again, she's already old and dying.

Shoshidai

Kyouka Kagami

Voiced by: Rina Sato (Japanese), Erica Lindbeck (English)

• All for Nothing: Not only she fails to save her father and is killed by him, the so called cure wasn't supposed to work in the long run.
• Alliterative Name: Kyoka Kagami. Which is very likely her Nom de Mom.
• Dying Alone: Fatally injured by the monster that was once her father, she's left to die alone.
• I Need a Freaking Drink: Drinks some expensive whiskey after the heads of the Shoshidai tell her they won't send any more Chrysalids to deal with Azoth.
• Mission Control: She usually directs the Chrysalids from the Shoshidai.
• Oh, Crap!: Has this reaction when she sees Grimms for the first time.
• Parental Abandonment: Her mother died when she was young and her father Takuma became possessed by Zsoltgeweinn.
• Stoic Spectacles: Wears glasses and normally is calm and stern.

Naoki Miki

Voiced by: Tomokazu Sugita (Japanese), Greg Chun (English)

• Big Brother Mentor: Takes this role for Marcus.
• Dual Wielding: Wields Fallgon and Halbert after becoming corrupted by the two.
• Mentor Occupational Hazard: Serves as Marcus friend and mentor, and dies at the end of the ninth episode
• Shock and Awe: Fallgon gives him power over lightning.

Marcus Lithos

Voiced by: Hiro Shimono (Japanese), Zach Aguilar (English)

• Alas, Poor Villain: As he lays dying, all he can do is call for Aya to marry him.
• And Then John Was a Zombie: After finding out that not only Aya is Mina, but the Shoshidai killed his friend Miki, he loses it and lets Beelzebub take full control of him, becoming a Busoma.
• Dark and Troubled Past: He lost his parents and sister in a car accident, as well as the use of his lower body, which was shortly followed by his girlfriend leaving him for his best friend.
• Deal with the Devil: Becoming possessed by Azoth and regaining use of his legs temporarily cost him his sanity.
• Et Tu, Brute?: Finding out Aya and the Shoshidai lied to him about everything drives him mad, transforming into a Busoma.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Not even Azoth's influence can kill his kindness. At least not at first.
• Living Shadow: Azoth and Beelzebub grant control over the shadows.
• Naïve Newcomer: For the Shoshisai.
• Sealed Evil in a Can: The demon Beelzebub was sealed inside the Azoth sword by the alchemist Paracelsus, and the demon still has some freedom within Marcus.

Mina Haraya

Voiced by: Yu Shimamura (Japanese), Mela Lee (English)

• Ambiguously Human: The nonchalance which she changes face hints she's something other than human. Ultimately she is just human and the face changing was nothing but a job to her, at first.
• Becoming the Mask: She mentions that while at first it was only a job, she genuinely grew to care about Miki and Marcus, and lying to them began to take a toll on her guilt.
• Facial Horror: After killing her, Busoma Marcus/Azoth rips off her face in order to see her "true self". As Marcus is being shot at by security, her corpse is used as a shield and a Freeze-Frame shows her face without the skin...
• Hospital Hottie: An attractive doctor and nurse.
• Identical Stranger: Totally intentional. She's given a face identical to Marcus' ex-girlfriend, Erika after Naoki is euthanized
• Morality Chain: She serves as this for Naoki and after his death, for Marcus as well.
• Nice Girl: She's normally kind and polite but how much is true after becoming Aya is unclear. Her talk with Kyouka reveals she genuinely grew to love both Miki and Marcus.

Issei Ariga

Voiced by: Kohei Murakami (Japanese), Steven Cannon (English)

• Brain Bleach: Wishes he had some after Yasuko's advances go way too far for his comfort.
• Chatty Hairdresser: He talks a lot while doing his job.
• An Ice Person: Nebestigma grants him power over the ice.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Actually ends up sleeping with Arnys and regrets his decision after the deed is done...kind of. She is very hot...
• Screw This, I'm Out of Here!: He joined the Shoshidai to escape from Yasuko's advances. He gives up in the end.
• Serious Business: Hair care. He has reprimanded his superiors in Shoshidai for failing to follow his advice in regards to proper conditioning... during mission briefings.
• You Killed My Father: Tries to avenge the murder of his sister by Arnys, only to be granted a cursed weapon instead.

