Black Butler (anime)/Characters

Phantomhive Manor

Ciel Phantomhive

Voiced by Maaya Sakamoto (JP) and Brina Palencia (ENG)

Anti-Hero: Type IV or type V.
Bad Guys Play Pool: He has a pool room in his manor. In an early episode he gets to show off his pool skills.
Being Tortured Makes You Evil
A Boy and His X: A boy and his demon butler.
Byronic Hero: A very young example.
Conveniently an Orphan: Of the Villain Protagonist variety. That's not to say he doesn't grieve for his loss.
Dark and Troubled Past: His parents were killed, his house was burnt down, he was kidnapped, sold, and used as a sacrifice for a cult. Then he met Sebastian and sold his soul to him.
Deal with the Devil: With Sebastian.
Deadpan Snarker
Deceased Parents Are the Best
Dude in Distress: As a Non-Action Guy, he constantly has to be saved by Sebastian as their deal dictates.
Dull Eyes of Unhappiness: The difference between his current state and how he was as a young child is easily visible from the eyes.
Even Bad Boys Love Their Mamas: Even now, Ciel loves the deceased Rachel and Vincent.
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Ciel deeply cares for Elizabeth and his (deceased) parents and aunt. At one point, he even stops Sebastian from hunting down Grell because he "doesn't want Lizzie to witness anymore bloodshed."
Even the Guys Want Him: Much to his displeasure.
Evil Eye: The pentagram in his right eye allows Ciel to command Sebastian.
Eyepatch of Power: Because walking around with a pentagram visible to anyone who looks you in the eyes is kind of a bad idea.
Grade School CEO: Even at the age of twelve, he runs the family business he inherited.
Hates Being Touched: He appears to not enjoy physical contact, though he tolerates Sebastian and does not complain when the demon picks him up or holds him. If he is stressed, he will slap someone touching him away, proclaiming, "Don't touch me so easily!" This is a negative influence of the trauma he underwent during his time in captivity.
Improbable Age: Ciel is the leader of a popular toys and candy company and works for the Queen doing black ops.
- He's also highly skilled at pool to the point that he can beat a bunch of adults, despite being so short he actually has to sit on the pool table to make a shot.
Kid with the Leash: Ciel's relationship towards Sebastian. While largely true to the trope, it lacks the usual element of contrast in that with few exceptions, Ciel is just as amoral and ruthless as his servant.
Magnificent Bastard
Man of Wealth and Taste
Mark of the Beast: In his right eye.
Mismatched Eyes: The eye that isn't blue is purple and has a pentagram on it. By the rules of demon contracts, the more visible the spot you put the mark, the more power you get - and what's more visible than your eye?
Non-Idle Rich
Power At a Price: He sells his soul in return for help from Sebastian in succeeding in all of his goals, including killing his parents' murderer[s]. After that last goal is finished, Sebastian will be able to take Ciel's soul.
Sharp-Dressed Man: He wears expensive, tailored clothes.
Smart People Play Chess
Stoic Woobie
Supernatural Is Purple: His Eyepatch of Power hides his cursed, mismatched eye that holds the symbol of his contract with Sebastian. It's purple, and glows with an eerie neon when he gives Sebastian an order.
Troubling Unchildlike Behavior
Used to Be a Sweet Kid
Wise Beyond Their Years

Sebastian Michaelis

Voiced by Daisuke Ono (JP) and J Michael Tatum (ENG)

