< Black Cat (manga)

Black Cat (manga)/Characters


Main Cast

Train Heartnet

Formerly Chrono No. XIII, nicknamed the Black Cat for the bad luck he brought his targets, Train abandoned his career as an assassin to become a Sweeper: a licensed bounty-hunter. Easy going and friendly, Train just wants to live his life freely. Unfortunately, as the re-emergence of his ex-partner Creed Diskenth proves, Train's past may not be as far behind him as he thinks...

Sven Vollfied

Train's partner, Sven is a former agent with the International Bureau of Investigations (IBI). He considers himself a gentlemen, and believes one should always treat women with respect. His infamous trick briefcase, and Vision Eye allow him to be a highly effective Sweeper.

Eve

An eleven-year-old girl taken in by Train and Sven, Eve started life as a biological weapon, created by mob boss Torneo, and commissioned by Creed Diskenth. The shapeshifting nanomachines in her blood let her fight on Train and Sven's level.

  • Badass Adorable: Awww...
    • Badass Bookworm: Can remember the contents from every book she has read, and uses this to her advantage to take a level in badass.
  • The Big Guy: Eve is physically the most powerful member of the team, and is borderline bulletproof. She frequently uses herself to shield others, and while she's quite bright, her strategy for defeating enemies typically relies on hitting them very hard.
  • Break the Cutie: Durham tried this and uses Eve's blood to leave her friends a message.
  • Cute Bruiser: No matter how misanthropic you are, it's tough to deny that Eve's a cute little girl.
  • Elegant Gothic Lolita
  • Genius Bruiser: She read every book Train and Sven own, and memorised them. She's also pretty good with technology, which likely stems from the nanomachines inside her. Also capable of being surprisingly tricky in combat, as she establishes against both Kelly Barris, and Leon.
  • MacGuffin Girl: In the Anime. She gets better.
  • Precocious Crush: On Sven. Interestingly enough, she finds Train's relationship with Sven enough of a threat to be jealous of Train. Fangirls have interpretations of what this means.
    • And amusingly enough, there's apparently a pretty large portion of the fanbase that thinks she has more chemistry with Train herself.
  • Prehensile Hair: Shapeshifting prehensile hair, no less.
  • Shapeshifter Weapon: Her entire schtick consists of changing shape throughout a battle, picking the best form as required by circumstance.
  • Tagalong Kid : She starts out as one before she improved her control of her nanomachines.
  • The Rival: She views Train as her 'rival', both as a Sweeper (her goal is to one day be stronger than him) and for Sven's attention. It annoys her to no end that he doesn't really take this very seriously and seems to prefer teasing her about it than returning the thought.
    • Alternately her rivalry with Train can be seen as a type of sibling rivalry on some levels, as Sven is definitely the most mature of the trio, and considering how she was raised Sven is probably the closest thing to a father figure she has. add in the fact Train acts as childlike as he does Eve could very well see Train almost as an older brother who is competent enough that she feels the need to prove to "Papa Sven" that she's at least as competent as him, if not better. Unfortunately for her, proving that doesn't seem to be happening any time soon, if ever.
  • Sugar and Ice Personality: At first appears to be an Emotionless Girl, and even once she gets over it she's still rather cool and quiet. She's also intelligent, loyal, insatiably curious, and one of the kindest people in the series.
  • Took a Level in Badass: Eve is a textbook example of how to do this well. When she starts out she can only shift her hands into blades, and at best serves as a distraction when capturing bounties. She later upgrades to being the knockout weapon, and as the series progresses, is even able to take down a few bounties with little to no help from Train and Sven, becoming a fully liscenced Sweeper. Her shapeshifting also improves, allowing her to do full-body transformations. All her training comes together for her book 15 battle against Leon, which, in addition to being one of the series' best fights, demonstrates just how far Eve has come.
  • Tyke Bomb: She was raised by Torneo to be a weapon, and a murderer before she was eleven years old. Defused, and subsequently adopted by Sven.
  • Unlimited Wardrobe
  • Voluntary Shapeshifter

Rinslet Walker

A thief-for-hire who contracts Train and Sven for help with a job, Rinslet later becomes a part-time member of the team.

Chronos

No. I, Sephiria Arks

The leader of the Chrono Numbers, Sephiria is tasked with eliminating threats to Chronos, especially Creed Diskenth and his Apostles of the Stars.

