CHOBITS

Hideki Motosuwa

Hideki Motosuwa (本須和秀樹 Motosuwa Hideki?) is a 19-year-old (in the anime, 18) repeat student (ronin)
attempting to get into university by studying at Seki cram school, which his parents have sent him to. They have
also severed his allowance, which means he has to work at My Pleasure, an izakaya, to make ends meet. One
night, while walking home from work, he found a persocom lying in a pile of garbage. He took her home, and
upon activating her, found that the only word she could utter was "Chi". Because of this, he gave her the name
"Chi" (in the anime, "Chii") and took her into his care, doing his best to protect and teach her.

Hideki could best be described as "a fish out of water." Living in the country his entire life, Hideki has trouble adjusting to his new life in Tokyo.
Because of this, he is prone to outbursts of confusion and frustration. Also, because of all the time spent by himself on his family's farm, Hideki has a
habit of thinking out loud and talking to himself. This leads to some very entertaining moments between himself and the women he meets. Like many
young men, Hideki has an active libido, possessing many pornographic magazines which he refers to as "okazu" ("side dish"). (In the English manga
translation, Chi refers to one of the magazines as a "tasty side dish"; in the anime's American translation, Chi refers to these magazines as "Hideki's
yummies"). When he moved to Tokyo, Hideki wanted a persocom so that he could finally surf the internet for porn. It should be stated however that he
isn't the only character who thinks this way. In fact Shinbo himself proudly admitted that Sumomo was also equipped to perform these tasks when he
first met Hideki.

Despite his shortcomings and occasional moments of awkwardness with the bustling environment of Tokyo, Hideki is a genuinely kind and
honest person, whose habit of thinking of others' well-being before his own can cause many problems. When a friend is in trouble, especially Chi, he is
always there to help. Because of this, many characters in the series turn to him for advice with their problems, knowing he will always hear them out and
do his best to assist them.

Chitose Hibiya

Chitose Hibiya (日比谷 千歳 Hibiya Chitose?) is the landlady at the apartment where Hideki is staying – or at
least that is her current job. In the manga, she was previously an employee of Piffle Princess Enterprises and
participated in the develpoment of Angels and later, persocoms. She was married to the president of the
company, the late Ichiro "Icchan" Mihara, who used the data gathered from the Angelic Layer research to create
the Chobits to be Chitose's children, because she was unable to have children of her own. She also authored "A
City With No People" to help Chi find the Person Just for Her.

Hiromu Shinbo

Hiromu Shinbo (新保弘 Shinbo Hiromu?), also spelled "Shimbo", is Hideki's best friend and is also studying at
Seki cram school. In the anime, Shinbo lives in the same apartment complex as Hideki and is his next-door
neighbor. Shinbo is usually the first person Hideki turns to for help with persocoms. Shortly after beginning
school he becomes involved with his teacher Takako Shimizu after finding her in a park late at night because
she had been unwittingly locked out of her house by her husband, who was too busy with his persocom. He
later elopes with her and convinces her to marry him.

Sumomo (Plum)

Sumomo (すもも?) is a mobile persocom – which is the persocom equivalent of a laptop computer. She is
programmed to be cute and tends to be quite hyperactive, for example her morning 'wakie wakie exercises'.
Shinbo was the original owner of Sumomo, but left her with Hideki after leaving with Takako. He later transfers
Sumomo's registration to Hideki, giving him permanent ownership. At the beginning of the series, Shinbo uses
Sumomo in an attempt to analyze Chi, and Sumomo is nearly broken in the process, requiring new main
memory, and in the manga, a new video card as well. Once Kotoko joined Hideki, she quickly came to the
conclusion that Sumomo was mad, with her nonsensical ways.

Chi (Elda)

Chi (ちぃ Chii?) is a Chobit (an extremely advanced persocom that possesses a very powerful processor and
highly developed programming) that Hideki found in a pile of trash on his way home one night. When she was
first activated, Chi was unable to communicate properly, only being able to say "Chi", which causes Hideki to
name her that. Chi remembers nothing of her past life or how to do the simplest of things, so Hideki takes it
upon himself to teach her and take care of her.

Before she was found by Hideki and named Chi, her name was Elda. She was the second Chobit produced by Ichiro Mihara. Elda was
created after Hibiya noticed that Freya, the first Chobit, was becoming increasingly depressed as time went by. Elda was created to be Freya's little
sister, in an effort to make her happy. In the anime, it is explained that Hibiya reset Elda's memories after her husband's death. However, in the manga,
Elda lost her memories as a consequence of taking in her ailing sister's heart. Some time after, Hideki found her and brought her home. Elda's memories
were on the disc which was accidentally left in the garbage when Hideki salvaged her.
 After she is activated, Chi proceeds to start learning about the environment around her, and makes some hilarious mistakes in the process,
such as imitating a pornographic pose from one of Hideki's magazines or calling everyone and everything "Hideki". Eventually, when Chi starts
communicating properly and learns enough about her environment to be able to function in it, she gets a job at Hiroyasu Ueda's bakery.

Chi also houses the resident consciousness of her fellow Chobit, Freya, who is Chi's sister. Freya occasionally contacts Chi to inform her of
something important, or to intervene in a time of need. Both Chobits possess many remarkable abilities, including the ability to release an extremely
powerful concussive blast from their bodies should the need arise for them to defend themselves, levitation and some telekinetic ability.

In the manga, after Elda took on Freya's heart, her last request before losing consciousness was to be left alone outside, away from her
family, so that there would be no possibility the same fate that befell her sister could befall her. Before doing this, however, her father gave her a "gift";
this gift was a program, designed to do one thing: If, in her new life, Chi failed to find the Person Just for Her, she would connect to every persocom on
the planet and execute a program that would delete the individual-recognition abilities of every single persocom, so that they would never be able to
distinguish one person from another ever again. If Chi failed to find the Person just for Her, it stood to reason that other persocoms would suffer the
same fate as well. The purpose of this program was to spare the persocoms of the world the pain of unrequited love. In the anime, this program appears
to have an alternate effect: If Chi found the Person just for her, all persocoms would be granted the ability to either love or feel emotion. The reason for
this is since Ichiro Mihara, Chitose Hibiya's late husband, helped create the persocoms, he viewed them as his children. His dying wish was that if Chi
were to find someone who loved her in return, all his children would be able to share in this happiness by being able to feel emotions the way humans
do.

It should be noted that in the manga the Chobits series persocoms do not possess emotions, at least in the human sense. This issue is
touched upon in the final pages of the manga series during a conversation Hideki has with Freya, where she specifically states "We do not have
emotions" and again where Zima states "In my mind, my adorable Dita comes first. Even if this isn't the same love that a human feels, so what!" This
statement appears to be an assertion that even though a persocom's subjective experience of love may not be the same as a human's, that does not
make the love they do feel any less real or legitimate. Something within Chi's programming chose Hideki as being special, marked him as being different
from others, and worthy of her greatest affections. To her, this is love; even if it is not the same love that a human feels.

Despite this, there are still things that Chi cannot do. Depending on the source (manga or anime), these range from simple set backs like the
inability to produce offspring (which all persocoms are subject to) to the inability to have intercourse. Most regular persocoms have their power switch in
or behind their ears, but Chi's is located in a most unusual place, her groin. Due to this fact, in the manga, even if Chi is in love with Hideki, she cannot
have a sexual relationship with him because that will cause her to restart, reformat and lose all of her memories with him. However, Hideki says that this
will not stop him from loving Chi. In the anime this does not appear to be the case. In episode seven, during Chi's time at the peep show, it is stated by
her sister that "regardless of what happens, until someone who truly loves you appears, never let anyone touch you here." It is notable that this warning
is also said in the manga. This warning is repeated in episode twenty when Yoshiyuki tries to take advantage of Chi. Just as before, a defense
mechanism is activated and Yoshiyuki is subdued. Chi then states that since he isn't the one for her, he isn't allowed to come inside. Finally when Hideki
does arrives on the scene, Chi explains that only the one for her is ever allowed to come inside, which she demonstrates by taking him by the hand.

The name "Chobits" comes from the fact that their father, Ichiro Mihara, used the word "Chobi" to describe anything he thought was "small and
hopelessly adorable". Two Chobi become "Chobits". His wife later pointed out that Mihara attached extra value to the word "Chobi" because it was
composed out of the letters of her own name, making the Chobits series her "children" just as they were his.

(Note about the spelling "Elda": "Elda" is the official English spelling. "Erda" would have made more sense in this situation. The name is written
in Japanese as "エルダ" (Eruda) which is also used to write the name of the Norse earth goddess Erda (or Jord), the mother of the Valkyries, also
means Earth in Norwegian, Danish and Swedish)

Minoru Kokubunji (M)

Minoru (国分寺 稔 Kokubunji Minoru?) is a wealthy twelve-year old genius, whose specialty is persocoms. In
particular, he has built a custom persocom named Yuzuki, designed to look like his late sister, and has given her
self-teaching software, meaning that she can learn things on her own instead of having to have programs
loaded into her like most persocoms.

For the most part, Minoru is very reserved and soft spoken individual who surrounds himself with persocoms.
His curiosity over Chi's origins leads to him becoming one of Hideki Motosuwa's closest friends. Minoru does
what he can to help his friends whether it be technological help, such as tracking things down or allowing Hideki to make video phone calls, or advice on
relationships with persocoms. Although he is known for being calm and collected most of the time, Minoru's attitude completely changes when Yuzuki is
around. Much like Hideki is to Chi, Minoru is very protective of Yuzuki and is prone to outbursts whenever she is in trouble. He is also very forgiving,
always comforting her on the fact that it is never her fault if something goes wrong.

Minoru is also known as "M" on the bulletin boards, where he is considered one of the leading experts in the field of persocom development.
Minoru's late sister is Kaede Saito, a character from Angelic Layer.

Yuzuki

Yuzuki is a persocom created by Minoru Kokubunji roughly two years before the start of the series. Yuzuki was
created to resemble, physically and mentally, Minoru's late sister, Kaede, who had died from an illness two
years earlier. Yuzuki was programmed with all of the data that Minoru could remember about his sister; what
she liked, what she disliked, her habits and behaviors — everything. However, Minoru still realizes that no
matter how realistic she may be, she is still only a persocom that is following her programming. Yuzuki, despite
not having the same processing capacity as a persocom like Chi, also seems to possess an awareness of her
own limitations.
 Toward the end of the anime and manga, Yuzuki loses a large portion of Kaede's personality data as a result of trying to hack into Zima and
being counter-hacked by Dita. However, Minoru declines to reenter this data, because he has grown to love Yuzuki for who she is; because she is
Yuzuki, rather than because she is a replacement for his sister.

Takako Shimizu

Takako Shimizu (清水多香子 Shimizu Takako?) is Hideki and Shinbo's teacher at the Seki cram school. Like
Yumi, Shimizu has had a negative experience with persocoms: her husband bought a persocom and eventually
she became unimportant to him compared to the persocom. He spent more and more time with his persocom
until he forgot about his wife completely, locking her out of the house one night because he was so enamored
with it. Because of this, Shimizu was no longer able to trust human men. Later, Shimizu elopes with Shinbo. In
the end, she returns to the cram school, married to Shinbo.

Yumi Omura

Yumi Omura (大村裕美 Ōmura Yumi?) is a 17 year old girl who works at the Japanese pub [My Pleasure]
alongside Hideki. In the anime, she is the daughter of the club's owner, but in the manga, she is just an
employee. It is initially implied that Yumi was interested in a relationship with Hideki, but as the series
progresses it is revealed that she initially approached him because he also worked at Club Pleasure, and that
she thinks of him as a big brother. Throughout most of the series Yumi has an inferiority complex toward
persocoms, and becomes upset at any mention of a human-sized persocom.

The reason for this is that while Yumi was working at Chiroru she fell in love with the manager, Hiroyasu Ueda.
She gathered the courage to tell him, and found out that he reciprocated her feelings. All would have been well, except that Yumi discovered that Ueda
had previously been married to a persocom that he had named Yumi, (See Hiroyasu's entry) and she thought that he would compare the human Yumi to
the persocom Yumi and find the human Yumi inferior.

However, Hideki eventually manages to persuade Yumi that Hiroyasu wouldn't have started anything if he didn't love Yumi for who she was,
and he and Yumi start going out again.

Freya

Freya was the first Chobit, who was created before Elda by Hibiya's husband, Ichiro Mihara. Freya was created
to be Hibiya's daughter, because she was unable to bear children of her own. Freya's development was kept
secret from Hibiya; she did not know of Freya's existence until she was called down to the lab one day, without
explanation. In front of her, suspended from a number of wires and cables, was a persocom. Upon awakening
for the very first time, she was given the name Freya by Hibiya. Freya's first word was "Mama".

Freya lived happily with the Mihara couple for a time, until Hibiya noticed that her attitude was becoming
increasingly melancholy, with no explanation as to why. At this point, Hibiya asked her husband to build a little
sister for Freya, in an attempt to make her happy again. From this request, Elda was created. Freya was incredibly happy to have a little sister, and for a
time, she seemed to be acting normally, although, as Hibiya would later tell Hideki in the anime, "there were still these odd times when she looked as
though she was thinking very deeply about something."

Some time after, Freya suddenly lost consciousness and collapsed to the ground. In the anime, the impetus for this event was witnessing her
mother and father flirting with each other in the compound's courtyard. It was only then that Hibiya finally realized the source of Freya's sadness; she
had fallen in love with her own father, Mihara. Freya knew that her father still loved his wife, and did not want to disturb their happiness, so she pained
her heart with efforts to suppress her feelings. Over time, her pain became so great that she began to malfunction under the strain of her emotional
burden. Freya was no longer able to move, and was confined to a bed from that point on. Toward the end, she could not lift a finger or even shift her
focus, and began to have problems with her memory.

In the anime, Freya never found the courage to tell her father how she truly felt; in the manga, she resigns herself to the fact that because of
the damage to her body, all hope is lost regardless of the outcome, and chooses to tell him her true feelings. Eventually, Freya's pain became so
unbearable, that she chose to self-terminate, rather than continue to exist (in the manga's English translation, it seems as though Freya wishes to
commit suicide). Before she could do this, however, her sister Elda offered to take her heart into her own, so that she would not disappear completely,
and so that her memories would be preserved.

Now that Elda has become Chi, Freya does everything she can to ensure that Chi will find the person just for her. Freya exists as a separate
entity within Chi, and is capable of monitoring Chi's sensory input, and will intervene if Chi is in danger. It should be noted that in the anime, nobody
knew that Elda had taken in Freya's heart; conversely, in the manga, both Hibiya and Mihara learned of this only moments after it occurred.

(Note about the spelling "Freya": "Freya" actually appears in the Japanese Chobits merchandise. In Norse mythology, Freya was a goddess of
love, sex and attraction.)

Hiroyasu Ueda
 Hiroyasu Ueda (植田 弘康 Ueda Hiroyasu?) is the owner of Chiroru, a local bakery which Yumi (and in the
manga, Hideki) once worked in and which Chi ends up working at. He is 38 years old, although he looks as
though he is only in his mid-20's, at one point noting jokingly that he has a "baby face".

He, too, has suffered a trauma involving persocoms. When he first opened his bakery, he bought a persocom to
help with math and accounting, which he admits he is terrible at. He eventually fell in love with this persocom
and then married her, but she developed a hard disk fault which resulted in the gradual degradation of her
memory, until she remembered almost nothing at all.

Rarely, she would suddenly recall small fragments of memories from her life with Hiroyasu. He could not bring himself to have her repaired
because her memories might be lost completely in the process of transferring them to a new hard drive, and he felt she would not be the same person if
this happened. Soon, her memory degraded to the point that she could not remember anything for more than a few seconds at a time, and Hiroyasu had
keep a constant watch on her to prevent her from wandering away. One night while walking with his persocom, Hiroyasu, lost in thought, walked into the
middle of the street, unaware of an oncoming car. In one final moment of clarity, his persocom pushed him out of the way, and was herself run over. Her
last words to Hiroyasu were, "Konnichiwa."

Hiroyasu and Yumi Omura were in love in the past, but broke up when Yumi quit her job at the bakery when she discovered that the persocom
he married was named "Yumi" and feared she would never live up to the other Yumi. Through the help of Chi and Hideki, he and Yumi resume their
relationship.

Yoshiyuki Kojima (Dragonfly)

Known in online circles as "Dragonfly", Yoshiyuki Kojima (小島 良由起 Kojima Yoshiyuki?) is a man of few
scruples and another custom persocom-builder. Unlike Minoru Kokubunji, he is more obsessed with persocoms
and even kidnaps Chi at one point. He tries to hack into Chi, using all of his persocoms in a massive parallel
processing network. During this time, he makes an ill-advised attempt to inappropriately touch Chi, and Freya
takes over, restraining him with all of the cords attached to her. She then attacks him with a concussion blast,
blowing out the windows in his house and knocking him unconscious. Afterwards, to make amends for his
actions, he lends his help to solving the mystery of Chi and the Chobits.

Kotoko

Kotoko (琴子 ?) is another laptop persocom, like Sumomo, but she was custom-built by Yoshiyuki and has much
higher specifications than Sumomo. Kotoko originally belonged to Yoshiyuki, but following Chi's kidnapping,
Hideki and Shinbo force Yoshiyuki to transfer ownership of Kotoko to Hideki so that her memories of Yoshiyuki
kidnapping Chi cannot be erased.

Kotoko is far more serious than Sumomo, and thinks that everyone in the Motosuwa household is crazy,
especially Sumomo, although she herself occasionally exhibits a sarcastic wit. Kotoko is programmed to always
tell the truth, no matter what, even when it works to Yoshiyuki's disadvantage.

In the original Japanese version, her seiyuu (Nogami) once worked together with Sumomo's seiyu (Kumai) in Cardcaptor Sakura (another
anime adapted from CLAMP's works, as Li Meiling and Li Syaoran respectively). Ironically, in CCS, Syaoran was the more "mature" one of the pair.

Zima

Zima (ジーマ Jima?) is one of two government persocoms who are looking for Chi. They do not want her to
execute her final program, which they believe would destroy the person-recognition abilities of every persocom
on the planet. It is believed that the program will execute when Chi finds the person just for her. Zima, however,
believes that this may not necessarily be true, and genuinely wants Chi to find happiness. He lies to Dita about
Chi's whereabouts and stalls as long as possible before finally going to stop her. In the manga, Zima physically
restrains Dita from attacking Chi. Zima is also the Japanese government's national data bank, and during the
course of the series an attempt is made by Yuzuki to hack into him to gain information on Chi. In the anime,
Zima remarks that he and Dita were created from the same basic system that Chi is, rendering them immune to
her ability to immobilize persocoms.