Anti-Hero: Type V.
Antiquated Linguistics: More obvious in the original Japanese than the English versions.
Battle Butler: He's the trope image!
Bishounen : Oh yes.
Catch and Return: He can do that with multiple bullets fired simultaneously at point-blank range all around him.
Catch Phrase: In the dub, "I am one Hell of a butler."
- Also, some variation of, "If I didn't/wasn't (insert task here), then what kind of butler would I be?"
- "A butler who couldn't (insert highly improbable situation here) isn't worth his salt."
Cheshire Cat Grin: Occasionally.
Cuteness Proximity: Get him close to his beloved cats, and he'll even ignore Ciel.
Dissonant Serenity
The Dragon: To Ciel.
Fangs Are Evil: His demon form has sharp teeth and small fangs.
Femme Fatalons: In his demon form.
Fork Fencing: He carries cutlery wherever he goes. He's pretty damn effective with them too. Killed an entire room of men with a handful of thrown dinner knives.
Game Face: He shows his true form very occasionally to his and Ciel's enemies, though the actual readers have still never seen the whole thing up to this point.
Gentleman Snarker
Glowing Eyes of Doom: When he is letting his demonic side closer to the surface.
Gratuitous English: "Yes, my lord."
Hellish Pupils: When he lets his demonic side closer to the surface.
Hot Teacher: In his "tutor mode".
Immune to Bullets: Either he sidesteps them, catches them from the air, or recovers from them almost immediately.
In-Series Nickname: "Sebas-chan" by Grell ("Bassy" in the dub).
The Jeeves
Kick Them While They Are Down: He literally and happily does that more than once.
Named After Somebody Famous: Sebastien Michaelis.
One-Winged Angel
Perpetual Molt: Sebastian in his true form appears to be constantly shedding massive amounts of feathers. We never get to see the true form properly, in part because the feathers are in the way.
Purely Aesthetic Glasses: He always puts on glasses when he enters tutor mode.
Ravens and Crows: Sebastian is shown as either a raven or a crow in the anime's prelude, and is often shown with the black Corvid feathers around him.
Red Eyes, Take Warning
Red Right Hand: His fingernails are black even when he suppresses his other visible demon traits.
Sarcastic Devotee
Servile Snarker
Sexy Discretion Shot: At the end of the first anime when he leans into Ciel to devour his soul. It looks as though soul-devouring requires some mouth action, but the scene just fades before he gets too close.
A Sinister Clue: He is left-handed.
Skewed Priorities: An early example happens when Sebastian discovers that Ciel has been kidnapped and Sebastian is most concerned about what will happen to his meat pie now when there is no one to eat it. Because it was an exceptionally good meat pie.
Slasher Smile: Occasionally when the situation warrants it.
Super Mode: Sebastian's true form.
Super Reflexes
Super Senses: Apparently all of them.
Super Speed: To the point where it's unknown whether he is able to teleport or if he's just that fast.
Tall, Dark and Handsome: He fits this trope to a T.
The Coats Are Off: He removes his tailcoat in his fight with Grell, and that's when things really get down.

Mey-rin

Voiced by Emiri Katou (JP) and Monica Rial (ENG)

Action Girl
Blind Without'Em: She is farsighted, and she treasures her glasses as the first item she got from Ciel as his maid. However, when she removes them...
Curtains Match the Window
Dojikko: She is incredibly clumsy with porcelain plates and such.
Meido
Meganekko
Ninja Maid: She's a sniper who can go Guns Akimbo.
Only One Name
Red Eyes, Take Warning
Spell My Name with an "S": Also spelled Mei Lin/Mei Rin/Maylene/etc.

Baldroy "Baldo"

Voiced by Hiroki Tochi (JP) and Ian Sinclair (ENG)

Lethal Chef
Only One Name
Oven Logic: He has tried to use a flamethrower for cooking, apprarently more than once. Even worse, he once tried to cook with an assault rifle. The results weren't good.
Perma-Stubble
Spell My Name with an "S": Baldo/Bard.
Stuff Blowing Up: The kitchen. Repeatedly.

Finnian "Finny"

Voiced by Yuuki Kaji (JP) and Jason Liebrecht (ENG)

Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass
Cute Bruiser
Does Not Know His Own Strength: He keeps breaking things by accident.
Hair Decorations
Hair of Gold: A male example.
Only One Name
Playing with Syringes: In his backstory.
Super Strength: One of his defining traits.

Tanaka

Voiced by Shunji Fujimura (JP) and R. Bruce Elliot (ENG)

Ho ho ho."

Cartoonish Companion: For the rest of the cast being drawn as a chibi is an exception. For Tanaka it's the rule.
Miniature Senior Citizens: He is scarcely more than knee-high in his chibi form.
Old Retainer
Only One Name
Super-Deformed: This actually is shown to be something people are aware of in some way in the anime. He can only remain in his normal form for a limited time before he becomes too tired to hold on to his mental clarity and becomes a chibi again.

