Characters / The Kindaichi Case Files

Main Protagonists

Hajime Kindaichi

Japanese: 金田一 一, Kindaichi Hajime

Voiced by: Taiki Matsuno, Kappei Yamaguchi (first anime film)
Portrayed by: Tsuyoshi Domoto (1995-1997), Jun Matsumoto (2001), Kazyua Kamenashi (2005), Ryosuke Yamada (2013-2014), Shunsuke Michieda (2022)

The main character of the series. The grandson of famous detective, Kosuke Kindaichi, Hajime picked up the tricks of his trade from him, using his great detective skills to solve the crimes occurring in the series.

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• Absentee Club Member: Despite being a member of the Mystery Club, he's almost never present in the club meetings because he's just that much of an Apathetic Student. One case arc starts with Miyuki, his "friend since childhood" and a fellow club member herself, browbeating him into joining the meeting, just to make sure he won't skip out on it this time.
• Accidental Pervert: While he's a Chivalrous Pervert, one of the more frequent sources of hilarity involves him pulling seemingly perverted stunts without meaning to do so, incurring the wrath of Miyuki, who privately considers such stunts between herself and Hajime "sexual harassment comedy routine" in one case arc.
• Achilles in His Tent:
  • In the "Seven Mysteries of Fudo High" he briefly considers dropping the case because his carelessness resulted in Miyuki getting attacked and hospitalized. Appropriately enough, it was Miyuki herself, upon waking up, who talked him into getting back into action.
  • Saki's murder left him nearly catatonic for a whole episode, that he didn't even rebuff the accusation that he's now the primary suspect.
• Affectionate Nickname: Called "Hajime-chan" by Miyuki. This becomes important in "Hong Kong Kowloon Treasure".
• Alone with the Psycho: Kindaichi has tried to corner or confront the case's killer alone numerous times, which sometimes result in him getting beaten since, well, the person he confronts is usually ruthless or cunning enough to kill a person successfully.
• Amateur Sleuth: Despite being an Ordinary High-School Student (and a Salaryman as an adult), his genius deduction skills allow him to Spot the Thread and solve cases that baffle many a professional crime investigator and/or cop. He also counts as a Kid Detective when he's an Ordinary High-School Student.
• Apathetic Student: School bores him, so being Asleep in Class is his common way of getting through class sessions, and his grades are bad enough to threaten to keep him Held Back in School.
• Asleep in Class: Expect him to do this or concentrate on other things (eating, playing mobile games) instead of paying attention during the class. Mind you, it's not because of part-time work.
• Big Eater: Downplayed. While he doesn't eat an inordinate amount of food in one go, he tends to help himself with food whenever he can or complain of hunger when food shortage happens, and a source of Hypocritical Humor involves him complaining about the loss of his appetite even as he's scarfing food down.
• Big Ol' Eyebrows: Which he inherits through his father.
• Brains and Brawn: His teamwork with Kenmochi has this dynamic. Kindaichi is a genius with prodigious deduction skills that help Kenmochi solve many a murder case while lacking strong physique for melee confrontations, whereas Kenmochi is a black-belt in judo with Charles Atlas Superpower and serviceable but not excellent deduction skills that are often needed to solve elaborate plots in murder cases.
• Brilliant, but Lazy: He is very intelligent (his IQ is 180) to the point that first depiction of him mentions that he can get better grades than Miyuki if he tries but he gets very bad grades because he doesn't care about school.
• Cannot Spit It Out: He is coy about his feelings for Miyuki, and the one time he does manage to spit it out, his confession is muffled by the marching band.
• Catchphrase:
  • "I swear it in the name of my grandfather!"
  • "All the mysteries are solved."
  • "The killer is among us!" (not when he confronts the killer directly or lays trap on them)
• Chick Magnet: Miyuki obviously falls for him, Reika is shown to be Miyuki's main rival, and other one-time only girls have shown to be interested in him. He doesn't mind.
• Childhood Friend Romance: With Miyuki.
• Chivalrous Pervert: He is something of a skirt chaser, but he is still more or less a gentleman.
• Clear My Name: Several times. The most notable case including "Kindaichi the Killer" and "Life Gamble of Kindaichi" (case series).
• Compliment Backfire: A frequent target of this, due to the combination of himself being a Brilliant, but Lazy Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass with an unassuming appearance and those who do know his Hidden Depths having a tendency to mention his idiotic traits while trying to prop him up.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Except for a few close friends, everyone at school thinks Kindaichi is an idiot. The reason behind this was because he doesn't want his genius brain to separate him from others.
• Doom Magnet: He seems unable to go anywhere without some murderous plot, or at least some legal trouble, taking place where he is, even when he tries to take a vacation. This gets Kindaichi pegged as the suspect on more than one occasion, and a Superintendent gets involved specifically because he believes Kindaichi can't be that unlucky, so Kindaichi is obviously the one perpetrating these crimes.
• Ear Ache: Played for Laughs. He's on the receiving end of it, with Miyuki pulling him by the ear to cajole him into doing something or to keep him in line.
• Enemy Mine: Joins forces with Takato in the Rosenkreuz Mansion case, on the condition that Takato would turn himself in after it's over. This includes, ironically enough, proving Takato's innocence when the mansion's other guests figure out his identity and pin the blame on Takato for the murders.
• "Eureka!" Moment: Whenever he feels stuck trying to deduce a murder plot, something seemingly unrelated soon jolts him into the realization that will help him to solve the case at hand.
• Faking the Dead: Near the end of the Kindaichi the Killer case Akechi shoots Kindaichi during a hostage situation. Akechi reveals the ruse once he's alone with the "corpse" and Kindaichi's friends, and Kindaichi explains it's the only way he can get the police heat off his back and investigate the initial crime scene more thoroughly.
• Five-Finger Discount: He's able to pickpocket stuffs in earlier appearances, sometimes uses bumping as one of the tricks; Detective Tawarada's police notebook, One of his teachers' matches and hotel coupon, even his seniors' panties. This probably results from years of learning magic with his grandpa. This habit lessens as more series come out.
• Foil: To Akechi.
  • Kindaichi is a Brilliant, but Lazy Apathetic Student, whereas Akechi was a straight-A student in his younger days.
  • Kindaichi's talent is mostly focused on his deduction skills as an Amateur Sleuth, whereas Akechi is The Ace with many trained accomplishments to the point that he might also be a Renaissance Man.
  • Kindaichi is as emotive as any average person, while Akechi is The Stoic.
  • As an adult, Kindaichi is a Salaryman whose job has nothing to do with detective work (in fact, he states that such is the one job he doesn't want to do — the only reason he gets involved in detective work at all is because he's a Mystery Magnet), while Akechi has been in police detective work for decades.
• Good Is Not Soft: When he is throwing Shut Up, Hannibal! talks to many unrepentant culprits.
• Great Detective: He solves crimes via deductive investigations.
• Guile Hero: Likes to lull prospective suspects into thinking he's just a kid and/or an idiot, just in time to spring a mental trap on them.
• Held Back in School: While he doesn't actually get held back, some case arcs start with him struggling to keep out of this status due to his bad grades.
• History Repeats: To his chagrin, Kindaichi finds himself trying to solve serial murders in locations that are all-too-familiar to him: The Opera Hotel and Hotel Europa.
• Hypocritical Humor: His action of stuffing himself with food while claiming to have lost his appetite can only be this trope, especially since he's a Big Eater.
• I Just Want to Be Normal: As an adult he desperately tried to be a normal salary man but kept getting roped into mysteries.
• Intergenerational Friendship:
  • He is a friend of Kenmochi, an middle-aged adult inspector. The friendship still remains 20 years later.
  • As an adult Salaryman, he is a friend and business partner with Marin Hayama, who's 14 years his junior.
• Let's Get Dangerous!: When it comes time to solve a case he drops the goofball act and turns deadly serious.
• Lured into a Trap: When Kindaichi manages to deduce the culprit(s) but does not have enough material evidences, he will not hesitate to lure the culprit(s) into a trap he had set, so the cops would be able to "catch them red-handed" instead of wasting time at the crime scene.
• Mystery Magnet: He seems to be unable to go anywhere without some mystery that needs his smarts to solve taking place.
• Numerical Theme Naming: He and Fumi have this dynamic between them, as their names are "one"("一") and "two three" ("二三"), respectively.
• Patchwork Kids: Except for the ponytail hairstyle and his Big Ol' Eyebrows, the former being his own style and the latter being inherited from his father, he looks almost identical to his mother.
• Protagonist Title: His last name instead of his first name.
• Ridiculously Average Guy: He tries to be this as much as possible in his workplace.
• Running Gag: People, especially Detective Tawarada, sometimes read his name as "Kindani" ("Dani" in Japanese means "mite").
• Salary Man: His job at Otowa PR Company.
• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Having witnessed so many deaths in his teenage years most probably took a toll in Kindaichi that, 20 years later, he doesn't want to play detective anymore. Unfortunately, he's a Doom Magnet and a Mystery Magnet, so he winds up having to solve cases again, if very reluctantly.
• Talking Down the Suicidal: He does his best to talk many a Sympathetic Murderer who's become a Death Seeker out of suicide. While his success rate may vary, there's no doubt that he's genuine in his attempts.

