Characters / The Snow Queen (2005)

Gerda

Voiced by: Ayako Kawasumi

An eleven year old girl and Kai’s best friend. She lost her parents at a young age and lives with her grandmother. Hard-working and determinate, she is also a bit of a tomboy and gets into fights with other kids who tease her about her relationship with Kai. When Kai is presumed dead by the entirety of the town, she decides to travel north, in the same direction the white carriage went off in her dreams.

• All-Loving Hero: She can make friends with anyone; children, adults, animals, flowers, ghosts, you name it.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Doesn’t like seeing bullies picking on those younger than them and people who mistreat animals as Frida found out.
• Childhood Friend Romance: With Kai.
• The Chosen One: The Snow Queen reveals Gerda was this along with Kai. Kai being chosen, knowing he had a determined best friend like Gerda, that she knew would willingly save Kai, making Gerda also chosen by extension.
• Companion Cube: The Drawing of Kai that Ragi makes for her. She talks to it as though she is talking to Kai, and she carries it with her to keep her company.
• Flower Motifs: Red roses.
• Friend to All Living Things
• Genki Girl: As Kai describes, she is very energetic. Gerda herself demonstrates this many times. Although she is a downplayed example, as she is still quite down to earth in temperament even with her physical energy and determination.
• Heroic BSoD: She breaks down temporarily after Ragi dies.
• I Will Find You
• Identity Amnesia: The old witch with the flower garden causes her one, so she can make Gerda into her own daughter.
• In the End, You Are on Your Own: Despite all the people she meets, she still arrives at the ice castle alone.
• Leeroy Jenkins: She has a tendency to rush forward without thought. For instance, walking into a dangerous blizzard to find the place where somebody saw the white carriage.
• Ocean Awe: Has such moments as she has never seen the sea before.
• Parental Abandonment: Her father died in the war and her mother followed due to illness.
• Plucky Girl
• The Power of Love: Her love for Kai is what saves him in the end.
• Raised by Grandparents: By her grandmother Matilde.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Red to Kai’s Blue.
• Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: The Energetic Girl to Kai's Savvy Guy. She is more competitive, energetic and active compared to Kai. Shown with her determination on her quest.
• Selfless Wish: In the “Three Walnuts” episodes, Gerda and two siblings receive walnuts from a witch that can grant any wish. She at first wants to see Kai, but then spends her wish for the younger sibling to see her deceased mother.
• Strong Family Resemblance: The women in her village tease Gerda about how she looks like her mother but believe she’s becoming more and more like her father with each passing day.
• Tomboy with a Girly Streak: She is very much a tomboy. She has no problem getting dirty or getting into fights, and is very active and energetic. She also likes her red shoes, and is fond of flowers and with singing.
• Tragic Keepsake: Gerda receives Kai’s loupe at his funeral. And later Ragi’s lute.
• Trying Not to Cry: Happens every so often and usually she just can’t help herself.

Kai

Voiced by: Rio Natsuki

A twelve year old boy and Gerda’s best friend. He lives with his parents and sister right next to Gerda’s home, helping his father with his shoe-making business. Often cheerful and friendly, his personality literally changes overnight when a mirror shard enters his eye and pierces his heart. He is then taken away by the Snow Queen to her castle which sparks Gerda’s journey to find him.

• Big Brother Instinct: To his baby sister Johanne.
• Bratty Half-Pint: He becomes this because of the mirror shard in his heart; moody, cold and confrontational.
• Brilliant, but Lazy: He notably puts more energy into solitary activities, such as playing with his Loupe.
• Chekhov's Skill: His affinity for jigsaw puzzles becomes important later when the Snow Queen’s puzzle has to be reassembled to seal away the Devil.
• Childhood Friend Romance: With Gerda.
• The Chosen One: Kai is chosen to fix the shattered mirror and reseal the Devil. He was this along with Gerda.
• Distressed Dude: He doesn’t mind it though. He’s having the time of his life in the ice castle.
• Eye Scream: Not as gory as some other examples but still… glass in the eye.
• Flower Motifs: White roses.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: In before Heart Trauma, he was a nice kid.
• Heart Trauma
• Identity Amnesia: When the Snow Queen freezes his heart, he forgets everything about his past, including Gerda. It was to prevent the mirror shard from possessing him.
• Innocent Blue Eyes
• Kick the Dog: One of the last things he does to poor Gerda before his disappearance is smash the pots with their favorite flowers right in front of her.
• Non-Action Guy
• Protectorate: Don't try to hurt Kai when The Snow Queen is around. Especially if you are The Devil.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: When the Devil possesses him to attack the Snow Queen.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Blue to Gerda’s Red.
• Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: The Savvy Guy to Gerda's Energetic Girl. His more laidback, more committed and passionate about tasks that take take thought such as mathematics or school studies or the puzzle for The Devil's Seal and is more passive, as shown with his stay in The Ice Castle. Although he still has the energy and cheerfulness associated with children his age.