In the anime, Zima is referred to as "The King of Persocoms". It also should be noted while Zima is not the only male persocom to exist, he is the only
major one in the series.
 FULL METAL ALCHEMIST

Plot

Fullmetal Alchemist is a fantasy manga set in the early 20th century in a country called Amestris in an alternate-historical Earth
with technology dating from early 20th century Europe. In this alternate world, the exaggerated science of alchemy is heavily used in
conjunction with acretian soul wanderers, but takes on a further fantastic element not seen in real-life alchemy. Real-world alchemists
attempted to transmute gold and diamonds from lesser metals. In the fictional world of the series, alchemy becomes the science of
transmuting matter into different matter (following the rule of equivalent exchange) through the use of transmutation circles—based on
real-world science, yet also magical, with seemingly infinite uses. Talented alchemists may apply to take a State Alchemist test to join
the Amestris military's State Alchemists.

Edward and Alphonse Elric were children living in the rural village of Resembool in the country of Amestris. Their father
Hohenheim (Hohenheim of Light in the anime and Van Hohenheim in the manga), a talented alchemist, had left home when Edward
was very young and Alphonse was still an infant. Years later, their mother, Trisha Elric, died of a terminal illness. After their mother's
death, they lived with Winry and her grandmother until finding a teacher to teach them alchemy. After completing training, they came
home with the intent of reviving their mother with the transmutation circle they found in their father's notes and made the attempt soon
after acquiring the circle. However, this attempt failed, resulting in a twisted mass of flesh and bone at the cost of Edward's left leg and
Alphonse's entire body. In a desperate effort to save his brother, Edward sacrificed his right arm to affix his brother's soul to a suit of
armor. After that, Edward's left leg and right arm are fitted with two sets of Automail, a type of advanced prosthetic limb. In the original
Japanese, the term "Fullmetal" is used to describe a person who is stubborn. In the series it is often attributed by minor characters to
Ed's automail arm and leg, or Al's armor body. In the sixth manga volume, as well as episode 8 of the anime, it is revealed that when an
alchemist becomes a State Alchemist, he or she is given a special title. Edward's title was Fullmetal, making him Fullmetal Alchemist.

A State Alchemist by the name of Roy Mustang arrives during the failed human transmutation. After seeing their skill at
alchemy, Mustang suggested that the way for the two boys to achieve their goals would be to become State Alchemists and work for
him. Spurred on by the man's proposal, Edward set out to become a State Alchemist, enabling him to use the resources available to
State Alchemists to discover a way to restore what he and Alphonse had lost. The brothers eventually learn of the Philosopher's Stone
and set off in search of it as a means to restore their bodies. Along the way they discover secrets about the Philosopher's Stone they
never wanted to know, and find others who seek it as well, doing almost whatever they can to get their hands on it.

The brother's motivations, especially having to do with their use of alchemy, change throughout the anime. This indicates,
among other things, the two brothers' maturing attitudes and outlooks on life. In the prologue scenes when Ed and Al's mother is alive,
their primary goal for the use of alchemy is to make their mom and friends proud and happy. After their mom dies, they delve into more
complicated alchemy to bring her back to life. After this fails horribly, they strive to regain their bodies by way of the alchemical
Philosopher's Stone. Later in the series, their primary focus begins to shift subtly from regaining their normal bodies to remaining
together as brothers. The latter reason is particularly prominent in the movie adaptation of Fullmetal Alchemist, The Conqueror of
Shamballa.

One unique characteristic of Fullmetal Alchemist is that the stories of the manga and anime separate soon after the encounter
with Greed, and weave vastly different tales. The most prominent of the differences is the primary antagonist. In the anime, this is a
woman known as Dante. A previous lover of Hohenheim, Dante and he were masterful alchemists and perfected methods for making
the Philosopher's Stone and a form of immortality in which their souls jump to a new host body every time their current vessel began to
age. However, Hohenheim soon fell in love with another and left Dante, taking with him the perfected Philosopher's Stone formula.
Although Dante is still able to jump from body to body to preserve her youth, she is able to spend less and less time in each body as it
decays faster with each jump, so she seeks the stone's formula to sustain her power when the small amount she had when Hohenheim
left begins to run out. Dante is the leader of the homunculi, and though she did not create all of them, she sustains them by feeding
them imperfect shards of the Philosopher's Stone. She uses them to spur Edward and Alphonse into finding the complete Philosopher's
Stone formula for her.

The main antagonist of the manga series is a man known simply as "Father". Evidence suggests that he, like Dante and
Hohenheim in the anime, has perfected an immortality formula, and is possibly a citizen from the ancient desert civilization of Xerxes.
Found in the manga series as ruins, this civilization is believed to have had great alchemical and technological prowess, but
suspiciously, all of its inhabitants disappeared in one night. Unlike Dante, Father is the creator of all the homunculi in the manga series,
and commands them from behind the curtains of the High Command of the country Amestris, which, King Bradley (the homunculus
Wrath in the manga) later reveals to Roy Mustang, was created by Father. It is suspected that Father plans to use Amestris as a
gigantic transmutation circle to create a Philosopher's Stone, but the homunculus Envy hints that, although close, it is not the whole
truth. Regardless, Edward and Alphonse become mixed up in Father's plans, and end up becoming prime "human sacrifices" for
whatever Father has in store.
Major characters

• Edward Elric: The main protagonist, Edward ("Ed") Elric is the famous Fullmetal Alchemist, though Al is occasionally
mistaken for him because of his armored body. He has a prosthetic automail right arm and left leg, is of short stature, and
typically reacts in an exaggerated manner to any remarks about his height. He is
known for being the youngest State Alchemist, gaining this title at the age of 12.

• Alphonse Elric: Alphonse, often nicknamed "Al," is Fullmetal Alchemist's

secondary protagonist; he is Edward's younger brother and the narrator of the
series. For most of the series his soul is trapped in a large suit of armor, causing
other characters throughout the series to confuse Al with the "Fullmetal"
Alchemist. Alphonse is the calmer of the two, and can be seen as a foil to
Edward's character.
• Colonel Roy Mustang: Roy Mustang is known as the Flame Alchemist. His gloves
are made of a special material called "ignition cloth," which allows him to create a
spark by snapping his fingers. He then uses alchemy to change the oxygen
density in the air with the help of transmutation circles on his gloves, causing a
controlled explosion. He is Edward's direct superior officer in the military, but has his own goal, mainly to become the Führer,
leader of the military.
• Winry Rockbell: Winry is a mechanical expert who is a childhood friend of the Elrics. She, along with her grandmother Pinako,
built Edward's automail, and she also helps maintain the automail when it gets broken. Her parents were called into service as
doctors for the Ishbalan Civil War and were killed.
• Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye: A hard-working member of the state military, and a loyal, capable aide to her superior officer, Roy
Mustang. She is especially proficient in the use of firearms and a good marksman. While she may be level-headed, she
sometimes uses her shooting skills in situations where they may not be entirely necessary.
• Lt. Colonel Maes Hughes: A member of the Investigations Division and a good friend of Colonel Mustang and the Elric
brothers. He wishes to push Mustang up to the position of Führer by working closely under him. Hughes loves his wife, Gracia,
and is overly enthusiastic regarding his love for his daughter Elysia, and talks about her to everyone he meets.
• Scar: One of the few surviving Ishbalans (Ishvarlans in the manga). His real name is never revealed, but he is referred to as
"Scar" because of the X-shaped scar on his face. Scar's right arm, which is tattooed with a rare transmutation circle, was given
to him by his brother shortly before he died. Scar believes himself to be an instrument of God, and kills State Alchemists using
his alchemical skills, despite the fact that he believes alchemy is an abomination against the natural world.
• King Bradley: Known as the Führer, he is the military dictator of Amestris, holding the official political title of president (King is
his first name). Although he seems to be quite easy-going and perhaps a little eccentric, he has a mind like a steel trap, and
maintaining Amestris is his chief priority at all times. He hungers for war and is constantly sending troops to locations all over
Amestris, "purifying the land." He is also renowned as an exceptional swordsman and is referred to as the "Ultimate Eye".
• Hohenheim: Ed and Al's mysterious father, who disappears a few years after they are born.
• Lust: Sultry and cool-hearted, she is the first of the Homunculi encountered in the series. She has the power to extend her
fingers into a spear to use as a weapon, and is thus known in some translations as the "Ultimate Spear" or "Ultimate Lance".
• Gluttony: A large figure who eats anything he can get his hands on, including humans and inanimate objects. He latches on to
Lust like a child to a parent.
• Envy: Sarcastic, sadistic, and cold-hearted, Envy has the ability to change appearance. He hates mankind, viewing them as
pitiful and weak. Envy is a male, but his appearance is androgynous.

Terminology

• Alchemy: Alchemy within the Fullmetal Alchemist anime, put simply, refers to a three-step process. The steps are analysis (to
understand the structure and properties of the substance that is about to be transmuted), destruction/decomposition (to break
the substance down to its rudimentary properties), and reconstruction/recomposition (to rebuild the substance into another
form or with different properties). In the manga, the source of alchemical power is believed by most alchemists to be the
movement of tectonic plates-however, Mei Chan, an alchemist from the neighboring country of Xing has her doubts as to this;
to her, the power behind Amestrian alchemy seems to involve the souls of the dead (while the Xing alchemy involves using the
Earth's lifestream). However, in the anime, the energy for alchemical reactions comes from the other side of the Gate,
supposedly from the deaths that occur in the world on the other side of the Gate. In both versions, rather than being a method
of manipulating forms via their accidents (the basis of historical alchemy, derived from Greek philosophy), it is essentially
modern chemistry without a reaction medium.
• Automail: A kind of prosthetics, made from metal and linked directly to the nerves of the body. Well-made automail can allow a
range of movement and strength as good as or better than the original limb it replaces. Some forms of automail include
ballistic devices or other enhancements. It appears to be a type of cybernetic technology, well ahead of real world cybernetics
research. Edward typically has been seen altering his automail arm with Alchemy, refashioning it into a bladed weapon in the
manga and anime. Since it is linked directly to the nerves of the body, attaching automail can be excruciatingly painful.
• Equivalent Exchange: The rule that alchemists in the series consider to be the foundation of Alchemy, or even the fundamental
law of the world: to obtain, something of equal or greater value must be lost. One of the themes of the series is examining the
implications of Equivalent Exchange as a philosophy. It also investigates into whether Equivalent Exchange is a natural law, or
rather, a false ideology. As an example, the two brothers frequently quote the chemicals present in the human body, in thinking
that this simple chemical exchange would be all that was needed to bring back someone from the dead.
• One is All, All is One: A cryptic way of explaining the essence of alchemy, this phrase is used by Izumi Curtis to test whether
the Elric brothers are worth teaching alchemy to. According to this, if a person were to die, as such there would be no material
effect on the world. Since a human body is made up of certain basic elements, when a person dies, his or her body is
decomposed and these elements are returned back to nature. These elements, in turn, provide nutrients to plants which, in
their turn, become food for herbivores, which are then food to carnivores. This is the cycle of life, and the death of one person
is insignificant while considering the whole cycle. However, without these individual deaths, the cycle cannot be maintained
and hence the individuals as a whole are significant to the continuation of the cycle. Thus, the cycle of life can never be
reversed. Understanding this and working with the cycle of life in order to create new things is what alchemy is about. In other
words, as the Elrics put it, "the world is the all, and I am the one."
• State Alchemist: An alchemist serving in a special branch of the state military under the direct command of the Führer. State
Alchemists are selected by a series of examinations, and are regarded as some of the most powerful and talented alchemists.
The position of State Alchemist also holds considerable authority and influence, automatically being promoted to the rank of
Major. However, State Alchemists are despised by the general public, often called 'dogs of the military' - meaning that the
person sold their soul to the military in exchange for special entitlements.
• Taboo: A forbidden act in alchemy, for example, human transmutation, which usually comes with a punishment. Edward and
Alphonse attempt to return their mother back to life, and are punished by losing Al's body and Ed's leg.
• Transmutation Circle: Transmutation circles act as catalysts in alchemic reactions, and are needed for any transmutation;
however, some alchemists, like Edward Elric, can transmute without one. The circle represents the constant flow of energy, the
patterns decide what effects the transmutation has. A circle may be drawn on the spot, embroidered into an article of clothing,
or even tattooed onto the alchemist itself. Transmutation circles can be drawn with any substance that leaves behind a trail,
ranging from chalk to blood (see Blood Seal below).
• Philosopher's Stone: A legendary stone said to allow the holder to completely bypass the law of Equivalent Exchange. As with
all things, however, to create a Philosopher's Stone requires the expenditure of raw materials: in this case, human lives.
• Blood Seal: A special type of transmutation circle that acts as a seal to bind a person's soul to an object, such as a suit of
armor. It must, as the name suggests, be written in blood; the soul is tied to the blood and an element in the blood must be
bound with the object itself. This typically only works on armor as the iron in the blood binds with the armor. Thus the blood
acts as an intermediary between the soul and the object. If a blood seal is destroyed, the soul will no longer be tied to the
object, and the person will enter the Gate. Some translations refer to it as a "Blood Array."
• Chimera: A chimera is the fusion of two or more different species into a single being created using alchemy. These creatures
are seen as monsters by the general community, because the alchemist has taken two creatures and fused them to create
one. There are also cases where the alchemist has used a human in the creation of a chimera, such cases are: Shou Tucker
where he created two chimeras using firstly his wife and then his daughter. These Chimeras died shortly after they where
created. However other cases such as the events of that at Lab 5, were done using more experienced alchemists, and the aid
of mass amounts of Red Stones. These chimeras were created using humans, however a major difference is that these
chimeras took the form of humans and then gained abilities depending on the animal they were fused with.
• Gate of Alchemy (also known as the "Gate of Truth" or just "Gate"): The Gate is said to be the source for all alchemical power.
In the manga, an alchemist who sees into the Gate can then perform alchemy without the use of a written or tattooed circle
because of the knowledge gained during the experience. In the anime it is said that the Gate swings forward each time the
energy for alchemy is summoned, that there is a Gate inside everyone, and that all that is necessary to access the Gate is
knowledge of how to do so. It is also said that a weak link between the body, mind, and spirit is what called the Gate - in other
words, death. A baby, the anime posits, has a weak link between the body, mind, and spirit, and thus it is easy to summon the
Gate using a baby. In the anime the Gate resembles Rodin's sculpture "The Gates of Hell", but in the manga it is more akin to
an obelisk, featuring the Kabbalahistic Tree of Life.
• Truth : The ultimate goal of every alchemist. In the anime, it was just Ed's point of view to describe what he found in the Gate.
In the manga, though, it was displayed as an omnipotent god-like being that exists in the Gate, enforcing the law of Equivalent
Exchange.
• Rentan Jutsu (manga only): A type of Alchemy that is used in the eastern country Xing. Its roots actually lie in medicine and
transmutation circles are referred to as "purification circles" by the people of Xing. While similar to Amestris alchemy (called
"Renkin Jutsu" by people from Xing), the source of energy is different. Rentan Jutsu uses the power called "Lungmei" which
exists everywhere on the earth. The type of alchemy that the character Mei Chan uses is Rentan Jutsu. Scar's tattoo is a mix
of Renkin Jutsu and Rentan Jutsu.
• Human Sacrifice: In the manga, it is a term that the Homunculi use to refer to alchemists who have opened the Gate and seen
the Truth. Human Sacrifices are a crucial part of the Homunculi and "Father's" plan, but to what end is still unknown.
• Human Transmutation: A forbidden art in which one attempts to create a human who had died. It takes something from the
person who performs it (for example, an arm, leg or organ) but, instead of creating a human, it takes the alchemist to the Gate,
 where he or she gains knowledge proportional to what was given up in the transmutation. In the anime, the end product of a
human transmutation attempt is a Homunculus.

DEATHNOTE

Plot

Light Yagami is an extremely intelligent young man who resents the crime and corruption in the world. His life undergoes a drastic change
when he discovers a mysterious notebook, known as the "Death Note", lying on the ground in the year 2003. The Death Note's instructions claim that if a
human's name is written within it that person shall die. Light is initially skeptical of the Death Note's authenticity, believing it is just a prank. However,
after experimenting with it and killing two criminals, Light is forced to admit that the Death Note is real. After meeting with the previous owner of the
Death Note, a shinigami named Ryuk, Light seeks to become "the God of the new world" by passing his judgment on criminals.

Soon, the number of inexplicable deaths of reported criminals catches the attention of the International Police Organization and a mysterious
detective known only as "L". L quickly learns that the serial killer, dubbed by the public as "Kira" (derived from the Japanese pronunciation of the word
"Killer"), is located in Japan. L also concludes that Kira can kill people without laying a finger on them. Light realizes that L will be his greatest nemesis,
and a game of psychological cat and mouse between the two begins

Main characters

Light Yagami (夜神 月 Yagami Raito?) / Kira / Light Asahi (朝日 月 Asahi Raito?)

Light is the protagonist of Death Note and an extremely intelligent, but bored, young man who finds
Ryuk's Death Note by sheer chance.
Light constantly tries to evade the suspicion of L while both maintaining his identity as Kira (Japanese
pronunciation of Killer), and cleansing the world of crime. The fact that he is a genius also adds to his
notion that only he is fit to judge humanity and steer it on a proper moral course. Light is seen as
somewhat heartless and sociopathic by those who are aware of what he is doing, as he can willingly
kill his victims without batting an eye or do things which would seem evil to most, but he believes that
he is doing good and bringing justice for most of the series.
Light, born on February 28, 1986, is a third year high school student (12th Grade) at Daikoku Private
Academy (大国学園 Daikoku Gakuen?) [1] who also attends supplemental classes at Gamou Prep
Academy.[2] In Spring 2004 Light becomes a first-year student (freshman) at To-Oh University (東応大学 Tōō Daigaku?), [3] becoming one of two freshman
representatives; L is the other freshman representative.[4] During a tennis game with L at To-Oh, spectators reveal that Light was the junior high school
tennis champion in 1999 and 2000; After his 2000 victory, Light quit tennis as he entered high school.[5]
When L is finally able to corner him, Light puts his master plan in practice. He temporarily gives up his Death Note to Ryuk, erasing his
memories about his time as Kira from his mind. Rem, under instruction by Light to give it to someone who would use it selfishly, gives it to Kyosuke
Higuchi of the Yotsuba Corporation. Now unaware of the fact that he was the original Kira, Light accepts L's offer to join the investigation team to hunt
down Higuchi, known as the third Kira. Light requests the alias Light Asahi to be used for him. When he is finally captured, Light touches his Death Note,
thereby regaining his memory of when he was the original Kira. He then proceeds just as planned, masterfully killing Higuchi by using the Death Note
paper he put in his watch before he lost his memories; and manipulating Rem, who also dies in the process, to kill both Watari and L.
Light Yagami as he appears in Volume 1 of the manga
Light is later nominated by L's investigation team (who are unaware that he is Kira) to act as L, due to the fact that they cannot reveal the
death of the real L to the world. Light also takes over the role of L's assistant, Watari. Now able to act as both Kira and L, Light can continue killing
criminals while leading the investigation team in circles. His secret identity as L is soon discovered by the Special Provisions for Kira, President Hoope,
and Mello's gang. Light joins the Japanese Police Force's Intelligence Department in April 2009, believing that no one can stop his plans. Near and Mello
eventually appear before him, trying to accomplish what L could not: to expose Kira's true identity, and bring him to justice.
Ryuk is looking at Light with the Shinigami Eyes, revealing Light's real name and remaining lifespan (in Shinigami time).
In the end, the combined efforts of Mello and Near, combined with a large miscalculation and miscommunication on the part of Mikami and
Light, force Light to reveal himself as Kira. In the final clash between Near and Light at a warehouse, all is revealed and the Kira case comes to an end
after six long years.
In the manga version, after completely losing his head and characteristic cool over the prospect of being arrested, and in complete
desperation after his attempts to write Near's name down are thwarted by Matsuda, Light begs Ryuk to help him. Ryuk reminds Light that he is on
neither side, and fulfills his earlier promise to write Light's name in his Death Note, thus ending Light's life.
In the anime version, Light manages to flee the warehouse after Mikami commits suicide. Near instructs the team that there is no reason to pursue Light
given that there should be no more hidden Death Notes, and Light's wounds would prevent him from getting far. Despite this, Aizawa, Mogi, Ide and
Matsuda follow Light but are unable to find him before he dies on the staircase of a nearby warehouse due to cardiac arrest from Ryuk writing his name
in his Death Note. As Light slowly closes his eyes, an apparition of L appears before Light, mirroring Light standing over L in episode 25 at L's death.
According to the manga, Light's date of death is January 28, 2010. His height and weight are 179 centimeters (5'10") and 54 kilograms (120 pounds),
respectively, which puts him at the same height as L (if L stands up in a proper position). His blood type is A (see Japanese blood type theory of
personality). His name is also a play on the theme of good and evil in the series, as Light is his first name, and Yagami is similar to "yami" meaning dark,
dark being evil and light being good.

