Change 123/Characters

The Protagonists

Teruharu "Hideo" Kousukegawa

• Arranged Marriage: Played with when he gets introduced to his new fiancé. He goes to his parents' house in the country, fully intending to turn her down and it turns out to be Motoko.
• Biggus Dickus: In the wake of his viper bite (see the Crowning Moment of Funny page), we learn that this is averted (and probably inverted, though he claims otherwise) by Kosukegawa, to his embarrassment, the yuks of his male classmates, and the gentle amusement of Motoko, Hino, and Tsukishima.
• Cannot Spit It Out: Refreshingly subverted. The guy didn't have the courage to confess, even though it was painfully obvious to everyone. But when he was making a new year wish to have such courage, she overheard, and they started dating.
• Covert Pervert: although at times it is not so covert.
• Idiot Hair: Sometimes.
• Ignore the Fanservice: In chapter 50, on account of having to wake up HiFuMi so many times for school. He even yells at Mikiri for whipping her top off in front of him, rather than getting excited.
• My Name Is Not Kousukegaa: Seemingly doomed to have his name mispronounced by at least one newly-introduced foreign character per arc... and then it happens with a Japanese local from Hokkaidou!
  • My Name Is Not Hideo: Similarly, in chapter 45, both Hibiki and Sora discover that they have misread his given name as "Hideo", which is actually a nickname (and probably a deliberate reference to a certain, well-known video game director) that is constantly used by his classmates in lieu of his first name, and which arose from his tendency for ultimately unsuccessful heroics ("Hideo" = "great man" --> "hero"); it's even referenced that The Other Wiki had him listed as Hideo. His first name's correct reading is "Teruharu" (same kanji, different pronunciations). "Hideo" is also a pun on "Hidoi yo!" ("This is wrong!"), one of his Catch Phrases in the original Japanese.
• Non-Action Guy: Notwithstanding his courage. He just doesn't have the skills.
• Otaku: Also a member of the sci-fi club, which constantly has problems finding a girl schoolmate to play in one of their movies.
• Shipper on Deck: In an early chapter he helps the Beta Couple, ultimately managing to prevent Ozuma from giving up on his love for Osada when it seemed to interfere with his judo-instilled discipline.
• Too Dumb to Live: At times. Particularly for counting your entire savings next to a stranger on a bus and leaving the bag you put it in unattended.

Motoko Gettou

Tropes related to Motoko Gettou in general:

• Attempted Rape: Twice, plus one attempted groping by a chikan; they never got far.
• Beware the Nice Ones: You should beware shrinking violets like Motoko. Don't molest them, don't threaten them, ...and don't tickle them either. They may have hidden alternate Badass personalities inside.
• Buxom Is Better: Her classmates are either jealous (females) or appreciative (males).
  • Big Breasts, Big Deal: firmly Type I.
  • Boobs of Steel: The bustiest and the most capable fighter in the entire cast.
  • Gag Boobs: Do not make a drinking game of how many times does she get into situations where they get exposed.
• Clothing Damage: Most of this trope's occurrences happen to the alternate personalities. When she switches back to Motoko, sometimes she has no immediate idea that clothing damage occurred, which can lead to an embarrassing situation like the one (Not Safe for Work!) when she wanted to try the "M" brooch Kosukegawa gave to her as a birthday gift.
• Expository Hairstyle Change: Part and parcel of the switches between Motoko, the different HiFuMi, and Zero. Hibiki and the others play upon this a few times.
• Hadaka Apron: That's the way Kosukegawa occasionally imagines Motoko as his future wife. See an example here.
• Has Three Daddies: Motoko and her three "fathers". Which leads to...
  • Who's Your Daddy?: One of the lingering questions throughout the series, but finally resolved in ch. 59: it's Tatsuya, but the ancestors of Motoko's other "fathers" had mixed into her family tree, so she ended up with bits of their genes in her.
• Shipper on Deck: Early on, Motoko is interested in Kannami, but all of the HiFuMi want to ship her with Kosukegawa. HiFuMi, and consequently Kosukegawa, eventually win out.
• Split Personality: And each personality gets her own Character Development and hairstyle, to boot.
• Split Personality Makeover
• Split Personality Merge: What happens in the end.
• Split Personality Takeover: After recovering her memories of her mother's death, Motoko disappears, leaving only HiFuMi. The rest of the series is devoted to bringing her back.
• Vapor Wear: Motoko is the primary victim, since Mikiri keeps busting out of her bras every time she emerges. There is, however, one scene where Hibiki takes a precautionary measure by taking off the bra before switching to Mikiri. See also Fujiko's Bunny Ears Lawyer entry below.