  • Badass: After Train and ( superpowered Creed) Sephiria is the most powerful person in the series.
  • Big Good: Tries to be, she really does.
  • Fragile Speedster: Very quick, graceful, and light on her feet. She's actually quite durable too, but comes off looking like this trope when compared to freakish Lightning Bruiser Creed.
  • Hot Chick with a Sword: Fits the trope almost perfectly; elegant and dignified, never truly on the main cast's side and has little problem with manipulating them for her own ends... and of course, wields a sword and is really, really hot.
  • Implausible Fencing Powers: She can balance a wineglass on her sword. Without spilling a drop.
    • Balance? She can juggle the wineglass. On the tip of her sword. Not to mention her ultimate attack, wherein her sword can (somehow) disintegrate people.
  • Lady of War: Beautiful, elegant, soft-spoken... and the only person in the series other than Train who actually comes close to beating Creed one-on-one.
    • To heck with coming close. If Creed hadn't already had the Immortality Nanomachines implanted she would have beaten him. Several times. Sephira's awesome.
  • Manipulative Bitch
  • A Mother To Her Men: She genuinely cares for the other Numbers, and is even seen crying over the death of Beluga.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure
  • The Smurfette Principle: She's the only female Chronos Number.
  • Super Speed: Sephira's fast as a matter of course, but a few of her attacks nudge her into this territory.
  • Tyke Bomb: "I was raised to serve Chronos".

No. II, Belze Rochefort

The second-in-command of the Chrono Numbers, Belze is extremely loyal to Sephira. He tends to handle day-to-day matters and interacts with their subordinates more often then she does. An utter Badass.

  • Badass: Just watch his match against Charden and Kyoko.
  • Blade on a Stick: His weapon of choice.
  • Crazy Prepared: Belze didn't know about Kyoko's fire-manipulating abilities. That didn't stop him from showing up to their fight in a flame-proof trenchcoat. As Charden puts it, "Got to hand it to the Numbers: they come prepared."
  • Knight in Sour Armor: Knows that Chronos isn't the nicest group of people, but also knows that without them the world will be overrun with anarchy.
  • Number Two: In addition to the obvious, he serves as Sephira's second-in-command.

No. III, Emilio Lowe

Doesn't make an appearance in the manga. He's one of the Zero Numbers in the anime.

No. IV, Kranz Maduke

Using enhanced senses to compensate for eye damage, blind Number Krantz can most often be found in the company of his partner, Baldor.

No. V, Nizer Bruckheimer

The leader of Chronos' Cerberus commando team, Nizer has some personal issues with Creed, stemming from the death of the previous No. X, Ash.

No. VI, Anubis

A giant black wolf capable of human speech who is the last Chronos Number to be introduced. Anime only.

No. VII, Jenos Hazard

Chrono Number VII fancies himself a ladies man and can be a bit of an idiot, but he's definitely a useful person to have around in a fight. A member of the Cerberus commando unit.

  • Bishounen: Although not nearly as extreme as some of the other examples on this page. He's at least recognisably male.
  • Bunny Ears Assassin
  • Casanova Wannabe: He never once succeeds at picking up women, despite trying multiple times throughout the series. His character profile even notes that he has a remarkably low success rate.
  • Chivalrous Pervert: Don't try and hurt a girl in front of him. Especially Rinslet.
  • Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass
  • Names to Run Away From Really Fast: Jenos "Hazard". As in dangerous. As in, will cut you to pieces with wires if you don't get your hands off that girl.
  • Razor Floss: Uses it as his main weapon, doing everything from catching Rinslet, to deflecting Beluga's shot at Nizer, and severing Creed's arm.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: Outside of the elders of Chronos, the Chrono Numbers are noted as being among the top of the command chain, and Sven even reacts to one of Jenos' appearances as finally being able to talk with someone sensible from Chronos.
  • Takahiro Sakurai
  • Token Good Teammate: Okay, the Numbers aren't exactly evil per say, but their morality is pretty loose at the best of times, something that Jenos has some obvious problems with. Especially when it comes to the idea of sacrificing his teammates.

No. VIII, Baldorias S. Fanghini

Some people join Chronos because they believe they can use it's power and influence to make a difference in the world. Baldor (as he is usually called), is not one of them. If the Numbers give out "Most Unpleasant" awards, this guy will be the winner, every time.