Light in the film

 A few changes were made to Light in the film. At the film's beginning, Light is a first-year university student studying Law, instead of still being
a high school genius, as in the beginning of the manga and anime. Light's motives differ; his boredom trait does not exist, and he instead uses the Death
Note out of frustration from the perceived failures of the Japanese justice system. Light, prior to his discovery of the Death Note, hacks into the
government database and finds that the government secretly acknowledges that many criminals are unable to be prosecuted. Light discovers the Death
Note in an alley during a rainy night after encountering Shibuimaru in a club and throwing a law book into the rain in a rage. Light meets Ryuk after killing
Shibuimaru. Light has a girlfriend, Shiori Akino, who attends his university. Light kills Shiori at the end of the first movie to gain sympathy from L.
After Rem "kills" L and kills Watari, Light writes his father's name in an attempt to kill him, an attempt that ultimately fails. The endings of both the second
movie and the manga are similar. In the second film, after being exposed as Kira, Light asks Ryuk to write the names of the team members in the book
during the climax. The police shoot but do not kill Ryuk as he writes in the Death Note. Light laughs until Ryuk shows Light the Death Note, revealing
that Light's name was written in the book. Light tries to stop Ryuk, passing through the shinigami. Light dies in his father's arms, begging him to believe
that he acted as Kira to put justice, which Soichiro had taught him since his childhood, into practice. He is portrayed by Tatsuya Fujiwara, best known for
his role as Shuya Nanahara of Battle Royale

L Lawliet (エル・ローライト Eru Rōraito?) / L / Hideki Ryuga (流河 旱樹 Ryūga Hideki?) / Ryuzaki (竜崎 Ryūzaki?) / Eraldo Coil / Deneuve
L Lawliet, commonly referred to as just L, is rated the world's greatest detective and takes on the
Kira investigation in the first arc. He suspects Light initially, and decides to join To-Oh University, the
university that Light attends, using the name of Hideki Ryuga for investigative purposes. He requests
that the task force refer to him as Ryuzaki for discretion. His disheveled and languid appearance
masks his great powers of deduction and insight. He has some quirks such as preferring to crouch
rather than sit, eating only sweet foods like desserts and fruits, and holding items very delicately. L
stayed in England for five years, and during that time he was the champion in tennis for the England
Junior Cup. L also secretly assumed the identities of the world's second and third best detectives,
(Eraldo Coil and Danuve respectively) something only he and the Kira Investigation Team members
knew. .
L always had his suspicions that Light was Kira, but could not accuse him without any
concrete evidence. Even when all evidence apparently proved his theory to be incorrect, and even
when Light could not remember his deeds as Kira when he renounced his Death Note's ownership
and willingly dedicated himself to collaborate on the investigations, L still suspected him. Because of
this and his sometimes harsh tactics, L can perhaps be seen as the series' antagonist. L cannot
prove Light's guilt. In Chapter 58, Light tricks Rem into killing L for his own personal gain, making her believe that she must kill him for the sake of Misa's
life. L's last sight before death is Light triumphantly smiling over his defeated rival, and in his last moment L confirms to himself that Light is the first Kira.
Although L can not shake the conclusion that Light was the first Kira, Light is the only person L had ever identified or connected with, and he
openly stated on one occasion that even though it would hurt his pride to admit that he has been wrong, he hopes that he would be. Despite Kira being
L's opponent, at the core, Light and L share many traits, including extraordinary intelligence and strong opinions of what constitutes true justice.
Furthermore, L can easily present his conclusions publicly at any time, and with his reputation, is taken seriously. L tends to second-guess everything he
is presented with, and is extremely meticulous and analytical.
After L introduces himself as Ryuga, Light believes that if he writes down Ryuga's name, he may have the pop star of the same name in his
mind instead of L. This would cause the pop star to die, while L would still live since Ryuga is an alias. The death of the pop star would cause L to
suspect Light. This is why Light decides to not write Ryuga's name.
L at his death; this is the only time he is seen closing his eyes in the anime.
Death Note: How To Read 13 revealed many facts about L. His true birth name is L Lawliet. His date of birth is Halloween of 1979, making him 25 when
he dies on November 5, 2004. His height and weight are 179cm/50kg (5'10"/110lbs.), which would have meant he was severely underweight. It is
implied that L was a former resident of Wammy's House, one of Watari's orphanages, as well as a safe haven and educational facility specifically for
intellectually-gifted children. Therefore, similar to Near and Mello, L's abilities were discovered whilst living there, and he is most likely an orphan.
In chapter 38 of the manga, L suggests that even though he eats only sweet foods, he remains underweight because the brain uses the most
calories of any organ in the body. He also says that if he sits normally, his reasoning ability would drop 40%.
In the anime's finale, an apparition of L appears before the dying Light, who closes his eyes in the same fashion L does in the 25th episode.

L in the film
As there is no time delay between the first and second films, the second film begins soon before L supposedly dies. L retains many of the
same characteristics seen in the original series. At the end of the first film, Light eats potato chips in front of L; Light had used a potato chip sack to hide
a cell phone acting as a television from security cameras while L filmed his room.
In the second film, his original "death", caused by Rem writing his name in her Death Note, does not take effect, as L had written his own
name in Misa's Death Note earlier. It is his self-sacrifice that allows himself stay alive for a longer duration (as he supposed Kira would kill him on that
day), and allows the investigation team to apprehend Light. After Ryuk kills Light, Ryuk offers L the Death Note. L refuses, and Ryuk, saying that L is "no
fun," leaves.
Twenty-three days after writing his name in the Death Note, and after burning all the remaining Death Notes and having a conversation with
Soichiro, L dies peacefully while eating a chocolate bar, with a picture of Watari lying right beside him. He is portrayed by Ken'ichi Matsuyama.

Misa Amane (弥 海砂 Amane Misa?) / Kira (second)

Misa Amane as she appears in the anime

Voiced by: Aya Hirano (Japanese), Shannon Chan-Kent (English)
Misa is a girl who has an immense crush on Light and a famous model, singer and actress.
She usually refers to herself in the third person by calling herself "Misa-Misa" and tends to
be hyperactive. She poses as the "second Kira" to attract the attention of the first Kira.
She decides to devote her life to Light because he punished the criminal that killed her
parents when she was younger. The Shinigami who follows her is Rem. Misa also performs
two eye trades, cutting her lifespan in half twice; the first was with Rem, and the second
with Ryuk (For more information, see Shinigami Eyes#Misa Amane's lifespan).
Misa sends Sakura TV video tapes "from Kira" in order to attract the attention of the real Kira. After
receiving a reply video from the real Kira, Misa finds Light and tells him that she will support him in
any way. Misa tells Light that she had her friends handle the packages containing the "Kira Tapes" and donned disguises as a method of fooling
surveillance.
Misa and Light move into the same household together after L's death. In actuality, Light befriends Misa for the eyes, having her pass
judgement on criminals around the world with Ryuk as her personal Shinigami. She also provides assistance to Light when he aids the investigation
team in their hunt for Mello. After Near's suspicion of Light being Kira becomes apparent, Light instructs Misa to give up her ownership of the Death Note
and pass it on to Mikami. When Misa figures Light starts to build a close relationship with Takada, she fears that Light would leave her for Takada. To
prevent this, Misa plans to make a public announcement that she was engaged to Light. Before she could announce it, Near orders her to be kidnapped
and put under surveillance. Even after he realizes that nothing would come from interrogating her, he keeps her captive for a while, if only to prevent her
from contacting Light while Near prepared his plan to expose Light as Kira once and for all.
According to How to Read 13, Misa falls into despair after learning of Light's death through Matsuda. Misa commits suicide one year later on
February 14, 2011. It is also revealed that the cloaked woman who appears at the end of the manga is not Misa, but simply a follower of Kira.
At the anime's finale, Misa's suicide is neither mentioned nor seen. At the final credits, she is seen standing at the edge of a rooftop, with a sad
face looking at the horizon.
Misa, born on December 25, 1984 in Kyoto, has a height of 152 centimeters (4 feet and 9 inches) and a mass of 36 kilograms (79 pounds).
Misa has a bust size of 76 centimeters, a waist size of 51 centimeters, and a hip size of 75 centimeters. Her blood type is AB.
Misa in the film
Misa, portrayed in the film by Erika Toda, is seen filming a drama show called "Misa-Misa's Happy Sweets," where she states that she is
baking treats to make her enemies fat. After filming of that section ends, she expresses support for Kira on camera. A supervisor states that the section
will be cut due to controversies.
Sakashiro, the assistant director for "Happy Sweets" and Misa's attacker, dies from a heart attack when Jealous writes his name inside of his
Death Note. Jealous's Death Note then falls in front of Misa, who immediately picks it up and finds Rem after reading the notebook's rules.
Misa does not commit suicide in either of the films, as her memory from the incident and the Death Note is erased. She still harbors her
obsession for Light and bids him a happy birthday from her mini shrine of Light. She feels that a piece of her life is somehow missing. In addition, her
appearance is slightly modified in both films: while Misa has blonde hair in the manga and anime, it is brown in the

Shinigami

Shinigami, or Death Gods, are demon-like characters who live in the Shinigami Realm. To increase their life-span, they write the names of
humans in their Death Notes. Because the realm is incredibly dull, this act is usually laughed at and is done in privacy. Shinigami can not be killed by
physical methods, such as stabbing or shooting, and must follow a strict set of rules if they want to live without punishment.

Ryuk (リューク Ryūku?)

Ryuk is the Shinigami who drops a Death Note in the human realm, which is then discovered by
Light. It is revealed that Ryuk did it out of boredom, as there was little to do in the Shinigami realm.
He was also found to have tricked the Shinigami King into receiving a second Death Note that would
be used by Light, as well as access to the human realm. Ryuk has a great fondness for apples, and
will go through a type of withdrawal if he goes for too long without eating them. He says apples are to
Shinigami as cigarettes and liquor are to humans. He seems to enjoy video games as well. He also
states that he is shy around girls. For a time, he is Mikami's personal Shinigami. He is also shown to
be quite incompetent, not knowing some of the basic rules of the Death Note or even a few rules
which Light himself figures out.
In all versions of Death Note, Ryuk kills Light at the end of the storylines.
In the manga, shot by Matsuda after he attempted to write Near's name down on a Death Note scrap,
a severely injured Light desperately begs Ryuk to write the names of the investigation team and the
SPK members in the Death Note; the desperate SPK members shoot Ryuk, not realizing that
gunshots will not kill the shinigami. Ryuk states that he will write Light's name instead. In the 30
seconds before Light's death, Ryuk says it would be too boring to wait for Light to die in prison, then
he says that he enjoyed Light's company because he got rid of his boredom. In the end he repeats
his statements from the beginning of the story regarding the fact that the Death Note's first human
owner will die by the hands of the Shinigami who handed the notebook to them.
In the anime version, Light does not ask for Ryuk's help and manages to escape the warehouse thanks to Mikami's gruesome suicide
distracting everyone. His wounds are too severe for him to escape. And so, Ryuk, who is watching him from atop a pole, wrote Light's name in his Death
Note, while stating the same rules mentioned in the manga. Light then collapses, dying peacefully, with an apparition of L standing over him.
In the film version, after Light is shot by Matsuda, the man begs Ryuk to write names of L's team members. Light laughs and Misa smiles as
Ryuk writes in the Death Note and the panicking SPK members shoot Ryuk; as in the manga, the gunshots do not harm the shinigami. Light's laughter
stops when Ryuk reveals that the only name written in the Death Note was Light's name. The desperate Light yells at Ryuk and jumps through him,
trying in vain to stop his death. Light dies in Soichiro's arms. Ryuk offers L the Death Note. When L refuses to use it, Ryuk moans about L being "boring"
before leaving.
According to How to Read 13, Ryuk is 6 feet tall and his weight is unknown. He likes apples and games and dislikes boredom. Ryuk's love of
games is seen in the first omake eight-panel comic series, originally published in Weekly Shonen Jump Volume 4-5 (double issue) in 2005. In the
omake, Light, dressed in a Santa Claus suit, asks Ryuk what he wants for Christmas, expecting that Ryuk would ask for Light's soul. Ryuk begs Light for
a Game Boy Advance SP. Light asks Ryuk why he celebrates Christmas. Ryuk, defeated, falls to the floor, mumbling about the cold in the human world
[6]
. On another occasion, Ryuk asks Light if he wants to play Mario Golf (changed to just "video games" in the anime), but receives no answer since
Light's bedroom is bugged with cameras [7].

Rem (レム Remu?)

Rem is the Shinigami who first gives Misa her Death Note and Shinigami eyes. Similar to Ryuk, Rem
possesses two Death Notes; she purposely gives a Death Note to Misa. Rem inherited her second
Death Note from Jealous, another Shinigami who died when he saved Misa's life, and thought it only
right to pass it on to Misa. Rem inherits Jealous' love for Misa as well and is prompt to defend Misa
even at the cost of her life. She shows this when she openly shows her lack of trust for Light stating
that if Misa dies before her time, Rem will kill Light. Rem dies after she is tricked by Light into killing L
and Watari to protect Misa, and thus as the rules state passing on her remaining life span to Misa. In
the second movie, Rem, voiced by Shinnosuke "Peter" Ikehata, declares her love for Misa and her
spite for Light moments before her death. While she dies, she burns her note in a blue flame
entrusting that it will never belong to Light, but this is not the case in the manga where Light is able to
retrieve the notebook.

In the manga and anime, Rem tells Misa that she is actually a female Shinigami. In the second live-
action film, this is not mentioned, leaving it ambiguous.
Shidoh (シドウ Shidō?)

Shidoh is a Shinigami whose Death Note is stolen by Ryuk. In fact, Ryuk takes his Note and gives it to Light,
which becomes Higuchi's note and is finally passed on to Mello's gang (more specifically, Mello's subordinate,
Kal Snyder (also known as Jack Neylon)). Shidoh has a great liking for chocolate. Since Shidoh has neglected
to kill people and extend his own lifetime, he probably did not notice that his Note is stolen. As the end of his
lifetime approaches, Shidoh finds Ryuk and learns that Mello is in possession of his Note. Later, he finds Snyder
in the human world. To regain his Note, Shidoh agrees to help Mello's gang against the SPK and Light. After
Light regains the Death Note from Mello, he returns the note to Shidoh for him to stop interfering and return to
the Shinigami world. Although these events occurred over the course of about one volume in the manga, Shidoh
was only in two episodes in the anime version (episode 28 where he was merely introduced in the last few
minutes of the episode, and episode 29, which relays most events of Shidoh's regaining of his Death Note).

Shidoh's name is written in English as "Shidoh" in Death Note: How to Read 13, but written "Sidoh" in both the tankōbon character
introductions page and within the translated English manga.

Teru Mikami (魅上 照 Mikami Teru?) / Kira (fourth)

Teru, in the original manga and anime versions, is chosen as the new Kira by Light. When Light feels
it is dangerous for Misa to keep the Death Note any longer, he instructs her to pass the ownership of the Note to
Mikami. Little is known about Mikami yet except that he appears to be a supporter of Kira, and that he is a
prosecutor. He has also performed an eye trade with Ryuk, earning him the Shinigami Eyes. When Mikami's
decisions reveal that he can follow the thoughts and ideals of the first Kira, as L could, Light wonders if Mikami
will become much-needed help, or a new threat.

Mikami in the original manga

As the story progresses, it is revealed that Mikami has been bullied at school for his sense of
righteousness and therefore wishes to punish those he considers to be evil. Because of this, he
chose to become a prosecutor and worships Kira as God. He is also extremely bright just like Light,
but he seems content to remain a loyal follower in Kira's kingdom, taking the initiative to ask Kira for
direction when he does not receive direction, but also making decisions with Kira's ideals on his own.
Compared to Light, Mikami also seems more psychologically unbalanced, muttering to himself
"delete, delete, delete..." with fanatical glee, and a gleam in his eyes as he writes down names in the
Death Note (in the anime version he jumps and makes slashing movements with his pen as if it were
a sword). At other times, he seems merely intense and calm. Mikami goes beyond Light in his
ambition, wishing to judge the unproductive and those who have committed crimes in their past, even
if they have since reformed, which alarms Light. Light realizes how loyal he is to Kira when Mikami
risks exposure by speaking on Sakura TV, publicly announcing that he will do anything Kira
commands.
Mikami's devotion to Kira leads to his and Light's deaths. When Takada is kidnapped by Mello, Mikami rushes to get his Death Note to write
her name down in it to prevent her from being captured by the investigation team and forced to speak what she knows. Light had already written her
name a minute before Mikami could. This action leads Near's team to his note's hiding place, foiling Light's plan to gather all of his antagonists in a same
place (including Near) before Mikami for him to dispose of them. When they are finally cornered by Near, in the manga, an enraged Mikami starts to
blame Light for putting them into their situation and claiming that Kira is no god, contrary to what he so fervently believed before. Ten days after he is
captured and detained, he dies after going insane. Mikami's death leads Matsuda to believe that Near used the Death Note to control Mikami's actions,
allowing Near to convict Light.
In the anime version of Death Note, Mikami commits suicide with the fountain pen he used to write on the notebook, allowing Light to flee the
warehouse (though it cannot be asserted whether he did so on purpose or out of desperation).
According to How to Read 13, Mikami was born on June 7, 1982 and dies on February 7, 2010. He is 175 centimeters (5 feet and 9 inches)
tall and weighs 56 kilograms (123 pounds). His blood type is A.

