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Main Characters
Takt Asahina (Unmarked Spoilers)
Voiced by: Kōki Uchiyama (Japanese), Jason Liebrecht (English)
- Arch-Enemy: Felix becomes this to him, being indirectly responsible for Cosette's death. The feeling is apparently mutual.
- An Arm and a Leg: Activating his Conductor powers causes his right arm to disappear, and when Cosette first transformed into Destiny the entity in her necklace tore it off.
- Basement-Dweller: Not exactly a basement, but before becoming a Conductor, he spent most of his days in his garage just playing the piano while Anna and Cosette came to check on him.
- Body Horror: Besides his right arm vanishing when his powers activate, the skin on the right side of his body will start turning blood red if Destiny starts using his life force.
- Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: Had this dynamic with Cosette due to his morose and withdrawn nature in contrast to her positivity and attempts to make him open up.
- Cast from Lifespan: Destiny actively drains Takt of his life force when she's in her Musicart form due to her inability to control her power output. This almost gets him killed on several occasions, including his final confrontation with Sagan, which puts him in a coma.
- Deadpan Snarker: Takt is a very big fan of this. He rarely goes without a snarky retort, usually to one of the sisters.
- Deceased Parents Are the Best: There are multiple pictures around his house with him happily playing the piano with his late father, and losing him in a D2 attack is what turned him into the recluse he is by the present.
- Dying Dream: As he's dying on the beach, he seemingly reunites with Cosette, who hands him Destiny's Transformation Trinket that Anna currently uses.
- Elegant Classical Musician: He's an excellent piano player and has been one since he was a child.
- Exhausted Eyebags: Spends most of episode 7 looking like this due to thinking how to write a symphony.
- Eye Color Change: His normally grey eyes turn pale blue when he he activates his Conductor powers.
- Harmful to Minors: The D2 attack in his childhood that left his father dead in front of him presumably left him with trauma that resulted in his reclusive and sullen nature in the present.
- Human Popsicle: Thanks to Charlotte's intervention, he gets put into a suspended animation chamber to prevent him from dying.
- I'll Kill You!: Takes Felix killing Cosette and attacking his home town very personally and says this verbatim to him. Felix shares the feeling, but takes offense to Takt stealing his line.
- Locked into Strangeness: Eventually, his overuse of his Conductor powers gives him a white skunk stripe across part of his hair.
- Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: Had this dynamic with Cosette as well, serving as the snarky and reticent savvy guy to her cheerful and bubbly energetic girl.
- Tall, Dark, and Snarky: Black hair, is taller than Anna and Cosette and can get pretty snarky when dealing with his Musicart partner.
Cosette Schneider/Destiny (Unmarked Spoilers)
Click here to see Destiny in casual clothing
Click here to see Cosette
Voiced by: Shion Wakayama (Japanese), Emi Lo (English)
Tropes that apply to Cosette
- Death-Activated Superpower: After her apparent death at the hands of the D2, her stone necklace glows and transforms her into the Musicart Destiny.
- Death of Personality: Lenny states that by becoming a Musicart, her past life and memories as Cosette are now completely gone. However, Takt's Dying Dream implies she is still around in some slight capacity.
- Hidden Depths: Turns out she also knew how to play the piano, having been taught by her mother in France.
- Manic Pixie Dream Girl: Was this to Takt, constantly trying to coax him out of his shell and going as far as to steal his precious piano to do so.
- Morton's Fork: After being mortally wounded in the D2 attack, her only options were to either die or suffer a Death of Personality by transforming into a Musicart, and she chose the latter because it would at least help protect Takt.
- Nice Girl: Cosette is a cheerful and nice girl who always looks out for Takt.
Tropes that apply to Destiny
- Big Eater: Is quite fond of eating and can eat loads of food at a time.
- Cast from Calories: She needs a lot of calories so that using her powers doesn't immediately start draining Takt's life force.
- Combat Stilettos: Her Musicart outfit comes with some high heeled shoes.
- Dying Declaration of Love: Gives one to Takt before disappearing.
- Emotionless Girl: She never displays emotions and cares for little besides destroying D2s. She slowly sheds this over the course of their journey.
- Facial Markings: Destiny gets six stars around her left eye when using her powers. She is also differentiated from Cosette's original appearance with red eyeliner-like markings around her eyes.
- Flower Motifs: She has a red rose in her hair, and she is accompanied by rose petals.
- Go Out with a Smile: Before disappearing, she gives Takt her first and only smile.
- The Hero Dies: She turns into rose petals after trying to revive Takt.
- Icy Blue Eyes: Her eyes turned completely blue and represent her detached new nature.