Ragi

Voiced by: Tooru Nakamura

A mysterious minstrel who first appears in Gerda’s hometown at the time of Kai’s disappearance. He later joins Gerda on her journey to find the Snow Queen and her friend. While he mostly keeps his business to himself, he becomes a reliable and trustworthy companion for her. He was once a distinguished commanding officer until a fateful mistake cost him the life of his subordinates, leaving only him alive.

• Back from the Dead: The Snow Queen brings him back to life, which he initially isn’t too happy about.
• Badass Longcoat
• Barehanded Blade Block: Bonus points for the sword being on fire.
• But Now I Must Go: At the end he tells the Snow Queen that he will continue to travel and visit the families of his deceased men till the day he dies.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: He literally curb stomps the bandit leader who tries mugging Gerda.
• Dark and Troubled Past
• Delayed Narrator Introduction: He’s revealed about three episodes in but he doesn’t join Gerda for another ten. He stops narrating with his death (with Gerda taking over the narration) but returns to it for the final episode.
• Determinator: Not just for himself, but the lengths he goes for Gerda’s sake is admiring.
• Don't Call Me "Sir": He urges Gerda to drop the honorific on him since they already know each other well enough to be considered friends.
• A Father to His Men: He goes as far as to visit each and every single one of his men’s families.
• Heroic Sacrifice: He cuts the rope linking him and Gerda when he falls into the crevasse.
• I Am Not Him: ”I’m not Holger.”
• Missing Time: He doesn’t remember how he ended up in a cave miles away from where his men died. Just like he didn’t remember the Snow Queen saved him from dying.
• Officer and a Gentleman
• Reluctant Warrior: “Fighting doesn’t do us any good.”
• Replacement Goldfish: Seems to be this for The Snow Queen, since she sees Holger The Giant in him, and she makes sure Ragi is alive after each death.
• Sole Survivor: He was the only survivor of a military troop of thirty men that was forced to retreat into a snowstorm to escape from the much numbered enemy. The blizzard ran its course and wiped out every single one of them, apart from Ragi. The only reason he survived at all was because the Snow Queen saved him.
• Survivor Guilt: Mixed in with resentment against the Snow Queen.
• The Stoic
• Unwanted Revival: He chastises the Snow Queen for doing this to him, since he believes she left all of his men to die in the blizzard and now she expects him to help her. He mellows out once he realizes how much Gerda missed him.
• Vague Age: Middle-aged. Just about the only clue about it.
• Walking the Earth: Aside from entertaining people as a minstrel, he’s also visiting the loved ones of his subordinates.
• Wandering Minstrel: While he serves as the main narrator, he’s also a major character in his own right.
• Warrior Poet

Holger & Amor

Voiced by: Miki Nagasawa (Amor)

A wolf and a monkey who started following Ragi around for apparently no reason and thus became his traveling companions. They are both named by Gerda later on.

• I Choose to Stay: Amor decides to stay with Frida.
• Meaningful Name: Gerda names the wolf after Holger, the legendary giant as she feels that he is just as strong and loyal as the giant from the folklore was. She isn’t wrong.
• Mischief-Making Monkey: In contrast with Holger, Amor steals and normally doesn’t listen to either of them.
• Parrot Pet Position: Amor, when he isn’t sleeping in Gerda’s bag.
• They Have the Scent!: Holger tracks down Gerda like this at one point when she wandered off into the mountains during a snowstorm.
• Undying Loyalty: Holger has this attitude toward Ragi and Gerda, such as protecting them from other wolves the entire night. So much so, he actually dives into the crevasse Ragi falls in despite potentially killing himself. Not only does he survive, but he manages to get to the ice castle by himself and save Gerda from being struck by a flaming arrow.