Kiyomi Takada (高田 清美 Takada Kiyomi?)

First appearing in Chapter 31 as Light's classmate and girlfriend, Kiyomi is a popular girl also known as
"Miss To-Oh"/"Miss Todai" (short for To-Oh University) or "Seiso Takada" (which means something similar
to "plays hard to get"}}. Light notes that she is not as shallow as her reputation advertises. She makes a
brief appearance by Light's side in Chapter 32, not to reappear in the story until Chapter 85 as an
announcer of NHN (parody of NHK) chosen to be Kira's spokesperson to the world. This is not a decision
made by Light, but by Mikami, who threatens her as Kira, and knows her as someone educated,
intellectual and civilized, and who could send out Kira's words accurately in a calm and straightforward
manner.
Light has to figure out how an ex-girlfriend could become an ally, especially since he disappeared from
everyone he knew in university, and at one point leaves his mother thinking he ran off to live with Misa.
Light believes that she was more intelligent and prouder than Misa. Near, after doing a background
research on the NHN announcer, believes that she is merely studious and not intelligent, as Light's
judgment that she was intelligent was based solely on her grades. Takada is by then famous for being Kira's spokesperson, and Near looked down on
anyone who supported Kira. By Chapter 88, when Light reveals his identity to her as Kira, she states that Light is the only man she has ever respected.
That he is Kira only enthralls her more, especially when he asks her to be his queen in the perfect world they only dreamed of when they were in school
together. Mello and Matt kidnap Takada; Takada's bodyguards shoot Matt while Mello takes Takada. Mello forces Takada to take her clothes off, and
Takada writes Mello's real name in the Death Note. In Chapter 99, Light writes her name into the Death Note as a suicide by fire, after she tells him that
she has killed Mello.
According to How to Read 13, Takada was born on July 12, 1985 and dies on January 26, 2010. She is 5'4" and weighs 97 lbs. Her blood type
is AB.
Takada in the film
In the film, her role is combined with that of Higuchi as the third Kira, and she kills those who stand in her way of a promotion. Also, she never
sees Light because she is blindfolded. Otherwise, her fate is more or less the same, with Light killing her after her declaration of devotion although the
declaration is to Kira and not Light since she never knows Light was Kira. In addition, despite having short hair in the Death Note anime and manga,
Takada's hair is fairly long in the films. She is portrayed by Nana Katase
L's Successors

In the manga and anime, following L's death, two gifted children were assigned to carry on investigation of Kira. Both characters had previously resided
in The Wammy's House, an orphanage founded by Watari in the United Kingdom. Each one's methods differ significantly, but their objective is the same:
to prove themselves as the true successors to L by doing what their predecessor could not; their goal is to expose and defeat Kira once and for all.

Near (ニア Nia?) / Nate River (ネイト・リバー Neito Ribā?) / "N" / (the third) L

Near is the more withdrawn character of the duo, sharing a few behavioral similarities with L. He
initially shows no emotions towards L's death, saying L is a loser in the game of tracking down Kira.
Near later reveals that he and Mello both have great respect for L and want to prove themselves by
succeeding him. He is fairly blunt, and often insults people who support Kira or otherwise stand in his
way, although usually not to their faces.
Starting with no lead or clue, Near successfully identifies the events unfolding during the
capture of Higuchi, and points out the existence of the Death Note to President Hoope on March 5,
2009. With authority from President Hoope, the SPK (Secret Provision for Kira) is established on
March 12, 2009 to investigate Kira. The SPK consists of selected agents from the Federal Bureau of
Investigation and the Central Intelligence Agency, as well as Near.

Like L, Aiber ("A"), Wedy ("w") and Watari ("W"), Near sometimes addresses himself by his initial, "N". Near comes into contact with Mello after he
escapes from the attack conducted by Light and suspects that Light is Kira. From various information he gained from Mello and Aizawa, Near deduces
that the new L, is Kira and finds out Light's real identity as Kira. In response to Mello's help, Near commands one of their mutual contacts to let Mello
know exactly what Aizawa said.

Near in the manga version

Compared to L, Near is somewhat more logical and decisive, as he tends to judge on little evidence and pursues hypothetical hunches. This is
demonstrated when he claims that Light is definitely Kira based on little information. Often using the terms winning or losing', he seems to consider the
investigation as one of his games. By chapter 91, Near successfully deduces that Mikami possesses the Death Note, and all he needed was evidence.
He is also thoroughly convinced that Light is Kira and believes that L failed because he started to doubt that fact. Near's remaining lifespan of 43406 and
true name of Nate River are found out by Mikami when Near and Light meet in chapter 101.
Near is often seen playing with toys, solving puzzles, or stacking small objects such as dice or matches, as well as action figures. He also has
a collection of Lego figures, one for each suspected Kira and other characters, that he uses to illustrate his theories about the case.
Near's birthday is August 24, 1991. His height is 155 centimeters (5 feet and 1 inch), his mass is 40 kilograms (88 pounds), and his blood type
is B.[10]

Mello (メロ Mero?) / Mihael Keehl (ミハエル・ケール Mihaeru Kēru?)

Mello is Near's rival and they both split ways after L's death due to his problems with being second to Near.
Mello decides to find Kira his own way by joining a gang (assumed to be located in Los Angeles, California)
and using less conventional methods, including the kidnapping the Director of the Japanese Police, to find
Kira before Near. Mello also relies on information leaked from an informant in the SPK. Mello likes
chocolate bars, and usually can be seen eating one. The scar on the left side of his face was caused by the
explosion he triggered when cornered by the Investigation Team, which Light ordered to attack Mello's
gang. His real name is Mihael Keehl.

Mello as he appears in the manga

After Mello escapes from the attack led by Light, he meets Near and gives him information on the rules of the Death Note in exchange for his
only photograph left in the world, which, before the exchange, is in Near's hands. Mello tricks Mogi into meeting Near in New York, so in thanks, Near
found a round-about way of letting Mello know what Aizawa told Near. With the same information, Mello also comes to the conclusion that Light is Kira.
chapter 98, he kidnaps Takada (whom Lidner instructs to get on Mello's bike), rides off and handcuffs her to himself. In the next chapter, he
dies when Takada writes his name on a piece of the Death Note, as per Light's instructions.
In the anime version's finale, Near states that "Mello knew this." It is highly possible that he meant Mello knew that Mikami would attempt to kill
Takada and therefore sacrificed his life to inform Near the possibility of a fake Death Note.
Mello's birthday is December 13, 1989 and he dies on January 26, 2010. He is 171 centimeters (5 feet and 7 inches) tall, weighs 52 kilograms
(115 pounds) and his blood type is A.[10]

Matt (マット Matto?) / Mail Jeevas (マイル・ジーヴァス Mairu Jīvasu?)

Matt is a cohort of Mello's, first appearing in Chapter 83. He does some espionage work for him
and is an accomplice in Takada's kidnapping.

Matt in the manga

He follows orders without question, usually smoking a cigarette as he does. Not much else is known about
him, other than he is a former resident of Wammy's orphanage. In Chapter 98, he fires a smoke bomb at
Takada's bodyguards as a distraction to allow Mello to kidnap Takada; in the next chapter he meets face to
face with Takada's bodyguards. Inside the back of his shirt, he hid a gun which he tried to take out until he
is finally shot multiple times by all thirteen of the bodyguards surrounding him. Mello later sees the news of
his death broadcast on TV and apologizes to Matt for his death.
Matt's real name is Mail Jeevas (pronounced like "mile" rather than "male"); he likes video games, but dislikes going out, and Matt was behind
Mello and Near to succeed L.
His birthday is February 1, 1990, and he dies on January 26, 2010. Matt is 168 centimeters (5 feet and 6 inches) tall, weighs 52 kilograms (115
pounds), and his blood type O

Watari (ワタリ?) / Quillsh Wammy (キルシュ・ワイミー Kirushu Waimī?)/ "W "

 Watari is L's assistant who provided logistics to the investigation team. His real name, Quillsh Wammy, as well as his original profession as an
inventor and founder of an orphanage of gifted children, called The Wammy's House, in Winchester in the United Kingdom, is not revealed to readers
until after Watari's death. Watari is also a trained marksman, as demonstrated just before Higuchi's capture. He dies when Rem writes his real name
along with L's in the Death Note, due to trickery caused by Light. In the anime and manga Watari deletes all the data following the Kira case before he
collapses; alternately in the second movie, he, portrayed by Shunji Fujimura, dies in the elevator next to Misa, moments from escorting her to L and
reassessing her guilt of being the Second Kira.
In the beginning of the manga, Watari is shown as a man who simply arranges the meetings with L for his clients. He is also revealed to be the
only one in direct contact with L and the only one who has the ability to speak with him.
According to Death Note: How to Read 13, Watari was originally designed to be man with only a single strip of hair. Illustrator Takeshi Obata
redesigned him to be an old man.

Written rules

Before the series begins, Ryuk writes instructions in English inside his Death Note with the belief that English is the most popular language in the human
world.

• The human whose name is written in this note shall die.

• This note will not take effect unless the writer has the person's face in their mind when writing his/her name. Therefore, people sharing the
same name will not be affected.
• If the cause of death is written within 40 seconds of writing the person's name, it will happen. If the cause of death is not specified, the subject
will simply die of a heart attack.
• After writing the cause of death, the details of the death should be written in the next 6 minutes and 40 seconds.

Fake rules

These rules were written in the Death Note to aid Light in a scheme he came up with to clear his and Misa's names. They were written by Ryuk but are
completely false.

• If the owner of a Death Note does not use the notebook after 13 days time, he/she will die.
• If the Death Note is burned, torn up, or otherwise rendered useless, any people who have touched the Death Note will die.

Other rules

Throughout the series, other rules are revealed, such as "When the same name is written on more than one Death Note, the Note which was first filled in
will take effect, regardless of the time of death." This rule played an important role in the movie, as L used this rule to prevent Kira from killing him. A few
of them match the rules Ryuk wrote inside the Death Note, but most of them are rules that are not known by humans and in some cases, even the
Shinigami. These rules are revealed at the end of certain chapters in the volume format of Death Note and the beginning of the Jump format chapters,
on black pages that contain only the rules.

In the eyecatches of the last chapter/episode (then, the two last eyecatches of the series), the "rules" revealed are not Death Note rules, but the rules of
life itself, as it says:

- All humans will, without exception, eventually die.

- After they die, the place they go is Mu. (Nothingness)

Both rules are central to the chapter/episode, as it remembers that even Light, self-proclaimed "God", will die one day as all humans.

Shinigami and Death Notes

A Shinigami must own at least one Death Note. That Death Note may also be used and owned by a human, but only if the Death Note falls to earth and
is found by a human. The Shinigami have to keep using the Death Note to kill people in order to extend their own lives.

A pact exists between the human owner and the Shinigami who gave the human the Death Note. The pact is such that at the end of the owner's life, the
Shinigami has to write down the owner's name in his own note.

How to kill a Shinigami

Rem is one of the few Death gods to discover how to kill a Shinigami. If a Shinigami uses the Death Note to extend the life of a human they care about,
they will die since they have failed in their eternal mission of shortening human lives. This was stated by Rem when she claims she would kill L for Light;
she initially states that it would make no difference as it was to protect Light, who she did not particularly care for. However, since she then had such an
attachment to Misa (who would inevitably die if L wasn't killed), she would die. Rem reveals this to Misa, who later reveals it to Light and Ryuk.

A Shinigami could end up killing itself as well, if it neglects to continue filling its Note with the names of humans. If it fails to do this then it will cease to
lengthen its lifespan, and eventually run out completely.

A Shinigami may be killed by execution as well, in the Shinigami Realm. If a Shinigami breaks the laws of the Shinigami Realm, it is subject to one of
nine levels of punishment, starting with level eight at the lowest infraction, going up to level one, and then the "Extreme" level. If a Shinigami is subjected
to levels three or above, it will die after it is finished being punished. This is why Shidoh stops himself from telling Mello where the other Death Note is,
after reading this rule in the scrolls he was given for his mission to retrieve his own Death Note.

MIDORI DAYS

Plot

Seiji Sawamura is the toughest student in his high school. His grades aren't very good because he fights more than he studies, but he tends to
protect the weaker students from bullies. A few classmates idolize him; one (Midori Kasugano from a different school) shyly loves him from afar; but most
are just afraid of him, which has made it impossible for him to find a girlfriend — until one morning when he wakes to find a miniature Midori attached to
where his right hand used to be. Over the
next two weeks the pair adapt to this sudden and forced closeness. Much mayhem, and some romance, ensue. Seiji does his best to hide Midori from
other people; she wears a bandage around her head and pretends to be his injured hand. Midori frequently professes her love to Seiji (even wearing a T-
shirt which says "I ♥ Seiji"), but Seiji fails to notice, even as he frequently laments that he'll never find a girl who loves him. The
anime is shounen, with nudity and occasional (and lingering) views of bare breasts. The connection between Midori and Seiji appears to be between her
waist and his wrist, but it is never shown (he always wears long sleeves, and she usually wears a dress) nor explained. Midori's body seems to function
normally; she sleeps, eats, and (it's hinted by Dr. Makinoha) her physiological needs are fulfilled using Seiji's excretory system.

Characters

Seiji Sawamura (沢村 正治 Sawamura Seiji?)

He is a 17-year-old delinquent student who is feared for his fighting skills.
Seiji is not a true gangster, as he fights to protect the weak using his powerful Devil's Right Hand. Fighting
people has a price however: everyone, including girls, fears him. He has gone seventeen years without a
girlfriend, and wants one badly, but every girl he asks has turned him down. One day, when he is
daydreaming about having one, he finds a miniature girl on his right hand. It appears that she is Midori
Kasugano, who has had a hidden crush on him for three years. He feels very excited about it, then realizes
that this is his right hand saying this. So he declines the first girl that ever said she loved him. Much of the
plot involves trying to get other girls and getting rid of Midori.
Seiji Sawamura with Midori Kasugano (his right hand) from the Midori Days anime.
Seiji mostly starts off as rude and monstrous towards Midori, but as time progresses he becomes more
attached to her (pun not intended). He tends to be completely oblivious to the girls who like him, focusing on
those who do not. His redeeming qualities are his determination, his willingness to help innocent people,
and his kindness towards Midori. Seiji is also obsessed with the actor Sho Aikawa.
At the end of the series he finds Midori's diary, when she is off his hand, and reads it. He realizes how much she loves him, and waits for her to approach
him in her real body. She confesses her love for him, without any memory of being on his hand. He tells her that he is in love with her, too. After that, it
becomes obvious that they become a couple.
In the manga, however, Seiji admits that he likes Midori, besides looking at all the girls. And the manga ends with them becoming a couple,
with Seiji buying a new diary for Midori, after letting her read her old one. It should be noted, that she only reads her old diary in a bonus spin-off comic
and that scene may not be considered canon.

Midori Kasugano (as Seiji's right hand)

A 16-year-old-girl who ends up as Seiji's right hand. She has had a crush on him for three years. One day she
wishes to be with him so much that she finds herself, in miniature form, in the place of his right hand. This
causes problems for him, since it is the "Devil's right-hand" he punches with. Midori's real body is in a coma,
and her mother tries everything to bring her back. As soon as Midori finds out that she is on Seiji's hand, she
gathers the courage to admit her love, even though it isn't requited. During the series she continually confesses
her love, and gets jealous of other girls, often trying to compete with them. Over time she begins to like qualities
of all of the characters. Her personality is shy at first, but when she gets to know people she lightens up. During
the course of her days with Seiji, she wakes up in her normal body a few times (during which Seiji's right hand
reappears), but then she feels lonely and returns to a comatose state.

Midori Kasugano (as a separate entity)

Midori appears to be a fun, carefree girl, but as time progresses it is shown that she is actually a little
bit more shy than she lets on (she mostly doesn't show it because she has been spending so much
 time with Seiji). Some emotions she hides well is her jealousy towards the other girls Seiji comes in contact with and her determination to win
his heart. According to the manga, she seems to possess Herculean strength when she is angry or determined. Also, she seems to be able to
drag Seiji around with ease as long as he isn't resisting (i.e. in a sleeping or unconscious state). This might be because she possesed Seiji's
"Devil right-hand", or simply because usual traits of anime girls (getting very violent when emotionally disturbed).

Other Characters

Takako Ayase (綾瀬 貴子 Ayase Takako?)

Class representative for Seiji's class. She originally detested him, but after Seiji saves her from a gang, she
begins to harbour a secret attraction to him. Unfortunately for her, all of her plans to confess her feelings to him
fail, either through Seiji's obliviousness or outside circumstances. Midori, however, recognizes Ayase's attraction,
and always makes covert attempts to sabotage any romance between the two.
Ayase displays little of her emotions and her true self in public, which explains a lot of her difficulty in confessing
to Seiji. Several of the stories show her attempts to learn to be more seductive towards him; for example, she
watches (and takes notes from) a pornography tape that Seiji had misplaced.
A major problem with her schemes is that she doesn't think things through; for example, her attempt to seduce Seiji by
making him dinner backfired when, during the cooking, she made so many attempts to flirt that she forgot to turn the stove off, nearly burning her house
down. Ayase also still harbors a hidden shyness, despite her daring; whenever circumstances warrant that she and Seiji 'clash' more or less romantically
(such as a sextett date where she appeared in disguise, and she and Seiji accidentally end up kissing each other on the mouth), she does not exploit the
situation but ends up slapping Seiji in embarrassment.

Rin Sawamura (沢村 凛 Sawamura Rin?)

Seiji's beautiful older sister. Unfortunately, she's the former leader of a powerful street gang, and her favorite hobby is
beating up her little brother and taking his allowance. She was the one who taught him to fight when he was younger. At the
end of the manga version, Rin leaves for South America to join her boyfriend.
Rin is protective of her brother like any sibling, but she enjoys making him writhe in embarrassment and pain.
Early in the series, she learns about Midori and easily befriends her miniature form, often showing her how to
wear makeup. Throughout the series, Rin is seen not only brawling with Seiji, but repetitively showing off Midori.
Rin also loves her boyfriend but shows that much less than in public.

Kota Shingyoji (真行寺 耕太 Shingyōji Kōta?)

A childhood friend of Midori's and also a fellow first year at Ogurabashi High School. He was always in love with Midori, but over the course of
the series he manages to develop "feelings" for Seiji that make the miniature Midori extremely nervous.
As his character design is rendered as a "cute boy", Kota tends to get picked on a lot by the same type of bullies that Seiji usually fights, and
his attraction to Seiji is a result of several of Seiji's rescues. He has also attracted the attention of a girl's gang led by Miku Nekobe, who just loves
seeing the cute-looking Kota in a dress. He eventually learns about the miniature Midori and becomes one of Seiji's closest confidants.
His crush for Seiji is much more apparent in the manga. He even try, a one occasion, to separate Midori and Seiji by posing as cute girl (which
Seiji is attracted to), believing that do so will makes Midori to return to her former self. When Seiji finds this out, he becomes genuinely angry, yelling to
Kouta to "leave them alone". He cried subsconsiously afterwards.