- In a Single Bound: She doesn't have actual flight, but she can jump incredibly high.
- Kiss of Life: Kisses Takt as the two lay dying on the beach from overexerting their powers, which transfers her last bits of power to keep him alive as she disappears.
- Musical Theme Naming: Named after Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No.5 in C Minor Op.67, sometimes referred to as "The Symphony of Destiny".
- Rei Ayanami Expy: Her hair color, lack of social skills and relationship with Takt make her one.
- Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Most of the time she acts cold and uninterested, but as she grows as a character her sweet side comes out more often.
- Super-Strength: She's strong enough to carry a piano like it's nothing, and she needs lots of strength to fight the D2s.
- Sweet Tooth: While already a Big Eater, Destiny has a preference for sweets.
- There Was a Door: Has a tendency of breaking through doors and windows rather than just opening them.
- Transformation Trinket: After she dies, she leaves behind one which Anna takes as her own, allowing her to transform into a Musicart herself and use her powers.
- When She Smiles: She finally smiles when giving Takt her Dying Declaration of Love.
Anna Schneider (Unmarked Spoilers)
Voiced by: Kaede Hondo (Japanese), Alexis Tipton (English)
- Bare Midriffs Are Feminine: Her black shirt shows off her stomach.
- The Big Damn Kiss: Gives this to Takt before he and Destiny head off for the final battle in the penultimate episode, though the context is left somewhat ambiguous since even Anna doesn’t know why she kissed him. And no. You don't normally 'platonically' kiss people on the lips like that...With Takt going into a coma at the end with no indication that he'll ever wake back up, it also turns out to be a Last Kiss as Takt enters a coma after the final battle.
- Canon Character All Along: Turns out to be the same incarnation of Destiny in the mobile game.
- Cool Big Sis: She was this for Cosette and tries to be one for her now that she's Destiny.
- Cool Car: Owns a 1975 Dodge Monaco that is still roadworthy despite being almost a century old.
- Drives Like Crazy: At least when it involves chasing after Destiny and Takt. She also pulls an all-nighter to New Orleans by "putting the pedal to the metal."
- Foreshadowing:
- She has a rose on her choker and belt, which is the motif of Destiny.
- She is Voiced by Kaede Hondo, so is Destiny in the game.
- I Will Find You: Destiny's abnormalities compared to normal Musicarts like Titan give her hope that Cosette can still come back, and this is her main motive for traveling to New York and seeing the Symphonica.
- Legacy Character: In the final episode, she becomes the second Destiny due to inheriting her powers.
- Ms. Fanservice: She dresses less modestly than Destiny and there's occasional focus in her butt and exposed abdomen, providing most of the eye-candy in the series. Averted in the time skip, where she wears Symphonica's uniform. Even Titan comments how handsome she is with it. Though that's only in regards to her civilian appearance. In her Musicart form, she wears the same flattering outfit as the previous Destiny, which is further accentuated by her more physically mature body.
- Nice Girl: While she can be aggressive, she’s a kind, concerning young woman who greatly cares for her friends.
- Only Sane Woman: Given Takt and Destiny care for almost nothing outside of music and destroying D2s respectively, it's her responsibility to keep them focused on their goal of reaching New York.
- Out of Focus: She takes a back seat during the more action-heavy events of the story, and usually only finds out about such events after the fact, if at all. This changes at the end, with her joining Symphonica after inheriting the mantle and powers of Destiny.
- Transformation Trinket: Gains one from the deceased Destiny by the time she's joined the Symphonica, which allows her to utilize her powers and fight as a Musicart herself.
New York Symphonica
Leonard "Lenny" Flyheart
Voiced by: Satoshi Hino (Japanese), Reagan Murdock (English)
- Ambiguously Brown: It's not clear if his ethnicity is Latino, Middle Eastern, South Asian, Pacific Islander, or Native American. And since the story takes place in America where people from all over the world converge, your guess is as good as any.
- Ambiguously Gay: His mannerisms and affectionate way of interacting with Takt certainly brings it to mind.
- Big Brother Mentor: He and Titan teach the basics to Takt and Destiny about their newfound abilities.
- Dying Moment of Awesome: Finding himself fatally injured, he uses the last of his strength to conduct Titan using her full power, defeating Heaven and making Sagan leave.
- Mentor Occupational Hazard: Despite Takt's initial objections, he really was his mentor, and in episode 10 he sacrifices himself to protect Takt.
- Mr. Exposition: He arrives in episode 3 to explain to the three protagonists the nature of D2s, the Musicart and Conductor powers, and how Takt and Destiny's situation is highly unusual.