Kagatsuka

Voiced by: Junichi Yanagita (Japanese), Jordan Reynolds (English)

• Asshole Victim: Is brutally impaled by Rie, the same girl he manipulated and tortured for experiments, after he made her kill her friends. So there's no need to feel sorry for him.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: When around the girls he's all smiles, but he clearly holds them in contempt once they're out of earshot.
• Eyes Always Closed: He only opens them when he shows his true colors.
• Four Eyes, Zero Soul
• Hospital Hottie: A good looking, if evil doctor.
• Karma Houdini Warranty: His luck finally runs out when Rie starts going berserk and ends up killing him and destroying the hospital where all his sick experiments were taking place.
• Manipulative Bastard: Plays with the girls' emotions and suffering so they can continue to provide results for his research.

Busoma

Takuma Miura/Zsoltgewinn

Voiced by: Toshihiko Seki (Japanese), Patrick Seitz (English)

• All for Nothing: He became obsessed with power following his wife's death, so much that he actively sought out Zsoltgewinn so he can never get hurt again and protect his remaining family. He ends up going insane and winds up killing his daughter.
• Black Knight: His Busoma form gives him this appearance.
• Dark Is Evil: Has control over darkness, and is the most overtly evil of the cursed weapons.
• Evil Sounds Deep: In English his voice is much more deep and intimidating, courtesy of his voice actor.
• The Glasses Got To Go: After becoming possessed he no longer uses them.
• The Heavy: Because Grimms only makes sporadic appearances, he remains as the most visible threat for the first part of the anime.
• Identity Amnesia: He constantly claims he's no longer Takuma, and only Zsoltgewinn remains.
• Offing the Offspring: Zsoltgewinn regains control of Takuma's body and fatally stabs Kyouka, his own daughter.
• One-Man Army: He can slaughter squads of armed men without breaking a sweat.
• Redemption Equals Death: After being purified by Mikazuki, Grimms kills him and absorbs his power for understanding humans.

Grimms

Voiced by: Takaya Kuroda (Japanese), Chris Tergliafera (English)

• Bad Guys Do the Dirty Work: Interferes with the fight between Seiya and Gai against Zsoltgewinn and allows the latter to escape.
• Big Bad: At least for now, and unlike the other Busoma, he has greater plans for the world other than kill everything in sight.
• The Corrupter: Wants to turn both Seiya and Gai into Busoma.
• The Dreaded: His appearance gives Seiya and Kyouka a huge Oh, Crap! reaction.
• Dystopia Justifies the Means: Wants to create a world without humans were Busoma fight to their heart's content for supremacy, a world of pure bloodshed.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: He's furious at Zsoltgewinn for realizing weapons need humans, and later becomes furious at Shin and Gai for fighting as humans instead of completely becoming Busoma.
• Evil Is Bigger: He's much taller than the average Busoma, who are already taller than they humans they take over.
• Evil Sounds Deep: His voice is deep and sinister, fittingly for such character.
• First Of Its Kind: He's apparently the oldest Busoma, or Armed Demons.
• Hidden Villain: He didn't made his presence known until episode 12 of the anime.
• Sinister Scythe: Unlike the other Busoma, he wields a wicked looking scythe to fight.

Arnys

Voiced by: Michiko Neya (Japanese), Michelle Ruff (English)

• Affably Evil: She's always calm, polite and even teasing, especially around Issei. She even has sex with him no strings attached.
• But for Me, It Was Tuesday: She doesn't seem to remember or care if she killed Ariga's sister.
• The Chooser of the One: She literally forces Nebestigma through Ariga's chest and drags him into their fight.
• Light Is Not Good: Her Busoma form is bright and golden, but she's certainly not a good person.
• Ms. Exposition: She tells Issei the story behind Nebestigma right before she shoves the sword through his chest to posses him.
• Ms. Fanservice: She has large breasts, an Navel-Deep Neckline with Sideboob, so she clearly stands out as this. She actually ends up sleeping with Issei and viewers are treated to seeing her half-naked body.
• Navel-Deep Neckline: Her dress is cut so low it reaches her stomach.
• Spell My Name With An S: She's known by both Arnys and Aronis.
• Villainous Crush: She seems to have developed an interest on Issei, even having sex with him.