Osamu Miyahara (宮原 オサム Miyahara Osamu?)

A year-younger student at Seiji's school and kouhei or underclassman of Seiji. He idolizes Seiji for his fighting
skills, but seemingly can not keep himself out of trouble, constantly getting caught by rival gangs and eventually
having to be saved by Seiji.
Miyahara is very comedic and seems to not worry about what other people think of him. He looks up to Seiji as a
best friend and idol. Behind Seiji's back however, he does talk about Seiji poorly (not on purpose but just because
it slips out). In the manga Miyahara has a date and starts talking about Seiji (who is in the bushes). Just like Seiji,
he is very obsessed with an actor called Sho Aikawa. In the manga, he develops a crush on Lucy Winladd and
often enlists Seiji's help in dating her.

Shuichi Takamizawa (高見沢 修一 Takamizawa Shūichi?)

A classmate of Sawamura's and a doll otaku. He always carries around a doll of a fictional anime character named Ultra-
Marin, and seems to have a creepy obsession with the character. He is also good at making clothes for dolls, a talent which
means an expanded wardrobe for the miniature Midori when he finds out Seiji's secret. He's also good at making dolls, and
near the end of the manga, is revealed to be determined to become professional doll maker, inspired by Midori.
Takamizawa is a go-getter and is not afraid to make a fool of himself to get what he needs. For a while he
obsesses about seeing Seiji's "hand puppet" (Midori), and when he finally does see he can't stop thinking about
her. Takamizawa often doesn't know when to stop with his obsessions, and will attempt some of the most
ridiculous things to be or have fun with Midori (such as a Midori site which Seiji and Midori find out about, and
Midori freaks out when she finds a picture of herself in a bathing suit on the site).

Shiori Tsukishima (月島 栞 Tsukishima Shiori?)

A 10-year-old neighbor of Seiji who also has a crush on him. She tries a variety of ways to gain his attention, even asking
Rin the kind of woman Seiji likes, but he never takes her advances seriously, still treating her like a child.
Like most of the characters in this series, Shiori is very obsessed with Seiji, but because of her age Seiji does not
take her seriously. This is shown in the chapter/episode where Rin helps Shiori by dressing her up in several
different sexy (according to Rin) outfits which only serve to irritate Seiji. Near the beginning of the series, Shiori
 states that her real mother is dead. Shiori has troubles with her adopted mom, and when her mother finds her after looking around the city,
Shiori tells her off for being an adopted mom and all she wants "is to live alone with dad!". She finishes by saying "I've only got one mom and
it's not you!" Her stepmother slaps her and cries about Shiori's attitude. After that, it is shown over the next week they patch up a good
relationship and Shiori does accept her stepmother.

Haruka Kasugano (春日野 遥 Kasugano Haruka?)

Midori's mother, who is worried about her. Haruka is willing to do anything to cure Midori of her illness.
She is very sad about Midori's coma and tries several times to bring her back. The doctor she confers to tells her she does not want to come
back, so most of what she does is spend time watching Midori's body and keeping anyone from hurting her. Her husband is mentioned several times, but
never seen.

HELL TEACHER NUBE

Hell Teacher Nūbē (地獄先生ぬ～べ～ Jigoku Sensei Nūbē?) is a horror-comedy manga created by the collaborative efforts of writer Shō
Makura (真倉翔?) and artist Takeshi Okano in Shueisha's manga anthology book Weekly Shonen Jump. The series ran for 276 chapters (not including
the two pilot chapters where Nūbē was known as Nubo (ぬ～ぼ～ Nūbō)) from Issue 38, 1993 through Issue 24, 1999. A 48-episode anime series based
on the manga was created by Toei Animation, and aired from 1996-1997 on Animax and TV Asahi. The anime resulted in three movies and three OAV
episodes.
The series follows Meisuke Nueno (鵺野鳴介 Nueno Meisuke?), aka Nūbē (ぬ～べ～?), the homeroom teacher for Class 5-3 at Dōmori Elementary (童
守小学校 Dōmori Shōgakkō?). More than a teacher, however, he is a skilled exorcist, protecting the town of Dōmori from supernatural threats with
strength borrowed from a powerful demon sealed in his left hand - a technique he calls the Demon's Hand (鬼の手 Oni no Te?).

Plot

The basic formula for the manga chapters and anime episodes is as follows: what seems like a normal day at Dōmori Elementary is disrupted by some
weird phenomenon, usually targeting one of Nūbē's own students. Nūbē is forced into action, most often using the power of the Demon's Hand to assist
in solving the problem, but occasionally the solution lies either in another of his spiritual weapons, or somehow reasoning with or appeasing the
threatening entity. By the end, things always seem to get back to normal, with Nūbē and his students having learned something from the experience.
Most of the series retains this episodic formula, forgoing an over-arching storyline in favor of more character-driven action, although there are several
recurring antagonists throughout, as well as some longer story arcs towards the end of the series.

Characters

The characters in Hell Teacher Nūbē can be divided into several distinct groups, each one separate from the others, yet consistently interacting with the
others.
• The first group is the staff of Dōmori Elementary, made up of the teachers and other adults (mostly) who assist in the education and welfare of the
students. These include Nūbē, his "perverted obsession" Ritsuko Takahashi, and other teachers of the school, as well as the principal.

5th Grade Teachers

Meisuke Nueno (Nueno Meisuke, 鵺野鳴介), commonly known as Nūbē (ぬ～べ～)

Is a 25-year old man with two jobs. First off, he's a powerful exorcist who deals with the affairs between humans and yōkai in his adopted
home in Doumori. Second, and just as importantly, he's the teacher of class 5-3 of Doumori Elementary, both guiding and protecting them from the
spiritual encounters they face. Both jobs are equal and important to him in their own ways: he chooses to protect the innocent and punish the wicked,
both human and yōkai, focusing primarily on those still young and innocent enough to have the need of a guardian.
Nūbē is trained as an exorcist to have many means of facing his yōkai encounters. His most powerful of these tools, though, is the
Oni no Te (鬼の手), the result with a battle with a powerful oni, leaving him forced to seal its power within the stump where his left hand should be. This
grotesque appendage, usually sealed within a black glove on his left hand, allows him to use his own spiritual energies combined with the powers of the
oni both to attack evil opponents and for other means such as communicating with other yōkai. While Nūbē typically is able to control the power, he is
usually only able to use a fraction of its true powers and abilities, for the oni is so powerful Nube him self can't control it.The oni is actually being held by
Nube's Sensei, who died being consumed by the oni when trying to save nube. This Nube's teacher is also a powerful exorcist and the reason Nube
want to became a teacher.
Other than the Oni no Te, Nūbē uses other spiritual artifacts for his battles. The Sutra of the White Robed Goddess (白衣観音経
Byaku E Kanon Kyou), a white paper-like sutra, is used by Nūbē to surround and seal certain yōkai phenomenon to either hold them down or exorcise
them without the need of the Oni no Te. He also possesses a crystal ball which can make certain spirits and phenomenon visible to the human eye and a
set of prayer beads he can attack with or use as part of his summonings. He also eventually creates his own kudagitsune, a product of another
kudagitsune he borrows from itako-girl Izuna and his Oni no Te, and has mastered several spiritual techniques such as the "youshin jutsu" (a technique
where he can create a separate spiritual body that moves about by itself whenever he is asleep or meditating) and the separation of his physical body
and spirit in order to transcend into other realms.
Personalitywise, Nūbē can be both a great, fun-loving guy or a serious, focused man dependent on what you see him for. On
matters of either spiritual or educational importance, he is a serious individual focused on doing the job that needs to be done. Not only does this allow
him to conquer one yōkai crisis after another, but it also allows him to be a bit obsessive towards making sure his students learn what they need to and
don't fool around or forget anything. (a problem considering the underachieving attributes of several of his male students) Outside his work, though,
Nūbē is a fun, almost happy-go-lucky guy with too many faults to his name. He is always chasing after beautiful women (especially the more buxom
ones), spending the little money he does have on pachinko and consistently starving his way to payday (while living off whatever they serve in school or
the freebies he can get or finding a way to get rich quick...even if it means using the Oni no Te to do so), and always trying to avoid the scorns or
troubles that his rivals throw his way. While he doesn't like living the teacher's life a good chunk of the time, Nūbē does find that it does has its rewards.

Ritsuko Takahashi (Ritsuko-sensei) (Takahashi Ritsuko, 高橋律子)

Head teacher of class 5-2 of Doumori Elementary, is considered the madonna (term for "beautiful unmarried woman") of the school. She is
very serious and dedicated to her job as a teacher, but at the same time is very edgy when it comes to the unknown, in particular the spirits and yōkai
the school constantly encounters. Unfortunately, her nature is a double-edged blade for Nūbē: while her beautiful exterior makes him desire her and all
the things he wants to do to her, her oversensitive nature towards the supernatural makes him tease her all the time about it...and face her wrath as a
result.
At the start of the series, Ritsuko-sensei is probably the last person Nūbē would ever end up with in a relationship. Every time he tried to win
her heart, she would knock him away due to being too scared of his spiritual obsessions. But as the series progresses, she slowly gains the courage to
face the yōkai menaces...and as a result, slowly realizes how Nūbē is helping all those in need...and even begins to appreciate what he does both for
students and all those he assists. But while her feelings slowly makes her try to become closer to the male teacher, it ends up attracting scorn from
Yukime, the yuki-onna who sees herself as the one who is the teacher's true love. The love triangle between the two teachers and the spirit girl becomes
a key theme in the later part of the manga, as Nūbē is forced to decide between feelings and emotions and figure out which he wants to spend his life
with.

Ishikawa-sensei (石川先生)

I s a teacher found alongside the 5th Grade teachers, most likely the gym teacher for that grade. Consistently running around in a jumpsuit and
with his messy hair, beard and glasses, he occasionally assists in the issuance of advice and known spiritual information out of what he has known and
experienced. However, he is also somewhat of a bad influence himself, known for keeping cards for various porn shops in his jumpsuit. (as Nūbē
accidentally discovers one time when they fall out of a borrowed suit) Although it is unknown whether or not he really is a 5th Grade teacher, Ishikawa-
sensei is commonly seen alongside the 5th Grade teachers, thus his inclusion here. He also has a tendency of avoiding showers up to more than a
month, and has a fetish for wearing women's undergarment, which turned out working against Nube when Minki, the sister of the Oni no Te (Baki) comes
from hell to reclaim them.

Ootsuki-sensei (大月先生)

The hot-blooded head of class 5-1 of Doumori Elementary, is another exorcist/teacher combination. However, unlike Nūbē, he believes that all
phenomenon are a result of plasma, not spiritual power. Unfortunately, these beliefs lead to the two teachers consistently feuding over what is the true
nature of the many problems that persist in and around the school; while the students in both classes also face off due to the loyalties to their home-
teacher's beliefs. Using his own scientific knowhow and research, he uses several devices and inventions that allow him to research and take out any of
these threats. (sort of similar to the scientific research and inventions done in Ghostbusters). Although Ootsuki-sensei appears a couple prominent times
early on, he merely fades into the background as the manga goes on.

The Principal

The administrative leader of the elementary school, the principal consistently tries to do a good job in keeping his school running smoothly and
without error even with all of the crazy spiritual phenomenon going on under his watch. While he may or may not have known that Nūbē was both an
exorcist and a teacher when he started working at this school, he soon prides it as a valuable asset to assisting in his staff.

The Vice-Principal

Not too much is known about this flat-topped, glasses wearing administrative outside being an associate alongside the Principal in running
Doumori Elementary and consistently being in the background along with his boss and the other teachers and staff of the school.

Ootsuki-sensei (大月先生)

One of the newer teachers at Doumori Elementary, is the head of the first-grade class of 1-3. However, opposed to Nūbē's exorcisms, her
interests and studies are in the occult and witchcraft, having studied in a German university and across Europe to further her own knowledge and skills
in such. (although she looks like a little girl, she's actually 28 years old, several years older than the more experienced Nūbē) Unfortunately, Nūbē does
not like her obsession with the evil arts and yells at her from doing them. Unfortunately, it doesn't help that her 1st Grade classroom is two floors down
from his 5th Grade class, forcing him to occasionally feel the influence of her magic unknowingly. (until he comes down and puts a stop to her nonsense)
Some of her various magic skills include various curses, summonings, transformations, voodoo dolls and even flying on her own little broomstick. (not to
mention a flat-top hat that rises into a witches hat whenever she does her magic)
When Kuroi-sensei first arrives at the school, she is immediately smitten by her male staff-mate and decides to use her magic to try and win
him over. (including sealing his Oni no Te inside a cute hand-made glove) But after consistently being yelled at by Nūbē, not to mention possibly seeing
both Ritsuko-sensei and Yukime go after him, she decides to summon her own demonic love slave in the form of the "Western Devil" Beelzebub.

• The second is the student body of Dōmori Elementary, each of whom brings a different personality and set of experiences brought both to their
education and experiences with the supernatural. Most of these characters are the students of Nūbē's class 5-3, but also includes other students in
other classes, both in the fifth and other grades. (such as Hiroshi's soccer teammates and Makoto's "girlfriend", Ai Shinozaki)

Class 5-3
Hiroshi Tateno (Tateno Hiroshi 立野広)

I is the main male student character in the series and one of Nūbē's most active supporters. A transfer student who arrives in Doumori
Elementary at the start of the manga, he is at first suspicious of his teacher's exorcism claims, but eventually comes around due to being saved from one
spiritual problem after another. Typical of many young shonen leads in manga and anime, he is the courageous, heroic male of the class who is always
standing up to fight against any obstacle, whether they be human or yōkai or whether it makes sense or not. His favorite past-time is playing soccer for
the school. Unfortunately, Hiroshi's downside is his own stupidity: he has some of the worst grades in Nūbē's class and once even set a record for
having a hundred 0s in a row on his tests! This lack of brains both causes him to have outlandish comments on simple ideas and leads him to many of
his yōkai problems. He once even wet his pants after a ghost scared him in a restroom. His character's name is a tribute to the main male lead of
Dokonjyou Gaeru, a classic 70s Weekly Shonen Jump series Shou and Okano used as an influence for "Nūbē".

Kyōko Inaba (Inaba Kyōko 稲葉郷子

The fiery-haired, fiery tempered female of Nūbē's class,) is the student that trusts and even possibly likes the teacher the most. Her first
encounter with him actually occurred several years earlier, when Nūbē (then a college student) saved Kyōko (then a little girl) from an inari spirit. (though
it is suggested they may have met earlier in a past life) She is seen as one of the most caring characters, usually looking after the welfare of Nūbē and
the rest of the class and showing an emotional attachment towards them whenever something happens to one she cares about. But while Kyōko
appears cute and innocent at first, she can possess a violent temper that can drive her friends and even her teacher a tad crazy (though it does tone
down later on). When Hiroshi joins the class, she can't stand the annoying boy, but slowly does develop hidden romantic feelings towards him as the
series goes on. On the other hand, she consistently has a love/hate rivalry with the closest to a best friend that she has, Miki Hosokawa, usually over
physical matters such as her flat chest, big butt, and Sailor Moon-esque pigtails. Her name is an homage to the female lead of Dokonjyou Gaeru.
(where, not coincidentally, this Kyōko is also in love with a Hiroshi)

Miki Hosokawa (Hosokawa Miki 細川美樹)

Possibly the greatest troublemaker in Nūbē's class, is known best for her big mouth, her vast spiritual knowledge...and her big bust! At the
start, Miki was a mere tattletale, consistently chatting on and on about various rumors and such, especially if Nūbē was involved. But after a near-fatal
encounter with a tattletale yōkai, she begins to tone down her talking and starts focusing on more spiritual matters. Miki begins to do consistent research
on various spirit and yōkai manners, to the point where even her teacher came to her for things he may not know! While most of this is merely
knowledge, she consistently looks for supernatural means to assist her, either for her rumor mill or to get rich quick. One of her most important spiritual
developments was gaining the ability to become a rokurokubi, where she can spiritually stretch her head and neck to go undercover to anywhere she
chooses. Extremely vain about her physicality, Miki prides in her growing buxom figure (she grows from a B-cup to an F-cup over the course of the
series) and flaunts it whenever she can. Her name is an homage to a main heroine in another of the main Nūbē influences: Go Nagai's classic horror
series Devilman.

Katsuya Kimura (Kimura Katsuya 木村克也)

The "juvenile delinquent" of the class acts much worse than he really is towards Nūbē and his other classmates. At the start of the series,
Katsuya is consistently portrayed as a loner, either due to being misunderstood by his classmates, his own cowardice or from his delinquent behaviors
such as smoking or stealing charity for a good cause. But as the series goes on, he slowly comes to grips with himself and joins in with Nūbē and his
friends where he is one of the main members of the class. Katsuya is a huge pervert towards sexy females, an attribute that gets him into a huge
idolation of Miki. (though she sees treats him like her dog) He also finds himself consistently with the worst grades in class alongside both Hiroshi and
Makoto. But while he is a coward and a bad seed, he is amazingly also a loving, caring and protective big brother towards his little sister, Manami.

Makoto Kurita (Kurita Makoto 栗田まこと)

While the same age as all of his classmates, is perhaps the youngest in heart and spirit of class 5-3. At the start of the series, this bowl-haired
boy finds himself the most emotional of the students, running and screaming away from any scary phenomenon. But with Nūbē's guidance and the
assistance of his friends, he slowly learns to face his fears and grow up in certain ways. One of Makoto's greatest strengths is his kind and friendly
nature, allowing him to try and remain cheerful in the face of both human and yōkai threats. However, he remains the most childlike of Nūbē's students,
both in stature (though he is small, he is constantly hoping for the day he will "grow up") and his love of kiddy past-times like keeping pets or watching
sentai series. (His most favorite being Chou Kiken Sentai Kakukaku Ranger which is a slight parody in name of the series Ninja Sentai Kaku Ranger,
but translates as Extremely Dangerous Sentai Nuclear Ranger) While he also receives horrible grades like Hiroshi and Katsuya, he actually puts in effort
to try and improve himself in any way possible. His name and the model for his character design are both inspired from the Kazuo Umezu manga series
Makotochan.

Akira Yamaguchi (Yamaguchi Akira 山口晶)

One of the smartest students in Nūbē's class, is also the one that goes through a slight character change as the series goes on. At the start of
the series, Akira is merely a bright, but slightly unlucky boy who tries his best but can never achieve what he's capable of. The source of this bad luck
was a near-death experience where he went to the Sanzu River, where a yōkai consistently stops anyone that tries to complete their tasks. After Nūbē
exorcises this spirit, Akira finds a bit more luck, but remains a more generic character. But later in the series, Akira's modest personality changes towards
that of being the "mad scientist" of the class, consistently using technology to bridge the gap between humans and yōkai and showing off in order to do
so. Originally, Akira was paired alongside Hiroshi, Kyoko, Makoto and Miki as part of the main set of students whom allies with Nūbē. But because of
Akira's earlier "plain" personality, he fell out of favor over more dynamic characters like Katsuya. Regardless, he does remain a semi-major character
throughout the whole manga run. Like Miki, Akira's name is based off the main male lead in Go Nagai's Devilman.