- Nice Guy: Leonard is the first friendly Conductor that Takt and his group meets. He taught Takt and Destiny the basics of a Conductor and a Musicart and how both are intrinsically linked.
- Supreme Chef: Can whip up incredible meals.
- Taking the Bullet: When Heaven is about to kill Takt by shooting him, he jumps between them and takes the hit, which ultimately kills him.
- Token Good Teammate: Regarding the Symphonica, he's the only conductor there who isn't either corrupted or completely batshit and influenced by murder.
Titan
Voiced by: Miku Itō (Japanese), Natalie Hoover (English)
- Badass Adorable: She's a cute girl who is very skilled at destroying D2s.
- Buffy Speak: While she does do a decent demonstration on fighting to Destiny, the explaination on the other hand...
- Titan: When Maestro gies "twinkle, twinkle, twinkle", I get the orders like "bzzt". Then I go like "swoosh", and then like "blammo, kablooey"! Then victory!
- Fashionable Asymmetry: Her twin tails are arranged in an uneven manner.
- Genki Girl: She's pretty cheery and energetic, not even minding that she doesn't remember her past life.
- Ironic Name: Her name is Titan yet she's a short girl.
- Letting Her Hair Down: In episode 10, she undoes her twin-tails right as she unleashes her full power.
- Musical Theme Naming: Named after Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 1 (Titan).
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: She drops her cheeriness once Lenny uses up his lifeforce to power her up, taking off her hair ribbons and sporting a totally blank look on her face as she fights. After her Conductor dies, she doesn't act as peppy as before for the rest of the episodes.
- Shotguns Are Just Better: Her weapon of choice is a small pump shotgun. Episode 10 has Lenny Casting From Lifespan to have her conjure another shotgun to better fight Heaven and Hell with, then four more for a final fusillade.
- Technicolor Eyes: Her eyes are blue and purple.
- Tranquil Fury: In contrast to her usual attitude, when facing Hell she speaks in a surprisingly calm yet threatening tone.
Charlotte Schneider
Voiced by: Ai Kakuma (Japanese), Michelle Rojas (English)
- Cool Big Sis: She's this for both Anna, Takt and Destiny.
- Early-Bird Cameo: She is briefly seen in Episode 2's flashback sitting next to Anna as they both observe the funeral of Takt's father before she is properly introduced in Episode 9.
- Genius Cripple: Confined to a wheelchair but she's a very important researcher of the Symphonica. She, along with all the other researchers, is completely unaware of the organization being responsible for summoning the D2s.
- Nice Girl: She's a pretty kind and easy-going person.
- Smart People Wear Glasses: She wears glasses while she's working.
- Strong Family Resemblance: Looks a lot like her sister Anna, who inherited their looks from their mother, only older and with a different hairstyle.
- Token Good Teammate: Like Lenny, she's one of the only members of Symphonica who isn't corrupted or mentally unstable.
Symphonica International Organization
Sagan (Unmarked Spoilers)
Voiced by: Eiji Hanawa (Japanese), Christopher Wehkamp (English)
- Ax-Crazy: He's not as delusional and self-aggrandizing as Felix, but he's definitely not all there either. Unlike Felix, who doesn't see any value in music, he seems to believe the best kind of music comes from destruction and the sorrow it brings.
- Bad Boss: He has no problems disposing of Lenny after Lenny reveals the organization's connection to the D2's.
- Big Bad: He's the one ultimately responsible for summoning the D2s.
- Devil in Plain Sight: There is something unnerving about him from the moment he's introduced, particularly his insistence of getting Takt to join Symphonica. After presenting himself at least as a lesser evil through his dismissal of Felix, he reveals himself to be the one responsible for summoning the D2s and the true Big Bad.
- Dissonant Serenity: No matter what he's doing or saying, he always sounds completely calm and composed. The most extreme emotion he ever expresses is mild elation...towards seeing Lenny coughing up blood.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Even he has his limits with Felix, as he fires him when he interferes with Takt.
- Faux Affably Evil: His calm demeanor only serves to hide his callousness and refusal to take no for an answer. He's also the one who sicced D2s in Boston the day he met Lenny.
- Graceful Loser: Unlike Felix, he takes his loss and subsequent death at the hands of Takt with quiet acceptance, even smiling a bit before he dies.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: When Takt encounters him for the last time, Sagan is shown having been impaled by several D2 shards. Takt adds to this by killing him with Destiny's sword.
- Kick The Son Of A Bitch: He's a villain in his own right, but it is undeniably satisfying to watch him effortlessly strip the delusional and haughty Felix of his authority.
- Soft-Spoken Sadist: He gets disturbingly giddy at the sight of Lenny clinging to life, all while keeping the same tone he normally uses.