  • Axe Crazy: Easily the most openly sadistic, overly ruthless, and clearly unstable member of the Numbers, Baldor derives enjoyment from bullying and tormenting others, and likes his job far, far too much. Even the other Numbers are wary around him.
    • Just in case you didn't realize that he was completely insane when you first saw him, Belze has a line where he mentions that he (Baldor) and Kranz wiped out an entire town at some point. Maybe an exaggeration, but still...
  • Badass Beard/ Beard of Evil: He is undoubtedly Badass. And he has a classic, evil goatee.
  • Bash Brothers: With Krantz.
  • Epic Flail: His weapon of choice is a very long, very heavy chain ending in what is essentially a bowling ball. It lacks the handle, but remains a most Epic Flail.
  • He Who Fights Monsters: Baldor is almost as bad as the people he hunts down.
  • Improbable Weapon User: A flail? Fine. A flail that has a rocket on the head so he can remote-control it after throwing it? Now you're getting weird.
  • Jerkass: All the time. When he isn't being psychotic, he's giving cold-hearted, Hannibal Lecture-ish speeches on the pointlessness of sparing your enemies or showing mercy, and criticising the heroes' way of living. Not even his Badassery can keep him from coming off as a completely unlikeable, unflinchingly brutal creep.
  • Psycho for Hire: Borderline example. The only thing keeping him out of it is his steady employment with Chronos.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Red Oni to Kranz's Blue Oni.
  • Slasher Smile: More frequently than most of the villains. If you see Baldor, chances are he'll be sporting one of these.
    • He even has one after getting hit in the head with a steel briefcase! He may be a total lunatic but you have to admit he's a Badass.
  • Token Evil Teammate: He definitely makes an appropriate counter to Jenos.
  • Tyke Bomb: Raised from birth to become an assassin. Considering that, is it really a surprise he turned out how he did?

No. IX, David Papper

The only black member of the Numbers, he appears to be good friends with Jenos. Anime only.

No. X, Lin Shao Lee

Chronos' master of disguise can make himself look like almost anything.

  • Bishonen
  • Cultured Badass
  • Dude Looks Like a Lady
  • Hitman with a Heart: He's frightening in combat, but surprisingly cheerful outside of it. He also feels an obligation to the Sweepers he got involved in the battle with Creed, and goes out of his way to bail them out.
  • Improbable Weapon User: It's a blanket. It's made of Orichalcum cloth. He uses it something like a ribbon dancer in rhythmic gymnastics, as a combination of whip and shield, and makes kicking his opponents' asses look elegant and graceful.
  • Master of Disguise: He can look like just about anyone, to the point where it borders on Shapeshifting.
    • Paper-Thin Disguise: Amusingly, given the above, his longest-running disguise really just looks like himself wearing a pair of glasses. Though, as he points out, he doesn't really need an elaborate disguise given that none of the people he's trying to fool know what his real face looks like.

No. XI, Beluga J. Heard

The final member of the Cerberus commando unit, Beluga is easily one of the most physically-imposing characters in series, a fact which his ridiculous name somehow fails to detract from.

  • Bash Brothers: With Nizer.
  • BFG: His bazooka is huuuge! It can also transform, doubling as a Big Freakin' Hammer.
  • The Big Guy: For the entirety of the Chrono Numbers.
  • Big Guy Fatality Syndrome
  • Drop the Hammer: His bazooka converts into a gigantic sledge in a matter of seconds.
  • ( Heroic Sacrifice: As he and the other members of Cerberus flee Creed's castle, the ceiling collapses. Beluga stays behind, holding it up while Jenos hauls the half-dead Nizer out. If you've gotta go, that is the way to do it.)
  • The Quiet One: At least in comparison to Nizer and Jenos.

No. XII, Mason Ordrosso

The oldest member of the Numbers and a veteran of the Tao Wars. Mason makes only a brief cameo in the manga, but plays a major role in the anime as the Big Bad.

Apostles of the Stars

Creed Diskenth

A complete and utter nut-job, Creed is Train's former partner from his assassin days, before he became a Chrono Number. Completely incapable of understanding other people's emotions, or even basic social conventions, Creed murdered Train's not-girlfriend Saya and is now intent on forcing him to join up with his revolution against Chronos. The strongest antagonist in the series, he is not to be trifled with.