Shuichi Shirato (Shirato Shuichi 白戸秀一)

The richest and most snobbish member of Nūbē's class is the son of the owners of one of the finest restaurants in Doumori. Because of this,
this "classy" boy consistently taunts Nūbē's personal tastes, both in cuisine and in his lack of material possessions. But while there are many times the
teacher can't stand his arrogant attitude, Nūbē consistently finds a way to help him whenever he finds himself caught in a yōkai situation. In a slight
deviation from his teacher and classmates, Shuichi finds interest in more scientific means of the supernatural such as aliens and cryptozoology, trying to
show there are things other than yōkai out there, but consistently finding Nūbē back to assist him.

Masaru Kaneda (Kaneda Masaru 金田勝)

Is the self-proclaimed "class bully" of 5-3, consistently trying to beat up on others weaker than him (such as Makoto) and finding dissidence
with anyone that stands in his way. But two things consistently end up foiling his schemes: Hiroshi (who stands up for those Kaneda bullies) and the
yōkai whom haunt him whenever he ends up disturbing one. His biggest gripe is when his name is mispronounced as "Kintama Saru", which is
Japanese for "testicle monkey". Though he mostly works alone, he occasionally has two lackeys in the class that he bosses around.

Noriko Nakajima (Nakajima Noriko 中島法子)

Is the sweet, cute, and possibly most "normal" girl in class 5-3 compared to some of her classmates. Unlike the others, Noriko never tries to
look for trouble, but trouble constantly does seem to find her. Originally a "background character" early on (mostly found alongside her best friend
Shizuka), "Noro-chan" slowly becomes one of the more prominent members of the class and a consistent target for spiritual activity. Miki in particular has
a beef against her: with her cute face, shoulder-length pink hair and the second-largest bust in the class, the buxom blonde always gets upset whenever
Noriko steals the spotlight away from her (consistently saying Noro-chan no kuse ni!!, or "That Noro-chan!") While she does seem docile and quiet,
Noriko does occasionally unleash a wilder and more playful side (but it takes certain yōkai phenomenon to do so). She's also known as a bookworm and
a rather clever tactician; once she was the key to resolve a very creepy case that involved the ghost of the school library and a series of kidnappings
related to the ghost's favorite book, which incidentally was the same as Noriko's.

Shizuka Kikuchi (Kikuchi Shizuka 菊地静)

Another of the more prominent "background characters", was actually introduced as a one-joke character. When Nūbē does a class on the
Ichimatsu Doll, he ends up using a cute girl with long black hair (Shizuka) as part of a joke to get rid of a possession. Outside this early joke, this female
typically is found in the background, either doing things alongside the rest of the class or hanging out usually with her best friend Noriko. But while she
seems merely innocent in the background, a later chapter reveals that it allows her to easily tattle on her classmates to Nūbē, due to a strong sense of
justice that she holds that she puts above her friends. (And nearly gets her in trouble with a dangerous team of yōkai!)

Ayumi Kinoshita (Kinoshita Ayumi 木下あゆみ)

A quiet, studious member of class 5-3 is another student who has a spiritual ability, but one that actually helps her in more ways than one.
Typically, Ayumi is a sickly, bed ridden girl that would possibly have never had the chance to get an education. Yet when she was younger, Nūbē (who
was still in college) taught her the "youshin jutsu", an ability that allows her to separate her spiritual body from her physical one, making her seem that
she can walk and live like a normal person. Using this, Ayumi was able to partake in an education at Doumori Elementary and even joined Nūbē's class
when she hit 5th grade. Ayumi's favorite past-time is reading, spending all her time in class or even outside reading books without taking too much notice
of the fun and activities of her classmates. (though there are some occasions where she joins in with her friends and classmates to their activities) While
Ayumi usually uses her youshin abilities to try to live a normal life as a schoolgirl, she can also use it to transform her physical form or her clothing to
something more adventurous, which came in handy when Hiroshi, Kyoko and the others nearly got in trouble. Furthermore, she may even have a small
crush on Kaneda! (due to a possible literary awakening due to her influence)

Other Classmates of Note

• "The Big Kid": A fat, thick-lipped male classmate seen prominent in the first "Nubo" pilot and in early chapters of the manga.
• "The Dead Kid": In chapter 61, there is a strange being appearing in class pictures. Nūbē reveals it to be someone who was supposed to be in the
class, but died in a car accident before school started that year.
• Matsui-san (松井さん): A female classmate that seems to have the facial attributes and body of a male. Usually seen merely as a gag character.
• Yuka Kobayashi (Kobayashi Yuka 小林由香): A transfer student who looks like a boy, but is actually a girl. When she first joins the class, she is a
huge troublemaker, but mostly because she was possessed by a trouble-causing yōkai. After which, she becomes another background classmate.
• Minki: An oni female who joins the class towards the end of the series, she is the youngest sister of a team of Oni siblings. (of which Nube's Oni no
Te is her "big brother")

Other Students

Ai Shinozaki (Shinozaki Ai, 篠崎愛)

Considered one of the most talented students at Doumori Elementary, is a 6th grader in class 6-5, one year ahead of Nube's class. A member
of the Shinozaki zaibatsu, she's a beautiful girl who looks older than she really is (she's tall, slender and with a big bust that rivals Miki's and Ritsuko-
sensei's), has mastery of several musical instruments including the violin and piano (in the anime, her episode happens right after she wins a violin
contest), as well as fluency of three foreign languages other than Japanese. However, under this perfect exterior, this spectical-wearing female has
many problems of her own.
Ai grows tired of consistently practicing under the pressure of her family in order to succeed, detests to be treated as a goddess by others who
only think of her as someone who'll make them look good for being her friends, and also has problems in occasionally shoplifting to get things without
paying for them (according to her, she developed this habit to reassure herself that she was a normal person with flaws). It is these problems that get her
in problems with the occasional yōkai, who illuminate her own problems and end up exposing her to Nūbē and the right path.
In this case, Ai was possessed by a demon that manifested itself as tell-tale eyes that would appear on her hand and later on her whole body,
and didn't disappear until she openly confessed to Nube and Makoto, until then her only friend, that she was a shoplifter and the reason why she stole
things.
 While Ai seems to hold a lonely life, she somehow has befriended Makoto and may feel something more for him, though he doesn't really
notice any romantic feelings and rather use her to sing the theme songs of his favorite sentai shows. Ai's name is connected to a series of horror films
involving another set of children named "Ai and Makoto" (explaining possibly why she has connections towards the shrimpy student of Nūbē's).

• The third are the various yōkai Nūbē and the citizens of Dōmori encounter. Many of these spirits appear once and never appear again after their
chapter of focus. Others show up at least that one time, and then cameo here and there during certain chapters where various spirits reappear for
the better or worse of Nūbē and the others. And still others, such as the yōko Tamamo and the yuki-onna Yukime, end up becoming intertwined in
the events of Doumori, either assisting or tormenting Nūbē as they feel at that moment!

Oni

The Oni within Nūbē are extremely powerful demon creature that literally come from the depths of hell to cause havoc and destruction upon
our world. Unlike many oni depictions within popular Japanese culture, these oni are a hybrid combination of the classic horned loin-cloth being and
Western devil beasts with claws, horns and and immense strength and demonic powers. All of the oni, particularly the Oni no Te and its connections, are
beings from an eight-tiered hell, where various devils and demonic beings become more powerful the deeper you head. The demon trio come from the
6th tier of this hell, Shonetsu (焦熱, which translates into "scorching heat", but in the combination 焦熱地獄, shonetsu jigoku, can stand for Inferno or
Burning Hell). Each one has climbed their way through the upper levels of hell until they have reached a passage into the human world: near a spinning
sphere in the playground of Doumori Elementary.

Oni no Te (Baki)

The first and possibly most powerful of the oni we encounter, this is the being living as Nūbē's left hand from the beginning of the series.
Sealed under a black glove, this being is unleashed whenever the teacher needs it, allowing for him to access a greater extent of his spiritual power
through this demonic limb. While the beast appears to be under Nūbē's control at first, the Oni slowly starts having a life of its own and unleashing its
tremendous full power. And while the teacher is himself an exorcist, he cannot control the oni on his own, which would lead to him being controlled and
devoured. The key to this control lies inside the oni itself, in the spirit of his former teacher Minako-sensei, locked away within the demon after her tragic
sacrifice to save her former student. She uses her own spiritual power to hold back the Oni, allowing for Nube to access its power without becoming
consumed by it. Unfortunately, because she is needed to keep the beast at bay, Nūbē is constantly looking for a twofold way to both finally control the
Oni once and for all and free his former teacher from her imprisonment inside the creature that has become his left hand. Later in the series, we discover
that he is the eldest (and most dim-witted) brother of a trio of oni siblings, but still extremely powerful if left to his own devices.

Zekki

The middle brother of the Oni trio, Zekki (絶鬼) is the most cruel and heartless beings Nūbē and his allies face. Although he appears like a
young teenage male, he is an extremely powerful and dangerous being who takes pleasure in killing anyone who gets in his way: male or female, young
or old. His greatest peculiarity is the usage of musical terms (and even a baton) to describe the carnage and destruction he creates.
Zekki comes to the human world after three years of climbing in search of the man who now possesses his brother Baki: the exorcist-teacher
Nūbē. After easily thrashing Izuna, he makes easy work of Nūbē, Yukime and Tamamo in order to see the hidden 'power' the teacher supposedly used to
seal Baki in his hand. Once he realized that Nūbē did not seal his brother on his own, relying instead on Minako's control from inside the oni, he decides
to stay his hand no longer. The battles between the trio and Zekki grew more desperate, with Nūbē on the losing side despite the help of a true demon-
sealing bracelet. After sacrifices made by Nūbē's students, Yukime and Tamamo, Nūbē voluntarily unsealed the oni inside his hand and was apparently
consumed by Baki. He retained his human heart, however, and after defeating Zekki was revived by the mermaid Hayame.

Minki (眠鬼)

Is the youngest, but just as destructive (and annoying) female sibling of the oni family. Although she possesses similar power and abilities to
her older brothers Baki and Zekki, the source of her (and possibly all the oni) power comes from a pair of panties that she wears. (according to legend,
most of an oni's spiritual power comes from their underwear or loincloth) When she accidentally loses her panties in the human world, she is forced to
cross over to get them back, even if it means making everyone at Doumori Elementary nude in the process. Although she sort of gets them back (they
were being worn by the perverted Ishikawa-sensei), Nūbē seizes them and, in a strange move, makes the Oni-girl join his class. His belief was that
outside her panty-powers, Minki was a quiet, nice girl who needed to learn a few things. Although she seemed rather strange at first, Minki showed a
protective, kinder side than she initially portrayed, even protecting her classmates just as Nūbē does. But at the moment she got her panties back, Minki
regained her full, demonic power and attitude, fighting against her teacher and particularly showing hatred for the males of the class. But at the climax of
her rampage, just as she prepared to destroy her teacher and school, her panties fell off her body once again, making her drop her attack and nearly
destroying her in the process. Nūbē saves her, however, believing her to be different from the other Oni and choosing to give her a second chance in the
human world.
After nearly destroying the school and Nūbē, Minki becomes both a valuable student and a key ally in his battle to protect his students and
fight against intruding enemies and yōkai. Although she does not contain all of her Oni power as she did with her panties, she does have enough to
occasionally play naughty tricks on her friends and classmates. (she slowly does seem to accept them as friends, but has a hard time doing so due to
her own circumstances) She is also able to assist her teacher in a valuable way: as he faces a couple enemies that force the Oni no Te away from him,
Minki is able to fuse with Nūbē to allow for her Oni power to be used by him. A key difference between her and Baki's arrangement, though, is that the
teacher is able to use a fuller extent of Minki's power due to theirs being a conscious partnership. Outside of battle, Minki not only sees Nūbē as her
teacher, but her "big brother" as well, as her 'real' big brother is sealed in his hand. This leads to some rather awkward situations between the meaning
of being a human sibling to being an Oni sibling.
As a final note: Minki is the only member of the Oni siblings that does not have a full demonic form. Although she can exhibit oni appearance
such as her scantly clad appearance and demonic hands and feet, this form takes more of a human appearance than either Zekki or Baki. (possibly
showing an influence from the American comic series Witchblade) Just as peculiarly, two horn-like protrusions that allow for the formation of her long
pigtails remain visible both in "human" and "Oni" forms.
Other Oni

Although the Oni trio of Baki, Zekki and Minki are the main Oni in the series, other oni (and likewise devils) either inhabit or are connected to the
world of "Hell Teacher Nūbē":

• Zenki (前鬼) and Kōki (後鬼): Two oni that at one time threatened the world, until the great exorcist En no Gyoja took both of them down with the
assistance of the "Gyokirin".

• Namahage (なまはげ): Known in folklore of the Akita province as demon who appears on New Years Eve to punish bad children, this oni with a
killer instinct and a sense of justice came to the human world hundreds of years ago, choosing to stay due to his like of human love and emotion.
But when he senses an evil one, particularly on New Years Eve, he goes forth to strike them down without any remorse. Normally, though,
Namahage goes under the disguise of Momotarō Oga (Oga Momotarō 男鹿桃太郎), a slightly incompetent news reporter and self proclaimed
"evangelist of love and justice".
• Beelzebub (ベベルブブ): Similar to the oni, this winged black "devil" is summoned to the human world by witch/teacher Mami for a personal
manservant/lover. Although he exhibits great power, he is extremely incompetent and never seems to do exactly what his boss wants (though he's
been rejected by women for over eight-hundred years).

Kitsune/Yōko

Long a well known yōkai, the kitsune are a group of animal spirits usually connected with foxes. While any fox is a kitsune, there are special
foxes, known as yōko whom are some of the most spiritually powerful beings in existence. Yōko are known to have many different abilities at their
disposal, such as the creation and manipulation of illusions and fire, as well as the ability to use a special "transformation jutsu" that can allow them to
blend in with humans, usually to cause chaos and mischief within our world. At the same time, the kitsune and yōko are also connected with inari, local
harvest festivals in Japan upon which play an integral role within.

Tamamo (玉藻), also known as Kyōsuke Tamamo (Tamamo Kyōsuke 玉藻京介)

In his human form, is the most important of the yōko in the manga series, a powerful being who is both Nūbē's ally and ultimate rival. First
arriving at Doumori Elementary as a bishonenous male teacher who wins the hearts and minds of his students and fellow staff, his true intent was to
seize the skull of Nūbē's student Hiroshi Tateno which is his 'perfect skull' for transforming into a human. When Nūbē was forced to come to Hiroshi's
rescue, the two got into an intense battle upon which the true form of the golden fox-creature was revealed and nearly defeated Nūbē. Due to Hiroshi's
courage, however, Tamamo was defeated, though not for good. He returned soon after, intrigued by Nūbē and how his powers was amplified when
fighting for his students. He learns that it is the power of the human heart, and not understanding it, tries to know more by creating situations that force
Nūbē to fight or via simple observation. Tamamo also abandoned his teacher's disguise to work as a doctor in Doumori Hospital, where his 400 years of
knowledge accumulated to cause misery went into healing others, which he thought would be a good way to learn more about humanity.
Having existed and trained his spiritual powers for centuries, Tamamo has become adept in many spiritual powers and abilities that
he holds even without perfecting his "transformation jutsu". He is a master of "illusion jutsu", able to manipulate anyone to see whatever he portrays as
long as there is motion. (even to the extent of creating clones of himself off the display of video game screens) Offensively, he uses a "yōko foxfire jutsu",
allowing him to create and control a powerful fire-based attack which he can increase and power and intensity to burn his opponents. He can also
handle certain other spiritual abilities like Nube's such as assisting in controlling spiritual energy and even the "youshin jutsu". When not using spiritual
power, his main weapon is a paw-like neck catcher, which primary function is the extraction of suitable skulls for his "transformation jutsu", but can also
be broken apart to surround himself and an opponent within a barrier for more powerful attacks. In the manga, it was revealed that the skull he was
currently using in the course of the series came from a dead mountain climber, who was a well-to-do college student. The encounter between Tamamo
and the student's fiancee marked one of the important turning points in his character development.
At the start of the series, Tamamo merely seems like a powerful yōkai who manipulates and fights as a means for his own selfish desires. After
fighting alongside Nūbē and class 5-3 and solving a number of youkai problems, he grew fonder and fonder of the human race, to the extent that he
would use "Megido", his most powerful fire-based ability, in order to destroy Zekki, the younger brother of Nūbē's Oni no Te. Tamamo also found himself
unable to take Hiroshi's skull even when the opportunity presented himself later on, having learned too much of the human heart. This is a problem for
him, as without a suitable skull his mental and physical faculties would eventually erode, leaving him to die as only a shell of his former self. In the
manga liner notes for Volume 2, the author stated that Tamamo was intended to be a direct descendant of the Nine-Tailed Kitsune who was notorious as
Tamamo no Mae. However, the fox appeared later in the story and was less than fond of Tamamo, thus leaving the name to be most likely an allusion,
perhaps out of respect.

The Golden Nine-Tail Kitsune (Konmougyokumen Kyūbii no Kitsune 金毛玉面九尾の狐)

Considered to be one of the most powerful yōkai in existence, is one of the only beings that can overpower even the Oni! In ancient times, this
kitsune made its way across India and China to Japan, where it last appeared 800 years ago as Tamamo no Mae, the wife who bewitched the Emperor
Toba. Based within a chamber beneath the Sesshou Stone in Nasuno, Tochigi Prefecture, it has an immense hatred for humans and only desires either
the death or lack of exposure to these "lower beings". Nūbē is forced to undertake various tests from this powerful 3000-year old yōkai when Tamamo
slowly falls apart due to his failure to complete his "transformation jutsu" abilities. Besides having immense abilities in illusion, transformation and fire, it
can also summon a special "Trial Jar" for its yōko followers to deem their worthiness by undertaking escape without the use of their powers. Eventually,
the fox also grew interested in Tamamo's fondness of humanity, and grants him enough power to continue living in his current form.

Tsuwabukimaru( 石蕗丸)

Appears when Tamamo becomes very sick, reminding him of his path to complete his "transformation justu" in order to prevent from turning
into ashes. He is a young kitsune who holds a great deal of admiration for Tamamo, and does not want him to die. Not understanding the relationship the
Tamamo now holds with humans, he was intent on getting Hiroshi's skull and was only stopped at the last second by the person he himself admired. He
blames Nūbē for Tamamo's slide into weakness and his eventual degradation, although he was still convinced to lead the teacher to the Nine-Tailed
Kitsune. Tsuwabukimaru dresses and acts like a ninja, attacking with two sharp blades attached to his arms and moves along with the wind. Despite his
male name, it is suggested that the skull he uses to take human form may be that of a girl, as Nūbē teased Tamamo about him when he showed up. His
personality, while straightforward and determined, is also slightly naive and ditzy.