Miyuki Nanase

Japanese: 七瀬 美雪, Nanase Miyuki

Voiced by: Akiko Nakagawa
Portrayed by: Rie Tomosaka (1995-1997), Anne Suzuki (2001), Juri Ueno (2005), Haruna Kawaguchi (2013-2014), Moka Kamishiraishi (2022)

The childhood friend and next door neighbor of Hajime Kindaichi, or "Hajime-chan". Miyuki is an honors student at her and Hajime's high school. Many of her classmates and teachers wonder why she hangs around a guy like Kindaichi, but Miyuki knows that Kindaichi is a lot more than he lets on.

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• A-Cup Angst: Live-action version only. Kindaichi is the one who comments on it often.
• Borrowed Catch Phrase: Live-action version only in tweaked "Ijinkan Hotel Murder Case". Hilariously, she says "I'll solve this case in the name of Hajime-chan's Grampa!". The rest is still the same though.
• Buxom Beauty Standard: Let's just say she gets a LOT of commentary on her bosom.
• Childhood Friend Romance: With Hajime.
• Damsel in Distress: Sometimes. Subverted in The Magical Express where the puppeteer of hell apparently kidnapped her but it turned out to be just a puppet.
• Dude Magnet: Has a few guys chasing after her besides Kindaichi.
• Ear Ache: Played for Laughs. She's the one doling it out to Kindaichi, whether to cajole him into doing something or to keep him in line.
• Frame-Up: Happened once in "Vampire Legend Murder Case".
• Girl Next Door: She and Hajime have been living near each other, which helps to develop Childhood Friend Romance between them.
• Hammerspace: Her purse. Played for laughs only once, however, here◊.
• Identical Stranger: She bears an uncanny resemblance to a random girl that is the reason behind the culprit's Roaring Rampage of Revenge. It ensures that the culprit wouldn't attack her and allows her to prevent a Sadistic Choice from taking place in that case arc.
• Informed Attractiveness: She is Kindaichi's Love Interest, is the most desired girl in her high school and in most of the cases at least one guy is interested in her. She has exactly the same body type as other girls in the series and her face is very normal too. Later stories place some emphasis on her somewhat generous bust size.
• Intergenerational Friendship: With the middle-aged Kenmochi.
• Not so Dire: Kidnapped in Kowloon Murder Case so the killer can impersonate her. Once Kindaichi catches the killer, he mounts a rescue...and learns that Miyuki wasn't in any danger at all. Her "kidnapper" only told her a lie about a national emergency, keeps Miyuki well-provided for in a hideaway and treated her like an important guest.
• Put on a Bus: 20 years later, Miyuki is now a flight stewardess, and thus cannot join Kindaichi in his new adventures.
• Satellite Love Interest: To Kindaichi. Even her other relationships (Wakaba in the mummy case) or hobbies (her drama club's membership in the Phantom of Opera case) are only plot devices to drag Kindaichi to the next mystery (and she is very Out of Focus in those cases).
• Seers: Kindaichi nicknames her this in their adult age in which she's ALWAYS correct about his activities via Liso messages.
• Second Love: Believe it or not, she's not Kindaichi's first love. His first love is one of his and Miyuki's friends in elementary school who became a top model, Takamori Masumi.
• Student Council President: Translation seems to be juggling between her being this or Class Representative.
• Tsundere: Type B. Miyuki is usually a sweet and even-tempered young lady, but she gets pissed whenever Kindaichi does a perverted act.
• The Watson: Part of her primary role in any mystery case is to ask questions that are relevant to the case at hand for the detective (usually Hajime) to answer so the readers/viewers can understand the stories better.
• What Does She See in Him?: Some of her and Kindaichi's fellow classmates can't understand why she remains close to Kindaichi due to not knowing about his Hidden Depths.

Isamu Kenmochi

Japanese: 剣持 勇, Kenmochi Isamu

Voiced by: Jurota Kosugi, Isao Natsuyagi (anime film)
Portrayed by: Masato Furuoya (1995-1996), Takashi Naitou (2001), Masaya Kato (2005), Tomomitsu Yamaguchi (2013-2014), Ikki Sawamura (2022)

A Tokyo homicide police inspector skilled in Judo. After meeting Kindaichi in the first case of the series, Kenmochi has always supported Hajime and his deduction prowess.