- Start of Darkness: Started off as a man who genuinely wants to see the end of the D2 threat. But after countless lives lost with no hope of the war ending, he comes across a D2 shard and from there slowly loses his sanity.
- With Us or Against Us: When Takt refuses to join Symphonica after finding out about their connection with the D2s through Lenny, Sagan orders the attack on him and states that he's not essential to their cause.
Heaven
Voiced by: Inori Minase (Japanese), Celeste Perez (English)
- Co-Dragons: With Hell once Felix is kicked out of the organization.
- Foil: To Hell, naturally. Both are Musicarts of leaders of the Symphonica. Heaven has long black hair, pale skin, while Hell has short light grey hair and dark skin. Heaven is stoic and rational, while Hell is manic and psycho. Hell wears an asymmetrical one-piece suit with a boob window, while Heaven wears a long skirt and a blouse that shows little cleavage. Both have eye markings on opposite eyes and while Heaven is a Long-Range Fighter, Hell prefers to fight close and personal.
- Parasol of Pain: Her main weapon is a parasol that serves as a gatling gun, a shield and a blunt weapon.
- Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: Contrasting Hell, Heaven has pale skin and dark brown hair.
- Taking the Bullet: Protects Hell from Titan's strongest attack, getting knocked out in the process.
Felix Schindler (Unmarked Spoilers)
Voiced by: Daisuke Namikawa (Japanese), Jeff Swearingen (English)
- Arch-Enemy: He becomes this to Takt once he reveals that he is responsible for all the D2 attacks on Takt's group. The feeling is apparently mutual.
- Ax-Crazy: He's already a bit off his head on his first appearance. But, considering his ideal version of what he wants a nation to be, he's actually even more unhinged than Hell, which is saying a lot.
- Big Bad Wannabe: He has it in his head that he is a cool-headed and influential mastermind due to become mankind's future leader. But he ultimately is a nothing more than a thug who harbors petty plots and petty grudges, and whose power only extends as far as what Symphonica allows. Any threat he posed immediately ends when Sagan strips him of his rank, revealing that neither Sagan nor Hell, his own Musicart, ever considered him worth anything beyond the uniform he wore.
- Connected All Along: He was the one behind the D2 attack on Takt's home that killed Cosette.
- Disc-One Final Boss: He's the antagonist for the first seven episodes, only to get dismissed and fired on episode 8.
- Evil Is Not a Toy: Tried to weaponize the D2s for his own purposes.
- Fantastic Racism: Unlike Takt and Lenny, he doesn't see Musicart as anything other than weapons.
- Faux Affably Evil: While good at speaking in a calm matter and almost reassuring matter, it's clear he only does it to keep appearances. He drops all such intentions when it comes out that not only does he wants to kill most of humanity to form a new nation with only people he wants to live, but that he deliberately tried to kill Takt and Cosette earlier on with the D2 that attacked their hometown.
- General Ripper: Despite being told not to by Sagan, who sees him as someone of use to Symphonica. He goes after Takt with full intent of killing him on a personal level. This behavior gets him thrown out of Symphonica the moment they find out.
- Irony: Despite being a high ranking member of Symphonica, he privately dislikes music, considering it pointless entertainment judged by emotions. The other side of this irony is that his lack of respect for music only takes away his potential power and respect from Symphonica's Conductors and Musicarts.
- It's All About Me: Sees himself as the leader of a new nation, to be created by using the D2s to wipe out anyone he declares trash, even indenting to use this newfound power to make his comrades in Symphonica bow to his whims.
- Mask of Sanity: He puts up a composed and intelligent front, but underneath it, he's a maniac with delusions of grandeur driven by petty whims.
- Named After Somebody Famous: Named after Anton Felix Schindler, Ludwig van Beethoven's biographer.
- A Nazi by Any Other Name: He's a blonde wannabe dictator who seeks to launch a genocidal campaign against the world to weed out those he deems inferior.
- Omnicidal Maniac: Reveals to Takt that he's the one responsible for the recent D2 attacks in an attempt to remove the trash and spare only those he deems worthy for his new nation.
- Walking Spoiler: It's not easy to talk about Felix's role without spoiling the fact that he was responsible for the D2 attacks that happened throughout most of the series.
- Villainous Breakdown: Completely loses what's left of his sanity after the Symphonica strips him of his rank and kicks him out of the organization for attacking Takt, with Hell going as far as to walk out on him and snap his baton in half. All he can do is rant about his delusions of grandeur while Laughing Mad. The next time we see him, he's been locked away in a mental hospital.