Mountain Yōkai

In the northern Tohoku region of Japan, there exists a collection of various yōkai associated with the local elemental natures of their region,
such as rock, wind, snow and ice. The guardian of these yōkai is a powerful mountain god whose word regarding his spirit is law, dominating them and
forcing them to either obey or face the consequences. These beings have a detached nature from humanity, carrying a cold, emotionless existence
similar to the cold winds that blow in their region: they merely exist alongside humans and the fate of these humans is determined by their whims.
However, the nature between these mountain yokai and humans would eventually be challenged by one yuki-onna and the man that she loves...

Yukime (ゆきめ/雪姫)

One of several yōkai created in the mountains of northern Japan, is a 16-year old yuki-onna whose life and existence was complicated due to
her love and emotions for Nūbē. The connection was originally made five years prior, when the spiritualist, then a college student lost while skiing in the
mountains, saves the young girl yōkai from a hunter determined to kill her before she grows up to bewitch and harm his village.
After Nūbē saved her life, Yukime made a promise that she would eventually find him so they could be together "in eternal love". The meaning
of this was eventually made clear when she came down to Doumori, intent on bringing home her beloved Nūbē... frozen in ice where he would not die,
to live with her "for eternity". She still has a warm heart, however, and her love for Nūbē was real, and Yukime was convinced that he shouldn't be
brought to the mountains thanks to the efforts of Nūbē's students; when she tried to attack them, the until-then frozen Nūbē de-froze himself and told
Yukime that she should leave, and so she did... for some time, since she returned and decided to stay in Domori, working as an ice skating coach at the
local skating rink and trying to win his heart.
Due to being a yuki-onna, Yukime possesses several powers and weaknesses due to her connections with snow, ice and the cold.
Yukime's main ability is the creation of snow or ice from her body, using it as a means to freeze any target she can see or point at. Her freezing power is
useful in offensive attacks, the creation of roadblocks to stop larger targets, and even can be used to concentrate light like a magnifying glass. (not to
mention its useful for making shaved ice, which according to Nūbē is the only good thing Yukime's power is for) Yukime also possesses a slight healing
ability and, due to her cold connections, has a natural talent for figure skating.
Unfortunately, being a yōkai of snow has its weaknesses: she can not stand intense heat and can only remedy certain areas by
freezing an area to a much colder, more tolerable temperature. Furthermore, Yukime can not make hot foods nor can she wear certain black clothing for
fear of melting certain parts of her body. But Yukime does have a cute remedy for temperature problems: when she becomes too hot, she wraps her
entire body into a snowman to cool herself down, and can drive Nūbē crazy when she pops out of it... completely naked. While many of these heat
problems were eventually remedied through a revival later in the series, Yukime does occasionally still have problems with hotter temperatures.
While Yukime becomes a valuable ally and nuisance in Doumori, it is her relationship situations involving her and Nūbē that drives
most of her character through the series. After her first appearance as a "yōkai of the chapter", she eventually holds a love/hate relationship with the
teacher, with several attempts by the yuki-onna to get Nūbē to fall for her leading to some acknowledegment, but further frustration for both of them.
Making matters worse is beautiful and ultra-sensitive Ritsuko-sensei, whom Nūbē originally desires and whom eventually begins to return some of her
feelings just as Yukime is starting to get through to him.
The tension builds to a breaking point when another of the Mountain God's servants tricks Yukime into capturing the
teacher, making her believe that Ritsuko's sacrifice is needed to make her human and win over Nūbē. When Yukime tried to kill kill Ritsuko-sensei and
ultimately failed, believing that Ritsuko had no fault and that it wasn't fair to injure her, the youkai told Yukime that he was simply sent to test if she still
possesses the cold yuki-onna's heart and bring her back to the mountains if she does, or kill her if she had indeed sympathized with humans.
Nūbē finally came to save Ritsuko-sensei and Yukime, and after saving Ritsuko he apologizes to her and admits his love
for the latter. It was too late, however, as a severely injured Yukime used the last of her powers to help destroy the youkai and turned into snowflakes in
Nūbē's arms. As Miki and Hiroshi cried, Kyouko asked Ritsuko if Yukime was truly dead, and she told her that she probably wasn't and that her
snowflakes might allow her to be reborn later.
While Nūbē believed her to be dead, Yukime was, in fact, not. Like Ritsuko said, Yukime's snowflakes were carried away
to her mountains, where the Mountain God used them to create another yuki-onna in her place, with the exact same looks and the exact same name.
This Yukime, however, had a cold heart and did not hesitate to kill a human. Nūbē found her during a winter school trip, where she tricked him away from
his class in order to kill him. He allowed her to attack him, but not without invoking fragments of the original Yukime's memories and fragments of her
warm heart. Confused, the "new" Yukime fled without killing Nūbē and his class.
Yukime returned to Doumori later to find closure to her conflicting feelings, and realizing she did love Nūbē, decided to stay and
reconcile the two halves of herself. Although she did not remember much of her life before, it was implied that Yukime eventually recovered all of her
memories. Her personality was also changed from the aggressive yuki-onna youkai to a balance between her childish former self and assertive new
identity. In the anime, there was an alternate world created in Kyouko's dreams and subconscious, created by a youkai that had
possessed her in her sleep. In that alternate world, Yukime had grown into a full-fledged yuki-onna and still was at Doumori, but she wasn't with Nūbē
anymore since he was in a catatonic state after being almost murdered by another youkai. (note: although the chapter existed in the manga, Yukime was
not in the original chapter since she had yet to return to Dōmori at this time)

The Mountain God

The kami of an unnamed mountain in an unnamed province that was Yukime's birthplace. He is her creator, a being of nature that is outside of
human understanding. His greatest priority is the balance of nature, which caused him to grow displeased at Yukime's intention to live in the human
world with Nūbē. As far as he was concerned, Yukime was created to bring snow and balance to the mountain's winters, and taking her away disrupts
that balance. Nothing else matters in the equation. The Mountain God sent servants after her, but after they were all defeated by Nūbē, his displeasure
grew in a more grotesque form---namely by causing the people in nearby villages to grow tree branches all over their skin. Yukime and Nūbē attempted
to placate him failed, and they would have died in the Mountain God's wrath if not for Nūbē's father, who used himself as a human pillar to seal away the
kami's anger and allow his son to finally live a happy life.
The Mountain God's appearance is that of a gigantic human face and hands on a large rock cliff. Trees grow above him and pools of magma
bubbles beneath him.

Servants of the Mountain God

After Yukime disobeys his orders regarding the persual of Nūbē, the Mountain God sends several other yokai of the mountain after her and her
beloved, each one using a different tactic to separate the two!

• Ippon Datara (一本ダタラ Ippon Datara): A yokai with the appearance of a disfigured, one-legged monk, he comes to Yukime stating that the only
way that she can ever gain the love of a human is to become one by freezing the body of a beautiful woman. (who in this case turns out to be
Ritsuko-sensei) Using the power of his one-eye, he abducts the female teacher, leaving her slightly frozen for Yukime to finish the job. But his true
intention was to have her kill in order for her to regain the cold heart she had lost, thus becoming a true yuki-onna again and allowing her to rejoin
the Mountain God! Yukime releases Ritsuko-sensei, but Datara freezes her and stabs her with icicles for her betrayal! Eventually, while Nūbē and
Yukime were able to defeat him, she had been too worn down by the assassin to last too much longer...though when she fades away, she finally
does have Nūbē's acknowledgement of his love.
• Kodama Mice (こだまねずみ Kodama Nezumi): Originally from Akita Prefecture, these small spies sneak in to Yukime's satchel after she returns to
Doumori following her revival. Watching Yukime until the time was right, they have the ability to inflate themselves like balloons until they ultimately
burst, killing anyone that has broken the law of the Mountain God! Though they nearly wipe out Yukime, Nūbē and his class, he is able to save
everyone with a well-timed sutra prior to explosion!
• Tsulala (つらら Tsulala): Although she appears like a mature, buxom black-haired woman, she is actually Yukime's identical twin sister! In their
youth, the two of them spent plenty of time together, but Tsulala consistently played practical jokes on the white-haired yuki-onna which consistently
made her get reformed or shredded into snowflakes! But when she appears before her sister and Nube, it is as a messenger from the Mountain
God sent to either take her back peacefully or kill her, believing she will only bring bad luck to Nūbē if she stays with humans. Tsulala's own abilities
allows her to manipulate ice, but her specialty is to create ice copies of any object she sees and use it like a living, working model! (including
machines and animals) In the end, Yukime defeats her by creating a giant ice magnifying glass, weakening her ice abilities to the point of being
unusable. (but unlike the other messengers, Tsulala does get away)
• The Stone Tengu (岩天狗 Iwatengu): An extremely powerful yokai completely made of stone, he is the very last and strongest of the servants of the
Mountain God, pursuing Nūbē long after his master had been destroyed! After Nūbē and Yukime finally get engaged, he pursues the potential
groom the day before and of his wedding, creating illusions with his "Anxiety Wind" to make the teacher realize the horrors of getting married to a
yuki-onna! Making Nūbē experience a sleepless night, he nearly drives him to his death...until the power of Baki (the Oni no Te, by this time working
alongside the teacher better) saves his life! Although the tengu further increases his wind powers by increasing his nose's length and even
unleashes the ultimate wind abilities, he is ultimately crushed when Baki is fully released, as Nūbē realizes that he can live happily ever after with a
yuki-onna.

Yukibe

Yukibe was a child who looked like a mixture between Yukime and Nūbē, whom everyone assumed was caused by their union. His real origin,
however, was solely based on Yukime's powers. Apparently, as a yuki-onna reaches maturity, she develops a power to create a snow-child who would
play with her before flying off into the mountains, a way she brings winter to the world. Yukibe possessed the freezing power that Yukime has, and he
caused a great deal of havoc before finally flying off, bringing snow to Doumori. Although this is Yukibe's only real appearance, Nūbē consistently is
reminded of him whenever he imagines the idea of him and Yukime having a real child, giving him further disgust over the relationship between a human
and a yuki-onna.

Other Yōkai of Note

While many, many yōkai appear within Nūbē either as threats or assistance to the class and the citizens of Doumori, certain ones has multiple
appearances and a consistent connection with the characters in the series.

Zashiki Warashi (座敷わらし)

Is a small, child like yōkai known for being a bringer of good luck towards anyone that is even near it. Merely being within its reach gives a bit
of luck to a person, but befriending it can allow it to follow you around giving luck to you for much longer periods. Usually she can not be seen by normal
people, though.
Nūbē initially encounters this yōkai after having a particularly lucky steak at a pachinko parlor. (though it is unknown if it was the cause of his
good fortune) After feeding it some senbei, it follows him back to school where it causes one good thing after another for the students in his class (even
Hiroshi gets an 80 on his test because of it, which is good considering how non-booksmart to the point of idiocy he is) He tries to convince the yōkai that
they don't need it, scaring it away, but it returns to end up saving Hiroshi from a possibly fatal accident. In another incident, Zashiki Warashi reveals a
power of reversing fortunes, making the yuki-onna Yukime become befuddled by disasters, the worst of which was witnessing a date between her
beloved Nūbē and Ritsuko-sensei!
Zashiki Warashi's last major appearance revealed that there was more to the yōkai than originally suggested. She was revealed to be the
dead spirit of a poor young girl who lived fifty years ago. The girl cared more about others and helped them out even though she had so little. She
eventually caught pneumonia and chose to wish for the health and happiness of everyone around her instead of herself even as she laid on her
deathbed. Nūbē and his class chose to give thanks to Zashiki Warashi for all it did, holding it a party for all its done for them and even allowing her to
see her mother one more time. But even so, Zashiki Warashi's work is never done.

Kuchisake-onna {口裂け女)
 Is a legendary yōkai of strange circumstances, even in the world of Nūbē. Some legends say that she is the result of horrific dental surgery
from 80 years ago, giving her a gaping mouth and jagged teeth. She wanders around various towns with bandages hiding her mouth, asking children if
she's pretty before removing them and scaring them away! In actuality, the Kuchisake-onna is the result of an animal possession, the result of an
encounter with the grudge of an inugami giving this female their demonic-appearing mouth. The students of Nūbē's class encounter a kuchisake-onna
after hearing the former legend, trying to fend themselves off with pomade to escape it. But the teacher is able to show them their error, using the Oni no
Te to remove the spirit and show the beautiful female underneath the beast! This one particular kuchisake-onna (her name revealed later as Honomi) is
later revealed to be the youngest of three kuchisake-sisters, all of whom live together and occasionally get into trouble due to their infamy and
connection with the legends behind their mouths.

Hayame (速魚) Is a sweet but extremely ditsy mermaid who occasionally assists Nūbē...even though he usaly ends up regreting it. She usually
takes one of two forms when she appears: either that of a typical mermaid (nude with her long green hair covering her bosom and an orange fin on the
bottom) or in a human form which she can access by magically turning her fin into two human legs (unfortunately, the formation of legs usually has her
revealing her privates after transformation, much to the embrassment of any male that happens to be near her at the time). Like the mermaids of
Japanese legend, she has the ability to grant immortality to anyone who eats her flesh, as well as the ability to reverse the same immortality from
someone who eats her liver. Similarly, her blood also has healing properties: one small drip can instantly heal anyone of all of their wounds, even fatal
ones. But there is a small drawback to Hayame's healing properties: the receiver of her healing blood is rendered a complete idiot for a short period of
time after being healed. Also, Hayame possesses the ability to control and manipulate people's emotions by singing, similar to the mythical sirens.
Hayame actually came to become connected to Nūbē by strange circumstances: introduced as the mummified
corpse of a mermaid possessed by the priest Oshō, the teacher ends up giving it some of the spiritual power of his Oni no Te in when the idiot priest
forces him to try and revive it. Though the project seemed a failure after Nūbē spent thirty minutes giving it spiritual energy, the corpse did revive
overnight and the awakened female chose to thank the teacher by giving him the gift of immortality. Unfortunately, when Nūbē did meet the living
Hayame, he thought she was a crazy overworked student who was losing her mind due to cram school. When he finally realized the truth, he
apologized and discovered that she was mummified after being away from the sea for two hundred years after coming ashore for a festival. He
subsequently declines her immortality offer, but ends up having his life saved by her after nearly killing himself to save a child.
Although Hayame finally returns to the sea after this incident, she consistently drops in to
Dōmori one way or another, leading to Nūbē getting stuck with her time and again. Many of her actions ends up making her look like a juvenile teenager
instead of the long-lived yōkai she is. She ends up getting caught by scientists when she just wants to buy a CD player and even wanted to use her
singing abilities to get on a local talent show. But even with her faults, Hayame continues to show a caring, helpful personality that chooses to assist
those in need. (even if it does sometimes screw everything up)

kudagitsune (くだ狐)

Are small, long animal yōkai known from the Tohoku region who live in tubes and are commonly used as the assisting yōkai of itako such as
local spiritualist Izuna Orimoto. Unseen by average humans, they are able to fly about doing the task of the one who controls them, whether it is
investigating information for the user, communication or to fly inside a human's body to gather needed thoughts. All kudagitsune are usually under the
control of whomever it is born to or raised by, but can be easily controlled by beings of greater power. Tamamo, for example, is able to stop or control
them due to being much simpler animal yōkai than himself.
Most of the kudagitsune within Nūbē belong to Izuna, who uses them as both her help and servants. Keeping hundreds of them within her own
apartment of various shapes and sizes, they end up cleaning up and looking after her until they are needed. Those that Izuna keeps for duty are kept in
small lipstick vials which she releases for the need of herself or for others. Another user of kudagitsune include Nūbē himself, who ends up creating one
named Baco when the energies of one kudagitsune combined with the energy of the Oni no Te, giving birth to a demonic-appearing yōkai that assists
the teacher when not living inside a pen. Other kudagitsune are used by the villainous Priest Kanran, who keeps several kudagitsune on him including
his most powerful one in his left eye-socket.
The most powerful and legendary of the kudagitsune within the series is Gedo, a giant, but slightly dumb being with immense potential for
power. Born once every three-hundred years in the heart of a mountain in Tohoku, he has the ultimate potential of releasing the "True Treasure" of
whatever your greatest desire is. The giant kudagitsune unexpectedly ends up in the hands of Izuna, who ends up giving birth to him and forced to
protect it from the evil Kanran, who desires the treasure that Gedo may unlock.

Kesaran Pasaran (ケサランパサラン)

Although it appears at first like a small white fuzzball, is an extremely useful and lucky yōkai to whomever encounters it. Unknown in its origin
(though one legend suggests it as a gift from angels), Kesaran Pasaran is notable for bringing good luck and happiness to anyone who encounters it.
More intriguingly, the amount of the small fuzzballs can quickly multiply if kept within the vicinity of face powder for a period of time: the more Kesaran
Pasaran, the more good luck! The yōkai is initially encountered by Miki during a Christmas party, who initially uses its luck abilities and its multiplication
trick to grant all her desires, but ultimately ends up saving her friends and giving a happy holiday to the entire town in the process. Later on, the Kesaran
Pasaran are revealed to be the "yōkai of ultimate good", saving both the town of Dōmori, and ultimately the world, from the unleashed power of the
ultimate evil yōkai: Yamato no Orochi!

• The last group of characters are humans who don't quite fit in any of the other categories, yet consistently are connected to the affairs of Nūbē or
his students. These include other exorcists like "itako-girl" Izuna Hazuki and crooked Buddhist priest Oshō, normal recurring characters and even
the parents of the 5-3 students!

Influences and Homages

Although Shou and Okano created their universe of Nūbē as its own separate world, they were highly influenced by the works of several other authors,
anime and mangaka in one way or another. For starters, Nūbē himself is a combination in design of Chirico Cuvie, main character of the anime Armored
Trooper Votoms and Black Jack, from the classic medical manga by Osamu Tezuka. Similarly, several of the students gain their influence from series
that have influenced the diversity of series nature: the school-comedy connection coming from the 1970s Jump series Dokonjyou Gaeru, the horror side
from Go Nagai's classic Devilman. Ritsuko-sensei's design is similar to many of the heroines of classic 1970s giant robot anime, and Minako-sensei
design is similar to Honey Kisaragi's design from Cutie Honey. Finally, the yōkai themselves are derived in design from the works of painter Sekien
Toriyama, known for his art of the supernatural.