The Multiple Personalities are as follows:

• Motoko -- the core personality. Hairstyle: short Girlish Pigtails (also experimented with a loose high ponytail for a while).
  • Cute Clumsy Girl / Dojikko: Always keep her away from stairs while she's in a panic or distracted.
  • Death by Despair: Motoko finally unlocks the memory of her mother's death, and it and its circumstances are so horrific, her personality just... vanishes. What makes this even more tragic is that the reveal is what she's been working toward for several chapters worth of story, and that it could have been avoided, since Kannami warned Motoko about the dangers of such a traumatic experience and told her that she should collect as many happy memories as possible to counterbalance. However, she 1) haven't had enough time to collect that many happy memories and 2) when Motoko finally remembers what happened that fatal morning, she concludes that she doesn't deserve to be happy, so she practically withdraws into an Angst Coma.
  • I Wished You Were Dead: Poor Motoko. It wasn't even delayed. Her mother died instantly after she wished it, by means of a random accident.
  • Meganekko
  • Mommy Didn't Show: Indirectly responsible for Motoko's mother's death and her split personalities.
  • My God, What Have I Done?: With the interesting twist that she didn't do it -- it was purely magical thinking, but she was too young to realize it, and that part of her never got a chance to realize it.
  • Shrinking Violet: With reason. She is incapable of feeling anger.
  • Tomato in the Mirror: in chapter 42, Kannami theorizes that "Motoko" may actually be just another "alternate" of the real Motoko -- Zero.
• Hibiki -- Always ready for a fight. Specializes in Karate. Hairstyle: loose and relatively messy.
  • Blood Knight: After dealing violently with a molester in the subway, she was so heated up that she intentionally provoked a fight just to blow off her steam.
  • Bokukko
  • Does Not Know Her Own Strength: She easily squashes a rubber ball to shreds (and considering Kousukegawa could barely even squeeze it), then when someone tries to trip her, said person ends up being thrown over as if by Megaton Punch by her mere running stride.
    • Also results in a The Door Slams You situation when, after being trapped in a sauna with Kousukegawa, she kicks the door open, which slams right into the perpetrator who locked the door, sending the latter flying into a jacuzzi.
    • Perhaps the most ridiculous instance of this is her First Kiss with Kousukegawa, which literally hurt.
  • Hot-Blooded
  • Mighty Glacier: Though of average proportions, she has the greatest offensive power among HiFuMi, but lags behind Fujiko and Mikiri in speed and defense, respectively.
  • Spotlight-Stealing Squad: Appears more than Fujiko or Mikiri.
  • The Tease: Only to Kosukegawa, and almost always serious about her offers. There's also her promised gift for Kosukegawa's next birthday, which she asserts that it will be "better" than the kiss she gave him for the birthday she already missed. Evidently, she got Motoko's sex drive, but Motoko kept the inhibitions.
• Fujiko -- Cool-headed (almost cold, at times) and calculating. Soldier/swordswoman. Hairstyle: tidy hair, asymmetrically swept to one side, bordering (but not actually reaching) Peek-a-Bangs style.
  • Bunny Ears Lawyer: Fujiko seems to have weird ideas on how to solve the Panty Shot-proneness of thigh-slit dresses in Chapter 5:

Fujiko: It's fine, no one can see my underwear, because I'm not wearing any.