Midoriko/Flamberge

Voiced by: Ayane Sakura (Japanese), Faye Mata (English)

• Cute and Psycho: Ever since she became possessed, she shows her psycho side much more often.
• Evil Diva: Now that she's the wielder of Flamberge, she embraces this and then some.
• Gamer Chick: Even after obtaining Flamberge she still uses gaming terms when fighting.
• Girlish Pigtails: To go with the whole Idol Singer image.
• Face Death with Dignity: After being fatally injured by Shin, she dies content that now Shin is one of them.
• Know When to Fold Them: Flamberge always seems to know when it has to retreat. Hence why it has remained alive when many other Busoma had fallen.
• Mugging the Monster: She had no idea Rie would turn into an inhuman monster capable of matching her.
• Playing with Fire: Flamberge gives its wielder control over fire.

Tatsumi/Tonbokiri

Voiced by: Kenji Hamada (Japanese), Austin Lee Matthews (English)

• Asshole Victim: Tatsumi is arrogant, hostile and a potential rapist even before he becomes a Busoma. By the time Seiya kills him no-one can really deny he has it coming.
• Crazy Jealous Guy: After becoming a Busoma he certainly acts like one towards Sayaka.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Tatsumi's jealousy of Amon's preference towards Gai made him vulnerable to Tonbokiri's corruption.
• No Body Left Behind: Seiya's Chakram leaves him a puddle in the floor, and then nothing, and not even the spear remain.
• Ungrateful Bastard: Tatsumi still hates Gai even after the latter saves him from being killed by a Shiryu-possessed Sayaka.

El Geshosu

• Blood Knight: He's considered even more so than the average Busoma by Grimms.
• The Gunslinger: He's the first Busoma seen that uses guns.
• Facial Markings: Has red marks on the right side of his face.
• In the Hood: Both his human form and Busoma form have hoods.
• Silent Antagonist: In his debut appearance, he only giggles, but doesn't talk.
• Small Role, Big Impact: He only appeared for a couple of scenes but he's the one who leads Gai into becoming fully possessed by Shiryu.
• Wave-Motion Gun: When he combines his guns into a rifle cannon, it shoots one of this.

Ogata family

Amon Ogata

Voiced by: Joji Nakata (Japanese), Jamieson Price (English)

• The Blacksmith: Has been a sword-smith for over 40 years.
• Mr. Exposition: He explains the backstory of the Shiryu to Kigetsu and Seiya.
• Parental Substitute: Raised Gai ever since he found him as a newborn next to his dead mother.

Sayaka Ogata

Voiced by: Yuka Aisaka (Japanese), Kayli Mills (English)

• Big Damn Kiss: Ends up kissing Shin to drag him out of his funk. This turns against her, as she did this on impulse, not love, which ends up hurting Shin when he learns the truth, which then starts to drive him insane.
• Childhood Friends: Has been looking for a way to help Gai open up since they were children.
• Cooldown Hug: She gives one to Gai when he first becomes corrupted by Shiryu.
• Cute Mute: Becomes incapable of talking after witnessing Gai commit suicide. It's only thanks to Shin she recovers.
• Determinator: Nothing will stop her from saving Gai from his inner darkness.
• Fainting: She faints the first time she sees a possessed Tatsumi.
• Missing Mom: Her mother hasn't been seen or mentioned.
• Morality Chain: For Gai.
• Ojou: Referred as such, and she takes her role seriously.
• Single-Target Sexuality: She will only ever have the hots for Gai, which infuriates Shin to no end.