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• Badass in Distress: He gets ambushed, knocked out, and locked away early in the "Opera House: The Third Murder" case arc; thankfully, Kindaichi manages to find him later in the selfsame case, disheveled and hungry but no worse for wear otherwise.
• Baritone of Strength: Has a deep voice and can and WILL hand out an ass beating if need be.
• The Big Guy: Occasionally serves as this due to his police training and experience.
• Borrowed Catch Phrase: Happens once in "The Headless Samurai" when he borrows Kindaichi's.
• Brains and Brawn: His teamwork with Kindaichi has this dynamic. Kindaichi is a genius with prodigious deduction skills that help Kenmochi solve many a murder case while lacking strong physique for melee confrontations, whereas Kenmochi is a black-belt in judo with Charles Atlas Superpower and serviceable but not excellent deduction skills that are often needed to solve elaborate plots in murder cases.
• Charles Atlas Superpower: The suspect of the week compared his grip to a gorilla.
• Cool Old Guy: More "middle-aged" than "old", but he is generally cordial with Hajime and Miyuki, with both of whom he forms an Intergenerational Friendship. The trope is played straighter after the 20-year Time Skip, in which he's retired from the police force due to his more advanced age while retaining his cordial relationship with Hajime.
• Demoted to Extra: He's now under retirement in the 20 Year series, having only appeared sporadically so far. He can't accompany Kindaichi in his new cases anymore, although he can still pull a few strings to help if need be.
• Frameup: He was framed in "Inspector Kenmochi Murder Case".
• Friend on the Force: All Hajime needs is a call from Kenmochi (and/or Akechi) to instantly verify his credibility as a sleuth.
• Intergenerational Friendship: With high school-aged Hajime and Miyuki.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: A mild case. He was depicted as a jerkass in his manga debut (Opera House Murder Case). After Kindaichi and everyone else found the first dead body, Kenmochi who were in a holiday in the island said to a crying Miyuki "I'm the one who should be crying, this case ruined my holiday!". Later appearance lessens his "jerk" part and increases his "gold".
• Overshadowed by Awesome: Kenmochi is perfectly competent as a detective and policeman, it's just that the points of comparison are Kindaichi and Akechi who are insanely gifted.
• Perma-Stubble: He has a scruffy, short beard, and an author's note in one case arc even mentions he shaved recently despite his bearded appearance at the moment.
• That One Case: The Marina Togami suicide, which is the driving point of the Kenmochi the Killer mystery. Togami, a student of Kenmochi in kendo, was kidnapped and tortured (perhaps even more), and in an attempt to escape from her kidnappers, she killed herself. Oddly, the reason that Kenmochi treats it as if he failed wasn't because it was unsolved, but rather because the perpetrators couldn't be convicted (with one pulling a Karma Houdini through Screw the Rules, I Have Money!) because they were minors at the time of the crime. The plot of Kenmochi the Killer involves the suspects, now at legal age, being targeted and seemingly killed one by one, and Kenmochi suddenly pulls a vanishing act at the time of the murders.

Kengo Akechi

Japanese: 明智 健悟, Akechi Kengo

Voiced by: Toshiyuki Morikawa
Portrayed by: Mansaku Ikeuchi (1995-1996)

A police chief superintendent and Kenmochi's supervisor. Akechi is a rival of sorts for Kindaichi, but they both share a mutual respect for each other.

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• The Ace: Let's see, he is a former straight-A student, Todai graduate, amateur chess player (who ranks somewhere among the world's best amateur players), trained violinist (who can play for a professional quartet of a piece he played for the first time), capable fencer (who once beat the national champion) and can pilot planes too. If that's not enough, he's also a qualified wine expert capable of taking sommelier's duty and also speaks French fluently.
• Always Someone Better: Zigzagged. In terms of sleuthing skills, he is either equal to Kindaichi or slightly below him (especially in the older series, where his arrogance frequently causes him to miss out on clues that Kindaichi notice). However, he is superior to Kindaichi in pretty much everything else.
• Bishie Sparkle: Later depictions of him has this as background tone in several occasions. Kindaichi even lampshaded it in spin-off gag manga.
• Borrowed Catch Phrase: In a small case featuring Kindaichi as prime suspect and Akechi as the detective, he deliberately says "The mysteries have been solved", even he lampshaded it.
• Broken Ace: A mild variant. In his first appearance, his overconfidence in his deduction ability led to him being completely sidetracked by the real murderer's false hints. Later stories reveal he's still haunted by several ghosts in his past, like the murder of a friend in his high school circle (by another friend in the same group, one very close to him at that) and the failure of his father Akechi Sr. in solving the famous bank heist 20 years ago featured in House of Wax, which led to his father's early retirement and his obsession with finding out the answer for the case.
• Characterization Marches On: In his first appearance, Akechi is nothing but a smug stick-in-the-mud who is more concerned about showing off his intelligence than actually pursuing justice. As time goes on, the series really hammer in on his elegance and being The Ace.
• Chick Magnet: The ladies do love him.
• Foil: To Kindaichi.
  • Akechi was a straight-A student in his younger days, whereas Kindaichi is a Brilliant, but Lazy Apathetic Student.
  • Akechi is The Ace with many trained accomplishments to the point that he might also be a Renaissance Man, whereas Kindaichi's talent is mostly focused on his deduction skills as an Amateur Sleuth.
  • Akechi is The Stoic, while Kindaichi is as emotive as the next person.
  • Akechi has been in police detective work for decades, while Kindaichi, as an adult, is a Salaryman whose job has nothing to do with detective work (in fact, he states that such is the one job he doesn't want to do — the only reason he gets involved in detective work at all is because he's a Mystery Magnet).
• Friend on the Force: He has helped Hajime over the phone to instantly verify his credibility as a sleuth.
• Gratuitous French: He's shown to be a fluent one in a conversation with a native French speaker.
• Great Detective: He proves to have excellent deductive capabilities both when he's the one to solve crimes and when he provides investigative support to Kindaichi.
• Hair Colors: He has grey hair.
• Older Than They Look: In Case File of 37 Years Old Kindaichi, he is already 48 years old, but looks no different from his 28-year-old self. This is lampshaded by Itsuki when the two meet.
• Not So Above It All:
  • Unabashedly goes to humiliate Kindaichi by exposing the latter's Porn Stash while Kindaichi was supposed to be given an award from the police director. He can then be seen struggling (and almost failing) to keep his composure when his scheme worked.
  • When his subordinate suspects Kindaichi to be a Serial Killer due to his presence in various crimes (even 20 years later), Akechi has a barely-controlled laughing fit.
• Pretty Boy: He's suave, elegant, and is considered very handsome by most females he comes across.
• The Rival: To Hajime Kindaichi. Their investigative prowess are evenly matched.
• Smart People Wear Glasses: Smug as he may be, he's got the smarts to back it up.
• The Stoic: Calm, cool, and collected, he's not known to show strong emotions or raise his voice.
• Tea Is Classy: He's known for his elegance and class, and, especially in his Spin-Off series, is fond of drinking tea.
• That One Case: Akechi's father tried to solve the bank heist that would eventually become part of the backstory for the "House of Wax Murder Case" arc, but he was unable to do so before the statute of the heist case expired and he was himself forced to retire due to old age, spending the rest of his life brooding over his failure to solve it. It's for this reason Akechi went out of his way to get Kindaichi involved in the murder mystery event that would serve as the prelude for the present-day case arc, as he felt said event could be tied to the bank heist case (and he turned out to be right), going so far as to get Miyuki and Saki to coax Kindaichi into agreeing to the involvement, which struck both Miyuki and Saki as unusual.
• Turn in Your Badge: In Snow Demon murder case, seeing Kenmochi's faith in Kindaichi's skills, Akechi challenges the two of them on who gets to solve the mystery first. Should Kindaichi (and thus Kenmochi) lose, the latter's job will be compromised.
• Young and in Charge: He's technically Kenmochi's superior despite being 20 years his junior.