Kosukegawa (thinking): It's a much bigger problem if people see what you cover with your panties!

• • Going Commando: Above example. Also, while getting dressed afterwards, she gets her panties sliced off and later takes part in a highly exposing fight.
  • Fragile Speedster
  • Improbable Aiming Skills: She manages to fire a bullet into the chamber of a gun. From about ten feet away. In the split second the chamber was open, when the guy fired it.
  • Improbable Weapon User / Improvised Weapon: Even coin tokens are dangerous in her hands. And if you try to threaten her with a 40-member biker gang, she needs only two nails to set all their fuel tanks on fire - one to punch a hole in a fuel tank, and one to make a biker drop his cigarette.
  • Sugar and Ice Personality
  • Lady of War
  • Team Mom
  • Trademark Favorite Food: Chocolate mint ice cream. When the personalities merge at the end, Motoko starts eating it too.
• Mikiri -- The most childlike of the alter-egos. A master at Jujitsu. Hairstyle: short topknot ponytail (something like an Idiot Hair surrogate).
  • Big Eater
  • Breast Expansion: Her boobs grow to indicate that she's 'come out', often snapping Motoko's bra. Explained as being because of a change in "muscle tension" - her pectoral muscles are more "tightened" than normal, thus pushing her breasts further out than usual.
  • Cheerful Child
  • Cute Bruiser
  • Goofy Print Underwear: When she first meets Kosukegawa she's wearing bunny panties (and nothing else).
  • Innocent Fanservice Girl: Practically zero nudity taboo.
  • Stone Wall: Any punch or kick you can throw, she can turn its force against you to either unbalance you or quickly put you in a submission hold.
• Zero -- The embodiment of Motoko's rage. Represented by the color Black. Hairstyle: loose, but not as wild as Hibiki's.
  • All Your Powers Combined: She can use all of the skills of the other three alters.
  • Alternative Character Interpretation: Kannami himself, in one of the final chapters of Volume 9, reveals to Kousukegawa that "Motoko" may be nothing more than a host personality, constructed from scratch to believe herself as the original one in order to deal with the world that Zero - the real, original Motoko according to this scenario - had retreated from. The implications of this hypothesis being true are earth-shaking, to say the least.
  • Curb Stomp Battle: The usual outcome to Zero's opponents whenever she enters a fight. Especially notable is Sora's first confrontation against "Zero" (as "Hibiki+Zero") at the end of Chapter 47. It takes less than five seconds for the latter to disarm the former and do a compound, complete and oblique fracture to the Jerkass Smug Snake's right arm in One. Freakin'. Blow.
  • Deadly Upgrade: Her extreme lethality is a result of pushing past her physical limits; the fact that, at first, she only comes out when the other three personalities have been thoroughly beaten, usually meaning that their shared body is considerably damaged by that point, does not help. In her first in-story chronological appearance, back when she was still a child, she remained in control for only three minutes; the time limit has since increased considerably. Later on, Hino reveals to Ginga that Zero could push her body so far past its limits that severe muscle and joint damage, or even fatal heart stress, could occur.
  • Emotionless Girl: Bears a lifeless expression and Dull Eyes of Unhappiness.
  • Enfante Terrible: A flashback shows she was deadly even as a tiny child, forcing the two fathers to fight for their life when she came out.
  • Foe-Tossing Charge: Don't ever try to interfere when she wants to kill/destroy someone. You can end up seriously hurt.
  • Lightning Bruiser: A borderline Game Breaker variant.
  • Limp and Livid
  • My Villain Zero: Whether or not she'll eventually make a Heel Face Turn and become a straight My Hero Zero is unknown, for now.
  • The Quiet One: borderline Voiceless; she only says one word in her first manga appearance before she starts ruthlessly beating the shit out of everyone in sight - her name.
  • Super-Powered Evil Side: Very, very willing to kill, and a much more well-rounded and lethal combatant than any of the HiFuMi.
  • Tranquil Fury: She's quite calm for an "anger incarnate". Then again, cold, slow-burning fury is a lot more lasting, and thus theoretically worse, than short-lived explosions of fast-burning fiery rage.