  • Achilles' Heel: He tells both Sephira and Train that if they can destroy his brain, his new Healing Factor won't be able to save him. Destroying the Imagine Blade at Level 3 is eventually revealed to be a second one, which even Creed was unaware of.
  • A God Am I
  • Arch Enemy: There is no one that Train wants to take down more.
  • Ambiguously Gay: And how! About the only thing that keeps it ambiguous is that he never comes right out and says "I love you Train!"
  • The Antichrist
  • Axe Crazy
  • Big Bad: The only one, unusual given that it's a Shonen series.
  • Bishonen
  • Blade Below the Shoulder: As part of his Body Horror
  • Badass Abnormal: Creed was already extremely dangerous—as in capable of blocking bullets with his sword—before Shiki came along and said, "Hey, want to unlock your inner potential? Just drink this Tao elixir." He spends most of the series continually upgrading his potential, resulting in his use of the Immortality Nanomachines in his last battles against Sephira and Train.
  • Bad Boss: Creed has no problem murdering subordinates who disobey orders, no matter what the effect may be on the morale of his other henchmen.
  • Body Horror: After he activates his Imagine Blade Level Three. It fuses with him, adding an extra arm, complete with far too many eyes and transforms his real arm into a sword. Because Creed just wasn't vile enough apparently.
  • Camp Gay
  • Combat Sadomasochist: Especially prominent when fighting Train where he cackles and grins like a crazy maniac. At one point, he invites Train to shoot him, 'binding them forever'. With a twisted smile on his face, of course. He becomes quite upset when Echidna and Charden stop the bullet from going through his head. He could have just as easily moved his blade a few inches to the side and slice Train's neck.
  • Cool Sword: It's invisible. ( its secondary mode on the other hand, is less Cool, and more creepy. As for mode three...).
  • Depraved Homosexual/Depraved Bisexual: We're not sure which, but he's a depraved something or other - as long as it involves Train. With emphasis on the Depraved.
  • Mr. Fanservice
  • Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Creed is the living embodiment of this, although it at times verges on "Insanity Cannot Comprehend Sanity." Literally every problem in series was triggered by Creed's inability to process, or even understand ordinary human feeling. Creed honestly can't understand why his murder of Saya would prevent Train from wanting to join him. Similarly, it leaves him unable to understand why his Bad Boss tendencies will lead to poor morale among his subordinates. Creed seems to see people as existing apart from one another, and as such social cause and effect has almost no meaning for him, which only fuels his issues.
  • Evil Counterpart: To Train. While their personalities are quite different, morally he's who the Black Cat might have become, had he not met Saya. He was even considered for the position of Number XIII but was passed over due to his mental instability.
  • Evil Laugh: Constantly. Just in case we hadn't figured out that he was completely nuts.
  • Faux Affably Evil
  • Foe Yay: He is the incarnation of Foe Yay itself.
  • Freudian Excuse: He was abandoned by his mom, who blamed him for the lack of men in her life. He later lived on the streets, and was assaulted by the police on at least one occasion before joining Chronos.
  • Green-Eyed Monster: Toward Train, and anyone who he percieves as coming between the two of them.
  • Hair-Trigger Temper: And it's not played for laughs, being linked to both his Bad Boss and Axe Crazy tendencies.
  • Healing Factor: The whole point of the immortality nanomachines; no matter what is done to him, they restore him to perfect condition in a matter of moments. He claims the only way to stop him would be to destroy his brain, but Train gets around that.
  • Hoist by His Own Petard: Creed's attempt to turn Sven into a monster to get Train to join him again gave Train the ability to use the rail gun shot that destroyed the Imagine Blade and literally broke Creed's mind.
  • If I Can't Have You: He eventually comes to this conclusion as a last resort, when he finally realizes that Train probably is not going to change his mind and become Creed's partner. Heck, he even mentions that if he can't make him come to his side to rule the world, he'll just keep him by his side as a dead body. This disturbs Train only slightly (considering it's pretty tame compared to some of the other crap Creed does).
  • Immortality: Wants it desperately.
  • Implausible Fencing Powers
  • In Love with Your Carnage: Towards Train.
  • Katanas Are Just Better: His kotetsu blade, before Saya broke it.
  • Lack of Empathy: As discussed under Evil Cannot Comprehend Good, Creed seems to be incapable of empathising with anyone. Not only does he casually murder subordinates who fail him, but he doesn't seem to comprehend why this behaviour would bother the other members of his team; similarly he does not understand why his killing of Saya prevents Train from wanting to join him.
  • Large Ham
  • Lightning Bruiser: Of the hardhitting speedster variety. Creed's almost as quick as Sephira (save when she uses her Super Speed) and inflicts blows that regularly shatter the architecture around him.
  • Murder the Hypotenuse: "Oh, so you're the cause of why Train won't come to me! Time for you to Die." (He attempts this at least three times, with at least three different people.)
  • Nietzsche Wannabe
  • No Sense of Humour
  • No Social Skills: A hammy variant
  • One-Winged Angel: Twice, once against Sephira and once against Train. Made worse because you really don't see it coming.
  • Power Born of Madness: Creed's Villainous Breakdowns and Freak Outs only serve to fuel his already monstrous abilities.
  • Scenery Censor: Creed is pretty much the character that is seen butt-naked the most in the entire series. Though one of the more infamous moments with this is when he's in a bathtub daydreaming and moaning about Train, only for his privates to be covered by strategically floating rose petals.
  • Single-Target Sexuality: Creed is most definitely Train-sexual. Poor Echidna, she doesn't have a chance.
  • Slasher Smile
  • Smug Snake
  • The Sociopath
  • Stalker with a Crush: His obsession with, and borderline hero-worship of Train definitely comes off as this. He's like a fangirl gone horribly wrong. Some notable examples include him searching for and stalking Train for two years (with photos he took of Train and the people who are getting between him and Train), spying on Train and Saya's bantering and playful interactions (all while getting pissed off to the point of clenching his fists until they're bleeding, while cursing Saya for daring to come near his Train), following Train and getting orgasms while Train went around killing people, using Shiki's insects as spy cameras to watch Train as he sleeps...
  • Suck My Rose
  • Villainous Breakdown: A couple of times. It only makes him more dangerous, as his insanity fuels his powers.
  • Villainous BSOD: After Train refuses to kill him. He's left comatose in a wheelchair.
    • Also after Train intercepts the injection of nanites that Creed was going to use to turn Sven into a monster. Train even notes that Creed shouldn't have used it if he wasn't prepared to deal with every possible outcome.
  • Walking Shirtless Scene: His later clothes have his chest constantly exposed.
  • White-Haired Pretty Boy: Definitely. It's sometimes hard to tell his gender.
  • Wicked Cultured.
  • Yandere