Marin Hayama

Japanese: 葉山 海, Hayama Marin

A 23-year-old employee of Otowa PR Company, the same one Kindaichi himself works in as a 37-year-old, Marin is Kindaichi's subordinate and his partner of choice at work.

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• Hyper-Competent Sidekick: Marin can speak fluent Mandarin and French, even though the readers have yet to witness her linguistic abilities in action, is capable of script-writing, and is more up to date about a given work-related project at hand than Kindaichi at times.
  Kindaichi: Glad I have a competent subordinate for times like these!
• Intergenerational Friendship: With Kindaichi, who's 14 years older than herself.
• Satellite Character: She's known primarily for her work-related relationship with Kindaichi, as an employee in the same company Kindaichi works for and as Kindaichi's go-to work partner of choice; not much else.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: To Miyuki, in terms of her role as The Watson in a given detective case, due to Miyuki being Put on a Bus.
• The Watson: Being a Suspiciously Similar Substitute to Miyuki, who's Put on a Bus due to her own work, her primary role in any mystery case is to ask questions that are relevant to the case at hand for the detective (most likely Hajime) to answer so the readers/viewers can understand the stories better.
• Wide-Eyed Idealist: She's much more upbeat and optimistic than Kindaichi. Her younger age (by 14 years compared to Kindaichi) and her lack of exposure to murder cases (and with them, the darker sides of human nature and reality) may play a role in her more idealistic beliefs and attitude compared to Kindaichi's.

Recurring Characters

Reika Hayami

Japanese: 速水 玲香, Hayami Reika

Voiced by: Mayumi Iizuka
Portrayed by: Wakana Sakai (2001)

A pop singer that Kindaichi and Miyuki befriend during a case, Reika is a very popular idol and aspiring actress. After their first case together, Reika has been smitten with Kindaichi and takes every chance she can get to be alone with him.

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• Daddy's Girl: Very fond of her father. It later turned out that he kidnapped her as a child after murdering her real father. However, she believes despite how she was adopted that he genuinely loved her.
• Damsel in Distress: She's abducted early in the "Reika Hayami Kidnapping Murder Case" arc.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Hoo-boy, where to START? Firstly, her father was murdered in a botched kidnapping with the kidnapper eventually adopting and raising her, and then HE was murdered after murdering someone else in order to keep his past a secret. Her long-lost brother was the one who murdered her adoptive father and then died in an avalanche just as Reika finds out who he was. Not exactly the friendliest of backgrounds.
• Frame-Up: She was framed in "Alchemy Murder Case".
• Genki Girl: Very perky and friendly.
• Interrupted Declaration of Love: she tried to confess her feelings to Kindaichi at the end of her introductory arc.
• Innocent Flower Girl: Well... more like Innocent Flower Woman actually, since in Case File of 37 Years Kindaichi, she was known to open her own flower shop after she quits from show business.
• Love Triangle: In one with Kindaichi and Miyuki, though she's a lot more forthcoming about her feelings than Miyuki is.
• Missing Mom: Heavily implied to be Keiko Kitamura, a veteran dramatic actress who was willing to pay the ransom when Reika was kidnapped.
• Nice Girl: Though she teases Miyuki on occasion when it comes to Kindaichi.
• Teen Idol: A popular teenage performing entertainer (in both singing and acting) at/around the same age as Kindaichi and Miyuki.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Mentaiko.
• Trauma Button: She doesn't like stuffs around her neck, clearly seen when she freaked out right after Kindaichi gave her his scarf around her neck. It's because she saw how her real father was killed by strangulation. This also applies to her brother.

Yoichi Takato

Japanese: 高遠 遙一, Takatō Yōichi

Voiced By: Kenichi Ono

Originally the culprit in the Magical Train murder, Takato has become one of the few recurring antagonists in the series. A cold-blooded sociopath and criminal mastermind, Takato is the Moriarty to Kindaichi's Sherlock Holmes and is one of the few people who can match wits with him, and has in fact even outwitted Kindaichi.