The Snow Queen

Voiced by: Mayo Suzukaze

A beautiful yet deadly spirit in guise of a woman who brings snow and ice at the end of each year. Seemingly cold-hearted and cruel, she takes Kai away to her castle and treats him as her guest, freezing his heart and making him forget everything about his past. She wanted to protect the boy from the shard’s influence before he would turn into an evil person and stands as the primary obstacle in the Devil’s way should he be released from his prison.

• Adaptational Badass: She fights Satan.
• An Ice Person
• Big Bad: At first. Then it’s revealed she is fighting against the true Big Bad, the Devil.
• Cool Sword: Wields one in battle.
• Cannot Spit It Out: Despite Ragi blaming her for the death of his men at the time when she could really use his help, she withholds saying anything about her part of the story.
• Cooldown Hug: And an almost literal version. When Kai gets briefly possessed by The Devil, she is able to stop the influence, and the pain in his heart, with a simple hug, which cooled him down and extinguished the Hellfire.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: She still has a quite icy demeanor on the outside, but she is far warmer than she is able to admit. She takes Kai away to save him from the mirror shard that could potentially hurt or control him, she genuinely did try to save Ragi’s men from the blizzard and saved him twice, later even acknowledging that by leaving him as the sole survivor caused him much pain. She was also in love with the legendary giant Holger and is still grieving and searching for him even a hundred years later, along with some implied feelings toward Ragi himself. She also seems to have maternal affections for Kai.
• Dragon Rider: When she isn’t riding in a carriage or a horse, she rides on a white Eastern dragon, particularly in the battle.
• Effortless Amazonian Lift: As she demonstrates, she is perfectly capable of carrying an unconscious Ragi who is both taller and heavier than her.
• Emotionless Girl
• Healing Factor
• Humanoid Abomination: She isn’t human and the closest thing she gets compared to is a spirit.
• The First Cut Is the Deepest: She fell in love with Holger the giant who died fighting the Devil a hundred years ago and it is implied she still hasn’t gotten over him. The Devil sees it fit to further taunt her about it.
• Icy Blue Eyes
• Lady of War: She even has her own armor.
• Love at First Sight: Possibly for Holger the giant.
• Magic Wand
• Mama Bear: Has shades of this towards Kai. She treats him well, treating him as her fond guest (borderline son at times). Even finding him a baby seal to be his friend, and making sure he is happy, content and rested. She becomes protective of him from the Mirror Shard, and later, fiercely protects him from The Devil. Suiting up in her armor, and fighting The Devil as soon as she realizes Kai is in danger.
• One-Woman Wail: Her leitmotif by soundtrack and in-universe. Whenever she appears, along with the aurora, people who have seen her also hear her singing.
• Pretty in Mink: Occasionally, she’s mostly seen wearing it when traveling to bring winter.
• Summon Magic: She is able to summon her horses and the white carriage when she intends to travel and even a giant dragon as her combat companion. And of course, she is the bringer of snowflakes and ice each year.
• Winter Royal Lady

Red Troll & Blue Troll

Voiced by: Tetsuo Goto & Takuma Suzuki

The Snow Queen’s subordinates, they are charged with keeping the Ice Palace and Kai’s needs in check while she is away, desperately longing for the Queen’s approval.

• All Trolls Are Different
• Boke and Tsukkomi Routine: With the Blue Troll usually on the receiving end.
• Hopeless Suitor: The Blue Troll is quite open about his love for the Snow Queen, but the Red Troll takes every opportunity to crush his dreams into a pulp. Especially when he explains she had a lover before.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Red Troll is more boisterous and the Blue Troll is considerably more naïve.
• Sphere Eyes
• Those Two Guys
• Unwitting Pawn: They were manipulated into breaking the puzzle by dropping the Magic Mirror on it by the Devil. They don’t remember doing it though.

Avatar of the Wind / The Devil

Voiced by: Akio Ōtsuka

A mysterious man in a tuxedo who appears as the personification of the wind. He approaches Kai, seemingly wanting a friend and appears to have some sort of grudge against the Snow Queen. He is revealed to be the Devil himself who was sealed under the castle by the puzzle and wishes to bring literal Hell on Earth.