Pluto

Voiced by Takafumi Yamaguchi (JP) and Z. Charles Bolton (ENG)

Big Friendly Dog: In a manner of speaking.
The Brute: Pluto is this To Ash/Angela.
Dogs Are Dumb
Hell Hound: Seems like the Hunter type.
Innocent Fanservice Boy
Naked on Arrival
Playing with Fire: Especially when commanded by Ash/Angela.
They Have the Scent: Used to track Lizzie when Drocell had her.
White-Haired Pretty Boy

Others

Elizabeth "Lizzy" Midford

Voiced by Yukari Tamura (JP) and Cherami Leigh (ENG)

Arranged Marriage: In one of the beginning chapters he says that he was forced to marry her and does not really want to. He does care for her, though.
Damsel in Distress: When is captured by Drocell.
Genki Girl
Girl with a Psycho Weapon: When she has been turned into a doll by a Drocell, she comes at Ciel wielding a huge axe.
The Glomp: She never hesitates at a chance to glomp Ciel.
Hair of Gold
Kawaiiko
Kissing Cousins: She and Ciel are cousins. Not that this was unusual for this time period.
Morality Chain: Her entire reason for existence seems to be keeping Ciel from falling into the abyss.
Princess Curls: In Mega Twintails.
Spoiled Sweet: She's used to getting what she wants but, for the most part, isn't a bad person for it.
Stepford Smiler: She keeps most of her fears and worries regarding Ciel to herself.

Angelina "Madam Red" Durless

Voiced by Romi Park (JP) and Lydia Mackay (ENG)

Anti-Villain: She does some monstrous things, but it's pretty hard not to have sympathy for her.
Curtains Match the Window
Bob Haircut
Evil Redhead: More like very broken redhead, though.
Fiery Redhead
Green-Eyed Monster: She envied her sister Rachel's blond hair and conventional beauty. Then Rachel snagged from Angelina certain Vincent Phantomhive.
I Am Not Pretty: When she was a child she believed that her red hair was ugly. Vincent convinced her otherwise.
I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: That's what she tried to convince herself to believe.
Important Haircut: Cutting her long bangs marked the beginning of her self-esteem.
Later on she cut her hair short all around when she started killing people.
Jack the Ripper
Lady in Red
Like a Son to Me: Ciel. This saves Ciel's life, actually. And costs her her own life.
Precocious Crush: On Lord Phantomhive, who would go on to marry her sister.
Red Eyes, Take Warning
Serial Killer
Shrinking Violet: When she was younger.
Stepford Smiler

Lau

Voiced by Kôji Yusa (JP) and Jerry Jewell (ENG)

Beware the Silly Ones
Eyes Always Shut: Lau sports a variation of this. His closed eyes are not upturned in a foxlike manner; rather, they're more U-shaped, giving him an air of calm.
Handsome Lech: Almost always seen with Ran-Mao in his lap… and occasionally hitting on Ciel.
inscrutable Oriental: It is hard to know what he is thinking.
Obfuscating Stupidity: Eventually he stops pretending.
Only One Name
Opium Den: Lau's occupation.
Yellow Peril

Ran-Mao

Voiced by Sayuri Yahagi (JP) and Trina Nishimura (ENG)

Anime Chinese Girl
Beware the Quiet Ones
Dual-Wielding: She has been seen to use two ornamental clubs.
Emotionless Girl
Eyes of Gold
Horned Hairdo
Incest Subtext: For supposed brother and sister, she and Lau are far, far too close physically. She even routinely sits on his lap.
Little Miss Badass
Mini-Dress of Power
Ms. Fanservice: Ran Mao, bearing cat ear-like Odango, having large breasts behind a clingy dress, showing off a lot of leg, being extremely flexible, and generally being very touchy-feely.
Odango: Shaped like cat ears. Yeahhh...
She's Got Legs
Show Some Leg: She gets set up to distract Sebastian with her legs. It doesn't work.
Spell My Name with an "S": Lan Mao vs. Ran Mao.
Qipao: A mini-dress version.
The Quiet One
The Stoic
Zettai Ryouiki

Undertaker

Voiced by Junichi Suwabe (JP) and John Swasey (ENG)

Blinding Bangs: Though Grell does brush them aside to find his beautiful eyes.
Cheshire Cat Grin
The Creepy Undertaker: He really plays up the morbid factor, sleeping in coffins and so on.
Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Everyone calls him "Undertaker".
Good Scars, Evil Scars: It's as if his skull's had to have been stitched back together... and maybe it has.
Knowledge Broker
Nice Hat
Nightmare Fetishist: Quite a few different examples, including cooing over how nice a corpse looks with its cuts.
No Sense of Personal Space: He tends to get a little too close for Ciel's comfort.
Perky Goth
Shinigami: He is a famous and respected ex-shinigami, now enjoying his retirement.
Take Our Word for It: We never find out what Sebastian did to make Undertaker laugh.
Too Kinky to Torture: Only in the anime.
Undertaker