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• Amateur Sleuth: In his spin-off series that takes place in his high school years, Takato has to solve a complex serial murder involving heavy use of magic tricks to prove his innocence when the police suspect him... not unjustifiably so, because even as a kid Takato was off. But this is Takato, so the case also ends up being his first murder - he disposed of the killer instead of turning him in.
• Angel Face, Demon Face: Once Kindaichi starts putting dents on his entire façade, meek, unassuming Takato turns to the side, takes off his glasses, and reveals himself for the cold, calculating bastard that he is.
• The Bad Guy Wins: Don't expect him to get caught if he shows up. Heck, in his first appearance he gets away with his goals and escapes prison shortly thereafter.
• Bad Habits: Takato has disguised himself as a Catholic priest or minister more than once, and knows enough about Christianity to pull it off.
• Big Bad: The closest thing the original series has to one, being a recurring villain behind the crimes of others.
• Big Brother Instinct: In Mansion of Rosenkreuz, he received a letter from the mysterious Rosenkreuz who claims to hold his little sister hostage and threatens to kill her if he doesn't show up at the titular mansion. Despite said sister being a product of his biological father (whom he has never met) and another woman and he has never so much as heard of her existence, Takato still recruits Kindaichi to come with him to protect her and promises to turn himself in afterwards as a reward. Even when it turns out she is the murderer and her sole purpose for contacting him is to set him up as her scapegoat, Takato still chooses not to hurt her and stops her suicide attempt instead.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: In his debut appearance, he posed as a nice but timid manager of a magic troupe. Of course, this is all a facade, and by the end of the arc he reveals his true colours as a sociopathic criminal mastermind.
• Brilliant, but Lazy: In high school, Takato easily aced all of his classes and was apparently good at anything he tried, but he's doing it all on automatic and finds everything so easy that he's utterly bored. He averts this post-The Magical Express Murder, having discovered his true passion in life: Orchestrating elaborate homicides.
• Broken Ace: He's a straight-A student, Teen Genius magician and skilled pianist, but behind all this brilliance is a complete sociopath who wouldn't blink at murder.
• Calling Card: Roses, as a homage to his mother, and puppets, hence his moniker the Puppeteer of Hell; if one or both of these are present in any significant way in a case, there's a good chance Takato's involved.
• The Chessmaster: He's a brilliant criminal mastermind who is a magician with schemes. Usually they don't fail because of a flaw in his own design, but due to the human error of the people he manipulates.
• The Corruptor: A majority of the culprits he's made plans for are people he actively sought out and turned into murderers.
• Crazy-Prepared: Having a background as a magician, he is ALWAYS ready with a backup plan to escape the authorities.
• Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: In high school, Takato isn't exactly desperate or looking, but that's mostly because he's apathetic to everything even as he wonders if there's a meaning to his life he hasn't yet found. Unfortunately for everyone else, he does eventually find his purpose. Once again, it's elaborate, murderous crimes.
• Dissonant Serenity: He is composed to the point of it being CREEPY.
• The Dreaded: Everyone gets unnerved when he's involved in a case.
• Dude Looks Like a Lady: His new look in The Case File of 37 Years Kindaichi has a bit of this, mostly because his hair's grown out considerably since the timeskip.
• Era-Specific Personality: When written by Yozaburo Kanari, Takato was a pretty strong Anti-Villain: He always kept his promises, he had friends he'd willingly team up with Kindaichi to avenge, and he had a policy of making the crimes he planned look completely impossible so there'd be no risk of innocents being falsely accused.^note Framing Kindaichi in Young Kindaichi's Trip of Death Preparedness aside, although even in that case he told Kindaichi he'd let him go if he'd just admit defeat. When Seimaru Amagi got a hold of him in New, he thought that portraying a pleasure killer as such a stand up guy was sending a bad message, so Takato lost all his positive traits and became much more ruthless, organizing crimes specifically to emotionally hurt Kindaichi such as lying to his puppet of the week so they'd frame Inspector Kenmochi or aggressively recruiting Kindaichi's childhood friend as a culprit, making a policy of killing any culprit who got caught, and refusing to admit defeat for incredibly minor reasons. Eventually, Amagi got bored of writing such a two-dimensional villain, so 20th Anniversary and Returns Takato softened up considerably, sparing the lives of multiple culprits and being much less cruel in his rivalry with Kindaichi, though he still ignored most of his old code. This also marked when he suddenly became obsessed with his family, revealing a half-sister he was extremely protective of and that he'd always suspected that his "father" wasn't his biological father, leading him to orginizing cases specifically to take advantage of buildings designed by his birth father.
• Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: The case that introduced him as a murderer was motivated by his desire to avenge his late mother, who was killed by her disciples so they could steal her magic tricks. The Takato Case Files spin-off also shows him swearing on his mother's name in the same way Kindaichi swears on his grandfather's.
• Evil Counterpart: To Akechi. Both graduated as top-students of Shuoh High School and are considered geniuses due to their incredible talent in music, foreign language, and many other things. They also have suave, confident personalities that brings elegance in everything they do. Both are also students of the great magician Reiko Chikamiya, whom both idolize. But while Akechi becomes a police officer who fights for justice, Takato is a criminal mastermind who delights in murder.
  • The Takato Case Files also makes him a former one to Kindaichi himself, both having been Brilliant, but Lazy high school students who only showed their true abilities when faced with horrific murder cases, even having Takato swear to solve the case in the name of his Famous Ancestor just like Hajime. However, Kindaichi had a rich social life, slacked off in school so he could focus on his freespirited ways, and solved crimes out of a powerful sense of justice, while Takato was a loner with perfect grades who solved the Reaper Magician case out of grotesque, sadistic curiosity. By the events of the main series, Character Development has turned them into outright foils.
• Faux Affably Evil: Takato is generally pleasant and personable, especially when approaching people he plans on manipulating, but he has no problems orchestrating horrific murders and cheerfully cuts his pawns loose once their role in his plans is done or they've otherwise lost his interest.
• Foil: To Kindaichi. Kindaichi is a Brilliant, but Lazy young man who only shows his true abilities when he needs them to help others, while Takato is a flawless polymath who kills people in showoffy ways for fun. Takato himself characterizes their relationship as "A pair of parallel lines that will never intersect".
• For the Evulz: Why he assists murderers and criminals. His first crime was for revenge, but he has no personal stake in any others. Unlike most culprits, Takato has no sympathetic motives and is clearly just doing it for the hell of it.
• From Nobody to Nightmare: He was just a manager of a magic troupe, his only pedigree being that his mother was a brilliant magician, and even then, nobody knew he was her son. Afterwards, the man becomes a criminal mastermind who can outwit Kindaichi and the national authorities.
• Gene Hunting: The closest thing the Returns series has to a serialized story-line is Takato's search for his true father, a mysterious architect whose creations are both the setting and main puzzle of some of Kindaichi's most difficult mysteries, including the Rosenkreuz Mansion and the false ruins on Gunkan Island, among others.