Charden Flamberg

One of Creed's Apostles, and one of the first ones we meet. Always dressed like he just stepped out of a Gothic novel.

Doctor

One of Creed's closest and most fanatical followers, the Doctor is one scary SOB who shows utterly no remorse for his actions and sees the entire world as test subjects for his experiments.

  • Badass Labcoat
  • Complete Monster
  • Continuity Drift: What are his Tao powers, exactly?
  • Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": No name is given as of the last volume. You know what? I don't think we want one.
  • Evil Genius: Along with Echidna and Shiki, the Doctor forms the Apostles' uppermost rank, taking orders directly from Creed, instead of through Shiki like the rest of the group. His function seems to be providing Creed with the latest technology, and setting the overall agenda whenever Creed is absent.
  • Evilutionary Biologist: Werewolves, bioweapons, berserker-rage inducing drugs...what will he think of next?
  • For Science!: That in a nutshell, is his motivation for why he does what he does.
  • Four Eyes, Zero Soul
  • Karma Houdini: His ending up homeless in the streets just doesn't seem like enough, given what he's done.
  • Knife Nut: Flying mentally created scalpels to be exact.
  • Mad Doctor: No kidding!
  • Mad Scientist: His motive for joining Creed was to gain access to test subjects.
  • The Medic: Proof that even this trope can be used for evil. The Doctor is the rare, non-heroic, and utterly sadistic version, using his abilities to keep Creed and the other Apostles going, no matter how badly injured they may be.
  • Mind Screw: His powers run on this, trapping you in a world of his imagining, where the people you love most appear to be trying to kill you.
  • Scary Shiny Glasses
  • Smug Snake

Deak Slathky

One of the later additions to the Apostles of the Stars. Likes to hurt women. A lot.

Durham Glaster

A cowboyish-looking man, who can channel his Chi into his guns, vastly increasing their power. Challenges Train for the title of the Ultimate Gunman.

Echidna Parass

One of the higher-ranking Apostles, Echidna has direct access to Creed, and often conveys his orders to the rest of the Taoists. Her ability to teleport makes her very, very dangerous.