Other tropes mainly related to the HiFuMi:

• Berserk Button: They each have their own unique buttons, which have the side-effect of causing them to temporarily (for now, at least) merge with Zero.
  • Fujiko's is the first to be revealed: Killing Kousukegawa in cold blood. He was only knocked out, though; it's the red-colored juice that spilled from his pocket that made it look like he was bleeding to death. Fujiko was understandably mortified at her overreaction.
  • Next comes Mikiri's: As of now, ruining a recently-deceased old woman's odango, when said woman was very kindly and generous towards her.
  • Last, but not least, Hibiki -- though with a surprising twist: Sora Uzuki's attempt to frame Kousukegawa for cheating on Motoko would have sent Hibiki over the edge, were it not for her trust in his fidelity and honor; however, throwing away old Kamen Raider videos that Kousukegawa gave to her in a friendly gesture, and which carry dear memories and great sentimental value to him, is unforgivable in her eyes. Following that by mocking his idealistic belief in justice, love, etc. deliberately in front of her? Sora Uzuki, meet Hibiki+Zero. You've dug your own grave.
• Color Coded for Your Convenience: The HiFuMi and Zero have different color themes, depending on their position on the series' fighting-style color spectrum.
• Confusion Fu: When they battle Tatsuya, they gain the upper hand by switching personalities on the fly, making them more unpredictable. It works for a while.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: This happens when one of the HiFuMi's Berserk Buttons is pushed, causing her to merge with Zero and lash out. Mikiri's was violent but semi-comical in its ending (though it did nearly result in a literal backbreaker move). Fujiko's was chilling in its cold, calculating near-lethality. Hibiki's was short-lived, but brutal... and ended up being the most traumatic, since it triggered the remembrance of Motoko's mother's death, causing Motoko to essentially vanish, leaving only the HiFuMi and possibly Zero behind.
• Talking to Themself: Hibiki, Fujiko and Mikiri are aware of themselves all the time, can communicate between themselves, even if the Motoko personality is the active one (and they often comment on what Motoko is currently doing), and can freely switch between themselves. However, the Motoko personality can't do any of these things.
• Theme Naming: The first syllables in Hibiki, Fujiko and Mikiri are extremely short abbreviations of hitotsu, futatsu and mittsu, the Japanese numerals for "1", "2" and "3", respectively. With that in mind...
  • In-Series Nickname: ...it is no wonder that they are collectively referred to as "HiFuMi".
  • And then of course comes the fifth alter "Zero", who is not only the HiFuMi's predecessor (she was formed due to Motoko's traumatic experience of witnessing her mother's death), but is heavily implied to be the original, true Motoko Gettou.
• Three Faces of Eve: Hibiki as the seductress, Fujiko as the mother, and Mikiri as the child.

Other characters

Kannami

• Bishonen
• The Chessmaster: Look up the Xanatos Gambit entry in the main article at your own risk. Spoilers ahoy.
• Insufferable Genius: Imagine Ishida crossed with Light Yagami and you're most of the way there. That being said, he has an aloof friendship with Kosukegawa that started when they were kids.
• Obviously Evil: Subverted, although his schemes still make him a bit of a Magnificent Bastard.
• Reed Richards Is Useless: Averted; he actually uses his intelligence and college training to help Motoko begin to fuse her alter-egos.
• Teen Genius: He graduated from a university in the U.S. at age 15, with a degree in psychology (specifically "the psychology of mental psychoses"^[1]).