• Generation Xerox:
  • Takato commits murder to avenge his mother, who was killed by her students to claim ownership of her brilliant magic tricks. In Mansion of Rosenkreuz, his half-sister Tsukuyomi Giselle's motivation for murder is also revealed to be revenge for her mother, an accomplished rose breeder who was killed by people who wanted to steal the blue rose she cultivated.
  • Both of his parents were pretty nasty pieces of work: his mother left a trap in a false notebook so that if anyone ever stole it from her they would horribly burn alive, while his father was a cold, short-tempered alcoholic and his biological father designed buildings full of tricks and traps that seems desinged to be used for getting away with murder. Is it any wonder he grew up to be a genius mass murderer?
• Greater-Scope Villain: For the 20 Years Later series. In spite of facing death row, he has trained at least a dozen new killers (including a Black Widow type Serial Killer that was the first killer exposed in the 20 Years Later series, the top male idol of the time, and even Fumi's boyfriend) that he set loose for Kindaichi and company to catch.
• In the Blood: His mother was a world-famous magician, and he inherited her aptitude. It is implied that his talent for crime is passed down from his biological father... though it should be noted that his mother, suspecting she'd be murdered for her magic tricks, specifically included a trick that would kill any imposter who tried it.
• Joker Immunity: Even if he does get caught he always finds a way back to the criminal underworld. Fittingly, he even seems to prefer purple suits much like the Joker.
• Lonely Rich Kid: He comes from a rich family, but his father is very strict, and apparently didn't allow him to have much fun.
• Loony Fan: Not Takato himself, but he apparently gained them during his imprisonment, as two prison guards comment that he always gets gifts in the mail, mostly books, and that he's "pretty popular" and even has an online fan club.
• Loophole Abuse: He once promised Kindaichi that he would turn himself in provided Kindaichi could protect Takato's half-sister in "Rosenkreuz Mansion Murder Case". He did surrender to the police, but he didn't say that he would turn himself in and stay in prison for his crimes. Another reason he decided to break free was because he found "piece of puzzle" to discover his lineage.
• Mad Artist: He describes his schemes as art, comparing them to dazzling magic shows or plays that just so happen to have a body count.
• Manipulative Bastard: Takato easily manipulates gullible people to be his pawns for his so-called artistic crimes.
• Mirror Character: Believes this about Kindaichi and himself, even saying as much during the climax of his first appearance; they have similar intellects and Kindaichi is often seen performing magic tricks, especially in the early manga, and can be surprisingly adept at manipulating people. According to Takato, the only difference is that Takato uses his skills to trap and mislead others while Kindaichi uses his skills to find the truth.
• Narcissist: He engineers criminal plans just to show off how good they are, often intentionally making them more convoluted than necessary because he considers himself an "artist" rather than a mere criminal.
• Never My Fault: His Fatal Flaw. He insists his plans don't fail because of a design flaw but because of the people he manipulated screwing up, often because Takato assumes that his pawns will act as logically and precisely as he would.
• Non-Action Big Bad: Typically doesn't get involved directly in a case, aside from formulating the plan, as they have nothing to do with him, except when his clients messed up badly enough to offend his artistic sensabilities.
• Red Baron: The Puppeteer of Hell, due to his expertise in manipulating others while not getting directly involved.
• The Sociopath: Holds no value for human life and commits crimes just for the thrill. Akechi says it best in that Takato is a born criminal. A few perceptive people already observed sociopathic behavior in him even as a student, such as his adopted father, the police inspector in the first murder he was involved in, and the culprit of that case.
• Something about a Rose: Most of Takato's appearance will involve red, roses, or both. His first appearance as Puppeteer of Hell involves him handing out roses to people and "Rosenkreuz Mansion Murder Case" happens in a cross-shaped mansion surrounded by roses as the name implies. Yes, you can include him in Bishōnen category.
• Start of Darkness: According to his A Day in the Limelight Spin-Off, Takato Case Files, Yoichi didn't develop a fascination for murder until someone from his school's Magic Club starts murdering their fellow members for the express purpose of eliminating his possible Morality Pet and corrupting him. Tellingly, upon seeing the severed head of his club-mate and possible love interest, he describes it as "a piece of art that was created by snuffing a life."
• Street Performer: When he's not in the prison, he mostly tells stories for children which mimics what Kindaichi will face in that very case (because he's involved in it), or performs street magic shows; the latter is usually also for an audience of children, though he also did this during high school for a more general audience. In all of his post-high school performances, he wears a clown mask to hide his appearance.
• The Tragic Rose: When his mother was murdered, a white rose became stained red with her blood. This is the reason why he uses red roses in his first appearance: To remind his target of his mother's death.
• Troll: Of the highest order, considering that he does a lot of things just to piss off Kindaichi; after all, Kindaichi is likely to show up if it's a really big case.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Implied in the flashback to his childhood, in which he seemed like a lonely but otherwise normal child; while he was much more closed-off in high school, it's implied that he would have liked to be more open around others, and he even enjoyed his time with the Magic Club. Before they started to die.
• Villain Respect: He has a lot of respect for Kindaichi for uncovering his schemes and exposes his involvement in it. To the point that, whenever Takato disguises himself as a street performer, a "renowned detective" is always the main character in a puppet show (basically predicting the events of the mystery Kindaichi will tackle) he narrates for a young audience.
• Villains Act, Heroes React: Whenever Takato is involved in a case, he is almost always the one pulling the strings, and deliberately roping Kindaichi (and sometimes Akechi) into his schemes to make things more interesting. Also, despite Takato being a fugitive, we almost never see the police force actively putting any effort to find and capture him without Takato's own prompting.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: He claimed that a "Heartwarming meeting between long-lost mother and son" was too cliche and cute and decided to go down this path toward her mother so that he could show that he could beat her in magic. It helps since her mother was also his inspiration and taught him a few magic tricks.
• We Will Meet Again: He always says a variation of this to Kindachi as he makes his Villain: Exit, Stage Left.
• Worthy Opponent: To Kindaichi, being one of the few people capable of matching Kindaichi's intellect.
• You Have Failed Me: Woe betide anyone who commits murders with his "help" and then fails to live up to his expectations about how a criminal behaves. Even being in prison is no safeguard against his drive to make the offender in question pay for such failures if the offender messes up badly enough, as evidenced when he orchestrates the murder of one of his "disciples" after learning that said "disciple" had blabbed about Takato having "disciples" who would commit murders, with said offender confessing to be one of them, to Kindaichi and the police (keep in mind that both Takato himself and the offender are in prison, albeit in different ones, at the time).
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Does this frequently when the people he's manipulating have gotten caught or when he has lost interest in helping the people he's manipulating, whether they're caught yet or not.