Aleister Chambers (Viscount Druitt)

Aristocrats Are Evil: This viscount definitely is.
Bishounen
The Dandy: He is the dandiest dandy in a series in which a lot of people dress well.
Karma Houdini
Large Ham
Lolicon: As they say, he "likes women of all ages". He was quite taken by Ciel when he was disguised as a girl.
Long-Haired Pretty Boy
Purple Eyes

Fred Abberline

Voiced by Hisayoshi Suganuma (JP) and Jonathan Brooks (ENG)

Friend to All Children: He feels sorry for Ciel because he's a burdened child.
Go Out with a Smile: He interposes himself between Ciel and Lau's sword.
Heroic Sacrifice: See just above.
Named After Somebody Famous: Or rather, is someone famous.
Nice Guy

Grell Sutcliffe

Voiced by Jun Fukuyama (JP) and Daniel Fredrick (ENG)

All Girls Want Bad Boys: All the guys he seems to like.
Ambiguous Gender: There's still discussion among fans on whether or not he's a transsexual or just flamboyant gay. The Word of God is that he's gay.
Badass Long Hair / Badass Longcoat: The long coat in question being the coat he took from Madam Red as she died.
Camp Gay: Though it's heavily implied that he was romantically involved with Madam Red...
Chainsaw Good: Yes, in Victorian Era England.
Cheshire Cat Grin: This seems to be a popular trope for the characters of this series.
Combat Sadomasochist
Depraved Bisexual: He actually did fall in love with Madam Red, so he could be considered bisexual.
Drag Queen
Evil Is Stylish
Evil Redhead
Fangs Are Evil
Friendly Enemy: When it comes to Sebastian in the anime. Although apparently Grell thinks it's more complicated than that.
In Love with Your Carnage: This was likely the reason he fell in love with Madam Red and Sebastian in the first place.
Interplay of Sex and Violence: With Sebastian.
Jack the Ripper: He is one half of "Jack The Ripper", being Madam Red's accomplice in murdering the prostitutes.
Jerkass Dissonance: Most fans seem to completely ignore his ruthless and sadistic streak and tend to portray him as something completely different.
Long Hair Is Feminine
Love At First Punch: Sebastian. (And Will too, for this one. It seems he likes them both for the cold shoulders they give him. And the bruises.)
Mad Love
Meaningful Name/Partially Named After Somebody Famous: He shares a surname with the original Jack the Ripoff.
Rapunzel Hair
- Slasher Smile
Transsexualism: The fandom debate is heated and endless.
Trans Equals Gay: The source of much confusion and disagreement.
Weapon of Choice: The chainsaw he uses as his Death Scythe... even though it gets taken away in the anime and replaced with scissors. As a result, he is mostly reduced to comic relief since. He gets it back in season 2, though.
Villain Decay: He went from being one half of Jack the Ripper and the murderer of Ciel's aunt to a non-threatening goofball with safety scissors and a crush on Sebastian.

Angela Blanc

Voiced by Akiko Yajima (JP) and Colleen Clinkenbeard (ENG)

All Women Are Lustful
Angelic Beauty
Fallen Angel
Gender Bender: She is the same person as Ash.
Holier Than Thou
Knight Templar
Light Is Not Good
Man Behind the Man
Meaningful Name: Blanc is French for white. Nice name for someone obsessed by purity. Angela of course refers to her/him being an angel.
Meido
Moral Myopia: It seems that, to Ash/Angela, everyone but him/herself is impure. When s/he kills indiscriminately, alters memories and bangs pretty much anything (including Pluto), it's all good. But little girls who might someday become impure adults? Make 'em into dolls. Does an undyingly loyal Battle Butler Mannequinn dare break? Dump it. Cultists who followed your every word? All useless. The otherwise loyal queen who dares cling to her husband's body? Leave her to die. That kid that wants revenge because you personally ruined his life? SNUFF HIM OUT!
Our Angels Are Different
Perpetual Molt
Of Corsets Sexy
Purple Eyes
Set the World on Fire: The plan.
Whip It Good
White-Haired Pretty Girl
Wounded Gazelle Gambit
Zettai Ryouiki