Botan Tsukishima

• All Amazons Want Hercules: For the sake of hypothetical offspring. The words she uses could also be interpreted as not wanting a weak father, period, implying that she doesn't think high of her own power. Which sort of makes sense in a world where petite, curvy waifs routinely beat her up.
• Amazonian Beauty: If you're into that. If you're not...
  • Hollywood Homely: Tsukishima is far from a troll herself; her body is proportionate and symmetrical, as is her face. She's merely surrounded by girls more gorgeous than she could ever be.
• Ambiguously Brown
• Biker Babe
• Butt Monkey: Not only does she suffer from the Huge Schoolgirl complex, gets put into various embarrassing situations, she also suffers from an inferiority complex, because her job description (she's a kunoichi) includes fighting abilities, but because of her lack of experience she gets beaten by Moeish Martial Pacifist Izuru, who is merely a talented amateur, or gets herself into a situation where she must run away from fighting to avoid being discovered by the police. There is even a scene where she lampshades this. Chapters 54 and 55 take it to a cringeworthy degree.
• Can't Catch Up/Hard Work Hardly Works: A big complex of hers, too.
• Huge Schoolgirl: 175+ cm. (5'9" for you Americans.) Moderately above average for Caucasian women, very tall for a Japanese woman.
• Mighty Glacier: With shades of Stone Wall.
• Ninja Maid: Wears a maid outfit at a school festival. In this case it's not a Fan Service, but done for comical (and Butt Monkey) effect. What makes it more interesting is the fact that she is actually a ninja (or kunoichi, if you prefer this term) on a covert assignment.
• Oh Crap: Has this expression quite a lot as a result of her Butt Monkey and/or Huge Schoolgirl situations. Most prominent example here, where she's completely horrified at the thought of being seen as an Otaku Surrogate (which is not even intentional on her part to begin with).

Ginga

• Cute Bruiser: Lest we forget, she was introduced carrying her kill -- a full-sized leopard -- over her shoulders.
• Innocent Fanservice Girl: She doesn't have a lot of modesty, although she didn't start wearing concealing clothes until she came to Japan... and sprouted.
• Long-Lost Relative: She is revealed to be a cousin of Kosukegawa through his great-grandfather.
• Samus Is a Girl: A topless "Samus", no less, as at her first appearance, she was still living on the island, not yet introduced to civilization and clothes.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Ginga and Hino spent many years of their childhoods together, and are close friends, but Ginga was, at first, furious with Hino for the latter's perceived betrayal of Ginga's people's customs (she left the island rather than remain to serve as the Gadam).

Izuru Hino

• Barrier Warrior: Specializes in defense fighting techniques.
• Clothing Damage: Hino (and her clothes) get cut up pretty badly when she accidentally leaps into a thornbush. Later, during a sports carnival contest she has her shirt and bra accidentally ripped off.
• Innocent Fanservice Girl: See Clothing Damage, but really like Ginga she doesn't care that much about nudity or showing her body, although she doesn't go out of her way to do it.
• Romantic False Lead: Started as potentially one early on to get Motoko jealous of how well she Kosukegawa fit together.
• Ojou: Wealthy family, incredibly polite to everyone, School Idol and a very much the resident Yamato Nadeshiko.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: ...with Ginga (see above). Hino isn't angry with Ginga at all, but she doesn't hold back when defending herself from Ginga.
• Yamato Nadeshiko: Because of this, and because she is a Kamen Raider fan like Kosukegawa, at first it seems that she is bound to become a Relationship Sue for him, which saddens Hibiki (and later Motoko), but eventually it turns out that Kosukegawa's love for Motoko/HiFuMi is far too steady.
  • She's also an incredibly gifted Aikido prodigy. Her present fighting skill developed as a result of having to survive in the wilderness of a tropical island for much of her youth.