  • Combat Pragmatist: Has no problem shooting people in the back if she thinks it will help Creed on his way to victory.
  • The Dark Chick: Along with Shiki and the Doctor, Echidna takes her instructions directly from Creed himself. In addition to being the group's only female member, following Kyoko's desertion, she is the only member of Apostles' upper-echelon with a positive reason for joining.
  • Defector From Decadence: In an odd way. She was a movie star before becoming Creed's right-hand woman.
  • Love Martyr: To Creed, who is far too busy obsessing over Train to notice.
  • Teleporters and Transporters: Creates gates through which she can walk. She can also create smaller ones, teleporting guns, grenades and other weapons into position for a sneak attack.
  • Villain Teleportation: She's a villain. She teleports. At the end of the day she's more or less Creed's getaway-woman.
  • You Gotta Have Blue Hair: Greenish-bluish actually.

Kyoko Kirisaki

Often seen working with Charden, Kyoko is an Ordinary High School Student - or so she seems to be.

Leon Elliott

A young boy who serves as one of the most dangerous, if inexperienced members of Creed's faction.

  • Attack! Attack! Attack!: Crossed with Evil Is Dumb. Leon's strategy against Eve pretty much boils down to "Hit it 'till it stops moving." As Eve points out that Leon could easily have beaten her by sucking all the air out of her lungs, but didn't because she deliberately kept him too enraged, causing him to focus on trying to cut her in half instead. Likely Justified by his age: I don't know many seventh-graders who are really into that whole "strategy" thing.
  • Blow You Away: Leon has the power to manipulate the wind, using for both offensive and defensive purposes, as well as flight.
  • Child Terrorist: After living through a never-ending civil war, where the government ignored the plight of people like himself, Leon thinks that this is the only way to get the "stupid grown-ups" to listen.
  • Freudian Excuse: Leon's parents died when he was four, and he was raised by his sister, who died three years prior to the series start, leaving him with the impression that good people are always the first to die.
  • Heel Face Turn: At the very end, he saves Train and Creed from falling to their deaths, an act which helps him dodge the Karma Houdini status of many of the other Apostles.
  • Most Writers Are Adults: Surprisingly averted. Leon's behaviour is pretty much what you'd expect from an especially sadistic twelve-year-old.
  • Nietzsche Wannabe In-Training: "The good people...the naive people...they die first." Leon is one bleak-minded little jerk, stemming from a history of very grim life experiences. He's not quite Creed yet, but he's getting there.
  • Not Quite Flight
  • Politically-Incorrect Villain: Consistently mocks and looks down on Eve for being a girl. Justified and perhaps even excusable due to the fact that he's still at the "girls have cooties" age.
  • Razor Wind: Uses it against Eve several times.
  • Sky Surfing: Uses a surfboard propelled by his own wind powers.
  • Story-Breaker Power: As Eve points out, Leon could kill just about anyone in story by dispersing the air that they need to breath. Fortunately, being all of 12, he doesn't think of this.
  • You Gotta Have Blue Hair

Maro

Hailing from the birthplace of the Tao, Maro is one of the original members of the Apostles of the Stars, and affects the appearance of a sumo wrestler. Shiki seems to hold him in relatively high regard among the Taoists.

  • Acrofatic: For a guy that big, he can move!
  • Berserk Button: Calling him "fat" or insinuating that he's obese.
  • The Brute: For some reason I don't think that Maro's ever heard the word, "subtle." Also an example in a Five-Bad Band sense, as of the Apostles who take orders from Shiki instead of Creed, he seems to be the highest-ranking.
  • Gravity Master: Controls the gravity in the area immediately around him, and can direct compressed "gravity bombs" at his opponents.

Preta Ghoul

A late addition to the Apostles of the Stars, and a nasty one at that. Preta is a former preacher who turned mass murderer. Has the power to make stuff rot just by touching it.

Shiki

A founding member of the Apostles of the Star and the one who first introduced Creed to Taoist powers. The most powerful of the group after Creed himself, Shiki is a true Tao master who serves as both the Apostles' second-in-command and one of their more dangerous field agents.