Soma Asman Kadar

Voiced by Shinnosuke Tachibana (JP) and Chris Ayres (ENG)

Bishounen
Break the Haughty: As the result of a vicious "The Reason You Suck" Speech given by Sebastian and having been abandoned by Agni.
Eyes of Gold
Heterosexual Life Partners: He and Agni care deeply about each other; they are always together.
Ignorant of Their Own Ignorance: At least at first.
Parental Abandonment: His parents didn't see him much and pretty much let him run free.
Small Name, Big Ego: Apparently no one ever gave him any criticism when he was a child. He grew up with more than a little distorted idea of his own abilities.
Spoiled Brat
Terrible Artist: And entirely unaware of it. His sitar-playing isn't any better either.
Trademark Favorite Food: He loves curry.

Agni

Voiced by Hiroki Yasumoto (JP) and Patrick Seitz (ENG)

Battle Butler
Bishounen
Chef of Iron: Also, a Supreme Chef.
Dark-Skinned Blond
Heterosexual Life Partners: He and Soma care deeply about each other; they are always together.
Important Haircut: Marked the beginning of his relationship with Soma.
I Owe You My Life: Towards Soma.
Only One Name
Super Mode: Samadhi.
Tears of Blood: When in a state of samadhi.
Undying Loyalty: Towards Soma.

Queen Victoria

Voiced by Ayako Kawasumi (JP), (young) Alexis Tipton (ENG) and (old) Bridgett Dahl (ENG)

Bodyguard Betrayal: In the end she gets murdered by Ash.
Body Horror: It turns out that Ash has stitched her body together with pieces from her beloved Albert's corpse. Which starts to rot.
Friend to All Children: She has a particular soft spot towards children, calling them "the future".
White-Haired Pretty Girl: Under her black shroud, she turns out to have become very young. She might qualify as a Token Loli.
Yandere: For Albert. Of the worst sort.

Ash Landers

Voiced by Satoshi Hino (JP) and Chuck Huber (ENG)

Angelic Beauty
Battle Butler
Fallen Angel
Gender Bender: He is the same person as Angela.
Holier Than Thou
Knight Templar
Light Is Not Good
Man Behind the Man
Moral Myopia: See the Angela's section above.
Meaningful Name: Ash relates to "cleansing" with fire and Landers to him being a fallen angel.
Our Angels Are Different
Perpetual Molt
- Feather Flechettes
Purple Eyes
Set the World on Fire: The plan.
White-Haired Pretty Boy

Drocell Keinz

Voiced by Anri Katsu (JP) and Sonny Strait (ENG)

"Therefore, I reason for a superior present to be given to a very dear person, the most suitable thing would be your very self."

Affably Evil
Artificial Human: It's painfully obvious even before straw starts spilling out of his head.
Creepy Doll
Evil Redhead
Ironic Nursery Tune: He changes the lyrics in My Fair Lady, more commonly known as London Bridge Is Falling Down, to whatever he plans to use in the creation of their doll. It also controls the dolls he's already made.
- This is actually based on a longer version of the song, in which the bridge is rebuilt with the different materials he uses for dolls, but they all fail to stay up somehow
Perverse Puppet: He makes dolls based on real people and uses them to fight. He also happens to be one himself.
Marionette Master
Purple Eyes
Razor Floss: Deals with someone with this.
Undying Loyalty: Drocell's devotion to his master is absolute, even when Sebastian splits his head open and spills the straw filling his head. He still gets up to report on the intruders and his own failure before collapsing dead.
- Sebastian: "Perhapse I judged him too hastily. He may well be, one hell of a butler."
Verbal Tic: "I reasoned".

Paula

Voiced by Yui Itsuki (JP) and Jessica Cavanagh (ENG)

"Jingle jingle!"

Elizabeth's personal maid. She seems to be a nice girl, though little is known of her.

Canon Immigrant: Originally an anime-only character, she later makes multiple appearances in the manga.
Catch Phrase: "Jingle jingle!" in the anime.
Meido: She works as Elizabeth's personal maid.
So Unfunny It's Funny: Her attempts at cheering Lizzie up in the anime are very awkward, but endearing.

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