Itsuki Yousuke

Japanese: 洋介 五木, Yousuke Itsuki

Voiced by: Hiroaki Hirata
Portrayed by: Go Riju (1995-1996), Dai Watanabe (2022)

A freelance writer Kindaichi and Miyuki met for the first time in "The Legend of Lake Hiren". Somewhat of a jerk, but becomes one of Kindaichi's allies as time goes on. His real name is Kimura Shinsuke.

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• Call-Back: In "Antlion's Moat Murder Case", Itsuki was given dark-blue cloth and dark-blue room during a psychology experiment. He understood the meaning behind the color and told Kindaichi and Miyuki that it was related to his hydrophobia, the fact first revealed in "Legend of Lake Hiren". It's important since he's been absent for so long in New series except one minor appearance in one case's final chapter.
• Character Development: He's often seen smoking for much of the earlier series, but this trait gets toned down in later ones such as the R Series, before it disappears entirely in his debut after the 20-year Time Skip where his cigarettes are replaced with a mouth chewtoy that looks like a cigarette. His adoptive daughter urging and pushing him to quit smoking is mentioned as the driving force behind such a change.
• Characterization Marches On: One of Kindaichi's closest friends and allies, it is quite hard to believe that he was such a Jerkass and a borderline-Hate Sink for most of his debut arc.
• Everyone Has Standards: He'll accept any good news (and good money along with it), but he still has his journalistic code of ethics. One example is that he asked his publisher of Goryu's manuscript to remove the name of the killer in "Kindaichi the Killer" when the name appeared since the killer was forced and tricked to help a doctor committing organ trafficking for the sake of his child. He was also about to exploit the Lake Hiren tragedy but backed off when he discovered something that disturbed him.
• Face of a Thug: He has a rather rough-looking face, which makes his initial appearance even colder than his later appearances would suggest, as Kindaichi and Miyuki remark on when he resolves to adopt Mizuho.
  Miyuki: He's got a nice side to him, huh?
  Kindaichi: It really doesn't go well with that brutal face of his.
• Intrepid Reporter: Technically a freelance writer, but he functions for this role nonetheless, since he frequently looks into relevant information in a given case to aid in Kindaichi's mystery-solving tasks.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: His first appearance was somewhat of a cold jerk, questioning one victim's wife how she felt after seeing her dead husband's body. Later appearances show more of his soft side.
• Late-Arrival Spoiler: If you read chapters where he appeared before his debut arc, you'll know he's not the culprit in that one.
• Mistaken for Pedophile: Kindaichi thought he was one when he decided to adopt Mizuho, his friend's only child since said friend passed away.
• Most Writers Are Writers: He's a freelance writer who used to write for a weekly paper a decade ago.
• Oral Fixation: By the time Kindaichi meets him 20 years later, his "cigarrette" has become little more than a mouth chewtoy as the result of his adoptive daughter pushing him into quitting smoking.
• Pen Name: His business colleagues call him Itsuki, and it's his pen name. Also, despite knowing his real name, Kindaichi and Miyuki settle with this nickname. This become vital in solving one particular case.
• Smoking Is Cool: Well, he's often seen smoking and he's passable in term of coolness...
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: He, along with almost all of other suspects in Lake Hiren Murder Case, is afraid of water. This becomes an obstacle in his debut appearance since he couldn't find help to tackle Jason, something the real killer had calculated.

Gentleman Thief

Voiced By: Asako Dodo

First appear in "Gentleman Thief Murder Case". A cunning thief able to fool police so far. Being Master of Disguise, nobody knows yet the face underneath the disguise but so far it's revealed that Gentleman Thief is a woman.

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• Catchphrase: When her disguise is revealed (and the disguise is someone new), she'll say this: "X is really a Y, I'm just borrowing his/her name and face."
• Frame-Up: Somebody else is using her name to commit murder in her debut appearance. Anime original episode in Kindaichi R2 anime also has this plot element.
• Gentleman Thief: In-name only since she's a girl in nature. She has some equivalent too though.
• Master of Disguise: Somewhat downplayed since the face mask was made by her colleague named Kurogawa. Despite that, she can impersonate male voice perfectly.
• Phantom Thief: Warning his/her target and leaving Calling Card after stealing.
• Red Baron: God knows what her real name is.
• Red Herring: Her very name is this in her debut.
• The Rival: To Kindaichi. After losing to him in "Gentleman Thief Murder Case", she becomes this in every appearance.
• Samus Is a Girl: Due to her name and her call card symbol (a top hat and a moustache), most people assume that the "Gentleman Thief" is a man. Discovering that she's actually a woman is what clued in Kindaichi about the identity of the fake Gentleman Thief.
• Shapeshifter Default Form: When unmasking herself after her debut, she'll sometime use Daigo Maki's face underneath the disguise.
• Troll: She's a big one. Her first appearance when stealing one motif (a tree) from a painting she stole beforehand was by cutting it to resemble her logo. Her way for payback after getting tricked by Kindaichi? Tie him up with a basket full of heavy rocks in the middle of busy street!
• Voice Changeling: With currently unknown mechanism. She did a good job impersonating Inspector Kenmochi.

Saki Brothers

Japanese: 佐木 竜太, Saki Ryūta; 佐木 竜二, Saki Ryūji

Voiced By: Keiichi Nanba (Ryuuta)

Played by: Tomohiro Hara (1995-1997, Ryuuta), Taisho Iwasaki (2022, Ryuuta)

A pair of brothers consisting of Ryuuta and Ryuuji Saki. Ryuuta Saki is a member of the Mystery Club in Fudou High School. Kindaichi and Miyuki first met him in "Smoke and Mirrors"/"Seven School Mystery Murder Case", and proved to be useful in solving the case due to his seemingly always-present video camera. Unfortunately, he was killed in "Ijinkan Hotel Murder Case" because he recorded a vital information in revealing one murder trick (he survived in anime though, thus Ryuuji never exist) so that he couldn't help anymore. In manga, his role was replaced by his younger brother, Ryuuji Saki, when Kindaichi and Miyuki met him in "Kindaichi the Killer". Since then Saki becomes one valuable ally in solving several cases through providing vital information through his camera.

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• Adapted Out: Ryuuji Saki never appears in anime.
• Camera Fiend: They will record everything they see, often (if not always) becomes vital in solving case.
• Composite Character: In the anime adaptation, to make up for the fact that Ryuji doesn't exist (as they spare Ryuta from being murdered in Hotel Europa), the anime more or less gives Ryuta all of Ryuji's character traits.
• Dying Moment of Awesome: It's not as grand as most examples, but in his final case, not only does Saki's camera allowed to help tell Kindaichi one of the killer's tricks, but he also posthumously helped unravel the hotel's Dark Secret: a massive narcotics stash, a hidden chamber that can only be accessed by the placements of the hotel's Medusa and Perseus statues.
• Generation Xerox: The fact that everyone in the Saki family has a habit of recording with a video camera and their father does it for a living makes it easy for the next generation to do the same, since Saki is noted to work as head secretary of a filmmaking company in his introductory scene after the 20-year Time Skip.
• He Knows Too Much: Why the first Saki was killed. His camera recorded the theater actors' script, before and after there were alterations made to it. The alterations in question were what the killer exploited to trick their victim.
• Insistent Terminology: Kindaichi often refers to Ryuji as "the second Saki" or "Saki no. 2" despite being with Kindaichi for longer than his brother had at this point.
• It Runs in the Family: Their habit of recording with video camera. Even their father uses the hobby as his job.
• Killed Off for Real: Ryuuta really died. It was subverted in anime.
• Love Before First Sight: Ryuuji fell in love with a girl he accidentally recorded on his video camera.
• Otaku: Of video camera. At least Kindaichi calls Saki this.
• Picky Eater: Saki turns out to be this, as the following dialogue taking place when the cook working in the inn where Kindaichi, Miyuki, and Saki stay in The Bloodthirsty Cherry Blossom Murder Case arc shows.
  Cook: Is there any food that you don't like in today's dinner?
  Kindaichi: No, I could eat anything!
  Miyuki: Me, too. There's no food I dislike!
  Saki: For me, it's pork, animal fat, pepper, tomato, and...
  Kindaichi: What a picky eater...
• Running Gag: Everytime Kindaichi has an experience related to Ryuuta's ghost, he'll be in a case. Funnily, 2 most notable appearances are cases where Kindaichi is framed as a murder.
• Schrödinger's Cast: In the manga, Ryuuta is killed off and Ryuuji takes his place. In the anime, Ryuuta survives and Ryuuji never appears.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Happens only in manga. After the older brother dies, the younger brother takes his position. Both supply information through their camera and act as Kindaichi's and Miyuki's junior. Ryuuji, the younger one, is notably more cheerful that his older brother though.
• Terrible Artist: Ryuuji tried to draw a potrait of his crush, this is the result.