Other characters

• Artificial Limbs: American Kamen Rider Raider Otaku Ralph Austin (which also serves as a Shout-Out to The Six Million Dollar Man)
• Ax Crazy: Most of the one-off antagonists in the story.
• Badass: Tatsuya. He is the only person to not only go toe-to-toe with Zero but also WIN as well. Just a reminder, the other Fathers, Takezou and Jin, had difficulty subduing her at AGE FIVE.
• Beta Couple: Ozuma and Osada. Aizawa and Ginga are on the way to become this as well, in their own somewhat Belligerent Sexual Tension way.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Sora Uzuki, all in the name of witnessing "Black".
• Blood Knight: As well as Hibiki, Tatsuya, the karateka "father" who trained her and Matoko's biological father, will fight anyone who looks strong for the fun of it. Even Ginga. Not to mention the fact that Motoko's other two fathers kept Zero secret from him so he wouldn't fight her to the death. Ch. 52 takes this Up to Eleven, when he helps a convicted psycho murderer break out of prison just so he can fight him to the death...which takes three minutes.
• Color Coded for Your Convenience: Starting with Hifumi, all fighters are revealed to be categorised into colour-coded combat styles, or a combination of two or more. Tsukishima especially seems to be obsessed with achieving her colour title, and is baffled when fights don't quite follow these rules.
• Cloudcuckoolander: Kousukegawa's mom.
• Combat Pragmatist: Ginga, right down to using bites. Also, during the "bring out Zero" ploy", one of the fighters (also a member of Ginga's tribe) holds Mikiri's head underwater just long enough to knock her unconscious. The Improbable Weapon User below tries to take out Fujiko by bleeding her out through strategic cuts...and he nearly succeeds.
• Five-Man Band:
  • Kousukegawa, Motoko, and the latter's alter-egos:
    • The Hero: either Kousukegawa, Motoko, or both; as nominal leader(s), at least. If Motoko's "Tomato in the Mirror" theory is true, however, then Zero might qualify as a subversion, considering her... less-than-sunny disposition.
    • The Lancer / The Big Guy: Hibiki, who is a stark contrast to the shy and noncombatant Kousukegawa and Motoko.
    • The Smart Guy: Fujiko, being more strategy-oriented and technical than Hibiki and Mikiri.
    • The Chick / The Big Guy: Mikiri, the childish and naive Cute Bruiser.
    • Sixth Ranger / Token Evil Teammate: Zero
• Gory Discretion Shot: Normally averted. The one time it's used is when we finally see what happened to Motoko's mother.
• Grandma, What Massive Hotness You Have!: Motoko's grandmother.
• Hello, Nurse!: Literally, in the case of the new school nurse.
• Improbable Weapon User: One enemy uses his fingernails, a technique used by some Shaolin monks. Sora Uzuki, a member of what appears to be a ninja clan, uses a kusarigama-like weapon consisting of sharpened keys on a wire.
• Long-Lost Relative: The leader of the apparent-ninja clan that includes Sora and Tsukishima appears to be Motoko's grandmother, although this hasn't been revealed to the girl in question yet. Scratch that; she's been informed a month or two after Hibiki+Zero beat the shit out of Sora.
• Meaningful Theme Naming: Aside from HiFuMi, there is also evidence of other suspicious occurrences discovered by Kannami in chapter 49, but clues can be found earlier on, if the reader pays attention to the meanings of certain kanji characters.
• National Stereotypes: Played straight with respect to United Statizens in the Okinawa arc.
• Neighbourhood Friendly Gangsters: Aizawa, who is younger than he looks, a former thug who got into high school around the same time as Ginga. While looking to establish his rep, he got tagged with the title of School Guardian by accident, and then finds out that not only do all the strongest fighters in their school outclass him, but they are also girls.
• Parent with New Paramour: The young Russian woman Anna, besides being a talented disciple of Takezou (Motoko's jujitsu father, who "created" the Mikiri personality), is also apparently his girlfriend. When she jokingly tells Motoko about the possibility of becoming her stepmother, Motoko freaks out.
• Punch Clock Villain

1. ↑ That's the plural of "psychosis", for you Grammar Nazis.