  • The Beast Master: Uses Summon Magic to create and augment giant insects.
  • (Bishonen: Much to everyone's surprise.
  • Cool Mask: Keeps his entire face covered in purple bandages to conceal his appearance. Also a case of Mask of Power: it stores his Chi and reroutes it through him, allowing his strength to charge while he wears it. When the mask comes off… watch out, Train.
  • Cool Sword: Uses a sword forged from Tao seals against Train. It throws fire!
  • The Dragon: To Creed. He's his most powerful follower, commands the defence of the island, and has to be defeated before Train can enter Creed's mansion. With the exception of Echidna and the Doctor, Creed's orders to the other Apostles are sent through him, and he serves as a field commander while Creed is occupied. It's worth noting that it takes River and Train cooperating to bring him down.
    • Dragon with an Agenda: Shiki couldn't care less about defeating Chronos or bringing revolution to the world. He's just out to prove that the Tao is the world's most superior weapon, and he'll hurt however many people he has to in order to do it.
  • Glass Cannon: Shiki's regular attacks do more damage than anything this side of Train's rail-gun, Sephira's last attack and Creed's final release. Good thing he's a Squishy Wizard.
  • Malevolent Masked Man: Or boy as it turns out.
  • Psychotic Smirk: Seems to be his default expression once the mask comes off.
  • Squishy Wizard/Weak but Skilled: Shiki is maybe five feet tall, slender, and unimposing, especially once the mask comes off. He relies on seals, barriers, and various powers of the Tao to keep him safe, in both distance and close-range combat, avoiding getting hit until near the very end of his battle with Train. (When Train finally does hit him, he goes down from a single attack). Unusual for a villain, but pulled off well.
  • Summon Magic: His most commonly used combat technique is the ability to summon assorted giant insects to fight on his behalf.
  • White-Haired Pretty Boy: He's revealed to be one without his mask. He looks about twelve to boot.

Eathes

An ape that has taken the Tao elixir, and who has gained the ability to copy others based on who he sends his spirit out to copy.

  • Creative Sterility: While Eathes can duplicate the skills and knowledge of anyone, he's unable to apply it in any way to make something new.
  • Curb Stomp Battle: Train takes out Eathes with a single kick to the head. In this case, Eathes was still quite conscious and could have continued fighting; he just knew he was outmatched and decides to switch tactics.
  • Everything's Better with Monkeys: Based on his design, Eathes is likely some variety of orangutan.
  • Humanity Is Infectious: Eathes is stated to start thinking of himself as more and more human each time that he uses his ability. By the time of the final battle, it's suggested that he just thinks of himself as an ape-shaped human. Avoids developing empathy, though, likely due to the fact that he spends much of his time around The Doctor and Creed.
  • I Surrender, Suckers: Pretends to pull a Heel Face Turn to take out the main trio while they're distracted, but they see through it.
  • Mega Manning: His main ability.
  • Nice Hat
  • Pointy Ears: The main distinguishing feature of Eathes' human transformations (besides, of course, keeping his hat and robes).
  • Stealth Pun: A monkey with the power to imitate (i.e. "monkeying" or "aping") the abilities of others.
  • Voluntary Shapeshifting: Once Eathes has used his spirit to copy someone, he can transform into said person at will. It's implied that he must transform into that person to be able to use their skills.

The Demon Star Force

A group of five Mooks specially altered with robotic technology. They confront Sven, Eve, Baldor, Kranz, Jenos, and Shaolee in the final album of the manga.

Sweeper Alliance

River Zastory

A member of the Sweeper Alliance, and probably it's strongest after Train. He's been a Sweeper for five years when we meet him, and is a master of the Garbell Commando, a martial arts form that lets him—wait for it—punch bullets out of the air.

  • Badass: God yes! He may look like a refugee from Dragonball Z, but damn he can fight. He even manages to avoid letting his Charles Atlas Superpower make him look ridiculous, a feat in and of itself.
  • Bare-Fisted Monk: Goes in unarmed when everyone else is packing an arsenal.
    • Power Fist: His one concession to practicality are his gauntlets, which tend to come in handy when punching bullets, acid-skinned psychopaths and whatnot.
  • Butt Monkey: In the anime, he's gets lost in the sewers, constantly attacked and shown to be incompetent in his first appearance, mocked by everyone else due to his cowardly like personality and tends to get his ass kicked a lot. Subverted in the manga where this role goes to Kevin instead.
  • Charles Atlas Superpower: He punches bullets. Out of midair. Badass.
  • Clothing Damage: Against Preta Ghoul.
  • Determinator: Almost to the same degree as Train. He's been shot, blown up, had his ribs cracked by a giant insect, and gotten up every time.
  • Gentle Giant
  • Lovable Coward: In the anime.
  • No Sense of Direction: In the anime, River somehow manages to get lost and wander into a sewer.
  • The Rival: Becomes one to Train, albeit of the friendly variety. Instead of fighting one another, he decides they should have a contest to see who can capture Creed first.
  • You Gotta Have Pink Hair: However, in the manga he's blonde.
  • Younger Than They Look: He looks to be one of the older sweepers but he's in fact 19.