Matoba group

Shin Matoba

Voiced by: Nobunaga Shimazaki (Japanese), Griffin Burns (English)

• Actual Pacifist: He hates violence, and would rather not fight. He even takes a beating without fighting back.
• Big Brother Instinct: When his little sister goes missing, he immediately runs off to find her.
• Bread, Eggs, Breaded Eggs: When forced to choose between building an orphanage and a retirement home, he chooses both.
• Crazy Jealous Guy: Shin starts losing it every time he sees Sayaka worry about Gai.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Grimms killed his mother and scarred his sister, and the trauma was so strong he swore off violence all together.
• Face Death with Dignity: He calmly allows Gai to kill him so the Busoushin doesn't occur.
• Fallen Hero: From a young man who wanted a peaceful world alongside his family, to an unhinged, bloodthirsty monster who believes everyone he cared about has abandoned him.
• Fatal Flaw: His belief that if a person does not agree with what he's saying, this automatically makes them a traitor in his eyes and he will respond with extreme emotion.
• Foil: With Gai, not only he's friendly were Gai is brooding, but their backstories are quite similar.
• Green-Eyed Monster: His unrequited feelings for Sayaka lead to him losing more of his sanity.
• Light Is Not Good: His Busoma form is a white version of Gai's, but he's even more unhinged.
• New Transfer Student: He transfers to Sayaka's school in episode 11.
• Nice Guy: He's cheerful and friendly with just about everyone. This starts to fade away as the "superior" version of Shiryu starts to influence his rage and hatred.
• Self-Made Orphan: After becoming fully possessed by Shiryu, he slaughters everyone at the Shoshidai, including his own father, which is what his father wanted.
• Wealthy Philanthropist: Has no problem financing any charity project that interests him.

Kazuma Matoba

Voiced by: Takaya Hashi (Japanese), Richard Epcar (English)

• Admiring the Abomination: He admits he grew to admire the Busoma and saw them as the next step in human evolution.
• Bad Boss: He lets one of his subordinates be sacrificed to the Shiryu.
• Evil All Along: Not only the cure for Chrysalids was a lie, he let his son be corrupted and turned into a Busoma because of his admiration for the Cursed Weapons.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: The trope is invoked when Shin ends up stabbing him with the Shiryu.
• Parental Neglect: He doesn't seem very concerned with his children. The death of his wife definitely hardened him.
• Sinister Surveillance: Watches events involving wars throughout the world from a room in his mansion that is full of monitors.

Rie Matoba

Voiced by: Maria Naganawa (Japanese), Xanthe Huynh (English)

• Adorably Precocious Child: She's quite cute, but also very inquisitive.
• Big Brother Worship: She clearly adores her big brother Shin.
• Girlish Pigtails: Her hair style.
• Laser-Guided Amnesia: Her memories are constantly rewritten by Kagatsuka and his men.
• One-Winged Angel: Without her limiter bracelet, she turns into a humanoid monster that's neither human nor Busoma

Gabi sect

Himiko

Voiced by: Maaya Uchida (Japanese), Lauren Landa (English)

• Action Girl: She's perfectly capable of slaying Busoma like they're nothing.
• The Assimilator: Because her soul has reached a state of emptiness, the start of the series mentions that she has absorbed 21 cursed weapons, without risking corruption. This starts turning against her when she starts absorbing more and turns fatal when it finally backfires on her.
• A Child Shall Lead Them: Has been leading the sect since she was nine.
• Big Good: At least when compared to the mysterious and ambiguous heads of the Shoshidai.
• Blessed with Suck: Himeko is the only character in the series to be able to absorb the cursed weapons that drives any other mortal insane with bloodlust with no repercussions other than tiredness. However, to maintain this state, she has to be practically "empty" and feel no emotion towards anything. All that changes when she meets with Gai, who's inner kindness ends up attracting Himeko's buried emotions and she ends up falling for him. This ultimately gets her killed.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: Very subtle but she starts feeling this way when observing how much Gai and Sayaka care for one another. She can't act on this because any sort of emotion will cause her powers to rampage out of control...which ultimately comes to pass.
• Foil: To both Kazuma Matoba and the heads of the Shoshidai, who don't seem to care if people are killed by the Busoma if it means saving the whole. On the other hand, she truly cares about saving people, both human and Busoma alike.
• Healing Hands: One of her abilities after mastering the Hollow Kempo.
• Heroic RRoD: Overusing of his powers and her growing feelings for Gai make the weapons within her to go out of control, killing her from the inside.
• I Just Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Seeing how strong the love between Gai and Sayaka is, she heals Gai of his wounds for his final battle against Shin and sends him on his way to rescue Sayaka from his clutches. This proves to be the final straw for her powers to start failing her.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice : Falling for Gai turns out to be a mistake, as one of the requirements of being "empty" is to have no emotional ties to the world at all, including positive emotions such as love. The result? All the weapons she absorbed starts to impale her from the inside out, one by one.
• Last Episode, New Character: She's first seen in the last episode of part one of the anime.
• Meditating Under a Waterfall: She's introduced coming out of one of these to purify herself so she doesn't risk corruption.