Hell
Voiced by: Reina Ueda (Japanese), Marti Etheridge (English)
- Armed Legs: When fighting her legs become sharp and armored, capable of slicing a gigantic D2 in half.
- Axe-Crazy: Her expression, her nigh-permanent Cheshire Cat Grin, her manic way of fighting and the fact that she expressed interest in wanting to have Destiny's eyes show there's something very wrong with her. She cements this once it's revealed she willfully helped Felix in reawakening sleeping D2s to help him achieve his goals to wipe out humanity. This is somewhat downplayed in Episode 8 in that, despite her unhinged personality, she is ultimately loyal to Symphonica, not to Felix. Leaving it ambiguous as to whether she actually supported Felix's plans, or was just playing along to humor him.
- Blood Knight: She's always looking for a fight, whether it be against the D2's or another Musicart. She couldn't care less about the reasons for instigating them.
- Cleavage Window: Her suit has an opening for her cleavage.
- The Dragon: For Schindler. Subverted that she is ultimately loyal to Symphonica and she leaves Felix once Symphonica kicks him out. She serves this same purpose with Sagan later on with Heaven.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: She genuinely cares about Heaven, not showing her typical blood-thirstiness when she's injured.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Deliberately disobeys Felix when he orders her to kill Takt and Destiny as they flee, stating that it wouldn't be fair to chase them while they're down.
- The Hyena: Constantly smirking and laughing, especially during a fight.
- Off with His Head!: Very nearly decapitates Takt during his fight with Sagan, and is only prevented from doing so by Titan interfering.
- Purple Is Powerful: Dresses in a dark purple suit and is one of the most dangerous Musicarts seen so far.
- Punch-Clock Villain: Episode 8 ultimately shows that she only aids Felix because he was the Conductor assigned to her. Once Felix is kicked out of Symphonica, she promptly left his side. Turns out she might be an incredibly downplayed version of one, as it's revealed that the head of Symphonica is also villainous.
- Rollerblade Good: When armored, her heels have rollerblades, which allow her to move at tremendous speeds and even climb a wall vertically.
Walküre
Voiced by: Sumire Uesaka (Japanese), Lexi Nieto (English)
- Curtains Match the Windows: Icy blue hair and blue eyes.
- Defrosting Ice Queen: At first she was cold and dismissive of Takt, but after fighting together and him calling her cute makes her blush, she becomes much nicer.
- Glass Cannon: Walküre is currently not partnered with any Conductor. So, while she is indeed a decently powerful Musicart, she gets exhausted rather easily, making her unsuited for long battles.
- Hey, You!: She doesn't ask to know Takt's name so she simply calls him "You", and he in turn refers to her the same way. It's only after she softens up a bit that they tell each other their names.
- Lady of War: Calm, cool and collected while fighting, she wields a sword and shield.
- Musical Theme Naming: Named after Richard Wagner's Die Walküre, the second opera in The Ring of the Nibelung.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: She's not seen after episode 11 in the anime when Titan knocks her out.
Orpheus (Unmarked Spoilers)
Voiced by: Kotono Mitsuishi (Japanese), Brina Palencia (English)
- Amazing Technicolor Population: Her skin is purple.
- Combat Stilettos: Wears high-heeled shoes and she's just as dangerous in close quarters as she is from afar.
- Conjoined Eyes: Up close her eyes are clearly splitting, a reminder she's the fusion of Hell and Heaven.
- The Consigliere: Her halves, Heaven and Hell, stood by Sagan as his mind was broken down by the countless losses of life he had to keep enduring. This is why she goes along with his plan to gather all the D2s in one location and seal them away in spite of the innocents dying as collateral damage.
- Final Boss: Since Sagan is a Non-Action Big Bad, Orpheus is the last physical threat Takt and Destiny face together.
- Fusion Dance: The combined form of Heaven and Hell.
- Healing Factor: She can regenerate from most injuries, even getting the upper half of her body blown up is not enough to stop her for more than a couple of minutes. However, her regenerative ability can be overworked. Destiny is able to subject her to enough sustained damage to cause her to petrify entirely.
- Idiot Hair: Has a prominent cowlick, something Heaven and Hell lack.
- Multi-Melee Master: Besides having Attack Drones with More Dakka, Orpheus is also a Master Swordsman.
- Musical Theme Naming: Named after Jacques Offenbach's "Orpheus in the Underworld".
- Navel-Deep Neckline: Her dress is open past her navel.
- Purple Is Powerful: Purple skin and a dark purple dress, and she's the toughest foe faced by Takt and Destiny.
- Taken for Granite: The fight against Destiny takes her Healing Factor to the limit, turning her into stone. After Sagan is dead, her body is crushed by the shattering D2 crystals.