Kevin MacDougal

A young sweeper who allies with Eve following Shiki's assault on the Sweeper Alliance's boat. Rumored to have brought down an entire drug cartel by himself.

  • Badass Normal: Possibly the most realistic version in the entire manga.
  • Bishounen
  • Butt Monkey: Kevin just gets pounded all throughout the final arc. He's wounded in the landing, Leon kicks his ass, Train kicks his ass (In one shot! Entirely by accident!), and to cap it all off he almost dies Taking the Bullet for Eve. Poor guy...
    • To be fair, this only applies in the manga as in the anime, the role of the Butt Monkey goes to Rivers.
  • Expy: He looks a lot like Cloud and acts like him in the manga while the anime seems to aim for acting like Zack.
  • Guns Akimbo: He uses two as his default weapons.
  • Improbable Aiming Skills: He's able to shoot Creed's guards through the gaps in their otherwise impervious armor.
  • Ineffectual Loner: Subverted as he's very much willing to work with people if the situation calls for it.
  • Older Than They Look: He is referred to as a kid many times (especially in the anime) and does appear to be 16 but he's actually 23.
  • The Quiet One: Comes off as one in the anime.
  • Revolvers Are Just Better: Especially in twos.
  • Staying Alive: Despite nearly getting hurt multiple times, he manages to stay alive.

Other

Saya Minatsuki

A Sweeper who lived in Train's apartment building, Saya became an extremely close friend of the No. XIII. It was her influence that ultimately prompted him to consider leaving Chronos and becoming a better human being, a fact that Creed did not take well...

Zagine

The character who killed Train's parents before the series began, and also trains him to being a professional assassin.

  • Cultured Badass: Was reading what appears to be Art Of War in one of the flashbacks in the manga.
  • Evil Mentor: He occupation was an assassin and his intents were to build Train into one so he'd be strong enough to keep on living.
  • The Gunslinger: Given he was the one who conditioned Train, it's to be expected.
  • Jerkass: Seemingly taunts Train during his training, which doesn't help he killed his parents.
  • Posthumous Character
  • Social Darwinist: He shows a few shades of these beliefs in the recaps involving him, but it doesn't appear to be out of arrogance.
  • Wouldn't Hurt a Child: In fact, he refuses to assassinate people raising children. His client knew this fact and omitted any information regarding Train so he would take the assignment.

Torneo Rudman

The boss of an organized crime ring, he's also been dabbling in weapons development. Funding nanotech research led him to create Eve, as well as give money and research information to the Apostles of the Stars.

Gyanza Rujikke

A killer that was given the Tao elixir by the Apostles of the Stars, but turns his back on them when they try to recruit him later.

  • Afro Asskicker
  • Ax Crazy: Noted as being a bit unbalanced even before taking the elixir, but Charden tells Kyoko that some people, like Gyanza, completely lose their sanity upon taking it.
  • Good Old Fisticuffs: As his power is to increase the power and density of his muscles, he doesn't bother with anything else.
  • Hoist by His Own Petard: After Train defeats him with a freezing bullet, his body burns off the rest of his energy via his Tao powers.
  • It's Personal: Intent on going after Sven because Sven had arrested Gyanza years ago.
  • Made of Iron: When he increases his muscle density.
  • Scary Black Man

Lugart Won

A professional assassin that specializes in hand-to-hand combat. He runs across Train when Train was brought to a party as a token date by Rinslet.

  • Badass Normal: Can easily put his hand through a wall with nothing beyond sheer training.
  • Charles Atlas Superpower
  • Lightning Bruiser: Able to rapidly take out a dozen bodyguards in an eyeblink, and even managed to hold his own against Train.
  • Mad Artist: Of sorts - sees assassination itself as an art, and prefers to do it as efficiently as possible (including killing only the target, and doing so in a single blow).
  • Professional Killer
  • The Rival: To Train.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: He promises to one day have a match with Train to see if his martial arts are superior to Train's brawling and gun skills. The series ends before he can make a reappearance, and he's seemingly replaced with River as a Lighter and Softer replacement bare-handed rival.
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