Although there are many connections to the past in Nūbē, the series does acknowledge that it is one of many manga that exist within the
Weekly Shonen Jump anthology. Since the series exists in then-modern 1990s Japan, it is merely one part of the world in which they live in. There are
consistently jokes breaking the fourth wall regarding Jump, whether it is Nūbē or one of his students reading the book or commenting about how the staff
of the book may act regarding certain plot points. Similarly, several other Jump series occasionally receive mention either in tribute or for laughs. One of
the consistent mentions regards Osamu Akimoto's long running police-comedy manga Kochira Katsushika-ku Kameari Kōen-mae Hashutsujo: both
series have a similar story style where most stories are just one chapter episodes, yet the characters still grow and change through their run like the
serial manga (though some of the comments were in regards to Kochi Kame's extremely long run). Another consistent Jump target regarded Akira
Toriyama's action classic Dragon Ball. In this case, the tributes are varied, between the "artistic" appearance of characters like Son Goku or parodies of
various attacks such as Nūbē going Super Saiyan or performing the fusion dance. Many other Jump manga from this era have also appeared in cameo
within Nūbē as varied as Midori no Makibaou, Sexy Commando Gaiden: Sugoiyo! Masaru-san, Yu-Gi-Oh and Rurouni Kenshin!

Since the manga was a period of its time in the mid/late 1990s, the series did touch and joke about many of the things within Japanese culture
during this period of time. The series made passing references to politicians (such as prime minister Morihito Hosokawa) and sports players, as well as
having visual cameos of celebrities such as Takuya Kimura of SMAP and actress Ryoko Hirosue. However, amidst the spiritual encounters, the manga
also touched on various crazes and factors within the society of the era. One chapter involved a pagers as part of a climax, while another involved the
consequences of Hiroshi receiving his first personal computer in a period where computers and the internet were becoming more prominent. Other
chapters acknowledged video games such as Pokemon and the "fighting monster" craze (followed up by a literal Pokemon parody in a volume page),
the Tamagotchi games, and the Gainax series of Princess Maker games. (Although a more well known Gainax creation, Neon Genesis Evangelion, got
in a tiny reference in one of the other manga volumes, as does Cowboy Bebop.)

DETACTIVE SCHOOL Q
Storyline

Detective School Q is the story of a group of young students from Class Q of Dan Detective School (DDS), a prestigious and renowned
detective academy founded by Morihiko Dan, the most famous detective in Japan, and the adventures and mysteries they unfold and solve together.
They eventually work against Pluto, a mysterious organization which creates almost fool-proof plans that only a handful of detectives can solve.

Characters

DDS
Classes in DDS are based on the entrance test score, with A as the highest, B as the next lower, etc. It is possible for a student to be transferred to a
higher class or vice versa, depending on their academic performances. However, Class Q is a special case. As the name might suggest, Class Q is for
the Qualified students (i.e the specially chosen few) who are viewed as the most potential candidates for the successor of Morihiko Dan in the future.
Yet, the same rules as the other classes also apply to Class Q. Any member of Class Q may be transferred to a lower class if his/her academic
performance declines. Since Class A was generally regarded as the top class of the DDS before Class Q was formed, there has been a tense rivalry
between the two classes since.

Class Q

Kyū Renjō (連城 究 Renjō Kyu)?, (Seiyū - Megumi Ogata)

• Age: 14
• Height: 161cm
• Weight: 53kg
• Blood Type: O
A bright, sweet and optimistic boy who is also a brilliant detective, but a little awkward in social
situations. Otherwise, he is considered to be the team's leader and is known for his logical explanations of
cases.His motto(taught by Dan himself) - "A Detective must never give up or the case will remain
unsolved". He has a good sense of judgement regarding to people (when everyone distrusted Ryu, he
expressed his open appreciation for him) but often says things that infuriate Megumi (one of the series's
running jokes is that he glimpses the pattern of Megumi's underwear and announces it out aloud for all to
hear, only to be smacked or injured in some way by Megumi herself). But even though he acts this way, he
cares for her, as shown when they where trapped in a secret door in the old school building. He did
everything he could to help Megumi as she struggled after getting bitten by a pit viper, even opening up the
pipe system to send Ryu and the others an SOS. In addition, another such running gag of Kyu's is his
constant misinterpretation of the Japanese language (for example, he said "training pants" when he heard
the words "tore han", which means "treasuring hunting").
Kyū had been a single child of a single parent (his mother) for as long as he could remember. He didn't have a father, but there's a certain man
who had been acting as his mentor when he was little. When he was six years old, he was kidnapped and held as a hostage by some criminals, but his
mentor rescued him. In reality he was none other than Kyu's father (Satoru Renjou, Morihiko Dan's partner and right-hand man). Realizing the high risk
of being a detective, Satoru formerly married Kyu's mother in secret to keep his new family safe. After Renjou's death, Kyu's mother hid the truth from
Kyu for years, trying to shield him from the danger that the life of a detective is always in; after he was accepted in the DDS, Mrs. Renjou changed her
mind and supported him fully. One of his favourite words after solving the mystery is "There could only be one answer!"

Megumi Minami (美南 恵 Minami Megumi)?, (Seiyū - Hōko Kuwashima)

• Age: 14
• Height: 163cm
• Weight: 47kg
• Blood Type: A
Commonly referred by her friends as just Meg, she has a unique talent of having a photographic
memory ("Shunkan kioku" 瞬間記憶　in Japanese), allowing her to memorize a scene instantly. This allows
her to notice if a piece of evidence has been moved or is missing. It is believed that she has somewhat of a
crush on Ryu. But, throughout we see that she gets somewhat jealous if another girl is with Kyu (As seen
in episode 12). She studied in the Tokyo National Talent Development Research Center alongside Yutaka
Saburomaru. She lives with her older sister Akane (who attends a local university) as her parent work
abroad. She also sometimes blushes while looking at Ryu. But later in the series, she takes a liking to
Kyuu.

Ryū Amakusa (天草 流 Amakusa Ryū)?, (Seiyū - Kōichi Tōchika)

• Age: 14
• Height: 166cm
• Weight: 50kg
• Blood Type: AB
Ryu is very intelligent, and his dark background somehow links him to the organization known as
Pluto (瞑王星）. When his parents died, Pluto took care of him. As a child he was never allowed to
socialize with others. He often viewed his house as more of a prison than a home. Even with his cold
personality he is still friendly with the other members of Class Q, and shares a special link with Kyu since
he was the first one who could understand him.

Kazuma Narusawa (鳴沢 数馬 Narusawa Kazuma)?, (Seiyū - Tomoko Kawakami)

• Age: 11
• Height: 142cm
• Weight: 38kg
• Blood Type: B
Kazuma is a rich, well known computer games programmer. He often helps to find information on his
laptop computer, which he carries around with him all the time. At first after learning that he was a member of
Class Q (which at the time was believed to be the lowest) he tried to get transferred in Class A. However, when
his classmates came to his aid when he was in trouble he changed his mind, preferring to stay with his friends.
Kazuma has a friendly rivalry with Kinta due to their different approaches to detective work. Kazuma and Kinta
are often the butt of each others jokes. He is a very smart prodigy, but he can't get right answers without his
"lucky" hat as implied in episode 3; he seems to get over this flaw by the end of the TV series.

Kintarō Tōyama (遠山 金太郎 Tōyama Kintarō)?, (Seiyū - Hideo Ishikawa)

• Age: 18
• Height: 180cm
• Weight: 70kg
• Blood Type: O
Kinta is the son of a well respected police officer, but moved out due to a family dispute. He now lives
alone and works part-time as a mascot on the seafront. Kinta is the strongest member of the class, having had
lessons in judo, kendo and karate. He also has superb senses, especially his eyesight and sense of smell. Kinta
often mocks Kazuma's high tech approach to detective work, preferring instead to rely on his "instinct". His
tough personality as well as his excellent senses have been very useful at times. He is very strong and
sometimes hits either Kazuma or Kyu. He also repeatedly tries to pick up girls (with little success).

Morihiko Dan (団　守彦 Dan Morihiko)?, (Seiyū - Hideyuki Tanaka)

Born in 1936, Morihiko Dan is the founder and principal of Dan Detective School, and a famous detective who has solved many cases, and is
the only private detective in Japan who is licensed to hold a gun. Morihiko Dan was a former police officer who resigned to open up a private detective
company of his own, Dan Detective Company (DDC), the parent company of DDS. He was assisted by a young boy named Satoru Renjo, who acted as
his partner, assistant, and apprentice. Together they helped build DDC and DDS into a top level detective company and school (some of the top-level
detectives at DDC and instructors at DDS were the first generation students of DDS). Among many criminals they fought, the most powerful one was the
crime organization known as Pluto (冥王星 Meiosei?). Although Pluto was finally thought to apparently have been destroyed, it wasn't without cost.
Satorou Renjo, Dan's most prominent apprentice and heir-apparent was killed, and Mr. Dan was forced to be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. Years
later, there are signs that Pluto was being resurrected. Realizing that his days were numbered due to his old age, Morihiko Dan decided to open a new,
special class called the Class Q, consisting of several extremely talented persons. He would train them, analyze each one of them, and appoint the best
student of this class to be his successor.

Shino Katagiri (片桐 紫乃 Katagiri Shino)?, (Seiyū - Aya Hisakawa)

The loyal assistant of Morihiko Dan, she assisted Megumi, Kyu and Kinta in getting admitted to DDS, having met them during a case, featured
in the first episode of the anime series.

Shintarō Maki (真木慎太郎 Maki Shintarō)?, (Seiyū - Ken Narita)

DDS's head of forensics, Shintarou Miki is both a skilled teacher and doctor, and is quite intelligent in his knowledge of medical and forensic
science.

Kōtarō Nanami (七海光太郎 Nanami Kōtarō)?, (Seiyū - Shinichiro Miki)

Nanami is another loyal righthand of Morihiko Dan. He's very skilled in the art of disguising, and is often ordered by Dan to watch the Class Q
in cases by disguising as one of the suspects. Nanami's very carefree, as he loves to show his new tricks (which Ryu despises) to the Class Q, but he
can be extremely serious when he needs to be. His favourite disguise is that of a cactus, which is also occasionally accompanied by a flashy, brightly
patterned sombrero or Mexican outfit. This usually appears when he is under stress, such as when he had to take Dan-sensei's place as head of DDS
during Dan-sensei's hospital stay.

Tatsumi Hongō (本郷　巽 Hongō Tatsumi)?, (Seiyū - Hiroshi Fujioka)

A DDS teacher, and just like Nanami and Katagiri, Hongou is very loyal to Morihiko Dan. He can appear to be cold and harsh, and handles
cases professionally. He often argues with Nanami on how a detective should behave; he criticizes Nanami's easygoing way of teaching, and believes
that a true detective has to be firm and serious.

Dokurō Onikōbe (鬼首独郎 Onikōbe Dokurō)?, (Seiyū - Shigeru Chiba)

He is a DDS staff member who has a rather strange hobby, being a skull-lover. He has a hundred skulls at his house and he can distinguish it
one by one, and the one which pops up the most (his favourite?) is named Elizabeth, wearing a ribbon on the top of the skull. He is also the head of
DDS's science project that makes every DDS tool, like the DDS watch, and many others. Ryu and Meg know him in the DDS research centre first before
the other Class Q members, and they helped him solve a murder case.

• Note: In the manga, it is revealed that Shino Katagiri, Nanami Koutarou and Hongou Tatsumi were the very first students of DDS, personally trained
by Morihiko Dan and Satoru Renjo themselves. After the catastrophe following the destruction of Pluto (in which Satoru Renjo was killed and
Morihiko Dan was crippled), these three ran both the school and the detective office until Morihiko Dan recovered. Thus, it's quite understandable to
see their loyalty and devotion toward Morihiko Dan, DDC and DDS.

Class A

Sakurako Yukihira (雪平桜子 Yukihira Sakurako)?, (Seiyū - Satsuki Yukino)

The 17-year-old niece of Morihiko Dan is a renowned detective novel author, having published successful books while in high school. She
didn't want to be a detective at all at first, because she wanted to be a mystery novel writer. She's in 2nd grade in Senior High School as well as in DDS.
She received her first award from the police at 3rd grade in elemetary school. She also barely mentions that Morihiko Dan is her uncle, since she desires
to ascend in the DDS on her own. Fiercely competitive, more hot-headed than she lets other see and quite stern on others and herself, she's a friendly
rival of Kyu (the only one who knows her relationship to Dan) and a good friend of Megu and Kuniko. She is a Libran.

Yutaka Saburōmaru (三郎丸豊 Saburōmaru Yutaka)?, (Seiyū - Nobuo Tobita)

With an IQ of 180, he studied at Tokyo University. He is arrogant and enjoys boasting about his "superiority". He thinks he will be the qualified
detective, often becoming the comic relief in the series. He is initially in Class A after joining DDS, but later gets demoted to Class B in the manga. He
knows Megumi Minami via the Tokyo National Talent Development Research Center and has a crush for Megumi's older sister Akane alongside Kinta in
one episode in the anime. Although he has an IQ of 180, he seems too inept in solving mysteries.

Hayato Shiramine (白峰隼人 Shiramine Hayato)?, (Seiyū - Masanori Katsuragi)

He has an astonishing ability in magic tricks, inherited from his father (a famous magician), Hayato Shiramine is 16 years old, and often says
that those who master magic are great detectives.

Kyōsuke Gouda (郷田京助 Gōda Kyōsuke)?, (Seiyū - Susumu Chiba)

A puzzle master and a mathematical olympian, Kyōsuke is 19 years old. He is quite talented in mathematics.

Takeshi Shishido (獅子戸猛 Shishido Takeshi)?, (Seiyuu - Kōichi Kuriyama)

Went to Harvard University to do a doctorate on criminal psychology before joined DDS. Quite qualified himself, Takeshi has solved four
homicide cases on his own.

Kuniko Tōya (遠矢邦子 Tōya Kuniko)?, (Seiyū - Tomoko Kaneda)

A 15-year-old girl, Kuniko Touya is a transfer student from Shibusawa Academy, as well as a good friend of Megu and Yukihira. She changed
her appearance drastically when she entered DDS, after the extremely cruel bullying she went through in Shibusawa leaded to a terrible tragedy that
had to be investigated by Class Q. During her Shibusawa times, Kuniko used glasses and was rather modest in her clothing; right before joining DDS,
she bleached her hair and started dressing somewhat like a Ko-Gal. She's still timid and shy, tending to panic in some crucial moments (like when she
became the target of a pervert in the train), but works hard to get over such flaws. Her hobby is collecting spooky pictures and practising Aikido (her
family has a dojo). In the manga, she has a crush on Ryu.

Pluto (冥王星 Meiosei?)

Is a crime organization which acts as a "murder designer". At a client's request, it will create a perfect, fool-proof murder plot. The organization
guarantees that if performed correctly, there won't be enough clues and or evidences to link the murder to the clients who ordered it. Each job will cost
half of the client's entire assets. However, the organization will not actually perform the murder(s) themselves. The client will have to do the killing(s)
him/herself. Most plots created by them were so fool-proof that only a very high-skilled detective can reveal the tricks and plots. Dan's Detective School
was one of the few groups that can do so, and stopping Pluto's diabolical schemes. In order to keep their identity a secret, hypnotism will be carried out
on the approachers if the murder case is solved.
They "disguise" themselves using plastic surgery, wigs and make-up. However, their identities can be revealed by a certain Pluto Tattoo, which
appears on every member.

King Hades (キング・ハデス Kingu Hadesu)?, (Seiyū - Goro Naya)

King Hades is the founder and leader of Pluto. His name was adopted from Hades, the Greek god of underworld. His true identity is Hoshihiko
Kokuo, the love child of a multi-talented genius artist Takumi Kuzuryu and Urika Kokuo, the genius criminal.
He is Ryu Amakusa's grandfather and was also Morihiko Dan's childhood friend. However, when the secret about his parentage was revealed,
he was bullied by his classmates. Hoshihiko "punished" those classmates by secretly putting a chemical substance that ignited fire in the bathroom,
burning them in process. He did it in such a fashion that the entire incident was considered an accident, and he went scot-free (this is the major pattern
of all the Pluto's actions). Dan tried to convince Hoshihiko that he is committing a crime; Hoshihiko just replied that he and Dan couldn't be friends
anymore because they aim for different goals, and he left the school since then.
Some time later he was "betrayed by the person he trusted most" and trapped in the underground floor of Seryukan (The House of Dragon),
one of the building which was Kuzuryo Takumi 's design. (Later the building became DDS's first office and finally Class Q's classroom). In the
underground room where even light couldn't reach, he used a sharp stick to cut his face and used the blood to write a diary, this left him with three scars
on his face. He managed to escape from Seryukan and start the Pluto organization.

Sir Anubis (サー・アヌビス Sā Anubisu)?, (Seiyū - Hikaru Midorikawa)

Appearing in the anime, Anubis is a top member of Pluto, whose alias was adopted from the Egyptian jackal-headed god of death, Anubis. His
real identity is never revealed in the anime, and neither was his history, but it's known that he has been in Pluto ever since he was a teenager. Courteous
and polite, he always dresses in dark-colored suits and wears a gray cloak. He has long blond hair (tied in a ponytail with a long silk ribbon). He appears
to be King Hades' right-hand in the series (Kerberos, Sir Charon and Thanatos never were even mentioned there) and his most direct subordinates are
the assassin Kaori and Ryu's caretaker Yurie. After Ryu, who had been sent as a spy to the DDS, starts to long for freedom, Anubis keeps him under
tight surveillance, and as the boy manages to flee from the organization he tries to force him to go back, even going as far as kidnapping Morihiko Dan
himself. In the end, the Q and A sections along with their teachers defeat Pluto and rescue Dan, and Anubis apparently "dies" inside of the burning ship
that held the last part of their showdown.

Kerberos (ケルベロス Keruberosu?)

Appearing only in the manga, Kerberos is one of the top members of Pluto. His name is adopted from the Greek mythological three headed
watchdog of Underworld, Kerberos. His true identity is Ken L. Bellrose. In his childhood he was in the Tokyo Development and Research Center project
long before Megumi and Ryu. By his fancy in crime he join Pluto, and quickly got promotion because of his gifted intellect. He also learned to hypnotize
directly from King Hades and was also given the hynotising silver watch which was originally Hades's. Keroberos is, perhaps, the most idealistic person
in the organization who has his pride in belonging to the Pluto. Due to his popularity he even has his own special chapter, Kerberos: The Detective From
Hell. The story is about Kerberos's third job which he has to solve a murder and reveal the person who kills his clients, destroying his perfect murder
plans. Kerberos's Pluto tattoo is located on the centre of his back.

Takumi Kuzuryu
A multi-talented genius artist, whose artworks influenced many cases that involves the Pluto, DDC, and DDS as well. One of his designs
became the first DDC office building, and later, Class Q's classroom. He had created many priceless arts like Testa Del Drago Violins, a vase with the
outline of two people, three mysterious paintings, a small sealing box named Kumikibako, and many others. He is also mysteriously related to Senrinryu
hotel. Ryu describes that all of his masterpieces draws the evil which then results in a crime. In the later part of the manga, it is revealed that he is the
biological father of the leader of Pluto, Hades. Even though Takumi Kuzuryu loved his son, he feared the dark potential that lied deep down inside of
Hoshihiko Kokuo, and decided to have him imprisoned for the rest of his life in a secret place. Ironically, this act turned Hoshihiko Kokuo-who felt
betrayed-into King Hades, the founder/leader of Pluto.