Fumi Kindaichi

Japanese: 金田一 二三, Kindaichi Fumi

Voiced By: Haruna Ikezawa

Hajime's cousin, who sometimes solves cases of her own.

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• Adorably Precocious Child: She acts mature for her age and verbally spars with characters much older than her.
• Easily Forgiven: Once forgave the man who kidnapped (and threatened to kill) her after she learned his sympathetic backstory.
• Embarrassing Nickname: Kenmochi calls her "Chibikin" ("Little Kindaichi"), which she detests.
• Girlish Pigtails: Her default hairstyle as a child has her tying two pigtails, with one on each side, which serves to contrast Hajime's lone, centered ponytail.
• Kid Detective: She seems to have inherited her grandfather's keen investigative mind.
• Most Writers Are Writers: Her adult occupation is in writing mystery novels.
• Numerical Theme Naming: Hajime shares this dynamic with her, as their names are "one"("一") and "two three" ("二三"), respectively.
• Parental Abandonment: Her debut includes her telling Hajime that her father up and left for Tibet in search of some treasure, leaving her to live with Hajime and his family.
• Remember the New Guy?: Her introduction in the main series made it sound like she was involved Hajime's previous cases. Her first appearance was actually in a short story that was published in the magazine prior to her first main case, but wasn't published in tankobon format until after that case was compiled first, so it ends up appearing this way for readers today.
• Wise Beyond Their Years: She's quite clever for her age, and displays very calm and measured behavior when under pressure.
• Write What You Know: In-Universe. The ideas behind the materials she uses for writing her mystery novels as an adult are from cases Kindaichi himself solved during his high school years, though Fumi herself tries to hide his real identity and involvement by modifying things.

Mr. and Mrs. Kindaichi

Hajime's parents.

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• Big Ol' Eyebrows: The one trait Mr. Kindaichi passes down to his son.
• Housewife: Mrs. Kindaichi's default role, as there's no indication she has any job outside of looking after Hajime (and Fumi when she's added to the household) and keeping the house running.
• Invisible Parents: Being irrelevant to the general premise of murder case plot ensures their occasional appearances are of mundane nature. It's more so for Mr. Kindaichi, as his wife appears more often than he does.
• Satellite Family Member: Because they're not relevant to the murder mystery premise that features in the franchise, they're characterized almost solely through their mundane, familial connection to Hajime.
• Strong Family Resemblance: Except for the ponytail hairstyle (Hajime's own work) and Big Ol' Eyebrows (which Hajime inherits from his father), Hajime gets his looks from his mother.
• Unnamed Parent: Overlaps with No Full Name Given, since neither of them has their name revealed beyond their surname.

Makoto Makabe

Japanese: 真壁 誠, Makabe Makoto

Portrayed by: Mizuki Sano (1995-1997)

A student who's in the same school as Kindaichi and Miyuki, who encounter him during the "Smoke and Mirrors" murder case, he's a Mystery Club member who acts haughty to Kindaichi and flirty to Miyuki.

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• Alliterative Name: Makoto Makabe.
• Casanova Wannabe: He's not exactly ugly, but most of the girls he fancies find his flirty attitudes a turnoff. The "Smoke and Mirrors" murder case, where he debuts, shows him trying to flirt with the then-president of the Mystery Club, who flatout tells him she's not impressed with him. Later case arcs show him being fixated with Miyuki, who doesn't reciprocate his flirty behaviors, either.
• Fire-Forged Friends: With Kindaichi after the 20-year Time Skip due to him being a police detective who needs Kindaichi's deduction prowess to help solve crimes, though it takes a murder case for them to become actual friends.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Further tragedies could have been prevented if he wasn't such a jerk. Inoue and Miyuki on separate occassions wanted to take down his poster after having an unpleasant encounter with him, forcing the killer to act before the secret behind the poster is blown. The murderer in question bitterly criticizes him in the Culprit Case Files.
  Culprit: If only he was more likable...

Kotaro Tawarada

Japanese: 俵田 光太郎, Tawarada Kotaro

A detective in the Aomori prefectural police department. After meeting Kindaichi in the second case of the series, Tawarada becomes impressed with Kindaichi's deduction prowess and supports him when needed.

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• Accidental Misnaming: Tawarada tends to call Kindaichi "Kindani".
• Friend on the Force: He does get to vouch for Kindaichi, though not as often as Kenmochi does.

Souta Murakami

Japanese: 村上 聡太, Murakami Souta

A classmate of Hajime and Miyuki as well as a newer member of the Mystery Club.

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• Flat Character: Being an Ordinary High-School Student without plot relevance and little to no known characteristics beyond his relations with main characters like Hajime and Miyuki renders him quite generic overall.
• Follow in My Footsteps: Defied. Sota tells Miyuki at the start of the "Jail Gate Cram School Murder Case" that his parents want him to become a lawyer like they are (which justifies his enrollment in the Cram School where the case arc takes place), but his introduction scene after the 20-year Time Skip notes he works as head secretary in a credit company instead.
• Recurring Extra: While he appears every now and then, he has no plot relevance in any case arc.
• Satellite Character: Besides his relations with Kindaichi and Miyuki (both as classmates and fellow Mystery Club member), there's little we know about him.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: He serves as The Watson (the role Miyuki normally fulfills) in "Jail Gate Cram School Murder Case" due to Miyuki being in the different study group with the respectively different schedule from the one he and Kindaichi are in and, therefore, unable to correspond with Kindaichi easily. Given his normally nominal plot relevance (at most), this is quite a step-up for him, if only for one case arc.

Tokyo Police Department Work Force

Fellow law enforcement agents in the Tokyo Police Department, they're Kenmochi's colleagues.

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• Satellite Character: Other than their work-related relationship with Kenmochi, very little about them gets revealed unless the plot-line requires it.

Otowa PR Company Work Force

Fellow employees at Otowa PR Company, they're coworkers of Kindaichi.

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• Flat Character: Because their assciations with Kindaichi are of mundane, work-related nature, they have little in terms of characterization and (almost) no Character Development to speak of, either.
• Gossipy Hens: Yuka, Chiharu, and Meku are almost always seen gathering together and gossiping about Kindaichi, much to his annoyance.
  Kindaichi: *thinking privately* You all talk too loud!
• Salaryman: All of them.
• Satellite Character: Except for their names and their work-related relations with Kindaichi, little is known about them.