Kazumo

Voiced by: Kazuyuki Okitsu (Japanese), Xander Mobus (English)

• Bare-Fisted Monk: Like the other Gabi, he doesn't use weapons and only fights using his body.
• Crazy Jealous Guy: Has it out for Gai since he noticed Himeko's growing feelings for the man. This turns out to be well-founded, as any emotion can end up disrupting Himeko's powers and kill her.
• Facial Markings: His face has red tattoos.
• Number Two: For Himiko.
• Together in Death: After Himiko's powers grow out of control, he stays with her as both are impaled by the dozens of weapons.

Other characters

Kigetsu

Voiced by: Masaharu Sato (Japanese), John DeMita (English)

• Cool Old Guy: He's old and playful, as well as understanding.
• Old Friend: He's an old acquaintance of Amon.

Yasuko Tanaka

Voiced by: Urara Takano (Japanese), Jessica Gee-George (English)

• Abhorrent Admirer: Issei gags in disgust whenever she's too close to him. Her tenacity pays off and Issei gives up and winds up with her.
• Brawn Hilda: After becoming possessed by Gallon's Hammer she turns into one of this.
• Fat Bitch: Not that she was pleasant before being possessed by a cursed weapon.

• Gonk: The woman is certainly not attractive, in any way.
• Joke Character: The woman only exists to be a bizarre character, obsessed with love and money. At no point does she ever fall prey to the negative influence of her hammer and ends up with Issei when the series closes.

Kiyomi

Voiced by: Hitomi Harada (Japanese), Cristina Vee (English)

• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: She's weird and loves blades in a rather disturbing fashion, but she's also an excellent sword sharpener.
• Lecherous Licking: She does this not to a person but a blade, which freaks out her assistant.

Kuromaru

Voiced by: Ayumu Murase (Japanese), Laura Stahl (English)

• I Just Want to Have Friends: Being bullied all his life made him desperate to get friends, and he even befriended his Cursed Weapon. Ultimately, he gets his wish and becomes friends with Gai and Rie.
• Non-Action Guy: Even after becoming a Busoma, he's not made to fight and his Busoma form can only take a few hits.
• Only Friend: He considers Gai his first true friend.
• Parental Neglect: His mother seems incredibly distant and doesn't seem to notice her son is constantly bullied.
• Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: Black hair and fair skin.

Syouko

Voiced by: Haruka Shiraishi (Japanese), Allegra Clark (English)

• Boyish Short Hair: Her most noticeable characteristic.
• Not Now, Kiddo: Nobody believed her when she said the woman who became her stepmother killed her mother because she was a child.
• Sacrificial Lamb: She's killed by an out of control Rie with a brutal bite to the throat.
• Wicked Stepmother: Her mother was killed by the woman who would become her stepmother, and nobody listened to her when she tried to tell someone.

Sayori

Voiced by: Akane Fujita (Japanese), Michelle Ruff (English)

• Abusive Parents: Her parents were quite abusive to her.
• Curtains Match the Windows: Reddish hair and eyes.
• Sacrificial Lamb: She's killed by an out of control Rie before she has the chance to transform herself.