• Big Bad
• Blow You Away
• Bow and Sword in Accord: As the Devil, he pelts the ice castle with flaming arrows from his own territory and a Flaming Sword when he fights the Snow Queen and Ragi.
• De-power: When he fights the Snow Queen for the first time, he admits he wouldn’t be able to defeat her. Spending the last hundred years in a can probably has something to do with it.
• Devil in Disguise
• Dual Wielding: When he fights the Queen after kidnapping Kai.
• Elemental Shapeshifter: The Devil can apparently turn into a personification of the wind.
• Evil Redhead: As the Devil.
• Healing Factor
• Hellfire: He can also heal himself in the magma and summon The Legions of Hell from it.
• Hero Killer: He killed Holger the giant in the last battle with the Snow Queen a hundred years ago. He doesn’t hold back in taunting the Queen about it and how she doesn’t have anyone to help her this time.
• Humanoid Abomination
• Knight of Cerebus: As the series doesn’t really have real villains in a sense up until his appearance and apart from the Snow Queen nobody really knows he’s the true Big Bad, he fits this pretty well.
• Manipulative Bastard: He tries to keep Kai from finishing the puzzle that would put a lid on his existence, tempting him with the Garden of Paradise and immortality.
• Ominous Opera Cape
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: He always appears out of a red aurora that looks like an eye. He also gets red eyes when he’s revealed to be the Devil.
• Satan
• Sealed Evil in a Can: He was held imprisoned under the ice castle, the puzzle on the floor keeping him captive. He arranged for the puzzle to break into pieces by forcing the trolls to drop the giant mirror on it.
• White Hair, Black Heart: As the Avatar.
• Would Hurt a Child: Has no qualms on possessing or even killing Kai

The Flower Garden Witch

Voiced by: Junko Ikeuchi

• Hot Witch: In her younger form.

Hans Alexander Holmes

Voiced by: Tomohiro Sekiguchi

An actor turned inventor who meets Gerda and Ragi after he crashed his flying machine.

• Back for the Finale: He shows up at Kai’s and Gerda’s wedding.
• Brainy Brunette
• Bungling Inventor: His inventions never seem to work. Even his second flying machine only flies for about two minutes before crashing again.
• Classy Cravat
• "Eureka!" Moment: He has one when he sees a woman washing clothes in the river during winter and wonders how cold it must be when twisting the excess water out of it. So he builds a mangle.
• Genki Guy
• Recurring Character
• The Power of Acting: He tries to get funds from the townspeople to create a new flying machine after his unsuccessful attempts crushes all of his material, even presenting Gerda as his little sister to draw out some sympathy. He almost has it, then the elder shoots him down since he believes it’s a con.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Doesn’t like animals in general, doesn’t matter which one. Although when he’s told that Holger is a wolf and not a dog, he says that’s even worse.

Frida

Voiced by: Chisa Yokoyama

The daughter of a bandit chief who longs to leave the bandits’ stronghold but is continuously thwarted by her overprotective mother. She is good friends with a great reindeer Bae.

• Action Girl
• Blood Knight: Thinks that fighting with friends is, well… fun and wants to do it every day with Gerda.
• The Chief's Daughter: A twist in that the chief is her mother rather than father.
• Hellish Pupils: They look like normal eyes at first, but they do shrink whenever she’s angry or upset.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She has a quite rough impression of what friendship should be like and clashes with Gerda numerous times, but she eventually grows out of it.
• My Beloved Smother: Her mother, who is also the bandit leader, absolutely refuses to let her out of the hideout. She gets so frustrated she yells at her for treating her like an object.
• Pointy Ears: Like all of the bandits.
• Significant Green-Eyed Redhead
• Walking the Earth: As revealed in the finale, she was finally allowed to leave the stronghold and see the world.

Bae

Voiced by: Bunta Sugawara

An old great reindeer who resides with Frida. He ends up accompanying Gerda for the last part of her journey to the ice castle.

• Androcles' Lion: Frida found him dying in the snow and nursed him back to health. He remained with her, waiting for the day when he could help her back.
• Not a Morning Person: He always sleeps during daytime.
• Old Soldier: Not only is he a king, but also fought thousand battles without a single defeat.
• Quest Giver: He gives one to Frida to save her mother, although he goes with her alongside Gerda.
• Spirit Advisor: At one point he appears to Frida like this, to dissuade her from fighting the bandits who are trying to capture her.

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